God, are we really halfway through 2012? Here are the highlights:
Films (2012 releases)
Moonrise Kingdom
Raid: Redemption
21 Jump Street
Cabin in the Woods
Killer Joe
Eden
The Hunter
Films from other years (I'm slow)
The Cook, the Thief, his Wife, and her Lover
Waking Life
Naked
Breaking the Waves
Castle in the Sky
Repulsion
Undertow
y tu mama tambien
Kiss Me Deadly
25th Hour
Bronson
Days of Heaven
Chunking Express
The Awful Truth
In general, this has been a phenomenal year for both film watching and filmmaking for me so far. Besides the above, I made it to a full twenty films at SXSW, and many screenings of old classics throughout the year as well.
From a creative perspective, this year has been a bonanza. A short I worked on screened at Cannes Film Festival, and another is about ready for release: it's even better. I've also finished and submitted my Texas screenplay that has consumed the past two years of my anxiety, and cranked out a second script off a concept I've been kicking around for several years as well.
I've been damn lucky to work with people who are way more talented than I am in my attempted forays into the film industry. I hope those forays continue and continue to bear fruit. Every time I see my name up on that screen, I get that little tingle down my spine. You know the one. It's the one that tells you you're still kicking.
My life might be taking a giant leap in a new (old?) direction (more on that later), but don't think for a minute that I'm done here. I've only just begun to fight.
Music (all release dates; I'm not much of a 'this is what just came out' guy)
This has been the year of Bon Iver so far. But it's also been the year of branching into genres and styles that I normally sour towards. Bluegrass, electronica, dance pop, outlaw country, folk: these genres have little in common except that I normally don't particularly care for them, and I've been listening to each with much more frequency this year.
last.fm reports that my most played artists list starts with Bonobo and the Flaming Lips, but I'm well aware that Flaming Lips was left running one weekend on my computer, so I don't think we can count that. Arcade Fire, Bon Iver, M83, Big Gigantic, Radiohead, Cinematic Orchestra, Pretty LIghts, RJD2, Edward Sharpe, Blue Sky Black Death, Matisyahu, Black Joe Lewis, Manu Chao...these are all much more explainable and have definitely provided the soundtrack to 2012 so far.
Of course, these are drawn only from my home spotify account...if we want to expand to my work computer, car, and live music, we can add Aesop Rock, Ennio Morricone, Nicki Minaj, Chromeo, Friendly Fires, Brett Randell, Intersteller Transmissions, Skrillex, Atash, Childish Gambino, Drake, Gotye, Avicii, LMFAO, Kavinsky, Of Monsters and Men, Mayer Hawthorne, Kanye West, and of course the ineffable Ramon Dells to the mix.
I suppose that brings us to concerts, of which there have been many, but perhaps not as many as years past. The stand outs so far have been:
Edward Sharpe (twice!), Mumford and Sons, Big Gigantic, GOBI, Atash, Intersteller Transmissions, Dave Matthews Band, Brett Randell, Michael Franti, Skrillex, Gogol Bordello, King Khan and the Shrines, Randy Newman, Jack White, Lotus, and probably some other shows that I'm completely forgetting I even attended.
Really, as always, it's been a fantastic year for music.
Television
This was the year I finally caught up on both Breaking Bad and Mad Men, which has been a delight. I just wrapped up the first two season of Louie, and of course new seasons of Archer, Community, Parks and Recreation, Game of Thrones, and probably a bunch others that I'm forgetting. Not much can be said about any of these shows that hasn't been said already, so I'll move on.
Video Games
Against my better judgement, I've gotten back into gaming a bit this year, and it's going...ok. I can never deny my love for the artform; my love for the effect it has on my social life and physique is another thing altogether.
THAT BEING SAID, I've played some damn good games this year. Limbo and LA Noir were amazing, and I finally finished Braid. Bastion was a fun little playthrough. But the creme de le creme has been my current maniac blitz through the Mass Effect trilogy. GOD what a great series of games. They've reinvigorated my oldest writing lust: penning my own crazed RPG, and inspired me to outline the basics of the game I will make (someday).
So it hasn't been a total waste of time (I hope).
Literature
I'm trying to read more this year. This is harder, b/c even compared to video games, books are damn time consuming.
That being said, some good ones have gone down. Less Than Zero, American Psycho, Rant, The Men Who Stare at Goats, Abundance. I made game efforts towards The Road and that one thing that everyone raves about...(google says: One Hundred Years of Solitude), but ultimately found both lacking. We'll pick them up at a later time and see what happens.
The futile quest of the year has been my in progress read through of Infinite Jest (hey, that rhymed!) It's a hell of a dense book, but incredibly written. Fucking masterpiece, and probably the most difficult read I've ever attempted. I'm about halfway through; here's hoping I can knock it out by the end of the year. I'm confident. Overconfident? We'll find out.
Events
Lots of fun stuff this year. Some highlights:
1. SXSW
2. Hangout Music Fest
3. Wendelfest
4. Beach Camping
5. Lotus concert
6. Casa Grande Masquerade of Fools
7. Writing Club
8. Film Club
9. UT Film Class Interviews
10. I mean, fucking everything
Personal Progress (My Goals and otherwise)
This has been a *great* year so far for the '25 goals in 25 years' list I set up last fall. It's amazing how effective making that type of concrete list is in effecting change in your life. So far, I've:
*Gone from a pretty embarrassing dancer to a skillfully embarrassing dancer
*Learned to sing! (I mean, I suck, but the sounds coming out of my mouth are on tune and resemble what we've collectively learned to call a 'singing voice')
*Worked on a film that played at the Cannes Film Festival (ok, so this doesn't quite qualify for my 'attend the Cannes Film Festival' goal, but it's damn close!)
*Learned rudimentary Python and Javascript (not quite my goal of Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic, but hey! they're languages, right? And they're sort of related to my 'math major' ambition)
*Written a very filmable screenplay; in fact, I'm going to do what I can to put that thing together this fall. Stay tuned on that.
*Begun a novel! It's likely not going to turn into anything readable, since its sort of 'Infinite Jest' inspired, but good fucking start, right? 25 pages so far; not too shabby at all!
*As mentioned earlier, structured out the basic idea for my JRPG
*Discovered that my somewhat ambitious goal of becoming a 1Dan 'Go' player isn't as insane as I thought. The Internet assures me that progressing from Novice to 1Dan is absolutely possible in as little time as a year with 5 hours a week. Not something I'm thinking about for a long time, but something to think about.
*I didn't start a business, but I have begun contracting, and my current boss started a business, and I'm learning as much as I can via osmosis in the meantime. This is more of a 'legwork for down the road' progress, but that's still important progress!
* I'm kinda contributing to this blog? This needs to improve.
*I picked up the Piano again! Huzzah! This is going to be a point of focus for the second half of 2012.
*On the other hand, travel plans fell through, so South America remains unchecked from my travel list. My physical form has sort of evaporated, so I'm further from the six pack than I was at the start of the year. I definitely haven't climbed Mount Everest or gone into space (though other people in 2012 HAVE been hard at work to make that possible for me down the road; that goal seemed much more absurd when I wrote it down eight months ago), and it's hard to learn to surf in Central Texas. So lots of goals left to tackle.
*One major development that sort of counts as one of my goals but is also a bit of a sidetrack is getting my Ph.D. I'm taking a detour directly away from that by instead making the monumental (and somewhat surprising, still, even to me) decision to go to law school.
It wasn't a light decision, but it was the right decision (I hope). To be 100% honest, despite some of my deeper reservations towards the entire idea of becoming a lawyer, the degree will do nothing but bring me closer to my goals: starting a business, getting funding for filmmaking, connections for publishing the book I write eventually, continuing to develop my fundamental writing skills, and putting the money together to achieve my more financially ambitious goals: these are all things that law will help, not hurt.
So it's not a Ph.D, but it's an equivalent sort of degree. I'm willing to allow it. And it's my list, so I can do that. :)
The sad part of this is the most stunning development of 2012, and the one that I'm struggling to come to terms with the most. To facilitate all this '180 reversal of lifestyle' nonsense, I've realized a return to the homeland (*sigh* again) is...not necessary, exactly, but preferable. So back to Michigan I go for the last 5 months of 2012. These goals will now be tested: how well do unconstrained ambitions and unbridled dream withstand a relentless onslaught of snow and economic decay?
I suppose we'll find out, but I'm optimistic. I've learned that nothing less will do. It's not a matter of ideology, just practicality. It's impossible to achieve goals you don't believe you can achieve.
The sky's the limit in life, and I intend to prove that wrong (goal #25: go into outer space).
See you in the second half, and in 2013 as well! (if we don't all die in a fiery/watery/plague/zombie-infested apocalypse)
May the odds be ever in your favor! (hey, you didn't think we were getting out of here without a Hunger Games reference, did you?)
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Oops....
It turns out I have a blog, and I've been very bad about my commitment to posting to it. I have excuses, some are good, some are bad. I might as well list them here, in alternating order. Many of you will find this post excruciating. I don't blame you. There'll be a better one tomorrow. This I promise.
Others might find it enlightening, if you similarly find yourself afflicted with occasional bouts of 'nope, just not doing it' syndrome. It's a difficult syndrome to overcome. In fact, sometimes I think it's the hardest.
Good reason: I've finished a new screenplay. I'm super excited about it. I'm aiming to film it either this fall or next spring, depending on when I can get my financial mess rounded back into shape. It's called 'Gamers' and it follows a young cadre of frustrated nerds in the rural Midwest during the late 90s tech bubble and their frustrations at being so isolated from the world, followed by their coming to terms with the devastation impacts the bubble's collapse has on their small town. Now, since that sounds boring as hell, I'll give you the real tag line: A group of gamer friends are forced to join a regional Starcraft tournament after their douchebag friend took their computer savings fund and used it for the entry fee. With their post-high school life plans on the line, the friends must win the tournament to make enough money to escape their backwards, isolated hometown.
Bad reason: I'm lazy and didn't want to post to it. Yes, I spent a lot of time working on the screenplay, but that didn't preclude me from posting to the blog. In fact, I've gone for a long stretch without working on either.
Good reason: I've been hella busy with social activities, including a nice trip out to Gulf Shores for the Hangout Music Fest.
Bad reason: Sometimes, I get in a funk, and I don't want to do anything. I've gotten progressively better at fighting these, but I let it win for a few weeks between screenplay work and music fest. I'm not letting another one hit me for a while.
Good reason: I've been helping my roommate on his short films, one of which was accepted into the Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner! We're super excited about that. The next one, when finished, will be even better. You can watch both the first and the trailer for the second here: http://vimeo.com/matt35mm
Bad reason: Finances. I've let my money supply dwindle, working fewer hours to focus on writing. This has had the net positives of above ^^^^, but the negative of distracting me as I recover from ^^^^^. To be honest, I've always found it much harder to focus any time at all on creative work when I'm money stressed. And even when I can, the product is undeniably worse. Horrible phrases like 'marketability' and 'pitch' and 'high concept' start entering my head while writing, which dooms the project from the start.
Unfortunately, this same instinct doesn't kick in to stop me from doing things like wasting hours I could be writing on reddit, so it's an overall completely useless instinct. I'm sure others face these same problems, these same obstacles to success. I offer you my moral support and conviction that financial anxiety is beatable, and one of these days, we'll both figure it out.
That's all for now. Hopefully I haven't lost all of my readers. I know some of you are out there because I see my traffic numbers. All I can say, mystery readers, is:
Thank You.
See you next time.
Good reason: I've finished a new screenplay. I'm super excited about it. I'm aiming to film it either this fall or next spring, depending on when I can get my financial mess rounded back into shape. It's called 'Gamers' and it follows a young cadre of frustrated nerds in the rural Midwest during the late 90s tech bubble and their frustrations at being so isolated from the world, followed by their coming to terms with the devastation impacts the bubble's collapse has on their small town. Now, since that sounds boring as hell, I'll give you the real tag line: A group of gamer friends are forced to join a regional Starcraft tournament after their douchebag friend took their computer savings fund and used it for the entry fee. With their post-high school life plans on the line, the friends must win the tournament to make enough money to escape their backwards, isolated hometown.
Bad reason: I'm lazy and didn't want to post to it. Yes, I spent a lot of time working on the screenplay, but that didn't preclude me from posting to the blog. In fact, I've gone for a long stretch without working on either.
Good reason: I've been hella busy with social activities, including a nice trip out to Gulf Shores for the Hangout Music Fest.
Bad reason: Sometimes, I get in a funk, and I don't want to do anything. I've gotten progressively better at fighting these, but I let it win for a few weeks between screenplay work and music fest. I'm not letting another one hit me for a while.
Good reason: I've been helping my roommate on his short films, one of which was accepted into the Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner! We're super excited about that. The next one, when finished, will be even better. You can watch both the first and the trailer for the second here: http://vimeo.com/matt35mm
Bad reason: Finances. I've let my money supply dwindle, working fewer hours to focus on writing. This has had the net positives of above ^^^^, but the negative of distracting me as I recover from ^^^^^. To be honest, I've always found it much harder to focus any time at all on creative work when I'm money stressed. And even when I can, the product is undeniably worse. Horrible phrases like 'marketability' and 'pitch' and 'high concept' start entering my head while writing, which dooms the project from the start.
Unfortunately, this same instinct doesn't kick in to stop me from doing things like wasting hours I could be writing on reddit, so it's an overall completely useless instinct. I'm sure others face these same problems, these same obstacles to success. I offer you my moral support and conviction that financial anxiety is beatable, and one of these days, we'll both figure it out.
That's all for now. Hopefully I haven't lost all of my readers. I know some of you are out there because I see my traffic numbers. All I can say, mystery readers, is:
Thank You.
See you next time.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Reservoir Dogs Opening Scene: An Analysis
I haven't posted here in a while. I've been busy, which is good. I'm on page 80 of a screenplay I hope to shoot. Super positive happy fun time, that progress is.
In the meantime, I thought I'd take a quick break from that and do a short writeup about one of my favorite scenes, the opening scene in Reservoir Dogs. You can watch it here. I'll wait. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBzj61KvTrk
While this scene is remembered primarily for the awesome dialogue and the unaffected frivolity of it all (an aesthetic hipsters have been failing to achieve since), Tarantino also uses the scene to effectively lay the table for the rest of the film. He uses several very simple camera tricks to achieve this.
We start with dialogue and no visuals, about Madonna's Like A Virgin. We quickly move into a drifting camera shot that pans around the participants at the table. It's a brilliant shot, not just for the energy, but the way it stays tightly framed, keeping us from every seeing the whole table at once. In fact, basically every screen cap to begin is an OTS that frames exactly one person.
It also visually drifts wholly behind the backs of people at the table at times, turning the screen black, giving us only dialogue. This draws us into listening closely: with nothing to watch, it puts the emphasis entirely on the dialogue.
This is all well and good, but it doesn't do much to set up the rest of the film. It's fun, gives us a nice red herring with the Tarantino character, and is a brilliant piece of writing, but all this is a distraction from what really matters in the scene.
We don't stop on a static shot until two minutes in. When we do, it's on Joe, the guy who has been stuttering about Wong and Wang and generally disconnected from the conversation up til this point. This sets up the separation between Joe and the others.
What happens when we stop drifting and focus in on an actual exchange? We jump back and forth between a close up on Joe, an OTS on Mr. White, and a two shot of Mr. White and Mr. Orange, and later we see an OTS on Mr. Blonde. This exchange seems less memorable than most of the rest, but it has our first real confrontation. Mr. White wants Joe to stop rambling on about his address book, steals it from him, and berates him publicly. This is subtle, but immediately establishes Mr. White as a superior, or at least equal, position to Joe. His pissed off demeanor establishes him as the professional at the table. The only person not excited about Madonna's sexual experiences.
It also gives us our first more medium shot of the scene, the two shot of White and Orange, linking those two characters in our minds without drawing any sort of attention to it. This is important, because Mr. Orange will be completely subservient for the rest of the film, until the big reveal towards the end of the movie. It also sets up the climax, which revolves around the audience's willingness to accept that Mr. White would risk his life for Mr. Orange, reenforced by the immediate association of the two together from the very first scene. One other key thing that happens here is Blonde's suggestion of shooting White, placing him as the psychopath of the group. In less than a minute of screen time, we've established baseline relationships and characteristics for the major conflicts of the film: White vs. Joe, White vs Blonde, and eventually White vs Orange.
With the real heavy lifting of the scene finished, Tarantino lets the camera begin to float again as we dive into K Billy's Super Sounds of the Seventies (letting Nice Guy Eddie and Mr. Pink, our two other key characters, launch us into frivolities again, briefing framed in a two shot before we resume our floating OTS close ups). This seems a silly diversion, but it does set up the music for the film as a strange hybrid between a soundtrack designed for the audience, and a natural soundtrack provided by the environment of the film (and giving us the initial justification for the music in both the iconic dramatic walking scene ending the diner sequence AND Mr. Blonde's 'Stuck in the Middle With You' torture dance).
We drift for a bit, until Joe interrupts us (and the camera) again, by standing up and reasserting his dominance over the table (and Mr. White). We then move into static close ups in the tipping conversation, our brilliant set up of Pink (and to a lesser extent, Nice Guy Eddie). We break our string of closeups for another two shot of White and Orange, reenforcing the connection between the two in our minds. While the others have been incredulous about Pink's decision not to tip, White is legitimately angry, and delivers an impassioned monologue in defense of waitresses. Again, it doesn't take long, but we've completely established Mr. White as the protagonist of the film at this point, with only a couple of moments. He only speaks up when things get serious, he stands up to the boss, and he protects the vulnerable. Mr. Orange basically eye fucks him while he defends the waitresses (notice our wire has not had much to say during this entire eight minute sequence, apropos for a mole attempting to blend in and pick up on an entirely foreign set of circumstances). At the same time, Pink establishes himself as the asshole whose still somewhat likable.
The exchange ends with Orange switching sides but quickly getting shot down by Nice Guy Eddie, who for the first time demonstrates that, despite his goofy appearance, he has actual authority at the table. He doesn't ask: he commands, and Orange quickly acquiesces (unlike everyone else at the table, Orange has been utterly subservient in every exchange so far. He immediately changes opinion based on whoever has talked more recently, watches others go at it, and does what he's told as soon as he's told to do so. This pattern of weakness makes it that much more stunning when the reveal that he's the cop comes later in the film: we're set up to think of him as the weakest person in the bunch from the very beginning, and in some ways, he is).
Joe returns, hilariously abuses Orange, then wheels into Pink. (this is done with our first 3 shot, and our first view of the background of the diner, putting Joe, White, and Orange in a well composed row for us). Joe stands for the exchange, reestablishing himself as the most powerful person at the table, a position he justifies by quickly cowing everyone else over the tipping debate. Pink gives up without a fight. This doesn't seem like much, but it reenforces the earlier dynamic between Joe and White: White is so far the only person to even attempt to contradict anything Joe says, even when Joe (jokes?) about having him killed.
When White does the same at the end of the film, it's no surprise then. And we immediately have precedent that their relationship is much more than employer/employee: they have a long enough history that White feels comfortable defying Joe publicly, and Joe is comfortable enough with White that he never takes it fully seriously. When Joe trusts White over the others later in the film, that trust feels immediately justified, not through the subsequent exposition in Joe's office, but through the clear power relationships established at the diner.
We fade into K-Billy as White gives the book back to Joe, who angrily snatches it, and the film cuts to the walking montage. The montage, besides the stylistic awesomeness, is notable for relegating Orange to last, putting him below Blue and Brown in the hierarchy, again distracting us from the much more important role he'll play later on in the film.
What else does this scene do? It introduces us to the silly names without ever putting us on strong footing as far as which name goes with which character. It gives us the faces and personalities of the entire team. And when things immediately begin going to shit, and people are dead, it opens up questions that draw us into the main arc of the film nearly immediately. Which one of those guys was Mr. Blue? Was it the guy in the blue windbreaker? Is he dead? Is someone else dead? How many people were there again? Who else might show up? What happened to the Like A Virgin guy?
When people are dying later on, they don't feel like random, arbitrary faces. They feel like people with whom you've already sat down and held hilarious conversations. In fact, Brown and Blue dominate the first few minutes of the movie, even though they both die off screen immediately afterwards. This only works, though, because in the few moments where the real lead characters take the spotlight, the camera settles on them, and they drop the silly dialogue for legitimate relationship establishment. It's done quickly and efficiently, and the fun, silly parts with the drifting camera pick back up again and become what you remember from the scene, but it's all a red herring to make the important pieces more digestible and less exposition-y.
The opening diner scene exists to cleanly establish every fact you need to know for the rest of the movie. Every major scene is alluded to in some form or another. Once the tip is paid and K-Billy takes you out, you're fully engrossed and grounded in the world of Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs.
In the meantime, I thought I'd take a quick break from that and do a short writeup about one of my favorite scenes, the opening scene in Reservoir Dogs. You can watch it here. I'll wait. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBzj61KvTrk
While this scene is remembered primarily for the awesome dialogue and the unaffected frivolity of it all (an aesthetic hipsters have been failing to achieve since), Tarantino also uses the scene to effectively lay the table for the rest of the film. He uses several very simple camera tricks to achieve this.
We start with dialogue and no visuals, about Madonna's Like A Virgin. We quickly move into a drifting camera shot that pans around the participants at the table. It's a brilliant shot, not just for the energy, but the way it stays tightly framed, keeping us from every seeing the whole table at once. In fact, basically every screen cap to begin is an OTS that frames exactly one person.
It also visually drifts wholly behind the backs of people at the table at times, turning the screen black, giving us only dialogue. This draws us into listening closely: with nothing to watch, it puts the emphasis entirely on the dialogue.
This is all well and good, but it doesn't do much to set up the rest of the film. It's fun, gives us a nice red herring with the Tarantino character, and is a brilliant piece of writing, but all this is a distraction from what really matters in the scene.
We don't stop on a static shot until two minutes in. When we do, it's on Joe, the guy who has been stuttering about Wong and Wang and generally disconnected from the conversation up til this point. This sets up the separation between Joe and the others.
What happens when we stop drifting and focus in on an actual exchange? We jump back and forth between a close up on Joe, an OTS on Mr. White, and a two shot of Mr. White and Mr. Orange, and later we see an OTS on Mr. Blonde. This exchange seems less memorable than most of the rest, but it has our first real confrontation. Mr. White wants Joe to stop rambling on about his address book, steals it from him, and berates him publicly. This is subtle, but immediately establishes Mr. White as a superior, or at least equal, position to Joe. His pissed off demeanor establishes him as the professional at the table. The only person not excited about Madonna's sexual experiences.
It also gives us our first more medium shot of the scene, the two shot of White and Orange, linking those two characters in our minds without drawing any sort of attention to it. This is important, because Mr. Orange will be completely subservient for the rest of the film, until the big reveal towards the end of the movie. It also sets up the climax, which revolves around the audience's willingness to accept that Mr. White would risk his life for Mr. Orange, reenforced by the immediate association of the two together from the very first scene. One other key thing that happens here is Blonde's suggestion of shooting White, placing him as the psychopath of the group. In less than a minute of screen time, we've established baseline relationships and characteristics for the major conflicts of the film: White vs. Joe, White vs Blonde, and eventually White vs Orange.
With the real heavy lifting of the scene finished, Tarantino lets the camera begin to float again as we dive into K Billy's Super Sounds of the Seventies (letting Nice Guy Eddie and Mr. Pink, our two other key characters, launch us into frivolities again, briefing framed in a two shot before we resume our floating OTS close ups). This seems a silly diversion, but it does set up the music for the film as a strange hybrid between a soundtrack designed for the audience, and a natural soundtrack provided by the environment of the film (and giving us the initial justification for the music in both the iconic dramatic walking scene ending the diner sequence AND Mr. Blonde's 'Stuck in the Middle With You' torture dance).
We drift for a bit, until Joe interrupts us (and the camera) again, by standing up and reasserting his dominance over the table (and Mr. White). We then move into static close ups in the tipping conversation, our brilliant set up of Pink (and to a lesser extent, Nice Guy Eddie). We break our string of closeups for another two shot of White and Orange, reenforcing the connection between the two in our minds. While the others have been incredulous about Pink's decision not to tip, White is legitimately angry, and delivers an impassioned monologue in defense of waitresses. Again, it doesn't take long, but we've completely established Mr. White as the protagonist of the film at this point, with only a couple of moments. He only speaks up when things get serious, he stands up to the boss, and he protects the vulnerable. Mr. Orange basically eye fucks him while he defends the waitresses (notice our wire has not had much to say during this entire eight minute sequence, apropos for a mole attempting to blend in and pick up on an entirely foreign set of circumstances). At the same time, Pink establishes himself as the asshole whose still somewhat likable.
The exchange ends with Orange switching sides but quickly getting shot down by Nice Guy Eddie, who for the first time demonstrates that, despite his goofy appearance, he has actual authority at the table. He doesn't ask: he commands, and Orange quickly acquiesces (unlike everyone else at the table, Orange has been utterly subservient in every exchange so far. He immediately changes opinion based on whoever has talked more recently, watches others go at it, and does what he's told as soon as he's told to do so. This pattern of weakness makes it that much more stunning when the reveal that he's the cop comes later in the film: we're set up to think of him as the weakest person in the bunch from the very beginning, and in some ways, he is).
Joe returns, hilariously abuses Orange, then wheels into Pink. (this is done with our first 3 shot, and our first view of the background of the diner, putting Joe, White, and Orange in a well composed row for us). Joe stands for the exchange, reestablishing himself as the most powerful person at the table, a position he justifies by quickly cowing everyone else over the tipping debate. Pink gives up without a fight. This doesn't seem like much, but it reenforces the earlier dynamic between Joe and White: White is so far the only person to even attempt to contradict anything Joe says, even when Joe (jokes?) about having him killed.
When White does the same at the end of the film, it's no surprise then. And we immediately have precedent that their relationship is much more than employer/employee: they have a long enough history that White feels comfortable defying Joe publicly, and Joe is comfortable enough with White that he never takes it fully seriously. When Joe trusts White over the others later in the film, that trust feels immediately justified, not through the subsequent exposition in Joe's office, but through the clear power relationships established at the diner.
We fade into K-Billy as White gives the book back to Joe, who angrily snatches it, and the film cuts to the walking montage. The montage, besides the stylistic awesomeness, is notable for relegating Orange to last, putting him below Blue and Brown in the hierarchy, again distracting us from the much more important role he'll play later on in the film.
What else does this scene do? It introduces us to the silly names without ever putting us on strong footing as far as which name goes with which character. It gives us the faces and personalities of the entire team. And when things immediately begin going to shit, and people are dead, it opens up questions that draw us into the main arc of the film nearly immediately. Which one of those guys was Mr. Blue? Was it the guy in the blue windbreaker? Is he dead? Is someone else dead? How many people were there again? Who else might show up? What happened to the Like A Virgin guy?
When people are dying later on, they don't feel like random, arbitrary faces. They feel like people with whom you've already sat down and held hilarious conversations. In fact, Brown and Blue dominate the first few minutes of the movie, even though they both die off screen immediately afterwards. This only works, though, because in the few moments where the real lead characters take the spotlight, the camera settles on them, and they drop the silly dialogue for legitimate relationship establishment. It's done quickly and efficiently, and the fun, silly parts with the drifting camera pick back up again and become what you remember from the scene, but it's all a red herring to make the important pieces more digestible and less exposition-y.
The opening diner scene exists to cleanly establish every fact you need to know for the rest of the movie. Every major scene is alluded to in some form or another. Once the tip is paid and K-Billy takes you out, you're fully engrossed and grounded in the world of Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Quarterly Music Recap
It's the beginning of April, so it's as good a time as any to do a quick recap on the music I've been listening to this year.
This process has been made easier by last.fm keeping detailed listening statistics on my spotify account. Now, this is a little misleading, since a large chunk of the music I've been listening to has been at work and not on spotify. A couple quick examples: I know Pretty Lights, Nicki Minaj, Ennio Moricone, Skrillex, Childish Gambino, and Wick-It the Instigator have been the artists I've listened to the most: that's a rough idea of the heart of the rotation I bounce around at work.
But on the other hand, Spotify is almost exclusively my listening device at home, so the last.fm records are perfectly valid.
One cool stat: since the beginning of the year, I've listened to songs by some where along the lines of 500 unique artists. That's a crazy statistic, and one that only the new world could produce. Remember when you had five CDs in your car that you listened to over and over again? Neither do I. I kinda miss those days, in a lot of ways. In a lot of other ways, I'm thrilled to have so many options available on so many days. Despite the wealth of access, I still feel like I've missed out on most of the important musical developments of the year. Oh well; such is life.
Here are the leading artists that have provided the soundtrack for 2012 so far.
1. Bonobo 306 plays
2. The Flaming Lips 291 plays
3. Radiohead 176
4. The Cinematic Orchestra 114
5. RJD2 82
6. Blue Sky Black Death 71
7. Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears 71
8. Matisyahu 50
9. Dave Matthews Band 46
10. M83 45
11. Weezer 43
12. Kanye West 42
12. King Khan and the Shrines 42
14. tUnE-yArDs 38
15. Jay-Z 36
16. Serj Tankian 30
16. mwithoutYou 30
16. Big Gigantic 30
19. The Dresden Dolls 29
19. Fleet Foxes 29
19. Foster the People 29
Now, this all comes with the enormous caveat that I've probably listened to Hot Like Sauce by Pretty Lights 306 times at work in the past month, so these numbers are likely skewed. Still, not a bad list. Not bad at all. Two things pop out: I don't remember listening to Flaming Lips, Radiohead, or Dave Matthews Band AT ALL, so obviously old favorites can continue to accompany you even when you're not wholly aware. Also, My tastes have skewed pretty heavily indie rock lately, with some jam and electronica and hip hop thrown in for good measures. My days of Zeppelin and Jethro Tull have long passed me by.
For the record, the top tracks:
1. M83 Midnight City 13
2. tUnE-yArDs Bizness 11
3. Bonobo Terrapin 10
3. Frank Ocean Novacane 10
5. RJD2 Ghostwriter 9
5. RJD2 Good Times Roll Pt 2 9
5. Bonobo The Keeper 9
5. Bonobo Kiara 9
5. Bonobo Eyesdown 9
5. Fleet Foxes Helplessness Blues 9
5. Blue Sky Black Death Sleeping Children Are Still Flying 9
And pretty closely related, the top albums:
1. Bonobo Days to Come 65
2. Bonobo Black Sands 59
3. Blue Sky Black Death NOIR 55
4. RJD2 Deadringer: Deluxe 44
5. Dave Matthews Band Central Park Concert 42
6. tUnE-yArDs w h o k i l l 38
7. Bonobo Animal Magic 37
8. Jay Z Watch the Throne 36
9. Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears Tell 'Em What Your Name Is! 35
10. The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots 34
10. Radiohead - Pablo Honey 34
See you on the other side.
Good stuff all around.
This process has been made easier by last.fm keeping detailed listening statistics on my spotify account. Now, this is a little misleading, since a large chunk of the music I've been listening to has been at work and not on spotify. A couple quick examples: I know Pretty Lights, Nicki Minaj, Ennio Moricone, Skrillex, Childish Gambino, and Wick-It the Instigator have been the artists I've listened to the most: that's a rough idea of the heart of the rotation I bounce around at work.
But on the other hand, Spotify is almost exclusively my listening device at home, so the last.fm records are perfectly valid.
One cool stat: since the beginning of the year, I've listened to songs by some where along the lines of 500 unique artists. That's a crazy statistic, and one that only the new world could produce. Remember when you had five CDs in your car that you listened to over and over again? Neither do I. I kinda miss those days, in a lot of ways. In a lot of other ways, I'm thrilled to have so many options available on so many days. Despite the wealth of access, I still feel like I've missed out on most of the important musical developments of the year. Oh well; such is life.
Here are the leading artists that have provided the soundtrack for 2012 so far.
1. Bonobo 306 plays
2. The Flaming Lips 291 plays
3. Radiohead 176
4. The Cinematic Orchestra 114
5. RJD2 82
6. Blue Sky Black Death 71
7. Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears 71
8. Matisyahu 50
9. Dave Matthews Band 46
10. M83 45
11. Weezer 43
12. Kanye West 42
12. King Khan and the Shrines 42
14. tUnE-yArDs 38
15. Jay-Z 36
16. Serj Tankian 30
16. mwithoutYou 30
16. Big Gigantic 30
19. The Dresden Dolls 29
19. Fleet Foxes 29
19. Foster the People 29
Now, this all comes with the enormous caveat that I've probably listened to Hot Like Sauce by Pretty Lights 306 times at work in the past month, so these numbers are likely skewed. Still, not a bad list. Not bad at all. Two things pop out: I don't remember listening to Flaming Lips, Radiohead, or Dave Matthews Band AT ALL, so obviously old favorites can continue to accompany you even when you're not wholly aware. Also, My tastes have skewed pretty heavily indie rock lately, with some jam and electronica and hip hop thrown in for good measures. My days of Zeppelin and Jethro Tull have long passed me by.
For the record, the top tracks:
1. M83 Midnight City 13
2. tUnE-yArDs Bizness 11
3. Bonobo Terrapin 10
3. Frank Ocean Novacane 10
5. RJD2 Ghostwriter 9
5. RJD2 Good Times Roll Pt 2 9
5. Bonobo The Keeper 9
5. Bonobo Kiara 9
5. Bonobo Eyesdown 9
5. Fleet Foxes Helplessness Blues 9
5. Blue Sky Black Death Sleeping Children Are Still Flying 9
And pretty closely related, the top albums:
1. Bonobo Days to Come 65
2. Bonobo Black Sands 59
3. Blue Sky Black Death NOIR 55
4. RJD2 Deadringer: Deluxe 44
5. Dave Matthews Band Central Park Concert 42
6. tUnE-yArDs w h o k i l l 38
7. Bonobo Animal Magic 37
8. Jay Z Watch the Throne 36
9. Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears Tell 'Em What Your Name Is! 35
10. The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots 34
10. Radiohead - Pablo Honey 34
See you on the other side.
Good stuff all around.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Health Care
1. It looks like Obamacare is going to be struck down. *tear*
2. Our country's health care system continues to be a hot mess.
3. Constitutional questions aside, what's disconcerting about the ruling is that it's not very narrow: it seems (from predictions, anyway) to eliminate any question of a mandate, which eliminates functionally protecting people with pre-existing conditions, which means the whole system continues to be fucked.
4. People with health care will continue to foot the bill for people without it.
5. More and more, the incentive seems to be not to get health care at all and take the free ride loophole. While it's unethical, it's basically the only way if you make working class income or not.
6. This whole stupid system has to collapse. Along with the rest of our idiotic current system.
7. Everyone is jumping to blame someone else for that.
8. Europe's looking nice this time of year.
2. Our country's health care system continues to be a hot mess.
3. Constitutional questions aside, what's disconcerting about the ruling is that it's not very narrow: it seems (from predictions, anyway) to eliminate any question of a mandate, which eliminates functionally protecting people with pre-existing conditions, which means the whole system continues to be fucked.
4. People with health care will continue to foot the bill for people without it.
5. More and more, the incentive seems to be not to get health care at all and take the free ride loophole. While it's unethical, it's basically the only way if you make working class income or not.
6. This whole stupid system has to collapse. Along with the rest of our idiotic current system.
7. Everyone is jumping to blame someone else for that.
8. Europe's looking nice this time of year.
Monday, March 19, 2012
SXSW: The Highlights
What a week.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the annual HOLYFUCK-a-thon that is SXSW, I'm going to do my best to describe it before plunging into my list of my top 11 highlights from the festival (one per day of craziness + a bonus because I just flat ran out of things to cut).
For 10 days, the sleepy little villa of Austin Texas is utterly overwhelmed by an insane conflagration centered on the infamous Sixth Street but extending in every direction into every bar, movie theatre, convention center, park, and restaurant in the city. Basically, the city throws three enormous festivals simultaneously: a top rate film festival that draws hundreds of Hollywood celebrities and premieres dozens of movies, an interactive business conference/festival that is renowned for debuting twitter three years ago, and what has to be the world's largest music festival, with more than 2,000 official performing acts, most of whom play seven or eight shows over the course of the week.
Did I mention that you can attend virtually everything at the festival for free if you know your way around? And that every event is chock full of free drinks, ranging from Texas's ubiquitous Lone Star to fully stocked open bars? And that half the events double up on the free drinks with buffet lines of free food, ranging from simple fare like tacos and ice cream all the way up to full 5 star buffets?
And did I mention that I took the entire week off from work, secured a film badge, and basically spent every hour of all ten days at the festival?
The highlights follow.
#11 The Intersteller Transmissions Bus
My honorable mention, since I never quite ended up on the bus. It was still a nice reminder of the Austin flavor to the festival. One of my favorite bands in town, Intersteller Transmissions, sets up their band on top of a white bus and drives around the city playing music and inviting anyone who'll fit onto the bus. I never hitched a ride (this time), but they brought a smile to my face every time I saw them drive by.
#10 21 Jump Street
A film that turned out way better than I expected. I saw 20 films over the course of the festival, and most of them could be on the list (and several more will follow. 21 Jump Street stood out, however, not just because of the film itself, but because of the raucous crowd, laughing and applauding nearly throughout the film, and the amazing panel that followed, with Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, and Rob Riggle trading jokes with other members of the cast and crew who I'm totally blanking on and feel badly about forgetting.
It also had the best moment of pure overreaction of the festival, when Jonah Hill, clearly giddy from the crowd reaction to a project he had clearly been putting together for a long, long time, burst out, nearly in tears: "No matter what else fucking happens, we'll always have tonight!" to a full auditorium of over 2,000 moviegoers.
#9 The One Panel I Went To
Normally at film festivals, I am all about panels, almost at the expense of the films themselves. Not this time: I only made it into one panel all festival, but it was a particularly good one. (I'm not counting the presentation on new online stock markets that I sat through merely because the fully stocked open bar wouldn't serve drinks until they stopped talking...gin and tonics are so much better when they come from top shelf liquor, don't you agree?)
The panel I *DID* enjoy was one with higher ups from a variety of mid range independent film studios, including the folks behind Drive, Blue Valentine, and Machete. (Or, as the Machete guy put it, the 'Goss' panel). Given that my eventual goal is to make/produce films at that level of production, I found every insight on making the budget vs. payoff of those films work completely fascinating, whether it was how to convince top level stars to take the pay shave or the ins and outs of marketing Henry Winkler to Romania. Ok, this is all about business stuff, and I can already tell you're bored. Let's move on.
#8 The Interactive Trade Floor
I didn't see much of the interactive fest, but the parts I did see I approved of. The highlight was the actual trade floor, where hundreds of hopeful future googles and twitters and netflixes set up booths and plied their hip new websites and services. I can't wait to unsubscribe to all these new services, but in the meantime, it was impressive to see so many awesome ideas in one place. A few that particularly stood out: Squarespace, who will soon be hosting this blog, and a service whose name I forget that allows you to set up any film screening at any theatre if you can get the attendance to 'tip', a la groupon or kickstarter (which, at least 45 people in indiegogo shirts informed me over the course of the week, is a totally inferior service).
#7 March Madness
It was easy to forget in the midst of the madness, the rest of the country was having their own breed of madness: the type that takes place in March as well. In any year, this would be worthy of a mention, but this particular year, my alma mater Michigan State happened to be dominating life. After winning the Big Ten tournament and securing a one seed, the Green and White took care of business, reached the Sweet Sixteen, and got Dre-Dre a second NCAA tourney triple double, a feat only the Big O and another Spartan great, Magic Johnson, have accomplished. Oh, and I almost got into a bar fight in the Third Base bathroom with a guy who was loudly exclaiming Tom Izzo didn't know how to coach. In hindsight, I'm glad that didn't happen because he was at least sixty pounds heavier than me and had a knife tattooed on his forearm, but some things just won't stand.
Oh, and Michigan lost to a #13 seed, which was fucking awesome too.
#6 The Tent by the Paramount
I forget who hosted this amazing extravaganza (so I suppose from their perspective, it failed), but I owe them about $75 dollars for the free beer, ice cream, 100th anniversary oreos, massages, mac&cheese, music, and hammocks they provided me between screenings. If I ever remember their name, I'll at least hop on their website a couple of times. It all balances out, right? (close runners up for this category: the Bing tent, with its open bar, foozeball tables, and free kimchi tacos, and the British Music Embassy, with its also open bar, and lamb and whitefish buffet line, with kick ass bands to boot).
#5 Mumford and Sons + Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros with Big East Express screening
The line for this wrapped around the law center twice, zig zagged through the lawn, and took about forty five minutes to pass through, but it was totally worth it. The tableau: to our left, UT stadium. To our right, a giant inflatable screen showing Big Easy Express, the crazy cross country train tour the above bands took that put the entirety of their third accompaniments, Old Crow Medicine Show, into rehab.
And dead center, with the sun setting behind the UT clock tower as the back drop, a giant festival stage where Edward Sharpe, Mumford and Sons, and the one member of Old Crow who could make it traded off on their sets, with guest appearances from each band on each other's sets. At one point, the entire Austin High marching band joined them on stage to play along. It all wrapped up with a combined cover with everyone on stage of Old Crow's Wagon Wheel, with the vocalist reading the lyrics off his iphone while singing.
Perfect.
#4 Raid: Redemption
Without a doubt, both the best action movie I've ever seen and the best film audience I've ever been a part of. Words fail to convey the transcendent glee that this movie created in me. It's simply the best action film since Die Hard. Except no other argument. The premise is simple: a team of cops attempt to fight their way up a 30 story apartment complex to capture the most notorious crime lord in Indonesia. The catch: every apartment is filled with the scum of the world, allowed to live for free in the complex in exchange for one task: defend the crime lord if and when an army of police start marching up the stairwells. And defend they do, in the most insane series of action sequences I've ever seen. The film elicited at least twelve ovations from the audience, culminating in a final martial arts fight scene between what was just about the last three characters left alive in the entire fucking movie, a fight scene that lasted for over six minutes and drew three separate rounds of applause from the blood frenzied crowd.
See this movie. Just do it.
#3 The people in line
A big part of SXSW is standing in line for things. There was a war going on for what the most impressive and absurd line would be, and though I don't know if anything will ever top the line to pick up the badges, which wrapped around the convention center twice and took nearly two hours to clear, the lines for 21 Jump Street (wrapped all the way around the block, doubled back on itself, and extended down a neighboring street, like a totally doomed later level Snake in that old calculator game) and Mumford and Sons (see above) about did it. The side effect of spending so much time standing in lines is networking happens naturally, and I met all sorts of awesome people while waiting to get in. It was totally natural to reach the theatre and grab seats with whoever you had been standing chatting with for the last hour outside. From film buffs to interactive ceos, directors to writers, actors to producers, bloggers to students, the number of awesome conversations and single serving friends I made were too numerous to be counted. Hell, I even met the coproducer of Tree of Life and got some inside deets on Malick's next film. Turns out seeing Pavilion wasn't a complete waste of time after all.
#2 Silent Disco
One of the most novel party concepts I've ever experience. The set up: a few blocks from my house, one of the most truly creative independent living co ops sits completely innocuously behind a wall of sheet metal fences, at the corner of two major crossroads in South Austin, Lamar and Oltorf. Behind these sheet metal walls, which give off the vibe of a down on the luck trailer park hiding from the world, is a giant forest, with stages, tents, and on this particular night, thousands of partygoers. The Enchanted Forest, as it's called, is a really amazing space, and throughout Southby, it combined with Silent Frisco, an operation out of San Fran (where else?) to throw Silent Discos (hah! it's a pun!).
Basically how it works is this: two DJs set up at a stage in the center of the forest. Everyone who comes in gets a pair of wireless headphones, the really nice $200 kind. The headphones can be tuned to either DJ frequency, and glow either green or blue based on what frequency you're listening to. The result is magical (could I say...enchanted?): no matter where you wander to in the forest, you have full control over the music volume. Want to rage to it? Crank it on full. Chill next to the river or watch a performance dance piece at another stage? Turn it down to low. Talk to your friends? Take them off, and the low murmurs of conversation replace the wild party you were at two seconds ago.
The best part: because the party is silent, it never violates noise regulations. In the heart of a commercial and residential district, the Silent Disco raged throughout the forest until the sun came up. No cops, no problems, full volume.
Technology, art, music, and nature: coming together to innovate how you rock out. If that doesn't scream South-by-Soutwest and Austin Motherfucking Texas, I don't know what does.
#1 Opening Night
Throughout all that (and much, much more), nothing still quite matched up to opening night. The wild crowd for Cabin in the Woods, seeing Joss motherfucking Whedon in person, the amazing midnight screening of Girls Against Boys, the best chicks on a rampage movie since Kill Bill, the first of the opening film teasers which were fucking BRILLIANT this year (and chock full of the talented Mr. Zach Anner), and the full anticipation and excitement of the entire week still sitting in front of you like an unwrapped Christmas present: it's a night I'll likely never forget, the opening stanza to a week that crossed the pale. That feeling, leaving work and knowing I wouldn't be back in a cube until, well, today, where I'm writing this for you right now...that feeling is one that can't quite be replicated by anything by the first day of a vacation you've been anticipating for a full on year.
Except, when you live in Austin, Texas, that vacation is a staycation, one that makes you wonder why you'd ever want to leave.
See y'all next year! I'll try to make it to more concerts this time.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the annual HOLYFUCK-a-thon that is SXSW, I'm going to do my best to describe it before plunging into my list of my top 11 highlights from the festival (one per day of craziness + a bonus because I just flat ran out of things to cut).
For 10 days, the sleepy little villa of Austin Texas is utterly overwhelmed by an insane conflagration centered on the infamous Sixth Street but extending in every direction into every bar, movie theatre, convention center, park, and restaurant in the city. Basically, the city throws three enormous festivals simultaneously: a top rate film festival that draws hundreds of Hollywood celebrities and premieres dozens of movies, an interactive business conference/festival that is renowned for debuting twitter three years ago, and what has to be the world's largest music festival, with more than 2,000 official performing acts, most of whom play seven or eight shows over the course of the week.
Did I mention that you can attend virtually everything at the festival for free if you know your way around? And that every event is chock full of free drinks, ranging from Texas's ubiquitous Lone Star to fully stocked open bars? And that half the events double up on the free drinks with buffet lines of free food, ranging from simple fare like tacos and ice cream all the way up to full 5 star buffets?
And did I mention that I took the entire week off from work, secured a film badge, and basically spent every hour of all ten days at the festival?
The highlights follow.
#11 The Intersteller Transmissions Bus
My honorable mention, since I never quite ended up on the bus. It was still a nice reminder of the Austin flavor to the festival. One of my favorite bands in town, Intersteller Transmissions, sets up their band on top of a white bus and drives around the city playing music and inviting anyone who'll fit onto the bus. I never hitched a ride (this time), but they brought a smile to my face every time I saw them drive by.
#10 21 Jump Street
A film that turned out way better than I expected. I saw 20 films over the course of the festival, and most of them could be on the list (and several more will follow. 21 Jump Street stood out, however, not just because of the film itself, but because of the raucous crowd, laughing and applauding nearly throughout the film, and the amazing panel that followed, with Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, and Rob Riggle trading jokes with other members of the cast and crew who I'm totally blanking on and feel badly about forgetting.
It also had the best moment of pure overreaction of the festival, when Jonah Hill, clearly giddy from the crowd reaction to a project he had clearly been putting together for a long, long time, burst out, nearly in tears: "No matter what else fucking happens, we'll always have tonight!" to a full auditorium of over 2,000 moviegoers.
#9 The One Panel I Went To
Normally at film festivals, I am all about panels, almost at the expense of the films themselves. Not this time: I only made it into one panel all festival, but it was a particularly good one. (I'm not counting the presentation on new online stock markets that I sat through merely because the fully stocked open bar wouldn't serve drinks until they stopped talking...gin and tonics are so much better when they come from top shelf liquor, don't you agree?)
The panel I *DID* enjoy was one with higher ups from a variety of mid range independent film studios, including the folks behind Drive, Blue Valentine, and Machete. (Or, as the Machete guy put it, the 'Goss' panel). Given that my eventual goal is to make/produce films at that level of production, I found every insight on making the budget vs. payoff of those films work completely fascinating, whether it was how to convince top level stars to take the pay shave or the ins and outs of marketing Henry Winkler to Romania. Ok, this is all about business stuff, and I can already tell you're bored. Let's move on.
#8 The Interactive Trade Floor
I didn't see much of the interactive fest, but the parts I did see I approved of. The highlight was the actual trade floor, where hundreds of hopeful future googles and twitters and netflixes set up booths and plied their hip new websites and services. I can't wait to unsubscribe to all these new services, but in the meantime, it was impressive to see so many awesome ideas in one place. A few that particularly stood out: Squarespace, who will soon be hosting this blog, and a service whose name I forget that allows you to set up any film screening at any theatre if you can get the attendance to 'tip', a la groupon or kickstarter (which, at least 45 people in indiegogo shirts informed me over the course of the week, is a totally inferior service).
#7 March Madness
It was easy to forget in the midst of the madness, the rest of the country was having their own breed of madness: the type that takes place in March as well. In any year, this would be worthy of a mention, but this particular year, my alma mater Michigan State happened to be dominating life. After winning the Big Ten tournament and securing a one seed, the Green and White took care of business, reached the Sweet Sixteen, and got Dre-Dre a second NCAA tourney triple double, a feat only the Big O and another Spartan great, Magic Johnson, have accomplished. Oh, and I almost got into a bar fight in the Third Base bathroom with a guy who was loudly exclaiming Tom Izzo didn't know how to coach. In hindsight, I'm glad that didn't happen because he was at least sixty pounds heavier than me and had a knife tattooed on his forearm, but some things just won't stand.
Oh, and Michigan lost to a #13 seed, which was fucking awesome too.
#6 The Tent by the Paramount
I forget who hosted this amazing extravaganza (so I suppose from their perspective, it failed), but I owe them about $75 dollars for the free beer, ice cream, 100th anniversary oreos, massages, mac&cheese, music, and hammocks they provided me between screenings. If I ever remember their name, I'll at least hop on their website a couple of times. It all balances out, right? (close runners up for this category: the Bing tent, with its open bar, foozeball tables, and free kimchi tacos, and the British Music Embassy, with its also open bar, and lamb and whitefish buffet line, with kick ass bands to boot).
#5 Mumford and Sons + Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros with Big East Express screening
The line for this wrapped around the law center twice, zig zagged through the lawn, and took about forty five minutes to pass through, but it was totally worth it. The tableau: to our left, UT stadium. To our right, a giant inflatable screen showing Big Easy Express, the crazy cross country train tour the above bands took that put the entirety of their third accompaniments, Old Crow Medicine Show, into rehab.
And dead center, with the sun setting behind the UT clock tower as the back drop, a giant festival stage where Edward Sharpe, Mumford and Sons, and the one member of Old Crow who could make it traded off on their sets, with guest appearances from each band on each other's sets. At one point, the entire Austin High marching band joined them on stage to play along. It all wrapped up with a combined cover with everyone on stage of Old Crow's Wagon Wheel, with the vocalist reading the lyrics off his iphone while singing.
Perfect.
#4 Raid: Redemption
Without a doubt, both the best action movie I've ever seen and the best film audience I've ever been a part of. Words fail to convey the transcendent glee that this movie created in me. It's simply the best action film since Die Hard. Except no other argument. The premise is simple: a team of cops attempt to fight their way up a 30 story apartment complex to capture the most notorious crime lord in Indonesia. The catch: every apartment is filled with the scum of the world, allowed to live for free in the complex in exchange for one task: defend the crime lord if and when an army of police start marching up the stairwells. And defend they do, in the most insane series of action sequences I've ever seen. The film elicited at least twelve ovations from the audience, culminating in a final martial arts fight scene between what was just about the last three characters left alive in the entire fucking movie, a fight scene that lasted for over six minutes and drew three separate rounds of applause from the blood frenzied crowd.
See this movie. Just do it.
#3 The people in line
A big part of SXSW is standing in line for things. There was a war going on for what the most impressive and absurd line would be, and though I don't know if anything will ever top the line to pick up the badges, which wrapped around the convention center twice and took nearly two hours to clear, the lines for 21 Jump Street (wrapped all the way around the block, doubled back on itself, and extended down a neighboring street, like a totally doomed later level Snake in that old calculator game) and Mumford and Sons (see above) about did it. The side effect of spending so much time standing in lines is networking happens naturally, and I met all sorts of awesome people while waiting to get in. It was totally natural to reach the theatre and grab seats with whoever you had been standing chatting with for the last hour outside. From film buffs to interactive ceos, directors to writers, actors to producers, bloggers to students, the number of awesome conversations and single serving friends I made were too numerous to be counted. Hell, I even met the coproducer of Tree of Life and got some inside deets on Malick's next film. Turns out seeing Pavilion wasn't a complete waste of time after all.
#2 Silent Disco
One of the most novel party concepts I've ever experience. The set up: a few blocks from my house, one of the most truly creative independent living co ops sits completely innocuously behind a wall of sheet metal fences, at the corner of two major crossroads in South Austin, Lamar and Oltorf. Behind these sheet metal walls, which give off the vibe of a down on the luck trailer park hiding from the world, is a giant forest, with stages, tents, and on this particular night, thousands of partygoers. The Enchanted Forest, as it's called, is a really amazing space, and throughout Southby, it combined with Silent Frisco, an operation out of San Fran (where else?) to throw Silent Discos (hah! it's a pun!).
Basically how it works is this: two DJs set up at a stage in the center of the forest. Everyone who comes in gets a pair of wireless headphones, the really nice $200 kind. The headphones can be tuned to either DJ frequency, and glow either green or blue based on what frequency you're listening to. The result is magical (could I say...enchanted?): no matter where you wander to in the forest, you have full control over the music volume. Want to rage to it? Crank it on full. Chill next to the river or watch a performance dance piece at another stage? Turn it down to low. Talk to your friends? Take them off, and the low murmurs of conversation replace the wild party you were at two seconds ago.
The best part: because the party is silent, it never violates noise regulations. In the heart of a commercial and residential district, the Silent Disco raged throughout the forest until the sun came up. No cops, no problems, full volume.
Technology, art, music, and nature: coming together to innovate how you rock out. If that doesn't scream South-by-Soutwest and Austin Motherfucking Texas, I don't know what does.
#1 Opening Night
Throughout all that (and much, much more), nothing still quite matched up to opening night. The wild crowd for Cabin in the Woods, seeing Joss motherfucking Whedon in person, the amazing midnight screening of Girls Against Boys, the best chicks on a rampage movie since Kill Bill, the first of the opening film teasers which were fucking BRILLIANT this year (and chock full of the talented Mr. Zach Anner), and the full anticipation and excitement of the entire week still sitting in front of you like an unwrapped Christmas present: it's a night I'll likely never forget, the opening stanza to a week that crossed the pale. That feeling, leaving work and knowing I wouldn't be back in a cube until, well, today, where I'm writing this for you right now...that feeling is one that can't quite be replicated by anything by the first day of a vacation you've been anticipating for a full on year.
Except, when you live in Austin, Texas, that vacation is a staycation, one that makes you wonder why you'd ever want to leave.
See y'all next year! I'll try to make it to more concerts this time.
Monday, March 5, 2012
The Wire Grantland Bracket
Wait, so Grantland is doing a Wire tournament?
Hell yes, I'm going to make a full set of predictions!
West Baltimore Bracket
Key players: Omar, Snoop, D'Angelo, Micheal
Dead in the water: Ziggy, Cheese
Winner: Omar (going away)
Most Interesting Matchup: Michael vs. Snoop
We'll start with the least interesting bracket and just get it out of the way quickly. This bracket is basically where they threw everybody who was going to lose to Omar anyway. It feels like an inevitable showdown between Omar and Snoop, but Michael might have something to say about that, just as he did in the show. The Chris/Cutty matchup might be interesting, but only in the sense of finding out whose going to be ground down by the inevitable coronation of Omar.
The Ports
Key Players: Avon, Carcetti, Bunny, Prop Joe
Dead in the Water: Prezbo *tear*, Malatov, Duke, Sobotka
Winner: Avon
Most Interesting Matchup: Avon vs. Carcetti
From the most clear cut to the murkiest. The Ports feels very much in play, if only because it's filled from top to bottom with some of the least compelling characters in their respective seedlines. Nothing against Avon, Prop Joe, and Bunny, but they don't hold up to East Baltimore's power trio of Stringer, Marlo, and Bodie. That being said, even with the weakness at the top, I don't see a lot of upsets because the lower seeds are similarly uninspired. The top four seeds will win in the first round, and once the second round begins, anything can really happen. I'm curious to see if Carcetti can take down Avon, but I imagine Avon will hold on by a healthy margin. As for who'll emerge from the bottom, Prop Joe or Bunny, it's a coin toss. I love both characters, but neither has a lot of clout in the overall roster of the show. At the end of the day, I expect Avon to survive a narrow battle with Carcetti and a somewhat comfortable win over Prop Joe. But nothing here would surprise me.
East Baltimore
Key Players: Stringer, Freamon, Bodie, Marlo, Kima
Dead in the Water: Rawls, Wee-Bey, Herc
Winner: Stringer
Most Interesting Matchups: Stringer vs. Lester, Kima vs Marlo, the championship
This bracket is DEEP. There are five candidates who wouldn't be shocking to see in the title game, and at least three who could win the whole bracket. We all know Stringer Bell is the prohibitive favorite, but there are a lot of giant killers lurking. Lester Freamon has a very passionate fan base, and the Marlo vs Kima matchup should be ferocious. My money's on Kima and Stringer ekeing past Lester, but who knows? And who could have expected we could see Marlo Stanfield, whose name is his name, go down in Round One?
In the end, I think Kima will be no match for Stringer in the championship, but you can never count out the sentimental favorite.
Hamsterdam
Key Players: Bunk, Brother, Wallace, McNulty, Daniels, Davis, Bubbles
Dead in the water: Levy
Eventual Winner: Fuck if I know
Key matchups: All of them
And we get to the brawl. Seven of the eight characters in this bracket are among my absolute favorites in the show, and it's going to be an utter massacre paring them down to just one. First off, who puts McNulty as a 3 seed? What other show in American history could you put the supposed lead that low in a bracket?
This bracket demands a full breakdown.
Bunk vs. Brother
Ok, obvious Bunk's going to win this. But still. Couldn't you see Brother knocking off Avon? Or Davis? Or Prop Joe? The most cartoonish character on the show, sure, but one of the most fun ones.
Davis vs Bubbles
There's no way Bubbles doesn't spring the upset here. How did he end up a 7 seed? Part of what makes this bracket so fun is the insane seeding. Still, before we watch Bubbles beg, borrow, and steal his way through the bracket, let's give a shout out to our favorite slimey politican, Mr. Sheeeeeee-it himself.
McNulty vs Daniels
My heart goes out to you, Lieutenant Daniels. I've come to terms with the fact that my high esteem for Daniels isn't shared by many other Wire viewers, but in my own personal bracket, this matchup is the most heartbreaking first round decision. I'd go Daniels; the world will side McNulty.
Wallace vs Levy
Wallace has this wrapped up; Levy is pretty clearly the weakest character in the bracket. We have to give Wallace at least one sentimental win before Bunk crushes him in the second round.
Bunk vs Wallace
See previous.
Bubbles vs McNulty
I don't even....how do you? I'm going Bubbles here, and I think America will too. His speech at the end....onions man. Fucking onions.
Bunk vs Bubbles
I'm sticking with my main man, Bubbles. He was really the guy I found myself experiencing the show through and pulling for episode after episode, season after season. When he cleaned himself up, it was the most rewarding payoff I've ever experience in television. I know Bunk is more fun, but Bubbles is Bubbles man!
The Final Four:
Omar, Avon, Stringer, Bubbles. Couldn't ask for more. Bubbles's run ends as most do, at the behest of Omar's shotgun, and Stringer finally gets the best of Avon. But at the end of the day, no one's overcoming Omar, and the haunting bars of The Farmer and the Dell hover over all of Baltimore.
All in the game, yo.
Hell yes, I'm going to make a full set of predictions!
West Baltimore Bracket
Key players: Omar, Snoop, D'Angelo, Micheal
Dead in the water: Ziggy, Cheese
Winner: Omar (going away)
Most Interesting Matchup: Michael vs. Snoop
We'll start with the least interesting bracket and just get it out of the way quickly. This bracket is basically where they threw everybody who was going to lose to Omar anyway. It feels like an inevitable showdown between Omar and Snoop, but Michael might have something to say about that, just as he did in the show. The Chris/Cutty matchup might be interesting, but only in the sense of finding out whose going to be ground down by the inevitable coronation of Omar.
The Ports
Key Players: Avon, Carcetti, Bunny, Prop Joe
Dead in the Water: Prezbo *tear*, Malatov, Duke, Sobotka
Winner: Avon
Most Interesting Matchup: Avon vs. Carcetti
From the most clear cut to the murkiest. The Ports feels very much in play, if only because it's filled from top to bottom with some of the least compelling characters in their respective seedlines. Nothing against Avon, Prop Joe, and Bunny, but they don't hold up to East Baltimore's power trio of Stringer, Marlo, and Bodie. That being said, even with the weakness at the top, I don't see a lot of upsets because the lower seeds are similarly uninspired. The top four seeds will win in the first round, and once the second round begins, anything can really happen. I'm curious to see if Carcetti can take down Avon, but I imagine Avon will hold on by a healthy margin. As for who'll emerge from the bottom, Prop Joe or Bunny, it's a coin toss. I love both characters, but neither has a lot of clout in the overall roster of the show. At the end of the day, I expect Avon to survive a narrow battle with Carcetti and a somewhat comfortable win over Prop Joe. But nothing here would surprise me.
East Baltimore
Key Players: Stringer, Freamon, Bodie, Marlo, Kima
Dead in the Water: Rawls, Wee-Bey, Herc
Winner: Stringer
Most Interesting Matchups: Stringer vs. Lester, Kima vs Marlo, the championship
This bracket is DEEP. There are five candidates who wouldn't be shocking to see in the title game, and at least three who could win the whole bracket. We all know Stringer Bell is the prohibitive favorite, but there are a lot of giant killers lurking. Lester Freamon has a very passionate fan base, and the Marlo vs Kima matchup should be ferocious. My money's on Kima and Stringer ekeing past Lester, but who knows? And who could have expected we could see Marlo Stanfield, whose name is his name, go down in Round One?
In the end, I think Kima will be no match for Stringer in the championship, but you can never count out the sentimental favorite.
Hamsterdam
Key Players: Bunk, Brother, Wallace, McNulty, Daniels, Davis, Bubbles
Dead in the water: Levy
Eventual Winner: Fuck if I know
Key matchups: All of them
And we get to the brawl. Seven of the eight characters in this bracket are among my absolute favorites in the show, and it's going to be an utter massacre paring them down to just one. First off, who puts McNulty as a 3 seed? What other show in American history could you put the supposed lead that low in a bracket?
This bracket demands a full breakdown.
Bunk vs. Brother
Ok, obvious Bunk's going to win this. But still. Couldn't you see Brother knocking off Avon? Or Davis? Or Prop Joe? The most cartoonish character on the show, sure, but one of the most fun ones.
Davis vs Bubbles
There's no way Bubbles doesn't spring the upset here. How did he end up a 7 seed? Part of what makes this bracket so fun is the insane seeding. Still, before we watch Bubbles beg, borrow, and steal his way through the bracket, let's give a shout out to our favorite slimey politican, Mr. Sheeeeeee-it himself.
McNulty vs Daniels
My heart goes out to you, Lieutenant Daniels. I've come to terms with the fact that my high esteem for Daniels isn't shared by many other Wire viewers, but in my own personal bracket, this matchup is the most heartbreaking first round decision. I'd go Daniels; the world will side McNulty.
Wallace vs Levy
Wallace has this wrapped up; Levy is pretty clearly the weakest character in the bracket. We have to give Wallace at least one sentimental win before Bunk crushes him in the second round.
Bunk vs Wallace
See previous.
Bubbles vs McNulty
I don't even....how do you? I'm going Bubbles here, and I think America will too. His speech at the end....onions man. Fucking onions.
Bunk vs Bubbles
I'm sticking with my main man, Bubbles. He was really the guy I found myself experiencing the show through and pulling for episode after episode, season after season. When he cleaned himself up, it was the most rewarding payoff I've ever experience in television. I know Bunk is more fun, but Bubbles is Bubbles man!
The Final Four:
Omar, Avon, Stringer, Bubbles. Couldn't ask for more. Bubbles's run ends as most do, at the behest of Omar's shotgun, and Stringer finally gets the best of Avon. But at the end of the day, no one's overcoming Omar, and the haunting bars of The Farmer and the Dell hover over all of Baltimore.
All in the game, yo.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)