Grand Budapest Hotel: Wes Anderson & the Meticulousness of Storytelling
This weekend, a group of us went to see Wes Anderson's most recent masterpiece, or, arguably: his overall masterpiece, Grand Budapest Hotel.
Now, I could write PAGES about Anderson's work and why I love it, why sometimes I hate it, and why sometimes I hate to love it, but this isn't going to be about that.
Wes Anderson is a MASTER of composition. The guy is so freakin' OCD, you know that he just sits behind the monitor on set and yells at the art department saying, "NO, MOVE IT .735 CENTIMETERS TOWARDS CAMERA."
"NEVERMIND, MOVE IT .715!!"
He does this not for the sake of being OCD, but because he's meticulous and does everything he can to make each frame intentional, beautiful--and most importantly--help serve the story he is telling.
So, recently, this video went viral:
Look at the frame at 1:05.
It's more or less symmetrical, but look at that bright orange shirt in the bottom left frame. It's pretty stand out...and is balanced by the dark green bandana of the boy in the bottom right.
Little things like these are SO very intentional, AND it's little things like these that are so indicative of all of the details that go into directing. Anderson made all of those choices--yes I'm sure he collaborates intensely with his art department, but everything you see in that frame is a choice--and a deliberate one. It get's a little overwhelming sometimes if you really sit down and start to pick apart his movies.
Grand Budapest Hotel took this to a whole other level. I thought he couldn't get much more detailed than in Darjeeling Limited (where they basically just built and hand painted an entire train..), but he one upped himself. A lot.
Ok, a little bit more about his composition in Grand Budapest Hotel. He made a compelling choice: he chose to express the different eras of his story by the frame size (aspect ratio) of the film. For not film nerds, think "4x3 vs. 16x9", etc. (for film dweebs like me, these are ratios like 2:35, 1.85, and 1.37) I LOVED this choice. It was such a fun way to see this film and I really enjoyed seeing the majesty of the Grand Budapest Hotel in the constraints of a smaller frame.
It was great to see these different aspect ratios expressed in their respective times and I appreciated it a lot. It just goes to show that he is very aware of the space he is given, and he is adamant about crafting those frames perfectly.
Ok, one more thing about the aspect ratio changes: I read a fascinating blog by a director who I really respect. It's very technical and is an interesting look into how the frame changes were handled, and about how maybe it wasn't the best way. I highly recommend it if the concept of changing these frames interests you, because you'll absolutely learn something new from this insight.
Click here to learn everything you didn't know about striking prints!
Overall: See this film, but know you'll want to see it more than once--so prepare yourself for it financially. This movie needs and deserves to be seen on a big screen, and you'll want to see it repeatedly so you can catch every meticulous detail.
Just because you don't like it doesn't mean it "sucks." And other ways of being a compassionate human being.
I've recently hit my boiling point of people who promote negativity without actually having the grounds to do so.
Essentially, I'm talking about the person who, when you explain to them something you're really excited about, they immediately shut you down and say, "That's stupid". Well, uh, thanks for your input pal, but I love this and, also, you're being a dick. How do you even know it's stupid if you haven't seen or heard it? You literally have no evidence to your profound "it's stupid" argument, so why are you making a judgement call? A more appropriate answer would be: "I'm so glad that's something you're really interested in, but personally it doesn't sound like something I would enjoy."
But when is the last time you ever heard somebody say that?
While I feel like the previous interaction is a little more unlikely, let's talk about the more familiar:
"Hey I really love this movie/band."
"What?! Are you serious!? THAT MOVIE/BAND SUCKS. Oh, man..I can't believe you even...geez. Wow. You have terrible taste."
Now, this is something that I still find myself guilty of sometimes (mostly with movies, obviously..), and I make a constant effort to avoid shooting down things people love. Or the much more eloquent, "Shitting all over your parade." Oh, the saying is "raining"? Well...I feel like "shitting" more accurately describes how I feel about this behavior...and how it makes other people feel.
Let me start from the beginning:
I had an amazing film class in college called "Underrated Cinema". It was a class where we had to watch movies that were highly criticized or "flopped" when they were released, and then review them objectively. Sounds painful, right? Wrong.
Leading up to the movies we had to watch, we weren't allowed to read any media reviews or headlines about them. We had to go in just knowing the title and synopsis. After watching the film, we did a class review where we talked about what we thought worked with the film or maybe what didn't work, and then we would hear how it was received upon release. A lot of the time, this was SHOCKING what was said about these films. These movies, in general, were actually pretty great--but depending upon things like political activity, celebrity gossip, if the film was a sequel, remake, etc, it would create all of this predetermined hatred to the film which, in turn, fed into making it a box office failure.
The most important thing learned from this class was what makes something successful and what makes it unsuccessful. In other words, what makes something good and what makes something bad. And guess what, whether or not you actually like it has NOTHING to do with it.
As artists (musicians and filmmakers alike), we have goals with our art. We set out to create something with intent, and you know what, if we get our intended message across: it's successful art. THAT is what makes it good. Technical aspects are important too, obviously--it goes without saying, really. Like can you actually play that guitar, and did that movie actually have a cohesive story--but that's not what we're arguing here. If the movie or song doesn't achieve what it set out to do: it is NOT successful art and it is BAD. There is NO dispute when it comes to that simple breakdown.
This is what I learned from that class and it literally changed my life. Because honestly? Having this logic will completely affect the way you converse with people, and furthermore, it will start to affect how you judge someone as a person.
If you have a conversation with someone and you have different interests, don't tell them something they love sucks or make fun of them for liking something you don't like (lookin' at you music and movie snobs). That's probably the first way to classify yourself as an asshole. Find appreciation for someone who LOVES something you don't love--that's kind of an amazing thing, really. It's what makes us individuals and it's wonderful. Of course it's a lot of fun to completely nerd out about something you love with a fellow lover of that thing. But you know what can be a much more interesting conversation? Finding out why somebody loves something you hate. This world would be a much better place if we embraced each other's differences instead of writing people off because of them.
A good place to start is to change your phrasing. If you see a movie or hear a band, and you didn't like it all you really have to say is, "I'm not the audience. It's just not something I enjoy." And when someone asks you "why?" don't come back with, "It sucks". Educate yourself on why you didn't like it and explain yourself. And be willing to listen when it's time to hear the other side.
Be happy and excited that people love the things they do, and don't judge them or put them down for it. You wouldn't much like that either, would you?
Phew. Glad I got that out. I really hope someone reads this and it resonates, because honestly, I would love to share the peace of mind this mentality brings you. Trust me, it's wonderful.
Years later I still watch Ghostbusters annually. I threw a Ghostbusters themed birthday party for my 31st birthday. I played the Ghostbusters Video Game and brought the new Ghostbusters toys. Just a few days ago I was running around my house with my 5-year-old nephew busting "ghosts".
Ghostbusters is my favorite movie, still to this day. Why it's so great is a whole 'nother blog post but, needless to say, it has brought me untold amounts of comfort and joy over the years. It has greatly shaped my sense of humor, creativity and wonder about the world.
The actors and writers involved in Ghostbusters had personalities that matched on screen as well as off. Dan Akroyd - who played Ray Stanz - was the heart of Ghostbusters, birthing the original concept as an outlandish Sci-Fi film. Bill Murrary - who played Peter Venkman - was the face of the Ghostbusters, taking the material given to him and giving it his own amazing spin.
But Harold Ramis - who played the brainy Egon Spengler - was the guy who got things done. I can relate to that. He was the enabler. He helped assemble the story and plot and grounded Ghostbusters in reality. He wrote for Bill Murray and knew how to create space that Bill could use. Without Harold Ramis there is no Ghostbusters and his character - Egon Spengler - delivers some of my all time favorite lines.
Aside from Ghostbusters, Harold Ramis is of course also the writer and director of another movie I adore: Groundhog Day. The man wrote and created not only fantastic comedy but he was unashamedly supportive of the community of fantastic talent he found himself in and always created work entrenched in social commentary and spirituality. His work was fresh and he was hilarious.
I'm lucky that many of my heroes are musicians who are still alive today so this feeling of loss is new to me. I feel sad when anyone passes, but it's very rare for me to get overly upset, when someone I do not personally know it gone. The passing of Douglas Adams was the closest I have come to feeling personally affected. Until now.
I am not lying when I say that Harold Ramis passing brought tears to my eyes. It feels crazy to me, in a way, to feel so strongly for an artist and especially a single movie - but I do. I am a fan of the mans other work as well, but Ghostbusters has been a big part of my life and who I am. Harold Ramis was an amazingly huge part of that. He was a true talent who brought so much joy into the world.
So, thank you Harold Ramis. Thank you so much for making my very favorite movie. It always has, and always will, be a source of great joy and your career has been a great inspiration for me. You will be missed.
Thursday night I am going to drag my ass from work down to San Jose for the first ever Open Mic at the Art Boutiki in San Jose. For those of you not in the know, Art Boutiki is a comic shop / performance space and is my absolute favorite venue in the San Jose area. More on that later I am sure.
I am under no delusions that acoustic-guitar-Zen does not have the live performance chops or stage presence of full-band-rock-out Zen. I know that just because I may practice my little heart out in my bedroom doesn't mean that will translate to a live show. Likewise, I would be crazy to think that the songs I'm writing are fully developed and fleshed out until I have put them on blast in front of a real crowd. It's not even necessarily about getting crowd feedback (although that does help) as much as it is just about putting the song out there. Throwing a song into the void makes you think about it differently - feedback or no.
So Open Mic Nights are a great way to build up your performance chops and try out some new ideas. I, sadly, stopped hosting the Open Mic Night because I was feeling like the returns I was personally getting were not matching the energy I was putting into it. While it was a really fun event - and some evenings were indeed, dare I say it, magical - ultimately people could be jerks sometimes. Those jerks are the reason that Open Mic did not continue and are a perfect example of a few rotten eggs ruining it for the bunch.
So, without further ado, as someone who has hosted, organized and participated in Open Mic Nights, I present:
SEVEN WAYS TO NOT BE A JERK AT OPEN MIC NIGHT
1. Don't perform for longer than you're allowed.
Aside from being incredibly rude to the other performers it's inconsiderate to the audience and the host. What makes you feel like you are so much more important than everyone else? Often squeezing everyone in who wants to perform at an open mic is hard enough without people going over their time limit. Besides, haven't you heard that you always want to leave the audience wanting more?
2. Don't ask the MC to make exceptions for you.
You just wanted to do one extra song. Can't you? Please? It's a quick one! You're really putting the MC / Host in a tricky spot by asking this question. One exception can quickly get out of control, believe me, I learnt that the hard way. But it also feels lame to have to keep telling everyone "No". Just don't ask okay?
3. Be ready to perform when it's your time to perform!
It's amazing how many times someone is called up to go and they're not prepared and we spend the first 5 minutes watching them tune their guitar. Again, this shows a blatant disrespect for the time of everyone involved. When you're called, get up there ASAP and do your thing!
4. Don't try to trick or take advantage of the host or the event
I once had a musician who strung four songs together with no breaks so that he could get away with playing more tunes. I didn't find it clever or funny and neither did the audience. Everything just thought he was a jerk.
Another time a local guitar teacher tried to use the Open Mic as his own personal recital. He insisted on playing first, signed up for one slot, had four students perform multiple songs and refused to listen to me once he was on stage. Then, when they were done, they all left. They were not welcome back.
Which brings me to ...
5. Be supportive of the performers
Here is where I go against everything I said in my prior blog post about being unconditionally supportive. An Open Mic is NOT a show and the performers are mostly NOT professionals. This is not a space for egos or your judgement. Criticism - unless solicited - should be kept to an absolute minimum and whenever someone gets off stage, you owe it to them to clap whether they were good or not. Because, when you get up there, you will be playing to same people and you will want them to clap. They are not your fans. They are not people who paid for a ticket. They are your peers and you are all there with one mission statement: To get up and perform, no matter what. Treat it like a recital: Getting up there at all, in a lot of ways, is worth celebrating.
I'm not saying some people aren't going to be awful and that you won't want to drive your head through a wall from time to time but I do think this is a circumstance where you need to crank the supportiveness up a notch. Nothing is worse than finishing a performance to a silent room or seeing people whisper about your in the back of the room.
6. Stick around.
This kind of sits into 'Be supportive' but I think it's worth it's own spot on the list. While I do think it's fine to 'Drop by' an Open Mic and just play a song or two I also think it's important to spend a little time watching the other performers - even if just for a little bit. Again, it's about respect. You want an audience when you play, so provide an audience when others do as well.
7. Be supportive of the venue.
In a city like San Jose in particular, it is hard to find performance space, especially as a beginning performer. Every once in a while, when I hosted my Open Mic Night, a crew would roll in and just trash the place. Just to be clear: This is why we can't have nice things. Don't be those guys. Please make it so that events like this can continue as they are oh-so-intregal to the community you live in.
Sometimes I feel like I have writers block but sometimes I think it's more a case of there just not being enough hours in the day to squeeze a creative thought out of my exhausted brain.
Not feeling creative is bad but I think feeling creative and not having the time, or appropriate outlet, for that creativity is far far worse. It leaves a lump in your chest and sucks the wind out of your sails. Sometimes inside screams "Let me out!".
Double worse-terrible-doom points for then suddenly not feeling inspired once you're finally able to carve out that time for your creative expression. It never wants to work on our schedules, does it?
Finding your "style" and why it's crucial to being a successful artist.
Being a creative is hard work. There are so many ways to express yourself as an artist--the medium you choose is a small part of it. Whether it's music, painting, performance art, or filmmaking--they all have their own methods, but you can get the same message across. What's really important is HOW you express your medium, or how you define your style.
It's no secret I've been in a huge creative rut after completing my short film "Sierra". It's given me a lot of time to reflect on the stories I want to tell and how I want to tell them. But it's also shed a lot of light on what I learned about my next step as a filmmaker: what I did that was successful, what I didn't, and what I can do better next time.
Someone who has been so generous to me in my budding career as a writer/director watched Sierra and gave me some of the best feedback I could ever ask for. The film industry--or ANY creative industry--could benefit so much from people like him. To have someone so kind offer such flattering support, criticism and encouragement is one of the most important ways to get new artists to continue to grow.
ANYWAY--One of the notes he gave me was that I clearly had the technical figured out: I know how to make a movie. I can make it look good. I can put it together. I can get a person to act. And, most importantly, I can tell a story. Basically, the formula is in me and I have gotten a grasp on the process of my chosen art form. The only thing, is I don't really have a singular style. I experimented with several different storytelling devices in Sierra, but because of all of those styles there wasn't really a consistent tone. I looked at the moments he called me out on and I totally saw what he meant. He was right! I was experimenting, and it did make things feel a little out of context sometimes. He said I really needed to figure out what my directing style was.
When I first thought about it, I was like, "Huh, but shouldn't the style of the film really be based on the story? Shouldn't the written word drive the moments in the film?" But immediately I was reminded of something that kind of blew my mind when I was in film school. I remember my first directing teacher explaining that directors get hired based on their style and if it fits the script (which is usually up to the producer/studio's interpretation). He said that he could give every single person in the class the exact same 5 page script and you would get a COMPLETELY different film out of each one of us. He's absolutely right:
We're all individuals who have had our own life experiences and tell stories based on what we find important. That's a huge part of directorial style.
This video is a great example of what I'm talking about. It's also hilarious. The David Lynch and Werner Herzog iterations had me laughing so hard I had to pause the video.
Recently, I had a conversation about how, as an artist, you can't really start being great until you learn the ins and outs of your craft. Learn how to do the technical. Learn how to paint that face. Learn how to play those chords. Learn how to set up that shot. Do it so many times and so much that you could do it in your sleep.
And then once you've learned the craft, you can start honing it to tell the story you want. Maybe in your painting you want to use vague, big strokes for the hair and then heavily render the face so you lock into the eyes when you look at it. Maybe in your song you want to try out something different and dissonant so that you provoke a certain feeling. Maybe you want to do a single take from one angle because you want your actors to move about in the frame and make the shot feel long, awkward and painful.
Obviously you can start developing your style earlier into your technical training, but it's really all about knowing EXACTLY what you want to say and being able to tell it in your own unique way.
But once you have your style established? Should that be it? Should it ever develop any further?
No shit, it should.
Really, being an artist is a constant learning experience. If you ever look at your work and go "that's PERFECT! I don't need to change a thing ever for the rest of my creation. I've reached 'pro' status and I can never get any better." Then you're delusional and aren't doing it right. It's good to have pride in your work and know what you do well, but if you don't believe you can constantly grow, learn and hone your craft every day for the rest of your life, you will never get better. You'll plateau and keep producing the same junk over and over.
But that's the Catch 22 if you're in the public eye, right? In terms of music: say you create an amazing record and it gets a huge following. Some fans insist on having your second record sound exactly the same, because well, that's the style they love. They want more of that. And then if the band produces a follow up record that is very different musically, but a huge step forward in ability and complexity...the fans will hate it. So some bands try and stick to the same ol' shit. I think that's the worst possible hole an artist can fall into--in any industry. (but that's a completely different post altogether!)
I think this ended up turning into more of a rant, and I'm sort of getting away from myself....
Anyway--overall, being a creative is so challenging, but it's also incredibly rewarding. If you want to stand out and be successful, find your style and develop it. Don't feel like you're trapped by picking a style. Make it your own and be proud of it, but always keep trying to be better.
Guys, I hate Valentines Day. I'm sorry, I just do. Logic brain wants me to be a reasonable mature grown up who understands that this is 'Just a stupid Hallmark day' but emotion brain can't help but get a little down in the dumps. Almost of my big relationship breakups have happened in the month of February so this month really drills home the reality of being single for me.
This blog post is here is say: That's okay! I'm allowed to hate it. And so are you!
To be honest I don't feel like writing my thoughts on love or relationships in the modern era so in the meantime, if you're sitting at home single - or simply alone - on Valentines Day, here are four things that have been making my evenings a little brighter this week.
Two of my favorite, but unrelated, things from the past - Ben Folds Five and The Fraggles - return in one awesome video and they're even joined by Chris Hardwick! I know this is old hat at this point but I haven't been able to stop listening to this song this week. Do it anyway!!!
Gargoyles on YouTube
If you missed Gargoyles as a child, you now have no excuse as we have a long weekend and the entire first season is up on YouTube. Gargoyles is one of those too-good-to-just-be-a-kids-show kind of shows like Avatar : The Last Airbender. It features a compelling story and some amazing voice acting from some notable actors, including a couple of familiar voices from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Field Medic releases 'A Book Worth Reading'
Kevin Sullivan is by far one of my favorite songwriters. He's known as the front man of San Francisco's high energy trio Rin Tin Tiger but his side project - Field Medic - is just as compelling to me. For Valentines Day he has released a short and sweet - but mostly sweet - EP for free and if you like folky introspective goodness you should definitely check it out.
Download it for free here.
Finish Ticket signs to Atlantic Records
Once upon a time a small band from Alameda known as Finish Ticket opened for my band, Please Do Not Fight, at Blakes. Now, years later, here they are signed to Atlantic Records on this very day.
These guys are the real deal: Awesome songs. Talented musicians. Fantastic people. Hard workers. I couldn't be happier for them. Make sure you check them out on-line.
How does being unconditionally supportive serve you and your local music community?
When you're a musician - as with any community of people - figuring out how you want to interact with your 'music scene' and fellow musicians can be a strange journey and somewhat overwhelming at times.
When you're part of a community there are certain people who seem like they are friends with everyone.
Some of these people try too hard, forcing themselves bluntly into your world because, hey, they're 'Networking'. These 'Networkers' can usually be spotted a mile away. Then you have the people who are just really really nice and easy to get along with. They're supportive of most everyone and everything going on. They're talking to you because they want to be, not because they're trying to get something. The 'Networking' they do, the connections they make, seem like a nice bonus - a side effect if you will - of who they are and their natural enthusiasm.
Other musicians don't network as much. They stick to their own circles - sometimes interacting only with small pockets of the local music scene, if they choose to interact with it at all. Sometimes this can come across as arrogant, or even anti-social, seemingly bypassing the 'local band' stage of the process altogether.
On the surface the 'friendly communal well connected musician' seems like the ideal approach but, I think there are some pitfalls when that turns into being unconditionally supportive. Who you associate with matters and the quality of someones music and the quality of someones character are not always things that align. There are some artists I know - artists I really love - who's shows I will not go to. Why? Because the bands they choose to share the bill with are just not good and I don't enjoy myself.
Being not good isn't a crime and everyone needs a space as a musician to grow and learn, but if I - a teacher, a fellow musician and a peer - am unable to sit through the other acts you're playing with, how is your regular show goer going to? There's no easy way to say this: In a way, you become bad by association and bad shows repel music fans rather than attracting them.
Look, I don't want to shit on enthusiasm and positivity. I love those things. But shouldn't we be putting more effort into supporting the acts we really really like? Isn't it possible that by spreading the love so much we're giving people less of a reason to get better? Are we potentially encouraging mediocrity? We keep telling people "If you want to see more local music, you've got to support it!" "Support local music or it will go away!". How can we expect people to come out and support something that, sometimes, is just not that great?
So if you're not into the music coming out of your town, or maybe even the people, should you get out there anyways? If you're not naturally a social butterfly should you force yourself to network because it's what's you're supposed to do? Should you just suck it up?
Honestly, I don't have clear cut answers here. This is a bit of a brain dump and a bit of playing devils advocate. To be honest my instinct is usually to be the nice guy, who's friends with and supportive of most everyone. I think having a strong supportive music scene is integral to any strong community and I think a lot of musicians - and non musicians alike - benefit from it.
But that devils advocate in me wants to say, hell no, don't network if you don't want to. Don't go see bands you don't like just to be supportive. Don't be part of anything you genuinely don't want to be part of. As long as you are making music you truly believe in, honing your craft, getting out there and playing shows as much as possible and not being a dick, just keep doing what you're doing.
I guess I have two main, and slightly unrelated, points here.
1. It seems that forcing yourself to network with your local music community, if you don't feel like networking or aren't a fan of the music coming from that community, isn't something you should be doing. (Or at very least, you need to find a way to do it that works for you).
2. Quality of music is important and I worry that being unconditionally supportive doesn't serve that, or you, in the end.
Musicians, I would love to hear your thoughts. How can we do better? Is there something to all of this or am I just being a big jerk? I would love to get some feedback as I feel like there is something here.
This year's Park City at Midnight section was the best. So many of the midnight films were creepy and/or laugh out loud hilarious. One of these that I insisted on seeing was Cooties.
The amount of star power and cameos in this movie is just too fun. It's obviously a big group of friends making a silly horror movie.
The opening sequence is sheer genius. I don't want to ruin it, but I will say: vegetarians beware.
This movie is clever and creative, and of course--full of gore. While it's pretty much "just a zombie movie", it's creative in that the affliction is only present in humans who haven't hit puberty yet. That means there are tons of gored up little children eating people alive. Mwahahahaha.
I wouldn't say this movie is anything special, but oh man that world premiere with the full cast and crew present was a blast. Especially since a large portion of the cast was present for the screening.
Don't sit and watch this movie alone. See it with a group of friends and a few cocktails. Overall, though. It was a lot of fun.
-Chelsea
PS: They also designed the greatest movie poster of ALL TIME.
I only got to spend one day, out of the three days, that were Rockage 3.0 this weekend, but it became quickly apparent to me that Eric Fanali (of Grand Fanali Presents) and his crew are really truly on to something special.
On the music side of things there are two stages featuring straight indie acts alongside DJ's and more eclectic groups. On Saturday evening, the band Bit Brigade performed the soundtrack to a live speed run-through of the original Legend of Zelda game, matching the appropriate tune to the appropriate actions within the game. On Sunday evening they gave Mega Man 2 the same treatment.
To top this all off there are some limited wares for sale, mostly focused around retro gaming (i.e. old video game systems and the like) and a series of panels. The panels cover discussion topics, live run throughs of games and even a live game of Dungeons and Dragons, aptly titled 'As Retro as it Gets'.
The communal vibe of this event is by far one of my favorite parts. The people of San Jose really came out and represented for Rockage. While it's clear that Grand Fanali put a lot of effort into providing all kinds of cool retro games to tinker around on, many other games were provided by the attendees themselves. People brought out their favorite old game system and proudly showed them off, armed to the teeth with all kinds of games.
Which brings me to another thing I enjoyed about this event: It felt very 'San Jose' is the best way possible. In my experience - and I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm shitting all over San Jose here - but San Jose is sort of known for it's lackluster local events and, as a result, it's often hard to peg down what the vibe of the city is (aside from absent). Rockage managed to blow the lid off of that for me, showing all the positives that San Jose has to offer in terms of atmosphere and with all the enthusiasm a budding event should have.
It would have been so easy to do this event with EDM or Chiptunes music exclusively or put the focus on upcoming games and the latest game machines. In a way, I think that would have made more "sense", but that's not what Rockage is and that's what makes it super unique. The combo of retro video games and rock music on paper doesn't sound like it should work, but it just kind of ... does. And San Jose absolutely feels like the right place for it.
Eric Fanali is a dude who's heart is very much in the right place. He really believes in the community of San Jose, the community he is part of, and truly sticks to his guns when it comes to wanting to keep Rockage a true labor of love. In the closing panel for the event he spoke about Rockage in a way I found really refreshing. He hates branding and merchandise (Feels too sell-outy), he doesn't want to invite big bands to play unless they want to be here (Ticket prices should be kept low!) and he feels strongly that he'd rather have a smaller group of passionate folks keep the thing going than rush to expand and potentially draw in the wrong crowd. As someone who often is in too much of a rush to expand or print up 500 T-Shirt variants, it is super nice to hear someone talk about something that they are so obviously doing as a labor of love.
I am truly looking forward to seeing the fruits of that labor again next year!
This is a film about life and love...and also New York City, but that fell short on me because I've only ever been there once.
Love is Strange is a gentle and thoughtful look at love across generations and the intricacies and idiosyncrasies of our relationships.
This is a slow paced movie--I'm not going to lie to you. But what that creates is a very personal film. You feel as though you're peering through someone's window and watching the lives of these people. It's beautiful, moving, and a wonderful portrait of love.
It has incredible performances from a really fantastic cast.
There really isn't much more to say about it other than that.
You will enjoy this film, unless you expect films to have Michael Bay-esque action and explosions.
So, this movie was at the bottom of my list. I find Kristin Stewart insufferable, and so I wasn't going to make the effort to see it. It was screening at the Library Theater at 8:30am...which was less than a 2 minute walk from my housing--so it was no effort at all!
This was a complete convenience choice I made. I'm glad I did.
This film was fantastic. Yes, even with Kristin Stewart.
That ONE role that Kristen Stewart plays all the time is a perfect fit for this movie. Otherwise, yeah...I just can't handle her. She was great in this. And Peyman Moaadi, who plays the detainee, is INCREDIBLE.
This film is such a compelling story about the gray area. While it doesn't try to get overtly political, it definitely has an opinion about Guantanamo Bay. While it represents what goes on there as objectively as possible, you won't be a fan after the film (and probably shouldn't have been a fan in the first place...?)
This film is so well written. The way the story is crafted and the way the friendship develops on screen is so natural and really wonderful. The way they express the frustration and innocence of the detainee is clever and....well, kind of cute. You'll see what I mean.
I thoroughly enjoyed this film and I would definitely watch it again. You should keep an eye out for it in theaters.
On Sunday I felt tired. Like, unnecessarily tired. Now, here I am in bed three days later, home from work and all the things I wanted to get done today.
It's funny how quickly we are to ignore the things are body is telling us. No, I can't get sick right now, I have a show I want to go to. No, I don't feel like I want to die every time I eat baked goods, because they are delicious and I love them.
Being someone who has a super jam packed schedule, having a cold and taking a day off feels pretty frustrating. I had things planned that I now can't reschedule until weeks later. I get overly exasperated with myself for skipping a blog day on Monday or for not writing enough songs on Sunday. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy being busy and I'm happy for everything I'm doing right now, but these are the times where it kicks me in the butt. Even now, as I stay home from work to try to get better I find myself having to force myself to not do work. Or clean. Or something.
Sometimes it's important to remind ourselves that it's okay to take a break and that, just because we've broken whatever routine we had in place, doesn't mean we can't just pick it right back up.
Here are some things I have been doing while sick, instead of working:
Playing Hearthstone (It's grown on me)
Watching Game of Thrones (It has also grown on me)
Sleeping
Eating lots of veggies
Drinking lots of water
Playing with a new toy I got in the mail
Writing this blog
Do you have any sick day routines? Do you overly schedule yourself until everything falls apart? Are you bad at picking things back up? Please, share your feels.
It was just happenstance that I ended up seeing this film, and even going into it, I was like, "I dunno about this one, guys........"
I mean, what can you expect from a film where Michael Fassbender wears a paper maché head for the whole movie? Am I right?
Well, apparently, what you can expect is a film that is utterly hilarious, touching and very, very bizarre.
I don't know if I've written this down yet, but this year's festival brought forth a ton of really unique films. Several of them...I mean, I just don't even know how they got funded. The stories are strange, and awkward, but actually really great. Frank was one of those films.
Frank is a story about a young man who dreams of being in a band and gets swept away by an odd group led by a man (Frank) who continuously wears a gigantic paper maché head. This isn't one of those movies where everyone "doesn't notice" he's wearing a fake head and only one person does. So don't worry, you're not going to have to accept anything too ridiculous.
It's a film about passions, false role models, music as therapy, the music industry, mental illness, selfishness...it covers it all.
This movie will have you in stitches laughing, feeling awkward and frustrated, and crying by the end. It has a lot to say and it does it pretty well. I will say this film isn't for everyone--I don't think people can get behind some of the psychological collapse that does take place (not a spoiler--guys, there's someone wearing a paper maché head the entire movie, c'mon), but I think that if you can accept the eccentricities of the world it builds, you will really love this film and get a lot out of it.
And maybe this will help: it's based on a real person. Loosely based, but based nonetheless.
Also, if you're a musician, you should probably see this film anyway. (lookin' at you, Zen)
One more thing: if anything else, see it for the fact that Michael Fassbender is so god damn talented he can act with a gigantic fake head on and STILL get an emotional response from you. Fuck...that guy is good.
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