Monthly Archives: October 2016

October 30, 2016 · 4:00 pm

DVD Review: STAR TREK BEYOND

“STAR TREK: BEYOND” (2016) PARAMOUNT PICTURES

The latest Star Trek movie pulls us in with great ferocity and it never lets go. “Star Trek Beyond” makes an excellent case for the franchise as it celebrates its 50th anniversary going back to the original television program. With the third in the new Star Trek movies, first launched by director J.J. Abrams, we have reached a point where we can afford a touch more subtlety. And, having explored the Kirk/Spock dynamic rather thoroughly, it’s a good change of pace to turn a bit more focus this time around to Scotty. Yes, Simon Pegg, as Scotty, comes away one of the big winners this time around. Pegg co-wrote the script and, it may come as no surprise, he found a lot of new wrinkles in which to place his character.

By and large, this latest Star Trek film continues with an action-heavy plot. What it tries to do is deliver on some of the less flashy aspects to the franchise and it does a fairly good job of that. You do get a generous amount of banter between the characters. You do get thrills and plot twists. But, even more than action, what a movie franchise of this caliber can always use, considering its stellar cast and resources, is more compelling content. Ease up on the warp drive, breathe in and out, and allow the story and the characters to engage with the audience. But, hold on, I do think this movie is quite engaging and it is not without its thoughtful moments.

Now, this is what is going on right. First, you’ll have a good time with Chris Pine as Captain Kirk. He’s grown with the character. He remains very credible, the guy you want to follow and root for. You get every bit of gravitas you’d expect as Kirk rallies his crew: “We’ve come to understand there is no such thing as the unknown, only the temporarily hidden.” Early in, we follow Kirk down a corridor during a quiet moment. He ponders to himself, “The more time we spend out here, the harder it is to tell when one day ends and the next one begins. It can be a challenge to feel grounded even when gravity is artificial.” Ah, those are the type of nuanced moments of reflection we want. Actually, a little more in and we have a marvelous exchange between Kirk and Bones McCoy (Karl Urban) over some bourbon they found in Chekov’s locker.

What J.J. Abrams aimed for all along was a high wow factor. And that is definitely in place here. It’s very useful to critique a movie within context. That said, as far a providing an all-ages wow factor, this movie is off the charts. Honestly, a lot of what we want is an ultimate razzle dazzle contemporary version of the original show. This is exactly the sort of thing that a big studio is designed to do. The opening sequence, for example, is the gold standard. Kirk walks into an exotic looking chamber. High above is a council of elders made up of imposing gargoyles. Kirk thinks he’s there for a simple ceremony until he’s subjected to harsh questioning by the tribal leader. Things turn ugly and CGI mayhem ensues. It has just the right touch of humor, Kirk swagger, and element of surprise.

This movie is definitely not to be taken for granted. At the end of the day, yes, this is an adventure with an imposing villain, Krall (Idris Elba), and his legion of deadly fighters. You can count on the original show on steroids in that regard. But there’s more to it as well. Running throughout all three latest installments is a grounded storyline: Spock (Zachary Quinto) struggles with survivor’s guilt after his home planet of Vulcan was destroyed. And he finds in Lt. Urhua (Zoe Saldana) a compelling human connection. Perhaps more powerful than his connection to Kirk. We seek a good balance in these kind of movies and, overall, this Star Trek movie delivers. And, if we keep asking for more, that’s alright. This is Star Trek we’re talking about after all.

“Star Trek Beyond” is available on DVD and Blu-ray as of November 1st. And, if you’re a Seattle local, you can always stop by Video Isle and pick up a DVD or Blu-ray rental at Seattle’s best video rental store. Visit them right HERE. And visit them on Facebook right HERE.

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Filed under pop culture, Sci-Fi, science fiction, Star Trek, Video Isle

Tagged as Entertainment, Media, Movie Reviews, Movies, Pop Culture, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, Seattle, Star Trek, Video Isle

October 30, 2016 · 10:30 am

Story: The Mascot

“The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” written by Frank L. Baum and illustrated by William Wallace Denslow, first published May 17, 1900.

It was during high school that I got the idea of trying out for the role of school mascot. This was years ago but that does not matter very much. The story itself is rather timeless. It could happen now or it could have happened, I don’t know, a hundred years ago. I was simply a fresh young and naive kid. It was my last year in high school but my first year at this new school. We constantly moved. My father didn’t think it was such a trauma to uproot us every few years. But that’s another story. This is more or less a sports story. Not exactly football and basketball, although that’s part of it, right? This is mostly a story about the sport of cheerleading. Yes, cheerleading is a sport. Fans of cheerleading are currently seeking an official sport status from the NCAA. Anyway, I did not really know what I was getting myself into when I decided to try out for school mascot.

We had a cool school mascot to rally around, a lion. Lucky for some lion, we did not feel any compulsion to keep a caged lion on campus. That was a different story in college. I went to a university were we actually had a caged cougar. I always liked cats…and lions. I loved the symbolism. I love all the variations on lion designs. I still want to get a lion tattoo someday. So, to get to be a lion seemed pretty awesome. Being a lion mascot would be serving some need I wasn’t fully aware of.

I couldn’t help thinking of the Cowardly Lion. Even with such a compromised character, Bert Lahr in the 1939 MGM classic, “The Wizard of Oz,” retained the energy of that noble animal, the king of all animals. To take on that sort of role spoke to my primal instinct! And then it all came down to a big reality check when I tried on the huge head mask, followed by the rest of the costume which was heavier and more cumbersome than I had ever imagined. How do you walk in this thing? I guess I didn’t exactly feel like I was running wild in the jungle. But I had to get my priorities straight and so I persevered.

When did I see my first lion? This is intergenerational. My father, and his father, and I saw the very same first lion! The Cowardly Lion from the original book, “The Wizard of Oz,” first published in 1900! Those distinctive illustrations by W.W. Denslow captivate any child, even today. Maybe you’d need to be a little patient and seek it out. But just toss aside all the digital clutter we subject ourselves to each and every day, quiet things down, slow things down, and you would have a child caught up in that magic all over again.

Back to my story, thanks to my being part of the journalism staff, I had a certain amount of authority. It was enough to convince Jamie, in charge of the cheer squad that year, to give me a hand. Tryouts were coming up soon. The mascot costume was currently in storage. She was more than happy to let me try it on for size. Better yet, she was all for guiding me through cheers and all the right moves. I followed her masterful instruction every step of the way. I started to feel like a lion—right before I wasn’t.

I wasn’t planning on doing anything fancy inside this big catsuit. I wasn’t going to be doing any cartwheels but that was okay. I had never done cartwheels before so why start now? Mostly, I sweated a ton. And then, I had a rude awakening. I discovered how much I was out of my element when I took an abrupt wrong turn and rolled on my ankle all the way to a major sprain!

What went wrong? Maybe I should never have gotten Jamie to give me a personal tour of the school mascot. Maybe if I’d properly trained. Maybe if I’d been part of a team. Well, all that theorizing could go out the window. What was done was done. I put myself in this situation. I ended up sprawled on the linoleum in a lion costume. But I had Jamie by my side.

Jamie was truly very attentive. What a godsend! I remember her pulling that stupid lion head off me. “Are you alright, Henry? Are you alright?” she kept asking. I pointed down to my giant lion paw feet. “Sprained ankle! Sprained ankle!” is what I kept saying. She looked like an angel, so beautiful and sympathetic. An impulse must have taken over and she passed her hand across my hot and sweaty face. “You poor thing,” she said. I could only close my eyes. I was mortified. I was happy too, all things considered. But I was definitely mortified.

Then she reached down and kissed my cheek. “Call me when you get better, tiger,” she said.

I perked up right away and absent-mindedly blurted out, “But I’m a lion!”

“No, you’re not,” said Jamie, “but that’s okay. I prefer men.”

2 Comments

Filed under Humor, Sports, Story, Storytelling, Wizard of Oz

Tagged as Entertainment, Humor, Pop Culture, Sports, Wizard of Oz, Writers, Writing

October 28, 2016 · 4:00 pm

VICE Releases the New VICE Guide to Comics, Horror Edition

Dick Briefer’s FRANKENSTEIN

Just in time for Halloween, VICE’s art editor, Nick Gazin, shares his list of the top five scariest horror comics. With horror comics being dismissed by many as just a junk genre, there was a golden opportunity to fill that void and create great art using strange artistic styles. Nick provides a quick history lesson, and an unexpected treat among his choices. He also wears some big toothy fangs all for your enjoyment.

VICE Guide to Comics: The Top Five Scariest Horror Comics is right HERE.

Review: CYBER REALM and SP4RX by Wren McDonald

Panel from SP4RX

I headed over to one of my favorite perches, Victrola Cafe on 15th, and started to read some comics. Okay, let me say this: Wren McDonald is one of the coolest cartoonists around. He likes to send time in cyberspace and he takes his readers along for the ride.

CYBER REALM by Wren McDonald

We will start with McDonald’s CYBER REALM, which came out last year, published by Nobrow. And we will ease our way into the newer work out this year by McDonald, SP4RX, also published by Nobrow.

Reading CYBER REALM

The short graphic story, CYBER REALM, is very action packed with tons of irony. Our hero, Nicholas was just minding his own business when thugs sent by The Master terrorize his home. Nicholas is from The Mortal Realm and must serve The Master from The Cyber Realm. But, when Nicholas does not have the extortion money that’s demanded of him, his son his killed and he’s torn apart and left to die. Pretty bloody grim!

Page from CYBER REALM

Lucky for Nick, a bunch of robots rescue him and turn him into a badass cyborg. We’re now locked into an extreme revenge tale with Nick blasting into the Cyber Realm on his relentless quest for The Master. Thanks to a light whimsical touch from McDonald, this heavy-duty tale does not get too dark and moves along quite nicely. This 24-page comic is part of the Nobrow 17×23 series that showcases new talent and helps set the stage for larger works, which brings us to the graphic novel, SP4RX.

SP4RX by Wren McDonald

SP4RX has all the bells and whistles in all the right places. This 116-page graphic novel is a full-bodied cyberpunk adventure that would make William Gibson and Philip K. Dick proud. It’s a story that doesn’t forget to save the cat. There is plenty of heart all the way through. We even have McDonald’s take on our obsession with personifying droids in the spirit of R2-D2. And that only works because we have other lively characters to play off of–some human, some cyborg. After all, this is science fiction.

Reading SP4RX

This is a straight-up common people against the elites plot spiked with an impressive helping of original humor and action. Our hero, SP4RX is your basic hacker for hire. The only problem is that he’s exceptionally good at what he does so he ends up working with some pretty high-powered sorts–and with that can come some pretty high-powered trouble. SP4RX finds himself smack in the middle of the conflict between the rebel forces and the evil all-powerful state. His only hope is that he can do the right thing despite his selfish inclinations.

The general public, also known simply as “lower levels,” has been lulled into accepting Elpis, a cure-all that boosts energy to superhuman levels. But the Elpis program proves to only serve the purposes of those in power. All souped-up on Elpis, the public feverishly increases its performance at work and abandons its humanity. Enter our hero SP4RX to this quirky dystopian tale.

Page from SP4RX

McDonald’s light-hearted cartoony style belies the story’s serious cyberpunk undertones in an uncanny and engrossing way. The way McDonald plays with scale and pacing is masterful. He creates thrilling and immersive scenes that see our characters dodging bullets, running down alleyways, and leaping off ledges—and that includes some artfully rendered interludes into cyberspace. Wren McDonald has created a perfect mashup here of humor and sci-fi.

Nobrow is an excellent publisher focusing on books for all ages. CYBER REALM and SP4RX are suitable for older readers, tween and up. And, as I hope you can tell from my reviews, adults will thoroughly enjoy both of these works too. Visit Nobrow right here.

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Filed under Comics, Cyberpunk, Nobrow Press, Sci-Fi, science fiction, Wren McDonald

Tagged as comics, Cyberpunk, Entertainment, graphic novels, Media, Nobrow Press, Philip K. Dick, Pop Culture, Publishing, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, William Gibson

October 21, 2016 · 3:00 pm

SIC 2016: It’s a Virtual World We Live In

Dave Curry of POP and Jonathan Faunae of HTC Vive

Virtual reality and augmented reality are fast becoming part of our new reality, it’s as simple as that. There will be plenty of skeptics, naysayers, and the like, but we’ve always had that when new technology comes along. I say this after not having held any prior opinion on VR and AR before my visit to this year’s Seattle Interactive Conference. But I feel that I’ve really come around to this new tech. It began to intrigue me after listening to the session put together by POP VP Dave Curry and HTC Vive Creative Director Jonathan Faunce.

The Gear is Here: It’s a Virtual World We Live In!

Faunce and Curry provided a lively look at how new tech is already becoming the new normal in the way companies present their products. A great example is the old store catalog model. Forget print catalogs. Forget even PDF catalogs. The new trend is to provide an immersive experience. Consider Lowe’s Virtual Room Designer. Or IKEA’s Virtual Reality Kitchen Experience. Just type in “virtual” or “VR” and you will soon find that virtually everything will have its own virtual reality experience.

The signs of change are coming. Take 3D GIFs. They’ve been making the rounds these last couple of years and you’ll be seeing more and more of them. As the landscape shifts, big traditional companies will seek help. They needed it with the advent of the internet, and then with the emergence of social media. Faunce at HTC Vive and Curry at POP invite them all to give them a call.

8ninths gear

One point that Curry and Faunce made really stuck with me: no matter how much they described VR and AR, you really have to try it to see for yourself. So, I did just that. SIC has a couple of stations, one by 8ninths and one by Samsung, and I dived in. The tech, at this point, is pretty remarkable. At 8ninths, I was completely blown away by my tour of a virtual car. I even got to look into the interior as well as check under the hood.

Samsung Gear VR

At the Samsung booth, I can tell, because I was looking for it, there is no motion sickness that’s going to grab you. If you get a chance, try the rollercoaster demo. In fact, stick around and try as many demos as you want. The more I did, the more I came away with a confidence in the tech. Who knew, but you can go inside a volcano and feel all giddy and get educated all in one.

Resolution will keep getting sharper and the immersive experience will continue to improve but we’ve clearly reached a tipping point. Imagine it this way: we’re already a couple of years in; we’re at the third generation level right now; and it’s just a matter of a few more production cycles. You can choose to join in or miss the boat and let your friend clue you in on how cool her goggles are. Nah, you’ll want to have a pair of your own too.

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Filed under Seattle, Seattle Interactive Conference, Technology, Virtual Reality

Tagged as Education, Entertainment, Marketing, Media, Pop Culture, Seattle, Seattle Interactive Conference, Tech, Technology, Virtual Reality

October 19, 2016 · 11:45 pm

SIC 2016: To Hurt, to Triumph and to Be Human: Expressing Our Humanity Through Technology

IndieFlix CEO Scilla Andreen

IndieFlix CEO Scilla Andreen gave a lot of thought and heart to her presentation at the Seattle Interactive Conference. It was definitely one of the best at this year’s SIC. She literally has enough material to do numerous talks and she played off that fact by bringing up one subject, talking about it, and then moving along to another saying that she could really focus on that only to move on to another. It was all masterfully done and quite entertaining. At the heart of it all, Andreen was talking about empowerment. You could say her journey began with empowering herself and how that led her to help others do the same.

IndieFlix

We’re undergoing a sea change right now. Women are making inroads that seemed untenable only a few short years ago. At one point, Andreen teased out the idea that we will be seeing a significant change very soon with a Madam President and then she quickly moved along since, as I say, there is much to cover. First off, IndieFlix is doing very well by all the filmmakers who have work up for sale or rental. The RPM payment system that IndieFlix uses pays creators revenue per minute viewed. That is the best method to use and is in pace with how we consume content. Then there is the IndieFlix Foundation that brings home the company’s goals to help support the community through public screenings of activist and educational films. One such IndieFlix-backed film is “Screenagers,” about Millennials and tech.

Consider the title of Andreen’s talk: “To Hurt, to Triumph and to Be Human: Expressing Our Humanity Through Technology.” Andreen not only meets her goal of providing insightful examples of how technology affects us, she takes it a big step further by sharing a personal story. Gently, she peels back the story of her daughter, Rashel, an independent thinker who chose to embark on a career in the coffee business in Ireland. Then the news comes back to Andreen that Rashel has cancer. Andreen turns to the emergency crowdfunding site, GoFundMe. The response is stunning. In a brief time, the family’s goal is more than doubled. But Rashel ultimately passes away. Again, the online response is overwhelming and speaks to the spiritual potential of digital life.

#ForRashel

The whole time, Andreen tells her story in a conversational yet very direct way. “The most engaging marketing is honest, not perfect, not slick,” says Andreen. In this way, I’m sure, life can be lived and things can emerge organically. I’ll tell you one thing, letting go and trusting one’s instinct is what has led to Rashel to live on through #ForRashel, an ongoing campaign in support of early detection.

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Filed under IndieFlix, Millennials, Seattle, Seattle Interactive Conference, SIC, Technology

Tagged as Entertainment, Independent Film, IndieFlix, Media, Millennials, Movies, Pop Culture, Seattle, Seattle Interactive Conference, SIC, Social Media, Technology

October 18, 2016 · 11:50 pm

SEATTLE INTERACTIVE CONFERENCE 2016: A Comic Strip Observation

Seattle Interactive Conference is an annual event celebrating the convergence of online technology, creativity, and emerging trends in one of the world’s most innovative cities. I will provide you with a look at this year’s conference, October 18–19, made up of my notes and illustrations. Let’s begin with this comics observation. All you really need to know is that this is a tech conference with lots of folks geeking out over various discussions of future trends in the market.

So our consultant ended up feeling a bit frustrated just tapping away on his laptop and not really tuning into the beauty of his own mind and heart. Well, maybe he’ll figure it out in due time. I’ll have more to say on some of the actual sessions taking place during this unique two-day event!

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Filed under Seattle, Seattle Interactive Conference, SIC, Technology

Tagged as Augmented Reality, comics, Entertainment, Humor, Marketing, Media, Pop Culture, Seattle, Seattle Interactive Conference, SIC, Tech, Technology, Virtual Reality

October 17, 2016 · 8:25 pm

Seattle Focus: Rock Is Not Dead – October 22nd

For those of you in Seattle this Saturday, October 22nd, come out to the Fantagraphics Bookstore And Gallery for a launch party for “Rock Is Not Dead,” an international anthology of comics and prose based on rock songs with an accompanying covers CD. Seattle cartoonist Noel Franklin pulled together an artist team to contribute. Fellow cartoonist Mark Campos and Franklin created a comic based on the Throwing Muses song, “Not Too Soon,” and Amy Denio recorded the cover for the CD.

Noel Franklin is a Seattle cartoonist who, like many of us in this region, is quite active. We locals know her for such beautiful work as her tribute to the OK Hotel. Franklin recently received grants from 4Culture and the Mayors Office in support of her first graphic novel.

Fantagraphics Bookstore And Gallery is located at 1201 S Vale Street. For more details, visit them right here.

Portland Focus: Portland Art Museum

South Park Block: Theodore Roosevelt guards the Portland Art Museum

One of my favorite strolls is walking down the South Park Blocks in downtown Portland and then making it over to the Portland Art Museum. I was recently in Portland and enjoyed such an outing. This was just prior to the new Andy Warhol show. So, I need to make another trip from Seattle in the near future. That said, I had a wonderful time spending most of my time taking in the permanent collections. Just for fun, here are some observations.

PAM 2016: Cymatic Modular Triangle

I was in a contemplative mood. I found myself focusing on the various juxtapositions of art I came across. There were so many pleasing combinations on view that I could not help documenting some of the most striking ones. So much to see and process. This is just a quick sampling. I also include one of the temporary exhibits that intrigued me, “Sound Beyond the Auditory,” on view until the first of the new year. I’ll say a few words and you can go to the video that showcases a really cool pulsating triangle. This exhibit is made up of experiments in cymatics, the process of making sound visible and tactile. People enjoyed each work on view and were compelled to linger over the Cymatic Modular Triangle. They would stomp, tap, click, whatever sound they could think of, to influence the colorful patterns it responded with. This exhibition was developed in partnership with CymaSpace. For more information on their programs or how to volunteer visit cymaspace.org.

Bourdelle and Monet

Getting back to my study in coupling of art works. In no specific order: we begin with Bourdelle and Monet. The massive yet pensive bust, “Head of a Figure Called Eloquence,” 1917, by Emilie-Antoine Bourdelle, takes in the scene and is a perfect counterbalance to a water lily painting by Monet.

Caro and Oldenberg

Anthony Caro’s quirky “Table Piece XXX,” 1967, fits right in with what looks like a study for a large scale Oldenberg, “Profile Airflow,” 1969.

Rauchenberg and Stella

Rauchenberg shares space with Stella.

Rodin and Monet

Rodin’s exuberance gives way to Monet’s calm.

Smith and Berman

David Smith’s spiky sculpture, “Portrait of Don Quixote,” 1952, wages a battle with Eugene Berman’s expansive “Time and the Monuments,” 1941.

Smith and Berman

Olin Levi Warner’s sculpture rides the ebb and flow of time with the paintings of Edward Lincoln Espey.

“Charrette de boeuf (The Ox Cart),” July, 1884

“The Thatched-Roof Cottages of Jorgus, Auvers-sur-Oise,” June 1890

By far, the most moving combination is of a painting early in Vincent van Gogh’s life coupled with a painting from the month of his suicide. The space between the paintings seems to stand for such a troubled life as Van Gogh’s. One painting seems perhaps serene and studios. The other painting we might read into it resignation. We can sense a mastery, a certainty within uncertainty.

Portland Art Museum

Portland Art Museum is located at 1219 SW Park Avenue. “Andy Warhol: Prints from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation” runs from October 8, 2016 to January 1, 2017. For more details, visit the PAM website right here.

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Filed under Andy Warhol, Art, Portland, Travel, Van Gogh

Tagged as andy warhol, Art, arts, Entertainment, Media, Museums, Oregon, PAM, Pop Culture, Portland, Portland Art Museum, Travel, Van Gogh, Warhol

October 11, 2016 · 3:10 pm

Review: BECOMING ANDY WARHOL

Warhol overseeing production.

The world of Andy Warhol is our world. His art, inextricably linked to his persona, resonates with us today on an uncanny level. Along with a select few artists like Picasso, he has broken through, reached immortal fame with the general public. When a new book or movie comes out about him, we feel we’re dealing with something familiar. The new graphic novel, “Becoming Andy Warhol,” written by Nick Bertozzi and illustrated by Pierce Hargan, seems to tap into some new ground by presenting us with more of the human being that was Andy Warhol (1928-1987).

Growing up in the ’70s and ’80s, with my own art ambitions, I was keenly aware of Warhol as I digested his art through the media. What I saw of the person was actually quite minimal. There was that exaggerated deadpan pose, that would be taken up by so many artists of the next generation, like Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Who Warhol really was did not seem to matter. The fact that he was gay was never brought up in the mainstream media. But one thing was clear: Warhol was a significant artist breaking new ground.

What this graphic novel attempts to do is humanize Warhol to better understand the man and his art. He was certainly not a passive eunuch. The most distinctive contribution this book makes is to show Warhol as an active and sexual being dealing with relationships, and strategizing his career. His career did not just emerge one day fully formed and he did not have all the answers. In fact, there’s some wonderful scenes in the book with art critic Henry Geldzahler guiding his friend along. When it came to attempting to answer rather pompous questions from the media, why not simply respond with enigmatic non-answers? This approach, Geldzahler advises Warhol, will make him a star.

Enigmatic Andy

Warhol was certainly more than capable of explaining his methods. More than anything in the world, he wished to share his insights with the Pop Art kings Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg. But, when they saw themselves as on a separate plane from Warhol, it did not faze Warhol. What we see in this graphic novel is a Warhol who, despite setbacks, maintains an internal compass that keeps him on his path. He is a determined and driven dynamo. The book focuses on Andy Warhol from 1962 to 1964, those critical years which see him make the break from a hugely successful career as an illustrator, dive into a fine art career, and never look back.

Warhol at Work

A grand biography is one of the most suitable of subjects for a graphic novel. Bertozzi and Hargan turn Warhol’s journey into a most engaging story, one that gains much from the way that they tell it. The challenge here for Bertozzi was to present a story that many of us already know to some extent, while only relying upon books and resources commonly available. What is so new and compelling to tell? It becomes a matter of what to bring to the foreground. I believe Bertozzi does an admirable job of choosing what bits to use that add up. Hargan does an equally good job of tuning into an irreverent depiction of the man. His Warhol becomes an accessible comics character in his own right. As you read, you can get lost in conversations and the whole pace of things from a certain era.

Andy Warhol was already Andy Warhol at the start of this story insomuch as he wasn’t going to let anyone or anything get in his way. And, when it seemed time to choose whether to abandon parts of who he was in favor of a more mainstream presence, he knew where to draw the line. There’s a particularly effective scene where the renowned architect Philip Johnson admonishes Warhol to drop all of his rough trade friends while, at the same time, he ponders which of the boys he might get to bed. While far from perfect, Warhol proves to stand for something. By defying Johnson and others, Warhol stayed true to himself and would go on to make history. I’m sure that Bertozzi felt compelled to articulate these finer points about Warhol.