dirac

A review of the book by Megan Race for The Los Angeles Review of Books.

Apologies for going off-topic. These little guys were just too fetching to pass up. They were just born in San Francisco and Australia. See them now, while they're still orange!

Thanks for posting, YouOverThere. I am not familiar with his work although the name rang a bell. Gramophone reprints an appreciation of Rouse's work by Richard Whitehouse:

A nice human interest article.

Welcome, DaniGirl, and thanks to you (and your friend). Best of luck in your search!

Thank you for introducing yourself, JanLevNYC. I'll be very interested in any opinions you share with us! Dance photography must present some unique challenges to the photographer.

Thank you for delurking, A1EV3! Welcome aboard and I look forward to reading your posts!

The Arab Council remained in existence for some years. It is shown in the film as collapsing in a matter of weeks -- I think that’s the period of time suggested -- because the Arabs can’t put aside their tribal differences and don’t understand how a modern city works. That is what I mean by condescension. (The movie also suggests rather unfairly that Allenby is content to watch the city fall apart in order to accomplish his political objectives.)

was referring more to the political (and psychological) muddle at the end. The movie doesn’t make a convincing link between Lawrence’s prison trauma and the evolution of the character. The condescension lies in the scenes around the big table in Damascus, with the clear implication of “these natives can’t govern themselves.” These aren’t fatal flaws but they’re a problem.

Saw it yesterday and it was great. The room was as anticipated too small but the screen and sound were not overpowering. It was in 70 mm and the images were stunning. The ending is still confused and a certain imperial ethnic condescension is hard to miss, but it doesn't wreck the picture. Well, he made it work. Redford, who turned it down (Nichols said that Redford was turned down, but I'm inclined to doubt that), would have been perfect.

It helps that Martin's trademark white suits were already a little retro.

I'd say ABT has already embarrassed itself sufficiently. Bad money.

Koch was well into his fifties when he married a woman two decades his junior. Of course at such an advanced age he would have had to marry well out of his age bracket for children.

Well………… C.B. DeMille in CinemaScope is conventional good fun. I would call Lean’s style of storytelling traditional without the negative connotation of “conventional” -- I only wish more directors could tell a story like Lean -- but I’d not call Lawrence fun except for a few bits here and there (that magnificent Arabian stallion), and the passion and torment of O’Toole’s Lawrence aren’t fun at all ( he compensates for all the deficiencies in the film’s conception of the character). Which is not to say that there aren’t elements of dear old C.B. in Lawrence – there are. Scorsese, with Spielberg, has helped with Lawrence reconstructions and transfers: I always thought Bonnie and Clyde owed most to Shoot the Piano Player. Breathless makes sense too, though. Truffaut was slated to direct B&C – that’s an interesting What If…..

Whatever O’Toole was, it wasn’t conventional (except perhaps for his views on woman’s place – Sian Phillips wrote of his colossal freakout when she told him she wasn’t a virgin).

It just goes to show you how off base back in the day judgment can be, while acknowledging what the New Wavers were reacting against. The film school cognoscenti might have had a point if the picture had been Doctor Zhivago -- and even Zhivago for all its flaws looks better in retrospect, if only because they really don't make them like that any more. Politically speaking, the picture is certainly confused, in part because Lean wanted to de-emphasize politics in a highly political story (which put him at odds with his original screenwriter, Michael Wilson). "The thinking man's epic" isn't quite an oxymoron, but it is hard to combine the sensual delights and kinetic excitement of spectacle with the political and moral complexities of empire. Lawrence, who embodied many of those complexities, would no doubt have had mixed feelings - but they would have been mixed. Lawrence was shot in Panavision by the celebrated cinematographer Freddie Young. O'Toole's looks were indeed remodeled a bit. He was originally brunet, with a rather wild shock of hair, went blond and straight for Lawrence and stayed that way. His nose also had an extra bit of length nipped off. (He was always a striking man, he just became striking in a more conventional way.)

I saw it in a theater before the 1988 restoration and it was a great experience then. It appears this latest iteration has a refurbished soundtrack and will be in the original aspect ratio, with the overture, intermission, and the whole ball of wax. Unsurprising, given that TCM is meticulous about this stuff. I'm getting seriously juiced. I'm seeing it this weekend. My one concern is that instead of a decently sized auditorium it's going to be screened in one of those tiny rooms common among today's giant multiplexes. In such spaces the screen and sound can be overpowering. You feel like a POW or something.

You might check out the new bio, Buddy, if you're curious. The author is a bit of a fanboy but it has been an interesting life and unique career.

Late night shows are supposed to make you laugh, theoretically anyway. The Kimmel bit, for example, was actually pretty good, and it was obviously well intentioned. Personally I don't care whether the guys are straight or not. It's actually kind of a plus for ballet that it 's one place where straight white guys like MB aren't privileged just because.........oh, wait.

Thanks, Helene. Very nice letter. Kelly actually quit dancing for a while as a kid because the hazing was so brutal, and Gene was no shrinking violet.

Of course, there's been more than one restoration since the big one in 1988, which Lean and editor Anne V. Coates were still around for. I wonder if this one is the 70mm version? If so, oh boy!

It's a great help that Good Morning America is based in New York, isn't it? As for the childrearing aspect, these are all first world problems. In many other places people are just happy to raise their kids to healthy adulthood, never mind “pursuing their passions" or whatever. As long as the kid doesn’t grow up to say things like “impactful” you did fine. Young Stiefel junior is cute as a button!

Mitchell could have accompanied her gentleman friend of the time, Graham Nash, but wisely stayed home to do press. I am reminded for no special reason that a few years ago Nash dumped his wife of four decades for a lady half his age who looks rather like Joni in her youth. Mitchell dumped him by telegram, bless her heart.

The morning shows are geared toward the stay-at-home audience - they cover news (in fact, the CBS morning show tends to the newsier side, or at least it did until recently) but they are intentionally geared toward lighter entertainment. They do tend to err on the cheery side - cf. Onion TV's "Today Now!" parodies. I'll bet she is.

Thank you for posting, YouOverThere. I did not know of this company. Has anyone else seen them?