Mahler #9, and The Silent Age

The Mahler 9th Symphony is his final completed work in that genre.  He died before he could ever hear it performed.  Last night the DSO performed it, and we watched it live on Youtube.  I am familiar with several of the symphonies, but not this one.  Performance times vary between 75-90 minutes.  Our conductor, Jader Bignamini, performed it in 80 minutes.  In four movements, I could live without the first two.  We have heard much of it before in other symphonies.  However, the 3rd and 4th movements are totally incredible.  The third builds to a climax that only an orchestra that is at the top of its game should ever attempt.  It was a hair raising experience through our main stereo speakers, let me tell you.  From the back row of Orchestra Hall (which has the best sound), I doubt if anyone lived through the experience.  By contrast, the final movement ends so softly that one doesn't really know when it ends, exactly.  It represents death, and the final few bars are again a major test of an orchestra's ability to produce sound, but in such quiet tones that it is difficult to describe just how softly it ends.

 

The Silent Age is a short but effective game for PC from Denmark, 2012.  A janitor, Joe, must save the world from a pandemic, brought back by a time traveler.  It is an adventure game in 2D.  The player must figure out how to gain access to buildings, rooms, and scientific equipment, without arousing any suspicion.  Some of the dialogue is very funny.  The puzzles are mostly easy once you gain the trick of time travel.  It took us around 4 hours to finish the game, but it is worth a replay.  After finishing the beautiful Eastshade, and then Syberia 4, nothing much could compare with them, so this little game provided a nice transition from Syberia to wherever we go next.  Highly recommended.

Joe the janitor attempts to save the world in The Silent Age, a fun and short game for PC. 

 

We had a few very chilly days and nights lately, with wind and rain.  We were able to have a wood fire this past week, using up the wood I had chopped and prepared for our Beltane evening.  Beltane itself had been too warm for a fire, and Deb had been quite sick, too.  But it warmed the house for us Tuesday night.  Last night and this morning we resorted to turning on the wood pellet stove for a few hours, but the sun is now out and temps are on the rise once again.  The grass has been cut three times already.  Deb's coughing has slowed down a lot, too.

 

We've been close to home now since coming back from Sudbury.  Practicing, reading, some writing (I am attempting to get Valeria into a blog format, so that at least it's up somewhere on the internet; I also have ideas for a new novel), and Deb preparing her next film project have kept us busy.  Of course movie watching goes on, too.  Just this week Criterion started up a live TV channel, in addition to the streaming one.  Both times we turned it on for fun, it was showing movies we've seen and loved.

 

There are two recently watched ones, both pretty long.   I chose Julia, a French film from 2008 starring Tilda Swinton, as my going away choice for the week.  She plays an alcoholic woman who kidnaps a young boy.  They end up in Mexico, where the kid gets kidnapped by Mexican gangsters.  The script is something that sounds as if it was made up as the film went along.  I can see why Tilda would accept the part, as she is in virtually every scene.  More a horror movie than a crime drama, there are many scenes I wish I could unsee.  Some of these involve pointing a gun at the kid's head and screaming and swearing at him, while others involve tying him up and gagging him, rolling him in a carpet and putting him in a trunk.  There are other scenes similar to this, too.  Julia, the character played by Tilda, is not the motherly type.  Until the very end, when she has lost everything.  Suddenly her motherhood instincts kick in.  Quite a pointless film, with a very unflattering opinion of Mexico and Mexicans.

Leaving Mubi soon. 

 

Dealing with even nastier source material, but presenting it in as a virtuosic cinematic experience is Nobuhiko Obayashi's 2012 marvel, Casting Blossoms To The Sky  It is the first in an anti-war trilogy by the director of House. It takes place in Nagaoka, a city that was fire bombed on August 1st, 1945.  Is uses words and first hand experiences from that event, it which the city was completely burned and hundreds of citizens lost their lives.  The city now uses a fireworks display to help it come to terms with its past.  Special effects are child-like but very effective, as the local high school prepares to put on a play about the tragedy on the anniversary of the bombing.  It was written by an 18 year old unicycle riding high school girl.  Melding the past with the present in a very artistic and skilful way, the stories about that night become more haunting than a simple retelling of them could be.  Fireworks are essentially the same as bombs, but their ultimate use differs quite substantially.  Though a film with many quiet moments, it is not a quiet film.  This film is a must see, and I will be screening the other two films soon.

Showing now on Criterion. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

More Tilda Swinton

But first, this message from Lone Mtn. Homestead.  It's shaping up to be a relatively quiet week around here, though there has been excitement.  First of all, Phil, our neighbour behind us and across the creek, earlier expressed interest in purchasing our land on his side of the creek.  He also promised to split a ton (at least) of wood back there from a tree we had taken down last year.  Then I never heard again from Phil.  One day I saw him burning leaves back there (apparently it's still a thing with some people), and went back to talk with him.  He farms 1600 acres just outside of Amherstburg, and the harvest had just been completed (good for corn, poor for soy beans).  He was just recovering from long Co-vid, a bout of illness that lasted three months.  Yes, he was still interested in the property.  Yes, he was still going to split the wood and deliver it to me.  Well, on Sunday the wood began arriving.  Lots and lots of wood.  I gave nearly half to my next door neighbour, who also has a fire place.  It just needs to be stacked now, which might happen soon.  We have ordered an outdoor firewood shelf and it should arrive Thursday.  So we have firewood again.

Also last Sunday was our piano group meet up, though only three of us were able to meet.  We met at Jim's house in Chatham, over a one hour drive from here.  It was foggy and raining, too.  But it turned into a decent afternoon.  I played a prelude and Fugue by Bach (Eb+, Bk 2), and the 2nd movement of the Beethoven Sonata, Op 10 #3.  We are off till January sometime.  

I had to skip Iaido that Sunday night, so I went Monday night instead.  Sunday is just open training, but Monday is a formal class.  It was well attended and I enjoyed a good session.  Deb is leaning towards returning, too, which would make it even more fun.  Not so much for the classes, but for the open training.  That morning we also had a meeting with our newest financial planner at the bank.  All of of our investments are now in one institution, something I have wanted for some time now. 

Today was our longer outdoor walk, and we finished up the final segment of the Greenway trail from A'burg to MacGregor.  It takes about 7 weeks to complete it a segment per week, weather permitting.  We didn't walk last week because it was the day after a minor snowstorm.  On the topic of storms, we and a lot of other people are in for a doozy this weekend.  We will get heavy rain and howling winds, followed by a drastic temperature drop.  Can't wait.  Last week we had 1.4" of rain spread over several days.  It is pretty damp here just now, and a few farm fields were underwater today on our walk.

Not much else should happen this coming week.  Lots of piano practice, reading, cooking, eating, and watching films.  Beginning with the most recently watched film, I just finished We Need To Talk About Kevin, starring Tilda Swinton.  Deb quit before the end of this modern day horror story from 2011, and from the UK.  It tells, in fragments that jump around in time, the story of a psychopathic teenage male who commits a mass killing at his high school.  I never would have watched this if Tilda hadn't been in it, and I doubt if many people make it to end regardless.  Of course she shares blame for the killings, but her husband never believed anything was wrong with the boy, as "Kevin" acted totally normal with his dad, saving his darker leanings for mom.  The very end is quite good, as some kind of empathy and reconciliation at last seems possible.  Mom is the only survivor, as Kevin killed his father and little sister, too, before heading over to the high school.  A tough movie to watch, especially if you are the parent of a secretive teenage boy.  It's a hard one to recommend, unless you are a Tilda fan.  She is, as usual, totally amazing as the mother who puts up with a bit more than a normal mother would from her first born.  Perhaps if she had secretly recorded some of her interactions with Kevin when he was small some intervention could have happened at an early age.  But hey, it's only a movie, right?  These things don't really happen, do they?

Leaving Mubi soon. 

 Backing up one film, Deb picked Frances Ha, from 2012.  A young woman ("undatable") is trying to get a job in the core company of a dance troupe.  She is living in an apartment with her best girlfriend.  When her girlfriend moves out to a more upscale neighbourhood, Frances' fortunes turn sharply around.  Her address keeps changing to a lower and lower area.  She does not get the job with the dance company.  Her girlfriend gets engaged to a rich businessman and they move to Tokyo.  While the plot may not make it sound like the film is a comedy, it is.  This is the kind of independent film that relies almost entirely on the female lead, and she is wonderful.  Greta Gerwig (writer and director of the recent Barbie film) brings the perfect comedy touches to the film.  Highly recommended.

The film has just left Mubi. 

 

Before that Deb chose Paprika, an anime feature from 2006.  Someone steals several unfinished experimental devices that supposedly allow two sleepers (friends) to share a dream.  But in the wrong hands the device can be used to control people and drive them to do things they do not want to do.  And so the battle versus good and evil is on.  This is a rich film, filled with movement, colour, a good story, some fun characters, a fast pace, and several unexpected turns.  Directed by Satoshi Kon.  Recommended.

 

Leaving Criterion Dec. 31st. 

 

 Farther back, and the final film for now, is called Mafioso.  From 1962 Italy, it stars Alberto Sordi as a Sicilian who has left the island to seek his fortune.  He has done well, with a high level management job at a factory.  He has a beautiful wife and two sweet little girls.  He brings his family back to meet his family, and the laughs never stop.  A very funny moment when he greets his mother, only it turns out to be an aunt instead.  However, not so funny is when he agrees to do a small errand for the local Godfather.  However, the film becomes even funnier.  It was selected for Criterion by Alan Arkin, and I can easily see him in the role played by Sordi.  With a title like it has one does not expect a very rich comedy.  Of course the murder is unsettling, and it changes our hero somewhat.  But only somewhat.  The movie might have been called Sicilian Vacation.   Directed by Alberto Lattuada.  Recommended.

Now showing on Criterion.

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

More Great Cinema

Not much local news to report.  Lots of rain, plenty of storms.  The grass was finally cut today.  It was thick as a jungle.  Own of the rainiest July's I can ever remember.  Thus, not a lot of heat.  It's always been cloudy with approaching storms.

 

I continue to work on my newest piano program.  Memorizing the first movement of Beethoven's Op. 10 #3 is turning into quite a project.  The other three movements are coming along, and everything is playable though not very memorable.  Lots of polishing to do.  Not sure how much more I will memorize beyond the first movement.  We shall see once that task is complete.  The Bach Prelude and Fugue almost sounds like music now.  Again, much work remains.  And the Chopin Nocturne has entered Phase Two; I am now working on the entire piece.  I have added in a short work by Mendelssohn for the next piano group session, and I am working on a duet with Paula for the same event.  The new piano arrives this coming Friday.  There will be great excitement.

 

In film news, I have three to report, my main two choices for the week, and Deb's first pick of five.  She gets her two regular choices this weekend, plus the monthly film festival's three choices.  First my two picks.

 

I chose another British Noir film, Green For Danger, from 1946.  It's a bit of a stretch to call this one a Noir film; it is more like a traditional murder-mystery, set in an isolated hospital.  Starring Trevor Howard as one of the doctors, there are three deaths to be investigated by Alastair Sim.  He plays a bumbling Scotland Yard detective, not really a character in tune with the sombre mood of the film.  He gets the job done, but quite inefficiently, mocking the clever detective often seen in such films from this time.  It is very hard to pick who the murderer is.  Lots of red herrings.

Now showing on Criterion.  

 

But leaving this month choice came from Mubi, a film from the Republic of Georgia called Wet Sand, from 2021.  The story takes place in a small Black Sea village, mostly in a cafe run by an older man and a younger waitress.  One of the villagers has just committed suicide, and his granddaughter is summoned from Tbilisi.  She arrives and uncovers a simmering local hate of homosexuals, of which her grandfather was one.  Extremely well acted drama with some beautiful location photography and sounds, this is a don't miss film from a very exotic location.  The story could take place in a small village in any country, including Canada, the UK, or the US.  Intolerance seems to thrive in backward places.  The granddaughter decides to stay at the end, facing up to the bullies and having a relationship with the waitress.  Recommended.

 

Leaving Mubi.  Where else would one see this great little film? 

 

Deb's first of five film choices in a row began with a leaving choice.  Friendship's Death pairs  Bill Paterson and Tilda Swinton in a theatrical SF film that purportedly takes place in Amman in 1971, during a violent civil war.  Paterson is a journalist who has finally had enough and wants to go home.  Swinton is an alien AI named Friendship who mistakenly appears in Jordan instead of M.I.T.  From 1987, this seems to be a play that might have appeared at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh back in the day.  Ironically, it's theme of artificial intelligence is likely more relevant today than it was 36 years ago.  Tilda, as usual, is perfect in her role, and the ending of the film, in which she does not appear, seems to suffer.  Recommended for SF fans, and Swinton fans (double points for us!).

Leaving Mubi this month. 

 

That's all for now.  coming soon:  July reading summary.

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

 

Swamped

It's been busy around the old Homestead lately, but things are getting back on track.  On top of everything else, we lost internet for two days due to a faulty modem.  A new one was sent out and we are back to normal.  Astronomy has died for this lunar cycle, as a week of clouds and rain settled in last Sunday.  New moons around here always seem to be cloudy and hopeless.  I've come to expect things to go that way.  However, I managed to get out 5 times in April, and each one was a fun and exciting outing.  One of those outings was quite breezy, and I got to use my vast repertoire of profanity that night.  But the others were perfect, and even warm!

And the road trip blog is now complete.  Just click on the Road Trip link in the left margin to read a 5-part blog about our recent travel adventures.  Two new pictures were added to part 4 last night.  Many parts of the trip still resonate nicely, as any good trip should. 

In Homestead news, routine medical appointments are on going.  Deb's new glasses are ready for pick up tomorrow.  Our furnace got repaired to the tune of nearly $500.  Deb purchased a new computer for her film work, and donated the old one for our desk top use.  Everything has been transferred over thanks to her.  And I have a new cell phone, again thanks to Deb's patience with technological affairs.  The old land line in the house is now gone, with that number transferred to my phone.  We are actually saving money by doing this.  And speaking of phones, the new American phone worked perfectly on our trip.  American monthly plans allow users to save data not used each month, so we had plenty of data to use on our trip.  This meant keeping an eye on traffic buildup and construction, as well as weather.  So for now, our technological existence is going well.

In film news, here is the latest.... Deb still had a couple of choices left from her festival.  First up was a very delightful tale called Hunt For The Wilderpeople, from 2016.  A man and a large boy head for the bush when the boy is threatened with being taken back into social care.  They are chased by authorities, but find lots of sympathetic helpers along the way. The movie is funny, well acted, and well written.  Being a film from new Zealand, some of the dialogue is a little tricky to understand, but the movie is highly recommended, even though it goes a bit over the top at times.

Leaving Criterion April 30th. 

Next came another film by Douglas Sirk. All I Desire is from 1953, and is held together by more fine acting by Barbara Stanwyck.  It's a soapy tale of a woman who left her marriage and small town to try and make it big on the stage.  Invited back by her daughter to see her high school play, she has to come to grips with the different feelings her visit entails.  It's pretty good overall, but without Stanwyck it likely would not be.  She seems to melt into the role like some people fit perfectly into jeans.

 

Leaving Criterion April 30th. 

 

I stepped up to the plate with In a Lonely Place starring Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame in a 1950 film directed by Nicholas Ray.  It was as good as it sounds, too.  Bogart is a writer for Hollywood films.  He seems to be bi-polar, and has fits of extreme violence that he cannot control.  Grahame falls in love with him, even after he has been accused of murder.  It sounds like it might be the old story of woman clings to man no matter what.  But not here.  The ending is very dark and downbeat, perfect for the movie but so very rare in Hollywood.  Definitely off the beaten track, and worth tracking down.  Bogart can be one scary guy.

 

Now showing on Criterion. 

 

Finally, another of Deb's picks, this time from Prime.  Three Thousand Years of Longing is an adult fantasy film starring Idris Elba as a Djinn, and Tilda Swinton as the woman who releases him from his bottle.  From 2022, this surprisingly good film was directed by George Miller.  This is about as far from Mad Max as a film can get, which is probably why it garners a lot of lukewarm reviews.  The special effects are truly wonderful, and the whole thing has the feel of the Arabian Nights tales.  Very highly recommended for adult fantasy fans.  Elba is just too perfect as a Djinn with a sorrowful past.

Now showing on Prime. 

 

Until next time.

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

 

 

 

The English, and Aniara

Winter has yet to arrive here in Essex County.  It's been mild, cloudy, with plenty of rain.  In fact yesterday was the first time we could remember having rain on Deb's birthday.  It's usually very cold, and often snowing.  Not this year.  1.5" of rain yesterday (Thursday).  It's finally supposed to turn cold again by the end of next week.  Now that we have been spoiled by having London weather for such a long time (Dec. 27th), it will not be fun.  The birthday party was low key but fun, with lots of music.  Many more to come, we hope!

We've been resuming outdoor walks this past month, too.  We are hoping for some desert hiking this Spring, depending on Covid.  Our local county is quite bad for infections right now, though one hears very little about it.  Deb got a Pfizer booster shot this week, and all is well, with no side effects.  She has only had Moderna shots up till now.

We will be getting two new windows put in the house on February 1st.  The kitchen and bathroom ones are being replaced with Centennial Windows.  We have nearly replaced all of our older windows now.  Only two more to go after this, for next year, hopefully.  Our only concern is how cold it might be, as the house will be open in two places to the north for a morning.  Usual winds are from the southwest, and rain and snow from the east, so it may not be too bad.  Hopefully all will be well, if a bit on the chilly side for a time.

The English is a six part western series showing on Prime.  It proved itself to be a gem of a show, despite some rather intense violence, and some of the most low down characters ever encountered in fiction.  One does not often think of people from England when referring to tales of the rough and tumble world of the American west.  But this one has English characters front, side, and center, including one of two leads.  The series finale was the best episode of the batch.  Highly recommended viewing!  Emily Blunt and Chaske Spencer make a great pair of heroes.  With eye popping photography, much of it was filmed in Spain, due to covid.  Some shots are from Oklahoma.

 

Now showing on Prime. 

 

 The Fallen Sparrow, from 1943, stars John Garfield and Maureen O'Hara and is a taut war time Noir.  He was captured and tortured as a prisoner in the Spanish Civil War, and is back in America and trying to find out who murdered his friend.  Garfield is pretty good in the lead, and the script is relatively intelligent.  Worth a look.

Leaving Criterion January 31st. 

 

Now we come to Aniara, a Swedish SF film from 2018, based on the epic poem by Swedish Nobel prize winner Harry Martinson.  The story is essentially the same as the book, but brought considerably up to date.  The giant passenger ship, ferrying humans to a colony on Mars, is sent off course, and its fuel has to be jettisoned.  The story focusses on one woman, the person in charge of an AI therapy being.  She doesn't get much business in her studio before the accident, but she sure gets a lot afterwards, as people adjust to their new reality.  The movie is really well done, though it will not appeal to viewers who think SF means battles in space, and aliens bent to kill all humans.  The focus is on human drama, and how the ship's inevitable outcome affects people in different ways.  The captain does his best to maintain order and discipline, and for the most part there is very little panic and mayhem.  We had to order the blue ray disc to finally get to see this film.  It has virtually disappeared since its festival run.  Highly recommended, as is the book.  It's great to know that films like this, and Last and First Men, are somehow managing to get made, even though few get to see them.

Available on blue ray. 

 

We watched a 30' film on MUBI called The Human Voice, from 2020.  Based on a play by Cocteau, it was directed by Pedro Almodovar and stars Tilda Swinton.  She has been abandoned by her lover, and is having a rather difficult time of it.  Her performance is a monologue, and done with virtuosic flair.  Her lover has also left behind his faithful dog, who is having an even harder time adjusting than Tilda's character.  This is the Spanish director's first English language film.  I'm sure there are a lot of people who can relate to this film better than I can, but I still liked it.

This short film is now streaming on MUBI.

 

My going away choice for this week is a film called My Name Is Gulpilil, from 2021.  Diagnosed with lung cancer in 2017, the actor sat down to talk with viewers, telling us (and demonstrating) what it is like to have cancer, and how much he enjoyed making films and traveling to various parts of the world as a result.  He has been in some truly remarkable films, including Walkabout, The Last Wave, and the very recent and brilliant Charlie's Country.  While it is sad to see him so weak and almost helpless, what other Australian Aborigine has lived such a life as he?  He is concerned that he is too weak to get back to his home country.  Without oxygen, puffers, painkillers, and his nurse Mary, he is virtually helpless.  Yet he remains, in some ways, independent.  He loves being in front of the camera, which may have helped his spirits at this time.  He is a man who seems to have done it all, including being arrested and jailed several times for alcohol and drug abuse.  His illness will come as no surprise to viewers.  A very remarkable man, and I'm glad to have seen many of his films.

 

Leaving Criterion January 31st. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

Last and First Men: The Movie

Springlike weather continues, though near the Detroit River it has been perpetually foggy.  I haven't seen a ship pass by in days now, but they can certainly be heard.  Foghorns are sounding nearly every minute at certain times.

In music news, I have succeeded in gathering a small group of performing pianists to meet occasionally to try out pieces on one another.  So far there are 3 of us, but this could easily grow larger quickly.  First meeting is tentatively scheduled for the morning of January 23rd.  Looking forward to it!!

In further music news, we were able to locate a recent film based on Olaf Stapledon's 1930 novel First and Last Men.  Conceived originally as a multimedia presentation with images, a narrator, and music, the film worked its magic for us from the opening shot to the closing one.  The film and music is by Johann Johannson, from Iceland in 2020.  He shot the incredible black and white (!) photography mostly in Yugoslavia, at a sculpture park in the mountains, and composed ambient music that is nothing short of alien and futuristic.  Tilda Swinton narrates, speaking words of Stapledon's that give a sense of the final part of the book.  There is no way that the entire book could have been filmed in one go.  Johannson died shortly after the film was made, thus destroying any hope for more chapters from the most incredible SF book ever written.  Now it has a suitable film companion.

Now showing on Mubi. 

We made some fun discoveries this week as a result of chasing down a copy of this film.  One of them is a streaming service called Mubi.  It is a good partner for Criterion, though this one does not have as large a library.  Still, there are enough films now in our queue to keep us going for months, even if we stopped watching Criterion (which we hopefully never will).  Another discovery we made was Spotify (I know, but we're old; these things take time for us).  Here we found the album of music from the film, and have now hooked the computer via Bluetooth into our stereo.

We originally got into Spotify by reading a recent article in the Guardian.  One of the writers has selected a different short piece of music to listen to every day in January, and in the article there is a direct link to the piece on Spotify.  Except that yesterday's (the 3rd) was on Youtube, and it came with an accompanying animation.  Fun stuff!!  So we now have a long listening list awaiting in favourites on Spotify.

Getting back to films, I finished up my December Film Festival with two more by Jasujiro Ozu.  Tokyo Chorus is a silent film from 1931 that follows the life of a young man.  Seen first as a student in a military type school, he is later encountered as an insurance salesman who loses his job when he stands up to the boss over the firing of an older employee.  There is comedy mixing with drama, and the picture is easy to watch.

Now showing on Criterion. 

Lastly came a 1936 film called The Only Son.  Leaving his small village for Tokyo, a young man goes to seek his fortune.  His mother has sacrificed everything to pay for his education.  When she pays a surprise visit to him, she finds him married, with one child, and teaching night school.  She is not impressed, until she sees him act kindly towards a poorer neighbour.  She goes back home with good memories of her visit.  Back at home, the young man has decided to continue his education so that he can get a better paying job.  Ozu's films are always intelligent, and never stretch things beyond what might likely happen in a certain situation.  He is excellent at establishing character, and at getting across emotions in people who are usually reluctant to show what their true feelings really are.

Now showing on Criterion.  

Deb's going away choice for this week was a Sam Fuller western called Forty Guns.  It stars Barbara Stanwyck as a rancher with forty hired guns as helpers, and she mostly gets her way in the world.  The opening scene, with Stanwyck riding hard and followed by her tribe, is very much like watching the opening to Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.  The characters of both are very similar, too.  A Federal marshal comes to town to arrest one of her helpers for robbing the mail.  Things get tense, people get shot, and the bad guys stir things up.  An unusual western, with Stanwyck doing her usual fine job in the leadership role.  Unusual scenes include the outdoor  town baths, complete with singer and guitar player, and dinner time at Stanwyck's ranch, among others.  Filmed in b & w Cinemascope!

Leaving Criterion January 31st. 

Mapman Mike

 

  

Criterion Channel

We get weekly newsletter updates from the Criterion Channel, and the last one had a letter they had received from Wes Anderson.  He proclaimed his love for the offerings, and said that Criterion  was like the Louvre for cinema lovers.  That is an apt description,as we discover major and minor treasures each time we browse the website.  In a typical month we watch about 11 movies on Criterion.  This weekend is Deb's film festival, where she gets to choose three.  With one to go, here is what we have seen so far.

Now showing on Criterion. 

Crumb is a very disturbing film, mostly about mental illness and how it has affected three boys from the same family.  The Crumb brothers each have their own problems, mostly stemming from childhood and high school years.  The two Crumb sisters refused to be interviewed for the film, so things might just beyond just the boys.  We do get to meet and hear about Mum, and Dad, who passed away well before the film was made, also looms large in the narrative.

The crew follow Robert Crumb around downtown Hollywood for several days, and inside his own home.  we talk with former girlfriends, a former wife, and a present wife.  We meet his two brothers, Charles and Max, and the sequences are disturbing.  We see many examples of Crumb's underground comic art, and that is probably the most disturbing thing of all.  Still, it is a must-see film.  I was never a fan of Crumb's work, but still found the movie very addictive.  I have just located all of his work on ReadComicOnline (along with great Michael Moorcock story comics), so I will get around to some of it at a slightly later date.  The film is from the director of Ghost World and Art School Confidential.  All three movies are brilliant.

Now showing on Criterion. 

We watched Orlando tonight, blown away by the costumes and sets.  The recreation of a carnival on the frozen River Thames (filmed in Russia) is enough reason to watch the movie.  But there are many others, including Tilda Swinton's portrayal of a character seen through time, at the same age, but not always the same sex.  Taken from a novel by Virginia Woolf (which neither of us has yet read), the director has made a virtually unfilmable book into quite a ravishing film!   I was constantly reminded throughout of Black Adder, and wonder if that writer was at all influenced by the Woolf book, or whether this movie was influenced by Black Adder.  A highly recommended film, and it should be seen more than once, just to get all the visuals.

Now showing on Criterion.  

Earlier in the week I chose this indie film from 1987.  Four years in the making, it just managed to get completed and find a distributor.  Not a great film by any means, but the excellent documentary that comes with it gives a pretty good indication of what it takes to sometimes get a movie done.  The film can be better appreciated along with the documentary.  Three LA film students were (barely) up to the challenge, which was largely financial.  Allison Anders is one of the directors, and I will be screening more of her work in the future, this being her first film.

Mapman Mike