nepenthe : something capable of causing oblivion of grief or suffering
: a potion used by the ancients to induce forgetfulness of pain or sorrow
It's rare to see a good movie that's actually as good - and award-worthy - as advertised. Silver Linings Playbook sure fits the bill. Adapted from Matthew Quick's novel, it's David O. Russell's follow-up to The Fighter, and it's a marvel of emotions and shapes - a little screwball, a little poignant, a little silly, a lot frantic, a lot moving. It's a film that comes at you from all angles. As the bipolar man who says "more inappropriate things than appropriate things," Bradley Cooper is outstanding - likable and infuriating. Robert DeNiro, in his best role in years, adds humor and gravitas and looms large over an askew, choked household. Jennifer Lawrence is a hurricane of an actress, and deservedly won the Oscar as the damaged soul who turns out to be perfect for Bradley. It's a great cast of characters that includes Jacki Weaver's flustered but supportive mother, Chris Tucker's toned-down friend, Anupam Kher's tailgating shrink, and Julia Stiles as Lawrence's level-headed sister. Once you get on the film's wavelength, you'll go right along with it to its crowd-pleasing ending. Well-shot and with a terrific soundtrack, which includes the great Dylan-Cash classic "Girl From the North Country."
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On this date in 1825, George Inness was born. An American landscape painter influenced by both the Barbizon School (the French realist movement that included Millet and Corot) and the Hudson River Schoo, Inness is best known for his landscape paintings which documented the progress of the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad (who commissioned Inness) in Industrial America. As seen in the above work, The Coming Storm (1878), Inness increasingly focused on wilderness and, more importantly, the spiritual elements within it.
Here's more about the painting:
http://www.albrightknox.org/collection/collection-highlights/piece:inness-coming-storm/
Image courtesy of:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Gw-bqg4S11E/Tci2LKhvZfI/AAAAAAAAB08/nRwn-op0Ews/s1600/The+Coming+Storm+%2528c.+1879+-+George+Inness%2529.jpg
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