Time Exists Only In Us

As I prepare for a very long work week, it's nice to consider that time will only move slowly if I will it to do so. This is not a complex idea. In fact, people have been saying it for years... time is not a real thing, rather it is just our perception of our own journey through this life. Space does not feel time. To us it seems to take things in space millions of life times just to accomplish a simple act like crashing or separating or creating. And as we receive more images of new extra-solar planets it becomes clearer and clearer that we don't really understand time... it's like music, a magical thing that it seems we have invented but cannot truly explain.

I have been very happy lately, but inevitably this feeling will not last. Even as I know these things I am excited about will actually go some where, I recognize that some hardship will come up and block in another part of my life. I welcome this because this is what life is all about. And without the bitter, the sweet ain't all that sweet. I've just completed a music video shoot on the Vegas strip and come back alive. I've finished the first draft of my latest short story. And several projects I have been sitting on for a while are finally being explored and accepted. Soon I will be back in Florida for a week to see two old friends get married. It's wonderful to know they will officially be as together as they have felt for the last half decade in spirit.

But visiting Florida is always a bittersweet experience. I find myself in the unusual scenario wherein the majority of my closest friends are moving forward with their lives. Florida is almost empty for me. And thank god, you know? I feel so much comfort knowing that my friends are doing something with their lives. But it leaves me with a sad feeling as I recognize that the people I will be seeing when I get there (not the couple-to-be) are still currently stuck. They are like those planets in an everlasting struggle with their own lives. Uncertain of their direction or what path will actually lead them to success. They are wembling through life. And hopefully one day they will open their eyes and see that life doesn't have to be so difficult. Sometimes we just have to make a choice to get ourselves out of the ditch.

Why does the fun never last? And why does the pain always seem to go on forever? Perhaps the better question is, what can we do to make the best of every moment?

Time Exists Only In Us:

1. The Leather Winged Bat - The Duhks
2. Sunday (The Day Before My Birthday) - Moby
3. Cripple And The Starfish - Antony & The Johnsons
4. Dumb I Sound - Sufjan Stevens
5. No Quarter - Led Zeppelin
6. The Stars Are Projectors - Modest Mouse
7. Man In The Long Black Coat - Mark Lanegan (Cover)
8. The Ghost Inside - Broken Bells
9. Gravedigger - Dave Matthews Band (Cover)
10. Got No Love - The Kooks
11. Stars Of Warburton - Moonbabies
12. Down Boy - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
13. Get What It's About - Jon Brion
14. Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
15. Here I Come - CocoRosie
16. Spiraling - Antony & The Johnsons

Billy Wilder... Like A Fox

I love me a great Billy Wilder flick. The guy just gets cinema. Every film of his has a clear grasp of genre. Few directors or writers can say this. Few can boast that they have a career even halfway reflective of Billy Wilder's.

I bring this up because recently I've been sitting down and catching up on a few of his more obscure pictures, like the above featured One, Two, Three. Last week I saw Stalag 17 for the very first time, and while I enjoyed the film... I found that it retains an aftertaste that far overshadows the film its self. This is the magic of a Wilder film. You enjoy it in the theater, but once you've had a chance to sit on the idea... it doesn't just go away. No sir. It gets to you and makes you feel something about what has been said. That clip above feels classic. And though I am sure I've seen something like it before... I don't think I've ever seen it played with such sincerity and purity.

Wilder is a genius. Watch:

Some Like It Hot

The Seven-Year-Itch

Double Indemnity

Sunset Blvd.

Ninotchka

Ball Of Fire

Sabrina

The Spirit Of St. Louis

The Apartment

Irma La Douce


You'll be glad you did!

Splice Is Not Sci-Fi/Horror Genius... It Isn't Even Scary.

I wrote this in response to my friend The Silver Screener's Splice Review:


I hated it too. So many reviews beforehand said this was good smart horror/sci-fi... that it broke the regular boundaries that hold other films in mediocrity. Perhaps, the later is true... but they didn't break any positive boundaries. They somehow managed to break all of the boundaries that keep mediocre movies from being completely awful. This movie sucks worse than the Jacket... and it leaves me scratching my head. Why did anybody think it would be a good idea to subject others to this piece of garbage? What asshole said, oh I've got just the perfect idea. It's an idea that countless others have thrown away because they didn't think it was good... but I know better? For he surely was misinformed about the meaning of the word good. I hate you, Splice. I wish you'd go back to the hell filled with awful ideas that you came from.

I'd like to take a moment now and remember some great Sci-Fi and Horror films more deserving of your attention:

Metropolis (1927) - Great Classic Sci-Fi

The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951) - Perfect Classic Sci-Fi

Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1956) - Awesome Sci-Fi Horror

The Haunting (1963) - Genuinely Creepy Classic Horror

2001:a space odyssey (1968) - Sci-Fi, a rebirth

Planet Of The Apes (1968) - Ape-shit Awesome Sci-Fi

A Clockwork Orange (1971) - Super Creepy Sci-Fi

The Wicker Man (1973) - Incredibly Odd-but-effecting Horror

The Man Who Fell To Earth (1976) - Sci-Fi with a Pop

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) - Wondrous Sci-Fi

Halloween (1978) - Fun Horror

The Shining (1980) - The Great Horror Classic

Blade Runner (1982) - Gorgeous Sci-Fi

The Thing (1982) - Perfect, Award Worthy Sci-FI Horror

Star Wars Original Trilogy (1983) - You Know You Love It Sci-Fi

A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984) - How Much Fun Can a Horror Film Be??

Brazil (1985) - Weiiiird Sci-Fi

RoboCop (1987) - Perfect Sci-Fi

12 Monkeys (1995) - Intensely Emotional Sci-Fi

GATTACA (1997) - Perfect Sci-Fi... Perfect!

Children Of Men (2006) - Intense and Wondrous Sci-Fi

Sunshine (2007) - Awesome Sci-Fi

Let The Right One In (2008) - Horror in Love

Moon (2009) - Perfect Effecting Sci-Fi


All of the above mentioned flicks deserve to be viewed over and over again. So DON'T go out to the theater to see Splice... stay in and rent one of these! They are lightyears beyond anything Splice could ever ever hope to be.


If you think I've been too blunt on Splice, I invite you to tell me what was actually good about the flick in the comments section. I'd like to understand how this movie even got made.