To My Neighbor Spacca Napoli

Your pizza
is mediocre.
Your clientele
bourgeois and entitled.
Your constant
truck deliveries
pollute the day-time hours
and the endless
crashing of
unrecycled glass
are the sonic gifts
with which you
populate the night.
This week
I saw you were shut down.
And O' the thoughts
of peaceful days
and silent nights
filled me with anticipation
of undisrupted contemplation.
Until today.
When you powerwashed
every item in your restaurant.
The grinding, slurping, glugging
could be heard from blocks away.
All day long.
Hour after hour.
The only pleasure
to be found
on this clamorous
afternoon
was the confusion
of your vacant
potential patrons
so put-upon
by your closure
they had no idea
where to eat over-priced pita-style 'za.

'Digging For Fire' A Review

Digging For Fire is a dramedy about a married couple over the course of a weekend. They are house sitting and on their first day Tim(Jake Johnson) finds a bone and a gun in the surronding hills which he wants to investigate. Lee(Rosemarie DeWitt) is put off by her husband's lack of motivation and takes their child to spend the weekend with her mother and assigns him to do their taxes. Tim invites his buddies over and they drink, do drugs, and dig for additional evidence. Lee goes out and flirts with a man she has just met Ben(Orlando Bloom) and contemplates pursuing a romantic encounter. Ultimately they reunite and their relationship is the better for their individual weekend adventures.

The narrative is so minimal it is almost non-exsistent. There is no sense that there is actually a problem with the marriage at the film's center and so Tim and Lee's behavior throughout the film is inexplicable and unmotivated. The incredible cast is startingly underutlized. We are provided almost no back story, no information, no point-of-view for any character in the film. Thus we do not care about any of the characters nor the absense of a plot they are engaged in. The metaphor of digging and uncovering secrets is lazily developed and might as well not be part of the film. The conflict of the film seems to be "we wish we were richer" which is cloyingly banal and uncompelling.

Director and co-writer Joe Swanberg is known for using improvisation in his films, it is unclear if that method was employed in Digging For Fire however the film as a whole feels like a bad improv scene. We don't know anyones names, nothing is established, the characters are one dimentional, and the beginning is called back at the end in the hopes that the reptition will manufature some feeling of finality.

A vague plot bordering on incoherent, a disturbing misuse of an excellent cast.

Don't See It.

Moving & Success

Tonight was Bente's last show with Big Spoon, she's moving to LA this week to continue her comedy career and be with her boyfriend Jon. The past couple weeks have been hard on Nicole with the impending departure of her close friend and teammate. Along with Bente a handful of other folks have left this month for either LA or NYC. Over the past year and a half there's been a steady stream of Chicago comedians leaving for one coast or the other which has incited widespread self-examination for those of us that remain.

There is a pervasive feeling of uncertainty and restlessness going around precipitated by all the moves. Lot of people questioning what they are doing, what they want, and how to move forward. All valid questions. It is important to set goals, make progress, and seek out success. I wish the best for all the Chicago transplants and all those planning to move. However I've had the "moving" conversation with many people over the past year and a lot of the discussions have been fatalistic, viewing moving as the only option arising from fear of being "left behind".

Moving will not solve any problems or create previously non-existent motivation. Having a "fresh start" will not suddenly free up your schedule or unburden you from the internal or external things that have kept you from being productive. Moving for those reasons is termed a geographical. If you had issues with finances, relationships, or with actively pursuing your career those issues will follow you. It is not a solution in and of itself.

As my dad is fond of saying "there are a thousand paths to the mountain top". People become successful in a myriad of different ways. There is no set path especially in the field of entertainment. Are there many opportunities in NYC and LA? Yes. But there are also lots of people vying for those opportunities. All cities above a certain size have some kind of entertainment industry in which an actor can find work. You never know when and where lightening will strike.

There is also the question of success. There seems to be a common but bizarre idea that writing or performing on a TV show, regardless of quality, is success. And if that's what an individual's personal conception of success is, if that is their goal, great. But it isn't everyone's. There is no unilateral consensus of what success is. We can and should define it for ourselves. If it involves money and fame, great, if it doesn't, that's great too. But it should be our goals we are pursuing, our dreams we are chasing, not some amalgamation of vague societal pressures and expectations.

The important thing is to work hard. To create with energy and integrity. To derive pleasure and satisfaction from those things you create.

Work hard and follow your heart. If that takes you to a new city I wish you all the happiness and luck in the world. If it doesn't, you are not inferior. You're exactly where you need to be.

Ups And Downs

It's been overcast almost this entire week. Typically the weather doesn't effect my mood but after almost a month of sunny skies it's been hard to get motivated. I have a lot of free time currently, which is wonderful, but it can be difficult to fill it up. Difficult to get things done, difficult to get out and about with no real obligations. Doubly so when it is cloudy and chilly.

I've found when I'm feeling a bit low, either for a specific reason or no reason at all, the best thing to do is move through it as opposed to fight it or avoid it. To feel the feelings and keep moving forward. For me that's the only way for those periodic blues to pass. Not to try to drag myself out of it or think my way out of it or trick myself out of it. But to continue on. Keep making plans and showing up. To do the next right thing, as best I can. Moment to moment.

Eventually, like everything, it passes.

'Straight Outta Compton' A Review

Straight Outta Compton is a musical biopic about hip hop group N.W.A.. In 1986 Compton friends Dr. Dre(Corey Hawkins), Eazy-E(Jason Mitchell), and Ice Cube(O'Shea Jackson Jr.) along with some others formed N.W.A. and recorded their first single "Boyz-n-the-Hood" which started their success and garned the interest of music manager Jerry Heller(Paul Giamatti). From there the group quickly rose to stardom with fresh innovative music with a message. Because of contractual disputes the group bifurcates. The second half of the film follows Ice Cube on his solo career, Dr. Dre as he transitions to Deathrow Records, and the financial problems of Eazy-E and his waning relevance. The film concludes with a reconciliation as Eazy-E finally separates himself from the manipulative Heller.

The story of N.W.A. is fascinating, the characters within compelling, their inspiration vast. The film does a great job of showing the three men behind the group as artists, influenced by the gangster culture they arose from, but not totally a part of it, they use it in order to deliver their powerful message. Not only do the leads look like the men they are slotted to portray their authentic performances back up their superficial similarity. We get a sense of these men as musicians first and foremost with incredible discipline and skill although periodically indulgent in youthful indiscretions. There are issues with money, squabbles over image, but ultimately it is the music and the message, the potential for change and giving voice to the voiceless which drive these men.

The only problem with Straight Outta Compton is its pacing. Clocking in at almost three hours(with previews) the entire second third of the film drags. It is taken up with petty arguments, some scenes essentially repeat themselves in different locations, and the narrative comes to a virtual stand still. The reconciliation of the three leads brings the film to a satisfying close but at that point a lot of the momentum is lost. And because of the time spent on who insulted who on what album much of the socio-political message is blunted.

Great music, a topical message, dynamic performances, a bloated running time.

Rent It.

Graffiti 174

"They who drink beer will think beer." -Washington Irving

"Beer. Now there's a temporary solution." -Dan Castellaneta

"Give a man a beer, waste an hour. Teach a man to brew, and waste a lifetime!" -Bill Owen

"First you take a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes you." -F. Scott Fitzgerald

Lakefront Visits

I've been spending a lot of time at the lake recently. An hour or two each day reading and soaking in the calm of the water. The patience and endurance of the lapping waves.

"Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”  -Bruce Lee

"In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And an outstanding reason for choosing some sort of God or spiritual-type thing to worship- be it J.C. or Allah, be it Yahweh or the Wiccan mother-goddess or the Four Noble Truths or some infrangible set of ethical principles- is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things- if they are where you tap real meaning in life- then you will never have enough. Never feel you have enough. It’s the truth. Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally plant you. On one level, we all know this stuff already- it’s been codified as myths, proverbs, clichés, bromides, epigrams, parables: the skeleton of every great story. The trick is keeping the truth up-front in daily consciousness. Worship power- you will feel weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to keep the fear at bay. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart- you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out. And so on." -David Foster Wallace

'The Look Of Silence' A Review

The Look Of Silence is a documentary about the 1960's Indonesian mass killings, a companion piece to 2012's The Act Of Killing. The film follows Adi an optometrist whose brother was killed in the conflict before he was born. He discuss his brother's death with his aging parents, battles the government sponsored propaganda's influence on his children, and confronts the perpetrators directly involved with his brother's killing.

The majority of the film is taken up with Adi's confrontations with the men involved in the killings, most make excuses, deflect, and justify. The phrase "the past is the past" is repeated by almost every individual Adi speaks with. What Adi is seeking is not revenge but acknowledgement, not righteousness but regret. His parents are also a major center piece of the film. Their age, their worry, and their pain show how much of a toll the death of their son took, and how the silence within the community and country at large regarding the killings, has taken on them. The scenes of Adi in conversation discussing the past are intercut with long silent shots of the jungle and the community in which he lives as well as protracted sequences of Adi watching interviews with the killers where they describe the murders they perpetrated in detail.

The Look Of Silence is simpler and more direct than its predecessor The Act Of Killing. Instead of exploring the effect of killing on the human spirit through passive observation and abstraction it investigates the psychology of the victim and gives them a voice through direct confrontation. It examines forgiveness, survival, endurance, and the possibility of redemption.

A quiet, heartbreaking, incredibly empathetic look at the cultural and societal repercussions of mass murder by focusing on the emotional impact on a few of the individuals involved.

Don't Miss It.

This Is About Yesterday

There are times when both of us are in foul moods.
When neither of us will admit
how grumpy we are
and we fall back on our routine.
We ask each other "are you ok?"
and we respond "fine"
when we are most definitely not.
We share a meal,
watch Lost or The Wire
and drink lots of coffee.
We go for a walk or bike ride.
Go to the movie theater.
Maybe dicker over which pint of ice cream to buy.
And at some point I realize.
My worries and anxieties
have vanished, melted away.
That your simple companionship
has smoothed my edges
mended my cracks
and calmed my inner turbulence.
I hope it is the same for you.

A Fable About Boundaries

Long ago before the continents were sundered.

Before the deserts split apart and separated.

There was one desert, the First desert.

And on it prowled a pride of lions.

Golden, regal, and just.

The pride was lead by a chief.

And it was a happy pride.

They only hunted when they needed to.

Only killed that which they could eat.

And spent most of their time playing and lounging in the desert heat.

One day while patrolling his territory the chief came upon his brother.

His brother was covered in blood.

And around him were the corpses of an entire herd of oryx.

Shocked and dismayed the chief called out to his brother.

"Brother. What have you done. The pride is well fed. We are not in need. Why have you done this?"

His brother, with blood-mated fur grinned, and licked his lips.

"The Thrill brother. The Kill. The Power." 

And he raised his blood soaked face and roared up towards the heavens.

"Enough." the chief responded "You are sick. Seek help. You cannot go on like this"

And for a time the Sick One was quiet.

The chief tried to help his brother.

The elders tried to help him.

The pride as a whole tried to help him.

But the Sick One did not want to be helped.

And change must come from within.

Some time later the chief came upon his brother again.

This time the Sick One was standing over the bodies of a mother elephant and her two calves.

Before the chief could speak the Sick One began to growl.

"I am Death. My whim, my will, control these barren plains. All will fear me, all will come to know my power."

The chief shook his massive head sadly. "No, brother.

You are sick. You are lost. You have forgotten joy and the balanced path the pride treads.

You are banished. You are no longer welcome. No longer a part of the pride.

You are my brother. I love you but no more can I or the pride endure your sickness.

I hope you find healing somewhere. It pains me you could not find it here.

Goodbye."

And the Sick One walked into the desert alone.

My Two Sons: Extended

Tonight was suppose to be closing night for My Two Sons however The Annoyance has been gracious enough to extend us through the end of September. There will be no show September 4th due to Jangleheart Circus.

The past two weeks have been sold out which feels great and tonight my parents and cousin came. The show has gotten a lot of support from friends and family which means the world. We've also gotten a good number of folks off-the-street at the show which is also great. I think the show has some universal messages about love, family, growing up and its funny. After working really hard on the show its very gratifying how many people have responded to it.

My Two Sons runs Fridays 8pm at The Annoyance. 8/28, 9/11, 9/18, and 9/25.

'Phoenix' A Review

Phoenix is a foreign WWII thriller about Nelly(Nina Hoss) a Holocaust survivor and former cabaret singer whose undergone facial reconstruction surgery. She returns to Berlin with her friend Lene(Nina Kunzendorf) in order to move forward with her life. It is Lene's suspicion that Nelly's former husband Johnny(Ronald Zehrfeld) turned her over to the Nazi's however Nelly is determined to reconnect with her husband. He does not recognize her but sees enough of a resemblance in Nelly in order to use her to access his ex-wife's inheritance. Nelly goes along with the ruse in order to reconnect with Johnny.

The film is a remake of a 1965 film that was an adaptation of a 1961 novel and the content feels correspondingly dated. Especially in comparison to last years visceral, compelling, and emotional Ida, Phoenix offers nothing in the way of freshness and is derivative of 50's/60's noir without any of the understatement, shadowed menace, or excitement that those films offered.

Other than Kunzendorf, whose character is a bright spot at the beginning and then shuffled off without any real explanation, the cast provides uninspired flat performances. Hoss as the lead is one dimensional, her only seeming character choice being bad posture. Zehrefeld portrayal is also overly simple, he is a shallow, insufferable, lug and we have no reason to buy into Nelly's ambivalence toward his character.

A tired, disappointing, reductive visit to the overly saturated field of WWII drama.

Don't See It.

Graffiti 173

Boof- multiple meanings.

1. Something that is whack, shitty, dumb, or fucked up.

2. To stick something up your butt, generally drugs but can include anything.

3, Slang for meth. Used to describe crystal meth in the 785 area code. Originated from the descriptive feeling one got when smoking or shooting meth during the 2000's. When users repeated blurted out "boof" after large hits and were asked why, they answered "everytime i hit your shit my head goes boof" and slowly dealers throughout the 785 coined "boof" slang for its crystal meth, ice, tina, twack, etc.

'The Diary Of A Teenage Girl' A Review

The Diary of a Teenage Girl is a coming of age drama about a 15-year-old girl Minnie(Bel Powley) in 1976 San Francisco who gets into a sexual relationship with her hippy mother's 35-year-old boyfriend based on the graphic novel of the same name. Minnie begins an audio diary after her first sexual encounter which is utilized as the film's through line. She is also a budding cartoonist and periodic animation is used to progress and heighten the narrative.

Aspects of the film have a poignant resonance- Minnie's age-specific struggle to fit in and find her place, her obsession with sex, and her experimentation with various substances. And Powley provides a dynamic and brave performance. There is however a casualness and feeling of normalcy throughout the film regarding these volatile situations that is quite disturbing. It is clear that Minnie doesn't view her relationship as abuse, doesn't view herself as a victim, so, as the filmmakers profess, they are "staying true to the voice of the character". But there is never a point where the relationship is called out, there is no justice, no reckoning, and because of this lack of any kind of denouncement there is almost no acknowledgement of how inappropriate the relationship at the center of the story is.

There is also pervasive substance use and abuse and there is virtually no comment on that either. With a lack of judgement on either of these two main issues from the filmmakers, even if the intention is to portray it how it was or how the main character viewed it, there is a passive compliance assigned to these bad even awful situations. Without a clear message we are left to make sense of the film's thematic nebulousness and it seems like the attitude of the film is, for the most part, all this is OK, all this is relatively normal.

A confused, depressing, modern day Lolita masquerading as a coming-of-age dramedy.

Don't See It.

The Inside-Dark

We are all susceptible to darkness.
All of us prey to the periodic blues.
Lethargy, apathy, and depression
are not constant companions(for most)
but occasional and unwanted visitors
who sometimes stay long after our endurance has been eroded.
How do we purge this inky and viscous blackness
that clouds our eyes, pollutes our mind, and weights down our spirit?
Companionship, nature, the warm reassuring embrace of a loved one.
A heartfelt kiss, a sun-filled walk, a good book with a hot cup of tea.
Clichéd remedies, maybe, but even so- effective.
The light banishes the dark.
The artist, we acolytes of Dionysus, have other methods.
We spool, we spin, we weave the dark.
It spills from pen to paper, from paint to canvas, from mind to stage.
Even now I feel lighter, brighter, free.

Ren Faire

To celebrate our two year anniversary Nicole and I went to the Renaissance Faire. The last time I went I was in high school. It hasn't changed much, a lot of the same acts, the same layout, but just as fun and seemingly more populated by eccentric characters.

The first show we saw was The Swordsmen Dirk & Guido. It was fun and playful with some good stage combat. Later we saw Moonie The Magnificent one of the acts I really responded to when I had been previously. Nicole and I both loved it. Moonie's juggling abilities may have lessened slightly in the past fifteen years but his stage presence has increased dramatically. An all around entertaining, even uplifting, show.

There was a lot to soak in, most of the day we just walked around looking at all the different things for sale and soaking in the consummate weirdness on display.

As a fantasy fan the Ren Faire is a place I really enjoy and feel comfortable. Lots of people loving and acting out these ideas and activities from a bygone even non-existent age. Of course there's a lot of tourist types there and lots of drinking(something I didn't notice when I was younger) but overall there's a real sense of inclusion. A feeling of acceptance for whatever freak flag you may fly.

It was a great day. A hot one too. By 4pm Nicole and I were both pretty fried. It was a lovely way to celebrate our anniversary- outside, together, eating smoked meats.

Street Talk 25

I'm riding my bike north on Ashland after running an errand.
At my cross street I see two bikers off their bikes talking to an old woman.
They all have their phones in their hands.
I notice an orange mass of fur on the curb a couple feet from where they are standing.
At first I think its a cat.
At second glance its a dog. A Pomeranian.
Presumably run over. Dead or Dying.
None of the three people look upset or guilty.
I guess the three have simply found the dog.
Are trying to locate its owner.
They look around in confusion. They seemed harried, helpless.

I ride away separating myself from the little tragedy.
My thoughts go out to the dog's owner.
My prayers go out to the dog.
I pray it is not suffering.
I pray its death was quick and painless.
I pray its spirit goes to wherever dog spirits go.
A place it will be walked, fed, pampered, and loved.
Each pump of the bike pedal another prayer.
A small one for the small dog crumpled at the south west corner of Ashland and Sunnyside in Chicago Illinois at 3:18pm on August 15th 2015.

Minutiae

The past two days I've been attempting to fix the tail light on my motorcycle. I've been to Auto Zone twice, changed the bulb, changed the fuse, both to no effect. Today I discovered on my credit card statement two large charges to Motorola which I did not make. I immediately called the credit card company and requested a reversal and cancelled the card.

These are two relatively trivial irritants. Unfortunate but not out of the realm of normalcy. Easily worked around or taken care of, each with a clear path to resolution. What I classify as adult problems. Things that use to be totally and completely out of my grasp.

When I was drinking it was a struggle even to get to work on time, let alone pay my bills or handle any unexpected issues that arouse. I would view any inconvenience as a personal a front, use it as an excuse to drink, and put off the problem to another day then another day then another day. Perpetually letting small issues gain momentum and become big problems which I would not address and be overwhelmed by.

As a sober person I've learned how to face small day-to-day obstacles with some amount of grace, to respond to problems with fluidity and willingness as opposed to deflection and anger. This is something I think most people learn to do naturally, its part of growing up, but as a recovering person its something I've had to work hard at figuring out how to do. Being an adult, not viewing myself as the center of the universe, has taken some effort.

I no longer get overwhelmed by small problems, I handle them as best I can and ask for help if I need it. And even if the problems are protracted or insolvable if I've been calm and proactive I view them as little triumphs.

'The End Of The Tour' A Review

The End Of The Tour is a biographical drama about author David Foster Wallace(Jason Segel) over the course of the final days of his book tour for Infinite Jest. The film opens on David Lipsky(Jesse Eisenberg) in 2008 receiving the news of Wallace's suicide. He digs out his tape recorder and plays a tape of his 1996 interview with Wallace. The film then jumps to Lipsky in 1996 doing a poorly attended reading for his first novel, he pitches a piece on Wallace to Rolling Stone, then flies to Illinois to meet and accompany Wallace on his final days of his book tour. The film ends with 2008 Lipsky quasi-eulogizing Wallace, reading an excerpt from his book Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself from which the film is based.

The film is essentially about a road trip with long protracted interesting conversations on a variety of subjects but the main theme is the relationship between fame and artistic integrity. Lipsky wants to be revered but isn't, Wallace is revered but doesn't want to be. Different ideas are explored in lucid and compelling ways but the characters themselves- two relatively affluent 30-something white men- don't garner much sympathy. Or hostility either. Although what they talk about is interesting the characters themselves never elicit much more than a good-natured apathy.

Segel is passable as Wallace and shows flashes of real insight but his inherent and pervasive aw-shucks buffoon-like charm is never fully shaken off. Eisenberg, not known for his range(although American Ultra may prove otherwise), gives us Zuckerberg 2.0 this time without the benefit of speedy dialogue and Trent Reznor. His performance isn't bad there's we've seen it before in different iterations.

Fascinating ideas, compelling characters, certainly succeeds in generating interest in the late David Foster Wallace and is work.

Rent It.

Balance & Time

Currently I am at loose ends in the wake of my office closure. This is week two. It's nice to have my days free with some summer left to go. The weather has been nice and I've been outside more than I have in years. Soaking up the sun and appreciating the seasonal warmth.

Filling all the free time has been trickier than I anticipated. Trying to balance being productive, developing a routine, remaining active, and "relaxing". I've found that I can't loaf around all day even though initially the idea seemed appealing. I can't have a day where I don't have a plan or something scheduled. I get restless. I have to have someplace to go, something to do. People talk about wanting to do "nothing" but I've found I can't have down time per say, sitting around the house for more than an hour or two with no project or task makes me anxious and irritable. I don't think anyone truly wants to do "nothing" what they really want is just a free evening or afternoon to decompress. At this point I'm thoroughly decompressed so the challenge is filling up the time with things that have some value either personally(reading, writing, seeing friends), domestically(cooking, cleaning), or professionally(applying for jobs/grad schools) and actually doing them.

It's easy to get comfortable and lazy when you have very limited external demands. At this point I have a budding routine and have(so far) stuck to it. I am(and working to stay) reasonably motivated and inspired. Being happy and productive takes effort regardless of your circumstances. While I'm not working, that's the work I'm trying to do.

LP Conservatory

One of the benefits and problems of having a substantial amount of free time is that it needs to be filled up. Today I went to the Lincoln Park Conservatory, a place, although I've lived in Chicago for nine years(give or take), I've never been.

I stopped at the zoo first but it was partially under construction and all the animals were taking afternoon naps. The flowers were much more inviting.

It's a beautiful place. Quiet and serene. I hope this will start a series of visits to other landmarks and institutions that I've neglected.

To The Old Man At Paciugo

I misjudged you.
Your shambling unsure gate,
over-sized suit and
inappropriate windbreaker
made me think you were a degenerate-
an inevitable disturbance.
When you shuffled in front of me
for gelato I dreaded the duration
of your no doubt lengthy purchase.
Visions of protracted confusion,
argument and negotiation,
punctuated by incoherent grumbles
blossomed in my fatalistic imagination.
But.
Your ordering was relatively swift
you got one bowl of chocolate chocolate chip,
one bowl of turtle cheesecake,
and paid rather quickly(all things considered).
You exited and handed one treat to an
old woman waiting on a bench outside.
You were on a date
just as I was.
We sat, two couples, one old, one young.
Enjoying a cool treat on a warm evening.
In companionable silence.
I'm sorry I thought your physical frailty
and odd wardrobe
equated to mental instability.
A lesson I will try not to forget.

Graffiti 172

"Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before." -Edgar Allan Poe

"We all dream; we do not understand our dreams, yet we act as if nothing strange goes on in our sleep minds, strange at least by comparison with the logical, purposeful doings of our minds when we are awake." -Erich Fromm

"Myths are public dreams, dreams are private myths." -Joseph Campbell

'Mission: Impossible- Rogue Nation' A Review

Mission: Impossible- Rogue Nation is an action spy movie, the fifth in the Mission: Impossible franchise. Ethan Hunt's(Tom Cruise) top secret off-the-books government organization IMF has been decommissioned by the US Senate by the instigation of the CIA director. All the while a shadowed organization made up of disgraced/presumed dead agents from nations all over the world have formed a rogue nation dubbed "The Syndicate" intent on international terrorism. Hunt, now without governmental support, continues his opposition to The Syndicate.

M:I-5 does not offer much in the way of narrative originality but the intricate and exciting puzzles, the "impossible missions", at its center remain entertaining and fresh. The reunion of the character's we've come to know and enjoy is still pleasing. Simon Pegg especially is given more opportunity and develops a surprising and gratifying chemistry with Cruise.

Rogue Nation satisfies all the summer blockbuster requirements- high-speed chase, explosions, gun-fights, gadgets galore etc. But what it does better than other seasonal action fare is it recognizes and responds to patterns and trends in the market. There is no expansive scene of gluttonous collateral damage. There is no shoehorned, unbelievable, and unnecessary romance. There is humor, cool action, a compelling villain, and our reckless unshakable hero.

Entertaining albeit not terribly inventive.

Rent It.

Lake Haiku

Like an impassive

sentinel. Always watchful,

gracious yet distant.

'Mr. Holmes' A Review

Mr. Holmes is a mystery drama about a 93 year old Sherlock Holmes coming to grips with his final case, old age, and failing memory. The year is 1947 and the long-retired Holmes(Ian McKellen) has just returned from Hiroshima after procuring prickly ash a supposed curative for senility. Holmes struggles with recalling the failings of his last case but with the help of Roger(Milo Parker), his housekeeper's son, is able to piece together and come to grips with his past.

McKellen's portrayal of Holmes is much more vulnerable than we have ever seen the character. Not concerned with intellectual tricks, pontification, or solving cases McKellen's plays Holmes degraded, unsure, battling that thing that was out of his reach his entire career- empathy. Although not necessarily exciting the film has an unobrtrusive grace and the journey through the quiet mystery at its heart is more used as a function for Holmes to make sense of his life in his twilight years.

Subdued, contemplative, and engaging but not quite profound enough to warrant its reserve.

Rent It.

Graffiti 171

Outside Fat Willy's- Eat The Meat.

"Not eating meat is a decision, eating meat is an instinct." -Denis Leary

"If God did not intend for us to eat animals, then why did he make them out of meat?" -John Cleese

"Vegetables are interesting but lack a sense of purpose when unaccompanied by a good cut of meat." -Fran Lebowitz

A Parable About Relaxation

There once was a young man who lived in the town.
But who loved the woods.
He worked in a counting house.
At a small wooden desk.
Amidst many other small wooden desks.
He inscribed ledgers all day long.
He balanced books and kept accounts.
He did not like his work or dislike his work.
He felt a reserved apathy for what he did.
Cloistered as he was in the church of numbers.
He felt the humdrum was his destiny.
He could remember a time when he had ambition.
He could remember a time when he had dreams.
But that time seemed far away.
Separated by days and days of record keeping.
He was shackled by routine.
Restricted by the comfort of gainful employment.
One day his grandfather passed away after a long illness.
It was sad.
But not so sad for his grandfather had lead a long and colorful life.
His grandfather left the young man a cottage in the woods and a year's wage.
The young man quit his job in the counting house.
And went to live in his cottage in the woods.
He spent a year there.
Some days he would simply wander.
Soaking in the quiet of the woods as the leaves gently rubbed together ushered by the wind.
Other days he wood make a fire.
And cook stew from carrots, wild mushrooms, and rabbits he had snared.
Others he would find a lonely pond and sit silently all afternoon keeping it company.
He rarely saw anyone.
He rarely missed a soul.
The cool and calm of the woods gradually purged his bone-deep fatigue.
The young man felt ambition and desire kindle anew within him.
After a year the young man returned to the town.
And he saw it with fresh and lively eyes.
No longer did he see the intersecting streets as criss-crossed ropes in an inevitable net.
No longer did he see mundaneness and foreboding.
Upon his return he saw only opportunity.
And the possibility of triumph.

My Two Sons: Reader Review

"Sarah Ashley's one-act comedy is an uncharacteristically understated and tender story for the Annoyance Theatre. Two teenage brothers riff off each other, negotiate a love triangle, and seek out every possible means of getting high in a sort of vignette-filled Dazed and Confused for the Generation Y set. The teens' progressive parents (but really, who in the world is liberal enough to talk about rimming in front of their kids?) battle the kids' older dirtbag friend, Viktor, for influence, creating a unique angle on the coming-of-age story. The collaboratively written sketch dialogue and scene structures don't always lend themselves particularly well to the ambitious overarching material, which ends without much payoff, but it's an often quietly funny trip down nostalgia lane." -Dan Jakes, Chicago Reader

My Two Sons Fridays at 8pm, Annoyance Theatre.

'Tangerine' A Review

Tangerine is an independent dramedy about a day in the life of trans woman sex worker Sin-Dee Rella(Kitana Kiki Rodriguez). It is Christmas Eve and Sin-Dee has just been released after spending a month in prison. She meets her friend, also a transgender sex worker, Alexandra(Mya Taylor) who lets slip that Sin-Dee's boyfriend and pimp Chester has been cheating on her with a cisgender woman. Enraged Sin-Dee begins to scour the block for Chester and his "fish" Dinah.

The film has an incredible energy, a frenetic inertia, propelled by the pulsing score, the vivid saturated streets of West Hollywood, and lots and lots of walking. The cast gives lively, fun, and honest performances, most of whom are non-professionals, with moments of improvisation that enhance the feeling of authenticity. Rodriguez and Taylor are particularly wonderful- playful and outrageous complimented by moments of real struggle and heartbreak.

The structure is at times too loose especially as the film builds towards its climax. But the journey has an ecstatic addictive quality and the dramatic coda forcibly delivers some poignant insights which beg for further reflection.

Dynamic compelling performances, a refreshing look at an underrepresented subculture, a plot with a pounding pulse.

Don't Miss It.

Severance

All worry gone, all stress banished, at least for a while.
The remains of summer stretch out invitingly like a pup offering its belly for a scratch.

Each day full of simple wants fulfilled.
Each night punctuated by an absence of obligation.

A rare and fleeting freedom, unencumbered by demands.
Not since childhood have I felt such optimism.

How precious time can be.
After you've sold it cheaply for so long.