Missy | April 26, 2004
Meanwhile, I stand firmly behind the film I saw last night, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter….and Spring, a toned-down Kim Ki-duk production, not to mention an absolutely gorgeous meditation on Buddhism and the cycles of life & man.
Missy | April 24, 2004
This year’s first stop for me in Filmfest DC was Michael Almereyda’s This So-Called Disaster, a behind-the-scenes documentary about the Sam Shepard- written and directed smi-autobiographical play The Late Henry Moss, starring Nick Nolte, Sean Penn, and James Gammon, among others (Cheech Marin, for example, surprised the heck out of me with his genuine characterizations). It’s no secret around here that I am kind of a fan of Shepard, who as an actor is so subdued to the point of being enigmatic and who as a writer gets at the heart of a masculine voice behind disfunctional families and failed American dreams, but as an on-screen interviewee, retains his enigmatic nature. What transpires in this film, however, is a hodge-podge of glimpses, occasionally without any context, into the “process” of bringing a play to life. Frankly, I walked away with no indication whether Moss is any good as a play (though I suspect Shepard has fallen into a trap of rewriting the same play) because this film is poorly put together. As a documentarian, Almereyda seems so utterly enamoured with Shepard (and to a lesser extent, Shepard’s actors) that he forgets about structure. What would have been nice, for example, would be the tying together of the on-camera interviews with Shepard and his family history with what is actually going on in the play. Instead, we see scenes out of order, not only in the rehearsal process (some scenes are obviously underdeveloped from a produciton standpoint) but also in the linear context of the play itself. As such, I really wasn’t sure what was transpiring within the play. And further, there was absolutely no context for the relationship between the brothers (played by Nolte and Penn) and their relationship to their father, a corpse (both walking and real). Instead, we see a bunch of yelling & shoving (certainly, common elements of Shepard plays)–look at them get into their characters and whatnot! mmmkay.
One of the most fascinating moments of the film (and sadly, one of the moments left dangling) was Nolte’s commentary about his own life just prior to the start of rehearsals: he explains watching his mother die and some of his personal reactions to it….but he isn’t pressed on it, and what’s left is his explanation of how he used the experience as part of his Method preparation. In my mind, I see Nolte and Shepard as very similar creatures: both have lived through hard times that they discuss in unemotional terms, yet what transpires in their art is an anger and bitterness. Maybe that’s why they do what they do; as regular people, they aren’t very expressive…candid, yes, but not revealing, if that makes any sense. (Penn, however, serves only to provide humorous anecdotes.) Perhaps oddly enough, I also couldn’t help but make comparisons here to what I saw transpire on screen in Affliction (which I think is also semi-autobiographical).
In the end, I left disappointed, not so much with Shepard, who came off pretty much as I expected–hey, has anyone seen the made-for-tv doc about him called Sam Shepard: Stalking Himself? I have not–because this film was more or less a big mess. Maybe Almereyda simply didn’t have much to work with, but I also get the sense that he didn’t really try, and it was painfully obvious that he’s got some work to do with respect to planning out and editing a documentary.
Missy | April 23, 2004
Hey, remember that White House dinner I was invited to attend but that in turning down the invite, I am violating probably the #1 Miss Manners rule? I’m not sure what these people have to do with White House Correspondents. Not that *I* have anything to do with White House Correspondents, either, except as being a tag-a-long…
Missy | April 21, 2004
Today brought the delivery of my brand-new white loveseat which I paid way too much for at Pottery Barn. I bent back a fingernail putting the slipcovers on. Nice. Also, I’ll be taking bets on how many days it will take me to spill something like red wine on it. Maybe I should be one of those people who encases their furniture in those clear plastic covers. I’m high class all the way. I think now I’ll go sit on the thing and watch some soaps. By the way, am I ever at work anymore? Seems like the answer is, “No.”
I was perusing this list, which I found via The Agitator. I’ve checked off probably far too many items (but not spending a night in jail!). One of my favorite memories is the day I opened & closed Zeno’s, in State College, PA, when I was finally done with grad classes and was on the cusp of “moving on” (which meant spending the summer goofing off, writing my thesis, and looking for a job, in no particular order). I had a crosswords and a slew of visitors all day to keep me company, plus my favorite local delta blues band (there was actually only one local delta blues band, but I loved them) during happy hour, and I ended the night not incapable of getting myself home (though I nearly bailed early because one of my least favorite bands in town was playing there that night). Ah, the days of youth & resiliency.
In other news, Toby Joe is blogging! I’ll have to add him (and move Mihow) to my non-DC (bummer!) bloggers links in the sidebar.
Missy | April 18, 2004
Last night Mihow’s friend Gerry (who, I found out, pays only $4 per month more in rent in Williamsburg than I do here) was in town, which meant margaritas at Lauriol Plaza at 4, beers and matchbook art (don’t ask) thereafter at Bedrock, then more drinks at Aroma. And you know what? No hangovers. I took no photos, but Mihow & Toby Joe took a million, some incriminating to all people involved. (TJ, your ass will be grass if you incriminate me. Sweet baby jesus caviezel, so help me…)
Clearly I have lived in this town long enough because today I got an invite to a White House dinner. The circumstances surrounding that are far less glamorous than you might think. But I cannot go, because it is the same night as Mihow’s & TJ’s elopement/going-away blowout extravaganza, which I wouldn’t miss for anything. Plus I’ve nothing to wear.
Missy | April 17, 2004
Tulips!
Currently I’m blaring The Shins and Supertramp. (Pink flowers? Men who sing as high as women? Am I a gay man?)
Missy | April 16, 2004
Now that the rains have passed, my allergies have been kickstarted into HELL, as any other Washingtonian with allergies knows well. Freaking UGH. And finally this weekend we’re actually going to have a stretch of beautiful days.
Let’s see. I’m taking the day off work to spring clean, which means stirring up pollen-riddled dust, but first I’m watching 90210 and having some really strong coffee. Today is, in fact, our office’s annual spring-cleaning/potluck lunch, which means nobody does anything and then many folks go off to happy hours at 3pm. Though I had already planned to stay home today, yesterday, prior to the spring cleaning of my teeth at the dentist, I actually finished all of my work (all my pseudo-pressing work, that is) and still had time to clean my desk which was , quite frankly, becoming an embarrassment. I feel pretty good about ditching the workplace today. (By the way, my dental hygienist, after asking me whether I smoke and while she had pointy things in my mouth so I couldn’t respond, gave a complete argument about why smoking bans are stupid. Right on. When I got the chance, I told her about Ban the Ban.)
What else? Last week was Blogorama, Part MCXI (I just made up that Roman numeral). Chatted with some some regulars (Brooke, Gene, Radley, Jim, Lex, Jen, Jens, Will, Andrew, Julian) and met some new faces (Courtney, James, Justin, Meghan). The hangover the next day was worth it. The world needs more Blogoramas.
I haven’t seen any movies lately, nor any ballets, plays, or anything, really. My shoulder has healed so I’ve been back into the swing of dance class, which my body is loving. I was initially going to try a morning class today at Maryland Youth Ballet (which is not just for youths; it’s also the area’s best ballet school and has produced many professional dancers), but breathing has become an issue, not to mention my inability to sleep properly. My energy level is rather low, I’m afraid. But my spirit remains strong and willing.
Have a lovely weekend everybody!
UPDATE: After some difficult decision making, my closest friends here in DC are moving to San Francisco. I’m excited for them, I’m sad, I’m already ready to go visit, I admire their bravery, I already miss them. Also, friends I hadn’t seen since college moved to DC last summer and are having to move again this summer (back to Texas, from whence they came). *sigh*
Missy | April 14, 2004
I am going to update again soon, I swear. Granted, it may be all O.C.-related, supplemented by a mere updating of my “Listening” and “Watching” stuff plus some additional links on the sidebar, but it’s a start.
By the way, even though I’ve been hearing Modest Mouse’s “Float On” for months (not to mention seeing two different versions of the video), now that I finally own the CD, it’s going to be perpetually on repeat. I’m just sayin’.
Missy | April 6, 2004
Hi!
Last night after watching the first part of the Cecil B. DeMille documentary on Turner Classic Movies, I (in an attempt to be an equal opportunity television watcher) flipped over to Average Joe 2: Adam Returns. I had seen bits of Average Joe 1 when we first saw Adam, the truly average-looking, good-natured, and apparently rich New Yorker. Let me just sum up what I saw last night: Adam picked the girl who dresses up and treats her annoying little dog like a five year old girl. For one of their dates, they went shopping for overpriced doggie clothes and Adam even mocked her during the juxtaposed on-camera interviews. Men are bizarre creatures.
What else have I been up to? I’ve been finding blogs & blogging boring of late, so even though I’ve been doing stuff, I haven’t felt like writing about it, mostly because I’d rather just talk to Josh, and after a 20 minute treatise on say, the brilliant Merce Cunningham dance company, the last thing I feel like doing is reconstructing it here. Sorry. (But speaking of dance companies, I did see the Gina Gibney Dance Company from NYC on Sunday at Dance Place, and one of the dancers is a woman I knew when I was 18 when we did A Chorus Line together in NW Ohio. She is a fantastic dancer, by the way.)
Anyway, I’ve been dealing with a literal pain in my neck that has traversed my shoulder and part of my ribcage and has made me pretty miserable. I’m feeling better, but still annoyingly immobile.
It’s almost time for Filmfest DC; many of the films I wanted to see in Toronto will be showing here. Also, Michael Almereyda’s documentary about Sam Shepard. I have a crush on Sam Shepard.
UPDATE: You may have noticed that I messed with this post slightly to correct my awful grammar. See what happens when you stop writing? It all goes to hell.
I also forgot to mention that last week Josh called me with some very exciting news: he interviewed (with like, an hour’s prep time) a very famous actor whose name begins with ‘B’, and ends with “-ill Murray”. I cannot comment further.
(This one’s for Mihow:
Questioner: “Can the boy tell time?”
Raleigh St. Clair: “Oh good heavens, no.”)
Yet another UPDATE (because I forgot about this, too, earlier): Thursday. Blogorama. Kalorama. You know the drill. Like last time (actually, let’s hope not), I will be the one drinking my body weight of Makers Mark.
