The Square & Columbus

I agree with John's critiques of Ruben Ostlund's The Square. There were some scenes and themes that interested me, but ultimately there was too much going on in the 2 hour and 22 minute running time. You could easily cut an hour out of it, and as viewers in 2018, we kinda dip in and out of being attentive. The Square was an easy movie to periodically tune out; I paused it a few times and read bullshit on my phone and computer at different points.

Unlike John, I maybe connected more with the second half of the film than the first half. I didn't care too much about the robbery or vigilante storylines. Though I also didn't have too much interest in the art world sections. The relationship between Christian and his daughters was more interesting than anything else that I witnessed. The reveal that he had daughters changed the way that I saw him, to be honest. He felt more layered as a result, instead of being some handsome dude who beds a ton of women.

The film spends quite a bit of time on the idea that marketing pollutes things. Currently, I am working a web & marketing company that services OB/GYNs and medical practices. That's all well and good, as they do admirable work...but then I will pause and think about the fact that something of marketing that we have to do for them isn't very admirable at all. Yes, people need to know where they can find their local obstetrician, but do they really need to see an ad on Google or Facebook for them? The answer is yes, and you should all applaud me for my good work.

But no, marketing and art shouldn't be a thing. Viral videos shouldn't be a thing. Shock value is boring. I didn't take the bait on any of this film's eccentricities. I've seen plenty of weird, provocative shit over the years, so I don't feel as if The Square is that fresh or groundbreaking. I'm numb to it or dead inside.

At least the film adds a slice of reality to the whole, "at least we got people talking" approach to marketing. We like to promote the idea of freedom of expression/speech, but the other side of that is that money is louder. It's only after the museum loses donations and funding that Christian and the board decide to apologize and act.

***

I also agree with the fact that Kogonada's Columbus has script problems--though it's just minor dialogue issues for me (some of the lines feel too forced). Other than that, I did enjoy this one. It is a beautiful movie to look at, and that makes it easier to deal with the pacing and any of the problems that I had with the script.

I'm hoping Jeff will write about this soon, because he'll do a much better job discussing this one. But one of the things that we both enjoy about Columbus is that the relationship between Jin and Casey isn't romantic at all. Their scenes feature two different people who genuinely enjoy talking to and being around each other. Honestly, it's refreshing.

As someone who recently moved from the town I was raised and spent thirty years of life in, Casey is definitely my "in". Even as I type this, my grandfather is in the hospital after having suffered a minor stroke. I may have also mentioned before that he has stage four lung cancer, and at any point, I could receive terrible news that will get me on a flight back home. I guess I am still trying to come to terms with being so far away from family and the people I care about. But we do things for ourselves and our own growth. Life is meant to be lived, I guess.

I also feel like Casey's love for her town and its architecture is genuine and handled well. When her friend comes back to town from LA (a scene I loved and found funny), she's told that Amsterdam and Los Angeles are both amazing. This causes Casey to assure her friend that she actually likes their hometown. Uh, I can tell you right now that while I do enjoy living in Los Angeles, the awful things you hear about it are also true. And ultimately that's how we should view most places: a mix of good and bad. It's obviously more of a, "your city is what you make of it" kind of thing.

I've never really been interested in architecture before, so it was also new and interesting to hang out with characters who are. Personally, I don't need to be so insular all of the time.

Also, even though the scene between Casey and Gabriel where he talks about attention vs. interest plays out a bit like an annoying Philosophy 101 discussion, I enjoyed listening to it. Examining attention is interesting to me. Even now, I wonder if I've lost your attention. Don't answer that. Here's a picture of a dog on a surfboard:

TV Club

So far in 2018, I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't been watching a lot of TV. I am close to finishing Justified. I think I have 3-4 episodes to go. Instead of watching The Simpsons before bed, lately I've been going through Cheers. I'm nearing the end of season 3. Soon Coach will be gone and I will be sad. Other than that, I've only caught episodes of shows here and there.

Hulu has multiple episodes of AP Bio up. Glenn Howerton brings a lot of Dennis Reynolds to this new role. And even though I hate the idea of making a comedy about a teacher who hates his job and refuses to do it, I've enjoyed what I've seen so far. The creator, Mike O'Brien, is a funny guy and there are a lot of talented, funny people involved.

I started watching the first few episodes of Family Matters. With no Urkel around, all of the comedy seems to be centered around Reginald Veljohnson's reactions to things. Everyone on that show is really good at what they do, though.

I watched the first two episodes of the latest X-Files season and hated them. I don't know that I have the enthusiasm to watch the rest.