So…Arya Stark all grown up? Please tell me I’m not the only one who sees it.
(via shinymasochism)
You should read this entire essay by a collaborator of Spike Lee’s. You really really should. (Via Deadline.)
(via lizlet)
America is a super power not because we make the biggest guns. We’re a superpower because our culture has saturated the planet: Levis, Apple, Nike, Disney, Coke, Pepsi, McDonald’s, Jazz, Rhythm n Blues, Rock ‘n Roll, and Hip Hop. Our culture dominates the world far more than any nuclear bomb can. When you can make a person think a certain way, you don’t have to bomb them. Just give them some credit cards, a wide screen 3D TV, some potato chips, and watch what happens. This kind of cultural war, a war of propaganda and words, elements that both Hollywood and Washington know a lot about, makes America powerful beyond measure. The hard metal of this cultural weaponry, much of it, emanates from the soul of Blacks, the African American experience in music, dance, art and literature.
The Jonathan Chait one looks like it will be equally fascinating. Except I don’t have time to read the whole thing right now. (via turnabout)
(Source: New York Magazine, via turnabout)
Here is my explanation: Liberals are dissatisfied with Obama because liberals, on the whole, are incapable of feeling satisfied with a Democratic president. They can be happy with the idea of a Democratic president—indeed, dancing-in-the-streets delirious—but not with the real thing. The various theories of disconsolate liberals all suffer from a failure to compare Obama with any plausible baseline. Instead they compare Obama with an imaginary president—either an imaginary Obama or a fantasy version of a past president.
Awesomejuice’s latest entry inspired me to check out some more of my “visual stats.” I like this one even more than the last. Also, there are no surprises here. Gotta appreciate Tumblr’s love for Ernest Hemingway and Van Gogh.
I’m still getting notes on the ZQ post from 2011 and the Tom Hardy post from 2010. This one is like a multi-fandom dream.
I find it interesting that while each of these entries is about actors, it’s really the gender/sexuality/identity aspect that resonates with people.
(You can look at your own stats here)
Went on a “team building exercise” (a lovely post-teaching break) with my coworkers to the Barnes and Noble on 82nd and Broadway. I’d never been there before and I had fun looking through the dance magazines (all sister publications of the one that I freelance for) and the “men’s interest” section (because, you know, women aren’t interested in rock magazines). On my way past the music section, I spied a familiar set of red books. Bought another copy. Whoops!
I’m definitely keeping a copy for myself and I may send some out to friends, but I was also thinking about sending out some gifties to random Tumblr people. Yay or nay?
Finally saw the new Lady Gaga video. I’m not usually a fan of voice over narratives/monologues in music videos or songs, but I really loved what she had to say in this one. Not only because it was beautiful, but also because it was funny (which Gaga has a nice balance of). I loved this line: “It’s not that I’ve been dishonest, it’s just that I loathe reality,” and the one a few moments later about the dancer’s bottom. Oh, Gaga.
One of the longest sequences of the video (if we’re talking about the part where the song is actually being used), is in the dance studio. Few things are more fascinating to me than artists locked in a room, hitting their steps over and over and over again.
Then there’s the fact that when Gaga writes a love song to New York City, she actually shoots the video in New York City. That’s how it should be done. Dancing in the streets with the lights of New York behind her. A well-timed montage of ups and downs in her career and ending with hope of a rebirth (which obviously worked out for her). Yes.
In conclusion: Frakking loved it.
Life is…
Soft
Hard
Steady
Unpredictable
Life is wishing everything could stay the same.
Life is knowing that it can’t.
Currently the only thing making me feel better about tonight.
My brother and I are going to Florida to be with our family and to give as much love and support that we can to our grandmother. Trees around my home are breaking under the snow. My mind is in a billion different places and I need stillness and peace…after I watch this video a few more times.
(Please continue to send good vibes to my grandmother. ♥)
Mind boggling that Carlin could say this right on a stage, and get applause for it.
We applaud because we agree, even though it’s the most depressing thing to really think about. I didn’t always buy every argument George Carlin made, but this? Absolutely. It isn’t a new concept. This has happened across cultures—people in power want to stay in power. If we’re not informed citizens, if we’re not literate citizens, then they can do whatever the heck they want, because we won’t know any better and/or we’ll be incapable of doing something about it.
If the people in charge are trying to tear down our educational systems, we need to figure out how to counter that. We have to work that much harder. Read. Learn. Question. My favorite teachers were always the ones who encouraged me to challenge everything. I hope I can do that with my own students.
Some non-spoilery thoughts on Warrior…
(Note: If I knew how to make a “read more” tag, I would. This got a little long. Whoops!)
When I first sat down for the screening, I thought, “How am I supposed to be objective about this movie?” Because really, let’s face it, in the past year I have become a huge fan of Tom Hardy. I think he’s incredibly talented and even when he’s in smaller roles, there’s just something about him that’s undeniable. So yeah, I like him. And what if the movie sucked…would I still think he was brilliant? Would I brush off all of the weak parts just to fangirl over an actor? No, I wouldn’t. Because I remembered that I saw that Minotaur movie, and that freaking sucked. Objectivity? Check.
Warrior.
Here are the basics: Paddy Conlon (Nick Nolte) was an abusive, alcoholic husband and father. At some point, his wife leaves him along with his son, Tommy (Tom Hardy). His other son, Brendan (Joel Edgerton) stays with him. Turns out, he had a high school sweetheart, Tess (Jennifer Morrison), which was a big reason why he didn’t leave. Tommy joins the Marines, gets out, and is a very bitter man. Brendan stays, marries Tess, has some kids, and becomes a high school physics teacher. Both are in desperate need of money, so they turn to fighting. If you’ve seen the trailer, you know what happens next: they enter a fighting competition and ultimately work their way to the top until they are faced with each other as opponents. Got it? Good.
Let’s start with the things I didn’t like:
• Training montage. Not because it wasn’t necessary or interesting, but because of the way it was filmed. And I hate myself for finding the editing in this part of the film distracting, but it was. Gimme that classical Hollywood technique, boys. Or at least, not a four-screen sensory overload.
• MMA commentators. Are they actually that annoying? I found some of the commentary to be a bit much at the beginning, though it tapered into something manageable by the end.
• Sports cliches. Kinda unavoidable, but they do exist. Just throwing that out there.
• I thought some of the stuff with Tommy’s background could be hit or miss and even times when I felt like not enough had happened to him to warrant all of his anger. You know some messed up stuff happened to him. Truly messed up, but was it enough to make him who he is? Did we need more to justify his behaviour? Hrm.
• There were a few moments in Brendan’s story when I thought, “But surely, there has to be another way.”
Things I liked:
• There are no “bad guys” in the piece. No serious ones, anyway, which is rare and makes the final showdown even more tense and emotional.
• Both Tommy and Brendan have legitimate reasons for wanting the prize. Again, there is no bad guy, so you want them both to win. Fight after fight, I found myself silently cheering each of them on. It’s not even about who wins the championship, by the end of it. You just want to walk in and fix everything—their relationship with each other, their relationship with their father, Brendan’s financial problems, and Tommy’s rage. You just want everything to be okay.
• Balance. I think there was a great rhythm to the film and a balance between the drama and lighthearted moments. You need those moments of laughter to ease the tension and to give the film room to breathe and I think writer/director, Gavin O’Connor, did a good job with that.
• The fights. Good Lord. I was breathless. They were intense and…whoa.
• Nick Nolte. He broke my damn heart. You want to hate him, because he screwed up his kids so severely. But you can’t hate him, at least not completely, because he knows that he screwed up and he tries so freaking hard to fix it. You know that he regrets all of the pain that he caused the people in his life. O’Connor gives us these beautiful closeups of Nolte’s eyes and I’m telling you, they are sorrowful. He did an excellent job with this.
• Jennifer Morrison. Yes! More of this, please. Her anger and her hurt and really, her worry, shine through. She’s just trying to make it and she wants to support her husband, but it’s hard. And you understand her. So great.
• Frank Grillo (Frank Campana, Brendan’s trainer). Where did this guy come from? He’s such a steady presence in the film and he’s really a rock for Brendan. So encouraging and strong and definitely the man you want in your corner. I loved the way he played this character.
• Joel Edgerton. As Brendan, he’s just so wonderful. You know this isn’t something he wants to do (fight), but he has to do it. He refuses to give up the life that he and his wife have built for their children. He wants exactly the opposite of what he had growing up. He’s strong and scared, but he jumps in. He’s the guy who tries and tries and will not give up. Joel is someone I’m going to be watching out for from now on.
• Tom Hardy. Everyone is talking about how he bulked up for the role and while I do think it’s impressive, I think it’s less about that and more about the fact that he’s “big” and more about the fact that he’s “imposing.” It’s not just a matter of bulk, it’s the way that he carries himself. Hardy has described Tommy as an animal, a gorilla, stalking around the cage. There’s a lot of rage in that boy. Whew.
Overall, I really enjoyed the heck out of this movie. It’s not for everyone and I get that, but I think it appeals to more folks than it would on paper. It’s not perfect and yeah, there are the old sports movie cliches in effect and there are a few unexpected twists and turns, but I thought it all came together in a really satisfying way. If we’re talking awards, I think the biggest contender will be Nolte, but both Edgerton and Hardy are going to get a lot of buzz about their performances and deservedly so. Are there “better” films in this genre? Probably. But I still think this is a great film and a good representation of MMA which I now see that, despite all of its brutality, it is a beautiful sport.
I’m definitely curious to know what other people have to say about it. Did anyone else catch a screening? What did you think?
