Throwaways and Some More About Life
What another excellent and fun-filled weekend. I seriously cannot think of a better way to be spending my time in my life right about now, after several trips and falls, I'm really enjoying myself.
Friday night I went to SPACE Gallery with my buddy Chris to check out the play "Gruesome Playground Injuries." I was intrigued by the very short write-up they posted on their website. After seeing the play and thinking about it, the play far-surpassed my expectations. It was an intense look at two individuals bound together by their faults, which happen to be their strengths for each other. I read a review of another run of the play in the Austin Chronicle and feel like it says everything I could, just slightly better:
For many Americans, high school is wrought with nostalgia even before graduation. It's at once a time of discovery and a time to prepare for the rest of our lives. When life turns out disappointingly, however, that sense of nostalgia risks regret and resentment.
Though we meet Kayleen (Molly Karrasch) and Doug (Benjamin Summers) when they are 8 years old and leave them at 38, the play stays in high school – that is, it's wrought with pathos and meaning. The soundtrack is a panoply of sentimental tunes that currently infest the airwaves. It appropriately contrasts the counter-high-school narrative of two teens whose lives seem destined for suffering and failure, lives without those nostalgic sentimental moments.
You won't have a chance to see this play in Portland anytime soon, since it was a single weekend engagement, but if you ever see it advertised do yourself a favor and check it out. See if you have the same reaction as the Austin Chronicle reviewer who basically took the words right out of my mouth.
And then, Saturday, I helped celebrate my father's 60th birthday quietly with a round of 36 holes of mini-golf at Pirate's Cove in Old Orchard. It was a lot of fun bringing the tradition he and I have on my own birthday into his birthday celebration. We've been playing mini-golf on my birthday for at least the past 15 years, and being a man of traditions, I've always looked forward to this day with my father. I was happy to share his 60th birthday this way. We haven't spent as much time together the past 3 years as we used to, part of it is distance, part of it is me feeling a need to be more "independent and grown up" I suppose. He's always been there for me and taken care of me, even when I don't ask for it. He's been my sole provider since I was about 16 and my mother decided to "bail" on the family. He took an approach to raising me as an adolescent-adult that I've always appreciated and made me look up to him. We've shared some amazing memories together, aside from the mini-golf: we've seen a Patriots game every year since 2000, I've brought him to see Dave Matthews Band a couple of times, and Jewel once, we've seen a countless number of Portland Pirate games, Sea Dogs' games, we've gone to a Boston Bruins game at least once a year, missing only a few years here and there, we've had some great talks where he's listened to him or shared advice, he's seen me through my perpetual circle of girls (and subsequent troubles), and so much more. He's a fantastic man who is getting closer and closer to the age of retirement (he's been a school administrator of some degree ever since I was born). He's a man I admire, in his personal and professional life. I can only strive to lead a life half as decent as his has been, and to be a great man like him. Kudos to my dad!
Sunday, it was time for the Old Port Festival, which I hit up with some teaching colleagues of mine and had a good time. There wasn't too much music I was that interested in. I was simply looking to have a great time outside with people that have become good friends of mine. Then, I went to the State Theatre for a night of great music: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes. Put aside the shaky beginning, where a few of the members played an acoustic set that couldn't really be heard over the talking from the crowd and the fact that the speakers weren't working right, the remainder of the show was amazing. When the entire band came out and played there energetic and crowd-pleasing songs, it was amazing. I met up with my newest friend, Rory and her fellow Canadian friend, Andrea and we made our way closer to the stage to enjoy the show. It was yet another great time. Really any time I can go to a live show, I know I'm living the dream. That's what I enjoy spending my money on. Those are memories I'll always keep with me, through my life, into my dad's age. Those are the stories I want to be telling my own kids or kids I know (like my uber-cool nephew, I'm sure).
I couldn't ask for anything more from my life than how I'm living it right now. I'm sharing time with great people, some that I've only just recently met and others that I've known for quite awhile. I only hope I'm making the impact on them that they are on me.
.......................................................................
Film 160
"Hemingway's Garden of Eden"
starring: Jack Huston, Mena Suvari, Caterina Murino
This film is probably Hemingway's worst piece of fiction, no wonder he waited to publish it until he was dead. So, why go out and make a movie based on such a poor story? You got me!
It's the story of a writer, played by Jack Huston, his wife, played by a stoic Mena Suvari (whose acting skills have never impressed me aside from "American Beauty"), and their mistress, played by Caterina Murino (really the only one who breathes some life into a terrible story). She is the ignition in the short-lived fire and passion among the married couple, unfortunately they each have a desire more for the mistress than for each other, although, she does bring everyone closer together, rather briefly.
About the only thing good in this film is the set locations- mainly taking place in Spain and then a side-story that takes place in Africa. The scenery is beautiful and helps to define the Jazz Age that Hemingway lived and wrote through. For a film about romance and desire, the spark that gets ignited in the first act, quickly goes out as the story unfolds when it should be doing the opposite. The intensity and the passion should be driving the film and really heating up as the story unfolds. It never really happens and you end up really losing interest in any of the characters and you don't care what happens to them as a threesome or as individuals.
The structure of the story is also baffling, to me, because the director decides to split the film up with interludes of scenes playing out of the story (set in Africa, about elephant hunting with a father and son) that the author (Huston) is trying to work on while his life and marriage are falling apart, so to speak. Each of these scenes are completely unnecessary and really take away from the actually story that is taking place in real time. These interludes derail the momentum that slowly builds and I think that's why I lost interest in the story so quickly. Any chance I have of getting to the heart of the tempestuous relationship between the husband and wife, especially when their mistress enters the picture and plays a large role in their relationship with each other, goes away every time we are sent to Africa. It's clearly a distraction. Perhaps the writers and director had ADD or they knew the story wasn't intriguing enough on its own, so they had to add in a distraction piece. Too bad, because a Woody Allen film called "Vicki Cristina Barcelona" sort of plays out the same story/plot and achieves its goal. Watch that one instead!
...........................................................................
Film 161
"The Itty Bitty Titty Committee"
directed by: Jamie Babbitt
starring: no one interesting
The best thing about this film is its soundtrack, filled with tracks from the likes of: Le Tigre, Team Dresch, Sleater Kinney, and Bikini Kill, along with other radical, post-feminist punk bands that my sister got me to listen to during her tenure as the Bates College Radio Program Director- Go WRBC!). Unfortunately the story lacks any sort of bite from its feminist perspective's teeth. Sure, it plays like a girl-power satire, but the writer's didn't take enough notes in their Women's Lib classes to get a decent story here.
Girl meets girl. Sure, it's a young lovers who happen to be lesbians story.
Anna meets Sadie. Anna (Melonie Diaz) is a heartbroken, young lesbian who wants to become more active and educated in her feminist ways. Enter the sultry, blonde-haired lesbian, Sadie (Nicole Vicius). Sadie runs an underground girl-power group called the C(I)A, ready for this acronym-- Clits In Action! Really?!
I wish there was more to say about a film that has its climatic third act reveal that the Washington Monument is a phallic symbol, which has been keeping women down for centuries (really? come on girls, tell us something we didn't already know!). They infiltrate a morning news show in order to get their point across, but I would have liked to see more of the interactions between the young lesbians as they discovered more about themselves through each other and how they handle/deal with the disadvantages they think they have, thanks to a country build upon the back of a strong patriarchy. Sure, it's a male-dominated society, but make more of a difference, girls. Unfortunately, this film doesn't achieve its goal.
............................................................................
Film 162
"Sweet Karma"
starring: Shera Bechard (a former Playboy Playmate- ask me how I know)
This is perhaps the poor-man's straight-to-DVD film knock-off of "Kill Bill." It has the same kind of story, except for the details.
Shera Bechard plays a strangely and never explained mute out for vengeance against the Russian mob crime-syndicate that has inexplicably found its way to Canada to have their hands in the sex-trafficking trade. That's right, they take Russian girl immigrants are have them pose-practice as strippers-for-hire only to sell them for sexual favors. Ah, good ole sexploitation.
The heroine and central character of the film is Karma, played with reserve and "talent" (for someone who doesn't speak through the entire film, brings to mind Milla Jovovich's turn in "The Fifth Element"). She believes her sister Anna has been murdered by these Russian mobsters, so she sets out to seek revenge and kill each one of these dudes. And she's successful, in interesting, inventive ways sometimes.
Given the setting and storyline, there's lots of nudity or implied nudity. Karma runs around often in skimpy outfits (re: white tank-top and matching underwear, but hello, she's a Playboy Playmate). There's even a rape scene. Those always make me very uncomfortable when I am watching them. It seems like a violation. The director handles it rather graphically (much like the completely uncomfortable and disturbing scene in "The Hills Have Eyes"). I felt a sense of a violation of trust between the actress/director/and viewer. But, each time Karma finds herself in a bad situation or the Russian mobsters are doing wrong, the director sets it up that karma will get the best of everyone.
For what it is, it's an entertaining film, although it leaves you wishing you'd gotten more for your time. The deaths are handled well, but the fight scenes look like something out of an acting class lesson on fighting. Shera Bechard does a decent job with the role she was given, and I'm not just saying that because I have an affinity for those Playboy Playmates. She even ditched her familiar blonde locks and dyed her hair and became a brunette in order to be taken more seriously, I suppose. Does it work? Maybe if this wasn't such a clear knock-off exploitation film.
..........................................................................
Film 163
"Love Simple"
Here's a film about lying. It's a typical boy-meets-girl love story, except it starts unconventionally: they build their relationship on lying by omission. We meet each central character as their relationships are ending. And what do they learn from the end? It's better to hide the truth about themselves. So, when they meet each other in a Laudromat in their Brooklyn neighborhood, that's what they do and the rest of their story plays out by continuing the lies.
Adam, the boy in this love affair, has a sick father who he takes care of while living at home and not living up to his potential- no college degree, a pathetic job.
Seta, the girl in this love story, has some kind of weird disaster that causes her to break out in rashes and receive shots (from her best friend injecting her with something).
They don't tell each other these important details, mostly due to their experiences, but also thanks in large part to their respective best friends. Jesses (Adam's BFF) and Keith (Seta's BFF)-- see what first time writer-director Mark von Sternberg did there, he gave them opposite sex names. And this two kind of steal the show a bit with their own expected turn at falling in love. It's too bad their side-story love and attraction takes a backseat, because it's more interesting than the liars we're supposed to focus on.
That being said, "Love Simple" is a decent indie film, shot on location in Brooklyn and really uses the neighborhood scenery to its advantage to really help tell this story. The film proves that love is actually anything but simple. Another excellent film that tells a great story about love is called "Love, Actually." Maybe you could watch both of them.
Friday night I went to SPACE Gallery with my buddy Chris to check out the play "Gruesome Playground Injuries." I was intrigued by the very short write-up they posted on their website. After seeing the play and thinking about it, the play far-surpassed my expectations. It was an intense look at two individuals bound together by their faults, which happen to be their strengths for each other. I read a review of another run of the play in the Austin Chronicle and feel like it says everything I could, just slightly better:
For many Americans, high school is wrought with nostalgia even before graduation. It's at once a time of discovery and a time to prepare for the rest of our lives. When life turns out disappointingly, however, that sense of nostalgia risks regret and resentment.
Though we meet Kayleen (Molly Karrasch) and Doug (Benjamin Summers) when they are 8 years old and leave them at 38, the play stays in high school – that is, it's wrought with pathos and meaning. The soundtrack is a panoply of sentimental tunes that currently infest the airwaves. It appropriately contrasts the counter-high-school narrative of two teens whose lives seem destined for suffering and failure, lives without those nostalgic sentimental moments.
The scenes jump ahead 15 years or back 10. Joseph, playwright of the Pulitzer-nominated dramaBengal Tiger in the Baghdad Zoo (and graduate of the same undergrad writing program I attended in Oxford, Ohio), explicitly states in the script that all scene changes should take place in front of the audience, in particular the application of Doug's wounds. "There is no need to hide any of this work from the audience," Joseph writes. These devices, of course, draw our attention to the fact that we're watching a play, but they also give us the feeling of watching an accident in slow motion, unable to do anything about it. Worse, they suggest that time is fixed, and like Billy Pilgrim in Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five, our only option is to bounce around it.
For all the work that the playwright and Street Corner Arts do to distance us from the characters, however, I find myself empathizing with the idea of them. Kayleen's injuries are internal, though the result of external forces, such as an abusive father. Doug, on the other hand, is accident-prone, a term to which he explicitly objects, but nevertheless, his enthusiasm for life and its adventures repeatedly land him in the infirmary, and it is there, more or less, that the two reunite over and over again.
Both Kayleen and Doug bear the scars of their experiences, and they don't let those experiences alter their outlooks on life. Kayleen remains cynical, Doug enthusiastic. And though Doug attempts to turn their friendship into a romance, they remain only pals. We might feel unsatisfied, but before the lights dim for the last time, the two take a nostalgic look back, more hopeful than the narrative we witnessed might have suggested.
And then, Saturday, I helped celebrate my father's 60th birthday quietly with a round of 36 holes of mini-golf at Pirate's Cove in Old Orchard. It was a lot of fun bringing the tradition he and I have on my own birthday into his birthday celebration. We've been playing mini-golf on my birthday for at least the past 15 years, and being a man of traditions, I've always looked forward to this day with my father. I was happy to share his 60th birthday this way. We haven't spent as much time together the past 3 years as we used to, part of it is distance, part of it is me feeling a need to be more "independent and grown up" I suppose. He's always been there for me and taken care of me, even when I don't ask for it. He's been my sole provider since I was about 16 and my mother decided to "bail" on the family. He took an approach to raising me as an adolescent-adult that I've always appreciated and made me look up to him. We've shared some amazing memories together, aside from the mini-golf: we've seen a Patriots game every year since 2000, I've brought him to see Dave Matthews Band a couple of times, and Jewel once, we've seen a countless number of Portland Pirate games, Sea Dogs' games, we've gone to a Boston Bruins game at least once a year, missing only a few years here and there, we've had some great talks where he's listened to him or shared advice, he's seen me through my perpetual circle of girls (and subsequent troubles), and so much more. He's a fantastic man who is getting closer and closer to the age of retirement (he's been a school administrator of some degree ever since I was born). He's a man I admire, in his personal and professional life. I can only strive to lead a life half as decent as his has been, and to be a great man like him. Kudos to my dad!
Sunday, it was time for the Old Port Festival, which I hit up with some teaching colleagues of mine and had a good time. There wasn't too much music I was that interested in. I was simply looking to have a great time outside with people that have become good friends of mine. Then, I went to the State Theatre for a night of great music: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes. Put aside the shaky beginning, where a few of the members played an acoustic set that couldn't really be heard over the talking from the crowd and the fact that the speakers weren't working right, the remainder of the show was amazing. When the entire band came out and played there energetic and crowd-pleasing songs, it was amazing. I met up with my newest friend, Rory and her fellow Canadian friend, Andrea and we made our way closer to the stage to enjoy the show. It was yet another great time. Really any time I can go to a live show, I know I'm living the dream. That's what I enjoy spending my money on. Those are memories I'll always keep with me, through my life, into my dad's age. Those are the stories I want to be telling my own kids or kids I know (like my uber-cool nephew, I'm sure).
I couldn't ask for anything more from my life than how I'm living it right now. I'm sharing time with great people, some that I've only just recently met and others that I've known for quite awhile. I only hope I'm making the impact on them that they are on me.
.......................................................................
Film 160
"Hemingway's Garden of Eden"
starring: Jack Huston, Mena Suvari, Caterina Murino
This film is probably Hemingway's worst piece of fiction, no wonder he waited to publish it until he was dead. So, why go out and make a movie based on such a poor story? You got me!
It's the story of a writer, played by Jack Huston, his wife, played by a stoic Mena Suvari (whose acting skills have never impressed me aside from "American Beauty"), and their mistress, played by Caterina Murino (really the only one who breathes some life into a terrible story). She is the ignition in the short-lived fire and passion among the married couple, unfortunately they each have a desire more for the mistress than for each other, although, she does bring everyone closer together, rather briefly.
About the only thing good in this film is the set locations- mainly taking place in Spain and then a side-story that takes place in Africa. The scenery is beautiful and helps to define the Jazz Age that Hemingway lived and wrote through. For a film about romance and desire, the spark that gets ignited in the first act, quickly goes out as the story unfolds when it should be doing the opposite. The intensity and the passion should be driving the film and really heating up as the story unfolds. It never really happens and you end up really losing interest in any of the characters and you don't care what happens to them as a threesome or as individuals.
The structure of the story is also baffling, to me, because the director decides to split the film up with interludes of scenes playing out of the story (set in Africa, about elephant hunting with a father and son) that the author (Huston) is trying to work on while his life and marriage are falling apart, so to speak. Each of these scenes are completely unnecessary and really take away from the actually story that is taking place in real time. These interludes derail the momentum that slowly builds and I think that's why I lost interest in the story so quickly. Any chance I have of getting to the heart of the tempestuous relationship between the husband and wife, especially when their mistress enters the picture and plays a large role in their relationship with each other, goes away every time we are sent to Africa. It's clearly a distraction. Perhaps the writers and director had ADD or they knew the story wasn't intriguing enough on its own, so they had to add in a distraction piece. Too bad, because a Woody Allen film called "Vicki Cristina Barcelona" sort of plays out the same story/plot and achieves its goal. Watch that one instead!
...........................................................................
Film 161
"The Itty Bitty Titty Committee"
directed by: Jamie Babbitt
starring: no one interesting
The best thing about this film is its soundtrack, filled with tracks from the likes of: Le Tigre, Team Dresch, Sleater Kinney, and Bikini Kill, along with other radical, post-feminist punk bands that my sister got me to listen to during her tenure as the Bates College Radio Program Director- Go WRBC!). Unfortunately the story lacks any sort of bite from its feminist perspective's teeth. Sure, it plays like a girl-power satire, but the writer's didn't take enough notes in their Women's Lib classes to get a decent story here.
Girl meets girl. Sure, it's a young lovers who happen to be lesbians story.
Anna meets Sadie. Anna (Melonie Diaz) is a heartbroken, young lesbian who wants to become more active and educated in her feminist ways. Enter the sultry, blonde-haired lesbian, Sadie (Nicole Vicius). Sadie runs an underground girl-power group called the C(I)A, ready for this acronym-- Clits In Action! Really?!
I wish there was more to say about a film that has its climatic third act reveal that the Washington Monument is a phallic symbol, which has been keeping women down for centuries (really? come on girls, tell us something we didn't already know!). They infiltrate a morning news show in order to get their point across, but I would have liked to see more of the interactions between the young lesbians as they discovered more about themselves through each other and how they handle/deal with the disadvantages they think they have, thanks to a country build upon the back of a strong patriarchy. Sure, it's a male-dominated society, but make more of a difference, girls. Unfortunately, this film doesn't achieve its goal.
............................................................................
Film 162
"Sweet Karma"
starring: Shera Bechard (a former Playboy Playmate- ask me how I know)
This is perhaps the poor-man's straight-to-DVD film knock-off of "Kill Bill." It has the same kind of story, except for the details.
Shera Bechard plays a strangely and never explained mute out for vengeance against the Russian mob crime-syndicate that has inexplicably found its way to Canada to have their hands in the sex-trafficking trade. That's right, they take Russian girl immigrants are have them pose-practice as strippers-for-hire only to sell them for sexual favors. Ah, good ole sexploitation.
The heroine and central character of the film is Karma, played with reserve and "talent" (for someone who doesn't speak through the entire film, brings to mind Milla Jovovich's turn in "The Fifth Element"). She believes her sister Anna has been murdered by these Russian mobsters, so she sets out to seek revenge and kill each one of these dudes. And she's successful, in interesting, inventive ways sometimes.
Given the setting and storyline, there's lots of nudity or implied nudity. Karma runs around often in skimpy outfits (re: white tank-top and matching underwear, but hello, she's a Playboy Playmate). There's even a rape scene. Those always make me very uncomfortable when I am watching them. It seems like a violation. The director handles it rather graphically (much like the completely uncomfortable and disturbing scene in "The Hills Have Eyes"). I felt a sense of a violation of trust between the actress/director/and viewer. But, each time Karma finds herself in a bad situation or the Russian mobsters are doing wrong, the director sets it up that karma will get the best of everyone.
For what it is, it's an entertaining film, although it leaves you wishing you'd gotten more for your time. The deaths are handled well, but the fight scenes look like something out of an acting class lesson on fighting. Shera Bechard does a decent job with the role she was given, and I'm not just saying that because I have an affinity for those Playboy Playmates. She even ditched her familiar blonde locks and dyed her hair and became a brunette in order to be taken more seriously, I suppose. Does it work? Maybe if this wasn't such a clear knock-off exploitation film.
..........................................................................
Film 163
"Love Simple"
Here's a film about lying. It's a typical boy-meets-girl love story, except it starts unconventionally: they build their relationship on lying by omission. We meet each central character as their relationships are ending. And what do they learn from the end? It's better to hide the truth about themselves. So, when they meet each other in a Laudromat in their Brooklyn neighborhood, that's what they do and the rest of their story plays out by continuing the lies.
Adam, the boy in this love affair, has a sick father who he takes care of while living at home and not living up to his potential- no college degree, a pathetic job.
Seta, the girl in this love story, has some kind of weird disaster that causes her to break out in rashes and receive shots (from her best friend injecting her with something).
They don't tell each other these important details, mostly due to their experiences, but also thanks in large part to their respective best friends. Jesses (Adam's BFF) and Keith (Seta's BFF)-- see what first time writer-director Mark von Sternberg did there, he gave them opposite sex names. And this two kind of steal the show a bit with their own expected turn at falling in love. It's too bad their side-story love and attraction takes a backseat, because it's more interesting than the liars we're supposed to focus on.
That being said, "Love Simple" is a decent indie film, shot on location in Brooklyn and really uses the neighborhood scenery to its advantage to really help tell this story. The film proves that love is actually anything but simple. Another excellent film that tells a great story about love is called "Love, Actually." Maybe you could watch both of them.
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