The Sisters Brothers, - Patrick deWitt

"... 'Now you dance, chink!' With these words, the boy began dancing wildly and without grace, looking much like someone forced to stand barefoot over hot coals. It was an ugly thing to witness, and if I had not before made my decision about Mayfield, the matter was now settled in my mind." - Eli Sisters

After reading and greatly enjoying this book, it's finally come to me that I’m a fan of the Western. It surprises me, although I’m doing some head-smacking at my lateness in the realization. Westerns, whether in book or film form, bored me when I was younger. I think the drab landscape, lack of technology and overused tropes kept me away. What I think has brought me back is the prose in both Portis’ book “True Grit” and the recently remade film, as well as the excellent HBO series “Deadwood.” I have a fondness for this style of prose - characterized by formal use of language, sometimes punctuated by expletives and employing minimal use of contractions. DeWitt continues this style to magnificent effect.

This is a tale of Eli and Charlie Sisters: two brothers who are killers for hire. They encounter many characters and events on their journey. This might be called an anti-Western for its satirical moments, somewhat rambling plot and overall bleak outlook on civilization. The plot is secondary in my view, although it isn’t horrible. The joy of reading this book is the musings of the narrator, Eli Sisters as well as other characters in the book.

I’ve collected a few that follow.

Regarding gold-rush era San Francisco:

"’You must understand, gentlemen, that the tradition of thrift and sensible spending has all but vanished here. For example, when I arrived last time from working my claim I had a sizeable sack of gold dust, and though I knew it was lunacy I decided to sit down and have a large dinner in the most expensive restaurant I could find... and for this repast, which would have put me back perhaps half a dollar in my hometown, I paid the sum of thirty dollars in cash’

Charlie was disgusted. ‘Only a moron would pay that.’

‘I agree,’ said the man. ‘One hundred percent I agree. And I am happy to welcome you to a town peopled in morons exclusively. I hope that your transformation to moron is not an unpleasant experience.’”

 

“‘Yesterday I saw a man leap from the roof of the Orient Hotel, laughing all the way to the ground, upon which he fairly exploded. He was drunk, they say, but I had seen him sober shortly before this. There is a feeling here, which if it gets you, will envenom your very center. It is a madness of possibilities. That leaping man’s final act was the embodiment of the collective mind of San Francisco. I understand it completely. I had a strong desire to applaud, if you want to know the truth.’”

This is the most I’ve enjoyed a book in a long time. A blurb refers to it as “cowboy noir,” which is apt. It is much-appreciated storytelling enlivened by simple, straightforward, writing craft.

Body count:

16 men shot
2 men poisoned
1 man drowned
1 man suicide by axe
2 bears
4 horses
1 dog
9 beavers

Prometheus

There are a few things good about this movie, unfortunately they don’t make up for the movie being, well, stupid. If you’re reading this as a part of your decision process to see it in the theater, don't. Overall, the movie misses its mark. Read on if you don’t mind spoilers or have already seen the film.

Good things about the movie are Michael Fassbender’s performance and the cinematography and special effects.

So much for the good aspects.

The script for this movie simply makes no sense. During the opening scene, we are introduced to two archaeologists in love, Elizabeth and Charlie, who find a cave painting depicting giant humanoids pointing out to a star cluster. They connect this to other primitive cultures' depictions of similar humanoids pointing to a similar star cluster (5 stars).

Somehow that’s interpreted as an invitation to come find humanity’s creators (the “engineers”)? They rustle up some funding from Weyland-Yutani corporation - a TRILLION dollars, according to Meredith Vickers, played by Charlize Theron, the chosen Weyland representative. Vickers and crew, aboard the spaceship Prometheus, head to a distant moon. How they were able to narrow down a cluster of 5 heavenly bodies to a single spot in the universe seems ridiculous, but, okay, it moves the story forward.

Once aboard the ship, it seems that Meredith Vickers is in charge, but then a hologram of Peter Weyland, the company founder, instructs them that the archaeologists in love are in charge. Plus we have the captain of the ship, played by Idris Elba, who also seems to have some autonomy. A trillion-dollar expedition where no one is quite certain who’s boss?

Upon arrival at the moon, this lack of leadership is evident as they run off without, seemingly, forming a plan. Cap’n Janek warns them they only have 6 hours of daylight left, but damn the torpedos (!), the archaeologists in love are not going to wait to meet their makers! Ahem.

Other characters on this exploratory mission include a geologist and a biologist. These guys are the best part of the movie. Upon entering a cave complex, the geologist sets out robotic drones that quickly map the subterranean caverns and tunnels. The geologist skillfully leads them through the caverns whereupon they find dead engineers. The geologist and the biologist freak out at this. They knew there was the prospect of finding LIVE engineers and I guess they assumed that they would be friendly, but the fact that they were massacred, 2000 YEARS AGO, is freaking them out. So they split. Not only do they split, but THEY GET LOST. EVEN THOUGH THE ENTIRE PLACE IS MAPPED WITH THE GEOLOGIST’S DRONES AND THEY’RE IN CONSTANT COMMUNICATION WITH CAP’N JANEK. A storm comes and these two are forced to spend the night in the cave. During the night they run into a phallic, alien, snake-like creature. They're trapped underground, millions of miles from home and they're encountering their first live alien which acts just like a king cobra. What does the highly qualified BIOLOGIST, hired to go on a TRILLION-DOLLAR MISSION DO? HE TREATS IT LIKE A GERBIL FOR FUCK’S SAKE, COOING AT IT AND OFFERING HIS HAND TO IT, WHEREUPON ANIMALS ATTACK AND HE AND THE HANSEL-AND-GRETEL GEOLOGIST RIGHTLY SUFFER A HORRIBLE DEATH.

I almost applauded.

I’ll just (try and) stop here. They have an automated surgery pod that is for men only because apparently having breasts and a vagina complicates a pod capable of robotic surgery. The archaeologist in love convinces it to do an alien abortion, anyhow, and with her stomach stapled completes a bunch of action scenes meanwhile the rest of the crew ignores the abortion and the blood-spattered pod. Um, what else? Vickers gets crushed to death by a crashing, rolling space ship because she couldn’t figure out how to run a perpendicular path from it. I guess she thought it was chasing her. There are also tired existential discussions attempting to drive this film and two members of the crew we know nothing about who agree on a kamikaze mission at the end.

There is more. Suffice it say that this movie fails due to lazy writing.

I just hoped this would be better than "Alien 3" or "Alien Resurrection." Please don't make me pick where "Prometheus" fits in the now 3 horrible Alien franchise films.

The Peculiar Memories Of Thomas Penman - Bruce Robinson

This was a tough decision to either forge ahead and finish or abandon it (which is what I did).

Part of my hesitancy to finish was Robinson's style (it's not unfair to label it a little obtuse), fascination with the mundane details and, well, frankly, not understanding the British place names, etc (shame on me for letting that be a factor).

I put this on my "to reread" shelf because after I turned the book back into the library, I am still thinking about it and maybe regretting not pushing through. It certainly has some charm, isn't horribly long and I'm experiencing some regret.

On the other hand, there are way too many books out there and life is short.

If you're reading this in an attempt to decide whether or not to read it, please, give it a shot. I'm very much on the fence and didn't give it a full read.

The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss

Out of the last four fantasy/sci-fi books I've started to read, this is the only one I finished. I wished I wouldn't have. Hints of a great fantasy story at the beginning, followed by superkid / playboy going through teenage angst at a... wait for it... magic school.

I enjoyed reading it, but that enjoyment was due to being felt led on by a promise (correctly or incorrectly perceived) that didn't happen. What was that promise? THAT SOMETHING WAS GOING TO HAPPEN AFTER MAGIC SCHOOL.

"That gets told in the next book(s)." Really? I try to be positive. I do. I read all the glowing reviews for this book and ended up REALLY not liking it. So, maybe it gets better in the next? Let's look at the reviews with a more guarded eye this time. I came across this HILARIOUS review of the next book by "Jacob"

"THE GODDAMN FELURIAN BIT."

Click the link. Read about the Felurian bit.

Fool me once - shame on you...

There's an old Zen koan that says "If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him." It's entirely metaphorical and basically means if you think you've attained enlightenment, think again.

If you see J.K. Rowling on the road, kill her.

Happy birthday, Pete Townsend! Pete Townshend and Jack White perfoming in 2006

Thanks, Antiquiet!

The History of Western Philosophy - Jewish Religious Development

Some interesting notes on early Judaism:

“The early history of the Israelites cannot be confirmed from any source outside the Old Testament, and it is impossible to know at what point it ceased to be purely legendary. David and Solomon may be accepted as kings who probably had a real existence, but at the earliest point at which we come to something certainly historical there are already the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah.” p. 309

In 596 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem, destroying the Temple and removed a large part of the Jewish population to Babylon. Babylon fell in 538 B.C., and the new king Cyrus, king of the Medes and Persians, allowed the Jews to return to Palestine under the leadership of Nehemiah and Ezra. The “temple was rebuilt, and Jewish orthodoxy began to be crystallized.” p. 310

It is during this time that Jewish thought underwent an important change. The first commandment stating “Thou shalt have no other gods but me” is a new belief preceding this time of captivity. This is the first indication that worship of other gods was sinful. This, in turn, was used to explain why the Jews were being persecuted - for their worship of heathen gods. After the return from Babylon, Ezra and Nehemiah forbid and dissolved mixed marriages in Jerusalem.

“After Ezra and Nehemiah, the Jews disappear awhile from history. The Jewish state survived as a theocracy, but its territory was very small - only the region of ten to fifteen miles around Jerusalem.” p. 313

It is surprising to me to me that this 10 to 15 mile ring around Jerusalem continued the Judaic religion until 175 B.C. when the Seleucid king Antiochus IV attempted to Hellenize the Jewish population. This was vehemently opposed by the mostly rural Hasidm, who prompted the Jews to rebel when Antiochus became involved in a war with Egypt. Apparently Antiochus decided to destroy the Jewish religion by outlawing circumcision and the practice of abstaining from pork. The urban Jews apparently submitted, but the rural Jews resisted. This period is known as the First Book of Maccabees. This period of persecution reinforced Jews’ belief that salvation lies in the hereafter. Also, “in enduring and resisting persecution the Jews of this time showed immense heroism, although in defence of things that do not strike us as important, such as circumcision and the eating of pork.” p. 316.

“The time of the persecution by Antiochus IV was crucial in Jewish history. The Jews of the Dispersion were, at this time, becoming more and more hellenized; the Jews of Judea were few; and even among them the rich and powerful were inclined to acquiesce in Greek innovations. But for the heroic resistance of the Hasidim, the Jewish religion might easily have died out. If this had happened, neither Christianity nor Islam could have existed in anything like the form they actually took.” p. 316

The Polish Officer

This is a work of historical fiction - a spy tale set in various locales during the start of WWII. Furst's attention to detail and research is admirable. However, I felt this read more like a TV series - episodic, with none of the episodes building on the other, except, perhaps, in the incrementally positive worldview of the protagonist, Alexander de Milja. Also, I hate to nitpick on style, but I'm really starting to get annoyed with excessive use of sentence fragments by many writers, not just Furst.

The first chapter is brilliant, and Furst's writing vividly evokes war-torn Europe during WW II. Given that there seems to be only slight character development in de Milja and since all of the other characters are basically set pieces, I would have hoped for a tighter-knit story. Unfortunately, all we have are episodes of various missions that de Milja undertakes. I'll give Furst the benefit of the doubt that this was used to illustrate how lost and futile even one man's heroic exploits are in the larger context of war, but the futility of an individual during wartime is already a well-visited subject.

The Boxer Rebellion - Diana Preston

After reading Diana Preston's "The Boxer Rebellion," I've learned something about my taste in history books. Full-length books on relatively brief historical events tend to be filled with anecdotes. I do not enjoy reading a book full of anecdotes. A encyclopedia entry will suffice.

This is a book admittedly telling only the Western side of the story. Preston claims that Chinese historical accounts are rare. A quick google search shows a few, so I'm dubious of this claim. Suffice it to speculate that a superstitious Chinese Empress believed that the xenophobic and violent "Boxer" sect actually possessed the mystical powers they claimed and were going to be able to throw out the racist and imperialist foreigners. What isn't speculation is that the rebellion failed, causing a summer of misery and fear in 1900.

For a more detailed account, here is the wikipedia article. If you think you might enjoy reading 360+ pages of anecdotes about turn-of-the century Westerners' plight during these times, you could read this book.

Let the Right One In (the novel) - John Ajvide Lindqvist

After seeing both the Swedish and American film adaptations of this novel, and liking both, I was excited to read the novel. The books are always better, right? Not in this case.

Oh my. Where to begin? As well as being an original, creative vampire tale, I think Lindqvist was trying to make a larger statement about the moral decay of society. Pedophilia, alcoholism, and excrement all play a much too large role in this novel. Raskolnikov from Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" is mentioned a few times, alluding to this societal decay theme. If Lindqvist was attempting a modern, vampirish take on "Crime and Punishment," he failed. There are way too many points-of-view (including a squirrel, at one point), truly gratuitous descriptions of pedophilia, and the entire book leaves you wanting to take a shower.

Kudos to both films for getting the great nugget out of this book and leaving the rest behind. Gross. Stick with either film (I prefer "Let Me In."). I now understand why the person who lent me this book didn't care if he ever got it back.

The Brave One

Confession: I watched this movie because Jodie Foster is too damn cute on the cover. We’ll see how my DVD cover instincts turn out judging a movie as a whole.

Foster plays Erica Bain, a radio show host doing a “life on the streets,” “slice of life,” “heavy prose” presumably public radio show that I typically hate in real life. She’s dating a swarthy doctor, and we get a tidy little, multi-cultural romance developing when on a walk through the park at night with their dog, they run into thugs and... BAM! They’re brutally mugged, very graphically portrayed. A weird emergency room scene then occurs intermixed with a flashback of the couple’s lovemaking.

With the PC/artistic overtones coupled with the gratuitous violence and sex, I’m beginning to think this movie is going to suck.

Terence Howard appears as a detective investigating the crime, and, well, he’s great, and the movie barometer’s plummet has slowed.

Erica wakes up after 3 weeks to a world drastically changed, and, well, she’s mad as hell. Apparently the police work is so top-notch that they’ve confused a mugging into a domestic dispute and are blaming Erica with beating her fiance to death with a pipe. I guess fingerprints, blood, fabric and DNA samples aren’t part of the investigative routine. I nitpick. Yet, she’s free to go home. I guess they’re just in the habit of making knowingly baseless accusations.

Oh, shit. Another flashback lovemaking scene. The barometer’s descent quickens. WE GET IT, OKAY? SHE MISSES HIM. BUT?! I DOTH PROTEST TOO MUCH! WE LEARN HE PLAYED GUITAR FOR HER IN THIS BLURRED FLASHBACK? HELL, I MISS HIM TOO!

She goes to a gun store that she referenced by a photograph at an art exhibit (wtf?). They won’t sell her a gun immediately, but a dude approaches her outside and immediately sells her a gun in an alley? Hey - her fortunes are turning, no?

Some random women tells her she shouldn’t smoke because it could kill her. She doesn’t care! This Nubian earth mother tells her that she needs to figure out how to live. Profound!

Now Erica is in a convenience store. Dear God, please don’t... but God answers my prayer with a “no,” because, of course, she’s witness to a robbery in progress, and she pumps a few rounds into the perp.

I’m thinking a lovemaking flashback is due? Wait for it... wait for it... she stumbles back to her apartment and takes a shower in her clothes. My bad, not a flashback, but a stupid public radio prose monologue ruminating on the need to persevere.

I’m done. I gave it 40 minutes. Lesson? Don't judge a DVD by its cover.

In summation, I'll quote Christopher Orr, from the New Republic:

"The Brave One is not merely the most morally repellent film of the year, but a contender for the stupidest."

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Upon viewing Andrew Dominik’s “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” I found myself questioning my attention span. I had trouble following the plot, characters and keeping the thread going. To be fair, I sometimes have the attention span of a 4-year old, but this film was too long and complicated for a Western - even the always-questionable narration didn’t help to hold things together.

Regarding the film’s postive aspects, there are several nice cinematogrophic touches: blurred shots that looked like old photographs, long sweeping panaromas of praries, and an overall grandiose feel. Most of the acting is very good, but, unfortunately, I think the most important role was miscast. Brad Pitt doesn’t provide, ironically, the charisma that the character demands. He has certain tics that he seems to fall upon that don’t fit the gravitas of the role. Casey Affleck is very good, although some might find his portrayal off-putting due to the quirks he incorporates - I feel this works, for the most part. Garret Dillahunt is excellent, as usual, as Ed Miller. Sam Shepard, as usual, is fantastic as Frank James. I’m divided on Sam Rockwell’s and Jeremy Renner’s performances. I think this movie also suffers from too many well-known actors. This brings up a reoccurring question concerning casting. Do you cast talented, well-known, actors or do you roll the dice with unknown actors? I feel that there is an abundance of talent out there, and a little more effort spent in finding a fresh face would have served this movie.

Fresher faces might have served, but not saved, the film because the story is too meandering and opaque. I felt you never truly understood the character’s motivations. You understand why the gang, including Robert Ford, wish to be part of the James’ gang, and you learn Ford’s hero-worship of James began at a young age. However, you’re never really sure what’s motivating Liddil and Miller’s betrayal. There’s a greed motive, but given the expressed notoriety of James being able to flush out those disloyal to him as well as the promise of future rewards being in James’s gang, why betray him? The most fascinating part of the story is after the assassination when Robert Ford is not greeted as a hero, but is somewhat reviled, yet, at the same time, goes on to star in a NYC play, recreating the assassination to rapturous audiences for over a year before his inevitable downfall.

In the end, though, this movie has aspirations of being a Western that breaks conventions, but fails. There aren’t any gunfights, there’s a lot of slow, lyrical shots, attempts to document the celebrity surrounding Jesse James Robert Ford, etc., that puts this solidly as an anti-Western, but it just didn't capture this viewer by turning the traditional Western on its head. With its 2 hours and 40 minutes running-time, it’s unfortunate that the most interesting part of the film doesn’t happen until after Robert Ford has pulled the trigger - the last 10 minutes. I agree with one review that said that this movie doesn’t know if it wants to eliminate or hold up the outlaw-hero.

Midnight in Paris

"Midnight in Paris," Woody Allen's current, in-theaters release is what I see as the perfect summer movie: not too long, doesn't take itself too seriously, but is also very clever and has only the slightest hint of fluff.

It is somewhat over-the-top, fanciful, and has a certain element that I've always deemed a deal-breaker (hint: it's not that it's a romantic comedy, although this isn't a positive, either). I'm not going to tell you what that element is as this movie needs to be seen the first time without any preconceptions. What I knew before viewing it was that it was a Woody Allen film, took place in Paris (duh), starred Rachel McAdams and Owen Wilson, and, yeah, was a romantic comedy. It's a comedy, and there's romance(s), but the lion's share of the comedy is unrelated to romance. Not knowing anything more about this amplified my first watch tremendously.

I had so much fun that I'm considering going back and watching it again, albeit knowing what happens.

It is very unique, clever, well-acted, and really surprised me. I'm still not a huge fan of McAdams, but she certainly does better with a well-written script. I'll try and remember to do a longer review once I feel free to discuss it at length.

Go see it! Especially if you're a fan of literature! I've said too much.

Consent to Kill

After the upheaval that is moving your stuff from one structure to another, I desperately need to get back in a routine of writing.

Without further ado, I'll discuss my encounter with "Consent to Kill," a spy thriller written by Vince Flynn.

This novel had a Tom Clancy, "best seller" air to it, and I wouldn't normally have read it, but an acquaintance of mine, Florian, recommended it highly.

Unfortunately, my instincts were correct. This is a ridiculous book. Mitch Rapp is the super spy who doesn't like to answer to anyone and frequently doesn't. His wife is the White House correspondent for NBC. His enemies are assassins trafficking hundreds of millions of dollars. He's the only one who truly understands what it takes to protect our freedom! If only the bureaucracy and petty minds would get out of his way!

Time to get back to "A History of Western Philosophy." It has more intrigue than this pulp moon pie.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Elizabeth Taylor’s death prompted me to watch “Cat On a Hot Tin Roof” via Netflix instant viewing. I was instantly endeared to this film as the brat children are described as “no neck monsters” unrestrained by their parents. The endearment continues with the pure, Southern gothic screenplay adaptation of Tennessee Williams’s Pulitzer-winning play, co-penned by Richard Brooks and James Poe.

This gang of no-necked, horrible children are the nieces and nephews of Maggie and Brick Pollitt - Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman, respectively. Brick is an alcoholic and it quickly becomes apparent that the couple have not made love in a long time. Maggie is not happy about this and says she feels like she’s a “cat on a hot tin roof," at times referring to herself as “Maggie the Cat.” The miscreants’ parents are Mae and Gooper Pollitt. The patriarch and matriarch of the family are “Big Daddy” and “Big Momma” Pollitt, with Burl Ives playing an uncharacteristically harsh, cruel (yet honest) role - that of Big Daddy Pollitt. The drama surrounds Big Daddy Pollitt's terminal illness and the resolving of his 28,000 acre, multi-million dollar estate.

The highlights of this film are the dialogue, the acting, the cinematography and the subtext. I’m not sure which order of greatness these fall in. The entire film is quotable. The themes of avarice and mendacity are brilliantly illustrated. The acting is 99% spot-on, and the color film and lighting is luminous and beautiful. There is a possible subtext of a gay relationship between Brick and a former friend who formed (at least) an emotional triangle with “Maggie the Cat.” The original play referenced homesexuality directly - Hollywood removed these direct references. Regardless, it’s an extremely brave play for the mid 1950’s and less-brave, but still courageous subsequent film for the mid to late 1950’s. Williams is said not to have been happy with the adaptation due to these omissions.

The actors, all of them, are to be praised for their gentile Southern accents - slight, very real and very well done.

I am thrilled with this movie. The blu-ray is not yet available, but the Netflix high-definition stream is - please avail yourself of this.

IMDB.com article
Wikipedia article

The Seventh Seal

Yet another one of my 50% off Criterion purchases was Ingmar Bergman's "The Seventh Seal" made in 1957 - widely lauded as a classic cinema masterpiece. It takes its name from the Bible’s Book of Revelation, wherein seven seals are opened before rapture takes place and final judgement is rendered. As the film notes, "when the Lamb had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour" (Revelation 8:1). This is a meditation on religion, doubt and faith, referenced in the space of half an hour wherein God is silent. We are immediately introduced to the knight and his squire returning from the crusades. The knight, played by a young Max Von Sydow, starts a game of chess with Death in an attempt to bargain for his life. This is immediately contrasted with a scene involving a family of actors who, despite their poverty, are very much in love and are examples of faith and life itself.

The knight and squire wander into a church with an artist painting a fresco of death terrorizing a village, indicative of the black death (the plague of historical times) that surrounds them. The fresco portrays villagers who are whipping themselves into a frenzy in the belief that the black plague is a punishment handed down by God. The knight enters the confessional expecting a priest to hear him. During the heartfelt confession, the knight asks such questions as "Is it so cruelly inconceivable to grasp God with the senses? Why should He hide himself in a mist of half-spoken promises and unseen miracles?...What is going to happen to those of us who want to believe but aren't able to?" However, it is not a priest who is listening to the knight’s entreaties, but Death who poses the question “You want a guarantee?” The knight wants knowledge, not “faith or conjecture, but knowledge.” After explaining to Death that he wants God to reach out his hand to him, Death notes “yet, he is silent.” After the knight explains how he feels that God isn’t there at times, Death posits that, perhaps, “God isn’t there,” whereupon the knight relates that this isn’t an outcome he can accept - “No man can live facing death knowing that everything is nothingness.” I do not want to transcribe this entire conversation, although I’m tempted to - there are at least two other existential quandaries that are also illuminated - facing death and the general ignorance to its meaning . It is the core of not only this movie, but also the question of faith and doubt in religion. To juxtapose this argument onto the scenario of a knight returning home from the Crusades to find the black plague ravaging his homeland in a chess game with Death is nothing short of a brilliant intellectual and artistic display.

However, as Pee Wee Herman notes, "Why does everyone always have such a big but(t)?" BUT, HOWEVER, etc., the attempts at comedy relief in "The Seventh Seal" fall hard unto modern concrete, but maybe these found a sympathetic audience in 1957. Too much time is spent trying to humorously explore the notion of fidelity - it plays into a misogynistic theme that is too prevalent. This is a big stone dragging down the greater themes present.

On yet another, trivial, note, there is also WAY too much baby butt in this movie. Gross.

I’m not fond of the whiny circus performers, the baby butt present, the blubbering blacksmith, his tramp wife, etc. This movie boils down, for me, to the confessional scene between knight and Death and their interplay exploring mortality, doubt and faith. The burning of the “witch” is no trivial affair, either - also orchestrated by Death. A quick digress: George Lucas’s Emperor Palpatine looks suspiciously like Bergman’s Death driving the witch’s wagon.

In my layman’s opinion, this is a beautiful film with grand themes present, but too much of the film is wasted trying to be funny and marred by over-the-top acting.

IMDB.com "Seventh Seal" entry
"The Seventh Seal" wikipedia article

Spoileriffic trailer:

The Call of Cthulhu

The 2005 film adaptation of “The Call of Cthulhu” done by the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society is an admirable attempt at creating a period, silent-film retelling of the famous H.P. Lovecraft story.

Although a very well-done endeavor, I find the mix of modern and silent film-making techniques to be distracting. An “either/or” philosophy would have served better. Generally, the silent-film techniques employed serve the film well, but we are taken out of the story by improbable overhead camera shots and other modern techniques. This technique, called “mythoscope” by the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society should probably end here. It isn’t horrible, but it uses too many modern camera angles and other effects to suit my tastes. It’s cool on paper, but the execution leaves me wanting.

From a story-telling perspective, it does not elucidate the written story all that well - there’s a reason filmmaker upon filmmaker have passed upon this film - the three disparate locales in the story make it hard to film a narrative whole. I’m afraid that the HPLHS adaptation doesn’t succeed, either.

That being said, it is a short film. If you’re a H.P. Lovecraft fan, of course you should give this a viewing and decide for yourself.

Wikipedia article
IMDB.com article

The Thin Blue Line

This Errol Morris documentary is considered a classic documentary, but my impressions are that the Phillip Glass soundtrack, as well as the cheesy reenactments are over the top and sully the journalistic nature of what a documentary is supposed to achieve. The closeups of various items - a newspaper article, a clock, and the too-loud Glass soundtrack overlaying the actual participants’ dialogue makes for a frustrating viewing experience - maddening, actually. For example, what do we gain by watching the same b-movie the participants watched during the night in question? An insight into their psychology? I am really interested in the story, but the pretentious soundtrack and the cinematography ruin this for me.

Here’s the synopsis from the Wikipedia article:

The film concerns the November 28, 1976 murder of Dallas police officer, Robert W. Wood, during a traffic stop. The Dallas Police Department was unable to make an arrest until they learned of information given by a 16-year-old resident of Vidor, Texas who had told friends that he was responsible for the crime.[3] The juvenile, David Ray Harris, led police to the car driven from the scene of the crime, as well as a .22 caliber revolver he identified as the murder weapon. He subsequently identified 28-year-old Ohio resident Randall Dale Adams as the murderer.

Adams had been living in a motel in Dallas with his brother. The film presents a series of interviews about the investigation and reenactments of the shooting, based on the testimony and recollections of Adams, Harris, and various witnesses and detectives. Two attorneys who represented Adams at the trial where he was convicted of capital murder also appear: they suggest that Adams was charged with the crime despite the better evidence against Harris because, as Harris was a juvenile, Adams alone of the two could be sentenced to death under Texas law.

The film's title comes from the prosecutor's comment during his closing argument that the police are the "thin blue line" separating society from anarchy. This is a re-working of a line from Rudyard Kipling's poem Tommy in which he describes British soldiers (nicknamed "Tommy Atkins") as the "thin red line", from the color of their uniforms and their formation.

This documentary’s investigation showed that five witnesses committed perjury and, as a result, overturned Adams’s conviction. I do not argue that this is not an important movie, but its style is an unfortunate, pretentious precedent for films to come. On the other hand, it’s investigation and quest for truth set an even more important precedent - suffice it to say that I cannot argue with the importance of this movie, but from a viewer’s perspective, it falls short for me.

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter ... and Spring

This film is a Buddhist fable writ large upon the silver screen. It is beautiful, poignant, and also a little perplexing to me - there’s a scene where the master monk beats his student, albeit after a suicide attempt, and there’s some child endangerment issues. These are moot, though, as this film is meant, I believe, to be taken as a visual poem and not a literal tale.

It is a 2003 South Korean film, directed by Kim Ki-duk, and stars Su Oh-yeong, Kim Young-min, Seo Jae-kyung, and Kim Jong-ho.

Jimi Plays Monterey / Shake! Otis at Monterey

Another one of my Criterion Collections’ 50% off purchases was “Jimi Plays Monterey / Shake! Otis at Monterey” which documents each artists’ performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. This is directed by D.A. Pennebaker - for the most part, straight concert footage is used, a credit to Pennebaker’s taste. One point where this strays during the music is during Otis’s “Try a Little Tenderness” where Pennebaker cuts in shots of various women in the audience and outside of the venue with children, lovers, etc. It’s short, very sweet, and manages to get beyond all the negative hippie mystique of the era and show the truly beautiful aspects of the 60’s - all in a short 2-3 (?) minute sequence. Very well done.

Both of these are historic performances and important documents of the history of rock and rhythm and blues music. There are many highlights, not the least of which is seeing a very young Donald "Duck" Dunn spasm all over his bass in glorious fashion.

I’m glad they’re in my collection.

Cronos

“Cronos,” Guillermo Del Toro’s first feature, is a tale of alchemy combined with vampiric elements. Positive elements include Guillermo’s fondness of children, the elderly and their interactions. After listening to Del Toro’s commentary, my thoughts coalesce: his alchemical symbols were lost on me, and probably most of his audience. The story revolves around a clock-like, golden scarab that holds a live insect inside. He speaks of selling his car to get the money needed to film the internal artifact shots, even though his producers said they weren't needed. He insists that they're critical to the movie to explain the alchemy of the movie. I'm not sure this should have been his, apparently, main focus.

This film isn’t a failure, and, I’m very glad this movie was made as it allowed Del Toro to make much better films. However, Del Toro’s insistence on the internal insect shots shows a navel-gazing in regards to this strange vamipire/alchemy mythology that simply doesn’t interest me.

I bought this based upon Del Toro’s later movies, and the Criterion Collections’ reputation, and, again, I don’t hate it, but I’ll probably be selling this on ebay.