Finally got hit with the double whammy of irresponsible heat and unreasonable humidity. There’s nothing like stepping outside and into the embrace of a steamed moist towelette.
Despite the summer tribulation, June was mercifully slower-paced. The only major disrupter was when I was gifted an old pair of cabinet speakers. Realistics from the 1970s. I found a good receiver for cheap and spent much of my free time rewiring my media center. These speakers sound incredible. So incredible they revealed how garbage my turntable and tape deck are. One upgrade leads to another.
This month’s playlist:
The Holy Mountain
I saw several good films and a couple great ones: Past Lives (true art) and Across the Spider-Verse (true animation). But The Holy Mountain sticks out because I think it is the first true avant-garde/surrealist movie I’ve ever watched.
I have watched a few Lynch movies, but Lynch is unique in my mind. The only reason I heard of Alejandro Jodorowsky is because of the documentary of his Dune adaptation that never was. So I went into The Holy Mountain blind on his name alone.
What followed was 114 minutes of being shown the last thing I expected, scene after scene. The movie is highly symbolic with pop imagery that seems trite. But this imagery is quickly inverted. Or mocked. As soon as I thought I grasped a theme, it would be subverted.
Jodorowsky refuses to let us put anything in our neat little boxes. If there’s an interpretation, it lies with Jodorowsky alone. And I admire him for that. Even if The Holy Mountain is devoid of meaning (doubtful), it is a visual treat with fantastic, strange imagery.
The Bear
I continue to have a million little nitpicks with this series. But the strength of the writing and acting overwhelms everything. This is what prestige tv is supposed to be.
Season two bravely changes pace because the story necessitates it — The Beef is dead. A lesser show would just shovel what worked last time into the willing mouths of the audience. The characters grow, truly. Relationships improve.
The Bear doesn't abandon its hallmark cacophonous, chaotic scenes. Conflict abounds—situational and interpersonal. But informed logically by the narrative and characters. Old ground is not retread in old ways.
Season two is a subtle inversion of season one. Characters rise and fall in unexpected but earned ways. And the season culminates in corporate success and a personal implosion in brilliant contrast to the last.
I admire this season so much.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
3D platformers are comfort food to me. What I would give for a new Sly Cooper. This new Ratchet hits the spot in Sly’s absence.
Insomniac officially hit a level of graphical fidelity where Rift Apart is essentially a playable CGI movie. If you saw this on a theatre screen, you would assume it was an Illumination or Dreamworks production.
Lovely worlds to explore, fun combat, and just the right amount of challenge that gameplay feels breezy but not cheap. Having a good time.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
I borrowed this blind based on my sister’s recommendation of “it’s good y’all.” Paraphrasing. She has good taste, even when the something isn’t for me.
TTT is not something I would have picked up on my own. Not fantastical enough in premise. But these characters are alive. I love them. Gabrielle Zevin’s writing of their interactions, how they process the world, and their emotions is fantastic. How she flows from plot, introspection, and memory is effortless. I understand each character’s point of view. And I grieve how these relationships break down over the unsaid and assumed.
I am learning so much about how to write a character’s inner world—characters that can be known. I am learning so much about relationships. I love learning this way.
This month I also experimented with flash photography on my digital and film cameras. But I haven’t edited or scanned anything yet. I have like four rolls of unscanned film.