Art Journal (2/19/07)
As "Oscar Run 2007" continues, I've been diligently working working my way through all of the nominees and I'm slowly chopping away at the list. Over the last few days I've watched so many of the nominees that they're all starting to blur together a bit. That's when I know it's time to take a breather and get a little writing done about the piece - if only to help my memory.
The Black Dahlia is Brian DePalma's latest noir-ish thriller, based on the novel by James Elroy. Like all pieces of film noir, Dahlia is fairly bleak. But like all noirs, it's a morality play about the consequences of sin and deception, grounded in the understanding that we have all fallen and that we all need grace. Not the greatest film, but it's still fairly compelling.
If I had seen Letters from Iwo Jima before I had made out my list of the best and worst films of the year, it would have made it up near the top. Eastwood's second film about the Battle of Iwo Jima is a phenomenal film. We're allowed to see our enemies as real people, not just faceless, inhuman monsters. It's one of the most powerful statements against the mindless brutality of war, and against fanaticism which asks us to surrender our faculties of logic and reason.
Blood Diamond really surprised me. Not because Leonardo DiCaprio turned in a really solid performance, but because there was a part of me that was expecting a self-righteous, "meaningful" movie that was nothing but Oscar-bait. And after the disappointment of The Last King of Scotland, Blood Diamond was a surprisingly moving and touching film. And even if the movie does nothing more than help illustrate the problems surrounding the diamond industry, I'd say that it fulfills its purpose. It's a movie that needs to be seen, especially in the west.
Iraq in Fragments, one of the nominated documentaries, does a wonderful job showing its audience the three major factions now existing side-by-side in Iraq: the Sunni, the Shia, and the Kurds. It's filmmakers certainly oppose the U.S. presense in Iraq, and this opposition is echoed in the men and women featured in the film. But the people profiled aren't terrorists, they are average men and women who are being hurt each and every day by the continuing conflict. The film may be a bit one-sided, but it's a side we don't hear much about here in America.
Marie Antoinette may only be nominated for its costume design, but it is a really wonderful, delicate little film. More about a collection of moments than a strict narrative plot, the film rather wonderfully shows us the loneliness and isolation of priviledge.
The Lives of Others, Germany's entry for the Foreign Language Oscar, is a terse and gripping thriller. A German writer begins to fall under the surveillance of the East Berlin police and decides to write a critique of his government to be published in the West. It falls apart a little at the end, but it's still an engaging film.
From India we have Water, a heart-breaking film about the plight of widows in India. These women - some of them quite young (our eyes into the world is only eight years old) - live in terrible poverty, the young prostituted out to make money for the community. It is a gorgeous, and ultimately hopeful, film.
Peter O'Toole has been nominated for his performance in Venus as an aging actor who becomes enamored with a young woman hired to look after a friend. O'Toole - as always - is magnificent. The film itself is fairly flat. At times it is very funny, but it doesn't quite translate into a solid film.
One of the other nominees for Best Actor, Will Smith, maybe turns in his best performance in The Pursuit of Happyness, but the film is really terrible. Money is the ultimate objective. The main character that we're supposed to look up to and respect spends much of the film yelling at his son and dragging him from one run-down dive to the next. Sure, in the end he makes his dreams come true, but what was the cost of making those dreams happen? It's the fallicy of the American dream in all of its silver-screen glory.
I was also able to catch a screening of the short films up for Academy Awards this year. They animated shorts ranged from the delightful - The Danish Poet - to the absurdly funny - No Time for Nuts and Maestro - to the tragic - Disney's The Little Matchgirl. Also included with the animated film program were the shortlisted shorts - the poignant One Rat Short and A Wraith in Brooklyn, the hilarious Guide Dog and The Passenger and the sub-par A Gentlemen's Duel. As far as the live-action shorts go, there was the ridiculous West Bank Story - essentially West Side Story set between two competing fast-food restaurants owned by Israeli and Palestinian shop-owners, respectively. Helmer & So was a trite and poorly shot story of family relationships. In The Saviour, a Mormon missionary has an affair with a potential convert. The resultant story was a bit interesting, but failed to fully deliver. However, Eramos Pocos was a wonderful story of two men looking for a mother-figure to take care of them. And then there was the delightful Binta and the Great Idea, the best of the set from Senegal.
I finished my Oscar reading this week too, polishing off two books in a few days. The Children of Men, by P.D. James has an intriguing premise, but James isn't able to craft a story around it that is very compelling. Her prose is flat and she has an annoying habit of telling us things rather than showing them to us. It's interesting that one of my favorite movies of the year could come from a book that I liked as little as this one.
While I enjoyed the film Notes on a Scandal quite a bit, after reading the novel, I can see just how bad of an adaptation it was. Sure, they got most of the plot points in there, but the novel is very clever in the way it handles the relationship between the two protagonists. It's only as the story progresses that we begin to see the sick, dysfunctional and co-dependant relationship between Sheba and Barbara. A really wonderful book.
I did get to have a little bit of un-Oscar-related artistic experience. In my church home group, we watched Kill Bill, Vol. II, one of the more interesting stories of redemption in the cinema today. I'll go into more depth at some other time.
Well, now it's time to go back to the Oscar run. Just a few more films to watch before Sunday!
Art Journal (2/12/07)
"Oscar Run 2007" is now in full swing. I don't think I did anything arts-related
over the past couple of days that wasn't in some way tied into the Academy Awards for
this year.
I watched Cars, up for Best Animated Feature. Not the greatest Pixar effort.
And certainly not the best animated film of the year. It's too sentimental and way
too long. You know every plot point before it happens. Too bad. It has brilliant moments, but they
get buried by the film's lack of a story.
Volver, Almodovar's latest effort is a brilliant, amazing little film. It
features murder, family secrets, ghosts, and the powerful bond between mothers and daughters.
Penelope Cruz gives a brillaint (Oscar-Nominated) performance in this gripping, Spanish-language
film.
Forest Whitaker is the only real reason to see The Last King of Scotland.
Chronicling the rise of General Amin in Uganda through the eyes of a Scottish doctor, the film is
a mess. But Whitaker's performance is stunning. You can see why this man was
able to charm the world, and yet be such a sociopathic killer. Amazing performance in a less-than-amazing film.
Finally - on the film front - Dreamgirls. This is the film that has the most
nominations of any film up this year, but it isn't up for Best Picture. And I'm
really happy that Oscar voters weren't suckered into giving it that honor. While
it isn't a terrible film, it is so self-important, pretending to be about social issues surrounding
African American musicians in the fifties and sixties. That it doesn't actually
deal with any issues isn't the problem, it's the fact that it thinks it is. That,
and there's the little problem of Jennifer Hudson's performance. Sure, she's
got a great voice, but that girl can't deliver a line to save her life. And - sorry to keep beating up on this film -
I hated the way the music was handled. I'm a musical nerd, so I love the fact that musicals are all
about people breaking into song for no discernable reason. Here, they do it
every once in a while, but most of the time, that characters are only singing on
stage or in a recording studio. And it's especially hard when characters are
supposedly conveying important truths about their character, but they're only
doing it in a performance setting. I know director Bill Condon really wanted to
downplay the fact that the film was based on a musical, but this half-hearted
approach just didn't work.
Besides trying to watch every film that is up for an Oscar each year, I also try
to read the source material in the Best Adapted Screenplay category. I read
Little Children last week (not bad, some great prose, but a weak ending - the
movie really improved upon the final chapters) and I just started reading The
Children of Men (more on that when I finish). But one of the fun surprises for
me has been to watch "Da Ali G Show," the television show in which the character of
Borat (from the movie by the same title) originated. Sacha Baron Cohen plays a
variety of characters who go out and interview real people. Cohen has a real
gift in getting people to open up and say things on camera that they would
almost never say under normal circumstances. The result is unsettingly and uncomfortable, but I think
it's also important. If you're willing to look beyond some of the crass humor, Cohen is really
asking us to look at the unexamined and hidden parts of our own lives.
Art Journal (2/10/07)
Even though I try to write longer and more in depth pieces for the films I watch
and the books I read, I just don't always have the time. So instead of just beating
myself up over lost writing opportunities, I'm going to try something new - a
daily/semi-daily arts journal. Now, this doesn't mean that I'm going to abandon the more in depth
pieces of criticism, but it will allow me to give a quick, knee-jerk reaction to
the art I interact with on a daily basis.
I tried to start "Oscar Run 2007" early this yeah, but got sidetracked by trips out
of town and a couple of commissioned pieces which came at me totally unexpected. Now that the
bulk of my work is finished, it's time to begin my efforts anew. Last night I
watched Notes on a Scandal, starring Dame Judy Dench and Cate Blanchett.
It was a thoroughly engaging and absorbing thriller about a young teacher who has an
affair with one of her students. An older friend discovers it and begins to
use her knowledge to fuel her own obsession with the pretty young woman. Both
Dench and Blanchett are wonderful in the film, and the story moves along beautifully. Philip Glass's
score is a little over-the-top, but not too distracting. The thing that struck me the most about the
film was the idea it presents of sin and temptation, the ways we begin to entertain the idea
of sin until we finally act on these impulses. Great, disturbing, and creepy all
at once.
On the television front, I realized that the show I look forward to most during the week
isn't one the many addictive serialized dramas, it's a sit-com - "Scrubs." As soon as Thursday comes
around, I can't wait to watch the new episode. The show blends humor and pathos
brilliantly. This week's episode, "My Road to Nowhere," was among the best of the season - not counting
the musical episode. J.D. having to grow up and face the realities of life, Dr.
Cox having to face the possibility that his new child may have severe complications... great drama
mixed with some of the most absurd and brilliant comic moments of the year.
"My Name is Earl" has had its ups and downs this year, but this week's episode was up again. The timing
throughout the episode was great, and watching Cataline pine away for Randy was
comic gold.
In the first half of its first season, I really thought "Prison Break" was going to be a fantastic new
show. However, the quality just keeps dropping. On one level, it works as pure entertainment,
but - as this week's episode shows - it's plunging headlong into soap opera and unintentional
melodrama. I'm still following it - but it's more out of duty than any real sense of enjoyment.
Finally, another show that I watch for the pure entertainment of it - "Smallville." When it's bad, it's terrible, when
it's good, it's fun. This week's episode... fun. I'm getting tired of all the
soap opera elements here, too, but it feels more natural here. Still, the drama gets a little
overwrought from time to time.
Oh, the Horror! I just posted a new piece of criticism in Television Criticism, a critique of "Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King". Discussion Guides for the individual episodes have also been posted. Enjoy!
Discuss Amongst Yourselves So, I've posted another slew of Discussion Guides, including one for the now defunct series "Vanished" and the last four episodes from the fifth season of the HBO prison drama "Oz". Enjoy!
Another Posting? Already? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. I'm just as surprised as anyone. But as promised, I'm trying to post items the moment I finish them. So, in that vein, here is a new piece of Film Criticism for The Good German, along with the requisite Discussion Guide. Enjoy!
New Years Resolutions
So, I really had planned on getting back to the newsletter and the website first thing into the New Year.
Yeah. We can all see how well that worked out. Right? But, I suppose I'm only two weeks later than I had
wanted to be. So that's something, I suppose?
Before I launch into the updates for this posting, I have some news on the personal writing front. At the end
of November I was hired by Taproot Theatre to write a play for them that will tour to church and special events
all across Western Washington. It's an adaptation of Mark Twain's The Diaries of Adam and Eve. I just
finished the final draft and it should start touring this February. So if you'd like to book a performance,
visit Taproot Theatre at www.taproottheatre.org.
I have also been hired by King's Junior High School to write a full-length production for their Advanced Drama
Class. I start workingon that this week - which I have to say is pretty exciting.
For today's update, I have two new pieces of Film Criticism:
Babel and Children of Men.
They both have Discussion Guides as well. There is also a new
Essay on Art and Culture as I look back over the past year and give my
choices for The Best and Worst of 2006. I hope you enjoy!
While I may not be sending newsletters out quite as often as I'd like, I will be doing my best to keep updating
the website here at Josh Hornbeck.com as much as possible. So check back often for the fastest updates.
Enjoy!
Happy New Year!
Hello all! I'm madly rushing about, getting back into the swing of things after
the all-too-short holiday, trying to finish up a play and re-focus my energies
on JoshHornbeck.com. In the coming week I'm hoping to post a few new pieces of
film criticism and maybe a new play that I'm finally done with. I will also soon
be posting my end of the year "Best of 2006" lists - which I always find to be
a lot of fun. For now, I have a new piece of criticism up for a documentary entitiled
Daughter from Danang. It's a powerful
film about a mother and daughter reunited after more than twenty years. There is
also a Discussion Guide for the film.
Enjoy!
Is it Really December?
It's amazing how quickly time gets away from you, isn't it?
Between writing two plays for my job at SPU and having to put in
twenty to thirty hours at Starbucks, I don't know where the last four months have
gone. As I started working on the third play, I realized I should
catch up on materials and updates for the website. Thus, the posting
today.
As I've been catching up on materials, I have a slew of new discussion guides
posted over at Discussion Guides. I'm
not going to list them all here. It would be a little too tedious. I also have
a new piece of criticism up for George A. Romero's
Day of the Dead. I know, I know - it's a little gruesome for the
start of the Christmas season. I'll do my best to have a few alternatives in the
coming weeks.
Now that I've gotten back into the swing up juggling the various jobs and projects
I have on my plate, I'm hoping to get back to updating the site and sending out
newsletters again more regularly. Look for the playscript for the acclaimed
Perfect which I wrote and directed last year. For now, enjoy!
Long Time Coming
So, it's been a while since I've posted an update, most of my time has been
spent working on scripts for the two new shows I'm writing and directing for
Seattle Pacific University's Players - Missing People and The
Great Stromboli. But updates are finally here. I have two new pieces
of criticism - Tristram Shandy
and Why We Fight - along with their
respective discussion guides (
Tristram Shandy and
Why We Fight). There's an essay looking at romantic comedies, "The
Sissy Syndrome," and a host of Discussion
Guides ("The 4400" Season 3 Episode 9,
Episode 10; "Brotherhood"
Season 1 Episode 4;
"The Dead Zone" Season 5 Episode 7,
Episode 8; "Eureka"
Season 1 Episode 4;
"Nightmares & Dreamscapes" Season 1 Episode
7, Episode 8;
"Oz" Season 4 Episode 7,
Episode 8, Episode 9;
"Psych" Season 1 Episode 5).
Enjoy!
More Discussion - and a Novel to Boot!
Before I mention today's new postings, I just thought I'd share a little bit of good
news with everyone here. I just received word that my very first short story is
going to be published this December by a small arts journal out of Illinois. It's
a very exciting and encouraging development in my nascent authorial career (did you
like those more "writerly" words I just used?). You can read more about the
event on my blog at either The
Writer's Block or on my MySpace
Site.
Well, I just posted a piece of Literary Criticism
for the novel Chinese Takeout, by
Arthur Nersesian. I also added it's
Discussion Guide. Speaking of Discussion
Guides, I also added guides for the latest episodes of "Nightmares &
Dreamscapes (
Episode 5,
Episode 6) and "Psych".
Enjoy!
Here's an Essay and a Play - Now Discuss
I had posted several pieces recently, but hadn't gotten around to updating the home
page here, so I thought it was about time I let you all know what's been added in the
last few days. Over in The Word portion of
Reflections, I've added the next installment in
my series exploring scripture from a personal perspective (
"Creation, Take Two"). I've added a new Short
Play for you to peruse entitled
"I'll Take Care of the Rest." Also, over in the
Discussion Guides I've added guides for new episodes of
"The 4400," "Brotherhood,"
"The Dead Zone,"
and "Eureka," as well as the
next few episodes of the fourth season of "Oz" (Episode 4,
Episode 5, and
Episode 6). You know, now that
I think about it, that's a lot of television, isn't it?
Well, enjoy the new pieces and don't forget to tell your friends and family about the site!
A Closer Look at Da Vinci Well, the Criticism of The Da Vinci Code has just been posted, along with its Discussion Guide. Also, I have Discussion Guides available for the latest episodes of "Nightmares & Dreamscapes" (Episode 3, Episode 4) and "Psych". Enjoy!
New Television Series
I just added Discussion Guides for the new
Sci-Fi Channel Series "Eureka" (
Episode 1, Episode 2).
It's a fun, quirky little series. I'm also in the process of preparing the criticism
and discussion guide for the novel of The Da Vinci Code, so you should be seeing
that on the site soon.
Enjoy!
More Happenings at Josh Hornbeck.com.
Hey everyone. It's been a very busy week here as I've been trying to get the new pieces
out and ready. But I think I've just added some great pieces. Over in
Living in the Tension I've added new pages for
Music Criticism and
Television Criticism, as well as adding criticism for the third season of
"Oz" and for Sufjan
Stevens' "Come on Feel the Illinoise." There is also film criticism for
Find Me Guilty (starring Vin Diesel),
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (with Robert Downey, Jr. and
Val Kilmer), the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie,
the second pirates movie - Dead Man's Chest,
The Third Man (a classic starring Orson Welles and
Joseph Cotten), and Ultraviolet - the worst
movie I've seen in a while. There are Discussion
Guides for all of these films plus some new television episodes as well.
Over at The Play's the Thing I've added an essay about
"Creative Community." It looks at ways of
keeping your church drama ministry together once you've formed it.
Finally, in a little bit of news, an article has been posted about the play I wrote and directed
this part year for Seattle Pacific University's Players. You can find it at
Seattle Pacific
University's Online "Response Magazine."
As always, if you'd like to support me and the site with your non-tax-exempt donation,
you can visit the Donations Page.
Thanks again! Until next time...
New Updates at Josh Hornbeck.com.
Hello friends. I've just added a new page to Reflections.
The Word is a place where I will be taking scripture piece by piece,
story by story, and exploring it from a personal perspective. The first two essays are up now -
"A Preface" and "In the Beginning".
There is also a new essay over at Living in the Tension concerning
"The Problem of Content". And I have also added Discussion Guides
for the newest episodes of "The 4400" and "The Dead Zone",
as well as for the first episodes of "Psych" and Showtime's new
drama "Brotherhood". There are also guides for the final two episodes of the third season of "Oz" (Episode 7, Episode 8).
All of the footnotes throughout the essays and criticism have been updated so they are now interactive. Click on the reference
number and it will take you to the footnote. Click on the text of the footnote and it will take you back to the main text of the document.
I had a few comments that the donations tab at the bottom of the page wasn't working. That has been fixed now.
Thank you all again for your support. Enjoy the new pieces!
New things are happening at Josh Hornbeck.com. I would espeically like to thank my good friend Pieter Visser
for his amazing redesign of the website. In addition to the site's new look, I have added an essay to Reflections entitled "Just as I Am."
In Living in the Tension, I've posted criticism for "16 Blocks," "Amélie," "Can't Hardly Wait," "The Ice Harvest," and "Superman Returns."
Each film also has a discussion guide to go along with it. I've also added discussion guides for the next few episodes of "The 4400" and "The Dead Zone,"
as well as discussion guides for the first six episodes of the third season of "Oz." Over at The Play's the Thing, I've added most of the text
for a one-act play entitled, "The Storyteller." If you would like to read the full text of that play, please email royalties(at)joshhornbeck.com.
All of the essays and criticism are now available to read on standard web pages, or in the printable PDF format. Discussion guides and playscripts will still only be available as PDF files.
If you're enjoying the essays and the criticism, please let your friends know about the site. Josh Hornbeck.com will only be able to grow through your recommendations and support.
If you would like to support the site with your non-tax-deductible donation, I have just signed up with Amazon.com's Honor System.
You can now donate through a secure site with any major credit card.
Enjoy the new pieces!
The site is now fully up and operational. In
Reflections, I've just posted two new essays - "The Art of
Self-Acceptance" and "Just Another Easter Egg Hunt." Over at Living in
the Tension I've added an essay by the same title, as well as film
criticism for Eight Below, Night Watch, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and
Saved! Those film also have accompanying Discussion Guides, and there
are Discussion Guides up for the first few episodes of the new seasons of "The 4400" and "The Dead
Zone." Back at The Play's the Thing, I've added two essays, "Don't Be
Such a Drama Queen" and "Armwrestling With Friends."
If you'd like to support Josh Hornbeck.com with your non-tax-deductible donation, you can visit the donations page. Please prayfully consider supporting the site.
I would like to keep making all of the resources at Josh Hornbeck.com
available for free, but I need to be able to support the work and the
site. Thank you for anything you can give to make this ministry
possible.
And please tell your friends and your family - and anyone you know who
might be interested, about Josh Hornbeck.com.
Enjoy the updates!
Well, I've just launched the new site. Essays for Reflections will be coming soon, as well as essay and cultural criticism for Living in the Tension. I have added a good selection of short plays for churches, schools, and small theatre companies to The Play's the Thing. All of them are available to read online and purchase for production. Enjoy the site!