Week 9: Catch of the Week
Week 9: Catch of the Week
Nobody wants to be here and nobody wants to leave.
On deck this week:
A father and son walk through the apocalypse.
Take a trip with Jairus Mozee.
A multiverse movie that doesn’t demand this universe’s version of yourself’s time.
A pinch will do you.
All aboard.
The Road – Cormac McCarthy
So I recently finished McCarthy’s, Blood Meridian, and I haven’t allowed myself the much-needed time to analyze and even think if I have the stomach to recommend it. It’s a brutal read that recounts in horror how the West was really won. Think Bone Tomahawk, but no one makes it out of the cave and the tribes still get scalped.
I feel like McCarthy put the training wheels on for us in The Road, which is still tragic in its own eschatological way, but still has that small flicker of hope to help you swallow the bitterness he’s dishing out with a rusty spoon.
Reading while my wife was pregnant with our son definitely affected my mileage so be ready to leap head first into those nightmare scenarios. We’ll be there carrying the fire.
Jairus Mozee – Trips
Jairus Mozee is a Grammy award-winning guitarist and producer whose solo work is just as interesting and enjoyable as the chart-toppers he’s helped make. Each track feels like it could stand on its own while maintaining a common thread that holds it all together. The melodic chord arrangments and guitar noodling are masterful.
Movie: Everything Everywhere All At Once
I’ll go ahead and throw my hat in there too. Seeing as it just won all the awards, you’ve no doubt heard of this little film from the Daniels.
Now, the cynical part of me wants to think that it garnered the most awards of any other film this year because the Academy thought they could take two steps forward after last year’s…incident. Allow me to conspiracy-theorize.
By giving the top awards to a film about an Asian family with a predominantly Asian cast in an era that’s seen increased hate crimes against Asians, the industry can show they’re not racist against Asians. This is a weak attempt to gain even a little social capital. But in an industry that has historically marginalized minorities not just by excluding them from participation in the storytelling process (writing, directing, acting) but by actively appropriating their skin colors to tell their “stories” without needing to put them on screen through the use of red-face, brown-face, yellow-face, and black-face, it all feels largely performative.
One can logically ask, is showing love with trophies and accolades enough to kill two birds with one stone? Or is this just another demonstration in lieu of direct apology that we see time and time again when an individual or institution does something wrong and the scandal is big enough or enough people cause a stir on the internet?
I think an even fairer question, one that acknowledges the artists and their contributions to the cultural artifact they produced, is it the responsibility of a piece of art to be the basin by which the entertainment industry absolves itself of its sins?
But that’s just the cynical part of me. And we don’t really trust him to provide thoughtful analysis or lukewarm opinions.
The sliver of me that remains hopeful and idealistic believes Everything Everywhere All At Once won because it was indeed the best movie made this past year. It’s an exciting, joyful/sorrowful depiction of the universally lived experience of life not going how you wanted it to or expected it to. We are united by our general disappointment in our circumstances while still remaining hopeful that there is something greater for us. If not today, then the next day.
If you’re one of the rock-dwellers who hasnt’ yet watched Everything Everywhere All At Once, I implore you to seek it out wherever movies are played.
Baking Soda for Meat – A Testimony
I’ve made broccoli beef, steak fajitas, and ribeyes that were immeasurably better by adding just a teaspoon of baking soda to the meat just before marinading or saucing. If you’re fortunate enough to get quality beef, it’s worth your Arm & Hammer.
See you next week.
Ad meliora
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