Legalize It!

He's a complicated man, and no one understands him but his woman... Serge Gainsbourg.

Does anyone know where I can score some Cannabis? I mean on DVD, dig?

Write What You Know, Brisseau

The ever-shrinking world of French filmmaker Jean-Claude Brisseau has just shrunk a bit further... in 2002 Brisseau made the deeply cynical male-gaze extravaganza Secret Things, an erotic thriller about two women using their sexuality to move up the corporate ladder. Upon the film's release, Brisseau was charged by two actresses who auditioned for the film with sexual assault (he had asked them to masturbate before his camera as part of the audition, you see). He was found guilty and received a suspended sentence.

His follow-up film, 2006's The Exterminating Angels, is an even sleazier film about a film director who makes a film about female eroticism, hiring young actresses to audition by masturbating in front of his camera who then turn around and accuse him of sexual assault. And lo and behold, last month Brisseau was accused by two more actresses who said he sexually assaulted them during the auditions for this newest film.



Brisseau, who in real life looks like the Paramount Pictures mountain if it wore a leather jacket, denies these latest charges. This is just a guess, but I think Brisseau's next film will be about a filmmaker making a film about a filmmaker making a film about female eroticism who hires women to masturbate in front of the camera who will then accuse him of sexual assault, only to be charged himself with sexual assault.



(Thanks, Andréa, for the update - I'm now obsessed.)

Eurobics

From the Grabbies200 youtube page - more EuroMadness - this time in the form of Italy's Heather Parisi and her 80's Spandex Squadron. This song is called 'Disco Bambina'.

I'm on a Eurotrash kick now and who knows when it will end?

Pop 84

Righeira brings it on - behold, their freak international hit 'No Tengo Dinero' - no relation to Bananarama's 'Robert DeNiro's Waiting (Talking Italian)' from the same era; Righeira, though Italian, are actually talking Spanish.

This video has it all - Roy Lichtenstein and Mondrian references, Robocop shades, shoulder pads and a liberal use of stock footage.

(Grazie, Grabbies200.)

Grand Prix Eurovision

We have a winner for this year's Eurovision pop song contest. Calling themselves Lordi, this Gwar cover band from the planet Klingon, representing Finland (much in the way Celine Dion has represented Switzerland in previous competitions) have pulled off a convincing win in this annual ritual which is televised across Europe, wherein most every country (even Israel!) submits an ear-splittingly bad, crowd-pleasey song that must also clock in under 3 minutes; a disturbing percentage of the European populace then vote for their favourite. Historically, the only winning songs that were actual big hits outside of the Caring-About-Eurovision community were "Poupee De Cire Poupee Du Son" by France Gall (which some of you may know) and this. Oh yeah - Sandie Shaw won the grand prize with "Puppet on a String"; she hated having to perform this song so much that she quit showbiz. Lordi's winning song was called "Hard Rock Hallelujah".

My video store was renting a free tape of a Eurovision contest from the mid 90's. So I rented it. I think Latvia won. Or one of the Benelux countries. I can't remember because I went into a diabetic coma about an hour into it. It was a glorified jingle-fest - the sonic equivalent of a CIA-sponsored sugary breakfast cereal marketed in countries where they are also trying to rig the election.

But this year the Eurovision voters went all avant-garde on us, eschewing the likes of Heino, t.A.T.u. and The Kelly Family to select in their collective wisdom a band you can totally see performing in a club scene if they ever restart the Crow film franchise. The no-doubt significant Anti-Lordi vote must have been split across the other contestants, allowing the remaining bloc of Europeans who had been scared into voting for them after seeing their flame-soaked performance on the show, along with the small but crucial suburban Eurogoth swing vote, to crown these Scando cockrockers the champions. Kudos, Eurovision; you fell so far behind that now it looks like you're in the lead.

Later this year NBC is launching a singing contest based on the Eurovision model - each state of the Union participating. Expect a country singer to win. Not a Lordi cover band from West Virginia.

P.S. - The song performed by Ireland tonight was called 'Every Song is a Cry for Love'. That's one way of putting it.

I Like Chopin

Ladies and gentlemen...Gazebo.



(Video provided by Trivan and pointed out to me by NeonLeon.)