because nobody reads this anyway, but I have been woefully neglecting this blog. Which is why there are a rash of posts today. This blog needed some life breathed into it. Although I realize that I have absolutely no focus whatsoever. It's just a ramble here, a rant there, and lots of movie reviews in between.
I'll try to be better.
About Me
- Kerry
- Pop culture junkie, native of Las Vegas, not really a writer.
You can stalk me on Twitter here:
http://twitter.com/Kerry_McC
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Blade Runner
I recently watched Blade Runner for the first time. Being that it is such a cultural touchstone, I admit that it's pretty strange that I'd never seen it before. Indeed my announcement that I was finally watching it elicited responses of excitement from more than one friend who claimed it to be one of their top favorite films of all time! Even though I hadn't seen it I felt like I had because it is so iconic. To paraphrase (badly) a few lines from a Noah Baumbach film (as I am wont to do), "Oh, I've seen Blade Runner. Well, I haven't seen Blade Runner, but I know that thing, that is he a replicant or isn't he, tell me the good things about your mother, Darryl Hannah does gymnastics, now I know how bad all other movies are thing. . ." (If you know this quote in its original context then props to you!)
So now, sadly, after seeing the movie I feel a little bit deflated. It's a classic example of having everyone around you build up something so much that once you finally experience it, it can't help but disappoint you. It is a good, hell a great, movie. The production design and visuals are stunning. The themes remain timely and profound. Rutger Hauer is amazingly good – and damn sexy too! Ten times sexier than Harrison Ford. But all in all, I don't think it's a film that I would watch again. The slow pacing killed me and had me glancing at the clock one too many times. Sean Young just irks me - she always has, doesn't matter what movie she is in, I just don't like her. And I know I am going to catch hell for this one, but the score seemed dated to me. That synthy-saxophony Vangelis score overpowered the film sometimes in the worse way because it took me out of the film completely.
I hope this isn't offending those out there that are Blade Runner fanatics. I understand where you are coming from and I don't begrudge the love at all – it truly is an amazing film. Especially when I look at what Ridley Scott and his team were able to achieve in the era before modern CGI, it's incredible. I cop to all of that and more but to put it simply, it's just not my thing. Do you know what I mean? It's just not for me. A Room With a View need not fear being bumped off the top of my list by Blade Runner.
At least now I won't get that irritating, "You've never seen Blade Runner?!?" reaction ever again.
So now, sadly, after seeing the movie I feel a little bit deflated. It's a classic example of having everyone around you build up something so much that once you finally experience it, it can't help but disappoint you. It is a good, hell a great, movie. The production design and visuals are stunning. The themes remain timely and profound. Rutger Hauer is amazingly good – and damn sexy too! Ten times sexier than Harrison Ford. But all in all, I don't think it's a film that I would watch again. The slow pacing killed me and had me glancing at the clock one too many times. Sean Young just irks me - she always has, doesn't matter what movie she is in, I just don't like her. And I know I am going to catch hell for this one, but the score seemed dated to me. That synthy-saxophony Vangelis score overpowered the film sometimes in the worse way because it took me out of the film completely.
I hope this isn't offending those out there that are Blade Runner fanatics. I understand where you are coming from and I don't begrudge the love at all – it truly is an amazing film. Especially when I look at what Ridley Scott and his team were able to achieve in the era before modern CGI, it's incredible. I cop to all of that and more but to put it simply, it's just not my thing. Do you know what I mean? It's just not for me. A Room With a View need not fear being bumped off the top of my list by Blade Runner.
At least now I won't get that irritating, "You've never seen Blade Runner?!?" reaction ever again.
No Molly Ringwald, no!
Recently I came across Pretty in Pink on cable as I flipped through the channels. I left it on as I did little chores around the house and the thing I was struck by immediately was how much of an asshole Andrew McCarthy’s Blane is! How did I not notice this when I was young? Did I just let it slide then because he was cute? When he picks up Andie from the record store for their first date and asks if she wants to go home and change and she already has, he barely mumbles an apology for the insult. Then when she is resistant to attending a party with his friends, he says, "We can go out with your friends if you want. We could go crawl under a rock." ASSHOLE! And then the final scene at the prom, he goes up to her all apologetic for freaking lying to her about having another date and ditching her, but she has put on a brave face and says, "It’s done, it’s over, I’m fine." And what does asshole Blane say? "Well, if that’s true, then I’m glad." It’s the way he says it too that just irks me! Why did I ever like Andrew McCarthy? It’s all about Duckie man. Loyal, funny, sincere Duckie. Screw Blane.
Sometimes I really hate Andrew Davies. . .
This is one of those times. I know the man wrote the wonderful Colin Firth/Jennifer Ehle 1995 Pride & Prejudice so could be forgiven for almost everything, but he wrote a new version of my beloved A Room With a View and it's utter shit so now I have to rave against the old coot.
Yes, yes I know what you're thinking, how could I possibly watch it unbiasedly when the Merchant Ivory A Room With a View is one of my favorite movies of all time? Honestly it was damn difficult!
In order to illuminate my problem with the film, I will dissect two of the mystifying choices made by Mr. Davies in his script.
1. He was compelled to set the film after a WWI tragedy and then have the story revealed as flashbacks to "happier" or "more innocent" times. I found this device completely unnecessary and quite a bit distracting. The novel was published in 1908 so this choice just completely baffled me and I assume that Mr. Davies did it in an attempt to put his own little stamp on the story. It didn't do anything for the Lucy Honeychurch character in my opinion. It did not give her or the story more depth, it just created tragic drama where it wasn't needed and was never intended by E.M. Forster.
2. This is the long one, so bear with me please. In the novel the Emersons are not of a lower class than Lucy or Cecil Vyse, they are merely eccentric "free thinkers" which made them frowned upon by Lucy's regular society. In this new version however Mr. Davies chose to write the Emersons as being of a lower class. This class distinction was partly exhibited by Mr. Davies robbing the character of George Emerson of his more gloriously romantic speeches and then partly by the actor playing George Emerson using a lower class sounding "accent" which made him sound ridiculous and slightly stupid. To really understand what I mean, indulge me please, and compare the scenes where George tries to convince Lucy not to marry Cecil:
First read the scene from the novel here:
"You don't mean," he said, absolutely ignoring Miss Bartlett—"you don't mean that you are going to marry that man?"
The line was unexpected.
She shrugged her shoulders, as if his vulgarity wearied her. "You are merely ridiculous, " she said quietly.
Then his words rose gravely over hers: "You cannot live with Vyse. He's only for an acquaintance. He is for society and cultivated talk. He should know no one intimately, least of all a woman."
It was a new light on Cecil's character.
"Have you ever talked to Vyse without feeling tired?"
"I can scarcely discuss—"
"No, but have you ever? He is the sort who are all right so long as they keep to things—books, pictures—but kill when they come to people. That's why I'll speak out through all this muddle even now. It's shocking enough to lose you in any case, but generally a man must deny himself joy, and I would have held back if your Cecil had been a different person. I would never have let myself go. But I saw him first in the National Gallery, when he winced because my father mispronounced the names of great painters. Then he brings us here, and we find it is to play some silly trick on a kind neighbour. That is the man all over—playing tricks on people, on the most sacred form of life that he can find. Next, I meet you together, and find him protecting and teaching you and your mother to be shocked, when it was for YOU to settle whether you were shocked or no. Cecil all over again. He daren't let a woman decide. He's the type who's kept Europe back for a thousand years. Every moment of his life he's forming you, telling you what's charming or amusing or ladylike, telling you what a man thinks womanly; and you, you of all women, listen to his voice instead of to your own. So it was at the Rectory, when I met you both again; so it has been the whole of this afternoon. Therefore—not 'therefore I kissed you,' because the book made me do that, and I wish to goodness I had more self-control. I'm not ashamed. I don't apologize. But it has frightened you, and you may not have noticed that I love you. Or would you have told me to go, and dealt with a tremendous thing so lightly? But therefore—therefore I settled to fight him."
Lucy thought of a very good remark.
"You say Mr. Vyse wants me to listen to him, Mr. Emerson. Pardon me for suggesting that you have caught the habit."
And he took the shoddy reproof and touched it into immortality. He said:
"Yes, I have," and sank down as if suddenly weary. "I'm the same kind of brute at bottom. This desire to govern a woman—it lies very deep, and men and women must fight it together before they shall enter the garden. But I do love you surely in a better way than he does." He thought. "Yes—really in a better way. I want you to have your own thoughts even when I hold you in my arms," He stretched them towards her. "Lucy, be quick—there's no time for us to talk now—come to me as you came in the spring, and afterwards I will be gentle and explain. I have cared for you since that man died. I cannot live without you, 'No good,' I thought; 'she is marrying some one else'; but I meet you again when all the world is glorious water and sun. As you came through the wood I saw that nothing else mattered. I called. I wanted to live and have my chance of joy."
"And Mr. Vyse?" said Lucy, who kept commendably calm. "Does he not matter? That I love Cecil and shall be his wife shortly? A detail of no importance, I suppose?"
But he stretched his arms over the table towards her.
"May I ask what you intend to gain by this exhibition?"
He said: "It is our last chance. I shall do all that I can." And as if he had done all else, he turned to Miss Bartlett, who sat like some portent against the skies of the evening. "You wouldn't stop us this second time if you understood, " he said. "I have been into the dark, and I am going back into it, unless you will try to understand."
Her long, narrow head drove backwards and forwards, as though demolishing some invisible obstacle. She did not answer.
Ok, still with me? Here is that scene with the free thinking, romantic, eloquent George from the Merchant Ivory version:
And here is that same scene with the new "lower class" George (the scene I want you to watch starts at about 6:20 in):
Do you see what I mean? Do you see how the way Mr. Davies chose to write his script completely changed the character and robbed George of his eloquence? It was maddening to me as I watched it. Worse, it made me not like George and part of the fun and tension of the story is that you are rooting for Lucy to open her eyes and heart to George!
The only thing I liked about the new version was Mark Williams (Arthur Weasley - tee hee) as Mr. Beebe. He was quite delightful, but then Mr. Beebe is such a delightful character that it's kind of hard to get him wrong.
Ok, that's my rant. If any of you actually read this to the end and watched the videos, thank you, thank you, thank you very much.
Yes, yes I know what you're thinking, how could I possibly watch it unbiasedly when the Merchant Ivory A Room With a View is one of my favorite movies of all time? Honestly it was damn difficult!
In order to illuminate my problem with the film, I will dissect two of the mystifying choices made by Mr. Davies in his script.
1. He was compelled to set the film after a WWI tragedy and then have the story revealed as flashbacks to "happier" or "more innocent" times. I found this device completely unnecessary and quite a bit distracting. The novel was published in 1908 so this choice just completely baffled me and I assume that Mr. Davies did it in an attempt to put his own little stamp on the story. It didn't do anything for the Lucy Honeychurch character in my opinion. It did not give her or the story more depth, it just created tragic drama where it wasn't needed and was never intended by E.M. Forster.
2. This is the long one, so bear with me please. In the novel the Emersons are not of a lower class than Lucy or Cecil Vyse, they are merely eccentric "free thinkers" which made them frowned upon by Lucy's regular society. In this new version however Mr. Davies chose to write the Emersons as being of a lower class. This class distinction was partly exhibited by Mr. Davies robbing the character of George Emerson of his more gloriously romantic speeches and then partly by the actor playing George Emerson using a lower class sounding "accent" which made him sound ridiculous and slightly stupid. To really understand what I mean, indulge me please, and compare the scenes where George tries to convince Lucy not to marry Cecil:
First read the scene from the novel here:
"You don't mean," he said, absolutely ignoring Miss Bartlett—"you don't mean that you are going to marry that man?"
The line was unexpected.
She shrugged her shoulders, as if his vulgarity wearied her. "You are merely ridiculous, " she said quietly.
Then his words rose gravely over hers: "You cannot live with Vyse. He's only for an acquaintance. He is for society and cultivated talk. He should know no one intimately, least of all a woman."
It was a new light on Cecil's character.
"Have you ever talked to Vyse without feeling tired?"
"I can scarcely discuss—"
"No, but have you ever? He is the sort who are all right so long as they keep to things—books, pictures—but kill when they come to people. That's why I'll speak out through all this muddle even now. It's shocking enough to lose you in any case, but generally a man must deny himself joy, and I would have held back if your Cecil had been a different person. I would never have let myself go. But I saw him first in the National Gallery, when he winced because my father mispronounced the names of great painters. Then he brings us here, and we find it is to play some silly trick on a kind neighbour. That is the man all over—playing tricks on people, on the most sacred form of life that he can find. Next, I meet you together, and find him protecting and teaching you and your mother to be shocked, when it was for YOU to settle whether you were shocked or no. Cecil all over again. He daren't let a woman decide. He's the type who's kept Europe back for a thousand years. Every moment of his life he's forming you, telling you what's charming or amusing or ladylike, telling you what a man thinks womanly; and you, you of all women, listen to his voice instead of to your own. So it was at the Rectory, when I met you both again; so it has been the whole of this afternoon. Therefore—not 'therefore I kissed you,' because the book made me do that, and I wish to goodness I had more self-control. I'm not ashamed. I don't apologize. But it has frightened you, and you may not have noticed that I love you. Or would you have told me to go, and dealt with a tremendous thing so lightly? But therefore—therefore I settled to fight him."
Lucy thought of a very good remark.
"You say Mr. Vyse wants me to listen to him, Mr. Emerson. Pardon me for suggesting that you have caught the habit."
And he took the shoddy reproof and touched it into immortality. He said:
"Yes, I have," and sank down as if suddenly weary. "I'm the same kind of brute at bottom. This desire to govern a woman—it lies very deep, and men and women must fight it together before they shall enter the garden. But I do love you surely in a better way than he does." He thought. "Yes—really in a better way. I want you to have your own thoughts even when I hold you in my arms," He stretched them towards her. "Lucy, be quick—there's no time for us to talk now—come to me as you came in the spring, and afterwards I will be gentle and explain. I have cared for you since that man died. I cannot live without you, 'No good,' I thought; 'she is marrying some one else'; but I meet you again when all the world is glorious water and sun. As you came through the wood I saw that nothing else mattered. I called. I wanted to live and have my chance of joy."
"And Mr. Vyse?" said Lucy, who kept commendably calm. "Does he not matter? That I love Cecil and shall be his wife shortly? A detail of no importance, I suppose?"
But he stretched his arms over the table towards her.
"May I ask what you intend to gain by this exhibition?"
He said: "It is our last chance. I shall do all that I can." And as if he had done all else, he turned to Miss Bartlett, who sat like some portent against the skies of the evening. "You wouldn't stop us this second time if you understood, " he said. "I have been into the dark, and I am going back into it, unless you will try to understand."
Her long, narrow head drove backwards and forwards, as though demolishing some invisible obstacle. She did not answer.
Ok, still with me? Here is that scene with the free thinking, romantic, eloquent George from the Merchant Ivory version:
And here is that same scene with the new "lower class" George (the scene I want you to watch starts at about 6:20 in):
Do you see what I mean? Do you see how the way Mr. Davies chose to write his script completely changed the character and robbed George of his eloquence? It was maddening to me as I watched it. Worse, it made me not like George and part of the fun and tension of the story is that you are rooting for Lucy to open her eyes and heart to George!
The only thing I liked about the new version was Mark Williams (Arthur Weasley - tee hee) as Mr. Beebe. He was quite delightful, but then Mr. Beebe is such a delightful character that it's kind of hard to get him wrong.
Ok, that's my rant. If any of you actually read this to the end and watched the videos, thank you, thank you, thank you very much.
Rest in Peace Sydney Pollack
Sydney Pollack has died and I'm all broke up about it. I adored Sydney Pollack. There was something about when Sydney acted in a movie or on a television show, no matter how small the part, that made me blissfully happy and would immediately elevate said movie or TV show to something greater then mere mediocrity. As a matter of fact I just found out that he plays Patrick Dempsey's dad in the new film Made of Honor which means I'm going to have to see that cheesefest now! Oh and by the way he was a damn fine director too!
Here's a short list of the things I love about Sydney:
He played Will's dad on Will & Grace. Oh my goodness, he was loveable in this role! It was after seeing his myriad guest appearances here that made me wish that Sydney Pollack was my dad. Or that my dad could at least in part be like Sydney Pollack: kind, warm, accepting, yet open to admitting his flaws. That's what a dad should be! Lucky, lucky Will!
The Way We Were gets me every time! I don't care what anyone says. I love this schmaltzy romance! Robert Redford is so handsome and charming and Barbra Streisand is so goofy and feisty. And of course I love when my pop culture collides and in SATC Season Two when Carrie meets up with Big and says of his bride-to-be Natasha, "Your girl is lovely, Hubble" I screamed with joy!
Out of Africa - the man could direct a romance, let me tell you! Robert Redford again, Meryl Streep as beautiful as she ever was, a hair washing scene to make a girl's toes curl! Oh and it only won seven Academy Awards including two for Pollack!
Not only directed Tootsie but played the agent to perfection!
In Husbands and Wives he even made smarmy somewhat charming. Sydney Pollack plus Woody Allen was a match made in Heaven.
He was the best thing about Eyes Wide Shut. Apparently Harvey Keitel had to drop out so Sydney stepped in and hooray for us because he is awesome.
He directed my beloved Paul Newman to an Oscar nomination. If you want to see a great film about the ethics of journalism, watch Absence of Malice.
They Shoot Horses, Don't They? is one crazy, f*cked up film! Have you ever seen this??? It's about a bizarro Depression Era dance marathon where people basically kill themselves by dancing for weeks on end to win $1500. This movie still holds the record for most Oscar nominations (nine) without a Best Picture nomination! In another wonderful pop culture reference there is an awesome, pivotal episode of Gilmore Girls called They Shoot Gilmores, Don't They in which Rory and Lorelei compete in the annual Stars Hollow Dance Marathon.
There is more than this, but all this Pollack reminiscing is making me even sadder so I'm going to stop now. Thanks for the memories Sydney! You will be missed behind and in front of the camera!
Now for your viewing pleasure I am including some great youtube stuff:
Sex & The City episode where the girls talk about the film and then their version of the same scene:
An early scene from They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
A small snippet from They Shoot Gilmores, Don't They?
Sydney in Tootsie:
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
The Las Vegas Film Society and West Side Story
I went to my first screening as a member of the Las Vegas Film Society on Tuesday. It was really cute, the founder guy of the LVFS had a little table set up at the entrance to the theatres and he gave me an envelope with a welcome letter and a little laminated membership card. Then the founder's wife had to escort us into the theatre past the theatre employee since they don't actually give you tickets, all the while dragging her poor, young son along behind her. Kind of funny.
I met my friend Su for the movie which was quite surreal. Su and I were very close friends during my first few years of high school, then we kind of lost touch as teenagers tend to do, then ran into each other once about 8 years ago at Savers but Su was living in Portland at the time and was just visiting so nothing came of it, then about a month ago she found me here on myspace (it's CRAZY I tell ya!) and she's back in Vegas, but with the hectic holiday season we never could find time to get together, until now for West Side Story!
Su and I immediately started talking talking talking, catching up and up and up and were happy to remember that West Side Story begins with what feels like a 10 minute overture so we were able to keep talk talk talking. There were only about 15 people total in the huge theater, and that's including me and Su and the founder, his wife and son so luckily our talking wasn't really disturbing anyone since there was no one really around us. And we were whispering and the music was very loud. Do you get how I am trying to convince myself that we weren't disturbing anyone? I'm not quite sure that was the case, but I'm hopeful that it was. I know now that a movie was probably not the ideal place for Su and I to meet up at when we haven't spoken to each other for longer than 2 minutes in the past oh, I don't know, nearly 15 YEARS!! We did watch the movie a little too, but come on, it's not like neither of us haven't seen West Side Story plenty of times. Plus it's a classic Shakespeare story - everyone knows it! There were times when our rushed whispers stopped and we were brought back into the movie by some fantastic dance sequences and great songs.
West Side Story is just ripe for the MST3K treatment and we did a lot of that too. We tried to pick out all the members of the "gangs" that were obviously gay, which really wasn't too difficult with those tight pants and twirly dance moves. Richard Beymer who plays Tony really does have the most ginormous set of teeth ever. It's hysterical how in order to get Russian beauty Natalie Wood to look Puerto Rican they darkened her skin in a way that just made her look kind of dirty. And what was up with Natalie Wood's accent in this? Instead of sounding like English was her second language she just sounded like a dimwit. Oh and we forgot how much we both HATE the song "I Feel Pretty."
Oh and then I accidentally ruined My Fair Lady for Su forever by spewing out one of my endless tidbits of trivia that I've filled my brain with since birth. Here's how it went:
Me leaning over to Su, "So you do realize that Natalie Wood's singing voice in this is dubbed by Marni Nixon who also dubbed Audrey Hepburn's singing voice in My Fair Lady."
Su, horrified, "What? That's not Audrey singing in My Fair Lady??????"
Me, a little bewildered, "Um, no, everybody knows that, it's common knowledge."
Su, completely crushed, "Well I didn't know it! Now My Fair Lady is ruined for me forever!!"
I'm sorry Su.
Overall it was a great time. It was really wonderful to see Su and catch up with her and feel like no time has passed at all and like I have magically gotten a friend back! I hope we do it again soon.
Next month: Raging Bull!!
I met my friend Su for the movie which was quite surreal. Su and I were very close friends during my first few years of high school, then we kind of lost touch as teenagers tend to do, then ran into each other once about 8 years ago at Savers but Su was living in Portland at the time and was just visiting so nothing came of it, then about a month ago she found me here on myspace (it's CRAZY I tell ya!) and she's back in Vegas, but with the hectic holiday season we never could find time to get together, until now for West Side Story!
Su and I immediately started talking talking talking, catching up and up and up and were happy to remember that West Side Story begins with what feels like a 10 minute overture so we were able to keep talk talk talking. There were only about 15 people total in the huge theater, and that's including me and Su and the founder, his wife and son so luckily our talking wasn't really disturbing anyone since there was no one really around us. And we were whispering and the music was very loud. Do you get how I am trying to convince myself that we weren't disturbing anyone? I'm not quite sure that was the case, but I'm hopeful that it was. I know now that a movie was probably not the ideal place for Su and I to meet up at when we haven't spoken to each other for longer than 2 minutes in the past oh, I don't know, nearly 15 YEARS!! We did watch the movie a little too, but come on, it's not like neither of us haven't seen West Side Story plenty of times. Plus it's a classic Shakespeare story - everyone knows it! There were times when our rushed whispers stopped and we were brought back into the movie by some fantastic dance sequences and great songs.
West Side Story is just ripe for the MST3K treatment and we did a lot of that too. We tried to pick out all the members of the "gangs" that were obviously gay, which really wasn't too difficult with those tight pants and twirly dance moves. Richard Beymer who plays Tony really does have the most ginormous set of teeth ever. It's hysterical how in order to get Russian beauty Natalie Wood to look Puerto Rican they darkened her skin in a way that just made her look kind of dirty. And what was up with Natalie Wood's accent in this? Instead of sounding like English was her second language she just sounded like a dimwit. Oh and we forgot how much we both HATE the song "I Feel Pretty."
Oh and then I accidentally ruined My Fair Lady for Su forever by spewing out one of my endless tidbits of trivia that I've filled my brain with since birth. Here's how it went:
Me leaning over to Su, "So you do realize that Natalie Wood's singing voice in this is dubbed by Marni Nixon who also dubbed Audrey Hepburn's singing voice in My Fair Lady."
Su, horrified, "What? That's not Audrey singing in My Fair Lady??????"
Me, a little bewildered, "Um, no, everybody knows that, it's common knowledge."
Su, completely crushed, "Well I didn't know it! Now My Fair Lady is ruined for me forever!!"
I'm sorry Su.
Overall it was a great time. It was really wonderful to see Su and catch up with her and feel like no time has passed at all and like I have magically gotten a friend back! I hope we do it again soon.
Next month: Raging Bull!!
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
I'm Not There
Ever since I saw Todd Haynes' new film I'm Not There over the weekend I've been trying to figure out how I really feel about it. It was a disjointed experience for me: a little bit slow in parts, a little bit brilliant, a little bit too precious, a little bit surprisingly funny, a little bit confusing, a little bit nostalgic, a little bit biting. I'm not sure that I ultimately "get" what Haynes was trying to say about Dylan. But then I'm also not sure that matters. Here are some simple bullet points from me about the film:
Cate Blanchett. - She was brilliant as always. I don't know how she does it. She has this way of acting with just a twinkle of her eye that is other worldly. It was also brilliant on Haynes' part in casting her. There was something about a woman playing Dylan that got to the meat of his character. She revealed the fire in his mind in a way that did not come through in the male performances. At the same time, even knowing it was her, a woman playing this part, I was not distracted by it. I watched the film and saw a man, Jude Quinn (this particular character's name).
The performances in general. - All the performances were good actually. I particularly liked Michelle Williams and Ben Whishaw in their smaller parts. Everyone seemed to capture their characters with perfect clarity without falling into caricature.
The use of Dylan's music in the film. - Sometimes there were entire scenes with no dialogue, just the Dylan songs playing which made it almost like watching extensive music videos. It reminded me of Haynes' Velvet Goldmine a lot. I enjoyed those scenes. Listening to the rambling storytelling songs of Dylan while watching a rambling filmed story of his "life" was interesting, it was apropos.
The Beatles scene - Funniest moment in the entire film. I don't want to give anything more about it away.
Sometimes the film made me sleepy. - There were times during this film where I could barely keep my eyes open. I understood Haynes' desire to let the movie unfold slowly and in that rambling way I've mentioned before, but I guess I needed more action!
Billy the Kid, really? - I guess I don't know enough about Dylan to have understood the Billy the Kid character played by Richard Gere. Maybe it's all part of Haynes' treatise on celebrity? I don't know. Those were some of the scenes that bored me the most.
What was Haynes getting at anyway? - Again, I wasn't really sure what to take away from the film. What was the filmmaker's intention? I felt that maybe he was speaking to the cult of celebrity. Dylan has transformed himself so many times in so many different ways while always remaining this cult figure to his fans. Or maybe it's simply about the music, showing how each of Dylan's personae infused the music each made.
All in all, the film seemed to be made out of love which is enough. I'll tell you that it inspired me to re-watch Pennebaker's Don't Look Back and download my Dylan CDs to my iPod.
I wonder what Dylan himself thinks of it?
Cate Blanchett. - She was brilliant as always. I don't know how she does it. She has this way of acting with just a twinkle of her eye that is other worldly. It was also brilliant on Haynes' part in casting her. There was something about a woman playing Dylan that got to the meat of his character. She revealed the fire in his mind in a way that did not come through in the male performances. At the same time, even knowing it was her, a woman playing this part, I was not distracted by it. I watched the film and saw a man, Jude Quinn (this particular character's name).
The performances in general. - All the performances were good actually. I particularly liked Michelle Williams and Ben Whishaw in their smaller parts. Everyone seemed to capture their characters with perfect clarity without falling into caricature.
The use of Dylan's music in the film. - Sometimes there were entire scenes with no dialogue, just the Dylan songs playing which made it almost like watching extensive music videos. It reminded me of Haynes' Velvet Goldmine a lot. I enjoyed those scenes. Listening to the rambling storytelling songs of Dylan while watching a rambling filmed story of his "life" was interesting, it was apropos.
The Beatles scene - Funniest moment in the entire film. I don't want to give anything more about it away.
Sometimes the film made me sleepy. - There were times during this film where I could barely keep my eyes open. I understood Haynes' desire to let the movie unfold slowly and in that rambling way I've mentioned before, but I guess I needed more action!
Billy the Kid, really? - I guess I don't know enough about Dylan to have understood the Billy the Kid character played by Richard Gere. Maybe it's all part of Haynes' treatise on celebrity? I don't know. Those were some of the scenes that bored me the most.
What was Haynes getting at anyway? - Again, I wasn't really sure what to take away from the film. What was the filmmaker's intention? I felt that maybe he was speaking to the cult of celebrity. Dylan has transformed himself so many times in so many different ways while always remaining this cult figure to his fans. Or maybe it's simply about the music, showing how each of Dylan's personae infused the music each made.
All in all, the film seemed to be made out of love which is enough. I'll tell you that it inspired me to re-watch Pennebaker's Don't Look Back and download my Dylan CDs to my iPod.
I wonder what Dylan himself thinks of it?
Monday, December 3, 2007
Musings on Christmas Trees
I like to put up my Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving because it's a nice long weekend and it's usually the last weekend before Christmas that is not jam packed with various social gatherings. Talking to my father on the phone the other night, he was appalled to discover that I had already put it up. My parent's divorced when I was very young, so I don't really remember what the Christmas season was like with my dad around. My older sister however does remember and when I told her how sickened our dad was about my premature Christmas tree trimming, she laughed, and said that as a kid she would get really upset with dad because he wouldn't go get their tree until about a week before Christmas and by then she would be dying for one! That just isn't my style. I like to have my tree up the entire month of December because, as I told my dad in explanation, it's pretty and it makes me happy. I want to enjoy the tree for as long as I can, not put it up one week before Christmas and then just have to take it right down again. Granted when my dad did that, it was back in the day when people still bought real trees. As a matter of fact my dad still gets a real tree for his house. I, alas, have a fake tree. But it's kind of small and charming and once it has all its lights and jingle bell garland and my eclectic lifetime collection of ornaments on it, you can't tell.
In the evening there is nothing better than relaxing on the couch watching movies or listening to music with only the cheery glow of the Christmas tree to light the room. I am finicky with my decorating of it too. I am never finished. I'll see a hole and move this ornament there, or see too many red colored ornaments in one spot and have to switch them out with other colors, or decide that this ornament is too pretty to be hiding here and move it to a more prominent position. And don't get me started on the trials I've been through in finding the right tree topper this year! Last year I had an old fashioned glass one, but this year I really wanted a star, preferably one that lights up. Well, after going to about a dozen different stores, and after two failed attempts and returns, I finally found the perfect tree topper at Walgreen's for $7.99! Can you beat that? It's a star that looks almost like a snowflake with 11 white lights and it's perfect.
There is this one Disney cartoon short that really captures for me the magic of a Christmas tree. It's called Pluto's Christmas Tree and in it Mickey and Pluto inadvertently cut down the tree Chip & Dale live in for their Christmas tree. Then there is this wonderful sequence of Chip & Dale wandering around inside the brightly lit, decorated tree. I always wished I could be tiny like that and walk around inside a lighted tree among round glass ornaments and candy canes.
So my dad and anyone else who wants to judge me for putting up my tree so early can go right ahead. It makes me happy and that's what counts. Now picture me sticking my tongue out.
In the evening there is nothing better than relaxing on the couch watching movies or listening to music with only the cheery glow of the Christmas tree to light the room. I am finicky with my decorating of it too. I am never finished. I'll see a hole and move this ornament there, or see too many red colored ornaments in one spot and have to switch them out with other colors, or decide that this ornament is too pretty to be hiding here and move it to a more prominent position. And don't get me started on the trials I've been through in finding the right tree topper this year! Last year I had an old fashioned glass one, but this year I really wanted a star, preferably one that lights up. Well, after going to about a dozen different stores, and after two failed attempts and returns, I finally found the perfect tree topper at Walgreen's for $7.99! Can you beat that? It's a star that looks almost like a snowflake with 11 white lights and it's perfect.
There is this one Disney cartoon short that really captures for me the magic of a Christmas tree. It's called Pluto's Christmas Tree and in it Mickey and Pluto inadvertently cut down the tree Chip & Dale live in for their Christmas tree. Then there is this wonderful sequence of Chip & Dale wandering around inside the brightly lit, decorated tree. I always wished I could be tiny like that and walk around inside a lighted tree among round glass ornaments and candy canes.
So my dad and anyone else who wants to judge me for putting up my tree so early can go right ahead. It makes me happy and that's what counts. Now picture me sticking my tongue out.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Klutzy Kerry
All the women in my family are klutzes. This is something I've lived with my entire life and have grown rather accustomed to. Even my poor niece Hailey, who isn't even two years old yet, is exhibiting this klutzy gene. So, you know, we spill things, we break things, we trip, we bump into walls (especially when rounding corners), we stub toes, and our significant others are often the victims of unintentional injuries from our wonky, uncontrolled elbows or knees or fingernails. Like I said, it's just a given; our lot in life; our curse if you will.
So this morning I was getting ready for work. My routine is to shower, blow dry hair, apply makeup, and get dressed last. I stay in my pajamas throughout this entire process (well except in the shower of course!) and today I was wearing an old pair of pjs that have a very wide leg. Phillip has already given me a warning about these because one of the pant legs will sometimes get caught up on something, like the footstool portion of the recliner, or the curlicue leg of the side table, or sometimes my own foot will get caught in it and trip me up! And that is what happened to me this morning. I was stepping across the bedroom from the bed to my closet to choose my clothes for the day when my foot was caught in my pajama pant leg, tripped me up, and before I knew it I was sailing across the room. I fell to my knees and in trying to catch myself ending up crashing against my ancient five drawer dresser, slamming my right forearm against the very top edge.
Now it's swollen and bruised and ugly. And it hurts. I didn't break anything (arms, fingers, perfume bottles, etc.), thank goodness, but my forearm is now one hell of an ugly sight. I actually had co-workers recoil in horror when they saw it, and of course it's gotten worse as the day has progressed.
Sometimes I wish that there was some sort of pill I could take to control klutziness, like there is to control ADHD or depression.
All you doctors and scientists out there, why don't you get on that for me? Thanks.
So this morning I was getting ready for work. My routine is to shower, blow dry hair, apply makeup, and get dressed last. I stay in my pajamas throughout this entire process (well except in the shower of course!) and today I was wearing an old pair of pjs that have a very wide leg. Phillip has already given me a warning about these because one of the pant legs will sometimes get caught up on something, like the footstool portion of the recliner, or the curlicue leg of the side table, or sometimes my own foot will get caught in it and trip me up! And that is what happened to me this morning. I was stepping across the bedroom from the bed to my closet to choose my clothes for the day when my foot was caught in my pajama pant leg, tripped me up, and before I knew it I was sailing across the room. I fell to my knees and in trying to catch myself ending up crashing against my ancient five drawer dresser, slamming my right forearm against the very top edge.
Now it's swollen and bruised and ugly. And it hurts. I didn't break anything (arms, fingers, perfume bottles, etc.), thank goodness, but my forearm is now one hell of an ugly sight. I actually had co-workers recoil in horror when they saw it, and of course it's gotten worse as the day has progressed.
Sometimes I wish that there was some sort of pill I could take to control klutziness, like there is to control ADHD or depression.
All you doctors and scientists out there, why don't you get on that for me? Thanks.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Six years and counting.
I'm a bad girlfriend. Yesterday was my and Phillip's sixth anniversary and I completely spaced it! We had even discussed it about a week ago, trying to decide what we were going to do to celebrate since it was coming up so quickly. So what do I do yesterday? Totally blow off my boyfriend!
My mom called in the morning and said she was making my favorite meal (a crock pot dish of creamy chicken and mushrooms over rice) if we wanted to come over for dinner. I call Phillip and when he says he had planned on cooking, I basically say, "Well, can't it wait until tomorrow? My mom's making my favorite!" So he tells me to go and enjoy dinner at my mom's but he will skip it and see me when I get home. He was a little crabby about it but I figured it was because we had just had dinner at my mom's on Halloween and he usually needs more time to pass by between visits to my family's house. So I go to my mom's, enjoy my dinner, play with my niece for a while and then go home.
Phillip seems to be in an okay mood. Then he says casually, "So I'm thinking since we didn't even have dinner together tonight, we should make a whole night of it on Saturday for our anniversary."
OOPS. I felt terrible! I couldn't believe that I had completely forgotten what day it was! He was really cool about it and laughed it off, but I think he was more hurt than he let on.
I know that we are not married. I know that technically it's an "anniversary" not an Anniversary, but every year it is a milestone that we like to acknowledge. We do something a little special and reflect on our progress as a duo and talk about how happy and lucky we are. Because after six years, we are just that: happy and lucky.
So we are going to celebrate on Saturday. We are going to kick it old school by having a great dinner and seeing a movie. And I'll let him pick where we eat and what we see. But he'll check with me first to see if I'm cool with it. And if either the restaurant or the movie doesn't appeal to me, we'll decide together on something else, because that is love. And we are lucky in love.
My mom called in the morning and said she was making my favorite meal (a crock pot dish of creamy chicken and mushrooms over rice) if we wanted to come over for dinner. I call Phillip and when he says he had planned on cooking, I basically say, "Well, can't it wait until tomorrow? My mom's making my favorite!" So he tells me to go and enjoy dinner at my mom's but he will skip it and see me when I get home. He was a little crabby about it but I figured it was because we had just had dinner at my mom's on Halloween and he usually needs more time to pass by between visits to my family's house. So I go to my mom's, enjoy my dinner, play with my niece for a while and then go home.
Phillip seems to be in an okay mood. Then he says casually, "So I'm thinking since we didn't even have dinner together tonight, we should make a whole night of it on Saturday for our anniversary."
OOPS. I felt terrible! I couldn't believe that I had completely forgotten what day it was! He was really cool about it and laughed it off, but I think he was more hurt than he let on.
I know that we are not married. I know that technically it's an "anniversary" not an Anniversary, but every year it is a milestone that we like to acknowledge. We do something a little special and reflect on our progress as a duo and talk about how happy and lucky we are. Because after six years, we are just that: happy and lucky.
So we are going to celebrate on Saturday. We are going to kick it old school by having a great dinner and seeing a movie. And I'll let him pick where we eat and what we see. But he'll check with me first to see if I'm cool with it. And if either the restaurant or the movie doesn't appeal to me, we'll decide together on something else, because that is love. And we are lucky in love.
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