Friday I did a three feature marathon of new film from Hong Kong at the ID Film Festival. The easy standout was Citizen King - which seems to encapsulate much of the heartbreaking vibe of the entire film festival - not getting what you want (or clearly deserve) and instead learning to make something out of what you actually have left. I guess this really is the year of painful life-lessons. Contentious or insightful, I enjoyed the film entirely.
Jason Tobin's amusing Cut Short plays out the ultimate actor's revenge fantasy all the way to the messy end. The Three Narrow Gates slips casually into seriousness, and while it ran a bit long, it achieves a sense of dread at the prospects of tackling the collusion between corporations, media, and the government. King of Spy was mostly for laughs, and while hilariously thin - it was made for $800 - it grew weary by the end. However I did really like the confusion created when the dedicated cast was endlessly recycled to play good & bad guys.
The ID Film Festival opened on Thursday night with a rare screening of Sunsets - a film co-written and directed by Eric Nakamura & Michael Aki. While the film might have arrived at the end of an era of grainy, edgy indie film - see the Class of 97 - it still has the ability to hold your attention. Ultimately Sunsets achieves a sense of looming dread as the terminally bored neighborhood hoodlums continue down destructive paths of their own making. The outsider-style cinematography by Nakamura has some beautiful moments of vista-view contemplation and an almost Bruce Weber-like meditations on skin, ink, and white tank T's.
The creamy, gooey treats in the cool evening air on Hollywood Blvd., courtesy the cute boys of Kool Haus Ice Cream Truck, brought a much needed, messy cool down from the warm buzz-y opening night of A Few Zines : Dispatches From the Edge of Architectural Production show at the LA Forum curated by Mimi Zeiger.
I attended an excellent rally tonight in West Hollywood. The rally was in response to the mixed ruling today from the California Supreme Court. The standout speaker had to be Lt. Daniel Choi. He spoke with conviction, determination, and heartfelt zeal - his leadership training & courage under fire could be a real asset as we take this back to the polls in 2010. Finally tonight, we heard voices from actual Gay families, and it was a such simple, powerful moment. It suddenly seemed so adult, so compelling in a very different way.
Qyuen & I headed downtown this morning at 7:15am to hit the Flower Market - which opens at 8am for the commoners. Okay people, that is early for a Friday. I was completely unprepared for the overdose of color and texture, not to mention the Korean ladies with rolling luggage/bin carts heaped with just-purchased, newspaper-bundled flowers. Clearly we were the newbies. My advice is definitely hit early, arm yourself with a strong dose of caffeine, and move quickly - the longer we stayed the more weary (the flowers) and we grew.
