The Optical Files: An Introduction

Note from biab:  A new series by Cullen Wade, a longtime friend and collaborator with boyinabox.  

We always welcome Cullen's insights and are enthused to have a contribution in which he reflects upon music thru this unique editorial lens.       

My prime CD-buying years were roughly 1998-2008 (ages 13-23). I have no accurate record of how many CDs I purchased, stole, traded or was gifted during the decade in question, but today I still have approximately 180. Those 180 CDs will be the subjects of this series.

In 2022 I intend to listen to each CD one by one &, to the extent that I can stay on schedule, write about them every other day. If all goes according to plan, I'll make my way through all of them by the end of the year. Some of these albums I haven't listened to in years. Some of them I know as intimately as my own heartbeat. Some of them I've written about before. It's possible that one or two I've never actually heard all the way through. For some, I'm not sure why I bought them in the first place.

It just so happens that my heyday of CD buying lined up almost exactly with the heyday of file sharing. I pirated & burned a roughly equal number of CDs to those I purchased. There were various reasons to buy a CD rather than bootleg it, & the decision usually had nothing to do with how much I cherished the music. Some of my favorite albums--the most formative to my music taste--will not appear in this series. If there is enough interest, & if I'm not burned out, maybe I'll do the bootlegs in 2023.

As I said, there were many reasons to buy rather than pirate. Chief among these was my desire to own a physical object, to hold the artwork in my hand, to read the liner notes & observe the layout & design choices. Now more than ever, they remain artifacts of that heady time of musical discovery, of tastes forming, of identity forming with them.

Methodology

I will choose the albums in random order. There will be no chronology or genre grouping or any other comprehensible scheme. I will randomly select each album moments before I sit down to listen to it. I do not want time to prepare.

My attention span isn't what it used to be in the pre-cyborg smartphone days. (Is anybody's?) With this project I want to revive the art of the deep listen. To the extent that I can, I will listen to each album in full in a single sitting (I may give myself some grace in the case of double albums), without distractions. I will only listen to the physical CD that I own. No streams, no downloads, no rips. From the original optical disc to my ears. Since I do not have a working CD player in my car, this means that the listening will be done on my home stereo, pretty much exclusively. The only things I will allow myself to look at while listening will be the CD's insert & my own notes.

I will write my responses (I bristle at the idea of calling them "reviews") with regard to neither journalistic & critical integrity nor stylistic consistency. Some writeups may be stream of consciousness, some may be sociological, some may read like memoir. I will endeavor to discuss the music more than I discuss myself, but we'll see how that goes. I really like writing about myself. I promise not to get bogged down in crusty old-head-yells-at-cloud-ism, to wit:

Once upon a time, recorded music came out of physical objects. It wasn't plucked from the air, & you didn't have fingertip access to everything ever recorded. You bought, borrowed, traded or stole an object, put it into a device, & pressed play. It wasn't better or worse than what we have today, but it was different. A different kind of media demands a different kind of listening & a different kind of writing. At best, maybe I'll write something worth reading about the intersection of culture, pop culture, art, biography, and the passage of time. At worst, I'll get to revisit lots of good music. I hope you join me tomorrow for the first installment.

Red Rocket - Featured Film of Interest - Highly Recommended

Red Rocket, another intriguing film by Sean Baker, and another deep dive into a perpetual cycle of human suffering under the weight of stagnant, never-ending "same."  Yet somehow, the film itself is anything but stagnant, pulling the audience into the interior madness and motion of the insular reality. This time there is a bit more humor and potential relief up front, but consistent with the style, evolution and filmography of the budding auteur.  This is absurdist cinema at it's finest ("Cinema of the Absurd"- copyright me, 2021 - insert crooked grin here).

Personally, I think it is a fantastic film, and I was fully enthralled throughout the screening at this years Virginia Film Festival, but I feel that way about most of his work.  I have no doubt that many contentious discussions will be held around this film, and likely have already begun.  There is plenty of room to explore here.  The nature of vérité, subject matter, ethics and exploitation are all ripe and appropriate for discussion, which just makes it all the more fascinating.  Nothing like a film that spawns passionate and differing perspectives.  

Relevant PopCorn Quote: Tokyo - Money Heist

“A Lot Of People Believe We Only Find One True Love In Our Lives. But What They Don't Realize Is That We Can Have Several Lives.”

Tokyo (played by Ursula Corbero), Money Heist

Fan Fun Opinions #01 - Top 10 TV/Streaming Show Intros

So, in my opinion, opinions mean absolutely nothing.  Well, absolutely nothing as far as useful dialogue or cognitive consideration or problem solving or creativity or personal evolution or evolution of any sort, or really anything of substance or purpose at all.  It was once said by a wise man you may have heard of, "Opinion is the wilderness between ignorance and knowledge," or something like that. However... opinions are fun.  They're fun to share and banter about with friends and peers and they're fun to sling around in casual socialization, but that's about as far as the usefulness goes.  Doesn't mean I don't enjoy the hell out of some good ole opinion banter, as long as we all know that none of it REALLY matters.  Inevitably, someone, usually a big David Fincher or James Cameron or Oliver Stone fan, goes and gets the idea that their opinion matters and ruins the fun for all.  We're not going to do that here.  We know our opinions don't mean a thing, and we rejoice in that freedom and knowledge.  

Now, informed opinions are a tad bit different, but we're treading into some murky waters in drawing such a distinction.  Informed opinions are like a halfway point or purgatory between opinions and informed ideas (quite contrary to opinions, they can and do hold value).  Informed ideas do not evolve from opinions, nor are the two a variation of one another - no more than film is directly evolved from theater (wink, wink, Bresson).  

So, let's not misconstrue informed opinions for something other than opinions, but they can possibly be a spark to creative interaction that could lead to something substantial down the line.  That's about the best I can do in trying not to say what I'm saying.  Informed opinions might be somewhat useful, if and only if they are also informed by humility and self-awareness about the nature of the opinion itself.  One mustn't be blind or in denial about it still being a mere opinion, and you know what they say - Opinions are like a-holes... no one gives a shit. 

So, with that classy clarification of my general outlook on opinions and their modest purpose at best, I begin this fun little series of random and poorly thought out "top 10" lists.  I've always made a point to veer away from such things, just like thumbs up/thumbs down art critique, but both seem inevitable when pop culture intrigue stirs.  The dirty and apologetic truth is, I really like "best of" lists when done well, but like good reggae outside of Jamaica, that's rare.  With full awareness of my own aimlessness, I enter into this pop culture/film/media nerd venture, well... because I'm a pop culture/film/media nerd, no matter how hard I try to validate myself as a cinephile, filmmaker or academic.  Really I'm just a big ole film nerd.  

Enjoy our very first Opinionfest installment.  By the way, the general standard for my high opinion of Show Intros is typically based on one of three things, or all - it could stand alone as an experimental short film, music meets image, and the tone it sets in relation to the show.  

Top 10 TV/Streaming Show Intros or Title Sequences

10. Rick and Morty

9.  True Blood

8.  Mash

6.  Six Feet Under

5.  The Wire

4.  The Expanse

3.  True Detective Season 1

2.  The Leftovers

1.  Man in the High Castle 

Honorable Mention:  Fresh Prince of Bel Air, House of Cards, Mr Robot, South Park, Breaking Bad, Shameless

Extra Special Mention:  Fishing With John

C'mon C'mon - Featured Film of Interest - Highly Recommended

This film is absolutely endearing.  Directed by Mike Mills and integrating unique modes of production, aesthetics, and documentary-style inserts, it manages to maintain an intimacy tilting between unavoidable sadness and joyous hope, while never forgetting itself and never losing it's heart.  Yes indeed, this one hit just right.  

Ever since a little film called Thumbsucker popped up in the mid-2000's, I've been waiting to see just how good Mike Mills can be.  Thumbsucker was an excellent little indie film, original and quirky, that to some degree got overlooked, though well received by many critics and festivals.  Though it wasn't a film without missteps, it showed enormous hope for his future projects.  Then I just lost track of him, and he didn't quite garner the attention that I expected... until now.  The way I stated it to a close film ally and friend immediately after leaving the theater was, "Any critic that slams or disregards this film has no soul."

In large, C'mon C'mon is a film of raw honesty that serves as an ode to the intellect and awareness of young people, and the adults that so earnestly stumble, and at times transcend, to guide and raise them in this absurd world.  It is shot in pristine black and white that rivals the visual likes of La Haine, and the cinematographer and production designer take full advantage. It's a beautiful film inside and out.  

I would be remiss to end comments without noting the performances.  To no surprise, Joaquin Phoenix and Gaby Hoffmann gave invested, intimate performances while seeming effortless.  Woody Norman could not have been better in a youthful performance for the times, because it just didn't seem like a performance at all.

I had the privilege, and I do mean privilege, of screening C'mom C'mon at the 34th Annual Virginia Film Festival in my sacred, intimate film fest context.  Though there was some intensely quality competition in feature length narrative fiction, and admittedly a tough call for me, this film is indeed my favorite of the 2021 VAFF.

Link:  C'mon C'mon Film Review (2021), Roger Ebert.com

A Very Brief Analysis: The French Dispatch by Wes Anderson

VAFF Opening Night Film:  The French Dispatch

My One Line Review of The French Dispatch (because I just don't care enough to give it more):  

That was the most skillfully made TERRIBLE film that I have possibly ever seen.  

Just absolutely a terrible mumbled pretentious indulgent mess (woops, that was two lines.)

I saw some fantastic films at this year's VA Film Festival, possibly a couple that were truly great, and I'll be posting about many of them shortly. However, to my surprise, the Opening Night Film, Wes Anderson's "The French Dispatch," was definitely NOT one of them.

*I take no pleasure in critiquing a Wes Anderson film so harshly, as he has made a few that I adore, but I speak my truth and stand behind it.

The Card Counter - Featured Film of Interest - Highly Recommended

No American filmmaker embraces Robert Bresson's innovative mode of cinema, both theoretically and artistically, more than Paul Shrader.  He at times leans into near visual and stylistic replication while somehow maintaining earnest originality, no doubt due to his inimitable talents for screenwriting, original narrative concept and character.  He delves the same deep seas of human suffering, redemption and existential contemplation that Bresson navigated, yet never seems a parody.  He explores similar protagonists, utilizes minimalist visual strokes and seems to adhere to the sacred oath of obstructions, yet I would never argue Shrader anything less than an integral auteur of his own making.  He has had a writers hand and a filmmakers voice in the new wave and evolution of contemporary American cinema as much as anyone of the era.  

The review below takes an approach and tone worthy of the material, demonstrating a critical manner reminiscent of Bazin, particularly in considering the film within the context of Shrader's body of work and artistic nature.  Shrader is apparently not slowing down or falling under the weight of age anymore than Bresson did.  I could argue that this film coupled with First Reformed, his last directorial/writing effort, represent some of his finest accomplishments as an auteur.  As someone that holds Bresson's films, Notes on the Cinematographer, and the Taxi Driver script as sacred precedents of filmmaking, may I say, extraordinary work, sir.  I look forward to what comes next.

"For Schrader, French filmmaker Robert Bresson is the inexhaustible fount. He’s one of the three filmmakers treated in his thesis-turned-seminal-film-text Transcendental Style In Film: Dreyer, Ozu, Bresson and the one Schrader cribs from almost obsessively. (I’m not saying that like it’s a bad thing, honest.) Schrader calls “The Card Counter” one of his “a man sitting in a room” or “man at a table” films; that man originated with Bresson’s “Diary of a Country Priest.” That priest was a diarist, and his writings were reinforced with the words read aloud in voiceover. Schrader made Travis Bickle a diarist, and specified the same kind of voiceover, which “Taxi Driver” director Martin Scorsese buttressed with some visual cues out of Godard, who was well influenced by Bresson himself."  

Glenn Kenny September 10, 2021

Link:  The Card Counter Film Review (2021), 'Roger Ebert.com'

Bressonian Quote #24 - Notes from a Master Filmmaker

"An image must be transformed by contact with other images as is a color by contact with other colors.  A blue is not the same blue beside a green, a yellow, a red.  No art without transformation" - Robert Bresson 

From:  Notes sur le Cinematographe/Notes on the Cinematographer (1975)

RIP Omar Little (MKW)

'At the entrance to paradise…the cry is echoing off the pearly gates tonight… 

”OMAR COMIN’!”'

Thank you for all that you gave us, and all that you lived.  You will be missed.

Link:  nytimes Michael K. Williams, Omar From ‘The Wire,’ Is Dead at 54