(My First) Artistic Consumption Log: May 23, 2011-May 29, 2011

BROOKLYN, N.Y.—I've finally decided to adopt the viewing-log approach espoused by the likes of Karina Longworth, Kevin Lee, Robert Humanick and other friends/colleagues. But, of course, I'm not content to just straight-up copy what everyone else is doing...so my own twist on this by now well-worn format is: I'm not only including films I see, but also music I listen to, and sometimes even books I read and/or performances I attend.

I wish I had all the time in the world to write about everything that I consume...but you know, having a day job sometimes has its drawbacks. With this format, you all get a snapshot of just about everything I've been watching/listening/reading in a given week; even better, I denote highly recommended work with a ★ next to it. Maybe I'll even add critical commentary to some of them, time permitting.

Films

★ Gaily, Gaily (1969, Norman Jewison), screening at Walter Reade Theater [Those who saw Jewison's Q&A after the Ebertfest screening of Only You will remember him mentioning this rarely screened film in the context of him recounting how he met Roger Ebert in the first place. I hadn't heard of this film before he mentioned it that night; now that I have seen it—in a beautiful 35mm print as part of Film Society of Lincoln Center's Norman Jewison retrospective—I think this idiosyncratic mix of coming-of-age drama and surreal farce deserves to be better known than it is.]

★ The Tree of Life (2011, Terrence Malick), screening at Landmark Sunshine Cinema [My preliminary thoughts on Malick's new one are here.]

★ Black God, White Devil (1964, Glauber Rocha), screening at Anthology Film Archives

★ Sátántangó (1994, Béla Tarr), screening at Anthology Film Archives [This was my first time seeing this art-movie monument, and what an imposing structure it is!]

A bunch of short films presented as part of the now concluded Migrating Forms film festival at Anthology Film Archives, including:

★ A Movie (2010, Jennifer Proctor) [Believe it or not, this is a modern updating of Bruce Conner's famous 1958 short by the same name. It's actually a fairly interesting, worthy update.]

★ Coming Attractions (2010, Peter Tscherkassky)

Despair (2009, Stephen Sutcliffe)

Misty Suite (2009, James Richards)

★ These Hammers Don't Hurt Us (2010, Michael Robinson) [That link brings you to the film itself, available free online on Vimeo.]

Brune Renault (2009, Neil Beloufa)

★ Rosalinda (2011, Matías Piñeiro)

Cry When It Happens (2010, Laida Lertxundi)

★ Antonio das Mortes (1969, Glauber Rocha), screening at Anthology Film Archives

Music

★ +/- (1997, Ryoji Ikeda)

★ 0°C (1998, Ryoji Ikeda)

★ Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 in E-flat major "Romantic" (1970, Berlin Philharmonic/Herbert von Karajan) [my umpteenth time listening to, I think, one of the great recordings of this work, superior in some ways to Karl Böhm's more widely celebrated 1973 recording with the Vienna Philharmonic]