"....no closer to any kind of truth."
I see that I am a little piece of a big, big universe, and that makes it right.
--
Another beautiful late summer day out there. Which means it's muggy in my office, but, frankly, I don't care. I'm dreading the coming autumn, and, for now, I'll take the swelter, please and thank you.
This semi-vacation thing is starting to feel a bit weird. The not-working-much part of it. Other than handling email yesterday, nothing. I am told this is good for me.
We left the house about 3:30 p.m. and headed over to Thayer Street for the 4:15 showing of Benh Zeitlin's Beasts of the Southern Wild. This is, likely, one of the most beautiful and astounding films of the last ten years, and it joins a short list of the most artful sf/f movies of the past decade, alongside The Fountain, Children of Men, Sunshine, The Fall, Melancholia, and Tree of Life.* It's brilliant. Quvenzhané Wallis and Dwight Henry, wow. Just wow. This is a story of humanity, and anyone out there who actually thinks Beasts of the Southern Wild is in anyway racist is a goddamn fool.
---
A good Kindernacht last night. The first feature was Hyung-rae Shim's Dragon Wars (2007), which, no shit, is very possibly one of the dullest films ever made. Not sure where that ~$70,000,000 budget went, but it wasn't to actors and screenwriters and editors. Also, pretty sure sizable chunks of the movie were simply missing, so much sense did this film fail to make. Even the SFX were...dull. I'm not even sure it manage to be bad. Just...dull.
But! Fear not! The second feature was Fred Andrews' Creature (2011). Instead of hoards of CGI soldiers and flocks of CGI dragons, we get Sid Haig and some dude in a rubber alligator-man suit. And it was stupendous fun. Instead of ~$70,000,000, only ~$3,000,000. Not the size, guys. What you do with it. Creature is surprisingly well filmed and acted, and good art direction. And a script. And Sid Haig. I mentioned Sid Haig, right? Did I mention the gratuitous and perfectly placed Spider Baby reference? Not the size, guys. Not the size.
So, yes. Good day, even if I did whack my head hard in the restroom at the Avon. Oh, and I have photos to prove that yesterday happened. They're behind the cut:
I love the Avon.
I dropped my sweater on the way from the car to the theater (yeah, that's Imp's sweater), and didn't realize I'd done it until we were a block away. We retraced our steps, and discovered that some kind soul had hung it on a telephone pole. Thank you, whoever you are.
Okay, back to the Avon. Did I mention that monotremes get in free on Fridays? This makes Herr Schnabeltiere very happy.
Directly across Thayer Street from the Avon, this is where I let Billy and Jeff poke holes in my flesh.
"No Style of Music is Safe."
Acme Video! Complimentary Atomic Fireballs!
Fellini's Pizza! Where they know Kathryn by name, and where we order the same pizza every single Friday (extra cheese, pepperoni, and mushrooms).
Heading home, crossing the Point Street Bridge, looking north towards downtown Providence.
All photographs Copyright © 2012 by Caitlín R. Kiernan and Kathryn A. Pollnac.
---
RIP, Jerry Nelson (1934-2012). You made us smile, and you made us laugh.
---
Everybody loses the thing that made them. The brave men stay and watch it happen. They don't run.
Still Here,
Aunt Beast
*Yeah, one could argue that both Tree of Life and The Fall aren't genuinely sf/f films, but...
--
Another beautiful late summer day out there. Which means it's muggy in my office, but, frankly, I don't care. I'm dreading the coming autumn, and, for now, I'll take the swelter, please and thank you.
This semi-vacation thing is starting to feel a bit weird. The not-working-much part of it. Other than handling email yesterday, nothing. I am told this is good for me.
We left the house about 3:30 p.m. and headed over to Thayer Street for the 4:15 showing of Benh Zeitlin's Beasts of the Southern Wild. This is, likely, one of the most beautiful and astounding films of the last ten years, and it joins a short list of the most artful sf/f movies of the past decade, alongside The Fountain, Children of Men, Sunshine, The Fall, Melancholia, and Tree of Life.* It's brilliant. Quvenzhané Wallis and Dwight Henry, wow. Just wow. This is a story of humanity, and anyone out there who actually thinks Beasts of the Southern Wild is in anyway racist is a goddamn fool.
---
A good Kindernacht last night. The first feature was Hyung-rae Shim's Dragon Wars (2007), which, no shit, is very possibly one of the dullest films ever made. Not sure where that ~$70,000,000 budget went, but it wasn't to actors and screenwriters and editors. Also, pretty sure sizable chunks of the movie were simply missing, so much sense did this film fail to make. Even the SFX were...dull. I'm not even sure it manage to be bad. Just...dull.
But! Fear not! The second feature was Fred Andrews' Creature (2011). Instead of hoards of CGI soldiers and flocks of CGI dragons, we get Sid Haig and some dude in a rubber alligator-man suit. And it was stupendous fun. Instead of ~$70,000,000, only ~$3,000,000. Not the size, guys. What you do with it. Creature is surprisingly well filmed and acted, and good art direction. And a script. And Sid Haig. I mentioned Sid Haig, right? Did I mention the gratuitous and perfectly placed Spider Baby reference? Not the size, guys. Not the size.
So, yes. Good day, even if I did whack my head hard in the restroom at the Avon. Oh, and I have photos to prove that yesterday happened. They're behind the cut:
I love the Avon.
I dropped my sweater on the way from the car to the theater (yeah, that's Imp's sweater), and didn't realize I'd done it until we were a block away. We retraced our steps, and discovered that some kind soul had hung it on a telephone pole. Thank you, whoever you are.
Okay, back to the Avon. Did I mention that monotremes get in free on Fridays? This makes Herr Schnabeltiere very happy.
Directly across Thayer Street from the Avon, this is where I let Billy and Jeff poke holes in my flesh.
"No Style of Music is Safe."
Acme Video! Complimentary Atomic Fireballs!
Fellini's Pizza! Where they know Kathryn by name, and where we order the same pizza every single Friday (extra cheese, pepperoni, and mushrooms).
Heading home, crossing the Point Street Bridge, looking north towards downtown Providence.
All photographs Copyright © 2012 by Caitlín R. Kiernan and Kathryn A. Pollnac.
---
RIP, Jerry Nelson (1934-2012). You made us smile, and you made us laugh.
---
Everybody loses the thing that made them. The brave men stay and watch it happen. They don't run.
Still Here,
Aunt Beast
*Yeah, one could argue that both Tree of Life and The Fall aren't genuinely sf/f films, but...