A Momentary Lapse Of Reason-able blogging

Short of my recent post on Lucy, I've been missing from the old blogosphere for a good solid 4 months. Looks like things have continued on without me well enough, but this was easily my longest break since I started scribbling my opinions on the Internet. So what happened? Nothing really...There's no big dramatic story here. No period of self-reflection followed by life-changing revelations. No turning point event that has altered my view of what life is about. And (fortunately) no major family tragedies.

Sure there are trials and tribulations like everyone else. My folks are getting older and life is getting a bit harder for them both (we as a family need to figure things out in the next 6-12 months), but it's far better than 2011 - a bad year when we lost several friends, my beloved Aunt and almost my Dad. So grand scheme of things? Life is good. I like my job (most days), I love my wife, and my son (just turning 14 - how the hell did that happen?) is the absolute best thing ever.

So what's wrong with me? Along with this dearth in posting (I can never quite get to the point where I call it "writing"), there has also been a major drop in the simple act of watching film. As of right now, I've seen 134 films this year (theatrical, DVD, BluRay, streaming) including new, old and rewatched movies. That's abysmal for me. I've usually hit that number before the end of the first quarter. The simple answer is that I've been focused on other things:

• In the sidebar, my little lame "About Me" section says that music occasionally crowds out film as my number 1 obsession. Well, that's certainly been part of the shift...After getting myself an Rdio subscription, I've been diving into my lists of albums I've always wanted to hear, slowly making it through the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (I'm not getting much younger you know) and keeping reasonably on top of 2014 releases (Mogwai, The Souljazz Orchestra, Moonlit Sailor, Djam Karet, Tycho, Gord Downie & The Sadies, Collapse Under The Empire, The War On Drugs, Kongos, Manchester Orchestra, Band Of Skulls, Against Me!, Broken Bells, Lost In The Riots and Bob Mould would make a nice Top 15 at this stage).
• Work has never been busier for me. Note, that's not necessarily a complaint. Oh, there have been moments of absolute frustration, but also some of great satisfaction. Since February, it's been a much more devoted focus during the day and spots of additional work at home in the evening. I'm fine with that, but it nibbles at the free time and makes my brain crave some respite.
• The Boy too has been snatching more and more of my cycles - again, not a complaint! He's been wanting to watch more movies with me (usually ones I've seen, but that's good) and has been trying to push his film boundaries to match with what the Internet proclaims are the best movies ever (ie. mostly male dominated films slightly above his pay grade). It's been great as we typically go back and forth between something I think he should watch and something he wants to watch. I should probably take a stab at a post on that sometime soon...He's also going to bed a bit later which means he commands the basement (where the computers and video game systems live comfortably next to the DVD collection and TV) for longer periods of time in the evening. Again, I've no issue with that as it was completely expected and somewhat of a design point. We don't have the biggest house in the world, so we wanted him to have some space. It also allows him to have his buddies over for weekend (and mid-week in the summer) movie or game nights. And having your child comfortable with having his friends over is gold.

When I was watching movies during this time, I would often think of little tidbits I'd like to post (the many different things being fired by men in The Hidden, my son's reactions to what he watches, etc.), but then 2 things would happen: 1) I'd feel like I should actually be watching something instead of blogging (so much to see) and 2) the process of typing up a post would start to feel a bit like homework. There's another side to it as well - is anyone really reading? Over the last few years my hit counts have been bottoming out (rightly so in that I haven't been providing consistent updates or content) with most hits coming from Google Image searches (I've always been a bit image heavy). It's somewhat self-propagating as I wonder what came first: the lower hits or the dropoff in posting? Also, there's been quite the change in landscape since I first started tossing out my missives back in 2007. It used to be much more of a - dare I say the word? - community (at least for me). There was a set of bloggers who sought each other out, commented on others' posts, discovered new sites/writers and pulled them into the ranks, etc. I'm overstating it somewhat, but there was much more daily contact with other people who wanted to discuss film. And by far that's been the most enriching part of this whole experience - the many friends I've made. Both the virtual online folks (a few of which I've managed to meet in the flesh) and the countless Toronto bloggers, writers and film buffs who have become a pretty damn important part of my life.

But it is different now - or at least it feels different. There's more emphasis on being FAST with your opinion. It's less about sharing and questioning, but a bit more about telling and marketing. Seeing a new release on opening night? Too late...You've already missed the boat if you didn't catch the preview screening. The conversation may already be done. I could blame Twitter, but that's too easy and likely only a bit of the reason. Also, Twitter can be a fantastic tool at quick connections and is particularly invaluable during a film festival (sharing your early impressions of films you've just seen, getting immediate reactions about ones you're hearing rumours about, and finding moments to meet up with others). I'm equally culpable during these periods in trying somewhat to be first out of the gate - the credits are still rolling and I'm trying to put together my 140-character "bon mots" about a movie that no one else has seen yet. But hey, it's pretty cool to get re-tweeted by a filmmaker or distribution company, so I will totally cop to that.

So this is really all apropos of nothing...That's just the new landscape. I never expected or even wanted to be a full time critic, so it's not like dreams are shattered for me. I have friends putting in the hours and the work to try to make it. I respect the hell out of them (and the other online critics and writers) as they make progress and even seem to occasionally enjoy it. The job does come with some new and necessary skills though: doing self-publicity and working social media. Neither are my forte, so it only increases my appreciation of those who do it well.

But as I've started getting back into the viewing habit over the last couple of weeks, I have a bit of an urge to start jotting down a few thoughts along the way. Though I have no expectations that I might do it on a consistent daily basis, I have been missing it...So even though I'll always have competing interests, obligations and distractions, I certainly plan to carve out some time for writing. Or whatever it is you might call this...

Scribblings Of A Random Nature #26

One of these days I'll come up with a snazzier title for these randomly timed posts...


Runaway Train (1985- Andrey Konchalovskiy) - A movie's got to be doing something right when it can survive the kind of performance that Eric Roberts gives here. Not that the escaped convict role he plays requires lots of shades of grey, but Roberts is completely uninteresting and shows contempt for the concept of subtlety. Granted, Jon Voight isn't exactly fine tuning his character either, but he fully embraces his lifelong convict role and relishes every moment he gets on screen. And that makes him interesting. Mix that in with the stunning winter scenery and great action sequences aboard the train without brakes, and you have a damn entertaining film.

Sweet Charity (1969 - Bob Fosse) - As I mentioned when I discussed Cabaret last year, Bob Fosse's first directorial effort was somewhat of a mixed bag of random tricks cobbled together under the guise of a retelling of Nights Of Cabiria. There are some wonderfully creative and entertaining moments in the film - in particular some of the dance sequences are strikingly original - but it just gets weighted down by goofiness. The humour is a bit cringeworthy, Shirley MacLaine is way too broad at times (there's a lot of mugging for the camera) and Fosse gets too wrapped up playing with little directorial gimmicks. From the moment one musical sequence would end, I couldn't wait until another began - partially because I wondered what new choreography he would come up with for the next song, but mostly because the stuff in between wasn't doing a damn thing for me.

The Visitor (1979 - Michael J. Paradise) - This one has received a lot of talk recently due to being released by Drafthouse Films and getting touted as one of the more "batshit crazy" late 70s Italian productions. It certainly lives up to be a bit on the WTF side of things, but not enough to make it much more than a curio and mildly entertaining during some of its really poorly thought out moments (like when the 8 year-old girl shoots her mother in the back after throwing the gun she just received as a present onto a table). With a cast including John Huston, Glenn Ford, Lance Henriksen, Shelly Winters (fully into her annoying 70s period), Mel Ferrer and Sam Peckinpah (!), it's hugely hampered by overdubbing and two pretty awful performances by the main mother and daughter characters in the film. Sure that opening is wonderfully goofy, there are tons of steals from other movies (including a hall of mirrors sequence that looks good for about 20 seconds and then devolves) and that foot chase between the girl and Huston makes no goddamn sense, but in the end it's really just a badly constructed and often dull movie.

Puzzle (2009 - Natalia Smirnoff) - Whereas The Visitor manages to be dull despite great potential, Puzzle takes an awfully simple premise - a 50 year-old Argentinian woman starts solving picture puzzles and looks to compete for the national title - but makes it firmly engaging all the way through. Though that premise is really all there is to the main story, the film is about this woman's re-awakening to joy in life. She has fallen into a life of servitude to her husband and two older sons (at the start of the movie she is hard at work in the kitchen and serving guests at a party...which ends up being her own birthday celebration) and struggles with hiding her new passion along with the practice sessions she has with her new partner. She starts to assert herself a bit more, begins to appreciate some of the little things in life that have been escaping her previously and manages to find the missing pieces of her life..

Scribblings Of A Random Nature #25

With TIFF just days away, I thought I'd clear out a few screenshots I've gathered and say a few words about some recent films watched. I really should do this more often...



Ferpect Crime (2004 - Alex de la Iglesia) - It's pretty impressive how de la Iglesia walks several fine lines throughout this sharp and stylish comedy. On top of his two main characters being both reprehensible and still somewhat sympathetic, he also manages to craft a story that occasionally borders on misogyny while also being a strong female empowerment tale. OK, that last point isn't perfectly handled (maybe it's only ferpectly handled?) due to some assumptions about what female beauty is considered to be, but even that is handled as a stereotype and played up. Guillermo Toledo (even better in the great Only Human - one of my favourite "movie you've probably never heard of" titles) is perfectly suave and slimy as Rafael - a manager of a women's lingerie department who builds his own empire by hiring (and seducing) only the sexiest of assistants. Until the one remaining "unattractive" woman starts to get the upper hand. Clever on just about every front.

Love In The Afternoon (1957 - Billy Wilder) - Though I still have some classic Wilders left to see, I had to go and choose this...Granted, I was certainly able to fill up on a big dose of Audrey Hepburn (always satisfying - note that she's in just about every screencap below), but I also had to stomach the rather bland Gary Cooper (I'm coming to the realization that I'm just not a big fan of the guy...). Worse, though, was the charmless plot, very few moments of humour, a love story with no spark and a wretched ending that kinda made me a bit angry. I know I'm watching the movie through lenses calibrated 56 years later on, but any sympathy I had built up for the characters was washed away in several moments. All of it was quite depressing actually. Except for Audrey that is...

Defending Your Life (1991 - Albert Brooks) - Easily my favourite Brooks directed film so far. Not that I was complaining about the other efforts I've seen by him, but this had a great concept (a holding ground after you die where you review key scenes of your life and defend your decisions in a trial format to see where you are headed next) and what felt like a zippy pace. Brooks lands just about every one of his jokes and gets to play off a lovely Meryl Streep. Every supporting role, no matter how small, seems perfectly cast which leads me to think that this is a big component to successful comedies - stack your cast with people who can steal scenes. As much as I enjoy seeing Brooks on screen recently, I'd love to "see" him back behind the camera again.

Side Effects (2013 - Steven Soderbergh) - Though I eagerly anticipate any Soderbergh release, I didn't rush to the theatres to see Side Effects when it debuted. Part of it was because I wanted to delay seeing the last of his films (though I guess Behind The Candelabra fits that description better), but in reality the plot of the movie as I knew it from the trailer and descriptions just didn't quite grab me. I figured it would be fine and I very much like Rooney Mara, but something held me back from being excited. Silly me - why did I doubt Soderbergh? The tale is snappy, it throws some decent unexpected turns (though I admit I stayed away from any further description of the plot after I thought I had the initial concept) and boy does it look great. Not just the cinematography, but I especially love the framing throughout the entire film and the way it moves Mara's character around to all the different corners. A fine way of portraying her scrambled ideas. Can't wait to see Candelabra - and this time I won't hesitate.