Relevant Quotes: J.D. Salinger

"Phooey, I say, on all white-shoe college boys who edit their campus literary magazines. Give me an honest con man any day." ~J.D. Salinger (Franny and Zooey)

Salinger, truly one of the great American writers (and perhaps the most honest), passed away in January of this year. Below is a link to the NY Times article that followed his death at age 91.

Link: J. D. Salinger, Literary Recluse, Dies at 91, NY Times reports

Film Festival Update - Toronto and Venice in September...

Two of the world's premier film festivals, Toronto Film Festival and Venice Film Festival, will be opening and running through September. Both have intriguing lineups, many eyebrow-raisers, and quite a few high profile premiers. Below are the dates and links to each festival's website. I will continue to post updates as the festivals kick off, but I highly encourage all to check out this year's lineups - you won't be disappointed.

35th Toronto International Film Festival: Sept. 9-19, 2010

- Opening Film: Score: A Hockey Musical, by Michael McGowan

67th Venice International Film Festival: Sept. 1-11, 2010

- Opening Film: Black Swan, by Darren Aronofsky

The Onion - News In Brief 02

Report: 10 Million Killed Annually By Stepping Out Of Comfort Zones

AUGUST 24, 2010 | ISSUE 46•34

WASHINGTON—A new report published this week by the Department of Health and Human Services revealed that more than 10 million Americans are violently killed each year while attempting to break away from their regular everyday routines and try something new. "We found that getting out of your comfort zone and facing your fears resulted in premature death nearly 78 percent of the time," HHS researcher Madeline Hersh said. "People always ask themselves, 'What's the worst that can happen?' Well, according to our research, anything from being bitten by a poisonous snake to dying in a hot-air balloon crash can happen." The report found that the safest individuals were those who surrendered to the soul-crushing monotony of habit and then convinced themselves that they had things pretty good.

Bressonian Quote #13 - Notes from a Master Filmmaker

"The terrible habit of theatre." - Robert Bresson

Aronofsky's Black Swan Trailer and Poster

This is the recently released trailer and poster for Darren Aronofsky's new film (always anxiously and excitedly anticipated). It will be premiering on opening night of the Venice Film Festival, Sept. 1, as well as screening at the Toronto Film Festival.

An Honest Review of Christopher Nolan's "Inception" - Finally...

It seems that the film critics' circle, with their universal applause and praise for recent blockbuster spectacles like Avatar and Inception, have tuned into some Joseph Campbell-esque collective consciousness that the rest of the thinking, film-viewing population are not privy to. I presume that they have fallen victim to the debilitating, enchanting, hypnotizing charms of those suave studios and big (but shameless) marketing schemes. So sad, especially for self-proclaimed professionals and experts (funny). I simply can't believe how little dissension there was among the ranks of popular critics in regard to these two films. Even the more seemingly credible, or definitively "indy", critical reviews were soft and approving. Avatar is decidedly some of the worst cinematic dribble that I have suffered through in years (it would have been an average story had it been written for submission to a junior high literary magazine), and Inception, though one hell of a spectacle (and relatively interesting concept), was an average movie at best - with grueling expository dialogue and a formula story line with no original character development. And yet, the critics (even Village Voice, NY Times, Ebert, and the likes - shame on you) universally praised these forgettable, unchallenging films. Where is the young rebellious Ebert of old that stood up against popular opinion and hailed the cinematic excellence of Bonnie and Clyde - risking career and credibility? We need dissension.

Following is the only honest review of Inception that I have read - bravo.

REVIEW: Is Inception This Year’s Masterpiece? Dream On

BY STEPHANIE ZACHAREK

If the career of Christopher Nolan is any indication, we’ve entered an era in which movies can no longer be great. They can only be awesome, which isn’t nearly the same thing.

In Inception, Nolan does the impossible, the unthinkable, the stupendous: He folds a mirror version of Paris back upon itself; he stages a fight sequence in a gravity-free hotel room; he sends a train plowing through a busy city street. Whatever you can dream, Nolan does it in Inception. Then he nestles those little dreams into even bigger dreams, and those bigger dreams into gargantuan dreams, going on into infinity, cubed. He stretches the boundaries of filmmaking so that it’s, like, not even filmmaking anymore, it’s just pure “OMG I gotta text myBFF right now” sensation.

Wouldn’t it have been easier just to make a movie?

But that urgent simplicity, that directness of focus, is beyond Nolan: Everything he does is forced and overthought, and Inception, far from being his ticket into hall-of-fame greatness, is a very expensive-looking, elephantine film whose myriad so-called complexities — of both the emotional and intellectual sort — add up to a kind of ADD tedium. This may be a movie about dreams, but there’s nothing dreamlike or evocative about it: Nolan doesn’t build or sustain a mood; all he does is twist the plot, under, over, and back upon itself, relying on Hans Zimmer’s sonic boom of a score to remind us when we should be excited or anxious or moved. It’s less directing than directing traffic.

For the complete review, follow the link: MovieLine Reviews

And, thank you for an honest and intelligent review.

Persecution/Bigotry Robs the World Time and Time Again...

Link: http://coffeeghost.net/images/dontaskdonttell.png

The Arab Parrot - Highly Recommended Blog/ Images of Intrigue

One of my close friends and Master of all things pop culture surreal (an invaluable media resource) recently tuned me in to this blog. I must say wow, haha, and intriguing - I can't quit checking it out. Think urban art, Andy Warhol, paparazzi, street photography, performance art, image journal, gritty, soft, voyeurism, communal, hipster pretense, urban soul, potential brilliance, potential pointlessness. Actually, maybe I should let this one speak for itself. Enjoy.

The Arab Parrot

Existential Woes - reflections and observations

Keep nailing the ground to the earth,

but it won't stay down.

Bressonian Quote #12 - Notes from a Master Filmmaker

"Two types of film: those that employ the resources of the theatre (actors. direction, etc.) and use the camera in order to reproduce; those that employ the resources of cinematography and use the camera to create." - Robert Bresson

Bokonon - Relevant Quote/Wisdom

"Maturity is a bitter disappointment for which no remedy exists, unless laughter can be said to remedy anything." ~Bokonon (aka: Kurt Vonnegut)

Link: VONNEGUT.com

Filmmaker Quotes: Gus Van Sant

The following is a recent email that I received from a close friend, collaborator, and fellow filmmaker. I couldn't agree more - with my friend and Van Sant.

After the financial success of Good Will Hunting, Gus Van Sant had this to say:

"I came to realize since I had no need to make a lot of money, I should make films I find interesting, regardless of their outcome and audience."

And then he gave us Elephant and Paranoid Park. This man is my hero.

Arizona High Schools To Now Teach Spanish Entirely In English - the ONION reports

Links: the ONION - America's Finest News Source

Absurdity of the Moment - #02

At The Height Of The Crisis, $1.6 Billion In 'Ill-Advised' Bonuses

by JACOB GOLDSTEIN

At the height of the financial crisis, there was a window of a few months after banks had received federal bailout money, and before they were subject to new rules restricting their pay practices.

During that window, 17 financial companies handed out $1.6 billion in compensation that was "ill-advised," Kenneth Feinberg, the federal official appointed to oversee pay at bailed-out firms, said this morning...

Here are the 17 firms that Feinberg says made ill-advised payments. Those that have not yet fully repaid taxpayer bailouts are listed in bold:

• American Express
• AIG
• Bank of America
• Boston Private Financial Holdings
• Capital One
• CIT
• Citigroup
• JPMorgan Chase
• M&T Bank
• Morgan Stanley
• Regions Financial
• SunTrust Banks
• Bank of New York Mellon
• Goldman Sachs
• PNC Financial Services Group
• U.S. Bancorp
• Wells Fargo

Link to the entire article: NPR Reports

I feel like the utter and complete disregard of basic social (if not business) ethics is abundantly apparent, so no need to expound upon the evident injustice or my rising fury as i read each dribbling continuation of this absurd financial saga. Obviously, this is merely one more example in a long line that epitomizes the failures of our financial sector, and the major players, to have any semblance of basic human decency or expansive vision. This also perpetuates the rising tide of validated questions about the root paradigm of American Capitalism and contemporary deregulation. We reap what we sow.

Just wanted to play my part in the relevant information continuum in hopes that some may read this list and reconsider any further business transactions with these companies. They took money from the poor and paid gratuitous bonuses to the wealthiest - unforgivable, criminal.

The Jaunt (a short film by tod gorman) - Original Score, Poster/One-Sheet and Trailer

The Jaunt Original Score (written by Steve Raney and Tod Gorman)


This is the original Film Score for The Jaunt, a short film - based on the Stephen King short story - that I directed and edited. Seemingly endless post-production will wrap this month, and we hope to be screening in festivals by fall.

There are two tracks:

- The Electronic Film Score (opening and body of film): composed by Steve Raney, a good friend and gifted electronic musician/DJ extraordinaire based out of Brooklyn, NY.

- Final Track (end credits): composed by Steve and myself. Recorded by Ben Privott/Acoustic guitar by Tod Gorman/ Vocal humming by Tod Gorman and Brendan Carter/ Electronic tracks and Keys by Steve Raney.

The Jaunt Original Trailer (by Nick Smith)


Poster Designs by Nick Smith.

The Jaunt is presented by Bad Trip Film and Boy in a Box Productions, in conjunction with UNCW Film Studies and Stephen King's Dollar Baby Program.

Duality is the Premise - reflections and observations

EVERYTHING is a duality.

Rant Casey (from Chuck Palahniuk's novel, Rant) - Wisdom and Relevant Quotes

"Some people are just born human. The rest of us, we take a lifetime to get there."

"The future you have tomorrow won't be the same as the future you had yesterday."

"You're a different human being to everybody that you meet."

~Rant Casey

Link: The Cult - The Official Chuck Palahniuk Site

Highly recommended novel - Rant by Chuck Palahniuk. A twisted mutation of Palahniuk's dark-nook, back-alley, gritty realism (surreal at the same time - yes, this does make sense) and fantastical, philosophical, sci fi thriller - with the underlying combative themes of social chaos and romantic purpose that seem to thread all of Palahniuk's books. Also written through first person accounts of Rant Casey, post-mortem - this adds an intriguing aspect of questionable credibility and perspective to the storytelling voice and moves the story forward with narrative holes that build anticipation in a fascinating manner. Follow the link for more information.

Photo Captures Double Lightning Strike - Images of Intrigue

Sometimes, a photographer goes out in search of a good photo--and, because of unforeseen circumstances, he comes back with a great photo, one that gets displayed all over the world.

Links: NPR

Chicago Tribune

Photojournalism - To Win Afghan Trust, Village By Village (NPR) - Images of Intrigue

Photojournalism from Afghanistan - by David Gilkey/NPR

Follow the link to view a 13 image slide show of these extraordinarily poetic, but intensely reflective photographs recently taken on assignment by David Gilkey. There is honesty between the stylistic artistry of the images and the brutal realism of subject matter.

Bressonian Quote #11 - Notes from a Master Filmmaker

"(1925?) The TALKIE opens its doors to theatre which occupies the place and surrounds it with barbed wire." - Robert Bresson

Bresson's negative sentiments toward theatre will be clarified in upcoming Bressonian Quotes. His qualm was not with theatre per se, but with the detrimental marriage of theatre and film, and the artistic restrictions it imposes - particularly in defining commercial narrative expectations.