Showing posts with label Film. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Film. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

I Do Declare. You've Up & Tarnished a Good Name.


The undiscerning funders of "The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond" were as irresponsible with their resources as the main character's wealthy old aunt who lent out the priceless jewelry which started the worst raucous Tennessee Williams' southern states have ever seen. Viewing it was painful, and not because I was emotionally invested in the plights of a heroine or a hero. I empathized with nary an onscreen belle or farmhand. I did empathize with my fellow audience members. Everyone, even the man who roused jealousy in me when he literally crawled down the aisle & into a seat half-way through the showing, obviously strung out on some substance which I needed at said point during this sorry subject, seemed downright insulted that the smaller than life cast tended to their dixie accents & displayed their emotional motivation in the most noncommittal manner possible, save abandoning the project altogether. Which would have been an ideal move. Why would anyone do this to Tennessee? That script was long lost for a reason. Even the best playwrights are allowed to hide some skeletons of shame in their closets. Have you never heard of respect for the dead?

Tuesday, January 5, 2010


Grace Kelly & Carey Grant in a still from my favorite scene of "To Catch a Thief"

Hitchcock's tale of a bauble obsessed klepto reformed, "To Catch a Thief" starred American princess Grace Kelly & nodded to the most sovereign of jewel enthusiasts, Marie Antoinette. Her peripheral portrait, identifiable by bouffant & bows is apparently hung on the majority of walls in the French Riviera where the classic film is set. This glancing historical reference reminds us that diamonds are indeed forever.

My favorite biography to date (I have not yet finished "Thelonious Monk: The Life of an American Original, so ranking is subject to change) is Hilaire Belloc's "Marie Antoinette." It is a volume rich in detail & linguistically beautiful to behold, fitting homage for such a luxurious life. One chapter in particular, "The Diamond Necklace," compels me to leaf through its pages time & again. It tells the story of perps who forged her signature to carry out a heist which lent infamy to the name Marie Antoinette, setting public opinion against her & ultimately laying the groundwork for her demise.

Kirsten Dunst lurks prettily as the legend Marie Antoinette

The exclusion of content pivotal as this, along with many other facts which were glossed over in the pastel shallows of 2006's Coppola film, greatly lessened my esteem for the semi-biographical silver screen portrayal of the monarch.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Not a Feather. Not So Tickled Pink.


I liked "Nine." I really did, but at the moment I am too hung-up on one detail to give it a proper review. Claudia wore no feathers! Dame Judie Dench did, but Claudia? She wore fur instead. Robbed of the iconic. Sadness.
Nicole Kidman did pull of that floor grazing chinchilla nicely. Still...

Sunday, December 27, 2009

What's Old is New Again

I have just had the deepest watercolor conversation. Meet my new friend. Aleksander Petrov's 1999 animated short film "The Old Man & the Sea" has inspired me to reread the Hemingway novella on which it was based. This heartbreakingly beautiful story, mixing the ephemeral with the persevering, is impressing in literary format, but on film everything is amplified. It moves before the viewer vaguely defined as a lucid dream, striking the emotions while confusing the physical senses. This is an exception to the rule that books had better remain as books rather than cheapening their titles through multimedia. Watch it. Read it.