Archive for Deborah Lipp

Monday Movie Review: The Savages

June 9, 2008 / / Comments Off on Monday Movie Review: The Savages

The Savages (2007) 8/10
John Savage (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and his sister Wendy (Laura Linney) are faced with placing their estranged father (Philip Bosco) in a nursing home.

You might have to talk yourself into seeing this one, because the description sounds relentlessly sad. The previews tried to overcome this by showing funny lines and painting it as a family comedy. But The Savages is neither relentlessly sad nor a family comedy. Instead it is a human story about flawed, struggling people with a surprising naturalism to their relationships. For several days after seeing it, I felt John and Wendy as if I knew them. Over a course of days, I gained understanding about their flaws and their behaviors, just as I do with people I know, when I mull over the things they do and say.

Particularly striking is the way that John and Wendy interact like siblings; a little dependent, a little defensive, a little loving, and very, very familiar.

It is impossible to discuss The Savages without comparing it to You Can Count On Me. Both are movies about the relationship between a brother and sister (both times played by Linney) who have not really grown up. In You Can Count on Me, the Prescott siblings are arrested at the emotional age they were when their parents were killed in a car crash; in The Savages, it’s when they were abandoned by their mother (who went out to dinner and never came back). In both, Linney’s character is acting out her childish neediness by having an affair with a married man. And, too, both are very good movies.

John and Wendy’s names are obviously a reference to Peter Pan, but instead of feeling hammered with the “won’t grow up” theme, I thought about the odd, disconnected parents who thought that was a clever thing to name their kids. The reference is never explictly mentioned on-screen (thank God!). Even the names end up with an additional subtlety, as I noticed that “savage” is something like the opposite of “darling.”

The Savages, as a family, are not clichéd, and sometimes that feels surprising. John is a failure at relationships; he is allowing his long-time girlfriend to return to Poland rather than marry her. He is defensive about his weight, and his house is a mess. Yet he is steady, and thoughtful, and comforting, and Wendy knows she can count on him. Wendy is the flighty, irresponsible one, yet she, too, has a lot more to her than is readily apparent. They are not their character sketches; they are people.

And that’s what I keep coming back to. I could tell you more about the story and the characters, but what I keep coming back to is the people-ness of John and Wendy, and how I felt like I’d spent time with smart, sad, interesting people who I was glad to get to know.

Going away!

June 9, 2008 / / 5 comments

Wow, I didn’t post all weekend. I suck.

I’ve been busily preparing for Free Spirit Gathering, during which I will be teaching or facilitating four different workshops. None of which will be on Thursday, because on Thursday I’m leaving the festival to take Arthur to his college orientation!

I will be gone from tomorrow morning until Sunday night, and I will not be bringing my laptop. No! Computers!

Also, Arthur will be “collecting” his 18th birthday present at Free Spirit, which is his first tattoo. I’m…not like other mothers.

Anyway, Tom will be minding the store and hosting the trivia, and that always works out.

No Catblogging

June 6, 2008 / / 3 comments

So, in case you haven’t noticed, there’s been no catblogging lately. It’s Bill Gates’s fault.

I really do hate Vista. Fuck Vista. I had no choice but to get it, because I couldn’t find a good new computer with XP on it, and my old computer died, and you get the picture.

But my photo editor doesn’t have working filters on Vista. Everything else works; I can open, mask, crop, resample, all those photo-y things. But I can’t sharpen, brighten, or any of those things, so I can’t take crappy cat pictures and turn them into awesomely adorable cat pictures.

So I should focus on solving this problem. Instead I just grunt and growl and move on to some other task.

So, fyi, cats still cute.

An elegant sentence

June 5, 2008 / / Comments Off on An elegant sentence

“I weather-proofed the hat, too.”

I love this: Real frickin progress

June 4, 2008 / / One comment

Via Ampersand, who got it from Ezra Klein:

Towards the end of the 1967 movie “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” Dr. John Wane Prentice, played by Sydney Poitier, sits down with his fiance’s white father, played by Spencer Tracy. “Have you given any thought to the problems your children will have?” Tracy asks. “Yes, and they’ll have some…[But] Joey feels that all of our children will be President of the United States,” replies Poitier. “How do you feel about that?” asks Tracy, looking skeptically at the black man in front of him. “I’d settle for Secretary of State,” Poitier laughs.

Written in the late-1960s, the exchange was, indeed, laughable. The Civil Rights Act had been passed three years prior. Two years before, the Watts riots had broken out, killing 35. Martin Luther King Jr. would be assassinated a year later. But here we are, almost exactly 40 years after theatergoers heard that exchange. The last two Secretaries of State were African-American and, as of tonight, the next president may well be a black man. John Prentice’s children would probably still be in their late-30s. They could still grow up to be cabinet officials or even presidents, but they would not necessarily be trailblazers.

Tying movies to politics? Deborah Lipp: This is Your Life!

You know what? It’s easy to look at the current climate of racism; the hatred of brown people as expressed by hostility towards immigration, religious prejudice disguised as fear of terrorism, comedians who say “n****r” and then say they aren’t racist, Confederate flags flown with pride, comparisons of Barack Obama to a chimp or Curious George, conflation of all of it in the rank malificence that is the “Barack Hussein Obama” meme, to see all of that, and feel that pit in your stomach like, we’ve made no progress at all.

But by fucking golly, we have.

Want

June 4, 2008 / / 6 comments

Want!

Update: Getting

Not going to out anyone here, but the t-shirt is on the way and how happy is me? See? Me forgot how to write. So happy.

June trivia

June 3, 2008 / / 59 comments

All Solved! Go ahead and play trivia in comments!
1. It’s June! Name a movie with “June” in the title.
Solved by maurinsky (comment #4).

2. June is for brides. Name three movies with “Bride” in the title.
Solved by Evn (comments #1 and 3).

3. June is busting out all over! Name 2 movies with “All Over” in the title.
Solved by maurinsky (comment #8).

4. The Summer Solstice occurs this month. Name 2 movies with “Summer” in the title.
Solved by maurinsky (comment #4).

5. The Sun goes into Cancer (the sign of the Crab) this month. Name 3 movies about ocean life.
Solved by Evn (comment #1).

6. But before that, it’ll be in Gemini (the Sign of the Twins). Name 3 movies concerning twins.
Solved by Evn (comment #2) and by maurinsky 9 minutes later (with one overlapping movie) (comment #4).

7. And name 2 movies featuring summer vacations.
Solved by maurinsky (comment #4).

Monday Movie Review: Psycho

June 2, 2008 / / 11 comments

Psycho (1960) 10/10
Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), on the way to the bank with $40,000 her employer has given her to deposit in the bank, instead takes off, realizing the money could get her boyfriend (John Gavin) out of debt, allowing him to marry her. Stopping at a motel, she meets Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) and everything changes. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Okay, is this a spoilery review, or not? Not, I think. Which makes it hard to write a review, of this twisty, turny movie, because part of its brilliance is in the way it skews audience expectations.

I’ve seen Psycho three or four times. At first I didn’t like it; didn’t get it. But it was a friend’s favorite movie and on his behalf I saw it again, and it was one of those “click” moments, where I was suddenly overwhelmed by everything that was happening in the film. It’s not so much the movie itself, but the way that Hitchcock makes this spare little thriller (which was criticized as nothing more than an extended episode of his TV show) wring meaning and power and tension out of every moment, every inch of film, every camera angle. From shadows to wall decor, from costume to dialogue, each component is deliberate and adds to the overall experience, while still seeming stripped-down and raw.

The acting is extraordinary. Anthony Perkins kind of ruined his career by being so brilliant. Previously a teen hearthrob, playing unassuming, sweet characters who usually get the girl (Friendly Persuasion and The Tin Star come to mind), after Psycho he was relegated to horror, because his performance was so iconic.

Janet Leigh is also great. Stunning, really; she didn’t make nearly enough movies, as far as I’m concerned. I like Martin Balsam as a private detective quite a lot; John Gavin and Vera Miles less so, but they give serviceable performances.

Psycho shows us people in isolation with their hopes and doubts, that which they’ll accept and that which they cannot accept. A crucial conversation between Marion and Norman, in a room full of looming stuffed birds, lays out the movie’s themes: People are trapped in prisons of their own devising; maybe they can escape, but probably they cannot. And the people in this film overlap without really interacting. This, too, is apparent in the conversation between Marion and Norman—they speak of themselves without truly connecting to the other—but it is reflected in virtually every conversation.

But, like many of Hitchcock’s movies, Psycho is also about movies, and about audiences. We expect certain things, we become attached, we have sympathies and fears. And Hitchcock is playing games with us; he wants us to see that our expectations are merely formulaic, that our sympathies aren’t necessarily well-placed. He manipulates us in a way that says, movies always manipulate the audience, so let’s put our cards on the tabe. And it’s brilliant.

Sunday Meditation: Adorning Your Altar

June 1, 2008 / / Comments Off on Sunday Meditation: Adorning Your Altar

We’ve been talking about altars, and about doing things that connect you to deity through your altar.

Previously, we’ve discussed using creative activities to attain a meditative state, and this dovetails well with altar work, because you can create beautiful objects to adorn your altar.

I’m going to use beading as an example. A wonderful way to adorn your altar is to make a necklace, crown, or other adornment for your idol. It will personalize your altar and can be an offering given reverently. Then, whenever you see it on your idol, you’ll be reminded of your offering and your reverence.

Beading is a fairly easy hobby to pick up on; you can make simple strands with no more prior knowledge than tying a knot. Basic supplies are available at any craft store (like Michael’s or A.C. Moore).If you make the necklace large enough to slip over the idol’s head, you don’t have to mess around with clasps or findings.

Before you begin, measure the approximate length you want by using string or thread to simulate the desired look on your idol. You can wrap the strand two or three times around for a lavish look, and of course, you’ll want to measure a length to accomodate that. Later, when you prepare your beading area, have the length (with plenty of extra at the ends for knotting) already cut so that you can move easily into a meditative state without a lot of fuss.

Now choose your beads. Consider the colors that are sacred to your deity (red and black for Kali, white for Isis, gold and green for Brigid) and meaningful symbols (sea shells? coins?). Choose more than you strictly need so that your creativity isn’t blocked when you run out of a bead you really want to use.

Your beading can be rich and sparkly , or simple stones, and need not be placed directly on the idol.

When beading, don’t work on a slick surface like a wood table; use a table cloth or a tray so that beads don’t roll away. Even if you normally meditate in the dark, bright lights are your friends. Wash your hands, and if you’re using string, consider having a block of wax (craft stores sell it for just this purpose) to wax the string and make it easier to get the beads on. You might use a clip at the end of the string so you can add beads without fear of them coming off the end. Have some glue available; a dab of glue on the finished knot will help keep it secure.

With your beads and stringing material laid out and ready, prepare your space with candles, incense, or whatever you normally use.

Ground and center. You might add a prayer to the deity for whom your are making this necklace.

Look at the beads before you, and imagine how your necklace will look. If you want a symmetrical necklace, you should lay out your pattern in advance (professionals and committed hobbyists use a beading board). Allow creativity to flow through you as you choose your beads and lay out their arrangement.

Continue to breath into your center and inhale creativity, beauty, and adornment, which you exhale into the work you are doing.

Begin now to strand the beads onto the string. Place each bead mindfully and rhythmically.

When you are finished, hold the necklace before you and allow yourself to enjoy the beauty you have made. As you tie the final knot, thank the deity and release the energy into your work.

You can make a ritual of offering the necklace on a separate occasion.

« Older Entries   Recent Entries »
zeeReputation Theme