Films to watch, pt. 2

One film that I have the most anticipation for is Kelly Reichardt's Meek's Cutoff. Starring Michelle Williams, Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan. Reichardt's previous film Wendy & Lucy, also starred Ms. Williams and that was one of the best independent film I've seen in the past few years. Very meditative and natural in terms of performances, editing and camerawork. I cannot wait to see how the director and actors handle a period piece, and it seems interesting to me that the filmmakers decide to choose the 4-by-3 format to compose their frames. I want to see the reason behind that decision.

Upcoming documentary on fashion photographer Bill Cunningham, titled Bill Cunningham New York

I'm always interested in discovering famous photographers, I love Henri-Cartier Bresson, Robert Frank and William Eggleston, and I discover them through museum trips and trips to the photography section at the Strand Bookstore. Rarely would I chance upon a documentary about them and from what I've seen of the trailer, Mr. Cunningham looks like an exciting figure.

I have a love/hate relationship with Gus Van Sant's films. They're photographed beautifully and the acting and direction is minimal. My problem is that sometimes his films can be a little boring, they meditate too long on its characters or the thought doesn't come through clearly. Examples can be found of Elephant, Gerry and Paranoid Park. Don't get me wrong, I love those films, but they're just a tad bit too long for my tastes. Van Sant is an interesting director in that he studies characters and styles, and he gives off an obsessive quality to his work which makes me respect him.

Restless appears to be a small attempt by the director to make a quirky independent film, like that of Juno or Little Miss Sunshine. This film could've easily been picked up by Fox Searchlight, famous for turning aforementioned indie films into Award winners and Box Office champions. But Sony Pictures got to it first and hopefully they can turn out a smart marketing plan just as Searchlight would.

the reawakening of Régine!

I've ridden my bike today for the first time in months. The weather has been pretty good, the ice has melted away and the air is warmer. I rode for an hour to the 'rich' people's neighborhood in Queens, called 'Malba', like the one in Florida and California. I enjoy riding my bike, although it's in constant need of fixing and riding in Queens isn't perfectly safe in terms of traffic. I get a visceral feeling out of it, especially when I'm listening to my music. I listened to my Feist mix and a mix of Lykke Li music. They go pretty hand in hand with how I felt and the activity.

A couple of things...

Here are some interesting things from my friends:

Duo Rock Rappers Shogo & Boris make up the group Danger Geeks (Music) They're from New York City and their songs are a mix of hip hop, hard rock and electronic. Their song 'The Forgotten' is a dark and beautiful contemplation of what the group's concerns.

A friend of mine, Dennis Natal of Electric Chariot entered a remix contest for Canadian rock band 'Metric' for their song 'Gold Guns Girls', you can check it out here.

Here's a photo of the Divine Lorraine, an old building in Philadelphia. I took this on the way home from a short film shoot. If you look carefully, you can see the moon just on top of the building. (Click on photo to view large)

The Dugout Comicbook Store

So for the past two days I've been helping my buddy Ray fix up his comicbook store, The Dugout, in Brooklyn. Last week he found out from his boss that he's been promoted to Full-time manager and future co-owner to the store. It's a move made by the boss to try to save it from closing in a few months. Ray is given full privileges to shape the store up in any way he wants. The store's main product is its sports cards and memorabilia, but a lot of stuff have been put into back stock and a lot of it hasn't been sold. What Ray's going to do now is put up a big sale for most of the items in the store and try to increase the stock of comic books and graphic novels.

Here is the sale that is going on now:

The Dugout is one of two comic book stores in Cobble Hill, and the only one that's been there for over two decades. I've visited Ray while he was working there for over three years now and it's a great place to hang out. Like most comic book geeks, Ray knows a lot about comic books. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of everything from Ant-Man to Zoltar. Ray's also super friendly and funny, so if you get to speak to him, you can see his personality just shine through like a freaking rainbow.

From time to time, I'll be hanging out at the store with Ray and joke about. In the future, I'll be selling Issue 1 of Rotten Sandwich and hopefully Issue 2 (when it's finally printed) at the store. I'll also be selling some artwork there as well. So drop by if you would like to catch me or Ray.

Store Location:

453 Court Street

(Between 4th & Luquer Street.)

Phone: (718) 624-2527

Google Maps

The other day before I met up with the guys,

I found this disclaimer near Penn Station.

Degrassi Next Generation is shooting in New York City? Woo Hoot!

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