Kathy and Diane say Happy Halloween!!

My 50th Post..

...is a poem.


The Paradox of Life

A bit beyond perception's reach
I sometimes believe I see
that Life is two locked boxes, each
containing the other's key.

-Piet Hein, Danish mathematician, physicist, philosopher.

Happy Hallow's Eve Eve.

A chipper little video to celebrate a weird pagan holiday. Enjoy Rubber Johnny, a short film by Chris Cunningham.

Running With Scissors

Fall/Winter is going to be a bit crazy for me. All of the studios release the films they think could be Oscar contenders, which means that at least one decent movie is released almost every week. This weekend I have seen not one but two great films. The first was The Departed. There's so much buzz about this movie, everyone is saying it's Scorsese's best since Goodfellas and it is a damned fine film (I liked Casino a LOT though,maybe more than the Departed.. and Cape Fear, and No Direction Home) so I do highly recommend it, but I'd rather talk about Running WIth Scissors.
Running With Scissors, based on the memoirs of Augusten Burroughs, is really good. It is tied for best ensemble performance with Little Miss Sunshine as far as I'm concerned. Annette Bening plays Augusten's tragic and hilarious mother perfectly and will probably finally get her Oscar. Gwyneth Paltrow turns in a very Tenenbaumsesque performance as a cat-killing religious wierdo and Joseph Fiennes is amazing as a schizophrenic poet/pedo. Many filmmakers try and make tragic comedies about quirky families and bizarre dysfunction, it's getting to the point where there could almost be a sub-genre of these types of films. It's tricky to achieve though, without seeming like the filmmaker is trying to make another Royal Tenenbaums. A lot miss the mark (Thumbsucker) and a few are near perfect (The Squid and the Whale). Running With Scissors is right up there for me, it feels totally authentic and poignant without the glib self indulgence that can be found in so many films in the genre. Don't be surprised to see it on the ol' Top Ten-eroonie.