…and that blogger isn’t me. I suppose I could’ve strung together three or four hundred words of gushing praise, but considering the fact that I acquired this fantastic debut feature of John Yost’s for IndiePix, I’m guessing folks might see through that.

But someone else gave it a try, so here it is.

Is it worth it, seeing a tiny movie like ‘Every Good Thing to Rust’? Well, as last night’s Oscar broadcast taught us, a stripper can write the best original screenplay of the year, and two unknown actors can run around with 100K and some mini-DV cameras and tell a story powerful enough to warrant an Oscar, and a congratulatory text message from fellow countryman Bono. Soo….

SUPPORT INDEPENDENT FILM! IT’S, LIKE, WORTH IT!

So, it is 2:45 a.m., and I am experiencing one of my frequent bouts of insomnia. A bit too foggy due to the bizarre combination of being wired and exhausted to write an eloquent post. Still, while reading J.M. Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians in bed before succombing to sleeplessness, I was struck by this quote

Pain is truth; all else is subject to doubt.

(Which, incidentally, reminds me of another favorite quote of mine, from Jeanette Winterson’s The Passion :

“I was happy but happy is an adult world. You don’t have to ask a child about happy, you see it. They are or they are not Adults talk about being happy because largely they are not. Talking about it is the same as trying to catch the wind. Much easier to let it blow all over you.”

So, all this pondering on pain, happiness, life, and adulthood, led me to. . . of course, documentary:

1) The two best documentaries I’ve seen recently have been on suicide. First, the film EXIT , which just opened at Film Forum, takes a meditative, understated look at assisted suicide in Switzerland, following the final days of several people as they seek to be put out of the misery that has overtaken their lives.

The depth of that misery, that so overshadows the innate, almost unshakeable impulse to live, is also explored in Eric Steel’s THE BRIDGE . The film has been getting a fair amount of press lately, — this Indiewire exchange is quite good so I won’t add my own analysis to the pot. However, I will say I think it is an incredibly important one, which seeks to illuminate a subject far too long taboo in the visual media. A few years ago, I read NOONDAY DEMON by Andrew Solomon, a memoir about depression. There is one description to which my mind often returns — that of Soloman, a rich and accomplished intellectual — lying prostate, paralyzed with emotional pain, in his bathtub. A middle-aged man with no impulse to move or to live, who had to be pulled out of the bath by his father. I believe it was in this same book (though possibly I am conflating this with something else I read about depression and suicide) in which the author writes that to commit suicide one needs to both 1) want to die and 2) want to KILL. There are many people who have one impulse or the other, but to be able to have such aggression toward one’s own self takes a particular person. As we seen in Steel’s film, these are people who have not jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge on an impulse, but rather who have been obsessed with the idea of offing themselves for long periods of time; whose psyches are overtaken by the will to die and kill, to exit life. Life and death are not binaries; many who live walk with death inside them at all times. To understand and explore what death is can be one of the most illuminating explorations of living that exists.

We note with sorrow the passing of a great humanitarian whom we only knew through the documentary of his life we have been privileged to carry. Dr. Venkataswamy revolutionized the treatment of glaucoma in India, an affliction that condemns the sufferer to death due to interesting cultural issues having to do with the role of the elderly in society. Dr. “V” (as he was known) created an extraordinary process for the surgical treatment of glaucoma, and in the process contributed to saving many many thousands of lives and advancing the understanding of medical practices throughout the world. His work was remembered by his family and patients in ceremonies in Madurai, India on July 7. The proceeds from the sale of the story of his work go to support his foundation. Thank you, Pavi Mehta, for giving us the opportunity to work with you on this film.

I saw Cache over the weekend and, admittedly, came to the theater with high expectations. I left the theater feeling let down because many things were left unresolved, however, perhaps that was the point.  Hankeke explores the themes of alienation, connection, and communication–or in many instances, the lack of it. My friend whom I was with found this movie abosutely frustrating to watch because each character kept secrets and pieces of information to themselves, or they just couldn’t express their thoughts and emotions. I found it to be an interesting commentary on the state of today’s society.

Hisani DuBose has been selected as the Best Director of 2005 and her film as Best Documentary by Kam Williams, writing his year end “Blacktrospective” in the African American Literature Book Club, December Newsletter. Congratulations to Mme DuBose!

She will also be part of a one hour discussion of the film on WBAI, a major New York City public affairs station, right after the first of the year.

This is a wonderful story, produced by Frances Beatty, a senior curator at the Feigen Gallery here in New York, who knew and worked with Ray Johnson for several years. The thing I like most about this film — besides giving a great view of this character — is the insight into the art community of NYC’s East Village in the early 80’s. What a bright shining moment this was!

There are several other titles that focus on this era. Especially see The Nomi Song about Klaus Nomi from this same era. Also see Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns and Wild Style.