Uncategorized

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‘Run Lola Run’

I really enjoyed Tom Whalen’s Film Quarterly essay on Run Lola Run. Yes, it’s 10 years old (and the film is even older) but the film’s subtle message about fate and determinism has been sticking with me recently as I sense big changes coming in my life quite soon:

Tom Tykwer’s Run Lola Run (Lola rennt, 1998) blasts open doors for viewers in the late 90s the way Godard’s Breathless (1959) did for viewers in the late 50s. In few other ways would I compare these two films. Godard’s exercise is tinted cool, hip, his characters posturing cartoons; whereas Tykwer’s is hot, kinetic, and his (at times animated) characters bristling realities. Though a profoundly philosophical and German film, Run Lola Run leaps lightly over the typical Teutonic metaphysical mountains. Tykwer’s work doesn’t have the Romantic receptive gaze of a Wenders or entertain the grapple with the gods of a Herzog, but instead possesses a ludic spirit willing to see life and art as a game. Nor, though as excited by the techniques of cinema as the film of a first-time director (Run Lola Run is Tykwer’s eighth movie), is it the loose, dehumanized display of, say, Pulp Fiction (1994) or Trainspotting (1996). Run Lola Run is fast, but never loose. It’s as tightly wound and playful as a Tinguely machine and constructed with care.

For TechCrunch, This Is How It Ends

The Guardian chronicles the latest chapter in the Crunchgate fiasco, in which a startup that Arrington invested in won TechCrunch Disrupt:

The whole episode marks a giant loss in credibility for TechCrunch, a mangled, undignified departure, unprofessional personal scraps between colleagues and a decidedly fetid atmosphere around what has generally been a vibrant, inspiring and powerful brand. Ultimately, whatever the future of the writers and investors involved, this is a real shame for the entrepreneurs who’ve worked extremely hard to get this far.

Journalist Johann Hari Apologizes for Misrepresenting Interviews

I was actually an admirer of the works of Johann Hari before I read his mea culpa today in the Independent:

When I recorded and typed up any conversation, I found something odd: points that sounded perfectly clear when you heard them being spoken often don’t translate to the page. They can be quite confusing and unclear. When this happened, if the interviewee had made a similar point in their writing (or, much more rarely, when they were speaking to somebody else), I would use those words instead. At the time, I justified this to myself by saying I was giving the clearest possible representation of what the interviewee thought, in their most considered and clear words.But I was wrong.

I didn’t have much background into the situation, but Jeff Bercovici provides it, along with some stinging commentary:

No, Johann, it’s arrogant and stupid of you to think anyone you’re not related to by blood is going to buy this. Journalism is filled with people who rose fast and/or received not formal training. Most of us (I’m in the latter category) never had to be told you can’t steal quotes. You’re smarter than most. You knew this. Until you admit it, you’ll never have a chance of regaining your credibility.

Hating on ‘H8r’

Dan Fienberg has a spectacular yet thoughtful takedown of the new morally reprehensible show H8r, hosted by Mario Lopez:

Mario Lopez doesn’t care how little money you make or what you do or even if anybody out there on the Internet cares about whatever mean thing you might say, because he’s got a point to make, one that he believes in strongly: Even the lowest-level celebrity — ESPECIALLY the lowest-level celebrity — should be exempt from criticism. But feel free to love them and write about that.

My Grandfather’s Watch

While Stephen Tobolowsky was in town recently, I shot this video with him using my Canon 5D Mark 2 on a tripod, my Rode Videomic, and natural lighting in Stephen’s hotel room.

I realize there are problems with this video. Specifically, Stephen’s face is overexposed, he is ever-so-slightly out of focus, the other half of his face needs a little bit more illumination, the sound suffers from some bad automatic gain control, etc. etc. etc. But above all that, Stephen’s storytelling is still able to shine through.

Teachers Are Quitting Because Parents Are a Huge Pain

Ron Clark breaks down why it’s so difficult to get teachers to enter the profession these days:

Today, new teachers remain in our profession an average of just 4.5 years, and many of them list “issues with parents” as one of their reasons for throwing in the towel. Word is spreading, and the more negativity teachers receive from parents, the harder it becomes to recruit the best and the brightest out of colleges.

Less Money, Mo’ Problems

The past few weeks have been incredibly hectic for me, so I’m only now catching up on news items that were relevant weeks ago. I was struck by Paul Carr’s recent piece about Jack Schafer’s firing from Slate. I’ve previously written at length about the economics of online publishing. The TL;DR version of that article is that making money online is extraordinarily difficult. Paul Carr agrees:

The blunt truth is, online advertising is a numbers game. And, even on niche sites, the number of salable page impressions required to even break even is huge. There are just too many pages of content being produced for advertising to remain a viable long-term business model. The New York Times can’t make money online, the Guardian can’t, Slate can’t and Salon barely can.

If the people at Slate can’t make the numbers work, what chance do the online film/entertainment blogs have?