I'm sure I've talked about this before.
There is a scene that ends the documentary The Cruise, where Speed Levitch is standing in front of a door, pontificating. The door is labeled "Emergency Exit Only- Alarm Will Sound." It leads to the roof, or some kind of overlook. Speed is explaining how this sort of sign, this sort of wiring, is the opposite of "the cruise" as he defines it- being able to go wherever, being free. Sometimes these doors aren't alarmed at all, it's an intimidation tactic. You open it, and nothing happens. Although sometimes it's a silent alarm, and the police accost you within minutes.
He opens the door. No alarm goes off. He opens it wider, and because of the f-stop on the camera being for indoors, the frame fills with light and overexposure, and that's how the film ends.
It is an amazing moment of film-poetry, and it seems to capture an obscure feeling perfectly, through metaphor.
There are so many films being made, so much of everything being made. Sometimes it is worth it for when something like that happens, this weird metaphor added to the language, like the Gupta Empire coming up with the idea of zero. You know, that's why we have empires, or cameras and film stock.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Paper Rad news: That video Problem Solvers is amazing. Three segments, all with songs, all with lyrics that are hard to discern due to mixing, masterful use of Flash, very funny jokes. Also, apparently Wyld Fyle (the commerce-minded group of Jacob Ciocci, Ben Jones, and E-Rock) are doing a commercial for Corn Pops. And Extreme Animals did a cover of Archers Of Loaf's "Web In Front" at South By Southwest, that I would very much like to hear.
Newspaper news: The Stranger is a much better written paper than The Portland Mercury, with which it shares a design sense and probable owners. Portland is a better city than Seattle in almost all ways, but seems weirdly car-choked compared to most other cities in a way that kind of put me off.
Portland news: I went there to see the Boredoms and slept on sidebar-linked-blogger/shit-talker extraordinaire Ben Parrish's floor.
Music reviews: The new Silver Jews record is silly, although I like the parts where Cassie sings. Bands are letting me down in 2008!
Movie reviews: I started watching O Lucky Man!, the follow-up to If..., directed by Lindsay Anderson and starring Malcolm McDowell. So far, so good. It's tonally closer to The Ruling Class than If..., at least so far. Partly this is because of the professionalism of its construction.
Newspaper news: The Stranger is a much better written paper than The Portland Mercury, with which it shares a design sense and probable owners. Portland is a better city than Seattle in almost all ways, but seems weirdly car-choked compared to most other cities in a way that kind of put me off.
Portland news: I went there to see the Boredoms and slept on sidebar-linked-blogger/shit-talker extraordinaire Ben Parrish's floor.
Music reviews: The new Silver Jews record is silly, although I like the parts where Cassie sings. Bands are letting me down in 2008!
Movie reviews: I started watching O Lucky Man!, the follow-up to If..., directed by Lindsay Anderson and starring Malcolm McDowell. So far, so good. It's tonally closer to The Ruling Class than If..., at least so far. Partly this is because of the professionalism of its construction.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
Sometimes I will get two bands confused with each other, before hearing either one. For example: The Afghan Whigs and Archers Of Loaf were the same band to me back in 2003, and when I was in middle school, Blur and Rush were indistinguishable. The most recent confusion for me to correct were the bands Ecstatic Sunshine and Awesome Color. Awesome Color are on the record label Ecstatic Peace, which is a fine label, but as I learned when they opened for Dinosaur Jr., Awesome Color are kind of terrible. The difference between Ecstatic Sunshine and Awesome Color is that the former are pretty, with volume kind of on the fringes of the sound in a way I know will dominate live, but Awesome Color are just kind of dumb.
Ecstatic Peace are from Baltimore and are signed to Carpark, kind of like Beach House and Dan Deacon. All these acts use different instrumentation from each other, but all seem kind of pretty, and have some kind of relation to volume. Even Beach House, who are totally quiet and gentle, have organ used as this blanket in this way that's like early nineties shoegaze. So far Ecstatic Sunshine doesn't seem quite as great as the others but I've just heard a few songs so far. (Also I think they're instrumental. They kind of have that "instruments playing themselves" feeling, but more stripped down than when you hear a bunch of musicians jamming out.)
This is probably worth another post of its own, but I just watched three movies starring Warren Oates in close proximity to each other. He is good in all of them, and all are pretty good. These movies were Two-Lane Blacktop, Cockfigher, and Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia.
Ecstatic Peace are from Baltimore and are signed to Carpark, kind of like Beach House and Dan Deacon. All these acts use different instrumentation from each other, but all seem kind of pretty, and have some kind of relation to volume. Even Beach House, who are totally quiet and gentle, have organ used as this blanket in this way that's like early nineties shoegaze. So far Ecstatic Sunshine doesn't seem quite as great as the others but I've just heard a few songs so far. (Also I think they're instrumental. They kind of have that "instruments playing themselves" feeling, but more stripped down than when you hear a bunch of musicians jamming out.)
This is probably worth another post of its own, but I just watched three movies starring Warren Oates in close proximity to each other. He is good in all of them, and all are pretty good. These movies were Two-Lane Blacktop, Cockfigher, and Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Dash Shaw's Bodyworld webcomic is totally great.
So's the end of this interview with Andrew Earles, for completely different reasons. Edit to emphasize: Just the end, where the interviewer asks Earles to define a hipster on. The reviewer betrays his not really having his own thoughts and opinions in favor of received knowledge and it's great.
So's the end of this interview with Andrew Earles, for completely different reasons. Edit to emphasize: Just the end, where the interviewer asks Earles to define a hipster on. The reviewer betrays his not really having his own thoughts and opinions in favor of received knowledge and it's great.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Persepolis isn't so good. I am referring to the movie, having not read the comic. I thought about reading it, though, when it came out a couple years ago, and was generally acclaimed across the board. In the time since I've started to feel like the critics I like reading didn't really like it. Marjane Satrapi did other comics, which seemed like they were largely ignored.
I don't think I've read a big bashing of the book though, which does seem to be what the public is crying out for.
I walked out of the movie, thinking of the vague criticisms that haven't been quite formulated into essay form by other people. I left not because it was egregiously offensive, but because I felt like I "got" it. Where it was going, that there was nothing to get. The history happens in the background, and is never really presented in a way that's actually useful- knowing that world events effect some people is probably not as politically useful as knowing why the things are happening. The actual happenings are all in the background. What's in focus is this ordinary girl. This is what some people think is amazing, this is what works for people. But even her life isn't that much in focus, in terms of actually giving you insight to it. Was any of it in focus? It all seemed a blur, of signifiers of "ordinary girl"- western pop culture- and signifiers of Iran- revolution and the Shah. But why were things happening? The most vivid moments don't seem like they're coming from anywhere. Which kind makes them less than vivid.
I keep on thinking of The Wire, which is wrapping up now, and presents such a view of the way people effect systems while still being a part of them, and doesn't depict any of them as evil, just sort of at odds with each other. It gives you a great deal of insight into how political systems and bureaucracies work, by depicting them as made up of people, and then showing the consequences of people's actions. It's in deep focus. There, things that happen seem "real" in a way that they don't at all in Persepolis.
Also, Persepolis- while probably looking better as animation than it did as a comic- doesn't look so great. It has an alright style- an interesting one, that does the job (I guess- in a lot of ways, another style could convey more about character, or feeling, or information about Iran or whatever virtues the work's supposed to have that I didn't really pick up) but there's never a dynamic composition. There's a lot of cartoonists whose style doesn't really work for me and seems generic but who are masters of body language or balancing an image. Yeah- not a lot of body language in this one. These are the things that actually convey things graphically, like character, rather than just vague events. It's the same thing- not a real eye for detail, things aren't in focus. Things aren't felt. So I walked out early, maybe missing some stuff, but kind of convinced I wouldn't due to the nature of autobiography.
(Huh, Neko Case is covering The Train From Kansas City in audio form in the other room. I didn't know she did that.)
I liked The Savages, though, with its Chris Ware poster, and its single allusion to the work of Lynda Barry, and its eye for real things. It's probably also somewhat autobiographical, but with an eye towards details, and with a plot controlled by its characters. The detail about the toes curling up, Laura Linney surprised someone would want to read an unproduced play- and the way Philip Seymour Hoffman never offered- a student asks "what's the difference between narrative and plot." It's not the most visually stylized thing, but then, it's not animated, and has actors to do the work of conveying feeling with body language. There's even sight gags! This is Tamara Jenkins' follow-up to Slums Of Beverly Hills, a movie that was essentially okay, and this is better than, while still not being completely awesome. Who knows what of it I will remember months from now? (Probably Philp Bosco writing "prick" on the wall.) Sure, other things- the use of prescription drugs, the bad sex- will fade into other movies that had a better eye for detail, or that I just saw first, but still, it's got scenes other than that- where the subject matter is, with the decision to put the father in a nursing home- all of that works, and is well-observed, and can be recalled easier than I can recall the history of Iran as depicted in Persepolis.
I don't think I've read a big bashing of the book though, which does seem to be what the public is crying out for.
I walked out of the movie, thinking of the vague criticisms that haven't been quite formulated into essay form by other people. I left not because it was egregiously offensive, but because I felt like I "got" it. Where it was going, that there was nothing to get. The history happens in the background, and is never really presented in a way that's actually useful- knowing that world events effect some people is probably not as politically useful as knowing why the things are happening. The actual happenings are all in the background. What's in focus is this ordinary girl. This is what some people think is amazing, this is what works for people. But even her life isn't that much in focus, in terms of actually giving you insight to it. Was any of it in focus? It all seemed a blur, of signifiers of "ordinary girl"- western pop culture- and signifiers of Iran- revolution and the Shah. But why were things happening? The most vivid moments don't seem like they're coming from anywhere. Which kind makes them less than vivid.
I keep on thinking of The Wire, which is wrapping up now, and presents such a view of the way people effect systems while still being a part of them, and doesn't depict any of them as evil, just sort of at odds with each other. It gives you a great deal of insight into how political systems and bureaucracies work, by depicting them as made up of people, and then showing the consequences of people's actions. It's in deep focus. There, things that happen seem "real" in a way that they don't at all in Persepolis.
Also, Persepolis- while probably looking better as animation than it did as a comic- doesn't look so great. It has an alright style- an interesting one, that does the job (I guess- in a lot of ways, another style could convey more about character, or feeling, or information about Iran or whatever virtues the work's supposed to have that I didn't really pick up) but there's never a dynamic composition. There's a lot of cartoonists whose style doesn't really work for me and seems generic but who are masters of body language or balancing an image. Yeah- not a lot of body language in this one. These are the things that actually convey things graphically, like character, rather than just vague events. It's the same thing- not a real eye for detail, things aren't in focus. Things aren't felt. So I walked out early, maybe missing some stuff, but kind of convinced I wouldn't due to the nature of autobiography.
(Huh, Neko Case is covering The Train From Kansas City in audio form in the other room. I didn't know she did that.)
I liked The Savages, though, with its Chris Ware poster, and its single allusion to the work of Lynda Barry, and its eye for real things. It's probably also somewhat autobiographical, but with an eye towards details, and with a plot controlled by its characters. The detail about the toes curling up, Laura Linney surprised someone would want to read an unproduced play- and the way Philip Seymour Hoffman never offered- a student asks "what's the difference between narrative and plot." It's not the most visually stylized thing, but then, it's not animated, and has actors to do the work of conveying feeling with body language. There's even sight gags! This is Tamara Jenkins' follow-up to Slums Of Beverly Hills, a movie that was essentially okay, and this is better than, while still not being completely awesome. Who knows what of it I will remember months from now? (Probably Philp Bosco writing "prick" on the wall.) Sure, other things- the use of prescription drugs, the bad sex- will fade into other movies that had a better eye for detail, or that I just saw first, but still, it's got scenes other than that- where the subject matter is, with the decision to put the father in a nursing home- all of that works, and is well-observed, and can be recalled easier than I can recall the history of Iran as depicted in Persepolis.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Sometimes I read news that makes me go "What the fuck? No fucking way, no fucking way!" like the retard I am but keep hidden. The news of David Fincher directing an adaptation of Charles Burns' Black Hole is the latest thing to do this, even with a crazy election going on. That could actually work really well.
Oh also: I like this band High Places. I wonder if having an album that's actually produced will ruin them or make them better- it seems like it could go either way.
I saw some movies recently:
Jodorowsky's The Rainbow Thief is really normal, despite the title seemingly implying a whole movie that never takes place. It's really light compared with something like Santa Sangre. It's spiritual tones- "money isn't important" are the sort of thing seen in other movies, but here filtered through vague allusions to alchemy and somehow more convincing for Jodorowsky's well-established kook credentials.
Nights Of Cabiria has this one absolutely amazing scene involving hypnosis. The majority of the movie still feels cynical, even if that's not its intent- it only seems to be able to throw off the shackles for a brief period of time.
WR: Mysteries Of The Organism starts off with some fascinating documentary footage of Wilhelm Reich's followers and townsfolk, and then everything else is kind of dull, from the narrative stuff in Yugoslavia to the documentary footage of people just trying to be sexually liberated. The ten to fifteen minutes of documentary footage is interesting. So's the DVD menu. Elijah Brubaker's Reich comic is pretty good so far though. (Oh wait, I guess three issues have been printed. When I say "good so far" I'm talking about the first issue, which is the only one to be shipped to stores thus far.) I prefer the free expressiveness of the art to the restraint shown in Chester Brown's Louis Riel, although there's some stylistic choices that seems not so well-done.
Oh also: I like this band High Places. I wonder if having an album that's actually produced will ruin them or make them better- it seems like it could go either way.
I saw some movies recently:
Jodorowsky's The Rainbow Thief is really normal, despite the title seemingly implying a whole movie that never takes place. It's really light compared with something like Santa Sangre. It's spiritual tones- "money isn't important" are the sort of thing seen in other movies, but here filtered through vague allusions to alchemy and somehow more convincing for Jodorowsky's well-established kook credentials.
Nights Of Cabiria has this one absolutely amazing scene involving hypnosis. The majority of the movie still feels cynical, even if that's not its intent- it only seems to be able to throw off the shackles for a brief period of time.
WR: Mysteries Of The Organism starts off with some fascinating documentary footage of Wilhelm Reich's followers and townsfolk, and then everything else is kind of dull, from the narrative stuff in Yugoslavia to the documentary footage of people just trying to be sexually liberated. The ten to fifteen minutes of documentary footage is interesting. So's the DVD menu. Elijah Brubaker's Reich comic is pretty good so far though. (Oh wait, I guess three issues have been printed. When I say "good so far" I'm talking about the first issue, which is the only one to be shipped to stores thus far.) I prefer the free expressiveness of the art to the restraint shown in Chester Brown's Louis Riel, although there's some stylistic choices that seems not so well-done.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
David Lynch's On The Air is great! I started watching in on VHS, and have so far seen the three episodes that actually aired.
Every episode just leads to this slapstick everything-goes-wrong-but-it's-all-right finale. There's stupid sound effects all over the place, and things repeat in each episode that aren't quite gags, but are just weirdness. Miguel Ferrer is a really good actor. There's also bits of extended sexual innuendo of the type that annoyed me on Arrested Development. Holy shit, was this show ahead of its time! Although also while looking back in time- there's all kinds of corniness and one character is your standard "foreigner" caricature.
David Lynch just directed the pilot, but like with Twin Peaks, his style hangs over the episodes he didn't direct. It's kind of the opposite of what you'd expect from him- a slapstick comedy- but the way in which he's present totally works and is amazing.
I'm not bemoaning the loss of it from the airwaves or anything, because part of the reason I like it is because it's clear (ABUNDANTLY clear) why it would be a failure, but I would bet money it was funnier than anything on ABC at the time, or since. It's completely the opposite of The Simpsons or Seinfeld- probably the only examples of funny things at the time- partly because of how assured it is in its corniness and lack of hipness. Which is mainly why it's so great. I laughed really hard at this show, but it's funny on a number of different levels.
It seems like this great companion piece to 30 Rock, actually, in that its that show's complete opposite.
Every episode just leads to this slapstick everything-goes-wrong-but-it's-all-right finale. There's stupid sound effects all over the place, and things repeat in each episode that aren't quite gags, but are just weirdness. Miguel Ferrer is a really good actor. There's also bits of extended sexual innuendo of the type that annoyed me on Arrested Development. Holy shit, was this show ahead of its time! Although also while looking back in time- there's all kinds of corniness and one character is your standard "foreigner" caricature.
David Lynch just directed the pilot, but like with Twin Peaks, his style hangs over the episodes he didn't direct. It's kind of the opposite of what you'd expect from him- a slapstick comedy- but the way in which he's present totally works and is amazing.
I'm not bemoaning the loss of it from the airwaves or anything, because part of the reason I like it is because it's clear (ABUNDANTLY clear) why it would be a failure, but I would bet money it was funnier than anything on ABC at the time, or since. It's completely the opposite of The Simpsons or Seinfeld- probably the only examples of funny things at the time- partly because of how assured it is in its corniness and lack of hipness. Which is mainly why it's so great. I laughed really hard at this show, but it's funny on a number of different levels.
It seems like this great companion piece to 30 Rock, actually, in that its that show's complete opposite.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
An ongoing list of movies that aren't available on Netflix for one reason or another, that I have either seen and am now recommending, or and hoping to encounter at the video store the next time I go to look for rentals, which will be Monday. This doesn't count things that were never released, like the Timothy Carey movie The World's Greatest Sinner, which I do hope to see at some point. (I'll recommend to people watching the Stanley Kubrick movie The Killing, and trying to pay attention to the character Timothy Carey plays, especially if you don't know who he is- Just watch that movie looking for anyone who might be a great character actor and you'll have fun. That movie's great!) I also won't list things that are kind of recent or that rumor has as coming out shortly that can be saved on Netflix. I'll mention things that are available to be saved on Netflix if the movie in question is really old and more likely to be found on video.
Brewster McCloud: I have seen this. It's great. Bud Cort stars in Robert Altman's favorite movie that he directed- it feels like it influenced Wes Anderson way more than Harold And Maude, or any of the other movies Robert Altman directed that I've seen, but with this kind of fractured editing and a freewheeling style that's completely at odds with the more controlled nature of some of those other things.
A Matter Of Life And Death: This is Sammy Harkham's favorite movie, and even though he's not the greatest cartoonist, that guy's proven his taste. This is apparently in the upper-tier of Powell And Pressburger films. Black Narcissus is amazing, as is Peeping Tom, and to a lesser extent The Red Shoes. The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp is good enough, and I haven't seen any of his other movies. I really want to see this.
Tampopo: This isn't available in a region one DVD. I tried to watch it on DVD on a player that couldn't handle it. The people I was going to watch it with have seemingly since seen it, presumably on VHS, and loved it. I've had it talked up to me quite a bit.
WR: Mysteries Of The Organism. This is on DVD! Criterion put it out this Summer! Netflix doesn't have it, although they have the director's follow-up, Sweet Movie, which is really filthy and I was totally into it. This is a kind of fractured-collage movie about Wilhelm Reich, and I guess also the political state of Yugoslavia in 1968? Anyway. The first issue of Reich, the comic book autobiography of Wilhelm Reich drawn by a dude who used to live in Olympia, is waiting for me to be purchased at the comic store the same day I rent this movie. The plans to build an orgone accumulator are delayed for the time being but will maybe start up again after that day.
Time Masters- Bryan Fordney said this was amazing and posted some screen grabs. I didn't look into it until now, when I found out it was the same director as Fantastic Planet, and has designs by Moebius! Dude!
On The Air and Hotel Room- the TV shows David Lynch around the same time as Twin Peaks. These actually are at the Olympia video store, unless they've been stolen since three years ago. If they're on VHS here, they might also be where you are.
The Rainbow Thief and Santa Sangre- I've seen the latter. It's pretty restrained and normal for Jodorowsky, although it has this sort of horror-movie vibe, and maybe the misogyny that people see in his comics but I don't get from The Holy Mountain at all. The Rainbow Thief stars Peter O'Toole, who you may know from the movie The Ruling Class, and Christopher Lee, who you may know from the movie The Wicker Man, if all you know about cinema is early seventies British-psychedelia films, which I think would be a totally fine thing for that to be all you knew. I really like the idea of them in a Jodorowsky movie. I also like the idea of just watching another Jodorowsky movie, actually. These are the last two movies he directed, in 1990 and 1988, respectively. Might as well bring up Tusk as well, from 1980, which might not be as good but I would probably watch.
Possession: Another movie recommended by Sammy Harkham! I don't know if people read that Family blog I link to, but I sure as shit do. This was brought to his attention by people who work at a famously great video store in Los Angeles. I bet they have this movie available. Note: They also screened it on film at the Silent Movie Theatre.
Phase IV: Another thing brought up on the Family blog. Saul Bass made a movie! It's a science fiction movie about ants! There's a lot of footage of ants running around because the plot sort of stops mattering to the film at a certain point! There's another movie with the same title starring Dean Cain that Netflix knows about but is probably terrible!
A Thousand Clowns: This used to be available on Netflix as a Play Now thing you could stream on your computer, but this laptop doesn't have the hard drive space for that. This is Jesse Thorn's favorite movie, he of The Sound Of Young America radio program that I also link to from the blog sidebar. Apparently it has both a man-child and a child-man as characters! I really want to see this.
Spirits Of The Dead: This is a horror anthology collection of three films, including one directed by Federico Fellini. I heard about this from that Eli Roth AV Club feature where he programmed a theoretical film festival. Apparently the other two movies aren't so great, but the Fellini one is amazing.
Hellzapoppin!: Alex Tripp had this shown to him in class once. Apparently it stars this old comedy duo, but this movie is really weird and plays with the form of cinema and cliches and whathaveyou. Alex loved it, and that guy is basically me when it comes to movie tastes.
The Landlord: Hal Ashby's first movie. Apparently kind of legendary in black cinema circles, I think? I hope to see it at some point. Maybe not so pressing as the others, but still.
Insignificance: Nicolas Roeg's career kind of fell apart after making a bunch of crappy movies, but this has kind of an interesting premise and a Jim O'Rourke album named after it. Jim O'Rourke's favorite movie, apparently, is Performance, by the way. This movie has no rock stars, but Gary Busey plays Joe DiMaggio.
Also it seems possible I'll end up renting Two-Lane Blacktop from the video store because Netflix has it as having a "very long wait." I'm not even sure I'll like that movie. I hope I like it enough to make it seem imperative that I see Cockfighter right away, because I like that that movie exists, but right now it seems like I will see it years from now because of how many other things I would rather see before that. (Apparently there's a scene in that movie where a dude presents the head of a rooster he bit off to his beloved as a gesture of his affection. Cinemaaaaa!)
Brewster McCloud: I have seen this. It's great. Bud Cort stars in Robert Altman's favorite movie that he directed- it feels like it influenced Wes Anderson way more than Harold And Maude, or any of the other movies Robert Altman directed that I've seen, but with this kind of fractured editing and a freewheeling style that's completely at odds with the more controlled nature of some of those other things.
A Matter Of Life And Death: This is Sammy Harkham's favorite movie, and even though he's not the greatest cartoonist, that guy's proven his taste. This is apparently in the upper-tier of Powell And Pressburger films. Black Narcissus is amazing, as is Peeping Tom, and to a lesser extent The Red Shoes. The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp is good enough, and I haven't seen any of his other movies. I really want to see this.
Tampopo: This isn't available in a region one DVD. I tried to watch it on DVD on a player that couldn't handle it. The people I was going to watch it with have seemingly since seen it, presumably on VHS, and loved it. I've had it talked up to me quite a bit.
WR: Mysteries Of The Organism. This is on DVD! Criterion put it out this Summer! Netflix doesn't have it, although they have the director's follow-up, Sweet Movie, which is really filthy and I was totally into it. This is a kind of fractured-collage movie about Wilhelm Reich, and I guess also the political state of Yugoslavia in 1968? Anyway. The first issue of Reich, the comic book autobiography of Wilhelm Reich drawn by a dude who used to live in Olympia, is waiting for me to be purchased at the comic store the same day I rent this movie. The plans to build an orgone accumulator are delayed for the time being but will maybe start up again after that day.
Time Masters- Bryan Fordney said this was amazing and posted some screen grabs. I didn't look into it until now, when I found out it was the same director as Fantastic Planet, and has designs by Moebius! Dude!
On The Air and Hotel Room- the TV shows David Lynch around the same time as Twin Peaks. These actually are at the Olympia video store, unless they've been stolen since three years ago. If they're on VHS here, they might also be where you are.
The Rainbow Thief and Santa Sangre- I've seen the latter. It's pretty restrained and normal for Jodorowsky, although it has this sort of horror-movie vibe, and maybe the misogyny that people see in his comics but I don't get from The Holy Mountain at all. The Rainbow Thief stars Peter O'Toole, who you may know from the movie The Ruling Class, and Christopher Lee, who you may know from the movie The Wicker Man, if all you know about cinema is early seventies British-psychedelia films, which I think would be a totally fine thing for that to be all you knew. I really like the idea of them in a Jodorowsky movie. I also like the idea of just watching another Jodorowsky movie, actually. These are the last two movies he directed, in 1990 and 1988, respectively. Might as well bring up Tusk as well, from 1980, which might not be as good but I would probably watch.
Possession: Another movie recommended by Sammy Harkham! I don't know if people read that Family blog I link to, but I sure as shit do. This was brought to his attention by people who work at a famously great video store in Los Angeles. I bet they have this movie available. Note: They also screened it on film at the Silent Movie Theatre.
Phase IV: Another thing brought up on the Family blog. Saul Bass made a movie! It's a science fiction movie about ants! There's a lot of footage of ants running around because the plot sort of stops mattering to the film at a certain point! There's another movie with the same title starring Dean Cain that Netflix knows about but is probably terrible!
A Thousand Clowns: This used to be available on Netflix as a Play Now thing you could stream on your computer, but this laptop doesn't have the hard drive space for that. This is Jesse Thorn's favorite movie, he of The Sound Of Young America radio program that I also link to from the blog sidebar. Apparently it has both a man-child and a child-man as characters! I really want to see this.
Spirits Of The Dead: This is a horror anthology collection of three films, including one directed by Federico Fellini. I heard about this from that Eli Roth AV Club feature where he programmed a theoretical film festival. Apparently the other two movies aren't so great, but the Fellini one is amazing.
Hellzapoppin!: Alex Tripp had this shown to him in class once. Apparently it stars this old comedy duo, but this movie is really weird and plays with the form of cinema and cliches and whathaveyou. Alex loved it, and that guy is basically me when it comes to movie tastes.
The Landlord: Hal Ashby's first movie. Apparently kind of legendary in black cinema circles, I think? I hope to see it at some point. Maybe not so pressing as the others, but still.
Insignificance: Nicolas Roeg's career kind of fell apart after making a bunch of crappy movies, but this has kind of an interesting premise and a Jim O'Rourke album named after it. Jim O'Rourke's favorite movie, apparently, is Performance, by the way. This movie has no rock stars, but Gary Busey plays Joe DiMaggio.
Also it seems possible I'll end up renting Two-Lane Blacktop from the video store because Netflix has it as having a "very long wait." I'm not even sure I'll like that movie. I hope I like it enough to make it seem imperative that I see Cockfighter right away, because I like that that movie exists, but right now it seems like I will see it years from now because of how many other things I would rather see before that. (Apparently there's a scene in that movie where a dude presents the head of a rooster he bit off to his beloved as a gesture of his affection. Cinemaaaaa!)
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
The first part of this post is about Olympia:
My mom, who lives in the New Jersey suburbs, has talked to me about Olympia and its whiteness, its lack of urbanity. I tried to defend it to her, because she hasn't really spent any time here, and only knows what I tell her about it. I kind of defended it in bad terms, which I'll now redefine. Olympia, despite its lack of any real minority population, still has this culture that my mom and a lot of people like her romanticize and associate with different races, that's a lot "warmer" and more "wild" and "open" than people's traditional experiences with their neighbors. Someone at the Capitol Theater told me, that after they'd introduced me to someone and I was a huge weirdo and then ran off, that the person I was introduced to said "That's what I like about the Capitol Theater. People here are so different than what I'm used to." At the time I was just confused, but then I realized the thing how I was being viewed. That's the Olympia I live in, though.
The thing is, because it's done by white people, it's more easily accepted and integrated, dealt with. Right now, I believe, the single most popular record in the country is the soundtrack to Juno, composed largely by Olympia resident Kimya Dawson. I have nothing against Kimya Dawson at all. I am generally wary of things that are that embraceable, for reasons that have nothing to do with the thing being embraced: They can't help being lovable.
Oh right, that's a thing I wanted to bring up, that apparently there was, like, a half-a-million-dollar offer to her to write a theme for Wal-Mart? She turned it down.
I look around Olympia and see a place being developed in weird ways from what it was when I moved here, five years ago. Five years ago means I am in no ways from here. In all likelihood, the people moving into these condos popping up have a greater claim to this area than I do, as they're probably from neighboring towns I've never been to. Olympia's a safe place, with a lot less meth use than those places, and probably better schools. Incidents of violence are rare.
That story I told of being forced into a fight by some drunk out-of-towners the other week was notable for its oddity. The only thing that might keep property values down is the stupid anarchist/activist graffiti that we all suspect is being done by rich college kids who have recently moved to town. They're all stupid, but fuck it, god bless them for being unpleasant.
Still, areas filled of junk cars and old greenhouses are all getting cleaned up to make way for town homes and condos. I can't blame it on the pleasantness. I can't even call it gentrification yet.
But I do feel there's a thing out there in the mass culture that I find kind of offputting, encroaching upon some kind of graveyard. It seems possible it'll do good things- please god let it get Obama elected- (I'm sure that comes out of left field completely) but it is, in itself, its own blandness. Obama is nowhere near as bland as the last two Democratic nominees for President, as a person, but I think I'm just put off by the general mechanism that sways the masses.
The second part of this post is about movies and comics and music and shit.
This new mainstream would need to lead to a new "________" (multiple choice fill in the blank for a series of synonyms, with a) being something like "independent sphere" b) "underground" c) "counterculture") that could travel farther. The whole soft indie comedy is starting to feel at this point like Pulp Fiction-inspired neonoirs started to feel after Memento came out. (I like Memento, I'm citing it as a last hurrah.) I'm imagining a psychedelia that's vaguely informed by stuff like The Holy Mountain and the recently viewed Sweet Movie, only this time with satire that's actually funny. I saw Daisies after an interview in Arthur with Jimmy Joe Roche promoting Ultimate Reality. Ultimate Reality isn't quite the sort of the thing I'm talking about, but it's on the right track. It might vaguely feel like a poor man's Paper Rad, rather than an offshoot of its more narrative directons. (Man, that complete Cold Heat book can't come out soon enough. That kind of stuff might be exactly what I'm talking about. Only I imagine a movie instead of a comic, due to cinema's ability to integrate myriad parts to form an overwhelming whole and thus be accessible and communicative.) I talk about this sort of stuff all the time on this blog.
In addition to that stuff, I really like the movies made by Powell And Pressburger, The Archers. I just saw The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp- I'd tried to watch it before and couldn't make it through it, but that movie's pretty good. I was reading this thing about their mission statement, their list of thoughts- one was that a filmmaker needs to a be a year ahead of not just his peers, but the general trends, because a film takes a year to make. So, there's that.
I talked about Chameleon Street and the idea of a black Orson Welles. It turns out that some people think of The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp as a British Citizen Kane. Which it is nowhere near as good as, but: People talked about There Will Be Blood as being like Citizen Kane in terms of its American-ness, its story of capitalism sort of creating and destroying a man. The Powell and Pressburger film should probably be viewed as a British alternative in terms of not being about capitalism at all, so much as it is about manners and gentlemanly decorum falling out of favor as time goes on. Which means its not as interesting. (Meanwhile, A Matter Of Life And Death is called the British Wizard Of Oz and is apparently Sammy Harkham's favorite film, and is completely unavailable in the U.S. on DVD.)
My mom, who lives in the New Jersey suburbs, has talked to me about Olympia and its whiteness, its lack of urbanity. I tried to defend it to her, because she hasn't really spent any time here, and only knows what I tell her about it. I kind of defended it in bad terms, which I'll now redefine. Olympia, despite its lack of any real minority population, still has this culture that my mom and a lot of people like her romanticize and associate with different races, that's a lot "warmer" and more "wild" and "open" than people's traditional experiences with their neighbors. Someone at the Capitol Theater told me, that after they'd introduced me to someone and I was a huge weirdo and then ran off, that the person I was introduced to said "That's what I like about the Capitol Theater. People here are so different than what I'm used to." At the time I was just confused, but then I realized the thing how I was being viewed. That's the Olympia I live in, though.
The thing is, because it's done by white people, it's more easily accepted and integrated, dealt with. Right now, I believe, the single most popular record in the country is the soundtrack to Juno, composed largely by Olympia resident Kimya Dawson. I have nothing against Kimya Dawson at all. I am generally wary of things that are that embraceable, for reasons that have nothing to do with the thing being embraced: They can't help being lovable.
Oh right, that's a thing I wanted to bring up, that apparently there was, like, a half-a-million-dollar offer to her to write a theme for Wal-Mart? She turned it down.
I look around Olympia and see a place being developed in weird ways from what it was when I moved here, five years ago. Five years ago means I am in no ways from here. In all likelihood, the people moving into these condos popping up have a greater claim to this area than I do, as they're probably from neighboring towns I've never been to. Olympia's a safe place, with a lot less meth use than those places, and probably better schools. Incidents of violence are rare.
That story I told of being forced into a fight by some drunk out-of-towners the other week was notable for its oddity. The only thing that might keep property values down is the stupid anarchist/activist graffiti that we all suspect is being done by rich college kids who have recently moved to town. They're all stupid, but fuck it, god bless them for being unpleasant.
Still, areas filled of junk cars and old greenhouses are all getting cleaned up to make way for town homes and condos. I can't blame it on the pleasantness. I can't even call it gentrification yet.
But I do feel there's a thing out there in the mass culture that I find kind of offputting, encroaching upon some kind of graveyard. It seems possible it'll do good things- please god let it get Obama elected- (I'm sure that comes out of left field completely) but it is, in itself, its own blandness. Obama is nowhere near as bland as the last two Democratic nominees for President, as a person, but I think I'm just put off by the general mechanism that sways the masses.
The second part of this post is about movies and comics and music and shit.
This new mainstream would need to lead to a new "________" (multiple choice fill in the blank for a series of synonyms, with a) being something like "independent sphere" b) "underground" c) "counterculture") that could travel farther. The whole soft indie comedy is starting to feel at this point like Pulp Fiction-inspired neonoirs started to feel after Memento came out. (I like Memento, I'm citing it as a last hurrah.) I'm imagining a psychedelia that's vaguely informed by stuff like The Holy Mountain and the recently viewed Sweet Movie, only this time with satire that's actually funny. I saw Daisies after an interview in Arthur with Jimmy Joe Roche promoting Ultimate Reality. Ultimate Reality isn't quite the sort of the thing I'm talking about, but it's on the right track. It might vaguely feel like a poor man's Paper Rad, rather than an offshoot of its more narrative directons. (Man, that complete Cold Heat book can't come out soon enough. That kind of stuff might be exactly what I'm talking about. Only I imagine a movie instead of a comic, due to cinema's ability to integrate myriad parts to form an overwhelming whole and thus be accessible and communicative.) I talk about this sort of stuff all the time on this blog.
In addition to that stuff, I really like the movies made by Powell And Pressburger, The Archers. I just saw The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp- I'd tried to watch it before and couldn't make it through it, but that movie's pretty good. I was reading this thing about their mission statement, their list of thoughts- one was that a filmmaker needs to a be a year ahead of not just his peers, but the general trends, because a film takes a year to make. So, there's that.
I talked about Chameleon Street and the idea of a black Orson Welles. It turns out that some people think of The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp as a British Citizen Kane. Which it is nowhere near as good as, but: People talked about There Will Be Blood as being like Citizen Kane in terms of its American-ness, its story of capitalism sort of creating and destroying a man. The Powell and Pressburger film should probably be viewed as a British alternative in terms of not being about capitalism at all, so much as it is about manners and gentlemanly decorum falling out of favor as time goes on. Which means its not as interesting. (Meanwhile, A Matter Of Life And Death is called the British Wizard Of Oz and is apparently Sammy Harkham's favorite film, and is completely unavailable in the U.S. on DVD.)
Sunday, February 03, 2008
As someone who doesn't care about Bob Dylan at all, I'm Not There just made me want to see Sam Peckinpah's Pat Garrett And Billy The Kid. This isn't to say it's bad: It's a fine movie, but it's at its best when its able to depict something other than Bob Dylan saying cryptic things in interviews and press conferences, which is approximately a third of the film- Essentially, that's all Ben Whishaw's depiction does.
Saturday, February 02, 2008
I don't intend to post everytime I receive a compliment, but oh man. This is from my friend Jamie, who is currently a member of the band World History, who you should see while she's still in the band. About my movie, she said, in an e-mail, that it "reminded me of a harmony korine film, but with a lot more substance. and without the artsy arrogance. or chloe sevigny. i hate chloe sevigny." Thanks Jamie! (For future reference, I will only post compliments of me that include insults of other people. I might also just post any insult of other people that I am told I can post.) Jamie is also the only person to have paid for a DVD, as all other copies have been given away for free. She gets a thousand gold stars. If anyone wants a copy of that movie, "The Reason Why Our World Is Coming To An End," or the DVD I burned today, where I tell a version of "the aristocrats" for twenty minutes that I recorded in early 2006, after a winner of the contest to be a DVD extra was already announced, but before I learned that submissions had to be under ten minutes, contact me.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
From an article about Michel Gondry, which I will link to, I learned he is dating the cartoonist Gabrielle Bell, which makes the fact of his adapting one of her comics more sensible. Still, there's a thing in that profile about Gabrielle, on the set, drawing in her notebook, which is notable for how awful it is:
"She goes back to her sketchbook. She draws everything longer and sadder than it appears in real life, like she’s making the world over in her image."
Later on, it goes on to call dating a shy cartoonist a "concept." What? I know exactly what the writer means but it's clear to me thats an assholish point of view to possess.
Oh, also, Human Nature and The Science of Sleep both ruled. Come on. Come ON.
The article also talks about an installation at Deitch Projects that sounds ill. You know- it's a great article for the Gondry stuff and terrible for any and all insertions of the writers' voice. (The idea of the "film club" is pretty similar to something I've conceptualized myself. The idea of making "exquisite corpse" films with Spike Jonze never occurred to me though.) Obviously, GQ is a magazine for assholes but I don't think I'd ever read an article from them to confirm this. Whoops.
It's offensive for being both sexist and really- I don't know, capitalist? Enamored with the idea of wealth and status? Confused by comics because there's no money in it, and condescending to Gondry for being able to look past that? It's kind of gross. GQ scribes shouldn't feel like they are better than the dude who made the "Let Forever Be" video. Not because they're magazine writers and Gondry makes movies- any respect shown is based on that weird fallacy- but because no one is better than that video. It has nothing to do with consumption and everything to do with creation.
"She goes back to her sketchbook. She draws everything longer and sadder than it appears in real life, like she’s making the world over in her image."
Later on, it goes on to call dating a shy cartoonist a "concept." What? I know exactly what the writer means but it's clear to me thats an assholish point of view to possess.
Oh, also, Human Nature and The Science of Sleep both ruled. Come on. Come ON.
The article also talks about an installation at Deitch Projects that sounds ill. You know- it's a great article for the Gondry stuff and terrible for any and all insertions of the writers' voice. (The idea of the "film club" is pretty similar to something I've conceptualized myself. The idea of making "exquisite corpse" films with Spike Jonze never occurred to me though.) Obviously, GQ is a magazine for assholes but I don't think I'd ever read an article from them to confirm this. Whoops.
It's offensive for being both sexist and really- I don't know, capitalist? Enamored with the idea of wealth and status? Confused by comics because there's no money in it, and condescending to Gondry for being able to look past that? It's kind of gross. GQ scribes shouldn't feel like they are better than the dude who made the "Let Forever Be" video. Not because they're magazine writers and Gondry makes movies- any respect shown is based on that weird fallacy- but because no one is better than that video. It has nothing to do with consumption and everything to do with creation.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
I just watched Chameleon Street. It lives up to its hype, in a very specific way that was kind of incalculable and unimaginable. Not because it's off-the-charts amazing, but:
Okay. The story with this is that it was made in 1990, and was the hit at Sundance, championed on the jury that year by Steven Soderbergh and New York Press film critic Armond White. This was before 1995 and The Brothers McMullen and the world of fake-indie prestige pictures that now constitute Sundance, as my understanding would have it. The director, Wendell B. Harris, was hailed by those championing him as a black Orson Welles- he wrote/directed/starred in the film.
He didn't make any movies after this though, because due to the way the film industry/market works, there's not really a market for a black Orson Welles.
Why the movie is interesting is this: What does the idea of a black Orson Welles making movies in 1990 that debut at Sundance- what does that even mean? What does that look like, culturally?
It's like the sort of self-aggrandizement found in Citizen Kane (and F For Fake) and rap lyrics, but played out in this intellectual milieu of correcting the grammar of a racist's profanity, and smoking Thai Stick (I like how in any kind of anything if people are going to get specific about weed without just saying a general euphemism, Thai Stick is inevitably what comes up) but not blowing dudes while in prison. It also means Godard-influenced editing, and 1990s video-effects credit sequences (still preferable to the Final Cut Pro defaults you see today). It has a handful of great scenes, but it still seems more like its mired by its braggodocio in the bad scenes than that the good scens justify it. It's the good scenes that have you cringing and covering your face, though, while the bad scenes just make you go "oh, this is what a black Orson Welles would be like circa 1990."
There's a 33-minute long trailer on the DVD for a movie called "Arbiter Roswell" which he's spent 13 years working on, a fact I found out only after putting it in the mailbox. You should watch it and tell me how it is. (The full movie is supposedly three hours long and not finished being edited yet.)
Okay. The story with this is that it was made in 1990, and was the hit at Sundance, championed on the jury that year by Steven Soderbergh and New York Press film critic Armond White. This was before 1995 and The Brothers McMullen and the world of fake-indie prestige pictures that now constitute Sundance, as my understanding would have it. The director, Wendell B. Harris, was hailed by those championing him as a black Orson Welles- he wrote/directed/starred in the film.
He didn't make any movies after this though, because due to the way the film industry/market works, there's not really a market for a black Orson Welles.
Why the movie is interesting is this: What does the idea of a black Orson Welles making movies in 1990 that debut at Sundance- what does that even mean? What does that look like, culturally?
It's like the sort of self-aggrandizement found in Citizen Kane (and F For Fake) and rap lyrics, but played out in this intellectual milieu of correcting the grammar of a racist's profanity, and smoking Thai Stick (I like how in any kind of anything if people are going to get specific about weed without just saying a general euphemism, Thai Stick is inevitably what comes up) but not blowing dudes while in prison. It also means Godard-influenced editing, and 1990s video-effects credit sequences (still preferable to the Final Cut Pro defaults you see today). It has a handful of great scenes, but it still seems more like its mired by its braggodocio in the bad scenes than that the good scens justify it. It's the good scenes that have you cringing and covering your face, though, while the bad scenes just make you go "oh, this is what a black Orson Welles would be like circa 1990."
There's a 33-minute long trailer on the DVD for a movie called "Arbiter Roswell" which he's spent 13 years working on, a fact I found out only after putting it in the mailbox. You should watch it and tell me how it is. (The full movie is supposedly three hours long and not finished being edited yet.)
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
I wrote about Julie Klausner before, when her NYC Tourist Beat video got me into watching every other video she had made. Apparently, she's doing a Superdeluxe series with Michael Kupperman this year, but until then, there's her newest thing, which is hilarious.
She may as well be a lesbian for the way she is one of America's Heroes. She elaborated on the mockery of that video with a blog post.
She may as well be a lesbian for the way she is one of America's Heroes. She elaborated on the mockery of that video with a blog post.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Last Year At Marienbad is one of the stranger films I've seen lately, even considering the fact that as of late I've been deliberately seeking out such things after realizing that's where my enthusiasms lie. Last week I saw the Czech film Daisies, which has considerable charms. I knew going into it that it was a weird one, that people had no idea what to make of it at the time of its release in 1961, although it was generally highly-regarded. I, watching it at 4:30 AM, kept awake by a drunken roommate, also didn't know what to make of it. It goes on for long enough that you eventually start to make sense of it, but the first couple of reels or so have a pretty steep learning curve.
Even then, there came a point where I was thinking that it was either a) a cinematic appreciation of the art of sculpture or b) a dissection of the bourgeois a la Luis Bunuel but less crass. I don't think either of those are true now that I've finished watching the film. But still, getting into it requires being into Hollywood-cinema style, in terms of both exploded silver halide lighting and expensive production design, really great black and white widescreen compositions, a feeling of impending horror-movie doom, and video art style repetition. At the beginning it feels almost exactly like a lot of video art, only shot on film, and a hell of a lot better.
It's kind of impossible. One of my favorite things in film- animation does this sometimes- is to be really experimental and all over the place, trying out new techniques in keeping with themes that that's a good way to live your life, to be daring. I like when films don't mind being distractingly formal because it works towards its own ends using those distractions. This is really experimental in a "I have no idea how that was done" kind of way, in a way that works towards ends of confusion and disassociation. It's the sort of thing most easily associated with dreams or drugs, specifically the "edge of freaking out" side of those things and experiences. It maybe goes on a bit too long and wears out its welcome, but it's the fact that it does that actually lets you into maybe understanding it.
Even then, there came a point where I was thinking that it was either a) a cinematic appreciation of the art of sculpture or b) a dissection of the bourgeois a la Luis Bunuel but less crass. I don't think either of those are true now that I've finished watching the film. But still, getting into it requires being into Hollywood-cinema style, in terms of both exploded silver halide lighting and expensive production design, really great black and white widescreen compositions, a feeling of impending horror-movie doom, and video art style repetition. At the beginning it feels almost exactly like a lot of video art, only shot on film, and a hell of a lot better.
It's kind of impossible. One of my favorite things in film- animation does this sometimes- is to be really experimental and all over the place, trying out new techniques in keeping with themes that that's a good way to live your life, to be daring. I like when films don't mind being distractingly formal because it works towards its own ends using those distractions. This is really experimental in a "I have no idea how that was done" kind of way, in a way that works towards ends of confusion and disassociation. It's the sort of thing most easily associated with dreams or drugs, specifically the "edge of freaking out" side of those things and experiences. It maybe goes on a bit too long and wears out its welcome, but it's the fact that it does that actually lets you into maybe understanding it.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Sometimes when something is really popular I'm like "oh gross it's got the internet's cum all over it."
That has nothing to do with anything I'm about to write about, I just thought it was funny enough to write on a blog. You can use it in your own day-to-day conversation, depending on the type of people you talk to.
One thing that was liked by a lot of people I respect was Renee French's The Ticking, which I just got around to reading. Actually, people whose tastes are similar to mine liked this book more than other things I liked a lot when they were making best-of-2006 lists. It's a fine book. Beautiful, moving, I read it while drinking green tea in my bed. Both it and There Will Be Blood used the ellipsis in a vaguely off-putting way, skipping over large periods of time suddenly, even though they were in general slow-paced works. It's fine, it's necessary for the pacing, but reading it after seeing There Will Be Blood made me think of them as pieces in tandem, as fine pieces where my own biases made me like other things more. (Although I genuinely believe that Punch-Drunk Love is better than There Will Be Blood, whereas my preferring that Brendan McCarthy Solo to The Ticking is totally just my own kind of stupid preferences.)
Recent movies taken out from the library, and that have shown up through either me or my roommate's Netflix queue, in the order I think they should be watched for the sake of progression:
1. The Passion Of Joan Of Arc
2. Last Year At Marienbad
3. Ultimate Reality (by Jimmy Joe Roche with soundtrack by Dan Deacon)
4. The Elegant Universe disc 2
The last is my roommate's, but I think it's funny he received it the same day as I got something called Ultimate Reality. All in all I am just thinking about the Lil Wayne lyrics about smoking weed by the acre and being "so high I could eat a star."
For my class taught by friends of mine we have both blogs and the ability to comment on what other people have to say. The comments have subject lines, and I think I am going to title all of my comments "Here's what Brian Nicholson has to say about this!" because that's the most obnoxious thing imaginable, besides possible saying "fuck all y'all: here's what Brian Nicholson has to say about this!"
That has nothing to do with anything I'm about to write about, I just thought it was funny enough to write on a blog. You can use it in your own day-to-day conversation, depending on the type of people you talk to.
One thing that was liked by a lot of people I respect was Renee French's The Ticking, which I just got around to reading. Actually, people whose tastes are similar to mine liked this book more than other things I liked a lot when they were making best-of-2006 lists. It's a fine book. Beautiful, moving, I read it while drinking green tea in my bed. Both it and There Will Be Blood used the ellipsis in a vaguely off-putting way, skipping over large periods of time suddenly, even though they were in general slow-paced works. It's fine, it's necessary for the pacing, but reading it after seeing There Will Be Blood made me think of them as pieces in tandem, as fine pieces where my own biases made me like other things more. (Although I genuinely believe that Punch-Drunk Love is better than There Will Be Blood, whereas my preferring that Brendan McCarthy Solo to The Ticking is totally just my own kind of stupid preferences.)
Recent movies taken out from the library, and that have shown up through either me or my roommate's Netflix queue, in the order I think they should be watched for the sake of progression:
1. The Passion Of Joan Of Arc
2. Last Year At Marienbad
3. Ultimate Reality (by Jimmy Joe Roche with soundtrack by Dan Deacon)
4. The Elegant Universe disc 2
The last is my roommate's, but I think it's funny he received it the same day as I got something called Ultimate Reality. All in all I am just thinking about the Lil Wayne lyrics about smoking weed by the acre and being "so high I could eat a star."
For my class taught by friends of mine we have both blogs and the ability to comment on what other people have to say. The comments have subject lines, and I think I am going to title all of my comments "Here's what Brian Nicholson has to say about this!" because that's the most obnoxious thing imaginable, besides possible saying "fuck all y'all: here's what Brian Nicholson has to say about this!"
Sunday, January 13, 2008
So, on Friday night, walking to catch the 11:30 bus after The Blow show, a guy in an AC/DC hoodie started to sidle up. He asked me something that sounded like "When's the last time you got bled?" to which I responded "Did you just ask me when was the last time I got bled?" He was kind of mumbling, kind of slurring his speech, and his response to that was something along the lines of "I'm just fucking with you" but he continued to sidle up real close. He asks if I want to fight, I say no. I don't really remember the entirety of the conversation. He was clearly drunk. There were implications that he wanted to get in a fight, or just gaybash. I eventually stopped walking, he walked away to his friend at the bus station. I turned around and walked in the opposite direction.
A guy rides up to me on a bike. "Were you talking shit on my boy?" "No." He yells back "Hey, is this the guy?" to a dude who is not wearing an AC/DC hoodie, but rather, is shirtless. I cross to the other side of the street. The bike rolls up in front of me, kind of perpendicular to the side of Dumpster Values, fencing me in a little. Shirtless dude has now fully sidled, and bike guy says "Look, you're going to fight my friend or I'm going to fuck you up."
I have no problem with fighting an asshole. I feel weird about fighting an asshole when the only other person around is the asshole's equally assholish friend. Also, I am wearing glasses. But anyway, a tussle ensues, I don't think I do any damage when I punch the guy because I am in something of a headlock. Eventually, we're down on the sidewalk to curb area, I am trying to smash his head against a parking meter or else gouge out his eyes with my thumbs, (although I'm concerned about the other friend standing guard) meanwhile I am worried about being curb-stomped. I at some point yell "Hey does anyone want to help me out so I don't have to fight this asshole" and shortly thereafter some big dudes wearing jackets with Dead Kennedys patches pull him off me. My glasses are scratched and I keep on imagining myself dead with my jaw hanging off, blood dripping onto the Andrew Jeffrey Wright silkscreened rainbow beard t-shirt, body found outside a pizza place I don't particularly care for.
A guy rides up to me on a bike. "Were you talking shit on my boy?" "No." He yells back "Hey, is this the guy?" to a dude who is not wearing an AC/DC hoodie, but rather, is shirtless. I cross to the other side of the street. The bike rolls up in front of me, kind of perpendicular to the side of Dumpster Values, fencing me in a little. Shirtless dude has now fully sidled, and bike guy says "Look, you're going to fight my friend or I'm going to fuck you up."
I have no problem with fighting an asshole. I feel weird about fighting an asshole when the only other person around is the asshole's equally assholish friend. Also, I am wearing glasses. But anyway, a tussle ensues, I don't think I do any damage when I punch the guy because I am in something of a headlock. Eventually, we're down on the sidewalk to curb area, I am trying to smash his head against a parking meter or else gouge out his eyes with my thumbs, (although I'm concerned about the other friend standing guard) meanwhile I am worried about being curb-stomped. I at some point yell "Hey does anyone want to help me out so I don't have to fight this asshole" and shortly thereafter some big dudes wearing jackets with Dead Kennedys patches pull him off me. My glasses are scratched and I keep on imagining myself dead with my jaw hanging off, blood dripping onto the Andrew Jeffrey Wright silkscreened rainbow beard t-shirt, body found outside a pizza place I don't particularly care for.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Follow-up to the post about Cerberus Shoal- I grabbed a copy of "The Vim And Vigour Of Cerberus Shoal and Alvarius B," which it turns out is a collaboration with Alan Bishop. It's pretty good. I didn't remember this at the time of buying it, but in the WFMU blog entry that told me about Big Blood, this album was cited as one of the writer's favorite recordings of all time. A good find then, for nine dollars, from Philadelphia's AKA Music.
Friday, January 04, 2008
It's odd to think of all this talk praising Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood as a major evolution of style and maturity. While watching it, I thought "This is no Boogie Nights," with Boogie Nights being my previous least-favorite film of his. It makes me wonder what film critics consider maturity. I guess it's making a film that is an actor's showcase, rather than one that demonstrates an ability to recreate shots from I Am Cuba.
It's also more cynical than any of Anderson's other movies, less open-hearted, warm, and forgiving. I talked about a film critic who argued that film critics value cynicism more than humanism, which is why Billy Wilder is so beloved. I think Billy Wilder's great, personally, and I have a large place in my heart for cynicism. I didn't hate There Will Be Blood, I liked it just fine, but I think that it might be being overrated by critics right now, at least in relation to the director's other work. (I have no problem with people saying it's one of the best films of the year, although if I were to make a list, I'd probably put it below Superbad.)
I think it shortchanges a lot of the things that makes Anderson interesting and enjoyable. A reviewer for Philadelphia Weekly, in his top ten list, ranked it number four, with Zodiac as number one. He said that Anderson did the second-most-interesting stylistic shift, after David Fincher. Zodiac also kind of does a disservice to some of Fincher's skills and point of view. I bring this up because the two directors are opposed, with P.T. Anderson actually having made shots at Fight Club. I would take Anderson's side in that argument, and can't really bemoan the switch-up with Zodiac nearly that much- Less glib nihilism is fine by me.
All the Citizen Kane comparisons are bullshit though. That movie has Orson Welles' fingerprints all over it, and he identifies with the character's ambition, and that's what helps make the movie work. There Will Be Blood isn't about an ambitious man, just a misanthropic one. Anyway in which the film adopts the characteristics of its subject is probably to its detriment.
It's also more cynical than any of Anderson's other movies, less open-hearted, warm, and forgiving. I talked about a film critic who argued that film critics value cynicism more than humanism, which is why Billy Wilder is so beloved. I think Billy Wilder's great, personally, and I have a large place in my heart for cynicism. I didn't hate There Will Be Blood, I liked it just fine, but I think that it might be being overrated by critics right now, at least in relation to the director's other work. (I have no problem with people saying it's one of the best films of the year, although if I were to make a list, I'd probably put it below Superbad.)
I think it shortchanges a lot of the things that makes Anderson interesting and enjoyable. A reviewer for Philadelphia Weekly, in his top ten list, ranked it number four, with Zodiac as number one. He said that Anderson did the second-most-interesting stylistic shift, after David Fincher. Zodiac also kind of does a disservice to some of Fincher's skills and point of view. I bring this up because the two directors are opposed, with P.T. Anderson actually having made shots at Fight Club. I would take Anderson's side in that argument, and can't really bemoan the switch-up with Zodiac nearly that much- Less glib nihilism is fine by me.
All the Citizen Kane comparisons are bullshit though. That movie has Orson Welles' fingerprints all over it, and he identifies with the character's ambition, and that's what helps make the movie work. There Will Be Blood isn't about an ambitious man, just a misanthropic one. Anyway in which the film adopts the characteristics of its subject is probably to its detriment.
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