watching

First, a little background on this whole ‘Mile and a Movie’ project.

As an experiment, I’ve decided on a simple regimen to combat the twin menaces of backlog and beer gut. Hop on the treadmill for at least 20 minutes every single day, and watch a movie every single night. Go for at least a month — assuming I can last that long — and see where I stand.

With such a rigorous schedule, there’s naturally a lot to talk about, so I started with a few short thoughts on individual films (see that post here). But watching so many in succession, I was also struck with some higher-level observations that go a bit deeper into trends, patterns and implications, which I opted to separate into its own post here.

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watching

As we get older, with more responsibilities and less leisure time, we may notice little things starting to slip. Two prime examples: an ever-lengthening Netflix queue and a slowly expanding waistline. Where our younger selves had the diligence and freedom to stay on top of gym schedules and movie rentals, both pursuits get harder to maintain as careers and relationships grow more demanding.

So as an experiment, I decided on a simple regimen to combat the twin menaces of backlog and beer gut. Hop on the treadmill for at least 20 minutes every single day, and watch a movie every single night. Then after a month — assuming I can last that long — see what kind of progress has been made, whether it’s worth keeping up, or if I never want to see a pair of running shoes or red envelopes again.

The plan is also to check in every week with some observations and reviews. So far, without the benefit of a bathroom scale — they’ve always seemed like tools of the devil — it’s hard to sense much physical change. Though surprisingly, the routine hasn’t been as painful as a reluctant gym-goer might imagine. No fatigue or soreness, just more sweaty laundry to take care of. However, a surprise side-effect of seeing a lot of movies in a row has emerged: it’s much easier to notice patterns and make interesting comparisons.

With such a rigorous schedule, there’s sure to be lots to say, so I’ll start with a few short thoughts on individual films, and follow up shortly with some higher-level observations that go a bit deeper (see that post here).

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podcasts

Here we are, back on a fairly regular schedule. I knew we could do it. A few quick things before the show notes though.

First, we’re still not rated in iTunes. That means not enough listeners have gone to the enormous trouble of clicking on the appropriate number of stars. So please, if you have a split second, give us a grade on how you think we’re doing. If you have more than a split second, maybe even write a review?

We also came up with a great idea on the fly while recording this episode. Instead of us being the only ones talking, if we let you know some of the things we might discuss on the next episode, people would have a chance to check out them out ahead of time and write in thoughts or questions for us to discuss. So if you want to play along for episode 7, potential topics include :

The Beatles: Rock Band

Big Fan

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith

If you’d like to join the conversation, you can always leave comments here, or email brian@under-culture.com with questions, opinions, etc. This week was our first listener email and it made for some fun conversation, so we’d love to have a few more.

We hope you enjoy this week’s episode…

Download The Under Culture Podcast: #6 - I Would Cross a Clown

Subscribe in iTunes for automatic updates.

(Show notes below…)

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side notes

We here at Under Culture are all in favor of new technology. We’re on the Twitter. We dig the DVR. We play online games. Have you heard our podcast? New media is fun. It expands on what’s possible, and for art, that’s a good thing.

Someone still needs to explain the idea of motion comics though, mostly because it doesn’t seem to create new possibilities for art as much as it does for commerce. Sure, it’s one more place to sell a book — I can hear the marketing department now, saying, “We gotta get ‘em on the iPhone! The iTunes! The HuluTube!” — but in all honesty, how does this serve anyone but their accountants?

I mention this because one of my favorite series of the past few years, Joss Whedon and John Cassaday’s Astonishing X-Men, is getting the motion comic treatment next month. And I have to say I’m less than thrilled.

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Robert Siegel made a name for himself by writing last year’s low-budget powerhouse, The Wrestler. Helped by Darren Aronofsky’s skillful direction and an outstanding performance by Mickey Rourke, that film movingly portrayed how someone might continue to love something even as it slowly destroys him. For washed-up wrestler Randy ‘The Ram’ Robinson, the high of performing is akin to a drug. Despite the pain, the scars, and the shitty pay, we can almost see why he does it; it’s the only thing he truly loves, has ever been good at, and which makes him feel like he’s worth a damn. His passion for wrestling may have turned him into “a broken down piece of meat”, but it’s also what’s sustained him for this long, and he’d rather burn out in the spotlight than fade away in the shadows.

Though the story of a crumbling sports star is both heartbreaking and powerful, it’s not something everyday sports fans can relate to on a personal level. Same for fans of film, music, competitive Donkey Kong playing, or anything else. Stories like The Wrestler fascinate us precisely because most of us will never feel the high of performing for a roaring crowd. We’ll never know what it’s like to be adored for our talent. Most of us are at the other end of the equation, among the throngs that pledge that love to our favorite entertainers.

By focusing on the outsiders’ perspective, Big Fan is like the flip side to The Wrestler: a story of what it means to unconditionally love something bigger than ourselves. Where The Ram’s story is about an addiction to life in the spotlight, Paul Aufiero’s is about a working class brand of loyalty that looks an awful lot like religion, and all the contradictions that entails.

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podcasts

After a long summer vacation hiatus we finally recorded our fifth episode. That was two weeks ago. Some sort of evil Garageband spirit was haunting the computer and screwed our audio up irreparably, so now we’re actually back with a fully functioning new podcast. It’s been tough on all our fans, we know.

This episode we cover off on a few summer movies you might have missed that are worth seeing, have a lengthy discussion on a few popular books, examine the possible decline of a favorite band, and gush over a game we can’t stop playing.

We hope you enjoy our triumphant return, and if you like what you hear, review us in iTunes. If you’d like to join the conversation, you can always leave comments, or email brian@under-culture.com with suggestions, questions, etc. We’d love to get some listener feedback or opinions to discuss on future episodes.

Download The Under Culture Podcast: #5 - It’s Not A Party If You’re By Yourself

Subscribe in iTunes for automatic updates.

(Show notes below…)

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watching

The egotistical boss? Turns out he’s irresistible once he shows his sensitive side. The clever artsy guy treats a lady better than the overly-masculine alpha male? Hard to believe, I know. And the wholesome childhood friend-slash-doormat who was always there with a shoulder to cry on? Real soul mate material. How could we have missed it? Then around the 100-minute mark everyone drops their misconceptions and goes running to reclaim their destinies, with a slapstick pratfall or wacky cab driver gag thrown in for good measure. Everything works out, credits roll, please dispose of your empty popcorn buckets in the provided receptacles.

The conventional wisdom is that serious film fanatics (largely geeky males) rarely give a thought to these cookie-cutter Hollywood romantic comedies unless coerced to do so by the women in their lives. But even girls with film-geek cred — that sought-after dream woman who’s into foreign films, has actual fashion sense, and should theoretically know better — still seem to have a weak spot for these confections. So can even the snootiest of movie snobs escape them outright if they ever hope to land a woman?

The old reprieve for us serious film goers looking for bearable date movies were of a very specific style: standard story arcs wrapped in strong creative sensibility. That could mean an ironic sense of humor (Reality Bites), a more artful execution (Before Sunrise, Amelie), or even combined with another genre altogether (see Grosse Pointe Blank’s ‘hitman falls in love’, not The Time Traveler’s Wife’s ’sci-fi meets harlequin novel’. Nice try, Rachel McAdams!). They’re still all about finding love in [cue movie trailer voice] “The Unlikeliest of Places,” but at least these films have enough personality to prevent the deep shame those of us with standards would feel at sitting through, say, The Ugly Truth.

Luckily for us, in the last few years a spin-off genre has taken shape in contrast to conventional rom-coms. Instead of formulaic films about stock starlets finding their perfect match, a slew of smarter, more stylish takes on romance give movie snobs something they can get mushy over without the guilt. After all, we like love stories too. It just so happens we prefer them with a bit more substance.

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side notes

Most film buffs would agree; a new Coen Brothers movie is always something to get excited about. Despite a few missteps now and then (and this from a guy who even liked Intolerable Cruelty), they’re guaranteed at the very least to deliver a unique vision. No other films quite look or sound like the Coen Brothers’ work. One might think that after an Oscar nod for No Country for Old Men, and a more star-studded turn in Burn After Reading, they’d be tempted to veer away from the eccentric style that’s won them such fan loyalty.

The recently released trailer for A Serious Man knocks those concerns right out of your stupid head.

Right on the verge of more mainstream success, they release this: a strange, sad story of a man who’s losing it. Obviously it’s hard to tell much from a creatively-edited two minute teaser. But what we do get to see doesn’t signify a pedestrian film, or even one that’s simply good storytelling with their own brand of quirky characters on the level of an O Brother or Fargo. This looks like full-on hyper-real misanthropy in the style of Barton Fink, with maybe a little bit of Lebowski weirdness thrown in. Can you imagine Falling Down as envisioned by the Coen Brothers? I can, and it fascinates me. We’ll see how it ends up on October 2nd.

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For those who saw our recent post about The State coming to DVD and thought, “Hey, I should go pick that up,” or even, “I’ve never seen that show, I should check it out,” — well, we have some good news.

Under Culture is happy to be offering two The State DVD prize packs, which include:

1. The State Complete Series on DVD
   That’s four whole seasons of comedy goodness, and an additional disc with hours of extra features.
2. A The State T-shirt
   To impress the ladies and/or gentlemen who know good comedy and good fashion when they see it.
3. A signed The State poster
   Because framing the DVDs and putting them on the wall would be terribly impractical.

To enter, just leave your favorite quote and/or sketch from The State in the comments section (and be sure to use your real email address).

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In a season known for all things huge — budgets, celebrities, marketing, even explosions — two of the season’s best films go the opposite route. Not just because they’re more highbrow or too indie to afford all those things, though that’s certainly true as well. But more importantly, because the smaller scale actually makes them better movies.

In one of my all-time favorite Q&A quotes, after an AFI screening of The Empire Strikes Back, director Irvin Kershner was asked to compare that movie with the later prequels. Tactfully, he focused on how the limitations they faced in bringing Yoda to life as a character forced them to work all the harder to give him presence and personality, and contrasted that with the limitless digital canvas of its follow-ups. The implication being that in the end all the wizardry of ILM can still leave you cold, whereas a brilliantly acted puppet can deliver a piercing performance. The same holds true even in a non-blockbuster like Children of Men, where the few enormous sequences end up being the most memorable moments. The intimacy we feel with the characters is dwarfed by our personal reaction to the incredible world on screen.

The Hurt Locker and Moon, both smaller budgets and smaller scale stories, get so much more out of so much less by brutally focusing on their subjects. What sticks with you aren’t the precisely choreographed action sequences or epic set pieces. What resonates are the moments of human vulnerability: confusion, fear, despair. That’s what makes them much more powerful works. That’s not to say there isn’t a place for the big bad blockbuster. But behind the Terminators and Transformers dominating billboards around town, a few excellent character dramas are working a lot harder with a lot less, and shouldn’t be missed if you’re lucky enough to find them at your local multiplex.

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