The House Next Door

1. I'm sure most people want to talk about the Oscars, which is fine, and can be done right over here at The House, but I'm already done with it, to be honest. Sure enough, it was the most entertaining telecast I've perhaps ever seen, and I could probably talk about Penelope Cruz all day, but, really, I'd rather pay attention to other things. For instance: a new post at Girish's joint on "Strombolian Films". Although I have not seen it, I do not think our newest "Best Picture" will prove so fruitful for my cinematic education in years to come as I trust Chungking Express has for our man Shambu. As ever, the comments are lively and thoughtful. Get thee hence! (Then come back!)

["Wong Kar-wai's Chungking Express (1994) was, for me, a key Strombolian film. The first time I watched it, I remember this: I reached for a pillow and hurled it at the screen! It was at the very moment that Faye Wong put on the Mamas and the Papas' "California Dreamin'" for the umpteenth time. The film seemed to be caught in an infinite loop, uninterested in moving forward. At the time I had been discovering the pleasures of character-driven cinema--like Howard Hawks and Eric Rohmer--and in comparison, Wong's film seemed to care not a whit about 'advancing' plot or character. The reigning mood was one of stasis. [...] I'm wondering: What are your experiences of films that you weren't ready for when you first encountered them? Please feel free to share."]

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2.A couple of my friends have a self-categorized, so-called "comedy blog" called WEEKEND TERRORISM. I may be biased, but I think it's hilarious. Their latest post: Wanted: Pilot. No Landing Skills Necessary

["LaGuardia: i dont think your definition of "wonderful personality" is the same as theirs"]

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3. To really flip the lid on this thing, I'm gonna dabble in some sports! Here's Bethlehem Shoals of freedarko writing for The Sporting Blog about the past week in hoops. Embedded in the post (scroll down) is a section called, wuddyaknow, "FILM CRITIC." So you know: it's been too busy for me to keep up with hoops this past week so this acted as a "news item" for my film-addled eyes and ready-to-jump limbs.

["The stars come tumbling down: Al Jefferson and Amare Stoudemire, out for the season. Danny Granger, Kevin Garnett, Greg Oden, and Manu Ginobili, down for several weeks. Greg Oden once again in street clothes; it doesn't matter how long he's out for, the jury's getting restless already. Of course it's sad that first-time All-Star Granger has to take a break from his breakout season, or that Jefferson can no longer play for the honor of GM-turned-coach Kevin McHale. The Spurs will miss Manu, but they've got youth and depth at the guard position. But the Celtics without Garnett, that's serious. It could very well cost them home court advantage. "]

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4. I'm really looking forward to this new Garrel picture. Look here, where Michael Joshua Rowin writes about the film for Reverse Shot. Look here, where Film Comment Selects has, duh, selected the film. Since it played one time yesterday, look here, where BAM will be playing the film in March. (Also, my boy Danny Kasman saw the film at Cannes and wrote this.)

["Aesthetically Frontier of Dawn (apparently also translated from the original La Frontière de l’aube as Frontier of the Dawn or The Dawn of the Shore) strongly adheres to the stark, painfully intimate, long take–heavy, usually black and white–palette cinema (here lensed by William Lubtchansky) that Garrel’s made his own since he was a 20-year-old wunderkind; as a story (co-written with Garrel by Marc Cholodenko and Arlette Langmann, collaborators on his last three pictures) it grants to his autobiographically-tinged ur-narrative of romantic disintegration and regret a cast of modern young people existing in the present day but living very much as the anachronistic super-grave bohemians of almost all his films. Photographer François (shaggy-haired son Louis Garrel) meets famous actress Carole (Laura Smet—Garrel has an affinity for women more striking when they frown than when they smile) on an assignment to take pictures of the star (for what purpose we never learn—the world outside the characters’ emotions barely registers). Carole is married to a man often away in Hollywood, and François and Carole fall in love in his absence, though early on they’re already talking of their inevitable breakup."]

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5. Sticking with The Auteurs, switching to David Phelps, who takes up something of Zach Campbell's and lays it out in images instead of words (after some initial words).

["For so many reasons, El is a wonderful movie, a dry-run for Buñuel’s masterpiece of on-again off-again passion and sense (Buñuel, like Lubitsch, is always wondering which one is worse), That Obscure Object of Desire. The problem, probably the greatest a film could have, is that Vertigo does it better."]

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Quote of the Day:

"Next time I move, I hope I get a phone number that's easy to remember, like 222-2222. People will say 'Mitch, how do I get a hold of you?' and I'd say 'Just press 2 for a while. And when I answer, you will know that you've pressed 2 enough." — Mitch Hedberg

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Image of the Day (click to enlarge): via radio silent


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Clip of the Day: "I love to move in here" via Cuy's quick take on Two Lovers at that fun spot we hang out in, freeNIKES!


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"Links for the Day": A selection of Links that will hopefully spark discussion. Comments encouraged. Suggestions for links are also welcome. Please send to keithuhlich@gmail.com.