TechShop Opens In Portland
April 29, 2009 6:02 pm by Mike Burnett
Archive for April, 2009
Compassion Clinics
April 28, 2009 2:15 pm by Lauren Hudgins
Storm Large in Crazy Enough
April 26, 2009 2:39 pm by Lauren Hudgins
Storm Large relives a moment in the throes of heroin addiction in Crazy Enough, her world premiere autobiographical musical playing in the Ellyn Bye Studio at Portland Center Stage through June 7th.
In Portland, all of us (ok, most of us) know Storm Large. She’s one of our favorite local celebrities. But what do we want from her? What do we want from Portland’s own infamous rock diva?
She’s performing in a play, more of a one-lady musical, at Portland Center Stage. Crazy Enough is the story of her life up to now, at age 39. It’s been playing to sold out audiences for weeks. Why are we coming out in droves to see it? With a name like Crazy Enough, we are hoping to see a train wreck. Not a train wreck in the form of a terrible performance, but we are voyeurs. We want the goods behind the gossip. She begins, talking about preparations to go on the reality TV show Rock Star: Supernova. Her friends are interviewed to verify that she is sound of mind enough to be filmed. Her friends lie, at least a little bit, to get her on there. This process is peculiar. Who watches reality TV to watch sane, stable people do rational, unobjectionable things? We’re certainly not coming to PCS to see that.
So do we get to see the spectacle that we came to see? Storm does deliver, for most of it. She doesn’t shame us for our desire to rubberneck, but she also doesn’t allow us to get away without life lessons. Before the show opened, I guessed that the story would involve early promiscuity, hard drugs, and abortion. These and STDs (not included) are the scripted elements of a high-risk drama and the bad girl archetype. Storm has created for herself an image that is reckless and sexy. But as formulaic as some events of the story may be, it is her life (regardless of exaggeration for the sake of the story), and she divulges with vivacity.
Ms. Large is a riveting storyteller of the first three decades of her life. She gives us detailed anecdotal snippets. Her descriptions recount colors, lights, sounds, tastes conversations. Her mother’s Lily of the Valley perfume. The painted asshole of a figurine cat. Horrible growls of drug addled guitar solos.
Her mother was a lunatic feeding off of family drama, and fittingly, she was a child who wanted to be a werewolf, growing up in fear of losing control of herself. Unsurprisingly, she pursued a young life of self-destructive habits culminating in a heroin overdose during an emotionally abusive relationship. This reenactment launches an introspective song “Inside Out,” my second favorite of the evening (“Eight Miles Wide” is obviously the best). She wanted to be larger than life but she’s just going to end up dead.
She survives, backs off the heroin after a horrible withdrawal, tries and fails with humor to launch her music career over several years, falls in love with a married man, and feels her over confident sense of self caving in.
And then she moved to Portland and everything is dandy. The introspective life story ends and all we are left with is the overshadowing curse maternal genetics and unfinished business with her mother. Perhaps we are just supposed to know the story of how she makes it in Portland. But I was disappointed that we didn’t get to hear more about how she became who she is to us, and how that transformed how she thought of herself. Is it enough to be our regional heroine?
Even without the juicy details I wanted, I was still captivated by Storm’s energy and appreciation for the absurd while working through her mother’s death. But the very last moments of the show disappointed me. Before she enters a reprise of “Inside Out,” she very tidily wraps everything up in a trite and forced sounding monologue about loving ourselves in despite and because we’re different and “crazy.”
If this show ever leaves Portland (and I think it’s worth it) it will need to add some information about who she is, especially about her rise to a level of comfort and success. I would also cut out the moral of the story speech.
Crazy Enough
Until June 7
Portland Center Stage
128 NW 11th Ave.
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Interview: White Noise Observation Point
April 25, 2009 11:54 pm by Mike Burnett
“…if anyone was doing things that talked to me perfectly then i wouldn’t have to make them”
Clint Ganczak is behind White Noise Observation point, a mysterious entity that began reaching out last year on social networking sites like Myspace and Oregon Media Network, looking for like minded independent filmmakers. I ran into Ganczak serendipitously on the patio at NE Portland’s Bye and Bye a few weeks back. We talked a bit about independent film in Portland and what exactly White Noise Observation Point is up to, and this interview is the result.
Are you White Noise Observation Point, or does the name represent an organization?
this is the name of my one man band production company. originally it was a band name but the band never really got off the floor. i left out the word “productions”, or “films”, to be a little more enigmatic. i like it because people always wonder. that and i didn’t want a name that people didn’t take serious. if you’re serious about your films, your work, etc. – then i don’t know why you’d name your company/organization something like toast and jam films or flying green dog productions.
Where does the name come from?
the name is quasi buddhist. i came up with it a long time ago working third shift and never getting sleep because of loud roommates. i kind of walked around in a fog. kind of like in fight club were he’s talking about not sleeping, “….a copy, of a copy, of a copy…” white noise is all frequencies of sound at once. there all all kinds of interesting things white noise is and does, it helps you sleep, it can make you crazy, and theoretically true white noise isn’t possible, because it would be infinite and infinitely powerful. so observing it is like seeing everything at once, sadness and happiness, tragedy and euphoria, epiphany and nothingness, all at once.
Can you take me through a brief history of your independent film screenings at Kelly’s Olympian?
i actually started at “the know”, but only a few people ever showed. i would sit there with a sign that read “WNOP” and people at the bar would ask me if it meant “W ith N o O ther P eople”. originally i called it filmmakers anonymous, a meet up for people doing film, and possibly show films. i didn’t know anyone or where the film scene was. so i just started something myself. then the booking agent from kelly’s contacted me and wanted to join forces and show local short films made by locals. we’ve been going strong for over a year, with a pretty decent turn out. we were doing it once a month, but now only four times a year. the next one is this weds at kelly’s olympian, 8pm, april 22nd. it’s free and we have some films that have won awards.
How long have you lived and worked in Portland, and from where did you originate?
like everyone else i’m not from here. i’ve been here for almost 5 years. i grew up in the rust/bible belt, fort wayne indiana. i became desperate enough to look into defense contract work in iraq(which was morally questionable) and fishing jobs in alaska. anything to escape. i ended up in the bering sea. if any of you are thinking about trying to earn film financing or buying equipment through commercial fishing, i don’t recommend it. i went for three summers before i learned my lesson.
Is there a film community in Portland?
yes, it’s small and can be clique-y. other times, it’s the same people on every other set.
What about a movement or any unifying aesthetic?
i don’t think so. everyone i know likes different things. there’s a few filmmakers who i like their work and far more that i don’t. but if anyone was doing things that talked to me perfectly then i wouldn’t have to make them. at first i had grandiose goals of starting some type of movement. i don’t know if that’s possible here. i’ll need to get more of my stuff off the ground and then start stirring shit up.
What is most of your professional film and video work like in Portland?
completely different. some are really trying to be professional, others are messy nightmares that are going no where. i just work my camera or whatever i’m doing and try to learn as much as possible. i’d like to be doing it full time, but i guess i have a lot more dues to pay. most of it is low pay, running ragged, run and gun. i’d like to work with more people that are willing to do anything to make it just right. but that takes money, and most of us are more dreamer than business man.
How pulled toward larger film cities (like LA or NY) do you feel?
i love portland even though i never intended to be here for more than a couple weeks. my first misadventure in alaska shit me out in seattle with a few hundred in my pocket. that wasn’t going to set me up in brooklyn, where i originally intended on. i’m back and forth on this. eventually i’ll be in nyc, unless portland makes some big changes or if i start making films that people really like. i probably will go to nyc regardless. i’ll never be a west coaster, portland is too small, and too comfortable.
What have you noticed changing about the Portland film industry since you arrived?
i still haven’t figured it out
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The Limits of Control Coming to Cinema 21
April 23, 2009 5:06 pm by Mike Burnett
Photos from Stumptown Comics Fest
April 22, 2009 10:16 pm by Lauren Hudgins
My friend, Douglas Wolk
Laura Hudson of Comic Foundry looking evil
Jacq Cohen of Dark Horse looking terrified
Sarah Olesksyk
Ron Chan
Derek Stubbs
Leight Walton of Top Shelf
Meredith Gran
Snow Leopard Comics
Kenan Rubenstein (right) did some of the most heartwrenchingly beautiful black and white artwork I saw at Stumptown. I definitely recommend checking out his website, Boy Blue Productions.
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Seed and Plant Swap at People’s
11:06 am by Lauren Hudgins
Report From 2009 Stumptown Comics Fest
April 20, 2009 10:01 pm by Mike Burnett
This Sunday I went to the Stumptown Comics Fest at the Lloyd Center Doubletree. It was overwhelming, I’m assuming, even for comic geeks. The festival completely filled up the large room, and the floorplan created a maze or narrow gauntlets where rows of comic book artists stood or sat being chatted up by fans or eagerly eying passersby. I was looking for a strip that fellow DTR writer Lauren had recommended (Skidmore Bluffs) and trying to spot local artists to chat with among the 134 booths.
I was feeling a lost and somewhat claustrophobic when I spotted some familiar images on a table off to my right.
I wrote about this series of Wire characters illustrated as Simpsons cartoons last year after spotting them on Periscope Studio’s website. The artist behind the cartoons is Steve Leiber, and he was sitting at the booth along with comic book writer and novelist Sara Ryan. While I was talking to them, a young man and his father came up to the booth, and I stepped aside knowing full well that fans are more fun than journalists.
The young man asked “You’re Steve Leiber aren’t you?” and handed Leiber his portfolio of drawings.
“How old are you?” asked Leiber.
“18,” answered the young man. Leiber was visibly impressed by the work, and told the kid that his art was excellent for an 18-year old. He then started a detailed explanation of what the kid could do to improve, which must have lasted a good 15 minutes. The kid ate it up. While they were talking I had the chance to pick up some of Sara Ryan’s comics, including Flytrap, an illustrated series of linked short stories about a circus troupe (at least in part), also illustrated by Leiber.
Another booth I stopped by was First Second Books’. They had preview copies available of The Eternal Smile, a gorgeous three-part graphic novel illustrated by Portland comic book author and artist Derek Kirk Kim and written by Gene Yang.
Derek Kirk Kim wasn’t at the booth when I stopped by, and neither was another artist whose work I checked out and really liked. Erika Moen writes Dar, a comic about a woman who “used to be a dyke until she met [her husband] and then he messed that all up.” She described the comic as “a super girly top secret comic diary”. It’s sort of like Cathy if Cathy was funny and tackled subjects like anal sex. Dar is posted on Darcomic.com.
I also stopped and talked to LA artist Tom Neely for a bit. Neely did the latest cover of the Mercury, which he had sitting on his table. When I spotted it, I walked over and asked him he if was local. “No, but I want to be,” he said. I really enjoy Neely’s dissonant-Disneyesque illustrations, which I first encountered in a roomate’s copy of Neely’s book The Blot. The Blot and other works are available on Neely’s site, www.iwilldestroyyou.com.
I ended up back at Leiber and Ryan’s table where I bought a few of the Wire-gone-Simpsons prints. I asked Leiber what he was working on currently and he said he was going to make an announcement about something called Underground soon. In the meantime, fans of graphic novels can read the entire first book of the Whiteout series on Leiber’s site.
http://www.stumptowncomics.com/
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Taste of the Nation Is Coming
7:26 pm by Lauren Hudgins
We’re in a recession. You know it. I know it. I’ve heard people arguing about whether this is simply a recession or whether it’s turning into a full-blown depression. An argument in favor of this becoming a depression: the number of people who are in need of food assistance is growing at a frightening rate. There was a statewide 15% increase in distribution of emergency food last year. Food banks are having a very difficult time keeping up with this need.
If you are feeling comfortable with your food security, consider making a donation to an organization that provides food to others. On Monday, April 27, 2009, the Taste of the Nation culinary event is coming to Portland.
Taste of the Nation is a campaign to end hunger across the US. Proceeds from ticket sales go to local agencies that distribute food to those who need it. Portland’s beneficiaries are Oregon Food Bank, Oregon Hunger Relief Task Force, Klamath-Lake Counties Food Bank, and St. Vincent de Paul Food Recovery Program. It’s an unusual opportunity to indulge in some of the best food, wine, beer, and cocktails that local restaurants, wineries, breweries, and bars have to offer, while making a donation to help feed the community. Since 1988, the Portland Taste of the Nation has raised over $1.2 million.
More than 50 chefs and restaurants will contribute to the evening. The line-up of tastes includes:
Paley’s Place
The Country Cat
Firehouse
Andina
Baker & Spice
East India Company,
DOC,
FlavourSpot
Carabella Winery
Elk Cove Vineyard
Foris Winery
Argyle Winery
Tickets are available here or at New Seasons. Or call 1-877-26TASTE.
LUXE ticket entrance at 5:00 pm — $200
VIP entrance at 5:30 pm — $125
General Admission at 6:30pm — $75
LUXE Autohaus
410 NE 17th Ave
Portland, OR 97232
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Frost/Nixon
6:24 pm by Jonathan Owicki
20 days left.
Frost/Nixon is playing at Portland Center Stage until May 10th.
Frost/Nixon, by Peter Morgan, is the story of the television interviews between talk show host David Frost and recently-resigned President Richard Nixon. You probably know it because it was made into a movie last year (I haven’t seen the movie, so I can’t comment on how it differs from the play, although I’m guessing the answer is “significantly”). Basically, David Frost is a lightweight sort-of journalist who wants to prop up his career by getting Nixon to admit his guilt re: Watergate, while Nixon is hoping to rehabilitate his image and make some quick money by appearing on television.
The source material here is excellent stuff for drama. You’ve got two larger-than-life personalities butting heads in a high-stakes battle that allows the playwright to explore the Nixon presidency, television journalism and the nature of scandal.
The problem is that Morgan burdens us with an incredible amount of completely unnecessary narration. The play is told from the point of view of one member of Frost’s support team, whose constant addresses to the audience muddle the excitement of the show. Half of what he says to us we do not need to know, and the other half was either already obvious or could have been made clear by showing, rather than telling. It’s lazy script writing.
But when the play really zeroes in on the story and focuses on its two main characters, it’s edge-of-your-seat material. Every scene in the television studio sparkles. Nixon is especially well-written, and Bill Christ brings him to life with confidence and a surprisingly strong sense of comedic delivery.
Of course, this is PCS, so the production values are high. The set consists of constantly moving panels (used to differentiate the many locations) and a rear wall onto which live video feeds are projected. It’s impressive, if a bit showy.
So, in short, a mixed bag, but in the end probably worth seeing if you can afford it.
Portland Center Stage
128 NW Eleventh Avenue
Until May 10
