Cafe Bucky

Just saw Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine, and really loved it! Very thought provoking. It’s just out on DVD, so go run out and rent it, buy it, or use some other non-violent and legal means to get your mitts on it.

Bowling for Columbine is a breath of fresh air after some of the Hollywood Dreck that’s been released of late. Do check out the flip side of the DVD. Michael explains the Oscar Speech. There’s also a good bit from when he went back to Denver to give a speech that touched on some of the issues surrounding our all too violent society. I’d like to write a lot about that, after I have had some time to reflect. The film was powerful, and certainly deserves its awards. Nice to see Charlton Heston squirm (even though I loved his work in Planet of the Apes).

Great film, Michael Moore!

Whatcha readin? Whatcha listen’n to? You see that!?

There’s a lot more than just tech stuff in my day. I haven’t really
mentioned much about books, films, and music, have I?
Until I work in some sidebar here with little nods to media (readin’,
hearin’, watchin’) here be a roundup. It’s a mini-trilogy, one
part per day. Warning: Spoilers.

I just saw a censored (TV) version of Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing, which
reminded me of how great a film it is. Guess who makes her first
appearance in this one? None other than a sassy head-shakin’
Brooklynite Rosie Perez, showing lots of Attitude in her first role.
I want the DVD, just to get the full-on, over-the-top dialog. It’s Hot!
And that’s the truth, Ruth.

L’Auberge Espagnole was
a lot of fun, being a look at 20-something students from all over
Europe, sharing a large apartment in Barcelona. Maybe the plot is idealized:
living with a bunch of people from different European countries, cramming all
of your food into the refrigerator shelf with your name tag, but it’s
an enjoyable popcorn travelogue. No explosions or superheros, just
real, and very funny. Clever editing too. Go to Europe for a couple of hours.

Speaking of editing; if you want to see a technically interesting 90
minute show (yeah, one take, one continuous shot!), and if you like
Russian history, go see Russian Ark. Not for
everyone.

Paris Nightclub. September 1989 - Honeymoon. Hot, sweat,
humid. Wild Jazz, crowd underground. Dance all night. 3 in the morning… the
long stroll back from the Latin Quarter to the Arc de Triomphe. Cafes hoppin.
Happy people abound. Walk to the beat of the traffic. More coffee please. A
simpler time.

Wind farther back. 1961. Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier made Paris Blues at the CdlH,
giving us their take on transplant Americans pursuing their Jazz
Dreams. Dig it. It’s a wonderful, possibly overlooked travelogue of
a movie with great jamming scenes of a gleeful Louis Armstrong. Watch it,
and escape for 100 minutes. A simpler time.