Descending Ashtray

I went to see Art School Confidential at Fox Tower tonight, and left feeling pretty let down. And not just because tickets were $9 each.

The first third of the movie was good, some very funny moments and lots of characters that, have you ever been to art school, you will immediately recognize. Including the guy who is there for “the naked chicks.” In case you were wondering, do not go to art school for the models. Many of them are men, and few of them are attractive. Some of them are hairy in all the wrong places.

Then, the movie lapses unneccesarily into a murder mystery. It was funny, and then … it was not. And characters would appear, disappear, and reappear at the strangest times (see: the gay roommate). Basically the last 2/3 was all over the place, and not in a good Jackson Pollock way.

Check it out as a rental if you can’t find anything else to watch.

What was the last good art movie you saw?

Lately I have been disappointed with the movies I have been watching. “The White Countess” and “Memoirs of a Geisha” were incredibly boring. I actually fell asleep in the movie theater watching The White Countess which was a first for me. I have a hard time being convinced when a movie takes place in a foreign country and everyone speaks american!

There has been one gem that has stood out among recent movies and that was “A History of Violence”. Directed by David Cronenberg ( The Fly, Naked Lunch). This was probably among his best. I have not been on the edge of my seat watching a movie for a really long time and for this one I was. Go rent it, if you have not seen it already!

Looks like this is gonna be a classic. I guess I’m John Malkovich.

I have been under the weather this past weekend. It is a drag being sick but I did watch some good movies.

Broken Flowers - This is the latest film by Jim Jarmusch ( Deadman, Coffee and Cigarettes). A little slow but an interesting look into how uncertainty of the past mixed with curiosity can be all consuming. Amazingly odd that he used on the soundtrack, the obscure ethiopian jazz music that I have been listening to for years.

The Machinist - Christian Bale went through an unbelievable physical transformation for this film. He went from being buff in American Physcho to having zero muscle mass in this movie and then regained it all for his role in Batman. I could see a Dosteovsky influence, about how guilt and solitude can be more painful after committing a serious crime than the punishment that the law provides.

Undertow - What can I say, David Gordon Green(All the real girls) is probably my favorite young director. With similarities to my own interests such as Will Oldham, Walkabout and Philip Glass it was inspiring to watch this movie. Being able to see the beauty that he sees in human nature and in the rough edges of things made this an extra ordinary film.

1. The Squid and the Whale -
Good portrail of how fucked up parents can be during a divorce. The Jeff Daniels character reminded me of my father. Especially during the final scene.

2. The Corporation -
I think that this is an important movie for everyone to see. Even if the filmmakers who made it use the same strategy of convincing the public that the corporations do to sell their products. It does a good job of asking who is to blame for the mass destruction of natural resources and culture.
Drink hormone free milk!

3. Babettes Feast -
Beautiful movie about the art of food and many important life lessons.

Well, the last of our holiday guests departed this evening. It was a busy but fun holiday, though I am eager to get back to creating. Sarah’s mom was here first, then my mom and sister Rachel. Then it was New Year’s, and a party at our house, with special guests, Sarah’s friend Linnea and fiance Peter visiting from San Francisco. I went back to work on Monday, and came home tonight to an empty house. And by empty I mean Sarah, Jasper, and Coosje. The house feels very quiet, though.

We watched “Grizzly Man” this evening, an interesting documentary by Werner Herzog about a man who lived with Grizzlies in Alaska for 13 summers. Not to spoil the ending, but he was predictably attacked in his last visit, along with his girlfriend, both of them retrieved from the stomach of a large 25-year old male grizzly bear.

The director is also the narrator, and he makes a good point over a close-up of a large male’s face: the man viewed the bear as companion and friend, but the wild bear had no concept of this friendship, noticing the man only as an annoyance, feature of the landscape, and eventually food. He said it much better, but it was a powerful scene and amazing the “Grizzly Man” never made the realization in 13 years.

The soundtrack was very good, too. Amazing guitar work.

I can’t stop thinking about the adze and curved knives.