Wave Break: Movies, Changelings, and Nostalgia
This week I saw a bunch of movies and actually finished reading a book.
Before we officially start, you should check out the short stories that I wrote.
The Butterfly Trap— A pulp-action story about an American adventurer getting jumped in Indochina Vietnam. It feels good to finally get this thing out there into the world.
Piece by Piece (Redux)— A do-over of a short story about a tech billionaire (who resembles nobody living or dead) being torn to shreds by his own stupid “invention” (again: Not based on anybody real and not based on any wishful thinking). Less than 1,000 words. Who are you to resist?
Wave! Wave to the People!— I finally broke down and wrote something about brain worms, the president, and how deeply stupid our country likes to be. I think the story art is also pretty good, so make sure to click through so you don’t miss it.
Also, before we get into it, why don't you hit that subscribe button or even share it? Tell somebody about this poor wretch, won't you?
Here's Rosie (and friends).
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Oh, and I’m in a short story collection called At the Edge of Darkness. It’s a horror/crime anthology from Shotgun Honey. More importantly than my involvement is that it’s for charity. All profits will go towards a Portland, Oregon charity for foster children. So, there’s that. Who are you to say no, eh?
Anyways, it’s been a big couple of weeks, so let’s get to it.
If you didn’t know, Beyond Fest is going on right now. It’s always a real good mix of new and old films screening, so if you’re in LA, you should go check it out. . . next year, because it’s already over.
But, anyways, let’s get to it—
Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)— I saw this for the first time at the Pantageas theater back when it first came out and I only point this out because it was such an important experience for me. It was the first time I ever drove to Hollywood (I got lost taking the wrong exit in DTLA) and it was the first time I met one of my best friends in person. It’s an important movie to me and I know that other people of a certain age feel the same way about it. That’s maybe the most interesting thing about it. As a movie, it’s both easily Miyazaki’s worst and still one of the best movies ever made (even without the personal connection). The problem with it is that, while it shares the same meandering structures as some of his later, great works (The Boy and the Heron and The Wind Rises), it doesn’t have the same emotional heft of these books. The journey itself feels aimless. Still, it’s at least bouyed by some of the most distinct characters in his oeuvre (then again, that’s never been his weakness).
Anyways, go see it.
Total Recall (1990)— Probably not blowing any minds when I say this movie still kicks fucking ass. One thing about this experience is that I saw it in a packed theater for Beyondfest and there isn’t anything quite like being in a crowd, glued to a movie that you’re all into. I had the same experience when I saw Sorcerer and To Live and Die in LA at the very same theater the year before. You miss these things these days. Maybe people do it for Marvel movies, but, for me, it isn’t the same. One other thing I’ll add is that as kind of goofy as the special effects and visual effects can be, they still work because everything else about the film works. Yes, it’s an Arnold movie and it’s a crowd pleaser, but it’s still crafted with the same affection and care as an artist would use on a smaller, more “important” movie. I don’t know. Maybe I’m just being an old man about old movies, but I’m still charmed by it. . . And, yes, the woman with the three tits is still very funny.
The Fall (2006)— As the only person who has ever paid to see The Fall twice in theaters, I say this with authority: This movie rules and you should see it. The Fall is a fantasy movie— one in the tradition of Time Bandits by way of The Wizard of Oz (and maybe a little bit of The Little Princess in there for good measure). It’s a movie that even its boosters (me) would emphasize it visuals over anything else. There are things in this movie that you simply will not see even inside of other Tarsem Singh joints. It’s a one of a kind movie. At the time people talked about how it was too schmalzy for its own good. Watching it now, I’m struck by how sincere it is and how unguarded the lead child actor Catinca Untaru is. There’s no acting there. There isn’t even any indication that she’s in a movie. It’s such a pure performance that I can see how people might have reacted poorly to it. And maybe it’s because I’m getting older, but I found myself at an emotional precipice for the entirety of this film. As good as the visuals are (again, it’s the guy who did The Cell, which rules), for me, what makes this movie hold up is that emotional core (and, bonus points: young and hunky Pushing Daisies-era Lee Pace).
The Substance (2024)— The things I love most about this movie are all spoilers and, as un-precious as I am about that sort of thing, the surprises in this film are some of the most fun I have had this year. The issue with a film like The Substance is that you know exactly where it’s going to go the second it opens up (and boy, does it take its sweet time getting there). Where The Substance redeems itself (beyond the excellent performance by Demi Moore) is that once it finally gets to where it needs to go. . . Oh boy, does it go somewhere else. There is something to be said about a story using a very obvious device to tell a story, but it’s another thing entirely to follow that thought to its natural— or unnatural— conclusion. Not a perfect movie, but at least it came through in the end. And again: Maybe the biggest single laugh all year (besides Rap World, I mean).
Also, not to bury the lede, but the SPOOKTAGON has begun down at A Quality Interruption. If you want to get the series started, you can start with Cemetery Man, but if you want to skip straight to me talking about above movies, listen to our episode on Tetsuo: The Iron Man. I can assure you, you won’t hear another podcast like this. . . maybe for good reason.
Speaking of stuff I’m doing, I’m writing about the TTRPG community for one of my grad school classes. I don’t think the project has spun out of control just yet, so give it a look. Let me know what you think.
Or better yet, let me know if you’ve got any good peer-reviewed papers on the subject.
Kevin Smith is such an interesting guy to me for a lot of reasons. The main ones are almost entirely solipsistic. I both love and hate Kevin Smith for the same reasons: He’s like me. Or at least he was. At least I was. He was a nerdy jerk who liked movies and slapped together enough money to Make It Big. Local Boy Does Right. If he could do it, I could do it. We all could. Then he kept on releasing bad movies and hitting the same notes over and over again. I grew up and he didn’t. There is something very sab about that.
While, yeah, maybe novelty is overrated1, but at some point, you’d think he’d get better at his job, you know?
This is all to say that it looks like Kevin Smith might have made a good movie again.
I don’t know how I missed this, but apparently the FBI put out a peer-reviewed paper on LARPing and violent extremism last year.
I used this in my latest grad school paper and, like I said, it hasn’t spun out of my control just yet. Right now we’re in the sweetspot— unlike the LARPing scene, I guess.
I don’t know what this is, but I’m into it.
Magen Cubed is talking about Galerians (again).
As I said the other week, I’ve been on a bit of an old game nostalgia jag. A lot of it was to remind myself of what that time and what that scene was like, but a lot of it was also just to fill in the gaps of my knowledge. As much fun as it is to watch videos about old games, though, it’s nice to see people actually take the time to talk about what these games meant to both themselves and the wider world. That’s what Magen Cubed does.
More than that, in a world jam packed with content, it’s encouraging to see that people still care about art.
If any of that sounds appealing, go subscribe to Nature’s Corrupted. You won’t be sorry for long.
You should go read Cuckoo. Following up her debut novel, Manhunt, Gretchen Felker-Martin has made another really gross, really intense queer horror novel that, despite its themes and content, still manages to point towards a world that is better than our current shit heap.
I think I might have more to say this later, but if you love 1990s teen camp movies as much as you hate fascist homophobes2, then go read Cuckoo.
As far as weird little art projects, Scarfolk is extremely my shit.
It’s nostalgia for an era that never existed and, if it did, would be best abandoned at the bottom of a mineshaft somewhere. It’s great— especially if you’re a sucker for good old-fashioned graphic design.
I Saw The TV Glow is now on HBO Max. If you haven’t seen it already, you really should. It’s a really difficult journey into nostalgia, false memories, TV, and gender identity. There’s really nothing else like it. . . except maybe We’re All Going To the World’s Fair.
When you’re done with it, come back and read the piece I wrote about it.
I’m also feeling inspired to write one more piece on it, so stayed tuned for that. I think it’ll be a fun one. (Alright, here’s a tease: It involves Stalker and Kevin Can Fuck Himself. Before you ask, yes, it does make perfect sense.)
And speaking of nostalgia—
One of the nice things about sticking around for so long is eventually all of the stuff you were inspired by as a kid comes back around— or at least enough of it does. Airframe Ultra seems to be one such thing.
This is exactly what I’d spend my time and money working on if I were into video games— that and riffs on Jet Set Radio, which, luckily, I’ve been beaten to the punch on. Nice of them to save me having to do the work.
(Who else remembers Jet Moto?)
Or we could also talk about how video games are weird and cursed.
One last bit for the road: I just finished reading this bit on a “forgotten” teleplay written by John Le Carré. Stick around for the analysis of a nearly-lost work of a master and stay for the pictures of a super young Ian Holm. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him with this much hair.
What I find intriguing about the work (and beyond the mystery around it) is that Le Carré’s work always revolves around talking. It has this central philosophical conceit that any truth can be pulled out of a person if you just ask the right questions. Every liar contains a secret a penitent waiting to break out. I’m still not sure how much of this is a reflection of the “real” intelligence world and how much of it is reflective of Le Carré’s own philosophy (and hypocrisies). I suppose that’s the fun of it. You don’t walk into a Le Carré story expecting concise answers.
Been a busy couple of weeks. Thanks for stopping by. Kind of nice to think about this instead of, you know, everything on the news. I guess that’ll be there when we’re all done here, right?
And, as always, here’s Rosie.
Lastly, Godspeed You! Black Emperor has a new album out and, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go listen to it.
This is absolutely not the New Yorker article I’m looking for, but I’m glad I landed on something, you know? The one I’m looking for is from a female author and the long and short of it— as it was described to me— is that originality and novelty are overrated. Why should an artist who has worked their ass off to create one thing be expected to create another? If they’re dedicated to one style, why create a new one? It bemoans the contentization of modern art and the voracious, bottomless need of capitalism for new stuff. It’s a bummer. Anyways, if anybody knows the article I’m talking about, send it my way.
Apparently “homophobe” is not a word according to Firefox. Who knew?