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20 June 2010
Prick Up Your Ears (1987)
The story of Joe Orton and his partner, Kenneth Halliwell, tracks the latter’s relationship with the former’s burgeoning success. It is, of course, tragic, but the tragedy is less a reflection on being gay than an attempt to understand the symbiotic relationship between two men when that unanimity becomes encumbered. Personally, I’ve come to see [...]
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20 March 2010
Deconstructing Harry (1997)
Woody Allen’s film from 1997 was actually my first. I saw it shortly after it came out on video in high school, and while I thought it was funny, it never fully resonated with me until I was embroiled in literary theory at college (and at that, it came to annoy me: is this really [...]
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14 March 2010
Fishing with John: Dennis Hopper (1991)
The final two episodes of Fishing with John feature Dennis Hopper, and they go together to Thailand in search of a Giant Squid. It must be said the music in Fishing with John is quite excellent, and to be expected given John Lurie’s position with lounging lizards. It becomes apparent that the Giant Squid is [...]
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13 March 2010
Fishing with John: Willem Dafoe (1991)
Willem and John go fishing in Maine. Ice fishing is hard work, and they are very cold in their little ice house out there on the ice. During the day, they eat peanut butter crackers and wait for the fish. They have not planned appropriately, and are very hungry because the fish are not biting. [...]
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11 March 2010
Fishing with John: Matt Dillon (1991)
Matt Dillon’s episode is the worst of the bunch. He doesn’t really fit into the quirky mold of the other adventuring fisherman, and the subsequent conversation between John and Matt is a little awkward. Maybe this awkwardness was intentional, but it works against the flavor of the show and when the narrator bursts out excitedly [...]
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10 March 2010
Berlin Alexanderplatz: The Punishment Begins [Die Strafe beginnt] (1980)
The story of Franz Biberkof, Berlin Alexanderplatz is a fifteen hour film by Rainer Werner Fassbinder based on the novel by Alfred Döblin. I haven’t seen all of it yet, but I hope writing about each section will not only give me the momentum to finish it, but it’ll give some perspective to what I [...]
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9 March 2010
Fishing with John: Tom Waits (1991)
John and Tom go fishing in Jamaica for snapper. There are long periods of waiting before either of the men gets a bite. Tom finally catches a fish. Upon catching the fish, the men discuss catch and release, and Tom decides to put the fish into his pants. It is unclear whether this is what [...]
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8 March 2010
Fishing with John: Jim Jarmusch (1991)
The first episode of Fishing with John is by far the best. You are simply not prepared for the interplay between the fishers and the narrative (Oh. My. God.), particularly given the whole tone of the fishing sequences is correct, minus the fisherman. They have quiet, introspect conversation while fishing. Jim and John are fishing [...]
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25 January 2010
Texhnolyze [テクノライズ] – (2003) – Rogue 01 "Stranger"
An anime by Hirotsugu Hamazaki, with characters by Yoshitoshi ABe. I used to watch more anime than I do now, the last two series being the truly funny Abenobashii Magical Shopping Arcade and the really beautiful Heibane-Renmei. There’s something about the characters that Yoshitoshi ABe creates that have really appealed to some inner artistic urge [...]
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10 January 2010
The Dead (1987)
Speaking of The Dead, that’s a pretty apropos post to begin the ‘new year,’ given my continual failure to remain committed to the purpose of this: I consume a lot of media, I like to write, so why not write about the media? Lionsgate finally got around to releasing the DVD, but it appears as [...]