My DVD viewing this week consisted of Duel on Ganryu Island, the third film in the Samurai Trilogy starring Toshiro Mifune, and Julie Taymor's Titus. Both were very good, but it's Titus I'm going to talk about. My previous knowledge of the play consisted of what I'd picked up from the Reduced Shakespeare Company. I knew it was gory, so I wasn't necessarily looking forward to it. Taymor's version is bloody, no doubt about it, but not gratuitously so. Death and dismemberment keep their impact, and one of the most horrifying images is also the most beautiful. Taymor throws a little bit of every period imaginable into her costumes and set design, but the amalgam works well in illustrating the timelessness of evil and revenge. Anthony Hopkins reminds you just how good he can be as the lead character, and he is surrounded by the talents of James Frain, Colm Feore, Jessica Lange, and Alan Cumming. Harry J. Lennix gets special notice from me for embodying seductive evil in the character of Aaron. He's going to be in the next two Matrix movies, hooray! The scene between Aaron and Tamora in the forest just before they start wreaking their havoc on the Romans had me fanning myself to cool down.

After a night of torrential rain the weather cleared up enough Saturday morning to allow JD, Karen, and I to hike the San Pablo Ridge and Wildcat Creek loop in Wildcat Canyon Regional Park. We still got plenty of wind on the ridge and a smattering of rain down below. The storm the night before had also turned the trails into sludge, but we made a game of picking our way across the mud puddles. There's also nothing like a seven-mile hike to get the endorphins flowing. On the drive home the Pixies's "Where Is My Mind?" came on the radio, and we turned it up real loud. I removed some of my muddy clothing before heading out to brunch at Cafe Fanny with my friend Jila. She's been living in Alaska and I haven't talked to her in ages. It was beyond wonderful to have the chance to gab with her for a couple of hours.

I'm glad the Berkeley Art Museum recently extended its hours so I was able to make it over there to see their Sebastião Salgado exhibit yet that evening. As I walked into the museum I was instantly drawn into Sowon Kwon's Matrix project average female (Perfect). She had taken footage of gymnasts Nadia Comaneci and Nellie Kim and superimposed lines around their bodies that moved with them as they sprung and tumbled. Thought-provoking and gorgeous video art. But I was there to see the Salgado photos. Oh God, but it was crowded in those galleries. I couldn't deal. I skated the edge of the throng, glancing at the photographs, smiling slightly when I recognized one from the Hosfelt show. I think part of my unwillingness to get drawn into his work this time stemmed from how raw and painful his images can be. Then I climbed up the ramp to the second gallery and ran smack into his large-format portraits of migrant and refugee children from around the world. I didn't even need to read the didactic to start crying; there was so much written in those children's faces.

On the way to dinner in Oakland I happened to catch Sheila and Dan playing live on KALX, and in my excitement debated calling into the station to proclaim my love for Dandeline just to make them laugh. I restrained myself. Dinner was at Huynh, a recently remodelled Vietnamese restaurant at the corner of 15th and Franklin. I can heartily recommend their shrimp rolls and the Bò Xào Lan, beef with coconut milk, black mushrooms, onion, and clear vermicelli, topped with mint leaves and peanuts. Their iced coffee with condensed milk kept me buzzing well into my viewing of Fritz Lang's The Big Heat at PFA. Glenn Ford plays a tough cop who single-handedly takes on organized crime in his town, and Gloria Grahame is fabulous as the bad girl who probably has a heart of gold. The tender emotional moments were a bit overwrought, but I loved the dialogue when it was snappy. Lots of great film noir touches as well. I do believe the Victory hotel in L.A. Confidential might have been a reference to the Victory auto shop in this one. I can't forget Lee Marvin as a corrupt political candidate either.

And my take on the Oscars? Yes, of course I watched the entire thing. Out of the five films nominated for Best Picture, the winner was the only one I didn't want to win at all. I also feel incredibly cheated that there were no shots of the screenwriters during their part of the ceremony. I have been waiting with breathless anticipation these past couple months, waiting, yearning to be treated to the sight of Dan Clowes at the Oscars. Cheated, I tell you! Oh, and Owen Wilson? He's my boyfriend.

Cafe du Nord
Last time I saw Dandeline...
Titus
Wildcat Canyon Regional Park
Previous Salgado
Last time I was at PFA...