Ray Bradbury died today at 91.
I have Bradbury to thank for my reluctance to mentally shelve books as 'Science Fiction' or 'Fantasy' or 'Literature' as opposed to just 'Fiction' or 'Stories'.
It seems as though so many writers start their stories setting out to write a 'hard fantasy' or a 'sci-fi noir' or whatever, but it always felt like Bradbury just wrote. And we were all the better for it.
Thanks, Ray.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
About that whole 11-11-11 thing
Relax, I'm still reading 11 books in 11 genres by November 11, 2011. I'm just not reading the books I assigned to myself. I'm still stuck on 'Bleak House'. Haven't read one damn book on the list. I've had this complex since I was a kid in school--I hate, hate, hate being assigned books to read. Even if I assign them to myself! Pathetic.
So, I'll just take a look at the books I've read since January 1 and see if I can squeeze 11 distinct genres out of the pile. I suspect I can; it might take some creative accounting, but I think I can do it.
In a few days I'll post the new lineup. Probably after I post my all-time favorite film.
So, I'll just take a look at the books I've read since January 1 and see if I can squeeze 11 distinct genres out of the pile. I suspect I can; it might take some creative accounting, but I think I can do it.
In a few days I'll post the new lineup. Probably after I post my all-time favorite film.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Two: The second lonliest number.
2. Rear Window (1954)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Written by John Michael Hayes. Cinematography by Robert Burks.
Starring Jimmy Stewart, Grace Kelly, Thelma Ritter, Raymond Burr.
Yes, I know, it's about watching, it's an indictment of us moviegoers as voyeurs, blah blah blah. But 'Rear Window' is also about helplessness, weakness. Stewart plays Jeff, a news photographer who is wheelchair-bound after being caught in a race car crash while photographing it. (How cool is that?) There's a scene in which he's being given a therapeutic massage* by his nurse, Stella, and he takes his pajama top off and he looks wretched--like someone who has spent weeks in a wheelchair. I've seen this film at least a half-dozen times and the sight of a shriveled Jimmy Stewart shocks me every time.
That scene establishes that Jeff's accident has left him physically diminished, but it turns out he may have suffered some emotional fractures as well. Later in the film Lisa--Jeff's girlfriend, keep in mind--is across the courtyard being manhandled by murder suspect Thorwald. Jeff and Stella are watching this when Lisa begins screaming to Jeff for help, and Jeff tells Stella to back into the shadows so they can hide from Thorwald. Our hero, everyone! For me, this moment is Stewart at his most unappealing, and I've seen both 'Vertigo' and 'It's a Wonderful Life.'**
Christ, I love Grace Kelly. Not going anywhere with that, I just love her as an actress. My favorite Grace Kelly moment in 'Rear Window' comes when Lisa and Jeff are explaining to Jeff's cop friend about the murder they think has happened across the courtyard. Lisa says "we think Thorwald's guilty" with the same tone you might expect her to say "we're voting Republican" or "we're Lutheran."
To even things out, my favorite Jimmy Stewart moment was when Jeff's trying to convince Lisa about the murder. The camera lingers on a neighbor across the courtyard, the voluptuous Miss Torso, and Jeff says "that'd be a terrible job to tackle." Lisa looks at him and he continues "just how would you start to cut up a human body?"
Couple points: This is as good a place as any to mention that Hitchcock is my all-time favorite director. Also, Jimmy Stewart is the second actor to be in two of my top ten films. This might be the only place where Elija Wood and Jimmy Stewart are ever in the same sentence. Treasure it, Frodo.
*Get your minds out of the gutter.
**Don't believe me? Watch it again; George Bailey is kind of a jerk.
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Written by John Michael Hayes. Cinematography by Robert Burks.
Starring Jimmy Stewart, Grace Kelly, Thelma Ritter, Raymond Burr.
Yes, I know, it's about watching, it's an indictment of us moviegoers as voyeurs, blah blah blah. But 'Rear Window' is also about helplessness, weakness. Stewart plays Jeff, a news photographer who is wheelchair-bound after being caught in a race car crash while photographing it. (How cool is that?) There's a scene in which he's being given a therapeutic massage* by his nurse, Stella, and he takes his pajama top off and he looks wretched--like someone who has spent weeks in a wheelchair. I've seen this film at least a half-dozen times and the sight of a shriveled Jimmy Stewart shocks me every time.
That scene establishes that Jeff's accident has left him physically diminished, but it turns out he may have suffered some emotional fractures as well. Later in the film Lisa--Jeff's girlfriend, keep in mind--is across the courtyard being manhandled by murder suspect Thorwald. Jeff and Stella are watching this when Lisa begins screaming to Jeff for help, and Jeff tells Stella to back into the shadows so they can hide from Thorwald. Our hero, everyone! For me, this moment is Stewart at his most unappealing, and I've seen both 'Vertigo' and 'It's a Wonderful Life.'**
Christ, I love Grace Kelly. Not going anywhere with that, I just love her as an actress. My favorite Grace Kelly moment in 'Rear Window' comes when Lisa and Jeff are explaining to Jeff's cop friend about the murder they think has happened across the courtyard. Lisa says "we think Thorwald's guilty" with the same tone you might expect her to say "we're voting Republican" or "we're Lutheran."
To even things out, my favorite Jimmy Stewart moment was when Jeff's trying to convince Lisa about the murder. The camera lingers on a neighbor across the courtyard, the voluptuous Miss Torso, and Jeff says "that'd be a terrible job to tackle." Lisa looks at him and he continues "just how would you start to cut up a human body?"
Couple points: This is as good a place as any to mention that Hitchcock is my all-time favorite director. Also, Jimmy Stewart is the second actor to be in two of my top ten films. This might be the only place where Elija Wood and Jimmy Stewart are ever in the same sentence. Treasure it, Frodo.
*Get your minds out of the gutter.
**Don't believe me? Watch it again; George Bailey is kind of a jerk.
Monday, July 4, 2011
The Reason For The Season
Benjamin Harrison to Elbridge Gerry on the signing of the Declaration of Independence:
"I shall have a great advantage over you when we are all hung [sic] for what we are doing. From the size and weight of my body I shall die in a few minutes, but from the lightness of your body you will dance in the air for an hour or two before you are dead."*
Enjoy the booms and the pretty flashes in the sky.
*Source: http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?HHID=269
Friday, May 27, 2011
The number of the counting shall be three.
3. Almost Famous (2000)
Directed and Written by Cameron Crowe. Cinematography by John Toll.
Starring Patrick Fugit, Kate Hudson, Frances McDormand, Billy Crudup, Jason Lee, Phillip Seymour Hoffman.
One of the biggest criticisms that I've seen leveled at 'Almost Famous' is that it sugar-coats the rock n' roll experience of the time. This is grossly unfair because the overwhelming majority of films about the life of rock stars focus on the sex and the drugs. Why do we need one more? After all, why do rock musicians become rock musicians in the first place? The music. Most musicians--like the actors who portray them--go their entire careers without achieving money or glory. Why? They would have a much easier time of it by going to school, getting MBAs, becoming corporate executives and earning enough money to score women and drugs.
But they don't. Because they want to rock. And in 'Almost Famous'--unlike in a lot of other rock movies--being a rock star looks like a fun and rewarding pursuit.
This might be the last time Kate Hudson was good in anything, how sad. I was miffed at the time when she didn't win Best Supporting Actress, but now I realize that it was probably for the best.
This is the last film on the list that I saw in the theater, by the way.
Directed and Written by Cameron Crowe. Cinematography by John Toll.
Starring Patrick Fugit, Kate Hudson, Frances McDormand, Billy Crudup, Jason Lee, Phillip Seymour Hoffman.
One of the biggest criticisms that I've seen leveled at 'Almost Famous' is that it sugar-coats the rock n' roll experience of the time. This is grossly unfair because the overwhelming majority of films about the life of rock stars focus on the sex and the drugs. Why do we need one more? After all, why do rock musicians become rock musicians in the first place? The music. Most musicians--like the actors who portray them--go their entire careers without achieving money or glory. Why? They would have a much easier time of it by going to school, getting MBAs, becoming corporate executives and earning enough money to score women and drugs.
But they don't. Because they want to rock. And in 'Almost Famous'--unlike in a lot of other rock movies--being a rock star looks like a fun and rewarding pursuit.
This might be the last time Kate Hudson was good in anything, how sad. I was miffed at the time when she didn't win Best Supporting Actress, but now I realize that it was probably for the best.
This is the last film on the list that I saw in the theater, by the way.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Embarassing omitions
I realize that I should have listed the cinematographers (or directors of photography) for my top ten films, so I'm going to fix that now:
Notorious: Ted Tetzlaff.
Lord of the Rings (All three films): Andrew Lesnie.
Vertigo: Robert Burks.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: Ellen Kuras.
L.A. Confidential: Dante Spinotti.
Silence of the Lambs: Tak Fujimoto.
Raiders of the Lost Ark: Douglas Slocombe.
From now on I'll list cinematographers.
Notorious: Ted Tetzlaff.
Lord of the Rings (All three films): Andrew Lesnie.
Vertigo: Robert Burks.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: Ellen Kuras.
L.A. Confidential: Dante Spinotti.
Silence of the Lambs: Tak Fujimoto.
Raiders of the Lost Ark: Douglas Slocombe.
From now on I'll list cinematographers.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
That's what it's Four.
4. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Directed by Steven Spielberg. Written by Lawrence Kasdan. Story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman.
Starring Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, John Rhys-Davies, Ronald Lacey.
I have no memory of the first time I saw 'Raiders.' I was nine when this came out in the summer of 1981, so I could have seen this in the theater. My dad would definitely have taken me. However, I have a feeling I probably first saw it on cable a year or so later. For the record, this is the only film in the top 10 I saw as a child.
Every so often I try to convince myself to work 'Raiders' down the list, but then I catch a few minutes on cable or I pop the DVD into the machine and I have such a visceral reaction that reminds me how much I freakin' love this film. 'Raiders'--along with 'Jaws' and 'Star Wars'--is the best possible summer blockbuster. It's got such a great balance of intelligence and a sense of fun. Sadly my reaction to 'Raiders' is so atavistic that I find it difficult to analyze the film. So I won't.
Directed by Steven Spielberg. Written by Lawrence Kasdan. Story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman.
Starring Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, John Rhys-Davies, Ronald Lacey.
I have no memory of the first time I saw 'Raiders.' I was nine when this came out in the summer of 1981, so I could have seen this in the theater. My dad would definitely have taken me. However, I have a feeling I probably first saw it on cable a year or so later. For the record, this is the only film in the top 10 I saw as a child.
Every so often I try to convince myself to work 'Raiders' down the list, but then I catch a few minutes on cable or I pop the DVD into the machine and I have such a visceral reaction that reminds me how much I freakin' love this film. 'Raiders'--along with 'Jaws' and 'Star Wars'--is the best possible summer blockbuster. It's got such a great balance of intelligence and a sense of fun. Sadly my reaction to 'Raiders' is so atavistic that I find it difficult to analyze the film. So I won't.
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