RandomCha

Koyaanisqatsi [1983]

1. White people lying on beach towels on sand adjacent to an enormous power planet. Heat waves radiating upwards.
2. A man at a video arcade plays Qbert while holding a baby in one arm.
3.  Staccato horns and cloudscapes.

About Schmidt [2002]

1. He’s lying in the bathtub, a writing tray near his chest, his right arm draped over the side of the tub. It’s a visual quote of "The Death of Marat" by Jacques-Louis David. I have no idea what it means, or why it’s there, but somehow it’s an electrifying moment.
2. The name of the movie on the marquee: Sideways.
3. I always remember this as one of the last contemporary movies to show someone accompanying passengers all the way to the gate of the plane to say goodbye. It’s a small thing. But you can’t do that anymore.

WALL-E [2008]

1. Bone density drawing.
2. Fred Willard as CEO.
3. Glowing rocks. WALL-E emerges from the hole.

Anita O’Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer [2007]

1. Annie Ross, the way her mouth movies, one corner slightly lower than the other, sluggish. But still with that lovely inflection in her voice.
2. Anita jiving with Roy.
3. Dick Cavett reels off synonyms for marijuana.

Chow Down in Chi-Town, my dining guide for the ALA Annual Conference, is now online. No author pic, sadly.

Star Trek [2009]

1. Gratuitous hot rod sequence.
2. "Are you from the future? … Do they still have sandwiches there?"
3. Spock gets a single raised eyebrow.

Overall reaction? Eh. The best thing I can say about it is that it resisted the temptation to be 20 minutes longer. And Simon Pegg was awesome. And frustratingly underused.

Saw Star Trek yesterday, and to be honest I’m having some difficulty coming up with my usual 3 Things.

The Myth of Chinese Restaurants

The American Friend [1977]

1. Nicholas Ray wearing sneakers and white socks, and an eyepatch.
2. She begins to open the package, then thinks better of it and puts it in a drawer.
3. He threads the man’s neck through the loop in the wire. The camera tilts up as he pulls the wire taut, clenches his jaw.