Rainy Afternoon

I tried to be irresponsible today and blow off work but the weather and
my forgetfulness prevented me. I got up and got out and arrived at my
destination and realized I had no wallet and no money, which blew my
plan. And going back home to get it and going back out was not an
attractive option in this weather, which also killed the alternate plan
for the day which didn’t require money but did require lots of being
outside.

So, I’m back home and despite myself I guess I will chip away at this enormous pile of papers I have to grade.

Why is Copycat always
broadcast on rainy weekend days? It’s perfect. It is one of my favorite
guilty-pleasure films. Harry Connick Jr. as a hayseed serial killer?
Come on, who can resist that.

Walk It, Asshole!

I think it should be a rule that if you are packed like sardines on a
elevator that you’ve been waiting for for 10 minutes, the person who
gets off at floor 2 should be kicked in the ass on their way out. Maybe
floor 3 also. Sound fair?

It’s A Blog World

Tonight I ate fancy French food and drank free wine and made a new
friend who it turns out grew up in the same town as me and and we
walked home down Mass Ave and I saw a blogger and I told my new friend about blogging and while I was talking about blogging then I saw another blogger and the world seemed to be getting smaller and smaller and smaller.

Garden State vs. Bridget Jones

It looks like my speaking out against twentysomething male fantasy movies about depressed jerks and the saintly women who save them may turn into an outreach/intervention. I received this via email:

Sounds exactly like the script my flat mate has been writing for the
last year and a bit. I e-mailed him some excerpts to see if he comes to
his senses

I’m happy to help. But as I told this person, I don’t want to frustrate anyone’s creative impulses. Perhaps every twentysomething male needs to churn out one of these types of scripts in order to exorcise those demons. Then they can move on to something more interesting.

I’m trying to think of the equivalent female-fantasy movies, but am drawing a blank. That could be because there aren’t so many scripts by women, or it could be my own personal blind spot concerning my own gender. Maybe it’s the woman-who-dares-to-find-herself-and-in-so-doing-finds-Mr.Right? Any help, guys? What are the female fantasy cliches that annoy you in films? Anything with Meg Ryan or Tom Hanks in it? I’d say something like Bridget Jones would be an obvious choice, but it’s actually so old-fashioned that its attitudes seem fresh again. A woman daring to admit she wants a husband! That just isn’t done.

Maybe Not Austin

Looks like my plan to move to Austin wasn’t so original–Andrew
Bujalski (director of the fabulous Mutual Appreciation) had the same
idea and it didn’t go so well:

Bujalski and the leads in his two movies, Kate Dollenmayer (Funny Ha Ha) and Justin Rice (Mutual Appreciation),
moved to Austin as roommates in 1999, after college. “We were young,
and it was that moment in life,” Bujalski told me. “I temped,
volunteering for the Austin Film Society, and wrote the first film
here. Kate was an animator on Waking Life.” The three expected
to be able to live cheaply in Austin and contemplate their art.
Bujalski lasted a year; Justin Rice left quickly. “It was the high-tech
boom,’ Rice said. “Every Web site in the world was here. We paid more
rent than in Cambridge.”

Poor public transportation + no jobs + no friends there = No Austin for me. Unless I apply to their film PhD program.

via Cinetrix

IFFBoston Awards

Apparently my priorities were very different from the other IFFBoston audience members as well as the Grand Jury for the festival, as I managed to miss every single one of the winners for both Jury and Audience awards. I therefore cannot give you my own commentary on the winners, so I will instead tell you why I missed each and give my own alternate winner:

Grand Jury and Special Jury Award Prizes

Narrative Feature: BLACKBALLED: THE BOBBY DUKES STORY, directed by Brant Sersen. This is a mockumentary and therefore I question its placement in the narrative feature category. And I did plan to see it but I chose instead to see some real documentaries. I was flying high on idealism after seeing Chain and Mutual Appreciation and didn’t want to spoil the ride with silly cynical Comedy-Central comedy about Paintball players. And I want to know who the hell is on this Grand Jury if they picked this as the best film. I did manage to catch Filmic Achievement, another mockumentary, but was not impressed. It takes a very subtle hand to make an effective mockumentary–a little too much of one thing or another and you just look like a bad imitation of Spinal Tap or The Office. And Filmic Achievement, a mockumentary about film students, looked like that. MY SELECTION FOR THE AWARD: Andrew Bujalski’s Mutual Appreciation, natch.

Best documentary: Ellen Perry for THE FALL OF FUJIMORI. I did also plan to see this one but couldn’t due to time conflicts. It is not possible to see all films in a film festival, unfortunately. I could’ve made time, but there are very difficult decisions to be made when you are trying to see as much as you can at a festival. Sigh. Such sacrifices we make. MY SELECTION FOR THE AWARD: I didn’t see enough docs in the festival to really have an authoritative opinion, and of those I did see I wasn’t bowled over by any, so I would have to go with The Future of Food, which I suppose you could say did bowl me over–with horror at our government and corporate greed. But if you allow Chain into the documentary category, that would definitely be my choice. It doesn’t really fit into doc or fiction categories, though.

Audience Awards

Narrative feature: BROTHERS, directed by Susanne Bier. This was a late addition to the schedule and only had one screening, which I learned of too late, and I don’t really understand how a film can get that many votes from a single screening. It’s not something that I probably would’ve wanted to see anyway, though, and I suspect it got its votes because it is a dramatic and timely war film.

Documentary feature: AFTER INNOCENCE, directed by Jessica Sanders. Another that I was only mildly interested in. The docs in the festival seemed very straightforward and while generally I am more interested in documentary, I am not usually in it for the actual subject matter. If that’s all you want in a documentary, it becomes merely a matter of somebody finding the best/weirdest story. It’s then about journalism, not about filmmaking. The docs I did see (Future of Food, Rhythm Is It, Spew, and Inside Out) were all in this vein. Rhythm Is It, which is about a troupe of troubled teenagers who were wrangled together to put on a dance performance in Berlin, was perhaps the only one that tried to say more than its subject matter. But in a fairly didactic way, which to me undermines the artistry. And I didn’t see anything in the doc lineup at the festival that attempted much in the way of artistry. I could be wrong, of course, as there were a dozen or so that I didn’t see. But I don’t think I’m wrong.

In sum, I don’t think much of these award winners, neither the Grand Jury nor Audience Awards. Pfft.

Today’s Google Search

From the Russian Federation Zone:

“why girl or boy get irritated in long love relationship”

The Lowdown On Comment Spammers

Is here.

Favorites From IFFBoston

Rain, rain, rain…what great weather for sitting in the theater all weekend. The festival is now over and I saw about a dozen programs (it is not physically possible to see all films in a festival, I have discovered). Not surprisingly for an independent film festival, anti-commercialism was a clear theme in many of the films, one of which was my favorite from the festival–Jem Cohen’s fantastic experimental feature, Chain (other notables being Hal Hartley’s The Girl From Monday and several documentaries such as Deborah Koons Garcia’s highly upsetting The Future of Food). Chain hovers somewhere between documentary and fiction in a Sans Soleil-like essay-film set in the sterile locales of corporate chain hotels, shopping malls, and the interstate. One assumes the film takes place in one specific area, as it follows two characters and their movements throughout this seemingly lifeless space, but in possibly the most powerful intro to a credit sequence ever, Cohen reveals the list of shooting locales – dozens of cities all across the world. You’d never know it by watching the film, where each hotel, shopping mall, and stretch of highway looks identical. The two characters in the film, a Japanese businesswoman on a business trip in America, and a homeless teenager who squats in abandoned housing and spends her days wandering the mall, engage with no one and speak only in monologues to the camera or in voiceover. It’s the loneliest film I’ve ever seen. But also a very exciting one. I advise everyone to see it if you can.

Another of my favorites from the festival is I suppose anti-commercial in form if not explicitly in content. It’s Andrew Bujalski’s Mutual Appreciation. (It turns out that the main actress, Rachel Clift, is someone I know from grad school at BU. That was a surprise. Go Rachel.) This is a wonderful film about pretty much nothing – a bunch of twentysomething creative types do a lot of talking in New York. That’s pretty much the story. I want to compare it to Jarmush, but I daresay the acting is better than pretty much every Jarmusch film out there. It has a similar tone though (and was shot in black and white). I’d also compare it to Cassavetes, though there’s much less drama here than in most Cassavetes films. But these two are clearly influences for Bujalski, though the film is all his own. If I had to classify the film I’d say it’s a beat film. It’s about connections between people, both random and lasting, it’s about creativity, and community, and love and respect. I haven’t seen Bujalski’s first film, Funny Ha-Ha, but I have heard raves about it from all the right people, so I do plan to see it soon. It opens next week at the Coolidge, as a matter of fact, so I’ll definitely be heading over there at some point.

Then there were the obvious anti-conventional selections like the program of freaky Finnish experimental shorts, most if which were actually pretty conventional, I thought. The curator of the program warned us that there were two films that were extremely disturbing and difficult to sit through and said she’d understand if we walked out–I was bracing myself for animal mutilation or diarrhea-inducing low-frequency sonic effects but none of that appeared, and I never figured out which films were supposed to be so disturbing. Methinks she underestimated the tolerance of the Boston crowd. No one walked out.

Much more disturbing was Garcia’s The Future of Food, a straightforward documentary about genetic engineering of food and its effects on farmers, on health, and on the world. Possibly the most upsetting film I’ve ever seen. Monsanto comes across as a truly evil giant corporation which must be stopped, and the government its knowing accomplice.

More to come…

History, Czech-Style

While I continue to digest the many films I’ve seen at IFFBoston (and continue to see today), please enjoy this excerpt from a new Czech book, Europeana: A Brief History of the Twentieth Century, as excerpted in the May issue of Harper’s:

Sex became very important in Europe in the twentieth century, more important than religion and almost as important as money, and everyone wanted to have sexual intercourse in different ways. And after the Second World War, films started to include scenes in which the leading characters had sexual intercourse, which was previously considered improper because lots of people still believed in God and sexual intercourse was generally only hinted at by a shot of a bed or a clock or the sky, or it suddenly went dark. In the fifties film heroes usually had sexual intercourse in cornfields because cornfields were associated with youth and the new life awaiting the young heroes, and wind ruffled the ears of corn as the sun sank on the horizon and women’s bosoms heaved, and in the sixties film heroes had sexual intercourse in the surf on the ocean shore because it was romantic and sand clung to their skin, and their bottoms could be seen, and mist hung over the water. In the sixties pornographic films were made in whch people had sexual intercourse almost nonstop in varous places. And in art films there was more and more sexual intercourse, but the critics said that it was something else, that it was not sexual intercourse as such but its representation, that the film expressed our entomological attitude toward love, which was fine because it enabled us to reflect more effectively on the role of sexual intercourse not only in an anthropological, cultural, or political context but also in human life. In the seventies film heroes mostly had sexual intercourse in motorcars because it was original and the speed of life was increasing all the time, and young people who did not have cars could imagine what was in store for them one day. And men increasingly lay on their backs and women sat on them because they were now emancipated.

And now, off to the theater again…

IFFBoston – Lonesome Jim

It was a packed house for opening night of IFFBoston last night, with hipsters lined up around the block at Somerville Theater to see Lonesome Jim and director (and indie-film poster boy) Steve Buscemi in person. Apparently 400 hopeful hipsters didn’t get in. As for me, I walked in and was suddenly surrounded by people I knew and hadn’t seen in awhile. It was definitely a Film Scene night. Blogcards were passed around, screenplays were discussed.

Buscemi was quite charming, and fielded an array of dumb and intelligent questions with a mixture of sarcasm and honesty. (Why is it a rule that the first question asked at these things is always the dumbest?) I admire a man who doesn’t let the dumbness of a question slide. Most interesting was his comment that shooting the film on DV gave him the freedom to not say “cut.” Once a shot is over and the director calls “cut”, the crew starts rushing onto the set and moving things around and screwing up the vibe. So he didn’t ever cut and instead would just keep talking to the actors and moving on to new takes. If he were shooting on film, he said, that kind of approach would be too expensive. It’s an approach that only an actor-director would be likely to take, I’d imagine. Buscemi himself doesn’t act in this film, and didn’t write it, and he sounded as if he now preferred directing to acting. He did also mention John Cassevetes, the pioneer for independent actor’s cinema, and it seems he’s following the Cassavetes career path.

And now, onto the film.

I’m getting tired of watching movies that are merely twentysomething male fantasies written onto the screen. See Garden State. And if you have seen it, you don’t really need to see Lonesome Jim. It’s pretty much the same basic story–some very funny dialogue, but overall your typical depressed-guy-meets-cheery-and-unbelievably-patient-girl-who-saves-him story. Lonesome Jim is a bit darker, and Jim (Casey Affleck) is much less likeable than Zach Braff in Garden State, which makes it even more infuriating that the female lead (Liv Tyler) is inexplicably so in love with this jerk. It’s a wonder men get so frustrated with women who are only attracted to jerks when that’s the same story that’s been fed to us over and over by movies–Hollywood and Indie alike. Let’s see, Jim is 27 and had to move back home with his parents because he couldn’t make enough money walking dogs in New York to live there, where he was trying to be a writer. He steals money from his mother, is cruel and indifferent toward her, tells his brother he’s such a loser he should kill himself (and he then tries), worships only authors who have killed themselves, doesn’t care about anyone or anything, including her, until for some reason near the end he tells her he really likes her (and it’s not believable at all). Yep, that’s my idea of a dream man, how about you, ladies? The sad thing is that most of us have had boyfriends like this in the past, and we continue to be encouraged to do so by films like these, which teach us that if we are just patient and loving enough, the guy will come around. Fuck you. Liv Tyler’s character is a saintly one, of course, works as a nurse in the hospital, talks about how much she likes helping people, pastes a smile over the frown on Jim’s poster of Ernest Hemingway, and has an adorable 5-year-old son to give her the saintly single mother aura. Oh, plus she’s slutty and screws Jim within hours of meeting him. A whore and madonna, all in one, how original!

That said, the sold-out hipster crowd at the screening last night loved the film, and I’m not surprised. It’s written for their demographic. And I do admit to laughing out loud in several places in the film. It is entertaining. First-time screenwriter James Strouse has some writing chops, and I look forward to seeing what he does once he gets past the twentysomething male cliches.

IFFBoston

At the end of this week this blog will be wholly possessed by the spirit of a film blogger, as I’ll be covering the Independent Film Festival of Boston. Consider yourself warned.

Big Brother Is Here

This kind of scares me–someone throws out an old journal and it is found by someone else, who blogs about it, including scanning some of the pages and posting a photo of the author and her full name. And someone sees it who knows her and blogs about it. So the act of discarding a personal diary in this instance amounted instead to broadcasting it to the world with name and photographic attribution. So anyone who Googles this girl’s name–prospective employers, romantic prospects, family members etc–will instantly find her personal diary.

That’s why I do this with old diaries:

UPDATE: The post has been removed at the request of the author of the journal.

Korean + English = Konglish

Serpico sends some examples of everyday Konglish:

-From a sign: Counselling Center to Prevent Bullies-From a student’s notebook: We sued to be friends. Doyou want some cloud?-From a popular K-pop song: “It’s raining, it’sraining… Go rain! It’s raining… Go rain!”-From a store in my subway called “Yes!” that sellsunderwear:“Hey June!! Didn't you see my panty and brassiere?””well... Is that yours?” “NO!””How about this one?””It's untrue!! My underwear!!””why don't go to yes?” “yes?” “yes!!” “yes””Let's go to yess!!!!”-From signs and menus: Seafood with Crap Sauce, CasualPork Restaurant, Beer Whisky Girl Good Time, Come! GodFood, and Happy Fun Time Green Why Not-From my planner: “SYSTEM DIARY. Your time is notinfinite. To live in full, give your best footforward.”

Let’s Play “Humiliate The Westerners!”

A close personal friend can be seen in this Korean news story about a chopstick contest between first-graders and adult English teachers. The first-graders won.

One Of These Things Is Not Like The Others…

Someone asked me to meet them in building 16 at MIT and I couldn’t remember which one that was, so I checked the map. Simple enough. But then I had to laugh when I saw the misshapen blob a few buildings away–can you guess which one of these structures is the Stata Center?

Love Snobs

Makeoutcity quotes Rabbi Shmuley Boteach:

I’ve asked women in female audiences around the world, it’s so funny to see this – no matter where you are, be it a non-Jewish audience in the Netherlands two months ago, to Jewish audiences in New York, “who here needs a man?” You will see three or four hands go up. I don’t mean three or four percent, I mean three or four hands. And then I say to them, “Do you need a refrigerator?” All the hands go up. The inability to be vulnerable is the problem: it’s the depth personality not the surface personality that has to fall in love.

Now that we no longer see love as a need, but as a luxury, what’s the definition of a luxury? A luxury always has to be the best. When it comes to necessity, “good enough is good enough.” When it comes to luxury: only the best. The luxury items are always Gucci… When love becomes a luxury not a necessity, “nah, I’m not gonna marry anyone. I need the best, because I could live without it. It’s not a need.” When it comes to food, I don’t need the best restaurant. I need food that’s good. But if food became a luxury, we’d all go to five star restaurants, because it’s not a necessity and we could live without it. We’re a generation that’s incapable of identifying our core needs.

[...]

It’s no wonder [dating shows] are so popular. It’s a cry for help. It’s like, “I can’t meet anyone. Even when I’m meeting someone I’m not interested in them. No one’s good enough.” 

This is a typical story. I asked this guy, who’s dated 200 women, why he’s not married yet. He gave me the typical response: I haven’t yet met the right person. “I want someone really special”. I said, “Do you realize what you’re saying? Only 1% of the population is really special. 99% of people are ordinary. You’re part of the 99%!” We don’t realize these dumb statements like, “I haven’t met the right person.” Garbage! There are tons of people. There’s something inside you that won’t allow you to fall in love. Stop blaming the people. It’s you! 

Ruining the Movie Experience

Wow, there is one area where commercialism is actually worse in Europe than here: screening of ads before movies.

I’d just like to point out that, not only could it be worse, it is – in Europe.

At least in the US, features actually begin more or less at the
advertised time. Not here [Germany]. A 9 pm showing, say, all too often actually
begins at 9:20, even 9:30, once all the ads unreel (and I don’t mean
trailers – ads, some of them merely blown up from the broadcast video
versions we’ve already zapped away from on our TVs at home, but of
course, as a captive audience in a theater, you can’t). In Germany, this swath is interrupted only by a break to sell ice cream. Seriously.

I think a half-hour of ads is justifiable cause for some kind of vandalism. Apparently there’s actually an organization dedicated to stopping movie ads. According to this article, “Among other things, the organization has produced signs
for audience members to leave on their seats. They say, “RESERVED. This
patron is avoiding cinema advertising and will return when the feature
begins.”

Make Yourself Sick

Cookie eating contest!

Pain Is Good

Apparently all the tax-prep software we love so much is actually hurting us:

Once upon a time, Americans realized that something beneficial came
from the pain of paying taxes. In the 1920’s, Treasury Secretary Andrew
Mellon made this case repeatedly. “Nothing,” he told Congress, “brings
home to a man the feeling that he personally has an interest in seeing
that government revenues are not squandered, but intelligently
expended, as the fact that he contributes individually a direct tax, no
matter how small, to his government.”

In 1955, the commissioner
of the Internal Revenue Service, T. Coleman Andrews, went so far as to
decree that the agency should stop helping people fill out their tax
forms. His reasoning? Americans should be educated, not coddled. It did
a citizen good to come face to face with his tax bill.

[...]

We have created a vicious cycle. Congress has made taxes increasingly
complicated and burdensome over the years. To cope, taxpayers have
sought help from tax preparers and computer software. But that consumer
convenience has bred inertia, shielding bad policy from the wrath of
taxpayers who bear the burden of it. This is not to say that we should
go back to, say, the 1930’s, when withholding didn’t exist and
taxpayers had to pay their bill in one fell swoop on tax day. But we
may have put ourselves in a situation where no pain means no gain.