Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from August, 2021

Ten Thoughts and Observations I Had Rewatching Evan Rachel Wood's "Phoenix Rising" (Part One)

When the two-part documentary Phoenix Rising aired on HBO on March 15th and 16th 2022, I saw it and immediately wrote my review of part two, having already written my review of part one when I saw its premiere at Sundance over a month earlier. I didn't have much time to process it at the time, because it has a lot of information, and with limited space to write about it in a limited time, there was only so much you could address. After watching the documentary about 3 or 4 times, I realized I could easily write a book with all I had to say. Now that some time had passed since I last saw it, I just rewatched the documentary this past week on the anniversary of its premiere, and there were things that stood out to me that I didn't either capture a year ago or didn't have enough knowledge at the time to better comprehend. I will try to summarize my thoughts and observations into a list of ten things I wanted to address, though it could easily be more than ten, choosing five t

Kanye West Sends Message of Redemption for Marilyn Manson

Kanye West brought out Marilyn Manson at his Donda album listening party that just took place at Chicago’s Soldier Field, which was live-streamed globally via Apple Music. Manson appeared on the stoop of a church-like structure built in the center of the stadium. When photos of the construction of the structure circulated online before the event, many noted its resemblance to West’s childhood home. A notable difference however was the crucifix on top, transforming it into a church building. Manson, along with a masked figure many online thought to be DaBaby, who has been facing his own controversies these days with what many say was a homophobic rant, walked out onto the porch alongside West as the first song of the event, rumored to be titled "Jail", began to play, which usually has featured a guest verse from Jay-Z, but at tonight's event a verse from DaBaby replaced it, seemingly calling out the controversy surrounding him: “I said one thing they ain’t like and they t

The Relationship of Marilyn Manson and Evan Rachel Wood (Part 5: June 2009 - November 2009)

  Mickey Rourke, Shane West and Alexander Skarsgard As is usual when a high profile couple in Hollywood breaks up, the media with a keen eye will begin to circulate rumors who they are dating next, even if they happen to be merely seen with someone of the opposite sex. These rumors did not escape Marilyn Manson or Evan Rachel Wood after they first broke up. In November 2008, just days after her split from Manson, Evan Rachel Wood (21) was rumored to be dating her Wrestler co-star who plays her father Mickey Rourke (56), and on January 25, 2009 they were spotted kissing on the lips at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills after the Screen Actors Guild Awards. Evan denied these rumors, and even issued a statement through Rolling Stone saying: "I'm upset because I feel disrespected by the press and by Mr. Rourke. Just because I'm single doesn't mean that you can take advantage of me. It's unfair that the performances might suffer because of all these distractions.

The Relationship of Marilyn Manson and Evan Rachel Wood (Part 4: Marilyn Manson's Theatrics in Promoting the Release of "The High End of Low")

Manson as director, actor, producer and viewer, holding the clapperboard around his face with bloody hands. "...cut, cut, cut, cut..."   "It's one big movie. There's parts of it that are stupid and boring, there's parts of it that are exciting, pornographic and violent, there are parts of it that are dramatic and heartwarming, there's all of that. It's just a movie, and that's the only way I can deal with it."    - Marilyn Manson ( Suicide Girls interview, 2009) When The High End of Low was released on May 20, 2009 Marilyn Manson was promoting the album by talking about how his breakup with Evan Rachel Wood led to a major low point in his life. He talked about spending his Christmas in 2008 all alone, calling Evan 158 times, and for each call scarring his face and his hands. Then between January 2-5 Manson got together with his band to record the album, at which time he described his life as being "the high end of low", hence the

The Relationship of Marilyn Manson and Evan Rachel Wood (Part 3: November 2008 - May 2009)

In various interviews, especially from 2007 through 2010, Marilyn Manson explained that while he was married to Dita Von Teese he was faced with a new reality he wasn't prepared to face. He was faced with a sense of responsibility that was calling for him to grow up and change who he was, essentially. This made him feel disconnected from himself, and drove him into a deep depression. He was also disgusted with the music industry, which was driving him to never want to make music again. It appears during this time he even lost the motivation to paint. Since being an artist is intrinsically who he is and it is something he could not escape from, he decided to make a horror movie called Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll . Phantasmagoria was announced at the Berlin International Film Festival in February 2006. This movie became his primary focus.  It was at this time that Manson met Evan Rachel Wood at the Chateau Marmont in the summer of 2006, when he approached her with t

Search