excuses, they return

i've been pushing myself hard for the last week or so. writing and estate sale throwin' and socializing and working and trying amongst all of these things to find some sort of nook to crawl in to and sleep for a few moments.

things i have to do this month:

1. break down the home of a 85 year old woman who's been collecting, well everything for the the last mmmmmmmm forty years.

2. clean, price, and stage a new house full of antique chairs and coffee mills and clocks and other detritus of a life lived and loved.

3. write 1600 words on the chocolate scene and my adventures within it.

4. work four extra shifts.

5. prepare for a trip to chicago.

6. sleep, socialize, eat, watch and write movie reviews, continue the criterion quest ...

and on and on it goes.

so for today you just get an amazing video by the very talented drew christie.

Fire Fire I Heard The Cry from Drew Christie on Vimeo.

tomorrow, i've got more words on boycotts.

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criterion counsel: this is just depressing me lately, so i'm going to give it a break.

I am lackluster Quester.

It's been a busy, sleepless, slightly insomniac couple of days and thus the Criterion Quest has, as the poor thing often does, has fallen to the wayside.

Worry not my erstwhile readers, I will be back ...

Tomorrow.

Mona Lisa (107) will be watched!

A final Holi-daze excuse!

Too much work!

Too little time!

Just flew in to the Great White North (Seattle's a toasty 35 today) and am currently cooped up in my parent's den getting down to the great nitty gritty of workin' it out.

Thus, with a hand wave a flourish, I'm wishing you a Happy Holi-daze.

Keep your head up and the booze down.

Too much work.

I'm swamped right now. My gators are on, I'm knee-deep in a gooey, shark-infested puddle of work, work, and more work.

Borderline frantic, sort of tied together with cheap tape and twine.

Thus, for today, you get another excuse. One day, I'll write about movies again.

This blog, Sunset Gun will sate you for a while, it always does.

A word on my side-quest to consume SPARTACUS (105)

I've been hankering to watch Stanley Kubrick's amazing Roman Epic Spartacus (105) for days now. Days. This can be a rarity for Criterion films, as much of the time I'm staring down the barrel of six hour Japanese romantic comedy (or something of its ilk) and though I usually find myself truly enjoying the film, it's a struggle to get that enjoyment ball rolling.

Not with Spartacus (105). This is a big, beautiful Kubrick movie, and I've seen bits of it in the past, and I can not wait to re-expose myself to the film as an older, more film-savvy gentleman. Then why might you ask have I not stopped everything and consumed the movie in one big sloppy gulp?

Three reasons:

1. It started with Alex's excitement about watching Spartacus (105). I'm pretty laissez faire when it comes to watching films. I'll pick at them in bits, squishing them in to the open spaces in my day, until their gone. I've actually wondered on many an occasion how this effects my final thoughts on a film, if I lose some aspect of the meaning and enjoyment from watching it in this way. Alex, literally my favorite person on Earth, got word of Spartacus (105) hurtling down the pipe and was consumed by excitement. But Alex doesn't want to watch the film in bite size chunks like me, she wants to immerse herself in Kubrick's Roman legions in one fell swoop. Thus dates were made, imaginary popcorn was popped, excitement built. But ...

2. Spartacus (105) is nearly four hours long. Yup, four hours of Kirk Douglas, shirtless, fighting off the Romans. Tickle me pink. Four hours isn't an egregious length for a film made before, hell, 1995. On average, film lengths have decreased thirty minutes to an hour over the last fifteen or so years as our internet addled brains have stopped being able to process "long form" films. But films prior to this were lengthy. Serious films dictated serious minutes, and short films, were often considered "pithy", better suited to comedy or romance. Thus, Kubrick's Roman opus, as serious as a heart attack, is a sweeping beast of a film. And devouring a four hour film isn't just something you sit down and do, it's day-eater and you have to have dedication and you have to have a chunk of your time to spend. Thus, we've made dates, but Alex and I are flighty and prone to forgetfulness, thus the four hour opus still sits in its beautiful little case on my desk.

3. Finally, we decided last night that we were going to give it a go. Make some popcorn, pop the flick in the old computer and watch a four hour wide-screened epic on my 14 inch laptop ... until Alex proposed that we wait until the end of the week, as we'll be house-sitting two beautiful homes, each equipped with enormous televisions. Um, yes. I will wait another two, three days for the glory that is Spartacus (105), so I can enjoy spearings and slave revolution on a forty-inch flat screen plasma.

Thus, my Quest, for a moment sits idle.

Oh and if you're curious Criterion just released their films for March. Does this make anyone else as excited as it does me?

Wednesday: A Cloony Twoony.

Brief respite.

I've got an immense amount of film to talk about.

Not even kidding loyal readers, I've been putting back cinema like it's All-You-Can-Eat Day at the pharmacy.

Sadly, I'm exhausted, it's late on a Monday and my plate is piled far too precariously high.

I'll be back tomorrow though, hopefully with the head of Spartacus (105) hanging from my belt.

Keep it virtual.

Tuesday: Either Spartacus (105), a Clooney Twooney, or Guillermo Del Toro sure is he glad he can make a great film.