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The Pioneer Park Basketball League

There’s this guy on Twitter who keeps posting about Pioneer Park’s homeless population in a really low-brow way. He stops to take photos of what he sees as “conflicting” images, then uses them to argue against the $20 million upgrade to the park, which is slated for completion by the end of this year. One of his recent posts shows a homeless person with a necrotic arm passed out near the tennis courts while children play nearby. He uses that photo to claim the park improvements will only benefit the people who already “loiter” there between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. He fails to mention that shelters have curfews. People leave the park not because they’re done "loitering" — but because they know they’ll lose their bed and meal if they don’t check in on time. Now that I’m living near the park and connected not just by proximity but by community, I find those blind takes misguided. For the past few weeks, around 6 p.m., I’ve walked over to the basketball courts. Yes, the ones surrounde...
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Film Review: Parthenope


I hate that I connected with this one. I shouldn’t have understood it. The message felt too personal to the writer.

And yet, the one who spends his days wanting more — when there’s already so much to be thankful for — understands.

What are you thinking about?

The writer asks this because no one ever asked them.

This film. The premise. The story. The aesthetic. The theme. That’s what they were thinking about. But no one cared until they wrote it down and shared it with the world.

I could go on.

There’s some weird shit in this film. Unnecessary stuff. Jarring, even. You’d think the giant baby-man would be the issue. Or maybe the snot rocket dripping from her nose.

Nope.

My issue was the landscape pan. A wide shot of the city filmed in a frame rate so high it looked choppy and unnatural. It physically hurt to watch. Maybe that was the point. But a visual that makes the viewer look away defeats the purpose of being seen.

Draw me in. Don’t push me out.

Also, Celeste (Parthenope) alone makes me want to write an entire script just for her. She is a timeless woman. Regal, yet so real you can feel her.

Parthenope is a beautiful and historic Greek myth. Why contort it with the extremes of modern filmmaking? Maybe it’s a necessary mess. Or maybe I’m just American. Maybe I’m immature.

There is a beauty in this film that you may never see again. It could have been unforgettable if it weren’t for the strange, unnecessary oddities that distracted more than they deepened.

Still, I recommend it. Especially to those who have made overthinking part of their personal identity.

Acta est fabula. 4/5