dirac

I have not read any of the books, but people whose judgment I trust have, and there does seem to be something more going on than the usual media flavor-of-the-month. Only time will tell, of course.

Our esteemed Mel Johnson posted the following comments on the new Potter book in the What Are You Reading? thread, and I have copied the text here in case others would like to add comments or look at previous Harry Potter related postings:

I forgot to thank you, papeetepatrick, for linking to the Canby review. I didn’t always agree with Canby but I remember him as a good critic and writer. I think he just didn’t get it. I wonder if ‘Sebastiane’ is really that awful?

Thank you, sandik, for that detailed review. I have had occasion to wish that more severe time constraints could be put on some of today’s filmmakers. I nearly always come away from the theatre wishing the film in question was about twenty minutes shorter. This is not to suggest that we return to the days when a feature film could be no more than seventy to ninety minutes, even if we could, but when I do see movies from that era I appreciate the qualities you mention in ‘Paris, je t’aime’ – brevity, clarity, intensity.

Indeed. I seem to remember reading somewhere that Bathory thought that bathing in the blood of virgin girls would keep her young or something like that. Hans should be able to fill us in. Giannina writes: Funny how that works. I only hopped, skipped, and jumped through 'A Beautiful Mind' sorry to say – nothing against the book, I just became distracted by something else and never got back to it – but the movie version seemed highly sentimental and romanticized. That’s unavoidable up to a point, given the people involved, but I was a little taken aback by the seeming suggestion that mental illness can be cured by the unwavering Love of a Good Woman. An unfortunate simplification of a very complex marriage. Russell Crowe was stupendous, though. Good luck with ‘Possession,’ Hans, and please report back. I confess I was unable to get through it – too clever by half for me.

Official Website of The Lives of Others This is a very powerful German film with the wonderful actor, Ulrich Mühe. It is one of the best movies I have seen this year... one of those you could watch more than once. Review of The Lives of Others "An intense thriller begins in East Berlin five years before the fall of the Berlin Wall and traces the gradual disillusionment of State Security Captain Gerd Wiesler, who works for the Stasi Secret Police..." Sad news. Ulrich Mühe has just died.

Many share your fascination, cubanmiamiboy. I re-read Wuthering Heights every few years or so. It's really not a 'romantic' story (in the slushier sense) at all.

This movie had completely slipped my mind, I’m afraid, but I happened to spot it at Blockbuster and took it home for a look. It’s always hard to have to knock a project that took decades of dedication to bring to fruition, but I’m sorry to say it’s not very good. If Garcia had entrusted the screenplay to a director with more experience it would have helped, although probably not much. “The Godfather Part II, ” to which “The Lost City” is indebted, did a better job with similar themes. It isn’t Garcia’s ‘political position,’ such as it is, that’s the problem – in fact, a more definite and articulated stance, pro or con, wouldn’t matter which – might have given the picture some much needed drive and focus. Instead, we get horribly superficial presentations of the personalities and issues involved, along with treasures like the Bill Murray character, a misbegotten writer’s conceit called The Writer, natch, who wanders around in shorts interjecting what I think are intended to be ironic and perceptive insights into Cuban life??? Feijoo doesn’t have much screen time and would have made little impression on this viewer if I hadn’t already been looking for her, but Feijoo bears no responsibility for that. I didn’t much care for the dance number on pointe (sans tights, which looks very unattractive here). Otherwise the nightclub routines are among the movie’s better moments.

Hello, Lovebird, good to hear from you. Russian literature in the US did receive a recent boost from Oprah Winfrey - she selected a recent translation of Anna Karenina for her book club and it actually made the paperback best seller list for awhile.

I saw Caravaggio on cable some time ago and was unable to finish watching, although if I had been in a theatre I probably would have been able to sit through it. Jarman’s flashback structure did not work for me and many of the lines given to Caravaggio seemed, well, inane. Nigel Terry is a nice fellow but not my idea of the painter. I saw the Edward II with Steven Waddington on its initial release and liked it much better than Caravaggio – I think I’ll rent it and look at it again, in fact. It helps to read the play first. I’ve never seen ‘The Tempest.’ If I recall correctly Jarman made it next after ‘Jubilee’ and so I’d think they might have some general resemblances. I’ll have to track it down.

Thank you for the review, Mashinka. It sounds as if it was an experiment worth trying. My knowledge of the Passion comes only from recordings but I agree that an opera house stage does not sound like the ideal setting.

No, alas, although I've read a lot about it, not the same thing, of course. I, too, would be interested to hear any views of it. Giannina writes: Not to worry. It doesn't matter - we just want to hear from you.

The Telegraph runs an obituary. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml...7/20/db2002.xml The obituary mentions his accident-ridden debut at City Opera. I remember years ago Hadley telling the story, most amusingly, in Opera News.

A nice article in The Guardian about “Jubilee.” http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/st...2129917,00.html .

I haven't actually read any of the recent polemics, being quite comfortable with my own view of matters and unworried as to whether I’m right or not. But I think it’s nice that there’s a livelier discussion going on. I enjoyed Shermer’s book ‘ Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time.’ He’s a very useful fellow to have around. It’s odd, but I rarely underline anything or make marginal comments, even when I was in school – it either stays in my head or it doesn’t....... I have to start reading DeLillo again. I read several of his early books and began losing touch around, I think it was Underworld. But then I have been reading very little fiction in recent years. I’m trying to remedy this – I just bought Gary Shteyngart’s Russian Debutante’s Handbook and really do intend to get to it shortly.

Oh, this is awful news. I had read of his personal problems and was hoping he would be able to work things out. Yes, it’s sad when an elderly artist dies, but at least we can celebrate them for their accomplishments in the awareness that they fulfilled their talents; this is simply horrible. That’s right. I love his Candide, and he was an appealing Gaylord Ravenel on the McGlinn recording of “Show Boat,” too.

A good article on “The Lives of Others” appeared just a couple of months ago in The New York Review of Books. There were many things I liked about “The Lives of Others” but I was impressed by the way von Donnersmarck takes a conventional genre form – the thriller – and makes something deeper out of it. I’m going to try to see “A Mighty Heart” before it goes away, which may be soon, unfortunately. I was not initially eager to go as it sounded to me like an upscale “Harrison’s Flowers” but I’m hearing good things about it.

True, Natalia, but is the comfort of the dancers - which I agree is always important, of course - is central to the question of what is appropriate when bringing back old costumes. Body types in ballet are very different now and costumes that looked great on dancers back when might look odd today if not adapted carefully.

It is now playing in my area and I plan to attend this weekend. Veering off topic somewhat, has anyone seen a good film this summer that is off the beaten/blockbuster track? If so, please report.

Exactly. You have to know how to walk that fine line. Thank you, scherzo, for starting such a good topic. More comments, please!

Thank you for posting the link, Mashinka. Interesting piece. It is true that we go through fallow periods in criticism when there don’t seem to be too many bright lights out there, but certainly as far as ballet is concerned the picture is not bleak – there are plenty of good writers out there but their forums in print are diminished or disappearing. Gill is fortunate to have so many print critics to complain about. (And not only in dance – some papers have begun doing away with the post of regular film critic.) I can’t address the state of play in British theatre criticism. I'm willing to believe Gill has a legitimate beef. Shaws and Tynans don't come with the mail, though. There's not going to be a Hazlitt in every generation (and if there isn't, it may be because there are no Keans to write about). Critics can also start out on learning curves, too. I can think of one young critic whose work began appearing in various publications some years ago and I thought this writer was never going to be able to cut it but the improvement has been enormous and I'm sure it will continue.

Thank you, cubanmiamiboy, for reviving this topic. I hope others will chime in. What is it that you especially admire about 'Crime and Punishment' > Atheists are starting to pipe up a little more vigorously, it seems - very healthy for public discourse, IMO. What did you think of 'Middlemarch,' Hans? I still have it around the house but haven't looked at it for years. My experience with George Eliot is that I have to force myself to pick up a given book but when I finally do it's completely engrossing. (I can remember from college days a vigorous discussion over the question of Casaubon's impotence - is he or isn't he?)

Commentary on Mark Morris and “Mozart Dances” by James Fenton in The Guardian. http://arts.guardian.co.uk/theatre/dance/s...2125932,00.html

Sifton's tone tends to be a little too determinedly flippant for my taste but I do learn things from these talks every once in awhile and they're certainly better than nothing at all. ViolinConcerto, I suspect most other editors wouldn't have responded with docility to a question like that, either.

I think the key line, however, is the one innopac quoted that follows: 'It should be the other way around.' kfw writes: I think you're probably right.