The other day, I was thinking about how foolish we NBA fans have been for this decade plus of speculation about who the next Michael Jordan would be. Sure, it’s died down of late, but for some time, every great player, especially those who were clearly the best in the game for a time, were compared to Jordan. Young players who seemed to have an extra special makeup were crowned as ‘The Air Apparent’ (not my wordplay). Truth is, there will never be another Jordan. Lebron will never be Jordan, Durant will never be Jordan, Kobe isn’t… no one will be. He is and was too singular, an isolated incidence. I will cut myself off now, because this post isn’t about Michael Jordan.
I mention Jordan’s singularity, because such is the case with Buster Keaton. No one will ever be what Buster Keaton was. He was the perfect storm of talent, born into the perfect moment in film history’s youth. His self-effacing charm, his daring stunts, the sweetness of his writing, his groundbreaking directing, his ability to act out hilarious physical comedy without ever changing that wonderfully melancholy facial expression… I could go on and on and on.
Sherlock Jr. is Keaton at his best. A pure joy. As a child of the late 20th century, I sometimes have trouble with silent film. Even some of the quintessential films from that era jar a bit with my talky sensibilities. That is never the case with Keaton’s silent films. They are too perfect, there wasn’t a single scene in Sherlock Jr. in which it feels like something could be added with audible dialogue.
Keaton was the master of his medium, and the pinnacle of pre-sound film. And come on, at only 45 minutes, it’s like watching a commercial free hour-long television show. You should watch it… again or for the first time.
Isn’t it wonderful that we already have two trailers for Django Unchained? And isn’t it odd that in both they’ve already given away the cameo appearance of the original Django?
It’s really sad that when people are talking about this film, they are usually only making jokes about Michael Fassbender’s giant penis. I mean, granted, it is a giant penis, but that’s like the 12th most interesting thing about this film.
Obviously, the mere fact that you see a man’s penis in the film means it isn’t for everyone (it’s rated NC-17), so this isn’t a blanket recommendation. However, this film is the epitome of what it means to depict something without glorifying it. If Shame had captured a wider audience, Evangelicals would have gotten out their signs and bitched about the film degrading our culture and loosening our morals. It would have been yet another example in a long list of signs of stupidity, because Shame isn’t about how great it is to have loads of meaningless sex with anyone we can find. It’s a film about pain, addiction, and devastating brokenness. I’m not saying the film is an indictment against sex, but you’d have an easier time proving that than proving it was a glorification of sex. The sex scenes in this movie are not sexy, they are heartbreaking. The graphic sexuality is used narratively to show the viewer how crippled our protagonist is by his quiet internal suffering.
Carey Mulligan’s turn in her supporting role is wonderful, but Fassbender’s is even better. This is as good as acting gets. Many of you already know about how quickly Fassbender became one of my favorite actors (it took about 30 seconds of his performance in Inglourious Basterds), and this role just cemented that standing all the more. Every character he portrays is complex. He has an uncanny ability (unintentional X-Men joke) to portray quiet vulnerability, with rage and pain beneath the surface, behind the eyes and the stoic facial queues. Even in blockbusters, from Magneto to his performance as David the android (the most redeeming quality of Prometheus), Fassbender’s performances are deep and layered.
In Shame, he gives an achingly beautiful performance as a man who has been too crippled by his past to experience any sort of intimacy, and so he drowns his pain in the most meaningless sexuality he can find. It was one in a wonderful list of films lately that struck me dumb with its emotional power and beauty. It is one of the most emotionally nuanced and engaging films I’ve ever seen.
Oh yeah, and the directing and cinematography! Perfecto! The jogging scene is one of the notably impressive scenes that comes to mind without digging too deeply into my memory. I need to watch the film again, so I won’t be as engaged by the emotional weight and can just revel in the technical beauty. Steve McQueen is one young director who makes me excited about the future of film.
I’ve already shared it before, but here is the trailer again, anyway. I really loved this film!
It’s been a really long time since I’ve done one of my traditional movie genre months. Or, as they came to be called in time: Another Day, Another Movie. I’ve loved the hell out of it every time I’ve done it, and it is time I resurrected the habit. It began with the shorter Halloween Movie Fest, which is a ten to fourteen day event where I watch one or two scary-ish movies a day in preparation for Halloween (side note: I didn’t do a Halloween Movie Fest last year, but I’m bringing it back in 2012 for anyone who wants to join me).
Doing that for the horror(ish) genre was so fun that I decided to try other genres, some for an entire month. I’ve done Westerns, Post-Apocalypse, Time Travel… that might be it. It’s time for another one.
I’ve decided, in the last hour while I sit here procrastinating, that I’m going to watch at least one noir film a day during the month of July.
I’ve decided to focus only on ‘classic noir’ from the 40’s and 50’s to make it easier to choose which films to watch. I’ve made a list of 32 movies, and I plan to watch all of them next month. I decided to only allow myself four that I have already seen, with 28 brand new experiences. I compiled the list using a combination of IMDb’s Noir list and They Shoot Pictures’ Quintessential Noir list. I’m not familiar with all of the titles, so I’m taking it on faith that they all belong in a noir list.
Here is the list, beginning with the four I’ve already seen:
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
The Big Sleep (1946)
Sunset Blvd. (1950)
Double Indemnity (1944)
The Killing (1956)
Touch of Evil (1958)
Les Diaboliques (1955)
Strangers on a Train (1951)
Ace in the Hole (1951)
Notorious (1946)
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
White Heat (1949)
The Lost Weekend (1945)
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
The Lady from Shanghai (1947)
Gilda (1946)
Out of the Past (1947)
The Big Heat (1953)
The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
Mildred Pierce (1945)
In a Lonely Place (1950)
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
The Killers (1946)
Pickup on South Street (1953)
Deadly is the Female (1950)
Leave Her To Heaven (1945)
High Sierra (1941)
The Naked City (1948)
Scarlet Street (1945)
Night and the City (1950)
The list is in no particular order so far. I normally try to schedule movies, as much as Netflix allows, based on when folks can join me for their favorites/movies they’ve always wanted to see.
Any noir takers? Any you’re just downright pissed I left off the list? Anything else?
It was a long time coming, but I finally got my first platinum trophy on iCheckMovies!
For those who are unfamiliar, iCheckMovies is one of my favorite websites. I love it so much, and I have ever since I joined two years ago this month.
It is an entirely free site that combines my love of checking things off lists with my love of film. The site is full of popular film lists. There are the lists which cover all of film in its history, like the many lists at AFI and IMDb, Time Magazine’s 1000 Greatest Movies Ever Made, Steven Jay Schneider’s 1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, Roger Ebert’s Greatest Films list. There are genre specific lists, like the 100 Greatest Sci-Fi films, the top 500 Horror Films, etc. There are even most often several lists per genre, for example, Noir has 250 films chosen by They Shoot Pictures, and an IMDb Noir list. There are also lists that are region specific, to help you brush up on the greatest German films of all time, or the best Korean cinema of the 20th century, or all of Asian cinema.
It’s a film nerd’s dream!
For one thing, it gets me to watch movies I otherwise would never have gotten around to. Maybe there is a film I’ve considered watching “eventually.” Well, I go to iCheckMovies and see that it is on no less than 17 different official lists of one kind or another. Suddenly, I find myself moving it higher on my Netflix queue.
Also, as a child born in the early 80’s, I am a product of video game culture. I love achievements and trophies. Well, iCheckMovies has you covered there, too. The number of films you’ve checked on any one list determines what award you have on your award shelf. You get a bronze trophy for having seen 50% of all movies in a top list, silver for having seen 75% of all movies in a top list, gold for 90% or more, and platinum for having seen every movie on a list.
I currently have 41 awards (1 platinum, 4 gold, 11 silver, and 25 bronze). I have a looooong way to go! I got my first platinum today, on the list of Reddit’s Top 250, after watching The Pianist. For a movie nerd, and a list nerd, it was quietly gratifying.
The site is a really great way to see just how many consensus great films you’ve seen and missed, and to broaden your movie horizons some. I highly recommend it. If you join, connect with me so we can be buddies. My tag is ‘escapedyourworld’.
Again, that’s iCheckMovies.com… tell ’em Scotty sent ya. Or don’t, since that’s not actually possible, and no one affiliated with the site knows who I am.
I’m really behind in life right now. Every time I start feeling better, and think I’ve turned a corner, I slip back into feeling miserable again. It really sucks, and it is sapping my already dismal productivity. Hopefully I will get all of my Sasquatch posts up before Sasquatch starts again next year.
Sunday was the last really awesome day at Sasquatch. This is probably in part because it was the last day before I started getting really sick, but it was also largely because the lineup was right up our alley.
Gardens and Villa
We kicked things off with Gardens and Villa at the Yeti Stage. An enjoyable Santa Barbara band who drew a pretty big crowd, comparatively to the size of other Yeti crowds we saw over the weekend.
The lead singer performs with a literal quiver of flutes. So, clearly, this band isn’t exactly like anything else. The sound for this show was a little muddy, and for a song or so the entire right bank of speakers stopped working, but it was still a fun start to the day, overall.
M. Ward
via @ The Stranger
After Gardens and Villa, we moved over to the Main Stage for the rest of the day. I know, we weren’t hip enough to spend the whole day listening to the most obscure music we could find all day. We went to Sasquatch because of how many bands performing there are near and dear to our hearts, and I caught as many as I could without compromising the standards I have to help me enjoy a concert as much as possible.
We caught the end of a hip hop act, Chiddy Bang, and then moved up front for the incomparable M. Ward. Neither of us had ever seen Mr. Ward before, and he was near the top of both our lists of acts we were most excited to see. He didn’t disappoint!
One of the primary things I love about M. Ward is that he’s just so fucking cool. Laid back, always wearing sunglasses but somehow without seeming like a dick because of it, with a soft sing-song voice when speaking… he’s just the epitome of cool.
As is the case with his studio albums, I could have listened to him play all day long. He makes what he does appear effortless, even though he’s actually a really great guitarist. Making difficult things seem like their no big deal is pretty much the definition of cool.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll probably say it again: it often takes conscious effort on my part to keep from heading down to Portland, finding Matt Ward, and following him around until he agrees to by my friend or has me arrested.
If only Zooey had shown up, which would have made things perfect.
The Head and the Heart
via @ Verbicide
This was only my third time seeing The Head and the Heart live. I feel a renewed love for the band after seeing them live again, which is good, since they are Seattle’s ever more popular indie darlings who formed at Ballard’s own Conor Byrne Pub. To be honest, I wasn’t sure how excited I was about the show. I was kind of at the point where I thought maybe I was done with them for a while. I thought, “That may be fun, but I’m probably going to be a little bored with the old material.”
Not so! They wooed me back into love with them with another great set, including a new song in which vocalist Jonathan Russell seems to channel a bit of David Gray. They’re a band that people love to love, which means they are also a band that some sour-pussed contrarians love to hate. I think that even as their star rises they are still delightful. Their energy never wanes, and to be present for milestones in their career, and to watch their reactions to those milestones (especially those of Charity Rose, who I’m pretty sure was crying at the end of the set) is a really fun ride.
I’m looking forward to their sophomore album!
Beirut
First, I love Beirut. Love! Second, this was a fairly boring live set. Remember when I was writing about The Civil Wars, and how impressed I was that they filled the Main Stage space with energy even though there were just two of them? Well, Beirut was the opposite of that. He had such a sparse band on stage with him, compared to the remarkable degree of instrumentation that we hear on the albums. The music just felt empty and flat.
He needs to figure out how to recreate his sound a bit on stage when he is missing most of the instrumentation that make his trademark sound so unique and enjoyable. Something needs to replace the horns when he only brings one extra trumpet player with him in addition to himself.
Bon Iver
**I’ll have to go back eventually and find out where these photos came from. They were just on my desktop from a previous search, but we didn’t take any of them, aside from the last one, which Emily took from her vantage point farther back than me.**
However… after being fairly disappointed with Beirut, Bon Iver proceeded to shut my brain down with awe. His entire set was one long exercise in pure beauty.
I’ve been to so very many concerts in my day, but I have never seen anything remotely resembling Justin Vernon’s current live show. The stage becomes what seems like a pirate ghost ship, with what looks like torn sails hanging from the rafters above the stage, and fog filling the stage to varying degrees throughout the set. With lines of large lightbulbs of varying heights set at three points on the stage, so that the band is actually playing behind lights and not just in front of them, the lights change color and effects repeatedly during the set so that every song has it’s own mood.
One song is even performed lit from the main effects booth out in the center of the crowd, with an effect that made it look like the band was performing lit only through blinds looking out on a futuristic cityscape.
However, more than the impressive light show, Bon Iver’s performance was what was really overwhelming. With eight other band members, Vernon performed a passionate, remarkable set that was literally jaw-dropping. They were just so damned good!
Songs that were once small and intimate became large and somehow even more emotionally charged, and somehow the songs of last year’s masterpiece of an album shone through with all the depth, complexity, and layering that made the production of that album so wonderful.
All the video I could find on YouTube really sucks. Hard. I wish I could take you back in time with me to see this again.
It’s blasphemous to my Roots loving heart, but the Bon Iver show was the most mind-blowing show I saw at Sasquatch… it was close, but Bon Iver ekes it out.
I then proceeded to dance to a dub step show until 1 in the morning, because life is short and I want to try new things. It was really fun, but I still can’t hear the difference between one dub step recording and another… I guess I’m officially an old man.
I’ve been behind in sharing everything lately. Here is M83’s video continuation of the story of those super powered kids from the “Midnight City” video.
