I Have A New Blog

This one's shorter, more attractive, and yes, on Tumblr.

It's mostly comprised of fifty word film reviews, some links, an odd quote, and bizarre thoughts from yours truly.

You can find it here, or by taking a photo of this with your newfangled smartphone:

I hope to see you all over there soon!

//Jonathan

Joaquin Phoenix Is Not My Hero, But I Like His House

Just watched I'm Still Here at CPH:DOX. I miss LA. It's shallow to say that, I know. Especially considering that I'm making this confession after watching what is arguably the archetypal example of everything that is wrong with that city.

Thing is, in LA, everything is truly better, and when it's not better, there's certainly more of it. I miss the Dodgers and hot dogs on Sunset at 3am in Echo Park and obscenely long drives to the beach on a Saturday morning and partying with c-list celebrities and overpriced but totally worth it omakase and that special attitude LA girls have and the newly invented expressions by ageing hipsters and the way I feel when I know it's late November and the sun sweats me and when I'm playing tennis and am bored to death by a conversation about 'the industry' and then I realize: it's so fucking cool that I'm bored by conversations about 'the industry'.

Acting Like An Idiot Gets Girls

So I've been escaping from myself the past few months. Hence, the lack of posts, or lack of progress of any kind for that matter. I guess, coming off of the emotional drama that was my last film, Hunter/Gatherer, I've been laying low, and really, drinking myself into oblivion.

A talented friend of mine told me just the other day that I live a crazy life. And at first I wasn't inclined to believe him. I mean, after all...I'm the guy who didn't have a girlfriend until he was 18. I'm the guy who doesn't drive a car, or go to crazy clubs on the weekend. I'm the guy who slept through the house parties, and lived like a fifty year old even when I had next to infinite resources when living in Los Angeles.

And then my friend reminded me that at Bakken on Thursday, I took my trousers off and had two icelandic girls groping my...junk. I have two stunning Dutch models staying with me for a week starting on the 24th. I'm producing music videos and commercials. I'm working in the field that I want to be working in, and I'm not starving...for now.

So what's the disconnect? Why am I not enjoying that which is so very real and apparent to me at this moment in my life? Is it because it's all fake clouded over in a haze of over-tired-ness?

Thing is, I haven't slept for the past three weeks...at least not more than for three or four hours at a time...until yesterday. This type of behaviour is certainly not conducive to a good work ethic. Finally, I stopped myself from going out, and after heading home and eating a giant bowl of KD (thanks mom) passed out to the laugh track of That Mitchell and Webb Look (start it at 7:35 and be sure to click through to the following segment).

This morning, I've awoken, committed, happy, and devoted to the task at hand - success. But what am I sacrificing for a good work ethic? Maybe it's just that which I already can barely appreciate - the already crazy life that I may or may not lead.

Hunter Gatherer on Facebook!

Hey All,

I just created a fan page for my film Hunter/Gatherer on Facebook! You can access it here.

Become a fan for all screening updates, behind the scenes news, and any and information about the cast/crew.

Thanks!

Jonathan

A letter to Flavorwire. (you should check them out)

Hey Guys(or girls),

I've been an avid follower since a few years ago when I lived in LA and used your weekly e-mail to figure out my cultural happenings.

But since I moved to Denmark, I've been following Flavorwire, mostly, and it's come to my attention, that a lot of what you're writing is very...well...how shall I say it. Female. It's not that what I'm reading isn't interesting - in fact - exactly the opposite. I've found flavorwire to be getting better and better.

Except for that I just find there's always a very, well, female bent to most of the opinion-based articles. And although there's nothing inherently wrong with the pieces being written by women, I think there lies a problem in the articles having a particularly female voice.

I mean, really. Reading flavorwire has almost become like watching a Jane Campion film. Intelligent, well informed, intuitive, and inherently female.

So anyway, I'll still keep reading, but I just wanted to send you all a quick note to let you know what's been on my mind.

Best,

Jonathan

The Roxy

The word Roxy has held three significant meanings in my life thus far.

#1 - The name of the discount movie theater in Victoria (the cook/quadra village, specifically) where one could eat the best popcorn in the city while sitting in a double-bench with your squeeze watching a double-bill for only $5.

#2 - The name of a girl I thought was super hot when I was in the eighth grade at Cedar Hill Junior Secondary School.

#3 - A theater after which #1 is named, torn down in 1960, located in New York City at 60th & 7th.

I stumbled upon a really amazing project of a site called Cinema Treasures a few years back, and have now just re-discovered it after finding out that my beloved Roxy (in Victoria) is for sale and facing demolition. Call it nostalgia, but I'm really finding this a tough one emotionally. Reading the posts on Cinema Treasures' page, I can't help but notice how much these movie theaters mean to us.

In a way, these theaters are just as important as our parents in terms of the way they excited us, provoked our emotions and imagination, and awed us with their larger-than-life ornamentation. And it gets worse.

Reading the history of why these amazing film palaces closed is like listening to a broken record. Around the 1960's, with the advent of television, the owners and others concerned were convinced that movie theaters would be a thing of the past. So thousands of palaces were stripped and shuttered, and unfortunately in the Roxy's case, demolished.

And how is today any different? With the advent of digital technology, big screen home-theaters, and the internet, the very same people who killed off a certain type of movie-going experience are trying to do it again (albeit with theaters much less grandiose than before).

When will people begin to understand that for most people, going to the movies has nothing to do with the medium on which it's presented, nor the film itself (proven by this years abysmal showing out of Hollywood). It's simply about the social experience of sharing a few enjoyable minutes with others.

So when you're justifying why it's okay that times change and things progress, just ask yourself the following two questions.

When the car was invented, did horse-racing vanish? What was the best meal of your life - was it something you shared with others, or something only you experienced?

NOW that's what I call a widget.

Well, Sprint first brought us the innovative Sprint Relay Online service, much to the delight of prank callers everywhere.

And NOW (forgive the pun...you'll understand what I mean in a second), they've come up with something much cooler. If you forgive them for the quasi-new-age-intellectual crap, that is. It's a really cool website launched a few months ago for their newly branded 4G network, NOW.

In 101 Reykjavik, Hlynur Bjorn, the story's antihero, asks why there isn't information that tells us how many people are having sex in Turkey right now. Or how many acres of forest are being cut at any given moment in time.

Well, NOW it's here. Cool promotional idea.