Anderson’s first hint at this path is in The Royal Tenenbaums, where in a flashback, we see Margot and Richie run away to live in a museum, a reference to the lovely book From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler that enchanted my sister and I when we went to see it in the theatre.

What exactly do we call this trend? It’s new, no other generation has gone through a phase exactly like this. We are reliving/re-engaging with our childhoods through new media interpretations of old childhood experiences. Sesame Street turned 40 last week, and Facebook was there to host our memorializing (but ephemeral) clip-fest. Our past is our present.

Yes, other generations have experienced the return of the past, as the 70′s had their comeback and before that the 60s and before that…. But what’s different about that is that the pop music that came back into fashion, the clothes, the hairstyles and the idols, these are markers of adulthood for most people, the process of coming of age. It’s more an exercise in reliving a heady period of taking chances and maturation to immerse yourself in retro.

But our childhoods are indisputably back and taking center stage in our daily lives, and not necessarily through a reinterpretation for our children. Even before Sesame Street’s 40th anniversary, Wonder Showzen has already done its best to de-sacredize (desecrate isn’t working for me) the Sesame Street lessons and songs we grew up taking as gospel. Our childhood objects are no longer only the ken of children. Will this affect our relationship to childhood objects today?

My guess is no–I don’t watch Dora the Explorer, or Caillou, or any of the anime shows that seem to dominate children’s programming today. But will today’s children just keep holding onto their childhood idols as they age? That’s a better question. I’m not sure, today’s media cycle is speedy and fitful, longevity and endurance seems an unlikely by-product. But it’s the collision of that culture with Anderson’s Long Tail that makes me wonder.

The end. Meera knew every story had a beginning, middle and end. She liked the endings the best, which is why she resolutely refused to see movies made in any language other than English. It wasn’t that she had a problem with subtitles, or dubbing, it’s just that the probability of the film having a happy ending was way lower. Meera’s happiest moments, the ones she thrilled to, anticipated while sitting in class or lying in bed waiting for sleep, were the last moments before the hero grinned, the music swelled, and the credits rolled. Her heart felt like it would burst when the romantic tension after rising for nearly two hours would finally spill over into that all-important kiss. Meera would hiss between her teeth when the boss would finally slap him on the back and give that sly declaration of a long-denied promotion finally being just around the bend. She hummed with pleasure when the little boy threw his arms around his sobbing mother, as the snub-nosed kidnapper was dragged off in cuffs, snarling his displeasure. Nothing made her happier than when justice was done.

1. Fox News is taking an activist approach to covering the tea parties, encouraging its audience to attend them, including their own virtual one on their website. Fox is trouncing the competition in the ratings right now.

2. The other major news networks are ignoring them–so there’s no rebuttal possible to the tea partyists’ claim that it’s a nonpartisan, non-right-leaning movement.

The Huffington Post is taking this on as a citizen journalist event–which is really really important. Ignoring the news doesn’t make it not happen, as the big networks should know by now. We need coverage to demonstrate that the news media aren’t biased against conservatives, and polling and on the ground reports to uncover what types of people are attending these events (and dumping tea into the Boston harbor, ugh). FreedomWorks, one of the organizers, is talking up the liberal contempt of it, labeling them “tea party deniers.”

Otherwise, this hysteria and rage could blow up into a serious movement of civil protest like not paying taxes, etc. Consider the growth of MoveOn:

“They sent an e-mail to 100 friends with a link to moveon.org. A September 24, 1998, article in the San Francisco Chronicle, Net’s Role in Scandals May Alter News Media, mentioned the effort in its final paragraph, noting that the site had attracted 500 signatures in its first day of operation. By the end of the week, that number was 100,000.”

FreedomWorks has over 370,000 supporters already. Scary stuff.

Had to include BMac’s digital protest above, thanks Brian!

Credits

SwingFlicker by metamorphmuses
accordeon_16 by junggle
Yawning by jackstrebor
ExcessiveExposure by acclivity
angdrone by disparition
Medley by Harry Champion
antique phone – manually operated by FreqMan
group_laugh_long_exaggerate by thanvannispen
Factory Girl by therouanne
bell crowd laughter by cognito perceptu
escdrone by disparition
Drumline Ditty by JCambs1990
F.S. 1 fishing reel by mike campbell
bowl_struck by suburban grilla
camera_shutter_03 by Corsica_S
DSLR_Three_Cliks by Benboncan
cranktoy4 by UncleSigmund
TV_Static by Gaiamuse
Approx 850 – Enthusiast Audience by lonemonk
25-donetsk-announcement-russian-ballet by Bram
Lonesome Mama Blues by Markels Orchestra
WW2AirplaneFlyover by daveincamas
Electricity and Progress by Thomas Edison

An astronaut movie more like Solaris and nothing like Apollo 13.

Why: A great scifi plot, Sam Rockwell, an amazing actor who has so far skimmed slightly under the radar, and Kaya Scodalerio from Skins, my favorite show from 2008.

Light Boxes

A novel by Shane Jones about a war waged by a group of balloonists against the month of February.

Why: It’s about a war. Waged by balloonists. Against the month of February! And Jesse Ball has good things to say, who wrote the lovely Samedi the Deafness.

Faintheart

A romantic comedy set in the world of battle re-enactments, about an irresponsible guy who has to shape up in order to win back his wife.

Why: Battle re-enactments and love. And Ewan Bremner!

Florence and the Machine

Her debut album should be out this year on Island.

Why: Her single Dog Days are Over is basically a spiritual experience, and she plays with MGMT, who put out my favorite album from 2008.

Ang Lee’s most recently released film, 2007’s Lust, Caution has been described by critics as an espionage thriller, which does little to convey the major themes of this elegant elegy that follows a young girl’s journey from student to spy.

Based on the 1979 novella by Chinese writer Eileen Chang, Lust, Caution opens with a brief but graceful credits sequence, which gives way to an incongruous close up on an alert German Shepherd. From the dog, the camera travels up the body of his uniformed handler to his deeply suspicious face. His gaze rapidly shifts right, then up, before the camera cuts to an armed guard in the same uniform pacing across a balcony. A few more shots of guards stationed on the same city street establishes that the area is heavily policed, broken only by a group of seemingly relaxed men talking and smoking on the sidewalk. From here, we transition inside, cutting to the interior of a house where a maid is bringing a tray of elegant soup bowls to four fashionable women playing a lightening-speed round of mahjong. This opening sequence introduces a clear visual distinction between the external war-tinged world of men and the insulated interior domain of women, a dichotomy that is to be breached most notably by the two main characters in the film.

The film arguably has two main characters, although we follow one more closely through the story, which is set in Hong Kong and Shanghai in the late 1930s and early 1940s during a period of Japanese occupation. Chia Chi is a young women at university who is drawn into a school acting troupe, where she finds success as its leading lady. Soon, the charismatic troupe leader is urging the group to do more than put on patriotic plays, and the group finds their cause in trying to assassinate Mr. Yee, a high-ranking Chinese government official collaborating with the Japanese. Chia Chi is remade as Mrs. Mak, an elegant society wife who befriends Mrs. Yee to catch the eye of her husband. Although she succeeds, the Yees move back to Shanghai before the assassination plan can be put into action, leaving the troupe in disarray.

The film moves forward several years to reveal Chia Chi in deep despair, with seemingly little future beyond a subsistence living in her aunt’s home. She is rediscovered by her co-conspirators, who have joined the secret police, and she is quickly recruited to return to her role as Mrs. Mak in the hopes of successfully carrying out the early mission against Mr. Yee, who has become the head of the secret police, responsible for the torture and deaths of countless members of the resistance. After successfully reestablishing her relationship with Mrs. Yee, she soon embarks on a violent and passionate affair with Mr. Yee, which strips them both bare of years of solidly established defenses, leading to the final tragic denouement.

As with many of Lee’s films, Lust, Caution features a muted palette tinged with a golden hue that evokes a subtle glamour. Cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto brings a modest but assured style to the composition, which works perfectly to showcase the period setting. In his sure handling of the period setting, this film continues Ang Lee’s tradition of developing a richly detailed portrait of a particular time and place as a unique and personalized moment in history, much in the tradition of the famed Merchant Ivory productions of 1980s and 1990s.

The graphic, sometimes violent sex scenes created some controversy before the film opened, and earned it an NC-17 rating in the US. The scenes, mostly between the two main characters, are essential to moving the story forward and often devastating in the vulnerability on display. Much of the narrative is told through the play of emotion on their faces, and this emotional interplay does much to define the arc of the story. Newcomer Tang Wei is a revelation as Chia Chi, effortlessly moving her character through a vast personal journey over a period of years. And Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, who was such an excellent proxy for Wong Kar Wai’s vision in In the Mood for Love and 2046, wholly disappears into the cold, bruised Mr. Yee, demonstrating another facet of his dramatic range.

Check out this excellent post on the Eight Douchiest Vampires Ever.

As the film opens, we see Jamal Malik, an Indian teenager, being tortured. His interrogaters want to know: how did he cheat to advance to the final round of the Indian version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” To find out how he knew the answers, we see flashbacks from Jamal’s life growing up in the slums of Mumbai that weave a tale of poverty, living by your wits, romance, family, and gangsters — all the classic elements of a Bollywood film (and yes, many American films). We see Jamal, his older brother Salim, and childhood friend Latika as they grow and navigate life on the streets. It’s romanticised at times to be sure, but there are many moments of intense violence and cruelty that rip through the visual beauty to show the pain underneath.

Boyle’s technicolor palette is perfectly suited to the colorful tale, and the storytelling is set at a furious pace, reflecting the chaotic, boisterous life of the main characters. There isn’t a moment of down time in the tightly woven story that jumps through time and place and a suspenseful game show for two hours, and superb editing brings you back and forth without a mental hitch. Humor and wit characterize the dialogue, although there are plenty of moments of drama to offset the comedy. We also get to see amazing street scenes in Bombay as the city grows into Mumbai, including one breakneck chase on foot that I can’t even begin to imagine how difficult it was to film.

The music is in general great — wonderfully syncopated and effortlessly integrated, with a couple of MIA tracks to keep things knowingly current. I did get a little tired of the love theme, which comes back again and again, but I know many watchers won’t mind that at all. The other weakness in the film for me is in the casting. It’s a monumental task for sure, to cast three actors for each of the three main characters to portray different ages. And each age gets enough screen time that there needs to be considerable continuity in looks and gestures to make it work. The only one of the three main characters that works seamlessly for me is Salim, who shines at every age. But Latika’s complexion lightens from young teen to late teen so much that it seems unbelievable, and her whole face looks quite different from the previous actors. I couldn’t help but suspect that the Indian standards of beauty, which call for lighter complexions, interfered with the casting process here to the detriment of the film. It called to mind the 1999 movie The Wood, which had a similar visual shock at the end, when the love interest lost her rather aggressive eyebrows in adulthood. I couldn’t really make the leap then, and it’s similarly hard to here. But the cast is extremely strong, particularly Anil Kapoor as the urbane and genial host of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” who knows the perfect joke to make for every occasion.

But I loved it. Yes, it gets super cheesy, but that’s a good portion of its charm, and a sign that the film is meant to appeal to a global Bollywood-loving audience. And there’s a present for you in the end credits that serves as a wink and nudge to the over-the-top emotional state you might be left in. I left with a huge smile, as did everyone else I saw walking out of the theatre.

For some interesting insights from Danny Boyle and his leading man about the film, check out this piece from the SF Chronicle.

Traitor succeeds because of Jeffrey Nachmanoff‘s subtle direction, a great script, and thougtful and multi-layered performance from a first-rate cast of international up-and-comers as well as established stars, including Cheadle, Guy Pierce, Saïd Taghmaoui, Neal McDonough (from Band of Brothers), Archie Panjabi (The Constant Gardener and East is East), and Alyy Khan. Oh, and Jeff Daniels.

Saïd Taghmaoui gives a particularly beautiful performance in this film as Horn’s spiritual brother who he tries to save, and I was reminded of his co-star from La Haine, Vincent Cassell, who had a similarly haunting turn in Eastern Promises last year. Sidenote: Taghmaoui will also be heating up TV show Lost next season, as well as the upcoming G.I. Joe movie.

I can’t leave unmentioned that Steve Martin, one of my original heroes of American entertainment, not only co-wrote the screenplay, but actually came up with the idea for this movie. Martin’s work only gets better with age, colored by a consistently modern sensibility and inwardly investigative eye. And, you know, sex jokes.

Traitor Trailer:

Don Cheadle Interview:

Guy Pierce Interview:

I agree with Trubeck’s point that we should reevaluate whether Catcher in the Rye is really essential reading for teens. But I do have a problem with her reasoning, which is that “many newer novels of adolescence are available.” Staleness in literature has never been an issue for me, and I think it’s dangerous to limit adolescent reading by and large to modern novels. To become an agile thinker, it’s important to be exposed to a wide breadth of literature from a cultural standpoint but also a chronological standpoint. Giving kids books they can “relate” to is a great way to get them started, but only as a jumping off point for more challenging explorations.

But I soundly second Trubeck’s first suggestion for replacement media, the television show Freaks and Geeks, one of my favorite TV shows of all time. But I would like to point out that even when the show was being made in the 1990s, its setting was dated back to 1980 — supposedly making it out of step with a modern audience as well. Which just goes to show, well realized characters will connect, despite aging frames of reference.