A Stray

It's sunset in the city. Light bends through the cloud licked high rises and New York is burning. The wind screams at me through the creases in the glowing pane and I feel alive again. My silhouetted dream looks back at me through this new landscape. "Do you feel inspired?" She caresses my ear and I feel entitled but I cannot answer. "Can you hear it?" She asks again and this time I close my eyes to open the piece of me that stopped believing in open doors. "You cannot hide from me." She calls again and this time I understand completely. "I see you" I respond and in my voice I hear for the first time a power that was not there before. Truth, beauty and love are my mission, but clichés drown in this city. So I wonder as I wander and me, she, heart and glory wander down into the hunting ground and naked, run from one another in this darkness. The moon is gone, so I follow my fluorescent guide for a week spent stalking infinity. I find myself beyond the birds song, beyond the flesh stretched thin, like a thorn pressing through a cheek, breaking through the peace, through the doors. Splintered, cold, cloaked and masked I get back in line while my beautiful quarry dies in the back of an alleyway. Maybe she'll be unearthed someday.

Review of "Somersault"

Somersault (2004) is an award winning Australian film directed by Cate Shortland. I became curious about it after I saw the impassioned performances by Sam Worthington in Terminator Salvation and Avatar. This film knocked my socks off and Abbie Cornish and Worthington are nothing short of brilliant. Somersault is Shortland’s feature debut as a director and she is remarkably subtle, patient and gentle with the weighty subject matter. The themes in the film deal with solitude, abandonment, growth, sexuality and the pain in and out of relationships. The film is about a young girl named Heidi (Abbie Cornish) who learns the difficult lessons that navigate the roads between love and sex. Cornish portrays Heidi’s fragility, innocence and torment with such quiet finesse it is easy to see why she was awarded Best Actress by the Australian Film Institute in 2004. Worthington also won Best Actor for his portrayal of Joe, the son of a wealthy farm owner whose confusion about where he belongs and desperation in the face of the obligation he feels for his family lead him to a bland, lonely existence. That is, until he meets Heidi who shows him that he is capable of loving, even for just a short time. The sound design, color scheme, costuming, especially the patient rhythm which Shortland wields, are thought provoking and inspirational. This film is a thinkers film and I recommend it to anyone who has a heartbeat. This film showed me that the courage to be vulnerable and the moments that bring us close are worth the pain that we go through to get there. More importantly, these are the moments that teach us what love is and are worth more than the invalidating opinions of the outside world. Do yourself a favor, and see this film.

New York!

Here I am fresh off the boat ready to start my adventure in NYC! Last night I went to a Jazz show at Joe's Pub starring Lauren Ambrose (redhead from 6 feet under) and her band the Leisure Class. WHAT A SHOW! She sounds like a carefree songstress child of Tori Amos, Ruth Etting and Evelyn Knight merged with some banjo strumming, bass slapping, piano playing, clad in 30's attire musician men and what a result. The band was endlessly entertaining and equally impressive as this was only their third performance together. Ambrose clearly brought her acting chops to the stage and in each song created a character, mood and story. From her light jazzy vibrato to the weighty power in her belt, Ambrose carried us to a faraway place where sipping a Manhattan in the dark corners of a speakeasy, chatting with the likes of Nick and Nora doesn't seem so unlikely. "New York I love you but you're bringing me down" was the last song of the night and what a song to end with. She brought the house down. If this is where my journey begins, I can only say that this trip is going to change my life. This city is inspirational and full of artists and I want to see and feel and live it to the fullest.

Review of "Up in the Air"

This film hit me hard and where do I start? Jason Reitman, who wrote and directed the film, gives us the story of a man living in the disconnected and isolated world of the business of firing, travel, convenience and luggage. The heartfelt performances by George Clooney and Anna Kedrick keep this disillusioned adventure captivating and thoughtful. I enjoyed the film as Clooney carried us through his characters journey to discovering connections with his family, lover, and friends. The journey he takes bends and Reitman becomes a bit preachy as Clooney's character learns that the value in his life has been in collecting meaningless "club points" rather than pursuing friendships, commitment and the dream of the American family. Reitman balances the decisions his main characters make with the unveiled truth that there are not easy, one sided answers or solutions to the problems in our lives; People are not always as they seem, the institution of marriage is not for everyone and in the face of the meaninglessness of it all, we must carry on. Oscar worthy? Definitely. See it or skip it? See it, as it seems to capture the struggles all of us are facing in this recession, points us towards the future and although it ends without giving us all of the answers, shows us that the relationships in our lives are worth having, given the alternative.

Resolution part 2

So with more time to think about it. I'm simply going to say that my resolution is to create more.