scene but not herd

A fingerprint smudge on the side of a skyscraper. I'm stealing this from a movie I just saw called SIDEWAYS. Ah, sweet insignificance. What a great analogy and I've had a few days where I've felt like that. Actually I might be having one now. Anyway, I wish I was an mp3 blog currently so I could post a Beach Boys song called " 'Til I Die" which expresses these sentiments perfectly. I really liked this film and maybe it was because I can identify with the lead character, except I don't get to hook up with Virginia Madsen. I went to school, UC Santa Barbara, which is in the general vicinity of where the movie takes place and oddly enough I majored in film studies there. It is rare that I watch movies analytically any more. Like music, it is usually a purely visceral experience nowadays. It either hits me or it doesn't. This one did hit me. This movie is very plot and character oriented so if you're strongly into that I'm sure you'll enjoy it very much. Things like that aren't actually that important to me. Being that film is a visual medium I sometimes miss directors affecting me purely through my sight, but that seems to be the norm nowadays. I think sometimes people focus too much on acting and the story and their appreciation of a film is based solely on that. I'm not talking about eye candy either because all of today's CGI work I often don't find that interesting either. I'm talking about stuff like the use of widescreen, color, sound, blocking, etc. to convey meaning. There's a movie I love called ONE FROM THE HEART which was critically dismissed because of its acting and plot, but it is overflowing with visual cues. The films of Pedro Almodovar are like that as well especially something like LAW OF DESIRE. I guess what I'm saying is that a film like SIDEWAYS doesn't have all that, but by no means does that ruin the film for me. I guess this was just a tangent I went on reminiscing about some of the stuff I liked in film studies. Having said all that, the acting in SIDEWAYS is great all around and there are laugh out loud moments as well as poignant ones. I never ventured north of Santa Barbara when I went to school and this movie made me regret that decision. It is one of the nicer drives you can have in California and I really feel like travelling through there right now. It would really be nice to stop somewhere and have a picnic and drink some wine. I tell you that the epicurean aspects of the world sure make life worth living. Just thinking about that puts me in a better mood. Needless to say I may have a few drinks this evening.