Issue No. 24 | Wanderlust
19 March 2010 7:08am PST
19 March 2010 7:08am PST
Author Profile
Caleb 
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Recent Posts
A “Mother” and “A Prophet”
The Bloggomist: The Local Boy
Film Opinion
There’s a lot of trash flooding the box office these days. I swear it wasn’t long ago where you could randomly drop by the movies once a week and catch something half-decent, but those days are gone like gas under $2 a gallon. Luckily, if you’re spoiled like I am and have a theater like LA’s Landmark providing screentime for more deserving features that lack mainstream clout, there’s still hope. There are two particular films that recently released are worth taking the time to hunt down or request at your local box office: Un Prophete and Bong Joon-Ho’s Mother. And trust me–they’re worth the effort. →
16 March 2010 5:42am | 1
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| Can a man be born again?
The Bloggomist: The Local Boy
Culture Opinion
I’m blessed with a job that affords me the opportunity to see in-person the people we gawk at on TV. Some I see randomly, others are consistent visitors. It’s nothing worth name-dropping; I don’t delude myself–it’s not like they came to see me–I’m just the lucky bystander who happened to cross their path. I chat with them, show them the collections, bring them pieces, and do my best to not look awkward while I stand by and watch them browse obliviously through the store. It’s not much, but I still feel lucky. Those moments are still a world more than most will ever get to experience. →
1 March 2010 9:30am | 2 |
| Don’t Overlook Ballast
The Bloggomist: The Local Boy
Film Opinion
Don’t laugh but one of my guilty pleasures used to be old Louis L’Amour western novels. My father palmed me one while I was doing homework during high school. ”Read it,” he told me, grinning. ”It’s just fun.” The cheesy looking cover and yellowed edges weren’t doing an convincing, but I figured I might as well humor Ba and just tell him I was bored out of my mind if it didn’t work out. A day later I was asking if he had anymore. →
15 February 2010 10:00am | 1 |
| Yuketen: From America with Love
The Bloggomist: The Local Boy
Fashion Opinion
Yuki Matsuda has a look about him. He has a disarmingly gentle smile that only disappears when engrossed in particularly passionate topics. His long black hair bears wisps of grey, neatly tied back in a short pony tail. His arms are crossed across a crisp button down that looks comfortable and well-worn. But it’s his eyes that bear the unmistakable mark–a look of genuine satisfaction that can be neither feigned nor manufactured. →
25 January 2010 11:45am | |
| A Single Man
The Bloggomist: The Local Boy
Film Opinion
I’ve been sitting tentatively pawing this keyboard for the last two hours. To be honest it’s been hard to sit still this weekend much less hunker down and try to write about anything remotely “cool” or interesting. If you’ll allow me slightly more creative license this week, I might get a little personal before my review of Tom Ford’s “A Single Man.” Friday night was an exhausting but incredible private dinner we hosted at OCLA with M.I.A. for Alexander Wang’s new collection of sunglasses for Linda Farrow →
18 January 2010 10:00am | 4 |
| Watch Mars
The Bloggomist: The Local Boy
Music Opinion
About a year ago I posted on the Goodfight blog about an artist I had stumbled upon through a friend who was collaborating on a song with him. The name Bruno Mars meant nothing to me at the time and it was difficult for me to understand why so many jaws were dropping when people heard he was on the track. ”The world doesn’t know Bruno Mars yet,” he told me, “but anyone who works in the industry are already familiar with the name.” An afternoon and one MySpace later I knew exactly what he was talking about. ”The world doesn’t know Bruno Mars yet,” I texted him excitedly, “but it’s only a matter of time.” →
11 January 2010 10:00am | |
| To Live And Die In LA: A Year In Review
The Bloggomist: The Local Boy
Personal Musings
My window overlooks the east side of the city. A layer of haze usually rests smugly atop the rooftops and just above that bright blue skies as far as the eye can see. Sometimes I think smog and traffic are God’s way of leveling the playing field for other cities. But today it’s clear in Los Angeles, the horizon washed clean by nearly a week of steady, much-needed rainfall. Mornings like these are the most beautiful; they’re rare and special, here today gone tomorrow. ”My friend texted me that Brittany Murphy is dead,” →
21 December 2009 12:15pm | |
| The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
The article was about an old blind man who had died alone in his home. He had passed alone and forgotten, mummified in the warm confine of his living room by the time the police discovered him 13 months later. The piece, I discovered, was indeed beautifully written, a seeming misappropriation on such a temporary medium. But what struck me most was the piercing tragedy of this man’s fate and the misfortunes leading up to it.
I couldn’t help shake this same feeling as I watched Heath Ledger in his final silverscreen moments. In fact, if anyone asked me how I felt about his performance I would give them one word:
Disturbed.
I confess that no matter how hard I tried, I could not put out of my mind the rumors that his previous role as the Joker took a toll on Ledger that sent him on a spiral towards his ultimate doom. It was hard for me to tell whether his antsy, almost manic behavior was simply his intentional portrayal of his character or the unconscious effect of a role some say he sometimes had trouble separating from reality. There were even certain parts, where the familiar guttural spurt that characterized the Joker’s now-iconic speech seemed to break out randomly. I could only shake my head, take a deep breath, and continue. Was I watching the telltale breakdown of the actor? How could such talent, such promise, be lost in such an unnatural fashion? We mourned not simply because we loved him. It was as if death had robbed us right before the honeymoon, way before even the real stuff. We were just beginning to embrace his greatness. And now all I could think of was his tragedy. His every movement, every move spoke the same words in my mind. ”His life was the saddest poetry.”
I was relatively unimpressed with The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. I’m not sure if it’s because of the hype preceding the film. Maybe it was expectations created by a resume like Terry Gilliam’s. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Twelve Monkeys–Monty Python? Please excuse me for expecting something moderately ground shaking. Or maybe it was the star-studded cast that could have made the Oceans 11(12,13) team jealous. There was enough heartthrob power to satiate an entire nation of fanatics. With Ledger, Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell I was surprised I wasn’t watching heads in the audience explode with each passing scene. Then there was the passing of Heath Ledger which laid (perhaps unfairly) the lofty label of being the beloved’s actors last work before his untimely departure squarely on the shoulders of an already highly anticipated project.
Whatever the case, the film felt flat and uncompelling, more of a smorgasbord of visuals and fantasy with no real driving plot or purpose. We come up on the traveling show near the end of an agreement between the apparently enlightened Doctor Parnassus, played by the excellent Christopher Plummer, and the Devil (Tom Waits), where in turn for his gift of eternal life, Parnassus must give up his 16-year old daughter Valentina. Somewhere along the way, they stumble across Tony (Ledger) hanging unconscious underneath a rainy bridge.
The identity and backstory behind these characters are what really started my frustration. Who exactly was Parnassus, and how did it come about that he was chosen as a worthy opponent and strangely endearing plaything of the Devil? We also spend nearly three quarters of the movie trying to figure out who Tony is, and even after we do, what is his greater significance in the story, and why does the Devil care whether he lives or dies? The peculiar relationship between Parnassus and the Devil is probably the only really enjoyable thing you can dig out of all the confusion. The film isn’t terribly long, but the way the story plods along you’d swear you’d been sitting there for over two hours.
What made matters worse was how Gilliam tried to stick in random events of cheesy humor, usually sparked by Mini-Me Verne Troyer, which further seemed like a backhanded way produce cheap laughs with the cute midget. It was in moments like these that I had to catch my self and remember the two projects separating his latest venture from Fear and Loathing was Tideland and The Brothers Grimm. If any of you have seen The Brothers Grimm, and I’m sure most of you have, lured in by the likes of Matt Damon, Ledger, and Monica Bellucci, you will remember that it was a pathetically cheesy, embarrassingly unbelievable film that evoked nearly every cliche line and copout ending in the book. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, unfortunately, seemed to suffer a similar fate in the ending department. Maybe Ledger’s death contributed to the abrupt finale, but you’d think that with Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell coming to the rescue you could salvage an ending that didn’t have so many holes.
This was not Heath Ledger’s best performance. To be honest, I’m not even sure if it was one of his more notable ones. To be fair, he may not have had the chance to make it so. Push come to shove, The Dark Knight set the bar impossibly high, and Ledger’s portrayal of Tony didn’t seem a far shot off from Casanova. I think many could agree with me that Ledger was just getting a feel for what he was really capable of.
So while I think a good handful of critics and biased viewers will romanticize the project and heap on accolades, the truth is that The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus was a rather pedestrian film that had the feel of a counterfeit Tim Burton piece. While it’s not bad, it’s not really that good either. Don’t waste too much time on this movie; I have word Avatar and Broken Embraces are much more worthy ventures.
Much thanks to Flux and Nike Sportswear at The Montalbán for the opportunity to preview such an anticipated film. As usual the venue, music, conversation, food, drinks, and afterparty were worth the visit by
themselve
The Bloggomist: The Local Boy
Film Review
“His life was the saddest poetry.” I remember those lines catching my eyes from the header of a LA Times article my father dropped next to my breakfast plate one morning. ”Read it,” he grunted, filling a mug with steaming black coffee. “I haven’t come across such good writing in the Times in awhile. Take a look.” I’m ashamed to admit I don’t read the paper very often, but when someone from Columbia’s English Ph.D program →
14 December 2009 1:34pm | 3 |
| Not Quite Out Of The Woods
The Bloggomist: The Local Boy
Sports Opinion
There are about a million questions swirling around the scandal involving Tiger Woods, his wife, and an unknown number of women scattered in a proverbial oat field that could have Wilt Chamberlain grinning from ear to ear. And yet there really is only one question that has been confounding talk show hosts and polarizing opinionated factions that are emerging from the woodwork almost as quickly as the gossip-rag stories about new mistresses: should we care? I just might have an answer that could possibly put all the controversy to rest. →
7 December 2009 4:38pm | 2 |
| Crashing the Wrong Party
The Bloggomist: The Local Boy
Political Opinion
Some say any press is good press. But after an incident that’s eclipsed the visit of an Indian prime minister, embarrassed the Secret Service, and generally shocked the American public it looks like it could be time to reassess the claim. Apparently no one informed the Salahis that fame–or perhaps notoriety–comes at a price. The spotlight means scrutiny under the public, and in a short span of time it seems the greedy hands of the media are digging up more authentic dirt than the tabloids could ever hope to fabricate. →
30 November 2009 7:11pm | |
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