The Church of Eternal Sparkles
I wake and for a few seconds savor the uncharacteristic stillness of my neighborhood and the chirping of birds, agog: “I got the best crusts of panettone for christmas!” “The people in #3L gave me brioche crumbs!” Then I turn on all the holiday lights and put on my favorite holiday albums–Stevie, Jackson 5, Vince Guaraldi, Otis, the Supremes, Smokey, Mariah (yes), Prince (double yes). I’ve decorated my whole front room in a mermaid pagan Jewish Middle Church menagerie of gold and blue lights, green and red candles, birds and giraffes and cats, pine cones and pine branches (rescued from deli trash, for reals), and blessed blessed menorahs and Mother Marys. This is how I pierce the darkness of ambiguity and abnegation–with my own admixture of faiths, inherited and inspired. First and foremost: what pleases my inner 8-year-old, forever tapping her foot and mending her heart. Sparkling and soaring, that’s what she likes. So I decorate what I can, breathing in the joy of time with my loved ones in days before and to come (gosh, I’m the luckiest lady), and allow the loveliest permakitten to arrange herself decorously on my lap. From here I can dream up anything.
‘20th Century Women’ and Cinema Clubs
One of my favorite 2016 job was speaking at various cinema clubs throughout the Tristate Area, especially when they were screening films I dug. I especially adored “20th Century Women,” Mike Mill’s loosely autobiographical drama about his relationship with mom, sisters, and Southern California (in that order, basically). Here’s a transcript of a speech I gave about the film a few times.
I don’t know how many of you saw Beginners, which won Christopher Plummer a richly deserved Oscar, but that movie, which I adored, was based on director Mike Mills’ relationship with his father, who came out in his 70s after his wife, Mills’ mom, died of cancer.
This one is an autobiographical homage to Mills’ mother, and her matter-of-fact amusement grounds this film, giving it a depth that I hadn’t known I longed for in a director I already admired so much. Like the work of Wes Anderson and some other Generation X filmmakers, Mill’s films feel like a kaledescope or a collage or what younger people call “mix tapes.” Those droll photo stills–those quick montages of Jimmy Carter and red lipstick and punk rockers–make us feel like we’re pouring through a cool kid’s notebook or a terrific photo album, only for the whole country rather than a specific family. Continue Reading →
In Praise of the Creative Adaptation
Adaptations that take artistic license with their source material may disappoint diehard fans, but they often are the best kinds of films when it comes to igniting the imagination. Tis the season of top-everything lists, so let’s take a moment to honor some super-creative, super unconventional adaptations – many of which are better than anything in theaters right now.
“Clueless” (1995)
Jane Austen’s books are so witty and romantic that each one lends itself perfectly to cinema. I’m a huge fan of “Sense and Sensibility,” the Ang Lee-directed, Emma Thompson-penned adaptation. Ditto for the BBC adaptation of “Pride and Prejudice” (ignore the Keira Knightley version) and Whit Stillman’s “Love & Friendship,” a silver-tongued adaptation of Lady Susan. But the most creative Austen adaptation has got to be director/screenwriter Amy Heckerling’s take on Emma, in which Alicia Silverstone plays Cher, a beautiful, rich, Beverly Hills high school A student who can’t stop herself from meddling in other people’s business. The cast is a who’s-who of soon-to-be-stars (Paul Rudd plays her ex-stepbrother/current love interest; the late Brittany Murphy plays Cher’s fixer-upper) and the plot is a Cracker Jack box of sparkling wordplay, ‘90s fashion, sly edits, and a moral compass that would please Austen herself. Continue Reading →