so, i haven't posted in a few days, but not for lack of watching anything. once again, i have some movies and some tv to report on.
yesterday i had my third training at the videostore. it went pretty well, i think, and i can tell it's going to remind me of being a librarian, which is totally positive. i was feeling like spending some time with curmudgeons on the box so i brought home these: crumb and american splendor. crumb is a documentary about r. crumb, and american splendor is the harvey pekar one, in which crumb is a character. you must have seen american splendor but have you seen crumb? what i liked about it was how it's sort of a portrait of middle america nutso. crumb's family is pretty out there, lotsa cultural snobbery and recluses and anxiety medication and even some sitting on a bed of nails. of course, this behavior by himself and brothers (the sisters wouldn't have anything to do with the movie) is all because their dad was superabusive and their mom was a 50s amphetamine addict. not in the way of the warhol superstars, more like in the way of a todd haynes character. there's oodles of sex weirdness and crumb might be hostile towards women which works out well because his wife is a self-proclaimed self-loather. it made me want to revisit ghost world and read more comics. the only comic i'm into right now is sweet tooth. the gothgirl comic phase is over. this one's about a half-boy half-deer. it's great. and then american splendor, which i love the misery of and i love how the people who are characters played by actors show up as themselves. i also like how they adopt an illustrator's daughter. love the forming of an unconventional family story.
after that, i watched empire records with my roommate. i haven't seen it in years but it was a high school favorite. i had the same experience watching this as i did watching reality bites recently and realizing how much of these movies informed what i thought my 20s would be like. outside of using toilet paper as a coffee filter and knowing a prescription drug addict, none of it panned out.
then today i watched some friday night lights on instant after my friend matt, a very trusted source, recommended it. i love war movies even though they're always about men. or because of? anyway, i feel the same way about this one. it's all football, but high school texas football. i'm learning things about football that i wouldn't get anywhere else or really care to, but i like knowing more about it since sports are suddenly appealing to me.
because i couldn't watch anything any more, i went to the community radio station where i practiced switching between songs and also banter, and then target where i got cheap jeans and some bras, and now i have to go watch a 1980s customer service training video for the videostore job. the star of the CSTV is southern and wears colorful scarves pinned in ways you'd expect. it's so cold in maine, snow and rain type cold. that means allergy season is over, right?
also, buying bras at target made me miss the bra wizard. i hope he lives forever.
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i'm glad you came back with such a sweet post.
ReplyDeleteamerican splendor might be a perfect movie. i just looked to see what else the directors have directed and it's nothing special, which makes me think that the vision behind it was mostly harvey pekar. i also love that actor who plays crumb because he's in henry fool. i think about harvey pekar when i worry that my life isn't going anywhere. he's such a great mix of fame, doing what he wants and just plugging away at the day to day.
i saw crumb years ago and it made an impression. it made me feel kind of sick because their childhood was such a fucking mess. and, it's interesting that robert is the most normal of the brothers. i feel that as a movie, it could be better, although i'm not sure of specific examples any more, but it's always interesting to get a view of someone's life.
a movie i saw in february that's a mix of crumb and the devil and daniel johnston is you're gonna miss me (2005) about roky erikson from the 13th floor elevators. watching it made me kind of fall in love with roky. it's interesting that he came back to have another hit in bleib alien.
it was amazing that erik still had such a good voice after all those year and that i could still find his good looking underneath the weight and grossness. sometimes i think a lot about how people become famous, but this movie made me think about how some people can help but become famous.
the first hole in the videostore collection is you're gonna miss me. it might be on instant. either way, i'm gonna have to watch it. i rented dig, the one about the brianjonestown massacre and the dandy warhols and how they rage on tour, but i haven't watched it yet.
ReplyDeleteanyway, i call things perfect movies sometimes but i never really thought about the criteria for perfect. maybe it's just a movie that i wouldn't change anything about?
i think a perfect movie is unique and amazing. aaron would talk about how the life aquatic was almost the perfect movie but it was just short. i'm a rushmore girl.
ReplyDeletei haven't seen dig but i know all about it. i feel like i don't like either band enough to watch it. but you've got to see you're gonna miss me.