Tag Archives: movies

Jun15

The poet is a madman lost in adventure. – Paul Verlaine

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in memory of my father, a funny and gentle man

who was about as far as you could get from a bad ass.

but instead,

he was just my dad

who was a busy madman in the ad world during the week.

but

who i watched this movie with,

many times.

along with every other

wwll, madcap comedy, western, and crime caper,

on saturday afternoons.

in our family room,

with sandwiches, and burnt popcorn and lemonade.

thanks for the gifts

of shared time,

a boundless imagination,

and a love of the magic of the movies.

—

For me, the cinema is not a slice of life, but a piece of cake.
Alfred Hitchcock

 

 

 

Jun11

I’m in competition with myself and I’m losing. – Roger Waters

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picturehouse dendy cinemas

what do you get when you combine the 1980s, video arcades, the guinness book of world records, human drama, sabotage, corruption, power, cheating, trash-talking, genius, ego, and insanity?

why, you get ‘the king of kong: a fistful of quarters’ of course. one of my all-time favorite documentaries. this eccentric film, released in 2007, features ‘self-proclaimed legend’ in the world of video arcade games, billy mitchell, florida hot sauce magnate and the holder of the ‘donkey kong champion of the world high scoring’ record for 25 years, and the first perfect game scorer in the history of pac-man, as he is challenged by quiet and brilliant unemployed aerospace engineer/now science teacher from washington,  steve wiebe, who has never won a thing in his life.

in this film, their long distance rivalry and ultimate challenge is played out right before our eyes and under the careful watch of walter day, creator of twin galaxies, and online gaming website gatekeeper. what follows is a classic tale of good vs. evil, davy and goliath, sheer will and karma, and the suspense never stops right up until the very last second.

watching this, i spent 79 fascinating minutes glued to the screen, laughing, crying, cheering and yelling, right along with it. and most of all,  i love that it was categorized under ‘sports’ in the documentary world.

film quotes:

Walter Day: This rivalry is among the greatest: the Yankees and Red Sox… Hekyll and Jekyll.

“I wanted to be a hero. I wanted to be the center of attention. I wanted the glory, I wanted the fame. I wanted the pretty girls to come up and say, “Hi, I see that you’re good at Centipede.”

Jillian Wiebe (Steve’s wife) : Work is for people who can’t play video games.

image credit: picturehouse/dendy cinema

Apr12

what vagary is this?!?!

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to eldest daughter, h. remember the time we were in the store and saw the matching socks and bought them because they were so odd and decided to change our plans, and instead wore them to the giant multi-plex theater, and bought a massive tub of popcorn and keg o’ soda and raisinets and paid for the first movie, but snuck into the others and spent the day there, laughing and watching and feeling like happy criminals? just wondered. 

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Feb3

the happy poet.

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and yet again, a movie i’ve never heard of, begged me to take it off the shelves of my local library, and into my living room. Image

‘the happy poet’ is an indie-comedy, a classic tale of the underdog, fighting the system, and trying to make the world a better place. (and hot-dog free, in this case.) written and directed by paul gordon, who also stars as the lead, ‘the happy poet’ was shot in austin, texas, on a small budget, and released on the film festival circuit. slow-moving, quiet, wryly funny, simply shot, with single piano notes as its only soundtrack, i was quickly drawn into this very human story. 

when we meet the poet, he is struggling – in life, in trying to find his happiness, and with no idea about where to go for the answers. he is as dry, deadpan, and honest a character as you will ever meet, and one who has an understated passion for the things he believes in. it’s his sincerity and heart, that draws an eccentric bunch of people to him, each with their own heart of gold, who stay close, keep him motivated, look out for him, and prove their loyalty in interesting ways. I’m happy this poet quietly called out to me from the shelves. 

When what we are is what we want to be, that’s happiness.  – Malcolm Forbes

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 image credit: Cinema Libre