We're into our 4th day of temps in the 90s, with at least two more to go. We are still working on railing segment #2, but only in the mornings, when it's shaded and less hot. It's getting done, just real slow. We continue to lead a mostly indoor life. I was supposed to perform my piano pieces for a few friends this morning, but one of them is isolating due to Covid exposure. The same thing happened last Monday with another friend. I did perform them for Paula at least, and things went well. I played on her grand piano, and it was a really fun experience!
A lot of films to report on. I will begin with the most recent, which we were two of my choices. Last seen was a 1949 western called Lust For Gold, starring Ida Lupino and Glenn Ford, along with a host of recognizable B character actors. Filmed in the fierce and extremely rugged Superstition Mountains near Phoenix, it features some incredible stunt work near the end. It concerns the Lost Dutchman Mine, said to be hidden up there somewhere, still. Maybe I'll get lucky on my next trip to Arizona. The mine is also said to be somewhere in western New Mexico, so we may stumble across it yet. The movie actually encourages viewers to go in search of it!
Before that came Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven In Hell. From 1974, it is the 6th and final film in the series. It's kind of like a samurai James Bond picture, on skis. The music is ridiculous. As usual there is some impressive gushing of blood, as well as newly headless bodies. I remember many of the scenes, which were taken directly from the manga. We also watched three short features about the film, created by Criterion.
Before that came Deb's choice. It was a documentary about the Black director Melvin Van Peebles, called How To Eat Your Watermelon In White Company (and Enjoy It), from 2005. It's a fantastic doc about a man who truly made himself, and had a mouthful to say about the Black experience in American in the 60s and 70s. Highly recommended!
For some reason Deb forgot to pick a regular film, so we move on to my two weekly choices for this past week. From 2006 came Richard Linklater's A Scanner Darkly, and animated version of a Philip K Dick novel. It is a very odd film, a futuristic film noir on the same wavelength as a favourite British TV series called In Deep that I used to enjoy watching. A futuristic undercover cop gets himself hooked on the drug he is trying to prevent infiltrating the public. Parts of this film could only be done as animation, such as the cloaking devices used to keep identities of the police secret. A great film, somehow missed by us over the years.
Finally, seen a while ago, came another two shorts a feature by French comic director/actor Pierre Etaix. The shorts were The Anniversary, the Oscar winner for 1962 in that category, and Rupture, from 1961. In the first one a man tries to get home to his wife in time for his special dinner with her, but Paris rush hour traffic has other plans for him. In the 2nd one, a man tries to write back to his girlfriend who has just broken off with him, but his writing utensils do not cooperate. Both are very funny. The feature is called The Land of Milk and Honey, from 1971. there are no actors or staged scenes. Instead, Etaix went into the field to shoot an amateur singing event, and lets the contestants and others speak for themselves. The feature caused a scandal in France when it was released (for ten days only before being yanked), and virtually ended the director's film career. Seen as a devastating attack on French people at the time, it's a mostly harmless and sometimes very funny and satirical look at that society. With people pretty much speaking and demonstrating their shortcomings all on their own, Etaix has created a snapshot of a certain time and certain people, demonstrating to us nothing that people of any country would demonstrate. It is not French people; it is people everywhere that he satirizes. He just happened to be working in France. Definitely worth seeing, as it has been restored, and was out of circulation for decades.
We are now 6 episodes into Name of the Rose,and we have watched the first part of the newer The Prisoner series. And in Wondrium news we are viewing two lecture courses: Archaelogy of North America (24 parts), and The Theory of Everything (also 24 parts). Some great viewing around these days!
Mapman Mike
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