Shallow Thoughts: Oscar Season and Bukowski
February 28th, 2014
Shallow Thoughts: Vapid headline grabbing, meandering nothings and a false sense of importance
Posted by: Casey Klug
Oscars
It’s that time of the year again, and guess what, it’s a damn good year for movies. With nine best picture nominations, all deserving films, most people can agree that this year is a strong field. The main thing I was sad about was the lack of a nomination for Spike Jonze’s “Her.” From the amazing technical direction of “Gravity” to the heartwrenching “12 Years a Slave,” this year has something for everybody. I kept watching the best picture nominees expecting to find some disappointing films like I do most every year, but overall this was a really strong group. Some of the categories I’m most excited by are the Best Picture and Best Actor categories. There should be a close competition between “12 Years a Slave” and “Gravity” for Best Picture, while the showdown between Matthew McConaughey and Chiwetel Ejiofor should be quite close as well. Personally I’m hoping to see “12 Years a Slave” and Matthew McConaughey take home the awards, but the competition is so good, it’s hard to really be angry with whatever decision the Academy makes.
No Man’s Land
Last night I had the chance to see Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen in the Broadway play “No Man’s Land.” It was really interesting to get to see such prominent and recognizable film actors perform live theatre. Their performances were expectedly fantastic. What was really great was getting to hear the talkback after the play finished. The personality of Ian McKellen was incredibly charming, and he seemed to have a long list of witty remarks ready at a moments notice. When asked what he would miss most about the play after the run wrapped, he said he would miss the stench on the corner of 48th street. It was also amusing to see Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart out of costume. Ian McKellen was dressed in bright tight fitting pants, vans, and a hoodie, while Patrick Stewart was wearing a classy dress shirt and black vest with stylish leather boots. Really their styles embodied two of the popular 20 something hipster looks of Brooklyn. Hopefully I’ll be that stylish in my 70’s, but odds aren’t in my favor.
Ham on Rye
I just finished Charles Bukowski’s “Ham on Rye” this week. I loved it. It was my first time reading anything by Bukowski, and I feel in love with his voice. “Ham on Rye” is the semi auto-biographical tale of a boy growing up in the 1930’s and 40’s. Bukowski’s protagonist navigates the rough waters of having an abusive father, learning to be tough as a defense mechanism. Reading about the protaganist’s socially awkward youth, fist fights, alcoholic benders and general debauchery was highly entertaining and captivating. What really got me was Bukowski’s use of straight forward and sometimes sparse prose. He has the perfect way of ending a chapter with one short sentence or idea that really pulls everything together. To me Bukowski really drives home the fact that less is more can work with great success in literature.
The Tiny — Closer
When I hear the singer for this band it’s hard not to think of Joanna Newsom. The vocals are so remniscent of the high-pitched, beautiful voice of Newsom’s, as well as the wonderful use of strings. There’s a real sense of longing and pain in this song that makes it beatiful and tragic. I keep relistening to it paying attention to different parts of the song each time: lyrics, inflection of the voice and the instrumentation.
