Graffiti 129

This reminds me of a song we use to sing at camp- "Alice The Camel". It's an absurd chant-type counting song. This goofy picture reminds me of song&story time after lunch. The whole camp would gather, probably 50 or so kids, and I'd lead them all in a series of these funny almost child-folk songs. Passed down for decades, the original artists totally forgotten. "Cannibal King" "Billboard Song" "Wishy-Washy-Washer Woman" "3 Little Angles" most of them with some truly bizarre content in retrospect.

I kind of found my singing voice as a camper and as a camp leader. So this little green camel brings back a lot of good memories.

'X-Men: Days Of Future Past' A Discussion

X-Men: Days Of Future Past is the most recent Marvel Superhero movie combining the actors from X-Men: First Class and the original X-Men trilogy who play the same characters with a time travel plot device. In lieu of a normal review here is a conversation about the movie with my good friend Vince Portacci.

Me: Overall what did you think of the movie?

Vince:  I thought it was just fine.  I thought X-Men: First Class showed how good an X-Men movie could be and this was an attempt to capitalize on that.  Bryan Singer probably felt like he had some cleaning up to do after the third installment.  I also think this was a strategic move by Marvel to reset everything and hopefully give them a chance to refresh the cast and kinda restart under the overall Marvel umbrella.  Like, Wolverine is an Avenger for a time, this hopefully allows a tie in for that at some point.

Me:  Yeah, I think I liked it OK. Liked the meshing of the freshness of First Class with the older characters who we know and like. The future element and the past element I thought were visually very cool and the future actions scenes at the beginning were cool. I think I was missing some heart. Like, it didn't really recapture the magic of the characters of the first two or first class.

Vince:  I did like seeing the new and old versions of the characters in the same movie.  I had a hard time with how everything required so much exposition and as a result were unable to go deep with anyone character except for maybe Professor X.

Me:  Good point. The conceit is very cool but I don't think they needed to explain it so much. Presumably comic book fans get it. I thought it was nice to get a bit more of Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique but I don't know if she was actually developed as a character she just had more screen time.

Vince:  I agree. The movie hinges on her character turning so drastically to the point that Magneto and Professor X view her as an ultimate threat.  Yet, we see no clear example of this in her behavior or character. Quicksilver was a big highlight for me.  Showing super speed in various cool ways.  The only miss in my opinion was not using him at the end.  It culminates in DC and even shows him watching this unfold on the TV.  I wanted to see him get in on the action.

Me:  For sure, my favorite sequence was the pentagon jail break, probably my favorite scene the stand off where time slows down and he adjusts all the guards and their bullets and stuff. Visually cool and indirectly implies how powerful a mutant he is. As far as freshness and obviously enjoying it Quicksilver was my favorite performance. He added a much needed playfulness.

Vince:  I applaud them for not using a CGI beast.  But man, that makeup job was insane.  He looked awful.

Me:  Oh yeah. Just the worst. Looked worse than Michael J. Fox in Teen Wolf. All patchy and stuff.

Vince:  I liked how they used the future mutants like Bishop and Blink just as an attack and defense unit.  When I saw the cast list I was like, whoa, there are WAY too many mutants in this thing.

Me:  Yeah plot wise I thought it was exposition heavy but I thought it was well done to incorporate the future and past mutants with not one by one explaining all their powers. I also really liked the Vietnam sequence. Do you think this one had an overt message either politically or socially?

Vince:  I think the overall message was sort of like, "Hey, before you do something drastic, think it through".  I think the X-Men is really an examination of race relations and there are strong ties between this and the idea of a final solution.  Maybe also, violence only begets more violence is the strong take away.

Me:  For sure that is X-men overarching message, I feel like this one, it was there certainly, it just felt a little watered down or muddled.

Vince:  It just didn't feel fresh.

Me:  Better put, yes.

Vince:  And I think that is the challenge with these super hero movies. I think we want to see OLD concepts presented in fresh new ways each time out.  We want  to see these characters tested and put through the ringer and see that they can triumph when there core beliefs are challenged in different ways and maybe when they go through a change.

Me:  I have been thinking recently we may be reaching a saturation point with the comic book movie machine. That there's just too much of it out there to even be able to make it fresh.
You tangentially mentioned the ending initially, how did you like it?

Vince:  I thought it was just fine.  There is a layer of cheese to the movie.  It felt very safe and happy.  I would have loved to see the cost to a particular character's mental state as a result of everything he remembers up until a certain point now being un-true.  God, that idea is fascinating to me. If you change the course of history and you have all these deep emotions and memories that are tied to things that never happened, man, that would be the most lonely and terrifying thing ever. Even though you saved the world, that is still something you have to deal with.

Me:  Yeah, Wolverine seems totally unfazed or at least there isn't time spent on him reacting to anything cause that is the end of the movie. It didn't exactly bother me. But I just felt like it was too cheesy, too sweet, like come on. OK fine, go back 15 years and reset the whole franchise.

Any final thoughts? Is it worth a watch?

Vince:  If you have a hankering for a summertime movie blockbuster, go see it.  Its worth seeing on a big screen.  Its fun but its not the X-Men movie we all want.

I guess we will still have to wait on that.

Meatmorial Day

Rourke hosted his annual Memorial day cook out dubbed, as are many, Meatmorial. I went to it last year and it was a lot of the same people one guy, a college friend, I hadn't seen since the same event last year. Pat bought a bunch of meat, people brought a bunch of meat, and the grill was going full tilt the whole time.

It was a beautiful day and a great crowd of people. There's something very comforting being in a crowd of 40 people or so and knowing most of them one way or another. People, for the most part, with a common passion.

The sun, the food, and the company made it a truly wonderful laid back holiday.

For a long time I never felt a part of. I was uncomfortable at parties and in crowds. I preferred solitude and limited social interactions. Over the past two years I've become more comfortable and open. Gotten to know more people. And the result is an ease when navigating big get togethers and a desire for them. I discovered a real joy being around large groups of friends, feeding off the energy, and soaking in people just being around each other.

This aversion of course was related to my drinking, a symptom, and now somewhat free from it I can be in a crowd and not only resist the urge to drink but have no craving to. At one point Steph's boyfriend and I were chatting. I was smoking and he brought over a bottle of champagne. He offered me some and I told him I didn't drink, told him I was recovering. He responded "That must be really hard. At a thing like this especially." After he said that I thought about it, investigated my feelings, and found to my surprise I had no desire to drink, none at all. I was truly comfortable and happy. I sighed at what a gift it was. And finished my cigarette.

Some addictions are better than others.

Church Of Cinema

Growing up Lutheran
I never felt the touch of God
in the slate gray narthex
or in the basement Sunday school
or during the preachers monotone pronouncements.

Never felt the need to worship
at a cross or stained glass window
over donuts and stale coffee.
Never felt a thing
with a dissolving wafer on my tongue
or a shot of cheap wine warming my belly.

From my first double feature
Jurassic Park morning and afternoon
my moments of grace came from
dark rooms with raked seats
from vibrant stories
offering escape
with secret friends quietly entranced
by lands I had never known.

My offering is $10.50
my alter a blank screen
whether peace or hope or excitement
a blessing I receive.

I worship in a darkened room
in a crowd of strangers
previews, popcorn, and some solace
I see it as my savior.

A Parable About Isolation

There once was a boy alone on New Years Eve.
He had many friends.
And places to go.
But no gilded invitation.
So, stubborn and forlorn.
The boy sat in his room.
Alone.
And sulked.
Wishing his friends had made more of an effort to include him.
To cater to him.
Pamper him.
Faun on him and make him feel special.
In his room he resented and stewed.
Quite lonely and sad he waited for something outside to prompt him to leave.
Even though he very much wanted to leave.
He did not know that sometimes, included or excluded.
Invitation or ignorance.
You must make the first step out into the world.
To see the smiling faces of friends.
To feel the wind on your cheek.
To hear the whisper of spring turning into summer.
Life cannot seek you out.
If you have shut out the world.

'Chef' A Review

Chef is a feel good comedy from writer, director and star Jon Favreau. Favreau plays frustrated, over-worked, divorcee chef Carl Casper. In his LA restaurant he is forced by the owner to continue to make the same boring menu. After a biting review Casper has a major meltdown and is fired. He goes back to Miami with his ex-wife and son, buys a food truck, and travels back to LA with son in toe getting his groove back.

Across the board the performances are natural and engaging. Lead by Sofia Vergara as Favreau's kind and caring ex-wife and John Leguizamo as best-friend Martin. There is also two high impact cameos from Amy Sadaris and Robert Downey Jr. The humor in the film is very organic with few set-up punch-line type jokes but lots of laughs.

The back to basics story line is an obvious mirror of Favreau's own work, having not made something this paired down or with as much heart since his debut Swingers. The characters are real, the passion for food infectious, the chemistry bubbling. The film only makes one small misstep with a super-sweet too-good-to-be-believed ending but the wrap up is so quick you barely notice.

Sincere, genuine, and surprisingly funny.

See It.

Mountain Top Water Drop

The third installment in Beanpole and I's quote collaboration. This comes from the inspired yet poorly received documentary I'm Still Here about Joaquin Phoenix's maybe fake/maybe real retirement from acting and his attempt at a hip-hop career. In the most engaging scene of the film Edward James Olmos gives Joaquin an inspired new age pep-talk.

"I'm a mountain-top water-drop."