Tappity Tap
I was on the verge of writing something but just “Ah, fuck[ed] it.” I don’t know how people even do it anymore. There’s just so many places to go, no? I’m paralyzed.
I did want to write something though ‘cause I love the exercise of it. Literally tapping my fingers against these keys. I love the feeling and I love the sound. Very therapeutic. I don’t know why I don’t do it more often, given the way it makes me feel. Kind of like how I don’t listen to my favorite albums or songs more often. I’m so bad about that.
Speaking of favorites… I watched Gosford Park the other night. It was a real fucking nightmare, the evening not the film. I don’t know exactly what happened to me (possibly food poisoning but I reckon that lasts longer than a couple of days) but I think I had a fever (too lazy to check my temperature) and I just wanted everything to stop. I was sweating through my clothes. I was hot, then I was cold. I felt nauseous. My head was pounding. Nightmare. I kept pleading with the Universe. Well not really, but there were more than a few times you could’ve caught me clutching my head in the fetal position muttering “please, please, please…” Fucking corporeal body.
Anyway, if you haven’t seen Gosford Park, do. It’s one of my favorite films of all-time. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen it… I’d guess about six or seven after last night? Which I think is remarkable since I don’t own it (criminal). Never saw it in the theatre either. Only ever seen it on IFC or the like. And I only found out the other night that it was on Netflix Watch Instantly; happy little accident. And I almost watched it again, back-to-back. It was just what the doctor ordered… as therapeutic as this typing is, even more so actually. I’m trying to conjure why I love it as I do… There’s that element, of that one thing. In a song it’s a few seconds of a melody or a word that forces you to listen to the whole. In Gosford… there’s this one performance/piece of dialogue that is… it makes the whole film worth the experience. I just love it. I wait for it. It’s almost everything.
But then there’s so much to love about the film, it’s a Robert Altman film so it has that epic ensemble dynamic which I’m a sucker for. It’s like… controlled chaos. I imagine bees buzzing. It’s so active. There’s always something to draw the eye or the ear; always something happening. Frenetic without being nerve-wracking. I love the pace of the film. It’s kind of a monster (time-wise), but doesn’t feel that way since it moves at such a steady clip.
There’s also the English being English, love that, I don’t know when I’ll ever not love that. I love English anything in the same way that I love Period anything, which this also is, 1930’s I believe. And at least to this untrained eye everything seems so spot-on. The clothes are gorgeous, the furniture, the exteriors, interiors, etc. Everything is just so beautiful. If I hated the story I could merely watch the film and be satisfied.
Meh, I could go on and on but I don’t know why I would, I didn’t intend for this to be a review… I just love it, it’s one of my “happy place” places. It’s chicken soup. It’s Autumn leaves. It’s the Pacific at sunset. It’s the smell of coffee. And on and on and on.
I did want to pick up on the Altman thread for a moment. As soon as the film started playing I just kept thinking how shitty it was that he died. Ugh. Apart from this recent viewing he’s been on my mind, Altman along with Satoshi Kon and Alexander McQueen. Just outta the blue I’ll think “[choose one] is dead… that’s so fucked up.” Such a downer. I can’t stop wondering what could have been. I hate that.
Hmmm, how to leave off on a high… Humans doing things. I meant to include that in my Gosford… bit. Something of mine I think about a lot… like the motion of things, Humans doing things. And in this instance, the feeling of being invested and detached at the same time. Recognizing the joke of it and then the pleasure of it too. I like moments like that, being in the middle of it… sometimes it’s alienating, the thought, at least initially, and I guess it turns every now and then, but sometimes it doesn’t and it feels good, kind of comforting. And Gosford… hits the right kind of note with Humans doing things; Tragic, ridiculous, beautiful, wondrous, etc. all at the same time.
