I knew I had seen and loved it, but as with Shortcuts, I couldn’t remember a thing. Now, memory is an odd fellow, and often you’ll immediately recognize what you couldn’t actively remember – but not me, in this case. Every part of it was just as fresh and new as it was when I first saw it, and that is just as well, for it is a terrific and clever script, and surprises in general work much better when you don’t know they’re coming. Tom Hanks is wonderful as the lead character, an asshole producer in trouble, there are numerous celebrity cameos, and the opening scene rivals the one in Bertolucci’s 1900. In fact, just seeing this long continuous setup made me want to rewatch 1900, and to my dismay I found that it is available neither at Netflix nor Amazon, and the studio doesn’t currently offer DVDs of it for sale. A remark oddly fitting for the end a minireview of a satire about the movie business.

Drama, English, Good, Movies, Satire | No Comments »

I’ve spent so much time on this thing in recent weeks, I should at least pretend that there is something meaningful that can be said about this timekiller. The concept is ingeniously simple: have a multiplayer shoot’em’up with low level technology, Flash in this case, so you can just play it in your browser. As usually, less fancy technology means purer gameplay. In the fights in Stick Arena, there is a lot of strategic movement, feinting, anticipation of opponents’ moves, and trying to be fresh and surprising on one’s own, and it all moves so fast, that it makes for quite pleasurable fights. Maybe it can even teach you a thing or two about fighting, but I fear I’m stretching my credibility a bit. And besides, I need to go back now, and sledge a few stick men.

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I’m not likely to read the whole of it, but I found the basic knitting instructions very satisfying – they got me from zero to 50 (rows) in just a few hours – and I’m very happy with the project I picked and modified from it. A striped scarf (of course), with a subtle pattern created by switching between left and right stitches. I guess that makes me a knitwit now. Yay!

Books, English, Good, Guides, Handarbeit | No Comments »

Just having talked about how Sunset Boulevard is still haunting after all these years, here is an example of the opposite effect. A great and important script, great acting, impeccable direction and photography, indeed the whole things reeks of masterpiece, yet the story and message seem pale to me. Maybe it’s the fact that this was followed by so many movies after this one painfully driving home the message of war being hell inflicted by the powerful on the poor. That being said, the final scene, where Douglas’ character listens to his soldiers first degrading a german woman, and then sentimentally singing along with her, is very touching, in spite of its kitschy message: War may be hell, but not everyone condemned to it is an unreconcilable sinner.

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It is always risky to watch the classics, because the time that has passed since they wowed the world has changed viewing and storytelling conventions in often profound ways, and what used to be a captivating thrillride can turn out to be boring or emotionally incomprehensible. With Sunset Boulevard, the problem exists on two levels, as the subject of the film itself is the sinking into oblivion of one medium – silent movies – and its stars. The haunting scene where the looming figures of the silent era – Buster Keaton among them -, are playing cards in Norma Desmonds house is doubly spooke, because they are Has-Beens within the movie as well as without. Wilder has applied this eery unity to many of his characters, with Gloria Swanson, who is playing Norman Desmond, herself being a former silent movie star, with Erich von Stroheim playing Max von Meyerling – essentially himself, and with the added twist of Strohheim’s having shot the movie that ended Swansons career. This movie is an epitaph on a dead art. And, coming full circle, it works marvellously well today, adding one more layer, as though the person giving a gripping speech at a funeral themself was dead.

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A young man goes into the mountains to herd sheep and falls deeply in love, changing the rest of his life? Sound familiar? It took me until I was almost done with this exuberant diary to notice the funny parallels to this years Oscar winner. Since Proulx’ story and Lee’s movie are a commentary on the myth of rugged wilderness and the lone, heroic men populating it, it’s interesting to compare the two on that level. Muir in this trip and the path it set him on for his life, shaped another pervasive myth – that of unspoiled nature being more than a resource waiting to be used, but of value in itself. While the overpowering enthusiasm of his prose (written long after the trip), and his referring to plants and animals alike as “people” sound very quirky, and certainly his habit to talk to the flower people does, they are also part and parcel to his view of nature as a vast society, of which man is but a small part. His awe in the face of everything nature throws his way is a great inspiration, and Dan Simmons’ suggestion in the Hyperion novels, that with time Muir he might turn into the patron saint of his own religion seems very convincing. He certainly was crazy enough for the job.

Animals, Books, English, History, Must See, Nature | No Comments »

Some names have a positive aura for reasons we have forgotten since we first encountered them. Maybe it was something we read, someone talking about the person, or quoting them in an interesting context. So it was with me and Medawar, and I’m very happy I bought the book at the yard sale I found it at. Medawar treats his often complex subjects with amazing clarity and levity, yet never compromises in terms of accuracy, and the problems he writes about are as unsolved today as they were thirty years ago. How do we balance the benefits of science with its dangers, to fulfill the inherent promise of progress rather than invoking an army of brooms that will sweep us away? Medawar doesn’t have answers, of course, but he does ask the right questions, and that is the bigger achievement anyway.

Books, English, Good, Science | No Comments »

This movie is sheer genius, and an impressive feat of diligence and design to boot. The humorous plot devices are incredibly inventive, the rabitt armada is a force of cuteness that has no peer, and the combination of horror movie and vegetable gardening is just delicious. Even the special features on this DVD kick ass, with an awesome bonus short from Aardman studios, and the precious piece of information that Wensleydale, the watery cheese Wallace loves so much, was in deep financial trouble until the films came along and saved the company. Reminds me of the insane effect the movie Sideways and it’ main character’s criticism of Merlot and praise of Pinot Noir had on the sales of these wines. People are sheep, which is not only bad in itself, but also about ten years behind the vogue. It’s rabbits, now, folks, so you better start thinking for yourself. About nice, juicy carrots.

English, Movies, Must See | No Comments »

It is probably a bit unfair to review this while I’ve only seen less than half the episodes, but already it’s very obvious that the strength of this series lies in the meticulous presentation of Victorian England. Costumes, sets, acting and direction are masterfully recreating the times of Dickens, and are a pure pleasure to watch. The plot itself, is typical for Dickens, a big, crude soap opera, full of drama and dark secrets, but if it is presented so lusciously – who cares?

Drama, English, Good, History, TV | No Comments »

The cover blurb calls this a satire on Japanese society and its customs, and when I randomly opened at some place, it indeed seemed a very funny and acerbic recasting of the Japanese into the Kappa. While this turned out to be quite misleading, it also turned me onto a book I probably wouldn’t have read otherwise. A lucky turn. The story is of a human being suddenly cast into Kappa society, the Kappa being somewhat malevolent mythological creatures of Japanese rivers, scaly amphibians apt to drag children into the water and drown them. The tone and setting is more than a bit reminiscent of Abbott’s Flatland, which Ryunosuke well might have read, and the absurdity of the goings on in the land of the Kappa reminded me of Daniil Kharms, but all in all, this is quite a solitary achievement. Born, as Ryunosuke himself said, out of his disgust with everything, especially himself, this story presents a caricature of humanity unlike anything I’ve read before.

Books, English, Good, History, Japan, Satire | No Comments »