Tropics Come To Amherstburg

 It's usually hot and humid here in the good old summertime, but things have certainly been taken up a notch or two this week.  Detroit was flooded badly on Friday night and Saturday, though we escaped the worst.  We ended up with just over 3" of rain for the week (so far).  Some parts of Detroit got more than twice that at one go.  Google traffic maps showed almost the entire freeway system over there flooded, and filled with stranded cars. The forecast for the rest of the week reads like the monsoon season somewhere near the equator-hot, humid, with frequent storms each day and night.  During a welcome break from rain yesterday I managed to cut the two lawns that border the house, so I am caught up for now.  But the weeds in the garden are growing a foot each week, and there are too many mosquitoes to even think about going in there.  On top of this, it is fish fly season, and while cutting the front lawn I was surrounded by about 7 billion of them.  They don't bite, but they fly into ears, eyes, nose, and mouth.  Parts of my tractor ride could have been filmed for a horror movie, only I would never have been paid enough to do it.

A flooded freeway in Detroit.  Note the kayak!

 

Another flooded freeway in Detroit yesterday.  Several main arteries are still closed.

In movie news, I combined my two choices last week into one big one, a four hour version of the 1991 Taiwanese film A Brighter Summer Day, directed by Edward Yang.  Using a lot of adolescent non-actors, the first half of the film talks about the situation in Taipei in 1961.  Street gangs roamed at night, fighting for territory as the adults around them are mostly unaware and/or unconcerned about their behaviour.  The second half of the film narrows it down more to one family.  The 2nd half seemed to be smoother and more story-centered than the first half, which quickly (for me) became quite tiresome.  This is one of the international films restored by Scorcese's film preservation society, the full version being shown in a pristine print since 2015, once thought lost.  It was unseen in any version for over 20 years.  Definitely worth watching, especially for the camera work and composition, and the way the director uses his space with his actors.  The central incident in the film, a young boy killing his girlfriend, is based on an actual event in Taiwan.  The movie came with hours of features, but so far we watched only three, including a wonderful interview with the adult version of the boy who plays the lead role.

Now showing on Criterion Channel. 

Deb's first film choice for this weekend was The Revolt of Mamie Stover, from 1956 and directed by Raoul Walsh.  It stars Jane Russell and Richard Egan, who meet as the only passengers on a freight steamer from San Francisco to Hawaii.  She has just been escorted out of town by the police, and is looking for a fresh start.  They fall in love on the boat, and even more once in Hawaii.  She works at a dance hall, on commission for how many drinks she can sell.  He is a rich man living in a mansion on a hilltop.  The time is 1941, and one fine Sunday the Japanese decide to bomb Pearl Harbor.  He enlists, and she promises to quit the racket.  They will be married after the war. However, she doesn't quit, making even more money.  When he finds out, he returns to break off the engagement.  With fine acting, a beautiful colour print filmed in Hawaii, and a strange ending, the film is not at all what people might expect from a Jane Russell film.  Definitely worth catching.

Now showing on Criterion. 

 

A few moments ago I was talking about how our house and yard are being overgrown in a serious way.  Though this happens every summer, it is much worse this year.  A warm, wet spring got things going early, and though we had control until about mid-May, we have firmly lost control again until the autumn.  We have a tree service coming Monday to see about removing some fast, pesky growing trees.  But overall, things are much like a jungle around here.  Somehow Ruisdael seems to capture the mood nicely in today's work of art from the DIA, another fine landscape print by the master.  Not everyone in his day could afford to purchase an original oil painting, but most modestly-incomed people could afford to buy a print or two. Today, not many can even afford to buy one of his prints.  There is some slight irony here, I'm sure.  And now you have an idea of what our yard looks like.

 

Cottage On The Summit Of The Hill, 17th C. Jacob van Ruisdael, Dutch, 1628 or 29-1682.  Etching and drypoint printed in black ink on laid paper, 8" x 11".  Collection Detroit Institute of Arts.

 

Detail of left side.

 

Detail of right side.

Detail of the cottage. 

 

I will hopefully return at the end of the month with the monthly reading report.  Please come back often. 

Mapman Mike

 

 
 

 

 

Chess Master Mikie

 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.

                                        Showing on Criterion Channel until January 31st.

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.

                                        Showing on the Criterion Channel until January 31st. 

 

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.

 

                                            A very long movie, now showing on Criterion.
 

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.

 

                                                Showing on Criterion until January 31st. 

 

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.

Tarantella at Mergellina, ca. 1750, Filippo Falciatore, Italian (active 1718-1768).  Oil on Canvas.  One of a pair, Detroit Institute of Arts.  30" x 40" unframed.

 

 

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