A Few Words About Zodiac
David Fincher’s Zodiac is absolutely haunted by the specter of technology and by the present-day confidence we have in its objectivity.
Recent Developments
Today is August 16th, which means an entire month has passed since my last post here. I believe that’s a first in the six-year history of Long Pauses.
P. Adams Sitney on Film Bloggers
“The other day I was talking to a group of younger filmmakers about a current situation I simply cannot understand. There seems to be a tremendous revitalization of avant-garde filmmaking now, but there’s absolutely no one publishing anything about it.”
Early Lynch
Love and death are ethical and metaphysical issues for Lynch, but they’re bound up in biology, too. Human flesh and organic processes are mysterious, unreliable, and frightening in these films. You can practically smell the decay.
Can I Go Home Now?
Watching this video it occurs to me that, instead of the presidency, this guy would have been much happier if he’d inherited a West Texas Chrysler dealership. I have to admit that I more or less supported Bush’s immigration plan. It’s the first time in six-and-a-half years I’ve been able to say that about a White House policy.
A Toast to Cinephilia!
A total trainwreck of a day had suddenly been redeemed by a simple act of kindness — or acts of kindness, as, first, Girish was looking out for me and then other members of the Cinematheque staff (projectionist Alexi Manis most of all) were, I’m sure, inconvenienced by the sudden change of plans.
Friday Five: Want-To-See Concerts
What are your Top 5 To-See Concerts?
Mine’s Pretty, Too
No staging was involved. My desk really is that neat, much to the chagrin of my coworkers, who stop in from time to time to shake their heads and to joke about leaving bits of scrap paper behind.
The Friday Five: DeLillo
In celebration of the release of Falling Man, which I plan to begin reading tonight, and inspired by James Tata’s post, I’m bringing back the long lost “Friday Five”: My Favorite Don DeLillo Novels
Colossal Youth (2006)
Nearly all of the press coverage of Colossal Youth has been accompanied by the same low-angle shot of Ventura, the film’s protagonist. He’s an elderly man, tall and thin. In this particular image, we see little of his face — just one eye peering over his right shoulder. The photo is dominated, instead, by the stark lines and sharp angles of a newly-constructed, State-funded tenement high-rise that blots out the sky behind him.
The End and the Beginning (2006)
“We want to hear stories,” director Eduardo Coutinho says early in this film, which is built almost entirely from interviews he conducted over a two-week period in Paraiba, a backlands town in in the northeast of Brazil. Specific stories. Intimate, personal stories.
SFIFF 2007
This will be my second trip to SFIFF, and I’m really excited about my lineup. I’ll get a second shot at a few TIFF favorites (Colossal Youth and Private Fears in Public Places), I’ll get to see a couple that I missed the first time around (Daratt, Opera Jawa, and The Island), and, of course, there will be several new discoveries. I’m especially excited about Forever, the latest from Heddy Honigmann, who will be in town to receive the Golden Gate Persistence of Vision Award.
Mix CD: It’s Beautiful Now
I made this mix for a group of friends, nearly all of whom are about a half-generation older than I am. We all grew up listening to the same music, though. They bought vinyl in the new releases bin; I saw the reunion tours.
What Are You Reading?
A few words on a few of the books I’ve been enjoying lately.
That Narrative Drive
Eye tracking technology now allows us to create “heat maps” of visual spaces. It’s of particular use to those of us with an interest in website layout and navigation. The image above is from a recent study that compares the markedly different ways that psychologists (left) and artists (right) look at photographs.
The Politics of Form
Peter Watkins in a 1981 interview with Scott MacDonald (A Critical Cinema vol. 2), discussing the television miniseries Roots (if the quote seems jerky and repetitive, it’s because I mashed together snippets from several pages).
The Day Job (Part 2)
Redesigning the UT Knoxville front page was the first step in an on-going overhaul of the university’s web presence. Step two went into effect today, when I officially released the design template for all colleges, departments, and units. Conceptually, this design was actually the greater challenge — much to my surprise.
March Madness Pick ‘Em
I’ve created a group at Yahoo Sports (the “Dziga Vertov Group,” naturally) and invite all interested parties to join the fun. Fill out your bracket, then test your mettle against other film bloggers and Long Pauses readers. If you want to play, leave your email address in the comments or drop me a private note, and I’ll send you the group number and password.
My Favorite Films (2007 Edition)
According to Your Movie Database, I last compiled a list of my 20 favorite films almost exactly four years ago. I’ve seen nearly 700 more since then, so I thought it was time to give it another go.
Coolest Wife Ever (part 17)
And, yes, these were taken on the set of the Phillip Fulmer, Bruce Pearl, and Pat Summitt shows.
Why Hillary Ain’t on My Short List
Have you learned that it’s not okay to allow fear — including fear for your career in politics — to herd you along with the crowd.
Why It’s Been So Quiet Around Here
My office at work is fairly small. Windowless. Tidy. Lit by three underpowered lamps. Spartan. The back wall is dominated by a large dry-erase board that, for the past four months, has been covered in brown scribbles, which is a kind way to describe my handwriting. Sometime back in the fall I wrote myself a long to-do list on the board, and in the weeks since I have slowly but steadily crossed off each item. A brown stroke through each brown scribble. On Wednesday morning, just before 7 am, I erased the board.
Godard’s “Paradise”
A throwaway observation: The many reviewers who have described act 3 of Notre Musique as “pastoral” and “lyrical” are projecting their own desires onto it.
By the Time It Gets Dark
First great show of 2007: Lambchop and Yo La Tengo. Unfortunately, YLT’s last visit to Knoxville was memorable for reasons having little to do with the amazing music that was played that night. But they… By the Time It Gets Dark
YouTube (Instead of) Memory
Here’s an odd clip I just stumbled upon. I witnessed that exact event after stepping out of a film at TIFF this year. It was in the Paramount Theater, at the top of the long escalators. And now I no longer need to remember it. My memory has been captured, uploaded, tagged with metadata, and stored safely away, where it can be retrieved immediately — by anyone. And I played no part in the process.
I Think I’m in Love
Jim Webb during his first hearing with the Armed Services Committee . . .
2007 Film Diary
A day-by-day viewing log of my filmwatching habits in 2007, beginning with Jean-Pierre Melville’s Army of Shadows (1969) and ending with Pedro Costa’s In Vanda’s Room (2011).
Best Films of 2006
I find that I now approach the film blog-o-sphere in much the same way that I would behave if we all gathered face-to-face for a massive cocktail party. I grab my drink and find a quiet table over in the corner where I chat with the folks I’ve known the longest and the best and whose tastes are most similar to my own.