Weekend highlights: Muff confetti et alia

Cinema.

• A bit of a mess, Olivier Assayas's Demonlover (2003) manages to convey an internal logic that pulled me in, even if I didn't always understand what was happening. More stylish and knowing that David Cronenberg's eXistenZ, which it resembles, it's important to surf the film without becoming too literal-minded--unfortunately, the deeply unsatisfying conclusion spends much of the goodwill that has accrued along the way.

Two movies that are far from perfect, yet perfectly cinematic [a quality that goes a long way towards atoning for their sins]:

• Great production design and strong performances by William Macy and Maria Bello recommend Wayne Kramer's The Cooler (2003) despite the fact that it's sometimes difficult to buy crucial plot points--Alec Baldwin got good reviews for his role as the old-school casino boss (a great role, with colorful language--I was smiling minutes after he tosses off "muff confetti"), but I didn't care for his performance. The love scenes are particularly striking for their improbability and verity, and as the movie shakes off its self-consciousness, it's a good ride.

• Jean-Pierre Jeunet's A Very Long Engagement (2004) is, of course, beautiful. From the opening titles--lovingly run over a barely illuminated, rain-slicked wall--to the evocative ochres and siennas that color the frame, David Edelstein nailed the film as he offered that it might be titled "Amélie Goes to War."

Print.

• "The rule-benders," David Jury's feature from the current issue of Baseline--"the leading international magazine about type and typography"--is yet another in a series of reminders of the font of modernity that is the late nineteenth century; he provides stunning images of a compositor's sketchbook, evidence, says Jury, of "doing exactly what any 21st century student of graphic design should be encouraged to do." (The journal is pricey, but one can linger at Borders and gawk.)

Music.

• A half-dozen new releases from Sublime Frequencies over the past week or two, and my favorite thus far is Radio Phnom Pehn, a fantastic pastiche of selections pulled directly from the Cambodian airwaves--I'm a big fan of all of SF's "radio" disks, including Radio India and Radio Morocco, the latter a superlative collection assembled from 1983 recordings, when Michael Jackson ruled the world music roost (actually, he still does--I was resting in Delhi's Red Fort complex in 1998 when locals, working the refreshment stand, discovered I was American and excitedly fetched and played a cassette recording of Thriller for me).
  
  
  (I find only dream.)
• Even wackier is the second volume of Thai Beat A Go-Go from Subliminal Sounds: think pop songs that are off-key in a barely perceptible way; there's one selection that reminds me of the Hokey Pokey, plus an insanely cool collection of fucked-up covers (try a Thai Elvis, Tony Orlando, or Hank Williams on for size, to begin with), and the brilliant "I Find Only Dream" that wouldn't be out of place in a David Lynch soundtrack. Now I've gotta scare up volume one...