Slothzilla

BEST FILMS OF 2011

2011-12-28T02:10:00.000-08:00

MY FAVORITE FILMS OF 2011. I should say that there might be a couple of films made in 2010 but I have included them because I saw them this year. I didn't see everything of course. Also, assume they are all PG and up... yes, even RANGO.

(in no particular order)

SUPER 8. A pretty entertaining film about young teens trying to save their town from an alien and a heavy handed U.S. Army. 3/5

THE LINCOLN LAWYER. A slick defense attorney gets in over his head with a nasty client. 3/5

WARRIOR. Two brothers sharing a difficult childhood both sign up for a huge mixed martial arts tournament. 3/5

THE IDES OF MARCH. Political drama about loyalty and power. 3.5/5

MARGIN CALL. The story of the first financial institution to start selling its inventory before the crash of 2008. 3/5

RANGO. A cowboy parody with a lizard called RANGO. Beautiful graphics, and funny. 4/5

BRIDESMAIDS. A comedy about the pressures of being a maid of honor. I saw this on its opening day in a theater full of women; I will never forget it. 3.5/5

POINT BLANK. A French crime thriller about a guy in the wrong place at the wrong time. 3/5

SOURCE CODE. A soldier wakes up in the cockpit of his crashed helicopter, and he seems to be having hallucinations about the past or maybe the future. An interesting film. 3/5

WIN WIN. A heartwarming and charming story about a guy trying to survive economic woes. 4/5

13 ASSASSINS. Outstanding action film set in medieval Japan. My favorite movie of the year. 5/5

RED DOG. Heartwarming tale about a dog, everyone's best friend. 4/5

THE GUARD. Unusual comedy /crime film about an unconventional policeman. 4.5/5

OUR IDIOT BROTHER. A comic film about a guy who loves and trusts people way too much. 3.5/5

FRIGHT NIGHT. A pretty entertaining vampire film. It pokes fun at itself and takes itself seriously at the same time, not bad. 3/5

FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS. The only watchable romantic comedy of the year. 3.5/5

CRAZY STUPID LOVE. An amusing and touching film about a guy who is forced to reassess himself and his life. 3.5/5

EVERYTHING MUST GO. A quiet drama about an executive who loses his job and his wife because of his drinking. Will Ferrell does a great job at keeping this film from becoming too morose. 3/5

FAST FIVE. The fifth "Fast and Furious" installment is full of clichés, but it's entertaining and fun too. 3/5

FOUR LIONS. A sharp and hilarious black comedy about would be jihadists. 4/5

THE DEBT. A suspenseful film about a Jewish snatch team sent behind the iron curtain to capture a NAZI war criminal. 3/5

LIMITLESS. A struggling writer runs into a high school friend working for drug company, and the friend offers him a sample of a new drug being developed, a drug that superchargers the mind. 3/5

POETRY. A beautiful Japanese drama about a grandmother raising her grandson as she tries to embrace life as fully as possible, including joining a poetry writing class. One of my favorite movies of the last five years. 5/5

THE TREE OF LIFE. This film is a fusion of cinema and poetry. It's quite slow but very beautiful too, presenting the story of a family juxtaposed with scenes of nature. 3.5/5

THE EAGLE. A historical /action film about a Roman legionnaire who goes on a quest to redeem his family's name. 3/5

THE COMPANY MEN. This drama follows several men from the same company who are fired from their jobs because of the economy. A survival tale. 3.5/5

THE BEAVER. This film is about a guy who has an psychological breakdown but finds himself by using a hand puppet in the shape of a beaver. A story of love and survival. 3.5/5

KILLER ELITE. Convoluted yet entertaining action film. 3/5

THE TRIP. Documentary/drama. Steve Coogan and his friend travel around England reviewing restaurants for a British magazine. Funny and touching. 4/5

UNKNOWN. Suspense /thriller. Liam Neeson wakes up in Berlin, and no one remembers who he is including his wife. 3/5

THE RITE. A film about exorcism and the supernatural starring Anthony Hopkins. 3/5

HEREAFTER. The intersecting stories of a man with real psychic powers, a young boy whose brother dies, and a young woman who dies and comes back. 3.5/5

THE CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS. An amazing documentary about the prehistoric caves in France whose walls are covered with pictographs painted by Early Man. Mind blowing. 5/5

THE WAR YOU DON'T SEE. A thought provoking documentary about the role of the media and propaganda in warfare. 5/5

SENNA: THE LIFE OF AYRTON SENNA. A beautiful documentary and biography of one of Formula One's golden boys. 5/5

The Kills & The Heavy

2011-08-21T11:45:00.000-07:00

I love discovering new music. I started listening to a couple of new bands (well, new to me) this week. Check this out:

The Kills - an alternative music band with a punk-ish style that has three albums. Most of it isn't my style, but I like a couple of their songs. My favorite songs are "No Wow""

and "U R A Fever".

The Heavy - a rock band with a soul undertone. They only have two albums. The album THE HOUSE THAT DIRT BUILT has about four very good songs and a couple others that don't make the ears bleed. That's excellent, in my opinion. Fav songs are "Short Change Hero":

"How Do You Like Me Now?":

"What You Want Me To Do?":

CAPTAIN AMERICA

2011-07-27T18:22:00.000-07:00

Hollywood must take us for idiots to serve up such garbage.

I don't know if you've seen it or not but this is a spoiler warning. I mean, I'm just going to point out one of the many problems with this film; I chose this one to highlight because it's a common problem in action films.

In the film, Captain America is produced by injecting various substances into the body of an underdeveloped private that has shown heart and courage and goodness. But how does Captain America go from a glorified vaudeville actor in the USO to a supersoldier able to assault a Hydra stronghold and free the prisoners they were holding??

He does not have martial arts training. He does not have weapons training. He just suddenly has skills. No training; no Yoda or Sticks (Daredevil) type mentor; nothing.

I hate that. Batman trained under the ninja. The Punisher was SpecOps. Electra was brought up training with the Hand. Even the X-Men trained at the School for the Gifted.

It's a small bone to pick, but one of many in this disappointing film.

Access Pass for Cripples

2011-07-27T16:47:00.000-07:00

I get this access 2 entertainment pass for cripples. Two guesses why. Anyway, the card - developed by the good people at the Odeon Theaters - lets you bring an attendant in for free. If you are gimpy enough as I am, you sometimes find it very handy [pun intended] to have someone along who can help you eat popcorn or sip pop or help you if you need to go to the bathroom or kick the shit out of whoever is kicking the back of your wheelchair during the show.

I guess the word got out and everyone from the limping lame to the white trash fat chicks with ingrown toenails decided to apply for this two for one deal, not because they need an attendant, but because it's cheaper (is being a cheap sonovabitch with no conscience a handicap?). So now these asshole have ruined the integrity of the access pass. And every time I pull it out at the till I get the evil eye like I'm trying to pull a fast one, eventhough I am obviously a real live cripple with most of my body paralyzed.

Last time I went, the cow at the till had the nerve to ask me for ID to prove my identity. Unbelievable.

Films of 2010

2011-04-23T04:03:00.000-07:00

I was looking at the movies that came out in 2010 to see if any of them deserved to be added to my best films lists on my media blog. It had not sunk in while I was watching the Oscars, probably because they were so bad, but last year was a horrible year for movies in general. I went through some of the movies that came out and only a handful stood out in terms of the qualities I like to see in films: 1, a great screenplay regardless of whether it follows a convention or not; 2, excellent acting even if it means non acting (Keanu, yes, I'm talking about you); 3, intelligent direction and cinematography that brings something fresh to the screen without obviousness and artistic pretension. So which of the films I saw in 2010 meet this criteria?

I've gone over the many movies that came out last year. TRUE GRIT is a very good movie, probably my favorite from Hollywood. INCEPTION also is well done even though I thought the side story of Dicaprio's wife was considerably more compelling than the main story of placing an idea into someone's mind. When a side story is more interesting than the main story, it signals that an opportunity was lost. I liked THE TOWN as well. But despite its intelligence and the serious treatment of its subject, the screenplay has more than a couple of clichés that rise to the surface, bloated and stinking. WINTER'S BONE is gritty and real and full of excellent tension, but it offers no wisdom, no depth apart from its portrayal. It's a classic exhibit of 'show don't tell' which in the end becomes nothing more than a sketch or a slice of life. Others deserve mention, including: RESTREPO, LET ME IN, THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST, and even THE OTHER GUYS.

But the best film from 2010 is a Korean film called POETRY. This drama will captivate you and make your heart ache; it is sweet and full of wisdom and beauty. The strange thing about this film is it's a small film but large as well.

Quick Review: "THE NEXT THREE DAYS"

2011-04-12T18:31:00.000-07:00

I love crime stories. I don't know a better way to create conflict and drama, and I think most authors would agree with me; war, of course, is another excellent way to imbue the story with conflict and drama but one could argue that war is a crime. Anyway, I love crime films, and this film does a good job of keeping its audience interested in what is going to happen next.

Basically, one morning a husband and wife and their child here a knock on the door and it's the police with a search warrant. They burst into the house and find the wife (played by Elizabeth Banks) washing some blood off of her trench coat. She is arrested for the murder of her boss with whom she had a heated argument today before, plus she was seen leaving the crime scene. She maintains her innocence but goes to the county jail, where she stays through the trial and subsequent appeals. The husband (Russell Crowe) comes up with a plan to break her out but finds out that he only has three days to do it.

The film takes its time in developing the husband and the changes he has to go through to break his wife out of jail. And even though the premise strains credulity, it makes an honest effort of maintaining as much plausibility as possible. The acting was good. The direction was good. The script was good. It was a good movie with a couple of really tense scenes and a couple of interesting twists. But it was not outstanding.

I liked it. What I didn't like was how the film played with the original crime that the wife commits or doesn't commit. Throughout the film the audience is kept guessing, but then at the end of the film we find out what happened, and I don't know about you, but I hate being manipulated by carefully edited flashbacks designed to create tension then at the end of the film the director essentially says "see, I got you". 3/5

Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011)

2011-03-23T21:45:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth Taylor died today. She was a great actress. She was so beautiful too; she could make your heart stop beating. Anyone who has watched her in films like "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" can attest to that rare combination of talent and beauty. Finally, she was a philanthropist and a world class human being. May God be with you, Liz.

In the fifties, sixties and seventies, Elizabeth Taylor ruled the Hollywood world with her talent and feminine power, and despite the inordinate amounts of pressure the studios would place on her shoulders by insisting she work when she didn't want to and placing her in crappy films in order to sell them:

While she wanted to play the lead roles in The Barefoot Contessa and I'll Cry Tomorrow, MGM continued to restrict her to mindless and somewhat forgettable films such as: a cameo as herself in Callaway Went Thataway (1951), Love Is Better Than Ever (1952), Ivanhoe (1952), The Girl Who Had Everything (1953) and Beau Brummel (1954). She had wanted to play the role of Lady Rowena in Ivanhoe, but the part was given to Joan Fontaine. Taylor was given the role of Rebecca. When Taylor became pregnant with her first child, MGM forced her through The Girl Who Had Everything (even adding two hours to her daily work schedule) so as to get one more film out of her before she became too heavily pregnant. (Wikipedia)

-- despite this studio system which literally owned actors and told them which films they would be in, Taylor was nominated for an Academy Award five times and won twice, one for A Place in the Sun (1960) and one for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woof? (1966). Both of these films are must-sees for any film-lover. Suddenly Last Summer (1959) and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) are two more of my favourite films with Elizabeth Taylor. The original Father of the Bride (1950), The Sandpiper (1965), and Giant (1956) are worthwhile films as well. In these films and many others, she play alongside and against some of the most impressive leading men who have ever acted, and she held her own.

I also deeply admired her dedication to the HIV/AIDS cause and her ability to persevere through many physical aliments with grace and poise.

She was survived by four children and many grandchildren, a family she fought her whole life to keep out of the Hollywood media and rumor mills, no mean feat.

Film: "Certified Copy"

2011-03-23T11:06:00.000-07:00

Finding good new movies to watch is always a challenge. I found this French-Italian film by digging through the "fresh" lists at Rotten Tomatoes which is a compendium of film reviews from North America. I do not remember how well "Certified Copy" did on the tomato-meter but it was pretty fresh, something in the neighborhood of 90% which is the website's way of saying the 90 percent of the reviewers that reviewed "Certified Copy" gave it a positive review. It's an imperfect system but it's the best one I've come across so far. The ratings at IMDB are all over the map.

"Certified Copy" stars Juliette Binoche with whom I've harbored a flickering crush since I saw her in "Trois Couleur: Bleu" (1993) which is a beautiful film I wish I could see again for the first time. Anyway the film is about a British writer who wrote a book about art and gives a small lecture about art and originality at a local bookstore. A middle-aged woman with a teen-aged son in tow comes in to the lecture late and leaves early, but she's obviously fascinated by the writer. Later, we discover she had bought several of the books, had them signed by the writer and, at the same time, had asked him to meet her. They meet and spend the day together driving through the Tuscan countryside, talking about art and life. The conversation turns into kind of role playing game where they pretend to be a couple, but they do such a good impression of a couple that one wonders if they are or were a couple and they have known each other the whole time.

It was a very interesting film. I love these conversation-filled films. The writing is subtle and intelligent with just the right touch for each character to allow the actor to express the essence of the persona. The direction is simple, invisible, complementing the script and acting. And the acting was superb.

Similar films:

The American (George Clooney, 2010)
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Scarlett Johanson, 2008)
The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Juliette Binoche, 1988)
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Elizabeth Taylor, 1966)

Paintings: "Salesman" and "Untitled"

2011-03-10T22:05:00.000-08:00

I bought myself an extravagant gift the other day, well, last year really, but it took until now to possess them both since the one - an image I like to call "The Furies" - was stuck in the gallery's exhibition until the end. The artist is Clive Barker, and they are both oil paintings. The first one is called "Salesman" and I think it is a representation of Avarice.

He looks great on my wall.

I studied literature of the middle ages, and the Catholic church in the middle ages was both the church and state; they had absolute power; and it corrupted them; and thank God we now have a separation between them, a thing called the Reformation and for which we owe many brave lives. Anyway, there was a religious figure at the time called The Pardoner. He wasn't with the Church officially, but they knew about him unofficially. He would sell pardons for sins. In the epic comedy, Geoffrey Chaucer has a tale told by a Pardoner. They wee the scum of the earth. This picture reminds me of him; that or an encyclopedia salesman. :)


Salesman by Clive Barker

This next one does have a title. I mean to get Clive to give me one. I call it "The Furies" from Roman mythology. The Furies were the goddesses of vengeance; they were the guardians of the law, and they stepped in when it failed.

It also looks pretty sweet on my wall.

Clive Barker is a great artist, both in the written word and in the visual arts. I can't wait to collect more of his stuff.

Blue Valentine

2011-03-05T12:19:00.000-08:00

Staring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams, this film is about a young coupe falling in love and falling out of love in a marriage that began with an unplanned pregnancy. The film is a drama about relationships, so I didn't expect a lot of action or suspense. But it does deliver a smart script and excellent acting; it doesn't try to manipulate its audience with 'mood' music; it stays away from cliched characterization and soap-opera type dialogue where they fill in a the blanks as though the audience is a congress of idiots. I really enjoyed this little drama.

Ryan Gosling is an impressive actor. He's Canadian, which is cool. You probably remember him from "The Notebook" which, yes, was full of cliches and manipulative plotting, music, and direction, but it was nevertheless effective and (I hate to say this) one of the classic modern romances. But Gosling is much better than that movie. He has a kind of every man look that reminds me of Tom Hanks. He also has an impeccable eye for choosing great scripts and playing subtle, interesting characters... people that could be living next door. Here's a list of Gosling film I've seen and recommend:

The United States of Leland.

The Notebook.

Stay. An strange and beautiful film with Ewen McGregor, Naomi Waits, and Gosling, about suicide, death, and redemption.

Half-Nelson. An amazing film about a highschool teacher addicted to drugs.

Fracture. A smart ans suspenseful thriller with Anthony Hopkins.

Lars and the Real Girl. A strange and touching tale about a young man whose loneliness and unrequited love for his brother's wife leads him to find love in a life-sized sex doll.

Blue Valentine. See above.

Book Club

2011-03-03T12:31:00.000-08:00

I finished the book "Still Alice" by Lisa Genova for my book club, and today we are meeting at Starbucks to discuss it. It's kind of weird to call it a 'book club', because it sounds so old, you know? Like we are a flock of old ladies sitting around a living room, reading and discussing books that Oprah recommends, trying our best to sound intelligent, bringing extra material we have researched and photocopied so that everyone knows how "on" you are. Those are the connotations and images that come to mind when I write the words book club down. But it's not that bad. There are only three of us. My best friend Lisa and Anita, an acquaintance I've known for a number of years now. They like to read, but I think we all like slightly different books which is good as it will force me out of my comfort zone, just like this last book.

"Still Alice" is about a Harvard professor that becomes beset by early onset Alzheimer's disease at fifty years old. The book is narrated by the prof herself which heightens the drama and brings the reader into the experience of Alzheimer's. The book is well-written. But it's not a very pretty book to read; the style is more functional than poetic. Yet the book compels one to identify with and empathize with the protagonist. I'm not a big fan of books that have a central subject or agenda at their core, like Alzheimer's or the Holocaust or slavery. But I applaud Genova for imbuing her characters with plausibility and verisimilitude.

The back of the novel contains several discussion and reading guide questions. I've noticed the authors or publishers (I don't know which) have begun putting extra material about the novel at the back of these books. It's a great trend. Smart marketing and good for readers. Some further reading guide questions can be found here.

Os-scars

2011-02-28T01:58:00.000-08:00

Good grief. How did I manage to sit through the entire Academy Awards tonight? It was painful. Notable things that happened:

1. James Franco looked and talked like he had a full-body cast on. He is not funny; he is not charismatic; he is terribly dull. Epic fail.

2. Anne Hathaway looked strange. Pretty dresses, all 27 or whatever, but she looked sick and her makeup was fucked up, kind of clownish.

3. The show started and maintained a high level of tedium.

4. Kirk Douglas presented and even though he's a fossil, he had more charisma than the hosts.

5. The winner for best supporting said "fucking" on screen. No delay I guess. Sweet.

6. The Randy Newman performance was botched by the sound guy, because he voice was too low and music too high. He won, but gracefully didn't mention it, though he did mention his 20 nominations and only two wins.

7. Billy Crystal made an appearance (I guess he was backstage for emergency in case the audience started to fall asleep). He did a 5 minute stand up that was the best thing in the entire show. What? Really? He made Anne and James look like tedious bores.

8. The "In Memoriam" was beautiful as usual. Tony Curtis died last year. He was awesome to watch. Celine Dion sang, nice job too. But Halle Barry had to make a speech about Lena Horn who died this last year, and I guess inspired other black actors - ironically I don't think any black people won anything this year. oops.

9. Christian Bale and Natalie Portman won as they should have done.

10. I guess I should have seen the "King's Speech".

11. This year Barbara Walters interviews were replaced by coverage of the after-parties, where the celebrity worship goes full tilt boogie.

12. I think I survived b/c we started watching after dinner and using the PVR to fast forward the commercials. Must remember this strategy. Last year I almost puncture my eardrums with sharp pencils.

This was also posted on the media blog.

Hollyweird Lately

2011-02-27T23:06:00.000-08:00

In 2009 and 2010, Hollywood began producing less reality TV and more written dramas and comedies. In 2011, we are waist deep in a wealth of dramatic choice.

Good grief. How did I manage to sit through the entire Academy Awards tonight? It was painful. Notable things that happened:

James Franco looked and talked like he had a full-body cast on. He is not funny; he is not charismatic; he is terribly dull. Epic fail.
Anne Hathaway looked strange. Pretty dresses, all 27 or whatever, but she looked sick and her makeup was fucked up, kind of clownish.
The show started and maintained a high level of tedium.
Kirk Douglas presented and even though he's a fossil, he had more charisma than the hosts.
The winner for best supporting said "fucking" on screen. No delay I guess. Sweet.
The Randy Newman performance was botched by the sound guy, because he voice was too low and music too high. He won, but gracefully didn't mention it, though he did mention his 20 nominations and only two wins.
Billy Crystal made an appearance (I guess he was backstage for emergencing in case the audience started to fall alseep). He did a 5 minute stand up that was the best thing in the entire show. What? Really? He made Anne and James look like tedious bores.
The "In Memoriam" was beautiful as usual. Tony Curtis died last year. He was awesome to watch. Celine Dion sang, nice job too. But Halle Barry had to make a speech about Lena Horn who died this last year, and I guess inspired other black actors - ironically I don't think any black people won anything this year. oops.
Christian Bale and Natalie Portman won as they should have done.
I guess I should have seen the "King's Speech".
This year Barbara Walters interviews were replaced by coverage of the after-parties, where the celebrity worship goes full tilt boogie.
I think I survived b/c we started watching after dinner and using the PVR to fast forward the commercials. Must remember this strategy. Last year I almost puncture my eardrums with sharp pencils.

Kaddish

2011-02-23T13:49:00.000-08:00

I was listening to a recording of Allen Ginsberg recite his poem "Kaddish" in Greenwich Village in the seventies. A kaddish is a Jewish prayer of mourning, and Ginsberg wrote the book length poem for his late mother. The poem is a list of things of this world his mother no longer has to deal with: the pain, the suffering, the health problems, the injustice, the transient nature of joy and beauty, the family problems, politics, religion, the problems big and small. This year I am thankful I'm still around to deal with this life. Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for the good things. But I'm thankful for the crap too as it is a constant reminder that I am blessed with the ability to choose how to respond to these challenges.

I love Ginsberg's poetry. The poems have a serene, wise tone to them that remind me of Walt Whitman. But Whitman had a larger vision; he visualized the earth and its people and how people could love it, and love themselves. Ginsberg's vision was a little narrower but still potent. "Howl" has a national vision; it laments the passing of an idealized America, an America that never was or an America that could have been - before Vietnam, Watergate, and the assassinations of Martin Luther, JFK, Malcom X, and Bobby Kennedy. The poem "America" also explores the author's disappointment and pain as he envisions both what is wrong with America and what could have been right.

Poems lamenting the destruction of a nation or the possibility of a nation is called a jeremiad, because the Book of Jeremiah in the Old Testament describes Jeremiah's lament over the destruction of Israel, a destruction they brought on themselves, for not listening to God.

COMEDIES

2007-05-05T16:32:00.000-07:00

These are my movie recommendations, incomplete and in no particular order. They typically are not suitable for children. Assume a R rating for each one.

COMEDIES

Zero Effect -- about a PI who is the best in the world, yet cannot help being a paranoid, neurotic recluse. 3.5/5

Barton Fink. An acclaimed dramatist moves to Hollywood to make his fortune writing for the movies but ends up with writer's block when he tries to write. A strange, surreal, but funny film. (see Drama) 4/5

Much Ado About Nothing -- romantic comedy by Shakespeare set in medieval times. 4/5

Being There. A story about a man whose only knowledge about the world has come from television until he has to leave his cocoon. A great cast and superb writing/story have made this film a classic satire. 5/5

The Big Lebowski. Cohen movie about a California bum who is mistaken for someone else and becomes entangled in a kidnapping/murder plot; hilarious story played by a star-studded cast. 5/5

Unstrung Heroes -— story of a young boy growing up with an inventor father and two crazy uncles, the latter at which he stays one summer. Coming-of-age. 3.5/5

Freeway -- satire, a white trash girl with bad temper gets into trouble. 3.5/5

Antz -- an animated movie with astounding graphics and premier actors. 4/5

Tampopo -- subtitled, a Japanese widow wants to open a noodle restaurant. Comedy. 5/5

Life is Beautiful -- subtitled, an Italian Jew in pre-Nazi occupied Italy meets and marries his wife, comedy/drama. 4/5

Shakespeare in Love -- a young Shakespeare tries to write Romeo and Juliet but then is inspired by love. 5/5

The Fisher King -- a radio show host feels condemned for inciting a homicidal psychotic on his show until he meets the man whose family was killed, about imagination and redemption. 4/5

High Fidelity. A unique and very funny story about an elitist record store owner trying to re-acquaint with his top ten ex-girlfriends. 4.5/5

Down and Out in Beverly Hills. A Hollywood bum (Nick Nolte) is saved by a rich family and is invited to live with them in their home. 4/5

Old School. Three thirtysomething buddies open a frat house. 4/5

Briget Jones' Diary. A British comedy about a thirty year old girl trying to juggle various pressures from boss, work, parents, and the lack of a love-life. 3.5/5

Adaptation. An original comedy-drama regarding a Hollywood writer adapting a book about orchids. Excellent acting and script. 4.5/5

Moonstruck. An woman of Italian descent falls in love with her fiancee's unpredictable brother. Romantic and funny. 5/5

Dr. Strangelove. A classic satire about the paranoia and madness during the Cold War. Kubrick and Peter Sellers at their best. (also in War Section) 5/5

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. Steve Martin tries to get home on a snowy Thanksgiving holiday. 5/5

Working Girl. A classic comedy from the eighties about a secretarytrying to climb the corporate ladder. 3.5/5

Going South. Hilarious comedy about a horse thief (Jack Nicholson) that is forced to marry or hang for his crimes (Danny Devito, Chistopher Lloyd) 5/5

The Delicatessen. A french film. A black comedy set in an apartment building in a post-apocalyptic Paris. (also Foreign Sect.) 3.5/5

Say Anything. A high-school graduate falls for a quirky classmate and tries to work out what to do with her life. John Cusack is superb. 4/5

Tommy Boy. A boss' son (Farley) goes on sales tour with his wisecracking partner to save the family company. Simply... a classic. 4/5

Caddyshack. A golfcourse caddy must kiss various butts and win a tourney to get scholarship. Chevy Chase, Murray, Dangerfield, and Baxter make this a must see. 5/5

The Player. A satiric look at the Hollywood machine that churns out one crappy genre picture after another as it chews up executives and spits them out. Sharp and witty. 4/5

O Brother Where Art Thou?. Three escaped convicts on the lamb travel across 1930's South toward a buried treasure. Another Cohen masterpiece. 5/5

Young Frankenstein. A hilarious spoof on monster movies by Mel Brooks with Gene Wilder, Gene Hackman, and Peter Boyle. 5/5

Secondhand Lions. Two old bachelors take in a young boy without a father. Duvall and Caine. 3.5/5

A Fish Called Wanda. Thieves and thugs screw up extortion schemes. The monty python cast headline this film with Jamie Curtis and Kevin Cline as a hilarious paranoid assassin. 4/5

Do the Right Thing. Spike Lee's debute film, a series of comic stories set in Harlem. A brilliant independent picture. John Turturro is great as an Italian pizzaria worker in black harlem. 3.5/5

Good Morning Vietnam. Based on a true story. A radio host arrives in Vietnam and jump-starts a dreary military radio station with his comedy. 3.5/5

The Accidental Tourist. A beautiful film about loss and love. A damaged man becomes intrigued with a woman who helps him with his dog. 4.5/5

Amelie. French film. A young woman in Paris becomes intrigued by a 'secret admirer' and tries to discover who he is. A quirky, very original, and very romantic comedy. 4/5

Animal House. A hilarious comedy about a frat house full of malcontents and slackers bent on partying and cheating their way through school. Great movie, and an inspiration to my scholastic life. 4/5

Risky Business. This film shows a young Tom Cruise being left alone at home in the suburbs as his parents travel to Europe for a vacation; he tries and fails to resist the temptations of having the house to himself. 3/5

Ferris Bueller's Day Off. The classic comedy about a highschool student (a charming Matt Broadrick) skipping school with his girlfriend and bestfriend to hang out and have fun. 5/5

The Hangover. Five friends travel to Las Vegas for a stag party, and after a crazy night that no one can remember, they lose the groom. 4/5

DRAMAS

2007-05-04T16:34:00.000-07:00

These are my movie recommendations, incomplete and in no particular order. They typically are not suitable for children. Assume a R rating for each one.

THE DRAMAS

Short Cuts -- nine interlocking stories set in contemporary Los Angeles. 5/5

Raging Bull -- the story of a boxer, boxing, and the dark side of human excess. 5/5

Bringing Out the Dead. A Scorsese film about an ambulance driver in NYC's slums (Nick Cage) who is falling apart with guilt over not being able to save a little girl and tries to come to terms with the past. 3.5/5

Deer Hunter. Three best friends go to Vietnam and the war changes them. Epic beauty and sadness. (also in War Sect.) 4/5

Oleanna. A Mamet film about a teacher and his student and their struggle for power, control, and good understanding. 3.5/5

Dead Ringers. Cronenberg's strange film about twin doctors, who cannot escape each other. Both brothers are played by Jeremy Irons who does an incredible job playing a dominant and submissive pair. 4/5

Ordinary People. Oscar Winner about the effect of a brother's death on a young man and his parents. Hauntingly beautiful. 5/5

An Angel at My Table. Based on a true story. It's about an Australian girl who strives to become a writer despite a misdiagnosed condition. Excellent story. 4/5

The Lion in Winter. Three sons struggle and manipulate for the medieval Kingdom of their aging father and mother. O'Toole, Hopkins, Hepburn are brilliant. 3.5/5

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. An Albee play. Richard Burton and Taylor depict a middle-aged couple battling each other intermingling of love and hate. Incredible script and acting. 5/5

Lone Star. A complex mystery/drama about a sheriff in a small contemporary town in Texas on the border of Mexico. 4.5/5

Breaking the Waves. A story about a woman whose overpowering love allows her to sacrifice everything for her lover. 4/5

The Shawshank Redemption. A wrongly accused man is sent to jail where he adapts and becomes indespensible to the warden. 4.5/5

The Red Violin -- movie traces a rare violin through history, chronicling its different owners. Drama. 3.5/5

Damage. A politician has a torrid affair with his son's fiance to ruinous result. Great script and acting. 4/5

Awakenings. A catatonic man awakes from years of incapacity and revels in the beauty of life. Robin Williams & DeNiro are excellent. 3.5/5

Barfly. A surprising story about a drunk (Mickey Roark) who lives from drink to drink and writes poetry on the side. 3/5

Mac. This hard-to-find film is about three brothers in construction who get sick of working for others and open their own company. 3.5/5

A Room with a View. Based on the Forrester novel, this simple love story is unforgettable. 3/5

The Lover. This beautifully scripted and shot love story is about the coming of age of a young woman in southeast Asia. Highly erotic. 3.5/5

Three Seasons. An elegantly filmed romance between two Vietnamese in modern Vietnam as well as two other stories. Multiple independent award winner. 4/5

The Unforgiven. Haunting Western about a retired killer that comes out of retirement to kill for money. 4.5/5

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Classic story about family, love, resentment, inheritance, and being true to one's self. 3.5/5

Night of the Iguana. A drinking, lecherous priest takes a Mexican tour of older women to a rundown resort operated by an old flame. There he tries to find redemption. 3.5/5

Slacker. A roving camera moves around a suburban city, following people listening to their daily lives before moving on to another person, a celebration of existence. 4/5

The Loss of Innocence. Intersecting stories about the various ways a person loses their innocence during their journey through life. Beautiful and haunting, yet uneven. 3/5

Female Perversions. Follows a female lawyer and shows the various ways women are pressured by society to conform to a certain undeterminate model. 4/5

Tully. Two brother in a small farming town find out something surpring about their missing mother. 4/5

Glengarry Glen Ross. A star-studded film about telephone salesmen under pressure. 3.5/5

Barton Fink. A theatre writer goes to early Hollywood to write pulp movies only to get writer's block. A strange, surreal film. 4/5

What's Cooking?. Four stories about four families (Black, Jewish, Korean, Hispanic) having thanksgiving dinner. 4/5

Thirteen. This film captures the traumas of being a female teen. 3.5/5

Kids. A poignant drama about urban teens bored and searching for sex, parties, and trouble. 4/5

Adaptation. An original comedy-drama regarding a Hollywood writer adapting a book about orchids. (also Comedies) 4.5/5

Moonstruck. An woman of Italian descent falls in love with her fiancee's unpredictable brother. Romantic and funny. (also Comedies) 5/5

The Conversation. Hackman stars as a surveillance expert that monitors a conversation he was not supposed to and worries about his safety. Coppola captures the paranoid seventies. 4/5

Schindler's List. An opportunistic German citizen seizes a chance to save lives during WW2. 4/5

The Right Stuff -- The New space program looks for the best of the best to send into space. Excellent cast. 4/5

The Hustler. Paul Newman plays a pool player whose pride costs him everything. 3.5/5

12 Angry Men. Henry Fonda and other play a jury arguing a murder trial. 4/5

Moonlight Mile. A pending wedding is interrupted by tragedy leaving the fiancee and in-laws in an awkward space. 4/5

Cinema Paradiso. Foreign, Italian boy grows up going to the movies. 5/5

Changing Lanes. Two men have an accident on a freeway and it changes both their lives. Ben Afleck and Samuel Jackson. 3.5/5

Amadeus. Bio of the famous composer Mozart and his struggles to get his work completed. 4/5

On the Waterfront. The mob and waterfront union join to suppress workers; one stands up against them. 5/5

Monster's Ball. The lives of a black woman and a white man prison guard intersect in the South. Excellent, complex drama. 4/5

Sheltering Sky. A married couple travel to the African desert with a friend who loves the woman (Debra Winger). 3/5

English Patient. A mysterious burn victim during WW2 becomes the center of intersecting stories. Inspired film from an inspired book, romantic and beautiful. 4/5

Shadow of the Vampire. A film about the making of the 1938 Nosferatu vampire classic. Good acting, inventive story. 4/5

Tender Mercies -- drama, famous cowboy singer stops drinking & changes his life, leaving everything behind. 4/5

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. A sane criminal gets himself into the nuthouse and makes mischief amoungst the residents. 5/5

13 Conversations about One Thing. Star-studded cast fronts this film of intersecting stories about happiness and contentment. 3.5/5

The Mission. A missionary converting aboriginies in the South American returns to his military past to defend the indians from conquistadors. 4/5

Dead Poet's Society. Beautifully told story about a new prof that changes lives in a rich prep school. 4/5

Lawrence of Arabia. A British geogrpher leaves his paper to join and lead arab insurgents against imperialistic Turks. 5/5

The Eternal Sunshine of A Spotless Mind. A strange out-of-sequence movies about a guy so torn by a breakup that he goes to a specialist to have the memories removed. Amazing romance.

Leaving Las Vegas. Having lost everything, an executivetravels to Las Vegas to drink himself to death. 3.5/5

9 1/2 Weeks. Erotic flirtations abound in this cult classic. 3/5

Shadowlands. Playing CS Lewis, Anthony Hopkins acts superbly as a man who finds and loses the love of his life to cancer. 3.5/5

Naked. Raw and uncompromising, the film follows a young man who believes in nothing. 3.5/5

Grand Canyon. -A tow-truck driver (Danny Glover) saves a man (Steve Martin) from trouble and they become friends. 4.5/5

Like Water for Chocolate. Spanish. Multi -generational story about a family and how food has marked each critical moment in the family history. 3.5/5

When a Man Loves a Woman. This story centers around a man trying to get his wife sober. 3.5/5

Titus. Shakespeare's vicious revenge play. 5/5

City of Hope. Multiple stories intersect in this film that revolves around a strained father-son relationship. (Sayles writes/directs, see Lonestar above) 4/5

Driving Miss Daisy. A crusty old lady from the Old South wants her 'negro' driver to drive her across the state. 4/5

The Green Mile. 3.5/5

Signs. 3/5

My Left Foot. A young boy with cerebral palsy and born into an impoverished Irish family becomes a celebrated artist and writer. 4/5

The Rapture. 3/5

You Can Count on Me. A single mother working at a bank and struggling with balancing being a mom that works receives a visit from her nomadic brother. 3.5/4

In the Bedroom. The summer before he heads off to University, a young man with great promise as a designer falls in love with an older woman with a crazy ex-husband. 4/5

Jesus' Son. A strange and unique story about a young, wandering, innocent man whose journey in life is full of love, laughter, and tragedy. 4/5

The American President. The US President, a single father, finds love in the white house. 4/5

Primary Colors. A presidential candidate campaigns through personal problems and dilemas which test his character and that of his 'team.' 3.5/5

Born on the Fourth of July. A young man goes to Vietnam and comes home disabled and confused. 4/5

Drugstore Cowboy. Thieves rob drugstores for drugs to party. 4/5

Running on Empty. Child finally finds out why his family never stays anywhere very long. 5/5

The Unbearable Lightness of Being -- drama, a torrid love affair in Czechslovakia leaves characters bitter sweet. 3.5/5

Howard's End. A love story in quiet, hesitant English society. 4/5

Remains of the Day. An English butler becomes fond of new housekeeper. 5/5

Empire of The Sun. A child loses his parents when Japan invades China, and he ends up in a camp struggling to survive. 5/5

Hiroshima, Mon Amour. French, subtitled, a french actress has an affair with a Japanese man, and they discuss each other's lives, beautiful writing. 4.5/5

Zentropa. German, subtitled, an American moves to Germany just after WWII, and gets a job on the trains. Strange movie. 3/5

Poetry. Korean, subtitled. The film explores a 60ish woman stuck raising her lazy, precocious grandson who decides to take a community poetry class. 4.5/5

True Grit. Western. A teenage girl arrives in a town to collect the body of her murdered father; after settling the arraigment, she hires a down-and-out gunslinger to pursue the killer. 4/5

THE WAR MOVIES

2007-05-03T16:41:00.000-07:00

These are my movie recommendations, incomplete and in no particular order. They typically are not suitable for children. Assume a R rating for each one.

WAR MOVIES

Saving Private Ryan. A squad of soldiers are sent to retrieve a lost soldier whose three brothers had already died in the war. 3.5/5

Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb. A satiric comedy about the Cold War and the militaristic paranoia it engendered. 5/5

Das Boot (Director's cut). German sailors in a submarine withstand the weather and the enemy in this outstandingly realistic portrayal. 5/5

Black hawk Down. Special Forces soldiers sent to capture rebel leaders become trapped and must fight their way out of Mogadishu, Somalia. 4/5

Jacob's Ladder. Psychodelic film about a Vietnam vet who is convinced he was experimented on during war. 3/5

Full Metal Jacket. Vietnam war film follows soldier through basic training and into The Nam. Stanley Kubrick film. 4/5

Platoon. A young man goes to Vietnam and joins a platoon that becomes like a second family. 5/5

Apocalypse Now. A special forces assassin travels up a river from Vietnam to Cambodia to kill a rogue colonel. 5/5

The Deer Hunter. Three friends go to Vietnam and the war changes them in different ways making their return home difficult. 4/5

Band of Brothers. The 101st airborne's story in WW2 from start to finish. Outstanding stories, cast, and film production make this film series the best war film ever. 5/5

Salvador. A fast-talking, end-of-the-road journalist goes to El Salvaddor to cover the civil war in the 80s. 3/5

Born on the Fourth of July. A young Tom Cruise goes to Vietnam and comes home disabled and confused. 3.5/5

Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam. A striking and moving documentary documenting letters sent to and from Nam. 3.5/5

The Empire of the Sun. The son of rich British parents becomes lost when Japan invades China in the late 30's and struggles to survive. 5/5

Schindler's List. A German citizen and war opportunist/profiteer seizes an opportunity to save the Jewish workers in his sweatshop during WW2. Spielberg film. 3.5/5

Paths of Glory. Three soldiers in the First World War are accused of cowardice, but their colonel insists on a proper trail and acts as their legal representative. Stanley Kubrick's first big feature film. Exquisite on all levels. 4/5

Patton. The story of the infamous American General as he leads his men from Africa to Italy and then Germany. 3.5/5

A Bridge Too Far. The story of the Allied attempt to secure the various bridges that give access to Germany efore the German Army blows them and halts the Allied advance. 3/5

Twelve O'Clock High. A WW2 story told from the persective of the British-based bomber crews that bombed Germany daily with high losses. 3.5/5

English Patient. A mysterious burn victim during WW2 becomes the center of intersecting stories. Inspired film from an inspired book, romantic and beautiful. 4/5

HISTORICAL ACTION

Lawrence of Arabia. A classic epic about a cartographer who emerges as a natural leader and is sent into Arabia by the British to rally the Arabs against the Turks. 4/5

Master and Commander. A 17th Century British Navy vessel is charged to find and destroy a larger, more powerful ship. 4.5/5

Gladiator. A general in the Roman Legion is framed and sold to slavers where he becomes a gladiator and waits for a chance to return too Rome. 4/5

Rob Roy. A scottish tribesman defies an English Lord bent on suppressing the populous. 4/5

Braveheart. William Wallace makes his life-mission to avenge his wife and push the English out of Scotland with the help of unified clans. 3.5/5

The Mission. A missionary converting aboriginies in the South American returns to his military past to defend the indians from conquistadors. 4/5

Kingdom of Heaven. A blacksmith, in the time of the crusades, is visited by the father he did not know but who is a noble headed to Jerusalem to defend it from Muslim armies. The smith follows his father. Liam Nielsen, Orlando Bloom, Jeremy Irons.

ACTION AND CRIME MOVIES

2007-05-02T17:19:00.000-07:00

These are my movie recommendations, incomplete and in no particular order. They typically are not suitable for children. Assume a R rating for each one.

ACTION | CRIME

L.A. Confidential. An elaborately casted and filmed crime thriller about police corruption in Los Angeles in the fifties.

Bound -- a thriller about two women who try to rob a lot of money from organized crime with sex, murder, and smarts.

Jackie Brown -- Tarantino tells a smooth tale about crime, criminals, and money, where a bail-bondsman walks a tightrope with a career criminal and arms dealer (Samuel Jackson).

The Bad Lieutenant -- the descent and suffering of a corrupt, addicted policeman.

The Last Seduction. A beautiful woman with no conscience seeks power and money, using her sex appeal to manipulate men into her con games.

House of Games. David Mamet's complex movie about con-men who scam for a living, told from the perspective of a psychologist who is given a back-door past into the confidence world.

One False Move. A suspenseful crime thriller about three killers driving across southern United States toward a small town where a naive sheriff and two FBI wait for their arrival.

Chinatown. A classic post-noir mystery set in Los Angeles in the fifties. A private investigator (Jack Nicolson) becomes entangled in a murder and money scheme.

A Simple Plan -- three men find millions in a wrecked airplane nobody else knows about.

Silence of the Lambs -- a young FBI woman helps conduct an investigation into a serial killer.

Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer -- an intimate look at the day to day existence of a serial killer.

Memento. A tale about a guy with no memory who is looking for his wife's killer. The very original story is told in reverse.

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. The story of a man with an incredile sense of smell who begins killing women to preserve their particular scents.

Irreversible. A story told in reverse order of a man and his friend looking for the thug that raped and beat up his wife.

The Vanishing (European version). A travelling couple stop at a rest-stop to gas the car and use the bathroom and one of them never returns to the car.

Thomas Crown Affair (Both versions). A rich tycoon relieves his boredom by manufactoring complicated heists until he becomes pursued by a seductive insurance investigator. Like The Getaway, these two versions are the same story with interesting differences.

The Getaway (Both versions). A man is doule-crossed and goes to jail, but the local mob need him for a heist so they have him paroled early; however, this time the man does the doule-crossing.

Sin City. From the comics by Miller, intersecting crime stories in a fictious hard-boiled city.

The Bourne Identity. Jason Bourne, a highly trained killer, is tasked to kill a warlord on his yacht but is shot and tumbles overboard into the Mediterranean where he is picked up by a fishing vessel to find out he has lost his memory and the trust of the government that hired him.

The Bourne Supremacy. Jason is hiding in plain sight in a small town in India when a contract killer shows up trying to kill him, the attempt killing the woman he loves. His search for answers and vengeance is full of twists and turns and high powered action.

The Bourne Ultimatum. Completing the trilogy, this film takes place almost immediately after the previous film in Moscow. The film starts fast and the action does not let up; it's a real thrill ride. In my opinion, this trilogy stands up against any other including LOTRs and STAR WARS.

2 Days in the Valley. Intersecting crime stories involving hitmen, mafia, cops, and bystanders.

Bullitt. A witness against the mob becomes a target of assassination.

The Usual Suspects. Local criminals are hired by a mysterious crime-lord to execute a major heist. Brilliant.

The Shawshank Redemption. A wrongly accused man is sent to jail where he adapts and becomes indespensible to the warden. 4.5/5

Italian Job. Team of thieves pull off a major job only to become betrayed.

Ronin. A mysterious irish woman hires ex-CIA and former spies to steal a silver briefcase from an arms dealer.

The Firm. A young lawyer discovers his new firm is crooked but cannot leave without endangering everyone he loves.

Ordinary Decent Criminal. A crime comic-drama about a charismatic criminal outwitting cops.

Runaway Jury. A major tobacco trial brings out the heavy-duty jury consultants and a couple of opportunists take advantage and threaten to tamper with the jury unless paid.

Scarface. A classic crime story about a Cuban immigrant becoming a drug lord.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. A classic spaghetti western about the search for a chest full of silver coins.

Goodfellas. The story of three friends growing up in the mob -- crime, Scorsese film about life in the mob.

The Proposition -- In the harsh setting of 19th century Australia, the younger of two outlaw brothers is captured and coerced into helping with the capture of his older brother with unforeseen results. Ray Winstone.

Clockwork Orange -- strange cautionary tale about violence and social science in a psychedelic 1970's setting.

The Unforgiven. Haunting Western about a retired killer that comes out of retirement to kill for money. 4.5/5

Drugstore Cowboy. Thieves rob drugstores for drugs to party. 4/5

Frailty. Crime-horror, men can see people's sins.

The Assignment --

Wild at Heart -- adventure, released prisoner and girl are hunted by girl's mother.

The Wild Bunch.

Miller's Crossing -- 1920's gangsters start a war between Irish & Italians.

Pulp Fiction -- dramatic-action, criminals & thugs pursue money and freedom.

Redrock West -- stranger comes to town and mistaken identity gets him in trouble.

Blood Simple -- crime, stranger comes to town and is implicated in murder.

The Cell. a woman goes into the mind of a serial killer to find hostage.

Runaway Train. suspense, Prisoners escaped from prison and hijacked a train.

To Live and Die in LA. -- suspense-action, a thrill seeking cop tries to arrest a counterfeit expert.

Mean Streets -- thugs on streets survive.

Lone Star. A complex mystery/drama about a sheriff in a small contemporary town in Texas on the border of Mexico. 4.5/5

Seven.

Kalifornia. A couple traveling across the southern states trying to visit historic serial killer places take along a brash young couple who become more and than they can handle. Brad Pitt, Juliette Lewis, David Duchovny.

Angel Heart. A down and out investigator is hired to find a woman but the search leads him to Louisiana where he becomes a target of voodoo witchcraft and becomes the suspect of a rash of the serial killings. Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro.

Dead Calm. A couple out sailing are stuck in a dead calm when a stranger arrives in a blow-up boat with a strange tale of death and a deadly agenda.

Croupier. A roulette wheel dealer must decide whether to assist in the theft of the casino or do nothing or reveal the plot. Clive Owen.

Dolores Claibourne. A woman living with an abusive, alcoholic husband contemplates killing him during an upcoming eclipse. Kathy Bates, Jessica Jennifer Leigh.

The Edge. A highly clever billionaire travels with his entourage to the lodge in the great Canadian North. He becomes lost with the one person that would like to see him dead. Alec Baldwin, Anthony Hopkins.

Frantic. American tourist in Europe discovers his wife has been kidnapped and the authorities unwilling to believe him or help in searching. Harrison Ford.

The Princess & The Warrior. German film about two people with different lives - the girl is a care-aid at a medical facility, and the man is an army vet trying to pull off a heist - that intersect randomly and develop a strange love story.

When Night Falls on Manhattan. A young district attorney is assigned to a police shooting which turns out to be a widespread police corruption case.

Heat. A bank heist goes wrong for a career criminal.

Body Heat. A lawyer becomes involved in murder and love.

The Grifters. The mother and master grifter of a young con-artist tries to keep her son out of the business.

Raiders of the Lost Ark (THE TRILOGY). An adventurer/historian seeks lost treasure.

Criminal. Con-artists teach a up-and-coming grifter about the business of disloyalty.

Taken

Harry Brown

Generation Kill (miniseries)

13 Assassins

Inception

Restrepo

Book of Eli

The Kingdom

Body of Lies

True Grit (Cohens)

Ripley's Game.

FOREIGN

2007-05-01T15:41:00.000-07:00

These are my foreign movie recommendations, incomplete and in no particular order. They typically are not suitable for children. Assume a R rating for each one.

FOREIGN

Camille Claudel. A french, subtitled movie about a female sculptor in the nineteenth century who was an apprentice to the famous Rodin. Beautifully acted and filmed drama.

Wings of Desire. A German drama about an angel that falls in love with a human woman and wishes he were human in order to love her.

Cyrano de Bergerac. A classic French drama about a robust, poetic soldier with an enormous nose who uses a handsome double to serenade a woman with his poetry.

Ran. A Japanese drama, subtitled, about a medieval shogun whose children betray him for power. Powerful and intense story.

Das Boot. German, subtitled, a story about German submarine crew in world war two.

Troi Coloures: Bleu. Three Colors: Blue. French, subtitled, about a woman who copes after a tragic car accident. First movie in the trilogy. The colours symbolize loosely the three tenets of French nationalism: liberty, fraternity, and elegality.

Troi Coloures: Blanc. White. French, subtitled, a man rebuilds his life after being robbed. Second in the trilogy.

Troi Coloures: Rouge. Red. French, subtitled, a model returns an injured dog and develops a relationship with its elderly owner. Last of the trilogy.

The Delicatessen. French, subtitled, a black comedy set in a post apocalyptic world.

Working on The Movies Page

2007-04-21T10:31:00.000-07:00

I'm working on my movies page where I list some of the movies that have entertained me, simulated my imagination, or hit me like a runaway train. I have selected these movies in terms of film/cast quality, quality of writing/story, and originality (or bringing something original to a well-established genre).

I'm grouping my recomends in terms of genre: adventure/thriller/crime on one page; comedy on another; war & drama; and on the last page, minor genres: science fiction/fantasy/weird & documtentary.

I'm going to work on a classics page too.

Each film will have a small blurb and/or a link, so that you have an idea if it's for you, but I should emphasize that these films are to be considered R for Restricted, mostly for violence and language but nudity as well. Several are disturbing, I'll try to indicate which.

My choices in books and movies are similar in my gravitation to the strange and the disturbing. Iwonder if it's because I've become inured or desensitized to feeling disgust and shock and I need ... well, Kafka said it best about books but I think it applies for movies as well:

"Altogether, I think we ought to read only books that bite and sting us. If the book does not shake us awake like a blow to the skull, why bother reading it in the first place? So that it can make us happy, as you put it? Good God, we'd be just as happy if we had no books at all; books that make us happy we could, in a pinch, also write ourselves. What we need are books that hit us like a most painful misfortune, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves, that make us feel as though we had been banished to the woods, far from any human presence, like a suicide. A book must be the ax for the frozen sea within us. That is what I believe.”
–To Oskar Pollak, January 27, 1904

Is the ice around my heart-sea from too much violence/horror like callouses or scars or does it stem from the banality and dullness of suburbia? Kafka wrote books that do this to a reader. His short stories stab deep into the gut and twist. His novel The Trial is simply brilliant in it's ability to worm into your consciousness and break you up from the inside.

Anyway, let me know if you find a movie you hadn't seen before and really enjoyed.

Something to Watch .... finally

2007-04-17T11:21:00.000-07:00

There is an excellent series on PBS right now called America at a Crossroads which engages the dilema the US is facing with the Iraq War. It's an eleven part documentary series spread over six days. It's on tonight at nine, I believe. Two one hour episodes called The Gangs of Iraq and The Case for War.

I watched the two episodes yesturday, Warriors and Homecoming, one which followed six soldiers in Iraq just to see what their daily lives were like, long moments of boredom with flashes of chaos; the other looked at soldiers that had come home and put their experiences on paper as stories or poems, and it talked with other soldiers from other wars that had done the same. Both shows were excellent.

Hockey is on too, but whatever.

Killing is Easy....

2007-04-16T12:49:00.000-07:00

It doesn't take much to get yourself a semi-automatic assault rifle and kill a bunch of students. Just watching the cell-phone video and hearing the shots, I could tell it was a medium caliber assault maching pistol (Tek-9)/assault rifle (AR-15, M-16), most likely a 5.56 or 9mm. I'm assuming a rifle, as those pistols are very inaccurate. He was shooting in semi mode, picking people off. Of course, he could've had a shotgun before or after the video too; something like a Browning or Beretta autoloader. Maybe he's packing a cheap 9mm handgun for cleanup.

It's easy. You could buy the whole works at a gunshow for cash. Or maybe order it online from somewhere like Guns America or one of the many other buy/sell gun sites. I saw a local investigative report where a reporter did just that. For cash. No wait period.

It's no secret. There are sites that'll tell you how to turn your semi-auto into fully auto for those fire supression situations once the cops arrive. Then there's the silencer sites so you can put down a bunch of targets before they know what's happening. Then there's barricade & bomb construction, etc.

But why .. is what I can't figure. Hostages, demands.. I can see. Trying to make a statement or change something or call attention to something.. I can kind of understand it. But random killing then (perhaps) suicide makes no sense. My sense of Columbine was the same. Gus Van Sant's moving docu-drama Elephant doesn't really shed any light on WHY, and neither has any of the articles I've read about that particular shooting.

CNN has 31 deaths so far. One shooter (appearently). That in a pretty short time. He might have had a suppressed weapon. Or maybe he was a marine, like in Full Metal Jacket, Kubrick's masterful anti-war movie. From the screenplay, in boot camp:

Later they are grouped around [Sgt.] Gerheim. "Does
anyone known who Charles Whitman was?"
Blank faces.
"None of you dumbasses knows?"
Cowboy slowly raises his hand.
"Private Cowboy?"
"Was he the guy that shot a lot of people
from a roof?"
"That's right, Private Cowboy. He shot and
killed twelve people from a 28-story observation
tower at the University of Texas, from distances
of up to four hundred yards."
The recruits look impressed.
"Does anybody know who Lee Harvey Oswald
was?"
That's easy. Almost every hand goes up.
"Private Snowball?"
Private Snowball says, "He shot Kennedy, Sir!"
"That's right. And do you know how far away
he was?"
"It was pretty far. From that book
suppository building, sir!"
"Two hundred and fifty" feet. He was two
hundred and fifty feet away and shooting at a
moving target. He got off three shots with a bolt
action rifle in six seconds, and got two hits,
including a head shot. Do you know where those
men learned to shoot like that?"
No one knows. Joker raises his hand.
"Private Joker."
"In the Marines sir?"
"In the Marines. Outstanding! Now those
people did not put their Marine training to a good
purpose but they showed what a Marina with his
rifle can do, and before I am through you will all
be able to do the same thing."
Leonard stares at Gerheim.

Yeah, I know it's cavalier but look at their culture, look at their gun culture. Why are these weapons available? Why haven't things changed there since Columbine? The NRA/gun lobby?

Well, it didn't take long for CNN to cash in, huh. Paula Zahn's set up interviews for this afternoon. Cooper on 360 probably has his shit together. Like a well-oiled machine over there. I'd love to see their protocol/contingency pllans for disaster/tragedies, their immediate tactical plans, list of things to do/people to call, their plans probable scheduled at first by the minute, then half-hour, then hour for a 24/36/48/72 hour block depending on severity of 'incident.' O yeah, they're doing the usual feeding the news in slow bite-size increments in order to maximize viewership depth and longevity.

I just find the whole thing sad. Just happened in Seattle as well. And didn't we have our own little version of this in Canada? And who is to blame? You don't see this in Europe.

DVDs

2007-04-07T22:12:00.000-07:00

People ask me what kind of movies I like. And I usually say crime stories. But I'm also a huge sucker for stories of redemption where the hero/heroine rise allmost miraculously from an imposed or self-imposed 'hell' or low to save, heal, or help someone else in trouble. It is the Christ archetype or model. Apropos at Easter.

There was a sale on DVDs and I picked up a couple of crime classics:

The Godfather. Set in its period just after the second world war, the movie follows a mafia family as the old generation passes on its power and position to a newer generation, with the older gen epitomized by Don Corleone (Brando) and the younger gen by the son Micheal C. (Pacino). Long movie, but an excellent drama/crime story. Rated R.

Reservoir Dogs.Sparsely shot but intense story of a diamond robbery gone awry where the criminals are supposed to meet at a warehouse after the heist. Only a few make the meeting and the chaos of the derailed robery follows them to the warehouse, where each criminal suspects and accuses the other of betrayal. Rated R.

The Bad Lieutenent. Story of a corrupt cop (Harvey Keitel) who gambles and debauches himself into a pit of hopelessness, but just when he is at the utter bottom of his own hell, he manages to redeem himself and find some humanity and forgiveness within. It is a heart-wrenching movie that is hard to watch, but it touches me deeply for reasons that are my own. Rated NC-17. (warning: this one is not for everyone)

You can check considerably more eloquent reviews of these crime classics at

Roger Ebert Dot Com

which is one of the best sites on the net for length and depth of reviews and sheer volume of movies reviewed.

Blessed Easter.

Okay, Yet another space for the Sloth

2007-04-02T10:20:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty much out of control. How many spaces do I need you might ask. I'm going to try as many as I can, time allowing, then decide where to make my lair.

mph

Impending B-Day | Movie

2007-03-27T10:41:00.000-07:00

This week looks to be mildly busy but without much stress, despite the fact that it's my birthday on Sunday. Thirty-nine is not as bad as forty I suppose, but I do notice myself thinking about my life and my past/present/future more and more. I'm happy, in general, with the who, what, where, and why of me.

I don't have plans for this weekend. But maybe I'll scare up some excitement somehow. :) Maybe I'll run the US bordercrossing in the van -- aka the A-Team van -- wearing a turban and waving a plastic AK47 and yelling "jihad on bush!" "jihad on america!" -- that might raise an eyebrow.

I've been looking forward to seeing a movie called The Lookout which is due out on the 30th. I heard it's an above average crime story, and I dig crime stories.

I saw Shooter last week with Mark Wahlberg which is/was your basic revenge tale, a Hollyweird cash-cow plot that has been done and re-done since the late-seventies. Let me give some basics and see if you've heard it: hero comes back from war disillusioned, tries to redeem himself, gets screwed over, snaps, and gets some revenge big time. It's a convention. Like romantic comedies. Like sports movies.

The key to a good convention movie is in it's execution. For instance, First Blood and Firefox were crap (anything with Chuck Norris too), but Man on Fire was well-executed. The story/director must hit partiular notes to pull it off. Tony Scott (although I can't stand his cinematography and editing) is pretty skilled at hitting those notes.

Well, Shooter wasn't bad overall. The end was necessarily predictable, but it had lots of well coordinated and realistic (to a point) action. I didn't buy Wahlberg's character, however, a character called "Swagger" that had too much swager, too much 'look how cool I am' rather than the down-and-out hero or suffering hero. The script didn't develop him enough (it doesn't take much). So I'd give it a B/B-.

DRAMA

2007-01-03T15:00:00.000-08:00

These are my movie recommendations, incomplete and in no particular order. They typically are not suitable for children. Assume a R rating for each one.

THE DRAMAS

Short Cuts -- nine interlocking stories set in contemporary Los Angeles. 5/5

Raging Bull -- the story of a boxer, boxing, and the dark side of human excess. 5/5

Bringing Out the Dead. A Scorsese film about an ambulance driver in NYC's slums (Nick Cage) who is falling apart with guilt over not being able to save a little girl and tries to come to terms with the past. 3.5/5

Deer Hunter. Three best friends go to Vietnam and the war changes them. Epic beauty and sadness. (also in War Sect.) 4/5

Oleanna. A Mamet film about a teacher and his student and their struggle for power, control, and good understanding. 3.5/5

Dead Ringers. Cronenberg's strange film about twin doctors, who cannot escape each other. Both brothers are played by Jeremy Irons who does an incredible job playing a dominant and submissive pair. 4/5

Ordinary People. Oscar Winner about the effect of a brother's death on a young man and his parents. Hauntingly beautiful. 5/5

An Angel at My Table. Based on a true story. It's about an Australian girl who strives to become a writer despite a misdiagnosed condition. Excellent story. 4/5

The Lion in Winter. Three sons struggle and manipulate for the medieval Kingdom of their aging father and mother. O'Toole, Hopkins, Hepburn are brilliant. 3.5/5

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. An Albee play. Richard Burton and Taylor depict a middle-aged couple battling each other intermingling of love and hate. Incredible script and acting. 5/5

Lone Star. A complex mystery/drama about a sheriff in a small contemporary town in Texas on the border of Mexico. 4.5/5

Breaking the Waves. A story about a woman whose overpowering love allows her to sacrifice everything for her lover. 4/5

The Shawshank Redemption. A wrongly accused man is sent to jail where he adapts and becomes indespensible to the warden. 4.5/5

The Red Violin -- movie traces a rare violin through history, chronicling its different owners. Drama. 3.5/5

Damage. A politician has a torrid affair with his son's fiance to ruinous result. Great script and acting. 4/5

Awakenings. A catatonic man awakes from years of incapacity and revels in the beauty of life. Robin Williams & DeNiro are excellent. 3.5/5

Barfly. A surprising story about a drunk (Mickey Roark) who lives from drink to drink and writes poetry on the side. 3/5

Mac. This hard-to-find film is about three brothers in construction who get sick of working for others and open their own company. 3.5/5

A Room with a View. Based on the Forrester novel, this simple love story is unforgettable. 3/5

The Lover. This beautifully scripted and shot love story is about the coming of age of a young woman in southeast Asia. Highly erotic. 3.5/5

Three Seasons. An elegantly filmed romance between two Vietnamese in modern Vietnam as well as two other stories. Multiple independent award winner. 4/5

The Unforgiven. Haunting Western about a retired killer that comes out of retirement to kill for money. 4.5/5

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Classic story about family, love, resentment, inheritance, and being true to one's self. 3.5/5

Night of the Iguana. A drinking, lecherous priest takes a Mexican tour of older women to a rundown resort operated by an old flame. There he tries to find redemption. 3.5/5

Slacker. A roving camera moves around a suburban city, following people listening to their daily lives before moving on to another person, a celebration of existence. 4/5

The Loss of Innocence. Intersecting stories about the various ways a person loses their innocence during their journey through life. Beautiful and haunting, yet uneven. 3/5

Female Perversions. Follows a female lawyer and shows the various ways women are pressured by society to conform to a certain undeterminate model. 4/5

Tully. Two brother in a small farming town find out something surpring about their missing mother. 4/5

Glengarry Glen Ross. A star-studded film about telephone salesmen under pressure. 3.5/5

Barton Fink. A theatre writer goes to early Hollywood to write pulp movies only to get writer's block. A strange, surreal film. 4/5

What's Cooking?. Four stories about four families (Black, Jewish, Korean, Hispanic) having thanksgiving dinner. 4/5

Thirteen. This film captures the traumas of being a female teen. 3.5/5

Kids. A poignant drama about urban teens bored and searching for sex, parties, and trouble. 4/5

Adaptation. An original comedy-drama regarding a Hollywood writer adapting a book about orchids. (also Comedies) 4.5/5

Moonstruck. An woman of Italian descent falls in love with her fiancee's unpredictable brother. Romantic and funny. (also Comedies) 5/5

The Conversation. Hackman stars as a surveillance expert that monitors a conversation he was not supposed to and worries about his safety. Coppola captures the paranoid seventies. 4/5

Schindler's List. An opportunistic German citizen seizes a chance to save lives during WW2. 4/5

The Right Stuff -- The New space program looks for the best of the best to send into space. Excellent cast. 4/5

The Hustler. Paul Newman plays a pool player whose pride costs him everything. 3.5/5

12 Angry Men. Henry Fonda and other play a jury arguing a murder trial. 4/5

Moonlight Mile. A pending wedding is interrupted by tragedy leaving the fiancee and in-laws in an awkward space. 4/5

Cinema Paradiso. Foreign, Italian boy grows up going to the movies. 5/5

Changing Lanes. Two men have an accident on a freeway and it changes both their lives. Ben Afleck and Samuel Jackson. 3.5/5

Amadeus. Bio of the famous composer Mozart and his struggles to get his work completed. 4/5

On the Waterfront. The mob and waterfront union join to suppress workers; one stands up against them. 5/5

Monster's Ball. The lives of a black woman and a white man prison guard intersect in the South. Excellent, complex drama. 4/5

Sheltering Sky. A married couple travel to the African desert with a friend who loves the woman (Debra Winger). 3/5

English Patient. A mysterious burn victim during WW2 becomes the center of intersecting stories. Inspired film from an inspired book, romantic and beautiful. 4/5

Shadow of the Vampire. A film about the making of the 1938 Nosferatu vampire classic. Good acting, inventive story. 4/5

Tender Mercies -- drama, famous cowboy singer stops drinking & changes his life, leaving everything behind. 4/5

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. A sane criminal gets himself into the nuthouse and makes mischief amoungst the residents. 5/5

13 Conversations about One Thing. Star-studded cast fronts this film of intersecting stories about happiness and contentment. 3.5/5

The Mission. A missionary converting aboriginies in the South American returns to his military past to defend the indians from conquistadors. 4/5

Dead Poet's Society. Beautifully told story about a new prof that changes lives in a rich prep school. 4/5

Lawrence of Arabia. A British geogrpher leaves his paper to join and lead arab insurgents against imperialistic Turks. 5/5

Leaving Las Vegas. Having lost everything, an executivetravels to Las Vegas to drink himself to death. 3.5/5

9 1/2 Weeks. Erotic flirtations abound in this cult classic. 3/5

Shadowlands. Playing CS Lewis, Anthony Hopkins acts superbly as a man who finds and loses the love of his life to cancer. 3.5/5

Naked. Raw and uncompromising, the film follows a young man who believes in nothing. 3.5/5

Grand Canyon. -A tow-truck driver (Danny Glover) saves a man (Steve Martin) from trouble and they become friends. 4.5/5

Like Water for Chocolate. Spanish. Multi -generational story about a family and how food has marked each critical moment in the family history. 3.5/5

When a Man Loves a Woman. This story centers around a man trying to get his wife sober. 3.5/5

Titus. Shakespeare's vicious revenge play. 5/5

City of Hope. Multiple stories intersect in this film that revolves around a strained father-son relationship. (Sayles writes/directs, see Lonestar above) 4/5

Driving Miss Daisy. 4/5

The Green Mile. 3.5/5

Signs. 3/5

My Left Foot. 4/5

The Rapture. 3/5

The American President. A single father finds love in the white house. 4/5

Primary Colors. A presidential candidate campaigns through personal problems and dilemas which test his character and that of his 'team.' 3.5/5

Born on the Fourth of July. A young man goes to Vietnam and comes home disabled and confused. 4/5

Drugstore Cowboy. Thieves rob drugstores for drugs to party. 4/5

Running on Empty. Child finally finds out why his family never stays anywhere very long. 5/5

The Unbearable Lightness of Being -- drama, a torrid love affair in Czechslovakia leaves characters bitter sweet. 3.5/5

Howard's End. A love story in quiet, hesitant English society. 4/5

Remains of the Day. An English butler becomes fond of new housekeeper. 5/5

Empire of The Sun. A child loses his parents when Japan invades China, and he ends up in a camp struggling to survive. 5/5

Hiroshima, Mon Amour. French, subtitled, a french actress has an affair with a Japanese man, and they discuss each other's lives, beautiful writing. 4.5/5

Zentropa. German, subtitled, an American moves to Germany just after WWII, and gets a job on the trains. Strange movie. 3/5

COMEDY

2007-01-02T14:46:00.000-08:00

These are my movie recommendations, incomplete and in no particular order. They typically are not suitable for children. Assume a R rating for each one.

COMEDIES

Zero Effect -- about a PI who is the best in the world, yet cannot help being a paranoid, neurotic recluse. 3.5/5

Barton Fink. An acclaimed dramatist moves to Hollywood to make his fortune writing for the movies but ends up with writer's block when he tries to write. A strange, surreal, but funny film. (see Drama) 4/5

Much Ado About Nothing -- romantic comedy by Shakespeare set in medieval times. 4/5

Being There. A story about a man whose only knowledge about the world has come from television until he has to leave his cocoon. A great cast and superb writing/story have made this film a classic satire. 5/5

The Big Lebowski. Cohen movie about a California bum who is mistaken for someone else and becomes entangled in a kidnapping/murder plot; hilarious story played by a star-studded cast. 5/5

Unstrung Heroes -— story of a young boy growing up with an inventor father and two crazy uncles, the latter at which he stays one summer. Coming-of-age. 3.5/5

Freeway -- satire, a white trash girl with bad temper gets into trouble. 3.5/5

Antz -- an animated movie with astounding graphics and premier actors. 4/5

Tampopo -- subtitled, a Japanese widow wants to open a noodle restaurant. Comedy. 5/5

Life is Beautiful -- subtitled, an Italian Jew in pre-Nazi occupied Italy meets and marries his wife, comedy/drama. 4/5

Shakespeare in Love -- a young Shakespeare tries to write Romeo and Juliet but then is inspired by love. 5/5

The Fisher King -- a radio show host feels condemned for inciting a homicidal psychotic on his show until he meets the man whose family was killed, about imagination and redemption. 4/5

High Fidelity. A unique and very funny story about an elitist record store owner trying to re-acquaint with his top ten ex-girlfriends. 4.5/5

Down and Out in Beverly Hills. A Hollywood bum (Nick Nolte) is saved by a rich family and is invited to live with them in their home. 4/5

Old School. Three thirtysomething buddies open a frat house. 4/5

Briget Jones' Diary. A British comedy about a thirty year old girl trying to juggle various pressures from boss, work, parents, and the lack of a love-life. 3.5/5

Adaptation. An original comedy-drama regarding a Hollywood writer adapting a book about orchids. Excellent acting and script. 4.5/5

Moonstruck. An woman of Italian descent falls in love with her fiancee's unpredictable brother. Romantic and funny. 5/5

Dr. Strangelove. A classic satire about the paranoia and madness during the Cold War. Kubrick and Peter Sellers at their best. (also in War Section) 5/5

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. Steve Martin tries to get home on a snowy Thanksgiving holiday. 5/5

Working Girl. A classic comedy from the eighties about a secretarytrying to climb the corporate ladder. 3.5/5

Going South. Hilarious comedy about a horse thief (Jack Nicholson) that is forced to marry or hang for his crimes (Danny Devito, Chistopher Lloyd) 5/5

The Delicatessen. A french film. A black comedy set in an apartment building in a post-apocalyptic Paris. (also Foreign Sect.) 3.5/5

Say Anything. A high-school graduate falls for a quirky classmate and tries to work out what to do with her life. John Cusack is superb. 4/5

Tommy Boy. A boss' son (Farley) goes on sales tour with his wisecracking partner to save the family company. Simply... a classic. 4/5

Caddyshack. A golfcourse caddy must kiss various butts and win a tourney to get scholarship. Chevy Chase, Murray, Dangerfield, and Baxter make this a must see. 5/5

The Player. A satiric look at the Hollywood machine that churns out one crappy genre picture after another as it chews up executives and spits them out. Sharp and witty. 4/5

O Brother Where Art Thou?. Three escaped convicts on the lamb travel across 1930's South toward a buried treasure. Another Cohen masterpiece. 5/5

Young Frankenstein. A hilarious spoof on monster movies by Mel Brooks with Gene Wilder, Gene Hackman, and Peter Boyle. 5/5

Secondhand Lions. Two old bachelors take in a young boy without a father. Duvall and Caine. 3.5/5

A Fish Called Wanda. Thieves and thugs screw up extortion schemes. The monty python cast headline this film with Jamie Curtis and Kevin Cline as a hilarious paranoid assassin. 4/5

Do the Right Thing. Spike Lee's debute film, a series of comic stories set in Harlem. A brilliant independent picture. John Turturro is great as an Italian pizzaria worker in black harlem. 3.5/5

Good Morning Vietnam. Based on a true story. A radio host arrives in Vietnam and jump-starts a dreary military radio station with his comedy. 3.5/5

The Accidental Tourist. A beautiful film about loss and love. A damaged man becomes intrigued with a woman who helps him with his dog. 4.5/5

Amelie. French film. A young woman in Paris becomes intrigued by a 'secret admirer' and tries to discover who he is. A quirky, very original, and very romantic comedy. 4/5

Animal House. A hilarious comedy about a frat house full of malcontents and slackers bent on partying and cheating their way through school. Great movie, and an inspiration to my scholastic life. 4/5

Risky Business. This film shows a young Tom Cruise being left alone at home in the suburbs as his parents travel to Europe for a vacation; he tries and fails to resist the temptations of having the house to himself. 3/5

Ferris Bueller's Day Off. The classic comedy about a highschool student (a charming Matt Broadrick) skipping school with his girlfriend and bestfriend to hang out and have fun. 4/5

My Favourite Movies... Recommended Rentals

2007-01-01T22:16:00.000-08:00

These are my movie recommendations, incomplete and in no particular order. Mostly dramas and dramatic comedies. They typically are not suitable for children. Assume a R rating for each one.

THE COMEDIES

THE DRAMAS

CRIME

L.A. Confidential. An elaborately casted and filmed crime thriller about police corruption in Los Angeles in the fifties.

Bound -- a thriller about two women who try to rob a lot of money from organized crime with sex, murder, and smarts.

Jackie Brown -- Tarantino tells a smooth tale about crime, criminals, and money, where a bail-bondsman walks a tightrope with a career criminal and arms dealer (Samuel Jackson).

The Bad Lieutenant -- the descent and suffering of a corrupt, addicted policeman.

The Last Seduction. A beautiful woman with no conscience seeks power and money, using her sex appeal to manipulate men into her con games.

House of Games. David Mamet's complex movie about con-men who scam for a living, told from the perspective of a psychologist who is given a back-door past into the confidence world.

One False Move. A suspenseful crime thriller about three killers driving across southern United States toward a small town where a naive sheriff and two FBI wait for their arrival.

Chinatown. A classic post-noir mystery set in Los Angeles in the fifties. A private investigator (Jack Nicolson) becomes entangled in a murder and money scheme.

A Simple Plan -- three men find millions in a wrecked airplane nobody else knows about.

Silence of the Lambs -- a young FBI woman helps conduct an investigation into a serial killer.

Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer -- an intimate look at the day to day existence of a serial killer.

FOREIGN

Camille Claudel. A french, subtitled movie about a female sculptor in the nineteenth century who was an apprentice to the famous Rodin. Beautifully acted and filmed drama.

Wings of Desire. A German drama about an angel that falls in love with a human woman and wishes he were human in order to love her.

Cyrano de Bergerac. A classic French drama about a robust, poetic soldier with an enormous nose who uses a handsome double to serenade a woman with his poetry.

Ran. A Japanese drama, subtitled, about a medieval shogun whose children betray him for power. Powerful and intense story.

Das Boot -- German, subtitled, a story about German submarine crew in world war two.

Blue -- french, subtitled, about a woman who copes after a tragic car accident. First movie in the trilogy.

White -- french, subtitled, a man rebuilds his life after being robbed. Second in the trilogy.

Red -- french, subtitled, a model returns an injured dog and develops a relationship with its elderly owner. Last of the trilogy.

The Delicatessen -- french, subtitled, a black comedy set in a post apocalyptic world.

ASSORTED

Lord of The Rings Trilogy. JRR Tolkien's wonderous books about the struggle of the good against overpowering evil.

The Exorcist. Horror movie about a child that becomes possessed by a demon and must be exorcised.

The Omen. A horror about a child of a politician that is actually the son of Satan.

Volcano: The Life of Malcolm Lowry. A documentary about the alcoholic writer, narrated in part by Richard Burton.

Pearl Harbor is really bad

2001-06-08T20:52:00.000-07:00

"Pearl Harbor" was not as bad as I thought it would be, it was worst. I think it was the worst writing I have ever witnessed in a movie, not because the dialog was bad and full of cliches, not because the love story overwhelmed what the movie was supposed to be about, not because that love story was a superficial love triangle that insulted the intelligence, and not because the story was so superficially neat and perfect, celebrating good-looking swashbuckling heroes that survive rather than the ordinary sailors and soldiers that died -- no, not because of these very good reasons to despise the film, I think it's the worst because it wants you to believe it and take it seriously and it takes three hours to finish which is three hours too long.

I watched a movie I had rented before. The movie is called Bliss. It's about a man who tries to cure his wife's sexual and mental difficulties with sex, a type of therapeutic lovemaking or conscious sex that brings her to a state of bliss. The movie is one of the few movies about sex that treats the subject with thoughtful integrity. Reminded of it, I have to remember to put it on my favorite movies list. It's a beautiful movie, romantic and sad.

My mother has been in a kind of strange mood lately, so I took her out to lunch today. We went to this restaurant she likes called Henry's Landing. We shared an appetizer and an entree, and the waitress serving us had one of the most exquisite and erotic smiles my eyes have ever witnessed. When she smiled I nearly jumped out of my skin. She was married of course, or maybe the ring was an anti-man repellent, but regardless it drove me mad with desire and that sadness that marks an encounter with unattainable beauty, a beauty that even if one possessed it, and one wouldn't want to for fear of losing it, it still would not be enough, would not be close enough, because the flesh always separates the soul from pure beauty.

I finished Terry Brooks' The Sword of Shannara.

Sixers Win

2001-06-04T21:35:00.000-07:00

They are finally showing the sixers on television. It was the seventh game of the series with Milwaukee yesterday, and what an awesome game. Philadelphia won. Now they have to somehow find a way to defeat Los Angeles, a team that has looked unbeatable. It promises to be quite a show. If Milwaukee had defeated the Sixers, I don't think they would have had much of a chance to beat the Lakers, but the Sixers have the defense and the rebounding to keep it close. The series starts Wednesday at 6 p.m., so I'm going to try to get a couple of friends over to watch it. Wish me luck. Earl's very married. And Devon's wife just gave birth to a baby girl, Isabella.

I'm supposed to go to "Pearl Harbor" tonight, and I loath to go, knowing somewhat what to expect: vapid triteness and good actors embarrassing themselves with melodrama of such galactically hysterical proportions that it makes vaudeville look like serious art. I mean, Alex Baldwin is an accomplished actor, so why would he agree to do this movie. Cuba Gooding, I can understand. But is this the same Alex Baldwin who does such a good job in Glenn Garry Glenn Ross? Now I have to sit through three hours of mind numbing drivel.

I just came back from my first visit to the new library. It's large so it seems very sparse. That word, "very," creeps into my sentences all the time. It's a pointless word. Either the place appears sparse or not, adding "very" doesn't help me visualize it any better. I took out a couple of books, of course -- Numbers in the Dark by Italo Calvino; and Steering the Craft by Ursula le Guin, about writing. I like to read books about writing, they inspire me for some reason, almost like an injection of amphetamines straight into the cerebral mainline. The jazz. But it's an artificial tonic. What I need to do is develop my own music, my own momentum and rhythmic swing, pushing higher and higher until it cranks over three hundred and sixty and keeps cranking over like the camshaft of an engine, the momentum doing much of the work. One gets that from actual writing, the story builds its own momentum but it's hard to begin and even harder to keep dutifully attentive to what you are being asked to write.

They had some books for sale. I picked up The Outsider aka The Stranger by Albert Camus for 30 cents. I thought at the time I might read it again, but now I'm not so sure.

Ghost Dog

2001-06-01T14:42:00.000-07:00

In my saturnine stupor yesterday, I almost ruined my page by mistakenly saving a blank page over my hypertext. That would have sucked.

I received in the mail a book I ordered a couple of weeks ago. The book's called Hagakure: The Way of the Samurai. A movie I recently watched, "Ghost Dog," involves a contract killer who thought of himself as a samurai warrior in the traditional sense. Sections of the "Hagakure" are read aloud throughout the film almost as a running commentary on the action. Having always been interested in oriental culture and philosophy, I was intrigued and I ordered the book from the largest used bookstore in the world, Powells Bookstore in Portland (for their website, just add a .com to their name). I ordered it delivered surface mail (the cheapest) so I was surprised to see it arrive so soon. Now all I have to do is find time to read it.

Collecting Easton Press

2001-05-29T10:07:00.000-07:00

I am considering updating my video rental page. A daunting task. I was down in Bellingham last week bookshoping, and with the money I received from my aunt in California for my birthday (April 1), I picked up a couple of leather Easton Press books — The Decameron by Boccaccio; The Tale of Two Cities by Dickens. I adore beautiful books, the look and feel of them. I also found a couple of books I had been looking for, the aforementioned The Book of Embraces and The Horseman On The Roof by Jean Giono. I also bought Jazz by Toni Morrison.

A nasty tempest yesterday and scintillating weather today. Writing briefly about fantasy literature yesterday stirred my desire to read some and possibly write some (I must must must begin working on my novel's second draft), so I hunted down Terry Brooks' The Sword of Shannara and began to read it. It's a little cliche and the prose is quite simple but his use of active verbs and dynamic description both make the narrative move smoothly. His action scenes are particularly smooth which draws the reader in by being almost invisible. A net friend sent me the Webster Dictionary on CD, but it won't load properly.

Am I the only one who cannot stand the Los Angeles Lakers? Get this, I could not find one channel that carried the Philadelphia/Milwaukee basketball games so far. It's the NBA semifinals for crying out loud. I could not believe it. Go Sixers.

Reading | The Evils of Christianity

2001-05-28T15:33:00.000-07:00

I updated my reading page with some of the titles of books I've been reading the last couple of months. It's a rather eclectic list, I'm afraid. But if anyone has any questions about them, please do not hesitate to ask since books are a large part of my life, an important part.

I've always been a strong fantasy literature enthusiast ever since I was old enough to understand Charlie and The Chocolate Factory and other similarly fantastic stories. I remember devouring Howard's Conan the Barbarian books and the other authors that kept the character alive, notably Sprague de Camp who had a beautiful way of describing violent settings and characters. Then I fell in love with Tolkien and CS Lewis and the John Carter of Mars books by Edgar Rice Burroughs. So when Terry Brooks comes out with a new novel, I usually read it.

The Le Carre book was an experiment, my dad admires him and I wanted to see what was the big deal. I still don't know.

And you're probably thinking, "three Stephen King novels?" -- well, I think he's a pretty good writer but beyond that he is one of the few authors that can really make me laugh. I appreciate that. Maybe I relax more reading his work, and it makes me more receptive to humor, I'm not sure.

My browser, Netscape, does not seem to want to translate the two spaces I place after each sentence, so I apologize for the density of text. I'll keep trying to change it. It's probably one of those bobby traps set by the Microsofts of the world designed to make you use their hypertext editors.

This friend of mine and I went out to a coffeehouse today. First, we went to the video store, because I wanted to rent a couple of movies for the coming week (the weather is miserable today). I rented the following -- "The Big Kahuna," "The Cradle Will Rock," and "Deuce Bigalowe: Male Gigolo." I know, I know, it's shameless.

At the coffeehouse, my friend started to rant about all the evils Christianity and religion have provoked over the years. I'm not sure if I incited her or what, but it took me aback. Like slow down and chill, it's not Jesus' fault psychotic people over the years have found in religion and its misinterpretation a handy excuse to kill, rape and pillage. The "good news" in the new testament is that love saves and has saved. Anyway, I didn't know what to say. Gentleness will penetrate the hardest substance, as the ancient Chinese proverb goes.

I'm in a baseball fantasy pool (Yahoo) this year. Earl talked me into it. Ironically I began the season not knowing anything about the game, and frankly finding the game quite boring. But after just a couple of months, I have become fairly knowledgeable, and I have been in first place in the pool almost from the beginning. I was in a basketball fantasy pool last year, and I ended up in next-to-last place, just above Earl. It was a pathetic showing certainly, but next year will be different.

Now, of course, I like baseball.

Last Temptation of Christ

2001-05-27T18:55:00.000-07:00

I'm going to try doing it by hand. I'm not enamored with hypertext, but I feel compelled to keep my journal going. Several visitors have come by and emailed. Not to mention the self-expression factor. Writing about myself, people, and ideas I care about always feels good, like settling down into a big chair in front of a fire with a good novel you're dying to read, like getting into a zone during a basketball game.

A lot has happened and not happened in the last few months. I of course finished the course, the philosophy of mind, my last entry talks about. I ended up with an A, quite unexpectedly, but pleasantly received. With that, I graduated with my Bachelor in English Literature. This spring I've done quite a bit of tutoring in writing and literature comprehension. I started to rewrite my fantasy novel with a new angle in mind. I've read about 10 or more books, not including the continuation of my mission to read all of Shakespeare's plays -- I've completed the Histories and Comedies, and I'm now halfway through the Tragedies (starting Hamlet) -- and also not including poetry and short stories. I've rented and have gone to see a plethora of movies. I was severely sick the last two weeks of March and most of April with a bladder infection (see the movie "The Green Mile" for a visual of what that feels like) which was at first mis- diagnosed and mis- prescribed. I'm fine now. And I've handwritten about 7 or more long letters, which to be honest has been my principal form of self-expression the last few months, for even my personal journal has suffered abandonment.

I had a dream the other day that I hadn't thought about until I was just outside reading The Book of Embraces by Eduardo Galeano, an enchanting book comprised of a different prose poem on each page accompanied with an illustration. The book was indirectly recommended by a friend of mine, Graeme, who lives in Chicago and with whom I correspond regularly. Anyway -- the dream. I should contextualize it by saying that in the last month I've twice seen a coyote run past my window when I've been on my computer and that coyotes are common around this area despite its suburban location mainly because the yards are still quite large, mostly one or two acres.

The dream starts with me going out the open front door in my wheelchair (making this dream already notable since I usually am not in wheelchair in my dreams). Outside the front, I look across our large, green front yard and see a huge coyote, so big and so rough looking, I thought, in the dream, that it had to be prehistoric. As soon as I saw it, it looked at me and stared. It crouched slightly then began to bound across the yard towards me. My father appeared at the doorway and saw the coyote running towards me and then ran back inside. I remember thinking that he wasn't abandoning me. He was getting help. But I wasn't sure about my assertion. I had seen his face, and it had registered terror and cowardice. I turned back to the coyote. Then it lunged with its paws outstretched and teeth bared. I close my eyes and lifted my arm to defend myself, but the coyote mis- judged the leap and it jumped over me. As it passed over, my arm hit its hind legs and I heard it yelp. I turned around and saw it stop, turn around, and leap at me again. I knew it was going to kill me, and I wondered, just before its teeth sunk into my neck, if my father was coming to help me or not. I woke up immediately, I think.

It was a very strange dream. Very Native Indian, I suppose. The coyote plays a principal role in their mythology. I wonder if dreams are just dreams, or if they are a product of our subconscious desires and fears, or if they are a message from beyond the invisible bubble that envelops our reality. But supposedly we dream several times a night. I don't think each could be a message. I don't know, it's a mystery, as Mr. Henslowe says so appropriately in the movie "Shakespeare in Love".

I finished a book yesterday. The Last Temptation of Christ by Kazantzakis touched me deeply as it engaged in many of the ideas that I struggle with in my journey towards death, ideas like the reconciliation between the terrifying God of justice one sees in the Old Testament and the God of gentleness and mercy one sees and Christ. The book is very expressive in the literal and esthetic sense of that word, and in the characters and their intense striving, I can see how Kazantzakis' study of Russian literature and existential philosophy influenced his fictional writing. The physical book itself has some history. My late grandfather read the book decades ago, and when he died, my father inherited several of the books that were in decent enough condition to keep. I can just see my grandfather reading this book, arguing, as I did, with the ideas it puts forward, struggling with the tension between the historical and the fictional, laughing at the expressive humor and humanity of the too human disciples and apostles so similar to himself, and feeling the tenderness and melancholy of sacrifice and the inability of humanity to shed its earthy cloak and flower without light. Yes, reading the same book that he did made me think of him, and this morning, after church, my father and I took our traditional drive down to the coffeehouse, and while we were there I brought the conversation around to his father. We talked about the different families. I could see my sadness in his eyes. I wish he was still around.

Book Hunting

2000-09-17T19:14:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy couple of days.

Friday I stayed home all day and read about 120 pp. of my nonfiction writing course and philosophy course (I have to summarize the first half of this philosophy text in written form for Tuesday, which I should be doing now). I sat outside on the deck, the sky partly cloudy, clouds streaming past on a blue Ocean sky. That night, since my Dad wasn't home, I took my mom out for dinner at La Masia, a Spanish (like from Spain) restaurant I frequent.

Saturday even though I think I had a (hopefully) transient stomach flu, I spent the day book hunting with Earl in Bellingham. I wanted to take this one book in to Hendersons to see how much the owner would give me for it. The book is a beautiful leather edition of Zelazny's The Nine Princes of Amber or something like that. He wouldn't give me enough, so I brought home. Earl gave me some gas money in the form of a book he pulled out to sell to the Henderson owner; I told him I wanted it, and we arranged the trade. The book is an out of print, paperback edition of Contemporary Literary Theory: A Christian Appraisal. I also picked out a volume of Andre Gide's Journals and a novel by French writer called Bataille, Blue of Noon. Later that day, while I was out and about, my cousin and her boyfriend came over to stay a night. They've been hitchhiking across and around Canada, and they had some great stories about the different places and the different people they met.

Today I went to church for the first time in a while. It was good to go. My spirit deflates from all the blows it receives from my own weaknesses and from the steady bombardment of appetites and instant gratification projected at me from popular culture. I met this lady at church, the mother of an old high school friend Frank, and I asked her about Frank, how he's doing, etc.. She said, things are going better for Frank, and I knew exactly what she was talking about.

Frank was one of those guys who needed to be part of a social group so badly that he tried too hard. One could almost read the need on his face. And of course the exaggerated effort labeled him a goof ball. Youngest of the family of 5, I remember his older brother ignoring him completely and his sister being really mean. His father was an idiot too, a strict Dutchman with a temper. After high school, I have a feeling Frank had no friends whatsoever. He started to drink at bars, and eventually got into trouble with the law. Now he's divorced and struggling with alcoholism. A hard life. Some would say he made his own bed, but I doubt he asked to be born into a family that treated him like a piece of shit. It could have happened to me. To anyone not yet born.

My Vanity | Reading

2000-09-13T20:11:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what is happening to me, but my last entry seemed to me, upon re-reading it, utterly childish. I must apologize to myself, and to anyone reading. Trust me, I gave graduate from high school.

About four-fifths through the onerous reading assignment (about 200 pages of literary essays) I mentioned in my last entry, I stopped my frantic reading and my consciousness forced me to examine what I was doing, or rather how I was doing it. I was reading, sure, but I was skimming through huge sections of text, many of the essays were about writing and art, a topic I usually enjoy to read about, but I had to finish the assignment. My competitive nature and my need to show off -- a particular trait of mine I'm not proud of -- were compelling me it forward.

A brief digression about my competitive and alternately vain nature. Since grade school I can remember reading my report card which always contained average grades and excellent writing ups regarding my behavior. I remember how much these comments pleased me and gave me the feeling that I was special, that I was somehow better than my degenerate school mates.

Those initial shots of vanity influence me throughout high school, and I can remember the difficulty of balancing the appearance of "coolness" which usually meant appearing and acting in a rebellious way, balancing that with being an average but conscientious student who got along with the teachers themselves. And even now, having graduated with my second Bachelor's Degree, I am still conscious of what professors think of me, but now of course it has spread to the rest of the class, mainly because, unlike high school, it is "cool" to be smart in University.

So this trait was one of the factors propelling me through this book of essays. But I stopped suddenly. The assignment was crazy. Shouldn't a writing class try to instill a love of language and an appreciation for the written word? We were being asked to disrespect all these carefully put together words and sentences by skimming through page after page, sometimes only reading the first sentence in a paragraph, sometimes both the first one and the last one. For some classes it's inevitable, but for a writing class the assignment struck me as counterproductive at least.

I imagined being at a university like Harvard, taking a writing course from a famous professor/writer, perhaps a Nobel Prize winner, and being given an assignment like this: read the last half of this book in a day and a half. A day in a half later, he or she would ask a show of hands for who finished the readings. Several would lift their hands, pride shining on their faces, their heads and eyes swivelling onto colleagues who hadn't finished. Then the professor would say, "okay, anyone with their hands up can leave, if you don't care about the written word enough to refuse me and stand up for it, for the integrity of art, you don't have the passion to write, try again next semester." Now that would be something to see, a professor with that kind of passion for language and for other people's work.

Needless to say, I stopped reading right there. But the professor today did not say anything of the kind -- hardly anybody finished anyway. I wonder if I'm the only one thinking this way. Am I obsessed? I wasn't disappointed because I didn't have my hopes up. I've always wished -- and by always I mean since grade eight -- I could have gone to a Ivy League University, where the professors are simply outstanding.

A Good Semester?

2000-09-11T20:07:00.000-07:00

I attended my first Creative Writing Nonfiction course today. It looks like a lot of writing and it looks like it's going to be a fun class, not least for the fact that there are several extremely nice looking girls in there. Several friends are taking the same course too. I know several people and my philosophy too, so it should be a good semester.

For Nonfiction, we were asked to read half a book by Wednesday. A little oppressive I think, but I know what she's doing, most of the other professors do not assign any real work in the first week of classes, so she figures we have all the time in the world (oops, cliche) to read. We do, or least I do, but two hundred pages in a day and a half is a bit much.

The rain cleared up a little today and the sun vaporized the rest of the white fluffy clouds. I went out there to be bathed in light. It felt great, like pure energy. I am solar powered.

The barbecue yesterday was a semi disaster. I knew it would be tough to get some of the guys together, but I didn't think it would be that tough. Several of them have their lives completely controlled by their girlfriends/wives. Devo had his in-laws over on the weekend, and there was no escape for him on penalty of death. Kevin and Earl had to visit their in-laws. Kevin phoned to cancel as the barbecue was happening. Drew had to go -- get this -- to a Tupperware party with his girlfriend given by his girlfriend's best friend. He couldn't get out of it. Brian had to spend time with his family, because he's been working long hours (okay, this is a good reason). Nigel had a family thing (it's his birthday on Wednesday, which is another good reason). Trevor didn't call and didn't show up. Steve was putting together a roller hockey team. Etc. etc.

So the football pool is a no go. Big fucking surprise. I wonder if it's just me who enjoys socializing, talking, eating, and drinking -- having a good time together. I don't know. I get sick and tired of pushing and maintaining friendships, yet what would I do without them.

I was looking through Don Quixote de la Mancha again for my review. I cannot believe what an awesome book it truly is. It's definitely in the top twenty of the books I've read. And I was looking over my reading list the other day, thinking to myself, you know, I haven't read a really bad novel in years, I guess it's just because I don't start novels unless I know something about them or about the author or about their importance in the Canon. And it's true, one of those traits that scream: anal retentive. But it's also about time management. Books take time. My reading begins to sound like a disaster area, triage: this book could be read but you don't have the time to waste; this book should be (or, would be nice to) read eventually but it's not urgent; this book must be read now otherwise I will either never read it or it has been put off long enough or I need books to take in to trade for other books so I should read it. The image of a train wreck crystallizes with one look at my bookshelves.

Addiction and Guilt

2000-09-09T20:04:00.000-07:00

Human nature is a weird thing. I drink an insipidly addictive combination of hot chocolate and coffee called a mocha. About three cups a day, which is three cups too many. I'm allergic to chocolate and coffee, and mocha just kills me, my stomach twists like a weasel on amphetamines, I get the shakes, and it makes me really drowsy. So this morning I get up with the thought: "Today I go without. I can do it." And I keep repeating this mantra to myself until I'm completely up and around. I go to the kitchen, thinking "drink tea, just drink tea, no big deal" and as soon as my mother asks if I would like something to drink, because she's in there already I say "sure, give me a mocha." It's like my mind suddenly shortcircuited. It was like a flash of mindlessness. I've had that before, many times. I'm out with a couple of buddies and we're drinking. I know I've had enough, but somebody, the waitress or a friend, asks me if I'd like another, and before I realize it, I've said yes. It's really weird, how our minds work, how little control we have despite thinking the opposite.

Dostoevsky's novels are full of characters pulled in two directions. Like Crime and Punishment which is full of guilt and a desire to confess to a murder, despite receiving a pleasure out of getting away with murder, and enjoying the guilt as well. The ambiguous pleasures of loving and hating at the same time and self-consciously knowing it and enjoying or despising that knowledge. The ambiguous discourse between love and hate is at the center of Dostoevsky's characters in "The Idiot" -- love, hate, and the nature of innocence.

Subconsciously, on some perverse level, I myself enjoy my weaknesses and enjoy feeling guilty about them, perhaps because they are like habits and something is better than nothing, and perhaps because I feel -- while knowing otherwise -- that my guilt absolves me. I'm hyperbolic again, but just ask me about writing guilt.

It's cold and raining today. I started a new novel a couple of days ago, so instead of my original plans to go downtown to an outside vintage car show, I'm staying inside reading, listening to music, and sporadically watching television (there's nothing on as usual). The novel I've begun is called The Four Wisemen by Michel Tournier. I've read a couple of his novels before: The Ogre and Friday, or the Other Island -- both excellent. Tournier's novels often depict historical novels (Robinson Crusoe), historical events (World War II), or historical people (Joan d'Arc) in a slightly altered light, often with humor and irony. "The Four Wisemen" is about the three wisemen who travel to see the birth of Jesus Christ, except in Tournier's version they all have alternate motives for being on the road and there's a fourth. I'm about halfway, and it's enjoyable.

For tomorrow I planned a football pool barbecue, but about half of the people I called and invited cannot come. No big deal. I'm going to serve smoked salmon with cream cheese on crackers, chips, and lots of beer. Depending on how many people come, I may serve steaks and green salad with this wicked wine vinegar and garlic dressing. It's kind of too late to start a pool, as the season has already started, but who cares, it's a good excuse to get together.

Seizure

2000-09-05T19:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, my computer sabotaged yesterday's entry. It was pretty long too. I don't understand why I can't seem to buy a computer that doesn't seize when I have just written something that I want to save, and think of saving, but do not save. Ever. It's the worst feeling. Suddenly nothing moves. The world falls down through the bottom of your stomach. Curling like a bladed kidney stone in your guts.

I think I wrote something about Sunday which I spent with Rob and his brother Chris. We went to Chapters/Starbucks for something to drink and to browse around before going out into the real world to do some serious drifting. We looked like three three-toed sloths on the make.

I encountered something funny at Chapters though. The whole store seems to be undergoing some type of restructuring or renovation. Easing through the popular fiction sections -- science-fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery, romances -- I look up suddenly for some reason and there, nestled between the mystery and the romance section, I spot the literary criticism and essays section. I chuckled. If only those high brow authors and scholars knew where their books were placed --

Yeah, I'm not hard to entertain. After the bookstore we zipped over to the mall, which was packed, and slouched around for a little while Rob hunted down some forsaken Country and Western CD he's been pining for since before the wheel was invented. Some people have no taste. I mean, I'm sorry, this New Country bites. If I'm going to listen to country -- they'll be serving ice water in hell first, of course -- I'm going to listen to Johnny Cash or Hank Williams.

I'm almost finished Jeanette Winterson's book of essays. It's a bit draining. Her opinions on art seem to waiver and seem to contradict themselves but not quite, I find it exhausting. I also find exhausting people telling me how to write, especially when I don't agree with their opinion, and yet some of what they say makes sense. She thinks plot or story in novels is obsolete. Style and language are the most important elements in fiction. Standard elements like plot and characterization are 19th-century conventions that authors, TV, and movies have worn out. But then she says that the beautiful thing, the essential characteristic of art, is its timelessness, that we can be moved by Shakespeare or Homer or Virgil. But isn't it the stories that move us? Not the style, not the language, not words, but the stories. It's the reason translations from another language move us. One of the most moving books I've ever read is Kafka's The Trial.

Whatever. The book makes me think and question my assumptions. I like that.

Today I went to the University bookstore to get my books for Philosophy of Mind -- I must have had a seizure just at the moment I selected this course, because the course number alone -- Philosophy 490 -- strikes darksome fear and dread. The books were outrageously expensive. Like a tub of Vaseline should have been included, thank you very much. Check these titles out and see if you don't go white from all the blood fleeing your extremities to take shelter behind your ribs: The Absent Body, Whatever Happened to the Soul?, and Kinds of Minds.

The other course I've signed up for, "Writing Nonfiction", is all booked up and I'm on a waiting list that stretches into eternity. I'm considering another course called "The Early English Novel" -- where we would get to read massive novels, and pay for the privilege!

If I sound cynical in this entry, it's because I'm just waiting for my computer to seize again. Oh yeah, come on baby, I just dare you, you want a piece of this, come on let's go.

Winterson's Writing

2000-09-03T19:37:00.000-07:00

I suddenly became industrious yesterday, writing a couple of poems and half of a short story. The two poems are about labor, it being the labor day weekend. The first poem tentatively titled "Work" (yeah, original) is a medium length narrative musing on the solidity and order of completed work. Like when you finish something and feel good about it. The other poem is about the German phrase "Arbiet Macht Frei" which means "Work Will Set You Free" which hung on the gates of the Nazi concentration camps, i.e. Dachau. A particularly chilling phrase.

I revised said poems today, and continued reading Jeanette Winterson's book of essays Art Objects which has some beautiful things to say about art, how we should read, and collecting books (she likes to collect signed first editions from the modern period, 1900-45?). She also has an extended diatribe on the greatness of Virginia Woolf, inspiring me to put her on my reading list, particularly the difficult but, according to Winterson, virtuoso The Waves. I must admit the only Virginia Woolf novel I've read is her well-known To the Lighthouse which I enjoyed, especially the beautiful interlude between the first and second part of the novel, such beautiful language describing the agelessness of time and the seasons.

I finished Winterson's Novel Art and Lies. The novel tells the story of three people: an ex-priest and ex-surgeon, Handel, who embarks on a trip away from the city to the eastern coast of Britain; a female painter called Sophia and nicknamed Picasso who also takes the same train as Handel, escaping an abusive family; and the mythical poet Sappho who, you guessed it, also rides the train, a mysterious character that sometimes seems corporeal sometimes not, also perhaps following Picasso who she once saved from death. The novel alternates between these characters, but the stories of the characters connect in mysterious ways. If it seems confusing, it is.

But it's a short novel, and I just continued on reading hoping that it would all of makes sense somehow. And it does, sort of. As usual Winterson left me breathless with some of her passages. She also made me wince with some of her mini-sermons. The tone of the novel oscillates from lightness to heaviness. Images of light, painter, and sex pervade the novel which is written in a poetic, associative language that moves and multiplies itself into plentitude.

I enjoyed the novel, and it created its own reality which is something I look for in a novel (something I picked up from Winterson), but its reality lacked a cohesiveness and left me confused without remedy. I don't mind reading books over to understand them better, like for instance, I had to read Faulkner's The Sound and The Fury three times to begin to understand what had happened and what was happening. But with "Art and Lies" I don't get the sense that it would be any easier to piece it together (it, being the story) my second time through. I like stories even if they are fragmented and pieces are in the wind. I can't read novels for their language alone. I think it will try Winterson's novel again, but not right away.

I watched a few movies the last couple of days. I rented "An American in Paris", Strangers on a Train, and "Great Expectations" (the contemporary version with Ethan Hawke). I watched the latter a couple of days ago, and once again rue the fact that I don't have a big screen TV. It's such a visually rich movie, beautifully shot with extraordinary art direction. It blew me away when I watched it on the big screen. Today I watched An American in Paris which I adore. The only musical I can stand. Principally because Gene Kelly is simply excellent, delivering the Gershwin music and dancing with a particular flair that entrances. Tonight I might watch the Hitchcock film, just to spice up my dreams with a little murder.

Crossroads

2000-01-04T12:14:00.000-08:00

I received a nice email from someone today about this site. It's the first in a long time. No name, but it was still nice.

One of the reasons I haven't been more diligent in writing here is a general sense of melancholy brought on by the end of the year, and all the hype of the millennium, which has made me overly introspective and giving me a longing and loathing to account for my life up to this point. Account, then project into the future. Yeah, just great.

A good friend of mine emailed me today saying she just got engaged last week. She is one of my oldest and best friends, living now in New Jersey. Her beau is American. I'm happy for her but also selfishly concerned our friendship is doomed, especially if she stays in the U.S. for good, which I believe she will. Another friendship lost to marriage. I sense a tinge of jealousy too, as my love-life is comparable to a 15th century Franciscan monk hermit living alone in the Italian Alps.

I'm also at a crossroads. What do I do with my life? I'm still asking this question at 31 years old, I can't believe it. Choices: 1, take Spanish and do my Honors thesis essay this semester and graduate with honors, applying for the masters degree program; 2, take Spanish and graduate with a non-honors bachelors degree, using the extra time to rewrite/rejuvenate my novel-in-progress, and applying for the masters degree program with less chance of getting in; 3, doing number 2, applying to the creative writing masters degree using my novel to get in; 4, take the semester off and devote all my time to the novel; 5, take Spanish and the honors thesis and audit Medieval Literature, leaving novel and poetry for the summer.

Factors in deciding: do I want to spend five more years getting my masters degree? Do I have the talent/drive to write professionally? Do I really need time off to write, shouldn't I be able to do it in my spare time? Can I afford financially to write full-time and make next to nothing? Etc.

I finished Robinson Crusoe today. It's amazing it was written in 1719 and has been a success since. The English is quite readable, and the story feels modern except for a few things like the old firearms with powder and the gold money like pieces of eight. I believe Robinson is available on-line, if anyone is interested.

I did go see Man on the Moon with Jim Carrey. Excellent. Uplifting, a celebration of humanity.

Best of Life

1999-12-28T17:48:00.000-08:00

I haven't been very diligent at maintaining my journal here. Sorry. This last weekend was pretty crazy, like most of the Christmas season. Christmas day was nice. I didn't go to church, but my dad, brother and sister went. They came home late, but as is traditional in our family, after they came back, we all had a sandwich, some coffee with Irish cream, and sat around the tree to open our gifts to each other. I gave my brother a great book of photographs from Life magazine. It's the best of its kind, appropriately named The Best of Life -- and it was printed in 1973, now out of print. (I got him a good used copy). He really liked it. In the same vein, I found a hardcover version of Norman Mailer's The Naked and The Dead -- a great war classic. She likes military stuff. I got dad a shirt, and my mom some dinnerware and highbrow soap.

Then the usual Turkey dinner. We had a Russian couple with their two girls over for dinner. They are fairly new immigrants and have no real friends or family to speak of here in Canada. They had a good time.

I'm still having a bit of a crisis regarding the coming semester, whether I should do my honors in English or not, whether it is a waste of time or not, whether I should do my Masters in English or in Creative Writing, whether I should just give up this teaching thing and write fiction full-time, assuming of course that I can write full-time. I phoned Devo for his advice. He was kind. Do the honors. Just not Tristram Shandy. Robinson Crusoe and Tournier's Friday maybe.

Tomorrow I'm going to the states to Hendersons the book store. Then I'm supposed to go to the movie "Man on the Moon". Busy day

Christmas

1999-12-24T15:54:00.000-08:00

I wish/pray all of you have a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year (drive safely).

Today I did basically nothing. It's extremely foggy outside and has been for a couple of days. 100 percent humidity.

No plans for tonight. Last night we watched "Notting Hill" with Julia Roberts. It was quite funny, I love that understated British humor. The "Time-Life" photograph book I ordered for my brother came in today. My sister is supposed to get it from the post office. We'll see, she's typically running around like a beheaded chicken.

Mall Christmas

1999-12-22T20:30:00.000-08:00

Christmas stresses people out. Relax. Look at the mall as the hilarious thing it is. Humanity in a fishbowl. Relax while driving. Half the stress of shopping is the drive. Just take your time. Shop remembering that these are gifts, not symbols of how much you love them, or representations of your perception of their identity. There are just stuff. When going to the mall or stores, wear something warm and eat something before you go. Do not eat there, it's such a waste of time, and it will probably make you sick. Say "Merry Christmas" to as many strangers as possible, especially store workers. Their smiles will help lift stress. But above all relax.

Impressions

1999-12-18T17:58:00.000-08:00

The entry for today was erased just three minutes ago when my computer seized. I hate that when that happens. Anyway, I talked about how Earl invited me to go to his church tomorrow. I was a little self-conscious because I would have to meet friends of friends and giving first impressions scares me a little. I don't think I leave the best first impression, maybe I do. I know I hate pressure of any kind. Crowds are the embodiment of pressure for me, and Earl's church is huge apparently. Anyway, he called and it's canceled.

Rob R and I went to my university's library today for a couple of hours. I took several books out, and he didn't take any. I think he's never been in such a huge library before and it overwhelmed him a little. Next time I go I'll take him again, and maybe I'll get him to choose a topic beforehand.

Tonight's kind of a waste. Watching hockey. On-line. Reading a book called On Moral Fiction by John Gardner. Quite good.

Family Matters

1999-12-17T21:02:00.000-08:00

Sitting here at the end of another day in the life of youknowwho, I look back once again on the day that has passed by, and I interpret it for this journal: what was important today, what deserves mention, what do I remember about today, etc.

My sister was supposed to come by and we were going to go to the mall shopping, all of which did happen but later than I thought and quicker than I thought. She came over later in the morning, and had to work this afternoon. Nevertheless, I managed to get some token gifts for my parents and brother. My sister and mother cannot stand each other. I'm not exactly why, but it's probably got something to do with my sister's age of 22 -- I've observed the twenties can be a time of strife between parents and children/young adults/adults because they (the latter) are just that: semi children semi adults, trying to forge their own identity which seems to come at the expense of the respect and admiration of their parents. My brother was terrible in his twenties, and as he is 29, he continues to exhibit a now milder form of rebellion: absence of communication.

I came home from shopping and researched a little for my honors essay next semester, the book I retrieved from the library "Desire and Truth" is a little disappointing in its rather non-theoretical approach to the eighteenth century novel. Then after dad came home, we had spaghetti and watched "Wall Street Week" and then I came here to do a little surfing. Wow, excitement.

Family life around this house is generally bad this Christmas season. Example: a couple of days ago the Christmas tree (put up incorrectly by dad, which is no surprise) fell down and my mother struggled to put it up properly to know avail, and to great frustration. Dad played with it and now it is propped up against the wall hideously. It's shameful, at least to me.

Light Please

1999-12-15T18:05:00.000-08:00

I am feeling better today, though still a little sick. It was a so-so Wednesday. It's been raining for weeks straight, a couple of days ago the sun appeared briefly -- I can't wait for the spring. I'm one of those people who need light, color, and warmth only sunshine can provide, maybe I'm addicted to radiation.

I'm trying to finish The Ogre -- nearly there, read quite a lot today.

Is happiness enough? I mean, is it enough to be happy?

Is wisdom directly proportionate to sorrow? Is sorrow an integral part of wisdom? Knowledge? Are those two synonymous? Can an artist really do anything worthwhile (by worthwhile, I mean monumental art that mirrors the world, Ulysses or War and Peace) if they do not hold some strong belief in something? In Art. In humanity. In God. In original sin. In existential existence. In science. In love. In women. In death. In something that provides a core for their work.

I Love Beauty

1999-12-14T18:09:00.000-08:00

I went to school today. It wasn't really a class, more like a farewell get-together and an opportunity for professor Bob to ask us about the class, what we thought about the readings, about the assignments, about the class structure, etc., and we had our papers and journals returned, with grades. I received an A+ on my paper and an A on my journal. Unless the wheels fall off on the final, which has happened to me before, I should get a solid A.

Going to class was kind of strange. I saw Tam and Charles, among others who I consider friends. Saying goodbye always hurts. I was watching the movie El Postino tonight and started crying when the postman says goodbye to Neruda after slowly forging a friendship. I couldn't help wondering is this how everything ends always forever -- with loss, death? How sad it is. When I look at an eye dilating breathing light and feel the swell of tears build and overflow at such awesome beauty -- how can such a consciousness simply come from nowhere and go nowhere, how can such a consciousness evolve out of an animal's mind in, what, twenty or thirty thousand years? God, I love beauty.

I came home with Neil feeling sick. I'm still not a hundred percent. Maybe it's my bladder because it hurts when I go. Ba today.

My brother Jake came by today. I haven't seen him for quite some time. Sometimes he works out of town, which explains why he doesn't come around much. But he has been around, working in town. For a reason only he knows, he seems to try to distance himself from his family as much as possible. While he was over, my dad came home from celebrating with his friends, and since he was in such a good mood (drunk) he put on some music, singing and dancing, plus the dog kept barking at the antics of both Jake and dad -- there was so much noise I literally couldn't stand it. Craziness drives me crazy, maybe I'm getting old.