old dogs

"I had nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion." ~ Jack Kerouac

born in the morning

Catch my meaning
Once and for all
I'm the ceiling
I'm the wall

time runs out ~ john frusciante

cold peaches

I think the more successful you are, the faster time goes. If you’re a rich motherfucker, chances are you’ve had to (and still have to) work 18+ hour days…you’ve networked till your feet bled…you’re popular, so you go out a lot, and have lots of friends who you see for coffee…for a movie…for lunch…and before you know it, you’re 45 and now you’ve got to start seriously thinking about what you’re going to do for the rest of your life.

When you’re poor…shit, every day is a 24 hour struggle. Maybe you’ve got a job…but you hate it…cause it doesn’t pay and every time you look at the clock, its like its getting slower and slower…so you stop looking altogether. Day after day those 6 AM collection agent wake-up calls…kids screaming there’s nothing to eat…maybe you're drunk or stoned...or both...watching another hour of Days of Our Lives before Oprah comes on...and then at the end of the day, when you try to lay down and grab a few hours of sleep...you can't, cause you're worried sick. Time feels like its crawling in tar.

So, the fact that I just worked a week straight, ridiculous hours, and don’t know what day it is or what I’ve eaten the last couple of days…or when I’ve slept…it’s a good thing. Every time I turn around I'm working in 3 hours...I’m on the cusp of another promotion, but this time, I know I’m ready for it. More time at work sure, but more time = more money... and while I'll probably really need those 2 weeks vacation they give me by August or September (so long as I get the job) I've just decided...or been forced...to face the fact that I've got to change. I have no choice. Time and again, I've made wrong turns, said the right thing at the wrong time to the wrong person...and its just not working. Its either this or the abyss I say…and there’s probably a good reason I’ve spent the past decade on the edge of the abyss and didn’t jump all the way in...so its this.

At least, that’s how I’ve got to look at it, cause if not…game over, man!

photo from squareamerica.com

the look

photo by: unknown

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button

"Everyone feels different about themselves one way or another, but we all goin' the same way."


****


After hearing all the hype and hoopla over the ‘amazing make up’ and special effects in the new Brad Pitt movie where he is old and gets younger before its release, and then nothing more than a muted critical response following it, I had pretty low expectations for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. This despite being a very big fan of director David Fincher (Seven, Zodiac, The Game) and a pretty big fan of Mr. Pitt (Assassination of Jesse James, Fight Club) too. It had all the makings of a dud in my view…drooling 90 year old Brad Pitt included…and didn’t look like it would work. It looked…weird.

But it wasn’t.

Once you get past the first 20 minutes or so of Brad Pitt as a old, old man, you forget all the talk about what he looks like, and you get into the story. I hesitate to say this is an incredible film, or an ‘epic’ one, because it is flawed, however slight, but its nothing that will ruin or take away from the viewing experience in my opinion. In fact, I felt like I wanted to know more about this character, and how he became to be the way he was…like I didn’t really see ‘enough’ to know him as well as I would have liked…but maybe that’s part of its charm? For me, there were a lot of similarities to Forest Gump in Curious Case…, another ‘Great American Tale’ spanning a large chunk of the countries history…about a ‘simple’ man who led an extraordinary life. Benjamin Button is not as simple as Forest was, and because of his ‘condition’, the movies quirks and turns not as conventional. But there is a tragic love story at its core, and a few ‘chance encounters’ along the way that reminded me of that Tom Hanks film…but it doesn’t feel like a rip-off.

I was entertained throughout, with Pitt giving a really, really great performance. He’s been good to great in a few of his recent performances recently (stellar in Assassination of Jesse James…), and seems to be using his immense movie star power and respectability to not only get interesting films made, but is very good in them as well, not letting his ‘presence’ dominate more than it needs too. There’s also an interesting blend of quirky, if not memorable characters in supporting roles…with Captain Mike and the hilarious and charming Mr. Daws and his stories of being hit by lightning at the top of my list. Cate Blanchett was solid as ever as Benjamin’s true love, who he meets as a ‘child’ and throughout their lives as the two of them grow old together…but in opposite directions. A classic Hollywood love story if there ever was one…only this time with an interesting twist.

The movie may not have said as much about life and love as maybe it could have, and as I said before, even though it was 2 ½ hours long, I didn’t get to know Benjamin as well as I would like to…as if something was missing…but all in all, a very good movie, and one I highly recommend.