frida, taymor, and goldenthal...

so, i am sitting here at my house...wine glass in hand (with a decent cabernet), script in hand (working on a cutting for an upcoming project), listening to elliot goldenthal's soundtrack for frida as i work...an unbelievable movie. a movie directed by one of my heroes...julie taymor...who i fully intend to be when i grow up.which reminds me of the movie...i grew up hearing all about friday kahlo from my mother, who worked with several people associated with the menil and other private collectors around town. every time i would hear the artist's name spoken, it was almost with a hint of jest...the self-deprecating artist whose self-portraits defied our notions of beauty, of self, of identity... i remember, when my mother brought home a book on kahlo's work, looking through it with a degree of horror. granted, i was only a child, but i found the images haunting, disturbing...


i had little reason to re-examine her work, so for years, my conception of frida kahlo was a negative one. but how thrilling was it to see taymor's movie and her brilliant imagery...to finally have some insight into kahlo's state of mind when she painted those pieces, the pieces ingrained in my mind as a child as the stuff of horror films...




and how funny that my absolute favorite place in mexico city was the area in which she lived... coyoacan.



thank you, frida kahlo, for being the visionary you were...and julie taymor, for being the woman capable of illuminating her...i no longer look at these works with disgust, but rather, appreciation for their honesty and rawness.

a challenge to my friends...

i don't know why i've been so freakin' happy lately, but it's just as if everything is starting to make sense. for today anyways. and one thing i think is true: positive energy begets positive energy. anyways, your manic friend is hopin' this feelin' lasts...

but i thought i would share something that happened to me today...so, i am walking down the street during lunch and i see this guy in a business suit. he's young and polished... glasses and shined shoes and library books in hand. well, i look at him, just as i would look at anyone passing me on the street, and he flashes a grin a mile wide at me . it wasn't a flirty smile, but rather, a happy-to-be-alive sort of grin...but it was so big and sincere that it almost stopped me in my tracks. so, naturally, it put a big smile on my face. and the next person i saw on the street saw my wide grin and smiled back at me...which made me smile even more. and as i was walking through the tunnels, i simply could not wipe the goofy look off my face...and each person i would pass would exchange a smile with me. this is NOT NORMAL. the downtown tunnels, like subway stations, are a place where one can disappear in a sea of expressionless faces. but on this day, person after person would smile back at me... and as i am thinking about this, the next person i passed said 'hello, how are you doing today?' and it wasn't at all a typical, half-assed greeting...it was a genuine question. and of course, i responded 'fine! and you?' but the thing is, she wasn't the only one...i counted at least 10 people who said hello to me in the tunnels. complete strangers. again, not normal... but wonderful! shows me one thing: how much effort does it really take to spread a little happiness around? not much. so, i challenge you all (not to suggest that you might not be inclined to do this already) to smile at the next 10 strangers you encounter...to say hello to them all. you never know who's day might be turned around by that tiny gesture.... it's not a big deal. and this story may seem insignificant to you. and perhaps it is. but it made my day.

and my lunch destination? a little cafe called la dolce vita. how appropriate. :)

divine humor

ah....the byzantine chapel. the one at the menil. if you haven't seen it, you must make plans to do so. immediately. simply beautiful. the frescos are lovely, but the place itself is magical. in my opinion, much more so than the rothko. i walked in and the only light in the room was that coming from the two candles flanking the pews....excepting that on the frescos themselves. the rest of the altar was simply glowing...an other-wordly translucent white halo against the stark black of the walls. i walked in and sat in the back pew and just stared. and stared. i felt almost paralyzed. i couldn't take my eyes from the fresco just above the altar. from where i was sitting, you only saw the image of an angel...an angel staring back at me with a face of sublime peace and gentleness. did i feel like the angel was looking at me? yes, i did. which is why i sat there silently for what must have been a half-hour. and in that time i felt so calm and satisfied.

how can one deny the existence of the divine? it was in the air...in the birds singing outside the chapel...the water dripping off the leaves in the trees outside...the glow of the altar...even in the squeak of the shoes worn by the people walking by my pew. i don't know exactly what that means...but i feel it is true with every inch of my being. i sat there and stared and couldn't help but cry...just a little. but not tears of sadness, but those of joy. of appreciation. i thought of my family...of my friends...of my life...and i just felt so very grateful and blessed. and content. with all of life's trials, could it be any sweeter than this?

and then, someone's cell phone rang. one of those generic nokia rings. and the woman, embarassed, rushed outside...rifling through her purse to grab and silence the offending device. and it put the biggest smile on my face. and instead of being annoyed, it made me laugh. here i am, having this intense moment when someone's cell phone rings....breaking the mood. but not really. isn't that what life is? isn't it the little surprises and problematic occurrences that make it that much more fun? i think so.

after watching the woman rush out of the room, i looked back at the angel looming above in the fresco....and i couldn't help but notice a hint of a smirk on her face.

Movie Music

today's random thoughts:kevin costner is a hack. wait...not a hack-overwrought. the man needs to cease and desist with the sentimentality. it was acceptable in 'dances with wolves,' but it should have ended there. excepting that one, his best acting occurs in 'the big chill.' ........bet you didn't know he was in the big chill, right? yep. he is. he plays the dead friend that brings everyone together. that's right...a corpse. no joke. but seriously, costner picked up where michael landon left off...the man is the kenny G of movies. so, cut a christmas album and call it a day.

actually, i'm exaggerating. the man has made a few decent movies...all involving baseball. well...actually...i can only personally vouch for one being good: 'bull durham.' but i credit susan sarandon and tim robbins for making that movie what it was. (we'll forgive them for their political activism. just think of it: it all began with a baseball movie.)

so, back to costner...so i happen to catch a minute or two of 'message in a bottle' this morning. yikes. even paul newman and robin wright penn couldn't save that one. don't get me wrong, i remember crying the first time i saw it...but that is not saying much. i cried in 'honey, i shrunk the kids' when the ant died. seriously. i'm ridiculous. so i'm watching this movie, and all i can think of is the score. it's gorgeous. and it sounds familiar. sounds like something else i've heard...then it comes to me: 'city of angels.' turns out gabriel yared wrote both scores.

now, sidenote here: i have one useless skill. i am not afraid to boast about this: i have an uncanny ability to identify the composers of movie scores. i am almost never wrong. give me 5 minutes of a movie with an original score written by somebody whose music i've heard before...and i will be able to guess it. i might not even know who wrote it, but i will be able to tell you what other movies were written by that composer. seriously. try challenging me sometime. in fact, this can annoy people when they watch movies with me. because i usually obsess about the score until i figure it out. i realized it was a strange (and pointless) gift when i was sitting in the movie theatre watching 'the green mile.' and i think...wow, this sounds like 'up close and personal' and 'shawshank redemption' and 'american beauty' and 'corrina corrina.' i had never thought to look it up before. and as it turns out, all written by thomas newman. god love him. what a talent. now, mind you, thomas newman isn't difficult to identify....he's like james horner. very characteristic sound. except horner is more generic. no offense...some of his work is excellent. my favorites include: an american tale (yes, i love the score), swing kids, legends of the fall, and willow. now, i only own some of these scores...the rest just stick with me. like willow, for instance. i could hum the whole main title...and i haven't heard it in...well...probably 15 years.that's the thing with me and music….i almost never forget something once i hear it. this doesn't necessarily apply to lyrics or the like, nor does it mean that i could sit down and play it immediately…but melodic lines. chord progressions. characteristic licks or rhythmic patterns…like, for instance, james horner's horn rips. or thomas newman's lonely piano solos…he's always got that 3 and 5 chord motive. ....wanna know what i'm talking about? in a cool mix? check out the album 'ultra chilled' (one of those electronica compilation CDs) disc 2, track 2 (titled 'american dream'). it is snippets of thomas newman's score from 'american beauty' mixed by jakatta. very nice.

anyways...this musical score thing is something i inherited from my father. my dad has an amazing ear. astounding, actually. so, in middle school, i go to a jam session with some of my music pals. i'm on the keyboard. we have some brass involved....we are trying to put together some jazz stuff...inspired by a sting b-side 'i miss you, kate' from his 'ten summoner's tales' days. (in fact, the bridge of 'i miss you, kate' also appears in the middle section of 'st. augustine in hell.') anyways, so i have a cassette of 'i miss you, kate' and throw it on in the car...he listens to it and immediately says "that's 'spartacus.' " and mom and i are looking at each other like he's crazy. but he insists. and starts humming along to the song...a song i'm sure he has never heard before. so, we go home and he rummages through the shelf of old LPs...most of which hadn't been touched by anyone but me for the last 15 years. and it takes him all of perhaps 5 minutes to find the section in the love theme of 'spartacus' that utilizes the exact same progression as 'i miss you, kate.' crazy. sting totally ripped off alex north. totally.

how often do we rip people off without even knowing it? and how often are we ripping ourselves off? i mean, of course that is why i can recognize film composers...they aren't always very original. reinvention can be highly uncommecial. take, for instance, gabriel yared. so, i am curious, and i read up on him and his career. he apparently wrote the first score to 'troy'...and it was rejected approximately a month out from the world-wide release of the movie. a month out! so, good ol' horner churned out a new score in about a month. a score with...yeah, you guessed it, OODLES of his characteristic horn rips. go figure. the thing is, yared's score was supposed to be his best work EVER, but it was accused of being too old-fashioned. fancy that. a score to a movie about the greeks being too old-fashioned. and i am dying to hear it. but the thing is, he doesn't own it. and until the studio decides to release it, it will never be heard. criminal. just criminal.

speaking of ripping off...i just watched 'annie hall' for the first time with henning the other day. the last silly movie in which i cried. no surprise. and man...i had NO IDEA how much nora ephron ripped off woody allen! watch 'annie hall'...then watch 'when harry met sally.' basically, 'when harry met sally' is 'annie hall' with a happier ending. who knew.