The Thriller at Lincoln Center
You wouldn't think they could make a suspenseful movie out of ballet, but Black Swan is a first-rate nail-biter all the way through. Natalie Portman was getting on my nerves a bit in the early going, all weak and teary, but she does a terrific job of crazy. Very enjoyable, even haunting.
(Benjamin Millepide is the lead male dancer and the choreographer? As appropriate as it is, isn't also sort of perfect?)
13 February 2011
12 February 2011
Credit
Where it's due: US Airways refunded the checked baggage fee for the bag they mishandled. Without being asked. That's good customer service.
Where it's due: US Airways refunded the checked baggage fee for the bag they mishandled. Without being asked. That's good customer service.
10 February 2011
Bites
When I heard about the marsuipial tree frog with a full set of teeth, upper and lower, I was mainly interested in where it’s found. Unfortunately, not Australia. I mean, we’ve got eight of the ten most deadly snakes, spiders the size of dinner plates, why not a bitey frog? Especially a “marsupial” frog.
When I heard about the marsuipial tree frog with a full set of teeth, upper and lower, I was mainly interested in where it’s found. Unfortunately, not Australia. I mean, we’ve got eight of the ten most deadly snakes, spiders the size of dinner plates, why not a bitey frog? Especially a “marsupial” frog.
06 February 2011
Western Culture
That's True Grit watched now, Joel & Ethan Coen's update of the John Wayne classic. It's all there, and a good deal more, especially, as all the reviews have noted, by paring out the sentimentality from 1969. Which shouldn't suggest that there is no feeling, no recognizable humanity in it. These are frontier folk, however, and making their way in the years following the Civil War, and that comes through quite plainly, in most all its contradictions and incapacities. It's a well done movie, with excellent performances all around. Matt Damon talking past a bitten-through tongue was especially fun, as was Jeff Bridges throughout. I'm sure Hailee Steinfeld will have a fine career; she's sure to get more roles based on this performance.
For the Coen's, though, for all that I've heard about True Grit being either a further departure for them, I rather think it's an extenstion of their work, which has often been nearly parodic in its homage to various genres of the past. I'd suggest that this isn't so much a remake as it is the selection of solid material on which to develop their interest in the Western. They couldn't very well have attempted Rio Bravo or any of the other old John Ford pictures, I think, as their content wouldn't have the resonance today that they did evern as recently as when I was growing up, a time when playing "soldiers" was more common that "cowboys and indians". Like Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven, the Coen's have chosen a modern western for their interpretation, and it works.
Now I just need to see Black Swan and The Fighter, and I'll be up to speed. If the hot weather keeps up on the weekends, I may even have to go see The Green Hornet, although that'd be a last resort film.
That's True Grit watched now, Joel & Ethan Coen's update of the John Wayne classic. It's all there, and a good deal more, especially, as all the reviews have noted, by paring out the sentimentality from 1969. Which shouldn't suggest that there is no feeling, no recognizable humanity in it. These are frontier folk, however, and making their way in the years following the Civil War, and that comes through quite plainly, in most all its contradictions and incapacities. It's a well done movie, with excellent performances all around. Matt Damon talking past a bitten-through tongue was especially fun, as was Jeff Bridges throughout. I'm sure Hailee Steinfeld will have a fine career; she's sure to get more roles based on this performance.
For the Coen's, though, for all that I've heard about True Grit being either a further departure for them, I rather think it's an extenstion of their work, which has often been nearly parodic in its homage to various genres of the past. I'd suggest that this isn't so much a remake as it is the selection of solid material on which to develop their interest in the Western. They couldn't very well have attempted Rio Bravo or any of the other old John Ford pictures, I think, as their content wouldn't have the resonance today that they did evern as recently as when I was growing up, a time when playing "soldiers" was more common that "cowboys and indians". Like Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven, the Coen's have chosen a modern western for their interpretation, and it works.
Now I just need to see Black Swan and The Fighter, and I'll be up to speed. If the hot weather keeps up on the weekends, I may even have to go see The Green Hornet, although that'd be a last resort film.
05 February 2011
Hot
Up to 42 degrees today (that's 107 for you podeans). Just thinking breaks a sweat. Where's a southerly when you need it?
Oh, and because metropolitan Sydney doesn't experience freezes, older buildings often have a substantial amount of their infrastucure on the outside, e.g., water pipes, which means that on days like today, a hot shower doesn't much require a water heater.
Up to 42 degrees today (that's 107 for you podeans). Just thinking breaks a sweat. Where's a southerly when you need it?
Oh, and because metropolitan Sydney doesn't experience freezes, older buildings often have a substantial amount of their infrastucure on the outside, e.g., water pipes, which means that on days like today, a hot shower doesn't much require a water heater.
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