forro in the dark

the things i've done in ny:
bar-hopping, lots of it. we walked in and out of lower east side, to chinatown, to east village many times. it was a bit tiring.
eating, in diners and mexican restaurants and more importantly our own products on thanksgivng and its leftovers.
studying, in a limited amount. but i can't complain.
drinking, moderately. at least according to my standards, mainly because it was expensive.
not shopping. a miracle, i only got a sweater and a tank.
watching, volver. very good, marvelous film. penelope has developed an exaggerated cleavega, i wonder how?
learning, a new band called forro in the dark after their show in nublu.
meeting, friends i haven't seen a long time and friends i thought i disliked but started liking again.
contemplating, in front of contemporary section of the met.
rosenquist, gift wrap doll
getting scared, once again of that temple inside the met and its view in the dark from outside.
admiring, the view of midtown from the central park at night.
seeing, my dear friends.

mood for rain

three times

from Taiwanese Hsiao-hsien Hou who also did Cafe Lumiere. very beautiful film, three touching love stories, great cinematography.
and perhaps the world's most beautiful woman; qi shu. films like this remind me why i love cinema so much.

mr. klein

at last losey proves he is a very good director. mr. klein is a kafkaesque political thriller about an art dealer in WW2 france. the underlying guilt and racial violence is captured in the brilliant images of joseph losey.

a place called chiapas

"we have no fucking idea what's going to happen next. excuse the word idea."

blaxploitation

i've just watched this very fun documentary (BaaadAsssss Cinema) that opens up many questions on the 70s blaxploitation films. it had good footage and of course a very good music by isaac hayes, curtis mayfield, etc..



some very interesting ideas/issues that really got me thinking are:
*** the term "blaxploitation": why suddenly these films to entertain black audiences, which involve drugs, sex, violence like all the other films which don't have white protagonists come to be called in terms of exploitation? the directors, actors and actresses of the era seem to think that there was no exploitation, yes there was serious setting up of stereotypes- but that's what crime cinema is all about, as Tarantino says in the film. the films were definitely shot for making profit out of black audiences who wanted to see black people kicking ass after a long period of struggle. but again, isn't entertainment cinema all about profit? if that's the case then all of us are always being exploited regardless of our group/community/nation etc.
*** and of course there were people of the black community, political activists who strongly criticized these films, thinking this sort of entertainment would move people away from reality, the real political issues. this reminds me of Soviet Russia and Proletkult debates.
***capitalism and entertainment industry always operates on the level of "more" and "surplus." the idea being that let's make money out of this group and that group that we will start recognizing and accepting as one of us. and we will keep on recognizing as long as they are cogs in the wheel of the economic machine.
***this brief period of american film industry and the debates that followed illustrates the general picture of the whole system in a profound way.

things i learned:
-tupac's mother is very clever and used to be a part of Black Panthers,
-the film Jackie Brown is thought for some as a film that gives back a political edge to the genre.

and about my usage of the word "black"- i don't believe in assigning new names to the peoples, because it seems as if the inequalities underlying are being politically correctified and not overcome.

marx on ideology

they do not know it, but they are doing it.

two films

the assasination of trotsky- i was expecting a good political thriller instead we watched a boring film that was playing at being deep. and on the day i finished trotsky's literature and revolution. such a shame.



our new guest boris arrived while we were watching...


cranes are flying. very good film, won palme d'or in 1958. WW2 Russia, romance, tragedy. excellent. but most important thing was that i heard the folk song katyusha and became obsessed now i can't hear anything else (except for the russian national anthem). what's happening to me? does it have anything to do with studying vertv, eisenstein, lenin, trotsky in this last month?