gooollysandra

Thoughts on thoughts and images of beautiful things

2:56 pm - February 13, 2014 -

Inside Llewyn Davis

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Is it possible to like a movie even if virtually all of the characters are unlikeable? Yes, and the movie is Inside Llewyn Davis. The main character, Llewyn, although callous most of the time, does show a glimmer of emotion mainly when it comes to one thing – the cat for which he unwillingly becomes responsible. Even when it comes to his music, which is his great passion and the focus of the film, he does not seem as moved by it as he does by the cat. There are many unlikeable characters in the film: Jean, the girl who Llewyn perhaps impregnated and perhaps not, whose character seems underdeveloped and repetitively irritating with her criticisms of Llewyn, Roland, the grossly overweight pimp-like character with whom Llewyn rides across the country in a car, Mel Novikoff, his agent who doesn’t even believe in him, and Pappi, the owner of the bar where Llewyn often plays. There are, however, some likable characters too but they have less significant roles and therefore don’t have much of an impact on the film – Jim, Jean’s husband, who is innocent and sympathetic, Al Cody, who is also sympathetic as he takes Llewyn in for a night or two, and Mr. and Mrs. Gorfein, the parents of his deceased music partner who own the cat that Llewyn inadvertently becomes in charge of. The film definitely has a sombre tone to it, and if you’re a cat lover, the cats’ fate is very sad. Llewyn’s quest for success in his music career doesn’t go too well for him and his desperate way of life is appropriate for a struggling artist or musician’s way of life. The soundtrack is excellent and completely captures the 60’s folk music scene.   Despite the film’s mournful resonance, Llewyn’s apathetic character really works and it is Coen brothers classic.

Categories: Film, Music Tags: , , ,
1:32 pm - February 5, 2014 -

The only one

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Being an only child, I am very absorbed with myself. Not in a selfish way, but in a contemplative, reserved way. I think this is  a trait that is probably pretty common among only children because growing up we spend so much time alone and we are our parents’ only concern, so we inherently receive a lot of attention and support. Therefore, only children tend to think about themselves a lot because that is how they are brought up. This tendency can result in a negative self-absorption and selfishness where one only thinks about oneself at the cost of others. But it can also result in a very contemplative and almost nervous concern for one’s life and future, i.e. what do I want to do in life, am I doing the right thing/making the right decision, what kind of people do I want in my life, what kind of person do I want to be, etc. This is not to say that people who have siblings do not have the same concerns, but there is something about only children and the time they spend alone and the way they are brought up, that I think fosters this kind of thought.

Category: Uncategorized Tags: , , , ,
11:22 am - February 4, 2014 -

Brilliance meets unpleasantness

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The truth is, brilliant people are usually not very pleasant. It just goes with the territory. There is a certain level of anti-socialness, rudeness, and ruthlessness that goes along with people who are very intelligent, intellectual, or gifted in a certain area. Their talent seems to give them a bit of an excuse to be unpleasant, however frustrating it is for those around them. Examples that come to mind are authors, artists, and world changers such as Jean Paul Sartre, Vincent Van Gogh, and Martin Luther King. Should their brilliance give them an excuse to be unpleasant? My immediate answer is no, but then I wonder if it’s something that they can help or not. Maybe because they are so brilliant they just can’t help but be unpleasant because the world disgusts them so much. It’s like they are too good for the world. So how do we appreciate them for their skills and accomplishments despite their unpleasantness? It’s not easy and requires a tremendous amount of patience, but if we can recognize their passion and rare talent, we can begin to respect and appreciate them.

Category: Art Tags: , , , , , , ,
3:46 pm - January 31, 2014 -

Filling the void

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One of the hardest things in life is recognizing that although we build up our lives around certain ideals and follow a path that we create for ourselves, at the end of the day, we’re alone. We can fill our lives with people, activities, work, pleasure, etc. all we want to, but they are not going to fill the void. They might cover it up the and help us not feel so alone, but we are still fundamentally lonely by nature. This is something that is hard to come to terms with and learn how to cope with rather than let it destroy us, and I imagine people spend a lifetime trying to reconcile it. But we must find a way to make ourselves happy, or at least content.

Category: Philosophy Tags: , ,
3:53 pm - January 30, 2014 -

When yes actually means no

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Do you ever catch yourself saying yes when you actually mean to say no but you simply cannot bring yourself to say no? This could happen for a variety of reasons – maybe we don’t want to admit the truth, maybe we don’t really know what we want or how we feel and it is easier to say yes, maybe we so badly want to mean yes and we think that if we say yes enough it will translate into how we feel. Whatever the case may be, it is a very uncomfortable way to feel and there is no easy way out of it. You hope that perhaps throughout time you will feel differently and you wait for it to change, but when it doesn’t, it can be ever so frustrating. Sometimes you do feel differently and it does change and it feels great. But until then, you’re in limbo, which is always a very uneasy place to be.

Category: Uncategorized
4:16 pm - January 24, 2014 -

Decisions, Decisions

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Sometimes making decisions is so difficult, it’s easiest to stop thinking about it and let the decision make itself. Sometimes we must pull ourselves away from the situation and let it work itself out. And sometimes decisions are made by circumstances that are beyond our control. These instances, although perhaps disappointing, are easier because they don’t require us to make any sort of decision, but only think about the repercussions either in sadness or in joy.

Category: Uncategorized Tags:
11:37 pm - January 22, 2014 -

What we can’t do in life, we live through the movies

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What we can’t do in life, we live through the movies. This is what came to mind as I watched The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Watching Walter Mitty go on his adventures was inspiring, but also unrealistic. We would all love to undergo a drastic change in our lives by going on adventures of that magnitude, but unfortunately there are a myriad of reasons why we can’t – work, money, family, responsibilities, time, and fear to name a few. But this is what the movies are for and what makes them so remarkable. Even if we can’t do something in our own life, we can watch it on screen and in a small way experience it ourselves. Having adventures like going to Greenland and hopping on a helicopter only to land in the ocean before being rescued onto a boat, or going to Iceland and experiencing a volcano eruption, or going to the Himalayan mountains to witness the sighting of a snow leopard are made possible by the movies, even if only in our imagination. And this is why I love the movies.

Walter Mitty’s transformation throughout the film stood out to me as the focal point and it was apparent in everything from his clothes to his personality to his interactions with those around him, including the woman he was trying to impress by his adventures. The soundtrack, which included David Bowie, Arcade Fire, Of Monsters and Men, and Rogue Wave really made the film. It added so much feel-good sentiment that I don’t know if the adventures would have been quite as exciting and inspiring without the soundtrack or had there been different song choices. It was just perfect. It was definitely fun to watch, although a bit confusing at times because of Walter’s zoned out tendencies, which sometimes made it hard to decipher what was actually happening and what was just in his imagination. It did, however, become more clear after his first couple of zoned out episodes. Ben Stiller, as the main actor and producer of the film, did a great job, and Sean Penn’s small role added just enough oomph. I would say the moral of the film is to embrace the person you would like to be and just go for it. Also, to go on adventures.

Categories: Film, Foreign, Travel Tags: , , , , , ,
10:44 pm - January 21, 2014 -

“To sustain ardor, one must be in love not only with the thing itself, but also with the idea of the thing itself.”

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“Moral: To sustain ardor, one must be in love not only with the thing itself, but also with the idea of the thing itself.”

I recently read this quote by Stephen Dankner in a newspaper article in The Advocate, which is based in New England, and I read it at just the perfect moment as I am trying to decide what I want to do with my future; more precisely, what I want to pursue graduate studies in and this quote sums it all up. So what do I love in essence and in thought? At the moment I am trying to make up my mind between Art History and Film. Submitting applications for both is a bit confusing and it’s hard to imagine which I would enjoy more. But reading this quote brought up a very basic, fundamental notion that I hadn’t thought of but makes all the sense in the world. Do most people have the luxury of loving what they do as well as the idea of it? Probably not. I think it’s a hard to achieve because it’s hard to even figure out what you love in essence AND in thought.

Categories: Art, Film, Philosophy Tags: , , , , ,
10:59 am - January 1, 2014 -

2013 in review

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The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 530 times in 2013. If it were a cable car, it would take about 9 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Category: Uncategorized
12:21 pm - December 20, 2013 -

Life is absurd

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When you think about it, life is completely absurd. There is so much sadness in the world, but also so much joy, and the clash between the two is a difficult thing to come to terms with sometimes. I get sad around the holidays when I think about people who spend them alone because they have no one to spend them with. I also get sad during the winter when I think about homeless people that have to stay outside in the unbearable, freezing weather. I am sad for animals in shelters who have no home, and I am sad for families who do not have money to buy Christmas presents for their children. Amidst all this sadness, we sometimes catch a glimpse of something so extraordinary and pure that brings us joy and happiness practically to the point of tears. Such events occur to me when I visit my grandfather in the nursing home and see his face light up when I walk into the room. Or when I’m at the symphony and I hear a beautiful, perfect melody. This happened to me recently, at the nursing home actually. I was visiting my grandpa and they had a concert for the residents. The concert was put on by a group of children, and although they were still learning and not fantastic, their harmony and unity was so beautiful I had tears in my eyes. It was also nice to share that moment with my grandpa. Moments like these overwhelm us with joy and beauty, while others overwhelm us with sadness. Although this clash seems absurd and is difficult to understand, we get through life experiencing a combination of both.

Categories: Music, Philosophy Tags: , , , , , , , , ,