Sunday, January 13, 2008

coming to the end of the weekend

Quick run-down on weekend cultural activities:

Dan McCarthy, Spring Gun and Thunder Power!!! at Slowdown was awesome. The sound is really great in there and as a result, the bands all sounded great, especially TP (photo below). Kacynna's voice was amazing on those crisp speakers.



Saw Billy the Kid at Film Streams and really liked it, also enjoyed the Q & A afterwards. I felt nostalgic for 466 nights and Q & As and felt like I should've been sitting on the floor in the front taking photos. That would've been weird though. I decided that I would make a list of all the guests we had so that I could remember them in my old age or tell my grandkids. I always plan to do this with concerts too (for the same reasons). I will add both of these lists to my non-New Years resolution list. But yeah, the movie was a funny, interesting, moving portrait of this kid, Billy. It's surprising that the director, Jennifer Venditti, was able to establish trust and a sense of rapport with him in only 5 days (she went back and shot 3 more days. If you don't feel like doing the math, that's 8 shooting days)...although after watching the film and getting a better sense of Billy, it's not all that surprising - though it is a testament to her personality as well. I have a lot more I could say about this film (and maybe will), but for now (since this is a quick recap and it's 2:14 am) I will just say: go see it if you can.

It is also the kind of movie that makes me really want to go out and make a film. It had a very DIY aesthetic and was shot with basically just two people as the crew on the Panasonic DVX camera and has a verité style. I wish the camera had been more steady, but in the end it didn't matter because Billy as a character and the subject matter as a whole was so strong. It really is an example of story, character and heart triumphing over any matter of production value or gloss.

Recently got back from seeing Baby Walrus at The Waiting Room. It seemed like a shorter set than usual, but it was still fun and they sounded great. I really like the record, but it's even better live. I still have What Plastic Box in my head. Here's the end of it live:



I would like to go to The Waiting Room tomorrow night to see Orenda Fink, Jake Bellows, Joe Knapp, Stefanie Drootin, Dan McCarthy and more, but probably won't because I haven't planned anything for class on Monday and that would be another late night and I have get sleep for my long work day on Monday. I'm just not as hardcore as I once was, I guess. I'm getting old.

And last, but not least, I am in the process of re-watching Me And You And Everyone We Know. It's been too long since I've seen it last, and it's been fun and inspiring to watch it despite the fact that I keep falling asleep...which has nothing to do with the movie itself and everything to do with the fact that I start it at around 3 am after taking Tylenol PM (a recent bad habit I am aiming to break). I'm hoping to make it through another 20 minutes tonight. Later.

No comments: