Snapshots

— Sometimes I look up from what I am doing and I see Hope across the room staring at me, and there is a look of such coiled contempt in her eyes that I want to run fleeing into the night.

— And then sometimes I can barely take a step because she is hovering at my feet, purring and rubbing against me. She is giving very mixed messages.

— Siobhan and Ben came over yesterday afternoon and it was really great to have them here, in my apartment – I rarely have people over – so it was so cool to be able to – well, first of all, now that I have a chair – people can actually sit down. I have enough chairs for my guests, which I just didn’t have a month ago. Siobhan is so busy right now, we haven’t been able to see each other much at all lately – so it was great to catch up.

— I feel like I am in a bit of a holding pattern right now – as I wait to hear if such-and-such and so-and-so is going to happen. I have done what I needed to do, and now I just need to wait, on tenterhooks, fingers crossed, hoping for the best. But I’m in an odd limbo-land at the moment and I do not like it.

— Thinking quite a bit about Jeremy Renner these days – and no, not just “Yum yum, dude is hot” – I have something big I want to write about him – and I know my “thesis”, shall we say, just need to back it up with examples. It’s been fun.

— Tonight I’m going to see Mulholland Drive at the 92nd Street Y (the one in Tribeca) and I am quivering with anticipation. In an evening curated by Miriam Bale (whose name has been heard quite a bit these days in the NY film scene, due to her curatorship of the recent “Bluebeard” series at the Anthology Film Archives), the promotion states: “Recently declared the best film of the last decade by Film Comment, Cahiers du cinéma, Reverse Shot and countless other critics polls, Mulholland Dr. needs to be seen again and on film. The rich blacks and lush colors should be seen on celluloid, in the dark, to be seen at all. Mulholland Dr. is also a major work in a new category of “persona swap” films (including Persona, 3 Women and Céline and Julie Go Boating) that film writer and curator Miriam Bale will be examining in an upcoming issue of Film Comment. In this first of a two part presentation, she will suggest that Mulholland Dr. is the first mature work in this group of films; all of the themes—magic, merges, mysteries and sexual tension—come together organically and with great artistry. Bale suggests that the power of the film’s appeal comes from its familiarity. It seems as familiar as a forgotten dream, recognizable yet always just out of reach.” I can’t wait to see it on the big screen again. I place that as the number 1 film of the last decade, bar none.

— And on Monday, I’m going out to BAM to see Offside, which is playing as part of their Muslim Voices: The Female Perspective series. I’ve written a lot about Offside (see my review here), and of course recently the director of the film, Jafar Panahi, has been incarcerated in Iran. He is still not out. No news. It’s eerily silent, I search the web for snippets of information, but there’s nothing. I love Offside, so I’m excited to see it again, but I’m also going to show my support of Panahi, and wonder if there will be any signs of protests – signs for him, speeches, whatever. I just feel I need to be there, regardless.

— I’m reading about 4 books at the same time now. I can’t settle in on just one. This is such a vibrant change from last year, when I couldn’t read at all, so I’m really happy about it. I’m in the midst of reading: The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearst by David Nasaw (interestingly, reading this on the heels of Chernow’s Rockefeller biography – my thoughts here – makes me realize just what a superior writer Chernow is – Nasaw is okay, and the story itself is fascinating – but Chernow really is something special, in terms of his writing), A Train of Powder, by Rebecca West – her book of journalism about 4 trials (one being the Nuremberg Trials), Whoever Fights Monsters: My Twenty Years Tracking Serial Killers for the FBI , by Robert Ressler, and the second volume of the Paris Review Interviews (cousin Mike sent me the whole set). Not back up on the fiction horse yet, Winter’s Tale being the first novel I’ve read since 2008 (my thoughts here). There’s a lot of fiction I want to read right now, but I still find myself struggling to concentrate. I want to read the new John Banville, the new Lorrie Moore, the new (relatively new) Annie Proulx, the new Joshua Ferris – so much new fiction I’ve been holding back on, because I just know that now is not the time for me to try to attempt fiction. But make no mistake, those books call to me from my shelves.

— I’m a little bit in love with Lady Gaga.

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11 Responses to Snapshots

  1. JessicaR says:

    “I’m a little bit in love with Lady Gaga.”

    Oh me too. I want to hang out with her for a day, go shopping, go to a museum, go out to lunch, just walk up and down the street. I adore her.

  2. red says:

    She’s just awesome, I think!!

  3. David says:

    I always thought it was “waiting on tender hooks” and never really understood it, but never questioned it. Hahaha. Tenter…interesting, I wonder where that came from, like why is waiting like a stretched fabric waiting in anxiety? Also, we need to catch up, I don’t even know what you’re talking about!

  4. red says:

    hahahahah Ah, those tender tender hooks. I love it when the hooks are tender. I prefer it actually to when they are rough.

    Yes, we have to catch up – you probably know some of the things I’m waiting on – one big thing – so while I wait I am now basically losing myself in Jeremy Renner’s early work right now – that’s almost all I can talk about – Uh oh. Don’t worry: I have learned my lesson – I promise. but it has been really fun. You know, a little project.

    Miss you – you available at all this week? Tuesday or Wednesday? That’s all I got.

  5. David says:

    Come on out tonight. Bill is heading out now, I’m bacheloring it. We can watch a movie and drink wine.

  6. red says:

    Damn, i’d love to – can’t – going to see Mulholland Drive tonight in the city. One night only, baby.

  7. David says:

    Don’t call me baby.

  8. red says:

    Fine. The iceman cometh ….

  9. mutecypher says:

    How will Gaga exceed the excesses of ‘Telephone?’

    Maybe the next thing will be her playing piano and singing – I love the YouTube concert clips when she does that.

  10. Laura says:

    Would love to read your thoughts about Jeremy Remmer. Was totally smitten by him after The Hurt Locker. He is a fine looking man and a fine, talented actor. Looking forward to great things from him.

    Laura

  11. red says:

    Laura – yes, he’s terrific and I’m having a great time seeing his earlier stuff. Some of it I had already seen before – like Dahmer – where he is unforgettable. Hereare my thoughts on Dahmer.

    I’ll be putting up something else about Renner later today probably.

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