Matt Snee's Blog, page 61

Currently Watching.

Currently watching – Marie Antoinette, directed by Sofia Coppola, 2006. Born in 1971, Coppola is the daughter of revered director Francis Ford Coppola, and quite a filmmaker herself.

Criticism.

This is one of the best books of criticism I’ve read in the past couple years. I read it when it came out, devoured it, really, and then forgot about it. But for my birthday last year, my sister, not knowing I had read it, bought me another copy. Since then I’ve been telling myself to read it again. I definitely recommend it.

Absence

Been too busy to read, but I’ve been thinking about this Simpsons joke. It might seem irrational, but in a lot of arts, Lisa is right. Sometimes by leaving something out, or in some way allowing the audience to connect faint dots to make its own observations, the artist provides for a deeper, more multifaceted experience. Grand gestures can be thrilling; but subtle details and inferences can be equally if not more powerful. Happy Mother’s Day!

Currently reading.

Currently reading. Witold Gombrowicz part two. What I don’t understand is this: Gombrowicz was Polish, but he lived in Argentina for decades after fleeing Poland before World War 2, and from what I’ve read is he wrote in Polish, but this novel was translated from the French?

Currently watching.

Currently watching – Paris, Texas – directed by Wim Wenders, 1984. Born in 1945, Wenders is a German filmmaker, author, and photographer, and one of the most renown independent directors of the last four decades.

Currently reading.

Currently reading – Sweet Days of Discipline, by Fleur Jaeggy, translated by Tim Parks. Born in 1940, Jaeggy is a Swiss author of five novels. I finished the first novel in the Gombrowicz book, so I’m taking an intermission with this.

Currently watching.

Currently watching – Señorita, directed by Isabel Sandoval, 2011. Born in 1982, Sandoval is a Filipina filmmaker. This was her award-winning directorial debut.

Currently reading.

Currently reading – Cosmos and Pornografia, Two Novels by Witold Gombrowicz. Born in 1904, Gombrowicz was a Polish writer and playwright nominated for the Nobel Prize, but never awarded it. He died in 1969. This book was given to me by a dear, departed friend.

Currently watching.

Currently watching – She’s Gotta Have It, directed by Spike Lee, 1986. Born in 1957, Lee is one of the most important directors of the last forty years. This movie, about a young black woman juggling three boyfriends she refuses to commit to despite their pressures, was his debut feature. I watched this before many, many, many years ago.

Currently reading.

Currently reading – Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, by Alison Bechdel. Born in 1960, Bechdel is an American cartoonist and winner of the MacArthur “Genius” award. This book is a memoir via comic.