The Bulletin: Arts & Culture Roundup | 28 June

JIM CARREY'S KICK ASS 2 ABOUT-FACE
Jim Carrey has spoken out to disown his new movie Kick-Ass 2, the sequel to the ultra-violent superhero movie based on the series of comics by Scottish writer Mark Millar. In a couple of tweets posted on Sunday last week, Carrey states: "I did Kickass a month before Sandy Hook and now in all good conscience I cannot support that level of violence... my apologies to others involve with the film. I am not ashamed of it but recent events have caused a change in my heart." Given that the first Kick-Ass movie featured a character called Big Daddy, played by Nicolas Cage, whose sole reason for existing was to put bullets in bad guys and train his diminutive daughter how to murder people with enormous guns, Carrey's after-the-fact reluctance to support the sequel seems a trifle odd. 

On the fan-run, bespoke wiki for Kick-Ass, Carrey's character is spoken of as an anti-gun superhero. The site states: "Although he has no problems letting his dog, Sofia, eat a criminal's genitals, the guns he carries are empty and are there purely for intimidation purposes." Shortly after Carrey's tweets, on his Millarworld forum, Mark Millar posted a considered response to Carrey's about-face, stating: "First off, I love Jim Carrey." He goes on to praise Carrey for his performances in films such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and points out: "He had lunch with Matthew (Vaughn, Kick-Ass director) around the time of the first movie and dug it so much he appeared that night on Conan O'Brien DRESSED as Kick-Ass, singing a duet with Conan dressed as Superman." A screen capture from this performance is now being used as the background for Mark Millar's Twitter page. 

Millar goes on to say that the sequel contains "one of Carrey's best-ever performances," and continues: "I'm baffled by this sudden announcement as nothing seen in this picture wasn't in the screenplay eighteen months ago." He also points out: "Ironically, Jim's character in Kick-Ass 2 is a Born-Again Christian and the big deal we made of the fact that he refuses to fire a gun is something he told us attracted him to the role in the first place."

So what can we make of Carrey's sudden change of heart? As Millar correctly identifies, Carrey has always been a passionate advocate of gun control. Check out this parody video he created for the website FunnyOrDie:

Soon after Carrey's announcement, many voices on Twitter began to call for him to donate his no doubt substantial fee from the movie to victims of the Sandy Hook massacre. Carrey has remained strangely quiet in the face of these suggestions, and has not commented further on his involvement with Kick-Ass 2. For his part, Millar steadfastly refuses to acknowledge a link between violent films and tragedies such as Sandy Hook.

"I've never quite bought the notion that violence in fiction leads to violence in real-life any more than Harry Potter casting a spell creates more Boy Wizards in real-life," he writes. "Our job as storytellers is to entertain and our toolbox can't be sabotaged by curtailing the use of guns in an action-movie. Imagine a John Wayne picture where he wasn't packing or a Rocky movie where Stallone wasn't punching someone repeatedly in the face. Our audience is smart enough to know they're all pretending and we should instead just sit back and enjoy the serotonin release of seeing bad guys meeting bad ends as much as we enjoyed seeing the Death Star exploding." Props for mentioning John Wayne, Rocky, Star Wars and Harry Potter in one paragraph.

Rob Bricken, writing on the geek culture website io9, offers his opinion: "I don't think that there's anything in Carrey or Millar's words that sheds new light on the debate about violence in media (and it would be super awesome if you could avoid getting into it in the comments, because no one has ever changed anyone's mind on the Internet, ever)." Closer to home, Juliet Dunlop, writing for The Scotsman, called Carrey's reaction "highly unusual," going on to suggest: "Carrey certainly should have known what to expect." But, she says, "Carrey has a point. It’s as though we’ve all become so inured to violence - comedic or otherwise - it takes something like Sandy Hook to make us take stock."

Dunlop eventually weighs in on Carrey's side of the debate, suggesting: "If it’s difficult for directors to explain away the impact graphic movie violence may or may not have, it must be even tougher for the actors... Jim Carrey has done a brave thing... it seems he’s said what he has for all the right reasons. Movie violence has become increasingly unrealistic and 'fun' and we’re in danger of consuming it without a second thought. Murder and torture should be shocking. When they’re not, we normalise violence and devalue its impact. That’s never okay." 

The incident has re-opened the can of worms concerning the impact of violence in films, TV and video games, a debate that has its modern roots in the rush to ban 'video nasties' in the 1980s, and the introduction of a licensing system for games in 2003, in the wake of the popularity of games from Mortal Kombat to Grand Theft Auto, with opponents of depicted violence suggesting a direct causal link, and naysayers pooh-poohing these accusations. Although a wealth of studies have been carried out attempting to establish a direct link between depicted violence and actual violent behaviour, most have been rubbished as biased and misleading.

What are your opinions on this issue? Should Carrey be donating his fee if he wants to disown the movie? Are his actions a case of too little, too late? Do you agree that on-screen violence can 'desensitise' a viewer to real-life violence? Let's get stuck into it in the comments below!

BOOK NOW: MUSIC LANGUAGE FESTIVAL 2013
Now in its third year, Cry Parrot's Music Language festival descends on Glasgow once more in September, boasting an exclusive flyer design by Turner-nominated art troublemaker David Shrigley, and a staggeringly diverse bill of bands and musicians, encompassing some incredibly inventive and avant garde artists. 

"The line-up consists of a selection of some of the most interesting music being made right now across the cross-pollinating music scenes and communities in Scotland," confirms Cry Parrot's Fielding Hope. "35 acts might seem like a lot, but its only a snapshot of what is going on right now. We're living in exciting times."

It's literally an A to Z of Scotland's most diverse and challenging artists, from Conquering Animal Sound's Anneke Kampman, in her solo guise as Anak-Anak, to the ground-breaking collaboration between live-looping vocal experimentalist Wounded Knee and champion beatboxer Bigg Taj. Bill Wells puts in an appearamce, alongside the National Jazz Trio of Scotland; as do Fence favourites eagleowl, showcasing their brand of hushed, complex, measured post-folk.

Cult lo-fi pop chanteuse and one-woman loop-generator Ela Orleans is in attendance, as are psychedelic Ultimate Thrush / Silk Cut collaboration Golden Teacher. In Posterface bring the analogue tape experiments and brooding drone, while Hausfrau, the team-up between Aggi Doom's Claudia Nova and Jim McKienven, ex of Altered Images, transform cabaret standards into muted, doom-laden synth-pop. Planet Mu's Konx-Om-Pax offers skeletal, delicate electronica, while Hector Bizerk front-man Louie puts in an appearance, showcasing his solo work. That's just the tip of the iceberg - check here for the full line-up, and buy tickets here.

NEW MUSIC: PIXIES, FRANZ FERDINAND, EL-P & KILLER MIKE'S RUN THE JEWELS, ULTRAMAGNETIC MCS, DAVID LYNCH
This morning, a brand-new Pixies track surfaced online, along with a video - Bagboy is the first new material featuring the band's original lineup to be released since 1991's Trompe Le Monde, their final album before their split, and eventual reunion in 2004. The track has surfaced in the wake of an announcement from the band's bassist and vocalist Kim Deal, currently touring with her subsequent band The Breeders, stating that she was leaving the band to pursue other projects.

In a statement on their Facebook page, the band commented: "Despite her decision to move on, we will always consider her a member of the Pixies, and her place will always be here for her. We wish her all the best." Deal's distinctive voice can be heard on the new track, sparking speculation that they may be sitting on more recorded material. Check out the video below, and hit the Pixies site to swap your email address for a free download of the track.

It would be remiss of us not to tip the wink to Franz Ferdinand, who this week unveiled two tracks from their forthcoming album Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Actions, due out 26 August. Right Action, one of the first tracks to be unveiled, was produced by Joe Goddard and Alexis Taylor from Hot Chip. Both tracks are available now as a double A-side single. 

It's the album we here at The Skinny have been waiting for all summer - Run The Jewels, the collaborative project from former Def Jux main-man and Company Flow co-founder El-P, and the emcee behind last year's stellar, El-P-produced blinder R.A.P. Music, Killer Mike. It doesn't disappoint, with both rappers bringing their lyrical A-game, and the production bumping from dark and dirty electronica to laidback boom-bap. Our advice? Go grab yourself a copy right now, in exchange for an email address. 

Sticking with hip-hop, a new track surfaced this week from Ultramagnetic MCs - the seminal rap group started by rapper/producer Ced Gee and the mighty Kool Keith, aka Dr. Octagon. Uniting their original lineup - with TR Love and Moe Love included - the Ultramags are back on the road, coming to Glasgow's O2 ABC on 10 July, and Manchester's Band on the Wall on 11 July, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the release of their ground-breaking debut, Critical Beatdown. The new track has more in common with Kool Keith's solo work, but it's great to hear the whole crew back together again, and promises big things from their reunion. 

Finally, a couple more tracks from David Lynch's new album The Big Dream, the much-anticipated follow-up to Crazy Clown Time (reviewed here), have surfaced online this week - we've had an advance listen to the whole album, and can confirm there are plenty more treats in store, with the album's tone an intoxicating mixture of spectral, neon-lit blues, dubbed-out electronica and yearning dream-pop. The album drops on 16 July. For now, check out the songs which have surfaced on YouTube so far, and the official video for I'm Waiting here, featuring vocals from Lykke Li. 

NEW VIDEOS: BLOC PARTY, YEAH YEAH YEAHS, M.I.A., ARCTIC MONKEYS, ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER, WASHED OUT, PISSED JEANS
Bloc Party have a new video out this week - the track, Ratchet, is taken from a forthcoming 5-track EP by the London four-piece, due for release on 12 August. The Nextwave Sessions is a collection of tracks played on their recent tour, and recorded with producer Dan Carey.  

The new video from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Despair, has the honour of being the first music video ever filmed on top of the Empire State building. The track is taken from their latest album, Mosquito. 

M.I.A is back - her new track Bring The Noize, with its video depicting a club in a war-torn country, is the first single to be taken from Matangi, the eagerly-awaited follow-up to 2010's MAYA, which is due out this autumn. 

Arctic Monkeys are back this week as well - check out the minimalistic video for new track Do I Wanna Know, taken from the forthcoming album AM, slated for a 9 September release.

Oneohtrix Point Never, now signed to Warp and set to release an album with them on 30 September, this week unveiled the video titled Still Life (Excerpt), created by director Nate Boyce. The director has worked with OPN (aka Daniel Lopatin) before, on his much-admired Reliquary House performances. In a statement, Lopatin and Boyce offered an in-depth explanation of the thinking behind the video:

"Incongruous surfaces come together in a nexus of fetishistic material interactions. Cryptic ads for obscure objects, fragments of sculptural forms, and remnants of material surfaces are thrown into the mix with bulging semi-solids, unctuous quasi-liquids that are agitated into an animated flow. There is no resolution other than the suspension of these discrete elements from diverging orders: liquid, mineral, organic, consumerist, etc. Their interactions simply propose a language that is looked at as it inheres in the plasticity of texture. This is the language of morphogenesis - the process of approaching form - imagined as a pulsatile latency that stops short of emergence." Quite.

And finally, Sub Poppers Pissed Jeans have wrung another fantastic video from their album Honeys - the latest clip sees their track Romanticize Me re-imagined as a figure-skating routine.