Bill Cunningham

Even though I can't go to the movie theatre anymore, I've seen a couple of great rentals recently. (To be fair, I can go to matinées on Thursday afternoons for special Stars n' Strollers (!) screenings, but I've yet to be impressed with my options.)

Most recently, we watched Bill Cunningham: New York, which fits perfectly with my tentative plan to watch movies that are good for my soul. It was so tender!

Here's the trailer:



When I saw a cameo of Bill Cunningham in the Girl Walk // All Day music video (which I finally finished watching a few days ago), I almost cried. You can see him at 2:50 in the clip below.



What an interesting man. I highly recommend that you watch this documentary.

Movies

I'd like to see both of these movies in the movie theatre, but I don't think that's going to happen. Clara hasn't taken a bottle, and we just don't feel like forcing the issue.

Tentative Plans

I have a few tentative plans for 2012. They're pretty modest for obvious reasons (i.e. I'm having a baby), but this is usually the case for me anyway.

Last year I planned to go to lure myself to the gym with the promise of a sauna afterwards, I planned to print and frame family photos, I planned to take care of my knives and I planned take advantage of my benefits with regular massages chiropractor appointments. I've done all of these things, to a certain extent, so I'm happy to strike them off the list.

This year I plan to be more mindful of the movies I watch, I plan to learn how to use my new camera (an Olympus PEN E-P3) and I plan to take a break from the Internet every now and again. Maybe one day a week?

For the movies, I'm going to use Johanna Schneller's Twelve 2011 movies that moved spirit and soul as a starting point. I was already a fan of the list when I saw that Beginners was included. It was my favorite movie of 2011.

Since reading the list, I've already watched and The Trip (on new year's eve) and Win Win (on new year's day), so I'm off to a good start. They were great, by the way. But not as good as Beginners.

On Miranda July

There's a lot of love for Miranda July these days, and I'm bursting with my share. Her second movie, The Future, will be released this summer (though I suspect I will have to wait a little longer since I doubt it will come to Victoria movie theaters).
Did you see her first movie, Me and you and everyone we know? A few times? Maybe you read Nobody Belongs Here More Than You, her collection of short stories? Or maybe you have a copy of Learning to Love You More in your bathroom (I gave my copy to my parents, but I have tentative plans)? Did you post her short film, Are you the favorite person of anybody? on your blog? Or -- last one -- do you revisit her treatise on why you should vote before every election? Did you share it on your work's social networking site? And were you thrilled when a few people you've never met "liked" it?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you're probably a fan of Miranda July too. Or maybe you answered no to all of the questions because you've never heard of Miranda July before, but now you're intrigued. If that's the case, you can take this diagnostic test to see if you should watch her latest movie. And while you're at that website, you should probably sign up to get your future divined every week.
P.S. I would like a copy of this poster.

The Christmas of Catan

In December, our roomies Marc and Jen gave us an early Christmas present: The Settlers of Catan. The board game, which combines the best parts of Risk and Monopoly, has been on our wish list since Ananda introduced it to our household last fall.

We brought the game to Saskatchewan for Christmas, and we played it a million times. Both sets of parents and our friend Raissa learned to play. Everyone was really into it.

This game had a lot to do with making our Christmas holiday so enjoyable.

Other things that contributed: looking at old photos with my Baba, watching three good movies in the movie theatre (you really need to see The King's Speech), knitting scarves by the fire and drinking coffee in a leisurely fashion.

Then there's seeing friends and family in the flesh; that's always a good time.

I hope you had a fun holiday too!

MICMACS

Well, the preview doesn't look as good as Amelie or A Very Long Engagement, but I'll take it:

32

Michael turned 32 on Saturday. He prefers being 32 over 31, so that's good. This is the only photo that I managed to take on his birthday. He's standing outside our apartment building at the outset of a full day. Festivities involved a dutch baby pancake, a Where the Wild Things Are matinee (the plot was questionable in parts, but we loved it all the same), Prima Strada pizzas and a cake. It doesn't sound like much, but it wiped me out!

Comfort

When I say I wish I was at home in my slippers right now, I really mean it. They came to me all the way from Churchill, Manitoba thanks to Jillian, and they are pure comfort. I even brought them to Portland with me, and I predict I'll bring them to Saskatoon for the holidays.

When I first received them, I thought the polar bears would suit a reenactment of this scene in Me and You and Everyone We Know:



Today, the bears are getting along, but if I wear the slippers on opposite feet (or cross my feet) it's hard to ignore the tension. Anyway. You get the idea.

While I was looking for that movie clip, I found something else to share with you (isn't that always the way?). It's a Blonde Redhead video featuring Miranda July and some high-waisted pants. Can you resist? Can you really?



I have some things to tell you about, including my successful transition to a credit union, so stay tuned in the coming weeks. I promise I'll only get distracted by YouTube a little bit.

Steve Martin and Me

I want to say several things quickly. Most of those things have something to do with Steve Martin and/or tentative plans.

First, I don't know what's up with Steve Martin. I want to love him, but I have a hard time making it happen. I didn't really like his over-the-top performance in 30 Rock last week. It was too much! Most of his recent performances have been too much! I remember loving him dearly, so Michael and I have tentative plans to watch L.A. Story to see if we can rekindle the feeling.

Second, I was thinking about The Jerk (starring Steve Martin) because Zoe and Dan were talking about it, and that reminded me of the song You Belong to Me. I tracked it down and I thought I would post the clip here because it's my dad's birthday and he loves this song too. Don't you want to gobble up Bernadette Peters? And what about the trumpet? And Steve Martin's reaction to the trumpet?



Finally, while I was looking for that song, I found this:



It looks like I'm going to learn how to play the ukulele from a teacher named boozelele and it's all thanks to Steve Martin. That's the tentative plan anyway.

Synecdoche, New York

I've been disappointed with the last few movies I've seen in the theatre. I guess it didn't help that I wasn't excited to see some of them in the first place (hello, Body of Lies). Thankfully, I now have something to look forward to: Synecdoche, New York. Charlie Kaufman! Philip Seymour Hoffman! Catherine Keener (a new favourite)!



It opens on November 14. Want to go?

Tonight, tonight won't be just any night...

I've been blogging in my head for the last week or so, but I guess that doesn't count. I'm posting this photo to hold you over until I get around to a real post (tomorrow! or the next day!):


I'm watching West Side Story tonight! Some of us have been making tentative plans to (re)watch this movie for a long time (years). It's finally happening. Look at those outfits!

Blog neglect

I wrote a short post about googly eye earrings for Things Worth Making, but I'm neglecting this blog for now. I'm feeling a little frazzled, but it's nothing serious. I'm just adjusting to my new job. Once the first few weeks are out of the way, I predict I will feel much better. I mean, once the May long weekend is here, I predict I will feel much better. I keep having anxiety dreams about exams, which is especially strange since I rarely had these dreams during school time.

I'll tell you about my trip to Vancouver when I get a chance to write. In the mean time, you should go see the documentary Young @ Heart.

The Darjeeling Limited

Why? Why didn't I know about this latest Wes Anderson movie until one of Nathan's wedding guests informed me of its release last weekend? Don't you guys have my back? It looks beautiful and everything I want it to be - better than Life Aquatic, I predict. It's only on in Vancouver this weekend. Who's going?



A report on Ottawa will be posted in the near future.

Ode to David Attenborough

I just wrote an op-ed for my Writing Popular Science class, and I want to know what you think. We have to submit it somewhere, so I was thinking of emailing it to The Tyee (see link on the right).

Bonding with nature through documentary television

The melodic voice of Sir David Attenborough, the knight of nature documentary narration, beckons from the TV:

“A hundred years ago there were one and half billion people on earth. Now over six billion crowd our fragile planet. But even so, there are still places barely touched by humanity. This series will take you to the last wildernesses and show you the planet and its wildlife as you have never seen it before.”

I was going to go for a walk, but Attenborough has convinced me that if I want to bond with nature, I had better have a seat on my couch.

Attenborough is introducing the series Planet Earth, the 11-part BBC nature documentary that has been running on CBC since 2006.

I’m not the only one who has been transfixed by the series, and it’s no wonder. The documentary, which, as its name suggests, captures the entire planet instead of focusing on one species or region, has been aired during the height of global warming anxiety. It is also the first of its kind to appear in high definition format; nature has never looked more natural.

An American Discovery Channel release of the documentary tried to reach beyond the BBC crowd by replacing Attenborough’s narration with the voice of actress Sigourney Weaver. It worked. Talk show hosts Ellen and Oprah both featured the documentary on their respective TV shows, urging their viewers to educate themselves about the state of the planet.

But is TV the best tool we have to learn about our natural surroundings?

f you live in a city where the only green space you see on a regular basis is a manicured municipal park or the blocks of grass that your neighbours may or may not maintain, the answer is yes.

Nature documentaries like Planet Earth are beneficial because they arouse biophilia, the human propensity to affiliate with other life forms. Biologist Edward O. Wilson uses the term to describe the connections that human beings subconsciously seek with the rest of life. In our increasingly urban landscape, we have to find the connections where we can, and in our media saturated culture, TV is an accessible option.

Besides, while I might see a seal or a pod of orcas from the beaches at Beacon Hill Park if I’m lucky, I’m certain I will never be in a position to witness snow leopards pursuing markhor goats in the Himalayas, let alone be able to watch crab-eating monkeys swimming from an underwater vantage point.

While the series may arouse biophilia, it doesn’t make explicit reference to the world’s environmental problems until the last episode. In the DVD cover notes, Attenborough says this was intentional.

“This new series is more a celebration of our planet, not a lament about the state of it,” he explains. “It shows what is still there. In some areas there is no doubt that we are doing damage to our world but, at the same time, there is a vast amount of uncharted and untouched wilderness.”

Attenborough’s sentiment explains why this nature documentary has been particularly effective. It doesn’t take the doomsday approach found in other global warming documentaries, such as Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth.

However, it’s hard not to feel the impact of global warming as you watch the Ice Worlds episode. In it, a male polar bear is unable to find footing on melting ice; he resorts to swimming, which he cannot do indefinitely. His desperate need to eat brings him to a colony of walrus, but he is already too tired to succeed in his attack. Wounded and unable to feed, Attenborough tells us the bear will not survive.

If you’ve had your fill of complacent biophilia after watching Planet Earth, but walking outdoors isn’t for you, watch the companion series Saving Planet Earth. It explores the work of global conservation charities. BBC launched the series in June 2007 with an episode presented by Attenborough. This time he examines the impact of humans on the planet, and once again his voice and his medium make the reality of global warming go down a little smoother.

Let the man do the can-can

I'm taking a politics and gender class right now, and even though I'm generally overwhelmed by my classes this semester, I'm really enjoying this one. I've never taken a women's studies class, so this class was my first exposure to feminist literature (other than Bust, of course). I've learned a lot.

I just finished reading an essay by Kathleen Hanna (of Le Tigre and Bikini Kill fame). She documents her experience in the Riot Grrrl movement and she stresses the importance of reading classic feminist texts, such as Sisterhood is Powerful, to help us understand our history and our current challenges. I've got tentative plans to acquire the Sisterhood trilogy for my birthday.

I also read an article about the Guerilla Girls. I like the creativity of this anonymous activist group, especially because they expanded their protests to address sexism in Hollywood:

Speaking of Hollywood and female directors, we watched North Country in class last month. It was directed by the director of Whale Rider: Niki Caro. The movie wasn't perfect, but it is powerful and definitely worth watching. It's based on the first class-action sexual harassment lawsuit in the US (Jensen v. Eveleth Mines). It wasn't resolved until 1998! This site has a great summary of the real-life events depicted in the movie. I was happy to read that Lois Jensen, the woman who led the lawsuit, was impressed with the film: "It's a story that compresses 20 years of stuff, and the characters are composites of several of us. But the sexual harassment depicted was true. They captured the emotions very well, and overall I think it's an incredibly powerful film that will be around a long time." Shannon, this is your next movie assignment.

I'm inspired by the materials I'm exposed to in this class. Here's a Le Tigre video to celebrate:



While looking for this video I found that a lot of people have made their own Deceptacon videos and uploaded them to YouTube. Is that a common occurance?

Don't play with your food

I love nature, but one thing that I don't love about nature is animals that torture their prey. Is it really necessary? I guess I'm referring to cats and killer whales. This has been on my mind since I woke up at 3:30 am at Lydia's house to her frantic calls for help. No one was breaking into her house, which is the thought that got my heart racing; rather, Lydia's cat Neko was killing a mouse - slowly - under her bed. I ran to her room to find her standing on said bed. I didn't carry her out of the room, but I'm sure she wanted me to - she was that upset. You can read about the episode and the final outcome here and here.

While wasting some time on the internet looking for pictures of killer whales torturing seals (an activity I've seen on numerous documentaries), I came upon this clip from the BBC documentary Planet Earth. I'm posting it today because I used to have a problem with sharks, but now that I think about it, I might like them - more than cats and transient killer whales anyway (BC's resident killer whales don't eat seals or other whales, so I like them ok). The fact that sharks are killing machines means they don't make their prey suffer (more than necessary), and I'm onside with that.

I think it's one of the scariest clips I've ever seen in a nature documentary, probably because of the use of slow motion, so be forewarned. Everyone has time to watch it because it's only twenty seconds long.