This Valentine’s Day leave it to the experts to express those feelings that are so hard to explain…
Showing posts with label poet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label poet. Show all posts
Saturday, 9 February 2019
Thursday, 28 December 2017
FILM 1730: MOTHER!
TRIVIA: Throughout the movie, no
one's name is mentioned.
The following statement by Darren Aronofsky was
released a week before the premiere: "It is a mad time to be alive. As the
world population nears 8 billion we face issues too serious to fathom:
ecosystems collapse as we witness extinction at an unprecedented rate; migrant
crises disrupt governments; a seemingly schizophrenic US helps broker a
landmark climate treaty and months later withdraws; ancient tribal disputes and
beliefs continue to drive war and division; the largest iceberg ever recorded
breaks off an Antarctic ice shelf and drifts out to sea. At the same time we
face issues too ridiculous to comprehend: in South America, tourists twice kill
rare baby dolphins that washed ashore, suffocating them in a frenzy of selfies;
politics resembles sporting events; people still starve to death while others
can order any meat they desire. As a species our footprint is perilously
unsustainable yet we live in a state of denial about the outlook for our planet
and our place on it. From this primordial soup of angst and helplessness, I
woke up one morning and this movie poured out of me like a fever dream. All of
my previous films gestated with me for many years but I wrote the first draft
of Mother! (2017)
in 5 days. Within a year we were rolling cameras. And now two years later, it
is an honor to return to the Lido for the world premiere. I imagine people may
ask why the film has such a dark vision. Hubert Selby Jr.,
the author of Requiem for a Dream (2000), taught me that through
staring into the darkest parts of ourselves is where we find the light.
"Mother!" begins as a chamber story about a marriage. At the center
is a woman who is asked to give and give and give until she can give nothing
more. Eventually, the chamber story can't contain the pressure boiling inside.
It becomes something else which is hard to explain or describe. I can't fully
pinpoint where this film all came from. Some came from the headlines we face
every second of every day, some came from the endless buzzing of notifications
on our smartphones, some came from living through the blackout of Hurricane
Sandy in downtown Manhattan, some came from my heart, some from my gut.
Collectively it's a recipe I won't ever be able to reproduce, but I do know
this serving is best drunk as a single dose in a shot glass. Knock it back.
Salute!" [Aug. 2017]
Jennifer Lawrence and Darren Aronofsky started
dating during the production of this film.
Actors Brian Gleeson and Domhnall
Gleeson, who play the two brothers in the movie, are brothers in real life.
Jennifer Lawrence got
so much into her character that during the climactic scenes, she started hyperventilating
and even cracked a rib.
Paramount canceled the upcoming
Friday the 13th film in order to move ahead with this film.
The film received both boos and a
standing ovation during its premiere at the Venice Film Festival.
Received an "F" CinemaScore,
the worst possible score, which is very rare: Only 19 features have ever
received an "F". [Sept. 2017]
Edinburgh educated sculptor Jessica
Harrison is the artist whose works are referenced in the film's poster image
released on Mothers Day 2017. Aronofsky cited Harrison as an inspiration,
especially her 'broken' figurines works.
Wednesday, 2 August 2017
BOOK 179: ON WRITING: CHARLES BUKOWSKI
Sharp and moving reflections and
ruminations on the artistry and craft of writing from one of our most
iconoclastic, riveting, and celebrated masters.
Charles Bukowski’s stories, poems,
and novels have left an enduring mark on our culture. In this collection of
correspondence—letters to publishers, editors, friends, and fellow writers—the
writer shares his insights on the art of creation.
On Writing reveals
an artist brutally frank about the drudgery of work and canny and
uncompromising about the absurdities of life—and of art. It illuminates the
hard-edged, complex humanity of a true American legend and counterculture
icon—the “laureate of American lowlife” (Time)—who stoically recorded
society’s downtrodden and depraved. It exposes an artist grounded in the
visceral, whose work reverberates with his central ideal: “Don't try.”
Piercing, poignant, and often
hilarious, On Writing is filled not only with memorable lines
but also with Bukowski’s trademark toughness, leavened with moments of grace,
pathos, and intimacy.
(Info from: Amazon)
Tuesday, 26 May 2015
FILM 1318: THE PUNK SINGER
The Punk Singer is a 2013 documentary film directed
by filmmaker Sini Anderson and produced
by Anderson and Tamra Davis.
The film is about feminist
singer Kathleen
Hanna who fronted the bands Bikini Kill and Le Tigre, and who was a
central figure in the riot grrrl
movement. The title of the film is taken from Julie Ruin song "The
Punk Singer", from Hanna's 1998 solo effort. Using a combination of
interviews and archival footage including live band performances, the film
traces the life and career of Hanna from her troubled upbringing and her start
in spoken word performance
poetry, through her riot grrrl zines,
her prominent punk and dance-punk bands, her coining of the phrase "Smells Like
Teen Spirit" for Kurt Cobain, her solo
career as Julie Ruin,
her feminist activism, her marriage to Beastie Boys member Adam Horovitz, and ending
with Hanna's 2010 diagnosis of late-stage Lyme disease and the
severe treatments she endures to combat it.
(Wikipedia)
Wednesday, 11 February 2015
Saturday, 30 November 2013
Book 89:
Youth – J M Coetzee
A little
bit about the author (from Wikipedia):
Coetzee
is known as reclusive and avoids publicity to such an extent that he did not collect
either of his two Booker Prizes
in person.[44][45] South African writer Rian Malan has said that:
Coetzee
is a man of almost monkish self-discipline and dedication. He does not drink,
smoke or eat meat. He cycles vast distances to keep fit and spends at least an
hour at his writing-desk each morning, seven days a week. A colleague who has
worked with him for more than a decade claims to have seen him laugh just once.
An acquaintance has attended several dinner parties where Coetzee has uttered
not a single word.[46]
As a
result of his reclusive nature, signed copies of Coetzee's fiction are highly
sought after.[19] Recognising this, he was a key figure in the establishment of
Oak Tree Press's First
Chapter Series, a series of limited edition signed works by literary greats to
raise money for the child victims and orphans of the African HIV/AIDS crisis.[47]
Wednesday, 3 April 2013
Sunday, 10 February 2013
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