MP's "Hero of the Day"

DIMEBAG DARRELL

I wasn't gonna post anything because this whole tragedy isn't about me or how I feel..and I feel so helpless and insignificant at such an unbelievable time as this...
But after sitting in front of my computer screen in disbelief for the last 24 hours since I heard about this last night I finally felt I needed to at least acknowledge how absolutely horrible I feel about this nightmare.
Actually, I am sick to my stomach.

Dime was an incredible talent who I've admired since the beginning when we had both just signed to Atco Records. It's been many years since I've hung with him or any of the Pantera guys - but my memories with him and the guys were always great fun and filled with crazy drunken insanity.
He lived each and everyday to the fullest. In fact, I never could believe how he could even function (both on and off stage) with the way he partied and lived life.

I feel so sorry for Vinnie and the rest of the band and family.

Words really cannot describe the heartache I've had all day.
This is as tragic and unbelievable as Lennon getting killed.
But this hits home even closer because he was ONE OF US.

I really cannot believe it...

MP

NAPOLEON DYNAMITE

"Welcome To The Dollhouse" meets "Election" meets "Office Space"

If you dig independant, campy, dry humour - this is a CLASSIC!

MP

Hey Kids,
Time for another year end round-up....
Here ya go:

Favorite CD's of 2004:
(in no particular order)
1. Muse - Absolution (technically this is a 2003 release - but it is hands down my favorite CD of the year and probably the decade as well!)
2. Incubus - A Crow Left Of The Murder
3. Mastodon - Leviathan
4. Chevelle - This Type Of Thinking Could Do Us In
5. Pain Of Salvation - Be
6. Coheed And Cambria - In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth: 3
7. Shadows Fall - The War Within
8. Umphrey's McGee - Anchor Drops
9. Secret Machines - Now Here Is Nowhere
10. Megadeth - The System Has Failed

and of course:
1. Dream Theater - Live At Budokan
2. Neal Morse - One


Favorite Films of 2004:
(in no particular order)
1. Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
2. Closer
3. Sideways
4. Dig!
5. Tarnation
6. The Passion Of The Christ
7. Napoleon Dynamite
8. The Polar Express
9. Kill Bill Vol.2
10. Saw

Have a Happy and Healthy New Year and c-ya on the road in 2005 for DT's 20th Anniversary!

MP

PEDRO ALMODOVAR

I've only just discovered this master filmmaker from Spain.

Just this week I watched All About My Mother, Talk To Her and his latest masterpiece Bad Education.

His style reminds me very much of one of my other favorite foreign filmmakers of the past few decades: Krzysztof Kieslowski.

Great writing, great writing, stylish direction.
I've got a whole back catalog of his films to look foward to!

MP

PETER SELLERS / GEOFFREY RUSH

Just watched HBO's brilliant "The Life & Death of Peter Sellers" which was an amazing tribute to the genius of Peter Sellers and had an unbelievably uncanny top notch performance by Geoffrey Rush.

MP

THE RUTLES

The Pre-Fab Four are back!
The long awaited (27 years!!!) return of Dirk, Nasty, Stig and Barry in the brand new DVD "Can't Buy Me Lunch".
I have been a huge Rutles fan since I was a kid, so this has been a long time coming for me!

Great cameos by Tom Hanks, Robin Williams, Steve Martin, David Bowie, Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Fallon and many more!

MP

THE MARS VOLTA

WOW!

I loved their first album, but the new one Frances The Mute takes their insanity to a whole new level...

This is one of the most DARING and extreme CD's I've heard in a long time! (reminding me at times of the first two Mr. Bungle albums)

It's so out there at times it will inevitably turn alot of people off...(critics are gonna slam the shit out of it - giving a bad name to progressive music - is this the new millennium's Tales From Topographic Oceans?), but if you are patient and open-minded this is an absolutely amazing journey!

MP

WILCO

Watched the fascinating DVD "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart" about the making of a masterpiece and the subsequent corporate BS that followed.

Very interesting indeed...but also quite terrifying on a personal level - having just handed over something I labored over every single day for the past 5 months into the hands of a bunch of strangers at a record company that has never worked with us before...

Thank god we have such a great fanbase to count on (that's you guys!) that the label's support (or possible lack of it) is completely irrelevant to our continued growth and momentum...

It's a scary business!

MP

PETRA HADEN

This has to be one of the most unique CD's I've heard in a long time....

"Petra Haden Sings The Who Sell Out" is the entire classic Who album re-done completely accapella. (all the vocals, guitar parts, drum parts, sound effects...even the commercials in between!)

A totally original idea and a new twist to an old favorite album of mine...(damn, I wish I thought of it first!)

MP

THE CONTENDER

OK...I'm hooked!
I suppose this was a natural for me as:
a) I'm a sucker for reality TV (I know, how pathetic!)
b) I used to be a HUGE Boxing fan...
(back in the 90's there was no bigger fan of the sport than me....unfortunately I have lost track and interest in it over the past 7 or 8 years, but this show has surely renewed my hope for the sport...)

I will be following this competition til the end...

MP

JONATHAN GLAZER

Watched his sophmore film "Birth" last night.
Unfortunately, I can't really recommend the film to the casual viewer is it is a very flawed film...

However, if you are a Stanley Kubrick fan (who is possibly my all-time film GOD)...this film is a must-see.

If I didn't know otherwise, I would swear on my life this was a Kubrick film. Everything about it breathes like a cross between The Shining, Eyes Wide Shut and Barry Lyndon.

Director Jonathan Glazer has impressed the hell out of me for his visual and pacing style (even it is directly copped from somebody else's), and I am glad to know somebody out there will be making "Kubrick films" even though the master is now gone...

MP

THE OFFICE

 

After having caught some of the new American version on NBC and digging it, I picked up the original English BBC version on DVD and watched the entire box set throughout the G3 tour in Japan.

 

What an absolutely brilliant and hilarious show!

I've never been a big fan of british TV comedy, but this one takes the best elements of Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm and combines it with the improv/documentary elements of This is Spinal Tap and Christopher Guest's films.

 

What a shame there's no more to watch.....

I hope NBC renews the American version so I can continue to get my fix...

 

MP

LOST
 
It took a while for me to get around to it, but it was worth the wait....
 
Not wanting to jump in half way through the season, I downloaded all of the episodes and over the past month or so, have been playing catch up with this great show.
 
This has replaced 24 as my favorite current primetime network TV drama.
It reminds me at times of the X-Files in the early seasons when they were still a great show.
 
Serious thumbs up!
 
MP

I haven't posted any heroes in a while as I've been kooked up with kick starting the DT World Tour, so here's kind of a "early Summer Update" compilation edition of what's been floating my boat lately:
 
COLDPLAY
I LOVE the new CD "X&Y"...
Granted, they aren't treading any new water with this one, but man...every song is so great. These guys couldn't write a bad song if they tried.
(and thumbs up for our boy Michael Brauer!)
 
SYSTEM OF A DOWN
Also, once again, blown away by the new SOAD "Mezmerize"...
These guys are so damn original.
The riffs, the melodies... 
 
DREDG
Another great outing with the new "Catch Without Arms".
I must admit, at times the singer can bother me - but musically, these guys are the modern day combination of Rush, U2 and Radiohead.
 
IRON MAIDEN
DT just finished doing 4 shows with them in Europe and they are putting on their best show in 15 years...the setlist is an old-school fan's wet dream!
Phantom Of The Opera, Murders In The Rue Morgue, Another Life, Drifter, Where Eagles Dare, Revelations, etc. etc.
Man, even I could not have written a better setlist!
 
SIX FEET UNDER
I'll admit, they're off to a bit of a slow start so far - but ANY SFU is better than 90% of what's out there.
I am soooo upset this is the last season....this is one of my ALL-TIME favorite series'
 
ENTOURAGE
Lovin this show....the 2nd season has been great so far.
These guys are the coolest...
Ari's character has some of the best and funniest one-liner's I've ever heard...
 
STAR WARS
I never got to post about this as I finally got to see it while The Forum was down before Octavarium was released...
MAN, did I love Episode III!!!!
It was everything I hoped it would be and WAY MORE!
Lucas totally delivered in my book.
BTW - I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere else (although I'm sure it has been), but didn't the whole "Order 66" sequence seem like a direct tribute to the baptism sequence in The Godfather???
 
FUNNY GAME
I just watched this film again today on our flight to Greece (I believe this was a HOTD entry a few years back) and man.....
What a DISTURBING film!!!!
It's as bad as it gets in terms of subject matter (think "Man Bites Dog" meets "A Clockwork Orange" meets "Straw Dogs"), but it is so incredibly well made in terms of it's dark tone, relentless tension and its ability to convey both fear and repulse without showing much violence at all....
Proceed with caution!
 
That's my update for now....
C-y'all on the road!
 
MP
 
 

ROGER WATERS, DAVID GILMOUR, RICK WRIGHT & NICK MASON
 
I never thought I'd see this day!!
One of my lifetime dreams has finally come true...
To see Dave and Roger hug at the end of the set was one of life's little miracles...and I can only pray it leads to the end of their 20 year feud and hope for a new beginning....
 
What's next?
Gabriel and Genesis?
Fish and Marillion?
Kevin Moore and DT?
 
Shit, if these guys can re-unite I think ANYBODY can! 
 
MP

STEVEN SPIELBERG

Once again proves he's the greatest living director on Earth today.
Finally got to see War Of The Worlds tonight and was BLOWN AWAY!

When you think about it, only he could've made this film - as it is a cross of so many of his great films:
The Sci-Fi/Fantasy of "Close Encounters", "E.T." and "A.I.", the terror of "Jaws" and "Jurassic Park", and the unrelenting violence and epic doomsday feel of "Saving Private Ryan" and "Schindler's List"

OK....I do have admit the final 5 minutes almost completely kills the movie for me....
(SPOILER - highlight to read)
I'm hoping they were all dead and meeting in heaven...otherwise that ending is absolutely inexcusable...so I'll stick to that interpretation in order to save the film in my book!
 
Other than the ending, I suspended my disbelief and enjoyed one of the most terrifying Hollywood rides I've ever seen....

 

Who would've thought this indie/foreign/cult film fanatic's 2 favorite films of the year so far are Lucas and Spielberg hundred-million dollar blockbusters! 

 

MP 

LAMB OF GOD
 
Finally got to watch the new DVD "Killadelphia"...
Damn these guys RULE!
They are the tightest, most brutal metal band out there at the moment.
They are to the current metal scene what Slayer was in the 80's and Pantera was in the 90's....
 
Much respect,
MP

ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW

I just saw the best independent film of 2005 (so far) in my book...
Kind of a cross between PT Anderson's "Punch Drunk Love" and Todd Solondz' "Happiness"

First time Director, Writer and Star Miranda July knocks it out of the park and proves Sofia Coppola's got some new competition on the block!

And lead actor John Hawkes gives a great, heartfelt performance reminiscent of Bud Cort in "Harold And Maude"

This small, quirky film is a real winner!

))<>((

MP

SIX FEET UNDER

What an ending to one of the greatest series in the history of television!

The finale was just PERFECT!
I've never seen a show end with so much closure....

The ending really made me look at life in a whole new way.
I'm really gonna miss this show....
 
Some further thoughts in this thread:
http://www.mikeportnoy.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=945853&mpage=3&key=&#977402
 
MP
 
 

OLD BOY

This Korean film is an absolute mind-f*ck and masterpiece!

Director Chan-Wook Park is Tarantino, Hitchcock, Lynch, Miike, Almodovar and Kubrick all wrapped up in one!

This one has so many levels to it, it's gonna take a few more viewings to fully grasp and appreciate it all....

MP

OPETH
 
I'm loving the new CD "Ghost Reveries"!
I think it's the PERFECT blend between Deliverance and Damnation...
And I love the full-time addition of keyboards to their sound...while still keeping everything heavy and dark.
 
This is surely one of favorite albums of 2005.
Cheers to my friend Mikael Akerfeldt for another great piece of work!
 
MP

CRASH

(the new one...not the David Cronenberg sex and accident fetish one!)

 

Absolutely fantastic ensemble piece in the vien of Robert Altman's "Short Cuts", P.T. Anderson's "Magnolia" and Steven Soderberg's "Traffic".

 

Brilliant performances all around and all kinds of twists and turns in this dramatic character study of racial predjudice and sterotypes.

 

MP

OVERNIGHT

 

Fascinating documentary on filmmaker/musician Troy Duffy whose insanely meteoric rise and fall in Hollywood is poetic justice when his ego absolutely destroys everything in its path.

 

An interesting lesson on everything NOT to do in the music and film industry!

 

MP

OCEANSIZE
 
I went and saw these guys tonight in Paris. (Thanks Sebastian!)  
 
Their new album "Everyone Into Position" is surely one of my favs of 2005.
 
They are kind of like a more progressive version of some very cool, spacey alternative bands like A Perfect Circle, My Bloody Valentine, Sigur Ros, Muse, Incubus and Radiohead (back when they played guitars!)
 
They could be destined for big things if the rest of the world catches on....
 
MP

SPOCK'S BEARD

Just spent the last 2 days on the road with my good friends through Paris and London. (and played "The Light" with them each night for the encore!)

The musicianship in the band is just so great...they sounded so tight.
Nick is doing an outstanding job now fronting the band.
They truly are one of my favorite bands on the planet!

Thanks to Nick, Al, Ryo, Dave and Jimmy (and crew) for being such great hosts these past couple days...

OK, vacation's over - back to work I go....

MP

TODD SOLONDZ

 

Finally got to see his latest "Palindromes" having missed it in the theaters...

(a quasi-indirect sequel to his "Welcome To The Dollhouse") and it's a great return to form after the disappointing "Storytelling"...

 

It's another one of his feel good movies (ala "Happiness") with all the sick and twisted elements I've come to expect from him...dealing with topics ranging from abortion to religion to pedifiles. (all told with 8 different actresses playing the same part!) 

 

MP

 5 X 2
 

Interesting French film from director Francois Ozon (Swimming Pool) showing the story of a couple through 5 different stages of their relationship told in reverse (from Divorce to meeting)

 

Kind of like if Woody Allen made Irreversible!

 

MP

AVENGED SEVENFOLD

 

OK....I'm confused.

 

I always ASSumed from their image (and name) that they were some kind of Orange County Skate/Pop/Punk band (I assumed something like Blink 182 or Good Charlotte)....but then I saw one of their videos and I said "wow...these guys can play!"...so I picked up their new CD "City Of Evil" and was blown away!

 

I don't know the story on these guys...if it is trendy or uncool to like them, but these guys are great players!! (picture Paul Gilbert, Joey Jordison and Mike Patton putting together a pop/metal band!)

 

And they write some really cool, untraditional, almost proggy pop songs, but with catchy hooky choruses....I can't believe these guys are getting the commercial acceptance & exposure they are with a sound that sounds more like Iron Maiden meets DT than anything else that's currently on MTV!

 

I guess it proves never to judge a book by its cover!

 

MP

THE DA VINCI CODE
 
I've never been much of a reader (99.9% of my Heros Of The Day are films, directors, bands, musicians, TV shows, etc.)
Most of the time if I pick up a book, it's usually bio/artist related (Neil Peart's books, the Motley Crue bio, the Howard Stern books, etc.)
 
But I was given The Da Vinci Code by our manager on the current South American tour and I am HOOKED!
(I am currently about half way through)
 
This book is fascinating, compelling & exciting and I can't put it down!
 
Of course being a film fanatic and not a reader, it will interesting for me to see the film AFTER reading the book (which never happens for me!) - as I'm sure you all know it is currently in production by Ron Howard & Tom Hanks for a release next summer...
 
O, Draconian devil!
MP

OK Kids, time for my year end round-up....

Top 10 Albums of 2005 (in no particular order):
1. Opeth - Ghost Reveries
2. System Of A Down - Mesmerize / Hypnotize
3. The Mars Volta - Frances The Mute
4. Oceansize - Everyone Into Position
5. Riverside - Second Life Syndrome
6. Coldplay - X&Y
7. Between The Buried And Me - Alaska
8. Porcupine Tree - Deadwing
9. Avenged Sevenfold - City Of Evil
10. Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine

and of course:

--- Dream Theater - Octavarium
--- Neal Morse - ?


Top 10 Films of 2005 (in no particular order):
1. Oldboy
2. Sin City
3. Crash
4. The Best Of Youth
5. Me and You and Everyone We Know
6. Bad Education
7. Mysterious Skin
8. Match Point
9. The Squid And The Whale
10. Palindromes

Happy New Year everybody and all the best in 2006!

MP

WOLF CREEK
 
Just watched and enjoyed this Australian import...
This is yet another ultra-violent, modern-day "slasher" film in a series of recent ones that have come out this past year...(including High Tension, The Devil's Rejects, Saw 2 and the just-released Hostel which I've yet to see)
 
All of these films are not for everybody and are surely not perfect...
but if you're in the mood for sheer, intense terror and disturbing graphic situations, they get the job done!
 
MP
 

ENDOCHINE
 
I can't get enough of the 2004 CD "Day Two" from this great band from Texas...(thanks to our guitar tech Jay Baskin for turning me onto them!)
Every song on this album is so catchy and filled with great hooks.
They are kind of a cross between Muse, The Greys and Bends-era Radiohead.
 
MP
 

WOODY ALLEN
 
Hallelujah! He's back!!!! 
 
Woody is one of my ALL-TIME film heroes (in my top 5!)
There was a time through the 60's, 70's and 80's (and the beginning of the 90's), were he could do no wrong in my book....
I loved EVERY SINGLE one of his films...in my opinion, his body of work was flawless and possibly the greatest in film history.
 
But then something went wrong....
and I haven't liked a single film of his in many, many years...
His formula became stale, predictable, not even remotely funny, original or interesting... 
How could the man who could do no wrong in my book, possibly do no right?
Could it be our love affair was over?
 
Then, along came "Match Point"!
This is hands-down, his best movie in over 20 years!
Woody has left New York, moved production to London and has RE-INVENTED himself!
This film is so un-Woody, I would've never in a million years have guessed he wrote and directed it.
It is more Kubrick meets Hitchcock (2 of my other top 5!)
 
Welcome back Woody, I missed you dearly...
 
Love, MP
 

THE BEST OF YOUTH
 
Wow!
I just spent the last few days watching this epic Italian masterpiece.
It is 6 hours long... but it is an incredibly rewarding experience if you're willing to put the time in.
 
Director Marco Tullio Giordana has made an epic film that can stand up next to such directors as Francis Ford Coppola & Martin Scorsese's best work.
It is essentially the story of two brothers over the course of almost 40 years (from 1966 to 2003) and how their lives go in different directions and effect each other and the family and friends around them.
 
It is as great, epic and emotional as watching the first two Godfather films back to back. 
This is the type of film that doesn't come along very often... 
 
MP

THE SOPRANOS
Hoooooraaaaayyyy!!! My favorite show of all time is finally back!
 
I spent the last week re-watching all of Season 5 (which was much greater than I remembered...episode 511: The Test Dream - might be one of my favorite Sopranos episodes of all time)
 
And last night's season premiere did NOT disappoint at all!!
 
1 down, 19 to go....
 
MP
 

THE SQUID AND THE WHALE
 
Great quirky, small film (similar in vein to last year's Junebug or You & Me & Everyone We Know)
 
Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney are great...but the two kids steal the film.
(the youngest of whom is Phoebe Cates and Kevin Kline's son)
 
Pink Floyd, Blue Velvet, Schoolhouse Rock and smeared semen....
What more could you ask for from a movie?
 
MP

THE SHIELD

 

A great season finale to a great season! (poor Lem...)

 

I had almost given up on the show after last season (as I have with 24 - sorry, 24 fans), but the addition of Forest Whitaker's character kicked a whole new life into the show and this season came back with a vengeance!

 

MP

CHAN-WOOK PARK
 
Finally got to watch "Sympathy For Lady Vengeance" (his latest which is about to come out in theaters in the US but is already available on imported DVD from Asia) 
 
This is the third and final part in his Revenge Trilogy ("Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance" and "Old Boy" being the first two)
 
Man, I said it before and I'll say it again: This guy has got IT ALL!!!
He is a perfect cross between Tarantino, Kubrick, PT Anderson, Lynch, the Coen Brothers and Miike....(all my favorites!!)
 
This latest film shows that he's not only about blood & guts and an incredible visual style , but also has alot of heart and soul in his storytelling with this film that is incredibly touching at times.
(in between the torture scenes of course!)
 
He's hands down one of my favorite filmmakers out there right now...
 
MP

LOST
 
Just watched last night's season finale....
WOW!!!
This has got to be the coolest, deepest, most nugget-infested show in TV history....
Hats off to these writers for creating such an incredibly cool labyrinth for us fans to crawl though each week....
 
4 8 15 16 23 42
 
MP
 
PS - whatever happened to the Darren Aronofsky-directed episode that was announced earlier in the year?