Movie Adaptations Are the Best: "This Is Where I Leave You" Edition

     There is going to be a movie adaptation of Jonathan Tropper's novel This Is Where I Leave You. I picked that book up at random a couple of years ago and found myself laughing out loud at the dialogue and the narrator's inner monologue. This was not the kind of laughing out loud that is expressed with a simple "lol" and a crying-laughing emoji. This was the kind of laughter that startles and annoys everyone around you, but is totally worth it. The book is about an extremely dysfunctional family, and the dysfunction is -usually- played for laughs. Narrator Judd Foxman returns to his childhood home to fulfill his father's dying wish; the patriarch wanted his children and wife to sit shiva for him. While the family was never particularly in touch with their religion and its practices, they oblige. Sibling rivalries re-surface, relationships go awry, and it is proven again and again that families are strange and complex and exhausting- but also really, really great. It is like The Royal Tenenbaums meets Eulogy meets Crazy, Stupid, Love.
     So not only will this movie be hilarious (Tropper wrote the screenplay!), it also looks really well-cast. Adam Driver and Tina Fey look especially close to the way I imagined their characters. Add in the fact that they -and the rest of the cast- are very talented, and this should be a pretty great movie.

"Oh, man, I forgot to tell you what happened yesterday!"

I've never been to summer camp. Each year, I spend most of my summer in my hometown; that isn't too uncommon, but seems significant to me. Being "at home" makes the days seem longer, the few months stretching out before you like a long and scalding-hot road. You find things to do, making memories during the most everyday activities.
In Daniel Clowes' graphic novel "Ghost World", protagonists Enid and Rebecca -newly-minted high-school graduates and practiced cynics- elevate summertime aimlessness to an art form. Instead of succumbing to boredom, the pair entertain each other as they trek back and forth between their houses, a diner, a supermarket, or a garage sale. They people-watch; their observations range from goofy to caustic, but even their worst commentary is amusing, somehow. They discuss weird things they've heard from family members or the people on TV, philosophizing, bantering, and griping. In talking about interesting things that happened to other people, Enid and Rebecca create memories for themselves.
Enid and Rebecca aren't tanning on a beach, or building a house, or visiting with family over the summer... And boredom is the one thing they're not talking about. They're interested in everything and everyone- even if they have to make up reasons to be.
Maybe that is what happens when you don't have days of structured activity and nights spent in cabins (if my ideas about camp life are accurate)- you make your own fun. My friends and I have always managed to do that, I can't picture spending summer in any other way.

So... If you like sarcasm and complicated characters, or you're looking for something to do this summer, try "Ghost World".

Art and Whatnot

This is my first blog post, ever. I've been wanting to start blogging for a long time, but I wasn't sure what I would say. I'm still not entirely sure what I want to write about here- I'm just going to write as the ideas come to me. This has been floating around in my brain for a couple of days:

I went to MoMA one day last week; "The Maybe" wasn't there, but it was still an interesting trip.
I've been thinking a lot about the purpose of art,and going to the museum helped me to answer some of my questions. Does art have value if it's only meaningful to a handful of people? Does art have to "mean" anything, or is it just enough for it to be aesthetically pleasing?

Walking through the museum, I found myself interested in different works of art for different reasons. I liked a photograph because it provided a window into another time, and enjoyed another photo simply because it made me do a double-take. There was a photograph I would've passed by without much thought, if I hadn't read the sign on the wall and understood the artist's vision. There's a sculpture that I liked for its surprising medium, and there were paintings I could've stared at all day, even though they're fairly basic in composition.

To me, it isn't an artist's technical skill that makes them talented, but just that they have created something that can speak to someone else.

Going to the art museum, like so many other events in my life, forced me to confront a truism and realize its worth. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" is one of those statements that, even though it's a cliche, isn't wrong, and I think that value, meaning, or worth are all in the eye of the beholder, as well. I don't think it's right to dismiss art that you don't understand; even if it seems devoid of worth to you, someone else might see something within it that you don't. Another thing- you're not "dumb", and your problem isn't that you "don't understand art"- your problem is that you're staring so hard at something you can't connect with that you're missing out on all of the art that might speak to you.

I like to take my time in art museums*- I stroll and then stop, trying to absorb every bit of a piece that has drawn me in. In contrast, if nothing in a room appeals to me, I can breeze right on through. I don't think this means that I'll miss anything- I'll come back when I'm ready, when I'm interested. I'm slighting neither painter nor painting by doing this; there is always someone standing just in front of a work of art, contemplating it or even photographing it. The way I see it, there's a painting for everyone, and there's someone for every painting.

* (I can hear my friends and family laughing now- I really like to take my time pretty much everywhere.)