drunk, arrogant, and thankf...oh fuck it...

oh arrogant bastard...help me find a way to summarize the events of the previous week...

so monday night i sat down to watch Talk to Me...the 2007 movie about the life of Mr. Petey Greene...as directed by Kasi Lemmons...this movie sat next to the dvd player for a month...why...because while i dig anything Don Cheadle steps in front of the camera for...and Ms. Lemmons previous work...especially Eve's Bayou...struck me as the work of a director with a strong voice...if needing to grow over time...but this one fairly shouts...VANITY BIOPIC...which rarely works out...for the audience...so when i sat down to watch the movie...i had a book in my lap...just in case...

here's what i thought worked about this movie...the performances...Cheadle and Chiwetel Ejiofor play the difficult friendship between their two characters with authenticity...Petey Greene, ex-con, ex-drug dealer, had a PHD from the streets...Dewey Hughes, at least this movie's version of him, is cut from the same cloth as Sidney Poitier's...New Negro...you don't see this class tension among black folk played out very often in a piece of mainstream entertainment...and it rings true here because the two leads hit all the right notes without playing to stereotype...not too much anyway...the poolhall scenes are the heart of their relationship...

there are some excellent moments from director Lemmons as well...especially a recreation of a Tonight Show appearence by Greene...and some deft work around a James Brown concert after the MLK assassination...

really though, that's all i can recommend about this movie...Taraji Henson is wasted here on a cardboard thin character...Lemmons direction is flat most of the way...too often relying on montage...and the actors are the only thing that keep some of the dialog from being laughable...i won't even mention the inaccuracies...others have done a good job already...

i ended up not reading that book in my lap...i didn't get carried away by this movie either...mostly, it made me think about my friend shoun...well...i should say he's someone i try to be a friend to...i can't say he's done too much to reciprocate...and it was weird that he contacted me that night...his health is not good...which is a shame because he's a talented young black man...i'd like to see him become an old black man...and what he can do with his talent during that time...maybe he'll try to take care of himself...

meanwhile, life goes on...and on of the perks of being a volunteer for the Denver International Film Festival...is the occasional free screening...this year it was Surveillance from director Jennifer Lynch...yes, David Lynch's daughter...i walked in knowing nothing about this movie...i didn't know until the credits who the director was...and what a craptastic way to spend an hour and a half...nihilistic and condescending towards rural people...especially cops...i nearly walked out...instead, i waited and hoped for this movie to redeem itself...it didn't...

there are movies that are guilty pleasures...cheap tawdry rhinestones that aspire to nothing more than entertainment...and they succeed...

and there are films that are difficult to watch...but reward you for your time and effort...

two reviews...

i wanted to love both of these books...especially because three or four different people recommended them to me after hearing about/reading the hearts of others...i'm still not sure why though...well, i know why...

do you remember that bowling pin table lamp you made in 8th grade shop class...no one ever said, wow you made that...you would really like the eames chair...it's got wood in it too...




that's what reading these books was like for me...



Winterson's Written on the Body has the faint scent of Literature to it...maybe it because she's British...they make english sound like a whole 'nuther language...maybe it's because the book's narrator is an unnamed and genderless first person voice...or maybe it's because of passages like this...

"Louise, in this single bed, between garish sheets, I will find a map as likely as any treasure hunt. I will explore you and mine you and you will redraw me according to your will. We shall cross one another's boundaries and make ourselves one nation. Scoop me in your hands for I am good soil. Eat of me and let me be sweet."

beautiful language...successful language...yet a bit ambitious for my taste...it fairly screams...LOOK AT ME I'M WRITING...it's language for the sake of language...it's not language in service to storytelling...

the good news is that i gave this book a chance...somewhere around page 30 I was hooked and found that when Winterson got around to telling the story of the central love affair...i found it thoughtful and moving...

and then she lost me again...i won't reveal the plot device that ruined the second half of the book for me...i'll just say that i wanted to throw the book against the wall...

oddly, i'm pretty sure i'll be rereading Written on the Body...there's a lot here i can learn from...



i could say the same thing for J. Eric Miller's short story collection, Animal Rights & Pornography...except that i probably won't be rereading this one...

these powerful, devastating, stories are...not for anyone who can't stomach frank and direct descriptions of...incest, rape, animal slaughter, and being married to a stripper...to name only a few...seriously...

good storytelling should be harrowing...make your innards tighten in knots...something is at stake in these stories and...without being gratuitous or heavy handed...they don't let us forget it...

i might not read this book again, but you can be sure i will seek out more of Miller's writing...it would be difficult to convince me to pick up something by Ms. Winterson...

i am very grateful for my friends...

a good friend...recently gave me a book...and it is a great gift simply because...while it is something i would never think to buy for myself, it is perfectly targeted to my...interests and proclivities...

i started reading it today...and the Faulkner interview is a revelation...not simply because i haven't read any of his work...that soon will be corrected...but because his demeanor during the interview...and his stated approach to writing...felt like the words of a kindred spirit...coming from my mouth, the same words would make me sound like a...self important gas bag...i guess when you when win two pulitzers, and a nobel, you get to talk like an ass...seriously, read the interview for yourself...does this sound like someone you'd have a beer with...judge for yourself...i would...

i was also struck by his comments regarding race in america...in the context of the murder of Emmett Till...i wouldn't be shocked to find out if Mr. Faulkner was not a saint of race relations, but i found his response to be tough, clearheaded and relavent to our new 21st century america...

"...if we Americans are to survive it will have to be because we chose and elect and defend to be first of all Americans; to present to the world one homogeneous and unbroken front, whether of white American or black ones or purple or blue or green..."

so, thank you Gary...

my favorite words of the night...

historosity...

decide-icide...

turd-pounder...

getting hammered...election night 2008...

when obama wins a state, take a shot...if mcain wins 2 of the 4 following states...ohio, pennsylvania, virginia, florida...do a double shot...he can't win without two of those states...and beers and car bombs...as necessary...please, do enjoy...and call your designated driver...

all shots are based on three verified calls...NYT...538...and Fox