A Glossy Veneer

April 4th, 2010Blog0 comments

NYC: You are good at being real. A little too real at times, like when there are unidentifiable puddles of goo in your subway seats, or when the soles of my shoes are noticeably stickier after I’ve walked on your pavements.

Since I am from LA, your realness is sometimes difficult for me to process. I am used to things being not-real. Specifically, I’m used to having my environment and the people that dwell within it covered in a glossy veneer that hides their true natures.

New York, you are old and sometimes ugly and proud of being both — and that’s why I love you. But my home city is like The Magnificent Oz: An embellished, illusory giant mask operated by a tiny, recent immigrant from behind a curtain.

Therefore I can’t really take too much of you at one time, NYC. I’m too used to LA. And the way LA is experienced is through a car window. You are, by nature, separate from whatever you see outside. Plus you can get the fuck out of there right quick if you don’t like what’s going on.

When I am in New York City, there is no escape. This is nice and at the same time not so nice. But what is nice is that when I’m with you I can have a beer in a midtown dive bar and then get a couple of Gray’s Dogs and a Coconut Champagne next door. That makes up for a lot of things.

Required Viewing: Speaking of glossy veneers, RedLetterMedia has finally come out with its Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones review.

This is a 90 minute review of a 142 minute movie. But it’s more than that — it’s the most damning criticism made yet of George Lucas and the prequel trilogy. It also has a lot of astute observations about filmmaking and storytelling, and is serving us a heaping warning about blue screen, humanity-free movie making. Specifically that there’s a tremendous danger in stuffing every frame full of computer animated crap and making action sequences so overwhelming that the audience just gets BORED.

The review also makes a very strong case for the idea that Lucas should’ve just stuck with originating the stories and leaving the actual directing and writing to others. A second opinion never hurts — especially when that opinion is coming from Lawrence Kasdan.

Imagine it: Right now in another dimension parallel to our own, the prequel trilogy was written and directed by someone other than Lucas and told an epic story that was human, grave, and powerful — and a perfect companion to the dark times in which we live. It was an even bigger box office smash and captured the imaginations of generations.

But alas, what we got was a massive disappointment and a wasted opportunity for greatness.

Thanks for the reminder of what makes good storytelling, RedLetterMedia. I will wait with eager anticipation for your Star Wars III review.