Finally Saw Donnie Darko

its been on the list for a while. finally saw it. awesome flick.

there are many, many lessons one can take from that movie. first off, i clearly don't understand about 60% of that movie. it would probably require viewing 6-7 times to even begin approaching 90% comprehension, but i'll see if i can't extrapolate some wisdom now. one of the aspects i liked about the movie, and about donnie (jake gyllenhaal) especially, is that he was never afraid to question anything. he saw truth not through convention but conflict and always searching for the right answer, even if there isn't necessarily one. he wasn't afraid to challenge authority, even to his detriment. no one was going to deny donnie the truth as he saw it, and i admire that. granted, he was nutso, but still...there is a fine line between genius and insane; i'm still not sure exactly what side of the line donnie was on.

i also found his relationship with gretchen (jena malone) very interesting. donnie and gretchen had one of those "only-in-the-movies" relationships where two lost souls find each other and the world seems right. it reminded me of some other movie relationship that i can't remember (it's really bothering me that i can't remember what movie i am trying to think of. the relationship had almost the exact same dynamic as the donnie-gretchen relationship and it's really, really bothering me that i can't think of the movie. i know it exists and that i'm not making it up...or am i?? I JUST REMEMBERED: they reminded me of the relationship between the daughter and the neighbor in "american beauty"). ANYWAY, they had a rare relationship, one that only exists on screen, yet speaks to the human condition in such a meaningful and profound way that it makes you wish and yearn to have that kind of connection in your own life.

i also found the mother a very interesting character. she was strong and knowledgeable, yet still was not able to fully connect with her children or communicate very effectively. she, in a weird way, might be the most complex character in the movie: strong, knowledgeable, loving, and caring, but at the same time aloof, detached, and because of her certain philosophy of allowing her children to decide their own destiny, not able to fully be there for them.

verdict: donnie darko is a great movie. existential in the vein of the aforementioned american beauty, eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, and (gag) say anything (for my thoughts on say anything please see chapter 1 of "sex, drugs, and cocoa puffs" by chuck klosterman or for the cliffs notes version check out this washington post article).

two more observations: 1) the movie needed more maggie gyllenhaal. most movies need more maggie gyllenhaal. 2) i don't know if i am reading too much into this, but i found it very reminiscent of ET when donnie would put on his hoodie and ride his bike. that could have significance or it could just be a coincidence. if it does have something to do with ET symbolically it might take the movie to a whole new level, especially considering drew barrymore was in both.

what does everyone else think about donnie darko or any of the other multitude of subjects i threw out there?

Once And A While You Can Get Shown The Light In The Strangest Places If You Look At It Right

last night i was watching one of my favorite TV shows, 30 rock, when they cut to a scene of liz lemon (tina fey) and floyd (jason sudekis) standing in front of a particularly iconic red building in new york. i had to rewind the DVR to make sure i saw them correctly, but sure enough, there they were, standing on the corner of houston and lafayette, right in front of the puck building, which serves as the headquarters for the wagner school (the school i am going to next year).

the puck building

now, why is this significant, you ask? well, a few reasons. 1) it was cool to see them standing in front of puck. the puck building itself was one of the things that pushed my decision to attend NYU, so i felt some sort of validation that the crew of 30 rock felt that the building was significant enough to film in front of. 2) i was impressed with myself that in a post-kickball state of mind i was able to recognize the corner of lafayette and houston, one of the few corners in new york that i can officially say i recognize right now (the other would be the corner of 16th and 3rd, the home of the infamous joe jr.). 3) it got me excited for school again.

let me expand on #3 for a moment. its not that i have fallen out of excitement with school, its just that some of the initial gloss has rubbed off. school is no longer some sort of idyllic idea or concept. while it still represents a new beginning to me, i now have to deal with things like college loans (thank you, citibank), finding a place to live, finding a job, ect..., which makes school much more real and less a fantasy, which brings me back to the title of the post.

the title of the post comes from the grateful dead song "scarlet begonias". my apprehension about the real world implications of attending school were slightly abetted simply by reminding myself of the romantic vision i have of new york, and that i still have the capacity to view the city in such a way. i dont even remember what the characters were talking about, all i remember is that they were standing in front of the puck building. the building wasn't even the focus of the scene, it was simply in the background, but, in a way, i think that speaks volumes to the magic that is new york city, that buildings have their own magic and stories to tell and that every building has a different and special meaning to those who pass it by. to live your life in such an inspiring environment must surely be a treat.

i also found it amazing that yet again 30 rock was speaking to me, which is a strange thing to say about a sitcom. for whatever reason i really identify with this show, especially liz lemon (tina fey), which is even weirder when you consider that the show is a) a sitcom and b) lemon is female. i cant explain it. maybe tina fey is one of those artists that has the special capacity to speak to me directly, like the way i can identify with any klosterman book or any hopper painting or any pre 1998 phish.

enough rambling. its finally nice outside. soon i hope to expand this idea and talk more about why i like 30 rock so much and why i think that we are entering into a golden age of television, where some aspects of TV will bridge the gap between entertainment and art.

now if i could only find a way for this post to segue seamlessly into "fire on the mountain"...