Aside from the one visit that we were able to capture Amanda for, it's been a quiet holiday here at the Homestead. Especially weather wise. Lots of fog, very still and very damp air, creating warm dark days and a goodly amount of rain. We managed one outdoor walk on the Greenway on Boxing Day, and it was a perfect autumn day for it. Yes, it's still autumn around here, at least for several more days. Going all the way back to last Friday, we had an all day Solstice Festival by the fireside, with an 8 hour wood fire, the first act of Wagner's Siegfried, plenty of food and drink, reading, napping, and other fun things. On Christmas Day we watched Prime's Rings of Power, our second viewing of this epic adventure loosely based on Tolkien's appendices to LOR. Amanda visited the day before Christmas, and we pretty much got caught up on news, enjoying a good visit, our first in far too long. She is looking after her aging kitty, but is also reentering the world of travel once again with her boyfriend (whom we might actually meet someday!). A week in Colombia is up next for them.
In other news, I talked with Alicia over the holiday, my niece. She is a corporal in the Canadian Armed Forces, and on January 15th she will be on her first shift in the military police, which she recently joined. We are all very proud of Alicia and her accomplishments to date. We will be thinking of her on the 15th!
This is turning out to be an interesting period of time for encountering Germanic myths and legends. Siegfried is Wagner's 3rd opera in his Ring cycle, based on northern and Germanic legends. This is our 3rd or 4th time through the entire cycle, which we sometimes do all at once, but this time have separated the works by months. The hero has just reforged the broken sword of his father, and is off to the kill a poor dragon. Tolkien based a lot of his material on the same legends used by Wagner. And I happened to read a fantasy novel by William Morris this past week, too. He actually translated several northern Sagas, but The House of the Wolfings, from 1889, is his fictional account of the Goths doing battle with the invading Roman army. While loosely historical (the Romans never really did fully control the barbarian lands), the atmosphere is steeped in magic, gods, and myth. We get a close look at how the Goth society was organized into clans, and how they fought together when their way of life was threatened. They certainly were not simple barbarians, as the Romans thought. It is a stirring novel, and the first part seems like it could take place in Middle Earth. The river that runs through the countryside being invaded is called the Mirkwood. More on this book in my monthly reading summary, coming soon.
Most influenced by this novel was Tolkien, and by coincidence we re watched Rings of Power. We watched the first episode on Christmas Eve, and the rest on Christmas Day. There are 8 episodes, and each one is riveting, spellbinding, eye-poppingly beautiful to look at, and filled with great acting, sets, costumes, arms and armour, and not to forget those Numenorean ships! This first series focuses on Galadriel and her attempts to seek out and destroy Sauron. Needless to say, she has her work cut out for her. The series was ratings bombed when it appeared because (I kid you not) there are people of colour in major roles. So trust no on-line ratings. Still today it is being ratings bombed because, as everyone knows, only white folk live in fantasy worlds. Next to Galadriel (who pretty much fits the blonde northern fantasy heroine in every respect), the best character is Arondir, an Elf warrior perfectly played by the handsome and statuesque Ismael Cruz Cordoba. If you cannot imagine a dark-skinned Elf, then don't bother watching, please. And everything to do with the Dwarves is so unbelievably good that even after watching it twice, I still can't believe it! The mines of Moiria are extremely well portrayed in their heyday, before the balrog was awoken by the deeper mining activity. Durin has a Black wife, so beware. And Numenor has a Black Queen. And there are Black Hobbits! Oh, where will it all end? Hopefully in a second season at least as good as the first one. This is don't miss stuff for Tolkien fans. It was a very fun Christmas Day!
In regular movie news, well, we often don't watch regular movies, as regular readers of this blog already know. Our main sources for film viewing are three streaming channels: Criterion, Mubi, and Prime. None of them are expensive, and we watch dozens and dozens of films each year, mostly on the first two, which feature foreign and experimental film. Though if you dig deep, there are many great films, big and small, on Prime.
Deb's two choices from last week included one of the more interesting films we have seen of late. You Are Here is a Canadian film from 2010. It's pretty much impossible to give a plot synopsis, but it involves mysterious found video tapes, and other artifacts, that puzzle a woman. She finds and collects them on long walks, then categorizes and stores them in an archive. She eventually intersects with a strange experiment where people are being sent to seemingly random locations, and reporting back to a central control room. This film could easily be a total mess if mishandled, but somehow the director manages to not only intrigue and puzzle us, but keep us interested as well. Deb thinks it has to do with early AI experiments, while I think it is an attempt to show how the human brain works if consciousness is removed. Whatever the hell it is, it makes for a strange and somehow wonderful viewing experience.
She also picked a Hollywood film, but one that seems to rise well above the typical melodrama I was expecting. A Letter To Three Wives dates from 1949, and was directed by Joseph Mankiewicz. A beautiful woman, whom we never see, lures the husband of one of three women to run away with her. We get the marriage story of all three couples told in flashback, as each woman, who has received a letter from the mystery woman, reflects on her marriage, and whether or not it is her husband who has left. The film, though showing a melodramatic core, is filled with more snappy lines and witty dialogue than most Oscar Wilde plays. Sight gags are also part of the fun, namely the house of one of the women that sits next to a busy railway line. Each time a train passes, the whole house shakes and all dialogue and action by the inhabitants has to stop. Starring Jean Crain, Linda Darnell, and Ann Southern as the three wives. Recommended.
Lastly comes my first pick of five, as I get my two regular picks for the week, as well as the end of the month film festival choices, three of them. Back in 1989 we saw a most strange little film called The Magic Toy Shop (1987) at an alternative movie house in downtown Detroit. We were regular patrons of the Tele Arts programs, though not many other people were ever seen to attend. It was a bit ahead of its time for Detroit, I think, even though DFT often packed the theatre with slightly more mainstream European films. Anyway, this film is only available on a very bad print on Youtube, but we finally watched it. Based on a story (unread) by Angela Carter, it is a very scary look at a domineering man (a very scary Tom Bell) who runs a toy shop and marionette theatre. His wife and her two brothers help out, but when he accepts three suddenly related orphaned children into his home, things really begin to go awry. This is one of the strangest movies every made, and likely seen by the fewest people. It is a horror movie at its heart, but also a very unique fantasy and dark fairy tale. The toyshop life reeks of severe patriarchy, and the ultimate downfall of the owner will test viewers ability to believe what they are seeing. As the children say after watching a mind numbing version of "Leda and the Swan" on the small family stage, "I don't like that play." DO NOT MISS seeing this most unusual film.
In the meantime, we are looking forward to seeing the sun again someday. Perhaps. As for clear nights, forget it. We never saw the sun anywhere near or around Solstice, nor this week's full moon. But on the bright side, I have yet to shovel snow so far this year.
Mapman Mike
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