bitten tongue.

There is a pool of blood in my mouth from a bitten tongue.
Questions? Concerns? josephkir at gmail dot com
Nov
7th
Sat
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The sumptuous trailer for A Single Man, a film gaining buzz for Colin Firth’s performance and Mad Men production designer Dan Bishop’s predictably gorgeous period aesthetics.  To be honest, I wish I could actually see and hear some of Firth’s buzzed-about work, but I guess pretty pictures and unsettling repetitive music trumps over-exposition in any trailer. (via /Film)

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It seems only fitting that the Yankees win during the year of Wall Street bailouts and massive unemployment in middle America.

It seems only fitting that the Yankees win during the year of Wall Street bailouts and massive unemployment in middle America.

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Nov
6th
Fri
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The White Ribbon International Trailer

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Nov
5th
Thu
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Why?

Aside from ill-advised prequels, few films try to examine the roots of evil, the circumstances that lead to the horrible atrocities filling middle school textbooks.  Director Michael Haneke has never shied away from a challenge.

While The White Ribbon may not have the same jolt of Caché or the in-your-face ideological antics of Funny Games, it offers a more chilling and textured look at what leads people en masse to participate in evil acts.  The repression of WWI rural Germany - socioeconomic, class, religious - boils a small town until anger starts seeping out.  Seemingly senseless violence overcomes the town, undermining the econo-political power of the Baron and the self-righteousness of the cross.

Haneke offers no answers, but not in a Van Sant Elephant way.  Instead, The White Ribbon ignores the supposedly more important questions of plot to offer insight into the real question: how does inhuman brutality become socially acceptable and supported?  When madness like that sets in, reason and science has no recourse but to flee.

In the last shot, the whole town (minus the narrator) sits down in its little chapel staring right at us - the people who have allowed and implicitly participated in these horrible acts.  But then, the preacher sits down in the audience too, amongst the people.  Are we now leading the service/film?  Or is there no God left to preach about?

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Nov
4th
Wed
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Does two victories constitute a sweep, let alone a “sweet sweep?”  Doesn’t “Sweep Week” sound like a Wheel of Fortune stunt? (via npr)

Does two victories constitute a sweep, let alone a “sweet sweep?”  Doesn’t “Sweep Week” sound like a Wheel of Fortune stunt? (via npr)

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Matt Damon in The Tootsie Supremacy.  That makeup’s incredible.

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Nov
2nd
Mon
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Congrats, LA Times, on topping The Onion for Most Deadpan Headline.

Congrats, LA Times, on topping The Onion for Most Deadpan Headline.

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Oct
30th
Fri
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The title “Drunk Ewoks Ruin Today Show Segment” sounds like a lame online video, even if it’s real.  But it’s real, and it’s spectacular. (via /Film)

*Skip ahead to about two minutes in, and try to ponder how any of this is happening.

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Oct
27th
Tue
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Besides that striking cover being passed around like a dirty note, Chris Ware also has an excellent comic in this week’s New Yorker.  The physical structure of the panels — the way they compliment the story and deconstruct traditional comic book layouts — and the gorgeous close-ups remind us yet again that Ware is operating on a whole other level in the graphic novel genre.

Besides that striking cover being passed around like a dirty note, Chris Ware also has an excellent comic in this week’s New Yorker.  The physical structure of the panels — the way they compliment the story and deconstruct traditional comic book layouts — and the gorgeous close-ups remind us yet again that Ware is operating on a whole other level in the graphic novel genre.

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In a post-Mad Men world, Laura’s constant attempts in Dick Van Dyke to please her husband in meals, companionship, and appearance seem desperate, hinting at an underlying angst and ennui driven by her meaningless suburban lifestyle.  She stuffs envelopes for pointless causes and worries more about the PTA than why her child spends most of his time in closets and cupboards. Rob (the titular Van Dyke) has a barely controlled temper, a rage at a system that has left him in charge of a middling talk show — the Jay Leno of his day — instead of becoming the next Oscar Wilde.  He raises his voice constantly at his buffoonish staff: a vaguely ethnic ne’er-do-well and a woman who only pines for a fairy tale marriage instead of stating her true desires: “My name is Sally Rogers, and I’d like to smoke some marijuana.” Rob berates his wife often, orders her around like a slave, and tells her to check her emotions.  In response, she fusses and whines, her whole life defined by her desire to please her husband.  Despite her crushing existence, there’s still a sparkle in Laura’s eye that says she knows once the kid’s in college she’s moving to the city to report the real news.

In a post-Mad Men world, Laura’s constant attempts in Dick Van Dyke to please her husband in meals, companionship, and appearance seem desperate, hinting at an underlying angst and ennui driven by her meaningless suburban lifestyle.  She stuffs envelopes for pointless causes and worries more about the PTA than why her child spends most of his time in closets and cupboards.

Rob (the titular Van Dyke) has a barely controlled temper, a rage at a system that has left him in charge of a middling talk show — the Jay Leno of his day — instead of becoming the next Oscar Wilde.  He raises his voice constantly at his buffoonish staff: a vaguely ethnic ne’er-do-well and a woman who only pines for a fairy tale marriage instead of stating her true desires: “My name is Sally Rogers, and I’d like to smoke some marijuana.”

Rob berates his wife often, orders her around like a slave, and tells her to check her emotions.  In response, she fusses and whines, her whole life defined by her desire to please her husband.  Despite her crushing existence, there’s still a sparkle in Laura’s eye that says she knows once the kid’s in college she’s moving to the city to report the real news.

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Oct
26th
Mon
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Let’s get it over with: Put sunglasses on him and just call it Holmez. (via)

Let’s get it over with: Put sunglasses on him and just call it Holmez. (via)

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Oct
25th
Sun
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The corn maze gets kind of easy at the end.

The corn maze gets kind of easy at the end.

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Oct
23rd
Fri
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Did you know on college campuses across the country people put broomsticks between their legs and run around on quads playing this? Did you know it gets even better?  One person dresses in all gold and runs around the whole campus, acting as the golden snitch. Did you know that tomorrow you can watch the World Cup right here? Fanfic has finally met its match.

Did you know on college campuses across the country people put broomsticks between their legs and run around on quads playing this?

Did you know it gets even better?  One person dresses in all gold and runs around the whole campus, acting as the golden snitch.

Did you know that tomorrow you can watch the World Cup right here?

Fanfic has finally met its match.

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Wow. Change.

David Brooks bring great news about education reform under the Obama administration:

These changes mean that states are raising their caps on the number of charter schools. When charters got going, there was a “let a thousand flowers bloom” mentality that sometimes led to bad schools. Now reformers know more about how to build charters and the research is showing solid results. Caroline Hoxby of Stanford University recently concluded a rigorous study of New York’s charter schools and found that they substantially narrowed the achievement gap between suburban and inner-city students.

The changes also will mean student performance will increasingly be a factor in how much teachers get paid and whether they keep their jobs. There is no consensus on exactly how to do this, but there is clear evidence that good teachers produce consistently better student test scores, and that teachers who do not need to be identified and counseled. Cracking the barrier that has been erected between student outcomes and teacher pay would be a huge gain.

While a lot of what Brooks praises is the start of reform, these are significant starts to large institutional change necessary not only to keep America competitive in the future but hopefully to save a generation of children increasingly be left very far behind.  Teachers’ unions have fought for a long time against performance-based pay, keeping bad teachers in the classroom, and finding some type of performance-based pay structure could radically improve American education.

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You’re right, Hollywood.  DiCaprio and Maguire would be so much better than these no-talent fogies.  Maybe they can buy a level for the camera this time, too.

You’re right, Hollywood.  DiCaprio and Maguire would be so much better than these no-talent fogies.  Maybe they can buy a level for the camera this time, too.

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