RandomCha

Next week I will be taking part in Bunuel-a-thon:

Read more about it at F L I C K H E A D

My preview of the Chicago International Film Festival. 

Provided I get my media credentials, I’ll be blogging about the festival like crazy. Cross your fingers!

 Last night I took Andy to dinner at the Reagle Beagle and then we saw Eastern Promises. A solid movie all the way. It’s not as provocative or disquieting as A History of Violence but it’s just as entertaining, and it’s stuffed with texture and interesting details. It’s a movie with a lot of violence in it, but it’s all handled so matter-of-factly that it’s almost exhilirating. Viggo is naked quite a bit (no complaints here) and there’s a grueling fight scene set in a steamroom that is destined to become a classic. Not for the squeamish. With each new film, it’s more clear to me that Cronenberg is a modern master. 

And I thought of a useful analogy: Bunuel is to Hitchcock as Lynch is to Cronenberg. See what I mean?

See Eastern Promises on a big screen, with an audience. Just won’t be the same on video.

I have a post scheduled to go live early tomorrow morning at Chicagoist. It’s about the upcoming Chicago International Film Festival and I’m guessing it’ll be on the provocative side. Won’t say more about it now, but I hope it roils things up a little.

Andy is deep in his grad school homework today. Lord, I am glad I’m not in grad school. The more I find out about the whole thing, the more it reminds me of the funeral industry. That is, it’s this absurdly complex, expensive structure in place that’s designed to take advantage of people who have no choice: if you want to bury someone or get a grad degree, you have to play the games and shell out the bucks. And there’s nothing you can do it about it. Grad school seems to revolve around forcing you to read a bunch of crap and spew forth a bunch of busywork; in other words, quantity trumps quality every single damn time. Rather than letting you digest anything, we’ll just force-feed you week after week. Carb loading is great before a marathon, but eating daily well-balanced meals is better for your long-term health.

Okay, there’s a reason why Dickens’ novels were so long: he was paid by the word. But is Being There any less amazing just because it’s less than 150 pages? Of course not. So why do grad school professors always seem obsessed with quantity, making you read 8-10 articles when probably just 2 well-chosen ones would be just fine? Forcing you to buy 8 really expensive textbooks when maybe just 2 would do the trick?

Does constant activity = learning? Hogwash. Learning comes when you take in information and then reflect on it.  I want no part of grad school.

The heat came on in the apartment this morning. And I walked around in my robe.

!!!

I love autumn!

Inspired by 

deejayqueue

 here is my list of the Top Ten Worst Movies I’ve Ever Seen:

Body of Evidence
The Draughtsman’s Contract
Empire of the Sun
Fight Club
From Dusk till Dawn
Jesus Christ Superstar
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life
Moulin Rouge!
True Romance
The Usual Suspects

(There are plenty of bad movies I’ve seen and enjoyed, but these are bad movies I saw and genuinely hated)

Dare I go see Across the Universe to find out just how puketastic it is? How much of a masochist am I? Though Andy is very, very busy with school I am going to force him to find time for us to go see Eastern Promises.

Because two nights ago I went to a loud birthday party at a Polish bar, and because my allergies have not yet subsided, today I sound like Elaine Stritch. Not the first time, won’t be the last.

Tonight there’s a reading/book signing at the Tiki Terrace. I’d love to go but not having a car all but ensures that I can’t. I could take the Metra out there but would then have no way to get back home, since the train stops running around 7 pm. Fiddlesticks.

Blue Lu Barker makes me happy. Stereolab makes me happy. Arlo Guthrie, Les Baxter make me happy.

 I want a nap in the worst way. That is all.