127 Hours update

Very good, very, very good. The whole idea of Danny Boyle specializing in portraying "sharp" pain is taken to extreme (see last post), interestingly through the soundtrack. Also the theme of fate is further explored, definitely logical fit with Slumdog Millionaire. Visually stunning in scenery and the use of slit screens. In fact the split screen was stylistically reminiscent of Kill Bill or Charlie's Angels but so much better. Definitely not boring, which a cinematographic documentary of being trapped by a rock for 127 hours could be suspect of. A definite tear jerker as well.

Yes, after a 14 month hiatus I decided to write something...and this is it, sorry my starved audience of one.
I was actually pondering the kinds of movie gore out there. This came about from describing the 127 Hours movie to a particularly finicky movie goer. Now, I have not yet seen the film so what I am saying is fully based on a review that I heard. The reviewer ascertained his listeners that the movie is not that bad. I passed on this assertion.
I of course started wondering if it’s true since I just caught myself spreading someone else’s word, and a new and unproven reviewer at that. Could it be true that chewing of one’s arm on the big screen could be not that bad?
I believe that yes, if anyone can do it, it's Danny Boyle, his gore is short and piercing and overwhelming and out the door you go. The dead baby in Trainspotting...Wow, I did not know that I can stop my heart beat for that long. But then it's business as usual. Gauging eyes out in Slumdog Millionaire? I actually closed my eyes for that scene- I think, but when it was done ,it was over.
How about the other end of the spectrum, the lasting, lifer chill of David Lynch gore? Yeah, fire walk with me...

testing the FLIP

so this is FLIP, the new camcoder

BAD BAD dog

Thanks for all the love and care mommie, it's unconditional right?

Nirvana vs. Gn'R

Whaaaat? That's right, they both occupied the same time period, captured the hearts of the same kids, at least this kid, were rebels, changed the status quo, even faded at the same time. Yet they are so massively different that thinking about them at the same time makes me feel schizo. It is as though there are two Me's, two lives lived, one with the Gunners and one with Kurt.

I would like to start with a look at some of the details

Appetite for Destruction 1987

Use your Illusion 1, 2 1990

Spaghetti Incident 1993

Bleach 1989

Nevermind 1991

In Utero 1993

Wow no wonder music died when these two were done. Anything else just sounds like a kitten maeo against a fighter jet taking of, and this metaphor relates more to the public mind space they occupied than the music itself. Sonic boom.

Late shows, no shows, check check, heroin, strippers (take that Courtney), check and check.

Of course there were also huge differences somehow Nirvana had a soft edge, a guy whom you'd like to fix LOL while Gn'R would just kick your ass Welcome to the Jungle.

Anyway I am only scratching the surface of this fascinating mental excursion. Long live the 90ies!

Rainy Saturday in May

After all the sewer related issues the rain still makes me paranoid. But I am really happy with the picture :)Sewer issues, and sewers, and garbage, and recycling, and other major pollutant plants and industries are of course a raison d’être of the East Side and obliquely the reason I am here.

Basically this really fantastic part of town has been peppered with these kinds of industries which of course kept it from being the 'good' part of town. That is until the 70 ies. However by the 80 ies and onwards the industries were forced out anyway, we do keep the sewer plant and recycling and more of course. This caused a really interesting dynamic that I think really created the unmatched character of the East Side. As the toxic fumes blew away people suddenly started noticing the neighborhood that is so central, accessible, green, and convenient. And so a slow gentrification began. As there are plenty of ex heavy industry lands available the upscale land hog- the movies moved in, and so did movie people.
Now there is a great mix of the avangarde, the yuppie, the old money, he regular white collars, blue collars, old timers, and refugees. I have got to say that this really keeps the area fresh and alive, how sad is it to live in a 'hood that only caters to one of the groups? And that is most other areas of the GTA I know. Luckily though and I am crossing my fingers here there is still some stigma attached which keeps the area from being 100% gentrified. It would be nice to keep the freshness for years to come, and undoubtedly the creative concentration here helps.

Transylavania vs. Inland Empire

Both pictures are the directors bests and are respectively my No. 1 and No. 2 at least current pics. Transylvania is a vivid linear tale that will be at the forefornt of my cortex for a while to come and than begin beating around the shadier areas of the mind, never leaving. That feeling is mine to carry.

Inland Empire is grand, perfectly timed, intricate, and well confusing, something to be watched over and over for the trip that it is. How lucky am I to get Lynch to shoot in Poland? Jeez where was I when that was being made...ahh yeah the derailing of my destiny is a different story altogether...

Both really hit close to two different hearts of Poland and of me by extension. Transylvania speaks to the folk roots, Zakopane, achordeons, folk costume, all the colors and energy that is a base to Polish anything.This folk heart is also what was really repressed when i was growing up. Thankfully I had my village summers to pick it up. That beauty does not leave.

Inland Empire masterfully grips the mystrery and tragedy and the waning energy of pre war Poland. How is this even possible for a non Pole? Maybe it is easier being an outside observer or maybe that is the attraction to Lynch that he always worked that mind set into his pictures.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transylvania_(film)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inland_Empire_(film)