Snow, and lots of it!

I’ll go get a pix of the snow, but this is our second major storm and reminds me of those we had when I was young.

Movie: The Lovey Bones. As I am sitting in the dark theater, it occurs to me that this film is more like an opera, with crushing movements. The back and forth between the ‘holding’ world and the real is jarring, and some scenes I wish Jackson had just left out. It’s kind of a mess. I was an extra on this film, part of which was shot right her in my hometown, and I did recognize the back of my own head (thanks Andy Warhol), and that was fun, but I was distracted by the convoluted editing (or footage?). I left very depressed, and hated that he put that Susie voice over at the very end. It was unnecessary, and didn’t help the film.

DVD: Gomorrah. Read good things about this film, and I am glad I saw it. It seemed to be missing something, like about another two hours. A brutal looks into this crime group.
DVD: The Hurt Locker. Good as they say, and I didn’t expect it to be about a man who loves his job, does it well, and understands that.

Reading: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornests Nest, by Steig Larsson. I am lucky, a friend gave me this to read and I am slowly digesting. Many, many names to keep track of. I’d love to be able to lay out such a rich, tangled web with surprises as well as this author. He is a master. Hollywood can rarely surprise me in any interesting way (no, I have yet to see Avatar). I hear that the first book is in development by some studio in Hollywood, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. There was a film made in Sweden of the first book, and we are trying to get our hands on a dvd of it. Read all three books: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire, and lastly (not released here yet) The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest.

CD: Worrisome Heart by Melody Gadot. Love, love, love this girls voice. She is very young and still suffering from injuries. Her own story would make some great little movie. Now very popular in Paris, this bluesy, sweet album is lovely.
CD: Any album by Joe Henry. I think I’m in love with this guy.

TV: Caprica. The New Series. Love these writers. Very imaginative and true, as far as I can tell, to what happens later.

My goal: Screenplay complete, and Melody Gardot songs are in my filmed version. I have a scene where one of my characters is following her husband at night, watching him……ah, well, can’t tell you that but this music fits.

To The Moon, Alice!

Two films I watched on DVD this weekend.

Moon: Quiet meditation on the nature of the future. Gorgeous to look at, and Sam Rockwell was over the moon in his acting. Liked it.

Pandorum. Odd look at outer space. Bleak but bold ultimately. Liked it!

Music: Melody Gardot. Philly girl. Great story.

Book: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest. I have not yet gotten this, but look forward to the last in the set that will ever be (at least by Steig L.). I am sure all the films are getting lined up in Hollywood. Can’t wait. Book out in Europe but here in May

This is a constant source of inspiration and meditation, one of a few places I go to sort out events and take photographs.

Best of the Best

Someone recently asked me what book changed my life? I asked for some time to consider this, but my quick answer was the Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky, a certain translation. The second is Berlin Stories by Christopher Isherwood. But what came first to mind were films that struck me, yes it felt like I was struck in the heart. The first film I saw was as a very young child with our Irish Catholic family in a theater, where the idea of actor became reality watching the power of Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole together in Becket. The second was Camille, an old picture by George Cukor with Greta Garbo in a retro-theater with my first boyfriend, which left me crying for hours afterword. And the third, Cabaret, which exposed me to life outside our farm county, and the greater world of intrigue and consequence, and eventually to art school for film and photography. The impact of art varies with the experience of the observer.

DVD: Jennifer’s Body. Liked it much more than expected. Cody really has an ear for the pop dialogue
DVD: Let The Right One In. Love story of the strangest type. Real cinema.
DVD: A Perfect Getaway. Just okay, with a twist on a twist on a twist. At least the good guys win, which left me with
DVD: Is Anybody There. Liked.
DVD: Taking Woodstock. Wish I was there.
DVD: District 9. Wrote about this when I saw it in the theater. Love this film, and still waiting for sequel.
Re-DVD. Collateral. Michael Mann’s finest, in my opinion. I could feel his love for the mystery and beauty of the film process.

Book: In The Sanctuary of Outcasts. I can see this as a film.
CD: Blood From Stars. Joe Henry. Lovely.

A Waste of Space

Many movies can be exactly that, taking up your time and haunting your mind. Some entertain! I have had some down time, so here are some I liked, or not:

DVD: Julie & Julia. Meryl Streep was great as JC, but the young couple, can’t help but think other actors would be a better fit, but the blame goes to the director, Nora Ephron.

DVD: Inglourious Bastards. Did I spell that wrong again? Already wrote about this one, and I keep thinking about it. Wonder if QT has watched import films such as the film from China-Goodbye Dragon Inn. Out of DVD – has a sweet short film included.
DVD: Prison Break: The Final Break. Sure this series went on way too long, but very original in many ways, and it gave us that gorgeous Wentworth Miller.

DVD: Funny People. Surprisingly good..I actually cared.
DVD: Public Enemies. Must be the directors fault, not so good.
DVD: American Violet. I got it, pretty good movie

DVD: Lymelife. Been there, done that. Not very original…
DVD: Italian for Beginners. Finally watched this (not new) film, and loved every minute of it. Hope to write a screenplay as good. Done on the cheap, but I’m happy they made this one.

DVD: Observe & Report/The Goods. Seems like too much of the same guy movies by the same young guys…..a waste of space. How ‘bad’ does a film have to be for Hollywood to refrain from producing it.
DVD: Ran. Kirosawa at his best. Out years ago, but a film I think about often. QT probably saw this many times.

CD: Monsters of Grace. Phillip Glass

Quentin, Quentin, Quentin

I keep saying his first name, which means “The Fifth”. Interesting. Inglourious Basterds is a peek into that fascinating mind of the man. Hmmm. I was unable to stop watching once I began, because the rich moments in it are so…classic and cinematic…the opening of the film is like a vintage painting, and then the terror and tension begins. He is so good at that. Can’t help but think he was restrained in this one, with much less splatter and gore (really, but there was…). Really, for him it seemed sparse and much more character driven. I’m thinking he is one of the first to begin to treat women differently in film., or should I say reflect how the culture treats them now. I could go on but.

CD: I Dreamed A Dream. Don’t know why listening to most of her songs makes me cry. We both lost a mother, and I relate to some of these songs that I am assuming mean something to her, and the way she sings…well, is lovely.

Wasting Time in Farmville

Starting to hate this app; Irish cousins got me into it and I’ve been hooked. It takes away too much time from writing and darkroom. I like being in instant touch with the Old Sod, though, in the town where my mother was born. I did, however, grow on a farm when we came to the US of A, so I do like herding my animals, planting my crops and my new little cottage.

Just working on a first edition, first printing in pigment inks, a piece on the first time I met Robert Mapplethorpe, the celebrated & vilified fine art photographer. I met him first in l986 in Philadelphia, and the piece looks good. I will offer it for sale soon. It is a portrait of him smiling that I took with an old 35mm.

DVD: Up. Only twice this year was I left wanting when a movie ended, and this is one of them. I love the beauty of the animation (it’s incredible) and the creativity of the story. Very sweet. The other film was District 9…I was unhappy that it ended and am patiently ); waiting for Part II. I hope it is in production.

The Time for Breaking Things

I hate times like this, when the new sink installed separates from the piping underneath – great plumber. Now I have to call. I’m in the car on the way to the City and the XX??DDA in front of me stops short, the camera goes flying (digital, of course) and I hear a crack. I’m trying to check its’ function as I drive, and I realize that’s risky in City traffic, but a digital box keeps blinking and I’m thinking this digital baby is dead, or dying. I would not worry so much if it’s my film camera, which sits happily on the seat next to me, an old Mamiyaflex that kept its’ balance.

CD: Andrew Bird. All his cd’s have merit, and I’m liking him very much and I hear the sweet crooning and think of Jeff Buckley

DVD: Murphys Law, Season One. I love the Brits series, and so far like this one.

DVD: Wire In The Blood. Complete Sixth Season. Did not know this was even coming out, stumbled upon and I love this creepy series. Big fan of Robson Green, who has played many diverse, interesting characters and is oddly enough, a well known singer in Britain.