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Quick film recommendation and then The Furious Romantic needs to get back to his (active!) yelling.

Was perusing the home page of IMDb for only the fourth time today and I noticed that this film, Reprise, is finally opening in U.S. theaters. I say finally because I saw it in a packed house at the Museum of Modern Art literally a year ago. The director’s name is Joachim Trier, he’s a Norwegian filmmaker, and I have a feeling that we’ll be hearing from him again sometime in the near future.

My lady love and I both came out of this film feeling very much moved. It ain’t big and bold, but it’s one of those pieces of art that just feel…honest. The direction and cinematography and the acting are all very good. It’s funny and energetic and poignant all at once (hooray!).

Go see.

Here are several links that I saved to share on the site in the past several weeks, all rolled into one big post. Big Project is keeping me busy, so for today let’s just catch up on anything and everything a furious reader might want or need. It’s better than not sharing at all, and besides, two of the links actually come from sources outside of the NY Times!

An op-ed article about the dumbification of America.

Why do I feel as if I have been reading different and worsening versions of this same article since I was a senior in high school? Anyway, this latest version contains everything you might hope for from the “liberal” media: 1) Bush and Cheney bashing, 2) New data to support obvious information that we already know, and 3) A subtly snooty tone.

Between the three of these, a reader can be sure to receive exactly what we don’t need…more argument. I completely agree that Americans are getting dumber. It’d be a real surprise though, to run into an article (from either side of this bi-partisan struggle) that focuses more on the issue and less on the blame game. As for my contribution to the solution…oh…time for the next link… Read more

Those few readers who have been frequenting thefuriousromantic.com since its launch in early January might remember that the site tagline wasn’t always “Press Forward and Keep Yelling.” I decided to replace the previous line (”Get Mad”) with this phrase (imperative?) the day after engaging in a short nighttime conversation with my lady love about the options that we as a couple had available to us while trying to “make it” as both artists and young Americans of the non-head-up-ass variety. I will of course welcome any additional suggestions from anyone who thinks he or she might have one, but let it be known that, for us, all we could really come up with was “Press Forward and Keep Yelling.” So there that is.

I bring this up in order to introduce, in a general way, some more specific updates regarding a few things that have been promised in earlier posts on the site but have not yet appeared. That is to say: as backwards as this may at first seem…much of the actual stuff that I had hoped to share with everyone on this site hasn’t yet arrived because…I’ve been busy pressing forward. I am also storing up for a big yell.

In more specific terms: I have been working on another project apart from this blog. This may not seem like surprising news to some of you. To others, it may not seem like something that you, as a furious reader, need to know. But there are a few important reasons, relating to what you have read so far on the site, that have left me feeling that a site update may at this time be a good idea.

The first reason is that I am truly dedicated to differentiating this site from it’s main sources of information: the media and me. I don’t want this to be a place filled only with criticisms and complaints. Complainers and critics, in my opinion, deserve only a small percentage of any one person’s attention and/or consideration - and even then, this only holds true when they are either very smart or very good (if they were both, they wouldn’t be a critic or complainer). Anyway, I want more than a small amount of attention from you. In order to earn it, I feel like I should be contributing towards “change” in addition to simply calling for it to happen.

So…yeah…I’ve been working on another project. A big one. I will provide more information on this project when the time is right, but for now I only mention it as a means of providing an explanation for the following “broken promises.”

The Fiction Section - As mentioned in my post about the literary criminality of cell phone novels, I am currently in the middle of a long, indefinite break from fiction writing. The idea, when I first started the site in January, had been to populate this section of the site with those few polished short stories that I “completed” in 2006 and 2007, as well as to possibly start developing one or two new pieces as time progressed (and depending on your reaction to the older pieces). My failure to implement these steps has occurred as a result of:

1. The monopoly that my current project has held and continues to hold on my time (and life),
2. The nature of my current opinions regarding the value of traditional fiction to “the audience” at large,
3. And, finally, fear.

Regardless, I still do plan on releasing some of my work to the public…so…please be patient.All of these reasons - as far as I can tell - are both significant and legitimate. All will also, however, be dealt with in due time. The amount of traffic to the fiction section of the site has been very flattering. Despite the fact that it contains absolutely no content, it is the sixth-most visited page out of the 40+ that currently exist. I know that much of this traffic is due to the fact that many of my readers are friends - and friends that know me as more of a fiction writer than a blogger - but the interest is appreciated nonetheless. Thank you, and I promise that eventually, there will be fiction in the fiction section. Just go easy on me when that day comes.

The Video Section - This section of the site, for all offensive porpoises, is also empty. According to the last email that some of you received, as well as the inaugural video post, this should not be. There is, however, a good reason for the delay. The first webisode that was supposed to come-atcha came out well…but for certain reasons it can’t be finished until the next several webisodes are also finished. The next several webisodes can’t be started - never mind finished - because of the “big project.” Please understand that this is not due to a lack of initiative or desire. The video, like the fiction, will eventually arrive. But it won’t arrive until I can make sure that it’s up to par with both what I can do and what you deserve as an audience.

Feature Length Articles - Same old song and dance. A few longer posts have appeared on the site from its inception until now. But while these have (hopefully) offered a little more depth and insight than some of the quicker, shorter entries that I’ve been able to sneak in from time to time…they don’t quite represent what I’m envisioning in terms of the more substantive posts that you’ll eventually see once the “big project” is out of the way. Sadly enough, the list of yet-be-completed feature articles begins with the article that was previously going to be the introduction to this site. So….with that in mind…you can be decently sure that I’m going to get around to writing these sooner or later. If I don’t…then that means the whole endeavor has either failed or been derailed. Ain’t going to happen.

That’s really it. Once I am no longer under the heel of the “big project,” you’ll start seeing some of the material that you’ve been promised. In the meantime, please continue to visit the site for bits and pieces of fury and love.

Awwwww….

…grumble.

Second Skin is a documentary playing at this year’s South By Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival.

To quote a quote (from this page), the film provides “an intimate look at people whose lives have become transformed by the virtual worlds in online games such as World of Warcraft, Everquest and Second Life.”

Needless to say, I will be checking it out ASAP. Why did I just say that?

As mentioned in an earlier post, I’ll soon be working on producing some web video episodes (webisodes!) for the site. They will hopefully be both entertaining and thought-provoking. Look for the first one to arrive in three or four weeks.

For now, though, please watch (or re-watch) the only other online video(s) I can offer for the time being, which come from my first directing effort, Over Easy. Originally released as a standalone short film, I have split it into three parts for the internet.

Nothing like a good old Captain Planet reference to get things started off in the New Year.I meant to post this earlier but things been busier than a baby bee in a sweatshop. Netflix and LG have announced a partnership for bringing movies straight to the TV over the internet using a set-top box that will also play DVDs. There are a few reasons why this is significant.

1. This bodes extremely well for consumers like me who would like to control when and how they watch films and/or TV shows. What’s been holding TV on the internet back (now that the major studios and networks have finally begun offering their material online legally - because people were watching it there anyway, and because it makes financial sense) has been the lack of an easy and affordable way to get that material back to the TV. Most often, the TV is a better alternative than a computer screen, for reasons I won’t go into because of how obvious and simple they are. As of now, there are few good options in terms of getting films and TV in this way. Throw in with this announcement the fact that Netflix is a pretty smart and solid company overall (example: they’re planning on striking similar partnerships with other electronics manufactures, instead of pulling an Apple) and the chances that TV over the internet on the TV is a closer reality than it is far increase by a substantial margin.
2. Relatedly, this pays the proper amount of attention and respect to both younger and older consumers. Let’s face it (with our butts!), the mamas and the papas of the world aren’t going to be rushing to make the switch from DVD watching to downloading and streaming. Probably, younger generations will take time to make the switch as well. That’s why this is a good idea. The future may not be certain in terms of whether or not hard copy media is going to go all the way out the door, but in terms of the present: it pays to have multiple formats available. Mark my words in pretty pink ink.
3. Relatedly (again), this also means that in the future, if our children want to watch something, all they’ll have to do is pick up the remote (or keyboard) and say “gimme.” There’s nothing dangerous about that.

For anyone who finds the technical and/or commercial side of this topic interesting, I suggest you check out Scott Kirsner’s CinemaTech blog. If you want to talk about how to raise your spoiled babies, you can contact me, because I can talk about something like that all night long. All night.

*    *    *

Note: I should point out that the device discussed above would not be the first option for getting TV and/or films more “completely on demand.” The Vudu set-top box is an example of something that is currently available. I only think that the Netflix partnership sounds like an important step in the eventual popularization of such a process. As noted above, check out Scott Kirsner’s Cinematech blog for links to the most current announcements of this sort.

 

NOTE: For a “dueling review” visit Yesterday’s Salad and read No Country or No Old Men? Pick ‘Em.

* * *

I had been trying to think of a good way to start off a review of No Country for Old Men, and today I found one, courtesy of Peter Travers from Rolling Stone. Says Mr. Travers:

“Misguided souls will tell you that No Country for Old Men is out for blood, focused on vengeance and unconcerned with the larger world outside a standard-issue suspense plot. Those people, of course, are deaf, dumb, and blind to anything that isn’t spelled out between commercials on dying TV networks. Joel and Ethan Coen’s adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s 2005 novel is an indisputably great movie, at this point the year’s very best. [It is] a literate meditation (scary words for the Transformers crowd) on America’s bloodlust for the easy fix. It’s also as entertaining as hell, which tends to rile up elitists.”

Despite having what Mr. Travers might call a “more or less well-guided soul,” I was fairly pissed off by his use of such fightin’ words as “deaf, dumb, and blind.” I was greatly pissed off by the last sentence of the previous excerpt: “It’s also entertaining as hell, which tends to rile up elitists.” While Mr. Travers is entitled to his opinion, there are a few problems with taking a swipe at both the “misguided souls” of the film watching community and the “elitists” of the film watching community…in the span of a few sentences.

1. It sort of implies that only a small group of really special people (super-elitists with well-guided souls?), led by Mr. Travers himself, can truly appreciate this movie.
2. It puts the writer in the difficult position of defending an indefensible point (an opinion) from two fronts: The Stoopids is gonna yell at you in between commercials on their dying TV networks, and the Snark-Attackers are going to band together at the local bar to get drunk and skewer you…in between being clever and complaining about society and the misfortunes of their lives…before then setting off to the local indie theater to watch unentertaining movies films! full of pauses and poetry.

It’s a good thing Peter Travers is completely wrong when he says that No Country for Old Men is an indisputably great movie. I dispute, home skillet. I dispute. No Country for Old Men is a good, but ultimately disappointing, movie.

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