“I have to take my share of responsibility for promoting skepticism about things that I didn’t understand as well as I might have,” he says. “What I would say NOW is that skepticism should be directed at things that are actually untrue rather than things that are difficult to measure.”
Ten Short Rants About #GamerGate | Popehat
But here’s the thing: people will draw conclusions about your motives based on your timing and your chosen vehicle.
That Catcalling Video and Why “Research Methods” is such an Exciting Topic (Really!)
Without understanding research methods, you cannot understand how to judge what you see. […] The important methodological point is that the video, without further reflection, can support all three wildly incompatible propositions. In other words, if you just look at the video, you can believe any three, and you will likely choose whichever fits your existing conclusions and prejudices.
That Catcalling Video and Why “Research Methods” is such an Exciting Topic (Really!)
I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.
James Baldwin (via malevichsquare)
The Frighteners
The Frighteners. I feel like there’s a very, very good version of this movie lurking beneath the (kooky, stylish) one that actually exists. Good comedy-horror for the most part. The final act is exhausting (seems like many horror movies go awry when they give the villains too much screen time). Jeffrey Combs plays one of the best FBI agents in film history, and man, just imagine: what if – what if – Michael J. Fox had stayed healthy.
William Gibson Has No Idea How the Future Will See Us
“In time-travel stories, we tend to imagine that the people in the past are hicks and rubes. And when we imagine people in the future in time-travel stories, they’re always weak and decadent.”
China Moon
China Moon. Florida noir! I wish I remembered this one better, but I liked it. Fun to see such a young Benicio del Toro. Director John Bailey did the camera work for the excellent American Gigolo and also contributed to Two-Lane Blacktop and Days of Heaven.
John Wick
John Wick. This movie was much better than it needed to be. Oddly inventive, and I love the world they built, with the secret clubs, clean-up contractors, doubloons (!), industry hotel, etc. It’s been a while since a movie had so many judo slams. Also love the way Wick would disable a nearby opponent, turn his attention to more distant ones for a moment, then turn back to neutralize the close one. His fighting had a sense of style, a personality. I need to watch Point Break again.
Dark Days
Dark Days. A remarkable documentary about people – a community, a neighborhood you’ll see – living underground in New York City. One thing that many great documentaries have in common: just letting people talk. Heartbreaking, funny, heartwarming. Recommended.
Dear White People
Dear White People. Not what I expected, and in a good way. I was thinking it would be more of a gimmick comedy that would burn out. Lots of good stuff about identity and affiliation. But… it’s also insanely likeable. Like you’ve been watching some really charming people spit some talking points you already agree with. Part of me wonders if I should leave the theater feeling more uncomfortable than I did. The funny is never uncomfortably accusing, the drama feels like it pulls a few punches, too. It has a more distinctive cinematography than I expected. Also, gotta say that I’ve done a 100% about-face on Tessa Thompson. I hated her character in the Veronica Mars TV series soooooo much that it blinded me to her talent and how the camera can’t ignore her. Great turn here. I am reminded of my childhood crush on Denise Huxtable.
Teacher spends two days as a student and is shocked at what she learns
Key Takeaway #1: Students sit all day, and sitting is exhausting.
Key Takeaway #2: High school students are sitting passively and listening during approximately 90 percent of their classes.
Key takeaway #3: You feel a little bit like a nuisance all day long.
Teacher spends two days as a student and is shocked at what she learns
Inside Man
Inside Man. I like that you can hear the basic summary (detective vs. bank robber/hostage-taker)… but what you see is a little bit smarter and not as interested in basic genre trappings. On the other hand, it wanders when you might want a little more spark and plausibility. Ebert says it well: “It’s not that the movie is hiding something, but that when it’s revealed, it’s been left sitting too long at room temperature.”
Scream
Scream. I’d forgotten how sharp this was. I love the no-BS opening, just straight to a phone call. Lots of good visual storytelling hints early on – the phone, the windows, the knife block, etc. And some good meta touches, like the first phone call, and the TV in the opening scene is prepped for a movie. Also does a good job of introducing characters and suspicions simultaneously, briskly outlining the relationships and why you might want to worry about them. Love the silly touches like the conversation between the two cops, the older one smoking a cigarette, the junior one licking an ice cream cone. A gold mine for movie trivia, and I love the casual spoilers, too. Like many comedies, it stumbles to an ending, and especially struggles when the meta-commentary becomes more and more explicit, and the thing starts narrating itself. Still holds up pretty well, though.
A Knight’s Tale
A Knight’s Tale. Very historically accurate, and you can’t beat the “Golden Years” dance scene.
The Rise of the Fragmented Novel (An Essay in 26 Fragments)
The modern novel is falling to pieces! Ted Gioia looks at the rise of the fragmented novel in modern mainstream literary fiction. He includes a reading list of 57 ‘fragmented’ novels, with essays on each book in the list.
Chicago
My first-ever trip to a very awesome city. I left my house earlier than usual because I’m 150 years old and like to move through the airport like the Dalai Lama. I was sad that after I first arrived, while taking the elevated train into town, I had to remind myself to stay off Twitter, and… y’know… gawk at the architecture. It was easier with my feet on the ground.
I was surprised at how cool The Bean was. Glad I got to catch it at a few different times of day.
Took a few hours to hit the Art Institute. Gotta say, Magritte is not my thing. I’ve rarely been so bored in an art exhibition. By far – by far – my favorite thing there was a collection of Ethel Stein’s weavings and textiles. It just blew my mind. Can’t believe that had that tucked away in a lower corner.
Lake Michigan is absurdly lovely. I wish Atlanta had some water nearby. I get it. While I was making my way down the Lakeshore Trail one morning, I stopped in the Chicago History Museum. I’d totally forgotten they had that Vivian Maier photography exhibit. The rest of the museum was just okay. But that Maier stuff and the Ethel Stein I mentioned earlier were my favorites from the trip. So glad I stumbled on those.
I also got to eat a Chicago-style hot dog before my next museum stop, so that was another huge victory. I’ll probably be making those at home.
The David Bowie exhibition at the MCA was cool… but it also made me realize I don’t care *that* much about his work. I’d never heard that he’d used a Verbasizer (Burroughsian custom software to remix text for lyrics and ideas), so that was a nice surprise. And the final room where there had three giant screens and a loud soundsystem for old concert footage? Very cool.
The Signature Lounge is at Hancock Tower is a total waste of money and time.
I can’t recommend The Experts at iO highly enough. Such a great improv gimmick: invite an outside expert/research/writer to lecture about their pet topic. The audience learns, the performers riff for 15-20, and then a round of direct Q&A leads to a few more shorter skits. Enjoyed it so much we got some more beer and got tickets for another show there later that night. So great.
I’m not much for pastries, but if you put food on a wooden board, you can usually count me in. And so we got a pastry board at Bristol to eat before I ate even more. Walked off the brunch through various neighborhoods I can’t remember and then a movie-nap. Never underestimate the vacation movie-nap.
Later highlights that afternoon were the big dumb Ferris wheel at the Navy Pier and dumb tiki drinks.
We woke up early to watch the Chicago Marathon, which, for a few minutes at least, had me convinced I should do a marathon. I’m about 95% sure that one of the runners was a bouncer at Signature Lounge. Kind of like how I saw one of the iO actors at a bar later in the weekend. Big city/small town. Seems like an amazing place to live. But it’s not my town. But I’m still excited to go back some day.
Is the sub-2 hour marathon imminent? Don’t hold your breath, and here’s why | The Science of Sport
So a man who runs a 59-min half marathon will not be able to sustain two back-to-back 60 min half marathons. It’s just not possible. And so therefore, before we can even consider the sub-2 hour marathon, we need to look at the ability over the half marathon. Until humans can run a half-marathon in under 58-minutes (and here, I’m talking low-57), it will not be possible to produce 59:59 twice in a marathon.
And that can be taken one step further, to 10km. If you are going to see a 57:x half marathon, then you should also be seeing a 10km that is substantially faster than the current 26:x. The 10km performance required to run a 57 is probably in the high 25s.
I’d never considered that. We may get there, but sounds further away than I thought it would be.
Is the sub-2 hour marathon imminent? Don’t hold your breath, and here’s why | The Science of Sport
Super Sad True Love Story
I tried to read Gary Shteyngart’s Super Sad True Love Story, but it just didn’t sit right. DNF.
Gone Girl
I read Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, and really really liked it. It was a welcome change of pace from some of the other recent reading drudgery I’ve put myself through. Just really compelling in its own right. I love when you find an addictive page-turn-y book, whatever the genre, and it just makes you want to read more in general.
I only read this book because I heard that David Fincher had his recent movie adaptation coming out. I made it about ~80-85% into the book, and I just couldn’t wait any more before I saw the movie. Kind of a fun way to experience this particular one. I knew nothing about the story, but always had Affleck and Pike’s faces in mind as I was reading, but none of their movements or mannerisms I know from the movie now. I was already well past one big turn in the story, but one climactic scene in the movie tops just about everything. Recommended.
Gone Girl
Gone Girl. I loved this one. Pike and Affleck work as both archetypes and just really odd layered characters. Highly disturbing, and like Zodiac, has this seductive quality where you don’t care how long it takes to unfold. I saw it when I was ~80-85% finished with the book – I didn’t want to wait another day. There’s a good chance I’ll catch it in the theaters again. The soundtrack is great, too. As for updated David Fincher rankings… I’ll use recency bias as a tiebreaker, and let this edge in to the second slot:
- Zodiac
- Gone Girl
- The Social Network
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
- Seven
- Fight Club
Mark Larson 