I’d like to start with a belated moment of silence for the Philly
Grill. I
wrote the story when they opened up less than a year ago, so I feel
somehow
invested in their failure. They were from good people. Although,
another
sandwich shop on 13th Ave. seemed a little foolish. And they were kind
of
expensive… I suppose it was meant to be.
But on to other news. I saw “Adaptation” twice on opening weekend.
That’s
something I haven’t done since “The Matrix,” but the movie tricked me
and I
needed to get my dignity back. By now the secret is out that Donald
Kaufman,
who is credited, with his “brother” Charlie, for the screenplay,
doesn’t,
in the
purest sense of the word, exist. Because the movie primarily involves
people
who do live and breathe, I went in expecting something “true” and
“real.” My
mistake. When the movie started delving into the obviously fictional, I
had
been strung along on my reality tangent too long to change course. Thus
I
spent the last 30 minutes of the movie trying to put it back in a box
that
could no longer contain it.
Wicked. Tricksy. False.
After some Internet researcing, I felt prepared for a second,
enlightened,
viewing. It was much more rewarding. However, I’m still not sure what
to make
of it. It is the only movie I can think of that succeeds with paradox,
being
both sincere and satirical at the same time. This has raised the
question: If
you acknowledge that you are doing something cliche, does that exempt
it from
criticism? Because the movie blatantly says “You shouldn’t do this,
this and
this, but, oh — we’re going to. What do I do with that? Help.
Now let me help you with a little advice: Go to the Victor Wooten
concert
on Monday at the McDonald Theatre. Go go go go go. I first heard of him
when
a friend sat me down in his room and played a tape for me with the
promise
that it would blow me away. It did. Here was this musician playing
faster than
I could comprehend, displaying a breadth of stylistic influences and
doing it
all on a bass guitar. I now own all three of his solo albums and am
giddy at
the thought of seeing him live.
As a final note, I am undertaking a story for our “vice” supplement
examining the “Lord of the Rings” as a vice. Mind you, if by my life or
death
I could serve the books or movies, I would. The thing is ferreting out
the
fans who are as into it as I am. If this includes you, go ahead and
shoot me
an e-mail, and we can talk and watch my extended edition “Fellowship of
the
Ring.”