Where Words Run Out

In anticipation of the amazingness about to get going here, we've been out enjoying some of the joys of life in a vibrant city.

An unanticipated and striking theme's begun to emerge: some of the most fascinating and arresting works we've taken in involved little or no speech. No language, no words; no λόγος. An exciting break for someone like me...

And what better way to share it than by talking it out here? ;)

First, a few weeks ago, we saw Melancholia. Quite impressive (if challenging) from start to finish, but as Manohla Dargis wrote for the Times, the opening eight minutes were wonderful. One of the most beautiful stretches of cinema I've seen in quite a while.
Trailer:



And we had a great time at the Pacific Northwest Ballet's production of Don Quixote. As you may already know, it's pretty cool. The Seattle Times loved it. The New York Times (aka "the Times") liked it well enough... but hey, they reviewed it, which I think says quite a bit.

And speaking of dance, we just today saw Pina. Words fail me, but it sure was cool.
Trailer:

New Yorker ran a great review. Here's a great excerpt:

The question is, What do you get from “Pina” that you could not get from watching the Tanztheater live? Answer: More than you could possibly believe. This is not just a matter of the al-fresco scenes, or of our proximity to the dancers, near enough to hear them pant. There is also Wenders’s decision to shoot the film in 3-D, and, in so doing, to goad stereoscopic technology into its first leap since “Avatar.” Not before time; 3-D was stalling badly, but now we are back on track, thanks to Scorsese’s “Hugo” and to Wenders, who takes no more than a minute to flourish his credentials. Dancers file across a stage, then loop around a transparent curtain. We watch for a moment from the wings, as they process toward us, and our vision carries us down the line of people and through the veil. You can trawl through cinema and find few more beautiful, more unforced, or more fleeting representations of the bourn between the living and the dead.

I urge you to read more here.

All right, reader. More fun soon!