First Spring Walk

Yesterday was gorgeous. I walked down to the Musicbox to see a movie then I made my way to the lake.

Lots of people were out, stretching their legs, finally released from the cruel grip of the weather. There was a sense of excitement and relief from the many people walking, jogging, biking, and lounging. Bottled energy with a long restricted avenue of solace.

The landscape was a bit desolate. Brown and damp. But from the people and the landscape you could feel promise. A shaking off. A coming awake. We're on the otherside of something we all agree was trying. Such a harsh winter brought the city together in an odd way.

We survived. We endured.

Waves

My feet take me to a place I'd known
a spot, a perch, a haunt forgone.
lulled by the cresting swirls and spray.

Emotions lie quiet and feelings don't rise.
only Echos
of long-dead affections.

Waiting with the lapping blue
for some peace or grace or convenient breakthrough.
Time slips without revelation.

A man, alone
and slightly cold
sifts the past to release its hold.

Graffiti 122

“Rather than demolish an abandoned warehouse, why not just cover it with graffiti and call it art?
” -Jarod Kintz

"I'm afraid that if you look at a thing long enough, it loses all of its meaning." -Andy Warhol

"What art offers is space- a certain breathing room for the spirit." -John Updike

'Enemy' A Review

Enemy is an abstract doppelgänger thriller about two Jake Gyllenhaal's and spiders. Jake Gyllenhall's #1 is a professor with a grubby apartment with no apparent life. Jake #1 watches a movie on a whim and sees an extra who looks exactly like him. He tracks down Jake Gyllenhaal #2 the aspiring actor. They look and sound exactly alike and even have the same scars. The movie takes a dark turn when Jake #2 blackmails Jake #1 into letting him take his girlfriend out.

The movie has a number of bizarre sequences with spiders and nude women that presumably metaphorically relate to the actual narrative but which make no sense. These sequences are so abstract no parallels, lessons, or symbolism can be drawn. The mystery of the two Jakes is never revealed and we're left with an incredibly unsatisfying story that offers more pretension than cogent concept.

Gyllenhaal doesn't reach very far to distinguish his performances- one is meek, the other cocky. His characterizations, like the plot, are uninspired.

Confusing, creepy, and unfulfilling.

Don't See It.

Del Awards 2014

This year iO's annual award show was something special. Inclusive, funny, fast-paced, with just enough sentiment it was my favorite to-date. The Late 90's put the show together for the second year in a row and really out did themselves. From the presenters to the speeches, the Dance of the Fallen Teams to the In Memoriam video(montage of people who have left Chicago), the night fostered a feeling of community with no divisions between teams or how long people had been around. There were some pointed jokes but nothing mean or malicious, anyone singled out was in on the joke. It feels like the desire for straight up insult humor has passed, at least for the time being. The majority of the night was a highlight but to single some moments out. Scott hosting as Weird Scott Yankaprov doing iO inspired parody songs for his opening monologue. Scott and Annie as(channeling) Joan Rivers presenting the award for Best Host(pictured above).

Tisher and Knox as dueling Dice Clay's spouting filthy nursery rhymes for Most Blue(above). Meridian's sweet and elegant Dance of the Fallen Teams. All the Best Team videos. Clayton as Del dancing to the In Memoriam video. Presenters: The Golden Girls. Brunlieb and Blythe winning Most Supportive improvisers of the year. Abby's quip after her win for Best Line topping the line itself.

Heartfelt speeches from Colleen, Matt, and Sabine. Brunlieb presenting Best Show Poster and using the bit to plug his friends shows. Alex and Charna presenting Best Team in a bit both inspired and perfect. The image above is telling- Alex: likable and engaged, Charna: distracted and neglectful.

My favorite part of the evening was, selfishly, the part I was involved in. I had the honor of presenting Craig with Improviser of the Year. I wrote a relatively long and genuine speech, inspired in tone and format by Shotts speech for Colleen last year, and tried to get at what Craig means to me and what I imagine he means to a lot of people in the community. I spoke about how much he's done for me, how much I am inspired by him, and how much he means to me. He was very happy, he said to me after "If I was capable of it, I would have cried." You can watch his acceptance speech here.

The 90's did an incredible job putting the night together and it was wonderful. Funny and at times poignant, I don't know how it could be topped. The atmosphere was supportive, joyous, and harmonic. Now, if only it could be like that all year.

Note: Photos pirated from Instagram. Photo credits to IM, DM, and iO.

Bubble Boys: USO Show

This episode has been our most ambitious. It seemed obvious that a USO show would figure into this season at some point and we wanted to do something to challenge ourselves in regards to the format. We wrote sketches and songs to create a USO show within the episode book-ended by how Tisher and I get involved. It's not exactly period and it's not exactly appropriate but it is a lot of fun. Molly, Steph, and Sarah we're incredible to have in the studio, they had instant chemistry which added such a fluid excitement to the recording and to the finished product.


The Bubble Boys are pressed into theatrical service when three actresses are in need of two leading men.

Featuring:
Steve Nelson as Sven Ingaborg
Andrew Tisher as Henry Mossmouth
Sarah Ashley as Florence Ziegler
Stephanie Jones as Sapphire Michaelson
Molly Ruthenberg as Marla Hopebottom
and Tim Joyce as Errol Burrows
"Pop: Bubble Boys" composed by Andrew Tisher and Michael Malarky
"Krazy Krauts" composed by Steve Nelson

Silence

I didn't speak until 7pm the other day. It reminded me, for a time, I wanted to be a monk.

The summer after college I used my graduation money to visit my then girlfriend in Vermont. She was working in a summer stock box office and was behind a desk during the day. I was at loose ends most of the visit and had to find things to occupy my time, difficult to do in rural Vermont.

One day I packed a lunch and just started walking down the highway. I was hoping for trails and deep woods but it was mostly rolling hills, small mountains, blacktop, and lots of cottages. After a while I came upon a sign. Monastery this way. I followed it up. and up. and up. On the top of a squat mountain I found a cloister of benedictine monks.

I stayed there for most of the day. Lounging in the shade, reading in the sun, walking the grounds, exchanging nods with monks involved in various tasks. No one spoke. It was calming. Seemed simple. And appealing. At the time my life was relatively tumultuous and desperate. I lived most days with an unshakable dread and/or an unreasonable rage. The idea of taking a vow of silence for a week, a month, a year, the idea of bowing out of normal life, was desirable. The monastery and the monks represented a safety and peace I wouldn't know for years.

I came back to Chicago after the trip. My girlfriend did shortly after. Slowly and surely my life started to fall apart for the first time. But I never forgot those monks.

Quietly gardening, conducting prayers, tending orchards, thinking the long thoughts of summer.

Editing 2

Tonight Tisher, Tim and I edited the Bubble Boys USO episode tonight. At this point it feels like we've got it down to more of a science. We use to spend a lot of time listening to the takes and simply cut them down for time. Now there is a lot more finesse involved. We have started intuiting each other's ideas for cuts. We've been able to easily weave a sequence or exchange from listening to long takes. We cut almost all pauses during dialogue exchanges. We spend a lot more time adding sounds to build out the world of the episode and selecting tonally appropriate songs.

Recording episodes is a real pleasure, having talented friends in and working under our particular narrative restrictions is a joy. It is a different and possibly more gratifying thrill to edit an episode. To create something that is definitive. To put this thing together like a puzzle, to mold it, to shape it into some semblance. Discussing the merits of different punchlines, diversions, scenes, or narrative arcs. Framing something, setting something up, paying it off.

As we've progressed the characters Tisher and I play have come sharper into focus. They are more concrete and so easier to play. Tonight we recorded two songs Tisher and I wrote, edited them, and dropped them into the episode. There's a very unique type of magic in the studio. I love it.

'300: Rise of an Empire' A Review

300: Rise of an Empire is a fantasy action movie part prequel/part sequel to 2007's 300. The movie's first act depicts the events that led up to the Battle of Thermoylae, the second the naval engagement that took place congruently, and concludes with the Battle of Salamis.

The ostensible hero of the movie is Greek commander Themistocles played well by Sullivan Stapleton the Leonidas surrogate. Stapleton fails to reach the fervor or suicidal relish of Gerard Butler whose absence haunts each rousing speech. By far the show stealer and the reason to see the movie is Eva Green's Artemisa. Strong and cunning, beautiful and bold. Her over the top cloying performance captivate each overly CGIed frame she's in. The most interesting, daring, and layered scene is a violent and raucous sex seen between Stapleton and Green. Two commanders dedicated to war finding the only person that truly understands them on the opposing side.

Rise of an Empire delivers promised gore with spectacular naval battles but fails to equal let alone surpass it's precursor. The movie has a dusty hue, it lacks the stylish colors and cinematography that evoke fantasy and comic books that the original did. It is too realistic to it's detriment. CGI blood splattering aside. It is safe.

It is also morally unclear. Especially given the dynamic portrayal of Eva Green and her back story the Greeks are no longer the clear cut good guys. Without the benefit of righteousness 300: Rise of an Empire loses the glee gained from all the gore. It lacks the unabashed macho thrill which launched 300 to prominence.

Worth a watch simply for Eva Green's maverick insanity.

Rent It.

Dusk

Molten valor
teases promise

hearts chant
dormant wonder

thrills unfold
upon inspection

waning-light heralds
unknown marvels-
waves which pulse and beg for refuge.

Deepest night holds no regret.

Graffiti 121

"Woman is the dominant sex. Men have to do all sorts of stuff to prove that they are worthy of woman's attention." -Camille Paglia

"Men know they are sexual exiles. They wander the earth seeking satisfaction, craving and despising, never content. There is nothing in that anguished motion for women to envy." -Camille Paglia

"Out with stereotypes, feminism proclaims. But stereotypes are the west's stunning sexual personae, the vehicles of art's assault against nature. The moment there is imagination, there is myth." -Camille Paglia

'The Grand Budapest Hotel' A Review

The Grand Budapest Hotel is a comedy-thriller from Wes Anderson. The film kaleidoscopes through time, from the present back to 1932, tracing the story of The Grand Budapest Hotel, its concierge Gustave H., and his protege Zero Moustafa.

The majority of the film takes place in 1932 and focuses on the efficient, fastidious, narcissistic, and somewhat crass Ralph Fiennes as Gustave and his burgeoning relationship with the poised, eager, and dry Tony Revolori as Zero. The plot is fast-paced and somewhat complicated but never so much so that it becomes confusing. Gustave and Zero steal a painting, break out of prison, go on the lamb, solve a murder, chase a thug down a mountain in a bobsled and more. The story is propelled by a frenetic revelatory glee which alternates between joyful and heartbreaking.

As in all Wes Anderson films the ensemble is star studded. The parade of cameos is delightful, not distracting, and a couple performances are remarkably well developed for having half a dozen lines. They build out this fictitious world that echos ours in Anderson's greatest achievement of a creation that feels both whimsical and real simultaneously.

Ralph Fiennes absolutely steals the show, the film is worth watching simply for his exuberance and charm as Gustave. His chemistry with Tomy Revolori is electric grounding a fun, playful, and nurturing mentor-mentee relationship which all the kitsch and miniatures and stop-motion revolve around. Because the film is rooted in such a real, genuine, and empathetic relationship the film is Anderson's most moving in years.

Funny and dark. Violent and inspiring.

Don't Miss It.

Bubble Boys: On Patrol

This episode came about because Tisher and I wanted to have an episode that was mostly just us, where we got to spend some time with Sven and Henry without the filter of a direct narrative arc or guests. Through an overlap of casting and almost as a lark we had Mark on to play auxiliary characters. He was amazing and just having him there shifted what the episode was going to be in a great way. We figured out we need characters to bounce Sven and Henry off of or they don't really pop. The format for the episode is a common troupe used in long standing TV shows. What sprang to my mind was an episode of House where we just see the day-to-day comings-and-goings of the hospital without the arc of a particular case for House to solve.


A day in the life of Private Ingaborg and Private Mossmouth.

Featuring:
Steve Nelson as Sven Ingaborg
Andrew Tisher as Henry Mossmouth
Mark Logsdon as Johnny Petro, Cookie, Pierre, and German Soldier
and Tim Joyce as Comms Officer and German Soldier

True Detective And Narrative Satisfaction

Last week the first season of True Detective came to a close. The show garnered a lot of interest, rave reviews, and a certain amount of controversy. It's an anthology show and this first season followed the story of Rust Cohle and Marty Hart over the course of two decades and a single case. The show has a singular and narrow perspective focusing exclusively on Cohle and Hart with almost no time spent on supporting characters.

The show struck a cord through a huge population and there is one clear reason why- True Detective is perfectly constructed. At its most basic level it is a complete and contained narrative. Questions are raised then answered. All episodes, all story-lines, all dialogue, all characters serve a narrow fiction. A number of elements weave together to strike a melodic singularity of storytelling.

McConaughey and Harrelson put in masterful performances. Layered, conflicted, spanning different points in their characters lives they provide depth. The dialogue is sharp, rich, and evocative. The story itself is focused on one particular case and one case only which is solved during the course of the show.

Because of its anthology format the show puts itself head and shoulders above other TV shows. It has no thought or incentive to extend the narrative beyond what is presented. The writers did not write themselves into a corner(like Lost) nor did they change the trajectory of the story mid-season(like The Killing). What was set up, promised and presented to the viewer was delivered.

The success of True Detective speaks more to the quality of other TV shows then to its own. Don't get me wrong it's a great show and I like its first season immensely. But people crave narratives that make sense, take them on a journey, then come to some kind of resolution, offer some kind of answer. Currently the state of TV is much more concerned with prolonging, with dragging out, with wringing as many Neilsen points as possible from any show that garners any interest, almost exclusively at the cost of narrative quality.

Humans delight in stories. This has been true since man scratched figures on cave walls with burnt sticks. Stories are a way to escape, to make sense of chaos, to offer answers to the unanswerable. When shows renew season after season we almost always receive diminishing returns. This is especially true of shows that revolve around crime or some kind of central mystery. See also Homeland and Flash Foward, even How I Met Your Mother. 

If you raise questions in a show your are obligated to provide answers. If you don't, well, isn't that just life?

The Snow Man

One must have a mind of winter
To regard the frost and the boughs
Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;

And have been cold a long time
To behold the junipers shagged with ice,
The spruces rough in the distant glitter

Of the January sun; and not to think
Of any misery in the sound of the wind,
In the sound of a few leaves,

Which is the sound of the land
Full of the same wind
That is blowing in the same bare place

For the listener, who listens in the snow,
And, nothing himself, beholds
Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.
-Wallace Stevens

'The Wind Rises' A Discussion

The Wind Rises is an animated bio-pic about Japanese aviator Jiro Horikoshi written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. In lieu of a normal review here is a conversation about the movie with my good friend Alex Honnet.

Me: I finally saw The Wind Rises.
Alex: Thoughts!?
Me: I enjoyed it...
Alex: Its uneven.
Me: I thought the love story was well done but, yeah exactly, they kind of skip over all the interesting things with him making planes during WWII, its almost like an epilogue, which is like the most fascinating part.
Alex: Yeah the end is kind of funny, she dies and then there is the dream and he glosses over "things have been bad lately" and its like that maybe should have been what the movie was about?
Me: Exactly! They mention this idea, multiple times, of like the dream and beauty of making planes battling against what they're used for(war) and then skip over when that actually happens. Seemingly the fundamental question and struggle of the movie is not addressed.
Alex: I'm surprised it was as good as it was considering its complete lack of focus.
Me: Yeah, I very much enjoyed it- beautiful, great relationships. But I also felt like- Why this story? Why do a relatively straight forward movie now?
Alex: I thought there was a lot of interesting parallels to animation- stuck at a desk, drawing etc.
Me: Yesyes. Business contorting or redirecting your vision. Did you see the English or subtitled version?
Alex: English.
Me: Me too. I felt like, at points, it might have been helpful to see it in the original Japanese. Like weird shit, like that one point, they're running on the beach and Jiro says out of nowhere something like- "Aeronautics is incredible!" and its like- what?
Alex: Yes. And it was SO strange.
Me: Oh yeah, the Herzog character?
Alex: MOVIE STOPPER. Like "I can't take this seriously anymore."
Me: The story itself I thought was engaging and unique, you don't see a lot of movies that delve into the other side of WWII.
Alex: Yes very true. Also it caught flack in Japan for criticizing conservative values which is so interesting because when I saw it I did not get that vibe and I think its because we've been so conditioned at the way the war "was" we don't really have a great understanding of the Japanese rational.
Me: There didn't seem to be much criticism in there at all to me, other than maybe not-killing people is better than killing people...but their national identity, honor, and what is expected seems much more demanding as to personal conduct.
Alex: I think that's the point, also implying that in some way they deserved to lose.
Me: Oh I see!
Alex: For us "Japan was evil and aggressive and deserved to be beaten" for them "we didn't win, but we fought well."
Me: And to get an idea of how technologically behind they were because of being isolated for so long, I didn't know any of that.
Alex: That is REAL interesting, the modernization of Japan in the 20th century was amazing, same with South Korea because it happened even faster.
Me: What are your thoughts- in summation.
Alex: If nothing else- visually awesome. It has problems, but i also sort of applaud it for not really following a typical arc.

Rent It.

Beware The Ides

To avoid the insanity of the Clark bus Nicole and I took the Broadway bus to the Landmark. The 36 is a magnet for weird old people carrying more packages than they should be. But we got seats. I made a nice breakfast for us before hand and then we saw The Grand Budapest Hotel. Super good. I don't know why Nicole is making this face.

Being out and about on St. Patrick's Day weekend is a bit odd for me. It use to be my favorite Holiday because for that one day everyone drank like I drank every day. I could hide my desperation in plain site.

Going out and observing all the people and all the mess made me grateful. That doesn't have to be me anymore, I'm no longer the guy that would revel in that kind of nonsense. I went to a great movie with my girlfriend who I love and it was a wonderful day. I felt comfortable and insulated and safe. Of course all the teenagers flaying around on the train and on the street was a slight irritant, ultimately though it didn't bother me, it barely even registered. And that is a great place to be for a recovering alcoholic on the booziest day of the year.

Graffiti 120

I have to give it up for the person that slapped this on the door of the bus. Takes some nerve.

"Compassion is not weakness, and concern for the unfortunate is not socialism." -Hubert H. Humphrey

"They talk about the failure of socialism but where is the success of capitalism in Africa, Asia and Latin America?" -Fidel Castro

"Every single major push in education has made it worse and right now it's really bad because everything we've done is de-humanizing education. It's destroying the possibility of the teacher and the student having a warm, friendly, intellectual relationship." -William Glasser

"It's very simple. If the American people care about a lot of things including corruption in government, then, in fact, if you use the power to appoint in order to do political business, to clear fields, to save your party money and so on, if it's not a crime - and I believe it is - it certainly is business as usual, politics of corruption." -Darrell Issa

Bubble Boys: 5 Life Lessons

This week is BBII mid-season break, episode six will come out next Wednesday. In the mean time Tisher and I wrote a piece for Matt over at The Steamroller. For those unfamiliar with the show I am Sven and Tisher is Henry. Click below.

5 Life Lessons from Bubble Boys' Sven and Henry

You can catch up on previous episodes over on iTunes.

Manifestation

the bleak
the blight
the bite
the night
wrongs turn right
with spring in sight

'Visitors' A Review

Visitors is an experimental black and white documentary about faces, slow zooms, and even slower pans. With a slogging and unvarying Philip Glass score the film offers almost nothing. Through a series of faces, landscapes, buildings, and repeated shots of a gorilla the film is purported to "reveal humanity's trance-like relationship with technology" but in actuality has no point of view with no discernible connection between the overlong unwavering images.

Pretentious and trudging Visitors does not change tempo and does not offer an actual message. So abstract it is incoherent. A film designed to lull you to sleep as opposed to entertain or enlighten. The trailer is the most compelling(and fulfilling) aspect of the film.

Don't See It.

Relief

the cold snap breaks
and bottled misery goes flat.
Limbs loosen and lubricate.
emotions peel
like shaved fruit
awoken from some dull
and plodding dream.
Grinding teeth bloom
to grinning gums,
the smell of hope gathers
from evaporating glum.
In the end- unfettered
from the unrelenting snow
a light, a sigh, a leaf, a cry
brings everything in bold.

The Sweet Spot

When talking about improv I'm not a huge fan of the sports analogy but at times there is a very appropriate resonance to it. A moment during Schwa tonight reminded me of baseball specifically batting.

I'm not great at one-liners or set-up/joke type of delivery. I tend to get laughs from voices, physicality, and/or the subject matter of my scenes. During a second beat scene tonight Craig and I were roommates. I was writing a screenplay and wrote my roommate(Craig), dad(Tim), and stepdad(Timmy) into the story. We cut back and forth from screenplay scenes to "real life" scenes, gathering a significant amount of speed as we progressed. At the end Andy tagged in as a producer type and told me my screenplay was obvious, unoriginal, and an amalgamation of movies that have already been made. I responded "No art is new art. Shia Labeouf." and the scene was edited on a huge laugh.

Now don't misunderstand, I don't think this is a terribly good joke but it is relatively difficult to think of a cogent topical response on the fly. I was pleased with it and gratified by the response of the audience. It was the right line for that particular set of circumstances. I felt like how I imagine a batter must feel at times. You can see a pitch and its almost as if time slows down. You know exactly where the ball is going to go. You swing and connect at the perfect place on the bat. There is that most satisfying crack and the ball leaps away. It's a perfect moment. Not a great one. But a convergence of different inspirations and motivations and information that find a resonance. A moment rooted and defined and solely in the present.

Some people call it "the zone" and its that heightened feeling of awareness that I strive to duplicate.

'Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me' A Review

Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me is a documentary about the life and career of Broadway legend and 30 Rock guest star Elaine Stritch. The film follows Stritch during the weeks before her 87th birthday- her life at The Carlyle, rehearsals for her new one woman show, performances, filming 30 Rock, and hospital visits resulting from her struggle with diabetes.

The film is not a retrospective but a portrait of Stritch's life now. There is a section where her assistant shows her pictures from the past and she gives quick and fascinating stories for each but the focus of the film is much more on Elaine Stritch at 86 struggling with her age, mortality, and illness toying with the idea of retirement but incapable of ceasing to be a performer.

Stritch candidly talks about everything. She is honest and demands honesty from those around her. She is opinionated and vocal and it is easy to understand why she would have a reputation for being "difficult to work worth". Conversely we simultaneously see her enormous heart, her insecurities, and her deep love for her friends and profession. She discusses her alcoholism with eloquence and her mortality with an astonishing acceptance. She lights up theaters when she is on stage and lights up her friends and strangers on the street whenever she encounters them.

A funny and poignant glimpse into a one-of-a-kind artist. A lesson, a guide, an inspiration.

See It.

Ramblin'

I met HP for dinner tonight at one of my favorite places Zig-Zag Kitchen. We've been friends for a long time, we worked together for many summers at our beloved Camp Conestoga in Rockford, now both in Chicago we see each other every other month or so.

HP: We(her band Bring Your Ray Gun) have been talking about moving.
Me: Lot of people thinking of moving after this winter. Where to?
HP: Austin, San Fransisco, I don't know. Carlos hasn't been ready but recently he brought it up so it seems like its finally time.
Me:  The SXSW trip will be a good way to test the waters. When?
HP: Next year? Maybe two years. It's hard, you know, we all have to move, do it together, it's a lot to coordinate, four lives. We want this to be the project, the band that we take our shot with, so we all have to move to, you know, do it.
Me: Good. Seems like time. You've been talking about moving for a while.
HP: I've been in Chicago for eleven years. Christ. I don't want to be anywhere for eleven years. Not until I retire or have kids.
Me: Well, time to get going!
HP: Or get pregnant...Ahhhh NO! I don't want a kid right now!

Coming

On longer evenings,
Light, chill and yellow,
Bathes the serene
Foreheads of houses.
A thrush sings,
Laurel-surrounded
In the deep bare garden,
Its fresh-peeled voice
Astonishing the brickwork.
It will be spring soon,
It will be spring soon --
And I, whose childhood
Is a forgotten boredom,
Feel like a child
Who comes on a scene
Of adult reconciling,
And can understand nothing
But the unusual laughter,
And starts to be happy.
-Philip Larkin

Bubble Boys: Butler Boys

This episode was a real treat. We got to have Craig back on the show as well as Sarah and Brian who I had never worked with before. The show has been a great way for me to get to work with people that I've watched and admired but rarely if ever get a chance to perform with. The inspiration for this episode comes a bit from Downton Abbey and Gosford Park but mostly we just wanted Craig and Sarah to play snobby English aristocrats. We're taking a mid-season break next week so catch up on previous episodes or rate us on iTunes.


On a layover in England, before their deployment to the front, the Bubble Boys are forced into servitude.

Featuring:
Steve Nelson as Sven Ingaborg
Andrew Tisher as Henry Mossmouth
Sarah Cowdery as Lady Cornelia Vanderlongerbottom and Maid
Brian McGovern as Winston Churchill and Stableboy
Craig Uhlir as Lord Hodgeborn and Hip-Hop
and Tim Joyce as Errol Burrows

A Fable About Ambition

There once was a Sparrowhawk who wanted to be a Condor.
He wanted the respect of all the birds and the size to demand it.
He wanted to be known.
He spent all his time talking loud.
Bragging and boasting.
He seldom flew.
He seldom hunted.
He ate scraps from his parents table and carrion he found.
The other birds did not like him because he spent all of his time talking about himself.
Talking about what he would be.
Talking about the future he wanted.
But never living in the present.
Time passed and all his peers flew away.
To families and far away adventures.
He was left alone with the aging flock.
His was no longer young.
He was plump and weak.
His feathers losing all luster.
One day he came upon a Red-Tailed Hawk drinking at a stream.
"Where are you going?" the Sparrowhawk asked.
"Wherever the wind takes me." the Red-Tailed Hawk replied.
After a time the Sparrowhawk said "What is the secret?"
"It is good to dream. It is better to live." came the reply, echoing off the trees, as the stranger vanished into the darkening blue of dusk.

Graffiti 119

I'm not usually drawn to simple tags but this caught my eye. Whether it was the color in a snow covered lot or the odd implications of the name "Volt" I don't know.

"I do not like the man who squanders life for fame; give me the man who living makes a name." -Emily Dickinson

"A lot of words in English confuse the idea of life and electricity, like the word livewire." -Laurie Anderson

"Electricity, the peril the wind sings to in the wires on a gray day." -Janet Frame

Oscar Rights And Wrongs

Best Actress

Who Won: Cate Blanchett. Blue Jasmine is a shoddily constructed piece of uninteresting trash. Vile, anxious, poisonous rich woman isn't rich anymore. Boo-hoo. You could make the argument that Blanchett does bring the garbage script "to life" but being mean, shallow, and self-centered is not an acting feat.

Who Should Have Won: Amy Adams. This is the second time the Oscars have snubbed Amy Adams, the first when Melissa Leo's strident 2D overbearing mother beat out Adams more complex Boston tough taking control of her life. Adams in American Hustle gives an amazingly layered, exuberant, mesmerizing performance. Using different accents and characters to portray a woman in love, a woman in search of a better life, a woman on the verge of control.

Close Second: Judi Dench. The Dame put in an unusual performance in Philomena. The actress known better for playing sophisticated, vocal, and powerful women plays a reserved, working-class, sincere woman. Verging on naive. She conveys a poise and grace combined with a simplicity and vulnerability unique to her filmography. A performance overlooked, possibly, because the Dame's incredible acting prowess is taken for granted.

Best Actor

Who Won: Matthew Mcconaughey. It is impressive that Mcconaughey lost all that weight but other than that his performance was nothing out of the ordinary. He put in much more varied performances in this years Mud and HBO's True Detective. The subject matter of Dallas Buyers Club is compelling but the narrative structure is unsatisfying as is Mcconaughey's one note character and stagnant performance. There is no transformation, there is no self awareness, there is no growth.

Who Should Have Won: Chiwetel Ejiofor. A complex and brave performance. Conveying much with silence. A layered, sophisticated, tenuous portrayal of the suffering and perseverance of the human spirit.

Close Second: Christian Bale. A jubilant and joy filled performance. The chemistry between Adams and Bale is magnetic. Bale is hilarious with his most notable, if not first, comedic role to date. He also brings an incredible amount of nuance and heart to this small time grifter.

Best Supporting Actress

Who Won: Lupita Nyong'o. A raw, moving, tortured performance. Honest and pointed and powerful. Head and shoulders above the other nominees.

Who Should Have Won: Lupita Nyong'o. Jennifer Lawerence was good in American Hustle but easily the weakest of the four leads(her accent kept slipping). I'm shocked Lawerence was ever considered over the substantially more soul-bearing performance of Nyong'o.

Best Supporting Actor

Who Won: Jared Leto. A truly transformative performance with a lot of heart. Under utilized in the film, Leto electrifies the screen the short amount of time he is on. Worth the watch simply for Leto's performance.

Who Should Have Won: Jared Leto. Although his rambly, bumbling, preachy acceptance speeches have been a trial.

Best Picture

Who Won: 12 Years A Slave. Beautiful cinematography, wonderful score, impeccable script, incredible acting. A film with a clear, discerning, and biting point. Something in rare supply this year.

Who Should Have Won: 12 Years A Slave.
Close Second: American Hustle. A wonderful film. Certainly the most fun of this year with the most rewatchability. Funny and heartfelt. Interesting characters in interesting situations connecting to each other as fellow humans.

Best Documentary

Who Won: 20 Feet From Stardom. Eh. A decent film that follows provincial documentary formula to the T. Nothing innovative, nothing new, an interesting peak into the life and career of some back up singers. Very safe. Very standard documentary fare. The best thing about the film is that it may have rejuvenated Darlene Love's career.

Who Should Have Won: The Act Of Killing. An fascinating investigation into a dark and extremely troubling situation. The subjects of the film are encouraged to stage and reenact murders they committed which are filmed complete with stages and extensive make-up. Unique and innovative in its conceit and execution. Easily the most thought provoking and disturbing documentary of the year.
Close Second: Stories We Tell. An epic and unforgivable snub by the Oscars, Stories We Tell was not even nominated. A lyrical and haunting film by Sarah Polley about the mystery surrounding her birth. An investigation of family, truth, love, and storytelling itself.

'The Lego Movie' A Review

The Lego Movie is a combination stop-motion/computer-animated family adventure film inspired by the popular construction toy. Evil President Business is in search of the "Kraggle" a powerful weapon that will end the world. During a confrontation with the wizard Vitruvius a prophecy is born that sees the end of President Business. Eight and a half years later we follow Emmet a normal construction worker in a uniform world created by President Business where everything is awesome, everyone follows the instructions, and everyone watches the hit show "Where Are My Pants?" We follow Emmet on his chance encounter with the Piece of Resistance and his subsequent journey to save the world.

As one highly suspicious and frequently disinterested in animated and family films The Lego Movie blew me away. The humor and social commentary of the film played on multiple levels throughout. Seamlessly moving from jokes for adults, to jokes for children, to jokes for both. The message of the film is similar to other family films stressing that every individual is unique and has value however the way it is presented has much broader reaching implications from corporations to interpersonal relationships.

The film itself is beautiful and bizarre. In the Lego world everything is made out of Legos from clouds to the ocean to lasers. There is an amazing amount of ingenuity at play depicting natural landscapes as well as day to life, the film goes way beyond rudimentary Lego structures.

The voice acting is excellent. Lead by a funny, grounded, easy-going, earnest peformance from Chris Pratt as Emmet the cast brings humor and emotion in equal parts. Even through the most harrowing parts of the film there is a contagious joy coming from the actors.

A shockingly funny and moving picture. For ages 4 and up.

Don't Miss It.