Gomorra

It is without a doubt that the film Gomorra- based on the novel by Roberto Saviano (who, due to the books controversy now travels with a permanent police escort) is a new kind of mafia film. Aesthetically, it is more like a reenactment for a documentary sans the narration than the highly-romanticized Godfather-mafia films or the more recent HBO series, The Sopranos. This fresh attempt at telling an often-told story makes Gomorra intriguing enough and nothing like what we have come to expect from a mafia film. The characters are completely unlikable and if they look more like poor products of cheap cocaine and bad Italian techno then its because they are. The film is also completely without a soundtrack and no one eats a large dinner cooked by "Mama."

Instead, the camera stumbles along (I think that director Matteo Garrone forgot his tripod for this film) while taking in all the unglamorous details of the hard and dangerous life of different characters who are loosely related and tied to the criminal activities which plagues greater Naples. This no-frills portrayal creates a hyper-reality that at moments effectively pays off but unfortunately not enough. The problem in Gomorrah is that the film comes with an agenda but is too committed to maintaining the realistic nature of the story to fully explore what it has come to convey. The end result is that Gomorra is actually quit boring. After all, people being shot in the head isn't enough to get an audience engaged anymore. And while were being honest, we've all seen those mafia films so we already know how they end: tragically.

However, it's not how it ends but how we get there, right? Yet, the problem still remains because Gomorra doesn't invest the time into its characters to make the viewers really care what happens to them-- or rather, how it happens. Sure, this actually might be the point of the film's treatment of its characters. In war, whether on the streets of Naples or in the deserts of the Middle East, people lose their identity and become disposable. The film, more or less, treats its characters the same way. Furthermore, we do become aware that in the view of those who run the criminal activities, money and power is more valuable than human life—a major theme fueling the tragic nature of the events that unfold. However, Gomorra wants to go further and show the full extent that this culture of crime has caused and its widespread effect on almost all aspects of the city while maintain its realistic, documentary-like quality. It is for the most part successful in this attempt but ultimately the film falters in the indifference of how, purposeful or unintentional, it handles its characters. Gomorra has a lot to offer but its potential is realized only in brief moments throughout. While still worth a watch, the film comes across as being too caught up in its methods and approach that it often forgets that it is actually telling a story and not just documenting events taking place.

Spill

Okay everyone! Please take note! My new, more dedicated blog is "Spill."

You can find it at saxonbaird.blogspot.com

Whats it about?
Mostly it will be focused cultural criticisms/observations. I'm trying to stand at the intersection of art, politics and society. It's pretty broad but its what I am into. In addition, it should help me with my journalism and a place where people can go to and see what I am into. While I might get personal on it at times, it will always relate back to some running theme. Thus, if I am selling a couch or moving, you probably won't hear about on this blog.

Also, I am planning to post everyday. So put me in your reader if you like what I write. Finally, while not planned out entirely yet, I plan on having some structure to the post. For instance, I have decided that every friday I will write something that is music related. Help you, myself and others hit the weekend off right while maybe adding something interesting or mildly stimulating.
I might have a wednesday theme too. We'll see.

What will happen to This was European?
Good question. I dont know. I think I might make this my personal blog and make it private or password protected. That way it will sort of act like a journal. However, I would distribute that password to friends and family who live afar and are interested in what the heck is going on in my life. However, I might not do this either.

What will happen to the blog posts on here that are already in the vein of cultural criticisms?
I think I might for the first couple months put up a "archived" blog post on the weekends on Spill. This archived post will be from This Was European. There is some stuff on here that I would like to transfer over. I think this will be the best way.

Final Comments?
A couple actually. One, the photo in the title will probably change. I know all my friends will make fun of me for it but blogs are somewhat narcissistic anyways and I don't care what you say, the photo is cool. If you didn't know that it was me, you might actually like it.

Secondly, please please please link to my page. Once again, not trying to be narcissistic but if you do this then you actually help me garner traffic which is important in the industry I am attempting to dive into. So yeah, put me in your blog roll and if I write something that you find interesting then please feel free to post it on your own blog but make sure to put link to where you got it.

Thanks guys, I hope you read my stuff and that I provide your life with two minutes of something interesting everyday. If not, tell me. I welcome criticism.

Changes

So, it looks like this might be the end of this blog. I am currently working on putting together a new blog that will act as a sort of running resume. It will be more focused on a specific niche, mostly likely that of cultural criticisms, and much less about my personal life. It still needs a name and a home but you can expect that to appear within the next two weeks. As far as this blog is concerned I am still undetermined what is to happen to it. I might make it private and just re-print some of my more "professional" posts on my new blog. We'll see. Until then you can read my posts on Pushback.org

Here is a list of my most recent:
Jeremy Mayer Art
John C. Reilly: What is wrong with Art, Hollywood and America
2008 Olympics: No Sex, Money or God
The 2008 Celebrity Assault List, Now Featuring Christian Bale

Bon Iver

I think the Bon Iver excitement is a bit too much. Sure, it's pretty and quiet and melancholy-all these things that us, white twenty-somethings with an heart stooped in indie-rock, tend to like. However, there is very little that stands out and separates Bon Iver from the long-line of quiet, hush-hush, artists that exist today and have preceded them. Its good, but its not that good.

That being said, they just recorded a Daytrotter Session that is worth a listen. The recording is much more crisp that the album and really reveals his voice and awesome lyrics. Its amazing what can happen when you shed your DIY-cred and enter a halfway decent studio.

Check it out here: Bon Iver Daytrotter Session

I suggest listening to this at night during the week, early morning or the four o'clock hour if you work in a cubicle.

McLaren

Apparently, Pushback blog readers are too stupid for this post. Here's my lastest rejected:

A recent article by artist and designer Malcolm McLaren in Art Forum’s 500 Words has an interesting observation on art and western culture while talking about his recent Times Square installation Shallow:

Today, we’re so used to being stuffed with eye candy, with fast food, fast art, fast culture, that to take something really simple and just slow it down is the opposite of how we live. I think our culture today can be summed up by two words: authenticity and karaoke. They can both fit together, but you’ve got to be a bloody magician to make that happen, you’ve got to be some extraordinary alchemist. And some of these contemporary artists are. Many contemporary artists spend their days trying very hard to authenticate a karaoke culture.

At first, the idea of marrying the terms of authenticity and karaoke seems paradoxical. However, by imitating something, as in karaoke, we also can create something that unique and somewhat authentic through our own subjective reinterpretation. Such description of our culture suggests an unabashed recognition of our past in an attempt to create something new. It’s a balance between replication and the effort to make something that distinctly apart of our modern, western culture.

McLaren, who is probably best known for being the managing force behind The Sex Pistols, seems to have acutely recognized a facet of our culture that the attempt to create something wholly new and original that completely separates us from our past, whether it be in art or politics, is obsolete. (Admittedly, many would argue this would be impossible to do now anyways.) Rather, he sees our culture as something that wants to create something new and distinctive by pulling from the past and utilizing it.

Nation's Capital pt. 4

What could compare to the festivities of last week? After all it WAS Fourth of July weekend. Perhaps, it was time to take a breather. You know, turn the fans on hi, grab a Schlitz with some bug spray and kick of those ratty shoes (be sure to put them outside because I know you haven’t been wearing socks) and just have a relaxing weekend of public radio, humidity and no showers. While that isn’t quite the way things went down, this week was a bit slower. Maybe it was because beer outweighed aqua on the alcohol to H20 ratio. Damn dehydration. Your guide to the fantastic and sometimes horribly depressing world of D.C. as selected by yours truly continues:

Plus

+Big Bear Café. This coffee shop sits in a strange location. It’s mostly a residential area. Admittedly, it i also right on the border of some serious gentrification. However, the coffee was actually really good and I heard the food is grub. Plus, they were blasting M.I.A. the whole time.

+ Making friends that you don’t work with or already knew before moving to D.C. I heard this was a good thing so I actually tried it. Working out so far.

+ When your smart, creative and intelligent friends visit from the West Coast and you can go drinking on Monday with them and talk about all the strangeness that is the East Coast. (Diana, Nick…) Always a plus!

+ The second burrito I had in D.C. was a breakfast burrito from a small Latin restaurant next to Casa Blanca’s downtown. Really cheap, filling and delicious.

+ L’Enfant. This is a French restaurant on 18^th and U st. It only serves dinner and alcohol during the week but on the weekends it opens early and serves up a breakfast/lunch menu that is delicious and well-priced. In addition, the service was amazing. While the cuisine and décor is quasi-french, it still is well worth it. Finally, they serve fruit with their plates! I know this sounds strange but most places here don’t offer fruit as a free side with your breakfast meal here. I find this strange. I will definitely return.

+3 dollar, 32 oz. beers from the food mall. (good call A...) Yep. They give them to you in plastic cups with a cover and a straw. You can also walk right out of the mall with them without anyone stopping you.

Minus

- George Washington University undergrad. Its bad enough you go to the most expensive school in the country. Try a little harder to not be a spoiled snob. Sure, you getting a better education than me but you work at the front desk of the student housing…over the summer. You’re essentially a secretary for the school. How cool is that? Nope.

- The first burrito I had in Washington D.C. was for lunch during our national student journalism conference. I threw it up 10 minutes later. Rad. Don’t eat California Tortilla. It’s a glorified Taco Bell. You’re better off going to Chipotle…and no…McDonalds doesn’t own them. Read up kid.

- Local bands. Nothing against the kids but the scene isn’t really showing me anything impressive so far. I’ll keep looking…I know its out there.

- People who are drunk talking about politics. Really? Really? I mean we all live walking distance from the white house practically. Senators cut in line at the local deli. People hand us political propaganda when we walk out of the metro. Half the people you know work on the hill or go to the hill or call people on the hill on a regular basis. Do we really need to talk about politics when we are drunk. Can we not just drink beer and put on a good record. Oh you don’t own a record? Then put on your Ipod for god sake. Lets dance and spill grape juice all over the floor. Lets shake our ass and do our best air-guitar impression. (Bobby…) Lets blow up rubber balloons until we turn blue. Lets NOT talk about politics when we drink. Please? Please…no…I don’t want to talk about the latest poll…no I didn’t read that new article in the Post…shut up. nonononononononononononononononono…nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! no no no blah blah blah. I can’t hear you!

Equal.

You don’t get any equals. I was too opinionated to feel neutral this week.

(Image: Don't Block the Box signs are all over D.C. Even the street signs are trying not the playa-hate.)

Flickr.

here.
updated on the regular.