Mercy, MERCY, mercy

So, here is the good stuff:  We will get to the Spy magazine deliciousness when I have been able to digest it.  In the meantime, I have two films to discuss, first, The Major and the Minor.  This was Wilder's first film directing & he co-wrote it w/ Charles Brackett.  The preposterousness of the premise of the script fairly shimmers on the page (& screen), yet I do not care.  This is the most delightful, wonderful, Lubitsch-inspired jewel of a Hollywood film.  What jolts me is how Wilder's mentor, Lubitsch, remained so uncynical in his art, how Lubitsch always kept the Champagne flowing.  Let us take a brief look at Lubitsch's life:  He was a famous German jew actor and director that had to flee Germany due to Hitler's rise to power.  His wife cheated on him & his daughter nearly died on a ship right before WW2 broke out.  And he ne'er got cynical like his amazing protege did.  Amazing.  

I love the European theatre come-ons; the little sister smoking, knowing much better, Ginger Rogers' Mum playing her Mum; it is a perfect Lubitsch copy, in the sense that it is just a copy & not the real thing.  

What happened to Wilder? Where did he get so ugly & bitter? Lubitsch, ne'er in his lowest points e'er got bitter or cynical or ugly in his art.  

Winona, young & beautiful.  I was in a band bearing her name.

Then there is Fran.  Fran Lebowitz is my new favorite person.  I know I know, I guess I should have read her books.  I checked on Amazon & since there is a new movie oot aboot her all her books cost a thousand dollars each, which means: Very soon her books will be published w/ her most recent picture on the cover & a mention of the Scorsese film, Public Speaking.  In the meantime, I would just like to say:  I could listen to that woman talk forever.  No one in the media talks aboot books anymore, or authors, I mean, really.  

But, the best thing she said was aboot the AIDS endemic in the 80s.  She says, Not only did we lose thousands of amazing artists, but we also lost their (our) audience.  

She is right.  She would know, working for Warhol, in the early Interview days.  When AIDS happened, it removed a slice of critical thought & appreciation & passion that has crippled us since.  In many ways, the best of us, critically, have soldiered on, knowing deep in our hearts, that those who have passed on, knew better, know better than us.

And that is a sad thought.  

Yet, we must move on.  Demand the most from our artists, ne'er let them slide by on fame or celebrity.

I am not one who believes there is a difference between "art" & "pop".  They are all and the same.  

Happy New Year! I LOVE YOU ALL!

Review of reviewers, nothing might have made me more who I am.