Sometimes on my days off from the video store, I get a little down about things. It's natural, I suppose, considering my still-burning desire to make movies and being trapped in a job that surrounds me with "great works of cinema" like My Brother, The Pig and Vampiyaz. On a recent bike ride through Boston, two little moments of sweetness occurred that I've been enjoying relating to people.
This particularly warm and pleasant night, I'd ended up over at the Kendall Square Cinema in Cambridge for a showing of a French, animated, sci-fi/detective film called Renaissance. (More on that film, another time.) On my ride home, I was pedalling down a back-access road behind MIT near some old freight train rails and caught an unusual sight: a real, honest to goodness circus train. The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Travelling Circus company was in town and I just happenned to be gliding by the place where the carnies were kicking off their oversized clown-shoes for the night. No animal cars, mind you. At least, not where I was biking. These were the "people cars." I thought I'd get a little closer for a better look, hoping to see something magical... The World's Fattest Man on his Stairmaster, maybe. Or the Bearded Lady trying to figure out which hair conditioner wouldn't be too harsh for her chin. That kind of thing. I didn't catch anything outlandish like that, though. A presumed Train Conductor was chatting on his cell phone and some others looked like they were cooking something. But, on my way off, I did catch one little vision. There was a youthful looking man, probabaly in his late twenties but appearring a bit younger, trying on a top hat in a mirror. Seemingly checking his reflection for what might be the best angle, he moved the hat around and turned his head from left to right, sizing himself up. I imagined him to be some sort of assistant to the Ringmaster, perhaps. Or maybe a behind-the-scenes type, dreaming of his own big break, which I'd identified with immediately. Reconizing this presumed moment of spiritual synchronicity, I smiled to myself, wished the fella a silent "good luck" in my mind, and pedalled off again into the night by the Charles River and back again toward my own hopes and dreams.
Then, about half a mile away, a surprize of a different kind. At the foot of the BU (Boston University) Bridge between Cambridge and Commonwealth Avenue, I found myself approaching three Tough Guys. Shaven headed, muscle bound, goateed and pierced, they looked like they'd just walked out of Grand Theft Auto III and decided to hold court on my regular route home. "What was this to be?" I wondered. Would they notice me? Would they bust out an insult or two, relying on their size and safety in mumbers? Would one of them reach out and try to clothesline me, knocking me to the pavement while another tries to grab my usually-close-to-empty wallet? The night was going so well, after the Circus Train Moment, and now it could all just go straight down the tubes. They began waving their arms in what looked like a heated discussion and, given my experience with guys like this in the past, I immediately braced myself for trouble as I began to coast near them. And as I passed by, unnoticed, this is what I heard...Thug #1: Nah. Nah way, man. He's too busy being fuckin' Governor, man.
Thug #2: Yeh, you know that.
Thug #3: I say we don't need no Terminator 4 anyways.
Here I am, ready for a beatdown, and these guys are just hanging out discussing Arnold Schwarzenegger's future film career...
Works for me. :)
This month's reviews...
Theatrical
The Departed ***1/2
Renaissance **1/2
Video/DVDDashiell Hammett. Detective. Writer. (Documentary) ***
Brick ***
Re-Cycle (Thai/Hong Kong) ***
Jungle Fever (1991) ***
Clockers (1995) ***1/2
Black Rain (1989) ***
Black Dawn (2005) *** (for a Steven Seagal movie)
Mercenary For Justice (2006) **1/2 (for a Seagal movie)
Yamato (Japan) **1/2
You Shoot, I Shoot (Hong Kong) **
Blackjack (1998) **
Inspector Clouseau (1968) *1/2
Head Trauma (2006) **
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