Dillinger 2.0

I saw Public Enemies today with my dad, at a 3:50 matinee with exactly two other people in the audience. It’s a good movie, with a solid performance by Johnny Depp, playing ‘30s bank robber John Dillinger without even a hint of Captain Jack Sparrow showing through. In contrast, Christian Bale, as the FBI agent pursuing Dillinger, does reprise the brooding mood we more often associate with Bruce Wayne: watching him brandish a machine gun while hanging onto the side of a speeding black police car, you have to wonder if he realizes it isn’t the Batmobile.

The film is exciting and generally well-paced, though it’s woefully inaccurate in some historical details, as Slate points out. (Though it’s apparently correct in its omission of the famous “woman in red,” instead showing her wearing white and orange.) One obvious inaccuracy comes from the casting: Dillinger’s girlfriend Billie Frechette didn’t have Marion Cotillard’s French accent, yet somehow this actually works.

Most striking for me, however, was the cinematography. From the early scenes of the film you can see the “shaky camera” technique that sparked so much comment about the Bourne trilogy. In many scenes the viewpoint wobbles slightly, unpredictably, as if we’re a character in the scene watching the action or – not quite the same thing – recording it ourselves on our own personal camera. (To be clear, I think Public Enemies does this more, and more noticeably, than its predecessors. It doesn’t look like it was shot on a camcorder; The Bourne Ultimatum looks like it was shot on a camcorder. Public Enemies often looks like it was shot on a cell phone.)

There’s much to say about whether this “you are there” immediacy helps or hurts thrillers like the Bournes. But the shaky cameras in Public Enemies give it a jarring modern feel. Perhaps it was also the odd lighting (several scenes seemed suffused with a bright yellow light, as if shot inside on my old camera) and/or the digital projection (the theater was a snazzy new outfit called Rave – the Loews in the Square and Boston Common don’t have digital projection, do they?) that made me sometimes feel as though I were watching a home movie on YouTube. That’s not a sense I got from, say, Chicago or O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and for good reason: we don’t expect movies about the 1930s to resemble YouTube clips.

Towards the end of the movie Dillinger watches Manhattan Melodrama, a 1934 action flick which presents its thrilling scenes, even a murder at a New York Rangers game, in matter-of-fact, steady, one (camera) shot packages. The contrast with the rest of Public Enemies is strong. The costumes and cars are period pieces, but the filmmaking is not.

The Little Bugger

Hi, my name is Addie, and I want to be your friend. I will bark like crazy to let you know that I'm excited to have you home. My normal state of being is asleep on the floor or the couch, as you can see from the photos above. I also like to lick people's feet and ankles. (It's all I can really reach when you're standing...I'm only 5 lbs.) I'm a 12-year old Maltese, but I currently have really short hair because it's summer and it's quite warm and humid here in DC. I like to eat bread and will try to make you give me your food, but alas, my attempts at mind control have not been very successful. Must try another course of action, like staring and looking very cute. I am afraid of thunder, but even when it doesn't rain, I will happily always be that little lump that takes up over half the bed because I can't sleep unless I'm next to you. Yes, I'm a bed-hog and I snore, but I'm cute, so get over it. I also go crazy and start bouncing around if you open the fridge or say "walk."

Since I mentioned how I am taking care of a dog this summer in DC, I figured I'd follow through on my promise and post photos of said dog. She apparently doesn't really like the camera...she always gives that wary look when I come near her with it (see first photo). The past three weeks have been me taking care of her and figuring out her strange quirks. I thought the best way to represent her oddities was to have her "introduce" herself. She tries really hard to communicate things by just looking at you for a long time and then barking, but I don't really know what she's trying to tell me...sometimes I wonder if she's like the guinea pigs on G-Force and will communicate some hyper-sensitive information to the government. I don't think she's intelligent enough to do that, though...she eats, sleeps, walks, and bounces...'nuff said.

Good Vibrations

I just got back from a free Beach Boys concert at the Hatch Shell. Uncle Jesse from Full House was the drummer. It was AWESOME. 

They sang "Forever," also from Full House. It was kind of completely amazing. 

Whatever. Stop judging. :P

 

The Green Counter Revolution

Today we had an impromptu lesson in welding with electricty.

We are in deep EV shit.

Electric Vehicles are the Future [of Pain]

Our electric vehicles are held together by stuff you can buy at a Safeway at 2:30am on a Sunday night.

A must-read health policy editorial

In "Why We Must Ration Health Care", Peter Singer hits the nail on the head, making the case that rationing of health care resources a) currently exists in the United States, and b) needs to occur in a more rational form. I would go one step further and say that any attempt at reforming the US health care system that does not -- implicitly or explicitly -- address the question "how will we ration medical care" in a coherent, logical fashion is doomed to failure.

Health care is a scarce resource, and all scarce resources are rationed in one way or another. In the United States, most health care is privately financed, and so most rationing is by price: you get what you, or your employer, can afford to insure you for. [....]In the public sector, primarily Medicare, Medicaid and hospital emergency rooms, health care is rationed by long waits, high patient copayment requirements, low payments to doctors that discourage some from serving public patients and limits on payments to hospitals.

Tim the Tease

Today as Aaron and I were walking through Times Square, we spotted a
Tim Horton's. Aaron loves Tim Horton's as much as a Canadian and
insisted that we stop. There was a grand opening sign and everything.
It was quite exciting. Momentarily. Because as we approached we
realized that the windows were all papered over and it wasn't actually
open yet. Aaron said he that his grief "shattered" him. So New
Yorkers, you'll have to wait a few more days for your timbits and
crack coffee.

Sent from my iPod

Tim Hortons to open in Manhattan

From the interwebs via a friend:

The Riese Organization, a longtime multi-concept franchisee in New York City, is converting all 13 of its Dunkin’ Donuts stores to the Tim Hortons brand, president and chief executive Dennis Riese said Wednesday.Riese said he plans to close the Dunkin’ locations on Friday and reopen the stores July 13 under the Tim Hortons banner. Riese and Dunkin’ had come to an agreement about five years ago that required the termination of a franchise partnership by July 31.

***

Tim Hortons, based in Canada, has been making a push to open more stores in the New York metro area. Most recently, the chain opened three co-branded restaurants in midtown Manhattan in partnership with premium ice-cream chain Coldstone Creamery.

I just got that much more excited to start med school next year... (note the one location right next to where I'll be).

Also, for those of you in the city right now, note that on Monday morning they'll be giving away free coffee at one of their locations.

Revenge

The situation: you're an country/folk singer. Not a country star, mind you, just an average country singer. One day you fly United Airlines to get to a gig and the baggage handlers break your guitar. The guitar costs $1,200 to replace. United is not responsive to your complaints. What do you do?

Answer: You write a song about the incident, title it "United Breaks Guitars," and post a music video on YouTube. The video gets 1.3 million hits in four days, the story gets major news coverage, and you get unexpected publicity - and maybe even that $1,200 back from United. And the song's a little catchy, even for non-country fans like me.