So, I saw Haywire over the weekend.



Seriously a good time. Directed by Steven Soderbergh, it has super fun casting, with Ewan McGregor, Antonio Banderas, and Michael Douglas, and MMA fighter Gina Carano in the lead. I loved the clean and lean look of the film, and I especially liked the lack of jump cuts in the fight scenes, which lent them precision and a gritty realism; it felt like a European action flick. Really well done.

OMG, and I so get the Michael Fassbender thing now. Holy everything that is holy. And let me just say straight up: I am a sucker who would totally be killed by Fassbender's sexy, charismatic British freelance assassin Paul. Oy vey. This is why: I was talking to Trevor after the film about Fassbender's role and how I thought he was made out to be a bit more sympathetic than the other black ops guys, and he laughed at me. "Paul is charming and handsome, but he was willing to frame an innocent person and kill her for money! Now you know what it's like to be a man around a beautiful woman." Touché.

But wait a minute: not only is he charming and handsome, he can kill a man with his bare hands while wearing the hell out of a suit. Hot. Oh wait, that also describes my husband. No wonder.

I first noticed Fassbender in the passably entertaining X-Men First Class as Magneto (also starring man-harem lifetime member James McAvoy as Xavier), though I had seen other films that he had smaller, ensemble roles in, like 300 and Inglourious Basterds. Most recently I saw him again in Steve McQueen's beautifully shot and acted, but sometimes wincingly trite, Shame. This film was when I starting sitting up and paying attention to Fassbender as an actor (I know what you're thinking, and no, really, it was the acting!). The sterility and quietude of a film like Shame requires someone who can convey a bevy of human emotion over the course of several uncomfortably long close-up still-shots, without speaking. He nailed it (and okay, yeah, that pun was intended). I was riveted.

Anyway, I digress. Haywire: fun, action packed film well worth the unspeakable amount of money you pay now for a movie ticket. The Fassbender Sexy: confirmed. And he's not only beautiful, but he's absolutely flawless as an actor in this film, as well as Shame. Looking forward to seeing if future projects and personal conduct deem him man-harem worthy.

Oh my, yes please.

Jon Hamm as Superman

I don't usually go for semi-blondes, or super bros for that matter, but dammit Tom Hardy has been gunning as a contender for my man harem.

He was teh sex in Inception, will be Bane in the next installation of Batman (squee!), and will redefine Mad Max so the franchise is no longer fronted in our minds by a creepy misogynist racist (and he will look positively swoon-worthy kicking ass in leather). But I have high standards -- you cannot take a place in my imaginary tent in the desert alongside men like Jon Stewart simply because you ooze teh sexy.

And so the harem was to stay static. Until...

This article, where he's interviewed by Vincent Cassel about SLAPPING Paul Bettany on set (as to not mar his face -- a gentleman and consummate professional, this one) for talking mad shit about him.

Pretty much clinches it, non?

Some things I am loving right now:

1) Vegan eats at The Golden Buddha:














Actually, I'm also loving the entire stretch of Clement Street in the Inner Richmond where this restaurant is located. Here exists the most extensive and lovingly displayed anime toy store around, as well as the smallest but most fashion-forward Goodwill. Wondrous Asian shops selling everything from Chinese herbs and dried fish to firecrackers and probably Mogwai are also quite abundant. But it is truly the restaurants that rule!

2) This picture of James McAvoy from the August 2008 issue of Details magazine:


















Holy hot hell. You really must embiggen and get a look at those eyes. Sweet mother of god.

Such a perfect 21st century, iconic photograph -- the type that will get referenced in his future retrospective -- but still not unlike one of my favorites of Paul Newman from the 1960s that was featured on the cover of GQ last year. Yum.

Not only is Mr. McAvoy also yum, but seems smart and grounded, and BTW did you see Atonement? The man can act. On his way to legendary.

Details, however -- eh, not so much. More like creepy and trying too hard. But this is pretty funny.

3) The wallpaper in the ladies' room at The Avenue (may be NSF your W).

4) yoCup in San Francisco, and live culture, probiotic frozen yogurt in general. Now that this phenomenon is exploding in Northern California, I am crossing my fingers for one to open up in Oakland so I no longer have to dream constantly of 150 calorie tart goodness topped with enormous succulent blackberries. Damn, I would BART across the Bay right now if they were open.

5) Cocktails at Flora, especially with my sweetie, and my good friends Chris and Jumoke. Never was much of a gal for gin, but you learn something new everyday!

Finally saw Iron Man last night. Loved it! Loved the Stan Lee cameo. Loved random Paul Bettany. The "civilian detector" scene -- completely badass. And good god man, make sure you stay until the end of the credits. *stinger spoiler in link*

But oh my stars, the best thing of course is how perfect -- in looks and in life -- Robert Downey Jr. is as Tony Stark.































Even though he's been in a few fine films since, I truly last loved Robert Downey Jr. in Less Than Zero. How's that for a comeback?

He is an excellent actor, and even though he always seems to be playing himself to a degree, most of his roles have been varied and versatile. I've been hearing a lot about how RDJ -- like Tony Stark, a recovering addict -- is really truly back to business with Iron Man. Let me tell you, he definitely brought it.

The knowledge of RDJ's very public struggle with addiction made his portrayal of Stark even more poignant and well done for me. I'll be very interested to see if they play up the alcoholism angle at all in sequels. I think it will be an injustice to the complexities of Tony Stark's -- and in a way, RDJ's -- story, and struggles, if they don't.


















So, acting aside, I've been hearing so much more about how RDJ is also back to being absolutely delicious -- cleaned-up, fit, happy, over-forty deliciousness. Given I've never thought him attractive, I thought I would be immune.

Nope.

Total hotness.














Yum!

Violet Blue, SFGate sex columnist, takes a tongue in *ahem* cheek look at ultra right wing sexual fetishes.

While a sort of trite regurgitation of things we already know about the ultra right wing and their treatment of sex (the more you condemn, the nastier you prolly are), the greatest thing about this article was finding out that when you Google Santorum you still get this and not this as your numero uno hit. Proper.

Okay, and while her article was blowing some well-deserved snark up the asses of scary conservatives like Rick Santorum, she has a serious point. It is ridiculous that many consensual sexual acts between adults are linked to moral legislation by pounding the pulpit lawmakers, which results in a very narrow and unrealistic view of sexuality being served up as a litmus test for how upright and "good" someone is.

Ugh, so listen up otaku -- while I still think anigao is creepy as fuck and totally not conducive to healthy relationships, I guess I got your (creepy-ass) back.

Also, can I get an amen for this:

Disney movies have shown my friend's 4-year-old how to strike freakishly provocative poses, yet give her no tools to know not to do that in front of strange men at the mall. How about instead of "OMG sex!" in the media and hiding sex "for the children", instead we give accurate sex information, and provide kids with tools to navigate the sexuality they're already encountering in the world?

I'm not so knee-jerk that I think plain old conservatives, social or otherwise, are idiots, but why oh why aren't these facts an across the political spectrum thing?

Yeah yeah, I get that people want to be responsible for their own kids' sexual education, but face it, so often it just doesn't happen. So, moral busybodies: get an excuse slip for your kid and leave the parents alone who want comprehensive sex education taught to their kids.

And everybody should check this Good Vibrations sponsored reference guide of sites that promote knowledge-based sex education for teens.

I just read about a newish band who recently released their first album on Joan Jett's Blackheart label. The band is called Girl in a Coma, and they are really worth a listen.

I am always skeptical of bands that are touted as having Smiths-esque lyrics -- this one with a singer who is promoted as a "female version of Morrissey" t'boot. And I was especially skeptical when I read they were Mexican-Americans from Texas! (As any red-blooded Mexican will tell you, the Smiths and Morrissey are god, and what better marketing ploy but to namedrop the divine.)

But I am a sucker for girlpunk bands, and one listen to Girl in a Coma proved that they are not only catchy and punky and fun, but demonstrated that their 19-year old singer has one incredible voice. And while their arrangements definitely nod to 90s punk, the lyrics don't strike me as particularly Smiths-like. It's just good, honest, fun punk rock. I think I'm going to try to check them out at Fat City's Cockblock dance party on June 15. For 6 dollars, you can't go wrong.

Okay, and if you're like me, this video for Girl in a Coma's song 'Clumsy Sky' from their debut album Both Before I'm Gone will make you remember what it was like when you were 16 and didn't work in an office.



--

Have you heard the new Patti Smith cover album, Twelve?

Yeah, yeah, been out for a while, but I just got a listen. I felt it was kind of flat. At first I thought it was just because it's, you know, Patti Smith, and I was expecting something that was going to make me swoon. But then I realized it just really wasn't that good. One reason for that is that the covers are pretty true to the originals, the exception being her version of Nirvana's brilliant and iconic 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' which is reinvented as a banjo-infused porch-tapper and not only showcases her unmistakable voice but utilizes some of Patti's own words.

But otherwise, kinda ehhh. Even her cover of one of my favorite songs, The Decemberists' 'Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect' was bland bland. Even so, I am reminded of what the main man over at B(oo)tlog wrote about the whirlwind around Rock Plaza Central's cover of Justin Timberlake's 'SexyBack:'

No matter how seriously you take yourself and your music, figure out at least one song by someone else, make it your own - really put your own stamp on it - and play it in your set. Audiences (really, I am speaking for myself, but I think others feel the same way) love that.

Audiences DO love it. And that love is what makes the prospect of a full album of cover songs by an iconic singer exciting. But it is best done live, 'tis true. It is really really hard to transfer that energy and fire of a live cover into a studio album.

But, Patti's done it well in the past; take a listen to 'When Doves Cry.' Heh, but I think this started out as a cover she would do at shows.