Boy this was something I was ready to hate. And I did initially. Through 20 minutes of Funny Ha Ha, the second, I believe, film by Bujalski I was ready to turn it off. But then I started to be warmed by the babbling, silly, neurotic and alienated people in the film. Then, I realized I was watching me when I was 25, and suddenly it all began to matter. What can I say?
The lead in Funny Ha Ha is Kate Dollenmayer, who despite her apparent lack of acting experience is a real charm by the end. Part of the film reminded me of Eric Rhomer; one of my favorites. There’s also a little Woody Allen here, and probably more Hal Hartley than I would be aware of.
Not a lot happening here, but some genuinely funny moments. I especially liked the guy (Dave) who had a girlfriend who walks the Dollenmayer character to her car (after a party hosted by he and his partner), in order to attempt one of the most awkward and hilarious passes I’ve ever seen in a film.
Here’s a photo of Dave in action shortly before the pass.
July 17, 2007
Andrew Bujalski
July 15, 2007
Gone Fishin’
I was in America for a few weeks visiting family and stuff. As is often the case when I go home I don’t have a lot of time to do much of the junk I would regurgitate in this space, but, of course, there were discoveries.
One thing I’ve become more certain of is my opinion of the movie The Bridge, which I outlined in an earlier post. I came to this understanding as I rode across the Golden Gate Bridge, going home from the airport.
What an utterly exploitive glorified 90 minute Youtube piece of shit that film is.
Enough said.
Having to take time from my plodding through Karamazov I found a couple other books to read while abroad. The first was A Good School, by Richard Yates. It was the second book of his I’ve read this year, the first being Revolutionary Road, which I happily place as one of my favorites of all time.
“School” isn’t as good, but considering that the tale of the prep school seems to be well-tread territory (mostly I’m thinking John Knowles here) Yates still manages to breathe life into it. The theme of homoeroticism (and sexuality in general) in prep schools is an interesting one and is something Knowles never touched to my knowledge. It’s not central to the book, but Yates tackles it. At the beginning of the book one of the boys is pinned down and masturbated as a means of embarrassing him, and throughout the book boys are seen hiding their erections from elders and females.
July 8, 2007
The Customer is Always Right
This is something of a find. Not a great film, but definately better than the tepid response it got here.
This is a revenge film; one might go so far as to say it’s a Park Chan-wook rip off. But not worthless and often quite good.
A barber is blackmailed by an old man. The guy also sleeps with his wife. Turns out he’s trying to be killed in order to collect on a life insurance policy because his daughter needs an operation.
Much like Park’s movies, the film is highly-stylized, usually to a positive effect. The biggest problem for me, and this is almost an epidemic in Korean film right now, is the violence, which was out of control and gratuitous. Koreans really get off on this stuff. Or at least the men do.
One funny sidelight are the press photos and movie posters for the film. Take a look at this one:
Not once in the film does this woman (played by Seong Hyeon Ah) appear with her hair like this. In fact her character, although kind of a slut, is quite prim and sleek. I suppose this is supposed to add some wild image to the film.
July 3, 2007
More Eckhart Tolle
I’ve been winding my way through the collection of Eckhart Tolle I downloaded. Wonderful stuff. I’ve been listening to one recently called Living a Life of Inner Peace and it’s straight up comedy. He’s got the audience roaring on the recording.
I did a search on Tolle, wondering if he was showing up in the media at all, and boy did I get a shock. Apparently Tolle, along with The Bible, was with Paris Hilton as she went into prison.
Thankfully, living in Korea allows me to avoid most of the hoopla surrounding Hilton, although I did notice they carried her exit from jail live on CNN World.
When seeing that she was reading Tolle I scanned a few other articles to see if maybe a transformation was taking place. Unfortunately all I could find were backhanded mentions of Tolle by gossip columnist vermin in regards to a subject they must cover 100% negatively.
I found one bit that said Hilton was moving away from New York to somewhere quiet. Interesting, I thought, until I found out she was moving to Beverly Hills. Oh well. I suppose in her world that might be like getting in touch with nature.
At any rate I love Tolle’s work to the extent that I’m not affected by who else is reading it. Although I will say I dislike the New Agey cover art his publishers seem unable to veer away from. Hopefully his dalliance with Paris will help get his message out.
July 1, 2007
Smile
I haven’t listened to the Beach Boys since I moved to Korea. Somehow, it just doesn’t fit into the mood. But I’ve been listening to a band called Panda Bear recently, and it’s a great representation of a contemporized and experimental nod to the late 60s early 70s Beach Boys. Something that so many musicians attempt to do, often with ridiculous results.
So I downloaded the version of “Brian Wilson’s Smile” that came out a few years ago. I remember reading some positive reviews at the time. It’s pretty horrible actually, as most of Brian Wilson’s post millenium `wheel out’ has been, but it did motivate me to download one of the many bootlegged versions of Smile that have come out over the years.
What an amazing piece of music. Definately one of my all time favorites, if I can call it an actual album. One of the few pieces of music that never fails to move me.
It’s got me going through a few of the other great albums…Sunflower and Surf’s Up.
Here’s one of my favorite’s from Smile…
06-cabin-essence.mp3