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My latest post for Full Stop is on one of the more disquieting books I’ve read in some time.
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Like the classic Modernists, Anderson is obsessed with the techniques, materials, and forms of art; The Master is thus a film in which technique, as well as our obsession and familiarity with technique, becomes both device and subject matter. One obvious aspect of this is his decision to shoot the film in 65mm, a choice that occasioned accusations of portentousness and misuse — the latter based on the idea that 65mm film stock was meant to provide panoramic depth and intensity, while he used it in a film filled with intimacy and close-ups. Far less attention was paid to the choice as a concentration on the medium itself, the physicality of it, in terms of both look and technique (Anderson reputedly did away with nearly all digital aspects of the editing process). The point is not that Anderson is choosy about his cameras and the look of his film — all good filmmakers are. It’s that this choice highlights the degree to which the film is preoccupied with the qualities of its own medium. For high literary Modernists, too, content and technique — Joyce’s stream of consciousness, for example, or Hemingway’s belief in the ability of minimalism to convey a radically larger field of experience — are inextricably bound together. The author is not simply telling a story; he or she is engaging the medium to the fullest of its capacities to communicate: the medium itself cannot be separated from what is being told."
Tyler Sage, “Notes on P.T. Anderson and The Master”, LA Review of Books (utterly absorbing analysis of The Master and Anderson’s oeuvre) -
favorites 2012 (pt. 1)
Here’s December again, time to kick off my annual favorites summations. Today is reserved for the miscellaneous, with my proper favorite albums of 2012 write-ups to follow over the next couple weeks. Might throw a mixtape up for your pleasure as well. Onward…
book: A Naked Singularity by Sergio De La Pava. Think about the number of books I read each year, then realize that this was the easiest decision I’ve ever had to make for this category - get on it, Powell’s has a couple used copies available as we speak. Let my upcoming Powell’s Top 5 blurb do the rest of the convincing:
Easily the funniest and most heartbreaking book I read this year. Told from the point-of-view of Casi, a 24-year-old public defender in Manhattan, its contents range from court transcripts to abstract philosophical discussions to absurdist conversations with next-door neighbors (to say nothing of an incredibly well-planned criminal caper that’s as thrilling as any movie you saw this summer). Casi is intelligent, hilarious, and deeply committed to his clients – you’ll root for him the whole way, while simultaneously pondering our legal system, the culture that undergirds it, and maybe even your own morality. Now that’s what I call a novel.
film: I’d like to declare a formal mulligan on this until I’ve seen Django Unchained. But if you twist my arm…honestly, it’s probably The Avengers. Maybe that’s a bit blasphemous, but I haven’t seen a ton of 2012 films this year, and The Avengers was the most fun I had at the theater by a long shot (I had to get my levity at the theaters, as you’ll see I had more than enough pathos to go around at home in this next category…)
television: Breaking Bad (with close runner-ups in Homeland and Game of Thrones). I finally caught all the way up this season and am sorely tempted to pay for AMC to catch the final episodes in 2013 as they air. It hurts so good.
video game: Mass Effect 3 wins hands down, though really this is an award for the combination of Mass Effect 2 and 3 that have completely absorbed me and my PS3 for the past few months. It also bears mentioning that these are the only video games I’ve ever encountered that my wife has enjoyed watching as much as I have enjoyed playing. This is no small feat.
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Check out the new trailer for The Hobbit - only one year to go!
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High-res →
It’s a rocketship!
Nathan finds the merit in Death To Smoochy for his second My World Of Flops column.
This movie has been overlooked for far too long. For those who like their comedy like I like my coffee.
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We were being given the chance to take one more shot at summer camp, only we were wiser, better drinkers, and more sexually experienced."
Amy Poehler, “The Ultimate Oral History of Wet Hot American Summer,” Details (a ridiculously funny conversation among the various (most of whom are now famous) cast members) -
Haven’t read the books, didn’t see the original films…but this looks fantastic.
