dinosaur brain
June (Allyson) round-up
Happy June Allyson dearly beloved! I'm really in my element as a summer fan. My ideal weather is early to mid '70s with a cool breeze, but I don't mind sweltering heat. Quite ironic that I was born in the wintertime.
reading corner
Starting Point: A collection of Hayao Miyazaki essays and interviews spanning 1979-1996. The volume covers a range of topics from his views on animation to philosophy, politics, and environmental conservation. He believes that animation is a medium people of all ages can enjoy, but that it's primarily for children. Animation fans are too self-conscious about liking kids movies; they ought to adopt Miyazaki's outlook.
I love that his personal pessimism about the state of the world never colors his films. And even when he laments the future, his solution is quite simple: "So how do we go on living? If you ask me, the only solution is to make lots of children. Let your children give you hell, suffer through illness...In my opinion, that's what it means to be alive.”
Y/N - Esther Yi: Confounding satire of y/n fanfiction and unhealthy devotion to k-pop idols. Yi holds fanfiction in a much higher regard than I do. There's nothing wrong with it, it has merits as a creative exercise, but I don't get the people who say it's just as "valid" as actual literature. Anyway, this is a quick read that also excavates desire and loneliness. K-pop and other music fans do behave like religious adherents. Humans have a deep seated desire to worship God and when they reject Him, they will worship something or someone else. Lol!
The fact that he had a face distressed him. If only it could remain hidden like the secret of his groin. But then he met me. Finally, he could bear to be seen. I looked at him so much, more than anyone ever had, that it left him no room to look at himself. That had been the problem, the looking at himself.
“Cock the gun of your eyes,” he sang. “I will make myself easy to shoot.”
Essays I enjoyed recently:
music notes
Fe304: BREAK: NMIXX
I've been listening to and sharing these songs non-stop lately. They've pioneered the mixx-pop concept, their tracks boasting a switch-up in the beats, speeding up or slowing down. It's a really fresh approach. And they're all exceptional vocalists. Performing live without a backtrack is seriously impressive.
1 to 3: Suho
ROCKSTAR FROM OUTER SPACE 🎸🤘🏼 I love the energy on this album, the grooviness of this interstellar adventure and how it makes its descent into the sweet lull of Zero Gravity. Suho's vision and storytelling are unrivaled — though I think Kai's artistry is equal to his. He described this album as "an astronaut who becomes a lost child in space who reflects on himself and sends his life philosophy as a musical signal to an unknown territory."
Armageddon: aespa
A very impressive first full album, sleek production, a surprising blend of genres. My favorite is Live My Life which has a 2000s vibe. Bahama is another standout, dreamy and summery.
Sunday Morning Put-On - Andrew Bird Trio
Andrew Bird croons the jazz standards, imbuing them with his unique sensibility. It doesn’t sound very modern, which I like. This was my first time hearing My Ideal which I promptly fell in love with.
All Born Screaming: St. Vincent
Can always trust Miss Annie Clark to make uncanny, forward thinking jams and to remain as theatrical as ever. Big Time Nothing is my favorite, so reminiscent of Kimbra!
I also loved the hyperpop excess of brat by Charli XCX. I appreciate club bangers even if that's not my scene and her lyricism is incisive.
Cosmic: Red Velvet
Released for their 10th anniversary so it should've been a full album but you always have to keep expectations very low for SM Entertainment. I love the faint disco sounds in the title track, the retro vibes are just too good. The way the song begins had me hooked immediately. Since it's a mini it doesn't quite encompass Red Velvet's musical identity, but as a summer project highlighting their red sound, it's excellent. It fits perfectly within their discography. The Cosmic music video has their trademark creepiness but in a sun-drenched setting.
It's a glossy EP, airy and magical, their voices pristine. I love all the songs, but my favorites are Love Arcade, Sunflower, Last Drop, and Bubble. (That's four out of six!) I can't believe how divisive it is though! Especially when the girls were disappointed with the initial concept and fought for something truer to their style.
screening room
A Walk in the Spring Rain (1970) dir. Guy Green: Ingrid Bergman is married to a stuffy law professor and Anthony Quinn is a rugged farmer with a Tennessee twang. Only Anthony could look at another man's wife so transparently, comment on her beauty and not have the husband feel insecure or threatened. Ingrid is so regal and luminous, she reminded me a bit of Audrey <3 Romances starring older people are so rare and this one is just very thoughtfully directed.
The real crux of this movie, besides an older woman being allowed to want more, is how no one can resist Anthony Quinn. I personally wouldn’t put up a fight. Goodbye husband, daughter, grandson, and city life!!
Badlands (1973) dir. Terrence Malick: Portraying disturbing evil in so subdued a way. Shocking crime with a hazy gleam. Kit and Holly are lovers on the run, but they aren’t sympathetic and there’s no urgency in their love story. A compelling watch, but very matter of fact. I guess it's similar to the badlands they move through: gorgeous but spare. My goodness, Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek are also so gorgeous.
Repo Man (1984) dir. Alex Cox: There's a mysterious Chevy Malibu cruising LA with something in the trunk that immediately vaporizes anyone who looks at it. (Seems like a nod to Kiss Me Deadly from 1955). Otto is a surly, rebellious teen who gets fired from his convenience store job and is then unwittingly recruited to join a car repossession agency. Naturally he and his coworkers attempt to track the car down. How I love my aimless youth trope! The '80s might have overtaken the 1930s as my favorite decade for films.
And just as I was complaining about the lack of white boys in the Martin Sheen mold today, here comes Repo Man starring Emilio Estevez. (Charlie also strongly resembles his dad, there were moments in Badlands that had me going 😯)
Legend of the Stardust Brothers (1985) dir. Makoto Tezuka: A spectacularly quintessential '80s film. There's really no limit to all the good things I can say about this wacky movie, from its fashion to aesthetics and colors. It's zany from start to finish and doesn't ever take itself seriously or include some moral or purpose. The stakes aren't high and I wish more movies could be as unapologetically goofy.
Tammy and the T-Rex (1994) dir. Stewart Raffill: Tammy's boyfriend Michael is mauled by a lion and lying in a coma when a mad scientist implants his brain in an animatronic T-rex. Ideal boyfriend! He goes on a killing spree while trying to reunite with his beloved. I will donate my brain to science so it can also be implanted inside a T-rex; any dinosaur really.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (2003): Gore Verbinksi
A classic swashbuckler the likes of which could be a studio or silent era adventure starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr., Basil Rathbone, and Ramon Novarro. Fun for the whole family with just enough fright. Also, wigs were snatched! Blockbusters today just don’t have the same sense of joy. And I agree with Maya that it’s Elizabeth’s coming-of-age story and that she’s Wendy!! 💛
Daily Dose of Sunshine (2023) dir. Lee Jae-Kyu, Kim Nam-su: The gulf between South Korean media depicting mental illness and the country's attitudes/policies is vast. DDOS paints an authentic, harrowing portrait of various disorders: anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, and delusion. Each episode is so contained, they could be feature films. Despite the tragedy and despair, the color palette is bright, pastel pinks and greens striking a cheerful tone. Park Bo Young once again plays a compassionate nurse as she did in Concrete Utopia. She is still navigating disaster, albeit on a smaller scale.
Inside Out 2 (2024) dir. Kelsey Mann
Aside from the new emotions, I didn't know anything about this movie, which is a first since the Pixar channel is always on in my brain. A solid sequel - the first one is a masterpiece and I am tempted to say the same about this one. It's just as heartfelt but it does lack the searing grief of the original. Not a bad thing by any means, I think this was a cute, colorful, and earnest depiction of growing pains and anxiety. POUCHY 4EVER. Not sure why they didn't make Riley a 4*Townie? Her biases are Aaron T and Aaron Z btw.
Hope the remainder of June is sweet to you 🍨