Prague And Paris

Pretty exciting title, isn't it?  Read on and find out.....

We tried to watch a Detroit Symphony Live broadcast tonight, but there was a problem with the sound, so we just abandoned it.  Thus, I have time in my busy schedule to blog.  What have I been doing?  Just the usual.  Reading, writing, blogging on other blogs of mine, practicing piano, watching movies, and watching lectures in two different courses on Wondrium.  I have watched 7 episodes of the SF literature course, and 2 of the Archaeology of North America course.  That course will focus on the two main prehistoric civilizations, namely the Mississippian Mound Builders, and the Southwest Cultures.  Both of those are right up our alley, and so far the introductory lectures have been top notch.  There are now about a dozen courses in our watch list!  It's like going back to university again as an undergraduate, but in a really comfortable chair, with a beer fridge near by.

We had a fun visit by Jenn G last Monday.  Much dark ale was quaffed, good food was munched, and the conversation was nonstop.  Jenn has an opportunity in early May to go to Paris for a month, looking after a friend's apartment who will be away.  She is hoping she can swing it!  What a great treat for her if she can pull it off! 

Now on to Prague!  Deb has a film in the Prague International Film Awards!  They had 1,600 entries, with 200 accepted as official selections.  Not too shabby.  Only wish we were going.  Once There Was A Girl has already won awards.  It just keeps going.  And her newest film is nearly in the can, too.  I have seen a finished version, but it still needs a tweak or two before being uploaded.  It should be another winner as soon as it begins entering the festival circuit.

In my own travel news, I am all set for my first visit to Detroit in over two years.  if all things go as planned, I will visit this coming Tuesday for the day.  Deb is not eligible to visit if she wishes to continue visiting her mom in LTC three times a week.  She would have to abstain from visiting for 14 days if she crossed the border, even for a few hours.  A very silly rule.  She could travel a thousand miles away within Ontario with no problem, but cannot cross the Detroit River.  What a joke. 

I am having my children's novel translated into French, for possible publication in France.  I am having a few people read the first chapters in English and French for comments.  Everything seems fine, though difficulties arise with certain expressions.  I will soon have a chat with my translator regarding this. 

In movie news, there have been several viewings, though little of major interest.  We just watched a Robert Wise movie from 1959, starring Harry Belafonte, Robert Ryan, Ed Begley, Shelley Winters, and even Gloria Grahame!  Quite a cast.  It is a taut movie from the heist family sub genre of Noir features, with some amazing b & w photography.  Begley heads up a team of three to pull a bank job in a small city.  Ryan plays a racist crackpot.  Belafonte is great in his role, and even sings a number and plays xylophone.  The plot goes off the rail at the end, but until then it's a pretty decent little film.

Showing on Criterion until April 30th. 

Before that came the 3rd Lone Wolf and Cub feature, called Baby Cart To Hades.  This film holds the world's record for the number of men killed by a single samurai warrior in one battle.  Itto Ogami literally fights an entire army, and kills them all.  Take that, Sylvester Stallone!

Before and after shots of the big battle scene. 

Before that came two family dramas, one from 1941 and the other from 1991.  How Green Was My Valley is so dated today, despite its hard hitting attacks on two-faced chapel goers and average town people.  The action takes place in a Welsh coal mining town, and we follow the exploits of the only decent family in the entire town, it seems.  Maureen O'Hara is gorgeous, and Roddy McDowall is quite good as the child.  Watching the movie in 2022, it's impossible to believe that this film beat out Citizen Kane for best picture Oscar that year.  Even back then, I'm certain that eyeballs were rolling when the announcement was made.  Guess which of the two is still a great film, one of the best ever made.

The film appears just a wee bit creaky these days. 

Rambling Rose gives Laura Dern her chance to shine.  She plays a young woman hired as a housekeeper to a family with three kids.  More or less a comedy drama, the film also stars Robert Duvall and Dianne Ladd.  Some nice moments, but not enough to recommend the film.

Showing on Criterion. 

Before that came a Truffaut imitation of a Hitchcock film, called Mississippi Mermaid.  Starring Deneuve and Belmondo, the film misses nearly every chance to be believable and enjoyable.  In films where we don't care about the main characters (Belmondo's character is so stupid that one can't even pity him, and Deneuve's is so shallow one can't have any respect for her, either), that film is a lost cause.  It's a dumb story.  It's not trashy, just filled with ridiculous decisions and escapades.  It's the kind of film that gave European movies a bad image in the US.  Very sloppy movie making.

Showing on Criterion until April 30th. 

If the Detroit trip actually happens, I'll be back with a full report!

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

 

Countdown To Spring

We are enjoying another wintry weekend, with a bit of snow Friday and seriously cold temps today (high of 24 F).  But official Spring is only a week away.  The winter pictures will come off the walls, and up will go different ones.  We have already had a few very fine days, and our snowdrops have been blooming for a week or so now.  I may even start to go outdoors again next week, though mostly do begin yard cleanup and shrub trimming.  Though I do have an uphill mode on my treadmill, I would prefer to get back to Malden Hill once a week for some serious hill climbing.  Though there will be no spring hiking in New Mexico again this year, I am ever hopeful for early autumn, getting back to high country once again.  I have so many unfinished hiking projects there I would like to complete, including at least three mountain crest trails.  Two are half complete, while the third is a long one day journey.

I am currently reading my 6th book of 8 related to my Avon/Equinox project.  Once the 8 books are read I have what I call free reading for the remainder of the month.  The book I am now reading is a strange but satisfying mix of SF and fantasy, written by Jack Williamson in 1994.  I am halfway through its 349 pages, and so far so good.  There are flying unicorns, but also steam wagons, steam trains, and astronomy.  There have been good characters, and the plot so far is building solidly.  Go Jack!  He was still writing this stuff well into his 80s.  I can only hope I will still be doing similar activities during my 80s. 

Deb continues work on her latest film, about four animals running away from certain doom once they have outlived their usefulness to their human masters.  It should run under 10 minutes, and be a visual stunner.  In piano news, I continue work on my next program.  I will seek out lessons with Philip A. sometime after the 21st, before performing them for friends.  My first Valeria book is currently being translated into French, as I await any news from 3 English publishers (can take up to 6 months) where the e-manuscript was sent.

 I am still anxiously awaiting word on when testing will be dropped at the border to return to Canada.  I keep having dreams where I am in Detroit, having a great old time, and then suddenly realize that I have to find someplace to get a Co-vid test.  Of course they are all closed....

Turning to film watching news, Truffaut's Day For Night is one of his best and most accessible films.  He plays a film director dealing with the many problems encountered in such an enterprise.  No doubt these were all problems he really did encounter when making his many films.  Very enjoyable viewing.

Showing on Criterion until March 31st. 

I Was A Simple Man is a film a lot of people rave about, but it left me pretty cold.  Deb really liked it.  It is a film from Hawai'i from 2021, telling in flashback parts of the life an older man now dying.  While I liked the way the story was told, the character selected for the film turned me off to the production.  The photography is beautiful, the dialogue is mostly quiet and sensitive, and the people trying to cope with the man's death are mostly caring and concerned.  The man was a pool shark and heavy drinker, who fathered two kids.  His wife died young and it left him even emptier as a person than he was previously.  He passed off his kids to his sister-in-law, and never had anything much to do with them, despite an early closeness to his daughter.  He barely talks as an old man, refusing to tell doctors anything.  He continues to drink and smoke.  He is nearly a blank slate, and never really develops into any kind of human character.  The story itself goes nowhere, either.  But quiet dialogue, lush atmospheric music, and superb photography have a lot of people thinking that this is a really deep film.  He wasn't a simple man; he wasn't really a man at all.  He was someone who faced hardship and failed to come to terms with it, or with anything, in his long life.  To me a simple man is one who lives his life as best and as full as he is able, without self induced complications or unnecessary drama.  This person was simply flat line throughout his life, at least according to the movie.  Nothing to see here.

Now showing on Criterion. 

Next was a very entertaining film, as Guillermo Del Toro takes us on a one hour tour of his museum to pulp, horror, and SF collection, housed in an amazing building that he has customized down to the last detail.  Called Adventures In Movie Going, it's one of a series where Criterion film buff talks to different directors about film.  Del Toro talks about films that influenced him as he shows us around his palace of collectibles, a rare look inside a place that he uses for inspiration and research.  Eye popping stuff!

Next up was Ken Russell's Mahler.  Like most of his feature films, this one could have been quite good, if it had a lot less of Ken Russell and just a bit more Mahler.  Like his Tchaikovsky film seen earlier, we get the basic facts and highlights (and lowlights) of Mahler's life.  But we get a lot more, too, with some truly outrageous segments that are pretty embarrassing to watch.  The music of the composer is used liberally and quite well, showing viewers where some of his important influences came from.  It shows Alma's struggle with her own self, as she literally has to bury her hopes of becoming a composer, too.  Set in the Austrian Alps, and on board a train travelling through Austria, the film uses flashback to tell much of the story.  The flashbacks are always triggered by something happening on board the train, such as a town brass band playing at a station, or something Alma says to him.  Not essential viewing for Mahler fans, but likely more for Russell fans.

Now showing on Criterion. 

Lastly comes a strange little b & w western from 1958, called Terror In A Texas Town.  It stars Sterling Hayden as a Swedish man come to take over his aging father's homestead.  When he arrives in town, he finds that his father has been murdered, and an evil land baron (Sebastien Cabot) is out to claim the land, with the aid of a hired gunman.  The settlers and townsfolk are too scared to band together and stand up for their rights.  Only Hayden's character will stand up to the bullies.  The final showdown features the gunman with his pistols versus Hayden with a whale harpoon, facing off on main street.  Weird but strangely watchable.

Showing on Criterion until March 31st. 

We are currently in the early stages of watching Cleopatra, a 4+ hr studio extravaganza starring Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and everyone else in Hollywood and beyond.

And, for your final entertainment, here are a few more pics from the family slide scanning project.

One of the first pictures I took with my first 35 mm camera, an Olympus.  Younger brother Stephen and unknown sidekick.  up till now I had used a Kodak Instamatic camera.

This four wheeler belonged to my female cousin.  I had a very fateful downhill ride on it one day. 

Mapman Mike