Like every other blogger on the planet, weeks of obeying quarantine laws and social distancing has resulted in the urge to write. Yet for me, it’s also meant that the mind-frame needed for writing is in its own quarantined corner.
If you’re anything like me, then you have a beard and enjoy wearing Hamilton t-shirts. You’re also a bit unnerved right now. Perhaps you’ve also managed to push that feeling down into a little ball, right next to the Catholic guilt and need for constant approval you’ve cultivated since childhood. The one you drown in vodka martinis and cheese dip. Then tweet a lot.
Suffice it to say, this year’s best laid plans have gone awry. I’d actually planned to take a little step back from reviewing as many current releases as I did in 2019, focusing instead on long-form writing and reacquainting myself with the history of film. Little did any of us know that decision was going to be made for us.
It’s funny, actually: in January I started my monthly column on Asia in Focus releases, celebrating the Lunar New Year schedule. These were all rapidly pulled from release as a result of the Coronavirus outbreak in China, although it wasn’t obvious this was the beginning of something.
In retrospect, it was a warning shot as to how COVID-19 would impact the arts around the world, as cinemas and theatres closed and the entirety of the US summer slate was rescheduled and reformatted.
Yet these are the things that we geeks live on, and a shortage of films and festivals is only secondary to the fear of not having toilet paper. As the Sydney and Melbourne film festivals were cancelled in short order, our island’s outlet to new release cinema was severed with it. It’s been said many times during this pandemic but it bears repeating: art is what we turn to in time of crisis, and now art itself is at a crisis point.
The thing about art is that it endures. Major studios have been fortunate enough to pivot and release some material digitally, and I managed to catch up with the likes of Onward, Bloodshot, The Way Back, Emma, and The Hunt while maintaining a sensible social distance. Suffice it to say, none were worth risking viral infection over, but Onward is fun and Emma is a beautifully appointed update of a classic.
What I’ve really enjoyed is catching up on some films from the archives. As some of you may know, I’m a librarian in my day job and organising is in my blood. So, of course I spent the better part of the Easter long weekend decanting, organsing and cataloguing my substantial DVD and Blu-ray collection into alphabetical order. If I’m showing signs of going stir crazy, I’m more Rob Gordon in High Fidelity than Howard Hughes.
Without the excuse of not having enough time, or reacting to new releases and media screenings every week, I’ve caught up with over 40 films I’d never seen before since I started #IsoLife in late March. I’ve got a little bit of a 1970s and New Hollywood bent going, with a mini Peter Bogdanovich binge encompassing Targets (1968), a fascinating anti-gun film with Boris Karloff playing into type as an ageing horror movie actor. Naturally, repeat viewings of The Last Picture Show (1971) and What’s Up Doc? (1972) followed with (to my shame) a first viewing of Paper Moon (1973).
The 70s path led to gems like Hal Ashby’s satirical Shampoo (1975), featuring the first appearance of a 17-year-old Carrie Fisher, The Out of Towners (1970), a Jack Lemmon/Sandy Dennis comedy of errors that follows no logic but for the aggressive drudgery of the Big City, and John Schlesinger’s flawed but fatalistic examination of old Hollywood in The Day of the Locust (1975). Fun fact: it features Donald Sutherland as a man named Homer Simpson.
One of my favourite ‘finds’ in the last few weeks is Nobuhiko Obayashi’s infamous House (1977), which I’d never seen despite my love of Japanese cinema. I’ve had it sitting here for ages and never taken the time, I don’t think I was prepared for just how different this was to any of the thousands of films I’ve seen over the years. From the heightened colours and artifice of the joyful opening to the full-blown trip of a conclusion, I’m not sure I could do justice to explaining this. So I won’t.
Of course, these are all things I’d already spend money on and there’s a very real industry out there still needing your support. Stage and theatre owners, for example, are asking that we donate our ticket prices for cancelled shows so that they can survive another year. If you can afford to do this, it’s a great way to help them and their staff out in this time. Here’s some other stuff you can do:
- Donate to your local theatres or companies. Regardless of the amount – from a one-off donation to the naming of a fixed plaque – you can help keep the doors open on the other side of this closure.
- Buy cinema gift tickets from the chains and the indies. You can have them ready to roll for birthdays and Christmas and add to your favourite cinema’s income in the meantime.
- Post a photo of yourself in the arts. It’s a trend that’s been happening on the socials, so remind the world of your involvement in the scene, whether you a creator, a critic or a consumer.
- Maybe write to your local member to ask about funding for the arts. Yes, they are all very busy at the moment with a global pandemic, but we need to let them know what kind of society we want to return to.
I’d also like to share some unsolicited advice on dealing with #isolife. As someone who has always been very honest about mental health issues, I know this is hardest on those of us who have struggled with anxiety and depression in their lives. There’s always some people you can talk with if you need a hand.
Now, none of this has got me back to writing any of those books I’m allegedly working on. Indeed, writing seems to take about three times as long as usual. (See: earlier comment about anxiety). You could even argue that writing this was a whole lot of procrastination.
Here’s hoping your reading of this gave you a little inspiration of how you might be able to cope. More than anything, just be kind to yourself: enjoy those comforts of art, film, food and stay safe at home.
