Tonight I saw The Man of Infinite Sadness and Here I Go Boys, Wish Me Luck in the Dudley Experimental Theater on campus. I want to be Dan Moyer (the playwright for Here I Go…). I think Man was probably better written and better acted, but I connected with Here I Go more because a.) the playwright was in the audience and attractive and b.) the story included gay people. I am a sucker for human portrayals of gay characters and gay characters in theater in general (ask me about my theories on why Rent is homophobic!). I can only hope to one day have a lover who gets drafted and then killed in combat. The play's time was “Soon.”
Some (paraphrased) highlights from both: “What? Finish the story. You and Cooper got drunk and you fucked and he vomited on your chest? You a fag Jake?” “Let's play the talk about Cooper game! The way you win is you talk about Cooper!” “Want to hear a story? Want to hear about the time I fucked Cooper?” “Tuscfaggy Airmen” “His sadness is infinite… god he looks good today.” “Do I have a fat head?” Three person tangos are awesome.
I question UMD's motivation for producing plays written by students from NYU. Are our playwrights mere trollops? Don't our students deserve to have their plays produced, just as NYU's so tragically need to? Or do we have to farm out our work to lesser universities? Maybe Lake Superior College or Pine City Tech will hold an evening of one acts in assoction with UMD in a broom closet. I think being NYU's bitch does not elevate our status. Ok, so NYU students are “arguably some of the finest in the country” as the program says, but can't we aspire to produce the same?
I guess UMD's continual focus on becoming the third best research institution (who chose third?) in the nation, the new science building, the new sports and rec center, and the decision to abandon oil painting and 35 milimeter photography for acrylics and digital are a sign that UMD does not wish to focus on the arts. The continual habit of contracting outside sculptors to create the.. marvelous “public art” on campus is another sign. I worry about the Tweed's collection (UMD's art museum). The Barber (University of Birmingham's art museum) had works from artists with recognizable names. It also had four times as many students. Hmm.
Heh… my movie collection used to contain such gems as Trick, In & Out, Love, Valour, Compassion! and Billy's Hollywood Kiss. Not. good. films. I'm keeping Get Real and Chuck and Buck (it's ironic, I swear). Maybe I just connect better with “searing lesbian dramas where everyone gets cancer and dies” (as Man of Infinite Sadness so wonderfully put it).
Immediately following the two one act plays this evening, I went to see Crash on campus. Only four people showed up, so popcorn and admission was free (fuck yeah!). Wow. I was under the assumption that Crash 2004 was somehow connected to Crash 1996. For those unaware, the 1996 film is about people who get off on car accidents. I absolutely hated it when I watched it, but to be fair, I kept falling asleep. The new Crash is a lot more about race relations and a lot less about sex. Crash is several interconnected narratives and I am insanely jealous of how well they flow. The movie is also a circle of sorts, which totally turns on the writer inside me. Wow. So well made. I think more believable than some of Magnolia's mechanisms, even if snow in L.A. might be as crazy as raining frogs to others. Crash seemed to have a lot of villainous characters -> fall -> redemption going on. I was left liking characters who started out as complete dicks. The movie also has a good deal of humor, which all good dramas require for them to not suck.
My movie reviewing abilities (and tastes in general. I fail to see the artistry of Sex, Lies, and Videotape) are not the best. Go rent Crash and search for the wonderful feminist piece from the Netherlands called Antonia's Line in the foreign section.
Topher hopes to one day spend 24 hours in a donut shop.