Wednesday, July 31, 2013

The Figures and Oeuvre of Top Paid Actresses


Angelina Jolie Tops Our List Of Hollywood's Highest-Paid Actresses, so Forbes announces.  A fellow Googler+ asked:
How many of these actresses deserve to be on the list?
I'm not wont to make this judgment:  What they earned is what they earned, deservedly or not.  I hold to the belief that art has two sides to its coin:  creative and commercial.  The relationship between the two - having talent and making money, more specifically - may be a complex one and may be attributed, as many would in some cases, to luck of the draw.

So we have working figures.  Let's look at the oeuvre of the top three, shall we.


Angelina Jolie wrote and directed "In the Land of Blood and Honey," showcasing her multifaceted repertoire.



Jennifer Lawrence won the Oscar for Best Actress in "Silver Linings Playbook," as such a young age that more, no doubt, are in the offing.



Kristen Stewart managed to get paid upfront for her role in "Snow White and the Huntsman," and thus may have more negotiating prowess than acting talent.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

The Creative Process of "Bat Eyes"


The creative process begins with Jessica Bellamy, who has a story:



Which becomes a monologue on film:



Which incorporates a poem:

From Poetry Foundation

All of which, then, become this brilliant, tender short film:



What process do you go through, in order to create something meaningful?  What is it that you create?

Monday, July 29, 2013

The Before of Sunrise, Sunset and Midnight


First, there was "Before Sunrise" (1995). Where the ordinary yet sweet love story between Jesse and Celine began. This is one of my favorites scenes in the film: The beggar doesn't beg, but writes poetry, instead.



Then, there was "Before Sunset" (2004). In this clip, Celine sings a heartfelt love song for Jesse. Who will end up missing his flight back home to the US.



Now, there is "Before Midnight." The love story that Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy began 18 years ago continues ...



Discontinuity of Time in "Waiting for Godot"


"Waiting for Godot" at the 2008 Berkshire Theater Festival

In late March, it was becoming clear to us Chicago Bulls fans that Derrick Rose's return from injury was no simple or straightforward thing. On March 23rd and 24th, I wrote notes that were to become a lengthy article - Waiting for Derrick Rose - as it dawned on me that this matter was existential and farcical in nature, worthy of Samuel Beckett.  

I transcribe some of those notes here, as they relate more specifically to the play "Waiting for Godot" and its emblematic portrayal of Western life:
  • The discontinuity of time
  • The absence and uncertainty of memory
  • The routinization and meaninglessness of life
  • Waiting becomes a set of tedious dialogue and caricatured activity


Transcript of "Waiting for Godot" (Act 1 and Act 2)

The Past

The continuity of time in Waiting for Godot is broken. Vladimir and Estragon are not sure, for a moment, whether they were there yesterday; and they entertained the possibility that Godot came and they missed him.

The next day, Estragon forgets where he had put his boots.

The boy comes back the next day, but insists that he wasn’t there yesterday, and again says that Godot will come tomorrow.

The Present

Nothing happens. The existential fear of nothingness, meaninglessness, and routinization. For some, this can feel like an inescapable trap.

Life happens. For better or for worse. For comedy and drama. There is conversation, there is friendship, there are encounters, there are news.

The Future

Waiting, in Western Culture, is a fact of life, and it almost seems like an intolerable experience. “We want things yesterday” and “God give me patience, and give it to me now.”

Future is endowed with saviors, and those figures lose their human semblance. Guess what?  Godot does nothing, too. Moreover, he beats certain boys apparently.

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Staging of Icarus by Samuael Topiary


Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
performance text

What a brilliant, multimedia work! Samuael Topiary is creative, for sure, especially with her writing. Her acting, though, is mediocre, and the acoustics of this theater is not good. Also, it’s way too much monologue, not enough interaction or conversation.

That notwithstanding, her effort resonates with the cross genre, multimedia nature of art for me, and it offers me guidance on how I may eventually stage The Room.  And I repeat, Topiary is brilliant and creative!

Remember my Name!


I don't watch much TV at all, so I didn't discover this highly regarded, hard edged series until recently. But it's definitely a look-see: "Breaking Bad."
(image credit)
More striking than Walt's dual identity, though, is the poster's allusion to Fame. Is it even possible to hear the phrase "remember my name" and not follow it with "fame! I'm gonna live forever … "? No, it is not possible. And thus one wonders if this poster is telling us that Walter White in fact does not die at the end of the series, but instead does what the lyrics of Irene Cara's 1980 hit suggest: "I'm gonna live forever / I'm gonna learn how to fly (high!) / I feel it coming together / People will see me and cry." That is basically Heisenberg's theme song. 
Speaking of Irene Cara and "Fame" ...


Baby, look at me and tell me what you see
You ain't seen the best of me yet
Give me time, I'll make you forget the rest
I've got more in me, and you can set it free
I can catch the moon in my hand
Don't you know who I am?
Remember my name
If you still need a reminder to remember his name and remember her name, here's another one:


This film has no where the brisk pace and sharp action that we're used to in the cinema.  No wonder, it's from 1978, and director Alan Rudolph pays homage to women of the silver screen, the likes of Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck and Joan Crawford.  Geraldine Page as Emily is worthy of that comparison, as her acting carries us along a methodical pace and increasingly gripping drama.

Friday, July 26, 2013

That is no Country for Old Men!


The Facebook page for "No Country for Old Men" asks:
Did you know that the title is part of the first line from William Butler Yeats' poem "Sailing to Byzantium"?
Screen shot from the film (image credit)

Yes, I did. "Sailing to Byzantium" is WB Yeats' stirring poem, as he speaks to aging, rails at our physical frailty as a "dying animal," and romanticizes immortality as a golden bird.

Byzantium was to become Constantinople, now Istanbul. Presumably "no country for old men" is Ireland, where Yeats is from, and Turkey is the country he romanticizes. Apparently Yeats never traveled to Turkey, but it clearly stirred his poetry in a stunningly beautiful way!

What I cannot seem to find is how (or even if) the novelist Cormac McCarthy was influenced by Yeats' poem. There are some parallels between the novel and poem, especially on aging and some brutal imagery, but otherwise they're radically different works of art.

In this video, I recite this breathtaking poem.



Thursday, July 25, 2013

We Dare Dream Of


"Vanilla Sky" was co-written, directed and co-produced by Cameron Crowe.

There is at least
The promise of
Whatever want
We want, and love
Whatever love
We dare dream of –

Tom Cruise, as David Ames, and Penelope Cruz, as Sofia Serrano (image credit)

Except that, well,
We never know
Where things turn to
Or how dreams go –
What can we find
When we are blind?

(image credit)
This is your time
This is your day
You've got it all
Don't blow it away.
~Paul McCartney



Poetry by Ron Villejo

Shattered Island


"Shutter Island" was directed by Martin Scorsese.

I.

How much of war's atrocity can man endure?
How much of horror at home must he further endure?

Leonardo DiCaprio, as Teddy Daniels, and Michelle Williams, as Dolores Chanal (image credit)

II.

For Shutter Island is a metaphor for mind,
And Shutter Island is a pun for shattered mind.

(image credit)

III.

Live the monstrosity of what he had become,
Or with a carving die the good he could become.

(image credit)

Poetry by Ron Villejo

Plant an Idea


"Inception" was written, directed and co-produced by Christopher Nolan.

I.

The opposite
Of extraction
Is inception.

Leonardo DiCaprio, as Dom Cobb (image credit)

II.

Steal an idea.
Plant an idea.

Ken Watanabe, as Mr. Saito (image credit)

III.

In order for inception to work out,
We must instill reception to a doubt.

Ellen Page, as Ariadne (image credit)

Poetry by Ron Villejo

Working on a Theme: Mind Bending


I'm working on a theme, fleshing it out ...



I'm working on a theme, boning it up ...



I'm working on a theme, bending it around ...



I'm working on a theme, muscling it through ...