Now to catch up with some completely overdue updates.
Movies
The Godfather Parts I & II
The Castro Theater, San Francisco, CA, 9/6/08 and 9/11/08
The Castro played both of these movies for a week back in September. Both are on the AFI Top 100 list. I had seen parts of both films before, but I had never seen either end to end. They’re both excellent, and iconic in so many ways. I would bet that you could find a reference to every scene in the first movie in other movies if you were to spend enough time looking.
I really enjoyed looking for the oranges in the movies. Usually they’re an indication that something bad is going to happen. There’s a pretty comprehensive list here.
For the sake of completeness, I also rented The Godfather Part III as well. It was not very good.
Concerts
Mogwai
Grand Ballroom at the Regency Center, San Francisco, CA 9/8/08
I saw Mogwai five years ago (eep!) in San Francisco, and this show as just as good. The band’s tour diary summed it up about as well as I can:
The show was really quite good in San Francisco apart from the usual idiots who are afraid to keep their mouth shut for 10 seconds in case they start having an introspective tour of duty into their own minds and then nervous breakdown. I wonder at what point in our career they might realise that we’re playing a concert, with musical instruments, concentrating quite hard, trying to play well and that we don’t much have anything to say to, “Woooooo Hoooooo I’m alive!” or whatever ultimately pointless B.S. they excrete from their idiotic mouths. But anyway, we met some nice folks in San Francisco tonight but I think I’m glad I don’t live here because of the omnipresent aforementioned human urine scent.
Yep, that sounds about right. One of those screaming guys was right next to me during the show.
Cake
The Independent, San Francisco, CA, 10/10/08
This was a benefit concert for Prop H, the SF Clean Energy Act. The prop didn’t pass, but the show was still great. John McCrea, the singer, had a bit of a sore throat so couldn’t sing any of the higher pitched songs. The had me a bit worried at first, but there was nothing to be alarmed about. They don’t play from a setlist, so they just played the songs that he was able to sing. Their next CD should be out some time soon, and will be supposedly recorded using only renewable energy.
Magnetic Fields
Loews Jersey Theatre, Jersey City, NJ, 10/23/08
This must have been one of the strangest rock shows I’ve been to. It was comprised of two sets, and the audience was very quiet and polite for the whole show. It felt almost like seeing a concert of chamber music. They played very well, though, and I was taught how fantastic “Papa Was a Rodeo” is.
Documentaries
The Universe of Keith Haring
Roxie Cinema, San Francisco, CA, 9/15/08
Keith Haring has been one of my favorite artists for a long time, so I really enjoyed this documentary about him. One thing I learned was the sheer abundance of his work; he stayed tremendously busy right up until his death.
Graphic Novels
Ghost World
I’m a big fan of the movie adaptation of Ghost World, so I was really looking forward to the graphic novel. I enjoyed it, but it came across as a little mean. Maybe I’m less jaded now than I was when I first saw the movie? Or maybe the movie took some of the edge off of the graphic novel? Hmm.
V for Vendetta
I was fairly disappointed by this one. It’s interesting, but I actualy had a lot of trouble following what was happening. I think the setting for the story may have been more interesting than the plot with this one. I liked the movie, though, so take that how you will.
Well, that wasn’t so hard, was it? Only a little more catching up to do…
1001: This completes 2/100 for the AFI Top 100, 3/5 for Concerts, 1/10 for Documentaries, and 2/10 for Graphic Novels.