Before Sunset: part 2 of a 2 part story of perfection

At the beginning of the century I was hearing rumors that there was going to be a follow up to Before Sunrise. A movie I adore, and just wrote about in my blog. I found the idea intriguing considering how the last one ended. Unfortunately in the below review I have to spoil the ending of Before Sunrise so consider yourself warned. I swore to myself if they did make a film I would see it in the theaters. They did, and I did not. Dont know the reason why not. It was 2004, I was working at Diamond, we had no kids and were househunting. So when it came out on DVD I bought it same day. And let it sit til a valentines day maybe 2005 or 2006 when I watched both back to back. I was in my thirties now and I had been watching Before Sunrise on a somewhat steady basis, at least once year around Valentines Day. But I found myself more intrigued with Before Sunset. Maybe because it was newer and I was excited to see these characters doing something different. Then it to became part of my usual rotation again around Valentines Day, and I sometimes found myself watching Before Sunset instead of Before Sunrise now more often. In fact it's been a while since I saw Before Sunrise. I watched Before Sunset last month. Just felt like it. I was sick at home and wanted something fast and easy to watch. Something familliar and warm that I enjoyed to make me feel better. Unlike Before Sunrise, where it took me a little while to see why I liked it so much, I knew right away why I liked Before Sunset, because this film was talking to 30 year old me, because Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) were now in their 30s talking about stuff that concerned us.

For those who did not see Before Sunrise or read my review. 1994 20ish American Jesse (Ethan Hawke) meets 20ish French Celine (Julie Delpy) on a train on his last night in Europe. They start chatting and soon get into full blown deep conversations. The train stops in Vienna and Jesse is flying out of there back to America the next morning early. Celine is heading back to France. Jesse convinces Celine to get off of the train with him and continue their conversation while walking around Vienna.  As they walk they begin to fall in love. Then they start to despair because day is coming quickly and they don't know what to do.

SPOILER ALERT: I AM GOING TO TALK ABOUT THE ENDING NOW:


They made an adult decision to just make this night their only night together. They will not exchange numbers, they will just keep the dream of the encounter alive. But when the reality strikes that they will never see each other again, Love jumps in and convinces them that is a dumb idea and that they will meet back up in Vienna in 6 months to see where the relationship will go, they will not exchange numbers nor try to contact each other before that 6 months. They agree and part, end of film.


Flash Forward, 9 years. Jesse is in France now as a famous writer, who has written a best seller about his whirlwind romance in Vienna. He is finishing up a world tour and will be heading back to America in about 3 hours. While at a book signing meet and greet Jesse notices Celine. After the meet and greet they awkwardly say hello. Celine convinces him to go to coffee just to catch up before he has to leave for America. He tells his handlers what is going on and they give him a cell phone and a number to call when ready. From this point on the film runs real time which is an incredible thing, making the film different and more interesting then the previous one. The old friends go to coffee house and catch up and sure enough they hit it off again and they start talking again about everything. Since Jesse does not want this to end he convinces Celine to walk around France for a bit. Celine is a little worried that he will miss his plane but agrees since she misses him too. So again they walk around a beautiful European city in the Summer in a limited timeframe just chatting away.

Through the conversation we learn that one of them (I wont say who to not spoil this) did not show up in Vienna 6 months later so they had not seen each other til that moment in the bookstore in 9 years. We learn Jesse is married with a son, and Celine is working with a political group to help the environment and is dating a combat photographer who is away on a mission. Through the conversation also we see how the characters have changed in the past 9 years and they have. Jesse who was so confident and psuedo intellegent is now a broken down man who loves his son more than anything, but is still obsessed with the one night he had with Celine (not in a creepy way). He feels that his night with Celine was the pinnacle of love, that he experienced the absolute perfection of love and now is quickly falling. he's not confident, he's not happy, he's beat down, but still has a little spark, a spark that starts to glow again being around Celine. Meanwhile Celine has become totally crazed about life, again not exuding confidence, saying that love is not real it's just an emotion and that she does not need anyone or anything to make her happy, she is smoking, depressed, angry, passive agressive and again it goes back to that night where she felt whole, and when she lost it, she lost her way. Both of these two who were so vibrant and bright eyed in their 20s have been bitch-slapped in the face by reality and it has shattered them. But the more time they spend together you begin to see a healing process. It's even not a longshot to say that they may be soulmates and when they were tore asunder, not for any reason except that they wanted to be adult about it, their souls shattered and now being back together they are beginning to notice that hey, we compliment each other very well.

Again Richard Linklater directs and co-writes with Kim Krizan, but this time both Hawke and Delpy are classified as writers as well, because much like Before Sunrise they improved most of their conversations. The film has the same glow as the original, but Before Sunrise shows us more of Vienna and the exploratory part of their relationship. This one Linklater believes much as I do that the true story of the film is Jesse and Celine finding each other and this isn't a dream like the original, it's real life and he decides to focus more on his actors than the scenary, though there are some nice shots. It's a deep movie, it's not as fun as the original, but that's ok it's a different film from the original and that is what you want.  Hawke and Delpy again are amazing with special props to Hawke who drops the swagger he showed in the previous film and in Reality Bites and shows us a broken, vulnerable man who wants to do the right thing for everybody but himself. It is somewhat reminiscent of the role he played in Dead Poets Society.  Delpy meanwhile is allowed to open up her acting, something she did very little of in the original, and shows us what a young idealist strong woman goes through when her life becomes utter shit. Celine's rage at Jesse near the end of the film is a true highlight showing how damaged she has become by holding on to that night much as Jesse has and how such a beautiful wonderous night has turned both their lives upside down.

The ending is again ambiguous, and leaves you wanting more. I won't spoil it here, but the ending is a natural progression to all the anger they both have, and you can see that they have finally realized that they are healing each other being in each others prescence. It's a good ending, but again much like the first one an aggrivating ending because you want to know what happens next.

Rumors started swirling last year that they were filming or have filmed the third movie. I have not heard anything, but the timing is about right. We have a title called Before Midnight and I am dying to see it. I have my ideas what it is about, but wont say anything because I don't want to spoil it. So hopefully we will see a new film from them very soon. And this time. I will see it in the movie theater. MARK MY WORDS.

Singles: a perfect snapshot of a particular time

Valentine's day is fast approaching, and what always gets me prepped for Val day is watching romantic comedy movies. I know I'm a man what are you doing, but there are actually some really good movies out there that just happen to be about romance. I feel for the next few days I will write reviews of some of the films I always try to catch around this time of the year.

First we have SINGLES released in 1992 and written and directed by Cameron Crowe he of Say Anything and Jerry Maguire fame. Before he was a successful writer director, Crowe was a writer for Rolling Stone Magazine. So he was able to write about all kinds of bands and write about one of his loves music. Crowe loves his music so much that everyone of his films has specific songs in it that he picked for being the perfect song for the scene, and he is usually spot on.

Singles is a series of stories following friends who all live in the same apartment building and who are all in the mid 20s, fresh out of college trying to find themselves in Seattle. It just so happens the film came out just as Grunge music was becoming huge with Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Screaming Trees, etc. all hitting it big. Pure luck for Crowe that the film hit when the popularity of Grunge was growing that this film made some good money. Especially the soundtrack which has songs from pretty much all the Grunge bigwigs except Nirvana.

The first story follows Linda Powell (Kyra Sedgewick) who does not live in the apartment complex but on her own in a small house. She starts dating Steve Dunne (Campbell Scott) who lives in the apartment complex. Their romance goes up and down through typical romantic comedy set ups, but in the end it is the only truly adult relationship that gets covered in the film.

The Second story focuses on Janet Livermore (Bridget Fonda) whose boyfriend is Grunge band wannabe Cliff Poncier (Matt Dillon who is brillant). He has three jobs, fronts a band called Citizen Dick that is trying to break in and get some of the Grunge glory, but the only problem is his band sucks. In a hilarious in-joke members of Pearl Jam including Eddie Veddar are his bandmates. Janet is totally in love with Cliff but he is more interested in his band and living the rock lifestyle so he treats her casually saying stuff like you know I see other people, and pays attention to the tv instead of her. But Janet doesnt want to feel unloved, so she doesnt break up with him, but she doesnt hang out with him as she tries to figure out what to do with her life.

The third story focuses on Debbie Hunt (Sheila Kelley) who is a loud brassy woman who works for the local new station who tries to find love anyway she can, including doing dating videos. In another hilarious cameo Tim Burton plays Brian the director of her dating video which is one of the most bizarre things you will ever see. And freaking hilarious!

All the characters interact throughtout their stories since they are friends and neighbors as we get an absolute brillant snapshot into what life was like for mid 20 year olds right out of school finding themselves alone and trying to grow up but still hold on to childhood. It is a perfect shot of what was going on in 1992 Seattle, and looking back on it 20 years later still seems timeless while keeping you ensconced in the 90s Seattle. It's hard to explain but it is something that you just need to see.

Singles is funny, heartbreaking, and real. And an absolute delight to watch around Valentines Day. The couples are real, the desperation for love is real, nothing seems to outlandish.  I liked most Grunge music so I still blast the soundtrack which is fantastic. The film is filled with cameos from such actors as Jeremy Piven, Victor Garber, Peter Horton, Eric Stoltz as the most annoying loudmouthed mime, Bill Pullman who gives us a perspective of a late 20 early 30 year old as compared to these kids, Tom Skeritt, Ally Walker, Various members of the local popular Grunge bands like Alice in Chains and Soundgarden, Cameron Crowe himself pops up in a cameo as what else a music reporter. And you will be surprised to see Paul Giamatti playing the kissing man. Great music, great atmosphere, great direction, great acting. One of my favorite movies of all time and I am dying to watch it again soon.

SMOKE SIGNALS 4: NEW YEARS EDITION

New Year's Eve has always been a little odd for me. No real traditions per se, alot of different things though makes New Year's Eve rather interesting to me, though not nearly one of my favorite holidays. So today I will be using my smoke signals column to share some of my more memorable New Year's Eve's. 

-I do have 1 tradition that I started back in 1996 I believe that I still do every year. I write a note to myself reflecting on the year. Nothing too deep or major, just things that happened to me in the year.  I re-read the old ones to reflect on other times. Don't know why I started but still like to do it.

-When I was younger my Aunt and Uncle and cousins from New Jersey would come to visit on New Year's Eve, or we would go to their house. We had some fun times. One year we decided to dress up in silly costumes. Not just the kids but the adults. Using clothes we had in the house, and make up as well.

-I spent the 1999-2000 New Year's eve in New Jersey. Everyone was freaking about Y2K, and it was the new century so the networks were running their coverage of New Year's Eve all over the world and remberances of 1900-1999. I had just gotten my first ever car and this was my first real solo drive. My mom and stepdad left before I did. Yet I beat them to Jersey on New Years Eve. Got there at 3pm. The roads were dead. We were then going to go to a friend of theirs house near the beach and hang out. I was the youngest one there. Had fun though. Watched the fireworks on the beach. We went back to my Aunt's house and she wanted to get up like 4 hours later to watch the sunrise on new Millennium. So we got up went to the beach and could not see a thing. Fog socked in all over. had a chanpagne cheer then went back to bed. That night we had dinner at another of their friends house and I got really sick. Food Poisoning possibly needless to say it was a horrible night and we were leaving the next day. I felt better and made it home in one piece.

-Also when I was younger, on my neighborhood lived the Bakers. Their youngest son Craig was a few years younger then me but we were friends. One NYE he came over to my house because his older brother Chris who went to the University of Maryland and was in the Marching band was having a party. But what was cool was not only was that the first year I ever saw Gremlins, but at midnight Chris and his friends in the marching band, now slightly intoxicated would get their instruments out and played Auld Lang Syne outside of their house. Then they played the Maryland fight song, and then decided let's have a parade. So the marching band began to march through out neighborhood playing all kinds of music. People came out of their houses to watch, or join the parade. We went around the block and they stopped and played Auld Lang Syne to some folks who came out and kept marching. They would do this for two other years as well. That was always cool. i do have a audiotape of one of their parades somewhere in my house.

-Senior Year of High School I was hanging out with some kids a year or so younger than me. One of them decided to have a NYE party at her house and we were invited. My first real party! So I went and had a blast. Then when we left we went and hung out at someone elses house. Then others began to leave, soon my friend Matt and me were all that was left and we decided to walk around the neighborhood and chat. When I got home about 3am or so my mother was freaking out since I did not tell her I was going to hang out with others. She thought I would be home after the party. She called a bunch of people after midnight trying to figure out where I was. Needless to say I never did that again.

-NYE 2000-2001 was probably the best one I ever had. I had just started to date my now wife and her and her friend who set us up and her boyfriend got two hotel rooms at The Renaissance Hotel which was write on Baltimore Harbor by Harborplace. There was going to be a parade, and then the fireworks and we had rooms right there. But that's not all. That afternoon was the Ravens first ever playoff game in their history. (This was the game that started them on their Superbowl win). They were playing Denver in Baltimore and my dad had snagged us tickets to it, albeit not sitting together. It was freezing cold, but it was a great game, we won and then I knew i would be with my wife at a nice hotel and have a nice dinner and see cool fireworks. The only downside was I was fighting a cold that day, but still a great night and an even better New Year's Day, but we will not get into that! ;)

-During the early part of the 2000's my wife and I and our friends had a tradition. We would go to Nichi Bai Kai a Japanese steakhouse for dinner on NYE, usually around 930ish since I was working a late shift during that time 11-8 and we never had off NYE. Then go to a local club called Padonia Station. That was the closest we did to tradition.

-The last NYE before kids was memorable also. My wife and I went with our same friends on a Dinner cruise out of Baltimore Harbor and anchored near the Key Bridge and Fort McHenry. We had free buffet, free drinks and music. When it was time for fireworks the boat took us just outside the main harbor, near Fells Point and we watched the fireworks from the water. Then returned to our perch by Key Bridge while the downtown revelers left and they cleared up the firework equipment. So it was close to another 90 minutes before we could get back to our car. We also had a guy sitting at the table in front of us pass out and vomit.

-NYE with kids has really been uneventful. I think we've had get togethers, one year we had our Christmas with my in-laws on NYE. This NYE is not really any different. We are going to my sister in laws house for a get together and may spend the night. We'll see.

Anyway I may have forgotten some other NYE's but those are the most memorable ones. So be safe. Get a designated driver if you had to much, and have a good New Year's Eve!

 

Thanksgiving: the most underrated holiday of the year

Thanksgiving has the unlucky spot of being between Halloween and Christmas. But Thanksgiving is one of the best holidays out there. It gets overlooked all the time because of everyone's insanity when it comes to Christmas.

In the old days no one even mentioned Christmas until the day after Thanksgiving. Christmas music did not get played until then. Malls would decorate for Christmas the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and finish up on Black Friday. Santa would show up right after thanksgiving as well. Thanksgiving was it's own holiday and it had respect. Now Christmas stuff replaces Halloween on November 1st. Christmas movies that normally did not arrive until the Wednesday before Thanksgiving now were showing up the first friday after Halloween. Christmas music has started on local radio stations at least a week before Thanksgiving. Advertisements on TV are now all about Christmas. Christmas is the popular big brother, Halloween is the spoiled younger child, and Thanksgiving is the cliched Middle child. And that is wrong.

Yes Thanksgiving is an American holiday. Most countries have a version of Thanksgiving, but it rarely overlaps with America's version. But we are Americans and this is our TV we are watching, our music we are listening to, our movies we are seeing. We should treat it has an American holiday and get it's popularity back instead of jumping right into Christmas as most of the world does.

I love Thanksgiving. It's not flashy like the other holidays, but it is still a very nice time, and until recently it was the point where I really started to get excited for Christmas because I knew that starting on Black Friday the Christmas season officially started. We would start seeing Christmas ads, Christmas tv, Christmas movies, listening to Christmas music. Now when Thanksgiving arrives, the excitememt of Christmas is not as prevalent since we have been knocked over the head with it.

Nowadays I really like it because it is a 4 day weekend, and I get to spend time with family and just rest. I've also had a lot of good memories of Thanksgiving. When I was younger and my parents were still together Thanksgiving always meant going to my Grandparent's house down in Oxon Hill Maryland near Andrews Air Force Base right outside of DC and Virginia. Most of the time my cousins and Aunt and Uncle from New Jersey would come down and we would have a good time. My grandfather who loved making fires in the fireplace would have one roaring for us, we would watch Football, when not watching tv we would play football in my grandparents yard or hide and seek in their upstairs. I remember one year I ate so many Andes Candies that I threw up. Now I never eat Chocolate and mint anymore. I tried radishes for the first time their before also. But as we all were getting older and my folks soon split, we would go to New Jersey for the Thanksgiving weekend. I remember one year getting terribly sick during Thanksgiving at my Aunt and Uncle's house. My stomach was so bad that on Black Friday when we decided we wanted to go to the mall and I wanted to go with them to get out of the house I could only walk hunched over. Now I know that sounds like a horrible Thanksgiving, and it was, but it was memorable. There was also the year of the snowstorm on Thanksgiving day (when we usually drove up) and the car in front of us spun out into a 360 and almost hit our car. But we got lucky.

When I was in College we stopped going up to NJ and stayed home. Sometimes we went to my Grandparents, but at this time they were in the twilight of their lives and not doing so well. In 1993 my sister got married on November 20th. She had a Thanksgiving style wedding dinner. So when Thanksgiving hit the next week, we ate Italian. Once I graduated and was still living at home, we stayed home and did a no fuss Thanksgiving dinner so I got to watch a lot of TV. At that time SYFY (which was the Sci-Fi channel at that time) aired Mystery Science Theater 3000 that was a classic show and set the stage for my involvement with the SnarkAlecs. It was a show about a guy and two puppets who watched really bad movies and made comments about it. Funny as hell comments. On Thanksgiving Sci-Fi always did a marathon Turkey movies for a Turkey day.  It was also around that time for the first time ever I saw Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and The Godfather and The Godfather Part 2. Because other channels ran marathons also and I finally watched these and enjoyed them. Football was still around as well.

One constant throughout all the Thanksgiving's is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, an annual ritual that I always watched and still watch. Here in Maryland we also had the Turkey bowl, Loyola vs Calvert Hall high School football (huge rivalry) and before they stopped doing it on Thanksgiving (City vs. Poly) another huge local high school football game. 

And surprise Comics also had an impact on Thanksgiving. I remember reading Gotham by Gaslight on Thanksgiving at my aunt's house (the year I got sick it just came out with art by one of my fave artists Mike Mignola). Paul Dini and Alex Ross would produce a fully painted big size graphic novel every Thanksgiving week and they were all gorgeous.

Recently the day after Thanksgiving has been the time that my wife and I take our kids to the Festival of Trees, a great event that helps give money to Kennedy Krieger a group that helps sick children. Local companies commision artists to decorate Christmas Trees and make them as artistic as possible and then sells them with all proceeds going to Kennedy Krieger. They also have vendors selling things, Christmas choirs, Celebrity Christmas story readers, a huge train garden, Santa Claus, a kids area with Pony rides, bouncy houses, Carousel's, and crafts. A great event that gets you into the Christmas spirit, the day after Thanksgiving. it goes all weekend so you can hit it at any time.

It is just a pleasant all around time of the year with the only stress being self imposed if you have issues with your family. Otherwise it is just a pleasant meal, good company, and fun. And hopefully relaxiation for those who don't go Black Friday shopping. The food is always good, the drink is always good. And you have leftovers that last awhile. It is purely and simply FUN. No huge anticipation that brings you down after it is done like Halloween and Christmas, there is no real build up to Thanksgiving it is just there. And it is wonderful. The day after Thanksgiving you can go all the Christmas crazy you want, but til then please give Thanksgiving some props.

The Thanksgiving Song from Adam Sandler.

Smoke Signals Holiday Edition: EASTER

I am Catholic. Maybe not the best one in the world. But still, I am Catholic and we are in our Holy Week. Maundy Thursday is today. (The day of the Last Supper), Good Friday is tomorrow, and Easter Sunday is Sunday. Now I love holidays, and Easter is a holiday. It may not be my favorite holiday, but I still have great memories of Easter's past. So what I plan on doing with my Smoke Signals around the holidays is give you some memories of past holidays. Look for my next one to be 4th of July. So here we go, some memories of Easter Past.

-One of my more recent memories is of getting confirmed. I was never confirmed as a teenager, at that age I was still feeling my way around my religious beliefs, and kind of rebelling since I did not like going to church or CCD. When I met Dawn (my wife for those who don't know) her family was highly religious and as we were planning our wedding one of her wishes was to be married properly in a church. Not just to appease her parents but because she wanted to. And yes I wanted to also. My vision of marriage always included a church service. But in order to get married in a Catholic church, I had to get Confirmed. They have adult confirmation called RCIA. So I went through that for 6 months or so. We get confirmed at midnight mass for Easter. So I went through the process, my stepmother was my sponser and my wife and family cheered me on. My mother threw a pre confirmation dinner for us with Lasagna, and not only was Dawn's family there but so was my Grandmother. So all in all a nice memory.

-Going to a lot of midnight masses for Easter. Some were so startling and interesting with most of them starting in complete darkness and then a lone light appearing and low music and things started getting brighter and louder as our Lord was risen. Amazing!

-My parent's always liked to hide our Easter baskets and they were clever. Once, it was in the oven, once in the Fridge, once OUTSIDE. I try to bring that same feeling I had to my kids, they are still young, but they will probably start getting into it more.

- They also not only gave us candy and eggs, but we got small presents as well. I remember one year I requested a Voltron metal action figure. Got it to.

-As I got older and before kids and marriage I usually worked on Easter Sunday. Not everytime, but a few times. I remember once when I was a bagel baker. I was in at the shop at 3am on Easter Sunday to make the bagels. So about 6 am the sun was starting to rise and we opened later on Sunday so I was still the only one there. I remember looking out our front door. It looked onto York Road and a bank across the street. In the grass in front of the bank was a rabbit. no joke. I dubbed him the Easter bunny. Kind of cool. Though Bunnies are normal in that neighborhood, it was still kind of cool.

-Speaking of bunnies, you know it is Easter when a giant pink Bunny can be seen on top of the roof of the Mary Sue candy warehouse. You can see the bunny off of I-83.  Bizarre.

-When I worked for WLIF 101.9 LITE FM. I had to work the Bunny Bonan-zoo at the Baltimore Zoo. Always a lot of fun. Easter Egg hunts, candy. It was great.

-We dyed eggs. I always remember it being fun, but I had gotten away from it. Last year my wife and kids and I decorated eggs. Hopefully we can do it again. Always did it the day before Easter.

-When I was in Kindergarten we had a class pet. A bunny named Benjamin. All the class got to take him home for a weekend. I was lucky enough to get him on Easter weekend.

-My Grandmother used to have bendy bunny figures out for the kids. I remember playing with them a ton when I was little. I've been able to get some to my kids and hope they enjoy them as much as I did.

-My Easter movie has always been Monty Python and the Life of Brian, which is a satire of organized religion. Hilarious. This year I hope to get the kids into HOP a great Easter movie about the Easter bunny. Noelle and I saw it in the movie theater when it came out last year and we both enjoyed it.

-One year Easter fell on my sister's birthday and she wanted to celebrate by having us go with her on a boatride buffet down the Potomac in DC. Was awesome, except for the fact I was sick as a dog.

That's all I remember for now. Hopefully next year I will remember more. Happy Easter!