The Occasional Blog of Jonah Weiland

I’ve been looking forward to this movie for a while now. My expectations were very high. I’ve tried to see it once before tonight, only to find the showing sold out. My anticipation grew even more. I was certain that I’d end up disappointed with expectations that high, but you know what? They weren’t. “Walk the Line” is a great, great movie.

I really don’t have a lot to say about this movie other than it was thoroughly satisfying for me. The last film I saw was “Good Night, And Good Luck,” which I enjoyed, but it was one of those movies where my expectations were super high and the film didn’t meet all of them. It’s good, but it’s not Johnny Cash good. The performances are great. The writing is great. The directing is great. It’s all great. What’s really great about the film is that you don’t have to be a Johnny Cash fan to enjoy it. His is such a compelling journey that you can’t help but become engrossed in it.

I hope one thing that comes as a result of this film is more people get a little Johnny Cash in their lives. It’s a worthy addition.

This last summer I decided to put an end to birthday and event card giving. It began to pain me that people spend $4.99 on up for a greeting card that’s badly written and then when given to the friend it’s usually read once and you’re lucky if they even save it. I mean, most of the time, what’s the point? Why not just throw an Abe Lincoln in the trash and save yourself the trip?

So, no more Hallmark greeting crap for friends and family. But, there were still going to be times that I wanted to say something to someone with a card– as we are all want to do at some point– so I went out and picked up 100 Fabriano cards and envelopes. These cards are really quite nice. Thick paper stock and manufactured out of the finest Italian paper pulp. Now, aside from the obvious quality and elegance, these cards end up pricing out at $.40 a pop. I use them rather regularly now, including a small note to someone with a present or something. And I’ve had a number of people tell me they find it impossible to throw out because it’s so rare anyone writes a personal note these days. I like that. I don’t do anything artsy with them, I simply write a handwritten note to the recipient using a fine felt tip pen..

With that idea of personalization in mind, I was really pleased this last Wednesday, my birthday, when Terry gave me the home made card you can find below. It’s probably the funniest birthday card I’ve ever seen. Yes, that’s my face, but no that scene never occurred. Not that it would be a bad thing if it were true because I hear chef students are a wild bunch and enjoy working with food during…well…you know.

Thanks Terry and thanks to everyone who showed up at Firefly on Wednesday night (including George Clooney, who may not have been there for me, but that’s OK) to help celebrate my birthday. I’m the old bastard now. But I’m not the really old bastard yet.

Late Saturday afternoon I decided to drive to Downtown Los Angeles to play with the camera some more. I’ve been wanting to go down and take some photos of the Walt Disney Concert Hall for a while, and the new Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels is a short walk from there, which I’ve not seen yet, so why not go be a tourist in my own city.

With the Canon Digital Rebel in tow, I took about 80 pictures. I’m still not entirely pleased with the photos, but I think this batch was my best yet with the new camera. There’s actually one photo I like quite a lot. So, here I go sharing them with you, knowing full well I’m just about to throw you into a state of total boredom. You’ll have to click the little thing to see all the pics.

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Is Bill Murray one of the greatest actors in American Cinema history? Sure, for most of his career he’s not been a celebrated dramatic actor, but if you look at the movies he’s made, there’s this interesting trend where every five to ten years he makes a film that just ingrains itself into the psyche of film goers for a long, long time.

It all probably really started in 1979 with “Meatballs.” I admit, I don’t recall this movie very well– having last seen it when I was 8 years old– but I remember enjoying the hell out of it at the time. I wonder if it holds up?

The next long-lasting classic from Murray was 1980’s “Caddyshack.” I’ve never seen this movie. Will have to have the TiVo search to see if it’s on anytime soon.

His career was very hot early on, as we see in 1981 when Murray lead the cast of “Stripes,” which is a film that does hold up over time. Classic stuff. The formation drill at the end is wonderful.

In 1982, Murray took a supporting role in one of my favorite comedies of all time, “Tootsie.” He played Dustin Hoffman’s roommate and was delightfully bizarre in the role.

1984 is one of the many golden years for Murray as he stars in “Ghostbusters,” which marks the third time Murray worked with director Ivan Reitman (the first time was “Meatballs,” number two was “Stripes”). This film was so fun and had such a huge impact on pop culture that his performance in this film could have been his peak, but he eclipsed this film with a handful of performances later on in his career. But, without a doubt, this is a very high point in Murray’s career.

“Little Shop of Horrors” in 1986 saw Murray take on a supporting role once again. I haven’t seen this film in years and really don’t remember enjoying it. Some people go nuts for this film. I’m not one of them.

1988 saw Murray in “Scrooged” and 1989 saw him reprise his most famous role up until this point. Dr. Peter Venkman, in “Ghostbusters 2.” While both films are worth mentioning because they were generally well received, neither is really all that good. I’ve never been able to sit all the way through “Scrooged” and “Ghostbusters 2″ isn’t as good as its predecessor.

1991 saw Murray’s next hit, “What About Bob?” Now, the first time I saw this movie in theaters I loathed it. I thought it might have been one of the dumbest movies I ever saw. But then, once the movie starting being played constantly on basic cable, something happened. My feelings on the film changed dramatically. And each time I watch a scene from it, I end up enjoying good ol’ Bob Wiley that much more. There’s something very odd, but satisfying, about “What about Bob?”

Now, remember how I said the role of Dr. Peter Venkman in “Ghostbusters” could have been the high point in Murray’s career had it not been for a handful of other roles in his career? Well, 1993 saw Murray team-up with his long time collaborator Harold Ramis once again in the classic film “Groundhog Day.” This is definitely one of my favorite films of all time and another golden moment in Murray’s career. The performance he gives as Phil Connors is pure brilliance. While at first glance people could consider this film just silly comedy, there’s some amazing stuff explored in this film as Phil travels emotions from shock and fear, psychotic and suicidal, and then to master ninja when he finally figures out what life is all about. The movie has a deep dark side that’s absolutely the high point. This is one of the few movies I can watch over and over again from the beginning and I never get bored. Brilliant.

1993 through 2003 is a mixed bag of films for Murray. No classics, a few good ones and a few bad. 1993’s “Mad Dog & Glory” is just bad, while 1994’s “Ed Wood” is good. 1996’s “Kingpin” is a bizarre film that not everyone will enjoy (I did!), while 1998’s “Rushmore” received quite a bit of critical acclaim (I never saw it). From what I understand, “Rushmore” showed a different side of Murray’s acting career that we’d really not seen up until then and it paved the way for other, more dramatic roles down the way. 2001’s “The Royal Tennenbaum’s” is the only other film during this period of film making worth mentioning.

2003 saw Murray take on his most challenging role as Bob Harris in the Sofia Coppola written & directed film “Lost in Translation,” for which Murray received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor (ultimately loosing to Sean Penn, blech!). I loved this film. Murray plays a man desperately lost in a strange land who finds in a much younger woman a soulful connection that he can’t act upon. It’s really a very sad, but powerful story. And forever I will remember, ” For relaxing times, make it Suntory time.” This is the third golde age for Murray. This role, along with his performances in “Groundhog Day” and “Ghostbusters” will forever ensure that Murray is never forgotten as an actor.

So there you have it. I don’t know exactly what struck me to write this examination of his career, but I guess it was needed. Murray’s been hitting them out of the park for almost 30 years now. It’s worth being reminded of that.

About a month ago I found a fantastic deal on the Canon Digital Rebel XT 350D on Dell.com that just couldn’t be passed up. This is one of their 8 Megapixel SLR cameras! WOO! The camera was discounted almost 40% (when you include the mail in rebate) from the regular price. And since this was a camera I’ve had my eye on for a while, I jumped at the chance to buy it at this discounted rate.

This is really the first SLR camera I’ve owned. I have a Canon Rebel that was given to me about 10 years ago, but I never really got into it. The past couple of years I’ve been loving my Canon Powershot S400, and before that my Kodak digital camera, but I realized in the last year that I wantmore out of my photo taking experience. Thus the SLR. But, so far, the new camera’s been somewhat frustrating for me.

Obviously this camera is far more powerful and complicated than any previous camera I’ve owned. And I’ve clearly got a lot to learn about how to operate it. Sure, I know the basics, how to change ISO settings and F-Stop’s and what not, but putting all those things into practical usage while you’re trying to capture the perfect shot, well … you just don’t start out taking fantastic shots right out of the box with a camera like this.

One area I’ve had to retrain myself with is composition. I’ve always felt I have a pretty good eye for composition when it comes to taking photos, but I discovered that was with the Powershot and those same skills don’t translate exactly to the new camera. Using the Powershot I’d simply turn the sucker on, hold it out in front of me, examine the display and snap the photo. With the SLR, you don’t use the display, rather you look through the eye piece like a proper photographer (you can’t even use the display to take pictures with this camera). When you’re looking through the eye piece, you’re also presented with a host of other things to check out, such as your focus points and various settings being used in program mode. I’ve discovered those things often distracted me from composition.

Now, once past that, I’ve also discovered that compsosing a photo within the eye piece is very different than using the display. See, with the display held out in front of myself, I can take in the entire scene on the screen at once. With using the eye piece, my eye needs to wander around the field a bit, take in the entire scene, which is something I’m not used to yet.

I know, a little time and patience will solve most of these problems. I’m also looking for a photography class in Los Angeles to help me with some of these issues I’ve been having. Unfortunately, the one photography class I found at Valley College requires you to use an analog SLR versus a digital. I’d prefer to learn on my digital, but if they require an analog camera then that’s what I’ll use.

Sunday afternoon I attended the Fall version of the Brewery Art Walk in Downtown LA. The Brewery is a massive loft complex that attracts mostly artists and designers. It’s a fascinating place to walk around in. Twice a year, in the spring and fall, many of the artists there open up their homes, creating what is really a massive exhibit. There’s some really good art to see, but mostly a lot of average stuff. What’s most fascinating to me is to see how these people use these often strangely laid out loft spaces. How do they use the massive walls and completely open rooms? Now, unfortunately, most of these people don’t want you taking pictures of their homes and really, how can you blame them? They also don’t want people taking pictures of their art, then mass producing them in some fashion.

Now, that being said, I did go around taking photos of the grounds and the sunset and what not. Most of the photos turned out pretty bad, in my opinion, but some were OK. One day I’ll sort through them and post the ones I like, but here’s one that I thought was kinda creepy. It’s a corridor inside one of the buildings that leads to a stair well to the top of the building. Yes, people live here! The door way half way down on the left leads to the laundry room. If you tell me that no one has ever been murdered in this hall way, I’ll believe you, but I’ll be skeptical.

Nice review in the Hollywood Reporter about Sunday night’s live debate.

“This episode, though scripted, seemed more real than the actual debates. It showed what a real debate might be if candidates ever decided to risk being themselves and confronting the issues and each other. Odd as it may seem, it gives viewers a basis for comparing actual presidential debates and what is possible.”

Who won the ‘West Wing’ live debate?