explorations

Chris Sligh, On To Bigger & Better Things

So our buddy Chris is off American Idol and on to even better things. Ever since his much-better-than-the-original version of "Endless Love," he started wondering whether he was a good match for this show. They ask for originality and good singing, right? Now that popularity for Sanjaya is taking off, I'm wondering if the judges themselves are sensing that the show is getting away from them.

Am I More than My Favorites?

So I like to make lists of my favorite things. It's the reason why Maria from the Sound of Music overlapped so much with me on e-harmony.
But I wonder sometimes...how much can you tell about a person by what their favorites are? Are we more than the sum of our favorites?

To get the ball rolling, I'm gonna list 10 of my favorite films. These aren't the ones I think are necessarily the greatest, just the ones I like the best.

What are your favorites, and do you think that they describe the kind of person you really are? Is that any different than the kind of person that other people think you are?

Film Cap Contest: At the Movies

OK, so it seems like you're enjoying these contests, so I'll continue posting them from time to time. I've already got several more lined up. If you like, feel free to comment with suggestions/requests like, "Hey, I'd really enjoy a contest with all silent films" or "I haven't seen any of these films that you post pictures from! Can't you post something easier, like poster stills from The Wizard of Oz?" And I'll see what I can do.
Meanwhile, I've got what I hope will be a fun contest for you. Each image is of a film character or characters watching a movie in their movie. First, guess what movie the cap comes from. Then, for extra brownie points, tell me what movie the character is watching.

Cap 1

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (2000)
by Dave Eggers
***

Heartbreaking? At Times
With a title like this novel/bio claims, you begin by thinking one of two things.
1) This guy is a moron.
or
2) This guy is completely full of himself.
Actually, the truth is that the book's title was simply plucked out of a hat from amongst several other bizarre names (which Eggers lists in the hilariously long preface, which also announces to us that we may not care to read it).

The book has its heartbreaking moments, notably the first chapter, which juxtaposes the dying of Dave's mom from cancer, his sister's memory of their father dying, and his younger brother Toph being placed under his guardianship. The book also has its hilarious moments, suspenseful moments, well-crafted moments, TMI moments and bizarre moments. Eggers isn't even sure what kind of book he's writing: it's a "memoir-y kind of thing," but he begins to think that "Maybe writing about actual events, in the first person, if not from Ireland and before you turned seventy, [is] Bad." 

Film Cap Contest: Riding Duo

Thanks to the guessers from last time. Even though Desiree didn't want to admit that she found the answer, I went ahead and posted a comment with the answer to the final cap. I thought that one might be a little tricky.
Hope you have fun with this set!

Cap 1

Stranger than Fiction

Stranger than Fiction (2006)
Directed by Marc Forster
***3/4

Summary: An accountant discovers that his life is being narrated, and he is going to die.
Like: The Truman Show meets Adaptation.
Comments: This is a wonderful film. I got the feeling that it might be when I saw the trailers, with a goofy Will Ferrell, manic Maggie Gyllenhaal, studious Dustin Hoffman and flaky Emma Thompson. And after all, this is a Marc Forster film — he's that guy who won Halle Berry her Oscar (for a POE-laden film, I'll give you, but it's powerful) and won over the child in us with the fabulous Finding Neverland. And after this magic realism segueway called Stranger than Fiction, he's going to take us into the middle of Afghanistan with the gripping Kite Runner. Flexibility, anyone?

Dragonfly

This is one of the loveliest music videos I've seen in a while. It reminded me of Jeff Buckley, of Björk/Michel Gondry, of Jean Cocteau, Jean-Luc Godard and "La Mer et Les Mouettes." I hope you enjoy it.

My Favorite Web Applications

OK, so I'm not exactly a techie. And that's OK by me. But I do enjoy the internet, as it appeals to the stream-of-consciousness / ADD / curious side(s) of me. And I especially enjoy it when someone develops a site that allows the internet experience to be even more enjoyable. So here are my recent favorites:

1. Google / Google Earth— The fount of knowledge
2. Wikipedia family — Whaddya wanna know?
3. Typepad / Facebook / Virb / Meosphere — hello, world!
4. Youtube — Where did that last hour go?
5. 43 Things — Before I die, I'd like to...
6. Shelfari — Look what's on my shelf!
7. Pandora — Free music is always good
8. IMDb / YMBd — Movies are our friends
9. TuneGlue — Seal is similar to Michael Jackson?!
10. Sites-as-graphs / Word clouding — So that's what my blog really looks like?

Film Cap Contest: At the Table

Thanks for the teamwork on the last contest. This one might be a cinch, or might give you some trouble. I'm eager to see how this goes:

Film Cap 1

Zodiac

Zodiac (2007)
Directed by David Fincher
****

Summary: A series of connected murders sends several men on a decades-long investigation.
Like: Seven with less gore. Munich with stronger morality.
Comments: I have a special kinship with David Fincher. 1995, the year I dove into film head-first, was the year he released his dark morality play Seven. I saw it on a rainy afternoon amid a crowd of a couple dozen, and the chiaroscuro of the cinematography, the wound tautness of the plot, and the inevitability of its ending elicited audible gasps from the audience. I walked out thinking I had just discovered an entire new world. And then for a few foolish years afterwards I recommended the film to others, a choice that resulted in bitter glares from friends and facial expressions that appeared to accompany nausea. Yes, I'll admit, Seven's gore and even its tenseness make it a poor match for many viewers. And Fincher's most recent masterpiece, Zodiac, has enough startling scenes and images that you would do well to pause before making the choice to see it, if you do at all. But if seeing it is the right choice for you, you'll end up catching what I believe will be one of the better films you'll see in 2007.

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2007: It Will Be a Very Good Year

When I posted a similar preview of 2006 films, little did I know just how tentative release dates are. You might recall that the film I was predicting for Best Picture was delayed until 2007 (as were as many as half the films I cited in the post). Oh well.

This year, I'll go ahead and admit: some of these films may not come out until 2008. It's a good thing I revisited the list I had made months ago before posting this: since then, films like Prince Caspian, Lincoln, The Life of Pi, Fahrenheit 451, Pattern Recognition, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, The History of Love and On the Road have all been pushed into 2008 or beyond. (Or at least a release this year looks unlikely). So it goes.

But do not fear, loyal readers, fellow cineastes. There will still be 2 or 3 good films this year. At least.

Film Cap Contest — At the Window

Thanks for helping me revive the cap contests. Here's another. There's no link with the previous set (or is there?). So...any guesses?

Cap 1

The Science of Sleep

The Science of Sleep (2006)
Directed by Michel Gondry
***3/4
Summary: The line between dreams and reality becomes fuzzy for a young man who is falling in love with the girl next door.
Like: A present-day Brazil, with more normal characters but just as unusual dreams.
Comments: God gave Michel Gondry an unusual set of gifts. Or maybe just an unusual set of eyes or an unusual brain. Because the ideas Michel comes up with are, to put it mildly, brilliant. In Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, he figured out how to tell a wildly creative story so that its wildness seemed to be just a part of reality — with reverse footage, opaque screens and secret-door sets, he created incredible illusions. And if you've ever seen his music videos, you'll already know that his thinking is so far outside the box that it has also cut up the box and used it as a lampshade so his idea can have better light.

All this to say — if you're already familiar with Gondry's work, and like what you've seen, then you'll really enjoy this film. If you could take it or leave it, then just expect more of the same.

Film Cap Contest — Background Explosions

It's been a little while, but here's another Film Cap Contest. The link between the three should be obvious, but what are the films? No, I'm not really in a violent mood. So, what films are these?

Cap 1

Alison's February Book Reviews

Such A Long Journey
Rohinton Mistry

In this, the second Rohinton Mistry book I’ve read, I again sensed Mistry’s great talent to develop characters. Although the names might not stick with me forever, the characters and their well-drawn personalities will. This is the story of Gustad, an optimistic but helpless middle-aged man whose life, his journey, seems to be in a state of collapse. It’s a brilliant exposé of humanity’s complete lack of control, no matter how hard we may try. Religion, somewhat of an escape for Gustad, plays a central role in this book, from the bleak Zoroastrian funerals to the chalk-artist who creates pavement pictures of assorted religious figures. In the face of such a polytheistic culture, it’s interesting that Gustad’s parents didn’t care what religion he believed; they just felt he should choose one and stick with it. Also noteworthy is the fact that Mistry’s title alludes to the first post-conversion poem that T. S. Eliot wrote, “Journey of the Magi.”

As I mentioned in my previous Mistry review, he can tend toward explicit sexuality, although I will admit that in Such a Long Journey, one of the most powerful, and even poignant, scenes is also one of the coarsest I’ve read. I’ll let you judge for yourself whether it adds or detracts. 

Alison's Review: Sylvia Plath Collected Poems

Collected Poems
Sylvia Plath

I was going to post about the eight books I read in February, but I had so much to say about Collected Poems by Sylvia Plath, that I decided to give it a post of its own.

I began with Plath’s juvenilia, at the back of the book, because I wanted to read the poems in chronological order. I quickly discovered one of the most charming aspects of Plath’s poetry—her love of language. Again and again I found delightful juxtapositions— “festering gardenias” or “grub-white mulberries.” Other phrases were just plain delightful—“The  . . . hall/Where guests slide gliding into light like wine.” Her metaphors and similes are incredible: “a blizzard of gulls,” “The pears fatten like little buddhas,” “A crocodile of small girls/ . . . in blue uniforms,/ Opens to swallow me.” And her vocabulary is really astonishing. Do you know the words “hermetic,” “spindrift, “midden,” “märchen,” “glaucous,” or “jackanapes”? 

Keane, Jeff Buckley

Under the Iron Sea (2006)
Keane
****
Somehow I've managed to listen to Coldplay for years without ever hearing of Keane until Blake sang one of their songs on American Idol. And though the British trio have earned complimentary comparisons to Coldplay, they really do have a different sound. At times. Keane is a piano-driven band, while Coldplay tends to rely on guitars. And yes, Tom Chaplin sings in a similar "blend voice" to Chris Martin, but he also has a little more flexibility and more tone than Chris. I'm kicking myself for not getting Hopes & Fears yet, but this sophomore album is wonderful, wonderful. The songs are creative, and have great variety. Sometimes the band sounds like Moby, sometimes like Rufus Wainwright, sometimes like U2 or Queen or ABBA. But the stunning simplicity of their melodies and songwriting is what makes them so irresistible to me. I almost — almost — like them better than Coldplay. My favorite from this album is "Hamburg Song," one of the few songs that hasn't yet been released as a single. It's about the complexity and sacrificial nature of love and relationships. A more typical sound from the band is the driving ballad "Leaving So Soon?" or the quaint wonder "The Frog Prince."