Interruption: Oscars 2008

I normally reserve Wednesdays for a blog about books, but I'm going to skip that this week to discuss this year's Oscars.

I am among the minority of people who thought this year's Oscars were one of the best in its 80 year history. It was one of the lowest rated Oscar broadcasts of all time, if not the lowest. That might have had something to do with the uncertainty up until mere weeks before the show that there might not even be a show due to the WGA writers' strike. Or, it might have had to do with other factors. For instance, this year's awards were dominated by independent films dealing with incredibly heavy issues and themes. There have really been only two other years in which independent films were so dominant, those being 1996 and 2002. 1996 had the dubious distinction, before this year's naysayers had their moment, of being the 'worst Oscars ever.' I couldn't disagree more. That year, The English Patient took home numerous awards including the much deserved Best Picture honors. The brilliant Fargo was also nominated for quite a few statuettes, making me wonder if the curse of 'worst Oscars' is the Coens' fault. 2002, in my mind, was far worse as Chicago won Best Picture over the much better films, LOTR: The Two Towers, The Pianist and The Hours.

This year marked one of the few times that I had actually seen all five of the 'Best Picture' nominated films before the awards ceremony. It was also one of the few times that I really wouldn't have minded if any of the five took home the prize. This obviously sets me apart from the rest of the country as most Americans didn't see these fantastic films. However, I did feel, as you could have seen from my earlier post, that No Country for Old Men was undoubtedly the best film of the year, and finally, the Academy agreed with me. This year being the polar opposite of 1992 when Spike Lee's magnificent Malcolm X was snubbed by the Academy with Al Pacino winning over the nominated Denzel Washington and Unforgiven winning over the non-nominated X. Nothing against Pacino and Clint Eastwood, but those were essentially token 'career achievement awards,' as both films did not even come close to representing their best work.

Another reason that these Oscars were maybe not as popular was the complete dominance of foreign winners and nominees. Let's take a look, shall we? Javier Bardem (Spain) took home Best Supporting Actor. Tilda Swinton (England) won Best Supporting Actress. Daniel Day-Lewis (Ireland) won Best Actor. Marion Cotillard (France) won Best Actress. On top of that, you have the duo of Glen Hansard (Ireland) and Marketa Irglova (Czechoslovakia) taking home the Best Original Song award! I can't believe there are people out there who would let this affect their judgment of the awards, but then again, nothing surprises me about ignorance in America.

The show itself was great, especially for a show that came together in such a little amount of time. Jon Stewart was funny, scratch that, very funny. This year we were spared the usually ridiculously elaborate staged numbers such as dance numbers for costume design or an 'it' singer (i.e. Beyonce) performing all of the nominated songs. Aside from the really dumb effects-laden intro and the even more absurd song presentations from Enchanted, the show was well put together. I even liked the parody 'tributes' to 'binoculars and periscopes' and 'bad dreams.' Hilarious. But the truly memorable moments came with the deserved winners and heartfelt speeches, or lack thereof and makeup moments. Javier Bardem's speech in Spanish to his mother was tearjerking. Marion Cotillard's utter shock was its equal. But the real magic came when, after the orchestra cut off Marketa Irglova as she approached microphone, Jon Stewart saved the day by bringing her out, post-commercial, to let her have her say. "Fair play to those who dream," was her message, trumpeting the work of independent musicians, and I couldn't help but tear up. This after a blowhard cinematographer at the Independent Spirit Awards complained about having to 'sacrifice' by taking only $3000 a week for his work. What a jackass. When you make more than 'a living' in doing some thing you love, you have no right to complain. Period.

This year's Oscars will always retain a special place in my heart, not only for the fact that there were some amazing films represented, or that there were some amazing speeches. It's special because of the music of Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova and their little movie called Once. The music of Glen Hansard, the Frames, and his music with Irglova has always moved me, but in the context of the film it became even more meaningful. For the fact that this song beat out three Alan Menken tunes from Enchanted, a man who was won a total of 8 Oscars for Disney dreck, it means that people in the Academy shared my view. Fair play to those who dream...

Music: Out of Print, but not Out of Luck

One of the things I look forward to every year with Treblezine, the online music magazine that my brother and I host, is our 'best of the decade' feature. In 2004, we began with our survey of the 1960's, looking beyond the easy targets of the Beatles, Beach Boys and Dylan without leaving them behind. In 2005, we ventured into the 1970's, a fairly eclectic decade that saw the rise of metal, disco and punk. 2006 saw the overview of the 'me decade,' the 1980's, replete with more punk, post-punk, goth and new wave. The next year, 2006, we decided on a different plan of action. We would soon run out of decade's to survey (of course, before we start the process all over again, if we so decide. Maybe this time making lists of the best albums that didn't make the cut), and we needed a few stopgaps in order to get to 2010 to cover the 00's. So, in 2007, we did our survey of the best singles of the 1990's. Right now, a score of writers (literally) are furiously sorting out their favorite albums of that decade so that we may bring you that feature this summer. Then, next year, maybe we'll sort out the best singles of the current decade so far before we wrap things up in 2010.

Anyway, one of the best things about doing these features is being introduced to older stuff you may have missed out on while also rediscovering favorites you might have forgotten about. Unfortunately, a lot of times, the albums that fall into either category end up being out of print. Sure, we'll always be able to find Nirvana's Nevermind and Michael Jackson's Thriller, but those albums are ubiquitous enough to skip the 'owning' factor. As an example, one of my favorite albums of the 1980's was The Silencers' A Letter From St. Paul (1987). By the time I had to transfer all of my outdated cassettes to CD, the album had already gone out of print. I spent the resulting 20 odd years scouring used record stores for a secondhand copy to no avail, until finally, last year, I dug one up at Easy Street Records in Seattle. Yay! I was incredibly lucky, as copies are going for about $70 minimum on Amazon right now. Easy Street obviously had no idea what they were holding onto.

However, not every out of print CD is that difficult to find. Case in point, as we are working on the 1990's decade, I remembered two discs that were personal favorites. One was lost a while back, and one is with my ex-wife. Of course, both are now out of print. The former is Echobelly's On (1995). Echobelly is a band from London with a female lead singer, often compared to the Smiths, and quite often lumped in with Elastica and Sleeper, both of whom found a bit more success. The latter is a collaboration between Tim Booth, the lead singer of the band James, and Angelo Badalamenti, the composer with a long-standing working relationship with David Lynch. The album and project was called Booth and the Bad Angel, released in 1996. It's a gorgeous album, and far less creepy than you might imagine. I steeled myself for another long and arduous search, but found both on the previously mentioned Amazon for a song (pun intended). In fact, I was able to acquire a sealed (yes, manufacturer's seal with dogbone) copy of Echobelly's CD for a little over $2. The other wasn't sealed, but was in practically new condition for about $5 (due to its being a little more obscure). I received both copies in the mail from the individual used sellers within less time than the usual Amazon 'new item' turnaround, about 2 days!

So remember, even though an album you want might be out of print, you're not entirely out of luck. Here's hoping that your quest goes more like the one I most recently had, rather than the one that took me 20 years. Of course, one of these years, CD's might become a thing of the past, so you might want to start looking sooner rather than later.

Re-Tales: The Customer is Always Stupid

I've never believed in the old maxim that 'the customer is always right.' In fact, I haven't met anyone in the business, on any level, who believed even remotely in that statement. This kind of thing becomes even more relatively false in the world of entertainment retail. Why? Because we're dealing not with absolutes such as expired vs. fresh food or it fits vs. it doesn't fit. Books, music and movies are always a matter of taste. Most attempted returns are made simply because the customer didn't like it. (Or because Oprah implied that customers should return their copies of Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections or James Frey's A Million Little Pieces.) But, in this installment of retail, I'm not even going to get into taste. Maybe one of these days I'll get into the Oprah thing, but for now, I'm just going to concentrate on stubbornness and ignorance.

Before I go on, let me just say that I've had my own stupid moments. I'm not perfect. And one of these days, aside from the promised Oprah material, I'll reveal the one horrifically stupid moment that somewhat made me what I am today, a book snob. The difference between my gaffe and most by customers is that I'll admit I'm wrong. I remember one particular customer in a bookstore in Delaware. She was in her late 30's, early 40's, buying a book for her daughter's English class. She came to me at the counter and fairly rudely demanded a copy of, in her words, 'Jane Eyre by Jane Austen.' Well, if you know anything about books you know what's wrong with this request. I told her that I wouldn't be able to conjure up that particular book, but I could get her Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. We could have easily left it at that, she could have taken the book, purchased it, and been on her merry way. But, she wasn't about to be 'corrected' by a 25-year-old snob, so she lashed out. "I know who wrote Jane Eyre. It was Jane Austen!!" I had no other choice but to show her the complete written works of Jane Austen, pointing out the absence of said book, and then to give her a copy of Charlotte Bronte's well-known novel. In the end, she still turned up her nose at me and left in a huff.

Next Week: Feeling Blue in a Red County....

Television: In Treatment

Like an oasis in the desert, it came. The WGA writers' strike, a strike that I support wholeheartedly, threw a monkey wrench into plans for quite a few great programs. Heroes wrapped up a particularly weak storyline in only eleven episodes. The Office was entering into the original's untrodden territory and 30 Rock was certainly hitting its comedic stride before the interruption. Lost, with its new 'seasonette' strategy had to scramble to readjust. Most of my favorite shows have had either too short lifespans (Firefly, Arrested Development, Deadwood, Carnivale) or went on a bit too long, unfortunately outliving its own power (X-Files, West Wing). I don't mention Buffy, Angel or Veronica Mars because they are aberrations. They didn't quite fit the mold of normal TV and stories about these characters could have gone on forever (and in comic books, the first two are!) Only one show that I can think of off the top of my head went out on top, that being Six Feet Under, brought to you by the great HBO.

And in the vast wasteland created by the writers' strike, like an oasis in the desert, it appeared. In Treatment is the latest genius product from HBO, and another reason to feel great about television. If you're not familiar, it's a daily show. That's right, a daily scripted show, though more polished, professional and intelligent than a soap opera. Paul Weston is a psychotherapist played by the brilliant Gabriel Byrne. Every weekday, we get a glimpse into the lives of Paul's patients, and his own troubled personal life.

On Mondays he sees Laura, an anesthesiologist who is infatuated with Paul. She's stunningly gorgeous, incredibly intelligent, but slightly off kilter. On Tuesdays he sees Alex, a Navy pilot, conditioned to be mechanistic and unfeeling by the military, struggling to deal with the bombing of a school in the Middle East. On Wednesdays he sees Sophie, a teen gymnast who may or may not have attempted suicide, with a lot more going on under the surface. On Thursdays he sees a couple, Jake and Amy, whose marriage is fraught with paranoia and resentment. Then, on Fridays, Paul sees his own therapist, his old mentor, Gina, played by the wonderful Dianne Wiest. Michelle Forbes, who most people might know as Admiral Cain from the new Battlestar Galactica, masterfully plays Paul's wife.

Each episode, taking place solely within the confines of Paul's home office (or just outside), is a miniature play. In fact, you could easily see a few of the episodes dealing with one particular patient strung together and put on a stage. The dialogue, and even the silences, are well constructed. Every actor involved is a pro, from Byrne to Wiest and the patients in between, including Melissa George, Blair Underwood, Josh Charles, Embeth Davidtz and the amazing relative newcomer, Mia Wasikowska. Their magic resides in how they create elaborate lives outside of the room using only thirty minutes time and confined to the office. This is the hallmark of great acting. We absolutely believe that these people are real and the actors are who they portray. (As opposed to, say, Tom Hanks who, every time I see one of his movies, I simply see Tom Hanks playing someone, not a character).

As is with most HBO series, this show is highly addictive. Even with shows every weekday, you can't wait for the next installment. The show can be seen in two different ways. For one, it's about Paul, his life and career, and how he balances the two. In another way, each of the patients can be seen as part of their own weekly series. If you're just way too antsy to see what happens to Alex next, you can treat it as a weekly show after episodes have built up, and they build up fast. As of this evening, there have been 20 episodes. In normal TV land, this is almost an entire season. In Treatment is planned to consist of 45 episodes, or nine weeks of continuous daily programs. That's almost unheard of in today's entertainment climate, and a bold move by HBO. Of course, HBO didn't come up with this on its own. In Treatment is based on Beitpul, an Israeli drama that's been called the best in their own television history. So far, Beitpul has had two seasons and 80 episodes. Hopefully, HBO, Mark Wahlberg and Steve Levinson will be able to follow the Israeli show in its success for as long as it lasts. It's more than just a great show, it's a masterclass in writing, acting and human behavior. It was also there for me at the right time and right place, like an oasis in the desert. And thank goodness, it's a good long drink.

Books: Yet More Oscar Stuff

This year, three out of the five 'Best Picture' nominees were based on books. Not since 2003's four nominees have there been this many. All three, of course, are also up for 'Best Adapted Screenplay.' Those three are No Country for Old Men (novel by Cormac McCarthy), Atonement (novel by Ian McEwan) and There Will Be Blood (novel by Upton Sinclair). The two that round out the adapted screenplay noms are Away From Her (short story by Alice Munro) and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (memoir by Jean-Dominique Bauby). I've read two of these books and can speak for those, and the films adapted from them, but not the rest.

Atonement definitely captures the feel of McEwan's wonderful novel. Christopher Hampton, the screenwriter, seems to dwell in adapting stories from the past; in costume dramas, if you will. He's adapted The Quiet American, The Secret Agent, Carrington, Mary Reilly and Dangerous Liaisons, for which he won the Oscar in 1988. So, this kind of thing was no fluke. The difficulties in adapting Atonement lay in a number of different ways. For one, there's the problem of point of view. How does one show what is going on versus what one perceives is going on? This is a key plot point early on in the book and film, driving everything that happens after. Another problem to overcome is the progress of time, tracking specific characters as they grow older, yet somehow maintaining that POV. Of course, Hampton tackles these problems with ease, constructing the screenplay so that it was not restricted by particular film conventions.

No Country for Old Men is one of the few adaptations I've seen that really captured not only the salient plot points, but also the tone, voice and descriptive power of the original novelist. Cormac McCarthy has written some incredibly dark material over his lifetime (though he started in the novel writing business late in his life). Books like Blood Meridian and The Road aren't exactly uplifting works. What they are, however, is brilliant pieces of literature. No Country for Old Men finds the Coen Brothers in sync with McCarthy in such a way as I've never seen before. Had this adaptation not been done by the Coens, we could have easily seen some horrible changes (i.e., a wrap-up to the money situation, certain characters surviving, our hero Sheriff figuring things out in a more linear way and staying in law enforcement). But the Coens got the point of the novel, which wasn't about a foiled drug sale, or a guy who finds money and lives on the run, or a bounty hunter. It's about the changing face of crime and violence in this country. It's about how lawmen of a certain era can't stem the tide or keep apace of the escalating evil created by greed. Although McCarthy actually does give us a little more about the money at the end of the book, it's unnecessary in the film to make their point. It doesn't matter whether Moss, Chigurh or a truckload of bandits end up with the money. What matters is that we know things don't end up well.

My favorite scene in the movie, for its acting, and the writing, is when Sheriff Ed Tom Bell, played by Tommy Lee Jones, is talking in a café with Moss' wife, played by Kelly Macdonald. For a while throughout the film, Bell and his deputy are trying to figure out how Chigurh kills his victims. In the café, Bell offhandedly tells a story of a slaughterhouse and mentions a device that punches a hole into the brain. There is no grand revelation speech, moment of clarity or even a change of expression. We know, in that moment, that Bell has figured out, whether at that time or some time previous, what Chigurh is using as a weapon. It's magnificently understated. In a 'Hollywood' film, you would have seen this elaborate scene where the Sheriff and his Deputy suss out what happened through a C.S.I.-like deductive reasoning session. Or, in that same café scene, you would have seen Bell telling the story, and then having this grand revelatory expression, something like leaning back in his chair, with a half smile, looking to the side, then shaking his head in disbelief. Thankfully, the Coens were in charge of this one, and we ended up with a brilliant scene and film.

Music: Original Scores

As it's Oscar week, I thought I'd write for a bit about original scores. Music is an important part of film, and has been part of the experience since before the character's voices could be heard. A pianist would accompany silent films in theaters all across the country. Today, we have a long history of great scores to look back upon: Nino Rota's Godfather themes, Bernard Hermann's many Hitchcock collaborations, Maurice Jarre's Lawrence of Arabia and, whether you like them or not, John Williams' many contributions. Great scores help set the tone of the film. As an example of how important music must be, try playing Keystone Kop music, or something from Spike Jones to the images in Schindler's List. It's disturbing in a whole new way. Music can make or break a film, or make it seem incredibly dated. Anyone seen Beverly Hills Cop lately and heard the "Axel F. Theme?" But great films deserve a great score. This year, there was one that was a cut above the rest, and one that was great. The former didn't even get a nomination while the latter will probably deservedly win. At least, I hope so.

As an aside, original songs are another matter. This is one category that Oscar almost never seems to get right. To paraphrase Mickey Rooney in his cameo appearance in The Simpsons: "Shallow? The only thing shallow about show business is the music industry!" Anyway, since 1960, the only original song winners I've liked include "Moon River" (1961), "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" (1969), "Theme from Shaft" (1971) and "Streets of Philadelphia" (1993). The 90's were fairly well dominated by Disney's animated films winning Best Original Song, and this year finds 3 out of the 5 nominated songs coming from Enchanted, the Disney homage. The spectacular film Once gets one nom, and August Rush gets the other. If any film deserved multiple nods it is Once. But what about the great stuff from Music & Lyrics? or the Mastodon track from Aqua Teen Hunger Force? or the music by Joe Henry and Loudon Wainwright from Knocked Up? How about the Spider-Pig song from The Simpsons Movie? Or almost any of the songs from the Eddie Vedder Into the Wild soundtrack. Or one of the magnificent Sondre Lerche songs in Dan in Real Life? Or better than all of these put together, the fantastic new funk jams in Superbad? Anyhoo, back to the scores:

This year's original score nominees include Dario Marianelli for Atonement, Alberto Iglesias for The Kite Runner, James Newton Howard for Michael Clayton, Michael Giacchino for Ratatouille and Marco Beltrami for 3:10 to Yuma. Notice anything odd about this list? No, this isn't a reference to the three Italian names, I'm merely pointing out the ridiculous absence of Jonny Greenwood and his score for There Will Be Blood. Above all of the nominees, Greenwood's is the score that impressed me the most, albeit with Marianelli coming in at a close second. After the title card, Greenwood's score is omnipresent. The strings rise into a frightening peak which then becomes a recurring theme for Daniel Plainview. As in no other film this year, Greenwood's score perfectly fits the mood and tone of the film as a whole. It is dark, despairing, foreboding, threatening and mournful. But, the bastards in the academy didn't nominate him. I use the lower case 'a' in academy for that very reason. Jerks.

But, if I have to choose one of the nominees, it is easily Marianelli for Atonement. The touchstone for me in finding a great soundtrack is in its half-life. What I mean is, if I can remember aspects of the music after the film is long over, then the composer has done his job. The brilliance of Marianelli's score is how seamlessly it fits into the world of the film. Incidental sounds from the film, a typewriter, an umbrella being beaten upon a car's hood, flow directly into percussive sounds used in the score. Marianelli's music can build tension and cause you to weep at the stroke of a bow upon a string, and therein lies its magic.

But really, how cool would it have been to see the entire Radiohead gang supporting Jonny Greenwood, all wearing tuxes, and having his chilling score start to play after they called his name...maybe someday.

Re-Tales: You Don't Read?

Many of the Re-Tales stories I intend to tell revolve around the idea of the customer not only being wrong, but being fairly ignorant. It used to be that bookstores and libraries employed those who were the most knowledgeable and passionate about books. Libraries might still be the exception, but with the onset of computers, the cutting of costs and the shrinking of profit margins, bookstores have fairly well dumbed it down.

I was working in one of the many bookstores from my past, one that definitely employed some of the creme de la creme of passionate book people. A dowdy woman came in wearing a large straw hat, oversized sunglasses, too much perfume, and overall coated with attitude. (I should say that this was in an airport bookstore and she was traveling, I believe, to Hawaii. But, who knows.) She asked the young lady I was working with whether we had a copy of "The Bridges of Madison County." There are two things you need to know about before I end this story. For one, this novel, one of the most popular books of 1992, was already somewhat passé by the time this event occurred. The second thing you need to know is that the young lady who was assisting the dowdy woman was a grad student at UCLA. She was incredibly intelligent, well read and outspoken.

OK. So, now that you know those things, here's the rest. The young lady bookseller found the title, placed it in the customer's hand and then asked if there was anything else the woman needed. The woman then proceeded to ask, "What did you think of this book?" As politely as possible, the young lady responded, "I'm sorry, I haven't read that book." The dowdy replied with bile in her voice, "What? You work in a bookstore and you don't read?" The young lady kept her composure, looked down at the woman (the young lady was also intimidatingly tall, like a woman's basketball star) and retorted, "Yes ma'am, I read. I just don't crap like that."

It was priceless, one of those moments you wish you could have been a part of. I was there, but I sure wish I had said it.

Movies: My Top 10 of the Year

There's just about one week to go until the big Oscar broadcast! As such, I have decided to go over the best movies I've seen this year. There are very few years in which I see every film that is nominated for an Academy Award. Actually, there's usually an inverse proportion of how disappointed I am versus how many of the films I've seen. Yes, I've been let down by the Oscars before.

Many fanboys will tell you that the beginning of the end was when Star Wars lost to Annie Hall in 1977. I'm not one of those people. I've never thought Lucas deserved an Oscar. The first time I was ever really invested in the awards was in 1991 when Silence of the Lambs swept most of the major Oscars. Since then, however, I've been consistently disappointed. Aside from a few that I agree with (Schindler's List, The English Patient), I've disagreed with most of the Best Picture recipients. The most egregious transgression was in 1997 when Titanic took home the prize. I try to avoid clichés, but, after seeing that horrible film, I definitely wanted those three torturous hours of my life back. Since then, Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind and Chicago have been films I've really disagreed with.

This year, however, I've seen four of the five nominated films and I would be happy with any of the four winning. I plan to see the fifth, hopefully, this week. But, here are my favorite films of the year, at least the ones I've seen. There are more I need to see, but these were superb:

10. Superbad- One of the funniest films I've seen. Period.
9. Charlie Wilson's War- Aaron Sorkin does it again! Being a film about the arming of the Afghan Mujahideen, many liberals like myself were worried that it would glorify a political mistake, but Sorkin, a liberal himself, covers that nicely by highlighting the idea that Wilson and his CIA partner, Gust Avrakatos, tried to warn Congress that unless Afghanistan were stabilized and given money and support, it could have severe repercussions for the U.S. Hmmmmm....sound familiar?
8. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford- Besides winning the prize for the longest title of the year, James is a fantastic film. It's gloriously shot by Roger Deakins, who has been collaborating with the Coens for years now. Also, Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck and Sam Rockwell give outstanding performances.
7. Once- This is the little film that could. At one time, it was supposed to star Cillian Murphy, but thankfully, the filmmaker thought better of it and placed his soundtrack composer, the Frames' Glen Hansard, in the lead role. It's a brilliantly spare and realistic love story with wonderful music.
6. Juno- Juno and Once tie for the shortest titles, I suppose. Juno is another one of those little films that could. Ellen Page is magnificent and deserves every accolade, but it is the trio of Michael Cera, Jason Bateman and J.K. Simmons who practically steal the show. A few things bother me, however. Why was Rainn Wilson so prominently featured in the trailer when he's only in the film for thirty seconds? And I'm worried that Michael Cera will continue to be typecast as the nervous, bumbling teenager until he doesn't get parts anymore.
5. The Simpsons Movie- Come on. How could you not love this? The skateboarding scene at the opening is worth it alone. And Professor Frink singing, "for the big screen!" And Albert Brooks guiding an idiotic President Schwarzenegger. I could go on...
4. Control- Renowned photographer Anton Corbijn makes his feature film debut with Control, a biopic of Ian Curtis, the frontman for Joy Division who tragically took his own life at the age of 23. Corbijn, who got his break in photography taking pictures of the band, captures all the requisite personalities, historical accuracies (except for intentionally choosing a different song for the band to play on Tony Wilson's music show) and atmospheres (pun intended).
3. Atonement- I wasn't expecting much from this film. I loved Ian McEwan's book and, though I thought it perfect for adaptation, but Joe Wright's Pride & Prejudice disappointed me. Not so with Atonement. There are three things I was most impressed with. 1) The music. Dario Marianelli incorporates sounds from the film into segues that lead into music beautifully. It was magical. 2) The three actresses who play Briony Tallis. They were all simply amazing. 3) What everyone seems to be talking about, the near five minute tracking shot of Dunkirk. Wow.
2. There Will Be Blood- I'm not quite sure what to say about this film. It stays with you for a long time. Daniel Day Lewis, Paul Dano and Paul Thomas Anderson are genius.
1. No Country for Old Men- I probably gave this away with the picture above, but what are you gonna do? This was most definitely the best film all year. I can't believe how many people are saying they didn't like the ending. They've obviously never seen that many Coen Brothers films, or they just didn't get it. It's not about closure of a plot. It's not even about the plot at all. It's not really even about Llewelyn Moss or Anton Chigurh. It's about Sheriff Ed Tom Bell and the changing landscape of crime, law and violence, which is then displayed on screen. It's the Coens' best film yet by far with some of the best performances. I say that knowing that Miller's Crossing is one of my favorite films of all time.

Honorable Mentions: Gone Baby Gone, Heima, Talk to Me, Hot Fuzz

Books: The Brilliance of David Mitchell

David Mitchell is my favorite living author. Okay, maybe he's tied with Haruki Murakami, but he's up there. That's really saying something as I read a lot and have a lot of favorites. Mitchell has written four novels, each one drastically different in tone from the last, and each one not only enjoyable, but absolutely miraculous.

Ghostwritten is an unlikely debut. On the surface, it can be read as a series of short novellas about the changing world, globalism and the times in which we live. But, there's a whole lot more going on. Each story ties in, either directly or tangentially to the next, and on a deeper level, every story is tied in to every other. The stories form an intricate web with links to every character. In this way, the book can be read again and again to pick up some of those missed references. The end of the book, which I won't give away, wraps things up in a way you won't expect. Fans of Calvino, as I wrote about in my last 'Books' post, will love it.

Number9Dream is a book that I asked Mitchell about directly when I was able to see him speak in Seattle a few years ago. It's directly influenced by my other favorite, Murakami, and Mitchell seemed somewhat embarrassed by that fact upon my question. He said, and I'm paraphrasing, that it's somewhat like having a crush on a girl and then years later going back and seeing how everything you wrote was somehow influenced by that crush. Regardless, I wasn't the only one who loved the book, as it was his first book shortlisted for the Booker Prize. It shares many of the same themes with Ghostwritten, but also shares themes with Murakami's novels, such as identity crises, seemingly impossible searches with many roadblocks, and a love story based mostly on pure chance and destiny.

Cloud Atlas is probably my favorite. No, it's definitely my favorite. Mitchell takes the ideas of tangential stories from his first novel, and then brings them to an entirely new level with Cloud Atlas. Mitchell described the book, his second to be shortlisted for the Booker, as a having the narrative act as a bullet going through Russian nesting dolls. Rather than telling complete stories all the way through, as in Ghostwritten, Mitchell tells six stories, but interrupts five halfway through, to continue them later. So, the stories are structured like thus: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Story 1 takes place in 1850 on a ship in the Pacific, story 2 in 1931 in Belgium, story 3 in 1975 in California, story 4 in the early 21st century in the UK, story 5 in the near future in Korea, and story 6, the central and only uninterrupted story, in a post-apocalyptic future in Hawaii. Each story, as in his first novel, connects with the last, and all relate to one another through intricate themes. How this book didn't win the Booker is beyond me.

His most recent book is Black Swan Green, a novel that one critic called England's answer to Catcher in the Rye. Yeah, it's that good. The novel is semi-autobiographical and recalls the life of a 13-year old boy growing up in Worcestershire in the early 80's. As such, there are a lot of colloquialisms and references from that period. Our protagonist is wonderfully flawed, and one of the best sculpted 'bildungsroman' characters of our generation.

I can't wait for 2009 when Mitchell releases his next book, reportedly about Dejima (a man made island off Nagasaki), the Dutch East India company and Shogunate Japan. It is also reportedly so complex and dense, that Mitchell can't decide what to edit and remove.

The best books, in my opinion, are the ones you can read again and again and get the same or more pleasure from in the process. David Mitchell certainly fits that bill.

Music: British Sea Power

To the left, you'll see the cover for the new album by British Sea Power, one of the most criminally underrated bands today. Being a music critic, it's easy for me to see parallels to other acts, and even to explain to people why their music is clever, accessible and brilliant. But, it's harder for me to say why I am so personally invested in their music.

(Small digression that will somehow fit in):
I'd like to live in England for a few years. Not only because it would just be awesome, but also to see what the differences are in the music industry between a singles-oriented business and an album-based business. We all know that downloads are having a huge effect on the industry. Physical album sales are dropping at a tune of 10-20% per year. Well, for the big guys, at least. As most consumers seem to download particular songs as opposed to entire albums, that must be affecting the singles market in England, no?

Growing up, I've always had a fascination with the US and UK albums and singles charts. Until recently, they seemed miles apart. I couldn't understand why all of US (ha! pun...) were listening to one thing, and all of the them another. Now, with the 'interweb' connecting us all so quickly, it seems that the UK charts are laden with American acts. Is that because it's easier to download British acts in the UK, rather than purchase them? Who knows.

Well, it seems that BSP's album, released a month earlier in the UK, hit #10 upon entry and then, befuddlingly, slipped away. Knowing America's penchant for cartoonish style over substance, Do You Like Rock Music? would never even crack the charts. In fact, the store in which I work only received one copy for the shelves as a new release, as opposed to the boxfuls of discs we got for both Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli. (By the way, I think Brightman might be a vampire. She's almost fifty years old and still looks like she's in her late 20's. I think U2 drummer, and also vampire, Larry Mullen, Jr. got to her). But, I digress.

British Sea Power began with a few singles that eventually led to The Decline of British Sea Power. Cheekily, the band prefaced the title with "British Sea Power's Classic," and little did they know how right they were. Songs like "Apologies to Insect Life," "Fear of Drowing," "Carrion" and especially "Remember Me" were and are British indie rock classics. There was an energy to the band that hadn't been seen or heard in decades, thus they garnered many flattering comparisons to Joy Division. Open Season is the follow-up that arrived two years later, again giving us more than its fair share of great songs, including "It Ended on an Oily Stage," "Please Stand Up" and "Oh Larsen B." The magnificent songwriting, lyrical history and energy were still there, but it seemed a bit more refined, the studio album equivalent of leaving the garage for actual venues.

Do You Like Rock Music?, which I reviewed for Treblezine (here), finds BSP three years later, and delivering what is surely their best album to date. I won't go into the music as my review will cover that, but I will comment on overall critical response. For the most part, reviews have been incredibly positive. For a while, whether in the US or UK, it was hard to find a negative review. Well, leave that job to the snobs at Pitchfork and Popmatters, who completely missed the target on what is easily one of the best albums of the year so far. For some reason, there's been a backlash on having an 'arena' sound, unless of course you're Canadian and wear suspenders, I suppose. Well, there's a reason that Arcade Fire and U2 are as good as they are, and it's not because their music is watered down. Give BSP's new one a listen and I think you'll agree.

Re-Tales: Noah, Your Pictures Are Ready

Not all of my bookstore tales mock the religious, but sometimes those turn out to be the funniest. My last "Re-Tales" post is hard to top, but this one comes close.

The holidays are always stressful in a bookstore. Not only do you have to perform all the same tasks that were required throughout the year, but you also have to help thousands upon thousands of people, most of whom only set foot in a bookstore once a year. These are the people who generally ask the oddball, nutbar questions. I was manning the information desk during the holidays when I was approached by a middle-aged woman. She informed me that she was looking for a book on Noah's Ark. I immediately told her that we had a number of children's books on Noah's Ark and she just as quickly rejected the idea. "I don't want a book on Noah's Ark for kids." Knowing that the only books I had seen in the store on the subject were kids books I asked, "Okay, what kind of book did you have in mind?" "I'm looking for a coffee table photography book on Noah's Ark," she replied. I stood agape. "Seriously?" I asked. She seemed offended. I debated letting her know that I think Noah forgot his Polaroid or Digital Camera that day. I think one of the giraffes might have eaten it.

To this day, I don't know what scares me more, the fact that this one woman seemed to think there were somehow photographs of this allegorical story, or that two-thirds of Americans believe the Noah's Ark story to be true, and that every year people try to form expeditions to look for artifacts on Mt. Ararat. Later, another bookselling friend told me that she had once been asked for a photography book on angels. Sometimes I feel like telling the customers that they should look next to the photography books of the Easter Bunny, Leprechauns and Unicorns.

Raucous at the Caucus, Part Deux

There were two nearly simultaneous experiences at the caucus that I forgot to mention. Both experiences seemed perfect analogies for this political season, so I thought I'd share them. At the head of the line, when you are finally at a point to be directed to your district location, there are a few volunteers. As my apartment building was on the borderline of two separate districts, there was some initial confusion as to where I should be. The volunteer, a man in his forties, held a crudely divided and hard to read map of the local precinct areas in his hand. The map was no help. The volunteer was about to disappear to get some extra help when an older gentleman, probably in his late sixties, early seventies, asked loudly, "Where's the Republican Caucus?" The volunteer was flummoxed. "I have no idea, sir," he responded. He offered to get someone in a more senior position to give him directions and walked away. Meanwhile, a young man who I can only guess was the volunteer's son, took his place. The boy was no more than twelve years old, wearing an Obama t-shirt.

At first glance, this doesn't seem like much. But to me, the older gentleman seemed a perfect analogy for the Republican party. He was confused, disoriented, brash, uninformed and invaded the wrong place. And by the time he actually did get an answer as to where he was supposed to be, it was too late. Isn't that just like a Republican, I thought, lost and in trouble and needing a bunch of Democrats to bail him out.

The boy, on the other hand, was directing voters more quickly and efficiently than his father. He didn't need a map or a guide. "Do you know your precinct?" he asked every voter as they reached the top of the stairs. If they did, he gave them easy to follow directions. If they did not, he asked them where they lived and then told them their precinct number, without the use of a map, and then guided them. Again, he was no more than twelve years old. I know that Obama was energizing the youth vote, but this was more than I expected. To me, this boy was an analogy for the 'new' Democrats. He was smart, informed, decisive, unafraid, and knew exactly what he was supposed to be doing, when, and in the best interests of the people in front of him. On top of all that, he listened and stepped in when needed. He took over for his father, who was being helpful in his own way, and this boy knew that he needed to step in for the betterment of the party and his community. The line moved faster and more efficiently under his direction. I was incredibly impressed. The boy was a born leader. If there are more young people out there like this boy, I feel better about the future of this country.

Raucous at the Caucus

This is a picture from my corner vantage point of my Eastlake precint's Presidential Caucus. This is the first caucus I've ever attended and it was an experience not to be forgotten.

I tried to gather information on the caucus before I arrived, only to find very spotty information. There was, however, a short video about the process showing some kindly citizens, maybe ten total, sitting in a library and having a nice informal chat.

When I arrived at the caucus location, there was a lineup of about 150 people. Of course, those were just the people outside the building waiting to get in. Inside, you could have easily multiplied that number by five. At least. The room pictured above is where I was guided. This picture was taken a few minutes before three entire precincts were moved out of the room because there just wasn't enough space for this kind of turnout!

Just before we were ushered outside in to the forty degree weather, we all signed in and chose a preferred candidate. A tally was taken and read to the group. In my precinct of 58 people, the original tally turned out to be 48 for Barack Obama, 7 for Hillary Clinton, and 3 undecideds. They then allowed time for two short speeches, one from each side of the candidates, in an attempt to sway not only the undecideds, but also anybody committed who wanted to change their opinion. After the speeches, which were disjointed and haphazard, but personal and from the heart, the three undecideds changed their preference and the final tally was taken. It ended up to be 49 for Obama and 9 for Clinton. This translated into 4 delegates for Obama and one for Clinton. Then, quite a bit of time was taken for choosing members of our precinct to become the delegates that would then go on to the next level.

All in all, the whole thing was an hour and a half's worth of time in which about five minutes of action took place. In that way, I think that the caucus was a perfect example of the democratic process. It was disorganized and messy, but the voices of the people were heard. How this information gets passed up and turned into results is still unclear to me, but it seems primitive and with huge possibilities of miscalculation. However, I'd prefer this method than the alternative, easily manipulated voting machines. What the caucus does is show people's true opinions in front of their neighbors who also act as witnesses to the process.

Oddly, Washington also has a primary scheduled for February 19th, which has been declared 'meaningless' (at least as far as the Presidential delegation assignment goes) as all delegates are assigned through the caucus. I don't know how the results from the other precincts went, but I know that the Eastlake neighborhoods were heavily favoring Obama. Because of what I saw, I would imagine that Obama should easily take the majority of delegates in Washington state. He spoke at Key Arena and they had to turn people away. This venue holds approximately 17,000 people, and over 3000 people had to wait outside. Luckily, Obama actually went to them, giving them a second impassioned speech. This is opposed to the 5000 people who saw Hillary speak earlier in the week.

As I stated earlier, this was my first caucus, and although it had its faults, it was an incredible experience, and a humbling display of patriotism, civic duty and responsibility. Walking to the school in which the caucus took place, it looked as if the entire neighborhood had emptied out, all trickling their way to demonstrate their determination to make this country, their community, and their government a better place and entity, and it was an awe-inspiring site to behold. I've never seen this many people at a polling place (granted, that is open all day) and I think that has a lot to do with both a disgust with the current administration and a belief that one of the two leading Democratic candidates could make a change.

Television: "Lost"

Lost is the best show on television right now. Of course, this statement comes in the midst of a writer's strike in which there is almost nothing else airing on TV right now, but it is still one of my favorite shows of all time. Oh, I'll get to other favorites in the weeks to come such as Buffy, Veronica Mars, West Wing, Simpsons, Futurama, Firefly, etc., but Lost is unique.

Lost is a hybrid show like no other. Sure, we've seen large ensemble casts, exotic landscapes and flasbacks before, but not like this. People can enjoy Lost on several different levels. On the surface, it's the story of a planeload of castaways struggling to survive and return home. But there's so much more to it than that. The flashbacks that occur aren't ONLY so that we can see what makes our characters who they are, they're also for the character themselves, so that they can atone, repent, or sometimes become stubbornly apologetic (for which there are consequences). The exotic landscape is not just any exotic landscape. This island is somehow both out of 'time' and 'space.' How did they crash there? Why can't anyone else find it? This kind of mystery has led some fans to even question the idea that there even IS an island. Was the crash just happenstance, or were they 'brought' there?

These are just a few of the mysteries of Lost. There is nowhere near enough space in this blog post to mention even the major ones. Every season it seems as if there are more mysteries to solve, more questions asked than questions answered. This can tend to frustrate most casual viewers. Not me. I eat this kind of stuff up. Every time I see some new mystery on the show (i.e. the four-toed statue or Hurley's ability to see Jacob) I get even more excited.

But that's not the only reason I love the show. For me, there's the whole 'book' angle. Books feature prominently in Lost, from The Wizard of Oz to The Third Policeman and pretty much the entire works of Stephen King. And, they all mean something. Books aren't just something that characters like Sawyer read on the show. Each book means something to the show as a whole, and maybe even more than I'm thinking! Some seem to be simply indicative of what's going on in the episode or the story arc, such as Watership Down mirroring the idea of a community of 'creatures' seeking a new home. Others tend to reveal something about a character, such as Carrie being a favorite book of Juliet's, which later sets up the idea of the power of a woman both ostracized and humiliated. So, do these plots merely mimic books, or is there something deeper going on? Does the power of the mind on this island create things? That was one of the theories when we saw a polar bear after Walt read about them in his comic book. We did find out that Dharma had polar bears on the island, but was that one of the 'escaped' bears, or was it 'conjured' by Walt? Did Juliet's betrayal of the 'Others' come as a direct result from the book club reading Carrie? Or, and this may be crazy, are all of these characters actually in a novel themselves, written by someone with a vast knowledge of different types of books? (If this comes true I'm a genius, if not...who cares.)

Anyway, those are some of my quick thoughts on Lost, a show with enough characters that everyone can have more than one favorite (mine are Ben and Hurley, and formerly Charlie R.I.P.). Tonight is the second episode of the fourth season and I can't wait. It supposedly is going to be one of the few shows to feature flashbacks (or flashforwards? Darn that crazy possible time paradox!) of non 815 people. This one focuses on the 'rescuers,' the people on the freighter who were 'looking' for the survivors. The writer's strike may be ending this week, and it could mean more episodes of Lost than we originally thought at the onset of the strike. I hope this is the case, but I also hope that care is taken in how these scripts are written. Lost is somewhat unlike most shows in that Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof know pretty much what is going to happen every step of the way. That being said, I bet they could farm out say, episodes 11-14, write 9 and 10 quickly themselves so that they could get to filming right away, and then work on polishing the other farmed scripts and the season finale episodes. It can be done. They have seven weeks for episode 9 if they want no interruptions between shows. That being said, if making it good means taking more time, then by all means, why not have a short hiatus of a couple weeks, then resume the season. We as fans would, I'm sure, be okay with that if it meant a full season. Besides, what else does ABC have going on in the summer besides crappy reality shows? Lost is the best thing that network has going for it, and they should treat it as such.

Books: "If On a Winter's Night a Traveler" by Italo Calvino

I could think of no other more appropriate book to write about in my first Wednesday installment than Italo Calvino's "If On a Winter's Night a Traveler." I first read the book almost fifteen years ago, and it's remained a favorite of mine ever since. Unlike most books, which I read only once, I've read "Traveler" four times. Calvino is considered a postmodern master, but yet very few readers are familiar with his work. He's certainly not for everyone, and that is especially true of this book. Oddly, I've found that the only people who seem to enjoy this book are men. I have yet to meet a woman who enjoyed either this book or Calvino in general. I'm not quite sure what that's all about. I've tried to recommend him to over ten women, all of whom either couldn't get past the first few chapters or just plain didn't like it. It could have something to do with postmodernism, or this book's purposefully nonlinear trajectory, or something that I haven't thought of yet, but I'm no expert.

"If On a Winter's Night a Traveler" is told in the second person (mostly). That means that the reader becomes the main character. The first chapter of the book has Calvino speaking to 'you' and writing about how 'you' are going to start reading "Traveler." This jars people right out of the gate. Thoughts such as, "I thought I was already reading it," bounce around your brain. It's not an introduction. It is the first chapter. Calvino, in the second chapter, presents a more traditional type of story in which you begin to become engrossed. The problem is, the third chapter finds you back in the second person as 'you' discover that the next chapter in the 'book' you're reading is completely different than the first. Besides a bit of self-reflexive tongue in cheek as it somewhat reflects the actual book you're reading, it is also perplexing and mind-blowing at the same time. This continues, as the second person narrative chapters trade turns with many 'first' chapters of several different novels. However, it all comes together in the end.

The brilliance of this book lies not in a gimmick, or any kind of ability to find order in chaos, though that is impressive, it is in Calvino's storytelling ability. From the very first chapter, he grabs you. Had he not written in the second person, or made the book intimately 'yours,' any reader could have easily lost interest. But, from the get go, you are invested. Not only that, but there is a whole lot more going on in the relation of the bogus first chapters and the subsequent narrative chapter than one might think. (i.e., after reading the first chapter of a detective story, 'you' become a detective of sorts to find out why the books you keep attempting to read seem to go kablooey) Also, each of the 'first' chapters are very very good and could have been actual books that would have been intensely interesting. I cannot even begin to comprehend Calvino's mind. To have come up with this idea, this structure, and then to make it readable, enjoyable and so densely layered is beyond me.

The best books are the ones you can come back to again and again and find something new. I recently read the first chapter of this book as a promotional gimmick for the store in which I work. It couldn't have gone more horribly. There were only maybe four people in the audience, all sitting as far away from the stage as possible, all waiting for the music segment after the reading. They all seemed completely disinterested and impatient. I was definitely reading the wrong book for that audience, but then again I suppose I could have been reading their own lottery numbers as 'winners' and they still wouldn't have paid attention. "If On a Winter's Night a Traveler" is a book for people who like to read, and probably for those who don't just read 'for pleasure.' If all you read is Clive Cussler adventures or Nora Roberts romances, this book will probably just frustrate the hell out of you. But, if you're like me, and reading has to involve more than just a plot, then you should really pick up this title. Of course, if you're like me, you probably already have...

Music: Jason Collett & School of Language

Well, if anyone is reading this who doesn't know me, I am the assistant editor for Treblezine.com, a music magazine on the web. So, as Tuesday is traditionally new release music day, Tuesday will also be the day that I concentrate on music on the Blogsmos. I have to give my love to two new releases this Super Tuesday. One is Jason Collett's Here's To Being Here and the other is School of Language's Sea From Shore. I have written reviews for both and they should appear shortly on www.Treblezine.com. The two albums are vastly different, but both excellent. The former is by a Canadian artist who is also part of the collective group, Broken Social Scene, and the latter is in an English band called Field Music. One is a poetic folk rocker in the style of Dylan, the other is a pop experimentalist. I'll let the reviews do most of the hype for me on this, and I don't want to repeat myself. So, I'll just say that these are highly worthy of picking up at your local record shop. And yes, I still call them records.

Re-Tales: The Little Red Book

No, I'm not talking about Mao's manifesto. I was in one of the many retail bookstores I've worked for, and was called up to the front register to approve a return. I arrived to find a middle-aged woman with a leather-bound Bible. At the time, bookstores were still asking why customers were returning their purchases. So, I asked. She stated that the Bible was supposed to have the words of Christ in red print. I picked up the Bible and did, indeed, see that she was right. The binding of the Bible claimed that the words of Christ were supposed to be in red. I opened the Bible to find out if it was misprinted. However, I found that those passages were, in fact, in red. I pointed this out to the customer to show her the proof. Her response? "But he's not even in the whole first half!" Honest to God....

Welcome to the Blogsmos....

Greetings, everyone! Welcome to the Blogsmos. While this won't be as trippy as Carl Sagan's public television flight on his 'Ship of the Imagination,' it will hopefully be as fun...with far fewer numbers...and planets and stuff. Mondays will be devoted to "Re-Tales," funny stories from the world of retail. Tuesdays will be devoted to the world of music. Wednesdays-Books, Thursdays-Movies / Television, and Fridays- Miscellaneous. Although it might not always follow this model exactly. So, put on your tin foil helmets and let's explore the Blogsmos...