RandomCha

During August, I will post only one sentence per day in my livejournal.

Does knowing that Janet Leigh is stabbed in the shower make “Psycho” any less riveting, or less disturbing, the second time you see the movie? For that matter, does NOT knowing the plot twists at the end of “The Usual Suspects” or Armistead Maupin’s “The Night Listener” make them any better the FIRST time?

The fact is, a story works DESPITE a plot twist, not BECAUSE of it. It’s the reason that certain episodes of “The Twilight Zone” are classics; because even though we know what happens at the end, there’s a depth far greater than just an ironic ending. The plot twist is just a hook, a surprise that lets the real story in.

We all know that Romeo and Juliet die at the end of the play (in any case, Shakespeare lets the cat out of the bag with the intro monologue). We all know that Clark Kent is actually Superman (Shocking! Shocking!). And we all know that Courtney offed Kurt. And yet, Baz Luhrman butchered the Bard and still made a ton of money, there’s another Superman movie on the way, and Courtney still couldn’t do jail time even if she paid off Alberto Gonzales.

It’s interesting that everyone assumed that I hate Harry Potter, when all I wrote was that I’ve never read the books and never will. I don’t like them; I don’t hate them; I’m just indifferent. So who says I’m opposed to them? Read, read, read away. But if your hopes and dreams and life’s happiness depend on a plot twist, then don’t go surfing on the net, don’t read newspapers, and for God’s sake STAY AWAY FROM ALL HUMAN BEINGS, lest the secret slip out. You should have bought the book at 12.01 am and sat up all night reading it.

And what’s with all the anonymous comments? Most of which come from the same person, hiding behind various IP addresses. You can drop the facade: I know it’s you, Ms. Rowling.

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DUMBLEDORE DIES ON PAGE 596.

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Just read about an upcoming concert:

JAM PRESENTS
TORTOISE / DANIEL LANOIS
ALL AGES SHOW
PARK WEST
322 W ARMITAGE-CHICAGO
MON OCT 10 2005 7:30PM

Tickets on sale Saturday.

What a show!

3 WOMEN (Robert Altman, 1977)
BELLE DE JOUR (Luis Bunuel, 1967)
DAWN OF THE DEAD (George A. Romero, 1978)
DIARY OF A MAD HOUSEWIFE (Frank Perry, 1970)
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (Frank Capra, 1946)
LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (David Lean, 1962)
LOST HIGHWAY (David Lynch, 1997)
REAR WINDOW (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954)
TRUE STORIES (David Byrne, 1986)
VERTIGO (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)

This morning, I emerged from our air-conditioined bedroom to take a look at the indoor thermometer. For the rest of the apartment. It was 89 degrees. At 6:00 am.

Buying the second a/c unit last week was a very good idea.

Cooling down though. Movies In The Park on Tuesday? It’s “My Darling Clementine.”

Yesterday after they got off work, I went out for drinks with Andy, Christine, and few other Newberry people. We went to Motel bar at 600 West Chicago. Place was empty and very pleasant. For my second drink I chose a Harvey Wallbanger. Hadn’t ever had one. It tasted like a creamsicle with a hint of black licorice. Smooth, not too sweet, unusual. I liked it. Still, I wonder if it would be worth getting a whole bottle of Galliano just to have it on hand so I could make them at home.

Rather slow afternoon.

Whoa, just found out what raise I got (effective July 1st). Swell! Now it’s gonna be harder than ever to get up enough gumption to look for a job elsewhere …

Once upon a time (well, not so long ago) I was an active filmmaker too. At long last, “Kosher Messiah” is receiving its Chicago Premiere.

This documentary was a labor of love that I worked on as co-editor/writer and associate producer from 1999-2001. It has already screened at festivals around the world but never before in Chicago. I’m really looking forward to seeing it in front of a big audience for the first time. I hope you can make it!

THE STORY:
Tchavdar Gueorguiev’s Jewish identity was hidden from him by his family while growing up in Communist Eastern Europe. Now the hope for a better life has scattered his family across the world, and no place feels like home. He searches them out from Singapore to Brooklyn and on to Eastern Europe, while trying to reconcile his atheistic Communist upbringing and consequent involvement in Christianity with the discovery that he is actually Jewish. On a larger scale, the film is about the search for identity in a global environment where all the world’s cultures are blending together like never before, a situation particularly relevant to the American people today.

KOSHER MESSIAH
a documentary by Tchavdar Gueorguiev

@ Heaven Gallery
1550 North Milwaukee, 2nd floor
Chicago IL 60622

Saturday, July 30th, 9:00 PM

http://www.koshermessiah.com
http://www.heavengallery.com