Tuesday, January 29, 2008
One of the truly beautiful, surreal, emotional, cathartic, life-affirming films I've ever seen, definitely deserving of all the praise and nominations it's garnered thus far. The first 20-30 minutes are difficult to get through, as we're placed in the point-of-view of a stroke victim, seeing and hearing everything he does, but as soon as things open up and we get into the narrator's dreams (and loves), it's pure cinematic genius. This is what art is all about.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Come at the King, You Best Not Miss
I know declaring The Wire the greatest show in television history is a bit passé at this point, but the truth is the truth. If you're on the fence about whether to commit this scene won't clinch it for you, but it sure is compelling drama nonetheless.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Just Add Water
Last night I hiked out to the Marina Greens for the second time in three days. I knew it was pouring when I left work but I didn't care enough to bring an umbrella; I just wanted to cleanse. When I reached the palm trees and could barely make out the GG Bridge I stopped to take in the scenery. Even though it was dark the lights over the water were enough to make the vision complete. I thought maybe by the time I stopped I'd have come to some great revelation - some little detail for the screenplay I'm writing or perhaps some kind of insight into why I'm so frustrated with a few personal relationships - but epiphanies like that never come when you're looking for them. It was at this point that I realized how drenched I was. My pants - the tightest, gayest pair I own - were stuck to my legs. It was like walking in chaps, if I knew what that was like. Of course I've been conditioned by a thousand Hollywood narratives to reach my arms out in the Shawshank pose during downpours like this, and after doing so for forty-five seconds - enough to feel the tingle of the water on my face and realize that the payoff was incomplete - I decided to head back, stopping only to get two apple cinnamon twists from the Chinese bakery on Van Ness, the ones they always seem to be out of when I intermittently drop in.
There was something I wanted to tell you writing this today, but as I was hammering out the words I forgot what it was. Perhaps I've written this same piece too many times to have it mean anything anymore. Perhaps it meant something when the idea originated but now it's lost it's luster. Life's like that, and to pretend it isn't is a tad disingenuous. Things happen. People look out for themselves. They care only when it's convenient to care.
The cycle continues.
There was something I wanted to tell you writing this today, but as I was hammering out the words I forgot what it was. Perhaps I've written this same piece too many times to have it mean anything anymore. Perhaps it meant something when the idea originated but now it's lost it's luster. Life's like that, and to pretend it isn't is a tad disingenuous. Things happen. People look out for themselves. They care only when it's convenient to care.
The cycle continues.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
That First Line
Monday night we went and saw a friend play in this country/bluegrass band in the Mission. It was great because the lead singer is this elderly Japanese guy with a thick accent who performs old Jimmy Rodgers and Hank Williams tunes. Not only does he sound like the real deal when he sings about trains and hobos but he is hilarious between songs, to the point where he has a large underground following. There was even a documentary crew shooting a film on his life. I tried to take some concert footage but of course I had the wrong settings on the digital camera I borrowed and everything came out blurry. It didn't help that the film crew asked me not to use my flash. Oh well. It was still beautiful to see our friend perform in her element and do her thing in front of so many people, smiling and jamming on her violin and sipping beers between songs.






Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Manufactured Landscapes
I thoroughly enjoyed this documentary last night. I had something else I wanted to say about it, a critique of global capitalism, exploitation of cheap (minority) labor, and environmental pillaging, but that would be kind of trite right about now (like the city I live in has rubbed off on me in some problematic way), and I don't feel like sounding preachy. If you dig photography that merges the aesthetic with the conceptual, and you are as much of a geek for documentaries as I am, you should definitely add this to your Netflix list.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Monday, January 14, 2008
Monday, January 07, 2008
Saturday, January 05, 2008
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Your Highness is Holding Your Chains
The Good The Bad & The Queen: I love Blur, and this new supergroup of Damon Albarn's is certainly one of the musical highlights of 2007. Dense and atmospheric, a fusion of so many interesting styles, I've been listening to it non-stop for the past three days.
Into the Wild: There was a time in the early 90s - when I was just beginning my interest in cinema - where I felt Sean Penn was the best actor of our generation, comparable to DeNiro or Pacino or even Hackman. Classic roles in Carlito's Way, Casualties of War, Colors, Bad Boys, Falcon & the Snowman (his most underrated film) and Fast Times made this abundantly clear. (Of course this was before his comeback in Dead Man Walking, when every hipster and film critic jumped on board and suddenly "rediscovered" his early work, and then Penn began cultivating his inner existentialist by quoting Bukowski in every conversation, and well, the rest is history.) Because of this, though, I always wanted to like Penn as a director too, wanted to grasp the dark brooding artist I saw chain-smoking on Charlie Rose, but honestly, I never found his films very compelling. The Indian Runner, The Crossing Guard & The Pledge all contain great moments, elements that suggest this was an intellect capable of making a profound work of art, but they were all flawed in some way too. The conversations were didactic, the narratives unrealistic, the preoccupation with despair too forced, I always came away with the same feeling: these films aspire to greatness but are missing something crucial.
Well, with Into the Wild Penn has found his narrative voice and created one of the most important films of the last decade, one of those daring, ambitious, lyrical films that hit all the right notes. From the fragmentary temporal logic to the beautiful cinematography, from Eddie Vedder's haunting score to Emile Hirsh's impeccable performance, this is everything independent cinema should be. It's also the first time I cried since Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (well, Closer brought me to the brink, also, but that's another discussion), although not for the reasons you may think.
Let me add that the way Penn conveyed the prose of the book, by literally typing certain passages over the images in this beautiful yellow font, by having us see what the boy writes in his diary - especially at the end, and his use of dueling brother/sister voice-over narrators were all brilliant tactical moves, unconventional at a time when Hollywood is getting more formulaic.
There's this scene about half-way through where Hirsh's character looks into an office building and sees a kid his age, just out of college, clean cut and smiling and every mother's dream. He then imagines himself in that same position, in the same suit, doing things "the right way": working hard and enjoying a life of comfort and convenience and smoozing with the big boys at the firm. He then walks away, penniless and cold and more determined than ever to leave society behind, to never approach that level of douchebaggery again. It's weird because, in a sense, this was my experience watching the film, seeing what it would have been like to go a different route and pursue my On the Road ambitions. And yet, instead of feeling secure in my decision to become another taxpayer, I was jealous of the way he was able to just walk away. And the great thing is, he didn't drop out to be an addict or a criminal, and he certainly didn't do it because he was crazy, he just wanted to seize every moment and embrace the magic of the natural world and capture the truth and the beauty of his experiences, wherever the journey took him, outside the scope of conventional wisdom and petty ignorance (not to mention, family abuse).
Meanwhile I'm left to over-intellectualize in a silly blog and wonder, what if?
Into the Wild: There was a time in the early 90s - when I was just beginning my interest in cinema - where I felt Sean Penn was the best actor of our generation, comparable to DeNiro or Pacino or even Hackman. Classic roles in Carlito's Way, Casualties of War, Colors, Bad Boys, Falcon & the Snowman (his most underrated film) and Fast Times made this abundantly clear. (Of course this was before his comeback in Dead Man Walking, when every hipster and film critic jumped on board and suddenly "rediscovered" his early work, and then Penn began cultivating his inner existentialist by quoting Bukowski in every conversation, and well, the rest is history.) Because of this, though, I always wanted to like Penn as a director too, wanted to grasp the dark brooding artist I saw chain-smoking on Charlie Rose, but honestly, I never found his films very compelling. The Indian Runner, The Crossing Guard & The Pledge all contain great moments, elements that suggest this was an intellect capable of making a profound work of art, but they were all flawed in some way too. The conversations were didactic, the narratives unrealistic, the preoccupation with despair too forced, I always came away with the same feeling: these films aspire to greatness but are missing something crucial.
Well, with Into the Wild Penn has found his narrative voice and created one of the most important films of the last decade, one of those daring, ambitious, lyrical films that hit all the right notes. From the fragmentary temporal logic to the beautiful cinematography, from Eddie Vedder's haunting score to Emile Hirsh's impeccable performance, this is everything independent cinema should be. It's also the first time I cried since Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (well, Closer brought me to the brink, also, but that's another discussion), although not for the reasons you may think.
Let me add that the way Penn conveyed the prose of the book, by literally typing certain passages over the images in this beautiful yellow font, by having us see what the boy writes in his diary - especially at the end, and his use of dueling brother/sister voice-over narrators were all brilliant tactical moves, unconventional at a time when Hollywood is getting more formulaic.
There's this scene about half-way through where Hirsh's character looks into an office building and sees a kid his age, just out of college, clean cut and smiling and every mother's dream. He then imagines himself in that same position, in the same suit, doing things "the right way": working hard and enjoying a life of comfort and convenience and smoozing with the big boys at the firm. He then walks away, penniless and cold and more determined than ever to leave society behind, to never approach that level of douchebaggery again. It's weird because, in a sense, this was my experience watching the film, seeing what it would have been like to go a different route and pursue my On the Road ambitions. And yet, instead of feeling secure in my decision to become another taxpayer, I was jealous of the way he was able to just walk away. And the great thing is, he didn't drop out to be an addict or a criminal, and he certainly didn't do it because he was crazy, he just wanted to seize every moment and embrace the magic of the natural world and capture the truth and the beauty of his experiences, wherever the journey took him, outside the scope of conventional wisdom and petty ignorance (not to mention, family abuse).
Meanwhile I'm left to over-intellectualize in a silly blog and wonder, what if?





















