The Chemistry Of Common Life
By brandonspears on Tuesday, August 9th, 2011
And we’re back. Let’s do this.
Idiot Driver
Brandon writes things.
The Wrestler In Real Life
Grantland’s got a new article on the troubled history of Ric Flair, a professional wrestler still performing way past his prime because he has no money after almost forty years in the business. It’s incredibly sad, and if you’ve paid any attention to most lives of professional wrestlers over the age of 50, unsurprising.
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Last night I finally caught up with Greenberg, the new Noah Baumbach film starring Ben Stiller and mumblecore mainstay Greta Gerwig and I really enjoyed it. I consider Baumbach’s 2005 release The Squid And The Whale one of my favorite movies and I thought there were some really great moments in Margot At The Wedding, but the casting of Nicole Kidman really hurt it. And of course his work with Wes Anderson is exceptional so I had really high hopes.
I was most surprised by Stiller’s acting. He’s proven before that he can play a dramatic role but in most cases it’s just played for laughs. And while Greenberg isn’t exactly your typical serious movie (thinking more “dramedy”), Stiller shows more of an emotional fragileness than anything else he’s been in. In the movie he plays Roger Greenberg, a 40-something man who’s just lost his job so he moves into his brother’s house. From there, he meets Gerwig’s Florence Marr. Praises are in order for Gerwig’s performance too, as she really plays off Stiller’s shallow interior. Here’s hoping she gets more roles.
I’d recommend the movie to anybody who’s a fan of Baumbach’s previous films or fans of the indie fare. Also, it helps if you’re okay with not feeling sympathy for the main character. Like Jeff Daniels in Squid, Stiller is just kind of a jerk. Without giving away too many details, the film explores what’s going on in his head and deals with it in a very realistic way. But if you’re looking for some Lifetime “path to redemption” kind of flick, this just might not be for you. Otherwise, Greenberg is a classic character study on the misanthropic.
New Music Tuesday: The National, High Violet
By brandonspears on Tuesday, May 11th, 2010
I’ve realized I’m a sucker for any and all sad bastard music. Wistful guitars, poignant lyrics and the sound of a singer’s slow croon? I’m there. But The National do it so well. And on their fifth release High Violet the band has managed to a more emotional bind than anything they’ve done previously. The music is beautiful and engaging, the lyrics are yearning but hopeful. Which isn’t to say that the band is just now “getting the formula,” but it’s nice to see them create a balance. 2010 will be their breakout year, and it’s hard for me to imagine any other album sounding better than this.
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Just like Roger Ebert complaining about video games and the amount of violence in Kick-Ass, it’s good to see the “Get off my lawn!” diatribe is coming from actual old people instead of this contrarian in a trucker hat.
(Though to be fair, I think Weingarten is a fantastic writer. I just happen to disagree with him more than half the time.)
You and Kevin both! And oh man I forgot about that! I hate when people spoil the endings for me. Someone did that when Dumbledore died. And also with the Sun & Jin thing. To anyone reading this I apologize! But oh my goodness so many people are gone now! Yes! What happened to Frank! I thought he got out! I feel like I need to go back and rewatch this season. It has been so confusing! You know how the smoke monster can't go through the pylons? How come Kate and everyone were able to climb over them that one time? Why can't the monster just go above them?
Asked by misskim
Oh, man, I never thought of that. Maybe the pylons were turned off the whole time when they climed over them and they just never knew? Or maybe it was just a plothole… Hmmm…
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I’m not even going to begin to explain the plot, but man can I not wait to see this movie. I’m pretty convinced that Christopher Nolan is incapable of making a bad movie.
