esrosedotblog

THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING

Today's movie was David Cronenberg's

Eastern Promises (2007)

with Vigo Mortensen, Naomi Watts and Vincent Cassel. Great actors all.

This is a seriously violent film with a beautiful beating heart at the center.

Mortensen got a nomination for this one and is the moral center although he is, apparently, a Russian thug in the Russian equivalent of the Mafia. He is the "protégé of Cassell who is the son of the London branch of the family. Also a homosexual who has a crush on Vigo.

Watts comes into it as a nurse who saves a baby when the mother dies in childbirth. She also finds a diary on the mom's body.

From there we take off into a series of interwoven connections and, to be frank, some coincidences you don't want to scrutinize too closely. It doesn't matter.

This film has one of the most upsetting fight scenes I have ever seen and there are a lot in my history. Enough said.

I have seen this before, it is a 5, and I forgot the intensity of a lot of scenes and the way that they play out.

The editing is superb. The acting is clear and direct. The London shown here is the dirty side posing as the respectable side. A teen prostitute ring is involved.

Mortensen has never been better and his partnership with Cassel brings two favorite stars together.

It is still a 5. I will see it again.

Labels: films

HORDES

A big day in California. Particularly the place considered, after Palm Springs, as gay central.

Hundreds got married. They do not have the count.

California Couples Line Up to Marry After Stay on Same-Sex Marriage Is Lifted

Too late for those Prop 8 bastards who filed a challenge to lifting the stay with the SCOTUS the day before.

But we are forgetting them and their last ditch skirmish attempts. They have lost. A great drubbing. The knuckle draggers, the christianists, the mormons and the catholics. The bullies that have always harried and pushed us and, ironically, brought us up, some of us, to hate ourselves.

But I will not re-enter that battle.

I am tired of it.

We are filled with joy today. It is still going on. Hear the bells ring?

Glory, glory, hallelujah, to coin a phrase.

We do not hate ourselves any more. Years of politics, pride parades, coming out out out have taken their toll on the forces of hate. The arc of freedom.

We only had to come to believe in ourselves for others to believe in us.

Marriage equality, including the right to not get married, is at the heart of gay rights. Our brothers and sisters, some of them, thought otherwise, but having finally joined us, all together, we can stand truly proud, and when the celebrating is over, humble in the best way. Not humiliated. Humbled with our gratitude for our fellows and our times.

I repeat. I never expected to be this or see this. Married. Right. Righteous. Right on, baby!

Labels: marriage equality

RECORD

I am not bragging but we did match the temperature record for yesterday.

120 degrees Farenheit. We don't do the C word, but if we did, I would say that it hit 48.889.

The highest record temp for the month is 121, so not too far off.

Six percent humidity. The infamous dry heat.

How did it feel? HOT.

In the "winter" a ten degree delta is noticed but not much. In this kind of weather, ten degrees can make the difference between life and death for the frail or exposed.

We are neither but our hibiscus out front don't much like it so I give them an extra water over the top, the leaves and buds. But the buds are not going to make it.

Booker doesn't mind too much if we are out for a quick pee or getting the mail across the street. Don't walk on the asphalt. Not to worry. He knows to back off or to run fast. Very fast. I can't pick him up.

Nevertheless, we waited for sundown last night to go for the after dinner poop and amble.

I watched a movie (I am looking at some of the "best" gay movies, the ones we have bought, as an after dinner exercise). I was surprised to find that, even when the film was over, the sun was still up.

But that is going to change, or is changing. Moving behind the mountain. 8:00PM.

For people further out in the Valley, the sun doesn't set until much later. 9PM is pretty late.

When we lived up against the mountain, the sun was down around 615, depending on where it was against the mountain "skyline".

Labels: weather

KINDLY

That's not this /ˈkīn(d)lē/, but /ˈkindly/.

Yup.

The Kindle arrived on Thursday.

Exciting.

Great packaging.

I put it together.

Plug it in and hit "on". Bang.

A really well designed tutorial got me past the "english" choice and into a short demo about the home page and a few other things.

Like most devices now, there is no manual. Nothing on paper.

I am used to that now and started to work through the on-line material.

The Kindle Store is very nicely set up on Amazon.

They also, wisely, sent me some demos and suggestions even before I got the machine. I had some dry runs. But there is only so much you can do without the actual thing in hand.

Of course, I went to see which ones were free. A lot. But not many I really wanted. More about this later.

The mechanics, turning pages, using fingers instead of keyboards is rather intuitive and, while not a veteran with other handhelds, I figured most of it out and was able to navigate nicely.

I figured out most of it and with a bit of hiccuping I was able to download my first book.

I decided on "first things first". Others in recovery will understand. Went to download the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous basic text. And it was not available on line.

AA restricts the availability of the Book very carefully and I had read that except for bootlegged versions, nothing was available electronically. But, they have allowed the much loved Second Edition. I decided that was good enough and got it for nothing.

The first 164 pages have never changed from the very very beginning even though we are now in the Fourth Edition so, the basics are there, when and where I want them.

What next?

I had just read a review of Worldly Philosopher: The Odyssey of Albert O. Hirschman by Jeremy Adelman. This is a book I would have bought hard copy. A great man with a fascinating story. So I went on line to Amazon and bought the kindle version.

Voila! Amazon already knew me from the past, had registered my Kindle automatically, and gladly took my money and downloaded the book.

This was a more expensive book, I spent 22 bucks, only 8 or 9 off but this is a highbrow blockbuster. Done.

I used it to learn how to turn pages, use the highlight dictionary and other stuff. Not bad.

Then I looked into the lending library which has a deal for one book at a time for 70 a year. Steep. But we will see. I decided to order The Hunger Games and it downloaded immediately, no waiting as someone had said will occur.

After that I downloaded a book I had wanted for quite awhile but it had only been available on line. Matthew Mitchum's Twists and Turns. Mitcham is the gay champion diver who caused a sensation at the Beijing Olympic games. I had been pissed that I couldn't get it in a real book, had heard it "might" be coming out that way and was lying in wait for that event. Evidently the new thing is to try out some new books as e-books only and if they do well, make some hard copies.

So, I took some glee in downloading this one too. And, noted that they had just come out with the paperback. This one was 11.99, not 9.99, the price we hear about most frequently.

I think perhaps what we have heard is less true when it comes to the specifics.

My guess is that they are doing something like "airline" charging. Demand pricing. Higher demand, higher pricing. The "desire" thing.

Then. I am not sure why. I checked into some classics, publicized as "often at no cost". I decided on Anna Karenina as I had just read an appreciation of this book and had seen the unsatisfying new film adaptation. My rule has been not to read films of books I have read or read books of movies I have seen. But in this case, having never read the "great classic" and felt that seeing the film was pretty thin tea, I decided to buy that one.

It is also the only "classic" that came to mind.

I am not an appreciator of "classic". In college, I took 20th Century American as my primary focus, really drilling down through the canon from term to term and ending in what were essentially graduate seminars.

I suppose you can say that I am ignorant of classics although, as a teenager, I had read almost all the available "Modern Library" published by Random House. Or all that I could buy in Wykoffs, the smallish county seat department store in Stroudsburg, PA.

Some of the Russians, even, but Dostoevsky not Tolstoy. I liked the dark stuff and stayed with it.

So Anna, it is/was. They have four or five of them. Translations.

I had to look that one up. I ended up with what they described as Anna Karenina (best Translation, explanatory Notes, perfect Navigation, Illustrated) (Best Russian Classics). Translated by the Maudes who knew the man. I had read that the Penguin version was also very good but that is not available on line.

Finally, and bring it all up to date, I just read the review of my man Collum McCann's new novel TransAtlantic: A Novel. Redundantly titled although McCann has one or two non-fiction books.

12.99 for this one. About ten bucks less.

But I did not get the Kindle for the bargains.

So.

I am making this a very long post.

What next?

How about reading something?

Isn't this why I got the thing?

Good question. Yes. It is.

But let me point out that this is not atypical buying behavior in the realm of books or anything else.

I get what I want when I want it and, in the case of books, make no distinction between soft and hard cover. If the soft is available, OK. I will even buy "used" sometimes.

The books I want come in spurts of inspiration or awareness or publishing date.

I read at a different pace. Usually two or three at a time. Often a non-fiction, a fiction and something else.

But here, I am in transition. I still have a few hard cover books to work through. I figure that I will mix these in but begin by taking the plunge with the Kindle.

I am in the middle of Lopate's Portrait Inside my Head, a book of essays. On Friday, I finished the Alan Furst first novel (!!) I was reading for the fourth time with great enjoyment/

I was ready to jump in. Am ready. And have started into the Kindle. The Adelman biography and the Mitcham autobiography. I need to decide on one fiction. Not ready yet.

The Kindle will go to the gym with me Monday.

One other thing.

I tried to want the NYTimes on the machine but it will not work for me. The Kindle version is only partial and I can't get the reading experience I want on the small screen. I am wed to the almost hard copy version of the thing.

What about the reading experience? So far it is quite amazingly smooth transition. Easy to read, to handle, to "work" with.

I am glad that I have done this and am looking forward to the experience. I am about to commit fully I think.

Diving in. Show me how Matt!

Labels: books

CONSUMMATION

More. I know. The excitement will settle down soon. But you cannot imagine what is going on here.

I have heard many couples making the move today. Making plans. Everything from the big gay marriage to a session with the local official.

Here is the male couple half of the Prop 8 complainants.

The real ceremony starts at about 2:45.

Labels: marriage equality

FUN

Today's film was David O. Russell's

Flirting With Disaster (1996)

I got it because I loved Russell's recent Silver Linings Playbook.

I was not disappointed. I had a lot of fun. I was constantly surprised by the success of it as we went along what was basically a road-movie with its set of characters along the way. It was an unconventional treatment of an almost cliché genre.

Russell is a genius with comedy.

I missed this when it came around because, well, maybe I was not paying attention. Or perhaps I had done enough screwball comedy with "big stars" doing crazy things. A disaster in the making itself.

Somehow, Russell has taken a great cast of people and tamed them to his purpose which is clearly to keep a serious center to a hilarious set of premises.

After all, it is not everyday that someone sets out to find their birth mother with explosively funny results.

Stars are, after all, stars for a reason. They are good at what they do. But they need strong confident direction to help them play seriously for small bits of jokes or business which will link together. They have to trust. Otherwise they will emote. They will go over the top. They will try to take charge. They will compete. Egos will be at stake.

Here the ensemble work is meticulous. There is a certain innocence in their participation. That means that they are trusting each other also.

And so on.

I don't want to analyze it to death but it is why Russell was so good at his most recent film. He had A list players. It was, in fact, a far more serious core story. The all brought it off.

I had a lot of fun. I didn't feel raped by the humor as so much of "comedy" depends on today.

I would gladly see it again.

I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5. Maybe even a David O. Russell fest later on? I am getting Spanking the Monkey next week.

Labels: films

NO WAITING

This happened today. Yesterday already. Shockingly fast. They were talking about 4 weeks.

Court Lifts Ban on Gay Marriage in California

This is another example of the stunning reaction from all "the non-gays" here.

It has been overwhelming to have straight friends come up, out of the blue, and congratulate us, to say how happy they are for us.

This kind or speed is unprecedented. Try to get anything else done in local or county government.

It has been a great week.

On a balcony overlooking the grand staircase at San Francisco City Hall, an ornate space that has long been a magnet for weddings, the couple whose case sparked this week's Supreme Court decision exchanged vows. The ceremony was officiated by state Attorney General Kamala Harris, and the ring bearer was the couple's 18-year-old son. "This is the first day of the rest of our lives together, said Kristin Perry, who with her fiancée, Sandy Stier, filed the lawsuit against Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that outlawed same-sex marriage in California in 2008. Stier turned to the horde of reporters and well-wishers crowding the room, smiled and said: "Thank you so much for coming to our wedding."

To be first class citizens, no better no worse.

To, most of all, be welcomed by loving people who have no stake in this thing other than our happiness.

Labels: California, marriage equality

ROLLER COASTER

Today's film was André Techiné's NYTimes Critics Pick

Les témoins / The Witnesses (2008)

I don't know how I missed this one. I thought I had seen all his films and this is one of the most powerful.

I am still very emotional. Ups and downs.

Intense.

It covers a period of time with six people, well, five, before during and after the AIDS plague.

It is filled with fun and happiness and despair and sadness but it is not melodrama or, even though one person is an opera singer, grand opera. But it has its operatic references and it is grand.

I feel a bit wiped.

Organized in three chapters, these people live vividly and with passion. There are gays, straights and none of the above. Or all.

It is not about sex so much as love.

A brother and sister, a husband and wife. A baby. A committed physician who becomes the French leader in the AIDS fight.

The music is great. The production carefully beautiful. The world is a little cruel but very forgiving.

This is a definite 5 and I will be seeing it again.

Labels: films

REAL PEOPLE

Labels: marriage equality

THE GRAND TRADITION

Today's film was the film version of the Broadway success

Barrymore (2011)

starring Christopher Plummer as the nearly great and legendary actor.

The film is burdened by the addition of stuff which could not, fortunately, be done in a theater and, in fact should probably not be done at all. Effects, scenery. Fluff. An over eager "prompter" who provides a second banana feel in the way he is directed. The prompter's presence and hectoring is part of the drama but it is overdone.

That said, Plummers more than impersonation (I have seen the real John Barrymore, I am that old) is not only spot on but has the element of showing the insides of the man.

At first the show is a shock in that he comes on drunk and the whole thing is a botched practice for a later performance. The idea is that Barrymore wants a second chance. It is clear from this "rehearsal" that he is going to blow it. Tragic.

But it is also, he is, funny. A lot of old jokes refashioned as his own invention and some fresh wit. He does see himself pretty clearly. Knows he is going under and is willing to let it happen but not just yet.

Plummer is really great. He acts this thing in the grand tradition which we do not see any more. Anywhere. Even in the British theater as far as I know.

It is that full throated voice and dialect that throws the sound to the second balcony. It is the roll of consonants that makes them sound and bound from wall to wall.

This may be the last that we will see of it. Plummer, of course, doesn't do this himself anymore but he demonstrates that he could and he does.

These are the electric moments that are worth waiting for, through the little cinematic touches that do not belong.

This would be a 2 out of Netflix5 except for the kick of seeing Plummer remind us of what used to be.

Labels: films

LONGING

Longing.

This appreciation of the Kennedy opinion in yesterdays strike down of DOMA is by Linda Hirshman, the author of Victory: The Triumphant Gay Revolution, a New York Times Notable Book of 2012.

The Gay Marriage Victory over DOMA is Bigger Than You Think

In it she addresses the three key words with which Justice Kennedy opens his verdict.

“When at first,” he began, “Windsor and Spyer longed to marry, neither New York nor any other State granted them that right.”

Longing.

Kennedy goes on to savage the implications within DOMA which belittles and demeans some of our citizens. Takes away dignity. Condemns the children of gay parents to a second tier life.

Hirshman points out how, in another decision, Kennedy wrote

“it is not in our constitutional tradition to enact laws of this sort.”

To me, this is to the heart of the issue of gay equality. Of course I am biased.

Those who say that domestic partnership is the same as marriage miss the point entirely. It is not the same. It is, as Justice Ginsberg said, "skim milk marriage".

There are hetero-couples who seek domestic partnership or have it thrust on them as they have common law time living together. They do not view that it is the same. Ask.

The other thing. The children. This is the unmentioned issue.

My children have a gay father. And a gay step-father. I know first hand this is important to them. And they are grown adults. They do not feel shame. But they do feel the difference. It is disapprobation of society. Every time they "come out" as having a gay parent they face a form of the same discrimination that I have and do face. Well, the same prejudice. I don't allow discrimination. But it takes work.

Kennedy's words in the earlier case led to big things for others to follow and this widest possible interpretation and opinion to which a majority of justices have subscribed paves the way for the very end of gay discrimination in every state of the union.

Oh. Someone mentioned to me that Scalia's comments were related to the process and legal grounding the majority used. Not that he was against gay marriage.

Well that is precisely the point. The hiding of prejudice under legal technicalities. I do not say that the minority is evil. Perhaps a bit behind the times and more than willing to mask their own prejudice in words like "originalism" which have no meaning other than convenient curtains to hang when the "conservative" beliefs are threatened.

I do admit that I think Scalia is a nasty man, arrogant and not as sly as he likes to think himself to be.

He is on record, even off the record, outside the court, as a rather virulent gay basher. He loves to use the words "homosexual sodomy" as frequently as he can. Amusing perhaps to the right audience. You can always find that kind. A smirker, Scalia thinks himself clever where, for the most part, he is sad. In a class with Mike Huckabee and the like. Only in those black robes he seems to be serious.

Enough of that. Ad hominem. It is not fair, huh?

Let's see happiness, not the sad.

Our hero, Edie Windsor (right) and her late wife Thea Clara Spyer.

Labels: marriage equality

HOT SHIT

I know that no one cares about this but I continue, nonetheless.

There is a lot of talk about the weather here. But that happens everywhere.

What I do not think happens everywhere is that people here have climate theories which they expound using cherry picked data from their own minds.

For example. We are being told by friends that it has been hotter than usual when, if you check the data here you will see that nothing could be further from the case. We have actually been cooler.

Not by much but still.

Now, we are heading, as we do every single year (go back to the chart), into a hot weekend where they are forecasting temps as high as 112 which are over the average but for the first time this month. In fact, our lows have often been close to record lows in June 2013.

This latter phenomenon has made it great to open the house in the morning. Today, for the first time, I awoke to temps over the AC temps in the house and gave a second thought to it wondering if I should open but we needed the fresh air.

I might add that no one we know here in this complex opens their houses at all after the middle of May. It is AC 24/7. We open everything for as long as we can. It isn't to save energy although that is a nice thing but to have freshness. A view. Hear the birds. Smell something other than our own odors.

Well, back to the talk about weather.

A lot of it is pure self pity on the part of people who chose to live here in the first place. Keerist. It is the desert.

The rest of it is the need to catastrophize about things.

I don't imagine it has anything to do with their ideas of global warming although maybe it does. They are brainwashed.

They forget that it is climate change we are talking about and that means that some places, maybe us, are going to be cooler or wetter or whatever.

Mostly it means that there will be much more widely felt gyrations in weather conditions. Tornadoes, hurricanes and the like being more potent.

OK.

A dead horse. I will quit beating it.

Labels: weather

STILL HIGH

I loved this photo from the Times this morning.

Labels: marriage equality

UNRAVEL

Today's film was Shane Carruth's

Primer (2004)

in which a couple of intense engineering types stumble on a method to change time forces and, well, do it.

It is only when they prove able to make the thing happened that ideas begin to occur to them about how they can use the phenom.

Playing with the market, averting a tragedy at a party, getting some petty revenge on a guy they don't like.

The mechanics of the setup are pretty convincing in a quantum mechanics kind of way.

They work together pretty well until they don't.

Eventually there are feedback loops set up by the complicated thinking required and the guys get confused or don't about which version of time they are in.

This is not about moving back to the 19th century. More about altering a day or two here and there.

I got this because I really enjoyed Carruth's most recent film, also a sci-fi piece Upstream Color (2013)

The thing here, in addition to the fact that both movies are smart and demanding and beautifully achieved, is that Carruth has done them on the cheap.

This first film cost 7K with 16mm film. It does not show. It does prove how good the technology has gotten with optics as well as the electronic.

He won a Cannes prize with the first one.

Carruth is self taught and, with these two little masterpieces, he bears some watching. According to IMDb he does not have a second film in the works. Perhaps because he is a one man band. Writing, directing, acting, composing and editing all on his own. He does use a very skilled cameraman.

I may end up seeing this again some time. Could be a 4 or 5 based on the future. Perhaps I could use this machine to see if I will view it again. But that won't work. This machine only takes you back in a kind of short term time warp. This is because you have to wait it out and while it takes only a few minutes to have hours happen separately it is pretty boring to wait it out.

There is no embed feature on the trailer but you can find it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CC60HJvZRE.

Labels: films

WINS

This is better than I expected

Two Major Rulings Bolster Gay Marriage

But my expectations were limited. Or, I was ready for anything.

The question of marriage equality is not put to bed. There is more work to be done.

Here in California, it will be interesting to see what the State does. So far they have not sought to enforce Prop. 8. They have not allowed marriage because they are prevented from doing so by the Appeals Court who found 8 unconstitutional.

I think we will hear soon.

I find that I am very emotional over this.

It is hard to talk or think about without some tears for those who are not here to appreciate it. It is hard to process.

When you have been down for a long time, up is an unfamiliar place.

We became active in the fight for marriage equality in our early years. The 70s.

We supported the efforts of the Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, now fully known as Glad. No caps.

Over the years, we have been married many times. First and second and third with rings and all the support but none of the legality. Then we became Certified Domestic Partners.

Finally, in 2008, we were legally married in the State of California.

There have been many rings. The present one has three "rings" in one circle.

We have behaved as though we were married from maybe our first five years when we decided to commit to monogamy.

We never looked back.

The true value of marriage, for real, is in the benefits, the participation and the demand for equality itself.

It is not an accident that the term "gay marriage" has become "gay equality".

But there is no explaining the FEELING of becoming really married. The emotional shock of that "I do" moment is awesome. You may have noticed I do not use that way overused a-word very often.

It helped that we took our vows in our own backyard with a hundred friends and family watching. I will always remember the loud bark that our Airedale, first dog, Franklin gave out during the standing ovation.

You know, we have never backed down.

We were out in Boston as much as we could be. In public we held hands, we were affectionate, we were proud to be a gay couple. We never had any trouble with it (well, a carload of yahoos in Las Vegas). I think that is because it was real, it was heartfelt and it could not be denied.

The fastest route to killing prejudice is to be out and proud.

That is the center of gay pride. Not the parade, not the parties. But in the relationships. From the most casual couplings to the ones, like ours, that have been years in the making.

I was queer twice. In college, then after I got married and came out again. The second time was a lot better. I lost shame. I faced the wind. I wanted a relationship and I found it. He found me. Which? Both. One that has lasted through time and has been a power of example to others over the years.

Did you know that this decision is on the eve of "Stonewall"?

You don't suppose they timed it for that do you?

Labels: marriage equality

COUNTDOWN

It is the last case to be announced on the last day of announcements.

We will know the decisions at 7AM our time.

I will be in a Meeting.

I am nervous.

Of course, the die is already cast.

It is just that we do not know what they have known for some time.

There are any number of was SCOTUS could rule, including not ruling.

Whatever the outcome, the fight for equality will resume or continue. Without reservation.

Some way that we have already won and I believe that. But I want it all.

Lines Began Overnight for Same-Sex Marriage Rulings

Look at those young people in the photo.

Twenty somethings. An irresistible tide.

Can you read the inscription on the marquis?

I hope that all of them read that daily.

Labels: marriage equality

THE N-WORD AND THE F WORD

Watch this. Pretty good.

I have at times wanted to say this to a straight person who wants to call me a faggot. Or want to call one or more other faggots a faggot while they are talking to me. A faggot. Me.

It is not OK.

As it turns out, I don't use the F word very much. I don't find it too amusing.

Queer is similar. And maybe more important than faggot.

We get to say queer about each other. Period. You don't. Unless you are queer too.

And queer is more potent than faggot because it has political implications which straight people just do not understand.

No. You do not. No. No.

You are not queer.

Unless you are and, if so, then you get this and why have you read this so far.

Or, there are some queer people who use the N-word and they are white.

Then we have a double helix.

Another thing. We don't like straight people who try to camp it up either. That territory is ours baby. Always has been, always will be. Done. Over and out.

Labels: gay identity

HEAD CASE

No movie today.

A haircut and then off to the dentist for a cleaning.

Petsmart in between.

I had it all planned out. Then the dentist called and bumped me 20 minutes later than my appointment.

Dead time. Awful prospect.

But then, there was major construction on Ramon, the main way there.

And someone called who needed me right then.

When that was all over, I parked at the dentist and watched them demolish an apartment building across the street that had been condemned after a fire.

The fire company had come after the "accidental" fire was out and set it all ablaze again for practice.

I didn't see that part.

By the time all that was done, it was time to go in and have my teeth cleaned.

Much improvement in my "oral hygiene" which I directly attribute to the WaterPic aqua flosser I bought a year and a half ago.

All was fine with the hair too. We didn't do much to it, let it grow longer (it is pretty long already) and he shaped and tweaked it on the sides where, for some reason, the hair grows faster.

Mostly, I suppose, because it doesn't grow much on the top, by comparison.

That's the way it is with pattern baldness.

I have been trying to think of the name of that hairstyle we all laugh at, kind of redneck, where the hair on the sides is shorter than the back and it all sort of flops around. Not a wiffle.

Yes. I've got it. The mullet.

That is so not what I have. I don't want you to get the wrong idea.

Labels: dentist, hair

STATS ON PURELL

The big one to me is the germ one.

I am fucking surrounded by people who want to kill all the germs on their hands and everything else.

Get a grip.

Labels: fear, health, safety

MIASMA

Today's film is the vexing and wonderful film by Shane Carruth

Upstream Colors (2013)

Carruth wrote, directed, edited, composed and stars in the film which is a combination horror/sci fi/alien melange and, if it is meant to move and scare and puzzle, it is quite effective.

Such a one man show is often clunky and begs the question of craft but this film is beautifully rendered with special effects which, seem to me, to be mostly natural and biological rather than fake.

There are time dislocations and, at first, these seem much wilder than they actually are.

It is not clear what is going on but then that is the problem of the two subjects here. Both with the experience of having their lives (and fortunes) sucked out of them without a clue of what is going on until they meet and begin to share more intimately.

There is a third man who they do not know or see until the very end. He seems to be the author of much of the weirdness, taking worms from plants, transplanting them to pigs, inserting them in human bodies. I am not telling you anything here that is a spoiler.

The principals, Mr. Carruth and Amy Seimetz are beautiful together. Much of the drama comes from their attempts to figure "it" out. The pig man is a kind of David Lynch guy and there is another man known as "the thief" who gets the worms somehow and uses them to "worm" out the money and lives of his victims. I am not clear if the two are connected. Hmmm.

Don't even try to knit this together.

But you should see the film because it somehow does knit it all together (there is knitting) but not in a conscious way. I found myself getting it and laughing with the discovery but I can't quite explain what the deal is.

But Carruth has done that so well, I don't have to.

This is probably a 5 out of Netflix5 just to watch the pieces float by again. At least a 4. And I would not mind watching Shane Carruth at all. Hot.

Labels: films

TRAITOR ON THE RUN

This is exactly what I thought about when he was just in Hong Kong, not known for its open-ness, or China. Keerist.

“The cruel irony is that there are no press freedoms in either Cuba or Venezuela, yet Snowden who supposedly stands for transparency in government seeks refuge in police states like these two countries,” she said. “Those who misrule over Cuba and Venezuela, Raul Castro and Nicolas Maduro, do not allow independent free press, do not cooperate on terrorism related issues, disregard due process and an independent judicial system.”.....Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee

He might have read some about the famous British spies who exiled themselves in Russia for whom they worked.

The photo is from Equador where he is, evidently, headed.

Labels: traitors

LIFE IN LA

Today's film was a New York Times Critics' Pick, Sean Baker's

Starlet (2012)

LA is filled with young blond and old ex-blonds. In this unique and wonderful two character film the two meet in unusual circumstances and, well, hit it off.

That is it.

Of course there are always side stories. In this one, each woman has a closed door to the rest of their life and slowly reveal their stories to each other and to us.

Dree Hemingway is the leggy young blond who lives in a three some with two less than mentally competent room mates, a guy and a girl. She has some money and does work but we don't really see the details of this until later.

The room mates are great in their roles of dumber-thans. The guy is one of those extremely sexy men who is all id and nothing else. The woman is the same. Slackers.

But our young woman is not a slacker. She does work and does well.

The older woman is a recluse with a history and this unfolds slowly and surely as the two get to be friends.

And there is a dog. Named Starlet, a he. But the blond "starlet" liked the name and it stuck with him.

Sean Barker uses the dog as a foil, a diversion (the rabbit in the hat) and as a source of tension (don't let anything happen to that chihuahua, please. He knows how to use this. As does the dog.

The film is quite funny until it isn't and then it is sweet with a hard edge.

Two improbable friends. Very nice.

I would gladly see it again and will look forward to future ventures by Mr. Baker.

Labels: films

ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN

Today's film was the NYTimes Critics' Pick and near Oscar winner, David O Russell's

Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

which is superb and deserves to be seen again if only to hear the lines (which are certainly very clear the first time but bear repeating) and to see the ensemble cast of highly skilled actors maintain the edge that Russell creates, near to the brink and about to go over.

It is not a farce exactly but feels like that. The lines go fast and furious between this family and their friends who are all almost certifiable whacky (obsessive-compulsive disorder, hoarding, debt addicts, paranoid neighbors) and, like the star Bradley Cooper quite sure they are right. You are wrong.

Cooper meets Jennifer Lawrence*, who has many problems herself (sexually compulsive, deep grief) and they connect. At first it seems the connection is pretty sick and headed for disaster but, this is a romance drama comedy and so it has to end up OK if harrowing.

There is four star support. DeNiro (very good here for a change and out of his mould), Alan Arkin (any film with him is charmed), Jacki Weaver (Mom to a tee, worried fixer and deeply what they call co-dependent) and Anupam Kher as a therapist. The voice of calm. Well, sort of.

This is surely a 5. I will want to see it again sometime and I have already queued up Russell's Flirting With Disaster.

*Jennifer Lawrence is so hot right now and she doesn't seem like the same woman role to role. At all. She is submerged in it up to here. There.

Labels: films

RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION

Imagine!

I was driving past the high school and there is construction going on in the parking lots.

The are cutting down all the shade trees! WTF?

Then they are putting in pillars and it not hard to see that they are building, what? A multitiered parking lot?

John says "no". Not multistory. They are using the build up approach, building the "roof" near the ground to be hoisted up when they are ready. One story?

How could this be? How much money is this costing?

Then, a second parking lot. Same thing. My God!

Then a third. Holy shit.

This is outrageous. Just to keep the faculty and kids cooler in the summer?

Then John found out what was going on.

They are installing solar panels! Not only at this school, but all the schools. On the massive parking lots owned by the city in this car culture.

We don't have many, any buses. Everyone has to get there on their own. Their own cars, parents or public transit which is pretty good as it turns out.

The initiative to put solar all over the largest school district is a huge undertaking. And the project is described here.

Palm Springs Unified is Going Solar

It is PS Unified but there are schools in other cities in this district. Ten schools.

The first lot is now up. The "roofs" are huge. They are tilted slightly away from the east and toward the mountains. The preponderance of sun. I am not sure yet, but I do not think that they tilt.

Too bad about the trees. They were prettier. I have to admit the panels are not too aesthetically satisfying. But neither was the parking lot, really.

60-90 % of the schools power will come through the panels. This is a lot of power. And then there is the power that will be saved with cooler cars that crank up their AC as soon as the parkers open them up.

The heat here, on the asphalt, is quite breathtaking. Sometimes literally and too much. Vulnerable people can die.

The larger story here is that eventually all public parking and open space will have these panels over it.

Some commercial operations are thinking about it.

We have passed the tipping point. At present, commercial land will not quite pay back for solar but soon, no doubt, there will be a mad scramble to get it in.

Labels: solar energy

LOVE IT AND LOSE IT

The story of my life.

Well, part of it.

My very dependable and accurate helper with choosing films is kaput. Gone. Done in. Finished.

Movie Review Intelligence has ceased.

A well designed compendium of all films in release, MRI combined ratings of critics in a way that made sense to me. I liked it.

I am turning to a new site for me.

Metacritic summarizes "tier one" reviews and shows them in a way that is similar to MRI but not as fairly, I think. Certainly not as comprehensively.

Rotten Tomatoes? I loathe it. Their rating system sucks. If a movie is judged to be average, the score is not counted. Distortion.

And I don't give a shit what the audience thought. The usual fare there is for low critic reviews and excessively high audience reviews from the pimply set who drive most Hollywood decisions. A dearth of subtitled films. The pits. Well, the seeds I guess as it is tomatoes not cherries.

I will continue to use the overview on Metacritic in the same way I used MRI. A filter for more detailed reading of the NYTimes reviews which I still rely on heavily. That and also a couple of gay sites who feature gay films, of course.

So far so good on Metacritic.

Why do all the prettiest people turn out to be assholes, the best restaurants go out of business, or why do the good die young?

I don't know?

I just seem to pick the early outs.

Enough of self pity. These are only tools. I will do fine.

Labels: best films, best movies, films

MICROSPORT

Today's film was a NYTimes Critics' pick, the documentary

Knuckleball (2012)

Certainly about baseball but more about specialty. There were, when this was made, only two knuckleball pitchers in the big leagues and there have not been that many of them in baseball history.

This is a fraternity with very few members. Distrusted and misunderstood, this near the bone minority cling together.

This makes for a rather absorbing study of the retired and current masters of the art.

More about people than the sport.

Much of the original photography is digital and stunning. Candids, slow motion helps show the physics and psychology of the specialty and the guys who have mastered it.

I enjoyed it and once is enough so it is a 3 out of Netflix5. Some random pictures of Fenway Park and Boston were fun to see.

Labels: films

PLUNGE updated 230PM

I was accosted at the gym by a woman with whom I have long shared workout advice.

This time, product in hand, she came to me while I was reading on the bike. She was pitching the Kindle. Paperwhite 3G as it turns out.

She sold, she wheedled, she demonstrated. And, since I would follow any recommendation she made with regard to an exercise or a weight, I heard her out.

She made me read something. She showed me how it works. She happened, to have on her main page at least four books I had read or was planning to read. Even I don't believe this part.

My defenses fell. I grasped for reasons not to like the machine. I claimed to adore the smell of my books. The one I had in my hand I had for fifteen years, reading for the fourth or fifth time.

She heard me out. She even sniffed the book. And laughed.

I know she was a very slow adopter of things electronic. She was actually given this one in her hand. It got her.

She is a bibliophile. Loved bookstores. Now, not so much.

There is no one harder to resist than a convert, a born-again anything. A reformed non-believing atheist turned zealot.

I came home. As promised, I thought about it. I read the reviews. I went on line and there it is. Full kit. 3G Paperwhite, cover, stylus, adaptor, blah blah, even a warranty and insurance extender.

I hit "order".

It is on its way to me as I type.

I did one thing first. I went to the Amazon site and tested favorite authors, favorite books. Everyone is on the e-edition. Everyone. Complete.

They have done their marketing job.

I joked with John the other day about my unravelling, old, old Amazon bookmark. The ones they sent out when they first opened up. It is my first. It is about two inches long now. I have two more in reserve. I may not need them.

As usual, once I decide, I dive in. I was going to just get the simplest model but then realized that for a few bucks more I could have the newest bestest paperwhite and for "just a little more" I could get the 3G which can download anywhere at no cost on other people's phone lines. Or something.

I have my own wireless but this one will not need wireless. I can do it anywhere.

Honest? I never go anywhere but if I did I can use this model. It is also faster.

What else. It is a rush, I must admit. I got right into it and doubled my expense with just a little bit of web time looking into it.

And at these prices, I will have to use it.

One other thing about the Kindle. It is not an iPad or any other tablet. It doesn't do anything but make books (well some other things). Which is what I want.

I do not want to get iInvolved. No texting, no web on a screen, no movies. None of that although the Kindle will do some of that. Perfect.

I have seen first hand what happens when one tries to integrate a hand-held with their main computer. No thanks.

Labels: books, computers, toys

TIME CAPSULE

Today's NYTimes Critics' Pick film was David Chase (The Sopranos)

Not Fade Away (2012)

the loving tribute to a period of time, shared by me, in which everything seemed possible if the world didn't blow up first.

A small town band starts up, works hard, falls apart. In the process we see a way of life and a time that time has almost forgot.

All told with the story of the music of the time.

Not a puzzle to see Steve VanZandt as a producer.

But it is not about a particular band. Not even one that is successful.

While the kids do their thing and grow up, the parents grumble, the television plays us everything from the Kennedy assassination, Martin Luther King and Twilight Zone. Duck and Cover. The advent of "hippies". Marijuana. Real Lemon. The power of advertising.

All in the background.

The young stars of this film are perfectly imperfect. The lead, played by charismatic John Magarro, sees into the future. Portents and signs.

We last see him wandering into his own future, without a band, perhaps to film school, perhaps even a kid who becomes a film maker like Chase.

Gotta be autobiographical.

There is even a father son thing here with the estimable James Gandolfini made palpably bittersweet with news of the actors death yesterday.

"Not Fade Away" is a Buddy Holly song covered by everyone else.I was a little older than these kids at their time but not that much older.

I liked it a lot and would be happy to see it again. A 4 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films

SILVER HAIRED HERO

Today's hero, a guy I admire who lived through to and beyond 90 years of age, is an improbable choice.

I haven't thought of him in, maybe, 30 years. More.

Slim Whitman Yodeling Country Singer With a Regular Guy Image Dies at 90.

Who? You may ask. A yodeler? A CW veteran.

I grew up with Slim Whitman, well, one of his biggest fans, my Dad.

There are a number of favorites, which even I in my sophisticated musical tastes, come to memory like an iconic moment. In my heart, I am a shitkicker and, because of my Dad, I particularly liked the shit that Whitman kicked.

One of my Dad's favorite songs was Silver Haired Daddy of Mine.

I always wondered about this as my Dad's father died when he was 8. Then, I realize that he had a step dad, Wes King, who was distinguished by very white hair.

I never knew "Wes", he was never by any other name. Well, I saw him. In the store. Around. He never came to the house. My Dad would go see him from time to time. He was a mystery. By then, he lived with Mrs. Van Dyne who had a small boarding house, a good view and a little money. I know now that he was an alcoholic. We are everywhere.

Anyway, there it is. He was my Dad's "daddy" but never my Granddad. In fact, I never had one. All were gone by the time I came around.

Back to Slim Whitman.

He wrote 500 songs and made 100 albums. One Hundred. We are supposed to use numerals for figures over ten but here I will make an exception.

In my time, Whitman was also a joke. Read the obituary here. They make the most of it in a very loving way. I love that

In the 1996 movie comedy “Mars Attacks!” Slim Whitman’s yodeling, high-octave rendition of “Indian Love Call” causes the heads of the invading Martians to explode, saving Planet Earth.

He had many firsts. Elvis opened his show as his first job. He "taught" McCartney how to play with his left hand. He had other big hits. “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You,” “Red River Valley,” “Danny Boy” and “I’ll Take You Home Again, Kathleen.

Kathleen was another favorite for my Father. I have no idea whether there was any "Kathleen" in his history.

Mr. Whitman told The A.P. in 1991 that he wanted to be thought of as “a nice guy” and a good father. “I’d like people to remember me,” he said, “as having a good voice and a clean suit.”

Labels: country, heroes, history, music

NIGHT MOVES

Today's film was the NYTimes Critics' Pick documentary by Bill and Turner Ross (brothers and maybe twins)

Tchoupitoulas (2012)

The Ross brothers grew up in New Orleans and by all evidence of them as adults (in the making of film) they ran all over and have memories that are fixed in a child and then young boy's mind.

They enlisted two brothers from nearby Algiers to be in a film that would set them in many of the places the Ross brothers remembered and they let them run free. In the process, the younger brother tagged along and was so chatty they made it three brothers and, as it turns out, the mouthy one ends up being the narrator.

Night time cinematography is quite different than day. An obvious point but not so much as to see a film made all at night that is also equalized as to light and mood. Very hard. High variations in the locales make this almost impossible. Also, on the streets, sound is an issue.

The Ross boys seem to have conquered this because the beauty of the film is continuous. The mood is all urban joy ride (it is NO after all) and serene quiet river views.

The boys are great. The editing is terrific. The scenes themselves surprise. Sometimes the camera goes where the boys could not (backstage at a burlesque show, tits and ass on display or a gay bar with the requisite gays) so there is a bit of legerdemaine in the action.

Oh. The boys bring their dog. A fourth. Really nice. They get marooned and miss the last ferry home so we get a full night in the town.

I liked it a lot. Novel. Enjoyable. Never a dull moment. A 4 out of Netflix5. I would be more than happy to play it again. Anytime. Right now?

Tchoupitoulas is the name of a street in the city. Tipitina's, the famous restaurant is at the corner of Tchoupitoulas and Napoleon.

Also, the "making of film is crazy. My guess they were told to do one and they have but it is a string of foolishness by the brothers and friends which is as much fun as the big feature itself. Don't miss it.

Labels: films

NEVER TOO LATE

I wanted to include this in the post about Obama in the South End of Boston, just around one of "our" corners at Charlies.

But I couldn't figure out, then, how to do sharing on the new Flickr setup.

I figured it out today. James Dean rocked me into a new consciousness.

Labels: Barack Obama

FOUND ART OR IS IT POETRY

I love this.

It is my experience. In a way.

The James Dean part reminds me of what I saw in my husband. Of course, the punk part doesn't. But you can be a punk in any genré.

Labels: gay love, poetry

DOUBLED LIFE

Today's film was the dubiously titled

Poco più di un anno fa / Adored: Diary of a Porn Star

but in spite of the title, it is a surprisingly touching film about a porn star and his reconciliation with his family as well as his desire to start a family of his own through becoming a foster father.

I got this because it is by and starring the director, Marco Filiberti, of another film (gay interest) David's Birthday which we liked and so, what else but to see the first film.

This stars the director himself and it smells of a vanity project but whether it is or not fades as we get into the film. Filberti is, to put it directly, gorgeous. And he can act. Not always found in the same person. One or the other maybe, not both.

There is enough of him on view, particularly as we see him at work on the movie set, to enjoy him as well as his playmates and the porn (soft but good). It is pretty convincing stuff which raises a question not entirely answered.

Is it possible that Filberti has some experience and has made that rare transition from porn to straight cinema?

A nagging question but I will be able to sleep tonight, I am sure.

The story is warm and touching as he gets back together with his, at first, disapproving brother. Then softens and almost softens out as he gets connected with an orphan kid who he wants to adopt.

Can he change his life to get an OK to get the kid?

Will his brother succeed in his new relationship? All this stuff is not very suspenseful so I suspect my actual level of emotional investment.

Filberti needs to learn a thing or two about building tension and holding it without slipping into melodrama. Or something.

I liked it, I am glad I saw it and I probably won't see it again so I will give it a 3 out of Netflix5.

Oh. Is it cheesy? Of course. The first mistake is to take a film like this seriously. Once you get over that part it is possible to sit back and wallow in it. It is well made cheese, top of the line.

Labels: films

MARTIAL FARTS

Today's film was

Wu Xia / Dragon (2011)

I got it because it has my fave Takeshi Kaneshiro in it.

Here he plays a "detective" who tries to figure out who the avenging hero is and when he finds out, joins him in his chase to the end.

There is a great opening sequence where, after a battle, he "detects" how it came about, step by step. Great set piece. Beautifully realized. I have never seen anything like this before.

It turns out to be a remake of David Kronenberg's History of Violence which was pretty good and starred Vigo Mortensen.

The adaptation is loose as this town is in China and the medium of violence is often martial arts.

Disconcerting is the unnecessary addition of magic into it. And a bit of a horror element.

I liked the film but not enough to see it again.

I had hoped for something different so it is possible that my expectations clashed with the reality.

Nevertheless, I am glad I saw it and look forward to Mr. Kaneshiro's next outing.

A 3 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films

MEGA MESS

I finished the second half of Michael Cimino's

Heavens Gate (1980)

I think that sometimes I hope that I will find a film that others have hated to be likable and even become a favorite.

Such is not the case with this film.

There is a certain beauty in parts of Ciminio's film but the ugliness of the other parts somehow take over in the mind.

A lot of it is corny. Cliché western. It was supposed, I think, to be anti-western but somehow combines all the worst part of the genré. Cimino has run so far away that he has come full circle.

The villains here are truly villainous and all but twirl their mustaches. The heroes are anti-heroes to a fault becoming fucked up losers.

The whore with a heart of gold turns out to be a serious gold digger and fool. And so on.

The range war is too big for the scope of the cameras and in trying to boil it down to a few battles it devolves into something out of the cowboy and indian sort of carnage. The losers are not just losers they are stubborn, stereotype immigrants with more pride than chance.

Hard to root for anyone.

But it is an inspired mess. An argument for tight budgets.

I am glad I saw it and will never, ever watch it again even if you tie me down and put clamps on my eyelids.

A 2 out of Netflix5, actually 1 because I skipped. But as a confirmed movie fan, I have done my job.

Labels: films

CLOTHES MAKE THE MAN OR WOMAN

Classical Sculptures Dressed as Hipsters

It make them look like the dude down the street. Or at least a closer to our time kinda dude.

It is a great idea beautifully executed. Not overdone, not underdone. Just right.

Labels: art, culture

HALF WAY THROUGH HEAVEN

Today and tomorrow's film are the two halves of Michael Cimino's

Heaven's Gate (1980)

This was labeled a disaster by critics when it came out. It never recovered.

It had already been edited down from 3 hours and 40 minutes to less than an hour.

You can't do that without some discontinuity.

I am watching it in two sittings. I have never seen it before. I have not really read the criticism. Roger Ebert's dismissal was absolute. He wrote a one paragraph condemnation citing only incongruities.

This film is a restoration by Criterion. Some pieces have never been seen and were not in good shape.

But it is spellbinding.

Here is what I like about it. The scale. It is immense as Wyoming is immense. The Grand Tetons.

There are hundreds of people in many scenes. The city scenes of Caspar with full blocks of streets are breathtaking. The stink and mess of it all.

Then the wide open spaces. Flowers. Snow. Plains. Mountains. A buggy driving by. Nothing else.

I liked the set pieces. A huge dance in Harvard Yard where some of these guys come from. A roller skating sequence. The squalor of immigrant "housing". A cock fight which is upsetting enough but the people roaring is intense.

I am having trouble finding the story. Isabelle Huppert, young and dewy, a whore, is in this. Kris Kristofferson, Jeff Bridges, Christopher Walken, John Hurt, Sam Waterston. Great if a bit over the top acting. Look who it is.

More tomorrow for the second half.

Labels: films

AND THE WINNER IS

When we lived on Warren Avenue in Boston, we had two parking spaces behind the house and would let friends or neighbors use the second one if it was available which was most of the time. This is not the first time in our lives when we had just one automobile.

Now, we realize, we were sitting on a mushroom! Which has gotten bigger and bigger.

This at an IRS auction this week:

Two Boston Parking Spots sell for 560,000

But Commonwealth Avenue is a bit higher in price, to say the least or most, than Warren 6 blocks away.

Location. Location.

Imagine. This woman needs five spots! For friends and workpeople.

This is a new level of wealth in a world that can hardly be imagined.

When we lived on the back of Beacon Hill, around 1988, we used an old beat up garage down the street two blocks.

I don't remember what we paid which wasn't too bad.

I can remember the shock when we found that a newly built garage just off Charles Street went for, as I remember, $85,000.

This is now, that was then, and this is CommAve.

Labels: Boston

FACTS OF LIFE

Labels: dogs

DIAMOND IS FOREVER

Today's NYTimes Critics' Pick film was Dong-hoon Choi’s

The Thieves (2012)

South Korea's biggest grossing film ever.

Filled with Asian stars and running as fast as it can for over two hours, it is no wonder.

There are twists on twists in this heist movie and what is amazing is that somehow it is possible to keep them from getting tied in knots.

There are a lot of stunts all done, well mostly, by the actors themselves. A lot of things I never saw before.

Parkour and its variations is the new mode of escape, chase and battle.

I liked this a lot and would not even think of trying to summarize.

There is a diamond brooch and years of butchery and butchery that have gone into the story before we even arrive. But it all turns out. Sort of.

I would not mind seeing it again but would need a long rest. It is not a who done it. We know that. The question is who will survive the mayhem.

Labels: films

ALL IN ONE

Today's film was Todd Haynes'

I'm Not There (2007)

I was surprised at the date, 2007. I have been avoiding seeing this film for some time. It would get put back in the queue quite often. I would place other films ahead of it.

I guess I was wary of it.

As it turns out the idea of 6 or 7 Dylans (with stage names, it uses real people in his life but not by name), is pretty apt.

The characters are different and not.

A sort of meld.

I liked the film but find it didn't advance my fanship of Dylan one way or another.

As a dramatic piece or as a film idea, a collage, it is more interesting than the man in some ways.

Real Dylan music plays between segments but the segments are not linear. They bounce back and forth.

I get that Woody Guthrie was an influence on Dylan but I am not sure why a black kid is playing Woody, or his doppleganger.

A mish mash. Fun. But not a lot. I was willing to sit and let it have its way with me.

That said, I suppose I should admit that I am one of the apparent few people who have never, ever much liked Dylan much, a source of consternation for a lot of my friends. I was more interested in the phenomenon than the actual person or the music.

And that is what I think Todd Haynes has caught here. The phenom. The personas. The constant self reinvention.

Very good, that.

I am glad that I saw it but once is enough. A 3 out of Netflix5.

A shock to see Heath Ledger. I couldn't help but see him personally.

The most spot on impersonation, although that is not what they are trying for, was Kate Blanchett with Christian Bale a close second.

NEAR MISS

Obama was campaigning in Boston today and stopped for a sandwich at Charlies Sandwich Shoppe which is about three minutes from where we lived. It is on Columbus, we lived on Warren.

If we hadn't moved 16 years ago, I would have been able to go see him!

Labels: Barack Obama, Boston

FORCED FARCE

Today's film was Francois Ozon's French farce

Potiche (2010)

with Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu with Fabrice Luchini. All effortless stars.

I got this because of the director. I guess this is his big time vehicle for a few stars. The equivalent of "going Hollywood" here. Or selling out. I had read this was the case. It happens to the best.

Ozon had a touchstone in all his films in that he included a gay character or two or more. He was out. A nice gesture.

There is an obvious gay character here with a boyfriend but it is not mentioned. You have to have a high wattage gaydar. Or perhaps it is in my mind.

In any event, you can see that my mind is not so much on the movie. A trifle which is amusing enough but disappointing.

It even has a song thrown in at the end sung by Deneuve which is out of place as any song can be. It blasts the already unbelievable and unresolved story apart.

But it is amusing enough to see the stars walk through without a huff or puff. Pros.

I watched the whole thing but I didn't like it very much and I am going to give it a 2 out of Netflix5 mostly because I watched just enough of the "making of" feature to see Ozon directing guys to strap down a cute rabbit to a board. Bound and gagged for a shot which was to look like two bunnies fucking. I know. It is quite unfair of me.

But I am disappointed enough. I didn't skip any of it because it is fun to watch the stars do their thing. But not enough.

Labels: films

JUST FOR THE RECORD

What was it like before?

Labels: gay history

FUNNY HEADLINE AT DAILY KOS

"As much as Republicans willingly shoot themselves in the foot, you'd think they'd want gun control"

Labels: republican whack jobs, Republicans

ITALIAN OPERA

Only it is Wagner's music in the background which is the template for this "Written on the Wind" kind of film. More 70s than 10's. In a good way.

Il compleanno / David's Birthday (2009)

Classic situation, older man with his family on a beach vacation. Younger man shows up (son of one of the other couples). They eye each other for most of the film and finally fall into.......well that is where the opera comes in.

The genders are slightly altered here but it is a timeless story told with a gay closet twist.

Here is the thing about this heavy Italian story. It is complicated and has many side plots. It is hot in ways other than the weather. It takes a long time to get to the end of the opera and the fat lady doesn't quite sing exactly. There are some missing pieces and funny connections that I don't understand. But it is very very satisfying.

It would be easy to mock this. Some critics didn't like it. But I did.

I am not sure I want to watch it again but I wouldn't mind. It is highly entertaining melodrama. Spoiler: There are some very hot hot sex scenes but you have to wait for those.

A 4 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films

FACTOIDS

The NSA leaker/traitor (well, I had to say so as it is what I believe along with Brad Manning) is a Ron Paul supporter!! (two exclamation points)

He has run to one of the most repressive regimes (Hong Kong) in the world. They don't just listen in they come to your house.

He is straight. (big sigh of release here as I don't have to find ways to support him because he is gay).

A slight side trip, Glenn Greenwald the rabid lefty who is somehow sponsoring Snowden is gay and does not live in the US because his partner can't come here. They live in Brazil. Weird.

Booz Allen Hamilton was known as one of the lesser management consultant companies and were fading before they got into NSA and became a prime vendor.

This all broke while China and the US were in talks about cybersecurity. China controls Hong Kong.

That is enough for now.

I am fascinated with these guys. How does this mental frame of mind come about? It will be interesting.

I suspect that this will have all of the impact of the Pentagon Papers which, if you remember, eventually had hardly any impact at all except to keep the media busy for a while.

Which is good.

Someone said today that the IRS should celebrate with an Edward Snowden day. To say nothing of Obama who, as stories develop, gets a big relief as all the stories lead away from him. For now.

Labels: security

ALL HITS NO ERRORS

Today's film was the film version of the long ago stage hit

Damn Yankees (1958)

with Tab Hunter, Gwen Verdon and Ray Walston.

I watched it because I like it and also it was the first significant role for Jean Stapleton who just died.

We were friends for a period of time.

This is one of the most "genuine" transfers from stage to screen with the full Broadway cast except for Tab Hunter who, actually, does a great job as Joe Hardy, the guy who sells his soul to the devil for a bit of fame and a win over the Yankees.

Lots of songs and dances.

It has aged well.

It is an obvious 5 out of Netflix5 because I have seen it all so many times.

Labels: films

Pièce de Résistance

Another film about the French Resistance and a NYTimes Critics' Pick, the Criterion Restoration of Jean-Pierre Melville's

L'armée des ombres / Army of Shadows (1969)

We follow the experiences of a group leader from early in the War to its end.

This is a classic.

I saw it before. I am a sucker for these films. I am not sure where that comes from but I am always interested in this period. Perhaps as I grew up in the time and have a deep curiosity about certain aspects.

I always had a fantasy about what I would do if we were in the same boat. Even in that time as a child and later when it was the Russians.

I think that is what one did.

This film is episodic although it does have a through line about the group and its activities.

This is a 5 out of Netflix5. Has been and always will be.

Labels: films

EMBEDDED

If I have been optimistic about what the High Court, SCOTUS, will do about the two big gay equality cases before them, it is, in part, because of this.

Exibit A For a Major Shift Justices' Gay Clerks

I have thought of this. And wondered how many there were at this time.

I hear that there are more than the usual quota from past years.

And there have been quite a few in the past.

This article doesn't count or name names but the inside story is that there is every reason to be optimistic.

Of course, clerks don't do the whole thing but they do manage a lot. Their indirect influence has to be strong as well.

After all, they were selected by a judge in the first place and, these days, most lawyers are out and even have a gay rights litigation record.

It would not be "by mistake".

We shall see. But as we inch up to the day of announcement, we can at least bate our breaths a little bit.

Labels: gay rights, marriage equality

HEATED DISCUSSIONS

There has been a lot of interest in the conference here at Sunnylands, the Annenberg estate turned conference center.

We wondered about the weather for them.

It has been reasonably hot the last few days and so their outdoors activities had to be a bit curtailed. No sitting in the sun.

But yesterday was breezy and quite pleasant and we went out a few times and sat on the grass ourselves. A favorite Booker routine during the day.

Mr. Obama planned to stay another night at Sunnylands. After Mr. Xi’s departure, he golfed on the estate’s nine-hole course — one Republican presidents since Dwight D. Eisenhower have played — with three friends from his high-school days in Hawaii, despite temperatures exceeding 100 degrees.

Imagine. Your own golf course in the back yard. Annenberg was a publishing tycoon, TVGuide and The Racing Form is where he started.

The plane, Air Force One's presence here has caused a goodly stir. A lot of people just going to see it and getting that lift I mentioned yesterday.

Incidentally, the mountains were gorgeous yesterday. Musty, tall and full of the purple blue color. When they look like a fantastic painting but are the real thing.

Labels: Administration Obama

THE RED POSTER

Today's film is the French Resistance film L'armée du crime / The Army of Crime (2009)

A NYTimes Critics' Pick.

This film is inspired by "the red poster" which was widely circulated by the Nazis in France to characterize the Resistance as a band of criminal communist jew immigrants bent on destroying France from within. They called them "The Army of Crime".

A sort of all in one group of scapegoats to be cruelly used for Nazi propaganda.

This film depicts the organization of this group as part of the Resistance, a battle unit, and shows their activities until they were betrayed by informers not so much in the group as around the group. No one confessed despite brutal torture and they were convicted in a show trial and executed as a group.

The Nazis and collaborator French needed a show trial to combat the idea that the French people were rebelling against the Nazi occupiers.

Of course, the poster and press coverage did the opposite and made the members of this group into heroes.

The film is, in addition to a very exciting story, a beautiful rendition of the period with every scene full of people, places and things that represent the times.

Costumes, vehicles, locations. Great.

I saw this before and liked it very much. A 5 out of Netflix5. Once a 5 always a 5.

Labels: films

STIRRING

You have no idea of the thrill I had this morning when I came back from the Meeting.

Air Force One is on the tarmac at our airport.

It is amazing the power that it has to stir the heart.

This is not about Obama, incidentally, although I suppose maybe a little.

A lot of people had the same experience.

The plane is iconic. Not the White House certainly but the representation of world power.

Even humbling somehow.

The broad legend on the side: United States of America.

No definite article. Beyond definition or qualification.

Maybe I wanted to salute.

The dark blue color is outstanding. Somehow it glistens. The light blue sets it off.

And of course, you know that plane has been polished within an inch of its life.

The best view, somehow was when I got to a point in the road where I saw the plane nose on. Coming at me.

I think part of what it is involves the spirit of taking flight, of soaring.

Against hard winds all these years. But still resplendent.

Labels: United Sates of America

THIS IS A VERY BIG DEAL WITH A SMALLISH HEADLINE

Labels: marriage equality

DOGGED

No movie today.

We went for Booker's 6 month checkup at the vet's.

He is, as usual, 92 pounds big and you should feel his ribs but we don't and the vet isn't happy about it but the three of us are. You can carry ideals only so far in reality.

He has an exemplary health profile except for his right elbow which is tight and, probably, arthritic.

He limps.

For now we are trying another anti inflammatory and adding fish oil tabs to his daily intake. Easy things to do.

Maybe there is an x-ray down the line and there is a regimen of glucosamine something shots that can be done. Later.

For us, it is one step at a time. No rushing ahead.

Try one thing, see if it works. Then if not move to another step.

He is such a good boy in the vet's office. We are very proud of him. He gets some treats from them but as we leave, I raid the free treat jar.

It says they are lo cal. Not to add to his weight or anything.

Labels: Booker

TWISTED KNICKERS

I am not surprised, well, really, I am, that the lefties are so totally freaked out about the NSA revelations today.

I am not one of them.

I have never doubted that there was surveillance. Else why have FSA in the first place.

The other thing is that this approach to national security is not new. We all know that. What people seem most upset about is that they looked to Obama to take these procedures down. To nullify them.

Look. Obama is on the record as approving FSA in the first place and is a centrist in the tradition of most if not all Presidents since Eisenhower. You think he is different somehow now?

Here is the other thing.

Do they honestly believe that these measures are so malignant that we should removes some very basic protections in this day and age? National security is not a paranoid fever dream. It is at threat.

Steve Benen and I agree.

The Consequences of NSA Surveillance?

Notice the question mark?

I really believe that strong measures are being taken to not violate people's privacy. I never, ever worry that someone is taking something away from me somehow, somewhere. If I don't worry about Amazon data mining me or Google or someone else, why the USA? The NSA? And remember, the NSA is part of USA. These are citizens too.

Sure. Someday, this could all be used for nefarious purposes. But does anyone seriously think that is happening now? Or is likely to any time soon?

Please.

The hysteria started with the subpoenas issued to some reporters at the AP and Fox.

There were and are grounds to believe that security leaks did occur. The press got pissed.

Now they are jumping all over this.

Another angle. There are as many tin hats on the left as on the right. I hate to admit it but that is true.

I am in the middle with Obama. I vote. So does everyone else. I think I made the right choice. I have to let go of some of my micro-worries and not apply them to the national interest.

Labels: Administration Obama, security

FACEBOOK THE MUSICAL

When there is a musical about the rigors of FaceBook you know that they may be about to jump the shark.

In any event this is pretty good just for being.

What happens in the summer in NY and there aren't any acting/musical jobs.

Do it yourself.

Labels: fun, music

SWIMMER

I nominate Esther Williams as this week's heroine.

Technicolor Star Esther Williams Dead at 91

When I was a kid, I went to all the Esther Williams movies because she was in a lot of MGM musicals and I saw all of those.

She was special. Kind of wholesome.

She did the necessary romantic stuff but she seemed a breed apart. A bit distant from the other gals who, while interesting in their own way, were not somehow as "serious".

She was a champion swimmer and, as I look back, I don't think she compromised any aspect of that for the film she was in.

She may not have invented synchronized swimming but she could have.

I always worried that she was getting water in her nose. I got over that. Maybe she was a good role model. I can swim upside down under the water now and not get any in there.

There was a rumor that she had owned a house in our neighborhood. It is possible. It had shells and blue glass and stuff embedded in the walls around it. Nice.

Now, it is all covered over with one of those desert re-dos that rob a neighborhood of any individuality. Painted some shit brown color.

Esther was great. I liked her. And the best thing about her was that she always, always, had latin lovers like Ricardo Montalban. Fernando Lamas. That set me up to be a latino lover myself. Just today, I was able to flirt with a gardener working next door on some project or other.

Esther and me. We like the latin boys.

Labels: heroes, heroines

OUT

Today's film was the excellent Criterion restoration of Robert Bresson's

Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut / A Man Escaped (1956)

A captured French resistance fighter is arrested and imprisoned.

Bent on escape, he improvises and calculates and labors to make his desire work.

We know he is successful as he is the narrator. That is the part which changes our way of watching.

Bresson has worked wonders with small space and a "star" who has the charisma and intensity (same thing?) to hold us tightly throughout.

It is not the same as a regular escape film because it focuses on the extremely limited communications that can occur with great benefit under the worst of conditions.

Plotting, creating friendships, recruiting allies, developing trust. This is a great film and I would not mind seeing it again. A definite 4 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films

MILDLY EXCITED

I suppose I should note that Obama and Xi are here for a couple of days of fun and sun.

They will be meeting at the Annenberg Estate turned into Conference Center down the road from us. 200 plus acres. Totally isolated.

I suppose I could go to the airport and see AF 1 and hope for a glimpse. Maybe he will take a limo there. Obama I mean. Not the Chinese guy who is new.

I understand that they are keeping it all on the down low. No talking points. More in the line of working on their relationship.

A good thing.

Labels: Administration Obama

THE ESROSE FILM RATING SYSTEM, A REVIEW

Based on some recent feedback, it is probably time to review the "system" I use to rate films that I rent from Netflix.

Sooner or later, I am going to be asked by Netflix to rate the film I rented and so I do it in the post that I write about it.

The rating is idiosyncratic. It is not necessarily an assessment of whether I think a film is good or bad, necessarily.

At its extremes it is based on whether I did not want to watch the whole film, once it started, a 1 out of Netflix5, or whether I definitely want to see the film again, a 5 out of Netflix 5.

A 2 is that I watched "all" of the film but used the FF. Not a good sign but still.

A 4 is that I liked the film a lot and would be willing to see it again but I am not going to take any steps to make that happen.

A 3 is just a "good film, good time, had enough for now". A pat on the ass, a thanks and on to the next one.

How can this not reflect whether I think a film is "bad" or not?

Well, for one thing, there could be something going on that I am not willing to sit through. I remember a great French film based on the idea of the Fugitive show in which a guy is falsely accused of a crime, killing his wife maybe.

A SWAT team descends on his house and first thing shoots and kills this enormously beautiful curly dog the guy has. Dead. I just quit. Done. I still think of that scene. I shudder to write it here.

Maybe a good, perhaps great film but I bailed on it.

On the other hand, there are films which I might agree are not great but that I want to see again because I admire something, am puzzled by something (less likely) or, perhaps, it has an emotional impact on me that others might not share.

Yesterday's film, Wild Grass would be an example of that.

This film by Alan Resnais features a guy who is at least a psychopath. It studies his obsession with a woman whose wallet he has found. The obsession begins because he does not think that she is grateful enough or has not been effusive enough in her thanks. Not a reward. Attention.

He sends her a note, he has second thoughts, too late, she writes back. It turns out she gets attached to his stalking which is what he begins to do.

Others surround these two principals, they have normal surface lives. The woman is a collector or men, superficial relationships. She has bought love. An airplane for christ's sake. A Spitfire. She never flies it.

The guy has violent fantasies. Outwardly very nice. A wife and sweet family.

He is obsessed with a film about death. The Bridges of Toko Ri, so the cinema comes into it. There are a lot of movie references. For example, it is a really nice cinema on a nice street where the two people actually meet for the first time. It is a set. They have a bit on how it was built as a set as an extra. There is a cutout Hitchcock outside the theater. Not a Hitchcock movie.

The war film also echoes the Spitfire.

There is a lot going on. To see the film references. The shots. The weirdness of it all. I like weirdness.

It is well worth watching. I have seen it three times.

There is a lot of irony in the film, quite a bit of humor, the woman seems to enjoy hurting her patients. And so on.

See? I can't quit writing about it.

I want to see this again.

A five.

I am not so gung ho that I am going to watch the war film again. I am sure I saw it when it came out. A James Michener saga.

Labels: films

OLD WAVE

Alan Resnais says farewell* with the wonderfully weird

Les herbes folles / Wild Grass (2009)

A wallet is stolen then found bringing two people, then more people, together for a strange set of coincidences that make for a great movie experience. A NYTimes Critics' Pick.

There is no explaining this pleasurable movie experience. It is very movie-centric with odd flourishes here and there. The heroine is a dentist!

Romantic obsession seems to be the theme here but it doesn't matter to me.

I love to watch Resnais snake us through the grass to show us what happens in those cracks where the grass is growing through the asphalt. The marginal line between convention and really strange behavior.

Lots of great actors. And a special six minute discussion of a crucial set.

The directors, auteurs, of the New Wave were thought to be all about using real locations in their work. Not so.

I have seen this film a couple of times. The more the merrier. That makes it a 5 out of Netflix5.

*He has made two more films since this one was made.

Labels: films