Word of the day : farrier
: a man who shoes horses
Well, we're in the heart and heat of the Christmas break here, and we're having a pretty good time - no complaints.
We've been watching and re-watching a lot of movies: The Reef and Rogue (effective Australian creature features), Magic Mike, Chernobyl Diaries, Premium Rush...
Have you seen Premium Rush (2012) yet? It's one of the best action films - one of the most entertaining films, for that matter - of the year. A fast-paced, ingeniously-choreographed film featuring some first-rate stunt work, the film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt (that endlessly appealing, up-for-anything fount of charisma) as an NYC bike messenger who finds himself in possession of a Very Important piece of mail - wanted Very Badly by crooked cop Michael Shannon. The movie has the same energetic, freewheeling, non-stop reckless sense of fun and play as Speed, and writer-director David Koepp (longtime go-to studio scripter) has a ball with the linear convolutions of the story and the obstacles inherent in the setting. Koepp has directed some underrated films - the Ricky Gervais comedy Ghost Town, the Kevin Bacon creeper Stir of Echoes, Johnny Depp's Secret Window- but this one is his best yet; it's a modestly ambitious piece of throwaway entertainment, perfect for what it is, with Michael Shannon giving an enormously colorful supporting turn; the actor seems as pained as strained as usual (I mean that in a good way), seizing with worry, contorting his vocal inflections, and very, very funny.
Another movie we had long been waiting to see was Chernobyl Diaries (2012), which is pretty much what you think it's going to be from the title and previews. Six tourists are up for - some more than others, naturally - an extreme travel sidetrip to Chernobyl - site, of course, of the nuclear reactor disaster in 1986. The characters are fascinated, enthralled by the apparently off-limits site and the abandoned city where the workers once lived. But, of course, as night falls, complications set in and they realize they're not alone. I suppose you can say that the film is exploitative, making light of a horrible tragedy, but why bother? It's a movie, people! I was creeped out throughout, and though the film follows a fairly obvious blueprint, the whole thing really hooked me and one reason for my engagement is that, though I should have, I never really knew where the film was going and who was going to die next. Directed by Bradley Parker.
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Disgusted.
Horrified.
Unsettled.
Ashamed.
Don't even wanna think about it.
Can't imagine.
Why would anyone take guns to school intending to slaughter as many children - kids aged seven to ten with their whole lives ahead of them - as humanly possible?
Why would a mother with a mentally unstable son living in her house have three guns registered in her name?
Why?
Why does this stuff continue to happen? Why can't we politicize this issue? Why can't we have a reasonable discussion about it?
If you own guns, fine; odds are that you are a responsible individual who keeps them away from your children - if you have children.
But answer me this: Why would anyone need to own a gun nowadays? Self-defense? From whom? Explain to me the scenario that would have your safety in jeopardy and leave you perfectly able to go retrieve your gun - which evidently must not be that out-of-reach, I guess - in time to defend yourself?
The 2nd Amendment? Fuck the Second Amendment! The writers of the Amendments lived in a very different world than we lived in - a vastly different society. They didn't envision this. If any of their sons or daughters would have been shot to death with a gun, we would have never had this amendment to begin with. Let's stop cherry-picking from the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Bible - whatever the sacred text - and trying to, via hermeneutics, align our goofy beliefs and ideas with the words, ideas, and rights of those who wouldn't have any idea how to deal with or live in our modern world.
If a few spoiled apples ruin the rights of others... well, that's life. It wouldn't be the first time such a thing happened. Deal with it. We can think of a thousand other examples where the behavior of a miscreant few have ruined it for the rest of us.
I haven't been particularly eloquent this post... but I'm sick to my stomach and don't care.
NEW GUN CONTROL LAWS NOW!
Horrified.
Unsettled.
Ashamed.
Don't even wanna think about it.
Can't imagine.
Why would anyone take guns to school intending to slaughter as many children - kids aged seven to ten with their whole lives ahead of them - as humanly possible?
Why would a mother with a mentally unstable son living in her house have three guns registered in her name?
Why?
Why does this stuff continue to happen? Why can't we politicize this issue? Why can't we have a reasonable discussion about it?
If you own guns, fine; odds are that you are a responsible individual who keeps them away from your children - if you have children.
But answer me this: Why would anyone need to own a gun nowadays? Self-defense? From whom? Explain to me the scenario that would have your safety in jeopardy and leave you perfectly able to go retrieve your gun - which evidently must not be that out-of-reach, I guess - in time to defend yourself?
The 2nd Amendment? Fuck the Second Amendment! The writers of the Amendments lived in a very different world than we lived in - a vastly different society. They didn't envision this. If any of their sons or daughters would have been shot to death with a gun, we would have never had this amendment to begin with. Let's stop cherry-picking from the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Bible - whatever the sacred text - and trying to, via hermeneutics, align our goofy beliefs and ideas with the words, ideas, and rights of those who wouldn't have any idea how to deal with or live in our modern world.
If a few spoiled apples ruin the rights of others... well, that's life. It wouldn't be the first time such a thing happened. Deal with it. We can think of a thousand other examples where the behavior of a miscreant few have ruined it for the rest of us.
I haven't been particularly eloquent this post... but I'm sick to my stomach and don't care.
NEW GUN CONTROL LAWS NOW!
Thursday, December 13, 2012
12...
Word of the day : counterfoil
: a detachable stub (as in a ticket or check) usually serving as a record
or receipt
12 Days till Christmas...
Movie awards season...
David arriving tomorrow...
Jeez!
Here are the films opening this weekend:
The Hobbit Heard of this one? Then I need not tell you what is about. The reviews have been somewhat lackluster, however. No one hates it, but no one loves it either.
Verdict: Not Interested
Save the Date A comedy about thirtysomething inertia and romantic vulnerability and apprehension, this comedy stars two talented young actresses - Alison Brie and Lizzy Caplan - as sisters at opposite ends of the relationship spectrum. The critics aren't digging it, however.
Verdict: Interested
Stand Up Guys Director Fisher Stevens ropes together an impressive trio of actors - Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, and Alan Arkin - for this poorly-reviewed comedy about a man released from prison (Pacino) who gets back together with an old friend (Walken) who has been ordered by a Mob boss to kill Al. It sounds more dramatic than funny, but there are a lot of sex (read: Viagra) jokes and raunch.
Verdict: Mildly Interested
Any Day Now Alan Cumming, usually camping up, drag-style, is said to give the best film performance of his career, as one of half of a gay couple (Garrett Dillahunt is his partner) who adopt a teenager with Down's Syndrome in the 1970s and then get involved in a drawn-out court case to determine whether or not they are fit for custody of him. Critics like it, calling it moving and sometimes funny, avoiding the melodramatic.
Verdict: Interested
*
Animal of the day:
Reindeer
Well, it is that time of year, right? Did you know that reindeer, unlike humans, can perceive ultraviolet light? It helps them be able to detect prey and predators in the blindingly white Arctic snow. They most lively in the Arctic and sub-Arctic north - for about 10 to 15 years. Both males and females grow antlers (no other female species of deer do so). They are more domesticated (having been domesticated in Eurasia for over 7000 years) than their wilder cousins, the caribou. They mostly eat grass and lichen, mushrooms. Their mortal enemy? The mosquito!
*
Check out my other blog, http://mybookylife.blogspot.com/, later today for book reviews!
Images courtesy of:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gGNHtzFx74I/TudNvjst2TI/AAAAAAAACMg/8L_TEHfaKOM/s1600/reindeer-213.jpg
http://smhttp.14409.nexcesscdn.net/806D5E/wordpress-L/images/any_day_now-1.jpg
: a detachable stub (as in a ticket or check) usually serving as a record
or receipt
12 Days till Christmas...
Movie awards season...
David arriving tomorrow...
Jeez!
Here are the films opening this weekend:
The Hobbit Heard of this one? Then I need not tell you what is about. The reviews have been somewhat lackluster, however. No one hates it, but no one loves it either.
Verdict: Not Interested
Save the Date A comedy about thirtysomething inertia and romantic vulnerability and apprehension, this comedy stars two talented young actresses - Alison Brie and Lizzy Caplan - as sisters at opposite ends of the relationship spectrum. The critics aren't digging it, however.
Verdict: Interested
Stand Up Guys Director Fisher Stevens ropes together an impressive trio of actors - Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, and Alan Arkin - for this poorly-reviewed comedy about a man released from prison (Pacino) who gets back together with an old friend (Walken) who has been ordered by a Mob boss to kill Al. It sounds more dramatic than funny, but there are a lot of sex (read: Viagra) jokes and raunch.
Verdict: Mildly Interested
Any Day Now Alan Cumming, usually camping up, drag-style, is said to give the best film performance of his career, as one of half of a gay couple (Garrett Dillahunt is his partner) who adopt a teenager with Down's Syndrome in the 1970s and then get involved in a drawn-out court case to determine whether or not they are fit for custody of him. Critics like it, calling it moving and sometimes funny, avoiding the melodramatic.
Verdict: Interested
*
Animal of the day:
Reindeer
Well, it is that time of year, right? Did you know that reindeer, unlike humans, can perceive ultraviolet light? It helps them be able to detect prey and predators in the blindingly white Arctic snow. They most lively in the Arctic and sub-Arctic north - for about 10 to 15 years. Both males and females grow antlers (no other female species of deer do so). They are more domesticated (having been domesticated in Eurasia for over 7000 years) than their wilder cousins, the caribou. They mostly eat grass and lichen, mushrooms. Their mortal enemy? The mosquito!
*
Check out my other blog, http://mybookylife.blogspot.com/, later today for book reviews!
Images courtesy of:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gGNHtzFx74I/TudNvjst2TI/AAAAAAAACMg/8L_TEHfaKOM/s1600/reindeer-213.jpg
http://smhttp.14409.nexcesscdn.net/806D5E/wordpress-L/images/any_day_now-1.jpg
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
13 Days Before X-Mas
Word of the day : intersperse
: to place something at intervals in or among
: to insert at intervals among other things
Well, two days until David gets here... Lotta stuff to do around the house between now and then. Today, we have a parent-teacher conference regarding Gabriel's progress around school. Then, of course, we're going to go take him to get some frozen yogurt. Savannah and Beaufort this weekend, too! Woo-hoo, Christmas!
*
5 Things I Liked About the First Season of BBC's Luther (which I just finished):
1. Idris Elba. I've always been a fan of the actor, ever since his sinuous, memorable work on the first three seasons of The Wire. Here, as intense, hard-charging London DCI John Luther, Elba just about sets the screen on fire. He's magnetic as hell and you can't take your eyes off him.
2. Ruth Foster. As a killer who murders her parents, Foster is gleeful and chilling... and damn it if you don't like her. The twisted, kindred-souls, vaguely erotic relationship she forms over the first season with Luther is... interesting, for lack of a better word.
3. The bad guys are really creepy. From a kidnapper who cuts out a hostage's tongue to a cabbie who collects young women to an occult weirdo, the villains here are diabolical and lethal.
4. Every episode is intense. I was on edge almost every episode. Everything seems up for grabs, and there never - for the better - seems to be a proper sense of closure; killers get away and a fog of moral rot looms even as the credits roll.
5. The final two episodes - wow!
*
5 Things I Liked About the film Hope Springs (2012
1. The details. Vanessa Taylor's script is often pinpoint in the observation of the routines and behavior that define everyday living in a marriage.
2. Tommy Lee Jones. The actor's portrait of a man so settled into his routine that he's unaware of his emotional nullity is really something to see; the body language he displays - particularly in the counseling sessions - is worth a look.
3 and 4. The casting. Outside of Jones, there's Meryl Streep. Oh yeah, she's top-notch too, equal to Jones' as his restless, deeply unsatisfied wife who doesn't know how to get the fire going again; it's not a showy performance, but it's characteristically very well-observed.
Steve Carell is cast against type as the marriage counselor and if you expect him to be funny or Michael Scott-y, you might be in for a letdown. He plays it absolutely straight.
5. The rhythms and payoff. It's not a great film, but it's breezy, full of uncomfortable truths, and has a good ending. The characters feel like real people, and though it's more of a drama than a romantic comedy, the film has some tender, touching moments and some humor too.
: to place something at intervals in or among
: to insert at intervals among other things
Well, two days until David gets here... Lotta stuff to do around the house between now and then. Today, we have a parent-teacher conference regarding Gabriel's progress around school. Then, of course, we're going to go take him to get some frozen yogurt. Savannah and Beaufort this weekend, too! Woo-hoo, Christmas!
*
5 Things I Liked About the First Season of BBC's Luther (which I just finished):
1. Idris Elba. I've always been a fan of the actor, ever since his sinuous, memorable work on the first three seasons of The Wire. Here, as intense, hard-charging London DCI John Luther, Elba just about sets the screen on fire. He's magnetic as hell and you can't take your eyes off him.
2. Ruth Foster. As a killer who murders her parents, Foster is gleeful and chilling... and damn it if you don't like her. The twisted, kindred-souls, vaguely erotic relationship she forms over the first season with Luther is... interesting, for lack of a better word.
3. The bad guys are really creepy. From a kidnapper who cuts out a hostage's tongue to a cabbie who collects young women to an occult weirdo, the villains here are diabolical and lethal.
4. Every episode is intense. I was on edge almost every episode. Everything seems up for grabs, and there never - for the better - seems to be a proper sense of closure; killers get away and a fog of moral rot looms even as the credits roll.
5. The final two episodes - wow!
*
5 Things I Liked About the film Hope Springs (2012
1. The details. Vanessa Taylor's script is often pinpoint in the observation of the routines and behavior that define everyday living in a marriage.
2. Tommy Lee Jones. The actor's portrait of a man so settled into his routine that he's unaware of his emotional nullity is really something to see; the body language he displays - particularly in the counseling sessions - is worth a look.
3 and 4. The casting. Outside of Jones, there's Meryl Streep. Oh yeah, she's top-notch too, equal to Jones' as his restless, deeply unsatisfied wife who doesn't know how to get the fire going again; it's not a showy performance, but it's characteristically very well-observed.
Steve Carell is cast against type as the marriage counselor and if you expect him to be funny or Michael Scott-y, you might be in for a letdown. He plays it absolutely straight.
5. The rhythms and payoff. It's not a great film, but it's breezy, full of uncomfortable truths, and has a good ending. The characters feel like real people, and though it's more of a drama than a romantic comedy, the film has some tender, touching moments and some humor too.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Actors
Word of the day : disport
: to divert, amuse
: to frolic
: to display
This past summer I started compiling an ongoing list of what are, in my humble opinion, the 500 greatest performances in English-language films. I've been slacking a little on this list lately, so I want today's post to feature some more selections.
Tommy Lee Jones
as Hank Deerfield in In the Valley of Elah (2007)
A flawed movie if there ever was one, Paul Haggis' follow-up to Crash is a slow-moving examination of a father's grief. The movie's major selling point - not to exclude moving, compact supporting turns by Charlize Theron and Susan Sarandon - is that the father is played by Jones, who brings his trademark cut-and-dry, streamlined extraordinarily subtle sensibility to the role of a wounded answer not getting the answers he wants. Jones' face here is a map of torment, and he underplays everything so powerfully well. He has some great moments here, none finer than we relates the meaning of the title to Theron's son. He might be clipped and terse, but Jones always lets you see the seething pain beneath the surface.
Jeff Bridges
as Ted Cole in The Door in the Floor (2004)
One of the most unique portrayals of grief in contemporary film, Bridges is absolutely extraordinary here. He's sort of funny - wandering around his sprawling Long Island yard naked. He's sort of mean - yelling at and constantly wheedling his assistant (Jon Foster). He's narcissistic. Uncommunicative. Closed-off. But when the script reveals the tragedy he and his distant, vaporous wife (Kim Basinger) have undergone, we start to understand what the character - and this great actor - is up to. He's a clown, a possibly irredeemable jerk, but his pain is real, and we realize that there isn't any blueprint to carry on in the wake of loss; Bridges essays the floundering, drowning spirit of a man who doesn't know what to say, how to love, how to live. His monologue about the death of his two boys is as moving as it gets.
Dorothy Malone
as Marylee Hadley in Written on the Wind (1956)
I had to plumb the deaths of Douglas Sirk movies to come up with at least one selection, didn't I? What other director consistently wrangled such stormy, windblown, fruity, compellingly entertaining/soapy scene-stealing work from otherwise overlooked, staid performers (read: Rock Hudson)? Malone won a Supporting Actress Oscar for her work in this great, ludicrous melodrama. She flirts, cavorts, whimpers, threatens, vamps, sulks, rages and schemes. Talk about Daddy Issues. In short, everything you want from a supporting actress.
I'll be back with a regular post tomorrow!
Images courtesy of:
http://www.moviesonline2012.info/wp-content/uploads/tommy_lee_jones_in_the_valley_of_elah_movie_image__1_-50af0716c8026.jpg
http://youritlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/bridges.jpg
http://www.movieactors.com/photos-stars/malone-writtenwind-6.jpg
: to divert, amuse
: to frolic
: to display
This past summer I started compiling an ongoing list of what are, in my humble opinion, the 500 greatest performances in English-language films. I've been slacking a little on this list lately, so I want today's post to feature some more selections.
Tommy Lee Jones
as Hank Deerfield in In the Valley of Elah (2007)
A flawed movie if there ever was one, Paul Haggis' follow-up to Crash is a slow-moving examination of a father's grief. The movie's major selling point - not to exclude moving, compact supporting turns by Charlize Theron and Susan Sarandon - is that the father is played by Jones, who brings his trademark cut-and-dry, streamlined extraordinarily subtle sensibility to the role of a wounded answer not getting the answers he wants. Jones' face here is a map of torment, and he underplays everything so powerfully well. He has some great moments here, none finer than we relates the meaning of the title to Theron's son. He might be clipped and terse, but Jones always lets you see the seething pain beneath the surface.
Jeff Bridges
as Ted Cole in The Door in the Floor (2004)
One of the most unique portrayals of grief in contemporary film, Bridges is absolutely extraordinary here. He's sort of funny - wandering around his sprawling Long Island yard naked. He's sort of mean - yelling at and constantly wheedling his assistant (Jon Foster). He's narcissistic. Uncommunicative. Closed-off. But when the script reveals the tragedy he and his distant, vaporous wife (Kim Basinger) have undergone, we start to understand what the character - and this great actor - is up to. He's a clown, a possibly irredeemable jerk, but his pain is real, and we realize that there isn't any blueprint to carry on in the wake of loss; Bridges essays the floundering, drowning spirit of a man who doesn't know what to say, how to love, how to live. His monologue about the death of his two boys is as moving as it gets.
Dorothy Malone
as Marylee Hadley in Written on the Wind (1956)
I had to plumb the deaths of Douglas Sirk movies to come up with at least one selection, didn't I? What other director consistently wrangled such stormy, windblown, fruity, compellingly entertaining/soapy scene-stealing work from otherwise overlooked, staid performers (read: Rock Hudson)? Malone won a Supporting Actress Oscar for her work in this great, ludicrous melodrama. She flirts, cavorts, whimpers, threatens, vamps, sulks, rages and schemes. Talk about Daddy Issues. In short, everything you want from a supporting actress.
I'll be back with a regular post tomorrow!
Images courtesy of:
http://www.moviesonline2012.info/wp-content/uploads/tommy_lee_jones_in_the_valley_of_elah_movie_image__1_-50af0716c8026.jpg
http://youritlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/bridges.jpg
http://www.movieactors.com/photos-stars/malone-writtenwind-6.jpg
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Movie Day
Word of the day: dowager
: a widow holding a title or property from her deceased husband
: a dignified elderly woman
(That word is courtesy of Dame Maggie Smith's character in Downton Abbey)
Well, it's all movies today, folks. The first two major critics awards of the year have been announced - the New York Times and the less prestigious National Board of Review.
It's looking like this might be the year of Zero Dark Thirty, director Kathyrn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal's follow-up to their surprise Oscar winner of three years ago, The Hurt Locker. Released within the next two weeks, this is the exciting, gritty account of the hunt for (and eventually killing) of Osama Bin Laden; in the lead role, Jessica Chastain has suddenly become a major Best Actress candidate. The film is set to sweep the critics awards.
Everyone's frontrunner Daniel Day-Lewis (as Honest Abe) Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook), Sally Field (Lincoln), Leonardo DiCaprio (Django Unchained), and Matthew McConaughey (Magic Mike and Bernie) have all won early awards too alongside Chastain.
Out of the blue winners Rachel Weisz and Ann Dowd have burst into the hunt too with their performances as, respectively, a depressed, suicidal woman in the acclaimed adaptation of the great Terrence Rattigan play The Deep Blue Sea (one of my fave plays) and, in Dowd's case, a fast-food manager ordered by a mysterious policeman to question one of the store's employees in the independent, insanely well-reviewed Compliance, a based-on-true-events nightmare that I had hitherto never heard of - but now really really really want to see; Dowd also was a character actress nominally unfamiliar to me.
Golden Globe and SAG nominations are announced next week!
*
Here are the new movies opening this weekend:
Playing For Keeps Well, despite the abysmal reviews, I still want to see this sporty romantic comedy starring Gerard Butler as a former soccer pro wooing all the suburban Virginia mommies (Catherine Zeta-Jones, Uma Thurman, Judy Greer), trying to reconcile with his wife (Jessica Biel), coach his son's team, and a generally just being a well-intentioned misogynist fool - classic Butler. Dennis Quaid co-stars.
Verdict: Mildly Intersted
Hyde Park on Hudson It seems to possess all the credentials for a great Oscar season film: excellent director (Roger Michell, Morning Glory, Venus, Notting Hill)l a historical account/lesson involving royalty (including some of the characters featured in The King's Speech) and a U.S. president; knockout performances - by Bill Murray as FDR and Laura Linney as his spinster cousin; wartime intrigue; sex. So why the tepid reviews?
Verdict: Interested
Deadfall This one looks like a kindred spirit of A Simple Plan. Eric Bana and Olivia Wilde are a couple of casino robbers trying to make their way through a blizzard to the Canadian border. It's a movie, folks, so you know it won't be easy. Kris Kristofferson, Sissy Spacek, Kate Mara, and Treat Williams co-star. Critics are saying it's run-of-the-mill.
Verdict: Interested
Bad Kids Go to Hell Just what the title says. A horror-film take on The Breakfast Club, this jokey, gory outing about a group of bad kids who mysteriously start getting picked off one by one during an afternoon detention session. Judd Nelson had a cameo, natch. Need I say more?
Verdict: Mildly Interested
Lay the Favorite It's always a treat to have a Stephen Frears movie on our hands... alas, critics say, just not this one. Good cast: Rebecca Hall, Joshua Jackson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Bruce Willis, Vince Vaughn, Laura Prepon. Hall is an ex-stripper who moves to Las Vegas and finds unexpected success as a sort of muse for a powerful bookie (Willis). It just doesn't even sound that good.
Verdict: Not Interested
The Fitzgerald Family Christmas A new Edwards Burns movie! In which he returns to his Brothers McMullen style: the bickerings and tribulations of an Irish working class family on Long Island! Are we excited yet?
Verdict: Not Interested
*
A new month - well, six days ago it was new - means it's time for ten more films to be added to my list of Charles' 200 Essential American Films. This will take us up to 120.
(Mostly-Comedy Edition)
The Awful Truth (1937; directed by Leo McCarey)
As a divorced couple and opposing counsels on a difficult marital case, Cary Grant and Irene Dunne are so lovable, funny, fast-talking, and quick-witted that you could never see anybody else in these roles or with this chemistry.
Blue Velvet (1986; David Lynch)
That surreal opening set to the Bobby Vinton song; the ear in the field; Dennis Hopper in the gas mask; Dean Stockwell singing "In Dreams"... Need I go on?
Bringing Up Baby (1938; Howard Hawks)
Zany, zany, zany! Hepburn, Cary Grant (how many great movies has he been in?) and that adorable, sneaky pet leopard!
\
His Girl Friday (1940; Howard Hawks)
Magic. Rosalind Russell, Cary Grant, and co-stars talk so fast, so so so so fast in this sidesplitting (a word I almost never use) look at a crack newspaper team. Grant is in perfect form, bur Russell just might give the greatest performance by an actress in a comedy ever.
It Happened One Night (1934; Frank Capra)
Gable + Colbert = Oscar gold. There's so much to like about this mismatched-lovers-on-the-road comedy. All the scenes and moments you know still hold up. Favorite for me: The Wall of Jericho.
My Left Foot (1989; Jim Sheridan)
In which you can make a serious argument that Daniel Day-Lewis gives the greatest performance in the history of movies.
Slumdog Millionaire (2008; Danny Boyle)
A fast-paced, style-drenched, Dickensian, romantic, bouncily-scored romp through modern India, with great songs and images, lorded over by the unique, dizzying mastery of Danny Boyle. Jai Ho!
Other monthly selections:
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942; Orson Welles)
Manhattan (1979; Woody Allen)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962; Robert Mulligan)
*
Animal of the day:
Deep-sea Blob Sculpin
Yikes! Found in the deep, deep waters of the northern Pacific, this bottom cruiser is one ugly creature. They have massive rubbery heads and are covered all over by cirri - spine-like little daggers. They are sluggish and lazy, waiting for their food to come to them, and are often caught up in the trawls of deep-sea fishermen.
Images courtesy of:
http://twentyfourframes.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/theawfultruth-photo.jpg
http://ttcritic.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/mp_main_wide_hisgirlfriday.jpg
http://moviemusereviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/my_left_foot_the_story_of_christy_brown_1989.jpg
http://gothamist.com/attachments/byakas/hyde-park-on-hudson-murray-fdr.jpg
http://www.austinchronicle.com/binary/02e5/BadKidsGotoHell.jpg
Information courtesy of:
http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/content.php?sid=4205
http://fishbio.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/blob-sculpin-psychrolutes-phrictus.jpg
: a widow holding a title or property from her deceased husband
: a dignified elderly woman
(That word is courtesy of Dame Maggie Smith's character in Downton Abbey)
Well, it's all movies today, folks. The first two major critics awards of the year have been announced - the New York Times and the less prestigious National Board of Review.
It's looking like this might be the year of Zero Dark Thirty, director Kathyrn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal's follow-up to their surprise Oscar winner of three years ago, The Hurt Locker. Released within the next two weeks, this is the exciting, gritty account of the hunt for (and eventually killing) of Osama Bin Laden; in the lead role, Jessica Chastain has suddenly become a major Best Actress candidate. The film is set to sweep the critics awards.
Everyone's frontrunner Daniel Day-Lewis (as Honest Abe) Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook), Sally Field (Lincoln), Leonardo DiCaprio (Django Unchained), and Matthew McConaughey (Magic Mike and Bernie) have all won early awards too alongside Chastain.
Out of the blue winners Rachel Weisz and Ann Dowd have burst into the hunt too with their performances as, respectively, a depressed, suicidal woman in the acclaimed adaptation of the great Terrence Rattigan play The Deep Blue Sea (one of my fave plays) and, in Dowd's case, a fast-food manager ordered by a mysterious policeman to question one of the store's employees in the independent, insanely well-reviewed Compliance, a based-on-true-events nightmare that I had hitherto never heard of - but now really really really want to see; Dowd also was a character actress nominally unfamiliar to me.
Golden Globe and SAG nominations are announced next week!
*
Here are the new movies opening this weekend:
Playing For Keeps Well, despite the abysmal reviews, I still want to see this sporty romantic comedy starring Gerard Butler as a former soccer pro wooing all the suburban Virginia mommies (Catherine Zeta-Jones, Uma Thurman, Judy Greer), trying to reconcile with his wife (Jessica Biel), coach his son's team, and a generally just being a well-intentioned misogynist fool - classic Butler. Dennis Quaid co-stars.
Verdict: Mildly Intersted
Hyde Park on Hudson It seems to possess all the credentials for a great Oscar season film: excellent director (Roger Michell, Morning Glory, Venus, Notting Hill)l a historical account/lesson involving royalty (including some of the characters featured in The King's Speech) and a U.S. president; knockout performances - by Bill Murray as FDR and Laura Linney as his spinster cousin; wartime intrigue; sex. So why the tepid reviews?
Verdict: Interested
Deadfall This one looks like a kindred spirit of A Simple Plan. Eric Bana and Olivia Wilde are a couple of casino robbers trying to make their way through a blizzard to the Canadian border. It's a movie, folks, so you know it won't be easy. Kris Kristofferson, Sissy Spacek, Kate Mara, and Treat Williams co-star. Critics are saying it's run-of-the-mill.
Verdict: Interested
Bad Kids Go to Hell Just what the title says. A horror-film take on The Breakfast Club, this jokey, gory outing about a group of bad kids who mysteriously start getting picked off one by one during an afternoon detention session. Judd Nelson had a cameo, natch. Need I say more?
Verdict: Mildly Interested
Lay the Favorite It's always a treat to have a Stephen Frears movie on our hands... alas, critics say, just not this one. Good cast: Rebecca Hall, Joshua Jackson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Bruce Willis, Vince Vaughn, Laura Prepon. Hall is an ex-stripper who moves to Las Vegas and finds unexpected success as a sort of muse for a powerful bookie (Willis). It just doesn't even sound that good.
Verdict: Not Interested
The Fitzgerald Family Christmas A new Edwards Burns movie! In which he returns to his Brothers McMullen style: the bickerings and tribulations of an Irish working class family on Long Island! Are we excited yet?
Verdict: Not Interested
*
A new month - well, six days ago it was new - means it's time for ten more films to be added to my list of Charles' 200 Essential American Films. This will take us up to 120.
(Mostly-Comedy Edition)
The Awful Truth (1937; directed by Leo McCarey)
As a divorced couple and opposing counsels on a difficult marital case, Cary Grant and Irene Dunne are so lovable, funny, fast-talking, and quick-witted that you could never see anybody else in these roles or with this chemistry.
Blue Velvet (1986; David Lynch)
That surreal opening set to the Bobby Vinton song; the ear in the field; Dennis Hopper in the gas mask; Dean Stockwell singing "In Dreams"... Need I go on?
Bringing Up Baby (1938; Howard Hawks)
Zany, zany, zany! Hepburn, Cary Grant (how many great movies has he been in?) and that adorable, sneaky pet leopard!
His Girl Friday (1940; Howard Hawks)
Magic. Rosalind Russell, Cary Grant, and co-stars talk so fast, so so so so fast in this sidesplitting (a word I almost never use) look at a crack newspaper team. Grant is in perfect form, bur Russell just might give the greatest performance by an actress in a comedy ever.
It Happened One Night (1934; Frank Capra)
Gable + Colbert = Oscar gold. There's so much to like about this mismatched-lovers-on-the-road comedy. All the scenes and moments you know still hold up. Favorite for me: The Wall of Jericho.
My Left Foot (1989; Jim Sheridan)
In which you can make a serious argument that Daniel Day-Lewis gives the greatest performance in the history of movies.
Slumdog Millionaire (2008; Danny Boyle)
A fast-paced, style-drenched, Dickensian, romantic, bouncily-scored romp through modern India, with great songs and images, lorded over by the unique, dizzying mastery of Danny Boyle. Jai Ho!
Other monthly selections:
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942; Orson Welles)
Manhattan (1979; Woody Allen)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962; Robert Mulligan)
*
Animal of the day:
Deep-sea Blob Sculpin
Yikes! Found in the deep, deep waters of the northern Pacific, this bottom cruiser is one ugly creature. They have massive rubbery heads and are covered all over by cirri - spine-like little daggers. They are sluggish and lazy, waiting for their food to come to them, and are often caught up in the trawls of deep-sea fishermen.
Images courtesy of:
http://twentyfourframes.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/theawfultruth-photo.jpg
http://ttcritic.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/mp_main_wide_hisgirlfriday.jpg
http://moviemusereviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/my_left_foot_the_story_of_christy_brown_1989.jpg
http://gothamist.com/attachments/byakas/hyde-park-on-hudson-murray-fdr.jpg
http://www.austinchronicle.com/binary/02e5/BadKidsGotoHell.jpg
Information courtesy of:
http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/content.php?sid=4205
http://fishbio.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/blob-sculpin-psychrolutes-phrictus.jpg
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Catch-Up Time
Word of the day : campestral
: of or relating to open fields or country ; rural
Well, one of the big themes of this holiday season will be catching up on BBC/PBS shows and mini-series' that Julia and I have lagged behind on:
From this -
(A few episodes into its first season, I can honestly say I know what all the hype is about: Downton Abbey is the real deal. Everything about it is absolutely splendid.)
To this -
(A BBC show about a haunted, troubled police detective solving gruesome cases masterminded by brilliant serial killers, starring the magnetic Idris Elba - there's only, over the course of two seasons, been ten episodes. But I'm hooked on Luther!)
And this -
(What's not to love about Kenneth Branagh's moody, intelligent portrayal of despairing detective Kurt Wallander in these 90-minute dramas adapted from the works of bestselling Swedish crime novelist Henning Mankell? Wallander crackles and vibrates and creates magisterial swaths of doom and sorrow. I've seen some of them before and have no problem watching them again.)
And after these, who knows? I'll find two or three other series to get into. Gotta love Amazon Prime!
*
A performance today for my list of the 500 Greatest Performances of All Time?
Emma Thompson
as Margaret Schlegel in Howards End (1992)
Thompson is among the most customarily superb actresses of her (or any) generation. This was the role that really cemented her reputation for American audiences. A sterling Merchant-Ivory adaptation of the E.M. Forster classic, the film is an acting showcase all around: Anthony Hopkins' sly businessman; Vanessa Redgrave as his dying wife, who leaves her home, Howards End, to her kindred spirit; Thompson, as that kindred spirit, warm and appealing, nobody's fool, intelligent, wronged, tricked. She breaks your heart. In a career of great roles (Remains of the Day, Sense and Sensibility, Last Chance Harvey, to name some), this is the acme of hers... so far.
*
Happy birthday, Kandinsky!
Images courtesy of:
http://janeaustensworld.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/downton-abbey-episode-5-550x3842.jpg
http://www.beyondhollywood.com/uploads/2011/10/idris-Elba-in-Luther-TV-Series1-600x400.jpg
http://camerarentalz.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/wallander-red.png
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rsKYay4KdSU/T35xivF6JgI/AAAAAAAACig/II4zYS3n0XE/s1600/Emma-Thompson-Margaret-Schlegel-Howards-End.png
http://www.abcgallery.com/K/kandinsky/kandinsky39.JPG
: of or relating to open fields or country ; rural
Well, one of the big themes of this holiday season will be catching up on BBC/PBS shows and mini-series' that Julia and I have lagged behind on:
From this -
(A few episodes into its first season, I can honestly say I know what all the hype is about: Downton Abbey is the real deal. Everything about it is absolutely splendid.)
To this -
(A BBC show about a haunted, troubled police detective solving gruesome cases masterminded by brilliant serial killers, starring the magnetic Idris Elba - there's only, over the course of two seasons, been ten episodes. But I'm hooked on Luther!)
And this -
(What's not to love about Kenneth Branagh's moody, intelligent portrayal of despairing detective Kurt Wallander in these 90-minute dramas adapted from the works of bestselling Swedish crime novelist Henning Mankell? Wallander crackles and vibrates and creates magisterial swaths of doom and sorrow. I've seen some of them before and have no problem watching them again.)
And after these, who knows? I'll find two or three other series to get into. Gotta love Amazon Prime!
*
A performance today for my list of the 500 Greatest Performances of All Time?
Emma Thompson
as Margaret Schlegel in Howards End (1992)
Thompson is among the most customarily superb actresses of her (or any) generation. This was the role that really cemented her reputation for American audiences. A sterling Merchant-Ivory adaptation of the E.M. Forster classic, the film is an acting showcase all around: Anthony Hopkins' sly businessman; Vanessa Redgrave as his dying wife, who leaves her home, Howards End, to her kindred spirit; Thompson, as that kindred spirit, warm and appealing, nobody's fool, intelligent, wronged, tricked. She breaks your heart. In a career of great roles (Remains of the Day, Sense and Sensibility, Last Chance Harvey, to name some), this is the acme of hers... so far.
*
Happy birthday, Kandinsky!
Images courtesy of:
http://janeaustensworld.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/downton-abbey-episode-5-550x3842.jpg
http://www.beyondhollywood.com/uploads/2011/10/idris-Elba-in-Luther-TV-Series1-600x400.jpg
http://camerarentalz.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/wallander-red.png
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rsKYay4KdSU/T35xivF6JgI/AAAAAAAACig/II4zYS3n0XE/s1600/Emma-Thompson-Margaret-Schlegel-Howards-End.png
http://www.abcgallery.com/K/kandinsky/kandinsky39.JPG
Friday, November 30, 2012
Last Day of the Month
Word of the day: cathexis
: investment of emotional or mental energy in a person, object, or idea
Friday thoughts:
- We need to get to Savannah tomorrow and bad: Back in the Day Bakery is calling out to me!
- Gabriel loves frozen yogurt and pizza again!
- I can't quite figure out if this job opportunity that keeps getting offered me is legit or not!
- I no longer care about Nashville - there just aren't enough compelling storylines
- The Christmas tree lights are going up tonight
- Nothing but mid-60s and 70-degree weather over the next ten days
- Julia has already started stuffing stockings!
- Julia is pleased as pudding that her new I-Pad is here!
Here are my NFL picks for the weekend:
Buffalo over Jacksonville
Detroit over Indianapolis
Green Bay over Minnesota (has ever Aaron Rodgers ever played two lackluster games in a row)
NY Jets over Arizona
Carolina over Kansas City
New England over Miami
Dallas over Philadelphia
Denver over Tampa Bay
Baltimore over Pittsburgh
A tough week to pick gets even dicier with these picks:
Oakland over Cleveland
San Diego over Cincinnati
Houston over Tennessee
Chicago over Seattle
Washington over NY Giants
SF over St. Louis
Last Week: 8-8
Season Record: 111-64-1
Not too much today, guys, since I've already done a post over at http://mybookylife.blogspot.com/. Check it out!
: investment of emotional or mental energy in a person, object, or idea
Friday thoughts:
- We need to get to Savannah tomorrow and bad: Back in the Day Bakery is calling out to me!
- Gabriel loves frozen yogurt and pizza again!
- I can't quite figure out if this job opportunity that keeps getting offered me is legit or not!
- I no longer care about Nashville - there just aren't enough compelling storylines
- The Christmas tree lights are going up tonight
- Nothing but mid-60s and 70-degree weather over the next ten days
- Julia has already started stuffing stockings!
- Julia is pleased as pudding that her new I-Pad is here!
Here are my NFL picks for the weekend:
Buffalo over Jacksonville
Detroit over Indianapolis
Green Bay over Minnesota (has ever Aaron Rodgers ever played two lackluster games in a row)
NY Jets over Arizona
Carolina over Kansas City
New England over Miami
Dallas over Philadelphia
Denver over Tampa Bay
Baltimore over Pittsburgh
A tough week to pick gets even dicier with these picks:
Oakland over Cleveland
San Diego over Cincinnati
Houston over Tennessee
Chicago over Seattle
Washington over NY Giants
SF over St. Louis
Last Week: 8-8
Season Record: 111-64-1
Not too much today, guys, since I've already done a post over at http://mybookylife.blogspot.com/. Check it out!
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Pizza Night
Word of the day : garniture
: embellishment, trimming
: a set of decorative objects (as vases, urns, or clocks)
Well, the week's grinding down again. Gabriel and I are going to get fro-yo today (or 'goke' as he mysteriously calls it) and the family will pick up some pizza tonight. It was a cold morning, but the ten-day forecast calls for almost consistent low-70 weather: One thing you can honestly love Georgia for!
There's only one movie of note opening this week (other than the Universal Soldier sequel, of course):
Killing Them Softly New Zealand writer-director Andrew Dominik re-teams with Brad Pitt again (after 2007's The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) for this adaptation of the George Higgins novel. Pitt is a contract killer scouring 2008 New Orleans for some lowlifes who robbed a Mob-protected poker game, causing the criminal economy to temporarily collapse; critics like it, but say it's little more than a stylish genre exercise. The cast is full of tough guys: James Gandolfini, Ray Liotta, Sam Shepard, and Richard Jenkins.
Verdict: Mildly Interested
*
A pick for tonight:
Hmmm. Let's consider:
The Saints own the Falcons.
The Falcons are nominally the best team in the NFL right now.
The Saints are 5-6 and on the verge of elimination; this is a must-win.
The Saints have already beat the Falcons once this year.
The game is in Atlanta.
Atlanta can sew up the division with a win.
Hesitantly, I'll go...
New Orleans 30, Atlanta 26
*
A selection today for my list of my 500 Greatest Performances of All Time:
Emma Stone
as Olive in Easy A (2010)
Pretty much the movie that made Stone a star, and why shouldn't it have? She's great in it - bubbly, quick-witted, infectious, insanely energetic and sharp, likable. Stone has a great screen face, and she would have been fun to watch in any era of moviemaking. Would it be possible for an actor to not have chemistry with her? More movies by Will Gluck (Friends With Benefits), please!
*
Since I love nature so much, I want to go ahead and start a new feature: Interesting Animal of the Day:
Today, let's give it up for the goblin shark:
Yikes! What a freak! This shark, whose habitat consists off the waters off Japan, Portugal, Australia, and South Africa (although sometimes it drifts into the Atlantic), has a trowel-like protrusion from its head, enabling it to navigate the deep, muddy waters it courses through. It has small eyes, needle-like teeth that the shark can manipulate like a hand or claw. Anything standing in its way that the shark can spot (it has tiny eyes but its other, investigative senses are very keen) is a goner. The species was discovered by a Japanese fisherman at the end of the nineteenth century. It is not endangered, though sightings of this unusual shark are rare.
Images courtesy of:
http://gonewiththetwins.com/pages/2010/screenshots/easya/001.jpg
http://www.greengoblin.com/internal/corner/shark.jpg
Information courtesy of:
http://www.greengoblin.com/internal/corner/shark.html
: embellishment, trimming
: a set of decorative objects (as vases, urns, or clocks)
Well, the week's grinding down again. Gabriel and I are going to get fro-yo today (or 'goke' as he mysteriously calls it) and the family will pick up some pizza tonight. It was a cold morning, but the ten-day forecast calls for almost consistent low-70 weather: One thing you can honestly love Georgia for!
There's only one movie of note opening this week (other than the Universal Soldier sequel, of course):
Killing Them Softly New Zealand writer-director Andrew Dominik re-teams with Brad Pitt again (after 2007's The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) for this adaptation of the George Higgins novel. Pitt is a contract killer scouring 2008 New Orleans for some lowlifes who robbed a Mob-protected poker game, causing the criminal economy to temporarily collapse; critics like it, but say it's little more than a stylish genre exercise. The cast is full of tough guys: James Gandolfini, Ray Liotta, Sam Shepard, and Richard Jenkins.
Verdict: Mildly Interested
*
A pick for tonight:
Hmmm. Let's consider:
The Saints own the Falcons.
The Falcons are nominally the best team in the NFL right now.
The Saints are 5-6 and on the verge of elimination; this is a must-win.
The Saints have already beat the Falcons once this year.
The game is in Atlanta.
Atlanta can sew up the division with a win.
Hesitantly, I'll go...
New Orleans 30, Atlanta 26
*
A selection today for my list of my 500 Greatest Performances of All Time:
Emma Stone
as Olive in Easy A (2010)
Pretty much the movie that made Stone a star, and why shouldn't it have? She's great in it - bubbly, quick-witted, infectious, insanely energetic and sharp, likable. Stone has a great screen face, and she would have been fun to watch in any era of moviemaking. Would it be possible for an actor to not have chemistry with her? More movies by Will Gluck (Friends With Benefits), please!
*
Since I love nature so much, I want to go ahead and start a new feature: Interesting Animal of the Day:
Today, let's give it up for the goblin shark:
Yikes! What a freak! This shark, whose habitat consists off the waters off Japan, Portugal, Australia, and South Africa (although sometimes it drifts into the Atlantic), has a trowel-like protrusion from its head, enabling it to navigate the deep, muddy waters it courses through. It has small eyes, needle-like teeth that the shark can manipulate like a hand or claw. Anything standing in its way that the shark can spot (it has tiny eyes but its other, investigative senses are very keen) is a goner. The species was discovered by a Japanese fisherman at the end of the nineteenth century. It is not endangered, though sightings of this unusual shark are rare.
Images courtesy of:
http://gonewiththetwins.com/pages/2010/screenshots/easya/001.jpg
http://www.greengoblin.com/internal/corner/shark.jpg
Information courtesy of:
http://www.greengoblin.com/internal/corner/shark.html
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
On the Horizon...
Word of the day : sederunt
: a prolonged sitting (as for a discussion)
... Don't you just love that word?
Here are some things I'm looking forward to between now and the end of the year:
1) Julia's brother David visiting us for two weeks
2) Getting a Kindle Fire
3) Julia getting an I-Pad, Gabriel getting a Mini I-Pad
4) Going to Jacksonville and St. Augustine
5) Going up to Augusta and Beaufort, too
6) Going to the Bluffton outlet malls and Robert Irvine's restaurant
7) Taking David to get another tattoo, maybe to see a few movies (I haven't gone to the theater in a year, people - a year!)
8) Further planning out next summer's European trip
9) Watching Gabriel's face on Christmas Even when he gets his new big wheel, Jake and the Neverland Pirates toys, and tent.
10) Seeing how the seasons of Dexter and Homeland end
11) Waiting to see if Julia has any job interviews lined up when she goes to Seattle
12) Spending Christmas Eve in Savannah
*
One show you should be watching right now:
PBS' Call the Midwife
Julia got me into this show, and I'm just about done with the show's first season (six episodes); the second season premieres soon. It was released in Britain in the wake of Downton Abbey's success and actually averaged more viewers in its first season than that show did in its first season!
Based on a trilogy of memoirs written by the late Jennifer Worth, the series follows a group of nuns and midwives working in London' East End in the 1950s. The main character is Nurse Lee (played winningly by Jessica Raines), one of the newest members of the nursing convent (Nonnatus House), a young woman who quickly adapts to the life: bicycling around the slums and flats, ready to lend a sympathetic ear or capable hand to pregnant young mothers or lonely old men who have no one to talk to. The most memorable of the midwives is Chummy (Miranda Hart), a big, broad-shouldered, earnestly clumsy woman who means well.
What can I really say about the show? It's appealing, nicely acted, often touching and moving, sometimes dryly funny, never boring. There's usually one rather bloody, squeamish birthing scene per episode; the film doesn't skimp on the verisimilitude of the creation process. It's a pleasant hour in front of the TV; oh, yeah, and it's narrated by one of the greatest actresses alive, Vanessa Redgrave.
*
And finally, let's unveil one more selection to my unfolding list of the 500 Greatest (English Language) Performances of All Time:
Denzel Washington
as Rubin "Hurricane" Carter in The Hurricane (1999)
Washington is at his absolute best - steely, magnetic, charismatic, jazzy, impassioned - as the real-life boxer Carter, who, as Bob Dylan sung, "could have been the champion of the world." Carter was, of course, railroaded by some racist New Jersey cops, charged with a murder he didn't commit. Norman Jewison's compelling, absorbing biopic might not be 100% accurate, but enough of Carter's spirit and fire gets across; it's a film that sways and infuriates you. And, really, it's Washington's show the entire way, and he delivers in scene after scene. Denzel is one of those rare creations: a great movie star who is also a great actor.
Images courtesy of:
http://img.metro.co.uk/i/pix/2012/01/22/article-1327261735803-11680A8E000005DC-736362_636x407.jpg
http://thumbs.anyclip.com/tFSllztGb/tmb_8166_480.jpg
: a prolonged sitting (as for a discussion)
... Don't you just love that word?
Here are some things I'm looking forward to between now and the end of the year:
1) Julia's brother David visiting us for two weeks
2) Getting a Kindle Fire
3) Julia getting an I-Pad, Gabriel getting a Mini I-Pad
4) Going to Jacksonville and St. Augustine
5) Going up to Augusta and Beaufort, too
6) Going to the Bluffton outlet malls and Robert Irvine's restaurant
7) Taking David to get another tattoo, maybe to see a few movies (I haven't gone to the theater in a year, people - a year!)
8) Further planning out next summer's European trip
9) Watching Gabriel's face on Christmas Even when he gets his new big wheel, Jake and the Neverland Pirates toys, and tent.
10) Seeing how the seasons of Dexter and Homeland end
11) Waiting to see if Julia has any job interviews lined up when she goes to Seattle
12) Spending Christmas Eve in Savannah
*
One show you should be watching right now:
PBS' Call the Midwife
Julia got me into this show, and I'm just about done with the show's first season (six episodes); the second season premieres soon. It was released in Britain in the wake of Downton Abbey's success and actually averaged more viewers in its first season than that show did in its first season!
Based on a trilogy of memoirs written by the late Jennifer Worth, the series follows a group of nuns and midwives working in London' East End in the 1950s. The main character is Nurse Lee (played winningly by Jessica Raines), one of the newest members of the nursing convent (Nonnatus House), a young woman who quickly adapts to the life: bicycling around the slums and flats, ready to lend a sympathetic ear or capable hand to pregnant young mothers or lonely old men who have no one to talk to. The most memorable of the midwives is Chummy (Miranda Hart), a big, broad-shouldered, earnestly clumsy woman who means well.
What can I really say about the show? It's appealing, nicely acted, often touching and moving, sometimes dryly funny, never boring. There's usually one rather bloody, squeamish birthing scene per episode; the film doesn't skimp on the verisimilitude of the creation process. It's a pleasant hour in front of the TV; oh, yeah, and it's narrated by one of the greatest actresses alive, Vanessa Redgrave.
*
And finally, let's unveil one more selection to my unfolding list of the 500 Greatest (English Language) Performances of All Time:
Denzel Washington
as Rubin "Hurricane" Carter in The Hurricane (1999)
Washington is at his absolute best - steely, magnetic, charismatic, jazzy, impassioned - as the real-life boxer Carter, who, as Bob Dylan sung, "could have been the champion of the world." Carter was, of course, railroaded by some racist New Jersey cops, charged with a murder he didn't commit. Norman Jewison's compelling, absorbing biopic might not be 100% accurate, but enough of Carter's spirit and fire gets across; it's a film that sways and infuriates you. And, really, it's Washington's show the entire way, and he delivers in scene after scene. Denzel is one of those rare creations: a great movie star who is also a great actor.
Images courtesy of:
http://img.metro.co.uk/i/pix/2012/01/22/article-1327261735803-11680A8E000005DC-736362_636x407.jpg
http://thumbs.anyclip.com/tFSllztGb/tmb_8166_480.jpg
Saturday, November 24, 2012
PIGS!
Word of the day :
An exciting Black Friday yesterday for the Fischer family: two big pigs, one male and one female, were running loose in the neighborhood! They settled down at our house and stayed in our yard for about two hours! One of them chased Julia around, and Gabriel, who loved them, wanted to ride one of them! Funny things!
I've never encountered anything like it before. The pigs brought the neighbors out and had Daisy hoarse with fury!
*
One movie you should watch:
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
2012
Directed by John Madden (Shakespeare in Love, The Debt)
I really enjoyed this one... okay, I loved it. It's a sweater movie - you know, cozy, comfortable, warm, familiar. It's a crowd-pleaser. Heck, it's a movie for all ages, and it stars some of the greatest over-50 British actors on the planet.
Dames Judi Dench and Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy, Penelope Wilton, Celia Imrie, and Ronald Pickup are Brits who, for various reasons, find themselves traveling to India and staying at a faded, adorably ramshackle hotel run by a charming local boy who is something of a likable black sheep in his family (Dev Patel).
Dench is a recent widow forced to sell off her possessions; Nighy and Wilton are, respectively, a man who made a terrible investment and his wife, who finds joy in absolutely nothing; Smith, in her element, is a racist old codger forced to travel to India to have hip-replacement surgery; Wilkinson is a retired judge who wants to return to the land he grew up in; Pickup is an old lothario on the prowl; Imrie is a woman seeking a wealthy man and a new start.
Needless to say, the cast is divine, and the film is well-shot. It's constantly inviting and engaging, touching. It's safe filmmaking, to be sure, but I wasn't expecting a scathing expose on modern India - for that, I'll read (and am reading) Katherine Boo's Behind the Beautiful Forevers. Adapted from Deborah Moggach's 2004 novel These Foolish Things by Ol Parker, the film moves well and is damn near impossible to actively dislike.
I can't wait for the possible sequel.
*
NFL Picks for the weekend:
(Well, I was 2-for-3 on the Turkey Day games, which I'll take. Other than the Denver-K.C. game, I don't feel good about any of the following picks. I'm going with some upsets this week, for better or worse:
- Tennessee over Jacksonville
- Buffalo over Indianapolis
- Pittsburgh over Cleveland (ehh...)
- Oakland over Cincinnati
- Chicago over Minnesota
- Denver over Kansas City
- Seattle over Miami
- Atlanta over Tampa Bay
- St. Louis over Arizona
- Baltimore over San Diego
- New Orleans over San Francisco
- Green Bay over NY Giants
- Carolina over Philadelphia
Last Week: 13-1
Season Record: 103-56-1
*
Born today:
Well, guess...
Clues:
- post-Impressionist
- a chronicler of colorful and bohemian arisian nightlife, specifically the Moulin Rouge
- due to a congenital condition and bone dysfunction, never grew taller than 5'1
- frequented the social circles of Montmartre, illustrated for magazines, and was a lithographer
- his most famous work was probably the posters he did in conjunction with the opening of the Moulin Rouge:
- became friends with Oscar Wilde
- due to the stresses that accompanied his physical deformities, he was often depressed and frequently battled alcoholism
- was admitted into a sanitarium two years before he died of alcohol complications and syphilis
Give up?
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
Images courtesy of:
http://collider.com/wp-content/uploads/the-best-exotic-marigold-hotel.jpg
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g1Vd1Ywd2Qw/TWYec2JHsII/AAAAAAAAAVo/YMpUP-VGQGI/s1600/300px-jane_avril_by_toulouse-lautrec.jpeg
http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/timelines/modern_art_slideshows/p7ssm_img_1/fullsize/Toulouse-Lautrec_2.jpg
http://www.awesome-art.biz/awesome/images/medium-i2/At%20the%20Moulin%20Rouge%20by%20Toulouse-Lautrec.jpg
http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/EUR/2300-2037~Moulin-Rouge-Posters.jpg
An exciting Black Friday yesterday for the Fischer family: two big pigs, one male and one female, were running loose in the neighborhood! They settled down at our house and stayed in our yard for about two hours! One of them chased Julia around, and Gabriel, who loved them, wanted to ride one of them! Funny things!
I've never encountered anything like it before. The pigs brought the neighbors out and had Daisy hoarse with fury!
*
One movie you should watch:
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
2012
Directed by John Madden (Shakespeare in Love, The Debt)
I really enjoyed this one... okay, I loved it. It's a sweater movie - you know, cozy, comfortable, warm, familiar. It's a crowd-pleaser. Heck, it's a movie for all ages, and it stars some of the greatest over-50 British actors on the planet.
Dames Judi Dench and Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy, Penelope Wilton, Celia Imrie, and Ronald Pickup are Brits who, for various reasons, find themselves traveling to India and staying at a faded, adorably ramshackle hotel run by a charming local boy who is something of a likable black sheep in his family (Dev Patel).
Dench is a recent widow forced to sell off her possessions; Nighy and Wilton are, respectively, a man who made a terrible investment and his wife, who finds joy in absolutely nothing; Smith, in her element, is a racist old codger forced to travel to India to have hip-replacement surgery; Wilkinson is a retired judge who wants to return to the land he grew up in; Pickup is an old lothario on the prowl; Imrie is a woman seeking a wealthy man and a new start.
Needless to say, the cast is divine, and the film is well-shot. It's constantly inviting and engaging, touching. It's safe filmmaking, to be sure, but I wasn't expecting a scathing expose on modern India - for that, I'll read (and am reading) Katherine Boo's Behind the Beautiful Forevers. Adapted from Deborah Moggach's 2004 novel These Foolish Things by Ol Parker, the film moves well and is damn near impossible to actively dislike.
I can't wait for the possible sequel.
*
NFL Picks for the weekend:
(Well, I was 2-for-3 on the Turkey Day games, which I'll take. Other than the Denver-K.C. game, I don't feel good about any of the following picks. I'm going with some upsets this week, for better or worse:
- Tennessee over Jacksonville
- Buffalo over Indianapolis
- Pittsburgh over Cleveland (ehh...)
- Oakland over Cincinnati
- Chicago over Minnesota
- Denver over Kansas City
- Seattle over Miami
- Atlanta over Tampa Bay
- St. Louis over Arizona
- Baltimore over San Diego
- New Orleans over San Francisco
- Green Bay over NY Giants
- Carolina over Philadelphia
Last Week: 13-1
Season Record: 103-56-1
*
Born today:
Well, guess...
Clues:
- post-Impressionist
- a chronicler of colorful and bohemian arisian nightlife, specifically the Moulin Rouge
- due to a congenital condition and bone dysfunction, never grew taller than 5'1
- frequented the social circles of Montmartre, illustrated for magazines, and was a lithographer
- his most famous work was probably the posters he did in conjunction with the opening of the Moulin Rouge:
- became friends with Oscar Wilde
- due to the stresses that accompanied his physical deformities, he was often depressed and frequently battled alcoholism
- was admitted into a sanitarium two years before he died of alcohol complications and syphilis
Give up?
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
Images courtesy of:
http://collider.com/wp-content/uploads/the-best-exotic-marigold-hotel.jpg
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g1Vd1Ywd2Qw/TWYec2JHsII/AAAAAAAAAVo/YMpUP-VGQGI/s1600/300px-jane_avril_by_toulouse-lautrec.jpeg
http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/timelines/modern_art_slideshows/p7ssm_img_1/fullsize/Toulouse-Lautrec_2.jpg
http://www.awesome-art.biz/awesome/images/medium-i2/At%20the%20Moulin%20Rouge%20by%20Toulouse-Lautrec.jpg
http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/EUR/2300-2037~Moulin-Rouge-Posters.jpg
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Turkey Day
Word of the day : pertinacious
: adhering resolutely to an opinion, purpose, or design
: stubbornly tenacious, persistent
Happy Thanksgiving, readers!
Our Thanksgiving week got off to a good start - we spent the day in Charleston on Monday.
Yesterday, we had a good day too - I took Gabriel on some errands. Julia caught up with a new BBC show she likes, Call the Midwife.
Today, well... who knows? But these are things I would like to do over the break:
- start Call the Midwife, maybe even Downton Abbey
- finish this collection of noir stories I've been reading (only three to go...)
- read Katherine Boo's nonfiction book about life in a Mumbai slum, Beyond the Beautiful Forevers
- keep plowing forward in Ken Follett's Winter of the World (I stopped for awhile)
- work a little more on my novel
- take Daisy and Gabriel on plenty of walks
- get caught up on some TV shows
- watch some goof football and college basketball games
There are a few movies opening today:
Life of Pi Ang Lee's hyped, destined-to-be Oscar contender, taken from the all-but-unfilmable Yann Martel bestseller. A young Indian man is stranded on a boat in the Pacific with no one but a Bengal tiger as his companion. A technical achievement, though it has plenty of religious overtones.
Verdict: Interested
Hitchcock Oh, yeah. Sacha Gervasi's fun, amusing look at the making of Psycho - a film for those interested in the iconic director's psyche (though some critics say the filmmakers go about this in a too facile, one-dimensional manner) and for film nerds interested the behind-the-scenes goings-on of a classic. Anthony Hopkins, as Hitch ("hold the cock"), and Helen Mirren, as his wife Alma, are Oscar contenders, and Scarlett Johansson is Janet Leigh. Toni Collette and Jessica Biel are also here.
Verdict: Very Interested
Rust and Bone Marion Cotillard is in the Oscar running too as a whale trainer trying to move on from a terrible accident (involving the whale - take a guess). She starts a relationship with a poor single father who treats her without pity. The story sounds wild, and there are some mood shifts, but critics for the most part say it's an interesting journey.
Verdict: Mildly Interested
Red Dawn Dreadful reviews for this needless remake of an 80's film that stunk to high heaven. The original saw Communists invading a small American town, inciting a ragtag band of high school students to defend the town. Well, the remake has North Korea invading the town of Spokane, Washington... come together, kids! The acting - the cast includes Chris Hemsworth, Josh Peck, Josh Hutcherson, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan - is supposed to be bad.
Verdict: Not Interested
*
Football picks for tomorrow:
Houston over Detroit (though a scrappy, underachieving Detroit team could give a suddenly vulnerable-to-the-pass Houston squad a hell of a challenge)
Dallas over Washington
New England over the NY Jets
I'll be back on Saturday!
: adhering resolutely to an opinion, purpose, or design
: stubbornly tenacious, persistent
Happy Thanksgiving, readers!
Our Thanksgiving week got off to a good start - we spent the day in Charleston on Monday.
Yesterday, we had a good day too - I took Gabriel on some errands. Julia caught up with a new BBC show she likes, Call the Midwife.
Today, well... who knows? But these are things I would like to do over the break:
- start Call the Midwife, maybe even Downton Abbey
- finish this collection of noir stories I've been reading (only three to go...)
- read Katherine Boo's nonfiction book about life in a Mumbai slum, Beyond the Beautiful Forevers
- keep plowing forward in Ken Follett's Winter of the World (I stopped for awhile)
- work a little more on my novel
- take Daisy and Gabriel on plenty of walks
- get caught up on some TV shows
- watch some goof football and college basketball games
There are a few movies opening today:
Life of Pi Ang Lee's hyped, destined-to-be Oscar contender, taken from the all-but-unfilmable Yann Martel bestseller. A young Indian man is stranded on a boat in the Pacific with no one but a Bengal tiger as his companion. A technical achievement, though it has plenty of religious overtones.
Verdict: Interested
Hitchcock Oh, yeah. Sacha Gervasi's fun, amusing look at the making of Psycho - a film for those interested in the iconic director's psyche (though some critics say the filmmakers go about this in a too facile, one-dimensional manner) and for film nerds interested the behind-the-scenes goings-on of a classic. Anthony Hopkins, as Hitch ("hold the cock"), and Helen Mirren, as his wife Alma, are Oscar contenders, and Scarlett Johansson is Janet Leigh. Toni Collette and Jessica Biel are also here.
Verdict: Very Interested
Rust and Bone Marion Cotillard is in the Oscar running too as a whale trainer trying to move on from a terrible accident (involving the whale - take a guess). She starts a relationship with a poor single father who treats her without pity. The story sounds wild, and there are some mood shifts, but critics for the most part say it's an interesting journey.
Verdict: Mildly Interested
Red Dawn Dreadful reviews for this needless remake of an 80's film that stunk to high heaven. The original saw Communists invading a small American town, inciting a ragtag band of high school students to defend the town. Well, the remake has North Korea invading the town of Spokane, Washington... come together, kids! The acting - the cast includes Chris Hemsworth, Josh Peck, Josh Hutcherson, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan - is supposed to be bad.
Verdict: Not Interested
*
Football picks for tomorrow:
Houston over Detroit (though a scrappy, underachieving Detroit team could give a suddenly vulnerable-to-the-pass Houston squad a hell of a challenge)
Dallas over Washington
New England over the NY Jets
I'll be back on Saturday!
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Oscar Forecast
Word of the day : misnomer
: the use of a wrong or inappropriate name or designation
Well, it's a Saturday in Statesboro... which means the family will search for something to do. We'll try out the International Festival... because there's so many international citizens in this county?
In Thursday's post, I forgot to mention one of the opening new movies, a film I thought opened next week, but officially opened in New York and L.A. yesterday.
Silver Linings Playbook One of the most acclaimed films of the year, hyped-up, and a surefire multi-Oscar contender. Director David O. Russell's adaptation of Matthew Quick's quirky novel casts Bradley Cooper (a Best Actor outsider) as a bipolar man recently released from an institution and living with his parents (Jacki Weaver and assured Oscar nominee Robert DeNiro). Along comes a mysterious woman with plenty of problems of her own; in the part, Jennifer Lawrence is the front-runner for Best Actress. A terrific cast (which includes Julia Stiles and Chris Tucker) in an offbeat movie that mixes romance, silliness, drama, and poignancy.
Verdict: Very Interested
I went looking around at various Oscar-prognostication sites to see what the latest predictions are in the races; nominations are announced January 10. Here they are:
(* denotes a film that actually hasn't been screened by critics yet)
Best Picture
- Argo FRONTRUNNER
- Beasts of the Southern Wild
- *Les Miserables
- Life of Pi
- Lincoln
- The Master
- Silver Linings Playbook
- *Zero Dark Thirty
(Possible: Amour, *Django Unchained, *The Hobbit, Skyfall)
Best Actor
- Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln FRONTRUNNER
- John Hawkes, The Sessions
- Anthony Hopkins, Hitchcock
- Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
- Denzel Washington, Flight
(Possible: Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook; Richard Gere, Arbitrage; Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables; Jean-Louis Trigniant, Amour)
Best Actress
- Marion Cotillard, Rust and Bone
- Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook FRONTRUNNER
- Helen Mirren, Hitchcock
- Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
- Naomi Watts, The Impossible
(Possible: Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty; Emmanuelle Riva, Amour)
Best Supporting Actor
- Alan Arkin, Argo
- Robert DeNiro, Silver Linings Playbook
- Leonardo DiCaprio, Django Unchained
- Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
- Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln FRONTRUNNER
(Possible: Dwight Henry, Beasts of the Southern Wild; Matthew McConaughey, Magic Mike; Ewan McGregor, The Impossible)
Best Supporting Actress
- Amy Adams, The Master
- Sally Field, Lincoln
- Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables FRONTRUNNER
- Helen Hunt, The Sessions
- Maggie Smith, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
(Possible: Susan Sarandon, Arbitrage; Kerry Washington, Django Unchained; Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook)
Best Director
- Ben Affleck, Argo FRONTRUNNER
- Tom Hooper, Les Miserables
- Ang Lee, Life of Pi
- David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
- Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
(Possible: Wes Anderson, Moonrise Kingdom; Paul Thomas Anderson, The Master; Michael Haneke; Amour; Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained)
I'll be back in about six weeks or so to give my own final predictions on the eve of nominations-unveiling, but if this current forecast holds, it will truly be extraordinary, in the sense that while in a normal year, there are anywhere from six to ten first-time nominees, this year there will only one: the 10-year old Wallis from Beasts of the Southern Wild: though I guess you could say Affleck (Who won an Oscar in the Original Screenplay category) would be a newbie too, for he has never been nominated for a Director Oscar.
Also, if this holds, fifteen of these nominees have already won before; six of them have won twice!
*
NFL Picks for the weekend:
Atlanta over Arizona (Falcons rebound)
Tampa Bay over Carolina (the Bucs can score)
Dallas over Cleveland
Houston over Jacksonville
Green Bay over Detroit (tough game)
Cincinnati over Kansas City
St. Louis over NY Jets
Washington over Philadelphia (I'm done with the Eagles, just done)
New Orleans over Oakland
Denver over San Diego
New England over Indianapolis
Baltimore over Pittsburgh
SF over Chicago
Last Week's Record: 7-6-1
Season Record: 90-55-1
*
Have a good weekend! I gotta go read and walk Daisy!
: the use of a wrong or inappropriate name or designation
Well, it's a Saturday in Statesboro... which means the family will search for something to do. We'll try out the International Festival... because there's so many international citizens in this county?
In Thursday's post, I forgot to mention one of the opening new movies, a film I thought opened next week, but officially opened in New York and L.A. yesterday.
Silver Linings Playbook One of the most acclaimed films of the year, hyped-up, and a surefire multi-Oscar contender. Director David O. Russell's adaptation of Matthew Quick's quirky novel casts Bradley Cooper (a Best Actor outsider) as a bipolar man recently released from an institution and living with his parents (Jacki Weaver and assured Oscar nominee Robert DeNiro). Along comes a mysterious woman with plenty of problems of her own; in the part, Jennifer Lawrence is the front-runner for Best Actress. A terrific cast (which includes Julia Stiles and Chris Tucker) in an offbeat movie that mixes romance, silliness, drama, and poignancy.
Verdict: Very Interested
I went looking around at various Oscar-prognostication sites to see what the latest predictions are in the races; nominations are announced January 10. Here they are:
(* denotes a film that actually hasn't been screened by critics yet)
Best Picture
- Argo FRONTRUNNER
- Beasts of the Southern Wild
- *Les Miserables
- Life of Pi
- Lincoln
- The Master
- Silver Linings Playbook
- *Zero Dark Thirty
(Possible: Amour, *Django Unchained, *The Hobbit, Skyfall)
Best Actor
- Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln FRONTRUNNER
- John Hawkes, The Sessions
- Anthony Hopkins, Hitchcock
- Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
- Denzel Washington, Flight
(Possible: Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook; Richard Gere, Arbitrage; Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables; Jean-Louis Trigniant, Amour)
Best Actress
- Marion Cotillard, Rust and Bone
- Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook FRONTRUNNER
- Helen Mirren, Hitchcock
- Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
- Naomi Watts, The Impossible
(Possible: Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty; Emmanuelle Riva, Amour)
Best Supporting Actor
- Alan Arkin, Argo
- Robert DeNiro, Silver Linings Playbook
- Leonardo DiCaprio, Django Unchained
- Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
- Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln FRONTRUNNER
(Possible: Dwight Henry, Beasts of the Southern Wild; Matthew McConaughey, Magic Mike; Ewan McGregor, The Impossible)
Best Supporting Actress
- Amy Adams, The Master
- Sally Field, Lincoln
- Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables FRONTRUNNER
- Helen Hunt, The Sessions
- Maggie Smith, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
(Possible: Susan Sarandon, Arbitrage; Kerry Washington, Django Unchained; Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook)
Best Director
- Ben Affleck, Argo FRONTRUNNER
- Tom Hooper, Les Miserables
- Ang Lee, Life of Pi
- David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
- Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
(Possible: Wes Anderson, Moonrise Kingdom; Paul Thomas Anderson, The Master; Michael Haneke; Amour; Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained)
I'll be back in about six weeks or so to give my own final predictions on the eve of nominations-unveiling, but if this current forecast holds, it will truly be extraordinary, in the sense that while in a normal year, there are anywhere from six to ten first-time nominees, this year there will only one: the 10-year old Wallis from Beasts of the Southern Wild: though I guess you could say Affleck (Who won an Oscar in the Original Screenplay category) would be a newbie too, for he has never been nominated for a Director Oscar.
Also, if this holds, fifteen of these nominees have already won before; six of them have won twice!
*
NFL Picks for the weekend:
Atlanta over Arizona (Falcons rebound)
Tampa Bay over Carolina (the Bucs can score)
Dallas over Cleveland
Houston over Jacksonville
Green Bay over Detroit (tough game)
Cincinnati over Kansas City
St. Louis over NY Jets
Washington over Philadelphia (I'm done with the Eagles, just done)
New Orleans over Oakland
Denver over San Diego
New England over Indianapolis
Baltimore over Pittsburgh
SF over Chicago
Last Week's Record: 7-6-1
Season Record: 90-55-1
*
Have a good weekend! I gotta go read and walk Daisy!
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Sickie, Sickie
Word of the day : unwieldy
: not easily handled, managed, or used
: cumbersome
Well, Gabriel is a little under the weather today, so we'll keep him home... which means he now will have, by my count, eleven days off. Good God! What to do with him? Well, we're gonna take him up to Charleston one day... the other ten? Help!
Here are the new movies opening this weekend:
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part II This franchise, despite how much money its made, just feels over. The usual crew is here - Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, Robert Pattinson, Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli, Michael Sheen, Dakota Fanning - and director Bill Condon, who did the last one, is back too. Critics say it moves glacially but is self-aware and occasionally rousing. The end. Now we wait for the film adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's The Host.
Verdict: Not Interested
Anna Karenina Despite some very talented filmmakers - screenwriter Tom Stoppard and director Joe Wright - critics are saying this bold, modern take on the Tolstoy perennial is a miscalculation, overdirected and overwritten, with some flamboyant touches; too much style and too little substance. The cast is getting pretty good notices - Keira Knightley (the director's muse it seems, after appearing in Pride and Prejudice and Atonement), Jude Law as her aloof husband, Aaron Johnson as the Count she is drawn to, Emily Watson, Olivia Williams, Matthew MacFayden (Mr. Darcy in Wright's Pride and Prejudice). It seems as if all the film's Oscar expectations have filtered away.
Verdict: Mildly Interested
Price Check It seems like it has been a long time since Parker Posey has had a plum role and really run with it. Well, she has one here in a slight comedy playing the Boss From Hell, a ruthless, mean, acidic, sarcastic employer who makes life hell for the new guy (Eric Mabius) on his way up the corporate ladder. He doesn't know how far he wants to climb, however, if it means turning into Posey (who's forty-four now; Parker Posey's 44!).
Verdict: Mildly Interested
*
A pick for tonight? Well, I need to re-group after a disappointing 7-6-1 record last week. The Dolphins seems like they're fading, and the Bills had a great showing - on a loss - at New England last week. Both teams have very slim playoff chances. I'm at a loss here. It's in Buffalo, where the weather will probably favor the Bills. However, Fred Jackson is hurt, and the Dolphins defense is probably licking its chops after a terrible showing last week against Tennessee. Tough call. I guess I'll give it to the Bills, in a close one, though it could go either way.
Buffalo 20, Miami 17
*
The National Book Awards were announced yesterday. I was glad to see a book I just checked out yesterday from the library, won the award for Best Non-fiction: Katherine Boo's look into the life of a Mumbai slum, Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, death, and hope in a Mumbai undercity
The fiction award went to Louise Erdrich's Round House, a unanimously-praised drama/mystery about a woman attacked on a North Dakota Indian reservation. Erdrich has been writing acclaimed fiction for decades - all revolving around modern Native American lives and issues and customs - and this one had been described/pitched as the Native American To Kill a Mockingbird.
*
Finally, to wrap up this Thursday, let's select another one of the 500 Greatest Performances of All Time (according to me):
Gene Hackman
as Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle in The French Connection (1971)
Hackman's first Oscar win and one of the most unsentimental, streamlined, unglamorous, unsettling, lived-in portraits of a police detective ever put on screen. It's an exciting movie and performance - still, forty-one years later - and Hackman never seems to care whether you like Doyle or not; he is who he is - relentless, flawed, racist, and, ultimately, fatally wrong.
Images courtesy of:
http://www.theweeklydriver.com/files/2011/01/hackman.jpg
http://www.characterblog.com/assets/CA-katherine-boo-1.jpg
http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/screencrush.com/files/2012/11/anna-karenina-review.jpg
: not easily handled, managed, or used
: cumbersome
Well, Gabriel is a little under the weather today, so we'll keep him home... which means he now will have, by my count, eleven days off. Good God! What to do with him? Well, we're gonna take him up to Charleston one day... the other ten? Help!
Here are the new movies opening this weekend:
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part II This franchise, despite how much money its made, just feels over. The usual crew is here - Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, Robert Pattinson, Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli, Michael Sheen, Dakota Fanning - and director Bill Condon, who did the last one, is back too. Critics say it moves glacially but is self-aware and occasionally rousing. The end. Now we wait for the film adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's The Host.
Verdict: Not Interested
Anna Karenina Despite some very talented filmmakers - screenwriter Tom Stoppard and director Joe Wright - critics are saying this bold, modern take on the Tolstoy perennial is a miscalculation, overdirected and overwritten, with some flamboyant touches; too much style and too little substance. The cast is getting pretty good notices - Keira Knightley (the director's muse it seems, after appearing in Pride and Prejudice and Atonement), Jude Law as her aloof husband, Aaron Johnson as the Count she is drawn to, Emily Watson, Olivia Williams, Matthew MacFayden (Mr. Darcy in Wright's Pride and Prejudice). It seems as if all the film's Oscar expectations have filtered away.
Verdict: Mildly Interested
Price Check It seems like it has been a long time since Parker Posey has had a plum role and really run with it. Well, she has one here in a slight comedy playing the Boss From Hell, a ruthless, mean, acidic, sarcastic employer who makes life hell for the new guy (Eric Mabius) on his way up the corporate ladder. He doesn't know how far he wants to climb, however, if it means turning into Posey (who's forty-four now; Parker Posey's 44!).
Verdict: Mildly Interested
*
A pick for tonight? Well, I need to re-group after a disappointing 7-6-1 record last week. The Dolphins seems like they're fading, and the Bills had a great showing - on a loss - at New England last week. Both teams have very slim playoff chances. I'm at a loss here. It's in Buffalo, where the weather will probably favor the Bills. However, Fred Jackson is hurt, and the Dolphins defense is probably licking its chops after a terrible showing last week against Tennessee. Tough call. I guess I'll give it to the Bills, in a close one, though it could go either way.
Buffalo 20, Miami 17
*
The National Book Awards were announced yesterday. I was glad to see a book I just checked out yesterday from the library, won the award for Best Non-fiction: Katherine Boo's look into the life of a Mumbai slum, Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, death, and hope in a Mumbai undercity
The fiction award went to Louise Erdrich's Round House, a unanimously-praised drama/mystery about a woman attacked on a North Dakota Indian reservation. Erdrich has been writing acclaimed fiction for decades - all revolving around modern Native American lives and issues and customs - and this one had been described/pitched as the Native American To Kill a Mockingbird.
*
Finally, to wrap up this Thursday, let's select another one of the 500 Greatest Performances of All Time (according to me):
Gene Hackman
as Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle in The French Connection (1971)
Hackman's first Oscar win and one of the most unsentimental, streamlined, unglamorous, unsettling, lived-in portraits of a police detective ever put on screen. It's an exciting movie and performance - still, forty-one years later - and Hackman never seems to care whether you like Doyle or not; he is who he is - relentless, flawed, racist, and, ultimately, fatally wrong.
Images courtesy of:
http://www.theweeklydriver.com/files/2011/01/hackman.jpg
http://www.characterblog.com/assets/CA-katherine-boo-1.jpg
http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/screencrush.com/files/2012/11/anna-karenina-review.jpg
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
RLS
Word of the day : eructation
: an instance or act of belching
Well, it was a beautiful weekend and Monday. We had a fantastic time in Savannah, going to the Veteran's Day parade and art show and even discovering a new bakery. Gabriel had a fun time going to the park a few days in a row, and there were some good football games too. And Sunday's episodes of Homeland and Dexter were, as usual, immensely entertaining.
*
On today's date, in 1850 Edinburgh, Robert Louis Stevenson was born. Stevenson just might be the most famous novelist you've never actually read.
He was a sickly child, attended and read to by his nurse; early on, Stevenson displayed an interest in religious issues and Scottish history. At Edinburgh University, he was a below-average student, interested in his own writing - and bohemia. To his father's disappointment, he chose to become a writer rather than an engineer. He began writing humorous and philosophical essays and even travelogues of his journeys, through places like France and America. Stevenson started a relationship with a married American ten years his senior, Fanny Osborne; eventually the two ended up back in England after a stay in the Napa Valley, where Stevenson's flailing health was given time to improve.
From 1880 to 1887, Stevenson's health continued to wax and wane, and he was traveling constantly. This, however, was the greatest period for him as an artist: Kidnapped (1886), The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886), and, of course, Treasure Island (1883). The latter novel originated with Stevenson drawing a treasure map for his 12-year-old stepson and then thinking up a story around it; the novel was serialized over the course of three or four months in a boys' magazine.
Stevenson wasn't a great artist in the sense that Dostoevsky or Zola was; he admitted that he was in the entertainment business first and foremost. He wasn't interested in realism (which was the mode of his era) but, rather, escapism.
His art seemed to commercially dry up and his health and depression worsened. He and Fanny (and hi stepson and mother) took a long South Seas cruise in in late 1888: from Hawaii to Tahiti to Samoa, the Australia, and dozens of islands in between. He wrote diaries, letters, and essays documenting the wildlife and cultures he saw; a lot of his political views of the various societies and peoples he saw (and tended to sympathize with) were quite radical. He was a champion for the poor and oppressed.
He never returned to Scotland, but died in Samoa in 1894. His death sent shock waves throughout the literary community and world. Incidentally, it was his work about the South Seas (his travel writings, essays, etc.) that was seen by critics as his strongest work, though his beloved adventure novels are the ones that are synonymous with his name.
Information courtesy of:
http://people.brandeis.edu/~teuber/stevensonbio.html
*
One of the 500 Greatest Performances of All Time, according to moi:
Johnny Depp
as Edward Scissorhands (1990)
You either really like or really don't like Tim Burton's bizarre, tragic, outsider-romantic fantasy, but either way, you, um. cut it, Depp's creation - aided by Colleen Atwood's magnificent costume design and Stan Winston's makeup - is one for the ages. Depp's Edward (created by a wacky inventor, played the late, great Vincent Price) is a sad, soulful figure, eternally unable to fit in; Depp's eyes seem to cry out from a cold, friendless void. The actor makes Edward funny and touching and, as characteristic from this inventive actor, weird and charismatic. I can't think of one other actor who could have pulled this role off.
*
Don't forget to check my other blog, http://mybookylife.blogspot.com/, for some recent reviews!
Images courtesy of:
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Observer/Pix/pictures/2011/4/22/1303501517149/BE047683-006.jpg
http://afcadam.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/600full-edward-scissorhands-photo.jpg
: an instance or act of belching
Well, it was a beautiful weekend and Monday. We had a fantastic time in Savannah, going to the Veteran's Day parade and art show and even discovering a new bakery. Gabriel had a fun time going to the park a few days in a row, and there were some good football games too. And Sunday's episodes of Homeland and Dexter were, as usual, immensely entertaining.
*
On today's date, in 1850 Edinburgh, Robert Louis Stevenson was born. Stevenson just might be the most famous novelist you've never actually read.
He was a sickly child, attended and read to by his nurse; early on, Stevenson displayed an interest in religious issues and Scottish history. At Edinburgh University, he was a below-average student, interested in his own writing - and bohemia. To his father's disappointment, he chose to become a writer rather than an engineer. He began writing humorous and philosophical essays and even travelogues of his journeys, through places like France and America. Stevenson started a relationship with a married American ten years his senior, Fanny Osborne; eventually the two ended up back in England after a stay in the Napa Valley, where Stevenson's flailing health was given time to improve.
From 1880 to 1887, Stevenson's health continued to wax and wane, and he was traveling constantly. This, however, was the greatest period for him as an artist: Kidnapped (1886), The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886), and, of course, Treasure Island (1883). The latter novel originated with Stevenson drawing a treasure map for his 12-year-old stepson and then thinking up a story around it; the novel was serialized over the course of three or four months in a boys' magazine.
Stevenson wasn't a great artist in the sense that Dostoevsky or Zola was; he admitted that he was in the entertainment business first and foremost. He wasn't interested in realism (which was the mode of his era) but, rather, escapism.
His art seemed to commercially dry up and his health and depression worsened. He and Fanny (and hi stepson and mother) took a long South Seas cruise in in late 1888: from Hawaii to Tahiti to Samoa, the Australia, and dozens of islands in between. He wrote diaries, letters, and essays documenting the wildlife and cultures he saw; a lot of his political views of the various societies and peoples he saw (and tended to sympathize with) were quite radical. He was a champion for the poor and oppressed.
He never returned to Scotland, but died in Samoa in 1894. His death sent shock waves throughout the literary community and world. Incidentally, it was his work about the South Seas (his travel writings, essays, etc.) that was seen by critics as his strongest work, though his beloved adventure novels are the ones that are synonymous with his name.
Information courtesy of:
http://people.brandeis.edu/~teuber/stevensonbio.html
*
One of the 500 Greatest Performances of All Time, according to moi:
Johnny Depp
as Edward Scissorhands (1990)
You either really like or really don't like Tim Burton's bizarre, tragic, outsider-romantic fantasy, but either way, you, um. cut it, Depp's creation - aided by Colleen Atwood's magnificent costume design and Stan Winston's makeup - is one for the ages. Depp's Edward (created by a wacky inventor, played the late, great Vincent Price) is a sad, soulful figure, eternally unable to fit in; Depp's eyes seem to cry out from a cold, friendless void. The actor makes Edward funny and touching and, as characteristic from this inventive actor, weird and charismatic. I can't think of one other actor who could have pulled this role off.
*
Don't forget to check my other blog, http://mybookylife.blogspot.com/, for some recent reviews!
Images courtesy of:
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Observer/Pix/pictures/2011/4/22/1303501517149/BE047683-006.jpg
http://afcadam.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/600full-edward-scissorhands-photo.jpg
Friday, November 9, 2012
FRIDAY
Word of the day : kaput
: utterly finished, destroyed, or defeated
: outmoded
: useless; unable to function
Beautiful weekend down here in Romney-ville. I don't have too much today - the Fischer family is just itching to get out of town and go to Savannah - but I might as well give my football picks for the weekend:
- NY Giants over Cincinnati
- Baltimore over Oakland (the Raiders and Bengals' seasons will be kaput after this weekend)
- Denver over Carolina
- Tennessee over Miami (I don't know, now that their owner has called them out, I'm expecting the Titans to respond in a game in which I think they have more talent)
- Detroit over Minnesota
- New England over Buffalo (the Bills never win in Foxboro. Never.)
- Tampa Bay over San Diego (tough game to pick)
- Atlanta over New Orleans ( I want to pick the Saints in this one, but I feel like I keep under-estimating the Dirty Birds)
- Seattle over NY Jets
- Philadelphia over Dallas (Who knows? I mean, Christ, who knows?)
- SF over St. Louis
- Chicago over Houston (great game, could go either way)
- Pittsburgh over KC
Last Week's Record: 10-4
Season Record: 83-49
*
Let's keep with sports today. I'm pumped about the start of the college basketball season too, which is right around the corner. Here's the AP top 25:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/polls/
Wow, the top 4 are all "Tri-state" area teams, with even UC making an appearance at the bottom of the poll.
*
A performance today for my list of the 500 Greatest Performances of All Time:
Robert Ryan
as Montgomery in Crossfire (1947)
Pretty much the movie that put the often-cast, criminally-underrated Ryan on the map, this tough, cracking, message-heavy film noir stars Robert Mitchum and Robert Young (a lot of Roberts here, folks) as a cop and sergeant, respectively, trying to discover which member of a group of de-mobilized soldiers who killed a Jewish man. Ryan, earning his lone Oscar nomination for his powerful turn, is the anti-Semite, embittered man most likely responsible. Ryan, nasty and bile, makes his prejudice raw and (sad to say) invigorating; what a scoundrel!
*
Best song I've heard so far this year:
Adele's new theme song from the James Bond pic Skyfall: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HKoqNJtMTQ
WOW!
Image courtesy of:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zZN63nSqOmk/To1kRz2IsuI/AAAAAAABFDc/NfT-6btA2uk/s1600/2731275311_26c8b7a550.jpg
: utterly finished, destroyed, or defeated
: outmoded
: useless; unable to function
Beautiful weekend down here in Romney-ville. I don't have too much today - the Fischer family is just itching to get out of town and go to Savannah - but I might as well give my football picks for the weekend:
- NY Giants over Cincinnati
- Baltimore over Oakland (the Raiders and Bengals' seasons will be kaput after this weekend)
- Denver over Carolina
- Tennessee over Miami (I don't know, now that their owner has called them out, I'm expecting the Titans to respond in a game in which I think they have more talent)
- Detroit over Minnesota
- New England over Buffalo (the Bills never win in Foxboro. Never.)
- Tampa Bay over San Diego (tough game to pick)
- Atlanta over New Orleans ( I want to pick the Saints in this one, but I feel like I keep under-estimating the Dirty Birds)
- Seattle over NY Jets
- Philadelphia over Dallas (Who knows? I mean, Christ, who knows?)
- SF over St. Louis
- Chicago over Houston (great game, could go either way)
- Pittsburgh over KC
Last Week's Record: 10-4
Season Record: 83-49
*
Let's keep with sports today. I'm pumped about the start of the college basketball season too, which is right around the corner. Here's the AP top 25:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/polls/
Wow, the top 4 are all "Tri-state" area teams, with even UC making an appearance at the bottom of the poll.
*
A performance today for my list of the 500 Greatest Performances of All Time:
Robert Ryan
as Montgomery in Crossfire (1947)
Pretty much the movie that put the often-cast, criminally-underrated Ryan on the map, this tough, cracking, message-heavy film noir stars Robert Mitchum and Robert Young (a lot of Roberts here, folks) as a cop and sergeant, respectively, trying to discover which member of a group of de-mobilized soldiers who killed a Jewish man. Ryan, earning his lone Oscar nomination for his powerful turn, is the anti-Semite, embittered man most likely responsible. Ryan, nasty and bile, makes his prejudice raw and (sad to say) invigorating; what a scoundrel!
*
Best song I've heard so far this year:
Adele's new theme song from the James Bond pic Skyfall: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HKoqNJtMTQ
WOW!
Image courtesy of:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zZN63nSqOmk/To1kRz2IsuI/AAAAAAABFDc/NfT-6btA2uk/s1600/2731275311_26c8b7a550.jpg
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Allergy Thursday
Word of the day : stem-winder
: one that is first-rate of its kind ; especially, a stirring speech
Oh, the allergies! South, you kill me!
Ah-choo, ah-choo... well, let's get to the new movie openings this weekend:
Skyfall 50 years of James Bond, ladies and gentleman, and this is supposed to be one of the all-time best. I'm not sure people thought that Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Revolutionary Road) was the right man to helm it, but critics are unanimous: this is one terrific actioner. Daniel Craig is back, as is Judi Dench, who is supposed to have more to do than ever, as M, and who can go wrong with Javier Bardem as the villain? Albert Finney, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, and Rhys Ifans co-star, and Adele's theme song is supposed to be a knockout. But I've never seen a James Bond movie and won't start now.
Verdict: Not Interested
Lincoln Oscar nominations galore are waiting for Steven Spielberg's long, talky epic of one of the most famous Americans of all time: in the role, Daniel Day-Lewis (talking in a reedy voice) is supposed to be nothing less than spectacular. Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln will surely be an Oscar front-runner, as will Tommy Lee Jones for his scene-stealing turn as Thaddeus Stevens, a radical anti-slavery Republican. Tony Kushner's script doesn't focus on battles or much Civil War fighting as much as it does political maneuverings. It's leisurely paced, which might turn off some viewers. A large cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Spader, Hal Holbrook, David Strathairn, Lee Pace, Jared Harris, Tim Blake Nelson, John Hawkes, and Jackie Earle Haley.
Verdict: Very Interested
*
A prediction for tonight? Well, I think the Jaguars are the worst team in the league - them or the Chiefs. Talent-wise, I don't think they are very far behind the surprising 5-3 Colts, who are the shocker of the year and a possible playoff contender. I think the Jags will come out tonight inspired and... still lose. The Colts and Andrew Luck won't let themselves get swept by the lowly Jaguars.
Colts 24, Jaguars 17
*
A performance today for my list of the 500 Greatest Performances of All Time?
Paul Newman
as Frank Galvin in The Verdict (1982)
As a drunker lawyer scraping for redemption and confronted with one of the most challenging cases of his life - a medical malpractice suit - Paul Newman is absolutely flawless. It's a pleasure just to listen to him talk. Surrounded by a terrific cast - including James Mason's Oscar-nominated work as a cagey lawyer - Newman oozes desperation and smarts, and you just can't take your eyes off him. The movie's never as good as you want it to be - but Newman is.
Images courtesy of:
http://writlarge.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/verdict_1.jpg
http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/i/2012/11/06/lincoln-daniel-day-lewis.jpg
: one that is first-rate of its kind ; especially, a stirring speech
Oh, the allergies! South, you kill me!
Ah-choo, ah-choo... well, let's get to the new movie openings this weekend:
Skyfall 50 years of James Bond, ladies and gentleman, and this is supposed to be one of the all-time best. I'm not sure people thought that Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Revolutionary Road) was the right man to helm it, but critics are unanimous: this is one terrific actioner. Daniel Craig is back, as is Judi Dench, who is supposed to have more to do than ever, as M, and who can go wrong with Javier Bardem as the villain? Albert Finney, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, and Rhys Ifans co-star, and Adele's theme song is supposed to be a knockout. But I've never seen a James Bond movie and won't start now.
Verdict: Not Interested
Lincoln Oscar nominations galore are waiting for Steven Spielberg's long, talky epic of one of the most famous Americans of all time: in the role, Daniel Day-Lewis (talking in a reedy voice) is supposed to be nothing less than spectacular. Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln will surely be an Oscar front-runner, as will Tommy Lee Jones for his scene-stealing turn as Thaddeus Stevens, a radical anti-slavery Republican. Tony Kushner's script doesn't focus on battles or much Civil War fighting as much as it does political maneuverings. It's leisurely paced, which might turn off some viewers. A large cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Spader, Hal Holbrook, David Strathairn, Lee Pace, Jared Harris, Tim Blake Nelson, John Hawkes, and Jackie Earle Haley.
Verdict: Very Interested
*
A prediction for tonight? Well, I think the Jaguars are the worst team in the league - them or the Chiefs. Talent-wise, I don't think they are very far behind the surprising 5-3 Colts, who are the shocker of the year and a possible playoff contender. I think the Jags will come out tonight inspired and... still lose. The Colts and Andrew Luck won't let themselves get swept by the lowly Jaguars.
Colts 24, Jaguars 17
*
A performance today for my list of the 500 Greatest Performances of All Time?
Paul Newman
as Frank Galvin in The Verdict (1982)
As a drunker lawyer scraping for redemption and confronted with one of the most challenging cases of his life - a medical malpractice suit - Paul Newman is absolutely flawless. It's a pleasure just to listen to him talk. Surrounded by a terrific cast - including James Mason's Oscar-nominated work as a cagey lawyer - Newman oozes desperation and smarts, and you just can't take your eyes off him. The movie's never as good as you want it to be - but Newman is.
Images courtesy of:
http://writlarge.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/verdict_1.jpg
http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/i/2012/11/06/lincoln-daniel-day-lewis.jpg
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
A sigh of relief perhaps... or not?
Word of the day : comestible
: edible
Are you happy or sad this post-election day? The country sure is divided, no?
Alas, we don't talk politics on this blog. For that, you need to go elsewhere.
On this date ninety-nine years ago, one of the 20th century's greatest writers was born: Albert Camus (1913-1960). He grew up in Algeria, but came to France in the late 1930s. He held deep interests in philosophy and revolutionary ideas. Camus joined the French Resistance during WWII and worked as a political journalist during the war. He became even more active in theater and fiction; he had already written essays and novels at that point, but he started gaining more and more recognition - thanks to his work in the theater - after the war.
What we most remember Camus for today is the existentialism. Hopelessness, dissatisfaction, loneliness, isolation. The Stranger (1942) is, of course, his most famous novel - about a man involved in a senseless murder on an Algerian beach. Camus claimed he wasn't so much an existentialist as he was an absurdist, which is similar to existentialism and nihilism, but slightly different in that existentialists believe that the existence of the individual is above and more important than anything else, whereas absurdists believe that personal meaning and existence isn't that important at all. Camus' essay "The Myth of Sisyphus" has been credited as one of the first works of art that is absurdist without necessarily being existentialist.
Other important novels from Camus are The Plague (1947), set in a small North African town, and 1956's The Fall, about an amoral Parisian lawyer. In 1957, he became the second-youngest recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature (only Rudyard Kipling was younger); two years later, he died in an automobile accident.
Information courtesy of: http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1957/camus-bio.html
*
Well, we're a week into the new month and I haven't added any selection to my list of the 200 Essential American Films:
Here are this month's selections:
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004; Michel Gondry)
A terrific cast meets an ambitious director full of visual ideas meets a brilliant design team meets a one-of-kind screenwriter. Doesn't get much better and or more creative than this for a romantic drama.
Groundhog Day (1993; Harold Ramis)
One of the slyest comedies ever, with a brilliant Bill Murray. Repetition (i.e. modern existence) as hell. And yet, oddly, a movie you can watch over and over and over again.
In a Lonely Place (1950; Nicholas Ray)
A blistering, sad, noir-ish mystery (taken from the Dorothy B. Hughes novel) about an alcoholic screenwriter (Humphrey Bogart) who might have committed a murder and the neighbor across the way (Gloria Grahame) who might have seen him to do it - and might love him anyway. Drenched in the glorious fatalism of the great Nichols Ray.
King Kong (1933; Merian C. Cooper)
Peter Jackson's remake was good, but it's got nothing on the grandaddy of them all.
Mulholland Drive (2001; David Lynch)
The mind-rape of all time. I've seen it three or four times and am still utterly hypnotized and baffled by it. Naomi Watts is absolutely incredible as the bright-eyed actress new to L.A. - God help her!
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988; David Zucker)
One of the funniest movies I've ever seen. "I have to get up early tomorrow - it's Arbor Day."
Shadow of a Doubt (1943; Alfred Hitchcock)
Hitchcock's thoughts on suburbia - right here, folks. Joseph Cotten and Teresa Wright are memorable as a woman-killer (literally) and the niece who suspects him.
The Sweet Smell of Success (1957; Alexander Mackendrick)
Tough, tough, tough. Burt Lancaster is an unprincipled, everything's-for-sale newspaper columnist who starts messing, tragically, with the life of press agent Tony Curtis. Relevant and brilliantly performed.
Touch of Evil (1958; Orson Welles)
Visual razzle-dazzle, Orson Welles' last major, fully-inhabited performance, great lines...
Vertigo (1958; Alfred Hitchcock)
Hitch's deepest, most profound film, Jimmy Stewart's greatest work, but it just might bore you. Patience, people!
*
The Raven (2012) isn't as bad as critics say it is; I had a mildly good time with it. It's one of those serial-killer movies that doesn't make a whole lot of sense if you scrutinize it too closely, but it's got a decent plot and central performance by John Cusack as Edgar Allan Poe, whose last days are left scrambling around Baltimore, trying to outwit a serial killer who is using the works of Poe as his inspiration; Cusack is strident and pushy here, but at least he's entertaining. (**1/2)
Which reminds me... It's about time John Cusack made an appearance on my list of the 500 Greatest Performances of All Time, right?
John Cusack
as Rob Gordon in High Fidelity (2000)
In this effervescent, spot-on, very appealing and smart adaptation of the London-set Nick Hornby novel, Cusack is at his charismatic, puppy-eyed, fast-talking best as a Chicago record store owner with an annoying staff of two (Jack Black and Todd Louiso), a list of reasons why his love life hasn't worked out, a stunning vinyl collection, and a new love who might just be the one for him. Cusack makes neuroses lovable and catching; he's a guy we all know and love. Great body language too.
Images courtesy of:
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/files/2012/01/Albert-Camus.jpg
http://www.impassionedcinema.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/600full-eternal-sunshine-of-the-spotless-mind-screenshot.jpg
http://www.jaxhistory.com/kingkong.jpg
http://bplusmovieblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/the-naked-gun-14.png
http://opionator.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/john-cusack-being-the-tortured-artist.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2bEoxg2pHtQ/UBLQtR2Z3lI/AAAAAAAAASo/EivD7GOygzc/s1600/HighFidelityJohnCusack.jpg
: edible
Are you happy or sad this post-election day? The country sure is divided, no?
Alas, we don't talk politics on this blog. For that, you need to go elsewhere.
On this date ninety-nine years ago, one of the 20th century's greatest writers was born: Albert Camus (1913-1960). He grew up in Algeria, but came to France in the late 1930s. He held deep interests in philosophy and revolutionary ideas. Camus joined the French Resistance during WWII and worked as a political journalist during the war. He became even more active in theater and fiction; he had already written essays and novels at that point, but he started gaining more and more recognition - thanks to his work in the theater - after the war.
What we most remember Camus for today is the existentialism. Hopelessness, dissatisfaction, loneliness, isolation. The Stranger (1942) is, of course, his most famous novel - about a man involved in a senseless murder on an Algerian beach. Camus claimed he wasn't so much an existentialist as he was an absurdist, which is similar to existentialism and nihilism, but slightly different in that existentialists believe that the existence of the individual is above and more important than anything else, whereas absurdists believe that personal meaning and existence isn't that important at all. Camus' essay "The Myth of Sisyphus" has been credited as one of the first works of art that is absurdist without necessarily being existentialist.
Other important novels from Camus are The Plague (1947), set in a small North African town, and 1956's The Fall, about an amoral Parisian lawyer. In 1957, he became the second-youngest recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature (only Rudyard Kipling was younger); two years later, he died in an automobile accident.
Information courtesy of: http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1957/camus-bio.html
*
Well, we're a week into the new month and I haven't added any selection to my list of the 200 Essential American Films:
Here are this month's selections:
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004; Michel Gondry)
A terrific cast meets an ambitious director full of visual ideas meets a brilliant design team meets a one-of-kind screenwriter. Doesn't get much better and or more creative than this for a romantic drama.
Groundhog Day (1993; Harold Ramis)
One of the slyest comedies ever, with a brilliant Bill Murray. Repetition (i.e. modern existence) as hell. And yet, oddly, a movie you can watch over and over and over again.
In a Lonely Place (1950; Nicholas Ray)
A blistering, sad, noir-ish mystery (taken from the Dorothy B. Hughes novel) about an alcoholic screenwriter (Humphrey Bogart) who might have committed a murder and the neighbor across the way (Gloria Grahame) who might have seen him to do it - and might love him anyway. Drenched in the glorious fatalism of the great Nichols Ray.
King Kong (1933; Merian C. Cooper)
Peter Jackson's remake was good, but it's got nothing on the grandaddy of them all.
Mulholland Drive (2001; David Lynch)
The mind-rape of all time. I've seen it three or four times and am still utterly hypnotized and baffled by it. Naomi Watts is absolutely incredible as the bright-eyed actress new to L.A. - God help her!
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988; David Zucker)
One of the funniest movies I've ever seen. "I have to get up early tomorrow - it's Arbor Day."
Shadow of a Doubt (1943; Alfred Hitchcock)
Hitchcock's thoughts on suburbia - right here, folks. Joseph Cotten and Teresa Wright are memorable as a woman-killer (literally) and the niece who suspects him.
The Sweet Smell of Success (1957; Alexander Mackendrick)
Tough, tough, tough. Burt Lancaster is an unprincipled, everything's-for-sale newspaper columnist who starts messing, tragically, with the life of press agent Tony Curtis. Relevant and brilliantly performed.
Touch of Evil (1958; Orson Welles)
Visual razzle-dazzle, Orson Welles' last major, fully-inhabited performance, great lines...
Vertigo (1958; Alfred Hitchcock)
Hitch's deepest, most profound film, Jimmy Stewart's greatest work, but it just might bore you. Patience, people!
*
The Raven (2012) isn't as bad as critics say it is; I had a mildly good time with it. It's one of those serial-killer movies that doesn't make a whole lot of sense if you scrutinize it too closely, but it's got a decent plot and central performance by John Cusack as Edgar Allan Poe, whose last days are left scrambling around Baltimore, trying to outwit a serial killer who is using the works of Poe as his inspiration; Cusack is strident and pushy here, but at least he's entertaining. (**1/2)
Which reminds me... It's about time John Cusack made an appearance on my list of the 500 Greatest Performances of All Time, right?
John Cusack
as Rob Gordon in High Fidelity (2000)
In this effervescent, spot-on, very appealing and smart adaptation of the London-set Nick Hornby novel, Cusack is at his charismatic, puppy-eyed, fast-talking best as a Chicago record store owner with an annoying staff of two (Jack Black and Todd Louiso), a list of reasons why his love life hasn't worked out, a stunning vinyl collection, and a new love who might just be the one for him. Cusack makes neuroses lovable and catching; he's a guy we all know and love. Great body language too.
Images courtesy of:
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/files/2012/01/Albert-Camus.jpg
http://www.impassionedcinema.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/600full-eternal-sunshine-of-the-spotless-mind-screenshot.jpg
http://www.jaxhistory.com/kingkong.jpg
http://bplusmovieblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/the-naked-gun-14.png
http://opionator.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/john-cusack-being-the-tortured-artist.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2bEoxg2pHtQ/UBLQtR2Z3lI/AAAAAAAAASo/EivD7GOygzc/s1600/HighFidelityJohnCusack.jpg
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