Month: November 2013

Chasing Amie

Post author By Addison Engelking
Post date November 7, 2013

We fear sex in the movies almost as much as we love movie violence. Every week, there are plenty of films that peddle violence in all its forms. But we have to turn to foreign films (or Showtime or porn) if we have any interest in thinking about or exploring the physical act of love. Show a woman getting the flesh torn from her back by an overseer’s whip and you’ll be showered with praise; show a woman’s non-boob lady parts and you’ll be slapped with an NC-17 rating.

In spite of its pedigree, Abdellatif Kechiche’s French-language Blue Is the Warmest Color, which won the Palme D’Or at the Cannes Film Festival this spring, is destined for the art-house ghetto because of its MPAA rating and its frank depiction of human sexuality. But Kechiche’s cultured mini epic is just as valuable as a portrait of a specific young woman during a specific period in her life.

That young woman is Adèle (Adèle Exarchopoulos), who we first meet when she’s finishing high school. Like Beowulf or Antigone, Adèle is simultaneously there and not there as she goes about her day. She loves literature and has good taste in movies and music. But those pleasures apparently aren’t enough; as her girlfriends remind her, she hasn’t been with a guy yet. There are two reasons for this. First, she can’t find any guys she’s interested in. Second, whenever she thinks of sex, her erotic dreams involve Emma (Léa Seydoux), a young, blue-haired woman with whom she once shared a passing glance.

The fantastic Exarchopoulos is on screen constantly, thinking about her life and rearranging her great tempest of hair to match her moods. To heighten this intimacy, Kechiche’s camera frequently frames Adèle’s face in tight close-ups during most of her daily activities. We see her eating with gusto, sleeping heavily, and crying stormily. (The only bodily fluids shown in this film are tears and snot.) Blue seldom leaves Adèle as she grows up and learns how to manage her enormous emotional and physical appetites.

But she gets to indulge in those appetites first. The film’s four distinctive sex scenes and the two or three fleeting glimpses of female genitalia gave Blue its NC-17 — a rating which, among other things, ensures that a movie featuring some of the year’s smartest, most realistic teenagers is now off-limits to teens themselves. But the first sex scene is the only one where Adèle is with a man. It ends with Adèle staring off in space, breaking the awkward silence to utter a melancholy, “It was great.”

Adèle and Emma are with each other during the other three sex scenes, which flout most of the clichés that mar so many contemporary cinematic sexual encounters. There’s no romantic music drowning out the gasps, groans, and moans of the participants, and there’s little in the way of romantic lighting. There’s just two people sweating, writhing, and working very hard to get each other off.

I wish other movies respected sex and love enough to treat it as seriously.

Blue Is the Warmest Color

Opens Friday, November 8th

Studio on the Square

Film/TV TV Features

Homeland: engrossing and forgettable

Post author By Greg Akers
Post date November 7, 2013

First, the part without spoilers:

For one hour a week, I’m completely engrossed in Showtime’s Homeland. For the other 167 hours I kinda forget about it.

It’s not that the show isn’t good. For two and a half seasons and counting, Homeland has presented an unrealistic, militaristic, borderline xenophobic thrill ride about American spies and the Islamic terrorists they attempt to foil. The star is Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison, a CIA intelligence officer who wrestles with bipolar disorder while trying to prove her brilliant deductions of where the next attack is coming from and who will be the perpetrator. She thinks the wolf in sheep’s clothing is Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis), a Marine who was an Iraq war POW before escaping. Carrie thinks Brody was turned by terrorist mastermind Abu Nazir (Navid Negahban). Carrie’s superior, Saul (Mandy Patinkin), doesn’t know what to think. Brody’s wife (Morena Baccarin) and kids (Morgan Saylor, Jackson Pace) don’t know what to think. The first season is a tense bit of gamesmanship but takes a long time to get really rolling. Each episode ends on a cliffhanger to hook you back, but, for me at least, I wasn’t invested enough in the characters to remember to be anxious.

It’s not that the show isn’t superbly acted. Danes has got the “best dramatic actress on TV” thing on lockdown right now. Watching her face, as she cycles through 100 emotions a minute when she goes on and off her bipolar meds, is an amazement. That her character is thematically linked to jazz is almost too rich a metaphor for Danes’ acting. Both she and Lewis have won Emmys for their work. Can’t say I agree with Lewis’ accolades, in light of the competition, though Patinkin is wonderful as a steadying presence on the show, and Rupert Friend is exceptional as fellow CIA agent Peter Quinn.

Now, the part with spoilers through the first two seasons:

Season one ends with a great turn of events. Brody really does try to detonate a bomb, but his attempt fails. But the second season is even better. The series gets its finest moment in the S2 episode “Q&A,” wherein every lie Brody and Carrie have been telling each other is aired. It’s riveting, watching Carrie wear the man down and the relief they both feel when the ordeal is over. The climax of the season, when the CIA is bombed and Brody is blamed for it, is weird. I can’t pin down exactly what happened and why Carrie is so sure he wasn’t involved, except because of their history. It’s not great storytelling.

Now, the part with spoilers of the current season:

Season 3 is the weirdest yet. In hindsight, I very much appreciate the long con of having us fall out of love with Saul and then back in love in a fury when he and Carrie are revealed to be in cahoots. Also in retrospect, Danes’ performance is even better, walking that line between emotional breakdown and pretending to be going through emotional breakdown.

What I don’t like is the lingering anti-Muslim sentiment, most vivid when the new analyst Fara (Nazanin Boniadi) walks into the CIA to a bunch of stares — because she’s wearing a hijab and for no other reason!

Also apparent: Brody’s got to go. Now that Nazir is dead, any tension of having him on the show is dissipated. As for the other members of the Brody family, I really do like them. I would watch a show about angsty teen Dana Brody. But Homeland is not that show. And I don’t like the feeling that Homeland is going down the same road 24 did with Kim Bauer. (The two shows share a gaggle of producers.) Mental health runaways is just another way to say cougar trap.

Last, the part with spoilers from the last episode:

Carrie is pregnant? WTF? Who’s the daddy? Brody? … or Peter Freakin’ QUINN?

Homeland

Sundays, 8 p.m.

Showtime

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867-5309 …

Post author By Flyer Staff
Post date November 7, 2013

Bruce VanWyngarden riffs on telephones and technology and the semi-good old days.

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The Hamp

Post author By Flyer Staff
Post date November 7, 2013

Bianca Phillips chronicles all the good things happening in the central city neighborhood of Binghampton in this week’s Flyer cover story.

Beyond the Arc Sports

Postcards from the Edge: Grizzlies catch a beatdown from the Pelicans

Post author By Kevin Lipe
Post date November 6, 2013

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

Griz coach Dave Joerger has a problem on his hands: the Grizzlies look bad through five games.

Larry Kuzniewski
Griz coach Dave Joerger has a problem on his hands: the Grizzlies look bad through five games.

Instead of trying to craft a narrative about how it’s either (a.) time to panic or (b.) not time to panic, I’m going to list all of the things that went horribly wrong for the Grizzlies in their 99–84 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night. The Grizzlies came out and played such a flat, uninspired 35-or-so minutes of basketball that it’s hard for me to imagine a way to convey it on the page. Those of you who were in attendance—and, don’t forget, many in attendance started booing when the Griz were down 22 points at the end of the third quarter, and rightfully so—will understand.

1.

Marc Gasol was a complete, total disaster tonight. In 30 minutes of play, he managed to secure 1 rebound, and that’s not even the worst thing he did. On multiple occasions, Gasol was one-on-one against Greg Stiemsma—GREG STIEMSMA—within seven feet of the basket, did a move to get by him, which is easy because IT’S GREG FREAKING STIEMSMA and he’s Marc Gasol, and once he was by his man and completely unguarded three feet from the basket, he… froze, and passed it back out to somebody on the perimeter. One time such a pass landed in the hands of Tony Allen, who was wide open from three, who promptly fired one, which (as is typical) missed and was rebounded by the Pelicans.

I don’t know what’s wrong with Gasol, but he looked like he’d rather be back in Eurobasket tonight than competing in an NBA game. He wasn’t making good decisions on offense—which is very unusual for him—and he wasn’t playing well on defense at all, whether it was against Anthony Davis, which is understandable, or against Greg Stiemsma, which is roughly equivalent to guarding a cardboard cutout of my dad. ^[1] If Gasol doesn’t get his head right, and it hasn’t really been right yet this season, the Grizzlies are going to get worse before they get better. No two ways about it.

[jump]

Also, speaking of Eurobasket, does no one remember the year that Pau Gasol broke his foot playing for Spain and ruined an entire season of Grizzlies basketball^[2]? Would that not be one of the worst things that could happen to this Grizzlies team? Why risk it?

2.

The Grizzlies have now played five games, and they’ve had five games in which the starters came out and looked like they weren’t expending any effort. I usually hate it when people accuse pro athletes of not caring, or of not playing hard, or not trying, but the demeanor of the Grizzlies’ starters—excluding Mike Conley^[3], who has been brilliant among a sea of scrubs—has been somewhere between “My Bloody Valentine on stage” and “Lindsay Lohan pretending to pay attention at a probation hearing.”

They look like they can’t be bothered. And they’re playing like it, too. All the while trying to do things they shouldn’t be doing, pass it places they shouldn’t be passing, foul when they shouldn’t foul, and just generally play sloppy, poorly executed basketball. Basketball that will not get you anywhere in the NBA, especially not when everyone in the West improved and is coming for your playoff spot. They’re not playing like they realize it—or, worse, they’re playing like they realize that and are already tired.

3.

Jerryd Bayless went down with a right knee sprain.

4.

It was a great night for Zach Randolph—he left the game after playing 8 minutes because his fiancée was giving birth to his son—but his absence meant that the Grizzlies had no one to rebound. Tony Allen and Ed Davis tied for most offensive rebounds of any Grizzlies player, and both of them had… wait for it… TWO. This Grizzlies roster is built around scoring off of rebounds and generating turnovers. Whatever they’re trying to do right now is not working, and they’re not doing what they’re good at.

5.

Turnovers. Tired of talking about this one, but until the Grizzlies figure out how to stop coughing up the ball, I’m going to have to talk about it. The Grizzlies had 8 turnovers in the first quarter, which is ridiculous. They had 11 at the half, 14 after three, and ended with 18. But eight, in the first quarter. This starting lineup has completely forgotten how to take care of the ball, and it’s baffling. And infuriating.

6.

I love Quincy Pondexter, and I’m not a huge believer in the +/- stat, but Pondexter was –22 in 17 minutes tonight. He was not good. He was not mediocre. He was not “a little off.” He was bad on both ends of the floor. I’m not sure what’s happened to Pondexter’s game so far this season to radically alter his offensive skill set from what was so helpful to the Grizzlies last year, but he hasn’t looked right all season, and tonight was the worst we’ve seen out of him in a long time. Here’s hoping Q can get back to his floor-spacing, hustle-playin’ ways some time soon and stop overthinking everything he does. We need that QPon back. The current version isn’t helping, contract extension and all.

7.

At some point, the lineups are going to have to change. Some of the groups that saw the floor tonight did nothing but get scored on and turn over the ball.

8.

Mike Miller cannot play 23 minutes in mostly garbage time ever again. He just can’t. Again: why take the risk?

I don’t care what he feels like, or how much Joerger trusts him, or how much he says he’s up for it—past is prologue. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Dude gets hurt a lot. Stop pretending he’s 24 years old again just because he’s back in Memphis.

If he’s found a Fountain of Youth with Mississippi River water in it, it’s probably full of petrochemicals and catfish droppings anyway.

Conclusions

I’m done. I want to go to bed and try to sleep off whatever the awful side effects of sitting through that Grizzlies game are. It was like sitting and watching a meth lab burn to the ground: nobody wins. If the Grizzlies can’t figure out a way to play with intensity and effort and actually execute—especially on defense, something this team is supposed to be good at—they’re going to lose to the Warriors by 40 points on Saturday, and then they’re going to go to Indiana on Monday and get their brains beaten in by the Pacers, who are on fire right now. It’s going to be ugly.

Here’s hoping the Griz can see past the end of the bloodied nose given to them by the Pelicans tonight and understand that they have to play better—that whatever they’re doing right now is not working and they’re lucky they’re not 0–5 to start the season. At some point soon I’ll take a look at the positives of the season so far, assuming I can find any. Gotta balance out all of this negativity somehow. But for tonight, I’m wallowing in it, because the Grizzlies earned it. They played like they didn’t care, and they got embarrassed for it. I can only hope they’re as bothered by it as the fanbase is.

Sorry Dad, you know I love you, but a cardboard cutout of you wouldn’t be good at basketball. ↩
Remember Junior Harrington, Memphis Grizzly? ↩
Conley said after the game that he remembers getting booed on a regular basis when he was a rookie and the Grizzlies were horrible, and that he doesn’t ever want to go back to that. Tonight had to have brought back some painful memories for him, memories that hopefully will drive him to assert some leadership and get the rest of the guys in the locker room on the same page. ↩

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Darius Washington Sr. and Trey Anastasio on “The Line”

Post author By Flyer Staff
Post date November 6, 2013

Joe Boone reaches out to Phish’s Trey Anastasio and Darius Washington about the song, “The Line.”

Sing All Kinds We Recommend

Phish and D Wash Sr. on “The Line”

Post author By Joe Boone
Post date November 6, 2013

A follow up to our post on Phish’s song about Darius Washington Jr.

“Darius Washington Jr.’s story was incredibly moving to all of us in Phish,” Trey Anastasio wrote in an email to the Flyer. Anastasio is the lead singer of the jam band Phish, which should in all probability have exactly nothing to do with Tiger hoops. But this is Memphis. Things get weird.

At a Halloween show in Atlantic City, Phish played a song called “The Line.” The song is about Washington’s infamous free throw attempts against Louisville in the 2005 C-USA tournament. The song is also about overcoming adversity. Darius Jr.’s Twitter handle is @Mr_Adversity. Following the emotional loss on national television, Washington’s father, Darius Sr., refused to let his son wallow in self-pity and led him on a walk up and down Beale Street to face the fans and to revel in their support.

We reached Darius Jr. by Twitter. He is playing basketball for Olin Edirne Basket, a Turkish team, and deferred questions to his dad. We spoke to Darius Sr. by phone yesterday.

Explaining Phish to Darius Sr. is not what one expects to do on a music-writing gig. But, again, this is Memphis. Initially confused by the news, the Washingtons have developed a sense of humor and perspective on the song, the event, and what it means to people.

“Is he a famous country singer?” Darius Sr. asked. “I don’t know them.”

Phish is somewhat famous for being a jam band, primarily a touring act that invests less time in the studio and in pursuing radio success than in playing live shows for its dedicated fans. It’s not for everybody.

“If the people that sit there and listen to this — if they don’t follow sports and don’t know that this took place — what are they thinking? What’s going through the fans minds?,” Washington Sr. wondered.

“It really spoke to me on a personal level, because I’ve gone through some difficult moments in public, too,” Anastasio wrote. “I’m sure most people have, in one way or another. Those tough moments can ultimately become gifts though.”

The Washingtons were not immediately sure of the musicians’ motives when they heard about the song on CBS Sports.

“We had to sort through and figure out which rout to take. I’ve got rap artists — people that could have just blasted him out,” Washington Sr. said. “I had a lot of scenarios going through my head about how I would respond if it was something that I felt that he was trying to pour salt on a wound or something like that. Maybe I can get one of my rap guys to rap something about it.”

But the awesome possibility of a musical standoff between Phish and the Washingtons was quashed as Darius’ Sr. again demonstrated the character that led him and his son out onto Beale to face the music.

“They show it on ESPN,” Washington said. “They talk about it on March Madness and at the beginning of the year. It’s been following us forever. But it’s not a bad thing, though. There’s something that people fail to realize. Yeah, that was a history making moment, but we got up off the floor and we’re still doing what we do.”

Anastasio was among those moved by the display of family, character, and civic goodwill that went on display.

“You learn a lot about what’s really important in life when
something like that happens,” Anastasio wrote.

“This is the question I pose to people,” Washington said. “If he would have just walked off the court after missing those free throws and sat on the bench like it was nothing, then people have said, damn that kid didn’t even care. But being that he is so passionate — and he hated to lose — that was the main issue. That wasn’t a national championship game. That was a freaking conference game to get into the big dance. That should show the world the passion he has for winning. The kid was always and still is a winner. He’s not a kid anymore, he’s a man. He did that in rec league. If he missed a shot, it bothered him. To this day, that’s how it stands,” Washington said.

In an even more conciliatory gesture, Washington laid the groundwork for what could become Phish’s masterpiece.

“If he decides to do a video, tell him to call us.”

Tags basketball, Memphis, Music, Phish, Tigers, Trey Anastasio

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Griz-Pelicans Preview

Post author By Flyer Staff
Post date November 6, 2013

Kevin Lipe susses out Wednesday’s night’s matchup between the Grizzlies and the New Orleans Pelicans.