Author: Roger

I'm a librarian. I hear music, even when it's not being played. I used to work at a comic book store, and it still informs my life. I won once on JEOPARDY! - ditto.

Movies Forgotten QUESTION

I got an e-mail from my eldest niece Rebecca this week: I just finished reading your blog from today and from this past week… I enjoy watching movies, too, like you do, and I was wondering if you have seen “Six Degrees of Separation” with Donald Sutherland, Stockard Channing, and a young Will Smith. If so, I was curious as to what you thought of it… I just watched it last night and to me, it took a while to get started, but then it became a bit more interesting. However, after the movie, I was left to think about the whole story, and I just don’t know really what to make of it and wanted to know what you thought about it, if you’ve even seen it. Among other things, most of the acting by the “children” in the movie seemed so forced, I wasn’t sure if that was meant to be that way or not…
She clarified later: About the “children”, I put the word in parentheses because even though they were young adults in college, they over-acted like they were spoiled 10 year olds. It was kinda weird…

Also, I had hoped to have a guess at one of your movie quotes, but no such luck… Not even a poor guess! Well, I did know the “Shawshank Redemption” one, but it was already figured out…

Well, Rebecca, I DID see this 1993 film, probably at the Spectrum Theatre in Albany (as opposed to on video, which, I believe, makes a difference in the viewing experience). I recall that I liked it, I was absorbed by the story. And while I remember the adults and young Will, I have no particular recollection of the acting abilities of the younger characters – which included Heather Graham and Anthony Michael Hall. I do recall at the time that I thought the whole thing was a bit stagy, and just a bit preachy.

That’s what happens when you see a lot of movies, I was reminded, when I was looking at Buffalo blogger Jaquandor’s list of his top 100 movies. There at #64 was Eating Raoul (1982) which I most certainly saw at the Spectrum’s predecessor, The 3rd Street Cinema in Troy. I probably even know who I saw it with. But the details of the movie, beyond the broad premise of whacking people with frying pans, has gone hazy. I recall laughing a LOT at the time, in part because I had a friend named Raoul, but also because I thought it was a real hoot, the juxtaposition of this uptight couple with their entrepreneurial ways. Seems that I should probably watch it again.

And it doesn’t have to be older films that can slip away. In preparing to watch the Oscars, I was trying to recall all the films of Tilda Swinton I had seen. There was that bizarro-worlds trip Orlando (1992) and Adaptation (2002) and Broken Flowers (2005). But what was that movie, you know, it had a lot of water in it? Oh, yeah, 2001’s The Deep End. I remember being engaged in the movie, but until I read the plot synopsis, the story line had all but abandoned me.

So here’s the question for you all: what movies have you seen in the past that you liked well enough at the time, but that are slipping from your particular memories?

Oh, if you look at last Saturday’s post, you’ll find the answers to the movie quotes quiz.

Thanks, Rebecca, for the posting idea.
ROG

ROG

This Is NOT Sadie Hawkins Day

Sadie Hawkins Day is in November. Somehow, the 20th century Dogpatch invention of Al Capp’s Li’l Abner has gotten blended with a much earlier tradition. It is, however, Superman’s birthday. (Which begs the question, “What do you get for someone who can change the course of mighty rivers?”
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From Len Wein’s blog: George Lucas in Love

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My favorite Amazon pitch of late:
Dear Amazon.com Customer,
We’ve noticed that customers who have purchased or rated Stanley Kubrick’s Clockwork Orange (1971 Film) have also purchased Semi-Pro. For this reason, you might like to know that Semi-Pro is now available. You can order yours for just $13.99 by following the link below.
Product Description
Will Ferrell stars in this outrageous comedy, set in 1976, as Jackie Moon, a one-hit wonder who used the profits from his chart-topping song “Love Me Sexy” to achieve his dream of owning a basketball team, which becomes the worst in the ABA league (NBA rival) and in danger of folding. If they want to survive, they have to do the seemingly impossible – win. Co-stars Woody Harrelson, Andre Benjamin (Outkast), and Will Arnett. The soundtrack features classic funk hits from the 70s from Sly & The Family Stone, Ohio Players, War, Curtis Mayfield, and more, as well as Will Ferrell performing his funkadelic version of “Love Me Sexy”.
1. Love Me Sexy – Jackie Moon (Will Ferrell)
2. Get The Funk Out Ma’ Face – (Brothers Johnson)
3. Lady Marmalade – (LaBelle)
4. The World Is A Ghetto – (War)
5. Tell Me Something Good – (Ronnie Laws)
6. Mr. Big Stuff – (Jean Knight)
7. Give Me Just A Little More Time – (Chairman Of The Board)
8. Why Can’t We Be Friends – (War)
9. Walking In Rhythm – (The Blackbyrds)
10. Dance To The Music – (Sly & the Family Stone)
11. Love Rollercoaster – (Ohio Players)
12. Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be) – (Sly & the Family Stone)
13. Move On Up – (Curtis Mayfield)
14. Shining Star – (Elijah Kelley)
So because I bought the Moog-driven soundtrack of a 1971 movie , I would also be interested in a 2008 movie set in the 1970s with a funk soundtrack?! (Truth is that would be if I didn’t already own tracks 3, 4, 6-8, 10, 11, 13 and possibly 9, plus other versions of 5, 12, and 14, I MIGHT be.)
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From Coverville: Hey Jude by the cars

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Assuming you have $125 to spend ($75 for students):

You are invited to Splat! A Graphic Novel Symposium
Saturday, March 15, 2008
We welcome new readers, writers, artists, publishers, agents, and long-standing comics fans alike to learn more about the fastest growing movement in publishing – and meet some of the best creators working in the medium today!
The SPLAT! Symposium will also supply prospective creators with a unique opportunity to learn what it takes to be a graphic novelist. There will be three different tracks of panels, seminars, and workshops, followed by the SPLAT! Reception with Scott McCloud.
The panels will be led by a number of key writers, editors and artists from the graphic novel world including: Jim Killen, buyer Barnes & Noble; David Saylor, Editor Scholastic; Raina Telgemeier, artist, The Baby-Sitters Club; Ted Rall, creator, Attitude: The New Subversive Political Cartoonists; CB Cebulski, writer/editor, Marvel Comics; Bob Mecoy, Founder, Bob Mecoy Literary Agency; R. Sikoryak, creator, The Seduction of Mike; Brian Wood, creator, Demo, DMZ and Local; Nick Bertozzi, creator, The Salon; and Charles Brownstein, executive director, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
Please visit www.nycip.org/graphicnovelsymposium to register for this unique event.
ROG

ROG

The Rest of the Story

PART ONE:
Last week, I wrote a story on the Times Union blog about reconciliation. I mentioned listening to a podcast operated by a US expat living in New Zealand. But I didn’t just happen upon it. Nik from the Spatula Forum, a blog I read regularly, was being interviewed by his fellow expat, Arthur. At the end of the interview, Arthur indicated that his next podcast would be about reconciliation in Australia, so, of course, I listened. Not so incidentally, at the end of that podcast, he reads listener/reader comments, including a couple from, of all people, me.
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PART TWO:
For the Albany Public Library blog, I noted Green Eggs and Ham, admittedly my favorite Dr. Seuss book, had won some library award. So, I thought it would be fun to add some YouTube videos, and I did. One was a straight reading, one was a seven-minute cartoon, and the third was the same cartoon, altered and sped up. I was going to also use the famous Jesse Jackson reading of Green Eggs and Ham from Saturday Night Live; the picture quality is marginal, but the sound is good. What prevented me, ultimately, was a series of racist remarks in the Comments and Response section.
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PART THREE
Someone named Gail, a “dorm mom” from Texas, asked me about the group that sang the Brian Wilson song Love and Mercy at the Kennedy Center Honors back in December. The group is named Libera, and they have a new album called New Dawn coming out in March. Gail says that Love and Mercy will be on that album. Here’s the video from the TV program via YouTube:

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PART FOUR
Rose is having a thing called What the hell is blogging – Blog Contest where one has to define blogging. Off the top of my head – I was on a 15-minute computer at the library before a meeting – I came up with “Blogging is the organization of the important and the ephemeral in the life of a person or organization, ideally in an appealing manner.” If I had had more time, I’m not sure WHAT I’d have come up with.
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PART FIVE
I’ll have to write something more substantial about William F. Buckley’s passing. I was a devotee a LONG time ago.
ROG

ROG

MOVIE REVIEW: Atonement


The end of the orgy of Washington’s Birthday weekend cinema was Atonement, seen, as usual, at the Spectrum Theatre in Albany. I’ve seen the previews. YOU’VE probably seen the previews. If you did, you pretty well know how the first third of the movie turns out, with Briony Tallis, aged 13 (Oscar nominated (?!) Saoirse Ronan) does something that keeps Robbie Turner (James McAvoy) away from Briony’s sister Cecilia (Keira Knightley). Robbie goes to war, Briony (now played by Romola Garai) becomes a nurse. And at the end, Briony (Vanessa Redgrave) tells the whole story, and everyone lives happily ever after. Well, sort of.

I can’t tell you why, but much of this storytelling, after the twee British opening, save for one typed word (recently in the news) that we get to see more than once, complete with dramatic music, was very much at arm’s length. There was enough storyline substance that one should really care about the losses that Cecelia and especially Robbie went through. And in spite of the horrors of war, which was sufficiently gritty and grimy – an audible audience gasp at the treatment of animals, interestingly – I was largely uninvolved.

Finally, my wife, who liked it more than I, hit on the reason: it’s stagy. She could imagine our local Equity theater company doing an abridged version of it in a couple years. Lots of the post-English manor stuff FELT as though it were on a soundstage. It lacked…warmth.

If you WERE involved in the film, you will find the ending either heartbreaking or a very big cheat, not a real atonement at all. Since I wasn’t, it didn’t matter so much. This does explain why people initially praised this film to the hilt, then upon sober reflection seemed to have decided that it’s not so hot. Also, this film featured a lot of cigarette smoking to no particular end, save to say, “it’s the 1930s and 1940s and lots of people smoked.” Tobacco may have been in the novel, but in the film, it felt like an affectation.

I did enjoy Brenda Blethyn in the small role as Robbie’s mother, Grace. On the whole, though, eh.

ROG

ROG

The Lydster, Part 47: "Hey, Guys!"


One of the things we’ve learned as parents is that there are lots of tricks of the trade, but that sometimes, they don’t work.

For instance, some kind parents suggested that, in order to save precious time in the morning, we pick out Lydia’s clothes the night before. That only works when she doesn’t change her mind in the morning. But thanks anyway.

But it’s not just the suggestions that are at issue; it’s how they are presented. For example, Lydia needed to take an oral medicine that she did not like for an infection.
Good way to give advice: Have you tried putting it in yogurt or ice cream?
Bad way to give advice: Why don’t you just put it in yogurt or ice cream?
The second way is bad because it suggests, more in the accompanying tone than in the content, that hadn’t even thought of it, and that we’re totally incompetent parental rubes. (I may be, but I certainly don’t need you to TELL me so.)

As a matter of fact, we HAVE tried to put the medicine in food. She can taste it. (As can I.) But she STILL has to take the antibiotic.

This means, unfortunately, me holding her while her mother administers the medicine. Even before a single drop touches her lips, she struggles and says, “Hey, guys! Hey, gu-u-u-ys!” This is NOT how she usually refers to us. We find it very funny phraseology and have to stifle laughing as we give her the unwanted liquid. She pouts for about two minutes, then seems to forget all about it as she seeks out hugs. Very interesting, this parental trip.

ROG

ROG
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