Harrison Bergeron

Hey guys,

Some new things:

1. Most organized processes seem to be a mess, including the scientific process.
   

2. I realized YouTube has removed its dislike tallies. Don't be fooled into thinking it's a kind gesture. This dislike removal is disliked by most creators, and listen to the YouTube co-founder on why it's a pathetic move.
   
   This "cleansing" is going on with Twitter too.
   
   This irks me. It's all part of a pervasive hive mentality that is more concerned with blanket messaging, at the expense of nuance or pushing our minds to stretch and wrestle. And it's impossible for art to thrive like this. Artistry, sure -- there's always that. But applied to what? What happened to our more complex questioning? What happened to our more interesting themes?
   
   Let's not be surprised. This is the kind of control we live more and more under every day. I'm grateful we read Harrison Bergeron in 7th grade. Kurt Vonnegut is prescient and funny. It's short - Read it here now.
   

3. I mostly wait for things from my trusted favorites, because I know their tone, and I know they'll find fresh ways to entertain me. Licorice Pizza is something of a follow-up to Tarantino's Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood. It's hard not to think Paul Thomas Anderson was influenced, because the two are friends (Fiona Apple's got stories) and they're contemporaries that have always pushed one another.
   
   Richard Brody sums it up a bit:
   
   Anderson displays a rare and gleeful narrative audacity: he turns the film into a full-blown version of “Once Upon a Time . . . in Hollywood,” albeit one that’s vastly superior to Quentin Tarantino’s, because, unlike Tarantino, Anderson doesn’t drink the Kool-Aid. He doesn’t defer to Hollywood’s self-serving and self-aggrandizing mythology but, rather, submits it to sharply detailed, dramatically exhilarating, satirically incisive examination.
   
   There are few filmmakers that can make event movies now (for cinephiles at least) with an independent artistic perspective, and do so without major names in the lead roles. (Contrast this with Ridley Scott making Gucci with Gaga, Driver, Pacino, Hayek, Leto, and Irons, and offering nothing substantial) The way the system is now, it's hard to see any new filmmakers rising to the type of auteur status Anderson has.
   
   Edson Oda tries with his creative feature debut Nine Days, but I'd say that's slipped under the radar. Doesn't help that its poster sucks -- I get what it's going for, but still. Its studio Sony Pictures Classics is pretty established, but how often are you hearing about any of their releases?
   
   Anderson's gotten more impressive with time. He's always made his points through push-and-pull relationship dynamics, but whereas in Magnolia everyone's shouting from the roofs -- I still love it -- he's now more mature, subtle, and effortless. Maybe a touch meandering here, which is why I still like Phantom Thread more, but still so entertaining and impressive.
   

4. Ricky Gervais inspirational quotes for filmmakers/writers
   

5. Check out Javan Zapata's GoFundMe for his short -- if you can help him out or send the link around, great!
   

6. Red/black minimal tattoos
   

7. Conversation calendar
   

8. On Twitch: exhausted by the expectations of an unforgiving crowd.

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Chris