Raving Through Dark Nights.

Abject Bodies and Gender Instability in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960)

2011-11-11T09:54:00.000-08:00

There’s Something Queer At Work Here

Abject Bodies and Gender Instability in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960)

We Need to Talk About Norman

The way performance functions in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho reflects a deep, abiding preoccupation with gender roles and the truth economy that is generated therein. The oscillation between masculine and feminine, and the instability of gender is depicted in the construction of characters that do no satisfy ideal, conventional roles regarding sex and gender, but rather expose a profoundly unsettling inconsistency in respect to bodies, both abject and normalized. The gender role reversal in Psycho is blindingly obvious, particularly in the scene where Lila goes to explore the house and find Mrs. Bates, while Sam acts as a decoy to distract Norman. This scene and the following one, in which it is revealed that Norman has been preserving the skeleton of his mother and dressing up in her clothes, stress the transience of gender, and how it is not always in sync with biological sex. Sam's aggressive homosocial taunting of Norman in this sequence, and Lila's exploration of the house, leading up to the discovery of the skeleton and Norman's performance as his mother, all hint towards an inherent gender instability within the characters of the film and a masculine/feminine malaise that is developed throughout the course of the film.

Before Lila begins to look for Mrs. Bates and Sam distracts Norman, they search through cabin one for any clues. They find a slip of paper Marion wrote on regarding the stolen money (just numbers and equation signs) that missed the toilet when she flushed the rest down. Lila becomes desperate to search the house and speak to Mrs. Bates, and Sam fulfills the typical role of male protector by saying, “I don’t like you going into that house alone.” This dialogue is in line with the heterosexist ideology of the time, and an ideology that Sam’s character clearly held true. He sounds resigned when he says that he’ll find Bates and keep him occupied.

It is important to note that Sam’s gender performance, like everyone’s inside the world of the film (and outside, according to feminist and queer theorist Judith Butler), is a failure. He cannot provide for Marion in the way that she wants and needs him to (as evident from the first scene); ironically, right after Norman watches the swamp swallow the car with Marion’s body in it, Sam is seen writing a letter to Marion professing that he doesn’t care if they are poor, cramped, or miserable – at least they’ll be happy (and alive). This could be why he overcompensates when in pursuit of the truth about what really happened to her, and this overcompensation comes on particularly strong throughout the scene in which he keeps Norman occupied. His hypermasculinity in this scene is almost to be expected, especially with someone as weak as Norman.

However, Sam’s hypermasculinity does not surface until after they enter the office. Norman is already suspicious of the couple, and Sam is clearly nervous, at first (before entering the office), to be diverting Norman’s attention. He knows that he is a potentially dangerous person, although he is not yet sure in what way. The sexual tension between the two is immediately felt in Norman’s body language. His confidence (both in body and speech) when he asks, “You looking for me?” slowly begins to dissipate shortly thereafter. His body then enters a visible state of unrest, and Sam’s teasing line, “I never can keep quiet enough for her, so I thought I’d look you up and talk”, with all its erotic undertones, hints towards a fluctuation between homosocial and homoerotic interaction – that also begins to dissipate after those few seconds.

Sam then begins to try to bully the truth out of Norman, which, although it does not work (in regard to what he wants to hear – about the money and Marion), puts him in a progressively more distressed state over the duration of their conversation. It seems that Hitchcock implies that when Sam says “Buy a new one, in a new town, where you won’t have to hide your mother,” when talking about the hotel and the money, that Norman is actually thinking about himself and his gender identity. Hitchcock is also suggesting the possibility of Norman thinking Sam is aware of his secret, which makes him noticeably tense up – his jaw muscle begins to contract faster, and his speech begins to tremble.

In the office scene, the frame is split perfectly in two. Sam inhabits one side (the left – customer), Norman the other (the right – owner): one proper body, one abject; one (normalized) heterosexual identity, one (shamed) queer; one searching for what he will not find, and one hiding something everyone is looking for – but also the opposite, something no one expected to find. Lila exploring the house while Sam distracts Norman also could be looked at as a gender role reversal – why is it Lila exploring the house while Sam distracts Norman? Shouldn’t they use Lila’s female sexuality to keep Norman’s attention while Sam (born explorer, essence of man) searches the house? Or were they already unsure about Norman’s sexuality? They certainly were not given any clues to his gender trouble at that point.

The revelation of Norman as Mrs. Bates is a different kind of performance when looked at against those outlined by Judith Butler. Butler offers drag as the ultimate portrayal of gender instability. However, almost always, drag offers some sort of comedic edge (whether it be inherent in the participants/the performance or reactionary from the audience) and her syllogism that if one understands drag as a portrayal of gender instability, then they must believe gender to be socially constructed, is reductive and unrealistic. With Psycho, Alfred Hitchcock offers his character's gender trouble in a less deductive and more effective/affective way: Norman is not a sideshow, a circus act for the people from within the film or the audience to laugh at (up until the end, when a feeling of camp arises). Hitchcock is not setting it up so that once the audience witnesses the wig falling off Norman's head in the big reveal that they will instantly be convinced of gender's contingent foundations. Hitchcock is, however, offering a deeply troubling ambiguity that confounds the characters within the film, and finds the audience feeling a deep unease in regards to what they have just seen. It's the slippage between masculine and feminine, the undeclared sexuality of Norman that is emphasized by Hitchcock and felt by the audience; it is that uncertainty which functions as the crux of the film and is the key to its understanding. With drag, you only get the performance. With Psycho, you get more: the visage of the boy next door and the spirit underneath the skin of Norman Bates – the creation of a monster a little too human for our liking.

"a free verse poem about [my] greatest fear", as requested by anon on Tumblr.

2011-05-04T12:43:00.001-07:00

how absurd

the blameless absurdity

of the absurd

conditional healing

for a man

with hope

"for a better tomorrow"

but giving that up

for a neutral today

HOWEVER

today is helpless

(or hopeless?)

and so is he

feeling around

fooling around

fucking around

turning himself (and everything) AROUND

inside-out

which not everyone sees

but then again

not everyone's looking

painful explanations

he hates giving

positing understanding

against apathy

in this cruel, cruel world

(of his)

fruitless attempts

misunderstandings thrive

overcoming spatial

and mobile indifference

in flux

forever

or never

and ever

Tribeca Film Festival 2011 in review.

2011-05-02T07:07:00.001-07:00

This year's crop of films was indefinitely better than last year - the energy I felt while watching Give Up Tomorrow at its first screening (my third screening) was palpable, the ovation incredible. The energy carried straight through the week, from the high-profile premieres I attended (Eva Mendes and Griffin Dunne were at the Last Night screening; Vera Farmiga, Joshua Leonard, Bill Irwin were among those attending Higher Ground's NY Premiere) to the lower profile screenings such as Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest (actor-director Michael Rapaport and Phife Dog in attendance) and Bombay Beach (director Alma Har'el in attendance, sad I didn't get to see/meet Benny). Below you will find my capsule reviews (there are a few films I'd love to watch again, but two filmmaker's in particular whose team I might have the chance, and would love, to join), enjoy!

Renée (directed by Eric Drath) | 2011 | 75m | Spotlight | World Premiere

Born Richard Raskin in 1934 into incredible privilege (both of her parents were doctors - her mother dominating her father on a daily basis), Renée Richards was “reborn” in 1975 after much anguish of feeling like she wanted to be a woman but the world not being able to looking at her that way. Why? Well, he liked to sneak into his sister’s room and wear dresses, and he just felt like he was in a woman trapped in a man’s body. It occurred to me after the film, what if cross-dressing was an acceptable practice when Richards was a child and he could have done it out in the open - I definitely believe that him having to do it behind closed doors, and the fact that he felt like he couldn’t tell anyone about it had a direct effect on his decision to transition. Too bad director Eric Drath (directing his second film - his first was a boxing documentary) doesn’t feel that this is where the meat of his story’s at, all but ignoring key issues of transgender politics and transgender life to focus on her tennis career (which I guess makes sense because the documentary was funded by ESPN films), but then again, Richards’ continuous and elliptical attempts to get across to the audience that she just wants to be considered a woman and not transgender because they’re “freakish” (her own words) grow tiresome towards the end of the film. This is an easily digestible sports documentary for people who want to know the entire story of Renée (including her relationship with her possibly addicted and twisted son who, the film tells us, has had many jobs, one of them being choreographing the first Wu-Tang video)… but not really.

Jiro Dreams of Sushi (directed by David Gelb) | 2011 | 81m | World Documentary Competition | North American Premiere

Food fetishists everywhere unite: director David Gelb has created a glossy entrée for food porn enthusiasts all over. Let’s not forget about the human behind the plate of mouthwatering proportions: the title character, an 85 year old Japanese sushi chef, might be the most charming of his kind - a bully throughout adolescent, Jiro began involving himself in the restaurant business at the prime age of nine. To this day, owning a three star Michelin restaurant where people pay upwards of $300 for a full meal and make reservations a year in advance, he still strives for perfection, with a work ethnic like no one you’ve ever seen.

Complemented by the minimalist sounds of composer Phillip Glass, Jiro Dreams of Sushi details what exactly it takes to make the food of its title, and how passionate these artists are, especially Jiro himself. We create to live, because really, how else would we get by?

[trailer available for your viewing pleasure here - note: Jiro Dreams of Sushi was picked up by Magnolia Pictures for North American distribution, see it when it comes out, support indepedent filmmaking]

The Trip (directed by Michael Winterbottom) | 2010 | 117m | Spotlight | U.S. Premiere

A condensed version of a sitcom series on the BBC which was composed of six episodes trailing Steve Coogan’s trip with his colleague and sort-of friend Rob Brydon across the north of England on a restaurant tour, The Trip is Michael Winterbottom’s ode to male bonding and what it means to be an aging actor in an ageist world. Winterbottom is one of the most diverse directors working today - he’s kind of the modern day heir to someone like Howard Hawks’ genre skipping. This is a comedy, and oh my dear is it funny - but that, of course, depends on how long you can stand Coogan and Brydon’s (largely improvised) shtick for. Honestly, who would have thought that two men, one a somewhat snarky individual and the other very easygoing, talking about food would make for an engaging film (or mini-series). Luckily, I have a high tolerance for dry British humor, and was on the verge of tears from laughing so hard. Mix that with some beautiful shots of the countryside (the cinematography is by Ben Smithard) and a gentle and appropriately minimalist score by Michael Nyman and you’ve got a real winner.

[The Trip will be released in the early summer via IFC Films]

Give Up Tomorrow (directed by Michael Collins and Marty Syjuco) | 2011 | 90m | World Documentary Competition | International Premiere

It’s been a long, long time since a documentary has filled me with such a surplus of feeling. This is honest filmmaking, this is brave filmmaking, this is necessary filmmaking. These are a few of the thoughts I had while watching Give Up Tomorrow at its Tribeca premiere. With Give Up Tomorrow, Michael Collins, working with multiple talking heads and archival footage over the past 14 years, emphasizes the importance of truth, and where lies lead us (to injustices as extreme as false imprisonment). I don’t want to give too much away, I barely want to tell you anything about this incredibly dramatic and gripping, but most of all important, story. The stakes are high with this one: Free Paco - right the wrong, travel the road to righteousness.

[the trailer for Give Up Tomorrow can be viewed at the film’s website: I cannot implore you to see this film enough.]

Gone (directed by Gretchen and John Morning) | 2011 | 85m | Viewpoints | World Premiere

Gone recounts Kathy Gilleran’s story of her missing son in Austria. Aeryn was 34 years old, a homosexual, a loving son. Gilleran’s battle to find her son in opposition with an acerbic and homophobic police force is depicted through her talking directly to the camera, testimonial style, interspersed with footage she shot in Vienna while looking for Aeryn over the years since he has been missing. Sadly, the pieces of this puzzle don’t add up: while Kathy is an engaging and articulate speaker, she is simply not enough to carry the entire documentary through its 85 minute running time.

L’assault [The Assault] (directed by Julian Leclercq) | 2011 | 95m | Spotlight | North American Premiere

Juggling three separate storylines simultaneously, Julian Leclercq makes the most out of his films title action, but some might find everything preceding it rote and unsurprising - a common case of too little too late. Fortunately, I found the the action in the assault sequence to be handled well - the feeling of claustrophobia is palpable and the danger looms large. The skipping stories, however, made me lose interest in a majority of the characters, and affected my capacity to empathize with them. Even if I didn’t love it, I still liked it a hell of a lot better than United 93 (but that’s probably because I deplore that film).

[the French trailer for The Assault can be viewed here.]

Last Night (directed by Massy Tadjedin) | 2010 | 90m | Spotlight | U.S. Premiere

An engaging, if slight, affair, Last Night isn’t exactly new territory for Hollywood - themes such as love and infidelity have certainly been explored, time and time again. However, Massy Tadjedin (writer of 2005’s The Jacket) imbues her film with a European feel that is captivating from start to finish (in part because of the excellently scripted dialogue - with the exception of the trite “bad connection” metaphor), shooting New York City as a wonderland (principle photography was done by Mulholland Dr. DP Peter Deming) and almost a character of its own. Guillaume Canet’s performance makes me wonder why he isn’t a household name in the US yet: his smile, one of the best in the pictures today, telling a history of considerable depth and honesty. The sexual and emotional tension between both pairs of actors (Keira Knightley/Guillaume Canet, Eva Mendes/Sam Worthington) is palpable, although Worthington severely underplays his role in opposition to Mendes’ subtle turn as his temptress. Clint Mansell’s piano heavy score works well with the proceedings, and the film as a whole (however negligible or inessential, but enjoyable all the same) makes you wonder how and why films get shelved for years on end.

[the trailer for Last Night can be seen here - the entire film can be ordered & watched on iTunes, VUDU, and Amazon Instant Video, in addition to most VOD television outlets - Miramax is releasing it theatrically in NY at the Clearview Chelsea and Angelika starting May 6th]

Higher Ground (directed by Vera Farmiga) | 2011 | 109m | Spotlight | New York Premiere

Coming to Tribeca off the heels of its Sundance debut, where it was picked up by Sony Pictures Classics (the theater was heavily populated with their representatives; Vera thanked the people who actually paid to see the film beforehand, which I found honorable), who plan to release it in late summer, Vera Farmiga’s Higher Ground is both an inquisitive and assured piece of work - a first film that doesn’t feel like a first film, a graceful ode to the power of faith, and also the power of doubt. Farmiga deftly balances the realism of bygone eras with her own personal voice as a new filmmaker, exhibiting an unselfconsciousness and dexterity that I rarely see in most first-time directors. Her performance is (unsurprisingly, considering she has given some of the greatest performances of the decade) one of the strongest aspects of the film, portraying a woman questioning her principal beliefs. The way faith is depicted in Higher Ground is different from most traditional Hollywood narrative films released over the past few decades, veering more towards an anthropological depiction than an impressionistic judgmental one (the specific religion dealt with seems easily replaceable). The film never feels satirical - there are laughs, but not acerbic ones. Farmiga’s message, which is indefinitely a universal one, should resonate with crowds from all different religious persuasions (from atheist and agnostic to secular and fundamentalist) - it is inappropriate to condemn an entire group of people based on how they find meaning and truth in their lives. There are some kinks that she has to work out (the gap between the main character’s childhood and adulthood is choppy), but she’s definitely on the right path.

Bombay Beach (directed by Alma Har’el) | 2011 | 80m | World Documentary Competition | North American Premiere

Certainly one of the most unique visions at this year’s festival, Bombay Beach is a part-documentary part-narrative fantasia that echoes Harmony Korine’s realistic and dreamlike free-form structure (Gummo, and his most recent short Act Da Fool) and Terry Gilliam’s surreal style. Born out of a location scouting trip after Coachella, Alma Har’el’s first feature begins with newsreel footage of the Salton Sea from the 1950s promoting the area as “Palm Springs-by-the-Sea” and a tourist hot spot. Har’el then cuts to present day: dead fish, abandoned houses, trailer parks galore.

Bombay Beach’s beauty derives from Har’el’s beautiful eye for framing and composition (frequently utilizing shallow focus): she turns a wasteland into a wonderland, and fully imbues the film with the spirit of its characters. Its charm is born out of its personalities: Benny, a young boy who has to take Ritalin and Risperdal to function on a day-to-day basis and who is constantly in danger of being taken away by Child Protective Services (swimming makes him happy, and in many of the sequences the camera takes an anti-ageist neutral view); Red, an old man who rides around the desert and bootlegs cigarettes to the inhabitants of Slab City; CeeJay, a South Central native who is trying to keep his grades up so he can get a football scholarship and falls for one of his teammate’s sister. Red takes the wheel as the makeshift narrator of the project, pontificating on life, coming off as strangely optimistic in nature.

Har’el’s fascination is complimented by appropriate and inappropriate dance numbers set to the music of Bob Dylan and original compositions by Zach Condon of Beirut that lend a magical realist edge to the film as a whole. Her intimate and impressionistic strokes don’t always work, and she’s frequently very close to fetishizing this impoverished population, but Bombay Beach is an attention-grabbing first feature - it is worth your time, and surely unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.

[The trailer for Bombay Beach can be viewed here.]

Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest (directed by Michael Rapaport) | 2011 | 98m | Spotlight | New York Premiere

After an brilliantly animated opening credits sequence, longtime actor and first-time director Michael Rapaport starts at the end, showing clips he shot of legendary New York hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest at the Rock the Bells tour in 2008, what they would deem their final performance. Utilizing talking head interviews by genre insiders (Common, Pharrell, Blackthought and Questlove of The Roots, De La Soul, Beastie Boys to name a few) explaining their influence and archival footage of Tribe during their rise to fame, Rapaport, clearly passionate about his subjects, has made a film that should appeal to both fans and those unfamiliar with this game-changing hip hop crew. Spending an ample amount of time on the beef between Phife and Q-Tip and Phife’s health issues, Beats, Rhymes & Life offers a cursory glance at ATCQ in their prime and could have benefited from longer sequences featuring the actual music and how it was created. It’s hard to fault Rapaport, because while he does achieve a clear feeling of nostalgia and joy with this work (it’ll undoubtedly make you think about why there aren’t more documentaries made about hip hop), there is a lingering concern that he focuses too much on the petty drama between the group’s members.

Treatment (directed by Steven Schardt and Sean Nelson) | 2011 | 83m | Viewpoints | World Premiere

A vaguely entertaining but unsuccessful satire on the life of a mega movie star and the independent screenwriter who wants to recruit him for a timely piece on the financial crisis, Steven Schardt and Sean Nelson’s Treatment is always winking at the viewer, maintaining a selfconsciousness in regards to comedic moments that becomes overbearing by the end. Joshua Leonard tries his hardest to save the film but he is given such slight material to work with that it becomes futile, especially at the end when everything takes a turn towards the self-serious and easy moralizing. The energy is high, but there’s just nowhere to go with this one - Robyn Hitchcock’s soundtrack is excellent standalone work, and his cameo is entertaining, but it cannot lift this film up beyond bland mediocrity.

So there it is! Until next year! (maybe I'll finally volunteer)

Goodness Gracious.

2011-04-09T16:13:00.001-07:00

O’ holy ghost!

Do you hear the celestial heavens sing?

Do you see the skyline give life to the city?

Do you smell the firewood ablaze?

O’ sacred worshipper!

Do you believe in me, your God?

Do you feel that bolt of lightning

swell inside your chest?

O’ ignorant human!

Do you think

of yourself

as anything more

than

your flesh,

your blood,

your judgement?

O’ holy man!

Answer my inquiry.

My lord,

thou hast beseeched much of me,

relieve me of this sin.

Hand

2011-03-09T05:19:00.000-08:00

So soft

is the hand which I stroke

that

when turned over

is dry and cracked

on the inside.

Post-Oscar Commentary.

2011-03-01T06:28:00.000-08:00

I am a slave to James Franco's shtick.
Anne Hathaway was charming at times.
The King Speech winning Best Picture = boring (but at least now we know why it was shot on a gay porn set).
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross winning Best Original Score was (clearly) the best moment. The Social Network had my favourite score of the year, (along with Keegan DeWitt's work on Cold Weather) but please note: I differentiate between favourite and best.
Deakins should have won over Pfister (I wouldn't have minded if Cronenweth won to be honest).
Tom Hooper winning Best Director was depressing.
Overall: what a boring race and show this year, a major letdown.

Objectification #1, Law and Morality

2011-02-20T13:58:00.000-08:00

He is wearing a t-shirt today,

flesh shining unusually bright

(to my eyes).

Usually,

he is hiding under unnecessary layers

but today is different

(not really).

The fabric keeping me from you

is not only the fabric of your shirt

but the fabric of my life

and yours too.

Take it off,

or no.

It will only relieve me

for a moment.

See to Sea (for Princeton).

2011-01-18T19:03:00.000-08:00

and he says

"you are beautiful

and talented

and amazing"

but my disagreement

is simple

these adjectives

do not describe me

in the slightest

and you laugh

and say

"it don't mean no thing"

and I agree

but that

just

won't

II.

there's light skittering on the surface

and I don't know who I am

but I do know what I am

this flesh and blood

that I bleed

there is always someone out there

physical presence

do not be deceived

it is just a mirage

III.

the railing holds me back

but not from

the breadth of feeling

and the immensity

and the vastness

IV.

Looking over this sea of darkness,

I see now

that this is a conscious dream,

one in which I can only wake up from

by dying.

a la Mexicana.

2011-01-18T18:50:00.000-08:00

Waiting for my Spanish mistress,

I begin to pace around the room

analyzing the space which I occupy.

She is late, as per usual,

and probably missed the bus.

I hear screams coming from another room,

high-pitched, a woman.

I pour myself a brandy,

as the disorder in the other room intensifies.

I search for a flame to light my fag,

soon finding a book of matches.

I take a drag,

ponder my mere existence,

and exhale.

A cloud of smoke rises.

And then my Spanish mistress arrives,

naked, exposed to the world.

The great phallus revealed,

I jump on the bed,

and welcome a night that will cure me.

If only.

The moon sits low,

as we do our dance,

until the morning light shines.

A la Mexicana.

Top Albums of 2010.

2011-01-18T09:13:00.000-08:00

01. Heartland (Owen Pallett)

02. Halcyon Digest (Deerhunter)

03. Teen Dream (Beach House)

04. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (Kanye West)

05. Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty (Big Boi)

06. Have One on Me (Joanna Newsom)

07. Mines (Menomena)

08. This Is Happening (LCD Soundsystem)

09. Down There (Avey Tare)

10. The Social Network (Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross)

11. Everything in Between (No Age)

12. Treats (Sleigh Bells)

13. Subiza (Delorean)

14. High Violet (The National)

15. Lisbon (The Walkmen)

16. The ArchAndroid (Suites II and III) (Janelle Monáe)

17. Small Craft on a Milk Sea (Brian Eno)

18. Forgiveness Rock Record (Broken Social Scene)

19. How I Got Over (The Roots)

20. One Life Stand (Hot Chip)

honorable mentions:

Bastard (Tyler, the Creator)

Lucky Shiner (Gold Panda)

Swanlights (Antony and the Johnsons)

The Suburbs (Arcade Fire)

Dear God, I Hate Myself (Xiu Xiu)

Beach Fossils (Beach Fossils)

Lasted (Benoît Pioulard)

Swim (Caribou)

Total Life Forever (Foals)

Tourist History (Two Door Cinema Club)

Champ (Tokyo Police Club)

Body Talk (Robyn)

Odd Blood (Yeasayer)

Contra (Vampire Weekend)

Love King (The-Dream)

The Orchard (Ra Ra Riot)

Cosmogramma / Pattern+Grid World EP (Flying Lotus)

The Drums (The Drums)

Before Today (Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti)

Wild Smile (Suckers)

Avi Buffalo (Avi Buffalo)

Plastic Beach (Gorillaz)

I Will Be (Dum Dum Girls)

Big Echo (The Morning Benders)

Astro Coast (Surfer Blood)

Gemini (Wild Nothing)

Brothers (The Black Keys)

Interpol (Interpol)

Love Remains (How to Dress Well)

Go (Jónsi)

Forget (Twin Shadow)

Special Affections (Diamond Rings)

There Is Love in You (Four Tet)

Causers of This (Toro Y Moi)

The Age of Adz / All Delighted People EP (Sufjan Stevens)

New Chain (Small Black)

Fang Island (Fang Island)

Electric Sunset (Electric Sunset)

Heaven is Whenever (The Hold Steady)

Clinging to a Scheme (The Radio Dept.)

Spirit Youth (The Depreciation Guild)

Crazy for You (Best Coast)

King of the Beach (Wavves)

All Day (Girl Talk)

The Monitor (Titus Andronicus)

White Magic (ceo)

A Year in Film: 2010.

2011-01-06T13:34:00.000-08:00

01. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Apichatpong Weerasethakul; Thailand/UK/France/Germany/Spain/Netherlands)

02. Greenberg (Noah Baumbach, USA)

03. Somewhere (Sofia Coppola, USA)

04. Certified Copy (Abbas Kiarostami, France/Italy/Iran)

05. Blue Valentine (Derek Cianfrance, USA)

06. Film socialisme (Jean-Luc Godard, Switzerland/France)

07. The Social Network (David Fincher, USA)

08. Exit Through the Gift Shop (Bansky, USA/UK)

09. Black Swan (Darren Aronofsky, USA)

10. The Ghost Writer (Roman Polanski, France/Germany/UK)

11. True Grit (Joel and Ethan Coen, USA)

12. Meek’s Cutoff (Kelly Reichardt, USA)

13. The American (Anton Corbijn, USA)

14. Rabbit Hole (John Cameron Mitchell, USA)

15. Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work (Ricki Stern & Anne Sundberg, USA)

16. Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer (Alex Gibney, USA)

17. Buried (Rodrigo Cortés, Spain/USA/France)

18. happythankyoumoreplease (Josh Radnor, USA)

19. The Oath (Laura Poitras, USA)

20. Casino Jack and the United States of Money (Alex Gibney, USA)

Best Director

Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives *

Sofia Coppola, Somewhere

Derek Cianfrance, Blue Valentine

Joel and Ethan Coen, True Grit

David Fincher, The Social Network

Best Actor in a Leading Role

Ben Stiller, Greenberg

James Franco, 127 Hours

Ryan Gosling, Blue Valentine

Stephen Dorff, Somewhere *

George Clooney, The American

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

Juliette Binoche, Certified Copy *

Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit

Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Rhys Ifans, Greenberg

Matt Damon, True Grit

Miles Teller, Rabbit Hole

Andrew Garfield, The Social Network *

Vincent Cassel, Black Swan

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Greta Gerwig, Greenberg *

Elle Fanning, Somewhere

Mila Kunis, Black Swan

Dianne Wiest, Rabbit Hole

Michelle Williams, Meek’s Cutoff

Best Writing - Adapted Screenplay

The Social Network, Aaron Sorkin *

The American, Rowan Joffe

The Ghost Writer, Robert Harris and Roman Polanski

Rabbit Hole, David Lindsay-Abaire

True Grit, Joel and Ethan Coen

Best Writing - Original Screenplay

Greenberg, Noah Baumbach *

Certified Copy, Abbas Kiarostami

Meek’s Cutoff, Jonathan Raymond

happythankyoumoreplease, Josh Radnor

Buried, Chris Sparling

Best Cinematography

Greenberg, Harris Savides

Somewhere, Harris Savides *

True Grit, Roger Deakins

The American, Martin Ruhe

Blue Valentine, Andrij Parekh

Best Original Score

Black Swan, Clint Mansell

The Social Network, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross *

Greenberg, James Murphy

The American, Herbert Grönemeyer

The Ghost Writer, Alexandre Desplat

Keep in mind, I have not seen the following (yet): Howl, Waiting for 'Superman', I'm Still Here, Another Year, Carlos, Tiny Furniture, etc.

The Thief's Journal, Jean Genet.

2011-01-01T13:31:00.000-08:00

"At least," I said to myself, "if my shame is real, it hides a sharper, more dangerous element, a kind of sting that will always threaten anyone who provokes it. It might not have been laid over me like a trap, might not have been intentional, but since it is what it is, I want it to conceal me so that I can lie in wait beneath it."

NYFF 2010: Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

2010-09-28T19:12:00.001-07:00

Man and animal coalesce in Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s ode to a Thai of his past that greatly influences the Thai of his present

Apichatpong Weerasethakul / UK, Thailand, France, Germany, Spain / 2010 / 113m

Are we really humans, or just animals grazing about in a forest? How can we tell the difference? Are we waiting to be hunted, or are we creating a new species by having relations outside of our own? Are we just zombies, sitting in the theatre waiting to be profoundly impacted by a simple piece of art? What defines a piece of art as simple? Are we continually attempting to reach out to our past lives (even if it is subconscious)? Am I really here right now, or am I living this life somewhere else?

Based on a self-published book from 1983 and centered around a character who was fleetingly mentioned in 2004’s Tropical Malady, Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives defies simple description. It exists in that rare space of cinema as a film you experience rather than view in the traditional sense. Weerasethakul overtly breaks no new ground plot-wise with Uncle Boonmee and it is clear that this is not his intent as an artist. His previous works are marked by a particular avant-garde and experimental aesthetic, and it has never been as beautifully synthesized with his ideas on art and life as it has with this film. Uncle Boonmee is a mood piece, one in which mortality and being are mused over against the backdrop of a dying man’s ghost story.

And a ghost story it is, but definitely not in the common sense. Within the first few scenes, we are introduced to Uncle Boonmee’s deceased wife and estranged son, who comes back as half-monkey half-man with laser red eyes (which prompts an honest and hysterical line about him growing out his hair). At first it is frightening to see this figure (as he pops up right before the film title’s card), but it is not long before the audience trusts him. This is in part because Boonmee, his sister-in-law Jen, and his son Tong approach the ghosts with apprehension for just a few seconds before welcoming them back into the world of the living with open arms. Weerasethakul’s success is that he forges this acceptance as fairly accessible to the audience, which makes nearly anything possibly within the realm of his filmmaking and further blurs the spheres of the living and the departed.

But this is not Weerasethakul’s sole success, of course, because we have not considered his seamless merging of man with nature. His camera frequently remains stationary and lingers on landscapes of forests and animals like water buffalo, which works in conjunction with the immersive sound design to transport the audience into these foreign places. These foreign places end up not seeming foreign at all, actually quite the opposite - they end up seeming familiar, due to Weerasethakul’s skill as a filmmaker to make time irrelevant and ignite a deep sense of site specificity the focus point. There is a universal sense of nostalgia when Weerasethakul shoots a sun descending through the trees because it is not your typical sunset, and we all have experienced it. Although this universal sense of nostalgia is pervasive in some of the sensory-heavy shots, Apichatpong allows for a personal reading as well.

What is specific to this film is part of what makes it so transcendent, like when Uncle Boonmee makes Jen taste honey (which she describes as “heaven” after walking in the sun all day) on his farm or when Weerasethakul breaks off into a thrilling and natural scene where a woman who questions her beauty begins talking to a catfish and is subsequently depicted fornicating with it. The catfish scene is not shot in a provocative or exploitative manner. It never, at any point, feels less than an ordinary way to deal with an identity crisis and not to mention it also furthers Weerasethakul’s contemplation on the convergence of man and animal.

Nearing the end frames, Uncle Boonmee makes it clear that the past affects the present and the future more than we think it does and more than we would like to believe. Weerasethakul adds a very subtle, quiet political edge when a monk takes off his robe in one of the final scenes, which could be interpreted as him dealing with his problems with the Thai government censoring his 2006 film Syndromes and a Century. This scene, among others, firmly grounds the film in Weerasethakul’s reality, a reality which becomes more glowingly optimistic and hopeful as the film progresses (the reality of a Palme d‘Or also helps, and moreover, the recognition the film has received since winning that award is astounding and invigorating).

During the Q&A, Apichatpong spoke about how every reel of film he used (which is about twenty minutes of screen time) was a different ode to his fondness for the Thai films, fables, and folklores of his childhood. His success in this department is singular: it never feels choppy or segmented, one sequence flowing into the next with relative ease and, although it may not be apparent at first, there are interrelated social and philosophical yearnings that permeate the film as a whole. The final scene begs questions about the media and cinema that other filmmakers could only dream of asking in so few words, and that is the power of Mr. Weerasethakul’s cinema - he is able to convey so much with so little.

beautiful bodies.

2010-09-20T20:00:00.000-07:00

his beautiful body

dancing

in the last rays of the sun

he is not dancing

but his body is

mosquitus interruptus

biggest fucker i have ever seen

his body lacks the definition

of a statue

of a Greek youth

but is so much more

the outline of his form

is living

and a dog

is running

across the grass

I gravitate towards this rock

because it is closest to the 69th Street entrance.

But that is not the only reason.

If he knew I was admiring him

he might hate me

but that might only be out of fear.

Why did

that man

put

broccoli

and carrots

in my lamb gyro?

it changes every day.

shirt back on

and back to work

but i have seen

the battle and the bruises

and i am blessed

to have had the opportunity

to do so

and now i am only sure

of the light hitting my body

and this notebook

and him

sitting beside me.

i never did see his face...

The Invention of Comics, Amiri Baraka.

2010-08-28T15:04:00.000-07:00

I am a soul in the world: in

the world of my soul the whirled

light from the day

the sacked land

of my father.

In the world, the sad

nature of

myself. In myself

nature is sad. Small

prints of the day. Its

small dull fires. Its

sun, like a greyness

smeared on the dark.

The day of my soul, is

the nature of that

place. It is a landscape. Seen

from the top of a hill. A

grey expanse; dull fires

throbbing on its seas.

The man's soul, the complexion

of his life. The menace

of its greyness. The

fire, throbs, the sea

moves. Birds shoot

from the dark. The edge

of the waters lit

darkly for the moon.

And the moon, from the soul. Is

the world, of the man. The man

and his sea, and its moon, and

the soft fire throbbing. Kind

death. O

my dark and sultry

love.

Why I am taking African American Literature.

2010-08-27T12:35:00.001-07:00

I was first exposed to a lengthy piece of African American writing in my eleventh grade honors English course. My teacher, Olivia Macaluso, gave all of her honors English classes a long list of authors about halfway through the school year, from which they would choose one and select a novel on which they were expected to write an extended paper weaving literary criticism with their own writing on a topic of their choice by the end of the school year. I was a little late to the game, so by the time I asked Mrs. Macaluso for recommendations on whom she supposed I would enjoy, Ralph Ellison was already taken. She then offered a few others, of which Ishmael Reed was the only one that I had a mild interest in. She warned me about students from previous years having trouble with his work, but I would not back down. I traveled about a half hour away until I finally found a bookstore that had a copy of Mumbo Jumbo available for my taking. Reed's surreal, hyper-attentive style appealed to me, and made me want to do research to understand some of the allusions he was making that I was unfamiliar with.

On October 3rd, the day I was born, of 1998, I received Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man as a present from my mother. Mind you, she did not read my mind, or anything of the sort, she just got what I had asked for a while back. I put off reading it, because I had also received two or three novels and had a difficult course load for my honors English class that year, until the summer after I graduated. That summer I took an Introduction to Cinema course at Hunter, and since I live in New Jersey I commuted four days a week, taking the bus and then the train. I remember, quite vividly, being so absorbed within the world that Ellison had constructed that I frequently forgot I was even on a train at all. I did not want it to end, and after I had finished it I thought... I wish I could be someone's boo'ful. But then I discovered, I probably was, and I just didn't know it yet.

Pale Fire, Vladimir Nabokov.

2010-08-21T13:56:00.000-07:00

Of students' papers: "I am generally very benevolent [said Shade]. But there are certain trifles I do not forgive." Kinbote: "For instance?" "Not having read the required book. Having read it like an idiot. Looking in it for symbols; example: 'The author uses the striking image green leaves because green is the symbol of happiness and frustration.' I am also in the habit of lowering a student's mark catastrophically if he uses 'simple' and 'sincere.' This is widespread, and when I hear a critic speaking of an author's sincerity I know that either the critic or the author is a fool." Kinbote: "But I am told this manner of thinking is taught in high school?" "That's where this broom should begin to sweep. A child should have thirty specialists to teach him thirty subjects, and not one harassed schoolmarm to show him a picture of a rice field and tell him this is China because she knows nothing about China, or anything else, and cannot tell the difference between longitude and latitude." Kinbote: "Yes. I agree."

Steps, Frank O'Hara.

2010-08-12T11:42:00.000-07:00

oh god it's wonderful

to get out of bed

and drink too much coffee

and smoke too many cigarettes

and love you so much

Meditations from a Boy, Meditations on a Boy.

2010-08-09T14:23:00.001-07:00

What is the "correct" way to inspire someone? Who is to say what the correct way to inspire someone is?

Ever since I was young, I was curious... curious about my inherited physical traits, curious about the way people socially and physically interacted with each other, curious about how I thought I was supposed to be, curious about the construction of a society in which I never asked to live. Fear not, I understand that my problem is global and not just societal. Understand, I am not blaming my problem on anyone else, nor am I blaming it on myself, or the sperm and egg that produced me. For even more closure, I am not blaming it on the country in which I have lived my entire life.

I'm not very curious these days. The empirical model [of my life] means just about as much as the next decision I will make (whether to feed myself or not). That was a joke.

I know I once emphasized reason over emotion, but now I approach this way of thinking with apprehension. Recent physical exchanges have taught me to confront the issues I have with others in a more subdued manner, but I know that writing about them now would be unwise.

I must give it time to settle, or else I will not be able to forgive myself.

The City and the Pillar, Gore Vidal.

2010-08-08T14:46:00.001-07:00

"Even so," he said quickly, "there are other things in life than being in love. Look at Jim. He's never in love, are you?"

"Of course I am. With what I want." Jim thought of Bob.

Maria was puzzled. "What do you want?"

Sullivan answered for him. "What he cannot have, like the rest of us." He turned to Maria. "Have you ever found what you wanted?"

"For a time, certainly."

"But not for long."

"No, not for long. I've failed, like everyone else."

"Why?"

"I suppose I may want more than any man cares to give. And sometimes I give more than any man wants to take."

Summer Log (June-September), film and music.

2010-07-27T21:09:00.000-07:00

[this will be updated throughout September]

films seen [theatrical/festival viewings only]:

06/04 - Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard, 1960) [Film Forum]

06/12 - Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work (Ricki Stern & Anne Sundberg) [IFC Center]
06/18 - The Killer Inside Me (Michael Winterbottom) [IFC Center]

06/28 - Toy Story 3 (Lee Unkrich) [Clearview Caldwell Cinema 4]

07/06 - Cyrus (Jay & Mark Duplass) [Clearview Claridge Cinemas]

07/13 - Winter's Bone (Debra Granik) [Clearview Claridge Cinemas]

07/16 - A Serbian Film (Srdjan Spasojevic) [Concordia University/Montreal, QC Canada- part of the Fantasia Film Festival ]

07/17 - Eve's Necklace (Daniel Erickson, 2009) [Concordia University/Montreal, QC Canada - part of the Fantasia Film Festival]

07/20 - Inception (Christopher Nolan) [Clearview Bellevue Cinema 4]

07/27 - The Kids Are All Right (Lisa Cholodenko) [Clearview Claridge Cinemas]

08/11 - Enter the Void (Gaspar Noé, 2009, director's cut) [Walter Reade Theatre - Film Society of Lincoln Center]

09/07 - The American (Anton Corbijn) [Clearview Bellevue Cinema 4]

albums bought:

06/08 - Subiza (Delorean)

06/22 - How I Got Over (The Roots)

07/06 - Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty (Big Boi)

07/27 - Mines (Menomena)

novels read [first time reading indicated by an asterisk]:

*Juneteenth (Ralph Ellison)

*The Bell Jar (Sylvia Plath)

The City and the Pillar (Gore Vidal)

*Pale Fire (Vladimir Nabokov)

*The Book of Laughter and Forgetting (Milan Kundera)

shows attended:

06/19 - The Morning Benders with Freelance Whales and Wild Nothing at Governor's Island

07/03 - Portugal. The Man with Alberta Cross and Hopewell at Governor's Island

07/22 - The Antlers with Dinosaur Feathers at Pier 54 on Hudson River Park

07/30 - Avi Buffalo with Chad VanGaalen at South Street Seaport

08/15 - Neon Indian, Prefuse 73, Nite Jewel, DOM, and Miniature Tigers at Governor's Island

Erratical, Fanatical

2010-07-27T20:44:00.001-07:00

you keep repeating

the same phrase

over

and

over

like I’m not

“getting it”

you keep denying

as I keep providing

a reasonable escape

a kaleidoscopic phase

break that down

beat beat beat

breakdown

know your place

do not step out of line

outline

follow those unwritten rules

tell him STOP

Oops, too late

rape rape rape

chk chk chk

!!!

modern malaise

heartbroken days

every day

under

stand

“it’s not easy”

“it’s too easy”

2010 in film, so far.

2010-05-28T10:51:00.000-07:00

top five 2010 films I have seen thus far this year (theatrical & festival viewings):

The Ghost Writer (Roman Polanski)

Greenberg (Noah Baumbach)

Exit Through the Gift Shop (Banksy)

Casino Jack and the United States of Money (Alex Gibney)

happythankyoumoreplease (Josh Radnor)

HM: The Oath (Laura Poitras)

Sadly, with the exception of restorations (Lang's Metropolis and Godard's Breathless), I have nothing on my to-see list until June 18th when Toy Story 3, The Killer Inside Me, and Cyrus are released. Then July brings The Kids are All Right (07/09) and Inception (07/16), nothing in August (as of now)... hopefully I'll have be able to write up some proper film analyses over the next three months (first on the list is Down by Law, I think).

Spirit Youth - The Depreciation Guild (out now on Kanine Records).

2010-05-26T19:01:00.001-07:00

This is bliss.

"Crucify You" - mp3 (via The Music Slut)

Buy Youth Spirit by The Depreciation Guild (released 5/18 on Kanine Records, available on their website/iTunes/Amazon).

Subiza - Delorean (out now digitally, in stores June 8th).

2010-05-09T16:48:00.001-07:00

I just ordered this on the Matador Records online store and it came with an instant download of the entire album. I'm listening to it now and hoping it encompasses what my summer 2010 will be, because I'll be listening to it all summer no doubt (akin to the Ayrton Senna EP from last year).

Here's a taste (if you haven't already, it's a must): Stay Close [mp3]

...looks like I'll be Barca-Beat fist-pumping these hot nights away, one at a time.

memory.

2010-04-26T21:18:00.000-07:00

Lucky life is like this. Lucky there is an ocean to come to.
Lucky you can judge yourself in this water.
Lucky you can be purified over and over again.
Lucky there is the same cleanliness for everyone.
Lucky life is like that. Lucky life. Oh lucky life.
Oh lucky lucky life. Lucky life.

- "Lucky Life", Gerald Stern

(above still from Lee Isaac Chung's 2010 film Lucky Life)

the manipulation: or how I'll never be able to listen to Noah and the Whale the same again.

2010-04-25T10:42:00.000-07:00

Tribeca kicked off Thursday night; since then I have seen a total of three films. All three viewings have been affected in some way by my deteriorating mental and physical conditions. I am eating very little these days, somewhat relying on coffee and cigarettes to get me by.

The first film I saw, Lola by Brillante Mendoza, was on Friday afternoon. I felt ambivalent to it at first, but upon reflection I think it might have been more special than I originally thought. I want to rewatch it, with a proper amount of sleep the night before, and see how I feel.

The second film I saw, The Chameleon by Jean-Paul Salomé, was on Friday night. It made me angry. Everything about it I pretty much found repulsive (not content wise, although they did sensationalize the material). It was laughable, and I do not think I would be able to watch it again if I tried.

The third film I saw, Meskada by Josh Sternfeld, was mediocre-to-bad. It was a very by-the-books crime drama, nothing special about it. Nick Stahl was adequate.

The fourth film I saw, Sons of Perdition by Tyler Measom and Jennilyn Merten, was actually good. My bad streak has temporarily ended. It was a documentary about subject matter that I know little about but it engaged me the majority of the running time.

My lack of sleep is due to manipulation. The manipulator doesn't quite understand me, or himself, to know what the point is, or what the outcome of his manipulation would be. The collateral damage should not be collateral damage, but this is the way it works with people sometimes. I am still myself, he is still him, and doomed to be him for the rest of his life.

I've been avoiding this English paper up until now, but I'm finding it, like I usually do with English papers, therapeutic to write. I am thankful for that. Now to get some food in my body, until next time...

The Function of Marxism in Jean-Luc Godard’s Masculin féminin (1966).

2010-04-17T14:02:00.000-07:00

French New Wave enfant terrible Jean-Luc Godard’s admiration for Karl Marx and his ideas can be charted through most, if not all, of his filmography. In 1966’s Masculin féminin, however, there is a clear distinction between Godard and Marxist philosophy. One of the film’s many intertitles reads “Philosopher and filmmaker share a way of being, an outlook on life that embodies a generation.” This is, in a sense, true when looking at Godard and Marx - both were successful radicals, the former a filmmaker whose films expressed the revolutionary ideas of his generation and the latter a social reformer and philosopher whose writings similarly expressed controversial views that have been studied and accepted as reality for generations. Masculin féminin takes on a philosophy of its own that incorporates Marx’s idea on the alienation of the proletariat and his critique of capitalism with Godard’s own critique of value judgments, among other conceptions on sex, art, and politics. These critiques and theories are channeled through the characters of the film, their expression through dialogues and actions, and the telling nature of the way image and sound coalesce to create meaning beyond the frame.

Masculin féminin was released with the subtitle “15 faits précis” which translates to “15 precise facts” in English. This is only the beginning of Godard’s obsession with adopting the structural revolutions of 20th century poet and playwright Bertolt Brecht. Masculin féminin does not relay 15 precise facts about its subjects to its audience, moreover it relates a number of philosophical standpoints which are aided by intertitles, the purpose of which is for clarity but sometimes just leads to further confusion. Godard’s lens does, in fact, capture a narrative in which anti-bourgeoisie ex-army recruit Paul (Jean-Pierre Léaud) courts up-and-coming yé-yé singer Madeleine (Chantal Goya) to disappointing results. The film focuses on their relationship, along with Madeleine’s friends Catherine and Elisabeth. Godard frequently branches off into non-sequiturs, which allow his film to be infused with his numerous philosophies and carry with it a sense of unique urgency absent in the cinema of today.

Paul is fascinated with Marx, and lives primarily by way of the Marxist philosophy. This is not to say that he does not have his own ideas, but he is very much a slave to his Marxist doctrine. In the first scene of the film, Paul speaks to Madeleine about how he is currently working at a chemical plant. He deplores the adverse working conditions, citing the fact that management has done away with breaks to increase output as an example of how awful they are. He also abhors the life of the working class, saying that it is nothing but work, eating, sleep, and more work. Godard, through Paul, even pokes fun at the exploitation of nature, of which Marx also had a problem. Paul has no investment in what he is producing, which is in accordance with Marx saying, “the worker relates to the product of his labor as to an alien object.” Paul is conscious that he is being taken advantage of and exploited by the bourgeoisie, and he actively speaks out against it all throughout the duration of the film. Paul’s activism is a means to an end, though, which goes along with Marx saying, “For the proletarians, on the other hand, the condition of their existence, labor, and with it all the conditions of existence governing modern society, have become something accidental, something over which they, as separate individuals, have no control, and over which no social organization can give them control.” Paul, as a separate individual and as a member of specific social organizations, has no control over the conditions by which he must live.

Madeleine is the complete opposite of Paul, valuing capital and material commodities over social activism. She hopes that her record sells so that she can buy a fancy, expensive car. She loves Coca-Cola and has a fondness for pop culture, especially that of the American variety. She derides Jean-Paul Sartre as reading for rich schoolgirls who do not go out “because their bourgeois parents keep them locked up.” Marx scorns capitalism, saying that, “Within the capitalist system all methods for raising the social productiveness of labor are brought about at the cost of the individual laborer.” He goes on to say that, “they [the producers] mutilate the laborer into a fragment of a man.” Masculin féminin challenges the idea that two people with completely different ideologies can form a lasting relationship.

Jean-Luc Godard depicts Madeleine as a frivolous girl, but he is not completely unsympathetic to her condition, unlike Paul. Her blind consumption of American pop culture, and life in general, is seen as a crack in her very foundation by Paul, but it is also what makes her charming to Godard. He questions why Madeleine, and her Coca-Cola generation, are so apathetic to the outside world. This is more vividly and honestly depicted during a segment in which Paul interviews a young beauty contest winner and asks her questions pertaining to birth control, socialism, and war. Her response is passive, disinterested, and foundationless. The way Godard frames her, though, in front of a window with natural light flooding in, emphasizes her physical beauty. Godard, and Paul, do not detest America as much as they are fascinated by it. Paul supports the American youth’s protesting of Vietnam. The problem with Madeleine is that she does not ask questions, while Paul is always on an inquisitive prowl of sorts. The fact that Madeleine’s work is personal to her, she expresses herself through her music, makes her more of a contradictory figure in light of Marx’s philosophy.

Godard, like Marx, understands the function of capitalism in a society. Godard, unlike Marx, does not romanticize a future classless society. He understands that this is an impossible end goal. At the end of the film, he comes to the conclusion that the problem with any society will be that everyone has their own set of value judgments. He also understands that calling for the abolition of value judgments is out of the question, as then people would have nothing to believe in. The notorious quote that Masculin féminin is known for is actually a series of intertitles that arrive near the end of the film saying, “This film could be called The Children of Marx and Coca-Cola.” The more important title card, however, comes a few seconds afterwards saying, “Understand what you will.” The last scene has Madeleine being asked questions about Paul‘s death, and it is revealed that the rumor of her pregnancy is true. What is she to do with the child? Her friend recommends a “clothing rod” abortion, but Madeleine does not know what she will do. Well at least she has a choice, but unfortunately people will not be able to resist making judgments on her moral values.

[all screenshots taken on VLC media player from privately stolen Criterion disc]

rub down that set, son.

2010-04-15T18:06:00.000-07:00

so let me hammer this point home
i see us all as lonely fires that have burned alive as long as we remember
but like all fireworks and all sunsets, we all burn in different ways
you are a fast explosion and i am the embers
and though your flames are quick and mean, they will not last the year,
but expire like a sudden falling star
that only nightingales had seen, before migrating to southern jungles
and in this way you will come find me in December

he said he'd like to move to Nashville to master the guitar
where he would live a single day the way i live a single year
covered his body in mud, went hunting for the sun
then went swimming in the lake of holy water
oh you are too hot for me, i am too slow for you
you are a fast explosion and i'm the embers
you need the one who slowly burns, and burns to stay alive
and in this way you will come find me in December

so let me hammer this point home
i see us all as lonely fires that have burned alive as long as we remember
but like all sacrificial virgins, we all burn in different ways
you are a fast explosion and i'm the embers
and though your flames are quicker than me, they will not last the year,
but expire like a sudden shooting star
that only nightingales had seen, before transforming into bluebirds
and in this way you will come find me in December

...this is one of the most profound songs of the past decade. So for now, I am out for a night of excess. Until next time.

balancing acts abound.

2010-04-13T11:29:00.000-07:00

In the sincerest tone I am capable of, I am sorry to all of my followers for not blogging on this blog for the past month and not even telling you all about my new blog (which is, by the way, http://akadaniel.tumblr.com/).

I will attempt to update this blog more often, but it really depends on a few things.

1.) the teetering level of interest in my schoolwork (my last final is on Monday May 24th).

2.) the teetering level of interest in my social life.

3.) the teetering level of interest I have in writing analytically on film and music.

4.) my [impersonal] working status.

5.) my [personal] working status.

and finally

6.) my memory/remembering to blog on this blog.

NJ Transit is the spawn of Satan.

2010-02-24T18:36:00.000-08:00

The bus I was coming home from school today broke down about a mile away from the bus station. I, along with everyone else on the bus, walked the rest of the way back, which involved crossing a highway going both ways. That was fun.

On the bus ride home I listened to all of This Is a Stick Up... Don't Make It a Murder. There is a journal entry from May 12, 2006 that I found online but I know it's from about a month or so earlier that year. I know this because that album was released April 11, 2006 and this was soon after it was released. I evidently was listening to it while lying on a radiator in computer class freshman year. It reminds me of you, even though I don't think you particularly liked or disliked them.

I think I have figured out my clapping problem. I remember almost every day of freshman year you used to clap all the time during science class (actually, I think it was during most classes I had with you). Sometimes you did it to the tune of Ben Lee's "Catch My Disease". I think I caught that from you.

I still wonder sometimes what happened during the summer of 2004. I know I should not, and I am one hundred percent sure I do not need closure on this, but I do wonder. That is all.

In other news, Shutter Island was a complete and crushing disappointment. A.O. Scott is pretty much spot on when he says "the plot of which does not so much thicken as clog and coagulate". With such a stacked cast, including the likes of Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Emily Mortimer, and Patricia Clarkson, you wonder what went wrong. I don't want to pour all the blame on the likes of Scorsese, because I'm pretty sure the screenplay, written by Laeta Kalogridis, is a big source of the problem. Oh well, you can't win them all.

I am the master of astronomy.

2010-02-22T17:51:00.000-08:00

I saw a woman who resembled my eleventh grade English teacher reading The Unbearable Lightness of Being on the 6 train today. It made me smile. I came home to a package from Drag City today; yes, it is the new Joanna Newsom record, Have One On Me. I cannot wait to listen to it in its entirety. I wonder if it will knock Heartland off the top spot of my favorite album of the year thus far. I also convinced Karyn to buy House of Leaves today from Borders. I am excited to see what her reaction to it will be. I have plans to see Shutter Island on Wednesday with a few people. The wait has been, and is still killing me. Until then...

Bonus: Grizzly Bear covered Hot Chip's "Boy From School" - mp3 (thanks to prettymuchamazing)

House of Leaves, Mark Z. Danielewski.

2010-02-15T10:34:00.000-08:00

Y g g

What miracle is this? This giant tree.

It stands ten thousand feet high

But doesn't reach the ground. Still it stands.

It's roots must hold the sky.

First day of class, as a commuter.

2010-01-28T17:32:00.001-08:00

With the exception of going to the wrong room for Media Production (I should have known when the professor started talking about Anthropology), my first day of classes as a commuter went exceptionally well. On Thursdays, I have four out of my five classes - which might make it seem like a long day, which it is and it isn't. Yes, I do have to wake up at 5:30am and catch the 6:30am bus... but the fact that I only have class three days a week saves this from being a complete bust (on my part with the scheduling of my classes). My Philosophy teacher, Professor Kilivris, was completely down to earth - but also presented us with our first ice breaker of the day. The variety of favorite songs and films of the moment was, to be honest, quite baffling - ranging from "Hearing Damage" by Thom Yorke to "Superman" by Eminem, and Righteous Kill to (500) Days of Summer. I went with "Winter '05" by Ra Ra Riot as my current favorite song, although it is quite clearly not. I think I was just inspired to say it by the snow falling outside, and the fact that that season of that year seems to be, upon reflection, a pivotal year in my life. I guess my favorite song of the moment, that I only heard yesterday, would be "Odessa" by Caribou, which will be on their upcoming album Swim.

After Philosophy is when I began making mistakes, none too awful. First, I forgot my pea coat in my Philosophy classroom, so I had to run back there to get it. Then I went to the wrong room for my aforementioned Media Production course, so I arrived at the right classroom roughly twenty minutes late. My teacher gave me a syllabus, and a classmate from last semester, Ian, helped me log onto the Mac I chose in the computer lab. Our first assignment is an artist's statement - which seems pretty juvenile, but I guess I enjoy doing assignments like it... even though I know whatever I try and express will be a jumble of words which no one will understand.

After Media, I had a short break so I met up with Sasha. We went to the cart outside Hunter North and got bagels, and I got coffee. Note: From now on I am using my Sundance bottle for water - firstly so I do not have to pay for water all the time, secondly so I can reduce bottled water waste and contribute to saving the environment.

Next came Astronomy, wherein the teacher began teacher within the first ten minutes. This kind of bugged me because no one had a textbook already, and he did not exactly succeed in making me interested in Astronomy, as I was hoping. At least I have a friend in this class - don't know what I would do if I didn't. I'd probably fall asleep, and have no one to get the work from.

Then came another break before Introduction to Literature, with my Expository Writing teacher from last semester, Ms. Baish. During this break, I went with Colleen to Shakespeare & Co. and got all of my books, except for the edition for Macbeth I need that I ordered off Amazon. I also need to find out what textbook I need for American Government. My Astronomy textbook was $126.50. What a waste - but I shouldn't speak too soon.

Introduction to Literature was fun. We introduced ourselves and our favorite books - I said Death in Venice, even though I think Naked Lunch is probably my favorite. Actually, I really can't rank my top three - the third being Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. We ended the class by going over what a sonnet is, and then I quickly scurried out of the class to come home to my bed. Right now, I should get to work and begin my assignments - Plato reading, sonnet readings and responses, and Astronomy Chapter 1. Until next time... ciao.

Sundance: A trip in photographs.

2010-01-27T10:15:00.001-08:00

the wait list line at Eccles Theatre for the world premiere of HOWL, did not get in but met some cool people.

snow and tree capped mountains of Park City, Utah.

"this is cinematic rebellion" - inside Racquet Club Theatre.

a snowy side street off Main Street, the main strip in Park City.

Gaspar Noé, director of Enter the Void, with actors Nathaniel Brown and Paz de la Huerta.

Josh Radnor, writer, director, and actor of happythankyoumoreplease.

Rodrigo Cortés, director, Chris Sparling, writer, and Ryan Reynolds, (the only) star of Buried.

Sundance Film Festival 2010 - no sleep, just film.

Nightmares and delusions of grandeur.

2010-01-18T12:53:00.000-08:00

I have recently been imbued with a feeling that is so fleeting for me, a feeling that I can actually change the world one person at a time. A detective I have become, willing to put my time and energy into cracking this case that has been open since August and which will have a hole burnt in it by June. I'm not worried, though. I will wait and see where it leads me.

I feel like I should be supporting a family; holding two jobs, what do I do with this money? For now, I'll put it in the bank and act like it doesn't exist until I need it for transportation to and from school come the end of this month.

Last night I had a dream about Stanley Tucci raping and killing me, ala The Lovely Bones (which I do not plan on seeing; I really just want to hear Brian Eno's score). It was creepy and rooted in strange suburban values.

When I woke up I thought I heard my mother speaking about my grandmother; I quickly fell back asleep and dreamt that my grandmother had passed. When I awoke again my house was empty. My mother arrived home a few hours later to deliver some awful news about another member of my family, which I feel uncomfortable disclosing on this blog.

Tonight I am seeing Owen Pallett (formerly Final Fantasy) at Bowery Ballroom with Samira; tomorrow I am seeing Vampire Weekend (for the second time) at Bowery (again) with Kevin. I look forward to both nights of music; let's hope that humanity does not get in the way. Thursday I take off for Park City, where I will try my best to update on all the films I see.

The Facebook Stalker Manifesto.

2010-01-16T16:54:00.000-08:00

It’s funny how these social networking sites, like Facebook, are supposed to help people keep in touch. I am not one of those people. I admittedly have a Facebook, but it helps me less with keeping in touch with people and more with stalking them.

This becomes problematic when the people I’m stalking know I’m stalking them. With new applications like “Profile Watcher”, anybody with a Facebook can find out who is looking at their profile. Is this information correct? Who knows, all I know is it makes me worried that people may know I’m looking at their profile or through their endlessly boring photo albums.

Or does it, really? I can’t say I’m really worried, because first of all not everyone adds these applications. Secondly, what do I care if my classmates from high school know how many times I go on their profile or through their pictures?

Finally, and most importantly, I actually do wonder what the people I stalk think. The people in non-question are people I do not see on a daily basis; the people in question are the people I do.

Looking forward to: Greenberg.

2010-01-01T16:06:00.000-08:00

Click here to watch the trailer.

Release date: March 12, 2010 (limited)

Directed by: Noah Baumbach

Written by: Noah Baumbach

Story by: Jennifer Jason Leigh & Noah Baumbach

Starring: Ben Stiller, Greta Gerwig, Rhys Ifans, Mark Duplass, Chris Messina, Jennifer Jason Leigh

And to cap it all off, new music by James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem (who makes a subtle appearance in the trailer; cookie for anyone who spots him).

Best Films of the Naughties (by year).

2009-12-30T21:51:00.000-08:00

2000: In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar Wai; Hong Kong)

2001: Mulholland Dr. (David Lynch; France/USA)

2002: Talk to Her (Pedro Almodóvar; Spain)

2003: Last Life in the Universe (Pen-Ek Ratanaruang; Thailand/Japan)

2004: Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul; Thailand)

2005: The New World (Terrence Malick; USA/UK)

2006: Inland Empire (David Lynch; USA)

2007: There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson; USA)

2008: Wendy and Lucy (Kelly Reichardt; USA)

2009: The Limits of Control (Jim Jarmusch; USA)

Best Films of 2009.

2009-12-22T08:46:00.000-08:00

20. Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench (Damien Chazelle; USA)

19. The Road (John Hillcoat; USA)

18. White Material (Claire Denis; France)

17. The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans (Werner Herzog; USA)

16. Los abrazos rotos [Broken Embraces] (Pedro Almodóvar; Spain)

15. The Girlfriend Experience (Steven Soderbergh; USA)

14. Up (Pete Docter and Bob Peterson; USA)

13. A Single Man (Tom Ford; USA)

12. Darbareye Elly [About Elly] (Asghar Farhadi; Iran)

11. Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (Lee Daniels; USA)

10. Politist adj. (Corneliu Porumboiu; Romania)

09. Fantastic Mr. Fox (Wes Anderson; UK/USA)

08. A Serious Man (Joel and Ethan Coen; USA)

07. In the Loop (Armando Iannucci; UK)

06. Public Enemies (Michael Mann; USA)

05. Beeswax (Andrew Bujalski; USA)

04. Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino; USA/Germany)

03. Das Weiße Band [The White Ribbon] (Michael Haneke; Austria/Germany)

02. Antichrist (Lars von Trier; Denmark)

01. The Limits of Control (Jim Jarmusch; USA)

Best Albums of 2009.

2009-12-16T21:07:00.000-08:00

50. Blood Bank EP - Bon Iver

49. See Mystery Lights - YACHT

48. Declaration of Dependence - Kings of Convenience

47. The Fame Monster - Lady GaGa

46. Tonight: Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand

45. Grand - Matt & Kim

44. Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle - Bill Callahan

43. Immolate Yourself - Telefon Tel Aviv

42. Riceboy Sleeps - Jónsi & Alex

41. Farm - Dinosaur Jr.

40. Rainwater Cassette Exchange EP - Deerhunter

39. Rated R - Rihanna

38. Years of Refusal - Morrissey

37. Enemy Mine - Swan Lake

36. Manners - Passion Pit

35. Album - Girls

34. Real Estate - Real Estate

33. These Four Walls - We Were Promised Jetpacks

32. The Bachelor - Patrick Wolf

31. Unmap - Volcano Choir

30. jj n° 2 - JJ

29. March of the Zapotec/Holland EP - Beirut

28. Still Night, Still Light - Au Revoir Simone

27. Wilco (The Album) - Wilco

26. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart / Higher Than the Stars EP - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

25. Ayrton Senna EP - Delorean

24. Psychic Chasms - Neon Indian

23. Bromst - Dan Deacon

22. Love vs. Money - The-Dream

21. It's Blitz! - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

20. Dragonslayer - Sunset Rubdown

19. Actor - St. Vincent

18. Why There Are Mountains - Cymbals Eat Guitars

17. Popular Songs - Yo La Tengo

16. The Crying Light - Antony and the Johnsons

15. The Ecstatic - Mos Def

14. My Maudlin Career - Camera Obscura

13. Post-Nothing - Japandroids

12. Logos - Atlas Sound

11. Lungs - Florence and the Machine

10. Vapours - Islands

09. xx - The xx

08. Embryonic - The Flaming Lips

07. Two Suns - Bat for Lashes

06. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix - Phoenix

05. Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II - Raekwon

04. Bitte Orca - Dirty Projectors

03. Hospice - The Antlers

02. Merriweather Post Pavilion / Fall Be Kind EP- Animal Collective

01. Veckatimest - Grizzly Bear

Tropic of Cancer, Henry Miller

2009-11-27T17:21:00.000-08:00

I have reached the limits of endurance. My back is to the wall; I can retreat no further. As far as history goes I am dead. If there is something beyond I shall have to bounce back. I have found God, but he is insufficient. I am only spiritually dead. Physically I am alive. Morally I am free. The world which I have departed is a menagerie. The dawn is breaking on a new world, a jungle world in which the lean spirits roam with sharp claws. If I am a hyena I am a lean and hungry one: I go forth to fatten myself.

Park City, Utah... here I come?

2009-11-22T14:46:00.000-08:00

Real Estate.

2009-11-17T09:08:00.000-08:00

After making their way through CMJ, playing Pianos and Santos Party House, and supporting Girls at Bowery Ballroom two Fridays past, New Jersey's Pitchfork-approved Real Estate have finally released their debut LP, Real Estate, via Woodsist Records. "Beach Comber" is the lead single, and it reminds me of early Death Cab for Cutie (circa We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes) and Modest Mouse. Lo-fi goodness covered in sweet, sweet reverb, I say. It makes me want to go back to the Jersey Shore, which is kind of frightening to me. Cover art, tracklisting, and MP3s (courtesy of Pitchfork and Stereogum) below:

01. Beach Comber

02. Pool Swimmers

03. Suburban Dogs

04. Black Lake

05. Atlantic City

06. Fake Blues

07. Green River

08. Suburban Beverage

09. Lets Rock the Beach

10. Snow Days

Click here to download an MP3 of "Beach Comber".

Click here to download an MP3 of "Black Lake".

Click here to download an MP3 of "Fake Blues".

Click here to download an MP3 of "Green River".

Click here to download an MP3 of "Suburban Beverage".

You're not really anybody in America unless you're on TV.

2009-11-14T18:47:00.000-08:00

If you saw my dog, you'd know it's impossible to hate him.

2009-11-14T15:43:00.001-08:00

Looking forward to: A Single Man.

2009-11-05T16:55:00.001-08:00

Click here to watch the trailer.

Click here to watch the new trailer released by the Weinstein Company that is just a tad misleading and homophobic (similar to the poster above).

Release date: December 11, 2009 (Limited)

Directed by: Tom Ford

Written by: Christopher Isherwood (Novel), Tom Ford and David Scearce (Screenplay)

Starring: Colin Firth (won Coppa Volpi for Best Actor at Venice Film Festival), Julianne Moore, Matthew Goode, Nicholas Hoult

Distributed by: The Weinstein Company

Amy Taubin on A Single Man in the November/December issue of Film Comment: "The flashback sequence where George receives the telephone call informing him of Jim's death, and, by the way, that George isn't welcome at the funeral which is for family only, is almost entirely composed of a single unbroken take. We see George's face freeze in shock and then dissolve into grief as the realization that he has lost the love of his life overcomes him. It is an amazing piece of acting, and, also, a display of trust on the part of Tom Ford, who has the courage not to cut away or gussy it up."

Expect an analysis upon my viewing of this film; it looks like it could break into my top ten of the year.

Bob (le flambeur) as the Anti-Meursault.

2009-11-04T15:28:00.000-08:00

Recently I re-watched Jean-Pierre Melville's Bob le flambeur (1956), a loving ode to American gangster pictures and one of the first solid French New Wave films. In the beginning, there is a sequence where an acquaintance of the titular character asks him for money to be bailed out of beating his girlfriend a little too hard. This acquaintance is a pimp, which Bob does not like. All of this really reminded me of Albert Camus' The Stranger, when Meursault's neighbor Raymond, also a pimp, asks him to help take revenge on his girlfriend, whom Raymond believes is cheating on him. Meursault does this with just about no persuading, as he sees no reason not to. When Bob is asked for the money by his acquaintance, he tells him no and to get out. In this sense, Bob comes off as an anti-Meursault.

Yeasayer.

2009-10-30T13:04:00.000-07:00

Brooklyn based experimental band Yeasayer have released a new song, "Ambling Alp", available for download on their official site from their follow-up to 2007's All Hour Cymbals. It's much more "Tightrope", off the Dark Was the Night compilation, than anything off All Hour Cymbals. That being said, it's one of the catchiest songs I've heard all year and I'm extremely disappointed that I'm missing them tonight at the Guggenheim, where they'll be previewing all of Odd Blood. Oh well, I can't win them all. Odd Blood will be released by Secretly Canadian on February 9, 2010. Cover and track listing below; you can follow the album's release on its twitter and blog:

01. The Children

02. Ambling Alp

03. Madder Red

04. I Remember

05. ONE

06. Love Me Girl

07. Rome

08. Strange Reunions

09. Mondegreen

10. Grizelda

Vampire Weekend.

2009-10-29T16:53:00.000-07:00

2008 was a big year for Vampire Weekend, releasing their debut, self-titled album on January 29th and then touring most of the world. I caught them in December at the Wellmont in Montclair, NJ. It was a very enjoyable night of indie rock and world music; after running through all the songs off their debut and a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Everywhere", the gentlemen clad in cardigans even presented a new song to the crowd, "White Sky". It put on display Ezra Koenig's vocals, reaching heights unseen on their debut. I was impressed, and anxiously awaited to hear more about their follow up. They headlined the soggy All Points West during this past summer alongside Jay-Z and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Multi-instrumental Rostam Batmanglij teamed up with Wes Miles from Ra Ra Riot and they released an electo-pop-R&B album, titled LP, on July 7th. Finally, Vampire Weekend released information on their follow-up about a month and a half ago. They even put up an MP3 of "Horchata", a new song off the album, a few weeks later. Contra, the second album by Vampire Weekend, will be released January 12, 2010. Cover art, track listing, an MP3 (thanks to Pitchfork), a video, and an interview with Ezra on the new album below:

01. Horchata

02. White Sky

03. Holiday

04. California English

05. Taxi Cab

06. Run

07. Cousins

08. Giving Up the Gun

09. Diplomat's Son

10. I Think Ur a Contra

Click here to download an MP3 of "Horchata".

Click here to watch "White Sky" performed acoustic.

Click here to read a Pitchfork-curated interview with Ezra about the new album.

Girls.

2009-10-27T15:20:00.000-07:00

Beware, this is NSFW (not safe for work).

Girls' debut album, Album, was released September 22nd on True Panther Sounds. Cover art and track listing below.

1. Lust for Life

2. Laura

3. Ghost Mouth

4. God Damned

5. Big Bad Mean Motherfucker

6. Hellhole Ratrace

7. Headache

8. Summertime

9. Lauren Marie

10. Morning Light

11. Curls

12. Darling

Click here to go to the Pitchfork article where you can view the new, XXX version.

Click here to watch the original, edited version of the "Lust for Life" video.

Click here to download an MP3 of "Lust for Life".

Click here to watch the official video for "Laura".

I shared a Woodpecker cider with a local fratricider.

2009-10-24T16:30:00.000-07:00

I gave Blueberry Boat a listen today; it was sprawling and epic. The lyrical complexity has been compared to Joyce's wordplay and rightfully so. The Fiery Furnaces have created a whimsical concept album that I cannot wait to listen to again and again. I don't believe it will suit all my moods, though.

The Signature Theater Company is reviving Angels in America next year, according to NY Times: click here for the article. To say I'm excited would be an understatement. Ever since I saw the mini-series in December of 2003 when it aired on HBO I've desperately wanted to see it in the theater. HBO has recently starting running the series again, and also has put them OnDemand. I own the DVD, so it's not that big of a deal for me but my interest was renewed after I caught a segment of it a few days ago. Tickets are only $20, and it's set to premiere late fall or early winter; looking forward to it.

Animal Collective.

2009-10-20T12:41:00.000-07:00

Releasing an album on the sixth day of the first month of a new year is a tricky move; not if you're Animal Collective. Greeted with nothing but praise, Merriweather Post Pavilion will undoubtedly top many critic's year end lists. Closing out 2009 strong, Animal Collective will be releasing the five song EP Fall Be Kind on December 8 via Domino. Cover art and track listing below (along with two MP3s from gorillavsbear.net and a link to an interview with Avey Tare on Pitchfork) :

1. Graze

2. What Would I Want? Sky

3. Bleed

4. On a Highway

5. I Think I Can

MP3s:

What Would I Want? Sky (Live BBC Session)

On a Highway (Live BBC Session)

Interview:

Pitchfork, "Avey Tare Reveals All About New EP, Film, Tour Hiatus"

Rub out the word.

2009-10-19T20:17:00.000-07:00

Kerouac (editing Naked Lunch): Bill, what is all this stuff about young naked boys being hanged in limestone caves?

Burroughs: No idea. I know I'm some kind of interplanetary agent but I don't think my signals are decoding properly.

Death in Venice, Thomas Mann

2009-10-16T22:56:00.000-07:00

Thus, in his infatuation, he wanted simply to pursue uninterrupted the object that aroused him, to dream of it when it was not there, and, after the fashion of lovers, to speak softly to its mere outline. Loneliness, strangeness, and the joy of deep belated intoxication encouraged him and prompted him to accept even the remotest things without reserve or shame–with the result that as he returned late in the evening from Venice, he stopped on the second floor of the hotel before the door of the boy's room, laid his head in utter drunkenness against the hinge of the door, and for a long time could not drag himself away despite the danger of being caught and embarrassed in such a mad situation.

The treat.

2009-10-14T13:18:00.000-07:00

I treated myself last night and ordered a Pedro Almodóvar set (with two films: 1983's Dark Habits and 1984's What Have I Done to Deserve This?) and The Fiery Furnaces' 2004 LP Blueberry Boat. I had trouble choosing which album to purchase. I hope the shipment arrives sooner rather than later.

Adios, you who watched the sun go down, at the rail, by my side, smiling –

2009-10-13T16:31:00.000-07:00

The New York Film Festival screenings completely took the life out of me. The ball smashing and clitoris cutting of Antichrist, the child abuse of The White Ribbon, the beauty of Penélope Cruz in Broken Embraces... it was thrilling. Still I think the Film Society of Lincoln Center needs to reboot the festival in a way, attendance seemed to be at almost at an all time low. I was so exhausted yesterday when I went to see Spike Jonze speak at the Apple Store in SoHo. Catherine Keener was there, but the sound system was very poor so it was difficult to make out what Jonze, Keener, and the crew of Where the Wild Things Are were saying. Neon Indian's Psychic Chasms was released today by Lefse Records. Pitchfork named it "Best New Music" and I love "Deadbeat Summer" so I believe there is a good chance I'd really enjoy it. I attempted to make scrambled eggs with a Mexican blend of cheeses and feta today, but when it finished cooking it had the consistency of risotto. At least the coffee I made in my French press was good. I finished Kerouac's Visions of Cody, finally. I think I'm going to go back to Pynchon's Gravity Rainbow now. I'm coming home this upcoming weekend, and hopefully seeing Where the Wild Things Are sometime soon. I wanted to see New York, I Love You, but now my interest has gone down for some strange reason. Oh well, until next time...

NYFF 2009: Broken Embraces

2009-10-12T19:00:00.000-07:00

A film noir, suspense thriller that quickly descends into melodrama, Pedro Almodóvar’s latest, Broken Embraces, exists as both a vehicle for Penélope Cruz and homage to cinema itself

Pedro Almodóvar / Spain / 2009 / 128m

Less emotionally intact than 2006’s Volver, Broken Embraces is more concerned with creating a lasting impression. Pedro Almodóvar structures his film through frequent flashbacks and casts the classically beautiful Penélope Cruz as the love interest of both a wealthy businessman and a film director. She has a screen presence that is eerily similar to Audrey Hepburn in Billy Wilder’s Sabrina, exuding splendor and confidence. Almodóvar has not lost his sense for color, giving the film a kaleidoscopic quality – easily his most visually ravishing. The film is also his longest; the third act is when the viewers’ interests begin to wane, as it is bogged down by melodrama of the tedious sort. Broken Embraces is obsessed with image and cinema, the power of both and how they shape and affect people, but it also turns out to be Almodóvar’s least emotionally resonant.

Harry Caine is a screenwriter who was in an accident that left him blind, an accident that left his original self dead. Mateo Blanco, is original self, was a film director. Magdalena “Lena” Rivero’s dream is to become an actress, but she settles as being a secretary and sometimes call girl when she realizes her dreams will never be realized. Ernesto Martel, a rich financier, is her boss. One night, in an attempt for find work at her call girl job, she receives a phone call from him. He falls in love with her, and they live together for two years. At this time, Mateo has written a script called “Girls and Suitcases” (a near replication of his Almodóvar’s own 1988 masterpiece Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown) and is looking to cast the part of Pina. Enter Lena, who is introduced to Mateo by Ernesto’s homosexual son Ernesto Martel Junio. She auditions for him; he falls in love with her. The story of the film is told by Caine, who finds out that Ernesto Martel has died in the first scene and then is visited by his son, Ernesto Martel Jr., who now calls himself Ray X and wants to make a film about him and his father’s life.

The third act crumbles when Judit, Mateo’s production manager and now Harry’s personal assistant, reveals the truth about what happened when Lena and he ran away to Lanzarote so she could escape the wrath of Ernesto, who had already injured her in previous instances. The only positive aspect of the end of the film is that it provides the audience with one evocative image, which is almost directly lifted from Godard’s Prénom Carmen. Harry, now going by the name Mateo since he decided to re-edit Girls and Suitcases, tells Diego, Judit’s son, to put on Elevator to the Gallows, only to find out that the making-of documentary that Ernesto Jr. was told to make by his father is in the DVD player already. Mateo asks Diego what is happening onscreen. Diego tells him that he and Lena are sharing a kiss as they are stopped at a roundabout. Mateo puts his hands up on the screen. The camera closes in to one on the blue, static television screen. It’s the clearest image of the film, Almodóvar being able to convey exactly what he wants to successfully – that of a blind man attempting to grasp an image that is forever lost.

The scene in which Mateo and Lena go away to Lanzarote recalls the Pompeii scene in Rossellini’s Voyage to Italy. The sea and mountains are gorgeously shot by cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, as Cat Power plays softly in the background. José Salcedo’s editing ties the narrative of the film together quite well. Alberto Iglesias’ score matches the texture of the story, bringing to mind a few Hitchcock classics. Visually splendid, Broken Embraces is another colorful tapestry by Almodóvar that just doesn’t match up to his other works.