Deep in summer…Sounds I am digging (good year for music thus far): new records from The National; Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings; The Black Keys; Unkle; Danger Mouse/Sparklehorse; Q-tip; and mo’.
Books–remember them?: Ellroy’s BLOOD’S A ROVER; the last Medicus book from Ruth Downie is great; EINSTEIN by Walter Issacson; Colin McCann’s LET THE GREAT WORLD SPIN make take itself a bit too seriously but has brilliant moments…
Sin-Nah-Mah: TOY STORY 3–f’n dark masterpiece; TWILIGHT : ECLIPSE…not for me, but hey; PREDATORS good, dumb fun; waiting not so patiently for Nolan’s INCEPTION.
LOST: must say good-bye to one of my favorite shows ever. Hmmm, sure the decision to shift the last season to a more emotionally driven climax is a bit of a let-down…the speculative, scientific aspects of the show were just put aside…but given the hours of entertainment offered…OK…they get a walk. Matthew Sheppard’s performance in the finale was astonishing…
I wrote and directed two short movies recently. SISTER/SISTER and IN A LARGE ROOM are being edited–worked with Maestro Noweckski doing camera with his amazing Red Cam!
SHUTTER ISLAND…disturbing images but didn’t feel Scorsese as present as he should be. Same with Burton’s Alice. HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON was fun…3D enhanced it instead of dragging it down!
Brilliant that Kathryn Bigelow won for Best Director!
Caught CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT (directed by Orson Welles) at the Deutsche Film Museum…first time I’ve seen it projected–amazing filmmaking and maybe one of his best performances.
I am pleased to announce that principal photography was completed on my new feature picture THE GERMAN TEACHER starring Pia Esten and Jaymes Butler! There will be more information coming soon (as well as an official website) so check back for updates!
*Photo by TonMeister Carsten Rojahn
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936 pages–nearly threw it away as year after year passed but I finished Simmons’ THE TERROR. Arctic shipwreck, extreme cold, starvation, a mysterious, lethal beast tracking the characters…glad I had hot tea nearby. A fine tense, albeit overlong read…
We had a great time in NYC–not enough days…sighhhh….
Wishing President Obama all the best…he will need it!
It has been too long! I have been busy with life and work, but I confess I haven’t been in the mood to blog anything as of late. THE GERMAN TEACHER has some info up and there will be a big new update soon.
I am no fan of the Dems but shite, oversight was needed and some is on the way. I slam them when they fuck it up, so praise must be given for taking back both houses.
I came to it late, but I loved Kate Atkinson’s CASE HISTORIES . It is about several crimes smashing into each other but what I appreciated most was the way she captured the silent scream of middle age. The main characters are a bit older here and their struggle against tragedy and resignation was touching. The author’s prose is wicked as well. I don’t usually post Amazon links but I will for this one: BUY IT!
In the We are Fucked Department: THE LOOMING TOWER and STATE OF DENIAL are two of the scariest books I have read in a long time. LT is an epic narrative in which all roads lead to 9/11–the author does a masterful job of conveying the scope of these events and what we face. SD is how our reaction to this problem has made the situation even worse.
We are fucked.
Segues are for kids: My sins against the English language are legion! Proofing? I’ve left a short piece of fiction riddled with typos posted here for eons! Rain, reign or rein?!! Pthwwwww! For this reason I have been digging the Podcast GRAMMAR GIRL. She is the bee’s knees baby.
I predict bad BORAT impressions will overtake bad Chris Walken ones in the year 2007. As for the film, there were some very fucking funny moments but it ran out of steam for me.
Moving right along…what’s with the picture? Some people have asked me why don’t I have a photo of myself posted on this site? The answer is simple: I hate the way I photograph…but OK…here is one third of my head…title this…”A man and his hair”.
On that lovely note…
