repose

a lame and happenstance convergence...

from "Shorpy" the hundred-year-old photography blog

from the magnum photographers blog.

The man in the straw hat and the child with her eyes open.

An Echo, a Glimmer

I was in the bookstore yesterday before the movie (which was totally awesome by the way) and picked up *South Park and Philosophy,* the first volume in the Blackwell Pop Culture and Philosophy Series. Lo and behold, on the inside flap I saw a list of forthcoming titles and there it was: "LOST and Philosophy, Sharon Kaye, ed." Evidence that I'm not quite dreaming or making something up in my head. The book will be out in September or thereabouts..

If you're wondering, the Blackwell series is different than the Open Court series. I'm not sure of the mechanics of this divergence. Anyway, there are about 30 volumes in the Open Court series, covering just about any aspect of popular culture (from "The Undead and Philosophy," which sounds gross, to "On Bullshit and Philosophy." I wonder if Harry Frankfurt saw that one coming).

She never says what I'm thinking but she always says it better.

In our house there we listen only to a small, merry band of trusted film critics. Richard Roeper is not one of them. Manohla Dargis (of the New York Times), along with Roger Ebert (whose The Great Movies and The Great Movies II are some of my favorite bedtime reads) and Howie Movshovitz are our favorites.

MD has released her list of the best films of 2006. My favorite line so far: "David Lynch’s “Inland Empire” isn’t for the faint of heart or lazy of thought, notably those for whom moviegoing is simply a more socially acceptable version of sucking on a pacifier." Her veiled (?) dig at Marty's *The Departed* is in a paragraph about one of my other favorite movies of the year (which I failed to mention previously), Michael Mann's *Miami Vice.*

In other news, we weathered the blizzard just fine. We have watched all three extended cuts of the LOTR trilogy (we are nerds). We have also had an unprecedented six-hour marathon of The Wire over the past day or so. Lots of films, lots of knitting, and probably some cabin fever. I have an unchecked amount of rage at the Denver Emergency Management people, who have failed to send the plows to even major north-south thoroughfares in Capitol Hill and other places around our fair city. I reported to my Dad that the old Case family blood bubbled up as we made our way down Broadway (Broadway wasn't even plowed!) and I added a few more dollars to the cuss jar. Fortunately, there is a warm wind blowing today. Hopefully some of the roads will shape up on their own.

We'll celebrate with the family here tonight (with Tamales and probably giant Martinis). We fly to New York tonight to celebrate the holiday with the folks there. We're expecting to make it into the city one day during our visit, will make one trip to the Stone (a once-a-month Stone benefit w/Zorn and friends to pay the rent for the space) next Saturday night.

Merry Christmas to you.

2006 Best: Movies

It is December, after all, so that means that lists of many good movies will be making their way to the internet soon. I thought I'd drop my two cents in...although I'm not certain I remember all the good movies I saw this year. Here are some, though, just because. I should say that these aren't necessarily recommendations, but they are good.

(1) Werner Herzog's Rescue Dawn. This film closed the DIFF this year, and we got to see it with several of AV's students who are familiar with Herzog's work and had seen the non-fiction account Herzog drew from to make this film. What a story...I won't ruin it for you. While I'm not keen on "Oscar Buzz" (I don't actually even know what that means), this film--like Grizzly Man--ought to bring Herzog some non-nerd notice.

(2) Martin Scorsese's The Departed. Scorsese and Herzog, you're wondering? I am a sucker for any Marty movie about gangsters--I LOVE Goodfellas and Mean Streets (although Mean Streets was more serious than I like). I will say that the movie on which this is based (Andy Lau's *stellar* Infernal Affairs is even better) ended in a more satisfying way for me, but Marty is Marty and this was good. Even Leonardo DiCaprio was good. I was just thinking the other day about how really good he was in this movie. Did I say this was good?

(3) Zacharias Kanuk's The Journals of Knud Rasmussen. We loved Kanuk's The Fast Runner when it came out a couple of years ago, and were looking forward to this one. In my mind, it did not disappoint. It was really tough to follow at first, but the story arc was so excellent that we could only shake our heads in disbelief (right, AV?). Only for the brave and patient, though.

(4) Maysles-Maysles-Zwering's Gimme Shelter. Verite at its finest, and a whole different class of documentary than, say, Errol Morris.

I watched and re-watched some gems in my Film Theory and Criticism class: Rear Window, The Cameraman, and The Battle of Algiers come immediately to mind. I have mixed feelings about Brokeback Mountain, which I did not see until this class (although I do think it is a good example of melodrama), and I did not like Lovely and Amazing, and (gasp!) I did not love too much The Searchers. I think I like my westerns as samurai films. I saw Groundhog Day for the first time in class and loved it. We also watched The Pelican Brief, which was one of my favorite movies UNTIL I read Laura Mulvey's theory of the Male Gaze. Now, I have mixed feelings about it.

Still yet to see: For Your Consideration and The Fountain.

Lists yet to come: Books, Music, Things I/We Did.