Tuesday, 12 January 2021

Covid Lockdown: For Real This Time

 We have passed yellow, red, and then grey for lockdown.  Now we are in double lockdown, or something as ridiculous. Things are still open, but unless they are "essential", they must close at 8 pm.  Now that's real tough measures, let me tell you.  Traffic continues to roar past our house.  Anyway, for Deb and I nothing has changed.  Out for food once every two weeks, and out for medical appointments as needed.

I now have about 60% hearing in my right ear, and I am ecstatic to hear the piano properly once again.  Except that it is getting badly out of tune (it's been a year, instead of 6 months).  I never really noticed before, but now I sure do.

As far as winter goes, by the calendar we are now in the coldest, deepest part of it.  That phase will last until early February, when it begins to get a lot lighter and marginally less cold.  Except that winter hasn't arrived in our area yet.  Aside from three days in a row that stayed below freezing right at Christmas, we have made it above 0C virtually every day.  We have no snow on the ground.  The long range forecast shows nothing too strenuous.  Since we are staying home anyway, I say bring on the snow.  But no one listens to me.

Deb chose two movies over the weekend, the first one from the complete Criterion list and the 2nd one from the leaving January 31st list.  The first one was an experimental film from 2012 from Black American director Terrance Nance.  It was called An Oversimplification of Her Beauty.  I fell asleep twice.  I'll include the blurb here: 

"Terence Nance announced his arrival as one of the most exciting voices in American independent cinema with his bracingly original, endlessly inventive debut feature. With arresting insight, vulnerability, and a playful sense of humor, this one-of-a-kind, confessional multimedia collage uses a kaleidoscopic mix of live action, animation, and unchained surrealism to capture the relationship between Terence (Nance) and a young woman (Namik Minter) as it teeters on the divide between platonic and romantic." 

Now that that has been established, I just could not get into the film at all.  It is like a wacked out version of warped reality, as we see the same events from somewhat different perspectives, with scenes often ending with the question "How would you feel?"  My answer was always the same: bored.  I found the "romantic" conversations quite insipid and juvenile.  Definitely not geared for grumpy 67 year old males.  It was original.

 Now showing on Criterion. 
 
Next up was a film called The Wise Kids, another debut film, this one by Stephen Cone from 2011.  It began worse than the previous film, and as I began rolling my eyes and looking at the time, I figured I would last five minutes at most.  The blurb:

"Stephen Cone established himself as one of American independent cinema’s most sensitive and perceptive voices with his critical breakthrough, a radiantly empathetic look at coming of age in the Bible Belt. Over the course of their final summer in Charleston, South Carolina, before college, gay teen Tim (Tyler Ross) and his best friends Laura (Allison Torem) and Brea (Molly Kunz) grapple with crises of faith, friendship, love, and sexuality as they find themselves questioning the fundamentalist Baptist beliefs of their families. Casting light on a segment of American society rarely depicted on-screen, Cone offers an illuminating perspective on the intersection of queer identity and modern religion."

Brea is the girl losing her faith; Laura is the lord's shepherd personified; and Torem is the gay guy who wants to keep his faith.  The three kids are actually so good in their roles that I was soon drawn in to their struggles.  There are some adult issues, too, including a minister who is married and gay, and more or less stuck in a scary rut.  The whole thing is so honest and presented to viewers in such a straight forward manner that it's easy to get caught up in their little drama.  Watch for Cone's 2nd film, as Deb will choose it next weekend.
 

    Now showing on Criterion.  Great acting, decent story, and a highly unusual setting for a film. 
 
Mapman Mike

 

 

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