The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is one of my favorite musical films. It’s a combination of a wonderfully somber story, Michel Legrand’s beautiful score, and the visual style that gets to me. Now, Criterion has revealed how the film was restored for the recently released Jacques Demy boxed set. My one regret is that I can’t just purchase Umbrellas alone.
I have a more substantial post coming in a few hours, but I can’t think of something more patriotic for the 4th of July than Dolly Parton killing it at the Glastonbury Festival. Jump to the 3 minute mark if you want to see the real reason to watch this performance.
Anita Sarkeesian’s newest Tropes vs. Women in Video Games video is the strongest in the series yet. It’s also the most upsetting and features a whole lot of violence against women and disturbing sexual content. She opens the video with a content warning, and I’m stressing it here. I couldn’t get through the video in one sitting.
If you can stand the subject matter, watch it. It’s excellent.
In my day to day life, I don’t need to do a lot to justify my obsession with Shakespeare. I music direct/teach educational theater year round. There’s always an excuse to preach the good word of the Bard.
But, theatrical criticism has started to take a turn, at least in NYC. A great production of a safer Shakespeare–a Macbeth or a Twelfth Night–will easily get raves. A great production of a more problematic play–a Richard III or A Midsummer Night’s Dream–will receive far more mixed reviews. Context is important, and it’s becoming more common now to force 21st Century readings onto 16th/17th Century plays.
Three more nights of performances then I’m back to writing. More curated content.
I’m big on RuPaul Drives as a web series. It’s a more twisted slant on the same formula as Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. The John Waters (NSFW, obviously) episode is the best in the series so far. Two subversive pop culture geniuses talking shop on the road. Genius.
What happens when a bad game that’s selling very well suddenly gets pulled from the Android and iOS app stores? Infamy.
Flappy Bird is the now unattainable mobile game where you attempt to guide a bird through a series of sewer pipes by tapping on the screen. Last week, the game was pulled from sale for reasons. Either the creator grew tired of the backlash over the poorly designed and/or intentionally extremely difficult game or larger game companies threatened legal action for stealing artwork straight from their games (namely, Nintendo, cause those sewer pipes, grass, and ground design are the same as Super Mario Bros). Now, you can’t even submit a game with the word “Flappy” in the title because Apple will tell you you’re profiting off of another game’s notoriety. Google is also rejecting clones and games with “Flappy” in the title, but they aren’t saying why.
Fortunately, this is 2014. Game designers are very good at keeping things alive if they want to. Flappy Bird clones are all over the place. None are as clever as FlapMMO.
Last night, while I was editing the upcoming episode of The Haunting Ground, I received confirmation that I’m a Fullscreen partner now.
What’s Fullscreen? Fullscreen is the largest independent multi-channel YouTube network. They provide support to YouTube content creators like me with tools and resources I’d never be able to negotiate on this scale by myself. They also help connect content creators for collaborative projects and sponsorship that increase visibility and revenue.
In other words, now that I have the support of the Fullscreen network, I’m going to be able to dedicate a little more time to video creation. First, I want to establish the routine of eight videos a month with the existing line-up (Sketchy Details @Home, Slipstream, Play It, and The Haunting Ground). Then, I can start branching out with one-off videos, new series concepts, and collaborations. I’m also going to finally be able to open an official Sketchy Details merchandise store.
So how can you help with this partnership? Subscribe to Sketchy Details @YouTube. Like and share the videos you enjoy. Comment on the videos letting me know what you like or what you want me to do.