by Sam Juliano
2012 is on it’s last legs, and for many it’s a year better left to expire without looking back. Sure there were high points, artistic accomplishment and personal goals met, but tragedy intruded one time too often. We at Wonders in the Dark were deeply saddened to hear the news of Lori Moore’s passing over the holiday season. Lori, who over the past few months collaborated with Dee Dee and Barbara LaMotta on the John Garfield petition was well-regarded by her peers and referred to as one of the loveliest of persons. Our deepest condolences to Lori’s family, to Dee Dee, and to all those who were fortunate enough to be touched by Lori in their lives. I never was lucky in my life to meet Lori, but was moved to hear the testament of others.
On Saturday morning I drove Lucille and the family up to Newtown, Connecticut to leave flowers at the site of the Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dickinson Drive. Set back on a slight hill, the road leading up was barricaded off, but visitors were permitted to walk up to the school building. A wire fence now encircles the one-story structure, and many of the windows are now boarded. After we stayed for about ten minutes, a police car came, and an officer politely asked that people leave as heavy snow began falling. My kids will remember this as one of the saddest days they’ll ever experience, and though our intentions were of solidarity and grief, it was a very difficult trip to make.
It’s been a tough week too with physical maladies afflicting WitD staffers on both sides of the Atlantic. In Kendal, in northwestern England Allan Fish has been felled by a nasty stomach viris, while hear just outside of NYC in Fairview, New Jersey, Your Truly has had some intermittant stomach nausea, bloating and acid reflux to deal with. Still I did my best to function, and escorted the family to several films, including multiple viewings of the long-awaited Les Miserables.
Activity at the site has been very limited this week for all kinds of reasons, but it must be noted that the just-concluded “comedy countdown” expended quite a bit of time and energy among the site’s friends and affiliates, and to all those I again want to extend our deepest gratitude. Running from late summer until the start of winter it was a project that really required attention all through the weeks, and everyone aswered the call with remarkable resilence and passion. Thank you all! We would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and hopes for a 2013 of smiles and cheers.
Congratulations to our friend Judy Geater at Movie Classics for her remarkable month-long Dickens December series that really hit the spot for the holiday season.
Lucille and I (and the kids for all except Tabu, in which we were joined by Jason):
Les Miserables ***** (Christmas Eve and two times after that) Clifton
Django Unchained ***** (Wed. afternoon) Secaucus multiplex
Tabu * (Saturday night) Film Forum
The long wait for LES MISERABLES resulted in a passionate response from the entire family. I have reserved my complete reaction for a full review, which appears right over the MMD this morning. DJANGO UNCHAINED was a marvelous surprise, though the over-the-top violence (really a send-up of spaghetti westerns) was not well-timed (to say the least) with all the heart-breaking tragedies of the past months. The film was a kind of Tarantinian homage to the famed European westerns of the 60’s, where a hero conmpletes herculean gunsmanship, in this case a pre-Civil War setting. Fueled by some terrific performances by Christophe Waltz and Leonardo DiCaprio, it’s often hysterical and despite it’s nearly three-hour length one of the most entertaining films of 2012. It’s received some superlative reviews, but I still went in skeptical. One of the most mystifying cinematic perceptions of this past year is how it is possible that a movie as torturous and pretentious as the Portugese TABU has won over so many critics. Some interesting ideas are wasted in a film poorly paced and simplistically visualized. No narrative cohensiveness, labored humor, no emotional connection.
I am re-printed last week’s links, and have tried to update a few:
Judy Geater’s magnificent “Dickens December” series continues with a profile of Orson Welles as a radio “Scrooge” at Movie Classics: http://movieclassics.wordpress.com/2012/12/22/orson-welles-as-a-very-young-scrooge-on-radio/
Jon Warner has penned a fabulous review on Melville’s “Le Cercle Rouge” at Films Worth Watching: http://filmsworthwatching.blogspot.com/2012/12/le-cercle-rouge-1970-directed-by-jean.html
At Speaking From The Heart Laurie Buchanan offers up another marvelous post, this one on “The Key of Sea-A Music Playlist to Write By”: http://holessence.wordpress.com/2012/12/18/the-key-of-sea-a-music-playlist-to-write-by/
Pat Perry speaks eloquently about the ‘unspeakable tragedy’ at Doodad Kind of Town: http://doodadkindoftown.blogspot.com/2012/12/this-is-not-post-i-had-planned.html
Samuel Wilson has crafted a terrific essay on Costa-Gavras’ “Z” at Mondo 70: http://mondo70.blogspot.com/2012/12/z-1969.html
At Vermillion and One Nights Murderous Ink has posted a spectacular piece on “Evangelion After Fukushima” (Part 2): http://vermillionandonenights.blogspot.com/2012/12/evangelion-after-fukushima-part-2.html
At Lost It at the Movies Movie Man Joel Bocko offers up a splendid screen capo display of “Leap of Faith”: http://thedancingimage.blogspot.com/2012/12/leap-of-faith.html#more
Fimmaker Jeffrey Goodman has several updates at The Last Lullaby, including his latest a splendid quartet of capsules that includes “The Breaking Point,” “Senna” and “The Edge of the World”: http://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2012/12/beau-travail-1999.html
David Schleicher has written a creative essay on Jacques Audiard’s “Rust and Bone” at The Schleicher Spin: http://theschleicherspin.com/2012/12/23/evolutionary-melodrama-and-triumph-of-the-human-spirit-in-rust-and-bone/
Richard R.D. Finch is leading up with his spectacular comedy countdown essay on “Sullivan’s Travels” at The Movie Projector: http://themovieprojector.blogspot.com/2012/12/sullivans-travels-1942.html
Shubhajit Lahiri has penned a superlative capsule piece on Claire Denis’s “Beau Travail” at Cinemascope, claiming ‘style over substance’: http://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2012/12/beau-travail-1999.html
John Greco has a marvelous review of 1951’s incomparable “A Christmas Carol” up at Twenty-Four Frames: http://twentyfourframes.wordpress.com/2012/12/21/a-christmas-carol-1951-brian-desmond-hurst/
Roderick Heath’s already legendary mega-essay on “Dr. Strangelove” is presently leading up at Ferdy-on-Films: http://www.ferdyonfilms.com/2012/dr-strangelove-or-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-the-bomb-1964/17040/
Ed Howard’s magnificent review of Jean Rollin’s “Fascination” is leading up at Only the Cinema: http://seul-le-cinema.blogspot.com/2012/12/fascination.html
Craig Kennedy has posted one of his greatest interviews ever at Living in Cinema, with Samantha Barks, the lovely young actress who plays Eponine in “Les Miserables”: http://livingincinema.com/2012/12/20/samantha-barks-flies-the-flag-for-eponine-in-les-miserables/
Tony d’Ambra leads the way at Films Noir.net for a terrific piece on the little-exposed Italian noir ‘La Bionda’: http://filmsnoir.net/film_noir/la-bionda-the-blonde-italy-1992.html
At Overlook’s Corridor Jaimie Grijalba continues his intricate study of Chilean cinema: http://overlookhotelfilm.wordpress.com/2012/12/23/chilean-cinema-2012-16-stefan-vs-kramer-2012/
A moving post at the Creativepotager’s blog celebrates the three years since Terrill and David were marries at a quaint little church on Mayne Island in the Pacific northwest: http://creativepotager.wordpress.com/2012/12/10/celebrating-the-day-we-eloped/
Weeping Sam’s “Fall Film Round-Up No. 3” at The Listening Ear includes superb capsules reviews of “Killing Them Softly,” “Holy Motors” and “Cloud Atlas.”: http://listeningear.blogspot.com/2012/12/fall-film-round-up-3.html
At The Blue Vial Drew McIntosh is leading up with a superb screen cap presentation of Otto Preminger’s “Whirlpool”: http://thebluevial.blogspot.com/2012/12/whirlpool.html
At Patricia’s Wisdom the ever-spirited proprietor offers up “10 Steps to Finding Your Happy Place-My Gift to You”: http://patriciaswisdom.com/2012/12/10-steps-to-finding-your-happy-place-my-gift-to-you/
Dean Treadway’s new post “Cinema Gallery: 30 Scenes of Loneliness” is essential for all passionate film lovers. It’s over at Filmicability: http://filmicability.blogspot.com/2012/11/blog-post_6.html
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Wonders in the Dark 
Jeez. One lonely star for “Tabu”? I wasn’t blown away with it at the festival, but I’ve been more and more anxious to revisit it. I still need to see all the new stuff first, but I was intrigued by the film. My biggest issue was just the eye-strain of subtitles on a 1.33 film on a huge screen. This is one of those moments when the smaller setting of the Film Forum might help a bit. At any rate, I liked the film a hell of a lot more than the empty “Holy Motors”.
Bob—
I honestly found it torturous. I am aware of the very good reviews, and did feel there were good ideas, but in the end nothing came together. I liked the use of the Ronettes’ “Be My Baby” a childhood favorite, but even that didn’t add up to much. Aurora’s past life in Africa was potentially interesting but by that time the film had squandered it’s chances with me. Perhaps the smaller setting at the Film Forum will work for you. My filmmaking friend Jason Giampietro, who attended with me, found it incredibly pretentious. But heck many do feel otherwise. So then, this is MY “Holy Motors!” Ha! Thanks my friend!
Yeah, I, er, completely disagree about Tabu, Sam. I found it quietly rapturous, sad, compelling, and occasionally excruciatingly funny. One of my favourites of the year for sure. Compared to the cutesy new age garbage of Life of Pi which i saw the day before, it’s a palliative.
Oh, and Happy New Year!
This alone makes me think I really need to see it again. At the very least, I’d rather see this again than “Les Miz” even once. Maybe even more than “Amour” in the city, but that’s because I didn’t enjoy Haneke in the past, and because I know it’ll be easy enough to see as it tours the suburb art-houses. No particular need to see it in Manhattan, as it’ll play elsewhere. “Tabu”, I’m not so sure.
Oh Boy, Rod. It looks like we are on the opposite end of the spectrum with these two. I loved the New Age shtick in THE LIFE OF PI, completely fell under it’s emotional spell, and will be naming it among my Top 10 films of 2012 next week. I didn’t experience the humor and sadness in TABU the way you did, perhaps because I never really was involved in the early going. It seems like a narrative mess for me. Some interesting ideas that never really developed. But it is clear enough that I am the one on the outside looking in, because your ‘rapturous’ claim has quite a bit of support. I went in really wanting to like it, and admired the artistic choice to film in black and white. Ah well, it’s my loss.
Thanks very much my friend! I’m sure we will have some mutual choices in year end lists. I look forward to your always creative round-up!
And a Happy New Year to you and yours!
Sam – you really must be feeling ill if you found Django Unchained “entertaining” after famously loathing Tarantino’s previous effort. Feel better, man!
On a serious note, my deepest condolences to Lori’s friends and family.
Holidays are always a great time for films and this year has been no different (and better than many!) and I haven’t even seen Zero Dark Thirty yet. At theaters, I saw:
Rust & Bone – ****1/2
Django Unchained – ***
The Impossible – ****1/2
All of which have full reviews up at the Spin.
On Netflix, I saw:
Arbitrage – ***1/2
Sleepwalk with Me – ***
David—
It’s true I have been tough on Tarantino in the past, but I found quite a bit to laugh at in DJANGO UNCHAINED, which immediately becomes my favorite by the director. It’s was largely a send up, as outrageous and in bad taste as anything he’s done (heck Spike Lee has announced he refuses to see it) but with Waltz and DiCaprio on board the film justifies it’s long-running time, and features some set pieces that are brilliantly choreographed. An ultimate spaghetti western homage with racial shadings.
Thanks for the kind words of condolence for Lori’s family.
Looks like we will be agreeing on at least one film (THE IMPOSSIBLE) as I am no fan of RUST AND BONE. But I’ll be over to read your takes at THE SCHLEICHER SPIN! Many thanks my friend!
Oh, and Happy New Year, everyone!
Happy New Year David!
Another will year is coming to an end, though there won’t be any tears lost on when the ball drops at 12:00. I’m stuck reflecting on a year that started with the Dallas Cowboys losing their final game of the season against the Giants to miss the playoffs, which then followed with me having to move from my home in Richmond, get stuck in 3 month (and going) search for a new job, hit a new low with the longest run of inactivity on my blog, and to reach full circle, watch the Dallas Cowboys lose ANOTHER final game of the season to miss the playoffs! (damn Redskin!)
I can at least take some comfort in the fact that this next month will be dedicated to rounding out my final top ten for the year of 2012. I wasn’t very impressed by the films I saw this year, with the exception of The Master, Amour, and possibly Cosmopolis, but it’s around this time when I catch up on all the critically acclaimed films/festival favorites I missed: Holy Motors, Tabu, Rust and Bone, Zero Dark Thirty, etc. I had a similar disappointing reaction to the films of 2011, but then was able to catch masterpieces like Once Upon A Time in Anatolia, Pina, A Separation, and The Miners’ Hymns when preparing for the list.
Well anyways, I hope all of you at Wonders in the Dark, and everyone apart of the blogosphere, had a good year. Keeping with you guys on daily basis has been one of the few highlights. Happy New Years to you all and thank you for being a bright spot on an otherwise cruddy year for me!
Anu—
I can’t thank you enough for the kind and flattering words you offer up on the site and its writers. I am sorry that the Cowboys gave your some forgettable bookends over the past 12 months. I did figure that they would have their hands full with the sizzling hot Redskins, but they did at least make a game of it. Methinks those skins are gonna be hard to beat the rest of the way. They seem to be like the Giants were last year, hungry and ready to pounce! I can well understand how life intrudes on blog activity, and that’s frankly the way it should be. But yes the job hunt and the like has surely given you enough to handle. Wow, you lived in Richmond and you were a Cowboy fan? You needed a shield no? You have never disappointed with your year-end posts, and I’ll be looking forward to it! Your scholarship and taste are impeccable. I’m sure you will take more than kindly to ZERO DARK THIRTY and hope at some point you get to see WAR WITCH. Another that will count for me in 2012 (because it opned in USA theatres back in February) is Tarr’s brilliant THE TURIN HORSE, which strongly contends for my top spot. And I am certain you will like HOLY MOTORS and probably TABU. I completely agree on those 2011 choices too. Happy New Year to you my very good friend and many thanks as always!
No shield Sam. Just a Virginia kid in love with America’s Team. War Witch has to been on my radar, but now it’s hard for it not to be now with your recommendation. I hope to have new posts by the middle of next month and be back on the Monday Morning lineup.
Anu, I saw WAR WITCH at Tribeca back in April. It doesn’t open in USA theatres until March. At least one blogger at another site is saying I should hold it for my 2013 list, while Allan is telling me it’s absolute lunacy to do that. Decisions, decisions…ha! I’ll be watching for your posts!
Sam, you’ll be pleased to hear that I liked both Django Unchained and Les Miserables. Although I do have some reservations on the latter film, I found it more moving and entertaining than I’d anticipated as I am not a fan of the stage version and regard Tom Hooper as a director whose little flourishes sometimes seem cheap and indulgent. However, the good portions of the music were nicely done, with a fistful of strong performances.
Django was highly entertaining for me with, at times, a deeply moving undercurrent and strong performances. To me, this film was more even in tone than Inglorious Basterds. The best of Basterds was better for me than Django, but I found the quality of Django to be more consistently good as Basterds had aspects I didn’t care for. Without getting into spoiler territory, I must add that I enjoyed Tarentino’s cameo, especially the end of it, which left me smiling.
Pierre—
Be rest assured I am very pleased to hear this welcome news! It means quite a bit that you you found the musical worth in view of your past indifference for the stage version! It seems that even some of the film’s more vociferous dissenters are acknowledging the strong performance and some surprisingly good singing. As far as Hopper, it’s a fact he has his share of the unimpressed. In this case it’s more a matter of the material speaking for itself.
Completely agreed on DJANGO UNCHAINED, which I also found more even in tone than BASTERDS. Interesting point too when you note that the earlier film has some moments that may have eclipsed anything in DJANGO, but it also had some alienating moments. That can’t really be said for DJANGO. The last half hour was wildly over the top for sure, but Tarantino keeps the tone humorous by employing the body shields and a caricatured display of gore. Yep that cameo was really something. Was saddened to see it end!
Happy New Year my friend! I can’t thank you enough for your incomparable friendship and regular support!
I disagree with both you on Django versus Basterds. I thought Basterds was a better written film…more focused, better setpieces, better pacing, and better acting. Yes it was a bit offensive, but it was a more focused and propulsive film. Django seems to restart about 3 times in the film. It’s pacing feels off and thus begins to drag in the second half. I think there’s really only one terrifically staged setpiece in Django….while Basterds has at least 3. Like I said, Basterds divides people….but I think that’s what made the filmmaking more impassioned. Django meanders too much and doesn’t really know what it wants to do…sometimes it’s a western, other times it’s a Hong Kong film in disguise, other times it’s a blaxploitation film. The acting was also weaker here than in Basterds, save for Samuel L Jackson’s turn. Django is an example of Tarantino’s least interesting filmmaking. I also think the concept of Tarantino trying to make a send-up of the spaghetti western is misguided to begin with. Spaghetti westerns, and the films of Peckinpah, were already over the top affairs to begin with. There’s really nothing to ape or enlighten here that wasn’t already examined in the films from the 60’s and 70’s. Basterds took the concept of the WWII actioner and added an attitude that wasn’t there in the 60’s and 70’s. That’s what made it feel fresh. Django feels stale to me. Even the laughs are strained. Didn’t like it.
Jon, I think I understand where you’re coming from and can agree with some of it. For me, the best parts of Basterds were better than anything in Django. But other parts of Basterds didn’t measure up. This adds up to Django being more consistently good — and most of all, more entertaining overall. As far as being a spaghetti western, I didn’t look at it that way, Tarantino is a style unto itself.
Sorry to hear you and Allan were both under the weather over the festive period, Sam – I hope you are both soon on the mend. I’ve had a cold myself but it is now on the way out and fortunately the rest of my family seems to have escaped, so far! Congratulations to you on all your work in running the comedy countdown – I enjoyed following it and now have a long list of comedies I need to catch up with. I am also appreciating Allan’s British TV countdown.
Thanks very much for all your support for my Dickens postings – I’ve enjoyed getting into the film adaptations of his work and there are quite a few more that I want to explore in the future. As well as assorted Dickens adaptations, I’ve just seen ‘Shane’ on TV, which I’d somehow never seen before, and absolutely loved it. My family also watched ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ again over Christmas, and my daughter and I quite enjoyed the British romantic comedy ‘The Decoy Bride’, set on a remote Scottish island and starring Kelly Macdonald and David Tennant – the script is pretty weak but the cast and the scenery make it watchable.
I also seem to have spent a great deal of time watching wall-to-wall TV episodes of ‘Friends’ (with my daughter) and ‘Big Bang Theory’ (with my son) – I’ve now had enough of flatmate comedies to last me for a while! Anyway, I’d like to wish a Happy New Year to all at Wonders, and hope 2013 is better than 2012.
Judy—
Thank you for the kind words! It seems more often than not that the holiday season in the past years has coincided with some flu-related malady. In my case I think some of the problem is nausea from medication. Allan has had to battle a nasty flu, as has his mum over the past week. Happy you mostly dodged the bullet and the rest in your house escaped. It’s always the worst when it travels through the household needless to say! Your steadfast support and stellar contributions to yet another project at WitD are deeply appreciated. I was thinkly you’d really appreciate Allan’s excellent and unique British television countdown. It’s an area that you and he both have quite a grasp on. The Dickens series was an endless wonderment and a learning experience for many who checked in at MOVIE CLASSICS. That was quite an investment of time and passion over the holiday season. SHANE is a classic for sure, and I am in completely agreement. SINGIN IN THE RAIN makes the holiday complete for sure! Haven’t seen THE DECOY BRIDE, though I am assuming Allan has. Ha, I like what you say about “having enough flatmate comedies to last you for a while!”
Happy New Year to you all Judy! Your cherished friendship and support has been invaluable!
Sam, Valerie and I wish you and yours a Happy New Year. Your presentation of Les Miserables was a thing of beauty, and especially remarkable in view of your health difficulties. We hope you find a solution in the very near future!
Jim—
Thank you so much my friend! I think I have finally found the sourse of the nausea. It’s metformin, the diabetes medication. How many times does it turn out this way? Geez. This is almost surely what also caused the bloating. I’ll attempt to sort out everything during an upcoming doctor’s visit. Thanks for the exceedingly kind words on LES MISERABLES. My best to you and Valerie for the best year ever in 2013. Your incomparable contributions, friendship and support are deeply cherished!
Sam –
Sorry to hear of the stomach maladies that are plaguing you and Allan, but I can completely relate. My Friday night plans to see LES MISERABLES were completely derailed by an emergency room trip for Marlon, who has been suffering a particularly perisistent viral flu. They found nothing else wrong, thank God, and he is very slowly recuperating but it has been tough couple of weeks for him. Between that and my holiday trip home to see the parents, I did not see any new movies this week. I have tentative plans to see LES MIS on Wednesday, and hopefully a couple more new titles by this time next week. (I look forward to reading your LES MIS review once I finally get to see it. but am holding off on it till then.) I did watch BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD, which I found compelling and disturbing, and several more installments of the STORY OF FILM; AN ODYSSEY documentary series, which is inspiring me to delve more deeply into world cinema in the coming year.
Happy New Year to all at WITD!
Pat—
I am sorry to hear that Marlon has also been under the weather, and I know only too well what a nightmare an emergency room visit can bring. Yes,, when one gets bitten by that bug it is too easy to imagine all the worst things. I did it myself just recently. All they can do is prescrive some antibiotics and let it run its course. I can well imagine the rough time he has had battling it. Ugh. I wish him the best, and hope the New Year equates with feeling much better! Understandably you were unable to do a few things. I am thinking you will like LES MISERABLES, but would understand that you may take issue with some of the bold directorial decisions. But then again nyou might not. That seems to be the nature of division right now. I liked BEASTS less, but I still trying to figure out where I went wrong, and not the other way around. Ha! I hope you’ll find time to document your reactions to THE STORY OF FILM when it is complete.
The best New Year to one of my best online friends! And the same to Marlon! Thank you as always!
Sam I hope your New Years resolution was to watch Story of Film. The turn of the calendar makes it a year now – at the rate were going in these MMD threads soon everyone will have seen it but you!
Not that you need someone else busting your balls to see movies, haha, especially someone in this case who probably saw fewer movies this past year than in at least a half- decade (and fewer than theaters in at least two decades, I’m guessing). But the Cousins was worth making an exception for.
Joel, in this instance you are absolutely right. I should have watched this a long time ago and I do need to be reminded of it for sure. I have the DVDRs on my computer table in a pile right in front of me, and will make every attempt to begin this week. You, Pat and several others have issued glowing praise after Allan had initially expressed early excitement. Even a regular at the Film Forum reported that she had watched the entire series at BAM a few months ago. I’m definitely in!
That would be interesting to see the film on a big screen in a theater though I’d imagine they were just screening a DVD. Anyway, the series can certainly be taken in pieces so the length need not be intimidating but I had fun watching it all back to back in a day or two as well…
Sam, we find ourselves in the strange position of you liking a Tarantino film more than I do. I don’t have any problem with Django Unchained’s scale of violence, but it had big problems with its pacing and, speaking for myself, I found the lack of a classical gun duel or the absence of a worthy gunfighting antagonist annoying in a supposed spaghetti homage. DiCaprio and Jackson are terrific as villains nevertheless, and Foxx and Waltz make decent genre heroes, but I suppose I’m growing uncomfortable with what now looks like Tarantino’s preference for executions over fights, or a resort to revolutionary violence without any real revolutionary context. But if Unchained is ultimately just a comedy maybe the problem’s with me.
Anyway, happy new year, folks. Mine will be a miserable one, but that may be a good thing!
Samuel,
I’m with you here. The pacing was terrible. It restarted like 3 times. Second half dragged to no end. This film is also NOT a spaghetti western and if it’s supposed to be, then it failed miserably. I found that it was only a western when it wanted to be. It just didn’t capitalize on the tropes, motifs enough to be a true Spaghetti Western, or a Western at all for that matter. I just also feel that Tarantino’s filmmaking style doesn’t quite jive with trying to make a Spaghetti Western, if that’s what he was attempting. His over the top style of filmmaking tends to subvert genres. But subverting a genre that was already subverted decades ago…rings sort of stale. What do you think? You’re a Spaghetti Western expert so I respect your opinion.
Jon, whatever their virtues spaghettis start as a kind of subversive pastiche so doing any kind of pastiche of one will make for a shallow picture. All the energy the film has comes from its “slavesploitation” roots. I’m actually surprised that the Italians never got around to doing something like this — perhaps most directors weren’t as willing as Jacopetti & Prosperi to make a deal with a devil in Haiti to get the extras they’d need. As for Tarantino, from his own comments he seems to see Unchained as more quest movie than classical or spaghetti western. All I know is that late line about Django becoming the fastest gun in the South rang hollow to me when he never proved it in familiar style.
Jon, this is a minority instance where we are on a completely different page. I am not remotely a Tarantino fan, but I thought this was an often hysterical send-up that (despite its length) was flat out one of the most entertaining films of the year. I liked it far better than INGLORIOUS BASTERDS and will have it on my ten-best list. Still I completely understand the issues you have with it and as always greatly respect your opinion.
“Jon, whatever their virtues spaghettis start as a kind of subversive pastiche so doing any kind of pastiche of one will make for a shallow picture.
Samuel….exactly. And like you, I find that when the film makes direct references to spaghettis, that line of dialogue like you mention, the score and other moments in the film….these come across as empty reference points that don’t go anywhere because they don’t enlighten anything. The whole slavesploitation thing I do get. I mean it’s clearly the main line of the plot. There are moments that work….but I really don’t like the pacing of the film and this has nothing to do with the genre Tarantino chose. The film’s second half is loaded with protraction.
Sam- I don’t doubt that you liked this film or in fact saw anything different than I did. However, it does make an interesting point that you think this is Tarantino’s best film and that you don’t like much of anything else he’s made. This almost proves to me that this may be Tarantino’s least idiosyncratic picture and least inspired work for fans of his. It doesn’t have the freshness and propulsion that Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, and Basterds has. I think our culture is so loaded with irony and over the top forms of action that this sort of thing is wearing thin. I mean Peckinpah already did this sort of bloodletting decades ago in the western. Tarantino’s shootouts here are for the most part….not funny, not shocking, not subversive…..they’re just there.
I am reminded of all the people who loved Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris. Even my father who is a notorious Woody Allen hater….really loved it. I’m a huge Woody Allen fan and felt the film was a hollow exercise. I would like someone who’s a Tarantino fan to come to the defense of this film and explain how or why it’s great and how it fits in with his best. I doubt anyone will rise to the challenge.
And Sam you know I don’t want to start a row with you. I’m simply wondering whether it’s a film that stands up with Tarantino’s best work for people that have liked his work in the past.
Jon, it is connecting with plenty of people, and it has received superlative cumulative reviews. I found the raunchy humor to my liking, and some of the set pieces gloriously over-the-top. Seems like the biggest disagreements you and I have this year are with this film and with OSLO, AUGUST 31ST (which I find better than the Malle film you are using as the sourse). It admittedly comes down to taste, and there will be a few films ever year that we will different on drastically. But far more times we will be in agreement.
Not many readers this week for me either – too much on the plate and too much company to spend very much time on line. It was fun to play card and board games with the kids and just enjoy the slow pace. While the troops were off cross country skiing I was regrouping and cooking up a storm. Thank goodness everyone was healthy here. So sorry you had the stomach upset. So happy that Les Miserable opened on the 26th here and we were able to go on Saturday morning at 10 am. I wish we could go again, but am very happy to have been this once. The movie theaters have been packed for this season, but not with many I wanted to see or spend money on.
I am doing a week of EPIPHANY workshops coming up (the 12 days of Christmas song is about) I am looking forward to earning some funds and getting out to teach.
Gun Violence has been on lots of folks minds around here and we are going to work with a committee/study group about keeping children safe. The big guns and striker vehicles roll off the ships and down our streets all night long here and we have a too many guns available because of the huge military presence. How to find balance and safety midst such pain and sorrow?
May it be a blessed new year for you and your readers. Thank you for keeping me in the loop
Patricia—
The lull in activity is of course more than understandable as we moved through the holiday season. Playing the games with the kids is of course the best moments of all. I bet you did indeed cook up some great dishes, as I know you have talent in that department! As I stated to some others I have figured that the stomach nausea had to do wth diabetic medication. I’ll get that all sorted out. Great to hear you got to see LES MIS on Saturday, and I’m assuming you liked it! For me it will certainly finish among my top five movies of the year. The film did do some fabulous business over the holidays, and is poised to put up some staggering cumulative figures over the coming week. I’d recomment DJANGO for it’s humor and style (it’s easily my favorite Tarantino film ever, and it’s received some spectacular reviews) but it is violent, even if bordering on caricature, and this isn’t a time when violence is appreciated. I did like THE HOBBIT well enough, though not sure if that brank of fantasy is your cup of tea. There will still be two more in that series to come. Good luck with the Epiphany workshops, and the road towards getting some teaching time in. Yes the gun violence issue if being taken up by our local Board of Education in town here, who may opt to have a retired policeman stationed in all the schools. This is at least on the table. The pain and sorrow is too much for sure. Everyone was saddened over the entire break, and what happened remains unspeakable.
Have a verry Happy New Year my very good friend! The very best to you and your family!
Sam – I commend you and yours for the heartfelt journey to Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Len and I want to take this opportunitty to wish you Lucille, Melanie, Sammy, Danny, Jillian, and Jeremy the healthiest and most joy-filled New Year yet!
Laurie—
I can’t thank you enough for those impassioned words. Our best to you and Len, two of our favorite people! We are hoping on the best year ever in 2013.
With the holidays Sam I have been remiss in my usual comments here. However, I just had to come by and wish you and everyone at Wonders in the Dark a most HAPPY NEW YEAR.
David and I have been watching ROME Season one and loving it. The acting is great and the stories are what storytelling is all about.
We also watched BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (2012) directed by Behn Zeitlin. I liked the child’s view of a film that was NOT a child’s film. With its fantasy and rough living we are taken on a journey into ourselves and allowed to marvel at our human capacity to survive.
Well, this is our update and the last update from la casa de inspiracion on Mayne Island for 2012. We shall be back to join you in the New Year with what seems to be shaping up as a more relaxed and creatively deep adventure on this end of the world. Until then Sam. Hugs all around! 🙂
Terrill—
We wish you and David a healthy, creative and properous New Year! Both of you are among the loveliest of people and I count myself blessed to have met you. From what I have seen of the first season of ROME, I am fully in agreement with your framing! BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD has many advocates and has moved cineastes in a big way. You state the case there beautifully! School resumes for us in the morning after the 12 day break. Hugs to you all! I’ll be heading over soon to Mayne Island’s most distinguished blogsite! Thanks you for your cherished friendship and support!
That was a sad trip to take Sam, but I commend you, Lucille and the kids for doing something that had to be done. It does seem like everything that happened this month after that act of evil was insignificant. God bless the people in Newtown for what they have had to endure. I hope finally that the nation will wake up and make some drastic changes, despite the depraved position of the NRA.
Looking forward to Django Unchained. There were big lines going into that one too.
Happy New Year to you, Lucille, the family and everyone at Wonders in the Dark.
Thanks very much for that Frank! Yes, I agree that the terrible event leaves everything else meaningless, and I can’t imagine how those who lost loves ones will ever be able to move forward. God bless them all indeed. Despite the NRA obstinance I do think the unspeakable nature of what happened will bring on serious reform. Look forward to your response to DJANGO. Happy New Year to you and Sue my very good friend!
Sam, your notes about your family’s visit to Sandy Hook struck me deeply in regards to their honesty and soul emotion. I don’t know how I will ever shake this thing away from me…this thing that didn’t really happen to ME, but did so thouroughly. As you know, this was a difficult year for me, too…watching my two best friends, Marty and Angelo, pass away literally before my eyes. I still mourn their loss. But I start the new year with two more grey ones, two more babies, and I direct you to them here…https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10200305950075926.2198992.1369181183&type=1
The movies I saw this week? On a five star scale…
LES MISERABLES 2 1/2 stars
(Unimpressively directed, though there were scenes to be admired, But if you don’t dig the music, you ain’t gonna like the movie…)
DJANGO UNCHAINED 3 1/2 stars
(Beautifully photographed and scored, but way too long. Waltz and especially Sam Jackson are the film’s MVPs. DiCaprio tries, but someone else could have impressed in this role more. I would have gone with Don Johnson…)
TAKE THIS WALTZ 4 1/2 stars
(an extraordinary film, visually and emotionally, and it takes no prisoners)
FLIGHT 3 stars
(great change-of-pace for Denzel, and a complicated story, I thought. But it loses steam at the end. I hestitate to say it crash lands.)
BERNIE 4 stars
(a beautiful performance by Jack Black, and a well-honed sense of place by Richard Linklater)
THE LONELIEST PLANET 1 star
(What a disappointment! DAY NIGHT DAY NIGHT was superb. This was a 10 minute short padded out to 95 minutes or so…)
I felt The Loneliest Planet was one of the best films of the year. I like this type of filmmaking though.
Dean—
Thanks for those moving words. I know there are a few minority voices that feel that making the trip is intrusive and bordering on nosiness. But this wasn’t just a Connecticut tragedy, or a national tragedy, but one that affected all humanity. Lucille as a school principal and I as a 29 year educator felt this was necessary. Many others in teaching have made this pilgrammage. You are quite right too when you say the event has prevented positive thoughts from taking any kind of meaningful hold. I know you have had a very sad holiday season as well with your wrenching losses. You have my deepest condolences. We have four cats, three dogs and two parrots in this house, and the loss of any would spur on massive grief and depression. I can’t even think of it. Dean, when I click on your link it says “the content is unavailable.” Is there a further recommendation that will allow me to view that page?
AS far as LES MIS I completely agree that if the music doesn’t work the film is forgettable. You know my own position of course, and I am a veteran fan of the Broadway show, but I see the writing on the wall, and that is that there is a sizable minority here that just don’t care all that much. Hooper’s decisions have run the full gamut from praise to condemnation. I respect that. I agree that Waltz and Jackson were fabulous in DJANGO. The length didn’t bother me, but I can see why you and a number of others would find the nearly three-hour running time a tuen off. I am pretty much agree with you there on the ratings for FLIGHT and BERNIE (maybe an extra half star for BERNIE? I am not sure) but I am a little less on TAKE THIS WALTZ, which I saw at Tribeca. But I know and respect that many were very moved by it, and your position is in line to that end. THE LONELIEST PLANET seems to be dividing the people that I know why have seen it. I hope to see it soon.
Have a very Happy New Year my friend. You deserve it after going through an emotional ringer in 2012. Many thanks for your fabulous contributions week after week!
Sam The Loneliest Planet is on-demand on cable. At least in my area. I have AT&T. I thought it played really well at home on my tv.
I’ll definitely see it Jon at some point soon.
Huh,,,the link works for me… let’s try it again…or I can email you the link…
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10200305950075926.2198992.1369181183&type=1
Oh boy Dean, it still won’t go for me, can you e mail it to me at: TheFountain26@aol.com?
I am getting the same “the content is unavailable.”
I just tried again from school Dean, and the same thing happened yet again.
Could this have anything to do with the fact that I am not on Facebook, that I don’t have an account?
Thanks Sam for the mention. Wish you, and everyone here at WitD, a very happy new year. I had a nice time yesterday evening with a few close friends – watched the latest Tom Cruise floss (a perfect film for the occasion), and then got together at my apartment for drinks and dinner. Rounded off the day with the Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies which was playing on TV – watched it after a very long time. Tt was fun seeing Brosnan’s antics.
Surprised to note that you didn’t like Tabu at all – it indeed is one of the most praised films of this year. But, I’m also glad to note that you liked the latest Tarantino film considerably – I’m eagerly waiting for it myself.
Anyway, here’s what I saw over the past week:
– Parajanov’s much acclaimed The Color of Pomegranates – however, I didn’t like it at all
– Melville’s exquisite final film, Un Flic
– The renowned Bunuel-Dali collaboration, Un Chien Andalou
– Ozu’s remarkable film on father-daughter relationship, Late Spring
– Jancso’s excellent allegorical political drama filled with marvelous songs, Red Psalm
A very Happy New Year top you and yours Shubhajit, and thanks for your remarkable support and of course cherished friendship. I haven’t gotten around to Cruise’s film yet, but will at some point. Interesting that you saw that Bond at a time when SKYFALL is winding down. I seem to have forgotten if you did get to SKYFALL yet? I know Sachin is ambivalent with TABU, and I a good friend and movie lover who saw it with me pretty much hated it. But yes, some really excellent reviews, I can’t argue that. I do look forward to reading your response. Yep, DJANGO is a real lot of fun, but a heavy dose of violence even in mostly spaghetti western send-up mode. Wow, now it’s your turn to dissent on a highly praise film: THE COLOR OF POMEGRANATES. I’m looking forward to reading your response. I like that Melville and adore the Bunuel of course, and think Ozu’s LATE SPRING is one of the all-time greatest masterpieces. Jansco’s film is indeed excellent! Looks like you took in some real greatness this week. Thanks again my very good friend!
I’ve seen Skyfall, Sam. I’d seen it when it had its worldwide release, and had found it reasonably okay – good in parts, if not throughout.
Hi! Sam Juliano, Allan, WitD writers and readers…
First Of all,
Thank-you, so very much for your kind and very thought-ful words about my friend Lorraine [Lori] Moore
[My friend Lorraine Moore’s Service Was Held Yesterday on New Year Eve…and her Family and Friends are in my thoughts and prayers at this time too…and thank-you, for also for mentioning Barbara LaMotta… too!
Secondly,
Here wishing everyone here at “Wonders in the Dark” a New Year… filled with love,warmth,good friend-ship, and prosperity.
[Sam Juliano and Allan, here wishing you both a speedy recover from your ailments…]
Thirdly, I have already discussed my feeling about yours and your family visit to Sandy Hook Elementary in an email and my feelings and thoughts are still [remain] the same… too!
Now, to take a look at films that you, your family and friend visited…I can see that “Les Miserables,” “Django Unchained,” garnered more stars than “Tabu…”which appears to be the weakest link on your chain.
Once again, Sam Juliano, thanks, for sharing the links and the mention every week… too!
Dee Dee—-
This was certainly a very sad holiday season, though many managed to make the best of it. My heartfelt condolences go out to Lori’s family at this time of bereavement. The Christmas Eve passing and New Year’s eve services made it so difficult on the family. i know you will always cherish your own relationship with Lori. Thanks for the well wishes! I have felt much better the last few days, and I think Allan is well on his way to recovery. Thanks so very much for your kind words regarding the trip to Sandy Hook, one that meant so much to our family. As far as the films seen, yes indeed. LES MIS and DJANGO UNCHAINED do make my year-end ‘best of’ list in flying colors, while I saw TABU as vastly overrated.
I entend my deepest New Year’s greeting to you my cherished friend!
Sam,
Happy New Year to you! Hope you feel better soon and are back to 100%. That must have been some visit to Sandy Hook. I’m sure you all won’t forget that anytime soon. I’ve spent a good deal of time at home with the family over the past week or so and it’s been good to rest and catch up on films too!
Les Mis- I left my comments to you on your magnificent review. I do like the film with some reservations. It was better than I expected though from reading some bad reviews.
Django- Again left my thoughts up above. Didn’t like it. Muddled, pacing was off, laughs strained….not Tarantino’s best example of his ideals or filmmaking.
The Grey- Tough little actioner. I liked it. Not great but solid.
The Loneliest Planet- One of my favorite films of the year. Now I love Gerry and Meek’s Cutoff. So this type of filmmaking is right up my alley. From the jarring first images, to the atonal soundtrack, to the cinematography and topics of discussion the film brings up…I loved it. Like it or not, I think this film has moments that I don’t think I’ve even remotely seen before in cinema….shots, topics and sequences that were new to me. I like things that feel fresh.
I’m currently working on tracking down some other 2012 releases to work on compiling my own best of 2012 list….which I may not be able to get to until Academy Award timing, but better late than never. Hope you have a great week Sam!
OH and I didn’t even mention yet the worst film of the week for me which was:
The Dark Knight Rises: Wow what a bloated film this is. Muddled, poor pacing, poorly executed action sequences, a laughable bad-guy, terribly staged setpieces (what was the deal with that football stadium sequence). Not to mention I am feeling a definite sense of super-hero fatigue. If I see another super hero movie anytime soon….it will be too soon. This film was a huge step down from the previous installment which I thought was a masterpiece. What a mess.
Jon—
A very Happy New Year to you and your lovely family, and my sincerest thanks to you for another years of terrific movie talk, and amazing friendship and support! The Sandy Hook visit did cast a pall over anything positive over the break, as well it should have. We can’t even begin to fathom how it affected those directly affected. Happy to hear you got to spend some quality time at home and watched some movies. Thanks for your very kind words on the LES MIS review, and I was thrilled to read of your solid response to the film! There were indeed some bad and even scathing reviews, but a modest majority were favorable, as I’m sure you’ve seen. As far as DJANGO it’s clear we are on opposite ends. I respect your position, as I pretty much had a dissenting view on INGLORIOUS BASTERDS, and was never muchj of a Tarantino fan before that. Yes THE GREY was exactly whaty you said–solid but nothing great. I wasn’t a fan of MEEK’S CUTOFF, GERRY nor OLD JOY, so does it bode badly for me as far as THE LONELIEST PLANET goes? Great capsule assessment there! I do greatly look forward to your list my friend!!
Wow that’s a severe dismissal of THE DARK KNIGHT RISES. Sadly, whenever I think of the film the memories of the Aurora tragedy come into focus.
Sam I would probably say that does bode badly for you and The Loneliest Planet. Those that like this film have also liked those others you mentioned. It is part of that particular type of cinema….whatever it’s called.
Indeed Jon. I believe you are right.
Happy New Year to everyone. Finally, getting this posted as I listen to the news on TV and how our politicians are pushing us off the “F” cliff!
Watched the following…
Les Miserables (****1/2) Strong performances, an engaging score made this film version a real delight. I thought Hooper did an excellent job opening up the film.
A Double Life (****) Superb performance from Ronald Coleman as an actor who discovers his actress/ex-wife is seeing someone else causing him to also mentally lose his mind and soul. He slowly disappears into his stage role while playing Othello. With the Bard’s poetry rambling inside his brain, he plays out the scenes eventually substituting a luckless barmaid, (Shelley Winters) into unknowingly playing his Desdemona.
Impact (**1/2) – Small independent film from 1949. Brian Donlevy is a successful businessman and loving husband whose scheming wife and her lover plan to kill him. The tale starts off interesting but goes off track with twist and turns that are a bit too unbelievable. Donlevy is too low-key for the role and Charles Coburn’s police detective looks like he just came out of a retirement home. Helen Walker as the scheming wife is convincingly devious while Ella Raines, the good girl, is way too beautiful to be a gas station attendant, never getting herself dirty. No one is help by the mediocre script and pallid direction.
Ted (***) Raunchy comedy from Seth MacFarlane has some laughs but the jokes wear thin after awhile.
Forty Guns (****) Sam Fuller’s off beat western is filled with sexual inuendo, stark black and white photography and imaginative camera work. The film moves to its own beat and stands alongside Nick Ray’s Johnny Guitar as one of the most surrealistic of all westerns.
The Maverick Queen (**) Made the year before “Forty Guns,” this is an extremely routine western, with Stanwyck again in the lead, that never rises above the level of mediocre. Scott Brady as the Sundance Kid verges on the annoying.
Strange Love of Martha Ivers (***1/2) Decent noir/melodrama combo. Stanwyck is steely eyed yet alluring. Miklos Rozsa’s excellent score helps. Overall though this is just a mid level noir. I have a review up at 24frames.
A Happy New Year to you and Dorothy, Jon! And my deepest gratitude to another year of glorious film talk and a great friendship! Yes the whole “F” cliff business is another thing to be depressed about! The blame lays squarely on the Republicans’ doorstep. Thrilled to hear that glowing assessment of LES MISERABLES! Your two points of course in my view are correct! I am no fan of TED nor THE MAVERICK QUEEN, so your dismissive capsules there are dead-on as far as I’m concerned. Always good to see Stanwyck though. I will be over to check in on your review of MARTHA IVERS at TWENTY FOUR FRAMES. I’d probably go a half star higher, but mainly because I adore Rozsa’s score, one I recently acquited the CD of. Stanwyck is indeed very good yet again, and I agree that it’s a noir/melodrama combo. Yes A DOUBLE LIFE deserves your solid rating there, and Colman is excellent in his Oscar winning rold, though Bogart should have won for CASABLANCA that year. The deceit in the film is always fascinating. I see Olive has released a blu-ray of the film, one I still haven’t acquired. Haven’t seen IMPACT, though I appreciate the terrific capsule. The surrealist FORTY GUNS is every bit as solid and accomplished as you suggest. Thanks again my very good friend!
Hello Sam, everyone and a Happy New Yeaaaar!
Hope you had a grand all time, and you have my best wishes for 2013! May it be a great year for all of you.
I am surprised by your reactions to both Tabu and Django Unchained, but I’ll have to wait to have my own opinions on them, in the meantime, in the lookout for their release.
I had a grand time in new year’s eve, I went to my girlfriend’s house and then to my uncle’s and we swam under the hot summer sun. It was a great time. I decided to wait until 2012 was over to comment here so I’ll just list all the movies I saw finishing this 2012.
The last films of 2012:
– Cloud Atlas (2012, Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski) ****1/2 I was surprised and overall moved by this movie. Done with a technical expertise that surpass many other films, this one manages to tone it perfectly as well as making entertaining stories out of it, with clever connections and clever use of actors repetitions and overall discourse about the nature of history and mankind, as well as a cautionary tale. It’s also filled with emotion and genres, messages and a great script. One of my favorites of the year.
– Efectos especiales (2011, Bernardo Quesney) ***** My favorite film of 2011, I rewatched it just for fun.
– John Dies at the End (2012, Don Coscarelli) **** A fantasy horror film about a guy who investigates and exterminates supernatural forces from around his neighbourhood, mostly nasty looking creatures that sneer and crush bones. Entertaining and clever in many ways, but it’s also cheap in the special effects department, and the promise given in the title… spoilers but, it’s not true, and I wish it was, the acting was ok at best, but I guess you watch these movies for the fun and gore that it can deliver, and this one does.
– Lincoln (2012, Steven Spielberg) **** I finally had the chance to watch this movie and I was surprised by how much emotionally connected I was to the whole endeavour. Acted with superb emotions, filmed with an interesting cinematography, shot with interesting visuals, Tommy Lee Jones just makes it perfect for every scene in which he is in. The rest, I can live without, I really found that putting his murder in was unnecesary, and at times it felt way too long for its own.
– El otro día (2012, Ignacio Agüero) ****1/2 Chilean documentary about people, family and history. The director decides to film everyone who comes to his door and rings his bell and then visit him them to their house, as if he was in the right place and position to do so. That brings up an anthropological aspect of the human being that results to be completely interesting in today’s world an society.
– Rubber (2010, Quentin Dupieux) **** Original is like the only thing I can say for this movie. There’s nothing like it out there, and it’s not as if it was just winking at us, but it is just a complete distinct entity in the world of cinema that I can’t explain how it was structured, it’s just that crazy and amazing to see in every sense of the word.
– Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010, Edgar Wright) ****1/2 I rewatched this for fun.
– Shame (2011, Steve McQueen) ***1/2 There are many interesting things here, but I felt cold for most of the film. There were many uninteresting events, and the whole position of the main character made it uninteresting to me, his crush on his own sister is obvious and never was completely put into function within any interesting realm of the movie. I expected more, I guess.
Thanks for 2012, let’s look forward to 2013!
Jaimie—
Great to hear you are enjoying the summer, while we in the northeast are immersed in the frozen winter! Ha! Nice to hear you did some nice things with family members. I wish you, your girlfriend and family the best year ever in 2013! Yes, in view of my previous criticism of Tarantino, I know several here were more that surprised I have it as one of my favorites of the year. But I will go to the mat for it. Similarly, TABU was one I fully expended to like a lot, but there you have it.
I did not care for CLOUD ATLAS, which I found was distancing and a narrative mess, but I know there are fans for it and I respect your opinion. I was happy you gave a solid review for LINCOLN, though I was startled that you mentioned Tommy Lee Jones, and NOT Daniel-Day Lewis! Ha! You are not the only person to have an issue with the assasination sequence, but I stand by it and believe it vital, since it occured just weeks after the Emanicipation Proclamation was passed. I am definitely a fan of SHAME and not much for SCOTT PILGRIM. The Chilean films sound most interesting. Great capsule review. Thanks again my great friend!
Happy New Year to all!
Sam, sorry to hear you had a bit of rough break. Beautiful gesture heading up to Sandy Hook.
Thanks for the very kind words Peter. Happy New Year to you and yours!
Wishing all the WitD readers & writers a Happy New Year. May 2013 bring happiness & better access to good movies for all.
Sad to hear about Lori’s passing away. My condolences to her family & friends.
Same to you Sachin! The best to you and your lovely family in 2013 and beyond!
Thanks for your kind words about Lori Moore.
Happy New Year, Sam. I hope you had wonderful holidays and here’s to a great 2013.
I still haven’t caught up with most of the year’s more lauded work and am hoping to do something about that soon.
This past week, I did catch up with STELLA DALLAS, A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN, and Cukor’s LET’S MAKE LOVE. I was very happy to see them all but probably was particularly struck by the Vidor film. Of course it’s so melodramatic yet I found it to be unusually well done for a film in that vein.
I was very moved to read of your family’s trip to Connecticut. I think that’s something your kids will always remember and that will be a valuable experience for all involved.
Here’s to an awesome week. Thanks so much, Sam, for all that you do!
Happy New Year to you and yours Jeffrey and thanks so much for your generosity and continued friendship and support. You are one of a kind my friend, and I remained deeply honored. I love STELLA DALLAS and A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN, and have strong regard for Cukor’s film as well. Th trip was a sad beyond words, but I felt it had to be done. The entire tragedy continues to haunt on a daily basis, and I am closely monitoring all the developments. The kids won’t forget it indeed. Thanks again my excellent friend@