We are under a new 6 week stay at home order, just as the weather turns towards mid Spring. Needless to say, it is not going over well with many people, who are more than a little sick of being told to stay home, yet have to go to work everyday. Schools are shut, making daycare a nightmare for working parents. And that includes teachers at home with their own children, who have to work all day on-line with students. The government tried getting the police to issue random stops and fine people for being out for no good reason, which was quite a common thing in the UK during their lock down. But here, the blow back was so fierce and loud that the government quickly backed down, especially after most police agencies said they would not do it. Score one for the people!
Mogi continues to improve, though he still has a week to go on the cone collar. He will still be heavily sedated all this week, though Mogi spends much of his cat life seemingly sedated anyway.
I will turn to art from the DIA first this time, before talking about movies. Today's work comes from John Mix Stanley, a 19th C artist-explorer, most famous for his images of the west, and of the natives there. Today's painting shows an unusual subject, one with a sense of humour along with the typical trappings of his many works. Indians playing cards is from 1866, and shows a group of three natives passing some time while a fourth looks on from his horseback position. I have never come across such an image before, but it reminds me of how it must have been passing time back in the days. Cards, which we still play in many forms here at Lone Mountain Homestead, are easily carried, can be played almost anywhere, and can involve the mind is higher levels of thinking for long periods of time. No doubt awaiting their fellow braves at a rendezvous point, this work points out the similarities, rather than the differences, between our two cultures.
Indians Playing Cards, 1866. John Mix Stanley, American, 1814-1872. Oil on canvas, 16" x 26". Collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Detail of central area, above.
In movie news, we watched a film that has been sitting in the queue on our Prime channel for a long time. Ex Machina is a pretty decent SF story about a brilliant man who creates a human-like AI life form, and brings in someone from his company to test and see if she can pass for human. The story, which would fit easily into a novelette of about 40-50 pages, contains some very good dialogue, though in most ways does follow a conventional story pattern. However, if the story on its own might not impress an avid SF reader too much, its filmed execution is quite outstanding. The effects are very impressive, and the confined setting helps keep the story grounded and simple. There are no convoluted plot twists or deep subtexts. Though the ending is quite chilling, I believe that Ava will someday realize her mistake in leaving Caleb behind. In other words, she does not have a conscience at the end of the picture, but if she continues to learn and advance by observing other humans, she just might develop one after a time. A recommended movie, especially for SF fans.
We also watched They Live By Night, a unique noir love story starring a very handsome and young Farley Granger. He plays the part of a boy sent to prison for murder at 16. He escapes with two roughnecks, who bring him only (he is now 23) to help him rob banks with them. He meets and falls for Cathy O'Donnell, and their story makes up the main subject of the picture. Of course they are fated to not live happily ever after. The film is deep and involved, and plays like reading a very good crime novel. Though the young couple have opportunities to escape the US and move to Mexico, they wait until it is much too late. A very highly rated film directed by Nicholas Ray, I can easily recommend it, especially to fans of the Noir genre.
Showing on Criterion until April 30th.
Mapman Mike
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