Fall Movies

Word of the day : dissociate 
                                              : disconnect, disunite

Happy first day of November, readers!  Hope everyone had a safe and intriguing Halloween - I know we did. 

Let's take a quick look at some of the movies coming out this weekend.  A few of them are getting excellent reviews. 

Flight    Denzel Washington, after a decade of crap, is getting some of the best reviews of his career and is a surefire Oscar contender as Whip Whitaker, a cocky pilot whose life after a harrowing crash dissolves into a mess.  Robert Zemeckis (Cast Away, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? etc.) is supposed to be at the top of his form here, and the script by John Gatins might just take home the Oscar.  The special effects are reputed to be unnervingly good, and there's a terrific cast supporting the marvelous Washington: John Goodman as his his cocaine dealer, Don Cheadle as a cold-blooded lawyer, Bruce Greenwood as his friend, English actress Kelly Reilly (doing a Southern accent) as a fellow alcoholic, and Brian Geraghty ( ATM, The Hurt Locker) as a fellow pilot.
Verdict: Very Interested 

 
The Bay    Director Barry Levinson (Rain Man, Diner, Bugsy) in a genre he's never done before: horror.  Specifically, found-footage horror.  The reviews are really, really good for this inspired-by-true-events story (!) about the terrifying events that occurred in a small Chesapeake Bay seaside town in 2009.  Levinson, working with unknown actors, tells the story of the biological catastrophe (don't go in the water!) that authorities tried to cover up through "found footage" such as iPhones, webcams, Androids, cell phones, etc.  Ingenious.
Verdict: Very Interested   

Wreck-it-Ralph    An animated kids movie about a video game character (voiced by John C. Reilly) who is tired of the game he is stuck in and, more specifically, the role of villain he is destined to play.  He breaks out of his role and tries to prove his worthiness.... or something like that.  Good reviews.  Voice players include Jane Lynch, Mindy Kaling, Jack McBrayer, Ed O'Neill, and Sarah Silverman.
Verdict: Not Interested 

This Must Be the Place    Boy, this one sounds odd.  Sean Penn, decked out in mascara like the Cure's Robert Smith (and speaking in a fey, disaffected voice), is a 50-year old former rock star/turned Nazi hunter (!) making his way across America to avenge his father's injustices.  Judd Hirsch and Harry Dean Stanton are here, as is Frances McDormand as Penn's wife.  Critics like it - and Penn's understated performance.  Challenging and beautiful to look at, the film takes its title from the Talking Heads song.  
Verdict: Interested  

The Details    A good cast in a poorly-reviewed satire about a suburban husband (Tobey Maguire) who becomes fed-up (to say the least) with the raccoons damaging his property.  Cue the drugs, adultery, organ donation, extortion and murder.  Wild tonal shifts apparently.  Laura Linney, Elizabeth Banks, Ray Liotta, Kerry Washington, and Dennis Haysbert are among the cast.  I'm kind of curious, but the preview didn't look that good. 
Verdict: Mildly Interested  

The Man With the Iron Fists    Hmmm... The Wu-Tang Clan's RZA directs and stars in this epic martial-arts adventure set in 19th-century China.  Not screened for critics.  Somehow, RZA got his friend Russell Crowe to tag along for a meaty supporting role.
Verdict: Not Interested  

Vamps    Clueless writer-director Amy Heckerling returns after a long absence with this comedy about two modern NYC club-hopping single women (Alicia Silverstone and Krysten Ritter) who just happen to be vampires.  It hasn't been screened for enough critics yet to gauge its quality - but frankly, you probably already know if you want to see it or not.  Justin Kirk, Sigourney Weaver, Malcolm McDowell, Wallace Shawn, and Richard Lewis co-star.
Verdict: Mildly Interested  

*

A performance today for my 500 Greatest Performances of All Time?  How about two - by the same actor?

 
Charles Chaplin 

as a Tramp in City Lights (1931)
and
as a Factory Worker in Modern Times (1936) 

What can I say?  These are unimprovable performances.  Who today could balance the comedy and pathos - and sheer physical eloquence - of silent comedy with such grace?  Well, Jean Dujardin tried - and won an Oscar for the effort! 

* 

A pick for tonight?  Gee, what a who-cares game!  I'll give it to the underachieving San Diego just because they're at home, and Kansas City is truly godawful, which is a mystery in and of itself, considering that they have plenty of good players. 
San Diego 30, Kansas City 13  


*

Check back in tomorrow for some movie reviews and a brief bio of Joseph Radetzky (born on Nov. 2, that's why)




     
Images:

http://www.creativelydifferentblinds.com/BlindImages/1228.jpg  

http://www.thingsyoungerthanmccain.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/modern-times.jpg   

http://hiphollywood.com/wp-content/themes/morning/functions/theme/thumb.php?src=http://hiphollywood.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Screen-shot-2012-06-07-at-3.50.19-PM.png&w=630&h=350&zc=1&a=c  

http://thefilmexperience.net/storage/2012/thebay-still.jpeg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1349265479418

One More Week O' This Crap!

Word of the day : mawkish
                                             : having a weak, often unpleasant taste
                                             : marked by a sickly sentimentality ; sad or romantic in a foolish or 
                                               exaggerated way  

Well, hello, everyone.  Hope everyone on the east coast is staying safe... What a storm! 

Thank God there's only a week left of election crap.

A better news story?  (for me, anyway)  The basketball season officially kicks off tonight, as the NBA starts up.
(Even though I really don't start watching the NBA until about January-February or so...)

Here are my predictions for the 2012-2013 NBA season:

Eastern Conference       
Best Record: Miami Heat

Playoff Teams: 

Miami
Boston Celtics
New York Knicks
Chicago Bulls
Indiana Pacers
Brooklyn Nets
Atlanta Hawks
Philadelphia 76ers

Eastern Conference Champions:  Miami Heat


Western Conference
Best Record: Los Angeles Lakers

Playoff Teams: 

L.A. Lakers
San Antonio Spurs
Oklahoma City Thunder
L.A. Clippers
Denver Nuggets
Memphis Grizzlies
Houston Rockets
Dallas Mavericks

Western Conference Champions:  L.A. Lakers

NBA Champions: Miami Heat

*

On this Halloween Eve, let's go ahead and suggest another frightening book for your reading pleasure:

 
Why not?  It's not really a horror book or a "fright-fest" per say, but it's a relentlessly terrifying vision of a post-apocalyptic America.  Brutal, cold, pessimistic, and relentlessly depressing, it's nevertheless an artistic triumph; it gave me chills. that's for sure.  This 2006 book won almost every prize imaginable, including the Pulitzer.  
   
*

One of my 500 Greatest Performances of All Time?

William H. Macy 
as Jerry Lundegaard in Fargo (1996) 

"Ma'am, I answered your question.  I answered the darned... I'm cooperatin' here!" 

A perfect performance by a perfect film actor.  Equally sleazy, despicable, goofy, and sad, Macy's Lundegaard, a small-town loser is a man who's tired of scraping show, tired of his father-in-law, and dispirited by the fact that it's not that easy to have your wife killed. 


* 

Moret Bridge
1893
oil on canvas
Musee d'Orsay, Paris 

Alfred Sisley (born on this date in 1839) was one of the great Impressionists, though not as famous as some of his counterparts within the movement - Monet, Renoir, etc.  Sisley spent a few years living in Moret and often painted the Moret Bridge; bridges were a popular feature and compositional device in his works.  In most Sisley landscapes, people don't play too much of a part (or even appear); rather, like here, they tend to just merge with the environment.  



Images: 

http://www.cinemablend.com/images/news/19883/_1280390134.jpg

http://quarterlyconversation.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/the-road-cormac-mccarthy.jpg

http://nga.gov.au/Exhibition/MASTERPIECESfromPARIS/Images/400/191260.jpg

Alright for Fighting

Word of the day : malison
                                           : curse, malediction 

Happy weekend, everyone!  Julia's got a lot of work to do this weekend... Gabriel and I?  Not so much!  Gabriel and I will play, watch a good slate of college/NFL games, I'll get more and more into J.K. Rowling's A Casual Vacancy...

In case you haven't gotten an opportunity to check out my other blog, http://mybookylife.blogspot.com/, here are some brief capsule reviews of books that I've read in October:

The Road to Wellville (1993) - T.C. Boyle's rollicking, at times Dickensian, well-researched satire at the early days of the health food industry and Battle Creek, Michigan.  A lot of imagination and fun, with a great central character: the egotistical, hard-driving John Harvey Kellogg.  I learned a lot, too.
(****) (out of 5)

Wild Child (2010)  - T.C. Boyle's newest collection of short stories and one of the best, most fertile compilations I've ever read.  Each story here - the great title story, "Balto," "La Conchita" - stands on its own as a mysterious, teeming, haunting entity.  
(*****)

Lord of the Flies (1954) - A beautiful, terrifying novel that still holds up.  This was the first time I had read it, and I was glad I finally did.  Both a boys' adventure story and an allegory, it was suspenseful and troubling.  By now, the main characters - Ralph, Piggy, Jack - are almost archetypes. 
(****)

Madame Bovary (1850) - I'm also glad I finally read this one.  One of the greatest novels of all time, with a main character who provokes a myriad of responses, from outrage to pity.  It's a strongly realist novel - Flaubert describes and describes - but there's so much emotional accessibility here that it's almost impossible not to get into it and fly through it.
(****)

Breed (2012) - Chase Novak, a pseudonym for Scott Spenver, makes his debut outing with this grisly, lightly satirical, creative horror tale about a wealthy but infertile Manhattan who undergo a painful fertility treatment (in Slovenia!).  Ten years later, and with two creeped-out kids, they're beginning to change... into what?  Fast-paced, with well-maintained tension.  Good ending too.
(****)

The Red Badge of Courage (1885) - Stephen Crane's landmark novel was an influential one, but, man, is it boring!  Bor-ing!  It's short but seemingly endless.
(**)

The Distant Hours (2010)  - Kate Morton's third novel is, like her other books, a Gothic novel that weaves in and out of the past.  Set against the backdrop of WWII, it's reminiscent of Daphne DuMaurier and Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle, but the story - about a young girl evacuated during wartime to an English countryside castle, lorded over by a reclusive author and his odd daughters - stands on its own pretty well, though I thought it got less interesting as it went on.  Memorable images though.
(***1/2)

The Human Fly and Other Stories (2005) - A collection of previously published short stories by T.C. Boyle - except for one, "Almost Killing an Elephant."  It's an ideal intro to Boyle's work, and while I wasn't as intrigued and drawn into every story, there are some startling, immaculate ones here, including "The Love of My Life."
(****)

When the Killing's Done (2010) - A terrific, complex novel that makes you think.  It's about the various people entangled in environmental issues - re-introducing and eliminating species, etc. - regarding California's Northern Channel Islands.  With compelling historical footnotes and intriguingly-motivated characters awash in gray, it's compulsive reading.
(****1/2)

Pick Up  (1955) - I'm new to Charles Willeford, but I'll come out and say it: this is the most powerful book of existentialism I've read in a long time, maybe ever.  It's about two lost alcoholic souls wandering the streets of 1950s San Francisco, both of them suicidal.  A murder occurs, and the man, a one-time promising talent at the Art Institute of Chicago, is in prison for it.  The great joke and irony of the book is that the man confesses his guilt and wants to die, but the justice system does everything it can to get him off and back on the streets.  Devastating ending.  Strong, clear writing, not the bleak turn-off that it sounds like.
(*****)

Night Rounds (1999) - Helene Tursten is a popular Swedish mystery writer, and this novel, written thirteen years ago but published this year in the States, is one of her Detective Irene Huss novels.  It's a solid mystery, concerning the murders of nurses at a declining hospital, but I thought the killer was very easy to guess.  I'd read another entry in the series, though.   
(***)   

Last to Die (2012)  - My favorite Tess Gerritsen book yet, with Rizzoli and Isles trying to protect some very special kids at a woodsy reclusive Maine boarding school.  Strong plotting, and the unusual setting shakes matters up.  Tense right through the end.
(****)

*

NFL picks for the weekend?  Well, I already whiffed on Tampa Bay, but I'm determined to have a good week; though how I can top last week's near-flawless 12-1 forecast.  There are a lot of games this week that are tough to predict. 

Green Bay over Jacksonville  (well, maybe except this one) 
Chicago over Carolina
San Diego over Cleveland
Detroit over Seattle
Tennessee over Indianapolis
New England over St. Louis
Miami over NY Jets    (boy, I'm not sure...) 
Philadelphia over Atlanta   (bye-bye, undefeated teams)
Washington over Pittsburgh   (I'm playing with fire with this one too) 
Oakland over Kansas City    (I would go with KC, but then I remembered that Brady Quinn was starting for them - yikes!)
Dallas over NY Giants  
Denver over New Orleans   (though my gut is saying Saints)  
San Francisco over Arizona    (how quickly Arizona will have fallen to an also-ran 4-4) 


Last Week's Record: 12-1
Season Record: 65-39 
* 

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on that sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

 

Dylan Thomas

 

(Taken from website: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/do-not-go-gentle-into-that-good-night/) 

Happy birthday, Mr. Thomas

*  

A performance today, one of my 500 Greatest of All Time:  

 

 

Annette Bening

as Nic in The Kids Are All Right (2010)  

Bening does everything right in the wonderful family comedy by Lisa Cholodenko.  She manages to make her character funny and precise, warm and tough, befuddled and open-minded, protective and reactive, fierce and forgiving.  In other words, there's not a moment she doesn't come across as completely human.  Bening is an actress who can pretty much do anything, play anything - at times she might come across as too theatrical in some films, but, here, she's devastatingly real and without remove.  She has some great scenes too: whether telling off Mark Ruffalo by informing him what she would rather have than his observations, or letting down her guard to Joni Mitchell's "Blue," only to discover her betrayal moments later.  

 
 Images:

 https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUXT6SiZp9iB6NCc_oVn8YZANjPXJXCT0cEkh5CGDPSzqgKtdecq2PbYkzFEfjMMRvIi1Bcyxj-rdKgk33PbGjl5J3Jr-lZhZno4QAkAOncO00F_CHvvpwfCkPZYgfHvj5ad6sXeTrR3Q/s1600/BOOK.jpg

A scream

Word of the day : enigmatic 
                                              : mysterious

Well, the weekend is looming.  Not sure what we're going to do with it other than go over to Savannah tomorrow. 

Yep, Happy Birthday, Picasso. 

New Movies Opening This Weekend: 

Cloud Atlas    I don't think I've ever wanted to see a movie less than I do this messy-looking epic, an adaptation of a challenging, post-modern 2004 novel by David Mitchell that was said to be unfilmable.  The Wachowskis (The Matrix trilogy) direct an all-star cast that includes Tom Hanks (playing multiple roles), Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant and more.  I have no idea what the movie is about, only that it's set in six different periods of history and charts how individual lives affect others throughout time and space.  Yawn.  A few critics like the ambition, but other critics say it's pretentious, pseudo-intellectual garbage.  That's all I need to know.   
Verdict: Not Interested 
 
Chasing Mavericks    I'm a big fan of director Curtis Hanson, but even I don't want to see his new film.  Why?  It's a surfing movie.  Has there ever been a good surfing movie?  It's based on a true story about a 15-year old boy/surf phenom who is mentored/guided by a local legend (Gerard Butler).  The surfing footage is supposed to be very good, however.  Elisabeth Shue co-stars.
Verdict: Not Interested  

Silent Hill: Revelation 3D    Uh, considering Julia and I couldn't even make it through the first film, I think I'll pass on this one.  Radha Mitchell's back, alongside Sean Bean, Malcolm McDowell, and Carrie-Anne Moss. 
Verdict: Not Interested

Terrible week at the movies, y'all! 

Speaking of terrible movies, I just watched Silent House (2012), which would have been completely terrible, if not for what amounts to be a tour-de-force performance by Elisabeth Olsen as Sarah, a young woman we know almost nothing about.  Sarah is helping her dad and uncle fix up and clean the family's lakeside summer home, which they are getting ready to sell.  All of a sudden, it seems that there are some intruders in the house and before you know, her dad's knocked unconscious and poor Sarah is alone in the boarded-up, musty, creaky house with only a flashlight and her wits.  What exactly is going on?  A remake of a 2010 Uruguayan film, the film (directed by Open Water filmmakers Chris Kentis and Laura Lau) has a technical flourish/gimmick: it appears to have been shot as one long take.  So for most of the movie, we are left alone with just Olsen, which is fine, because she has an immensely readable, expressive face; there's not a moment when we're not on her side.  (The other actors, by comparison, stink.)  Even at under 85 minutes, the movie feels too drawn-out and long; it's kind of boring.  The revelation at the end isn't particularly subtle and will probably just leave you queasy.  Yuck. 

Grade: C- 

* 

A performance today for my list of the 500 Greatest Performances of All Time: 

Ed Harris
as Jackson Pollock in Pollock (2000) 

Harris is one of the finest actors around, and this decade-in-the-making labor-of-love for him gives him one of his greatest parts: the troubled, fractious, blustery, unlikable painter who changed modern American art.  Harris isn't worried about getting the audience to sympathize with Pollock; rather, by playing the character as he probably was, he gives us the warts.  It's a brave performance, intense, commanding. 


* 

A scary book for my readers for Halloween?  Give this one a shot: 

Now I'm not saying you should read every single story by Shirley Jackson in this collection.  But "The Lottery" and "The Daemon Lover" are as good as it gets.  Spooky, scary! 


* 

A prediction for tonight? 

Well, I think this game has all the makings of an upset.  Tampa Bay, coming off a tough home loss, is probably better than their 2-4 record.  Minnesota, at a surprising 5-2, might not be as good as theirs.  That said, Minnesota did beat SF and Arizona and Detroit; TB hasn't really beaten anyone.  The Bucs match up well and can be explosive.  But I'm kind of a believer in the Vikings right now.  If this were in Tampa, I'd go with the Bucs.  It's not, though, and I don't think the Bucs can stop AP or Percy Harvin. 

Minnesota 26, Tampa Bay 17 






















Images courtesy of: 

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglKuuQzxBuEzjMc9tLHxuDGCUuAXk0DRGvWUgf5G8Cs9B6_sSrjOnAm_Xpi6cAOms1wydn9HmjexHvO9CsAIV1QmEWQRfEVBgb3zH3ftH1mkmzmgXCOIFJFtW6McEOWfkzEYb14hUvn-A/s1600/Les+Demoiselles+D%27Avignon.jpg

http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/pollock0.jpg

http://cdn1.screenrant.com/wp-content/uploads/Eric-Sheffer-Stevens-Elizabeth-Olsen-Silent-House.jpg

http://northbennington.org/_images/Misc/Shirley_Jackson_The_Lottery.jpg

Spooky Scary...

Word of the day : egregious
                                             : conspicuous ; conspicuously bad
                                             : flagrant

I haven't done a who's-birthday-is-it notice in a while.  Well, today it's the birthday of Anton Van Leeuwenhoek.

Van Lay-when-who, you say?

The Delft-born Leeuwenhook was born in 1632 and died in 1723.  He was one of the most distinguished scientists and inventors of his time.  He is regarded as the father of microscopy.  Working as an inventor in a dry goods store in Amsterdam (where he lived for six years before returning to Delft for good), where drapers used magnifying glasses to inspect the thread count in cloth, Leeuwenhook began experimenting with the glasses himself, grinding and polishing his lens.  He worked with the curvature of the lens and was eventually able to create a pair of glasses with a magnification of up to 270x.  From this, he created microscopes, which were, at the time, considered the most practical of their kind.

With is microscopes, he was to discover bacteria, protozoa, and spermatazoa, yeast plants, the life within a drop of water, among other life forms.

His microscopes were made out of silver and gold; his family sold them off after he died, and none have ever been recovered.
(Thanks to http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blleeuwenhoek.htm) for the info.)

*
 
Halloween's around the corner.   I'll post a scary book a day until All Hallows' Eve.  

Okay, sure it doesn't sound that scary: A group of young vacationers in deepest Mexico stumble upon a hillside and find that the surrounding villagers won't let them leave the hill.  Why?

Well, that's for you to find out.  Books don't make you jump and they don't have the visceral impact or assault that movies do, but I'll say this about Scott Smith's second novel: I have never been so tense or on edge during a reading experience in my life.

*

What Rare Bird Was Seen In Bulloch County This Week?  

Long-billed dowitcher  

A shorebird distinctive for, among other features and traits, for its sewing machine-like feeding style.  It's usually seen west of the Mississippi.
(Thanks http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Long-billed_Dowitcher/id) 

*

A painting today, too:   (Jeez, I've forgotten to do this in a while too!)  John George Brown (1831-1913) is today's artist. 

 
The Music Lesson 
1870
oil on canvas 
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York  


One of 19th-America's more distinguished child portraitists (it was on the cover of a copy of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer that I discovered him), Brown did a little something different here, showing a couple in the throes of courtship; it's music that brings them together.
(Here's info from the Met on the piece:  http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/21.115.3)   


Don't forget to check out my other blog: http://mybookylife.blogspot.com/  for book reviews, including Chase Novak's horrific Breed.  






Images courtesy of: 
    
http://www.oceansbridge.com/paintings/museums/met-museum/big/John-George-Brown-xx-The-Music-Lesson-1870.jpg

http://c.10000birds.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/lb-dow-41.jpg

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_kT8Yp3a0YSuGhUH5IuGkJBZGKedO9hGxFmlYoueo3xbaizVkulnNp3yQeh_WbKhyvP4fkeyydb6YDBTdg07FZkWdLPd0uBG3HlmOzsrzR38v5rAClF7CjLzDfja8Y6wscdwyz0NL8Jwo/s1600/The+ruins.jpeg

http://www.findingdulcinea.com/docroot/dulcinea/fd_images/features/profiles/v/anton-van-leeuwenhoek/features/0/image.jpg

The Last Debate

Word of the day : extemporize
                                                  : to improvise
                                                  : to get along in a makeshift manner

What a weekend... well, it was okay until Julia got back, and then it became great.  The boys are glad to have her home.  I had the morning to myself, as Julia took Gabriel back to school for his first day since fall break, and I got caught up on shows I recorded last night and took the Daisy for a one hour walk. 

Don't forget to keep tabs on my other, book-related, blog:  http://mybookylife.blogspot.com/

Today might be a good time to get caught up on our journey through Professional Photographer's list of the 100 Most Influential Photographers of All Time.  Let's see, where were we? 

Simon Norfolk (#67) 

For more information on this acclaimed photojournalist-turned-landscape photographer, go to his website:  http://www.simonnorfolk.com/


Araki (#68) 

Due to the controversial, graphic content of his work, I won't put up any of his images.  If you're interested in reading about him (and be forewarned...), here is a very unusual, at times confrontational, interview with him: 

http://www.vice.com/read/nobuyoshi-araki-118-v15n7


Ellen Von Unwerth (#69)

Here's an article on her: 

http://www.businessoffashion.com/2012/07/the-creative-class-ellen-von-unwerth.html

*

A performance today for my list of the 500 Greatest Performances of All Time...
Hmm, how about...

Jeff Daniels 
as Bernard Berkman in The Squid and the Whale (2005) 

Daniels is a remarkably versatile actor - somewhat unsung - with a natural, comfortable ability to look like or play anybody within any genre.  I think this is his greatest role, a part that Daniels digs into with great relish.  What's clear right away in writer-director Noah Baumbach's grand comedy about divorce and growing up is how unlikable Bernard is - he's obscure and elitist, closed-off, self-important, and emotionally blocked.  But the longer we watch Daniels, the more human he becomes, and we start to realize that most fathers, most parents, are probably more like this or seem more like Bernard than the usual parents we get on-screen; the actor, bearded and quick-witted, lets use see uncomfortable truths.  

* 

And, finally, here are ten shows I'm watching this fall 2012 season that I think you should be too...

Dexter

Homeland

Castle

Hart of Dixie

Emily Owens, M.D.

Partners

666 Park Avenue

Nashville

Modern Family

Parenthood

Images provided by: 

http://collider.com/wp-content/uploads/partners-tv-show-image.jpg

http://smhttp.14409.nexcesscdn.net/806D5E/wordpress-L/images/dexter-header.jpg

http://shutterdiaries.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/simon_norfolk22.jpg

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPOvMwoM8s9FhbUMmAKLgxQ9aL17o3o7eAmt3e6XfzKyXQrqGHj-PkOByCsVf6BwF6XcWLSfXCmbY1fd6bO-KgqEoRiQgqx-YvtNTY66j8lvwg_rDa1NSf6qGH7YR9nMiFUAj_w_xBiBpr/s1600/simon+norfolk+3.jpg

http://www.peterbaileyny.com/img/blog/2011/04/BurkeNorfolk0405.jpg

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbInnHUMMs-BqynzkrAotyUit4hD5YX7AdtaZyzE1GAH4l5qxQDKAcfZln47x2CY4DbxjoF_CBAofvOpNuBIK4l_7OrMNyf2K9WKQm1-p_M0TJLJ0parbGnHH5rym2ES_uTKIRRhkXcuU/s1600/2006_01-02.jpg

http://stylenotes.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/12/17/unwerth_7.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6kSSaMyNkck/UHsZvtYOK_I/AAAAAAAAB_k/6uGdQ7vRsiA/s1600/655a5d1b7e1a.jpg

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsAVloRjlT7wC7mNGJMyFLWELkk0gLWIv8DcjCfqDJWPe0n9503AApwEVoVP-JroIzMdfakJdUT7cuetZwyBxeCULOgox4-DjP4LJ7agmtqt43J1JgpHuu0zFKoLugk9tyvH4VrOmIhuk/s400/The+Squid+and+the+Whale.jpg

http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2011/1113/grantland_e_homeland01jr_576.jpg

http://static.wetpaint.me/castle/ROOT/photos/460_340/128968086pre--2688467807592030626.jpg

http://img2.timeinc.net//ew/i/2012/10/02/hart-of-dixie-zoe.jpg

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieBHQyn8AGO_monumZifdqtyiVohwZ5hG7yi2t1MmPP8Nf3WHuw_lD7tanO6XhuHSwNQY_5oYynAXsBvdWqbXnJpUcgp17wGvMwOVktAtzRKRx8TQHf7meWAKDs0NbmYhN3kWGvLMRugo/s1600/EMD100-dreamjob-trlx_b3df29c78_CWtv_640x360.jpg

http://blogs.houstonpress.com/artattack/666-park-aveterry-oquinn-and-vanessa-williams.jpg

http://www.heroestheseries.com/uploads/2012/06/Hayden-Panettiere-in-NASHVILLE-TV-Series-2.jpg

http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/files/2010/06/modern-family.jpg

http://www.taryncoxthewife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/parenthood-nbc-550x366.jpg

Conferences, Sessions, football, Spacey, birds, and Slovenia

Word of the day : worldly-wise
                                                   : possessing a practical and shrewd understanding of human affairs


Sorry I've been gone for a few days, readers.  Our wireless connection here at the house was mysteriously down for a few days - hence, no blog updates.

What's new?  Well, it's fall break for Gabriel Fischer.  He's been spending the week at home with me.  Julia has been busy at school, getting over a nasty little cold that claimed all the two-legged members of the family except yours truly.

Julia has to go up to Durham this weekend for a conference, so it'll be a boys' party for about forty-eight hours or so.

New Movies Opening This Weekend:

Alex Cross    Here's what you need to know.  Tyler Perry replaces Morgan Freeman in the role of James Patterson's reliable, sturdy detective Alex Cross.  Matthew Fox is the pumped-up, psychotic villain.  Cleveland stands in for Detroit.  And critics don't like it.  It co-stars Jean Reno, Cicely Tyson, John C. McGinley, and Edward Burns.
Verdict: Mildly Interested 

 

The Sessions    There's massive Oscar hype for this Sundance favorite, which is based on the autobiographical writings of poet/journalist Mark O'Brien, played here, in what is surely to be one of the year's greatest performances, by John Hawkes (an Oscar nominee two years ago for Winter's Bone).  O'Brien, you see, was born with polio and confined to his bed with an iron lung.  He desires to lose his virginity and consults a sex therapist (Helen Hunt) to help him do so.  Hunt and Hawkes are reputedly great together, and the movie is said to be an odd but likable amalgamation of My Left Foot, black comedy, and romance.  Hunt and William H. Macy (as O'Brien's priest friend) are likely to be up for Oscars too.  Written and directed by Ben Lewin.
Verdict: Very Interested

Paranormal Activity 4    Alas, what once seemed novel is just beginning to feel rote.  Each ensuing film in this series has gotten less scary and made less sense.  But yet this series has grossed a jillion dollars, so the filmmakers keep them coming.  This one is set in Nevada, and I'm not sure how or of any of the characters here have anything to do with any of the previous ones.
Verdict: Not Interested 

*

Might as well make my football picks for this weekend... because who knows how long the internet will hold up.

Tonight's game:
Two teams who participated in two of the most surprising games last weekend.  I have no hesitation on picking San Fran in this one, not at all.  SF all the way.  I am almost a believer in Seattle, almost.  And though I don't trust Alex Smith if he gets down by two scores, I don't see that happening again anytime soon.
San Francisco 20, Seattle 10

Buffalo over Tennessee   (actually, this is the hardest game of the week for me to predict!)
Dallas over Carolina    
Houston over Baltimore
Indianapolis over Cleveland
Minnesota over Arizona 
NY Giants over Washington  
Green Bay over St. Louis
New Orleans over Tampa Bay
New England over NY Jets
Oakland over Jacksonville 
Pittsburgh over Cincinnati 
Chicago over Detroit

Last Week's Record: 9-5
Season Record: 53-38


*

What Bird Was Spotted in Bulloch County Georgia This Week?

Red-breasted nuthatch 


*

A performance today for my list of the 500 Greatest Performances of All Time list: 

Kevin Spacey 
as Jack Vincennes in L.A. Confidential (1997) 

A great role for a great actor, Jack Vincennes is an L.A. cop in love with the image of himself, the fame the job has gotten him - he is the technical adviser for a Dragnet-like show.  Jack strides through the corridors of the station with a smug swagger, but he's not narcissistic enough to leave his dignity at the door (in the movie's most shocking scene).  In a great ensemble, Spacey shines - his eyes merrily atwinkle.  It's a pleasure just to hear him talk.  One of my favorite movies of all time.

*

I'm reading a juicy horror novel right now, Chase Novak's Breed, which has a few scenes set in Slovenia.  Now I'll admit that I know nothing about the country of Slovenia.  So I went to http://www.slovenia.si/en/slovenia/ and here's what I found:

- it lies in the very heart of Europe, bracketed by Italy (to west), Austria (to the north), Hungary (to the northeast), and Croatia (to the east and northeast)

- has a parliamentary democracy

- has a continental climate throughout the middle of country, Mediterranean coastlines, and mountain ranges.  Its highest peak is Mount Triglav, in the Julian Alps

- has a good economy and labor market, and is a young, educated country

- has a higher-than-average number of its women employed (than other EU countries)

- its manufacturing industry is represented by electrical equipment, chemicals, shipbuilding, motor vehicles, among others

- a green country, Slovenia is a birders' paradise, with almost 35% of the country protected as conservation sites for various species

- contains lot and lots of resorts and spa facilities 

- the sun shines approximately 2000 hours a year there (more than Paris or London, but not quite as much as Seattle)

- its capital city, Ljubljana, is a vibrant art community; the country is often referred to as a nation of poets

-  the country has three UNESCO World Heritage sites: the Skocjan Caves, a stunning system of underground caves; a series of prehistoric pile-dwellings (stilt houses) around the Alps; and mercury mines in Indrija
(Thanks to http://www.slovenia.si/en/culture/ for the info.)  





Images courtesy of:

http://redbuttecanyon.net/avian_images/s_canadensis_nuthatch.jpg

http://moviescrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/La-Confidential-Wallpaper.jpg

http://cdn.sheknows.com/articles/2012/10/Helen-Hunt-John-Hawkes-The-Sessions.jpg