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Post by richardsok on Feb 24, 2022 18:01:49 GMT
I have a collection of about 150 very carefully chosen DVDs -- most of them bought for a buck or two at flea markets. LEBOWSKI is on my shelves, right there between DR. STRANGELOVE and LAWRENCE OF ARABIA.
John Goodman's rants make the film as Dude's foil .... and Tuturro as the fey bowler is a cinema classic.
Am a BIG Dude fan. Big. NO ONE tops the Coen Brothers.
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Post by alvinthechipmunk on Feb 24, 2022 22:24:15 GMT
Lately, it's come to me--- duh--- that Goodman's character suffers from raging PTSD. His buddies died face-down in the muck in Vietnam. So, he was over there, though it's only a historical reference. I mean, besides the rants, and all. You see Larry? THIS is what happens, Larry. THIS is what happens....... and you know the rest of that line. And the context, the scene, in the film. Still, "the Dude abides."
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Post by Deleted on Mar 18, 2022 1:59:22 GMT
If you only listen to one thing in your life, this could be it ….. This just appearing now is very special …. and short-lived, as the AMFS will take it down in a few days (Friday?). About the only thing I’ll pause Angela Hewitt playing Bach for is for John O’Conor playing Beethoven. Mary and I heard him numerous times in the summers at Aspen, giving wonderful masterclasses as well, and the memories of this remain strong. He is now about 75 years old, and can still bring it! www.youtube.com/watch?v=qahrUzxWJos starts about 60 seconds in. --- Frank
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Post by alvinthechipmunk on Mar 18, 2022 8:37:14 GMT
THAT IS STUPENDOUSLY wonderful! I listened through. An Irishman genius. On St. Patrick's Day. Why not? SPLENDID. THANK YOU!
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Post by richardsok on Mar 18, 2022 13:43:20 GMT
If you only listen to one thing in your life, this could be it ….. This just appearing now is very special …. and short-lived, as the AMFS will take it down in a few days (Friday?). About the only thing I’ll pause Angela Hewitt playing Bach for is for John O’Conor playing Beethoven. Mary and I heard him numerous times in the summers at Aspen, giving wonderful masterclasses as well, and the memories of this remain strong. He is now about 75 years old, and can still bring it! www.youtube.com/watch?v=qahrUzxWJos starts about 60 seconds in. --- Frank It's all downhill from here for you, frank. You're never going to post another link to match this one. A magnificent performance. A wonderful, supremely sensitive display from a seeming lump of a man who looks like he'd be slicing salami in a deli. I haven't discussed music since Rhythm method sadly left these boards. I miss him, especially at moments like these. Where to start? Well, I know the two pieces well and could do the famous second movement of #8 competently. The theme, as everyone knows, has even found its way over into Hollywood and pop music once or twice. O'Conor doing the first movement is -- can't find an adjective -- is 'superb' too trite?. If a key-thumper like me did those LONG over extended silent "rests" like he does, it would be the cheapest sort of hot-dogging. But when HE does it, well, it's bold. It's magnificent. Excepting Olympic-level gymnastics and ice-skating, I know of no activity that so displays the miraculous interplay of talent applied to nerve synapses and muscle memory to produce so astonishing a result. One thinks of Shakespeare "What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty, in form and moving how express and admirable, in action how like an angel...." Well, mustn't get carried away. It's performances like O'Conor's that led me to sell my Steinway ten years ago. I could do a good Moonlight First, and when I went on to the Second Movement the rubes could think they were listening to good music. But the First and Third of the 8th and the Moonlight Third were some great pieces never to be even attempted. I filled my little repertoire with Chopin Waltzes. A couple of Bach pieces I could manage and Joplin ragtimes -- but mostly I would bump up against frustration. At last I ditched the grand and felt better for it. Seeing a master like O'Conor working -- from MEMORY -- reminds me I made the right choice. That link was a post to remember. Bravo to him and to you.
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Post by richardsok on Mar 18, 2022 23:19:41 GMT
Finished ACKROYD's “LIFE OF THOMAS MORE”. Chapters on his early life were more comprehensive than I bargained for; probably of interest only to people curious about late Renaissance England, its society, laws and customs and how a young man rose to prominence, following the coattails of Cardinal Wolsey who was in the end ruined by his failure to negotiate an annulment from Catherina of Aragon for King Henry.
What I really wanted to learn about was whether More was truly involved in hunting, arresting, interrogating and punishing early Lutherans – and if so, how involved was he in their persecution and executions? I had never heard that claim until I read an essay by the famous essayist and commentator Christopher Hitchens, who during his life seemed to take delight in skewering the Good and the Great. (Another favorite target of his was Mother Theresa.) The answer, I was disappointed to learn, is as chancellor, More was VERY involved. He felt himself on a mission to protect the Church from a heresy that would split Christian unity. Side note -- in the novel and film dramatization of the time WOLF HALL, More is presented in a very ugly, scheming light -- a great surprise for us who always understood him as a gentle, brave and thoughtful saint.
But, as we would say today, More was on the wrong side of history. I needn't review his falling out with Henry, his trial and condemnation, except to say the dramatization of his fate in the film A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS, though very simplified, was quite true to the basic facts and the characters involved.
Fun fact: What's a javel? JAVEL is an 16th century word for executioner, hence I surmise, the root word for javelin.
As histories go, Ackroyd did his research and then some – but this is a bio probably best enjoyed by people who have a real curiosity about More and his era.
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Post by alvinthechipmunk on Mar 18, 2022 23:33:21 GMT
richardsok , I appreciate that review. Your mention of "A Man For All Seasons" brings back my 8th-grade memories, reading that screenplay, and being so engrossed in it. The courtroom scene in which Paul Scofield confronts John Hurt went something like this: TM asked to see the medallion worn by Hurt's character, Rich. Just to double-check that he wasn't seeing things. Rich was indeed the new Prince of Wales. He handled the item briefly, and then, shaking his head in an expression of disgust, he said gently: "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, but lose his soul in the process?... But for WALES, Rich?! For WALES?!"
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Post by alvinthechipmunk on Mar 23, 2022 7:48:13 GMT
www.imdb.com/title/tt10293406/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0"The POWER OF THE DOG." Cumberbatch is so damn great. Very sparse dialogue. Breathtaking scenery. Wide open spaces. Did they actually film it in Big Sky country? I've been through Montana from one end to the other. Awe-inspiring natural beauty. I did not recognize Dunst. WOW. This is really something to see.
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Post by Chahta on Mar 23, 2022 18:32:49 GMT
Filmed out of the country in NZ.
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Post by johntaylor on Mar 27, 2022 22:45:33 GMT
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Post by alvinthechipmunk on Apr 1, 2022 22:52:22 GMT
"BEYOND ORDER: TWELVE MORE RULES FOR LIFE." Jordan Peterson. As ever, he is engaging, expressing insights in a simply brilliant style. Ideas that truly matter, and which illuminate the everyday stuff we most often just take for granted. He certainly found his calling. I recommend his video series on YouTube re: the psychological implications of the biblical narratives in Genesis. Uncanny. In "Beyond Order," I particularly enjoyed chapter 8, all about the need for Art and beauty in our lives: painting, sculpture, music, drama----- what have you. He is able to elucidate fundamental, bedrock concepts about being human, and personal development, seemingly without any effort at all. It just rolls right off his tongue. Or his mind. Or his computer. Or all of the above.
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Post by shipwreckedandalone on Apr 2, 2022 14:54:09 GMT
Better Call Saul 4/18 Blind Frog Ranch
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Post by richardsok on Apr 18, 2022 2:12:53 GMT
Of course you've seen APOCALYPSE NOW, or think you have. Evidently what we all saw was a greatly edited film, and Netflix is streaming a far more complete version with many long scenes not seen before, and it really is "the horror" at the end -- not for those with gentle souls or delicate stomachs.
But there are newly released funny scenes too. Remember Robert Duvall playing Col Kilgore, the semi-mad air cav officer who attacks a village when he finds the waves are great there? "Charlie don't surf!" Well, in this longer version the attack gets even wilder and crazier when Capt. Willard and the PBR boat crew sail off in the middle of the battle, having stolen Kilgore's favorite surfboard.
A lot of formerly great films don't age well. But this expanded Apocalypse Now is a gut-punch classic.
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Post by johntaylor on Apr 18, 2022 13:30:16 GMT
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Post by fishingrod on Apr 18, 2022 17:10:18 GMT
johntaylor You probably flew right over me also.
I am not to far from him, and least as the crow flies.
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Post by alvinthechipmunk on Apr 18, 2022 19:28:17 GMT
richardsok,Absolutely. I loved that surfboard-stealing scene, too. I did not realize for a long time that the plot is based on Conrad's "Heart Of Darkness." Fitting.
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Post by alvinthechipmunk on Apr 18, 2022 19:31:41 GMT
johntaylor Duval loves the Tango. Married an Argentinian. That fits.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2022 20:13:44 GMT
If you have access to PBS streaming or Amazon Prime, Masterpiece's 8 episode series "Around the in 80 Days" was very good.
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Post by richardsok on Apr 27, 2022 1:27:31 GMT
Having whale of a time going through the new season of BETTER CALL SAUL on Netflix. I love these guys; writers, actors, camera folks -- all of 'em.
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Post by alvinthechipmunk on Apr 27, 2022 7:38:06 GMT
If you have access to PBS streaming or Amazon Prime, Masterpiece's 8 episode series "Around the in 80 Days" was very good. "Around The World In Eighty Days," yes?
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Post by alvinthechipmunk on Apr 27, 2022 7:41:56 GMT
Flannery O'Connor: "Wise Blood." Serious themes of religion, integrity. But COMICALLY written. I have to stop reading and just LAUGH! Brilliant. Died way too young of Lupus, as did her father. Devout Catholic, but not the Mother Angelica Right Wing uber-reactionary Medieval type, for sure. Maybe I mentioned this before. If So, I'm sorry.
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Post by richardsok on Apr 27, 2022 9:41:44 GMT
Flannery O'Connor: "Wise Blood." Serious themes of religion, integrity. But COMICALLY written. I have to stop reading and just LAUGH! Brilliant. Died way too young of Lupus, as did her father. Devout Catholic, but not the Mother Angelica Right Wing uber-reactionary Medieval type, for sure. Maybe I mentioned this before. If So, I'm sorry. Surprised to see someone bring up O'Conner. I remember reading and enjoying her "A GOOD MAN IS HARD TO FIND" back in college. I wanted to read more of her fiction, but for some reason never did -- even tho I have a volume of her work on my shelves for 30 years or so. (Now all buried deep in our small mountain of packing boxes after we sold our home.) As you say, O'Conner weaves little threads of humor lightly in her plots. Didn't know about her lupus. Reminds me I dated a girl with Lupus in my late 20s. Treated it stupidly -- had no idea of its seriousness. She looked fine to me. No wonder we broke up. (Another in my LONG catalog of youthful regrets.) Anyway. It's hit and miss with me for those southern writers. Greatly enjoyed McCullers' "BALLAD OF THE SAD CAFE". Truman Capote wrote pure gems, just wonderful pieces -- one after another (not to mention COLD BLOOD) but wrecked himself on liquor and frivolous high life. For some reason never could get into Faulkner. Don't know why. I generally give an author 10 or 15 pages and if I'm not gripped, I'll put the book aside and Faulkner has never made my cut. Anyway, thanks for bringing up our Flannery. I share yr admiration. Will try to find WISE BLOOD at my library.
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Post by johntaylor on Apr 27, 2022 14:29:24 GMT
Reading Wouk's Youngblood Hawke (about Thomas Wolfe)
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Post by alvinthechipmunk on Apr 27, 2022 20:57:10 GMT
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Post by alvinthechipmunk on Apr 29, 2022 2:22:24 GMT
David James Duncan: "The River Why." 1983. I remember reading this during my school D-A-Z-E. I'm less impressed with it, now. Purported to be his breakthrough personal inquiry into his own existence, fly fishing, romance, fly-fishing, other people, nature, fly-fishing, God and the meaning of life. The conclusion left me feeling like I'd been had. In fact, his word-y style caused me to basically flip and zip through the pages, stopping to actually read the last paragraph or two in each chapter. Lots of humor, just not my style, at least not anymore. Hardly profound, I will assert.
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Post by richardsok on Apr 29, 2022 3:47:45 GMT
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Post by alvinthechipmunk on Apr 29, 2022 7:09:11 GMT
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Post by bb2 on Jun 1, 2022 19:53:35 GMT
For grammar buffs, there's a section in the WSJ called Style and Substance, which is mostly for reporters; dos and don'ts of how they should write their articles. I don't think there's a link to it from any of the WSJ pages but I discovered it when they printed a letter I wrote a while back complaining about the overuse of the word "soar". Nice break from the news and interesting to get an inside glimpse of a reporter's job. www.wsj.com/news/styleandsubstance
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Post by richardsok on Jun 22, 2022 2:42:40 GMT
I was on the edge of my seat for almost two hours watching ANTHROPOID streaming on Amazon Prime Video. Historical drama of the WWII Czech Resistance in Prague. Intense. Grim.
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Post by Chahta on Jun 22, 2022 14:46:08 GMT
I found a Ken Burns series on the National Parks. It is from 2009 and somehow I missed it. But what a great program. The amazing thing to me was the selfless effort Stephen Mathers and Horace Albright and others, that loved the parks they lobbied for, gave to this country. Also amazing was John Rockefeller Jr. that used upwards of $500m of his own money to fund purchases of land then donated to parks. The National park System would not have happened without these great people. There were other interesting human aspects of people visiting these parks, like the Gehrkes that bought 17 Buicks in the time they spent visiting parks.
Another excellent show was on Brian Wilson (Beach Boys) from the American Masters series. That was going on when I was a kid in So. Cal.
Both of these are PBS shows.
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