The Pop Culture Addict’s Blog

My favorite NY film fest is going on right now! The New York Asian Film Festival 2010 is playing at NY Film Society and Japan Society.

I guess I will go chronologically. Well let me say my favorite movie and then go in order viewed because I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve seen.

Ip Man 2
Ip Man was my favorite movie from the fest last year. Donnie Yen embodies this wing chung master, famously Bruce Lee’s teacher, with grace, strength and incredible technique. Donnie Yen is best known from Iron Monkey. He is a star. Ip Man 2 has these over-acting British bad guys vilified like you’ve never seen. It is over the top and unnecessary but the audience knew it was building up to the most needed Ip Man/Donnie Yen kickass moment. There are so many excellent fight scenes expertly choreographed and at times executed by the great Sammo Hung.

NOTE: I will wait until the fest is over before finishing this post. But I wanted to prove that I am still here!

What I’ve seen so far:

Cow
Crazy Racer
Kung Fu Chefs
Bodyguards and Assassins w/Development Hell
Boys on the Run
Annyong Yumika
Confessions
Little Big Soldier
Secret Reunion
Symbol
Red Cliff Uncut

I took time off from the fest to see a play and a non-Asian movie:

Shakespeare in the Park: The Winter’s Tale
Twilight Saga: Eclipse

I also saw Knight and Day before the fest started.

I am excited that Man Shops Globe Season 2 has started!

So to be continued…

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Toy Story 3
As a Pixar fan, I was really happy when they resolved their contentious lawsuit with Disney and were given free and complete reign over Disney Animation. I would not have been able to support a Disney-only driven Toy Story 3. Pixar doesn’t put out anything they don’t lovingly and arduously create with their full attention. That Disney version of Toy Story 3 would’ve been a betrayal to the Pixar legend and not at all created on the same caliber as other Pixar movies. Last fall, I saw the special double feature of Toy Story and Toy Story 2 in 3D. While I had had fond memories of the movies from the first time around, I was still thrilled to my core by how awesome these movies were.

Toy Story 3 lived up to my incredibly high expectations. I saw it in IMAX 3D. All enhancements were taken advantage of by the Pixar team. The visuals sparkle with joy and detail. The story is charming, engaging and universal. It is a great end to a now classic trilogy. Having it end with Andy having to decide what to do with his toys/exploring the fate of his beloved toys as he prepares to leave home for college, is a brilliant move. The theater was sold out with an audience heavy on the little ones but still ranging across all ages. The movie appeals to all.

Winter’s Bone
I didn’t know much about Winter’s Bone except it was set in the Ozarks and that it had a lot of critical acclaim. I was blown away. From beginning to end I was captivated. It’s based on a book by the same name, Winter’s Bone by Daniel Woodrell. After seeing the movie, I’m interested in reading the book. However, I think the filmmaker Debra Granik and her cohorts made a great adaptation. The story follows a 17-year old girl, Ree Dolly, who is the caretaker of her younger siblings and incapacitated mother. The kicker is her father is an AWOL criminal, part of the extended family’s meth ring. Ree’s family is destitute, living on the kindness of strangers and her scrappiness. The extended family doesn’t look any better off although they offer help in their own unique way to Ree as she searches for her father in order to preserve what little the family has. It’s a mystery, drama and thriller that reminded me of Justified, Breaking Bad and The Sopranos. I am a big fan of all three shows so Winter’s Bone was a big hit with me. John Hawkes shines as Ree’s uncle Teardrop. He is miserable and terrifying but full of regret and loyalty. I recognized his face from Eastbound and Down but his dramatic work was nothing like his character on that comedy. It was a pleasant surprise that Debra Granik, John Hawkes and singer Marideth Sisco conducted a Q&A afterwards. Marideth Sisco spoke a lot to the verisimilitude of the story to life in the Ozarks while Debra Granik made it clear that the meth culture is a just a piece of the culture relayed by the book Winter’s Bone and not a generalization of life in the Ozarks. It definitely felt like a slice of a particular life. The bluegrass music was very appealing and seemed like a light in a dark lifestyle. The soundtrack is going to be made available and is worth investigating.

Shakespeare in the Park: Merchant of Venice
Waiting forever for free vouchers for tickets to Shakespeare in the Park is a quintessential New York experience. It’s oddly labor-intensive in that passive way. You just have to awaken the nerd in you to motivate to plan it right. Think of when people lined up for Star Wars Ep 1. It’s like that but in a different way. The intensity of people’s motivation is also influenced by the star factor. Last year, Anne Hathaway made her theater debut in 12th Night. This year, Al Pacino is reprising his role as Shylock as he performed in the movie Merchant of Venice a short while back. So I trekked out the morning of the show extra early knowing people would be motivated to stand/sit in line for hours on end to see Al live. Anyway, my efforts worked out. It looked overcast but the weather cooperated. The set was interesting. The coolest part was sitting outside, watching the play as the day went from evening to night. It was actually the debut of Merchant of Venice because the first show had been rained out so the cast was palpably excited to perform it for an audience. We were the lucky recipients of this great energy. Al Pacino was astounding as one would expect. The actual storyline is tough to process. Shylock gets berated and abused by almost every character in the play. I can’t believe Merchant of Venice was performed as a comedy during Shakespeare’s time. The comedy part is certainly a different play. I think the Public Theater interpreted the play to be a moral tale about intolerance and persecution more in line with modern thinking. But the undertones of racism are still there. It’s hard to reconcile the gravity of Shylock’s tale with the levity put into the other storyline. Nevertheless, it’s an impressive effort by the Public Theater. They are performing in repertory this summer alternating performances of Merchant of Venice and A Winter’s Tale. So my next endeavor is to see A Winter’s Tale.

Also, the other interesting aspect of seeing Shakespeare live is hearing phrases that are so famous we hardly know their origin at this point or their most famous usages. My brain doesn’t necessarily hold on to every word I read in high school English. So watching live performers say the words is almost rattling. Let me think of what stood out.

-All the glitters is not gold.
-I hold the world but as the world, Gratiano,-
A stage, where every man must play a part;
And mine a sad one.
-In the twinkling of an eye…
-Love is blind…

The most famous are:

If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?

And of course “a pound of flesh.”

This is a famous phrase. I will just quote myself below:

Added 10/04:Origin of “a pound of flesh”
Here is a more thorough explanation of the origin of the phrase “a pound of flesh” which may be traced back to the Merchant of Venice which was written in the late 1500’s. Shakespeare was thought to have based Merchant partly on a parable about a creditor (with issues) who demands a pound of flesh as payment.

Antonio is the merchant in question who is, at the beginning of the tale, awaiting his ships to return full of merchandise. He is also quick to lend money to his friend Bassanio whenever asked. So, to help Bassanio get the girl of his dreams, Portia, Antonio gets a loan from Shylock knowing that shortly his ships will return and he’ll be flush again. Shylock does not like Antonio because he has not been kind or respectful to him in the past (Antonio has spit at Shylock and called him “dog”) and they are sort of business rivals. Both lend out money but Shylock lends money with high interest while Antonio doesn’t ask for any interest at all. So, Shylock will only lend him the dough with the condition that if it is not paid back in time, Antonio will owe him, Shylock, a pound of flesh.

Shylock says, “…if he should break this day, what should I gain by the exaction of the forfeiture? A pound of man’s flesh, taken from a man, is not so estimable, nor profitable neither, as the flesh of mutton or beef. I say, to buy his favour I offer this friendship: if he will take it, so; if not, adieu.”

Of course, it turns out that Antonio’s business goes bust and Shylock demands his pound of flesh. Even when Bassanio offers to pay back the debt, Shylock insists on Antonio fulfilling the debt himself. There is a trial, and Portia, disguised as a man, acts as Antonio’s lawyer. She is able to lessen the debt to a pound of flesh as long as there’s no blood taken – an impossibility. Also, it is determined that a pound of flesh could not be taken without taking Antonio’s life so Shylock is charged with attempted murder. He gets off but not without having to convert religions (from Judaism to Christianity) and give away all of his money.

So that leaves us once again with the phrase “a pound of flesh” referring to the heavy price of something and also thinking about how both Shylock and Antonio are flawed. But that’s a whole other essay for another time and place.

Added 4/05:
The source: More about the origin of “A Pound of Flesh”
How I came across it: Many thanks to Deborah Soloway for the following contribution from 3/05:

“I work in the field of bankruptcy law and teach to paralegal students. Our textbook, Basic Bankruptcy Law for Paralegals (5th ed. 2004) David L. Buchbinder (Aspen Publishers), contains a short history of bankruptcy law and a discussion of historic systems. Roman republican law allowed a group of creditors to exhibit a debtor in the forum for three days and, if his debts were not redeemed/paid by his friends & family, divide him up into multiple pieces in satisfaction of the debts. There is also evidence that creditors could divide up a corpse and effectively hold the pieces for ransom, since Roman religious practice required the body to remain whole to enter the afterlife. I haven’t read the source material cited by Buchbinder, but I know one of the authors as an able scholar.

I wonder if this might be the original significance of the “pound of flesh”?

Note: I don’t know. But it seems worth noting for further thought and research. Thanks again for letting me post your comment!

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I had the best intentions to go to Film Forum to see the restored print of Breathless this weekend but I’ll have to do it during the week before it closes. But I had a fun week.

Conan O’Brien: The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour
First I went to see Conan at Radio City.

The whole experience was fun. It was a self-selected crowd all a-tingle with excitement.

I waffled on getting a shirt but then I learned part of the proceeds were going to charity which mitigated it for me. I like how my experimental picture came out of my shirt:

Even the opening act was fun and funny contrary to my expectations: Reggie Watts. So that set the mood properly. Then Andy Richter’s voice came on to introduce Conan. Basically, the show was tailor-made to entertain fans of the show. He took his favorite bits and fan favorites and showcased them. He threw in a couple of songs – On the Road Again, The Weight (as an encore) but no Hunk of Burning Love (I missed that). The band (everyone except Max) played through songs rather than just segues. I loved seeing Andy again. You cannot see a blessed thing in this picture but I took it when Conan came on stage in a purple suit worn by Eddie Murphy in Raw. Andy is standing next to him. My view was better than the picture suggests. My camera was not the highest quality. But I wanted to capture the moment. I caught the purpleness of it at least.

Conan made geographically topical comments and jokes about being back in NYC and so close to Rockefeller Center. There was great warmth in the air. He and his crew seemed to be there to show gratitude to the fans and were genuine in their desire to entertain. I had read reviews of the show so I knew there would be an appearance by Triumph via pre-recorded video. The notorious bear got a makeover into a panda. The Walker, Texas Ranger lever was re-named to something and still evoked the biggest laughs. This is when his guest stars came out. Let me think. Maybe they started beforehand. Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart did a silly but boisterous skit involving a dance-off. Vampire Weekend performed a song with Conan playing along. Bill Hader, John Krasinski and Paul Rudd all got to pull the lever. Conan showed his favorite clip of a tiny Haley Joel Osment on Walker, Texas Ranger. It was all very satisfying.

Splice
I had already planned on seeing Splice this weekend but then while I was waiting in line for Conan, I got a free pass. Score! If you don’t know, Splice is about two geneticists played by the very hip Sarah Polley and Adrien Brody who create a creature mixing 10 kinds of animals with human DNA. The trailer suggests it might be horror film but it turned out to be pretty straight-forward sort of Michael Crichton-ish. The science isn’t terribly outlandish. I mean, many cinematic and fictional liberties are taken for entertainment value but it follows a natural development of relationship with the creature. I haven’t seen Adrien Brody in a while and had forgotten how engaging he is on screen. Plus, he got the coolest wardrobe and he wore it well. Sarah Polley seems to have been focusing on her directing career recently. But it was nice to see her again. Some of the creations reminded me of eXistenZ which Sarah Polley was also in but it didn’t quite reach the brilliance of David Cronenberg. Still, it was an entertaining movie. It was more of a sci-fi thriller than horror movie. The main genetically spliced creation was eerily embodied by the the child actor and adult actor who played it. As an audience member, I formed a relationship with it/her as the scientists did on screen. It got a bit outrageous at the end. Also, the plot twists were fun but fairly easy to see from afar. I don’t need to be endlessly surprised so that wasn’t necessarily a negative. Overall, it was a decent watch.

Get Him to the Greek
I got a kick out of Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Russell Brand is pretty funny during his late night appearances. Also, I saw his stand up once and found him funny. He has an interesting approach that teeters on the edge but he seems to have a good sense of what’s funny and is always willing to make fun of himself. On the dvd extras of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, they talked about how good Russell Brand’s improv skills were and also showed clips of him riffing. So I saw promise in the idea of a movie that focused on his character, Aldous Snow. The trailer is pretty funny. But it made me wonder if it was one of the trailers where the funniest bits are squeezed into those 3 minutes while the rest of the movie is just so-so. My expectations were tempered so I was pleasantly surprised by the relative substance of the movie. I mean, it’s not particularly deep but I laughed a lot and would watch it again.

Toy Story 3
I’m so excited to see Toy Story 3 but it doesn’t open until June 18th. I have hope for The A-Team which opens this week.

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I had wanted to see Fela when it opened on Broadway. I heard such glowing reviews. Then I saw a bit of it on Jimmy Fallon and was totally underwhelmed. Given how out of hand Broadway tickets are, and given budgetary constraints, I decided to wait on Fela even though I had a good discount code. Let me find it…oh, it expired 2/28/10. It WAS FE4FANS and ?uestlove put it online for us because he was so blown away by it and wanted to make it easier for us peons to see it. You could try it. I would still see it but I don’t feel as pressed. I don’t deny the draw of Fela’s music. Anyway, then I saw the Wooster Group was putting on North Atlantic again. I think it was my first Wooster Group show. It is worth seeing but having seen it already, I thought I’d look into seeing American Idiot. I didn’t want to pay full price and did a search for a discount code. I found one. Let me find it for you… it is on Broadway Box. So I did enjoy the Green Day album American Idiot so I figured I would enjoy the music at the very least. It exceeded my expectations. At first, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to wrap my head around the Hot Topix inspired wardrobe both on stage and in the audience. It was distracting. But then the talent took over. The cast is amazing, such fantastic voices. The vocal arrangements for these familiar songs were injected with enthusiasm and had a fresh quality. Green Day has managed to stay relevant throughout the years. I noticed the choreography was done by the guy who worked on Black Watch. This was a highly-praised production at St. Ann’s Warehouse from Scotland about the special Scottish regiment that went to Iraq. For me, the choreography was the highlight of the show. The centerpiece where the history of the Black Watch is described through narration, costume changes and choreography stood out in particular. I remember finding it interesting but not as mind-blowing as reviews suggested it would be. Still, Steven Hoggett was perfect for American Idiot. The story is very easy to follow. It takes three friends who take different paths including joining the army and serving in Iraq. The songs lend themselves easily to the story of feeling lost, discontented and disillusioned. It also incorporates songs from 21st Century Breakdown. There were a lot of kids in the audience who seemed to enjoy the show. I think any Green Day fan will certainly appreciate the incredible talent and the creative arrangements. I think kids will like the punk-y quality of the show. I hope it has a nice run and that the tickets are affordable.

Tim Burton Exhibit at MOMA
I had tried to see this exhibit in the fall but it was sold out. It has been doing really well. While I am a fan of Tim Burton, I was pretty much on the fence about making too big of an effort to see it. But everything fell into place one day last week and suddenly, I had a ticket to see the exhibit. It had a lot of cool, personal elements such as the note to Johnny Depp about what Willy Wonka might say about also being edible, the letter Tim Burton wrote in high school accompanying a book he wrote and sent to Disney where he ended up working. I liked how the sketches were torn out of his notebook and still had the ruffles on the edge. I liked seeing his CalArts project. It’s always interesting to see a person’s creative roots. What I did not like was how hot and cramped the exhibition hall felt. I think it could’ve been spread out more to give more respect to the artist and the patrons. But I was glad to have seen it.

New Directors New Films 2010
I do like attending movies at festivals because I get to see movies I wouldn’t have access to otherwise, hear directors and actors talk about their experiences working on these movies and the energy is usually fun. I’m sitting in theaters with equally enthusiastic film buffs. But sometimes I’m let down or plain disgruntled. I think my tastes might run too mainstream for the New Directors New Films festival because I often feel underwhelmed or plain old disappointed by hyped up movies (Old Joy didn’t do it for me – I kept thinking there was a supernatural or thriller aspect to the story but no, it was just about two guys who weren’t really friends anymore going on a hike). Then again, sometimes I’m pleasantly surprised by what I see and want to recommend it to all of my fellow PCA’s (like My Country, My Country). Also, one year, I had tickets to Camp which I couldn’t attend and had to wait until it came out later and LOVED. So, for me, ND/NF is hit or miss. This year, I saw two movies. Both had merit.

Amer Directed by Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani
My favorite part of seeing this movie was hearing the filmmakers introduce the film and then do a Q&A afterwards. They were very interesting and so adorable in their enthusiasm for cinema. For an avant garde, experimental movie, it was fairly accessible. It had a retro-look that was very deliberate and precise. It is a highly-stylized look at three stages in a woman’s life. It is not quite a horror movie although it is inspired by Italian horror movies. It reminded me of Seijin Suzuki too and that Japanese movie I saw recently at IFC called House. The directors explained that they worked carefully on the soundscape of the movie and wanted the audience to feel like it was in the head of the main character. The sound was very interesting and effective. I jumped out of my seat at least once. Amer is not for everyone and it’s not easily watchable. I think I would have to be in the right mindframe to re-watch it and take in the artistic qualities of it fully. Experimental is a good descriptor. If you like experimental movies, I think you would find Amer worth watching.

The Red Chapel Directed by Mads Brügger
North Korea and Cuba are the last bastions of Communism. North Korea has a high media profile because of the nuclear threats, the famine, the idiosyncrasies of dictator Kim Il Sung. I admit, I have seen a bunch of documentaries made in North Korea. It’s perversely fascinating though really sad to learn about this isolated, brainwashed country. The Red Chapel is described as being similar to Borat going to North Korea. I was turned off by the Borat reference. I actually found the Bruno movie funny but Borat was too mean-spirited and… broad maybe? I don’t have anything against broad comedy in general but I guess sometimes I just don’t find it funny. I like the Jackass movies because those guys make fun of themselves rather than others and do it in a creative and funny way. So I worried that The Red Chapel would be too mean-spirited for me. The director made a deal with the DPRK government to do a cultural exchange. He recruited two Korean-Danish comedians, Simon and Jacob, both adoptees from Korean. It was their first trip back to Korea since being adopted, one was 6 months old and the other a child, not sure how old. They put together the worst show ever. At first, I was turned off when the director introduced the movie and said that the performers stage names were Jul and Nosser or Christmas and Testicles. Broad comedy alert. Too stupid and mean for my tastes. So I started watching the movie with a bad taste in my mouth. As it continued, I found it so condescending, I didn’t think I could get over the tone. But then, the real reactions of the comedians, especially the younger one, 19 and not formally diagnosed in the movie but seeming to have cerebral palsy, came through on screen. Over the course of their two weeks, the PTB of this totalitarian state step in to make sure the entire show reflects the right message and right jokes. I have enough background knowledge about visiting the DPRK from the other documentaries I’ve seen and whatever I’ve learned from sources like Team America, etc. Watching the comedians and director encounter these weird scenarios was intriguing enough without the added “comedy” of the forced “irony” as the director narrated. Still, the movie ended up being fascinating and did not have too much forced crassness at the expense of others. I got chills when they were at the DMZ and walked around to the South Korea side and said, wow, this is the first time we’re visiting the land where we were born.

Popcorn Love
While I like to cast a wide net and look for as many different kinds of movie experiences as possible, I’m always drawn to the popcorn movies.

Hot Tub Time Machine
It looks goofy, it is goofy. But it was fun to see the Back to the Future references with Crispin Glover playing a pivotal and comedic role. John Cusack was relaxed and funny, Rob Corddry and Craig Robinson also throwing caution to the wind and letting the jokes wash over them. I enjoyed Clark Duke in the web series he did with Michael Cera and he’s fun to watch in Hot Tub Time Machine as the representative from the Millenium Generation. Altogether, it was a silly but enjoyable movie that had predictable but warm life lessons.

Greenberg
Greenberg isn’t exactly a popcorn movie but it’s very accessible. I saw it after hearing about how great Ben Stiller’s performance is in it. I had seen the trailer many times and found it borderline annoying, too self-aware, too wanting to be clever. But the movie is slower-paced and reasonably easy to identify with, ultra-neuroticism not-withstanding; but everyone’s a little bit neurotic, right? It’s not as alienating as it could’ve been. I liked the wit and story of The Squid and The Whale. I don’t remember the specifics of Margot At the Wedding but I remember not liking it as much as Squid & Whale. Ben Stiller and Greta Gerwig are very interesting to watch and have good chemistry. I’m glad I saw it. I recommend it.

Clash of the Titans 3D
The original Clash of the Titans has a cult following. It has a certain charm especially in the low-budget special effects. The re-make started off slow although Sam Worthington has star quality. I was worried about his skirt/tunic as he ran around. Then he changed into a longer skirt and I was able to rest easier. I admit I kept thinking about Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief because I recently read it and the protagonist is also Perseus. The 3D effects were minimal in Clash of the Titans. I think seeing it without would be fine. The movie definitely picked up and I left feeling fairly satisfied in terms of seeing entertaining mythological action sequences.

On the train
M. E. Kerr gave me When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead to read. She said it was very well written and that she had taught the book in her writing class at Ashawagh Hall. I found it very interesting. It’s a YA book about time travel. But it doesn’t have bells and whistles. It doesn’t have linearity. It is inspired by Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time. A fellow PCA said it was reminiscent of La Jetee which inspired 12 Monkeys.

Lowboy
I first heard of Lowboy in the hilarious Zach Galifianakis video where he role-plays as John Wray. It was strange to read it on the subway as it takes place on the NYC subway system. It’s well-written and very reminiscent of Catcher in the Rye. It’s funny but sad. Lowboy is a teenager who is searching for something intangible while others look for him, worried about what he’ll do next.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Poor Stieg Larsson passed away before he experienced the phenomenal success of his book. I was curious to read the book that sparked so much interest and enthusiasm. I read a fair amount of crime/mystery/thriller books. Having just seen the movie, it was a little strange to start off already having the mystery unraveled. But there was a lot of editing in the movie. It’s a good beach read although I was on the train most of the time. I did sit outside on a deck for part of my reading, with birds chirping and a cool breeze blowing over me. I am curious about the next books in the series and will also see the other Swedish movies when they are released. I can’t believe how perfectly cast the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is in the movie. It’s worth seeing the movie for Noomi Rapace alone.

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Green Zone
The closing night of the Film Comment Selects series featured Green Zone. The trailer basically tells the story. It’s set at the beginning of the war in Iraq. Matt Damon’s character is part of the team searching for WMDs. He follows orders and also questions the results. The movie is fast-paced and kept me engaged. I enjoyed Matt Damon’s energy and performance. He did channel all that Jason Bourne intrigue and strength but in a more everyman kind of way. Paul Greengrass has a good track record for his Bourne Identity movies with Matt Damon and for making fictionalized movies incorporating fact. All of these ingredients result in an entertaining conspiracy thriller that falls in the vein of a couple of similar movies I’ve seen this year about how the war in Iraq came about- In the Loop and Ghost Writer. A fellow Pop Culture Addict noted the theme of the movie seemed dated but the timing didn’t bother me. We know pop culturally speaking that WWII continues to be examined from every which way. Similar stories are told, different stories are told, strategies are analyzed, theories are proposed. I just remembered that there are also recent movies in the vein of The Messenger which I heard was good and that Jake Gyllenhaal -Tobey Maguire movie. Brothers? Yes, Brothers that David Letterman could not stop gushing about. These movies are capturing people’s interest. Green Zone tries to be mainstream about it and succeeds in being an accessible action movie with a compelling protagonist in Matt Damon.

A Behanding in Spokane
It is always a treat to see live theater. It is so expensive in NYC it is hard to justify getting tickets. That’s why it is a nice thing to be able to get discounted tickets. That is what happened with A Behanding in Spokane. I remember that the playwright Martin McDonagh’s The Beauty Queen of Leenane and The Lieutenant of Inishmore received critical acclaim. I didn’t see either. But I did see and like the movie In Bruges. Also, I just watched Sam Rockwell’s amazing performance in Moon. And seeing Christopher Walken on stage was a very intriguing idea. Anthony Mackie was strong in the impressive The Hurt Locker and Zoe Kazan was sweet and cute in Me and Orson Welles. I don’t know enough about the director. Anyway, the stars aligned and I went to see A Behanding in Spokane. It is about a man played by Christopher Walken who is seeking his left hand. He has met a couple played by Zoe Kazan and Anthony Mackie who seem to have a left hand. Sam Rockwell plays the receptionist extraordinaire at the hotel where the transaction is going down. I loved Christopher Walken. He was so funny and charming while still being his quintessential persona. The only thing he didn’t do that I would’ve liked to have seen was tap dance. The Spike Jonze/Fatboy Slim/Weapon of Choice video is one of my all-time favorites. I would’ve loved more Walken and less scenes with Mackie and Kazan. Sam Rockwell has a great stage presence and filled out his role nicely. I’m not quite sure what didn’t work for me with the couple. Their lines were less funny. Their deliveries were on the shrill side. Sure, they were reacting to the circumstances but compared to the other two, they were less interesting to me. So I guess the play was uneven but I really enjoyed the good parts.

Alice in Wonderland IMAX 3D
Usually I can find something cool in a Tim Burton movie. Same with any movie featuring Johnny Depp. I didn’t see Alice in Wonderland opening weekend so I had plenty of time to hear pieces of reviews. I don’t actively read, watch or listen to reviews before I see a movie. But it’s hard to avoid. So I had sufficiently lowered my expectations by the time I saw the movie. People are not very excited about it. I have to say my favorite thing about it was Mia Wasikowska as Alice. She brought a likability to the character through every situation. I also got a kick out of the characters of Wonderland/Underland. They are so iconic. It was fun to see them. Johnny Depp certainly looked the part. He’s a fantastic actor who chooses his roles carefully and perhaps sometimes for his kids. Those contacts looked mighty uncomfortable but he gave the performance a special twist. Overall, the movie is watchable but not a must-see. Still, I was curious and had fun with my fellow PCAs.

Oscar-nominated shorts
I’ve noticed in recent years that an effort has been made before the Academy Awards to make available the nominated shorts for public consumption. I saw that the winner of the Best Animated Short from last year, La Maison en Petits Cubes, was on demand on Sundance so I watched it. I loved the acceptance speech, “Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto.” I’m guessing that it was a comical reference to the production company called “Robot.”

Watch La Maison en Petits Cubes in Animation  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Animated
I watched the 2010 Oscar-nominated Animated Shorts first. I was surprised that a tried and true favorite like Wallace and Gromit could still be considered a contender. That said, it was by far the best short among the bunch. It didn’t win. My least favorite one won, Logorama. I guess technically, it was different but the actual story was pretty empty in my eyes. But the filmmaker seemed earnest enough and clearly has technical talent. Maybe I’ll like his next movie.

Live Action
While I appreciate concise movies, this coming from someone who spent a recent Sunday afternoon watching the incredible A Brighter Summer Day, a 4 hour Taiwanese movie, I rarely get into shorts. So I wasn’t sure if I should put in the time. In the end I did. I don’t have much to say. I could see that the filmmakers had definite visions and a fair amount of money. The production value of all of the movies was really high. I had heard that Kavi was the frontrunner but The New Tenants won. I did wonder why it was Indie-star-studded. The actual story was bleak and detached. Again, it wasn’t for me, but maybe I’ll like the next movie by the filmmaker more.

Be Good Johnny Weir
I just watched the two most recent episodes of Johnny Weir’s show on Sundance, Be Good Johnny Weir. Only one ep left. I watched his Olympics performances with enthusiasm. I was happy for him. He did great and seemed pleased about that despite not placing. It is wild that he is practically over-the-hill at 25 in the world of competitive figure skating. He has so much his professional career left to pursue his other goals. Because I am a recent fan, I know that he wants to go into fashion whole-hog. He wants to go to fashion design school and create lines for everyone, women, men, children and then for the home. I’ll be watching.

Lady Gaga: Telephone
Wow. Not the most conservative vid. Definitely not for the kiddies but with vampires and Gossip Girl in the teen forefront, this vid is hardly a shocker. Still, parents beware. The video on everyone’s lips is Lady Gaga and Beyonce’s Telephone. I guess Thelma and Louise is the best comparison. I like Gaga’s cigarette glasses, Coke can curlers and hats – the giant I’m outta here one and the telephone one. I also like Beyonce’s yellow eyeshadow. This video is a great ad for working out. Everyone looks so fit. I appreciate that Lady Gaga is actually talented and sincere about sharing her creativity. I’m not sure where this vid ranks with her others but it hardly matters. It’s impressive enough that she has the draw to drop a vid and get practically everyone with an internet connection to watch it within days of its release.

Things on simmer
I’m planning on taking a break from my Victorian England reading rampage to read Muriel Barbery’s The Elegance of the Hedgehog before the movie comes out.

I’m also getting ready to see Michel Gondry’s latest movie The Thorn in the Heart (L’Épine dans le coeur) on Monday complete with a Q&A with the amazing Michel Gondry. I will definitely tweet about it!

And I am loving, loving, loving Geronimo Jack’s Beard’s Lost podcast. I typically don’t listen to podcasts because they seem to take a dedication I don’t have including patience for dl’ing new eps and then finding the right time to listen with reasonably undivided attention. This is the first podcast I have listened to from the beginning and look forward to every week. It is a must-listen for us die-hard Lost fans willing to invest time to dwell on episodes scene by scene, line by line, prop by prop.

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