Why Am I So Pathetic? Don't get it.

I just wanted to write a few things before I go to bed. It's about 1:36am now and I've fallen into this weird habit of going to bed later for no particular reason. It's not like I'm galavanting around town, naked as a jaybird, I'm just sitting here, watching t.v. or reading shit online. Trying to read the huge pile of books in my to read box, not really getting any of it done. I've become quite skilled at wasting a lot of nights. The only problem with this comes when I wake up early in the morning, I just can't not do it. I really like being up in the morning and I want to start waking up earlier but I feel like that would sacrifice sleep, and since I don't drink coffee, nor do I handle being tired very well (as evidenced by the USC tour guide who spotted me yawning emphatically during her speech), I need to find a way to get to bed earlier and wake up earlier. Then everything will be alright.

Wow.

There you have it, I just wasted four minutes of my night right there typing out that nonsense.

I hope I didn't waste your time.

Quick Things: (Seriously this time)

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Blinking Lights and Other Revelations is definitely on my list for desert island records (however that notion has become someone outdated with the invention of the ipod). No other album in the small history of my musical life has the ability to re settle me the way that one does. There's something about his vocals and the story he tells on that album, it's like listening to a voice on the other end of the phone in the middle of the night telling you not to worry beceause bad things happen, good things happen, and the lights are always blinking no matter where you are.

Secondly, All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone is some kind of musical miracle. I say that because somehow Explosions in the Sky have managed to out do everything that has come before in their musical cannon (no small feat). That is not to say their earlier stuf is now negated, but they soar to ridiculous heights on this album. The weird thing is, it didn't hit me at first. Sure I loved it and was completely bown away by it, but this album is like meeting a good friend for the first time. You hit it off at first but there's still some hesitancy due to the fact that you don't know each other. Then somewhere along the trail everything clicks and you need to be best friends with this person, right now. That might be a little abstract, but that's the best I could come up with. This is their most complex album, the melodies swirl in and out of each other with such precision and skill that the narrative is much stronger on this album than it has been before. On top of that there is a much more spontaneous shift to this record, as if to suggest these songs are being recorded on the spot. I have no idea how they do it, it has the raw surging power of a live show with the emotional complexity of superb storytelling. It fucking rocks.

Last thing, I promise. Annie Hall is a great great movie. All I have to say about it is that it once again proves that the need for any kind of movie about the ins and outs of relationships has been negated. It was Say Anything, Chasing Amy, All the Real Girls, and now Annie Hall, actually, I would also like to add Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind to that list. All of these movies say it all and it pisses me off. Maybe I can find a way to incorporate Ned Beatty into my movie, they wouldn't see that one coming.

Okay that's it, I'm going to bed.

"this is the day
that i give myself up cold

the dust of ages
settles on your days
and so you shake your coat off
and get on your way

bloodshot and trembling
a new day has begun

the dust of ages
settles on your days
and so you blow it all away
and get on your way

the dust of ages
settles on your days
but i'm not fuckin' around anymore
i'm on my way"

It's Natural to Be Afraid...

Well, I hope you all read up and studied each and every manufactured thought that appeared in yesterday's L.A. times concerning the box office success of 300 versus the relative disappointment of Zodiac. Like I said, I hope you didn't break anything in your fit of rage. Then again, it's important to remember these are just half rate idiots writing for a stupid newspaper and they don't really care about telling a good story or even telling the truth. They write whatever will give them the quickest easiest answer to complicated questions, actually most journalists do that too come to think of it.

Anyway getting down to business, this article pissed me off in so many ways, I don't know where to begin.

Let's start with the basic assumption the article makes:

That 300 is a new cultural phenomenon in league with Star Wars, The Matrix, or Lord of the Rings. And like those films it's success is based around the fact that it supposedly celebrates the things that movies do best (visuals, speed, classic story telling) and how it is invincible to any sort of criticism because the very thought of analyzing such a work would rob of the purpose it serves as a movie. It's not a dissertation after all.

The first part of this I would like to debunk is that 300 is some kind of cultural phenomenon. That simply is not true, you need a little bit more time than a week to prove that. You also need a better response than the movie has gotten thus far. If you apply this logic to every movie than in this year alone, Norbit, Wild Hogs, and Ghost Rider would be considered cultural phenomenons. Not to mention scores of other movies most people only remember as something they dug out of their ears. I would even argue that Lord of the Rings is not quite yet a cultural phenomenon, it was at one point but I think the true test is to see how long it stays in the public sphere of conscious after its initial release. Star Wars has passed that test (the original trilogy anyway, but I won't get into that now), and I think the original matrix will any day now. The point being, 300 is a movie that made a shit load of money on its opening weekend and it surprised some people. are we really going to remember this, ten years later, as a watershed day for cinema? That's the dumbest thing I ever heard.

The article then goes onto to discuss the drubbing the movie received by the critics. Which is also inaccurate, for according to metacriic the movie received a score 53 which it describes as mixed to average reviews. Compare that to the score of 27 received by both Norbit and Wild Hogs. Point being, while it didn't get great reviews, a couple of big critics like entertainment weekly and rolling stone liked it. And even the people who didn't like it didn't hate, the sampling the L.A times takes are from critics who really hated it, of which there a few. Not to suggest that this means the movie is great, but the article essentially claims that the critics who hated the movie some how took away from it political or social commentary that wasn't there and therefore only existed so critics could rag on it. First of all, most of the negative review of the movie I've read and even the two they quote in the article (and you can see these reviews at www.metacritic.com) hated the movie because it is poorly made, not because they didn't agree with its politics (as dunderheaded as they may be). They hated it because the writing is lousy, the acting is a lot of screaming and little else, and the fact that the entire movie strives to be a feature length gorgeously rendered video game. Any mention of the nationalistic, drumbeating, pro war homophobia that supposedly exists in the movie, goes by as more of an afterthought. More like, yes the movie sucks and p.s. here is some weird shit in it. The article, however, quotes director Zack Snyder as laughing off the reviews, saying they came across as "so neo-con" and "so homophobic" (yes his actual words) and that "they couldn't just go see the movie without trying to over-intellectualize it." This is idiotic in so many ways, first of all he uses the words neo-con and homophobic as if he doesn't know what they mean. And I think it's very interesting that he equates intellectualizing something with being neo-con and homophobic. Does one make you the other? I guess I never thought about it that way. He also doesn't seem to understand that when someone accuses you, based on your film, of subscribing to a certain set of ideas, that doesn't mean they are always right. However it doesn't mean that pointing those ideas makes them fervent followers of them. I actually don't even know what he's trying to say, it doesn't make any sense and he sounds really stupid saying it. The critics pointed out how homoerotic the movie is to deflate the toxic machismo that seems to permeate every frame of the damn thing. They said it to make fun of you mr. snyder, not gay people. The article acts as if no movie in the history of cinema had ever grossed a lot of money while receiving mostly negative reviews. It kinda happens all the time, and it's one of the great mysteries of life, hopefully this writer will sleep better knowing he has contributed much by way of public knowledge about the subject. What it seems to me, with all of this, is that Snyder made an irresponsible movie (and that's okay by the way). He made a politically irresponsible movie and he won't cop to it, I think he put a lot of shit in there without realizing it and refuses to admit it because he will come off as a buffoon. Well, tough shit, own up to it at least, I think that's what the Spartans would have wanted. That's the man's way of dealing with it.

The final part of this article that actually enraged me (the other stuff just kind of got on my nerves, whereas this part sent me off the fucking cliff). The writer attempts to make some half assed connection between why 300 succeeded and why Zodiac failed to attract any of that attention.

Oh no he didn't.

I've been harboring this ever since I became aware of the 70 million opening for 300. Dammit, that was Zodiac's money and it fucking earned it. Why a movie like 300, that is chest thumping, simple, comic book gore gets the audience, whereas a devastating, thoughtful, and supremely executed detective story like Zodiac gets none. Why can't they both get it? I imagine there are more than enough people in this country to make up for Zodiac's deficit, right? Why Zodiac didn't do well is for another blog, I want to dicuss why 300 did so well instead. The article supposes that is because David Fincher made the movie for himself and for no one else. That he wasn't thinking about the audience or the critics, only about himself. Well, moron, filmmaking is an extremely personal artform and in case you forgot, David Fincher's (along with several other thousand) name will be attached to this movie forever as not just the director, but as the guiding vision. If he doesn't make it for himself, than why make it in the first place? I hope this guy knows that his name and only his name will be attached to this shitty article forever, so he is not allowed to blame anybody else for this debacle. Second of all, the claim that Zodiac is somehow inaccesible is complete and utter bullshit. I have not been more enthralled by a movie like that for a long time, how is that not accessible. And obviously not every audience member shares the same tastes as me. But it doesn't really matter whether people like it or not but there is something in this movie for everyone to at least check out. To least buy a goddamn ticket. Also, God forbid, a director tells a story without the usual cinematic pay offs. God forbid he makes a murder mystery not about the violent porn of most serial killer movies (and stupid T.V. shows by the way) but about the cereberal and haunting life of its own that a case can take on when it infects the mind of ordinary human beings. God forbid a director attempt to show the transformation of a city and its media from mild indifference to the kind of paranoid delusions we still suffer from today. God forbid a director try to make a movie not about death, but about how life rebounds or doesn't from that death. Again, these are not radical concepts, merely interesting ideas explored with precision and depth by the makers of Zodiac. It is not like some kind of thought exercise that will only appeal to intellectuals (christ, I liked this movie) but rather a movie that poses a lot of interesting questions and theories but allows its audience to come to its own conclusion. Dammit, that's what filmmaking is all about and it pisses me off that because Fincher doesn't revel in bloodletting, he somehow has receeded into the dark corncers of artistic pretension, and that nobody should see his movie. That is complete and utter bullshit, to the highest degree. I loved Zodiac, I was into every single minute of it, and I watched it feeling as though I was in the hands of one of the most capable story tellers working today. Other than that, it was a weird and deeply confusing artistic experiment that left me feeling cold and indifferent because Fincher didn't include an ending where Jake Gyllenhall cuts off the Zodiac killer's head in slow motion with a battle axe while sreaming something about the glory of the San Francisco Chronicle. Oh yeah, everybody.

Okay, I've chewed everybody eyes and ears for about long enough now. I hope this rambling tale of magic and heroism made a little bit of sense. Again I should have prefaced this by saying I haven't seen 300 yet and maybe all of this is moot. However, I plan to and when I do, you will be the first to hear about it.

Go see Zodiac.

"i said johnny and i, we got lost tonight, but we doubled our chances we've got somewhere to go, we've got devils chasing us to hunt us down, and we know we can't go like this from now, i've got a feeling of you, and we danced for so long, i want your arms around me, said never gonna let you down, never gonna let you down, but i will always let you down "

Go ahead, Cornelius, you can cry.

I'm not going to post anything of my own today.

I would instead like you all to read this article from the L.A. Times about 300.

Try not to smash something...

300': It's just a movie -- or is it?
Call it a grand, vivid spectacle -- nothing more, nothing less.
PATRICK GOLDSTEIN
March 20, 2007

DON'T tell the critics, but "300" is a new kind of action movie, a clever synthesis of the stylized epic storytelling practiced by Peter Jackson in "Lord of the Rings" and the stop 'n' start fast-motion cutting of the Wachowski brothers' "Matrix" series. Let's call it Hyper Cinema. "300's" entire visual environment — its billowy wheat fields, its stormy gray skies, even blood that miraculously evaporates before it hits the ground — is a fabricated universe, created by 1,300 effects shots generated in a computer after the actors have gone home.

It's a gamer's view of the world that film critics don't relate to because they seem to have forgotten the kick they got from reading comics as kids. When I went to see "300" last week, the theater was full of scruffy guys who looked like they spent a lot more hours playing Final Fantasy X11 or God of War II than working out at the gym. In an era when it's increasingly difficult to reach young males, "300" offered a vivid spectacle of glistening pecs — as one admirer put it, "Ray Harryhausen crossed with Leni Riefenstahl" — that couldn't be replicated at home.

"We took a singular idea and went all the way with it, which I think resonates with audiences," director Zack Snyder, whose only other feature was a remake of "Dawn of the Dead," said on the phone from London. "It gives you that feeling that made you go to movies in the first place, as in 'Holy [smoke], that was awesome!' "

Populated with unknown actors, the retelling of the gory battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC was airily dismissed as hokum by America's leading critics.

Where the fanboys saw an easily identifiable theme — "me and my buddies are gonna band together and kick some butt" — critics spied pandering trash. The Boston Globe's Wesley Morris called "300" "action porn." The New York Times' A.O. Scott said " '300' is about as violent as ' Apocalypto' and twice as stupid." And the Washington Post's Stephen Hunter, dripping with disdain, exclaimed, "Go tell the Spartans that their sacrifice was not in vain; their long day's fight under the cooling shade of a million falling arrows safeguarded the West and guaranteed, all these years later, the right of idiots to make rotten movies about them."

Those idiots grossed $129.2 million in just 10 days. And Snyder says he wasn't perturbed by the nasty reviews. "Nah, I love 'em, they were funny," he says. "The reviews were so neo-con, so homophobic. They couldn't just go see the movie without trying to over-intellectualize it."

The critics were disturbed by a host of issues, not the least being the film's macho belligerence, cartoonish lack of interest in history and racial stereotyping of Xerxes' Persian hordes as dark-skinned, decadent club queens. But a key reason critics reacted so harshly is because they have been trained to value realism over fantasy, whether it is the stoic drama of Clint Eastwood's "Letters From Iwo Jima" or the cool psychological precision of David Fincher's "Zodiac," which has flopped at the box office, despite critical raves.

"Zodiac" had everything a critic could love. It was smart, full of context and armed with a compelling narrative about an obsessive search for an enigmatic killer. Unfortunately, Fincher is a filmmaker who has little interest in what audiences — or studio executives — think about his movies. He makes them for himself.

In contrast, Snyder's "300," with its Xbox ethos, is a movie made for a generation of visual sensation seekers. Critics are largely shaped by the aesthetic of the cinematic past, which is why you often get the feeling they've been dragged, kicking and screaming, into a new world they describe as coarser, more superficial and less intellectually stimulating than the golden age of their moviegoing youth.

The complaints are almost always the same. "It's an epic without a dream," said one critic. "The loudness, the smash-and-grab editing, and the relentless pacing drive every idea from your head, and even if you've been entertained, you may feel cheated of some dimension — a sense of wonder, perhaps." Those words were written 30 years ago by Pauline Kael, reviewing "Star Wars."

If anyone knows how late critics come to the party, it is Fincher, whose breakthrough 1995 thriller "Se7en" was roundly dismissed by many of the same top critics who were "Zodiac's" biggest admirers. The Wall Street Journal's Joe Morgenstern called it "ponderous," Time's Richard Schickel dubbed it "twaddle" and Newsweek's David Ansen described its style as being a cross between "a Nike commercial and a bad Polish art film."

Now that his work is more familiar, Fincher is considered an old master, at least compared with a nervy upstart like Snyder. As it turns out, the two men's backgrounds are surprisingly similar. Fincher, who is only four years older than the 40-year-old Snyder, began his career at ILM doing optical effects on George Lucas films before directing a series of commercials and music videos for everyone from Aerosmith to Paula Abdul. Snyder had a similar career path.

"I'm part of the 'Star Wars' generation — it's what made me want to become a director," Snyder says. "Blade Runner," "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Excalibur" — films he saw in his mid-teens — are the ones he cites as big influences.

It's obvious that Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" series has served as an influence as well. "300's" deformed hunchback, Ephialtes, who betrays the Spartans, is uncannily reminiscent, both in physical form and in moral ambiguity, to "LOTR's" Gollum.

Snyder has learned that film is a subliminal art, in the sense that he uses his visuals to supply the film's emotional underpinning. In "300," the sky is always dark and unsettled, as if to signal the bitter bloodshed to come. "We tried to make the sky reflect the emotion in the movie, which you can't do in a regular movie," he says. "That's what is great about this kind of green-screen filmmaking. It's not just the actors who matter. Every element in the frame supports the emotion of the moment."

Sadly, our critics, who seemed content with hooting at "300," have lost touch with what makes movies different from other art forms. Hollywood's mass-audience films are not a literary or an intellectual genre. Never have been, never will be. They are built around visuals and emotion, the two elements that "300" used to capture the public imagination.

No one understands this better than 13-year-old Tristan Rodman, who saw "300" (with his dad, since the film is R-rated). "I guess the critics have not liked the movie for the same reason that the majority of people in America did like it," he told me. "Most people just went to see it. Not for the acting or the story, which was just OK, but for the spectacle."

Tristan got a great thrill from seeing "300." And whether you're a critic or just a fanboy, isn't that what people have always gone to the movies for?



I will write more on this tomorrow, stay tuned...

Would You Erase Me?

Okay, another blog entry I've owed for a long time. I think it's pretty good though that the last entry I made was a little more than a week ago, the window is getting smaller. And I'me excited about that, maybe I can close it between a week next time.

Maybe...

So first things last, I need to give you guys an Oscar recap. The most pressing issue of the whole issue is how once again the Oscars took a lot of short cuts and rewarded films that didn't deserve nominations. I should break this down nomination by nomination, don't worry I'm not going to go through them all. And yes I am aware of the fact that they are almost a month old and therefore no longer relevant, so don't bother pointing that out.

Best Picture
The best of this lot was Babel, plain and simple. With The Queen and Letters From Iwo Jima a close second respectively. It seemed though as the announcement loomed that the award was up for grabs between the two least deserving titles, The Departed and Little Miss Sunshine. Don't get me wrong both films I enjoyed, but the Departed fucked up in a lot of vital areas that made it severely not great. And Little Miss Sunshine is just kind of slight, there are moments in that movie I love but others that just seem like they came out of the indie dysfunctional family cookbook. Watch this film and compare it with the much more delicate Squid and the Whale and you will see why the academy sucks so hard. But that makes sense the Oscars were never about making difficult choices, because these awards are for the regular movie going audience. Snide as that sounds it is not intended to be, what I mean is that the Oscars are meant for people who don't see a lot of movies for whatever reason that may be. The Departed and Little Miss Sunshine were the most popular at the box office and they were clearly the most widely seen. However, The Departed simply had the obvious distinction of an iconic american director and a classic genre studio movie. Compared to the upstart "indie" that Little Miss Sunshine claimed to be, the message from Hollywood was clear, tonight, we honor ourselves.

Best Director
I was against all the buzz I was hearing about Scorsese winning. I thought this was another of those Academy covering their own asses and giving an award to a nominee for a career that they so callously ignored in years past, rather than the film at hand. And yes Scorsese should have won it many times for many other films in the 70's and 80's (except when he lost against Redford, if there was some way they could have tied that would have been acceptable, Ordinary People for life). And yes he is a great filmmaker and one of most influential of pure craft of any other american director. However, when it came down to it, he made a film that was more interested in piling up bodies than about whether or not anybody cared about those bodies. I remember reading an article (spoilers ahead, stop reading if you haven't seen the movie) where Scorsese said one of his main stipulations in agreeing to do this movie was that everybody had to die, plain and simple. I think he just had this idea in his head that he was going to do something radical in a mainstream movie and kill off all the big stars so that he could get across his message that our world is rotting from within. I just think the job he did on the departed was more interested in the destination than the journey. Paul Greengrass on the other hand, took an extremely difficult subject matter and handled it with such precision and with nary a mis step that it's breathtaking. He made a better film and he had a lot more at stake between the two of them and when it comes down to a directorial award, that should come into consideration. Anyway, the point of all this is, all was forgiven when I saw Coppola, Spielberg, and Lucas giving the award to their pal. I gave in, it was very nice to see at least for a few seconds and in a completely staged proceeding that some people can remain friends in this business for so many years. I'm glad he won, he just should have pulled a Ving Rhames and given it to Greengrass out of gratitude. That's all I got to say.

Best Screenplay (Original and Adapted)
Once again the Screenplay award fucked up, they really never get this one right. The same I said for best picture applied for these two awards (Won by Little Miss Sunshine and The Departed). As far as adaptations go, I think Children of Men should be studied in classes for many years to come as a model of a pristine film adaptation. The amount of information conveyed in that script without any kind of expository tidal waves and the amount that they pared down to get to the essential meat of the story really makes the movie in my opinion. And it's easy to lose sight of that admist the visual miracles being performed but watch it again and see how subtly and convincingly the writers give us a world with unlimited possibilities and how easily they get right to it, like they've been living there all along. As for original, Pan's Labyrinth connects two stories in a way that seems to just flow rather than grasp for any kind of thematic resonance. The way Del Toro handles his material gives the sense that he has had this material inside of him for a long time and he knew it down to every single beat and pause. Michael Arndt's script, while charming had a lot of snappy zingers in it and uses a lot of easy characterizations to make emotional shortcuts. It's a good script but Del Toro's script feels like a fairy tale, artful and timeless.

Okay that's enough, I've chewed everyone's ear off enough about how I think I have all the answers and the academy just misses the boat year after year. Obviously none of this really matters, the movies are the movies and they will stay that way for all of us to enjoy and argue about for years to come. By no means is this a definitive answer, and really, I don't know what I'm talking about.

I think I'm going to call it a evening on that note, next time, a thrilling post on the week that was Bike Week 2007. On that note, keep smiling america.

"where 24 turn 25, i heard you try to take your life, why
you don't realy know.

where 24 turn 25, there so much pression in this times to be
something that you don't.

where 24 turn 25, i try to hold your head up high, why
well i don't realy know.

where 24 turn 25, make this the best time on your life, why
i don't realy know."

And the winds to gravel roads.

Last night's entry came through only as an aborted one. I planned to write a small re-cap of what has happened to me in the past week, but it felt like the words were being rippped untimely from my brain. I gave up and settled on quoting a really good tom waits song instead.

But now I'm here to settle a few scores.

I need to gush for a second, I just saw Josh Ritter at the el rey and I think he is one of the greatest musicians alive today. I know I say that a lot, but his lyrical abilities are astounding, not to mention is excellent guitar plucking skills. He's also damn funny and a great peformer, see what I mean? I'll sum it up this way, the album version of Thin Blue Flame is jaw dropping but hearing him play that with just an acoustic guitar will make your heart swell. He really is a great man, I just can't get enough of him now. Just listen for one of his songs in A Slow Dissolve, used ingeniously by the way, and it's one I can't get out of my head. But that's a good thing, not a bad thing like the Beyonce medley I had in there a while ago.

A post script to that, the submarines are also really good too. For just a guy, a girl, two guitars, a couple random instruments and a laptop they know how to make some shit happen. My appreciation for them was deepened greatly by this performance.

A quick recap of some movies I've seen recently, I think last time we talked, I had just seen Letters from Iwo Jima. Since then I haven't seen much, let me think actually.

The Lives of Others
Definitely deserved the academy award, if only it hadn't been up against Pan's Labyrinth. I hate to make choices like that, but seriously Lives of Others is pretty flawless. It's recreation of the Stasi in the mid-80's of Germany feels monotonously real and the passion of the film is subdued to the very end when it hits you and it feels like a great story has just been told.

The Astronaut Farmer
I have a soft spot for movies like this (see Millions) but rest assured this one is really good (also see millions). First of all, it's beautifully shot with some surreal and beautiful desert farm landscapes that can only really exist in movies or places where you live. It's got a great flippant sense of humor that refuses to rest when the hokier parts of the story threaten to take it over. The Polish Farmers are not just merry pranksters, they mean every word of what they say, and I think it can be as cheesey as it wants to be, cause the shit's real.

Breach
A damn compelling and fine film. Chris Cooper is scary good, real scary good. Billy Ray furthers the promise he showed in Shattered Glass, I could definitely see him becoming a buttoned down Michael Mann. His ability to peer into the minds of working men is un parallleled in hollywood. He just does it to the stiffs who work in an un funny version of the office. What is most interesting about Breach is how it explores the contradiction inherent in the intelligence system. It's designed to deal with some of the most melodramatic and epic shifts in human history. Yet its operators are taught to be detached liars who keep secrets from everyone so that they can operate with as little emotional influence as possible. Ray nails that and it makes breach a fantastic character piece.

That's pretty much it for now, I need a full blog for an oscar re cap. Look at...the craziness

Also everyone needs to play laser tag with Gabe at some point in their lives. Especially if he uses his trademark method he crafted at action zone, to see that in action again is like watching kareem pull off a sky hook. But seriously Gabe, any time you're up for it again, color me tickled pink. I'm really itching to get back into the fog machine filled sweat covered, acne and dirty kids infested Doogan controlled arena that is laser tag. Also we gotta beat to those kids next time, that was really embarassing. I'm waiting.

"Though I'm here in this far off place
My air is not this time and space
I draw you close with every breath
you don't know it's right until it's wrong
You don't know it's yours until it's gone
I didn't know that it was home ‘til you up and left"

San Diego Serenade

I never saw the morning til I stayed up all night
I never saw the sunshine til you turned out the light
I never saw my hometown until I stayed away too long
I never heard the melody, until I needed a song.

I never saw the white line, til I was leaving you behind
I never knew I needed you til I was caught up in a bind
I never spoke i love you til I cursed you in vain,
I never felt my heartstrings until I nearly went insane.

I never saw the east coast til I move to the west
I never saw the moonlight until it shone off your breast
I never saw your heart til someone tried to steal,
Tried to steal it away
I never saw your tears until they rolled down your face.

You ain't even in my top ten again!

Hey there, the moment you have all been waiting for, like the salivating dogs that you are...

TOP TEN FILMS OF 2006.

I'm sure you are all stunned, taking a few steps back away from your keyboards as you read this.
How can you have a top ten list for the year in film 2006 in the middle of February of the following year.
Well the short answer to that is it took me a while to see Letters From Iwo Jima, and I had to do this right.

Otherwise what are we fighting for.

So, without further apu, I give you...

1. Pan's Labyrinth
I guess it gave it all away right there, but I hope you read on even though it's all downhill from here I guess. While not the most original choice for best film of the year (thank you very much TGWSY). It is still an absolutely worthy choice, Guillermo Del Toro is one of the greatest living directors for his precise lack of pretension and child like wonderment at the world. With this film he has crafted the best kind of fairy tale, frightening yet some how comforting at the same time. He refuses to coddle us to sleep and the result is a film that grows with every waking thought I have of it. And I have only seen it once, it's mind blowing.

2. Children of Men
Another one from the three best directors of 2006 (more on that later). Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men is a great film because it functions perfectly on the level of three different kinds of films. One, it's a breathless action film with some of the most original and inventive battle scenes in recent memory. Two, it's a pitch perfect political commentary with some of the most frightening imagery to tackle Iraq, Abu Ghraib, and the domestic war on terror since mainstream journalism gave up on it so long ago. And three it's a moving personal redemption story about a man who realizes that it's about time he gave a damn again. We should take notice and act accordingly.

3. Babel
Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu, Guillermo Del Toro, and Alfonso Cuaron made the three best films of 2006 and they have one thing in common. The Mexican thing, I guess, but also their films share a big universal theme, the effect children have on the world. Babel is a devastating account of what happens when our universal differences reveal universal truths about the world we all share. Some accused it of being unrelenting, yet I found it oddly hopeful. Some accused of it being an excercise in pretentious melodrama, I thought it's ultimate theme was so subtle it only reveals itself if you connect the emotional dots rather than the narrative ones. In other words, Iñárritu is a unique talent, and this is his best film.

4. United 93
The film no one wanted turned out to be one of the most essential films of the year. Not simply because of its subject matter (by the way there have been a lot of movies made about 9/11 since 9/11) but the way it handled a worldwide tragedy not with kid gloves, nor with some kind of bullshit grandoise message about the meaning of it all. Paul Greengrass is nothing if not a humane filmmaker and his clear eyed perception of the events of that day are shattering. United 93 is not a story of heroes but about ordinary people who acted heroically and ultimately suffered a tragedy not a sacrifice. Expertly crafted and performed, Greengrass' reminds us how hard we were hit that day not how hard we hit back.

5. Letters From iwo Jima
Yes, this film is that good. Usually Eastwood's laissez-faire direction fails to live up to the hype but this time he has found a new friend in melancholy and the result is an emotional involvement not usually found in his films (I blame that as of recent on Mr. Haggis). A deep sadness hovers over this film matching that of the ultimate futility of the Japanese stand on Iwo Jima. A sadness that can only come from being ordered die and not knowing what for. A personal and tragic take on war that is all the more satisfying for its honest understanding of the so called "enemy." Succesfully blending the elusive combination of war and anti-war, Eastwood has made a film about violence, allegiance, and ultimately death that is his best work to date.

6. The Queen
Sometimes a movie doesn't have to do much more than be perfectly cast, meticulously scripted and directed without a wrong note or beat. That may sound like a lot but The Queen pulls it off so deftly, without drawing too much attention to itself that it surprises you in the best possible way. In capturing the royal family in the days after Diana's death, Stephen Frears and company have made an invigorating document examining what role the monarchy still plays in modern British society. Mirren's Queen is utterly fascinating in how cold and stubbon she appears, yet how absolutely right she is in her convictions. As exciting as a behind the scenes documentary, as heartbreaking as a personal memoir, in other words: perfect.

7. Half Nelson
I had some kind of ridiculous fever dream that after Ryan Fleck's powerful and searing Half Nelson, all those piss poor teacher in a bad neighborhood movies would cease to be made. Then Freedom Writers came out and that dream died. Nevertheless, Half Nelson damn near obliterates the entire genre with its refusal to settle for any easy answers, and its unblinking eye for character details. Gosling really has to be seen, his performance does things in one scene that some actors can't do in an entire film. Shareeka Epps is right there with him, devastating in her refusal to stoop to cute kid histronics, she and Gosling make the film soar. Half Nelson is a good reasoon why independent film will always be relevant.

8. Marie Antoinette
One of the most unfairly dumped upon movies of the year (except for the most unfairly dumped upon, to be documented later). Sofia Coppola's melancholy, colorful, and (god forbid) fun take on the Marie Antoinette story is one of the definitive "girl" stories of the last ten years. It sucks you in with its candy color palette the way Marie herself was seduced by it, then as the years wear on the moments of sadness begin to creep in, and we understand this is not just a story about a girl who wanted to party all day and sleep all day. It's about a girl who lost something and took a country with her to find it, kind of a perfect companion piece to the Queen and I just made that up.

9. A Scanner Darkly/Fast Food Nation
Okay this is a bit of a cheat, I guess this is my top eleven, but whatever, I do shit like this all the time. The reason Scanner and Fast Food are tied for 9 is not because they are made by the same filmmaker (Richard Linklater) but because they represent two of the most satisfying political films of the year. In a way they are kind of a one two punch for Linklater, Scanner being the paranoid nightmare of a country ruled by fear, and Fast Food Nation looking past the paranoia to how suffocatingly toxic parts of this culture have become and how difficult it is to go about fixing them. These two films are not preaching to the choir they are inspiring to the masses.

10. Shortbus
Perhaps the most flawed film on the list. Sure the acting is amateurish and the story basically non existant, but this was hands down one of the most enjoyable films of the year. You know how some movies just get a feeling right and the damn thing has you singing. Shortbus accomplished that in spades, it's joy and optimism are infectious and its daring exploration into the mental and physical effects of sex is achingly beautiful while never once descending into simple minded gloom. It's also a big fuck you to the prudish, misogynistic, and homophobic rhetoric of our Bush administration culture and a great movie about living in New York. A lot was made of the sex in this movie but what will suprise you most isn't the size of its package, but the size of its heart.

Some other movies I really liked this year (tied for 11th place basically...)
The Science of Sleep, The Fountain, Inside Man, Deliver Us From Evil, Blood Diamond, Monster House, Cars, Volver, World Trade Center, Little Children, Bubble, Sweet Land, Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story, The Prestige, Neil Young: Heart of Gold, The Lake House

Worst Movie of 2006.
Snakes on a Plane
I know this is an easy target, but this movie really pissed me off and I'm glad it died a quick death. It took everything that is fun, spontaneous and absurdly hilarious about watching a bad movie (the MST3K phenomenon) and turned it into a buzz filled internet marketing phenomenon. Watch as hilarity ensues when bad filmmakers intentionally make a bad film all the while assuring us that they are actually talented and are just slumming for our benefit, fuck this movie.

Most Underrated Movie of 2006
The Fountain
The Fountain was unfortunately written off as pretentious sci fi babble, and not to get all Travers on you here, but god forbid a movie uses the visual medium to express ideas rather than explain everything through the character's flapping mouths. The Fountain blows out the conventions of science fiction, romance, and visual effects into a film that can best be described as an experience. One wrapped in the mysteries of life, death and love that somehow communicates all of those things without any kind of compromise or cyniscm. Maybe that's a pretentious explanation but isn't that what we're supposed to feel when watching movies?

Most Overrated Movie of 2006
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
It still baffles me as to how many critics lovingly heaped praise on this movie and adorned many of their own top ten lists with its annoyingly long title. I admit, Sacha Baron Cohen has talent and his ability to improvise is impressive but its a shtick and it gets old real quick. Okay I get it, American are thoughtless, racist, sexist, homophobic etc I don't think Cohen simply exposing that is anything the least bit revolutionary or even new. It also allows him to hide behind his character and not really comment on it or get involved in it. The film too often stoops to some Jackass type stunts that prove two things to me. One being that Cohen didn't have enough ideas to sustain a movie as short as Borat is anyway. And two, that maybe all he wanted to do was gross us out, mission accomplished but that doesn't make him a genius.

There you have it, the Mexicans came and kicked all our asses, except for a few that is. And we wrap us this year (a bit late) with the comforting knowledge that there will always be more than enough movies to stock a top ten list. Hopefully they stick around and it's not a matter of finding them.

"I put my feet up on the coffee table
I stay up late watching cable
I like old movies with Clarke Gable
Just like my dad does

Just like my dad did when he was home
Staying up late, staying up alone
Just like my dad did when he was thinking
Oh, how fast the years fly"

Let us hope that we are preceded in this world by a love story.

I don't have too much to say tonight. Other than Sweet Land is a fine film.
I finally got around to seeing it and it was well worth it. It's amazing how Hollywood is incapable of capturing a romance that feels like it could actually happen. Sweet Land nails it, every sweet, tender, and aching moment of it. It's not about who can out wit each other like some kind of game, it's about a glance that shouldn't have happened but you're glad it did anyway.
I could go on forever about this sort of thing but if you want a sweet and refreshing romance, check out sweet land any way you can. I think it's gone from movie theatres so put this one on your netflix queue or go look for it at blockbuster.

That's all I got, I'll have more later.

I know in the past I've found it hard to say
Tellin' you things, but not tellin' straight
But the more I pull on your hand and say
The more you pull away

Dry your eyes mate
I know it's hard to take but her mind has been made up
There's plenty more fish in the sea
Dry your eyes mate
I know you want to make her see how much this pain hurts
But you've got to walk away now.

Fashion Awards

It's 4:43am on a Tuesday Morning.

And I'm going to a fashion show.

I'll let E tell you the rest...


let's go down to the fashion show
with all the pretty people that you don't know
we'll sit down in the velvet chairs
they'll hand awards out for best hair
and if we don't win one, well, then
we'll blow off our heads in despair
we'll blow off our heads in despair

i smell magic in the room
flashing lights and sonic booms
lovely saps all without a care
nobody said that the world was fair
and if they did say so, well, then
we'll blow off our heads in despair
we'll blow off our heads in despair

let's go down to the fashion show
with all the pretty people and piles of blow
we'll sit down in the velvet chairs
and hang on tight to our bus fare
and if it falls between the seats
we'll blow off our heads in despair
we'll blow off our heads in despair

What A Year For A New Year.

I admit, I had a grand plan to swing back into the blogging world with a vengeance. However, that planned entirely hinged upon me having a top ten film list ready to share with the world.

The fates intervened.

Someone had a different plan.

No actually I didn't get to see all the movies necessary to tabulate a formidable and ass kicking top ten list. That will happen soon, most likely mid january. It's going to be a sprint as soon as I get back to L.A. In the meantime I shall offer the first entry of 2007. It's a heavy weight to bear, I'm not sure I can handle it.

I could go on a rant about how celebrating new years only fills me with a certain blahness mixed with regret about the end of a year. And how disturbing it was to hear dick clark's voice this year, or how depressing it was to see ryan seacrest and christina aguilera engage in real conversation.

I've done all that.

Instead I'm going to throw my hat into a different kind of year end retrospective, one that always inspires feverish debates from all participants and can encompass a variety of tastes and preferences. I'm not going to pretend that I heard enough new music this year to formulate a true top ten list. And I know I won't be able to listen to all that music (for a true top ten list of the year in music as well as a spectacular song countdown of the year 2006 head over to the Girl Will Scar You.

Here's my lame attempt...

I've broken it down into three categories, with one album assigned to each. So think of this as a top three list, but this is not just any top three list. These are the three most important albums for me in the year ending 2006.

The First Category is:
Biggest Surprise of 2006

My Chemical Romance-The Black Parade

This category is a hands down no brainer for me. I thought these guys had turned into a joke, a bastardized fall out boy esque mtv version of the worst kind of generic watered down emotional music. They had a concept album as their follow up to their first "big" record, worst, it was a concept album about a cancer patient about to expire on his operating table. I thought they were in way over their heads and doomed to fail by giving into the worst kind of goth emo punk pretensions. Rather than do that, they came roaring out of the gates and shoved a big, great scream of an album right in my face. Without getting into all the genre name dropping homages I find in the album to prove not only my extensive musical knowledge, but also how "legitimate" this band is by critical standards. I merely offer that The Black Parade is the most emotional, exhausting, and exhilirating album of the year. One that doesn't merely feature tracks but a detailed, epic battle for living over dying complete with bigger than big moments that could have crashed and burned in lesser hands. The fact that they took the risk is the most satisfying element of the album. Singer Gerard Way gives the best performance of any singer this year on any album and he does it by just saying yes to it all. He takes us to hell and back, and when he makes a plea for us to carry on, I'm there. People who lump these guys with the rest of the generic emo pop punk bull shit just aren't listening. Hopefully this album will change some minds, it changed mine.

"I see you lying next to me
With words I thought I’d never speak
Awake and unfraid
Asleep or dead

I am not afraid to keep on living
I am not afraid to walk this world alone
Honey if you stay
I'll be forgiven
Nothing you can say can stop me going home"

Most Personal Album of 2006

Kevin Devine-Put Your Ghost to Rest

This category name may be confusing. It's meant to be that way. It basically means the album that meant the most to me, that had the most emotional effect on me. The one that made me stop and think about some of the choices I've made and the kind of consequences (good or bad) that they have wrought. It's also personal because Kevin Devine seems to somehow illuminate the kind of every day ruminations I have but could never put down as eloquently as he does. Sometimes I feel like his thoughts are even superior. The point being, he seems to speak for me (I know it's not just for me) and with every new album he makes me stop and observe things a little more carefully. His music has a very precise impact on my life. Put Your Ghost to Rest is his best album yet, such strong musicianship with some of the most complex, challenging, and catchy compositions he's ever come up with on an album. His lryics are on a par with no one else, combining stining political indictments, devastatingly honest observations about himself, and a sense of humor that is sorely missing in a lot of music these days. He can do it all, and he just seems to be getting better at it. His album is about wanting to fix the worse parts of yourself while completely induling in them at the same time. And the kind of havoc that can wreak on your life and the lives of those around you. The fact that he does it in a way that is touching, heartbreaking, and inspiring without ever sinking to sentimental mush or easy answers is in an of itself, a think of beauty.

"And your silver tounge
Masks your hungry hate
While your haggard heart
Whispers through its cracking cage,
"You still can change; you have to know
You still can change."

I know, I know - for now, I want to be this way.
This was a choice; this was never a mistake."


The Best Album of 2006

Pearl Jam-Pearl Jam

This should come as no surprise to anyone. Seeing as how Pearl Jam is the greatest band in the world, it's no surprise they released the greatest album of this year. This is not an arbitraty decision by any stretch of the imagination. Don't think I just thought: "hey, new pearl jam record, it's gotta be the greatest, you follow what Im saying?" It's the best album of the year because it combines classic genre busting music with a sense of moral outrage and responsibility few artists are capable of. Pearl Jam shafted the grunge logo a long time ago, they have always been a rock band through and through. A rock band not afraid to stay true to the purpose of why they all started playing music in the first place. The fact that they have survived this long is an accomplishment, the fact they produced a record this ear blasting, and this vital at this point in their career is simply astounding. From the blistering opening to the sobering finale where they proudly proclaim that they will not lose their faith. Pearl Jam proves that all of the misconceptions about them are just that. They go beyond left/right, red/blue in their politics to an area of moral responsibility where few artists tread. It's complex, humane, and full of a desire to keep on fighting. At the same time no one can craft a song like these guys and no one can sing like eddie vedder, who still manages to find new shades of his personality to share with us. These guys will always matter and hopefully some day people will stop judging them based on record sales or what spin magazine thought of them back in 1991. They will be around forever.

"Those undecided
Needn't have faith to be free.
And those misguided,
There was a plan for them to be...
Now you got both sides
Claiming 'killing in god's name'.
But god is nowhere
To be found, conveniently... "

There you go, my music picks of 2006. Maybe there is a common theme amongst the three, I don't know. I just seem to click my wheel to them the most frequently. There were other great albums this year, but these were the most important to me. I think that means something, anyway I can't wait to do my top ten list. See ya in the funny pages...

As for this new year business. I offer these words of wisdom to some up how I feel about the change and resolutions.

"Less yesterday, and more today.
I gotta get my head on straight.
Less Yesterday, and more today.
I gotta start to live that way."

"I want to stop it...
But it's the only life I know how to live."

Merry Christmas

I'm going to start posting in this thing again I swear.

But until then...


Merry Christmas everyone.

remember last year when you were on your own
you swore the spirit couldn't be found
december rolled around and you were counting on it
to roll out

well, everything's gonna be cool this christmas
everything's gonna be cool this christmas
everything's gonna be cool this christmas

well everybody's lookin' for you down at the house
the tree is looking so inspired
there's a yuletide groove waitin' for you to move
i'll go and throw another log on the fire

everything's gonna be cool this christmas
everything's gonna be cool this christmas
everything's gonna be cool this christmas

as days go by the more we need friends
and the harder they are to find
if i could have a friend like you all my life
well i guess i'd be doin' just fine

everything's gonna be cool this christmas
everything's gonna be cool this christmas
everything's gonna be cool this christmas

p.s.

A Slow Dissolve is great cinema. It's going to tear up the screens, it's only a matter of time...
They won't know what hit them.

All of A Sudden I Miss Everyone

A lot of new stuff to report.
But as they say, out with old, in with the nucleus.

First of all, the explosions in the sky and kevin devine concerts last week were wonderful experiences. Those two are acts that get better every time I see them, and I feel like I know their music so well that it becomes a much more personal experience. Especially Kevin Devine, who played a quiet and intimate set with just a guitar that was the loudest and energetic I've ever seen him. While I hope he achieves success because he deserves it, I also hope he remains relatively close to the status he is now. I don't want to be one of those guys who wants to keep an artist all to himself, but can't I just have Kevin Devine? One day, I will write a movie set to his music...one day. Same goes for explosions, I just hope these guys keep making better music and as long as they have the means to keep doing so, I could give a damn whether they have a video or Rolling Stone writes a cover story about them. Anyway they both put on a great live show, and everybody should try to seem at least once. You best.

Second of all, Babel is one of the best movies I've seen all year. It's a divider, apparently some people falling into the love it camp and others falling into the hate it group. I personally loved it, I think Inarritu makes films like nobody else. I put him in the same class as Terrence Malick in that his films make emotional sense rather than narrative sense. And if you're up for it, it can be one hell of a movie going experience. It overwhelms not only with its cinematic power but also how it delves into the moments that make up a life. It does it without ever becomeing grandoise or self-indulgent, Babel springs from the minds of people who see the brighest light in the darkest night. Babel is a reason why movies are still important and always will be to me.

I have one last thing to share, this was something I was thinking about on the way home from work today. It all ties into the honesty of kevin devin'e music and the beauty of Inarritu's film. I think it does, but just assume it does and we'll meet up halfway.

It all started when I went to a bonified L.A. party this past weekend. I don't say that to be glib or to brag, I'm just an observer relaying how an incident sprung forth some supposed insight from my mind. Anyway we go to this party and for one thing my name was on the guest list. I thought it was very strange that while these two nicely dressed women were pleading with the bouncer to make some special arrangement to let another one of their friends in, Danno and I stroll in like VIP. Me and my dashboard hoodie and my tattered rags, gettin the velvet rope pulled aside for us. Something just didn't seem right. Then we're at the party and it's like everything I'd ever seen in a movie before about L.A. A lot of fake. Fake smiles, other fake body parts. People walking in a certain motion that makes it look like they're posing on a runway, even as they walk to the bathroom. Topher Grace strolled by us on his way to the bathroom, he didn't have a pose, he seemed pretty normal. Sorry about the name dropping, it's the only one I got for this story and I thought it helped add to the atmosphere. Everybody just seemed into this game they were all collectively playing. It seemed like the object was to appear as if you knew something the rest of the club didn't know. To appear as if you had all the answers and were not anywhere near divulging them with the rest of us. It seemed like a very isolating game, but I guess if you're playing with like minded people, it becomes a group effort. People just seemed out to one up each other on every possible level.

This got me thinking about creativity and artistic expression. Where does it happen in all this? How does someone say someting personal about life through this? Not that this was the be all end all of film producion in Los Angeles but a good portion of these people have a lot stake in the process. I've always thought of filmmaking as a chance to say something and connect with someone else in a way that is unlike any other connection possible. It's hard to explain but think about how you felt when you saw a film that really meant something to you. Where you could tell the creators put themself on the line and said something so unabashadely sincere that if this were an alternate universe, you could have made that movie. That's filmmaking, not agents, managers, assistants, executive assistants, clubs, events, bookings, deals, and all the other stuff that people seem to talk about more than what those terms are supposed to support: creativity. I'm sure this will be met with a collective eye-roll, seeing as how I've only been out here a month and a half and am nowhere near grasping how this industry works. I admit to that, but from what I have observed in my time here, this is how I process all of it. I don't have any answers, just more questions. I know I sound naive, but movies to me have never been about what they seem to be about. They're about something I can't name but I've felt it, and hope to capture one day on my own. I don't know, I guess I just felt out of place at this shindig, maybe that's all there is to it.

Sorry for the conclusion, I guess I just ran out of steam.

Good night.

I lost my gun today when I left you and I'm the laughingstock of a lot of people. I wanted to tell you. I wanted you to know and it's on my mind. And it makes me look like a fool. And I feel like a fool. And you asked that we should say things - that we should say what we're thinking and not lie about things. Well, I can tell you that, this, that I lost my gun today - and I am not a good cop. And I'm looked down at. And I know that. And I'm scared that once you find that out you may not like me.

I can't let this go. I can't let you go. Now, you... you listen to me now. You're a good person. You're a good and beautiful person and I won't let you walk out on me. And I won't let you say those things - those things about how stupid you are and this and that. I won't stand for that. You want to be with me... then you be with me. You see?

GABE WATCH THIS!!!!!

So let's shake and trade and be on our way...

Let's go, go, go.

Not much new to report today, I just felt like jotting down a few things before I shuffle off to bed.

The cable box on my television struggles to survive and continue feeding me pictures of the new Real World Denver cast, this is extremeley important to me right now.

I bought the Jóhann Jóhannsson cd on itunes today per nate's suggestion and now I'm listening to another band called On Fire, they were also from itunes. I randomly found them and somebody said they made beautiful music on a par with Sigur Ros, how can I turn that down? Also Johann seems pretty good so far.

The new Spiderman 3 trailer is pretty damn cool. I still don't know who or what venom is, but the movie looks like it's going to blow us out of the back of the theatre.

I'm going to see Babel tomorrow night and the director is going to be there for a post film Q+A, not that I will ask a question but he is one of my favorite directors so it will be cool to see him in person and hear what he has to say. I also really want to see Babel, like really really want to see it. It's going to be big, Gabby Hayes big.

I wish I had some cool stories to report, but my journeys at the Sony Lot have yielded nothing yet, but hold on. Just like Tom Waits said, we gotta hold on and something will happen.

That's it for me, I'm Joe Namath, good night america.

"You still can change, you have to know you still can change
I know, I know, for now I want to be this way
This was a choice this was never a mistake
This was never a mistake."

We're not lost and I'm not embarrassed for us all...

I just want to preface this by warning I will not be revealing any new revelations about the election, pretty much everything I have to say has probably been said by somebody much much better than me, much. Check out Greenwald's blog, go over to Democracy Now! Crooks and Liar Kos AmericaBlog, I'm sure they have some good insight into the whole bloddy affair.

I gotta say it feels weird, Jarrad makes a good point that it's so hard to determine in politics whether one party really does have the right answer. Politics has a lot to do with personal decisions, morals, and conscience and it's hard to do that with party politics playing as big a role as they do. At the same time, I'm all with Nate's righteous anger (I'm sure Jarrad is too). I think change is a step in the right direction and I think the people who have led this country into the place it is in now deserve some kind of retribution, if losing the job's is the least that happens to them they should consider themselves lucky. And I think this speaks volumes to the will of the people and to the resounding rejection of fear mongering and severely anti-democratic measures perpetrated upon the citizens by the so called safe guards of democracy. To polish off an old chestnut, we're mad as hell and have voted against taking it anymore.

On the other hand, I'm cautiously optimistic. As much as I don't agree with Nader most of the time, he brought up a good point on Democracy Now when he said the democrats ran on a non-mandate, they had no plan. They fed off the anger towards the republican party. Do they have a plan? I know that's always been a joke against the democratic party, but now that they are the majority, it's not really a joke anymore. Don't get me wrong, I'm extremely happy, but what happens if the anger dies down in 2008 and people go back to the voting patterns they displayed 2 and 4 years ago? These are all hypothetical and maybe I've grown too disillusioned with the whole American political system to believe something good has happened. I don't want to be that guy and I don't think I am. I know there are severe, solid differences between the two parties, and I do think now we have people in office who will listen to our complaints rather than live in a bubble. We will continue to complain and we should still keep a vigilant eye, now maybe they will be heard. I guess what it comes down to is that politicians from both parties have very different policies, but they all play the politics game. They're like movie studios, they want to put asses in the seats. They want to sell as many tickets as possible. They cater to the lowest common denominator.

I guess now is the time to celebrate the fact that our electoral process has, for the first time, since I've been aware of politics (that began in 2000), has atually reflected the will of the people. And it was not hijacked by a bunch of republican cronies and stolen from us. We spoke, they heard, things changed. Sure it's not perfect but it's the best system we have...

...for now.

And with that I leave you with kevin devine to wrap things up.

"The tabloids tell us hate the rat who strikes those subways closed and puts you out
Forget those 50-hour tunnel weeks inhaling steel dust poison through his mouth
Well if he don't deserve a pension that makes his family feel secure
If we're now so disconnected it's our relfections we ignore
And if our constant choice is skimming past the writing on the wall
Oh whoa oh woh
Then I'm sad to say we're lost and I'm embarrassed for us all"

The Black Parade

Apparently you tube didn't honor the URL I posted in the last entry.

So here's the video for the Black Parade, watch it and rock.

I also I just want to clarify that even though I said the album is about death and the band is optimistic. I was not being contradictory, the fact that they can be that way in the face of such gloom highlights just how talented they are.

It's later than it needs to be...

Apparently, the way this thing works is whenever I have a lot of stuff to report, I never actually write in my blog. I get the notion but then I think to myself, I have so much to say that I will eventually get frustrated with how badly I communicate it, it slowly becomes not worth it.

So now I have decided to write, but I'm not going to write a lot because I've noticed the last couple of entries have been unwieldy, I will try to be concise. I can't promise I'll try but I'll to try.

Saw two more movies to recommend to you all. The Prestige and Marie Antoinette, I liked Marie better but more on that in a second. Prestige is worth seeing because Christopher Nolan is developing into one of the most unique talents of his generations. I just watched Memento and insomnia again recently, Insomnia being insanely under appreciated in my book and Memento, I think pretty much damn near revolutionized the thriller genre. The only problem with Prestige is that it doesn't add up to much and the ending is a bit of a cheat. That being said, it's a great ride getting there.

With Marie, I think Sofia Coppola is also a singularly unique talent in her generation. She knows how to capture loneliness with the subtlest of gestures, it's captivating to watch. Marie has gotten a lot of flack for ignoring historical accuracies and for ignoring the political context of the story. I have no defense for either of those charges except to say, you missed the point, you fool. Seriously though, I think Coppola was going for more of a mood piece than a period piece. And her interpretation of marie antoinette leads me to believe she sympathized with her as a girl stuck in the wrong place at the wrong time. And how the purpose she served was never to lead her own life, but to build up the lives of others. It's a sad story, and Coppola gives it the right amount of compassion and distance to feel her isolation. Plus versailles and the soundstrack are pretty stellar, this is a movie that has definitely grown on me since I saw it.

Speaking of Music, two really good albums I want to tell you about. The first one being kind of obvious: Kevin Devine's Put Your Ghost to Rest. Devine's gotta be my favorite singer songwriter working in music today. His songs have become so personal to me that they're like catching up with an old friend you haven't seen for a while. Plus he's advancing in ways I never predicted. His lyrics are sharper and much more powerful, his songwriting and arrangements have stepped into all kinds of new territories. He even has an alt country kind of song called Less Yesterday, More Today that hints at even better things to come. My only hope is his Capitol Records deal doesn't slow down his out put, he needs to keep making music. I love this album, I can't stop listening to it and I hope to make a movie one day set to his music, I'll be ripping him off anyway.

The second music item is really unexpected, it's The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance. Before you write these guys off as emo screamo weirdos. Let it be known, this album rocks and they too step out on such a ledge that I immediately admire them to not sticking to any kind of generic mtv playbook. They could have flopped hard, but I think they're flying inside right now. Black Parade is a concept album about a patient dying from cancer and the entire album is from his point of view on his death bed. Sounds like fun, but it actually is and I usually don't like really loud stadium rock but I'll be damned if I don't admit this guys me amped. Welcome to the Black Parade is the best single to be released so far this year and I think it will continue to be as such even when the year is over. I like My Chemical Romance because they're not afraid to be earnest and optimistic. And dammit, they mean everything they say and this shit is important to them. Any kind of compassion like that just uplifts my soul and makes me happy, I say more power to them. If you don't believe me then check it out for yoself...

The Black Parade.

Other than that, had a fun weekend in Monterey last weekend. Real pretty country up in those parts, Nate kicked ass in the half marathon, showed those country folk how a city boy runs it. Had a crowded Halloween this year where I not only missed Better than Ezra perform live, well that's pretty much all I missed. It was fun none the less, especially looking for parking.

Now if you'll excuse me, I will retire...

"So we laid glowing in the grass
To watch the sun swap with the moon
Trade our future for our past
The present tense was all we knew..."

Star Wars: Fix You

I swear, everytime I let my mind wander and I even remotely forget about Star Wars.

Something like this comes along, and I remember.

It's kind of corny, but still. I wish I had cinemax, and corn me up good sir.

Check it out.
Star Wars is the shit.

Alone at last to figure how you got this way. (PART II)

I just realized something. This blog is ugly, I mean really ugly. I look at Nate's blog and it looks like it was all done up by Rembrandt Q. Einstein. Anybody have any suggestions on what I can do to tidy up this place, I've tried nothing and I'm all out of ideas.

Ya follow what I'm sayin'?

Before I forget, I just want to say that I'm glad certain athletic competitions ended a certain way.
That's all I'm going to say about that.

Where to begin? There's a of stuff I wanted to talk about like how great the new Kevin Devine album is. It's great like Frosted Flakes (and I'm listening to it right now). But I think I'll start with the old reliable, flick-a-shows. I got some good ones.

I know I always say I got good ones but this time I mean it. I saw three really really good movies this past week, all in a row actually. It was something I was no expecting, but it just kind of happened. It's a great feeling to see movies that just totally take you by surprise. Movies you expect not to affect you, wind up sticking with you several days afterwards.

I saw The Queen on Sunday night. Before I tell you about it, just know that as good as the hype is, the movie is even better. Beacuse it's real. Seriously, unlike Public Enemy you should believe the hype, it's that good. Hellen Mirren nails her performance, it's kind of scary the kind of command this woman has over the acting craft. She does so much glances, half suggestions, and pauses between words. It's a deeply felt performance that is just one of the strong elements of this film. What's so fascinating about this film is watching a relic of the monarchy fight against the light of modernity. It's tragic the way Queen Elizabeth desperately clings to the last vestiges of her livelihood as the entire world engages with her in a duel over the death of Princess Di. The most remarkable thing about the film is how much you sympathize with the Queen and her plight without Mirren or the filmmakers heaping heavy excesses of heroism upon you. She is a woman clinging to her principles, frought with consequences. She and the film never take the easy way out. The rest of the cast is very strong too, especially Michael Sheen playing the newly elected PM Tony Blair. Sheen is so good because he carries on this cloak of moral outrage at how the Queen is being treated by his staff and the people, yet you can always ever so slightly see a kind of shifty plotting of a young man trying to figure out his new place of power. It's one of the best movies I've seen this year.

The next day, I followed that up with Shortbus, and before you ask, I will answer. Yes it's the sex movie. But that's such a cheap and superficial explanation to the kind of power this movie has. Okay it has explicit sex in it (you see everything, and all kinds of variations of it) but there is so much joy, passion, and humor in this movie that it de-eroticizes all the hardcore stuff. The sex becomes so goofy and more an extension of the anxieties of these disconnected New Yorkers that each one seems like a circus act of mercy. I loved this movie, and before you start making any weird assumptions about me, I'm going to say it again, I loved this movie. Sure it's not perfect, the acting is extremely amateurish and the movie has a lot of rough edges. But the formalities are never the most important thing for me. A lot of the times, a movie lives or dies by how it's personality shines through all of the dollies, cut, and re-takes. This movie has personality to burn and John Cameron Mitchell has a spirit and an optimism that is infectious. And he took a precarious subject and made something unique that is totally his thing but he also wants to invite us in on the fun. There's fun to be had, trust me. At least know this, it's a movie about explicit sex that I recommend to everybody I know. It's about lonely people finding solace in each other and how random connections occur when you least expect them. We all need a movie like that once in a while. Mitchell is an optimist as the revolutionary, he will find the shimmering amongst the dank and so should we.

After that, (one more I swear), I caught up on Deliver Us From Evil, Amy Berg's searing and heartbreaking documentary about the life long sexual abuses committed by Oliver O'Grady on far too many children than one would like to think possible. Berg captures the psychological torture on these children (well into their adult years) in a way that allows us to understand yet we get choked up because we know we will never understand it. She also emphasizes the raging hypocrisy committed by the Catholic Church in a way that humanizes it rather than turn it into a cheap slogan campaign. The Cardinals, bishops, and priests claim a moral authority on everything except the all-mighty themselves. I guess it's that moral authority that allows them so sacrifice innocent children to protect their way of life. When the Church heirarchy learned O'Grady's offenses they did nothing more than send him a few miles away to another parish in California, to unleash him on a new set of unsuspecting children. It's a hypocrisy we see in almost every facet of political, social, and religious life. The most corrupt are always those who claim to be immune to it. This an organization to which, a great many people seek comfort, salvation, and hope. To take that kind of faith and spit it back in the face of children and their families is a unique kind of stain on one's soul. Berg let's you see how the psychological strains tear through each member of each family. It's a an epic topic broached through a personal, human scopt. One of the most powerful documentaries I've ever seen.

There you have it, three movies I think you all should go out and see right now. They each have a distinct style, soul, and spirit. They will get you in some way, maybe not a good way, but they will definitely not leave you glazed over. So see them and react. It's all the movies ask you to do.

"A man in a hotel room, tangled to his teeth by the telephone
He's waiting on a woman, wondering what she's doing,
And pacing so his pulse won't slow.
He drums his legs and pulls his hair; he carves her dimples in the air.
The raging world has spooked him scared, and he don't want her lost out there.
So now it's later than it needs to be
And though his aching eyes want sleep
Against all rationality
Against everything he believes
He prays for her protection,
Heaven bound & glory be.
I pray for your protection,
Heaven bound & glory be."

And if you fell in love will you hold on to it (PART I)

Okay everyone out there in internet land. Sorry about last night I meant to write a rather lengthy entry about a variety of topics, each one more fascinating than the last. However, it was midnight and when it came down to it, I just couldn't muster the strength. However, I am here now, hopefully not a day late and a dollar short. Still writing the same annoying sarcastic blog entries. "Groovy."

Seriously, as most of you know, I have been living in Los Angeles for almost a month now. I don't have a job yet, but everyday gets me closer to that interview which will eventually get me rejected from all the hottest and noisest jobs. I'm just kidding, I knew it was going to be difficult so I'm not discouraged. It's a pretty big world and I am awful small but there's gotta be a little place for me to put my cheeks down on the dirt. It will happen, I just have to keep working at it.

Anyway, the point of this is: I like it out here a lot. The weather is the tops, we have a great apartment, I got two fabulouso roommates (we are a colorful bunch, we've been dubbed the three muskateers), and I'm surrounded by a culture so fascinatingly perverse it provides endless fodder for entertainment. There are also a lot of astoundingly beautiful things out here, like the view from Griffith Park (something I don't think I'll ever get tired of), and the way the city lights up at night. I'll keep you guys posted on the progress of exploration. There is so much out here to see, I hope I get to see it all. But as it stands, I'm having a great time out here and I want to get used to it. It is weird to walk down the sidewalks here and be the only person within 15 miles all around walking.

That being said, I miss New York, a lot. There's a real sense of community to that city, I guess some people don't feel it and they find it isolating. I think it's the exact opposite, you may not feel connected the way you do in a small town where you know everybody. You feel connected to something bigger I think, something more like a feeling or a spirit. I don't mean to get all philisophical but it's something about New York that seperates it from any other city. Keep in mind, I do not prefer one to the other. Sure New York is much more familiar at this point, but that will change in time. They are both so different, it's like two positively charged ions on the north and south pole. You can't compare them, and I think the pros and cons of each city outweigh each other. I still miss New York, I hope I haven't seen the last of it. I'm sure my reps over there are taking good care of it.

Let's see, what else? There's been so much stuff going on recently in the world that I wanted to write about all at different points. Now they've all passed or are too big to confine to this one blog, I guess what I'll do is give you a quick run through of all the movies I've seen. Quite a twist huh? Bet you didn't see that one coming. Here they are, since I've been out in L.A.

The Illusionist
I don't know if this is playing anymore. But I had a good entertaining time with it. I think it's Paul Giamatti's best performance and it makes up for that travesty of a mockery of a movie, Lady in the Water. Norton's good as usual, Jessica Biel was pretty bad unfortunately but again pretty usual for that to happen. The movie itself plays out like a big magic trick (although I must admit the end is a bit of a cheat) then again, it's a damn good time that gets those wheels a turnin in your mind. Can't else for much more than that, catch it if you can.

Half-Nelson
Really strong film, I can't recommend this one enough. Again, this also may not be playing anymore but it should be out on video soon. Ryan Gosling plumbs depths rarely seen in actors of his age. It's one of the most complete performances of the year, intense yet never falling into the chasm of actorly tricks begging for sympathy. Shareeka Epps is perfect as well, playing the student opposite him. A challenging film whose subject (neglected school districts) usually leads other films to lengthy polemics about the power of easy answers to complex questions. None of that here, this one sticks with you.

This Film is Not Yet Rated
Another good romp of a flick exposing the cavalcade of idiots, hypocrites, and liars who call themselves the MPAA. Testimonials from beleagured filmmakers pepper this film with frank commentary from people who have fought and lost. Although most of the time the filmmakers win, when they lost it can't be devastating to a film. There were some problems, it gets repetitive after a while and the film raises one or two points too many that it can't really handle. It is a thrill to see the members of the board identified and exposed as the frauds they are. It's also kind of sickening to see members of the clergy (two of them are on the appeals board of the MPAA) deciding how many pelvic thrusts are allowed into a movie, or how much of maria bello's pubic hair we can see in one shot. I hope a lot of people saw this movie.

The Science of Sleep
Michel Gondry has got something on the pulse of the romance culture in this world. He is able to make films about love, loss, and connection that are undeniably personal to him, yet universal in how his audience connects with them. This is a film that somehow feels personal to everyone who sees it. That's a remarkable achievement. I also really liked Gael Garcia Bernal in this. He threw himself all over this movie with the kind of reckless abandon that is quite admirable. He balances romance with slap stick with a little dash of pathos in a way that is a beautiful thing to watch. Gondry's got an eye straight from his heart, he means every single frame of this film. And because of that it never gets too precious, it also makes me pretty damn happy, (The scenes of the two leads creating nonsense out of every day items was a particular delight to me). It's not as structurally tight and dazzling as eternal sunshine, but it makes up for it with a generous amount of sincerity and imagination.

Idiocracy
If you haven't heard about this movie, that's because Fox did everything in their power to keep it from seeing the light of day. Mike Judge finished it two years ago, needed a little more money to complete some ambitious effects shots and put other various finishing touches on the movie and fox said no. After an apparently disastrous test screening, fox decided the movie just wasn't worth their trouble and they dumped it in a few screens and prepared to ship it out to dvd subsequently. For more on the saga of idiocracy, check out this article. The movie itself is okay, it's hit or miss. But obviously a movie that was neglected before it ever had a chance to do something great. It's not nearly as bad as fox thinks it is, and it's got some great great moments in it. When it comes out on DVD, give it a chance. I just hope Mike Judge never makes a movie again. These damn studios don't deserve him.

jesus Camp
A fascinating and unsettling experience. It had me locked into a world I never wanted to experience yet I felt myself compelled by it. It's reality that I am not at all conscious of or connected with. The extreme evangelical movement is one that even if I were a practicing christian, I don't think I'd be comfortable with it. The film doesn't probe very hard into the cause and effect relationship of religion and politics. Particularly the well established connection between the right and the evangelical movement. It also does it a little bit too much with the haunted house music during the religious ceremonies. That being said, it's a film people should see not so they can cluck their tongues in disgust. But to understand that this is real movement in our society and is growing in a way that will not be considered fringe by the next generation. Is this a problem (I think it is) but this is an issue to be discussed in a later blog.

The Departed
A really fun satisfying ride of a movie. Leo and Matt are in top form, Nicholson is good for about a half of the movie. Meanwhile Alec Baldwin and Mark Wahlberg turn in some effortlessly funny supporting roles that are two of the strongest works of their careers. The movie bears all the trademarks of lil' Marty and it is cut like nobody's business. The man knows how to make flicka shows, it's as easy as that. He lights some of this shit on fire. That being said, the movie totally shoots itself in the foot at the end and betrays a lot of the integrity and tragedy of the original Hong Kong version (which I think is definitely better). It cops out for a lame audience satisfaction ending and a last shot that seems like it was directed by someone else. It's a shame because it's a grand old ride up until that point, an exhilirating crime drama with a lot of meat on its bones. Then it becomes this clusterfuck filled with all the tricks that hacks usually use, this movie deserved better.

Renaissance
Not much to say about this one, it didn't do it for me. The animation is beautiful (yet oddly dull at times) but the story fails to engage on any possible level. It also doesn't make any sense and the voice acting is a kind of bored I've never heard in the field before this. Skip this one, that's all there is to it.

Okay, that felt pretty good. My grammar is still awful and I sometimes sound like a pull quote from a fake critic in an obnoxious t.v. commercial, but I like writing these little blurbs. I like keeping you guys up to date. I'll be back tomorrow with two bigger pieces about two really good movies I've seen recently (two of my favorites of this year so far). Check back in for that one tomorrow. Also new Kevin Devine, enough said.

Keep watching the skies...

His name was Charles
He said he was in love with me
We were both fourteen
Then I had to move away
Then he begin to smoke crack
Then he had to sell ass
I don't know where he is
I don't know where they are.

Black Dollar Bills

Hey All,

I'm going to write a proper post tonight. But for now, I would like to share with you a music video that got me hooked. The song is called Black Dollar Bills, the band is called Hope of the States.

Check it out.
I'll be back later.

Into the blue again...

I know, I know, I didn't even come close to reaching my goals for this blog once I moved out to L.A. I know there have been no updates whatsoever except for a link to a video on you tube, one of the most unoriginal things I could have done. No pictures, no funny stories, not even an anecdote about my endlessly amusing escapades in the city of angels.

I'm sorry.

...suckers...

Anyway, I will be updating this more frequently. And I say that as casually as I can so that when the time comes that I need to defend it, I will just say I never committed to it that much by using a lot of showy language and clever catch phrases. I can just say I said it, that's it.

But seriously, I will but right now its just a little bit after 12:30 and I just got back from the Album Leaf show at the troubadour. My first concert in Los Angeles by the way, actually my second, but the first that I planned to see and excecuted thusly.

A great show, I might add. They know how to play their shit and their new album is really good by the way. Their music always seems to transcend whatever time of day or season or mood in which I find myself and lift me up just a little bit. I hope it does that to other people too. The guys who make this music are believers and we need more of them out there today. Watching them play live is like watching a symphony conducter calmly coordinate all these sections into one sprawling whole, it is quite a sight.

It was weird being at this show, I should add. The crowd was fine, and the band was great, nothing with wrong in that department. It's weird how you get used to something as casual as going to a concert with your brother and then how much you miss him when he's not there. It's just not the same without you, Nate I guess is what I mean. Oh well, we'll always have human contact.

One other thing, does anybody know who I should call to get customer support from Apple regarding my Itunes account. It's doing this weird thing where I can't play any music I bought from my old account because I deactivated it before transferring all my stuff to my new computer. I'm confused too, don't worry. But I can't listen to a lot of my stuff because of it, so any suggestions, I'm open to them.

I'm really tired, I'm going to go to sleep.

Goodnight.

"so you spend the next week playing weakened,
rolling three men alone in the dark of your kitchen.
your apartment can't talk so it's safe for your secrets,
all the stories you've invested with a massochist, menacing meaning,
those tired tricks that you play to graph the life to your name
and you know it's not yours but for now it's okay."

If only there was some way to drink coffee faster!!!

Please, just go here

Please.

You shan't be let down.

Shan't.

Carry Me, Ohio (Montpelier)

Greetings from beautiful Montpelier, Ohio.

How yall doin' today?

We have set out on Katrinka and Ethan's Bogus Journey. The sequel to the box office smash, Nate and Ethan's Excellent Adventure. Driving out west to settle up in sunny Los Angeles, CA. We are in a Holiday Inn which according to the guest directory exists in a place called Holiday City, not Montpelier as AAA would have us believed. Strange things are afoot.

I don't have much to say or anything to link you to right now. Just to inform you that I will be taking a new approach to anti-fanboy right now. I feel a change is due. I want to keep you guys updated to my journeys in Los Angeles. Not that it will be interesting, but it's gotta be better than that last Barbara Streisand movie. Maybe I'll re-design the site (probably not), give it a snazzy new name (again probably not) and write in it much more frequently (gotcha.) Anyway stay tuned, there will be some interesting new developments here at anti-fanboy.blogspot.com.

And that's the way it is.

"Well I guess we'll pack the ghosts as well
and move on now
and move west now.
with our big dreams, all in boxes.
Oh are dreams aren't as quite as big as our boxes."

The saga is complete

Before I begin. I was just watching letterman and Zach Braff was on to promote his new movie the last kiss. As Braff walked on the band started playing "Last Kiss" in some kind of jazz band ensemble cover of it. Last Kiss is the J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers song that Pearl Jam completely kicked ass with. I thought it was an odd choice, just wanted to share that. Also the movie looks lame, Zach Braff is lame.

Anyway, as Nate's blog has previously reported, we are all done here. Tomorrow morning, Nate and I set out on expanse across this great nation of ours en route to Avondale. Everybody else has left and all that remains is this dualistic notion of loss (end of Summer, always a sad time for me) and extreme joy and elation (in light of completing the movie). We are going through the seemingly contrasting and negating oppositions of those two extremes of emotions. It's a weird thing, not a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination. We did it, there's no reason to be bummed. And I personally think Nate has a pretty damn good movie on his hands (sound issues aside...oh boy). Maybe this just means that (gasp!) we had a really good time shooting this movie and we're going to miss it. How awful.

"Are you being sarcastic, dude?"
"I don't even know anymore."

In summation, I'm really happy we're done, and I'm really happy to leave. I'm really happy to go home. I'm happy.

"I want to see my family
my wife and child waiting for me
I've got to go home
I've been so alone you see"

An exaggeration perhaps but a really good song covered by Iron and Wine that I was listening to today. I like this whole stream of concsiousness thing...it fits me like a speedo.

"I'm a selfish old crank, and that fits me like a Speedo"

Okay, I'll stop.

Two more things before I tucker off to bed...

I watched a movie tonight (recommended by Dad) called Paris, Texas. It's about a guy lost in the desert who goes on a search to essentially reunite his son and wife. It's an epic movie muted by a refreshing lack of excessive mush usually heaped upon hollywood projects such as this. It's also got an amazing visual style, extreme neon colors accentuate the perpetual lonliness of the American west (a topic I am becoming more and more interested in as you will not in later blogs). The environment seems to be built on harsh extremes not meant for sane human beings. It's a really powerful film that doesn't really hit you until after you watch it. Then it's like a punch to the gut. There was one scene that stuck with me, and it makes sense because Roger Ebert called it one of the best movie monologues in cinema history (I don't know about that, I mean Roger Ebert is never wrong so I don't know what to think). Anyway, in the scene Travis (Harry Dean Stanton) has relocated his estranged wife in a peep show booth in Texas. He clarifies to his ex-lover, Jane (Nastassja Kinski) the reason for his departure in an explanation that has untold years of regret sewn into its account. Regret for not for ony for his actions but for the self pity he used to rationalize them. She ends the scene with one of the most devastating monologues I've ever heard. It's too complex for tears.

"I... I used to make long speeches to you after you left. I used to talk to you all the time, even though I was alone. I walked around for months talking to you. Now I don't know what to say. It was easier when I just imagined you. I even imagined you talking back to me. We'd have long conversations, the two of us. lt was almost like you were there. I could hear you, I could see you, smell you. I could hear your voice. Sometimes your voice would wake me up. It would wake me up in the middle of the night, just like you were in the room with me. Then... it slowly faded. I couldn't picture you anymore. I tried to talk out loud to you like I used to, but there was nothing there. I couldn't hear you. Then... I just gave it up. Everything stopped. You just... disappeared. And now I'm working here. I hear your voice all the time. Every man has your voice."

Definitely check this out if you have the chance. Really strong flick.
While you're listening to my recommendations, also check out Nine Lives while you're at it. The only film I can remember that captures of the feeling of reading a great collection of short stories. Check it out for real.

One last thing. See this is what I do, I get all my stuff out in one blog entry and then I lay dormant for weeks and weeks on end. I need to parcel this out a little more evenly, that will be a new year's resolution.

It made my heart sing to see the U.S. Government protecting our security and livelihood in the face of such an undeniable terrorist threat as the one posed by these San Francisco citizens. It's truly mind blowing to me that this "conservative" administration has adopted such a neo-conservative attitude when it comes to demolishing civil liberties and ignoring the consitution whenever they see fit.

Yet, somehow, when it comes to an issue that really calls for Government Assistance (you'd figure the neocons in charge would jump all over an opportunity like this), like the Hurricane Katrina relief. They are nowhere to be found, they are admirably sticking to their conservative roots of non governmental interference. Except of course when it comes to awarding no bid contracts to businesses (exploiting this American war zone just like they did the one in Iraq). And essentially putting a big "whites-only" sign all over most of New Orleans through their sleazy means. If this all sounds a little extreme (I apologize if it does but this is a real pisser), check out Amy Goodman's coverage of the anniversary of the disaster over at Democracy Now! (make sure you check out August 29th's show if you're reading this tomorrow. There's some real fascinating and damming stuff over there and coupled with a recent ass wiping of the constitution that our government seems to encourage. I don't know. Sorry to complain.

Okay, I'm going to bed. I've talked your ear off enough, this should give you enough to chew on for another month, when I decide to write in this thing again. See you guys back in PA.

"Cheer up, you miserable fuck
This has gone on long enough
And I don't want to hear anymore
'Cos it you wait for the day
You find your thinking bends to straight
You'll be waiting for a long, long time
Oh you, well you are no fun
And I'm so dumb
But please let us not be lonely, again."