Are we loving the line-dividers or what?
A note on diction. A few days back, Wonkette used the phrase “circle jerk,” and though it eventually registered, I was stunned that such a colorful phrase had gone from crass to clever. So, like so many other masked vulgarities (‘suck it,’ ‘anally retentive,’ ‘knock on wood’), this one might just be the next big thing until losers start using it and I feel trite again. And secondly, the word “bleak” is making a resurgence – Times Arts section brags three occurrences today. Because what is emerging is the nouveau-bleak culture. And if I was powerful and audienced, that would be phrase coinage right there. Instead, I guess it (and this entire blog) leaves you wondering: if you shout loud enough into an empty forest, is it any different from remaining silent?
Oh, false alarm with the Ken Jennings. That was the day before, and I was simply mistaken. I apologize for all social encounters that arose as a result of “OMG, let’s go watch Ken Jennings lose.” Because it didn’t happen. And instead, you had to talk to other people. Oh the horror, Rosebud.
So, a few days back I went to go see a new Kevin Spacey (writing/ directing/ producing/ publicizing/… and we mustn’t forget, taking credit for a total and utter flop) film about the life of Bobby Darin (as in 'Mack the Knife'). There are plenty of godawful blogs out there where people review films, so I’ll leave the reviewing to the experts. But I have to say, the film was poorly written, gratuitously self-referential, and gimmicky (though not derivative!).
The reason I bring this up is because I have a lot of faith in Mr. Spacey. He’s a classy guy. He can play a retardo (Usual Suspects) about as well as he can play Mr. American Dysfunction. So, after American Beauty, I tried – I really tried to keep being a Spacey fan, but his bar just kept going lower and lower. From Pay it Forward to K-PAX to David Gale. No good, no good at all. I pulled out on Alanis too… kept hoping she’d come back with another ‘Head over Feet’ and instead she discovered India. So, Mr. Spacey, we are officially done.
Oh, false alarm with the Ken Jennings. That was the day before, and I was simply mistaken. I apologize for all social encounters that arose as a result of “OMG, let’s go watch Ken Jennings lose.” Because it didn’t happen. And instead, you had to talk to other people. Oh the horror, Rosebud.
So, a few days back I went to go see a new Kevin Spacey (writing/ directing/ producing/ publicizing/… and we mustn’t forget, taking credit for a total and utter flop) film about the life of Bobby Darin (as in 'Mack the Knife'). There are plenty of godawful blogs out there where people review films, so I’ll leave the reviewing to the experts. But I have to say, the film was poorly written, gratuitously self-referential, and gimmicky (though not derivative!).
The reason I bring this up is because I have a lot of faith in Mr. Spacey. He’s a classy guy. He can play a retardo (Usual Suspects) about as well as he can play Mr. American Dysfunction. So, after American Beauty, I tried – I really tried to keep being a Spacey fan, but his bar just kept going lower and lower. From Pay it Forward to K-PAX to David Gale. No good, no good at all. I pulled out on Alanis too… kept hoping she’d come back with another ‘Head over Feet’ and instead she discovered India. So, Mr. Spacey, we are officially done.
posted by devdoot majumdar at 3:22 PM
1 Comments:
what is a circle jerk?
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