Lola Creton and Sebastian Urzendowsky in exceptional and candid film of romance and loss, “Goodbye First Love”
by Sam Juliano
All good things must come to an end? Well, I’m not so sure this adage can be taken with much more than a grain of salt, but it does seem applicable for a long-standing practice here at Wonders in the Dark that, after nearly three years has run it’s course. While other site regulars have continued to hammer away in e mails at the practice of providing weekly links under the Monday Morning Diary proper because of the prohibitive time it takes to negotiate it, I have held steadfast to the practice, essentially because I am a sentimentalist who is loathe to part with tradition. But after almost three years of burning hours each and every Sunday (true as of late I have sputtered) I no longer can see the mitigating value of putting everything aside, including spending time with the family and watching stuff at home and in the theatres to accomplish this task. The maintenance of the diary has also taken it’s toll on my weekly Sunday night visits to see my 82 year-old father with the family, and has severely compromised my lifestyle. The returns from this on-going project do not seem to justify the investment, as rarely are links below the first four ever even clicked on, as per site statistics. True, the first and second links attract excellent traffic for the most part, but this doesn’t justify an extended blog scroll of 50 or more links. The site continues to attract impressive numbers by way of page views, followers and comments, but the majority of the link scroll remains unexplored, a fact that is unacceptable when the hours of work involved is figured in. I maintained it for as long as I logistically could but now it is time to move on.
Still, and this is really what counts the most methinks, I will continue my visitations to other sites to leave comments and show support, and I will surely make references in the diary proper every week of a few sites that are displaying unmissable reviews or posts. I will continue to support the blogosphere and my fellow bloggers as much as I can, without being tied down. I do realize that a number of blogger friends have urged me to discontinue the practice for some time, but I have doggedly resisted. I will find alternate methods of honoring our friends, and as I say I will point out some great reviews every week within the Diary itself. All will be well here and the spirit in still in place, just the method has been altered. Note: After pondering the matter over the past two days I have decided to institute a new weekly routine as of this week. I will choose five (5) links every week based on my perception of what I see as special posts. Naturally this will mean that some people may feel left out, or that I may have by limitation left out a number of worthy posts. I will admit this is the pitfall, but it also will allow for some acute appreciation for some worthy essays, providing readers click on the links. I will make every effort to rotate the sites chosen each and every week, but there may be instances where there are repeats. I trust everyone will understand my strategy and beg your indulgence. The only undeniable advantage with going with five links every week is that they will always be fresh and new. In any event, the WitD blogroll on the sidebar is there to access all our friends and worthwhile places.
This past week Ford scholar Tag Gallagher left a comment under Peter Lenihan’s exceptional review of The Long Voyage Home. Gallagher, who is the author of John Ford, is one of the world’s pre-emminent scholars on the director, and his appearance at the site was a major honor, especially for Peter and for blogger Stephen Morton. Otherwise it has been business as usual with some terrific pieces by Allan Fish on screen icons, Jamie Grijalba on Asian cinema and Bob Clark on comic and screen The Avengers.
Lucille and I saw four films in theatres since Monday after the great Tribeca bonanza of the previous weeks:
The Avengers ** (Saturday afternoon) Secaucus multiplex
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel *** (Saturday evening) Angelika
Goodbye First Love **** (Friday evening) IFC Film Center
Bonjour Tristesse (1958) ***** (Saturday evening) Film Forum
As I intimated briefly in Bob Clark’s essay THE AVENGERS (page and screen) which is one of his most successful pieces ever, I completely agree with Judy Geater and Maurizio Roca that the new film is forgettable. It is long, thunderous and without emotional resonance or character development, even though it is true we knew this would be the case before going in. Like Judy I was bored out of my mind, but also like Judy I attended with family members who loved it. Judy’s husband and son were big fans, as were my three boys, Sammy, Danny and Jeremy and my youngest daughter Jillian. Only my oldest child, 16 year-old Melanie chose to stay back. Danny thought the Hulk sequences were buffo, and loved the humerous quips. Ah well, maybe I need to lighten up, but I’ll admit aside from “The Dark Knight” and the original “Spider Man” movie I was not much of a superhero guy, nor of the Marvel comics they are based on.
Then there’s Judy Dench, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkerson and Dev Patel et al in John Madden’s THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL, an uneven film with a fair share of funny lines and Enchanting April styled traveling to a far away place – India – to allow their retirement some serious delay. They find their lives again and the film exudes a fair degree of charm, though it can’t be denied much of it is forced, and the humor of Maggie Smith’s lines is strictly of the bigot variety. Still it’s passable and worth a look if you aren’t expecting something on the level of Merchant-Ivory. We watched the film in the row in front of once New York Mayor Ed Koch, now in his mid 80′s, who has doubled as a film critic for many years.
The week’s best new release is actually a film that opened a few weeks ago – Mia Hanson-Love’s French language GOODBYE FIRST LOVE, which is one of the most telling and resonate films about adolescent first love as has ever been filmed. The bliss, the pain, the anguish, the resignation all woven into an engrossing narrative acted with conviction by the two impressive leads, Sebastian Urzendowsky and Lola Creton.
The week’s supreme masterpiece is Otto Preminger’s 1958 BONJOUR TRISTESSE, a salacious Sirkian styled film about the domination of women and the moral decay of it’s characters. The film builds to a tragic crescendo, and Preminger’s framing is breathtaking, as is the spectacular mouth-watering print on display at the Film Forum in a held-over run that every serious cineaste should go out of their way to attend. I am so smitten with it that I may be seeing it again this week in a double feature with Rivette’s CELINE AND JULIE GO BOATING, also playing at the Film Forum. Jean-Luc Godard was the first to regard Preminger’s film as a masterpiece, and he later used the actress Jean Seberg, (who is extraordinary as Cecile). The film is enveloping and intoxicating and in the end deeply felt, and it may be Preminger’s greatest work of all. Our friend Ed Howard at Only the Cinema wrote a brilliant short essay on the film in his celebrated “Films That I Love” series on September 7, 2008:
http://seul-le-cinema.blogspot.com/2008/09/films-i-love-3-bonjour-tristesse-otto.html
Jean Seberg in Otto Preminger’s ‘Bonjour Tristesse’
Here, now are the this week’s featured five links. Please remember my friends, that I will attempt to rotate this short list every week, and that non-presence should be seen only as a result of the curtailment:
Judy Geater at Movie Classics again writes with engaging scholarship and enthusiasm in her fascinating review of the 30′s Hollywood film based on Charles Dickens’ The Mystery of Edwin Drood: http://movieclassics.wordpress.com/2012/04/15/mystery-of-edwin-drood-stuart-walker-1935/
Phil Karlson’s esteemed noir 99 River Street is heading up at John Greco’s Twenty Four Frames in a splendid essay: http://twentyfourframes.wordpress.com/2012/05/04/99-river-street-1953-john-payne/
Lunch with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama? Yes indeed. Laurie Buchanan talks all about it in her celebratory new post at Speaking From The Heart: http://holessence.wordpress.com/2012/05/01/lunch-with-his-holiness-the-dalai-lama/
Samuel Wilson has penned a stupendous new essay on The Avengers at Mondo 70, which methinks is a must-read: http://mondo70.blogspot.com/2012/05/on-big-screen-marvels-avengers-2012.html
In Joseph H. Lewis’ So Dark the Night noir specialist Tony d’Ambra talks about the ‘split personality’ that’s part of the equation in a brilliant short essay at FilmsNoir.net: http://filmsnoir.net/film_noir/so-dark-the-night-1946-the-split-personality.html
What’s that? Five isn’t quite enough. Well I’ll give you all fourteen more for a special bonus for this week only:
R.D. Finch astutely examines Fred Zinemann’s The Men at The Movie Projector in a wholly masterful essay by the gifted writer: http://themovieprojector.blogspot.com/2012/04/men-1950.html
More on The Avengers courtesy of writer extraordinaire Roderick Heath at Ferdy-on-Films: http://themovieprojector.blogspot.com/2012/04/men-1950.html
And the superheroes get more prime space from our own Jaime Grijalba down in Chile at Exodus 8:2: http://exodus8-2.blogspot.com/2012/05/avengers-2012.html
In Tokyo, the ever-insightful Murderous Ink again writes with fascination and authority on the employment of music and the presence of the piano in classic Japanese cinema: http://vermillionandonenights.blogspot.com/2012/05/88-keys.html
At The Last Lullaby, the ever delightful filmmaker Jeffrey Goodman takes a look at part sixteen of his long running quartet series: http://cahierspositif.blogspot.com/2012/04/favorite-four-part-sixteen.html
The energetic and utterly wonderful Sachin Gandhi at Scribbles and Ramblings takes a look at Dutch cinema in ‘Euro 2012′ and the line-up includes the excellent “Winter in Wartime”: http://likhna.blogspot.com/2012/05/dutch-films.html
Jon Warner again writes with exceptional insight in his latest piece at Films Worth Watching on A Woman Under the Influence: http://likhna.blogspot.com/2012/05/dutch-films.html
Shubhajit Laheri superbly reviews the Marx Brothers’ A Night at the Opera at Cinemascope: http://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2012/05/night-at-opera-1935.html
Mayne Island “Super Moon” photos and reflections, courtesy of Terrill Welch at the Creativepotager’s blog takes you to a new dimension of beauty: http://creativepotager.wordpress.com/2012/05/06/mayne-island-super-moon-on-may-5-2012/
Ed Howard breathes more life into one of the cinema’s most beloved works: Charles Chaplin’s City Lights at Only the Cinema: http://seul-le-cinema.blogspot.com/2012/05/city-lights.html
J. D. at Radiator Heaven chimes into “The Avengers” discussion with a magnificent essay of his own: http://rheaven.blogspot.com/2012/05/avengers.html
Patricia at Patricia’s Wisdom offers up a fascinating discussion on “Satisfying Conversation”: http://patriciaswisdom.com/2012/05/satisfying-conversation/
Pat Perry’s last post at Doodad Kind of Town was a very good one for those still playing catch up, and it’s one good actresses who make bad movies: http://doodadkindoftown.blogspot.com/2012/03/when-good-actresses-make-bad-movies.html
Craig Kennedy has received quite a bit of action of those debating The Avengers under his superb piece at Living in Cinema: http://livingincinema.com/2012/05/01/the-avengers-2012/
So even with 19 we are still way down from previous weeks,and many of our best friends are still not represented. As I say in the future I’ll be juggling a small group around.
Sam…
I know it might sound like nit-picking…
But THE DARK KNIGHT comes from the DC Comics universe and Spider Man comes from Marvel. In the end, more good films were made from DC comics than they were from Marvel.
Besides, DC has the best Comic Book to screen adapatation of them all with Richard Donners 1978 biopic of the Man Of Steel; SUPERMAN THE MOVIE. The rest, while some good, are mostly TRASH.
I’d rank BATMAN BEGINS and THE DARK KNIGHT up there but just missing the finalizing edge that made SUPERMAN a rousing success. Tim Burton’s first film BATMAN was pretty much a bomb though he redeemed himself slightly with the bizarro BATMAN RETURNS.
On the Marvel front, not too many to even really need mention at all as the Spider Man trilogy by Sam Raimi is just about as smelly and pedantic as garbage can get and most of the X-Men series sucked save the very first one and this last entry X-Men First Class.
DAREDEVIL sucked as well as the adaptations of THE INCREDIBLE HULK, IRON MAN (the second half of the fist film was like playing ROCK-EM-SOCK-EM-ROBOTS), JONAH HEX, CAPTAIN AMERICA, GREEN LANTERN.
SIN CITY was something kinda special in its recreation of Frank Millers conceptual design and drawings, both HELLBOY films were giddy fun (if not a little too loud)…
Aside from the Donner and Nolan films, I’d probably cite Warren Beatty’s visually dazzling (though at times a little soul-less) adaptation of Chester Gould’s DICK TRACY.
For me, it’s the Donner film that comic books films are measured by…
Frankly, I’m a little relieved that THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS is the last one of the trilogy. Enough is enough now…
But, then again, the director of 300 (a relatively decent adaption of a comic book-he also directed the very interesting WATCHMEN) will be taking a stab at Superman next year with the franchise reboot THE MAN OF STEEL. The reports are that Kevin Costner will be on board to play Johnathan Kent and Russell Crowe will give his spin on the character of Jor-El. Henry Cavill, who was a lot of the little right on the overblown cable soap, THE TUDORS, will be wearing the big red “S” on his chest next summer. I recently saw snapshot of him on the net, in costume, and he’s no Christopher Reeve as far as facial similarities and physique are concerned. However, the kid is a relatively good actor and he may do the icon justice. The thing I don’t understand is that Tom Welling has been successfully playing the character on the long running SMALLVILLE for about 9 years now. You’d have thought he would have been the first choice for the role. I’m not too thrilled with the casting prospects of Lawrence Fishburn in the role of Perry White though… Obviously, this will be a controversial departure for the character.
Ah well, I’m rambling….
Marvel has the better comics, DC the better films. Though I do think you should give “X2″ another chance, Dennis– I’ll agree that the third in the X-Men series is unfortunately a bust, thanks to Brett Ratner lifelessly directing (as he always does) after Matthew Vaughn walked away when Fox wouldn’t give him enough time to properly film the movie he had in mind. “First Class” is proof that he’s capable of handling the series quite well, when given a chance.
I’m hopeful for that new Spidey movie, if only to wash the rancid taste of the Raimi pictures out of my mouth.
I may have jumped the gun on X-2 ( I have it as part of my Blu-Ray collection and, as I recall, I found it a worthy follow-up to the sparsely visual-that’s a good thing) X-Men (I liked that Singer kept the visual dynamic of the first film rather simple so he could focus on the more dramatic and personal arcs of the story)…
However, I will fight you on the war between Marvel and DC. In my mind DC had the richer characters, the more Shakespearean and biblical story arcs, and the notion of basing there stories in a fictional world all added up to, for me anyway, the element of reality in narratives that were anything but.
Marvel had the tendency to go too far over the top and some of the characters seemed way too cartoony to become viable (the lizard professor and Doctor Octopus of Spider Man particularly).
With the exception of X-Men (both the books and the films), I can honsetly say that Marvel just doesn’t grab me on the same gut level as DC. DC always had a more operatic sensability that appealed to me more.
Something DC has had over the years, I think, has been a much greater attention paid to the limited run stories of graphic novels that aren’t bound by the demands of ongoing continuity. That’s obvious in things like the isolated Batman stories like “Dark Knight Returns”, “Year One” and “The Long Halloween”, but it’s also somewhat apparent in the epic resetting of “Crisis on Infinite Earths” or Grant Morrison’s modern classic “All Star Superman”. I’d argue that in the past 10 years Marvel managed something just as impressive as the latter things with their Ultimate line (Bendis’ “Ultimate Spider-Man” especially is the equal to “All Star Superman”) and Mark Millar’s various titles have been interesting (he’s one of those guys who crosses the DC/Marvel party lines regularly– “Ultimate X-Men” and “Civil War” on one side, “Superman: Red Son” on the other). Marvel’s always been good at letting great talents have a crack at lower-status characters– Peter David and Greg Pak’s celebrated runs on the Hulk or Frank Miller’s defining years on Daredevil– but with the exception of Chris Claremont’s writing for the X-Men or the classic runs Stan Lee and Gerry Conway took on Spider-Man with John Romita, most of the Marvel flagship titles are fun, but not terribly substantial.
Bob, I’m not encouraged by what I’ve seen of The Amazing Spider-Man so far — if only because I’ve tired of the dark secret/”everything you know is wrong” approach in comics that looks to be replicated there. Don’t know if I’d agree on your overall judgment on the comics, but in movies Time Warner has always gone with the visionary directors — even Joel Schumacher was expected to (and, alas, did) bring a personal vision to Batman — while Marvel Studios has clearly opted for a house style. That may prove the wiser idea if the goal is to translate the totality of the “Marvel Universe” on screen, while Warner has never managed, despite their desire, to do the Justice League, in part recently because of Nolan more or less claiming ownership of Batman. That may change soon, but not necessarily to the benefit of cinema.
I think Samuel Wilson hit the nail on the head with his comment here. The problem with the Marvel translations seems to be that they are all cut from the same dough. They look, feel and taste the same as the last one. Only Bryan Singer and his X-Men films seemed to bring to the screen the same kind of mood and feel that Donner, Burton, Snyder and Nolan have brought. In works like SUPERMAN and BATMAN BEGINS, the directors are looking to take the properties into cinematic realms that most would have never expected. Frankly, I am glad for their efforts. Say what you want about Tim Burtons overall achievements with his BATMAN movies, but you have to give him propts for creating the tone that would, to an extent, inform the darker attitudes that were something BATMAN had never had on screen, and are clearly evident in films like BATMAN BEGINS and THE DARK KNIGHT.
There is, and I feel it’s the greatest achievement of any comic book translation, a truly epic proportion that Donner brings to SUPERMAN. Epic and biblical in scale and theme, the film works as the best of the bunch because the director went to great lengths to create this world by giving us more of a biopic than just a fun action/adventure film. Raimi tries this to an extent with Spider Man, However, the jokeyness that was part of the allure of films like EVIL DEAD doesn’t work fully and renders the characters and the story rather dead. In the end, Raimi’s films are fun for two hours at a clip but nothing more. In all fairness though, I have to say that Donner and Nolan did something with their adaptations that so many other missed the boat on. These directors took the icon seriously. In their minds they weren’t looking at the properties as “comic book” movies inasmuch as they saw them as dramatically operatic. But, then again, the books that these films are based on were far more operatic in scale and scope than any of Marvels books ever were.
Samuel, I’m hopeful for “The Amazing Spider-Man” even if a lot of it looks like it’s more influenced by Bendis’ “Ultimate” version and the whole modern vein of comics it represents (I should revisit it, though, because it was fun while I was reading it). So far the best Marvel movies have been the “X-Men” films, which are well outside of the Disney/Marvel Studios reach at this point, same as Spidey, which is another reason why I’m hopeful Marc Webb can do something interesting. Already I like the look and feel of the action more, and think Garfield’s a better casting choice than Tobey Maguire ever was– shame that Emma Stone couldn’t have been cast as MJ, because she’s a dead fucking ringer to her before becoming a bottle-blonde Gwen Stacy (who I never cared for, personally). Admittedly, I wish that Marvel were more ambitious about who they hire to direct these movies– Singer and Vaughn are visionary enough for me, but Favreau, Branagh and Johnston all performed purely within journeyman standards (which isn’t bad, and all that Favreau and Johnston can do, but Branagh is capable of so much more). And as for Whedon– well, you know.
There was that dream, long ago, of Fincher directing a Spider-Man movie, before Raimi fucked everything up. Shame that he only wanted to do the Gwen Stacy storyline, but whatever. Considering how things turned out the last time he did a major franchise installment, one can’t blame him for not wanting to start one like that.
Dennis, Green Lantern was a regrettable first hint that DC wants to do things the same way as Marvel at the movies, but the public’s rejection of it (despite the current massive popularity of Green Lantern comics) may have made Time Warner think twice. Who they hire for the inevitable post-Nolan Batman film will tell the tale.
Bob, on a related note, I assume that Marvel is less ambitious when hiring directors for the same reason the James Bond people reportedly refused Tarantino when he asked to direct one of their films. It may go against our auteurist impulses but setting a “house style” makes sense in some cases, though it might be preferable for the comics companies and their corporate masters to think of the movies as “alternate realities” with creative license rather than as opportunities to reproduce the authentic/official comic-book universe or even a consistent movie universe. Time Warner may find it a chore to have to start Batman over again so often, but that only underlines the disproportion of effort between making comics and making movies.
I liked Raimi’s Spider-movies better than either of you, I assume, and even found some stuff to like in the third one. I also sympathize with the circumstances of Raimi’s break with Sony over their reluctance to use old-guy villains. If anything, Raimi’s attitude, with Bruce Campbell as a sort of Irving Forbush figure, comes closest to reproducing Stan Lee’s to date on film.
Samuel, when the Bond franchise hires a journeyman of the caliber of Martin Campbell and delivers stuff like “GoldenEye” or “Casino Royale”, I can accept the slim tracings of “house style” (yes, he is the one who also ruined “Green Lantern”, but that might’ve been a doomed prospect to begin with). And say what you will about “Quantum of Solace”, but I frankly think Marc Foster did a good job of bringing his own style and groove to the franchise in a way that you’re not going to see out of Marvel anytime soon. Things could go either way with Sam Mendes– you’d think that being an Oscar and Tony winning director and stylist would make him more of an auteur, but his stuff boils down to such a polished, indie anonymity it seems very easy to corporatize (an art house-style, if you will).
Me, I’d like to think that we could at least get the blend of auteurist and house-style qualities that drove the “Alien” series through Scott, Cameron, Fincher and (imperfect as his film was, ironically thanks to Whedon) Jeunet. Who knows.
Dennis, you launched quite a sub-thread here on Marvel, DC comics, THE AVENGERS and other superhero franchises. There is little of real value I can add here, but as you see a number of others have come in here with superlative responses. Thanks for the fantastic original comment!
Bob, Marvel Studios will probably prove more rigid about house style than even the Bond producers because there will most likely never be such a thing as a stand-alone film so long as the Avengers business model prevails. It’s hard to imagine any creative director who doesn’t happen to be a comics fan taking on a project that’s inherently subordinate to a larger collectively-determined project. I suppose to be fair to the Bond people in context of your defense, what they presumably don’t want is someone likely to put his auteurist thumbprints all over a movie as if the director is bigger than Bond. I imagine the Marvel Studios people feel the same way, only more so owing to their commitment to a “universe” of interconnected movies. Once DC starts doing the same thing in order to get a Justice League movie made you can probably say goodbye to the Chris Nolans unless one such person is given control of the entire project.
Of course, giving the directors most of the credit for the last two Bonds only seems in keeping with the somehow-popular practice of giving Paul Haggis credit for nothing.
Sam my dear friend I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for the effort you have put into sharing links of your fellow bloggers. Many of these are long standing friends of mine and your shining light on Creative Potager and others is most appreciated. However, though you seem to be wiggling under the necessary restraint of shifting and changing your linking practice I think you will find it benefits out way the shortfalls. May I suggest you try to get down to three as it may get you closer to five. I only say this because 19 links is way beyond five :) If you were here before for me I would give you a hug and say “you can do it Sam!”
On the movie side as you know I have been fasting with a few watches for light entertainment such as IRON LADY and WAR HORSE. I liked both in the way one reads a novel on vacation. They are good but I know they won’t stay with in a whole sense of their own. IRON LADY is about the incredible acting of of Meryl Streep and WAR HORSE will be remembered for my love of an old mare I had for 29 years who was clever like the horse in this story. Sometimes this is enough I think – movies that anchor themselves in our lives from other ties than their own stories.
May your week unfold with hidden pleasures and thank you again Sam for your years of steadfast support. I am honoured to have been part of this long list of link-love and to your visits and comments. MmmaaaaaaWWWWW!
Terrill–
I am moved by your comments here, and as always deeply appreciate your support, kinds words and advice. I am deliberating between three and fiove, but I seem to be favoring the latter, which is a bit more of a commitment to a long-running tradition that even pared down will continue on. Your words of appreciation are accepted with my own sense of appreciation. But the MMD and the partial links will go o well into the future, that much I can assure you. Completely understand where you are coming from with THE IRON LADY and WAR HORSE. I did of course love the latter, but I know a number of people like yourself that are a bit more measured. Streep indeed is what carried THE IRON LADY, a film that had some other problems. Thanks again Terrill. Have a very great week up on Mayne Island!
pssst! Sam! I just had to drop by again and tell you that the most amazing thing happened today. My post about the “Mayne Island “Super Moon” photos and reflections” you linked to was “Freshly Pressed” – for real! Can you believe it! It has been hours since the editor of WordPress notified me and I am still dancing around like a kid in a candy store with a her belly already full of sweets.
Hey Sam. Thanks kindly for the ranking link :)
I had quiet a week and managed only two movies last week, but each gave plenty of food for thought:
. Yoshishige Yoshida’s Woman of the Lake (Onna no mizûmi Japan 1966) starring Yoshida’s ravishing wife and muse Mariko Okada, and
. Valley of Hell (Le val d’enfer France 1943) directed by Jacques Tournuer’s father Maurice Tournuer and starring French siren Ginette Leclerc.
Both films concern ‘errant’ married women who have affairs. The French film is steeped in patriarchy, while the Japanese movie is a radical critique of the subjugation of women as possessions and sexual objects. Tournuer’s photoplay as you would expect for the period has a linear narrative and classical structure where the transgessor is punished and stability re-instated. As is typical for Yoshida, his narrative though linear is fractured and sometimes obscure. There is a resolution of sorts but the ending is not final – the closing scene fades to black as a train enters a railway tunnel.
While Tournuer’s movie is richly rewarding, Yoshida’s is the superior film and is amazingly modern. It looks so contemporary – Okada sports oversized sunglasses currently back in vogue – and European – with Okada wearing flowing dresses and her luxuriant dark hair offest by elegant scarves. The picture is an expressionist tour-de-force with the b&w photography employed in wide-screen staging and dynamic use of deep focus to exquisite effect. To my mind Yoshido challenges Antonioni as the central motif of 60s cinema. Amazingly very little has been written about the film. Time for Yoshido-aficianodo Allan Fish to get a review up!
I love Woman of the Lake, Tony. I just prefer about a dozen of his other films :-) That’s how good he is. Maybe I should give it another go and see.
If I may chime in.
Woman of the Lake pales in comparison to the novel by Yasunari Kawabata in the sense that the novel is quite cinematic and cut like a movie, and besides it’s not as focused on the nudity of the woman body, which sometimes can be good as an exercise of exploration of it, or just as “hey, there’s a beautiful body on screen”, but in this film it tries both ways and it feels empty specially in its final 15-20 minutes.
If they followed the novel more closely, it has a fantastic ending sequence (yes, it’s even written like a scene for a good continuous shot), but perhaps in the end it wasn’t really Yoshida’s choice not to follow the novel, or maybe he wasn’t the right director for this story.
Anyway, the novel isn’t that much special either, it pales in comparison to many other of the novels from this amazingly amazing author… much like the film pales in comparison to other Yoshida. Still, the book’s better.
Hey Jaime. Comparisons with the book have little meaning or value here. In cinema for a great director the story is only ever a pretext for a visual realization. Yoshido has made a great film. He only gives glimpses of the photos and is more concerned with what they mean and as the catalyst to the scenario. They were photos between lovers and once they were stolen they become motifs representative not of their subject but of a woman’s rights and the battle she must engage in to recover her body from those that would oppress her, but it is more complex than this, as Yoshido does not use words but images to relay inner states, and as in life, not all is as it appears nor is everything explained. The final 20 minutes are not empty but redolent of all sorts of things that are quite shattering. The husband is waiting for the unfaithful wife to have it out with her – and he falls asleep! The shots of Okada moving through the carriages to the end of the train are immensely powerful and elevate the act of walking to poetry.
I know that most of the time it doesn’t matter, but it does mean that your experience will be completely different, specially when you go on retrospective and compare the two, and when you think that the better movie was the book and the better book was the movie… there you have something interesting and important to say. Specially on how “just good” both efforts are.
Sorry for perhaps taking this too far. But a film is a film and a book a book. You can make comparisons between the book and the film, but you can’t evaluate the film by reference to the book. The film is an artefact that exists in its own right apart from the book, and the role of the film critic is to deal with the film solely as a cinematic work.
Tony—
Thanks for the tremendous submission. I also have very high regard for WOMAN OF THE LAKE and Yoshida in general. I guess my own absolute Yoshida favorites are AKITSU SPRINGS, FAREWELL TO THE SUMMER LIGHT and AFFAIR IN THE SNOW, but the on you brilliant assess here would be in the upper bracket. You have quite a run ahead of you, and I can only imagine and speculate you will be celebrating. As far as that particular Tourneur sorry to say I have not seen it to this point but much appreciate the most intriguing analysis. I have no doubt that your comparison here would be one I would support, even with one title sight unseen.
Thanks as always my friend, and have a great week. And thanks too for being johnn-on-the-spot for a blogger friend who flirted with on-line disaster!
Sam, your efforts to provide so manay links, week after week, are appreciated. But all things must pass. Fewer links are more manageable in your busy schedule. If you miss it, you can always change back.
My film viewing this week was limited to The Three Stooges, an insipid, uneven film that nevertheless provided me with many laughs.
Precisely Pierre, you say it concisely and with dead-on accuracy. For the time being I will be going with the five links a week, and some mentions in the Diary proper. This will keep a tradition going, and will take some pressure off me on Sundays.
I know the Stooges did not bowl everyone over, and the reviews were severely divided, even slightly tilting toward the negative, but as you note there still was a lot to laugh about, starting with the great impersonations by the three leads.
Thanks as ever my friend! Have a great week!
Well you know Sammy I think you are going to get yourself in a lot of trouble if you only start linking to five articles a week because people think of you as a fair and democratic person, that’s why they like you, and if you link to the same people more than once people will start to think that maybe you are playing favoritisms or maybe they are sending you dvds. Remember the absentee ballot scandal? You have done a lot over time to clean up your reputation and I would hate to see the internet people start to feel like you were doing some not so nice things. If it takes a long time maybe one of the children can help you? They have to be good at computers by now, they have them in schools and you can make it part of their chores. When I was a kid Sunday night was always garbage night, I had to go under the sink, pull out the can, take the bag out of the can, and then I used electrician’s tape to wrap up the bag because that was before they had the white ties or now kids are very lucky they have ties built into the bag, then I would have to walk it outside, put it in the metallic can, and then drag the can down the driveway to the street so it could be picked up by the garbage man. I had to do that every Sunday and Wednesday night and it helped me learn responsibility and cleanliness and schedules. So maybe if one of the children does your links you can get things done the way they should be done and all of the people under dark will be happy. I saw Revenge and I disagree with you I thought it was great Star Jones played a great part and she proved that not only is she good to look at but she is a tough tomato. This movie showed how important it is for people to work together even if they don’t agree with each other and I think it broke records for making the most money of all-time an that’s bad news for Obama because the Republican party will learn from it. They will watch Revenge and then they will line up behind Romney and get people out to get him elected. I was walking with ammonia a few months back and then my computer caught a virus so I have not been able to read much recently but I was thinking about you and Dennis and Alan and what you thought of the big movies. Did you see The Wanderers? That was a great movie because it showed that hippies aren’t always as nice as they make themselves out to be. Say hello to DeeDee for me. I look forward to a full page of the links next week. Peace and Blessings.
Alternately, Sam could hire an intern – sorta like Kramer did in “Seinfeld,” so that the young’uns can study more. In the final analysis I think this would help clean up Sam’s reputation more than forcing the kids to do garbage detail because then they’d have more time to study and go see movies on Sundays and Wednesdays.
Love that one Pierre!!!!! LOL!!!!
If this isn’t a troll, I don’t have any trust for humanity anymore.
Sam, don’t feed the troll.
Hello Jaime why do you love to use the world troll so much? Are you as big of a Lord of the Rings fan as Dennis? Is that why you are obsessed with trolls? Or do you have those dolls with the orange hair all over your bedroom? You knock the Beatles every week and then you call me a troll for posting comments. Isn’t there a new word you can use that means something different?
He’s not a troll, Jaime. Even a troll has an existence, this Jack Marsh is as real as the Easter bunny. If he was real we’d shoot him.
Do not feed the troll.
SCOOT…
LOL!!!!!
I saw that episode of SEINFELD the other night and practically wet my pants in the process. Is there anything they didn’t cover on that show??????
good times!
That Sunday night routine is certainly worth mentioning here Jack! Ha! Well, you may be happy to know that I have settled on 10 links every week now. I won’t be bringing the matter up to the group anymore, as I think I have exhausted the whole matter, and have come up with what I think is a fair compromise. Well as you know I wasn’t the biggest fan of “The Revenge” but others here obviously like it quite a bit. So happy to see you back here my friend. Your report is always of sincere interest! Have a great week my friend!
Sam, as you know, I agree with you on the boredom factor of ‘The Avengers’, and I also agree that ‘Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’ is uneven and fairly forgettable, although worth seeing for its cast.
On the links… thanks very much for mentioning me, which is much appreciated! But to be honest, Sam, I’m sure we would all understand if you stop doing them altogether as they take such a toll on your time – my suggestion would be that, if you just post your diary piece to say what you have been dong this week, we could all link to our own latest blog postings in our replies, and also, as you say, the sites are all there in your blogroll anyway. I suspect that if you try to pick five your list will just grow back to full length, as it has nearly done this week… but anyway, up to you of course. :)
The BFI in London has just launched a Jean Gabin festival – sadly I don’t think I will be able to get there as I’m heavily committed to other things (mainly work) this month… but anyway I’ve been having my own mini-Gabin festival at home and this week have seen three of his 1930s films, ‘Gueule d’Amour’, ‘La Grande Illusion’ and ‘La Bête Humaine’. Loved all of them, especially ‘Gueule d’Amour’ which must be one of the greatest acting performances I’ve ever seen – I know it isn’t as famous as the other two but it should be! That one actually isn’t in the BFI line-up, but anyway here is a link to the details of the festival:
http://www.bfi.org.uk/whatson/bfi_southbank/film_programme/may_seasons/jean_gabin_workingclass_hero_to_godfather
Wishing everyone a great week!
Well Judy, seems like we are in exact agreement this week, though we don’t disagree all that much in any case. THE AVENGERS made a ton of money and an unGodly number of people were thrilled. It’s one of those things that can be amply answered with the personal taste qualification. In the case of this latest superhero film I did see the deja vu quotient as well. And yes, the cast in MARIGOLD HOTEL made it worth seeing, but it isn’t any kind of a keeper as you note.
Judy, both Allan and I did vote for Gabin’s performances in GUELE D’AMOUR as the best of those three performances, and absolutely one of the greatest of all-time. That Gabin festival you are having is fantastic, as is the one at the BFI in London. I know you would make it if you could, but work comes first of course. Thanks very much for that link! I will check it right now! Have a great week my friend as thank you!
I certainly will take your advice seriously and of the very kind words about the link situation. Let’s see how it works with the five. If there aren’t any issues I’ll stay the course with it, but will still urge all bloggers who aren’t name to include a link to your latest post under their comment that’s a great idea!
Sam,
We all have appreciated the time and effort that it takes to do so many links each and every week and we can all understand certainly why it cannot go on. Family, heath all come first, your time can be better spent with the more important things in life. I also would suggest folks who comment can just add a link, if they so desire, to their latest essay when commenting.
My own week was rather slow on the movie front with only three films.
Trial (***1/2) a courtroom drama, filled with hot topics like racism, vigilantism, the Klu Klux Klan, communism, police brutality, paranoia and the influence of the media. On trial, a Mexican youth accused of murdering a local white girl. One of his lawyers (Arthur Kennedy) is more interested in using the boy as a martyr to raise money for the communist party while the other (Glenn Ford) is an idealistic young law professor who never tried a case before. Made during the McCarthy witch hunt era the story line has a strong anti-communist feel to it, but still manages to reflect some of dark sides of the American dream.
It All Came True (**) A boarding room house in NYC run by two elderly ladies faces foreclosure until the son of one of the ladies brings his “friend,” murderer/fugitive Chips Maguire (Humphrey Bogart) there to hide out from the cops. Bored, Chips convinces the eccentric women to turn the boarding house into a successful nightclub. Light weight and implausible. While Bogart got top billing, it’s the beautiful Ann Sheridan who is the shining light in a rather dreary story.
Broadway Danny Rose (****) One of my favorite Woody Allen film. Woody plays a fourth rate theatrical agent whose client stable is filled with some of oddest acts in show business including a woman whose musical talent is playing glasses filled with water and a stuttering ventriloquist. Allen creates a nostalgic world filled with the lower levels of New York show business and underworld types. Mia Farrow and Nick Apollo Forte are highlights, both giving a nice genuine feel in their roles as two lovers who practically bring Danny’ already meager life and career down to new levels.
JOHN-I couldn’t agree with you more on BROADWAY DANNY ROSE. This is one of those little gems from Allens middle 80′s period that helps make that decade his most vibrant period of film making. What DANNY ROSE did, I feel, is remind the world that Woody could still be balls-to-the-floor funny and also go plot heavy when so many people thought he was getting a little too serious and just putting his philosophies of life on the screen in abstract ways.
The character that Mia Farrow plays was inspired by the owner of an Italian Restaurant that she and the great writer/director frequented and, frankly, it’s probably the richest character and finest performance she has ever given since her career-making turn in Polanski’s ROSEMARY’S BABY. I love the fact that, with the exception of one scene in the film, she never removes the sun glasses, the gum is always cracking and the cigarette is always streaming a trail of smoke right into Danny’s nostrils. Living all my life in the same area that Allen shot and based the film in, I can tell you honestly that women like that were very much a part of the solial/cultural fabric of day-to-day life here as well as the ever present influence of gansterism and the mob. Tina is a user that thinks little of the people she destroys in the process of greedily getting what she wants and her turn-around inspired by the pain she brings Danny, allows Farrow more range in character than just about any she has played to date. I barely recognized her when I first saw the film in 1984 and have always bemoaned the notion that she probably deserved an Oscar nomination for BEST ACTRESS IN A LEAD PERFORMANCE for her achingly funny turn.
What also comes to mind with DANNY ROSE are the myriad of creative ideas that Allen peppers into the film so effortlessly. The use of the black and white cinematography adds the necessary grit that one doesn’t usually associate with the more polished upper-class forays that is, typically, Allens arena and the bizarro costuming and old Italian records that make up most of the soundtrack (in addition to the half dozen songs provided by Nick Appollo Forte) just add to the overall effect of a slapstick comic story whose origins are based in gangland murder and the ineptitude of organized crime.
Finally, the film is also a showcase for Woody’s one-liners. Like rapid-machine gun fire, this, somewhat, throwback to Allen’s early slapstick days provides the master comedian with some of his most acidic and hysterical lines. It reminds us all that NOBODY delivers a punch line better than the little nebbish with the big black glasses:
“Take for instance my Aunt Sophia. Not a good looking woman, mind you, actually she looked like something you’d buy in a live bait store.”
“Philly, Philly. You see this woman? She’s the Yasha Heiffitz of this instrument. My hand to God , Philly, in a year she’s gonna be showcasing at Carnegie Hall and you can have her today for the old price. Which, of course, is whatever you wanna give me.”
“Lou? If I know Lou, Honey, he’s probably drinking out of the promotional sized whiskey bottle by now.”
“Listen, sweetheart, I knew you were trouble from the first time I met you. Taking about gangsters and killing people with ice-picks. Lemme tell you, nice girls don’t talk that way and they don’t use ice-picks. They have ribbons.”
Cracks me the fuck up every time. That, and it proves beyond a shadow of a doubt what I had already known for years.
Woody Allen is the funniest guy to grace the screen since the 1960′s. He’s one of the rare comic gifts to film.
BROADWAY DANNY ROSE is one of Allen’s true gems. If you think of all the films he gave us in the 1980′s, it’s hard not to think that that decade wasn’t his best…
As they were:
STARDUST MEMORIES I have a weakness for his defacement of himself here. Sure, its an homage to, more like a rip, on 8 1/2, but it works so well and really brings us into the frazzled thinking of an artist that is plunged into the spot-lite when all he wants to do is create.
A MIDSUMMER NIGHTS SEX COMEDY In my mind, this is really the only unquestionable bomb from the period of the 1980′s. It’s pretty to look at and Woody has a few really funny moments. But the narrative is jumbled to the point of confusion and the characters seem tired.
ZELIG Woody’s return to grace. An inspired piece that allows Allen to play with the visuals in a way that adds to the off-the-wall premise of his commentary.
BROADWAY DANNY ROSE Well, see above.
THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO This is a darling film. What I like most about this one is the way that Allen effortlessly blends the nostaligia of the period with his velentines candy box of a whirlwind romance and all the time never losing sight on defining what it is about the movies we all love and are attracted to. According to the interview Allen gave in Robert Weide’s documentary on Allen: this is the directors favorite of all his films and the one that he feels comes closest to his original conception of it.
HANNAH AND HER SISTERS As close to perfection as he’s ever gotten after the one two punch of ANNIE HALL, INTERIORS and MANHATTAN. What’s interesting is that elements of all three of those masterpieces are evident in HANNAH. The ping-ponging between humor and drama remind me more of Chekov that in does some little tweed suited Jewish stand-up comedian and HANNAH paves the path for Alllen’s most probing work, CRIMES.
RADIO DAYS Really a breathtaker if you look and think about it long enough. The brilliance of balancing the stories of Allens childhood home-life with the crazy stories of the radio personalites allows not only social commentary on generations desensatised by television, but also gives us a window into the building blocks of the influences that inform Allen himself. Really, one of Woody’s most beautiful films. His use of music here might be the best in any of his films.
SEPTEMBER Problematic for sure. However, this chamber drama seems more like an excercise for Allen to bone up on close ups and intense innner emotional moments. Again, this is a stepping stone film that leads us straight to CRIMES.
ANOTHER WOMAN A haunting film about our place in the universe and the way we look back at regrets and chances we never take. Gena Rowlands performance is a tour-de-force of control on the surface as all the while, confusion and doubt course through her eyes. The final scene/montage in the film (featuring Rowlands and Hackman-and played out to Satie’s longing GYMNEPODIE No. 1) is one of the most romantic moments I can ever recall being done in film.
and his masterpiece,
CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS I could right a whole book on why I think, when the smoke clears and Allen is being reread after his death, this is his masterpiece film. I think more about Woody Allens mind is put on screen in this film than any other. His heritage, religion and his truest fears about death and guilt all on fine display. While I could have certainly done without the more comic moments of the film, they certainly don’t hinder what’s really the director/writers focus and the dramatic arc of the narrative is some of the most probing and thought inspiring of an Woody Allen movie. You will never convince me that Denzel Washington deserved the Oscar for BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR (for GLORY) over Matin Landau’s tour-de-force as the aging opthomologist having bouts with murderous revenge and condemning guilt. I saw this film, on the first day it opened and I resaw it five times in that same week as I was so bowled over by it. My favorite film in Woody’s ENTIRE canon. I love the shades of WILD STRAWBERRIES infused into the fabric of the story.
Dennis,
I totally agree! Now, I love Mel Brooks and think he’s insane but Allen has been more consistent and certainly more productive over the years. I am actually writing a review of this film that will be posted on Friday so I don’t want to say too much, but I will say, I do bring up some of the same points your bring up here like how much Gordon Willis’ cinematography adds to the flavor of the film and Mia Farrow’s well thought out performance. I also like the nostalgic feel of the film like the Borscht Belt comedian’s (Corbett Monica, Sandy Baron and Jackie Gayle among others) dishing out their old show biz stories of which the film that unfolds before us is one. These guys are mostly forgotten now but I remember seeing Baron and Monica on TV back in the day. I have not seen “September” and “Another Woman” but the rest are true gems. “Hannah and Her Sisters” is a masterpiece as is “Crimes and Misdemeanors,” arguably Woody’s most important and detailed films. “Radio Day’s” is kind of another of Woody’s looks back and actually would make a nice double feature with “Broadway Danny Rose.”
I am glad we are on the same page here. Your enthusiasm makes me want watch the film again or at least get another Woody into the DVD player.
Mel Brooks is a bit and gag man and nothing more. While his plotting and selling of a joke are razor sharp, he has never opened up his heart or soul on screen and this, more than anything, really just makes him a “comedian” whereas Allen is a comedian/writer/actor and director. I don’t think too many will scoff at the notion that Mel Brooks makes good movies but Woody Allen is a great film-maker. Now, don’t get me wrong, I like a good hard belly laugh as much as the next person and I cherish most of Brooks canon of films. However I would be remiss in my thinking to ever include him in a discussion of great film-makers. His visual style is non existant, he frames everything flat and his main concerns are his performers, adherance to the written scripts and jokes, jokes, jokes, JOKES.
Allen puts his heart and mind on the screen and, in doing so, reveals himself in the process. I once heard someone say that Allen isn’t so much worried about his audiences reaction to his films as much as he sees his films as a way of working out his own psychological/spiritual problems. That he happens to be one of the wittiest personalities to ever become a great film-maker only adds to the dynamic.
For me, personally, Allen is the funniest thing that ever hit movies since the great days of W. C. Fields, The Marx Brothers and Laurel and Hardy.
As for Mel? While I like most of his films, only THE PRODUCERS holds up to repeat viewings and reveals itself as one of the truest and most original comedy classics. THE PRODUCERS is Brooks best film by leaps and bounds.
Dennis,
Yeah, Brooks is a gag man and certainly Allen is the filmmaker of the two. I go along with THE PRODUCERS as his best but I would add YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN a very close second.Brooks films have no depth of feeling, strictly for the laughs, not that there is anything wrong with that. But if you want more, you have to go with Woody.
Well, SAM, John is a great guy and I find myself agreeing with him more than disagreeing (perhaps we are cut from the same crazy fabric in some way). But, you know me for years and you know how I admire this particular director. It’s nice to read stuff about those who are discovering and, or in the case of John, RE-discovering, the essential works of one of the best and most provocative filmmakers the States has ever produced. BROADWAY DANNY ROSE, I have always believed, was the film that brough Woody Allen back to those that thought he’d lost himself in his own self analysis. While those that believe that are probably more off the mark than on, I will concede that the film DID bring Woody back to the plot heavy, gag and joke oriented movie-making that really brought him to attention to mass film goers in the late 1960′s and early ’70′s with films like TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN, SLEEPER, LOVE AND DEATH and the brilliantly off-the-wall BANANAS.
I was thrilled to see my buddy John have so many nice things to say about one of the corner stone films of Allens career.
“And always remember to say your three S’s. STAR. SMILE, STRONG!!!!!”
LOL!
Cracks me the fuck up every time I think of this film.
JOHN-I’m not saying that I dislike Brooks work. On the contrary, I think of his work fondly. However, there are boudaries that halt me from calling his a film-maker par excellence that the like of Woody Allen so perfectly is. I can laugh at all of Brooks work and marvel in the insane anarchy that has become his calling card. However, with the greater part of his resume taken up by film parodies of the horror, thriller, western and sci-fi genre, it really hard to put the word “origiinal” and “artist’ into the same sentence with his name.
I love the moment the little old lady apologized for the racial expletive she zapped Cleavon Little with, and with an apple pie to secure the apology to boot, in BLAZING SADDLES. The SED-A-GIVE bit, the horses always rearing to Frau Blooker’s name and the “PUTTING ON THE RITZ moments from YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN are inspired. But, aside from his loving recreation of the atmosphere of Universal Horror films with YF, there is little more than just the funny bits and pieces and bizarro characterizations.
Of the films made after the release of THE PRODUCERS, only YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN gives us a hint at a professional film-maker. The rest, unfortunate to say, are just really good parodies that make you ache with laughter for an hour and a half and wash away from your mind upon waking the next morning.
The difference is that many of Woody Allen’s films have haunted me for years since I saw them. I’ll never forget ANNIE HALL, MANHATTAN, BROADWAY DANNY ROSE, HANNAH and BULLETS OVER BROADWAY and films like INTERIORS, ANOTHER WOMAN, HUSBANDS AND WIVES, MATCHPOINT and CRIMES are so repleat with emotional and psychological resonance that they have stayed with me, and peppered my thinking, ever since the first viewing.
Woody Allen is one of my favorite American filmmakers and a writer/director that should be included in the pantheon of greats that include the very best of the medium. Along with Scorsese (and I think, in his hey-day he even bested Scorsese), Allen was, and will always be, considered one of the two most formiddable American filmmakers of the 70′s and 80′s.
Thanks so much for the considerate words John! As I stated to Judy I think the idea of having bloggers include a link to their latest post would be perfect. Of course I will still continue posting five links every week no matter what. It keeps the tradition, and does allow for acknowledgement for some special posts.
I see your superb capsule on BROADWAY DANNY ROSE has spurred on quite a discussion there with Dennis! Wow! I do agree with you estimation of the film (one of my favorites from that period as well) and I am close enough on the other two, with THE TRIAL far above the “dreary” film with Bogart. That’s the rare instance where a Bogart film is forgettable.
Thanks again my friend! Have a great week!
Dennis – I whole heartedly agree. Brooks as a filmmaker, as an artist is nowhere near Woody but, as you say, he is a funny, wonderful parodist. I do think his films began to downhill with SILENT MOVIE though I there are hysterical spots in all and I do have a soft spot for his Hitchcock parody, SILENT MOVIE.
Many of Woody’s film are unforgettable. I admit trying to watch HANNAH, ANNIE HALL, MANHATTAN and MANHATTAN MURDER MYSTERY once a year. MMM is admitted lightweight compared to some of the others but it’s a wonderful take off on THE THIN MAN films and of course reunited him with Diane Keaton.
As a filmmaker, Woody ranks up there for me too and he is so damn prolific! Not everyone is great to be sure, but you know there is always another in the works.
MANHATTAN MURDER MYSTERY was lotz of fun. I know that the concept for the film had been rolling around in Woody Allen’s mind as early as 1979 (same year as MANHATTAN) as a vehicle for him and Keaton. When Diane Keaton broke from making pictures with him he was absolutely under the intention of doing it with Mia Farrow but got sidetracked with BROADWAY DANNY ROSE and PURPLE ROSE as these were characters Farrow was desperate to play. In the end, Diane Keaton was called upon to help out and finally got the part Woody always envisioned for her and, I think it was perfect destiny as Keaton was always so much better a sparring partner to Allen when it came time for hijinx comedy. Frankly, with the likes of LOVE AND DEATH, SLEEPER, PLAY IT AGAIN SAM and, of course, ANNIE HALL under her belt, she had grown familiar with the timing and the back and forth jabbing that was a staple of Woody’s earlier “funnier” phase. Honestly, I don’t think I could see MMM coming off as well had Farrow taken the role by default as, even in films like DANNY and RADIO DAYS, she doesn’t exude the same kind of freneticism that had always been a part of Keatons make-up when it came down to equally sharing the screen with her comedy partner.
Farrow never hit me as a “screwball” comedy type whereas Keaton proved time and again that she had the chops for it and then some (the bottle hitting head scene in LOVE AND DEATH, the stealing of the nose in SLEEPER, the chasing of the lobsters in ANNIE HALL?). The moment she and Allen get stuck in the elevator and he immediately starts to hyperventilate and panic is a mini tour de force for their on screen comic chemistry.
I’ve seen every one of Woody Allens films a dozen times or more in some cases and I will freely tell you, without reservation, that Diane Keaton was his BEST leading lady and for so many more reasons than just the one or two I have listed here. She won her ONLY Academy award for a Woody Allen film (ANNIE HALL) and I dare say that she is better known for her work with this writer/director/actor than anything else she has done in her career (icluding THE GODFATHER films).
I was wondering if you have seen the 4 hour documentary that CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM director Robert Weide did last year for PBS’s AMERICAN MASTERS series. Available for rent on Netflix and sale at places like B+N, this is the supplementary material that never gets included on any of Allens DVD’s or Blu-Rays. Talk about comprehensive, the documentary looks at Allen the man and his entire career all the while having the director have Allen comment on each and every film, actor and writing process that went into each. It’s in this documentary that you can see the glints of admiration and longing when the subject of Diane Keaton comes up and Keaton herself freely admits to doing her best work with him as she was “so in love with the guy”. She also states in the doc that she remains very close to her “best friend” and is available to him if he ever needs her services for any of his future films. The documentary is a must for any fan or anyone interested in the subject of Woody Allen and is a perfect supplement for his films collected on DVD and Blu Ray (the documentary got the very best reviews of any documentary broadcast on TV last year and the critics fawned over it.
I agree, Keaton’s neurosis is perfect for the role in MMM and yes, she was and is his best leading lady. I did see the documentary on PBS, fabulous stuff with clips from some early standup that are priceless. God, I remember seeing Woody on Ed Sullivan. I even had his three original LP’s, two on the Coplix label and his third album on Capitol. Anyway, the documentary is priceless!
Sam – I’ve never been stellar in the math department, but even I know that you listed well more than five links! THANK YOU so much for all of the above-and-beyond linking you’ve done — including the links to Speaking from the Heart. I really don’t know how you managed to maintain the arduous task this long. My hat is off to you!
Len and I are looking forward to seeing THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL. I would go out of my way to see a movie with Judy Dench if she wore a bag over her head the whole time and never uttered a word.
Never dreaming I’d be interested in seeing GOODBYE FIRST LOVE, you’ve dangled a carrot with the word picture you painted and I’ve added it to our must-see list.
In reading through the other responses, I must say that I’m in full agreement with Terrill. If you’re going to provide any links at all, I’d whittle it down to three.
Thanks so much for that Laurie! As I stated to a few others here, the link practice will still be honored, but obviously with serious reduction. But the number will force me to be selective, even while keeping an eye for a number of the people who have kept this site moving along. The ‘three’ number is still being weighed too.
Judi Dench is absolutely marvelous in MARIGOLD HOTEL (as she is in virtually everything else) and she is alone worth the price of admission. But the film is at least moderately entertaining otherwise, and Maggie Smith is a guilty pleasure as a bigot who is transformed. GOODBYE FIRST LOVE is an affecting film that I’m sure will float your boat. It’s one of the best films of it’s type I’d say.
Have a great, my excellent friend!
I saw The Avengers with Carol on Sunday afternoon in Edgewater. The 3D didn’t really add anything. I liked the Hulk scenes near the end end best, and overall I lked it somewhat better than you Sam. Still, it’s nothing to really get excited about. This is low-brow entertainment that lasts as long as the film’s running time. For some that’s enough I know. Carol had a hard time staying awake.
Ah Frank, too bad you saw it in 3D! Unless a film is mentioned as a 3D “must” it’s best to go for the regular 2D presentation these days, though theatres craftily offer up far more screenings in 3D to get more money from ticket buyers. Sorry Carol wasted her time, but happy you found it generally entertaining.
As always thanks very much my friend, and have a great week!
I’d heard that the 3D in Avengers was an improvement on the previous Marvel films, but it proved not really the case. It wasn’t as impenetrable as Thor but nothing on the level of Hugo or Cave of Forgotten Dreams. There were more impressive 3D moments (quantitatively and qualitatively speaking) in the Prometheus trailer than in the entirety of Avengers.
Sam -
Thank you for all the hard work and time you have put into the weekly blogroll each week – and a hearty BRAVO to you for choosing to put your family first from here on out. Maintaining that link list for so long was a Herculean task, and I think all of your loyal readers will completely support you in your decision to scale it back. Time with family is precious, and you have made a wise choice.
I’ve been largely quiet and absent of late due to 1)the pressure of a rapidly approaching project deadline at work, with the accompanying stress and extra hours; and 2) my decision to put my condominium on the market before summer gets here – and all the excruciating work of packing away personal effects, deep cleaning and many minor repairs and “spruce-ups” that must be completed in order to do that. I’ve managed to watch several films lately in sprite of this – just haven’t had time to write about them:
THE FIVE-YEAR ENGAGEMENT – fine performances by Jason Siegel and Emily Blunt, sags midway through but finds its feet again for the third act.
LIKE CRAZY – Felt like someone had handed a conventional romantic script to Lars Von Trier; moody, melancholy and engrossing
GOD BLESS AMERICA – Bobcat Goldwaith’s black comedy. I tuned out pretty fast. Made on a shoestring and excessively, sickeningly violent, it’s gotten some good reviews but I found it mostly unwatchable.
BRIEF ENCOUNTER – Hadn’t seen this in years, and thoroughly loved it.
BOOGIE NIGHTS – I’ve had a few bouts of stress-related insomnia lately, and everytime I’ve gotten out of bed to watch some late-night TV and try to wind down, this has been playing on one of the HBO channels. It’s been fun to rediscover the wonderful performances by Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly and Burt Reynolds (among others) and marvel at P. T. Anderson’s amazing extended tracking shots.
Pat–
You are truly one of the nicest and loveliest persons I have ever had the fortune of meeting on-line, and the confirmation is that I have met you in person too on that wonderful night a few years ago in NYC with Lucille. What you say in that first paragraph has me tearing up. I will admit that Lucille has been urging me to cut down the links for many months, only because it will allow me to do some other things on Sunday. Still I know this is a tradition and a trademark of this very special weekly thread and the site in general, so I will keep it going with a specific level of consistency, which I will announce next week. Once I decide for next week, I will not bring the issue of link sup for a very long time. I will neither complain nor question the practice once I settle on next week’s number.
I do love BRIEF ENCOUNTER as much as any film, and like you have long respected the wondrous filmmaking on display in BOOGIE NIGHTS. LIKE CRAZY with a very good film, and in many ways comparable to GOODBYE FIRST LOVE, which I saw this past week. I’d very much be interested in knowing what you think. I haven’t yet seen GOD BLESS AMERICA, but be rest assured I am in no rush. Ha! I fully respect and understand why you have been unable to write as of late and the reasons are far more important than what is essentially a hobby to be engineered during free time.
With the comedy countdown officially announced today in a group e mail I’m figuring you may be pondering some comedy classics for review. Thanks as always my excellent friend and have a great week!
Sam, if I could offer some advice, I’d say the five link intent is the very best way to go. Some have suggested three, which is also good, but five would seem to give the matter the benefit of the doubt. Naturally, you would not do what you did this week by extending to 19, but I think you made it clear this was only a bonus.
I have no motivation whatsoever to see “The Avengers” with it’s cardboard characters and it’s non-stop explosions.
David—it does seem like five is the number of choice, though a few other good friends are saying three. Another friend in the school here is urging me to go with ten. When next week rolls around I will announce a final decision as to the specific number. Yes, 19 is too many by any method.
I wouldn’t let what I said about THE AVENGERS discourage you. You may be surprised in fact. Thanks as always my friend!
Hey Sam! Thanks for the shout-out and I perfectly understand your dilemma and certainly respect your desire to cut down on the workload. You do such an incredible job on this website. It amazes me all the quailty work you and all the contributors on here do on a weekly basis. Astounding stuff.
Too bad you weren’t wowed by THE AVENGERS like some of us but that’s OK. To each their own as the saying goes. The diversity of opinions is what makes this place so great.
J.D.—
You’ve been one of the bloggers who has been here since the very beginning, and your support, kind words and insights have been exceedingly appreciated. As I stated to others I will keep the links going, even as a reduced number. You will always yourself be one of the nominees, as your work at RADIATOR HEAVEN has been consistently excellent, and your selections have unearthed so many forgotten and underestimated gems.
I am lucky to get away with my life in this house as per THE AVENGERS, ha! I am done saying disparaging things about it my friend. many thanks as always!
Thanks so much for your hard work over the years keeping up those links Sam. As a young writer just starting out in the blog world, it was great having someone acknowledge my work. I really appreciate it. Hope all is well.
Dave
Dave–
As I stated to others here, I will be continuing the links, those obviously in lesser numbers. Your place will be up in next week’s scroll I can guarantee you that. I also will be checking out your reports from Toronto at your place tomorrow morning. The beat will go my friend. Thanks as always!
Sam, you’ve earned the right to give yourself a break — if only you can discipline yourself! But seriously, I’m flattered to make the cut the first week even on a subject that may leave you cold. Marvel’s The Avengers is a film I can more or less enjoy without feeling a need to defend it to anybody, be they comics fans or not. The expenditure on the material is a little sickening if you think about it too much, but I couldn’t help getting a kick out of it at times. Meanwhile, at home I found myself struggling with a run of Pre-Codes featuring Joel McCrea on the premise of him being TCM’s star of the month, but these were all women’s pictures with him as little more than a pretty face with integrity. The most interesting and arguably strangest of these was William A. Seiter’s The Richest Girl in the World, with Miriam Hopkins practically going insane trying to manipulate a scenario in which someone will love her solely for her personality (she being the title character) and refusing to trust the results — and why not, since her schemes involve passing Fay Wray off as her public self (the RGIW) and expecting McCrea to prefer her (in Wray’s normal role as her personal secretary and BFF) to Wray (which isn’t the choice I’d make) after first doing everything possible to attract him to Wray, who happens to be married already. It could be deemed a proto-screwball comedy from the key year of 1934 except that Hopkins’s screwiness doesn’t really seem that funny. So it goes. The actual best film I’ve seen in the past week is probably Mizoguchi’s Street of Shame, my review of which you’ve already seen and commented on. It was interesting to have seen that and Nights of Cabiria within days of each other, but the moral of the story remains that which film is better depends on the kind of film you expect to see. Choose for yourselves.
Samuel–
As I stated in an email to my dear friend and colleague Allan Fish by phone and e mail this past week, I need to spare myself what was becoming an enormous imposition on my Sundays. Doing between 30 to 50 links makes for a prohibitive assignment that pre-empts so much more, but it also has to do with me placing comments at other sites during that time window. I am nearing a decision on a final total, which I will reveal next week, and which I will stick by for the months ahead without bringing up the matter again. I am now beginning to think that a number higher than five is in order, but I will announce this next week. As you say it’s the “discipline” behind any announcement that counts the most.
I may not be a big AVENGERS fan, but I AM a fan of great reviews, and yours is among the best.
McCrae is a wonderful actor, and I must see that Seiter! Brilliant, fascinating analysis of this pre-coder I must say. I love that Mizoguchi as well, though CABIRIA for me ranks higher. But your coda at the end there with instruction to readers is perfect! Yes your essay of those two films was fantastic!
Have a great week my friend!
Hello Sam and everyone!!!!
Well, the time went and you chose well, it is a smart choice Sam, as I told you, when something that was fun and important starts to become a chore, you shouldn’t continue doing it. And this is much more small in scale, but at the same time much much better, because it shows your personal taste and choice on the articles you find interesting, and not the usual semi-updates that I used to have and that weren’t totally worth including in your marvelous blogroll.
Anyway, I do thank you a lot for including me in this special goodbye edition of the extended blog-roll, as I like quite a lot the review I wrote for The Avengers. I’ve been pretty much out of blogging principally due to lack of time and secondly because I want to see some movies that I promised to review that are on theaters, and finding time to go is something quite daunting, even if I have a girlfriend.
You had a nice week Sam, some good screenings, only I’ve seen one of those, of course, being The Avengers, which I rate way more highly than you do (****1/2) and call it the best film of 2012 so far, but that’s just me and boyish heart.
My week was filled with many stuff, but at the same time it was quite short in the sense that both Monday and Tuesday were holiday here on Chile (May Day is Worker’s Day), but on thursday I had to do a presentation on North Korean Cinema that went quite well, and on Sunday I filmed a scene for my Fiction Class, that I’m editing right now as I type this. So, my week movie wise:
- Pirate Squadron Gokaiger vs. Space Sheriff Gavan: The Movie (2012, Shôjirô Nakazawa) ***1/2 My God, this is the original and real deal when you talk about the kid’s series Power Rangers. I’ll have more to say about this one in a full review.
- The Lucky One (2012, Scott Hicks) ** Why do I subject myself to this kind of torture? I mean, this movie, based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks, is just a dopey tearjerker romantic melodrama of the worst kind, with what you would call a script right out from a Script 101 Class. The necessary leave, the necessary comeback, we know what’s going to happen from the start and that’s annoying. There are some good performances that try to lift this, but nope, this just sinks because it’s just so damn predictable in every cinematic sense, even in its cinematography!
- Mauchos (2011, Sebastián Moreno) ***1/2 An hour-long chilean documentary on the people of the south of Chile and specifically those that were hit the most by the tsunami that came after the earthquake in 2010. The film itself is interesting in the sense of the information it delivers to us on the emotional experiences of the people there, and even if it’s quite emotional at times, it follows a familiar structure with interviews and static shots, making it not as interesting visually.
- Never Ending Story (2012, Jung Yong-Joo) ***1/2 Korean melodrama that manages something that most romantic american movies can’t. I have more to say about this later.
- Picking Up the Pieces (2000, Alfonso Arau) *** A strange, truly strange film that makes itself quite interesting most of the time, but its morality (and not its hilarious replication of the miracle nature of catolicism, which is the best part of it) is dubious on the sense of what the priest actually wants to achieve, or some out of character moments, and the comedy isn’t really that funny. But I appreciate it for what it is, a daunting experiment.
- Shadrach (1989, Adam Yauch, Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris) **** One of the saddest news of the week was the death of the young Adam Yauch, one third of The Beastie Boys, and while I wasn’t a fanatic of them, I always appreciated their work over most of that kind of music, besides they always had a close relationship with the audiovisual world with great music videos, and this is one of them, An animated videoclip done by Yauch based and drawn on filming done by the Little Miss Sunshine duo. It’s an achievement and a great one to see and hum with.
- Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (2002, Sijie Dai) **** A movie that is critical and looks good on the screen, as it pictures perfectly how to show us the hard times of the “Cultural” Revolution in China. With an emotional and european feel, the movie moves along with great little scenes that as time goes by turn more and more interesting, with an ending that comes out of nowhere and kinda breaks the whole momentum it had. Still, great performances.
Have a good week Sam!
Jaimie—
I have finally decided to go with 10 links after extended deliberation. 10 will allow for a wider swath of selections each and every week, and the time investment won’t be significant. I think I can manage this. As always thanks so much for your concern and kindness in offering advice and opinions that take the hardships into account. I will absolutely be over to read your AVENGERS review. If seems that the only films aside from that one that you have reviewed that I have actually seen are THE LUCKY ONE (which like you I dismiss) and BALZAC AND THE LITTLE CHINESE SEAMSTRESS, which I would give nearly as much as you, perhaps 3.5. Of the others I am most curious about SHADRACH for obvious reasons and the Korean drama. You have done a buffo job with the capsules this week, exceptional in every way! MAUCHOS, just by it’s subject seems like an essential film too.
Have a great week my friend! Thanks as always for the impassioned, wholly-spectacular wrap!
What wonderful reviews to add to my growing list of recommendations from you. I did see a preview of the Marigold Hotel movie and just wanted to see it because of Judi Dench and Maggie Smith
I think you are right on to cut back and add more family time and you have made a generous last stand before reaching the 5…I am so proud to be included in your efforts and for all your amazing comments on my posts. You make me feel very important and more connected to the bigger world than my little nook – thank you for your generosity.
I am wondering about my professional services blog – Wise Ears for some of the same reasons. In a year, I have only made $100 – there is a line at the door if I offer the services free. I can not afford to hire the marketing I need – so if the grant does not come through, I will need to discontinue.
I watched The Last Emperor (finally) this weekend and Money Ball. My children kept telling me I would love the Emperor, then told me I had seen an abridged version; it was marvelous any how! I even got my partner to watch Money Ball with and he thought it was terrific too.
Monday the 14th my book group is discussing Tree of Life, Creation, and Poetry – my subject is change and creativity and allowing time for the readers to catch up for the June Book group meeting.
I have 8 more books for review and am being featured for my last reviews on Facebook – I am hoping I might get picked up for the PAID round of reviews…I certainly sell a lot of books..
Thanks for this good page and for keeping us posted…Hip Hip Hurray for Wonders in The Dark
Patricia—
I may yet alter that final number of 5, and I say that not by way of less but more. I think you may sense the number that I am thinking I will settle on once and for all. it’s a number that will allow me more leverage, and it’s one I can do in quick order if I don’t complicate matters during that session by choosing to place comments. i can do that at other times. Thanks as always for the concern, kind words and rational judgement. And I remain moved at what you said last week about the sad happening in our town. That was such a heartfelt reaction.
Fully understand the matter with the professional service blog, I do hope that works out for you. I also love THE LAST EMPEROR and do believe you will find much to like in MARIGOLD HOTEL. MONEYBALL is fun too, no doubt. That’s quite a book meeting you have lined up, I wish I could attend!
Thanks for all the positive energy you exude my friend, and have a great week!
Hi, Sam! Yes, I think the 5-link plan is a good one going forward. No need to work so hard.
I didn’t even realize Mr. Gallagher had commented on that post until just now! Pretty awesome! I have responded, appropriately humbly, I hope. :)
I had finals last week, so I’ve been getting very little watched or written over the last couple weeks, but hopefully now I will be able to get a few things done. I’ve seen several new movies I’d like to review, and I’ve got plenty of creative posts I’d like to put up, but we’ll just have to see how it goes for now.
I did see Eyes Wide Shut in the past week. A masterpiece, I think. Wasn’t quite expecting that. And I’ve also suddenly gotten into Doctor Who, which is addicting and a ton of fun. Anyway, have a good week, Sam, you always do!
Stephen—
Congrats on that acknowledgement from Tag Gallagher! He’s one of the pre-eminent Ford scholars, and his book on the iconic director is well-regarded. Yes you were most humble there for sure!
Thanks for the link advice. While it’s clear I’ve been forced to sharply compromise past practice, I can at least be sure I will continue the tradition for quite a way into the future. I well understand you have been busy at school Stephen, so viewing opportunities have been limited. Allan Fish is a huge DOCTOR WHO fan, though I like it well enough too. I may not like EYES WIDE SHUT as much as you, but it’s an impressive final work for the master, and one that is regarded on the highest level by some other WitD staffers here.
Have a great week my friend!
Sam,
Thank you for promoting my article in your streamlined links updates. I feel quite honored. It must be quite a task for you to keep this tradition alive and worthwhile, and I think it is quite reasonable to shed it down to manageable numbers. Family matters should come first. So feel free to exclude my site anytime, I am not a grumbling type. I visit your Monday diary every week, no matter what.
It’s quite interesting to read your take on “The Avengers”, because they are building up huge promotion here for coming release. For most of the characters came to be popular among Japanese public only through previous Marvel films (Hulk original TV series achieved cult status among late night TV show addicts in eighties, though), the promotion is heavily dependent on star-values, especially that of Robert Downy Jr. While this and MIB3 are given huge space for promotional junks in front of popcorn stands, another art film theater closed its door in Tokyo. I am getting a bit desperate as available choices are getting as slim as ever. DVD releases are no better (you know, I have to IMPORT some titles of classic Japanese cinema, such as early Naruses from overseas).
On different note, as my wife and I were watching NEON Evangelion series (original), we realized it now bears totally different meaning (to us, at least) after 311/Fukushima. The world parallels to ours, but is different in critical aspects. I am still pondering about it, and I may write up something in the future. Oh, I am late on responding to your comments, I apologize. I will be posting it as soon as possible.
Thanks,
MI
MI–
If anyone should be “promoted” it should be you. The depth of your analysis since I first laid eyes on VERMILLION AND ONE NIGHTS has been extraordinary. Your latest examination of objects/symbols in Japanese cinema (i.e. piano, bicycle) has opened up a new method of appreciation. Your great achievement of analyzing virtually every frame of Ozu’s THERE WAS A FATHER remains a benchmark. I appreciate all the support and attention you have given this thread and this site right along. As far as your site it will be listed among teh ten as often as possible, as it is rather an essential place. Ha! I would be interested in seeing an EVANGELION post and I fully understand the dire state of DVD releases, which favor all the multiplex junk I could only imagine how THE AVENGERS is getting promoted by you. Probably as much as here.
Thanks as ever my friend. Fully understand the delay in the comments. Have a great week away with your wife. Many thanks!
Hi Sam,
I must say that your desire to change the format of the links is certainly understandable and I think we all understand where you’re coming from. I do thank you for the kind mention this week. I can imagine that this is a chore that can become quite laborious and taxing. I myself am waaaaaaay later than normal posting my comments here as today was one of THOSE Mondays. It was a MONDAY Monday if you know what I mean. I literally never got to sit at my desk today, let alone check in at WitD. In fact, work has been quite stressful and very busy lately, taking its toll mentally and physically. I am here this week, but will be on the road all next week. I’ve found also lately that my extra tiredness has affected how I’m viewing movies I have traditionally loved in the past, like Ugetsu and Belle de Jour. I watched both of them last week, and found I didn’t like them as much as I had in the past. Maybe I was just too tired, not sure. I did have a viewing of Murnau’s Faust that completely blew my mind though. Remarkable camera-work etc and Jannings is incredible as usual.
This week my aim is to see Andrei Rublev, Stalker, The Heiress. I’m hoping Sam that you have a really good week ahead my friend. Best Wishes.
Thanks very much Jon!
Well, I will say that there is too much tradition and sentiment attached to the links, and I don’t think I could every get rid of them. I wouldn’t want to either. But I’ll admit they are time-consuming, at least in the way I do them. You see Jon, on Sunday night when I prepare them I put up the link, but only after I’ve added a comment at the other site in most cases. This triples teh time it would take if I were just doing the links. Of course doing them serves as a discipline to placing comments at the other sites, but it’s demanding. I can still get to the other sites without the two being wed, methinks. I completely under stand what you mean about a “MONDAY Monday.” Ha! And I am sorry that work has drained you as of late. I know this will happen from time to time, but you’ve had a really tough time with the travelling and stress. I do hope things will settle down for you my friend, much sooner than later. You may well have been a bit tired while watching that Bunuel and Mizoguchi. But yes FAUST is a remarkable film, without a doubt. You have quite a treesome lined up there! I do hope you get some peace this week my friend. Thanks as always!
Sam, thanks for the kind mention and I understand your sentiments regarding the weekly links. In fact, 5 would be a perfect number going forward as it would shed a proper spotlight on a few sites. Please don’t feel bad about having less links per week. You already do a lot to support other blogs, much more than any other person I know. Between your regular blog visits and emails, you maintain a vibrant film dialogue. So having a few less links each week won’t change that dynamic.
Sachin—
As I just said to Mark below, I have decided to go with 10 links a week from now on. This can be managed with minimum hassle, so I will do it that way and back away from further unrest. By going with 10 I can keep certain favorites placed in the spotlight and have a more successful alternating pattern. It was the 40 and 50 that was really giving me problems. Thanks so much as always for your incomparable kind words and support. You have been a prince since the time I first met you online, and I owe you a debt of gratitude.
Have a great week my friend!
Sam, I am flattered by your kind words :) Thanks so much. Hope you also have a great week ahead.
Sam, your family needs you. ( I’m estranged from most of my family, but that’s life). So you enjoy your Sundays en famille and without guilt from here on out.
Preminger and Seberg again? Hmmm. After squirming through their Joan of Arc picture I remain skeptical, but curious.
Later, my friend, I’m off to check out Wilson on ‘The Avengers’.
Mark, I have since come to the conclusion that while I must severely curtail the number of links on this diary on a weekly basis to maintain a life, I must also keep the long-running identity of the diary and the spirit it projects. You are now officially the first to know, but I will be going with ten (10) links every week from this point forward. That is a good amount without getting bogged down and going overboard. I will alternate and have some retentions depending on the posts, but that is the way I am going. I urge you to watch BONJOUR TRISTESSE again. in fact I can help you do that immediately. I will. Ha! I’m dying to hear what you say about THE AVENGERS, though I believe I may know the answer. Ha!
Thanks as always my friend!
Hey Sam, thanks a lot for the kind mention and my apologies for turning in so late. As I’d mentioned to you, I’ve relocated to a new city (moved in here last week – on May 1 to be precise). Right now I’ve put up at our company’s guest house, but I’ll be shifting to the apartment that I’ve decided to rent within the next few days. Hence, on account of that, as of now I’m living out of my suitcase, As understandable, it’ll be sometime before I get fully settled (not just physically, but psychologically too) in this new place and new job, and feel at home in the apartment where I’ll be moving. Hence, my movie viewing and my blog might become a bit cold for a few days. Though I’m sure I’ll get back to “active” mode once I get fully settled, I hope that happens sooner rather than later.
It’ll be really sad not to see the Monday Morning Diary as it is now as like most visitors to this site visiting this post religiously every week has become a part of my routine for sometime now. But, that said, its also easy to appreciate how much time and energy you expend in keeping this up week after week with untiring devotion – and I do share and fully understand what’s going through your mind. Given how much time you already spend in watching movies and writing about them, its perfectly fair for you to devote to your personal life and your family members whatever time that you get. To slightly modify a Metallica song, the memory shall remain,
Shubhajit—
Be rest assured you are never late as far as this thread is concerned. You have apparently reached a crossroads of your life and you seem to be handling the uprooting exceptionally well. I wish you the very best at your new home and city, and I’m sure in your typical resilient way you will soon be back to the regular order of business.
As far as the Diary is concerned, I’m happy to report that I will be going with 10 (ten) posted links every week from now on, and as per a smart recommendation from my very good friend Dee Dee, I will urge all the rest of the blogging fraternity to add their own links. So the thread won’t really be changing all that much, just the number of links that are actually posted by me. But with ten, the thread goes forward with a good part of the status quo.
As always I appreciate all you have done by way of friendship, support and kind words. You have been invaluable for a very long time my friend. many thanks!
This week’s classical gem:
Rachmaninoff’s ‘Symphony No. e in E minor, op. 27, “Adagio”
Sam, thanks so much for the mention.
If there is anyone in the blogosphere that owes no apology, it’s you. Your ability to build community and incredibly loyal support of the medium as well the blogosphere knows no equal. I commend you for all you do and support any modifications you may make moving forward.
I loved hearing about your positive experience with BONJOUR TRISTESSE (I’m a big fan, as well). And I look forward to seeing the Mia Hansen-Love film.
I wasn’t able to see anything this past week but look forward to rectifying that soon. Thanks so much, Sam, for all you do for all of us!
As always Jeffrey I thank you for your unwavering support and exceedingly kind words. I can’t say how appreciative I am to you for your long run of enthusiasm and good will both towards me and this blogsite. Of course, since last week I have thought matters over, and what with the written advice from my dear friends Dee Dee, I am going to ask that all bloggers provide a link to their latest post (if they would like to do so), which will be in addition to the 10 (ten) links that I will continue to sort out and post every week.
BONJOUR TRISTESSE was actually held over at the Film Forum, and I am tempted to see it a second time before Thursday. I’m sure you will be most positive on GOODBYE FIRST LOVE.
Thanks again for your incomparable good will my great friend!
Work for your self :
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