Filed under: entertainment, movies | Tags: body of lies, chris pine, king corn, movies, nixon/frost, star trek
Summer is officially upon us. Last week our high temps in Austin hovered around the 95 degree mark, and the air was so thick that it would have made more sense to wear a swimsuit to work than pants and a dress shirt. While I did spend some time outdoors in the garden this weekend, I also spent a considerable amount of time indoors enjoying the air conditioning and a few good movies.
The best movie of the weekend was the new Star Trek flick. No surprises there – it seems that everyone who has seen it has had nothing but great things to say about the film. The casting was spot-on, the cinematography was excellent, the story was both exciting and emotional. And Captain Kirk was darn cute. Yep, that’s him on the left. My only complaint was with the costume department. The trekkie uniforms could have been made much tighter.
It’s a toss-up between Frost/Nixon and King Corn for my next favorite film of the weekend. I enjoyed Frost/Nixon because it sparked my interest in the Watergate scandal, the Vietnam War, and the inadequacies of the Nixon administration. I can’t really remember anything I was taught in high school about the topic, and after seeing the film I’d be interested to learn more about that period of time in our government. Good flick, but I needed more background knowledge to really get a lot out of it. King Corn was quite the opposite – I may have gone into the film with too much background knowledge to get anything out of it. The film was an entertaining documentary, but didn’t drive me to any epiphanies I hadn’t already had. What the film did do, however, was reinforce the notion that the agriculture our country promoted in the 1970′s has turned out to be environmentally/socially/medically & economically irresponsible. If you don’t do it already, this film will make you check every ingredient label in the grocery store for all corn-derived products. And then, if you have any amount of self respect, you will put that product back on the shelf and go in search of products that don’t contain corn.
The last and least enjoyable movie of the weekend was Body of Lies. Re: BOY MOVIE. I.e., entertaining but incredibly depressing. War, pain, love & loss – all themes that I generally try to avoid when I’m watching something on my personal time. If I am going to choose to spend 2 hours of my precious free time in front of the boob tube, the movie I’m watching better have an uplifting or educational message to share. Body of Lies had neither. In the final moments of the film they had a chance to bring me back on board, but then cut away with no resolution and only the faintest amount of hope that could ever be imagined. Tyler thought it was great until he saw the expression on my face and then had to deal with my lingering crabbiness for the rest of the evening.
So what have y’all watched recently that you really enjoyed? It’s going to be a long, hot summer – I will need to start adding new titles to my queue!
Filed under: food, go green, Heath + Beauty, lifestyle, movies | Tags: farms, food culture, food independence, greenhorns documentary, local food, localvore, locavore, regional farming, urban farming, young farmers
In the past few months I’ve taken a bigger interest in regional farming & local eating (a quick search of this blog would probably turn up quite a few posts on the topic).
This afternoon I came across a documentary that I absolutely can’t wait to watch. It’s called “Greenhorns” and profiles young farmers across the U.S. who are leading a resurgence of local small farms. Why is this remarkable? Because for the past few decades, small farms have been drained of their youth as children move to the suburbs & cities to find office jobs, discouraged by the sinking value of good, local food in our economy.
With the energy crisis looming and much talk of independence from foreign oil, there is a similar culture that is rising in the food industry: independence from foreign foods & grocery store produce. More and more young people are returning to an agricultural focus, and there is thought that this trend is going to continue to grow in the coming years, to a point where it will be common to have a backyard garden.
I’m excited to see the documentary, and I’m inspired by what I’ve seen on the website thus far. Please check out the documentary’s trailer & website for more information!!
Filed under: arts, entertainment, movies, music, Uncategorized | Tags: 13th floor elevators, Austin music, documentary, drug culture in music, music, music history, musicians on LSD, roky erickson, you're gonna miss me
magazine cover, from http://www.rokyericson.net
I haven’t written in a bit – it’s been kinda hectic around here. After recovering from my rowdy weekend in Philly, my dad came into town this past weekend. We had a good time. I felt sort of bad because I didn’t have a whole lot lined up for us to do, so we spent a lot of time sitting around & chatting. Even after all that relaxing, I’m still feeling a little blah so last night I went home and did something I don’t usually do: sat on the couch and watched a movie.
Frankly, I didn’t know a lick about Roky Erickson or the 13th Floor Elevators until my couch-sit last night. Now today I feel like maybe I know too much…
This documentary follows Roky from childhood through his musical career with the 13th Floor Elevators. There is a lot to be learned in 94 minutes of film. I picked up a bit of pop music history, saw a little of Austin’s past, and learned a lesson or two on how LSD can completely and permanently rearrange the insides of a human’s brain.
The great thing about this film is that it’s available on Time-Warner cable’s free movies on demand (Channel 1002, offered under Sundance Channel’s listings). So, if you’re in the Austin area and subscribe to Time-Warner, chances are you can go home tonight and watch this film for free. It’s disturbing at times, but incredibly interesting and inspirational (when it isn’t depressing).
