One of the best ....

sites on the Internet is failblog.org. Never FAILS to make me laugh!

Crouching Gigi, Sleeping Madison

If you've got a case of the Tuesday Blues, this video should clear that up!

My Boyfriend Made a Film!

In case you want to check it out, go here.

The Revival from morehartfilms on Vimeo.

December

Is here. Which means my dad is another year older today. Wayne's also home today and it'll be rewarding to just relax with him and enjoy the holidays. We're getting a tree, lights, presents. I've got x-mas parties to go to and baking nights all lined up. I like spending the end of the year reflecting on all the changes in my life and being cosy and nostalgic with loved ones. January can be a real bummer sometimes, so it's best to just live it up while you can.

You know what's weird? The expression "friends and loved ones," because, aren't your friends your loved ones, too?

It's the Little Things, Ya Know?

When you work a stressful job, or even if you don't, it's important to have those little things that you do for yourself that make you feel good. I would love to say mine was an extra hour at the gym or some fantastic spa package that included a great massage or even taking a trip somewhere warm every winter, but alas, budget constraints put me more in the realm of monthly nail maintenance. I used to have my nails done regularly a few years ago and loved how clean and put-together it made me feel. The weird thing about having acrylics or gels is that your cuticles look great.

Genius' & Madmen; Little Symphonies for the Kids

Secretly, you'd love to know what it's like ...

So I wish I could tell you that all has been silky smooth, lips as sweet as candy (yes, a Madonna reference), but this stay-cation has been busy, hectic and in some ways like having that 2-day stubble on your leg (who shaves anymore, anyway?)

So, beautiful people, here are some updates on the films and life in general.

Two films I've seen over the last two days had their subjects people who could be seen as both madmen and genius', which begs the question, do you have to be one to be the other? I am inclined to say that for true, like, real out-there mankind life-path altering genius, that, yes, you need to be somewhat mad (see: Einstein, Galieo, Van Gogh, Lennon, Hitler etc ...) and it puts into question all that we as a society classify as "mad" and "mental illness."

So, let's debate those topics in person, okay? The films I saw are We Live in Public and The Agony and Ecstasy of Phil Spector, both of which left me feeling that I live in a very special time in human history and although the apparent ennui of daily life (this is a false sentiment, in truth I feel too anxious and actually wake up hoping for the normalcy and routine I think I see in my friend's lives) but despite my anxiety-driven ennui, it is still easy to forget that we live in a very special time that in some ways is more important that the Middle Ages when the printing press was established and art and literature became a commodity and allowed ideas to travel. We LIVE in a time when we are connected to and by machines to each other. Machines dictate our relationships in some ways to one another, more than a means of "staying in touch," this advancement of technology juxtaposed with the reality of haves and haves-not and the general boredom of our human race to really "do" anything about things like saving the environment, eradicating poverty, solving the mystery behind complex diseases, overcoming racism (trust me, I've failed on all these accounts, too) and I know that there are lots of arguments waiting to be had with that statement alone.

Sooooooo.... We Live in Public left me feeling like I've been sucker-punched and came face-to-face with a true visionary. Putting any doubts aside, I am a fan of Josh Harris, possibly one of the most under-appreciated entrepeuneurs of our time. This is someone who recognized the possibility of the Internet and it's social networking capabilities a decade before the rest of the world. Here we are existing in an age where most people I know are available across multiple platforms, even though they may claim, like me, to not be technologically-savvy. Here I am available on email (multiple sites), Twitter, Facebook, Blogger, Skype, AIM and I know people who also maintain themselves across even more sites and access most of them via their iPhone. And I am someone who doubted whether or not I would actually bother to use this thing called "email" when I first went to university but was finally convinced to embrace it when the person  was dating moved to another country and this was the only means to keep in touch. I was 18 at the time. It's hard to think of anyone being that age, or even 21 when I first started using email regularly without some sort of Web presence (I was also one of the last people out of my friends to own a cell-phone). I hated it at first, because I was felt frustrated by the lack of subtly; I couldn't detect what the person actually meant behind their words. I came from a childhood relying on face-to-face conversations, hours-long phone calls, zines, mix-tapes, punk rock shows, so how could this thing called the Internet make me more connected? In some ways, I think, it has made people like me even more disconnected. I'm out of touch in some areas of interest in my life, not because I'm not interested, but because the technology allows a mass of people to be updated instantly on multiple topics, whereas in the past, conversations, ideas, bands needed to rely on shows and zines to communicate. What once took months now takes a matter of minutes. I just can't keep up. There are too many things I'm interested in to seriously follow just one.

Okay, so, about the movie, Josh Harris is portrayed as a visionary and someone with some serious trauma and PSTD and possible mental health issues. He basically invented the concept of social networking and social marketing and Internet "TV" broadcasting decades before it became a reality (how many of us actually "read" a newspaper anymore? Or, think of it this way, how many of us received the news of Michael Jackson dying from a newspaper or radio or television?). These were deemed "social experiments" and "art projects" by him. Hah! I wish I could say I invented the concept of "Facebook" or "Flcker" and claim it was a farcical art project. Joking aside, he put his "money where his mouth is" (his words) and spent his millions of dot.com money on a social experiment that took 100 people and put them in an underground bunker where everyone was at all times video-taped and broadcast. People had their own pod with their own television set where they could tune into anyone else's pod, or any of the other cameras in the compound. They were there for a month. They were provided with a kitchen where all meals were prepared, a bar and .... a gun range. It was insane watching what people did when they were recorded shitting, eating, fucking with absolutely no privacy. The comment in 1999 was that this concept of "reality TV" did not exist but this is what society was heading for. And ... he was right. Here we are, and I know for old folks like me, this seems crazy, but most of the under-18s do not rely, live or even rely  on a text-based environment anymore. Think about it, you want to look ANYTHING up, you go to "Google," and expect, look for, a textual response, but those under-18s who have always known the digital world? They go to youtube and expect, want, demand a video response. They record video for EVERYTHING. Doubt me? Youtube any topic you can think of and a video comes up. Or someone's video response to someone else's video. How to make pickles? How to tie a bandana? What is angioplasty? There are videos. This isn't even touching the concept of Internet-based role-paying games, shared photo sites, 2nd Life, SIMS etc ... but Josh Harris was correct in predicting that in the future we will be connected via social networking and in fact would base our existence on our "presence" on these sites. See the sad examples of suicides because of cyber-bullying and the resulting law-changes to reflect this growing phenomenon. See also the ability to investigate anybody online even before you meet them.

In some ways I feel lucky that I straddled both the digital-world and the pre-digital world. Heck, I remember Beta and 8-tracks, much like my parents remember the world before television and growing up in a time of war and just after war. Things we can't touch but shape us and all our experiences and form our expectations over our lifetime. We are products of our culture and of our parent's / guardians experiences and it's just so fascinating to think that the youth of today will always have known digital cameras and the reach of the Internet. Will possibly never know the experience of "alienation" or "loneliness" or even "happiness" in the same terms we experience them.

It's interesting because Wayne is working on a film project to document the rise of a subculture, that would have taken years to develop before the Internet, but because people can be informed and up-to-date within days of someone posting a video or advertising an event, the sport or subculture is expanding and developing very quickly. To everything that he is doing, there is this sense of urgency to "keep abreast." It's exhausting and thrilling at the same time.

I would deem this movie, out of my entire VIFF experience, the one film I would recommend everyone to see. 

The Agony and Ecstasy of Phil Spector is a portrait of a musical genius of our time. The film seems to side with Spector as being not-guilty in his homicide trial, and to be honest, after watching the film and spending some time Googling the case, I'm not sure I can be sure he is guilty. Regardless, his musical genius cannot be ignored. This is a statement that needs to be carefully said. His genius is no excuse for his illegal actions, just like Roman Polanski must be held accountable for his rape of a 13-year old.

Spector, much like Josh Harris of We Live in Public, seems desperately trying to form some connection with a family that would not or could not have him. This loner, this rebel who was trying desperately to fit in, is responsible for much of what music is today. Going through a small segment of the catalogue that this man has written and produced, it's hard to imagine what music would be without him; some of  these songs defined a generation, defined a social movement that changed history, and for most people, served as the beginning of their individual love-affair with music (we all have one). The movie covers his trial and some amazing stories behind the seminal songs that dictated not only a generation, but the way music is produced (see John Lennon's Let It Be, Imagine; To Know Him Is to Love Him, You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling; Do Ra Ron Ron; Spanish Harlem; Every Breath I Take; Going to the Chapel; Be My Baby; etc ....

The film touches, albeit briefly, on Spector's fascination with guns and his habit of pointing them at his girlfriends; so whether Lana Clarkson killed herself or whether Spector killed her is really up in the air. And this is where we see Spector as a madman. What drives someone to perhaps murder, but it's interesting that he offers no opinion, no though, no sentiment, in this film at least on how he feels about her death, only how it may impact him. In any case, he is focussed on the trial, but more focussed on the music. And Spector himself makes a point of this, of how the media shapes what we think and remember about people. Do we remember Woody Allen as being a brilliant film-maker or do we think of him as marrying his adopted daughter (actually not HIS adopted daughter, natch), do we remember anything about people but the scandal, whether true and especially if it's not?

The other films I saw were The Maid and The White Ribbon. The Maid can be see as a class study (yes, my darlings, class does still exist whether or not we like to admit it or not) and the "choices" we make when it comes to what defines our personal family. Personally, I feel that my "family" consists of yes, my mother, my father, my brother, but also of my core group of close long-time friends and, even stranger for some, my cats. If a family is a unit I support and depend on then I have to say that social and political elements have put me at odds with most of my biological family, which has put my "chosen" family in such an important position in my life. When I think about major life events: jobs, housing, birthing, marriage, dying, I think of them in terms of how I would negotiate them with my chosen family. My grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins have no say or even presence in these things at all. Simply because they are not physically alive, or on the same continent, or even in the same socio-political-religious mind-frame as me. My traditional family is so at odds with what I believe in, and even my parents have rejected a lot of it, then you are left with no choice but to form your own family, so friends, I'm sure you already know, you mean more to me than imaginable. 

The Maid takes one woman's experience as a servant to a family and the impact it has on her life; she is a Lady Madonna; at once a Mother, yet never given birth, the Judge, the Conspirator, she is one of the family whether you like it or not. I loved this movie and you may not expect a feel-good ending, but there is one that is subtle, which, honestly, is nice to see, because don't we all try to be better people and think we can achieve it if we just do a little change? Like, promise ourselves that we'll recycle, or not gossip as much, or pay more attention to our loved ones, or watch less TV. Well, all those promises count.

I also saw The White Ribbon, which was Saxon through and through (but nothing like the band of the same name, trust me) in the sense that it was minimalist and frank. It was the best black & white film I've seen since ">The Seventh Seal in terms of of using tonal quality, but left the viewer asking whether we were to see this as a generation or just a populace that seemed primed, whether they were were looking for it or not, or war. Because it is an Austrian film, it's hard, and perhaps deliberate, that we are supposed to ask about pre-Nazi relations here. It's disturbing in a magical way that ">Children of the Corn wants to be but never achieves. Even with the sequel. 

Personally, I've had fantastic friends move home, which is amazing. I'm also putting myself under some pressure about what the heck to do with with my life. Just feeling like I could use another week off. Haven't really felt I've had that long at all to bum around home unless it's past midnight!

Ugh

So much to write about, little chickens, but my brain is fried from movies today. Tomorrow, patience. I have a list of movies you shouldn't bother to see.

Trick Bike Video

Was sent this video link. I can't recall what type of bikes these are called off the top of my head, but they have the major shocks on them. Although there are many stylistic elements I'm not a fan of (especially the ultra zoom) I do like how the music helps tell a story. It's like watching a little kid who has finally learned how to walk and now he's figured out he can run all over the place. This guy's enthusiasm is infectious and it's a fun concept to use your urban landscape as one big playground. 

Wonderful Reconnections

I had the most wonderful, albeit long-time overdue, reconnection with an old friend last night. We both went to see Leslie, My Name Is Evil 

Peep Show!

The Great One in the Sky has answered my prayers and delivered to us mere mortals another season on hilarity and uncomfortable human-ness that is Peep Show. Bless you, Oh Mighty One!

Chicago Prostitution Study

Interesting article about prostitution on Chicago.

All caught up

On much needed sleep. Yesterday was insane. So busy and I had cramps most of the night so I was functioning on very little sleep. Some amazing panel discussions yesterday. And since I was deemed capable (seriously, folks, compared to some of the volunteers there, my cat would have been capable) I was asked to be a floor monitor for the whole day! Even though I don't have any personal interest in any aspect of film-making as a career (well, not at this immediate moment anyway), it was fascinating hearing some of the people and the topics discussed. So many similarities across the book publishing and TV / film industry especially with concern to the push and challenge of getting content online and generating revenue from it. Made notes to pass onto Wayne for his project, The Revival, although some of these ideas are too late for this project and frankly he's stressed out enough as it is, so I'll save them for after November. So despite not being able to have one decent cup of tea ALL DAY, I kept myself alert and listened to people's insight and what new filmmakers should do and success stories etc ... The audience was full of a lot of pushy wannabe types who quite obviously thought their film was IT, the thing that EVERYONE needs to see. It was great to see people like Chris Haddock (creator, writer, and executive producer of: Da Vinci’s Inquest, Da Vinci’s City Hall, Intelligence, and The Life) and others bring people down a notch: you will most likely not make a living off of this, you may need to do things like commercials to survive, don't go into a pitch saying you are a "passionate film-maker," not everybody is going to be interested so know you're market, etc ... Someone I know from highschool was there on a panel sharing his success as a film-maker. His approach is very conservative and it's inspiring to see that although we are told to be marketably viable one needs to be up and up on the digital front, Jamie Travis is doing things a little differently. He had one short in VIFF but has (and continues to be) shown at festivals all over. Check him out here and here.

Charlie Kaufman came in and there was a polite mob full of eager budding young film students ready to throw down their ironic-but-not-really page-boy hats and "rumpled" shirts over a puddle if need be. Mr. Kaufman was so wee! I have at least two inches on him! He has the nervous tick thing going, much like Woody Allen and just seems a bundle of distraction, eagerness and anxiety. He was charming and charmed the audience with a story about how he became lost in Stanley Park before heading to the panel and told this relatable story about how eager the doorman of his hotel was to send him on his way around Stanley Park, but when he got outside and realized he had no idea where he was going, that he couldn't go back in to the hotel lest he "disappoint" the doorman. I know we've all been there. I've succumbed to this and have suffered many a poor meal choice, film, day-trip and the odd friendship. So, this is all a metaphor for his "process" of writing. The questions the moderator asked him weren't great and I couldn't tell if Mr. Kaufman was bored or what but he stuck it out and then spent an hour signing things for people who had him pinned between a wall and a door. Poor guy. 

The last panel was on cinematographers and included Frederick Elmes who does all the photography for David Lynch among others. Personally, I think Elmes is fantastic and just love the way he creates mood and tone in Lynch's film. What would Blue Velvet be without that opening scene? Easily my favourite panel of the day.

The rest of the night was spent clearing up, noshing on leftover canapes and drinking wine while re-assembling the place for the movies screening that night. I managed to get out to see two movies after that (I had arrived to work at 7:30 a.m.) with this funny new friend I've got also named Sarah. She's hilarious and basically the only other volunteer deemed as "capable." We saw The Young Victoria and Cooper's Camera

I liked The Young Victoria for the costumes, looking at palace life and the social mores of the day, but altogether the film felt too short. Too much was explained away with text before and after the film about who she was and why she was important. In that sense I felt like I was watching what every Grade 9 student would want to see in order to do some school assignment. I know that they wanted to keep the focus on her when she was young before Albert died and they did a good job showing how the different parties were vying for her, I just felt that they missed out on all the things that was her legacy, namely changing housing conditions for the poor and the working class. I liked all the actors and thought they did a great job, Rupert Friend who plays Prince Albert, especially. I just wanted another ten to twenty minutes of story.

Cooper's Camera was Family Guy-Trailer Park Boys offensive comedy set in the Middle America of 1985 on Christmas. Set decs, hair, make-up and costumes were spot-on. The kids in the film, except for the character of "Wayne" who is the delinquent son just released from prison on a daypass for Christmas, were all over-acting and "Wayne" only escapes this as he has no lines and really no presence in the film. The adults were hilarious and really put themselves into the roles. This is why it reminded me of Trailer Park Boys. It was gritty, hand-held and the actors were not afraid to injure themselves. It was strange watching a film where everyone looks and talks into the camera. Dave Foley has a part and it is not pretty. I cannot believe what they got him to do. Dude's put on weight and not looking good. Maybe a Kid's in the Hall reunion would be the best motivator. As soon as you thought the movie was ending, another crazy horrible thing would happen, so in that case, I guess it really is like the worst family Christmas you can think of. A good end to my long long day.

I stumbled home on my bike and managed to suck back a bowl of ichiban at 1:00 a.m. By the time I arrived home I realized that I had not been by myself for more than two minutes the entire last 18 hours. 

Oh, and Antichrist, I forgot to write about that. I had come home from that movie ranting and raving to Wayne how I thought Lars van Trier obviously hates women. The movie was so graphic and so emasculating (figuratively and literally) and the female character so demonized that it just seemed a frothing raving rant against women. Now, after thinking about it, I realize that although van Trier has obviously issues with women and their control / influence over men, Antichrist, to some, could be seen as a radically feminist film. The female character is so strong, so powerful, so in control that she manages to trick, deceive and betray her husband completely. In this film, women are connected with nature and the powerful unstoppable force that nature is against man. Man is both terrified and in awe of nature. In one scene Dafoe's character repeats that "nature cannot harm us," and his wife, appearing to give in, just nods in agreement. Looking back on that scene, I see that she is agreeing the same way someone would just say "yes, you're right" to end an argument, but thinking in their head, "you are so wrong and you will soon find out." The film is painfully beautifully shot, especially the prologue. The way that light and film speed was used makes this film outstanding, story aside. For me it's hard to judge this film or even the characters in it when I think of the female being representative of Nature. We don't "judge" nature even though in Nature we see the most beautiful and aggressive acts; the miracle of birth, animals preying on other animals, mothers abandoning or eating their young. Death happens in sometimes a very violent and arbitrary way in Nature and we don't question it. When we typically hear of stories of cats abandoning their litter, dogs and lions eating their own young, of us as humans letting animals die on the side of the road, we don't "judge" those involved, we say it is Nature taking her course. We remove ourselves from Nature because we as a human race have bestowed upon ourselves such words as Conscience. Without giving anything away, this is what I think this movie is exploring. It's a hell of a ride and a lot of people left the theatre when I saw it.

VIFF Viewing, Day 1

Super busy day doing a workshop, trying to deliver soup and cold medicine to a friend, dump bags at home, scarf down cold lasagna and bike downtown to see JERMAL (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUY-S7W6yRQ) and then ANTICHRIST (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO-TNfPzh_k). I'm just home now and still processing ANTICHRIST. Some brief cliff notes though:

1) People who budge when over a hundred people are lined up are annoying.

2) I love previews but LOVE that VIFF doesn't have any.

3) The "Art" snack option is listed as a small popcorn and water. I guess "artists" and "art appreciators" would be caught dead with theatre hot-dogs and nachos.

4) ANTICHRIST was disturbing and assaulting. More on this later.

5) Nakedness is really not that big of a deal, in my opinion.

6) There is a guitar pick in my bathroom and I have no idea how it got there.

7) I overheard at least three different people say after ANTICHRIST that they felt "they needed to cleanse themselves with a Disney cartoon." Found this ironic since I think a lot of Disney cartoons fall in the realm of appropriation, racism, imperialism and general white-washing, but hey, whatever floats your boat. But, the songs are good, right?

So, more tomorrow, right now I'm sleeping on the couch since a cat barfed on my side of the bed. Bless their souls. 

TV Land

Today's panels were all TV related (http://www.viff.org/forum/index.htm) and for all of them I was inside shepherding people to their seats and then passing the mike for Q&A. So, basically I got a day-pass. First off, I am constantly astounded by the rudeness of people and how they barge their way into things and cause a disturbance when presenters are speaking (one woman even answered and talked for a minute on her cell-phone) AND then expect these same presenters to spend their time after sessions listening to these people's pitches for some "original idea." A highlight was the presenters knocking down the idea that your idea is "original" and obviously "Big Hollywood" stole it from you. Get over it people, there are perhaps a limited number of ideas that will appeal to a niche or even broad audience, the talent lies all in how you present it and write the characters etc ... LOTS of debate over the Canada Television Fund changing its name and mandate to the Canadian Media Fund and will require all applicants to make their product available across AT LEAST two platforms (e.g. TV and mobile phone or TV and Web etc ...) Canada is apparently wanting to be the leader in this. Problem though, like the music industry, they haven't found a sustainable way to generate revenue. The most exciting panel for me was the one on digital media. It made me feel old and decidedly "un-hip" as they named off the huge huge HUGE web programs. It's all about the "millenials" (those born 1982-2001) who have had digital media in their life since it became widely available. 

As well, it was awesome to see how many women were there in all fields (executives, producers, writers etc ...) inspiring to me coming from the publishing world where the majority of the big-wigs were old, white, straight men. 

On another note, we made lasagna last night and it made for super yummy lunch today. I've almost got my whole VIFF planned out and there is just so much good-looking stuff to see. Especially interested in this ninja film called KAMUI which is described as the "best ninja movie ever made." Whoa, those are some big shoes to fill. There is another one called ANTICHRIST and LESLIE, MY NAME IS EVIL. 

Going to some bake sale at goonies and to watch some film called EARTHLINGS. Then home to bed because I have a workshop tomorrow morning all day for my real job on narrative therapy.

All in a day's work

So, despite physical impediment, I made my way to my VIFF volunteering and battled it out. I used my knack for small talk to help out a new friend make a great connection which will hopefully lead to a job! Done my good deed for the day. 

Dangerous Enterprises

I've decided to start this blog in order to journal and archive my stay-cation this fall where I'll be volunteering at the VIFF and then spending two weeks going to as many movies as I can. This is a dream I've had for ten years and I'm finally doing it! Also, lots of parties, welcome-homes, gardening, cooking and karaoke will happen. Really excited for fall and all the little glories it brings in terms of smells and light quality and sweater-wearing.