David Denby's article in the New Yorker addresses the fact that movies of today junk the chronological narrative of the past to create a "mashup" of stories, jumping from past to future in a seamless transition. What's onscreen is not necessarily the present of the movie anymore. The opening scene, as is the case with Memento, could be, in reality, the last of the story.

Personally, these type of movies have always either kept my attention or frustrated me to no end. One of my favorites, Mullholland Drive, has a long opening dream sequence that contains clues as to what is going to happen. What we believe is happening, and are seeing onscreen, isn't. David Lynch paces the moviestraightforwardly , or so we are lead to believe. Maybe that's why this movie resonates so well with me. The time traveling that takes place fools the viewer in an already intriguing plot.

All these movies draw on a sophistication about cinema that is now almost universal. We know that a film is not a piece of life; we know that it is something made. And we’re used to being shoved around in time—we may even be doing some of the shoving ourselves. Twenty-five years ago, the videotape transfer of a film sustained the notion of a movie as a continuous track: you could run it forward or backward, but the film was “printed” on magnetic tape, and you remained on the track. Digital information, on the other hand, can be infinitely manipulated; you can jump from one place to another or cut the movie into pieces. At home, kids create “mashups”—chopping sections out of a feature film, mixing the excerpts with their own material, and posting the result on the Web as a madcap original creation. The danger of instant editing, of course, is not just disordered time sequences but glibness. Some of the big Hollywood action films move so quickly that they eliminate the most rudimentary emotional attachment to the material. It would be terrible if computer editing wiped out the proper emotional resistance to making a cut—the lingering grave affection for a face, a landscape, an interior, even the resonance of an empty space.

Denby warns that pace is what is needed in movies like this. Pacing and proper editing have great rewards but also a treacherous downfall. His example, the Academy Award nominee Babel, fails at this. It undermines the story in the way that the filmmakers, GuillermoArriaga and Alejandro González Iñárritu, used the narrative to tell it.

...part of the disconnection that the movie presents as a universal fact of our world is produced by the odd way it is put together. And, once one notices the inorganic structuring of the material, and the hostile tease of the editing, one begins to wonder if the conjunction of so many mishapsisn’t a kind of abuse of the freedom that’s normally granted to fiction.

It's been a little busy around here lately, with many little thoughts - none requiring a post on their own - floating around. So I decided to lump them all together.

1. Saturday morning we started a new routine. Adit, Alisa and I went on a nice little canoe trip out on the Potomac. "Addam was out on the Potomac?!" you ask, surprised. Ummm... yeah. It was just as dirty and nasty as I had expected. Still smelled just as gross as everyday when I leave work. Yet, I had fun. In fact, I think we're going out again this weekend.
2. The other day, I bought the Ben Folds iTunes Originals CD, which, in and of itself, isn't so amazing. What is amazing, to me however, is the fact that the whole reason I bought it was the iTunes New Music Tuesday podcast. I was listening to the podcast, heard he had a iTunes Original CD out there, clicked the album art, clicked purchase and it was downloading... my checkbook $12 lighter. It took me a grand total of two - count 'em TWO - clicks and I had the CD after hearing the ad that is iTunes New Music Tuesday. That's user interaction at it's finest.
3. Last night, Juliana and I were privy to an advance screening of the new Jodi Foster movie, Flightplan. To be honest, I'd seen maybe one or two previews for it. It looked good but not something I would've seen on my own volition. But she had a free extra ticket and who am I to turn down a free anything? So ANYWAYS, I was pleasantly surprised. The plot of the movie was very interesting. It is a tense thiller as the press so often likes to say now, but the ending was a bit lackluster. I'd hate to give it away so I won't go into further detail. Here's how I judge a movie: After seeing it, would I pay the $10, knowing what I know now, to see it? My answer to this movie is for sure.
4. Saturday I was driving back from dinner when my phone rang. It was Eric. It went a little something like this:
   Me: Yo dude...
   Eric: Hey. What's up?
   Me: Not too much. Coming home from dinner. How are you doing?
   Eric: Ahhh, pretty good. So I've got some news. It not really too imporant.
   Me: Yeah? What's up?
   Eric: Well, I'm getting married.
   Me: Ummmm... whaaaaaa?
   Eric: Yeah, I asked Heather last night.
   Me: Ummmmm.... whaaaa?
   Eric: What are you not understanding idiot?
   Me: Wow. Well congrats dude! That's pretty effin sweet.
   And so it is. Many congratualtions and celebrations to Eric and Heather. It's only been like 6 and a half years. It's about effin time actually. Geez... So this means "Vegas Bachelor Party 2" will need to be planned. Let's hope this doesn't turn into another "Vegas No Bachelor Bachelor Party" like last year.
5. I think I've decided what my biggest pet peeve is about living here in DC. I visit Virgina fairly often. This means I'm crossing the Key Bridge a fair amount. Back and forth. So here's what I hate. When I'm coming back into the District and the car in front of me - always in the left hand lane, always going at a blazing speed of 10MPH crossing the bridge - decides at the last minute to cut over and make a RIGHT 5 feet before the bridge ends, causing me to get stuck at the "longest light ever" and setting me back 5 minutes because this idiot has no idea where they are going. It happens EVERYTIME. I'm not kidding. Tourists or cars with out of state plates get a free pass, but you people with District and VIrgina plates, you've GOT to know the bridge dead ends right? Just no excuse.

And on that note, I'm done. Hope everyone has a nice night, whatever night you're reading this.

As I dropped Adit off tonight, I was driving home listening to the DSC - Daily Source Code for those not familiar - and it hit me how tonight happened all because of podcasting.

After work today Juliana, Adit and I went to see The Aristocrats, which I heard about on the Studio 360 podcast when they interview Penn a couple weeks ago. I immediately opened up Safari and watched the trailer. Literally minutes later I heard the exact same trailer coming from behind the screen. It was Juliana watching it. We decided right then that both of us wanted to see it.

And as so, went tonight. And we laughed. And laughed. It was funny, as long as you don’t mind being offended and toilet humor. I will say Bob Saget’s retelling of the joke torn the house down for me. He was just hilarious. Would I pay again to see it? Probably not. But I would for sure rent it to watch with someone that hasn’t seen it.

Anyways, as I was driving home, listening to the DSC, then mashups, it hit me. I’m a podcast follower and supporter BIG TIME. I do have numerous songs that were brought to my attention through podcasts. I think it’s a pretty amazing thing that, in about a year’s time, this new technology has affected my life as much as it has. Congrats and thanks Adam Curry!