These Things Take Time

A short film based on a blog post by Tom Oatmeal.

...

A Letter from Japan

Maybe it's a funk. Maybe it's a form of meditation. It doesn't help that I'm still jet-lagged, that I landed here just as Japan began it's "Golden Week" of enforced holiday, or that I have an apartment without Internet access or any of the books that I gave up in a momentary fever to purge myself of all things. It doesn't help that I have gone from a house crowded with kids and commitment to the equivalent of solitary confinement for unspecified white collar crimes.

But for seven, mostly rainy days in Tokyo, in between long naps and long walks full of self reproach, I have had the Star Channel.

Picture HBO without the original content and without the ability to pay licensing for any movie that isn't either decades old or an immediate tax write-off for its producers. (Star Channel: Home to dead and the duds.) Dispense with any pretense of curatorial intent, spin the wheel on what films air when -- "The Omen" at 8 on a Saturday morning, kids! -- add a Japanese-language  voice over and you have the curious cinematic calliope that is Star.

And Star has had me.

Partly it's the randomness of the offerings and the old-fashioned surrender to the will of the TV that intrigues. For whatever set of reasons and personal failures, over seven days, I have watched at least 19 movies. In fact, I've made it a rule to watch whatever was on at whatever hour I happened to tune in all the way to the -- often -- bitter end. (Consider: "Money Train," "Escape from LA," "Ironman 2," "The Punisher.")

Of course, Sky has delivered some great stuff I would not have sought or seen. That includes the moral nuance of "Judgement at Nuremberg (1961)," the spooky deadpan of "Bubble (2005)," and the good-natured fun of "Much Ado About Nothing," (1993). I enjoyed that last one even though Keanu Reeves plays Keanu Reeves and Denzel Washington plays Denzel Washington playing Shakespeare.

It's also impossible to be a binge consumer of movies without trying to make sense of it all. The mind stumbles toward theory, sometimes in the face of questionable data.

For instance, in re-watching "The Dirty Dozen" (1967), you may find yourself noticing that all the characters that grin die on the mission along with scores of German officers and their wives. Telly Savalas grins. He dies. Granted that's not the only tell that he's doomed. He's also misogynistic sadist who kills a woman in cold blood. Also, his name is Maggot.

Still, Donald Sutherland grins, often, and dies for it. Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson never grin. They survive.

Or maybe you find yourself watching "Cyrus" (2010) and "Behind Enemy Lines" (2001) in quick succession and wonder if both movies wouldn't have been improved if John C. Reilly and Owen Wilson could have somehow magically switched roles.

Perhaps you watch "Avanti!" (1972), and find yourself thinking maybe it's possible that hair-trigger irascibility that people once considered funny about Jack Lemmon concealed something else. For instance, maybe he was just an irritable asshole.

But the biggest discovery for me was this: "All About Eve" (1950) and "Scarface" (1983) are really the same story about the underside of American ambition and the human toll of self-made success just imagined differently.

For one thing, it's easy to forget that Bette Davis is not the uber-bitch of "All About Eve." That's the scheming Ann Baxter, the young up-and-comer with big dreams and a total amoral regard for the consequences. Sound familiar? Baxter is Scarface, while Davis and her descent toward the Broadway scrap heap  is the equivalent of  the softer, gentler Miami cocaine magnate, Frank Lopez.

(Imagine "Scarface" redone with the Little League coaching Lopez as the central tragic figure and you have the arc of "All About Eve.")

Both movies show how the ruthless will be undone in a never-ending circle of ambition and how empty the promises of the bright lights can be, but importantly -- and this should be a lesson to all of the hip-hop impressarios who profess an admiration for Tony Montana's machismo -- when it comes to the prospect for redemption "All About Eve" is even more gangster than "Scarface."

Even though Tony Montana kills his best friend, torments his wife, ignores his mother, builds his fortune feeding the addictions of thousands and harbors an unresolved, incestual longing for his sister, in the end, when the Bolivian paramilitary is closing in, he is at least moved toward an accounting for his life.

Tony Montana is self aware, and, if he's not remorseful, he's close. He harbors doubts about whether he has chased the wrong dream: "Is this it?...Eating, drinking, fucking, sucking? Snorting? Then what? You're 50. You got a bag for a belly. You got tits. You need a bra." He also refuses to kill innocent bystanders, an almost heroic refusal that ultimately costs him his life.

There's nothing like those flashes of regret and humanity for that stone-cold Eve Harrington. She lies. She schemes. She seduces. And in the end, she's collapsed on a divan to be served until the next pretty young thing comes up from nowhere to cut her throat.

Eve, as Tony would say, breaks her balls for no one.

I have to go now. I know -- I don't write, I don't call and then it's a deluge.

 See you all after "Just Cause" (1995) and "The Bridges of Madison County" (Same year). Maybe there's something there about the zeitgeist of the Clinton years.

Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night.

PROJECT IMAGIN8ION / Life in a Day

I regard the phenomenon of crowd-sourcing (e.g., wikis, online reviews, product-support forums, and other user-generated product) with a cynical eye; it smacks of exploitation, and thus I always feel a little guilty when I find the results useful or entertaining - which is almost daily. Here are a couple of examples that I'm in the midst of enjoying:

PROJECT IMAGIN8ION: Camera-maker Canon and film-director Ron Howard held a photo contest, ostensibly to provide ideas for a short film. I'm a little vague on the details, as the contest ended before I'd heard of it, but the submitted photos are amazing. Check out the above link if you have some free time.

On a similar note, have you seen the film Life in a Day? From IMDB:

What do you get when you ask the people of the world to chronicle a single day in their lives? You get 80,000 submissions, 4500 hours of footage, from 192 countries. Kevin Macdonald has taken this raw material, all shot on July 24, 2010, and created a 90-minute paean to what it means to be human in the world today.

I watched about half of it the other night, streamed from NETFLIX, before getting too tired to continue, but what I saw was impressive, with a Powaqqatsi / Koyaanisqatsi vibe.

Rushmore Redux?

Last Year's Models

Stoner’s 2011 favorites:

Hot Sauce Committee Volume Two, Beastie Boys: Running wild like the rats in Taco Bell. Originally recorded for the 1964 World’s Fair in NYC, but only released this year. Back to the future.

Runner-up: Several Shades of Why, J. Mascis or Last Summer, Eleanor Friedberger

Single/Video: “Bizness,” by tune-yards (thanks, Feral Boy)

Runner-up: “Black Up” by Shabazz Palaces

Jazz Album: Novela, Tony Malaby

Non-Fiction: Shock Value, by Jason Zinoman…A brief history of American horror films of the seventies. Tobe Hooper, John Carpenter, and Brian DePalma tackle “the monster problem.”

Runner-up: How Did You Get This Number, by Sloane Crosley

Fiction: The Art of Fielding, by Chad Harbach…Life on and off the baseball team at a lovingly-rendered Midwest liberal arts college.

Pulp fiction: Quarry’s Ex, by Max Allan Collins

The Trip: In most current comedy, you are invited to hang out with people you would never choose to spend any time with in life. The Trip is a welcome reprieve from that.

Runners-up: Attack The Block, Daddy Longlegs, Midnight In Paris

Time to brush up on your French

The Coen Brothers segment from the excellent Paris je t'aime:

The final scene and credits from Paris je t'aime featuring a lovely Feist song:

Missives

Rex: You asked about this place once or twice. I've eaten there twice now (a breakfast and a hamburger) and I'm still undecided, but I like the sign.

Rocky: Did you know that Phineas Newborn, Jr. did not pronounce his name like the protagonist of "Around The World In Eighty Days" but rather as "Fine-ass"? I did not either.

Marquis: Don't worry, we can catch "Warrior" at the Penn...or in Roppongi...

Feral Boy: Your free "vision package" should arrive shortly!

***

At The Movies

The Trip, with Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon playing themselves -- two middle-aged long-time friends alternately cracking up and annoying one another during an endless-seeming road trip -- is really fucking funny, and a worthy update of My Dinner With Andre, with a lighter touch. Of course, it probably helps to see the movie under the same circumstances as I did (see above: “two middle-aged” etc.)…but here’s a bit of it:

It can’t be coincidence that the two movies to have the lengthiest first-run this year, Insidious and Bridesmaids, both feature Rose Byrne. 

She was also in Troy, with Brad Pitt, and I remain dumbfounded she wasn’t cast as Helen.

***

I think Leslie Mann is this generation’s Gene Wilder.

 ***

Tinker, Tailor...

Don't get me wrong: I've enjoyed the comic book movies this summer, truly I have. But this trailer makes me wish the season was over.

Any other le Carre fans among us? If so, doesn't Oldman seem more ideally suited to play Karla than Smiley?

Outtakes from "Bridesmaids"

Bridesmaids Outtakes - watch more funny videos

Herzog!

The daring German filmmaker Werner Herzog once walked a thousand miles to propose to a woman. He once plotted to firebomb his leading man's house and once ate his own shoe to square a bet. He once got shot in the stomach during a TV interview, then insisted on finishing. And despite it all, his latest adventure—a 3-D documentary about cave paintings—still sounds batshit crazy.

...

Recent Cinema

If you want an objective appraisal of “American: The Bill Hicks Story,” I’m not your man, and “American” is not your Bill Hicks documentary: It was put together by friends and family, who provide all the narration; there are no testimonials from well-known stand-up comedians, say, regarding his impact on the scene. I enjoyed the film, but I’m a big fan: Whenever I’m watching standup comedy and not enjoying myself, I think about how much I miss Richard Pryor and Bill Hicks.

Don’t be fooled by the presence of familiar faces – “Super” is a pretty disturbing little film, a scuzzy-looking, scuzzy-minded “Taxi Driver” update with some “Bad Lieutenant” religiosity thrown in for extra upset. Funny at times, but never a comedy, just marketed as one. Great career move for Ellen Page: Her fans, and people who can’t stand her, will equally appreciate her work here.

Every performance and small detail in “Win Win” feels so natural, it somehow, conversely, makes the big coincidence that drives the plot pretty easy to swallow. However, it does make it difficult to say much about the film without the listener jumping ahead of you and making the whole thing sound pat: “So, let me guess, he winds up doing the right thing, right?” Go fuck yourself, listener. Did I mention it’s in 3D? 

Kristen Wiig's first lead role is not a feature-length movie about the Target Lady.

Stoner's Favorites of 2010

Jesus, not again...why does he keep this up?...

Jazz Albums:

Trombone Shorty, Backatown
The Bad Plus, Never Stop
Rudresh Mahanthappa & Bunky Green, Apex

Not-Jazz Albums:
The Black Angels, Phosphene Dream
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, I Learned The Hard Way
Black Mountain, Wilderness Heart

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Books:

Michael Lewis, The Big Short
Sam Lipsyte, The Ask
Donald Westlake, Memory

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Movies:

Cyrus
The Fighter
True Grit
Kick Ass

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Television:
Justified (Best Elmore Leonard adaptation to date)

Pawn Stars (Vegas; little history lessons)

Hardcore Pawn (Detroit; little histrionic episodes)

(The still on the right could be from Justified or Hardcore Pawn, actually.)
 
 
 

 
Sport:
I'm certain we're all in agreement that the Giants' World Series victory was the only thing that mattered.
 
****

Hitler Meets Christ

A Netflix member review:

If this movie were food, it would be that left over meatloaf your mom made because your girlfriend was coming over but then she broke up with you and you hated meatloaf for like...a week. Then you were really hungry and you looked in the cupboard, only to find a poptart, an OOOPS All Berries! Capn'crunch, and half a box of Jello, which made you wonder, hmmm what's in the fridge. Then you see the meatloaf and you're like oh man that looks awesome cause I love meatloaf. But then you eat it and half way through you realize you'd rather take a People's Elbow to the dick then be forced to eat another bite of that God forsaken meatloaf

I had to look up "People's Elbow". From urbandictionary.com :

the people's elbow was one of the signature moves of the rock. first he would look at the croud. then pull off his elbow pad in slow motion and throw it into the crowd. then he would run left,bounce off the ropes then over the guy on the ground, bounce off the ropes again. then he would kick his right leg up and drop his elbow ont the man's heart.

You're welcome!
.

Winter's Bone

Best movie I've seen this year.

Tea Bagger's Idea of FearFest?

For the next FearFest I want to see a movie about a small, sleepy Midwestern town overrun--not by flesh-eating zombies, vampires, or serial killing siamese brothers separated at birth--but by hipsters.... driving locals to madness by wearing motorcycle helmets ironically while riding their vintage bicycles and other hipterish antics. Kinda like this maybe:

Dirty Dream Number 2 @ Yahoo! Video

Cinema! (North Korean edition)

The Magic of Movies

Best fucking review of 2010 (s0 far) by Robert Edwin Haines in the Amoeba 'zine Spring/Summer 2010:

Wings of Desire (Criterion Collection Blu-ray)

"When I was 16 years old. I went to the only (at that time) art house theater in San Jose called the Camera One to see a film called Wings of Desire. I had seen a previous film by the same director called Paris, Texas on VHS, which I only checked out because I had a massive crush on Nastassja Kinski, but I ended up finding the film heartbreakingly sad and beautiful. I was just starting to make the connection that directors and not actors were the real driving force behind films and even though I had heard that this film was in German with English subtitles and I knew no one wanted to go see it with me, I decided to feign illness, cut school and take the bus from my shitty duplex neighborhood to downtown by myself to check it out. A little over two hours later, I was crying like a newborn fucking baby at how impossibly strange, beautiful, and spiritual this work of art was/is (and I'm about as atheistic a degenerate as you are gonna find). Assholes throw around terms like "life changing" and "magical" at mediocre creations all the time. Seeing this film made me a different person, a kinder person, a more thoughtful person, a more patient person and--most importantly--a less angry person. It made me feel like after a lifetime of being alone that there were people in the world who understood, who didn't scoff at beauty, who didn't look at the world with blinkers on, who weren't afraid to listen. This re-issue Blu-ray has a bunch of cool extra documentaries and ephemera, but ultimately it has the treasure that is this film. And after over 20 years, that's still more than enough for me."

I love the review because I think Wings of Desire is one of the greatest films ever and the thing that stays with me after experiencing a work of art is not so much the details of the art, but rather the interior life that it stirred. In fact, I may have first seen this with some of you (at the DIA perhaps?) but I truly don't remember.

The Target Audience, Part 2

Hollywood has aimed another thriller directly at the Feral-Boy-and-Friday demographic...