Another fun list for me, helping me fall asleep to the sound of the rain and memories of the pleasure these movies gave me and still do.
ANATOMY OF A MURDER
THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES and THE BELLS OF ST. MARY’S
CHILDREN OF PARADISE
DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES
EAST OF EDEN (a lot of which I find overblown melodrama, but a lot of which I also find original and unique movie acting and storytelling)
FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS
GRAPES OF WRATH
HEART OF GLASS
IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT, IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER and IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH
JESUS OF MONTREAL
KILLER OF SHEEP and KING OF THE HILL
THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS (Michael Mann’s version)
THE MIRACLE OF MORGAN’S CREEK
THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER
OUT OF THE PAST
THE PIRATES OF THE CARRIBBEAN
Q?
RUGGLES OF RED GAP and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK
SHADOW OF A DOUBT and THE SANDS OF IOWA JIMA
THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE
THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG
V?
THE WIZARD OF OZ
X?
Y?
Z?
Friday, October 9, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
WILL INMAN R.I.P.
I first met Will in Washington DC around 1970 or so. He was an older white bearded gentle man (and a gentleman too) with a very frail young wife. Both were so soft spoken at a time when I seemed to be the loudest poet on the block that I felt a mild and quiet criticism of my high octane poetic explosions.
But Will let me know privately and quietly that he appreciated my work and my style, that there was room for all kinds of approaches to the art of poetry we both devoted so much of our lives to.
He even kept in touch, which I became notoriously bad at for a few decades (and can still be sometimes) over the years (he sent me one of his recent books not that long ago, with a sweet note). But don't get me wrong, he wasn't all sweetness and light, he stepped on probably as many toes as I did, only more gently, and maybe even more relentlessly.
This obit is a pretty good summary of what he was about. I like the quote from him at the end so much I'll reproduce it here for anyone who doesn't bother to check out the link to the article (or as I just discovered when I checked the link, doesn't want to sign up to try and read the thing!):
"We live in a time of broken spirits," he said in a 1992 Star article. "We live in a Lazarus age. We're all partly dead, and we need to learn how to raise each other from the dead — without pretending to be Jesus in the process."
"Everybody is broken, but everybody has the capacity to help each other."
But Will let me know privately and quietly that he appreciated my work and my style, that there was room for all kinds of approaches to the art of poetry we both devoted so much of our lives to.
He even kept in touch, which I became notoriously bad at for a few decades (and can still be sometimes) over the years (he sent me one of his recent books not that long ago, with a sweet note). But don't get me wrong, he wasn't all sweetness and light, he stepped on probably as many toes as I did, only more gently, and maybe even more relentlessly.
This obit is a pretty good summary of what he was about. I like the quote from him at the end so much I'll reproduce it here for anyone who doesn't bother to check out the link to the article (or as I just discovered when I checked the link, doesn't want to sign up to try and read the thing!):
"We live in a time of broken spirits," he said in a 1992 Star article. "We live in a Lazarus age. We're all partly dead, and we need to learn how to raise each other from the dead — without pretending to be Jesus in the process."
"Everybody is broken, but everybody has the capacity to help each other."
IRVING PENN R.I.P.
Another great Jersey boy who shared his talent humbly. Today's NY Times has a pretty extensive obit here.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
NIKKI NASH
Time for an art break. And just in time. On this, the eighth anniversary of the start of the war in Afghanistan, when the partisan rhetoric continues to mount to even more surreal levels, sometimes the only response (after we've done what we can to fight for what we believe needs to be done to resolve that conflict) is to find some art that revives a sense of the amazing capacity humanity has to transcend the unfairness of so much in life, including the reality that those most often with less—fewer of the rewards of life in this country—end up doing the dirty work (like fighting our wars).
The art of Nikkie Nash is the break I needed. I just added her web site to my recommended list on the right. Check it out and hit all the links to the other pages besides her home page for a taste of her talent and her wit (and hit on the images of her paintings to enlarge them and really get the impact of all that goes on in them).
Nikki was a good friend of mine in my years in "Hollywood." Her day job was behind the scenes in show biz, the kind of jobs that demand manual labor and organization. She could as easily have worked in front of the cameras, like had her own TV show, because she was not only one of the most attractive women in that world, but one of the funniest.
Her wit was always so quick and on target, it would have intimidated me if it was mean spirited in any way. But it never was. It was just funny in a self-aware but gentle way. You can see it at work in the comments on her site on the various pages, especially in the photos of her "at work" which also show how foxy she is, in or out of costume.
But it's her paintings that are the focus of the web site. In the ten years since I left CA for NJ, Nikki's been busy building a body of work that is as attractive and as witty as she is. And as original. There is no one doing what she's doing—her subjects and the ways she approaches them with the kind of humorous takes that are not only instantly funny but have a delayed impact that creates deeper meanings that are even funnier, and more telling.
Her technique is impeccable, her perspective original, and the results delectable. But don't take my word for it, go back up to the link above and check it out for yourself.
The art of Nikkie Nash is the break I needed. I just added her web site to my recommended list on the right. Check it out and hit all the links to the other pages besides her home page for a taste of her talent and her wit (and hit on the images of her paintings to enlarge them and really get the impact of all that goes on in them).
Nikki was a good friend of mine in my years in "Hollywood." Her day job was behind the scenes in show biz, the kind of jobs that demand manual labor and organization. She could as easily have worked in front of the cameras, like had her own TV show, because she was not only one of the most attractive women in that world, but one of the funniest.
Her wit was always so quick and on target, it would have intimidated me if it was mean spirited in any way. But it never was. It was just funny in a self-aware but gentle way. You can see it at work in the comments on her site on the various pages, especially in the photos of her "at work" which also show how foxy she is, in or out of costume.
But it's her paintings that are the focus of the web site. In the ten years since I left CA for NJ, Nikki's been busy building a body of work that is as attractive and as witty as she is. And as original. There is no one doing what she's doing—her subjects and the ways she approaches them with the kind of humorous takes that are not only instantly funny but have a delayed impact that creates deeper meanings that are even funnier, and more telling.
Her technique is impeccable, her perspective original, and the results delectable. But don't take my word for it, go back up to the link above and check it out for yourself.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
AND DEMOCRATIC HONESTY
Here. I like this guy.
[Thanks to my friend Alameda Tom's site BIRTH OF THE COOL for this great commentary on Grayson.]
[Thanks to my friend Alameda Tom's site BIRTH OF THE COOL for this great commentary on Grayson.]
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