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shadowkatAnother crisp and clear sky-blue day. In the upper 40s and low 50s, not sure what that is in Celsius. Spring for what it is worth has apparently arrived in NYC, complete with trees in full bloom and daffodils and tulips budding. Went to the farmer's market, bought fresh tomato sauce, apples, and eggs, then wandered home - since my back was bugging me.
1. Just finished watching the surrealistic award winning film : Beasts of the Southern Wild - which is about a 6 year old little girl who lives in the Mississippi Delta with her father when Hurricane Katrina hits. It is told completely from "Hushpuppy" - the little girl's perspective, hence the surreal nature. I can see why it got mixed reviews, and it is admittedly slow in places - sort of like watching a visual poetry. Which in a way is reminiscent of Terrence Malik films, albeit less arrogant and not as self-indulgent. Definitely not everyone's cup of tea as the case may be. I know at least two people who despised the film and found it to be dull and over-rated, while most of the people who reviewed it online loved it.
In places the film is rather magical...and the cinematography astounding, in others it sort of meanders and wanders...and I start to drift asleep much as I did during Sofia Coppola's far less interesting and definitely overrated films - The Virgin Suicides and Lost in Translation. This film has a lot more to say than Coppola did and isn't as self-indulgent and silly. But is sort of in the same film sub-genre - surrealism. There are better films out there that Beasts matches, such as Luis Buneal's That Obscure Object of Desire, or the film Black Orpheus. (I watched a lot of these films in my 20s and 30s, and my brother made one or two.)
In some respects Beasts of the Southern Wild reminds me more of another surrealistic piece about the Southern US, this time the Gullah, entitled Daughter's of the Dust, except I think it, Beasts of the Southern Wild is ever so slightly better - it's narrative is tighter and more focused, in part because there are less characters.
It's really about a child navigating the difficult terrain between life and death and who she is, consciousness, and her purpose for being. She's practically raising herself at this point anyhow - so it is a tragic yet equally uplifting story about Hushpuppy's survival - in difficult circumstances. She has next to nothing, her father is ill and dying, and her mother gone - and she lives next to or literally on the sea or as she calls it The bathtub.
Away from society, in a small close community. And since we see everything through her eyes - the adults seem wacky and incomprehensible most of the time. She's attempting to make sense of her surroundings and her place within them. Coming to the conclusion that everything is connected and she is part of the whole and matters because she is a piece of it.
Watching Beasts...is a bit like watching a very long visual prose poem. If you don't like that sort of thing...I wouldn't rent it. If you do - you'll most likely adore it. Poetry doesn't quite work for everyone, I've discovered. Wish it did, sometimes I think life would be easier if it did, but it is what it is.
2. Doctor Who Episode - Hide - one of the better Doctor Who episodes to date, which admittedly surprised me, because people were comparing it to the Rings of Achteung episode, which I did not like. [ETA: Apparently the same writer wrote both. Oh well, we're all granted one bad episode after all.] This one was much much better written. Hard to tell it was from the same writer - the two episodes are nothing alike. It's actually my favorite of this season, so far.
Had the lead actress from Call the Midwife in the guest role of the psychic, which I admittedly struggled a bit with - since I'm not crazy about this particular actress, no idea why. Also there were a few, not many heavy-handed emotional scenes that felt...trite and unnecessary, but other than that - it worked for me.
Also there was a brief blurb on the new Tardis and how they made the entry-way shorter. Feels longer to me somehow. So maybe I misheard them?
Rather like Clara and the actress playing her. [The actress has huge eyes, by the way, like out of a magna comic book (which always puzzled me, why do all the characters in Magna comics have huge round eyes? That's a separate discussion. ) She's also short. Why are they always so short?Can't they find tall actresses to play the companion? [ETA: Apparently they can, but Karen Gillian just doesn't look that tall on camera, neither for that matter does Katie Holmes. While Catherine Tate struck me as tall as does Alex Kingston.] I know, I know...the sets are tiny, so it is actually easier with a shorter actress, plus the actor's playing the Doctor aren't that tall. ] Also she's quite funny, great comic timing. Her interaction with the Doctor regarding hunting down the ghost, made me laugh.
Doctor: Let's go hunt a ghost.
Clara: And why would I want to do that?
Doctor: Because you do.
Clara: Really don't.
Doctor: Come on, where's your sense of adventure?
Clara (raises an eyebrow).
Doctor tilts his head towards the door.
Clara studiously ignores the gesture.
Doctor: I'm making that face.
Clara sighs and follows.
Usually they are running off ahead of him, and he's telling them not to go do that. Clara seems to be a bit brighter.
The writer (Matt Davis? Neil Cross) has clearly either watched or read Shirly Jackson's the Haunting of Hill House one too many times - there are several shout-outs to it, the knocking, the equipment, the psychic, the clutching of Clara's hand and not by the Doctor.
I agree with people on my flist - less characters and a more contained story works better. It tends to be tighter and easier to tell in 43 minutes.
Also, the switch from ghost story to time-traveler tale, and tale of two lovers separated by a dimension, was deftly done. The latter two tales are directly related to the Doctor's story. The Professor and Emma meeting their grown-up granddaughter in a space-suit who is a time traveler - reminds me a bit of Amy and Rory meeting Dr. River Song. It's a clear corollary. The Time Traveler being caught in a pocket dimension in an old Victorian House, in a white space-suite - reminds me of Silence in the Library - or the Doctor having to save her by placing her in another dimension, but being forever cut off from River - in much the same way that he is forever cut off from Rose Tyler. (Although a doppleganger of the Tenth Doctor, who is human, is currently in that universe with Rose.) Add to that the two creatures trying to reach each other - trapped in two separate dimensions - remniscent of the Doctor =Amy and Rory, and to a degree the Doctor = River Song (when she dies and goes permanently to the Library).
Emma also comments to Clara that she should be wary of the Doctor, who has a sliver of ice in his heart. Clara is faced with that sliver when she asks him how he can be so unaffected by the fact that he just saw Earth's birth and death in five minutes. The Doctor looks confused and shrugs. Are we just all ghosts to you? We must be, she tells him. Which in truth is what Clara is to the Doctor - a ghost. And may explain why the Tardis reacts somewhat coldly to her - as well. Neither can quite figure her out. She keeps dying. Yet reappears. He asks Emma what she is - and Emma states, confused, a normal, ordinary, living girl like herself. Yet, is she? Or is she like the time traveler they rescue?
And...when one travels through time, can one be unaffected by it? The Professor mentions the temporal shifts and discrepancies, which the Doctor states can be corrected. But he admits he can't change time or what happens exactly. And yes, you are affected, you do become slightly callous - watching people you love disappear. Grow old. Die. Over and over again. That must have an effect on you over time. There are some things you can run from after all, but not time - you can't run from the temporariness of things. Which in a way is what the Doctor is trying to do, run away from time, but it keeps catching up to him.
Everything ends, Clara states, depressed. Not love, states Emma. Love lasts. And the Doctor tells Clara that the story they are in is not a horror tale, not a ghost story, but a love story...which he goes off to fix, reuniting the lovers with the help of the Tardis - at great risk to them both.
Interesting episode. Loved the way it handled the multiple themes without being too heavy-handed or too intellectual about any of them. Better balanced than the others.
1. Just finished watching the surrealistic award winning film : Beasts of the Southern Wild - which is about a 6 year old little girl who lives in the Mississippi Delta with her father when Hurricane Katrina hits. It is told completely from "Hushpuppy" - the little girl's perspective, hence the surreal nature. I can see why it got mixed reviews, and it is admittedly slow in places - sort of like watching a visual poetry. Which in a way is reminiscent of Terrence Malik films, albeit less arrogant and not as self-indulgent. Definitely not everyone's cup of tea as the case may be. I know at least two people who despised the film and found it to be dull and over-rated, while most of the people who reviewed it online loved it.
In places the film is rather magical...and the cinematography astounding, in others it sort of meanders and wanders...and I start to drift asleep much as I did during Sofia Coppola's far less interesting and definitely overrated films - The Virgin Suicides and Lost in Translation. This film has a lot more to say than Coppola did and isn't as self-indulgent and silly. But is sort of in the same film sub-genre - surrealism. There are better films out there that Beasts matches, such as Luis Buneal's That Obscure Object of Desire, or the film Black Orpheus. (I watched a lot of these films in my 20s and 30s, and my brother made one or two.)
In some respects Beasts of the Southern Wild reminds me more of another surrealistic piece about the Southern US, this time the Gullah, entitled Daughter's of the Dust, except I think it, Beasts of the Southern Wild is ever so slightly better - it's narrative is tighter and more focused, in part because there are less characters.
It's really about a child navigating the difficult terrain between life and death and who she is, consciousness, and her purpose for being. She's practically raising herself at this point anyhow - so it is a tragic yet equally uplifting story about Hushpuppy's survival - in difficult circumstances. She has next to nothing, her father is ill and dying, and her mother gone - and she lives next to or literally on the sea or as she calls it The bathtub.
Away from society, in a small close community. And since we see everything through her eyes - the adults seem wacky and incomprehensible most of the time. She's attempting to make sense of her surroundings and her place within them. Coming to the conclusion that everything is connected and she is part of the whole and matters because she is a piece of it.
Watching Beasts...is a bit like watching a very long visual prose poem. If you don't like that sort of thing...I wouldn't rent it. If you do - you'll most likely adore it. Poetry doesn't quite work for everyone, I've discovered. Wish it did, sometimes I think life would be easier if it did, but it is what it is.
2. Doctor Who Episode - Hide - one of the better Doctor Who episodes to date, which admittedly surprised me, because people were comparing it to the Rings of Achteung episode, which I did not like. [ETA: Apparently the same writer wrote both. Oh well, we're all granted one bad episode after all.] This one was much much better written. Hard to tell it was from the same writer - the two episodes are nothing alike. It's actually my favorite of this season, so far.
Had the lead actress from Call the Midwife in the guest role of the psychic, which I admittedly struggled a bit with - since I'm not crazy about this particular actress, no idea why. Also there were a few, not many heavy-handed emotional scenes that felt...trite and unnecessary, but other than that - it worked for me.
Also there was a brief blurb on the new Tardis and how they made the entry-way shorter. Feels longer to me somehow. So maybe I misheard them?
Rather like Clara and the actress playing her. [The actress has huge eyes, by the way, like out of a magna comic book (which always puzzled me, why do all the characters in Magna comics have huge round eyes? That's a separate discussion. ) She's also short. Why are they always so short?
Doctor: Let's go hunt a ghost.
Clara: And why would I want to do that?
Doctor: Because you do.
Clara: Really don't.
Doctor: Come on, where's your sense of adventure?
Clara (raises an eyebrow).
Doctor tilts his head towards the door.
Clara studiously ignores the gesture.
Doctor: I'm making that face.
Clara sighs and follows.
Usually they are running off ahead of him, and he's telling them not to go do that. Clara seems to be a bit brighter.
The writer (
I agree with people on my flist - less characters and a more contained story works better. It tends to be tighter and easier to tell in 43 minutes.
Also, the switch from ghost story to time-traveler tale, and tale of two lovers separated by a dimension, was deftly done. The latter two tales are directly related to the Doctor's story. The Professor and Emma meeting their grown-up granddaughter in a space-suit who is a time traveler - reminds me a bit of Amy and Rory meeting Dr. River Song. It's a clear corollary. The Time Traveler being caught in a pocket dimension in an old Victorian House, in a white space-suite - reminds me of Silence in the Library - or the Doctor having to save her by placing her in another dimension, but being forever cut off from River - in much the same way that he is forever cut off from Rose Tyler. (Although a doppleganger of the Tenth Doctor, who is human, is currently in that universe with Rose.) Add to that the two creatures trying to reach each other - trapped in two separate dimensions - remniscent of the Doctor =Amy and Rory, and to a degree the Doctor = River Song (when she dies and goes permanently to the Library).
Emma also comments to Clara that she should be wary of the Doctor, who has a sliver of ice in his heart. Clara is faced with that sliver when she asks him how he can be so unaffected by the fact that he just saw Earth's birth and death in five minutes. The Doctor looks confused and shrugs. Are we just all ghosts to you? We must be, she tells him. Which in truth is what Clara is to the Doctor - a ghost. And may explain why the Tardis reacts somewhat coldly to her - as well. Neither can quite figure her out. She keeps dying. Yet reappears. He asks Emma what she is - and Emma states, confused, a normal, ordinary, living girl like herself. Yet, is she? Or is she like the time traveler they rescue?
And...when one travels through time, can one be unaffected by it? The Professor mentions the temporal shifts and discrepancies, which the Doctor states can be corrected. But he admits he can't change time or what happens exactly. And yes, you are affected, you do become slightly callous - watching people you love disappear. Grow old. Die. Over and over again. That must have an effect on you over time. There are some things you can run from after all, but not time - you can't run from the temporariness of things. Which in a way is what the Doctor is trying to do, run away from time, but it keeps catching up to him.
Everything ends, Clara states, depressed. Not love, states Emma. Love lasts. And the Doctor tells Clara that the story they are in is not a horror tale, not a ghost story, but a love story...which he goes off to fix, reuniting the lovers with the help of the Tardis - at great risk to them both.
Interesting episode. Loved the way it handled the multiple themes without being too heavy-handed or too intellectual about any of them. Better balanced than the others.
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no subject
Date: 2013-04-21 06:43 pm (UTC)The reason people are comparing it to Rings of Akhaten is because the episodes are by the same writer - Neil Cross. New to Doctor Who, but seems to 'get it' very well indeed.
Re. Clara's height, then I feel I must point out that Amy was very tall. As tall as Eleven.
He asks Emma what she is - and Emma states, confused, a normal, ordinary, living girl like herself. Yet, is she? Or is she like the time traveler they rescue?
She also says that she is *scared*. This is going to be important I think.
OK, must run. :)
no subject
Date: 2013-04-21 08:29 pm (UTC)I would not have understood the ending of "Hide" if KDS hadn't explained it. Didn't see all those little hints that there were two creatures. But total agree--the best episode yet, and for those reasons.
no subject
Date: 2013-04-21 10:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-04-21 10:16 pm (UTC)The father actually did a good job of preparing her for the life he knew she had to lead. They are in some respects more self-sufficient than we are. They can survive off the land, are happy with far less, and have closer ties to those around them. And want nothing to do with civilization which is foreign to them. It's a completely different mind-set and cultural dynamic.
What was cool about Hide was that the creatures were ugly, the Doctor thought it was the boogie man, but in reality it was just another living being hunting its soul mate who was trapped in the house. The knocking was the other creature - it was the one who reached out to Clara. While the time traveler reached out to Emma. Which is sort of interesting actually - that the creature reached out to Clara - and Clara saw it blur by, and it grabbed Clara's hand.
no subject
Date: 2013-04-21 10:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-04-21 11:10 pm (UTC)