Crispin Glover
Feb. 17th, 2014 03:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trickykittyI went with Mila yesterday to see Crispin Glover narrate some of his illustrated books (Big Slide Show), watch his production of What is it?, and then have a Q&A with the man. We really regret that we didn't come out Saturday as well, now. Hopefully he'll hit Dallas again once the 3rd of the trilogy is completed, and maybe we'll be able to catch the 2nd part then.
Oh my, that was one of the best Q&As I've ever witnessed. Mila will probably give a much more comprehensive write-up, but here's my thoughts on it.
During the Q&A, Crispin kept getting so far off the beaten track of the original questions that we received quite a lot of background, history, and political discussion from him that are not typical (according to his own statements) during his usual Q&As. He's quite eloquent and was able to give so much background that the thoughts he shared have meaning, rather than simply being emotional blurbs. I still couldn't help but giggle how he managed to sidetrack himself so much, as I can completely relate. The whole thing was amazing.
He has some very strong feelings about corporation involvement in the media and was able to give ample examples. I now have a much better appreciation of why the ending of the first Back to the Future always annoyed me and felt wrong, and I also now have a template in my mind to keep a look out for when watching films - look for that "resolution elixir" that binds the movie as a whole. I was also saddened by the realization of how much stuff is "censored" from media without us ever really knowing. There's a scene in What Is It? (which Crispin was very proud of, and rightly so) that I'm sure catches people off guard, not because it's odd or gory or anything else, but because it's considered taboo to show in mainstream films, so the corporations backing the films will inevitably nix something like that as unprofitable to show to the general public, so it never gets seen in the first place. People aren't USED to seeing it, and therefore it comes off as something uncomfortable to see, when it shouldn't be. I think that's why I've always loved so many lesser-known movies - they don't tend to follow the bubblegum, profit-making rules.
Crispin's dialogue regarding propaganda was also very poignant. I was amused when Mila would agree with sentiments he was making, would make a comment of her own as an aside, and then Crispin would make a similar or almost exact comment right after. That was quite entertaining for me.
I forgot to look to see if he had copies of one of the books he narrated for sale, and I don't see it available on his webpage, so I'll have to put in an inquiry for it.
Need to add: His narration was spectacular. It was all memorized, and all of it was a production rather than simply a reading. I don't think you could purchase one of his books without having seen him narrate it in order to get the full grasp of what is being conveyed.
Also, I pretty much walked in with "In Heaven, Everything Is Fine," playing in my head, so when Crispin mentioned David Lynch and Eraserhead during the Q&A, that pretty much sealed that song into my brainmeats. It's still playing on repeat today.
Oh my, that was one of the best Q&As I've ever witnessed. Mila will probably give a much more comprehensive write-up, but here's my thoughts on it.
During the Q&A, Crispin kept getting so far off the beaten track of the original questions that we received quite a lot of background, history, and political discussion from him that are not typical (according to his own statements) during his usual Q&As. He's quite eloquent and was able to give so much background that the thoughts he shared have meaning, rather than simply being emotional blurbs. I still couldn't help but giggle how he managed to sidetrack himself so much, as I can completely relate. The whole thing was amazing.
He has some very strong feelings about corporation involvement in the media and was able to give ample examples. I now have a much better appreciation of why the ending of the first Back to the Future always annoyed me and felt wrong, and I also now have a template in my mind to keep a look out for when watching films - look for that "resolution elixir" that binds the movie as a whole. I was also saddened by the realization of how much stuff is "censored" from media without us ever really knowing. There's a scene in What Is It? (which Crispin was very proud of, and rightly so) that I'm sure catches people off guard, not because it's odd or gory or anything else, but because it's considered taboo to show in mainstream films, so the corporations backing the films will inevitably nix something like that as unprofitable to show to the general public, so it never gets seen in the first place. People aren't USED to seeing it, and therefore it comes off as something uncomfortable to see, when it shouldn't be. I think that's why I've always loved so many lesser-known movies - they don't tend to follow the bubblegum, profit-making rules.
Crispin's dialogue regarding propaganda was also very poignant. I was amused when Mila would agree with sentiments he was making, would make a comment of her own as an aside, and then Crispin would make a similar or almost exact comment right after. That was quite entertaining for me.
I forgot to look to see if he had copies of one of the books he narrated for sale, and I don't see it available on his webpage, so I'll have to put in an inquiry for it.
Need to add: His narration was spectacular. It was all memorized, and all of it was a production rather than simply a reading. I don't think you could purchase one of his books without having seen him narrate it in order to get the full grasp of what is being conveyed.
Also, I pretty much walked in with "In Heaven, Everything Is Fine," playing in my head, so when Crispin mentioned David Lynch and Eraserhead during the Q&A, that pretty much sealed that song into my brainmeats. It's still playing on repeat today.
