Jurassic subtext

Hey guys,

Some new things:

1. Reading Alan Rickman's diary
   

2. Astronomy picture of the day. I used to read all about the night sky growing up. Planets. Constellations. Types of stars and cosmic events. The Big Bang and what could possibly have been there before. Was it really nothing? Or was it the entire history of the universe just repeated, ad infinitum? Maybe in reverse? Or as James Webb now shows, maybe there was no Big Bang? Men In Black kinda blew my mind as a kid. So did the ending of The Last Battle:
   
   "And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at least they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before"
   
   Reading this as a kid was bittersweet and mind-boggling. Cosmic in scope. Awe-inspiring.
   
   And yet, according to William Shatner after going into space, maybe what's out there can never satisfy.  Maybe where you already are is what you really need the most.
   

3. Siegfried and Roy.
   
   My interest in magic started early, before the trick of filmmaking. David Blaine was key, and now he's back with a residency in Vegas. And some lengthy in depth.
   

4. This guy and this guy have autobiographical stories to tell. I've always admired Gray's work -- especially his earlier ones, culminating in this one, where his dramatics and earnesty really meshed with the subject. Judging by his previous few films and what I see of Armageddon Time, I fear his style has become too neutered. The Fabelmans will likely be more entertaining.
   
   But I'm not sure "personal" is better. Not in this way at least. Supposedly, by writing about your "self" and your real experiences, it makes the art more vital, more full of heart, more true. But sometimes the important elements of yourself have little to do with immediate autobiography.  Write about what you know or care about, sure. Write your observations. Yes, all those things. But "personal" in the most factual sense? It limits the imagination.
   
   One of my college writing professors gave an individual assignment: to listen to a piece of music we liked, and then write a scene, allowing the feeling to inform it.  I picked this.  (Some time later I came across the Sinatra version, which I preferred even more -- for most hours of the day -- and ended up using in an early short film). We read the scene in class, and the professor said (mind you, at this point I'd been known as a humorist, always entertaining), "Chris, I'll say this because I think you can take it. I never get a sense of who you are from your writing. And this time, for the first time, I do." 
   
   And that shook me to the core, because I thought my personality had been in everything. From that point on, everything I wrote became much more searching. I became obsessed with capturing that Elusive Truth At The Heart Of My Heart.  And everyone hated it.
   
   In following semesters, with various teachers, I'd bring in pages, and I'd get "huh" reactions.  Some of that was understandable.  Some of it wasn't.  When peers are being made to read pages together out loud, any zingers, any over-the-top zaniness, anything trying uber hard, will automatically play better.  And that teaches the wrong lessons. Students start writing for peer approval.  And peers at that age aren't the wisest.
   
   But it did make me realize that I'd strayed too far from the other side of me, which was just as Truthful. I'm a mix of the joker and the philosopher, the showman and the Bergman.  It wasn't until I was some years removed from college that I was able to reconcile those two sides better. Truth is not solely something "real"; it's also the many-faceted personality. And my professor -- who was a more serious kinda guy -- was maybe skewed by his own lens. But I'm glad he did give me a kickstart.
   
   Point is, let's not put the wrong Personal on a pedestal. Autobiography is not always better.
   

5. Much to admire about Tár. Todd Field is a literary and super intelligent filmmaker. In the Bedroom was his reveal. Little Children was funnier, wryly observant.
   
   But this is often long and fragmented. Captivating, but tests your patience. Cate Blanchett has been like Daniel Day-Lewis in my mind. Fascinating to simply watch "act". Regal in ways. Capable of great humor and pride, and some sort of uncompromising strength. And this feels, in many ways, like a less pleasing There Will Be Blood.
   
   The trailer was great -- and the first teaser even bolder -- but a bit misleading. That's where the disappointment comes from. It could've been a psychological thriller that jolts audiences. Instead it's more Kubrick in precision. Barry Lyndon, in its observance of a great character fall, but Barry satisfies with a complete epic arc and bigger themes of fate and irony, and Tár is more a character study and slight contemporary commentary. None of these things are bad in and of themselves. But all together, in this combo, not the most fulfilling.
   

6. The Jurassic Park subtext
   

7. The Patient is standout work from Domhnall Gleeson.  And Steve Carell -- probably the most obvious choice for a therapist, but doesn't undermine his subtle ability to inhabit it.
   

8. The NYFF has always been elitist. This used to be cool to me. Now, higher-tier memberships are required to get early access to tickets, and that means the coveted screenings are being snatched up early by even more high-paying-donors.  Wasn't worth it to me. Of what was left, I did see Decision To Leave. Others I'd rather just stream. But good to know what the contemporary prestige lineup is like. And it remains a place where you can spots faces -- this time, it was John Turturro passing by, and then Questlove who I overheard say "That was John Tuturro."

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Chris