Day 301:Movie Watching at a Minimum

Well, I haven't seen very many movies lately. I have been working a second evening job that puts me working about 14 hours a day (not including transit time). Therefore, I haven't had a lot of spare time to go and watch movies. It kills me that I haven't seen Where the Wild Things Are.

Unfortunately, there is a small television set that gets about 5 channels. I haven't caved into bad habits and started watching it regularly, though. I have been able to watch a couple of the baseball games.

I have been working of piece meal type of work for my etsy store. I have been sewing signatures and folding paper for books. I have also been folding origami cranes for another project for next year--more about that later.

On Sunday, I hope to come into the city and watch a movie. As long as I have time to finish some projects that I need to have completed on October 29th.

Day 286--Whip It

There is so much to like about this movie that you can easily overlook some of the minor hiccups. WhipIt is a look into the life of bored teenagers in a small Texas town and how they try to escape their current existence and find meaning and purpose in their lives.

Ellen Page and Marsha Gay Hardin give stellar performances that will be remembered come awards time. The directing needs some polishing but I can't understand why a first time director would chose to act in the same movie. Drew Barrymore makes some great choices--especially having the guts to let the actors act without dialogue while the camera continues to roll. The effect forces the audience to concentrate on the physical aspects of the performance and it is quite effective. The tension that develops from this lack of dialogue hovers in the air until something is done. Some of the editing leaves a little bit to be desired and the driving scene to Austin with Bliss and Pash is shot so unbelievably badly that you think of the old time sitcoms (e.g., Lucy and Ricky Ricardo on the way to California). I don't know if they ran out of money or if the shot was done post-production, but regardless--it is very amateurish.

If you enjoyed Juno, or movies about teenage angst, or movies about the country kid who makes it good, or movies about mothers and daughters, or movies about daughters and fathers, then you will love this movie.

I rate this movie one watch

Viewed on October 3, 2009 at AMC Empire25 Theaters (NYC).

Day 275--Coco before Chanel

Another opening, another boring show. For someone who lived such a fantastic life, the movie Coco before Chanel does everything it can to prevent you from enjoying the life of a fashion icon of the world.

Granted, the title should have forewarned my expectations. Being the dunderhead that I am, I didn’t even realize that the movie was going to be in French with English subtitles. The self-proclaimed fashionistas in the audience yawned and sighed throughout the movie because nothing new was shown on screen. If you wanted to see a simplistic biopic of the life of Coco Chanel, you would have been better off watching the Lifetime special.

Because the movie ambles along as quickly as the carriage horse opening the movie, Chanel’s designs aren’t even highlighted until the last scene of the movie. Rather on the simplistic side, the movie presents itself so heavy-handedly, I actually groaned a couple of times. In the iconic trip to the sea where Chanel sees the fishermen hauling their catch, the camera pans back and forth between extreme close ups of Coco and the fishermen’s jumpers. This then blacks out until the next see in which Coco is wearing the woman’s version of the same jumper.

While the plot is heavy handed, the cinematography isn’t--it is an absolutely gorgeous movie to watch. The opulence of the countryside, the grandness of scale of the party scenes, and the costumes are stunning. I don’t think that it is worth seeing on the big screen and should be added to your Netflix queue when it is available.

If you are a fan of Chanel or of fashion, there really isn’t anything new to learn from this movie.
I rate this movie three watches.

Viewed on 9/25/09 at Clearview Chelsea Cinema (NYC).

Day 274--Fame

Unfortunately, we won’t remember any of their names. What promised to be a great movie simply turned out to be an extended demo reel for So You Think You Can Dance. What should have been a celebration of high school angst in a high school for performing arts turned out to be clichéd performing arts stereotypes and overdone non-dramatic story lines.

I don’t know how a film about high school students could be so boring but this one. Of course, it will sell well because all of the performing arts people will flock to see it. What the producers don’t realize is that people won’t want to see it more than once because we don’t care about most of the characters.

For those wanting to see a recreation of the original Fame, don’t bother. This is a repurposed Fame for the benefit of the current creative team. The only song that is revisited is Out Here On My Own. The original theme song doesn’t appear until the closing credits. The creative team seemed more interested in making their own lights shine rather than the lights of their unknown stars. Debbie Allen is seen onscreen more than other performers. You see too much of the teachers rather than the students. Also, Debbie Allen’s Afrocentric dance gets a shining moment as does a Wade Robson-esque Freak Carnival scene (straight from SYTYCD).

Unfortunately, this movie is unmemorable and better seen on DVD when it comes out in two weeks.

I rate this movie three watches.

Viewed on 09/25/09 at Clearview Zigfeld Theater (NYC).

BTW, this post represents 3/4ths of a year without cable TV.

Day 265

Only in NYC

I decided to go see a Broadway show earlier this week. I was having a hard time at the office balancing the books and budgets—the numbers just didn’t want to cooperate. I was wearing jeans and a graphic t-shirt. The neckline and sleeves were a little tattered but I decided to go anyway.

When I was sitting in my TKS assigned seat in the Mezzanine, two older women were sitting to my left.

Lady #1: In my day, people just wouldn’t go the theater dressed like that.
Lady# 2: At least he could have put on a dress shirt.
Lady #1: Or a clean T-shirt, one that isn’t frayed at the collar and sleeves.

Realizing that they were talking about me, I decided that I was simply going to ignore them and watch the show. Unfortunately, they kept up their babble for another 3 or 4 minutes. By this time, I was going to throw civility out the door and be a Representative Wilson. I leaned over to the ladies and said in my nicest voice:

“I’m an understudy for the show and I have to watch the show from the seats. I just finished rehearsal. I’m so sorry that I didn’t have time to change.”

They kindly smiled and apologized for their affront and we watched the show. During intermission, we chatted and I made sure to inquire about them enjoying the show. When the show was over, we said our goodbyes and they wished me good luck and asked:

Lady #1: Which part are you the understudy for?
Me: The father
Lady #1: Aren’t you a little heavy to play the father?
Lady #2: (to Lady #1) I’m sure the costumes help, dear.

Day 258--9

Watching 9 is like watching the love child of MC Escher and The Triplets of Belleville. This post-apocalyptic film will rankle some, bore others, and inspire many. While I am tired of our infatuation with the post-apocalyptic theme (which will occur on 12-12-12 according to the trailers of 2012 the movie), this film doesn’t add anything new to the genre of these types of films—but it does add to the genre of animation.

I am very glad to see non-Disneyesque types of saturated colors. The palette of this movie is shades of doom and gloom. When bright colors are used, they are used for a purpose. The drawing is amazing. The animation is special (in one of the opening scenes 9 passes behind a glass and the transparency of the glass is shown. For animation, it is an amazing technique).

The plot is admirable but gets a little treacly with the love story between 9 and 3. What intrigued me the most are the themes and characterizations of the movie. I anticipate many bohemian styled college students sitting around drinking and getting high discussing the symbolism and merits of the movie. Is 1, with his cape and mitre, representative of the Pope? Is the ending and the regeneration of the human population a clarion call for the theory of abiogenesis?

At 80 minutes, this is a concise, no-holds-barred journey to do what is right in the land of the sock-monkey type creations called stitchpunks. I think kids will get bored, the 13-17 year olds (for whom this was designed) will get irked and animation lovers will revel in this movie.

I rate this movie zero watches.
Viewed on 09-09-09 at AMC Empire 25 (NYC)

Day 256

I can’t say that my desire to watch TV hasn’t diminished although I no longer read the newspaper TV listings to see what I am missing. The most difficult part of not watching TV is the inability to converse in the pop culture ramblings of those around me. Questions about Big Brother, the manifestations of Mad Men, the scoring drives of the US Soccer Team—I am now a fish out of water in these conversations.

Additionally, I am looked upon with disdain when I tell people that I don’t have cable. As a gay man, cable television is the latest fashion accessory to be worn with madras shorts, Andrew Christian underwear and oversized sunglasses.

While I do miss watching the Mets baseball games (if when they lose), I also miss the creative shows like Top Chef and Project Runway. I can follow allow on the computer and You Tube has been able to satiate some of my cravings, but I still jones for television.

My boss does allow me access to the television in his office and I do tend to eat at establishments that have television. Similarly, I actually will go to a bar to drink when they play something on the television that I want to see. I have turned the art of eating Chicken McNuggets into twenty minute microbites per McNugget just so I could finish watching the USA vs. El Salvador soccer match.

Hello. My name is Russ and I am a TV addict.