 |
 |
 |
||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
cynical behavior
5/22/05:
As Star Wars: Episode III packs
theatres with obvious record breaking business, the power of the bandwagon
shows greater than any other force in the galaxy.
Star Wars is such an overhyped event
that many attendees of the movie are hardly familiar with the other episodes
let alone fans of them. People may get dragged by their children,
their dates or their friends, but the level of otherwise indifferent participants
is uncommonly high. Few will accept the scorn of being the only
outsider at the water cooler come monday morning.
Besides this unnecessary hastiness of impatient
consumers with complaints of crowdedness that they help to create, though,
is a more simple and seemingly more innocent example of a desired involvement
with "buzz" and branded brainwashing. Here is a conversation
frequently overheard at theatres this weekend:
Customer: This is in digital,
right?
Employee: We have digital sound
but not picture.
Customer: What is the difference?
Employee: One is sound and the other
is picture.
Customer: But it's digital.
Employee: We don't have digital
projectors, if that is
what
you mean. We just have digital sound.
Customer: Hold on, let me call my
(spouse or friend).
The fact that this customer does not
know the difference makes it likely that he or she will not even notice
a difference in picture quality (or sound quality). Obviously digital
projection has become a trendy thing to know about without actually knowing
anything about it. Theatres with digital projection sold out those
showtimes much quicker than their non-digital showtimes. Theatres
without digital projection were not left out in the cold, though.
Just seeing the movie is good enough to participate in discussions.
Even those who watch the worst quality pirated videos are able to be involved.
Ignorance and eventual apathy shown toward
digital picture is a relief to film purists, but the fashion of its attention
is unlikely to die this weekend. The success of Episode III
has proven the demand for Lucas' franchise. Already being rumored
is that 20th Century Fox will argue for the production of more sequels
with or without his help. More definite is the argument Lucas will
have with theatre owners regarding their purchase of digital projectors
in order to accomodate a proposed 3-D re-release of all six episodes in
2007. All he has to do is further the public awareness and convince
moviegoers that the next time will not be about seeing or not seeing the
movie. How the movie is seen will be the topic of conversation
at the water cooler come two years from now. The bandwagon will
be strong with this one.
5/10/05:
It is some kind of coincidence that I have just
been asked to be co-Best Man at my older brother's wedding (my younger
brother is the other co-Best Man) and then TCM ran a wedding movie marathon.
Because, you know, how many people in the world could have been invited
for such an honor on this exact day (or yesterday as my brother called
me last night)? I mean, it really freaked me out!!! (No, it
didn't).
The only feature that I caught is the original
Father of the Bride, which I'd never seen prior. I don't
have much to say about the film; it was no less sitcomish than the Steve
Martin remake, though Spencer Tracy is more subtly hilarious. I
can say that the film got me very anxious about my brother's wedding.
Everyone gets excited to attend a wedding that they don't have to plan,
particularly after seeing the things Tracy had to comedically endure.
We all like showing up, getting drunk, embarassing ourselves by shaking
it to "Shout", making us nostalgic for 7th grade dances, and
hopefully making out with a bridesmaid we'll never see again. Paying
attention to the ceremony and what the bride and groom is doing is the
last thing on our minds. We find ourselves in the place of Spencer
Tracy, missing everyting, but by choice. Okay, hopefully we aren't
that insincere.
Of course this time, I
will be involved in the wedding planning. I might not have a say
in the actual ceremony or reception, but I have things to do and only
4 months to do them! I have to be fitted for a tuxedo. I have
to co-plan a bachelor party (and because I only relate to cinematic life,
we will have to get a stripper and accidentally kill her). I have
to write a speech!! Then, eventually I get the booze, the dancefloor
and the easy bridesmaid. I can not wait.
Check out my essay on movie weddings from one year ago:
Cinematrimony:
A Pessimist's Guide to Weddings in Film
5/8/05:
Flipping through channels at my mother's
house today, I came upon the Sci-Fi Channel's presentation of Junior.
I've never seen the movie nor do I really plan to, but I appreciated its
being scheduled on mother's day. There are plenty of appropriate
films to watch with your mom on this Hallmark holiday and this is not
one of them. If I had been alone, though, I felt there fewer more
fitting for a man to watch. Maybe on that list is also Mr. Mom,
Three Men and a Baby and any of those other single-man-with-baby
formulas, but really those make more sense for father's day next month.
The concept of Junior suits
me a little better -and this isn't weird because I do not want to be a
pregant man nor do I want to be a woman -with my honest admittance of
womb envy. Not as recognized as the reciprocal penis envy, womb
envy relates to the feeling of inadequate human experience. No matter
what I do or don't do with my life, getting pregnant and giving birth
will never even be an option. Some women who aren't mothers might
think the concept insane because of the pain involved, but I bet a lot
of those who have been through it can understand the jealousy. Being
a mother is obviously a much bigger thing than being a father.
Take a solipsistically paranoid view
on the matter. Suppose that you saw a few too many Philip K. Dick
adaptations (Blade Runner was also on TV this afternoon) and
felt that everyone you know is a robot or a figment of your imagination
or part of "The Matrix". The only thing close enough to
experiencing another being's existence would have to be birthing that
being. Sure, maybe that baby growing inside of you is a symbiotic
creature (like in Alien) not truly created of you, but otherwise
you will have a greater trust that your child is as real as yourself.
"I birth therefore he is," becomes the analagous philosophical
statement.
Anyway, happy mother's day from the Film Cynic!
Blog Archives:
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
September 2004
May 2004
April 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
December 2003
November 2003
October 2003
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||||