Indies
I’ve been meaning to write a post on the fall movie season for some time now, to the point that all I’ve written so far on it is now outdated. Eventually (read: never) I’ll post that, but for now, here’s a list of the independent films out that I’d like to see.
2046
The Beat that my Heart Skipped
Grizzly Man
Junebug
Me And You and Everyone We Know
The Memory of A Killer
Murderball
And more mainstream:
Broken Flowers
The Constant Gardener
Why do I want to see these films so bad? Because they’re not the schlock that gets thrown into theaters every week (*cough* The Man *cough*).
I think Rob made a good point about things in general the other day. When talking about getting his new bike, he said “Once you get something newer and better it’s impossible to go back to the older, worse thing. You think you can, but you really can’t.” It might seem somewhat obvious, but it’s really true. Of course, the classic example is the computer. Once you get the new super-computer, you can’t just go back to the old computer. It’s not any slower than when you left it, of course, but if you need something, the thing freakin’ crawls through the bootup process. You feel so unproductive in that moment.
I’m not sure this is human nature, the thought process of an engineer at work, or the alarming commercialization of America. One could, I think, argue for each. Is it our genetic code telling us to do things better and faster? Is it the new car principle, where just the smell of a freshly minted auto can send us into a euphoric bliss, applied to everything? Is it the innundated world we live in, adverts screaming by cramming their message into every open orifice that makes us demand better conditions?
The most beautiful thing, someone once said, is a free upgrade. The glimpse into the way the rich pamper themselves with reclining sofas on planes, five star food, back massages, hand massages, foot massages, God-knows-where-else massages. But once exposed to the opulence of the upper class for a brief flicker, we’re left wanting. We become sick with our four star food. We want that little bit more.
Of course, I fall victim to this as well. When I see a movie that doesn’t force-feed me product placements, sticky-sweet messages of hope, the triumph of good over evil, or an action fest extravaganza, I’m thrilled. I can’t wait for the next.
Do I see movies that aren’t thought-provoking? For sure. And not every film can get categorized into “piece of crap” or “Academy Award Winner” (my hard-core film friends would say those are the same.) There are films that do what they want very well, and I love them for it.
But when I get a glimpse into a world filled with purer thought, where a little bit of insight into life, into reality, into passion, into reason, I’m left wanting when I go back to my Zoolander and my Titanic and my Lord of the Rings.
I’m left thirsting for more.
