by Sam Juliano
Though I traveled up to and spent time every single day at the school my wife and I are employed at during this “down” time, today marks the “official” return of the district teachers with next Monday the date when the students will come back. Parental forms however indicate maybe a third of the kids will actually be attending that day. Many parents are still leery about the pandemic situation and have opted to wait longer.
A domestic drama played out this past week during another snow siege when one of our beloved felines, a male cat named Noel snuck out of our home through an inadvertently left open back door on Tuesday (February 9) and remained lost until Saturday evening when he returned through our purposely left open basement door after four full days outside in awful weather and heavy snow. We spent all weak scouring the area, driving around for hours and searching yards and driveways with flashlights in what was quite a harrowing experience. Yes we are out of control when it comes to pets (7 cats, one very small dog who thinks he is a cat, two turtles, a guinea pig, an older Amazon parrot and a large cage (though at the school) with eight parakeets. On Saturday evening we were all over the moon!
This past week our esteemed guest writer and friend Lee Price contributed the second part of his brilliant Phil Moore series: “Phil Moore is Tops, Part 2: Animating Race.”
Lucille and I watched three 2020/2021 films this past week on the streaming services, and happy to say all were very good!
Nomadland ***** (Friday night -Hulu)
The Two of Us (French) **** 1/2 (Saturday night – Amazon Prime)
Cowboys **** (Sunday night – You Tube)
Another Round (Danish) **** (Sunday afternoon – netflix)
I hope to say more on future MMDs but all are highly recommended, with Nomadland in the year’s top 2 with “First Cow.” For now, “Nomadland” is a moody, meditative work with beautifully modulated direction and performances; Cowboys is a moving female-to-male transgender drama about the relationship of a sometimes-negligent Dad and his 10 year old son who was born a girl; “Another Round” Tomas Vinterburg’s spirited alcohol drenched Danish drama which brings some scorching revelations and a brilliant performance by Miles Mikkelson; and “The Two of Us”, a French drama about two aging lesbians where secrets and domestic battles are prevalent. Great lead performances!
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Well whaddya know, my mom once owned an yellow-nape parrot named Snuggles. Loud, very loud. Bloodcurdling almost.
BTW, Ann-Margret is not only a revelation in “Carnal Knowledge,” she’s also pretty good in “Tommy” (Ken Russell, 1975), but the movie’s a gold-plated shitcake.
Our bird is much like your mom’s Mark! Ha! Loud and repetitious for long intervals that drives us batty! His cage is in our kitchen! I agree with you 100% on Ann Margret who is stunning in Carnal Knowledge and also in Tommy!!! The former film is an absolute masterpiece too methinks! Wishing you a fabulous week my friend!
Whoops. Happy birthday to Giulietta Masina. She certainly doesn’t need my praise, her work speaks for itself. And she married my favorite filmmaker.
Happy Heavenly Birthday Giulietta, one of the greatest of all-time! Mark that is a fabulous choice for your own #1 director!!!
Sam,
Wonderful news about Noel! Cats as we have understood have their own ways of handling survival in the wilds. And you have quite the petshop–very lucky to have your family’s love. We also love birds — a singing canary, along with our cat, Lola and an aquarium. Speaking of pets brings to life all the books by the Yorkshire country vet, James Herriot, which Valerie has really enjoyed, also the Herriot episodes on PBS. Graham Lord’s biography of James Herriot (his real name is James Alf Wight)by Graham Lord we highly recommend!
Jim, thank you so much for your ultra-kind words about Noel and for sharing your own well-known love for cats and birds and pets in general! Yes we are smitten with all our animals and have learned from our carelessness that allowed for this recent scare. I well remember your own fabulous posts on Herriot here at WONDERS! I seriously need to investigate Lord’s enticing volume!!!!
It’s Dirk Bogarde’s day on TCM.
Death in Venice airs @5:45. No film could ever match Mann’s novella, considered one of the most sublime short novels ever written, but Visconti’s production does have its pleasures: Bogarde’s underplaying, Piero Tosi’s Belle Epoch costumes, Pasqualino De Santis’s ravishing photography, and the Donatello David Bjorn Andresen.
Man, I’d forgotten the glacial pacing of Visconti’s film. And the Mahler.
Such a lugubrious slog.
Bogarde, though.
Mark, this situation is absolutely UNREAL!!!! Get this. Last night a watched a few of my Criterion blu rays. The first one up was…………….DEATH IN VENICE!!! I kid you not! The coincidence is astounding! Yes Mann’s novella is sublime and the Nobel writer’s finest. However I am not willing to concede myself that the film is a “glacial slog” but rather an intoxicating and enveloping work with (as you admitted) stunning Pasquelino deSantis wide lens cinematography and the most spectacular and magnificent used of Mahler’s music than any film ever. Of course young Mr. Andresen became world famous and rightly so and Bogarde gives one of his finest performances. For me the film is a stone-cold masterpiece, literally and metaphorically. Good point on the costumes of that era too!
I was transfixed by the cinematographic pacing of Death in Venice. I suppose my having been stoned at the time didn’t hurt.