1. Some movies…
The Hoax: A clever movie. I definitely have a thing for current events/historical movies like this. Richard Gere is not as predictably bland as he often is. 4/5.
Grey Gardens: I thought I was going to like this. I didn’t. At all. 1/5.
Crazy Love: A strange little documentary about a very stange relationship. 3/5.
Sweet Smell of Success: It’s a great story, it’s got great performances. But more than that, it’s got The Style. I love pretty much everything about this movie. 5/5. *
The Comedians: Maybe the best movie - with the best cast - from the 1960’s that I had never even heard of. Richard Burton is Richard Burtony, Graham Greene’s story is Graham Greeney, and Elizabeth Taylor’s “German” accent provides unintended comic relief. 4/5.
Copying Beethoven: Ed Harris is a true artist, and this film is a sweet and creative little treasure. It takes a few rather annoying historical liberties, but all in all, it’s a moving and well-considered story that’s beautifully presented. 4/5. *
All the President’s Men: This is just a great piece of American filmmaking, that holds up perfectly - and carries a vital message - over 30+ years. 5/5. *
Next Stop Wonderland: A quirky and sweet little indie flick. You know all along where it will end up, but you still enjoy going along for the ride. 4/5.
* Highly recommended.
2. Photo.
1. Found on my writer friend Jane Hill’s blog: The Talking Heads’ Once In A Lifetime.
2. The opening at Migration on Friday was great fun - lots of friends came out, good times were had by all, a piece was sold.
Then yesterday I went to Richmond to do a little home show in my friend Vicki Bruner’s very cool loft in Jackson Ward. No huge profits, but it was fun to see people and hang out with friends.
3. I made a new section on the website for the Geographies series I did this summer/fall. I wasn’t going to put these online, in that the finished product looks a good bit different, since the images are transfered to a textured surface (that I never really found a way to photograph well), but I decided these were too cool not to have on here somewhere…
4. Photo for possible new project.
Last night I watched most of the excellent Nova documentary on PBS about the Pennsylvania “Intelligent Design” case from a couple of years ago. The program exposed in well-presented detail the standard line of faulty reasoning used by the right to try and sneak “creation science” into public schools.
Here’s a blog article from TPM Cafe by Greg Anrig, Jr. about the show and the right wing’s strategies of deceipt: Conservatism’s Unintelligent Design:
Ultimately, of course, Judge John Jones ruled that intelligent design is grounded in theology rather than science, and thereby would be unconstitutional to teach in public schools. He was subsequently subjected to death threats. After the town’s voters ousted the school committee members who had tried to introduce intelligent design, Pat Robertson issued a warning: “I’d like to say to the good citizens of Dover: If there is a disaster in your area, don’t turn to God. You just rejected him from your city.”
Like someone in the program said (better than I will), the real winner here is science. There are countless branches of scientific research that rely directly on genetics and evolution, and we as a culture can’t afford to pretend that science doesn’t exist just to appease some wingnut crazies who wouldn’t know scientific methods if they jumped up and bit ‘em on the right ass cheek.
Nova is such a wonderful program - I’ve enjoyed it since I was a kid. PBS and Nova deserve a great deal of credit for their thorough and well-presented explanations, and for taking on this topic that is sure to bring them heat from the anti-intelligence crowd.
Keep shining a bright light on the wackos. The more information the better.
From the archaeological record:
I hope everyone reading this will come out on Friday evening to the opening reception of “We All Live in Bordertowns”, a group photography show at Migration Gallery at the corner of Fifth and Water in downtown Charlottesville. I’ll have a few pieces there, and there are a bunch of really great photographers in the show. I’m excited to be a part of it, and I hope lots of people can come out to the opening.
From this past weekend, Knotts Island North Carolina:
Went to the beach with The Girl for my birthday, in spite of the fact that I’ve been a little under the weather lately. There are few things better than the beach in the off-season. It was a lovely trip.
Meanwhile, let’s catch up on some things from the last week or so…
From Democratic Central, a very thoughtful post, Observations from Red Virginia.
I know you’ve been looking for christmas ideas for me… Twin Peaks - The Definitive Gold Box Edition (The Complete Series).
And for your comic interlude… Do Fox Viewers Read? (Well, it’s something of a rhetorical question…). Watch the video.
The Big Bad Jessie:
1. Movies:
Inland Empire: Who but David Lynch could make a film that’s 1) more textured, rich and artistic than any of the textured, rich and artistic films he’s made in the past, and 2) often virtually unwatchable. I loved it. And Laura Dern gives the performance oh a lifetime. Wowie, Yowie! 5/5.
Dream Lover: Started out like it might have some potential, and I like James Spader a lot (and I have no problems seeing Madchen Amick naked), but this is quite a lame and dis-believable movie. 2/5.
Lawrence of Arabia: One of those classics I had never seen before. Very grand, very epic in every way. Peter O’Toole is Peter O’Toole. It fell just a little short for me though. It seemed just a little dated. 4/5.
The Painted Veil: I found this a little disappointing, in that I had heard such good things about it. It’s very beautiful, and it might have been more moving to have seen it on the big screen, but in spite of the fact that it made a good case that you’re supposed to feel what it tells you you’re supposed to feel, I never quite felt it. 3/5.
Under Milk Wood: I was in a theatrical version of this (I think I had several little parts, among them Sinbad Sailor, the proprietor of the local pub). I absolutely love the poetry of Dylan Thomas’ words, and think it’s a dandy little slice-of-life piece of literature, but this version feels way dated, and not in a good way (Costumes; Liz Taylor’s make up!). 3/5.
2. Happy birthday to me.
3. Picture.
