Item: An Indonesian woman was mysteriously spared the caning she was sentenced to receive today. Her offense was drinking beer in public. And why would I make something like that up? Wouldn't...
Item: Finally watched Design for Living (1933) an Ernst Lubitsch film starring Miriam Hopkins (have a major crush on her) Frederic March and Gary Cooper (the photo above is from the film). One of my first responses to the film was "why the deuce haven't I seen this before?" It is very pre code, very funny and totally engaging. Can't wait to watch it again...
Item: Watched bits and pieces of Miss Universe tonight. Beauty pageants go against most of my core values especially as the father of two daughters. It's the type of deal that I hate while I'm enjoying and hate myself for watching. Still, I like to pick the finalists and am pretty good at it. Comes from having watched these damn things since I was a kid. I still remember as a little kid thinking that the evening gowns were supposed to be the same as night gowns and wondered how rich women slept in such outfits...
Item: Watched the much ballyhooed preview for James Cameron's Avatar which is set for a December release. Assuming no one will pay me to see it, I doubt very much I'll be interested. Looks heavy on the next generation of super spectacular special effects and of course very light on story...
Item: Meanwhile the trailer for the Coen Brothers next film, A Serious Man, has been called by some the best film preview ever. It certainly has helped guarantee that I'll be among the first to see the movie in October. Another interesting preview is the one for Sherlock Holmes. Robert Downey Jr. stars as the title character with Jude Law as Watson. Any film that casts Downey has my attention. Look for it around Christmas...
Item: Tomorrow oldest daugher and I are going to see Inglourious Basterds and it's been awhile since I've looked forward to seeing a film this much. Virtually every reviewer I respect is raving. I only worry that my own expectations will have been raised to too high a level. Preconceptions can muddle the first (which is often the only) viewing of a film...
Item: No one asked, but my favorite columnist is Frank Rich of the New York Times. He is clear, cogent and because he writes once a week his columns are long and seem well researched and measured. I always feel like he's the voice of reason and the perfect antidote to the shrill voices on the right...
Item: A recent post of mine, If I taught "Introduction to American Film" ,was featured on IMDb's hit list the other day. In it I listed 13 films I'd show in such a class with a brief comment explaining each choice. I got a lot of response and much of it came from people who had evidently just left town hall meetings on Health Care Reform and weren't yet through spewing vile. I swear none of my choices are likely to foment insurrection or genocide but you've never know that from some of the angry comments I received. About movies! Some people...
Item: Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are on vacation for three weeks. Thus my ability to maintain perspective and sanity will be challenged. I'm counting on you David Letterman....
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