15.02.2019 fri Movies: Velvet Buzzsaw Book: The Killer Collective by Barry Eisler Music: Music Inspired by the Film Roma by Various Artists Wine: The Oriental Republic Technology: iRacing a hit in NASCAR Macau Daily Times | Edition 3229 | 15 Feb 2019 S O M N T O HE K At the world’s E largest pilgrimage in W Prayagraj in northern India, A tens of millions of Hindu faithful TER travel to the sacred sangam - the confluence of three holy rivers - to take a dip, where a reclusive pot-smoking sect has been growing in ranks X2 PÁTIO DA ILUSÃO illusion NEWS OF THE WORLD Associated Press Naked pot-smoking sect grows at Indian Hindu fest AP PHOTO he Kumbh Mela, or pitch- For some, stripping down for — naked, ash-smeared canna- the 13 monastic orders’ pro- tiation comprises five rituals, er festival, is a series of a holy dip also signifies the bis-smoking Hindu warriors cessions — on garlanded hors- starting with the shaving of Tbaths by Hindu sadhus stripping away of the material and onetime-armed defenders es, elephants and tractors — heads and beards, ritual offer- and sadhvis, holy men and world. of the faith who for centuries through the festival grounds ing of saffron robes, wearing women, and other pilgrims who At every Kumbh, including this have lived as ascetics in jungles and into the river, armed with prayer beads, applying ash on believe the ritual cleanses them year’s, thousands of devotees and caves. tridents and swords. the body and giving up their of their sins and ends the pro- are initiated into the reclu- On so-called royal bathing Performed by senior priests, last piece of clothing. cess of repeated reincarnation. sive sect of the Naga Sadhus days, the Naga Sadhus lead the elaborate process of ini- The aspirants have to take a DRIVE IN Jake Coyle, AP Film Writer ‘VELVET BUZZSAW’ A GLORIOUSLY AP PHOTO GORY ART-WORLD SATIRE he art installation, so of- verse; Rhodora Haze (Rene orchestrated, the Los Angeles ten a playground in the Russo), a big-time dealer museum show strong-armed, Tcontemporary art museum, whose old nickname is both the paintings carefully parce- is in Dan Gilroy’s gloriously the film’s title and the tattoo led to stimulate just the right gory satire “Velvet Buzzsaw” on her shoulder; buyer Gre- amount of demand. Vandewalt a terror chamber. Interactivity tchen (Toni Collette), who gets book rights. is involuntary. can manipulate private buyers The paintings themselves we “Velvet Buzzsaw,” which and museums, alike; a pair of take for the genuine article. opens on the Art Basel Mia- painters, one a graffiti artist Unlike the frivolous installa- mi Beach fair, assembles a sensation (Daveed Diggs), the tions that flitter through “Vel- glittering gallery of art-world other a sullen has-been who vet Buzzsaw” (like a metallic snobs, strivers and divas. A has turned his studio into a sphere that emits various sen- cocktail of critics, collectors, profitable assembly line (John sations when you stick your buyers and even a couple ac- Malkovich); and Josephina hand into its holes), Dease’s tual artists, it’s the kind of (Zawe Ashton), a struggling works, deemed “outsider art,” easy-target collection that protegee to Haze. represent something “substan- Christopher Guest might have It’s on Josephina that the plot tial” in a shallow contempo- taken aim at. turns. When an elderly nei- rary art world. Only Josephi- Rene Russo (left) and Jake Gyllenhaal in a scene from “Velvet Buzzsaw” But Gilroy, who memora- ghbor named Ventril Dease ne knows that Dease, whose bly skewered “if it bleeds, dies, she stumbles upon the murky past is slowly revealed, this satire of the commodifi- executed old-school camp, nhaal’s Vandewalt, a paragon it leads” TV news in “Ni- paintings that litter his apart- had wished his artwork des- cation of art should come in some of them laugh-out- of pretention whose pompous ghtcrawler,” has something ment, and quickly realizes it’s troyed. At first merely cree- a film that premiered at the loud funny. Maybe not since demeanor steadily crumbles. darker, or at least bloodier a major discovery. She swipes py (we learn his reds were Sundance Film Festival (the “Peeping Tom” have scenes “Listen to my intelligent in mind. In “Velvet Buzz- them all before they’re to be painted in blood), figures in premiere auction house for of art and murder been so clo- mind,” he tells Josephina, rea- saw,” when a painting fetches tossed in the garbage. When the paintings begin to subtly independent film), a film that sely synthesized. That film, of ching perhaps the very moun- a “killing” at auction, the she shows them to Vandewalt, move, snatch and kill. is being streamed by Netflix course, had much more on its taintop of mansplaining. He’s payoff might be literal, and with whom she’s sleeping, he In vivid slasher vignettes, (where algorithms strictly go- mind and posed more disquie- a masterpiece. any subsequent shredding is immediately pronounces the everyone who has cynically vern a film’s monetary value), ting questions for its audien- going to be a lot more sinister paintings “visionary.” capitalized on Dease’s art and one that’s penned by a ce. “Velvet Buzzsaw” doesn’t “Velvet Buzzsaw,” a Net- than anything cooked up by The whole transactional sys- works gets their comeuppan- filmmaker with credits inclu- lead anywhere inward; it be- flix release, is rated R by the Banksy. tem goes into overdrive to ce, many of them at a gallery ding “Kong: Skull Island” and comes just a litany of (exqui- Motion Picture Association of Among them are Morf Van- posthumously turn Dease late at night. “All art is dange- “Real Steel”? site) death scenes for art-wor- America for violence, language, dewalt (Jake Gyllenhaal), a into a major artist and, more rous,” says Haze before quite Sure, but that doesn’t mean it’s ld caricatures. some sexuality/nudity and brief power-wielding critic, “God” importantly, into an industry. realizing how right she is. not a lot of fun. Gilroy’s set- Still, what caricatures they drug use. Running time: 113 in this designer-label uni- The million-dollar sales are Are there certain ironies that -piece slaughters are expertly are. Especially good is Gylle- minutes. 15.02.2019 fri Naked pot-smoking sect grows at Indian Hindu fest AP PHOTO vow of celibacy, practice tough ritual to pay homage to their bolizing the unity of his soul Akhara monastic order. du religious traditions. physical and mental condition- ancestors for the salvation of with God. After they are ordained, the The ancient Kumbh festival, ing and renounce worldly pos- their souls. “They will consider themselves Naga Sadhus must remain which UNESCO added to its sessions and family ties. Usually this ritual is performed dead, and only their soul will partially or fully naked for the list of intangible cultural heri- After a purifying bath in the only after a person dies. live on. They will pronounce rest of their lives, sleep on the tage in 2017, runs through early river and a prayer ceremony, But the last “Pind Dan” ritual themselves dead even while ground, limit themselves to one March, in Prayagraj, northern the sadhus have to perform at the Naga initiation ceremony living,” said Santosh Mishra, a meal a day, obey their leaders India. About 150 million people “Pind Dan,” a Hindu funeral is for the sadhu himself, sym- 50-year-old priest of the Juna and gurus and protect the Hin- are expected to attend. BOOK IT tTUNES ‘KILLER COLLECTIVE’ IS ANOTHER PAGE BECK, PATTI SMITH, UNKLE TURNER FROM BARRY EISLER INSPIRED BY ‘ROMA’ t first blush, Barry Eisler’s After Rain turns down the job, eck, Patti the dog it pays new thriller resembles one an airliner carrying the FBI Smith, Unk- homage to, and AP PHOTO Aof those cartoonish action mo- agents crashes into Lake Michi- AP PHOTO Ble, DJ Shadow in a more ellip- vies in which a handful of reti- gan. A team of assassins tries to and Billie Ei- tical way, so do red covert operators who don’t bushwhack Lone and botches lish are part of EL-P & Wilder trust each other are forced by the job. And Horton and Rain a large and di- Zoby with their circumstances to join forces for barely escape when the unk- verse group per- space-age ins- one last job. nown bad guy tries to tie up forming songs trumental “Ma- Indeed, Eisler has assembled loose ends. inspired by Al- rooned.” the most memorable characters Lone and the FBI agents had fonso Cuaron’s Other top songs from his 14 previous novels been marked for death after “Roma,” resul- include “Con and given each major roles in uncovering a pedophile ring ting in an album el Viento” by “The Killer Collective.” The- involving six Secret Service that has plenty of a fragile-sou- re’s Livia Lone, a Seattle sex Agents. Such a scandal would good music but nding but de- crimes investigator who wou- be embarrassing, of course, but with few direct termined Jessie ld rather kill perverts than jail would someone really bring links to the film. Reyez, Michael them. And John Rain, an as- down an airliner to cover it up? “The Killer Collective” The film’s soun- Kiwanuka sin- (Thomas & Mercer) by Barry Eisler Various Artists, “Music Inspired by the Film sassin who specializes in “na- Clearly, a more nefarious cons- dtrack was based Roma” (Sony Music Masterworks) ging on Unk- tural causes.” And Delilah, a piracy involving higher-ups on songs played le’s “On My treacherous Mossad agent.