TAKE A CLOSER LOOK

Here is the latest from my grandson...after you watch it you have to go to where it says "SHOW MORE" under the publishing info and read his statement so you can get his intent, which I'm very proud of...

A QUIET PASSION

There's a lot of good acting in this flick, much of it from Cynthia Nixon as the older Emily Dickinson. If this were Oscar season I'd take any bet that she would get a nomination for Best Actress, though by the Fall the impact may have faded. If you want to watch a compelling and committed performance, even if sometimes erratic, definitely go see A QUIET PASSION.

It's difficult to make a movie about a writer, especially a poet (though it has been done well before). And for my taste director/writer Terence Davies falls into some of the pitfalls in the genre. He tries to hit what seems like every interpretation or theory for what ailed Dickinson, as well as what her daily passions and challenges and relationships were like. And then use specific poems to illustrate each of his insights, or takes, on these, almost like a graphic novel.

In a few instances that works, in most though it detracts from the depth of thought in the poems and the ways they transcend the mere details of a life, the poet's or anyone else's. And between each of these dramatic scenes, there's seemingly endless lingering shots to evoke, I assume, the tedious insularity and uneventfulness of much of Emily's life as a recluse.

A noble attempt to capture the significance and genius of the Eve of American Poetry, but uneven in its artistry for my taste. I commend Davies for getting a movie like this financed and made, but I would love to see what a good, thoughtful woman director, like say Maggie Greenwald for one, would do with a Dickinson biopic.

QUOTE OF THE MOMENT

ONCE LONG AGO

that's me and my mom down front,

behind me my sister Irene, cousin Rosemary (who lived in the next town, Orange, but often stayed with us) and sister Joan,

behind Irene is our grandmother Dempsey who lived with us,

next to her our Irish immigrant grandmother Lally, who lived down the street,

then Aunt Peggy who lived down the street,

behind her Aunt Mary, who lived next door,

the bald guy in back was the boarder in our house, Jack Dougherty,

in front of him my Aunt Rose, Rosemary's widowed mother,

and behind my mom my Uncle John who appears to be grimacing,

he was Aunt Mary's husband, a very kind and gentle man,

but he died fairly young of cancer

and this photo was taken I would guess not too long before that occurred...

all gone now, except for Irene and me, as in most of these old family photos...

JACK LALLY R.I.P.

One of my favorite realities when I was a kid was growing up in a clan with tons of cousins who lived nearby including one of my favorites, Jackie, who passed when I was a young man. Now his son Jack, who looked a lot like his father, has passed as well and a touching tribute by one of his generation of cousins expresses how so many of us are feeling:

"My cousin Jack passed away on Sunday on his 59th Birthday. There were 5 kids in their family, 4 in ours and like most Irish Catholic families of that time we were pretty much all the same age. We grew up in the same town, went to the same schools. Although as adults we don't get to see each other very much, I will always treasure the memories from those days. Jack was a handsome, kind, funny guy and I'm heartbroken for his wife Margaret, their three children, my Aunt Pat, my cousins Carol, Sue, Bobby & Pat and our whole Lally clan" —Michelle Lally Doyle

VITO ACCONCI R.I.P.

I first knew of Vito Acconci in the 1960s as a poet. Then I met him in the 1970s. This is the way I remember Vito. I only knew him slightly, but I certainly knew his performance pieces and other work in the 1970s when I was living in NYC and around the corner from his gallery. I admired him and envied his performance works' cache at that time, it felt like he could do anything and get acclaim for it among our peers. He was a pioneer on many levels. If you want to see why, google his art work, or check out the NY Times obit for some general history.

LATE NIGHT MINI-RANT

The term 24-hour news, especially when it comes to cable new networks, or any TV network for that matter, isn't valid anymore and hasn't been for many years. When CNN began, it actually covered news stories from all over the country and the world, around the clock. That's what other 24-hour cable news networks were imitating, at first. But now all of them are just 24-hour talk shows.