Tuscaloosa Report

[thehefner]

Henchgirl and I spent Valentine's Day being the kind of people we've hated all our lives. We're deeply ashamed.

I fear that we're living an obnoxiously quirky indie movie, the sort where the soundtrack is by, like, the Moldy Peaches, even though neither of us listens to twee music. We came to this revelation after watching ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND, and I must say, it was rather inspired of me to make a double-feature of that and MEMENTO. I just love it when films really complement each other.

So yeah, I'm in Tuscaloosa, waiting for my press materials for THE HEFNER MONOLOGUES to arrive in the mail so we can hit the long road to Fresno's Rogue Performance Festival. Many things planned: Disneyland, LA, Vegas, Route 66, and Chicago, to name a few.

I'm still trying to figure out how I'll be able to get at least an hour online for Tuesdays (for Two-Face Tuesdays) and Wednesdays (for catching last night's LOST on abc.com). I have to find places that have not just free wi-fi, but also an outlet, as my battery currently holds ten minutes of charge.

I keep putting off getting a new battery because 1.) they're expensive, and 2.) I keep weighing the options of getting a new mac laptop. My Powerbook G4 is almost four years old. I'm just not sure if I should wait for the new model to come out, or to buy a refurbished one, and I wouldn't know where to start with that.

Links of note:

An illustrated timeline of time travel in film and TV. I want this as a poster.

Esquire on Roger Ebert's battles with cancer and silence. I haven't actually read this yet, but it was recommended by the AV Club, and Ebert has always fascinated me. Now more than ever, as his Twitter is one of the only feeds I actively look forward to reading.

EDIT: Just read it. Wow. Definitely worth reading. Powerful, heartbreaking, and downright moving.

This week's extended Two-Face Tuesday post at about_faces. I barely got this one posted today too! This particular one is in my top ten favorite Two-Face stories.

Comments

In which Mentioning Eternal Sunshine brings me to thoughts of films and emotional response

[surrealname.livejournal.com]

Eternal Sunshine is a movie that I really and truly love and think really expresses some beautiful truths in fun ways, but I can really only watch it very rarely. Truth be told, I think I've only seen it twice. The first time was in late may or early June of 2004 when it happened to some how still be playing at my local movie theatre. I took my girlfriend at the time to see it. After the movie ended, she told me she loved me for the first time. It was the first time anyone had ever said that too me.

The second time was last year very shortly (like a month-6 weeks at most) before I broke up with my then girlfriend (who, in many ways bared an uncanny resemblance in appearance, demeanor and behavior to the first girl I watched it with.) Watching it that second time sort of stirred up a whole lot of feelings that I'd kind of thought I was over and done with. Stirred up stuff in the girlfriend as well. She cried, and I came about as close to it as I had in 4 years.

There's just something with that movie for me. I have too much stuff connected to it and I can see way too much of myself in it. Watching it makes me react emotionally in ways that very few films can. Actually, the only other movie I can think of that provokes as pronounced a reaction is Wall-E, which I have only ever watched once full way through because I cry the entire god damn time I'm watching it because robots in outer space are flying through the cosmos making me believe that all the old shit I used to believe about love is really real and it's just the most god damn beautiful thing I've ever seen that wasn't inside the eyes of some one I'm in love with.

Other movies have moments that move me. I get choked up any time I see the last scene from part 1 of Godfather II when Vito tells baby Michael that he loves him very much. The opening credits and a couple of scenes from Superman: The Movie strike really deep seated chords inside of me about heroism, and the potential for goodness in all of us. And, since I am a ridiculous person, I get a bit of a lump in my throat anytime I watch the scene in the first Ninja turtles movie where Splinter tells them that all fathers care for their sons. But these are just moments. With Wall-E and Eternal Sunshine it's every moment of each film that makes me feel effected.

Oh, I almost forgot about The Wizard. Don't ask me why, because I have no idea (and believe me, I've rewatched it once or twice trying to figure it out) but something about that movie depressed me so badly when I saw it for the first time when I was 7 that I didn't talk for 3 days.

[jackolantern.livejournal.com]

Ebert's definitely a class act; even when I've disagreed with his assessments of films, I've respected his reasons for his opinions.