koolaids, rabih alameddine

i wonder if being sane means disregarding the chaos that is life, pretending only an infinitesimal segment of it is reality.

who's afraid of virginia woolf?

this film comes from one of my favorite directors: mike nichols and one of my LEAST favorite actress elizabeth taylor. it was a really good film, even the acting of taylor was very impressive. of course the original script is a big part of the film's success but i think nichols adds his own touch with great angles and pans that set the atmosphere. one thing that bothered me about the story is the oedipal, nuclear family story line but at the same time i'd like to think that the illusion/reality or fact/fiction thematics undermine that emphasis. (perhaps i get that idea because in the graduate nichols shot one year later, there is definitely a subversive oedipal scheme).

sevme yanarsin

yuregimin zinicirini kirdim bir aksamustu
bir capkina vuruldum kalbim hayata kustu.
sevme kizim yanarsin diye soylerdi annem.
girme ask kapisindan guler sana elalem.
dinlemedim ahh ah bu kafam ah.
o gun bugundur ask bana gunah.

elif ve irmak at grad lounge 12:50 december 8th.

left-handed gun

arthur penn's debut film. again a very handsome paul newman. great portrayal of character, a definite anti-hero. it was a very good western and even though i'm not so keen on the genre, arthur penn's touch makes the genre an "anti" edge. and come to think of it i also adore sergio leone, does it mean i like westerns? can't be. most of them are incredibly boring but a fistful of dollars and the good, the bad and the ugly are of a special kind. and didn't leone prove his genius with once upon a time in america?

balzac and the little chinese seamstress

some annoying parts about the film were: exaggeration of the "power of literature;" at the end we learn that what balzac taught to our little chinese seamstress was the priceless treasure of woman being her beauty' the constant division of savages vs. civilized.
if you can watch the film overlooking these parts, if it's ever possible, then it becomes a sweet love story with nice anecdotes (flaubert's pic taken for marx, stalin or lenin, our character fooling the chief by titling his song "mozart is thinking of mao" or the chief shouting "down with bourgeois chicken!")


here i'd also like to remind (a point of agreement between me and the film):
"Marxism has won its historic significance as the ideology of the revolutionary proletariat because, far from rejecting the most valuable achievements of the bourgeois epoch, it has, on the contrary, assimilated and refashioned everything of value in the more than two thousand years of the development of human thought and culture. Only further work on this basis and in this direction, inspired by the practical experience of this proletarian dictatorship as the finals stage in the struggle against every form of exploitation, can be recognized as the development of a genuine proletarian culture." Lenin, On Proletarian Culture

mackintosh man

first of all, could anyone be as handsome as paul newman.
second, there is nothing as refreshing as a good spy film.
and third, the ending was really subversive considering the cold war.

eel

a very good film from imamura. character-based drama about a guy who tries to negotiate his guilt, jealousy and affection after murdering his wife. the beautiful part of the film was its insight to not only the protagonist but also all the other characters.

from vienna

november playlist

Gone Daddy Gone Gnarls Barkley
Katyusha Red Army Choir
Jellycones The Unicorns
USSR Anthem Red Army Choir
April 26, 1992 Sublime
Fite Dem Back Linton Kwesi Johnson
crazy Gnarls Barkley
Owner of a Lonely Heart Yes
Marie Laforet - Ivan, Boris & Moi Ivan, Boris & Moi
Gilbert Becaud - Nathalie Nathalie
In The Bad Bad Old Days The Foundations
Bad To Me Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas
Young Folks (Feat. Victoria Bergsman) Peter Bjorn & John
The Soft Parade The Doors
Once Again Girl Talk
Operated On Union Of Knives
I Wanna Be Adored The Stone Roses
Evil has never Union of Knives
Let's Call It Off Peter Bjorn & John
The W.A.N.D. The Flaming Lips
Are You A Hypnotist?? The Flaming Lips
Pusher Man Curtis Mayfield
Superfly Curtis Mayfield
The Bottle Gil Scott-Heron
The Revolution will not be televised Gil Scott-Heron
EZLN.. Para Tod@as Todo Manu Chao
Do You Realize?? The Flaming Lips
Rain and tears (aphrodite's child) Demis Roussos
Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometimes Beck
Dire Wolf Grateful Dead
Friend Of The Devil Grateful Dead
Fire On The Mountain Greatful Dead
I Second That Emotion Smokey Robinson
Screamager Therapy?

apocalypse at 4.40