2002-10-21 | 5:54 p.m.

corduroy licorice liked to call in sick. most radio personalities seemed to enjoy having a hoarse, hacking guest comment on the topic of the day.

***

this weekend i participated in the AIDS walk, which has become a tradition for me. it's fun to perambulate around l.a., slowly absorbing the sights i whiz past all the time in my car.

some walkers wear pieces of paper safety-pinned to the backs of their t-shirts with their handwritten answer to the unfinished statement, "i walk because." at the start of the walk, a man in his 50s a few feet in front of me was helping his wife rearrange her backpack. his sign said, "...because we lost our son, greg, to AIDS." i peered at the mom's lifeworn face as i passed, and realized that she was why i was walking.

***

a beautiful moment from the journal of future bird:

"i want 20 years with you. he says now and then. the first time he said that i got so upset i cried. 20 years is not nearly enough. i don�t like to number the years, but they count themselves even without me."

***

i saw a wonderfully quirky movie this weekend called punch-drunk love. written and directed by the lovely and talented paul thomas anderson of magnolia and boogie nights fame, it stars adam sandler and emily watson as star-crossed lovers. the odd love story-ness of it reminded me a lot of joe vs. the volcano--from the opening scene of office despair to the salacious swigs from the beer stein of surreality. the only thing it was missing was a brain cloud.

i sometimes read reviews that call a movie a director's valentine to his audience. this film definitely felt like a wet, sloppy kiss of a valentine. p.t., i felt the love. it was gorgeous to look at and featured some of the most artistically framed images i've ever seen. the kinds of sights that elicit small gasps of delight. one scene of this kind is featured in the movie poster art. another was a shot of adam's shadow as he runs from trouble like a panting, panicking cartoon character come to life.

as far as the acting, i thought adam did a great job of playing a man struggling to figure out what's wrong with himself. at several different moments my heart went out to him in a rain man sort of way. a broken-up boy can be so damn appealing. emily watson was a really refreshing choice for leading lady--as unexpected as the film itself. and mary lynn rajskub, the former delightfully pinched face assistant on the larry sanders show did a terrific job as the battering ram leader of adam's seven evil sisters.

it was wall-to-wall with so many hilarious little moments. one valid criticism that tv zero mentioned was that emily's part was underwritten, and little reason was given for her affection for adam. the latter point usually really chaps my hide in romantic films, but in this case i didn't let it get to me. the movie is so absurd, it gets a hall pass for skipping over things that would be glaring flaws in less ambitious films.

another friend seemed annoyed by the recurrent, unexplained appearances of the harmonium throughout the film. i though that was great, too. ok, a not too subtle symbol of the harmony that this woman brought to his discordant life. (in fact, so not subtle that he lugs the symbol across town, sweating all over his seemingly luminous blue suit, to his girl when trying to recapture what he's damaged. i love that kind of shit. if i could find a guy who'd haul harmonium for me, i'd be set.)

speaking of discordant, the music in the scenes where adam is freaking out does a great job of creating that same agitated mood in the viewer. on the flip side, the molasses-smooth tunes when love is in the air make it all better. as sweet and comforting as pudding. the director also used some interesting transitions that appeared to be computer-generated paintings resembling variations on the end-of-viewing-day color bars. it was a dreamy technique that added to the fable-y feeling of the film.

i guess there's no hiding it. i've got a crush on you, punch-drunk love.

***

speaking of funny and speaking of movies, my favorite movie reviewer mike d'angelo wrote one of the funniest reviews i've read in a long time. never mind reviews. it's one of the funniest things i've read in a long time. it helps that i agree with his sardonic take on the film, but i think anyone would get a kick out of this savory skewering:

"basically what it is is i wanted every single character in this picture to die a slow lingering painful vivid death. igby in particular i thought was insufferable. there was not a single moment when i did not long to punch him repeatedly in the face. i do not care how fucked up his family is, there is no excuse for being that smug and callow and self-absorbed and obnoxious and unpleasant. at least not when flock of seagulls so clearly means for us to find his behavior delightfully impertinent. who let flock of seagulls make a movie anyways. just because gore vidal is his uncle we have to endure the sight of spoiled rich brats making mischief but really they are crying on the inside. i will give you something to cry about bud. also this picture features many of my least favorite actors of the cinema. the latest model culkin robot ("rory") is pretty okay but I do not think they had quite worked out the bugs yet with this "kieran" version, he has still got some of the design flaws that made "macauley" such a trial. amanda peet still suffers from the delusion that she is the serious thespian when really the filmatists just like that she will gratuitously show off her tits all the time. she is not as awful here as she is in the high crimes or the changing of the lanes but still jesus christ she is awful. then there is ryan phillippe and his supercilious plummy line readings from hell. he is only tolerable when pretending to be the british valet but turning out to be the lousy american actor which is what he (phillippe) is. even actors i usually like (goldblum, sarandon, pullman) are pretty kind of unbearable here which just proves that poor direction by flock of seagulls is to blame. it takes the serious effort to make claire danes this hateful. also she is too skinny now, have a bear claw claire jesus."

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