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Must be a devil between us or whores in my head
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ericmvan can describe Videodrome (1983) as the best adaptation of a book that Philip K. Dick never wrote, then I reserve the right to call Eastern Promises (2007), which we saw tonight, very close to a nonexistent short story by Simon Logan. Or at least to hope that someday David Cronenberg will direct an adaptation of Pretty Little Things to Fill Up the Void, because while the setting of Eastern Promises is present-day London rather than an industrial neverwhere, the underworld of the vory v zakone has much of the same elsewise, timeslipped feel without a single definable incidence of the fantastic or the science-fictional—a motorcycle and a black limousine are character traits, casual extensions of identity; skin and ink are their own language; a character can rage, "You pronounced the name of my father!" and the line carries the old charge of invocation: to know a thing by its name is both powerful and perilous and sometimes impossible. There are no demons and no angels, but the air is full of their potential. For one reason or another, there is blood on everyone's hands. I like ambiguity. I loved this film.
On a rather different note: I'm a feature, not a bug. My first published poem "Turn of the Century, Jack-in-the-Green" is now online at Mythic Delirium as a sort of retrospective treat, along with video bytime_shark. I can never get used to the way my speaking voice sounds outside my head. But I am still proud of the poem.
ericmvan can describe Videodrome (1983) as the best adaptation of a book that Philip K. Dick never wrote, then I reserve the right to call Eastern Promises (2007), which we saw tonight, very close to a nonexistent short story by Simon Logan. Or at least to hope that someday David Cronenberg will direct an adaptation of Pretty Little Things to Fill Up the Void, because while the setting of Eastern Promises is present-day London rather than an industrial neverwhere, the underworld of the vory v zakone has much of the same elsewise, timeslipped feel without a single definable incidence of the fantastic or the science-fictional—a motorcycle and a black limousine are character traits, casual extensions of identity; skin and ink are their own language; a character can rage, "You pronounced the name of my father!" and the line carries the old charge of invocation: to know a thing by its name is both powerful and perilous and sometimes impossible. There are no demons and no angels, but the air is full of their potential. For one reason or another, there is blood on everyone's hands. I like ambiguity. I loved this film.On a rather different note: I'm a feature, not a bug. My first published poem "Turn of the Century, Jack-in-the-Green" is now online at Mythic Delirium as a sort of retrospective treat, along with video by
time_shark. I can never get used to the way my speaking voice sounds outside my head. But I am still proud of the poem.
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Oh, excellently put. I love that sort of fantasy.
Nine
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I can still count on one hand the number of LJ people I've met in real life (not counting people I knew already in real life; there's more than a handful of them). Actually... I can make a peace sign with the number of LJ friends I've met in real life.
That's a wonderful poem. Pliant taproot of his toes...kisses that are the inner coils of fiddleheads--mmmm.
Someone--maybe my daughter even--was saying that the reason we're always disconcerted by the sound of our recorded voice is that we're used to hearing our voice with the special resonance of its echo in our heads as we speak. Whereas, of course, a recording doesn't do that.
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What others would you classify as that sort? A Canterbury Tale would head my list.
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Thank you!
(. . . Yeah. Whoa.)
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Thank you!
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I'm very glad you liked it!
Someone--maybe my daughter even--was saying that the reason we're always disconcerted by the sound of our recorded voice is that we're used to hearing our voice with the special resonance of its echo in our heads as we speak. Whereas, of course, a recording doesn't do that.
Yes. I'm very used to the external sound of my singing voice, but I almost never hear my speaking voice, so it's even more jarring—I can hear the ways in which it should sound familiar, but mostly I'm left wondering, "I converse at that pitch? With that intonation? And what the hell kind of accent is that?"
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I have yet to see A History of Violence, although it's now very high on my list. This was the first film I'd seen by David Cronenberg.
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Yes. I love when a filmmaker trusts the audience enough not to hand-guide them through the story: no one hits you over the head with the next connection, either you see it coming or you have to run to catch up. And it ends in the same way.
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I should also have mentioned that I saw the 1984 version of 1984 earlier in the day, so I had a fix of John Hurt as well.
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Wow! Definitely see more, but don't expect them to be like History of Violence or Eastern Promises. But go rent A History of Violence and then try to watch Eastern Promises again afterward. And then come talk to me, because I'm dying to discuss it with someone.
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As for Eastern Promises, I only see movies about twice a year, and this is the one I chose for this fall season. I'm so glad I did. I couldn't believe how quiet the movie was in a way, yet so incredibly tense. I found myself slouching farther and farther down in my seat. I have a collection of Simon Logan's industrial fiction. I didn't make the connection you made--I'm curious about it now.
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A little strange when I gave a reading for the first time, and as a form of performance I think I'm a better singer or storyteller, but it's fun. I also speak rapidly as a matter of course, so I always need to remember to slow down.
Do you have any more poems or stories available online?
Not in audiovisual form. I will try to amend this.
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Jack in the Green featured in a couple of my earliest stories.
I agree with the earlier commenter that your poems are so filled with imagery that I must force myself to read more slowly than normal, to allow my mind's eye to keep up. That's cool - that almost every word and phrase brings a distinct image with it, right down to the CVS and sneakers on his feet.
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Thank you!
Jack in the Green featured in a couple of my earliest stories.
I approve.
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Blackmail material!