Shlep D-O Double Gizzle's Web Pizzle

It's hard out here for a Piiiimp

A quick Oscar shout-out to Terrence Howard and the highly recommended Hustle and Flow . It's a fantastic movie that, despite the central motif of hip-hop and despite the main characters being pimps and hookers, is really about family, dreams and all the little happy and sad moments in our lives that deserve celebration. Writer-director Craig Brewer nails the atmosphere and sense of place. You can't just see that it's humid and hot as hell in Memphis, you can practically smell the sweat and feel the same oppressiveness DJay and Key and Shelby are feeling. I loved the fan in the makeshift studio, always slowly and conspicuously clicking to a halt right before they start recording their hip-hop hopes and dreams. Howard unravels every intellectual and emotional layer available and somehow makes you feel empathy for this small time pimp. You hate what he does, how he acts sometimes, but you can't help but want him to succeed.

In a funny, smart, and meaningful way, Hustle shows us that no matter who you are or what you do, you have your own story and you deserve a chance to tell it.

"Every man has the right to contribute a verse."

****

Another non-Oscar related recommendation is Lord of War , a movie that suffered from "Three Kings" syndrome and should not be missed. Just like Three Kings , Lord of War was released during the early fall nether season for movies, and just like Three Kings, it seemed like the studio had no idea how to market the movie. Is it a fun action-comedy? A somber reflection on a serious global problem? A slick cops-and-robber caper flick? It's actually all of those things so there is understandable difficulty in cutting a movie like Lord of War down to a 30 second trailer. But don't let that deter you, it's a great movie. Nic Cage is a global gun runner who struggles, and ultimately fails, to find his moral center. He also gets to be sardonic and say Nic Cage type things. Jared Leto is his younger brother and gets to play the martyr and Ethan Hawke is the cop who gets to be the voice of moral authority just like in Training Day. Along the way, we're entertained, informed, shocked and enlightened. Writer-director Andrew Niccol manages to tell a political, thought-provoking movie without ever losing the audience or dumbing anything down. Go cop that DVD.

"You know who's going to inherit the world? Arms dealers. Because everyone else is too busy killing each other. "

*****

Lastly, I finally got to see Block Party and I was not disappointed. All my favorite artists, lots of funny jokes and an uplifting message of positivity, community, action and celebration, what more could I ask? A DVD of the full concert of course. Duh.

When keepin it real goes wrong

This past Friday, Bubble opened nationwide making it the first film to be released simultaneously in the theaters, on DVD, and on TV. As I've mentioned before , Mark Cuban is championing this new concept but unfortunately the reception has been less than stellar by the Hollywood establishment. You can read all about it on Cuban's blog. The biggest theater chains all refused to screen the movie because of the release strategy, and the first weekend's gross was only $73,000.

I haven't had the chance to see it yet but I definitely plan to, not only because the movie sounds interesting, but because I want to support Cuban and Soderbergh and their little experiment. I don't want to rehash all of Cuban's arguments (click over for that) but I will say that personally, I don't see why so many directors have their panties in a bunch. In the LA Times article linked to by Cuban, Jonathan Demme, Tim Burton and M. Night Shyamalan are assuming that collapsing windows will drive theaters out of business and that no one will be able to experience films as the artists who made them orginally intended.

I call shenanigans.

Movie theaters shouldn't be treated like art galleries where only serious fans of film go to view a director's latest work. Most theaters are giant multi-multi plexes that sell a product, no different from the local Wal-Mart. The product they sell is an entertainment experience that happens to include watching a movie. That's why there's food and arcade games and commercials and everything else. It's something to do on a Friday night that gets people out of the house. Theaters aren't competing against specific DVD sales, they're competing against sporting events, TV, video games, shopping, and any other diversion consumers engage in. Watching a movie in a theater with friends, family and even complete strangers on 50 foot screens surrounded by speakers the size of Stonehenge is an experience that will never be replicated at home on DVD.

I, and I know I'm definitely not alone on this, usually divide the movies I want to see into four categories:

1) I can't wait for it, I'm standing in line for an hour outside the theater dying in anticipation
2) I want to see it soon, I'll probably catch it in its second or third week in the theaters
3) I guess I can wait for the DVD
4) If I'm flipping channels and it shows up on HBO, I'll stop and watch it

But there's all those other times, those random Friday and Saturday nights when the wife and I have nothing else to do, and we decide, hey we should go watch a movie, let's see what's playing. Then we'll settle for whatever looks the most interesting or entertaining, get in the car and get going. I'm willing to bet this makes up the vast, vast majority of theater ticket revenues. Notice that a specific movie did not enter the equation. Unless it's a period of time when every movie out looks like absolute crap, we'll end up going anyway. And even when every movie is crap, there are tons of teenagers and even older customers who go just to hang out. This kind of stuff won't go away, the theater experience will always be in demand.

Now say for example there's a Category 1, or even a 2, movie coming up, and I know for whatever reason I won't be able to make it to the theater. Why should I have to wait the 3-6 months it will take for the movie to come out on DVD? Moreover, why should moviemakers, directors included, be deprived of that expanded audience and immediate revenue? I still want to see it as soon as possible, and I wouldn't mind paying a little extra to rent or even buy the DVD. The theaters would of course get a slice of that revenue, after all, they're providing advertising for the DVD whenever they screen the movie. Parents with small children are in this exact situation and they represent a pretty big segment of the movie watching public. If Demme and Shyamalan want to intentionally restrict people from seeing their films, then they're on the right track by supporting the theaters in retaining their precious windows. Everyone has a different category 1 or 2 movie, and there's a market for every film. Hollywood needs to wake up and realize there's alot more money to be made in giving the consumer what he/she wants.

Until then, I urge everyone to visit their local Landmark theater and see Bubble. And if you don't have a local Landmark theater, rent or buy the DVD, BECAUSE YOU CAN!

(One last note, Soderbergh was recently on Fresh Air to talk about Bubble and the new release strategy. In the second part of the show, a columnist from Variety discusses the reaction to the simulteneous release. )

*****

A Category 1 movie is actually right around the corner. On March 3, Dave Chappelle's Bloc Party will finally premier. I've been eagerly awaiting this since September and you better believe I will be waiting in line the first day. And if I had my way, I'd be able to buy the DVD at the same time. Check the trailer . Hilarity and awesome concert footage will ensue.

(TV notes: Chappelle will be on Oprah Friday, February 3 and on Inside the Actor's Studio Sunday, February 12.)

*****

"Time to spit new shit
I'm rocking on this new bit
I'm hot now you'll see
I'll fight you just to get peace

Heavy Weight Wrestler
Fight me in your comforter
Let you be superior
I'm flithy with the fury

London
Quiet down I need to make a sound
New York
Quiet down I need to make a sound
Kingston
Quiet down I need to make a sound
Brazil
Quiet I need to make sound"

--M.I.A. from "Bucky Done Gun"

Rowling v. Lucas continued...

Before we continue with the compare/contrast, there are some administrative notes. Two new sites have been added to the Politrix section. The Huffington Post and Truthout.org are great places to browse national media articles, op-ed pieces, and blog entries that might not exactly make it on the next Fox News report. They are both sort of clearing houses of news and opinions from both major media outlets and lesser known ones. Though they are decidedly liberal and left-wing, they don't hold back on any target deserving of criticism. Plenty of revealing information and snarky comments, so please browse and enjoy.

Second, the Spins, Flicks and Words section has been updated to include some of the things that have caught (or re-caught) my attention over the last few months. And lastly, the Gallery section has been taken down for some re-tooling.

****

There was some disturbing and sad news this week as well. A suicide bombing in Bangladesh on Monday was the nation's first in it's 34-year history. Although it barely registered as news in a climate where suicide bombings are a more-than daily occurence in Iraq, it was a very personal blow to the pizzle. Bangladesh is about 90% Muslim, and, as East Pakistan, was originally created as a homeland for Bengali Muslims. But we have always prided ourselves on the other parts of our identity as well, like our cultural independence, our language and our values of tolerance and understanding. Extremism is of course, nothing new in any pluralistic society, but only recently has it taken a violent turn in Bangladesh. I always felt a small amout of pride that no matter what other problems the nation had, crippling poverty, pervasive corruption, a barely functioning democracy, Bangalis never resorted to explosions to punctuate their idealogy. With such a strong intellectual, literary and spiritual legacy it's truly depressing to think we've sunk so low.

****

Enough sadness though, let's get back to what we do best...distract ourselves.

The Verdict?

We ended last time with my contention that in terms of accessibility, the world of Harry Potter had a small leg up on Star Wars. Is the extra bit of imagination required for full Star Wars immersion worth it? Well, the short answer is yes, it is after all, the Greatest Story Ever Told (Da-da-duuuh-duuuh-da-da-da-daaaaa-da!!). In addition, about 95% of Harry Potter movie viewers have already read the book, meaning there's no real element of surprise, just anticipation. Episodes 4,5 and 6 of Star Wars were brand new to the world. No one knew going in that Vader was Anakin, Luke and Leia's father, and that's pretty huge in terms of storytelling impact. By the time an HP movie hits the theaters the impact is lost. For GOF, we already knew Cedric was going to die and Voldemort was coming back. So in terms of initial impact the slight edge goes to Star Wars.

What about lasting influence? In this case, I'm going to give it up to Harry Potter, and here's why. Looking at it from the present time and place, it's no question that Star Wars has had a more significant effect on popular culture, but Lucas did have a thirty-year head start. And in some important ways the production of episodes one through three may diminish some of that lasting influence. We all had sixteen years in-between episode six and episode one to discover and re-discover the story, and to wonder if we could ever enter that world again. While it was refreshing to return to that galaxy, far, far away, and neat to see all the pieces fit together (and to realize that the originally intended six-part story was really all about Anakin), the whole enterprise seemed like too much explanation, and no revelation. For every hole that was filled in, there was a new hole that opened up. There was too much with the "metachlorins" (I still don't understand what the hell they are, the Force was better as a spiritual, not biological, entity) and the awkward romances. Anakin was supposedly tempted towards the dark side because he loved a little too deeply, first his mother then Padme, but if Padme was so crucial to the creation of Vader, why is she never even mentioned in 4, 5 and 6? Luke eagerly probes old Obi-Wan for details about his father, but remains curiously incurious about his mother.

(As a momma's boy, this was a key difference to me. Padme dies and cannot be a mother to her kids because of the broken love between her and Anakin, which is extraordinary. In a way, Luke's redemption of Anakin is also a validation of Padme's death, but neither Luke nor Leia are ever made aware of this. Harry, as we are constantly reminded, is the only person to have ever survived the killing curse, and is destined to face Voldemort again because his mother sacrificed her life for his. He is continually searching for the love and courage and support he lost from both his parents.)

So even though I look forward to the day when I can sit and watch all six Star Wars DVD's back-to-back and in order, it can't reverse the original experience of seeing the conclusion first...advantage Harry.

HP on the other hand, started as a grass roots, (and sequential) literary movement. Even though, as stated before, Book 6 takes on the characteristics of Episodes 1 and 2, we are all set up now for the grand finale, which should be the biggest literary event ever and (two-three years later) the biggest film event since, well, since Star Wars. Harry's story started with a little kid who discovers he can do magic, and his story has progressed steadily since. After six years of adventures and schooling, Harry has to prepare himself for the ultimate showdown. In the meantime, kids, and plenty of adults, can pick up the books and movies and get acquainted with the kids at Hogwarts. With each new reader/viewer the swelling of anticipation for how Harry will end up after year 7 will grow. I think in a few years time, we'll see the that the influence of Rowling's world will have eclipsed that of Lucas'. The fanclubs and costumes and "I speak Parseltoungue" bumper stickers are already ubiquitous, and the sky is the limit.

At the risk of sounding sacrilegious then, (and inviting the furor of plastic light sabre weilding freaks everywhere), I rule in favor of Rowling in the case of Rowling v. Lucas on the basis of the the tremendous upside potential of Harry Potter. Let's hope we are not disappointed.

*****

Shout outs are due to the Lord of the Rings (I admit, I never read the books, but the movies were fabulous) and the upcoming Chronicles of Narnia (Religiously read the books as a kid, I may end up doing a Rowling v. CS Lewis piece one day)

*****

"I wish I...I could make it right, if I would just swallow my pride"
---Common and Kanye

Rowling v. Lucas

For the first time, I actually waited long enough between entries to overshoot the archiving on the pizzle, meaning the site was completely blank for awhile. Bad form. Excuses? None. Ironically, I spent more time this summer on the site when I was working long, long hours. I guess when you have less to complain about, you essentially have less to say. Or maybe I was actually too engrossed in the world for once to comment on it. It's been a sobering fall for sure. There was the Biblical hurricane season in the Gulf, and the catastrophic earthquake in Kashmir (100 times as deadly as the Hurricane, but of course received 1/100 the attention in America).

On a personal level, I reached a whole new peak of fantasy sports (and real-life sports) obsession which has sucked alot of free time out of the shedool. I crossed two lines never crossed before by playing a season of fantasy baseball (even though I don't even like baseball that much) and playing for money (after the entry fees and payouts I've netted $-10 so far, not too shabby). Also, the 'Horns are for real this year and the Cowboys are back fighting for a division title. But my hope for the winter is to renew the pizzle and unleash all that has built up in my head over the past four months.

****

We left off last time with a blurb about the sixth Harry Potter book and my attempt to do a compare/contrast with Star Wars. This past week the fourth Harry Potter movie premiered and after waiting an hour in line opening night to watch it, I figured this would a good a time as any to share the results.

First, let me say that I really enjoyed the latest movie . Although it did seem rushed at times, cramming alot of story into two and a half hours, I actually welcomed the different spin and creative liberties that comes with adapting a 700-page book. Director Mike Newell can throw out all the spells and gadgets and creatures that are introduced and focus on the main plot points, the characters and their emotions. Newell's credits include Four Weddings and a Funeral and Donnie Brasco and he brings elements of both to Goblet, creating a movie that's funny at all the right moments, dark when it needs to be, but always exciting, visually incredible and most importantly very human. Harry's world is growing much darker, but there's no reason why he can't also have some fun along the way.

****

So with a fourth movie in the can and the penultimate book in the works, how do the life and times of Harry Potter stack up against The Greatest Story Ever Told AKA Star Wars? Let's start with the similarities that make both these tales great.

Brave New World

The best part of any fantasy epic is being able to enter a world that is completely different than the one we currently inhabit. George Lucas' galaxy far, far away and JK Rowling's parallel magical universe are both worlds with an infinite number of possibilities to explore and stories to tell. Every detail is thought out and imagined; every character is fully drawn within his world. I think we've all at some point imagined what our lives would be like without the constraints we normally live with. What if I could jump on a ship and hyperspace my way to another planet? What if I could wave my wand and move the remote towards me without getting up? Transforming our everyday world into flights of fancy is what lures us in, and nurtures the uniquely human need to escape our present time and place.

(The Internet makes it exponentially easier to get immersed in your favorite fantasy worlds. For example, there are tons of sites that modify the familiar personality test questions, the What Kind of Care Bear Would You Be type stuff, into different Sorting Hat engines. Two sites put me in Ravenclaw, the third in Gryffindor. Maybe I can make a new house, GryffinClaw.)

Good and Evil

But what fun is another world if we have the same problems and ambiguities that we have in the real one? We need a world where wrong is wrong and right is right. Luke must stay loyal to the rebels and defeat the emporer. Harry must prevent Lord Voldemort from once again terrorizing the world. They must save innocent lives and boldly sacrifice their own. In a way, it is easier for clear cut roles to exist in a made-up world. In reality, we're much less likely to see our dilemmas from the same point of view. There are two, or three, or four sides to the story. But there's no time for all that when the fate of galaxy rests in our hands. Good has to win and justice must be upheld. The moral choices in our fantasy worlds may not be easy, but they are always clear.

Other Odds and Ends

Harry Potter and Star Wars (along with most other epics throughout history) share elements of the Father-Son, Chosen-One mythology. Whether it's to redeem his sins, or to avenge his death, they are plenty of daddy issues to go around. There's also plenty of talk about prophecy and fate in both stories, bringing into question the age-old issue of how much control over the universe do we have and vice versa. In terms of story structure, both Harry Potter and Star Wars get better as they get darker. It's never really interesting unless something menacing is about to happen. But there is a point in both stories where momentum is lost. Episodes 1 and 2 of Star Wars functioned mainly to fill-in the backstory of what everyone already knew was going to happen. Book 6 of the Harry Potter series in the same way halted the momentum of Books 4 and 5 (with Voldemort returning and the battle lines being drawn) and focused on Voldemort's history and setting up the grand finale. I'll end with some attempted character equations:

Harry = Luke
Han = Ron
Hermione = Leia
Voldemort = Darth Vader+The Emporer
Dumbledore = Yoda (maybe old Obi-Wan)
Sirius = Young Obi-Wan
Hagrid = Chewbacca

Try your own! It's fun when the football games on TV are blowouts and you have nothing to do.

****

(Incoming: Stock Intro sentence for Compare/Contrast essay learned in sixth grade) AS MUCH AS HARRY POTTER AND STAR WARS ARE ALIKE, THEY ARE ALSO VERY DIFFERENT (can never go wrong with that one, very versatile).

UK vs. USA

Both franchises are undoubtedly global in popularity, but I think the country of origin brings about some key differences. Despite the prominent involvement of British actors, at heart Star Wars is a swashbuckling shoot-out, the Wild West in outer space. For example, Obi-Wan fights to preserve democracy and the republic, Han flies the Millenium Falcon in to save the day, and the rebels defeat the empire with a collaborative effort, with Luke ultimately facing Vader on his own. All of these things are very recognizable as parts of how Americans view their ideal selves. We want to uphold freedom, ride in on our white horses to help anyone in distress, and while we applaud teamwork we will always confirm the power of the individual (think Hoosiers , where Coach Dale preaches the total team game, but in the end Jimmy gets the last shot). I can't speak for how "British" Harry Potter is, because well, I'm not British, but none of these traits are as strongly seen in Potter as they are in Star Wars. Potter's world is more insular, existing in parallel with our own real, or "Muggle", world. His battles, so far, seem more personal and there are no overt political tones to the fight between good and evil in his world.

Closer to home

The magical world existing in parallel to ours is one reason why I think Rowling's fantasy is a bit more approachable and recognizable. This point will certainly be debated, but making Harry enter the Wizarding world from the Muggle point of view, allows the reader/viewer to discover things alongside our hero. We are as shocked and delighted as Harry by all the magic that exists . Another way HP is a more viable fantasy, especially for kids, is that we can, year by year, watch Harry grow up and deal with typical teenage issues like girls and homework (the Buffy effect). We are allowed more personal insight into the characters' lives, and can identify with them more, because their adventures happen while they are at school. In Star Wars, there are signs of daily life, but it is mostly backdrop to the events of the story. Also, because Lucas told the story backwards it was difficult for new fans to involve themselves in a world already familiar to most people. Without a step-by-step story progession, and with a pre-existing world (the galaxy far, far away) there was a little more work required by the audience to reap the full rewards. But is it worth it?

To Be Continued...

Aint you seen my movies!!??!

What I did on my summer vacation...

Nothing, actually. I had to work....alot, but I did manage to see a few movies, read the latest Harry Potter and fulfill my live music destiny by seeing Method Man at Street Scene. We can start there...

San Diego's Street Scene is traditionally held among the streets in downtown San Diego. This year they decided to have a more typical festival setup in the parking lot at Qualcomm Stadium (home of the Chargers and where I was not able to score tickets to the Cowboys game).

Lowlights: In a cruel twist of fate, The Killers and White Stripes were scheduled within a half hour of each other, and so I thought, I can catch a few White Stripes songs then hightail it over to The Killers right?. Of course, I spent 40 agonizing minutes waiting for Jack and Meg to come out before I had to bail. My rationale was that I've seen the White Stripes before, but needless to say I was very upset.

The parking lot setup was nice, and from what I hear much easier to navigate than the streets of downtown, but it's not very conducive to sitting down when the ol' legs get tired.

It's not necessarily a lowlight, but where I used to be somewhat interested in all the "different" types of people that show up at concerts, the stereotypes are now slowly starting to emerge. There's the Aging Swaying Hippies, complete with tie-dyed shirts and fanny packs. The Abercrombie Frat Boys, complete with too much beer, and a total disregard for the music being played (usually accompanied by the Hollister Girlfriend, skimpily dressed and more concerned with being seen than anything going on onstage). The Stoners, too stoned to realize that there is music being played. The Straight From Work Guys, like me, who are totally overdressed. The Screaming Too-Young Girls who seem to have no idea who's playing, but are really really enthusiastic about it. The Concerned Parent, usually there to helplessly chaperone the Screaming Young Girls. The Earnest Geek, who doesn't move, keeps his arms folded and is extremely annoyed at the antics of the aforementioned groups, yes, this used to be me.

Highlights: As mentioned above, the concert circle is complete as Method Man was kind enough to make an appearance. I saw Meth seven years ago on the Hard Knock Life tour (the T-shirt from which I proudly wore), then saw the rest of Wu-Tang in Austin in 2002. Meth was conspicuously absent from that show, but I feel redeemed after his show last saturday. He is still the baddest motherfucker on the planet...Johnny Johnny Blaze ain't a damn thing changed...not a damn thing.

Other highlights: Though I had to miss the White Stripes, the Killers were pretty awesome live. 30,000 people chanting, "I got soul, but I'm not a soldier" can make anyone feel sufficiently inspired.

The diversity of the acts was also very cool. Saturday, I got to see Dashboard Confessional then make a quick turnaround to Method Man (the best part of a DC show? watching the jumbo screen when they do the crowd panning shots, all the little girls in full rapture is funny, but the guys in full rapture who then suddenly realize they're on the big screen then try to play it off like they're just there for their girlfriends, that absolutely kills me). Anyway, I got to tap into my own swooning 16 year old, but then immediately shrug it off and get thugged out for Method Man. I love it.

****

I saw quite a few movies this summer, most of the blockbusters and a couple of comedies, but there are two I highly, highly recommend.

First, Batman Begins is as good if not better than the other great comic book movies, Spider-man One and Two and X-Men 2 (I would add The Crow to this list, but I didn't even know that was a comic book until much later). Besides wiping away the horrid memories of the last two Batman movies, director Christopher Nolan fills in the gaps that even Tim Burton left in the first two installments. Nolan and the terrific cast led by Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne manage to make an intelligent, emotionally engrossing and entertaining movie all at once. I don't want to gush too much (read the reviews on IMDB for that) but I will say that for the first time I realized why there have been so many different interpretations of Batman over the years. There is plenty of psychological depth and darkness to mine from, but it's really, really easy to slip into campiness. For example, in the scene where Bruce is flying back to Gotham with Alfred, and he is very earnestly germinating the whole Batman concept for the first time, it hit me that I'm watching a movie about a grown man who dresses up like a bat to fight crime. That sort of explains the 60s TV show and the two Joel Shumacher movies. Without a true committment to portraying who Bruce Wayne really is, all you've got left is a costume action-comedy. So kudos to Nolan and Bale for showing us the light.

Also, make sure you go see Crash . The performances are amazing from top to bottom, especially Matt Dillon, Larenz Tate, Terence Howard and even my man Ludacris. The movie might come off as slightly obvious and contrived to some (yes, people can be both good and bad, we get it), but without a doubt it will make you think about prejudices, how small our world is, and how difficult it is to find our place in it. In the same vein as some of Spike Lee's best, writer/director Paul Haggis doesn't give us any easy answers or conclusions to all the racial issues he brings up, but shows us that hey, sometimes, shit happens. And it's not always so simple to assign blame and exact justice. We're all at fault in some ways. But, in the end, despite tragedy and heartbreak, and despite what our instincts might tell us, change for the better is possible.

****

Lastly, Book 6 in the Harry Potter saga was ultimately disappointing. Books 4 and 5 were so well written, straddling the line between the growing darkness of the story line and the lighthearted teenage subplots, it was probably inevitable that number six would be something of a let down. I immediately likened Book 6 (and probably Book 7) to the the Star Wars movies, where Episodes 1, 2 and 3 were sub par films, but necessary to fill out and complete the story. From there I started to prepare an entire list of similarities and differences, pros and cons between the two sagas, trying to decide which one is better and will eventually be more influential, but of course something that ambitious deserves its own post.

So stay tuned...same Bat time, same Bat channel (sorry couldn't resist).

****

Check out the quote in paragraph five. Godspeed Lindsay, Godspeed.

****

"Leave the gun, take the canoles."
---Clemenza

Meet me in Montauk

One of the recurring debates that Keyur and I had was the Memento vs. Matrix discussion. He hated Memento and loved the Matrix, and I felt the exact opposite. From my perspective, the two movies took two vastly different paths towards the same question, "what is real?". The Matrix was a little too slick and sci-fi for me, but Memento's assertion that memory is the central determinant of someone's reality was much more thought-provoking (I'll leave my comparison of the acting, or lack thereof, out of this discussion). After all, what are we if not a collection of past moments? How we look at ourselves and the world at any moment is necessarily colored by how we react to and evaluate our past.

So what if you could alter that reality? What if you could take away the memories that hurt, erase the people and events you no longer want as a part of your present?

Charlie Kaufman and director Michel Gondry give us their take in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind . The man behind Being John Malkovich and Adaptation (two of my all time favorites, I sometimes wonder if all other writers in Hollywood just feel like giving up after watching a Kaufman movie, he's that damn good), once again reaches an intellectual and emotional level that few other filmmakers can.

Eternal Sunshine is at heart a simple love story. Joel and Clementine (played by Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet who give amazing performances and provide the film with its emotional grounding) fell in love, then fell out and in act of anger and impulse, Clementine visits Lacuna, Inc. to have all memories of Joel erased from her memory. When Joel realizes what happened, he agrees to have Clementine erased from his memory, but along the way, changes his mind. The movie then follows Joel as he tries to perserve Clementine within his memories. Of course, the story is not told in a linear way, and figuring out Kaufman's twists is another little pleasure. Gondry takes us into Joel's head with a wonderful visual flair and the final payoff is chill-moment worthy (see below) in the way Kaufman brings together the threads of his story and hits us in the perfect place right between the head and the heart.

Eternal Sunshine, much like Being John Malkovich, is based on a simple sci-fi premise (without too many scientific details to get bogged down in), but remains grounded in reality and in touch emotionally with the audience. Kaufman's stories are usually so creative and clever, that it would be easy to completely lose the heart of the viewer and become a purely intellectual exercise (a pretty fair criticism of Memento). But Kaufman remains true to his characters and to the essence of the story, and this is probably his most significant achievement as a writer. He gets your mind working to the point where you think you know what's going on, so you think you can figure out what Kaufman is trying to say, but then he throws you off, and you realize that there always things that the mind can never understand. In Eternal Sunshine, we see that love can never be intellectualized (Jim Carrey summed it up in an interview, "You can intellectually walk away from someone, but your heart can't") and that the value of memories, good and bad, can never be quantified. They are all equally an essential part of you.

****

Eternal Sunshine had a special resonance with me for personal reasons. Russ and I both watched the movie with our wounds still fresh ( his more than mine), and afterwards we just looked at each other like someone had knocked the wind out of us, but instead of being in pain, we felt light, almost euphoric. What if we could erase a person from our memory? Does it hurt that badly now? Would it be worth the loss all of the good memories? At times it does that hurt bad. One of the things that still really bothers me, is that now whenever I think of her, it feels bad. I can't help but remember the negative. It shouldn't be that way. I should be able hold on to the good, the comfort, the closeness, and be happy. But it still hurts to try.

****

Movie Chill-Moment : The "Meet me in Montauk" scene in Eternal Sunshine--This is the aforementioned Kaufman payoff scene. Without giving too much of the surprise away (suprise may not be the best word, more of a revelation, the-story-coming-together light bulb going off), Kaufman ties his story together while at the same time showing us the value of love to our memories and to our lives.

****

Big, big props are due to Ram for working behind the scenes and resurrecting the Pizzle. Holla at ya boy, Captain!

"Ooh girl, your breath is harsh
Cover your mouth like you got SARS"
----Kanye West from "The New Workout Plan"

"My favorite girl wanna leave just because I gotta girlfriend
My freak girl say she becoming a Christian,
My white girl wanna move back to Michigan
I'm pulling girls off the bench like a sixth man,"
----Kanye West from "This Way" (can you tell who I've been listening to lately?)

it's never off the table

Even though I'm a ripe 23 years old now, every time I go to the movie theater, it's a thrill. I can't wait to see the previews and when the lights go down I get the same rush I did when I went to see Karate Kid back in the day.

Every once in a while a scene, or a part of a scene, will transcend art or entertainment and cause a reaction so visceral and emotionally pure that I physically get chills. It's difficult to characterize the exact emotion felt, it's more of an exultation of not just watching, but becoming part of a film's reality. I first saw the chill scene concept put into words by the Sports Guy from Espn.com's Page 2, and following his lead here is a list of some of my favorite movie chill scenes:

The Sam Cooke intro and the first Sonny Liston fight from Ali : The first 20-30 minutes of this movie achieve cinematic perfection. I'm convinced of this fact. The footage of Ali training intercut with Sam Cooke performing and with scenes from Ali's childhood sets the atmosphere and captures the feeling of anticipation, of hope and possibility, both in Ali's life and in America at that time. The opening sequence makes amazing use of music, and the fight scene is beautifully choreographed and shot. You can feel the speed of Ali's punches, and really sense the lightness and grace with which he fought. It's a shame (and the subject of it's own pizzle entry) that the rest of movie doesn't live up to the beginning and turned out so unfocused.

The final scene of Three Kings : I wrote about this once on August 22 , but I would just like to reiterate what a stroke of genius it was to use U2's In God's Country at that moment.

Benicio del Toro's "Jesus betrayed me" monologue from 21 Grams : If you weren't convinced of del Toro's greatness after Traffic then you most certainly will be after watching 21 Grams. As an ex-con struggling with his new found faith, del Toro's speech in his jail cell in front of his reverend is absolutely riveting. A lifetime of struggle between a man's inner demons and the ambigous promises of blind faith comes out in del Toro's burning eyes and the venomous conviction in his voice when he points to his temple and says, "Hell? Hell is up here."

The "Tiny Dancer" scene from Almost Famous : Cameron Crowe sums up his love letter to music and its power to bring people together and help them move forward with this very simple scene in which everyone on a tour bus slowly starts singing along to Elton John's 1971 hit. Kate Hudson adds the perfect finishing touch when she responds to young William's desire to go home with, "You ARE home."

There are many, many more, but the late hour prohibits me from giving them the treatment they deserve. I'll probably just make this a running segment and tag one on to future entries. So Stay Tuned!

****

Happy Birthdays are due to my homeboy Gautam (he's like 17 now, I think) and my mainest man Russell. Russ's gift this year is to get his site linked from the pizzle!! I know the rest of you are jealous.

****

"Love ain't supposed to be this bad,
Make you cry mega ultra sad.
If I told you you're all I ever had
Would you walk on me?
cuz I wouldn't walk on you"
-----Ben Kweller

"You can turn off the sun, but I'm still gonna shine"
----Jason Mraz

"So grab your cups of beer
Put 'em up let's cheer
Here's a toast to all my soldiers who ain't here
This is it my niggaz this what we boast about
Get your bottles homie, pour some out

Now grab your cups of gin
Put 'em up let's win
Here's a toast to never lookin back again
This is it my niggaz this what we boast about
Get your bottles homie, pour some out "
----Obie Trice

A bee flew into my Dr. Pepper

A dish best served cold:

Mystic River and Kill Bill are both about revenge but are otherwise complete opposites. Mystic River is a contemplative and brooding look at guilt, pain, and vengeance, while Kill Bill is a brilliant triumph of style over substance.

I loved Mystic River because Clint Eastwood gives his actors room to find depth in their characters and allows them to search for the painful truth on their own terms. He gives each scene time to resonate and ends up hitting some excrutiatingly emotional chords. Two more things: Tim Robbins and Sean Penn are so good in this movie it made me want to cry AND wet my pants (actually, Sean Penn is always that good). Also, it was great to see Laurence Fishburne do some real acting rather than walking around with a stick up his ass "prophesizing".

I loved Kill Bill because it was everything Mystic River was not. The plot isn't deep at all. REVENGE. At any cost, in any way possible. The Bride must kill those that have wronged her. There is no time for resonance or for characters to search for emotional truth. They are too busy trying to not get their heads chopped off. My boy Ebert puts it best, "Kill Bill: Volume 1 is not the kind of movie that inspires discussion of the acting, but what Thurman, Fox and Liu accomplish here is arguably more difficult than playing the nuanced heroine of a Sundance thumb-sucker. There must be presence, physical grace, strength, personality and the ability to look serious while doing ridiculous things."

Mystic River makes you think and feel at the same time, Kill Bill makes you cringe and cheer. Mystic River is intelligent, dark, and open to many interpretations. Kill Bill is an exhilarating martial arts extravaganza with one simple message: Don't fuck with Uma Thurman when she has a sword in her hands.

Go see them both. Now.

*****

I'm so happy the basketball season has started...

"Allen Iverson with the ball in traffic. This is on my list every year. Screw big men moving predictably and unimpeded. Forget Tim Duncan. Never mind Shaq. Give me this paradigm-shifting, shape-shifting, taut wire of a little man every time out. Give me an underdog who makes guys twice his size cry mercy. Every game AI plays is a treatise on heart and stamina, and a command performance of sick, syncopated skill."
----Eric Neel, Page 2 columnist and fellow lover of the ART of basketball

(stay tuned Pizzle denizens, for more on AI and the redefinition of hoop)

Guns for show, Knives for a pro

Good news:

I'm glad the Academy has come around and did away with the Palestine-isn't-really-a-nation bullshit. It would be a shame for this movie to be denied wider recognition for purely political reasons.

Almost entirely plotless, Divine Intervention is an intelligent rumination on the absurdity of trying to carry on with daily life in a perpetual war zone. Some of the more comic scenes include an Israeli policeman asking a Palestinian prisoner for help in giving a tourist directions, and a bizarre ninja-death star fantasy sequence involving a Palestinian women defeating a group of Israeli security officers. Mixed in with the comedy, we see glimpses of Palestinians finding ways to reclaim their lives and their freedom through the smallest of acts: a beautiful Palestinian woman brazenly walks through a checkpoint despite the presence of heavily armed Israeli guards, two motorists lock eyes at a traffic light and refuse to look away even when the light changes and people start to honk, two lovers stealing a moment to hold hands in the parking lot of a checkpoint.

Divine Intervention is funny, but the sadness and frustration that simmers just beneath the surface makes for a truly stunning and affecting film.

****
"Virtue isn't virtue unless it slams up against vice. So consequently, your virtue's not real virtue. Until it's been tested... tempted."
---Andre Braugher as Det. Frank Pembleton from Homicide: Life on the Street (one of the best TV shows ever)

Sad eyes, crooked crosses...

For those that know me they know that Three Kings is one of my absolute favorite movies of all time. With Americans still occupying and dying in Iraq, everyone should watch Three Kings one more time, it puts everything in a new and very thought provoking perspective.

I also saw Far From Heaven for the first time this week and it was an interesting contrast. Far From Heaven is a '50s style melodrama, reaching "emotional truths through artifice". It allows us to view problems in today's society, such as racism and homophobia, through the prism of an old-fashioned story. Far From Heaven is refreshingly without irony, whereas Three Kings is nothing if not ironic. Both films are however, just as engaging and affecting.

No matter how many times I watch Three Kings, without fail I get chills every time I hear the opening bars of U2's "In God's Country" at the end, as Ice Cube, Mark Wahlburg, and George Clooney (I have a serious man-crush on Major Archie Gates) watch the refugees cross the border and the camera freeze frames on them as they turn. It's a perfect example of all the artistic elements of film coming together to reach the viewer on every single level. It's why I love movies.

My favorite Three Kings quotes:

"Here's your fucking stability my main man."
--Iraqi interrogator, as he pours oil down Sgt. Barlow's throat in response to Barlow's defense of the first Gulf War as necessary for global stability.

"What happened to necessity?"
"It just changed."
--Major Gates answer to Barlow as the Americans are about to make a clean break with the gold, but realize they must stay and help the rebels.

Maybe Allah's workers placed me in the wrong category

Irony: Parked by the masjid, I saw a car with a "Allah is the protector" bumper sticker. I saw the sticker first, and as I passed by it became apparent that the entire right side of the car was crumpled in, and both windows were covered in duct tape.

Striking: When innocence and pain collide to create an incredibly tragic beauty.

Endings and Beginnings, and Endings and Beginnings: (Cue Elton John's "Circle of Life") I began the summer by ending my time in Austin and finishing my college career. One of the first things I did when I got back home was attend the high school graduation of Ankhi and Nazia. About a month later my parents bought a new house, and a month after that my brother officially began a new life with his bride. There's three more weddings to go (that's four weddings, but thankfully, no funeral) and I'm about to start my new job in Chicago. It's been an interesting time.

Flicks: My personal obsession with the Goddess Salma Hayek aside, Frida was one of the more important and affecting movies I saw over the past year. Frida Kahlo's life, while short, she passed away at 46, was full of the kind of catastrophe and drama that would've made an interesting film by itself. Her survival of a trolley crash at a young age, her tumultuous marriage to Diego Rivera, her miscarriage, and her affairs with Leon Trotsky and Josephine Baker are all explored in the film. The aspect that I was most drawn to, however, was how Hayek and director Julie Taymor visually represent Kahlo's relationship with her art. In daring and inventive ways we can see how inseperably Frida's life, her imagination and her need for creative expression were intertwined. Kahlo's art is intensely emotional and raw in a very surreal way. Her paintings are instant glimpses into her sub-conscious at the moments of her most enduring pain and euphoria. In numerous scenes, the lines between Kahlo's work as a painter and her life are deliberately blurred suggesting that her art did not function merely as a reflection of her life, but that her life itself was a work of art. In an astonishing closing death scene we get the feeling that while her life may not have been happy or ideal, in many ways her art made her life possible, made it complete, and that is, for anyone, a wonderful thing.
"I hope the exit is joyful and I hope never to return."

Flicks addendum: I caught the last half hour or so of Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing on BET the other day, and was reminded once again of the subtle power of this movie. I could go on and on about how important I think Lee is as an American filmmaker or what a poignant and timeless commentary Do the Right Thing is on race and society in America, but all that will have to wait for another time. As is my custom after seeing any movie whether for the first or ninth time, I logged onto the IMDB and read Roger Ebert's review. Fortunately, Do the Right Thing is in Ebert's top 100 films of all time, and the reviews link includes both Ebert's original review, and his essay on the importance of the film written in 2001. Ebert writes that the most remarkable thing about the movie is its fairness and empathy. Lee offers no answers and takes no sides in the racial tension depicted, all he does is ask the viewer to see things from all the characters' perspectives and understand their imperfections no matter their skin color.

I immediately made a connection to City of God, another of my favorite movies from the past year (reviewed in the May 4th pizzle entry). Just like Do the Right Thing, City of God gives us an objective look at the lives of the characters without any moralizing. There is no good and evil in the slums of Rio, just flawed people trying to survive in a brutal world. Also just like Do the Right Thing, the movie ends with just a small ray of hope that it is possible to rise above your circumstances and do some good in an imperfect world filled with contradictions. Movies such as these reflect our own lives in which right and wrong are so often muddled. All we can hope for is to do good things every once in awhile, and like Frida Kahlo, exit joyfully.

*****

"What a crazy summer"

---Sonia

"She cuts my skin and bruise my lips
She's everything to me
She tears my clothes and burns my eyes
She's all I want to see
She brings the cold and scars my soul
She's heaven sent to me

Now she's gone love burns inside me"

----BRMC

"And me, I still believe in paradise. But now at least I know its not some place you can look for, cause its not where you go. Its how you feel for a moment in your life when you're a part of something, and if you find that moment... it lasts forever..."

----Richard, from Danny Boyle's The Beach

I kissed your lips and broke your heart...

So after letting the tribute to my homeboy Jay soak in for awhile, and after basking in the revelry of being done with college (?? still cant believe it, feels wierd). I think I'm back. I have one final on the 12th, so gonna take it easy the next week or so and just enjoy Austin and my friends one last time.

And, as promised, my thoughts on what so far is my favorite movie of 2003, City of God

In a nutshell, its Menace II Society + Goodfellas + samba dance video explosion of filmmaking that will leave you breathless. It is a dark, realist tale of poverty and violence that ultimately leaves just a glimmer of hope. Director Fernando Meirelles uses almost all the tricks in the book, swirling colors, startingly free camera movement, freeze-frames, flashbacks, split screens, etc. But surprisingly none of it is to show off. It is all designed to draw you in and keep you riveted until the next jarring reminder that the characters are CHILDREN. I think above all thats what City of God is about. Explicitly the story deals with murder, rape, robberies, drug deals, but after you leave the movie you realize that what you saw was a story about kids. Simple kids with dreams and ambitions who live and die under the overwhelming pressure of poverty. Some say the best movies leave you feeling a particular emotion. Running through almost every possible emotion, City of God goes beyond that. It will drain you.