Darren Aronofsky

Our Favourite Directors (Cross Talk EP 34)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

Chris and I decided long ago that if we were going to do a panel show where we talked about pop culture (focusing primarily on movies) that we would never shy away from a topic, but more importantly, that we wouldn’t be afraid to be vulnerable about our feelings when it came to stuff we cared about on a personal level.

When you admit that you care about a person, an object, a place or whatever, you’re offering up an opportunity to another party to challenge you and to consider your point of view. It can be scary when you find out you are the only individual in a room who identifies with a certain board game which basically has no theme or strategy, or that you really like a pop song which is simplistic (primarily due to the musicians ability) or heck, when you like a movie full of even plot holes that it would pair well with some bologna.

But on the other side of the fence, rests those who are so excited about a fandom that they invest far more energy than the average enthusiast, alienating themselves from the vast majority.

At the end of the day, I’m not sure where most of you dear readers will fall when it comes to Darren Aronofsky and Richard Linklater, but these are two of our favourite directors of all time. I’ll leave it up to you to figure out which of the two of us identifies with which director. But I will say, that no matter what the case, these are creative professionals who are making interesting films.

Challenging films which just might make you think about the world in a new way. And if timotheories is about digital curating at heart, what better way for me to give you some great insights into quality filmmaking, then to give a strong recommendation for a couple of catalogues to peruse through – no harm, no foul, if you end up walking away. But my gut tells me that you’ll come to appreciate their unique visions. And after you watch this episode, you’ll learn why these are our favourite directors.

This is episode thirty four of Cross Talk.

theories Summarized

Were you surprised to learn why we love Aronofsky and Linklater? Do you identify with one director more then the other? And more importantly, have you seen some of their movies, not knowing much about the men behind the camera?

I really hope that you investigate these guys more closely, and that you drew something from their wells of ideas.

That mentioned, creative cuties, you should totally like the video if you enjoyed it, leave a comment if you have some thoughts, and subscribe if you want to see more from us! Your support lets us know what we are doing right.

And yes, I have an album review from Vance Joy on the block for tomorrow, so y’all come back to learn a theory about Nation of Two is lovely.

Tim!

Quality Control (Cross Talk Ep. 8)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

My day job is interesting, dear readers.

I work for a major Canadian retailer, at their corporate office, coordinating marketing efforts. To be more specific, I’m responsible to ensure all of the product photography, marketing related images, online product catalogue, and any written content associated with the brand stays on track and keeps on keeping on.

Though I am ultimately a creative being at heart, and my major life interests lie with the arts, my unique skill set also features analytical abilities of project management, planning, organization, leadership, and communication. And so I’ve made decisions to use those skills to get paid.

play-get-paid

What this means is that quality control and process development are in my bones.

And while it’s my job to contribute to a healthy brand image to the company I work for, I also believe in that ideal, and so I have internal and external alignments. But just because these types of development inevitably lead to consistency and then business maintenance, that does not mean that innovation is without energy spent and emotional investment.

Some elements of quality production and process lend themselves to automation, but still others will always need vigilance in attention.

Which conveniently gets us on track for this month’s episode of Cross Talk. I think that quality movies all demand a certain level of attention the first time you view them, but over time, some movies fall into the camp where they become rewatchable and part of our pop culture slang, whereas other movies are definitely necessary for the experiences they can provide, but you can’t easily queue them for repeated viewings, and this is for a myriad of reasons.

To give you a more concrete example of a rewatchable movie, I would say that 21 Jump Street is a great example because the laughs and content are memorable, fun, and the chemistry between its leads is insane.

Whereas an intense movie like Requiem for a Dream cannot be watched every couple of weeks because it is so visceral, full of dark themes, and difficult to stomach. Darren Aronofsky refuses to pull any punches and thusly we can only stay with his vision for a short while.

What this means for the audience at home is that Chris and I recognize there are solid examples of both movies, but it’s not always obvious which is which, and so episode 8 of Cross Talk is a conduit for the difference between a quality movie and one that turns into a rewatchable one.

As always, I’ve included a direct link to the full video for you here, but I want you get your hands on the video ASAP, so we’ve harnessed the power of technology to embed the video directly below. Please sit back and enjoy Episode 8 of Cross Talk!

I’m out of theories for now, but please check back tomorrow for an album review that features arts & crafts. It should be a good one! Please comment, subscribe, and share this with friends. We want to hear your feedback!

Tim!