dirac

I haven't seen that version, cubanmiamiboy, thanks. I will have to look it up. I actually went into the cinema resolved to judge Knightley on her own merits, but you see how it turned out. For the most part I wasn't mentally comparing-and-contrasting, except for the scenes with Anna and her son where invidious comparisons with Garbo were inescapable. I haven't seen another Anna on the big or small screens who matched her power of maternal feeling. Knightley seemed more like his big sister.

Saw this last night. Some good things, others much less so. The gimmick of staging the action in and out of a theater has mixed results (I began to expect that the actors would get hopelessly lost, Spinal Tap-style, and have to ask directions from a stagehand) and elsewhere Joe Wright borrows from Baz Luhrmann, again to mixed effect - scene after scene seems to be set up with musical cues for numbers that never happen and emotionally the movie never takes hold. Brechtian distancing is all very well, but when Anna's about to plunge under the train and you're checking your watch, it's not a good sign. Levin and Kitty get more screen time in this version, and one of the best scenes, but other plot points get dropped or elided to make room. The downsizing of the great female roles to fit Miss Knightley continues apace and the progression from Garbo and Leigh to Marceau and Knightley leads one to question Darwin anew. This Anna is more overtly unsympathetic than usual, not a problem in itself and close to Tolstoy but Anna does have to have passion, and Knightley doesn’t have the weight to make lines like "Murderer. Murderer." and "I am damned" register. In period costume she often looks like she's playing dress-up. When emotional intensity is called for she does her usual jaw-jutting and baring of scary teeth. (With her mouth closed she can be gorgeous.) Law's softer, less authoritative husband is a better match up for her than previous movie Karenins – Rathbone would have subdued her with one curl of the lip and she would have melted down under the beady eye of Richardson. Law can't really do Bad in Bed - he's about as convincing as Warren Beatty confessing his impotence to Faye Dunaway - but he played against type very successfully here even if his jejune co-stars don't offer much in the way of competition. Aaron Taylor-Johnson seems to have been cast to make Kieron Moore feel better, and his baby-faced Vronsky is so obviously on the make that you’d think even this flighty and neurotic Anna would dismiss him out of hand. (The cast is big on full-lipped starlets. I’m talking about the men.) Also his curly hair, moustache, and manner often reminded me, distractingly, of a younger Gene Wilder as Baron Frankenstein. Ex-Mr. Darcy Matthew Macfadyen as Oblonsky does come through.

Great idea for a topic, sandik. I don't always get to many new books as they come out, but America Aflame by David Goldfield stood out for me. Frank Langella's book, with the admirably forthright title Dropping Names, was an entertaining read. Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations,new last year, was also good, especially with the accompanying CD. (All three of them would be nice gifts for the right person. It could be me, but I think if you're giving a book as a gift it should be a new or at least newish one. Not necessarily new material, a new poetry collection would be fine.) I didn't read anything horrible per se, but there were one or two disappointments.

Thanks, Drew. I guess it would be Petit. The business of rankings and making up these sorts of lists is really a parlor game, but composing them does make you think about what qualities in a composer you value more than others, as I've probably said elsewhere. Tchakovsky's Fourth has been dismissed as sentimental bombast in terms far less tactful than yours.

Thanks for the list, Rosa. Any particular likes or dislikes from your list? I suppose it's probably time for a new "What are you reading?" thread, summer having long passed, alas....

Thanks for reviving this topic, YouOverThere. I don't know that I'd class Prokofiev with Tchaikovsky in terms of talent, honestly, but it could be a matter of taste. That's an interesting link, Mashinka. I agree that there's a big difference between choosing one's favorite music and making a qualitative judgment -- I also doubt that Mark Elder comes home after a hard day and puts on "The Rite of Spring," but you can have "favorite" music for different occasions and purposes.

Eliot did speak of bringing poetry closer to popular culture, although Cats was probably not what he had in mind. I don't think he would have minded Mrs. Eliot approving the project, though.

It's off topic, but I have to say in defense of the teevee that there's a lot of good writing and acting to be found these days. And of course guilty pleasures - I know I shouldn't spend valuable time watching "Doomsday Preppers," but there you are.

Yes, colorizing was Ted Turner's bright idea. Without him we wouldn't have the channel, though - at least those of us who can afford a cable package that includes it.

T.S. Eliot's widow Valerie has died at age 86. Telegraph The Times It'll be interesting to see who takes over the estate and what happens from here.

Belated thanks for these, pherank. There's no question that movies in general look better when seen in the venues for which they were made, and also that some restored versions can make a great difference in your experience of the film. Even a lesser experience can make converts, though. I think it's a shame in some ways that old movies aren't used any more as filler for late night or afternoon programming. It wasn't the ideal way to see them but it made them hard to miss or avoid. Now, unless you have more than basic cable, they have to be actively sought out in repertory theaters or DVD. Right. When Raymond Burr finally twigs and gazes directly at Stewart's window, he's looking right at you.

Drew writes: Exactly. And I'm sure the dancers in those new works feel the same way.

Sad news, Mindyourstep. Thank you for posting. Karen Kain spoke of him with great warmth and respect in her autobiography

Yes. That's why I found the the tone he took in the interview rather odd. We all know he left town and made good and that he works with first-rate people. Funny he should feel the need to remind everyone, even if he does have issues with the hometown and some of its residents. I have mixed feelings about his work for ballet companies, at least as far as his pieces for SFB are concerned.

I'm not that familiar with Stowell's stuff but I had the same thought. Morris might take that under advisement. Thank you for posting the article, Ray. Do you suppose it's possible, however, to consign "part of the conversation," "national conversation," etc., to the Island of Lost Hackphrases, at least temporarily? Perhaps election season is getting to me, but the next writer or pundit who says "national conversation" or some variation thereof may be receiving some anthrax in the mail. Sorry, I digress.

Thank you for telling us about the performance, YouOverThere. Interesting. Probably true for other cities as well, I imagine.

Two years almost to the day. I could get used to this.

Alastair Macaulay's review in the NYT. Do regular observers of the company agree?

Thanks for reviving this thread, pherank. I agree with the above (and also with Farrell Fan's absolutist stand upthread).

Nice topic, bart. It would seem to be plain good manners for dancers to play for and to the retiree in farewell performances, but of course it doesn't always happen.

Great line.Richard Pryor supplied it. Karras of course was very far from pawnlike, which quality is a factor keeping him out of the Hall of Fame. He never apologized and never explained, even when arguably apologies were called for. His onscreen presence was rather sweet ("Mongo like candy") in contrast to his ferocity on the field and active dislike of quarterbacks, which he seems to have carried into retirement (Wilfrid Sheed recalled the throaty chortle Karras emitted, during the latter's Monday Night Football stint, whenever a QB was the victim of a particularly choice hit). He obviously had a good mind and it's more than a shame to think of him suffering from dementia, very possibly due to his career in football.

Mongo only pawn in game of life. Alex Karras is dead at 77. Related. Video clips.

An item was also posted in Monday's links.

"Master and Margarita" is one I need to tackle myself. I started it once, and was more confused than attracted, got interrupted, and never went back. You're not necessarily alone in that, pherank. It can be tough to get into. We have a BA discussion on the book here if you're interested.

A story on the company by Judith Mackrell in The Guardian.