Rewind #16

13 Ghosts: The Strangest Colored Lights (2008)

Every year it seems like a band comes to me through vacant force, like there's an empty spot inside me that needs to be filled. A good wind blows through town and suddenly there they are, smiling at me like someone who knew me in another life. 13 Ghosts slumbered into my consciousness and, like a dream that lingers, never gave me up to the wanderings. I've become completely devoted to them. They don't have a specific sound that can be categorized within one precise genre. From the spacey time traveling opening "The Lonely Death Of Space Avenger", through the gorgeous horns of "Riverside", onto the hushed intimacy of "Soon When I'm Gone"and plunging with the gravity of "Beyond the Door", they traverse the poetic ache of Uncle Walt, live off the land like HDT. Through all of the pain and hope they exhibit in their creative spirit, these guys are reaching out to touch life, searching for the thrum that pulses under the surface. I hope to find it along with them because there's beautiful gems in this country and discovering 13 Ghosts this year has been like digging up something priceless from right out of my own backyard.



My Family And Other Animals: Sheree Folkson (2005)

A film made for Masterpiece Theatre, it reveals the tale of Gerald Durrell when he was a ten-year-old and the family moved to Greece during the thirties. From the book of the same title that Durrell wrote in 1956, we follow the clan on their comical wanderings around the island as they try to find a place that suites their eccentricities. Gerald slowly morphs into a boy out of Lord Of The Flies as he wanders the landscape obsessing about the wildlife. While his brother Larry, who later became a famous author, imagines himself a genius and annoys everyone with his pompous attitudes about everything. Then his sister Margo hunts for men and his other brother Leslie simply hunts, killing the wildlife almost as fast as Gerald can adopt it. It's all held together by his widowed mother who accomodates the lot of them with her guidance and wisdom. The great joy about My Family And Other Animals is that, throughout the entire film, it cherishes a sense of discovery. Even though they are all flawed people in many ways, they all are totally embracing this fantastic new world around them with such an open devouring spirit. And their mother has the warmest heart that every parent should give to their children. It's no surprise that these kids grew up to be famous authors. They were allowed to follow their hearts to the fullest. It's a sweet movie that gives a glimpse of a time when the world still held some innocence before the second world war.