VERONICA MARS RETURNS

SWeet sweet life. I'll post a review as soon as I see the new episode. love the tag line: "someone will get hurt"- they are not desperate enough for a character death, lol.

cinephilia

Reading Response: Elsaesser Cinephilia

Elsaesser explores several different definitions of cinephilia. The broadest and most applicable definition for cinephilia was “deferral: a detour in place and space, a shift in register and a delay in time” (30). His example includes how, when and why films are watched- detours of city, language, and location. He also talks about detours of time. The first kind is “Oedipal time: the kind of temporal succession that joins and separates paternity and generational repetition in difference” (31). Considering that our other reading for this week was Laura Mulvey, I found Elsaesser’s recourse to psychoanalytic and masculine based film time an interesting choice. But I think it’s a very valid point about how cinephilia clusters around auteur, the fathers of cinema, and sets up (male) directors as the forbears of cinematic tradition. The second discourse was a “lover’s discourse” which structured desire through cinema, also coinciding rather well with Mulvey’s past and current work. Hmm…the father and desire in film? Who would’ve thought? Elsaesser makes this connection directly when he talks about how the love of cinema turned into a shamed gaze when Mulvey dissected cinephilia into voyeurism, fetishism and scopophilia (32). “Naming here is shaming,” Elsaesser writes. “Cinephilia had been dragged out of its closet, the darkened womblike auditorium, and revealed itself as a source of disappointment: the magic of the movies, in the cold light of day, had become a manipulation of regressive fantasies and the place of the big male escape from sexual difference” (32).

Elsaesser then goes on to explain how disenchantment is a useful way to restructure cinephilia. Disenchantment offers distance and self-consciousness: “it is a form of individuation because it rescues the spectator’s sense of self from being engulfed by the totalizing repleteness, the self-sufficiency and always already complete there-ness that especially classic American cinema tries to convey” (33). The spectator becomes more critical as she gains awareness of her own place in the theater, her implication in all the gazes of the viewing space. This also corresponds to Mulvey’s article which tries to negotiate different temporalities- the here, the now-ness, the then. The cinephiliac is on a never-ending quest to find the best films, but the best films are always in the past, wrapped up in nostalgia and memory. Elsaesser’s metaphor of “cinephilia-as-unrequited love” addresses the bittersweet feeling of the cinephiliac, who knows even as she is watching the ultimate film of films that it will soon be over and nothing can ever recreate that same first time feeling- and that the film does not answer back to the viewer, that it is there to be worshipped in the darkened theater.

The next step after disenchantment is the “post” stage of post-auteur, post-theory cinephilia that embraces new media and involves “re-mastering, re-purposing, and re-framing” (36). This leads into sticky issues of fan power, re-readings, fancy new boxes, etc. Elsaesser compares stage one to “trepidation in anticipation” and stage two “stressed/distressed.” Take two cinephilia is “a search for lost time, and thus the acknowledgement that the singular moment stands under the regime of repetition, of the re-take, of the iterative, the compulsively serial, the fetishistic, the fragmented and the fractal” (39). This reminds me of Mulvey’s search in the freeze frame for the secret, hidden, ignored image that somehow reveals the uncanny deadness of the entire film- its actual existence of separate frames on film stock that disappears with new digital media.

Melodrama- Sirk and Fassbinder

Melodrama Response: Color and Space in Sirk and Fassbinder

I love melodrama. Watching this set of films in particular was a rewarding experience because they are so richly entangled. In his discussion of epic theater, Benjamin discusses the “quotable gesture” which is an interruption within a text. Melodrama is full of these interruptive, quotable gestures; it draws on endless circles of representations, moments of nostalgic homage that interrupt and reframe previous incarnations. I also noticed that these three directors were involved in an indirect conversation, talking about each other’s films and deliberately (mis)quoting the other’s style (Sirk could be problematically placed as the “origin” of this discourse). I want to think about the aesthetic quotations of color and space between Ali Fear Eats the Soul (Fassbinder, 1974) and All That Heaven Allows (Sirk, 1955).

Both films are saturated with color. The predominant colors in Ali are associated with the 70s- bright red, yellow and blue, lime/chartreuse green. When Emmi first walks into the bar, the red brick paint, the red boots, the red tablecloths- it was quite stunning. And when she dances with Ali, a red light comes on over their bodies. The 70s color schemes also come through in the character’s clothes as quite garish attempts at life, as if by wearing such bright and bold patterns the characters can prove they are alive, when in reality they are consumed by fear. I am thinking of Emmi’s green and brown patterned dress and her three inch yellow pumps- a bit “old” for her? The colors seem out of place, especially when she takes off her boring black coat (revealing her often hidden desires). I was always waiting to see what the waitress was wearing, because her clothes were simultaneously attractive and not flattering. The red boots were great, but the orange zip down dress? The bubblegum pink and black glitter outfit? The camera gave a lot of time to the waitress, following her from the bar over to Emmi’s table and back, often turning for a silhouette which outlined the waitress’ generous bust. The waitress was supposed to be Emmi’s competition- after all, she was young, blonde, pretty and could provide couscous and beer. Yet there was something so desperately unhappy about her that the outrageous clothes seemed to hint at.

Carrie also “reveals” herself through clothing. The night of the country club party she wears a red dress which prompts comments from nearly everyone. The red dress signals her availability as a woman and the official end of her “widow” status- she is now a single woman instead of a mourning wife. Rock Hudson is almost always dressed as a rugged outdoorsman with the plaid shirt and the work boots. His wardrobe is coded through the autumn motif of the rest of the movie- the sets of ambers, reds, yellows and browns. Ali is also dressed as a worker; both he and Rock shared the “working man” muscled kind of look that implies their sexuality is not straight jacketed by a suit and tie. In a disturbing scene from Ali, Emmi’s coworkers even fondle Ali’s muscles.

The spaces of the two films are also very evocative. Ali is full of twisting staircases, doorways, windows, and bars which always divide spaces into hierarchies of knowledge. When Emmi and her coworkers sit on the stairs, she is trapped between all of them, surrounded as they unsympathetically dismiss her compassion toward foreigners. Later, when the “foreigner” Yolanda arrives, she is excluded from the group and divided from them by the staircase banisters which become jail like. The neighbor in the apartment is always visually restricted- seen through the mesh of her screen, behind the stairs, from a window above. Sirk also creates this restricting space, but his is almost more nostalgic and dangerously friendly. It is Small Town America that entraps Carrie, from the huge suburban house to the country club to the town itself and the clock tower. These spaces are inundated with power dynamics, as in Ali. The country club is off-limits and guarded by pompous gossips; Rock’s friend’s house is perched up like a treehouse and open to all the eccentrics. Rock’s home is excessively picturesque- he’s got a greenhouse, a cabin, a river, a bridge, even an old mill! The loss of autumn and the deadness of winter surrounds the whole story. The snow seals the two lovers away but also troubles the ultimate productivity of their relationship. A gardener should know how difficult it is for “love to grow” in the autumn of life.

Oh Angel

Blood Money: Random character asks other random character who happens to be a TV star:

So what's with your charachter turning gay? Was it just for ratings because I don't get it?

I love it!

Film Festival

Bryn Mawr Film Festival

Last weekend I volunteered at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute Festival. The Bryn Mawr theater is being renovated back to its full formal glory. They knocked out the first story roof to revive the two story gallery- and found that the glass paneled ceiling had been sealed over! Right now I think it’s a perfect mix of old and new. I don’t think they should completely modernize the theater. Leaving it in sort of a middle state evokes the nostalgia of the old one instead of designing a simulacrum of the old. Now it’s definitely an alternative film venue playing the independent and foreign films (like Volver and Pan’s Labyrinth).

The guest of honor at the BMFI Festival was Robert Osborne. Who? Oh, the Turner Classic Movies host. It was interesting to see people get so excited over a D-list celebrity, but if you consider that it’s his job to chronicle film history, the association with BMFI fits. He brought his huge “75 Years of the Oscar” books and signed them, posed for pictures, gave little speeches, etc. I thought he was actually pretty interesting, especially when he talked about his experience with Lucille Ball and Desilu Studios. He just happened to be working near her, she liked him and hired him. Before he knew it he was eating dinner at her house. She told them weren’t enough people writing about Hollywood and that’s where his strength was. The film festival showed films that Osborne picked including The Maltese Falcon (1941) and The More the Merrier (1943).

The Gala was also an interesting event. It featured two celebrity impersonators, a red carpet, paid paparazzi to photograph the guests, and a photo booth where they photo-shopped your face onto a movie cover. It was supposed to be an event where one could be a celebrity for an evening- at $500 a pop. The website reads:

“Experience Hollywood glamour as you arrive for your walk down the red carpet (a vintage gown or tuxedo is de rigueur) and pose for fans and the paparazzi. Then spend the evening among the “stars” from the golden age of cinema, enjoying food, wine and vodka tasting bars, jazz, dancing, film clips, and cinematic surprises. The highlight of the evening will be the presentation of the 2007 Silver Screen Inspiration Award to our Guest of Honor, Robert Osborne.”

Cinematic surprises? I don’t know about that. But the gala was very snazzy- the raffle featured a Tiffany diamond star necklace- so you can always feel like a star! It was definitely about the dream idea of Hollywood, the romanticized ideal that comes with party themes. But the theater is about that idea of “quality” harkening back the days of palace theaters and fur coats.

The Marilyn Monroe impersonator was just scary. That breathy voice coupled with a fifty year old actress- just didn’t work for me. But I did like the Groucho impersonator. First of all, I love the Marx Brothers. I considered their films to a series of the best comedies EVER. True comedic genius. And this guy knew his stuff. We gave him random quotes and he told us what movies they were from. He carried around a big cigar and had the perfect hunch and walk. My favorite Marx Brothers movies are Duck Soup and Horse Feathers (no, not A Night at the Opera). Besides Pride and Prejudice, those are probably the only movies I can quote from beginning to end. I can also watch them over and over and over again, although distractedly. Why are they so good? First, the Marx Brothers never care about the straight plot. There’s always some couple facing an obstacle, and the details change very little. It’s more of an obligatory nod to the film industry than anything else. Second, they balance slapstick with wit. Harpo does the physical humor and Grouch does the verbal; Chico plays off the two of them. Third, they sing. What happened to the days when comedians sang songs? It’s amazing. I love “Whatever It Is, I’m Against It”- I still randomly burst out with that. So, if any of you are not up on your Marx Bros now is the time! (or maybe after finals).

FYI, there’s a Swat T-shirt that quotes Groucho: Outside of a dog, a book is
man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.

OMG! Little Veronica? Or did Nancy come first?

I'm having a total women studies/film nerd moment. breathe. breathe.

NANCY DREW movie. OMG.

its probably gonna totally suck- ie very teenie bopper, but hello, am I not forever talking about the re-emergence of the heroine mystery girl? i did notice they de-blonded her, so i wonder what else of the original nancy they kept. the trailer seems to include the ditzy jock boyfriend who is always worried for Nancy's safety.

interesting quote- "Nancy's my best man. Well, she would be if she were on the force."- police

OMG!!!!! im reduced to pre-teen exclamations