OK Go!

Awful-ville

OK, maybe that's a little harsh. Critics consider Alphaville, Jean-Luc Godard's 1965 sci-fi/detective French new wave film a bona fide classic, but I felt lost, alienated, and distinctly unentertained. Sketchy plot, wooden dialogue, and stylized characters. It is good cinematography, turning 1960s Paris into a black-and-white dystopia. But it's way, way too artsy for casual entertainment. It was clearly made in an era when attention spans were longer and free time was abundant. But, still, I did enjoy Alan Resnais's "Hiroshima Mon Amour" and "Last Year At Marienbad," and even Godard's own "Breathless" - all of these were also poetic, artsy, and meandering. The difference is that they had heart - and characters that I cared about.

I'm still struggling with a mountain of work, ringing phones, impending deadlines, and severe eye strain. I'm planning a conference in Mexico next week, on a shoestring. I'll be there from Monday to Friday - It will be my 20th trip to Mexico, the first time I'll have been to any country 20 times. It will also be my 47th trip to Latin America, and my 88th foreign trip overall.

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