dirac

Yes, you should. As I remember there is also a passage where Dulcinea is meant to be supporting the Don, when in dance terms he is really supporting her, and it's magical.

Ray writes: True, but you would lose more than you gained. Even 'straight' adaptations of Austen, which can retain much of the dialogue, plot, and mood, lose that all-important narrative voice. It wouldn't stun me if some company tries a Pride and Prejudice one day, though - well known story and title, built in appeal to women, etc. Thanks, GWTW. I didn't know that. The connection between the vogue for Austen and chick lit is an interesting one and this is another example of it. As for the bestseller driven market....well, I suppose it was inevitable that the disease would spread.

I don’t have any objection to calling Bergman entertaining, because to me he is; there is an element of entertainment (in the non-frivolous sense) in any successful film, and if it doesn’t entertain you then something is not working. I didn’t like Rosenbaum’s condescending tone and critics who toss around ‘entertaining’ as if it were an insult set my teeth on edge. (The reference to George Cukor got to me particularly – it’s not only meant to be condescending but it’s inaccurate – Cukor had many skills as a director but storytelling per se was not his long suit.) Personally Bergman seems to have been - well, kind of a creep in many ways. I like him better than you do but I also know what you mean. “Interiors” is awful. I saw it again on cable recently with the intention of returning to it with a completely open mind, and it was just as bad as ever. (Opposing views welcome. )

I’m copying and pasting 4mrdncr’s post below from another thread as I thought it would fit in here: I guess I never really thought of ‘My Fair Lady’ as having too many songs (it’s one of my very favorite scores, a painfully obvious choice I know).

It took me a long time to get around to appreciating Star Trek, although I always got a kick out of DeForest Kelley (who plays a supporting role in the aforementioned Where Love Has Gone, as one of Susan Hayward’s many inamoratas).

Thanks for mentioning that show, Ray. I’ll have to check it out. Victor Mature is my go-to guy in this area. I have special fondness for Demetrius and the Gladiators and Samson and Delilah. In a similar vein, there is also Lana (“Because I’m a priestess of Baal!”) Turner in The Prodigal -- a dull movie for the most part, however, be warned. That’s another treasure trove. I forgot about Charlie’s Angels. I liked Ladd, too. An agreeable personality and very lovely. I was a huge fan of Wonder Woman with Lynda Carter. You know, it’s amazing I have any brain cells left.....

Clipping this bit from a post by papeetepatrick in another thread: I didn’t mind the Scott article as much as I did another piece that showed up in the Times, this one on the op-ed page, by Jonathan Rosenbaum. Absolutely insufferable. (Reminded me of the scene in ‘Manhattan’ where Diane Keaton and Michael Murphy are knocking Bergman, among other artists, and putting them in their ‘Academy of the Overrated.’)

Me, too. Although I think even Meryl would have been sunk by that particular production. Certainly better than Helena Bonham Carter, which I feel confident of saying in advance. Like many stage personalities, however, LuPone might have been a little 'too much' for the screen. papeetepatrick writes: I liked her, too, although I'm not sure I would go so far as to call the movie underrated. It's the production I and I'm sure many others learned Gypsy from, though, and I'm grateful it was made.

there doesn't seem *anything* wrong with that to me. its a fantastic show!!! I'm inclined to agree with aurora, bart. Your 'guilty pleasures' don't seem all that guilty, not to me anyway.

Thank you for the review, cubanmiamiboy. I'll probably see it if timing and location are convenient, but I'm not rushing out the door.

YES! ESP lives! Just last Tuesday I was telling a friend at lunch about that scene and how I couldn't imagine any two tougher divas doing the ultimate of this kind of scene--but that I also thought they must have done umpteen thousand takes and still Hayward couldn't quite get all the amusement out of her face from watching Davis. To wit: Hayward: 'Mother, why do have to make it sound so dirty?' Davis: "You have devoted your life to muddt andt fildth!!!!" "Sculptress! Pagan! Alley cat!" "With you, art and sex go hand in hand."

Thank you, Helene, for moving the topic. kfw writes: None required. It’s important (and fun) to hash these things out. I define a guilty pleasure as something you enjoy that is indefensible from an aesthetic standpoint but you like it anyway. Singing along with Sondheim cannot qualify as a guilty pleasure; singing along with ABBA, as I used to do, does. Guilty pleasure movies: Where Love Has Gone, with Bette Davis facing off against Susan Hayward. Body of Evidence, the Madonna thriller about people having S&M sex in Oregon. Taylor and Burton in The Sandpiper. Marlene Dietrich in The Devil is a Woman. The Dirty Dozen. Guilty pleasure television: Project Runway, True Hollywood Story, The Tudors. Guilty pleasure reading: Daphne du Maurier, ‘Forever Amber,’ anything by Edna Ferber. (Contemporary writing of the same ilk does not appeal to me at all for some reason.) Truth to tell, I am not really ashamed of enjoying any of the foregoing..........

I've been listening to 'Milord' myself on an older recording--am mad for this song..'Je suis une fille du port, l'ombre de la rue...'. Also 'Je Sais Comment', over and over. I've been afraid to see the film, because I have a hard time imagining anybody doing Piaf, no matter how good. I heard they were going to do a Marlene Dietrich movie, too, and it was originally going to be Gwyneth Paltrow, and I didn't want anybody to do Marlene either. I guess it's all her voice in the songs, though, isn't it? I'm afraid I avoided this movie deliberately in the belief that Piaf like Judy Garland has been done to death. Plainly, I was mistaken. Thank you, glebb, for starting the topic and recommending the film. Good to hear from you in this forum. I like Paltrow well enough but can't see her as Dietrich, at all.....

We have a new one. This year it's Charles Simic.

Rather like John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. I cannot say I feel the same sense of loss that I do regarding Bergman. But Antonioni was a true innovator and even if you don’t like him, others you do like learned from him and so he’s unavoidable in the way Godard is unavoidable. I admired L’Avventura very much and I still think it holds up well. La Notte had its moments, but L’Eclisse and Red Desert bored and irritated me, although the latter is lovely to look at. (A major part of the problem for me was Monica Vitti, a strong contender IMO for the Most Boring Screen Beauty award.) I haven’t seen Zabriskie Point in many years, but I recall it as being not so bad, although my expectations were low to begin with. I didn’t see the point to Blow-Up, thought it was much ado about nothing, although it was pretty.

"Wild thing/You make my heart sing......."

Michelangelo Antonioni has died at age 94.

Welcome to New Yorkers, maybe. --- Disgruntled in San Francisco

She lives on in other places, too. The chick lit shelves are strewn with Austen-related topics and titles, books with names like "Mrs. Darcy," sequels, prequels and the like. There are also slightly higher-browed efforts such as the "Jane Austen Book Club," if I am recalling the title correctly.

The Jane Austen bandwagon keeps on rolling. A new movie called "Becoming Jane" starring Anne Hathaway as the writer, opens this week: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...7072700707.html Recent article from the NY Times speculating on the sources of Austenmania. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/29/movies/29jame.html The topic of Jane Austen and adaptations of her work has arisen on different forums and threads in the past. What do you think of this project, Janeites?

What a great review, papeetepatrick. Thank you.

The Mitford books are not only entertaining, but lovely to look at; ravishing reproductions and photographs. (Her view of Pompadour is most sympathetic, BTW.)

Thanks, Pamela, for posting, and to those who've commented so far. One of the great artists of the last century has died. He made some films that were less than great, but even his failures are worth looking at. I was overcome by “Persona” and “The Seventh Seal,” (both obvious choices but what can I do). From the Times obituary: Bergman had his doubts, troubles, and torments but he did manage to enjoy many of life’s joys and pleasures, sometimes at the expense of others. I rented his last picture, Sarabande, on DVD and on the ‘making of the film’ extra segment he appeared to be the liveliest and most vital person on the set; I thought he was good for years.

I only know of Madame de Montespan through my reading of Nancy Mitford’s “The Sun King,” and I am embarrassed to admit I remember not a word of what Mitford said (Madame de Maintenon made a much stronger impression on me for some reason). Must go get the book of the shelf and review. I remember reading something about a poisoning scandal? That’s what I thought, too, and eventually I did give up. Not involving at all, felt like an academic exercise. Anyone out there feel differently? Yes, imagine having the distaff Dracula in your family tree.

An unhappy reminder of the power of life and death over ordinary folk that the aristocracy held at certain places and times in the past. Who was going to stop her, after all, until she finally went too far?