now is an awkward period in time. holidays 2004. merry christmas, happy hanukah, bitchin' kwanzaa to all.
the catastrophic events in the indian ocean have created quite a strange contradiction. images of a snowy, winter holiday inter-spliced with scenes of utter destruction on an exotic, sunny beach seem somewhat surreal.
i was watching the director's commentary for the film elf recently and director jon favreau was describing the $30 million budget as small for a hollywood film, which is an accurate description. not long after the news came that the united states would be sending $35 million in aid to support the destroyed communities. now, i'm aware that the u.s. is getting flack for being "stingy" and i've heard bush's replies and i hope they're reliable, but it is certainly easy to understand how our offer can be seen as stingy when we're willing to spend 3 times this amount of money on worthless entertainment and flashing images.
i do believe in the use of entertainment and in the power of cinema, and this is not meant as a criticism of our private spending habits. however, beyond simply good timing, this coincidence did seem to create an intriguing perspective on current events.
back to being a selfish american now...
i've finally taken the time to do some reading for pleasure for the first time in what seems like forever. a bit of kerouac, some stanislaw lem, and, specifically, "nobody's perfect" by anthony lane. though i've only just started, i appreciate lane's intelligent humor as applied to criticism. for anyone unfamiliar with lane, he's a critic for the new yorker, a british import who likes using big words and refuses to use his thumbs for any sort of review.
on another note, i've just finished watching angels in america, last year's key miniseries from hbo that took home most of the golden globes available for miniseries'. altogether it's a bit long, clocking in at six hours, but it's a well-made piece featuring fantastic acting. i'd certainly recommend it to anyone with six hours of life to waste and a taste for drama.
tomorrow, i should be checking out kinsey, i'm looking forward to that; then comes new years' eve and 2005 is supposedly following soon after. hopefully all will go as well as they can, we shall see...
the catastrophic events in the indian ocean have created quite a strange contradiction. images of a snowy, winter holiday inter-spliced with scenes of utter destruction on an exotic, sunny beach seem somewhat surreal.
i was watching the director's commentary for the film elf recently and director jon favreau was describing the $30 million budget as small for a hollywood film, which is an accurate description. not long after the news came that the united states would be sending $35 million in aid to support the destroyed communities. now, i'm aware that the u.s. is getting flack for being "stingy" and i've heard bush's replies and i hope they're reliable, but it is certainly easy to understand how our offer can be seen as stingy when we're willing to spend 3 times this amount of money on worthless entertainment and flashing images.
i do believe in the use of entertainment and in the power of cinema, and this is not meant as a criticism of our private spending habits. however, beyond simply good timing, this coincidence did seem to create an intriguing perspective on current events.
back to being a selfish american now...
i've finally taken the time to do some reading for pleasure for the first time in what seems like forever. a bit of kerouac, some stanislaw lem, and, specifically, "nobody's perfect" by anthony lane. though i've only just started, i appreciate lane's intelligent humor as applied to criticism. for anyone unfamiliar with lane, he's a critic for the new yorker, a british import who likes using big words and refuses to use his thumbs for any sort of review.
on another note, i've just finished watching angels in america, last year's key miniseries from hbo that took home most of the golden globes available for miniseries'. altogether it's a bit long, clocking in at six hours, but it's a well-made piece featuring fantastic acting. i'd certainly recommend it to anyone with six hours of life to waste and a taste for drama.
tomorrow, i should be checking out kinsey, i'm looking forward to that; then comes new years' eve and 2005 is supposedly following soon after. hopefully all will go as well as they can, we shall see...
last night rented my first henry ray steckler movie. "the incredibly strange creatures who stopped living and became mixed up zombies" i haven't watched it yet. i've read stuff about steckler before, but this is the first time i've seen any of his stuff for rent, on dvd no less. i plan to watch that and again try to deciper eraserhead over the weekend.