I went to bed early last night, so I decided to just videotape the Oscars. When I woke up this morning, I found out that nothing ever came out of the effort. I don’t know how to play around with VHS machines anymore—they now (like the typewriter) seem very unfamiliar to me . . .
Inglorious Basterds didn’t win Best Picture. But my bet, Christoph Waltz, did win Best Supporting Actor—I should’ve put money on that bet. There’s talk that he’d next be starring with Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon in the film version of Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants.
I never finished reading the book—although I like anything that’s set during the Great Depression. I didn’t like the way the book began. I saw an audiobook version at iTunes. I heard the snippets. The “old man”—an actor portraying the voice of old Jacob, I think—who was reading it sounded really bad. I’ll just wait for the movie.
#504. Hunger. Directed by Steve McQueen (most definitely not the Steve McQueen!). United Kingdom and Ireland, 2008. 2:35:1. Color. 96 minutes. English.
I try to avoid films about the IRA simply because I’m not familiar with and I do not understand Irish political history. This disc has no captions for the hearing impaired—and it was very much needed, because I find Irishisms very difficult to understand. Indeed, this is a film that’s very difficult to watch. Do not watch it after you’ve just eaten, while you’re eating or before you eat. It is not for the weak of gut—really and seriously. And it is very, very overindulgent at times. The dragging exchange between Bobby Sands and the priest is endless (the profanities didn’t make it interesting), and there’s a scene where the floor was mopped ever so slowly from one end of the hall to the other.
#501. Paris, Texas. Directed by Wim Wenders. Germany, France and the United States, 1984. 1:66:1. Color. 147 minutes. English.
I first saw this back in High School. E_____ and I walked out during the part where Travis had polished the shoes. I tried to see it again, thinking that my tastes have matured and that my pre-conceived notions about the film might change. This time, however, I walked out much earlier—during the part where Walt received the news that Travis was found.
I just hope Criterion doesn’t release anything by Wim Wenders anymore.
#496. Che. Directed by Steven Soderbergh. United States and France, 2008. 1:78:1. Color/Black and White. 261 minutes. Spanish.
I’ll watch this next week—if and when I have the time, and if and when I’m back to my proper revolutionary/rebellious self. I’m too busy and quite melodramatic these days.
I’m going to find this hard to watch. First, I’m not a huge fan of Che Guevara and what he stood for. Second, I read/heard that this film portrays Che in a more realistic light. I’ve been so used to seeing the idealized and mythologized Che—as portrayed by better-looking actors such as Gael García Bernal (who played Che twice) and David Essex and Mandy Patinkin (from the original London and Broadway versions of Evita respectively). A smart-ass Theology classmate of mine once remarked that Benicio Del Toro (who plays Che in this film) looks like Philippine Senator Aquilino Pimentel. The remark never left my head.
10! Federico Fellini’s 8½ is now also on Criterion Blu-ray (#140). This was where they based that recent box-office disaster 9. The musical remake was a bad idea—some things are best left not “updated.” Anyhoo, 8½ is one of my least-favorite Fellinis. I hope it’s just my player (again)—my disc doesn’t have sound.
When will La strada and Amarcord be ever released in hi-def?
L’Osservatore Romano’s top ten rock and pop albums, and my take on each:
1. Revolver by The Beatles — I definitely agree and approve.
2. If I Could Only Remember My Name by David Crosby — David Crosby who?
If I Could Only Remember My Name what? 3. The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd —I remember The Wall better.
4. Rumours by Fleetwood Mac — I can’t stand Stevie Nick’s voice.
5. The Nightfly by Donald Fagen — Never heard of Donald Fagen. Never heard of the album.
6. Thriller by Michael Jackson — Is this an attempt to get into the bandwagaon?
7. Graceland by Paul Simon — Overrated.
8. Achtung Baby by U2 — Zzzzzzzzz . . .
9. (What’s the Story) Morning Glory by Oasis — Did those who made this list even know what the Gallagher brothers mean by “morning glory”?
10. Supernatural by Carlos Santana — So 1999.
If L’Osservatore Romano was hoping to “strike a more contemporary tone,” as the Daily Telegraph puts it, by coming up with this list, then I think it has failed massively. Pop/Rock music now has a very unrecognizable face, having evolved drastically over the last ten years. None of the above-mentioned CDs are that relevant anymore, especially to the 14 to 18 age group who actually download and buy music. The list would’ve been more relevant—and actually interesting—had they included The Fame by Lady GaGa . . . I’m just sayin’.
Leave the ’80s be. We are the World was recently remade. Jay-Z said it best: “I know everybody is gonna take this wrong: We Are the World, I love it, and I understand the point and think it’s great. But I think We Are the World is like [Michael Jackson’s] Thriller to me. I don’t ever wanna see it touched.”
I’m just glad that Madonna wasn’t part of that travesty—and that she didn’t take part even in the original We Are the World. It was actually her song Crazy for You, the love theme from the film Vision Quest, that ended USA for Africa’s four-week reign at the top of the charts in May 1985. I remember it well! She played a local bar singer in her first-ever major motion picture appearance:
There’s also a music video for Gambler, Madonna’s second (but unreleased) contribution to the Vision Quest soundtrack. It was one of my personal anthems back in High School, because of the line “You’re just jealous ’cause you can’t be me!”:
And still on Vision Quest . . . Kuch, the hero Louden’s friend who fancies himself as a Native American, is played by Michael Schoeffling, who was “Jake Ryan” in Sixteen Candles. As I’ve said, I haven’t seen Sixteen Candles (yet), and the “Jake Ryan” I’m familiar with is the one from Hannah Montana, but I do have this nice novelty T-shirt, which I got as a freebie from a magazine subscription:
I can’t wait to wear it to an ’80s-themed party. It’d be a hit.
I caught a[nother] glimpse of the Vince Coleman/Halifax Explosion Historica Minutes commercial on TV last week, so I decided to dust off and watch my old Historica Minutes DVD. I’m a huge fan of Historica Minutes—those sixty-second short films that feature important moments in Canadian history. I first learned my Canadian history from those beautiful shorts, and they really give you that vibe that makes you feel proud to be Canadian.
My favorite Minutes: Jacques Cartier and the “naming” of Canada—the actor portraying the know-it-all priest is a joy to watch; Governor Frontenac—one of the most good-looking Minutes, with shades of 1970’s Cromwell; and Étienne Parent and Balwin and Lafontaine—there’s something very Les Misérables about them.
Historical spoiler. I was reading The Folio Book of Historical Mysteries, edited by Ian Pindar (London: The Folio Society, 2008), an anthology of essays about history’s most fascinating enigmas. I was halfway through Paul Doherty’s “Was Tutankhamun Murdered?” when I put the book down, got up for a glass of water, checked my e-mail and found a news item about the very recent finding that King Tut died from complications from a broken leg and malaria. Suddenly there was no point in going back to the essay.
Though I like its low prices, I try as much as possible not to buy music and movies from Wal-Mart. The stickers Wal-Mart use for their price tags are ultra-sticky, and obsessive-compulsive collectors like myself who want their treasures looking almost-untouched hate those stubborn sticker residue that clings forever to their unopened collectibles.
I usually use baby oil (and sometimes cooking oil) to remove the sticker residue from the cellophane wraps of CDs and from other glossy surfaces like plastic or mylar. Once the baby oil removes the residue, I then would apply rubbing alcohol over the cellophane and wipe it dry with tissue paper.
There was a gross-looking sticker residue on the cardboard sleeve of my Inglorious Basterds Blu-ray. I definitely couldn’t use oil on paper to clean it up—the slip case would be ruined. So I looked online for tips on handling these kind of things. A product called Goo Gone was always mentioned and recommended. I knew I’ve heard of it before somewhere, but I wasn’t sure if I could find one in town. After a desperate search, I didn’t find any in all the stores.
There’s some work being done at the basement, so I cleaned up some of the mess yesterday. Guess what I found under the bathroom sink:
There’s a simple but very nice lesson that I learned from this. Sometimes the thing that we want most but think we couldn’t have is just right under our very noses! So seek—and you shall find.
Anygoo, with one little drop and one slight, very delicate stroke, Goo Gone made my Inglorious Basterds look glorious:
