Sparklehorse’s Mark Linkous committed suicide this weekend, according to Rolling Stone. Linkous grew up in Charlottesville and attended Albemarle High School, and settled for much of his career in Fluvanna County. He’d had his troubles in the past—the go-to story about him was about an overdose that almost killed him while he was on tour with Radiohead in 1996—but had steadily produced material that made him a critic’s darling, collaborating with luminaries from Tom Waits to Daniel Johnston (two of his idols), and Danger Mouse and David Lynch, with whom Linkous made the film/book/album Dark Night of the Soul last year. The New York Times has the details that you may or may not want to know.
In yet another collaboration, Guy Maddin made this video for Sparklehorse’s "It’s a Wonderful Life." RIP, Mark!
Gregg Helvey, the UVA alum whose Kavi was up for Best Live Action Short, did not emerge victorious at the Oscars last night. On the plus side, the whole affair was less of a cringefest than I thought it would be, even if it was one heck of a slog (after 100 of these things, Morgan Freeman must’ve been bored out of his skull).
Not only did Avatar lose Best Picture—isn’t more than $2 billion enough of an award!?—that trophy went to director Kathryn Bigelow for Hurt Locker (which I liked). She’s the first woman director ever to receive that award, and what’s more, she’s one of James Cameron’s ex-wives. How’s that for sticking it to the man?
Speaking of, Mo’nique, who won best supporting actress for Precious, stirred the pot from the podium when she thanked the academy "for showing that it can be about the performance and not the politics." It’s nothing on the scale of refusing the award for best actor because of the industry’s treatment of Native Americas, but it was nice to see a little disruptive spirit—beyond Steve Martin acting like a jerk.
Other highlights included…
Ben Stiller dressed as a Na’vi
Kristen Stewart looking like she’d been dragged onstage by her father.
Jeff Bridges showing up in character to accept the award for best actor
…and the brief shot of Quentin Tarantino looking psyched after the horror movie montage, which has not yet made it onto the bootleg YouTube circuit.
What highlights did I miss?
