I didn't get Columbus Day off -- we don't do that on the West Coast -- but I did have last Thursday and Friday off, which afforded me a nice, long four-day weekend. On Thursday, in addition to visiting the dentist for a check-up and cleaning and picking up my contacts at my eye doctor's office, I also did some shopping for vintage clothes at this great little store in San Pedro. I scored key components of my Halloween costume there and also got some frivolous snow boots -- made in Italy -- and a one-of-a-kind hooded cape that I just fell in love with on first glance. (Think little red riding hood.) I can't wait for their semi-annual sale at Threads of Time (46 West 6th Street, San Pedro CA). They have some great stuff there.
That
night, I went to the opening night gala of the Danish Film Festival in Los Angeles, held at the Egyptian in Hollywood where they were screening the original cut -- found after orig. print was lost, in a janitor's closet at an insane asylum -- of
Carl Dreyer's Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) with the incomparable face of
Maria Falconetti. One of my favorite films from the '20s (and also featured in a chapter of my dissertation, it was a treat to see the thing on the big screen. The print they had wasn't as clean as the Criterion restoration, but who cares? A new score had been composed for the occasion, which was ethereal and electronic, emphasizing the dark side of organized religion, as the young composer put it. The whole thing was great. I'm sure I was surrounded by glitterati of the Danish film scene, but I didn't recognize anyone. I admit, I'm weak on my contemporary Danish film, for the most part.
Friday, I saw Michael Clayton at the ArcLight in Hollywood. George Clooney in the title role gives a restrained and introspective performance as a disillusioned high-power attorney, working in much more subtle tones than his
disillusioned CIA agent in
Syriana. Sent in to pick up the pieces after a trusted closer, played by
Tom Wilkinson, threatens to derail the case -- ostensibly because of his own psychic derailment -- Clayton's moral compass gets some fine tuning as he weighs the costs to his friend's mental well-being against the fiduciary dividends, never enough for a gambling addict, of his distasteful job as a fixer for a law firm rife with seemingly garden variety (but no less gross) mega-corp corruption.
Tilda Swinton plays the in-house counsel for U-North, a giant agri-business firm whose serenely "green" commercials belie a product that is known by in-house researchers to cause major tissue damage in humans. In over her head with bosses who don't keep her as tight in the loop as they probably should, she is no match for Clayton. However, not for the reasons we are given to believe -- that Clayton is a no-holds-barred mental giant in a negotiating room. He's Odysseus to Wilkinson's Sysyphus, deviously clever rather than a nose-to-the-grindstone plodder. Instead, Clayton will take U-North to the mat from the privileged position of moral authority. The ethics of the narrative are not overwhelmingly complex, and if the film succeeds it is primarily on the performance of Clooney, with some help from Wilkinson and Swinton, along with the gorgeous camerawork and the minimalist score. My movie-going companion felt there was too much vagueness in the central case and that the look of the film was too distanced and cold for his taste. I, on the otherhand, thought every aspect of the atmosphere was pitch perfect and that the central case was meant to be labyrinthine and simultaneously fungible and vague. Think of the way
Bleak House works. The point of the film was the moment of newly achieved clarity and moral rectitude for Clayton, not the ins and outs of the impossible case. The scenes with the kid were less finely tuned -- esp. all the emphasis put on the allegorical device of the fantastical novel (a story with clear-cut lines of good and evil, one truth-seer against the many still in the cave) that Clayton's young son is reading. Other than that, I thought the film engaging, well-conceived and deftly executed.
Friday night,
Bar Keeper in Silver Lake hosted an evening of Sazerak's and absinthe at their monthly cocktail night. I loved the Sazerac, which originated in New Orleans. Made with absinthe, simple syrup, grenadine and rye with a curlicue of orange peel resting on top. It was light, clean and crisp. The absinthe, cut with water and sugar, was a sweeter concoction. I didn't drink enough to experience that storied hallucinogenic high that comes with the wormwood based beverage. On the other hand, I learned that in an effort to make the liquid appear more green, manufacturers in the 19th century used to add lead to their brew. So, maybe the Alice in Wonderland-effects were more a function of that than herbal toxins. I only had two drinks, mostly because I had to get up early the next morning because...
...on Saturday I went to Disneyland with my friends Josh and Amishi and their 16 mo. old daughter, Sonya along with
Dan. Some five years ago, the four of us who walked the earth at that time (Sonya but a gamete in her parents' loins) visited Disneyland just before
Josh moved to NYC after graduating from USC Cinema. So, this was a kind of reunion / replay of that visit, though now Josh and Amishi, then betrothed, are married and parents. I seem to have made less tangible progress in my own life. Anyway, we all had a great time, going on the thrill rides and experiencing the slower-paced rides through the eyes of a toddler. I kept wondering what Sonya was making of everything, esp. when we were on the Pirates of the Caribbean and cannonballs were whizzing by, flashing and making loud splashes in the water around our boat. Then again, she could experience things only on a pure sensory level -- not processing narrative, as those of us with more advanced frontal cortices were wont to do. Doubtless, she was far less troubled by the abrupt denouement and conclusion to the Snow White's Adventure ride and I don't think she give a rat's ass about whatever the narrator was babbling on about through the Haunted House ride, now bedecked in Nightmare Before Christmas fashion for the holidays. She seemed to love it all, except for the giant
Winnie the Pooh. And really, can we blame her for being distressed by a giant yellow bear wanting to take a picture with her? Probably not. It's different going to the park with a small child. Maybe we didn't get on as many rides, but there were other pay-offs. Like watching Sonya gnaw at a chicken drumstick in the Blue Bayou Restaurant. (Prob. my favorite eatery in the park, in spite of being hilariously over-priced. But, maybe that's only because I've never been to the
super secret restaurant upstairs from the Blue Bayou called, Club 33.) We ended our day at the park with a go 'round on the Buzz Lightyear ride / video game (see photo) and ice cream sundae's on Main St. The park looked gorgeous in its fall colors and all the lights in the trees. I always enjoy Disneyland in the day, but I absolutely love it at night. More pics
here. Also,
USC lost to Stanford (24, 23) later in the day, which took the wind out of Dan's sails a bit.
Sunday was kind of a kick-back day. I met up with Marci for lunch at "The Best Fish Taco in Ensenada" and then we had coffee / tea at Intelligentsia. I hadn't seen Marci in a very long time -- probably a couple of months -- as she's been busy finishing up her dissertation, since she's defending on Nov. 1. Way to go! After lunch, I wandered around Sunset Junction a little bit, picked up the latest four issues (nos. 55-58) of Y: The Last Man at Secret Headquarters, because I'm impatient and I can't wait for Vol. 10 of the trade compendium to come out sometime next year. I walked back to my apartment from Sunset Junction, enjoying the sunny day and hardly believing that another Monday -- not to mention a five-day work week (I've been spoiled the last two weeks) -- was just around the corner. Before that, though, Devon and I did a little shopping in Echo Park, mostly at a vintage shop called Flounce that has the best stuff, including this amazing coat that I couldn't justify purchasing just now. I did pick up a pair of faux-carnelian earrings -- little studs in the shape of full-blown roses and a silver cameo ring (again, faux) on a light green field. Feeling very lady-like. After chatting over a couple of cups of tea at Devon's place, I made my way home for the evening, in the afterglow of my fun-filled four days.
It was a fantastic weekend. One for the books -- or at least the blog.
Comments
disneyland! well, i never!