RANT – EXCUSES AND HALF TRUTHS

Agamemnon‘s Hat

Everyone has an opinion on Christopher Nolan’s version of The Odyssey. It’s become the great talking point for these few weeks of summer before the next cultural controversy comes rolling in.

Me? Yes, I’ve seen it. I thought it was a highly impressive visual achievement and a massive slog all at once. A film to admire rather than love. That is my opinion. Others are available. But there’s an interesting exchange of ideas going on around The Odyssey regarding a particular niche interest of mine. In fact, it’s something I get paid to have a good working knowledge about, so it amuses me no end to see folks chatting about it.

If you’ll forgive a guy for using his personal space to yatter on at length on a pet subject —let’s talk about aspects ratios and framing.

Disobedient Geometry — metafiction, multiverse and The Bride!

There is a moment towards the end of Maggie Gyllenhaal’s daring, divisive movie The Bride! which completely recontextualised everything I’d seen up to that point. Don’t get me wrong, I was enjoying the ride. The Bride! delights in wild swerves in tone and style, deliberately wrong-footing the audience at every turn. I’d expected that, so came in prepared.

Then Doctor Euphronious upended the whole darn hayride.

***SPOILERS AFTER THE FOLD. TREAD CAREFUL***

Pockets

Cover image by beasturnchen on Pixabay

I have a little ritual I have to enact before I leave the house. A simpler version of the old Catholic mnemonic — spectacles, testicles, wallet and watch. This one ensures I have the holy trinity of items on me, confirmed with three swift pats to the body. Phone, wallet, keys. Tap tap tap. There. Now I can unseal the airlock and venture into the world, knowing I have everything about my person I need to manage my affairs.

I can feel some of you rolling your eyes at this, and you’re absolutely right to do so. As I swan out of Swipe Towers, I am powered on my merry, oblivious way by a huge waft of male privilege. I can travel light and easy, unencumbered by bags or slings or totes. For I am a man, and I wear clothes with functioning pockets.

Super-Fantastic

It’s easy to lose faith. As a fan, reader and outspoken advocate for the medium of comics, it can be a struggle to argue your corner when folks will only see the worst parts of your favourite things. Worse, when they confuse the medium with the genre and offer up their gotchas based on prejudice, misinformation or plain ignorance.

The Long Road

A short section of a very long story—

A couple of days ago, TLC and I were heading back to our digs, aching and bone-deep weary after we’d somehow changed a quick stroll before dinner into a route march across poorly-mapped pastureland and rocky hillsides. Honestly, we do this to ourselves so often that it’s even funny anymore.

The last part of the track was, luckily, mostly downhill but there was one last upward dogleg to navigate. I sensed TLC slowing. She’s had trouble recently with her knees and Achilles tendon, yet she’s the one who will always lead us into uncharted territories. Wordlessly, I reached out my hand. Wordlessly, she took it and we negotiated the last slope together.

‘Thanks for the assist,’ she said once we were heading downhill again.

‘You know I’m always here for it,’ I said.

Under Glass

Isn’t it a little late in the day for a hot take on Apple’s Vision Pro AR headset? The thing was announced all of two weeks ago. The news cycle has cast the Eye of Sauron upon it, made pronouncements and swept on in search of the next headline. No time for a thoughtful examination. Everyone else is bloviating, you need to get your voice heard too, quickly. 99 percent of the articles feel the same—a quick spin through the tech specs and an opinion based on, for those with privileged access, a short period of time spent with the device. This would have been a carefully curated, heavily stewarded experience. The last thing Apple want is commentary outside their interests.

The Story Of Sentience

Stop me if you think you’ve heard this one before. There’s this guy who works with computers, a software developer. As part of his duties, he has to interrogate the equipment, a quality control pass to make sure the program is working within normal parameters. He discovers, or realises, or believes, his particular piece of software is not only over-performing—it has developed a soul.

The Cut ⛸️ Issue 30

And we hit December. Or December hits us. The Year That Never Ends seems finally, inexorably, to be coming to a close and a vaccine is flying in to bring back a hot dose of normality. Pints and scotch eggs all round, we think.

In this week’s issue, we break down the creation of a couple of iconic movie scenes, take a turn around food and music in two different Georgias, listen to the sound of cities during a pandemic, and enjoy a potter round the garden in comics form.

Now is the time. Here is the place. This is The Cut.

The Cut – Issue 13

Thirteen weeks of this foolishness! The smart move would be to bail while there’s a scrap of dignity left to wrap around our scrawny thews. But no, that is not how we operate, as well you know. Therefore, o our Readership, the luck is all good for you. Enjoy this week’s slumgullion of linky loveliness.

Come on, we’re all friends now. Say it with me.

Now is the time. Here is the place. This is The Cut.

The Pencil Is Mightier Than The Sword

If you ever wondered about the value and power of political cartooning, wonder no more.

Continue reading The Pencil Is Mightier Than The Sword