Yes, I have taken up the game again, dusting off my old 2 CD game, which includes tons of lessons, puzzles, and games to play. I gave up chess years ago, realizing that I was quite hopeless. So I need to be reminded again that I am hopeless, so here we go. I only have about 30 minutes per day right now, so it will take me a few weeks at least to beat the computer at the Grand Master level. I'll let you know when that happens....
Today was a real January day. It was pretty cold, and very sunny and bright. I go out twice each day to feed the birds and squirrels, but today I also did a bit of yard work, cleaning up some tree shoots that have to go. And there is snow in the forecast! 1"-3" predicted for Monday night. No sleep Monday, with the plows going past. We have a four lane main road to our west, and a two lane main road to our south. Thus the plow has to pass six times to clean the roads. They sound like Smaug attacking Laketown when they pass.
I am considerably behind in movie news, so here goes. Most recently we watched The President's Analyst, starring James Coburn as a psychiatrist who is recruited to be on call for the President. It takes a lot out of him, and he tries to run away after awhile. However, he knows too much, and spies are out to nab him, and his own government wants him dead. This is quite a funny film from 1967, a spoof on spy movies, hippies, and government (and telephone company) surveillance. Coburn is perfect in the role.
Before that we watched My Life In Cinema: Akira Kurosawa. From 1993, the master is interviewed for 90 minutes by Japanese director Nagisa Oshima. It's a low tech straight forward 90 minutes of talking, but there are many fascinating moments, such as when Kurosawa talks about his early days as a director's assistant, and starting up his own production company. We only have two of his films left to watch, and thus Ran will be coming up next week (already seen years ago). I also want to see the films of Oshima, of which Criterion has many.
Before that came two picks of Deb's. The Picture of Dorian Gray, from 1945, is a classic horror movie. Though I have seen it many years ago, I had forgotten how much of Wilde's witty dialogue had made it into the film. Many zinger lines come so fast and furious that it's hard to keep up, and if you laugh out loud, which is hard to avoid, you miss the next one. Hatfield is suitably creepy as the man who loses control of his soul, and George Sanders is totally amazing as the bored aristocrat who starts the whole ball rolling, so to speak.
Before that came Yi Yi (2000) by Edward Yang. Filmed in Taipei and Tokyo, the epic film follows the life of a family through a wedding, a funeral, and day to day crap that most families have to endure. There is the 8 year old boy, and we see many of his strange adventures at home, school and beyond. His older sister is Ting Ting, and she becomes involved in her first (disastrous) romance. The mother has a breakdown because she basically has no life and no personality. She heads off to a mountain monastery retreat. Dad heads to Tokyo to try and land a big business deal, hooking up with a woman he loved and should have married 30 years ago. The film is episodic, and not always fascinating, but overall it's a winner and worth seeing. The peek inside such a family, and in such locations is a real treat. There is a lot of humour, but it is well balanced with drama and day to day happenings.
Before that came my 3rd viewing of Local Hero, from 1983. This is one of my all time favourite films. Burt Lancaster is great as a Texas oil tycoon who is distracted by the night sky, and wants to discover a comet. Peter Capaldi is hilarious as a Scottish assistant to an American junior executive sent over to acquire a Scottish village and a pristine northern beach, in order to build a storage facility for oil. A wonderful picture from start to finish, episodic and quirky, but becoming more and more charming as it goes along.
Lastly came part 4 of Fassbinder's eminently watchable series for German TV, called Eight Hours Don't Make A Day. It's described as a working class family drama. With only one part remaining to view, I am going to miss this series and the people who inhabit it. It's hard to believe that this is from the same director as Berlin Alexanderplatz.
Turning to a pair of paintings (one this time, and the other one next time), I can clearly remember when these works entered the collection in 1980. The first painting is loud in every sense of the word, from the bright colours and perfect day of weather, to the musicians playing full out for the vigorous dance. Though the picture is attractive in its own weird way, like many fine paintings the greatest pleasure comes from observing the details. The artist certainly focuses on music and dance, but all the five senses are meant to be engaged here. One can almost smell the sea, not to mention the market fish on display. As for touch, that sword fish sword appears irresistible! I may have featured this work in an earlier blog post, but it's worth looking at again.
Detail of central focus.
Detail of left side, lower.
Detail of lower right side.
Detail of upper right side.
Of course there is more to say, but I must save some for next time.
Mapman Mike
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