Independent Cinema | All That Glitters

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{Day 21: A year old & still going strong. My version of those elusive ruby-red slippers, circa 2014.}

TGIF! This has been a long week. There’s much going on as of late, particularly on the career-front and I’m loving the challenge. I get bored rather easily, so it’s always nice when a change of pace is in the works. I’m being pushed to think more creativity and critically about the process of storytelling, while brushing up on some of my post-production skills, and learning about a whole new subject matter. Needless to say, it’s going to be a busy next couple of weeks. Unfortunately, I haven’t been feeling too great over the last couple of days so I know it’s the universe’s way of telling me to slow down and get some rest. This is exactly what I intend to do this weekend. I don’t have any plans and that’s precisely how it’s going to stay.

It’s now day 25 on the 100 Happy Days challenge. Here are my favorite images/moments since we last caught-up.

Have a nice weekend.

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{Day 18: A rare Friday out attending the L.A. Theatre Works performance of Henrik Ibsen’s “An Enemy of the People.” It was fantastic.}

p.s. The L.A. Theatre Works hold lives performances in front of an audience of top-notch actors dramatically performing some of the most renowned plays ever written. They are audio recorded and made available online for download or you can tune in every Thursday night on KPFK 90.7 FM in Los Angeles. See full schedule for times in your area. I encourage you to check them out. It’s pretty cool.

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{Day 19: The LA Times Festival of Books. Read more here.}

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{Day 24: Ready for the Scandal season finale last night!}

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{Day 23: My first ever Naked Juice green protein smoothie in an effort to combat how not so great I was feeling this week. It’s quite yummy. I could feel the health flowing through me!}

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{Day 22: Indie films on Tuesdays nights. Recently saw David Gordon Green’s new film, Joe. It won’t make my top 10 of the year, but interesting nonetheless.}

Though the title of this post is rather dramatic (catchy though, huh?), one of my unexpected favorite films of 2012, Celeste and Jesse Forever is the epitome of one of those cinematic experiences that I’ll never forget; so much so that I’m still reveling in the residuals of its effects on me as a fellow Angeleno seven months after seeing it. The film not only introduced me to arguably the best soundtrack of the year, it also captured the complexities of relationships humorously and touchingly; and better yet, captured the essence of Los Angeles in some of the best cinematography I’ve seen of the city in some time. It even inspired me to finally take a tour of the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

I followed the seemingly complicated efforts to get a digital release of the album made available and after hearing the news a few months back from the Music Supervisor himself, Jonathan Hafter, (gotta love the power of the blogosphere, you can read more here) – I finally purchased the soundtrack from iTunes. Unfortunately, some of my favorite songs weren’t included on the official soundtrack release, so I bought all of the singles (noted on a Spotify playlist) separately. Let’s just say I spent a great deal of this insanely gorgeous L.A. weekend vibin’ out the likes of Sunny Levine (my new fav), BLO, and Vetiver among others.

Soundtrack Links:

iTunes

Spotify

I see hundreds of films every year. There are tons of characters and stories that stick with me as a result, and my devotion to all things cinema oftentimes leave me in a state of never committing to having a single favorite. (Til this day, I cannot answer that question, it gives me a headache even attempting to do so.) Sometimes there are those stories that unexpectedly open your eyes to new things and this is one of those films. I can’t explain why – some hit you harder than others. Perhaps it’s because you were in the right mood, at the right place, at the right time. I walked into this story thinking at best, it would be a fun popcorn flick. I certainly didn’t expect it to resonate so much.

If you’re looking for new tunes (which I happen to listening to as I write this post!) and a great independent film, join me and Celeste and Jesse Forever. 🙂

{Film review excerpted from a previous post.}

Celeste & Jesse Forever – This was one of those films that I left the theater with such a high thinking THIS is why I LOVE movies. Celeste and Jesse are the best of friends, but terrible as husband and wife. The story picks up with their struggle at sustaining a friendship while in the midst of a divorce and pursuing other romantic interests. Rashida Jones (Celeste) and Andy Samberg (Jesse) have such a fluid and natural on-screen chemistry between them that drew me in immediately. What I was most enchanted by was not only the precise well-written dialogue; but the indie feel to how this narrative was told through its stunning salute to another main character, the sweeping city of Los Angeles, via its cinematography choices. I experienced almost every major emotion in 90 minutes of being in Celeste and Jesse’s world and I didn’t want to go. I laughed, felt my eyes water, and smiled at the very complicated, yet entertaining and relatable situation. This is also the first film I’d seen in quite some time where the music was used so impeccably it enhanced the overall experience of the film and introduced me to some of my favorite music of the year. If I had to pick my top film of 2012, this would be it (or closely tied with Zero Dark Thirty).

{Trailer.}