movies update

Inside Job: Charles Ferguson, Academy Award winner, Documentary
This movie is remarkable mostly for explaining clearly what lead to the financial crisis--and making you very very angry about it. I was one of those people who had heard about "subprime loans" but didn't really understand the ins-and-outs of the crisis. I also gave the benefit of the doubt to "wall st" thinking people's anger was probably misguided, and we had ourselves to blame for building up credit and buying things we can't afford. But if you watch this movie, you will start to see some disturbing trends that had the wall st bigwigs interests, and ONLY their interests, in mind. It's hard to sleep after this one, especially thinking about how the entire world was affected by the greed of one corrupt industry. This movie is especially worth watching for the interviewees, who get irate, clam up, or become idiotic as they try to talk their way out of blame.

Of Gods and Men: Xavier Beauvois
This movie retells the story of Christian monks in Muslim North Africa who decline to leave despite growing violence against non-Muslims in the region. The pace of the movie was incredibly slow, and most of the movie is silent. They are monks after all! What should have been captivating was the indisciion between the monks about whether to stay and possibly be martyrs, or whether to leave and return to France. However, the characters, although supposedly torn, seem quite one-dimensional to me, and it's obvious they will follow their leader's decision in the end. There is the quintessential old man who is cute but feisty, the sick doctor who cares for his Muslim neighbor patients by curing them and giving them shoes... the leader of the pack is supposedly the most torn, but for some reason I just felt he was putting on a show for the rest of them. John says what he didn't like about the movie is that the director kept doing the same thing over and over, and that it wasn't working. I'm not yet able to see movies at that level, but I was able to say that for some reason, this epically slow movie did not hold my interest. I wanted more about the townspeople other than that they were sick and needed a Christian doctor. I wanted more about the rebels (there is one actually atrocious scene between a rebel and a monk, with the most horrifically cliche writing in the movie) and their motives. In short, I nodded off a few times. The singing was nice.

Travels with Herodotus, Ryszard Kapuscinski

Travels with Herodotus is about crossing borders--physical borders between countries and cultures, and the impassable border of time. At first, Herodotus is just the travel companion of Kapuscinski as he starts his life's journey as a foreign corespondent, leaving Poland for the first time after the Cold War to travel through and write about India. Throughout the book K. will travel to India, China, Egypt, Sudan, Congo, Ethiopia, Algiers. As he does so, he will recount stories from Herodotus for his readers--stories about the fight between the Greeks and Persians (therefore: Europe and Asia), cause and effect (your father killed the king, therefore you must now die) and the differences in cultures that Herodotus comes across. And he writes about the way Herodotus writes, how he always takes a careful perspective (THEY say that such and such happened) on history.

Herodotus and his stories take on a larger and larger part of the book, until you almost can't remember where you left K. reading his Histories--on a porch in Algiers? On a bus somewhere? The ending is mysterious and illuminating. I thought K. would end the book while in a museum in Herodotus's home island, looking at an exhibit of glass that has been pulled up from the Mediterranean, glass from Herodotus's time: "But when the doors close and it grows dark, the curator presses a switch turning on small lightbulbs inside the little vessels, bringing to life the fragile, mate pieces of glass, which start to sparkle, brighten, pulsate. We stand in deep, thick darkness, as if at the bottom of the sea, at a feast of Poseidon's, surrounded by goddesses each holding an olive oil lamp above her head. /We stand in darkness, surrounded by light." It would have been a strong ending, if a bit heavy-handed. But instead, K. subtly ends the book by describing a girl's face at the hotel: "When she saw me, she adjusted her facial expression so that the professional smile meant to invite and tempt tourists was tempered by tradition's injunction always to maintainn a serious and indifferent mien toward a strange man." And with that comment, K. seems to be saying that he will carry on Herodotus's torch, describing people and cultures as he sees them, not from hearsay but first hand--not from reading the newspaper but by traveling, observing, and constantly asking.

The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia- Julien Nitzberb 2009

If you want to watch a video starring the most fucked up people in this country, this is a good place to start. The Whites are an unbelievably sad family living in West Virginia. As one lawyer interviewed in the movie puts it, they are a relic of mountain culture, where people were incredibly isolated. The Whites don't work, but have figured out how to scam Social Security, and they are prolific drug dealers. What the Whites do well is drugs, drinking, and fighting. Occasionally they kill people, sometimes getting caught for it.

The most degrading and dirty scene in the movie is when two White children (now adults) visit their mother on her 84th birthday. They start with singing and cake, and quickly devolve into snorting xanax, smoking pot, and myriads of other drugs in front of their grieving mother, who hates the drugs and doesn't want to be around when they do it. The movie features depressing bars, depressing scenery, depressing lives, babies being taken by CPS, babies drinking coca-cola (one kid drinks 8 cokes and goes ballistic, doing flips on his bed), lines being snorted on the bedside table of the hospital right after childbirth, and more!

As Jonathan put it, you need to take a shower after watching this one. Definitely good for the documentary junkie in you-- puts things in perspective about your own life. Not a good one if your depressed from over-drinking the night before.

The Searchers-John Ford 1956

According to Wikipedia: "The film was a commercial success, although it received no Academy Award nominations. It was named the Greatest American Western of all time by the American Film Institute in 2008, and it placed 12th on the American Film Institute's 2007 list of the Top 100 greatest movies of all time.^"

Well damn. This Western definitely held my attention longer than most westerns. A lot of action is packed into it, and it's not of the usual angry gunslinger rolling into town variety. Wayne plays a racist asshole who returns to his brother's house after roaming for 3 years once the South lost the war. He still wears his confederate uniform, just so we understand what kind of person he is. He calls his brother's adopted son a "half breed", even though he himself found the kid starving and brought him to his brother. Most of the movie takes place roaming in the countryside, as Wayne and his "half-breed" nephew look for the two daughters who were kidnapped by a Comanche tribe led by Chief Scar. (the rest of the family has been massacred).

The idea is that Ford was trying to think about racism as a justification for the annihilation of the native americans, and he goes a good step in this direction. The character of Martin, the adopted son, is the most complex character, as he shows compassion for the native americans when Wayne has absolutely none. And when Wayne and Martin finally do find the youngest daughter, five years later, she has assimilated into the Comanche culture. Wayne tries to shot her, when she refuses to go with them. But later, he finds her again and hugs her, and she decides she does want to go home with the white men after all. So... does Wayne really vindicate himself?

It's also hard to watch this film when you read about the kind of hatred Wayne really did have... it doesn't feel like he's acting like a jerk, but simply is a jerk. Maybe that's just good acting.

A perfect Saturday movie. 12th in the top 100 list? Maybe not.

Calamity Janes at Bklyn Rod & Gun Club Friday 3/11

I've seen the Calamity Janes play around Brooklyn and Manhattan at least 6 times, so when my friend Ellen invited me to see them play in Williamsburg, it was more to check out the venue than anything else. We braved the horror that is Bedford Ave on a Friday night, and made it to the "social club" at 59 Kent unscathed. The Bklyn Rod & Gun club passes itself off as a social club. You pay $10 for a temporary membership, and that comes with free drinks. The membership card acts as a drink punch card (see photo). The club is narrow. The majority of the space is taken up with a massive wooden table made from wood found in someone's backyard. The vibe is very communal, as birthday cake was passed around, and sausages for sale on a donation basis. At first the whiskey pours were quite generous ($5 for at least a double pour of Old Overholt? Yes please!) but eventually as the booze became scarce, pours were more modest.

Design-wise, the space was rusticy, as you would expect. Wood paneling, shelves lined with records and old jars, and a giant bass of some kind (also found in the friend's backyard) all contributed to the feel of the place. The website swears you can learn to tie fish for fly fishing, but it's quite outdated. To be honest, there were some old men working there with sportsman type hats on, so maybe there is a hunting/fishing element to the club.

The place was PACKED for the Calamity Janes. Which brings me to the concert. I didn't hear one song I haven't heard them play before, but that's not a big deal. The songs they do play are classics, and they play them well. They had a few guests play with them, some of whom were awful, some decent. The worst, though, was the usual suspect, Kerri, who doesn't seem to know what to say to an audience, talks too much, and literally was offensive on Friday night. She told the (admittedly young, hip-looking) crowd, that "you're my favorite type of audience. Williamsburg Hipsters!" not seeming to feel that this could in any way offend people. Not to mention many of us had come from other parts of the city to see them. She also kept trying to shush the group, at one point yelling that "You have to learn where this music comes from! It's from Appalachia, and started with the fiddle and banjo!"

Ok, thanks Kerri. Thanks for assuming nobody there had any idea about Old Time music, and for treating us like naughty school children.

In short, I don't think I need to go out of my way to see that band again. However, I am looking forward to seeing Isto play next time he's invited to perform at the Rod & Gun.

Viridiana, by Bunel, 1961

Brief plot synopsis: a soon-to-be nun leaves the convent to visit her uncle, who has paid for her studies. He falls in love with her (or at least, the image of her, as she looks like his dead wife) and tries to make her marry him. She refuses, and so he drugs her and lies to her, saying that he had his way with her and now she cannot become a nun. She becomes so distraught that he tries to convince her it was a lie, but we do not know if she believes him. She tries to leave anyway, and said uncle commits suicide with his servant's little girl's jump rope. Viridiana decides to stay on his farm (sharing it with her uncle's estranged son) and invites all kinds of poor people to live and work there. Eventually, the poor people betray Viridiana, hosting a raucous feast in the mansion, and eventually trying to rape her. By the end of the movie, Viridiana lets down her hair for the first time, and approaches her uncle's son looking for something. She finds him playing cards with the uncle's old servant, who has become his lover. He forces Viridiana to stay and play cards with the two of them, say
ing: "When I first saw you, I knew we'd be shuffling the deck eventually."

The movie is chalk-full of heavy-handed (purposefully?) imagery, such as Jesus's crown of thorns being thrown in the fire, the poor drunken party posing like the Last Supper, and various religious songs playing on the phonograph. Highlights include the estranged son rescuing an exhausted dog from being dragged behind a carriage by purchasing it from his owner, only to have another cart go back seconds later with a similar dog dragging behind it. Later this character asks Viridiana if she really thinks she's making a difference, helping these people when there are so many more out there.

Perhaps the best part of the film was an extra (Criterion collection version) of an old French television show on Bunel. He was interviewed, along with some of his friends and colleges, and a very interesting picture of the artist emerges. The footage is strange and wonderful, such as when a Frenchman is interviewing Bunel on top of a hill somewhere, and a donkey is heard braying off camera. Bunel insists that the cameraman cut to the donkey, or it will appear that they themselves were making the noise. Bunel has a sharp sense of humor and striking, sagging eyes. He talks about his movies focusing on small changes in characters, and interactions between characters. For him, he says, it is enough to show that a moment of doubt has occurred. Whether or not this doubt will change everything or nothing for the character is not really his concern. It is enough that this doubt has happened. (In Viridiana, the doubt moment is perhaps when she lets down her hair and thinks about joining in the ways of the flesh--only to sit down and play cards. Will she end up in the man's bed, perhaps with this other women also? We don't need to know.)

It's important to remember that in 1961, this film was horrifying for many people in Spain, as blasphemous, and was banned for many, many years in Spain. I liked Simon del desierto better, perhaps because of its incredible surrealism. Either way, Silvia Pinal is fantastic in Viridiana as well, holding contempt, horror and confusion in her facial expressions all at once.

4 out of 5 stars.

March 2011 Concerts

Art Brut (nerd-punk style band from UK); They put on a fun performance, involving the audience. Lots of laughs, and energy. We enjoyed it but I probably wouldn't need to see them again, as I imagine it would be the same show (jump roping with the mic cable, doing improv that engages the audience).

Books List 2011

as much as I can remember until I'm caught up to today, March 9

1. Travels with Herodotus (Kapuscinski)
2. Transmetropolitan (graphic novel series, Ellis)
3. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (Skoolt)
4. Architecture as Home for Man (Mumford)
5. The Quitter (Harvey Pekar)
6. Understanding the fundamentals of classical music (Friedman, audiobooks)
7. History of Classical Music (Kallen)
8. Saul Bellow's letters (unfinished)
9. Faust (Marlowe-unfinished)
10. World Treasury of Sci-fi (unfinished)