1. ERASERHEAD. THE SECOND TIME I saw David Lynch’s mewling, puking masterpiece, I began to scream as soon as the opening credits rolled. It’s a dark, dark vision into the little world and lonely life of Henry, a printer whose…
Tag: film/vid
Takes on takes.
Ol’ Thinkypants’ Question For The Producers
“WHEN DID ART BEGIN TO be about purging one’s personal demons instead of making people smile, wonder or otherwise get over themselves?”
Aside
STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING RIGHT now and read this article by Patton Oswalt about how instant access to everything has brought about the Death of the Fannish Underground. Oswalt speaks to and for those whose fannish identity was built up layer by carefully wrought layer, recalling when one person could consume an entire year’s output of fantastic and science fictional media (and still have room for more). It’s all, he says, in the effort:
The Lord of the Rings used to be ours and only ours simply because of the sheer goddamn thickness of the books. Twenty years later, the entire cast and crew would be trooping onstage at the Oscars to collect their statuettes, and replicas of the One Ring would be sold as bling.
The topsoil has been scraped away, forever, in 2010. In fact, it’s been dug up, thrown into the air, and allowed to rain down and coat everyone in a thin gray-brown mist called the Internet.
More tragic historian than off-my-lawn ranter, Oswalt perfectly captures the sweaty essence of 80s fandom — and makes me wish I’d written it first. I’m not sure I agree with his conclusions, but I do feel a bit sad for kids who’ll never have the fun that we had(1). Something thrilling there is in being part of something secret that yields unexpected connections in unlooked-for places…
See:
– “Wake Up, Geek Culture — Time To Die” by Patton Oswalt
– “Hey Fanboy!” (Fannish posts on Metaphorager.Net)
(1) (On the other hand, they’re probably having some sort of fun that I can’t, so it all works out.)
Synoptipitch: Firefly
“It’s like if Star Wars were about Han Solo, but without aliens and blasters and hyperdrives, with the Jedi a 14-year-old induced-psychotic girl and sprinkled heavily with Old West individual-vs-the-Man subtext. Oh, and written by geeks. That’s Firefly.”
Pithyism #6
NO MATTER HOW ABSORBING OR rewarding the discussion concerning Jedi philosophy, training and practice, someone’s always going to say, “Dude, it’s only a movie.”
Boy Oh Boy Oh Boy Oh Boy Oh Boy!
THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN you mount a high-definition camera on a spaceship and send it to Saturn: (More information at http://www.outsideinthemovie.com/. For maximum fun, expand the view by clicking on the arrow-square in the bottom right corner.)
Cinematic Question: Shifting Allegiances
SINCE WHEN, IN THE MOVIES, did the Romans become the good guys?
Quick Review: Toy Story 3
ANOTHER GREAT PIXAR ROMP — IMAGINATIVE, colorful, well-rendered, well-written. But I can’t get over what a JERK that stuffed bear is.
5 Thoughts: Alternative Pleasantries
1. REGRET IS LIKE THE PROVERBIAL potato chip, which is why I am reluctant to taste even one. Living a reasonably full life keeps any real regret firmly in its place; i.e., away. Yet while I regret nothing, there are…
365 Names: The Immensity
“THE IMMENSITY” is what Monsieur Ibrahim calls Whatever we’re now in our fourth day of naming. M. Ibrahim calls It that toward the end of the film, after spending much of the time answering his young protege’s questions about God…
Things Missed (80s)
GENERIC FOOD. FOND MEMORIES OF shopping the Lucky’s store in Concord c. 1981 wherein a vast wall of white and yellow cans, boxes and bottles severally proclaimed “COLA.” “CIGARETTES.” “CHILI.” “DOG FOOD.” “BREAKFAST CEREAL.” “ART.” (That last is ironic, but…
Why We Didn’t Finish Watching “Avatar”
ME: “THEY SURE USED A lot of tech to spin a yarn about how tech is bad.” She: “Nice visual imagination, though.” Me: “Very nice. And the acting and casting are spot on. But it’s a planet full of Magic…