Tiny Furniture (Film 86, 87)
"Tiny Furniture"
Written, Directed, Starring: Lena Dunham (and her real-life mother and sister)
I never had that "strange space" between graduating college and beginning work. In fact, I never had that "strange space" even after graduating high school and college (that finally summer before freedom from parental guidance and control).
I've always had a strong work ethic. I think I got it from my father. I started working the summer between sophomore and junior years of high school, I worked for my uncle. He was part owner of the Bates Mill and I worked in the office as a sort-of secretary. I did a lot of filing.
Then I started working the summer between junior and senior year at Wendy's. I was following in my sister's footsteps. She worked there before me. They loved her, as an employee, and when I mentioned her name, I was immediately hired. I had an absolute blast working at Wendy's, even though it was a fast food joint. They people I worked with made it a good experience. It probably helped that the day I showed up for orientation the girl I had a major crush on throughout high school (remember, Dominique), walked through the door when I was sitting at one of the dining room tables with the Manager. I think my face lit up with a big smile and for the next year it never left. We worked together that entire school year. I worked more than her because I was 18 years old and could work more hours. Dominique also had much more of a social life than I did. I remember her coming in to say "Hi!" the night of prom, which I'd chosen to work, because I didn't want to go to formal dances like prom. I didn't have anyone to go with. My options were limited, since I only had eyes for one girl, and she was already going with someone and I was not even on her radar. I mean, I probably could have asked someone and gone, but at the time I didn't have the confidence.
So I worked at Wendy's my senior year of high school. And right before Christmas, I was also hired to work at Bull Moose (the "Coolest" music store in town, I was the envy of quite a few people). So, I actually had 2 jobs my senior year.
College wasn't on my radar my entire senior year. I had quit Wendy's at some point, because Bull Moose was the epitome of cool jobs. I thought I had it made. College! Ha! I got to listen to music all day and I got a bunch of free shit (CDs, tickets). I lasted at Bull Moose for about 2 years. When I lost that job, I ended up going back to Wendy's because I was living in a studio apartment, so I had to pay my rent and just needed some kind of job. I knew Wendy's would take me back. I've always considered myself a model employee, anywhere I go.
You see, after I graduated high school, my father had informed me that I would need to find a place to live because he'd sold the house I'd grown up in (well, at least from the age of 6-18). And since I wasn't going off to college, where I could still be immature and irresponsible (come on, don't tell me college kids are still relying on mom and dad, for the most part). So, I found that studio apartment and knew I had to keep my priorities in check. I'd never been much of a partier, anyway. Around the same time I begin working at Wendy's for a second round, I had started going to Community College, because I'd figured I needed to have an education. It was like my eyes had been opened, thanks to working in the fast food industry. I'm smart and talented. I needed to find my niche. I soon discovered teaching as my calling.
Well, around the same time, I started working 3rd shift, while going to school, at a group home for adults with mental illnesses. Thanks, in large part to a Classified Ad I'd found in the newspaper one day. I ended up working at that job for the entire 6 years I attended school. I was going to school full time, working full time, paying bills and then, whenever I could I would substitute at local schools in order to get more experience in the classroom, because after my first experience in a classroom, I knew I wanted to be a teacher. There was my niche. I worked 3rd shift knowing the end result meant a degree and certification to be a teacher. And even in my final internship, I'd proven myself to the principal enough that I got hired as an ED. TECH. and worked one-on-one with a "troubled" student in kindergarten. I absolutely loved that experience! It taught me so much about myself as a teacher.
I was lucky enough after graduating to find a teaching job (which has apparently been very hard to come by, at least here in Maine over the past few years), thanks to the connections I'd made and the experiences I'd had. So, I taught for two years, was the soccer coach as well. Then, due to budget cuts, I lost my job and had to find another one. I've been lucky enough to find a teaching job each time I've "lost" a job. Some might say, I can sell myself very well. I'm good at what I do and my experiences build my resume and speak for themselves. I've never been much of a worrier, as far as finding a job.
So, work ethic is something that separates me from Lena Dunham's characters (here, as Aura, and on her HBO show "Girls"). I do not connect with her sense of being "lost" and discontented. Her writing reminds me of Generation X (re: "Reality Bites"). I could never empathize with these characters, but I can certainly recognize the talented actors playing the parts.
Here's the thing, Lena Dunham is not afraid or ashamed to put herself/character in awkward and uncomfortable situations. Watching her material, I cannot help but think she found some inspiration in "Seinfeld" and Larry David.
"Tiny Furniture" is about Aura's life after college, that limbo period, but at the same time it's really about nothing, because nothing really happens, but you are still intrigued to see what will happen and what shit she will do to herself. There's really no plot to the movie and yet moves like the current. The film moves, although it is motionless. It goes somewhere, but nowhere at the same time. Perhaps because Lena Dunham is such a great writer that her writing is about what is not so much written but inferred. There are deeper themes at work here, especially the relationship she has with her mother. "Tiny Furniture" is about passive-aggressive people and how they live and interact with each other. Mother and the two daughters are the case study. You can tell Aura is miserable, but she doesn't want to do anything to change that about herself. Four years of college has apparently taught her nothing, except how to be discontented and passive-aggressive towards her life, but how much of that is just actually her personality. We can connect with her because deep down she wants love and acceptance...don't we all. She's quite selfishness, but doesn't seem to know that about herself. Aura doesn't have charisma or seductiveness. She's just real, as real as anyone we know in our own lives. And she truly believes she deserves everything she wants and doesn't understand why she's not getting anything. She deserves to be happy, as a college graduate. She deserves to have a job. So, why can't she just see that she needs to get off her ass and make it happen for herself.
I did!
Still, with that being said, I absolutely love "Tiny Furniture" and Lena Dunham. Two actors from "Girls" appear in the film, as well, but of course, "Girls" was picked up by HBO in large part because of the potential that Lena Dunham showed with this feature film in 2010.
Watch this and then try to not get hooked on "Girls," because this film just seems like a prequel/extended episode of "Girls."
........................................................................
Predator (1987)
Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura
"Predator" is everything you expect and want a 1980s action film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger to be.
The beginning of the film definitely and un-subtly "borrows" from other action films of the same era: "Alien" and more specifically to the sub-genre of military-action films, "Rambo." Arnold is the leader of a U.S. Army commando that is sent into the jungles of South America for what turns out to be a political mission (which really pisses Arnold off, but he's there so he might as well kick some ass- little did he know the ass he'd be kicking would be an alien's, whose reason for being on Earth, let alone the South American jungle, is never explained, but really doesn't have to be, since you are watching this film to clearly be entertained, and that's all).
"Predator" is filmed so well and rides on its high energy and adrenaline rush, which moves the plot along so well that you don't have time to spend thinking about all the implausibilities: like why the hell is an alien jumping through the trees of a South American jungle and targeting these expendable humans?
The effects of the predator/alien are quite unbelievable (for the time period, 1987). He appears mostly as camouflage until the climaxing scenes in which Arnold goes mano-a-mano with the creature (then, he appears and even takes off his bizarre mask to reveal quite a disgusting face). Clearly the special effects coordinator wanted us to see all the effort he put into creating such a vile creature. And it works. Predator is still one of the nastiest villains in films (so much so that they created and rode a franchise of films with it).
Watch "Predator" for its sheer entertainment value and you won't be disappointed. That's really all I can and will say about this action film.
Written, Directed, Starring: Lena Dunham (and her real-life mother and sister)
I never had that "strange space" between graduating college and beginning work. In fact, I never had that "strange space" even after graduating high school and college (that finally summer before freedom from parental guidance and control).
I've always had a strong work ethic. I think I got it from my father. I started working the summer between sophomore and junior years of high school, I worked for my uncle. He was part owner of the Bates Mill and I worked in the office as a sort-of secretary. I did a lot of filing.
Then I started working the summer between junior and senior year at Wendy's. I was following in my sister's footsteps. She worked there before me. They loved her, as an employee, and when I mentioned her name, I was immediately hired. I had an absolute blast working at Wendy's, even though it was a fast food joint. They people I worked with made it a good experience. It probably helped that the day I showed up for orientation the girl I had a major crush on throughout high school (remember, Dominique), walked through the door when I was sitting at one of the dining room tables with the Manager. I think my face lit up with a big smile and for the next year it never left. We worked together that entire school year. I worked more than her because I was 18 years old and could work more hours. Dominique also had much more of a social life than I did. I remember her coming in to say "Hi!" the night of prom, which I'd chosen to work, because I didn't want to go to formal dances like prom. I didn't have anyone to go with. My options were limited, since I only had eyes for one girl, and she was already going with someone and I was not even on her radar. I mean, I probably could have asked someone and gone, but at the time I didn't have the confidence.
So I worked at Wendy's my senior year of high school. And right before Christmas, I was also hired to work at Bull Moose (the "Coolest" music store in town, I was the envy of quite a few people). So, I actually had 2 jobs my senior year.
College wasn't on my radar my entire senior year. I had quit Wendy's at some point, because Bull Moose was the epitome of cool jobs. I thought I had it made. College! Ha! I got to listen to music all day and I got a bunch of free shit (CDs, tickets). I lasted at Bull Moose for about 2 years. When I lost that job, I ended up going back to Wendy's because I was living in a studio apartment, so I had to pay my rent and just needed some kind of job. I knew Wendy's would take me back. I've always considered myself a model employee, anywhere I go.
You see, after I graduated high school, my father had informed me that I would need to find a place to live because he'd sold the house I'd grown up in (well, at least from the age of 6-18). And since I wasn't going off to college, where I could still be immature and irresponsible (come on, don't tell me college kids are still relying on mom and dad, for the most part). So, I found that studio apartment and knew I had to keep my priorities in check. I'd never been much of a partier, anyway. Around the same time I begin working at Wendy's for a second round, I had started going to Community College, because I'd figured I needed to have an education. It was like my eyes had been opened, thanks to working in the fast food industry. I'm smart and talented. I needed to find my niche. I soon discovered teaching as my calling.
Well, around the same time, I started working 3rd shift, while going to school, at a group home for adults with mental illnesses. Thanks, in large part to a Classified Ad I'd found in the newspaper one day. I ended up working at that job for the entire 6 years I attended school. I was going to school full time, working full time, paying bills and then, whenever I could I would substitute at local schools in order to get more experience in the classroom, because after my first experience in a classroom, I knew I wanted to be a teacher. There was my niche. I worked 3rd shift knowing the end result meant a degree and certification to be a teacher. And even in my final internship, I'd proven myself to the principal enough that I got hired as an ED. TECH. and worked one-on-one with a "troubled" student in kindergarten. I absolutely loved that experience! It taught me so much about myself as a teacher.
I was lucky enough after graduating to find a teaching job (which has apparently been very hard to come by, at least here in Maine over the past few years), thanks to the connections I'd made and the experiences I'd had. So, I taught for two years, was the soccer coach as well. Then, due to budget cuts, I lost my job and had to find another one. I've been lucky enough to find a teaching job each time I've "lost" a job. Some might say, I can sell myself very well. I'm good at what I do and my experiences build my resume and speak for themselves. I've never been much of a worrier, as far as finding a job.
So, work ethic is something that separates me from Lena Dunham's characters (here, as Aura, and on her HBO show "Girls"). I do not connect with her sense of being "lost" and discontented. Her writing reminds me of Generation X (re: "Reality Bites"). I could never empathize with these characters, but I can certainly recognize the talented actors playing the parts.
Here's the thing, Lena Dunham is not afraid or ashamed to put herself/character in awkward and uncomfortable situations. Watching her material, I cannot help but think she found some inspiration in "Seinfeld" and Larry David.
"Tiny Furniture" is about Aura's life after college, that limbo period, but at the same time it's really about nothing, because nothing really happens, but you are still intrigued to see what will happen and what shit she will do to herself. There's really no plot to the movie and yet moves like the current. The film moves, although it is motionless. It goes somewhere, but nowhere at the same time. Perhaps because Lena Dunham is such a great writer that her writing is about what is not so much written but inferred. There are deeper themes at work here, especially the relationship she has with her mother. "Tiny Furniture" is about passive-aggressive people and how they live and interact with each other. Mother and the two daughters are the case study. You can tell Aura is miserable, but she doesn't want to do anything to change that about herself. Four years of college has apparently taught her nothing, except how to be discontented and passive-aggressive towards her life, but how much of that is just actually her personality. We can connect with her because deep down she wants love and acceptance...don't we all. She's quite selfishness, but doesn't seem to know that about herself. Aura doesn't have charisma or seductiveness. She's just real, as real as anyone we know in our own lives. And she truly believes she deserves everything she wants and doesn't understand why she's not getting anything. She deserves to be happy, as a college graduate. She deserves to have a job. So, why can't she just see that she needs to get off her ass and make it happen for herself.
I did!
Still, with that being said, I absolutely love "Tiny Furniture" and Lena Dunham. Two actors from "Girls" appear in the film, as well, but of course, "Girls" was picked up by HBO in large part because of the potential that Lena Dunham showed with this feature film in 2010.
Watch this and then try to not get hooked on "Girls," because this film just seems like a prequel/extended episode of "Girls."
........................................................................
Predator (1987)
Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura
"Predator" is everything you expect and want a 1980s action film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger to be.
The beginning of the film definitely and un-subtly "borrows" from other action films of the same era: "Alien" and more specifically to the sub-genre of military-action films, "Rambo." Arnold is the leader of a U.S. Army commando that is sent into the jungles of South America for what turns out to be a political mission (which really pisses Arnold off, but he's there so he might as well kick some ass- little did he know the ass he'd be kicking would be an alien's, whose reason for being on Earth, let alone the South American jungle, is never explained, but really doesn't have to be, since you are watching this film to clearly be entertained, and that's all).
"Predator" is filmed so well and rides on its high energy and adrenaline rush, which moves the plot along so well that you don't have time to spend thinking about all the implausibilities: like why the hell is an alien jumping through the trees of a South American jungle and targeting these expendable humans?
The effects of the predator/alien are quite unbelievable (for the time period, 1987). He appears mostly as camouflage until the climaxing scenes in which Arnold goes mano-a-mano with the creature (then, he appears and even takes off his bizarre mask to reveal quite a disgusting face). Clearly the special effects coordinator wanted us to see all the effort he put into creating such a vile creature. And it works. Predator is still one of the nastiest villains in films (so much so that they created and rode a franchise of films with it).
Watch "Predator" for its sheer entertainment value and you won't be disappointed. That's really all I can and will say about this action film.
Comments
Post a Comment