I just had the coolest experience with a customer.

I was pulling up a wine stack, as I am wont to do around here, and a customer asked me where she could pick up her cheese platters.  She said she was working for Diablo Ballet, and that the Walnut Creek Food Hole had donated two cheese platters for a fund raising dinner for the ballet company.

I took her over to where the platters were, and then said, "You know, the Wife and I are going to see SF Ballet's Giselle tomorrow."

"Oh, how lovely," she said.  "I went to the Gala Opening last week!"

"You lucky duck," I said.

"Our company director got me the tickets.  It was marvelous.  It was my first gala."

"What fun."

Then she asked, "Who are you seeing tomorrow?"

I knew that she meant who would be playing Giselle tomorrow, and I said, "I think it is Sarah Van Patten."

"Oh, she was wonderful last week at the Gala!"

Sarah Van Patten

"I was kind of hoping to see Maria Kochetkova," I said, "But I think she is dancing tonight."

"Oh, well she is wonderful, too!"

She loaded the platters in to her basket, and we said our goodbyes, and I told her that I hoped she had a great time at her fundraiser.

Maria Kochetkova

I just loved that two strangers could have a conversation about the ballet and two ballerinas as if we were speaking about the Oakland A's players and chances this season.  It was a delightful treat.

The wife and I are v excited to see the ballet tomorrow.  It will be a splendid date for us.

And, here is a link to Diablo Ballet.

















Everybody have a wonderful and safe Super Bowl weekend.  I love you all,
Michael

TCM will be showing Dodsworth at 8:00 PM (EST) on Sunday, February 9.

And, I know Sundays are a riot of television riches right now, and all our dvrs are on the verge of catching fire, but do yourself a favor and make some room for this 1936 film, starring Walter Huston (John Huston's da), Ruth Chatterton, and Mary Astor.

Ruth Chatterton and Mary Astor in Dodsworth (1936)

Dodsworth, which is based on a novel by Sinclair Lewis and a play version of said novel by Sidney Howard -- Howard wrote the screenplay -- is about as bracingly fresh, adult, and sophisticated on the subject of marriage as any film you are ever likely to see.  And, in one very important respect the then recent reinstatement of a now no longer toothless Production Code certainly worked in the team's favor:  All those separate beds for Huston and Chatterton's married couple? Makes perfect sense.  There is no way that married couple sleeps together anymore.

Howard's script time and again brilliantly evokes the type of conversations that real married couples have.  There is nothing phony or artificial about the way Huston or Chatterton or Astor express their desires for marriage, happiness, or social standing.  And, Hollywood legend Rudolph Maté's use of deep focus, combined with director William Wyler's immaculate and meticulous scene blocking only enhance the drama; placing the viewer inside the film itself.

There are performances to die for here.  Huston, who did the Broadway Dodsworth role before the film, and Astor, in particular.  Astor has two moments in the film that are both so simple and understated, yet splinteringly evocative.  Ms Astor was never more beautiful, as well.

Dodsworth is a sophisticated and honest film for grown-ups about grown-ups.  It is as relevant today as it was in 1936.  And, it is organized and produced so perfectly that you can tell that every single member of the production team -- actors, writers, design, and technical crew -- absolutely gave it their all to make the finest film they could.

There are no spoilers here because I am recommending this masterpiece about as highly as I can recommend any film.  See it for yourself.  You will not regret it.




















All my love,
Ardent

2 quick things:

Am I the only one who believes that the most recent installment of Sherlock, entitled The Sign of Three, and which is the eighth "film" of the series, was their finest one yet?

The Wife and I practically wanted to applaud at its conclusion.  At home.  Moreover, I believe that Sherlock's absolutely brilliant best man speech will be talked about at weddings, and copied, or referenced/nodded to for the next ten years or more in both the US and UK.

Television on Sundays right now is sick with amazing greatness.

************

And, quickly, and completely unrelated to television or Sherlock Holmes, I would like to say that David Thomson's most recent book, Moments That Made the Movies, is vastly superior to his previous book.

Thomson picks about seventy moments from different films and writes around five hundred words on each one.  He touches on Don't Look Now, Pandora's Box, Chinatown, Citizen Kane, The Red Shoes, etc, and etc, ...

The real big highlights for me personally were his thoughts on Mary Astor's stunning acting choices and execution in Dodsworth (I swear, I will write about Dodsworth tomorrow! I swear!), and his thoughts on Celine and Julie Go Boating.  Where he sums up a delicious cinema paradox for me that I have personally been dealing with for years now.

I quote,

"This film has not yet been put on DVD in America, and I like it all the more for that. So, it is hard to get at, elusive, difficult to see -- and its length has always put it in some box-office peril. Still, we should not not be deceived by the chronic availability of DVDs.  We need to know that there are unattainable things, or films that we must search for.  Or wait for.  There is no desire without that frustration.  The ability to dial up any movie on our computer or our inner eye may be useful, and it will surely come to pass, but it is one of the things that may drain away the quality of desire in the medium."

So flipping beautiful and right.  Thank you Mr Thomson.  Again.  (The emphasis in the quote is mine.  I hope he will forgive me.)

One of those movies that really can change your life.  Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974)

Mwah, ... 

Some folks I know

Went to the Laserium Dark Side of the Moon event at Chabot Planetarium last week.

That is not my gig anymore, and I am not at all meaning to pass any judgement on anyone who would attend such an event.  Firstly, because Dark Side of the Moon is a flipping masterpiece of Rock Art, and, secondly because, I have already done all the laser light show rock events that I feel I need to do.

(An aside, one of these "folks" is a committed Socialist gentleman named Alex, who I only know through my bestest friend, Nick C.  I call him Comrade Alex.  And I tried to point out to Nick C that he should mention to Comrade Alex that Pink Floyd are probably about as counter-revolutionary as a band can be.  I also am trying to get Nick C to push 60s Godard films on to Comrade Alex, especially since that not only is there a Maoist Red ethos and sympathy in those films, but also because Godard loves pinball.  Comrade Alex loves pinball, too.)

Anyroad, I would just like to point out that regardless of my feelings re Laserium shows, that Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd is an absolute masterpiece of writing, performing, recording, engineering, thematic structure, and just about any other test you could throw at a rock album.

The album is over forty years old now, but still is an essential document of an artist's statement on the perils and joys of living in a Modern Western Capitalist Society.  It still has hints of the pastoral themes that the Floyd embraced, but is as fresh and alive today as when it was recorded.

It is inessential to know how much of this brilliance was intended or accidental.  It just is.

All my love,
Ardent



























P.S.  Just saw (finally!) one of my new favorite movies of all time, Dodsworth, on YouTube.  More on this tomorrow or Wednesday.

As good as Rififi is,

And it is very good, I have to say that my favorite part of Criterion's new bluray edition of this classic Fifties heist film is the supplementary interview with the director, Jules Dassin.  Dassin tells two great stories, both involving his friend at MGM, Gene Kelly.

The first one concerns the annual baseball game that MGM would have with the folks at Twentieth Century Fox.  This apparently was a big deal.  Fox and MGM took the game very seriously, and went all out to win.  The captain of the MGM team, Gene Kelly, had just heard that Dassin had signed a deal with MGM and was eligible to play in the game.  Dassin was put in the outfield and was the star of the game which MGM won.  Dassin mentions too, how the studios would play in costume, essentially.  MGM wore baseball uniforms from the early part of that century that had been built by the costume department for past films.  The players all wore handlebar moustaches, as well.  When Dassin's agent heard about this he asked Dassin if he had signed the contract for MGM yet.  Dassin said he had.  His agent said, "That's a shame.  If you had held out until after the game, we might have gotten a bigger deal for you."



The other story takes place at the Cannes Film Festival of 1955.  Dassin by this time had been blacklisted in the United States and had found that the only country that would let him make films was France.  So he made Rififi which was a smash success and he even won a prize at Cannes.  At this point Dassin was already used to "vanishing" or hiding whenever he bumped in to old Hollywood friends, so as not to embarrass them because of the blacklist bullshit.  He was also used to seeing old Hollywood chums hide or vanish around him.  When Dassin noticed that his old baseball teammate and great friend Gene Kelly showed up at Cannes that year, Dassin immediately hid behind a bush.  Kelly saw this, though, went behind the bush, grabbed Dassin on to the pavement and embraced him, saying, "What are you doing?"

Jules Dassin (using the stage name Perlo Vita) in Rififi

Rififi is a genuine heist classic, and comes highly recommended by me.  The thirty minute no dialogue robbery sequence is worth the price of admission alone.







All my love,
xxxoooxxx,
Ardent

Way back in the day,

When I was in college, and had a small part in a production of Twelfth Night, I remember once after a dress rehearsal that our director (and my friendface friendie), Scott S said, "As loath as I am to tell you folks that this production needs to be Louder Faster Funnier, as I look over my notes I find those three words appearing repeatedly on every page.  This production needs to be Louder Faster Funnier."

Which in a very roundabout way is how I felt about watching The Trials of Muhammad Ali last night. Certainly it should not have been Louder Faster Funnier, but I could never imagine watching a massively praised Ali documentary and be left wondering, "Should have been much longer, and needs more boxing."

It was illuminating to learn about the inside workings of the Nation of Islam in the Sixties.  And, it was great to get the story on Malcolm X's break with NOI, and his subsequent assassination.  (Ali himself said at the time that Malcolm X should of expected to be rubbed out, but vehemently denied that anyone in NOI had anything to do with it.) And, you know, I guess I had never realized the true Separatist Mission of NOI before.  Eventually Malcolm X was making inroads to be closer to MLK's methods, and had converted to being a Sunni.  Even Ali was coming around to an integrated non violent solution, a la MLK.  All that stuff was great, and the inside baseball explanation how the Supremes went from a 3-5 Ali defeat to an 8-0 thrashing was good stuff, too.

The problem is that the film ended pretty much right after the Supreme Court decision (Ali by TKO? He won on points?), and completely ignored his comeback and all the great fights of Ali's in the Seventies, and his crushing defeat in the Eighties that effectively ended his boxing career.

This documentary got a ton of great press, and I was very eagerly looking forward to it, but I know now that the true comprehensive and complete documentary of one of the Twentieth Century's greatest athletes and Civil Rights pioneers is still out there waiting to be made.

It could still happen.












-Ardent

It is Steve Coogan's world, and we are all just living in it.

Note:  Over the coming weeks I will be writing about the Oscars, giving you my personal, sometimes very idiosyncratic, picks on who or what should win (whether they were nominated or not), and then give you my opinion on who is likely to win from the nominees.  Today I am going to speak about Steve Coogan.

There is a very funny moment near the end of Michael Winterbottom's film, The Trip, which stars Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, essentially "playing" themselves.

As the two actors tuck in to a large English breakfast, Brydon asks Coogan to just what lengths he would go to for a BAFTA award.  Then, Brydon ups the stakes:  "Best Actor.  Academy Award winner, Steve Coogan."  Coogan eventually concedes that he would consider letting his child suffer through a brief bout of appendicitis  -- the child would recover fully -- in order to win Best Actor.  Of course, they are joking.  (Right?)

Naturally, Coogan did win a BAFTA television award for his performance in The Trip.  (The film version that I am referring to is actually an edited version of a British television series.) And, he won a couple more BAFTA TV awards last year for resurrecting his Alan Partridge character in Alan Partridge:  Welcome to the Places of My Life.

But, now is the big time, and perhaps we should check on his daughter's health, because Coogan is not only up for some big time BAFTA film awards but he is up for some Oscars, as well.  He is not up for Best Actor, but is up for Best Adapted Screenplay (with his co-writer, Jeff Pope), and, because he is one of the producers, Best Picture (Philomena), too.

Philomena was certainly one of my favorite films of last year, and I think it is deserving of its nomination.  And, I am very proud of Coogan for bringing this story to the cinema, and assembling a great team (Stephen Frears directs and Dame Dench is up for Best Actress again -- rightfully so) to get it done.  But, I am also just as proud for him for his performance in another film that is getting absolutely no mention at all this awards season, which is What Maisie Knew.

Which is why if I were King Academy Award, I would give the Best Supporting Actor Award to Steve Coogan for his performance in What Maisie Knew.

Onata Aprile and Steve Coogan in What Maisie Knew

Although, unfortunately for Mr Coogan, if I were King Academy Award I would give the Best Adapted Screenplay Award not to Coogan and Pope for Philomena but to Nancy Doyne and Carroll Cartwright for What Maisie Knew and have them share that award with Tom Stoppard for his screenplay for the HBO miniseries, Parade's End.

What is actually likely to happen is Jared Leto will win  Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Dallas Buyer's Club, which is perfectly fine by me; and either Terence Winter (The Wolf of Wall Street) or John Ridley (12 Years a Slave) will win Best Adapted Screenplay.  Right now I am leaning towards Ridley for the award, but that could change right at the last minute.

************

This household loves ourselves some Steve Coogan, and part of me would like to see him do something outrageous if he wins an Oscar.  But, I do not think he stands much of a chance in either category.  And, he was very well behaved at the Golden Globes, too, sharing the stage with the real Philomena.  In any event, I think Mr Coogan's daughter, Clare, can rest easy, and make the trip to Hollywood with her Da.












Mwah, ... 

This one is for Renee

The DVR Might Explode

Sundays right now are just an unbelievable bounty of riches.  Renee has a program she is recording, and then, there will be Girls, True Detective, Sherlock, and Downton Abbey.

What? You did not really think he was dead, did you?

Downton Abbey has been an enormous guilty delight so far.  I adore Lady Mary and Lady Isobel walking around their rooms like wraiths, so wracked with grief over Matthew's death.  All the Abbey team need to do now is add some Smiths songs underneath.  (And Abbey directors! Please stop shooting profile shots of Lady Mary -- Michelle Dockery - -because as much as I love her, she has got to have one of the most unflattering profiles I have ever seen on film.) The whole gramophone scene last week was too much campy goodness.  Downton is great right now.

Girls last week was meh to me.  The Wife was much more impressed.  I did like that they threw a nod to Orange is the New Black, though, with Jessa's "romantic encounter" at the rehab clinic. And, Withnail was in it.  (I will write about the whole nudity controversy next week.)

Sherlock starts tomorrow, and I am definitely looking forward to that.  I read in the NYT that Watson is getting married (!) Interesting.

True Detective is a new series on HBO, and it is fantastic.  The Wife and I both love it despite it being yet another brooding serial killer psycho drama.  It stars Matthew "El-eye-vee-eye-en" McConaughey and Woody from Cheers.  More importantly it is directed by  Cary Joji Fukunaga, who directed one of my most favorite films of the last five years, Jane Eyre.

McConaughey is on absolute fire right now.  He has always been one of my favorite actors, but now he is picking superb projects, and delivering fantastic results.

If there are future seasons of True Detective (trust me, there will be) there will be an all new cast and a different mystery in a different part of the country.  The current one is set in Louisiana.  And McConaughey plays a mopey weirdo detective from Texas.  (Shocker!)

All my love,
Ardent

The Invisible Woman,

Which is directed by and stars Ralph Fiennes, is a meticulously nearly perfect creation.  It is absolutely gorgeous to behold, and the very first shot of the film, which holds just long enough on the coast of England to remind you that there are still parts of this beautiful world that still look as they did over a century ago, is a marvelous way to start the picture.  Then Felicity Jones walks in to the frame, and we are all pulled back in to the reality that we are watching a movie, a period film.

In addition to the lovely cinematography, the film is also masterfully edited, with a phenomenal use of sound effects that remind us that urban life has always been noisy.  The original score is very good, and was used in an extremely smart way.  Fiennes obviously knows what he is doing as a director, and has done a great deal of good work here.  There are some very fine performances, too.  Ms Jones has her moments, as does Kristin Scott Thomas and Tom Hollander, but the real star for me was Joanna Scanlan as Mrs Dickens.  And, Fiennes is still an extremely beautiful man, and looks ever so handsome in Victorian fashion.

Jo Scanlan is also great in Spaced, In the Loop, and The Thick of It.

The problem is that the film is an absolute crushing bore.  They have spent so much time and effort on a story that Renee and I had little or no interest in.  There is no story there.  The script is by Abi Morgan, who has her CV filled with good things (The Hour, Shame) and bad things (The Iron Lady, The Invisible Woman).

You just do not care about the people in this picture, and you never really get a sense of just how talented and important Charles Dickens was as an artist.  And, where is the comedy and panache and irony that made Dickens' books so special in this script?

The Invisible Woman is, in the end, a beautiful dud; a gorgeous failure.













-Ardent

Hmmm, on balance, I would

Have to say that The Wolf of Wall Street is not quite good.

There is a lot of really good stuff in it, but it is way too long (one-hundred and seventy-nine minutes), and it contains some insanely gratuitous nudity, and for stretches veers towards Mommie Dearest camp-lite.

It is, like American Hustle as well, what I call a Pop Film.  It is a collection of Set Pieces without a really solid coherent satisfying believable through-line.

Sometimes the scenes, the set pieces, can be so good that you do not really care, and you begin to appreciate the film more as a Revue Film.  Five Easy Pieces is like that for me.  And, oftentimes these Pop Films are righteously over the top and deliriously camp.  They tend to have lots of sex in them, too.  Or, at least a sexy sensibility.

"Leo, I got us some Lemmon ludes!"

Whatever.  The fact is that there are about ninety minutes that could be cut from this film.  If it had been perhaps even more helter skelter, and bewildering, and incomprehensible, but still contained all the great scenes that I loved (everything with Matthew McConaughey -- the film desperately cries out for more McConaughey -- and the sales meetings; the breaking the fourth wall stuff; the great scene on the boat with the FBI agent) then I dare say The Wolf of Wall Street might have become a personal cult fave.

Still, there is enough camp-lite and big time stars doing insanely dopey things that the film probably will become a decent sized home video cult classic for certain types of folks, and Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio devotees.

Just not me.

The Wife liked it more than I did.

























Ardent