Toronto ’08: The Round-Up

So, I’m back from a week in Toronto, where I took in a couple of dozen screenings. Here’s how the films stacked up.

Flat-Out, Holy-Cow Masterpiece:

RR (James Benning, USA)

Top-Of-The-Heap Favorites:

35 Shots of Rum (Claire Denis, France)
Wendy and Lucy (Kelly Reichardt, USA)
Liverpool (Lisandro Alonso, Argentina)
A Christmas Tale (Arnaud Desplechin, France)
Jerichow (Christian Petzold, Germany)
Lorna’s Silence (Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, Belgium)

Excellent:

Birdsong (Albert Serra, Spain)
Still Walking (Hirokazu Kore-eda, Japan)
Le Genou d’Artemide (Jean-Marie Straub, France)
Winter and Saraband (Nathaniel Dorsky, USA)
Horizontal Boundaries (Pat O’Neill, USA)
Public Domain (Jim Jennings, USA)

Strong, Fascinating:

The Beaches of Agnes (Agnes Varda, France)
Treeless Mountain (So Yong Kim, S. Korea)
Garden/ing (Eriko Sonoda, Japan)

Still Pondering:

24 City (Jia Zhang-ke, China)
Tokyo Sonata (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Japan)

Interesting:

La Mémoire des Anges (Luc Bourdon, Canada)

Disappointments:

Three Monkeys (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey)
Four Nights with Anna (Jerzy Skolimowski, Poland)
One Day You’ll Understand (Amos Gitai, France)
Dioses (Josué Méndez, Peru)

I Regret Not Being Able To Schedule:

When It Was Blue (Jennifer Reeves, USA)
Revanche (Gotz Spielmann, Austria)
Summer Hours (Olivier Assayas, France)

* * *

I have a brief piece at Artforum on four of the films. This was my tenth straight TIFF, and I was reminded of how much a film festival experience resembles an endurance event. To ‘perform’ well–both in terms of number of films seen and the quality of alertness and attention given to each–means eating well, getting enough sleep, avoiding alcohol, and so on. All the things I was somewhat negligent with this year. I ended up skipping a few films, then felt a twinge of regret.

Darren at Long Pauses and Rob at Daily Plastic have posted their TIFF round-ups. One of the highlights of my festival this year was being able to spend time with them. Darren and Rob are my models, my exemplars, for ‘festivalling’. They frequently took in 4-5 films a day, did multiple filmmaker interviews, made time for socializing, and blogged from the festival–amazing! Next year I’ll be looking to take a lesson or two from their playbooks to up my ‘festival productivity’.

Finally, this can’t go unmentioned: The avant-garde program (“Wavelengths”), curated by Andréa Picard, hit an all-time high this year. For this more than any other reason, I’m looking forward to TIFF ’09.

Your comments on any of the above films or current festivals (e.g. TIFF, NYFF)? They’re most welcome.

* * *

Some links:

— First: Michael Sicinski’s invaluable coverage at his site, including links to his Greencine dispatches.

— Adam Nayman, Jason Anderson, and other critics at TIFF on video at Eye Weekly.

Craig Keller (with links to Andy Rector) on current events at Cahiers du cinéma.

— via Dave Kehr: Godard’s first movie since 2006 is the trailer for the Viennale, viewable here.

— via Chris Cagle: A big film book sale at University of California Press.

David Bordwell on film titles.

— New at Moving Image Source: essays by Chris Fujiwara, Dennis Lim, Richard Porton, Ed Halter, and others.

Comments (55):

  1. steevee

    September 17, 2008 at 3:45 am

    I haven’t been to the past two Toronto Film Festivals, but it does get to resemble an athletic event. I recall one day in 2006 when I went 9 hours between meals. I’ve learned that one needs to actually make plans in order to socialize; at least for me, just counting on people I know to attend the same screenings doesn’t work, or results in 30-second conversations before we all head off in different directions. I wish I’d been able to go the past two years, but I wouldn’t want to do the film festival endurance experience more often than once a year. On the other hand, in some ways, devoting the entirety of 10 days to cinema is easier than the month-long spread of daily press screenings at the New York Film Festival.

  2. Anonymous

    September 17, 2008 at 4:04 am

    Hey Girish, I’m just thrilled that quietly sitting near people who are talking counts as socializing. 😉 Which, I should add, was a highlight for me, too. I didn’t blog as much as I intended to, mostly because I was struck with a sudden and intense pining for Lorraine and Iris back home, but in retrospect I’m kind of glad for that bout of acute melancholia. It’s marked this TIFF as unique from the others, in the same year as all those family films, too.

  3. Daniel Kasman

    September 17, 2008 at 4:07 am

    I clearly missed the boat on Jerichow, what with both you and Michael Sicinski loving it.

    At any rate, it was wonderful to be able to see you again, Girish, many thanks for letting me join up with you and your fellow TIFFers.

  4. Anonymous

    September 17, 2008 at 7:59 am

    Hey Girish,

    Sorry to have missed you in T.O. Wasn’t for lack of looking, but I ended up writing when I wasn’t in screening most of the time. Anyhow, hope to catch up with you down the road.

    Also, glad you dug Jerichow. I was starting to think I was nuts.

  5. Anonymous

    September 17, 2008 at 1:49 pm

    I’m waiting to see what makes it to the Denver International Film Festival this November.

    Film festivals are endurance tests which is why I prefer the ones that either cram everything over the course of a weekend, like Telluride, or spread everything out so that you can schedule your evening viewing, such as the New York Film Festival.

  6. Darren

    September 17, 2008 at 4:04 pm

    “I recall one day in 2006 when I went 9 hours between meals.”

    Steve, I woke up one morning last week with a mild hangover, which was odd since I’d only had one drink the night before, a beer with dinner. Eventually it dawned on me that, other than a cup of coffee in the morning, that beer was the only drink I’d consumed all day. I wasn’t hungover, I was dehydrated!

    Girish, I really like your reading of Lorna’s Silence. I was so with that film until the final 20 minutes, when everything begins to unravel. My first instinct was to assume the Dardennes had written themselves into a corner. But maybe the more interesting question is, why that particular corner?

  7. Ryland Walker Knight

    September 17, 2008 at 6:25 pm

    As much as I loved my Telluride experience, I don’t think I’m built for the short, intensive film festival schedule. Or, I’d need some training, more than apples and kale and coffee, and a lot more sleep, to really think through 4 films a day. It’s a lot easier, and more enjoyable, for me to watch things as I read: slow and repeated over a longer period of time. Still — the burst is exciting. I guess that’s why you keep going, beyond the films, right, Girish? In any event, I’m soooooper excited for _35 rhums_. Gosh. Everything sounds delicious. And PFA is showing _RR_ in October — woot woot! I should have something to say about Jia by the time I meet up with _24 City_, too, as I’m already digging his vibe. And, to echo Darren, your sense of _Lorna_ is the most productive reading I’ve come across, which is always welcome and helpful and appreciated.

    Where would (any of) you recommend starting with Desplechin? I’ve had _Kings and Queens_ in my Q forever.

  8. Ryland Walker Knight

    September 17, 2008 at 6:27 pm

    Oh, and, does _Wendy and Lucy_ far exceed _Old Joy_? I’ve still not seen the earlier film despite all those good words it recieved.

  9. Anonymous

    September 17, 2008 at 9:34 pm

    Hello Girish, it was awesome to meet you and other film-bloggers!

    My rankings would look something like this:

    FAVOURITES/ EXCELLENT:
    1. Le Genou Artemide * (Jean Marie-Straub)
    1. 35 Rhums (Claire Denis)
    1. Liverpool (Lisandro Alonso)

    VERY GOOD:
    4. 24 City (Jia Zhang-ke)
    5. Un Conte de Noel (Arnaud Desplechin)
    6. RR (James Benning)
    7. Still Walking (Hirokazu Koreeda)
    8. Birdsong (Albert Serra)

    GOOD:
    9. JCVD (Mabrouk El Mechri)
    10. Sut (Semih Kaplanoglu)
    11. Tokyo Sonata (Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
    12. Of Time and the City (Terence Davies)
    13. Waltz with Bashir (Ari Folman)
    14. Salamandra (Pablo Agüero)
    15. Wendy and Lucy (Kelly Reinhardt)
    16. Tony Manero (Pablo Larrain)

    DISAPPOINTING:
    17. Achilles and the Tortoise (Takeshi Kitano)

    NO COMMENT:
    18. Nuit de Chien (Werner Shroeter)

    I regret missing Jerichow, When it Was Blue, and Plastic City.

    Overall, this has been the best festival I’ve had so far, but this is probably because I made the wisest decisions this year. It’s hard to imagine how I’d be able to fit in all the film that I wanted to see that didn’t make it!

    The only film I thoroughly disliked was Werner Schroeter’s Nuit de Chien. It’s strange, I’ve liked the last film at the fest the least all three years.

  10. Darren

    September 17, 2008 at 11:11 pm

    It was good to meet you too, Eli. I’m pretty sure I liked Nuit de Chien but I’m not sure how to even begin talking about it. Maybe I’d start with words like “Kafka” and “Bunuel.” All I know is that there are images in that film that literally made me light-headed, and that has to mean something, right?

  11. girish

    September 18, 2008 at 12:46 am

    Hey thanks, everyone!

    Darren, Rob, Steve, Peter — I’m still recovering from festival exhaustion: I actually came home from work this evening and went straight to sleep for a couple of hours. And this is going to sound amazingly geeky but yesterday I recorded, in my diary, several resolutions and personal exhortations for next TIFF.

    Danny, it was fun to have you join us for those meals. And living in New York, I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before you get a crack at the Petzold. I’ve seen nothing else by him, and am curious to check out his previous work.

    Michael, I looked for you in TO as well. Since we were going to different screenings (I went only to the public, not the press/industry ones), I can see why we missed each other. Your TIFF dispatches were fantastic–I don’t know how you do it, but I sure looked forward to them each day. And I should thank you for turning me on to Jerichow. I didn’t have a ticket for it going into the festival.

    Ry, that Jia series looks great. In TO, Susan Oxtoby was telling me about some of the series in the works for PFA from now till the spring, e.g. the 1940’s Finnish melodramas which were an influence on Kaurismaki. They sounded fascinating. Re: Kelly Reichardt, Old Joy is a strong film but the new one is even better. I’d suggest seeing the former; it’ll put you in the right frame of mind to even better appreciate the dozens of offhand nuances of Wendy and Lucy. Re: Desplechin, the new film is his most accessible and may be a good point of entry. My Sex Life, or How I Got Into An Argument might also be a good place to begin. (I’m not sure if the American dvd is still in print and netflixable.) His masterpiece (IMO) is Esther Kahn. Also, he has some very eloquent admirers in our film-blogosphere, including Zach Campbell and Dan Sallitt. Perhaps they, or others, might offer suggestions too.

    Eli, it was good to meet you too. When I was your age, in high school, I had nowhere near the fine taste you seem to have! On the final day of the fest, I skipped out on my last two films, (Salamandra, Nuit de Chien) and now I regret it. I’ll try to make a couple of trips to the Cinematheque in the fall; perhaps I’ll see you there.

  12. Anonymous

    September 18, 2008 at 1:06 am

    Darren, I have to agree that there were a few stunning images, but to me they were mainly just like nice photographs in a film where every single shot is “supposed” to be a painting. I actually liked the film for the first twenty minutes or so, before it felt like a 60s exploitation film (nothing exactly wrong with that, but it seemed that Schroeter was aiming for high art). I was in disbelief at how immature and fatuous some of the parts were. Some examples off the top of my head would be the waiter’s meeting with Morasan, the Tranvestite showering, the sex scene, and the kids showering together.

    I also couldn’t help but dislike the way that he showed the chaos and the dead; it’s all so aestheticized. The nonsensical plot(and while I usually couldn’t care less about plot, in fact I really would rather there wasn’t any here)had no context of being such, either logically or poetically. I didn’t find anything of worth in what Schroeter was doing, in fact I don’t think he was doing anything with it all.

    There is one shot I can remember distinctly liking. It is the shot of the man praying on the table, with the animals around him. But in an empty film, even with a shot like this, there’s still nothing there.

    I may try to watch The Death of Maria Malibran soon, as I’ve heard great things about that one, and for comparison.

    Last year I intensely disliked Shinji Aoyama’s Sad Vacation, but the article in Cinema Scope and Daniel Kazman’s article in The Auteurs Notebook had me rethink my original opinion. Maybe the same could happen for Nuit de Chien, but certainly the scenes that I listed above will hold me back.

  13. Gareth

    September 18, 2008 at 2:09 am

    Ryland,

    I think there are as many ways in as there are Desplechin films, but I’d suggest a more chronological approach to Desplechin, just because it has worked for me; I’ve always found his films to be like the members of a very idiosyncratic family, unified and yet absolutely individual, and as such meeting them in the order he presents them has been a real pleasure (I’ve seen them in order since La Sentinelle, but if you could go back and start with La Vie des morts that might be fun).

    If anything, Esther Kahn seems to me the exception – wonderful but from a distant branch of that same family, and not just because of its setting. The American DVD prints of some of his films are terrible, which is a real pity; both My Sex Life and Kings and Queen look dreadfully washed-out, lacking the warmth of the big screen prints. Needless to say, I can’t wait for the new film!

  14. Anonymous

    September 18, 2008 at 3:09 am

    Girish – perhaps! Which films are you planning to see? Are there any Oshimas that you recommend? I’ve circled Night and Fog in Japan, Boy, The Ceremony, Death by Hanging, and The Sun’s Burial. The Quinzaine series looks superb, but alas, many of the screenings are on school nights: Fox and his Friends, Fata Morgana, The Devil, Probably, and Naked Childhood are all playing in the middle of the week. I can definitely not afford to miss Celine and Julie, which is furtunately on the weekend.

    Also, I’ve been planning out a layout for my film club. My primary goal is to show eye-opening films. Any suggestions? So far I’ve jotted down a rough order: Stroszek, Sonatine, Sword of Doom, Rebels of the Neon God, Days of Eclipse, F for Fake, Duelle, Eclipse, and then Marienbad. I can’t help but feel like some of these may be too much, but it would be a nice experiment all the same.

  15. Jeff BBz

    September 18, 2008 at 3:35 am

    A lurky Several Year Lurker, first time commenter. Sounds like you all had a blast at TIFF. Wish I could have gone.

    Anyone around this web going to PIFF (Pusan, as in Korea)? This will be my second time although 2006 was only for a weekend (but it was enough to catch Syndromes and a Century and Fantasma.)

    I realize its quite far away from most people but films are only 5000 Won (5 bucks with a better US dollar)! and there looks to be a stellar line up with a lot of the TIFF faves, 35 Shots of Rum,
    Wendy and Lucy, Liverpool, A Christmas Tale, Jerichow, Lorna’s Silence, The terrence davies the kim so yong and more, plus a few that weren’t at TIFF, most notably the new garrel, obviously hong sang soo, and the world premiere of Raoul Ruiz’s new one Nucingen Haus! Not to mention scores of asian films and korean films.

    So the questions for anyone here:

    1. anyone going or know anyone going?
    2. is anybody talking about this thing (Preferably in english) on the blogs or the net? (cause I can’t find it really)
    3. Do any of the South east asian readers of this blog have recommendations as far as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, or the Philipines go?

    keep up the awesome blog, girish, sorry for hijacking it momentarily.

  16. Anonymous

    September 18, 2008 at 4:35 am

    Ryland, you’re in luck. The San Francisco Film Society will be showing three of Desplechin’s films in October, and they’re not the ones available on DVD. I’m envious.

  17. Anonymous

    September 18, 2008 at 1:27 pm

    Jeff: I’m not sure I understood question #3. If you are trying to get more up to date info on Thai films, check out Wise Kwai. Curtis also writes about the film festivals in Southeast Asia.

    I write about Thai films from time to time, and have also lived in Chiang Mai, Thailand for about four months.

  18. Anonymous

    September 18, 2008 at 3:58 pm

    Thanks for the write-up on Toronto. I always have the same discovery every year at Full Frame and/or Silverdocs. Festivals combine the endurance test of a marathon with the speed of a 100m sprint.

    Given that many of these films won’t make it to theaters near me, I’ll miss that experience, but at least I know what to add to my viewing queues.

  19. Anonymous

    September 18, 2008 at 3:59 pm

    PS After reading Ebert’s recent blog post on star ratings, I love your classification system!

  20. Ryland Walker Knight

    September 18, 2008 at 4:11 pm

    Thanks, all, for the ideas on Desplechin. I’ve read plenty on him from across the film’sphere (I even remember reading this back in 2005, holding an actual, real, print NYT) but, as with so many filmmakers, I’ve not yet taken the plunge. He’s on the list, for sure. And with that SFFS stuff (thanks for the tip, Rob), maybe he’ll get bumped up quicker than some others.

  21. Anonymous

    September 18, 2008 at 4:59 pm

    I would agree with Gareth that chronological is the best approach to Desplechin, who is certainly one of my favorite directors out there. This is indeed made more difficult in that 3 of his films are near impossible to see here in America. La Vie Des Morts, which truly is a perfect introduction, setting on their paths many of his consistent themes and styles. Playing ‘In The Company of Men’ has to my recollection only played twice here in NYC so seeing that is quite difficult, and L’Aimee which I was wise enough to blow off Redacted at last years NYFF to go see. This last film is incredible, and besides interestingly having a very similar style of shooting a family home as his first film, contends with many of the same issues as his other works, though here in a non-fiction film. I think it is a brilliant and very important film in the way it functions in dialogue with his other works.

    So, unfortunately the lack of availability of those films may make the chronological approach a little more difficult I would still recomend seeing those that one can in said order. I have to run so can’t go into too much depth but there ya go. Hopefully others have some thoughts and I can delve in Desplechin deeper at a later moment.

  22. Jeff BBz

    September 18, 2008 at 6:44 pm

    Peter (and others)

    Sorry my third question was unclear. Basically I meant new films from those countries that may be showing at PIFF and that I should look out for. Thanks

  23. Michael J. Anderson

    September 18, 2008 at 9:07 pm

    Girish,

    I’m happy to hear that you esteem RR so highly, though it will mean one more trip into New York for me. At least in sounds well worth the Metro North (CT) fare.

    Speaking of the NYFF, I was perhaps most disappointed to see “Liverpool” left out of the fest, and it sounds like I was right to be disappointed. I am envious of all you who are able to attend a comprehensive, internationally-focused festival, unlike those in Gotham.

    Lastly, have you had the chance to see “Yella”? I am wondering how you feel “Jerichow” compares, if you have. I am hoping to hear the words “far exceeds,” in spite of the fact that I admired the former. Thanks.

  24. girish

    September 18, 2008 at 10:13 pm

    Thank you, all!

    Eli, those are some solid Oshimas you’ve circled. I haven’t made up my travel schedule yet, although an overnight trip to catch both Night and Fog in Japan and Boy looks likely since neither is available on dvd as far as I know. And all your film club selections look strong. Will you be showing these on projected dvd? (I didn’t realize there was a Duelle dvd with English subs.)

    Jeff, the Pusan festival line-up is impressive. Do you know Marc Raymond? He’s a Canadian cinephile who lives in Seoul. His blog is on my sidebar (under his last name) and he occasionally comments here. He might be able to answer some of your questions.

    Michael J., good to hear from you. I’m a long-time Tativille reader. I don’t think you’ll regret your extra trip into the city for RR. I’ve seen nothing but Jerichow by Petzold, but Michael Sicinski, in his review, speaks a bit about why he prefers the new one to Petzold’s previous films.

  25. Sachin

    September 18, 2008 at 11:15 pm

    Hey Girish,

    Actually I recently found out that Night and Fog in Japan is available via DVD in the UK. It is in PAL, region 2 format though. But that should not be a problem as most computers can play the different regions, although one can only switch the region about 5 times.

  26. Unknown

    September 19, 2008 at 12:49 am

    This comment has been removed by the author.

  27. Unknown

    September 19, 2008 at 12:49 am

    “But that should not be a problem as most computers can play the different regions, although one can only switch the region about 5 times.”

    I’ve found that with vlc player, which you can download online, you can watch any region you want as many times as you want. This may just be true of my last couple computers.

    Will be doing more coverage, but so far, the Oshima not to miss is Boy. Death by Hanging, if there’s time, and Violence at Noon, whether or not it’s good, is a hell of an experience on 35mm.

  28. Sachin

    September 19, 2008 at 11:37 am

    Thanks David. I will try that player out.

  29. acquarello

    September 19, 2008 at 12:49 pm

    Is the Cinematheque Oshima retrospective the same one that’s the NYFF sidebar (the schedule isn’t up yet online)? I think Eli’s circled the right ones (I think I actually prefer The Cermenony a little over Boy but they’re both great films), I’d also add Three Ressurrected Drunkards and The Man Who Left His Will on Film. In terms of theme, Three Ressurrected Drunkards, Death By Hanging, Diary of a Yunbogi Boy all deal with the discrimination of Koreans in Japan; Night and Fog in Japan and The Man Who Left the Will on Film (and to a smaller degree, Violence at Noon where the characters are former occupants of a failed collective farm) deal with the collapse of the Left movement; and A Town of Love and Hope, Boy, Cruel Story of Youth, and The Sun’s Burial involve con games.

    Incidentally, VLC will play other regions only if there isn’t some kind of macrovision or encryption involved. Otherwise, it still won’t play.

  30. acquarello

    September 19, 2008 at 2:36 pm

    Oops, The Ceremony, not The Cermenony. 😮

  31. Michael Guillen

    September 19, 2008 at 6:20 pm

    How uncermenonious of you, Acquarello. Heh.

    The current issue of Film Comment has an informative write-up on the Oshima traveling retrospective, which I was heartened to read would arrive at our Pacific Film Archives next Spring. One of the treasures I walked away with from TIFF08 was the Cinematheque’s Fall 2008 program guide, with its lustrous Quandt essay on Oshima.

    I love being perpetually in school.

  32. acquarello

    September 19, 2008 at 10:48 pm

    Err…umm…I plead Spastic Fingers Syndrome. Yeah, that’s the ticket! 😉

  33. girish

    September 19, 2008 at 11:00 pm

    Thanks, all, for the Oshima suggestions! Like Michael says, the James Quandt essay is fabulous. Acquarello, I picked up an extra copy of the program guide for you and will put it in the mail Monday. James also polled a group of scholars on their favorites, and has included their lists in the issue. He also told me how surprised he was that Three Resurrected Drunkards (one of his favorites) featured on so many people’s lists despite being a bit obscure.

  34. girish

    September 19, 2008 at 11:09 pm

    And Acquarello, it is indeed the same series as the one in the NYFF sidebar. NYC is the first stop, Cinematheque Ontario the second.

  35. Anonymous

    September 20, 2008 at 1:50 am

    Three Ressurrected Drunkards and The Man Who Left His Will on Film are two others that I would love to see, but it doesn’t seem like time will permit. The Catch also looks like a great obscure Oshima. If only I could see everything!

    Girish, I will be showing these on DVD. Duelle does not have a DVD release with English subs (I could only wish it did, with the rest of Rivette), but I can acquire a copy from not-so-legal places online.

  36. girish

    September 20, 2008 at 2:52 am

    Eli, I’ll be missing Three Resurrected Drunkards too: I teach my grad class Monday nights, so all those screenings are shot for me.

  37. acquarello

    September 20, 2008 at 1:06 pm

    Thanks, G! Any word on whether or not they’ll be releasing a Cinematheque Ontario Monograph for the series? I was able to double dip on the Kon Ichikawa series when it hit New York and then DC the following year, and having the book for the DC series made for a richer viewing.

  38. girish

    September 20, 2008 at 2:36 pm

    Alas, Acquarello, no monograph for this series, although James is currently working on an expanded edition of the Bresson book which will include several new pieces, by Pedro Costa, Mark Rappaport, and others.

  39. steevee

    September 21, 2008 at 3:30 am

    In Desplechin news, L’AIMEE may be getting a week-long run in New York, coupled with LA VIE DES MORTS, in November. I can’t wait, although I was a little disappointed by A CHRISTMAS TALE.

  40. Anonymous

    September 21, 2008 at 5:36 am

    Well, that’s good news. I am quite looking forward to the new Desplechin, and I must say I think L’aimee is absolutely incredible and endlessly fascinating when viewed alongside his other films. Also, there are few directors who can speak as intelligently about his or her own films, or cinema in general, as Desplechin.

  41. girish

    September 22, 2008 at 6:46 pm

    Hoping to put up a post sometime Wednesday after classes peak for the week…

  42. Michael Guillen

    September 23, 2008 at 2:36 pm

    The unruly crowd chants mercilessly: “Entry, entry, entry, entry….”

  43. girish

    September 23, 2008 at 3:16 pm

    Maya, it’s only the merciless voice in my head that’s doing the chanting. 🙂

  44. Michael Guillen

    September 23, 2008 at 5:07 pm

    Heh. Title to an autobiography (yours? mine? their’s?): The Self-flagellation of the Avid Blogger.

  45. Sachin

    September 23, 2008 at 6:04 pm

    Girish, I wonder if that chant is related to the “Publish or Perish” voice that I have heard haunts a few professors 🙂 Although in the blog world, I think the options are “Publish Post” or “Delete”. Hmm

  46. girish

    September 23, 2008 at 6:16 pm

    Actually, I wasn’t being serious–no tormenting voice (thankfully!). But I do feel comfortable with a once-a-week posting schedule, and when I start to slip, I can feel a little internal nudge.

  47. acquarello

    September 23, 2008 at 6:18 pm

    I bet Maya used to nag his parents into opening presents on Nochebuena too. 🙂

  48. Michael Guillen

    September 23, 2008 at 8:57 pm

    Which you can read about in their autobiography: Raising Maya: A Horror Story.

  49. Ted Fendt

    September 24, 2008 at 3:28 am

    Having no prior experiance with Oshima, I’ve initially (and rather arbitrarally) bought tickets to the NYFF screenings of A Cruel Story of Youth, The Ceremony, and The Man Who Left His Will on Film.

    Depending on my schedule, I imagine seeing several more.

  50. Michael Guillen

    September 25, 2008 at 2:31 am

    “Entry! Entry! EnTRY! ENTRY!!” The bloggers chant to a deafening roar: “One of us, one of us, ONE OF US!!”

  51. girish

    September 25, 2008 at 2:52 am

    Heh heh. Believe it or not, it’s coming right up! (Inserting scads of hyperlinks as I speak.)

  52. Michael Guillen

    September 25, 2008 at 5:18 am

    Phew. Thank goodness. I thought I was going to have to come after you wiggling through the mud with a knife in my teeth. Hee hee.

    You’re a good sport and the new entry is rich.

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