I went to see Monsters University last night. It's a prequel to Monsters, Inc., giving us the story of the main characters in college. It was very good. Good enough to write a blog post after a months-long hiatus! Spoiler alert: I'm going to write about things that happen throughout the movie.
So the premise is that the little green monster, Mike Wazowski, is not very scary, and the big blue monster, James Sullivan, is. I love that they have "normal" names, and I think that's funnier than naming them Scary McFangs or something.
The whole movie is basically about Mike trying to be scary, studying hard for his Scaring class and final and then trying to win the Scare Games, while Sulley is a natural but that makes him pretty full of himself. The reason I'm still thinking about it and writing about it is that in the end, Mike does not become scary. His hard work pays off, but not in the form he hoped for. This is a really powerful idea for the kids and adults who watch the movie. Similarly, they were both cut from the Scaring program and eventually expelled, and the movie does not have a deus ex machina that lets them back into school to graduate with honors. They both leave school after one year to work in the mailroom at Monsters, Inc., which of course leads directly to the other movie. Again, not what either of them hoped for or expected from their college experience or from life, but it definitely counts as a happy ending. Happy and realistic. I'm continually impressed by Pixar/Disney's ability to draw adults in and write very fine scripts, both on the story-arc level and on the line level, while catering just as powerfully to children. In this case, as in others, it's a story most of us need to hear: no, we can't always transform ourselves or get what we want. But that doesn't mean failure, and if you try sometimes, you just might find you get what you need.
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Friday, June 21, 2013
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Movies & Me
During summer language school, the absence of one or two people can make a big difference. We had two people go out of town and several others occupied with out-of-town guests, so this weekend has been pretty laid back. Add the fact that we have no Hebrew class Monday or Tuesday, and you have a recipe for one of those aimless Saturdays in which the to-do list goes out the window. I went to a matinee of Friends with Benefits at lunchtime with friends, then I was going to Wal-Mart and one of them wanted to go with me. Listening to Disney songs in the car made her want to watch Enchanted, which I'd never seen, so I joined her. Then we went to a housewarming party and then watched the Sex and the City movie.
The evening before, we had watched Keeping the Faith. I don't know if I've watched that many movies in that short of a time span since John and Dad and I hunkered down for a Planet of the Apes marathon many years ago. (They cycled around and showed the first one again at the end. Pretty clever, considering the way they go.) These were all good movies, some surprisingly so, but my head and heart were spinning--in opposite directions--because they all had to do with love, and they all had very different messages about it.
*SPOILER ALERT!* Read no further if you're not interested in learning some key plot points of these movies.
In Keeping the Faith, Rabbi Ben Stiller and Catholic priest Edward Norton both get the hots for their childhood friend, Jenna Elfman from Dharma & Greg, who comes back to town after years away. She gets with Stiller, and Norton takes it hard but ends up happy. Aww! A story in which a main character is okay without a love interest! But that character has to be a priest. Grumble. Also, Stiller is supposed to be accountable to his congregation, and religious leaders should have very high standards for all behavior. This is addressed, but briefly and after the fact. I hadn't watched it since long before this round of seminary-thinking, and it was extremely different from this new perspective. When I said, "This is really funny from a seminarian's point of view," meaning funny-odd, my friend Aaron laughed and said, "News flash: A lot of things are funny from a seminarian's point of view."
In Friends with Benefits, Justin Timberlake (surprisingly good actor!) and Mila Kunis decide to have a lot of sex with no strings attached. It goes really well, and once they get tired of each other, they happily go their separate ways. HA! No, actually they hurt each other really badly and never want to be in communication again. What? Wrong again? You mean their plan works for a while, then their feelings get in the way and they fight, then they realize they're meant for each other? But romantic comedies never go that way! This is the point where I started to feel that head-heart counterspin, rolling my eyes at the cliches but also feeling comforted by the predictability, and hurting over the wrongness of the worldly lessons but feeling the pull of their indulgent non-logic. I really enjoyed the script and characters and actors, and the credit sequence was sweet, but how many times can you be told the same lies and like it? Especially when the lies are mixed with truth. Scary stuff. Also, Jenna Elfman was in it as J-Tim's sister, and he called her Annie Banannie. In Keeping the Faith, she was Anna Banana.
Enchanted had way fewer layers than any of the others, and less material that I rejected, and more singing and animals, and more cliches. A smooth, easy ride. He's a divorce lawyer? Obviously, that means he's jaded about love and the girl is going to un-jade him. They both have other love interests? 8 times out of 10, those two end up together too. A perfect square. After the other two movies, I was happy to watch something so simple, but because I had just watched them, it was anything but. It just presented another not-entirely-true, not-entirely-false point of view.
Sex and the City was by far the most confusing of the four for me, possibly because it was the last of the weekend. They did a great job not giving away too much in the previews, which made the plot twist an actual twist: Big doesn't show up to the wedding. Then he does, but by that time Carrie is so mad it's off. Both of them, and potentially a few others, are to blame, which is realistic and nice. Also, Steve cheats on Miranda, and Miranda leaves, but they end up back together. That's the part that really blew my mind. I always thought cheating is the end, but Steve said something that made me use all my mildest monosyllables of surprise: "Geez. Whoa. Man," and the like. He said he knew he broke a vow, but what about all those other vows? The ones they both made? For better or for worse? That surely qualifies as "worse." Again, responsibility is spread among multiple parties, and nothing is clean cut. Samantha leaves Smith because she's been with him for 5 years but she's been with herself for 49, "and that's the relationship I need to work on," she said. Mostly because she wanted to get with other guys. Especially in light of the Steve-and-Miranda storyline, that was a doozy. I heart Smith and hate that she left him, but isn't it better to leave someone than to cheat if the temptation is really strong and you don't trust yourself? If those are the only two options, though, I'd say you need to find some other options, such as STAY WITH THE PERSON YOU'RE COMMITTED TO AND DON'T CHEAT. In Samantha's case, to be clear, they're not married. Oh, and Carrie goes back to Big at the end, which I had mixed feelings about but it's a movie. In Friends with Benefits and this one, there was a point near the end when I wanted it to end, when they were apart and heartbroken, post-mistakes. I know people don't go to the movies to get a dose of reality, but sometimes I crave one. "And they were both miserable for a while and never saw each other again. The end." But I suppose we get enough of that outside the theater.
The whole shebang threw me off, not that my thoughts on love-n-such were super-well-developed to start with. I appreciate the opportunity to think in different ways about it, and all of the movies were good as entertainment, just not as lessons, I guess. Some parts were good lessons but hard ones, such as forgiveness. I'm very blessed to have people to watch with, and a place to watch, and the leisure time necessary to watch 4 movies in about 26 hours. The best part is that I know where to look to (re-)learn the truth about love. So the movies, when it comes down to it, for all my verbosity and anxiety and analysis and attention, they're just for fun. A place for everything, and everything in its place.
The evening before, we had watched Keeping the Faith. I don't know if I've watched that many movies in that short of a time span since John and Dad and I hunkered down for a Planet of the Apes marathon many years ago. (They cycled around and showed the first one again at the end. Pretty clever, considering the way they go.) These were all good movies, some surprisingly so, but my head and heart were spinning--in opposite directions--because they all had to do with love, and they all had very different messages about it.
*SPOILER ALERT!* Read no further if you're not interested in learning some key plot points of these movies.
In Keeping the Faith, Rabbi Ben Stiller and Catholic priest Edward Norton both get the hots for their childhood friend, Jenna Elfman from Dharma & Greg, who comes back to town after years away. She gets with Stiller, and Norton takes it hard but ends up happy. Aww! A story in which a main character is okay without a love interest! But that character has to be a priest. Grumble. Also, Stiller is supposed to be accountable to his congregation, and religious leaders should have very high standards for all behavior. This is addressed, but briefly and after the fact. I hadn't watched it since long before this round of seminary-thinking, and it was extremely different from this new perspective. When I said, "This is really funny from a seminarian's point of view," meaning funny-odd, my friend Aaron laughed and said, "News flash: A lot of things are funny from a seminarian's point of view."
In Friends with Benefits, Justin Timberlake (surprisingly good actor!) and Mila Kunis decide to have a lot of sex with no strings attached. It goes really well, and once they get tired of each other, they happily go their separate ways. HA! No, actually they hurt each other really badly and never want to be in communication again. What? Wrong again? You mean their plan works for a while, then their feelings get in the way and they fight, then they realize they're meant for each other? But romantic comedies never go that way! This is the point where I started to feel that head-heart counterspin, rolling my eyes at the cliches but also feeling comforted by the predictability, and hurting over the wrongness of the worldly lessons but feeling the pull of their indulgent non-logic. I really enjoyed the script and characters and actors, and the credit sequence was sweet, but how many times can you be told the same lies and like it? Especially when the lies are mixed with truth. Scary stuff. Also, Jenna Elfman was in it as J-Tim's sister, and he called her Annie Banannie. In Keeping the Faith, she was Anna Banana.
Enchanted had way fewer layers than any of the others, and less material that I rejected, and more singing and animals, and more cliches. A smooth, easy ride. He's a divorce lawyer? Obviously, that means he's jaded about love and the girl is going to un-jade him. They both have other love interests? 8 times out of 10, those two end up together too. A perfect square. After the other two movies, I was happy to watch something so simple, but because I had just watched them, it was anything but. It just presented another not-entirely-true, not-entirely-false point of view.
Sex and the City was by far the most confusing of the four for me, possibly because it was the last of the weekend. They did a great job not giving away too much in the previews, which made the plot twist an actual twist: Big doesn't show up to the wedding. Then he does, but by that time Carrie is so mad it's off. Both of them, and potentially a few others, are to blame, which is realistic and nice. Also, Steve cheats on Miranda, and Miranda leaves, but they end up back together. That's the part that really blew my mind. I always thought cheating is the end, but Steve said something that made me use all my mildest monosyllables of surprise: "Geez. Whoa. Man," and the like. He said he knew he broke a vow, but what about all those other vows? The ones they both made? For better or for worse? That surely qualifies as "worse." Again, responsibility is spread among multiple parties, and nothing is clean cut. Samantha leaves Smith because she's been with him for 5 years but she's been with herself for 49, "and that's the relationship I need to work on," she said. Mostly because she wanted to get with other guys. Especially in light of the Steve-and-Miranda storyline, that was a doozy. I heart Smith and hate that she left him, but isn't it better to leave someone than to cheat if the temptation is really strong and you don't trust yourself? If those are the only two options, though, I'd say you need to find some other options, such as STAY WITH THE PERSON YOU'RE COMMITTED TO AND DON'T CHEAT. In Samantha's case, to be clear, they're not married. Oh, and Carrie goes back to Big at the end, which I had mixed feelings about but it's a movie. In Friends with Benefits and this one, there was a point near the end when I wanted it to end, when they were apart and heartbroken, post-mistakes. I know people don't go to the movies to get a dose of reality, but sometimes I crave one. "And they were both miserable for a while and never saw each other again. The end." But I suppose we get enough of that outside the theater.
The whole shebang threw me off, not that my thoughts on love-n-such were super-well-developed to start with. I appreciate the opportunity to think in different ways about it, and all of the movies were good as entertainment, just not as lessons, I guess. Some parts were good lessons but hard ones, such as forgiveness. I'm very blessed to have people to watch with, and a place to watch, and the leisure time necessary to watch 4 movies in about 26 hours. The best part is that I know where to look to (re-)learn the truth about love. So the movies, when it comes down to it, for all my verbosity and anxiety and analysis and attention, they're just for fun. A place for everything, and everything in its place.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Nearly Perfect Weekend (so far!)
We had an early deadline on Thursday (it's usually Friday at 5), so I treated this as a 4-day weekend. The first three have been a perfect balance of social time and downtime, and all of it has felt like a real live weekend, not one of those fake ones where it's not relaxing.
On Friday, I slept in, made iced coffee instead of regular and it was good even though I was quite winging it, went to the beach and read and wrote and swam, and hit the Mayfaire concert with the Martins. There are two free concerts every Friday in the summer in Wilmington. Downtown Sundown is crowded, loud, and kind of a meat-market situation (i.e., singles looking for things singles look for). I like some of the music, and if you're in the mood it's nice. This was the first time I'd gone to the Mayfaire one (Mayfaire is like Birkdale, for Davidson folk: a Truman Show-like community where people live but there are also stores, restaurants, a movie theater, etc.). It was much more chill, and people had picnics, lawn chairs, dogs, kids, and fun. Andrew, who's two years old and change, was incredibly cute as always. The band played "Wagon Wheel" and "What I Got," two of my top songs to hear in such a sitch. It wasn't even too hot! A lovely evening. I had been considering going to the movies and decided I would, but I had over an hour to kill, so I went to the Fox and Hound to have a beer and an appetizer. I sat down and before I could even open my book, what to my wondering eyes should appear but Karen and Bob Scheboth at the next table! So I moved to sit with them, and we had fun while waiting for their son, Travis, to finish up at the movies.
I saw Bridesmaids, which was very funny and a very realistic portrayal of a friendship between two women. As my friend pointed out the next morning, it is, in her words, "raunchy." It's true there's a lotta sex in it, which did make me kind of roll my eyes (like when Jaded Lady says to Naive Lady, "Every woman needs those slutty college years!"). Unfortunately, I think I've come to view that as the price of watching a silly comedy. The movie actually made me not like Jon Hamm's character! And the other guy, Chris O'Dowd, is now my main leading man. He's from Ireland. On Facebook, he is set up as a regular person you friend and not a star that you "like," and you know how many friends he has? 33!
Saturday morning, I had breakfast at The Sawmill with Lindsey, then I came back here and cleaned up my inbox and favorites (bookmarks), which took a lot of time and felt great. I went for a leisurely walk instead of a run.
Today, I turned on the TV while making lunch and landed on Legally Blonde 2: Red, White, and Blonde. After that on the same channel, it was The Whole Nine Yards. After that, Fun with Dick and Jane. So, I more or less watched three movies in a row in my recliner. I definitely don't want to do that every day or even every week, but it was exactly the right thing for today. Tomorrow is a day off, but I do intend to do a few light work things since I'm leaving Thursday for cousin Paul's wedding! Yaaaay!
On Friday, I slept in, made iced coffee instead of regular and it was good even though I was quite winging it, went to the beach and read and wrote and swam, and hit the Mayfaire concert with the Martins. There are two free concerts every Friday in the summer in Wilmington. Downtown Sundown is crowded, loud, and kind of a meat-market situation (i.e., singles looking for things singles look for). I like some of the music, and if you're in the mood it's nice. This was the first time I'd gone to the Mayfaire one (Mayfaire is like Birkdale, for Davidson folk: a Truman Show-like community where people live but there are also stores, restaurants, a movie theater, etc.). It was much more chill, and people had picnics, lawn chairs, dogs, kids, and fun. Andrew, who's two years old and change, was incredibly cute as always. The band played "Wagon Wheel" and "What I Got," two of my top songs to hear in such a sitch. It wasn't even too hot! A lovely evening. I had been considering going to the movies and decided I would, but I had over an hour to kill, so I went to the Fox and Hound to have a beer and an appetizer. I sat down and before I could even open my book, what to my wondering eyes should appear but Karen and Bob Scheboth at the next table! So I moved to sit with them, and we had fun while waiting for their son, Travis, to finish up at the movies.
I saw Bridesmaids, which was very funny and a very realistic portrayal of a friendship between two women. As my friend pointed out the next morning, it is, in her words, "raunchy." It's true there's a lotta sex in it, which did make me kind of roll my eyes (like when Jaded Lady says to Naive Lady, "Every woman needs those slutty college years!"). Unfortunately, I think I've come to view that as the price of watching a silly comedy. The movie actually made me not like Jon Hamm's character! And the other guy, Chris O'Dowd, is now my main leading man. He's from Ireland. On Facebook, he is set up as a regular person you friend and not a star that you "like," and you know how many friends he has? 33!
Saturday morning, I had breakfast at The Sawmill with Lindsey, then I came back here and cleaned up my inbox and favorites (bookmarks), which took a lot of time and felt great. I went for a leisurely walk instead of a run.
Today, I turned on the TV while making lunch and landed on Legally Blonde 2: Red, White, and Blonde. After that on the same channel, it was The Whole Nine Yards. After that, Fun with Dick and Jane. So, I more or less watched three movies in a row in my recliner. I definitely don't want to do that every day or even every week, but it was exactly the right thing for today. Tomorrow is a day off, but I do intend to do a few light work things since I'm leaving Thursday for cousin Paul's wedding! Yaaaay!
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Janus Jesus
I had a really, really good time at my parents' house last weekend, as I almost always do there. If any young people are reading this, please take note that this is what happens when you grow up, probably. There's a good chance your parents will become exponentially more fun once you're out of the house, etc.
As I mentioned in my post from there, we watched both Godspell and Jesus Christ, Superstar because they were kind enough to hold onto them on DVR for a couple weeks. I had seen Godspell as a live show numerous times, including the time I was in it (what?! That's right), but never the movie. I had never seen JCS but knew some of the music because we have the songbook for piano and there was a time when I'd play almost anything for fun. Sidebar: I really look forward to working in churches because I'll pretty much always have access to a piano. Look out, Broadway! Or Rum Runners!
There were many cool things about watching these back to back. First, the movies came out in the same year! 1973. It's like Antz and A Bug's Life, or Armageddon and Deep Impact, or 30Rock and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, or ER and Chicago Hope, which are all eerily similar for things that came out at the same time. These two movies are similar on that level, of course, but very different. JCS focuses a lot on the persecution Jesus faced, Judas is a major character, and you get quite a lot of the minor key. Godspell is like the rainbow-sunshine version of the story. It has serious moments and is thought-provoking at points, but it's mostly just an enjoyable and fun experience.
This is where Janus comes in. Janus is the Roman god of transitions and beginnings, and hence of doorways, gates, doors, endings, and time, according to Wikipedia. He is usually depicted with two faces, facing in opposite directions. I'm reminded of him when I think of Godspell and JCS together, because Jesus does have two sides, and then some. But the cool thing is, as far as I can tell, it's the same face repeated. Janus is not like Jekkyl and Hyde or Twoface, with one good and one bad side. So, the past and the future are both good. Jesus persecuted and Jesus rejoicing are both good. That's what makes him different from all other gods, who usually have one salient characteristic. He's a round character, like the people you know, a collection of traits that form a real man.
Another cool thing: Playing Jesus in Godspell was Victor Garber, whom you'll recognize as one of those actors with a solid body of work and few starring roles. What makes it cool, besides just knowing it and how young he is, is that he played the devil in Damn Yankees.
In other trivia, the guy who played Caiaphas in JCS was in a 1993 film called The Nostril Picker. The actor who played Peter also has a career in pornography. There was a 2000 version, and something is in the works for 2014. Exciting!
Also, I read in the archives for work about a musical called Cotton Patch Gospel, which is Jesus' life set in the south. Joe and Mary are headed to Atlanta for a tax audit and, when there's no room at the motel, they have to give birth in a mobile home in Gainesville, Georgia. "Men don't live by grits alone," he will grow up to say. The music is by Harry Chapin. This sounds promising. Has anyone seen it?
As I mentioned in my post from there, we watched both Godspell and Jesus Christ, Superstar because they were kind enough to hold onto them on DVR for a couple weeks. I had seen Godspell as a live show numerous times, including the time I was in it (what?! That's right), but never the movie. I had never seen JCS but knew some of the music because we have the songbook for piano and there was a time when I'd play almost anything for fun. Sidebar: I really look forward to working in churches because I'll pretty much always have access to a piano. Look out, Broadway! Or Rum Runners!
There were many cool things about watching these back to back. First, the movies came out in the same year! 1973. It's like Antz and A Bug's Life, or Armageddon and Deep Impact, or 30Rock and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, or ER and Chicago Hope, which are all eerily similar for things that came out at the same time. These two movies are similar on that level, of course, but very different. JCS focuses a lot on the persecution Jesus faced, Judas is a major character, and you get quite a lot of the minor key. Godspell is like the rainbow-sunshine version of the story. It has serious moments and is thought-provoking at points, but it's mostly just an enjoyable and fun experience.
This is where Janus comes in. Janus is the Roman god of transitions and beginnings, and hence of doorways, gates, doors, endings, and time, according to Wikipedia. He is usually depicted with two faces, facing in opposite directions. I'm reminded of him when I think of Godspell and JCS together, because Jesus does have two sides, and then some. But the cool thing is, as far as I can tell, it's the same face repeated. Janus is not like Jekkyl and Hyde or Twoface, with one good and one bad side. So, the past and the future are both good. Jesus persecuted and Jesus rejoicing are both good. That's what makes him different from all other gods, who usually have one salient characteristic. He's a round character, like the people you know, a collection of traits that form a real man.
Another cool thing: Playing Jesus in Godspell was Victor Garber, whom you'll recognize as one of those actors with a solid body of work and few starring roles. What makes it cool, besides just knowing it and how young he is, is that he played the devil in Damn Yankees.
In other trivia, the guy who played Caiaphas in JCS was in a 1993 film called The Nostril Picker. The actor who played Peter also has a career in pornography. There was a 2000 version, and something is in the works for 2014. Exciting!
Also, I read in the archives for work about a musical called Cotton Patch Gospel, which is Jesus' life set in the south. Joe and Mary are headed to Atlanta for a tax audit and, when there's no room at the motel, they have to give birth in a mobile home in Gainesville, Georgia. "Men don't live by grits alone," he will grow up to say. The music is by Harry Chapin. This sounds promising. Has anyone seen it?
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Weekend Update
Hi there,
I'm sitting at the one wi-fi hotspot in Kenansville, North Carolina, killing time (hours! five hours!) between assignments. They close in thirty minutes and I'll have three hours left after that. Very glad to have found it, though; A&M cafe. I would never have checked it out had not an acquaintance recommended it, because from the outside it looks pretty sketch, but inside it's nice. I'm sitting next to a print of ivory-billed woodpeckers, in a comfortable chair with a table at a great height for typing, looking out the windows at green trees and blue sky.
I just did the questions for chapter 11 in Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World. My small group is reading it and loving it, but there are 12 chapters, so we're almost out. Luckily, the same author, Joanna Weaver, has another book, Having a Mary Spirit, so we're going with that next. But after that we will be back to square one in the Salt Shaker (Christian bookstore), wandering around being indecisive and feeling blind. We've picked some terrible books--we all agree on this, it's not just me and my snobbery--so I tense up as we near that time again. The reason for my saying this is, does anyone have good ideas for books for Christian small groups to read? Even though we have all of Having a Mary Spirit before next time, I would feel good if we had a few titles up our sleeves. Maybe I'll turn them onto Adam Hamilton.
I'm going to see a movie this evening (for work) that was written, produced, and directed by a local 17-year-old. I was dismayed this morning to find out it's a scary movie, because I hate being scared (come on, the world is scary enough already, people) but I'm thinking it might be bad enough to be funny instead. Which puts me in a bind: do I want a sweet lil' earnest teenager to make a good movie if it means I'll be scared on the long drive home? Or do I want his heartfelt work to be low quality just for the sake of my peace of mind? Not too much longer until we know, confreres. Either way it's part bad, part good, in keeping with the pattern of life in general. I'm slowly learning that it's all about the ratios.
I'm sitting at the one wi-fi hotspot in Kenansville, North Carolina, killing time (hours! five hours!) between assignments. They close in thirty minutes and I'll have three hours left after that. Very glad to have found it, though; A&M cafe. I would never have checked it out had not an acquaintance recommended it, because from the outside it looks pretty sketch, but inside it's nice. I'm sitting next to a print of ivory-billed woodpeckers, in a comfortable chair with a table at a great height for typing, looking out the windows at green trees and blue sky.
I just did the questions for chapter 11 in Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World. My small group is reading it and loving it, but there are 12 chapters, so we're almost out. Luckily, the same author, Joanna Weaver, has another book, Having a Mary Spirit, so we're going with that next. But after that we will be back to square one in the Salt Shaker (Christian bookstore), wandering around being indecisive and feeling blind. We've picked some terrible books--we all agree on this, it's not just me and my snobbery--so I tense up as we near that time again. The reason for my saying this is, does anyone have good ideas for books for Christian small groups to read? Even though we have all of Having a Mary Spirit before next time, I would feel good if we had a few titles up our sleeves. Maybe I'll turn them onto Adam Hamilton.
I'm going to see a movie this evening (for work) that was written, produced, and directed by a local 17-year-old. I was dismayed this morning to find out it's a scary movie, because I hate being scared (come on, the world is scary enough already, people) but I'm thinking it might be bad enough to be funny instead. Which puts me in a bind: do I want a sweet lil' earnest teenager to make a good movie if it means I'll be scared on the long drive home? Or do I want his heartfelt work to be low quality just for the sake of my peace of mind? Not too much longer until we know, confreres. Either way it's part bad, part good, in keeping with the pattern of life in general. I'm slowly learning that it's all about the ratios.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
The Pursuit of Happyness
I watched that movie the other night on TV and was shocked by how good it was. I took one big thing away: there is no point of no return. There is no point at which one should or can say, "It will never get better." Things just got worse and worse for that guy, one after the other, through no fault of his own really. He still had a few things to cling to, which some people don't, but he did have it pretty wretched. And it didn't start looking up the minute he hit rock bottom, either. It was very bad for a long time, got worse, and stayed that bad for a long time. I admired that so much. Most movies and many books have the upswing start early, which is just not the way it happens for everyone. Props to the filmmakers. And dang, Will Smith can act! I mean, I was only half-cognizant that it was him. He was Chris Gardner to me. Gardner Rich is the investment firm he founded, in real life. If I ever need that kind of thing, I'll try them. Awesome story. See it if you haven't.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Everything
1. It seems antioxidants are nothing but vitamins A, C, and E. I feel a little gypped, like it should have been something more mysterious and involved.
2. Singing can treat stomach problems.
3. My editing project taught me a lot of cool Chinese words, and I love how one word in another language can mean a lot in ours. Reminds me of German. Here are just two I learned from editing: shenda- being cautious about greatness; shenshi- being aware of power.
4. I just made some peanut butter brownies from a Mollie Katzen recipe and now have the happy task of finding people to share them.
5. It's Writers' Week! Which means no class, and instead we get to go to seminars and movies and readings. They had the greatest documentary about Andre Dubus. He seemed misogynistic and self-centered and misguided, but I really like the guy and would like to have hung out with him. I'm totally ready to go out and get all his books and everything about him. Tonight is Dusty and Ace, AKA Philip and Clyde, the highlight of any Writers' Week. Can't wait.
6. I had to write a cinquain for Wednesday morning (a poem with 2 syllables in the first line, 4 in the second, 6, 8, 2). So I wrote this:
Barack
Obama is
our president. Not that
I expected anything else,
but wow.
It gave away that I waited until the last minute, but I think it was OK. It's hard to see anything as not OK for a while, because our president can speak without embarrassing us; he even makes me proud.
2. Singing can treat stomach problems.
3. My editing project taught me a lot of cool Chinese words, and I love how one word in another language can mean a lot in ours. Reminds me of German. Here are just two I learned from editing: shenda- being cautious about greatness; shenshi- being aware of power.
4. I just made some peanut butter brownies from a Mollie Katzen recipe and now have the happy task of finding people to share them.
5. It's Writers' Week! Which means no class, and instead we get to go to seminars and movies and readings. They had the greatest documentary about Andre Dubus. He seemed misogynistic and self-centered and misguided, but I really like the guy and would like to have hung out with him. I'm totally ready to go out and get all his books and everything about him. Tonight is Dusty and Ace, AKA Philip and Clyde, the highlight of any Writers' Week. Can't wait.
6. I had to write a cinquain for Wednesday morning (a poem with 2 syllables in the first line, 4 in the second, 6, 8, 2). So I wrote this:
Barack
Obama is
our president. Not that
I expected anything else,
but wow.
It gave away that I waited until the last minute, but I think it was OK. It's hard to see anything as not OK for a while, because our president can speak without embarrassing us; he even makes me proud.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Rachel Writes a Blog Post
I'm going to this Bible study tonight, and it is going to last 34 weeks. That's thirty-four weeks. Longer than anything I've ever done continuously, with the possible exclusion of school, which is only longer by a couple of weeks. I have never met or seen any of the other people in this Bible study. I have glanced briefly at the workbook, years ago. And the people will probably be older than me and talk often about their children and family life, and I will not identify with that, but for some reason I'm very excited about this study, so it will take a pretty terrible group to make me leave. I have always heard about this study and book and how it changes everyone's lives, and now for the first time it is working with my schedule and I'll live in the same place long enough to do it all, or most of it. I feel as though I'm getting down to business. Finally. But it could always not be for me--that happens all the time, everyone but me loves something. I hold my mind ajar. We will see.
In other news, I saw Burn After Reading and laughed and realized I am that woman who talks in movies and wondered when that happened. It was very funny, very well-acted, with lots of good scenes, but they didn't add up to much of a movie. As I'd been forewarned, the Coens and I are still OK. I would recommend that you wait and rent it or, as the kids do these days, Netflix it.
I have pulled off the coup of the decade in my poetry class, with permission. I "wrote" an entire poem of eleven stanzas using only found text from the Reader's Digest Science Reader from 1963. If I can continue to write poems by stealing lines and have professors say it's a great idea, I am switching genres. Not really. I keep telling myself I'm here for a challenge, I'm going to research and write this book, I'm not going to fall back on memoir, and I'm going to like it, and so is everyone else. Of course, when one has never had a class in research, one wonders how to proceed beyond the library. Maybe I could contract someone to do the interviews and stuff. Except I would still get to travel and meet people, just not have to take notes or anything.
I started reading French Women Don't Get Fat. When I typed that, I put "far" instead of "fat," which makes the sentence funny but not true. It's surprisingly readable, and I look forward to putting its concepts into practice. I am also savoring The Moviegoer, sometimes reading sentences repeatedly because I like them so much.
Two lost things someone should write: the second half of Aristotle's Poetics, in which he probably wrote about comedy (the half we have is about tragedy); and accounts of mortals who were welcomed into the Olympian community--according to Edith Hamilton, this happened to several humans, but once they went to Olympus, they disappeared from literature. What was their life like up there? When I say someone should write these, I mean me. So no stealing.
In other news, I saw Burn After Reading and laughed and realized I am that woman who talks in movies and wondered when that happened. It was very funny, very well-acted, with lots of good scenes, but they didn't add up to much of a movie. As I'd been forewarned, the Coens and I are still OK. I would recommend that you wait and rent it or, as the kids do these days, Netflix it.
I have pulled off the coup of the decade in my poetry class, with permission. I "wrote" an entire poem of eleven stanzas using only found text from the Reader's Digest Science Reader from 1963. If I can continue to write poems by stealing lines and have professors say it's a great idea, I am switching genres. Not really. I keep telling myself I'm here for a challenge, I'm going to research and write this book, I'm not going to fall back on memoir, and I'm going to like it, and so is everyone else. Of course, when one has never had a class in research, one wonders how to proceed beyond the library. Maybe I could contract someone to do the interviews and stuff. Except I would still get to travel and meet people, just not have to take notes or anything.
I started reading French Women Don't Get Fat. When I typed that, I put "far" instead of "fat," which makes the sentence funny but not true. It's surprisingly readable, and I look forward to putting its concepts into practice. I am also savoring The Moviegoer, sometimes reading sentences repeatedly because I like them so much.
Two lost things someone should write: the second half of Aristotle's Poetics, in which he probably wrote about comedy (the half we have is about tragedy); and accounts of mortals who were welcomed into the Olympian community--according to Edith Hamilton, this happened to several humans, but once they went to Olympus, they disappeared from literature. What was their life like up there? When I say someone should write these, I mean me. So no stealing.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Actually, It's Tolerable, but Just Barely
Today I watched part of Intolerable Cruelty. Besides having really gorgeous people in it (George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones), it's just not that great, from what I could tell. And that made me happy, because the Coen brothers are so talented, such masters of their art, and they have still made some forgettable, mediocre films. Barton Fink left me feeling the same way, and Blood Simple. Or A Simple Plan, whichever was theirs--see? It's not even good enough to remember the title! It means there's hope for the rest of us, swashing along through the creative muck. If you do stuff often enough, something great will probably come out eventually. A comforting thought.
I've still been indulging in nostalgia, about to start the last Dark Is Rising book and talking about it to anyone who'll listen. To add to the list, I found an online version of You Don't Know Jack, the best computer trivia game ever. It doesn't have the jingles for each question number, but it's still fun and challenging.
I've still been indulging in nostalgia, about to start the last Dark Is Rising book and talking about it to anyone who'll listen. To add to the list, I found an online version of You Don't Know Jack, the best computer trivia game ever. It doesn't have the jingles for each question number, but it's still fun and challenging.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Life on the Island
I watched just a little of King Kong today before church, the new one with Naomi Watts. It was funny how the surprises themselves became predictable--I knew that once a character thought he was safe, an even bigger menace was on its way into the frame behind him. As far as I could tell, the premise was that everything on the island was huge and dangerous. The displaced humans had to find a way back to safety. Simple enough.
I thought about how life sometimes seems like that island, with everything giant and threatening, a new monster everywhere you turn. It feels like there's no safety, no escape. I had a recent spate of badly timed bad luck and bad news that was like that (see the entry, "A Sledgehammer and a Sidewalk")--I'd get over one wretched thing, and another would arrive. I even started expecting it. Eventually I gave up in a sense, decided none of it was my fault and I was ready for something else awful to happen. In the movie, after a big fight with a growing number of Tyrannosauri, Kong walks away, but Naomi Watts calls to him. He picks her up, as if to hurt her, but then he puts her on his shoulder and keeps walking. That's what it felt like--being slapped around, passed from T-Rex to giant gorilla, and then lifted to safety by a gentle hand once I stopped fighting.
I thought about how life sometimes seems like that island, with everything giant and threatening, a new monster everywhere you turn. It feels like there's no safety, no escape. I had a recent spate of badly timed bad luck and bad news that was like that (see the entry, "A Sledgehammer and a Sidewalk")--I'd get over one wretched thing, and another would arrive. I even started expecting it. Eventually I gave up in a sense, decided none of it was my fault and I was ready for something else awful to happen. In the movie, after a big fight with a growing number of Tyrannosauri, Kong walks away, but Naomi Watts calls to him. He picks her up, as if to hurt her, but then he puts her on his shoulder and keeps walking. That's what it felt like--being slapped around, passed from T-Rex to giant gorilla, and then lifted to safety by a gentle hand once I stopped fighting.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Comics and Movies: A Beautiful Friendship
I saw 300 last night (I just realized it wasn't called The 300, which I think makes it cooler), and today I read the book. The visual fidelity is commendable and makes me excited that we have the technology to do that. I felt the same way about the movie and book Sin City (same author and artist, Frank Miller, the ultimate man's man). Then there's American Splendor, which fills me with delight every time I think of it because the movie uses actors and the real folks, along with old footage of Pekar's appearances on David Letterman. Ever since I saw it, I scoff at movies like Good Night and Good Luck and Walk the Line that could use "real" footage but don't. Maybe scoff isn't the right word; I just don't see why they wouldn't. (The rights are probably expensive, but don't they have millions of dollars?) I really like those two movies, and I'd like to emphasize that they're great, but I'm sad they missed the chance to be even better. John Sullivan said in class yesterday, "Editing is much less looking for mistakes than it is looking for lost opportunities." Speaking of editing, I do it so much now that it spreads, inexorably and unapologetically, to my leisure reading. Today I read, "Your right hand sustains me," in Psalm 18 and wrote next to it, "Too vague."
My point is, comic books make great movies. If not great movies, then good, risky, hard-to-classify, innovative movies. Movies with eggs. (Eggs are the new balls, by the way. You can also say "eggsy." Spread the word.) As if I needed another reason to love comics. Oh, and the Persepolis movie is coming to Thalian at the end of the month! Quelle joie!
My point is, comic books make great movies. If not great movies, then good, risky, hard-to-classify, innovative movies. Movies with eggs. (Eggs are the new balls, by the way. You can also say "eggsy." Spread the word.) As if I needed another reason to love comics. Oh, and the Persepolis movie is coming to Thalian at the end of the month! Quelle joie!
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Thinking Everything is All Right
The Oscars: Could Tilda Swinton look more like Conan O'Brien?
I often rail against annual awards because they contain an inextricable fallacy: too much depends on the year, so great movies can go unrecognized and bad ones can win because of their competition. But when I actually get to watch the Oscars, I remember how freaking fun it is! There are so many movies I want to see, or want even more badly to see, after tonight. It feeds my starry-eyed admiration of artists, and if it doesn't, I get to criticize their dresses.
My favorite moments from this year:
-Helen Mirren poetically presenting Best Actor. May I be like her when I'm her age.
-The song from Once winning over three from Enchanted.
-The writer of said song getting a second chance to give thanks after she got cut off.
-Jon Stewart existing.
-TV Guide Channel's red carpet coverage, specifically the hairdo analysis done by white marks on the screen like in football.
-Those adorable freres Coen pulling simultaneously on their earlobes. Watch a tandem interview and note how they have the same mannerisms at the same time. And they're not even twins!
-Marion Cotillard thanking life.
Prom 2.0!
My friend published a novel, and her book release party was a prom. I got a kiss on my gloved hand, a "Rachel's my favorite person in the world," a flurry of variations on "You look nice," and a nice warm feeling all evening. The book's sequel is scheduled to come out in February 2009, so we're already planning for the next prom!
On the way there, another friend brought up the song "Yakkity Yak," and I said it brought back memories; my dad used to sing it to me, "That and--oh, what was the other one? I can't think of it..." My friend jumped in with "Splish Splash," phrased not as a question but as an answer. Shockingly, that was exactly the song I meant! I'd definitely never told her that. She said those songs are universal, sung by all dads to all daughters, but I'm not so sure. I think it explains a lot about why we get along so well.
My last few weekends have been characterized by natural unplanned movement from one activity to the next: walking to shopping to slacklining to dancing downtown, for example. I relish that picaresque episodic quality in a day, the sense that I'm really living and loving every minute of it in the most cliche but deeply right way. The quality of my company is sometimes hard to believe, it's so high. The extent to which I'm a raging extrovert is becoming laughably clear. I'll let Walt Whitman say what I'm feeling:
"I have perceived that to be with those I like is enough,
To stop in company with the rest at evening is enough,
To be surrounded by beautiful, curious, breathing, laughing flesh is enough,
To pass among them or touch any one, or rest my arm ever so lightly round his or her neck for a moment, what is this then?
I do not ask any more delight, I swim in it as a sea.
There is something in staying close to men and women and looking on them, and in the contact and odor of them, that pleases the soul well,
All things please the soul, but these please the soul well."
I often rail against annual awards because they contain an inextricable fallacy: too much depends on the year, so great movies can go unrecognized and bad ones can win because of their competition. But when I actually get to watch the Oscars, I remember how freaking fun it is! There are so many movies I want to see, or want even more badly to see, after tonight. It feeds my starry-eyed admiration of artists, and if it doesn't, I get to criticize their dresses.
My favorite moments from this year:
-Helen Mirren poetically presenting Best Actor. May I be like her when I'm her age.
-The song from Once winning over three from Enchanted.
-The writer of said song getting a second chance to give thanks after she got cut off.
-Jon Stewart existing.
-TV Guide Channel's red carpet coverage, specifically the hairdo analysis done by white marks on the screen like in football.
-Those adorable freres Coen pulling simultaneously on their earlobes. Watch a tandem interview and note how they have the same mannerisms at the same time. And they're not even twins!
-Marion Cotillard thanking life.
Prom 2.0!
My friend published a novel, and her book release party was a prom. I got a kiss on my gloved hand, a "Rachel's my favorite person in the world," a flurry of variations on "You look nice," and a nice warm feeling all evening. The book's sequel is scheduled to come out in February 2009, so we're already planning for the next prom!
On the way there, another friend brought up the song "Yakkity Yak," and I said it brought back memories; my dad used to sing it to me, "That and--oh, what was the other one? I can't think of it..." My friend jumped in with "Splish Splash," phrased not as a question but as an answer. Shockingly, that was exactly the song I meant! I'd definitely never told her that. She said those songs are universal, sung by all dads to all daughters, but I'm not so sure. I think it explains a lot about why we get along so well.
My last few weekends have been characterized by natural unplanned movement from one activity to the next: walking to shopping to slacklining to dancing downtown, for example. I relish that picaresque episodic quality in a day, the sense that I'm really living and loving every minute of it in the most cliche but deeply right way. The quality of my company is sometimes hard to believe, it's so high. The extent to which I'm a raging extrovert is becoming laughably clear. I'll let Walt Whitman say what I'm feeling:
"I have perceived that to be with those I like is enough,
To stop in company with the rest at evening is enough,
To be surrounded by beautiful, curious, breathing, laughing flesh is enough,
To pass among them or touch any one, or rest my arm ever so lightly round his or her neck for a moment, what is this then?
I do not ask any more delight, I swim in it as a sea.
There is something in staying close to men and women and looking on them, and in the contact and odor of them, that pleases the soul well,
All things please the soul, but these please the soul well."
Saturday, January 26, 2008
the moviegoer
That would be me, having been four times in eight days.
1. Juno. Excellent. Lived up to all the hype. Great music, wonderful leads, and who doesn't love J. K. Simmons saying, "Tore up from the floor up"?
2. The Color Purple. Made me wish I were in the 1900s south, practically living on the porch, going to the dry goods store in my gingham dress made from curtains. There's some very nice church-choir singing. Perfect for MLK day.
3. The Science of Sleep. Eh. Gondry can do better; in this, he was just showing off his stop-action and crazy lo-fi effects. I do love Gael Garcia Bernal, and French.
4. Gone Baby Gone. Probably the best of the four. It would be very hard not to like a movie with Casey Affleck, Morgan Freeman, and Ed Harris, AND the best moustache in all of movie history. It reminded me of Mystic River (based on a novel by the same author, Denis LeHane), but without the strange parts I didn't get.
1. Juno. Excellent. Lived up to all the hype. Great music, wonderful leads, and who doesn't love J. K. Simmons saying, "Tore up from the floor up"?
2. The Color Purple. Made me wish I were in the 1900s south, practically living on the porch, going to the dry goods store in my gingham dress made from curtains. There's some very nice church-choir singing. Perfect for MLK day.
3. The Science of Sleep. Eh. Gondry can do better; in this, he was just showing off his stop-action and crazy lo-fi effects. I do love Gael Garcia Bernal, and French.
4. Gone Baby Gone. Probably the best of the four. It would be very hard not to like a movie with Casey Affleck, Morgan Freeman, and Ed Harris, AND the best moustache in all of movie history. It reminded me of Mystic River (based on a novel by the same author, Denis LeHane), but without the strange parts I didn't get.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)