It was cloudy. End of report. In the last astronomy session, which ends in about 4 days, I have had one clear night. The rest of the week and weekend will be cloudy. It's been quite a year. Our weather has been warm and very very humid, with poor air quality every day. Indoor weather yet again.
In other news, there is none. So let's get right on to movies watched ,with three to report. Beginning with most recent, Beat is a 2000 film directed by Gary Walkow. It gives the scoop on the early formative years of the three big beat generation writers: Kerouac, Ginsberg and Burroughs. Apart from the very poor sound quality, I found the film to be lifeless and mostly uninteresting. Bill and Joan Burroughs are living in a dumpy apartment in Mexico City. With two young children, their marriage is going nowhere. Bill prefers young males in his bed to his wife, though for some reason she wants to stick by him. That doesn't work out so well in the end. Friends from New York visit and Joan goes on a road trip with them to see a volcano in Guatemala. It is a very boring trip. The film has loads of cigarettes and booze, some light sex scenes, but it literally goes nowhere, like the marriage. Not even Courtney Love can save this one. Give it a miss and read some beat literature instead.
Remembering Gene Wilder is a fun documentary from 2024 covering the eccentric actor's career from high school drama through to his major films. Films like Young Frankenstein and Willy Wonka are still among our favourite films of all time. There are interviews with many people who worked with Gene, including a lot of talk from Mel Brooks, who gave the actor his first big break. There are many film clips and lots of interviews with gene himself. Very sadly, his life ended with severe Alzheimer's Disease. But what a legacy he has left behind. Highly recommended!
Finally comes one of the most entertaining films I have seen in a very long while. The People Versus Larry Flynt is a comedy/drama from 1996, masterfully directed by Milos Forman. Woody Harrelson plays the snake in the grass Flynt, Edward Norton as his greatly put upon lawyer, and Courtney Love as Flynt's young and sexy alcoholic drug-addicted wife. The film comes together beautifully and works its magic upon viewers. Flynt is a one-of-a-kind jerk, a total and complete asshole, but he easily gains our sympathy as he battles censorship in every shape and form. He has a way of torpedoing his own defense in court, and the relationship between him and his lawyer is both highly amusing and very frustrating. In his first trial a very sourpuss judge delights in the jury's guilty verdict and gives him the maximum sentence. The judge is played by no less than the real Larry Flynt! How he must have loved that role! Courtney Love has never acted better, and Forman uses her almost too much. She is in virtually every scene, sometimes just for a split second for a reaction shot. But she is totally perfect in the role. All in all this is a really really good film, even if you don't like Hustler magazine (who does?). Highly recommended.
Mapman Mike
