NUMBER 7

NUMBER 7 FILM OF 2011

 

URBANIZED

So, here I am now, moved from Chicago to San Antonio in a big career and big life move.  I was able to build off of a small portion of my work in Rockford into a new position that is full of challenges and new opportunities.  My municipal organization is different, this big city is very different, and the range of duties and tools at my disposal are at times better and at times more frustrating than my old position.  My title is "Senior Planner" but the explanation of my position to outsiders is getting more and more difficult.  "What planners do..." is becoming a hard question to answer, as the academic pursuit of a planning degree gets further distant from the practice of fitting into a multifaceted group of professionals... some of which don't need to know how important your training is, but rather what you can deliver to the department. 

With time I now have great memories of seeing this movie in the Gene Siskel Film Center (one of my final cinematic experiences) in a theater full of urban planning students, a few old professors and scattered groups of oddball planning enthusiasts.  Urbanized showed for only a limited run and this was the final screening.

This film wasn't perfect.  I was joking with my Chicago planner friends that this wasn't quite the propaganda I was looking for that could turn people to the dark side and be full flag waving supporters of community planning.

What it provided was something more nuanced however.  These vignettes of the complicated situations that arise when folks try to organize space is a reflection of the often chaotic contexts in which planners work.  What is one group's opportunity for grand urban transformation is another group's destruction of natural heritage.  As I work more on specific projects and physical sites in my work I'm going to try not to lose sight that planning is an inherently philosophical profession.  Whether it's a suburban cul-de-sac or a gentrifying neighborhood, planners can't exist unless there is a universal understanding that organizing around the good of a community is an approach that can provide benefits to everyone. Urbanized encouraged that kind of conversation in an age of individualism, and it makes it essential viewing, and at least a top ten film for me.

Cleaning

The halfway point of the year has almost passed, so soon I will need to roll off my Favorite Films of 2011 for safekeeping.

For now a little housecleaning as I was dragged out to see some fairly pleasant big-screen blockbusters over the past few weeks.

MEN IN BLACK 2 (2002)

Almost completely forgettable.  Saw snippets of this on Cable TV over the years and trusted the reviews that said it was a crappy sequel.  I only watched it to take advantage of my uncle's big TV and to prepare myself for #3, which he bought me tickets to see in McAllen when I visited them over Memorial Day weekend.

MEN IN BLACK 3 (2012)

I have to say I was really surprised when I read reviews that said this was actually good.  Maybe a good 10 years is enough to let the motivation for a cop-out sequel to die down a bit and for someone creative to tackle this world again.  And actually, while it didn't completely shed its sequel grime (a telltale sign is the tongue-in-cheek repetition of tired elements of previous movies), it was engaging and weird, with a really powerful ending.

GOD BLESS AMERICA (2011)

Ah, back to obscure indie movies.  This movie was promoted by Writer/Director Bobcat Goldthwait on no less than 2 comedy podcasts which I pay attention to.  I was worried that it wouldn't reach my area.  But it did play in hipster-haven Austin when I visited.  First off, this was my first experience in the Alamo Drafthouse Austin Ritz, right on the main strip of clubs and music venues downtown.  Great theater with full restaurant service.  Neatest of all, it wasn't your chain cinema roll of previews they showed prior to the movie, but a mixture of clips that really prepared you for the movie.  I'm talking Bobcat Goldthwait comedy clips, the climatic scene of Taxi Driver, previews for vigilante movies, and disturbing exceprts from the trashiest actual reality shows like Toddlers and Tiaras and My Super Sweet 16.  The movie isn't perfect but taps into a dark place, the kind that feels like it would be such a release to lash out at the mean-spirited ignorance and stupidity of the world with brutal violence.

PROMETHEUS (2012)

My first visit to San Antonio's IMAX multiplex... a lush and beautiful science fiction film that demands your attention at first but reverts (not in an entirely bad way) to chaos as the monsters take over.  Ain't It Cool's review says it is best to not think too much about Alien when watching, which is very difficult to do.  Especially for someone who gets a kick out of quality foreshadowing (Star Wars Episode III for example) it was hard to ignore the callbacks to gory invasive alien procedures.  But if you don't try to make too much sense of it and evaluate it on its own it's pretty satisfying


MIDNIGHT IN PARIS (2011)

Oscar Count

Best Picture 4/9 -- Best Director 4/5 -- Best Original Screenplay -- 2/5

OK, there's been a consistent cleverness in Woody Allen's movies throughout, but a cynical side of me is thinking that he's given too much credit just for not being terrible with some of his recent movies.  I haven't had time to watch any movie he made in between 1989 Crimes and Misdemeanors and 2006's Match Point, so I can't judge, but this was entertaining but minor.

OK, line them up for the next month of viewing.  I'll be back.