I've been speechless lately. Yes, I have been working on Michel Gondry's new movie Be Kind Rewind - a handful of days in between editorial on the latest video. Lots of frantic activity all night long in pretty cold temperatures in Passaic NJ, followed by long trips back home. I've become wholly nocturnal. There isn't much I can say about working on it, for obvious reasons. Back in film school in the 90s I saw a UK late late night documentary, a terrific series called Mirrorball that focused on several video directors and showed their work... I stayed up to watch Michel's episode after a friend had recommended I look at his videos. I was staggered and punchdrunk after seeing it all - someone whose work was so mindblowingly inspiring but at the same time so collossally good that you knew that it would be futile trying to ever reach that level. I really still believe that when it comes to videos Michel's work is untouchable - there will never be anyone as good as that, nor was there before him.
So what's it like following someone you hold in such high regard with a camera? Pretty imposing. I have a job to do so I try to focus on that and hope for the best and that I don't annoy him. And the entire cast and crew are wonderful, there is ultimately for all the hardship of making a film a nice atmosphere on set. I'm completely exhausted today and I probably won't be doing any more shooting on the thing and that makes me miss everyone.
More speechlessness...
The best film I've seen all year has only screened on cable. Spike Lee's When The Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts leaves me speechless. It's flawless filmmaking. It's hard to watch - four hours all told, with some moments near impossible to keep your eyes on the screen for all the futile rage this material makes you feel. What I wasn't expecting is what a lovely ode the film is to New Orleans itself, and the undercurrent of sadness runs deeper for knowing just what we have lost. Make no mistake; we have lost an entire American city in our lifetime.
I think about this a lot because I grew up - near a military base - with ever present presumptions that my life would witness something terminally apocalyptic. What I never expected is that we would lose an entire city due to our own negligence and ignorance and deeper issues we have about class and race in this country. 9/11 was paradigm shifting but constrained to a few city blocks. Why there isn't more continual outrage on the part of all citizens here about losing an entire city is a question I wish could be answered. For those who say it's unfair to compare the two because ultimately it may have been beyond our control as it was an act of nature - the portrait Lee crafts is undoubtedly damning in terms of what we did not do that could've saved lives and even a city.
I just read Cormac Mccarthy's The Road, which also left me speechless. I'll write about that later.
And my girlfriend's artwork leaves me speechless a lot. She doesn't trust me when I say that one of the things that made her attractive when I first met her is the art she makes. And I guess I feel bad saying that, because you don't want to like a person for what they do, but it is a mirror for what goes on in her head and the way she sees the world. She's been doing some painting lately and it's a comforting feeling walking through the apartment with her working in it. It's a nice feeling to be around someone who's making or creating, even though you probably annoy them being there. I wonder about most creative people - as soon as I've finished writing a treatment or an edit I rush to find her and ask what she thinks. Maybe this goes on in the background of everything that gets made when you have someone in your life.
Hope to be blogging more soon. That last post was once again a guest post. But it's all true. Except I did not give birth to an otter, I am one.
So what's it like following someone you hold in such high regard with a camera? Pretty imposing. I have a job to do so I try to focus on that and hope for the best and that I don't annoy him. And the entire cast and crew are wonderful, there is ultimately for all the hardship of making a film a nice atmosphere on set. I'm completely exhausted today and I probably won't be doing any more shooting on the thing and that makes me miss everyone.
More speechlessness...
The best film I've seen all year has only screened on cable. Spike Lee's When The Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts leaves me speechless. It's flawless filmmaking. It's hard to watch - four hours all told, with some moments near impossible to keep your eyes on the screen for all the futile rage this material makes you feel. What I wasn't expecting is what a lovely ode the film is to New Orleans itself, and the undercurrent of sadness runs deeper for knowing just what we have lost. Make no mistake; we have lost an entire American city in our lifetime.
I think about this a lot because I grew up - near a military base - with ever present presumptions that my life would witness something terminally apocalyptic. What I never expected is that we would lose an entire city due to our own negligence and ignorance and deeper issues we have about class and race in this country. 9/11 was paradigm shifting but constrained to a few city blocks. Why there isn't more continual outrage on the part of all citizens here about losing an entire city is a question I wish could be answered. For those who say it's unfair to compare the two because ultimately it may have been beyond our control as it was an act of nature - the portrait Lee crafts is undoubtedly damning in terms of what we did not do that could've saved lives and even a city.
I just read Cormac Mccarthy's The Road, which also left me speechless. I'll write about that later.
And my girlfriend's artwork leaves me speechless a lot. She doesn't trust me when I say that one of the things that made her attractive when I first met her is the art she makes. And I guess I feel bad saying that, because you don't want to like a person for what they do, but it is a mirror for what goes on in her head and the way she sees the world. She's been doing some painting lately and it's a comforting feeling walking through the apartment with her working in it. It's a nice feeling to be around someone who's making or creating, even though you probably annoy them being there. I wonder about most creative people - as soon as I've finished writing a treatment or an edit I rush to find her and ask what she thinks. Maybe this goes on in the background of everything that gets made when you have someone in your life.
Hope to be blogging more soon. That last post was once again a guest post. But it's all true. Except I did not give birth to an otter, I am one.
4 Comments:
Man! That's awesome that you're working with/for Michel Gondry. I just love his work. I want to see Science of Sleep so bad but I'll probably end up not seeing it until it's out on DVD.
All artists seek approval and validation for their work that's why they all secretly want to be published, to have an exhibition or even blog...
I have lots of doodles and still hold onto short stories and short scripts that don't go outside my bubble...yet.
Its like being a kid and bringing home that pot, that finger painting you did and showing it to your parents and waiting for their approval but now we hope that approval comes in the form of love from anothr or from strangers who will reward us spiritually or financially.
(I'm well up my own a** ain't I?! ;) )
So can we see her artwork?!
Please.
Ta.
hey there hoobastank - i guess i gotta come here now to see how you're doing. looks like you're doing pretty good! congrats on the gig - i'm happy for you.
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