by Sam Juliano
At Union Hall in Paramus, my youngest brother Paul Juliano was elected the new Bergen County Chairman in a unanimous verdict on Wednesday evening in front of jubilant party faithful and office holders right down from Governor Phil Murphy to the State Democratic Chairman to State Senators and congressmen and finally the county committee persons who actually cast ballots to give Juliano his resounding mandate. The new chairman promised inclusion and diversity and continued success in a county presently controlled by Democrats in virtually every public office. Juliano’s family, friends and political associates celebrated his election with rousing speeches and sustained ovations in one of the biggest nights ever for the Borough of Fairview and southeast Bergen Democrats.
In the meantime those of us in the metropolitan region, in fact nearly everywhere stateside are mired in an oppressive heat wave that has had real-feel implications hovering around 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Here at Wonders in the Dark, James Clark and J.D. Lafrance published stupendous essays this past week with the former’s towering piece on Claire Denis’ 35 Shots of Rum, the latest in his monumental series on the French director.
Lucille and I managed to navigate the heat with two appearances in the theaters over the weekend. The lush and visually striking alternative-point-of-view fueled Ophelia, brings a 400 year old celebrated play into feminine revision. The writing isn’t always top-notch but the acting, particularly by Daisy Ridley as the titular character is superb as is the production design and stunning score by Steven Price. For the most part I found the film haunting and mesmerizing. (thanks for the alert Marilyn Ferdinand!) We caught the film Saturday night at the Tribeca Cinema. On Sunday we took in Avi Nesher’s The Other Story, which chronicles a family divide between secular and orthodox in an Israeli conclave that compelling recalls the 1982 The Chosen, written by Chaim Potok.
Ophelia **** (Saturday night) Tribeca Cinema
The Other Story **** (Sunday afternoon) Montclair Cinemas
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CONGRATULATIONS to your brother, Paul🎈
Many thanks Laurie my very good friend! I will forward them to Paul!!
Hip hip hurrah! And please stay cool!
Thanks so very much Patricia! And I do like your advise! 🙂
I’d love to see Ophelia especially. You ain’t kiddin’ about the heat out there. We are supposed to get a reprieve later today with some rain to cool things off.
Congratulations to your brother Paul!
Ricky, I can’t wait to compare notes with you on OPHELIA. Yes the numbers out there have thankfully dropped the last few days. Thanks so much for the kind words my friend.
Wishing all the best to Paul on his new venture as a major NJ leader. I saw this coming a few years ago and nobody deserves it more or is better equipped. His dynamic personality alone would make him a perfect fit.
Frank, thanks so much for the kind words. I will relay them to Paul.
So glad you liked Ophelia. I know it has got mixed reviews, but I found it fascinating and ingenious.
Marilyn, I did notice those mixed reviews and I must say I was most surprised. I’m definitely with you on your observations there! Thanks again for the alert. I’m so happy I got to see it!