Yesterday was awful. After only two days at the new sales gig (selling a noble package of reading programs) I bailed. It's been two months since I got laid off from the last bookkeeping gig, and the sales job was commission-only. After another day of only making $20.00, I felt too stressed out to continue. Every rejection yesterday was like swallowing acid; I was crying after every call ended without a sale. Given doing psychotherapy is such an emotionally intense process, and I've been able to develop a reasonably thick skin in containing other people's often wrenching emotional states, it's strange that someone on the phone in Kennebunk or Charlotte telling me they have to check with their husband first could inflict so much damage.
My shame about money is huge. I'm 36 years old, a masters graduate, and I've never made more than $28K in a year of working. And that $28K was years ago—I'll be lucky if I cleared $10K in '08. Granted, I had student loans til August, but due to the implosion of my grad program, I went without my loan check for four months from December '07 to April of last year. And now I've been unemployed for four out of the seven months since graduation. The recession ain't my fault, I'm aware, and it's certainly not my fault that asshat fired me in the disgusting manner he did. But still I lash at myself: why don't you have any savings? Why couldn't you have made better decisions this year? Why are you repellent to money? After quitting yesterday, I made an appointment with my therapist who I haven't been able to afford to see in the last six months. I went on a bike ride to clear my head, landed at a diner where I ordered, you guessed it, chicken strips, and then had my therapy session, which my shrink provided gratis, bless his soul. I felt like shit all day and into the evening; my eyes were puffy and scratchy from crying. When Astrid came home from work, we had a difficult but emotionally connecting conversation.
Today is much better. I woke up early and embarked on the job search anew. I've eaten healthy food in reasonable amounts, I went to the gym, and made contact with a job lead. I did the dishes, mopped the kitchen floor. Did some blog promo work. Had a brief but grounding afternoon visit with Magna, who shared some almonds and dried apricots with me. I'm feeling confident I'll get some income soon. It can't come soon enough, though.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Sunday, March 08, 2009
2008 Wrap
Finally! This is an unwieldy one. Read at your own peril.
The Stuff of 2008
* Astrid and I celebrated our first Shack-Up-iversary in February of '08, which really means we just celebrated the 2nd one at the time of this publication. Life is good.
* My school year continued to be put on hold through January…February…and clear into March.
* I became stupidly hooked on Facebook. Someone sucker-punch me quick.
* I launched a new blog about fat, food, and health. It's called Ambivalent Fat Girl.
* Rumors began to surface that we would have to move from our beloved TriBeSa apartment.
* Due to the crisis at my school and their failure to give me my financial aid check, I had to get myself a part-time bookkeeping gig to stay afloat while finishing up my master's program.
* Went camping with Calisto & Dave at the beautiful Bodega Dunes campsite. Had an amazing conversation with Calisto about the emergence of religion out of the death anxiety. I had a lot of conversations this year about death anxiety, owing to my lifelong obsession and its culmination in my thesis project.
Bree, out in the perilous and wonderful natural environs.
* With some diligent student organizing efforts, my graduate psychology program was able to transfer to another university in March and thus we began the process of completing our studies.
* Despite the relief of starting classes again after a four-month hiatus, the stress continued as I waited for my student loans til the end of April.
* My bike broke.
* Entertained Astrid's mom and aunt on a rare trip they took north to visit us in our fair City of Sin. In preparation, we cleared out the questionable material from our bookshelves in a shameful exercise in self-censorship. We did manage to take them to a lesbian wedding, which was quite an incredible experience (mazel tov, B & C!)
* The California Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-gender marriage! And in a hope-inducing move, the Court blocked a stay of the decision in order to ensure that marriages could commence.
* Saw DJ graduate from UC Berkeley amid a lot of pomp and circumstance, and, eventually, whiskey. I was hoping that the keynote address by Ishmael Reed was going to be really excellent, but it turns out that even brilliant authors become dumb fountains of "us vs. them" polemics when given a graduation gig.
* Continued to waste a mess of time and accumulate an uncalled for level of stress and anxiety in not writing my thesis. Yep, pretty much two-thirds of 2008 was consumed by thesis anxiety.
* Joined a gym and started "working out" as the yuppies say.
* Participated in the 21st annual San Francisco AIDS Walk.
* I finished my thesis. I. Finished. My. Thesis.
* In August, I graduated from motherfucking grad school! I am now the holder of a Masters degree in Counseling Psychology. Why am I still broke?
* Also in August, I unveiled Vintage Bree, a new feature at Toothpick Labeling, showcasing classic old anecdotes that otherwise might not enter my personal blogosphere.
* Entered my second year of interning at the clinic, learning ever so slightly more about being a psychotherapist.
* Bought a new bike with the help of many kind and generous friends! Humble thanks, folks!
* My nephew Joey got married to his lovely girlfriend D. I cried, happily, through the entire ceremony. Even being someone not drawn to getting married myself, I am continually amazed at how moved I am at weddings. And this one was downright staggering because I've known Joey his whole life, and he is so dear to me. In 2009, I'll also be seeing my niece Halina get hitched to her beau, M.
* Started looking for jobs.
* Vacationed with Astrid in Seattle and the Olympic Peninsula for my dear friend Callie's wedding.
*Freaked out about being unemployed, and then, after a long two months of searching, got a bookkeeping gig at CompuTrap.
* Began an illicit blog promotion campaign, with a reach as far north as Ontario, thanks to Killsbury!
* Proposition 8 passed in California, taking away the all-too recently earned right of queer couples to marry. Fuck you, Church of Latter Day Saints. Fuck you right-wing Christians. You've let your mythology seep into public policy.
* Attended a small reunion BBQ where I got to hang out with folks from my Jewish youth group days, some of whom I hadn't seen for 20 years. Glad to report we're all aging fairly gracefully. And I guess I'm actually getting some use out of Facebook.
* Astrid and I made the stuffing for my family's Thanksgiving celebration!
*Astrid's bike got stolen! From right outside our house. Fuckers!
*Visited Astrid's family for xmas for the second year. Feeling more and more connected and like a part of the family. It's pretty wonderful. At the same time, it's hard to be there for several days during which time it is tacitly, and sometimes glaringly, obvious that many people in Astrid's immediate family think that homosexuality is a sin and that we're going to Hell-in-a-hand basket. While I loved our visit, it was also a joy to come back home to San Francisco, the most abnormal place on Earth, where I feel normal.
The Annual Pop/Culture Reviews:
Obligatory overview of my patented two-pronged rating system:
Prong Numero Uno: The Star System - to convey my idea of the "objective merit" of a piece of work (i.e. if I were a professional critic, these are the ratings I'd give the thing). Wherein…
* = fucking awful
** = a few redeemable moments
*** = worthwhile, with some reservations
**** = exceptional
***** = a rare masterpiece
Prong Nummer Zwei: Ranked-order – in each category, I will rank from top to bottom the book or film or show or album or what have you that I enjoyed most to least. This is how I would justify ranking Howard Jones' Dream Into Action (***) above Nirvana's Nevermind (****). Deal with it!
Books
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (2003) **** If you haven't come across this novel yet, it comes with my strong recommendation. You may at first be put off if you're not into "sci-fi" or "romance," but the novel transcends or at least expands the concept of both categories. Henry has a genetic abnormality that throws him into the past and the future against his will, where he winds up naked, nauseous, and fiercely hungry. Clare meets Henry in his time travels and grows up with him from childhood as he fits and starts into middle age, having known her all along. Niffenegger weaves the story through a chronology that is craftily structured around pivotal emotional events in the lives of the characters, just as we weave our consciousness around mental, if not physical, travels to past and future.
Love's Executioner by Irvin Yalom (1989) **** This master of existential and interpersonal psychotherapy shares ten detailed vignettes of therapy work with clients who are grappling with dilemmas that Yalom sees as stemming from "existence anxiety" or the terror of death. Beautifully written and meaningful to lay people as well as shrinks, Yalom is always brutally honest and even fearless in conveying the sometimes very ugly side of his own countertransference or feeling states aroused by clients. In the case of his work with a very fat woman, for example, his fatphobia is hard to take in, but his ultimate ability to be accountable with his client about his own blind spots is the richest tool he gives his readers.
A General Theory of Love by Thomas Lewis, Fari Amini, and Richard Lannon (2000) ***½ Absorbing book on the neuroscience of emotions, written in an accessible language for anyone interested in the intersection between the mysterious alchemy of love and the physical brain processes that propel it. I would like to give this book five stars, but I have two major critiques. The language and therefore the concepts the authors keep coming back to are very gendered. For virtually every example given, the subject is assumed male, and male pronouns are used. The caretakers in examples about babies' brain development are always female. 
I can't believe we're in the Aughts, and intelligent writers who are challenging the traditions in their field are still using stale old masculinist language. It was so obvious that I actually felt alienated reading it, and I have a pretty high threshold for this sort of thing normally. I will also say that the authors made short shrift of the complexities of emotional trauma when reaching conclusions about how the structure of the brain impacts our psychology. Otherwise, I have to say that this basic explanation about our limbic brains and the bonding we do with one another as a result is really informing my thinking about what is curative about psychotherapy, and why we are so entrenched in the sorts of emotional patterns we find ourselves in.
The Fermata by Nicholson Baker (1994) ***½ Like the musical notation of the title, Arno Strine can stop time in an elongated holding pattern. And what does he do with this extraordinary ability? He doesn't strategize some brilliant plan to conquer or to save the world, he doesn't steal mountains of money, he doesn't interrupt injustice or bring hope to the oppressed. Obsessively detailed and morally ambiguous, Arno Strine stops time and uses the frozen world as his personal masturbatory funhouse. I think Arno would enjoy knowing I was hot and heavy for most of the read; I think Nicholson Baker would enjoy knowing I was hot and bothered.
The Gift of Therapy: An Open Letter to a New Generation of Therapists and Their Patients by Irvin Yalom (2002) ***½ More general and accessible than Love's Executioner, but considerably less emotionally gripping. Yalom's eloquent, bite-sized aphorisms about psychotherapeutic technique read like a sort of Tao Te Ching of what heals in therapy.
Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger (1961) ***½
I had read this in my early twenties, and probably would've given it four stars then. On second read, it is still easy to become immersed in Salinger's precise language and the portrait he paints of the mid-century privileged and neurotic Glass family, characters he developed in several stories during his productive writing years. This time, though, a more mature reading allowed me to absorb the heavy-handedness of the author's spiritual bents, making me realize that my teenage love affair with Salinger (beginning, as is the case with most fans, with The Catcher in the Rye) had been a little doe-eyed. Perhaps there is something intentional in the way Franny and Zooey struggle to live under the strident spiritual mantras of their older brothers Seymour and Buddy, leaving the reader similarly oppressed. If you're interested in reading more of Salinger's oeuvre, including unpublished works, check out this wonderful online collection.
Psychoanalytic Case Formulation by Nancy McWilliams (1999) **** Not a book I'd recommend for laypeople, but a fascinating and useful guide to conceptualizing psychotherapeutic treatment for clinicians. McWilliams provides a way to understand patients' symptoms from a psychological framework for structuring therapeutic interventions, rather than looking at clusters of symptoms simply as ways to justify psychotropic meds. My single critique of the book is that McWilliams could use some consultation around issues of oppression, cultural diversity, and sexual orientation, and therefore improve the usefulness of her otherwise thorough text.
Everybody Into The Pool by Beth Lisick (2005) *** The Bay Area's own Lisick delivers an amusing memoir that juxtaposes her wholesome suburban middle class upbringing in Sunnyvale with her coming of age in decrepit punk warehouses in San Francisco. Some stories hit the mark with emotional depth and specificity (for example, finding a pubic hair from last night's trick between your teeth at the holiday brunch of a family friend) and some stories are merely Mission-hipster clever.
Among Other Things, I've Taken Up Smoking by Aoibheann Sweeney (2007) **½ A Mainer comes of age in New York City with a surrogate family of gay men who were once friends and colleagues of her father's. The realizations she makes about her own life and sexuality and that of her father's come painfully slowly after many predictable turns of plot. It's just interesting enough to pick up for a quick read (maybe on an airplane), and might make a good after-school special on network TV, but the characters and story are never fully realized.
Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1915) **½ I'd wanted to read this early feminist utopian novel for several years, ever since my days of hanging out at the wonderful eponymous bookstore/café in Santa Cruz back in the day (may it rest in peace). The novel is remarkably prescient in its feminist-socialist philosophy, but the writing is super-pedagogic and almost anthropological in style. It has value as an historical piece, but the story is just silly.
Films in the Theater
There Will Be Blood (2007) ***** It is a tall order for most actors and most directors to create a fully realized, relatable character that is greedy to an archetypal level, and as black-hearted as the oil that makes him wealthy. Daniel Day Lewis and director Paul Thomas Anderson accomplish this in Daniel Plainview. Anderson also creates such a precise narrative and visual design of fictitious California desert town Little Boston in the early 1900's that he is able to capture something profound, if not essential, about our cultural and economic oil-dependent fate in 21st century America. Gripping and elegant.
Milk (2008) ***½ This film was right time and right place enough for me to weep almost from start to finish at the screening we caught at the Castro Theatre.
In the wake of the passage of California's Proposition 8, this biopic about slain San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk could only have come at a better time if its release had actually preceded the election and swayed some votes. It is deftly acted by Sean Penn as Milk and Josh Brolin as his fellow supervisor and assassin, Dan White. I'm taking some points off for a screenplay that relies too heavily on voice-over/flashback narration, an easy pitfall from first-time screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (who, as of this writing, won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay anyway. Certainly deserved it more than Juno from '07.)
The Dark Knight (2008) **** Since everyone on the planet has seen this movie, judging by its box office gross, and on top of that, I'm just about hitting my annual movie-reviewing threshold, I'm not gonna devote much ink here. I'll say that it was certainly one of the best films of 2008, arguably the best, and that's coming from a body normally not at all interested in the comic book superhero genre. Yay Christopher Nolan. Rest in peace, Heath.
Wall-E (2008) ***½ The first half hour plays as starkly as a Kubrick film, with its bleak post-environmental apocalypse narrative conveyed mostly though physical action, soundtrack, and the occasional beeps and squawks of the R2-D2ish title character.
Definitely one of the most visionary of all mainstream animated films, with a firm but skillfully woven message about corporate-driven over consumption and environmental devastation. It was hard for me when I saw the film to reconcile the fatphobic forward-projection of humans in their adopted outer space habitat aboard the starship Axiom. There have been several articles on this topic, of note this one from slate making the case that Wall-E's themes suggest obesity is being demonized as part and parcel of mass consumption and of environmental degradation. And here's a counter argument at the expandrive blog that takes exception to slate's premise.
The Diving Bell and The Butterfly (2007) **** Film adaptation of Jean-Dominique Bauby's 1997 memoir. The book had been scribed by an assistant while Bauby, paralyzed by a stroke, dictated by blinking his left eyelid. An amazing story beautifully rendered for the screen by Julian Schnabel.
The Polymath, Or the Life and Opinions of Samuel R. Delany, Gentleman (2007) ** Probably one of the worst documentaries I've seen in terms of production quality and narrative structure; nevertheless, Samuel Delany, prolific sci-fi writer (one of Astrid's favorites) and outspoken gay African American savant is so charming and knowledgeable about the slice of history he embodies that it's satisfying just to listen to him spin his yarns.
Superbad (2007) *** You're about to read three reviews in a row featuring the huggably nerdy Michael Cera. Of the three, I found Superbad to be the most fun, owing much to Cera's grounded sincerity juxtaposed with the gruff immaturity of Jonah Hill's Seth and the newfound prowess of McLovin:
I went in expecting not much more than Porky's for Generation Y, but got both a rollicking party and ultimately earnest story about friendship instead.
Here marks the sharp drop off in enjoyment
Juno (2007) **½ Someone, I don't recall who, said this about Juno: it's a great indie movie for people who don't normally see indie movies. Since it came out in '07, and pretty much everyone saw it and everyone buzzed about it, I'm not gonna add much here you don't already know. I liked Ellen Page's performance, and I always like Mr. Cera. I liked the concept of a movie dealing with a teen pregnancy in a somewhat realistic way, and I also liked the concept of an underdog one-time stripper, first-time screenwriter penning what went on to be an Oscar-winning script, but it shouldn't have been Juno. The always-snarky dialogue, the pat treatment of the option of abortion and of the complexity of emotion that this situation incurs are just a few reasons that Diablo Cody should have lost the Best Original Screenplay award to either Tamara Jenkins for The Savages or Nancy Oliver for Lars and the Real Girl.
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008) **½ Mr. Cera again plays the same nebbishy sweet geek here that he's played in the other two films reviewed above, and as much as I was disappointed by Juno, at least that film had a story to tell. What Nick and Norah deliver is an updated version of the guy-searching-for-girl all nighter we've seen in countless other forms. This version has more gay visibility (Nick is the token straight guy in a (horrible!) homocore band) and a slightly more realized female lead (played sulky-brainy by Kat Dennings).
Knocked Up (2007) **½ I'm all for a film tackling the male point of view in an accidental pregnancy story. But in this one, the women are shrews and the men are schlubs, and the audience is decidedly laughing with the schlubs and at the shrews.
Some funny moments, but not worthy of the hype it got alongside Superbad, the better Judd Apatow production of 2007. Even further than Juno's taboo treatment, the idea of abortion is anathema to the players in Knocked Up, to the point that the word can't even be uttered (a conversation ensues in which a character calls it a "shmashmortion.") See Katha Pollitt's great article from last year for more on this topic.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) **½ – Bugs! Snakes! CGI gophers! Evil Russians! Aggressive Tribal people! You get the idea – it was all predictable Indiana Jones tropes, but fun to look at, and fun to mock. And no one mocks (or socks…ahem) movies better than the Sock Tubers!
Ultimately, it was a hammy, poorly-written and usually boring $158 million Hollywood flick. I think Spielberg and Lucas should take a continuing education workshop with Christopher Nolan before either of them produces another action flick.
The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008) ** Sadly, this was a major disappointment on all fronts. The plot is dull, the motivation for the characters to engage in the action is nonexistent, and the paranormal elements are about as mystifying as pleather. Mulder and Scully share some tender moments, but with such a scant plot, their relationship remains flat. And without giving away too much of the plot, let me just say that villains should always be gay Russians – très de rigueur!
TV Shows (mostly on DVD)
Swingtown, Season One (of One) (2008) *** - the first TV series I've watched during its original run since maybe the last season of Friends. Spotty writing at times, but a fantastic premise, memorable characters, and really fine acting. See my write up here for more juice on this, one of the only TV shows to deal matter-of-factly with open relationships (sadly, destined not to last.)
Angel, Season Five **** The last season of the series was possibly the best in terms of dramatic narrative, putting the Angel Investigations crew in the Wolfram-and-Heart of the beast.
Freaks and Geeks, Season One (of One) ***½ Let's leave it to Bill Haverchuck to tell us what's what:
A weird comedy with deep dramatic leanings, or a drama with a sense of humor too odd for mainstream TV success, Freaks and Geeks gave one season of life and a multitude of dimensions to the kinds of characters that have been routinely stereotyped in Hollywood productions. Perhaps it would have fared better with a refinement of its sometimes awkward meshing of the two elements, but what is the high school experience if not awkward?
Firefly, Season One (of One) ***½ Joss Whedon does it again, this time inventing a world where the Great West meets outer space. No aliens in this 'verse, just a rag tag group of outlaws lookin' for gold in all the wrong places. A bit too quirky to score the ratings, the series was pulled before it got a chance to hit its stride.
30 Rock, Season One **** The much-acclaimed wacky workplace sitcom written and exec-produced by Tina Fey gets off to a frenetic start.
The L Word, Season Four ***½ A lot of good stuff this season: Shane getting serious with Paige while parenting her brother Shay is pretty great. Jenny gets even crazier by exacting an outlandish revenge on Stacy Merkin (quirky Welcome To The Dollhouse star Heather Matarazzo) the critic who panned her book at Curve Mag. Cybill Shepherd is very funny as Bette's newly-deflowered lesbian boss. The Papi and Helena storylines were kind of meh, particularly the tiresome basketball game. The Bette/Jodi thing was hot 'n' cold – I liked that Jodi challenged Bette's anality, but that routine was wash-rinse-repeated a few too many times.
The L Word, Season Five ** Best of season: Dawn Denbo and her lover Cindy; worst: ludicrous romance between Jenny and Nikki.
Documentaries on DVD
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007) **** If you haven't seen this documentary about the epic battle of Donkey Kong champions, run out right now and rent it. Seriously. There has doubtful ever been a more dramatically rendered story about a subject so trivial.
The Times of Harvey Milk (1984) ***** Rented this in preparation for seeing Gus Van Sant's Milk later in the year. This is an essential documentary and a crucial piece of LGBT and social justice history. Can't believe I hadn't seen it before.
The Devil and Daniel Johnston (2005) **** Beautiful and disturbing portrait of Daniel Johnston, a forever underground, bi-polar aesthete who is arguably either a brilliant or awful musician and artist, depending on your tastes.
Who Killed The Electric Car? (2006) *** Illuminating doc about the politics behind the campaign literally to scrap the electric vehicles produced in the 1990s and early Aughts.
Red Without Blue (2007) **½ This doc has a compelling premise, about twins in their twenties from Montana, one of whom is a gay man and one of whom transitions to become female.
The story of their lives clearly has a richness and depth that feels somehow untapped in the film. Perhaps there isn't enough perspective on the life experiences of these siblings and their family to put together a narrative about them just yet. This speaks to a Seven-Up! style longitudinal study about this family, and maybe a better film could be made about them 14 or 21 years from now.
Narrative Films on DVD
Lars and the Real Girl (2007) **** A troubled loner's love for his blow-up doll girlfriend triggers a range of emotions from hilarity to tangible grief, thanks to first-rate direction from Craig Gillespe, afore-mentioned screenwriting by Nancy Oliver, and acting by Ryan Gosling and the exquisite supporting cast [Patricia Clarkson (who it seems I mention in every Wrap because I loooove her), Emily Mortimer, and Paul Schneider].
Persepolis (2007) **** Animated film based on Iranian-French graphic novelist Marjane Satrapi's autobiographical book of the same name. Gorgeous and lush in vision and narrative, this comic book revision's specificity in telling young Marjanes' story of growing up during the Iranian revolution ensures an emotionally evocative and affecting film that bests many of the live-action dramas in theaters in '07.
The Darjeeling Limited (2007) **** For me, this Tennenbaums-reminiscent story of a trio of blind-to-their-privilege brothers attempting to overcome their mutual estrangement (played pitch-perfectly by Owen Wilson, Adrian Brody, and Jason Schwartzman) marks a return to form for writer/director Wes Anderson.
The Savages (2007) **** I'll write here just what you'd expect me to write: Laura Linney and PSH were excellent, and, as noted above, Tamara Jenkin's script and direction were just shy of spot-on. I am a sucker for the right amalgam of drama and understated comedy; this is the stuff of life (and death.)
I've Heard the Mermaids Singing (1987) *** If you're a fan of the Miranda July quirk-fest Me and You and Everyone We Know (and I am) I'd recommend checking out this similarly odd indie film about an eccentric artist finding bliss in life's minutiae, which presaged July's film by nearly twenty years. (Thanks for the tip, Mag.)
I'm Not There (2007) **** Todd Haynes' gorgeous, impressionistic biopic about Bob Dylan, in which six actors play incarnations of the iconic singer/songwriter. To be honest, I was pretty lost during the "Billy the Kid" segment with Richard Gere, but that was the only Haynesian reality-departure, among many in the film, that didn't move me. Otherwise, stunning.
Zodiac (2007) **** David Fincher does an amazing job at crafting a thriller/procedural drama that keeps the viewer on edge while immersing us in the tiny details that make this story human.
The Visitor (2008) ***½ Walter, a depleted Connecticut econ professor (Richard Jenkins) goes back to his NYC apartment for a conference and finds people living in it. The couple, illegal immigrants from Syria and Senegal (Tarek, played by Haaz Sleiman and Zainab, played by Danai Jekesai Gurira) are victims of a housing scam and have nowhere to go, and Walter, apparently uncharacteristically, allows them to stay while they look for another place. A sensitively rendered story both about the current political and bureaucratic climate around immigration and about Walter's journey to rediscover life, I found it less emotionally evocative than the fraught narrative would suggest, but still a strong and engaging film.
Once (2007) ***½ - musicians inspire each other and decide not to fall in love. This rich and understated independent movie achieved such word of mouth success, they made made over $14 million on a film with a budget of $160,000, and scored an Academy Award for Best Original Song in a Motion Picture for Falling Slowly.)
A Clockwork Orange (1971) ***** There is no doubt that this is an artful, influential, and fascinating film, an achievement well above most great films. And, it's disturbing as all get-out. So while the ethical and psychological issues around violence, conformity, and "reforming" criminals by making aggression physically aversive are all immensely compelling and brilliantly drawn, I can't say that I wholeheartedly "enjoyed" watching the movie.
Kamikaze Girls [Shimotsuma monogatari] (2005) **½ - Japanese comedy about the unlikely pairing of two teenage girls—one obsessed with frills and Rococo, the other a surly biker chick head-butting her way through the world.
Half Nelson ***½ A fascinating, realistic film about a high school teacher and junkie (Ryan Gosling) who forges an important connection with a student (Shareeka Epps), through sordid circumstances. The film wrestles with its own self-awareness of moral ambiguity, even as it hands us some contrived moral lessons.
Batman Begins *** (2005) The first of Chris Nolan's revamp of the Batman franchise, and worth seeing, but pales in comparison to its 2008 sequel.
Matewan (1987) ***½ –John Sayles's exceptional film about the 1920 Battle of Matewan, West Virginia, in which a dispute between unionizing coal miners, local police, and detectives hired by the mining company to break up the union erupted in gunfire and resulted in the death of ten men. Rich performances by Chris Cooper and James Earl Jones, and Sayles delivers a narrative that balances the complexity of the relationship between Matewan's poor white and black coal miners in drawing out what is at stake in organizing for better working and living conditions for all.
Barbarella (1968, rerun) **½ – I always have fun watching this movie, which I estimate having seen more than a dozen but less than 20 times. I think this time around, though, I was perhaps the most sober I've ever been while watching the young, nubile Jane Fonda chastely "loving" her way through the galaxy and engaging in countless sexy-astronomatrix wardrobe changes while battling the evil Durand Durand.
And watching this campy sci-fi flick sober means being painfully aware of how ridiculous it is. A must-see if you've never, and do bring the wacky tobacky!
Serenity (2005) **½ - being that I wasn't a hardcore Firefly fan while the series was actually on the air, I wasn't privy to the fan-driven campaign to get the studio to agree to make a feature length movie based on the prematurely-yanked Joss Whedon TV series. So, in light of that, and even as a fan of the show, I probably have more to be critical about than a fan who was in the thick of the excitement that this movie actually got made. It was pretty disappointing.
Girlfight (2000) *** - A girl from the projects wants to box. Michelle Rodriguez, in her first role, delivers a strong performance, and the sensitive, realistic narrative is handled deftly by writer/director Karyn Kusama.
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999, rerun) ***½ It's rather disturbing that this film made it onto the EW Sexiest Movies Ever list. Sure, Jude Law is easy on the eyes, but it's not terribly sexy to see him get brained by Matt Damon in a rowboat.
Pink Flamingos (1972, rerun) *** You've seen it, and if you haven't, just be prepared for both hilarity and nausea. This may have been the 20th time I've seen the movie, and (dare I say) perhaps it was the last.
Black Sheep (2006) ** – genetically mutated sheep take over the New Zealand countryside and start feeding on human flesh!
This Is England (2006) *** – A young boy falls in with skinheads in a small English town in 1983. Really nice, and by "nice" I mean disturbing, acting job by the young Thomas Turgoose, who'll be one to watch for in the coming years.
Flight of the Navigator (1986) ** Having never seen the movie before, I had zero nostalgia to bring into my adult revival experience; from this perspective, it's not so hot.
Cloverfield (2008) **½ – It's like The Blair Witch Project meets-Godzilla-meets-young NYC douche bags.
I was shocked by the ending of the movie, not by the scary monster, but by the abrupt ending to the doomed love story, frozen in the rubble under a bridge in "US-447, area formerly known as Central Park."
Yuppies roam the streets of New York
While the protagonist's film-long search for his longtime friend and recent lover was cliché, there was something satisfying about the kind of nihilistic statement the film seems to be making that in the end it's impossible to redeem oneself through love. Meditating on this, I gave the movie that extra half star.
Michael Clayton (2007) *** – I found this Clooney legal thriller to be substantially less than the hype it got. Tom Wilkinson did deliver a wonderful performance as a brilliant lawyer who freaks out in equal parts from going off his bipolar meds and from his own gnawing conscience. Tilda Swinton was great, but I was surprised that her limited role actually won the supporting actress Oscar. Aside from those performances, the movie was predictable and geriatricly paced.
Midnight Madness (1980, rerun) ** I once loved this wacky college comedy about an all-night scavenger hunt through the streets of L.A., featuring a 13 year-old Michael J. Fox, Archetypal Hollywood Nerd Eddie Deezen and a brief cameo from Paul Reubens as a disgruntled arcade proprietor. 
The premise and the atmosphere of the movie are really fun, but it certainly doesn't hold up over time, particularly due to the very cheap "laugh at the fat kid" humor and the god-awfully formulaic dialogue.
Whole New Thing (2005) **½ - a precocious 13 year old Canadian boy who looks like a lanky Harry Potter has a crush on his 40-something male English teacher. I wanted this movie to be good, but it's pretty tedious.
Sex And the City – The Movie (2008) ** What a stinker. And for this, all the hype about "women's power at the box office."
Deep Throat (1972) ** – Our viewing was prompted by an early episode of Swingtown, in which the main character, Susan, goes to a private screening of the infamous porn movie in support of star Harry Reems's legal defense fund. The infamous "art"-porn movie is pretty bizarre to watch, full of big-dick face-fucking ("deep throat" provided by Linda Lovelace) to the sound of random background burbling. Sorta psychedelic, always hokey.
One Missed Call (2008) * – good god, this was a bad movie. A horror flick with such a flatness of emotion and nonsensical plot that absolutely no suspense was created. The principle character, played by Shannyn Sossamon had exactly two emotional expressions: predictable fear and bored bafflement. Bored and baffled, indeed, was my feeling by the picture's end. Wouldn't even recommend it under the "so bad it's good" ironic viewing category. Pretty much just bad.
The Playlist
Maybe a few words here and there, otherwise, just ranked.
New Releases:
Magnetic Fields - Distortion (2008) **** Key words: indie; ironic humor; gay; fuzzy guitars; alcohol; Stephin Merritt.
New Pornographers Challengers (2008) ***½ Key words: indie pop; power pop; supergroups; quirky lyrics.
Sloan - Parallel Play (2008) *** Key words: indie pop; power pop; Canada; nerd rock.
R.E.M. Accelerate (2008) *** I agree with the fanfare that this is R.E.M.'s best new album in a decade, but even so, I found Accelerate to be just north of okay, with about three great tracks. See this review by George at MIOHHS for a good summary.
R.E.M. with their new drummer, Stephen Colbert.
Mountain Goats Heretic Pride (2008) *** - also, a couple fantastic tracks, like this one:
…but mostly just kinda okay, which is always a bummer from one of your favorite acts. Key words: indie; low-fi; folk; literary.
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks Real Emotional Trash (2008) *** Key words: indie-meets classic rock; Pavement; ironic humor.
Releases New to Me:
Electrelane - The Power Out (2004) ***** - this has quickly become one of my favorite albums of all time. Keywords: post-rock; Stereolab-influenced; Velvet Underground-influenced; Brighton; women artists; shoegaze; alt rock.
Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs, Vol. 1 (1999) **** Key words: melancholy lyrics; ironic humor; synth; 80's-influenced; indie rock.
Stereolab - Switched On (1992) **** Key words: shoegaze; alt rock; French; Velvet Underground-influenced; electronic; female vocals.
X Los Angeles (1980) **** - I'm so glad to have X finally in my life, after years of not ge
tting around to listening to them. Cheers, Exene & Jon! Key words: L.A. punk; roots rock; literary; play it loud!
Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain (1994) **** Key words: indie; alt; noise; punk-influenced; ironic humor.
Magnetic Fields - Get Lost (1995) ****
Stephen Malkmus - Stephen Malkmus (2001) ****
Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted (1992) ****
Mekons Fear and Whiskey (1985) ***½ Great middle-period album from the band if you're interested in checking them out. Key words: Leeds; punk; post-punk; roots/country rock; alcohol; progressive politics.
Arcade Fire - Funeral (2004) ***½ Key words: indie/alt; art rock; Talking Heads-influenced; Modest Mouse-influenced; dirgy; Montreal.
Grandaddy - Under the Western Free Way (1997) ***½ Key words: Modesto; post rock; synth; indie.
All Natural Lemon and Lime Flavors – Straight Blue Line (2000) ***½ Key words: shoegaze; Stereolab-influenced; My Bloody Valentine-influenced.
New York Dolls - New York Dolls (1973) ***1/2 Key words: punk; pre-punk; CBGB; cross dressing.
Mojave 3 - Spoon and Rafter (2003) ***½ Key words: indie-pop; shoegaze; low-fi.
Other music I acquired in 2008; not really ranked, 'cept stars.
Radiohead – Hail To the Thief (2003) ***1/2
Pavement - Wowie Zowie (1995) ***
X Wild Gift (1981) ***
TV On The Radio (2004) *** - Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes
King Crimson Beat (1982) ***
TV On The Radio (2003) Young Liars (EP) **
TV On The Radio (2006) (n/r) Return To Cookie Mountain
X (1982) (n/r) Under the Big Black Sun
Live Shows
Magnetic Fields, 2/29/08 - Herbst Theatre ***** - one of the most gorgeous shows I've ever attended.
Patton Oswalt, 8/10/08 – Cobb's Comedy Club ***½
Sondre Lerche, 8/26/08 – The Great American Music Hall ***½
Certified Blues Band, 3/8/08 – Rockit Room *** From Santa Cruz – good stuff.
Mountain Goats, 3/1/08 – The Independent *** - hyper arrangements, obnoxious audience members, too many Noise Pop bands resulted in a short performance. I've seen 'em under better conditions, and they're amazing. Also, one of their openers, David Dondero, was just embarrassing. He has a decent voice and guitar picking style, but his songwriting is really horrid.
Oh my god. I think I'm done!
The Stuff of 2008
* Astrid and I celebrated our first Shack-Up-iversary in February of '08, which really means we just celebrated the 2nd one at the time of this publication. Life is good.
* My school year continued to be put on hold through January…February…and clear into March.
* I became stupidly hooked on Facebook. Someone sucker-punch me quick.* I launched a new blog about fat, food, and health. It's called Ambivalent Fat Girl.
* Rumors began to surface that we would have to move from our beloved TriBeSa apartment.
* Due to the crisis at my school and their failure to give me my financial aid check, I had to get myself a part-time bookkeeping gig to stay afloat while finishing up my master's program.
* Went camping with Calisto & Dave at the beautiful Bodega Dunes campsite. Had an amazing conversation with Calisto about the emergence of religion out of the death anxiety. I had a lot of conversations this year about death anxiety, owing to my lifelong obsession and its culmination in my thesis project.Bree, out in the perilous and wonderful natural environs.
* With some diligent student organizing efforts, my graduate psychology program was able to transfer to another university in March and thus we began the process of completing our studies.
* Despite the relief of starting classes again after a four-month hiatus, the stress continued as I waited for my student loans til the end of April.
* My bike broke.
* Entertained Astrid's mom and aunt on a rare trip they took north to visit us in our fair City of Sin. In preparation, we cleared out the questionable material from our bookshelves in a shameful exercise in self-censorship. We did manage to take them to a lesbian wedding, which was quite an incredible experience (mazel tov, B & C!)* The California Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-gender marriage! And in a hope-inducing move, the Court blocked a stay of the decision in order to ensure that marriages could commence.
* Saw DJ graduate from UC Berkeley amid a lot of pomp and circumstance, and, eventually, whiskey. I was hoping that the keynote address by Ishmael Reed was going to be really excellent, but it turns out that even brilliant authors become dumb fountains of "us vs. them" polemics when given a graduation gig.
* Continued to waste a mess of time and accumulate an uncalled for level of stress and anxiety in not writing my thesis. Yep, pretty much two-thirds of 2008 was consumed by thesis anxiety.* Joined a gym and started "working out" as the yuppies say.
* Participated in the 21st annual San Francisco AIDS Walk.
* I finished my thesis. I. Finished. My. Thesis.
* In August, I graduated from motherfucking grad school! I am now the holder of a Masters degree in Counseling Psychology. Why am I still broke?
* Also in August, I unveiled Vintage Bree, a new feature at Toothpick Labeling, showcasing classic old anecdotes that otherwise might not enter my personal blogosphere.
* Entered my second year of interning at the clinic, learning ever so slightly more about being a psychotherapist.
* Bought a new bike with the help of many kind and generous friends! Humble thanks, folks!
* My nephew Joey got married to his lovely girlfriend D. I cried, happily, through the entire ceremony. Even being someone not drawn to getting married myself, I am continually amazed at how moved I am at weddings. And this one was downright staggering because I've known Joey his whole life, and he is so dear to me. In 2009, I'll also be seeing my niece Halina get hitched to her beau, M.
* Started looking for jobs.
* Vacationed with Astrid in Seattle and the Olympic Peninsula for my dear friend Callie's wedding.
*Freaked out about being unemployed, and then, after a long two months of searching, got a bookkeeping gig at CompuTrap.
* Began an illicit blog promotion campaign, with a reach as far north as Ontario, thanks to Killsbury!
* Proposition 8 passed in California, taking away the all-too recently earned right of queer couples to marry. Fuck you, Church of Latter Day Saints. Fuck you right-wing Christians. You've let your mythology seep into public policy.* Attended a small reunion BBQ where I got to hang out with folks from my Jewish youth group days, some of whom I hadn't seen for 20 years. Glad to report we're all aging fairly gracefully. And I guess I'm actually getting some use out of Facebook.
* Astrid and I made the stuffing for my family's Thanksgiving celebration!
*Astrid's bike got stolen! From right outside our house. Fuckers!
*Visited Astrid's family for xmas for the second year. Feeling more and more connected and like a part of the family. It's pretty wonderful. At the same time, it's hard to be there for several days during which time it is tacitly, and sometimes glaringly, obvious that many people in Astrid's immediate family think that homosexuality is a sin and that we're going to Hell-in-a-hand basket. While I loved our visit, it was also a joy to come back home to San Francisco, the most abnormal place on Earth, where I feel normal.
The Annual Pop/Culture Reviews:
Obligatory overview of my patented two-pronged rating system:
Prong Numero Uno: The Star System - to convey my idea of the "objective merit" of a piece of work (i.e. if I were a professional critic, these are the ratings I'd give the thing). Wherein…
* = fucking awful
** = a few redeemable moments
*** = worthwhile, with some reservations
**** = exceptional
***** = a rare masterpiece
Prong Nummer Zwei: Ranked-order – in each category, I will rank from top to bottom the book or film or show or album or what have you that I enjoyed most to least. This is how I would justify ranking Howard Jones' Dream Into Action (***) above Nirvana's Nevermind (****). Deal with it!Books
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (2003) **** If you haven't come across this novel yet, it comes with my strong recommendation. You may at first be put off if you're not into "sci-fi" or "romance," but the novel transcends or at least expands the concept of both categories. Henry has a genetic abnormality that throws him into the past and the future against his will, where he winds up naked, nauseous, and fiercely hungry. Clare meets Henry in his time travels and grows up with him from childhood as he fits and starts into middle age, having known her all along. Niffenegger weaves the story through a chronology that is craftily structured around pivotal emotional events in the lives of the characters, just as we weave our consciousness around mental, if not physical, travels to past and future.
Love's Executioner by Irvin Yalom (1989) **** This master of existential and interpersonal psychotherapy shares ten detailed vignettes of therapy work with clients who are grappling with dilemmas that Yalom sees as stemming from "existence anxiety" or the terror of death. Beautifully written and meaningful to lay people as well as shrinks, Yalom is always brutally honest and even fearless in conveying the sometimes very ugly side of his own countertransference or feeling states aroused by clients. In the case of his work with a very fat woman, for example, his fatphobia is hard to take in, but his ultimate ability to be accountable with his client about his own blind spots is the richest tool he gives his readers.
A General Theory of Love by Thomas Lewis, Fari Amini, and Richard Lannon (2000) ***½ Absorbing book on the neuroscience of emotions, written in an accessible language for anyone interested in the intersection between the mysterious alchemy of love and the physical brain processes that propel it. I would like to give this book five stars, but I have two major critiques. The language and therefore the concepts the authors keep coming back to are very gendered. For virtually every example given, the subject is assumed male, and male pronouns are used. The caretakers in examples about babies' brain development are always female. 
I can't believe we're in the Aughts, and intelligent writers who are challenging the traditions in their field are still using stale old masculinist language. It was so obvious that I actually felt alienated reading it, and I have a pretty high threshold for this sort of thing normally. I will also say that the authors made short shrift of the complexities of emotional trauma when reaching conclusions about how the structure of the brain impacts our psychology. Otherwise, I have to say that this basic explanation about our limbic brains and the bonding we do with one another as a result is really informing my thinking about what is curative about psychotherapy, and why we are so entrenched in the sorts of emotional patterns we find ourselves in.
The Fermata by Nicholson Baker (1994) ***½ Like the musical notation of the title, Arno Strine can stop time in an elongated holding pattern. And what does he do with this extraordinary ability? He doesn't strategize some brilliant plan to conquer or to save the world, he doesn't steal mountains of money, he doesn't interrupt injustice or bring hope to the oppressed. Obsessively detailed and morally ambiguous, Arno Strine stops time and uses the frozen world as his personal masturbatory funhouse. I think Arno would enjoy knowing I was hot and heavy for most of the read; I think Nicholson Baker would enjoy knowing I was hot and bothered.The Gift of Therapy: An Open Letter to a New Generation of Therapists and Their Patients by Irvin Yalom (2002) ***½ More general and accessible than Love's Executioner, but considerably less emotionally gripping. Yalom's eloquent, bite-sized aphorisms about psychotherapeutic technique read like a sort of Tao Te Ching of what heals in therapy.
Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger (1961) ***½I had read this in my early twenties, and probably would've given it four stars then. On second read, it is still easy to become immersed in Salinger's precise language and the portrait he paints of the mid-century privileged and neurotic Glass family, characters he developed in several stories during his productive writing years. This time, though, a more mature reading allowed me to absorb the heavy-handedness of the author's spiritual bents, making me realize that my teenage love affair with Salinger (beginning, as is the case with most fans, with The Catcher in the Rye) had been a little doe-eyed. Perhaps there is something intentional in the way Franny and Zooey struggle to live under the strident spiritual mantras of their older brothers Seymour and Buddy, leaving the reader similarly oppressed. If you're interested in reading more of Salinger's oeuvre, including unpublished works, check out this wonderful online collection.
Psychoanalytic Case Formulation by Nancy McWilliams (1999) **** Not a book I'd recommend for laypeople, but a fascinating and useful guide to conceptualizing psychotherapeutic treatment for clinicians. McWilliams provides a way to understand patients' symptoms from a psychological framework for structuring therapeutic interventions, rather than looking at clusters of symptoms simply as ways to justify psychotropic meds. My single critique of the book is that McWilliams could use some consultation around issues of oppression, cultural diversity, and sexual orientation, and therefore improve the usefulness of her otherwise thorough text.
Everybody Into The Pool by Beth Lisick (2005) *** The Bay Area's own Lisick delivers an amusing memoir that juxtaposes her wholesome suburban middle class upbringing in Sunnyvale with her coming of age in decrepit punk warehouses in San Francisco. Some stories hit the mark with emotional depth and specificity (for example, finding a pubic hair from last night's trick between your teeth at the holiday brunch of a family friend) and some stories are merely Mission-hipster clever.
Among Other Things, I've Taken Up Smoking by Aoibheann Sweeney (2007) **½ A Mainer comes of age in New York City with a surrogate family of gay men who were once friends and colleagues of her father's. The realizations she makes about her own life and sexuality and that of her father's come painfully slowly after many predictable turns of plot. It's just interesting enough to pick up for a quick read (maybe on an airplane), and might make a good after-school special on network TV, but the characters and story are never fully realized.
Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1915) **½ I'd wanted to read this early feminist utopian novel for several years, ever since my days of hanging out at the wonderful eponymous bookstore/café in Santa Cruz back in the day (may it rest in peace). The novel is remarkably prescient in its feminist-socialist philosophy, but the writing is super-pedagogic and almost anthropological in style. It has value as an historical piece, but the story is just silly.Films in the Theater
There Will Be Blood (2007) ***** It is a tall order for most actors and most directors to create a fully realized, relatable character that is greedy to an archetypal level, and as black-hearted as the oil that makes him wealthy. Daniel Day Lewis and director Paul Thomas Anderson accomplish this in Daniel Plainview. Anderson also creates such a precise narrative and visual design of fictitious California desert town Little Boston in the early 1900's that he is able to capture something profound, if not essential, about our cultural and economic oil-dependent fate in 21st century America. Gripping and elegant.
Milk (2008) ***½ This film was right time and right place enough for me to weep almost from start to finish at the screening we caught at the Castro Theatre.
In the wake of the passage of California's Proposition 8, this biopic about slain San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk could only have come at a better time if its release had actually preceded the election and swayed some votes. It is deftly acted by Sean Penn as Milk and Josh Brolin as his fellow supervisor and assassin, Dan White. I'm taking some points off for a screenplay that relies too heavily on voice-over/flashback narration, an easy pitfall from first-time screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (who, as of this writing, won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay anyway. Certainly deserved it more than Juno from '07.)
The Dark Knight (2008) **** Since everyone on the planet has seen this movie, judging by its box office gross, and on top of that, I'm just about hitting my annual movie-reviewing threshold, I'm not gonna devote much ink here. I'll say that it was certainly one of the best films of 2008, arguably the best, and that's coming from a body normally not at all interested in the comic book superhero genre. Yay Christopher Nolan. Rest in peace, Heath.
Wall-E (2008) ***½ The first half hour plays as starkly as a Kubrick film, with its bleak post-environmental apocalypse narrative conveyed mostly though physical action, soundtrack, and the occasional beeps and squawks of the R2-D2ish title character.
Definitely one of the most visionary of all mainstream animated films, with a firm but skillfully woven message about corporate-driven over consumption and environmental devastation. It was hard for me when I saw the film to reconcile the fatphobic forward-projection of humans in their adopted outer space habitat aboard the starship Axiom. There have been several articles on this topic, of note this one from slate making the case that Wall-E's themes suggest obesity is being demonized as part and parcel of mass consumption and of environmental degradation. And here's a counter argument at the expandrive blog that takes exception to slate's premise.The Diving Bell and The Butterfly (2007) **** Film adaptation of Jean-Dominique Bauby's 1997 memoir. The book had been scribed by an assistant while Bauby, paralyzed by a stroke, dictated by blinking his left eyelid. An amazing story beautifully rendered for the screen by Julian Schnabel.
The Polymath, Or the Life and Opinions of Samuel R. Delany, Gentleman (2007) ** Probably one of the worst documentaries I've seen in terms of production quality and narrative structure; nevertheless, Samuel Delany, prolific sci-fi writer (one of Astrid's favorites) and outspoken gay African American savant is so charming and knowledgeable about the slice of history he embodies that it's satisfying just to listen to him spin his yarns.Superbad (2007) *** You're about to read three reviews in a row featuring the huggably nerdy Michael Cera. Of the three, I found Superbad to be the most fun, owing much to Cera's grounded sincerity juxtaposed with the gruff immaturity of Jonah Hill's Seth and the newfound prowess of McLovin:
I went in expecting not much more than Porky's for Generation Y, but got both a rollicking party and ultimately earnest story about friendship instead.
Here marks the sharp drop off in enjoyment
Juno (2007) **½ Someone, I don't recall who, said this about Juno: it's a great indie movie for people who don't normally see indie movies. Since it came out in '07, and pretty much everyone saw it and everyone buzzed about it, I'm not gonna add much here you don't already know. I liked Ellen Page's performance, and I always like Mr. Cera. I liked the concept of a movie dealing with a teen pregnancy in a somewhat realistic way, and I also liked the concept of an underdog one-time stripper, first-time screenwriter penning what went on to be an Oscar-winning script, but it shouldn't have been Juno. The always-snarky dialogue, the pat treatment of the option of abortion and of the complexity of emotion that this situation incurs are just a few reasons that Diablo Cody should have lost the Best Original Screenplay award to either Tamara Jenkins for The Savages or Nancy Oliver for Lars and the Real Girl.
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008) **½ Mr. Cera again plays the same nebbishy sweet geek here that he's played in the other two films reviewed above, and as much as I was disappointed by Juno, at least that film had a story to tell. What Nick and Norah deliver is an updated version of the guy-searching-for-girl all nighter we've seen in countless other forms. This version has more gay visibility (Nick is the token straight guy in a (horrible!) homocore band) and a slightly more realized female lead (played sulky-brainy by Kat Dennings).Knocked Up (2007) **½ I'm all for a film tackling the male point of view in an accidental pregnancy story. But in this one, the women are shrews and the men are schlubs, and the audience is decidedly laughing with the schlubs and at the shrews.
Some funny moments, but not worthy of the hype it got alongside Superbad, the better Judd Apatow production of 2007. Even further than Juno's taboo treatment, the idea of abortion is anathema to the players in Knocked Up, to the point that the word can't even be uttered (a conversation ensues in which a character calls it a "shmashmortion.") See Katha Pollitt's great article from last year for more on this topic.Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) **½ – Bugs! Snakes! CGI gophers! Evil Russians! Aggressive Tribal people! You get the idea – it was all predictable Indiana Jones tropes, but fun to look at, and fun to mock. And no one mocks (or socks…ahem) movies better than the Sock Tubers!
Ultimately, it was a hammy, poorly-written and usually boring $158 million Hollywood flick. I think Spielberg and Lucas should take a continuing education workshop with Christopher Nolan before either of them produces another action flick.
The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008) ** Sadly, this was a major disappointment on all fronts. The plot is dull, the motivation for the characters to engage in the action is nonexistent, and the paranormal elements are about as mystifying as pleather. Mulder and Scully share some tender moments, but with such a scant plot, their relationship remains flat. And without giving away too much of the plot, let me just say that villains should always be gay Russians – très de rigueur!
TV Shows (mostly on DVD)
Swingtown, Season One (of One) (2008) *** - the first TV series I've watched during its original run since maybe the last season of Friends. Spotty writing at times, but a fantastic premise, memorable characters, and really fine acting. See my write up here for more juice on this, one of the only TV shows to deal matter-of-factly with open relationships (sadly, destined not to last.)
Angel, Season Five **** The last season of the series was possibly the best in terms of dramatic narrative, putting the Angel Investigations crew in the Wolfram-and-Heart of the beast.
Freaks and Geeks, Season One (of One) ***½ Let's leave it to Bill Haverchuck to tell us what's what:
A weird comedy with deep dramatic leanings, or a drama with a sense of humor too odd for mainstream TV success, Freaks and Geeks gave one season of life and a multitude of dimensions to the kinds of characters that have been routinely stereotyped in Hollywood productions. Perhaps it would have fared better with a refinement of its sometimes awkward meshing of the two elements, but what is the high school experience if not awkward?
Firefly, Season One (of One) ***½ Joss Whedon does it again, this time inventing a world where the Great West meets outer space. No aliens in this 'verse, just a rag tag group of outlaws lookin' for gold in all the wrong places. A bit too quirky to score the ratings, the series was pulled before it got a chance to hit its stride.30 Rock, Season One **** The much-acclaimed wacky workplace sitcom written and exec-produced by Tina Fey gets off to a frenetic start.
The L Word, Season Four ***½ A lot of good stuff this season: Shane getting serious with Paige while parenting her brother Shay is pretty great. Jenny gets even crazier by exacting an outlandish revenge on Stacy Merkin (quirky Welcome To The Dollhouse star Heather Matarazzo) the critic who panned her book at Curve Mag. Cybill Shepherd is very funny as Bette's newly-deflowered lesbian boss. The Papi and Helena storylines were kind of meh, particularly the tiresome basketball game. The Bette/Jodi thing was hot 'n' cold – I liked that Jodi challenged Bette's anality, but that routine was wash-rinse-repeated a few too many times.
The L Word, Season Five ** Best of season: Dawn Denbo and her lover Cindy; worst: ludicrous romance between Jenny and Nikki.Documentaries on DVD
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007) **** If you haven't seen this documentary about the epic battle of Donkey Kong champions, run out right now and rent it. Seriously. There has doubtful ever been a more dramatically rendered story about a subject so trivial.
The Times of Harvey Milk (1984) ***** Rented this in preparation for seeing Gus Van Sant's Milk later in the year. This is an essential documentary and a crucial piece of LGBT and social justice history. Can't believe I hadn't seen it before.
The Devil and Daniel Johnston (2005) **** Beautiful and disturbing portrait of Daniel Johnston, a forever underground, bi-polar aesthete who is arguably either a brilliant or awful musician and artist, depending on your tastes.Who Killed The Electric Car? (2006) *** Illuminating doc about the politics behind the campaign literally to scrap the electric vehicles produced in the 1990s and early Aughts.
Red Without Blue (2007) **½ This doc has a compelling premise, about twins in their twenties from Montana, one of whom is a gay man and one of whom transitions to become female.
The story of their lives clearly has a richness and depth that feels somehow untapped in the film. Perhaps there isn't enough perspective on the life experiences of these siblings and their family to put together a narrative about them just yet. This speaks to a Seven-Up! style longitudinal study about this family, and maybe a better film could be made about them 14 or 21 years from now.Narrative Films on DVD
Lars and the Real Girl (2007) **** A troubled loner's love for his blow-up doll girlfriend triggers a range of emotions from hilarity to tangible grief, thanks to first-rate direction from Craig Gillespe, afore-mentioned screenwriting by Nancy Oliver, and acting by Ryan Gosling and the exquisite supporting cast [Patricia Clarkson (who it seems I mention in every Wrap because I loooove her), Emily Mortimer, and Paul Schneider].
Persepolis (2007) **** Animated film based on Iranian-French graphic novelist Marjane Satrapi's autobiographical book of the same name. Gorgeous and lush in vision and narrative, this comic book revision's specificity in telling young Marjanes' story of growing up during the Iranian revolution ensures an emotionally evocative and affecting film that bests many of the live-action dramas in theaters in '07.The Darjeeling Limited (2007) **** For me, this Tennenbaums-reminiscent story of a trio of blind-to-their-privilege brothers attempting to overcome their mutual estrangement (played pitch-perfectly by Owen Wilson, Adrian Brody, and Jason Schwartzman) marks a return to form for writer/director Wes Anderson.
The Savages (2007) **** I'll write here just what you'd expect me to write: Laura Linney and PSH were excellent, and, as noted above, Tamara Jenkin's script and direction were just shy of spot-on. I am a sucker for the right amalgam of drama and understated comedy; this is the stuff of life (and death.)
I've Heard the Mermaids Singing (1987) *** If you're a fan of the Miranda July quirk-fest Me and You and Everyone We Know (and I am) I'd recommend checking out this similarly odd indie film about an eccentric artist finding bliss in life's minutiae, which presaged July's film by nearly twenty years. (Thanks for the tip, Mag.) I'm Not There (2007) **** Todd Haynes' gorgeous, impressionistic biopic about Bob Dylan, in which six actors play incarnations of the iconic singer/songwriter. To be honest, I was pretty lost during the "Billy the Kid" segment with Richard Gere, but that was the only Haynesian reality-departure, among many in the film, that didn't move me. Otherwise, stunning.
Zodiac (2007) **** David Fincher does an amazing job at crafting a thriller/procedural drama that keeps the viewer on edge while immersing us in the tiny details that make this story human.
The Visitor (2008) ***½ Walter, a depleted Connecticut econ professor (Richard Jenkins) goes back to his NYC apartment for a conference and finds people living in it. The couple, illegal immigrants from Syria and Senegal (Tarek, played by Haaz Sleiman and Zainab, played by Danai Jekesai Gurira) are victims of a housing scam and have nowhere to go, and Walter, apparently uncharacteristically, allows them to stay while they look for another place. A sensitively rendered story both about the current political and bureaucratic climate around immigration and about Walter's journey to rediscover life, I found it less emotionally evocative than the fraught narrative would suggest, but still a strong and engaging film.Once (2007) ***½ - musicians inspire each other and decide not to fall in love. This rich and understated independent movie achieved such word of mouth success, they made made over $14 million on a film with a budget of $160,000, and scored an Academy Award for Best Original Song in a Motion Picture for Falling Slowly.)
A Clockwork Orange (1971) ***** There is no doubt that this is an artful, influential, and fascinating film, an achievement well above most great films. And, it's disturbing as all get-out. So while the ethical and psychological issues around violence, conformity, and "reforming" criminals by making aggression physically aversive are all immensely compelling and brilliantly drawn, I can't say that I wholeheartedly "enjoyed" watching the movie.
Kamikaze Girls [Shimotsuma monogatari] (2005) **½ - Japanese comedy about the unlikely pairing of two teenage girls—one obsessed with frills and Rococo, the other a surly biker chick head-butting her way through the world.Half Nelson ***½ A fascinating, realistic film about a high school teacher and junkie (Ryan Gosling) who forges an important connection with a student (Shareeka Epps), through sordid circumstances. The film wrestles with its own self-awareness of moral ambiguity, even as it hands us some contrived moral lessons.
Batman Begins *** (2005) The first of Chris Nolan's revamp of the Batman franchise, and worth seeing, but pales in comparison to its 2008 sequel.
Matewan (1987) ***½ –John Sayles's exceptional film about the 1920 Battle of Matewan, West Virginia, in which a dispute between unionizing coal miners, local police, and detectives hired by the mining company to break up the union erupted in gunfire and resulted in the death of ten men. Rich performances by Chris Cooper and James Earl Jones, and Sayles delivers a narrative that balances the complexity of the relationship between Matewan's poor white and black coal miners in drawing out what is at stake in organizing for better working and living conditions for all.Barbarella (1968, rerun) **½ – I always have fun watching this movie, which I estimate having seen more than a dozen but less than 20 times. I think this time around, though, I was perhaps the most sober I've ever been while watching the young, nubile Jane Fonda chastely "loving" her way through the galaxy and engaging in countless sexy-astronomatrix wardrobe changes while battling the evil Durand Durand.
And watching this campy sci-fi flick sober means being painfully aware of how ridiculous it is. A must-see if you've never, and do bring the wacky tobacky!
Serenity (2005) **½ - being that I wasn't a hardcore Firefly fan while the series was actually on the air, I wasn't privy to the fan-driven campaign to get the studio to agree to make a feature length movie based on the prematurely-yanked Joss Whedon TV series. So, in light of that, and even as a fan of the show, I probably have more to be critical about than a fan who was in the thick of the excitement that this movie actually got made. It was pretty disappointing.
Girlfight (2000) *** - A girl from the projects wants to box. Michelle Rodriguez, in her first role, delivers a strong performance, and the sensitive, realistic narrative is handled deftly by writer/director Karyn Kusama.The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999, rerun) ***½ It's rather disturbing that this film made it onto the EW Sexiest Movies Ever list. Sure, Jude Law is easy on the eyes, but it's not terribly sexy to see him get brained by Matt Damon in a rowboat.
Pink Flamingos (1972, rerun) *** You've seen it, and if you haven't, just be prepared for both hilarity and nausea. This may have been the 20th time I've seen the movie, and (dare I say) perhaps it was the last.Black Sheep (2006) ** – genetically mutated sheep take over the New Zealand countryside and start feeding on human flesh!
This Is England (2006) *** – A young boy falls in with skinheads in a small English town in 1983. Really nice, and by "nice" I mean disturbing, acting job by the young Thomas Turgoose, who'll be one to watch for in the coming years.
Flight of the Navigator (1986) ** Having never seen the movie before, I had zero nostalgia to bring into my adult revival experience; from this perspective, it's not so hot.
Cloverfield (2008) **½ – It's like The Blair Witch Project meets-Godzilla-meets-young NYC douche bags.
I was shocked by the ending of the movie, not by the scary monster, but by the abrupt ending to the doomed love story, frozen in the rubble under a bridge in "US-447, area formerly known as Central Park."Yuppies roam the streets of New York
While the protagonist's film-long search for his longtime friend and recent lover was cliché, there was something satisfying about the kind of nihilistic statement the film seems to be making that in the end it's impossible to redeem oneself through love. Meditating on this, I gave the movie that extra half star.
Michael Clayton (2007) *** – I found this Clooney legal thriller to be substantially less than the hype it got. Tom Wilkinson did deliver a wonderful performance as a brilliant lawyer who freaks out in equal parts from going off his bipolar meds and from his own gnawing conscience. Tilda Swinton was great, but I was surprised that her limited role actually won the supporting actress Oscar. Aside from those performances, the movie was predictable and geriatricly paced.
Midnight Madness (1980, rerun) ** I once loved this wacky college comedy about an all-night scavenger hunt through the streets of L.A., featuring a 13 year-old Michael J. Fox, Archetypal Hollywood Nerd Eddie Deezen and a brief cameo from Paul Reubens as a disgruntled arcade proprietor. 
The premise and the atmosphere of the movie are really fun, but it certainly doesn't hold up over time, particularly due to the very cheap "laugh at the fat kid" humor and the god-awfully formulaic dialogue.Whole New Thing (2005) **½ - a precocious 13 year old Canadian boy who looks like a lanky Harry Potter has a crush on his 40-something male English teacher. I wanted this movie to be good, but it's pretty tedious.
Sex And the City – The Movie (2008) ** What a stinker. And for this, all the hype about "women's power at the box office."
Deep Throat (1972) ** – Our viewing was prompted by an early episode of Swingtown, in which the main character, Susan, goes to a private screening of the infamous porn movie in support of star Harry Reems's legal defense fund. The infamous "art"-porn movie is pretty bizarre to watch, full of big-dick face-fucking ("deep throat" provided by Linda Lovelace) to the sound of random background burbling. Sorta psychedelic, always hokey.One Missed Call (2008) * – good god, this was a bad movie. A horror flick with such a flatness of emotion and nonsensical plot that absolutely no suspense was created. The principle character, played by Shannyn Sossamon had exactly two emotional expressions: predictable fear and bored bafflement. Bored and baffled, indeed, was my feeling by the picture's end. Wouldn't even recommend it under the "so bad it's good" ironic viewing category. Pretty much just bad.
The Playlist
Maybe a few words here and there, otherwise, just ranked.
New Releases:
Magnetic Fields - Distortion (2008) **** Key words: indie; ironic humor; gay; fuzzy guitars; alcohol; Stephin Merritt.
New Pornographers Challengers (2008) ***½ Key words: indie pop; power pop; supergroups; quirky lyrics.
Sloan - Parallel Play (2008) *** Key words: indie pop; power pop; Canada; nerd rock.
R.E.M. Accelerate (2008) *** I agree with the fanfare that this is R.E.M.'s best new album in a decade, but even so, I found Accelerate to be just north of okay, with about three great tracks. See this review by George at MIOHHS for a good summary.
R.E.M. with their new drummer, Stephen Colbert.
Mountain Goats Heretic Pride (2008) *** - also, a couple fantastic tracks, like this one:
…but mostly just kinda okay, which is always a bummer from one of your favorite acts. Key words: indie; low-fi; folk; literary.
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks Real Emotional Trash (2008) *** Key words: indie-meets classic rock; Pavement; ironic humor.
Releases New to Me:
Electrelane - The Power Out (2004) ***** - this has quickly become one of my favorite albums of all time. Keywords: post-rock; Stereolab-influenced; Velvet Underground-influenced; Brighton; women artists; shoegaze; alt rock.Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs, Vol. 1 (1999) **** Key words: melancholy lyrics; ironic humor; synth; 80's-influenced; indie rock.
Stereolab - Switched On (1992) **** Key words: shoegaze; alt rock; French; Velvet Underground-influenced; electronic; female vocals.
X Los Angeles (1980) **** - I'm so glad to have X finally in my life, after years of not ge
tting around to listening to them. Cheers, Exene & Jon! Key words: L.A. punk; roots rock; literary; play it loud!Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain (1994) **** Key words: indie; alt; noise; punk-influenced; ironic humor.
Magnetic Fields - Get Lost (1995) ****
Stephen Malkmus - Stephen Malkmus (2001) ****
Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted (1992) ****
Mekons Fear and Whiskey (1985) ***½ Great middle-period album from the band if you're interested in checking them out. Key words: Leeds; punk; post-punk; roots/country rock; alcohol; progressive politics. Arcade Fire - Funeral (2004) ***½ Key words: indie/alt; art rock; Talking Heads-influenced; Modest Mouse-influenced; dirgy; Montreal.
Grandaddy - Under the Western Free Way (1997) ***½ Key words: Modesto; post rock; synth; indie.
All Natural Lemon and Lime Flavors – Straight Blue Line (2000) ***½ Key words: shoegaze; Stereolab-influenced; My Bloody Valentine-influenced.
New York Dolls - New York Dolls (1973) ***1/2 Key words: punk; pre-punk; CBGB; cross dressing.
Mojave 3 - Spoon and Rafter (2003) ***½ Key words: indie-pop; shoegaze; low-fi.
Other music I acquired in 2008; not really ranked, 'cept stars.
Radiohead – Hail To the Thief (2003) ***1/2
Pavement - Wowie Zowie (1995) ***
X Wild Gift (1981) ***
TV On The Radio (2004) *** - Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes
King Crimson Beat (1982) ***
TV On The Radio (2003) Young Liars (EP) **
TV On The Radio (2006) (n/r) Return To Cookie Mountain
X (1982) (n/r) Under the Big Black Sun
Live Shows
Magnetic Fields, 2/29/08 - Herbst Theatre ***** - one of the most gorgeous shows I've ever attended.
Patton Oswalt, 8/10/08 – Cobb's Comedy Club ***½
Sondre Lerche, 8/26/08 – The Great American Music Hall ***½
Certified Blues Band, 3/8/08 – Rockit Room *** From Santa Cruz – good stuff.
Mountain Goats, 3/1/08 – The Independent *** - hyper arrangements, obnoxious audience members, too many Noise Pop bands resulted in a short performance. I've seen 'em under better conditions, and they're amazing. Also, one of their openers, David Dondero, was just embarrassing. He has a decent voice and guitar picking style, but his songwriting is really horrid.
Oh my god. I think I'm done!
Tilda Swinton is poly!
Is this news to anyone? I had no idea. It's fucking awesome. I love it when actors/celebs whose work I love turn out to have common political or social values with me and are outspoken and unapologetic about it. In this case, Tilda Swinton, English actor-extraordinaire, is in a relationship of almost 20 years with Scottish artist John Byrne, with whom she has two kids, and is also shagging a man she's "become very fond of," German artist Sandro Kopp. Evidently her partner has another lover as well, and everyone's talking about it openly, Swinton even telling the press that this is the best thing for the kids. This is brilliant!
Monday, March 02, 2009
Ambivalent about Ambivalence
It's been about, well, pretty much exactly, a year since I started this blog (among the proliferation of blogs I feel somehow compelled to maintain). I've only written about 20 entries, though, and I'm wondering if I'll continue to be vigilant and brave enough to keep this one up. I'm toying with the idea of re-posting my AFG entries over at Toothpick Labeling and just making the weight/health issue part of the umbrella of that main blog. There's a way in which it feels kind of compartmentalized over here by its lonesome, and I fear that my physical health is already over-compartmentalized in reality; it doesn't serve me to virtually wall it off as well. On the other hand, giving the subject of my weight, the state of my diet and exercise, and the emotional issues all tied up therein, its own forum, free from the clutter of other obsessions (relationships, trivial nonsense, the daily grind, et al) may be only proper for allowing myself the space to explore the space I take up.
All this to say, I haven't written anything here since Thanksgiving, and now it's fucking March, 2009, and I weigh about 6-7 pounds more than I did this time last year when I started this thing and declared that I wanted to lose a bit of weight. What has happened in the last year?
- I started this blog, in an effort to become more mindful about this topic in my life.
- I joined a gym and got into a fairly regular exercise regimen for, say, about three months. Guess what: the last time I went to the gym and the last time I blogged here were roughly the same day, marked by the annual turkey feast of gluttony.
- I've been biking way less than I was, when compared with my biking of two to three years ago. This mostly owes to the changes in my daily schedule that were brought on by being in grad school, and then my internship starting, and then my grad program transferring to a very un-bike-friendly location, and then three out of the last six months being both unemployed (read: unmotivated and depressed) and kind of soggy outside. And, oh, my bike broke and I went about a month to two months without one.
- my patellofemoral syndrome is really acting up lately, and my whole body feels out of whack. (In addition my my left knee, I'm feeling chronic dull discomfort in my left hip, lower back aches, neck stiffness, and occasional tingling in my right shoulder/arm which seem to be related to the back and neck tightness.) All these physical ills would improve with more exercise, even if I don't lose any weight.
- Less work = less money, which means I can't go to a chiropractor for the above issues.
- Less money theoretically should mean an upturn toward healthier eating, since Astrid and I have been cooking at home more. And we got gifted six months of the organic box delivery, so we've had a load of fresh veggies in the house, too. The other piece of this is that Astrid went vegetarian in July, so we've been cooking way less meat in the house, though I still do when I'm on my own for some meals. I don't know if the net impact of all this is that I'm eating better or not. The jury's still out.
So it hasn't all been bad, it's just been a lot to handle emotionally in the last year, and eating too much is my big coping mechanism, so there you go. Hmm...that makes me think that keeping this blog alive for a while may yet help me, in that I can always shoot out a quick entry instead of grabbing the chips and salsa.
Anyway, guess I'll keep AFG around. There are a number of topics I'm tossing around for possible future entries; I just have to motivate myself. We'll see how it goes.
Thanks for reading...if you're still out there!
All this to say, I haven't written anything here since Thanksgiving, and now it's fucking March, 2009, and I weigh about 6-7 pounds more than I did this time last year when I started this thing and declared that I wanted to lose a bit of weight. What has happened in the last year?
- I started this blog, in an effort to become more mindful about this topic in my life.
- I joined a gym and got into a fairly regular exercise regimen for, say, about three months. Guess what: the last time I went to the gym and the last time I blogged here were roughly the same day, marked by the annual turkey feast of gluttony.
- I've been biking way less than I was, when compared with my biking of two to three years ago. This mostly owes to the changes in my daily schedule that were brought on by being in grad school, and then my internship starting, and then my grad program transferring to a very un-bike-friendly location, and then three out of the last six months being both unemployed (read: unmotivated and depressed) and kind of soggy outside. And, oh, my bike broke and I went about a month to two months without one.
- my patellofemoral syndrome is really acting up lately, and my whole body feels out of whack. (In addition my my left knee, I'm feeling chronic dull discomfort in my left hip, lower back aches, neck stiffness, and occasional tingling in my right shoulder/arm which seem to be related to the back and neck tightness.) All these physical ills would improve with more exercise, even if I don't lose any weight.
- Less work = less money, which means I can't go to a chiropractor for the above issues.
- Less money theoretically should mean an upturn toward healthier eating, since Astrid and I have been cooking at home more. And we got gifted six months of the organic box delivery, so we've had a load of fresh veggies in the house, too. The other piece of this is that Astrid went vegetarian in July, so we've been cooking way less meat in the house, though I still do when I'm on my own for some meals. I don't know if the net impact of all this is that I'm eating better or not. The jury's still out.
So it hasn't all been bad, it's just been a lot to handle emotionally in the last year, and eating too much is my big coping mechanism, so there you go. Hmm...that makes me think that keeping this blog alive for a while may yet help me, in that I can always shoot out a quick entry instead of grabbing the chips and salsa.
Anyway, guess I'll keep AFG around. There are a number of topics I'm tossing around for possible future entries; I just have to motivate myself. We'll see how it goes.
Thanks for reading...if you're still out there!
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