Hard Tapdancing on the Pavement
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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in the "spatulalad" journal:[<< Previous 20 entries]
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11:35 pm
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Toad to Perdition
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04:09 pm
[Link] | Yet more recaps of movies I've seen via Netflix's streaming service.
Double Indemnity
A classic film noir about an insurance salesman who helps a femme fatale knock off her wealthy husband. Its a brisk and smart movie, told in flashback form as a kind of confession. Even though it was patently obvious how things were going to pan out, it was still engaging and its clear why its so fondly remembered.
Cigarette Burns
This is an episode of the Masters of Horror miniseries that was on cable some time ago. This particular entry is a John Carpenter-directed story about a film buff who gets involved in the search for a supposedly cursed film. It has some nice imagery and concepts here and there, but the story is kind of slipshod, the acting is spotty, and the short length doesn't do it any favors. It reminded me a bit of In The Mouth of Madness; interesting ideas that don't quite hold together as a finished film.
Justice League: The New Frontier
I was pleasantly surprised by this animated adaptation of the DC Universe Elseworlds graphic novel set in the '50s. It sticks fairly close to the original, and if the animation isn't all that great, the earnestness of the final project makes up for it. Its been a long time since I saw something quite this optimistic and fantastical, and it was a welcome relief.
The Wind that Shakes the Barley
This is a depressing drama about the Troubles in Ireland during the '20s, told from the perspective of two brothers who get involved in the Republican cause. It is portrayed with a great deal of distance, figuratively and literally; I seem to recall every single camera shot being from fifty feet or so away from the actors. Anyways, its realistically told and fairly sobering in its historical storytelling.
Phantasm
I'd heard a lot of good things about this b-movie horror series, directed and written by the guy who did the original Beastmaster film. I was kind of disappointed by the actual thing, though. There's some genuinely weird, surreal bits of action here and there, but the characters are kind of dumb and the cheapness of the whole affair kind of bogs it down. Its possible it picks up in the later films, but I wasn't impressed enough by this one to really want to track down the sequels.
Primer
This is a low-key, slightly-more-than-student-budget sci-fi thriller about two engineers who accidentally create a time machine. Its a very cerebral and confusing look at the logistics of time travel, and to be honest it lost me a few times by being so damn oblique. I think it might make more sense if I saw it again, but I'm not sure this is a sign of a successful film.
The Shawshank Redemption
This movie has sort of crept up in reputation over the years since its release, and its consistently near the top of IMDB.com's top 250 movies list. It also got singled out in my screenwriting class text. Having re-watched it, I can say that its definitely a good movie, but I don't know if its great. Its a tad too reliant on the big reveal that happens in the latter part of the film, and once you know that its coming, the rest seems a bit like dragged out misdirection. Don't get me wrong; I think it still has a pretty strong impact. I just think its not quite as profound or revelatory as some make it out to be.
The TV Set
This is a sort of nightmare comedy about how TV studios operate and what happens to one writer's very personal work as it gets filtered through the system. I found it intensely uncomfortable to watch, personally, as the humor comes from watching art get utterly compromised. I can only assume that the writer-director (Jake Kasdan) is exorcising some personal demons from working in Hollywood.
Places in the Heart
I understand that this is supposed to be a "chick flick", but it still really appeals to me. Its a fairly sentimental but not melodramatic look at the Great Depression and one family's struggle to make ends meet. It has a great cast and a ring of honesty about it that sells the story. The wordless statement made by the final scene is particularly moving.
Bleak House
This is the most recent BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens' story about a long-running lawsuit. Its kind of peculiar how they approached filming it; it has the usual costume drama props and mannerisms, but they went for a kind of amped-up, smash cut style of direction and editing. Despite this, I ended up liking it, as I'm a sucker for Dickens and they did a fairly good job of delivering on the promise of the book.
Broken Flowers
Jim Jarmusch wrote and directed this, which is possibly his most mainstream film. Its about an aging womanizer (Bill Murray) who goes in search of the potential mother of a son he never knew he had. Its very low-key and quirky, and as is usual with Jarmusch's movies its not so much about the destination as it is about the journey. For what it is, it was pretty good.
OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies
This is a French parody of an old French spy series, but executed with great aplomb. I'm most impressed with the costume, lighting, cinematography, and set design, which absolutely nail the look and feel of the '60s spy thrillers its making fun of. Its ultimately very silly and probably little more sophisticated than the Austin Powers movies, but I ended up enjoying it a lot. I'm looking forward to the sequel.
Get Carter
Michael Caine stars in this British crime drama as Carter, a London criminal who returns to his hometown to investigate the death of his brother. He gradually unearths a bunch of dirty little secrets that send him over the edge on a search for revenge. Its one of the seediest movies I've seen in a while, if only because the sleaziness of England is perhaps the sleaziest kind around. Threadbare and relentless, its a great film and one I'm glad I finally tracked down.
The Drowning Pool
This is an odd little detective movie starring Paul Newman (reprising his role from Harper). Its set in Louisiana and shot on location, which really was the main draw for me seeing it. The hardboiled story is nothing new, and it occasionally drifts aimlessly or into goofiness, so I'm not sure I can recommend it. I just got a kick out of seeing a bunch of New Orleans and cajun country as it appeared in the 70's.
The Dish
This is a light comedy-drama about the role an Australian satellite relay had in the moon landing. Its fairly formulaic and soft-edged, but there's enough charm and heart in it to win me over. I may just be a sucker for things that celebrate man's achievements in space, but it worked for me.
Bush's War
This is a two part documentary that originally aired on PBS' Frontline series. Its a behind-the-scenes look at the decision making processes that resulted in the Iraq War, told by many of the people who were personally involved. The end result is a pretty scathing indictment of the Bush administration and its leadership, all of whom compromised themselves, their peers, and their nation through ignorance, contempt, and arrogance. I knew Dick Cheney was a fucking asshole before I saw this, but I didn't fully grasp the depths of his fucking asshole-ishness until I saw this. Truly amazing.
Superbad
I never saw this teen comedy when it came out, not being particularly into the genre. I'm happy I did finally watch it though, as its actually pretty good. I never really went out drinking or relentlessly pursuing girls in my own teenage years, but I think the movie does a good job of capturing the desperation, loneliness, and idiocy of that period in most people's lives. The two goofy cops were completely implausible, but I forgave it its excesses.
Starship Troopers
This is Paul Verhoven's satire that pretends to be based on the Heinlein science fiction novel of the same name. Its really not, as everything it lifts from the book is essentially held up as an object of derision by the director. There's a lot of subtext going on here that is decidedly ironic and subversive, and its not a coincidence that the uniforms of our beautiful young heroes look more than a little like they come out of the Waffen SS. One thing that bugged me about the movie, though, was the complete disregard the soldiers appear to have for any kind of tactics. The logic of the battle scenes seems to suggest that they were trained to run straight at the enemy while firing on full automatic. Its an odd criticism in light of what Verhoven is saying here, but after watching and reading about real military affairs it stuck out at me.
The Wiz
I remembered seeing parts or all of this as a kid, and I remember how absolutely bizarre and nightmarish the costumes and sets seemed to me at the time. Its a soul fried version of the Wizard of Oz, with Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsy Russell, and a slightly dazed looking Richard Pryor. I was stunned to discover that it was directed by Sidney Lumet. The sets and costumes are still bughouse crazy, but I was pretty disappointed by the music and the story. There's maybe one or two songs that really work, but the rest are meandering and painfully indulgent in ways that don't. Its also inexcusably maudlin, even for a kid's movie; there's a whole lot of emoting and crying, but none of it seems particularly genuine.
Careful
I'd never heard of this movie, or the director, Guy Maddin, before. Its a kind of dark spoof of German Expressionist films, with three vignettes about a peculiar mountain valley village and its even more peculiar inhabitants. It has all the angst and familial strife you'd expect from the genre, but its all told with a slightly cockeyed sensibility. And incest. Lots of incest. The cinematography is beautifully evocative despite the evident cheapness of the sets, and I was pleasantly surprised if slightly disturbed by the final result.
Band of the Hand
This is the most '80s movie I think I've ever seen. It was originally meant to be the pilot for a Michael Mann produced TV series in the vein of Miami Vice, but it ended up being released in theaters instead. Its premise is pretty ridiculous yet ingenious; a bunch of hard core juvenile delinquents from the Miami area are put into the Everglades in the care of a supposedly Native American (this translates to some facepaint) Vietnam Special Forces vet who trains them to be a hard edged crime fighting force. The band is composed of a bunch of broad racial and ethnic stereotypes, and their transformation from streetwise malcontents to Lord of the Flies-esque survivalists is hilarious. It inevitably ends up in a lot of shooting as the band fights to protect a sort of community center from an evil drug dealer. I never believed it for a second, but I was pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable it all was. Its a bit like Miami Vice meets The Goonies crossed with Rambo. So, yeah; very 80's.
Silver Streak
This is a Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor action comedy about some shenanigans going on aboard the titular train as it crosses the country. Wilder plays his usual nebbishy nice guy and Pryor turns up ridiculously late in the film as a street smart crook who helps him out. To be honest, I sort of lost interest in this one about halfway through; it seemed to take forever to get going anywhere, even after a scene in which Wilder shoots a spear gun into the chest of none other than Richard Kiel ("Jaws" from the Bond movies).
Altered States
A young William Hurt plays a clearly insane scientist who is doing all sorts of crazy psychedelic research into tapping into the human subconscious and primal memories. Its a Ken Russell movie, which should be enough to tell you that a large portion of the film is dedicated to trippy visuals with disturbing subtext. These freak out scenes are inventive enough, but what initially starts as a pretty heady trip ends up going into the realm of the incoherent and the zany. I defy you to explain the final scene to me in a satisfactory manner. Still, its probably worth seeing.
Point Blank
This John Boorman movie stars Lee Marvin as a criminal who is betrayed and left for dead by his wife and former partner. He somehow survives his point blank gunshot injuries and goes on a one-man destruction derby looking to get the money he's owed. They've remade the story this was based on a few times, most recently as the wacky Mel Gibson vehicle Payback, but I definitely prefer this '60s version. Its arty and hardboiled, and it reminded me a lot of Get Carter in premise and tone.
Alice
This is an arty Czech movie that is vaguely inspired by Alice in Wonderland. Its stark, bleak, and full of surreal bits of stop motion animation that are vastly more creepy than whimsical. It moves from one strange locked room puzzle to another, and it heaps a lot of abuse on its titular child actress. I was intrigued by it, but the East European strangeness of it all was more alienating than fun.
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12:30 pm
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Yet Another Big List of Movies I've Seen Recently
Here's some of what I've seen via the streaming video feature of Netflix...
Lone Star
John Sayles directed this movie about a dark secret in the past of a border town. It features a revelation late in the movie that bugged the Hell out of me, no matter how hard the film tried to make it seem okay. Despite this, I enjoyed it overall, and Sayles always manages to capture a particular locale and some sense of its people with his movies.
Red Sun
The only reason this movie exists is because the Seven Samurai was remade as The Magnificent Seven, which produced a mutual appreciation society between a lot of 60's American tough guys and Toshiro Mifune in particular. Here Mifune is a later dynasty samurai travelling through the Old West who encounters Charles Bronson's completely unlikable asshole of a gunslinger. Alain Delon is also in here, presumably via La Samourai, and there's assorted other European participants. Mifune's character is only interesting because of his foreigness, Bronson's is not interesting at all, and Delon seems like an afterthought of a bad guy. Its a half-baked mixture of spaghetti and chambara that doesn't really go anywhere. It feels like it was made too late and too cheaply.
Mark Twain
Ken Burns' documentary about Mark Twain. Its more or less like any Burns documentary, which is not meant as a criticism. I felt it a skimped a bit on Twain's writing, to be honest, but literary discourse doesn't really make for riveting cinema.
The Toxic Avenger
I remember kids in junior high school talking about this movie, luxuriating in the sordid details of its depraved contents. I don't consider myself a fan of schlock for schlock's sake, but I figured it couldn't hurt to see what all the fuss was about. Featuring child murder, rape, and a midget getting steam pressed, I thought it was a hoot. Its exploitative content is curiously naive and innocent compared to the slick sort of torture porn that gets made nowadays, so maybe I was won over by that.
The Last Picture Show
Here's a hint; if you're feeling depressed and put upon by life, for God's sake, DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE. Its beautifully made and genuinely felt and utterly soul crushing.
The Beastmaster
I guess I was just in a nostalgic mood when I put this in my queue. I grew up without cable, so I missed the approximately five million times that this sword and sorcery b-movie was run on HBO. Having finally seen it, I suddenly get a bunch of references that kids were making when they used to babble about it. Its not a classic by any stretch of the imagination, but the production values aren't all that terrible and it has a fun if goofy premise.
The Host
This is a Korean monster movie I'd never heard of until Netflix pointed me to it. Its a bit hard to explain, since it alternates between comedy, family drama, action, and horror, veering through all sorts of curious territory without seeming piecemeal. The monster itself is quite a unique and scary creation, and the storyline is truly insane in the amount of twists and reversals it features. I think there's some socio-political subtext that would make more sense if I was Korean, but I simply enjoyed it as a well-crafted monster flick.
Zero Effect
I'm not sure why I like this movie so much, but I do. Its a sort of '90s takeoff on the original Sherlock Holmes stories, with Bill Pullman portraying the brilliant and eccentric private eye Darryl Zero. Its witty and smart without being too affected, and I think Conan Doyle would be pleased by the indie-spirit homage.
The Lady From Shanghai
Orson Welles directed and stars in this movie with his then wife Rita Hayworth. Its based on some noir potboiler about shifty lawyers and a femme fatale, and its surprisingly elaborate in its framing. Its mainly remembered for the hall of mirrors climax, but there's a lot more to be gotten out of it.
The Nest
Counterstrike was apparently very popular in Europe, based on this movie. Its a highly implausible action heist thriller in which a bunch of elite police operatives and some robbers get entangled with a seemingly endless supply of Balkan super-criminals in funny headgear. You get lots of Euro-gun fetishism, Carpenter-esque characters, and what amounts to one protracted action sequence for the latter half of the movie. I liked it a whole lot, for all its faults.
Straw Dogs
Sam Pecknipah had some real issues with women. And England, apparently. If you ever wanted to see Dustin Hoffman beat a man to death with a golf club, this is the movie for you.
Eagle Vs. Shark
This is a very odd New Zealand comedy about two dorks who sort of fall in love. It features one of the guys from Flight of the Conchords, and its kind of a parade of losers doing loser things and enjoying it. Watch for the epic fight scene against the crippled man.
The Laughing Policeman
Walter Matthau apparently made fifty thousand movies in the '70s, and he was surprisingly cast as the action lead in a number of them. Bruce Dern co-stars as his ever slimy screen persona, a junior detective learning the ropes from Matthau on the case of a bizarro mass murder on a bus. Its extremely '70s, but I found it to be a bit muddled and lacking in much of a pay off.
Maniac Cop
Its a slasher movie, but the indestructible bad guy dresses like a cop. They take this premise as far as it will go, which isn't very far.
The Ballad of Cable Hogue
Sam Peckinpah still had some issues with women when he made this movie. It is a comedy, which he handles with the same subtlety that he granted to his violence. Jason Robards is pretty great as the title character, though, and I ended up enjoying it despite its dated quirks.
Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior
There was a big fuss about this movie when it came out, mainly due to its no-wires, all live, real guys getting repeatedly hit style of action. The Thai are possibly crazier than the Chinese when it comes to insurance risks for their actors, and it does pay off in some impressive results on screen. The story and characters, though, are utterly interchangable with any dozen martial arts movies, and all the insane stunt work in the world can't make them interesting.
Drunken Master
This is the movie that sort of rocketed Jackie Chan and Woo Ping Yuen into stardom, so I give it props for that. As a cinematic experience itself, however, it was extremely goofy. There's a lot of broad comedy that probably doesn't translate too well, and between these silly skits you get some old school kung fu. Woo Ping's inventiveness in choreography is present, but I think it got submerged under a lot of wackiness.
The Mechanic
This is a nihilistic little story about a professional hitman who acquires a life partner who seeks to emulate him. People are killed in a variety of ways and Charles Bronson looks stoically on. Its one of the most detached and ambiguous action films I've ever seen.
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
This is a parody of all those big musician biopics like Ray and Walk the Line, and it doesn't really go anywhere terribly surprising. There's a few good gags and zany impressions, but it repeated itself a few too many times and felt as inevitable as the formula dramas it was riffing on.
Severance
Its been compared to the British Office sitcom crossed with a slasher film, and I honestly can't come up with a better summary. Its nowhere near as funny as the Office, and its ultimately not that scary either, but I appreciated the effort.
Tootsie
This is that '80s comedy where Dustin Hoffman dresses in drag, and I have to say it was pretty good. It dips into farcical territory a few times, but it has some heart and drama that work well.
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01:41 pm
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The Big List of Movies I've Seen Recently
I've watched a lot of movies lately, particularly via Netflix. Here's a rundown on what I've seen and what I thought of them.
Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale
Pretty great wrapup to Ricky Gervais' series about show biz. Funny and poignant and relevant.
Grand Illusion
This is an old French movie that is considered to be the grandfather of prison break movies. To be honest, I was a bit bored by it. The sentiment was there, but the action kind of meandered and the European-ness of it alienated me. I respect its place historically, but I don't think its aged particularly well.
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
Robert Altman's western about a gambler and a whore in the northwest frontier. Its far less deconstructive than I was expecting, and while it still has that patchwork-of-characters thing going on, it actually manages to supply some action and suspense. Aside from the clever use of Leonard Cohen songs on the soundtrack, I think I was most impressed by the amount of work they did on actually building a realistic looking shitty western town. Probably the prettiest Altman movie I've seen.
Traitor
If you take the Bourne movies and make the political overtones much more overt, you might end up with something like this. I found it to be strictly okay; the action wasn't that great, and I sorted out the big twist pretty early on. It was nice seeing what happened to those suicide bombers, though.
Following
Chris Nolan's first movie is pretty much what you'd expect; a dark psychological thriller about damaged people doing awful things. There's a twist that's rather inevitable, but I think the premise was pretty interesting.
The Fall
This was a very pretty but ultimately not very fulfilling movie about a crippled stuntman and the little girl he tells a fanciful story to. The fairy tale didn't really have any impact on me other than being visually interesting. The "real" story seemed shortchanged as a result.
Amelie
A very French light fantasy from the guy that did City of Lost Children. It was pretty delightful, which is not something I say about anything very often. After all the dreary darkness of my netflix queue, it was a genuine relief.
Demons
I got this because Netflix recommended it, perhaps because I dug Suspiria so much. As it was, it turned out to be a pretty lousy piece of Euro-schlock. It wasn't particularly inventive or well designed, and the piss poor dubbing didn't help matters.
Deep Red
Beautiful looking exercise in style from Dario Argento. I never really buy into giallo plots, and this wasn't different, but I admire the Hell out of the technique on display.
A Face in the Crowd
Elia Kazan's satire about stardom and folksy popularity is even more relevant today than when it first came out. It really is amazing how hard America can fall for people who claim to be "plain folks", and its equally amazing how evident it is that these manipulators have nothing but contempt for the common man. You'll never look at Andy Griffith the same after seeing this.
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
I'd seen this before, though I don't quite remember how I tracked it down. Anyways, its a great '70s thriller about the hijacking of a New York City subway train. Its like Die Hard only less stupid. Predictably, they're making an overblown remake.
8 1/2
I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy this Fellini movie. I don't really go for self-indulgent European artistic commentary, but I was pleasantly surprised that he at least handled it with a lot of wit and candor. While a lot of it still felt strange and alien to me, the bit where the pretentious blowhard of a critic hangs himself was hilarious.
The Night Stalker/ The Night Strangler
These are two TV movies from the '70s with Darren McGavin as a hard bitten journalist faced with a vampire and an immortal murderer. A lot of the logic behind these owes a debt to the old (and to me dated) Universal monster movies, but there's a nice counter balance of humor and cynicism that offsets the corniness. The TV series that followed these is fun if progressively goofier.
Bad Company
I'd caught the last half of this on cable a while ago, and was quite happy to find it available. If anything, seeing it from the start has strengthened my impression of it. Its one of my favorite westerns now, and its truly lamentable that its not better known.
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
This is the BBC adaptation of LeCarre's novel about a mole in the British secret service. It is more than a little informed by LeCarre's own experience relative to the real world mole Kim Philby, who had been a personal associate of his in his spy days. Alec Guiness plays a spymaster who is brought out of retirement to try and find their double agent, a role he masterfully underplays. Its all quite drab and dreary, being LeCarre and being set in England, but its worth sticking with to the end.
Smiley's People
This is another BBC adaptation of LeCarre with Alec Guiness. This time it shows how his character, George Smiley, methodically and carefully goes after his Russian nemesis, Karla. Again, its pretty gray and grim going, but its still a compelling look at real world tradecraft.
Let The Right One In
I'd heard about this Swedish vampire movie a year or so ago, and was curious to see if it was as good as the hype made it out to be. It was pretty damn close. The bleak wintery setting adds a whole other layer to familiar territory, and the relationship between the little sociopath and his bloodsucking friend is appropriately disturbing and touching at the same time. There's a pronounced lack of romanticism about vampires, too, which I really appreciated.
Quantum of Solace
I'd heard lousy reviews for this movie when it came out in theaters, and I never really got in the mood to go see it. I'd liked what they'd done with Casino Royale, but this one was said to be sort of a letdown. Having actually seen it now, though, I can say that its a perfect companion piece to the previous movie. Its quite spare and stripped down, and I'll grant that the action over reaches a few times, but I was quite satisfied with it. It may be the fact that I saw it on the small screen, but the shakey-cam stuff didn't bug me at all. Maybe I'm just ADHD enough to like it.
Z
This is a French political thriller about an assassination that happened before a military coup in Greece. I was puzzled at first because I didn't recognize anything as being Greek, and thought perhaps it was telling an alternate universe story set in France. Anyways, its quite good if obviously slanted in its depiction of the events. It reminded me most of All The President's Men, personally, what with the evidence that real world scary conspiracies are inevitably bungled by the human element.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
I'd seen the ending of this one time, which meant I was kind of spoiled before seeing it in full form. Still, its a pretty potent piece of work, and I can see why it garnered so many accolades when it first came out. Oddly, I didn't hate Nurse Ratched quite as much as I was probably supposed to; I think she genuinely thought she was doing the best thing for the patients in her ward. Its also notable for how many odd looking character actors got their start here.
The Last Waltz
I heard a lot of good things about this 1976 Scorcese documentary about The Band's supposedly final concert. It certainly features a lot of very famous singer-songwriters from the era, so its pretty nice as a snapshot of the time. As it was, though, I was a little let down by the bits of Scorcese interviewing the Band; his questions were pretty softball and their responses were predictable. Having a rockstar admit that he got into it for the pussy is never a revelation.
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06:26 pm
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The Lunch Rady Rocks Out!
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12:59 pm
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The Fish That Came To Visit
I met ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) zippyfish in the Big Easy last week. We walked around the Quarter and discussed hair loss, education, the media, and how crappy Slidell is*. It was fun, and I was happy to have finally broken my cardinal rule about not meeting people I know via the internet. She reminded me that we've known each other for over a decade, which was more than a little unsettling.
So, if you ever offered to meet me at some time and I turned you down, I apologize. I just needed a dozen or more years to get used to the idea.
* Slidell, by the way, really is a fucking boring cesspool.
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12:56 pm
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A Reader Meme By A Non-Reader
Taken from jasonfranks.
1) What author do you own the most books by?
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. They're all audiobooks, but I guess they count.
2) What book do you own the most copies of?
I don't get multiple editions.
3) Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?
No.
4) What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
Sadly, I've never fallen in love with a fictional character. This isn't because I think its a dumb idea; it just hasn't happened.
5) What book have you read the most times in your life?
The Killer Angels, possibly.
6) What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?
I honestly don't remember what I read when I was ten. Stainless Steel Rat, possibly?
7) What is the worst book you've read in the past year?
My Geology textbook.
8) What is the best book you've read in the past year?
Crime and Punishment.
9) If you could force everyone to read one book, what would it be?
The Killer Angels.
10) Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for literature?
I honestly have no idea.
11) What book would you most like to see made into a movie?
Neuromancer.
12) What book would you least like to see made into a movie?
Any of those fantasy series I read as a kid.
13) Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.
I don't remember my dreams very often, and if they reference anything its film or television.
14) What is the most lowbrow book you've read as an adult?
There was this book with Raymond Chandler, Erle Stanley Gardner, and Dashiell Hammett teaming up and solving mysteries. I subsequently learned it was voted the worst detective novel of the year.
15) What is the most difficult book you've ever read?
I struggled with Don Quixote. I just didn't find it very funny or relevant.
16) What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you've seen?
I'm not sure I get how anything Shakespeare wrote is "obscure", but I guess I could put Titus Andronicus here, since I saw Titus.
17) Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
Lets pretend I've read enough of both to say Russians.
18) Roth or Updike?
Yes.
19) David Sedaris or Dave Eggers?
I know Sedaris, so Sedaris.
20) Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?
Shakespeare.
21) Austen or Eliot?
Maybe.
22) What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
Oh, there are vast, untold volumes of classic and modern literature that I haven't read and have no interest in reading. I probably shouldn't even be doing this meme.
23) What is your favorite novel?
Its a tossup; Something Wicked This Way Comes or The Killer Angels.
24) Play?
Inherit The Wind, perhaps.
25) Poem?
And death shall have no dominion.
26) Essay?
Uh. Hm. The Simple Art of Murder?
27) Short story?
Tell-Tale Heart. Really had to reach into my junior high reading background to get that one.
28) Work of non-fiction?
Killing Pablo.
29) Graphic novel?
Batman: Year One.
30) Who is your favorite writer?
Raymond Chandler.
31) Who is the most overrated writer alive today?
I don't know. I'm sure there are many.
32) What is your desert island book?
The Worst Case Scenario Survival Book.
33) And ... what are you reading right now?
Nothing, I'm afraid.
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04:30 pm
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I'm a Rebel
I went to the university cafeteria a few minutes ago, intending to get some food before my night lab. As usual at this later hour, the cash registers were only vaguely manned by a woman who clearly would rather be doing something (anything) else. When I brought my food to the register, she told me the price, walked away to throw something in the trash, then walked back to take my debit card. When she had swiped the card and printed the receipt, I asked her if I could have some honey mustard sauce. The sauce, you see, is stored in a drawer under the cash register. Without opening the drawer, she announced that "there's no honey mustard sauce, did you want something else?". I realized she was in no mood to take the time to look for honey mustard sauce, much less help me with anything else. So I said "No".
I then walked around to the adjacent drawer for the other, unmanned cash register, opened it, and retrieved some sauce for my own damn self. She repeated "Uh uh" a few times and registered dismay. I looked at her and she said "You can't do that". I told her "I'll bear that in mind next time."
So, pretty plainly here, you can see that I'm fighting the system.
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04:56 pm
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Drive By Post
Quick update:
Midterms are going good; nothing below an A yet. I've either mastered studying or my classes are especially easy.
My latest sculpture project hasn't sucked quite as much as my second one; its a pine wood self portrait with some silhouettes of my head and word balloons and question marks and what not coming from them. Inside is some balled up wire with wooden star-explosion things.
I plan on burning the scale model of my parents' house (that's the second project). The first one was a wire sculpture of some scissors. It was okay.
I've slowed down my pace with Netflix, mainly for my own sanity. Watching a movie a night actually becomes a bit of a drag, especially if they're dark or foreign as my queue is leaning.
On the streaming service through Xbox Live, I'm watching Kolchak: The Night Stalker, the TV series from the '70s. Its pretty goofy, but there's some surprisingly good bits amidst the cornball werewolves and mummies schtick. I also saw the original TV movie (The Night Stalker) and its sequel (The Night Strangler); they were scripted by Richard Matheson, though its the funny Richard Matheson more than the grim and despairing one.
I'm getting very weary of bad news. I suppose its good to stay in touch with world events, but between local government idiocy, shootings, and financial downturns, I've had enough bleakness to last me for a decade.
Didn't go see the Watchmen. I always admired the technical skill of the graphic novel, but I never adored it. I think I'd have to be in the right mood to go see an adaptation of it on the big screen.
I'm supposed to start writing the first few scenes of my screenplay this week. I've gone with a story lifted from an Unknown Armies campaign I ran a few years back. Its a sort of urban fantasy thing with a taxi cab company.
I find it difficult to relax lately, and mingled with a recurring depression, I'd have to say the medication I'm on isn't doing me any favors. Its not to the point where I'm chewing off my fingernails or anything, but I miss having more peace of mind.
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12:14 pm
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Saturday Morning Hijinks
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11:20 am
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35
I turned 35 today.
Its not been a particularly happy birthday, to be honest. When I was younger, I somewhat arbitrarily imagined my life at 35, making it a kind of life-state landmark. I imagined that I would have a home, a girlfriend or wife, maybe even a kid, and a job that I liked and which made ends meet. I currently have none of those things, and it may be some time before I come close to getting any of them. I'm doing good in school, and I realize that I've made some progress with a number of personal issues, but its a little overwhelming to think about how much time has passed to get me to where I am currently. I think I was expecting more things to have happened by now, to have more achievements and things to put on a resume. I think I've been waiting for some outside force to come along and transform my life...but that's not really how it works.
I'm grateful for my friends, for my family, and for having something like a second chance at finishing my education. But its still not quite enough, for whatever reason. I imagine I'll get over this with some time and more positive experiences, so I don't feel completely hopeless. I just wish I had more to show for these thirty five years thus far.
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05:00 pm
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Movie Overdose
You may be wondering why I'm not posting more top ten movie lists. This is partially due to the fact I've been busier with school lately. Its also got something to do with the fact that I've joined Netflix. I've been watching a film an average of once a night for the past few weeks, sometimes more. A lot of these I get in my instant queue and watch via my Xbox 360. A few more come through the mail. They've ranged from foreign classics to new releases to the trashiest exploitation films. I'm gorging myself, in other words, on everything I've not been able to get at the local video store. And there's a lot, of course, more than I'll ever be able to watch in my lifetime. Once I have a moment, I'll try to offer some capsule reviews and/or another top ten list.
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03:15 pm
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Where is My Mind?
You know, I was excited about being back at school. Now that I'm in my second week of classes, though, I'm really kind of dreading it. I'm not sure precisely why this is. The classes aren't fantastic and massively interesting, but I don't think I've ever had a class like that. No, even the worst of them is tolerable. Its just that I just can't be bothered to remember when they are. Its happened twice now that I've come home to suddenly realize that I forgot a class, and it has me worried. Is it a psychological block? Age? Lack of familiarity? I don't really know, but I'm going to have to tattoo my schedule on my hand next week to be sure it doesn't happen again.
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12:41 pm
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Blistering Rock-on-Rock Action!
I'm back in school, at long last.
The classes are:
A biology class I should have taken earlier. God willing, it will be the last biology class of my adult life. I also have a lab for this class, which, likewise, will hopefully be the last of its kind as far as I'm concerned.
A basic level Spanish class. The instructor seems like a nice guy, and I think I'll be able to keep up.
Later today, I have a geology class with the grandiose title of "Dynamic Earth!!" I added the exclamation points for effect. Ultimately, its still just about rocks.
Tomorrow I have an introductory screenwriting class. I've taken a creative writing class before (short story writing), but this'll be my first film class. I have high hopes for it.
After that, I've got a sculpture class. Like painting, I never really got into the medium before, but I think I should be able to get the hang of it.
So, bascially, I'll be alternating days between required courses and things I'm actually interested in. I just hope I don't let my lack of excitement for the former get in the way of my progress.
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09:41 am
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Happy New Year
I don't have any resolutions to speak of, but I am looking forward to some things:
- Continuing and perhaps finishing school. Its likely to get harder before it gets easier, but I think I can handle it.
- Moving into a new place, possibly on campus. This is dependent on getting a loan, but I don't think that should be a terrible problem.
- Hanging out with my friends. We only get together around once a month, but its always worth it.
- Writing and drawing my own comic. I don't have a totally solid idea yet, but I need to do this this year.
- Meeting that special someone. Or simply getting laid.
Here's hoping 2009 is a good year for everybody, myself included!
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05:19 pm
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On The Use of Feminax on Owls
Got my wisdom teeth out. And an extra one, just for kicks.
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10:45 am
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Top Ten Spy Movies
I think the first movies that my dad ever introduced to me were the James Bond films. I only ever saw them when they used to show them on network television, usually around the holidays, heavily edited. I was always confused by them, particularly because the role of the hero was constantly being recast. Imagine watching the real campy ones as an eight year old and you can see other reasons why they were unfathomable. There was one sequence where Bond is put into a coffin and apparently went to Heaven that really messed with my head. As I've gotten older, I've still been drawn to stories of secret agents, conspiracies, and intrigue. Here's some I think are particularly good.
1. The Ipcress File (1965)
This is an adaptation of a Len Deighton novel, featuring Michael Caine as Harry Palmer. Palmer's an ex-con who has been more or less conscripted into British intelligence, and who never quite fits into the operation. There's a fairly complex plot and some lovely intrigue, but what makes the movie special is its refusal to be trite or predictable. Sure, there's some shooting, sneaking around, and double agents, but it all comes at you from curious angles and resolves in atypical fashion. Caine is great as Palmer; funny and smart, capable without being omnicompetent, and always getting in his bosses' shit.
2. The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
I enjoyed all of the Bourne films, but this one is easily the best. True, there isn't much to the plot, and yes, its essentially just one long, prolonged chase. The thing is, its so well staged and propulsive in its momentum that you can't help but be swept up in it. Its a master class in economical storytelling. I particularly like the way it bookends the series by mirroring scenes and events from the previous films without simply retreading them.
3. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965)
John le Carre's spy novel gets a masterful adaptation in this dour, bleak film of the Cold War. It tells the story of Alec Leamas, a field operative for the British Secret Service, played by Richard Burton as a figure of quiet despair. Leamas is quite good at his job, but its a thankless service in a starkly amoral world where his life and the lives of his assets are entirely disposable. There's a supremely intricate operation at the heart of things involving the possible defection of an East German operative, and its deviously fascinating. The movie is the antithesis of the romantic spy picture, without an ounce of sentimentality or allure to its depiction of Leamas' world.
4. From Russia with Love (1963)
I enjoy most if not all of the Sean Connery Bond films, but I think this one is my personal favorite. Its got the action, romance, and exotica of the franchise, but its refreshingly lacking in the campy excesses that eventually overwhelmed the series. The premise is simple (SPECTRE wants to kill 007), but its nicely developed with some very memorable villains in the form of Robert Shaw and Lotte Lenya. The fight between Shaw and Connery on board a train is rightfully remembered as a classic.
5. The Parallax View (1974)
Alan J. Pakula's movie is a perfectly paranoid thriller about a journalist who uncovers a massive conspiracy behind a series of assassinations. You uncover the truth with Warren Beatty's character, and it gets progressively scarier and more intense as he makes his discoveries. The finale is simply brilliant.
6. Breach (2007)
This is one of those movies that I never heard of before I noticed it on the shelf of my local video chain store. Its about Robert Hanssen, the FBI agent who was involved in one of the biggest double agent scandals in American intelligence history. Hanssen is played by Chris Cooper, who seems to specialize in these kind of roles. By turns, he's a devout Catholic, a pervert, a gun nut, a bureaucrat, a bitter outcast, and a family man. Piecing together what he's up to and why he's doing it is most of what drives the film, making it a cross between a thriller and a character study. It never oversells the drama, but it still manages to be quite suspenseful. Definitely work tracking down.
7. Casino Royale (2006)
After a few decades of flamboyantly ridiculous camp, the producers of the Bond franchise decided to dial things back down and focus on making a movie about the protagonist rather than his props. It owes an obvious debt to the Bourne films in the staging of its action, but I think it manages to stand on its own as a great depiction of Ian Fleming's spy. It throws some interesting twists into the old formula, and I really like Daniel Craig's interpretation of the character.
8. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Blackly comic and startling in its intelligence and wit, this Cold War film posits a scenario where the Communist Chinese find allies in unexpected quarters. There's a lot of great little moments throughout the film, but I think I find the brainwashing scenes particularly memorable. Apparently the studios delayed releasing this film after the Kennedy assassination, but it eventually found the following it deserved. The remake isn't terrible, but see the original if you get a chance.
9. Marathon Man (1976)
Best remembered for the scene where Laurence Olivier tortures Dustin Hoffman in a dentist chair, this '70s spy film is an odd little masterpiece. Beyond the dentisty, you get a lot of quirky, dark humor, and an everyman protagonist caught up in a big conspiracy way over his head. I really liked the fight scene between Roy Scheider and an assassin; very bloody and brutal. I need to see this again sometime soon.
10. Funeral in Berlin (1967)
The second in the Harry Palmer series starring Michael Caine, this is another top notch slice of Cold War espionage. Palmer is sent by his bosses into Germany to recruit a potential defector, but things quickly become very complicated. I particularly liked the fact that most of the film is shot on location in Berlin; you can't buy set decoration half as authentically bleak and oppressive as that city in the '60s.
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04:45 pm
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Sodomy!
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12:51 pm
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Sit Down and Shut Up
This is some shameful shit. But it just goes to show you what my neck of the woods is like. I'm not in the least surprised.
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11:34 am
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Top Ten Detective Movies
I really like detective movies. Part of it is the simple appeal of a puzzle to be solved, a mystery to be uncovered, some balance to be redressed. Part of it is the way they act as a tour of the underside of human existence, from the loftiest circles of the elite down to the lowliest dopehead; everybody's got something to hide. Ultimately, though, I think I like detective characters, in their many incarnations and interpretations. They're heroic, but they're heroic in a way that allows for human failings. They're almost always something of an outsider, and yet they act as an agent of justice. Sometimes they get that justice, sometimes they don't, but the effort leaves a mark and they learn a little something about themselves in the process. Here's some of my favorite ones in the genre:
1. Chinatown (1974)
Roman Polanski's movie probably set the bar for the hardboiled detective film. Its beautifully shot, carefully constructed, and it has a ring of authenticity about its design, costumes, and sets that you don't see in many period films. Jack Nicholson was born to play Jake Gittes, just like Faye Dunaway was born to play Evelyn Mulwray and John Huston was born to play Noah Cross. Unrestricted by the censorship issues of '30s and '40s adaptations of Hammett and Chandler, it introduces a new level of sophistication (and cynicism) to the genre while paying homage to those classic films. Must see viewing.
2. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Dashiell Hammett crafted the prototypical hardboiled detective novel, and John Huston created the prototypical hardboiled detective movie based on that book. Its lean and sparely told, just like Hammett, and it still manages to sneak up on me and surprise me when I rewatch it. Everything fits beautifully into a lovely dark puzzle of underworld characters and devious machinations. It is still hard for me to separate the actors from their parts; they're just that archetypal. One thing that always gets me is how much of a heel Spade actually is, and how people can still be fond of Bogart in this role.
3. L.A. Confidential (1997)
I distinctly remember getting excited about a '90s noir film set in Los Angeles, but it wasn't this one. It was Mulholland Falls (not to be confused with Lynch's Mullholland Drive), a Nick Nolte film about the Hat Squad of the LAPD in the '50s. It had lots of promise, but when I went to see it in the theater, it was one of the most profoundly disappointing movie experiences of my life. Somebody had apparently been watching Tarantino movies before scripting it, and it had no real mood, no bite, and no payoff. L.A. Confidential is, in many ways, the antithesis of Mulholland Falls. It delivered.
4. Memento (2000)
The usually selling point for this movie is the fact that its told backwards, but that kind of suggests that its just a gimmick film. Its not. The method it uses for telling the story is certainly inventive and creates a new level of complexity and suspense, but at its base its an old school detective story. The protagonist is constantly having to make deductions without much aid, and the complex way that he reaches the conclusion (or beginning) has a kind of genius about it. There's a lot of existential stuff in here about identity, purpose, and the nature of reality, too, but it never feels forced.
5. Murder My Sweet (1944)
I'm usually disappointed by adaptations of Chandler. They rarely capture his rhythm, atmosphere, or humor. Even the Bogart and Bacall version of The Big Sleep seems like a vague stab to me rather than a proper translation. Murder My Sweet, however, is pretty damn close to the book. It excises the notion of Marlowe visiting a black bar, which has a lot of juicy racist stuff in the novel, but aside from that what you're getting in this adaptation is the real deal. Dick Powell, who had been known for musical comedy roles before playing Marlowe, does a great job of delivering the dry, sardonic and poetic language Chandler gave to his detective.
6. Brick (2005)
I discovered Raymond Chandler during my second or third year of high school. I don't remember how or why I picked up one of his books, and I also don't remember which one it was - probably The Big Sleep - but I latched onto his stuff pretty quickly. The imagery, atmosphere, and dialog were factors, for sure, but I think I got it into my head that I wanted to be Philip Marlowe. This is an odd thing to wish for, because Marlowe is always getting beat up, suckered, and generally pissed on by life, and he almost never gets the girl. He attracts them, sure, but half of them are sociopaths and the other half are unattainable. I think I thought of myself as a brainy loner, like Marlowe, and wished I had his toughness, resolve, and wit. I mention this because, in a roundabout way, Brick is essentially a movie about how I kind of wished my high school experience had been like. Granted, its more Hammett than Chandler in execution, and having your girlfriend get bumped off isn't my idea of a fun time, but it still resonates for me as a reminder of that time in my life. Adolescent angst dovetails quite nicely with affected cynicism, I think.
7. Touch of Evil (1958)
Admittedly, this isn't so much a detective film as it is a noir character study, but I think it has enough investigation in the plot to qualify. It could be argued that Orson Welles' character of Hank Quinlan, bloated, corrupt border town cop, is a projection of the traditional hardboiled dick a decade or two after his prime. He has the wit, the drinking problem, and the familiarity with the underworld that Spade or Marlowe have, but he's totally lost his bearings and is granted an authority which he immediately abuses. If you can overlook Chuck Heston pretending to be a Mexican (accomplished solely by a thin mustache and some skin paint), you'll find that this is a brilliant, sleazy little gem of '50s cinema. The cinematography is to die for.
8. Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)
Denzel Washington stars as Easy Rawlins in this adaptation of Walter Mosley's hardboiled novel. Its interesting to see the familiar noir trappings of war-era Los Angeles from the point of view of a black man, but more than that its an assured and classy film. Imagine the usual detective quandaries of dealing with the elite, with police, and with the underworld, then compound them by being the wrong skin color in a racist country. Don Cheadle created a lot of buzz with his portrayal of Rawlins' old buddy Mouse, and with good reason. Mouse is essentially the world's friendliest sociopath, the sort of guy who thinks nothing of killing somebody if they anger or inconvenience him or his friends, but who has a curious kind of innocence about him as well. I only recently chanced upon this movie on cable, and I'm sorry I hadn't seen it sooner.
9. Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
This movie sort of dances around being a western, a film noir, or a social message piece, but I think it works nicely as a detective film. I always like Spencer Tracy, but I love him when he's angry and raw like he is here as the movie's one-armed protagonist. The rest of the cast play the inhabitants of a desert town with a dirty little secret, and its a who's who list of character actors; Anne Francis, Ernest Borgnine, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan, and Walter Brennan. I like the spare and austere quality of the script, which is mirrored in the arid and mostly vacant sets. I was sort of surprised by the references to the Japanese-American internment camps; I don't know of any other movies from the era that'd dare mention them.
10. Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
I have mixed feelings for Agatha Christie and film adaptations of her work. I find her books a little too precious, quaint, and reserved in general, remaining detached and polite even when they're depicting serial murders. On the other hand, I have to give her props for the ability to create elaborate, twisting plots and then present them in a way that doesn't result in you feeling cheated. Her stories are a bit like mathematical formulas with a coating of personality, and the more personality that gets involved the better. This is probably why I like the character of Hercule Poirot; he's brilliant in rather implausible ways, but he's peculiar and flawed enough to make for an entertaining protagonist. This film is probably the best film adaptation of her work, and they picked a great story to work with. The insanely overqualified cast doesn't hurt, and Sidney Lumet knew a thing or two about handling big cast movies with lots of dialog and little action.
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