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"Old television quiz shows - who was the original presenter of the TV quiz show ""Blockbusters""?" | Blockbusters - UKGameshows
Blockbusters
Simon Mattocks (2012)
Broadcast
Central in association with Talbot Television and Goodson-Todman Productions for ITV, 29 August 1983 to 19 May 1993 (1160 episodes in 10 series)
Central in association with Mark Goodson Productions and Talbot Television for Sky One, 18 April 1994 to 17 February 1995 (180 episodes in 1 series)
(but see Regional broadcast details below)
Fremantle for BBC2, 31 March to 28 August 1997 (60 episodes in 1 series)
Grundy for Sky One, 30 October 2000 to 23 March 2001 (100 episodes in 1 series)
ITV Productions and TalkbackThames for ITV1, 14 April 2007 ( Gameshow Marathon one-off)
Thames for Challenge, 14 May to 3 August 2012 (41 episodes in 1 series)
Synopsis
First letter first
The UK version of this original American show consisted of twenty lettered hexagons. If a contestant nominated a particular space (say, W), host Bob Holness would read out a question in the format "What W is the most north-westerly state in mainland USA?"
Master of ceremonies, Bob Holness
Buzzing in and answering the question correctly meant that space would be turned your colour. One player had the white spaces, and a team of two players had blue. The idea of the game was to fill in as many spaces as necessary so that a contiguous line of your colour went across the board horizontally (for the blue team) or vertically (for the white player, who could make the journey in one less space than the blues to compensate for their single-ness). The 'two against one' concept proved rather contentious, with many viewers being of the opinion that the double team had an unfair advantage (even if they did have to answer more questions correctly to win), but the format was clearly such a winning one that the whole issue never really mattered that much and it certainly didn't affect the show's popularity or reputation. In any case, there were certainly plenty of single player-victories over all the series.
Getting a question correct also allowed you to choose the next letter. As you can see from the diagram, the single player had a shorter route than the pair of blue players.
The board is constructed in such a way that ties weren't possible, although a frequent occurrence was the "mutual space" whereby both sides needed the same one space in order to complete their line across the board.
On the run
The side who won the best of three matches went on to play the Gold Run. In this game, the participant (either the white player, or a nominated player from the blue team) had to work their way across the board from left to right within 60 seconds (or "within that magic minute", as Bob often put it). The hexagons had letter combinations such as "MTOC" and the contestants had to guess what these stood for using clues given by the host. e.g. "Famous humanitarian from India" would be "Mother Theresa of Calcutta".
Regardless of whether the player won the Gold Run or not, the champion(s) went on to play another team or single player. Winning successive matches earned a chance at further Gold Runs with increasingly impressive prizes. A fourth Gold Run tended to be a holiday break somewhere in Europe, while winning the fifth and final Gold Run led to an excellent adventure holiday somewhere in the world. A failed Gold Run meant that the contestant(s) would get £10 for every correct answer. Correct answers during the main game were worth £5. Oh, and during the main game, there was always the chance that a letter chosen would emit a special noise, indicating that the contestant who got it right would win a prize for his/her school. This was usually something along the lines of a computer or science or sports equipment. Although a fair number of contestants achieved this, very few actually won more than one school-prize.
In the later series of the ITV version of Blockbusters they made an effort to cut costs, err... we mean, of course, get through more contestants by limiting players to three rounds only. In fact, one UKGS correspondent reports that when he was a contestant in 1989, he was told that the reason they changed the structure was because they wanted more people to win the big prizes. Even though it would cost more money, it was reckoned that this was a good move as it would lead to more "grand finals" and more instances of what viewers (apparently) wanted to see - kids winning the cool holidays.
All contestants, successful or otherwise, took away the (apparently much-coveted) 'Blockbusters' sweatshirt (or rugby shirt, depending on the year), dictionary and personal organiser. The latter item varied over the Holness-years (and possibly wasn't even part of the package in the early years), but there was certainly always an item of clothing and a dictionary for everyone to take away. Pictures of the previous contestants wearing the sweatshirt/rugby shirt were invariably shown when Bob referred to the prizes.
Champion Blockbusters
An enjoyable spin-off ITV series, Champion Blockbusters, invited former winners back to play again. This time, the money was for charity (with the 'mystery letter' boosting the funds considerably when answered correctly), but the contestants still won the Gold Run prizes, all of which were relevant in some way to whatever they were now doing.
Set and match
There are a couple of features of the set that are worth mentioning. The first is the game board, which was quite a feat of engineering. It took up the entire height of the studio, and was powered using 38 slide projectors, each with their own set of slides for the different letters, colours and Gold Run questions.
Slides used by the projectors of the original Blockbusters board
The second is the giant figureheads that adorned the top of the studio. There was a whole set of them, featuring famous people from the past. They were all made out of polystyrene that had been modelled using a hot metal wire. The chief Greek god Zeus took pride of place.
Channel hopping
The show was dropped by ITV after ten years, only to be snapped up by Sky (with Holness still at the helm) shortly afterwards, though these episodes were also shown in some ITV regions. During this series, a new Bonus Question feature was introduced. The regular question was asked and if the person who picked the letter got it correct, they were asked a related question for them only for the chance to win an additional £5. This question didn't affect the board in any way and was simply a general knowledge question linked to the first one.
BBC 2 experimented with a cheaper afternoon version for adults, which did not have the charm of the original show. Michael Aspel seemed very wooden and ill-at-ease as the new host - and bizarrely so, given that he was no stranger to hosting quizzes.
Michael Aspel tried his luck with a modern version of Blockbusters
Sky did another version they made for their channel in the new millennium with Liza Tarbuck, but let's just forget about that one.
There was also a Gameshow Marathon one-off with Vernon Kay on ITV, which had celebrities playing the game as contestants.
The gold run from the Gameshow Marathon version of the show
After airing a successful run of repeats of the 1992 series, in 2012 game show channel Challenge recorded 41 brand new episodes, with DJ Simon Mayo at the helm. He proved to be a good host, if rather more feisty than Holness in his approach. One or two changes occurred, such as Mayo always referring to 'hexagons' on the board, which Holness had rarely, if ever, done, and Mayo also referred to 'a flashing white (or blue) board', rather than Holness's 'flashing white or blue light', when either side was near to winning the game.
A look at the set and opening titles from the Challenge version.
Regional broadcast details
Blockbusters' broadcast history is rather complicated. What we know is as follows:
1983
In 1983, all regions started broadcasting the series from Monday to Friday. Some stations moved Blockbusters to a earlier slot because soap operas were being broadcast at 5.15.
Border, Central, Granada, HTV, UTV and Yorkshire: 5.15pm from 29 August to 4 November 1983.
Anglia, Channel Television, Grampian, Scottish, Thames, TSW, TVS and Tyne Tees: 3.30pm from 5 September to 11 November 1983.
1984 - 1988
Border, Central, Granada, HTV, Tyne Tees, Yorkshire and UTV: Broadcast Monday - Friday at 5.15, Saturday at 5.05, from September to February.
Anglia, Grampian, Scottish, TVS, and Thames/LWT: Broadcast: Wednesday - Friday at 5.15, Saturday at 5.05, September to April. Monday and Tuesday slot was filled with Emmerdale Farm or Sons and Daughters on TVS.
Thames/LWT changed transmission from September 1985: Monday to Saturday (except Thursdays): 5.15.
TSW The first 71 episodes of the 1984/5 series was not fully transmitted, because the 5.15 slot was taken up with Crossroads or Emmerdale Farm. The latter was moved into early peaktime in 1985 (as it was on Thames). The last 49 episodes of the 1984/5 series were shown on TSW during summer holiday mornings, 1 July - 24 August 1985. The 1985/6 series aired from September 1985, at 5.15 Monday, Friday and Saturday. The next two series went out at 5.15 on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
Channel Television followed TSW's schedules until January 1986, then switched to follow TVS. This meant that approx 16-20 episodes were skipped as TVS were further ahead.
1988 - 1989
All regions except TSW broadcast the show from 2 September 1988 to 10 February 1989 at 5.15 Monday to Friday and 5.05 Saturday. However, some editions were shown on Sundays by Anglia and Scottish, instead of Saturdays.
TSW: Mondays to Fridays at 5.15pm and Saturdays at 5.05pm from 3 October 1988 to 10 February 1989.
No episodes broadcast between 19 September to 1 October due to the 1988 Olympics.
1990 - 1992
The show was delayed by nearly all the ITV companies until January 1990, as Australian soap Home and Away had taken over the 5.10 slot and Emmerdale Farm was now being broadcast at 6.30, but was moved to 7pm in January 1990.
Anglia, Central, Thames: Broadcast 3 episodes a week from January 1990, Monday - Thursday at 5.10, with Home and Away at 6pm. The days of broadcast changed from time to time, occasionally showing on all four days.
LWT No longer broadcast any episodes.
Scottish: January - April 1990 Tuesday and Thursday at 6.30; from May moved to a daytime slot around 1.30, 2-4 times a week. In 1992 it was at 1.45, Mondays-Thursdays.
Grampian: January 1990 - December 1992, broadcast at 6.30, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Border, HTV, Yorkshire: Broadcast from 2 January 1990 at 6.30 Tuesday - Thursday all year round.
Granada showed episodes Tuesday - Thursday at 6.30 in 1990, moving to 5.10 during 1991. In 1992 the series moved again to 6pm Wednesdays - Fridays.
UTV also showed Tuesday - Thursday at 6.30, reducing to one episode at week from January - October 1992, then from 26 October 1992 broadcast it at 3.20, Mondays - Fridays.
TVS and Channel Television aired 2 episodes a week at 6.30 for most of 1990, During 1991/1992 went back to 3 per week, plus an additional episode around lunchtime on Saturdays.
TSW also followed the 6.30 Tuesday - Thursday schedule, but dropped the series to 2 per week every so often. To catch back up, the series was moved to 5.10 (Mondays to Fridays) in September 1992.
Tyne Tees had also followed the 6.30 Tuesday - Thursday pattern in 1990. For around 18 months in 1991-2 Tyne Tees broadcast more local output at 6.30, which resulted in fewer episodes of Blockbusters. In preparation for Tyne Tees and Yorkshire merging their scheduling from January 1993, Tyne Tees showed more episodes of Blockbusters to catch up (in November 1992 it was showing the series four times a week - Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays), but had to drop over 50 episodes.
Anglia, Central and TSW aired repeat episodes during August - December 1989.
1993
A number of new ITV companies began transmissions, which resulted in regional news being extending to a full hour from 6pm in some areas, which in turn meant a number of stations moved the series back before CITV.
Anglia and Central: Monday - Wednesday 5.10, then switching Wednesday - Friday 5.10. The series ended on 19 May 1993.
Carlton Television: Monday - Friday at 3.20, the series completed on 4 June 1993.
UTV: Monday - Friday at 3.20, completing the run in July 1993.
HTV: Monday - Thursday 1.45. Completed 2 August 1993.
Scottish continued to broadcast the series 4 times a week, completing on 2 September 1993.
Westcountry Television: 1.45 Monday - Friday, completed by 3 September 1993.
Border, Meridian, Tyne Tees, Yorkshire: continued with Tuesday - Thursday 6.30, the run finished on 30 September 1993.
Grampian: 1.45 Monday - Friday, completed by December 1993.
Granada: Still broadcasting 3 episodes most weeks at 5.10, the series completed in January 1994.
1994
After the final ITV series, Blockbusters was no longer networked on ITV. It continued for one more series on the satellite channel Sky One.
Sky One: Weekdays at 7pm before moving to 6.30.
Anglia and Central: Monday - Wednesdays 2.50 from June 1994 to 24 May 1995.
Tyne Tees and Yorkshire also broadcast the Sky One episodes from July to December 1995, 6.30 Tuesday - Thursday.
For the record, the BBC2 editions in 1997 began at 4pm, but later moved to 1.40. Sky One's revival in 2000 aired at 6pm, and Challenge's editions went out after dinner, at 8pm.
Key moments
The students showing off their "lucky mascot" toys they had brought with them.
When Bob once asked, "What 'L' is a sum of money you borrow from a bank?" a girl answered, "Can I have a loan, please, Bob?" Bob's response was to get his wallet out straightaway.
The famous out-take (below) where a contestant answered a biology question with the response "Orgasm" instead of "Organism".
The 'O' has been chosen and now we wait for the slip-up.
"How am I going to explain this to Mum...?"
And the lesser-known one where another student offered the answer "Kama Sutra" instead of "Kowtow".
The 'K' has been chosen and...
...Uh-Oh, she's in trouble.
On another occasion, a highly unusual answer to a question relating to London was 'Prostitutes' when in fact the answer was 'Parks'. Another was when Bob asked, "What 'L' do you make in the dark when you're making a wild guess?" and one contestant answered, 'Love' (the answer being 'Leap', of course).
A lesser-known out-take goes as follows:
Bob: What W are made from plastic or card for carrying papers, and from leather for...
Contestant buzzes
Bob: Yes, Wallet?
Perhaps not an outtake as such, but two unusual answers were given when Bob asked the question, "What 'N' is meant by the phrase, 'Hit him on the Boko?'" One member of the double team buzzed and said, "Nob". The question was duly passed to the single player, who said' "Nag". The answer was in fact "Nose", so it could be argued that 'Nob' (not in the rude sense, obviously) was actually on the right lines.
On one edition, the contestants were asked, "What 'D' is a rag, usually yellow in colour, that's used for polishing furniture and ornaments?" and one unfortunate young man buzzed in and answered "Dishcloth" (the correct answer was 'Duster', of course). True, the former answer wasn't exactly a brilliant one (although, let's face it, we've all come out with wrong and embarrassing responses in the heat of the moment, whether on TV or not), but Bob, if anything, laughed rather too much at it, to the extent that the whole thing seemed unnecessarily silly and embarrassing for the contestant. Even sillier was the fact that when the latter's younger brother appeared in a later series (and fared considerably better), Bob insisted on showing the clip again - surely it would have been better not to have bothered?
One occasion when Bob couldn't help chuckling a little (more out of surprise than anything, one would suspect) was when he had to ask the question, "What 'H' is the name of the man who hosts 'Blockbusters?' - cue a mad rush for the buzzers.
On another show, in which the double team were Welsh, Bob asked the question, "What 'C' is the Welsh word for 'Wales'?" The non-Welsh single player buzzed in first and gave the answer, 'Cymru', mispronouncing the word, but also spelling it correctly, and Bob accepted it because of the latter. Naturally, there were quite a few laughs - mainly from Bob, of course - at the fact that the double team had failed to answer the question, but they both took it very much in the right spirit.
Probably the most unusual question, which the contestants (understandably) failed to answer on the night, was, "What 'C' has four stiff-standers, four dilly-danders, two lookers, two crookers and a wig-wag?" The answer was 'Cow' (four legs, four teats, two eyes, two horns and a tail).
Many questions were of the 'trick' variety, ie there was a twist in the second half, leading to the downfall of contestants who interrupted them too early (a self-confessed speciality of the show's original question-setter, Ann Meo ). Three such examples were, "What 'M' was the mouse created by Disney as a girlfriend for Mickey?", "What 'D' is a camel that isn't alive?" and, "What 'Y' could be a longing for some Japanese currency?" Not that the contestants to whom the questions were offered following the incorrect answer always managed to capitalise, however - one example of this was when Bob asked, "What 'J' sits in a box...?", at which point one member of the double team buzzed in and answered, 'Jack'. Bob then offered the full question to the single player: "What 'J' sits in a box and decides on the outcome of a court case?" and she answered 'Judge' - the answer was, in fact, 'Jury'.
The oh-aren't-we-wacky-students (and Bob as well, of course!) always did the weird clappy-wavy dance thing (technical term: "hand jive") that ended each fifth programme. This is because five programmes were recorded during one day, and the producers let them do it as the final thing before they went home. After extensive analysis of the tapes, we bring you the dance in full:
Knee-clap
That hand jive didn't make its televisual debut until three years later...
Catchphrases
At the beginning of the show on the original version: "And here is the host of Blockbusters - Bob Holness!" which later became: "And now - please welcome the host of Blockbusters - Bob Holness!"
"Put yourself on the Hot Spot, please!" (In earlier series, Bob used to either say that or, "Take your place on the Hot Spot, please!" but as time went on, the "Put yourself" version was the one that stuck).
"Gold to gold in 60 seconds or less", followed by either, "Tell us where you want to start on the left and we'll start the clock" or, "We'll start the clock when you tell us where you want to start on the left".
"£10 for every correct answer if you don't make it".
"Congratulations, and this is your prize - take a look at this!"
"Retake your seat and we'll carry on with the game - thank you very much!" This was often followed by, "Well, there we are!"
"Let's play 'Blockbusters'!"
After a winning correct answer in the main game: "....And that's Blockbusters!" Michael Aspel tried to do the same, but somehow his, "....And that is Blockbusters!" never had the same ring to it, but then neither did his version of the show.
"Don't go away!"
"He/she'll be doing that Gold Run - not right now, but in a couple of minutes' time - don't you dare go away!"
There was a lot of joking around with the way in which contestants nominated the next hexagon to play for. It started with "Can I have a P please, Bob?" - the nation's favourite game show catchphrase, if a 2008 survey on behalf of Churchill Insurance is to be believed - and progressed to "I want U, Bob" (which only the girls said, strangely enough). The 80s druggies got their kicks with "I want an E, Bob." One enterprising "rave" group, Skin Up, actually released a single called "Blockbuster" which revolved around this phrase (plus someone impersonating Bob Holness incredibly badly). Bob apparently found this rather amusing but the bigwigs at Central didn't agree and got it withdrawn. Booo!
Contestants also quite often asked for a "B for Bob", to which Bob usually responded, "If this is the answer to the question, you're in trouble, mate!" or words to that effect - but it never was!
Inventor
Blockbusters started life in the USA in 1980, one of the many Mark Goodson game-shows. The idea was spotted by a producer who piloted the show in the early 1980's in the UK.
Theme music
" Quiz Wizard " composed by Ed Welch.
Opening titles from 1983-7.
Opening titles from 1987-93.
Trivia
One of the contestants for the pilot show was David Elias , a quiz-setter by profession who won a series of Countdown . However, when the series was commissioned it was decided that teenagers at sixth form or in college should take part. Hence, he was the oldest ever contestant on Blockbusters - the Holness-version, anyway.
Blockbusters was notable for being the first game show on British TV to run five times a week ( Countdown was still only on four nights at this stage, only expanding to five in October 1984, more than a year after Blockbusters). Many thought this was overkill, but this was subsequently shown to be wrong as the show ideally slotted into the invariably tricky 5.15pm slot, this being in the days when Home and Away was a purely Australian institution. Indeed, throughout most of the 1980s, the show ran for 6 days a week, being shown at 5.05pm on Saturdays in addition to the weekday broadcasts. However, in 1990, it was only shown 3 days a week and then at the rather less convenient time of 6.30pm, which clashed with the BBC's regional news programmes. Later still, it became a daytime show, which resulted in a considerable drop in ratings and the show was axed as a result. Different regions also lagged behind in broadcasting the show, and if you lived somewhere where you could get more than one ITV region, it was not uncommon to be able to switch from one to another and see a completely episode. As a result of this, some regions finished airing the show before others - while Carlton and UTV (and presumably the originating company, Central) aired the final "networked" episodes in June 1993, most regions ran the series over the summer to finish in September. Grampian had such a backlog that it didn't finish airing the show until November. (See also 'Regional Broadcasting Details', above).
Bob once revealed that the young man who had famously said 'Orgasm' instead of 'Organism' had not had such a rough deal as one might think. Of course, he would have been horribly embarrassed at the time, especially with the whole studio cracking up laughing - and no doubt he also took a lot of flak from his friends back at school - but apparently, every time the outtake is shown on 'Alright On The Night', 'TV Nightmares' or any other outtake show, he gets a small repeat fee. Not bad going, really.
Although the letter-sequences in Gold Runs usually made up phrases, a notable exception occurred in an early edition of the show when a contestant chose the combination 'ZZZ' and was asked to name 3 African countries. She managed to name two of them (Zimbabwe and Zambia), but was unable to get the third, which was Zaire.
The question-setters for the original version were Ann Meo (1983-7) and Hilary Murphy (1987-93). Meo revealed in an interview in the 1989 'Blockbusters' annual that the letters that began the most words in the English language were P and S, while the ones that began the least (bearing in mind that X and Z were never used on the main board) were J, K and Q. She claimed that she used to sit in the studio cursing as a string of questions on the most difficult letters fell by the wayside, thus creating more work for her. She also stated that another of her most thankless tasks was to adjudicate on dubious answers, especially as the audience were always on the side of the contestants and didn't like to see them fail. As Meo put it, "Sometimes I was lenient and sometimes strict - but I always had a reason".
In addition to the main Zeus figurehead that was above Bob, there were many others which were displayed in the studio on a rotation basis. These included: Abraham Lincoln, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Tina Turner, Mother Teresa, George Bernard Shaw, Amy Johnson, John Wayne, Harold Macmillan, William Shakespeare, Charlie Chaplin, Winston Churchill, Meryl Streep, Einstein, Lenin, Harrison Ford, Mao Tse Tung, Kenny Dalglish, Bob Geldof, Beethoven, Martina Navratilova, Hilda Ogden, Woody Allen, Toyah Willcox, Confucius, Queen Elizabeth I, a Punk Rocker, Moses, Daley Thompson, Marilyn Monroe, a Teacher, an Astronaut, a Diver, a Rastafarian and Tutankhamun. They were made out of polystyrene, and moulded by cutting out the relevant sections using a hot wire.
Some of the polystyrene figures from Blockbusters being auctioned off
The format was so successful in Dubai that shops and offices closed early so that everyone could rush home to see it. In the mid-90s, there were two editions of the show for kids in Israel - one in Hebrew, one in Arabic.
Mathematically speaking, it doesn't make any difference which space a contestant picks at any point in a game. Since whoever selects a space, it is decided by an equal race to the buzzer (so that whenever in the game a space is chosen, the same team should theoretically win it), and because a completed game board can only have one winner on it, the process of playing can be thought of as uncovering the final grid to "see" who wins. Therefore, the best tactic is arguably to simply choose the spaces that will delay the ending of the game and hence accrue a player the most cash (or, of course, to choose the letters with the most potential for hilarious innuendo). Former contestant Stuart Langley writes: "Interested to read the point about the best tactic being to fill the board and take the money as that is exactly what Anita Garrad and I did when we were on the show (many years ago). We were apparently the first and only people to do this. However, at the next ad break we were taken to one side by the producer and told not to do it again. I guess they were worried it would catch on and bankrupt the show." And Tim Allison observes: "While it may not make any mathematical difference what space is picked, I am sure that it makes a psychological difference. There seemed little benefit to me going round the board on the 1984 series when it might increase opponents' confidence. The gold run prizes were far better than the cash and not worth the risk - not that I was much good at gold runs."
In the Simon Mayo series, one contestant named Ryan decided to do the equivalent in his first Gold Run, lighting up extra hexagons in the hope of making some extra money before completing his run - not realising that he would only get the money if he didn't win the prize, which as he rightly surmised, was worth quite a bit less than the £80 he thought he'd made. In his second Gold Run, he deliberately didn't finish the run and just lit as many hexagons as he could, only for Simon to tell him (with, we fancy, a little too much pleasure) that the prize he would have won, was worth considerably more than the cash. After that, he wised up and just played his third Gold Run straight.
Bob's trademark "sign off" of saluting his right hand into the air (usually accompanied with "Goodbye now!" or "Cheers!") was compained about by viewers who thought he was imitating the Nazi "Zeig heil" salute.
In later series, a bell (annoyingly loud, might we add?) would ring indicating when an advertising break was about to talk place. Bob would read out one more question before going into the ads. What purpose this served is unknown, but it seems most likely that it arose because breaks previously only occurred in between games, therefore there had to be an indicator that a game was due to be interrupted. No excuse for such an ear-splitting bell, though.
During the Sky/Holness era, the item of clothing given away was a t-shirt designed by a viewer. On it was the famous Zeus figurehead with a speech bubble saying "Can I Have A P Please, Bob?". The fan in question was interviewed by Bob in front of the gameboard after the first Gold Run of the series.
During the rehersals of the first Sky One series, when someone did a test Gold Run they'd put up gag prizes; two of them included an old rusty lawnmower, and the contents of the producers' drinks cabinet (a couple of cracked tumblers and an almost-empty bottle of booze).
The actions for the Blockbusters hand-jive are in fact the secret forbidden arm movements for Riverdance. Admittedly this may not be literally true, but wouldn't you love to see someone try it?
In August 1987 there was a special episode called Blockbusters Abroad following Gold Run winners on their prize holidays.
Konnie Huq was a contestant in 1992. She returned for a celebrity special at the end of the Simon Mayo-fronted revival series, in which she and Boyzone/Corrie star Shane Lynch were beaten by the quizzing behemoth that is... Alex James from Blur.
Merchandise
Twelve Blockbusters quiz books were published by Sphere, plus five "Gold Run" books. A very successful board game was also made, which became the British Association of Toy Retailers' Game of the Year for 1986. There was a "Gold Run" travel card game as well. In 1989, an annual was printed although this was the only one to be published to our knowledge.
Web links
| Bob Holness |
Which tree noted for the beauty of its form, has the Latin name Salix Babylonica? | Simon Mayo to host new series of Blockbusters for Challenge TV
Simon Mayo to host new series of Blockbusters for Challenge TV
Simon Mayo to host new series of Blockbusters for Challenge TV
06 February 2012
Also in this section
…
Challenge TV today announces award-winning broadcaster Simon Mayo as the brand new host of cult hit quiz show Blockbusters.
The iconic series, which is being produced by Thames, will return to screens later this spring and is being filmed at Sky’s new state-of-the-art production facility, Sky Studios.
The new Simon Mayo fronted show marks Challenge TV’s first original commission since it re-launched on Freeview last year and supports Sky’s commitment to increase its investment in home grown content to £600m by 2014.
“Blockbusters is the ultimate cult TV quiz, and we think that Simon Mayo is the perfect host to bring it back to our screens,” commented Barbara Gibbon, director of Challenge TV. “We hope that it will be popular not only with those of us who loved it the first time around but also with a brand new generation of fans. We might even bring back the hand-jive!”
Simon Mayo is one of Britain’s best-loved and well-known radio presenters. He joined Radio 1 in 1986 and now presents Drivetime on BBC Radio 2. He is also the co-presenter of Kermode and Mayo's Film Review on BBC Radio 5 Live. In 2008, Mayo was recognized as the ‘Radio Broadcaster of the Year’ at the 34th annual Broadcasting Press Guild Awards and the ‘Speech Broadcaster of the Year’ at the Sony Radio Academy Awards.
Simon Mayo, Blockbusters presenter said: “Blockbusters is an iconic show and a winning format. I feel very honoured and excited.”
Blockbusters first broadcast in the UK on ITV in 1983 hosted by the late Bob Holness, where it ran for eleven years.
The new Blockbusters has been commissioned by Antonia Hurford-Jones, and executive produced by Suzy Lamb and Phil Parsons. The series producer is Helen Tumbridge.
Suzy Lamb, Head of Entertainment, Thames added: “It’s testament to the huge popularity of Blockbusters, that Challenge TV have commissioned a new series.”
Unlike the original series which featured students, the new Blockbusters is open to anyone over the age of 18.
For further information visit: www.challenge.co.uk
For further information please contact
Victoria Fairclough - PR Manager - Sky Movies, Sky Movies
T: 020 7032 0676
About Sky
Sky entertains and excites more than 10.4 million homes through the most comprehensive multichannel, multi-platform television service in the UK and Ireland. Sky continues to break new ground with its own portfolio of channels: Sky 1 combines its commitment to UK production with the best of the US; Sky Living pushes ahead with fresh and innovative entertainment formats; Sky Arts is the UK's only dedicated arts channel brand; Sky Atlantic is the home to HBO and other iconic drama and comedy, Sky Sports is still raising the bar in sports broadcasting; Sky News remains a pioneer in television news; and Sky Movies is leading the way in High Definition and on-demand.
Sky also works with dozens of other broadcasters on the satellite platform, as well as online and on mobile through the ground-breaking Sky Go service. Sky has also led the UK into the age of high definition television, launched Europe's first 3DTV channel, Sky 3D, and offers customer even more flexibility and choice through Sky Anytime+, its internet-delivered video on demand service. Since launching Sky Broadband and Sky Talk in 2006, the company has also been the UK's fastest-growing home communications provider.
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"The album ""Good Girl Gone Bad"" was the number 1 selling album in the UK in 2009 with sales of 1.5 million. Who was the singer?" | Rihanna - Good Girl Gone Bad Album Lyrics | LyricsHall
Album lyrics Rihanna
Release date: May 2007
Good Girl Gone Bad is the third studio album by Barbadian R&B singer Rihanna, released May 30, 2007, on Def Jam Recordings.
Conception and recording
Following her second studio album, A Girl Like Me (2006), Rihanna started working with songwriters and producers early in 2007. Rihanna spent the week of the 2007 Grammy Awards with singer, songwriter and Def Jam label mate Ne-Yo for the follow-up album. He had co-written her ballad-driven "Unfaithful", and she had vocal lessons with him for the new album. Despite having previously worked with him, she teamed up with him again and wrote the duet "Hate That I Love You". Rihanna commented: "I read through the lyrics, and I'm like, 'What are you thinking? What is going through your head?' " Rihanna recalled. "I just have to stop sometimes and be like, 'Ne-Yo, OK, tell me why you wrote this song.' Because I don't understand how he comes up with certain concepts and he just blows me away sometimes. He's just insane." He also wrote two other songs on the album and the first single from the re-release, "Take a Bow". The album's lead single, "Umbrella", was written by The-Dream. The song was originally written with American pop singer Britney Spears in mind, but her label rejected the song, and then offered it to American R&B singer Mary J. Blige, before it was given to Rihanna.
Stewart stated that he was still reluctant as to whether Rihanna was the right artist to record the song, but following the recording of the "ella, ella" catch phrase, he felt they were onto "something". The-Dream also helped with penning the songs "Breakin' Dishes", "Sell Me Candy," and "Lemme Get That" on the album. "Shut Up and Drive" was inspired by "Blue Monday", embracing a noticeable rock-oriented sound. Rihanna also worked with Justin Timberlake on the album who wrote the eighth single, "Rehab". She added, "It's just an honour to work with Justin. He's a fun guy, a great artist and a very talented person."
"They just put me in the studio and I started recording and recording, and it showed the direction of who I became as an artist.[...] We figured Good Girl Gone Bad was the perfect title because it showed people I'm my own person now. Not doing what anyone wants me to do. I'm not the innocent Rihanna anymore. I'm taking a lot more risks and chances. I felt when I cut my hair, it shows people I'm not trying to look or be anybody else. The album is very edgy. We have some urban records, some really pop records." — Rihanna for MTV News
Rihanna worked with some of the producers who have worked on her previous albums including Evan and Carl, J.R. Rotem, record producer Sean Garrett and Norwegian production team Stargate. Rihanna also collaborated with new music producers on the album such as Timbaland, will.i.am and Sean Garrett in the studio. Rihanna also wanted to work with music producer Andre 3000 and Polow Da Don, who had previous works with the Pussycat Dolls, Fergie and Usher among others. Most of the album tracks were recorded at Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California. Rihanna began working on the album in late 2006 and was almost done recording in late February 2007. During an interview on UK radio station Capital FM, Rihanna explained the meaning and reasoning behind the album title: "Bad is not sleazy. Bad has its own term to every individual and in my case it just means I've gotten a little rebellious on the album, broken out of my shell and I'm taking risks... Michael Jackson Bad kind of way".
Musical style
Rihanna herself stated that the album is greatly inspired by Brandy's 2004 album Afrodisiac: "That album I listen to all day, all night. When I was in the studio that was the album that I listened to all the time and I really admired that every song was a great song. You could listen to the entire album. And I was like, 'You know what? I have to make an album like this'". The genre of the new album is a slightly new direction for the singer, favouring uptempo dance numbers. It followed her club-natured melodies and, like its predecessor, includes R&B and ballads. In an interview concerning the album's theme, Rihanna claimed, "You feel different every album, and at this stage I feel like I want to do a lot of uptempo songs.[...] I want to keep people dancing but still be soulful at the same time". The album, featuring a dance-pop sound, did not include the reggae and dancehall that Music of the Sun (2005), and A Girl Like Me (2006) contained. The reason for that being, was because of the direction and theme of the album. Rihanna explained: "I basically took the attitude of the bad girl and I really got rebellious and just did everything the way I wanted to do it—I didn't want to listen to anybody. I didn't consult with anybody. I just want to have a little more fun with my music and be a little more experimental in terms of my image and my sound. I just reinvented myself.[...] A bad girl, it's all about the attitude that you take toward things, I'm not being careful, I'm just having fun. I'm taking risks because bad girls take risks."
Commercial performance
In the United States, Good Girl Gone Bad debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, being headed by T-Pain's Epiphany, selling 168,000 units in its first week according to Nielsen SoundScan. The following week, the album dropped to number seven selling 81,000 copies. The album was re-released on June 2, 2008, making the album soar from Number 124 to 7 on the Billboard 200, selling 63,000 copies and having a 930% sales increase. In 2008, the album received a two-times platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), adding the sales from the original Good Girl Gone Bad album with the deluxe edition. The album spent 98 weeks in the Billboard 200 selling 2,616,000 copies becoming her best-selling album in the country so far.
In the United Kingdom, Good Girl Gone Bad became Rihanna's first number-one album on the UK Albums Chart and on the UK R&B Chart, debuting with 53,000 copies sold in its first week; it spent one week at number one, before being replaced with The Traveling Wilburys Collection by Traveling Wilburys. By the end of 2007, it had sold 560,000 copies, making it the tenth-biggest-selling album of the year. After the re-release, Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded, the album soared from number fifty-nine to number twelve, having the "greatest gainer" certification, before rising to number five later in its chart run. By September 14, 2008, the album was still charting strongly in the UK, dipping in and out of the top 10 for many weeks. The album was the eighth-best-selling album of 2008 in the UK. The album has since gone five times platinum and has sold over 1,500,000 to date (up to the week ending August 28, 2009, including the Reloaded Edition). By December 3, 2009, nearly two and a half years following the album's release, Good Girl Gone Bad had risen to Number 21 on the UK Albums Chart and spent 134 weeks in the chart. In Canada, the album also debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart and sold 232,000 copies during 2007, becoming the sixth best-selling album of the year. It has currently been certified triple-platinum, with a total sales of 300,000 in the country alone. In Europe, the album was awarded a three-times platinum certification by the IFPI for sales of three million, becoming one of the best-selling albums in that continent for 2007.
| Rihanna |
"""Dirty British coaster with a salt-caked smoke stack butting through the channel in the mad March days"" were lines written by John Masefield, from what poem?" | Rihanna | Best Songs | Billboard Number Ones | Discography | Ranked | Homorazzi Media
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Throughout her career, Rihanna has often been labeled a singles artist. To be fair, it did take her seven tries to finally snag a No. 1 album, despite scoring numerous hit singles.
After a couple of misses leading up to the launch of Anti, I feared Rihanna’s best days might’ve been behind her. The 28-year-old certainly proved all her critics wrong with “Work.” The dancehall-tinged track is her latest to hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Believe it or not, “Work” is her 14th chart-topper. A couple of them are suspect in my opinion because all she does is sing the hook on predominantly rap songs. It seems like cheating to me, but if it’s okay with Billboard, it’s fine with me. Even if you take away her rap collabos, she still has plenty.
With 14 number ones, RiRi passes Michael Jackson to have the third-most Hot 100s of all-time. Only The Beatles and Mariah Carey are ahead of her with 20 and 18 chart-toppers respectively. Watch out Mimi, the Barbados-born singer and her Navy are coming for you next 😉
Check out all her No. 1 hits below. Be sure to scroll all the way to the end of the post to see my ranking of all her hits.
Rihanna’s Billboard No. 1 Songs
Work
I can definitely understand how people find the chorus a tad annoying but I kinda love it. Somehow it all works. It was definitely wise for Rihanna to hook up with Drake for a third time. Whenever she collaborates with the Canadian rapper, magic happens. All three of their singles cracked the Top 10 with two hitting pole position. If she ever finds herself in a rut again, just call on Drizzy to save the day.
Album: Anti
Year: 2016
The Monster
No matter what she releases in future years, I guarantee this will most likely remain my least favorite among her rap collaborations and discography as a whole. There’s just something about it that I don’t connect with. I’m sure I’m not alone in thinking this.
Album: The Marshall Mathers LP 2
Year: 2013
Album: Unapologetic
Year: 2012
Truth be told, when I first ranked her singles, “Diamonds” was one of my least favorites. The “shine bright like a diamond” during the chorus really irritated me. Eventually though, I came around on the Sia-penned track. It was hard not to given it was practically inescapable. From the clubs to the grocery store, it was everywhere.
We Found Love
Album: Talk That Talk
Year: 2011
Love that she collaborated with EDM maestro Calvin Harris on this track. It gave her fans a different sound not previously heard from her before. Pure genius to cast an on-screen boyfriend to resemble her ex, Chris Brown. Nothing drums up sales like a bit of controversy.
S&M
Album: Loud
Year: 2011
When Loud album first leaked, “S&M” was one of my instant favorites. Too bad, the video didn’t measure up. It was a bit cliché and blatantly ripped of David LaChapelle’s signature style. Plus it featured Perez Hilton in the video. Can we please send him on a one-way flight to the Bermuda Triangle along with Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton?
What’s My Name
Album: Loud
Year: 2010
OOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMGGGGGGG. Word’s cannot express how much I love this song. Definitely one of my favorites from her discography. The “oh, na, na, na” part is so catchy. I also like the fact she incorporates a reggae vibe to represent her homeland. Keepin’ it real. She and Drake always deliver. “Take Care” is another fantastic collabo.
Only Girl (In The World)
Album: Loud
Year: 2010
At first, I wasn’t a fan of this song. Then I saw a drag queen perform it and instantly I became hooked. How hilarious is that? A lot of people don’t like this video, but I do. I appreciate that fact the clip is all about her looking sexy and happy once again. At long last, her depressing Rated R days were finally behind her.
Love the Way You Lie
Album: Recovery (Eminem album)
Year: 2010
This is one of three tracks that predominantly feature another artist with Rihanna just singing the chorus. Some say it’s not fair she gets credit for these No. 1s. Admit it though, without her vocals on these tracks, they wouldn’t be as powerful. Megan Fox and Dominic Monaghan fighting in the video wouldn’t resonate the same emotional impact.
Rude Boy
Album: Rated R
Year: 2010
IMHO, this is the only gem during her dark and somber Rated R era. Like “What’s My Name“, I love the dancehall vibe of this track. When RiRi shakes those hips, she can give Shakira’s non-lying hips a run for their money.
Disturbia
Album: Good Girl Gone Bad
Year: 2009
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think this was the first time we saw Rihanna go edgy for a video. That risk paid in dividends. She no longer was that R&B chick and became a bonafide pop star. It was her best selling single with over 4.3 million units sold, until “We Found Love” came along with 4.6+ million. Fun fact, I rock the “Disturbia” dance routine on XBox Kinect’s “Dance Central”. No flash cards needed. How ya like me now? LOL.
Live Your Life
Album: Paper Trail (T.I. album)
Year:2008
Here’s the third chart topper with Rihanna, in essence, being just a guest star. Once again, Rihanna’s vocals on the chorus make the song. No offense T.I.
Take A Bow
Album: Good Girl Gone Bad
Year: 2009
Her sole ballad to top Billboard’s Hot 100. Such a beautiful song. That being said, the Seamus Haji dance remix of “Take A Bow” slays. That version is still one of my favorite dance remixes.
Umbrella
Album: Good Girl Gone Bad
Year: 2008
This song was such a huge hit that summer, multiple covers from famous and not-so-famous people kept popping up on YouTube. Mandy Moore’s stripped down version was a favorite, along with Chris Brown’s , “You Can Be My Cinderella” version. Obviously his version didn’t end up happily ever after 😉 The song was a global hit and earned her multiple Grammy nominations. Did you know there was a Rihanna Curse ? Several countries blamed the song for their nation’s unusual weather. LOL.
S.O.S.
Album: A Girl Like Me
Year: 2006
It was Rihanna’s first ever No. 1. Instead of signaling for help, it signaled the beginning of Rihanna’s domination of the Hot 100. I completely forgot about this song until doing this post. Man, this track brings me back to that summer. I must’ve heard it 1,000 times at the clubs and in my car that year. Good times.
My Ranking
Not going to lie. I absolutely love “What’s My Name“, but feared if I ranked it at the top of my list, I’d start a riot. There’s just something about that track that I just can’t get out of my head. Check out my list below and see if you agree with my order. If you disagree, I’d like to know how you’d rank them.
1. Umbrella
2. What’s My Name
3. Disturbia
8. Only Girl (In The World)
9. Work
13. Love The Way You Lie
14. The Monster
What Are Your Favorite Rihanna Billboard No. 1 Hit Songs?
2006 - S.O.S.
2008 - Live Your Life with T.Pain
2008 - Take A Bow
2010 - Love the Way You Lie with Eminem
2010 - Only Girl (In the World)
2010 - Rude Boy
2010 - What's My Name with Drake
2011 - S&M with Britney Spears
2011 - We Found Love
| i don't know |
"Controversy at the Oscars - Which film director created a stir at the 2003 Oscar ceremony? There was a loud and prolonged booing after he won the award for best documentary for his film ""Bowling for Columbine"", because in his acceptance speech he had delivered a tirade of abuse against George Bush." | Serious Popcorn: main Archives
March 20, 2008
Remembering Ivan Dixon
The actor Ivan Dixon died on March 16 in Charlotte, NC, while the media were buzzing about the need for more "dialogue about race." Too often, that means another recycling of the same-ol'-same-'ol, cliches and recriminations, until we grow weary and shut it down again.
We don't need any more of that. We need a 21st-century version of Nothing But a Man (1964), the quiet, eloquent film starring Mr. Dixon as a working man who marries a preacher's daughter (Abbey Lincoln) and insists on being treated respectfully by everyone he meets. That's it. But for a long time after I first saw it in the 1970s, it was my favorite film (and, I gather, Malcolm X's).
Nothing But a Man is available on DVD, and from the first black-and-white frame (I am referring to the film stock), you will see that it is of a different era. But if you stay with it, you will also see that some treatments of race do not grow tiresome, because they are simply, straightforwardly human. That's why I remember Ivan Dixon.
Posted by mbayles at 8:57 AM
March 18, 2008
Confession
The title of this entry does not refer to my own confession, but Leo Tolstoy's. I recently watched Sean Penn's Into the Wild, based on the eponymous best-seller by Jon Krakauer, about Chris McCandless, a young man who "dropped out," as they used to say in the sixties, only without then "tuning in" to any movement or "turning on" with any known drug.
What McCandless did do was abandon family, friends, future prospects, and affluent lifestyle, to embark on a quest without definition that, to judge by the film (I have not read the book), acquired definition as it went along. After two years of living as a voluntary hobo (he renamed himself "Alexander Supertramp"), hippie (he bonded with a counter-cultural tribe living in RVs), and latter-day alms-seeking monk, he trekked alone into the Alaskan wilderness, where after 112 days of foraging for food and living in an abandoned bus, he died of starvation.
In the wrong hands, this story could be unbearable, especially in today's acrimonious social and cultural atmosphere. And ... let me put it this way: I am not enlightened by Sean Penn's politics, and I don't much like him. But he is one of the major talents in Hollywood, if not THE major talent. This film is a masterpiece. I'm not even talking about its visual beauty, which is all the more stunning for not having been generated by a computer. Nor, really, am I talking about Emile Hirsch, whose only flaw in the lead role is that he is more lovable than the real McCandless seems to have been.
No, I'm talking about that rarest of qualities in Hollywood films these days, the story-telling. No one but Penn could have handled this as deftly, even to the point of using McCandless's favorite books in a way that skips the usual self-consciousness ("aren't we smart to be quoting a real book in a movie?") and cuts to the heart of Jack London, Henry Thoreau, and Tolstoy.
I seriously doubted whether this film would make room for Tolstoy, despite putting his books in McCandless's backpack. But if you stay with it, all the way to the end, you will see that it does capture him. Not the big shot author of War and Peace, but the restless soul of Confession, who rejects everything in his society, only to find God in a dream fraught with existential angst.
You can interpret the ending of Into the Wild any way you like, but for me, it completes the trajectory of this strange young man's life in a way very similar to Tolstoy's in Confession: doubt; disillusionment; cynicism; flight; heartache; yearning for human re-connection coupled with the realization (on the bank of a swollen river) that it's too late, there is no going back; terror in the face of death; and finally, transcendence that may or may not last beyond this life.
Quite a lot for one movie. And they gave the Oscar to No Country for Old Men, a plotless mess gagging on its own blood. It's enough to make a real movie lover drop out.
Posted by mbayles at 8:44 AM
February 25, 2008
The Dark Side
My sense of duty is as well developed as that of the next critic (let's not go there), but I couldn't bring myself to watch the whole Academy Awards last evening. I enjoy watching film clips and preening stars as much as anyone, but I couldn't abide the ads.
I don't mean the commercials, which would have served as a great plague on Pharoah, if only the Lord had thought of it. No, I mean the ads congratulating the Academy for being so wonderful and putting on all those wonderful awards shows of the past. I know there's been a writers' strike, but did they have to show all those replays of funny, touching, uplifting bits, when everyone knows that this year's nominees are sorely lacking in all three qualities?
The coverage focused on the "dark" mood of Hollywood, which according to some reporters is out of date now that a Democrat might get elected. But the darkness in American films has been building up for a long time now, especially in those precincts of the movie colony where people are just as cynical about politics as they are about everything else. To my knowledge, the only candidate who has said anything about the sick violence now pervading mainstream films is Barack Obama. So go figure.
This stylish, apolitical darkness dominates all the nominated films, with the exception of Juno - as host Jon Stewart put it, "Thank God for teenage pregnancy." Even the kerzillion-dollar blockbusters that keep Hollywood going feel obliged to get progressively "darker" with each sequel or lose their franchise.
So get ready for the sequel, Ratatouille Twouille , which will feature a demon rat voiced by Johnny Depp, who tears American tourists apart with his long yellow fangs, then drops the pieces into a savory boeuf bourguignon, which his pal Rémy will then feed to other American tourists. Maybe then the Academy will take notice ...
Posted by mbayles at 8:58 AM
February 11, 2008
Betrayed by IMDB
A reader writes to correct my statement that The House of Eliott was never aired in the States. It most certainly has -- on A&E, PBS, and BBC America. It also won top US awards for costume design, including an Emmy and a BAFTA.
Never again will I trust the Internet Movie Data Base, at least when it comes to television distribution.
Posted by mbayles at 11:06 AM
February 8, 2008
Upmarket, Downmarket
Apologies for back-sliding into sin of blog neglect. I'm up to my eyebrows in work on my book, and when I am done for the day, the last thing I want to do is spend more time in front of the computer.
But I do have a tip for voracious fans of British TV who have already gone through the better known classics. The House of Eliott, a series about two sisters who start a fashion business in the years after World War One, was never shown in the US. It was also knocked for being the last production shot on videotape in the BBC Television Centre, and (more serious) for concentrating on two touchy British themes: social class, and the relation between art and commerce.
There are some awkward moments in the series, on both fronts. The ancient tradition of treating the working class in a comic-ignoble way and the upper class in a tragic-noble way, persists to a degree. But this is not a series about the working class and the upper class, it's pre-eminently and definitively a series about the middle class. What's more, it's about three flawed but admirably brave and resourceful entrepreneurs: the Elliot sisters Beatrice (Stella Gonet) and Evangeline (Louise Lombard), and their good friend (and eventually husband to Bea) Jack Maddox (Aden Gillett).
Fashion, even the haute couture undertaken by the House of Eliott, is not considered serious art. On the contrary, it is regarded as a parasitical growth, feeding off genuine creativity not contributing to it. Its elitist clientele only add to the problem. It is extremely hard to deal with these topics in a TV series, not least because TV itself suffers from some of the same disdain. But we are in a golden age of longform TV these days, and programs like The House of Elliot made that possible by exploring their characters and themes at novelistic length. It helps that this show was "devised" (as the Brits put it) by Jean Marsh and Eileen Atkins, who also created (the hell with "devised") the unforgettable 1970s series, Upstairs, Downstairs.
Unfortunately, the Beeb canceled The House of Elliot after the final episode of the third season was completed, so many loose ends were never tied up. But if you are willing to tolerate that (and some unattractive opening credits), you will be richly rewarded.
Posted by mbayles at 11:14 AM
January 10, 2008
Whatever Happened to Irony?
I have never been a fan of Hillary Clinton. But I will scream if one more pundit equates her now famous eye-moistening episode with her response to Scott Spradling's question about "the likeability factor" in the most recent Democratic primary debate.
The eye-moistening episode was not her finest moment. She did not cry, and it was a long way from a tantrum, but it smacked of one. She was saying, in effect, "I care more than they do, I'm better than they are, and I deserve to win. And if I don't, I'll cry." By itself, it would keep me from voting for her (if I did not already have other reasons).
The debate moment, on the other hand, won me over (for a fleeting second). To a patronizing question, one that I doubt would be asked of a male candidate, Clinton came back with a sly, kittenish, screw-you expression on her face: "Well, that hurts my feelings. But I will try to bear up." I wasn't in the room when this occurred, but I could hear the laughter, and my husband called out, "Hillary just did something brilliant." He was right: it was a brilliant stroke, intended to mock both the question and the questioner.
This was acknowledged by the talking heads right after the debate, but a day or two later, Chris Matthews boneheadedly ignored the ironic nature of Clinton's retort and equated it with the tears of New Hampshire. Then all the other boneheads piled on, and this dumb factoid is now bouncing around the media echo chamber.
Unfair. If the pundits can't detect irony any better than that, then they deserve to be exiled to the same howling, no-Blackberry-service desert as the pollsters who tried to persuade my fellow New Englanders how to vote. So there!
Posted by mbayles at 12:07 PM
December 22, 2007
Whatever It Takes
To judge by the bottom line, Hollywood's latest venture into cinema engagé is not resonating with the public. Autumn 2007 saw the release of four films claiming to tackle hard questions about hard power: In the Valley of Elah, directed by Paul Haggis, offers a nightmare vision of U.S. soldiers in Iraq; The Kingdom, directed by Peter Berg, dramatizes an FBI probe into terrorism in Saudi Arabia; Rendition, directed by Gavin Hood, focuses on "extraordinary rendition," the American government's handing over of prisoners to countries where torture is allowed; Lions for Lambs, directed by Robert Redford, accuses the news media of passivity and the privileged young of apathy. None has done well at the box office, so this trend may soon die out. But that raises a question: why haven't these films attracted a bigger audience?
Ask a blue-state pundit, and you'll hear that Americans are so brainwashed by Fox News, they are no longer capable of thinking for themselves. Ask a red-stater, and you'll hear that Americans are so savvy about the Global War on Terror, they reject unpatriotic propaganda, even if it does star Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise. These answers polarize as neatly as metal shavings around a magnet. But a better answer, albeit one less gratifying to pundits of all colors, is that Americans don't want to think about tough foreign policy issues--and they are encouraged not to by both Washington and Hollywood.
Speaking Their Minds
Let us begin with the most recent release, Lions for Lambs. The reviews damned it for being "talky," but this is a bogus criticism. Many great films are "talky" in the sense of giving us powerful characters capable of speaking their minds. Lions for Lambs is not a great film by any stretch. And many conservatives already know what they think about Robert Redford's politics. But at least this film has politics--and in its halting way it captures something of America's current mood. There are three story lines: in California, a political science professor named Stephen (Robert Redford) tries to motivate a gifted but apathetic student, Todd (Andrew Garfield); in Washington, an ambitious Republican senator named Jasper (Tom Cruise) tries to browbeat a liberal journalist, Janine (Meryl Streep), into supporting his new military initiative; and in the mountains of Afghanistan, two of Stephen's former students turned army rangers, Arian (Derek Luke) and Ernest (Michael Pena), try against forbidding odds to make that initiative work.
Strange as it sounds, the tête-à-tête between the senator and the reporter is won by the senator. Jasper's initiative may stink (the rest of the film says so), but Janine's protestations are truly feeble. Her main issue, it turns out, is not the war on terrorism (about which she has little to say) but the failure of the news media to voice any real opposition to it. This is a dodge, because while most of the news media did go along with President Bush's invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, one would have to be living on the moon (or in Europe) to think they are going along with the surge or with the idea of a military strike against Iran. Cruise and Streep are terrific actors, needless to say, but this plot line is much weaker than the other two--including, surprisingly, the conversation between the professor and his student.
Caveat: Hollywood never gets academia right. But having said that, let me give credit where credit is due. In his struggle to make Stephen a sympathetic character, Redford makes him into that rare species, the political science professor who does not use the old 1960s cattle prod to indoctrinate his students. How can we tell? Two of his favorites, Arian and Ernest (minority students on scholarship), respond to his call to "get involved" by enlisting in the army. Stephen objects, of course. But the film makes clear that the students' decision is not unreasonable, given what their professor has been urging. Later Stephen tells Todd that he served in Vietnam but then protested the war. What's amazing is that Todd doesn't already know this, because evidently, Stephen doesn't crow about it on the first day of class. Despite the blue denim and politics to match, this professor confines himself to exhorting students to take seriously their rights and duties as citizens. American higher education could do worse--and usually does.
As for Arian and Ernest, their story line is a pure comrades-in-arms war flick. Loyal and courageous to the end, their ordeal on a snowy mountaintop in Afghanistan is all the more gripping for the stark contrast it presents with life back in the states. While the politicians, journalists, professors, and students discuss weighty matters in comfortable surroundings, the real weight is borne by the soldiers in the field. Everybody gives lip service to this fact, but rarely is it brought home emotionally to those not directly involved. To give emotional heft to the facts is the work of culture, including popular culture. But popular culture has been doing a poor job of it lately. Indeed, if Redford is truly concerned about the public being fed fantasy instead of reality, he will make his next protest film about Hollywood's increasingly sick attitude towards violence.
Brutalization
In the Valley of Elah is the opposite of a comrades-in-arms war flick. It begins when Hank (Tommy Lee Jones), a retired military police officer living in Tennessee, learns that his son Mike, just back from Iraq, has been reported AWOL. This sounds suspicious to Hank, so he drives to Fort Rudd, New Mexico, to check things out. Stonewalled by the army and local police, he launches his own investigation, aided by a discontented detective, Emily (Charize Theron). When Mike's charred remains are found on a hillside, the film becomes a police procedural, though Hank and Emily are no high-tech CSI team: they just poke around, ask questions, collar the wrong suspect, and finally elicit a confession from one of Mike's buddies.
The denouement comes when Mike's buddy, morphing gradually from fresh-faced youth to cold blond beast, recalls how he stabbed Mike to death after a minor altercation, then set the body on fire because he and his buddies were hungry and did not want to take the time to bury it. To this horror are added two more, visualized through a succession of fractured images rescued from Mike's damaged cell phone. The first occurs on Mike's first day of duty: his armored vehicle runs over an Iraqi child who fails to get out of its way. The second occurs several months later, when Mike has become a different person, a joker whom the others call "Doc," because he gets his jollies thrusting his hand into the gaping wounds of captured Iraqi prisoners. Right after Mike's killer reveals this to Hank, the cell phone images coalesce into a shot of Mike grinning glassy-eyed while doing the deed off camera.
In the Valley of Elah is a deadly serious film about a deadly serious topic: the brutalization of young soldiers under the hellish conditions of an insurgency they are neither trained nor equipped to fight. Ironically, Hank, the straight-arrow warrior whose life is upended by these grim revelations, is a Vietnam vet. Last I checked, the Vietnam War was also a nasty insurgency that brutalized some of those fighting it. Hollywood certainly thought so. Right afterward, in the late 1970s, a slew of films appeared portraying soldiers and veterans as dangerous lunatics: Taxi Driver (1976), Rolling Thunder (1977), Apocalypse Now (1979), The Ninth Configuration (1980). The noble exception was The Deer Hunter (1978), and by the 1980s, it was no longer cool to portray Vietnam vets as nut jobs. In the Valley of Elah is based on a true story, and that story is not unique. But it would carry more moral authority if it appeared after the conflict was over. There is something unseemly about producing a film about the demoralization of American troops while thousands of them are still in harm's way.
Torture's Mythology
The sickest part, though, is the public response to In the Valley of Elah. Ten years ago, a movie showing an American soldier torturing a prisoner for kicks would have raised a hue and cry. Today it occasions barely a murmur. What has changed? In the realm of popular culture, the most obvious change is that scenes of torture, including vivid on-camera ones, are now standard fare. The best known example is 24, the Fox TV series starring Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer, America's favorite anti-terrorist. Jack Bauer does not torture prisoners for kicks, but he does torture them frequently: 67 times in the first five seasons, by one count. And these scenes are a wonder to behold. Jack Bauer can maul a captive and get actionable intelligence faster than I can put a dollar in a vending machine and get a Diet Coke.
The motives for torture are as old as human society: to punish wrongdoers, to crush dissent, to intimidate populations, to force retroactive confessions. Perhaps the most primal motive, shared by cats toying with mice, is to lord it over the weak. In war this is called "victor's spoils," the pleasure of inflicting pain on vanquished enemies. This is Mike's motive, which together with the others mentioned above is rejected as barbarous and tyrannical by all liberal democracies, including the United States. But that leaves one additional motive: Jack Bauer's. In the debate over whether it is right to define waterboarding, stress positions, and other "leave no mark" methods as "enhanced interrogation" not torture, a frequent touchstone is 24. For many Americans, Jack Bauer makes it easier to argue that even torture is okay when used by a scrupulous professional. To quote the standard riposte: what would you do if a ticking time bomb were about to go off, and the guy tied to the chair in front of you was withholding the information you needed to prevent catastrophe?
This frequent reference to 24 is unfortunate, because although 24 is highly addictive (your sober reviewer confesses to having inhaled the first four seasons), it should not be a touchstone in this debate. Despite its many charms, 24 embodies a mix of cowardice and recklessness, the two vices that Aristotle contrasted with the virtue of courage. The cowardice shows up in the program's timid selection of villains: vengeful Serbs, a bitchy German, red-handed Mexican drug lords, a turncoat British spy, a greedy oil executive, power-mad government officials (including one president), and--once in a blue moon, when the Council on American-Islamic Relations is looking the other way--violent jihadists.
As for recklessness, it shows up in the demeanor of 24's creative mastermind, Joel Surnow, a man who by his own testimony came up the hard way. The son of a Los Angeles carpet salesman, he grew up south of Olympic Boulevard, where there was never enough money for the designer sunglasses favored by his classmates at Beverly Hills High. Apparently this youthful deprivation provides an excuse for acting like a jerk. Last year, Surnow blew off Brigadier General Patrick Finnegan, dean of West Point, and Joe Navarro, an expert FBI interrogator, when they traveled to Los Angeles to urge a change in the way 24 depicts torture. These visitors were seasoned practitioners with a practical complaint: that their cadets and trainees, steeped in the excitement of 24, now dismiss warnings about the legality of torture and (more troubling) the evidence of its limited effectiveness.
Some of Surnow's colleagues, including Sutherland himself, did meet with Finnegan and Navarro. So it will be interesting to see how torture is dealt with in the seventh season (scheduled to begin in January but probably postponed because of the Writers Guild of America strike). To judge by the online trailer, the issue will be front and center:
White letters on black screen: They can attack him.
Senator in hearing room, grilling Jack: "Mr. Bauer, did you torture Mr. Haddad?"
White letters on black screen: They can judge him.
Jack: "Senator, Ibrahim Haddad had targeted a bus carrying 45 people, 10 of which were children. I stopped that attack from happening."
White letters on black screen: But they can never break him.
Jack: "Don't expect me to regret the decisions that I have made, because sir, the truth is, I don't."
You go, Jack. And if I were faced with a choice between letting humanity be blown to smithereens and pulling out my grandmother's fingernails, it would be "Brace yourself, Granny," and no regrets afterward. But I'm not faced with that choice, and 99% of the time neither are real interrogators faced with the ticking time bomb scenario. Retired Colonel Stu Herrington, a 30-year veteran of military intelligence, has been quoted to the effect that this scenario "is so rare in real life that it's essentially mythology." The 24 creative team are smart and talented, so perhaps they will find ways to continue making great television while also addressing the concerns of those who are actually fighting the war against terrorism. But don't count on Surnow. His refusal to meet with Finnegan and Navarro is a classic case of recklessness holding courage in contempt.
A Reassuring Professionalism
Most people consider 24 a right-wing show, in contrast with the left-wing slant of the feature films discussed here. Yet 24 has left its mark on the feature film industry, make no mistake. In both The Kingdom and Rendition there is a Jack Bauer-like character: brave, smart, loath to inflict pain, but adept at doing so when needed. Interestingly, neither is an American. In The Kingdom, it is Faris Al Ghazi, an upright Saudi policeman played with toughness and charm by Ashraf Barhom. Basically an action film, The Kingdom stars Jamie Foxx as Ronald, a maverick FBI agent who defies his inept superiors and a timid State Department to lead a proper investigation into a terrorist attack on a U.S. enclave in Saudi Arabia (similar to the 1996 Khobar Towers attack). When Ronald's team arrives in Riyadh, they are stonewalled by the Saudis until a discontented cop, Al Ghazi, steps forward to help. His Jack Bauer moment comes when he stops the torture of a prisoner--not because he opposes torture in principle, but because he deduces from the evidence that it's fruitless in this case.
It is vital to distinguish between Al Ghazi, a fine officer with a warm heart and a cool head, and the nameless goons who do the actual trussing, beating, electrocuting, whatever. Like Mike's sadism, the goons' work is kept decorously off camera: all we see is the scrupulous professional giving the orders. A similar scene occurs in A Mighty Heart, the powerful film about the terrorist killing of journalist Daniel Pearl. In that film, the professional is a gentle, handsome officer (played by Irfan Khan) in the Pakistan secret police, the ISI, who gazes soulfully at his captive every time he is obliged to order another round of agony. Like 24, both The Kingdom and A Mighty Heart reassure us that the good guys are in charge, not the goons.
Surprisingly, the same reassurance appears in Rendition, a would-be exposé of extraordinary rendition. Anwar (Omar Metwally) is an Egyptian-born chemical engineer living in Chicago and married to an American, Isabella (Reese Witherspoon). Because his mobile phone has been receiving calls from a terrorist group, Anwar is arrested while traveling home from an overseas conference, and rendered to an unnamed country in North Africa, where he is stripped, beaten, isolated in a cold cell, and waterboarded by goons working for the local police chief, Abasi (Igal Naor). Strictly speaking, this interrogation is overseen by Douglas (Jake Gyllenhaal), a CIA "pencil pusher" who steps in after another agent's death. But compared with Abasi, Douglas is a cardboard figure whose sole purpose is to show revulsion at the proceedings and (regardless of Anwar's guilt or innocence) inveigle his release. Abasi, by contrast, is a surprisingly sympathetic character: brave, smart, loving toward his family, but also haunted by his grim job. Remind you of anyone?
At the end Rendition loses momentum because of a plot twist whose only conceivable function is to keep Abasi from being too sympathetic. The film starts with the suicide bombing of a café where he takes tea every morning. Many are killed, but Abasi survives, and from there the film cross-cuts between three story lines: Abasi's interrogation of Anwar; the efforts of Isabel back in the States to find out what's happened to Anwar; and a secret romance between Abasi's daughter Fatima (Zineb Oukach) and a scruffy artist named Khalid (Moa Khouas). This third story line climaxes when Khalid turns out to be a suicide bomber who wooed Fatima as part of a plot against her father. Over time, the two have fallen in love, so when Khalid goes to kill Abasi, Fatima tries to stop him--and might have succeeded if Khalid's handlers hadn't made that impossible. The bomb explodes, and both lovers die.
The weird part is that this is the same explosion that opens the film. Instead of reaching for our handkerchiefs, we scratch our heads: Huh? What's going on? Suddenly we're back at the beginning! Since this confusion destroys the whole momentum of the ending, we might also wonder why the romance and death of Fatima and Khalid are not simply treated as a flashback. My hunch is this was the original intention, but that during the editing process somebody realized that if the audience knows from the beginning that Abasi's daughter was killed by a terrorist, they might forget the whole anti-rendition message and start rooting for Abasi as the Maghreb's answer to Jack Bauer.
It soothes the conscience, and boosts the box office, to portray U.S.-sanctioned torture as occurring only under the watchful eye of scrupulous professionals. It also helps to neutralize criticism of Hollywood for stereotyping Arabs and Muslims, to cast excellent actors like Ashraf Barhom and Igal Naor in Jack Bauer-like roles. With guys like Al Ghazi and Abasi in charge, we can relax. The prisoners may be screaming, but the interrogators take no pleasure in making them scream, and the pain stops the moment the prisoners either talk or establish their innocence. The situation is dire but not spiraling out of control.
Playground for Sadists
The trouble is, the facts are otherwise. Ticking time bombs are rare, and so are human beings capable of sustaining a scrupulously professional attitude toward torture. Indeed, when torture becomes the routine business of any military or law enforcement organization, the first thing that happens is the good guys take off and the goons take over. To believe otherwise is to be naïve about human nature. But don't take my word for it, take that of Vladimir Bukovsky, the former Soviet dissident who spent 12 years in that system's prisons, labor camps, and coercive "psychiatric hospitals." His capsule summary of why it is never a good idea to legalize and routinize torture is worth quoting at length:
Apart from sheer frustration and other adrenaline-related emotions, investigators and detectives in hot pursuit have enormous temptation to use force to break the will of their prey because they believe that, metaphorically speaking, they have a "ticking bomb" case on their hands. But, much as a good hunter trains his hounds to bring the game to him rather than eating it, a good ruler has to restrain his henchmen from devouring the prey lest he be left empty-handed. Investigation is a subtle process, requiring patience and fine analytical ability, as well as a skill in cultivating one's sources. When torture is condoned, these rare talented people leave the service, having been outstripped by less gifted colleagues with their quick-fix methods, and the service itself degenerates into a playground for sadists. Thus, in its heyday, Joseph Stalin's notorious NKVD [the Soviet secret police] became nothing more than an army of butchers terrorizing the whole country but incapable of solving the simplest of crimes. And once the NKVD went into high gear, not even Stalin could stop it at will.
I do not believe that this is a description of the United States' war on terror. But if I were a foreigner with no better source of information than Hollywood films, I might be forgiven for believing it. To judge by overall box office, the American love of torture has regressed from Jack Bauer's reluctant rule-bending to the Marquis de Sade's voracious vivisection. Audiences do not flock to see Lions for Lambs and Rendition; they flock to see Saw IV and Hostel Part 2, the latest specimens of a new genre that David Edelstein of New York Magazine dubbed "torture porn." One of the cable channel Showtime's biggest hits is Dexter, about a forensic expert specializing in Advanced Bloodstain Pattern Analysis, whose chief joy consists in spilling blood not analyzing it. A boyish team player, Dexter moonlights as a vigilante, ritually torturing and killing those criminals whom the system fails to bring to justice. If Dirty Harry's threat was "Make my day," Dexter's guarantee is "Make my night."
It is hard to criticize this stuff, because ever since 1992, when Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs made casual cruelty look cool, the Sunset Boulevard party line is that violence ceases to be shocking when it goes "over the top" into depictions of mayhem so extreme, so surreal, that they resemble the fevered imaginings of a mass murderer or extreme sociopath. Why this should be so, I have never heard anyone explain satisfactorily. The question is considered infra dig by the P.R. flacks and bloggers surrounding this genre--their websites and commentary are full of a bizarre, morally inverted appreciation of ever greater spectacles of destruction. Torture is a favorite at this feast, folks, and we're not talking about some weak-weenie waterboarding, we're talking about real torture, the prancing-around-in-arterial-blood-spray kind that is fun for the whole family.
For a taste of the sensibility involved, consider this remark by Darren Bousman, the director of Saw IV (and two of its predecessors). Hyping his new film, he boasted that it contains "a scene...where I physically regurgitated in my mouth." Bousman belongs to the self-described Hollywood "Splat Pack," a group of junior sadists mentored by Tarantino, who revel in their ability to mass-produce the most repugnant imaginable fantasies. As Eli Roth, director of Hostel and Hostel Part 2, recently told a national magazine: "Everybody says that I'm different on the days we're shooting the gore--that I'm just extra happy. I try to have that same excitement and enthusiasm for every scene, but when we're doing some really disgusting scene I'll catch myself gleefully jumping up and down at the monitor." And in another interview, he mused, "Hopefully, we'll get to the point where there are absolutely no restrictions on any kind of violence in movies."
Earth to Roth: We're at that point now. And now is also the time when millions of people around the world perceive the United States, rightly or wrongly, as having abandoned the moral high ground regarding the conduct of war and the treatment of prisoners. There is more freedom of expression in America than in any other country in the world, which is why Bousman and Roth can get away with their upchuck. But no one could accuse them of good timing.
First appeared in THE CLAREMONT REVIEW OF BOOKS, Winter, 2008
Posted by mbayles at 2:02 PM
December 15, 2007
Screenwriting Today
Winged Avengers of the Jury, I stand by everything I have said about Martin Scorcese, and also about the verbal poverty of The Departed and many other contemporary sceenplays. And as evidence I offer the following
short version of Scorsese's well acted, skillfully produced, but substantively inferior rip-off of Infernal Affairs (the cool, classy Hong Kong original).
Posted by mbayles at 11:01 AM
November 28, 2007
This Just In
The best jokes used to come from the Soviet Union. Here's one I especially like:
A Western journalist is talking with several Russians in a cafe, and he naively asks them what they think of Comrade Stalin. They stare at him in silence. But then, when the reporter leaves, one man follows and offers to share his true opinion of the Great Leader -- provided the reporter is willing to meet at midnight on the banks of the Moskva River. The reporter agrees, and that night they meet. The man insists on getting into a boat and rowing out into the middle of the river, where amid bitter winds and bobbing ice floes, he leans forward and whispers into the reporter's ear: "I like him!"
If you enjoyed this joke, then don't miss this news bulletin from the Onion.
Posted by mbayles at 7:59 PM
November 25, 2007
Wise Words
Javed Akhtar is a renowned Indian screenwriter, song lyricist, and poet. Here is wonderful comment of his from Nasreen Munni Kabir's book, Talking Films: Conversations on Hindi Cinema with Javed Akhtar:
"I can tell you two ways of writing an unsuccessful film. Firstly you decide you'll make a great film, and secondly, you decide the film you're making is not for you but for the common man, a film for the masses. In the first situation, you're looking upwards and in the other, you're looking down. You go wrong because in both cases you're going to create something that's not coming from you."
Posted by mbayles at 8:29 PM
November 17, 2007
Ankle Deep in Bollywood
Wading a step farther into the waters of Bollywood, I recently saw the 2003 comedy, Munna Bhai, which I heard about in Bombay.* I liked it very much, although to be honest, I am still getting used to such old-fashioned, industrial-strength entertainment!
Sanjay Dutt, a sandy-haired rogue in his 40s with bedroom eyes and a huge following, stars as Munnabhai, a loan shark with a heart of gold, shaking people down in one of the nicer Bombay slums. (Some scenes are shot in a semblance of that city's laundry district, where thousands of washermen and women ply their trade in stone tubs passed down through the generations.)
Munnabhai, it turns out, comes from a well-to-do background outside the city, and his refined parents don't know he's a crook. They think he's a medical doctor, and when they come to Bombay for their annual visit, he and his mates transform his gangster digs into a hospital.
Naturally, this scheme goes awry, and to the mortification of his parents, Munnabhai is exposed. Heartsick, he vows to cheat, charm, and strong-arm his way to a medical degree (anything but study, naturally). This, too, is a disaster, albeit the kind that occurs in Hindi films: lots of singing, dancing, and larking about included. In the end, Munnabhai's genuine goodness has become evident to all, including his worst enemies, the woman he loves, and -- at long last -- mother and dad.
Sounds corny, I know. But along the way, the film makes relentless fun of the medical profession, self-important people, and high-caste Indians who treat lower-caste people as faceless underlings. This is the kind of thing old-fashioned Hollywood films used to do, and it is fascinating to see it done in a whole different cinematic language.
NB: I thought "Mumbai" was politically correct until I went there and learned that everyone who grew up in the city calls it Bombay. So now I call it "Bombay" in order to be PC in some things, at least. I can understand their resistance, actually. What if someone came along and renamed Boston "Mustain"?
Posted by mbayles at 4:32 PM | Comments (0)
November 12, 2007
Comrades and Causes
Frank Capra's "why we fight" theme dominated films produced during World War II, even Korea. But these films also downplayed war's ferocity and horror. About Vietnam the only contemporary film was The Green Berets, produced in the style of 1944 and lobbed like a (dummy) grenade into the middle of 1968. After the war ended, a series of counter-cultural films, notably Taxi Driver (1976), caricatured Vietnam vets as dangerous lunatics. The Deer Hunter (1978) showed more respect for the veterans, while also painting an unflattering picture of the North Vietnamese communists. The lunatic vet made a comeback in the extravagantly awful Apocalypse Now (1979), but by the 1980s it was no longer cool to use vets as villains.
Yet at the same time, Hollywood in the 1980s was loath to make films retroactively supporting the Vietnam War. (Unfortunately, the sole exception, Lionel Chetwynd's The Hanoi Hilton (1987), is dramatically speaking a dud.) So the challenge became: How to make the soldiers look good, while also making the war look bad? A clever solution was devised by two directors, Oliver Stone and Stanley Kubrick, in two highly successful films, Platoon (1986) and Full Metal Jacket (1987). By focusing on the experience of a small unit of soldiers, and using state-of-the-art technology to render the sights and sounds of combat as vividly as possible, these films managed to avoid any focus on why they fought. At its cleverest, this approach also managed to make the soldiers' disgruntlement with ill-conceived orders and fruitless tactics look like principled opposition to the war.
This narrowly focused band-of-brothers approach is now a cliche, as film after film ramps up the special effects and dumbs down the characters and plots. A harbinger of this approach is Ridley Scott's Blackhawk Down (2001), a high-tech tour de force whose characters are as interchangeable, and unmindful of the reason why they are fighting, as the figures in a video game. Even We Were Soldiers (2001), Mel Gibson's attempt at a revisionist Vietnam film, spends more time reconstructing the physical details of the 1965 battle of Ia Drang Valley than defending the purpose for which it was fought. And despite its patriotic fervor, Gibson's film ends with the line: "They went to war because their country asked them to, but in the end they fought not for their country or their flag. They fought for each other."
They fought for each other. Very stirring, but how do you get them to do that? On the most basic level of narrative art, there's nothing wrong with the band-of-brothers approach. Since before Homer, the best war stories have focused not on grand strategies but on comrades-in-arms. And long before sociologists coined the term unit cohesion, storytellers have understood that in the heat of battle, soldiers think less about overarching goals than about their buddies. And when they act bravely, it is usually to save their friends, to avoid letting them down, or (at most) to uphold a shared sense of honor. So it's dramatically necessary, and sociologically accurate, to separate comradeship from cause while the bullets are flying.
But this only takes us so far. Soldiers are human beings, and when the shooting stops, they are bound to ponder why they fight. If no adequate reason presents itself, or if their sense of duty becomes eroded by a sense of futility, they may grow less willing to march back into hell. In the worst case scenario, they lose their moral bearings altogether, and cease to care about either cause or comrades. This is war's final bitterness, and only rarely does Hollywood dare to depict it.
Posted by mbayles at 8:46 AM
November 6, 2007
Followup Bollywood
Just a couple of things I'd like to fix in last entry, after hearing from an Indian colleague. First, for you non-Hindustani speakers, a translation of Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge: it means "the one with the brave heart wins the bride." Second, Javed Akhtar is a song lyricist as well as a screenwriter.
More later as this neophyte wades into the Bollywood waters. Feet wet but a long way to go.
Posted by mbayles at 9:16 AM
November 3, 2007
Not the Wedding Crashers
When I was in India this last spring, several people recommended a Bollywood classic called Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge -- or, to use the popular shorthand for an immensely popular film, DDLJ. Now that I have seen the film, I understand why my interlocutors were so insistent.
"Bollywood" is becoming an obsolete term, or maybe it always was. There is Hindustani cinema, which uses a blend of Hindi, Urdu and English, and has been described by the famous screenplay writer Javed Akhtar as "one more state in this country, ... quite different from Indian culture, but it's not alien to us, we understand it." (See his book-length series of interviews with the writer Nasreen Kabir.) In addition, there are several regional film industries in other languages, which together with the Hindustani mainstream produced largely in Mumbai/Bombay, dominate a huge region stretching from West Africa to Central Asia to East Asia and Oceania -- not to mention London, Russia, and New Jersey.
We Americans think of movies as constantly "pushing the envelope" -- that is, first you show kissing, then foreplay (remember foreplay?), then sex in bed, then sex against the wall, then sex with baked goods and fruit, then sex with animals, then rape, then rape and strangulation, then rape preceded by torture (back to foreplay again?), and then -- what? Rape and strangulation of baked goods?
I'm not suggesting that this is a natural progression -- most people are content with the first 2-3 steps. But woe to the Hollywood director who stops pushing the envelope, or even riskier, pushes it in the opposite direction. The only director I can think of who does this is Judd Apatow, whose comedies The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up paradoxically use raunchy humor to affirm (relatively) traditional sexual mores.
There is no raunchy humor in DDLJ, but there is plenty of old-fashioned erotic attraction, battle-of-the-sexes combat, and finally passionate surrender, all accompanied by song-and-dance numbers that are (in the best Bollywood style) extravagant and surreal without being (in the worst Bollywood style) repetitive and tedious.
What is fascinating, though, is what happens after the lovers realize how hopelessly smitten they are. In The Wedding Crashers, the lover whose girl is engaged to someone else simply shows up at the wedding and claims her. He makes a short speech along the lines of "I really love you and that dude is a bum," and she falls into his arms. Needless to say, the wishes of parents and relatives are treated as a minor irritant quickly disposed of. When the bride embraces the interloper, they have no choice but to applaud -- they're old, after all, and therefore irrelevant.
Never mind that this is not how many young Americans see the world. It is the dominant trope of popular culture, that sexual attraction equals love, and that nothing must stand in its path. DDLJ would not disagree, but its way of making the same point is infinitely more subtle, powerful, and human.
When Raj (Shahrukh Khan) falls for Simran (Kajol), the problem is obvious: he is the spoiled playboy son of a London-based millionaire (Anupam Kher), she the sheltered daughter of Chaudrry Singh (Amrish Puri), a hard-working shop owner who hates England and longs for his native Punjab. The young people meet on a Europass tour of the Alps (very picturesque), but when Simram returns home, her father packs her off to India to marry the son of his best friend.
The old man is a stern, forbidding autocrat, and his dream of reconnecting with Punjab is not shared by his wife and two daughters. In an American film, these sentiments would have to be corrected, either by persuasion or coercion. But therein lies the difference: in DDLJ the old man is treated with the utmost respect, and although it seems impossible for 99 percent of the story, he finally yields. (This is not a spoiler! Everyone knows that the lovers get together at the end of a film like this!)
But watch carefully, because this is not just a case of the young folks bringing the old folks into the current century. It's also a case of the young learning from the old that there are two ways to do anything: the wrong way, which leads to happiness in the short term but emptiness in the long, and the right way, which is hard and painful but leads to the greatest happiness.
Maybe we Americans are too sophisticated for this stuff. In terms of revenue, Hollywood still makes a whole lot more money than Bollywood. But in terms of audience size, Bollywood surpassed Hollywood in 2004 and is still ahead: 3 billion, as opposed to 2.6 billion. And most of the latter are not Wedding Crashers fans so much as Titanic and Shrek fans. With regard to stories about human beings, it's the heart that counts. And on that score, 3 billion Bollywood fans may not be wrong.
Posted by mbayles at 9:03 AM | Comments (0)
October 28, 2007
Moment of Clarity
Lately the New York Times Arts & Leisure section has become increasingly mindless, with too much space devoted to celebrity chatter and reviews by critics who type faster than they think. It's a relief, therefore, to read A. O. Scott's lucid article about the current crop of Iraq / Afghanistan / Global War on Terror flicks. When surrounded by mud, clear water can seem a miracle.
Posted by mbayles at 10:59 AM | Comments (0)
October 27, 2007
A Real Great Train Wreck
Tired of having your circuits overloaded by CSI? Longing for the kind of thrills that come not from guys crawling along the floor in front of a blue screen (to be filled in later by computer) but from gutsy stunt men doing actual stunts?
If so, then get yourself a copy of Runaway Train. This gritty 1985 film was written by a fascinating crew, from Ed Bunker, the former San Quentin inmate turned director (Straight Time, The Longest Yard) to the renowned Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. Not only that, but it stars Jon Voigt, Eric Roberts, and Rebecca de Mornay; and was directed by Andrei Konchalovsky, a member of the Russian film aristocracy.
This one-of-a-kind gem starts with a hard-ass escape from a maximum security prison in Alaska, and is not appealing at first (due to what used to be graphic violence and an unpleasant trip through a sewer). But mercifully, it soon plunges the two anti-heroes, escaped prisoners Manny (Voigt) and Bunk (Roberts), into the vast, frozen wilderness, where they hop what turns out to be the wrong train.
Before long they are hurtling across the frozen landscape, sans conductor and sans brakes, and their reactions are not pretty, Manny being the hardest of the hard and Bunk the callowest of the callow. But when they discover they are not alone, that their onrushing fate is shared by a young female assistant engineer (de Mornay), the story lifts off and soars to a whole different level.
To repeat, what you see on the screen is a real train (four engines coupled together) hurtling through some real bleak, real Arctic, real estate. And the interaction among the unwilling passengers, torn between wanting to live and wanting to stay free, is even more real. Pay attention to what happens at the end, because this is not a trivial action flick but something more akin to a short story by Tolstoy. Needless to say, they don't make 'em like that any more.
Posted by mbayles at 6:51 PM | Comments (0)
October 22, 2007
Classify This
Believe it or not, there is still a film censorship - oops, "classification" - board in Great Britain. But to judge by its recent decision on Eastern Promises, another foul blood feast from David Cronenberg, the British Board of Film Classification might as well hang it up.
The film sounds like standard Cronenberg: eyes gouged out, throats slashed, all in such loving detail that the film managed to offend even the jaded audience at the London Film Festival. Yet the BBFC awarded the film an 18 certificate for general release, with no cuts - oops, edits.
This prompted Andreas Whittam, a former president of the BBFC, to complain: "If I thought this was the type of film that was likely to make people leave the cinema, or even make them have to look away for quite a while, then I would question why the scene should be left in."
Pretty mealy-mouthed, but a bold statement of principle, compared with the response from the current BBFC: "Scenes that make people turn away are part of the fun of going to movies. These days we are not here to cut; we are here to provide information and let people then make up their minds."
Uh-huh. Just one question, though: What, exactly, are we making up our minds about?
Posted by mbayles at 9:48 AM | Comments (0)
October 16, 2007
From Epic to Oscar
A friend recently posted this fascinating essay on Amazon.com. It's about the literary work that was the basis for one of the finest Hollywood films ever made: The Best Years of Our Lives, about three servicemen returning from World War II. I had no idea that the screenplay was adapted from an epic poem -- did you?
Read Don Bishop's account ...
The book that made the movie that moved millions and won the Oscar
October 12, 2007
By Donald M. Bishop (Virginia)
"Glory for Me" is the book-length narrative poem by MacKinlay Kantor which eventually became the movie "The Best Years of Our Lives." The film won seven Oscars, including Best Picture, for 1946. It starred Frederick March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, and Harold Phillips.
In 1970, I was a lieutenant working at the Air Force Historical Research Center. The older historians told a word-of-mouth story how the book came to be. No doubt the story had been embroidered over many years of retelling, but here's the way I heard it.
In 1944, movie titan Samuel Goldwyn knew that whether the allied victory in World War II would come sooner, or later, millions of American veterans would return home. Many -- especially those with physical and psychological wounds -- would have trouble finding jobs and "readjusting."
Goldwyn knew that journalist and playwright MacKinlay Kantor, who had flown missions with the 305th Bomb Group from England earlier in the war, had gotten to know American servicemen in combat at first hand. Goldwyn asked Kantor to write a screenplay for a planned movie on the veterans returning home.
According to the story, Kantor had driven up to a Tennessee mountain retreat to work on the screenplay. He took his typewriter and a case of bourbon. He emerged some months later with empty bottles and "Glory for Me," written in the form of a narrative poem, not a screenplay. Goldwyn was not pleased, and he eventually gave Kantor's poem to Robert Sherwood to reshape for the screen. When the film finally appeared, Kantor was given a minimum of credit. Sherwood -- deservedly -- won the Oscar for Best Writing.
Those, like myself, who come to "Glory for Me" via "The Best Years of Our Lives" will be richly rewarded by reading the poem.
Kantor's and Sherwood's treatments of the same characters and the same American town ("Boone City") shows two gifted men working the same basic story in different literary forms, poem and screenplay. Reading the book allows one to discover how, here and there, they made some different creative choices.
In Kantor's poem, Homer's disability is spasticity, which makes for some painful reading. Sherwood gave Homer a physical disability -- loss of hands and the use of prosthetic hooks. Sherwood's choice was a wise one for the moviegoing public, and few are the hearts not moved by Harold Phillips' portrayal of Homer in the film. But Kantor's portrayal of Homer and his girl Wilma are equally moving, perhaps because the poem gave more room for character development.
When Frederick March played Al Stephenson -- the older sergeant returning to his prewar life as a banker at the Cornbelt Trust Company -- he masterfully compressed much of Kantor's material in eloquent but short scenes. In Kantor's fuller telling of the story, Al was the son of a pioneer banker who had made loans to farmers a generation earlier. The poem has more social and historical texture.
In Kantor's poem, Homer's uncle Butch (Hoagy Carmichael's character in the movie) provides a vehicle to explore class feelings in pre- and post-war America. This was one of Kantor's themes that Sherwood could not fit into the film. Similarly, Kantor told his readers more about Novak (the veteran asking for a loan to open a nursery) and his experiences as a Seabee in the Pacific. Kantor's use of lilacs as a metaphor for peace and normality could not be picked up in the film.
On the other hand, Sherwood changed the story line to say more about wartime marriages. Marie (Virginia Mayo in the film) proves shallow and unfaithful when Fred Derry (Dana Andrews) returns home. The movie's title, not found in Kantor's poem, came from a scene when the two argued.
The book was published in January, 1945, months before the war ended. Kantor well anticipated the major contours of veteran adjustment, but there was more to his foresight. On the final page of the poem he showed real prescience when he alluded to the unresolved social tensions that all Americans, not just the veterans, would confront in the coming years.
Reading habits have changed in the six decades since the book was published, and readers may now find that it takes some pages to adjust to the poetic form. Kantor's poetic shortcomings earned some dismissive reviews. Poems similar in form by Kantor's contemporaries like Stephen Vincent Benet are now dismissed as middlebrow when they are read at all. I am confident, though, that with each page the reader will find new lines and new scenes to savor and treasure.
"The Best Years of Our Lives" is a truly great American movie. "Glory for Me" deserves equal recognition. Kantor recognized the coming drama of the returning veterans. He dignified their individual struggles in a literary form that recalled the great epics and placed the American veterans among mankind's heroes. He gave an immortal film -- a film that affected tens of millions -- its basic structure, plot, characters, tone, and feeling.
Not a bad result for a few months of solitude with a case of bourbon.
Posted by mbayles at 8:40 AM | Comments (0)
October 14, 2007
Queened Out For Now
Spare yourself Elizabeth: The Golden Age , especially if you were bored by last year's Marie Antoinette, an over-produced, under-cooked souffle starring Kirsten Dunst - or rather, starring Kirsten Dunst's costumes, wigs, and makeup. Both films are luscious to look at but so devoid of content, they insult the intelligence of all women. Can you imagine a film about a king, any king, which focuses entirely on his clothes and pleasures to the exclusion of everything else? Maybe there's been one or two, but I doubt they were praised for "empowering" men.
If you want to see Queen Elizabeth in her maturity, wearing fantastic outfits and ruling, as opposed to being ruled by, her hot passionate heart while also ruling England better than almost any monarch ever ruled a country, then rent Elizabeth I, the brilliant and wonderful series starring Helen Mirren that aired on HBO last April.
I could elaborate, but better to offer two links, one to a review I did of Elizabeth I at the time; and the other to a long piece that discusses both Mirren's triumph as Elizabeth II (The Queen) and Marie Antoinette.
Posted by mbayles at 4:50 PM | Comments (0)
October 10, 2007
Enough Hemo-Technics
Recently re-watched The Usual Suspects, and while it has long been a favorite of mine, this was the first time I noticed its distinct Hong Kong flavor. Couldn't find anything online about its being a remake of a Hong Kong film, so I emailed my favorite Hong Kong cinema expert, who wrote back no, it's not a remake. But my expert agreed that the style was very Hong Kong.
I understand that bad movies come from Hong Kong, just as they do from Hollywood. But when it comes to the forensic crime genre, the world could do with a lot more of their style and a lot less of what passes for ours.
What's better about The Usual Suspects? 1) It has the right number of overlapping layers of deception and intrigue: not too many, not too few; 2) The characters are more interesting than the explosions; 3) The whole thing, including the production design, fits together like a fine Swiss watch; and 4) It's not totally about the blood.
Hong Kong movies can be quite violent, but perhaps because of the legacy of martial arts geniuses like Jackie Chan, the emphasis is on action, not hemo-technical displays like those spewing from Hollywood these days. There are too many morally stunted special effects guys out there, trying to win kudos from mentally stunted "critics" full of pseudo-aesthetic excuses. Don't remind me that the blood is fake. I know that, and so do most viewers. But the invitation to cruelty and voyeuristic pleasure at the agonized suffering of others -- are they fake, too?
Posted by mbayles at 8:56 AM | Comments (0)
October 7, 2007
Dickens Done Right
As the days grow shorter and the nights colder, you could curl up with a good fat book, like Charles Dickens's Bleak House. The Bantam Classic version is only 818 pages. Or you could rent the 2005 TV adaptation co-produced by the BBC, WGBH Boston, and a company called Deep Indigo. It's only six hours or so, and after the first, you will be hooked.
Full confession: before this Bleak House, I had never seen a Dickens adaptation that I truly admired. They were all too shallow and predictable, with too many tiresome caricatures who weren't really funny. Plus a treacly, Merrie Olde England look that works better in Thomas Kinkade paintings.
How does this series avoid all that? By extending the emotional range in both directions, so that the gloom and cruelty of Dickens's world feels truly disturbing, and warmth and light of justice and kindness truly a relief. This is no mean accomplishment, because while it's easy to find villains these days, it's hard to find characters as convincingly good as Esther Summerson (Anna Maxwell Martin) and her guardian, John Jarndyce (Denis Lawson).
I guess what I'm saying is that this series does not treat Dickens as a quaint old-fashioned moralist best suited to high school English classes. It brings out his brilliance at black comedy, in characters like Smallweed, the blood-sucking moneylender who goes about in a sedan chair complaining about his aching bones. Smallweed is played so brilliantly by Phil Davis, I looked forward to his every entrance and to watching those yellow rat's teeth chew up the scenery.
And beyond the comic, this adaptation makes room for sorrow. Yes, there is a happy ending, but only after several lives have come to bitter ends. Like Jarndyce and Jarndyce, the multi-generational law case at its heart, the plot closes with a perfect tradeoff. The characters lose exactly the amount they hoped to gain. For us readers and viewers, though, it is all gain.
Posted by mbayles at 7:52 PM | Comments (2)
October 4, 2007
Oh Grow Up
Am I the only person tired of Martin Scorsese's sensibility, which was perfect for 1973 but has been old so long, it's ... well, dead?
In today's LA Times there is an item about Scorsese's next film project, stalled between two studios. The passage that caught my eye is about the film itself:
"On paper, the movie looks like a great investment: Scorsese once again directing his 'Aviator' and 'Departed' star Leonardo DiCaprio in an adaptation of the just-published cash-coke-and-corruption memoir 'The Wolf of Wall Street' ... , the autobiography of New York stockbroker Jordan Belfort, a flashy, drug-abusing, hooker-hiring, model-marrying master of the universe sent to jail for securities fraud and money laundering in the '90s."
Didn't we do this already? "Wall Street," "Bright Lights, Big City," "The Bonfire of the Vanities"? Or, assuming Scorsese makes no distinction between Wall Street and the Mafia, "Goodfellas"? The image of American business as gangsterism is the dominant one around the world, used to justify the corruption and excess of robber barons in Russia, China, and many other ruthless plutocracies. When the US government gets on its high horse and preaches good labor practices and business ethics, it is taken as a joke, because thanks to Hollywood, everyone in the world knows all Americans are mobsters.
Scorsese is getting a little long in the tooth to still be celebrating the rotten behavior of bad-boy gangs he never belonged to. Get over it, Marty. Your stuff is boring and pernicious.
For a full treatment of this topic, see my essay comparing "The Departed" with the much superior Hong Kong film it was based on, "Infernal Affairs."
Posted by mbayles at 9:38 AM | Comments (0)
October 1, 2007
Team America Plus Two
Peter Berg made one of my favorite movies: the Texas football tragedy, Friday Night Lights. Does that qualify him to make a Saudi Arabian terrorism comedy? I exaggerate, of course. The Kingdom isn't a comedy, it's a state-of-the-art action flick. But what that means is plenty of comic moments stuck into the action the way nuts are stuck into baklava, to make it crunchier and tastier.
Comic moments also do a great service to action heroes and heroines, by humanizing them and showing how they can keep their cool even when being shot at. In these and other respects, The Kingdom, about a team of four FBI agents sent to solve a terrorist massacre in Riyadh, is technically expert but not thematically profound. The cast is great but predictable: two white guys, one a wise veteran (Chris Cooper) and the other a bumbler on a steep learning curve (Jason Bateman); one saintly tough African American (Jamie Foxx); and one sexy feisty gal with puffy lips and puffier you-know-whats (Jennifer Gault).
But here's the twist: the film adds two more cool customers, cast in the same mold, who are Saudis. One is a colonel played by Ashraf Barhom, an extraordinary actor about whom it is proving difficult at the moment to find a decent online bio. (He does such a good job, and is obviously so sought after, that this dearth of information is itself quite intriguing.) The other is his sergeant, played by Ali Suliman, who did such a brilliant job as a hesitant suicide bomber in Paradise Now. (Information on him is equally elusive.)
After all the complaints, some justified, of stereotyping of Arabs in Hollywood movies, especially the action genre, the presence of these two highly sympathetic characters (whose devotion to Islam is smoothly inserted) seems worthy of notice. At the same time, I wonder: The Kingdom was not filmed in Saudi Arabia but in Abu Dhabi (and Phoenix). But the image of the Saudis is so positive, the film could pass as state-of-the-art propaganda. It's not that, of course. It couldn't be. Could it?
Posted by mbayles at 8:24 AM
September 26, 2007
Pow!
Several big-name reviewers sniffed at Snow Cake, a Canadian film about a gloomy ex-con named Alex (played by Alan Rickman) who forms a (non-romantic) bond with an autistic woman named Linda (Sigourney Weaver) in a tiny whistle-stop near Winnipeg. Some dump on Rickman for being gloomy; others scold Weaver for taking on a no-makeup role that requires her to act like a four-year-old; still others mount their high horse and intone that autistic people don't act that way.
I beg to differ. Rickman is one of the few actors who can light up the screen with the merest hint that perhaps he might smile. Weaver draws on her inner child, including the one that throws tantrums, in a surprisingly convincing way - and since every autistic individual is different, and the screenwriter Angela Pell has an autistic son, I wonder where the high-horse critics get their expertise.
And finally, Snow Cake contains a killer-diller blindside blow, one of the most shocking I have ever seen. (Lately this is a preoccupation of mine - see two entries below.) I won't tell you where or when this hits, but it is staggering in a way that makes perfect sense out of (almost) everything else. I could criticize two or three things about this film, but withal, it has more class and integrity than most of the big-budget bullies getting all the attention.
(I am so happy to have used the word "withal." Part of a campaign to revive really useful but moribund English words.)
Posted by mbayles at 7:53 AM
September 23, 2007
Cinematic Bedford Falls, Video Pottersville
In today's New York Times, there is a nice short piece about the Drexel movie theater in Bexley, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus. It's not really an art house theater, although it occasionally shows filmfest fare. But neither is it a decaying single-screen relic. Instead, it's an experiment in populist preservation, created and sustained by Jeff Frank and his wife Kathy, natives of the area who bought it in 1981 and turned it into a showcase for classic Hollywood films, jazzed up with some old-fashioned hype (such as giving free passes to people who wear red shoes to Red Shoes). Blessedly, the Franks seem to have made a go of it.
I especially liked Jeff Frank's comment that he after graduating from film school, he went home to Ohio with the thought, "Go to Hollywood! Go to New York! Be involved in the film industry." But now he sees himself "as a sort of George Bailey, who never fulfills his dream of leaving Bedford Falls, yet comes to realize that remaining in his hometown is his passage to a wonderful life."
Perhaps we will see more such efforts, now that the technical quality of how consumers watch is declining just as the technical quality of what they watch is rising. All the fine camera work and special effects in the world are lost when people see movies on cell phones (a delivery platform that gives me even worse heebie-jeebies than those crummy little screens on the backs of airplane seats).
At the other extreme you have the phenomenon described by Joe Morgenstern in this weekend's Wall Street Journal (see below): the grotesque distortion that occurs when 4:3 images are stretched to fit deluxe flat-panel TV screens whose ratio is 16:9. As Morgenstern writes, "compact cars resemble stretch limos, puffy faces look like their cheeks have been pulled out," and "actors, even basket ball players, seem to have put on 30 pounds."
Why do people tolerate this? Morgenstern interviews two top cinematographers, whose reaction is to pretend it's not happening. And who can blame them? No true craftsman wants to see his careful work end up in a pawn shop in Pottersville.
MORGENSTERN ON MOVIES
Why distorted flat-panel pictures are ruining TV shows and movies
September 22, 2007; Page W5
Wherever I go these days -- homes, bars, restaurants, airports, hotel rooms -- I see beautiful flat-panel TVs displaying awful, distorted pictures. Yet no one seems to notice, or care. I feel like a guy spouting off about the emperor's new clothes, except this emperor's problem is that his wardrobe doesn't fit.
Why should anyone care? And what does it have to do with movies? First things first: Why it happens.
American television is moving inexorably, if belatedly, from analog to digital, and from conventional to high-definition broadcasting. At the moment, though, we're in a period of higgledy-piggledy transition, thanks to bungling by the government, which is increasingly befuddled by new technologies, and to resistance by broadcasters and consumers. Almost all flat-panel TVs are tailored to the proportions of hi-def transmission -- they have screens with 16:9 aspect ratios -- but they don't all receive hi-def signals, and most programs are still being beamed conventionally, in a squarish 4:3 format that was never meant to fill a wide screen.
Many owners of wide-screen TVs don't make the distinction. Since they paid a premium for the width, they want their programs to fill the screen; never mind that 4:3 programs are correctly displayed on 16:9 panels only with black bars flanking the image. So people set their TVs to stretch the picture, or allow their TVs to set themselves. Either way, the result is distortion -- compact cars resemble stretch limos, puffy faces look like their cheeks have been pulled out in opposite directions.
As a movie critic, I try to tell myself that it's only TV. Moviegoers can still find impressive images on theater screens, where projection has actually improved in recent years. But condescension toward television doesn't wash. As everyone who watches TV knows, some programs and series are terrific -- lots better than the average feature films that fill the multiplexes. And everyone watches TV, which is one reason I obsess about the visual quality of what they're watching. If people don't care what they see, then what future can there be for the dazzlingly powerful -- and proportionate -- images I've been smitten by ever since I was a kid?
It doesn't pay to obsess about things you can't change, but I forget that each time I find myself a captive audience in a hotel room with a flat-panel TV that's been set to stretch every picture it processes. The setting can't be switched with the hotel remote; you need the remote that came with the display, but getting your hands on one can drive you crazy.
First comes a call to the front desk: "There's something wrong with my TV. I need the remote that came with it so I can fix it." The response may vary by hotel or region, but in New York it's always the same: "I'll send up the engineer."
Rather than being a designer of airplanes or skyscrapers, the engineer is more likely to be a bleak, overworked handyman who looks at the TV and says, "It's fine." Not really, I begin, hating my obsessive self as I start to explain, yet again, why the picture is cockeyed. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I had so much trouble communicating with the last engineer, who may have been Russian, that I pinched my cheeks and pulled them out to demonstrate the problem. The man stared at me as if I were insane, but he did bring the remote, watched patiently as I changed the setting and then shrugged a semi-private it-takes-all-kinds shrug before moving on to another nut job in another room.
In the course of my obsessing, I've sometimes wondered how such ubiquitous distortion and the public's indifference to it affects the people who create those dazzling images on the big screen -- cinematographers of the first rank. Writing this confessional gave me an excuse to call two of the best shooters I know.
Caleb Deschanel said the way his films get stretched on TV bothers him a lot, and public indifference puzzles him. "It is odd when people don't notice that actors, or even basketball players, seem to have put on 30 pounds. But all sorts of things in modern society bother me. Kids in their 20s and 30s think absolutely nothing of stealing intellectual property on the Internet."
John Bailey is not a heavy TV watcher. "I'm the guy who finally got rid of my 20-year-old Pioneer square-screen TV not long ago, and I only did that when the sound went out." But he acknowledged the subject's crazy-making potential. "It makes you ask the question, 'What the hell am I doing? What are we all doing?' Once you get beyond the theatrical exhibition, it's a free-for-all. But you really can go crazy if you start to think of the downstream implications. The only thing I feel I can control, and shoot for, is to make negatives or show prints as good as they can be. Then, if they go back and remaster something years later, at least the archival material is of the highest quality."
That's good, philosophical advice, and I plan to take it. The next time I'm tempted to make a call that will summon the engineer, I'll call room service and order a drink.
Posted by mbayles at 9:34 AM
September 16, 2007
Success With Chinese Characteristics?
Once upon a time there was a musician, a teacher and performer of Western classical music, in Beijing. During the Cultural Revolution this man was attacked and humiliated by a gang of rowdy students - a painful experience made infinitely more so by the fact that one of the students roughing him up was his own son, Chen Kaige.
Chen Kaige is now a renowned film director, best known in America for rich costume dramas such as Farewell, My Concubine and Temptress Moon. But Chen is also the author of Young Kaige, a soul-searching memoir about his participation in the Cultural Revolution. (Unfortunately, the book does not appear to be available in English).
Chen Kaige's 2002 film, Together, tells a different story but one suffused with strong emotion drawn from this background. It is about Liu Cheng (Liu Peiqi), a comical but affecting peasant from a small provincial city, where he works as a cook and nurtures the musical career of his gifted 13-year-old son, Liu Xiaochun (Tang Yun). Xiaochun is devoted not just to the violin in general but to a particular violin that, according to Cheng, was left to him by his deceased mother.
Despite his rough manners and lack of education, Cheng manages to take Xiaochun to Beijing and enter him in a national contest, which he loses. But then, hearing one of the judges, Jiang (Wang Zhiwen), complain about the system being rigged in favor of the not-so-talented children of the rich, Cheng cajoles Jiang into taking Xiaochun as a pupil.
Jiang is a fine but embittered teacher who lives alone with six cats in one of the old, picturesque but poor districts of Beijing known as hutong (meaning something like, "street wide enough for two carts to pass"). When he has taught Xiaochun all he can, he gracefully allows the boy to graduate to Shifeng Yu (played by Chen Kaige himself), a celebrity teacher more skilled at hustling his students into the big time.
Father and son also live in a hutong, but one seemingly threatened by redevelopment, because right next door is a new high-rise, one resident of which is Lili (Chen Hong, the wife of Chen Kaige), a pretty young woman whose life consists in entertaining her rich boyfriend and spending the money he gives her. Lili isn't a prostitute, as uncomprehending critics have suggested, but rather a "kept woman" (to use an antiquated phrase) But she is not happy, any more than Jiang is happy pretending to teach music to the unmusical offspring of plutocrats.
As these characters are drawn into a tale of Horatio Alger ambition and Charles Dickens self-discovery, the film feels both old and new. It feels old because of these literary echoes, and the way it tackles the themes of money, success, and loyalty - which is strongly reminiscent of classic Hollywood. (Some reviewers have found hints of Frank Capra, and they are right.)
Yet Together also feels new, because while hardly a tragedy, it does take a somewhat critical stance toward the way these themes work themselves out in contemporary China. It's tempting to say, well great, the Chinese have their own Frank Capra. But that raises a troubling question: Was Together released in China? I have checked the Internet Movie Database, and according to that fairly reliable source, it was not!
Posted by mbayles at 12:00 PM
September 14, 2007
Good, Not Feel-Good
About a year ago, I posted an entry about a little known film called The War Within, which I admired for its refusal to satisfy our kneejerk expectations of a happy ending.
Now I have seen another film that does the same thing. Civic Duty is a UK-Canada-US production whose protagonist is not a Pakistani suicide bomber wandering around New York, but an all-American accountant, Terry (Peter Krause), who happens to be down on his luck. Having lost his job and with too much time on his hands, Terry becomes obsessed with the mysterious doings of his new Middle Eastern neighbor, Gabe (Khaled Abol Naga).
Terrifically acted, the film engages in too many pseudo-artsy camera tricks for my taste. But this is a small vice compared with its major virtue: a courageous script that, like The War Within, encourages us to draw conventional conclusions then yanks each one away.
Terry is a media-manipulated reactionary who carries suspicion too far ... or is he? Gabe is an angry Muslim but innocent of any crime ... or is he? There's no hero, though Terry's girlfriend Marla (Kari Matchett) comes close. But even her love for Terry and trusting good nature do not produce the Hollywood resolution we crave. And much as I love Hollywood, on this topic I prefer irresolution.
Posted by mbayles at 2:08 PM
September 10, 2007
Another Clueless Expert
With mixed feelings, I read in today's New York Times that the hottest TV show in Russia is a Russian version of Married With Children, the in-your-face sitcom that happily deconstructed the American family between 1987 and 1997.
I was never a big fan of Married With Children, which in hindsight seems a loss leader in substituting vulgarity for wit. But if the Russian media want to allow this freedom while murdering journalists and suppressing political speech, then the more repressive tolerance to 'em (as Herbert Marcuse used to say).
But it is really depressing to see what passes for expert commentary in Russia. The Times article quotes Daniil B. Dondurei, editor in chief of Cinema Art magazine, saying that TV shows like Schastlivy Vmeste (Happy Together) are "training [people] to not think about which party is in Parliament, about which laws are being passed, about who will be in charge tomorrow. People have become accustomed to living like children, in the family of a very strong and powerful father. Everything is decided for them."
Huh? Turn on your TV, Mr. Dondurei. This is Married With Children, not Father Knows Best. You need to update your critique, unless of course you are trying to be irrelevant.
Posted by mbayles at 11:36 AM
September 6, 2007
Twelve Agonizing Brits
The first courtroom drama was Aeschylus' Oresteia, in which a cycle of blood vengeance driven by the Furies is arrested by Athena, instituting drama's first jury trial. "Let me be just," the goddess tells Orestes. "Let me remember the fair tongue of reason."
Jury trials abound in films, of course, but the most famous will always be Twelve Angry Men (1957), based on the stage play by Reginald Rose and directed by Sidney Lumet. After many revivals of the play worldwide, the film was remade for television in 1997 by director William Friedkin. Remarkably, that remake is not available on DVD, even though the cast includes George C. Scott, Ossie Davis, Hume Cronyn, Jack Lennon - and Sopranos star James Gandolfini.
Twelve Angry Men is not just about the jury system, it is also about racial and ethnic conflict, which is why it proves a perennial. A superb recent update is The Jury (2002), a British-made television series directed by Pete Travis, set in London's Old Bailey courthouse and glittering with young and old British thespians (Gerard Butler and Derek Jacobi, to name just two).
The series follows the trial of of a 17-year-old Sikh boy (Sonnell Dadral) accused of murdering an English classmate with a sword. The evidence is strong against him, but at the same time, the victim's anti-immigrant father, relatives, and police cronies do everything they can to push the proceedings toward a lynching.
The Jury departs from Twelve Angry Men by including a great deal of drama outside the courtroom, in particular the stories of a half dozen jurors whose lives are in such turmoil, they actually find respite (and for one couple, romance) in a murder trial. If you want to know how it all comes out, you'll have to watch it. I'm no spoiler, and besides, it contains far too many shadows of doubt to yield a snap verdict.
Posted by mbayles at 8:30 AM
September 4, 2007
Love That Upchuck
Where are the "cutting-edge" artistes of Hollywood taking us? This article from the Washington Times will give you some idea.
Posted by mbayles at 9:36 AM
September 3, 2007
Too Happy
Blood Diamond is a much better film than I expected. Extraordinary production values, even in this era of pricey trans-national co-productions; and superb performances, especially by Leonardo DiCaprio as Danny, a mercenary from Zimbabwe (back when it was Rhodesia); and Djimon Hounsou as Solomon, a fisherman from Sierra Leone whose village is raided by paramilitary thugs trading in illegal diamonds.
Forced into slavery in the mine, Solomon finds a huge diamond, which he manages to bury during a government raid. Barely escaping with his life, Solomon desperately wants to retrieve the stone, not so he can become rich but so he can rescue his son, Dia, impressed into murderous service as a child soldier.
Greed and paternal love are then united, as Solomon reluctantly teams up with Danny to find the stone. Of course, as director Edward Zwick says on the DVD commentary, the real diamond is the boy, not the stone, and as the story unfolds, this hard lesson is learned by the hardest of men, Danny the mercenary.
Why "Too Happy"? Because the right ending occurs about 10 minutes before the credits actually appear, and those last 10 minutes are nothing but feel-good gas. There are so many grim scenes in this film, the ending I am calling "right" - which consists of a narrow escape and an honorable death - is plenty. Why ruin it with additional scenes poured out of that big bottle of Hollywood Formula? Probably because the film was audience tested on the kind of people who find anything but swelling music, warm embraces, and applause for the hero "depressing."
Bitter truths beautifully presented, then coated with saccharine at the end. That's what I call depressing.
Posted by mbayles at 1:00 PM
August 30, 2007
Another Good Punch
Two entries ago, I mentioned that the fine Australian film with the unprepossessing title Japanese Story packed an unexpected wallop. Another film that does the same thing is The Man in the Moon (1991), about a 14-year-old Louisiana farm girl who falls in love with her older's sister's boyfriend. It is a gem, partly because of Reese Witherspoon's superb performance as the younger sister (her first film role), and partly because of the sudden blow it delivers to the viewer's solar plexis.
What's striking about both films is the way they avoid telescoping the punch, and what's interesting to think about (if you are a plot junkie like me) is the fact that most movies do telescope their punches, to the great detriment of realism. Anyway, if you are looking for a good film to watch over Labor Day, The Man in the Moon is easy to find and well worth it.
Posted by mbayles at 10:18 AM
August 27, 2007
Truer Than Wuxiu
Somewhere between Dickens and Tolstoy stands British novelist Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865), whose pen name in the proper Victorian mode was Mrs. Gaskell. Little known in America, she is beloved enough in England to have inspired a BBC adaptation of North and South, her Pride and Prejudice-style love story between a minister's daughter from England's green, prosperous South and a textile magnate from its grim, industrializing North.
I haven't read the novel, but the film is gritty, compelling, romantic. And timely in this sense: it doesn't make one me about England, it makes me think about China. History's biggest industrial revolution is happening right now, and with it a gigantic version of all the problems depicted in this film. And Mrs. Gaskell's vision of rapprochement between management and labor is also oddly of the moment. At least the answer in China is not going to be Marxist-Leninist revolution. Been there, done that.
One thing I learned while visiting the PRC this spring is that audio-visual piracy (a major industry, make no mistake) is not just "theft," as the Motion Picture Association puts it; it also the lifeblood of China's independent film scene. It is not illegal to make indie films there, but very few are released. (The government prefers the blockbuster wuxiu films, in which exotically dressed super-heroes and heroines engage in gravity-defying combat.) So piracy - taoba - is also samizdat. Watch North and South and let me know if you agree: it would be quite interesting to see VCDs (cut-rate DVDs) of this film show up in the street stalls of Shanghai.
Posted by mbayles at 11:45 PM
August 26, 2007
Prodigal Blogger
Loyal Reader:
I've been away from SP for a couple of months, traveling around the world doing research for my book about how people perceive life in America through the lens of our popular culture and, to a much lesser extent, US cultural diplomacy. I interviewed 133 individuals in six countries and am now drafting the manuscript. But loath to let SP expire, I beg you to kill whatever fatted calf you have on hand and welcome me back.
I woke up this morning still thinking about an extraordinary film I saw last night on DVD. Its unprepossessing title, Japanese Story, does not begin to capture its power.
Set in the Pilbara Desert of Western Australia, the story is simple: Sandy, a female geologist (Toni Colette), is asked by her boss to be driver and guide to the son of a major Japanese investor. The young visitor, Hiromitsu (Gotaro Tsunashima) is as smooth and proud as Sandy is rough and humble, and were it not for a series of unexpected mishaps, they would never have connected. But connect they do, in ways as starkly beautiful as the rugged, red-earth landscape they travel through. The film also contains something exceedingly rare: a punch that knocks the wind out of you, and isn't at all telescoped.
Posted by mbayles at 7:30 AM
April 28, 2007
Cultural Learnings for Make Benefit Glorious Comedy of Sacha Baron Cohen
Strolling along the Thames last summer, I did something unusual for me: I paused to check out some street performers and stayed for the whole show. Two young men were performing in a series sponsored by the Royal National Theater, and though their act was mostly wordless clowning, I stood transfixed by their skills. First they would single out someone and imitate his stance or gait (passing joggers were a specialty). Then, while the crowd was roaring with laughter, they would back away from their target, making elaborate gestures of apology but also blame, toward each other ("He did it, not me") and toward the crowd ("They made us do it"). And invariably the victim would relent, playing the good sport to general applause.
Street comedians have operated this way since time immemorial - with reason. They must ruffle a few feathers in order to tickle the crowd's funny bone, but they must also know exactly how much feather-ruffling the traffic will bear. Great comedians ruffle deeply, almost to the point of pain, and provoke correspondingly deep, almost painful laughter. Yet the emphasis is on "almost." As Aristotle noted in the Poetics, "the laughable is an error or disgrace that does not involve pain or destruction." The line between funny and hurtful is fine but definitive.
The chief feather-ruffler in the world today is Sacha Baron Cohen, the 35-year-old British comedian best known for his hit film, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. Baron Cohen plays Borat Sagdiyev, a clueless, feckless, tasteless TV reporter from "Kazakhstan" (no resemblance to the real country), who visits New York to make a documentary about America, but after seeing Pamela Anderson on Baywatch, embarks on a cross-country journey to Los Angeles to meet the sexy star. The character's purpose is straightforward: to seize Anderson and "make a romantic liquid explosion on her stomach." The comedian's purpose is more devious: to find ripe targets for his special brand of hit-and-run comedy.
That's hit-and-run, not street comedy. Unlike the performers on the South Bank, Baron Cohen is merciless. His other comic persona, Ali G, the white British hip-hop wannabe host of HBO's Da Ali G Show, specializes in ambushing prominent people. A recent article in Rolling Stone described the process: "The interview requests come from a fake British production company ... And until just before the cameras roll, the interviewee is under the impression that the clean-cut, well-dressed director is going to do the interview, and that the baggy-clothed, wraparound-shades-wearing character carrying equipment is just part of the crew."
Confronted with the bizarre-looking, patois-speaking Ali G, a few guests (Pat Buchanan, INS chief James Ziegler) keep their cool. But most (Donald Trump, Newt Gingrich, Ralph Nader) totally lose it when Ali G asks one of his incredibly dumb questions - to astronaut Buzz Aldrin: "Wot's it like, walkin' on da sun?"- then interrupts the reply with a blue streak of vulgarity. When a guest bristles, Ali G does likewise, demanding to know, against all visible evidence, "Why da aggro, geezer? Is it coz I black?" And woe to the good sport: the more cheerfully a guest plays along, the more gleefully Ali G slays him.
Borat's targets are not celebrities, but the process was similar. First, they were invited to participate in a news documentary for Belarus TV (one unknown country being much like another). Then they signed a release, indemnifying Baron Cohen against any claim of "false light (allegedly false or misleading portrayal of Participant)" or "fraud (alleged deception or surprise about the Film)." And finally they bared their unwary good nature to Borat's swift "gotcha."
Don't get me wrong. Both Ali G and Borat can be wildly funny - for example, when Borat bops up to strangers in midtown Manhattan, kissing the men on both cheeks and crowing, "Hi! I Borat! I new in town! I want be your friend!" Some curse, some flee, some - like the passengers in the subway car where Borat's suitcase opens and live chickens flutter out - just laugh. As far as I know, none of these New Yorkers has filed a lawsuit. The lawsuits (about a dozen) have come from remoter places, such as Helena, Alabama (about which more below), and, at the extreme, Glod, the Roma (gypsy) village in Romania whose residents mugged for the camera as Borat's benighted kith and kin. This is not just because New Yorkers are more used to bizarre behavior. It's also because the farther Baron Cohen went into darkest America, the harder he worked at outing the savages.
David Brooks has criticized Baron Cohen for "snobbery"; others have defended his bold exposure of racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, and homophobia. He did turn up some unsightly prejudices: a trio of drunken frat boys make puerile comments about women and minorities; a rodeo manager in Tennessee advises Borat to shave off his mustache so he won't look Muslim, then jokingly agrees that homosexuals should be persecuted. But the question is, compared to what? Would a road trip through the Middle East, or any other part of the world yield a bigger crop of tolerance? Granted, Borat finds reinforcements for his caricatured bigotry. But most of the Americans he meets put up with all sorts of nonsense from this weird foreigner, doubtless because they assume (based on their history) that he is just another immigrant seeking to become "Americanized."
Surely this is the real message of the much discussed episode in which a group of genteel white folk in Helena, Alabama, host Borat in their dining club, only to have him (in his fractured English) call a "retired" man a "retard," insult a minister's wife for being less attractive than two other women, and return to the table after a trip to the bathroom brandishing a plastic bag full of his own feces (which prompts a patient lesson on how to use the toilet). The last straw is when Borat telephones for a hooker, and when one arrives, introduces her as his guest. The pair are summarily ejected, and because the hooker is black, the scene is widely cited as evidence of racism. Give me a break. Or as Ali G might say, Wot is yooz bangin' on about?
Lawsuits and controversy are good publicity, of course. But Baron Cohen's turbo-boosted fame presents a more daunting challenge. In January he sold his next "mockumentary," Bruno, to Universal Studios for $42.5 million. Bruno is his third comic persona, a flamingly gay fashion reporter for Austrian TV, who gives new meaning to the term "air head." So this new project promises to stimulate the chattering-blogging classes: Is he really homophobic, or is he outing the homophobes? Post your comments below. But how on earth is Baron Cohen going to pull off another round of hit-and-run comedy? Of the potential marks most likely to see him coming, surely gay fashionistas top the list.
Thus the super-star comedian faces the same problem as the humble street comedian: how do you make fun of others when you're outnumbered - and surrounded? It's nice to prattle on about comedy being anarchic and unbounded, but it almost never is, because like all things human, comedy is social - and political. This is not to saddle it with social or political "messages." The only way comedy can deliver a message is negatively, through satire. In his excellent book, Redeeming Laughter, Peter Berger finds "satirical elements" - aggressive impulses, glints of malice - in all forms of comedy. But only in satire, which he defines as "the comic used in attacks that are part of an agenda," are these elements "welded together into the shaping of a weapon."
Here arises the vexed topic of anti-Semitism, an obsession in Borat. Borat's fellow villagers are depicted not only as whores, abortionists, animal rapists, and assorted cretins, but also as anti-Semites cheering at their annual "Running of the Jew," a Pamplona-style event with papier-maché effigies of Jews instead of bulls. In a bed-and-breakfast in the American South, Borat and his producer panic when they learn that the meek proprietors are Jewish. And the joke is on the dim-witted gun dealer who, when asked by Borat, "What is the best gun to defend from a Jew?", blandly recommends a .45. An observant Jew whose mother comes from Israel, who lived on a kibbutz, and who wrote his Cambridge history thesis about the role of Jews in the American civil rights movement, Baron Cohen rarely plays "gotcha" with his co-religionists (or with African Americans). As he explained in a recent interview, "Borat essentially works as a tool. By himself being anti-Semitic, he lets people lower their guard and expose their own prejudice."
Very high-minded, I'm sure. There's a lot of anti-Semitism in the world today; why shouldn't a gifted comedian satirize it? I can think of no good reason except a practical one: Baron Cohen's anti-anti-Semitic jokes are not very funny. And, in a curious way, they are not very Jewish. If he'd written a thesis about the role of Jews in American humor, then perhaps he would have learned that the best ethnic comedy is that in which people laugh as hard at themselves as they do at others.
This lesson comes from vaudeville, the popular theater that flourished between the end of the Civil War and the Depression. Vaudeville was big business, with impresarios booking acts in New York and sending them out on the national "circuit." To stay in the black, they had to "keep it clean." But that didn't make vaudeville timid or safe. Quite the opposite: it was rife with irreverent humor about the dominant social reality of the time: immigration. Between the 1880s and the 1920s, America absorbed 33 million newcomers from Europe, as well as 200,000 from China. The latter were subject to racist legal sanctions, as were blacks and Indians. But several European groups, especially Irish, Slavs, and Jews, also met with prejudice, both from the mainstream and from one another. So vaudeville traded in heavy-handed stereotypes: the drunken, belligerent Irishman; the volatile, irresponsible Italian; the stodgy, thick German; the clever, grasping Jew.
Yet this is precisely where the Jews made their mark. As Berger notes, turn-of-the-century Jewish immigrants to America brought with them a sophisticated comic culture, rooted in the Yiddish-speaking shtetls of Eastern Europe and, after emancipation, refined in the coffeehouses of Budapest, Prague, and Vienna. Two qualities made this culture an excellent fit for America: first, it did not need to be "kept clean" because it contained "almost no scatology and remarkably little sexuality"; and second, it was already capable of reaching beyond the group. Writing about the coffeehouse culture, Berger notes that "insiders and outsiders were no longer identified only in terms of ethnicity and religion." Then he adds: "It was in America that large numbers of gentiles have been drawn into the magic world of Jewish humor."
Vaudevillians were not social workers, needless to say. They were fierce competitors, vying for dollars and applause. But as noted by Edward Rothstein, a critic for the New York Times, their rough-and-tumble yielded a rare social alchemy:
"Irish, German and Yiddish accents were part of the patois of vaudevillian comedy, the mangled sentences echoing the increasingly familiar immigrant sounds of cities like New York. Oddly, though, these exaggerations were not generally an occasion for bigotry or hostility. There was an element of celebration in the mockery, partly because the actors were often themselves from these groups. Even stranger, ethnic actors would adopt alien ethnic identities for the sake of the comedy, making the artifice even more apparent. Blacks appeared as Chinese, Jews as Irish. It was as if, by some unspoken agreement, marginal groups had joined forces in displaying, to each other, the comic absurdity of their position."
This distinctive style of ethnic humor shaped radio, Hollywood movies, and TV - right into the 1970s, when, remarkably, it dominated Saturday Night Live. In the '70s America was beginning to experience another great wave of immigration, and the topic pervaded that legendary NBC show from the premier segment, which opened with a sketch about an ESL instructor (Michael O'Donoghue) teaching an immigrant (John Belushi) the ever-so-useful English sentence, "I want to feed your fingertips to the wolverines." When the instructor keeled over with a heart attack, the docile pupil did the same. Immigration also drove such running gags as the terminally uncool "wild and crazy guys" from Eastern Europe; the limited-menu diner ("Cheeseburger, cheeseburger, Pepsi, Pepsi"); Belushi's Samurai hotel clerk; Gilda Radner's linguistically perplexed Emily Litella (reportedly based on a Puerto Rican custodian in Rockefeller Center); and Don Novello's tactless Father Guido Sarducci. With a stretch, one might also include those poorly assimilated aliens, the Coneheads ("We are from France"). In this respect, Saturday Night Live was pure vaudeville.
Baron Cohen has never said so, but Borat's obvious predecessor is Latka Gravas, the befuddled "Foreign Man" created by Andy Kaufman and showcased on Saturday Night Live and the ABC sitcom, Taxi. Because these shows were network, not cable, Kaufman had to "keep it clean" - and he apparently chafed at that. But significantly, Kaufman seems not to have chafed at making Latka's country of origin entirely fictional - an island in the Caspian Sea called Caspiar. On the contrary, having invented Lakta's quaint customs and peculiar beliefs out of whole cloth, Kaufman could riff on them all the more cleverly.
Why couldn't Baron Cohen do this? Along with a great many Kazakh bloggers, I've been wondering why Borat used the name of a real country but then refused to satirize it outright, offering instead a hilarious but safe caricature of rural life in Soviet Russia. (Full disclosure: I laughed so hard at the Kazakh national anthem played at the end, they almost had to carry me out of the theater. It begins, "Kazakhtstan, greatest country in the world / All other countries are run by little girls.") Could it be that Baron Cohen itched to stick it to Muslims for being anti-Semitic but did not itch to share the fate of Salman Rushdie or (worse) Theo van Gogh, so he decided to pick on a majority-Muslim country that (in his own words) "no one had heard anything about"? Borat is full of in-jokes, not least its use of Hebrew as a stand-in for Kazakh. But the biggest in-joke of all may be its bait-and-switch treatment of Kazakhstan.
A friend of mine, a Central Asian expert, worries that Borat's "portrayal of Kazakhs as ignorant, misogynist, prejudiced fools" might "feed existing prejudices against backward natives, especially Muslim ones." I told him to chill: in America, the vast majority of Borat fans can't even pronounce Kazakhstan, much less find it on a map. And they learned nothing about its religious demographics from Borat. According to the film, the state religion is anti-Semitism, and then, after Borat's return, a form of Christianity in which peasants stick pitchforks into a sorry-looking compatriot on a cross. In the entire film, there's only one reference to Islam, and that's when the rodeo manager asks Borat if he is Muslim. The cryptic reply: "No, I am Kazakh. I follow the hawk."
Actually, from an American perspective, Baron Cohen is less vaudevillian than minstrel. I refer, of course, to the blackface entertainment that preceded vaudeville in the 19th century. Performed by whites before the Civil War and largely by blacks afterward, minstrelsy featured grotesque costumes (blacks and whites alike smeared their faces with burnt cork); sexual and scatological humor (depending on the audience); and stock figures (Jim Crow and Zip Coon) who were "low" in both senses: in status, because as slaves they had no hope of upward mobility, and in moral character, because (like all caste societies) the slave South operated on the presumption that virtue resided at the top and vice at the bottom.
Baron Cohen's comic personae do not wear burnt cork, but there's plenty of it in their speech, dress, and general ineptitude. His use of slapstick and obscenity both to ridicule himself and to explode the pretensions of the hoity-toity resembles not just minstrelsy but also the Old Comedy of ancient Athens, which grew out of the komos, a ritual practiced on festival occasions by family, religious, and military groups for the purpose of settling scores with rival groups and prominent figures. Speaking as a college professor, it's always a pleasure to watch the language of Aristophanes curl the hair of undergraduates. Which is, of course, its function: to reveal the unsightly and disgraceful side of human nature, and to demonstrate that the high and mighty are not immune.
But here's a point worth pondering: Old Comedy was the product of a small society with fixed status levels and a shared moral code, performed as part of a public religious ritual, the annual festival of Dionysus. Its obscenity may shock genteel Americans, but according to classicist Jeffrey Henderson, "the comic poets did not ... enjoy complete license to say anything they pleased." As for the performance setting, that was a live issue for Aristotle, who argued in the Politics that the most abusive and slanderous comedy should be placed off limits to women, youth, and others considered incapable of resisting its presumed negative effects.
No such limits are possible on the distribution of Baron Cohen's performances, needless to say. Now that Borat is on DVD, it is available in every nook, cranny, and media platform on the planet. This has not escaped the artist's notice, I am sure. But as he adjusts to the fact that his global celebrity is going to put a kink in his hit-and-run M.O., perhaps he should consider a different path. Classic gross-out comedy works well when performed by servants and slaves at the expense of their social "betters." But it is less appealing when performed by elite-educated pranksters at the expense of ordinary citizens. Immigrant New York was never a level playing field, to be sure. But it is arguable that the equal-opportunity insult humor of the great vaudevillians helped to keep it from becoming a war zone. And it is worth remembering, in this era of resurgent anti-Semitism, that they did so with a heavy Jewish accent.
This article originally appeared in the Claremont Review of Books
Posted by mbayles at 2:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 1, 2007
Dear Serious Reader
If you are still checking in with Serious Popcorn, you deserve better! It has been badly neglected in recent weeks, because I have been preparing for a round-the-world trip (9 cities in 6 countries), focusing on the influence of US popular culture, especially movies, on societies and media in the Middle East, India, Indonesia, and China. (This is for my book about the image of American culture in the world.)
I hope to revive Serious Popcorn while traveling, perhaps even keep a journal of sorts. So bear with me, and forgive me!
Posted by mbayles at 10:04 AM
December 28, 2006
Departed Soul
If you feel that the obits for James Brown don't quite get it, then please try this humble offering, a review written over a year ago. It's as close to getting it as I'll ever get.
Posted by mbayles at 2:21 PM
December 15, 2006
Celebrity vs. Royalty
Without doubt, the media event of summer 1997 was the death of Lady Diana Spencer, the former Princess of Wales. Newly divorced from Prince Charles, Diana was living the do-good, act-bad celebrity life when the limousine of her latest squeeze, Dodi Fayed (the son of the Egyptian-Swiss billionaire, Mohamed Abdel Fayed), crashed in a Paris tunnel while fleeing a pack of motorcycle-mounted paparazzi. Since Diana was no longer a member of the royal family and had appeared on the BBC complaining about how badly they had treated her, Queen Elizabeth II was disinclined to make a fuss. Holed up in Balmoral, their retreat in the highlands of Scotland, her majesty and the immediate family did their best to maintain an iron reserve.
As dramatized in The Queen, that royal reserve turns out to be an immovable object meeting an irresistible force--a flood of public grief unleashed by Diana's death. Captured on screen by television news footage of swelling crowds and mounting heaps of flowers outside Buckingham Palace, this surge of emotion surprises and discomfits the queen (Helen Mirren). So when the newly elected prime minister, Tony Blair (Michael Sheen), urges her to make a series of gestures aimed at dampening public resentment at her perceived cold-hearted indifference, she resists, then eventually comes around. It's a fascinating tale, full of political resonance, and The Queen, written by Peter Morgan and directed by Stephen Frears, tells it superbly.
But kindly ignore the reviews. This is not a film about "a frumpy, emotionally stunted monarch," a "stubborn, blinkered, coddled woman, who can't even grieve like a human being," who reacts to the untimely death of "a pretty, vulnerable young woman" by "clinging obliviously to bygone codes of class and civility." Despite his limitations, the queen's husband, Prince Philip (James Cromwell), is not portrayed (in the words of still other reviews) as a "dim bulb," "whose exclamations are unfailingly snobbish and dull," any more than the Queen Mother (Sylvia Syms) is depicted as "tipsy," "half-dead," and dispensing advice that "pertains to another era and is of no use." Most of all, the royal family are not shown "cloistered at Balmoral, knitting and nattering in their plain wool sweaters, caring more for their pets than for their children"--so "clueless" about "the cultural shift" in their own country that it takes Blair, a young Labor pol full of "fire and grace," "incorrigibly cheerful and gently manipulative," to "slap the royals awake and "practically order them to get back to London."
After rattling on in this vein for a while, most of the reviewers then dropped the whole shtick and praised the film for somehow tricking them into sympathizing with the queen. Most chalked this up to Mirren's performance (which is extraordinary; the actress, always worth watching, is on a roll lately, winning an Emmy earlier this year for a stunning performance as the first Queen Elizabeth in the HBO series, Elizabeth I; see my review in Reprisals).
But one or two reviewers came close to conceding that maybe, just maybe, the queen had a point. For example, Roger Ebert wrote that "the queen is correct, indeed, by tradition and history in all that she says about the affair--but she is sadly aloof from the national mood. Well, maybe queens should be." And David Edelstein of New York magazine halted his gleeful royal-bashing to lament "the passing of a more dignified, orderly world."
The prize for most idiotic review goes to Manohla Dargis of the New York Times, who described The Queen as "a sublimely nimble evisceration of that cult of celebrity known as the British royal family." The film is exactly the opposite: a subtle and intelligent exploration of the difference between royalty and celebrity. The contest between monarch and prime minister is fascinating precisely because they are both fully aware of the difference. What they disagree on is how best to split it.
Just because the queen is surprised by the size of the media circus surrounding Diana's death, that doesn't mean it is "bewildering" to her, or represents "a shift in values she does not understand." After all, this is the monarch who brought Great Britain into the media age, circling the globe to foster a positive post-colonial image; wearing pastel coats and flowered hats so people (and cameras) could pick her out of large crowds; and pioneering televised appearances such as the annual Christmas address and the "royal walk-around." How could she not have been aware of the superheated celebrity culture of the 1980s and '90s, when several members of her own family (not just Charles and Diana) were its favorite fodder?
Throughout her long reign, Elizabeth II has refused to be interviewed on camera. But this may be media savvy, not naivete. Billions would tune in to see her share memories of being doted on by her grandparents, Queen Mary and King George V; of studying modern languages with private tutors; of driving a truck for the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service during World War II. Your Majesty, what was it like to grow up third in the line of succession and then, at age 26, be crowned queen of half the world? But as the queen doubtless suspects, the millions who cried their eyes out over Diana would demand more. For them, nothing would do but a ten-hanky confession, to Barbara Walters if possible, of Elizabeth's deepest feelings about everything from her upbringing by starchy remote parents to her relations (erotic? Oedipal?) with ten prime ministers from Winston to Tony. Your Majesty, have you ever felt envious of Diana's fantastic wardrobe and thrilling sex life?
Unthinkable, of course. Most people, even some Di-worshipers, would object to seeing the soiled knickers of this public figure laundered for the entertainment of the great unlaundered. The interesting question is why. It's not strictly a function of power. The most powerful office on earth, the American presidency, is hardly exempt from pressure to get up close and personal. (Who can forget that 1997 was also the year that Bill Clinton "did not have sex with that woman"?) At the same time, exemption from the smarmier modes of media scrutiny is not given to powerless people, should they be so unlucky (or lucky) to be thrust into its glare. No, the exemption has to do with the nature and origin of one's power. Despite the legacy of English journalist Walter Bagehot, who argued in the 19th century that the British monarchy was just a "bauble" used to pacify the masses, the present queen holds significant power. Some of it belongs to her alone, the product of a half-century's dignified and engaged presence. And some of it is rooted in soil more ancient than any being traded on today's media market.
Film critics should understand this, because their line of work is one of the few that require occasional reflection on political regimes other than liberal democracy. The typical movie monarch may be a lion, grasshopper, human, monster, or high-IQ insectoid from outer space; it hardly matters, because the plots are invariably driven by the ancient political question of what makes a ruler good or evil, just or unjust. And of course, there are plenty of small-r republican movies, in which bands of aristocrats, wielding light-swords or briefcases, battle to topple evil tyrants and establish new orders ruled by themselves, the best and brightest. But regrettably, today's critics tend to see every political actor as either an evil fascist Republican or a good progressive Democrat.
That's why the reviews misinterpreted the stag. The climactic scene in The Queen occurs in the high country near Balmoral, where the queen is alone, driving her vintage Land Rover in search of Philip, who is out hunting a magnificent and elusive 14-point stag. Here the queen is depicted as the embodiment of the British virtues of toughness, self-reliance, preference for rugged nature over coddled luxury, and faith that the wisest counsel is conscience, heard in solitude. But as it happens, she drives too fast into a mountain stream and damages a wheel. She has a cell phone and calls for assistance, but that doesn't alter the significance of the moment, which is that even her majesty cannot always go it alone. Meditating on this lesson, she climbs onto a rock overlooking the stream, and removing her scarf so the wind can ruffle her hair, settles down to wait. At first she is cool and collected, gazing appreciatively at a landscape she obviously loves. But then she starts to weep.
Wisely, Frears films the weeping queen from the back, so that rather than gape at her red face and runny nose (a movie staple these days), we see only the back of her head and heaving shoulders. Then enters the stag, picking his way across the hillside until the queen sees him and exclaims, "O Beauty!" (You'd better believe there's no "h" after that "O.") A moment later, hearing gunfire and voices, she tells the animal "Shoo!" And watching him retreat without yielding one jot of his dignity, she breaks into a smile. The queen is resolved. Assuming her customary expression of stern benevolence, she proceeds to comply with the prime minister's suggestions. But clearly she has been moved less by the talkative pol than by the noble beast.
The word noble is crucial. While preparing to leave for London, the queen learns that the stag has been shot, not by the royal hunting party but by a guest at "one of the commercial estates." Upon her departure she stops at the estate in question and asks to see the "imperial 14-pointer," which is hanging beheaded in a game shed. From the gamekeeper she learns that the stag was wounded "by an investment banker" and had run 14 miles before the gamekeeper could "finish him off." "Let's hope he didn't suffer too much," remarks the queen. Then with her characteristic dry irony, she adds, "Please pass my congratulations to your guest."
None of this makes any sense if the stag is interpreted as "a mawkish stand-in for the doomed Diana" or "a simplistic reminder to Elizabeth that Diana, too, is dead and deserving of some compassion" (to quote two metaphorically challenged reviewers). Just as roses symbolize love, stags symbolize nobility. If you want to get mythological about it, Diana is the name of the Roman goddess of the hunt, the one who slays the stag. The queen's epiphany is not about her pathetic former daughter-in-law, it's about herself. And not the private self who wants to hide under the covers whenever Tony Blair rings, but the public self who has been raised from birth to be the living residue of an ancient ideal: rule by a person or persons superior in virtue. Watching the stag beat his dignified retreat, the queen realizes she can do the same. And shortly thereafter, we see Blair lose his temper with his wife Cherie and his press secretary, Alastair Campbell, who have been dissing the queen. Whether or not the real Blair is given to eloquent outbursts defending the importance of the Crown to the British system of government, this one certainly comes at the right dramatic moment.
What, exactly, does Blair want the queen to do? First, fly a flag at half-mast over Buckingham Palace: a highly inappropriate gesture, since that flag is not the Union Jack but the Queen's own standard, raised only when she is in residence and never lowered for anyone's death, not even that of a king. Second, go to London and pay her respects to Diana, preferably on the telly--the last thing the queen wants to do after reading mawkish tabloid headlines like "Show Us You Care." And third, authorize a state funeral: an idea so unprecedented, the queen's staff are forced to adapt the plans for the Queen Mum's funeral, with charity socialites standing in for soldiers and pop stars for foreign heads of state.
To object to such changes may seem silly to us Yanks, steeped as we are in the notion that improvised ceremonies are better than traditional ones. Take funerals, for example. There is a whole sub-genre of American indie film, in which estranged family members come together to carry out the last wishes of old Uncle Natural, usually something along the lines of having his ashes baked with hashish into Alice B. Toklas brownies and fed to the albino elk that in a remote part of Yosemite had watched him lose his virginity to a hippie girl now obese and living in a trailer with 17 cats. (This is a generic plot, available free of charge to anyone at Sundance.)
But even we Yanks respect tradition...sometimes. Ask yourself: Should graduating seniors wear thongs and pig noses instead of caps and gowns? Should the White House be painted chartreuse? Should the Academy Awards be held in an underground parking garage and pod-cast to your cell phone, instead of beamed in HD-TV to your new plasma screen? Multiply these reactions by a googleplex, and you'll grasp what tradition means to many Britons.
An intriguing illustration comes from the life of Dame Mirren herself. Christened Ilyena Vasilievna Mirinov, she is the daughter of an Englishwoman and a Russian, Vasily Mirinov, whose father, Pyotr Mirinov, came to London during the First World War as an envoy from the court of Tsar Nicholas II. The grandson of an aristocrat, Count Andrei Kamensky, Pyotr could not go home after the Bolshevik Revolution. So he stayed in London, driving a taxi, until his death in 1957. In 1950 his son Vasily changed the family name to Mirren and anglicized their first names. According to the Daily Mail, Helen Mirren has been keen to track down her Russian origins, not least because, as the reporter comments, "the actress, currently winning plaudits for her role as Elizabeth II in the acclaimed film The Queen, is herself descended from nobility. Her family tree can be traced back to a famous Russian soldier, ennobled by Tsar Paul I in the 18th Century."
For good historical reasons, Americans have trouble comprehending this preoccupation with nobility--an incomprehension well reflected in Marie Antoinette, Sofia Coppola's over-the-top tribute to the Last Days of Disco--I mean, Versailles. Filmed on location and starring Kirsten Dunst as the Habsburg princess who at the age of 14 was wrenched from her home in Vienna and married to the French dauphin, this film stuffs the screen with obscenely extravagant visions of Louis XV's obscenely extravagant court. Much has been made of the 1980s rock soundtrack, which jells better with some scenes than with others. But the real anachronism is the acting, from Rip Torn playing Louis XV in a manner that would suit Uncle Natural, to Jason Schwartzman turning the future king, Louis-Auguste, into a befuddled high school nerd who does not know what to do when a pretty blonde lands in his bed.
Above all, Dunst transforms Marie Antoinette into a Hollywood stock character: the lower-class beauty with a brain, who is suddenly swept into the orbit of people richer and more powerful, but not necessarily sharper, than she. From Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday to Anne Hathaway in The Devil Wears Prada, this smart cookie typically starts out resenting those who did not come up the hard way, then ends up pitying them and teaching them the Golden Rule. To be born Archduchess of Austria is not exactly coming up the hard way, but never mind. When we first meet Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna von Habsburg-Lothringen, she is living in an okay palace (nothing special), playing with her pug dog, and wearing her hair loose. It's only when she crosses into France that she is forced to submit to all that heavy-duty royal razzmatazz, and her reactions are every bit as irreverent and entertaining as Judy Holliday's would have been.
I have yet to read a satisfactory explanation of why Marie Antoinette was booed at Cannes, but here's one possible explanation of why they found it mind-bendingly wrong: say what you will about the French, they do know the difference between celebrity and royalty. Even when chopping off their monarch's head, the French have always grasped what the institution stood for. And as for aristocracy, no amount of decapitation has ever made a dent in its salience in French politics, culture, and life. La République is still governed by the best and the brightest, soi-disant.
Barnard professor Caroline Weber, author of Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution, defended Coppola's liberties in the New York Times, asserting that Marie is "multifaceted enough to accommodate most any interpretation, any ideology, any cultural bias." So chill, citoyens: this ungainly film is not a distortion of French history, it's a deliberately unflattering self-portrait of the Americans. Weber concludes: "With no interest in thorny policy issues, no care for the consequences of her actions, and no doubts about her own entitlement, this Marie Antoinette is today's ugly American par excellence: a Bush Yankee in King Louis's court."
That should get them clapping again. But unfortunately, when Coppola's film is viewed in this light, it comes off as even less successful, because it is not anachronistic enough. No doubt this is because Coppola's heavy reliance on Antonia Fraser's fine biography, Marie Antoinette: The Journey, introduced a discordant note of historical accuracy. This shows up most clearly in the subplot involving Louis XV's mistress, Madame du Barry. A commoner and former courtesan, du Barry's sole reason for being at court was to service the randy old king. And this did not sit well with Marie Antoinette--indeed, the historical evidence indicates quite clearly that she snubbed the low-born du Barry, who took it quite ill and promptly became her enemy. Needless to say, such snobbery hardly fits with Coppola's portrayal of Marie Antoinette as a perky egalitarian whose heart goes out to the class nerd (Louis-Auguste). The only way this character could possibly react to the class skank (du Barry) would be to make friends with her and then join her in plotting revenge against all those bullying, stuck-up courtiers.
Marie Antoinette fails both as history and as anachronism. It clumsily distorts its subject, not just by keeping the starving masses offstage (as many have complained), but also by saddling its heroine with a slew of democratic, nay, populist virtues that are singularly ill suited to her particular time, place, and fate. Excoriated for 140 years after her execution as a symbol of aristocratic selfishness, Marie Antoinette was rehabilitated in 1933, when the Austrian Jewish writer Stefan Zweig wrote a biography highlighting the young queen's courage and grace under the pressure of capture, imprisonment, and the guillotine. If you can't find Zweig's book, rent the 1938 movie starring Norman Shearer, which is based on it. Of course, that MGM production, lavish at $3 million, can't compare with the gorgeous eye candy Coppola bought for herself at $40 million. But in its creaky way, the older film tells a better story. Too bad the next version of Marie Antoinette's life cannot be a truly definitive portrait, written by Peter Morgan, directed by Stephen Frears, and starring the young, dewy, and suitably aristocratic Ilyena Mirinov.
Posted by mbayles at 9:52 AM
November 19, 2006
Free Casting Advice
The New York Times just ran an article about two bio-pics in the works about Miles Davis. One, based on the autobiography Miles "wrote" with Quincy Troupe, is produced by Rudy Langlais in conjunction with Patriot Pictures and Beacon Pictures. The other is an official bio-pic authorized by the Davis estate. From what I read, neither has solved the problem of whom to cast in the title role. How do you substitute for an icon?
Some free advice: Instead of casting well known Hollywood actors such as Don Cheadle or Wesley Snipes (both have been mentioned), cross the pond and ask David Oyelowo, the young British actor best known to Americans for playing Danny in the excellent spy series MI-5 (known in the UK as Spooks). Handsome and charismatic, Oyelowo, who cut his teeth doing Shakespeare on the stage, steals every scene while also projecting a degree of sophistication that transcends color and nationality. What could be more suited to a portrayal of Miles at his best?
The question is, will either of these films bother to portray Miles at his best? Or will they go for the usual cliched portrait of the jazz musician as drug-addled celebrity and sourpuss victim of racial prejudice? If I were Oyelowo's agent, I would ask!
Posted by mbayles at 2:58 PM
November 10, 2006
No Satire, Please. We're Russian.
Well, the good news was that the Deputy Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan, Mr. Rakhat Alievthe, proved even cooler than Sacha Baron Cohen -- by inviting the British comedian, better known as Borat, to visit the country he has been so gleefully lambasting. (See entry below.)
But now uncooler heads are prevailing, as the Russian Federal Culture and Cinematography Agency, which certifies films for distribution in Russia, has banned Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan , on the ground that "it could be offensive to some religions and nationalities."
Uh, duhhh ... Mr. Cohen's film is every bit of that, with the number one religion and nationality it mocks being Christian Americans. It is also screamingly funny, which makes all the difference. (If only those German opera directors would acquire a sense of humor, not to mention those Danish cartoonists, they might get a pass from me.)
Suggestion to Mr. Cohen: Invite the spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Yury V. Vasyuchkov, to be a guest in Da Ali G Show. On this show, Cohen (in his persona of Ali G, a patois-speaking Brit-hip-hopper) holds mock interviews with real guests, only to ambush them with exquisite vulgarity until they sit frozen and blinking like a moose in headlights.
This is hilarious, if painful, when the guest is 1) unhip; 2) self-righteous; and 3) comedically challenged. Among the worst casualties have been Pat Robertson and James Lipton (the stuffy and rather silly host of Inside the Actors' Studio). It is even better, though, when the guest catches on and tries, at least, to stage a counter-ambush. These do not always succeed, but they do stimulate Cohen/Ali G to greater heights of outrageousness. What's more exciting, watching a cat kill a baby mouse or watching a mongoose kill a cobra?
Anyway, it would be fun to watch Cohen/Ali G do his thing with Mr. Vasyuchko, a man whose job it is to say things like, "We do not have the right to ban a movie ... We simply refused to certify it." Also Michael Schlicht of Gemini Films, the distribution company for 20th Century Fox, who not only accepted the ban (what choice did he have?) but also felt obliged to echo Vasyuchko's doubletalk: "Russia is a liberal country. They make recommendations, and we follow them."
Ali G, me main man, what you waitin for? We peeps want them tongue-forkers now.
Posted by mbayles at 7:26 PM
November 6, 2006
Disarming Borat
It's hard not to laugh out loud at the young British comedian Sacha Baron-Cohn's various comic personae: da hip-hop MC, Ali G; the Austrian fashionisto Bruno (star of "Funkyzeit mit Bruno"); and, of course, the antic Kazakh bull-in-America's-china-shop, Borat, star of the new film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (now in theaters -- and for a glimpse of all Cohn's characters, see reruns now on HBO). In these tense times, one might question the wisdom of making such an obscenely uncivilized character come from a real country instead of a fake one (such as Andy Kaufman's Caspiar). But not to worry: peace between the US and Kazakhstan is being saved by Kazakhstan's classy Deputy Foreign Minister Rakhat Aliev, whose response to Borat is to invite Cohn on a state visit to Kazakhstan, where he will "discover a lot of things. Women drive cars, wine is made of grapes and Jews are free to go to synagogues."
Posted by mbayles at 9:03 AM
October 13, 2006
Better Late Than Never
I've long wanted to do a parody of the Dan Brown PR machine. Finally, here 'tis:
DECODING DAN BROWN
The following is a transcription of the pitch session for Dan Brown's next novel, The Botticelli Botch. Present are the author, his new agent Bizzy Boca, his new publisher Ernst Kluliss, and (getting in on the ground floor) the famous film producer Sam Schnellgeld.
Dan: (arriving ten minutes late): Sorry, guys. Crazy schedule. Can't wait to get back to New Hampshire and the writer's life. Bizzy, did you lay out my basic position? Royalties, rights, creative control, profit-sharing on the movie deal. I'd really rather not get ripped off this time.
Sam (arriving two minutes later): Well, hello dream team. Bizzy, that skirt is hot.
Bizzy: It's so exciting to have you here, Sam.
Ernst: Yes, and for a stodgy old bookbinder like me, it's exciting to do business with a real Hollywood mogul.
Sam: How about you, Danny? You excited?
Dan: Sure. But we need to close quickly. I have another appointment in an hour. Crazy schedule. Can't wait to get back to New Hampshire -
Sam: No biggie. I got lunch in twenty. So Bizzy, you wet dream, lay it on me. And please, no retread. The Da Vinci Code is a hard act to follow. Will this new one get all the religious nuts crawling out of the woodwork to do our marketing for us?
Dan: I'll make the pitch, if you don't mind. Bizzy's still learning the names. Sam, Ernst, The Botticelli Botch will not be a retread. For starters, the opening money shot will not be in Paris but in Florence. The Uffizi.
Sam: Uffizi, eh? Didn't know you were into automatic weapons. I confess, I did wonder why your wacko Opus Dei albino monk didn't shoot the curator with an Uzi. But here's some advice: if you're taking the Mafia route, use Russians. More sadistic, and no goddamn lobbyists. Does this one start with a murder, too?
Dan: No, a rape. Under Botticelli's The Birth of Venus.
Ernst: Splendid! And who will play the victim? How about Kiera Knightly? She certainly has the face and figure to be a descendant of Mary Magdalene. And personally, I'd be very interested in meeting her.
Bizzy: Don't you just love the Mary Magdalene theme in The Da Vinci Code? The Holy Grail as her uterus, and Jesus as her stud muffin? I meant to tell you, Dan: I dreamed I was part of the bloodline, right down through the Merovingian dynasty. Talk about royalty!
Dan: Actually, I'm skipping that plot. Too much hate mail from narrow-minded Christians who won't even consider that Emperor Constantine might have cooked up the whole Jesus-divinity thing in order to stamp out goddess worship. Not to mention all those nit-picking Bible scholars. My facts all come from Henry Lincoln's Holy Blood, Holy Grail, I tell them, and if he were a charlatan, would the BBC have funded his programs?
Bizzy: Plus it's a novel. It's scary, isn't it, how some people can't distinguish between fact and fiction? The Da Vinci Code is a work of the human imagination!
Ernst: And a tribute to the human spirit, unfettered by the chains of religious dogma.
Sam: For marketing, you're probably right to sideline the Jesus stuff. I gotta hand it to Sony. It was brilliant to hire that Jesus-freak consultant - you know, that Jonathan Bock guy - to set up a "Da Vinci Dialogue" at the Sony Pictures website. Company-sponsored blogging catches the mall rats, so why not the Bible thumpers? The more they blog, the more they want to see the movie. It's amazing how your average mouth-breather will do anything to feel like he's part of the industry.
Ernst: Wish we could do that in publishing. But the masses want to be Dan Brown, not Ernst Kluliss. Ha-ha.
Sam: Trouble is, you can only milk that for so long, before some harpy like Barbara Nicolosi comes along and accuses you of turning people into "useful Christian idiots." Next time, I fear, it'll be The Last Temptation of Christ all over again - pickets, not tickets.
Dan: I beg you, don't mention that title. Some lunatic in Athens keeps emailing me about how that Greek writer, Katzi-somebody--
Ernst: Nikos Katzantzakis. He also wrote Zorba the Greek and an amazing, if interminable, re-creation of the Odyssey. A passionate, learned man who--
Dan: Right. So this lunatic keeps emailing me I should read The Last Temptation of Christ, because Katzi-what's-his-face deals with Jesus' humanity and the relationship with Mary Magdalene in "a really profound way." This implication being that I don't.
Bizzy: Oh, please. How many copies did it sell? Danny, I gotta ask you. You're not going to drop the Sacred Feminine riff, are you? Despite what you hear, Joe Six-Pack's not the one making movie choices these days.
Ernst: My priority too, Dan. All those book clubs out there - overwhelmingly female. The books are mainly an excuse to swill wine and talk about their sex lives. But who cares? Book groups move product. Ha-ha.
Bizzy: Poor men! Sometimes I wonder what's left in the culture for them.
Sam: Sports, video games, online porn.
Dan: Now, Sam, you're making my pitch for me. The Botticelli Botch will unite the male and female demographic like no other book. Every writer has a secret, and mine is something I learned in prep school.
Bizzy: By the way, we don't advertise Dan's not-so-humble background. Not only did he go to Phillips Exeter, he also taught there for a few years.
Dan: Yeah, during my semi-failed literary career. But I did learn something from cramming literature down adolescent throats. Why do ordinary people buy novels? Out of mixed motives. On the one hand, they want a fast-paced story that will keep them turning pages and get their mind off their troubles.
Ernst: Sad but true. Which is why we publish Dean Koontz and Christine Feehan.
Dan: But people also aspire to higher things. Great books, great art - a lot of Americans crave to know more about them. But they also associate them with snobbery and pretentiousness, which they hate. So the road to riches is to satisfy the public's craving for high culture without setting off their anti-snobbery alarm.
Ernst: You mean, revive the middlebrow?
Dan: Oh, no. You can't go back to dumbing down high culture and spoon-feeding it to people. You gotta spike it, twist the meaning, hit 'em where they live. What do most readers learn from The Da Vinci Code?
Sam: That Jesus was Abraham and his seed are a bunch of French Frogs?
Dan: You assume they make that connection. They don't. Who reads Genesis these days? No, what people learn is what they want to learn: namely, that you can travel around Europe, visit all those museums, churches, and castles, and understand it all, without effort. You don't need a Ph.D. or even a B.A. Western Civilization is a riddle, and if you know the solution - which you can get from one book, mine - you're good to go.
Ernst: Brilliant! But please, make it two books. Tell us about The Botticelli Bitch.
Dan: That's Botch. Cue the Power Point, Bizzy. This time I'm not using a painting that's half flaked away. Compared with Leonardo's The Last Supper, Botticelli's The Birth of Venus will knock your socks off. I'm jumping ahead, but imagine the camera panning down this babe as she covers her boobs with her right hand and pulls her hair over her privates with her left.
Ernst: Astonishing! I've seen the painting dozens of times, but it never occurred to me that she's being modest. How unlike Venus!
Dan: If you'll forgive me: "Our preconceived notions are so powerful that our mind blocks out the incongruity and overrides our eyes."
Bizzy: The Da Vinci Code, chapter 58, page 242.
Sam: Wow, chapter and verse. Where'd you get her, Danny?
Dan: Hands off, she's mine. Anyway, while the camera is eyeballing Venus, we hear the soundtrack of a terrible assault - male grunting and cursing, female screaming and crying. The war between the Roman Catholic Church and Sacred Womanhood is ratcheting to a new level, as the stunning and intelligent Dr. I. Connie Klast, professor of Feminist Art History at Georgetown University and world-famous expert on Botticelli, is being brutally raped by a priest.
Ernst: Splendid! Timely! The Church won't have a leg to stand on! What kind of priest, if I may ask? A Jesuit? It would be nice to avoid an embarrassing mistake, like having an Opus Dei monk, when there aren't any.
Dan: No problem. The assailant is a Dominican, from the secret Twenty-Ninth Province, known as the Manfriars. The Manfriars were founded in 1498, the year Pope Alexander VI had the excommunicated monk, Savonarola, burned and hanged.
Sam: Burned and hanged at the same time?
Dan: Yup, and in the same place, the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, where Savonarola staged his famous Bonfires of the Vanities, in which he burned all the luxury goods he could lay his hands on - including several "pagan" paintings by his loyal follower Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi, a.k.a. Botticelli.
Sam: I'm liking it. Whatever it costs, we'll shoot these scenes on location at the ... Pizza della Whatever. But wait a minute. Who are the good guys? You're saying Botticelli was a follower of the creep who burned his pictures?
Dan: That's right. Savonarola was a magnetic figure. Look at this portrait of him by Fra Bartolommeo.
Sam: Wow, intense. Look at the schnozz! Maybe Tim Roth? Love the hood, by the way.
Ernst: Monks From the Hood? Ha-ha. But seriously, Dan, if I get your drift, you're making Savonarola and Botticelli the good guys. But who are the bad guys? The pope? That could work - dollar for dollar, your pope is your most reliable movie villain, next to your Nazi and your oil CEO. But how will you twist the meaning so it hits ''em where they live?
Dan: Cue the painting again, Bizzy. Check yourselves, guys. You're drooling, like me. None of us can take our eyes off that sexy Venus. The feminist art historians have got us pegged. What is the essence of art? The male gaze. Admiring, yes. But also lustful, possessive, controlling. For 2,500 years, depicting nude women (and in the case of queer artists like Michelangelo, nude men) has been a way of asserting power over them. My heroine, Connie, became interested in Botticelli for that reason. Her first book, Beauty As Rape, denounced Botticelli for reducing his model, the young Simonetta Cattaneo, to a passive object literally blown about by the winds. It's no accident that Simonetta was the mistress of Giuliano de' Medici, brother of Botticelli's patron, Lorenzo the Magnificent.
Sam: Hold on, my eyes are glazing over. I thought we were talking entertainment here.
Dan: Let me translate. Simonetta is the hottest babe in Tuscany, married at 15 to a dull dude named Marco Vespucci (whose only claim to fame is that they named America after his cousin, Amerigo). Every rich playboy in Florence wants Simonetta, but the one who gets her is Giuliano - brother of the city's godfather. Giuliano wins a big jousting tournament under a banner with her picture on it, painted by Botticelli. She becomes Giuliano's prize, but then dies a year later - never having really lived. All her life she's been a possession, an ornament, a trophy. Now look at the painting again. Not the naked flesh. The eyes. See how sad they are?
Ernst: That's why the painting is so lovely. There are many other portraits of Simonetta, but most have a vacant expression. Only Botticelli captured her soul.
Dan: It's not a question of soul. It's a question of gender politics. As Connie comes to realize, the sadness, the victimization, is the whole point. Botticelli wasn't just painting the objectified Venus, he was painting the Venus who resists being objectified. This work is subversive! Look at how awkwardly Venus is drawn - her left shoulder barely exists, and her left forearm is the size of her calf. An objective observer not blinded by reverence for Renaissance art might say that he botched it. And Connie is that observer. For reasons I will relate in a moment, she sees through all the lies about this being a great painting. In truth, it's a deliberate botch!
Ernst: Dan, you've done it again! I'm on the edge of my seat! Why did Botticelli botch it?
Dan: Because he understood. He, too, was in love with Simonetta. But as an employee of the Medici, he had to keep his distance. But distance reveals truth. Botticelli came to understand the patriarchal system - in essence, he became a radical feminist. Like Savonarola.
Ernst: What? Savonarola a radical feminist?
Dan: How do you know he wasn't? Or rather, what has conditioned you to think that he wasn't? What got burned on his Bonfire? Silk dresses, lacy lingerie, cosmetics, fancy wigs, corsets, paintings of nude women - all the trappings of female oppression! Why did Botticelli throw some of his own paintings onto the flames?
Bizzy: To liberate the women! To empower them!
Dan: Right! But then the Church cracked down, condemning Savonarola to a horrible death and forcing Botticelli to spend the rest of his life painting the Virgin Mary. This is where the Manfriars come in. Savonarola was a Dominican, but when he began to crusade for women's rights, the order got into trouble with the pope. They knew that if they didn't deal with Savonarola, the pope would shut them down. So they founded the Manfriars, a secret province devoted to the suppression of the Sacred Feminine. Their first act was to hand Savonarola over to be hanged and burned. Then they went after the artists, making sure they painted gorgeous, sexy nudes for powerful men to ogle. This was called the Renaissance, and we've all been brainwashed - even you, Ernst - into thinking it produced great art. In truth, it was a huge propaganda campaign on the part of the nobility and the Church to keep women in their place. And the deadliest weapon in this campaign was beauty. The beauty of helpless girls like Simonetta, turned against them as the instrument of their oppression.
Bizzy: Oh Dan, that's beautiful. Excuse me - I'm choking up.
Ernst: I'm beginning to see, Dan. A dramatic medieval tale, full of passion and blood, that also illustrates the very truth you revealed in the previous novel. I must say, I admire your integrity.
Sam: I'm liking it, too. But I'm a little worried about the broad who gets raped. What's her name, Connie? An art history professor? That's gonna put a crimp in the casting.
Dan: Not at all. Remember, I described Connie as "stunning and intelligent." In fact, when I get all the details worked out, she may turn out to be a descendant of Simonetta - and if I'm feeling bold, of Botticelli. That's why she understands. When she was growing up in a Dominican orphanage, the nuns made her pose for figure drawing classes. So some of her earliest memories are of shivering in a cold drafty classroom, stark naked, while everyone stared at her - not just the other girls, who hated her beauty, but also the nuns, including a couple of real bull dykes.
Sam: Good, that could work. As long as she's not too young. You know lawyers.
Dan: Do I ever. No, I think that can be done tastefully - to establish Connie's character as a dynamic teacher who empowers female students. Kind of like Julia Roberts in Mona Lisa Smile. The contemporary plot, which will be action-packed, involves a struggle between Connie's students and the Georgetown administration over a production of The Vagina Monologues - you know, that play where women talk candidly about their, uh ...
Bizzy: See? Even Dan can't say it. I did the play all four years at Smith. What an experience! So empowering!
Sam: Hmm. Not sure that will fly at the box office. Could we maybe fudge the details?
Bizzy: No problem. At most schools the play is part of "V Day," which is devoted to raising awareness of violence against women. At the stricter Catholic schools, they allow the anti-violence activities but not the play (which is kind of raunchy).
Ernst: Well, we certainly don't want to make strict Catholics look good! The trick, Dan, will be to frame the conflict so that it looks as though normal women are being oppressed by the Church.
Dan: No problem. I'll background the play, and foreground the big event planned for Georgetown's V Day: a keynote address by Connie, in which she reveals the hidden truth about Renaissance art, and explains why The Birth of Venus was not included in Savonarola's bonfire. Thanks to the Florentine art market, the painting soon became too valuable to burn, anyway. So it lives on today, complete with its botched drawing, as a reminder of the injustices that have killed literally trillions of women.
Sam: Very nice. But I'm still fuzzy on the rape. How does that fit? I'll be frank: I don't see a lot of box office in old Connie.
Dan: She's not old! And like I said, she's a knockout! Maybe we could even use the same actress to play her and Simonetta.
Ernst: I would discourage that. Why have just one pretty face when you can have two?
Dan: The point is, Connie's a framing device. We begin with the rape, then flash back to 15th-century Florence, where we witness the whole back-story, including Simonetta's stunted life, the founding of the Manfriars, and the destruction of Savonarola and Botticelli. Next we flash forward through the centuries, highlighting the Manfriars' more horrible deeds, and end up with the conspiracy to silence Connie. We show the rape as a political act, orchestrated by the province and the Florentine authorities, then accompany Connie back to Georgetown, where, deeply traumatized, she's on the verge of quitting - until, miraculously, her students appear and through their devotion to her message, start the healing process. On the big day, when the president of the university is about to announce the cancellation of the keynote speech, we see Connie, bruised but not broken, struggle to the podium and proclaim the truth to the world. Tears stream down thousands of fresh young faces, the music swells, and once again the camera pans the succulent body of Botticelli's Venus - only this time, it lingers on those sad, sad eyes.
Bizzy: Omigod, I can't stand it! Anyone got a Kleenex?
Ernst: Here, my dear. And they say the novel is dead!
Sam: Nice, Danny. Like the yadda-yadda at the end. Have your people call my people. Meanwhile I'm outta here. Lunch is getting cold.
**********
Posted by mbayles at 4:34 PM
August 20, 2006
Corked
Just reviewed a remarkable book called Black Like You, by John Strausbaugh. It's a history of that verboten topic, blackface entertainment, and a demonstration that it is far from kaput in today's popular culture. I will paste the review below, but first let me recommend, as a companion piece, Bamboozled (2000), Spike Lee's remake of The Producers, in which a black television executive (Damon Wayans) tries to get out of a network contract by pitching an idea guaranteed to offend everyone: a nineteenth-century minstrel show, complete with burnt cork and exaggerated red lips, dancing pickaninnies, a band called the "Alabama Porch Monkeys," and plenty of watermelon.
When Mantan: The New Millennium Minstrel Show is a hit, the network hires a consultant to spin the fact that it is profiting from obnoxious racial stereotypes. It's too bad the spin doctor is herself stereotyped as an arrogant Jew, because her lines perfectly capture the defensive game of the entertainment industry: "The biggest thing in public relations is to smile. Wear Kente cloth. Invoke the spirit of Martin Luther King. Use the word 'community' a lot. Mantan is a satire. If they can't take a joke, then fuck 'em."
Bamboozled is not just about network television. In his DVD commentary, Lee says, "In my opinion, this gangsta rap is a twenty-first century version of minstrel shows. And what's sad is these brothers don't even know it." For people conversant with both minstrelsy and the recent history of hip hop, Bamboozled is a brilliant satire.
Unfortunately, there aren't that many people conversant with both, so the general discussion of hip-hop is singularly lacking in historical perspective. Looking at its current decline into vulgar, racist entertainments like crunk, it is tempting to project a "rise and fall" scenario, in which minstrelsy aided the rise, and hip hop the fall, of classical African-American culture. At the moment I resist such a scenario. But unless a few more music lovers step forward and call crunk by its right name, the process started by blackface minstrelsy may well end in something even worse.
Read my review, which ends with some comments about the sorry state of hip-hop:
Review of Black Like You: Blackface, Whiteface, Insult & Imitation in American Popular Culture,by John Strausbaugh
Meet Shirley Q. Liquor, the middle-aged, overweight, Ebonics-speaking black persona of a white comedian, Chuck Knipp, who has been leafleted in Manhattan as "racist, classist, and misogynist." Adept at skewering "ignunt" folks of all colors, Shirley is a character who could easily pop up in the repertoire of many a present-day black comedian. But as John Strausbaugh writes in his fascinating but uneven new book about the impact of blackface minstrelsy on American popular culture, the color of the comedian makes a difference. Because of its painful history, "blackface is taboo, and a White comedian making jokes about Black people will be banned."
Yet Mr. Strausbaugh defends Shirley and all of her ilk. As he explains, blackface minstrelsy was the dominant form of popular theater in nineteenth-century America, and it definitely did trade in demeaning racial stereotypes. But it also introduced white (and European) audiences to at least a semblance of African-American music, comedy, and dance. And after the Civil War, when minstrelsy was opened to black performers, it became a unique training ground for their talents. As Mr. Strausbaugh's lucid, fast-paced account makes clear, it is impossible to understand the popular culture of the twentieth century, never mind the twenty-first, without first understanding blackface minstrelsy.
Studded with apt quotations and nicely pitched anecdotes, the first 300 pages of Black Like You survey both the good and the bad sides of blackface - the grossly racist and offensive, and the genuinely comic, musical, even subversive. For instance, he recalls a "stump speech" by the famous minstrel Lew Dockstader, in which the performer, a white man corked up to look like a caricatured black man, poked fun at another white man, Teddy Roosevelt. Imitating Roosevelt's description of a make-believe club for his mendacious political enemies, Dockstader intoned: "While I am not a member of this club, it was founded, confounded, and dumfounded by me. Every member on its long rolls was proposed, seconded, and unanimously elected by an overwhelming majority of myself ... Its purpose [is] to provide an institution where distinguished stiffs - after I have laid them out - can LIE in state."
With swift strokes, Mr. Strausbaugh traces the transition from minstrelsy to vaudeville, when at the turn of the last century massive immigration filled the popular stage with a slew of new ethnic stereotypes - not just the blackface staples of countrified Jim Crow and citified Zip Coon, but also "brawling Irish, wheedling Jews, oily Italians, thick-headed Germans, inscrutable Chinamen." Here Mr. Strausbaugh waxes eloquent on how, before "the rise of multiculturalism and identity politics encouraged everyone to be 'offended' by everything," newcomers to America simply "presumed that earning a spot for yourself was a rough-and-tumble procedure. It took a thick skin and a sense of humor."
Yet as Mr. Strausbaugh adds, this was true "for everyone except Black people ... For newly arrived immigrants, mixing it up in vaudeville theaters was one part of the process of becoming assimilated and recognized as White ... Blacks were still outcasts." It is debatable how quickly all the groups Mr. Strausbaugh mentions became "recognized as White," but one can hardly dispute his larger point, which is that blacks remained largely segregated "until they forced their way in through the civil rights movement."
But if blacks "forced their way in" during the civil rights era, then presumably the racial dynamics of American culture would have changed at that point, and instead of the minstrelsy model, in which powerful whites amused themselves at the expense of powerless blacks, post-1960s popular culture would have followed the vaudeville model, in which all groups mix it up on a more or less equal footing. This is an important moral distinction, which Mr. Strausbaugh himself makes when treating topics from the past. But he gradually loses sight of it while tracing the legacy of blackface through Broadway; "Negro-dialect" literature; "race" and "Blaxploitation" movies; the collectibles known as "Negrobilia"; the 1996 Ebonics flap; and finally hip hop.
Hip hop appears in the final chapter, and Mr. Strausbaugh's treatment of it leaves much to be desired. To be fair, he does compare it with minstrelsy - a comparison, verboten just a few years ago, that is now commonplace among hip-hop's critics, especially such African-American critics as Greg Tate, Debra Dickerson, and Stanley Crouch. Mr. Strausbaugh quotes these and others, but then reverts to the vaudeville model, basically defining even the most racially demeaning rap as good old rough-and-tumble, an updated form of clowning and mugging that in essence helps the world to become better acquainted with black Americans. And he dismisses the recent criticism as "moral panic" on the part of "civic leaders, the cultural elite and the upper classes" - y'know, all those uptight prisses who've been fussing and fuming about the sexy good times enjoyed by the poor, especially the black poor, since Day One. Why the poor are assumed to have no moral concerns of their own, he does not clarify.
Just as vaudeville degenerated into a form of burlesque theater centered on titillation, so has a certain strain of rap degenerated into what one veteran of 1990s hip hop calls "a sad marriage with pornography." The lyrics of many "crunk" rap songs, for example, are nothing but variations on the old strip club chant, "Take it off, take it all off." Of course, nowadays most of it has already been taken off, so tracks like "Get Low," "Lean Back," "Tilt Ya Head Back," "Flap Your Wings," and "Ass Like That" urge ever more explicit display of wagging behinds and jiggling implants. One wonders why such urging is necessary. If acres of faceless female flesh are not enough to excite crunk fans, then perhaps they should see a therapist. Or better still, give it a rest. Even Groucho Marx took his cigar out of his mouth once in a while.
Burlesque was not vaudeville, and likewise, this stuff is not hip hop. Because pornography's spouse in this marriage is the old trope of black bestiality and stupidity, well documented by Mr. Strausbaugh in his chapter on "coon songs," a better name might be "coonporn." Coonporn is now being exported to the rest of the world in massive quantities, including to remote places where people have never seen a black American, except perhaps a soldier. Not surprisingly, this creates perceptions that can come as a shock to African Americans traveling abroad. Consider this comment by Darius James, a Berlin-based writer who, as it happens, also wrote the epilogue to Black Like You.
Describing the experience of hearing coonporn in Berlin, Mr. James writes: "I'm not condemning gangsta rap, or rap in general, or sex and violence. I'm talking about some drunken and blunted fool spewing abusive and dysfunctional bullshit that's not about anything at all, except being abusive and dysfunctional. And a lot of young Germans listen to this shit because it's supposed to be hip, not really understanding what's going on in the lyrics. If they knew, they would puke."
Memo to John Strausbaugh from Shirley Q. Liquor: If this shit don' make you puke, you jus' ignunt.
**********
Posted by mbayles at 3:23 PM
August 12, 2006
War and (Partial) Remembrance
Having finally finished watching the 1988 classic miniseries War and Remembrance (based on Herman Wouk's best-selling novel), I come away with mixed feelings. On the plus side, the production remains impressive. Rather than overdose on special effects, ABC put its money where it mattered: on finding the right locations and framing every scene as effectively as possible for the small screen. It's a study in that elusive and rare artistic virtue: economy.
But there's also a minus side. You must have a strong stomach to watch this second installment of Wouk's World War II saga, because unlike the first, The Winds of War, which focuses on the lead-up to Pearl Harbor, War and Remembrance focuses on the war itself -- and above all, on the Holocaust. It is hard to believe that anyone made a fuss about broadcasting Schindler's List, when this made-for-TV series was, in its down-to-earth way, even more graphic.
Some argue that aesthetic considerations are inappropriate to the topic of the Holocaust. But this is unconvincing, because unless you are an art-for-art's-sake purist (which I am not), the aesthetic is intertwined with the moral. So from that perspective, let me offer some praise and criticism for this landmark in popular American understanding of World War II.
First I would praise an aspect of the film that may seem perverse: the way it introduces the Holocaust not from the perspective of the victims but from that of a camp commander at Auschwitz who is nervously preparing for a visit by Heinrich Himmler. By foregrounding the commander's petty concerns, these scenes throw an especially stark light on the evil being done. The later scenes, in which three of the main characters are sent to Theresienstadt, and thence to Auschwitz, are certainly gut-wrenching. But because they focus on just three faces in the crowd, their overall impact is somehow less.
As for my criticism, it is pretty simple. So intent is this film on remembering the Holocaust, it forgets other dimensions of the massive suffering that occurred during the war. Just to cite one example, it does not even mention the Warsaw Uprising of August-October 1944, in which the Polish Home Army fought the Nazis for 63 days. After crushing the uprising, killing 18,000 Polish soldiers and executing over 250,000 civilians, including virtually the entire educated class, the Nazis systematically destroyed between 85 and 90 percent of the city. And all the while, the Soviet army sat a few hundred metres away, on the east bank of the Vistula, and watched. When it came to breaking Poland, Stalin and Hitler were of like mind.
One would think, given the vast sweep of this miniseries, that this and other atrocities committed by Stalin would have been mentioned, at least. But no, Wouk's burly, vodka-drining Russians seems taken from a Popular Front propaganda film of the late 1930s. This is too bad, because the last thing Wouk would have wanted was for his powerful work of popular remembrance to be dismissed as a case of special pleading.
Posted by mbayles at 10:43 AM
July 17, 2006
Hidden By The Trees: The Woodlanders
There's an old peasant saying: "Life is beautiful - and hard." In America we tend to reverse the emphasis: "Life is hard - but beautiful." That's what William Dean Howells meant when he said, "What the American audience really wants is a tragedy with a happy ending." We don't mind watching fictional characters suffer, as long they are somehow redeemed by it.
Working the middle ground between beauty and hardness was one of my favorite novelists (and poets), Thomas Hardy. And one of his favorites among his own books, reportedly, was The Woodlanders, about a young woman from a rural village whose father sends her away to school to "better" herself, then marries her to a "better" prospect than the woodsman she has loved all her life, only to discover that some living things are not improved by being pulled up by the roots.
Full confession: it's been years since I read The Woodlanders, and the glue holding my paperback copy together has long since turned to dust. But I recently saw a little known film based on the novel that makes me want to buy a new copy: not the 1970 BBC production, but the 1997 Arts Council of England production, made in cooperation with Channel Four, Pathé Productions, and River Films. (If you are lucky you will find one in your video store, hiding in the bottom rack.)
A two-hour film of a 300-page novel must strip things down, of course. But here the result is a separate and freestanding work of art: a simple, fast-paced tale of true love thwarted, not by wickedness but by a father's affection and ambition. The ending isn't happy in the Hollywood sense, but it is satisfying in the sense of containing a much needed note of justice. Without being sentimental or pretty, The Woodlanders is beyond being a gem (that's a cliche anyway). It's a diamond. Every facet - the writing, the acting, the production itself - is pure, clear, and (here's a word I almost never use) perfect.
Posted by mbayles at 8:34 AM
June 26, 2006
Uncaptive Mind
"All my films, from the first to the most recent ones, are about individuals who can't quite find their bearings, who don't quite know how to live, who don't really know what's right or wrong and are desperately looking." These words do as good a job as any of summing up the career of the Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski. But if you want to read more about him, see my recent essay ....
... in The Claremont Review of Books:
When Czeslaw Milosz won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1980, the esteem he enjoyed in Poland blossomed into adoration. And as the struggle against Communist rule intensified during the 1980s, the long-exiled poet found himself cast as the "national bard." Yet as Milosz remarked to many interviewers (including this one), "I am not by nature a political writer." The example he offered was not his youth in Nazi- and Soviet-occupied Polish Lithuania, but his 1960 arrival in America, where his reputation rested solely on The Captive Mind, his 1953 study of the corruption of literature under communism. "Pressed to play the role of the crusading anti-Communist but lacking the ability," he settled for being "an obscure professor in an obscure department" (Slavic literature at U.C. Berkeley). "But," he added with a wink, "I was happy. I had come in search of bread, and I found it."
Most Polish artists worth their salt are obsessed with the tension between individual expression and communal obligation. Not for them the tidy balance articulated by William James: "The community stagnates without the impulse of the individual. The impulse dies away without the sympathy of the community." When for generations one's national identity has been brutally suppressed, and the only way to preserve it is through culture, the artist feels acutely his responsibility to the community. But when the dead hand of ideology squeezes the life out of all communal expression, the artist feels just as acutely his responsibility to himself. To produce good work amid such cross currents takes not only talent but doggedness.
To some, this is ancient history, because Polish artists now enjoy Western-style freedom, albeit at the price of feeling marginalized by Western-style entertainment. Nevertheless, the international reputation of some Polish artists, notably the film maker Krzysztof Kieslowski, has never been higher. To use a crass commercial yardstick, the DVD boxed set of his Decalogue series (ten one-hour dramas based loosely on the Ten Commandments, made for Polish TV in 1988) is currently number 3,700 in Amazon.com's sales rankings (about even with The Alfred Hitchcock Signature Collection). Another Kieslowski boxed set released in 2003, the Three Colors trilogy (Blue, White, and Red), is a staple in video stores everywhere. And in 2005 Kino Video released The Krzysztof Kieslowski Collection, a six-disc boxed set including several of the director's earlier films and some fascinating interviews.
Loyalty to Poland
Kieslowski died in 1996 at the age of 54, while undergoing heart surgery in Warsaw. Accounts vary, but most agree that he turned down the chance to have the operation done in a Western hospital with state-of-the-art training and equipment. Christopher Garbowski, author of Krzysztof Kieslowski's Decalogue Series, offers this explanation: "The hospital where he had the operation was supposedly qualified, and he simply didn't seem to have such an unusual problem. He was something of a patriot on these matters, not wanting to go abroad if it didn't seem necessary." This explanation captures two of Kieslowski's most salient traits: his loyalty to Poland, and his skepticism toward newfangled gimmickry from the West.
The loyalty ran deep. Born in 1941, Kieslowski had an unsettled boyhood, because his father suffered from tuberculosis and had to move from sanatarium to sanatarium. Intense, gloomy, but gifted with wry humor, Kieslowski enrolled at age 17 in the College for Theater Technicians in Warsaw, because it was better than the alternative presented by his father, which was to become a fireman. As he muses in his autobiography, "My father was a wise man.... [He] knew perfectly well that when I got back from that fireman's training college, I'd want to study." The years 1958-1962 were extraordinarily creative in Polish theater, and Kieslowski aspired to become a theater director. But in order to do that, he had to attend another institution of higher learning. After three attempts, he was accepted by the Lodz Film School.
That it took three attempts should not reflect poorly on Kieslowski's abilities, since typically there were 1,000 candidates for five or six places. Nor should it suggest undue political conformity, because the Lodz Film School enjoyed a fair amount of freedom at the time--at least until 1968, when General Mieczyslaw Moczar cracked down on the student movement and purged thousands of Jews from higher education. With bitter sarcasm, Kieslowski recalls how the authorities cloaked their actions in "grand words" about "experimental cinema," which meant in effect that it was better "to cut holes in film or set up the camera in one corner for hours on end" than "to see what was happening in the world, how people were living and...why their lives weren't as easy as the paper described them."
To catch Kieslowski's drift, you need only watch The Office, a six-minute student film he made in 1966 that shows a line of patient sufferers getting the bureaucratic run-around in a state insurance office. Not only does the film draw a devastating portrait of official hard-heartedness, it also lights a spark of pure defiance at the end, when over the grating voice of the clerk repeating,"Write down everything that you have done in your entire lifetime," the camera pans a wall of shelves sagging with hundreds of folders, each containing an "entire lifetime."
The 1968 crackdown did not prevent documentaries from being made, however. During the 1970s they were perhaps even more highly regarded than feature films. And the production of both was generously subsidized by the state. Of course, no film could be shown without the approval of the Vice-Minister of Arts and Culture and the State Board of Censorship, and many were shelved. But the film-making process was pretty much controlled by self-governing Production Houses (for features) and Studios (for documentaries). Each of these Zespoly (zespol means "team") had its own distinctive character and tended to attract...well, distinctive characters. Thus it was only natural that, after graduating from Lodz, Kieslowski would gravitate toward the Documentary Film Studio (WDF) in Warsaw.
At WDF Kieslowski continued for a while in the same vein, showing the evils of officialdom and the tribulations of the masses. And he became expert at the game of getting his films past the censors. Actually, one of the most fascinating interviews in the Kino collection is with Irena Strzakowska, an officer of the censorship board who (against type) is a smart, handsome woman who ended up collaborating with Kieslowski on a number of films. But as the 1970s wore on, Kieslowski's documentaries began to work on a quite different level, one that neither attacks nor defends the system but rather probes the humanity of all those who must live with it, including officialdom.
Not a Local Artist
The most striking example of this is From the Night Porter's Point of View (1978), a 17-minute portrait of Marian Osuch, a watchman and all-around enforcer in a Warsaw factory. Shot on East German film stock known for its cold garish colors, the film combines a voice-over of Osuch's musings with scenes of him collaring a vagrant, monitoring the workers as they clock in and out, training his guard dogs, and finally hosting a group of visiting school children. His views are, shall we say, not those of the enlightened intelligentsia. He believes in law and order, strict rules, total obedience, and (when necessary) public hangings. His home life elicits no warmth, only a comment about his daughter boiling his pet fish to death and his son drowning his pet budgie. To judge by the dog scenes, this is a man who prefers animals to humans because they are more trainable.
Yet the film is suffused with a strange tenderness. In his autobiography Kieslowski recalls that it took forever to find the right porter. The first one selected had the requisite "anti-humane or fascist opinions," but he also "had so many shortcomings it was absolutely impossible to make a film about him." In other words, Kieslowski went to great lengths to find a more sympathetic "fascist." At the end of the film, when the visiting teacher asks the children to identify "the officer in the fine uniform," we don't hear their reply (apparently it was cut). But we do see Osuch's expression: that of a lonely, beleaguered man whose heart positively aches for respect.
Kieslowski's distrust of the West may not have helped him in medical matters, but it served his art well. The humanity that shines through his portrait of Osuch continued to illuminate just about everything he did. Of course, humanity can be a liability among a certain class of cinéastes. One of Kieslowski's mentors, the director Krzysztof Zanussi, says Kieslowski was "long undervalued outside Poland," and that the Cannes Film Festival rejected two of his most accomplished films, Camera Buff (1979) and Blind Chance (1981), as the work of a "local artist." Why the same charge didn't apply to the ever-so-American Norma Rae, which took several prizes in '79, is unclear.
Camera Buff is anything but "local." It's about a callow young factory worker named Filip (Jerzy Stuhr) who buys an 8-mm camera to film his new baby, then gets mesmerized by the challenge of trying to film the whole world. Like Kieslowski, Filip is initially embraced by the authorities--the bosses in his factory ask him to chronicle a big meeting. But Filip cannot resist showing them sneaking out to the men's room, so he loses his new status, his job, and eventually--as he proves incapable of curbing this new passion for truth-telling--his wife and child. Along the way, though, Filip does one good thing. He makes a TV documentary about a fellow worker who is a dwarf, and despite some fussing on the part of the censors over whether the film disparages its subject or (here's the real disparagement) insults Polish labor, the film is broadcast--and everyone loves it, including the dwarf, a simple man who weeps because "it is beautiful."
Blind Chance and Decalogue
Blind Chance, one of Kieslowski's most fascinating films, is based on a clever device--a "butterfly effect" arising from a mishap that occurs while a medical student named Witek (played by Boguslaw Linda) is running for a train. In the first scenario, Witek bumps a man in the crowd, pauses briefly to apologize--and catches the train. In the second and third, he pauses a moment longer--and misses the train. Then the story splits again, as the first miss leads Witek to a scuffle with the station guard, the second to an encounter with a woman from his anatomy class, whom he later marries.
In 1998 this device was copied in a fluffy British movie, Sliding Doors, and a trendy German one, Run, Lola, Run. But there's nothing fluffy or trendy about Blind Chance. On the contrary, each of Witek's possible lives presents him with choices that still resonate today. Catching the train, he meets an older man who recruits him into the ruling communist Polish United Workers' Party. Missing the train and getting into a scuffle, he is arrested and while doing community service gets drawn into a student-Catholic-worker movement that looks a lot like Solidarity. Missing the train and meeting his future wife, he decides to stay out of politics and focus on his career. Ironically, each path brings him to the same place: in the Warsaw airport trying to board a plane out of Poland. In the third life he succeeds, only to have the plane explode during takeoff.
Blind Chance came out during an especially rough time. In December 1981 General Wojciech Jaruzelski declared martial law, driving Solidarity underground and crushing the hopes of thousands. In that atmosphere, the film was attacked by all sides--indeed, it may be one of the most politically incorrect films ever made. But Kieslowski wasn't trying to be politically correct, he was trying to transcend a situation that felt politically hopeless. The title is meant ironically, because as he put it, "Witek, the main character, behaves decently in each situation. He behaves decently even when he joins the Party. At a certain moment, when he sees that he's been manipulated into a situation where he ought to behave like a bastard, he rebels and behaves decently."
Looking back, Kieslowski is quite critical of Blind Chance. But his remarks about that film illuminate both it and his subsequent masterpiece, the Decalogue: "We don't ever really know where our fate lies.... Fate in the sense of a place, a social group, a professional career, or the work we do. We've got much more freedom than this in the emotional sphere." In other words, human beings are subject to fate and blind chance, not to mention the so-called objective forces of history. But they are also free to make choices. If they were not, then there would be no such thing as plot or character. According to Aristotle, the most important ingredient in tragedy is plot. It's not character, because character is revealed only through action, i.e., plot. It's probably worth noting that by "action" Aristotle did not mean helicopters crashing into suspension bridges. He meant moral action, the kind we judge "decent" or "like a bastard."
Aristotle also said that the best plots are so powerful that a bare-bones summary is enough to move a listener. To this ancient wisdom Kieslowski adds the modern insight that "everybody's life is worthy of scrutiny." That is why he and his co-writer Krzysztof Piesiewicz shot all ten Decalogue segments in the same large apartment complex. "It's the most beautiful housing estate in Warsaw," Kieslowski recalled, "which is why I chose it. It looks pretty awful so you can imagine what the others are like." For the sake of illustration, here is a summary of the first plot, reflecting on the commandment "Thou shalt have no other gods before me": An agnostic scientist and his adored ten-year-old son are so excited by the powers of their new computer, they ask it to calculate the exact hour when the ice on a nearby pond will be thick enough to hold a skater. The computer produces the answer, the boy goes skating, and when the ice breaks unexpectedly, he drowns. After watching all ten of these simple, powerful stories, you will never look at an ugly apartment complex in quite the same way again.
Kieslowski was a doubter not a dogmatist, and the Decalogue series ends with an anti-Ten Commandments rock song: "Kill, kill, kill / Screw who you will ... Everything's yours." But this negation only underscores the affirmation of the whole. About the Ten Commandments, Kieslowski has said, "Everyone breaks them daily. Just the attempt to respect them is a major achievement."
The French Films
Like many Eastern European artists, Kieslowski felt his own world start to crack after the fall of Communism. For one thing, there was no money to make films in Poland, so he relocated to France to make his final four: The Double Life of Véronique (1991) and the Three Colors: Blue, White, and Red (1993-4). It would be nice to say that the French climate agreed with our Polish emigré, but to judge by the results, it did not. By a strange sort of alchemy, the moral sense of the Kieslowski's best films gets transformed, in the Parisian setting, into a self-conscious preoccupation with the process of film making.
Take, for example, the theme of alternative lives, which in Blind Chance is tied to such larger questions as how does one live when one's choices are constrained by injustice and repression? In The Double Life of Véronique, the larger question is...what? After an opening sequence about Weronika, a very pretty Polish singer (Irene Jacob) who dies of a heart attack, the focus shifts to picturesque Paris, where an identical very pretty young woman is mooning over mysterious "signs" sent to her by a very handsome young man (Phillippe Volter) who makes his living performing with marionettes. After much dithering they meet, and Véronique gets to moon over his marionettes, which, he explains, must be created in pairs because--hélas! --one of them might get "damaged."
The story ends with Véronique returning to her family homestead, where we can be sure she will be safe. The trouble is, she was pretty safe to start with. Compared with Weronika, whose life seems interesting, or at any rate real, Véronique seems incredibly idle and self-absorbed. In other words, she's a typical young woman in a French art film, beautiful to look at but devoid of any recognizable human emotion.
The Three Colors take their cue from the French flag: blue for liberty, white for equality, red for fraternity. Blue is about a woman (played by Juliette Binoche) who, after losing her husband and child in a car accident, tries to live a totally unfettered life, only to discover that this is impossible. Red is an intriguing but self-indulgent study of a cynical retired judge (Jean-Louis Trintingant) who eavesdrops on his neighbors' phone conversations until a young fashion model (Irene Jacob again) gently restores his humanity. Red is beautiful to look at, but in a self-indulgent way, as the camera lingers a bit too obsessively on Jacob. Some feminist critics have accused Kieslowski of committing fashion photography on these female performers, which is certainly the case. Binoche is a more interesting actress than Jacob, but after a while both films start to feel like the "How To Spend It" section of the Financial Times.
My own reaction to Blue and Red is start hankering for Warsaw. So my favorite among the Three Colors is White, in which the homely, slightly rotund Zbigniew Zamachowski plays Karol Karol (basically Charlie Charlie), a Polish hairdresser living in Paris whose French wife (Julie Delpy) wants a divorce because, as her lawyer makes painfully clear in court, the marriage has never been consummated due to a failure of husbandly equipment. This is only the beginning of Karol's humiliation. By the time he's begging for francs in the Paris subway, he is ready to accept the offer of a fellow Pole to return home in a way that makes flying coach look (relatively) comfortable. Crammed into a trunk, he suffers even worse when, upon its arrival in Warsaw, the trunk is stolen by a gang of thugs who, disappointed at Karol's lack of resale value, beat him severely and leave him for dead in the public dump. The best line in the whole trilogy comes when Karol wakes up covered in blood and garbage, looks around and says, "Home at last!"
Beauty is Strong
If Kieslowski had lived longer, it would have behooved him to make more comedies, not more Frenchified art films. After completing Red, he announced that he was not going to make any more films, period. But he was also engaged in writing the screenplays for a new trilogy based on Dante's Divine Comedy. Only one of these has been made into a film--Heaven (2002), starring Cate Blanchett and directed by Tom Tykwer (who also directed Run, Lola, Run). It is an unholy mess, bereft of the Decalogue's moral honesty, and not even postcard-pretty like Three Colors.
Because of this disaster, many critics have concluded that Kieslowski's art was an exotic, twisted plant unable to bloom without political repression and state censorship. But that conclusion is unfair. What does the magnificent example of Czeslaw Milosz tell us, if not that Polish artists can thrive in freedom and even survive consumerism? A few lines from Milosz's poem, "One More Day," provide a fitting tribute to Kieslowski:
And though the good is weak, beauty is very strong.
Nonbeing sprawls, everywhere it turns into ash whole expanses of being,
It masquerades in shapes and colors that imitate existence
And no one would know it, if they did not know that it was ugly.
And when people cease to believe that there is good and evil.
Only beauty will call to them and save them
So that they still know how to say: this is true and that is false.
Posted by mbayles at 3:55 PM
June 21, 2006
Miles Ahead
I steal a title from Miles Davis to highlight a fine essay by Jack Miles, one of my favorite writers on religious matters. If you have succumbed to the posters promising that if you see The Da Vinci Code you will "Know the Truth," then don't miss Miles's gentle but thorough post-mortem. It doesn't fulminate in the manner of a would-be censor, but neither does it shrug and say, "It's only a movie."
Posted by mbayles at 12:54 PM
June 17, 2006
Not Your Typical Caring Dad
You don't need to study Kabbalah to enjoy The Bee Season, but it helps. At first, the film seems yet another tribute to the hearth gods of middle America: Family, Success, Competition, and (scheduled for worship this weekend) Caring Dads. Indeed, Saul (Richard Gere) seems the ultimate Caring Dad, a professor of Jewish philosophy who is devoted both to Family - he cooks a gourmet dinner every night for his scientist wife Miriam (Juliette Binoche) - and to the Success of his two children, teenaged Aaron (Max Minghella) and nine-year-old Eliza (Flora Cross).
Unfortunately, only Aaron seems destined for Success. While he plays the cello and shines in every sort of Competition, little sister Eliza is distinctly ungifted. Now, the usual pattern for hearth-god flicks is for the ungifted sibling to discover a hidden talent that the parents don't notice at first, so focused are they on the gifted one. But then the hidden talent comes to light, preferably in a public Competition, one or both parents start to pay attention, making the gifted sibling jealous - and for one terrible moment it appears that Family, Competition, and Success will clash.
The next step, of course, is a therapeutic processing of negative emotion, followed by an even bigger public Competition in which the Family's future hinges on the Success of the previously ungifted sibling. Typically, the Competition starts before all the negative emotions have been processed. But then, at the crucial moment, the remaining bad feelings are dealt with, and with victory comes a great celebration of all the hearth gods together.
The Bee Season follows this formula to such a degree that if you listen to the insipid commentary on the DVD (and most reviews), you'll conclude it does nothing more. But as I say, it does do more, because the most important deity in this film is not a middle American hearth god but that other one, whose name is spelled with one capital letter in English and four in Hebrew.
I have not read the novel by Myla Goldberg on which this film is based, but I suspect it is the source of the film's extraordinary conclusion. Without giving away the ending of this Father's Day recommendation, let me just point out that the aptly named Saul is not the ultimate Caring Dad at all. Instead, he is a classic figure from the Hebrew Scriptures: pious, proud, and stiff-necked. And when he is rebuked, it is not really by the young daughter whom he has been pushing so hard, it is by a larger and sterner force rarely seen, or even hinted at, in what passes for "spiritual" entertainment these days.
Posted by mbayles at 1:36 PM
June 11, 2006
When the Miniseries Was King
This month I have some evening busy-work to do, so I scanned Netflix for something mildly diverting -- and long. Well, I am neglecting my busy-work, because the film I chose is a miniseries from the golden age: The Winds of War, based on Herman Wouk's beloved best-seller.
Poking about online, I find only one review of this film, a snarky one -- which doesn't surprise me, given what passes for criticism these days. This is not Shoah. Nor is it The Sorrow and the Pity. It's a TV miniseries in the populist, let's-make-this-easy-for-the-folks-back-home line. And it was made in 1983, so its production values do not compare with those of HBO's Band of Brothers or Saving Private Ryan . It contains nothing like Private Ryan's eye-and-ear-popping depiction of the landing at Normandy, for example. But given the limitations of the small screen and the network censors (still functioning back then), Winds does a remarkable job of evoking battle and danger, not to mention a variety of European and American landscapes, on its small canvas.
Most of all, Winds accomplishes its goal, which is to blend a foreground of watchable characters into an accurately painted background of world-historical events. This may be an inherently ridiculous undertaking, but that hasn't deterred a great many novelists, not to mention playwrights. The question is, does director Dan Curtis (who died this spring) make himself ridiculous? Not at all. Apart from a certain cheesiness in the depiction of the Nazi High Command (especially Hitler), The Winds of War blends charm, action, and gravitas in just the right proportions.
Of course, you have to give it the benefit of the doubt. First, you must believe that there is actually something going on behind the stone face of Pug Henry (Robert Mitchum), naval attache to the US Embassy in Berlin in 1936. Second, you must accept that the starry-eyed response of his wife Rhoda (Polly Bergen) to the blandishments of the Nazi leadership reflects not perfidy but vanity. Third, you must feel the chemistry between the Henrys' callow son Byron (Jan-Michael Vincent) and Natalie (Ali McGraw), his razor-tongued sweetheart, who thinks nothing of going to visit her long-lost Jewish relatives in Poland during the late summer of 1939.
Perform these acts of faith, and I promise, you will be swept along. One of the virtues of art is economy of means: making do with what is available within the constraints of one's medium and the expectations of one's audience. In that sense, these fast-paced, deftly constructed fourteen hours of television deserve to be called classic
Posted by mbayles at 6:06 PM
June 4, 2006
Mindful Fluff
While browsing through the New Releases in the video store, don't neglect the recently released comedy, In Her Shoes. Probably there are multiple copies on the shelf, which usually means mindless fluff. But not in this case. This movie is that rare, wonderful thing: mindful fluff.
The story concerns two sisters: Maggie (Cameron Diaz), pretty and out of control; and Rose (Toni Collette), plain and in control (sort of). These differences drive the sisters apart and then, through some undistinguished plotting, bring them back together. There is no point in describing the plot or the characters any further, because they are formulaic. The charm lies in the execution: the screenplay, pacing, and acting, especially Diaz and Collette, who do a beautiful job of portraying the two sisters' complicated but powerful bond.
To judge by most Hollywood films, not to mention popular TV fare like Sex in the City and Desperate Housewives, women have no lives apart from their sex lives, and their relationships with one another are based solely on a neurotic need to process information about their sex lives. No amount of rhetorical prattle about "female empowerment" alters this dismally one-dimensional portrait. But in its light-handed way, In Her Shoes provides an alternative.
It's a comedy, of course, which means that the family conflict gets resolved at the end. This doesn't always happen in life, needless to say. But the best compliment I can give In Her Shoes is that it could have worked as a tragedy, in which the sisters never reconcile. Indeed, one reason why it succeeds as a comedy is that it allows tragic emotions to peek through the surface. In sum, fluff this good is hard to make and deserves at least as much respect as, say, mindless gloom.
Posted by mbayles at 11:53 AM
May 12, 2006
Away Message
Dear Kind and Patient Readers,
I am going to be away for two weeks, on a Fulbright speaking tour of Poland. In preparation I have been watching many Polish films, and I strongly recommend Kieslowski's Decalogue, and also the DVD boxed set of his earlier works from Kino on Video. Both are extraordinary, especially compared with a lot of other films being made at the same time. I am not a big fan of Blue and Red in the Three Colors Trilogy, but I adored White. (This is not the consensus view, only the opinion of a crank who tires quickly of French film preciosity, which Kieslowski caught a mild case of after 1990.) My article on Kieslowski will appear in the next issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
Talk to you soon,
Posted by mbayles at 1:07 PM
April 25, 2006
Rome Lives!
HBO has just announced that production has begun on the second 10-episode season of its magnificent series, Rome. I am delighted, although it will be a challenge to proceed without Ciaran Hinds as Julius Caesar, who (in case you missed ancient history) got stabbed in the Senate. If you want to read my full-fledged review of the first season, buy the current Claremont Review of Books. Or see ...
When staging a production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, the first thing one must decide is how to slant it, because the play’s sympathies are quite evenly divided between the conspirators, especially Brutus, who persuade themselves that assassinating Caesar will restore the Republic, and the Caesarians, who get the best lines (Mark Antony), not to mention the victory (Octavian). It is possible to slant the play by cutting it, of course. But it is better to do so through interpretation.
Or one can keep Julius Caesar idling in neutral, as Joseph L. Mankiewicz did when adapting it for the big screen back in 1953. At that time, the “swords and sandals” epic was part of Hollywood’s counteroffensive against TV, so the emphasis was on spectacle: scarlet Roman legions against the rocky terrain of Italy (or Los Angeles County); white marble vistas stretching to the matte-painted horizon; vast interiors decorated in a style best described as Il Duce Does Vegas. Thanks to the self-imposed censorship of the production code, popularly known as the Hays Code (after Postmaster Will H. Hays, who administered it between 1922 and 1945), these epics were also free of all bodily fluids except the occasional trickle of blood, sweat, or tears. Likewise politics: not until 1960, when Dalton Trumbo emerged from behind his many fronts to write Spartacus, did the epic become “swords, sandals, and socialism.”
Personally, I am still waiting for Hollywood to tackle the Gracchis, those notorious price-fixing, land-distributing tribunes who a century before Caesar introduced a fateful note of direct democracy into the Roman Republic. If today’s Trumbos would read some history and stop obsessing on how the oil industry caused 9/11, they would see the cinematic potential of the Gracchis – especially since there is now no production code to forbid showing Tiberius Gracchus getting clubbed to death, or even better, his brother Gaius being decapitated by thugs on the aristocrats’ payroll, who then proceeded to pour molten lead into his skull and murder 3,000 of his followers without trial.
If you’re still reading out of sheer zest for Roman ferocity, then by Jove, do I have the TV series for you! HBO’s Rome (co-produced by the BBC) is not the first swords and sandals epic to remind us, in graphic terms, what those handsome swords were actually used for. The pioneer here was Gladiator (2000), Ridley Scott’s hugely popular film about a power struggle between Maximus, a fictional general chosen by the emperor Marcus Aurelius to succeed him, and Commodus, the emperor’s sick kitty of a son. There is a smidgeon of politics in this muddy bloodbath, but it takes the risibly anachronistic form of a senator named Gracchus (get it?) who 220 years after the death of Julius Caesar still dreams of restoring the Republic.
The first season of Rome aired last year, and while it is not yet available on DVD, it can be accessed “on demand” (meaning the customer must pay extra and be a computer geek to boot). Is HBO going to rebroadcast the first season? There are rumors to that effect, but apparently the date and time are classified information. Will there be a second season?
YES, I am glad to report. Not only is it one of the best TV series ever made, it is also one of the best screen portrayals of Rome, surpassing a whole herd of Hollywood sacred cows. In part, this is due to smarter production values. Rome has always been costly: in 1925 MGM spent $3.9 million on the first Ben-Hur; in 1959 it spent $15 million on the second; and in 2000 Dreamworks coughed up $145.8 million for Gladiator. The budget for Rome is $100 million, but considering that this paid for 12 hours not just two or three, it seems to me the money was spent exceedingly well.
The five-acre set, built in cooperation with Cinecittà Studios near Rome, recreates the real ancient city, not some immaculate MGM (or Albert Speer) pipe dream. Rome in the 50s BC was a funky place, with every inch of marble decorated with colorful paintings, proclamations, and graffiti, and every twisting street jammed with busy artisans and merchants. From the palatial villas on the Palatine Hill to the polluted alleys of the Aventine, where the poor scraped by in five- and six-storey tenements that were cesspools below and firetraps above, the whole city is conjured with marvelous verisimilitude. The same is true of the props and costumes, from the women’s looms to the soldiers’ leather cuirasses and brass helmets. All were made by skilled Italian artisans like Luca Giampaoli, the latter-day Vulcan who hand-hammered Caesar’s breastplate.
Of course, none of this would matter if the screenplay and acting were on the historically tone-deaf level of most Hollywood fare. But here Rome compares favorably with I, Claudius (1976), the BBC’s brilliant adaptation of the Robert Graves novel about the vexed problem of succession under the first four emperors; and with Julius Caesar (2003), a little known but fine miniseries directed by Uli Edel for Turner Network Television, which among other charms features a stirring reenactment of the battle of Alesia, in which Caesar’s army of 55,000 outfoxed 250,000 Gauls led by the great shaggy Vercingetorix.
If it’s battles you want, then don’t miss the first episode of Rome, which opens with a brief but authentic depiction of the Legio XIII Gemina waging the grimly efficient warfare that enabled the Romans to conquer wild-and-woolly foes like the Gauls, whose manner of fighting was, shall we say, freestyle. This sequence shows such Roman techniques as the sword-thrust through a tightly packed wall of shields, and the constant rotation of fresh troops to the deadly front line. Unfortunately, someone was pinching the denarii, because in the whole 12 hours there is no comparable battle scene, only a clash in the civil war between Caesar and Pompey that, after an impressive build-up, comes as a major let-down, a cheesy blur that evokes not history but the History Channel.
But if it’s compelling characters you crave, and the aroma of truth found in good historical fiction, then don’t miss a single hour of Rome. To start with the wholly fictional characters, the most accessible are probably two soldiers who start out as enemies and slowly become comrades: the severe centurion Lucius Vorenus (Kevin McKidd) and the brash infantryman Titus Pullo (Ray Stevenson). (These two names are mentioned in Caesar’s Gallic Commentaries, but the characters are invented.) Vorenus is an old-fashioned fellow, whose Stoic virtus and Republican sympathies harden him to his family after long separation, but also outclass the eroding dignitas of most of the patricians he meets. Pullo is the son of a slave woman, so what matters to him is the libertas of the plebeian soldier.
Also fictionalized are two aristocratic women, Servilia of the Junii, mother of Marcus Junius Brutus (yes, that Brutus) and (a few rungs down the social ladder) Atia of the Julii, niece of Julius Caesar and mother of Octavia (later wife of Mark Antony, spurned for Cleopatra) and Octavian (later Augustus, first emperor of Rome). The gloriously twisted soap opera that unfolds within, and between, these two households would be impossible to summarize here. But it’s worth noting how well it reveals the political intrigues festering on the home front. Not since Livia in I, Claudius has the distaff side of Roman ruthlessness been so skillfully portrayed.
Both Servilia and Atia existed, but little is known about their lives. Servilia (Lindsay Duncan) is remembered for her lineage and for an affair that she had with Julius Caesar. Atia (Polly Walker) is just a name in the history books, so the writers have shrewdly transformed her from a low-profile Roman matron into a high-profile bombshell resembling Clodia Metelli, the patrician party animal whose numerous lovers included the poet Catullus. If there is a villain in Rome, it is probably Atia, whose promiscuity, nudity, and eager participation in a ritual sacrifice that drenches her with bull blood are highlighted in the first two episodes.
If you are one of those viewers who recoil at HBO-style sex and violence, then be warned that Rome contains a good dose of both. Is it gratuitous? Maybe a little. But, I am tempted to say, this is Rome! Staying with Atia for a moment, if I hadn’t read Catullus’ obscene, tender, hilarious poems about Clodia (whom he called Lesbia, sans the modern connotation), and about the mating and quarreling habits of his fellow patricians more generally, I might have ascribed the more lurid bits in Rome to the cutthroat competitiveness of the cable TV industry. But no, stuff like this really happened, and should properly be ascribed to the cutthroat competitiveness of the Roman plutocracy.
If Rome has a weakness, it is the same weakness that, in the view of Cato, Cicero, and other eminent anti-Caesarians, brought down the Republic: failure to respect the ancient aristocratic virtues. It is, of course, hardly surprising that aristocratic virtue should get short shrift on HBO, that bastion of Emmy-winning populism. The co-creators and executive producers of this series include four Americans (John Milius, Frank Doelger, William J. MacDonald, and HBO vice president Anne Thomopoulos). The talented writers and directors include veterans of such plebe-pleasing fare as Sex and the City, Entourage, and Desperate Housewives.
But one also finds a healthy supply of Brits, including director Michael Apted (president, since 2003, of the Directors Guild of America), co-creator and writer Bruno Heller, and almost all of the cast, including the formidable Irish actor Ciaran Hinds as Caesar and the enigmatic newcomer Max Pirkis as Octavian. These individuals are not aristocrats – heaven forfend! But coming as they do out of British theater, film, and TV, they know how to fake it. Ever since Shakespeare, Roman patricians have been speaking the Queen’s English and plebeians Cockney. No one defends class distinctions any more, but as long as they remain embedded in the Brits’ acting tradition, their Romans will come off as more convincing than ours.
All the more astonishing, then, to see Cato and Cicero come off as a scold and a fussbudget, respectively. Leaving aside the evidence that Cato drank too much and Cicero‘s finest moments were never quite as fine as his oratory made them sound, these two figures should be weighty enough to hold down the republican side of the argument – and here they are not. Cato (Karl Johnson) is a bony old grouch who makes a strong speech in the beginning but spends the rest of the time kvetching. When he finally stabs himself at Utica, the music swells as if it were a big deal, but it is hard to know why, since this Cato is more dyspeptic than Stoic. As for Cicero, it was a mistake to cast David Bamber in the part. I hate to typecast actors, but if this was Bamber’s big chance to leave behind his best known role, that of the insufferable Mr. Collins in the 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice, he blew it. Cicero was the world’s greatest orator, not a country parson.
The Republic was tottering long before Julius Caesar gave it the final shove. But it did hold Rome together for nearly 500 years, and for much of that time it was the world’s sole alternative to absolute monarchy. Cato’s and Cicero’s greatest fear was not that a gaggle of fat-cat senators would lose their perks (the main message here), but that Rome would succumb to being ruled in the same way as the Hellenistic kingdoms of the East: by despots with even more perks, among them the status of divinity and the right to demand not only obedience but worship.
For our modern difficulty in grasping the Republican cause, I blame Shakespeare, who, despite his even-handedness in Julius Ceasar, was a monarchist. (I would be, too, if Queen Elizabeth liked my plays.) In Julius Caesar Octavian calls Brutus “the noblest Roman of them all.” But consider who is left standing after the unpleasantness following Caesar’s assassination: not high-minded Brutus, the noble master of miscalculation, but low-key Octavian, the quiet little dude who ends up calling the shots. And here we arrive at the very finest part of Rome: its double portrait of the strong man who did not become emperor, and of the weak boy who did.
The relationship between Caesar and Octavian is not made explicit; there is no male-bonding scene where the older man adopts the younger as his son, gives him his name, and makes him his heir. In fact, they rarely meet. But their separateness only reinforces their standing as the two poles around which everything else revolves. This being a story about a cataclysmic power struggle, it is only natural to ask who really does, and does not, possess power. And while everyone’s attention is rightly fixed on Caesar’s ability to grasp the lightning and store it in his own private bottle, it gradually becomes evident that Octavian is studying to do the same, if only in the microcosm of his family. Caesar may be up against Cato, Cicero, and Pompey, but Octavian is up against Atia and his sister, and it’s hard to say which proving ground is more rigorous.
Was Octavian’s upbringing dominated by a scheming, deceitful mother? I don’t know, but given how he turned out, it could have been. Indeed, some clever feminist scholar should write a book about how the first Roman emperor owed his ascendancy less to masculine will than to feminine wiles.
How did Octavian subdue the nobility and the Senate? By convincing them that he was restoring the Republic. Unlike Marius, Sulla, Crassus, Pompey, and his great uncle Julius, he avoided grandiose titles, preferring to call himself princeps (first among equals), the title Cicero gave to Cato. In 27 BC, after defeating Antony and Cleopatra (who also had a thing about titles, naming their two children Sun and Moon), Octavian made a great show of returning his accumulated powers to the Senatus Populusque Romanus. True to their ancient constitution, the Senate accepted. But to show their appreciation, they awarded their humble consul a province consisting of half the world, 20 legions, a crown (for his door, not his head), and (of course) a new and even more grandiose title: Caesar Augustus. In other words, Octavian managed to wrap them all around his little finger.
This Rome fan would like nothing better than to see the same cast and crew, building on the costs already sunk into that fabulous set, props, and costumes, produce a second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh season, straight through to the conversion of Constantine. Imperial Rome has more ready-made storylines, full of lurid details, than even the most gifted HBO screenwriter has ever dreamed of. If HBO were a republic, I would head straight for the Campus Martius and cast my vote in the Ovile, where the Roman people used to elect their magistrates. But I won’t get the chance, seeing as Augustus turned the Ovile into a venue for bread and circuses, reducing the vox populi to the roar of the mob. From the cheap seats, then, a thumbs-up: “Let Rome live!”
Posted by mbayles at 10:19 PM
April 22, 2006
At the Top, Not Over It
Not too long ago, I was addicted to 24, the suspense-on-steroids series about counter-terrorism now finishing its fifth season on Fox. Everything about 24 is over the top, including the futuristic surveillance technology and the Odyssean resourcefulness of the hero, Jack Bauer (played with frightening dedication by Kiefer Sutherland).
But while recovering from this addiction, I did occasionally wonder what counter-terrorism operations are really like -- when the threat is small to medium-sized, and the technology (and derring-do) is of human proportions. Perhaps that's why I tried MI-5, the British series known as Spooks in the UK, where it has run on BBC Channel One for three seasons starting in 2002. This one took longer to get its clutches into me, but when it did, the grip was tighter.
It's not a cartoon, for one thing. Unlike Fox's fictional Counter-Terrorism Unit (CTU), MI-5 is a real agency with a tangible connection to the society it aims to protect. And the plots (in both senses of the word) do not spiral upward in ever more stratospheric loops of improbable conspiracy. They seem concocted by terrorists not scriptwriters.
Or maybe I just admire British actors, especially when they are pretending to be spies pretending to be people other than themselves. This does not work well during the first season, when Tom (Matthew Mcfadyen) moons unconvincingly over his inability to live a normal life with a whiney non-spy girlfriend. But then it takes off, thanks to the brilliant acting of Keeley Hawes as Zoe, Rupert Penry-Jones as Adam, and (my three favorites) David Oleyowo as Danny, Nicola Walker as Ruth, and the one and only Peter Firth as the agency director, Harry.
Hoping that you will follow the full course of treatment prescribed here, I will not give away what happens at the end of the third season, except to say that it shocked me more than almost anything I have ever seen in a film or TV show. And it did so without whiz-bang special effects. All that happened was an unexpected, deliberate violation of my rights as a viewer -- in particular, my right to see my favorite characters prevail.
Posted by mbayles at 5:17 PM
April 10, 2006
Grandes chausseurs, petits pieds
OK, this is a book review. But it contains a reference to the French director Eric Rohmer! I cannot resist sharing my review of American Vertigo: Traveling America in the Footsteps of Tocqueville, by Bernard-Henri Lévy, owner of the small feet. The big shoes belong to Tocqueville.
ONE THING TO AVOID, if you are not Sharon Stone, Charlie Rose, or Norman Mailer, is having lunch with Bernard-Henri Lévy. By all accounts he merely picks at American vittles: The Wall Street Journal reports him ordering nine raw clams and leaving them on the plate, which would be more impressive if they were oysters--or perhaps not, since this is a man accustomed to living, and lunching, in Paris. What he does devour, though, is American conversation. He gulps it down, can't seem to get enough of it--a consequence also of living in Paris? The trouble is, he sometimes takes home a doggie bag without paying for it ...
This is what he does to Samuel P. Huntington, whom he meets in Boston and then caricatures as nuttily xenophobic: "What startling violence wells up in his blue eyes when he says to me, 'The big problem with Hispanics, is they don't like education!'" The caricature also includes a hand-wringing retraction on the sidewalk outside the restaurant, one of those mini-calumnies that can never be disproved. Then, 20 pages later, Lévy unleashes a tirade against American "minority-rights movements," including Hispanic, on the grounds that they "result in countless demands for unlimited rights, thus gnawing at public law and running the risk of dissolving the social bond."
This exchange reflects Lévy's ambivalence toward America's extreme and (to most Europeans) disquieting ethnic diversity. His starting point, not surprisingly, is the French ideal of foreigners being ennobled and transformed by citizenship in la République. And he is not entirely free of the French prejudice that sees the United States as an agglomeration of undigested lumps that "has never really been a nation-state." Yet Lévy also marvels at the surprisingly strong bonds that hold America together. And while his effort to explain the patriotism of recent immigrants (including Arab Americans in Dearborn, Michigan) and to defend the mysterious alchemy of e pluribus unum may be the intellectual equivalent of a soufflé (a thin batter of ideas puffed up to unnatural size), it tastes pretty good, compared with the anti-American junk food recently topping the French bestseller list.
Granted, it is hard to get too excited about Lévy's grudging admission that, come to think of it, the United States is not really the most evil, grasping, fascist/imperialist colossus ever to bestride the earth. But here, at least, he pays for his doggie bag. He confesses to having studied some (not all) of the American debate about U.S. foreign policy in the post-Cold War era, and while he does not give the dreaded neocons the final word, he makes it quite clear that he respects them, and their fellow conservatives, for actually thinking about problems like terrorism and radical Islamism--as opposed to most liberals and leftists, who seem to him to think only about Democratic party fundraising.
On two contentious questions, then, multiculturalism and foreign policy, Lévy does a good job of cutting through the merde. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of his observations in three other areas: arts and letters; custom and public morality; and (most egregiously) religion.
Regarding the first, Lévy is, at best, a name-dropper. Rather than write perceptively about American music, he drools over Woody Allen playing trad-jazz at the Hotel Carlyle. About classical music, popular music, and that ubiquitous American phenomenon, rap, his silence is curious, given that his wife, the actress Arielle Dombasle, is a pop singer in France. He visits no art museums, or indeed serious museums of any kind, preferring to reduce America's cultural riches to beetle-browed antiquarianism and (echoing Eco) the theme park approach to history. About literature, he manages to be shallow, gossipy, and pretentious all at once. In Asheville, North Carolina, he speculates about how F. Scott Fitzgerald passed his days while his wife Zelda was in the insane asylum there.
Actually, Lévy's account of Fitzgerald moping around Asheville reads like a treatment for one of those arty French films in which handsome people idle their time away instead of engaging in good healthy sex and violence. In this connection it is intriguing to note that Dombasle (who was born in Connecticut and raised in Mexico, where her grandfather was French ambassador) got her first big break from the New Wave director Eric Rohmer. Perhaps this is why Lévy's prose style resembles one of those Rohmer (or Godard or Truffaut) films in which the flow of images and sounds is mercilessly explicated by a hyper-articulate male voiceover: "Aren't road and language, after all, siblings in humanity? Isn't it when both roads and languages are invented that commerce, mediation, civilization, begin?"
Please, couldn't we just look out the window?
About education, especially higher education, Lévy seems clueless. The only campus he visits is the University of Texas, in Austin, where he is astounded to find "here in . . . the capital of Texas, a state that is supposed to be a conservative stronghold," a class on Tocqueville taught by Paul Burka, executive editor of the Texas Monthly, in which a student approves of presidential candidate John Kerry's waffling on abortion, because "to believe one thing but refuse to impose it on other people; to have your convictions but leave other people to act the way they want--isn't that good policy? Isn't that the definition of democracy, in Tocqueville's sense?"
We don't get to hear Burka's response to this inanity, because Lévy goes into transports of delight at this glimmer of enlightenment "on the edge of the South that I'm about to dive into."
After diving, he meets Rod Dreher, a Roman Catholic journalist in Dallas who, Lévy is happy to report, home-schools his children but wants nothing to do with "those absurd fundamentalists." Here, in a nutshell, we have Lévy's tortured perception of American religion. Basically, his stance is that of an old-fashioned anthropologist intent upon sniffing out only the purest and most authentic version of an indigenous culture. He delights in a genuine Amish village in Iowa, a meeting of Orthodox rabbis in Brooklyn, and a convention of black women from the Church of God in Christ in Memphis, whose fancy clothes and gospel singing ("eyes rolling upward") suggest to him "an intensity of piety that has nothing to do with what can be observed in the megachurches of the North."
Lévy bases this pronouncement on a visit to the Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois, where he learned from a couple standing in line with him that (in his paraphrase), "We're a living church. Our ministers are of our time, just as Christ was of his time. And we make a point of honor to have a useful religion." This brief exposure to what is known in the pastoral trade as "seeker-sensitive methodology" sets off a violent reaction in our anthropologist. What we have here, he sputters, is "a religion whose secret is, perhaps, to get rid of the distance, the transcendence, and the remoteness of the divine that are at the heart of European theologies."
Perhaps this would be a good time to mention my French Huguenot ancestors, who came to America back in the good old 17th century, when you had to travel coach and the grace of God was not cheap. They did not want to leave France but had to, on account of the unpleasantness on St. Bartholomew's Day. And since then, many others have come to these shores hoping to worship God in their own way, and the good folk of Willow Creek are hardly the first to water down the wine.
Lévy's defense of the Old Time Religion would be more persuasive if it weren't bound up with nastiness toward America's born-again president ("an overgrown daddy's boy") and socially conservative believers ("the harpies of neo-morality"). Plus, it is curious to see Lévy the anthropologist morph into Lévy the missionary when, at Willow Creek, he stops accusing these Christian fellow travelers of over-adapting to the modern world and starts accusing them of under-adapting to it. On the day of his visit, the senior pastor (Bill Hybels, one of many names Lévy fails to catch) is absent, so minister-author Lee Strobel shows up to flog his latest book, God Proven by Science and Scholars, and show a video called In the Heart of DNA. This sends Lévy into a paroxysm of indignation, unmitigated by Strobel's inscribing a copy of his book--"Hi, Bernie!"--and reciting "the atheist's prayer . . . God, if you are there, show yourself!"
Damned if we do, damned if we don't. Our religious wine is either too diluted or not diluted enough. Our war paint and feathers are either too authentic or not authentic enough. American religion is a thorny topic, even for Americans. For modern Europeans, it is "baffling," as Lévy himself admits. But the topic is not made less baffling by distinctions without differences. Those "European theologies" Lévy is so fond of were rather given to theories of intelligent design, if I recall correctly. And were Lévy to ask those rustic Amish, wizened rabbis, or elegant black church ladies what they thought of Charles Darwin, their answers might set his own eyes a-rolling.
Do some more homework, BHL, and then come back and see us again. And in the meantime: "Tocqueville, if you are there, show yourself!"
First appeared in the Weekly Standard, 04/17/2006, Volume 011, Issue 29
Posted by mbayles at 8:50 PM
April 2, 2006
Video Virgil: Last Laugh
First, a gripe. The Motion Picture Academy should have given the 2003 Oscar for Best Foreign Film to Zelary, a marvelous Czech film that I recently discovered on DVD. The film is about Eliska (Anna Geislerová), a nurse in Nazi-occupied Prague who, when her Resistance activities are discovered, flees to a remote mountain village, where to survive she must marry a taciturn woodcutter named Joza (György Cserhalmi).
Filmed in the mountains of Slovakia, Zelary is stunning to look at, and the story of how this stylish city dweller grows to love her rough-hewn peasant hosts, is more emotionally powerful than a dozen Hollywood melodramas like Cold Mountain (which I mention because it came out around the same time and, despite being about the American Civil War, was filmed in Rumania).
To the American reviewers at the time, the setting and theme of Zelary were "overly familiar," even "cliched." What on earth did they mean? Has the U.S. market been glutted with Eastern European films dramatizing the social and cultural gap between urban and rural ways of life in the 1940s? Are we jaded about post-Cold War Czech films showing the rape and murder committed by the first wave of Soviet "liberators"?
Directed by newcomer Ondrej Trojan and based on a novel by Kveta Legátová, Zelary also has a terrific ending. I won't be a spoiler, but suffice it to say that it involves the amazing actress Jaroslava Adamová, playing an old peasant woman named Lucka, and that it reminds us, in one blazing moment, why human beings are ultimately irrepressible.
Posted by mbayles at 4:30 PM
March 19, 2006
Lessons in Manliness
I haven't read Harvey Mansfleld's new book, Manliness, and I suspect that when I do, I will have many criticisms of it. But let me register here my disgust at Walter Kirn's "review" of it in today's New York Times. When I write my book on Puerility, I will make a point of quoting "critics" like these. The editors should be embarrassed.
But on to my (speculative) criticism of Mansfield's book, which by all accounts names Achilles as the Homeric hero who best exemplifies manliness. This seems wrong, not least because Mansfield's oft-quoted definition of manliness is presence of mind in the face of danger. If this is so, then the Homeric hero you want is not Achilles but Odysseus. It is Odysseus who exemplifies sophron, that hard-to-translate Greek word that does not just mean wisdom, shrewdness, gutsiness, grace, or persistence, but rather all of these - in essence, knowing how to act in any given situation.
Sophron is not achievable by following a set of rules; anyone can do that. Sophron means doing the right thing, the smart thing, without recourse to rules. It means being able to read the situation and the people involved, to discern the most compelling moral imperative, and to act - and all for a higher purpose than one's own aggrandizement.
Now for the movies. Manliness like this is hard to find in the cineplex these days. But here are two wildly different recommendations on DVD:
First the TV series 24, now in its fifth season on the Fox Network. The title comes from the gimmick of having each hour-long episode “occur in real time,” and except for a few plodding bits about the personal lives of Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) and his fellow agents at the Los Angeles branch of the fictional U.S. Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU), 24 is addictively suspenseful. And despite my misgivings about the show's routinization of extra-legal wiretapping and (especially) torture, I confess to being captivated by the character of Jack, whose alertness, courage, and cunning are positively Odyssean.
Second, the truly wonderful BBC adaptation of the Horatio Hornblower adventure novels by C.S. Forester. I have never read the novels (I do read books, though you might not get that impression from this posting), but I am tempted to do so after watching this series, which was produced between 1998 and 2003 and stars Welsh heartthrob Ioan Gruffud in the title role, not to mention British theater heartthrob Robert Lindsay as his mentor, Captain Sir Edward Pellew.
There is nothing dumbed down, campy, or forced about this vivid evocation of His Majesty's Navy at the turn of the 19th century; just great acting, great ships, and great production values (for TV). Patrick O'Brian fans especially will appreciate it, since in my opinion no one has yet properly adapted O'Brian. (I found Master and Commander painfully hurried and superficial, with no real texture to the characters.) As for manliness, there are plenty of examples to be found, including a duchess (Cheri Lunghi) who turns out to be a London stage actress working as a spy. Of course, instead of "manliness," one could just say sophron.
Posted by mbayles at 12:32 PM
March 14, 2006
Casting Problem: Who Could Play Miles?
It would have to be made by a genius who understands jazz, rock, pop music, American culture, and the history of race relations. It would also have to star an actor combining the talents of Sidney Poitier, Jimi Hendrix, Don Cheadle, and Mos Def. And finally, it would have to be seventeen hours long. Maybe that's why we haven't seen a biopic about Miles Davis ... ?
As for putting Miles in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, see Soundtrax box on right. It's a little like nominating Picasso for the Ink-Doodling Hall of Fame.
Posted by mbayles at 10:21 AM
March 10, 2006
Sopranos R Us
With high hype, HBO's hit series, The Sopranos, returns to the airwaves this week. But personally I worry that this time around, the producers will start to believe the cliche that the show's amazing popularity stems from cable TV's ability to "push the envelope" on sex, drugs, profanity, and violence. It's easy to speculate that over 10 million people watch The Sopranos every week because they relish hearing curses, ogling silicone-enhanced breasts on the Bada Bing dance floor, and watching wiseguys get offed. And it's just as easy to condemn The Sopranos on the same grounds, as William F. Buckley Jr. once did, citing its "arrant exploitation of sex, exhibitionism, murder, sadism, cynicism, and hypocrisy."
But such judgments are obtuse. Most people do not love The Sopranos because it pumps vulgarity and venality into their homes any more than they love it because it stereotypes Italian-Americans (pace groups like the American Italian Defense Association). People love the show because it takes something tried and true -- the Mafia drama -- and uses it to explore social class, the ordeal of immigrant assimilation, the ethical compromises of the workplace, and other aspects of contemporary American life barely touched on in film and television, except in the most pious and didactic fashion. More...
The Sopranos beckons us first with its humor. The show's premise -- the well-heeled, well-educated psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi treating the boss of the northern Jersey syndicate -- is comic on its face. Back in the 1970s, Saturday Night Live's John Belushi played the Godfather attending group therapy. Then a feature film along the same lines, Analyze This, spawned a sequel, Analyze That. The Sopranos is not above milking the spectacle of rough, burly Tony working with mild, bookish Dr. Melfi on issues like impulse control and depression resulting from his own mother trying to have him whacked.
Yet as every fan knows, there's a lot more going on in The Sopranos than gags about waste management meeting anger management. (If you're catching up with past episodes, you might want to hold off on reading more.) For starters, Dr. Melfi and Tony (Lorraine Bracco and James Gandolfini) are antagonists, in the fullest sense of the word: two people involved in a contest of wills that, while leavened by wry humor, can feel, at times, like a struggle unto death.
In that respect, The Sopranos draws directly on its gangster setting. Like the Western, the gangster drama dwells less on a particular place and time than on the clash between certain modern virtues (reason, order, process) and certain ancient ones (honor, loyalty, vengeance). When one code fails, as the former did when Dr. Melfi was brutally raped and the rapist went free on a legal technicality, the alternative -- Tony's ability to carry out swift retribution -- can look pretty damn good.
Hence the emotional intensity of the scene when Dr. Melfi, back at work bruised and limping from what she says was a car accident, aches to tell Tony what really happened. Battling with herself, she bursts into tears. Tony's response is to get up from his chair and walk over to hers. Every other time he has done this, it has been in anger. Now the gesture is one of comfort, and the moment is powerful precisely because the small distance between the two chairs is so laden thematically. When Tony asks, "Do you wanna say something?" and she says, "No," we understand that she is going to abide by her own code, even though right now it is making her the victim of an unpunished crime. I dare say this was the only time most viewers actually wished Tony would order a hit.
At the same time, Tony's ancient code seems to be unraveling before our eyes. A constant refrain is the loss of old-school mobsters, the kind who would do time rather than rat, and the decay of organized crime into disorganized crime. The mob characters are like many other Americans, deploring what they perceive as a breakdown in the values of older generations.
Which brings us to the real secret of the show's success. While some of the conflicts it depicts are rooted in the specifics of the Mafia code, most of the show's funniest and finest moments have nothing to do with a clash between the mainstream and the Mafia, but with the ways in which the mainstream irritates various traditional sensibilities. If the crude appeal of the Mafia theme were the crucial ingredient, then there would be a dozen successful clones of The Sopranos out there, and there are none. What makes the show unclonable is the skill with which it uses the gangster genre as a device for bringing undercurrents of shared emotion to the surface. Indeed, the very familiarity of the Mafia genre allows viewers to distance themselves from certain painful feelings while at the same time identifying with them.
Some of those feelings are about social class. As many critics have observed, Tony and Carmela Soprano (Edie Falco) are rich enough to live in an upscale suburb, where they mix with professionals and corporate executives. But they don't feel entirely comfortable there, and most of their discomfort stems not from being Mafiosi but from trying to learn the peculiar folkways of upper-class America. For instance, after their son, Anthony Jr., or AJ, helped some other boys in his elite private school to vandalize the swim coach's office, how many viewers shared Tony and Carmela's chagrin when the headmaster refused to mete out punishment?
Beyond class, The Sopranos takes an indirect but refreshingly unorthodox approach to immigration and assimilation, themes rarely touched on because identity politics have made them fragile almost to the point of taboo. Italian-Americans are hardly recent arrivals in America, and despite the occasional Russian, African, or Middle Eastern character, The Sopranos is not about any other group. But the Sopranos' experience -- their relatively rapid movement into the affluent suburbs -- is shared by millions of other first- and second-generation immigrants today. And while only a tiny minority of those other newcomers have any connection with crime, the vast majority have much in common with the Sopranos.
It is, for instance, laughingly hypocritical of a crime boss to want a school to discipline his son. That hypocrisy resonates with assimilating groups, however, because as children pick up new ways of thinking and acting, their elders reflexively want to reassert authority. Yet because wielding that authority would work against their offspring's social mobility, the elders just as often retreat. Either way, both generations are prone to feelings of shame, of imagining that just because they are who they are, they have something to hide, even if that something is usually not a thick file with the FBI.
The Mafia connection is also essential to another immigrant-related theme, which is the disdain many people feel toward their jobs. Cynicism inevitably creeps in when we encounter the hypocrisy, ambiguity, and ethical compromise involved in every work environment -- blue, pink, or white collar. We persevere in spite of that, abiding with our bad consciences by telling ourselves that it's all for the sake of our families. But as we see with Tony, that rationalization can be hard to sustain when the family is less than holiday-greeting-card perfect.
In The Sopranos, such ambivalence balances delicately on the characters' criminal dimension. When Tony discovers that his lifelong friend and associate Big Pussy has been "flipped" by the Feds and made to wear a wire, together with his (more or less) loyal associates Silvio and Paulie, Tony takes Pussy out on a yacht, shoots him, and dumps his garbage-bagged corpse overboard. Because the scene delicately parodies the classic tableau of the Mafiosi executing a traitor to uphold the code, it is too stylized and predictable to do great damage to our identification with Tony, although I for one was glad to see him haunted by a nightmare in which Pussy appears in the form of a reproachful talking fish.
In sharp contrast is the earlier episode in which two aspiring goodfellas, Sean Gismonte and Matt Bevilaqua, try to impress Tony's rival, Richie Aprile, by ambushing Christopher, Tony's nephew and designated heir. Christopher is gravely hurt but survives, and in retaliation Tony and Pussy execute Matt in an especially gleeful and cold-blooded way, only to follow up the deed with a hearty steak dinner, during which they reminisce about their good old days as young mobsters. The grotesque sequence belongs in a Quentin Tarantino movie, not The Sopranos.
Some critics cheer every time the series takes such a "dark" turn. But for the majority of fans, too many adventures like that on Tony's part and the whole carefully balanced edifice would start to topple. The show's writers apparently felt the same, because right after Matt's killing they created a foil in the person of an eyewitness: a snooty, self-righteous type who plays the good citizen until he discovers that the perpetrators were Mafiosi. At that point he rushes from his library to call his lawyer, while his wife panics. Pegging the guy for an upper-middle-class coward, we revert to our usual fondness for Tony as the opposite of all such phoniness. For good measure, a later episode shows Tony haunted by the memory of Matt crying "Mama!"
Most of Tony's violent deeds are carried out either with cold calculation as a necessary cost of doing business, or in the heat of passion, as in the current season's vengeance killing of the despicable new capo, Ralphie. In Tony's universe, familiar but alien to us, he's fighting himself and fighting to make it in America. When he does something patently evil, the tenuous threads connecting him to us fray and break. But don't expect Sopranos creator David Chase and his smart, talented colleagues to break too many. For if they did, we would no longer recognize ourselves in these striving, conflicted compatriots.
The article first appeared in the Chronicle Review.
Posted by mbayles at 9:57 AM
March 5, 2006
Dig Those Oscars
If you are planning to sit through the Oscars tonight, here are some comments based on last year's festivities.
People who love music hate medleys. And people who love movies hate those “Celebrate the Movies” clip reels shown on cable TV to promote movie channels, and in theaters to promote movie-going. Watching the 77th Academy Awards, I really hated the opening clip reel, put there by the movie industry to remind me how much I love movies. Even the most willing cow needs an occasional rest from the milking machine.
If the members of the Academy had wanted to attract more viewers, then perhaps they should not have been so timid about including the two most controversial films of 2004, Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ and Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11. The Passion, which received but did not win three nominations (Best Original Score, Best Cinematography, Best Makeup), deserved one for Best Picture and Best Director. And Fahrenheit, which received no nominations, deserved one for Best Documentary, a category in which fairness and accuracy have never been among the criteria.
Without re-masticating the well masticated debates over these films, I will simply note that both sold a lot of tickets to people who do not ordinarily go to the movies. So if they had not been airbrushed out of the proceedings, then perhaps all those one-time ticket buyers would have tuned in, boosting the ratings and saving us from that tacky clip reel.
It was, of course, entirely appropriate that the clip reel rolled across the ceiling of the Kodak Theater before and after each commercial break. For this is what movies are rapidly becoming: commercials for themselves. Instead of drama, comedy, suspense, or any other recognizable genre, the standard-issue Hollywood flick is now a pastiche of attention-grabbing moments meant to thrill, tickle, tease, and titillate audiences too immature or distracted to care how, or whether, they all fit together. Like music videos, these messes only reinforce the mini-attention span of the average popcorn buyer. Usually they don't survive to a second weekend, but that doesn't really matter. The industry is now structured so that one weekend of suckers is usually enough.
Which returns me to the Oscars. Given the tone of most releases these days, Chris Rock was the perfect MC. His opening monologue was painfully convoluted, making sense only as an attempt to offend the right people (notably President Bush) without offending the wrong people (notably the millions who voted for Bush but might also shell out nine bucks to see Chris Rock movie).
Jon Stewart will probably do better at hitting the Zeitgeist between the eyes. But even more than Rock, he is going to have a major problem cutting through his own thick carapace of irony. Maybe he won't have to; maybe the good people writing his material will drop all pretense that this is a ceremony of artistry, excellence, and achievement (including lifetime achievement). But that would be a mistake, for no other reason than it would lose audience share.
Consider: most movie fans look at the Academy Awards the way the two children in the urban folktale look at the room full of pony manure. Either they can turn away, disgusted by all that you-know-what, or they can start digging, inspired by the idea that there must be a pony in there somewhere. The latter approach is worth keeping, even when the irony mounts to the ad-buzzing ceiling, because somehow this industry keeps turning out a couple of good films a year. Of course, if Munich wins Best Picture, I will be tempted to lay down my shovel.
Posted by mbayles at 10:48 AM
February 28, 2006
Video Virgil: Cast Them Out To Sea
I won't mention any names, but the so-called critics who reviewed The Beautiful Country (2004) for the New York Times, Austin Chronicle, and Boston Phoenix should be set adrift on the ocean a long way from land. How can people be so oblivious to others they see everyday - for example, the guys scraping the dishes in the really cool restaurants where really hip movie critics eat lunch?
Pardon the outburst, but I recently suffered through a meeting where several otherwise smart people relieved themselves of the opinion that it's easy to become an American: "Just go shopping and watch the sports channel." To say otherwise - to suggest that immigration is a painful ordeal that involves loss as well as gain - is to violate Section One, Paragraph Two of the 2001 Anti-Anti-Americanism Act, which defines patriotism as voluntary cessation of all cerebral activity.
And, I might add, of all emotional empathy. The Beautiful Country, about the son of a Vietnamese woman and American GI who in 1990 embarks on a journey to find both parents, is not gulity of "sentimental excess." Neither is it a "melodrama" either "earnest" or "shameless." Look up these words, fellow critics. "Sentimental" means indulging in stock, predictable emotion. "Melodrama" means moralistic, black hats and white hats. None of that applies to this film, which deals with a timely and politically loaded topic with rare subtlety, intelligence, and understated humor.
Just to cite one example: When Binh (Damien Nguyen) finally reaches New York and becomes a kind of indentured servant in Chinatown, forced to pay off the exorbitant fee charged for his illegal passage, he learns from a fellow worker that as a dui boi (the term means "low as dust") he could have "flown to America for free" (a reference to the 1988 Amerasian Homecoming Act). Amazed to hear that America actually welcomes people like him, he decides immediately to flee his job and go find his father in Texas. (He has learned his father's whereabouts from his mother, whom he located in Ho Chi Minh City and would have stayed with, had it not been for an incident that forced him to leave.)
By now Binh has evolved from a ragged outcast in a rural village (where he was eking out a Cinderella-like existence with relatives) to a rugged individualist in the classic grain. He has seen corruption and cruelty but has not succumbed to either. He is convincingly (not sentimentally) resourceful, brave, stubborn. So when he is stopped in mid-flight by his boss, a tough character who clearly cannot believe one of his captive workers just walked out on him, Binh (by now a veteran poker player) pulls a major bluff: "I am American citizen now," he says, "I can go where I want."
If this were a melodrama, the boss would drag Binh back and make him pay for such impudence. But this is not a melodrama, so the boss just stands there giving this odd young man a quizzical look. Then with a philosophical (and appreciative) shrug, he says, "Congratulations!" And off Binh goes, to a reunion with his father (Nick Nolte) that is one of the most moving yet unpredictable such scenes I've ever seen.
Rent this beautiful film, and if any of those aesthetically challenged critics should hail you from a leaky raft, my advice is: Let 'em sink.
Posted by mbayles at 9:33 AM
February 12, 2006
Sense and Sensibility on the Chesapeake
On a misty April morning in 1607, three tall, square-rigged English ships glide up the wide, luminous estuary of what is now the James River. Instead of discovering the land from the ships, we discover the ships from the land, as a band of Powhatan Indians trot along a ridge, marveling at what must have been the seventeenth-century equivalent of alien spacecraft.
Yet wisely, The New World does not presume to plumb the Powhatans’ reactions. Rather the camera floats behind their backs, offering a detached perspective on the whole majestic scene. Best of all, writer-director Terrence Malick decided at the last minute to accompany this scene not with the pretty noodlings of James Horner’s commissioned score, but with music that is truly sublime: the murmuring, rising, surging prelude to Wagner’s Das Rheingold.
“The soul of beauty is distance,” wrote Simone Weil, and Malick’s best work bears this out. No other living director can touch him when it comes to natural panoramas, filmed here by Emmanuel Lubezki entirely on 65mm stock (the first time this has been done since Kenneth Branaugh’s Hamlet). In several such glorious sequences The New World gives something like a God’s-eye view of that first, fraught encounter between the Old World and the New. Film critics who do not thrill to such achievements should take up another line of work.
But film is not just a visual art, it’s also a narrative art. And while Malick has hold of a terrific yarn (at least, Captain John Smith thought so when he invented parts of it), this film tangles the spinning of it. By now, everyone knows that Pocahontas was only 11 when she begged her papa, Chief Wahunsonacock (a.k.a Powhatan) not to puree Captain Smith’s head. From this fact sober historians deduce that the two could not possibly have been lovers. (In a dark corner of my mind, a little voice squeaks, “Why not? This is Virginia.” But let us not go there.)
Historians also note that such staged reprieves were a customary form of hospitality among powerful Algonkian chiefs. Which makes sense, really: if your host has the power to crush your skull but refrains from doing so, then you are all the more likely to follow your visit with a thank-you note. At any rate, Malick does not waste much time on this legendary scene, choosing through blinding chiaroscuro and tortured camera angles to make it appear less an historical set piece than a reject from the Stoned Otter Indie Film Festival.
Malick is respected for his screenplays. But never before has he attempted anything quite this ambitious. In his first successful feature, Badlands, about a killing spree carried out by two aimless teenagers in South Dakota, he had a headline-grabbing story to tell. In Days of Heaven, he had the idiom of his native Texas to set a wry, laconic tone. In The Thin Red Line, he had James Jones’s World War II memoir to adapt. Here, by contrast, there is no clear guide, only multiple, conflicting, obscure sources. And for all his cinematic gifts, Malick seems somewhat lacking in the one thing most needful: historical imagination.
Somewhat, not totally. If you want the historical imagination strangled in its crib, see the 1953 clunker, Captain John Smith and Pocahontas (Peyton Place in deerskin), or the 1995 Disney cartoon Pocahontas (Barbie and Ken in a canoe). The New World, by contrast, commits one major anachronism but also works to correct it. In brief, it goes from overripe romanticism to something more sober and ultimately moving, then (unfortunately) back to romanticism. It should have quit while it was ahead.
The romanticism comes first, in the form of a prolonged sunlit dalliance between Smith (played broodingly by Colin Farrell) and Pocahontas (played brilliantly by 14-year-old Q’orianka Kilcher, the striking daughter of a Swiss mother and a Peruvian Indian father). These love scenes are served just the way a certain middlebrow audience prefers, with a dollop of Mozart on top and a sprinkling of bad poetry:
Love, ... shall we not take what is given?
... There is only this. All the rest is unreal.
Father, where do you live? In the sky, the clouds, the sea?
Show me your face, give me a sign ... We rise, we rise.
I gag, I gag. It is possible that the hard-charging Smith was stopped in his tracks by unexpected tenderness for this almond-eyed Lolita. And it is possible that Pocahontas, by all reports an extraordinary individual, was a Kierkegaardian animist before she became a good Anglican. But please. When such characters speak, they need to sound as though they are living in their own time, not ours – or worse, the time of D. H. Lawrence and Mabel Dodge Luhan, when pale-faced aesthetes sought transcendence through sexual intercourse, Native Americans, and (where possible) sexual intercourse with Native Americans.
Eventually Smith leaves, and a bereft Pocahontas allows herself to be wooed and won by John Rolfe, the man who taught the world to smoke. Why does Smith leave? The reasons are not entirely clear in the 135-minute version now showing in theaters, but it seems he has difficulty sustaining the proper romantic mood through a winter of starvation, relieved only by the generosity of the Indians, and a summer of warfare, ignited when Powhatan (August Schelling) and his brother Opechancanough (Wes Studi) realize that the English are planting corn and planning to expand their holdings.
Believing Smith dead and held captive by the English, Pocahontas loses her spark until the sweet-faced Rolfe (Christian Bale) delicately rekindles it. Interestingly, he does so without ceasing to be thoroughly, and unapologetically, English. This is not Dances With Wolves: not all the virtue is on the Indian side. For example, the female of English species arrives in Jamestown looking cold and pasty, quite the unappealing dish compared with our heroine. But surprise surprise, the English matron put in charge of “civilizing” Pocahontas turns out to be a wise and kindly soul whose lessons are eagerly absorbed by her pupil.
At this point, the film takes a turn for the better, not because it favors the English way of life over the Powhatan, but because it does not, for the sake of political correctness, grossly distort the choice that Pocahontas did in fact make.
Things stay on the right track until the dramatic peak of the story, which is the return of Captain Smith. In a marvelously depicted voyage to England, Pocahontas (baptized Rebecca) lends her charm to what is essentially a PR campaign on the part of the floundering Virginia Company of London. These scenes are magical in their ability to evoke a sense of astonishment similar to that found in the abovementioned scene of ships on the James River. For a fleeting moment, my eyes felt were gazing not at another movie set version of merrie olde England but at the amazing apparition London must have been to Pocahontas.
But Pocahontas is troubled. Having learned that her first love is still alive, she grows cool toward Rolfe, prompting him to risk everything on an arranged meeting between her and Smith. The encounter, which takes place in a formal garden, is both subtle and powerful. Smith is much the same, but through some alchemy of voice and expression Farrell makes this man who was wild and romantic amid the tall grass of Virginia seem shrunken and coarse amid the London topiary. Pocahontas, by contrast, has grown in stature. Elegant and restrained, she takes Smith’s measure, and almost before she realizes it, she has decided to stay with Rolfe. “Did you find your Indies?” she asks Smith before they part. He gives her a long look, then says, “I may have sailed right past them.”
Cut, that’s a wrap. No need for Smith’s next line: “I thought it was a dream, what we knew in the forest. But it was the truth, the only truth.” Romance isn’t the only truth here, that’s the whole point. When Malick re-edits this film for DVD, the word is that he plans to make it longer. Great, if this means further development of the clash between English and Powhatan, and more lingering vision of strange worlds. But please, cut the New Age mush. It’s important when you have a great story not to sail right past it.
Posted by mbayles at 8:08 PM
February 7, 2006
Stupid, Actually
Feeling a little stressed this past weekend, I decided to watch Love, Actually. Cursed with major recall of past movie reviews, I knew it had been swathed in praise for being both funny and heart-warming. Just what the doctor ordered.
Bring on the malpractice suit. It's not easy to waste talents like Colin Firth, Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson, Laura Linney, and Alan Rickman. But this movie makes donkeys out of them all. The only one left standing on two legs when the hee-hawing stops is Bill Nighy, playing a burnt-out rock star trying to make a comeback. And he does it by being totally asinine from the git-go.
The biggest jackass of all, though, is Hugh Grant pretending to be a newly elected Prime Minister in love with his slightly plump secretary. It used to be said of Jack Lemmon that his acting consisted mostly of a patented collection of tics. At least Lemmon had a collection. Grant has only one tic: a prissy expression that says, "Terribly sorry, old chap, but I'm feeling dreadfully horny just now."
if you want to laugh at a British Prime Minister, allow me to recommend the immortal BBC series Yes, Prime Minister and its predecessor Yes, Minister. I wrote about them a while back (see Reprise). And if you want heart-warming, don't miss The Notebook. Among other things, it stars two veterans, Gena Rowlands and James Garner, who are gracious enough to allow themselves to be upstaged (upscreened?) by the two excellent young actors, Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams, who portray their younger selves.
Posted by mbayles at 12:20 PM
February 2, 2006
Entertained and Lived to Tell About It
Intrepid Boston Globe columnist Alex Beam has ventured into what he aptly calls "the brave new world of movie theaters." Now that most sane human beings would rather watch DVDs at home than put up with the noise, grime, ear-bleeding sound, poor projection, and unpleasant atmosphere of the average cineplex, some of the big theater chains are experimenting with ways to make the experience more ... er, rewarding. From Beam's amusing account , it sounds about as rewarding as an evening at the airport. And they still haven't figured out how to compete with the fact that at home, a call of nature can be dealt with simply by pushing the "pause" button.
Posted by mbayles at 10:59 AM
January 31, 2006
"For No Particular Reason That Anyone Could Explain"
There are two films called The Battle of Algiers. One is a cult film of the late 1960s, shot on newsreel stock and depicting the 1950s struggle of the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) against the French colonial occupation. Despite its skilled use of non-actors and its gritty neorealist feel, this movie contains "not a single foot" of documentary material (as director Gillo Pontecorvo often pointed out). Nonetheless, it was embraced as a training film of sorts by radicals from Berkeley to Belfast.
The other Battle of Algiers is a hot contemporary property, reportedly screened at the Pentagon in September 2003 and now available in a 3-disc set replete with retrospective documentaries and interviews with interested parties from Pontecorvo to Richard Clarke. This film's depiction of Arab radicals assassinating police and planting bombs in public places could not be more timely.
The two films are the same, of course. Only the world is different.
Or is it? With cold objectivity, The Battle of Algiers shows how the French authorities undertook to "decapitate the tapeworm" of the FLN, when that organization was assassinating policemen and planting bombs in public places. Because each FLN cell had only three members, the French found it necessary to torture hundreds of prisoners before cornering and killing the last two.
The film ends with a postscript: "For no particular reason that anyone could explain," there was an uncontrollable popular uprising two years later, which led to Algerian independence in 1962.
If you detect a note of tragic irony here, then perhaps you'll detect the same note in Clarke's comment that "it surprised the hell out of me" when Al-Qaeda seemed to grow two new heads for every one cut off. After 35 years, shouldn't counterterrorism experts be able to tell the difference between a tapeworm and a hydra?
Posted by mbayles at 8:38 AM
January 24, 2006
The Weak Man With the Sponge
I believe it was Lord Acton who said the strong man leads with the dagger, followed by the weak man with the sponge. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences reverses this order by giving Oscars to makeup artists but not to stunt men and women.
This is unfair but understandable, given the size of most film star egos. Makeup artists work closely with actors, chatting and flattering while using those cute little sponges to paint great white patches on their faces. (I once had a makeup lesson with a Hollywood professional, and it's amazing how much time they spend whiting out your features then re-drawing them for the camera.)
Stunt performers, by contrast, rarely work with actors. According to a piece by Mark Yost in today's Wall Street Journal, most actors do not know any stunt people, and do not want them to get awards. As I say, this is all too transparent. Why call attention to the fact that while Tough Guy Hooper is chasing the bad guys off the cliff, you are in your luxury trailer getting a massage?
Posted by mbayles at 10:07 AM
January 21, 2006
"Let's Try And Not Hack This Up"
Why do people watch TV shows like Showtime's "Masters of Horror"? Why don't they just curl up with a good book, like Justine by the Marquis de Sade? Much as I enjoy being scared out of my wits (though preferably not before bedtime when alone in the house), I do not like depictions of savage cruelty. The proper attitude, I know, it to treat this stuff as a campy joke, saying, "It's so over the top, it's funny." But it's not.
Anyway, given the entertainment industry's current contest to see who can induce the most vomiting among viewers, I was amazed to read in the New York Times that Showtime actually cancelled a film, Imprint, by the "deliberately and spectacularly transgressive" Japanese director Takashi Miike. Why, in this post-censorship age, would a feisty cable channel suppress such a hot property? Not for any good reason, I fear. Take a look at Kehr's plot summary:
In mid-19th-century Japan, an American journalist ... goes in search of the prostitute he has fallen in love with but was forced to abandon. The American's quest leads him to a mysterious island zoned exclusively for dimly lighted brothels, where one procurer, a syphilitic midget, introduces him to a relatively sympathetic prostitute ... Hideously deformed, the right side of her face pulled into a permanent rictus, the nameless woman tells the American the terrible story of what happened to his lover, throwing in at no extra charge the story of her own hideous childhood as the daughter of impoverished outcasts. As the woman's story continues, her revelations, scrupulously visualized, become more and more outlandish, and her descriptions of the violence done to the missing prostitute, who was suspected of stealing a ring from the brothel's madam, become more cruelly imaginative and difficult to stomach. But the most shocking imagery is yet to come, as the nameless woman describes her collaboration in her mother's work as an abortionist.
In other words, it's OK to drool over the agony of grown men and women, and a way-cool director like Miike can even toss in a child or two. But fetuses, forget. There are too many reactionaries in high places who get uptight about that sort of thing.
Still, the good people at Showtime have some moral qualms. Asked why he didn't order more cuts in the film, series executive Mike Garris replied, "It is what it is. It really was, let's try and not hack this up." How nice to know that, unlike human beings, horror films are too precious to mutilate.
Posted by mbayles at 10:24 AM
January 20, 2006
Smile and Say "Camembert de Châtelain"
In case you are one of the lowly mortals who must work this week instead of clomp around Park City in your all-weather film-watching boots, here is the Sundance website . A few minutes' scrolling and clicking will turn up a worthy tidbit or two, but for me the overwhelming impression is of a lot of silly people who think art consists of having your picture taken. And I'm not talking about the tourists.
Posted by mbayles at 11:22 AM
January 19, 2006
Video Virgil: The Harmonists
A couple of years ago I had the privilege of being guided through a Berlin record shop by the eminent jazz musician Sigi Busch. With a kindly didactic air, he urged me to buy a 3-CD box called Comedian Harmonists: Mein kleiner grüner Kaktus. At the time my ignorance of all things German was sufficiently great that I did not realize I had acquired a gem. (It didn't help the box had no liner notes.)
Aber jetzt, Sigi, sehe ich den Licht! My language skills may still be in the dark, but about the Comedian Harmonists I have seen the light. Founded in 1928 by a down-and-out baritone named Harry Frommermann, this all-male close-harmony sextet blossomed in the 30s, then slowly withered under the stifling cultural policies of the Third Reich. Three of the six were Jewish, and much of their material was by Jewish songwriters, so even though their immense popularity protected them for a while, they eventually split up, some to bitter exile and others to the dead end of official Nazi "folk music."
For a sprightly, touching telling of this tale, see The Harmonists (1997), a fine small film directed by Joseph Vilsmaier, best known the US for his grim but riveting Stalingrad (1993) (definitely not the Hollywood war treatment). If you share my (now jettisoned) prejudice that most German films are excessively marinated in angst, The Harmonists will cure you. It's not best music flick I've seen, and there are quite a few formulaic moments. But what's fascinating is how this German production avoids the truly tired formulas of Anglo-American films about the same period. In particular, the ever-so-Ayran bass, Robert Biberti (Ben Becker), is beautifully drawn, without an iota of the usual caricature.
If Americans had made this movie, the focus would have been on the group's ethnic diversity: three Jews (one from Poland), one Bulgarian, and two Germans coming together in perfect harmony, only to be destroyed by evil of racism. True enough, but wisely The Harmonists focuses less on the obvious political lesson than on the innocent, antic spirit of these young fellows as they cavort their way to the edge of the abyss. Let me put it this way: If you loved Life is Beautiful, then you'll probably like The Harmonists, and not only because the actor playing Harry (Ulrich Nöthen) looks like Roberto Begnini.
For more on the Comedian Harmonists, check out this website .
Posted by mbayles at 11:10 AM
January 14, 2006
Director's Cut (Burn, Shock, Waterboard ...)
Fear not, this thread won't last forever. But lately I've been troubled by the ubiquity of graphic torture scenes in mainstream movies, not to mention TV series - and even more bothered by the seeming inability of critics to address the moral dimension of what has clearly become an audience-pleasing shtick.
HBO is currently showing Man on Fire (2004), an action flick by Tony Scott, brother of Ridley, starring Denzel Washington as Creasy, a burnt-out Special Forces vet hired by a wealthy family in Mexico City to protect their little daughter Pita (Dakota Fanning) against mercenary kidnappers. The role seems tailored for Washington, because it exploits both ends of his spectrum: cold and bitter before befriending Pita, warm and sweet during their friendship, then cold and bitter again after the kidnappers grab her.
The torture occurs throughout the film's second half, when, believing Pita to be dead, Creasy takes bloody revenge on a colorful cross section of Mexico City's residents. About the various agonies we're invited to enjoy, let me just say that it is impressive what a resourceful inquisitor can do in a parked car using only duct tape, a sharp knife, and a dashboard cigarette lighter.
To be fair, some reviews of Man on Fire made the quasi-moral point that these scenes would be more thrilling if Creasy were trying to save Pita, not just wreak vengeance. But this implies that torture is, or should be, a routine part of police investigation. Indeed, the only honest cop, a visiting Italian Interpol officer (Giancarlo Giannini), seems content to let Creasy do his thing, because after all, "He can go places we can't."
Beyond this, the critics directed some outrage at the film's violation of the P.C. Code of Ethnic Representation, Chapter 27, Subsection 12, which reads: ""Films set in Latin American cities shall not have a preponderance of positive Anglo and negative Latino characters." Point taken. But while we're being thin-skinned, perhaps we should be a bit touchier about Hollywood's easy acceptance of a world where the rule of law has lost all meaning.
In the end, Creasy finds a way to redeem himself that gives the closing scenes unusual moral as well as emotional depth. But here the reviews were especially dispiriting. For instance, David Ng of the Village Voice concluded that this portrait of a killer trying to save his soul made the film "a right-wing fever dream, or perhaps just another day at the office for our country's leaders." When baroque evil is accepted as art, and genuine goodness dismissed as propaganda, then criticism has come to a sorry pass, indeed.
Posted by mbayles at 10:53 AM
January 7, 2006
What a Pain
One of the strongest arguments against torture was made recently by Vladimir Bukovsky, who spent twelve years in the Soviet gulag.Writing in the Washington Post, he noted that “Torture is the professional disease of any investigative machinery ... Investigation is a subtle process, requiring patience and fine analytical ability, as well as a skill in cultivating one’s sources. When torture is condoned, the rare talented people leave the service, ... and the service itself degenerates into a playground for sadists.”
If you need further evidence of this point without leaving the comfy precincts of entertainment, consider Hostel, the latest from Eli Roth, a writer-director who makes his mentor Quentin Tarantino look like Euripedes. Marketed as a campy horror flick, Hostel is something much uglier: an open invitation to share the pleasures of Bukovsky’s playground. (“There is a place where all your darkest, sickest fantasies are possible,” rasps the trailer.) When distributed overseas, this vomit will do a fine job of souring America’s feeble efforts at public diplomacy.
Posted by mbayles at 10:23 AM
December 22, 2005
Of Lions, Witches, and Noseless Demons
Two of the top-grossing movies in the world right now are The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire . Strange, isn't it, that these huge, loud, public spectacles began life as small, quiet, private children's books, suitable for bedtime reading?
Bedtime stories lead to dreams, though, and these dreams are now shared by millions. So perhaps it's worth asking whether there's any substance to the squabble over the role of magic in Harry Potter versus the allegorical Christianity in Narnia.
The Judeo-Christian objection to sorcery and the occult goes back to Deuteronomy, so it's hardly surprising that orthodox believers would object to the Harry Potter trope of brilliant lovable youngsters escaping the dull bourgeois world of non-magical humanity ("Muggles") for the fantastically exciting Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
But are the Harry Potter stories really about magic in this traditional sense? They revel entertainingly in its lore and trappings, to be sure. But the real source of the stories' emotional resonance is their vivid portrayal of a generation growing up amid an only slightly more fantastic version of 21st-century technology ( especially the extraordinarily transformative powers of digital electronic media as displayed in the films themselves!).
Like Harry, young people are better at commanding these powers than their elders. But unless they are studying micro-electronics, they have only a weak grasp of how their wonderful toys work. Hence the need for a few aging mentors who understand the origins and secrets of the magic they teach. (It is no accident that Hogwarts itself should resemble a pipe dream of Oxbridge.) But this creates a problem: these mentors are also supposed to impart great wisdom, not to mention an ethical code. And at this, they are pretty poor.
So while I admire the Potter books and (especially) films, I also think their religious critics have a point. Does the world of Hogwarts have a moral compass, apart from the vague benevolence of senior-citizen witches and wizards? The question matters in the real world, not just the fantasy one, and becomes more urgent as the films make the Faustian journey toward ever more malign magic. To judge by the raves of critics whose vocabulary extends from D (for "dark") to E (for "edgy"), these frail counselors may not be able to hold out against the fabulous noseless hideousness of Voltemort.
Meanwhile, Narnia has the opposite problem. The richly animated Aslan is a wonder, even before he starts growling in Liam Neeson's mellow baritone. But here the evil isn't vivid enough. The White Witch may satisfy religious viewers who grasp the symbolism of white witchcraft being just as bad as black. But to a generation raised on state-of-the-art bitchcraft, how scary are those frozen dreadlocks?
Moreover, Narnia lacks the contemporary resonance of Potter. Its human characters command no magic, being instead at the mercy of the unknown forces that transport them to and fro. They aren't passive, and the moral transformation of Edmund is more sophisticated than any lesson offered in Harry Potter. But compared with the students at Hogwarts, what do these kids actually get to do?
They get to wage a picturesque medieval war against the wrong sort of demons, in order to become the rightful rulers of the kingdom. Excuse me, but this is 2005, and it is hard to imagine a saga based on the divine right of kings packing the same emotional wallop as one about state-of-the-art wizardry being employed for evil purposes.
Posted by mbayles at 6:42 PM
December 19, 2005
Eye Candy
Memoirs of a Geisha is doing a brisk business in Japan, despite many cultural false notes. (Personally I am still wondering why all the US ads show Zhang Ziyi, the Chinese star of the film, as having blue eyes. What, she's not beautiful enough with the eyes God gave her? Why not make her a blonde, and call the movie "Memoirs of a Shiksa"?) But I digress. From press reports I gather that Japanese audiences adore the film, just as they adored the Tom Cruise missile, The Last Samurai (2003). And probably the reason is simple: these films are glorious to look at. The phrase "eye candy" comes from the TV producer Aaron Spelling, whose vapid productions are now justly forgotten (I don't think Love Boat even qualifies as camp.) But let's face it. Some confections are irresistible. If a chocolate Santa comes from Fassbender & Rausch, who cares if he looks like Howard Stern?
Posted by mbayles at 12:56 PM
December 17, 2005
Big-Oil-Ze-Bub
Beyond its dazzling settings, acting, and soundtrack; beneath the twists and turns of its fantastically pretzled plot; Syriana is based on a pretty dumbed-down idea: the root of all evil in the world - the Great Satan, if you will - is American Big Oil.
Wearing Hermes and Rolodex instead of horns and tails, the bad guys are instantly recognizable: glit-edged attorneys, greedy politicians, colluding bureacrats, and gimlet-eyed techno-warriors all orchestrating the assassination of Prince Nasir Al-Subaai (Alexander Siddig), the lone progressive leader in an unnamed Arab Emirate who is about to sign an oil deal with the Chinese.
Prince Nasir is Doing the Right Thing, because according to the prince's American consultant (Matt Damon), "the Americans are sucking the Emirate dry" and the prince cannot modernize or redistribute the wealth while "the Americans keep making demands."
Here is where the dumbing-down kicks in. The Chinese, evidently, are not going to make any demands or mismanage any natural resources. Is this because they have modeled their environmental policies on the wisdom of Chairman Muir ... er, Mao?
In another plot twist, Big-Oil-Ze-Bub is depicted as being directly responsible for terrorism. Not because the United States has invaded Iraq - that little detail is not mentioned in the film (too controversial, perhaps). No, the Evil One encourages terrorism through unfair employment practices. Early in the film, a group of Junior Managerial Demons summarily fire a hundred Pakistani workers, an unhappy event which leads directly to two sweet-faced young men being recruited by a suicide bomber cell.
Again, the meaning is clear. This sort of thing would not happen under the enlightened management policies of Beijing. (Or maybe we wouldn't hear about it, under the enlightened media policies of Beijing?)
I could go on. But suffice it to say that this film, like so many other "thought-provoking" Hollywood confections, provokes only one thought: Better the Devil we know ...
Posted by mbayles at 10:46 AM
December 4, 2005
I'm Available
My ever-elusive dream of snagging a Pentagon R&D contract may now be coming true. I understand why the military never asked me to design weapons systems, desert camouflage, or toilet seats. But now that they're in the propaganda business, I respectfully offer my services as a PR consultant.
My fees are pretty high, but not unreasonable when you consider how esoteric this PR stuff can be. Only a high-priced expert like me can understand some of this stuff. Here's one example:
If America wants to revive its Cold War image as a beacon of human rights, the perhaps we should not make illegal detention and torture a staple of our entertainment. Lately I've been struggling with an addiction to 24, the first TV series to succeed in turning the war on terrorism into family entertainment. Famous for its steroidally suspenseful plots that unfold in "real time," 24 contains scene after scene of systematic bloodletting, bonebreaking, electrocution, and summary execution of familiy members - acts performed as often, or more often, by the good guys as by the bad. The series is thoroughly gripping, and while the torture bits are not my reason for watching, they do make the show feel ... well, cutting edge.
How this plays overseas, I will be happy to speculate if the powers-that-be put me on retainer. Call me greedy, but I'm not the one driving up the price of common sense.
Posted by mbayles at 11:58 AM | Comments (0)
November 23, 2005
Video Virgil: Crash and Cranberry
Here's my recommended double bill for Thanksgiving: Crash, this year's dark film about ethnic collisions in Los Angeles, and What's Cooking (2000), a sunnier film that treats the same topic by following four L.A. families - one African American, one Jewish, one Latino, one Vietnamese - through the ups and downs of Thanksgiving.
Both fillms pull off the difficult trick of fully developing multiple plots and characters in the tight space of two hours. This is much harder to do in a feature than in cable TV, where series of 12 hours or more provide room for novelistic expansion. (Whether or not the results are novelistic, we can debate on a case-by-case basis.) Here, suffice it to say that the editors of Crash and What's Cooking, Hughes Winbourne and Janice Hampton, deserve kudos for fitting everything in without apparent strain.
Now for the critics. Read the reviews, and you will conclude that Crash is a better film than What's Cooking. Why? Because Art (upper-case A) rubs our noses in grim reality, and entertainment (strictly lower-case e) coddles us with feel-good fluff. Well, there is such a thing as feel-good fluff, and for a long time I avoided seeing What's Cooking because I assumed it would coddle me, and being coddled makes me grim.
I was wrong. There is a third category, one not generally acknowledged by the herd of independent critics: the category of delight. Like every city, Los Angeles does not lack for grimness. And while Crash cops out of the tragic endings it builds up to (perhaps because of audience testing?), it certainly convinces us that ethnic and racial friction can lead to tragedy.
But having lived in L.A. for several years, I do not accept the view that grimness is all. Just as the city does not lack for grimness, neither does it lack for delight. And the richly seasoned humor, pathos, and realism of What's Cooking captures that delight in a way that really does feel good. So for that, let us give thanks.
Posted by mbayles at 9:58 AM
November 20, 2005
Al-Hollywood
How do Arabs and Muslims around the world see America through the prism of Hollywood movies? For a sanguine account, see this article by Joseph Braude in the Los Angeles Times . It has been a long time since I have shared Mr. Braude's optimism about the export of American pop culture being good for our country's image. But it would be nice to agree with him!
Posted by mbayles at 3:02 PM
November 16, 2005
Video Virgil: Carmen and No Bull
On the theory that we bloggers should always write about what interests us, I hereby devote this entry to the 1984 film verson of Bizet's Carmen, directed by Francesco Rosi and starring Julia Migenes-Johnson and Placido Domingo. It is available on DVD from Netflix (bless Netflix).
Full disclosure: I just returned from a two-day conference on Carmen, for which I read the novella by Prosper Merimee, listened to the supreme recording with Maria Callas, and watched Rosi's marvelous film, which was shot on location in Spain and brims with movement and color, including two authentic bullfights.
Of course, authentic bullfights come at a price. Having opera stars lip-sync their way through action-packed scenes that they could not possibly perform while actually singing, creates a strange hybrid. One of my fellow participants, a seasoned performer, found it painfully distracting to watch Migenes-Johnson, Domingo, Faith Esham and the rest produce all that glorious music without any visible muscular strain. And he was right; it is distracting.
But so are the artifices of the stage. And if, like me, you are more movie buff than opera lover, then prepare to be as thoroughly seduced by this Carmen as Don Jose was by that gypsy girl who shattered his heart merely by throwing a flower at it.
Posted by mbayles at 9:55 PM | Comments (1)
November 5, 2005
SEX (NOT REALLY), LIES (A FEW), AND VIDEOTAPE (NONE)
Let me start on a positive note. For a film made in the present climate that dramatizes the 1953-1954 clash between Edward R. Murrow, the broadcast personality who pioneered the TV news magazine, and Joseph McCarthy, the Republican senator who gave anti-communism a bad name, Good Night, and Good Luck has many fine qualities. If you like rich black-and-white cinematography; precision-tooled acting (especially David Strathairn as Murrow); artful skeins of cigarette smoke; meticulous re-creations of early-1950s offices, TV studios, and hotel bars; and jazz standards sung by the incomparable Dianne Reeves, then you will relish every minute of this film, which was co-written and directed by George Clooney (who also plays CBS news producer Fred Friendly).
Or almost every minute. Curiously, the critics have ignored this movie’s most glaring artistic flaw: a subplot about Joe and Shirley Wershba, two Murrow associates who kept their happy marriage a secret because of CBS’s anti-nepotism rule. This is possibly the dullest subplot of modern times, made even duller by the casting of Robert Downey, Jr. and Patricia Clarkson, a couple who generate about as much spark as Kent cigarette stubbed out 50 years ago.
Why include this deadwood? My first impulse, naturally, was to blame the vast left-wing Hollywood conspiracy. By wasting valuable screen time on the Wershbas, Clooney and his boys avoided dealing with other, less boring subplots, such as the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe, the Maoist revolution in China, the perjury conviction of Alger Hiss, the successful testing of an atom bomb by the USSR, and the invasion of South Korea by the communist North.
But then a quick web-surf revealed that the Wershbas (now retired and living on Long Island, Joe after a 20-year career at "60 Minutes") were consultants to the film. So perhaps in exchange for sharing their valuable memories, they were granted the pleasure of seeing their youthful selves depicted onscreen. At the risk of coming off as a heartless movie critic, I must note that this pleasure is not likely to be shared by the rest of us.
But enough artistic quibbles. The reader is doubtless slavering for political red meat, especially since Clooney recently underwent the standard Midlife Mulholland Mutation from skylark star to activist asteroid. “He’s really interested in politics and social justice,” says friend and co-writer Grant Heslov. Last summer, Clooney attended the G-8 summit in Edinburgh, where he and other celebrities enlightened world leaders about poverty. To his credit, Clooney’s modest admission that the summit “taught me a lot of things” sets him apart from show-biz know-it-alls like Bono and Alec Baldwin.
But please. Of all the political districts burned over by righteous Hollywood, anti-communism is the most scorched. Again, it is to Clooney’s credit that he did not head straight for ground zero: the 1947-1948 hearings of the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) that resulted in the despised blacklist and the jailing of the Hollywood Ten – also known as the Unfriendly Ten (as in “unfriendly witnesses”). I believe it was Billy Wilder who remarked about these individuals: “Two were talented, the rest were just unfriendly.”
No, Clooney went for the slightly less burned-over district of TV news in its early fluid state, before it hardened into the monstrous shape we know and love today. Not surprisingly, the red meat here is anti-anti-communism – or if you prefer, red-baiter-baiting, performed at the highest level of photogenic integrity. The film neither stresses nor denies the fact that Murrow came late to this cause. By the time his program, “See It Now,” jumped on the anti-McCarthy bandwagon, it was already loaded with radio commentators, print journalists and editorialists, congressmen and senators from both parties, military brass, and the Eisenhower White House.
But no matter. If this movie achieves anything beyond flogging the well pulped carcass of McCarthy, that achievement will be its portrayal of how unfree TV was during its so-called Golden Age. One set of pressures was technological. Back in 1954 there was no such thing as videotape, so the closest “See It Now”got to actually seeing it now was sending a film crew into the field, shooting a few thousand feet, shipping the film back to New York, and hoping it could be developed and edited in time for the live broadcast. (All TV broadcasts were live at the time.)
This is what Murrow and Friendly did for their first indirect swipe at McCarthy: send a film crew to interview Milo Radulovich, a lieutenant in the air force reserve who had been forced to resign on the grounds that his father and sister were communist sympathizers. Radulovich came off well in the interview and was soon reinstated, an outcome depicted in the movie as a clear victory – although, as Glenn Garvin of the Miami Herald wrote recently, “Would we be comfortable these days with an Air Force officer with a security clearance whose father belonged to al Qaeda?”
The next attack was more direct, and less costly. Just as Frank Capra had made brilliant anti-Nazi propaganda by recycling clips from Leni Riefenstahl’s The Triumph of the Will, so did Murrow and Friendly make brilliant anti-McCarthy propaganda by recycling clips of McCarthy’s TV appearances dating back to 1950. As Andrew Ferguson has pointed out, the result was “a compendium of every burp, grunt, stutter, nose probe, brutish aside, and maniacal giggle the senator had ever allowed to be captured on film.” These same clips are blended into the movie so seamlessly, test audiences asked who was the actor playing McCarthy. (That’s easy: James Gandolfini wearing extra eyebrow pencil.)
The second set of pressures on TV news was commercial. Next to Strathairn’s, the film’s finest performance is Frank Langella’s as CBS president and chairman William S. Paley, a man who admired Murrow but also had to reckon with such harsh realities as the priorities of advertisers and the preferences of the viewing public. The scenes between the narrowly focused Murrow and the wider-ranging Paley are beautifully done, and convey a real lesson: to speak truth to power, you must have power yourself. And it doesn’t hurt if your suit is also bespoke.
The third pressures were, for lack of a better word, professional. After the burp-and-grunt portrait of McCarthy aired, the critic Gilbert Seldes, who was a friend of Murrow’s and no friend of McCarthy’s, wrote a scathing piece in which he raised important questions about the character-assassinating powers of TV and the limitations of the “equal time” principle. According to historian Michael Kammen, “Liberals were generally puzzled by Seldes’ concerns about precedent and high principles. The damaging substance of Murrow’s achievement seemed easily to outweigh what might happen, if, at some future time, the white hats became black hats and the process were reversed.”
Needless to say, these questions are still with us. And so are the three troublesome tendencies identified by Murrow in a 1958 speech before the Radio-Television News Directors Association in Chicago: “Decadence, escapism, and insulation.” Since Clooney re-created this speech as bookends to Good Night, and Good Luck, it seems only appropriate to evaluate the movie in these terms.
It isn’t really decadent, unless you count the smoking. As Jack Shafer pointed out in Slate, Strathairn is the best screen smoker since ... well, I’d say since Jeanne Moreau picked the tobacco off her tongue in Jules et Jim. Nor is it escapist like Julia, Fred Zinneman’s 1977 film about two women of the left, one of whom worships the other. Since Julia was based on the memoirs of Lillian Hellman, some critics wondered why it starred two actresses, Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave. The answer, of course, was that Hellman herself was two women, one of whom worshiped the other.
But Good Night, and Good Luck is insular. As mentioned, the only character whose mind ranges wider than a smoke ring is Paley, and his worries are mostly about the bottom line. And the decision not to have an actor play McCarthy – to reduce the dreaded witch hunter to a flickering shadow in a cathode ray tube – places the political reality of the time at an even greater remove than usual in such films. In the end, the movie is so swaddled in layers of artistic self-referentiality that it totally shuts out the concerns that made McCarthy’s witch hunt possible. Maybe the communists of the 1950s were not under every bed or in every State Department closet. But neither were they trick-or-treaters in black pointy hats. Some witches are real.
Originally published in the Weekly Standard, October 31, 2005
Posted by mbayles at 11:59 AM | Comments (0)
October 27, 2005
Talk About a Sleeper
While in Washington recently, I saw a new film called "The War Within." After sitting though any number of movies where members of the audience laugh at inappropriate moments -- especially scenes of cruelty and violence -- it was refreshing to be among film-goers who seemed genuinely sobered and moved by what they were watching.
Why? This is the most powerful depiction I have seen of contemporary terrorism. It's the story of a young Pakistani studying in Paris who becomes a suicide bomber after being arrested by American agents and "rendered" to Pakistan for torture.
Now, my expert informants tell me that very few torture victims become terrorists, which makes sense in a way. But the proximate cause of the young man's decision is less important than the ambivalence he experiences upon arriving in New York and witnessing the life of an old boyhood friend and his family. Their happiness attracts and repels him in equal measure, and his inner conflict is exquisitely portrayed.
Maybe I'll write more about this, but in the meantime, go see this film if it is anywhere near you, because it won't be in the theaters long. It opened in New York, got a tepid and evasive review from the Times, then disappeared. If you know why, please write and tell me.
Posted by mbayles at 8:53 AM | Comments (1)
October 4, 2005
Catch Up
According to my students, most of whom are compulsive instant-messengers, I am a very bad person, because while neglecting to feed my blog I have also failed to post an "away" message.
Here are two links that may help to explain, if not justify, recent neglect. One is an article in the Washington Post about the role of popular culture, including the movies, in shaping America's image abroad. The other is an online discussion that I did for the Post the next day.
Posted by mbayles at 1:01 PM | Comments (0)
September 11, 2005
Video Virgil: Make 'Em Laugh (Not Squirm)
A friend writes with this question:
"Have you seen the new 'thing' in Hollywood, the 'let's see how far we can go before we are told we are crass' comedies like 40 Year-Old Virgin and Wedding Crashers? God they are, at times, insanely funny, but I couldn't help but think that they are pushing the envelope in a pretty big way ... I went with my 16-year-old son to Virgin, and I am certain he wished he were with ANYONE other than his dad."
I confess to having deliberately missed these, due to extreme prejudice against Hollywood wanker humor that
goes back several years, when I bailed out of Something About Mary, and would have done the same with the original American Pie if I hadn't been a guest at the house of friends who insisted on watching it with their young teenage kids. On this occasion I was definitely on the side of all awkward 16-year-olds.
But before you cast me as the Church Lady, consider my delight in the fourth segment of Jim Jarmusch's little known Night on Earth (1991). You don't have to sit through the whole five segments about taxi drivers and their nighttime passengers in five different cities. Just cut to the one in which a Roman cabby (played by Roberto Benigni in his prime) picks up a gloomy elderly priest (Paolo Bonacelli) who agrees, against his better judgment, to hear the cabby's confession. The whole thing is in very bad taste, I assure you. But my rule is: when it gets that funny, it can be as gross as it wants.
Posted by mbayles at 8:35 PM | Comments (0)
September 3, 2005
Crunk News Network
After yesterday. I don't believe I'll watch CNN again for a long time. Aaron Brown's bosom can heave all it wants about "race and class" in flood-ravaged New Orleans; his sighs look hypocritical against that endlessly looping clip of a demented-looking black man woofing at the camera by the Superdome.
Some negative images are newsworthy - looting and dead bodies, for example. We don't want to see them, but up to a point, we must.
But why this guy? Why, out of thousands of people in and around the Superdome, did CNN choose to put a face on the suffering with this bad imitation of "crunk" rapper Lil Jon? Is it because crunk just happens to be the most popular style of rap in the country right now? Is CNN is competing with MTV?
Say it ain't so, Aaron. Your bosom heaves so professionally, I almost forget that your reporters can't seem to make contact with any of the thousands of ordinary people enduring the hunger, thirst, filth, heat, and desperate anxiety of this terrible week. Like President Bush staging a Bill Clinton bear hug with two young girls who despite their brown skin were not African Americans, your intrepid reporters seem incapable of stepping across the divide and actually interacting with "them."
Everyone's bashing the public sector this week, but one of the things it has been doing right is cover this story. In one hour last evening, PBS's "Newshour with Jim Lehrer" reported more about the crisis than ten hours of CNN. Not only did they interview a real reporter, Peter Slevin of the Washington Post, who left the CNN folks bobbing in his wake, they also found some down-to-earth, sensible African Americans to testify what they were going through. Let's hear it for bold investigative reporting!
Posted by mbayles at 10:54 AM | Comments (1)
August 30, 2005
Reply to Rachel
Thank you for your very thoughtful response to my cultural diplomacy piece and discussion (see Rachel's comments and links below). You raise the essential and most vexed issue of all, which is the use and abuse of liberty in a supposedly self-governing regime. I offer some general comments on this below.
But since this is a film blog, let me first mention a movie that for me captures this issue in an incredibly timely way: My Son the Fanatic (1997), based on the novel and screenplay by Hanif Kureishi. It is about an Indian taxi driver (played brilliantly by Om Purim) in the north of England, whose son is so offended by his father’s assimilation to decadent British society that he joins a fundamentalist Islamist group.
The father’s decadence consists of having a crush on a hooker whom he drives around the city, and at the end of the workday, drinking a scotch and listening to his beloved jazz records. But to the son's new mentors, the old man might just as well be a violent rapist shooting heroin and listening to death metal. Fanatics don't make distinctions.
But distinctions must be made: first, between ordinary mortals struggling to behave decently and perfectionists who seek to reconstruct human nature by any means necessary; and second, between the humane loosening of puritanical constraint and the out-of-control indulgence of appetite.
As you so wisely note, people around the world are drawn to the freedoms enjoyed in America. But they are also repulsed by the abuse of these freedoms - and this is true of ordinary mortals, not just fanatics. When people in traditional societies look at us, what they see most glaringly is what Isaiah Berlin called “negative liberty,” or freedom from tradition, religion, family, restraint of all kinds. As Berlin argued, this contrasts with the “positive liberty” to participate in the governing of one's country - and oneself.
Right now our public diplomacy (such as it is) touts "freedom" as our highest ideal, meaning self-government. But our popular culture often (not always) touts negative liberty. It would be nice to think we could craft a cultural diplomacy that conveys this distinction. But first we must remind ourselves that it exists.
Posted by mbayles at 10:21 AM
August 20, 2005
The Talented Mr. Minghella
This summer I've spent a fair amount of time gazing gloomily at the mountain of pony manure that comprises the movies, and feeling like laying down my shovel. Then I watch a DVD interview with the British writer-director Anthony Minghella, and suddenly I'm digging again.
The interview is on the DVD of Minghella's directorial debut, Truly, Madly, Deeply (1991), a low-bucks, high-bang portrait of a woman grieving for her husband after his sudden death from a sore throat. If that sounds a bit odd, the film is odder still, ranging from twee comedy (don't you just love foreign words?) to Sophoclean tragedy, all effortlessly brought off by the superb Juliet Stevenson and Alan Rickman (as the grief-summoned ghost of the husband).
A successful playwright and screenwriter, Minghella turned down a chance to start directing with an episode of Inspector Morse (where he was a regular writer), because as he says, if he was going to screw up, he preferred to do so on an obscure film rather than on the top-rated TV show in Britian.
He didn't screw up: Truly won several prizes and launched his directing career, which now includes The Talented Mr. Ripley, The English Patient, and Cold Mountain.
All three are literary adaptations, and it's interesting to read Minghella's comments about the process in a recent online interview .
In that interview he talks about two of the authors, Michael Ondaatje (The English Patient) and Charles Frazier (Cold Mountain), as though they were Tolstoy and Turgenev. He is being too modest. Both films are a bit on the precision-tooled, precious side, like the novels. But they are also livelier and more robust than the novels, and surely Minghella knows that.
Which way will Minghella jump now? Into the manure, it would seem from his recent venture into executive producing: the vacuous dud The Interpreter. Personally, I wish he'd go back to writing original screeplays for ponies like Juliet Stevenson.
Posted by mbayles at 10:22 AM | Comments (0)
August 17, 2005
Reel Faster, This One's Getting Away
The saga of the dying movie theater continues...
In today's NY Times, Bruce Weber reports on the latest attempt of the theater chains to lure adults out of their homes to watch movies: "luxury" theater accommodations.
One megaplex is described as "an ornate, Mediterranean style" temple suggesting "the ambience of a las Vegas hotel." Another pays "homage to the faux-Mediterranean" look of Boca Raton. Several boast baby-sitting services (don't ask), cash bars, and full course meals - all before the happy patrons sink into their "plush wide seats" next to "small tables with sunken cup holders" to watch ... The Dukes of Hazzard.
Where to begin? First, "homage to the faux" sounds a tad too authentic for me - better to wait for the next generation: perhaps the sand-castle imitation of the papier mache version of the virtual hologram copy?
Second, the luxuries on offer sound suspiciously like those of old-fashioned dinner theater, only without the thrill of a semi-live performance.
Third, do they really expect to sell all that booze and then show a two-hour movie without what the Germans call "eine pinkel Pause"?
And fourth ... The Dukes of Hazzard?
Posted by mbayles at 1:23 PM
August 11, 2005
Video Virgil: The Wire 2
David Simon, the former Baltimore Sun reporter who created the powerful HBO series The Wire, has strong political views. For example, he told Reason magazine that he regards the war on drugs as pointless:
A guy said, "Well, what is the solution? Give me the paragraph; give me the lede. What’s the solution, if not drug prohibition?" I very painstakingly said: "Look. For 35 years, you’ve systematically deindustrialized these cities. You’ve rendered them inhospitable to the working class, economically. You have marginalized a certain percentage of your population, most of them minority, and placed them in a situation where the only viable economic engine in their hypersegregated neighborhoods is the drug trade. Then you’ve alienated them further by fighting this draconian war in their neighborhoods, and not being able to distinguish between friend or foe and between that which is truly dangerous or that which is just illegal. And you want to sit across the table from me and say ‘What’s the solution?’ and get it in a paragraph? The solution is to undo the last 35 years, brick by brick. How long is that going to take? I don’t know, but until you start it’s only going to get worse." And the guy looked at me and went, "But what’s the solution?"
Yet at the same time, Simon made it clear that he did not intend The Wire to be protest art:
The Wire will have an effect on the way a certain number of thoughtful people look at the drug war. It will not have the slightest effect on the way the nation as a whole does business. Nor is that my intent in doing the show. My intent is to tell a good story that matters to myself and the other writers -- to tell the best story we can about what it feels like to live in the American city.
And indeed, the entire first season unfolds without a single reference to the loss of jobs in America's inner cities. Instead, it dramatizes how disconnected the residents of West Baltimore housing projects are from the rest of society. The only man with a job is a janitor who, having turned state's witness, is shot to death in the first episode.
It's disappointing, therefore, to encounter a bunch of political speeches in the second season of The Wire. This time, the police are investigating links between a Greek crime syndicate and the stevedores' union, whose Polish-American boss, Frank Sobotka (Chris Bauer) needs cash not to line his pocket but to grease the palms of politicians willing to vote for improvements in the city's dying port.
Like the drug kingpins in the projects, Frank is a vivid and convincing character. And here, too, the economic plight of the city is made abundantly clear through the unfolding of a well designed plot. So it's a real flaw to have Frank spend so much time on his proletarian soapbox. This sort of thing rang hollow back in the 1930s, and today it rings both hollow and weirdly antique. The point is, we get the point!
Posted by mbayles at 12:01 PM | Comments (1)
August 8, 2005
Quote for the Day
Fellow AJ blogger Drew McManus writes: "I wonder if David Carr has some strategy for the movie business to improve?" Good question. In the immortal words of Sol Hurok: "If people don't want to come, nothing will stop them."
Posted by mbayles at 12:32 PM
Bold Business Analysis
In the Business section of today's New York Times, David Carr reports that the "boomer moguls" (Spielberg, Geffen, et al) never achieved the total control of the movie-making process enjoyed by the first generation of studio bosses.
Stay awake, it gets better. The article's conclusion is worth quoting for the sheer beauty of its illogic:
The people who built the current version of Hollywood did so by coming up with movies that people felt compelled to see - not as a matter of marketing, but as a matter of taste. What was once magic, creating other worlds in darkened rooms, has become just one more revenue stream. The movies have been commoditized [sic] to even more lucrative ends, and the men who made it so will shift in their seats as the credits roll.
Now we know. The movies are losing money because thay have become "commoditized," and if they would just quit being so damn "lucrative," the audience would return. OK, it's a slow news day in August. But even the crickets work harder than this.
Posted by mbayles at 7:00 AM | Comments (0)
August 1, 2005
Video Virgil: Hooked
Most fans of the 3-year-old HBO series The Wire started out sniffing and skin-popping: one hour-long episode a week, with the habit building up slowly over time. Me, I went straight to mainlining the stuff: over the last several days I've watched the whole first season, and until the next batch of DVDs arrives, I'm stuck here with a severe jones, craving my next dose of sorry-ass Baltimore cops, drug dealers, mixed-up kids, and cynical city officials.
Thanks to rap, movies, and video games, the hardcore urban setting of this show feels familiar to millions of viewers who have never been anywhere near places like the projects of West Baltimore. But here's the amazing thing about The Wire: unlike most of the entertainments that trade in what hip-hop pioneer Bill Stephney calls "the ghetto orthodoxy," it doesn't sensationalize the place or the people. Rather it humanizes them.
To appreciate this, you have to get past the language, which (as was once said about the British Army) uses "fuckin'" to indicate the approach of a noun. Even the middle-class characters talk like this, and after a while, it has the same effect as the childhood game of repeating a word until it loses all meaning.
But that's my only complaint. The point of comparison here is The Sopranos, a show I would admire more, were it not for its juvenile compulsion to push out what's left of my envelope. The Wire couldn't care less about my envelope. In this first season, the drug kingpins meet in a "gentleman's club," but the camera doesn't ogle the bobbling silicone. People get killed, but there aren't any Tarantinoesque scenes of inept gangsters chopping up a body in a bathtub.
Instead, The Wire is about something truly shocking: power and politics, especially as played out within small organizations (the drug ring) and large bureaucracies (the police department). If you start tracing the parallels between these two worlds, and noting the similar ways they exploit and then stifle what's best in human nature, then you'll be getting the point of The Wire. But I warn you: it's addictive!
Posted by mbayles at 5:30 PM
July 29, 2005
Computers Can't Draw
According to the Canadian Broadcast Corporation's website , the Walt Disney Company has announced the closing of its last "hand-drawn animation studio": DisneyToon Studio in Sydney, Australia. All animated features will now be "computer animated." The clear implication, deliberate or not, is that the human hand (and mind and imagination) is getting squeezed out of an increasingly automated industry.
Not so. Computers can't draw. Nor can they design characters. And if I'm not mistaken, neither can they map out the broad gestures and movements that carry animated action. These tasks have always been done by artists, and (until computers get as creative as people) they always will be.
For a fascinating glimpse into the process, rent the DVD of The Incredibles and watch the interviews and production features that accompany the film. Or try Prince of Egypt, the Dreamworks version of Exodus that, despite major liberties (the correct word is really idiocies) regarding the substance, is technically one of the most brilliant animated features ever made, combining hand-drawn and computer techniques.
Computers are not the enemy. What they can do, very efficiently, is the laborious work of "in-betweening": that is, filling in all the small incremental movements between Nemo hearing a scary noise and Nemo turning around to swim the other way. This work has been outsourced to other countries for years; and it is true, the better in-betweeners sometimes rise to the top and become master animators and character designers. So in that respect the closing of DisneyToon is a loss.
But in-betweening is not the only way, or even the best way, to learn how to draw. Training the eye and hand is basically the same process it always was, so my best advice to the aspiring animator is take a good drawing class!
Of course, this is all coming from a frustrated animator who confesses to hoping that a billioniare will give her the budget to hire the best classical draftsmen and women and make glorious grownup animated features of the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Aeneid, followed by the Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso.
P.S. After posting this entry, I caught up with the article in the Chicago Sun Times about the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, currently in the headlines as the designer of the Fordham Spire. After watching Calatrava sketch a tree then a figure, Sun Times architecture critic Kevin Nance is so impressed he exclaims, "What a Disney animator he would have been!" Guess I'm not alone in my grownup animation fantasy...
Posted by mbayles at 10:18 AM
July 28, 2005
Hustle & Annoy?
Haven't seen the new "crunk" rap movie, Hustle & Flow, but from what I can gather, it is not sitting well with a number of African-American commentators. See articles by Stanley Crouch of the New York Daily News and Wesley Morris of the Boston Globe, just to name two.
Posted by mbayles at 9:33 PM
July 26, 2005
That's Entertainment
Recently I compared Hotel Rwanda (excellent) with Sometimes in April (excellent in a different way: the lead actor cannot compete with the brilliant Don Cheadle, but the film itself feels more authentic). Anyway, Rwanda is at least a visible blip on the media screen these days, which is ironic, given what Nicholas Kristof writes in today's New York Times about the unspeakable neglect of Darfur by the so-called network news. Maybe ten years from now, a dramatic film about the genocide in Darfur will win a prize at Sundance, and we can all enjoy feeling bad about what we didn't do today.
Posted by mbayles at 10:20 AM
July 21, 2005
Video Virgil: Saint Che...Not
I loved The Motorcycle Diaries. Warm, funny, emotionally powerful, it takes the viewer on a visually stunning journey northward along the mountainous spine of South America with two young Argentinians, dreamy Ernesto and earthy Alberto, who rattle along like a mid-20th-century Don Quijote and Sancho Panza on an oil-spitting Rocinante, until they discover their destiny, which is to trade their bourgeois future for a life devoted to the poor.
I also loved the soulful performances of the two stars, Gael Garcia Bernal and Rodrigo de la Serna, and of all the other actors and non-actors who grace the screen. In the best sense, this is not Hollywood.
But it is also not true. Maybe Ernesto "Che" Guevara was brave, kind, and loving when young. But he didn't stay that way. In a 1967 address to his fellow communists, he highlighted the importance of "hatred as an element of the struggle; unbending hatred for the enemy, which pushes a human being beyond his natural limitations, making him into an effective, violent, selective, and cold-blooded killing machine."
To place this remark into the context of Guevara's actual career, see this article by Peruvian historian Alvaro Vargas Llosa in the current New Republic. After reading that essay, you may want to retire your Che T-shirt and pick up your Cervantes.
Posted by mbayles at 10:45 AM
July 15, 2005
New Releases: Beyond the Sea
The best thing about Beyond the Sea, Kevin Spacey's uneven biopic about Bobby Darin, is its sympathy for the awkward position Darin occupied, in the 1950s and 60s, between pop music and rock'n'roll. Born Walden Robert Cassotto in 1936, Darin was only one year younger than Elvis. But he was not a Southerner; he was an Italian-American from the Bronx, and his dominant musical influences were not the great black and white stars of rhythm & blues, country & western, and gospel, but the great Italian pop singers, from Tony Bennett to Sinatra.
Pop was the residue of the big band era, a music focused on the fine-grained, microphone-magnified vocalism disparaged as "crooning" by ignorant critics. It could be that, but when practiced by singers as subtle and brilliant as Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Torme, or Sarah Vaughan, it approaches the sublime. (See related entry under Soundtrax.)
All the more pity today's young 'uns don't know any better than to call this whole body of work "lounge music." Blame their parents: for the 60s generation, pop was the ancien régime against which their beloved rock'n'roll was the revolution.
So Darin turned to pop in 1959 and never let go (I will pass in respectful silence over his early 70s foray into "folk"). For all its faults (and there are many), Beyond the Sea is worth seeing for the sheer effort Spacey makes to replicate that bygone sound and attitude - an effort all the more poignant because Darin himself was replicating it. Bless him, he was an anachronism all his life.
Posted by mbayles at 11:00 PM
July 14, 2005
All Of The Above
It's been fun speculating about the box office slump - almost as much fun as watching the record industry collapse under its own weight. But I'm going to have to find another subject to write about, because Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle has summed up the entire situation.
With particular delight I recommend Mr. LaSalle's "Reason 6: Going to the Movies on a Saturday Night Has Become a Fairly Hideous, Repulsive Experience":
Art houses and repertory houses are exempt from this observation. Those theaters preserve the moviegoing experience as a fun, rewarding collective activity. But to spend Saturday night going to see a major release at a multiplex can be more stressful than going to work the first Monday after vacation.
It costs $10 for a ticket and almost another 10 for something at the concession stand, and you have to wait in line to buy both. To get a decent seat, you have to get there 20 minutes before the show starts, and once it starts, you have to sit through seven or eight trailers, then advertisements for TV shows and then commercials.
By now, 50 minutes have gone by and you haven't seen anything. Finally, the movie comes on, and it's lousy. It ends, and you get banged around to the exit and then have the fun of fighting with your fellow patrons to get out of the parking lot. And half of them are so jacked up by caffeine and screen violence that they think they're Vin Diesel.
Posted by mbayles at 9:48 AM
July 12, 2005
Set Straight
I thank Dr. Taso G. Lagos for the following correction of an important detail in my July 4 posting, "The East is Green":
You indicated that since 1948 it has been illegal for movie studios to produce, distribute AND also own the theaters in which the films are shown. This practice is called "vertical integration." While it was illegal after 1948, since 1985, under the Reagan Administration, those prohibitions [the Paramount Consent Decrees] have been relaxed and now most major movie houses in America are owned by the major studios (the only exception is Disney, which at this writing, does not own any interest in movie theaters). So in Time Warner opening up theaters in China, this is hardly unusual. It has been going on here for 20 years, although silently ... By "silently" I mean that it was not widely publicized that this change took place in the mid-1980s. So far as I know, only the Wall Street Journal reported about it, and it was not a big deal.
Posted by mbayles at 9:46 AM
July 8, 2005
Up Close and Personal
Maybe the world is past wondering what goes on in the minds of suicide bombers. But what about a suicide bomber who is deeply conflicted about her mission and could go either way? In the aftermath of the London attacks, I recommend a quiet but powerful little film called "The Terrorist."
Written and directed by Santosh Sivan, this 1999 film relates the story of Malli (Ayesha Dharker), a young Indian woman who, wishing to revenge the death of her brother, volunteers to assassinate a political figure by serving as an official greeter who while offering him flowers will detonate a bomb hidden under her clothing.
The camera follows Malli through every step of preparing, then waiting, for the explosion that will rip apart her body and that of her victim. I put it that way because Malli's body, in all its vitality, youth, and sensuous delight, is very much the star of this film.
Malli doesn't talk much; she listens. She listens to her handlers: ideologues who, while not religious (the film is based on the 1991 assassination of Rajiv Gandhi), clearly see the life of ordinary people as vastly inferior to the death of glorious martyrs. But Malli also listens to birds, breezes, bubbling brooks, and her own heartbeat - not to mention the voices of other human beings who do not share the fanaticism du jour. And in the end...
Posted by at 1:50 AM
July 6, 2005
No Room At Hotel Rwanda
Amazingly, a better film than "Hotel Rwanda"aired on HBO this March and is now available on DVD. Don't be fooled by the wistful title; this drama set during and after the 1994 genocide in Rwanda is about as uncompromising as a film can be, and still be watchable.
Mercifully, "Sometimes in April" does not show much more graphic violence than "Hotel Rwanda" does. But by focusing on the lives of a half-dozen people for whom refuge in the Hotel Milles Collines was not an option, it brings us closer to the full horror of those terrible 100 days, when hate-maddened Hutus slaughtered almost a million of their Tutsi and Hutu countrymen.
What I find most impressive is the skill with which writer-director Raoul Peck weaves a handful of personal stories into the fabric of a national catastrophe. This is hard to do well, as most would-be historical storytellers soon discover.
But after a slow start, we become totally absorbed in the fates of Augustin (Idris Elba), a Hutu soldier who refuses to join the killing; his wife Jeanne (Carole Karemera), a Tutsi who tries to escape with her children; Augustin's brother Honoré (Oris Erhuero), a radio host who as the story opens is being tried by a 2004 war crimes tribunal for having broadcast hate propaganda; and finally, Martine (Pamela Novete), the headmistress of a Catholic school attended by Augustin's and Jeanne's daughter.
These are urban middle-class people and therefore easy for Westerners to identify with. But unlike "Hotel Rwanda," which further cultivates the Western viewer by including sympathetic American and European characters, "Sometimes in April" draws us toward the rural poor, including some older people (not actors) whose brief appearances evoke both the searing emotion and the exhausted indifference felt by anyone who survives events like those of April 1994.
A personal note: both films cut away to Washington, DC, where the Clinton administration was stepping on its own tongue trying not to use the G-word, because to call what was happening "genocide" would have obliged the world to take action. It's easy to denounce well fed officials for doing nothing, but I was living in Washington at that time, and that same month was the publication date of a book I had been working on for a long time. So I spent those 100 days flogging my book. This is never a pretty sight, but it is even less so in the sobering hindsight provided by this film.
Posted by at 3:00 PM
July 4, 2005
The East Is Green
Ever since 1948, when the Justice Department won its lawsuit, U.S. v. Paramount, against the major movie studios, it has been illegal for a company to produce and distribute movies while also owning the theaters in which they are shown.
If you read carefully the article in today's New York Times about the high hopes of Hollywood in China, you will notice that the rule laid down by that 1948 case does not apply there. For example, Time Warner is investing not only in production and distribution but also in "more than 70 cinemas around the country in preparation for a potential theater-going boom."
Americans like to think that our movies are just so wonderful, the world can't get enough of them. On the whole, we reject the left's now stale-sounding accusations of "US cultural imperialism." But despite the genuine popularity of our films worldwide, there has always been an element of coercion involved, as well as a distinctly double standard regarding business ethics.
This is an old story. During World War I, the fledgling studios made domestic propaganda films for the Committee on Public Information, and after the war, Washington repaid the studios by pressuring war-weakened European governments to allow the import of US films. Without this help, countries like France (then the leading supplier of films in the world) would have been more successful in keeping the US out of European markets.
This process got racheted up after World War II, when despite much rhetoric about free markets, Washington exerted extremely heavy pressure toward the same goal, while in the process allowing the studios to engage in monopolistic practices overseas that were outlawed at home. In a nutshell, they were allowed to form a cartel, the Motion Picture Export Association, that conspired against foreign theater owners by acting as a single distributor, booking films in �blocks,� threatening to cut off supply if theater owners showed non-US films, and allocating foreign profits based on domestic box-office receipts.
The studios were also given a huge advantage over foreign competitors by the Informational Media Guaranty Program (1948), which reimbursed them in dollars for all films sold to countries with soft or inconvertible currencies. And finally, the Marshall Plan for Europe contained provisions linking financial aid to the willingness of foreign governments to reduce or eliminate import quotas on American films.
A few years later, TV followed same pattern. In 1960 the Television Program Export Association enlisted the aid of the State Department in overcoming foreign resistance to �Batman,� �Mod Squad,� and �The Fugitive.� Especially after the movie studios began producing TV shows, they made the same case for the small screen that they had made for the large - that exporting entertainment was not just good business but also good PR. As Harrison Salisbury once said, �American pictures are the best and most forceful medium for selling the United States.�
This may still be good business, but is it good PR? That is a question very much on my mind these days...
Posted by at 1:45 AM
June 30, 2005
Good News! More Manure!
In a fine piece outlining all the reasons why movie theaters are hemorrhaging money these days, the Baltimore Sun quotes the upbeat projection of Dan Fellman, president of Warner Bros. distribution: "We could still have that surprise this year."
What surprise? "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" in July, and "The Dukes of Hazzard" in August. And if these fail to reverse the tide (perish the thought), other industry spokesmen predict a really big summer next year, when millions of excitement-starved theatergoers will flock to blockbuster sequels like "Mission: Impossible 3," "X-Men 3," "Superman Returns," "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," and "Indiana Jones 4."
Usually I am the child who believes that with all this crap, there must be a pony in there somewhere. But even I get tired of digging when the pile just keeps getting higher.
Posted by at 10:00 AM
Video Virgil: Seniority
Neither Istv�n Szab� nor Ronald Harwood are getting any younger, and it has been a long time since W. Somerset Maugham topped the bestseller list. Maybe that's why several critics praised Annette Bening's performance in "Being Julia" but disparaged the film itself, adapted from Maugham's 1937 novel, "Theatre," about a 40-something actress in 1930s London trying to stay in the game.
Roger Ebert described the "basic material" as "wheezy melodrama"; Mark Kermode of the Guardian called the film "contrived fluff"; and Slate's David Edelstein found aspects of it "shopworn" and "old-fashioned." These comments are surprising, given the perennial appeal of the 1930s and 40s in films of all kinds.Why pick on "Being Julia"? The answer, I fear, is that it is about a theme most film critics do not find interesting: how a woman of a certain age needs just the right mixture of defiance and resignation.
In the few films that bother to treat women over 40 as people rather than stock characters or props, defiance is the preferred mode, because the assumption is that (to quote Cole Porter) the gals who are no longer hot tomatoes are yesterday's mashed potatoes. If Stella Can't Get Her Groove Back, why go on living? This is why, when Julia starts an affair with a much younger man, Tom (Shaun Evans), we are supposed to applaud her brave, futile gesture but then wait for her to lose him and then fade bitterly away.
She doesn't, of course, which is why so many women admire this film. But here's where the resignation comes in, because defiance only takes Julia so far. She cannot be hotter than Avice (Lucy Punch), the gangly blonde who seduces both Tom and her husband (Jeremy Irons). But she can be cooler. After gloriously upstaging Avice, and everyone else, Julia does something women in movies rarely do: she dines alone, content to be in her own company. If this is wheezy, contrived, shopworn, and old-fashioned, please tell me what other movies made it so.
Posted by at 8:00 AM
June 4, 2005
Video Virgil: Deep Grey
Are the American occupation forces in Afghanistan and Iraq heroes or villains? The world is full of righteous souls who know the answer and will brook no argument. But to anyone who reflects on what those forces have been asked to do, the answer looks grey.
That is why, when the time comes to make a meaningful film about America's war on terror, I nominate a South African, Ronald Harwood, to write the screenplay, and a Hungarian, Istv�n Szab�, to direct. Harwood's credits include "The Pianist" (2002), "Cry, the Beloved Country" (1995), "The Browning Version" (1994), "The Dresser" (1983), and "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" (1970); while Szab�'s include "Sunshine" (1999) and "Mephisto" (1981).
Harwood and Szab� recently collaborated on "Being Julia" (2004), about an aging actress in 1930s London. But more pertinent to today's distressing headlines is "Taking Sides" (2001), a remarkable film about the interrogation of the eminent German conductor, Wilhelm F�rtwangler, by U.S. occupation authorities right after the war.
Set amid the rubble of bombed-out Berlin, "Taking Sides" stars Stellan Skarsg�rd as F�rtwangler, a proud, weary highbrow who served but also defied the Nazi regime; and Harvey Keitel as Major Steve Arnold, an edgy, aggressive lowbrow who takes very much to heart the de-nazification directive not to be fooled by German charm or intelligence.
Already you can see the difference between "Taking Sides" and the long line of Hollywood flicks stretching back to "Judgment at Nuremberg." In most of those films, the victorious Yanks have all the advantages, not just the obvious moral one but civilizational ones, as well. With the possible exception of Jimmy Cagney hamming it up as a Coca-Cola carpetbagger in Billy Wilder's hilarious "One, Two, Three" (1961), victorious Yanks in Hollywood movies tend to be just as cultivated as the Germans, only much nicer about it.
Not Major Arnold. He doesn't know Beethoven from Br�ckner, and he could give a flying fig. What he cares about is screwing any sonofabitch who played footsie with the bastards responsible for Bergen-Belsen. He is a combination rare in the movies: a crude bully who also happens to be right. And the only reason we applaud his bullying is because it is in service to a political system that (most of the time) places curbs on the freedom of bullies. By making the victor a worse man than the vanquished, this film achieves a tragic sense that is unusual, to say the least, in this genre.
The tragic sense is heightened by terrific performances by two young actors playing Major Arnold's assistants: Birgit Minichmayr as Emmi Straube, the daughter of one of the officers who plotted to kill Hitler; and Moritz Bleibtreu as Lt. David Wills, a German-born Jew whose parents sent him to America just before the rest of the family were engulfed. Although "Taking Sides" errs in not emphasizing fully the evidence that led to F�rtwangler's eventual acquittal, it more than makes up for that by revealing the deep grey depths where justice is never more than an approximation.
Posted by at 2:20 AM
May 25, 2005
Hacks and Flacks: The State of Arts Criticism
Columbia University reported Monday that it is closing its well known National Arts Journalism Program. AJ helmsman Doug McLennan and fellow blogger Jan Herman have been posting insightful commentary about this, and the LA Times has published a long piece about the decline of traditional criticism.
I have a lot more than two cents riding on this debate, but for the moment, let me ante up the following:
The overriding problem is what linguist Deborah Tannen calls "the argument culture": the media�s habit of framing every topic as a highly polarized debate between two extremes, even when this is not appropriate. This has a distorting effect on many issues, including the arts. Just think about the quality of discussion, even among reputable critics, on issues like government funding of the arts; violence in entertainment; censorship and the Internet; and the "canon" in the humanities.
These powerful cross currents can be tricky for critics and other arts journalists to negotiate, especially they are operating in a culture that does not have any coherent, agreed-upon standards by which to make aesthetic judgments. Too often, critics and reviewers muddle along, using several competing standards, each inherited from a different phase in the history of Western art.
What critics have trouble doing is developing their own robust, well grounded taste. "Taste" is an antique concept but an irreplaceable one. Most people, even cultural theorists who would not grant the concept any credence in their academic work, exercise taste all the time in their non-academic life. Just ask them about the last movie they saw, or (even better) the music their kids are listening to.
But because taste is something of a taboo topic in academia, many well credentialed critics do not feel very confident of their own judgment, which makes them vulnerable to being swept up by one or the other side in the so-called culture war. Next thing the hapless critic knows, he or she has become a hack: someone who writes about the arts from an overly ideological perspective.
Hacks exist on both sides of the political fence. But hackdom is always a dead end.
On the left, the hack soon reaches an impasse: while making a principled case for total artistic freedom, he or she must accept ever greater excess from what I call the culture of transgression - art whose sole purpose is to �shock the bourgeois� (assuming this can still be done).
On the right, the hack faces a contradiction: on the one hand, a libertarian shrug that assigns all evaluative functions to the market; and on the other, a righteous crusade that looks askance at any work not didactically committed to religious and moral uplift.
Caught in this cross current, the unwary critic steers by his or her subjective judgment. Readers accept this, because it is typically assumed that aesthetic judgments are wholly subjective. But danger arises when the rudderless subjectivity of the journalist meets the blandishments of PR people in the arts, to say nothing of entertainment. Before you can say "flack,� the critic is repeating the latest press releases and dropping the hottest names.
These pressures can be resisted, but only if the budding critic takes the time to think through the essential questions of aesthetic standards: where they come from, how they have changed, what their truth claims are, and how they operate in a diverse, decentralized, pluralistic culture like ours. I don't know for sure, but I doubt whether the case for arts journalism programs is often made in these terms.
Posted by at 1:15 AM
May 23, 2005
Redford Logs On To SP!?!
You can interpret the following however you like, but I am choosing to conclude from it that my recent postings have caught the eye of Robert Redford. (As you read this, Mr. R., don't forget about the latte.)
From the New York Times (May 23, 2005):
ARTS, BRIEFLY
Compiled by BEN SISARIO
"Sundance to Open Theater Chain"
"The Sundance Group, owned by Robert Redford, will open a chain of theaters for independent, documentary and foreign-language films, as well as some studio projects, The Associated Press reported. The new chain, Sundance Cinemas, is to be operated by the theater management team of Paul Richardson and Bert Manzari, who have worked together since opening a theater in 1975. The number of new theaters was not announced, but Mr. Manzari said Sundance Cinemas is looking nationally for locations."
Posted by at 12:10 PM
May 21, 2005
One-Horse Town Gets It Right
Colleen Schmoyer writes from Annville, PA:
"Take heart, for even in my one-horse town of Annville near Hershey,
Pennsylvania, we have a benevolent man that renovated a 30's-era theatre above and beyond its original glory, but kept the good parts (like the removable-type marquee) and added an adjoining, hip cafe. The Allen shows a mixture of first- and second-run mainstream and independent films, as well as playing host to some jazz and live theatre events. People increasingly come from Harrisburg (the capital of Pennsylvania) just to see this little piece of heaven. Maybe it will indeed catch on - Harrisburg itself has in recent years opened a now-successful art film house of its own."
Link to this theater and see what you think -- can it be franchised?
Posted by at 12:15 PM
May 20, 2005
Hate Those Sticky Floors
An article in today's Christian Science Monitor asks whether the new "Star Wars" prequel will reverse the overall decline in theater-going. Surely not! Long before we humble consumers figured out that we were not alone in preferring to watch DVDs at home, the industry had us pegged. For some years now, Hollywood has been happy to take its real profits from shiny little discs ("'Blood Out Tha Wazoo'! Own it now!") than from all those dreadful cineplexes with their icky decor, endless ads and previews, crummy projection and sound, and sticky floors.
Yet much as I dislike the cineplex, I regret the prospect of no more movie-going. Like railroads, movie theaters are so full of memories and meanings, it hurts to think of them as obsolete. At the moment such feelings attach mainly to those theaters that have a sense of place and history. Fortunately, many of these are now part of the Landmark chain, which does a pretty good business showing first-run independent and foreign films.
But Landmark theaters do not exist in many parts of the country, and that leaves millions stuck with the choice between cineplex and home. I wonder, then, why some smart entrepreneur doesn't enter this market with a new kind of cineplex.
Think Borders. Think Starbucks. Millions of people gravitate to these places, because while not historic or exclusively highbrow, they offer pleasant, interesting surroundings and fare suited to human beings over the age of 12. Why not do the same with a chain of small, classy movie theaters? They could even serve latte! And although this is probably too much to hope for, an audience built on such theaters might even stimulate the production of more midsize movies suited to human beings over the age of 12.
Posted by at 12:45 PM
May 18, 2005
"Terrible Americans" Defended
I regret to report that you, dear readers, have failed to send enough cash to get me to Cannes this year. No matter. My British colleague Clive Davis offers this report on the fulminations of Lars von Trier, the Danish director who specializes in showing the "dark underside" of America (although he's never been here, because he is afraid to fly). What can I say to a guy who complains that my country is occupying 60 percent of his brain?
Posted by at 7:20 AM
May 13, 2005
Kingdom of ... uh, whatever
There's something missing in "Kingdom of Heaven," Ridley Scott's latest eye-popper about the Second Crusade. But most of the reviews don't tell you what. Instead, they blame the star, Orlando Bloom, for lacking "true gravitas" (Austin Chronicle). Some express regret that Russell Crowe was not available to play Balian, the humble blacksmith who ends up defending Jerusalem against the Muslim general Saladin. Others bash Bloom for being a "pretty boy" barely able to swing a sword.
I will grant that Bloom is not the industrial-strength warrior type. But neither is Elijah Wood, who as Frodo in "The Fellowship of the Rings" did a pretty good job of battling Orcs. No, the problem is the script. Written by one-time novelist and first-time screenwriter William Monahan, it is painfully laconic and annoyingly noncommittal.
I know, I know. Hollywood is under a lot of pressure to eliminate human language from its product. Research has shown that popcorn-munching skateboarders don't like "talky" movies. Foreigners don't like subtitles. And DVD-watching couch potatoes don't like dialogue about stuff they didn't bother to learn about in school. But give me a break. This film wants to make a statement, and you can't do that without talking.
What is the statement Scott wants to make? In a world riven by religious fear and hatred, he seeks to dignify religious tolerance, past and present. To some extent, he succeeds: those who mock "Kingdom of Heaven" as politically correct and anachronistic are mistaken. Mercy and justice were not unknown in the 12th century. For example, Saladin (played magnificently by the Syrian actor Ghassan Massoud) was an extremely devout Muslim who was nonetheless capable of compromising with Christians and Jews when it was in his interest to do so.
The main problem, according to historian Thomas F. Madden , is that in its effort to tout tolerance, "The Kingdom of Heaven" waters down the religiosity of all the characters. How much more timely and interesting this film would be if someone had dared to show deeply, even zealously religious people practicing tolerance!
After all, Dante was a medieval Christian, and he respected Saladin enough to put him in Limbo with the great pagan poets and philosophers. But then, Dante wasn't afraid to write about great themes in the vernacular...
Posted by at 10:15 AM
May 10, 2005
Posted by at 9:08 AM
The Ten Guidelines
The college freshmen I teach may be forgiven for having a shaky grasp of the Bible. Some have never read a page of it; others have absorbed it in highly diluted form. So naturally they say things like, "Oh, I thought the Ten Commandments were more like guidelines." But in my experience, they change their tune after actually reading the Bible (especially when translated by Robert Alter and Reynolds Price). Believers and non-believers alike are struck by its beauty, oddness, and intimidating severity.
The diluted form is still out there, though. In 2002 the newly launched (and unfortunately named) Crusader Entertainment, backed by Colorado billionaire Philip Anschutz, released "Joshua," its first overtly "Christian" film, through a subsidiary called Epiphany Films. "Joshua" tackles a challenging topic: the arrival of Jesus in small town America. But it has nothing to say, either about Jesus or about small town America. Instead, it depicts Jesus as a nice fellow being nice to already nice folks who then become even nicer. The one person who is not so nice, a Catholic priest intent upon enforcing the Ten Guidelines, becomes much nicer at the end.
Skip the cross, cue the music, we're outta here.
"Joshua" is popular in the surreal realm of "Christian" entertainment, where the standard fare is a bowl of sugar with honey and molasses on top. But to his credit, Anschutz took a different tack after backing this dud. He has backed a number of mainstream films, the best of which is "Ray" ( see SP review ). And in December his subsidiary, Walden Films (in conjunction with Disney), will release "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," the first feature film based on the Narnia children's books by C. S. Lewis.
Lewis, of course, was a highly literate Christian who spent his life arguing against the kind of "feel-good" faith that makes God into "a grandfather in heaven - a senile benevolence who, as they say, 'liked to see young people enjoying themselves.'" For Lewis, the God of the Bible is "something more than mere kindness ... He has paid us the intolerable compliment of loving us, in the deepest, most tragic, most inexorable sense."
Can this stern view succeed at the box office? The singular example I can think of is "Dead Man Walking," Tim Robbins's brilliant film about the Death Row ministry of Sister Helen Prejean. Some conservative Christians I know admire this film. But you won't find it listed on most of the sugary "Christian" websites, because after all, it was made by Hollywood liberals. What can I say? Maybe some of those who call for better movies while thumping the Bible ought to try reading it instead.
Posted by at 1:30 AM
May 4, 2005
The Tea Sipper's Guide to Absurdity
If the universe is meaningless, should we laugh or cry? According to the Theater of the Absurd, born on the Left Bank in the 1940s and now on life support in a million high school drama clubs, neither laughter nor tears is appropriate. Instead, we are enjoined to watch actors shuffle onto a half-lit stage with no scenery (except maybe a dead tree), glare at us with befuddled expressions, and (either by talking or by not talking) say nothing at all.
I always wondered why, if the universe were meaningless, we had to sit through plays by Beckett, Genet, and Pinter. Why not attend lavish productions of Broadway musicals? Or skip the theater and go roller skating? Or (pushing the envelope here) kidnap small children and drop them into vats of boiling oil?
Some (not all) of the same questions seem to have occurred to Douglas Adams, author of the 1970s radio series, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," which over the next 30 years spawned several novels, a TV series, and now the top-grossing film in America. If the universe is meaningless, then why not follow the example of the hero, an ineffectual Brit named Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman), and hitch a ride on a passing spaceship, because one fine morning the Earth blows up with him still in his jammies?
Strange but true: most of the Adams fans out there seem to find the universe profoundly meaningful. Why else would they be blogging so madly about how the forces of evil (Touchstone Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment) have corrupted the pure art of their shining hero (Adams)? One is tempted to say, get a religion. Most of the big ones are at least as clever as Adams.
Oh, well. The movie is fun. I liked the singing dolphins - the second most intelligent life form (after mice) bidding farewell to the third most intelligent (us) by singing, "So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish." I liked the Babel Fish, a life form that when stuck into the ear of any other life form, enables it to understand the languages of all. I liked the crusty female computer who, after humming away for untold years, announces the answer to the ultimate question: "42." I liked the no-nonsense planet designer, Slartibartfast (Bill Nighy) who won an award for the Norwegian fjords.
And I especially liked the cool, minimalist graphics used to illustrate lessons from the guidebook of the title. For instance, after the main story ends, there's a tag about how the denizens of a distant galaxy become so enraged at the rebuilt Earth, they send a mighty invasion force to destroy it. But (as we see in the nifty little drawings) they miscalculate the scale, and their force arrives no bigger than a golf ball and is gulped down by a suburban dog.
This is a very cool meaninglessness. Indeed, they could have made the whole movie out of these graphics, and I would have skipped a whole evening of Albee to see it.
Posted by at 7:40 AM
May 3, 2005
The Roots of Civility
In my review of the movie "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room" (see below), I marvel at the courtesy of motorists in Southern California. In case you are having trouble reconciling that observation with the recent freeway shootings there, I offer the following, from Verlyn Klinkenborg in today's New York Times:
"These shootings change the very idea of the freeway ... I've been struck by the attentiveness and skill of the drivers around me, by the fact that nearly everyone signals a change of lane and tries to keep a reasonable distance between vehicles. In three months of freeway driving here, I can count on one hand the number of times I've heard a horn sounded in anger. And now I know why.
If nothing else, these good driving manners express the centrality of the freeway system in the consciousness of Southern California. I've begun to think of those lanes as a giant public square spreading all across the city, a square where most people try to contribute their mite of civility in hopes of keeping the overall experience as tolerable as possible. But there's another way to look at it. The civility on display may reflect nothing more than the profound hostility lying just below the surface.
As a friend from Fullerton puts it, you drive politely, without challenging other drivers even implicitly, because 'they're packing.' No one honks because no one wants a fight. People use their turn signals to say, as innocently as possible: 'Changing lanes now! Not cutting in! No disrespect intended!'"
Mr. Klinkenborg makes perfect sense. But my question is, why doesn't this work in Boston?
Posted by at 9:00 AM
April 30, 2005
Road Rage
In 2001, when the "rolling blackouts" doused the traffic lights in my part of Los Angeles, I was amazed at the behavior of the drivers. East Coast motorists would have cut directly to Demolition Derby. But not those Californians. Even at the major intersections, they spontaneously slowed down and began to take turns. It was enough to restore my faith in human nature.
Of course, if those polite Golden Staters had been able to hear the cackling of the Houston hyenas who were messing with their power grid, they might have raised a posse and headed straight for South Texas. For the scavengers of Enron were not only ripping off the whole state, they were joking about how much fun it was to gouge the old, the sick, and the poor.
The main thing you need to know about "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room," is that it is NOT a film by Michael Moore. It uses some of the same tricks, such as a soundtrack full of sardonic counterpoint (for example, a clip of President Reagan extolling "the magic of the market" is followed by footage of a natural gas facility, accompanied by the song, "That Old Black Magic"). But the tricks are in service to a solid indictment, not a half-whacked conspiracy theory.
Some have criticized "Enron" for being too admiring of Head Hyenas Kenneth Lay, Jeffrey Skilling, Andy Fastow, and Lou Pai. And yes, it does drool a bit over their bad selves. Based on the eponymous book by Fortune writers Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind, the film also relies heavily on the testimony of former Enron employees who (to judge by their plush surroundings) deserted the sinking ship with their Rocquefort intact. Of all the people interviewed, only one man speaks for the 20,000 employees whose cheese disappeared into the pockets of "the smartest guys in the room."
It is worth noting that while three of the Head Hyenas wait to have their wrists slapped by Blind Justice, the fourth, Lou Pai, turns out to be the smartest guy of all. After helping his subsidiary, Enron Energy Services, lose $18.8 billion and put 5,500 people out of work, Pai made off with $270 million. Then he divorced his wife, married his favorite stripper, and bought a 77,5000-acre chunk of the Sangre de Cristo mountains in southern Colorado.
To be sure, Pai later sold the property when it looked as though the locals were going to win a lawsuit over water and timber rights. But he did OK, I'm sure. You won't see him on BET any time soon, but the man is a "playa."
Unseemly though it is, the aforementioned drool is what makes "Enron" convincing. The whole country thought these guys were "smart." And the last I checked, the popular definition of the word has not changed. For too many Americans, "smart" still means, "Screw you, I'm driving my armored Hummer right through the intersection."
Posted by at 10:30 AM
April 27, 2005
Some Like It Microwaved
Finally, what everyone hasn't been waiting for: a character-driven XXX-rated art film. Reports Stephen Holden of the NY Times, this year's TriBeCa Film Festival will include two screenings of "9 Songs," a 70-minute indie about two nice people who while not in love regularly take time out of their busy schedules to make the funky monkey.
It's all perfectly normal, except for some kinky maneuvers at the end. And of course, that clever little camera showing us stuff that not even the lovers can see (because their eyes are located on their heads).
Years ago, observes Mr. Holden, the line for such a film would have stretched around the block. But today, why bother? It's so much easier to stay home and watch tumescent organs flail away on your computer.
The "9 Songs" gimmick is to combine porn explicitness with conventional narrative. But as Holden notes, this makes the viewer feel like a voyeur.
Now, a defender of "9 Songs" might say that's exactly the point: to discomfit us by connecting the action below the neck with the action above. And who would argue against such a connection? Real sex with a real person is presumably what most of us seek.
But usually this search does not entail spying on others. What's weird about this movie is that its starting place is not sex in the world but porn on the screen. The guests of the TriBeCa Film Festival will decide whether that is worth lining up for.
Posted by at 11:00 AM
April 25, 2005
Screen Smarts?
There are few cliches sturdier than the one about TV encouraging "passivity" and "mindlessness." Whether stated simply by a frustrated parent or elaborated upon by a communications theorist, this cliche basically boils down to the idea that it is more of a workout, cognitively speaking, to read print than to watch a screen.
An interesting challenge to this idea can be found in yesterday's New York Times Magazine , in which Steven Johnson argues that today's most popular and sophisticated TV shows have a much more complex and demanding structure than the leading shows of just a few years ago.
The truth of this will be driven home if you've ever watched "The Sopranos" or "The West Wing" with an octogenerian: the multiple plots, the references to previous episodes, the use of dialogue not as meaning but as "texture," the withholding of detail to tease the viewer - such devices only confuse people whose viewing experience was shaped by the regular pace and clear exposition of programs like "Gunsmoke" and "Perry Mason."
This stuff is fascinating, and I agree with Mr. Johnson that it refutes the cliche about "passivity." But I disagree with his conclusion that newfangled TV "makes us smarter." For one thing, as he notes, many of these devices come from soap opera, a genre known to be addictive but not especially educative.
For another, the skills involved - observing a large number of people, keeping track of their doings, basically getting the goods on them - are ancient and universal (another name for them is "gossip," or perhaps, "politics"). And while these skills are vital to success in any age, they do not add up to what is currently defined as "smart." In the higher reaches of the professions and the workplace generally, "smart" still refers to what is learned in school. And, like it or not, at home - when the TV is turned off.
Posted by at 9:50 AM
women execs
Posted by at 8:47 AM
April 21, 2005
Video Virgil: The Wansee Conference
In my last entry I judged "Downfall" to be a superior film on the strength of one character, Magda, the stern wife of Josef Goebbels. Of all the characters in the film, she is the one who conveys the difference between ordinary and extraordinary evil.
Where did I get this standard? From "The Wansee Conference," a 1984 German TV film broadcast on PBS in 1989. (It is not available on DVD but can be rented or bought on VHS.) Based on the research of a Prussian-born Israeli, Manfred Korytowski, this German-Austrian coproduction recreates in real time (85 minutes) the clandestine 1942 meeting that set in motion the last phase of the "final solution." The script is taken directly from the notes of that meeting, and there is no music or other add-ons. Just brilliant acting and direction.
Present at the Wansee Conference were the top brass of the Party and SS, assorted military men and bureaucrats, a note-taking stenographer (the lone woman), and Reinhard Heydrich, head of the security police and golden boy predicted to succeed Hitler. Like Magda, Heydrich (played by Dietrich Mattausch) is not an icy robot or a snarling wolf but something worse: an elegant, arrogant human being with a silver tongue and a winning sense of irony about the difficult task ahead.
For example, at one point Heydrich indicates on a map how the remnants of European Jewry are still "scattered all over like fly-specks." Just back from heading the "murder battalions" that killed more than a million Jews in occupied Soviet territory, Heydrich informs Rudolf Lange, the Gestapo chief for the Eastern Territories, that he will soon be receiving more "shipments from the Reich."
When Heydrich first arrived, Lange greeted him a heel-clicking report, "Estonia, Jew-free!" But now we see Lange's hands trembling at the news. "We didn't really plan on starting up again," he protests feebly. Richly amused, Heydrich orders cognac and starts to flirt with the stenographer.
Do not for a moment confuse this film with the HBO film "Conspiracy" (2001) starring Kenneth Branagh as Heydrich. "Conspiracy" is standard Nazi-movie fare, with a bunch of English actors looking severe and repressed, like a public school headmaster about to cane some boy's bottom.
"The Wansee Conference" is different. The actors speak German, for one thing. But more important, they remind us that the Holocaust was not designed by cartoon bad guys but by proud, intelligent human beings at the peak of their capacities - including the capacity for evil.
Posted by at 4:30 AM
April 18, 2005
The Damning Remnant
Can any movie capture the massive evil of the Third Reich, or has the whole business become a self-referential media cliche? Every time another earnest, gloomy film about World War II and/or the Shoah is released, a little voice in my head says, "Dollar for dollar, your Nazis are still your best entertainment bargain!"
But "Downfall" ("Der Untergang") provokes no such voice. For one thing, it is not a self-congratulatory American film but a self-lacerating German one. For another, it is not about the victims but about the victimizers. By focusing tightly on Adolf Hitler and his inner circle, hunkered down in the "F�hrerbunker" while the Red Army blasts its way into Berlin, this film depicts the Nazis not as Them but as Us.
Naturally, this disconcerts some people. For example, when "Downfall" premiered in Germany, it was sharply criticized in the highbrow weekly "Die Zeit" by the eminent director Wim Wenders. By portraying Hitler on a human scale, Wenders argued, the film effectively denies the global scale of his wickedness. The subsequent debate has been over whether it is acceptable to portray Adolf Hitler as human (which the fine Swiss actor Bruno Ganz definitely does). To that question the answer is easy: Yes. It is not only acceptable but necessary to portray Hitler as human. Had he been a demon, then humanity would be off the hook.
But the real question is one of scale. "Downfall" focuses on four sympathetic characters: Tarudl Junger, Hitler�s naive young secretary; Peter, a 13-year-old boy trying to be a war hero; Dr. Schenck, an army medic harrowed by the suffering of ordinary Berliners; and Albert Speer, high-toned architect to the F�hrer. To foreground the plight of these four is to background the horror being done in their name. If that were the sum total of "Downfall," then Wenders would be right.
But that is not the sum total of "Downfall." Along with these four characters, this film gives us one of the most convincing movie Nazis ever seen: not Hitler, Himmler, G�ring, or G�bbels, but Magda, G�bbels� wife, played stunningly by Corinna Harfouch, a renowned theater actress from the former East Germany.
More than any man in uniform, Magda is a true soldier of the Reich. Her rigidly correct manner, her impeccable dress, and above all, her attentiveness to her six rosy-cheeked Aryan children all suggest an iron-willed commitment to the lofty vision of National Socialism that will not flinch in the face of duty, no matter how unpleasant. And sure enough, when it comes time to kill her six children rather than allow them to grow up in a fallen world, Magda does so smoothly, efficiently, and (here is the nub) proudly.
Whether sick, crazy, or coldly sadistic, the besetting sin of movie Nazis is always violence. But this is inaccurate. The true sin, the defining trait, of the Nazi movement was not violence but pride. And in Magda we see that ultimate evil at work. Her love for her children is not overcome by anger, fear, or blood lust. It is overcome - easily - by twisted pride. Dante put the proud at the very bottom of Hell, far below the incontinent and violent. If you ever wondered why, "Downfall" will make it abundantly clear.
Posted by at 5:30 AM
How Michael Saved Mickey
For a penetrating look at the success, as opposed to the pecadillos, of Micheal Eisner's tenure at Disney, check out Edward Jay Epstein's latest posting on Slate. The numbers are impressive, and so are the strategic decisions (viewed with 20/20 hindsight).
Posted by at 2:50 AM
April 14, 2005
Video Virgil: Antique Self-Portrait
While on the subject of movies about Hollywood, it's worth revisiting one of the great ones: "The Player," directed by Robert Altman and based on the icy-hearted novel by Michael Tolkin.
The plot is simple: an egotistical, unimaginative producer (Tim Robbins) is terrified of losing his job to an even more egotistical, unimaginative producer (Peter Gallagher). Plus he keeps finding threatening postcards in his car, desk, pockets, and home. Someone is stalking him, and since his job consists of sneering at writers' pitches all day, he suspects a disappointed writer. After guessing which one, he tries to buy the guy off, then semi-accidentally murders him.
"The Player" riffs beautifully on the old themes of art and commerce and the ugly side of human nature as revealed in the sort of competition where the prizes don't go to the best but to the most cutthroat. Our producer comes out on top without being redeemed in any way. Indeed, the film cleverly manipulates our ingrained expectation of a happy ending.
It was not a Hollywood mogul but the novelist William Dean Howells who said, "What the American audience really wants is a tragedy with a happy ending." To their credit, screenwriter Tolkin, director Altman, and the many Hollywood luminaries involved in this film stay true to that ironic line.
Two caveats. First, the love interest played by Greta Scacchi is annoyingly opaque. I was ready for her to be the mastermind behind it all, not just one of the prizes. But that would have required a female to be smarter than all the males, NOT a Hollywood trope.
Second, "The Player" came out in 1992, long after the system was taken over by the blockbuster - or to use the term of art, "locomotive": huge, repeatable extravaganzas like "Star Wars," "Star Trek," "Terminator," "Indiana Jones," "Die Hard," "Batman," "Harry Potter," "The Fellowship of the Ring," "Toy Story," "Finding Nemo," "Shrek" ... the list keeps getting longer. In this context, "The Player" feels downright antique. If there is a good blockbuster parody out there, please tell me about it!
Posted by at 10:00 AM
April 7, 2005
Video Virgil: Self Portraits
The literary critic Irving Howe was once asked whether the New York literary scene was self-absorbed and incestuous, and he replied, "It only looks that way from the outside." The same could certainly be said of the agglomeration of organizations and individuals who make up Hollywood. They live in a heavily fortified bubble that almost always distorts their view of the society in which the rest of us live.
That's why Hollywood's best social criticism tends to be directed at itself. As a longstanding fan of movies about the movie biz, I recently revisited "The Bad and the Beautiful," directed by Vincent Minelli and starring Lana Turner in what may be her finest role. It views a gifted but ruthless studio head (Kirk Douglas) through the eyes of three people he sucked in and blew out: an alcoholic, going-nowhere-fast actress (Turner); a talented but too diffident director (Barry Sullivan); and a frustrated college-Joe writer (Dick Powell).
Of course, if you prefer your classic studio heads to be the embodiment of philistine evil, then I recommend "The Big Knife," an overwrought study of a matinee idol (Jack Palance) caught between the integrity urged by his wife (Ida Lupino) and the servitude imposed by his boss (Rod Steiger). Steiger is only on the screen for one scene, in which he manipulates the hapless Palance to renew his contract for another seven years. But that one scene is worth the price of admission.
Posted by at 10:15 AM
March 31, 2005
Comic Book Pain
In case you were worried that the Walt Disney Company was pulling out of the sick violence biz, today's New York Times will set you straight. Even though someone else will now be paying for Harvey and Bob Weinstein's gourmet meals (see photo), the new studio head, Dick Cook, reassures us that "family-friendly" Disney "will not be turning its back on the extremely violent fare that helped make the Weinsteins ... famous."
The new Miramax release, "Sin City," based on the "graphic novels" of Frank Miller, features "cannibalism, castration, decapitation, dismemberment, electrocution, hanging, massacres, pedophilia, slashings and lots and lots of torture."
For anyone naive enough to think about actual human suffering while watching images of "the heads of five prostitutes mounted on a wall, or a dog eating the legs of a still-live boy, or a man ripping out the genitals of another man," the director Robert Rodriguez (who, to judge by the photo, is just getting started on gourmet food) notes that the MPAA gave the film an "R" rating because "they got the stylization, they got the abstractness of it and it was obviously not a realistic movie."
Whew. But go easy on the red paint, Hans Hofmann, because along with buckets of "white blood, and yellow blood," this movie has "plenty of red blood." Why? The ever-so-sensitive Mr. Rodriguez wants "to make clear that characters getting beaten to a pulp were, indeed, feeling pain."
Bon appetit.
Posted by at 10:15 AM
March 25, 2005
Star Power Well Used
When movie stars lend their glittering names to political causes, the effect is sometimes ludicrous.
The movie "Simone" (2002) stars Al Pacino as an egotistical director fed up with egotistical actresses, who is given a computer program capable of digitally creating the perfect star. The movie is a dud, perhaps because Mr. Pacino sleepwalks through it, and Rachel Roberts, the lissome model who plays Simone (short for Sim One), could learn a lot about acting from the animated paper clip on Microsoft Word.
But there are a few good bits, including a TV interview given by Simone while ostensibly "on a goodwill mission to the Third World." With a few keystrokes, the director projects his star's immaculate image against a backdrop of filthy hovels, burning garbage, and starved dogs. The irony is underlined by the fact that Simone does not seem to have a clue about why she is there.
One could compare this to Don Cheadle's January trip to Darfur. Nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayal of Paul Rusesabagina (the hero of "Hotel Rwanda"), Mr. Cheadle had something to gain from lending his name to efforts to stop the genocide of the Sudanese government.
But so what? This was a case of a star's self-interest coinciding with a moral emergency. And to judge by Mr. Cheadle's actions since then, his commitment is more than a career move. Find out more on the website he co-sponsors with Mr. Rusesabagina.
Posted by at 9:15 AM
March 19, 2005
Video Virgil: Burn, Liebling, Burn
One of the coolest DVDs I�ve seen recently is "What To Do In Case Of Fire?" ("Was tun, wenn�s brennt?"). Since the answer to the title question is "let it burn," ("brennen lassen"), I did not expect to like this film. It�s a post-punk German version of "The Big Chill," and I am on record as not liking punk or the "The Big Chill" (which I find about as authentic as Las Vegas).
But "What To Do" impressed me from the opening sequence, a home video supposedly shot by six "creative anarchists" in the Kreuzberg section of West Berlin in 1987. Hand-held, jump-cut, overlaid by graffiti-style graphics and driven by a pounding soundtrack, this video shows the six joining a battle against armored police who are trying to evict squatters, and then planting a sizable bomb in an abandoned mansion.
At that point, the video ends. The bomb ticks, then gets stuck. And twelve years pass before it explodes, set off by a real estate agent in the new, unified Berlin, who is showing the property to just the sort of wealthy businessman the anarchists of the 1980s were trying to keep out. No one is hurt, which is important, because the rest of the film asks us to care about the six bomb-makers as they reunite to block a police investigation.
"What To Do" impressed me because in the first place, it is smart. Its cynicism cuts deep but not too deep, and is largely directed at the group�s own myth of itself. While none of the six has reckoned fully with this myth at the beginning, all do so by the end. This is not true of "The Big Chill," which gradually chokes on its own self-righteousness.
It is also fun. In "The Big Chill," the former radicals reunite for a funeral, which is unfortunate, because it gives them nothing to do but smoke joints and jaw. In "What To Do," the six former anarchists must act, thereby illustrating Aristotle�s dictum that only through action is character revealed. We judge them not by what they say but by what they do. And eventually, they all do what is right.
It�s possible that an old Kreuzberger would find "What To Do" as phony as Potsdamer Platz. The real Autonomen, as they called themselves, pulled some nasty tricks to keep "imperialists" out of the neighborhood. For example, they waged a campaign of threats against a restaurant that was too bourgeois for their taste, finally shutting it down by throwing human feces all over the place. The Autonomen didn�t care that the proprietor was a well known Marxist filmmaker; they just wanted to be the most nihilistic kids on the block.
But this is not the tone of "What To Do." On the contrary, it is suffused with a youthful, funky exuberance that was doubtless what made Kreuzberg appealing in the last days before the fall of the Wall. So I recommend it highly - in the spirit of anarchism that knows how to liberate without doing harm.
Posted by at 11:00 AM
March 12, 2005
Reprise: Head-On
Back in January I wrote about a new film from Germany called "Head-On" ("Gegen die Wand'), which at that time was playing only in New York and L.A. To judge from the number of reviews popping up everywhere, the film has been deemed sufficiently marketable to open in a few more cities (like Boston). So here is my review again, if you will forgive the repetition. This film, the fourth from Turkish-German writer/director Fatih Akin, is worth seeing.
Comic, tragic, absurdist and affirmative, "Head-On" is about two people moving at escape velocity...but in opposite directions. Cahit (Birol �nel) is a Turkish-born denizen of the Hamburg punk scene whose marriage to a German woman has failed, sending him into drink and depression. As the film opens, he leaves his miserable job picking up empties in a bar and drives very fast into a concrete wall ("Gegen die Wand" means "against the wall").
Alive but banged up, he is next seen in the waiting room of a psychiatric clinic, where he meets Sibel (Sibel Kekilli), a daughter of Turkish immigrants who rebels against her tradition-minded family by slashing her wrists.
Recognizing scraggly Cahit as a kindred spirit, Sibel conceives a better escape route than suicide - marriage to a guy who, being Turkish, will pass muster with her family, but who also, being a complete lowlife, will not care about the wild fling she hopes to enjoy once she�s free. As it turns out, Cahit does care. Or rather, he learns (re-learns?) what it means to care. And Sibel is drawn, reluctantly, into caring for him. They don't live happily ever after. On the contrary, some grim things occur before the end (this is a German film, after all). But they do pull each other back from the brink.
"Head-On" is so timely, it's easy to miss the subtleties. For example, the New York Times describes Sibel's background as a "cloistered society where women are kept captive by their fathers and brothers." But this is a caricature. Sibel's father (Demir G�kg�l) is strict, and her brother (Cem Akin) is a bully. But they are not the Taliban. If they were, then Sibel's mother (Aysel Iscan) would not dye her hair blond and chain smoke. And the hilarious scene where Cahit comes to call would not end the way it does. After listening to his son berate Cahit, the father turns to Sibel and asks, "Is your mind made up?" And when she says yes, the stern old man shrugs: "What is left to say? When two people are in love..."
For Cahit and Sibel the road is not just rocky, it is land-mined. Against the presumption that it�s always good to shake off the fetters of tradition and religion, "Head-On" opposes a distinctly unromantic portrait of the liberated Western lifestyle. Cahit wants to end his life of booze, drugs, impersonal sex, and selfish behavior; Sibel wants to start hers. But for a moment they glimpse something better: not the old ways, but not their total rejection, either. The sweet spot is when, after cleaning up Cahit's pigpen of a flat, Sibel cooks him a meal of stuffed peppers. The music on the soundtrack is perfect, the camera lingers on her hands, and even though the film contains several sex scenes, this is the most erotic.
There is no hotter issue in Europe right now than the assimilation of large Muslim immigrant populations. But Europeans still have a tendency to think of assimilation as a one-way street. Here in the nation of immigrants, we have learned to think of it as a two-way street. Indeed, in recent years millions of immigrants have come to America and learned new ways. But they have also kept some of the old, and in the process, the rest of us have learned (remembered?) that life is best lived between the poles of individual liberation and the constraints of family and community. If the success of "Head-On" is any measure, then the same lesson is being pondered in Europe.
Posted by at 9:00 AM
March 10, 2005
Codex: I Can See Clearly Now
Ever wonder why, after shelling out nine dollars at the local multiplex, you find yourself squinting at the screen and feeling vaguely cheated by the quality of the image? Every time I've complained about this, I've been told, basically, that SukEmIn Theaters International uses state-of-the-art technology - and, as a not so subtle afterthought, "Maybe you need new glasses, lady."
So whom should I believe, the local popcorn merchants or my own damn eyes?
My eyes, as it happens. "The Big Picture," Edward Jay Epstein's fascinating new book about the movie industry, explains how multiplexes cut costs by employing only one projectionist, causing the occasional neglected machine to jam, and the projection lamp to burn a hole in the film.
The one time I saw this happen was during the closing sequence of "Troy," when the tall towers were aflame anyway. For this moment of poetic justice I received a full refund.
But as Epstein shows, there's a connection between this occasional meltdown and my chronic sense that films look better on my home DVD player: "To prevent such costly mishaps [burnt films], multiplexes frequently have their projectionists slightly expand the gap between the gate that supports the film and the lamp. As a result ... films are often shown slightly out of focus."
Apparently the skateboard set don't care about this, since their eyesight is already shot from all those computer games... But if you care, tell the manager - right after you butter your popcorn.
Posted by at 10:30 AM
March 9, 2005
Posted by at 11:07 AM
Against Type
Elisabeth Bumiller reports in the New York Times on the movie-viewing habits of the president, whose home theater surpasses anything on offer at Bang & Olufson. (The White House screening room was built during Ronald Reagan's presidency, with $150,000 donated by a group of disinterested citizens who just happened to work for Disney, Universal, Fox, Paramount, Columbia, MGM, and Warner Brothers.)
Unlike LBJ, who slept through movies (a presidential trait found also in my spouse), and unlike Nixon, who watched the same movie over and over (yes, it was "Patton"), Bush seems to appreciate movies, as evidenced by his choice for best film of 2004: "Friday Night Lights," a sleeper about high school football in Odessa, Texas.
If you like movies but don't like Bush, then this is a good time not to indulge in stereotypes. Because "Friday Night Lights" is not your typical sports movie, and its portrait of football mania in the sovereign state of Texas is not painted with red-white-and-blue triumphalism.
Based on a book by H.G. Bissinger, "Friday Night Lights" is pretty formulaic on the surface: a team with one star player (Derek Luke) and a crusty coach (Billy Bob Thornton) passes through trials and tribulations, including losing the star to injury, then pulls together and heads for the state championship.
The first fifteen minutes are so fast-paced, it makes your average hip-hop video look sleepy. But then, mercifully, the pace slows, and the film begins to breathe a wonderful, subtle life. It is not triumphalist - indeed, it shows lucidly what happens to people (and towns) when they become too obsessed with winning.
But neither does "Friday Night Lights" take the easy path of ridiculing the narrow horizon of its characters. Instead, it treats them as full human beings and explores the hard realities behind their passionate compulsion to win. And without giving away the ending, I can say that by the time the team hits the boards for the Big Game, this movie has given new vitality to old cliche about sports being more about honor than victory.
Posted by at 10:45 AM
March 8, 2005
Berlin Film Festival
In case you chose not to spend Spring Break in cold, rainy Berlin, here is a good overview of the recent Internationale Filmfestspiele. I like this treatment because the writer takes a critical attitude - a welcome change from the eye-glazing glosses found not only in film festival programs but also in many so-called reviews. Of the films that appeared, I predict that only one, "Sophie Scholl - The Final Days" ("Sophie Scholl - Die Letzten Tage") will make it to the United States. It's good that this one will, but bad that so many won't.
Posted by at 9:10 AM
March 6, 2005
Mixed Message
My British colleague Clive Davis recently posted a couple of interesting links . The first is to Chuck Colson's obtuse assessment of "Sideways," which made me agree with Clive that Colson should definitely not be a movie critic.
The second is to an article about how, at press screenings of new films, the "Christian" (meaning evangelical) reviewers are the only ones asking serious questions. This rings true to my experience. One of the talks I gave relating to "Hole in Our Soul" was to a group of young rock and rap musicians who used those styles to convey their evangelical message. They asked me whether I thought there was such a thing as an "evil sound." After battling the blandness of CCM (Contemporary Christian Music), these young people clearly did not think there was. But they had given the whole topic a lot more thought than most of the many other groups I encountered on that circuit.
That's why I'm glad not only that Colson is not a critic but also that people who think like him do not, generally exert censorship power over their co-religionists - never mind the rest of us!
Posted by at 8:00 AM
March 3, 2005
Phantom of the Oscars
I have written about Oscar night elsewhere and will link to that piece ASAP. In the meantime, three cheers for the Uruguayan songwriter Jorge Drexler, winner for Best Original Song, for insisting on delivering a few bars of it himself during the 20 seconds most winners have to thank everyone they ever knew, plus the heavenly host and all the powers under the earth.
Drexler was defying the Academy's refusal to let him perform the song himself. Instead, "Al Otro Lado del Rio" ("The Other Side of the River"), from "The Motorcycle Diaries," a film about the youthful Che Guevara, was Rolfed by the Spanish pop star Antonio Bandera, accompanied by American rock idol Carlos Santana (born in Mexico). Back in Montevideo, Drexler is being hailed as both a winner and a rebel - which is entirely appropriate, given that Che was the first fully commodified socialist revolutionary.
It is, of course, customary to have Big Stars perform the nominated songs, rather than the obscure nobodies who actually wrote them. On occasion this has added emotion and excitement to the proceedings, but not this time.
Beyonce (sorry, my software doesn't have a fake accent aigu) is a very beautiful young woman with great pipes. But somebody - her managers? her fans? herself? - is working overtime to waste both beauty and talent. Even ghastlier than her costumes were the songs she sang. And ghastliest of all was "Learn to be Lonely" from "The Phantom of the Opera." Here the Academy allowed the songwriter onstage, since he is, after all, Andrew Lloyd "Clobber 'Em Again" Webber.
I only have ten seconds left, so I'd like to thank Counting Crows for their energetic and unpretentious performance of "Accidentally in Love," from "Shrek 2." They get my nomination for Best Imitation of Van Morrison and also (hands down) Best Hair.
Posted by at 9:30 AM
February 25, 2005
Aims, Shoots & Leaves?
Filmmakers and photographers adore "Born Into Brothels," and no wonder. This Oscar-nominated documentary about eight children in the red light district of Calcutta brandishes the camera the way Christian missionaries used to brandish the Bible � as the physical manifestation of salvation. The question, though, is: Who is saved? To judge by the film alone, I would say the filmmakers, not the children.
When British photojournalist Zana Briski first entered these filthy, rat-infested back alleys, her aim was to film the prostitutes ("sex workers," in her enlightened parlance). But her subjects, evidently not sharing this enlightened view of their profession, proved uncooperative. So Briski and her cinematographer, Ross Kauffman, turned their viewfinders toward the children.
Which was understandable, given the beauty and vivacity of these amazing kids. Between 10 and 12 years old, they revive the old cliche about brilliant flowers pushing up through a dungheap. Yet they are also social outcasts, and unless their lives change drastically, they will very soon become prostitutes, pimps, drug dealers, and addicts � just like their elders.
Briski doesn't just film the kids. She gives them cameras and teaches them the fundamentals of photography. Some are more gifted than others: the clear winner is a pugnacious little fellow named Avijit, already an accomplished watercolorist. But each child manages to produce a couple of exceptional photographs, and Briski works hard to have the collection exhibited in a Calcutta bookstore.
But this is where the film stumbles. As the little ones go from seeing their first contact print to being driven to the exhibition in a nice section of town, they become terribly excited - and the gap between their dreams and their reality becomes achingly wide. To her credit, Briski understands this, and struggles to help. But her efforts are excruciating to watch, because they are all predicated on uprooting these tender blossoms from the only world they know.
After a long search, Briski manages to locate two boarding schools in Calcutta that will accept pupils from such a background. It�s not easy to enroll them, and between obtuse bureaucrats and impossible demands for documents, she almost gives up. But finally, assiduously dotting every "I" and crossing every "T," she gets everything arranged.
Or almost everything. Here's the rub, because it is then, only then, that Briski talks to the parents. Or rather exhorts them, with comments like: "Don�t you want Puja to have a better life?" and "Of course you�ll be able to see him...once a month." Maybe it�s a distortion of the film, but Briski seems painfully oblivious to the fact that these downtrodden adults not only love their kids but also depend on them.
Most of the parents give their consent - but grudgingly. And as the film ends, we learn that most of the children did not stay in school. Either their parents took them out or they left of their own accord (for emotional reasons not hard to imagine). Ironically, the only child who sees all this coming is Avijit, and he is also the only one who truly escapes. Unlike the others, he has a grandmother who has long supported his painting and is willing to loosen her grip.
I gather from various websites that Briski's efforts did not cease with the completion of "Born Into Brothels." Far from it. She raises money for them through the sale of their photos (some through Sotheby�s), and she presides over an organization, Kids with Cameras, that seeks to bring the joys and opportunities of photography to other impoverished children around the world. If she wins the Oscar, these efforts will receive a gratifying boost.
But as Briski and others spread the gospel of the camera, I hope they bear in mind the lesson this film inadvertently teaches: Talk to the parents first, and put yourself in their shoes. If you lived in a dungheap, would you want to lose your only flower?
Posted by at 4:30 AM
February 24, 2005
Upside Deep Doo-Doo
No, I am not going to review "Inside Deep Throat." The original film I found stupid, boring, and anti-female, and the idea of making a documentary about it I find even more so, especially considering that this is 2005, not 1972.
So imagine my delight at seeing both films trashed by Anthony Lane in the current New Yorker. Instead of disgust or disapproval (reactions that, while understandable, backfire by making the critic seem a prude), Lane goes in for ridicule - especially of "the predictable roster of guest preachers" who appear in the documentary. These lit-crit nitwits, people like Camille Paglia, Norman Mailer, Hugh Hefner, Erica Jong, and Gore Vidal, would endorse horse manure if they thought it would keep them in the celebrity game.
Posted by at 9:10 AM
February 21, 2005
Merlotted
Fellow AJ Blogger Drew McManus writes:
"I loved Sideways, my wife and I agree it was a well made flick with some excellent acting. But I also hate the film because, as wine drinkers, my wife and I also hate Merlot; so now we look like Sideways tag-alongs when we say we'd rather drink soda than Merlot. In the movie world, is there a name for something like that, when a movie takes away something that you used to feel was uniquely you and turn it into a public fad?"
Not that I know of, Drew, but there ought to be. I'd suggest Merloted (mer-LOAD), but it looks funny. So how about Merlotted? Somewhere between garrotted and besotted...?
Posted by at 5:15 AM
February 17, 2005
Halfways
Today's Wall Street Journal reports a flood of tourists arriving in California�s Santa Ynez wine country, re-enacting some of the less savory moments from the surprise hit movie "Sideways," such as the scene where a self-pitying, drunken Miles (Paul Giamatti) asks a bartender for a porn magazine.
So the makers of "Sideways"* have pulled off a winning combination: a serious idea wrapped in consumer-friendly frippery. The phenomenon recalls "Babette's Feast," Gabriel Axel�s 1987 film about an ascetic religious colony on the windswept coast of Denmark being restored to life and true spirituality by a marvelous French chef.
"Babette�s Feast" set off a round of lavish restaurant-going in New York City, with chefs competing to reproduce the meal depicted in the film down to the last tender morsel of baby quail flesh. Of course, the people who gobbled this up had not spent the previous half-century subsisting on boiled fish and breadcrusts.
By the same token, the Miles wanna-bes slurping down the vintage in Santa Barbara County probably do not have very good palates, in wine or anything else. If they did, they would not be living vicariously through a movie the whole point of which they seem to have missed.
* See my review, posted January 7
Posted by at 10:00 AM
February 13, 2005
Shallower Than It Looks
A handsome young man stands on the edge of a rocky cove staring down into rippling turquoise water. It looks deep, so he dives. But it is not deep. He hits bottom, breaks his neck, then spends 28 years as a quadriplegic. He also becomes famous for battling with the legal authorities in his native Spain for the right to commit assisted suicide. He loses the battle but wins the war: after publishing a book, he persuades one of his many devoted helpers to give him a glass of water spiked with cyanide.
"The Sea Inside" ("Mar adentro") is about a real man, Ramon Sampedro, whose followers are no doubt hoping that it will win this year's Oscar for Best Foreign Film. I am hoping it doesn't, because like the water into which Sampedro dove, it is exquisitely beautiful - but a lot shallower than it looks.
The acting is superb, especially Javier Bardem's portrayal of a man whose face, especially his eyes, are filled with all the seductive vitality missing from the rest of his body. Also finely drawn are the people who pass through Ramon's picturesque Galician farmhouse: his father, brother, sister-in-law, nephew, and three loving women: a "death with dignity" activist, Gene (Clara Segura); a lawyer, Julia (Belen Rueda), who is warding off her own debility from strokes; and a local factory worker and single mother, Maria (Lola Duenas), who at first urges Ramon to live but then becomes the one who helps him die.
But as lovely and beguiling as this film is, it is also tendentious. This is especially true of its caricature of a quadriplegic priest, Fr. Luis de Moya, who has said in an interview that he and Sampedro had a serious correspondence about assisted suicide before Fr. de Moya came to visit Sampedro in Galicia, and that while neither man swayed the other, they parted with mutual respect.
If this is true, or even if it isn't, why does director-writer Alejandro Amenabar feel obliged to ridicule Fr. de Moya, making him mouth petty dogma in a scene contrived to be as farcical as possible? And why accuse the Church of being inconsistent on such issues as suicide, euthanasia, abortion, and the death penalty, when in fact it is consistent?
One needn't be a Catholic or even a believer to grant that the Church's reasoning about these questions is strong and philosophically compelling. If "The Sea Inside" had the courage to take on that reasoning, then it would be worthy of its own considerable artistry. Admire the artistry if you want (I did). But be careful. Don't plunge in head first.
Posted by at 9:00 AM
February 11, 2005
Observing the Formulas
It took me a while to see "Million Dollar Baby," the Clint Eastwood movie nominated for seven Academy Awards, but it was worth the wait. The film is a beautiful example of why tried-and-true formulas are ... well, tried and true. This isn't faint praise. Every art has its formulas, and success depends on what a given artist does with them. In this case, Eastwood takes a venerable formula - the boxing flick in which the contender's hardest fight is outside the ring - and burnishes it to a rich, glowing patina.
Of course, that's not all Eastwood does. It's impossible to prove a negative, but I suspect that if the contender in question were a young man from the white-trash side of the tracks, the critics would have dismissed the film as (you guessed it) formulaic. By making his star a young woman, Maggie (Hilary Swank) Eastwood makes plenty of room for all that burnishing.
Recently several talk-radio "conservatives" have accused "Million Dollar Baby" of being an advertisement for euthanasia. What can I say to this, except: Come on, guys. Look at the blinking movie.
Frankie, the burnt-out trainer played by Eastwood, is the sort of Catholic who attends mass every day in order to ventilate his doubts with Father Horvak (Bryan O'Byrne). When Maggie is paralyzed by a dirty punch and begs Frankie to disconnect her life support, Frankie asks Father Horvak what to do. The priest tells him (very sympathetically, I might add) that euthanasia is a sin. And Frankie obeys, refusing Maggie's pleas.
But then Maggie starts biting her own tongue in a desperate attempt to drown in her own blood. At that point Frankie does the deed. But not in the spirit of Dr. Kervorkian liberating another paying customer. Rather he does it in the spirit of a stoic, self-punishing man sacrificing his own soul for that of another. Maybe God will forgive him, maybe not. You get the feeling he is willing to take the chance. And despite the wistful closing lines by his old friend Scrap (Morgan Freeman), there is no happy ending. After Frankie disconnects Maggie, he disconnects himself - from everything and everyone he has ever known. He disappears.
What sort of standard are these "conservatives" using, I wonder? If artists are not allowed to show troubled mortals committing mortal sins out of love, then talk radio has a long list of artists to condemn. How about starting with some of the worst offenders, like Dante, Shakespeare, Cervantes, Dostoevsky...?
Posted by at 5:30 AM
February 5, 2005
Codex: Eye-Opening
This is a new category of entry - recommendations of books about film that are actually worth reading. They are few, in my opinion, for reasons I hope to set forth as we go along. The heading is "codex" because that is the word used for the bound book when it was a new medium.
Whenever I plow through another essay or book about film "theory," the main conclusion I reach is that the people who write it never made anything with their own two hands. Theorists seem to think that a film either springs directly from the forehead of an individual genius, or it gathers spontaneously as a sort of excrescence on the surface of an entire society.
That's not how films are made. They are made by groups of people working collaboratively, which is the single best explanation both of why most are so bad AND of why the good ones are so astonishing. It follows that the best writing about film is by talented people who understand this.
Such a writer is Walter Murch, the veteran editor and sound designer whose credits include "Apocalypse Now" (original and recut), "The Godfather Part II," "The Unbearable Lightness of Being," "The English Patient," and "The Talented Mr. Ripley." Read Murch's "In the Blink of an Eye," if you want to be reminded of how much old-fashioned craftsmanship, not to mention artistry, goes into the making of a good film.
Effortlessly Murch goes from explaining fine detail to expressing large understanding. Here are two examples, though it's tempting to quote the whole book:
"By cutting away from a certain character BEFORE he finishes speaking, I might encourage the audience to think only about the face value of what he said. On the other hand, if I linger on the character AFTER he finishes speaking, I allow the audience to see, from the expression in his eyes, that he is probably not telling the truth..."
"The underlying principle: Always try to do the most with the least ... Why? Because you want to do only what it necessary to engage the imagination of the audience - suggestion is always more effective than exposition. Past a certain point, the more effort you put into a wealth of detail, the more you encourage the audience to become spectators rather than participants."
Posted by at 9:30 AM
February 1, 2005
You'll Never Valet Park in This Town Again
If you've ever attended a Hollywood press event or been wooed by the media relations department of an entertainment firm, then perhaps you share my distrust of how most reporters cover show business. If the word "cover" is taken in the agricultural sense to mean what a bull does to a cow, then typically it's the reporter who gets covered.
For a funny, bittersweet recollection what this beat is like, see Bernard Weinraub's column in Sunday's New York Times. After 14 years writing about the movie, TV, and record industries, Weinraub is stepping down. These quick reflections are not revelatory or earthshaking, but that's why I like them: they offer a human's-eye view. For example, Mr. Weinraub writes:
"Waiting for a valet at the Bel-Air Hotel to bring my company-leased Ford, I once stood beside a journalist turned producer who said, 'I used to drive a car like that.' Though I'm ashamed to say it, I was soon hunting for parking spots near Orso or the Peninsula Hotel to avoid the discomfort of having a valet drive up my leased two-year-old Buick in front of some luncheon companion with a Mercedes."
What I recall are not just my luncheon companions' reactions but also the reactions of the valets. Whenever one of those nice young men would deliver my Honda Accord, I would give him a five-dollar tip and watch the look of pity on his face turn to contempt. A hundred might have helped, but I decided not to try. In those environs, there's no real cure for sagging vehicular status.
Posted by at 10:40 AM
January 27, 2005
Interviews I Never Finished Reading
From Agence France-Presse:
Multiple Oscar winner Dustin Hoffman lamented the state of modern filmmaking, using a promotional session for his latest feature to pan a money-hungry marketing-focused industry. "The whole culture is in the craphouse," Hoffman told journalists gathered in London to hear him promote his latest comedy vehicle "Meet the Fockers" ...
Posted by at 4:15 AM
January 23, 2005
Their Small Starved Turkish Wedding
If you live in New York or Los Angeles, rush out and see "Head-On" ("Gegen die Wand'), the fourth film from Turkish-German writer/director Fatih Akin . Comic, tragic, absurdist and affirmative, "Head-On" won the Golden Bear in the 2004 Berlinale and has been causing quite a stir in Europe. It's a terrific, timely piece of work that deserves a larger distribution here.
The two central characters are moving at escape velocity but in opposite directions. Cahit (Birol �nel) is a Turkish-born denizen of the Hamburg punk scene whose marriage to a German woman has failed, sending him into drink and depression. As the film opens, he is driving into a concrete wall ("Gegen die Wand" means "against the wall"). Alive but banged up, he is sitting in the waiting room of a psychiatric clinic when he meets Sibel (Sibel Kekilli), a daughter of Turkish immigrants who rebels against her tradition-minded family by slashing her wrists.
Recognizing scraggly Cahit as a kindred spirit, Sibel conceives a better escape route than suicide: marriage to a guy who, being Turkish, will pass muster with her family, but who also, being a complete lowlife, will not care about the wild fling she hopes to enjoy once she�s free. As it turns out, Cahit does care. Or rather, he learns (re-learns?) what it means to care. And Sibel is drawn, reluctantly, into caring for him. They don't live happily ever after; on the contrary, some grim things occur before the end (this is a German film, after all). But they do pull each other back from the brink.
"Head-On" is so timely, it's easy to miss the subtleties. For example, the New York Times describes Sibel's background as a "cloistered society where women are kept captive by their fathers and brothers." But this is a caricature. Sibel's father (Demir G�kg�l) is strict, and her brother (Cem Akin) is a bully. But they are not the Taliban. If they were, then Sibel's mother (Aysel Iscan) would not dye her hair blond and chain smoke. And the hilarious scene where Cahit comes to call would not end the way it does. After listening to his son berate Cahit, the father turns to Sibel and asks, "Is your mind made up?" And when she says yes, the stern old man shrugs: "What is left to say? When two people are in love..."
For Cahit and Sibel the road is not just rocky, it is land-mined. Against the presumption that it�s always good to shake off the fetters of tradition and religion, "Head-On" opposes a distinctly unromantic portrait of the liberated Western lifestyle. Cahit wants to end his life of booze, drugs, impersonal sex, and selfish behavior; Sibel wants to begin hers. But for a moment they glimpse something better: not the old ways, but not their total rejection, either. The sweet spot is when, after cleaning up Cahit's pigpen of a flat, Sibel cooks him a meal of stuffed peppers. The music on the soundtrack is perfect, the camera lingers on her hands, and even though the film contains several sex scenes, this is the most erotic.
There is no hotter issue in Europe right now than the assimilation of large Muslim immigrant populations. But Europeans still have a tendency to think of assimilation as a one-way street. Here in the nation of immigrants, we have learned to think of it as a two-way street. Indeed, in recent years millions of immigrants have come to America and learned new ways. But they have also kept some of the old, and in the process, the rest of us have learned (re-learned?) that life is best lived between the poles of individual liberation and the constraints of family and community. If the success of "Head-On" is any measure, then the same lesson is being pondered in Europe.
Posted by at 9:20 AM
Anti-Gravitas
Of late, the public ceremonies of my country fill me with mixed emotions. Today is Inauguration Day, and as the pale wintry sun gleams on the U.S. Capitol, and the excellent armed services band plays on the surreally high podium, my blood stirs in a way that is half-joyous, half-anxious.
Joyous because, like most Americans, including those who did not vote for Bush, I know my country to be high-minded, idealistic, brave. Yet anxious because, like countless other people around the globe, I also know America to be hubristic, self-deluding, rash. Maybe the president's speech will resolve this ambivalence?
No chance. The speech itself is not eloquent or soaring (don't touch that cliche), but it is well crafted and strains earnestly to lift off. Yet the president's delivery makes me squirm. His speaking style is no longer forced and mangled (he's come a long way), but it remains incurably tinny. No matter how hard he tries, he just can't wring the insincerity out of his voice.
Why is that? His enemies say, "It's the stupidity, stupid." But Bush isn't stupid. He's no intellectual, but he's as smart as the proverbial whip. His problem is different. Until three years ago, his success in the world derived from his skill at cheerfully deflating the seriousness of others. The English wit Sydney Smith once quipped that while others were rising by their gravity, he was sinking by his levity. For Bush it has been the other way around.
I'm not suggesting a lack of seriousness now. Along with the rest of us, Bush changed on 9/11. You don't have to take my word for it. Just rent "Journeys With George," the flawed but fascinating documentary about the 2000 Bush presidential campaign, made by Alexandra Pelosi, the daughter of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D. California). It will show you, up close and personal, the pre-9/11 Dubya.
And what a droll, sardonic, towel-snapping fellow he was! Traveling with him was tough for the rumpled reporter types, because instead of snapping their towels at the candidate, they found themselves getting snapped at by his. The film ends at the First Inaugural of Bush the Second, and the podium was just as surreally high then as now. But everything else has changed, hasn't it? Which is why Bush's speech only intensifies my ambivalence. It contains too much dissonance of its own.
Posted by at 4:30 AM
January 19, 2005
If You Don't Like Suspense
If you prefer not to stay up past midnight on February 25 to hear the words, "And the winner is...", The Guardian (UK) has a formula for predicting who will take home the Oscars this year. Which leads me to wonder: will the movie industry soon be adopting a hit-prediction system as effective as the pop music software described elsewhere in the Guardian?
Among critics, the cliche is that the entertainment industry already works by tried-and-true formulas. And certainly this is what studios, networks, cable channels, and record companies would LIKE to do. What mega-corporation wants to go on investing millions of dollars in a product so unreliable it comes out different each time it is manufactured? But among the good people who actually make movies, TV shows, and records, the cliche is just the opposite: "Nobody knows anything."
What do AJ readers think of this apparent paradox?
Posted by at 8:45 AM
January 16, 2005
Pay Attention
A married couple no longer young sit on the roof of a luxury hotel, palm trees swaying in the tropical breeze. By candlelight, over a beer, the husband reveals that shortly after meeting his wife he had bribed her boss to transfer her to a job near him: "So I could marry you." Joking about the amount of the bribe, they kiss.
The only jarring note is the chatter of machine guns in the background. This is Kigali, Rwanda, in May or June of 1994. And outside the hotel gates, Hutu militias armed with guns and machetes have started the genocide that because of the world's inaction left between 800,000 and one million ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutu dead.
But this scene is not a mistake. It's been carefully staged by the husband, Paul Rusesabagina (Don Cheadle), the elegant manager of the hotel, so he can tell his wife Tatiana (Sophie Okonedo) how he wants her and their four children to die. Paul is Hutu, his wife Tutsi. And seeking refuge in the hotel are 1,200 more Tutsis. Paul is trying to keep the militias at bay, but if he fails, he wants his family to jump off the roof rather than watch each other be raped and hacked to pieces.
This strange doubleness - candlelight, mass murder - reflects the startling depth of "Hotel Rwanda," which you will miss if you look for the usual ingredients. The world knows that Mr. Rusesabagina succeeded, so there isn't much suspense. None of the killing occurs on camera (except for some grainy news footage), so there isn't much violence. And while director Terry George makes clear the moral failure of the US, the UN, and the West in general, there isn't much politics, either.
Instead, "Hotel Rwanda" achieves something almost never seen in the movies: a serious portrait of a good man. Paul loves his family and is brave - in Hollywood this would be more than enough to make him the good guy. But this film does more. It emphasizes Paul's mental qualities. He is no intellectual, just a hotel manager. But he is alert, attentive, self-controlled, swift to read people and manipulate them (through cunning if necessary), and above all, cool in the face of danger. He is what the ancient Greeks called sophron.
In the same vein, there is a classical resonance to the fact that Paul in the hospitality business. Hospitality meant far more to the ancient Greeks than it does to us. In Homer, it means not just being nice to people but showing them how rich and powerful you are, placing them in your debt through good treatment and fine gifts, and finally being in a position to call in your chips.
This is precisely what happens in the escalating scenes between Paul and the Hutu general Augustin Bizimungo (Fana Mokoena), which alone are worth double the price of admission. Smoothly and convincingly, Cheadle's Paul goes from being the kind of host who knows what everybody is drinking to being the kind of hero who knows what every fearful moment requires. Against such a hideous backdrop, this is a beautiful thing to watch.
Posted by at 1:10 AM
January 9, 2005
Penn - etrating
Who are the two best actors in America? Robert Duvall and Sean Penn, IMHO. To judge by a fascinating interview with Penn in today's Boston Globe, there is no love lost between them. But that's not what strikes me about the interview. What strikes me is Penn's ability to relate the political side of his brain to the artistic side. For what are probably very good historical reasons, artists tend to compartmentalize these.
Sean Penn is the son of Leo Penn, a blacklisted figure from the bad old McCarthy days, so it is not surprising that he is a man of the left. Yet not the Hollywood left, I'm tempted to say. It's a matter of proportion. Most movie people live in a bubble, and when they try to connect with the world, they typically do so by taking highly moralistic, simplistic, one-sided stands on pet issues. (A political style found on both sides of the ideological divide, needless to say.)
What's impressive about Penn is not that he never takes such stands (he does), but rather that he does more. In plugging his new film, "The Assassination of Richard Nixon," he brings the open, imaginative, penetrating side of his mind - the artistic side - to bear on a political topic. On Nixon and George W. Bush, he sound more like a thoughtful historian than a celebrity actor.
Too bad he couldn't muster the same sympathy for Robert Duvall.
Posted by at 12:45 PM
January 7, 2005
"Tastes Good to Me"
Writing in today's Christian Science Monitor, David Sterritt asks an excellent question: Why do movie critics engage in groupthink? At press screenings, he notes, he and his compadres often seem to be "on different wavelengths" about the films they see. But when the time comes to compile lists of the year's best movies, "the same titles keep leaping out, as if some secret signal had been transmitted to our movie-critic brains."
I agree with Mr. Sterritt that along with challenging the taste of the public, critics should challenge the taste of other critics. But I disagree with his account of how to do this. Rather than engaging in groupthink, he writes, critics should be "following our own lights, disagreeing more often than agreeing, and remembering there's no scientific test to determine 'good' or 'bad' at the movies." The first two points make sense but not the third. Of course there's no scientific test. But that doesn't mean there are no tests at all.
Personally I find critical groupthink reassuring, because even when wrong, it suggests a certain coherence. The alternative is found on the ubiquitous chat-rooms attached to movie websites. They contain many intelligent remarks, to be sure, and every now and then you find someone who can actually spell. But these free-form reviews also illustrate what happens when (as the saying goes) "everyone's a critic": unfettered subjectivity, bizarre free association, celebrity gossip, and worst of all, a childish inability to disagree without reaching for the flamethrower.
Now let me offer a flameless rebuke to Mr. Sterritt. The critical favorite of 2004 is "Sideways," a judgment I am happy to endorse; it does my heart good to see such a terrific film get the kudos it deserves. Mr. Sterritt admires "Sideways" too, but so intent is he on the virtues of disagreement for its own sake, he quotes A.O. Scott of the New York Times reducing the critics' plaudits to narcissism. They like "Sideways," Scott suggests, because as "white, middle-aged men" they identify with the main character's "self-pity and solipsism," qualities that "represent the underside of the critical temperament."
Oh, dear. Leaving aside the merits of proving one's independence by quoting the New York Times, isn't it possible that all those hard-working criticis actually have good reasons for praising this movie? If they identify with the character of Miles (Paul Giamatti), it is probably not because he is a sad sack (excuse me, Mr. Scott, but your description of the movie critic does not cover all cases). Rather it is because Miles has a fine palate for wine, which he has developed over a long period of time, and he is traveling with a buddy who keeps saying, "Tastes good to me!" while slurping down the worst rotgut. Hate to sound like a snob, but I've been there. Haven't you?
Posted by at 8:00 AM
December 29, 2004
Video Virgil: Austen Power
Having introduced the topic of Jane Austen (see "Sideways" rave below), I feel moved to mention why the 1996 BBC/A&E production of "Pride and Prejudice" starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth is my favorite.
I admire this one the most because it achieves the most delicate balance between two very different worlds: that of Jane Austen�s novels and that of our contemporary film sensibility.
There are an amazing number of Austen adaptations out there. On this side of the pond they range from the old-fashioned Hollywood feature, the 1940 "Pride and Prejudice" starring Greer Garson and Sir Lawrence Olivier; to the new-fangled Hollywood feature, the 2003 update set in contemporary America, with the necessary social morality supplied by having the characters all be Mormons.
The chief fault of these, and of all novel-based feature films, is the adaptation process itself. No matter how highly credentialed the writers, they are bound by the stricture of the two-hour screenplay to commit ugly acts of amputation and evisceration.
The BBC led the way to a solution: the TV miniseries. Give the writer six hours instead of two, and he or she is less likely to turn into an Edward Scissorhands, out to discipline fusty old novelists for wasting kerjillions of words on material that doesn't advance the plot.
The BBC has adapted "Pride and Prejudice" four times: in 1952, 1967, 1980, and 1996. I haven�t seen the first two, but the contrast between �80 and �96 suggests the solution created a new problem: misplaced fidelity.
While Austen�s prose may seem dry to the newcomer, to the seasoned reader it purls along, clear and rapid as a fast-running brook. For reasons of cost, undue attachment to theatrical conventions, or perhaps both, this fluency was absent from the �80 production, which (despite a fine performance by Elizabeth Garvie as Elizabeth Bennet) is stagey and ... well, dry.
By �96 somebody at the Beeb - or at A&E - had figured out two things. First, that Austen is not dry. And second, that film has its own way of bubbling along, one that is different from both the page and the stage. Let the purists complain; if Austen were alive today, she would delight in this version and find ever so tactful fault with the others.
Posted by at 12:45 PM
December 23, 2004
Fine and Mellow for the Holidays
It's tricky to judge "Sideways," because "Sideways" is about judgment. All kinds of judgment, from the wine taster's palate to the would-be lover's heart. And it is so good, it makes you vow never again to drink rotgut.
The story is simple. Two 40-ish guys, former college roommates, take a tour of the Santa Barbara, California wine country. One of them, a failing actor named Jack (Thomas Haden Church), is about to get married. So his old friend Miles (Paul Giamatti), a pudgy failing novelist suffering post-divorce depression, suggests the trip as a last fling.
Of course, what Miles has in mind - open road, golden scenery, gourmet food, and great wine - is not what Jack hankers for. Like an aging woodthrush, Jack wants to puff out his feathers and make funny noises in his throat to attract females. Soon he is happily banging a wine pourer named Stephanie (Sandra Oh), while Miles goes into an emotional tailspin over sensing that a classy waitress named Maya (Virginia Madsen) might be a kindred spirit.
I saw "Sideways" right after "Closer" and was struck by the fact that Jack could be a character in either film. Like the "Closer" foursome, he's a narcissist whose life consists of yielding to every impulse, hurting other people, then absolving himself in fluent psychobabble. The only difference is, "Closer" glamourizes the type and "Sideways" does not. Thanks in part to a brilliant performance by Church, we see Jack in the kindest possible light as a greedy little boy half-trying to grow up.
Is "Sideways" moralistic? Not at all. But it is moral in a way that few contemporary films know how to be. Without giving away the ending, let me just say that by the time Jack and his Armenian-American bride are taking their vows under a large ornamental cross, he is the most pathetically sincere hypocrite you ever saw.
As for Miles, he turns out to be anything but pathetic. In a curious way, his fine palate becomes a metaphor for the fineness of his judgment in other more important matters, such as love. Just when you thought the movies had forgotten how to do courtship, along comes this contest between two people who see themselves reflected in Pinot, the most vulnerable wine grape but also the richest.
Let me state my praise this way: If you admire Jane Austin, and take pleasure in her delicate distinctions of right and wrong, not to mention her angelic patience toward human weakness, then you will very likely savor the long, smooth finish of "Sideways."
Posted by at 10:30 AM
December 19, 2004
Movie of the Year (I)
Now that Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" has made its way through the world's movie theaters and is selling briskly on DVD, critics and pundits are looking back at the various predictions, fearful and hopeful, that accompanied its release. The broad, eclectic website Beliefnet.com is a good place to go if you want a quick update on those predictions or an open-ended and seemingly endless discussion of the film. In the spirit of shameless self-promotion, I refer the reader to my own comments on the film, posted last spring - just click on "The Passion" to your right.
Posted by at 8:05 AM
December 17, 2004
Jumpers
Take it from generations of storytellers: dollar for dollar, erotic deception is your biggest entertainment value. In "Closer," the Mike Nichols film just nominated for a Golden Globe, the deception begins with the title, which implies the existence of something solid in a human being to which others may come close (or closer). But there's no such solidity in these four pretty protagonists. The moment they get close, they fly apart.
This makes for some intriguing patterns, like the swirls traced by a magnet in a pile of metal shavings. The question is, are the forces at work in this film any more complicated than the positive and negative charges found in a magnet?
Plot summaries are a drag but in this case necessary: An American stripper named Alice (Natalie Portman) goes to London and jumps the bones of an English journalist named Dan (Jude Law). Dan later betrays Alice by jumping the bones of an American photographer named Anna (Julia Roberts). By jumping Dan's bones, Anna is betraying her husband, an English dermatologist named Larry (Clive Owen). In the end, Larry and Alice claim to have jumped each other's bones, but they might be lying.
So many bones, so little time. Oddly, "Closer" would have us believe that these four take several years to do what any self-respecting spouse-swappers could do in a single evening. But spouse-swapping is shallow and "Closer" is deep. Right?
There's one deep-seeming gimmick: instant messaging. Pretending to be Anna, Dan erotic-IMs with Larry as a practical joke, only to arrange a rendezvous that results in some serious bone-jumping. But Cyrano de Bergerac these people ain't. It is not clear why Larry would venture forth to meet the author of such lines as, "I want 2 cum on yr face." Cum to think of it, this isn't deep, or even erotic. Just trendy.
If there is a deep character, it would be Natalie, the stripper skilled at exerting power over men without letting them exert any over her. The film's most riveting scene occurs when Larry (heartsick over Anna) visits a strip joint and pays for a private ogle with Alice (heartsick over Dan). Larry wants to jump Alice's bones, but Alice cites the house rule, "Look but don't touch." And when Larry begs her to say her real name, she insists on using her fake nom de strip, Jane. Of course, at the end we learn that her name really is Jane.
This pattern is tidy: by attracting and repelling in equal measure, the gorgeous but vulnerable heroine achieves a moment of maximum control that enables her to speak the truth. Unfortunately, even this pattern dissolves at the end, when the happiness of Natalie and Dan reunited is destroyed by the question: DID Larry jump Alice's bones, after all?
We never learn the answer, a device doubtless intended to make us share these characters' morbid desire to know the truth even when it destroys happiness. This might pass for deep, if this film contained any happiness or emotional truth. But it doesn't. So the magnet in use here has only one charge.
Posted by at 10:45 AM
December 15, 2004
Blockheads
Hurt by competition with Netflix and other mail-order video rental services, Blockbuster's operating income threatens to stay flat this coming year. So the company in its wisdom has decided to eliminate its most-griped-about policy: late fees.
Instead of charging you an average $4 for the late return of a video, Blockbuster will now let you keep it an extra week, then charge your credit card for the purchase price. Oh, you didn't want to buy it? Well, you're in luck: you then have a 30-day "grace period" in which to return the video for a store credit, minus a $1.25 re-stocking fee. And just to clarify further: the grace period includes the extra week. So it's really only 21 days.
Is that clear? If you are regular customer at Blockbuster, you may be harboring some small doubt about waiting in line for the privilege of having some Tarantino wannabe explain the new fee structure to you.
For this is the real reason why people are switching to mail-order video: THEY NEVER HAVE TO GO TO THE VIDEO STORE!
Consider: You can order books by mail, too. But people flock to Borders and Barnes & Noble. Why? Because they're pleasant public places where people can buy coffee, sit and relax, browse in peace, even read. Quite apart from the debate over chains vs, independents, most people will agree that compared with the average Blockbuster, the average Borders treats its customers like human beings.
And this is true regardless of age or level of education. Compare the human specimens in Blockbuster with those in Borders, and you will find that they are basically the same. The only real difference is that the latter are happier. They aren't trying to choose a video, add up their late fees, or handle their children in an environment that assaults them with blaring promotional ads and mountains of candy, popcorn, and all the other unspeakable junk food that Blockbuster would have us believe is the normal, natural accompaniment to watching a film at home.
My point is simple. Instead of interpreting the difference between Blockbuster and Borders as proof of a McLuhanesque gap between noble print and debased electronic media, maybe we should think of it as the difference between a company that batters its customers into submission and one that understands that most people will actually pay for the privilege of feeling civilized..
Posted by at 11:00 AM
December 13, 2004
Not So Rich
Last spring, Frank Rich screened "Kinsey" and found it "an intelligent account of a half-forgotten and somewhat quaint chapter in American history."
Now he finds the film more timely. Indeed, his column in yesterday's New York Times held up "Kinsey" as the harbinger of a returning dark age, as religious conservatives hatch a new, post-electoral "plot against sex in America."
Golly, when I heard that "Kinsey" was attracting the usual spitballs from the usual suspects, I just took it as another skirmish in the Thirty Years War between publicity-seeking preachers and keister-covering broadcasters. To judge by Rich's account, though, the situation is more serious than that. Indeed, the battlements of sexual enlightenment are being stormed by an army of Bible-reading Orcs.
This is odd, given that only last week Rich was reassuring us that red-state couch potatoes enjoy televised T&A just as much as blue-state ones do. That struck me as a singularly uninteresting observation, but about all we can expect from a critic who (to paraphrase Charles Peguy) would go to any length to avoid being thought a prude.
Still, I can't help but wonder whether Rich is really worried about the end of nonmarital nooky as we know it, or whether he's just running short of ideas. To quote Peguy directly: "A word is not the same with one writer as with another. One tears it from his guts. The other pulls it out of his overcoat pocket."
Posted by at 8:00 AM
December 12, 2004
Same Director: "Hail, Hail, Rock 'n' Roll"
While we're on the subject of 1950s rock & roll, let me recommend a fine documentary by the man who directed "Ray." In 1987 Taylor Hackford made "Hail, Hail, Rock 'n' Roll" (1987), a portrait of Chuck Berry as he prepared for a 60th-birthday concert in St Louis' formerly segregated Fox Theater. The film offers revealing glimpses of such rock luminaries as Bo Diddley, Johnnie Johnson (Berry's original pianist), Little Richard, Eric Clapton, Linda Ronstadt, Bruce Springsteen, and Keith Richard.
The finest moment, worth double the price of admission, is when Berry, Bo Diddley, and Little Richard recall how naive they had been in the face of sharp practices by the record labels that signed their first hits. Berry, who has been bragging all along about his business acumen, listens to his compadres confessing their mistakes, then informs them that he was too smart to get ripped off. "I majored in math," he says - only to have the spotlight immediately stolen by Little Richard's hilarious retort: "Well, I majored in MOUTH!"
Posted by at 10:00 AM
December 11, 2004
Shining Brother Ray
According to popular myth, the late fifties were "the day the music died." That was when most of the original rock & rollers quit recording: Carl Perkins because of a car accident; Little Richard because of religion; Elvis because of being drafted into the Army; Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry because of sex-related scandals; and Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, and Richie Valens because of a fatal plane crash.
That's hardly the whole picture, though. To quote music critic Nelson George: "Many rock & roll historians, with their characteristic bias toward youth rebellion, claim that the last two years of the fifties were a musically fallow period. But that claim only works if you're willing to ignore Ray Charles's brilliant work."
I couldn't agree more. To talk about Ray Charles is to talk about the finest vintage: ripe essence of blues, jazz, country, and (most important) gospel warmed by the Southern sun, fermented in the soul of a brave and gifted man, then bottled by wise vintners like Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler, the type of entrepreneurs who once upon a time gave the American record industry a reason to exist.
If you're still reading, you've probably savored this musical vintage. But unless you've read "Brother Ray," the salty-sweet autobiography that Charles did with David Ritz, you may not know the fascinating life story of this musical icon. Now you can learn about it, with a minimum of foolishness and a maximum of feeling.
As a writer about popular music, I've seen a lot of "biopics," and believe me, most are rotgut. Not "Ray." From the production design, which richly re-creates an America that now seems as remote as ancient Rome, to the phenomenal cast, who quite simply act their hearts out, this movie is...what? Rather than reach for a superlative, let me just say that this movie is worthy of its subject.
Posted by at 10:15 AM
December 7, 2004
"Kinsey": All Bonobos and No Chimps
Behold the bonobo, Dr. Kinsey tells his enraptured students. They're our closest relatives, and they have sex all the time, with as many partners as possible, while living together in peace and harmony!
Way cool, we say. But depending on our knowledge of primate evolution, we might also ask why the kindly prof doesn't mention chimpanzees, those larger cousins of bonobos who really ARE our closest relatives (just a few chromosomes away from Uncle Fred). Is it because recent field research suggests that chimps in the wild take giddy delight in such activities as rape, mate-battering, and murder?*
Personally, I don't put much stock in sociobiology. It's fascinating to compare ourselves with animals, but for a couple of millennia, human beings have understood that, like it or not, we are different. For one thing, animals don't conduct scientific studies of their own sexual behavior, publish them in best-selling volumes that contribute to significant changes in social organization (if not behavior), then make movies celebrating only one side of the story.
To be fair, "Kinsey" tells its one-sided story gracefully. Bill Condon is a deft director with a flair for sexual themes (see his excellent 1998 "Gods and Monsters"). And Liam Neeson is a vast improvement on the original Alfred Kinsey - not only is he better looking, with a better sense of humor, he is also better behaved.
Oops. This is science, folks. We're not supposed to judge behavior as better or worse. That belongs to the dark ages B.K. (Before Kinsey), when ten-year-old boys were forced to wear cruel contraptions to keep them from masturbating.
Huh? Where did I get that idea? From a gripping scene in which it is revealed that the suffering flesh of Kinsey p�re (John Lithgow) had been mortified in this bizarre way. As it happens, there's no evidence that such a thing ever occurred. Why then add it to the movie? The answer is simple: to make the dark ages look even darker than they were.
America had no lack of sexual hangups in the 1950s: anti-gay prejudice, racist myths, and gross disinformation about female sexuality (thanks a lot, Sigmund). A more measured film would not feel the need to add sexual morality to the list. I say this because the last I checked, sex was a pretty strong passion that sometimes needs channelling, if not curbing. (I assure you, my acceptance of this hard fact does not compel me to strap chastity belts on ten-year-old boys.)
One one level, "Kinsey" accepts this hard fact. There aren't many erotic practices out there that most people agree are wrong, but raping children is one. So "Kinsey" includes a moment of moral indignation at it, as though trying to reassure the audience that this is a movie about noble scientists, not nasty libertines.
The trouble is, Kinsey and some of his associates WERE libertines, and like all libertines they ended up hurting and violating one another. There are some hints of this: a scene where two researchers who've been sleeping with each other's wives succumb to jealous anger; and one great line: "When it comes to love, we are all in the dark."
But these are only hints, which is too bad, because underlying this story is a compelling set of questions about what science can and cannot tell us about ourselves. For example, love is not the only thing science cannot illuminate. Morality is another. Can it be proven scientifically that raping children is wrong? Of course not. That is a truth of another kind, no less true for not being subject to the experimental method.
If "Kinsey" went a little further in addressing such questions, instead of pulling back from them (for fear of appearing prudish?), then it would be a great movie instead of merely a good one.
* My source is the work of anthropologist Richard Wrangham, whose 1997 book, "Demonic Males," uses solid research to buttress a less-than-solid brief for what might be described as the bonobo lifestyle.
Posted by at 9:45 AM
December 4, 2004
Video Virgil: Nice Beards, Great Bathrobes
Speaking of film in the classroom, here�s a sleeper: "King David" (1985, directed by Bruce Beresford). To show this to students before reading I and II Samuel would be a mistake, because unlike the Scripture, the film is not about the problem of monarchy itself.
Americans may have rejected kings in political life, but we yearn for them in fantasy - consider "The Lion King." By contrast, I and II Samuel tell of the Israelites yearning for a king so they can be like other tribes, and of the Lord anointing a bad one, Saul, to teach them why they should not crave an earthly ruler other than his prophets. The twist, of course, is that David comes along, and through one of the Hebrew Bible�s great human-divine wrestling matches convinces the Lord that monarchy can work (at least for a while).
"King David" reduces this capacious theme to a psychological battle between Saul (Edward Woodward), the test-dummy king who succumbs to envy and paranoia, and David (Richard Gere), the golden-boy upstart who can do no wrong. And when David does do wrong, seducing Bathsheba and then arranging to have her husband, Uriah the Hittite, killed in battle, the film smooths things over by making Uriah a sexually dysfunctional wife beater. As any astute college student will immediately notice, this makes Nathan the prophet look kind of silly rebuking David with a parable about a shepherd who loses his beloved pet lamb to the greed of a rich man. As I recall, the shepherd in the parable did not go in for lamb abuse.
OK, in this respect "King David" is just another "beards and bathrobes" flick that takes what is deep, tortured, gnarly, and puzzling in the Bible and reduces it to facile melodrama. But in its defense I will say that "King David" does get a lot of things right - indeed, more than most examples of the genre. And because the acting, production design, and (especially) music are generally excellent, the film provides certain pleasures well known to avid readers who are also movie lovers: the pleasures of allusion, of illustration, and (not least, as demonstrated above) of correction!
Posted by at 10:20 AM
November 23, 2004
College Try: Timing is Everything
It is natural for college professors to knock movie adaptations of great books, and no wonder: Hollywood's record of dumbing down classic literature, not to mention popular culture's overweening claims on student attention, can make showing a film seem more hindrance than help.
Yet film adaptations have their place. I would argue that right movie, shown at the right time and in the right way, can be richly educational. But let me propose a caveat: Never lead off with the movie.
To the hapless educator trying to interest students in material that is less user-friendly than, say, "Spider Man," it's tempting to use the film version of a book as a sort of canap� to whet student appetite for the main course.
But this doesn't work. To lead off with the film is to invite students to treat it as a substitute for the book. (This is especially true if the film is old. slow-paced, or otherwise lacking in state-of-the-art production values. About technical filmcraft young people are terrible snobs. For them, sitting through an antiquated movie is hard work, almost as hard as turning pages.)
To lead off with the film is also to give it a prior claim to authenticity, and to reduce the book to source material - or worse, corrective. The process of reading and discussion thereby becomes one of finding fault with the movie. This is no fun and often prompts students to say, "We're sure you're right, Professor Scoldtongue. But we liked the movie!"
Thus it follows logically that the right time to show the film is after the book has been thoroughly digested. If the film is halfway competent, it will provide the pleasure of allusion, as students recognize characters, details, and themes.
To students who have difficulty visualizing from the page, the film will also provide the pleasure of illustration (which, contrary to the print-worshiping McLuhanites among us, is a perfectly respectable pleasure that has been around for many centuries).
But most important, showing the film after reading the book puts the burden of correction on the students. And in my experience they take great delight in parading their superior understanding, using the text as the standard by which the film's every deficiency may be rooted out.
This isn't a reason to show lousy adaptations. The more elusive a film's deficiencies, the harder the students must work to root them out. Again, these observations are based on a tiny sample: my own students. But here is my rule of thumb: when good books are followed by good movies, the classroom comes alive.
Posted by at 3:45 AM
November 20, 2004
Made for TV: "The Wool Cap"
Brace yourself. We are now entering the season of feel-good TV movies in which angelic choirs, colored lights, and lightly falling snow possess a miraculous healing power over even the worst family traumas. Most directors of holiday movies have never seen an estrangement, betrayal, embitterment, or deep psychic would that does not instantly dissolve when two family members say "I love you" and give each other a big bear hug.
I won't kid you - there's just such a moment in "The Wool Cap," a made-for-TV movie airing this Sunday, November 21 on TNT. But "The Wool Cap" is worth watching all the same, because while it is definitely full of cliches, it manages to suffuse them with rare honesty and humor.
The secret ingredient is William H. Macy, an actor who was never a favorite of mine until last year, when he and Steven Schachter made "Door to Door," an Emmy-winning film about a traveling salesman with cerebral palsy. Now they have collaborated on a new, equally affecting character: Gigot, gloomy alcoholic who works as a janitor in a dilapidated New York tenement.
Gigot cannot speak because of a neck injury sustained in a long-ago car accident, but thanks to Macy's terrific wordless acting, Gigot's feelings are crystal clear as gradually, through no wish of his own, he becomes the sole responsible adult in the life of Lou, a young African-American girl abandoned by her crack addict mother.
Maybe "The Wool Cap" works because the Christmas-Bear-Hug scene is not the main event but rather a step in the process by which Gigot learns to be a father (by reconciling with his own father). Or maybe it succeeds because of Keke Palmer, the gifted young actress who brings Lou to vivid, unstereotypical life. Or Don Rickles, pulling off a lovely understated star turn as one of Gigot's tenants. Or the pet monkey who steals every other scene. Whatever the reason, "The Wool Cap" is a keeper. Take it from someone who actually likes eggnog and fruitcake - but only when made with the finest ingredients.
Posted by at 2:51 AM
November 16, 2004
Video Virgil: Washed Out
I quit reading Philip Roth around the time he wrote "The Breast" - a case, methought, of Big Author morphing into Big Boob. But "The Human Stain" is supposed to be a good book. Which may well be, because it stops short of being a good film the way films made from good books often do. In particular, the film faithfully depicts every surface wrinkle of a relationship that is of interest only in its emotional depths. Among other things this causes the sex scenes to have an odd, second-hand quality, as though they had been staged by one of those aliens who go around abducting humans and calibrating their gonads.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. "The Human Stain" is two films, and one is indeed very good (if truncated). It opens with the less than good one, starring Anthony Hopkins as a sixtyish classics professor named Coleman Silk, who uses the word "spook" to describe two students who never show up in class (and are therefore invisible, like ghosts). As luck would have it, the students are black, so Coleman is hurled into the sort of P.C. hell that could erupt all too easily in place named "Athena College" in "Athena," Massachusetts.
Poor Coleman�s wife is so distraught she dies of a heart attack, and the only friend he has left is Nathan Zuckerman, Roth's fictional alter ego (Gary Sinise). It's just as well Nathan is there, because when Coleman meets Faunia Farley (Nicole Kidman), an unhappy young woman who works menial jobs in the town, the resurgence of lust he experiences might escape the viewer�s attention, save that Coleman tells Nathan all about it. On the screen Coleman's emotion looks more like dyspepsia. More erotic than any of the Hopkins-Kidman scenes is the sequence where Coleman puts Fred Astaire on the stereo and induces Nathan to dance with him to "Cheek to Cheek."
Part of the problem is Kidman, who labors so hard to look scuzzy, she has no time to flesh out a character who (in the novel) must labor to look pretty. One of these days, Hollywood will cast a plain woman as a plain woman. But don't hold your breath.
Of course, none of this is the point. Just as Kidman is trying to pass as a scuzz, so is Coleman trying to pass as something he�s not. In particular, he�s not Jewish, as everyone thinks. He�s black. Hence the irony of the racism charge. And hence the plot of the other film, the good but truncated one.
The good film is a flashback in which Wentworth Miller plays the young Coleman, the son of a genteel African-American family who learns the hard way that the world of his aspirations is off limits to him as a Negro. So Coleman (who is, as the saying goes, "light, bright, and damn near white") decides to pass - and in doing so breaks two hearts, his mother's and his own. Every actor in this flashback is superb, from Anna Deveare Smith as Coleman�s mother to Jacinda Barrett as the white girlfriend who leaves him when she learns of his background. It�s too bad this part couldn�t be the whole movie.
Coleman never shares his secret with anyone � not colleagues, not Nathan, not even his wife � until at the end he shares it with Faunia. He does so because Faunia has painful secrets of her own. The trouble is, it�s hard to care about Faunia�s secrets, because they seem cobbled together for the occasion. First, her poverty is not inherited, like that of most struggling people who mop floors in elite institutions. Like a character in Dickens, Faunia is high born but fallen low through no fault of her own.
Whose fault is it? Brace yourself for the cliches: a sexually abusive stepfather, and a crazy Vietnam vet husband (Ed Harris, wasting his talent). For the sake of the story, I�m willing to tolerate Hopkins as the older Coleman, although his resemblance to the younger is nil. But compared with the other female characters, Faunia feels like something cut and pasted from a bad TV movie. It is sad her crazy husband drives the lovers off the road into a frozen lake. But it is not surprising. For all the talent that went into it, this movie was badly steered from the beginning.
Posted by at 10:00 AM
October 24, 2004
Video Virgil: What Was Hip?
There's a new book out called "Hip: The History," by New York Times writer John Leland. It sounds fascinating, but if you want to witness the pure essence of hip, watch the DVD of "Jazz on a Summer's Day," Bert Stern's documentary about the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival.
"Documentary" is the wrong word, because this is a visual poem, as hip in its way as a solo by Dizzy Gillespie or a poem by Frank O'Hara.
Like all crucial words, hip is hard to define. Rooted in African-American musical culture, especially jazz, hip is also white, though not in the crude heavy-handed way of Norman Mailer's bone-headed essay, "The White Negro." Hip is in eclipse today, because it is neither crude (like most pop music) or heavy-handed (like most "serious" commentary on pop music).
The word hip originated in West Africa: "hepi" or "hipi" is Wolof for "to open your eyes." And Stern's wide-open camera eye gives us amazing close-ups of Jimmy Giuffre, Thelonious Monk, Anita O'Day, Sonny Stitt, Gerry Mulligan, Dinah Washington, Big Maybelle, Chuck Berry, Chico Hamilton, Louis Armstrong, and Mahalia Jackson.
Great artists, all. But great artists need great audiences, and what is most amazing about this film is its portrait of the crowd. Newport was no paradise - Stern himself described it as bringing not-rich New Yorkers, black and white, into a rich white enclave. Unlike the revelers at Woodstock eleven years later, this crowd did not fancy itself a utopian community. They just dug the music. But the way they dug it had a rare and magical beauty, and I for one am glad Stern was there to capture it.
Posted by at 12:16 PM
September 22, 2004
We Don't Do Continuity Any More
The critics have been spooning over "We Don't Live Here Any More," a new film adapted from two 1970s novellas by Andre Dubus. Dubus's fine-tuned fiction was also the basis for "In the Bedroom," one of the most remarkable films made in the last decade. This time, though, his art is not so well served.
The problem is partly the material. Instead of murder, grief, and revenge, the weighty subjects of "In the Bedroom," the topic here is wife-swapping 1970s-style. I'm tempted to add "pre-feminist 1970s-style," since both husbands are youngish academics married to women who never utter a peep about doing anything more interesting than keep house. The acting is OK (I rarely blame actors for anything). But the story is thin, the sexual equivalent of watching somebody decide not to have a cookie, then decide to have one, then decide not to have another. John Updike did it better in "Couples."
The real problem, though, is a distracting linattention to what film makers call continuity. That usually means keeping details consistent from scene to scene - for example, if a character is riding a green bicycle in the beginning of a scene, he or she should not be riding a blue one a minute later.
The continuity problem here is a bit more serious. Let me quote from the New Yorker's rave review: "The lovely cinematography of Maryse Alberti ... creates a canopy of nature over the characters, season after season, which tells us that life will go on for these four - they may not find happiness, but they will survive. Scene by scene, the movie is precise, vibrant, and, for all its turmoil, moving."
Huh? Watch the scenes unfurl, and you will witness what can only be called season-swapping. One moment it is summer, then fall, then spring, then winter, and so on. Maybe I should give the film the benefit of the doubt and take this as a cinematic metaphor suggesting the frustration of these four individuals whose relationships with one another don't seem to be getting anywhere? Nahh.
Posted by at 9:46 AM
September 5, 2004
Video Virgil: "Mystic River"
Winner of this year's Oscar, "Mystic River" has been compared with Greek tragedy. This intrigued me at first, because most Hollywood films treat of tragedy in the spirit described by William Dean Howells: "What the American public always wants is a tragedy with a happy ending."
"Mystic River" does not have a happy ending, which makes its Oscar win all the more impressive. But because it screws up the tragic ending it could have had, "Mystic River" wouldn't have won any prizes in Athens.
The three main characters, Irish-American boys from a fictional blue-collar section of Boston, are as happy as they're ever going to be on the day when one of them, Dave, gets abducted by a pair of pedophiles pretending to be cops. After several horrific days locked in a cellar and roughly abused, Dave escapes. But he is never the same, and neither are his two friends, Jimmy and Sean.
The film opens with Dave's ordeal, but in keeping with Greek unity of time, place, and action, that ordeal is implied more than shown. A purist might set up a chorus -- five guys in the Purple Shamrock bar? -- but director Clint Eastwood is not a purist. He's a master of film, and it is through film that he achieves the emotional tone, searing yet detached, of the tragic chorus.
Then commences the main plot. On the same street, in the same weather, we see the three boys grown up: Dave (Tim Robbins) is a lost soul barely held together by his wife Celeste (Marcia Gay Harden). Jimmy (Sean Penn) is an ex-con with a second wife who walks the straight and narrow as proprietor of a mom-and-pop grocery. Sean (Kevin Baker) is a police detective who has split from the neighborhood.
For a while, the plot unfolds with Sophoclean swiftness. Jimmy's beloved daughter by his first wife, a mercurial beauty named Katie (Emmy Rossum), is murdered late one night and dumped in a park. Jimmy is frantic. Sean warily shows up to investigate, and Dave spooks Celeste by coming home that night with blood on his clothes and a not very credible story about having beaten and possibly killed a mugger.
And the tragic elements are all in place. A sense of foreboding, of deadly fate set in motion long ago, hangs over the proceedings, mixed with suspense: Did Dave kill Katie? Will Jimmy seek revenge before the facts are in? Will Sean's guilty loyalty cause him to blow the case? Then a series of interlocking recognitions and reversals culminates in a harrowing sequence: Jimmy's gangster-style execution of Dave, followed by the revelation that Dave was innocent, and Sean's decision to let Jimmy walk, his rage and sorrow at having killed his unhappy friend punishment enough.
So why not give "Mystic River" the prize? Because instead of stopping there, Eastwood adds four or five extraneous scenes, tying up loose ends that do not need tying up, and in general draining off all the tragic emotion that the film has successfully evoked. This ending-after-the-ending is so bad, I can't thinking that it was tacked on after the movie was market-tested on the same American public that Howells knew so well. If this is the case, then all I can do is thank Zeus that the theater of Dionysus didn't go in for such foolishness.
Posted by at 11:00 AM
September 2, 2004
War Flix
Sorry for the hiatus. It was unavoidable.
Some thoughts prompted by the news that Warner Brothers has canceled its distribution of David O. Russell's anti-Iraq war documentary made to accompany the re-release of his 1999 film, "Three Kings."
I haven't seen the documentary, but I am curious about it, because Russell is a figure to be reckoned with. "Three Kings" is a flawed but fascinating film about the 1991 Gulf War, which begins with a scene of self-indulgent chaos on the part of American soldiers that is not unlike the opening sequences in "Apocalypse Now."
Amid drunken celebrations of victory in Kuwait, a band of cynical G.I.'s decide to venture into Iraq to steal some gold. But unlike the Americans in "Apocalypse Now," who descend into the heart of their own darkness, these adventurers encounter a group of desperate Shi'ites involved in the thwarted uprising against Saddam Hussein. By helping them to escape, the Americans ascend to a state of surprisingly convincing moral clarity. The film is full of black humor and graphic violence, but at the end it achieves something like a modern vision of democratic honor.
This stands in sharp contrast with more popular and commercially successful war films like "Black Hawk Down" (2002). Directed by Ridley Scott, "Black Hawk Down" is about the Delta Force and Ranger soldiers who battled to save a helicopter crew stranded in the streets of Mogadishu. As sheer spectacle it is ear-splitting and eye-popping, and it brilliantly evokes the physical aspect of modern high-tech warfare. But unfortunately, "Black Hawk Down" goes out of its way to avoid showing WHY its fresh-faced, all-American heroes, who as characters are as interchangeable as avatars in a video game, are in Somalia in the first place.
This is typical of today's war movies. Some attract a loyal following among veterans and other people familiar with the situations they depict. For example, a veteran friend of mine is a great fan of Mel Gibson's revisionist Vietnam movie, "We Were Soldiers" (2002), for the uncontestable reason that he fought in the battle of the Ia Drang Valley back in 1965. At a recent reunion with his unit, he and his former buddies reconstructed the battle with the aid of the film -- an exercise that clearly meant a lot.
Nonetheless, "We Were Soldiers" is a mediocre movie, in part because it, too, avoids saying WHY the battle is being fought. The first American casualty moans, �I am glad to die for my country,� but by the end, even patriotism is muted, as a voice-over attributed to the film's hero, Lt. Col. Hal Moore, says that the men of the Seventh Air Cavalry �went to war because their country asked them to, but in the end they fought not for their country or their flag. They fought for each other."
This is the mantra nowadays: "Forget cause - leave that to the politicians. Real men fight for comradeship, period." It makes a lot of sense, as originally defined by psychologists studying the behavior of men in combat. In the heat of battle, many studies have found, soldiers risk their lives not for the sake of abstract ideals but for their friends. The term for this is "unit cohesion," and story-tellers have long understood it. Ever since Achilles rode into battle to avenge his beloved Patroclus, comradeship, not cause, has been the source of drama in all war stories worth telling.
But great story-tellers also understand that cause must be addressed. Yes, comradeship rules while the bullets (or flaming arrows) are flying. But at some point the shooting stops, soldiers ponder why they fight, and if no adequate reason presents itself, they grow less willing to re-enter hell. This is what happened in Vietnam, and this could happen in Iraq.
So what are we left with? Incredibly vivid war movies that drift away from meaning and toward violence for its own sake. "Black Hawk Down" mounts a mighty assault on the senses, but because the thrill is vicarious, it makes war look more exciting than horrible, closer to a video game than to a deadly serious undertaking. Such richly produced, poorly scripted spectacles ignore the bitterest but most important lesson of war � namely, that the willingness of one soldier to sacrifice for another, however potent in the short run, depends in the long run on his knowing why he fights. When the cause is perceived as meaningless or unjust, unit cohesion dissolves and battle spirals into a dishonorable nightmare of every man for himself. Surely that is not a movie that any human being wishes to see.
Posted by at 11:55 AM
August 10, 2004
The New Cultural Diplomacy?
During the 1990s the U.S. government quit engaging in old-fashioned cultural diplomacy. With the Cold War over, it proceeded between 1993 and 2001 to cut the State Department budget for cultural and educational programs by 33 percent, dismantle the U.S.Information Agency (USIA), and close American libraries and cultural centers from Vienna to Ankara, Belgrade to Islamabad.
At the same time, the U.S. exported popular culture, especially movies, big time. Between 1986 and 2000 the fees generated by American exports of film and tape went from $1.68 billion to $8.85 billion, an increase of 426 per cent. Not only has foreign box office revenue grown faster than domestic, it is now approaching a 2-to-1 ratio.
In other words, while the big State Department was dozing at the wheel, the "little State Department" (the nickname, since the 1940s, of the Motion Picture Export Association) was busy prying open new markets all over the globe.
Which brings us to the present moment: "Fahrenheit 9/11" is now playing in theaters in Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, and on DVD in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. According to the New York Times, the theaters are packed. And the message, diplomatically speaking, seems twofold: First, people are struck by "how the American adminstration was able to manipulate the American people." And second, they "want to know more about the reaction to the movie among Americans, who have bought more than $103 million in tickets."
In other words, American democracy is still being showcased overseas, only now the image is of mindless mob being manipulated by demagogues. We could be sanguine and assume that this is OK, it shows that we are free to disagree. But if we keep in mind the classic and contemporary critique of democracy as...well, as a mindless mob being manipulated by demagogues, then this new cultural diplomacy looks less appealing. Maybe the old USIA wasn't so bad, after all?
Posted by at 9:30 AM
August 9, 2004
Video Virgil: "Phone Booth"
I wouldn't have rented this one, but when I saw the stunning opening sequence on HBO, I stayed for the rest.
The opener begins with a cliche: a zoom shot from outer space through the earth's atmosphere down toward North America and finally into good old gridlocked Mahattan. But the cliche is nicely souped up, as we are also pulled into an ocean of humming frequencies: millions of people talking on their cellphones.
Then we are prancing down Broadway with Stuart (Colin Farrell), a slick, obnoxious would-be talent agent shouting ridiculous promises into two different cellphones while a young sycophant juggles two more.
You won't like Stuart, but stay with him, because he's about to undergo an amazing transformation. By stepping into a beat-up phone booth to call a young woman he's trying to hit on, he also steps into an evil trap.
Or maybe it's a good trap? Leaving the booth, Stuart hears the phone ring and out of curiosity picks it up. Then he is stuck, because high in one of the surrounding buildings is a sniper who not only knows Stuart's soul but intends to save it -- by any means necessary. Every pseudo-artist claims moral ambiguity as a theme, but few actually pull it off. This one does.
Posted by at 9:45 AM
August 3, 2004
Video Virgil: "Yes, Minister"
If you have read this before, apologies. I am moving Video Virgil into the main weblog, because Virgil does not like being sidelined. After the first couple of postings we will move into new territory.
If this political season is making you feel a bit cynical, then I have just the thing for you. If you like smart cynicism instead of dumb, and don't mind being reminded of the comic helplessness of elected officials pitted against the vast bureaucracy of the modern state, then by all means rent the terrific British TV series "Yes, Minister." It is witty, insightful, occasionally side-splitting, and (except for certain references and some appalling 1980s eyeglasses) as timely as tomorrow's op-eds.
Two tips: Ignore the ugly animated drawings that precede each episode, and ignore the clumsiness of the opening episode, in which newly minted Minister for Administrative Affairs Jim Hacker (Paul Eddington) first encounters his nemesis, Permanent Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby (the incomparable Nigel Hawthorne) and Sir Humphrey's earnest apprentice in the art of house-training new ministers, Bernard Woolley (Derek Fowlds).
Once the situation and characters are established, the comedy starts to simmer. Then it bubbles, and by some miracle performed by the writers, Anthony Jay and Jonathan Lynn, it keeps boiling for nigh unto four full discs. I never tired of it, even though the joke remains pretty much the same throughout. Who would have thought that so much hilarity could be brought forth from the proposition that government exists not to do anything but to perpetuate itself?
Posted by at 11:00 AM
August 2, 2004
I'd Walk A Mile For This One
What a strange movie. Without ceremony, The Story of the Weeping Camel plunks you down in Southern Mongolia, in a part of the Gobi Desert that makes Death Valley look inviting. There you witness the daily round of a nomad family who live entirely off their small herd of sheep and camels. And while these people are quite appealing with their thick colorful garments, their capable calloused hands, and their tender but unsentimental tending of both beast and kin, you still wonder what you are doing there.
Then the story kicks in. I use the word "kick" advisedly, because if you are squeamish about the hindquarters of large animals, you will not enjoy the sequence where a pregnant camel walks around for the better part of two days with the legs of a gawky half-born albino colt sticking out of her rear. As you might imagine, she is not comfortable. Lying down, rolling over, getting up and walking around some more, she cannot get the colt to come out.
Finally the people grab the legs, yank really hard, and pull the colt out. The mother is so relieved, she trots away, leaving the colt to fend for itself. She doesn't want it, and although it whimpers pitifully, and the people try everything to get her to nurse it, she couldn't care less. At one point she even kicks the poor little thing in the head.
If you are not already engrossed, you will be when the two youngest boys ride camelback 50 kilometers to the nearest town, where they hire, of all things, a musician. While in town they also encounter bicycles, satellite dishes, TVs, and slouching teenagers in Western dress. But curiously, the movie does not seem to be about the usual clash between tribal purity and modern corruption. On the contrary, the boys' other errand is to buy batteries for their grandfather's radio -- a detail that suggests these two worlds have been coexisting for quite some time. If this is one of those films about how wonderful life was before modern media, it's pretty subtle about it.
Then you forget about such abstract themes, because the musician rides out to the nomad encampment (on a motorcycle) and plays his instrument, accompanied by the singing of the boys' mother. Charmed by the music, the neglectful mother allows the baby to nurse, weeping great Mongolian camel tears while she does so. If this doesn't cause you to shed a few of your own, then you are even more ornery than a dromedary. Which is mighty ornery.
Posted by at 5:30 AM
July 27, 2004
Right on McTarget
"Super Size Me" is better than any Micheal Moore film, for the simple reason that it was made by a better human being. Morgan Spurlock, a thirty-something filmmaker with one previous production credit, attacks McDonald's with the same aggressive glee that Moore showed when going after General Motors ("Roger and Me"). the gun lobby ("Bowling for Columbine"), and President Bush ("Fahrenheit 9/11"). But while Moore is a carpet bomb blasting everyone who wanders into his viewfinder, Spurlock is a smart bomb hitting only his chosen target.
It's no fun deliberately ruining your health by adopting the sedentary lifestyle and fast food diet that are turning so many Americans into human Humvees, but that is what Spurlock does. Cheerfully making himself the guinea pig, he starts his experiment with a complete medical exam, in which three different doctors declare him to be in "perfect" shape.
Then, after enjoying a healthy "last supper" cooked by his vegan girlfriend, he spends a painful and hilarious 30 days sitting on his behind and scarfing down everything on the McDonald's menu, from Sausage McGriddles to Chicken McNuggets to Double Quarter Pounders with Cheese, accompanied by Super Size French Fries and gallons of Coke, and finished off with horrors like Baked Apple Pie Triple Thick Shakes.
After three weeks the doctors are advising him to stop, and at the end of the month, he has gained 40 pounds and developed something like an addiction to the rush caused by massive amounts of fat, sugar, starch, and sodium. After four weeks the doctors are telling him to quit or suffer alcoholic-like cirrhosis of the liver.
Spurlock uses some Moore tricks: the sarcastic voice-over that doesn't even pretend to be objective; the ironic editing that makes you laugh out loud; the campy use of old ads and TV; and the interview-ambush. The object of the latter is a General Foods spokesman who, in the middle of expressing corporate concern about the obesity epidemic, blurts out, "We're part of the problem." The poor guy is instantly freeze-framed and plastered with the logos of General Foods subsidiaries, while his words are re-played for the movie-going millions. At the end we learn that he no longer works for the company.
But this is Spurlock's sole victim. To everyone else, from McDonald's employees to pudgy consumers who admit to gobbling fast food several times a week, Spurlock is unfailingly sympathetic and polite. One way of measuring the difference between him and Moore is to ask yourself: Who would you rather be attacked by, an unpleasant egomaniac who enjoys making other people look foolish, or a sweet-faced fellow who just grins, rubs his belly, and delivers a knockout punch?
Posted by at 1:40 AM
July 25, 2004
Crouching Trojan and Hidden Greek
How much did I enjoy Troy? This much: In the big-screen theater where I watched it, the film caught fire, literally, during the final sequence depicting the burning of Troy. (How's that for versimilitude?) The manager handed out free re-admits, and I walked into the adjoining theater and watched it all over again, without being in the least bored.
It helped a lot that I had recently spent a month teaching The Iliad. When your head is clanging with Homer's poetry (or at least with a decent translation, my favorite being Robert Fitzgerald's), and your imagination has been straining to grasp the utter strangeness of Homer's universe, the movie is a treat.
Frank Virga, one of my students, put it this way: "Even though I felt the movie failed at times to present the true story of the Iliad, the set did an excellent job of portraying the look of the battles, the atmospheres of the cities, and the look of the warriors." I agree. For all its defects, this film contains moments of breathtaking beauty -- for example, the night scenes when battle is suspended and "they piled dead bodies on their pyre, sick at heart, and burned it down." [Iliad VII 514-16]
Troy does something else right -- and here the comparison is not with Homer but with other screen epics like The Fellowship of the Ring. One of the hardest things for students to grasp about Homer's war is that, unlike most of the blockbuster wars they've seen, it does not pit the Bright Side (sweetness, bravery, loyalty, clean hair) against the Dark (bile, cowardice, treachery, bad teeth). There are heroes on both sides, human frailties on both sides. And when a hero has a glorious day, the enemies he kills are not mouth-breathing subhumans (as in The Two Towers) but real men (and occasional women) with real names, tribes, and life stories.
Whether the medium is great poetry or state-of-the-art digital animation, this is a lesson worth teaching.
Posted by at 1:30 AM
July 24, 2004
Tough House
The readers of ArtsJournal do not fool around. They know Aristotle, and they know Dorothy Fields -- the "too-little-appreciated lyricist" who wrote the lyrics I quoted in my posting about "De-Lovely" (below). With all due respect to Jerome Kern, let me compensate for my own "too little appreciation" by quoting reader Chris Schneider:
"Fields is the same woman who wrote words for 'I Must Have That Man' and 'I Can't Give You Anything But Love' (composer for both: Jimmy McHugh); 'Make The Man Love Me' (composer: Arthur Schwartz); and 'Big Spender' (composer: Cy Coleman)."
Posted by at 6:51 AM
July 21, 2004
Nice and Gay
Kevin Kline and Cole Porter are both the top. Kline is that rare thing, a graceful comic; and Porter is simply the gold standard of 20th-century song. But this movie disappoints, for two reasons: music and sex.
First music. The reviewers seem to fall into two camps, those who get a kick out of the songs as performed here, and those who don't. My guess is that the first haven't heard many Cole Porter songs before, so renditions by Robbie Williams, Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow and others sound pretty good. Curiously, the most accomplished vocalists on the soundtrack, Natalie Cole and Diana Krall, are played down, while the lesser lights � most egregiously Alanis Morissette meowing �Let�s Fall in Love� � get the full spotlight.
Still, these songs can take a licking and keep on ticking, and some are done imaginatively. For example, �So In Love,� the great torcher from Cole's Broadway classic, �Kiss Me Kate,� is croaked by Kline in a whisper to his dying wife at home, then smoothly interspersed with a full-throated version on stage.
Now for the sex. In a self-conscious improvement over the 1946 biopic �Night and Day,� this film portrays Porter as two things he wasn't: bisexual and nice. By all accounts, he was not at all interested in women (he treated Linda, who was eight years older than he, as a mother figure).
Nor was he all that nice. This film makes him nice when wooing socialite Linda Lee (Ashley Judd) and explaining that he wants a beard, not a bride; nice when leaving the bed of ballet dancer Boris Kochno and explaining that during the day his heart belongs to Linda; and nice when helping a strapping young singer to learn �Night and Day� then accepting his overtures.
Please, listen to Cole Porter's voice . Look at Cole Porter�s photograph. This wasn't a bad man, but not such a bloody nice one, either. Tom Hulce (wherever he is) could play Porter, or Robert Downey, or (don't laugh) Jack Black. The role needs someone who can do the imp, rascal, throughgoing decadent Porter was. For all his talent, Kline just isn't the rapscallion type.
Porter was madly in love his whole life, but not with Linda. His passionate affairs with other men -- Kuchno, Howard Sturges, Ed Tauch, Nelson Barclift, John Wilson, Ray Kelly -- were the smoldering fuel of his songs. His erotic life was crowded, back-biting, steamy, and amazingly uncloseted for its time. It was not a Sunday School picnic with the parsons holding hands.
How quickly the mainstream depiction of gay life has become...well, mainstream. Porter didn't write these lines, Jerome Kern did; but they capture perfectly what is wrong with this movie: "True love should have the thrills that a healthy crime has / But we don't have the thrills that the March of Dimes has."
Posted by at 9:22 AM
July 19, 2004
Brush Up Your Aristotle
Next time I will quote Aristotle with a bit more care. Here is a recent exchange with Robin Mitchell-Boyask, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Greek, Hebrew and Roman Classics at Temple University:
Dear Martha,
Your blog comments on Aristotle left me scratching my head a bit. Aristotle never pitches epic and tragedy against one another, and certainly doesn't demean one in order to exalt the other. I can't find the remarks about cultivated epics anyplace in the Poetics. I hope that doesn't sound too pedantic, because you're absolutely dead right that the growing predominance in film of spectacle at the expense of plot and characterization is a HUGE problem (though nothing worse than the Romans experienced, or perhaps even some Greek audiences).
Best, Robin
Dear Robin,
Maybe it's a question of translation? I find the discussion at the very end of the "Poetics" (pp 137-141 in the Loeb Classical Library edition; pp. 116-118 in the translation I quoted, Francis Fergusson's, published by Hill and Wang). I did not say "demean" or "exalt," I said that Aristotle was weighing what one does vs. what the other does. Maybe both translations have it wrong? If so, I would be most interested to learn that!
Cheers, Martha
Dear Martha,
Luckily, I have the Fergusson (though I never use it). Note that Aristotle stresses that "WE ARE TOLD that epic poetry is addressed to a cultivated audience." This implies that the supposition is false. Aristotle would have known about epic in performance, and Homeric rhapsodes were notoriously flamboyant and emotional (see Plato's "Ion," a text that Aristotle would have known as well." As that chapter progresses, Aristotle narrows his focus to unity of the plot of tragedy. His interest really is plot types and forms. Elsewhere in the "Poetics," he dismisses the "Odyssey"'s ending as, essentially, pandering to its audience.
Best, Robin
Posted by at 11:17 AM
July 17, 2004
Aristotle at the Cineplex
Like most people who saw "The Day After Tomorrow," I found the special effects brilliant. And eerie: the tidal wave rolling through Manhattan recalled the dust-and-debris one of 9/11. Spectacle is spectacle, and computer-imaging whiz kids can't be blamed, I guess, for cannibalizing a big one. More fun, and less troubling, were the mega-storms that freeze-dried El Norte and (in the film's only comic sequence) sent frantic gringos scurrying illegally into sunny Mexico.
But this particular blockbuster also widened the usual gulf between the brilliance of the special effects and inanity of the plot and characters. Here, that gulf became an abyss. Happy ending: neglectful dad learns to say "I love you" to son, and son learns to say "I love you" to girl. Backdrop to happy ending: destruction of all life in the Northern Hemisphere.
Which brings me to Aristotle's Poetics. At the end of that short treatise, after dissecting classical Greek tragedy, Aristotle asks whether this relatively new art form is better or worse than the older, more revered epic poetry of Homer. The main difference, he says, is that "Epic poetry is addressed to a cultivated audience, who do not need gesture," while ragedy appeals to "an inferior public" by combining poetry with gesture, music, dance, and "spectacular effects."
His conclusion? That tragedy is superior precisely because of these add-ons, which "produce the most vivid of pleasures." In other words, it's fine to listen to a rhapsode pluck the lyre and sing the Iliad, but it's even finer to watch actors strut across a stage whose scenery can be raised and lowered by hidden water pumps, while gods in gilded costumes sweep overhead suspended from cranes.
This conclusion comes with a caveat, though. Tragedy cannot succeed on "spectacular effects" alone. They are "important accessories," but the play must also possess "all the epic elements," meaning plot, character, and thought -- in that order. It is wonderful, is it not, that just about every moviegoer over the age of 12 would agree with Aristotle's priorities?
Posted by at 4:50 AM
July 15, 2004
It's A Wonderful Flight
One of 2002's best movies was Catch Me If You Can, a scrumptious creamsicle of a movie. From the delicious opening credits to the heart-warming surprise ending, it burst with the seductive, manipulative charm we've come to expect from director Steven Spielberg, not to mention star Leonardo diCaprio.
But Catch Me If You Can is based on the true story of a teenage con artist who flummoxed then joined the FBI -- in other words, it's ABOUT seduction, manipulation, and charm. The thicker diCaprio shines it on, the wiser we feel for not succumbing to his scam...while, of course, succumbing totally.
The Terminal draws on some of the same talent. The eye-candy direction is by Spielberg, the ear-candy score by John Williams, and everyone's favorite ur-American, Tom Hanks, plays Viktor Navorski, a visitor to New York who because of a coup in his fictional Eastern European country becomes a transient without legal status, compelled by the bumbling Department of Homeland Security to live in the International Terminal at JFK for several months.
The Terminal isn't terrible. It's funny at times, and visually delicious. But it wants to be more than empty calories. It wants to be a Frank Capra classic about the little guy winning against all odds. That's why it borrows such Capraesque touches as the fancy dinner improvised for Viktor and a pretty flight attendant by the ramp rats, janitors, and other working folk at the airport -- lifted from It's a Wonderful Life.
But Spielberg does not succeed in borrowing what Graham Greene saw as Capra's main theme: "goodness and simplicity manhandled in a deeply selfish and brutal world."
Capra's genius was to know exactly how much selfishness and brutality the market will bear. Spielberg must think it will bear very little, because while The Terminal is supposed to be about immigration and uprootedness in an age of terrorism, the worst that befalls Viktor is his stomach rumbles for a while before he can figure out how to collect quarters from a luggage cart machine in order to buy a Whopper.
Would Capra have told a better story? For example, would he have dramatized a case like that of Purna Raj Bajracharya, a 47-year-old visitor from Nepal who in October 2001 was arrested by the FBI and placed in a secret detention facility in Brooklyn, because he had been videotaping a tall building that, unbeknownst to him, contained an FBI office?
Within a week, the arresting agent, James P. Wynne, concluded that Bajracharya was innocent of any crime beyond over-staying his work visa. But Bajracharya was not deported for three months, during which time he was kept in solitary confinement, deprived of sleep, stripped, mocked, and manhandled. The Capraesque part is that throughout this ordeal, Bajracharya's only friend, the one who kept appealing for his release and finally enlisted the help of Legal Aid, was Agent Wynne.
Strong stuff, but affirmative in the end, and certainly not more brutal than the market will bear. What Spielberg does best is wrap smooth, tasty technique around the wooden stick of a good story. There is no such stick holding up The Terminal, so it melts into a smooth, tasty puddle.
Posted by at 12:20 PM
July 13, 2004
Reply to reader
Thank you, Kit Baker, for your thoughtful comments. I will try to address a couple of your points. First, about the curious fact that "Fahrenheit 9/11" contains no reference to Israel. "Since the Bush administration has hardly mentioned Israel in its pronouncements on the Iraq war," you write, "why should we fault Moore for doing the same?" Well, because Moore is trading in every other coin of the conspiratorial realm. Why not this one?
Second, about oil. To anyone who can remember the ideological battles of the post-Vietnam era, Moore's caricature of America as a greedy imperialist power out to exploit the world's resources must feel as comfy and familiar as an old pair of slippers. Unfortunately it's also about as sturdy. It does not even come close to describing the complex geopolitics of oil in the 21st century. For a sense of this complexity, see "Saving Iraq From Its Oil," by Nancy Birdsall and Arvind Subramanian, in the current issue of Foreign Affairs.
Moore is shocked, shocked, that economic self-interest was part of the reason why the U.S. invaded Iraq. But isn't he the one who worries about the prosperity of working Americans? Didn't every politician, Democrat and Republican, pro and con, refer to "America's vital interests in the region?" What did Moore think they were all talking about? If he sees something illegitimate about being interested in oil, then by all means follow through, and say why America, alone among all the countries of the world, should not be so interested. But Moore deals in innuendos, not real questions.
Consider: what if Al Gore had been president on 9/11? What would he have done differently? If Moore is serious about wanting to elect a Democrat, as opposed to, say, lead a socialist revolution, then this is the narrow space where he ought to be aiming his barbs. Scattershot is OK, but in troubled times like these, precision is preferable.
Posted by at 6:03 AM
July 12, 2004
Super Sized Rhetoric
The pundits have been intoning that Fahrenheit 9/11 will not change any minds. But they are not taking into consideration the outlook of someone like Nick Anderson, a 22-year-old resident of New York who told the Times that he "wanted to see it as soon as possible. This is easier for people to understand than reading books, reading newspapers or watching C-Span."
Michael Moore is a master rhetorician, in the ancient and not flattering sense. But his rhetorical language is not English. It is film � not narrative film, but the information-imparting kind known as documentary. There is no point in accusing Moore, as some have, of not being a documentarian because he�s dishonest and manipulative. That�s like saying Hitler wasn�t an orator because his speeches told lies. The test of rhetorical skill is not truth but persuasion. Just ask Plato.
And Moore is persuasive. As a polemicist of film he is witty, inventive, messy in just the right way, and a master at three essential skills: timing, segue, and (not least) ironic juxtaposition. For example, he uses music brilliantly. Over a sequence of two spiffed-up Marine recruiters cruising a run-down shopping mall, he runs bright, effervescent disco. When a pumped GI says combat is more fun "with a good song playing in the background," Moore plays the soldier�s favorite, "Burn" by the punk band Rancid ("We don�t need no water / Let the motherfucker burn") over footage of an Iraqi man fleeing with a bloody child in his arms.
So here�s a tip for pundits and (especially) politicians: Don�t underestimate the power of rhetoric delivered in the crowd�s native tongue, just because you can�t speak it.
But Moore is a lazy thinker. Look for the ideas behind the polemic, and you will find a mind as flabby and inert as the body. Fahrenheit 9/11 contains a total of one idea and eight-tenths of a conspiracy theory.
First, the idea. It is fixed, unmovable, a regular North Star: The rich are out to screw the poor. There�s a lot to be said for this idea (as perhaps Moore understands, now that he�s rich). But usually it�s better to combine one idea with another, and this Moore seems incapable of doing.
Once you figure out what Moore�s fixed idea is, you can negotiate what to a normal mind seems inconsistent. Take the American soldiers in Iraq. When Moore sees them as poor, hailing from economically depressed places like Flint, Michigan, then they are the ones getting screwed. But when he sees them as rich, riding around in fancy tanks and shooting at ragged Iraqis, they are the ones doing the screwing. Really, it�s no more complicated than that.
This simplistic worldview causes some weird effects. For example, the sequence in which several African-American members of the House of Representatives register objections to the outcome of the 2000 election, only to be told by the Rich White Dude on the podium that without the support of at least one senator, their objections don�t count. In a voice-over oozing with sympathy for the underdog. Moore sums up what the Rich White Dude is really saying: "Shut up and sit down!" The only problem is, the Rich White Dude is Al Gore.
Now consider Moore�s conspiracy theory. Eight-tenths of it are the same as the conspiracy theory held by millions around the world, from European leftists to angry Muslims, who see Bush as the clueless but conniving head of a gigantic imperialist plot to take over the Middle East (not to mention the rest of the globe). But Moore�s version is missing two key elements.
First, Israel. In this entire frenzied centrifuge of a movie, in which no corrupt, finagling, behind-the-scenes, back-scratching connection among presidents, princes, CEOs, sheiks, and terrorists is too tenuous to be credited, there is not one single mention of Israel. Given that millions of Moore admirers around the world believe that the rich Americans are in cahoots with the rich Israelis, why does he focus on rich Americans in cahoots with rich Saudis?
The answer is simple. Moore can do without the added PR boost that comes with being called an anti-Semite. Earlier this spring, Mel Gibson�s movie The Passion of the Christ got just such a boost, but with it came widespread opprobrium. If Moore were desperate for box-office tinder, he�d probably light this match. But he�s got plenty of other matches to light. Indeed, he does something very clever: he trades on both anti-Semitism and anti-Arab prejudice by casting the Saudis in the role typically reserved for the Israelis.
Still, in a film about terrorism and the Middle East, the omission of any mention of American support for Israel is not just glaring, it is (to judge from the lack of comment about it) blinding.
The second missing element is the link that, if made explicit, would complete Moore�s paranoid logic: George W. Bush is responsible for 9/11. Think about it. Without this conclusion, the film�s critique (if you can call it that) is strangely attentuated and unresolved. With it, everything falls into place. The Bush family, the bin Laden family, Halliburton, the Carlyle Group, the Unocal company and the rest of corporate America worked together to kill over 3,000 people on September 11, in order to provide a pretext for cracking down on civil liberties, sweeping the poor off the streets to serve as cannon fodder, and in general creating the conditions for what George Orwell called "perpetual war." All for the sake of greater profits.
If this is Moore�s message, then he ought to come out and say it, instead of relying on innuendo. But that would require guts, as opposed to a big gut.
Posted by at 11:00 AM
Mel Gibson, Conceptual Artist
Mel Gibson is the most powerful celebrity in the country, says Forbes magazine. He is also the head of a production company, Icon, rolling in filthy lucre ($608 million) earned worldwide by The Passion of the Christ. He is involved in several new projects, from family-friendly TV shows to historical action features. And he is the world's leading conceptual artist.
What? Mel Gibson a conceptual artist? Aren't conceptual artists supposed to do things like talk to dead animals (Joseph Beuys) and cover billboards with obscure theoretical statements (Joseph Kosuth)? Isn't the whole purpose of conceptual art to "make us think"?
Well, yes. Which is why Gibson qualifies.
What's the first thing a conceptual artist must do? Attract attention. This is harder today than back in the 1960s, when all Lawrence Weiner had to do was light a flare outside an Amsterdam museum and call it The Residue of a Flare Ignited Upon a Boundary. Today the would-be conceptual artist has to light a pre-release media firestorm, which Gibson did by lacing his film with anti-Semitic tropes from medieval art, Passion Plays, and the visions of the 18th-century German stigmatic, Sister Anne Catherine Emmerich.
Most of this furor died down when the movie was released, perhaps because most Americans didn't notice such anti-Semitic tropes as demon Jewish children throwing rocks, Jewish crowds baying for Jesus' blood, and donkey-riding Sadducees gloating at the cross. They didn't notice because the popular imagination in this country associates anti-Semitism with Nazis, not medieval iconography. As one of my colleagues at Boston College quipped after we led a student discussion on the topic, "If they don�t know it�s anti-Semitic, should we be telling them?"
Whether or not he meant to, Gibson also satisfied the most important requirement of conceptual art: He made us think.
First, he made us think about truth. To a remarkable degree, The Passion galvanized two groups who process truth for a living: academics and religious leaders. During the controversy I dove into several scholarly and religious websites and immediately hit the rapids of historical, philosophical, linguistic, theological, pastoral debate over the nature of biblical truth. Before going under, I wondered: When was the last time thousands of teachers and preachers got so worked up over a movie?
Let us say, for the sake of argument, that a movie should be truthful. Then by what standard of truth do we judge The Passion? Here Gibson pulled off another feat: he got biblical scholars using the Gospels as a standard. For example, Paula Frederikson in The New Republic objected to the presence of Satan and of a "post-crucifixion Mary-and-Jesus pieta" on the grounds that "No such scenes exist in the Gospels."
Hmm. Does this mean we should cut all those Satan bits from Milton's Paradise Lost? Toss a tarp over Michaelangelo's Pieta?
And whether or not our idea of truth is Gospel, why are we suddenly using truth as an aesthetic standard? Aren't artists supposed to create their own truth? Isn't it dangerous, potentially censorious, to make them toe the line of some externally defined truth? The flap over The Passion reveals a sobering fact: When people become exercised about matters of truth, they become less forgiving of art.
The other topic stirred up was violence. Many critics accused Gibson of turning Jesus' last hours into a big-screen bloodfest, like Braveheart and Lethal Weapon. I confess to not liking designer violence, but it was strange to see it embraced by people who normally share my dislike.
For example, most Protestant denominations have prayed for generations before a bare cross, in principled rejection of what their forefathers saw as an unhealthy Catholic obsession with Christ's blood and suffering. Yet according to a number of reports, many evangelical Christians found themselves deeply engrossed in every spurt, splash, smear, and spatter of blood in The Passion.
Finally, Gibson is a conceptual artist if we define the term broadly enough to include the century-old desire of artists to gain instant notoriety through mass media. Filippo Martinetti was one of the first, publishing his Futurist Manifesto on the front page of Le Figaro in 1909.
Today this impulse is so mainstream, we half expect media feeding frenzies to be deliberate, the work of clever prestidigitators for whom publicity is in itself an artistic medium. Deliberate or not, Gibson's media blitz went far beyond the stale formulae of sex and violence. And he provoked millions of conversations about art, truth, faith, history, and freedom of expression. As provocations go, that's pretty impressive.
Posted by at 10:00 AM
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March 20, 2008
Remembering Ivan Dixon
The actor Ivan Dixon died on March 16 in Charlotte, NC, while the media were buzzing about the need for more "dialogue about race." Too often, that means another recycling of the same-ol'-same-'ol, cliches and recriminations, until we grow weary and shut it down again.
We don't need any more of that. We need a 21st-century version of Nothing But a Man (1964), the quiet, eloquent film starring Mr. Dixon as a working man who marries a preacher's daughter (Abbey Lincoln) and insists on being treated respectfully by everyone he meets. That's it. But for a long time after I first saw it in the 1970s, it was my favorite film (and, I gather, Malcolm X's).
Nothing But a Man is available on DVD, and from the first black-and-white frame (I am referring to the film stock), you will see that it is of a different era. But if you stay with it, you will also see that some treatments of race do not grow tiresome, because they are simply, straightforwardly human. That's why I remember Ivan Dixon.
Posted by mbayles at 8:57 AM
March 18, 2008
Confession
The title of this entry does not refer to my own confession, but Leo Tolstoy's. I recently watched Sean Penn's Into the Wild, based on the eponymous best-seller by Jon Krakauer, about Chris McCandless, a young man who "dropped out," as they used to say in the sixties, only without then "tuning in" to any movement or "turning on" with any known drug.
What McCandless did do was abandon family, friends, future prospects, and affluent lifestyle, to embark on a quest without definition that, to judge by the film (I have not read the book), acquired definition as it went along. After two years of living as a voluntary hobo (he renamed himself "Alexander Supertramp"), hippie (he bonded with a counter-cultural tribe living in RVs), and latter-day alms-seeking monk, he trekked alone into the Alaskan wilderness, where after 112 days of foraging for food and living in an abandoned bus, he died of starvation.
In the wrong hands, this story could be unbearable, especially in today's acrimonious social and cultural atmosphere. And ... let me put it this way: I am not enlightened by Sean Penn's politics, and I don't much like him. But he is one of the major talents in Hollywood, if not THE major talent. This film is a masterpiece. I'm not even talking about its visual beauty, which is all the more stunning for not having been generated by a computer. Nor, really, am I talking about Emile Hirsch, whose only flaw in the lead role is that he is more lovable than the real McCandless seems to have been.
No, I'm talking about that rarest of qualities in Hollywood films these days, the story-telling. No one but Penn could have handled this as deftly, even to the point of using McCandless's favorite books in a way that skips the usual self-consciousness ("aren't we smart to be quoting a real book in a movie?") and cuts to the heart of Jack London, Henry Thoreau, and Tolstoy.
I seriously doubted whether this film would make room for Tolstoy, despite putting his books in McCandless's backpack. But if you stay with it, all the way to the end, you will see that it does capture him. Not the big shot author of War and Peace, but the restless soul of Confession, who rejects everything in his society, only to find God in a dream fraught with existential angst.
You can interpret the ending of Into the Wild any way you like, but for me, it completes the trajectory of this strange young man's life in a way very similar to Tolstoy's in Confession: doubt; disillusionment; cynicism; flight; heartache; yearning for human re-connection coupled with the realization (on the bank of a swollen river) that it's too late, there is no going back; terror in the face of death; and finally, transcendence that may or may not last beyond this life.
Quite a lot for one movie. And they gave the Oscar to No Country for Old Men, a plotless mess gagging on its own blood. It's enough to make a real movie lover drop out.
Posted by mbayles at 8:44 AM
February 25, 2008
The Dark Side
My sense of duty is as well developed as that of the next critic (let's not go there), but I couldn't bring myself to watch the whole Academy Awards last evening. I enjoy watching film clips and preening stars as much as anyone, but I couldn't abide the ads.
I don't mean the commercials, which would have served as a great plague on Pharoah, if only the Lord had thought of it. No, I mean the ads congratulating the Academy for being so wonderful and putting on all those wonderful awards shows of the past. I know there's been a writers' strike, but did they have to show all those replays of funny, touching, uplifting bits, when everyone knows that this year's nominees are sorely lacking in all three qualities?
The coverage focused on the "dark" mood of Hollywood, which according to some reporters is out of date now that a Democrat might get elected. But the darkness in American films has been building up for a long time now, especially in those precincts of the movie colony where people are just as cynical about politics as they are about everything else. To my knowledge, the only candidate who has said anything about the sick violence now pervading mainstream films is Barack Obama. So go figure.
This stylish, apolitical darkness dominates all the nominated films, with the exception of Juno - as host Jon Stewart put it, "Thank God for teenage pregnancy." Even the kerzillion-dollar blockbusters that keep Hollywood going feel obliged to get progressively "darker" with each sequel or lose their franchise.
So get ready for the sequel, Ratatouille Twouille , which will feature a demon rat voiced by Johnny Depp, who tears American tourists apart with his long yellow fangs, then drops the pieces into a savory boeuf bourguignon, which his pal Rémy will then feed to other American tourists. Maybe then the Academy will take notice ...
Posted by mbayles at 8:58 AM
February 11, 2008
Betrayed by IMDB
A reader writes to correct my statement that The House of Eliott was never aired in the States. It most certainly has -- on A&E, PBS, and BBC America. It also won top US awards for costume design, including an Emmy and a BAFTA.
Never again will I trust the Internet Movie Data Base, at least when it comes to television distribution.
Posted by mbayles at 11:06 AM
February 8, 2008
Upmarket, Downmarket
Apologies for back-sliding into sin of blog neglect. I'm up to my eyebrows in work on my book, and when I am done for the day, the last thing I want to do is spend more time in front of the computer.
But I do have a tip for voracious fans of British TV who have already gone through the better known classics. The House of Eliott, a series about two sisters who start a fashion business in the years after World War One, was never shown in the US. It was also knocked for being the last production shot on videotape in the BBC Television Centre, and (more serious) for concentrating on two touchy British themes: social class, and the relation between art and commerce.
There are some awkward moments in the series, on both fronts. The ancient tradition of treating the working class in a comic-ignoble way and the upper class in a tragic-noble way, persists to a degree. But this is not a series about the working class and the upper class, it's pre-eminently and definitively a series about the middle class. What's more, it's about three flawed but admirably brave and resourceful entrepreneurs: the Elliot sisters Beatrice (Stella Gonet) and Evangeline (Louise Lombard), and their good friend (and eventually husband to Bea) Jack Maddox (Aden Gillett).
Fashion, even the haute couture undertaken by the House of Eliott, is not considered serious art. On the contrary, it is regarded as a parasitical growth, feeding off genuine creativity not contributing to it. Its elitist clientele only add to the problem. It is extremely hard to deal with these topics in a TV series, not least because TV itself suffers from some of the same disdain. But we are in a golden age of longform TV these days, and programs like The House of Elliot made that possible by exploring their characters and themes at novelistic length. It helps that this show was "devised" (as the Brits put it) by Jean Marsh and Eileen Atkins, who also created (the hell with "devised") the unforgettable 1970s series, Upstairs, Downstairs.
Unfortunately, the Beeb canceled The House of Elliot after the final episode of the third season was completed, so many loose ends were never tied up. But if you are willing to tolerate that (and some unattractive opening credits), you will be richly rewarded.
Posted by mbayles at 11:14 AM
January 10, 2008
Whatever Happened to Irony?
I have never been a fan of Hillary Clinton. But I will scream if one more pundit equates her now famous eye-moistening episode with her response to Scott Spradling's question about "the likeability factor" in the most recent Democratic primary debate.
The eye-moistening episode was not her finest moment. She did not cry, and it was a long way from a tantrum, but it smacked of one. She was saying, in effect, "I care more than they do, I'm better than they are, and I deserve to win. And if I don't, I'll cry." By itself, it would keep me from voting for her (if I did not already have other reasons).
The debate moment, on the other hand, won me over (for a fleeting second). To a patronizing question, one that I doubt would be asked of a male candidate, Clinton came back with a sly, kittenish, screw-you expression on her face: "Well, that hurts my feelings. But I will try to bear up." I wasn't in the room when this occurred, but I could hear the laughter, and my husband called out, "Hillary just did something brilliant." He was right: it was a brilliant stroke, intended to mock both the question and the questioner.
This was acknowledged by the talking heads right after the debate, but a day or two later, Chris Matthews boneheadedly ignored the ironic nature of Clinton's retort and equated it with the tears of New Hampshire. Then all the other boneheads piled on, and this dumb factoid is now bouncing around the media echo chamber.
Unfair. If the pundits can't detect irony any better than that, then they deserve to be exiled to the same howling, no-Blackberry-service desert as the pollsters who tried to persuade my fellow New Englanders how to vote. So there!
Posted by mbayles at 12:07 PM
December 22, 2007
Whatever It Takes
To judge by the bottom line, Hollywood's latest venture into cinema engagé is not resonating with the public. Autumn 2007 saw the release of four films claiming to tackle hard questions about hard power: In the Valley of Elah, directed by Paul Haggis, offers a nightmare vision of U.S. soldiers in Iraq; The Kingdom, directed by Peter Berg, dramatizes an FBI probe into terrorism in Saudi Arabia; Rendition, directed by Gavin Hood, focuses on "extraordinary rendition," the American government's handing over of prisoners to countries where torture is allowed; Lions for Lambs, directed by Robert Redford, accuses the news media of passivity and the privileged young of apathy. None has done well at the box office, so this trend may soon die out. But that raises a question: why haven't these films attracted a bigger audience?
Ask a blue-state pundit, and you'll hear that Americans are so brainwashed by Fox News, they are no longer capable of thinking for themselves. Ask a red-stater, and you'll hear that Americans are so savvy about the Global War on Terror, they reject unpatriotic propaganda, even if it does star Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise. These answers polarize as neatly as metal shavings around a magnet. But a better answer, albeit one less gratifying to pundits of all colors, is that Americans don't want to think about tough foreign policy issues--and they are encouraged not to by both Washington and Hollywood.
Speaking Their Minds
Let us begin with the most recent release, Lions for Lambs. The reviews damned it for being "talky," but this is a bogus criticism. Many great films are "talky" in the sense of giving us powerful characters capable of speaking their minds. Lions for Lambs is not a great film by any stretch. And many conservatives already know what they think about Robert Redford's politics. But at least this film has politics--and in its halting way it captures something of America's current mood. There are three story lines: in California, a political science professor named Stephen (Robert Redford) tries to motivate a gifted but apathetic student, Todd (Andrew Garfield); in Washington, an ambitious Republican senator named Jasper (Tom Cruise) tries to browbeat a liberal journalist, Janine (Meryl Streep), into supporting his new military initiative; and in the mountains of Afghanistan, two of Stephen's former students turned army rangers, Arian (Derek Luke) and Ernest (Michael Pena), try against forbidding odds to make that initiative work.
Strange as it sounds, the tête-à-tête between the senator and the reporter is won by the senator. Jasper's initiative may stink (the rest of the film says so), but Janine's protestations are truly feeble. Her main issue, it turns out, is not the war on terrorism (about which she has little to say) but the failure of the news media to voice any real opposition to it. This is a dodge, because while most of the news media did go along with President Bush's invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, one would have to be living on the moon (or in Europe) to think they are going along with the surge or with the idea of a military strike against Iran. Cruise and Streep are terrific actors, needless to say, but this plot line is much weaker than the other two--including, surprisingly, the conversation between the professor and his student.
Caveat: Hollywood never gets academia right. But having said that, let me give credit where credit is due. In his struggle to make Stephen a sympathetic character, Redford makes him into that rare species, the political science professor who does not use the old 1960s cattle prod to indoctrinate his students. How can we tell? Two of his favorites, Arian and Ernest (minority students on scholarship), respond to his call to "get involved" by enlisting in the army. Stephen objects, of course. But the film makes clear that the students' decision is not unreasonable, given what their professor has been urging. Later Stephen tells Todd that he served in Vietnam but then protested the war. What's amazing is that Todd doesn't already know this, because evidently, Stephen doesn't crow about it on the first day of class. Despite the blue denim and politics to match, this professor confines himself to exhorting students to take seriously their rights and duties as citizens. American higher education could do worse--and usually does.
As for Arian and Ernest, their story line is a pure comrades-in-arms war flick. Loyal and courageous to the end, their ordeal on a snowy mountaintop in Afghanistan is all the more gripping for the stark contrast it presents with life back in the states. While the politicians, journalists, professors, and students discuss weighty matters in comfortable surroundings, the real weight is borne by the soldiers in the field. Everybody gives lip service to this fact, but rarely is it brought home emotionally to those not directly involved. To give emotional heft to the facts is the work of culture, including popular culture. But popular culture has been doing a poor job of it lately. Indeed, if Redford is truly concerned about the public being fed fantasy instead of reality, he will make his next protest film about Hollywood's increasingly sick attitude towards violence.
Brutalization
In the Valley of Elah is the opposite of a comrades-in-arms war flick. It begins when Hank (Tommy Lee Jones), a retired military police officer living in Tennessee, learns that his son Mike, just back from Iraq, has been reported AWOL. This sounds suspicious to Hank, so he drives to Fort Rudd, New Mexico, to check things out. Stonewalled by the army and local police, he launches his own investigation, aided by a discontented detective, Emily (Charize Theron). When Mike's charred remains are found on a hillside, the film becomes a police procedural, though Hank and Emily are no high-tech CSI team: they just poke around, ask questions, collar the wrong suspect, and finally elicit a confession from one of Mike's buddies.
The denouement comes when Mike's buddy, morphing gradually from fresh-faced youth to cold blond beast, recalls how he stabbed Mike to death after a minor altercation, then set the body on fire because he and his buddies were hungry and did not want to take the time to bury it. To this horror are added two more, visualized through a succession of fractured images rescued from Mike's damaged cell phone. The first occurs on Mike's first day of duty: his armored vehicle runs over an Iraqi child who fails to get out of its way. The second occurs several months later, when Mike has become a different person, a joker whom the others call "Doc," because he gets his jollies thrusting his hand into the gaping wounds of captured Iraqi prisoners. Right after Mike's killer reveals this to Hank, the cell phone images coalesce into a shot of Mike grinning glassy-eyed while doing the deed off camera.
In the Valley of Elah is a deadly serious film about a deadly serious topic: the brutalization of young soldiers under the hellish conditions of an insurgency they are neither trained nor equipped to fight. Ironically, Hank, the straight-arrow warrior whose life is upended by these grim revelations, is a Vietnam vet. Last I checked, the Vietnam War was also a nasty insurgency that brutalized some of those fighting it. Hollywood certainly thought so. Right afterward, in the late 1970s, a slew of films appeared portraying soldiers and veterans as dangerous lunatics: Taxi Driver (1976), Rolling Thunder (1977), Apocalypse Now (1979), The Ninth Configuration (1980). The noble exception was The Deer Hunter (1978), and by the 1980s, it was no longer cool to portray Vietnam vets as nut jobs. In the Valley of Elah is based on a true story, and that story is not unique. But it would carry more moral authority if it appeared after the conflict was over. There is something unseemly about producing a film about the demoralization of American troops while thousands of them are still in harm's way.
Torture's Mythology
The sickest part, though, is the public response to In the Valley of Elah. Ten years ago, a movie showing an American soldier torturing a prisoner for kicks would have raised a hue and cry. Today it occasions barely a murmur. What has changed? In the realm of popular culture, the most obvious change is that scenes of torture, including vivid on-camera ones, are now standard fare. The best known example is 24, the Fox TV series starring Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer, America's favorite anti-terrorist. Jack Bauer does not torture prisoners for kicks, but he does torture them frequently: 67 times in the first five seasons, by one count. And these scenes are a wonder to behold. Jack Bauer can maul a captive and get actionable intelligence faster than I can put a dollar in a vending machine and get a Diet Coke.
The motives for torture are as old as human society: to punish wrongdoers, to crush dissent, to intimidate populations, to force retroactive confessions. Perhaps the most primal motive, shared by cats toying with mice, is to lord it over the weak. In war this is called "victor's spoils," the pleasure of inflicting pain on vanquished enemies. This is Mike's motive, which together with the others mentioned above is rejected as barbarous and tyrannical by all liberal democracies, including the United States. But that leaves one additional motive: Jack Bauer's. In the debate over whether it is right to define waterboarding, stress positions, and other "leave no mark" methods as "enhanced interrogation" not torture, a frequent touchstone is 24. For many Americans, Jack Bauer makes it easier to argue that even torture is okay when used by a scrupulous professional. To quote the standard riposte: what would you do if a ticking time bomb were about to go off, and the guy tied to the chair in front of you was withholding the information you needed to prevent catastrophe?
This frequent reference to 24 is unfortunate, because although 24 is highly addictive (your sober reviewer confesses to having inhaled the first four seasons), it should not be a touchstone in this debate. Despite its many charms, 24 embodies a mix of cowardice and recklessness, the two vices that Aristotle contrasted with the virtue of courage. The cowardice shows up in the program's timid selection of villains: vengeful Serbs, a bitchy German, red-handed Mexican drug lords, a turncoat British spy, a greedy oil executive, power-mad government officials (including one president), and--once in a blue moon, when the Council on American-Islamic Relations is looking the other way--violent jihadists.
As for recklessness, it shows up in the demeanor of 24's creative mastermind, Joel Surnow, a man who by his own testimony came up the hard way. The son of a Los Angeles carpet salesman, he grew up south of Olympic Boulevard, where there was never enough money for the designer sunglasses favored by his classmates at Beverly Hills High. Apparently this youthful deprivation provides an excuse for acting like a jerk. Last year, Surnow blew off Brigadier General Patrick Finnegan, dean of West Point, and Joe Navarro, an expert FBI interrogator, when they traveled to Los Angeles to urge a change in the way 24 depicts torture. These visitors were seasoned practitioners with a practical complaint: that their cadets and trainees, steeped in the excitement of 24, now dismiss warnings about the legality of torture and (more troubling) the evidence of its limited effectiveness.
Some of Surnow's colleagues, including Sutherland himself, did meet with Finnegan and Navarro. So it will be interesting to see how torture is dealt with in the seventh season (scheduled to begin in January but probably postponed because of the Writers Guild of America strike). To judge by the online trailer, the issue will be front and center:
White letters on black screen: They can attack him.
Senator in hearing room, grilling Jack: "Mr. Bauer, did you torture Mr. Haddad?"
White letters on black screen: They can judge him.
Jack: "Senator, Ibrahim Haddad had targeted a bus carrying 45 people, 10 of which were children. I stopped that attack from happening."
White letters on black screen: But they can never break him.
Jack: "Don't expect me to regret the decisions that I have made, because sir, the truth is, I don't."
You go, Jack. And if I were faced with a choice between letting humanity be blown to smithereens and pulling out my grandmother's fingernails, it would be "Brace yourself, Granny," and no regrets afterward. But I'm not faced with that choice, and 99% of the time neither are real interrogators faced with the ticking time bomb scenario. Retired Colonel Stu Herrington, a 30-year veteran of military intelligence, has been quoted to the effect that this scenario "is so rare in real life that it's essentially mythology." The 24 creative team are smart and talented, so perhaps they will find ways to continue making great television while also addressing the concerns of those who are actually fighting the war against terrorism. But don't count on Surnow. His refusal to meet with Finnegan and Navarro is a classic case of recklessness holding courage in contempt.
A Reassuring Professionalism
Most people consider 24 a right-wing show, in contrast with the left-wing slant of the feature films discussed here. Yet 24 has left its mark on the feature film industry, make no mistake. In both The Kingdom and Rendition there is a Jack Bauer-like character: brave, smart, loath to inflict pain, but adept at doing so when needed. Interestingly, neither is an American. In The Kingdom, it is Faris Al Ghazi, an upright Saudi policeman played with toughness and charm by Ashraf Barhom. Basically an action film, The Kingdom stars Jamie Foxx as Ronald, a maverick FBI agent who defies his inept superiors and a timid State Department to lead a proper investigation into a terrorist attack on a U.S. enclave in Saudi Arabia (similar to the 1996 Khobar Towers attack). When Ronald's team arrives in Riyadh, they are stonewalled by the Saudis until a discontented cop, Al Ghazi, steps forward to help. His Jack Bauer moment comes when he stops the torture of a prisoner--not because he opposes torture in principle, but because he deduces from the evidence that it's fruitless in this case.
It is vital to distinguish between Al Ghazi, a fine officer with a warm heart and a cool head, and the nameless goons who do the actual trussing, beating, electrocuting, whatever. Like Mike's sadism, the goons' work is kept decorously off camera: all we see is the scrupulous professional giving the orders. A similar scene occurs in A Mighty Heart, the powerful film about the terrorist killing of journalist Daniel Pearl. In that film, the professional is a gentle, handsome officer (played by Irfan Khan) in the Pakistan secret police, the ISI, who gazes soulfully at his captive every time he is obliged to order another round of agony. Like 24, both The Kingdom and A Mighty Heart reassure us that the good guys are in charge, not the goons.
Surprisingly, the same reassurance appears in Rendition, a would-be exposé of extraordinary rendition. Anwar (Omar Metwally) is an Egyptian-born chemical engineer living in Chicago and married to an American, Isabella (Reese Witherspoon). Because his mobile phone has been receiving calls from a terrorist group, Anwar is arrested while traveling home from an overseas conference, and rendered to an unnamed country in North Africa, where he is stripped, beaten, isolated in a cold cell, and waterboarded by goons working for the local police chief, Abasi (Igal Naor). Strictly speaking, this interrogation is overseen by Douglas (Jake Gyllenhaal), a CIA "pencil pusher" who steps in after another agent's death. But compared with Abasi, Douglas is a cardboard figure whose sole purpose is to show revulsion at the proceedings and (regardless of Anwar's guilt or innocence) inveigle his release. Abasi, by contrast, is a surprisingly sympathetic character: brave, smart, loving toward his family, but also haunted by his grim job. Remind you of anyone?
At the end Rendition loses momentum because of a plot twist whose only conceivable function is to keep Abasi from being too sympathetic. The film starts with the suicide bombing of a café where he takes tea every morning. Many are killed, but Abasi survives, and from there the film cross-cuts between three story lines: Abasi's interrogation of Anwar; the efforts of Isabel back in the States to find out what's happened to Anwar; and a secret romance between Abasi's daughter Fatima (Zineb Oukach) and a scruffy artist named Khalid (Moa Khouas). This third story line climaxes when Khalid turns out to be a suicide bomber who wooed Fatima as part of a plot against her father. Over time, the two have fallen in love, so when Khalid goes to kill Abasi, Fatima tries to stop him--and might have succeeded if Khalid's handlers hadn't made that impossible. The bomb explodes, and both lovers die.
The weird part is that this is the same explosion that opens the film. Instead of reaching for our handkerchiefs, we scratch our heads: Huh? What's going on? Suddenly we're back at the beginning! Since this confusion destroys the whole momentum of the ending, we might also wonder why the romance and death of Fatima and Khalid are not simply treated as a flashback. My hunch is this was the original intention, but that during the editing process somebody realized that if the audience knows from the beginning that Abasi's daughter was killed by a terrorist, they might forget the whole anti-rendition message and start rooting for Abasi as the Maghreb's answer to Jack Bauer.
It soothes the conscience, and boosts the box office, to portray U.S.-sanctioned torture as occurring only under the watchful eye of scrupulous professionals. It also helps to neutralize criticism of Hollywood for stereotyping Arabs and Muslims, to cast excellent actors like Ashraf Barhom and Igal Naor in Jack Bauer-like roles. With guys like Al Ghazi and Abasi in charge, we can relax. The prisoners may be screaming, but the interrogators take no pleasure in making them scream, and the pain stops the moment the prisoners either talk or establish their innocence. The situation is dire but not spiraling out of control.
Playground for Sadists
The trouble is, the facts are otherwise. Ticking time bombs are rare, and so are human beings capable of sustaining a scrupulously professional attitude toward torture. Indeed, when torture becomes the routine business of any military or law enforcement organization, the first thing that happens is the good guys take off and the goons take over. To believe otherwise is to be naïve about human nature. But don't take my word for it, take that of Vladimir Bukovsky, the former Soviet dissident who spent 12 years in that system's prisons, labor camps, and coercive "psychiatric hospitals." His capsule summary of why it is never a good idea to legalize and routinize torture is worth quoting at length:
Apart from sheer frustration and other adrenaline-related emotions, investigators and detectives in hot pursuit have enormous temptation to use force to break the will of their prey because they believe that, metaphorically speaking, they have a "ticking bomb" case on their hands. But, much as a good hunter trains his hounds to bring the game to him rather than eating it, a good ruler has to restrain his henchmen from devouring the prey lest he be left empty-handed. Investigation is a subtle process, requiring patience and fine analytical ability, as well as a skill in cultivating one's sources. When torture is condoned, these rare talented people leave the service, having been outstripped by less gifted colleagues with their quick-fix methods, and the service itself degenerates into a playground for sadists. Thus, in its heyday, Joseph Stalin's notorious NKVD [the Soviet secret police] became nothing more than an army of butchers terrorizing the whole country but incapable of solving the simplest of crimes. And once the NKVD went into high gear, not even Stalin could stop it at will.
I do not believe that this is a description of the United States' war on terror. But if I were a foreigner with no better source of information than Hollywood films, I might be forgiven for believing it. To judge by overall box office, the American love of torture has regressed from Jack Bauer's reluctant rule-bending to the Marquis de Sade's voracious vivisection. Audiences do not flock to see Lions for Lambs and Rendition; they flock to see Saw IV and Hostel Part 2, the latest specimens of a new genre that David Edelstein of New York Magazine dubbed "torture porn." One of the cable channel Showtime's biggest hits is Dexter, about a forensic expert specializing in Advanced Bloodstain Pattern Analysis, whose chief joy consists in spilling blood not analyzing it. A boyish team player, Dexter moonlights as a vigilante, ritually torturing and killing those criminals whom the system fails to bring to justice. If Dirty Harry's threat was "Make my day," Dexter's guarantee is "Make my night."
It is hard to criticize this stuff, because ever since 1992, when Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs made casual cruelty look cool, the Sunset Boulevard party line is that violence ceases to be shocking when it goes "over the top" into depictions of mayhem so extreme, so surreal, that they resemble the fevered imaginings of a mass murderer or extreme sociopath. Why this should be so, I have never heard anyone explain satisfactorily. The question is considered infra dig by the P.R. flacks and bloggers surrounding this genre--their websites and commentary are full of a bizarre, morally inverted appreciation of ever greater spectacles of destruction. Torture is a favorite at this feast, folks, and we're not talking about some weak-weenie waterboarding, we're talking about real torture, the prancing-around-in-arterial-blood-spray kind that is fun for the whole family.
For a taste of the sensibility involved, consider this remark by Darren Bousman, the director of Saw IV (and two of its predecessors). Hyping his new film, he boasted that it contains "a scene...where I physically regurgitated in my mouth." Bousman belongs to the self-described Hollywood "Splat Pack," a group of junior sadists mentored by Tarantino, who revel in their ability to mass-produce the most repugnant imaginable fantasies. As Eli Roth, director of Hostel and Hostel Part 2, recently told a national magazine: "Everybody says that I'm different on the days we're shooting the gore--that I'm just extra happy. I try to have that same excitement and enthusiasm for every scene, but when we're doing some really disgusting scene I'll catch myself gleefully jumping up and down at the monitor." And in another interview, he mused, "Hopefully, we'll get to the point where there are absolutely no restrictions on any kind of violence in movies."
Earth to Roth: We're at that point now. And now is also the time when millions of people around the world perceive the United States, rightly or wrongly, as having abandoned the moral high ground regarding the conduct of war and the treatment of prisoners. There is more freedom of expression in America than in any other country in the world, which is why Bousman and Roth can get away with their upchuck. But no one could accuse them of good timing.
First appeared in THE CLAREMONT REVIEW OF BOOKS, Winter, 2008
Posted by mbayles at 2:02 PM
December 15, 2007
Screenwriting Today
Winged Avengers of the Jury, I stand by everything I have said about Martin Scorcese, and also about the verbal poverty of The Departed and many other contemporary sceenplays. And as evidence I offer the following
short version of Scorsese's well acted, skillfully produced, but substantively inferior rip-off of Infernal Affairs (the cool, classy Hong Kong original).
Posted by mbayles at 11:01 AM
November 28, 2007
This Just In
The best jokes used to come from the Soviet Union. Here's one I especially like:
A Western journalist is talking with several Russians in a cafe, and he naively asks them what they think of Comrade Stalin. They stare at him in silence. But then, when the reporter leaves, one man follows and offers to share his true opinion of the Great Leader -- provided the reporter is willing to meet at midnight on the banks of the Moskva River. The reporter agrees, and that night they meet. The man insists on getting into a boat and rowing out into the middle of the river, where amid bitter winds and bobbing ice floes, he leans forward and whispers into the reporter's ear: "I like him!"
If you enjoyed this joke, then don't miss this news bulletin from the Onion.
Posted by mbayles at 7:59 PM
November 25, 2007
Wise Words
Javed Akhtar is a renowned Indian screenwriter, song lyricist, and poet. Here is wonderful comment of his from Nasreen Munni Kabir's book, Talking Films: Conversations on Hindi Cinema with Javed Akhtar:
"I can tell you two ways of writing an unsuccessful film. Firstly you decide you'll make a great film, and secondly, you decide the film you're making is not for you but for the common man, a film for the masses. In the first situation, you're looking upwards and in the other, you're looking down. You go wrong because in both cases you're going to create something that's not coming from you."
Posted by mbayles at 8:29 PM
November 17, 2007
Ankle Deep in Bollywood
Wading a step farther into the waters of Bollywood, I recently saw the 2003 comedy, Munna Bhai, which I heard about in Bombay.* I liked it very much, although to be honest, I am still getting used to such old-fashioned, industrial-strength entertainment!
Sanjay Dutt, a sandy-haired rogue in his 40s with bedroom eyes and a huge following, stars as Munnabhai, a loan shark with a heart of gold, shaking people down in one of the nicer Bombay slums. (Some scenes are shot in a semblance of that city's laundry district, where thousands of washermen and women ply their trade in stone tubs passed down through the generations.)
Munnabhai, it turns out, comes from a well-to-do background outside the city, and his refined parents don't know he's a crook. They think he's a medical doctor, and when they come to Bombay for their annual visit, he and his mates transform his gangster digs into a hospital.
Naturally, this scheme goes awry, and to the mortification of his parents, Munnabhai is exposed. Heartsick, he vows to cheat, charm, and strong-arm his way to a medical degree (anything but study, naturally). This, too, is a disaster, albeit the kind that occurs in Hindi films: lots of singing, dancing, and larking about included. In the end, Munnabhai's genuine goodness has become evident to all, including his worst enemies, the woman he loves, and -- at long last -- mother and dad.
Sounds corny, I know. But along the way, the film makes relentless fun of the medical profession, self-important people, and high-caste Indians who treat lower-caste people as faceless underlings. This is the kind of thing old-fashioned Hollywood films used to do, and it is fascinating to see it done in a whole different cinematic language.
NB: I thought "Mumbai" was politically correct until I went there and learned that everyone who grew up in the city calls it Bombay. So now I call it "Bombay" in order to be PC in some things, at least. I can understand their resistance, actually. What if someone came along and renamed Boston "Mustain"?
Posted by mbayles at 4:32 PM | Comments (0)
November 12, 2007
Comrades and Causes
Frank Capra's "why we fight" theme dominated films produced during World War II, even Korea. But these films also downplayed war's ferocity and horror. About Vietnam the only contemporary film was The Green Berets, produced in the style of 1944 and lobbed like a (dummy) grenade into the middle of 1968. After the war ended, a series of counter-cultural films, notably Taxi Driver (1976), caricatured Vietnam vets as dangerous lunatics. The Deer Hunter (1978) showed more respect for the veterans, while also painting an unflattering picture of the North Vietnamese communists. The lunatic vet made a comeback in the extravagantly awful Apocalypse Now (1979), but by the 1980s it was no longer cool to use vets as villains.
Yet at the same time, Hollywood in the 1980s was loath to make films retroactively supporting the Vietnam War. (Unfortunately, the sole exception, Lionel Chetwynd's The Hanoi Hilton (1987), is dramatically speaking a dud.) So the challenge became: How to make the soldiers look good, while also making the war look bad? A clever solution was devised by two directors, Oliver Stone and Stanley Kubrick, in two highly successful films, Platoon (1986) and Full Metal Jacket (1987). By focusing on the experience of a small unit of soldiers, and using state-of-the-art technology to render the sights and sounds of combat as vividly as possible, these films managed to avoid any focus on why they fought. At its cleverest, this approach also managed to make the soldiers' disgruntlement with ill-conceived orders and fruitless tactics look like principled opposition to the war.
This narrowly focused band-of-brothers approach is now a cliche, as film after film ramps up the special effects and dumbs down the characters and plots. A harbinger of this approach is Ridley Scott's Blackhawk Down (2001), a high-tech tour de force whose characters are as interchangeable, and unmindful of the reason why they are fighting, as the figures in a video game. Even We Were Soldiers (2001), Mel Gibson's attempt at a revisionist Vietnam film, spends more time reconstructing the physical details of the 1965 battle of Ia Drang Valley than defending the purpose for which it was fought. And despite its patriotic fervor, Gibson's film ends with the line: "They went to war because their country asked them to, but in the end they fought not for their country or their flag. They fought for each other."
They fought for each other. Very stirring, but how do you get them to do that? On the most basic level of narrative art, there's nothing wrong with the band-of-brothers approach. Since before Homer, the best war stories have focused not on grand strategies but on comrades-in-arms. And long before sociologists coined the term unit cohesion, storytellers have understood that in the heat of battle, soldiers think less about overarching goals than about their buddies. And when they act bravely, it is usually to save their friends, to avoid letting them down, or (at most) to uphold a shared sense of honor. So it's dramatically necessary, and sociologically accurate, to separate comradeship from cause while the bullets are flying.
But this only takes us so far. Soldiers are human beings, and when the shooting stops, they are bound to ponder why they fight. If no adequate reason presents itself, or if their sense of duty becomes eroded by a sense of futility, they may grow less willing to march back into hell. In the worst case scenario, they lose their moral bearings altogether, and cease to care about either cause or comrades. This is war's final bitterness, and only rarely does Hollywood dare to depict it.
Posted by mbayles at 8:46 AM
November 6, 2007
Followup Bollywood
Just a couple of things I'd like to fix in last entry, after hearing from an Indian colleague. First, for you non-Hindustani speakers, a translation of Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge: it means "the one with the brave heart wins the bride." Second, Javed Akhtar is a song lyricist as well as a screenwriter.
More later as this neophyte wades into the Bollywood waters. Feet wet but a long way to go.
Posted by mbayles at 9:16 AM
November 3, 2007
Not the Wedding Crashers
When I was in India this last spring, several people recommended a Bollywood classic called Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge -- or, to use the popular shorthand for an immensely popular film, DDLJ. Now that I have seen the film, I understand why my interlocutors were so insistent.
"Bollywood" is becoming an obsolete term, or maybe it always was. There is Hindustani cinema, which uses a blend of Hindi, Urdu and English, and has been described by the famous screenplay writer Javed Akhtar as "one more state in this country, ... quite different from Indian culture, but it's not alien to us, we understand it." (See his book-length series of interviews with the writer Nasreen Kabir.) In addition, there are several regional film industries in other languages, which together with the Hindustani mainstream produced largely in Mumbai/Bombay, dominate a huge region stretching from West Africa to Central Asia to East Asia and Oceania -- not to mention London, Russia, and New Jersey.
We Americans think of movies as constantly "pushing the envelope" -- that is, first you show kissing, then foreplay (remember foreplay?), then sex in bed, then sex against the wall, then sex with baked goods and fruit, then sex with animals, then rape, then rape and strangulation, then rape preceded by torture (back to foreplay again?), and then -- what? Rape and strangulation of baked goods?
I'm not suggesting that this is a natural progression -- most people are content with the first 2-3 steps. But woe to the Hollywood director who stops pushing the envelope, or even riskier, pushes it in the opposite direction. The only director I can think of who does this is Judd Apatow, whose comedies The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up paradoxically use raunchy humor to affirm (relatively) traditional sexual mores.
There is no raunchy humor in DDLJ, but there is plenty of old-fashioned erotic attraction, battle-of-the-sexes combat, and finally passionate surrender, all accompanied by song-and-dance numbers that are (in the best Bollywood style) extravagant and surreal without being (in the worst Bollywood style) repetitive and tedious.
What is fascinating, though, is what happens after the lovers realize how hopelessly smitten they are. In The Wedding Crashers, the lover whose girl is engaged to someone else simply shows up at the wedding and claims her. He makes a short speech along the lines of "I really love you and that dude is a bum," and she falls into his arms. Needless to say, the wishes of parents and relatives are treated as a minor irritant quickly disposed of. When the bride embraces the interloper, they have no choice but to applaud -- they're old, after all, and therefore irrelevant.
Never mind that this is not how many young Americans see the world. It is the dominant trope of popular culture, that sexual attraction equals love, and that nothing must stand in its path. DDLJ would not disagree, but its way of making the same point is infinitely more subtle, powerful, and human.
When Raj (Shahrukh Khan) falls for Simran (Kajol), the problem is obvious: he is the spoiled playboy son of a London-based millionaire (Anupam Kher), she the sheltered daughter of Chaudrry Singh (Amrish Puri), a hard-working shop owner who hates England and longs for his native Punjab. The young people meet on a Europass tour of the Alps (very picturesque), but when Simram returns home, her father packs her off to India to marry the son of his best friend.
The old man is a stern, forbidding autocrat, and his dream of reconnecting with Punjab is not shared by his wife and two daughters. In an American film, these sentiments would have to be corrected, either by persuasion or coercion. But therein lies the difference: in DDLJ the old man is treated with the utmost respect, and although it seems impossible for 99 percent of the story, he finally yields. (This is not a spoiler! Everyone knows that the lovers get together at the end of a film like this!)
But watch carefully, because this is not just a case of the young folks bringing the old folks into the current century. It's also a case of the young learning from the old that there are two ways to do anything: the wrong way, which leads to happiness in the short term but emptiness in the long, and the right way, which is hard and painful but leads to the greatest happiness.
Maybe we Americans are too sophisticated for this stuff. In terms of revenue, Hollywood still makes a whole lot more money than Bollywood. But in terms of audience size, Bollywood surpassed Hollywood in 2004 and is still ahead: 3 billion, as opposed to 2.6 billion. And most of the latter are not Wedding Crashers fans so much as Titanic and Shrek fans. With regard to stories about human beings, it's the heart that counts. And on that score, 3 billion Bollywood fans may not be wrong.
Posted by mbayles at 9:03 AM | Comments (0)
October 28, 2007
Moment of Clarity
Lately the New York Times Arts & Leisure section has become increasingly mindless, with too much space devoted to celebrity chatter and reviews by critics who type faster than they think. It's a relief, therefore, to read A. O. Scott's lucid article about the current crop of Iraq / Afghanistan / Global War on Terror flicks. When surrounded by mud, clear water can seem a miracle.
Posted by mbayles at 10:59 AM | Comments (0)
October 27, 2007
A Real Great Train Wreck
Tired of having your circuits overloaded by CSI? Longing for the kind of thrills that come not from guys crawling along the floor in front of a blue screen (to be filled in later by computer) but from gutsy stunt men doing actual stunts?
If so, then get yourself a copy of Runaway Train. This gritty 1985 film was written by a fascinating crew, from Ed Bunker, the former San Quentin inmate turned director (Straight Time, The Longest Yard) to the renowned Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. Not only that, but it stars Jon Voigt, Eric Roberts, and Rebecca de Mornay; and was directed by Andrei Konchalovsky, a member of the Russian film aristocracy.
This one-of-a-kind gem starts with a hard-ass escape from a maximum security prison in Alaska, and is not appealing at first (due to what used to be graphic violence and an unpleasant trip through a sewer). But mercifully, it soon plunges the two anti-heroes, escaped prisoners Manny (Voigt) and Bunk (Roberts), into the vast, frozen wilderness, where they hop what turns out to be the wrong train.
Before long they are hurtling across the frozen landscape, sans conductor and sans brakes, and their reactions are not pretty, Manny being the hardest of the hard and Bunk the callowest of the callow. But when they discover they are not alone, that their onrushing fate is shared by a young female assistant engineer (de Mornay), the story lifts off and soars to a whole different level.
To repeat, what you see on the screen is a real train (four engines coupled together) hurtling through some real bleak, real Arctic, real estate. And the interaction among the unwilling passengers, torn between wanting to live and wanting to stay free, is even more real. Pay attention to what happens at the end, because this is not a trivial action flick but something more akin to a short story by Tolstoy. Needless to say, they don't make 'em like that any more.
Posted by mbayles at 6:51 PM | Comments (0)
October 22, 2007
Classify This
Believe it or not, there is still a film censorship - oops, "classification" - board in Great Britain. But to judge by its recent decision on Eastern Promises, another foul blood feast from David Cronenberg, the British Board of Film Classification might as well hang it up.
The film sounds like standard Cronenberg: eyes gouged out, throats slashed, all in such loving detail that the film managed to offend even the jaded audience at the London Film Festival. Yet the BBFC awarded the film an 18 certificate for general release, with no cuts - oops, edits.
This prompted Andreas Whittam, a former president of the BBFC, to complain: "If I thought this was the type of film that was likely to make people leave the cinema, or even make them have to look away for quite a while, then I would question why the scene should be left in."
Pretty mealy-mouthed, but a bold statement of principle, compared with the response from the current BBFC: "Scenes that make people turn away are part of the fun of going to movies. These days we are not here to cut; we are here to provide information and let people then make up their minds."
Uh-huh. Just one question, though: What, exactly, are we making up our minds about?
Posted by mbayles at 9:48 AM | Comments (0)
October 16, 2007
From Epic to Oscar
A friend recently posted this fascinating essay on Amazon.com. It's about the literary work that was the basis for one of the finest Hollywood films ever made: The Best Years of Our Lives, about three servicemen returning from World War II. I had no idea that the screenplay was adapted from an epic poem -- did you?
Read Don Bishop's account ...
The book that made the movie that moved millions and won the Oscar
October 12, 2007
By Donald M. Bishop (Virginia)
"Glory for Me" is the book-length narrative poem by MacKinlay Kantor which eventually became the movie "The Best Years of Our Lives." The film won seven Oscars, including Best Picture, for 1946. It starred Frederick March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, and Harold Phillips.
In 1970, I was a lieutenant working at the Air Force Historical Research Center. The older historians told a word-of-mouth story how the book came to be. No doubt the story had been embroidered over many years of retelling, but here's the way I heard it.
In 1944, movie titan Samuel Goldwyn knew that whether the allied victory in World War II would come sooner, or later, millions of American veterans would return home. Many -- especially those with physical and psychological wounds -- would have trouble finding jobs and "readjusting."
Goldwyn knew that journalist and playwright MacKinlay Kantor, who had flown missions with the 305th Bomb Group from England earlier in the war, had gotten to know American servicemen in combat at first hand. Goldwyn asked Kantor to write a screenplay for a planned movie on the veterans returning home.
According to the story, Kantor had driven up to a Tennessee mountain retreat to work on the screenplay. He took his typewriter and a case of bourbon. He emerged some months later with empty bottles and "Glory for Me," written in the form of a narrative poem, not a screenplay. Goldwyn was not pleased, and he eventually gave Kantor's poem to Robert Sherwood to reshape for the screen. When the film finally appeared, Kantor was given a minimum of credit. Sherwood -- deservedly -- won the Oscar for Best Writing.
Those, like myself, who come to "Glory for Me" via "The Best Years of Our Lives" will be richly rewarded by reading the poem.
Kantor's and Sherwood's treatments of the same characters and the same American town ("Boone City") shows two gifted men working the same basic story in different literary forms, poem and screenplay. Reading the book allows one to discover how, here and there, they made some different creative choices.
In Kantor's poem, Homer's disability is spasticity, which makes for some painful reading. Sherwood gave Homer a physical disability -- loss of hands and the use of prosthetic hooks. Sherwood's choice was a wise one for the moviegoing public, and few are the hearts not moved by Harold Phillips' portrayal of Homer in the film. But Kantor's portrayal of Homer and his girl Wilma are equally moving, perhaps because the poem gave more room for character development.
When Frederick March played Al Stephenson -- the older sergeant returning to his prewar life as a banker at the Cornbelt Trust Company -- he masterfully compressed much of Kantor's material in eloquent but short scenes. In Kantor's fuller telling of the story, Al was the son of a pioneer banker who had made loans to farmers a generation earlier. The poem has more social and historical texture.
In Kantor's poem, Homer's uncle Butch (Hoagy Carmichael's character in the movie) provides a vehicle to explore class feelings in pre- and post-war America. This was one of Kantor's themes that Sherwood could not fit into the film. Similarly, Kantor told his readers more about Novak (the veteran asking for a loan to open a nursery) and his experiences as a Seabee in the Pacific. Kantor's use of lilacs as a metaphor for peace and normality could not be picked up in the film.
On the other hand, Sherwood changed the story line to say more about wartime marriages. Marie (Virginia Mayo in the film) proves shallow and unfaithful when Fred Derry (Dana Andrews) returns home. The movie's title, not found in Kantor's poem, came from a scene when the two argued.
The book was published in January, 1945, months before the war ended. Kantor well anticipated the major contours of veteran adjustment, but there was more to his foresight. On the final page of the poem he showed real prescience when he alluded to the unresolved social tensions that all Americans, not just the veterans, would confront in the coming years.
Reading habits have changed in the six decades since the book was published, and readers may now find that it takes some pages to adjust to the poetic form. Kantor's poetic shortcomings earned some dismissive reviews. Poems similar in form by Kantor's contemporaries like Stephen Vincent Benet are now dismissed as middlebrow when they are read at all. I am confident, though, that with each page the reader will find new lines and new scenes to savor and treasure.
"The Best Years of Our Lives" is a truly great American movie. "Glory for Me" deserves equal recognition. Kantor recognized the coming drama of the returning veterans. He dignified their individual struggles in a literary form that recalled the great epics and placed the American veterans among mankind's heroes. He gave an immortal film -- a film that affected tens of millions -- its basic structure, plot, characters, tone, and feeling.
Not a bad result for a few months of solitude with a case of bourbon.
Posted by mbayles at 8:40 AM | Comments (0)
October 14, 2007
Queened Out For Now
Spare yourself Elizabeth: The Golden Age , especially if you were bored by last year's Marie Antoinette, an over-produced, under-cooked souffle starring Kirsten Dunst - or rather, starring Kirsten Dunst's costumes, wigs, and makeup. Both films are luscious to look at but so devoid of content, they insult the intelligence of all women. Can you imagine a film about a king, any king, which focuses entirely on his clothes and pleasures to the exclusion of everything else? Maybe there's been one or two, but I doubt they were praised for "empowering" men.
If you want to see Queen Elizabeth in her maturity, wearing fantastic outfits and ruling, as opposed to being ruled by, her hot passionate heart while also ruling England better than almost any monarch ever ruled a country, then rent Elizabeth I, the brilliant and wonderful series starring Helen Mirren that aired on HBO last April.
I could elaborate, but better to offer two links, one to a review I did of Elizabeth I at the time; and the other to a long piece that discusses both Mirren's triumph as Elizabeth II (The Queen) and Marie Antoinette.
Posted by mbayles at 4:50 PM | Comments (0)
October 10, 2007
Enough Hemo-Technics
Recently re-watched The Usual Suspects, and while it has long been a favorite of mine, this was the first time I noticed its distinct Hong Kong flavor. Couldn't find anything online about its being a remake of a Hong Kong film, so I emailed my favorite Hong Kong cinema expert, who wrote back no, it's not a remake. But my expert agreed that the style was very Hong Kong.
I understand that bad movies come from Hong Kong, just as they do from Hollywood. But when it comes to the forensic crime genre, the world could do with a lot more of their style and a lot less of what passes for ours.
What's better about The Usual Suspects? 1) It has the right number of overlapping layers of deception and intrigue: not too many, not too few; 2) The characters are more interesting than the explosions; 3) The whole thing, including the production design, fits together like a fine Swiss watch; and 4) It's not totally about the blood.
Hong Kong movies can be quite violent, but perhaps because of the legacy of martial arts geniuses like Jackie Chan, the emphasis is on action, not hemo-technical displays like those spewing from Hollywood these days. There are too many morally stunted special effects guys out there, trying to win kudos from mentally stunted "critics" full of pseudo-aesthetic excuses. Don't remind me that the blood is fake. I know that, and so do most viewers. But the invitation to cruelty and voyeuristic pleasure at the agonized suffering of others -- are they fake, too?
Posted by mbayles at 8:56 AM | Comments (0)
October 7, 2007
Dickens Done Right
As the days grow shorter and the nights colder, you could curl up with a good fat book, like Charles Dickens's Bleak House. The Bantam Classic version is only 818 pages. Or you could rent the 2005 TV adaptation co-produced by the BBC, WGBH Boston, and a company called Deep Indigo. It's only six hours or so, and after the first, you will be hooked.
Full confession: before this Bleak House, I had never seen a Dickens adaptation that I truly admired. They were all too shallow and predictable, with too many tiresome caricatures who weren't really funny. Plus a treacly, Merrie Olde England look that works better in Thomas Kinkade paintings.
How does this series avoid all that? By extending the emotional range in both directions, so that the gloom and cruelty of Dickens's world feels truly disturbing, and warmth and light of justice and kindness truly a relief. This is no mean accomplishment, because while it's easy to find villains these days, it's hard to find characters as convincingly good as Esther Summerson (Anna Maxwell Martin) and her guardian, John Jarndyce (Denis Lawson).
I guess what I'm saying is that this series does not treat Dickens as a quaint old-fashioned moralist best suited to high school English classes. It brings out his brilliance at black comedy, in characters like Smallweed, the blood-sucking moneylender who goes about in a sedan chair complaining about his aching bones. Smallweed is played so brilliantly by Phil Davis, I looked forward to his every entrance and to watching those yellow rat's teeth chew up the scenery.
And beyond the comic, this adaptation makes room for sorrow. Yes, there is a happy ending, but only after several lives have come to bitter ends. Like Jarndyce and Jarndyce, the multi-generational law case at its heart, the plot closes with a perfect tradeoff. The characters lose exactly the amount they hoped to gain. For us readers and viewers, though, it is all gain.
Posted by mbayles at 7:52 PM | Comments (2)
October 4, 2007
Oh Grow Up
Am I the only person tired of Martin Scorsese's sensibility, which was perfect for 1973 but has been old so long, it's ... well, dead?
In today's LA Times there is an item about Scorsese's next film project, stalled between two studios. The passage that caught my eye is about the film itself:
"On paper, the movie looks like a great investment: Scorsese once again directing his 'Aviator' and 'Departed' star Leonardo DiCaprio in an adaptation of the just-published cash-coke-and-corruption memoir 'The Wolf of Wall Street' ... , the autobiography of New York stockbroker Jordan Belfort, a flashy, drug-abusing, hooker-hiring, model-marrying master of the universe sent to jail for securities fraud and money laundering in the '90s."
Didn't we do this already? "Wall Street," "Bright Lights, Big City," "The Bonfire of the Vanities"? Or, assuming Scorsese makes no distinction between Wall Street and the Mafia, "Goodfellas"? The image of American business as gangsterism is the dominant one around the world, used to justify the corruption and excess of robber barons in Russia, China, and many other ruthless plutocracies. When the US government gets on its high horse and preaches good labor practices and business ethics, it is taken as a joke, because thanks to Hollywood, everyone in the world knows all Americans are mobsters.
Scorsese is getting a little long in the tooth to still be celebrating the rotten behavior of bad-boy gangs he never belonged to. Get over it, Marty. Your stuff is boring and pernicious.
For a full treatment of this topic, see my essay comparing "The Departed" with the much superior Hong Kong film it was based on, "Infernal Affairs."
Posted by mbayles at 9:38 AM | Comments (0)
October 1, 2007
Team America Plus Two
Peter Berg made one of my favorite movies: the Texas football tragedy, Friday Night Lights. Does that qualify him to make a Saudi Arabian terrorism comedy? I exaggerate, of course. The Kingdom isn't a comedy, it's a state-of-the-art action flick. But what that means is plenty of comic moments stuck into the action the way nuts are stuck into baklava, to make it crunchier and tastier.
Comic moments also do a great service to action heroes and heroines, by humanizing them and showing how they can keep their cool even when being shot at. In these and other respects, The Kingdom, about a team of four FBI agents sent to solve a terrorist massacre in Riyadh, is technically expert but not thematically profound. The cast is great but predictable: two white guys, one a wise veteran (Chris Cooper) and the other a bumbler on a steep learning curve (Jason Bateman); one saintly tough African American (Jamie Foxx); and one sexy feisty gal with puffy lips and puffier you-know-whats (Jennifer Gault).
But here's the twist: the film adds two more cool customers, cast in the same mold, who are Saudis. One is a colonel played by Ashraf Barhom, an extraordinary actor about whom it is proving difficult at the moment to find a decent online bio. (He does such a good job, and is obviously so sought after, that this dearth of information is itself quite intriguing.) The other is his sergeant, played by Ali Suliman, who did such a brilliant job as a hesitant suicide bomber in Paradise Now. (Information on him is equally elusive.)
After all the complaints, some justified, of stereotyping of Arabs in Hollywood movies, especially the action genre, the presence of these two highly sympathetic characters (whose devotion to Islam is smoothly inserted) seems worthy of notice. At the same time, I wonder: The Kingdom was not filmed in Saudi Arabia but in Abu Dhabi (and Phoenix). But the image of the Saudis is so positive, the film could pass as state-of-the-art propaganda. It's not that, of course. It couldn't be. Could it?
Posted by mbayles at 8:24 AM
September 26, 2007
Pow!
Several big-name reviewers sniffed at Snow Cake, a Canadian film about a gloomy ex-con named Alex (played by Alan Rickman) who forms a (non-romantic) bond with an autistic woman named Linda (Sigourney Weaver) in a tiny whistle-stop near Winnipeg. Some dump on Rickman for being gloomy; others scold Weaver for taking on a no-makeup role that requires her to act like a four-year-old; still others mount their high horse and intone that autistic people don't act that way.
I beg to differ. Rickman is one of the few actors who can light up the screen with the merest hint that perhaps he might smile. Weaver draws on her inner child, including the one that throws tantrums, in a surprisingly convincing way - and since every autistic individual is different, and the screenwriter Angela Pell has an autistic son, I wonder where the high-horse critics get their expertise.
And finally, Snow Cake contains a killer-diller blindside blow, one of the most shocking I have ever seen. (Lately this is a preoccupation of mine - see two entries below.) I won't tell you where or when this hits, but it is staggering in a way that makes perfect sense out of (almost) everything else. I could criticize two or three things about this film, but withal, it has more class and integrity than most of the big-budget bullies getting all the attention.
(I am so happy to have used the word "withal." Part of a campaign to revive really useful but moribund English words.)
Posted by mbayles at 7:53 AM
September 23, 2007
Cinematic Bedford Falls, Video Pottersville
In today's New York Times, there is a nice short piece about the Drexel movie theater in Bexley, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus. It's not really an art house theater, although it occasionally shows filmfest fare. But neither is it a decaying single-screen relic. Instead, it's an experiment in populist preservation, created and sustained by Jeff Frank and his wife Kathy, natives of the area who bought it in 1981 and turned it into a showcase for classic Hollywood films, jazzed up with some old-fashioned hype (such as giving free passes to people who wear red shoes to Red Shoes). Blessedly, the Franks seem to have made a go of it.
I especially liked Jeff Frank's comment that he after graduating from film school, he went home to Ohio with the thought, "Go to Hollywood! Go to New York! Be involved in the film industry." But now he sees himself "as a sort of George Bailey, who never fulfills his dream of leaving Bedford Falls, yet comes to realize that remaining in his hometown is his passage to a wonderful life."
Perhaps we will see more such efforts, now that the technical quality of how consumers watch is declining just as the technical quality of what they watch is rising. All the fine camera work and special effects in the world are lost when people see movies on cell phones (a delivery platform that gives me even worse heebie-jeebies than those crummy little screens on the backs of airplane seats).
At the other extreme you have the phenomenon described by Joe Morgenstern in this weekend's Wall Street Journal (see below): the grotesque distortion that occurs when 4:3 images are stretched to fit deluxe flat-panel TV screens whose ratio is 16:9. As Morgenstern writes, "compact cars resemble stretch limos, puffy faces look like their cheeks have been pulled out," and "actors, even basket ball players, seem to have put on 30 pounds."
Why do people tolerate this? Morgenstern interviews two top cinematographers, whose reaction is to pretend it's not happening. And who can blame them? No true craftsman wants to see his careful work end up in a pawn shop in Pottersville.
MORGENSTERN ON MOVIES
Why distorted flat-panel pictures are ruining TV shows and movies
September 22, 2007; Page W5
Wherever I go these days -- homes, bars, restaurants, airports, hotel rooms -- I see beautiful flat-panel TVs displaying awful, distorted pictures. Yet no one seems to notice, or care. I feel like a guy spouting off about the emperor's new clothes, except this emperor's problem is that his wardrobe doesn't fit.
Why should anyone care? And what does it have to do with movies? First things first: Why it happens.
American television is moving inexorably, if belatedly, from analog to digital, and from conventional to high-definition broadcasting. At the moment, though, we're in a period of higgledy-piggledy transition, thanks to bungling by the government, which is increasingly befuddled by new technologies, and to resistance by broadcasters and consumers. Almost all flat-panel TVs are tailored to the proportions of hi-def transmission -- they have screens with 16:9 aspect ratios -- but they don't all receive hi-def signals, and most programs are still being beamed conventionally, in a squarish 4:3 format that was never meant to fill a wide screen.
Many owners of wide-screen TVs don't make the distinction. Since they paid a premium for the width, they want their programs to fill the screen; never mind that 4:3 programs are correctly displayed on 16:9 panels only with black bars flanking the image. So people set their TVs to stretch the picture, or allow their TVs to set themselves. Either way, the result is distortion -- compact cars resemble stretch limos, puffy faces look like their cheeks have been pulled out in opposite directions.
As a movie critic, I try to tell myself that it's only TV. Moviegoers can still find impressive images on theater screens, where projection has actually improved in recent years. But condescension toward television doesn't wash. As everyone who watches TV knows, some programs and series are terrific -- lots better than the average feature films that fill the multiplexes. And everyone watches TV, which is one reason I obsess about the visual quality of what they're watching. If people don't care what they see, then what future can there be for the dazzlingly powerful -- and proportionate -- images I've been smitten by ever since I was a kid?
It doesn't pay to obsess about things you can't change, but I forget that each time I find myself a captive audience in a hotel room with a flat-panel TV that's been set to stretch every picture it processes. The setting can't be switched with the hotel remote; you need the remote that came with the display, but getting your hands on one can drive you crazy.
First comes a call to the front desk: "There's something wrong with my TV. I need the remote that came with it so I can fix it." The response may vary by hotel or region, but in New York it's always the same: "I'll send up the engineer."
Rather than being a designer of airplanes or skyscrapers, the engineer is more likely to be a bleak, overworked handyman who looks at the TV and says, "It's fine." Not really, I begin, hating my obsessive self as I start to explain, yet again, why the picture is cockeyed. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I had so much trouble communicating with the last engineer, who may have been Russian, that I pinched my cheeks and pulled them out to demonstrate the problem. The man stared at me as if I were insane, but he did bring the remote, watched patiently as I changed the setting and then shrugged a semi-private it-takes-all-kinds shrug before moving on to another nut job in another room.
In the course of my obsessing, I've sometimes wondered how such ubiquitous distortion and the public's indifference to it affects the people who create those dazzling images on the big screen -- cinematographers of the first rank. Writing this confessional gave me an excuse to call two of the best shooters I know.
Caleb Deschanel said the way his films get stretched on TV bothers him a lot, and public indifference puzzles him. "It is odd when people don't notice that actors, or even basketball players, seem to have put on 30 pounds. But all sorts of things in modern society bother me. Kids in their 20s and 30s think absolutely nothing of stealing intellectual property on the Internet."
John Bailey is not a heavy TV watcher. "I'm the guy who finally got rid of my 20-year-old Pioneer square-screen TV not long ago, and I only did that when the sound went out." But he acknowledged the subject's crazy-making potential. "It makes you ask the question, 'What the hell am I doing? What are we all doing?' Once you get beyond the theatrical exhibition, it's a free-for-all. But you really can go crazy if you start to think of the downstream implications. The only thing I feel I can control, and shoot for, is to make negatives or show prints as good as they can be. Then, if they go back and remaster something years later, at least the archival material is of the highest quality."
That's good, philosophical advice, and I plan to take it. The next time I'm tempted to make a call that will summon the engineer, I'll call room service and order a drink.
Posted by mbayles at 9:34 AM
September 16, 2007
Success With Chinese Characteristics?
Once upon a time there was a musician, a teacher and performer of Western classical music, in Beijing. During the Cultural Revolution this man was attacked and humiliated by a gang of rowdy students - a painful experience made infinitely more so by the fact that one of the students roughing him up was his own son, Chen Kaige.
Chen Kaige is now a renowned film director, best known in America for rich costume dramas such as Farewell, My Concubine and Temptress Moon. But Chen is also the author of Young Kaige, a soul-searching memoir about his participation in the Cultural Revolution. (Unfortunately, the book does not appear to be available in English).
Chen Kaige's 2002 film, Together, tells a different story but one suffused with strong emotion drawn from this background. It is about Liu Cheng (Liu Peiqi), a comical but affecting peasant from a small provincial city, where he works as a cook and nurtures the musical career of his gifted 13-year-old son, Liu Xiaochun (Tang Yun). Xiaochun is devoted not just to the violin in general but to a particular violin that, according to Cheng, was left to him by his deceased mother.
Despite his rough manners and lack of education, Cheng manages to take Xiaochun to Beijing and enter him in a national contest, which he loses. But then, hearing one of the judges, Jiang (Wang Zhiwen), complain about the system being rigged in favor of the not-so-talented children of the rich, Cheng cajoles Jiang into taking Xiaochun as a pupil.
Jiang is a fine but embittered teacher who lives alone with six cats in one of the old, picturesque but poor districts of Beijing known as hutong (meaning something like, "street wide enough for two carts to pass"). When he has taught Xiaochun all he can, he gracefully allows the boy to graduate to Shifeng Yu (played by Chen Kaige himself), a celebrity teacher more skilled at hustling his students into the big time.
Father and son also live in a hutong, but one seemingly threatened by redevelopment, because right next door is a new high-rise, one resident of which is Lili (Chen Hong, the wife of Chen Kaige), a pretty young woman whose life consists in entertaining her rich boyfriend and spending the money he gives her. Lili isn't a prostitute, as uncomprehending critics have suggested, but rather a "kept woman" (to use an antiquated phrase) But she is not happy, any more than Jiang is happy pretending to teach music to the unmusical offspring of plutocrats.
As these characters are drawn into a tale of Horatio Alger ambition and Charles Dickens self-discovery, the film feels both old and new. It feels old because of these literary echoes, and the way it tackles the themes of money, success, and loyalty - which is strongly reminiscent of classic Hollywood. (Some reviewers have found hints of Frank Capra, and they are right.)
Yet Together also feels new, because while hardly a tragedy, it does take a somewhat critical stance toward the way these themes work themselves out in contemporary China. It's tempting to say, well great, the Chinese have their own Frank Capra. But that raises a troubling question: Was Together released in China? I have checked the Internet Movie Database, and according to that fairly reliable source, it was not!
Posted by mbayles at 12:00 PM
September 14, 2007
Good, Not Feel-Good
About a year ago, I posted an entry about a little known film called The War Within, which I admired for its refusal to satisfy our kneejerk expectations of a happy ending.
Now I have seen another film that does the same thing. Civic Duty is a UK-Canada-US production whose protagonist is not a Pakistani suicide bomber wandering around New York, but an all-American accountant, Terry (Peter Krause), who happens to be down on his luck. Having lost his job and with too much time on his hands, Terry becomes obsessed with the mysterious doings of his new Middle Eastern neighbor, Gabe (Khaled Abol Naga).
Terrifically acted, the film engages in too many pseudo-artsy camera tricks for my taste. But this is a small vice compared with its major virtue: a courageous script that, like The War Within, encourages us to draw conventional conclusions then yanks each one away.
Terry is a media-manipulated reactionary who carries suspicion too far ... or is he? Gabe is an angry Muslim but innocent of any crime ... or is he? There's no hero, though Terry's girlfriend Marla (Kari Matchett) comes close. But even her love for Terry and trusting good nature do not produce the Hollywood resolution we crave. And much as I love Hollywood, on this topic I prefer irresolution.
Posted by mbayles at 2:08 PM
September 10, 2007
Another Clueless Expert
With mixed feelings, I read in today's New York Times that the hottest TV show in Russia is a Russian version of Married With Children, the in-your-face sitcom that happily deconstructed the American family between 1987 and 1997.
I was never a big fan of Married With Children, which in hindsight seems a loss leader in substituting vulgarity for wit. But if the Russian media want to allow this freedom while murdering journalists and suppressing political speech, then the more repressive tolerance to 'em (as Herbert Marcuse used to say).
But it is really depressing to see what passes for expert commentary in Russia. The Times article quotes Daniil B. Dondurei, editor in chief of Cinema Art magazine, saying that TV shows like Schastlivy Vmeste (Happy Together) are "training [people] to not think about which party is in Parliament, about which laws are being passed, about who will be in charge tomorrow. People have become accustomed to living like children, in the family of a very strong and powerful father. Everything is decided for them."
Huh? Turn on your TV, Mr. Dondurei. This is Married With Children, not Father Knows Best. You need to update your critique, unless of course you are trying to be irrelevant.
Posted by mbayles at 11:36 AM
September 6, 2007
Twelve Agonizing Brits
The first courtroom drama was Aeschylus' Oresteia, in which a cycle of blood vengeance driven by the Furies is arrested by Athena, instituting drama's first jury trial. "Let me be just," the goddess tells Orestes. "Let me remember the fair tongue of reason."
Jury trials abound in films, of course, but the most famous will always be Twelve Angry Men (1957), based on the stage play by Reginald Rose and directed by Sidney Lumet. After many revivals of the play worldwide, the film was remade for television in 1997 by director William Friedkin. Remarkably, that remake is not available on DVD, even though the cast includes George C. Scott, Ossie Davis, Hume Cronyn, Jack Lennon - and Sopranos star James Gandolfini.
Twelve Angry Men is not just about the jury system, it is also about racial and ethnic conflict, which is why it proves a perennial. A superb recent update is The Jury (2002), a British-made television series directed by Pete Travis, set in London's Old Bailey courthouse and glittering with young and old British thespians (Gerard Butler and Derek Jacobi, to name just two).
The series follows the trial of of a 17-year-old Sikh boy (Sonnell Dadral) accused of murdering an English classmate with a sword. The evidence is strong against him, but at the same time, the victim's anti-immigrant father, relatives, and police cronies do everything they can to push the proceedings toward a lynching.
The Jury departs from Twelve Angry Men by including a great deal of drama outside the courtroom, in particular the stories of a half dozen jurors whose lives are in such turmoil, they actually find respite (and for one couple, romance) in a murder trial. If you want to know how it all comes out, you'll have to watch it. I'm no spoiler, and besides, it contains far too many shadows of doubt to yield a snap verdict.
Posted by mbayles at 8:30 AM
September 4, 2007
Love That Upchuck
Where are the "cutting-edge" artistes of Hollywood taking us? This article from the Washington Times will give you some idea.
Posted by mbayles at 9:36 AM
September 3, 2007
Too Happy
Blood Diamond is a much better film than I expected. Extraordinary production values, even in this era of pricey trans-national co-productions; and superb performances, especially by Leonardo DiCaprio as Danny, a mercenary from Zimbabwe (back when it was Rhodesia); and Djimon Hounsou as Solomon, a fisherman from Sierra Leone whose village is raided by paramilitary thugs trading in illegal diamonds.
Forced into slavery in the mine, Solomon finds a huge diamond, which he manages to bury during a government raid. Barely escaping with his life, Solomon desperately wants to retrieve the stone, not so he can become rich but so he can rescue his son, Dia, impressed into murderous service as a child soldier.
Greed and paternal love are then united, as Solomon reluctantly teams up with Danny to find the stone. Of course, as director Edward Zwick says on the DVD commentary, the real diamond is the boy, not the stone, and as the story unfolds, this hard lesson is learned by the hardest of men, Danny the mercenary.
Why "Too Happy"? Because the right ending occurs about 10 minutes before the credits actually appear, and those last 10 minutes are nothing but feel-good gas. There are so many grim scenes in this film, the ending I am calling "right" - which consists of a narrow escape and an honorable death - is plenty. Why ruin it with additional scenes poured out of that big bottle of Hollywood Formula? Probably because the film was audience tested on the kind of people who find anything but swelling music, warm embraces, and applause for the hero "depressing."
Bitter truths beautifully presented, then coated with saccharine at the end. That's what I call depressing.
Posted by mbayles at 1:00 PM
August 30, 2007
Another Good Punch
Two entries ago, I mentioned that the fine Australian film with the unprepossessing title Japanese Story packed an unexpected wallop. Another film that does the same thing is The Man in the Moon (1991), about a 14-year-old Louisiana farm girl who falls in love with her older's sister's boyfriend. It is a gem, partly because of Reese Witherspoon's superb performance as the younger sister (her first film role), and partly because of the sudden blow it delivers to the viewer's solar plexis.
What's striking about both films is the way they avoid telescoping the punch, and what's interesting to think about (if you are a plot junkie like me) is the fact that most movies do telescope their punches, to the great detriment of realism. Anyway, if you are looking for a good film to watch over Labor Day, The Man in the Moon is easy to find and well worth it.
Posted by mbayles at 10:18 AM
August 27, 2007
Truer Than Wuxiu
Somewhere between Dickens and Tolstoy stands British novelist Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865), whose pen name in the proper Victorian mode was Mrs. Gaskell. Little known in America, she is beloved enough in England to have inspired a BBC adaptation of North and South, her Pride and Prejudice-style love story between a minister's daughter from England's green, prosperous South and a textile magnate from its grim, industrializing North.
I haven't read the novel, but the film is gritty, compelling, romantic. And timely in this sense: it doesn't make one me about England, it makes me think about China. History's biggest industrial revolution is happening right now, and with it a gigantic version of all the problems depicted in this film. And Mrs. Gaskell's vision of rapprochement between management and labor is also oddly of the moment. At least the answer in China is not going to be Marxist-Leninist revolution. Been there, done that.
One thing I learned while visiting the PRC this spring is that audio-visual piracy (a major industry, make no mistake) is not just "theft," as the Motion Picture Association puts it; it also the lifeblood of China's independent film scene. It is not illegal to make indie films there, but very few are released. (The government prefers the blockbuster wuxiu films, in which exotically dressed super-heroes and heroines engage in gravity-defying combat.) So piracy - taoba - is also samizdat. Watch North and South and let me know if you agree: it would be quite interesting to see VCDs (cut-rate DVDs) of this film show up in the street stalls of Shanghai.
Posted by mbayles at 11:45 PM
August 26, 2007
Prodigal Blogger
Loyal Reader:
I've been away from SP for a couple of months, traveling around the world doing research for my book about how people perceive life in America through the lens of our popular culture and, to a much lesser extent, US cultural diplomacy. I interviewed 133 individuals in six countries and am now drafting the manuscript. But loath to let SP expire, I beg you to kill whatever fatted calf you have on hand and welcome me back.
I woke up this morning still thinking about an extraordinary film I saw last night on DVD. Its unprepossessing title, Japanese Story, does not begin to capture its power.
Set in the Pilbara Desert of Western Australia, the story is simple: Sandy, a female geologist (Toni Colette), is asked by her boss to be driver and guide to the son of a major Japanese investor. The young visitor, Hiromitsu (Gotaro Tsunashima) is as smooth and proud as Sandy is rough and humble, and were it not for a series of unexpected mishaps, they would never have connected. But connect they do, in ways as starkly beautiful as the rugged, red-earth landscape they travel through. The film also contains something exceedingly rare: a punch that knocks the wind out of you, and isn't at all telescoped.
Posted by mbayles at 7:30 AM
April 28, 2007
Cultural Learnings for Make Benefit Glorious Comedy of Sacha Baron Cohen
Strolling along the Thames last summer, I did something unusual for me: I paused to check out some street performers and stayed for the whole show. Two young men were performing in a series sponsored by the Royal National Theater, and though their act was mostly wordless clowning, I stood transfixed by their skills. First they would single out someone and imitate his stance or gait (passing joggers were a specialty). Then, while the crowd was roaring with laughter, they would back away from their target, making elaborate gestures of apology but also blame, toward each other ("He did it, not me") and toward the crowd ("They made us do it"). And invariably the victim would relent, playing the good sport to general applause.
Street comedians have operated this way since time immemorial - with reason. They must ruffle a few feathers in order to tickle the crowd's funny bone, but they must also know exactly how much feather-ruffling the traffic will bear. Great comedians ruffle deeply, almost to the point of pain, and provoke correspondingly deep, almost painful laughter. Yet the emphasis is on "almost." As Aristotle noted in the Poetics, "the laughable is an error or disgrace that does not involve pain or destruction." The line between funny and hurtful is fine but definitive.
The chief feather-ruffler in the world today is Sacha Baron Cohen, the 35-year-old British comedian best known for his hit film, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. Baron Cohen plays Borat Sagdiyev, a clueless, feckless, tasteless TV reporter from "Kazakhstan" (no resemblance to the real country), who visits New York to make a documentary about America, but after seeing Pamela Anderson on Baywatch, embarks on a cross-country journey to Los Angeles to meet the sexy star. The character's purpose is straightforward: to seize Anderson and "make a romantic liquid explosion on her stomach." The comedian's purpose is more devious: to find ripe targets for his special brand of hit-and-run comedy.
That's hit-and-run, not street comedy. Unlike the performers on the South Bank, Baron Cohen is merciless. His other comic persona, Ali G, the white British hip-hop wannabe host of HBO's Da Ali G Show, specializes in ambushing prominent people. A recent article in Rolling Stone described the process: "The interview requests come from a fake British production company ... And until just before the cameras roll, the interviewee is under the impression that the clean-cut, well-dressed director is going to do the interview, and that the baggy-clothed, wraparound-shades-wearing character carrying equipment is just part of the crew."
Confronted with the bizarre-looking, patois-speaking Ali G, a few guests (Pat Buchanan, INS chief James Ziegler) keep their cool. But most (Donald Trump, Newt Gingrich, Ralph Nader) totally lose it when Ali G asks one of his incredibly dumb questions - to astronaut Buzz Aldrin: "Wot's it like, walkin' on da sun?"- then interrupts the reply with a blue streak of vulgarity. When a guest bristles, Ali G does likewise, demanding to know, against all visible evidence, "Why da aggro, geezer? Is it coz I black?" And woe to the good sport: the more cheerfully a guest plays along, the more gleefully Ali G slays him.
Borat's targets are not celebrities, but the process was similar. First, they were invited to participate in a news documentary for Belarus TV (one unknown country being much like another). Then they signed a release, indemnifying Baron Cohen against any claim of "false light (allegedly false or misleading portrayal of Participant)" or "fraud (alleged deception or surprise about the Film)." And finally they bared their unwary good nature to Borat's swift "gotcha."
Don't get me wrong. Both Ali G and Borat can be wildly funny - for example, when Borat bops up to strangers in midtown Manhattan, kissing the men on both cheeks and crowing, "Hi! I Borat! I new in town! I want be your friend!" Some curse, some flee, some - like the passengers in the subway car where Borat's suitcase opens and live chickens flutter out - just laugh. As far as I know, none of these New Yorkers has filed a lawsuit. The lawsuits (about a dozen) have come from remoter places, such as Helena, Alabama (about which more below), and, at the extreme, Glod, the Roma (gypsy) village in Romania whose residents mugged for the camera as Borat's benighted kith and kin. This is not just because New Yorkers are more used to bizarre behavior. It's also because the farther Baron Cohen went into darkest America, the harder he worked at outing the savages.
David Brooks has criticized Baron Cohen for "snobbery"; others have defended his bold exposure of racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, and homophobia. He did turn up some unsightly prejudices: a trio of drunken frat boys make puerile comments about women and minorities; a rodeo manager in Tennessee advises Borat to shave off his mustache so he won't look Muslim, then jokingly agrees that homosexuals should be persecuted. But the question is, compared to what? Would a road trip through the Middle East, or any other part of the world yield a bigger crop of tolerance? Granted, Borat finds reinforcements for his caricatured bigotry. But most of the Americans he meets put up with all sorts of nonsense from this weird foreigner, doubtless because they assume (based on their history) that he is just another immigrant seeking to become "Americanized."
Surely this is the real message of the much discussed episode in which a group of genteel white folk in Helena, Alabama, host Borat in their dining club, only to have him (in his fractured English) call a "retired" man a "retard," insult a minister's wife for being less attractive than two other women, and return to the table after a trip to the bathroom brandishing a plastic bag full of his own feces (which prompts a patient lesson on how to use the toilet). The last straw is when Borat telephones for a hooker, and when one arrives, introduces her as his guest. The pair are summarily ejected, and because the hooker is black, the scene is widely cited as evidence of racism. Give me a break. Or as Ali G might say, Wot is yooz bangin' on about?
Lawsuits and controversy are good publicity, of course. But Baron Cohen's turbo-boosted fame presents a more daunting challenge. In January he sold his next "mockumentary," Bruno, to Universal Studios for $42.5 million. Bruno is his third comic persona, a flamingly gay fashion reporter for Austrian TV, who gives new meaning to the term "air head." So this new project promises to stimulate the chattering-blogging classes: Is he really homophobic, or is he outing the homophobes? Post your comments below. But how on earth is Baron Cohen going to pull off another round of hit-and-run comedy? Of the potential marks most likely to see him coming, surely gay fashionistas top the list.
Thus the super-star comedian faces the same problem as the humble street comedian: how do you make fun of others when you're outnumbered - and surrounded? It's nice to prattle on about comedy being anarchic and unbounded, but it almost never is, because like all things human, comedy is social - and political. This is not to saddle it with social or political "messages." The only way comedy can deliver a message is negatively, through satire. In his excellent book, Redeeming Laughter, Peter Berger finds "satirical elements" - aggressive impulses, glints of malice - in all forms of comedy. But only in satire, which he defines as "the comic used in attacks that are part of an agenda," are these elements "welded together into the shaping of a weapon."
Here arises the vexed topic of anti-Semitism, an obsession in Borat. Borat's fellow villagers are depicted not only as whores, abortionists, animal rapists, and assorted cretins, but also as anti-Semites cheering at their annual "Running of the Jew," a Pamplona-style event with papier-maché effigies of Jews instead of bulls. In a bed-and-breakfast in the American South, Borat and his producer panic when they learn that the meek proprietors are Jewish. And the joke is on the dim-witted gun dealer who, when asked by Borat, "What is the best gun to defend from a Jew?", blandly recommends a .45. An observant Jew whose mother comes from Israel, who lived on a kibbutz, and who wrote his Cambridge history thesis about the role of Jews in the American civil rights movement, Baron Cohen rarely plays "gotcha" with his co-religionists (or with African Americans). As he explained in a recent interview, "Borat essentially works as a tool. By himself being anti-Semitic, he lets people lower their guard and expose their own prejudice."
Very high-minded, I'm sure. There's a lot of anti-Semitism in the world today; why shouldn't a gifted comedian satirize it? I can think of no good reason except a practical one: Baron Cohen's anti-anti-Semitic jokes are not very funny. And, in a curious way, they are not very Jewish. If he'd written a thesis about the role of Jews in American humor, then perhaps he would have learned that the best ethnic comedy is that in which people laugh as hard at themselves as they do at others.
This lesson comes from vaudeville, the popular theater that flourished between the end of the Civil War and the Depression. Vaudeville was big business, with impresarios booking acts in New York and sending them out on the national "circuit." To stay in the black, they had to "keep it clean." But that didn't make vaudeville timid or safe. Quite the opposite: it was rife with irreverent humor about the dominant social reality of the time: immigration. Between the 1880s and the 1920s, America absorbed 33 million newcomers from Europe, as well as 200,000 from China. The latter were subject to racist legal sanctions, as were blacks and Indians. But several European groups, especially Irish, Slavs, and Jews, also met with prejudice, both from the mainstream and from one another. So vaudeville traded in heavy-handed stereotypes: the drunken, belligerent Irishman; the volatile, irresponsible Italian; the stodgy, thick German; the clever, grasping Jew.
Yet this is precisely where the Jews made their mark. As Berger notes, turn-of-the-century Jewish immigrants to America brought with them a sophisticated comic culture, rooted in the Yiddish-speaking shtetls of Eastern Europe and, after emancipation, refined in the coffeehouses of Budapest, Prague, and Vienna. Two qualities made this culture an excellent fit for America: first, it did not need to be "kept clean" because it contained "almost no scatology and remarkably little sexuality"; and second, it was already capable of reaching beyond the group. Writing about the coffeehouse culture, Berger notes that "insiders and outsiders were no longer identified only in terms of ethnicity and religion." Then he adds: "It was in America that large numbers of gentiles have been drawn into the magic world of Jewish humor."
Vaudevillians were not social workers, needless to say. They were fierce competitors, vying for dollars and applause. But as noted by Edward Rothstein, a critic for the New York Times, their rough-and-tumble yielded a rare social alchemy:
"Irish, German and Yiddish accents were part of the patois of vaudevillian comedy, the mangled sentences echoing the increasingly familiar immigrant sounds of cities like New York. Oddly, though, these exaggerations were not generally an occasion for bigotry or hostility. There was an element of celebration in the mockery, partly because the actors were often themselves from these groups. Even stranger, ethnic actors would adopt alien ethnic identities for the sake of the comedy, making the artifice even more apparent. Blacks appeared as Chinese, Jews as Irish. It was as if, by some unspoken agreement, marginal groups had joined forces in displaying, to each other, the comic absurdity of their position."
This distinctive style of ethnic humor shaped radio, Hollywood movies, and TV - right into the 1970s, when, remarkably, it dominated Saturday Night Live. In the '70s America was beginning to experience another great wave of immigration, and the topic pervaded that legendary NBC show from the premier segment, which opened with a sketch about an ESL instructor (Michael O'Donoghue) teaching an immigrant (John Belushi) the ever-so-useful English sentence, "I want to feed your fingertips to the wolverines." When the instructor keeled over with a heart attack, the docile pupil did the same. Immigration also drove such running gags as the terminally uncool "wild and crazy guys" from Eastern Europe; the limited-menu diner ("Cheeseburger, cheeseburger, Pepsi, Pepsi"); Belushi's Samurai hotel clerk; Gilda Radner's linguistically perplexed Emily Litella (reportedly based on a Puerto Rican custodian in Rockefeller Center); and Don Novello's tactless Father Guido Sarducci. With a stretch, one might also include those poorly assimilated aliens, the Coneheads ("We are from France"). In this respect, Saturday Night Live was pure vaudeville.
Baron Cohen has never said so, but Borat's obvious predecessor is Latka Gravas, the befuddled "Foreign Man" created by Andy Kaufman and showcased on Saturday Night Live and the ABC sitcom, Taxi. Because these shows were network, not cable, Kaufman had to "keep it clean" - and he apparently chafed at that. But significantly, Kaufman seems not to have chafed at making Latka's country of origin entirely fictional - an island in the Caspian Sea called Caspiar. On the contrary, having invented Lakta's quaint customs and peculiar beliefs out of whole cloth, Kaufman could riff on them all the more cleverly.
Why couldn't Baron Cohen do this? Along with a great many Kazakh bloggers, I've been wondering why Borat used the name of a real country but then refused to satirize it outright, offering instead a hilarious but safe caricature of rural life in Soviet Russia. (Full disclosure: I laughed so hard at the Kazakh national anthem played at the end, they almost had to carry me out of the theater. It begins, "Kazakhtstan, greatest country in the world / All other countries are run by little girls.") Could it be that Baron Cohen itched to stick it to Muslims for being anti-Semitic but did not itch to share the fate of Salman Rushdie or (worse) Theo van Gogh, so he decided to pick on a majority-Muslim country that (in his own words) "no one had heard anything about"? Borat is full of in-jokes, not least its use of Hebrew as a stand-in for Kazakh. But the biggest in-joke of all may be its bait-and-switch treatment of Kazakhstan.
A friend of mine, a Central Asian expert, worries that Borat's "portrayal of Kazakhs as ignorant, misogynist, prejudiced fools" might "feed existing prejudices against backward natives, especially Muslim ones." I told him to chill: in America, the vast majority of Borat fans can't even pronounce Kazakhstan, much less find it on a map. And they learned nothing about its religious demographics from Borat. According to the film, the state religion is anti-Semitism, and then, after Borat's return, a form of Christianity in which peasants stick pitchforks into a sorry-looking compatriot on a cross. In the entire film, there's only one reference to Islam, and that's when the rodeo manager asks Borat if he is Muslim. The cryptic reply: "No, I am Kazakh. I follow the hawk."
Actually, from an American perspective, Baron Cohen is less vaudevillian than minstrel. I refer, of course, to the blackface entertainment that preceded vaudeville in the 19th century. Performed by whites before the Civil War and largely by blacks afterward, minstrelsy featured grotesque costumes (blacks and whites alike smeared their faces with burnt cork); sexual and scatological humor (depending on the audience); and stock figures (Jim Crow and Zip Coon) who were "low" in both senses: in status, because as slaves they had no hope of upward mobility, and in moral character, because (like all caste societies) the slave South operated on the presumption that virtue resided at the top and vice at the bottom.
Baron Cohen's comic personae do not wear burnt cork, but there's plenty of it in their speech, dress, and general ineptitude. His use of slapstick and obscenity both to ridicule himself and to explode the pretensions of the hoity-toity resembles not just minstrelsy but also the Old Comedy of ancient Athens, which grew out of the komos, a ritual practiced on festival occasions by family, religious, and military groups for the purpose of settling scores with rival groups and prominent figures. Speaking as a college professor, it's always a pleasure to watch the language of Aristophanes curl the hair of undergraduates. Which is, of course, its function: to reveal the unsightly and disgraceful side of human nature, and to demonstrate that the high and mighty are not immune.
But here's a point worth pondering: Old Comedy was the product of a small society with fixed status levels and a shared moral code, performed as part of a public religious ritual, the annual festival of Dionysus. Its obscenity may shock genteel Americans, but according to classicist Jeffrey Henderson, "the comic poets did not ... enjoy complete license to say anything they pleased." As for the performance setting, that was a live issue for Aristotle, who argued in the Politics that the most abusive and slanderous comedy should be placed off limits to women, youth, and others considered incapable of resisting its presumed negative effects.
No such limits are possible on the distribution of Baron Cohen's performances, needless to say. Now that Borat is on DVD, it is available in every nook, cranny, and media platform on the planet. This has not escaped the artist's notice, I am sure. But as he adjusts to the fact that his global celebrity is going to put a kink in his hit-and-run M.O., perhaps he should consider a different path. Classic gross-out comedy works well when performed by servants and slaves at the expense of their social "betters." But it is less appealing when performed by elite-educated pranksters at the expense of ordinary citizens. Immigrant New York was never a level playing field, to be sure. But it is arguable that the equal-opportunity insult humor of the great vaudevillians helped to keep it from becoming a war zone. And it is worth remembering, in this era of resurgent anti-Semitism, that they did so with a heavy Jewish accent.
This article originally appeared in the Claremont Review of Books
Posted by mbayles at 2:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 1, 2007
Dear Serious Reader
If you are still checking in with Serious Popcorn, you deserve better! It has been badly neglected in recent weeks, because I have been preparing for a round-the-world trip (9 cities in 6 countries), focusing on the influence of US popular culture, especially movies, on societies and media in the Middle East, India, Indonesia, and China. (This is for my book about the image of American culture in the world.)
I hope to revive Serious Popcorn while traveling, perhaps even keep a journal of sorts. So bear with me, and forgive me!
Posted by mbayles at 10:04 AM
December 28, 2006
Departed Soul
If you feel that the obits for James Brown don't quite get it, then please try this humble offering, a review written over a year ago. It's as close to getting it as I'll ever get.
Posted by mbayles at 2:21 PM
December 15, 2006
Celebrity vs. Royalty
Without doubt, the media event of summer 1997 was the death of Lady Diana Spencer, the former Princess of Wales. Newly divorced from Prince Charles, Diana was living the do-good, act-bad celebrity life when the limousine of her latest squeeze, Dodi Fayed (the son of the Egyptian-Swiss billionaire, Mohamed Abdel Fayed), crashed in a Paris tunnel while fleeing a pack of motorcycle-mounted paparazzi. Since Diana was no longer a member of the royal family and had appeared on the BBC complaining about how badly they had treated her, Queen Elizabeth II was disinclined to make a fuss. Holed up in Balmoral, their retreat in the highlands of Scotland, her majesty and the immediate family did their best to maintain an iron reserve.
As dramatized in The Queen, that royal reserve turns out to be an immovable object meeting an irresistible force--a flood of public grief unleashed by Diana's death. Captured on screen by television news footage of swelling crowds and mounting heaps of flowers outside Buckingham Palace, this surge of emotion surprises and discomfits the queen (Helen Mirren). So when the newly elected prime minister, Tony Blair (Michael Sheen), urges her to make a series of gestures aimed at dampening public resentment at her perceived cold-hearted indifference, she resists, then eventually comes around. It's a fascinating tale, full of political resonance, and The Queen, written by Peter Morgan and directed by Stephen Frears, tells it superbly.
But kindly ignore the reviews. This is not a film about "a frumpy, emotionally stunted monarch," a "stubborn, blinkered, coddled woman, who can't even grieve like a human being," who reacts to the untimely death of "a pretty, vulnerable young woman" by "clinging obliviously to bygone codes of class and civility." Despite his limitations, the queen's husband, Prince Philip (James Cromwell), is not portrayed (in the words of still other reviews) as a "dim bulb," "whose exclamations are unfailingly snobbish and dull," any more than the Queen Mother (Sylvia Syms) is depicted as "tipsy," "half-dead," and dispensing advice that "pertains to another era and is of no use." Most of all, the royal family are not shown "cloistered at Balmoral, knitting and nattering in their plain wool sweaters, caring more for their pets than for their children"--so "clueless" about "the cultural shift" in their own country that it takes Blair, a young Labor pol full of "fire and grace," "incorrigibly cheerful and gently manipulative," to "slap the royals awake and "practically order them to get back to London."
After rattling on in this vein for a while, most of the reviewers then dropped the whole shtick and praised the film for somehow tricking them into sympathizing with the queen. Most chalked this up to Mirren's performance (which is extraordinary; the actress, always worth watching, is on a roll lately, winning an Emmy earlier this year for a stunning performance as the first Queen Elizabeth in the HBO series, Elizabeth I; see my review in Reprisals).
But one or two reviewers came close to conceding that maybe, just maybe, the queen had a point. For example, Roger Ebert wrote that "the queen is correct, indeed, by tradition and history in all that she says about the affair--but she is sadly aloof from the national mood. Well, maybe queens should be." And David Edelstein of New York magazine halted his gleeful royal-bashing to lament "the passing of a more dignified, orderly world."
The prize for most idiotic review goes to Manohla Dargis of the New York Times, who described The Queen as "a sublimely nimble evisceration of that cult of celebrity known as the British royal family." The film is exactly the opposite: a subtle and intelligent exploration of the difference between royalty and celebrity. The contest between monarch and prime minister is fascinating precisely because they are both fully aware of the difference. What they disagree on is how best to split it.
Just because the queen is surprised by the size of the media circus surrounding Diana's death, that doesn't mean it is "bewildering" to her, or represents "a shift in values she does not understand." After all, this is the monarch who brought Great Britain into the media age, circling the globe to foster a positive post-colonial image; wearing pastel coats and flowered hats so people (and cameras) could pick her out of large crowds; and pioneering televised appearances such as the annual Christmas address and the "royal walk-around." How could she not have been aware of the superheated celebrity culture of the 1980s and '90s, when several members of her own family (not just Charles and Diana) were its favorite fodder?
Throughout her long reign, Elizabeth II has refused to be interviewed on camera. But this may be media savvy, not naivete. Billions would tune in to see her share memories of being doted on by her grandparents, Queen Mary and King George V; of studying modern languages with private tutors; of driving a truck for the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service during World War II. Your Majesty, what was it like to grow up third in the line of succession and then, at age 26, be crowned queen of half the world? But as the queen doubtless suspects, the millions who cried their eyes out over Diana would demand more. For them, nothing would do but a ten-hanky confession, to Barbara Walters if possible, of Elizabeth's deepest feelings about everything from her upbringing by starchy remote parents to her relations (erotic? Oedipal?) with ten prime ministers from Winston to Tony. Your Majesty, have you ever felt envious of Diana's fantastic wardrobe and thrilling sex life?
Unthinkable, of course. Most people, even some Di-worshipers, would object to seeing the soiled knickers of this public figure laundered for the entertainment of the great unlaundered. The interesting question is why. It's not strictly a function of power. The most powerful office on earth, the American presidency, is hardly exempt from pressure to get up close and personal. (Who can forget that 1997 was also the year that Bill Clinton "did not have sex with that woman"?) At the same time, exemption from the smarmier modes of media scrutiny is not given to powerless people, should they be so unlucky (or lucky) to be thrust into its glare. No, the exemption has to do with the nature and origin of one's power. Despite the legacy of English journalist Walter Bagehot, who argued in the 19th century that the British monarchy was just a "bauble" used to pacify the masses, the present queen holds significant power. Some of it belongs to her alone, the product of a half-century's dignified and engaged presence. And some of it is rooted in soil more ancient than any being traded on today's media market.
Film critics should understand this, because their line of work is one of the few that require occasional reflection on political regimes other than liberal democracy. The typical movie monarch may be a lion, grasshopper, human, monster, or high-IQ insectoid from outer space; it hardly matters, because the plots are invariably driven by the ancient political question of what makes a ruler good or evil, just or unjust. And of course, there are plenty of small-r republican movies, in which bands of aristocrats, wielding light-swords or briefcases, battle to topple evil tyrants and establish new orders ruled by themselves, the best and brightest. But regrettably, today's critics tend to see every political actor as either an evil fascist Republican or a good progressive Democrat.
That's why the reviews misinterpreted the stag. The climactic scene in The Queen occurs in the high country near Balmoral, where the queen is alone, driving her vintage Land Rover in search of Philip, who is out hunting a magnificent and elusive 14-point stag. Here the queen is depicted as the embodiment of the British virtues of toughness, self-reliance, preference for rugged nature over coddled luxury, and faith that the wisest counsel is conscience, heard in solitude. But as it happens, she drives too fast into a mountain stream and damages a wheel. She has a cell phone and calls for assistance, but that doesn't alter the significance of the moment, which is that even her majesty cannot always go it alone. Meditating on this lesson, she climbs onto a rock overlooking the stream, and removing her scarf so the wind can ruffle her hair, settles down to wait. At first she is cool and collected, gazing appreciatively at a landscape she obviously loves. But then she starts to weep.
Wisely, Frears films the weeping queen from the back, so that rather than gape at her red face and runny nose (a movie staple these days), we see only the back of her head and heaving shoulders. Then enters the stag, picking his way across the hillside until the queen sees him and exclaims, "O Beauty!" (You'd better believe there's no "h" after that "O.") A moment later, hearing gunfire and voices, she tells the animal "Shoo!" And watching him retreat without yielding one jot of his dignity, she breaks into a smile. The queen is resolved. Assuming her customary expression of stern benevolence, she proceeds to comply with the prime minister's suggestions. But clearly she has been moved less by the talkative pol than by the noble beast.
The word noble is crucial. While preparing to leave for London, the queen learns that the stag has been shot, not by the royal hunting party but by a guest at "one of the commercial estates." Upon her departure she stops at the estate in question and asks to see the "imperial 14-pointer," which is hanging beheaded in a game shed. From the gamekeeper she learns that the stag was wounded "by an investment banker" and had run 14 miles before the gamekeeper could "finish him off." "Let's hope he didn't suffer too much," remarks the queen. Then with her characteristic dry irony, she adds, "Please pass my congratulations to your guest."
None of this makes any sense if the stag is interpreted as "a mawkish stand-in for the doomed Diana" or "a simplistic reminder to Elizabeth that Diana, too, is dead and deserving of some compassion" (to quote two metaphorically challenged reviewers). Just as roses symbolize love, stags symbolize nobility. If you want to get mythological about it, Diana is the name of the Roman goddess of the hunt, the one who slays the stag. The queen's epiphany is not about her pathetic former daughter-in-law, it's about herself. And not the private self who wants to hide under the covers whenever Tony Blair rings, but the public self who has been raised from birth to be the living residue of an ancient ideal: rule by a person or persons superior in virtue. Watching the stag beat his dignified retreat, the queen realizes she can do the same. And shortly thereafter, we see Blair lose his temper with his wife Cherie and his press secretary, Alastair Campbell, who have been dissing the queen. Whether or not the real Blair is given to eloquent outbursts defending the importance of the Crown to the British system of government, this one certainly comes at the right dramatic moment.
What, exactly, does Blair want the queen to do? First, fly a flag at half-mast over Buckingham Palace: a highly inappropriate gesture, since that flag is not the Union Jack but the Queen's own standard, raised only when she is in residence and never lowered for anyone's death, not even that of a king. Second, go to London and pay her respects to Diana, preferably on the telly--the last thing the queen wants to do after reading mawkish tabloid headlines like "Show Us You Care." And third, authorize a state funeral: an idea so unprecedented, the queen's staff are forced to adapt the plans for the Queen Mum's funeral, with charity socialites standing in for soldiers and pop stars for foreign heads of state.
To object to such changes may seem silly to us Yanks, steeped as we are in the notion that improvised ceremonies are better than traditional ones. Take funerals, for example. There is a whole sub-genre of American indie film, in which estranged family members come together to carry out the last wishes of old Uncle Natural, usually something along the lines of having his ashes baked with hashish into Alice B. Toklas brownies and fed to the albino elk that in a remote part of Yosemite had watched him lose his virginity to a hippie girl now obese and living in a trailer with 17 cats. (This is a generic plot, available free of charge to anyone at Sundance.)
But even we Yanks respect tradition...sometimes. Ask yourself: Should graduating seniors wear thongs and pig noses instead of caps and gowns? Should the White House be painted chartreuse? Should the Academy Awards be held in an underground parking garage and pod-cast to your cell phone, instead of beamed in HD-TV to your new plasma screen? Multiply these reactions by a googleplex, and you'll grasp what tradition means to many Britons.
An intriguing illustration comes from the life of Dame Mirren herself. Christened Ilyena Vasilievna Mirinov, she is the daughter of an Englishwoman and a Russian, Vasily Mirinov, whose father, Pyotr Mirinov, came to London during the First World War as an envoy from the court of Tsar Nicholas II. The grandson of an aristocrat, Count Andrei Kamensky, Pyotr could not go home after the Bolshevik Revolution. So he stayed in London, driving a taxi, until his death in 1957. In 1950 his son Vasily changed the family name to Mirren and anglicized their first names. According to the Daily Mail, Helen Mirren has been keen to track down her Russian origins, not least because, as the reporter comments, "the actress, currently winning plaudits for her role as Elizabeth II in the acclaimed film The Queen, is herself descended from nobility. Her family tree can be traced back to a famous Russian soldier, ennobled by Tsar Paul I in the 18th Century."
For good historical reasons, Americans have trouble comprehending this preoccupation with nobility--an incomprehension well reflected in Marie Antoinette, Sofia Coppola's over-the-top tribute to the Last Days of Disco--I mean, Versailles. Filmed on location and starring Kirsten Dunst as the Habsburg princess who at the age of 14 was wrenched from her home in Vienna and married to the French dauphin, this film stuffs the screen with obscenely extravagant visions of Louis XV's obscenely extravagant court. Much has been made of the 1980s rock soundtrack, which jells better with some scenes than with others. But the real anachronism is the acting, from Rip Torn playing Louis XV in a manner that would suit Uncle Natural, to Jason Schwartzman turning the future king, Louis-Auguste, into a befuddled high school nerd who does not know what to do when a pretty blonde lands in his bed.
Above all, Dunst transforms Marie Antoinette into a Hollywood stock character: the lower-class beauty with a brain, who is suddenly swept into the orbit of people richer and more powerful, but not necessarily sharper, than she. From Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday to Anne Hathaway in The Devil Wears Prada, this smart cookie typically starts out resenting those who did not come up the hard way, then ends up pitying them and teaching them the Golden Rule. To be born Archduchess of Austria is not exactly coming up the hard way, but never mind. When we first meet Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna von Habsburg-Lothringen, she is living in an okay palace (nothing special), playing with her pug dog, and wearing her hair loose. It's only when she crosses into France that she is forced to submit to all that heavy-duty royal razzmatazz, and her reactions are every bit as irreverent and entertaining as Judy Holliday's would have been.
I have yet to read a satisfactory explanation of why Marie Antoinette was booed at Cannes, but here's one possible explanation of why they found it mind-bendingly wrong: say what you will about the French, they do know the difference between celebrity and royalty. Even when chopping off their monarch's head, the French have always grasped what the institution stood for. And as for aristocracy, no amount of decapitation has ever made a dent in its salience in French politics, culture, and life. La République is still governed by the best and the brightest, soi-disant.
Barnard professor Caroline Weber, author of Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution, defended Coppola's liberties in the New York Times, asserting that Marie is "multifaceted enough to accommodate most any interpretation, any ideology, any cultural bias." So chill, citoyens: this ungainly film is not a distortion of French history, it's a deliberately unflattering self-portrait of the Americans. Weber concludes: "With no interest in thorny policy issues, no care for the consequences of her actions, and no doubts about her own entitlement, this Marie Antoinette is today's ugly American par excellence: a Bush Yankee in King Louis's court."
That should get them clapping again. But unfortunately, when Coppola's film is viewed in this light, it comes off as even less successful, because it is not anachronistic enough. No doubt this is because Coppola's heavy reliance on Antonia Fraser's fine biography, Marie Antoinette: The Journey, introduced a discordant note of historical accuracy. This shows up most clearly in the subplot involving Louis XV's mistress, Madame du Barry. A commoner and former courtesan, du Barry's sole reason for being at court was to service the randy old king. And this did not sit well with Marie Antoinette--indeed, the historical evidence indicates quite clearly that she snubbed the low-born du Barry, who took it quite ill and promptly became her enemy. Needless to say, such snobbery hardly fits with Coppola's portrayal of Marie Antoinette as a perky egalitarian whose heart goes out to the class nerd (Louis-Auguste). The only way this character could possibly react to the class skank (du Barry) would be to make friends with her and then join her in plotting revenge against all those bullying, stuck-up courtiers.
Marie Antoinette fails both as history and as anachronism. It clumsily distorts its subject, not just by keeping the starving masses offstage (as many have complained), but also by saddling its heroine with a slew of democratic, nay, populist virtues that are singularly ill suited to her particular time, place, and fate. Excoriated for 140 years after her execution as a symbol of aristocratic selfishness, Marie Antoinette was rehabilitated in 1933, when the Austrian Jewish writer Stefan Zweig wrote a biography highlighting the young queen's courage and grace under the pressure of capture, imprisonment, and the guillotine. If you can't find Zweig's book, rent the 1938 movie starring Norman Shearer, which is based on it. Of course, that MGM production, lavish at $3 million, can't compare with the gorgeous eye candy Coppola bought for herself at $40 million. But in its creaky way, the older film tells a better story. Too bad the next version of Marie Antoinette's life cannot be a truly definitive portrait, written by Peter Morgan, directed by Stephen Frears, and starring the young, dewy, and suitably aristocratic Ilyena Mirinov.
Posted by mbayles at 9:52 AM
November 19, 2006
Free Casting Advice
The New York Times just ran an article about two bio-pics in the works about Miles Davis. One, based on the autobiography Miles "wrote" with Quincy Troupe, is produced by Rudy Langlais in conjunction with Patriot Pictures and Beacon Pictures. The other is an official bio-pic authorized by the Davis estate. From what I read, neither has solved the problem of whom to cast in the title role. How do you substitute for an icon?
Some free advice: Instead of casting well known Hollywood actors such as Don Cheadle or Wesley Snipes (both have been mentioned), cross the pond and ask David Oyelowo, the young British actor best known to Americans for playing Danny in the excellent spy series MI-5 (known in the UK as Spooks). Handsome and charismatic, Oyelowo, who cut his teeth doing Shakespeare on the stage, steals every scene while also projecting a degree of sophistication that transcends color and nationality. What could be more suited to a portrayal of Miles at his best?
The question is, will either of these films bother to portray Miles at his best? Or will they go for the usual cliched portrait of the jazz musician as drug-addled celebrity and sourpuss victim of racial prejudice? If I were Oyelowo's agent, I would ask!
Posted by mbayles at 2:58 PM
November 10, 2006
No Satire, Please. We're Russian.
Well, the good news was that the Deputy Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan, Mr. Rakhat Alievthe, proved even cooler than Sacha Baron Cohen -- by inviting the British comedian, better known as Borat, to visit the country he has been so gleefully lambasting. (See entry below.)
But now uncooler heads are prevailing, as the Russian Federal Culture and Cinematography Agency, which certifies films for distribution in Russia, has banned Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan , on the ground that "it could be offensive to some religions and nationalities."
Uh, duhhh ... Mr. Cohen's film is every bit of that, with the number one religion and nationality it mocks being Christian Americans. It is also screamingly funny, which makes all the difference. (If only those German opera directors would acquire a sense of humor, not to mention those Danish cartoonists, they might get a pass from me.)
Suggestion to Mr. Cohen: Invite the spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Yury V. Vasyuchkov, to be a guest in Da Ali G Show. On this show, Cohen (in his persona of Ali G, a patois-speaking Brit-hip-hopper) holds mock interviews with real guests, only to ambush them with exquisite vulgarity until they sit frozen and blinking like a moose in headlights.
This is hilarious, if painful, when the guest is 1) unhip; 2) self-righteous; and 3) comedically challenged. Among the worst casualties have been Pat Robertson and James Lipton (the stuffy and rather silly host of Inside the Actors' Studio). It is even better, though, when the guest catches on and tries, at least, to stage a counter-ambush. These do not always succeed, but they do stimulate Cohen/Ali G to greater heights of outrageousness. What's more exciting, watching a cat kill a baby mouse or watching a mongoose kill a cobra?
Anyway, it would be fun to watch Cohen/Ali G do his thing with Mr. Vasyuchko, a man whose job it is to say things like, "We do not have the right to ban a movie ... We simply refused to certify it." Also Michael Schlicht of Gemini Films, the distribution company for 20th Century Fox, who not only accepted the ban (what choice did he have?) but also felt obliged to echo Vasyuchko's doubletalk: "Russia is a liberal country. They make recommendations, and we follow them."
Ali G, me main man, what you waitin for? We peeps want them tongue-forkers now.
Posted by mbayles at 7:26 PM
November 6, 2006
Disarming Borat
It's hard not to laugh out loud at the young British comedian Sacha Baron-Cohn's various comic personae: da hip-hop MC, Ali G; the Austrian fashionisto Bruno (star of "Funkyzeit mit Bruno"); and, of course, the antic Kazakh bull-in-America's-china-shop, Borat, star of the new film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (now in theaters -- and for a glimpse of all Cohn's characters, see reruns now on HBO). In these tense times, one might question the wisdom of making such an obscenely uncivilized character come from a real country instead of a fake one (such as Andy Kaufman's Caspiar). But not to worry: peace between the US and Kazakhstan is being saved by Kazakhstan's classy Deputy Foreign Minister Rakhat Aliev, whose response to Borat is to invite Cohn on a state visit to Kazakhstan, where he will "discover a lot of things. Women drive cars, wine is made of grapes and Jews are free to go to synagogues."
Posted by mbayles at 9:03 AM
October 13, 2006
Better Late Than Never
I've long wanted to do a parody of the Dan Brown PR machine. Finally, here 'tis:
DECODING DAN BROWN
The following is a transcription of the pitch session for Dan Brown's next novel, The Botticelli Botch. Present are the author, his new agent Bizzy Boca, his new publisher Ernst Kluliss, and (getting in on the ground floor) the famous film producer Sam Schnellgeld.
Dan: (arriving ten minutes late): Sorry, guys. Crazy schedule. Can't wait to get back to New Hampshire and the writer's life. Bizzy, did you lay out my basic position? Royalties, rights, creative control, profit-sharing on the movie deal. I'd really rather not get ripped off this time.
Sam (arriving two minutes later): Well, hello dream team. Bizzy, that skirt is hot.
Bizzy: It's so exciting to have you here, Sam.
Ernst: Yes, and for a stodgy old bookbinder like me, it's exciting to do business with a real Hollywood mogul.
Sam: How about you, Danny? You excited?
Dan: Sure. But we need to close quickly. I have another appointment in an hour. Crazy schedule. Can't wait to get back to New Hampshire -
Sam: No biggie. I got lunch in twenty. So Bizzy, you wet dream, lay it on me. And please, no retread. The Da Vinci Code is a hard act to follow. Will this new one get all the religious nuts crawling out of the woodwork to do our marketing for us?
Dan: I'll make the pitch, if you don't mind. Bizzy's still learning the names. Sam, Ernst, The Botticelli Botch will not be a retread. For starters, the opening money shot will not be in Paris but in Florence. The Uffizi.
Sam: Uffizi, eh? Didn't know you were into automatic weapons. I confess, I did wonder why your wacko Opus Dei albino monk didn't shoot the curator with an Uzi. But here's some advice: if you're taking the Mafia route, use Russians. More sadistic, and no goddamn lobbyists. Does this one start with a murder, too?
Dan: No, a rape. Under Botticelli's The Birth of Venus.
Ernst: Splendid! And who will play the victim? How about Kiera Knightly? She certainly has the face and figure to be a descendant of Mary Magdalene. And personally, I'd be very interested in meeting her.
Bizzy: Don't you just love the Mary Magdalene theme in The Da Vinci Code? The Holy Grail as her uterus, and Jesus as her stud muffin? I meant to tell you, Dan: I dreamed I was part of the bloodline, right down through the Merovingian dynasty. Talk about royalty!
Dan: Actually, I'm skipping that plot. Too much hate mail from narrow-minded Christians who won't even consider that Emperor Constantine might have cooked up the whole Jesus-divinity thing in order to stamp out goddess worship. Not to mention all those nit-picking Bible scholars. My facts all come from Henry Lincoln's Holy Blood, Holy Grail, I tell them, and if he were a charlatan, would the BBC have funded his programs?
Bizzy: Plus it's a novel. It's scary, isn't it, how some people can't distinguish between fact and fiction? The Da Vinci Code is a work of the human imagination!
Ernst: And a tribute to the human spirit, unfettered by the chains of religious dogma.
Sam: For marketing, you're probably right to sideline the Jesus stuff. I gotta hand it to Sony. It was brilliant to hire that Jesus-freak consultant - you know, that Jonathan Bock guy - to set up a "Da Vinci Dialogue" at the Sony Pictures website. Company-sponsored blogging catches the mall rats, so why not the Bible thumpers? The more they blog, the more they want to see the movie. It's amazing how your average mouth-breather will do anything to feel like he's part of the industry.
Ernst: Wish we could do that in publishing. But the masses want to be Dan Brown, not Ernst Kluliss. Ha-ha.
Sam: Trouble is, you can only milk that for so long, before some harpy like Barbara Nicolosi comes along and accuses you of turning people into "useful Christian idiots." Next time, I fear, it'll be The Last Temptation of Christ all over again - pickets, not tickets.
Dan: I beg you, don't mention that title. Some lunatic in Athens keeps emailing me about how that Greek writer, Katzi-somebody--
Ernst: Nikos Katzantzakis. He also wrote Zorba the Greek and an amazing, if interminable, re-creation of the Odyssey. A passionate, learned man who--
Dan: Right. So this lunatic keeps emailing me I should read The Last Temptation of Christ, because Katzi-what's-his-face deals with Jesus' humanity and the relationship with Mary Magdalene in "a really profound way." This implication being that I don't.
Bizzy: Oh, please. How many copies did it sell? Danny, I gotta ask you. You're not going to drop the Sacred Feminine riff, are you? Despite what you hear, Joe Six-Pack's not the one making movie choices these days.
Ernst: My priority too, Dan. All those book clubs out there - overwhelmingly female. The books are mainly an excuse to swill wine and talk about their sex lives. But who cares? Book groups move product. Ha-ha.
Bizzy: Poor men! Sometimes I wonder what's left in the culture for them.
Sam: Sports, video games, online porn.
Dan: Now, Sam, you're making my pitch for me. The Botticelli Botch will unite the male and female demographic like no other book. Every writer has a secret, and mine is something I learned in prep school.
Bizzy: By the way, we don't advertise Dan's not-so-humble background. Not only did he go to Phillips Exeter, he also taught there for a few years.
Dan: Yeah, during my semi-failed literary career. But I did learn something from cramming literature down adolescent throats. Why do ordinary people buy novels? Out of mixed motives. On the one hand, they want a fast-paced story that will keep them turning pages and get their mind off their troubles.
Ernst: Sad but true. Which is why we publish Dean Koontz and Christine Feehan.
Dan: But people also aspire to higher things. Great books, great art - a lot of Americans crave to know more about them. But they also associate them with snobbery and pretentiousness, which they hate. So the road to riches is to satisfy the public's craving for high culture without setting off their anti-snobbery alarm.
Ernst: You mean, revive the middlebrow?
Dan: Oh, no. You can't go back to dumbing down high culture and spoon-feeding it to people. You gotta spike it, twist the meaning, hit 'em where they live. What do most readers learn from The Da Vinci Code?
Sam: That Jesus was Abraham and his seed are a bunch of French Frogs?
Dan: You assume they make that connection. They don't. Who reads Genesis these days? No, what people learn is what they want to learn: namely, that you can travel around Europe, visit all those museums, churches, and castles, and understand it all, without effort. You don't need a Ph.D. or even a B.A. Western Civilization is a riddle, and if you know the solution - which you can get from one book, mine - you're good to go.
Ernst: Brilliant! But please, make it two books. Tell us about The Botticelli Bitch.
Dan: That's Botch. Cue the Power Point, Bizzy. This time I'm not using a painting that's half flaked away. Compared with Leonardo's The Last Supper, Botticelli's The Birth of Venus will knock your socks off. I'm jumping ahead, but imagine the camera panning down this babe as she covers her boobs with her right hand and pulls her hair over her privates with her left.
Ernst: Astonishing! I've seen the painting dozens of times, but it never occurred to me that she's being modest. How unlike Venus!
Dan: If you'll forgive me: "Our preconceived notions are so powerful that our mind blocks out the incongruity and overrides our eyes."
Bizzy: The Da Vinci Code, chapter 58, page 242.
Sam: Wow, chapter and verse. Where'd you get her, Danny?
Dan: Hands off, she's mine. Anyway, while the camera is eyeballing Venus, we hear the soundtrack of a terrible assault - male grunting and cursing, female screaming and crying. The war between the Roman Catholic Church and Sacred Womanhood is ratcheting to a new level, as the stunning and intelligent Dr. I. Connie Klast, professor of Feminist Art History at Georgetown University and world-famous expert on Botticelli, is being brutally raped by a priest.
Ernst: Splendid! Timely! The Church won't have a leg to stand on! What kind of priest, if I may ask? A Jesuit? It would be nice to avoid an embarrassing mistake, like having an Opus Dei monk, when there aren't any.
Dan: No problem. The assailant is a Dominican, from the secret Twenty-Ninth Province, known as the Manfriars. The Manfriars were founded in 1498, the year Pope Alexander VI had the excommunicated monk, Savonarola, burned and hanged.
Sam: Burned and hanged at the same time?
Dan: Yup, and in the same place, the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, where Savonarola staged his famous Bonfires of the Vanities, in which he burned all the luxury goods he could lay his hands on - including several "pagan" paintings by his loyal follower Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi, a.k.a. Botticelli.
Sam: I'm liking it. Whatever it costs, we'll shoot these scenes on location at the ... Pizza della Whatever. But wait a minute. Who are the good guys? You're saying Botticelli was a follower of the creep who burned his pictures?
Dan: That's right. Savonarola was a magnetic figure. Look at this portrait of him by Fra Bartolommeo.
Sam: Wow, intense. Look at the schnozz! Maybe Tim Roth? Love the hood, by the way.
Ernst: Monks From the Hood? Ha-ha. But seriously, Dan, if I get your drift, you're making Savonarola and Botticelli the good guys. But who are the bad guys? The pope? That could work - dollar for dollar, your pope is your most reliable movie villain, next to your Nazi and your oil CEO. But how will you twist the meaning so it hits ''em where they live?
Dan: Cue the painting again, Bizzy. Check yourselves, guys. You're drooling, like me. None of us can take our eyes off that sexy Venus. The feminist art historians have got us pegged. What is the essence of art? The male gaze. Admiring, yes. But also lustful, possessive, controlling. For 2,500 years, depicting nude women (and in the case of queer artists like Michelangelo, nude men) has been a way of asserting power over them. My heroine, Connie, became interested in Botticelli for that reason. Her first book, Beauty As Rape, denounced Botticelli for reducing his model, the young Simonetta Cattaneo, to a passive object literally blown about by the winds. It's no accident that Simonetta was the mistress of Giuliano de' Medici, brother of Botticelli's patron, Lorenzo the Magnificent.
Sam: Hold on, my eyes are glazing over. I thought we were talking entertainment here.
Dan: Let me translate. Simonetta is the hottest babe in Tuscany, married at 15 to a dull dude named Marco Vespucci (whose only claim to fame is that they named America after his cousin, Amerigo). Every rich playboy in Florence wants Simonetta, but the one who gets her is Giuliano - brother of the city's godfather. Giuliano wins a big jousting tournament under a banner with her picture on it, painted by Botticelli. She becomes Giuliano's prize, but then dies a year later - never having really lived. All her life she's been a possession, an ornament, a trophy. Now look at the painting again. Not the naked flesh. The eyes. See how sad they are?
Ernst: That's why the painting is so lovely. There are many other portraits of Simonetta, but most have a vacant expression. Only Botticelli captured her soul.
Dan: It's not a question of soul. It's a question of gender politics. As Connie comes to realize, the sadness, the victimization, is the whole point. Botticelli wasn't just painting the objectified Venus, he was painting the Venus who resists being objectified. This work is subversive! Look at how awkwardly Venus is drawn - her left shoulder barely exists, and her left forearm is the size of her calf. An objective observer not blinded by reverence for Renaissance art might say that he botched it. And Connie is that observer. For reasons I will relate in a moment, she sees through all the lies about this being a great painting. In truth, it's a deliberate botch!
Ernst: Dan, you've done it again! I'm on the edge of my seat! Why did Botticelli botch it?
Dan: Because he understood. He, too, was in love with Simonetta. But as an employee of the Medici, he had to keep his distance. But distance reveals truth. Botticelli came to understand the patriarchal system - in essence, he became a radical feminist. Like Savonarola.
Ernst: What? Savonarola a radical feminist?
Dan: How do you know he wasn't? Or rather, what has conditioned you to think that he wasn't? What got burned on his Bonfire? Silk dresses, lacy lingerie, cosmetics, fancy wigs, corsets, paintings of nude women - all the trappings of female oppression! Why did Botticelli throw some of his own paintings onto the flames?
Bizzy: To liberate the women! To empower them!
Dan: Right! But then the Church cracked down, condemning Savonarola to a horrible death and forcing Botticelli to spend the rest of his life painting the Virgin Mary. This is where the Manfriars come in. Savonarola was a Dominican, but when he began to crusade for women's rights, the order got into trouble with the pope. They knew that if they didn't deal with Savonarola, the pope would shut them down. So they founded the Manfriars, a secret province devoted to the suppression of the Sacred Feminine. Their first act was to hand Savonarola over to be hanged and burned. Then they went after the artists, making sure they painted gorgeous, sexy nudes for powerful men to ogle. This was called the Renaissance, and we've all been brainwashed - even you, Ernst - into thinking it produced great art. In truth, it was a huge propaganda campaign on the part of the nobility and the Church to keep women in their place. And the deadliest weapon in this campaign was beauty. The beauty of helpless girls like Simonetta, turned against them as the instrument of their oppression.
Bizzy: Oh Dan, that's beautiful. Excuse me - I'm choking up.
Ernst: I'm beginning to see, Dan. A dramatic medieval tale, full of passion and blood, that also illustrates the very truth you revealed in the previous novel. I must say, I admire your integrity.
Sam: I'm liking it, too. But I'm a little worried about the broad who gets raped. What's her name, Connie? An art history professor? That's gonna put a crimp in the casting.
Dan: Not at all. Remember, I described Connie as "stunning and intelligent." In fact, when I get all the details worked out, she may turn out to be a descendant of Simonetta - and if I'm feeling bold, of Botticelli. That's why she understands. When she was growing up in a Dominican orphanage, the nuns made her pose for figure drawing classes. So some of her earliest memories are of shivering in a cold drafty classroom, stark naked, while everyone stared at her - not just the other girls, who hated her beauty, but also the nuns, including a couple of real bull dykes.
Sam: Good, that could work. As long as she's not too young. You know lawyers.
Dan: Do I ever. No, I think that can be done tastefully - to establish Connie's character as a dynamic teacher who empowers female students. Kind of like Julia Roberts in Mona Lisa Smile. The contemporary plot, which will be action-packed, involves a struggle between Connie's students and the Georgetown administration over a production of The Vagina Monologues - you know, that play where women talk candidly about their, uh ...
Bizzy: See? Even Dan can't say it. I did the play all four years at Smith. What an experience! So empowering!
Sam: Hmm. Not sure that will fly at the box office. Could we maybe fudge the details?
Bizzy: No problem. At most schools the play is part of "V Day," which is devoted to raising awareness of violence against women. At the stricter Catholic schools, they allow the anti-violence activities but not the play (which is kind of raunchy).
Ernst: Well, we certainly don't want to make strict Catholics look good! The trick, Dan, will be to frame the conflict so that it looks as though normal women are being oppressed by the Church.
Dan: No problem. I'll background the play, and foreground the big event planned for Georgetown's V Day: a keynote address by Connie, in which she reveals the hidden truth about Renaissance art, and explains why The Birth of Venus was not included in Savonarola's bonfire. Thanks to the Florentine art market, the painting soon became too valuable to burn, anyway. So it lives on today, complete with its botched drawing, as a reminder of the injustices that have killed literally trillions of women.
Sam: Very nice. But I'm still fuzzy on the rape. How does that fit? I'll be frank: I don't see a lot of box office in old Connie.
Dan: She's not old! And like I said, she's a knockout! Maybe we could even use the same actress to play her and Simonetta.
Ernst: I would discourage that. Why have just one pretty face when you can have two?
Dan: The point is, Connie's a framing device. We begin with the rape, then flash back to 15th-century Florence, where we witness the whole back-story, including Simonetta's stunted life, the founding of the Manfriars, and the destruction of Savonarola and Botticelli. Next we flash forward through the centuries, highlighting the Manfriars' more horrible deeds, and end up with the conspiracy to silence Connie. We show the rape as a political act, orchestrated by the province and the Florentine authorities, then accompany Connie back to Georgetown, where, deeply traumatized, she's on the verge of quitting - until, miraculously, her students appear and through their devotion to her message, start the healing process. On the big day, when the president of the university is about to announce the cancellation of the keynote speech, we see Connie, bruised but not broken, struggle to the podium and proclaim the truth to the world. Tears stream down thousands of fresh young faces, the music swells, and once again the camera pans the succulent body of Botticelli's Venus - only this time, it lingers on those sad, sad eyes.
Bizzy: Omigod, I can't stand it! Anyone got a Kleenex?
Ernst: Here, my dear. And they say the novel is dead!
Sam: Nice, Danny. Like the yadda-yadda at the end. Have your people call my people. Meanwhile I'm outta here. Lunch is getting cold.
**********
Posted by mbayles at 4:34 PM
August 20, 2006
Corked
Just reviewed a remarkable book called Black Like You, by John Strausbaugh. It's a history of that verboten topic, blackface entertainment, and a demonstration that it is far from kaput in today's popular culture. I will paste the review below, but first let me recommend, as a companion piece, Bamboozled (2000), Spike Lee's remake of The Producers, in which a black television executive (Damon Wayans) tries to get out of a network contract by pitching an idea guaranteed to offend everyone: a nineteenth-century minstrel show, complete with burnt cork and exaggerated red lips, dancing pickaninnies, a band called the "Alabama Porch Monkeys," and plenty of watermelon.
When Mantan: The New Millennium Minstrel Show is a hit, the network hires a consultant to spin the fact that it is profiting from obnoxious racial stereotypes. It's too bad the spin doctor is herself stereotyped as an arrogant Jew, because her lines perfectly capture the defensive game of the entertainment industry: "The biggest thing in public relations is to smile. Wear Kente cloth. Invoke the spirit of Martin Luther King. Use the word 'community' a lot. Mantan is a satire. If they can't take a joke, then fuck 'em."
Bamboozled is not just about network television. In his DVD commentary, Lee says, "In my opinion, this gangsta rap is a twenty-first century version of minstrel shows. And what's sad is these brothers don't even know it." For people conversant with both minstrelsy and the recent history of hip hop, Bamboozled is a brilliant satire.
Unfortunately, there aren't that many people conversant with both, so the general discussion of hip-hop is singularly lacking in historical perspective. Looking at its current decline into vulgar, racist entertainments like crunk, it is tempting to project a "rise and fall" scenario, in which minstrelsy aided the rise, and hip hop the fall, of classical African-American culture. At the moment I resist such a scenario. But unless a few more music lovers step forward and call crunk by its right name, the process started by blackface minstrelsy may well end in something even worse.
Read my review, which ends with some comments about the sorry state of hip-hop:
Review of Black Like You: Blackface, Whiteface, Insult & Imitation in American Popular Culture,by John Strausbaugh
Meet Shirley Q. Liquor, the middle-aged, overweight, Ebonics-speaking black persona of a white comedian, Chuck Knipp, who has been leafleted in Manhattan as "racist, classist, and misogynist." Adept at skewering "ignunt" folks of all colors, Shirley is a character who could easily pop up in the repertoire of many a present-day black comedian. But as John Strausbaugh writes in his fascinating but uneven new book about the impact of blackface minstrelsy on American popular culture, the color of the comedian makes a difference. Because of its painful history, "blackface is taboo, and a White comedian making jokes about Black people will be banned."
Yet Mr. Strausbaugh defends Shirley and all of her ilk. As he explains, blackface minstrelsy was the dominant form of popular theater in nineteenth-century America, and it definitely did trade in demeaning racial stereotypes. But it also introduced white (and European) audiences to at least a semblance of African-American music, comedy, and dance. And after the Civil War, when minstrelsy was opened to black performers, it became a unique training ground for their talents. As Mr. Strausbaugh's lucid, fast-paced account makes clear, it is impossible to understand the popular culture of the twentieth century, never mind the twenty-first, without first understanding blackface minstrelsy.
Studded with apt quotations and nicely pitched anecdotes, the first 300 pages of Black Like You survey both the good and the bad sides of blackface - the grossly racist and offensive, and the genuinely comic, musical, even subversive. For instance, he recalls a "stump speech" by the famous minstrel Lew Dockstader, in which the performer, a white man corked up to look like a caricatured black man, poked fun at another white man, Teddy Roosevelt. Imitating Roosevelt's description of a make-believe club for his mendacious political enemies, Dockstader intoned: "While I am not a member of this club, it was founded, confounded, and dumfounded by me. Every member on its long rolls was proposed, seconded, and unanimously elected by an overwhelming majority of myself ... Its purpose [is] to provide an institution where distinguished stiffs - after I have laid them out - can LIE in state."
With swift strokes, Mr. Strausbaugh traces the transition from minstrelsy to vaudeville, when at the turn of the last century massive immigration filled the popular stage with a slew of new ethnic stereotypes - not just the blackface staples of countrified Jim Crow and citified Zip Coon, but also "brawling Irish, wheedling Jews, oily Italians, thick-headed Germans, inscrutable Chinamen." Here Mr. Strausbaugh waxes eloquent on how, before "the rise of multiculturalism and identity politics encouraged everyone to be 'offended' by everything," newcomers to America simply "presumed that earning a spot for yourself was a rough-and-tumble procedure. It took a thick skin and a sense of humor."
Yet as Mr. Strausbaugh adds, this was true "for everyone except Black people ... For newly arrived immigrants, mixing it up in vaudeville theaters was one part of the process of becoming assimilated and recognized as White ... Blacks were still outcasts." It is debatable how quickly all the groups Mr. Strausbaugh mentions became "recognized as White," but one can hardly dispute his larger point, which is that blacks remained largely segregated "until they forced their way in through the civil rights movement."
But if blacks "forced their way in" during the civil rights era, then presumably the racial dynamics of American culture would have changed at that point, and instead of the minstrelsy model, in which powerful whites amused themselves at the expense of powerless blacks, post-1960s popular culture would have followed the vaudeville model, in which all groups mix it up on a more or less equal footing. This is an important moral distinction, which Mr. Strausbaugh himself makes when treating topics from the past. But he gradually loses sight of it while tracing the legacy of blackface through Broadway; "Negro-dialect" literature; "race" and "Blaxploitation" movies; the collectibles known as "Negrobilia"; the 1996 Ebonics flap; and finally hip hop.
Hip hop appears in the final chapter, and Mr. Strausbaugh's treatment of it leaves much to be desired. To be fair, he does compare it with minstrelsy - a comparison, verboten just a few years ago, that is now commonplace among hip-hop's critics, especially such African-American critics as Greg Tate, Debra Dickerson, and Stanley Crouch. Mr. Strausbaugh quotes these and others, but then reverts to the vaudeville model, basically defining even the most racially demeaning rap as good old rough-and-tumble, an updated form of clowning and mugging that in essence helps the world to become better acquainted with black Americans. And he dismisses the recent criticism as "moral panic" on the part of "civic leaders, the cultural elite and the upper classes" - y'know, all those uptight prisses who've been fussing and fuming about the sexy good times enjoyed by the poor, especially the black poor, since Day One. Why the poor are assumed to have no moral concerns of their own, he does not clarify.
Just as vaudeville degenerated into a form of burlesque theater centered on titillation, so has a certain strain of rap degenerated into what one veteran of 1990s hip hop calls "a sad marriage with pornography." The lyrics of many "crunk" rap songs, for example, are nothing but variations on the old strip club chant, "Take it off, take it all off." Of course, nowadays most of it has already been taken off, so tracks like "Get Low," "Lean Back," "Tilt Ya Head Back," "Flap Your Wings," and "Ass Like That" urge ever more explicit display of wagging behinds and jiggling implants. One wonders why such urging is necessary. If acres of faceless female flesh are not enough to excite crunk fans, then perhaps they should see a therapist. Or better still, give it a rest. Even Groucho Marx took his cigar out of his mouth once in a while.
Burlesque was not vaudeville, and likewise, this stuff is not hip hop. Because pornography's spouse in this marriage is the old trope of black bestiality and stupidity, well documented by Mr. Strausbaugh in his chapter on "coon songs," a better name might be "coonporn." Coonporn is now being exported to the rest of the world in massive quantities, including to remote places where people have never seen a black American, except perhaps a soldier. Not surprisingly, this creates perceptions that can come as a shock to African Americans traveling abroad. Consider this comment by Darius James, a Berlin-based writer who, as it happens, also wrote the epilogue to Black Like You.
Describing the experience of hearing coonporn in Berlin, Mr. James writes: "I'm not condemning gangsta rap, or rap in general, or sex and violence. I'm talking about some drunken and blunted fool spewing abusive and dysfunctional bullshit that's not about anything at all, except being abusive and dysfunctional. And a lot of young Germans listen to this shit because it's supposed to be hip, not really understanding what's going on in the lyrics. If they knew, they would puke."
Memo to John Strausbaugh from Shirley Q. Liquor: If this shit don' make you puke, you jus' ignunt.
**********
Posted by mbayles at 3:23 PM
August 12, 2006
War and (Partial) Remembrance
Having finally finished watching the 1988 classic miniseries War and Remembrance (based on Herman Wouk's best-selling novel), I come away with mixed feelings. On the plus side, the production remains impressive. Rather than overdose on special effects, ABC put its money where it mattered: on finding the right locations and framing every scene as effectively as possible for the small screen. It's a study in that elusive and rare artistic virtue: economy.
But there's also a minus side. You must have a strong stomach to watch this second installment of Wouk's World War II saga, because unlike the first, The Winds of War, which focuses on the lead-up to Pearl Harbor, War and Remembrance focuses on the war itself -- and above all, on the Holocaust. It is hard to believe that anyone made a fuss about broadcasting Schindler's List, when this made-for-TV series was, in its down-to-earth way, even more graphic.
Some argue that aesthetic considerations are inappropriate to the topic of the Holocaust. But this is unconvincing, because unless you are an art-for-art's-sake purist (which I am not), the aesthetic is intertwined with the moral. So from that perspective, let me offer some praise and criticism for this landmark in popular American understanding of World War II.
First I would praise an aspect of the film that may seem perverse: the way it introduces the Holocaust not from the perspective of the victims but from that of a camp commander at Auschwitz who is nervously preparing for a visit by Heinrich Himmler. By foregrounding the commander's petty concerns, these scenes throw an especially stark light on the evil being done. The later scenes, in which three of the main characters are sent to Theresienstadt, and thence to Auschwitz, are certainly gut-wrenching. But because they focus on just three faces in the crowd, their overall impact is somehow less.
As for my criticism, it is pretty simple. So intent is this film on remembering the Holocaust, it forgets other dimensions of the massive suffering that occurred during the war. Just to cite one example, it does not even mention the Warsaw Uprising of August-October 1944, in which the Polish Home Army fought the Nazis for 63 days. After crushing the uprising, killing 18,000 Polish soldiers and executing over 250,000 civilians, including virtually the entire educated class, the Nazis systematically destroyed between 85 and 90 percent of the city. And all the while, the Soviet army sat a few hundred metres away, on the east bank of the Vistula, and watched. When it came to breaking Poland, Stalin and Hitler were of like mind.
One would think, given the vast sweep of this miniseries, that this and other atrocities committed by Stalin would have been mentioned, at least. But no, Wouk's burly, vodka-drining Russians seems taken from a Popular Front propaganda film of the late 1930s. This is too bad, because the last thing Wouk would have wanted was for his powerful work of popular remembrance to be dismissed as a case of special pleading.
Posted by mbayles at 10:43 AM
July 17, 2006
Hidden By The Trees: The Woodlanders
There's an old peasant saying: "Life is beautiful - and hard." In America we tend to reverse the emphasis: "Life is hard - but beautiful." That's what William Dean Howells meant when he said, "What the American audience really wants is a tragedy with a happy ending." We don't mind watching fictional characters suffer, as long they are somehow redeemed by it.
Working the middle ground between beauty and hardness was one of my favorite novelists (and poets), Thomas Hardy. And one of his favorites among his own books, reportedly, was The Woodlanders, about a young woman from a rural village whose father sends her away to school to "better" herself, then marries her to a "better" prospect than the woodsman she has loved all her life, only to discover that some living things are not improved by being pulled up by the roots.
Full confession: it's been years since I read The Woodlanders, and the glue holding my paperback copy together has long since turned to dust. But I recently saw a little known film based on the novel that makes me want to buy a new copy: not the 1970 BBC production, but the 1997 Arts Council of England production, made in cooperation with Channel Four, Pathé Productions, and River Films. (If you are lucky you will find one in your video store, hiding in the bottom rack.)
A two-hour film of a 300-page novel must strip things down, of course. But here the result is a separate and freestanding work of art: a simple, fast-paced tale of true love thwarted, not by wickedness but by a father's affection and ambition. The ending isn't happy in the Hollywood sense, but it is satisfying in the sense of containing a much needed note of justice. Without being sentimental or pretty, The Woodlanders is beyond being a gem (that's a cliche anyway). It's a diamond. Every facet - the writing, the acting, the production itself - is pure, clear, and (here's a word I almost never use) perfect.
Posted by mbayles at 8:34 AM
June 26, 2006
Uncaptive Mind
"All my films, from the first to the most recent ones, are about individuals who can't quite find their bearings, who don't quite know how to live, who don't really know what's right or wrong and are desperately looking." These words do as good a job as any of summing up the career of the Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski. But if you want to read more about him, see my recent essay ....
... in The Claremont Review of Books:
When Czeslaw Milosz won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1980, the esteem he enjoyed in Poland blossomed into adoration. And as the struggle against Communist rule intensified during the 1980s, the long-exiled poet found himself cast as the "national bard." Yet as Milosz remarked to many interviewers (including this one), "I am not by nature a political writer." The example he offered was not his youth in Nazi- and Soviet-occupied Polish Lithuania, but his 1960 arrival in America, where his reputation rested solely on The Captive Mind, his 1953 study of the corruption of literature under communism. "Pressed to play the role of the crusading anti-Communist but lacking the ability," he settled for being "an obscure professor in an obscure department" (Slavic literature at U.C. Berkeley). "But," he added with a wink, "I was happy. I had come in search of bread, and I found it."
Most Polish artists worth their salt are obsessed with the tension between individual expression and communal obligation. Not for them the tidy balance articulated by William James: "The community stagnates without the impulse of the individual. The impulse dies away without the sympathy of the community." When for generations one's national identity has been brutally suppressed, and the only way to preserve it is through culture, the artist feels acutely his responsibility to the community. But when the dead hand of ideology squeezes the life out of all communal expression, the artist feels just as acutely his responsibility to himself. To produce good work amid such cross currents takes not only talent but doggedness.
To some, this is ancient history, because Polish artists now enjoy Western-style freedom, albeit at the price of feeling marginalized by Western-style entertainment. Nevertheless, the international reputation of some Polish artists, notably the film maker Krzysztof Kieslowski, has never been higher. To use a crass commercial yardstick, the DVD boxed set of his Decalogue series (ten one-hour dramas based loosely on the Ten Commandments, made for Polish TV in 1988) is currently number 3,700 in Amazon.com's sales rankings (about even with The Alfred Hitchcock Signature Collection). Another Kieslowski boxed set released in 2003, the Three Colors trilogy (Blue, White, and Red), is a staple in video stores everywhere. And in 2005 Kino Video released The Krzysztof Kieslowski Collection, a six-disc boxed set including several of the director's earlier films and some fascinating interviews.
Loyalty to Poland
Kieslowski died in 1996 at the age of 54, while undergoing heart surgery in Warsaw. Accounts vary, but most agree that he turned down the chance to have the operation done in a Western hospital with state-of-the-art training and equipment. Christopher Garbowski, author of Krzysztof Kieslowski's Decalogue Series, offers this explanation: "The hospital where he had the operation was supposedly qualified, and he simply didn't seem to have such an unusual problem. He was something of a patriot on these matters, not wanting to go abroad if it didn't seem necessary." This explanation captures two of Kieslowski's most salient traits: his loyalty to Poland, and his skepticism toward newfangled gimmickry from the West.
The loyalty ran deep. Born in 1941, Kieslowski had an unsettled boyhood, because his father suffered from tuberculosis and had to move from sanatarium to sanatarium. Intense, gloomy, but gifted with wry humor, Kieslowski enrolled at age 17 in the College for Theater Technicians in Warsaw, because it was better than the alternative presented by his father, which was to become a fireman. As he muses in his autobiography, "My father was a wise man.... [He] knew perfectly well that when I got back from that fireman's training college, I'd want to study." The years 1958-1962 were extraordinarily creative in Polish theater, and Kieslowski aspired to become a theater director. But in order to do that, he had to attend another institution of higher learning. After three attempts, he was accepted by the Lodz Film School.
That it took three attempts should not reflect poorly on Kieslowski's abilities, since typically there were 1,000 candidates for five or six places. Nor should it suggest undue political conformity, because the Lodz Film School enjoyed a fair amount of freedom at the time--at least until 1968, when General Mieczyslaw Moczar cracked down on the student movement and purged thousands of Jews from higher education. With bitter sarcasm, Kieslowski recalls how the authorities cloaked their actions in "grand words" about "experimental cinema," which meant in effect that it was better "to cut holes in film or set up the camera in one corner for hours on end" than "to see what was happening in the world, how people were living and...why their lives weren't as easy as the paper described them."
To catch Kieslowski's drift, you need only watch The Office, a six-minute student film he made in 1966 that shows a line of patient sufferers getting the bureaucratic run-around in a state insurance office. Not only does the film draw a devastating portrait of official hard-heartedness, it also lights a spark of pure defiance at the end, when over the grating voice of the clerk repeating,"Write down everything that you have done in your entire lifetime," the camera pans a wall of shelves sagging with hundreds of folders, each containing an "entire lifetime."
The 1968 crackdown did not prevent documentaries from being made, however. During the 1970s they were perhaps even more highly regarded than feature films. And the production of both was generously subsidized by the state. Of course, no film could be shown without the approval of the Vice-Minister of Arts and Culture and the State Board of Censorship, and many were shelved. But the film-making process was pretty much controlled by self-governing Production Houses (for features) and Studios (for documentaries). Each of these Zespoly (zespol means "team") had its own distinctive character and tended to attract...well, distinctive characters. Thus it was only natural that, after graduating from Lodz, Kieslowski would gravitate toward the Documentary Film Studio (WDF) in Warsaw.
At WDF Kieslowski continued for a while in the same vein, showing the evils of officialdom and the tribulations of the masses. And he became expert at the game of getting his films past the censors. Actually, one of the most fascinating interviews in the Kino collection is with Irena Strzakowska, an officer of the censorship board who (against type) is a smart, handsome woman who ended up collaborating with Kieslowski on a number of films. But as the 1970s wore on, Kieslowski's documentaries began to work on a quite different level, one that neither attacks nor defends the system but rather probes the humanity of all those who must live with it, including officialdom.
Not a Local Artist
The most striking example of this is From the Night Porter's Point of View (1978), a 17-minute portrait of Marian Osuch, a watchman and all-around enforcer in a Warsaw factory. Shot on East German film stock known for its cold garish colors, the film combines a voice-over of Osuch's musings with scenes of him collaring a vagrant, monitoring the workers as they clock in and out, training his guard dogs, and finally hosting a group of visiting school children. His views are, shall we say, not those of the enlightened intelligentsia. He believes in law and order, strict rules, total obedience, and (when necessary) public hangings. His home life elicits no warmth, only a comment about his daughter boiling his pet fish to death and his son drowning his pet budgie. To judge by the dog scenes, this is a man who prefers animals to humans because they are more trainable.
Yet the film is suffused with a strange tenderness. In his autobiography Kieslowski recalls that it took forever to find the right porter. The first one selected had the requisite "anti-humane or fascist opinions," but he also "had so many shortcomings it was absolutely impossible to make a film about him." In other words, Kieslowski went to great lengths to find a more sympathetic "fascist." At the end of the film, when the visiting teacher asks the children to identify "the officer in the fine uniform," we don't hear their reply (apparently it was cut). But we do see Osuch's expression: that of a lonely, beleaguered man whose heart positively aches for respect.
Kieslowski's distrust of the West may not have helped him in medical matters, but it served his art well. The humanity that shines through his portrait of Osuch continued to illuminate just about everything he did. Of course, humanity can be a liability among a certain class of cinéastes. One of Kieslowski's mentors, the director Krzysztof Zanussi, says Kieslowski was "long undervalued outside Poland," and that the Cannes Film Festival rejected two of his most accomplished films, Camera Buff (1979) and Blind Chance (1981), as the work of a "local artist." Why the same charge didn't apply to the ever-so-American Norma Rae, which took several prizes in '79, is unclear.
Camera Buff is anything but "local." It's about a callow young factory worker named Filip (Jerzy Stuhr) who buys an 8-mm camera to film his new baby, then gets mesmerized by the challenge of trying to film the whole world. Like Kieslowski, Filip is initially embraced by the authorities--the bosses in his factory ask him to chronicle a big meeting. But Filip cannot resist showing them sneaking out to the men's room, so he loses his new status, his job, and eventually--as he proves incapable of curbing this new passion for truth-telling--his wife and child. Along the way, though, Filip does one good thing. He makes a TV documentary about a fellow worker who is a dwarf, and despite some fussing on the part of the censors over whether the film disparages its subject or (here's the real disparagement) insults Polish labor, the film is broadcast--and everyone loves it, including the dwarf, a simple man who weeps because "it is beautiful."
Blind Chance and Decalogue
Blind Chance, one of Kieslowski's most fascinating films, is based on a clever device--a "butterfly effect" arising from a mishap that occurs while a medical student named Witek (played by Boguslaw Linda) is running for a train. In the first scenario, Witek bumps a man in the crowd, pauses briefly to apologize--and catches the train. In the second and third, he pauses a moment longer--and misses the train. Then the story splits again, as the first miss leads Witek to a scuffle with the station guard, the second to an encounter with a woman from his anatomy class, whom he later marries.
In 1998 this device was copied in a fluffy British movie, Sliding Doors, and a trendy German one, Run, Lola, Run. But there's nothing fluffy or trendy about Blind Chance. On the contrary, each of Witek's possible lives presents him with choices that still resonate today. Catching the train, he meets an older man who recruits him into the ruling communist Polish United Workers' Party. Missing the train and getting into a scuffle, he is arrested and while doing community service gets drawn into a student-Catholic-worker movement that looks a lot like Solidarity. Missing the train and meeting his future wife, he decides to stay out of politics and focus on his career. Ironically, each path brings him to the same place: in the Warsaw airport trying to board a plane out of Poland. In the third life he succeeds, only to have the plane explode during takeoff.
Blind Chance came out during an especially rough time. In December 1981 General Wojciech Jaruzelski declared martial law, driving Solidarity underground and crushing the hopes of thousands. In that atmosphere, the film was attacked by all sides--indeed, it may be one of the most politically incorrect films ever made. But Kieslowski wasn't trying to be politically correct, he was trying to transcend a situation that felt politically hopeless. The title is meant ironically, because as he put it, "Witek, the main character, behaves decently in each situation. He behaves decently even when he joins the Party. At a certain moment, when he sees that he's been manipulated into a situation where he ought to behave like a bastard, he rebels and behaves decently."
Looking back, Kieslowski is quite critical of Blind Chance. But his remarks about that film illuminate both it and his subsequent masterpiece, the Decalogue: "We don't ever really know where our fate lies.... Fate in the sense of a place, a social group, a professional career, or the work we do. We've got much more freedom than this in the emotional sphere." In other words, human beings are subject to fate and blind chance, not to mention the so-called objective forces of history. But they are also free to make choices. If they were not, then there would be no such thing as plot or character. According to Aristotle, the most important ingredient in tragedy is plot. It's not character, because character is revealed only through action, i.e., plot. It's probably worth noting that by "action" Aristotle did not mean helicopters crashing into suspension bridges. He meant moral action, the kind we judge "decent" or "like a bastard."
Aristotle also said that the best plots are so powerful that a bare-bones summary is enough to move a listener. To this ancient wisdom Kieslowski adds the modern insight that "everybody's life is worthy of scrutiny." That is why he and his co-writer Krzysztof Piesiewicz shot all ten Decalogue segments in the same large apartment complex. "It's the most beautiful housing estate in Warsaw," Kieslowski recalled, "which is why I chose it. It looks pretty awful so you can imagine what the others are like." For the sake of illustration, here is a summary of the first plot, reflecting on the commandment "Thou shalt have no other gods before me": An agnostic scientist and his adored ten-year-old son are so excited by the powers of their new computer, they ask it to calculate the exact hour when the ice on a nearby pond will be thick enough to hold a skater. The computer produces the answer, the boy goes skating, and when the ice breaks unexpectedly, he drowns. After watching all ten of these simple, powerful stories, you will never look at an ugly apartment complex in quite the same way again.
Kieslowski was a doubter not a dogmatist, and the Decalogue series ends with an anti-Ten Commandments rock song: "Kill, kill, kill / Screw who you will ... Everything's yours." But this negation only underscores the affirmation of the whole. About the Ten Commandments, Kieslowski has said, "Everyone breaks them daily. Just the attempt to respect them is a major achievement."
The French Films
Like many Eastern European artists, Kieslowski felt his own world start to crack after the fall of Communism. For one thing, there was no money to make films in Poland, so he relocated to France to make his final four: The Double Life of Véronique (1991) and the Three Colors: Blue, White, and Red (1993-4). It would be nice to say that the French climate agreed with our Polish emigré, but to judge by the results, it did not. By a strange sort of alchemy, the moral sense of the Kieslowski's best films gets transformed, in the Parisian setting, into a self-conscious preoccupation with the process of film making.
Take, for example, the theme of alternative lives, which in Blind Chance is tied to such larger questions as how does one live when one's choices are constrained by injustice and repression? In The Double Life of Véronique, the larger question is...what? After an opening sequence about Weronika, a very pretty Polish singer (Irene Jacob) who dies of a heart attack, the focus shifts to picturesque Paris, where an identical very pretty young woman is mooning over mysterious "signs" sent to her by a very handsome young man (Phillippe Volter) who makes his living performing with marionettes. After much dithering they meet, and Véronique gets to moon over his marionettes, which, he explains, must be created in pairs because--hélas! --one of them might get "damaged."
The story ends with Véronique returning to her family homestead, where we can be sure she will be safe. The trouble is, she was pretty safe to start with. Compared with Weronika, whose life seems interesting, or at any rate real, Véronique seems incredibly idle and self-absorbed. In other words, she's a typical young woman in a French art film, beautiful to look at but devoid of any recognizable human emotion.
The Three Colors take their cue from the French flag: blue for liberty, white for equality, red for fraternity. Blue is about a woman (played by Juliette Binoche) who, after losing her husband and child in a car accident, tries to live a totally unfettered life, only to discover that this is impossible. Red is an intriguing but self-indulgent study of a cynical retired judge (Jean-Louis Trintingant) who eavesdrops on his neighbors' phone conversations until a young fashion model (Irene Jacob again) gently restores his humanity. Red is beautiful to look at, but in a self-indulgent way, as the camera lingers a bit too obsessively on Jacob. Some feminist critics have accused Kieslowski of committing fashion photography on these female performers, which is certainly the case. Binoche is a more interesting actress than Jacob, but after a while both films start to feel like the "How To Spend It" section of the Financial Times.
My own reaction to Blue and Red is start hankering for Warsaw. So my favorite among the Three Colors is White, in which the homely, slightly rotund Zbigniew Zamachowski plays Karol Karol (basically Charlie Charlie), a Polish hairdresser living in Paris whose French wife (Julie Delpy) wants a divorce because, as her lawyer makes painfully clear in court, the marriage has never been consummated due to a failure of husbandly equipment. This is only the beginning of Karol's humiliation. By the time he's begging for francs in the Paris subway, he is ready to accept the offer of a fellow Pole to return home in a way that makes flying coach look (relatively) comfortable. Crammed into a trunk, he suffers even worse when, upon its arrival in Warsaw, the trunk is stolen by a gang of thugs who, disappointed at Karol's lack of resale value, beat him severely and leave him for dead in the public dump. The best line in the whole trilogy comes when Karol wakes up covered in blood and garbage, looks around and says, "Home at last!"
Beauty is Strong
If Kieslowski had lived longer, it would have behooved him to make more comedies, not more Frenchified art films. After completing Red, he announced that he was not going to make any more films, period. But he was also engaged in writing the screenplays for a new trilogy based on Dante's Divine Comedy. Only one of these has been made into a film--Heaven (2002), starring Cate Blanchett and directed by Tom Tykwer (who also directed Run, Lola, Run). It is an unholy mess, bereft of the Decalogue's moral honesty, and not even postcard-pretty like Three Colors.
Because of this disaster, many critics have concluded that Kieslowski's art was an exotic, twisted plant unable to bloom without political repression and state censorship. But that conclusion is unfair. What does the magnificent example of Czeslaw Milosz tell us, if not that Polish artists can thrive in freedom and even survive consumerism? A few lines from Milosz's poem, "One More Day," provide a fitting tribute to Kieslowski:
And though the good is weak, beauty is very strong.
Nonbeing sprawls, everywhere it turns into ash whole expanses of being,
It masquerades in shapes and colors that imitate existence
And no one would know it, if they did not know that it was ugly.
And when people cease to believe that there is good and evil.
Only beauty will call to them and save them
So that they still know how to say: this is true and that is false.
Posted by mbayles at 3:55 PM
June 21, 2006
Miles Ahead
I steal a title from Miles Davis to highlight a fine essay by Jack Miles, one of my favorite writers on religious matters. If you have succumbed to the posters promising that if you see The Da Vinci Code you will "Know the Truth," then don't miss Miles's gentle but thorough post-mortem. It doesn't fulminate in the manner of a would-be censor, but neither does it shrug and say, "It's only a movie."
Posted by mbayles at 12:54 PM
June 17, 2006
Not Your Typical Caring Dad
You don't need to study Kabbalah to enjoy The Bee Season, but it helps. At first, the film seems yet another tribute to the hearth gods of middle America: Family, Success, Competition, and (scheduled for worship this weekend) Caring Dads. Indeed, Saul (Richard Gere) seems the ultimate Caring Dad, a professor of Jewish philosophy who is devoted both to Family - he cooks a gourmet dinner every night for his scientist wife Miriam (Juliette Binoche) - and to the Success of his two children, teenaged Aaron (Max Minghella) and nine-year-old Eliza (Flora Cross).
Unfortunately, only Aaron seems destined for Success. While he plays the cello and shines in every sort of Competition, little sister Eliza is distinctly ungifted. Now, the usual pattern for hearth-god flicks is for the ungifted sibling to discover a hidden talent that the parents don't notice at first, so focused are they on the gifted one. But then the hidden talent comes to light, preferably in a public Competition, one or both parents start to pay attention, making the gifted sibling jealous - and for one terrible moment it appears that Family, Competition, and Success will clash.
The next step, of course, is a therapeutic processing of negative emotion, followed by an even bigger public Competition in which the Family's future hinges on the Success of the previously ungifted sibling. Typically, the Competition starts before all the negative emotions have been processed. But then, at the crucial moment, the remaining bad feelings are dealt with, and with victory comes a great celebration of all the hearth gods together.
The Bee Season follows this formula to such a degree that if you listen to the insipid commentary on the DVD (and most reviews), you'll conclude it does nothing more. But as I say, it does do more, because the most important deity in this film is not a middle American hearth god but that other one, whose name is spelled with one capital letter in English and four in Hebrew.
I have not read the novel by Myla Goldberg on which this film is based, but I suspect it is the source of the film's extraordinary conclusion. Without giving away the ending of this Father's Day recommendation, let me just point out that the aptly named Saul is not the ultimate Caring Dad at all. Instead, he is a classic figure from the Hebrew Scriptures: pious, proud, and stiff-necked. And when he is rebuked, it is not really by the young daughter whom he has been pushing so hard, it is by a larger and sterner force rarely seen, or even hinted at, in what passes for "spiritual" entertainment these days.
Posted by mbayles at 1:36 PM
June 11, 2006
When the Miniseries Was King
This month I have some evening busy-work to do, so I scanned Netflix for something mildly diverting -- and long. Well, I am neglecting my busy-work, because the film I chose is a miniseries from the golden age: The Winds of War, based on Herman Wouk's beloved best-seller.
Poking about online, I find only one review of this film, a snarky one -- which doesn't surprise me, given what passes for criticism these days. This is not Shoah. Nor is it The Sorrow and the Pity. It's a TV miniseries in the populist, let's-make-this-easy-for-the-folks-back-home line. And it was made in 1983, so its production values do not compare with those of HBO's Band of Brothers or Saving Private Ryan . It contains nothing like Private Ryan's eye-and-ear-popping depiction of the landing at Normandy, for example. But given the limitations of the small screen and the network censors (still functioning back then), Winds does a remarkable job of evoking battle and danger, not to mention a variety of European and American landscapes, on its small canvas.
Most of all, Winds accomplishes its goal, which is to blend a foreground of watchable characters into an accurately painted background of world-historical events. This may be an inherently ridiculous undertaking, but that hasn't deterred a great many novelists, not to mention playwrights. The question is, does director Dan Curtis (who died this spring) make himself ridiculous? Not at all. Apart from a certain cheesiness in the depiction of the Nazi High Command (especially Hitler), The Winds of War blends charm, action, and gravitas in just the right proportions.
Of course, you have to give it the benefit of the doubt. First, you must believe that there is actually something going on behind the stone face of Pug Henry (Robert Mitchum), naval attache to the US Embassy in Berlin in 1936. Second, you must accept that the starry-eyed response of his wife Rhoda (Polly Bergen) to the blandishments of the Nazi leadership reflects not perfidy but vanity. Third, you must feel the chemistry between the Henrys' callow son Byron (Jan-Michael Vincent) and Natalie (Ali McGraw), his razor-tongued sweetheart, who thinks nothing of going to visit her long-lost Jewish relatives in Poland during the late summer of 1939.
Perform these acts of faith, and I promise, you will be swept along. One of the virtues of art is economy of means: making do with what is available within the constraints of one's medium and the expectations of one's audience. In that sense, these fast-paced, deftly constructed fourteen hours of television deserve to be called classic
Posted by mbayles at 6:06 PM
June 4, 2006
Mindful Fluff
While browsing through the New Releases in the video store, don't neglect the recently released comedy, In Her Shoes. Probably there are multiple copies on the shelf, which usually means mindless fluff. But not in this case. This movie is that rare, wonderful thing: mindful fluff.
The story concerns two sisters: Maggie (Cameron Diaz), pretty and out of control; and Rose (Toni Collette), plain and in control (sort of). These differences drive the sisters apart and then, through some undistinguished plotting, bring them back together. There is no point in describing the plot or the characters any further, because they are formulaic. The charm lies in the execution: the screenplay, pacing, and acting, especially Diaz and Collette, who do a beautiful job of portraying the two sisters' complicated but powerful bond.
To judge by most Hollywood films, not to mention popular TV fare like Sex in the City and Desperate Housewives, women have no lives apart from their sex lives, and their relationships with one another are based solely on a neurotic need to process information about their sex lives. No amount of rhetorical prattle about "female empowerment" alters this dismally one-dimensional portrait. But in its light-handed way, In Her Shoes provides an alternative.
It's a comedy, of course, which means that the family conflict gets resolved at the end. This doesn't always happen in life, needless to say. But the best compliment I can give In Her Shoes is that it could have worked as a tragedy, in which the sisters never reconcile. Indeed, one reason why it succeeds as a comedy is that it allows tragic emotions to peek through the surface. In sum, fluff this good is hard to make and deserves at least as much respect as, say, mindless gloom.
Posted by mbayles at 11:53 AM
May 12, 2006
Away Message
Dear Kind and Patient Readers,
I am going to be away for two weeks, on a Fulbright speaking tour of Poland. In preparation I have been watching many Polish films, and I strongly recommend Kieslowski's Decalogue, and also the DVD boxed set of his earlier works from Kino on Video. Both are extraordinary, especially compared with a lot of other films being made at the same time. I am not a big fan of Blue and Red in the Three Colors Trilogy, but I adored White. (This is not the consensus view, only the opinion of a crank who tires quickly of French film preciosity, which Kieslowski caught a mild case of after 1990.) My article on Kieslowski will appear in the next issue of the Claremont Review of Books.
Talk to you soon,
Posted by mbayles at 1:07 PM
April 25, 2006
Rome Lives!
HBO has just announced that production has begun on the second 10-episode season of its magnificent series, Rome. I am delighted, although it will be a challenge to proceed without Ciaran Hinds as Julius Caesar, who (in case you missed ancient history) got stabbed in the Senate. If you want to read my full-fledged review of the first season, buy the current Claremont Review of Books. Or see ...
When staging a production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, the first thing one must decide is how to slant it, because the play’s sympathies are quite evenly divided between the conspirators, especially Brutus, who persuade themselves that assassinating Caesar will restore the Republic, and the Caesarians, who get the best lines (Mark Antony), not to mention the victory (Octavian). It is possible to slant the play by cutting it, of course. But it is better to do so through interpretation.
Or one can keep Julius Caesar idling in neutral, as Joseph L. Mankiewicz did when adapting it for the big screen back in 1953. At that time, the “swords and sandals” epic was part of Hollywood’s counteroffensive against TV, so the emphasis was on spectacle: scarlet Roman legions against the rocky terrain of Italy (or Los Angeles County); white marble vistas stretching to the matte-painted horizon; vast interiors decorated in a style best described as Il Duce Does Vegas. Thanks to the self-imposed censorship of the production code, popularly known as the Hays Code (after Postmaster Will H. Hays, who administered it between 1922 and 1945), these epics were also free of all bodily fluids except the occasional trickle of blood, sweat, or tears. Likewise politics: not until 1960, when Dalton Trumbo emerged from behind his many fronts to write Spartacus, did the epic become “swords, sandals, and socialism.”
Personally, I am still waiting for Hollywood to tackle the Gracchis, those notorious price-fixing, land-distributing tribunes who a century before Caesar introduced a fateful note of direct democracy into the Roman Republic. If today’s Trumbos would read some history and stop obsessing on how the oil industry caused 9/11, they would see the cinematic potential of the Gracchis – especially since there is now no production code to forbid showing Tiberius Gracchus getting clubbed to death, or even better, his brother Gaius being decapitated by thugs on the aristocrats’ payroll, who then proceeded to pour molten lead into his skull and murder 3,000 of his followers without trial.
If you’re still reading out of sheer zest for Roman ferocity, then by Jove, do I have the TV series for you! HBO’s Rome (co-produced by the BBC) is not the first swords and sandals epic to remind us, in graphic terms, what those handsome swords were actually used for. The pioneer here was Gladiator (2000), Ridley Scott’s hugely popular film about a power struggle between Maximus, a fictional general chosen by the emperor Marcus Aurelius to succeed him, and Commodus, the emperor’s sick kitty of a son. There is a smidgeon of politics in this muddy bloodbath, but it takes the risibly anachronistic form of a senator named Gracchus (get it?) who 220 years after the death of Julius Caesar still dreams of restoring the Republic.
The first season of Rome aired last year, and while it is not yet available on DVD, it can be accessed “on demand” (meaning the customer must pay extra and be a computer geek to boot). Is HBO going to rebroadcast the first season? There are rumors to that effect, but apparently the date and time are classified information. Will there be a second season?
YES, I am glad to report. Not only is it one of the best TV series ever made, it is also one of the best screen portrayals of Rome, surpassing a whole herd of Hollywood sacred cows. In part, this is due to smarter production values. Rome has always been costly: in 1925 MGM spent $3.9 million on the first Ben-Hur; in 1959 it spent $15 million on the second; and in 2000 Dreamworks coughed up $145.8 million for Gladiator. The budget for Rome is $100 million, but considering that this paid for 12 hours not just two or three, it seems to me the money was spent exceedingly well.
The five-acre set, built in cooperation with Cinecittà Studios near Rome, recreates the real ancient city, not some immaculate MGM (or Albert Speer) pipe dream. Rome in the 50s BC was a funky place, with every inch of marble decorated with colorful paintings, proclamations, and graffiti, and every twisting street jammed with busy artisans and merchants. From the palatial villas on the Palatine Hill to the polluted alleys of the Aventine, where the poor scraped by in five- and six-storey tenements that were cesspools below and firetraps above, the whole city is conjured with marvelous verisimilitude. The same is true of the props and costumes, from the women’s looms to the soldiers’ leather cuirasses and brass helmets. All were made by skilled Italian artisans like Luca Giampaoli, the latter-day Vulcan who hand-hammered Caesar’s breastplate.
Of course, none of this would matter if the screenplay and acting were on the historically tone-deaf level of most Hollywood fare. But here Rome compares favorably with I, Claudius (1976), the BBC’s brilliant adaptation of the Robert Graves novel about the vexed problem of succession under the first four emperors; and with Julius Caesar (2003), a little known but fine miniseries directed by Uli Edel for Turner Network Television, which among other charms features a stirring reenactment of the battle of Alesia, in which Caesar’s army of 55,000 outfoxed 250,000 Gauls led by the great shaggy Vercingetorix.
If it’s battles you want, then don’t miss the first episode of Rome, which opens with a brief but authentic depiction of the Legio XIII Gemina waging the grimly efficient warfare that enabled the Romans to conquer wild-and-woolly foes like the Gauls, whose manner of fighting was, shall we say, freestyle. This sequence shows such Roman techniques as the sword-thrust through a tightly packed wall of shields, and the constant rotation of fresh troops to the deadly front line. Unfortunately, someone was pinching the denarii, because in the whole 12 hours there is no comparable battle scene, only a clash in the civil war between Caesar and Pompey that, after an impressive build-up, comes as a major let-down, a cheesy blur that evokes not history but the History Channel.
But if it’s compelling characters you crave, and the aroma of truth found in good historical fiction, then don’t miss a single hour of Rome. To start with the wholly fictional characters, the most accessible are probably two soldiers who start out as enemies and slowly become comrades: the severe centurion Lucius Vorenus (Kevin McKidd) and the brash infantryman Titus Pullo (Ray Stevenson). (These two names are mentioned in Caesar’s Gallic Commentaries, but the characters are invented.) Vorenus is an old-fashioned fellow, whose Stoic virtus and Republican sympathies harden him to his family after long separation, but also outclass the eroding dignitas of most of the patricians he meets. Pullo is the son of a slave woman, so what matters to him is the libertas of the plebeian soldier.
Also fictionalized are two aristocratic women, Servilia of the Junii, mother of Marcus Junius Brutus (yes, that Brutus) and (a few rungs down the social ladder) Atia of the Julii, niece of Julius Caesar and mother of Octavia (later wife of Mark Antony, spurned for Cleopatra) and Octavian (later Augustus, first emperor of Rome). The gloriously twisted soap opera that unfolds within, and between, these two households would be impossible to summarize here. But it’s worth noting how well it reveals the political intrigues festering on the home front. Not since Livia in I, Claudius has the distaff side of Roman ruthlessness been so skillfully portrayed.
Both Servilia and Atia existed, but little is known about their lives. Servilia (Lindsay Duncan) is remembered for her lineage and for an affair that she had with Julius Caesar. Atia (Polly Walker) is just a name in the history books, so the writers have shrewdly transformed her from a low-profile Roman matron into a high-profile bombshell resembling Clodia Metelli, the patrician party animal whose numerous lovers included the poet Catullus. If there is a villain in Rome, it is probably Atia, whose promiscuity, nudity, and eager participation in a ritual sacrifice that drenches her with bull blood are highlighted in the first two episodes.
If you are one of those viewers who recoil at HBO-style sex and violence, then be warned that Rome contains a good dose of both. Is it gratuitous? Maybe a little. But, I am tempted to say, this is Rome! Staying with Atia for a moment, if I hadn’t read Catullus’ obscene, tender, hilarious poems about Clodia (whom he called Lesbia, sans the modern connotation), and about the mating and quarreling habits of his fellow patricians more generally, I might have ascribed the more lurid bits in Rome to the cutthroat competitiveness of the cable TV industry. But no, stuff like this really happened, and should properly be ascribed to the cutthroat competitiveness of the Roman plutocracy.
If Rome has a weakness, it is the same weakness that, in the view of Cato, Cicero, and other eminent anti-Caesarians, brought down the Republic: failure to respect the ancient aristocratic virtues. It is, of course, hardly surprising that aristocratic virtue should get short shrift on HBO, that bastion of Emmy-winning populism. The co-creators and executive producers of this series include four Americans (John Milius, Frank Doelger, William J. MacDonald, and HBO vice president Anne Thomopoulos). The talented writers and directors include veterans of such plebe-pleasing fare as Sex and the City, Entourage, and Desperate Housewives.
But one also finds a healthy supply of Brits, including director Michael Apted (president, since 2003, of the Directors Guild of America), co-creator and writer Bruno Heller, and almost all of the cast, including the formidable Irish actor Ciaran Hinds as Caesar and the enigmatic newcomer Max Pirkis as Octavian. These individuals are not aristocrats – heaven forfend! But coming as they do out of British theater, film, and TV, they know how to fake it. Ever since Shakespeare, Roman patricians have been speaking the Queen’s English and plebeians Cockney. No one defends class distinctions any more, but as long as they remain embedded in the Brits’ acting tradition, their Romans will come off as more convincing than ours.
All the more astonishing, then, to see Cato and Cicero come off as a scold and a fussbudget, respectively. Leaving aside the evidence that Cato drank too much and Cicero‘s finest moments were never quite as fine as his oratory made them sound, these two figures should be weighty enough to hold down the republican side of the argument – and here they are not. Cato (Karl Johnson) is a bony old grouch who makes a strong speech in the beginning but spends the rest of the time kvetching. When he finally stabs himself at Utica, the music swells as if it were a big deal, but it is hard to know why, since this Cato is more dyspeptic than Stoic. As for Cicero, it was a mistake to cast David Bamber in the part. I hate to typecast actors, but if this was Bamber’s big chance to leave behind his best known role, that of the insufferable Mr. Collins in the 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice, he blew it. Cicero was the world’s greatest orator, not a country parson.
The Republic was tottering long before Julius Caesar gave it the final shove. But it did hold Rome together for nearly 500 years, and for much of that time it was the world’s sole alternative to absolute monarchy. Cato’s and Cicero’s greatest fear was not that a gaggle of fat-cat senators would lose their perks (the main message here), but that Rome would succumb to being ruled in the same way as the Hellenistic kingdoms of the East: by despots with even more perks, among them the status of divinity and the right to demand not only obedience but worship.
For our modern difficulty in grasping the Republican cause, I blame Shakespeare, who, despite his even-handedness in Julius Ceasar, was a monarchist. (I would be, too, if Queen Elizabeth liked my plays.) In Julius Caesar Octavian calls Brutus “the noblest Roman of them all.” But consider who is left standing after the unpleasantness following Caesar’s assassination: not high-minded Brutus, the noble master of miscalculation, but low-key Octavian, the quiet little dude who ends up calling the shots. And here we arrive at the very finest part of Rome: its double portrait of the strong man who did not become emperor, and of the weak boy who did.
The relationship between Caesar and Octavian is not made explicit; there is no male-bonding scene where the older man adopts the younger as his son, gives him his name, and makes him his heir. In fact, they rarely meet. But their separateness only reinforces their standing as the two poles around which everything else revolves. This being a story about a cataclysmic power struggle, it is only natural to ask who really does, and does not, possess power. And while everyone’s attention is rightly fixed on Caesar’s ability to grasp the lightning and store it in his own private bottle, it gradually becomes evident that Octavian is studying to do the same, if only in the microcosm of his family. Caesar may be up against Cato, Cicero, and Pompey, but Octavian is up against Atia and his sister, and it’s hard to say which proving ground is more rigorous.
Was Octavian’s upbringing dominated by a scheming, deceitful mother? I don’t know, but given how he turned out, it could have been. Indeed, some clever feminist scholar should write a book about how the first Roman emperor owed his ascendancy less to masculine will than to feminine wiles.
How did Octavian subdue the nobility and the Senate? By convincing them that he was restoring the Republic. Unlike Marius, Sulla, Crassus, Pompey, and his great uncle Julius, he avoided grandiose titles, preferring to call himself princeps (first among equals), the title Cicero gave to Cato. In 27 BC, after defeating Antony and Cleopatra (who also had a thing about titles, naming their two children Sun and Moon), Octavian made a great show of returning his accumulated powers to the Senatus Populusque Romanus. True to their ancient constitution, the Senate accepted. But to show their appreciation, they awarded their humble consul a province consisting of half the world, 20 legions, a crown (for his door, not his head), and (of course) a new and even more grandiose title: Caesar Augustus. In other words, Octavian managed to wrap them all around his little finger.
This Rome fan would like nothing better than to see the same cast and crew, building on the costs already sunk into that fabulous set, props, and costumes, produce a second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh season, straight through to the conversion of Constantine. Imperial Rome has more ready-made storylines, full of lurid details, than even the most gifted HBO screenwriter has ever dreamed of. If HBO were a republic, I would head straight for the Campus Martius and cast my vote in the Ovile, where the Roman people used to elect their magistrates. But I won’t get the chance, seeing as Augustus turned the Ovile into a venue for bread and circuses, reducing the vox populi to the roar of the mob. From the cheap seats, then, a thumbs-up: “Let Rome live!”
Posted by mbayles at 10:19 PM
April 22, 2006
At the Top, Not Over It
Not too long ago, I was addicted to 24, the suspense-on-steroids series about counter-terrorism now finishing its fifth season on Fox. Everything about 24 is over the top, including the futuristic surveillance technology and the Odyssean resourcefulness of the hero, Jack Bauer (played with frightening dedication by Kiefer Sutherland).
But while recovering from this addiction, I did occasionally wonder what counter-terrorism operations are really like -- when the threat is small to medium-sized, and the technology (and derring-do) is of human proportions. Perhaps that's why I tried MI-5, the British series known as Spooks in the UK, where it has run on BBC Channel One for three seasons starting in 2002. This one took longer to get its clutches into me, but when it did, the grip was tighter.
It's not a cartoon, for one thing. Unlike Fox's fictional Counter-Terrorism Unit (CTU), MI-5 is a real agency with a tangible connection to the society it aims to protect. And the plots (in both senses of the word) do not spiral upward in ever more stratospheric loops of improbable conspiracy. They seem concocted by terrorists not scriptwriters.
Or maybe I just admire British actors, especially when they are pretending to be spies pretending to be people other than themselves. This does not work well during the first season, when Tom (Matthew Mcfadyen) moons unconvincingly over his inability to live a normal life with a whiney non-spy girlfriend. But then it takes off, thanks to the brilliant acting of Keeley Hawes as Zoe, Rupert Penry-Jones as Adam, and (my three favorites) David Oleyowo as Danny, Nicola Walker as Ruth, and the one and only Peter Firth as the agency director, Harry.
Hoping that you will follow the full course of treatment prescribed here, I will not give away what happens at the end of the third season, except to say that it shocked me more than almost anything I have ever seen in a film or TV show. And it did so without whiz-bang special effects. All that happened was an unexpected, deliberate violation of my rights as a viewer -- in particular, my right to see my favorite characters prevail.
Posted by mbayles at 5:17 PM
April 10, 2006
Grandes chausseurs, petits pieds
OK, this is a book review. But it contains a reference to the French director Eric Rohmer! I cannot resist sharing my review of American Vertigo: Traveling America in the Footsteps of Tocqueville, by Bernard-Henri Lévy, owner of the small feet. The big shoes belong to Tocqueville.
ONE THING TO AVOID, if you are not Sharon Stone, Charlie Rose, or Norman Mailer, is having lunch with Bernard-Henri Lévy. By all accounts he merely picks at American vittles: The Wall Street Journal reports him ordering nine raw clams and leaving them on the plate, which would be more impressive if they were oysters--or perhaps not, since this is a man accustomed to living, and lunching, in Paris. What he does devour, though, is American conversation. He gulps it down, can't seem to get enough of it--a consequence also of living in Paris? The trouble is, he sometimes takes home a doggie bag without paying for it ...
This is what he does to Samuel P. Huntington, whom he meets in Boston and then caricatures as nuttily xenophobic: "What startling violence wells up in his blue eyes when he says to me, 'The big problem with Hispanics, is they don't like education!'" The caricature also includes a hand-wringing retraction on the sidewalk outside the restaurant, one of those mini-calumnies that can never be disproved. Then, 20 pages later, Lévy unleashes a tirade against American "minority-rights movements," including Hispanic, on the grounds that they "result in countless demands for unlimited rights, thus gnawing at public law and running the risk of dissolving the social bond."
This exchange reflects Lévy's ambivalence toward America's extreme and (to most Europeans) disquieting ethnic diversity. His starting point, not surprisingly, is the French ideal of foreigners being ennobled and transformed by citizenship in la République. And he is not entirely free of the French prejudice that sees the United States as an agglomeration of undigested lumps that "has never really been a nation-state." Yet Lévy also marvels at the surprisingly strong bonds that hold America together. And while his effort to explain the patriotism of recent immigrants (including Arab Americans in Dearborn, Michigan) and to defend the mysterious alchemy of e pluribus unum may be the intellectual equivalent of a soufflé (a thin batter of ideas puffed up to unnatural size), it tastes pretty good, compared with the anti-American junk food recently topping the French bestseller list.
Granted, it is hard to get too excited about Lévy's grudging admission that, come to think of it, the United States is not really the most evil, grasping, fascist/imperialist colossus ever to bestride the earth. But here, at least, he pays for his doggie bag. He confesses to having studied some (not all) of the American debate about U.S. foreign policy in the post-Cold War era, and while he does not give the dreaded neocons the final word, he makes it quite clear that he respects them, and their fellow conservatives, for actually thinking about problems like terrorism and radical Islamism--as opposed to most liberals and leftists, who seem to him to think only about Democratic party fundraising.
On two contentious questions, then, multiculturalism and foreign policy, Lévy does a good job of cutting through the merde. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of his observations in three other areas: arts and letters; custom and public morality; and (most egregiously) religion.
Regarding the first, Lévy is, at best, a name-dropper. Rather than write perceptively about American music, he drools over Woody Allen playing trad-jazz at the Hotel Carlyle. About classical music, popular music, and that ubiquitous American phenomenon, rap, his silence is curious, given that his wife, the actress Arielle Dombasle, is a pop singer in France. He visits no art museums, or indeed serious museums of any kind, preferring to reduce America's cultural riches to beetle-browed antiquarianism and (echoing Eco) the theme park approach to history. About literature, he manages to be shallow, gossipy, and pretentious all at once. In Asheville, North Carolina, he speculates about how F. Scott Fitzgerald passed his days while his wife Zelda was in the insane asylum there.
Actually, Lévy's account of Fitzgerald moping around Asheville reads like a treatment for one of those arty French films in which handsome people idle their time away instead of engaging in good healthy sex and violence. In this connection it is intriguing to note that Dombasle (who was born in Connecticut and raised in Mexico, where her grandfather was French ambassador) got her first big break from the New Wave director Eric Rohmer. Perhaps this is why Lévy's prose style resembles one of those Rohmer (or Godard or Truffaut) films in which the flow of images and sounds is mercilessly explicated by a hyper-articulate male voiceover: "Aren't road and language, after all, siblings in humanity? Isn't it when both roads and languages are invented that commerce, mediation, civilization, begin?"
Please, couldn't we just look out the window?
About education, especially higher education, Lévy seems clueless. The only campus he visits is the University of Texas, in Austin, where he is astounded to find "here in . . . the capital of Texas, a state that is supposed to be a conservative stronghold," a class on Tocqueville taught by Paul Burka, executive editor of the Texas Monthly, in which a student approves of presidential candidate John Kerry's waffling on abortion, because "to believe one thing but refuse to impose it on other people; to have your convictions but leave other people to act the way they want--isn't that good policy? Isn't that the definition of democracy, in Tocqueville's sense?"
We don't get to hear Burka's response to this inanity, because Lévy goes into transports of delight at this glimmer of enlightenment "on the edge of the South that I'm about to dive into."
After diving, he meets Rod Dreher, a Roman Catholic journalist in Dallas who, Lévy is happy to report, home-schools his children but wants nothing to do with "those absurd fundamentalists." Here, in a nutshell, we have Lévy's tortured perception of American religion. Basically, his stance is that of an old-fashioned anthropologist intent upon sniffing out only the purest and most authentic version of an indigenous culture. He delights in a genuine Amish village in Iowa, a meeting of Orthodox rabbis in Brooklyn, and a convention of black women from the Church of God in Christ in Memphis, whose fancy clothes and gospel singing ("eyes rolling upward") suggest to him "an intensity of piety that has nothing to do with what can be observed in the megachurches of the North."
Lévy bases this pronouncement on a visit to the Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois, where he learned from a couple standing in line with him that (in his paraphrase), "We're a living church. Our ministers are of our time, just as Christ was of his time. And we make a point of honor to have a useful religion." This brief exposure to what is known in the pastoral trade as "seeker-sensitive methodology" sets off a violent reaction in our anthropologist. What we have here, he sputters, is "a religion whose secret is, perhaps, to get rid of the distance, the transcendence, and the remoteness of the divine that are at the heart of European theologies."
Perhaps this would be a good time to mention my French Huguenot ancestors, who came to America back in the good old 17th century, when you had to travel coach and the grace of God was not cheap. They did not want to leave France but had to, on account of the unpleasantness on St. Bartholomew's Day. And since then, many others have come to these shores hoping to worship God in their own way, and the good folk of Willow Creek are hardly the first to water down the wine.
Lévy's defense of the Old Time Religion would be more persuasive if it weren't bound up with nastiness toward America's born-again president ("an overgrown daddy's boy") and socially conservative believers ("the harpies of neo-morality"). Plus, it is curious to see Lévy the anthropologist morph into Lévy the missionary when, at Willow Creek, he stops accusing these Christian fellow travelers of over-adapting to the modern world and starts accusing them of under-adapting to it. On the day of his visit, the senior pastor (Bill Hybels, one of many names Lévy fails to catch) is absent, so minister-author Lee Strobel shows up to flog his latest book, God Proven by Science and Scholars, and show a video called In the Heart of DNA. This sends Lévy into a paroxysm of indignation, unmitigated by Strobel's inscribing a copy of his book--"Hi, Bernie!"--and reciting "the atheist's prayer . . . God, if you are there, show yourself!"
Damned if we do, damned if we don't. Our religious wine is either too diluted or not diluted enough. Our war paint and feathers are either too authentic or not authentic enough. American religion is a thorny topic, even for Americans. For modern Europeans, it is "baffling," as Lévy himself admits. But the topic is not made less baffling by distinctions without differences. Those "European theologies" Lévy is so fond of were rather given to theories of intelligent design, if I recall correctly. And were Lévy to ask those rustic Amish, wizened rabbis, or elegant black church ladies what they thought of Charles Darwin, their answers might set his own eyes a-rolling.
Do some more homework, BHL, and then come back and see us again. And in the meantime: "Tocqueville, if you are there, show yourself!"
First appeared in the Weekly Standard, 04/17/2006, Volume 011, Issue 29
Posted by mbayles at 8:50 PM
April 2, 2006
Video Virgil: Last Laugh
First, a gripe. The Motion Picture Academy should have given the 2003 Oscar for Best Foreign Film to Zelary, a marvelous Czech film that I recently discovered on DVD. The film is about Eliska (Anna Geislerová), a nurse in Nazi-occupied Prague who, when her Resistance activities are discovered, flees to a remote mountain village, where to survive she must marry a taciturn woodcutter named Joza (György Cserhalmi).
Filmed in the mountains of Slovakia, Zelary is stunning to look at, and the story of how this stylish city dweller grows to love her rough-hewn peasant hosts, is more emotionally powerful than a dozen Hollywood melodramas like Cold Mountain (which I mention because it came out around the same time and, despite being about the American Civil War, was filmed in Rumania).
To the American reviewers at the time, the setting and theme of Zelary were "overly familiar," even "cliched." What on earth did they mean? Has the U.S. market been glutted with Eastern European films dramatizing the social and cultural gap between urban and rural ways of life in the 1940s? Are we jaded about post-Cold War Czech films showing the rape and murder committed by the first wave of Soviet "liberators"?
Directed by newcomer Ondrej Trojan and based on a novel by Kveta Legátová, Zelary also has a terrific ending. I won't be a spoiler, but suffice it to say that it involves the amazing actress Jaroslava Adamová, playing an old peasant woman named Lucka, and that it reminds us, in one blazing moment, why human beings are ultimately irrepressible.
Posted by mbayles at 4:30 PM
March 19, 2006
Lessons in Manliness
I haven't read Harvey Mansfleld's new book, Manliness, and I suspect that when I do, I will have many criticisms of it. But let me register here my disgust at Walter Kirn's "review" of it in today's New York Times. When I write my book on Puerility, I will make a point of quoting "critics" like these. The editors should be embarrassed.
But on to my (speculative) criticism of Mansfield's book, which by all accounts names Achilles as the Homeric hero who best exemplifies manliness. This seems wrong, not least because Mansfield's oft-quoted definition of manliness is presence of mind in the face of danger. If this is so, then the Homeric hero you want is not Achilles but Odysseus. It is Odysseus who exemplifies sophron, that hard-to-translate Greek word that does not just mean wisdom, shrewdness, gutsiness, grace, or persistence, but rather all of these - in essence, knowing how to act in any given situation.
Sophron is not achievable by following a set of rules; anyone can do that. Sophron means doing the right thing, the smart thing, without recourse to rules. It means being able to read the situation and the people involved, to discern the most compelling moral imperative, and to act - and all for a higher purpose than one's own aggrandizement.
Now for the movies. Manliness like this is hard to find in the cineplex these days. But here are two wildly different recommendations on DVD:
First the TV series 24, now in its fifth season on the Fox Network. The title comes from the gimmick of having each hour-long episode “occur in real time,” and except for a few plodding bits about the personal lives of Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) and his fellow agents at the Los Angeles branch of the fictional U.S. Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU), 24 is addictively suspenseful. And despite my misgivings about the show's routinization of extra-legal wiretapping and (especially) torture, I confess to being captivated by the character of Jack, whose alertness, courage, and cunning are positively Odyssean.
Second, the truly wonderful BBC adaptation of the Horatio Hornblower adventure novels by C.S. Forester. I have never read the novels (I do read books, though you might not get that impression from this posting), but I am tempted to do so after watching this series, which was produced between 1998 and 2003 and stars Welsh heartthrob Ioan Gruffud in the title role, not to mention British theater heartthrob Robert Lindsay as his mentor, Captain Sir Edward Pellew.
There is nothing dumbed down, campy, or forced about this vivid evocation of His Majesty's Navy at the turn of the 19th century; just great acting, great ships, and great production values (for TV). Patrick O'Brian fans especially will appreciate it, since in my opinion no one has yet properly adapted O'Brian. (I found Master and Commander painfully hurried and superficial, with no real texture to the characters.) As for manliness, there are plenty of examples to be found, including a duchess (Cheri Lunghi) who turns out to be a London stage actress working as a spy. Of course, instead of "manliness," one could just say sophron.
Posted by mbayles at 12:32 PM
March 14, 2006
Casting Problem: Who Could Play Miles?
It would have to be made by a genius who understands jazz, rock, pop music, American culture, and the history of race relations. It would also have to star an actor combining the talents of Sidney Poitier, Jimi Hendrix, Don Cheadle, and Mos Def. And finally, it would have to be seventeen hours long. Maybe that's why we haven't seen a biopic about Miles Davis ... ?
As for putting Miles in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, see Soundtrax box on right. It's a little like nominating Picasso for the Ink-Doodling Hall of Fame.
Posted by mbayles at 10:21 AM
March 10, 2006
Sopranos R Us
With high hype, HBO's hit series, The Sopranos, returns to the airwaves this week. But personally I worry that this time around, the producers will start to believe the cliche that the show's amazing popularity stems from cable TV's ability to "push the envelope" on sex, drugs, profanity, and violence. It's easy to speculate that over 10 million people watch The Sopranos every week because they relish hearing curses, ogling silicone-enhanced breasts on the Bada Bing dance floor, and watching wiseguys get offed. And it's just as easy to condemn The Sopranos on the same grounds, as William F. Buckley Jr. once did, citing its "arrant exploitation of sex, exhibitionism, murder, sadism, cynicism, and hypocrisy."
But such judgments are obtuse. Most people do not love The Sopranos because it pumps vulgarity and venality into their homes any more than they love it because it stereotypes Italian-Americans (pace groups like the American Italian Defense Association). People love the show because it takes something tried and true -- the Mafia drama -- and uses it to explore social class, the ordeal of immigrant assimilation, the ethical compromises of the workplace, and other aspects of contemporary American life barely touched on in film and television, except in the most pious and didactic fashion. More...
The Sopranos beckons us first with its humor. The show's premise -- the well-heeled, well-educated psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi treating the boss of the northern Jersey syndicate -- is comic on its face. Back in the 1970s, Saturday Night Live's John Belushi played the Godfather attending group therapy. Then a feature film along the same lines, Analyze This, spawned a sequel, Analyze That. The Sopranos is not above milking the spectacle of rough, burly Tony working with mild, bookish Dr. Melfi on issues like impulse control and depression resulting from his own mother trying to have him whacked.
Yet as every fan knows, there's a lot more going on in The Sopranos than gags about waste management meeting anger management. (If you're catching up with past episodes, you might want to hold off on reading more.) For starters, Dr. Melfi and Tony (Lorraine Bracco and James Gandolfini) are antagonists, in the fullest sense of the word: two people involved in a contest of wills that, while leavened by wry humor, can feel, at times, like a struggle unto death.
In that respect, The Sopranos draws directly on its gangster setting. Like the Western, the gangster drama dwells less on a particular place and time than on the clash between certain modern virtues (reason, order, process) and certain ancient ones (honor, loyalty, vengeance). When one code fails, as the former did when Dr. Melfi was brutally raped and the rapist went free on a legal technicality, the alternative -- Tony's ability to carry out swift retribution -- can look pretty damn good.
Hence the emotional intensity of the scene when Dr. Melfi, back at work bruised and limping from what she says was a car accident, aches to tell Tony what really happened. Battling with herself, she bursts into tears. Tony's response is to get up from his chair and walk over to hers. Every other time he has done this, it has been in anger. Now the gesture is one of comfort, and the moment is powerful precisely because the small distance between the two chairs is so laden thematically. When Tony asks, "Do you wanna say something?" and she says, "No," we understand that she is going to abide by her own code, even though right now it is making her the victim of an unpunished crime. I dare say this was the only time most viewers actually wished Tony would order a hit.
At the same time, Tony's ancient code seems to be unraveling before our eyes. A constant refrain is the loss of old-school mobsters, the kind who would do time rather than rat, and the decay of organized crime into disorganized crime. The mob characters are like many other Americans, deploring what they perceive as a breakdown in the values of older generations.
Which brings us to the real secret of the show's success. While some of the conflicts it depicts are rooted in the specifics of the Mafia code, most of the show's funniest and finest moments have nothing to do with a clash between the mainstream and the Mafia, but with the ways in which the mainstream irritates various traditional sensibilities. If the crude appeal of the Mafia theme were the crucial ingredient, then there would be a dozen successful clones of The Sopranos out there, and there are none. What makes the show unclonable is the skill with which it uses the gangster genre as a device for bringing undercurrents of shared emotion to the surface. Indeed, the very familiarity of the Mafia genre allows viewers to distance themselves from certain painful feelings while at the same time identifying with them.
Some of those feelings are about social class. As many critics have observed, Tony and Carmela Soprano (Edie Falco) are rich enough to live in an upscale suburb, where they mix with professionals and corporate executives. But they don't feel entirely comfortable there, and most of their discomfort stems not from being Mafiosi but from trying to learn the peculiar folkways of upper-class America. For instance, after their son, Anthony Jr., or AJ, helped some other boys in his elite private school to vandalize the swim coach's office, how many viewers shared Tony and Carmela's chagrin when the headmaster refused to mete out punishment?
Beyond class, The Sopranos takes an indirect but refreshingly unorthodox approach to immigration and assimilation, themes rarely touched on because identity politics have made them fragile almost to the point of taboo. Italian-Americans are hardly recent arrivals in America, and despite the occasional Russian, African, or Middle Eastern character, The Sopranos is not about any other group. But the Sopranos' experience -- their relatively rapid movement into the affluent suburbs -- is shared by millions of other first- and second-generation immigrants today. And while only a tiny minority of those other newcomers have any connection with crime, the vast majority have much in common with the Sopranos.
It is, for instance, laughingly hypocritical of a crime boss to want a school to discipline his son. That hypocrisy resonates with assimilating groups, however, because as children pick up new ways of thinking and acting, their elders reflexively want to reassert authority. Yet because wielding that authority would work against their offspring's social mobility, the elders just as often retreat. Either way, both generations are prone to feelings of shame, of imagining that just because they are who they are, they have something to hide, even if that something is usually not a thick file with the FBI.
The Mafia connection is also essential to another immigrant-related theme, which is the disdain many people feel toward their jobs. Cynicism inevitably creeps in when we encounter the hypocrisy, ambiguity, and ethical compromise involved in every work environment -- blue, pink, or white collar. We persevere in spite of that, abiding with our bad consciences by telling ourselves that it's all for the sake of our families. But as we see with Tony, that rationalization can be hard to sustain when the family is less than holiday-greeting-card perfect.
In The Sopranos, such ambivalence balances delicately on the characters' criminal dimension. When Tony discovers that his lifelong friend and associate Big Pussy has been "flipped" by the Feds and made to wear a wire, together with his (more or less) loyal associates Silvio and Paulie, Tony takes Pussy out on a yacht, shoots him, and dumps his garbage-bagged corpse overboard. Because the scene delicately parodies the classic tableau of the Mafiosi executing a traitor to uphold the code, it is too stylized and predictable to do great damage to our identification with Tony, although I for one was glad to see him haunted by a nightmare in which Pussy appears in the form of a reproachful talking fish.
In sharp contrast is the earlier episode in which two aspiring goodfellas, Sean Gismonte and Matt Bevilaqua, try to impress Tony's rival, Richie Aprile, by ambushing Christopher, Tony's nephew and designated heir. Christopher is gravely hurt but survives, and in retaliation Tony and Pussy execute Matt in an especially gleeful and cold-blooded way, only to follow up the deed with a hearty steak dinner, during which they reminisce about their good old days as young mobsters. The grotesque sequence belongs in a Quentin Tarantino movie, not The Sopranos.
Some critics cheer every time the series takes such a "dark" turn. But for the majority of fans, too many adventures like that on Tony's part and the whole carefully balanced edifice would start to topple. The show's writers apparently felt the same, because right after Matt's killing they created a foil in the person of an eyewitness: a snooty, self-righteous type who plays the good citizen until he discovers that the perpetrators were Mafiosi. At that point he rushes from his library to call his lawyer, while his wife panics. Pegging the guy for an upper-middle-class coward, we revert to our usual fondness for Tony as the opposite of all such phoniness. For good measure, a later episode shows Tony haunted by the memory of Matt crying "Mama!"
Most of Tony's violent deeds are carried out either with cold calculation as a necessary cost of doing business, or in the heat of passion, as in the current season's vengeance killing of the despicable new capo, Ralphie. In Tony's universe, familiar but alien to us, he's fighting himself and fighting to make it in America. When he does something patently evil, the tenuous threads connecting him to us fray and break. But don't expect Sopranos creator David Chase and his smart, talented colleagues to break too many. For if they did, we would no longer recognize ourselves in these striving, conflicted compatriots.
The article first appeared in the Chronicle Review.
Posted by mbayles at 9:57 AM
March 5, 2006
Dig Those Oscars
If you are planning to sit through the Oscars tonight, here are some comments based on last year's festivities.
People who love music hate medleys. And people who love movies hate those “Celebrate the Movies” clip reels shown on cable TV to promote movie channels, and in theaters to promote movie-going. Watching the 77th Academy Awards, I really hated the opening clip reel, put there by the movie industry to remind me how much I love movies. Even the most willing cow needs an occasional rest from the milking machine.
If the members of the Academy had wanted to attract more viewers, then perhaps they should not have been so timid about including the two most controversial films of 2004, Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ and Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11. The Passion, which received but did not win three nominations (Best Original Score, Best Cinematography, Best Makeup), deserved one for Best Picture and Best Director. And Fahrenheit, which received no nominations, deserved one for Best Documentary, a category in which fairness and accuracy have never been among the criteria.
Without re-masticating the well masticated debates over these films, I will simply note that both sold a lot of tickets to people who do not ordinarily go to the movies. So if they had not been airbrushed out of the proceedings, then perhaps all those one-time ticket buyers would have tuned in, boosting the ratings and saving us from that tacky clip reel.
It was, of course, entirely appropriate that the clip reel rolled across the ceiling of the Kodak Theater before and after each commercial break. For this is what movies are rapidly becoming: commercials for themselves. Instead of drama, comedy, suspense, or any other recognizable genre, the standard-issue Hollywood flick is now a pastiche of attention-grabbing moments meant to thrill, tickle, tease, and titillate audiences too immature or distracted to care how, or whether, they all fit together. Like music videos, these messes only reinforce the mini-attention span of the average popcorn buyer. Usually they don't survive to a second weekend, but that doesn't really matter. The industry is now structured so that one weekend of suckers is usually enough.
Which returns me to the Oscars. Given the tone of most releases these days, Chris Rock was the perfect MC. His opening monologue was painfully convoluted, making sense only as an attempt to offend the right people (notably President Bush) without offending the wrong people (notably the millions who voted for Bush but might also shell out nine bucks to see Chris Rock movie).
Jon Stewart will probably do better at hitting the Zeitgeist between the eyes. But even more than Rock, he is going to have a major problem cutting through his own thick carapace of irony. Maybe he won't have to; maybe the good people writing his material will drop all pretense that this is a ceremony of artistry, excellence, and achievement (including lifetime achievement). But that would be a mistake, for no other reason than it would lose audience share.
Consider: most movie fans look at the Academy Awards the way the two children in the urban folktale look at the room full of pony manure. Either they can turn away, disgusted by all that you-know-what, or they can start digging, inspired by the idea that there must be a pony in there somewhere. The latter approach is worth keeping, even when the irony mounts to the ad-buzzing ceiling, because somehow this industry keeps turning out a couple of good films a year. Of course, if Munich wins Best Picture, I will be tempted to lay down my shovel.
Posted by mbayles at 10:48 AM
February 28, 2006
Video Virgil: Cast Them Out To Sea
I won't mention any names, but the so-called critics who reviewed The Beautiful Country (2004) for the New York Times, Austin Chronicle, and Boston Phoenix should be set adrift on the ocean a long way from land. How can people be so oblivious to others they see everyday - for example, the guys scraping the dishes in the really cool restaurants where really hip movie critics eat lunch?
Pardon the outburst, but I recently suffered through a meeting where several otherwise smart people relieved themselves of the opinion that it's easy to become an American: "Just go shopping and watch the sports channel." To say otherwise - to suggest that immigration is a painful ordeal that involves loss as well as gain - is to violate Section One, Paragraph Two of the 2001 Anti-Anti-Americanism Act, which defines patriotism as voluntary cessation of all cerebral activity.
And, I might add, of all emotional empathy. The Beautiful Country, about the son of a Vietnamese woman and American GI who in 1990 embarks on a journey to find both parents, is not gulity of "sentimental excess." Neither is it a "melodrama" either "earnest" or "shameless." Look up these words, fellow critics. "Sentimental" means indulging in stock, predictable emotion. "Melodrama" means moralistic, black hats and white hats. None of that applies to this film, which deals with a timely and politically loaded topic with rare subtlety, intelligence, and understated humor.
Just to cite one example: When Binh (Damien Nguyen) finally reaches New York and becomes a kind of indentured servant in Chinatown, forced to pay off the exorbitant fee charged for his illegal passage, he learns from a fellow worker that as a dui boi (the term means "low as dust") he could have "flown to America for free" (a reference to the 1988 Amerasian Homecoming Act). Amazed to hear that America actually welcomes people like him, he decides immediately to flee his job and go find his father in Texas. (He has learned his father's whereabouts from his mother, whom he located in Ho Chi Minh City and would have stayed with, had it not been for an incident that forced him to leave.)
By now Binh has evolved from a ragged outcast in a rural village (where he was eking out a Cinderella-like existence with relatives) to a rugged individualist in the classic grain. He has seen corruption and cruelty but has not succumbed to either. He is convincingly (not sentimentally) resourceful, brave, stubborn. So when he is stopped in mid-flight by his boss, a tough character who clearly cannot believe one of his captive workers just walked out on him, Binh (by now a veteran poker player) pulls a major bluff: "I am American citizen now," he says, "I can go where I want."
If this were a melodrama, the boss would drag Binh back and make him pay for such impudence. But this is not a melodrama, so the boss just stands there giving this odd young man a quizzical look. Then with a philosophical (and appreciative) shrug, he says, "Congratulations!" And off Binh goes, to a reunion with his father (Nick Nolte) that is one of the most moving yet unpredictable such scenes I've ever seen.
Rent this beautiful film, and if any of those aesthetically challenged critics should hail you from a leaky raft, my advice is: Let 'em sink.
Posted by mbayles at 9:33 AM
February 12, 2006
Sense and Sensibility on the Chesapeake
On a misty April morning in 1607, three tall, square-rigged English ships glide up the wide, luminous estuary of what is now the James River. Instead of discovering the land from the ships, we discover the ships from the land, as a band of Powhatan Indians trot along a ridge, marveling at what must have been the seventeenth-century equivalent of alien spacecraft.
Yet wisely, The New World does not presume to plumb the Powhatans’ reactions. Rather the camera floats behind their backs, offering a detached perspective on the whole majestic scene. Best of all, writer-director Terrence Malick decided at the last minute to accompany this scene not with the pretty noodlings of James Horner’s commissioned score, but with music that is truly sublime: the murmuring, rising, surging prelude to Wagner’s Das Rheingold.
“The soul of beauty is distance,” wrote Simone Weil, and Malick’s best work bears this out. No other living director can touch him when it comes to natural panoramas, filmed here by Emmanuel Lubezki entirely on 65mm stock (the first time this has been done since Kenneth Branaugh’s Hamlet). In several such glorious sequences The New World gives something like a God’s-eye view of that first, fraught encounter between the Old World and the New. Film critics who do not thrill to such achievements should take up another line of work.
But film is not just a visual art, it’s also a narrative art. And while Malick has hold of a terrific yarn (at least, Captain John Smith thought so when he invented parts of it), this film tangles the spinning of it. By now, everyone knows that Pocahontas was only 11 when she begged her papa, Chief Wahunsonacock (a.k.a Powhatan) not to puree Captain Smith’s head. From this fact sober historians deduce that the two could not possibly have been lovers. (In a dark corner of my mind, a little voice squeaks, “Why not? This is Virginia.” But let us not go there.)
Historians also note that such staged reprieves were a customary form of hospitality among powerful Algonkian chiefs. Which makes sense, really: if your host has the power to crush your skull but refrains from doing so, then you are all the more likely to follow your visit with a thank-you note. At any rate, Malick does not waste much time on this legendary scene, choosing through blinding chiaroscuro and tortured camera angles to make it appear less an historical set piece than a reject from the Stoned Otter Indie Film Festival.
Malick is respected for his screenplays. But never before has he attempted anything quite this ambitious. In his first successful feature, Badlands, about a killing spree carried out by two aimless teenagers in South Dakota, he had a headline-grabbing story to tell. In Days of Heaven, he had the idiom of his native Texas to set a wry, laconic tone. In The Thin Red Line, he had James Jones’s World War II memoir to adapt. Here, by contrast, there is no clear guide, only multiple, conflicting, obscure sources. And for all his cinematic gifts, Malick seems somewhat lacking in the one thing most needful: historical imagination.
Somewhat, not totally. If you want the historical imagination strangled in its crib, see the 1953 clunker, Captain John Smith and Pocahontas (Peyton Place in deerskin), or the 1995 Disney cartoon Pocahontas (Barbie and Ken in a canoe). The New World, by contrast, commits one major anachronism but also works to correct it. In brief, it goes from overripe romanticism to something more sober and ultimately moving, then (unfortunately) back to romanticism. It should have quit while it was ahead.
The romanticism comes first, in the form of a prolonged sunlit dalliance between Smith (played broodingly by Colin Farrell) and Pocahontas (played brilliantly by 14-year-old Q’orianka Kilcher, the striking daughter of a Swiss mother and a Peruvian Indian father). These love scenes are served just the way a certain middlebrow audience prefers, with a dollop of Mozart on top and a sprinkling of bad poetry:
Love, ... shall we not take what is given?
... There is only this. All the rest is unreal.
Father, where do you live? In the sky, the clouds, the sea?
Show me your face, give me a sign ... We rise, we rise.
I gag, I gag. It is possible that the hard-charging Smith was stopped in his tracks by unexpected tenderness for this almond-eyed Lolita. And it is possible that Pocahontas, by all reports an extraordinary individual, was a Kierkegaardian animist before she became a good Anglican. But please. When such characters speak, they need to sound as though they are living in their own time, not ours – or worse, the time of D. H. Lawrence and Mabel Dodge Luhan, when pale-faced aesthetes sought transcendence through sexual intercourse, Native Americans, and (where possible) sexual intercourse with Native Americans.
Eventually Smith leaves, and a bereft Pocahontas allows herself to be wooed and won by John Rolfe, the man who taught the world to smoke. Why does Smith leave? The reasons are not entirely clear in the 135-minute version now showing in theaters, but it seems he has difficulty sustaining the proper romantic mood through a winter of starvation, relieved only by the generosity of the Indians, and a summer of warfare, ignited when Powhatan (August Schelling) and his brother Opechancanough (Wes Studi) realize that the English are planting corn and planning to expand their holdings.
Believing Smith dead and held captive by the English, Pocahontas loses her spark until the sweet-faced Rolfe (Christian Bale) delicately rekindles it. Interestingly, he does so without ceasing to be thoroughly, and unapologetically, English. This is not Dances With Wolves: not all the virtue is on the Indian side. For example, the female of English species arrives in Jamestown looking cold and pasty, quite the unappealing dish compared with our heroine. But surprise surprise, the English matron put in charge of “civilizing” Pocahontas turns out to be a wise and kindly soul whose lessons are eagerly absorbed by her pupil.
At this point, the film takes a turn for the better, not because it favors the English way of life over the Powhatan, but because it does not, for the sake of political correctness, grossly distort the choice that Pocahontas did in fact make.
Things stay on the right track until the dramatic peak of the story, which is the return of Captain Smith. In a marvelously depicted voyage to England, Pocahontas (baptized Rebecca) lends her charm to what is essentially a PR campaign on the part of the floundering Virginia Company of London. These scenes are magical in their ability to evoke a sense of astonishment similar to that found in the abovementioned scene of ships on the James River. For a fleeting moment, my eyes felt were gazing not at another movie set version of merrie olde England but at the amazing apparition London must have been to Pocahontas.
But Pocahontas is troubled. Having learned that her first love is still alive, she grows cool toward Rolfe, prompting him to risk everything on an arranged meeting between her and Smith. The encounter, which takes place in a formal garden, is both subtle and powerful. Smith is much the same, but through some alchemy of voice and expression Farrell makes this man who was wild and romantic amid the tall grass of Virginia seem shrunken and coarse amid the London topiary. Pocahontas, by contrast, has grown in stature. Elegant and restrained, she takes Smith’s measure, and almost before she realizes it, she has decided to stay with Rolfe. “Did you find your Indies?” she asks Smith before they part. He gives her a long look, then says, “I may have sailed right past them.”
Cut, that’s a wrap. No need for Smith’s next line: “I thought it was a dream, what we knew in the forest. But it was the truth, the only truth.” Romance isn’t the only truth here, that’s the whole point. When Malick re-edits this film for DVD, the word is that he plans to make it longer. Great, if this means further development of the clash between English and Powhatan, and more lingering vision of strange worlds. But please, cut the New Age mush. It’s important when you have a great story not to sail right past it.
Posted by mbayles at 8:08 PM
February 7, 2006
Stupid, Actually
Feeling a little stressed this past weekend, I decided to watch Love, Actually. Cursed with major recall of past movie reviews, I knew it had been swathed in praise for being both funny and heart-warming. Just what the doctor ordered.
Bring on the malpractice suit. It's not easy to waste talents like Colin Firth, Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson, Laura Linney, and Alan Rickman. But this movie makes donkeys out of them all. The only one left standing on two legs when the hee-hawing stops is Bill Nighy, playing a burnt-out rock star trying to make a comeback. And he does it by being totally asinine from the git-go.
The biggest jackass of all, though, is Hugh Grant pretending to be a newly elected Prime Minister in love with his slightly plump secretary. It used to be said of Jack Lemmon that his acting consisted mostly of a patented collection of tics. At least Lemmon had a collection. Grant has only one tic: a prissy expression that says, "Terribly sorry, old chap, but I'm feeling dreadfully horny just now."
if you want to laugh at a British Prime Minister, allow me to recommend the immortal BBC series Yes, Prime Minister and its predecessor Yes, Minister. I wrote about them a while back (see Reprise). And if you want heart-warming, don't miss The Notebook. Among other things, it stars two veterans, Gena Rowlands and James Garner, who are gracious enough to allow themselves to be upstaged (upscreened?) by the two excellent young actors, Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams, who portray their younger selves.
Posted by mbayles at 12:20 PM
February 2, 2006
Entertained and Lived to Tell About It
Intrepid Boston Globe columnist Alex Beam has ventured into what he aptly calls "the brave new world of movie theaters." Now that most sane human beings would rather watch DVDs at home than put up with the noise, grime, ear-bleeding sound, poor projection, and unpleasant atmosphere of the average cineplex, some of the big theater chains are experimenting with ways to make the experience more ... er, rewarding. From Beam's amusing account , it sounds about as rewarding as an evening at the airport. And they still haven't figured out how to compete with the fact that at home, a call of nature can be dealt with simply by pushing the "pause" button.
Posted by mbayles at 10:59 AM
January 31, 2006
"For No Particular Reason That Anyone Could Explain"
There are two films called The Battle of Algiers. One is a cult film of the late 1960s, shot on newsreel stock and depicting the 1950s struggle of the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) against the French colonial occupation. Despite its skilled use of non-actors and its gritty neorealist feel, this movie contains "not a single foot" of documentary material (as director Gillo Pontecorvo often pointed out). Nonetheless, it was embraced as a training film of sorts by radicals from Berkeley to Belfast.
The other Battle of Algiers is a hot contemporary property, reportedly screened at the Pentagon in September 2003 and now available in a 3-disc set replete with retrospective documentaries and interviews with interested parties from Pontecorvo to Richard Clarke. This film's depiction of Arab radicals assassinating police and planting bombs in public places could not be more timely.
The two films are the same, of course. Only the world is different.
Or is it? With cold objectivity, The Battle of Algiers shows how the French authorities undertook to "decapitate the tapeworm" of the FLN, when that organization was assassinating policemen and planting bombs in public places. Because each FLN cell had only three members, the French found it necessary to torture hundreds of prisoners before cornering and killing the last two.
The film ends with a postscript: "For no particular reason that anyone could explain," there was an uncontrollable popular uprising two years later, which led to Algerian independence in 1962.
If you detect a note of tragic irony here, then perhaps you'll detect the same note in Clarke's comment that "it surprised the hell out of me" when Al-Qaeda seemed to grow two new heads for every one cut off. After 35 years, shouldn't counterterrorism experts be able to tell the difference between a tapeworm and a hydra?
Posted by mbayles at 8:38 AM
January 24, 2006
The Weak Man With the Sponge
I believe it was Lord Acton who said the strong man leads with the dagger, followed by the weak man with the sponge. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences reverses this order by giving Oscars to makeup artists but not to stunt men and women.
This is unfair but understandable, given the size of most film star egos. Makeup artists work closely with actors, chatting and flattering while using those cute little sponges to paint great white patches on their faces. (I once had a makeup lesson with a Hollywood professional, and it's amazing how much time they spend whiting out your features then re-drawing them for the camera.)
Stunt performers, by contrast, rarely work with actors. According to a piece by Mark Yost in today's Wall Street Journal, most actors do not know any stunt people, and do not want them to get awards. As I say, this is all too transparent. Why call attention to the fact that while Tough Guy Hooper is chasing the bad guys off the cliff, you are in your luxury trailer getting a massage?
Posted by mbayles at 10:07 AM
January 21, 2006
"Let's Try And Not Hack This Up"
Why do people watch TV shows like Showtime's "Masters of Horror"? Why don't they just curl up with a good book, like Justine by the Marquis de Sade? Much as I enjoy being scared out of my wits (though preferably not before bedtime when alone in the house), I do not like depictions of savage cruelty. The proper attitude, I know, it to treat this stuff as a campy joke, saying, "It's so over the top, it's funny." But it's not.
Anyway, given the entertainment industry's current contest to see who can induce the most vomiting among viewers, I was amazed to read in the New York Times that Showtime actually cancelled a film, Imprint, by the "deliberately and spectacularly transgressive" Japanese director Takashi Miike. Why, in this post-censorship age, would a feisty cable channel suppress such a hot property? Not for any good reason, I fear. Take a look at Kehr's plot summary:
In mid-19th-century Japan, an American journalist ... goes in search of the prostitute he has fallen in love with but was forced to abandon. The American's quest leads him to a mysterious island zoned exclusively for dimly lighted brothels, where one procurer, a syphilitic midget, introduces him to a relatively sympathetic prostitute ... Hideously deformed, the right side of her face pulled into a permanent rictus, the nameless woman tells the American the terrible story of what happened to his lover, throwing in at no extra charge the story of her own hideous childhood as the daughter of impoverished outcasts. As the woman's story continues, her revelations, scrupulously visualized, become more and more outlandish, and her descriptions of the violence done to the missing prostitute, who was suspected of stealing a ring from the brothel's madam, become more cruelly imaginative and difficult to stomach. But the most shocking imagery is yet to come, as the nameless woman describes her collaboration in her mother's work as an abortionist.
In other words, it's OK to drool over the agony of grown men and women, and a way-cool director like Miike can even toss in a child or two. But fetuses, forget. There are too many reactionaries in high places who get uptight about that sort of thing.
Still, the good people at Showtime have some moral qualms. Asked why he didn't order more cuts in the film, series executive Mike Garris replied, "It is what it is. It really was, let's try and not hack this up." How nice to know that, unlike human beings, horror films are too precious to mutilate.
Posted by mbayles at 10:24 AM
January 20, 2006
Smile and Say "Camembert de Châtelain"
In case you are one of the lowly mortals who must work this week instead of clomp around Park City in your all-weather film-watching boots, here is the Sundance website . A few minutes' scrolling and clicking will turn up a worthy tidbit or two, but for me the overwhelming impression is of a lot of silly people who think art consists of having your picture taken. And I'm not talking about the tourists.
Posted by mbayles at 11:22 AM
January 19, 2006
Video Virgil: The Harmonists
A couple of years ago I had the privilege of being guided through a Berlin record shop by the eminent jazz musician Sigi Busch. With a kindly didactic air, he urged me to buy a 3-CD box called Comedian Harmonists: Mein kleiner grüner Kaktus. At the time my ignorance of all things German was sufficiently great that I did not realize I had acquired a gem. (It didn't help the box had no liner notes.)
Aber jetzt, Sigi, sehe ich den Licht! My language skills may still be in the dark, but about the Comedian Harmonists I have seen the light. Founded in 1928 by a down-and-out baritone named Harry Frommermann, this all-male close-harmony sextet blossomed in the 30s, then slowly withered under the stifling cultural policies of the Third Reich. Three of the six were Jewish, and much of their material was by Jewish songwriters, so even though their immense popularity protected them for a while, they eventually split up, some to bitter exile and others to the dead end of official Nazi "folk music."
For a sprightly, touching telling of this tale, see The Harmonists (1997), a fine small film directed by Joseph Vilsmaier, best known the US for his grim but riveting Stalingrad (1993) (definitely not the Hollywood war treatment). If you share my (now jettisoned) prejudice that most German films are excessively marinated in angst, The Harmonists will cure you. It's not best music flick I've seen, and there are quite a few formulaic moments. But what's fascinating is how this German production avoids the truly tired formulas of Anglo-American films about the same period. In particular, the ever-so-Ayran bass, Robert Biberti (Ben Becker), is beautifully drawn, without an iota of the usual caricature.
If Americans had made this movie, the focus would have been on the group's ethnic diversity: three Jews (one from Poland), one Bulgarian, and two Germans coming together in perfect harmony, only to be destroyed by evil of racism. True enough, but wisely The Harmonists focuses less on the obvious political lesson than on the innocent, antic spirit of these young fellows as they cavort their way to the edge of the abyss. Let me put it this way: If you loved Life is Beautiful, then you'll probably like The Harmonists, and not only because the actor playing Harry (Ulrich Nöthen) looks like Roberto Begnini.
For more on the Comedian Harmonists, check out this website .
Posted by mbayles at 11:10 AM
January 14, 2006
Director's Cut (Burn, Shock, Waterboard ...)
Fear not, this thread won't last forever. But lately I've been troubled by the ubiquity of graphic torture scenes in mainstream movies, not to mention TV series - and even more bothered by the seeming inability of critics to address the moral dimension of what has clearly become an audience-pleasing shtick.
HBO is currently showing Man on Fire (2004), an action flick by Tony Scott, brother of Ridley, starring Denzel Washington as Creasy, a burnt-out Special Forces vet hired by a wealthy family in Mexico City to protect their little daughter Pita (Dakota Fanning) against mercenary kidnappers. The role seems tailored for Washington, because it exploits both ends of his spectrum: cold and bitter before befriending Pita, warm and sweet during their friendship, then cold and bitter again after the kidnappers grab her.
The torture occurs throughout the film's second half, when, believing Pita to be dead, Creasy takes bloody revenge on a colorful cross section of Mexico City's residents. About the various agonies we're invited to enjoy, let me just say that it is impressive what a resourceful inquisitor can do in a parked car using only duct tape, a sharp knife, and a dashboard cigarette lighter.
To be fair, some reviews of Man on Fire made the quasi-moral point that these scenes would be more thrilling if Creasy were trying to save Pita, not just wreak vengeance. But this implies that torture is, or should be, a routine part of police investigation. Indeed, the only honest cop, a visiting Italian Interpol officer (Giancarlo Giannini), seems content to let Creasy do his thing, because after all, "He can go places we can't."
Beyond this, the critics directed some outrage at the film's violation of the P.C. Code of Ethnic Representation, Chapter 27, Subsection 12, which reads: ""Films set in Latin American cities shall not have a preponderance of positive Anglo and negative Latino characters." Point taken. But while we're being thin-skinned, perhaps we should be a bit touchier about Hollywood's easy acceptance of a world where the rule of law has lost all meaning.
In the end, Creasy finds a way to redeem himself that gives the closing scenes unusual moral as well as emotional depth. But here the reviews were especially dispiriting. For instance, David Ng of the Village Voice concluded that this portrait of a killer trying to save his soul made the film "a right-wing fever dream, or perhaps just another day at the office for our country's leaders." When baroque evil is accepted as art, and genuine goodness dismissed as propaganda, then criticism has come to a sorry pass, indeed.
Posted by mbayles at 10:53 AM
January 7, 2006
What a Pain
One of the strongest arguments against torture was made recently by Vladimir Bukovsky, who spent twelve years in the Soviet gulag.Writing in the Washington Post, he noted that “Torture is the professional disease of any investigative machinery ... Investigation is a subtle process, requiring patience and fine analytical ability, as well as a skill in cultivating one’s sources. When torture is condoned, the rare talented people leave the service, ... and the service itself degenerates into a playground for sadists.”
If you need further evidence of this point without leaving the comfy precincts of entertainment, consider Hostel, the latest from Eli Roth, a writer-director who makes his mentor Quentin Tarantino look like Euripedes. Marketed as a campy horror flick, Hostel is something much uglier: an open invitation to share the pleasures of Bukovsky’s playground. (“There is a place where all your darkest, sickest fantasies are possible,” rasps the trailer.) When distributed overseas, this vomit will do a fine job of souring America’s feeble efforts at public diplomacy.
Posted by mbayles at 10:23 AM
December 22, 2005
Of Lions, Witches, and Noseless Demons
Two of the top-grossing movies in the world right now are The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire . Strange, isn't it, that these huge, loud, public spectacles began life as small, quiet, private children's books, suitable for bedtime reading?
Bedtime stories lead to dreams, though, and these dreams are now shared by millions. So perhaps it's worth asking whether there's any substance to the squabble over the role of magic in Harry Potter versus the allegorical Christianity in Narnia.
The Judeo-Christian objection to sorcery and the occult goes back to Deuteronomy, so it's hardly surprising that orthodox believers would object to the Harry Potter trope of brilliant lovable youngsters escaping the dull bourgeois world of non-magical humanity ("Muggles") for the fantastically exciting Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
But are the Harry Potter stories really about magic in this traditional sense? They revel entertainingly in its lore and trappings, to be sure. But the real source of the stories' emotional resonance is their vivid portrayal of a generation growing up amid an only slightly more fantastic version of 21st-century technology ( especially the extraordinarily transformative powers of digital electronic media as displayed in the films themselves!).
Like Harry, young people are better at commanding these powers than their elders. But unless they are studying micro-electronics, they have only a weak grasp of how their wonderful toys work. Hence the need for a few aging mentors who understand the origins and secrets of the magic they teach. (It is no accident that Hogwarts itself should resemble a pipe dream of Oxbridge.) But this creates a problem: these mentors are also supposed to impart great wisdom, not to mention an ethical code. And at this, they are pretty poor.
So while I admire the Potter books and (especially) films, I also think their religious critics have a point. Does the world of Hogwarts have a moral compass, apart from the vague benevolence of senior-citizen witches and wizards? The question matters in the real world, not just the fantasy one, and becomes more urgent as the films make the Faustian journey toward ever more malign magic. To judge by the raves of critics whose vocabulary extends from D (for "dark") to E (for "edgy"), these frail counselors may not be able to hold out against the fabulous noseless hideousness of Voltemort.
Meanwhile, Narnia has the opposite problem. The richly animated Aslan is a wonder, even before he starts growling in Liam Neeson's mellow baritone. But here the evil isn't vivid enough. The White Witch may satisfy religious viewers who grasp the symbolism of white witchcraft being just as bad as black. But to a generation raised on state-of-the-art bitchcraft, how scary are those frozen dreadlocks?
Moreover, Narnia lacks the contemporary resonance of Potter. Its human characters command no magic, being instead at the mercy of the unknown forces that transport them to and fro. They aren't passive, and the moral transformation of Edmund is more sophisticated than any lesson offered in Harry Potter. But compared with the students at Hogwarts, what do these kids actually get to do?
They get to wage a picturesque medieval war against the wrong sort of demons, in order to become the rightful rulers of the kingdom. Excuse me, but this is 2005, and it is hard to imagine a saga based on the divine right of kings packing the same emotional wallop as one about state-of-the-art wizardry being employed for evil purposes.
Posted by mbayles at 6:42 PM
December 19, 2005
Eye Candy
Memoirs of a Geisha is doing a brisk business in Japan, despite many cultural false notes. (Personally I am still wondering why all the US ads show Zhang Ziyi, the Chinese star of the film, as having blue eyes. What, she's not beautiful enough with the eyes God gave her? Why not make her a blonde, and call the movie "Memoirs of a Shiksa"?) But I digress. From press reports I gather that Japanese audiences adore the film, just as they adored the Tom Cruise missile, The Last Samurai (2003). And probably the reason is simple: these films are glorious to look at. The phrase "eye candy" comes from the TV producer Aaron Spelling, whose vapid productions are now justly forgotten (I don't think Love Boat even qualifies as camp.) But let's face it. Some confections are irresistible. If a chocolate Santa comes from Fassbender & Rausch, who cares if he looks like Howard Stern?
Posted by mbayles at 12:56 PM
December 17, 2005
Big-Oil-Ze-Bub
Beyond its dazzling settings, acting, and soundtrack; beneath the twists and turns of its fantastically pretzled plot; Syriana is based on a pretty dumbed-down idea: the root of all evil in the world - the Great Satan, if you will - is American Big Oil.
Wearing Hermes and Rolodex instead of horns and tails, the bad guys are instantly recognizable: glit-edged attorneys, greedy politicians, colluding bureacrats, and gimlet-eyed techno-warriors all orchestrating the assassination of Prince Nasir Al-Subaai (Alexander Siddig), the lone progressive leader in an unnamed Arab Emirate who is about to sign an oil deal with the Chinese.
Prince Nasir is Doing the Right Thing, because according to the prince's American consultant (Matt Damon), "the Americans are sucking the Emirate dry" and the prince cannot modernize or redistribute the wealth while "the Americans keep making demands."
Here is where the dumbing-down kicks in. The Chinese, evidently, are not going to make any demands or mismanage any natural resources. Is this because they have modeled their environmental policies on the wisdom of Chairman Muir ... er, Mao?
In another plot twist, Big-Oil-Ze-Bub is depicted as being directly responsible for terrorism. Not because the United States has invaded Iraq - that little detail is not mentioned in the film (too controversial, perhaps). No, the Evil One encourages terrorism through unfair employment practices. Early in the film, a group of Junior Managerial Demons summarily fire a hundred Pakistani workers, an unhappy event which leads directly to two sweet-faced young men being recruited by a suicide bomber cell.
Again, the meaning is clear. This sort of thing would not happen under the enlightened management policies of Beijing. (Or maybe we wouldn't hear about it, under the enlightened media policies of Beijing?)
I could go on. But suffice it to say that this film, like so many other "thought-provoking" Hollywood confections, provokes only one thought: Better the Devil we know ...
Posted by mbayles at 10:46 AM
December 4, 2005
I'm Available
My ever-elusive dream of snagging a Pentagon R&D contract may now be coming true. I understand why the military never asked me to design weapons systems, desert camouflage, or toilet seats. But now that they're in the propaganda business, I respectfully offer my services as a PR consultant.
My fees are pretty high, but not unreasonable when you consider how esoteric this PR stuff can be. Only a high-priced expert like me can understand some of this stuff. Here's one example:
If America wants to revive its Cold War image as a beacon of human rights, the perhaps we should not make illegal detention and torture a staple of our entertainment. Lately I've been struggling with an addiction to 24, the first TV series to succeed in turning the war on terrorism into family entertainment. Famous for its steroidally suspenseful plots that unfold in "real time," 24 contains scene after scene of systematic bloodletting, bonebreaking, electrocution, and summary execution of familiy members - acts performed as often, or more often, by the good guys as by the bad. The series is thoroughly gripping, and while the torture bits are not my reason for watching, they do make the show feel ... well, cutting edge.
How this plays overseas, I will be happy to speculate if the powers-that-be put me on retainer. Call me greedy, but I'm not the one driving up the price of common sense.
Posted by mbayles at 11:58 AM | Comments (0)
November 23, 2005
Video Virgil: Crash and Cranberry
Here's my recommended double bill for Thanksgiving: Crash, this year's dark film about ethnic collisions in Los Angeles, and What's Cooking (2000), a sunnier film that treats the same topic by following four L.A. families - one African American, one Jewish, one Latino, one Vietnamese - through the ups and downs of Thanksgiving.
Both fillms pull off the difficult trick of fully developing multiple plots and characters in the tight space of two hours. This is much harder to do in a feature than in cable TV, where series of 12 hours or more provide room for novelistic expansion. (Whether or not the results are novelistic, we can debate on a case-by-case basis.) Here, suffice it to say that the editors of Crash and What's Cooking, Hughes Winbourne and Janice Hampton, deserve kudos for fitting everything in without apparent strain.
Now for the critics. Read the reviews, and you will conclude that Crash is a better film than What's Cooking. Why? Because Art (upper-case A) rubs our noses in grim reality, and entertainment (strictly lower-case e) coddles us with feel-good fluff. Well, there is such a thing as feel-good fluff, and for a long time I avoided seeing What's Cooking because I assumed it would coddle me, and being coddled makes me grim.
I was wrong. There is a third category, one not generally acknowledged by the herd of independent critics: the category of delight. Like every city, Los Angeles does not lack for grimness. And while Crash cops out of the tragic endings it builds up to (perhaps because of audience testing?), it certainly convinces us that ethnic and racial friction can lead to tragedy.
But having lived in L.A. for several years, I do not accept the view that grimness is all. Just as the city does not lack for grimness, neither does it lack for delight. And the richly seasoned humor, pathos, and realism of What's Cooking captures that delight in a way that really does feel good. So for that, let us give thanks.
Posted by mbayles at 9:58 AM
November 20, 2005
Al-Hollywood
How do Arabs and Muslims around the world see America through the prism of Hollywood movies? For a sanguine account, see this article by Joseph Braude in the Los Angeles Times . It has been a long time since I have shared Mr. Braude's optimism about the export of American pop culture being good for our country's image. But it would be nice to agree with him!
Posted by mbayles at 3:02 PM
November 16, 2005
Video Virgil: Carmen and No Bull
On the theory that we bloggers should always write about what interests us, I hereby devote this entry to the 1984 film verson of Bizet's Carmen, directed by Francesco Rosi and starring Julia Migenes-Johnson and Placido Domingo. It is available on DVD from Netflix (bless Netflix).
Full disclosure: I just returned from a two-day conference on Carmen, for which I read the novella by Prosper Merimee, listened to the supreme recording with Maria Callas, and watched Rosi's marvelous film, which was shot on location in Spain and brims with movement and color, including two authentic bullfights.
Of course, authentic bullfights come at a price. Having opera stars lip-sync their way through action-packed scenes that they could not possibly perform while actually singing, creates a strange hybrid. One of my fellow participants, a seasoned performer, found it painfully distracting to watch Migenes-Johnson, Domingo, Faith Esham and the rest produce all that glorious music without any visible muscular strain. And he was right; it is distracting.
But so are the artifices of the stage. And if, like me, you are more movie buff than opera lover, then prepare to be as thoroughly seduced by this Carmen as Don Jose was by that gypsy girl who shattered his heart merely by throwing a flower at it.
Posted by mbayles at 9:55 PM | Comments (1)
November 5, 2005
SEX (NOT REALLY), LIES (A FEW), AND VIDEOTAPE (NONE)
Let me start on a positive note. For a film made in the present climate that dramatizes the 1953-1954 clash between Edward R. Murrow, the broadcast personality who pioneered the TV news magazine, and Joseph McCarthy, the Republican senator who gave anti-communism a bad name, Good Night, and Good Luck has many fine qualities. If you like rich black-and-white cinematography; precision-tooled acting (especially David Strathairn as Murrow); artful skeins of cigarette smoke; meticulous re-creations of early-1950s offices, TV studios, and hotel bars; and jazz standards sung by the incomparable Dianne Reeves, then you will relish every minute of this film, which was co-written and directed by George Clooney (who also plays CBS news producer Fred Friendly).
Or almost every minute. Curiously, the critics have ignored this movie’s most glaring artistic flaw: a subplot about Joe and Shirley Wershba, two Murrow associates who kept their happy marriage a secret because of CBS’s anti-nepotism rule. This is possibly the dullest subplot of modern times, made even duller by the casting of Robert Downey, Jr. and Patricia Clarkson, a couple who generate about as much spark as Kent cigarette stubbed out 50 years ago.
Why include this deadwood? My first impulse, naturally, was to blame the vast left-wing Hollywood conspiracy. By wasting valuable screen time on the Wershbas, Clooney and his boys avoided dealing with other, less boring subplots, such as the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe, the Maoist revolution in China, the perjury conviction of Alger Hiss, the successful testing of an atom bomb by the USSR, and the invasion of South Korea by the communist North.
But then a quick web-surf revealed that the Wershbas (now retired and living on Long Island, Joe after a 20-year career at "60 Minutes") were consultants to the film. So perhaps in exchange for sharing their valuable memories, they were granted the pleasure of seeing their youthful selves depicted onscreen. At the risk of coming off as a heartless movie critic, I must note that this pleasure is not likely to be shared by the rest of us.
But enough artistic quibbles. The reader is doubtless slavering for political red meat, especially since Clooney recently underwent the standard Midlife Mulholland Mutation from skylark star to activist asteroid. “He’s really interested in politics and social justice,” says friend and co-writer Grant Heslov. Last summer, Clooney attended the G-8 summit in Edinburgh, where he and other celebrities enlightened world leaders about poverty. To his credit, Clooney’s modest admission that the summit “taught me a lot of things” sets him apart from show-biz know-it-alls like Bono and Alec Baldwin.
But please. Of all the political districts burned over by righteous Hollywood, anti-communism is the most scorched. Again, it is to Clooney’s credit that he did not head straight for ground zero: the 1947-1948 hearings of the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) that resulted in the despised blacklist and the jailing of the Hollywood Ten – also known as the Unfriendly Ten (as in “unfriendly witnesses”). I believe it was Billy Wilder who remarked about these individuals: “Two were talented, the rest were just unfriendly.”
No, Clooney went for the slightly less burned-over district of TV news in its early fluid state, before it hardened into the monstrous shape we know and love today. Not surprisingly, the red meat here is anti-anti-communism – or if you prefer, red-baiter-baiting, performed at the highest level of photogenic integrity. The film neither stresses nor denies the fact that Murrow came late to this cause. By the time his program, “See It Now,” jumped on the anti-McCarthy bandwagon, it was already loaded with radio commentators, print journalists and editorialists, congressmen and senators from both parties, military brass, and the Eisenhower White House.
But no matter. If this movie achieves anything beyond flogging the well pulped carcass of McCarthy, that achievement will be its portrayal of how unfree TV was during its so-called Golden Age. One set of pressures was technological. Back in 1954 there was no such thing as videotape, so the closest “See It Now”got to actually seeing it now was sending a film crew into the field, shooting a few thousand feet, shipping the film back to New York, and hoping it could be developed and edited in time for the live broadcast. (All TV broadcasts were live at the time.)
This is what Murrow and Friendly did for their first indirect swipe at McCarthy: send a film crew to interview Milo Radulovich, a lieutenant in the air force reserve who had been forced to resign on the grounds that his father and sister were communist sympathizers. Radulovich came off well in the interview and was soon reinstated, an outcome depicted in the movie as a clear victory – although, as Glenn Garvin of the Miami Herald wrote recently, “Would we be comfortable these days with an Air Force officer with a security clearance whose father belonged to al Qaeda?”
The next attack was more direct, and less costly. Just as Frank Capra had made brilliant anti-Nazi propaganda by recycling clips from Leni Riefenstahl’s The Triumph of the Will, so did Murrow and Friendly make brilliant anti-McCarthy propaganda by recycling clips of McCarthy’s TV appearances dating back to 1950. As Andrew Ferguson has pointed out, the result was “a compendium of every burp, grunt, stutter, nose probe, brutish aside, and maniacal giggle the senator had ever allowed to be captured on film.” These same clips are blended into the movie so seamlessly, test audiences asked who was the actor playing McCarthy. (That’s easy: James Gandolfini wearing extra eyebrow pencil.)
The second set of pressures on TV news was commercial. Next to Strathairn’s, the film’s finest performance is Frank Langella’s as CBS president and chairman William S. Paley, a man who admired Murrow but also had to reckon with such harsh realities as the priorities of advertisers and the preferences of the viewing public. The scenes between the narrowly focused Murrow and the wider-ranging Paley are beautifully done, and convey a real lesson: to speak truth to power, you must have power yourself. And it doesn’t hurt if your suit is also bespoke.
The third pressures were, for lack of a better word, professional. After the burp-and-grunt portrait of McCarthy aired, the critic Gilbert Seldes, who was a friend of Murrow’s and no friend of McCarthy’s, wrote a scathing piece in which he raised important questions about the character-assassinating powers of TV and the limitations of the “equal time” principle. According to historian Michael Kammen, “Liberals were generally puzzled by Seldes’ concerns about precedent and high principles. The damaging substance of Murrow’s achievement seemed easily to outweigh what might happen, if, at some future time, the white hats became black hats and the process were reversed.”
Needless to say, these questions are still with us. And so are the three troublesome tendencies identified by Murrow in a 1958 speech before the Radio-Television News Directors Association in Chicago: “Decadence, escapism, and insulation.” Since Clooney re-created this speech as bookends to Good Night, and Good Luck, it seems only appropriate to evaluate the movie in these terms.
It isn’t really decadent, unless you count the smoking. As Jack Shafer pointed out in Slate, Strathairn is the best screen smoker since ... well, I’d say since Jeanne Moreau picked the tobacco off her tongue in Jules et Jim. Nor is it escapist like Julia, Fred Zinneman’s 1977 film about two women of the left, one of whom worships the other. Since Julia was based on the memoirs of Lillian Hellman, some critics wondered why it starred two actresses, Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave. The answer, of course, was that Hellman herself was two women, one of whom worshiped the other.
But Good Night, and Good Luck is insular. As mentioned, the only character whose mind ranges wider than a smoke ring is Paley, and his worries are mostly about the bottom line. And the decision not to have an actor play McCarthy – to reduce the dreaded witch hunter to a flickering shadow in a cathode ray tube – places the political reality of the time at an even greater remove than usual in such films. In the end, the movie is so swaddled in layers of artistic self-referentiality that it totally shuts out the concerns that made McCarthy’s witch hunt possible. Maybe the communists of the 1950s were not under every bed or in every State Department closet. But neither were they trick-or-treaters in black pointy hats. Some witches are real.
Originally published in the Weekly Standard, October 31, 2005
Posted by mbayles at 11:59 AM | Comments (0)
October 27, 2005
Talk About a Sleeper
While in Washington recently, I saw a new film called "The War Within." After sitting though any number of movies where members of the audience laugh at inappropriate moments -- especially scenes of cruelty and violence -- it was refreshing to be among film-goers who seemed genuinely sobered and moved by what they were watching.
Why? This is the most powerful depiction I have seen of contemporary terrorism. It's the story of a young Pakistani studying in Paris who becomes a suicide bomber after being arrested by American agents and "rendered" to Pakistan for torture.
Now, my expert informants tell me that very few torture victims become terrorists, which makes sense in a way. But the proximate cause of the young man's decision is less important than the ambivalence he experiences upon arriving in New York and witnessing the life of an old boyhood friend and his family. Their happiness attracts and repels him in equal measure, and his inner conflict is exquisitely portrayed.
Maybe I'll write more about this, but in the meantime, go see this film if it is anywhere near you, because it won't be in the theaters long. It opened in New York, got a tepid and evasive review from the Times, then disappeared. If you know why, please write and tell me.
Posted by mbayles at 8:53 AM | Comments (1)
October 4, 2005
Catch Up
According to my students, most of whom are compulsive instant-messengers, I am a very bad person, because while neglecting to feed my blog I have also failed to post an "away" message.
Here are two links that may help to explain, if not justify, recent neglect. One is an article in the Washington Post about the role of popular culture, including the movies, in shaping America's image abroad. The other is an online discussion that I did for the Post the next day.
Posted by mbayles at 1:01 PM | Comments (0)
September 11, 2005
Video Virgil: Make 'Em Laugh (Not Squirm)
A friend writes with this question:
"Have you seen the new 'thing' in Hollywood, the 'let's see how far we can go before we are told we are crass' comedies like 40 Year-Old Virgin and Wedding Crashers? God they are, at times, insanely funny, but I couldn't help but think that they are pushing the envelope in a pretty big way ... I went with my 16-year-old son to Virgin, and I am certain he wished he were with ANYONE other than his dad."
I confess to having deliberately missed these, due to extreme prejudice against Hollywood wanker humor that
goes back several years, when I bailed out of Something About Mary, and would have done the same with the original American Pie if I hadn't been a guest at the house of friends who insisted on watching it with their young teenage kids. On this occasion I was definitely on the side of all awkward 16-year-olds.
But before you cast me as the Church Lady, consider my delight in the fourth segment of Jim Jarmusch's little known Night on Earth (1991). You don't have to sit through the whole five segments about taxi drivers and their nighttime passengers in five different cities. Just cut to the one in which a Roman cabby (played by Roberto Benigni in his prime) picks up a gloomy elderly priest (Paolo Bonacelli) who agrees, against his better judgment, to hear the cabby's confession. The whole thing is in very bad taste, I assure you. But my rule is: when it gets that funny, it can be as gross as it wants.
Posted by mbayles at 8:35 PM | Comments (0)
September 3, 2005
Crunk News Network
After yesterday. I don't believe I'll watch CNN again for a long time. Aaron Brown's bosom can heave all it wants about "race and class" in flood-ravaged New Orleans; his sighs look hypocritical against that endlessly looping clip of a demented-looking black man woofing at the camera by the Superdome.
Some negative images are newsworthy - looting and dead bodies, for example. We don't want to see them, but up to a point, we must.
But why this guy? Why, out of thousands of people in and around the Superdome, did CNN choose to put a face on the suffering with this bad imitation of "crunk" rapper Lil Jon? Is it because crunk just happens to be the most popular style of rap in the country right now? Is CNN is competing with MTV?
Say it ain't so, Aaron. Your bosom heaves so professionally, I almost forget that your reporters can't seem to make contact with any of the thousands of ordinary people enduring the hunger, thirst, filth, heat, and desperate anxiety of this terrible week. Like President Bush staging a Bill Clinton bear hug with two young girls who despite their brown skin were not African Americans, your intrepid reporters seem incapable of stepping across the divide and actually interacting with "them."
Everyone's bashing the public sector this week, but one of the things it has been doing right is cover this story. In one hour last evening, PBS's "Newshour with Jim Lehrer" reported more about the crisis than ten hours of CNN. Not only did they interview a real reporter, Peter Slevin of the Washington Post, who left the CNN folks bobbing in his wake, they also found some down-to-earth, sensible African Americans to testify what they were going through. Let's hear it for bold investigative reporting!
Posted by mbayles at 10:54 AM | Comments (1)
August 30, 2005
Reply to Rachel
Thank you for your very thoughtful response to my cultural diplomacy piece and discussion (see Rachel's comments and links below). You raise the essential and most vexed issue of all, which is the use and abuse of liberty in a supposedly self-governing regime. I offer some general comments on this below.
But since this is a film blog, let me first mention a movie that for me captures this issue in an incredibly timely way: My Son the Fanatic (1997), based on the novel and screenplay by Hanif Kureishi. It is about an Indian taxi driver (played brilliantly by Om Purim) in the north of England, whose son is so offended by his father’s assimilation to decadent British society that he joins a fundamentalist Islamist group.
The father’s decadence consists of having a crush on a hooker whom he drives around the city, and at the end of the workday, drinking a scotch and listening to his beloved jazz records. But to the son's new mentors, the old man might just as well be a violent rapist shooting heroin and listening to death metal. Fanatics don't make distinctions.
But distinctions must be made: first, between ordinary mortals struggling to behave decently and perfectionists who seek to reconstruct human nature by any means necessary; and second, between the humane loosening of puritanical constraint and the out-of-control indulgence of appetite.
As you so wisely note, people around the world are drawn to the freedoms enjoyed in America. But they are also repulsed by the abuse of these freedoms - and this is true of ordinary mortals, not just fanatics. When people in traditional societies look at us, what they see most glaringly is what Isaiah Berlin called “negative liberty,” or freedom from tradition, religion, family, restraint of all kinds. As Berlin argued, this contrasts with the “positive liberty” to participate in the governing of one's country - and oneself.
Right now our public diplomacy (such as it is) touts "freedom" as our highest ideal, meaning self-government. But our popular culture often (not always) touts negative liberty. It would be nice to think we could craft a cultural diplomacy that conveys this distinction. But first we must remind ourselves that it exists.
Posted by mbayles at 10:21 AM
August 20, 2005
The Talented Mr. Minghella
This summer I've spent a fair amount of time gazing gloomily at the mountain of pony manure that comprises the movies, and feeling like laying down my shovel. Then I watch a DVD interview with the British writer-director Anthony Minghella, and suddenly I'm digging again.
The interview is on the DVD of Minghella's directorial debut, Truly, Madly, Deeply (1991), a low-bucks, high-bang portrait of a woman grieving for her husband after his sudden death from a sore throat. If that sounds a bit odd, the film is odder still, ranging from twee comedy (don't you just love foreign words?) to Sophoclean tragedy, all effortlessly brought off by the superb Juliet Stevenson and Alan Rickman (as the grief-summoned ghost of the husband).
A successful playwright and screenwriter, Minghella turned down a chance to start directing with an episode of Inspector Morse (where he was a regular writer), because as he says, if he was going to screw up, he preferred to do so on an obscure film rather than on the top-rated TV show in Britian.
He didn't screw up: Truly won several prizes and launched his directing career, which now includes The Talented Mr. Ripley, The English Patient, and Cold Mountain.
All three are literary adaptations, and it's interesting to read Minghella's comments about the process in a recent online interview .
In that interview he talks about two of the authors, Michael Ondaatje (The English Patient) and Charles Frazier (Cold Mountain), as though they were Tolstoy and Turgenev. He is being too modest. Both films are a bit on the precision-tooled, precious side, like the novels. But they are also livelier and more robust than the novels, and surely Minghella knows that.
Which way will Minghella jump now? Into the manure, it would seem from his recent venture into executive producing: the vacuous dud The Interpreter. Personally, I wish he'd go back to writing original screeplays for ponies like Juliet Stevenson.
Posted by mbayles at 10:22 AM | Comments (0)
August 17, 2005
Reel Faster, This One's Getting Away
The saga of the dying movie theater continues...
In today's NY Times, Bruce Weber reports on the latest attempt of the theater chains to lure adults out of their homes to watch movies: "luxury" theater accommodations.
One megaplex is described as "an ornate, Mediterranean style" temple suggesting "the ambience of a las Vegas hotel." Another pays "homage to the faux-Mediterranean" look of Boca Raton. Several boast baby-sitting services (don't ask), cash bars, and full course meals - all before the happy patrons sink into their "plush wide seats" next to "small tables with sunken cup holders" to watch ... The Dukes of Hazzard.
Where to begin? First, "homage to the faux" sounds a tad too authentic for me - better to wait for the next generation: perhaps the sand-castle imitation of the papier mache version of the virtual hologram copy?
Second, the luxuries on offer sound suspiciously like those of old-fashioned dinner theater, only without the thrill of a semi-live performance.
Third, do they really expect to sell all that booze and then show a two-hour movie without what the Germans call "eine pinkel Pause"?
And fourth ... The Dukes of Hazzard?
Posted by mbayles at 1:23 PM
August 11, 2005
Video Virgil: The Wire 2
David Simon, the former Baltimore Sun reporter who created the powerful HBO series The Wire, has strong political views. For example, he told Reason magazine that he regards the war on drugs as pointless:
A guy said, "Well, what is the solution? Give me the paragraph; give me the lede. What’s the solution, if not drug prohibition?" I very painstakingly said: "Look. For 35 years, you’ve systematically deindustrialized these cities. You’ve rendered them inhospitable to the working class, economically. You have marginalized a certain percentage of your population, most of them minority, and placed them in a situation where the only viable economic engine in their hypersegregated neighborhoods is the drug trade. Then you’ve alienated them further by fighting this draconian war in their neighborhoods, and not being able to distinguish between friend or foe and between that which is truly dangerous or that which is just illegal. And you want to sit across the table from me and say ‘What’s the solution?’ and get it in a paragraph? The solution is to undo the last 35 years, brick by brick. How long is that going to take? I don’t know, but until you start it’s only going to get worse." And the guy looked at me and went, "But what’s the solution?"
Yet at the same time, Simon made it clear that he did not intend The Wire to be protest art:
The Wire will have an effect on the way a certain number of thoughtful people look at the drug war. It will not have the slightest effect on the way the nation as a whole does business. Nor is that my intent in doing the show. My intent is to tell a good story that matters to myself and the other writers -- to tell the best story we can about what it feels like to live in the American city.
And indeed, the entire first season unfolds without a single reference to the loss of jobs in America's inner cities. Instead, it dramatizes how disconnected the residents of West Baltimore housing projects are from the rest of society. The only man with a job is a janitor who, having turned state's witness, is shot to death in the first episode.
It's disappointing, therefore, to encounter a bunch of political speeches in the second season of The Wire. This time, the police are investigating links between a Greek crime syndicate and the stevedores' union, whose Polish-American boss, Frank Sobotka (Chris Bauer) needs cash not to line his pocket but to grease the palms of politicians willing to vote for improvements in the city's dying port.
Like the drug kingpins in the projects, Frank is a vivid and convincing character. And here, too, the economic plight of the city is made abundantly clear through the unfolding of a well designed plot. So it's a real flaw to have Frank spend so much time on his proletarian soapbox. This sort of thing rang hollow back in the 1930s, and today it rings both hollow and weirdly antique. The point is, we get the point!
Posted by mbayles at 12:01 PM | Comments (1)
August 8, 2005
Quote for the Day
Fellow AJ blogger Drew McManus writes: "I wonder if David Carr has some strategy for the movie business to improve?" Good question. In the immortal words of Sol Hurok: "If people don't want to come, nothing will stop them."
Posted by mbayles at 12:32 PM
Bold Business Analysis
In the Business section of today's New York Times, David Carr reports that the "boomer moguls" (Spielberg, Geffen, et al) never achieved the total control of the movie-making process enjoyed by the first generation of studio bosses.
Stay awake, it gets better. The article's conclusion is worth quoting for the sheer beauty of its illogic:
The people who built the current version of Hollywood did so by coming up with movies that people felt compelled to see - not as a matter of marketing, but as a matter of taste. What was once magic, creating other worlds in darkened rooms, has become just one more revenue stream. The movies have been commoditized [sic] to even more lucrative ends, and the men who made it so will shift in their seats as the credits roll.
Now we know. The movies are losing money because thay have become "commoditized," and if they would just quit being so damn "lucrative," the audience would return. OK, it's a slow news day in August. But even the crickets work harder than this.
Posted by mbayles at 7:00 AM | Comments (0)
August 1, 2005
Video Virgil: Hooked
Most fans of the 3-year-old HBO series The Wire started out sniffing and skin-popping: one hour-long episode a week, with the habit building up slowly over time. Me, I went straight to mainlining the stuff: over the last several days I've watched the whole first season, and until the next batch of DVDs arrives, I'm stuck here with a severe jones, craving my next dose of sorry-ass Baltimore cops, drug dealers, mixed-up kids, and cynical city officials.
Thanks to rap, movies, and video games, the hardcore urban setting of this show feels familiar to millions of viewers who have never been anywhere near places like the projects of West Baltimore. But here's the amazing thing about The Wire: unlike most of the entertainments that trade in what hip-hop pioneer Bill Stephney calls "the ghetto orthodoxy," it doesn't sensationalize the place or the people. Rather it humanizes them.
To appreciate this, you have to get past the language, which (as was once said about the British Army) uses "fuckin'" to indicate the approach of a noun. Even the middle-class characters talk like this, and after a while, it has the same effect as the childhood game of repeating a word until it loses all meaning.
But that's my only complaint. The point of comparison here is The Sopranos, a show I would admire more, were it not for its juvenile compulsion to push out what's left of my envelope. The Wire couldn't care less about my envelope. In this first season, the drug kingpins meet in a "gentleman's club," but the camera doesn't ogle the bobbling silicone. People get killed, but there aren't any Tarantinoesque scenes of inept gangsters chopping up a body in a bathtub.
Instead, The Wire is about something truly shocking: power and politics, especially as played out within small organizations (the drug ring) and large bureaucracies (the police department). If you start tracing the parallels between these two worlds, and noting the similar ways they exploit and then stifle what's best in human nature, then you'll be getting the point of The Wire. But I warn you: it's addictive!
Posted by mbayles at 5:30 PM
July 29, 2005
Computers Can't Draw
According to the Canadian Broadcast Corporation's website , the Walt Disney Company has announced the closing of its last "hand-drawn animation studio": DisneyToon Studio in Sydney, Australia. All animated features will now be "computer animated." The clear implication, deliberate or not, is that the human hand (and mind and imagination) is getting squeezed out of an increasingly automated industry.
Not so. Computers can't draw. Nor can they design characters. And if I'm not mistaken, neither can they map out the broad gestures and movements that carry animated action. These tasks have always been done by artists, and (until computers get as creative as people) they always will be.
For a fascinating glimpse into the process, rent the DVD of The Incredibles and watch the interviews and production features that accompany the film. Or try Prince of Egypt, the Dreamworks version of Exodus that, despite major liberties (the correct word is really idiocies) regarding the substance, is technically one of the most brilliant animated features ever made, combining hand-drawn and computer techniques.
Computers are not the enemy. What they can do, very efficiently, is the laborious work of "in-betweening": that is, filling in all the small incremental movements between Nemo hearing a scary noise and Nemo turning around to swim the other way. This work has been outsourced to other countries for years; and it is true, the better in-betweeners sometimes rise to the top and become master animators and character designers. So in that respect the closing of DisneyToon is a loss.
But in-betweening is not the only way, or even the best way, to learn how to draw. Training the eye and hand is basically the same process it always was, so my best advice to the aspiring animator is take a good drawing class!
Of course, this is all coming from a frustrated animator who confesses to hoping that a billioniare will give her the budget to hire the best classical draftsmen and women and make glorious grownup animated features of the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Aeneid, followed by the Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso.
P.S. After posting this entry, I caught up with the article in the Chicago Sun Times about the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, currently in the headlines as the designer of the Fordham Spire. After watching Calatrava sketch a tree then a figure, Sun Times architecture critic Kevin Nance is so impressed he exclaims, "What a Disney animator he would have been!" Guess I'm not alone in my grownup animation fantasy...
Posted by mbayles at 10:18 AM
July 28, 2005
Hustle & Annoy?
Haven't seen the new "crunk" rap movie, Hustle & Flow, but from what I can gather, it is not sitting well with a number of African-American commentators. See articles by Stanley Crouch of the New York Daily News and Wesley Morris of the Boston Globe, just to name two.
Posted by mbayles at 9:33 PM
July 26, 2005
That's Entertainment
Recently I compared Hotel Rwanda (excellent) with Sometimes in April (excellent in a different way: the lead actor cannot compete with the brilliant Don Cheadle, but the film itself feels more authentic). Anyway, Rwanda is at least a visible blip on the media screen these days, which is ironic, given what Nicholas Kristof writes in today's New York Times about the unspeakable neglect of Darfur by the so-called network news. Maybe ten years from now, a dramatic film about the genocide in Darfur will win a prize at Sundance, and we can all enjoy feeling bad about what we didn't do today.
Posted by mbayles at 10:20 AM
July 21, 2005
Video Virgil: Saint Che...Not
I loved The Motorcycle Diaries. Warm, funny, emotionally powerful, it takes the viewer on a visually stunning journey northward along the mountainous spine of South America with two young Argentinians, dreamy Ernesto and earthy Alberto, who rattle along like a mid-20th-century Don Quijote and Sancho Panza on an oil-spitting Rocinante, until they discover their destiny, which is to trade their bourgeois future for a life devoted to the poor.
I also loved the soulful performances of the two stars, Gael Garcia Bernal and Rodrigo de la Serna, and of all the other actors and non-actors who grace the screen. In the best sense, this is not Hollywood.
But it is also not true. Maybe Ernesto "Che" Guevara was brave, kind, and loving when young. But he didn't stay that way. In a 1967 address to his fellow communists, he highlighted the importance of "hatred as an element of the struggle; unbending hatred for the enemy, which pushes a human being beyond his natural limitations, making him into an effective, violent, selective, and cold-blooded killing machine."
To place this remark into the context of Guevara's actual career, see this article by Peruvian historian Alvaro Vargas Llosa in the current New Republic. After reading that essay, you may want to retire your Che T-shirt and pick up your Cervantes.
Posted by mbayles at 10:45 AM
July 15, 2005
New Releases: Beyond the Sea
The best thing about Beyond the Sea, Kevin Spacey's uneven biopic about Bobby Darin, is its sympathy for the awkward position Darin occupied, in the 1950s and 60s, between pop music and rock'n'roll. Born Walden Robert Cassotto in 1936, Darin was only one year younger than Elvis. But he was not a Southerner; he was an Italian-American from the Bronx, and his dominant musical influences were not the great black and white stars of rhythm & blues, country & western, and gospel, but the great Italian pop singers, from Tony Bennett to Sinatra.
Pop was the residue of the big band era, a music focused on the fine-grained, microphone-magnified vocalism disparaged as "crooning" by ignorant critics. It could be that, but when practiced by singers as subtle and brilliant as Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Torme, or Sarah Vaughan, it approaches the sublime. (See related entry under Soundtrax.)
All the more pity today's young 'uns don't know any better than to call this whole body of work "lounge music." Blame their parents: for the 60s generation, pop was the ancien régime against which their beloved rock'n'roll was the revolution.
So Darin turned to pop in 1959 and never let go (I will pass in respectful silence over his early 70s foray into "folk"). For all its faults (and there are many), Beyond the Sea is worth seeing for the sheer effort Spacey makes to replicate that bygone sound and attitude - an effort all the more poignant because Darin himself was replicating it. Bless him, he was an anachronism all his life.
Posted by mbayles at 11:00 PM
July 14, 2005
All Of The Above
It's been fun speculating about the box office slump - almost as much fun as watching the record industry collapse under its own weight. But I'm going to have to find another subject to write about, because Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle has summed up the entire situation.
With particular delight I recommend Mr. LaSalle's "Reason 6: Going to the Movies on a Saturday Night Has Become a Fairly Hideous, Repulsive Experience":
Art houses and repertory houses are exempt from this observation. Those theaters preserve the moviegoing experience as a fun, rewarding collective activity. But to spend Saturday night going to see a major release at a multiplex can be more stressful than going to work the first Monday after vacation.
It costs $10 for a ticket and almost another 10 for something at the concession stand, and you have to wait in line to buy both. To get a decent seat, you have to get there 20 minutes before the show starts, and once it starts, you have to sit through seven or eight trailers, then advertisements for TV shows and then commercials.
By now, 50 minutes have gone by and you haven't seen anything. Finally, the movie comes on, and it's lousy. It ends, and you get banged around to the exit and then have the fun of fighting with your fellow patrons to get out of the parking lot. And half of them are so jacked up by caffeine and screen violence that they think they're Vin Diesel.
Posted by mbayles at 9:48 AM
July 12, 2005
Set Straight
I thank Dr. Taso G. Lagos for the following correction of an important detail in my July 4 posting, "The East is Green":
You indicated that since 1948 it has been illegal for movie studios to produce, distribute AND also own the theaters in which the films are shown. This practice is called "vertical integration." While it was illegal after 1948, since 1985, under the Reagan Administration, those prohibitions [the Paramount Consent Decrees] have been relaxed and now most major movie houses in America are owned by the major studios (the only exception is Disney, which at this writing, does not own any interest in movie theaters). So in Time Warner opening up theaters in China, this is hardly unusual. It has been going on here for 20 years, although silently ... By "silently" I mean that it was not widely publicized that this change took place in the mid-1980s. So far as I know, only the Wall Street Journal reported about it, and it was not a big deal.
Posted by mbayles at 9:46 AM
July 8, 2005
Up Close and Personal
Maybe the world is past wondering what goes on in the minds of suicide bombers. But what about a suicide bomber who is deeply conflicted about her mission and could go either way? In the aftermath of the London attacks, I recommend a quiet but powerful little film called "The Terrorist."
Written and directed by Santosh Sivan, this 1999 film relates the story of Malli (Ayesha Dharker), a young Indian woman who, wishing to revenge the death of her brother, volunteers to assassinate a political figure by serving as an official greeter who while offering him flowers will detonate a bomb hidden under her clothing.
The camera follows Malli through every step of preparing, then waiting, for the explosion that will rip apart her body and that of her victim. I put it that way because Malli's body, in all its vitality, youth, and sensuous delight, is very much the star of this film.
Malli doesn't talk much; she listens. She listens to her handlers: ideologues who, while not religious (the film is based on the 1991 assassination of Rajiv Gandhi), clearly see the life of ordinary people as vastly inferior to the death of glorious martyrs. But Malli also listens to birds, breezes, bubbling brooks, and her own heartbeat - not to mention the voices of other human beings who do not share the fanaticism du jour. And in the end...
Posted by at 1:50 AM
July 6, 2005
No Room At Hotel Rwanda
Amazingly, a better film than "Hotel Rwanda"aired on HBO this March and is now available on DVD. Don't be fooled by the wistful title; this drama set during and after the 1994 genocide in Rwanda is about as uncompromising as a film can be, and still be watchable.
Mercifully, "Sometimes in April" does not show much more graphic violence than "Hotel Rwanda" does. But by focusing on the lives of a half-dozen people for whom refuge in the Hotel Milles Collines was not an option, it brings us closer to the full horror of those terrible 100 days, when hate-maddened Hutus slaughtered almost a million of their Tutsi and Hutu countrymen.
What I find most impressive is the skill with which writer-director Raoul Peck weaves a handful of personal stories into the fabric of a national catastrophe. This is hard to do well, as most would-be historical storytellers soon discover.
But after a slow start, we become totally absorbed in the fates of Augustin (Idris Elba), a Hutu soldier who refuses to join the killing; his wife Jeanne (Carole Karemera), a Tutsi who tries to escape with her children; Augustin's brother Honoré (Oris Erhuero), a radio host who as the story opens is being tried by a 2004 war crimes tribunal for having broadcast hate propaganda; and finally, Martine (Pamela Novete), the headmistress of a Catholic school attended by Augustin's and Jeanne's daughter.
These are urban middle-class people and therefore easy for Westerners to identify with. But unlike "Hotel Rwanda," which further cultivates the Western viewer by including sympathetic American and European characters, "Sometimes in April" draws us toward the rural poor, including some older people (not actors) whose brief appearances evoke both the searing emotion and the exhausted indifference felt by anyone who survives events like those of April 1994.
A personal note: both films cut away to Washington, DC, where the Clinton administration was stepping on its own tongue trying not to use the G-word, because to call what was happening "genocide" would have obliged the world to take action. It's easy to denounce well fed officials for doing nothing, but I was living in Washington at that time, and that same month was the publication date of a book I had been working on for a long time. So I spent those 100 days flogging my book. This is never a pretty sight, but it is even less so in the sobering hindsight provided by this film.
Posted by at 3:00 PM
July 4, 2005
The East Is Green
Ever since 1948, when the Justice Department won its lawsuit, U.S. v. Paramount, against the major movie studios, it has been illegal for a company to produce and distribute movies while also owning the theaters in which they are shown.
If you read carefully the article in today's New York Times about the high hopes of Hollywood in China, you will notice that the rule laid down by that 1948 case does not apply there. For example, Time Warner is investing not only in production and distribution but also in "more than 70 cinemas around the country in preparation for a potential theater-going boom."
Americans like to think that our movies are just so wonderful, the world can't get enough of them. On the whole, we reject the left's now stale-sounding accusations of "US cultural imperialism." But despite the genuine popularity of our films worldwide, there has always been an element of coercion involved, as well as a distinctly double standard regarding business ethics.
This is an old story. During World War I, the fledgling studios made domestic propaganda films for the Committee on Public Information, and after the war, Washington repaid the studios by pressuring war-weakened European governments to allow the import of US films. Without this help, countries like France (then the leading supplier of films in the world) would have been more successful in keeping the US out of European markets.
This process got racheted up after World War II, when despite much rhetoric about free markets, Washington exerted extremely heavy pressure toward the same goal, while in the process allowing the studios to engage in monopolistic practices overseas that were outlawed at home. In a nutshell, they were allowed to form a cartel, the Motion Picture Export Association, that conspired against foreign theater owners by acting as a single distributor, booking films in �blocks,� threatening to cut off supply if theater owners showed non-US films, and allocating foreign profits based on domestic box-office receipts.
The studios were also given a huge advantage over foreign competitors by the Informational Media Guaranty Program (1948), which reimbursed them in dollars for all films sold to countries with soft or inconvertible currencies. And finally, the Marshall Plan for Europe contained provisions linking financial aid to the willingness of foreign governments to reduce or eliminate import quotas on American films.
A few years later, TV followed same pattern. In 1960 the Television Program Export Association enlisted the aid of the State Department in overcoming foreign resistance to �Batman,� �Mod Squad,� and �The Fugitive.� Especially after the movie studios began producing TV shows, they made the same case for the small screen that they had made for the large - that exporting entertainment was not just good business but also good PR. As Harrison Salisbury once said, �American pictures are the best and most forceful medium for selling the United States.�
This may still be good business, but is it good PR? That is a question very much on my mind these days...
Posted by at 1:45 AM
June 30, 2005
Good News! More Manure!
In a fine piece outlining all the reasons why movie theaters are hemorrhaging money these days, the Baltimore Sun quotes the upbeat projection of Dan Fellman, president of Warner Bros. distribution: "We could still have that surprise this year."
What surprise? "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" in July, and "The Dukes of Hazzard" in August. And if these fail to reverse the tide (perish the thought), other industry spokesmen predict a really big summer next year, when millions of excitement-starved theatergoers will flock to blockbuster sequels like "Mission: Impossible 3," "X-Men 3," "Superman Returns," "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," and "Indiana Jones 4."
Usually I am the child who believes that with all this crap, there must be a pony in there somewhere. But even I get tired of digging when the pile just keeps getting higher.
Posted by at 10:00 AM
Video Virgil: Seniority
Neither Istv�n Szab� nor Ronald Harwood are getting any younger, and it has been a long time since W. Somerset Maugham topped the bestseller list. Maybe that's why several critics praised Annette Bening's performance in "Being Julia" but disparaged the film itself, adapted from Maugham's 1937 novel, "Theatre," about a 40-something actress in 1930s London trying to stay in the game.
Roger Ebert described the "basic material" as "wheezy melodrama"; Mark Kermode of the Guardian called the film "contrived fluff"; and Slate's David Edelstein found aspects of it "shopworn" and "old-fashioned." These comments are surprising, given the perennial appeal of the 1930s and 40s in films of all kinds.Why pick on "Being Julia"? The answer, I fear, is that it is about a theme most film critics do not find interesting: how a woman of a certain age needs just the right mixture of defiance and resignation.
In the few films that bother to treat women over 40 as people rather than stock characters or props, defiance is the preferred mode, because the assumption is that (to quote Cole Porter) the gals who are no longer hot tomatoes are yesterday's mashed potatoes. If Stella Can't Get Her Groove Back, why go on living? This is why, when Julia starts an affair with a much younger man, Tom (Shaun Evans), we are supposed to applaud her brave, futile gesture but then wait for her to lose him and then fade bitterly away.
She doesn't, of course, which is why so many women admire this film. But here's where the resignation comes in, because defiance only takes Julia so far. She cannot be hotter than Avice (Lucy Punch), the gangly blonde who seduces both Tom and her husband (Jeremy Irons). But she can be cooler. After gloriously upstaging Avice, and everyone else, Julia does something women in movies rarely do: she dines alone, content to be in her own company. If this is wheezy, contrived, shopworn, and old-fashioned, please tell me what other movies made it so.
Posted by at 8:00 AM
June 4, 2005
Video Virgil: Deep Grey
Are the American occupation forces in Afghanistan and Iraq heroes or villains? The world is full of righteous souls who know the answer and will brook no argument. But to anyone who reflects on what those forces have been asked to do, the answer looks grey.
That is why, when the time comes to make a meaningful film about America's war on terror, I nominate a South African, Ronald Harwood, to write the screenplay, and a Hungarian, Istv�n Szab�, to direct. Harwood's credits include "The Pianist" (2002), "Cry, the Beloved Country" (1995), "The Browning Version" (1994), "The Dresser" (1983), and "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" (1970); while Szab�'s include "Sunshine" (1999) and "Mephisto" (1981).
Harwood and Szab� recently collaborated on "Being Julia" (2004), about an aging actress in 1930s London. But more pertinent to today's distressing headlines is "Taking Sides" (2001), a remarkable film about the interrogation of the eminent German conductor, Wilhelm F�rtwangler, by U.S. occupation authorities right after the war.
Set amid the rubble of bombed-out Berlin, "Taking Sides" stars Stellan Skarsg�rd as F�rtwangler, a proud, weary highbrow who served but also defied the Nazi regime; and Harvey Keitel as Major Steve Arnold, an edgy, aggressive lowbrow who takes very much to heart the de-nazification directive not to be fooled by German charm or intelligence.
Already you can see the difference between "Taking Sides" and the long line of Hollywood flicks stretching back to "Judgment at Nuremberg." In most of those films, the victorious Yanks have all the advantages, not just the obvious moral one but civilizational ones, as well. With the possible exception of Jimmy Cagney hamming it up as a Coca-Cola carpetbagger in Billy Wilder's hilarious "One, Two, Three" (1961), victorious Yanks in Hollywood movies tend to be just as cultivated as the Germans, only much nicer about it.
Not Major Arnold. He doesn't know Beethoven from Br�ckner, and he could give a flying fig. What he cares about is screwing any sonofabitch who played footsie with the bastards responsible for Bergen-Belsen. He is a combination rare in the movies: a crude bully who also happens to be right. And the only reason we applaud his bullying is because it is in service to a political system that (most of the time) places curbs on the freedom of bullies. By making the victor a worse man than the vanquished, this film achieves a tragic sense that is unusual, to say the least, in this genre.
The tragic sense is heightened by terrific performances by two young actors playing Major Arnold's assistants: Birgit Minichmayr as Emmi Straube, the daughter of one of the officers who plotted to kill Hitler; and Moritz Bleibtreu as Lt. David Wills, a German-born Jew whose parents sent him to America just before the rest of the family were engulfed. Although "Taking Sides" errs in not emphasizing fully the evidence that led to F�rtwangler's eventual acquittal, it more than makes up for that by revealing the deep grey depths where justice is never more than an approximation.
Posted by at 2:20 AM
May 25, 2005
Hacks and Flacks: The State of Arts Criticism
Columbia University reported Monday that it is closing its well known National Arts Journalism Program. AJ helmsman Doug McLennan and fellow blogger Jan Herman have been posting insightful commentary about this, and the LA Times has published a long piece about the decline of traditional criticism.
I have a lot more than two cents riding on this debate, but for the moment, let me ante up the following:
The overriding problem is what linguist Deborah Tannen calls "the argument culture": the media�s habit of framing every topic as a highly polarized debate between two extremes, even when this is not appropriate. This has a distorting effect on many issues, including the arts. Just think about the quality of discussion, even among reputable critics, on issues like government funding of the arts; violence in entertainment; censorship and the Internet; and the "canon" in the humanities.
These powerful cross currents can be tricky for critics and other arts journalists to negotiate, especially they are operating in a culture that does not have any coherent, agreed-upon standards by which to make aesthetic judgments. Too often, critics and reviewers muddle along, using several competing standards, each inherited from a different phase in the history of Western art.
What critics have trouble doing is developing their own robust, well grounded taste. "Taste" is an antique concept but an irreplaceable one. Most people, even cultural theorists who would not grant the concept any credence in their academic work, exercise taste all the time in their non-academic life. Just ask them about the last movie they saw, or (even better) the music their kids are listening to.
But because taste is something of a taboo topic in academia, many well credentialed critics do not feel very confident of their own judgment, which makes them vulnerable to being swept up by one or the other side in the so-called culture war. Next thing the hapless critic knows, he or she has become a hack: someone who writes about the arts from an overly ideological perspective.
Hacks exist on both sides of the political fence. But hackdom is always a dead end.
On the left, the hack soon reaches an impasse: while making a principled case for total artistic freedom, he or she must accept ever greater excess from what I call the culture of transgression - art whose sole purpose is to �shock the bourgeois� (assuming this can still be done).
On the right, the hack faces a contradiction: on the one hand, a libertarian shrug that assigns all evaluative functions to the market; and on the other, a righteous crusade that looks askance at any work not didactically committed to religious and moral uplift.
Caught in this cross current, the unwary critic steers by his or her subjective judgment. Readers accept this, because it is typically assumed that aesthetic judgments are wholly subjective. But danger arises when the rudderless subjectivity of the journalist meets the blandishments of PR people in the arts, to say nothing of entertainment. Before you can say "flack,� the critic is repeating the latest press releases and dropping the hottest names.
These pressures can be resisted, but only if the budding critic takes the time to think through the essential questions of aesthetic standards: where they come from, how they have changed, what their truth claims are, and how they operate in a diverse, decentralized, pluralistic culture like ours. I don't know for sure, but I doubt whether the case for arts journalism programs is often made in these terms.
Posted by at 1:15 AM
May 23, 2005
Redford Logs On To SP!?!
You can interpret the following however you like, but I am choosing to conclude from it that my recent postings have caught the eye of Robert Redford. (As you read this, Mr. R., don't forget about the latte.)
From the New York Times (May 23, 2005):
ARTS, BRIEFLY
Compiled by BEN SISARIO
"Sundance to Open Theater Chain"
"The Sundance Group, owned by Robert Redford, will open a chain of theaters for independent, documentary and foreign-language films, as well as some studio projects, The Associated Press reported. The new chain, Sundance Cinemas, is to be operated by the theater management team of Paul Richardson and Bert Manzari, who have worked together since opening a theater in 1975. The number of new theaters was not announced, but Mr. Manzari said Sundance Cinemas is looking nationally for locations."
Posted by at 12:10 PM
May 21, 2005
One-Horse Town Gets It Right
Colleen Schmoyer writes from Annville, PA:
"Take heart, for even in my one-horse town of Annville near Hershey,
Pennsylvania, we have a benevolent man that renovated a 30's-era theatre above and beyond its original glory, but kept the good parts (like the removable-type marquee) and added an adjoining, hip cafe. The Allen shows a mixture of first- and second-run mainstream and independent films, as well as playing host to some jazz and live theatre events. People increasingly come from Harrisburg (the capital of Pennsylvania) just to see this little piece of heaven. Maybe it will indeed catch on - Harrisburg itself has in recent years opened a now-successful art film house of its own."
Link to this theater and see what you think -- can it be franchised?
Posted by at 12:15 PM
May 20, 2005
Hate Those Sticky Floors
An article in today's Christian Science Monitor asks whether the new "Star Wars" prequel will reverse the overall decline in theater-going. Surely not! Long before we humble consumers figured out that we were not alone in preferring to watch DVDs at home, the industry had us pegged. For some years now, Hollywood has been happy to take its real profits from shiny little discs ("'Blood Out Tha Wazoo'! Own it now!") than from all those dreadful cineplexes with their icky decor, endless ads and previews, crummy projection and sound, and sticky floors.
Yet much as I dislike the cineplex, I regret the prospect of no more movie-going. Like railroads, movie theaters are so full of memories and meanings, it hurts to think of them as obsolete. At the moment such feelings attach mainly to those theaters that have a sense of place and history. Fortunately, many of these are now part of the Landmark chain, which does a pretty good business showing first-run independent and foreign films.
But Landmark theaters do not exist in many parts of the country, and that leaves millions stuck with the choice between cineplex and home. I wonder, then, why some smart entrepreneur doesn't enter this market with a new kind of cineplex.
Think Borders. Think Starbucks. Millions of people gravitate to these places, because while not historic or exclusively highbrow, they offer pleasant, interesting surroundings and fare suited to human beings over the age of 12. Why not do the same with a chain of small, classy movie theaters? They could even serve latte! And although this is probably too much to hope for, an audience built on such theaters might even stimulate the production of more midsize movies suited to human beings over the age of 12.
Posted by at 12:45 PM
May 18, 2005
"Terrible Americans" Defended
I regret to report that you, dear readers, have failed to send enough cash to get me to Cannes this year. No matter. My British colleague Clive Davis offers this report on the fulminations of Lars von Trier, the Danish director who specializes in showing the "dark underside" of America (although he's never been here, because he is afraid to fly). What can I say to a guy who complains that my country is occupying 60 percent of his brain?
Posted by at 7:20 AM
May 13, 2005
Kingdom of ... uh, whatever
There's something missing in "Kingdom of Heaven," Ridley Scott's latest eye-popper about the Second Crusade. But most of the reviews don't tell you what. Instead, they blame the star, Orlando Bloom, for lacking "true gravitas" (Austin Chronicle). Some express regret that Russell Crowe was not available to play Balian, the humble blacksmith who ends up defending Jerusalem against the Muslim general Saladin. Others bash Bloom for being a "pretty boy" barely able to swing a sword.
I will grant that Bloom is not the industrial-strength warrior type. But neither is Elijah Wood, who as Frodo in "The Fellowship of the Rings" did a pretty good job of battling Orcs. No, the problem is the script. Written by one-time novelist and first-time screenwriter William Monahan, it is painfully laconic and annoyingly noncommittal.
I know, I know. Hollywood is under a lot of pressure to eliminate human language from its product. Research has shown that popcorn-munching skateboarders don't like "talky" movies. Foreigners don't like subtitles. And DVD-watching couch potatoes don't like dialogue about stuff they didn't bother to learn about in school. But give me a break. This film wants to make a statement, and you can't do that without talking.
What is the statement Scott wants to make? In a world riven by religious fear and hatred, he seeks to dignify religious tolerance, past and present. To some extent, he succeeds: those who mock "Kingdom of Heaven" as politically correct and anachronistic are mistaken. Mercy and justice were not unknown in the 12th century. For example, Saladin (played magnificently by the Syrian actor Ghassan Massoud) was an extremely devout Muslim who was nonetheless capable of compromising with Christians and Jews when it was in his interest to do so.
The main problem, according to historian Thomas F. Madden , is that in its effort to tout tolerance, "The Kingdom of Heaven" waters down the religiosity of all the characters. How much more timely and interesting this film would be if someone had dared to show deeply, even zealously religious people practicing tolerance!
After all, Dante was a medieval Christian, and he respected Saladin enough to put him in Limbo with the great pagan poets and philosophers. But then, Dante wasn't afraid to write about great themes in the vernacular...
Posted by at 10:15 AM
May 10, 2005
Posted by at 9:08 AM
The Ten Guidelines
The college freshmen I teach may be forgiven for having a shaky grasp of the Bible. Some have never read a page of it; others have absorbed it in highly diluted form. So naturally they say things like, "Oh, I thought the Ten Commandments were more like guidelines." But in my experience, they change their tune after actually reading the Bible (especially when translated by Robert Alter and Reynolds Price). Believers and non-believers alike are struck by its beauty, oddness, and intimidating severity.
The diluted form is still out there, though. In 2002 the newly launched (and unfortunately named) Crusader Entertainment, backed by Colorado billionaire Philip Anschutz, released "Joshua," its first overtly "Christian" film, through a subsidiary called Epiphany Films. "Joshua" tackles a challenging topic: the arrival of Jesus in small town America. But it has nothing to say, either about Jesus or about small town America. Instead, it depicts Jesus as a nice fellow being nice to already nice folks who then become even nicer. The one person who is not so nice, a Catholic priest intent upon enforcing the Ten Guidelines, becomes much nicer at the end.
Skip the cross, cue the music, we're outta here.
"Joshua" is popular in the surreal realm of "Christian" entertainment, where the standard fare is a bowl of sugar with honey and molasses on top. But to his credit, Anschutz took a different tack after backing this dud. He has backed a number of mainstream films, the best of which is "Ray" ( see SP review ). And in December his subsidiary, Walden Films (in conjunction with Disney), will release "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," the first feature film based on the Narnia children's books by C. S. Lewis.
Lewis, of course, was a highly literate Christian who spent his life arguing against the kind of "feel-good" faith that makes God into "a grandfather in heaven - a senile benevolence who, as they say, 'liked to see young people enjoying themselves.'" For Lewis, the God of the Bible is "something more than mere kindness ... He has paid us the intolerable compliment of loving us, in the deepest, most tragic, most inexorable sense."
Can this stern view succeed at the box office? The singular example I can think of is "Dead Man Walking," Tim Robbins's brilliant film about the Death Row ministry of Sister Helen Prejean. Some conservative Christians I know admire this film. But you won't find it listed on most of the sugary "Christian" websites, because after all, it was made by Hollywood liberals. What can I say? Maybe some of those who call for better movies while thumping the Bible ought to try reading it instead.
Posted by at 1:30 AM
May 4, 2005
The Tea Sipper's Guide to Absurdity
If the universe is meaningless, should we laugh or cry? According to the Theater of the Absurd, born on the Left Bank in the 1940s and now on life support in a million high school drama clubs, neither laughter nor tears is appropriate. Instead, we are enjoined to watch actors shuffle onto a half-lit stage with no scenery (except maybe a dead tree), glare at us with befuddled expressions, and (either by talking or by not talking) say nothing at all.
I always wondered why, if the universe were meaningless, we had to sit through plays by Beckett, Genet, and Pinter. Why not attend lavish productions of Broadway musicals? Or skip the theater and go roller skating? Or (pushing the envelope here) kidnap small children and drop them into vats of boiling oil?
Some (not all) of the same questions seem to have occurred to Douglas Adams, author of the 1970s radio series, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," which over the next 30 years spawned several novels, a TV series, and now the top-grossing film in America. If the universe is meaningless, then why not follow the example of the hero, an ineffectual Brit named Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman), and hitch a ride on a passing spaceship, because one fine morning the Earth blows up with him still in his jammies?
Strange but true: most of the Adams fans out there seem to find the universe profoundly meaningful. Why else would they be blogging so madly about how the forces of evil (Touchstone Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment) have corrupted the pure art of their shining hero (Adams)? One is tempted to say, get a religion. Most of the big ones are at least as clever as Adams.
Oh, well. The movie is fun. I liked the singing dolphins - the second most intelligent life form (after mice) bidding farewell to the third most intelligent (us) by singing, "So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish." I liked the Babel Fish, a life form that when stuck into the ear of any other life form, enables it to understand the languages of all. I liked the crusty female computer who, after humming away for untold years, announces the answer to the ultimate question: "42." I liked the no-nonsense planet designer, Slartibartfast (Bill Nighy) who won an award for the Norwegian fjords.
And I especially liked the cool, minimalist graphics used to illustrate lessons from the guidebook of the title. For instance, after the main story ends, there's a tag about how the denizens of a distant galaxy become so enraged at the rebuilt Earth, they send a mighty invasion force to destroy it. But (as we see in the nifty little drawings) they miscalculate the scale, and their force arrives no bigger than a golf ball and is gulped down by a suburban dog.
This is a very cool meaninglessness. Indeed, they could have made the whole movie out of these graphics, and I would have skipped a whole evening of Albee to see it.
Posted by at 7:40 AM
May 3, 2005
The Roots of Civility
In my review of the movie "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room" (see below), I marvel at the courtesy of motorists in Southern California. In case you are having trouble reconciling that observation with the recent freeway shootings there, I offer the following, from Verlyn Klinkenborg in today's New York Times:
"These shootings change the very idea of the freeway ... I've been struck by the attentiveness and skill of the drivers around me, by the fact that nearly everyone signals a change of lane and tries to keep a reasonable distance between vehicles. In three months of freeway driving here, I can count on one hand the number of times I've heard a horn sounded in anger. And now I know why.
If nothing else, these good driving manners express the centrality of the freeway system in the consciousness of Southern California. I've begun to think of those lanes as a giant public square spreading all across the city, a square where most people try to contribute their mite of civility in hopes of keeping the overall experience as tolerable as possible. But there's another way to look at it. The civility on display may reflect nothing more than the profound hostility lying just below the surface.
As a friend from Fullerton puts it, you drive politely, without challenging other drivers even implicitly, because 'they're packing.' No one honks because no one wants a fight. People use their turn signals to say, as innocently as possible: 'Changing lanes now! Not cutting in! No disrespect intended!'"
Mr. Klinkenborg makes perfect sense. But my question is, why doesn't this work in Boston?
Posted by at 9:00 AM
April 30, 2005
Road Rage
In 2001, when the "rolling blackouts" doused the traffic lights in my part of Los Angeles, I was amazed at the behavior of the drivers. East Coast motorists would have cut directly to Demolition Derby. But not those Californians. Even at the major intersections, they spontaneously slowed down and began to take turns. It was enough to restore my faith in human nature.
Of course, if those polite Golden Staters had been able to hear the cackling of the Houston hyenas who were messing with their power grid, they might have raised a posse and headed straight for South Texas. For the scavengers of Enron were not only ripping off the whole state, they were joking about how much fun it was to gouge the old, the sick, and the poor.
The main thing you need to know about "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room," is that it is NOT a film by Michael Moore. It uses some of the same tricks, such as a soundtrack full of sardonic counterpoint (for example, a clip of President Reagan extolling "the magic of the market" is followed by footage of a natural gas facility, accompanied by the song, "That Old Black Magic"). But the tricks are in service to a solid indictment, not a half-whacked conspiracy theory.
Some have criticized "Enron" for being too admiring of Head Hyenas Kenneth Lay, Jeffrey Skilling, Andy Fastow, and Lou Pai. And yes, it does drool a bit over their bad selves. Based on the eponymous book by Fortune writers Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind, the film also relies heavily on the testimony of former Enron employees who (to judge by their plush surroundings) deserted the sinking ship with their Rocquefort intact. Of all the people interviewed, only one man speaks for the 20,000 employees whose cheese disappeared into the pockets of "the smartest guys in the room."
It is worth noting that while three of the Head Hyenas wait to have their wrists slapped by Blind Justice, the fourth, Lou Pai, turns out to be the smartest guy of all. After helping his subsidiary, Enron Energy Services, lose $18.8 billion and put 5,500 people out of work, Pai made off with $270 million. Then he divorced his wife, married his favorite stripper, and bought a 77,5000-acre chunk of the Sangre de Cristo mountains in southern Colorado.
To be sure, Pai later sold the property when it looked as though the locals were going to win a lawsuit over water and timber rights. But he did OK, I'm sure. You won't see him on BET any time soon, but the man is a "playa."
Unseemly though it is, the aforementioned drool is what makes "Enron" convincing. The whole country thought these guys were "smart." And the last I checked, the popular definition of the word has not changed. For too many Americans, "smart" still means, "Screw you, I'm driving my armored Hummer right through the intersection."
Posted by at 10:30 AM
April 27, 2005
Some Like It Microwaved
Finally, what everyone hasn't been waiting for: a character-driven XXX-rated art film. Reports Stephen Holden of the NY Times, this year's TriBeCa Film Festival will include two screenings of "9 Songs," a 70-minute indie about two nice people who while not in love regularly take time out of their busy schedules to make the funky monkey.
It's all perfectly normal, except for some kinky maneuvers at the end. And of course, that clever little camera showing us stuff that not even the lovers can see (because their eyes are located on their heads).
Years ago, observes Mr. Holden, the line for such a film would have stretched around the block. But today, why bother? It's so much easier to stay home and watch tumescent organs flail away on your computer.
The "9 Songs" gimmick is to combine porn explicitness with conventional narrative. But as Holden notes, this makes the viewer feel like a voyeur.
Now, a defender of "9 Songs" might say that's exactly the point: to discomfit us by connecting the action below the neck with the action above. And who would argue against such a connection? Real sex with a real person is presumably what most of us seek.
But usually this search does not entail spying on others. What's weird about this movie is that its starting place is not sex in the world but porn on the screen. The guests of the TriBeCa Film Festival will decide whether that is worth lining up for.
Posted by at 11:00 AM
April 25, 2005
Screen Smarts?
There are few cliches sturdier than the one about TV encouraging "passivity" and "mindlessness." Whether stated simply by a frustrated parent or elaborated upon by a communications theorist, this cliche basically boils down to the idea that it is more of a workout, cognitively speaking, to read print than to watch a screen.
An interesting challenge to this idea can be found in yesterday's New York Times Magazine , in which Steven Johnson argues that today's most popular and sophisticated TV shows have a much more complex and demanding structure than the leading shows of just a few years ago.
The truth of this will be driven home if you've ever watched "The Sopranos" or "The West Wing" with an octogenerian: the multiple plots, the references to previous episodes, the use of dialogue not as meaning but as "texture," the withholding of detail to tease the viewer - such devices only confuse people whose viewing experience was shaped by the regular pace and clear exposition of programs like "Gunsmoke" and "Perry Mason."
This stuff is fascinating, and I agree with Mr. Johnson that it refutes the cliche about "passivity." But I disagree with his conclusion that newfangled TV "makes us smarter." For one thing, as he notes, many of these devices come from soap opera, a genre known to be addictive but not especially educative.
For another, the skills involved - observing a large number of people, keeping track of their doings, basically getting the goods on them - are ancient and universal (another name for them is "gossip," or perhaps, "politics"). And while these skills are vital to success in any age, they do not add up to what is currently defined as "smart." In the higher reaches of the professions and the workplace generally, "smart" still refers to what is learned in school. And, like it or not, at home - when the TV is turned off.
Posted by at 9:50 AM
women execs
Posted by at 8:47 AM
April 21, 2005
Video Virgil: The Wansee Conference
In my last entry I judged "Downfall" to be a superior film on the strength of one character, Magda, the stern wife of Josef Goebbels. Of all the characters in the film, she is the one who conveys the difference between ordinary and extraordinary evil.
Where did I get this standard? From "The Wansee Conference," a 1984 German TV film broadcast on PBS in 1989. (It is not available on DVD but can be rented or bought on VHS.) Based on the research of a Prussian-born Israeli, Manfred Korytowski, this German-Austrian coproduction recreates in real time (85 minutes) the clandestine 1942 meeting that set in motion the last phase of the "final solution." The script is taken directly from the notes of that meeting, and there is no music or other add-ons. Just brilliant acting and direction.
Present at the Wansee Conference were the top brass of the Party and SS, assorted military men and bureaucrats, a note-taking stenographer (the lone woman), and Reinhard Heydrich, head of the security police and golden boy predicted to succeed Hitler. Like Magda, Heydrich (played by Dietrich Mattausch) is not an icy robot or a snarling wolf but something worse: an elegant, arrogant human being with a silver tongue and a winning sense of irony about the difficult task ahead.
For example, at one point Heydrich indicates on a map how the remnants of European Jewry are still "scattered all over like fly-specks." Just back from heading the "murder battalions" that killed more than a million Jews in occupied Soviet territory, Heydrich informs Rudolf Lange, the Gestapo chief for the Eastern Territories, that he will soon be receiving more "shipments from the Reich."
When Heydrich first arrived, Lange greeted him a heel-clicking report, "Estonia, Jew-free!" But now we see Lange's hands trembling at the news. "We didn't really plan on starting up again," he protests feebly. Richly amused, Heydrich orders cognac and starts to flirt with the stenographer.
Do not for a moment confuse this film with the HBO film "Conspiracy" (2001) starring Kenneth Branagh as Heydrich. "Conspiracy" is standard Nazi-movie fare, with a bunch of English actors looking severe and repressed, like a public school headmaster about to cane some boy's bottom.
"The Wansee Conference" is different. The actors speak German, for one thing. But more important, they remind us that the Holocaust was not designed by cartoon bad guys but by proud, intelligent human beings at the peak of their capacities - including the capacity for evil.
Posted by at 4:30 AM
April 18, 2005
The Damning Remnant
Can any movie capture the massive evil of the Third Reich, or has the whole business become a self-referential media cliche? Every time another earnest, gloomy film about World War II and/or the Shoah is released, a little voice in my head says, "Dollar for dollar, your Nazis are still your best entertainment bargain!"
But "Downfall" ("Der Untergang") provokes no such voice. For one thing, it is not a self-congratulatory American film but a self-lacerating German one. For another, it is not about the victims but about the victimizers. By focusing tightly on Adolf Hitler and his inner circle, hunkered down in the "F�hrerbunker" while the Red Army blasts its way into Berlin, this film depicts the Nazis not as Them but as Us.
Naturally, this disconcerts some people. For example, when "Downfall" premiered in Germany, it was sharply criticized in the highbrow weekly "Die Zeit" by the eminent director Wim Wenders. By portraying Hitler on a human scale, Wenders argued, the film effectively denies the global scale of his wickedness. The subsequent debate has been over whether it is acceptable to portray Adolf Hitler as human (which the fine Swiss actor Bruno Ganz definitely does). To that question the answer is easy: Yes. It is not only acceptable but necessary to portray Hitler as human. Had he been a demon, then humanity would be off the hook.
But the real question is one of scale. "Downfall" focuses on four sympathetic characters: Tarudl Junger, Hitler�s naive young secretary; Peter, a 13-year-old boy trying to be a war hero; Dr. Schenck, an army medic harrowed by the suffering of ordinary Berliners; and Albert Speer, high-toned architect to the F�hrer. To foreground the plight of these four is to background the horror being done in their name. If that were the sum total of "Downfall," then Wenders would be right.
But that is not the sum total of "Downfall." Along with these four characters, this film gives us one of the most convincing movie Nazis ever seen: not Hitler, Himmler, G�ring, or G�bbels, but Magda, G�bbels� wife, played stunningly by Corinna Harfouch, a renowned theater actress from the former East Germany.
More than any man in uniform, Magda is a true soldier of the Reich. Her rigidly correct manner, her impeccable dress, and above all, her attentiveness to her six rosy-cheeked Aryan children all suggest an iron-willed commitment to the lofty vision of National Socialism that will not flinch in the face of duty, no matter how unpleasant. And sure enough, when it comes time to kill her six children rather than allow them to grow up in a fallen world, Magda does so smoothly, efficiently, and (here is the nub) proudly.
Whether sick, crazy, or coldly sadistic, the besetting sin of movie Nazis is always violence. But this is inaccurate. The true sin, the defining trait, of the Nazi movement was not violence but pride. And in Magda we see that ultimate evil at work. Her love for her children is not overcome by anger, fear, or blood lust. It is overcome - easily - by twisted pride. Dante put the proud at the very bottom of Hell, far below the incontinent and violent. If you ever wondered why, "Downfall" will make it abundantly clear.
Posted by at 5:30 AM
How Michael Saved Mickey
For a penetrating look at the success, as opposed to the pecadillos, of Micheal Eisner's tenure at Disney, check out Edward Jay Epstein's latest posting on Slate. The numbers are impressive, and so are the strategic decisions (viewed with 20/20 hindsight).
Posted by at 2:50 AM
April 14, 2005
Video Virgil: Antique Self-Portrait
While on the subject of movies about Hollywood, it's worth revisiting one of the great ones: "The Player," directed by Robert Altman and based on the icy-hearted novel by Michael Tolkin.
The plot is simple: an egotistical, unimaginative producer (Tim Robbins) is terrified of losing his job to an even more egotistical, unimaginative producer (Peter Gallagher). Plus he keeps finding threatening postcards in his car, desk, pockets, and home. Someone is stalking him, and since his job consists of sneering at writers' pitches all day, he suspects a disappointed writer. After guessing which one, he tries to buy the guy off, then semi-accidentally murders him.
"The Player" riffs beautifully on the old themes of art and commerce and the ugly side of human nature as revealed in the sort of competition where the prizes don't go to the best but to the most cutthroat. Our producer comes out on top without being redeemed in any way. Indeed, the film cleverly manipulates our ingrained expectation of a happy ending.
It was not a Hollywood mogul but the novelist William Dean Howells who said, "What the American audience really wants is a tragedy with a happy ending." To their credit, screenwriter Tolkin, director Altman, and the many Hollywood luminaries involved in this film stay true to that ironic line.
Two caveats. First, the love interest played by Greta Scacchi is annoyingly opaque. I was ready for her to be the mastermind behind it all, not just one of the prizes. But that would have required a female to be smarter than all the males, NOT a Hollywood trope.
Second, "The Player" came out in 1992, long after the system was taken over by the blockbuster - or to use the term of art, "locomotive": huge, repeatable extravaganzas like "Star Wars," "Star Trek," "Terminator," "Indiana Jones," "Die Hard," "Batman," "Harry Potter," "The Fellowship of the Ring," "Toy Story," "Finding Nemo," "Shrek" ... the list keeps getting longer. In this context, "The Player" feels downright antique. If there is a good blockbuster parody out there, please tell me about it!
Posted by at 10:00 AM
April 7, 2005
Video Virgil: Self Portraits
The literary critic Irving Howe was once asked whether the New York literary scene was self-absorbed and incestuous, and he replied, "It only looks that way from the outside." The same could certainly be said of the agglomeration of organizations and individuals who make up Hollywood. They live in a heavily fortified bubble that almost always distorts their view of the society in which the rest of us live.
That's why Hollywood's best social criticism tends to be directed at itself. As a longstanding fan of movies about the movie biz, I recently revisited "The Bad and the Beautiful," directed by Vincent Minelli and starring Lana Turner in what may be her finest role. It views a gifted but ruthless studio head (Kirk Douglas) through the eyes of three people he sucked in and blew out: an alcoholic, going-nowhere-fast actress (Turner); a talented but too diffident director (Barry Sullivan); and a frustrated college-Joe writer (Dick Powell).
Of course, if you prefer your classic studio heads to be the embodiment of philistine evil, then I recommend "The Big Knife," an overwrought study of a matinee idol (Jack Palance) caught between the integrity urged by his wife (Ida Lupino) and the servitude imposed by his boss (Rod Steiger). Steiger is only on the screen for one scene, in which he manipulates the hapless Palance to renew his contract for another seven years. But that one scene is worth the price of admission.
Posted by at 10:15 AM
March 31, 2005
Comic Book Pain
In case you were worried that the Walt Disney Company was pulling out of the sick violence biz, today's New York Times will set you straight. Even though someone else will now be paying for Harvey and Bob Weinstein's gourmet meals (see photo), the new studio head, Dick Cook, reassures us that "family-friendly" Disney "will not be turning its back on the extremely violent fare that helped make the Weinsteins ... famous."
The new Miramax release, "Sin City," based on the "graphic novels" of Frank Miller, features "cannibalism, castration, decapitation, dismemberment, electrocution, hanging, massacres, pedophilia, slashings and lots and lots of torture."
For anyone naive enough to think about actual human suffering while watching images of "the heads of five prostitutes mounted on a wall, or a dog eating the legs of a still-live boy, or a man ripping out the genitals of another man," the director Robert Rodriguez (who, to judge by the photo, is just getting started on gourmet food) notes that the MPAA gave the film an "R" rating because "they got the stylization, they got the abstractness of it and it was obviously not a realistic movie."
Whew. But go easy on the red paint, Hans Hofmann, because along with buckets of "white blood, and yellow blood," this movie has "plenty of red blood." Why? The ever-so-sensitive Mr. Rodriguez wants "to make clear that characters getting beaten to a pulp were, indeed, feeling pain."
Bon appetit.
Posted by at 10:15 AM
March 25, 2005
Star Power Well Used
When movie stars lend their glittering names to political causes, the effect is sometimes ludicrous.
The movie "Simone" (2002) stars Al Pacino as an egotistical director fed up with egotistical actresses, who is given a computer program capable of digitally creating the perfect star. The movie is a dud, perhaps because Mr. Pacino sleepwalks through it, and Rachel Roberts, the lissome model who plays Simone (short for Sim One), could learn a lot about acting from the animated paper clip on Microsoft Word.
But there are a few good bits, including a TV interview given by Simone while ostensibly "on a goodwill mission to the Third World." With a few keystrokes, the director projects his star's immaculate image against a backdrop of filthy hovels, burning garbage, and starved dogs. The irony is underlined by the fact that Simone does not seem to have a clue about why she is there.
One could compare this to Don Cheadle's January trip to Darfur. Nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayal of Paul Rusesabagina (the hero of "Hotel Rwanda"), Mr. Cheadle had something to gain from lending his name to efforts to stop the genocide of the Sudanese government.
But so what? This was a case of a star's self-interest coinciding with a moral emergency. And to judge by Mr. Cheadle's actions since then, his commitment is more than a career move. Find out more on the website he co-sponsors with Mr. Rusesabagina.
Posted by at 9:15 AM
March 19, 2005
Video Virgil: Burn, Liebling, Burn
One of the coolest DVDs I�ve seen recently is "What To Do In Case Of Fire?" ("Was tun, wenn�s brennt?"). Since the answer to the title question is "let it burn," ("brennen lassen"), I did not expect to like this film. It�s a post-punk German version of "The Big Chill," and I am on record as not liking punk or the "The Big Chill" (which I find about as authentic as Las Vegas).
But "What To Do" impressed me from the opening sequence, a home video supposedly shot by six "creative anarchists" in the Kreuzberg section of West Berlin in 1987. Hand-held, jump-cut, overlaid by graffiti-style graphics and driven by a pounding soundtrack, this video shows the six joining a battle against armored police who are trying to evict squatters, and then planting a sizable bomb in an abandoned mansion.
At that point, the video ends. The bomb ticks, then gets stuck. And twelve years pass before it explodes, set off by a real estate agent in the new, unified Berlin, who is showing the property to just the sort of wealthy businessman the anarchists of the 1980s were trying to keep out. No one is hurt, which is important, because the rest of the film asks us to care about the six bomb-makers as they reunite to block a police investigation.
"What To Do" impressed me because in the first place, it is smart. Its cynicism cuts deep but not too deep, and is largely directed at the group�s own myth of itself. While none of the six has reckoned fully with this myth at the beginning, all do so by the end. This is not true of "The Big Chill," which gradually chokes on its own self-righteousness.
It is also fun. In "The Big Chill," the former radicals reunite for a funeral, which is unfortunate, because it gives them nothing to do but smoke joints and jaw. In "What To Do," the six former anarchists must act, thereby illustrating Aristotle�s dictum that only through action is character revealed. We judge them not by what they say but by what they do. And eventually, they all do what is right.
It�s possible that an old Kreuzberger would find "What To Do" as phony as Potsdamer Platz. The real Autonomen, as they called themselves, pulled some nasty tricks to keep "imperialists" out of the neighborhood. For example, they waged a campaign of threats against a restaurant that was too bourgeois for their taste, finally shutting it down by throwing human feces all over the place. The Autonomen didn�t care that the proprietor was a well known Marxist filmmaker; they just wanted to be the most nihilistic kids on the block.
But this is not the tone of "What To Do." On the contrary, it is suffused with a youthful, funky exuberance that was doubtless what made Kreuzberg appealing in the last days before the fall of the Wall. So I recommend it highly - in the spirit of anarchism that knows how to liberate without doing harm.
Posted by at 11:00 AM
March 12, 2005
Reprise: Head-On
Back in January I wrote about a new film from Germany called "Head-On" ("Gegen die Wand'), which at that time was playing only in New York and L.A. To judge from the number of reviews popping up everywhere, the film has been deemed sufficiently marketable to open in a few more cities (like Boston). So here is my review again, if you will forgive the repetition. This film, the fourth from Turkish-German writer/director Fatih Akin, is worth seeing.
Comic, tragic, absurdist and affirmative, "Head-On" is about two people moving at escape velocity...but in opposite directions. Cahit (Birol �nel) is a Turkish-born denizen of the Hamburg punk scene whose marriage to a German woman has failed, sending him into drink and depression. As the film opens, he leaves his miserable job picking up empties in a bar and drives very fast into a concrete wall ("Gegen die Wand" means "against the wall").
Alive but banged up, he is next seen in the waiting room of a psychiatric clinic, where he meets Sibel (Sibel Kekilli), a daughter of Turkish immigrants who rebels against her tradition-minded family by slashing her wrists.
Recognizing scraggly Cahit as a kindred spirit, Sibel conceives a better escape route than suicide - marriage to a guy who, being Turkish, will pass muster with her family, but who also, being a complete lowlife, will not care about the wild fling she hopes to enjoy once she�s free. As it turns out, Cahit does care. Or rather, he learns (re-learns?) what it means to care. And Sibel is drawn, reluctantly, into caring for him. They don't live happily ever after. On the contrary, some grim things occur before the end (this is a German film, after all). But they do pull each other back from the brink.
"Head-On" is so timely, it's easy to miss the subtleties. For example, the New York Times describes Sibel's background as a "cloistered society where women are kept captive by their fathers and brothers." But this is a caricature. Sibel's father (Demir G�kg�l) is strict, and her brother (Cem Akin) is a bully. But they are not the Taliban. If they were, then Sibel's mother (Aysel Iscan) would not dye her hair blond and chain smoke. And the hilarious scene where Cahit comes to call would not end the way it does. After listening to his son berate Cahit, the father turns to Sibel and asks, "Is your mind made up?" And when she says yes, the stern old man shrugs: "What is left to say? When two people are in love..."
For Cahit and Sibel the road is not just rocky, it is land-mined. Against the presumption that it�s always good to shake off the fetters of tradition and religion, "Head-On" opposes a distinctly unromantic portrait of the liberated Western lifestyle. Cahit wants to end his life of booze, drugs, impersonal sex, and selfish behavior; Sibel wants to start hers. But for a moment they glimpse something better: not the old ways, but not their total rejection, either. The sweet spot is when, after cleaning up Cahit's pigpen of a flat, Sibel cooks him a meal of stuffed peppers. The music on the soundtrack is perfect, the camera lingers on her hands, and even though the film contains several sex scenes, this is the most erotic.
There is no hotter issue in Europe right now than the assimilation of large Muslim immigrant populations. But Europeans still have a tendency to think of assimilation as a one-way street. Here in the nation of immigrants, we have learned to think of it as a two-way street. Indeed, in recent years millions of immigrants have come to America and learned new ways. But they have also kept some of the old, and in the process, the rest of us have learned (remembered?) that life is best lived between the poles of individual liberation and the constraints of family and community. If the success of "Head-On" is any measure, then the same lesson is being pondered in Europe.
Posted by at 9:00 AM
March 10, 2005
Codex: I Can See Clearly Now
Ever wonder why, after shelling out nine dollars at the local multiplex, you find yourself squinting at the screen and feeling vaguely cheated by the quality of the image? Every time I've complained about this, I've been told, basically, that SukEmIn Theaters International uses state-of-the-art technology - and, as a not so subtle afterthought, "Maybe you need new glasses, lady."
So whom should I believe, the local popcorn merchants or my own damn eyes?
My eyes, as it happens. "The Big Picture," Edward Jay Epstein's fascinating new book about the movie industry, explains how multiplexes cut costs by employing only one projectionist, causing the occasional neglected machine to jam, and the projection lamp to burn a hole in the film.
The one time I saw this happen was during the closing sequence of "Troy," when the tall towers were aflame anyway. For this moment of poetic justice I received a full refund.
But as Epstein shows, there's a connection between this occasional meltdown and my chronic sense that films look better on my home DVD player: "To prevent such costly mishaps [burnt films], multiplexes frequently have their projectionists slightly expand the gap between the gate that supports the film and the lamp. As a result ... films are often shown slightly out of focus."
Apparently the skateboard set don't care about this, since their eyesight is already shot from all those computer games... But if you care, tell the manager - right after you butter your popcorn.
Posted by at 10:30 AM
March 9, 2005
Posted by at 11:07 AM
Against Type
Elisabeth Bumiller reports in the New York Times on the movie-viewing habits of the president, whose home theater surpasses anything on offer at Bang & Olufson. (The White House screening room was built during Ronald Reagan's presidency, with $150,000 donated by a group of disinterested citizens who just happened to work for Disney, Universal, Fox, Paramount, Columbia, MGM, and Warner Brothers.)
Unlike LBJ, who slept through movies (a presidential trait found also in my spouse), and unlike Nixon, who watched the same movie over and over (yes, it was "Patton"), Bush seems to appreciate movies, as evidenced by his choice for best film of 2004: "Friday Night Lights," a sleeper about high school football in Odessa, Texas.
If you like movies but don't like Bush, then this is a good time not to indulge in stereotypes. Because "Friday Night Lights" is not your typical sports movie, and its portrait of football mania in the sovereign state of Texas is not painted with red-white-and-blue triumphalism.
Based on a book by H.G. Bissinger, "Friday Night Lights" is pretty formulaic on the surface: a team with one star player (Derek Luke) and a crusty coach (Billy Bob Thornton) passes through trials and tribulations, including losing the star to injury, then pulls together and heads for the state championship.
The first fifteen minutes are so fast-paced, it makes your average hip-hop video look sleepy. But then, mercifully, the pace slows, and the film begins to breathe a wonderful, subtle life. It is not triumphalist - indeed, it shows lucidly what happens to people (and towns) when they become too obsessed with winning.
But neither does "Friday Night Lights" take the easy path of ridiculing the narrow horizon of its characters. Instead, it treats them as full human beings and explores the hard realities behind their passionate compulsion to win. And without giving away the ending, I can say that by the time the team hits the boards for the Big Game, this movie has given new vitality to old cliche about sports being more about honor than victory.
Posted by at 10:45 AM
March 8, 2005
Berlin Film Festival
In case you chose not to spend Spring Break in cold, rainy Berlin, here is a good overview of the recent Internationale Filmfestspiele. I like this treatment because the writer takes a critical attitude - a welcome change from the eye-glazing glosses found not only in film festival programs but also in many so-called reviews. Of the films that appeared, I predict that only one, "Sophie Scholl - The Final Days" ("Sophie Scholl - Die Letzten Tage") will make it to the United States. It's good that this one will, but bad that so many won't.
Posted by at 9:10 AM
March 6, 2005
Mixed Message
My British colleague Clive Davis recently posted a couple of interesting links . The first is to Chuck Colson's obtuse assessment of "Sideways," which made me agree with Clive that Colson should definitely not be a movie critic.
The second is to an article about how, at press screenings of new films, the "Christian" (meaning evangelical) reviewers are the only ones asking serious questions. This rings true to my experience. One of the talks I gave relating to "Hole in Our Soul" was to a group of young rock and rap musicians who used those styles to convey their evangelical message. They asked me whether I thought there was such a thing as an "evil sound." After battling the blandness of CCM (Contemporary Christian Music), these young people clearly did not think there was. But they had given the whole topic a lot more thought than most of the many other groups I encountered on that circuit.
That's why I'm glad not only that Colson is not a critic but also that people who think like him do not, generally exert censorship power over their co-religionists - never mind the rest of us!
Posted by at 8:00 AM
March 3, 2005
Phantom of the Oscars
I have written about Oscar night elsewhere and will link to that piece ASAP. In the meantime, three cheers for the Uruguayan songwriter Jorge Drexler, winner for Best Original Song, for insisting on delivering a few bars of it himself during the 20 seconds most winners have to thank everyone they ever knew, plus the heavenly host and all the powers under the earth.
Drexler was defying the Academy's refusal to let him perform the song himself. Instead, "Al Otro Lado del Rio" ("The Other Side of the River"), from "The Motorcycle Diaries," a film about the youthful Che Guevara, was Rolfed by the Spanish pop star Antonio Bandera, accompanied by American rock idol Carlos Santana (born in Mexico). Back in Montevideo, Drexler is being hailed as both a winner and a rebel - which is entirely appropriate, given that Che was the first fully commodified socialist revolutionary.
It is, of course, customary to have Big Stars perform the nominated songs, rather than the obscure nobodies who actually wrote them. On occasion this has added emotion and excitement to the proceedings, but not this time.
Beyonce (sorry, my software doesn't have a fake accent aigu) is a very beautiful young woman with great pipes. But somebody - her managers? her fans? herself? - is working overtime to waste both beauty and talent. Even ghastlier than her costumes were the songs she sang. And ghastliest of all was "Learn to be Lonely" from "The Phantom of the Opera." Here the Academy allowed the songwriter onstage, since he is, after all, Andrew Lloyd "Clobber 'Em Again" Webber.
I only have ten seconds left, so I'd like to thank Counting Crows for their energetic and unpretentious performance of "Accidentally in Love," from "Shrek 2." They get my nomination for Best Imitation of Van Morrison and also (hands down) Best Hair.
Posted by at 9:30 AM
February 25, 2005
Aims, Shoots & Leaves?
Filmmakers and photographers adore "Born Into Brothels," and no wonder. This Oscar-nominated documentary about eight children in the red light district of Calcutta brandishes the camera the way Christian missionaries used to brandish the Bible � as the physical manifestation of salvation. The question, though, is: Who is saved? To judge by the film alone, I would say the filmmakers, not the children.
When British photojournalist Zana Briski first entered these filthy, rat-infested back alleys, her aim was to film the prostitutes ("sex workers," in her enlightened parlance). But her subjects, evidently not sharing this enlightened view of their profession, proved uncooperative. So Briski and her cinematographer, Ross Kauffman, turned their viewfinders toward the children.
Which was understandable, given the beauty and vivacity of these amazing kids. Between 10 and 12 years old, they revive the old cliche about brilliant flowers pushing up through a dungheap. Yet they are also social outcasts, and unless their lives change drastically, they will very soon become prostitutes, pimps, drug dealers, and addicts � just like their elders.
Briski doesn't just film the kids. She gives them cameras and teaches them the fundamentals of photography. Some are more gifted than others: the clear winner is a pugnacious little fellow named Avijit, already an accomplished watercolorist. But each child manages to produce a couple of exceptional photographs, and Briski works hard to have the collection exhibited in a Calcutta bookstore.
But this is where the film stumbles. As the little ones go from seeing their first contact print to being driven to the exhibition in a nice section of town, they become terribly excited - and the gap between their dreams and their reality becomes achingly wide. To her credit, Briski understands this, and struggles to help. But her efforts are excruciating to watch, because they are all predicated on uprooting these tender blossoms from the only world they know.
After a long search, Briski manages to locate two boarding schools in Calcutta that will accept pupils from such a background. It�s not easy to enroll them, and between obtuse bureaucrats and impossible demands for documents, she almost gives up. But finally, assiduously dotting every "I" and crossing every "T," she gets everything arranged.
Or almost everything. Here's the rub, because it is then, only then, that Briski talks to the parents. Or rather exhorts them, with comments like: "Don�t you want Puja to have a better life?" and "Of course you�ll be able to see him...once a month." Maybe it�s a distortion of the film, but Briski seems painfully oblivious to the fact that these downtrodden adults not only love their kids but also depend on them.
Most of the parents give their consent - but grudgingly. And as the film ends, we learn that most of the children did not stay in school. Either their parents took them out or they left of their own accord (for emotional reasons not hard to imagine). Ironically, the only child who sees all this coming is Avijit, and he is also the only one who truly escapes. Unlike the others, he has a grandmother who has long supported his painting and is willing to loosen her grip.
I gather from various websites that Briski's efforts did not cease with the completion of "Born Into Brothels." Far from it. She raises money for them through the sale of their photos (some through Sotheby�s), and she presides over an organization, Kids with Cameras, that seeks to bring the joys and opportunities of photography to other impoverished children around the world. If she wins the Oscar, these efforts will receive a gratifying boost.
But as Briski and others spread the gospel of the camera, I hope they bear in mind the lesson this film inadvertently teaches: Talk to the parents first, and put yourself in their shoes. If you lived in a dungheap, would you want to lose your only flower?
Posted by at 4:30 AM
February 24, 2005
Upside Deep Doo-Doo
No, I am not going to review "Inside Deep Throat." The original film I found stupid, boring, and anti-female, and the idea of making a documentary about it I find even more so, especially considering that this is 2005, not 1972.
So imagine my delight at seeing both films trashed by Anthony Lane in the current New Yorker. Instead of disgust or disapproval (reactions that, while understandable, backfire by making the critic seem a prude), Lane goes in for ridicule - especially of "the predictable roster of guest preachers" who appear in the documentary. These lit-crit nitwits, people like Camille Paglia, Norman Mailer, Hugh Hefner, Erica Jong, and Gore Vidal, would endorse horse manure if they thought it would keep them in the celebrity game.
Posted by at 9:10 AM
February 21, 2005
Merlotted
Fellow AJ Blogger Drew McManus writes:
"I loved Sideways, my wife and I agree it was a well made flick with some excellent acting. But I also hate the film because, as wine drinkers, my wife and I also hate Merlot; so now we look like Sideways tag-alongs when we say we'd rather drink soda than Merlot. In the movie world, is there a name for something like that, when a movie takes away something that you used to feel was uniquely you and turn it into a public fad?"
Not that I know of, Drew, but there ought to be. I'd suggest Merloted (mer-LOAD), but it looks funny. So how about Merlotted? Somewhere between garrotted and besotted...?
Posted by at 5:15 AM
February 17, 2005
Halfways
Today's Wall Street Journal reports a flood of tourists arriving in California�s Santa Ynez wine country, re-enacting some of the less savory moments from the surprise hit movie "Sideways," such as the scene where a self-pitying, drunken Miles (Paul Giamatti) asks a bartender for a porn magazine.
So the makers of "Sideways"* have pulled off a winning combination: a serious idea wrapped in consumer-friendly frippery. The phenomenon recalls "Babette's Feast," Gabriel Axel�s 1987 film about an ascetic religious colony on the windswept coast of Denmark being restored to life and true spirituality by a marvelous French chef.
"Babette�s Feast" set off a round of lavish restaurant-going in New York City, with chefs competing to reproduce the meal depicted in the film down to the last tender morsel of baby quail flesh. Of course, the people who gobbled this up had not spent the previous half-century subsisting on boiled fish and breadcrusts.
By the same token, the Miles wanna-bes slurping down the vintage in Santa Barbara County probably do not have very good palates, in wine or anything else. If they did, they would not be living vicariously through a movie the whole point of which they seem to have missed.
* See my review, posted January 7
Posted by at 10:00 AM
February 13, 2005
Shallower Than It Looks
A handsome young man stands on the edge of a rocky cove staring down into rippling turquoise water. It looks deep, so he dives. But it is not deep. He hits bottom, breaks his neck, then spends 28 years as a quadriplegic. He also becomes famous for battling with the legal authorities in his native Spain for the right to commit assisted suicide. He loses the battle but wins the war: after publishing a book, he persuades one of his many devoted helpers to give him a glass of water spiked with cyanide.
"The Sea Inside" ("Mar adentro") is about a real man, Ramon Sampedro, whose followers are no doubt hoping that it will win this year's Oscar for Best Foreign Film. I am hoping it doesn't, because like the water into which Sampedro dove, it is exquisitely beautiful - but a lot shallower than it looks.
The acting is superb, especially Javier Bardem's portrayal of a man whose face, especially his eyes, are filled with all the seductive vitality missing from the rest of his body. Also finely drawn are the people who pass through Ramon's picturesque Galician farmhouse: his father, brother, sister-in-law, nephew, and three loving women: a "death with dignity" activist, Gene (Clara Segura); a lawyer, Julia (Belen Rueda), who is warding off her own debility from strokes; and a local factory worker and single mother, Maria (Lola Duenas), who at first urges Ramon to live but then becomes the one who helps him die.
But as lovely and beguiling as this film is, it is also tendentious. This is especially true of its caricature of a quadriplegic priest, Fr. Luis de Moya, who has said in an interview that he and Sampedro had a serious correspondence about assisted suicide before Fr. de Moya came to visit Sampedro in Galicia, and that while neither man swayed the other, they parted with mutual respect.
If this is true, or even if it isn't, why does director-writer Alejandro Amenabar feel obliged to ridicule Fr. de Moya, making him mouth petty dogma in a scene contrived to be as farcical as possible? And why accuse the Church of being inconsistent on such issues as suicide, euthanasia, abortion, and the death penalty, when in fact it is consistent?
One needn't be a Catholic or even a believer to grant that the Church's reasoning about these questions is strong and philosophically compelling. If "The Sea Inside" had the courage to take on that reasoning, then it would be worthy of its own considerable artistry. Admire the artistry if you want (I did). But be careful. Don't plunge in head first.
Posted by at 9:00 AM
February 11, 2005
Observing the Formulas
It took me a while to see "Million Dollar Baby," the Clint Eastwood movie nominated for seven Academy Awards, but it was worth the wait. The film is a beautiful example of why tried-and-true formulas are ... well, tried and true. This isn't faint praise. Every art has its formulas, and success depends on what a given artist does with them. In this case, Eastwood takes a venerable formula - the boxing flick in which the contender's hardest fight is outside the ring - and burnishes it to a rich, glowing patina.
Of course, that's not all Eastwood does. It's impossible to prove a negative, but I suspect that if the contender in question were a young man from the white-trash side of the tracks, the critics would have dismissed the film as (you guessed it) formulaic. By making his star a young woman, Maggie (Hilary Swank) Eastwood makes plenty of room for all that burnishing.
Recently several talk-radio "conservatives" have accused "Million Dollar Baby" of being an advertisement for euthanasia. What can I say to this, except: Come on, guys. Look at the blinking movie.
Frankie, the burnt-out trainer played by Eastwood, is the sort of Catholic who attends mass every day in order to ventilate his doubts with Father Horvak (Bryan O'Byrne). When Maggie is paralyzed by a dirty punch and begs Frankie to disconnect her life support, Frankie asks Father Horvak what to do. The priest tells him (very sympathetically, I might add) that euthanasia is a sin. And Frankie obeys, refusing Maggie's pleas.
But then Maggie starts biting her own tongue in a desperate attempt to drown in her own blood. At that point Frankie does the deed. But not in the spirit of Dr. Kervorkian liberating another paying customer. Rather he does it in the spirit of a stoic, self-punishing man sacrificing his own soul for that of another. Maybe God will forgive him, maybe not. You get the feeling he is willing to take the chance. And despite the wistful closing lines by his old friend Scrap (Morgan Freeman), there is no happy ending. After Frankie disconnects Maggie, he disconnects himself - from everything and everyone he has ever known. He disappears.
What sort of standard are these "conservatives" using, I wonder? If artists are not allowed to show troubled mortals committing mortal sins out of love, then talk radio has a long list of artists to condemn. How about starting with some of the worst offenders, like Dante, Shakespeare, Cervantes, Dostoevsky...?
Posted by at 5:30 AM
February 5, 2005
Codex: Eye-Opening
This is a new category of entry - recommendations of books about film that are actually worth reading. They are few, in my opinion, for reasons I hope to set forth as we go along. The heading is "codex" because that is the word used for the bound book when it was a new medium.
Whenever I plow through another essay or book about film "theory," the main conclusion I reach is that the people who write it never made anything with their own two hands. Theorists seem to think that a film either springs directly from the forehead of an individual genius, or it gathers spontaneously as a sort of excrescence on the surface of an entire society.
That's not how films are made. They are made by groups of people working collaboratively, which is the single best explanation both of why most are so bad AND of why the good ones are so astonishing. It follows that the best writing about film is by talented people who understand this.
Such a writer is Walter Murch, the veteran editor and sound designer whose credits include "Apocalypse Now" (original and recut), "The Godfather Part II," "The Unbearable Lightness of Being," "The English Patient," and "The Talented Mr. Ripley." Read Murch's "In the Blink of an Eye," if you want to be reminded of how much old-fashioned craftsmanship, not to mention artistry, goes into the making of a good film.
Effortlessly Murch goes from explaining fine detail to expressing large understanding. Here are two examples, though it's tempting to quote the whole book:
"By cutting away from a certain character BEFORE he finishes speaking, I might encourage the audience to think only about the face value of what he said. On the other hand, if I linger on the character AFTER he finishes speaking, I allow the audience to see, from the expression in his eyes, that he is probably not telling the truth..."
"The underlying principle: Always try to do the most with the least ... Why? Because you want to do only what it necessary to engage the imagination of the audience - suggestion is always more effective than exposition. Past a certain point, the more effort you put into a wealth of detail, the more you encourage the audience to become spectators rather than participants."
Posted by at 9:30 AM
February 1, 2005
You'll Never Valet Park in This Town Again
If you've ever attended a Hollywood press event or been wooed by the media relations department of an entertainment firm, then perhaps you share my distrust of how most reporters cover show business. If the word "cover" is taken in the agricultural sense to mean what a bull does to a cow, then typically it's the reporter who gets covered.
For a funny, bittersweet recollection what this beat is like, see Bernard Weinraub's column in Sunday's New York Times. After 14 years writing about the movie, TV, and record industries, Weinraub is stepping down. These quick reflections are not revelatory or earthshaking, but that's why I like them: they offer a human's-eye view. For example, Mr. Weinraub writes:
"Waiting for a valet at the Bel-Air Hotel to bring my company-leased Ford, I once stood beside a journalist turned producer who said, 'I used to drive a car like that.' Though I'm ashamed to say it, I was soon hunting for parking spots near Orso or the Peninsula Hotel to avoid the discomfort of having a valet drive up my leased two-year-old Buick in front of some luncheon companion with a Mercedes."
What I recall are not just my luncheon companions' reactions but also the reactions of the valets. Whenever one of those nice young men would deliver my Honda Accord, I would give him a five-dollar tip and watch the look of pity on his face turn to contempt. A hundred might have helped, but I decided not to try. In those environs, there's no real cure for sagging vehicular status.
Posted by at 10:40 AM
January 27, 2005
Interviews I Never Finished Reading
From Agence France-Presse:
Multiple Oscar winner Dustin Hoffman lamented the state of modern filmmaking, using a promotional session for his latest feature to pan a money-hungry marketing-focused industry. "The whole culture is in the craphouse," Hoffman told journalists gathered in London to hear him promote his latest comedy vehicle "Meet the Fockers" ...
Posted by at 4:15 AM
January 23, 2005
Their Small Starved Turkish Wedding
If you live in New York or Los Angeles, rush out and see "Head-On" ("Gegen die Wand'), the fourth film from Turkish-German writer/director Fatih Akin . Comic, tragic, absurdist and affirmative, "Head-On" won the Golden Bear in the 2004 Berlinale and has been causing quite a stir in Europe. It's a terrific, timely piece of work that deserves a larger distribution here.
The two central characters are moving at escape velocity but in opposite directions. Cahit (Birol �nel) is a Turkish-born denizen of the Hamburg punk scene whose marriage to a German woman has failed, sending him into drink and depression. As the film opens, he is driving into a concrete wall ("Gegen die Wand" means "against the wall"). Alive but banged up, he is sitting in the waiting room of a psychiatric clinic when he meets Sibel (Sibel Kekilli), a daughter of Turkish immigrants who rebels against her tradition-minded family by slashing her wrists.
Recognizing scraggly Cahit as a kindred spirit, Sibel conceives a better escape route than suicide: marriage to a guy who, being Turkish, will pass muster with her family, but who also, being a complete lowlife, will not care about the wild fling she hopes to enjoy once she�s free. As it turns out, Cahit does care. Or rather, he learns (re-learns?) what it means to care. And Sibel is drawn, reluctantly, into caring for him. They don't live happily ever after; on the contrary, some grim things occur before the end (this is a German film, after all). But they do pull each other back from the brink.
"Head-On" is so timely, it's easy to miss the subtleties. For example, the New York Times describes Sibel's background as a "cloistered society where women are kept captive by their fathers and brothers." But this is a caricature. Sibel's father (Demir G�kg�l) is strict, and her brother (Cem Akin) is a bully. But they are not the Taliban. If they were, then Sibel's mother (Aysel Iscan) would not dye her hair blond and chain smoke. And the hilarious scene where Cahit comes to call would not end the way it does. After listening to his son berate Cahit, the father turns to Sibel and asks, "Is your mind made up?" And when she says yes, the stern old man shrugs: "What is left to say? When two people are in love..."
For Cahit and Sibel the road is not just rocky, it is land-mined. Against the presumption that it�s always good to shake off the fetters of tradition and religion, "Head-On" opposes a distinctly unromantic portrait of the liberated Western lifestyle. Cahit wants to end his life of booze, drugs, impersonal sex, and selfish behavior; Sibel wants to begin hers. But for a moment they glimpse something better: not the old ways, but not their total rejection, either. The sweet spot is when, after cleaning up Cahit's pigpen of a flat, Sibel cooks him a meal of stuffed peppers. The music on the soundtrack is perfect, the camera lingers on her hands, and even though the film contains several sex scenes, this is the most erotic.
There is no hotter issue in Europe right now than the assimilation of large Muslim immigrant populations. But Europeans still have a tendency to think of assimilation as a one-way street. Here in the nation of immigrants, we have learned to think of it as a two-way street. Indeed, in recent years millions of immigrants have come to America and learned new ways. But they have also kept some of the old, and in the process, the rest of us have learned (re-learned?) that life is best lived between the poles of individual liberation and the constraints of family and community. If the success of "Head-On" is any measure, then the same lesson is being pondered in Europe.
Posted by at 9:20 AM
Anti-Gravitas
Of late, the public ceremonies of my country fill me with mixed emotions. Today is Inauguration Day, and as the pale wintry sun gleams on the U.S. Capitol, and the excellent armed services band plays on the surreally high podium, my blood stirs in a way that is half-joyous, half-anxious.
Joyous because, like most Americans, including those who did not vote for Bush, I know my country to be high-minded, idealistic, brave. Yet anxious because, like countless other people around the globe, I also know America to be hubristic, self-deluding, rash. Maybe the president's speech will resolve this ambivalence?
No chance. The speech itself is not eloquent or soaring (don't touch that cliche), but it is well crafted and strains earnestly to lift off. Yet the president's delivery makes me squirm. His speaking style is no longer forced and mangled (he's come a long way), but it remains incurably tinny. No matter how hard he tries, he just can't wring the insincerity out of his voice.
Why is that? His enemies say, "It's the stupidity, stupid." But Bush isn't stupid. He's no intellectual, but he's as smart as the proverbial whip. His problem is different. Until three years ago, his success in the world derived from his skill at cheerfully deflating the seriousness of others. The English wit Sydney Smith once quipped that while others were rising by their gravity, he was sinking by his levity. For Bush it has been the other way around.
I'm not suggesting a lack of seriousness now. Along with the rest of us, Bush changed on 9/11. You don't have to take my word for it. Just rent "Journeys With George," the flawed but fascinating documentary about the 2000 Bush presidential campaign, made by Alexandra Pelosi, the daughter of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D. California). It will show you, up close and personal, the pre-9/11 Dubya.
And what a droll, sardonic, towel-snapping fellow he was! Traveling with him was tough for the rumpled reporter types, because instead of snapping their towels at the candidate, they found themselves getting snapped at by his. The film ends at the First Inaugural of Bush the Second, and the podium was just as surreally high then as now. But everything else has changed, hasn't it? Which is why Bush's speech only intensifies my ambivalence. It contains too much dissonance of its own.
Posted by at 4:30 AM
January 19, 2005
If You Don't Like Suspense
If you prefer not to stay up past midnight on February 25 to hear the words, "And the winner is...", The Guardian (UK) has a formula for predicting who will take home the Oscars this year. Which leads me to wonder: will the movie industry soon be adopting a hit-prediction system as effective as the pop music software described elsewhere in the Guardian?
Among critics, the cliche is that the entertainment industry already works by tried-and-true formulas. And certainly this is what studios, networks, cable channels, and record companies would LIKE to do. What mega-corporation wants to go on investing millions of dollars in a product so unreliable it comes out different each time it is manufactured? But among the good people who actually make movies, TV shows, and records, the cliche is just the opposite: "Nobody knows anything."
What do AJ readers think of this apparent paradox?
Posted by at 8:45 AM
January 16, 2005
Pay Attention
A married couple no longer young sit on the roof of a luxury hotel, palm trees swaying in the tropical breeze. By candlelight, over a beer, the husband reveals that shortly after meeting his wife he had bribed her boss to transfer her to a job near him: "So I could marry you." Joking about the amount of the bribe, they kiss.
The only jarring note is the chatter of machine guns in the background. This is Kigali, Rwanda, in May or June of 1994. And outside the hotel gates, Hutu militias armed with guns and machetes have started the genocide that because of the world's inaction left between 800,000 and one million ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutu dead.
But this scene is not a mistake. It's been carefully staged by the husband, Paul Rusesabagina (Don Cheadle), the elegant manager of the hotel, so he can tell his wife Tatiana (Sophie Okonedo) how he wants her and their four children to die. Paul is Hutu, his wife Tutsi. And seeking refuge in the hotel are 1,200 more Tutsis. Paul is trying to keep the militias at bay, but if he fails, he wants his family to jump off the roof rather than watch each other be raped and hacked to pieces.
This strange doubleness - candlelight, mass murder - reflects the startling depth of "Hotel Rwanda," which you will miss if you look for the usual ingredients. The world knows that Mr. Rusesabagina succeeded, so there isn't much suspense. None of the killing occurs on camera (except for some grainy news footage), so there isn't much violence. And while director Terry George makes clear the moral failure of the US, the UN, and the West in general, there isn't much politics, either.
Instead, "Hotel Rwanda" achieves something almost never seen in the movies: a serious portrait of a good man. Paul loves his family and is brave - in Hollywood this would be more than enough to make him the good guy. But this film does more. It emphasizes Paul's mental qualities. He is no intellectual, just a hotel manager. But he is alert, attentive, self-controlled, swift to read people and manipulate them (through cunning if necessary), and above all, cool in the face of danger. He is what the ancient Greeks called sophron.
In the same vein, there is a classical resonance to the fact that Paul in the hospitality business. Hospitality meant far more to the ancient Greeks than it does to us. In Homer, it means not just being nice to people but showing them how rich and powerful you are, placing them in your debt through good treatment and fine gifts, and finally being in a position to call in your chips.
This is precisely what happens in the escalating scenes between Paul and the Hutu general Augustin Bizimungo (Fana Mokoena), which alone are worth double the price of admission. Smoothly and convincingly, Cheadle's Paul goes from being the kind of host who knows what everybody is drinking to being the kind of hero who knows what every fearful moment requires. Against such a hideous backdrop, this is a beautiful thing to watch.
Posted by at 1:10 AM
January 9, 2005
Penn - etrating
Who are the two best actors in America? Robert Duvall and Sean Penn, IMHO. To judge by a fascinating interview with Penn in today's Boston Globe, there is no love lost between them. But that's not what strikes me about the interview. What strikes me is Penn's ability to relate the political side of his brain to the artistic side. For what are probably very good historical reasons, artists tend to compartmentalize these.
Sean Penn is the son of Leo Penn, a blacklisted figure from the bad old McCarthy days, so it is not surprising that he is a man of the left. Yet not the Hollywood left, I'm tempted to say. It's a matter of proportion. Most movie people live in a bubble, and when they try to connect with the world, they typically do so by taking highly moralistic, simplistic, one-sided stands on pet issues. (A political style found on both sides of the ideological divide, needless to say.)
What's impressive about Penn is not that he never takes such stands (he does), but rather that he does more. In plugging his new film, "The Assassination of Richard Nixon," he brings the open, imaginative, penetrating side of his mind - the artistic side - to bear on a political topic. On Nixon and George W. Bush, he sound more like a thoughtful historian than a celebrity actor.
Too bad he couldn't muster the same sympathy for Robert Duvall.
Posted by at 12:45 PM
January 7, 2005
"Tastes Good to Me"
Writing in today's Christian Science Monitor, David Sterritt asks an excellent question: Why do movie critics engage in groupthink? At press screenings, he notes, he and his compadres often seem to be "on different wavelengths" about the films they see. But when the time comes to compile lists of the year's best movies, "the same titles keep leaping out, as if some secret signal had been transmitted to our movie-critic brains."
I agree with Mr. Sterritt that along with challenging the taste of the public, critics should challenge the taste of other critics. But I disagree with his account of how to do this. Rather than engaging in groupthink, he writes, critics should be "following our own lights, disagreeing more often than agreeing, and remembering there's no scientific test to determine 'good' or 'bad' at the movies." The first two points make sense but not the third. Of course there's no scientific test. But that doesn't mean there are no tests at all.
Personally I find critical groupthink reassuring, because even when wrong, it suggests a certain coherence. The alternative is found on the ubiquitous chat-rooms attached to movie websites. They contain many intelligent remarks, to be sure, and every now and then you find someone who can actually spell. But these free-form reviews also illustrate what happens when (as the saying goes) "everyone's a critic": unfettered subjectivity, bizarre free association, celebrity gossip, and worst of all, a childish inability to disagree without reaching for the flamethrower.
Now let me offer a flameless rebuke to Mr. Sterritt. The critical favorite of 2004 is "Sideways," a judgment I am happy to endorse; it does my heart good to see such a terrific film get the kudos it deserves. Mr. Sterritt admires "Sideways" too, but so intent is he on the virtues of disagreement for its own sake, he quotes A.O. Scott of the New York Times reducing the critics' plaudits to narcissism. They like "Sideways," Scott suggests, because as "white, middle-aged men" they identify with the main character's "self-pity and solipsism," qualities that "represent the underside of the critical temperament."
Oh, dear. Leaving aside the merits of proving one's independence by quoting the New York Times, isn't it possible that all those hard-working criticis actually have good reasons for praising this movie? If they identify with the character of Miles (Paul Giamatti), it is probably not because he is a sad sack (excuse me, Mr. Scott, but your description of the movie critic does not cover all cases). Rather it is because Miles has a fine palate for wine, which he has developed over a long period of time, and he is traveling with a buddy who keeps saying, "Tastes good to me!" while slurping down the worst rotgut. Hate to sound like a snob, but I've been there. Haven't you?
Posted by at 8:00 AM
December 29, 2004
Video Virgil: Austen Power
Having introduced the topic of Jane Austen (see "Sideways" rave below), I feel moved to mention why the 1996 BBC/A&E production of "Pride and Prejudice" starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth is my favorite.
I admire this one the most because it achieves the most delicate balance between two very different worlds: that of Jane Austen�s novels and that of our contemporary film sensibility.
There are an amazing number of Austen adaptations out there. On this side of the pond they range from the old-fashioned Hollywood feature, the 1940 "Pride and Prejudice" starring Greer Garson and Sir Lawrence Olivier; to the new-fangled Hollywood feature, the 2003 update set in contemporary America, with the necessary social morality supplied by having the characters all be Mormons.
The chief fault of these, and of all novel-based feature films, is the adaptation process itself. No matter how highly credentialed the writers, they are bound by the stricture of the two-hour screenplay to commit ugly acts of amputation and evisceration.
The BBC led the way to a solution: the TV miniseries. Give the writer six hours instead of two, and he or she is less likely to turn into an Edward Scissorhands, out to discipline fusty old novelists for wasting kerjillions of words on material that doesn't advance the plot.
The BBC has adapted "Pride and Prejudice" four times: in 1952, 1967, 1980, and 1996. I haven�t seen the first two, but the contrast between �80 and �96 suggests the solution created a new problem: misplaced fidelity.
While Austen�s prose may seem dry to the newcomer, to the seasoned reader it purls along, clear and rapid as a fast-running brook. For reasons of cost, undue attachment to theatrical conventions, or perhaps both, this fluency was absent from the �80 production, which (despite a fine performance by Elizabeth Garvie as Elizabeth Bennet) is stagey and ... well, dry.
By �96 somebody at the Beeb - or at A&E - had figured out two things. First, that Austen is not dry. And second, that film has its own way of bubbling along, one that is different from both the page and the stage. Let the purists complain; if Austen were alive today, she would delight in this version and find ever so tactful fault with the others.
Posted by at 12:45 PM
December 23, 2004
Fine and Mellow for the Holidays
It's tricky to judge "Sideways," because "Sideways" is about judgment. All kinds of judgment, from the wine taster's palate to the would-be lover's heart. And it is so good, it makes you vow never again to drink rotgut.
The story is simple. Two 40-ish guys, former college roommates, take a tour of the Santa Barbara, California wine country. One of them, a failing actor named Jack (Thomas Haden Church), is about to get married. So his old friend Miles (Paul Giamatti), a pudgy failing novelist suffering post-divorce depression, suggests the trip as a last fling.
Of course, what Miles has in mind - open road, golden scenery, gourmet food, and great wine - is not what Jack hankers for. Like an aging woodthrush, Jack wants to puff out his feathers and make funny noises in his throat to attract females. Soon he is happily banging a wine pourer named Stephanie (Sandra Oh), while Miles goes into an emotional tailspin over sensing that a classy waitress named Maya (Virginia Madsen) might be a kindred spirit.
I saw "Sideways" right after "Closer" and was struck by the fact that Jack could be a character in either film. Like the "Closer" foursome, he's a narcissist whose life consists of yielding to every impulse, hurting other people, then absolving himself in fluent psychobabble. The only difference is, "Closer" glamourizes the type and "Sideways" does not. Thanks in part to a brilliant performance by Church, we see Jack in the kindest possible light as a greedy little boy half-trying to grow up.
Is "Sideways" moralistic? Not at all. But it is moral in a way that few contemporary films know how to be. Without giving away the ending, let me just say that by the time Jack and his Armenian-American bride are taking their vows under a large ornamental cross, he is the most pathetically sincere hypocrite you ever saw.
As for Miles, he turns out to be anything but pathetic. In a curious way, his fine palate becomes a metaphor for the fineness of his judgment in other more important matters, such as love. Just when you thought the movies had forgotten how to do courtship, along comes this contest between two people who see themselves reflected in Pinot, the most vulnerable wine grape but also the richest.
Let me state my praise this way: If you admire Jane Austin, and take pleasure in her delicate distinctions of right and wrong, not to mention her angelic patience toward human weakness, then you will very likely savor the long, smooth finish of "Sideways."
Posted by at 10:30 AM
December 19, 2004
Movie of the Year (I)
Now that Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" has made its way through the world's movie theaters and is selling briskly on DVD, critics and pundits are looking back at the various predictions, fearful and hopeful, that accompanied its release. The broad, eclectic website Beliefnet.com is a good place to go if you want a quick update on those predictions or an open-ended and seemingly endless discussion of the film. In the spirit of shameless self-promotion, I refer the reader to my own comments on the film, posted last spring - just click on "The Passion" to your right.
Posted by at 8:05 AM
December 17, 2004
Jumpers
Take it from generations of storytellers: dollar for dollar, erotic deception is your biggest entertainment value. In "Closer," the Mike Nichols film just nominated for a Golden Globe, the deception begins with the title, which implies the existence of something solid in a human being to which others may come close (or closer). But there's no such solidity in these four pretty protagonists. The moment they get close, they fly apart.
This makes for some intriguing patterns, like the swirls traced by a magnet in a pile of metal shavings. The question is, are the forces at work in this film any more complicated than the positive and negative charges found in a magnet?
Plot summaries are a drag but in this case necessary: An American stripper named Alice (Natalie Portman) goes to London and jumps the bones of an English journalist named Dan (Jude Law). Dan later betrays Alice by jumping the bones of an American photographer named Anna (Julia Roberts). By jumping Dan's bones, Anna is betraying her husband, an English dermatologist named Larry (Clive Owen). In the end, Larry and Alice claim to have jumped each other's bones, but they might be lying.
So many bones, so little time. Oddly, "Closer" would have us believe that these four take several years to do what any self-respecting spouse-swappers could do in a single evening. But spouse-swapping is shallow and "Closer" is deep. Right?
There's one deep-seeming gimmick: instant messaging. Pretending to be Anna, Dan erotic-IMs with Larry as a practical joke, only to arrange a rendezvous that results in some serious bone-jumping. But Cyrano de Bergerac these people ain't. It is not clear why Larry would venture forth to meet the author of such lines as, "I want 2 cum on yr face." Cum to think of it, this isn't deep, or even erotic. Just trendy.
If there is a deep character, it would be Natalie, the stripper skilled at exerting power over men without letting them exert any over her. The film's most riveting scene occurs when Larry (heartsick over Anna) visits a strip joint and pays for a private ogle with Alice (heartsick over Dan). Larry wants to jump Alice's bones, but Alice cites the house rule, "Look but don't touch." And when Larry begs her to say her real name, she insists on using her fake nom de strip, Jane. Of course, at the end we learn that her name really is Jane.
This pattern is tidy: by attracting and repelling in equal measure, the gorgeous but vulnerable heroine achieves a moment of maximum control that enables her to speak the truth. Unfortunately, even this pattern dissolves at the end, when the happiness of Natalie and Dan reunited is destroyed by the question: DID Larry jump Alice's bones, after all?
We never learn the answer, a device doubtless intended to make us share these characters' morbid desire to know the truth even when it destroys happiness. This might pass for deep, if this film contained any happiness or emotional truth. But it doesn't. So the magnet in use here has only one charge.
Posted by at 10:45 AM
December 15, 2004
Blockheads
Hurt by competition with Netflix and other mail-order video rental services, Blockbuster's operating income threatens to stay flat this coming year. So the company in its wisdom has decided to eliminate its most-griped-about policy: late fees.
Instead of charging you an average $4 for the late return of a video, Blockbuster will now let you keep it an extra week, then charge your credit card for the purchase price. Oh, you didn't want to buy it? Well, you're in luck: you then have a 30-day "grace period" in which to return the video for a store credit, minus a $1.25 re-stocking fee. And just to clarify further: the grace period includes the extra week. So it's really only 21 days.
Is that clear? If you are regular customer at Blockbuster, you may be harboring some small doubt about waiting in line for the privilege of having some Tarantino wannabe explain the new fee structure to you.
For this is the real reason why people are switching to mail-order video: THEY NEVER HAVE TO GO TO THE VIDEO STORE!
Consider: You can order books by mail, too. But people flock to Borders and Barnes & Noble. Why? Because they're pleasant public places where people can buy coffee, sit and relax, browse in peace, even read. Quite apart from the debate over chains vs, independents, most people will agree that compared with the average Blockbuster, the average Borders treats its customers like human beings.
And this is true regardless of age or level of education. Compare the human specimens in Blockbuster with those in Borders, and you will find that they are basically the same. The only real difference is that the latter are happier. They aren't trying to choose a video, add up their late fees, or handle their children in an environment that assaults them with blaring promotional ads and mountains of candy, popcorn, and all the other unspeakable junk food that Blockbuster would have us believe is the normal, natural accompaniment to watching a film at home.
My point is simple. Instead of interpreting the difference between Blockbuster and Borders as proof of a McLuhanesque gap between noble print and debased electronic media, maybe we should think of it as the difference between a company that batters its customers into submission and one that understands that most people will actually pay for the privilege of feeling civilized..
Posted by at 11:00 AM
December 13, 2004
Not So Rich
Last spring, Frank Rich screened "Kinsey" and found it "an intelligent account of a half-forgotten and somewhat quaint chapter in American history."
Now he finds the film more timely. Indeed, his column in yesterday's New York Times held up "Kinsey" as the harbinger of a returning dark age, as religious conservatives hatch a new, post-electoral "plot against sex in America."
Golly, when I heard that "Kinsey" was attracting the usual spitballs from the usual suspects, I just took it as another skirmish in the Thirty Years War between publicity-seeking preachers and keister-covering broadcasters. To judge by Rich's account, though, the situation is more serious than that. Indeed, the battlements of sexual enlightenment are being stormed by an army of Bible-reading Orcs.
This is odd, given that only last week Rich was reassuring us that red-state couch potatoes enjoy televised T&A just as much as blue-state ones do. That struck me as a singularly uninteresting observation, but about all we can expect from a critic who (to paraphrase Charles Peguy) would go to any length to avoid being thought a prude.
Still, I can't help but wonder whether Rich is really worried about the end of nonmarital nooky as we know it, or whether he's just running short of ideas. To quote Peguy directly: "A word is not the same with one writer as with another. One tears it from his guts. The other pulls it out of his overcoat pocket."
Posted by at 8:00 AM
December 12, 2004
Same Director: "Hail, Hail, Rock 'n' Roll"
While we're on the subject of 1950s rock & roll, let me recommend a fine documentary by the man who directed "Ray." In 1987 Taylor Hackford made "Hail, Hail, Rock 'n' Roll" (1987), a portrait of Chuck Berry as he prepared for a 60th-birthday concert in St Louis' formerly segregated Fox Theater. The film offers revealing glimpses of such rock luminaries as Bo Diddley, Johnnie Johnson (Berry's original pianist), Little Richard, Eric Clapton, Linda Ronstadt, Bruce Springsteen, and Keith Richard.
The finest moment, worth double the price of admission, is when Berry, Bo Diddley, and Little Richard recall how naive they had been in the face of sharp practices by the record labels that signed their first hits. Berry, who has been bragging all along about his business acumen, listens to his compadres confessing their mistakes, then informs them that he was too smart to get ripped off. "I majored in math," he says - only to have the spotlight immediately stolen by Little Richard's hilarious retort: "Well, I majored in MOUTH!"
Posted by at 10:00 AM
December 11, 2004
Shining Brother Ray
According to popular myth, the late fifties were "the day the music died." That was when most of the original rock & rollers quit recording: Carl Perkins because of a car accident; Little Richard because of religion; Elvis because of being drafted into the Army; Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry because of sex-related scandals; and Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, and Richie Valens because of a fatal plane crash.
That's hardly the whole picture, though. To quote music critic Nelson George: "Many rock & roll historians, with their characteristic bias toward youth rebellion, claim that the last two years of the fifties were a musically fallow period. But that claim only works if you're willing to ignore Ray Charles's brilliant work."
I couldn't agree more. To talk about Ray Charles is to talk about the finest vintage: ripe essence of blues, jazz, country, and (most important) gospel warmed by the Southern sun, fermented in the soul of a brave and gifted man, then bottled by wise vintners like Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler, the type of entrepreneurs who once upon a time gave the American record industry a reason to exist.
If you're still reading, you've probably savored this musical vintage. But unless you've read "Brother Ray," the salty-sweet autobiography that Charles did with David Ritz, you may not know the fascinating life story of this musical icon. Now you can learn about it, with a minimum of foolishness and a maximum of feeling.
As a writer about popular music, I've seen a lot of "biopics," and believe me, most are rotgut. Not "Ray." From the production design, which richly re-creates an America that now seems as remote as ancient Rome, to the phenomenal cast, who quite simply act their hearts out, this movie is...what? Rather than reach for a superlative, let me just say that this movie is worthy of its subject.
Posted by at 10:15 AM
December 7, 2004
"Kinsey": All Bonobos and No Chimps
Behold the bonobo, Dr. Kinsey tells his enraptured students. They're our closest relatives, and they have sex all the time, with as many partners as possible, while living together in peace and harmony!
Way cool, we say. But depending on our knowledge of primate evolution, we might also ask why the kindly prof doesn't mention chimpanzees, those larger cousins of bonobos who really ARE our closest relatives (just a few chromosomes away from Uncle Fred). Is it because recent field research suggests that chimps in the wild take giddy delight in such activities as rape, mate-battering, and murder?*
Personally, I don't put much stock in sociobiology. It's fascinating to compare ourselves with animals, but for a couple of millennia, human beings have understood that, like it or not, we are different. For one thing, animals don't conduct scientific studies of their own sexual behavior, publish them in best-selling volumes that contribute to significant changes in social organization (if not behavior), then make movies celebrating only one side of the story.
To be fair, "Kinsey" tells its one-sided story gracefully. Bill Condon is a deft director with a flair for sexual themes (see his excellent 1998 "Gods and Monsters"). And Liam Neeson is a vast improvement on the original Alfred Kinsey - not only is he better looking, with a better sense of humor, he is also better behaved.
Oops. This is science, folks. We're not supposed to judge behavior as better or worse. That belongs to the dark ages B.K. (Before Kinsey), when ten-year-old boys were forced to wear cruel contraptions to keep them from masturbating.
Huh? Where did I get that idea? From a gripping scene in which it is revealed that the suffering flesh of Kinsey p�re (John Lithgow) had been mortified in this bizarre way. As it happens, there's no evidence that such a thing ever occurred. Why then add it to the movie? The answer is simple: to make the dark ages look even darker than they were.
America had no lack of sexual hangups in the 1950s: anti-gay prejudice, racist myths, and gross disinformation about female sexuality (thanks a lot, Sigmund). A more measured film would not feel the need to add sexual morality to the list. I say this because the last I checked, sex was a pretty strong passion that sometimes needs channelling, if not curbing. (I assure you, my acceptance of this hard fact does not compel me to strap chastity belts on ten-year-old boys.)
One one level, "Kinsey" accepts this hard fact. There aren't many erotic practices out there that most people agree are wrong, but raping children is one. So "Kinsey" includes a moment of moral indignation at it, as though trying to reassure the audience that this is a movie about noble scientists, not nasty libertines.
The trouble is, Kinsey and some of his associates WERE libertines, and like all libertines they ended up hurting and violating one another. There are some hints of this: a scene where two researchers who've been sleeping with each other's wives succumb to jealous anger; and one great line: "When it comes to love, we are all in the dark."
But these are only hints, which is too bad, because underlying this story is a compelling set of questions about what science can and cannot tell us about ourselves. For example, love is not the only thing science cannot illuminate. Morality is another. Can it be proven scientifically that raping children is wrong? Of course not. That is a truth of another kind, no less true for not being subject to the experimental method.
If "Kinsey" went a little further in addressing such questions, instead of pulling back from them (for fear of appearing prudish?), then it would be a great movie instead of merely a good one.
* My source is the work of anthropologist Richard Wrangham, whose 1997 book, "Demonic Males," uses solid research to buttress a less-than-solid brief for what might be described as the bonobo lifestyle.
Posted by at 9:45 AM
December 4, 2004
Video Virgil: Nice Beards, Great Bathrobes
Speaking of film in the classroom, here�s a sleeper: "King David" (1985, directed by Bruce Beresford). To show this to students before reading I and II Samuel would be a mistake, because unlike the Scripture, the film is not about the problem of monarchy itself.
Americans may have rejected kings in political life, but we yearn for them in fantasy - consider "The Lion King." By contrast, I and II Samuel tell of the Israelites yearning for a king so they can be like other tribes, and of the Lord anointing a bad one, Saul, to teach them why they should not crave an earthly ruler other than his prophets. The twist, of course, is that David comes along, and through one of the Hebrew Bible�s great human-divine wrestling matches convinces the Lord that monarchy can work (at least for a while).
"King David" reduces this capacious theme to a psychological battle between Saul (Edward Woodward), the test-dummy king who succumbs to envy and paranoia, and David (Richard Gere), the golden-boy upstart who can do no wrong. And when David does do wrong, seducing Bathsheba and then arranging to have her husband, Uriah the Hittite, killed in battle, the film smooths things over by making Uriah a sexually dysfunctional wife beater. As any astute college student will immediately notice, this makes Nathan the prophet look kind of silly rebuking David with a parable about a shepherd who loses his beloved pet lamb to the greed of a rich man. As I recall, the shepherd in the parable did not go in for lamb abuse.
OK, in this respect "King David" is just another "beards and bathrobes" flick that takes what is deep, tortured, gnarly, and puzzling in the Bible and reduces it to facile melodrama. But in its defense I will say that "King David" does get a lot of things right - indeed, more than most examples of the genre. And because the acting, production design, and (especially) music are generally excellent, the film provides certain pleasures well known to avid readers who are also movie lovers: the pleasures of allusion, of illustration, and (not least, as demonstrated above) of correction!
Posted by at 10:20 AM
November 23, 2004
College Try: Timing is Everything
It is natural for college professors to knock movie adaptations of great books, and no wonder: Hollywood's record of dumbing down classic literature, not to mention popular culture's overweening claims on student attention, can make showing a film seem more hindrance than help.
Yet film adaptations have their place. I would argue that right movie, shown at the right time and in the right way, can be richly educational. But let me propose a caveat: Never lead off with the movie.
To the hapless educator trying to interest students in material that is less user-friendly than, say, "Spider Man," it's tempting to use the film version of a book as a sort of canap� to whet student appetite for the main course.
But this doesn't work. To lead off with the film is to invite students to treat it as a substitute for the book. (This is especially true if the film is old. slow-paced, or otherwise lacking in state-of-the-art production values. About technical filmcraft young people are terrible snobs. For them, sitting through an antiquated movie is hard work, almost as hard as turning pages.)
To lead off with the film is also to give it a prior claim to authenticity, and to reduce the book to source material - or worse, corrective. The process of reading and discussion thereby becomes one of finding fault with the movie. This is no fun and often prompts students to say, "We're sure you're right, Professor Scoldtongue. But we liked the movie!"
Thus it follows logically that the right time to show the film is after the book has been thoroughly digested. If the film is halfway competent, it will provide the pleasure of allusion, as students recognize characters, details, and themes.
To students who have difficulty visualizing from the page, the film will also provide the pleasure of illustration (which, contrary to the print-worshiping McLuhanites among us, is a perfectly respectable pleasure that has been around for many centuries).
But most important, showing the film after reading the book puts the burden of correction on the students. And in my experience they take great delight in parading their superior understanding, using the text as the standard by which the film's every deficiency may be rooted out.
This isn't a reason to show lousy adaptations. The more elusive a film's deficiencies, the harder the students must work to root them out. Again, these observations are based on a tiny sample: my own students. But here is my rule of thumb: when good books are followed by good movies, the classroom comes alive.
Posted by at 3:45 AM
November 20, 2004
Made for TV: "The Wool Cap"
Brace yourself. We are now entering the season of feel-good TV movies in which angelic choirs, colored lights, and lightly falling snow possess a miraculous healing power over even the worst family traumas. Most directors of holiday movies have never seen an estrangement, betrayal, embitterment, or deep psychic would that does not instantly dissolve when two family members say "I love you" and give each other a big bear hug.
I won't kid you - there's just such a moment in "The Wool Cap," a made-for-TV movie airing this Sunday, November 21 on TNT. But "The Wool Cap" is worth watching all the same, because while it is definitely full of cliches, it manages to suffuse them with rare honesty and humor.
The secret ingredient is William H. Macy, an actor who was never a favorite of mine until last year, when he and Steven Schachter made "Door to Door," an Emmy-winning film about a traveling salesman with cerebral palsy. Now they have collaborated on a new, equally affecting character: Gigot, gloomy alcoholic who works as a janitor in a dilapidated New York tenement.
Gigot cannot speak because of a neck injury sustained in a long-ago car accident, but thanks to Macy's terrific wordless acting, Gigot's feelings are crystal clear as gradually, through no wish of his own, he becomes the sole responsible adult in the life of Lou, a young African-American girl abandoned by her crack addict mother.
Maybe "The Wool Cap" works because the Christmas-Bear-Hug scene is not the main event but rather a step in the process by which Gigot learns to be a father (by reconciling with his own father). Or maybe it succeeds because of Keke Palmer, the gifted young actress who brings Lou to vivid, unstereotypical life. Or Don Rickles, pulling off a lovely understated star turn as one of Gigot's tenants. Or the pet monkey who steals every other scene. Whatever the reason, "The Wool Cap" is a keeper. Take it from someone who actually likes eggnog and fruitcake - but only when made with the finest ingredients.
Posted by at 2:51 AM
November 16, 2004
Video Virgil: Washed Out
I quit reading Philip Roth around the time he wrote "The Breast" - a case, methought, of Big Author morphing into Big Boob. But "The Human Stain" is supposed to be a good book. Which may well be, because it stops short of being a good film the way films made from good books often do. In particular, the film faithfully depicts every surface wrinkle of a relationship that is of interest only in its emotional depths. Among other things this causes the sex scenes to have an odd, second-hand quality, as though they had been staged by one of those aliens who go around abducting humans and calibrating their gonads.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. "The Human Stain" is two films, and one is indeed very good (if truncated). It opens with the less than good one, starring Anthony Hopkins as a sixtyish classics professor named Coleman Silk, who uses the word "spook" to describe two students who never show up in class (and are therefore invisible, like ghosts). As luck would have it, the students are black, so Coleman is hurled into the sort of P.C. hell that could erupt all too easily in place named "Athena College" in "Athena," Massachusetts.
Poor Coleman�s wife is so distraught she dies of a heart attack, and the only friend he has left is Nathan Zuckerman, Roth's fictional alter ego (Gary Sinise). It's just as well Nathan is there, because when Coleman meets Faunia Farley (Nicole Kidman), an unhappy young woman who works menial jobs in the town, the resurgence of lust he experiences might escape the viewer�s attention, save that Coleman tells Nathan all about it. On the screen Coleman's emotion looks more like dyspepsia. More erotic than any of the Hopkins-Kidman scenes is the sequence where Coleman puts Fred Astaire on the stereo and induces Nathan to dance with him to "Cheek to Cheek."
Part of the problem is Kidman, who labors so hard to look scuzzy, she has no time to flesh out a character who (in the novel) must labor to look pretty. One of these days, Hollywood will cast a plain woman as a plain woman. But don't hold your breath.
Of course, none of this is the point. Just as Kidman is trying to pass as a scuzz, so is Coleman trying to pass as something he�s not. In particular, he�s not Jewish, as everyone thinks. He�s black. Hence the irony of the racism charge. And hence the plot of the other film, the good but truncated one.
The good film is a flashback in which Wentworth Miller plays the young Coleman, the son of a genteel African-American family who learns the hard way that the world of his aspirations is off limits to him as a Negro. So Coleman (who is, as the saying goes, "light, bright, and damn near white") decides to pass - and in doing so breaks two hearts, his mother's and his own. Every actor in this flashback is superb, from Anna Deveare Smith as Coleman�s mother to Jacinda Barrett as the white girlfriend who leaves him when she learns of his background. It�s too bad this part couldn�t be the whole movie.
Coleman never shares his secret with anyone � not colleagues, not Nathan, not even his wife � until at the end he shares it with Faunia. He does so because Faunia has painful secrets of her own. The trouble is, it�s hard to care about Faunia�s secrets, because they seem cobbled together for the occasion. First, her poverty is not inherited, like that of most struggling people who mop floors in elite institutions. Like a character in Dickens, Faunia is high born but fallen low through no fault of her own.
Whose fault is it? Brace yourself for the cliches: a sexually abusive stepfather, and a crazy Vietnam vet husband (Ed Harris, wasting his talent). For the sake of the story, I�m willing to tolerate Hopkins as the older Coleman, although his resemblance to the younger is nil. But compared with the other female characters, Faunia feels like something cut and pasted from a bad TV movie. It is sad her crazy husband drives the lovers off the road into a frozen lake. But it is not surprising. For all the talent that went into it, this movie was badly steered from the beginning.
Posted by at 10:00 AM
October 24, 2004
Video Virgil: What Was Hip?
There's a new book out called "Hip: The History," by New York Times writer John Leland. It sounds fascinating, but if you want to witness the pure essence of hip, watch the DVD of "Jazz on a Summer's Day," Bert Stern's documentary about the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival.
"Documentary" is the wrong word, because this is a visual poem, as hip in its way as a solo by Dizzy Gillespie or a poem by Frank O'Hara.
Like all crucial words, hip is hard to define. Rooted in African-American musical culture, especially jazz, hip is also white, though not in the crude heavy-handed way of Norman Mailer's bone-headed essay, "The White Negro." Hip is in eclipse today, because it is neither crude (like most pop music) or heavy-handed (like most "serious" commentary on pop music).
The word hip originated in West Africa: "hepi" or "hipi" is Wolof for "to open your eyes." And Stern's wide-open camera eye gives us amazing close-ups of Jimmy Giuffre, Thelonious Monk, Anita O'Day, Sonny Stitt, Gerry Mulligan, Dinah Washington, Big Maybelle, Chuck Berry, Chico Hamilton, Louis Armstrong, and Mahalia Jackson.
Great artists, all. But great artists need great audiences, and what is most amazing about this film is its portrait of the crowd. Newport was no paradise - Stern himself described it as bringing not-rich New Yorkers, black and white, into a rich white enclave. Unlike the revelers at Woodstock eleven years later, this crowd did not fancy itself a utopian community. They just dug the music. But the way they dug it had a rare and magical beauty, and I for one am glad Stern was there to capture it.
Posted by at 12:16 PM
September 22, 2004
We Don't Do Continuity Any More
The critics have been spooning over "We Don't Live Here Any More," a new film adapted from two 1970s novellas by Andre Dubus. Dubus's fine-tuned fiction was also the basis for "In the Bedroom," one of the most remarkable films made in the last decade. This time, though, his art is not so well served.
The problem is partly the material. Instead of murder, grief, and revenge, the weighty subjects of "In the Bedroom," the topic here is wife-swapping 1970s-style. I'm tempted to add "pre-feminist 1970s-style," since both husbands are youngish academics married to women who never utter a peep about doing anything more interesting than keep house. The acting is OK (I rarely blame actors for anything). But the story is thin, the sexual equivalent of watching somebody decide not to have a cookie, then decide to have one, then decide not to have another. John Updike did it better in "Couples."
The real problem, though, is a distracting linattention to what film makers call continuity. That usually means keeping details consistent from scene to scene - for example, if a character is riding a green bicycle in the beginning of a scene, he or she should not be riding a blue one a minute later.
The continuity problem here is a bit more serious. Let me quote from the New Yorker's rave review: "The lovely cinematography of Maryse Alberti ... creates a canopy of nature over the characters, season after season, which tells us that life will go on for these four - they may not find happiness, but they will survive. Scene by scene, the movie is precise, vibrant, and, for all its turmoil, moving."
Huh? Watch the scenes unfurl, and you will witness what can only be called season-swapping. One moment it is summer, then fall, then spring, then winter, and so on. Maybe I should give the film the benefit of the doubt and take this as a cinematic metaphor suggesting the frustration of these four individuals whose relationships with one another don't seem to be getting anywhere? Nahh.
Posted by at 9:46 AM
September 5, 2004
Video Virgil: "Mystic River"
Winner of this year's Oscar, "Mystic River" has been compared with Greek tragedy. This intrigued me at first, because most Hollywood films treat of tragedy in the spirit described by William Dean Howells: "What the American public always wants is a tragedy with a happy ending."
"Mystic River" does not have a happy ending, which makes its Oscar win all the more impressive. But because it screws up the tragic ending it could have had, "Mystic River" wouldn't have won any prizes in Athens.
The three main characters, Irish-American boys from a fictional blue-collar section of Boston, are as happy as they're ever going to be on the day when one of them, Dave, gets abducted by a pair of pedophiles pretending to be cops. After several horrific days locked in a cellar and roughly abused, Dave escapes. But he is never the same, and neither are his two friends, Jimmy and Sean.
The film opens with Dave's ordeal, but in keeping with Greek unity of time, place, and action, that ordeal is implied more than shown. A purist might set up a chorus -- five guys in the Purple Shamrock bar? -- but director Clint Eastwood is not a purist. He's a master of film, and it is through film that he achieves the emotional tone, searing yet detached, of the tragic chorus.
Then commences the main plot. On the same street, in the same weather, we see the three boys grown up: Dave (Tim Robbins) is a lost soul barely held together by his wife Celeste (Marcia Gay Harden). Jimmy (Sean Penn) is an ex-con with a second wife who walks the straight and narrow as proprietor of a mom-and-pop grocery. Sean (Kevin Baker) is a police detective who has split from the neighborhood.
For a while, the plot unfolds with Sophoclean swiftness. Jimmy's beloved daughter by his first wife, a mercurial beauty named Katie (Emmy Rossum), is murdered late one night and dumped in a park. Jimmy is frantic. Sean warily shows up to investigate, and Dave spooks Celeste by coming home that night with blood on his clothes and a not very credible story about having beaten and possibly killed a mugger.
And the tragic elements are all in place. A sense of foreboding, of deadly fate set in motion long ago, hangs over the proceedings, mixed with suspense: Did Dave kill Katie? Will Jimmy seek revenge before the facts are in? Will Sean's guilty loyalty cause him to blow the case? Then a series of interlocking recognitions and reversals culminates in a harrowing sequence: Jimmy's gangster-style execution of Dave, followed by the revelation that Dave was innocent, and Sean's decision to let Jimmy walk, his rage and sorrow at having killed his unhappy friend punishment enough.
So why not give "Mystic River" the prize? Because instead of stopping there, Eastwood adds four or five extraneous scenes, tying up loose ends that do not need tying up, and in general draining off all the tragic emotion that the film has successfully evoked. This ending-after-the-ending is so bad, I can't thinking that it was tacked on after the movie was market-tested on the same American public that Howells knew so well. If this is the case, then all I can do is thank Zeus that the theater of Dionysus didn't go in for such foolishness.
Posted by at 11:00 AM
September 2, 2004
War Flix
Sorry for the hiatus. It was unavoidable.
Some thoughts prompted by the news that Warner Brothers has canceled its distribution of David O. Russell's anti-Iraq war documentary made to accompany the re-release of his 1999 film, "Three Kings."
I haven't seen the documentary, but I am curious about it, because Russell is a figure to be reckoned with. "Three Kings" is a flawed but fascinating film about the 1991 Gulf War, which begins with a scene of self-indulgent chaos on the part of American soldiers that is not unlike the opening sequences in "Apocalypse Now."
Amid drunken celebrations of victory in Kuwait, a band of cynical G.I.'s decide to venture into Iraq to steal some gold. But unlike the Americans in "Apocalypse Now," who descend into the heart of their own darkness, these adventurers encounter a group of desperate Shi'ites involved in the thwarted uprising against Saddam Hussein. By helping them to escape, the Americans ascend to a state of surprisingly convincing moral clarity. The film is full of black humor and graphic violence, but at the end it achieves something like a modern vision of democratic honor.
This stands in sharp contrast with more popular and commercially successful war films like "Black Hawk Down" (2002). Directed by Ridley Scott, "Black Hawk Down" is about the Delta Force and Ranger soldiers who battled to save a helicopter crew stranded in the streets of Mogadishu. As sheer spectacle it is ear-splitting and eye-popping, and it brilliantly evokes the physical aspect of modern high-tech warfare. But unfortunately, "Black Hawk Down" goes out of its way to avoid showing WHY its fresh-faced, all-American heroes, who as characters are as interchangeable as avatars in a video game, are in Somalia in the first place.
This is typical of today's war movies. Some attract a loyal following among veterans and other people familiar with the situations they depict. For example, a veteran friend of mine is a great fan of Mel Gibson's revisionist Vietnam movie, "We Were Soldiers" (2002), for the uncontestable reason that he fought in the battle of the Ia Drang Valley back in 1965. At a recent reunion with his unit, he and his former buddies reconstructed the battle with the aid of the film -- an exercise that clearly meant a lot.
Nonetheless, "We Were Soldiers" is a mediocre movie, in part because it, too, avoids saying WHY the battle is being fought. The first American casualty moans, �I am glad to die for my country,� but by the end, even patriotism is muted, as a voice-over attributed to the film's hero, Lt. Col. Hal Moore, says that the men of the Seventh Air Cavalry �went to war because their country asked them to, but in the end they fought not for their country or their flag. They fought for each other."
This is the mantra nowadays: "Forget cause - leave that to the politicians. Real men fight for comradeship, period." It makes a lot of sense, as originally defined by psychologists studying the behavior of men in combat. In the heat of battle, many studies have found, soldiers risk their lives not for the sake of abstract ideals but for their friends. The term for this is "unit cohesion," and story-tellers have long understood it. Ever since Achilles rode into battle to avenge his beloved Patroclus, comradeship, not cause, has been the source of drama in all war stories worth telling.
But great story-tellers also understand that cause must be addressed. Yes, comradeship rules while the bullets (or flaming arrows) are flying. But at some point the shooting stops, soldiers ponder why they fight, and if no adequate reason presents itself, they grow less willing to re-enter hell. This is what happened in Vietnam, and this could happen in Iraq.
So what are we left with? Incredibly vivid war movies that drift away from meaning and toward violence for its own sake. "Black Hawk Down" mounts a mighty assault on the senses, but because the thrill is vicarious, it makes war look more exciting than horrible, closer to a video game than to a deadly serious undertaking. Such richly produced, poorly scripted spectacles ignore the bitterest but most important lesson of war � namely, that the willingness of one soldier to sacrifice for another, however potent in the short run, depends in the long run on his knowing why he fights. When the cause is perceived as meaningless or unjust, unit cohesion dissolves and battle spirals into a dishonorable nightmare of every man for himself. Surely that is not a movie that any human being wishes to see.
Posted by at 11:55 AM
August 10, 2004
The New Cultural Diplomacy?
During the 1990s the U.S. government quit engaging in old-fashioned cultural diplomacy. With the Cold War over, it proceeded between 1993 and 2001 to cut the State Department budget for cultural and educational programs by 33 percent, dismantle the U.S.Information Agency (USIA), and close American libraries and cultural centers from Vienna to Ankara, Belgrade to Islamabad.
At the same time, the U.S. exported popular culture, especially movies, big time. Between 1986 and 2000 the fees generated by American exports of film and tape went from $1.68 billion to $8.85 billion, an increase of 426 per cent. Not only has foreign box office revenue grown faster than domestic, it is now approaching a 2-to-1 ratio.
In other words, while the big State Department was dozing at the wheel, the "little State Department" (the nickname, since the 1940s, of the Motion Picture Export Association) was busy prying open new markets all over the globe.
Which brings us to the present moment: "Fahrenheit 9/11" is now playing in theaters in Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, and on DVD in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. According to the New York Times, the theaters are packed. And the message, diplomatically speaking, seems twofold: First, people are struck by "how the American adminstration was able to manipulate the American people." And second, they "want to know more about the reaction to the movie among Americans, who have bought more than $103 million in tickets."
In other words, American democracy is still being showcased overseas, only now the image is of mindless mob being manipulated by demagogues. We could be sanguine and assume that this is OK, it shows that we are free to disagree. But if we keep in mind the classic and contemporary critique of democracy as...well, as a mindless mob being manipulated by demagogues, then this new cultural diplomacy looks less appealing. Maybe the old USIA wasn't so bad, after all?
Posted by at 9:30 AM
August 9, 2004
Video Virgil: "Phone Booth"
I wouldn't have rented this one, but when I saw the stunning opening sequence on HBO, I stayed for the rest.
The opener begins with a cliche: a zoom shot from outer space through the earth's atmosphere down toward North America and finally into good old gridlocked Mahattan. But the cliche is nicely souped up, as we are also pulled into an ocean of humming frequencies: millions of people talking on their cellphones.
Then we are prancing down Broadway with Stuart (Colin Farrell), a slick, obnoxious would-be talent agent shouting ridiculous promises into two different cellphones while a young sycophant juggles two more.
You won't like Stuart, but stay with him, because he's about to undergo an amazing transformation. By stepping into a beat-up phone booth to call a young woman he's trying to hit on, he also steps into an evil trap.
Or maybe it's a good trap? Leaving the booth, Stuart hears the phone ring and out of curiosity picks it up. Then he is stuck, because high in one of the surrounding buildings is a sniper who not only knows Stuart's soul but intends to save it -- by any means necessary. Every pseudo-artist claims moral ambiguity as a theme, but few actually pull it off. This one does.
Posted by at 9:45 AM
August 3, 2004
Video Virgil: "Yes, Minister"
If you have read this before, apologies. I am moving Video Virgil into the main weblog, because Virgil does not like being sidelined. After the first couple of postings we will move into new territory.
If this political season is making you feel a bit cynical, then I have just the thing for you. If you like smart cynicism instead of dumb, and don't mind being reminded of the comic helplessness of elected officials pitted against the vast bureaucracy of the modern state, then by all means rent the terrific British TV series "Yes, Minister." It is witty, insightful, occasionally side-splitting, and (except for certain references and some appalling 1980s eyeglasses) as timely as tomorrow's op-eds.
Two tips: Ignore the ugly animated drawings that precede each episode, and ignore the clumsiness of the opening episode, in which newly minted Minister for Administrative Affairs Jim Hacker (Paul Eddington) first encounters his nemesis, Permanent Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby (the incomparable Nigel Hawthorne) and Sir Humphrey's earnest apprentice in the art of house-training new ministers, Bernard Woolley (Derek Fowlds).
Once the situation and characters are established, the comedy starts to simmer. Then it bubbles, and by some miracle performed by the writers, Anthony Jay and Jonathan Lynn, it keeps boiling for nigh unto four full discs. I never tired of it, even though the joke remains pretty much the same throughout. Who would have thought that so much hilarity could be brought forth from the proposition that government exists not to do anything but to perpetuate itself?
Posted by at 11:00 AM
August 2, 2004
I'd Walk A Mile For This One
What a strange movie. Without ceremony, The Story of the Weeping Camel plunks you down in Southern Mongolia, in a part of the Gobi Desert that makes Death Valley look inviting. There you witness the daily round of a nomad family who live entirely off their small herd of sheep and camels. And while these people are quite appealing with their thick colorful garments, their capable calloused hands, and their tender but unsentimental tending of both beast and kin, you still wonder what you are doing there.
Then the story kicks in. I use the word "kick" advisedly, because if you are squeamish about the hindquarters of large animals, you will not enjoy the sequence where a pregnant camel walks around for the better part of two days with the legs of a gawky half-born albino colt sticking out of her rear. As you might imagine, she is not comfortable. Lying down, rolling over, getting up and walking around some more, she cannot get the colt to come out.
Finally the people grab the legs, yank really hard, and pull the colt out. The mother is so relieved, she trots away, leaving the colt to fend for itself. She doesn't want it, and although it whimpers pitifully, and the people try everything to get her to nurse it, she couldn't care less. At one point she even kicks the poor little thing in the head.
If you are not already engrossed, you will be when the two youngest boys ride camelback 50 kilometers to the nearest town, where they hire, of all things, a musician. While in town they also encounter bicycles, satellite dishes, TVs, and slouching teenagers in Western dress. But curiously, the movie does not seem to be about the usual clash between tribal purity and modern corruption. On the contrary, the boys' other errand is to buy batteries for their grandfather's radio -- a detail that suggests these two worlds have been coexisting for quite some time. If this is one of those films about how wonderful life was before modern media, it's pretty subtle about it.
Then you forget about such abstract themes, because the musician rides out to the nomad encampment (on a motorcycle) and plays his instrument, accompanied by the singing of the boys' mother. Charmed by the music, the neglectful mother allows the baby to nurse, weeping great Mongolian camel tears while she does so. If this doesn't cause you to shed a few of your own, then you are even more ornery than a dromedary. Which is mighty ornery.
Posted by at 5:30 AM
July 27, 2004
Right on McTarget
"Super Size Me" is better than any Micheal Moore film, for the simple reason that it was made by a better human being. Morgan Spurlock, a thirty-something filmmaker with one previous production credit, attacks McDonald's with the same aggressive glee that Moore showed when going after General Motors ("Roger and Me"). the gun lobby ("Bowling for Columbine"), and President Bush ("Fahrenheit 9/11"). But while Moore is a carpet bomb blasting everyone who wanders into his viewfinder, Spurlock is a smart bomb hitting only his chosen target.
It's no fun deliberately ruining your health by adopting the sedentary lifestyle and fast food diet that are turning so many Americans into human Humvees, but that is what Spurlock does. Cheerfully making himself the guinea pig, he starts his experiment with a complete medical exam, in which three different doctors declare him to be in "perfect" shape.
Then, after enjoying a healthy "last supper" cooked by his vegan girlfriend, he spends a painful and hilarious 30 days sitting on his behind and scarfing down everything on the McDonald's menu, from Sausage McGriddles to Chicken McNuggets to Double Quarter Pounders with Cheese, accompanied by Super Size French Fries and gallons of Coke, and finished off with horrors like Baked Apple Pie Triple Thick Shakes.
After three weeks the doctors are advising him to stop, and at the end of the month, he has gained 40 pounds and developed something like an addiction to the rush caused by massive amounts of fat, sugar, starch, and sodium. After four weeks the doctors are telling him to quit or suffer alcoholic-like cirrhosis of the liver.
Spurlock uses some Moore tricks: the sarcastic voice-over that doesn't even pretend to be objective; the ironic editing that makes you laugh out loud; the campy use of old ads and TV; and the interview-ambush. The object of the latter is a General Foods spokesman who, in the middle of expressing corporate concern about the obesity epidemic, blurts out, "We're part of the problem." The poor guy is instantly freeze-framed and plastered with the logos of General Foods subsidiaries, while his words are re-played for the movie-going millions. At the end we learn that he no longer works for the company.
But this is Spurlock's sole victim. To everyone else, from McDonald's employees to pudgy consumers who admit to gobbling fast food several times a week, Spurlock is unfailingly sympathetic and polite. One way of measuring the difference between him and Moore is to ask yourself: Who would you rather be attacked by, an unpleasant egomaniac who enjoys making other people look foolish, or a sweet-faced fellow who just grins, rubs his belly, and delivers a knockout punch?
Posted by at 1:40 AM
July 25, 2004
Crouching Trojan and Hidden Greek
How much did I enjoy Troy? This much: In the big-screen theater where I watched it, the film caught fire, literally, during the final sequence depicting the burning of Troy. (How's that for versimilitude?) The manager handed out free re-admits, and I walked into the adjoining theater and watched it all over again, without being in the least bored.
It helped a lot that I had recently spent a month teaching The Iliad. When your head is clanging with Homer's poetry (or at least with a decent translation, my favorite being Robert Fitzgerald's), and your imagination has been straining to grasp the utter strangeness of Homer's universe, the movie is a treat.
Frank Virga, one of my students, put it this way: "Even though I felt the movie failed at times to present the true story of the Iliad, the set did an excellent job of portraying the look of the battles, the atmospheres of the cities, and the look of the warriors." I agree. For all its defects, this film contains moments of breathtaking beauty -- for example, the night scenes when battle is suspended and "they piled dead bodies on their pyre, sick at heart, and burned it down." [Iliad VII 514-16]
Troy does something else right -- and here the comparison is not with Homer but with other screen epics like The Fellowship of the Ring. One of the hardest things for students to grasp about Homer's war is that, unlike most of the blockbuster wars they've seen, it does not pit the Bright Side (sweetness, bravery, loyalty, clean hair) against the Dark (bile, cowardice, treachery, bad teeth). There are heroes on both sides, human frailties on both sides. And when a hero has a glorious day, the enemies he kills are not mouth-breathing subhumans (as in The Two Towers) but real men (and occasional women) with real names, tribes, and life stories.
Whether the medium is great poetry or state-of-the-art digital animation, this is a lesson worth teaching.
Posted by at 1:30 AM
July 24, 2004
Tough House
The readers of ArtsJournal do not fool around. They know Aristotle, and they know Dorothy Fields -- the "too-little-appreciated lyricist" who wrote the lyrics I quoted in my posting about "De-Lovely" (below). With all due respect to Jerome Kern, let me compensate for my own "too little appreciation" by quoting reader Chris Schneider:
"Fields is the same woman who wrote words for 'I Must Have That Man' and 'I Can't Give You Anything But Love' (composer for both: Jimmy McHugh); 'Make The Man Love Me' (composer: Arthur Schwartz); and 'Big Spender' (composer: Cy Coleman)."
Posted by at 6:51 AM
July 21, 2004
Nice and Gay
Kevin Kline and Cole Porter are both the top. Kline is that rare thing, a graceful comic; and Porter is simply the gold standard of 20th-century song. But this movie disappoints, for two reasons: music and sex.
First music. The reviewers seem to fall into two camps, those who get a kick out of the songs as performed here, and those who don't. My guess is that the first haven't heard many Cole Porter songs before, so renditions by Robbie Williams, Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow and others sound pretty good. Curiously, the most accomplished vocalists on the soundtrack, Natalie Cole and Diana Krall, are played down, while the lesser lights � most egregiously Alanis Morissette meowing �Let�s Fall in Love� � get the full spotlight.
Still, these songs can take a licking and keep on ticking, and some are done imaginatively. For example, �So In Love,� the great torcher from Cole's Broadway classic, �Kiss Me Kate,� is croaked by Kline in a whisper to his dying wife at home, then smoothly interspersed with a full-throated version on stage.
Now for the sex. In a self-conscious improvement over the 1946 biopic �Night and Day,� this film portrays Porter as two things he wasn't: bisexual and nice. By all accounts, he was not at all interested in women (he treated Linda, who was eight years older than he, as a mother figure).
Nor was he all that nice. This film makes him nice when wooing socialite Linda Lee (Ashley Judd) and explaining that he wants a beard, not a bride; nice when leaving the bed of ballet dancer Boris Kochno and explaining that during the day his heart belongs to Linda; and nice when helping a strapping young singer to learn �Night and Day� then accepting his overtures.
Please, listen to Cole Porter's voice . Look at Cole Porter�s photograph. This wasn't a bad man, but not such a bloody nice one, either. Tom Hulce (wherever he is) could play Porter, or Robert Downey, or (don't laugh) Jack Black. The role needs someone who can do the imp, rascal, throughgoing decadent Porter was. For all his talent, Kline just isn't the rapscallion type.
Porter was madly in love his whole life, but not with Linda. His passionate affairs with other men -- Kuchno, Howard Sturges, Ed Tauch, Nelson Barclift, John Wilson, Ray Kelly -- were the smoldering fuel of his songs. His erotic life was crowded, back-biting, steamy, and amazingly uncloseted for its time. It was not a Sunday School picnic with the parsons holding hands.
How quickly the mainstream depiction of gay life has become...well, mainstream. Porter didn't write these lines, Jerome Kern did; but they capture perfectly what is wrong with this movie: "True love should have the thrills that a healthy crime has / But we don't have the thrills that the March of Dimes has."
Posted by at 9:22 AM
July 19, 2004
Brush Up Your Aristotle
Next time I will quote Aristotle with a bit more care. Here is a recent exchange with Robin Mitchell-Boyask, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Greek, Hebrew and Roman Classics at Temple University:
Dear Martha,
Your blog comments on Aristotle left me scratching my head a bit. Aristotle never pitches epic and tragedy against one another, and certainly doesn't demean one in order to exalt the other. I can't find the remarks about cultivated epics anyplace in the Poetics. I hope that doesn't sound too pedantic, because you're absolutely dead right that the growing predominance in film of spectacle at the expense of plot and characterization is a HUGE problem (though nothing worse than the Romans experienced, or perhaps even some Greek audiences).
Best, Robin
Dear Robin,
Maybe it's a question of translation? I find the discussion at the very end of the "Poetics" (pp 137-141 in the Loeb Classical Library edition; pp. 116-118 in the translation I quoted, Francis Fergusson's, published by Hill and Wang). I did not say "demean" or "exalt," I said that Aristotle was weighing what one does vs. what the other does. Maybe both translations have it wrong? If so, I would be most interested to learn that!
Cheers, Martha
Dear Martha,
Luckily, I have the Fergusson (though I never use it). Note that Aristotle stresses that "WE ARE TOLD that epic poetry is addressed to a cultivated audience." This implies that the supposition is false. Aristotle would have known about epic in performance, and Homeric rhapsodes were notoriously flamboyant and emotional (see Plato's "Ion," a text that Aristotle would have known as well." As that chapter progresses, Aristotle narrows his focus to unity of the plot of tragedy. His interest really is plot types and forms. Elsewhere in the "Poetics," he dismisses the "Odyssey"'s ending as, essentially, pandering to its audience.
Best, Robin
Posted by at 11:17 AM
July 17, 2004
Aristotle at the Cineplex
Like most people who saw "The Day After Tomorrow," I found the special effects brilliant. And eerie: the tidal wave rolling through Manhattan recalled the dust-and-debris one of 9/11. Spectacle is spectacle, and computer-imaging whiz kids can't be blamed, I guess, for cannibalizing a big one. More fun, and less troubling, were the mega-storms that freeze-dried El Norte and (in the film's only comic sequence) sent frantic gringos scurrying illegally into sunny Mexico.
But this particular blockbuster also widened the usual gulf between the brilliance of the special effects and inanity of the plot and characters. Here, that gulf became an abyss. Happy ending: neglectful dad learns to say "I love you" to son, and son learns to say "I love you" to girl. Backdrop to happy ending: destruction of all life in the Northern Hemisphere.
Which brings me to Aristotle's Poetics. At the end of that short treatise, after dissecting classical Greek tragedy, Aristotle asks whether this relatively new art form is better or worse than the older, more revered epic poetry of Homer. The main difference, he says, is that "Epic poetry is addressed to a cultivated audience, who do not need gesture," while ragedy appeals to "an inferior public" by combining poetry with gesture, music, dance, and "spectacular effects."
His conclusion? That tragedy is superior precisely because of these add-ons, which "produce the most vivid of pleasures." In other words, it's fine to listen to a rhapsode pluck the lyre and sing the Iliad, but it's even finer to watch actors strut across a stage whose scenery can be raised and lowered by hidden water pumps, while gods in gilded costumes sweep overhead suspended from cranes.
This conclusion comes with a caveat, though. Tragedy cannot succeed on "spectacular effects" alone. They are "important accessories," but the play must also possess "all the epic elements," meaning plot, character, and thought -- in that order. It is wonderful, is it not, that just about every moviegoer over the age of 12 would agree with Aristotle's priorities?
Posted by at 4:50 AM
July 15, 2004
It's A Wonderful Flight
One of 2002's best movies was Catch Me If You Can, a scrumptious creamsicle of a movie. From the delicious opening credits to the heart-warming surprise ending, it burst with the seductive, manipulative charm we've come to expect from director Steven Spielberg, not to mention star Leonardo diCaprio.
But Catch Me If You Can is based on the true story of a teenage con artist who flummoxed then joined the FBI -- in other words, it's ABOUT seduction, manipulation, and charm. The thicker diCaprio shines it on, the wiser we feel for not succumbing to his scam...while, of course, succumbing totally.
The Terminal draws on some of the same talent. The eye-candy direction is by Spielberg, the ear-candy score by John Williams, and everyone's favorite ur-American, Tom Hanks, plays Viktor Navorski, a visitor to New York who because of a coup in his fictional Eastern European country becomes a transient without legal status, compelled by the bumbling Department of Homeland Security to live in the International Terminal at JFK for several months.
The Terminal isn't terrible. It's funny at times, and visually delicious. But it wants to be more than empty calories. It wants to be a Frank Capra classic about the little guy winning against all odds. That's why it borrows such Capraesque touches as the fancy dinner improvised for Viktor and a pretty flight attendant by the ramp rats, janitors, and other working folk at the airport -- lifted from It's a Wonderful Life.
But Spielberg does not succeed in borrowing what Graham Greene saw as Capra's main theme: "goodness and simplicity manhandled in a deeply selfish and brutal world."
Capra's genius was to know exactly how much selfishness and brutality the market will bear. Spielberg must think it will bear very little, because while The Terminal is supposed to be about immigration and uprootedness in an age of terrorism, the worst that befalls Viktor is his stomach rumbles for a while before he can figure out how to collect quarters from a luggage cart machine in order to buy a Whopper.
Would Capra have told a better story? For example, would he have dramatized a case like that of Purna Raj Bajracharya, a 47-year-old visitor from Nepal who in October 2001 was arrested by the FBI and placed in a secret detention facility in Brooklyn, because he had been videotaping a tall building that, unbeknownst to him, contained an FBI office?
Within a week, the arresting agent, James P. Wynne, concluded that Bajracharya was innocent of any crime beyond over-staying his work visa. But Bajracharya was not deported for three months, during which time he was kept in solitary confinement, deprived of sleep, stripped, mocked, and manhandled. The Capraesque part is that throughout this ordeal, Bajracharya's only friend, the one who kept appealing for his release and finally enlisted the help of Legal Aid, was Agent Wynne.
Strong stuff, but affirmative in the end, and certainly not more brutal than the market will bear. What Spielberg does best is wrap smooth, tasty technique around the wooden stick of a good story. There is no such stick holding up The Terminal, so it melts into a smooth, tasty puddle.
Posted by at 12:20 PM
July 13, 2004
Reply to reader
Thank you, Kit Baker, for your thoughtful comments. I will try to address a couple of your points. First, about the curious fact that "Fahrenheit 9/11" contains no reference to Israel. "Since the Bush administration has hardly mentioned Israel in its pronouncements on the Iraq war," you write, "why should we fault Moore for doing the same?" Well, because Moore is trading in every other coin of the conspiratorial realm. Why not this one?
Second, about oil. To anyone who can remember the ideological battles of the post-Vietnam era, Moore's caricature of America as a greedy imperialist power out to exploit the world's resources must feel as comfy and familiar as an old pair of slippers. Unfortunately it's also about as sturdy. It does not even come close to describing the complex geopolitics of oil in the 21st century. For a sense of this complexity, see "Saving Iraq From Its Oil," by Nancy Birdsall and Arvind Subramanian, in the current issue of Foreign Affairs.
Moore is shocked, shocked, that economic self-interest was part of the reason why the U.S. invaded Iraq. But isn't he the one who worries about the prosperity of working Americans? Didn't every politician, Democrat and Republican, pro and con, refer to "America's vital interests in the region?" What did Moore think they were all talking about? If he sees something illegitimate about being interested in oil, then by all means follow through, and say why America, alone among all the countries of the world, should not be so interested. But Moore deals in innuendos, not real questions.
Consider: what if Al Gore had been president on 9/11? What would he have done differently? If Moore is serious about wanting to elect a Democrat, as opposed to, say, lead a socialist revolution, then this is the narrow space where he ought to be aiming his barbs. Scattershot is OK, but in troubled times like these, precision is preferable.
Posted by at 6:03 AM
July 12, 2004
Super Sized Rhetoric
The pundits have been intoning that Fahrenheit 9/11 will not change any minds. But they are not taking into consideration the outlook of someone like Nick Anderson, a 22-year-old resident of New York who told the Times that he "wanted to see it as soon as possible. This is easier for people to understand than reading books, reading newspapers or watching C-Span."
Michael Moore is a master rhetorician, in the ancient and not flattering sense. But his rhetorical language is not English. It is film � not narrative film, but the information-imparting kind known as documentary. There is no point in accusing Moore, as some have, of not being a documentarian because he�s dishonest and manipulative. That�s like saying Hitler wasn�t an orator because his speeches told lies. The test of rhetorical skill is not truth but persuasion. Just ask Plato.
And Moore is persuasive. As a polemicist of film he is witty, inventive, messy in just the right way, and a master at three essential skills: timing, segue, and (not least) ironic juxtaposition. For example, he uses music brilliantly. Over a sequence of two spiffed-up Marine recruiters cruising a run-down shopping mall, he runs bright, effervescent disco. When a pumped GI says combat is more fun "with a good song playing in the background," Moore plays the soldier�s favorite, "Burn" by the punk band Rancid ("We don�t need no water / Let the motherfucker burn") over footage of an Iraqi man fleeing with a bloody child in his arms.
So here�s a tip for pundits and (especially) politicians: Don�t underestimate the power of rhetoric delivered in the crowd�s native tongue, just because you can�t speak it.
But Moore is a lazy thinker. Look for the ideas behind the polemic, and you will find a mind as flabby and inert as the body. Fahrenheit 9/11 contains a total of one idea and eight-tenths of a conspiracy theory.
First, the idea. It is fixed, unmovable, a regular North Star: The rich are out to screw the poor. There�s a lot to be said for this idea (as perhaps Moore understands, now that he�s rich). But usually it�s better to combine one idea with another, and this Moore seems incapable of doing.
Once you figure out what Moore�s fixed idea is, you can negotiate what to a normal mind seems inconsistent. Take the American soldiers in Iraq. When Moore sees them as poor, hailing from economically depressed places like Flint, Michigan, then they are the ones getting screwed. But when he sees them as rich, riding around in fancy tanks and shooting at ragged Iraqis, they are the ones doing the screwing. Really, it�s no more complicated than that.
This simplistic worldview causes some weird effects. For example, the sequence in which several African-American members of the House of Representatives register objections to the outcome of the 2000 election, only to be told by the Rich White Dude on the podium that without the support of at least one senator, their objections don�t count. In a voice-over oozing with sympathy for the underdog. Moore sums up what the Rich White Dude is really saying: "Shut up and sit down!" The only problem is, the Rich White Dude is Al Gore.
Now consider Moore�s conspiracy theory. Eight-tenths of it are the same as the conspiracy theory held by millions around the world, from European leftists to angry Muslims, who see Bush as the clueless but conniving head of a gigantic imperialist plot to take over the Middle East (not to mention the rest of the globe). But Moore�s version is missing two key elements.
First, Israel. In this entire frenzied centrifuge of a movie, in which no corrupt, finagling, behind-the-scenes, back-scratching connection among presidents, princes, CEOs, sheiks, and terrorists is too tenuous to be credited, there is not one single mention of Israel. Given that millions of Moore admirers around the world believe that the rich Americans are in cahoots with the rich Israelis, why does he focus on rich Americans in cahoots with rich Saudis?
The answer is simple. Moore can do without the added PR boost that comes with being called an anti-Semite. Earlier this spring, Mel Gibson�s movie The Passion of the Christ got just such a boost, but with it came widespread opprobrium. If Moore were desperate for box-office tinder, he�d probably light this match. But he�s got plenty of other matches to light. Indeed, he does something very clever: he trades on both anti-Semitism and anti-Arab prejudice by casting the Saudis in the role typically reserved for the Israelis.
Still, in a film about terrorism and the Middle East, the omission of any mention of American support for Israel is not just glaring, it is (to judge from the lack of comment about it) blinding.
The second missing element is the link that, if made explicit, would complete Moore�s paranoid logic: George W. Bush is responsible for 9/11. Think about it. Without this conclusion, the film�s critique (if you can call it that) is strangely attentuated and unresolved. With it, everything falls into place. The Bush family, the bin Laden family, Halliburton, the Carlyle Group, the Unocal company and the rest of corporate America worked together to kill over 3,000 people on September 11, in order to provide a pretext for cracking down on civil liberties, sweeping the poor off the streets to serve as cannon fodder, and in general creating the conditions for what George Orwell called "perpetual war." All for the sake of greater profits.
If this is Moore�s message, then he ought to come out and say it, instead of relying on innuendo. But that would require guts, as opposed to a big gut.
Posted by at 11:00 AM
Mel Gibson, Conceptual Artist
Mel Gibson is the most powerful celebrity in the country, says Forbes magazine. He is also the head of a production company, Icon, rolling in filthy lucre ($608 million) earned worldwide by The Passion of the Christ. He is involved in several new projects, from family-friendly TV shows to historical action features. And he is the world's leading conceptual artist.
What? Mel Gibson a conceptual artist? Aren't conceptual artists supposed to do things like talk to dead animals (Joseph Beuys) and cover billboards with obscure theoretical statements (Joseph Kosuth)? Isn't the whole purpose of conceptual art to "make us think"?
Well, yes. Which is why Gibson qualifies.
What's the first thing a conceptual artist must do? Attract attention. This is harder today than back in the 1960s, when all Lawrence Weiner had to do was light a flare outside an Amsterdam museum and call it The Residue of a Flare Ignited Upon a Boundary. Today the would-be conceptual artist has to light a pre-release media firestorm, which Gibson did by lacing his film with anti-Semitic tropes from medieval art, Passion Plays, and the visions of the 18th-century German stigmatic, Sister Anne Catherine Emmerich.
Most of this furor died down when the movie was released, perhaps because most Americans didn't notice such anti-Semitic tropes as demon Jewish children throwing rocks, Jewish crowds baying for Jesus' blood, and donkey-riding Sadducees gloating at the cross. They didn't notice because the popular imagination in this country associates anti-Semitism with Nazis, not medieval iconography. As one of my colleagues at Boston College quipped after we led a student discussion on the topic, "If they don�t know it�s anti-Semitic, should we be telling them?"
Whether or not he meant to, Gibson also satisfied the most important requirement of conceptual art: He made us think.
First, he made us think about truth. To a remarkable degree, The Passion galvanized two groups who process truth for a living: academics and religious leaders. During the controversy I dove into several scholarly and religious websites and immediately hit the rapids of historical, philosophical, linguistic, theological, pastoral debate over the nature of biblical truth. Before going under, I wondered: When was the last time thousands of teachers and preachers got so worked up over a movie?
Let us say, for the sake of argument, that a movie should be truthful. Then by what standard of truth do we judge The Passion? Here Gibson pulled off another feat: he got biblical scholars using the Gospels as a standard. For example, Paula Frederikson in The New Republic objected to the presence of Satan and of a "post-crucifixion Mary-and-Jesus pieta" on the grounds that "No such scenes exist in the Gospels."
Hmm. Does this mean we should cut all those Satan bits from Milton's Paradise Lost? Toss a tarp over Michaelangelo's Pieta?
And whether or not our idea of truth is Gospel, why are we suddenly using truth as an aesthetic standard? Aren't artists supposed to create their own truth? Isn't it dangerous, potentially censorious, to make them toe the line of some externally defined truth? The flap over The Passion reveals a sobering fact: When people become exercised about matters of truth, they become less forgiving of art.
The other topic stirred up was violence. Many critics accused Gibson of turning Jesus' last hours into a big-screen bloodfest, like Braveheart and Lethal Weapon. I confess to not liking designer violence, but it was strange to see it embraced by people who normally share my dislike.
For example, most Protestant denominations have prayed for generations before a bare cross, in principled rejection of what their forefathers saw as an unhealthy Catholic obsession with Christ's blood and suffering. Yet according to a number of reports, many evangelical Christians found themselves deeply engrossed in every spurt, splash, smear, and spatter of blood in The Passion.
Finally, Gibson is a conceptual artist if we define the term broadly enough to include the century-old desire of artists to gain instant notoriety through mass media. Filippo Martinetti was one of the first, publishing his Futurist Manifesto on the front page of Le Figaro in 1909.
Today this impulse is so mainstream, we half expect media feeding frenzies to be deliberate, the work of clever prestidigitators for whom publicity is in itself an artistic medium. Deliberate or not, Gibson's media blitz went far beyond the stale formulae of sex and violence. And he provoked millions of conversations about art, truth, faith, history, and freedom of expression. As provocations go, that's pretty impressive.
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"Pop Music - The group called ""The Attractions"" was the backing group for which pop singer?" | Elvis Costello | New Music And Songs |
Elvis Costello
About Elvis Costello
When Elvis Costello's first record was released in 1977, his bristling cynicism and anger linked him with the punk and new wave explosion. A cursory listen to My Aim Is True proves that the main connection that Costello had with the punks was his unbridled passion; he tore through rock's back pages taking whatever he wanted, as well as borrowing from country, Tin Pan Alley pop, reggae, and many other musical genres. Over his career, that musical eclecticism distinguished his records as much as his fiercely literate lyrics. Because he supported his lyrics with his richly diverse music, Costello emerged as one of the most innovative, influential, and best songwriters since Bob Dylan.
The son of British bandleader Ross McManus, Costello (born Declan McManus) worked as a computer programmer during the early '70s, performing under the name D.P. Costello in various folk clubs. In 1976, he became the leader of country-rock group Flip City. During this time, he recorded several demo tapes of his original material with the intention of landing a record contract. A copy of these tapes made its way to Jake Riviera, one of the heads of the fledgling independent record label Stiff. Riviera signed Costello to Stiff as a solo artist in 1977; the singer/songwriter adopted the name Elvis Costello at this time, taking his first name from Elvis Presley and his last name from his mother's maiden name.
With former Brinsley Schwarz bassist Nick Lowe producing, Costello began recording his debut album with the American band Clover providing support. "Less Than Zero," the first single released from these sessions, appeared in April of 1977. The single failed to chart, as did its follow-up, "Alison," which was released the following month. By the summer of 1977, Costello's permanent backing band had been assembled. Featuring bassist Bruce Thomas, keyboardist Steve Nieve, and drummer Pete Thomas (no relation to Bruce), the group was named the Attractions; they made their live debut in July of 1977.
Costello's debut album, My Aim Is True, was released in the summer of 1977 to positive reviews; the album climbed to number 14 on the British charts but it wasn't released on his American label, Columbia Records, until later in the year. Along with Nick Lowe, Ian Dury, and Wreckless Eric, Costello participated in the Stiffs Live package tour in the fall. At the end of the year, Jake Riviera split from Stiff Records to form Radar Records, taking Costello and Lowe with him. Costello's last single for Stiff, the reggae-inflected "Watching the Detectives," became his first hit, climbing to number 15 at the end of the year.
This Year's Model, Costello's first album recorded with the Attractions, was released in the spring of 1978. A rawer, harder-rocking record than My Aim Is True, This Year's Model was also a bigger hit, reaching number four in Britain and number 30 in America. Released the following year, Armed Forces was a more ambitious and musically diverse album than either of his previous records. It was another hit, reaching number two in the U.K. and cracking the Top Ten in the U.S. "Oliver's Army," the first single from the album, also peaked at number two in Britain; none of the singles from Armed Forces charted in America. In the summer of 1979, he produced the self-titled debut album by the Specials, the leaders of the ska revival movement.
In February of 1980, the soul-influenced Get Happy!! was released; it was the first record on Riviera's new record label, F-Beat. Get Happy!! was another hit, peaking at number two in Britain and number 11 in America. Later that year, a collection of B-sides, singles, and outtakes called Taking Liberties was released in America; in Britain, a similar album called Ten Bloody Marys & Ten How's Your Fathers appeared as a cassette-only release, complete with different tracks than the American version.
Costello and the Attractions released Trust in early 1981; it was Costello's fifth album in a row produced by Nick Lowe. Trust debuted at number nine in the British charts and worked its way into the Top 30 in the U.S. During the spring of 1981, Costello and the Attractions began recording an album of country covers with famed Nashville producer Billy Sherrill, who recorded hit records for George Jones and Charlie Rich, among others. The resulting album, Almost Blue, was released at the end of the year to mixed reviews, although the single "A Good Year for the Roses" was a British Top Ten hit.
Costello's next album, Imperial Bedroom (1982), was an ambitious set of lushly arranged pop produced by Geoff Emerick, who engineered several of the Beatles' most acclaimed albums. Imperial Bedroom received some of his best reviews, yet it failed to yield a Top 40 hit in either England or America; the album did debut at number six in the U.K. For 1983's Punch the Clock, Costello worked with Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, who were responsible for several of the biggest British hits in the early '80s. The collaboration proved commercially successful, as the album peaked at number three in the U.K. (number 24 in the U.S.) and the single "Everyday I Write the Book" cracked the Top 40 in both Britain and America. Costello tried to replicate the success of Punch the Clock with his next record, 1984's Goodbye Cruel World, but the album was a commercial and critical failure.
After the release of Goodbye Cruel World, Costello embarked on his first solo tour in the summer of 1984. Costello was relatively inactive during 1985, releasing only one new single ("The People's Limousine," a collaboration with singer/songwriter T-Bone Burnett released under the name the Coward Brothers) and producing Rum Sodomy and the Lash, the second album by the punk-folk band the Pogues. Both projects were indications that he was moving toward a stripped-down, folky approach, and 1986's King of America confirmed that suspicion. Recorded without the Attractions and released under the name the Costello Show, King of America was essentially a country-folk album and it received the best reviews of any album he had recorded since Imperial Bedroom. It was followed at the end of the year by the edgy Blood and Chocolate, a reunion with the Attractions and producer Nick Lowe. Costello would not record another album with the Attractions until 1994.
During 1987, Costello negotiated a new worldwide record contract with Warner Bros. and began a songwriting collaboration with Paul McCartney. Two years later, he released Spike, the most musically diverse collection he had ever recorded. Spike featured the first appearance of songs written by Costello and McCartney, including the single "Veronica." "Veronica" became his biggest American hit, peaking at number 19. Two years later, he released Mighty Like a Rose, which echoed Spike in its diversity, yet it was a darker, more challenging record. In 1993, Costello collaborated with the Brodsky Quartet on The Juliet Letters, a song cycle that was the songwriter's first attempt at classical music; he also wrote an entire album for former Transvision Vamp singer Wendy James called Now Ain't the Time for Your Tears. That same year, Costello licensed the rights to his pre-1987 catalog (My Aim Is True to Blood and Chocolate) to Rykodisc in America.
Costello reunited with the Attractions to record the majority of 1994's Brutal Youth, the most straightforward and pop-oriented album he had recorded since Goodbye Cruel World. The Attractions backed Costello on a worldwide tour in 1994 and played concerts with him throughout 1995. In 1995, he released his long-shelved collection of covers, Kojak Variety. In the spring of 1996, Costello released All This Useless Beauty, which featured a number of original songs he had given to other artists but never recorded himself. Painted from Memory, a collaboration with the legendary Burt Bacharach, followed in 1998. The album was a success critically, but it only succeeded in foreign markets, outside of their home countries of the United States and Britain. A jazz version of the record made with Bill Frisell was put on hold when Costello's label began to freeze up due to political maneuvering. Undaunted, Costello and Bacharach hit the road and performed in the States and Europe. Then, after Bacharach left, Costello added Steve Nieve to the tour and traveled around the world on what they dubbed the Lonely World Tour. This took them into 1999, when both Notting Hill and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me featured significant contributions from Costello. In fact, he appeared with Bacharach in the latter as one of a pair of Carnaby Street musicians, albeit street musicians with a gorgeous grand piano at their disposal.
Continuing his tour with Nieve, he began singing the last song without a microphone, forcing the audience to sit in complete silence as he usually performed "Couldn't Call It Unexpected, No. 4" with nothing but his dulcet baritone filling the auditorium. After the record company's various mergers ended, Costello found himself on Universal Records and tested their promotional abilities with a second greatest-hits record (The Very Best of Elvis Costello). The label promoted the album strongly, making it a hit in his native Britain. Unfortunately, they also made it clear that they had no intention of giving a new album the same promotional push, leaving him to venture into other fields as he awaited the end of his record contract. His first project was an album of pop standards performed with Anne Sofie Von Otter, which included a few songs originally written by Costello. The album was released in March 2001 on the Deutsche Grammophon label, neatly coinciding with the extensive re-release of his entire catalog up to 1996 under Rhino Records. Each disc included an extra CD of rare material and liner notes written by Costello himself, making them incredible treats for fans.
In 2001, he found himself with a residency at UCLA, where he performed several concerts and was instrumental in teaching music during the year. He also began work on a self-produced album that featured Pete Thomas and Nieve -- now billed as a band called the Imposters -- entitled When I Was Cruel, and the album finally found release via Island Records in the spring of 2002; at the end of the year, he released a collection of B-sides and leftovers from the album's sessions entitled Cruel Smile.
When I Was Cruel kicked off another productive era for the ever prolific Costello. In 2003, he returned with North, a collection of classically styled pop songs pitched halfway between Gershwin and Sondheim. The next year, he collaborated with his new wife, Diana Krall, on her first collection of original material, The Girl in the Other Room. That fall, Costello released two albums of his own original material: a classical work entitled Il Sogno and the concept album The Delivery Man, a rock & roll record cut with the Imposters. Issued in 2006, My Flame Burns Blue was a live album with Costello fronting the 52-piece jazz orchestra the Metropole Orkest; the release featured classic Costello songs (with new orchestral arrangements) alongside new compositions and a performance of the entire Il Sogno.
The River in Reverse, a collaboration with R&B legend Allen Toussaint, arrived in 2006, followed by Momofuku, another effort credited to Elvis Costello & the Imposters, in 2008. That same year, Costello teamed up with veteran producer T-Bone Burnett for a series of recording sessions, the results of which were compiled into Secret, Profane & Sugar Cane and readied for release in early 2009. The pair also recorded a second album, National Ransom, which appeared the following year. In 2011, Costello & the Imposters released The Return of the Spectacular Spinning Songbook!!!, which was recorded live over a two-day stint at the Wiltern in Los Angeles. The next year or so was relatively quiet for Costello, but at the end of 2012 he did release a new compilation called In Motion Pictures, which rounded up songs he contributed to films.
Costello devoted himself to working with hip-hop band the Roots in 2013. Originally planned as a reinterpretation of songs from his vast catalog, the album Wise Up Ghost turned into a full-fledged collaboration and was greeted by positive reviews upon its September 2013 release on Blue Note. In 2015, Costello announced that he was completing work on his memoirs, and that the book, titled Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink, was scheduled for publication in October 2015. Costello also compiled a companion album, Unfaithful Music & Soundtrack Album, which featured a career-spanning selection of songs from his catalog, as well as two previously unreleased selections. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi
| Elvis Costello |
"Which British actor plays the lead part of George Smiley in the new film version of John Le Carre's ""Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy""?" | Elvis Costello and The Imposters | Download Music, Tour Dates & Video | eMusic
Elvis Costello and The Imposters
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Born: Paddington, London, England
Biography All Music Guide
All Music Guide:
When Elvis Costello's first record was released in 1977, his bristling cynicism and anger linked him with the punk and new wave explosion. A cursory listen to My Aim Is True proves that the main connection that Costello had with the punks was his unbridled passion; he tore through rock's back pages taking whatever he wanted, as well as borrowing from country, Tin Pan Alley pop, reggae, and many other musical genres. Over his career, that musical eclecticism distinguished his records as much as his fiercely literate lyrics. Because he supported his lyrics with his richly diverse music, Costello emerged as one of the most innovative, influential, and best songwriters since Bob Dylan.
The son of British bandleader Ross McManus, Costello (born Declan McManus) worked as a computer programmer during the early '70s, performing under the name D.P. Costello in various folk clubs. In 1976, he became the leader of country-rock group Flip City. During this time, he recorded several demo tapes of his original material with the intention of landing a record contract. A copy of these tapes made its way to Jake Riviera, one of the heads of the fledgling independent record label Stiff. Riviera signed Costello to Stiff as a solo artist in 1977; the singer/songwriter adopted the name Elvis Costello at this time, taking his first name from Elvis Presley and his last name from his mother's maiden name.
With former Brinsley Schwarz bassist Nick Lowe producing, Costello began recording his debut album with the American band Clover providing support. "Less Than Zero," the first single released from these sessions, appeared in April of 1977. The single failed to chart, as did its follow-up, "Alison," which was released the following month. By the summer of 1977, Costello's permanent backing band had been assembled. Featuring bassist Bruce Thomas, keyboardist Steve Nieve, and drummer Pete Thomas (no relation to Bruce), the group was named the Attractions; they made their live debut in July of 1977.
Costello's debut album, My Aim Is True, was released in the summer of 1977 to positive reviews; the album climbed to number 14 on the British charts but it wasn't released on his American label, Columbia Records, until later in the year. Along with Nick Lowe, Ian Dury, and Wreckless Eric, Costello participated in the Stiffs Live package tour in the fall. At the end of the year, Jake Riviera split from Stiff Records to form Radar Records, taking Costello and Lowe with him. Costello's last single for Stiff, the reggae-inflected "Watching the Detectives," became his first hit, climbing to number 15 at the end of the year.
This Year's Model, Costello's first album recorded with the Attractions, was released in the spring of 1978. A rawer, harder-rocking record than My Aim Is True, This Year's Model was also a bigger hit, reaching number four in Britain and number 30 in America. Released the following year, Armed Forces was a more ambitious and musically diverse album than either of his previous records. It was another hit, reaching number two in the U.K. and cracking the Top Ten in the U.S. "Oliver's Army," the first single from the album, also peaked at number two in Britain; none of the singles from Armed Forces charted in America. In the summer of 1979, he produced the self-titled debut album by the Specials, the leaders of the ska revival movement.
In February of 1980, the soul-influenced Get Happy!! was released; it was the first record on Riviera's new record label, F-Beat. Get Happy!! was another hit, peaking at number two in Britain and number 11 in America. Later that year, a collection of B-sides, singles, and outtakes called Taking Liberties was released in America; in Britain, a similar album called Ten Bloody Marys & Ten How's Your Fathers appeared as a cassette-only release, complete with different tracks than the American version.
Costello and the Attractions released Trust in early 1981; it was Costello's fifth album in a row produced by Nick Lowe. Trust debuted at number nine in the British charts and worked its way into the Top 30 in the U.S. During the spring of 1981, Costello and the Attractions began recording an album of country covers with famed Nashville producer Billy Sherrill, who recorded hit records for George Jones and Charlie Rich, among others. The resulting album, Almost Blue, was released at the end of the year to mixed reviews, although the single "A Good Year for the Roses" was a British Top Ten hit.
Costello's next album, Imperial Bedroom (1982), was an ambitious set of lushly arranged pop produced by Geoff Emerick, who engineered several of the Beatles' most acclaimed albums. Imperial Bedroom received some of his best reviews, yet it failed to yield a Top 40 hit in either England or America; the album did debut at number six in the U.K. For 1983's Punch the Clock, Costello worked with Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, who were responsible for several of the biggest British hits in the early '80s. The collaboration proved commercially successful, as the album peaked at number three in the U.K. (number 24 in the U.S.) and the single "Everyday I Write the Book" cracked the Top 40 in both Britain and America. Costello tried to replicate the success of Punch the Clock with his next record, 1984's Goodbye Cruel World, but the album was a commercial and critical failure.
After the release of Goodbye Cruel World, Costello embarked on his first solo tour in the summer of 1984. Costello was relatively inactive during 1985, releasing only one new single ("The People's Limousine," a collaboration with singer/songwriter T-Bone Burnett released under the name the Coward Brothers) and producing Rum Sodomy and the Lash, the second album by the punk-folk band the Pogues. Both projects were indications that he was moving toward a stripped-down, folky approach, and 1986's King of America confirmed that suspicion. Recorded without the Attractions and released under the name the Costello Show, King of America was essentially a country-folk album and it received the best reviews of any album he had recorded since Imperial Bedroom. It was followed at the end of the year by the edgy Blood and Chocolate, a reunion with the Attractions and producer Nick Lowe. Costello would not record another album with the Attractions until 1994.
During 1987, Costello negotiated a new world-wide record contract with Warner Bros. and began a songwriting collaboration with Paul McCartney. Two years later, he released Spike, the most musically diverse collection he had ever recorded. Spike featured the first appearance of songs written by Costello and McCartney, including the single "Veronica." "Veronica" became his biggest American hit, peaking at number 19. Two years later, he released Mighty Like a Rose, which echoed Spike in its diversity, yet it was a darker, more challenging record. In 1993, Costello collaborated with the Brodsky Quartet on The Juliet Letters, a song cycle that was the songwriter's first attempt at classical music; he also wrote an entire album for former Transvision Vamp singer Wendy James called Now Ain't the Time for Your Tears. That same year, Costello licensed the rights to his pre-1987 catalog (My Aim Is True to Blood and Chocolate) to Rykodisc in America.
Costello reunited with the Attractions to record the majority of 1994's Brutal Youth, the most straightforward and pop-oriented album he had recorded since Goodbye Cruel World. The Attractions backed Costello on a world-wide tour in 1994 and played concerts with him throughout 1995. In 1995, he released his long-shelved collection of covers, Kojak Variety. In the spring of 1996, Costello released All This Useless Beauty, which featured a number of original songs he had given to other artists, but never recorded himself. Painted from Memory, a collaboration with the legendary Burt Bacharach, followed in 1998.
The album was a success critically, but it only succeeded in foreign markets, outside of their home countries of the United States and Britain. A jazz version of the record made with Bill Frisell was put on hold when Costello's label began to freeze up due to political maneuvering. Undaunted, Costello and Bacharach hit the road and performed in the States and Europe. Then, after Bacharach left, Costello added Steve Nieve to the tour and traveled around the world on what they dubbed the Lonely World Tour. This took them into 1999, when both Notting Hill and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me featured significant contributions from Costello. In fact, he appeared with Bacharach in the latter as one of a pair of Carnaby Street musicians, albeit street musicians with a gorgeous grand piano at their disposal.
Continuing his tour with Nieve, he began singing the last song without a microphone, forcing the audience to sit in complete silence as he usually performed "Couldn't Call It Unexpected, No. 4" with nothing but his dulcet baritone filling the auditorium. After the record company's various mergers ended, Costello found himself on Universal Records and tested their promotional abilities with a second greatest-hits record (The Very Best of Elvis Costello). The label promoted the album strongly, making it a hit in his native Britain. Unfortunately, they also made it clear that they had no intention of giving a new album the same promotional push, leaving him to venture into other fields as he awaited the end of his record contract. His first project was an album of pop standards performed with Anne Sofie Von Otter, which included a few songs originally written by Costello. The album was released in March 2001 on the Deutsche Grammophon label, neatly coinciding with the extensive re-release of his entire catalog up to 1996 under Rhino Records. Each disc included an extra CD of rare material and liner notes written by Costello himself, making them incredible treats for fans.
In 2001, he found himself with a residency at UCLA, where he performed several concerts and was instrumental in teaching music during the year. He also began work on a self-produced album that featured Pete Thomas and Nieve -- now billed as a band called the Imposters -- entitled When I Was Cruel, and the album finally found release via Island Records in the spring of 2002; at the end of the year, he released a collection of B-sides and leftovers from the album's sessions entitled Cruel Smile.
When I Was Cruel kicked off another productive era for the ever prolific Costello. In 2003, he returned with North, a collection of classically styled pop songs pitched halfway between Gershwin and Sondheim. The next year, he collaborated with his new wife, Diana Krall, on her first collection of original material, The Girl in the Other Room. That fall, Costello released two albums of his own original material: a classical work entitled Il Sogno and the concept album The Delivery Man, a rock & roll record cut with the Imposters. Issued in 2006, My Flame Burns Blue was a live album with Costello fronting the 52-piece jazz orchestra the Metropole Orkest; the release featured classic Costello songs (with new orchestral arrangements) alongside new compositions and a performance of the entire Il Sogno.
The River in Reverse, a collaboration with R&B legend Allen Toussaint, arrived in 2006, followed by Momofuku, another effort credited to Elvis Costello & the Imposters, in 2008. That same year, Costello teamed up with veteran producer T-Bone Burnett for a series of recording sessions, the results of which were compiled into Secret, Profane & Sugar Cane and readied for release in early 2009. The pair also recorded a second album, National Ransom, which appeared the following year. In 2011 Costello & the Imposters released The Return of the Spectacular Spinning Songbook!!!, which was recorded live over a two-day stint at the Wiltern in Los Angeles. The next year or so was relatively quiet for Costello, but at the end of 2012, he did release a new compilation called In Motion Pictures, which rounded up songs he contributed to films.
Costello devoted himself to working with hip-hop band the Roots in 2013. Originally planned as a re-interpretation of songs from his vast catalog, the album Wise Up Ghost turned into a full-fledged collaboration and was greeted by positive reviews upon its September 2013 release on Blue Note.
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The mother and son of which British monarch were both beheaded? | Mary Queen of Scots beheaded - Feb 08, 1587 - HISTORY.com
Mary Queen of Scots beheaded
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After 19 years of imprisonment, Mary Queen of Scots is beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle in England for her complicity in a plot to murder Queen Elizabeth I.
In 1542, while just six days old, Mary ascended to the Scottish throne upon the death of her father, King James V. Her mother sent her to be raised in the French court, and in 1558 she married the French dauphin, who became King Francis II of France in 1559 but died the following year. After Francis’ death, Mary returned to Scotland to assume her designated role as the country’s monarch.
In 1565, she married her English cousin Lord Darnley in order to reinforce her claim of succession to the English throne after Elizabeth’s death. In 1567, Darnley was mysteriously killed in an explosion at Kirk o’ Field, and Mary’s lover, the Earl of Bothwell, was the key suspect. Although Bothwell was acquitted of the charge, his marriage to Mary in the same year enraged the nobility. Mary brought an army against the nobles, but was defeated and imprisoned at Lochleven, Scotland, and forced to abdicate in favor of her son by Darnley, James.
In 1568, Mary escaped from captivity and raised a substantial army but was defeated and fled to England. Queen Elizabeth initially welcomed Mary but was soon forced to put her friend under house arrest after Mary became the focus of various English Catholic and Spanish plots to overthrow Elizabeth. Nineteen years later, in 1586, a major plot to murder Elizabeth was reported, and Mary was brought to trial. She was convicted for complicity and sentenced to death.
On February 8, 1587, Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded for treason. Her son, King James VI of Scotland, calmly accepted his mother’s execution, and upon Queen Elizabeth’s death in 1603 he became king of England, Scotland, and Ireland.
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Which capital city sits on the river Sumida? | BBC - iWonder - Elizabeth I: Troubled child to beloved Queen
Elizabeth I: Troubled child to beloved Queen
1533
1603Elizabeth dies a beloved queen
'Good Queen Bess'
Elizabeth I is one of England's greatest monarchs – perhaps the greatest. Her forces defeated the Spanish Armada and saved England from invasion, she reinstated Protestantism and forged an England that was a strong and independent nation.
But she had a very difficult childhood and was fortunate to make it to the throne at all. When she was young, her father Henry VIII executed her mother Anne Boleyn. She was stripped of her inheritance and was imprisoned in the Tower of London.
1533
Born into the Tudor dynasty
Getty
Elizabeth's parents Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII.
Elizabeth is born on 7 September in Greenwich Palace.
News of her birth causes rejoicing across the country, but is a bitter disappointment to her father Henry. He is desperate for a male heir to continue the Tudor dynasty. Although Elizabeth is made next in line to the throne, the King prays his next child will be male – superseding her claim to the throne.
Getty
Anne Boleyn awaits her fate in the Tower of London.
Elizabeth is two years and eight months old when her mother Anne Boleyn is accused of adultery and beheaded on the orders of Henry VIII.
Her father marries Anne’s lady-in-waiting Jane Seymour a week later. Elizabeth is declared illegitimate and removed from the royal succession. Her title is downgraded from 'Princess’ to 'Lady’. Elizabeth is neglected for a number of years until Henry's final wife Catherine Parr takes charge and makes sure she is educated to the highest standards and, crucially, taught the art of public speaking by renowned Cambridge scholar Roger Ascham.
She does perceive how, of herself… she can do nothing that good is, or prevails for her salvation, unless it be through the grace of god…
Elizabeth describes a translation of French verse in a letter to Catherine Parr, 1544.
1547
Father dies
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Simon Schama explains how Thomas Seymour and Elizabeth's relationship developed. A History of Britain by Simon Schama (BBC Two, 2000).
Elizabeth is 13-years-old when Henry VIII dies. Her nine-year-old half-brother Edward becomes King.
Elizabeth joins the household of her stepmother Catherine Parr. When Elizabeth is caught in an embrace with Parr’s husband Thomas Seymour, she is banished from the house. In 1548 Catherine dies in childbirth and Seymour is subsequently executed for plotting to marry Elizabeth and kidnap Edward VI. When Elizabeth is questioned by the authorities she protests her innocence and escapes prosecution.
Imprisoned in the Tower of London
Mary Evans
Elizabeth held prisoner in the Tower of London.
After Edward’s early death in 1553 Elizabeth’s older sister Mary I becomes queen.
Mary returns the country to Catholicism and begins a series of bloody purges of Protestants. 287 are executed during her short reign. Mary’s plan to marry Prince Phillip of Spain sparks an unsuccessful rebellion and Elizabeth is interrogated about her involvement with the plotters. She is imprisoned in the Tower of London before being put under house arrest in Woodstock, Oxfordshire.
Remember your last promise and my last demand that I be not condemned without answer and due proof.
In a letter Elizabeth beseeches her half-sister Mary not to send her to the Tower, March 1554.
1558
Elizabeth becomes Queen
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Simon Schama describes Elizabeth I's coronation. Clip from A History of Britain by Simon Schama (BBC Two, 2000).
Following the death of her half-sister Mary, Elizabeth succeeds to the throne. She is 25.
Elizabeth has inherited a country wracked by religious strife and knows she needs public support to remain queen. The celebrations for the coronation the following year are spectacular. As her procession makes its way through London on its way to Westminster she pauses to listen to congratulations and receive flowers from ordinary people on the street.
I will be as good unto ye as ever a Queen was unto her people. No will in me can lack, neither do I trust shall there lack any power.
Elizabeth to the people of London on the eve of her coronation
1559
Falls in love?
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Simon Schama asks if Elizabeth was really in love with Robert Dudley. Clip from A History of Britain by Simon Schama (BBC Two, 2000).
Elizabeth has many suitors but the one who comes closest to winning her heart is Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester.
The two are very close and she appoints him as one of her most trusted advisors. When his wife Lady Amy Dudley dies suddenly in suspicious circumstances in 1560, rumours start spreading about the nature of Robert's relationship with the Queen. However Elizabeth ignores the rumours. The precise nature of their relationship remains a mystery to this day.
Executes Mary, Queen of Scots
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Simon Schama describes how Elizabeth's spymaster entrapped Mary, Queen of Scots. Clip from A History of Britain by Simon Schama (BBC Two, 2000).
Elizabeth's Catholic cousin Mary, Queen of Scots is under house arrest in Chartley Hall, Stafford as she poses a threat to Elizabeth.
Elizabeth builds up an extensive network of spies headed by Francis Walsingham to help protect her. He implicates Mary in a plot to depose Elizabeth and she is tried and convicted of treason. Elizabeth is reluctant to execute her cousin. She doesn’t want to set a precedent by executing an anointed monarch. After months of prevaricating, she finally has Mary beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle.
What will my enemies not say, that for the safety of her life a maiden queen could be content to spill the blood even of her own kinswoman?
Elizabeth to a Parliamentary delegation begging her have Mary, Queen of Scots executed.
1588
The defeat of the Spanish Armada
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Elizabeth I makes a rousing speech to the English soldiers gathered at Tilbury. Clip from A History of Britain by Simon Schama (BBC Two, 2000).
After the death of Mary, Queen of Scots the Pope urges Philip of Spain to invade England.
England and Spain have long been bitter rivals and Philip launches a great fleet of ships, known as the Spanish Armada. Elizabeth is adamant she will retain her crown and that England will remain free from the influence of Rome. She addresses the troops encamped at Tilbury saying she will fight by their side. The Armada is engaged by the Royal Fleet in the channel and then driven to the North Sea by strong winds. Only half of the 130 ships make it back to Spain.
I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too.
Elizabeth I, addressing English soldiers at Tilbury, July 1588.
1603
Elizabeth dies a beloved queen
Topfoto
Elizabeth I, The Weary Sovereign.
Elizabeth I dies aged 69. Known forever as 'the Virgin Queen', she remains unmarried and childless until the end.
In her final years Elizabeth's reign is beset by problems in Ireland and her failing health. However, the mourning which follows her death is unprecedented. Many ordinary Londoners take to the streets to watch Elizabeth's journey to her final resting place in Westminster Abbey. As Elizabeth leaves no direct Tudor heir, James VI of Scotland – the son of Mary, Queen of Scots – is named king. The Tudor dynasty that has ruled England for 118 years comes to an end.
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Measurement - conversion from imperial to metric - How many metres are equivalent to one furlong, to the nearest unit? (will accept + or - 1) | Kilometer Conversion Chart - Distance and Length Converter, Metric
Kilometer Conversion Chart
This converter features units that are still used today. There is also a special converter for historical units of length you might want to visit for ancient, medieval and other old units that are no longer used.
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International Nautical Measure
The international nautical mile was defined by the First International Extraordinary Hydrographic Conference, Monaco in 1929. This is the only definition in widespread current use, and is the one accepted by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures. Before 1929 different countries had different definitions, and the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States did not immediately accept the international value.
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Spanish Customary Units Still In Use Today
These units are still actively used in some countries of Latin America. Their values vary from country to country. You can find more old Spanish customary units on our historical lengths page .
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Computer Equipment
A rack unit, U or RU is a unit of measure that describes the height of equipment designed to mount in a 19-inch rack or a 23-inch rack. The 19-inch (482.6 mm) or 23-inch (584.2 mm) dimension refers to the width of the equipment mounting frame in the rack including the frame; the width of the equipment that can be mounted inside the rack is less.
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The American System of Measures (US Customary Units)
American weight and measures are based on units used in Britain prior to 1824, when imperial system was officially established. The US law of 1866 set a relationship with the metric system by defining the meter as equal to 39.37 in. Since then all measures were redefined in terms of metric units with the last minimal adjustment in 1959. However the old standard of 1ft was retained with the name US survey foot.
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British (Imperial) Measure
The first English official measurement standards were defined in 15th century. British system of units, known as imperial units, was established in 1824. Later in 1963 the standards were redefined in terms of metre stantard maintained in Paris. From 1995 the UK adopted metric units for general use. The only imperial measures of length that can be officially used now are miles, yards, feet and inches for road traffic signs.
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Thai units
Some of these units are still in use even though metric system was formally established in 1923. Before the metrication the old units were standartied to exact metric values.
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Grace Hopper's units of distance
Grace Hopper is famous for her nanoseconds visual aid. People used to ask her why satellite communication took so long. She started handing out pieces of wire that were just under one foot long (11.80 inches) — the distance that light travels in one nanosecond. She also passed out packets of pepper, calling the individual grains of ground pepper picoseconds. She also used these aids to illustrate why computers had to be small to be fast.
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Natural units
In physics, natural units are physical units of measurement based only on universal physical constants. The origin of their definition comes only from properties of nature and not from any human construct.
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Measurement - conversion from imperial to metric - How many kilograms to the nearest unit are equivalent to 1 hundredweight? (will accept + or - 1) | Give him 2.54 centimeters and he'll take 1.609344 kilometers - Bad Astronomy : Bad Astronomy
Give him 2.54 centimeters and he'll take 1.609344 kilometers
By Phil Plait | May 10, 2011 11:09 am
I like the metric system. I really do. It’s so much easier than trying to remember how many inches there are to a mile, or roods per square furlong * . I prefer metric over the imperial system, and use it all the time. I really wish the U.S. would just knuckle under and convert to it, and join the rest of the entire world in the 21st century.
Well, the rest of the entire world except for Burma and Liberia. Yay? †
Still.
The thing is, I do have a problem with the metric system. Not as a way of measuring things, but because it’s really awful for aphorisms. Seriously. This has bugged me for a long time, but it came up again while writing a blog post where I wanted to use the phrase "That asteroid will miss us by a cosmic mile," a play on the phrase "country mile", a colloquialism for a long distance. I used the phrase because I liked it, but had to wonder how many of my non-American readers had no clue what I was talking about.
As I pondered more on this, it got worse.
Who can really refer to a diminutive friend as "0.2366 liter"? Will we bury people
5.5
1.83 meters under? Will contemplative people have a 914.4 meter stare? Will a liter be a kilogram the world around?
And it’s not just phrases that will suffer. Will bars sell a 0.914 meters of ale? Will biologists have to start writing papers on 2.54 centimeter worms? Who would listen to an album by the rock group 22.86 Centimeter Nails?
And I can guarantee there is not a Texan in the Lone Star State who would wear a 37.854 liter hat.
Take this to the extreme. I dare you. Read the title of this post and tremble at the future of metrication .
And of course, we’ll see the rise of metric pronunciation Nazis . Here’s proof:
Is this the future we want?
Of course, I suppose, since they are aphorisms after all, we need not convert exactly. But they lose their charm. "Pinch a centimeter", "drop by the pub to grab a half-liter", "I wouldn’t touch that with a three meter pole"… well, those fall a little flat. It’s hard to fathom those phrases catching on.
But this day is coming. Heed my warning.
After all, 28.35 grams of prevention is worth 0.454 kilograms of cure.
* 40
† I found out there’s a British unit called the "fluid scruple", used by apothecaries. That’s perfect, given the fluid scruples of selling homeopathic remedies.
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"Which British actor played the lead part in the film of one of John Le Carre's more recent novels ""The Constant Gardener""?" | Gary Oldman - Biography - IMDb
Gary Oldman
Biography
Showing all 125 items
Jump to: Overview (4) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (4) | Trade Mark (5) | Trivia (49) | Personal Quotes (59) | Salary (3)
Overview (4)
5' 8½" (1.74 m)
Mini Bio (1)
Gary Oldman is a talented British born movie actor who played Sid Vicious in Sid & Nancy, Drexl in True Romance, and George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. He starred in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and the remake of RoboCop. He is also an English filmmaker, musician and author. Renowned for his "big" acting style, Oldman is one of the most celebrated thespians of his generation, with a diverse career encompassing theatre, film and television.
Gary Oldman was born on March 21, 1958 in New Cross, London, England, the son of Kathleen (Cheriton), a homemaker, and Leonard Bertram Oldman, a welder.
For most of his career he was best-known for playing over-the-top antagonists such as the role of Russian terrorist Egor Korshunov in the 1997 blockbuster Air Force One, though he has recently reached a new audience with heroic roles in the Harry Potter and Dark Knight franchises. In amazing trivia, he was in Batman Begins and The Fifth Element.
Oldman won a scholarship to Britain's Rose Bruford Drama College, in Sidcup, Kent, where he received a B.A. in theatre arts in 1979. He subsequently studied with the Greenwich Young People's Theatre and went on to appear in a number of plays throughout the early '80s, including "The Pope's Wedding," for which he received Time Out's Fringe Award for Best Newcomer of 1985-1986 and the British Theatre Association's Drama Magazine Award as Best Actor for 1985. Before fame, he was employed as a worker in assembly lines, and as a porter in an operating theater. He also got jobs selling shoes and beheading pigs while supporting his early acting career. He was also in the movie The Dark Knight with Heath Ledger.
His film debut was Remembrance (1982), though his most-memorable early role came when he played Sex Pistol Sid Vicious in the biopic Sid and Nancy (1986) picking up the Evening Standard Film Award as Best Newcomer. He then received a Best Actor nomination from BAFTA for his portrayal of '60s playwright Joe Orton in Prick Up Your Ears (1987).
In the 1990s, Oldman brought to life a series of iconic real-world and fictional villains including Lee Harvey Oswald in JFK (1991), the title character in Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), Drexl Spivey in True Romance (1993), Stansfield in Léon: The Professional (1994), Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg in The Fifth Element (1997) and Ivan Korshunov in Air Force One (1997). That decade also saw Oldman portraying Ludwig van Beethoven in biopic Immortal Beloved (1994).
Oldman scored the coveted role of Sirius Black in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), giving him a key part in one of the highest-grossing franchises ever. He reprised that role in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007). Oldman also took on the iconic role of Detective James Gordon in writer-director Christopher Nolan 's Batman Begins (2005), a role he played again in The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012). Prominent film critic Mark Kermode, in reviewing The Dark Knight, wrote, "the best performance in the film, by a mile, is Gary Oldman's ... it would be lovely to see him get a[n Academy Award] nomination because actually, he's the guy who gets kind of overlooked in all of this."
Oldman co-starred with Jim Carrey in the 2009 version of A Christmas Carol in which Oldman played three roles. He had a starring role in David Goyer's supernatural thriller The Unborn, released in 2009. In 2010, Oldman co-starred with Denzel Washington in The Book of Eli. He also played a lead role in Catherine Hardwicke's Red Riding Hood. Oldman voiced the role of villain Lord Shen and was nominated for an Annie Award for his performance in Kung Fu Panda 2.
In 2011, Oldman portrayed master spy George Smiley in the adaptation of John le Carré 's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), and the role scored Oldman his first Academy Award nomination. In 2014, he played one of the lead humans in the science fiction action film Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014). Also in 2014, Oldman starred alongside Joel Kinnaman, Abbie Cornish, Michael Keaton, and Samuel L. Jackson in the remake of RoboCop (2014), as Norton, the scientist who creates RoboCop. Also that year, Oldman starred in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes as one of the leads alongside Jason Clarke and Keri Russell.
Aside from acting, Oldman tried his hand at writing and directing for Nil by Mouth (1997). The movie opened the Cannes Film Festival in 1997, and won Kathy Burke a Best Actress prize at the festival.
Oldman has three children - one with first wife Lesley Manville , and two with third wife Donya Fiorentino . He married Alexandra Edenborough on December 31, 2008 until they divorced in January 2015. He was married to actress Uma Thurman from 1990 to 1992. He married his fourth wife Alexandra Edenborough in 2008 but the couple divorced in 2015. He has three sons named Alfie, Gulliver and Charlie.
(1987 - 1990) (divorced) (1 child)
Trade Mark (5)
Characters are usually borderline psychotics. Also known for playing a wide variety of roles that often requires a variety of different accents.
His ability to change his appearance and voice to make every character unique
Often plays reluctant Heroes who assist the main character
Often plays real-life individuals or iconic fictional characters
Ability to mimic different voices and accents with perfection
Trivia (49)
Considered a career in music.
Has one son, Alfie Oldman , born in 1988, from his first marriage to Lesley Manville .
Sons, with Donya Fiorentino : Gulliver Flynn Oldman, born 20 August 1997 and Charlie John, born 11 February 1999.
On 8 August 1991, he was arrested for drunk driving in L.A. and released on bail the next morning. His passenger in the car was pal, Kiefer Sutherland .
His library includes essays on Bertolt Brecht , poetry by Roger McGough , a biography of Montgomery Clift , The Elizabethan World Picture, all things William Shakespeare and Jane Austen .
Has used a different speaking voice (i.e. accent) in practically every movie he's ever been in.
He and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) co-star Timothy Spall have both played the character of Rosencrantz; Spall in Kenneth Branagh 's Hamlet (1996), Oldman in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990).
He was awarded the 1985 London Critics Circle Theatre Award (Drama Theatre Award) for Best Actor for his performance in "The Pope's Wedding".
Has played Lee Harvey Oswald in both JFK (1991) and Frontline: Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald? (1993).
His film Nil by Mouth (1997) is loosely based upon his own life growing up in London.
Submitted a recorded voice audition for General Grievous in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005). George Lucas later chose the anonymous audition of Matthew Wood for the role instead.
Henry & June (1990) is the only film in which he's been credited as "Maurice Escargot".
Appears in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) with Ralph Fiennes . Both of them have played villains in the Hannibal Lecter series: Fiennes played Francis Dolarhyde in Red Dragon (2002), and Oldman played Mason Verger in Hannibal (2001).
Member of jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1993.
Graduated from Rose Bruford Drama College 3 year acting course BA-Hons, London, England.
In two movies, his characters have had dynamic relationships with mob bosses named Falcone. In Romeo Is Bleeding (1993), he was working FOR Don Falcone, and in Batman Begins (2005), he was working to bring down Carmine Falcone. In both instances, his character was a cop.
Although he has spent much of his career playing psychotic and sadistic characters, he has recently moved away from that on-screen image by playing more likeable, sympathetic characters like Sirius Black (in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)) and Jim Gordon (in Batman Begins (2005)).
He and his ex-wife, Uma Thurman , have both appeared in Batman films. Thurman played Poison Ivy in Batman & Robin (1997), and Oldman played James Gordon in Batman Begins (2005).
Uncle of Gerry Bromfield and Tracy Bromfield.
His performance as Sid Vicious in Sid and Nancy (1986) is ranked #62 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).
Trained at Rose Bruford Drama School Sidcup, Kent. Other actors who trained there include Freddie Jones , Ray Fearon , Tom Baker and Stephen Armourae .
Spokesperson for Nokia.
Performed a vocal duet with David Bowie for the song "You've Been Around" on the 1995 album "The Sacred Squall of Now" by longtime Bowie guitarist Reeves Gabrels . He is also featured on the song "Stamford Hill" on the same album.
Has been an inspiration to many actors including up and comers Michael Fassbender , Bo Barrett , Ryan Gosling , Shia LaBeouf , Chris Kato , and Kaili Thorne .
Is very close to actor and co-star in the Harry Potter franchise Daniel Radcliffe .
His sister Laila Morse plays the character "Big Mo" in the British soap opera EastEnders (1985).
Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#72). [2007].
Harry Potter co-actor Jason Isaacs lists him as one of his favorite actors.
Lives in Los Angeles.
Directed a music video for Jewish Hip-Hop group Chutzpah shot entirely on Nokia Cell Phones. Actress Juliet Landau directed a 25 minute documentary - Take Flight: Gary Oldman Directs Chutzpah (2009) - about the making of the music video.
Attended the Greenwich and Lewisham Young Peoples Theatre in South East London before going to drama school. Other former attendees are actors Kathy Burke , Stephen Manwaring and Stella Barnes.
Actors Tom Hardy and Alexander Skarsgård have named Oldman as their favorite actor.
In 2011, he named his five favorite films as Apocalypse Now (1979), The Conversation (1974), The Godfather: Part II (1974), Badlands (1973) and Ratcatcher (1999) and cites his director from Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), Francis Ford Coppola , as his favorite filmmaker.
Is the second actor to be nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for playing a lead character in a John le Carré novel adaptation. This first was Richard Burton for "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold," which featured George Smiley.
Friends with Benedict Cumberbatch .
Was famously told by the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) to find a new career other than acting before training at Rose Bruford.
Received the scar below his right eye during a rehearsal for Meantime (1984) , where Tim Roth threw a bottle that hit a light and fell on Oldman.
Before his nod for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), he was considered one of the greatest actors never nominated for an Oscar.
Director Patrice Chéreau originally wanted him for the lead role in Intimacy (2001), but he turned it down because of the sex scenes.
Is the third actor to be nominated for an Oscar for playing a role in a John le Carré novel adaptation. The others were Richard Burton for The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965) and Rachel Weisz who won the award for her performance in The Constant Gardener (2005).
Filmed a role in The Thin Red Line (1998) but all his scenes were deleted from the final cut.
In Chicago, Illinois filming The Dark Knight (2008). [August 2007]
He is of English, with a smaller amount of Irish, ancestry.
Used to work various jobs on assembly lines, as a porter in an operating theatre, selling shoes and beheading pigs in an abattoir.
Auditioned for Royal Academy Of Dramatic Arts (RADA) but was rejected and told by advisers that he should consider something besides acting.
As of July 2014, films starring Oldman have grossed over $3.8 billion at the United States box office, and over $9.9 billion worldwide. In 2012, The Hollywood Reporter named Oldman the highest-grossing actor in history, based on lead and supporting roles.
Starred in David Bowie 's music video David Bowie: The Next Day (2013) alongside Marion Cotillard , his co-star in The Dark Knight Rises (2012).
Actors Tom Hardy and Joseph Gordon Levitt has citied Oldman as their inspiration.
Personal Quotes (59)
I don't think Hollywood knows what to do with me. I would imagine that when it comes to romantic comedies, my name would be pretty low down on the list.
We're given a code to live our lives by. We don't always follow it but it's still there.
[on portraying famous people]: It's a double-edged sword because, in one sense, you have a lot of material to work with, but in a strange kind of way, that puts up a framework that you have to keep within. You can't play Beethoven with pink hair but, to an extent, because no-one has ever met him, who's going to tell me that's not Beethoven?
With Beethoven [ Immortal Beloved (1994)] I said I wanted a role where I didn't have to do anything stupid with my hair. My agent said "Read it again!".
[on making Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)]: I've done so much R-rated work, it's nice to have a job you can show your kids.
I had this idea of myself as a shy, kind, sweet chap. I was working with Winona Ryder and she turned to me and said, "Fuck, man, you're really intense!" I was so shocked, I went, "What do you mean? I'm not intense, I'm sweet!" My passion and energy get mistaken for anger.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, it's not Dracula crying, it's Gary Oldman, but using the technique of the character. The emotion is mine, because I don't know what it's like to be undead and live 300 years.
Any actor who tells you that they have become the people they play, unless they're clearly diagnosed as a schizophrenic, is bullshitting you.
I used to be under the impression that in some kind of wanky, bullshit way, acting was like therapy: you get in and grapple with and exorcise all those demons inside of you. I don't believe that anymore. It's like a snow shaker. You shake the thing up, but it can't escape the glass. It can't get out. And it will settle until the next time you shake it up.
[on the shooting for his writing/directing debut Nil by Mouth (1997)]: I set aside three weeks for rehearsals. Those long scenes are like a play. But I wanted things loosely structured, more like jazz. Though there was very little improv on screen, sometimes we'd improvise, rev up, to get the energy before shooting. One rule that I broke was that you need to leave a little air between people's lines, that you can't overlap dialogue because you'll clip words on a cut. But you can overlap dialogue, even though editors don't like it. Otherwise, it's your turn to talk, my turn. Another thing: I used only one camera! I'd say to the cameraman, "I need it from this angle!" From my brief association with Isabella Rossellini , I got a new appreciation of Pier Paolo Pasolini and how he was religious about where the camera should go, whether it was too high, too low. I would ask questions on the set, quietly: "For this emotion, is the camera angle too wide, is the camera too low?" I wanted night to look like night! I bullied the cameraman a bit until he got into the swing. You could pick up the light metre and say, seeing how little light, "You've got to be fucking joking!"
Change is vital to any actor. If you keep playing lead after lead, you're really gonna dry up. Because all those vehicles wean you away from the truths of human behaviour.
There's an uncanny thing that chemically happens to you when you're in the chronic stages of alcoholic drinking. I have been able, on occasions, to have two bottles of vodka and still be up talking to people. That got very frightening. By nature I'm an isolationalist, so my boozing was at home, thank you. I was not a goer-outer. I mean, I didn't drink for the taste and I didn't want to be social. Someone once described alcoholics as egomaniacs with low self-esteem. Perfect definition.
To be able to do this job in the first place you've got to have a bit of an ego.
I applaud anything that can take a kid away from a PlayStation or a Gameboy. That is a miracle in itself.
I suddenly got obsessive about boxing and Muhammad Ali around the time he was fighting Joe Frazier . I went off and did boxing. I looked incredibly good in the gym.
[on True Romance (1993)] I organized Drexl's dreadlocks under my own steam. Then I went to the dentist who made the teeth. Then I thought about the weird eye. I'm only in the film for about 10 minutes - I wanted to make my mark.
[on True Romance (1993)] I hadn't read the script, and knew nothing about it. Tony Scott and I had tea at the Four Seasons and he said, 'Look, I can't really explain the plot. But Drexl's a pimp who's white but thinks he's black'. That was all I needed to hear. I said, 'Yes, I'll do it'.
[2008] There are roles that you play. I've played roles that it happens easier than others, it doesn't feel like you're working, it's as easy as breathing. And there are other ones that you really have to work hard for. It's often because of the writing.
Being an actor is a good way to earn a living. And to meet fabulous people. It's great to live very comfortably. I've been lucky, I've had a lot of fun with great roles, but it is true that if I were extremely rich, I would stop and I would go to play football on a beach in the Caribbean with my children. (2004)
[SAG acceptance speech on behalf of Heath Ledger] Heath Ledger was an extraordinary young man with an extraordinary talent.
[on James Stewart ] He's almost too tall to be a star in a strange kind of way. He's too skinny and he's got this really strange voice when he talked and you just think this shouldn't work. He's not Humphrey Bogart , he's not Edward G. Robinson , he's not James Cagney and yet somehow it's magic.
[on filming Murder in the First (1995) when the 1994 Northridge earthquake hit] I was thrown against the wall and I was actually under the door frame, which is where you are supposed to be, but the door frame was the set, and there I am, holding on to props. I'm holding on to cardboard, and I can still smell the glue that's drying.
[1998] If you see me in Air Force One (1997), then you see Nil by Mouth (1997), you get a pretty good idea of what I did with the cash. It does fit together, in a crazy way. There are two Garys that are operating. I'm out there looking for a good role, primarily. But I'm looking for a good price tag, so it would buy me freedom. But there's also the other Gary, who thinks he's wasting his time doing it. There are other things I should be doing. I shouldn't be struggling on a movie set trying to utter some unutterable piece of junk, when I could be playing Iago on the stage, or Hamlet. "Nil By Mouth" is representative of who I am as an artist and what I'm about. But when you play those great parts, and you say those great lines every night--you can't do Shakespeare eight shows a week for six months and not come out a better, more enriched person for it. You can't have understanding and poetry in your mouth and not have your life unfettered by it. I'm certainly going to get a lot more from it than saying, "Mr. President, get your hands up!"
[1998] I loved America when I first came in '81. I moved to New York and I said, "I'm home. This is my town." I'm not one of those Brits that goes to the English pub and plays cricket under the Hollywood sign. I really immersed myself in the culture. And I work in the industry as an American. I have a fantastic ear, and I'm a great people watcher.
[1998, on quitting drinking] There was a day--well, not a day; there was never just a day. There were three-day, four-day, one-week benders. You'd come out of a five-day run of mind-stoking consumption. Mind-stroking. And I would come out the end of it, and "Just this one time...." There were no excuses anymore. That was it. I just read this book, Drinking, A Love Story. There's not a sentence or a page I can't read without going, Yeah. Very simply, you have to live life on life's terms. There is no buffer anymore. You feel the feelings. You experience the experience. Sometimes that can be thrilling and wonderful. It's like the focus pullers--you finally see the image very sharp: "Ah, there it is." I used to--life was sort of a blur of massive color. But I'm still working on all of that, yeah. Like I said, there were just no more excuses. "Hey, the sun's shining! Let's have a martini! Hey, it's raining; let's have a bottle of whiskey. I'm happy; let's celebrate. I'm sad; let's drink."
[1990, on his role in Criminal Law (1988)] I've got nothing in common with 'Ben Chase'. That's why it seemed like a good idea to take the part. It was my first opportunity to ever play a leading man, in the true sense. And, yeah, it was fun. I'm not going to pretend - I can't pretend - it's a work of art.
[1990, on State of Grace (1990)] It's the best thing I've ever done. Ever. Ever. We could do 20 or 30 takes - do it until we got it right. I'm not saying you always need that for it all to gel and be brilliant, but it lets you forget about the finance and just fly. On something like Prick Up Your Ears (1987) you had to get it in one or two takes. Because those kind of movies - British movies - are made for very little money.
[2001, on if he was bothered by not getting an Oscar nomination for The Contender (2000), which many thought he would] I cared, yes. An Oscar would have been nice - it would have got me closer to what I want to do, which is make more films. But I didn't care for very long. The nominations come and if you're not on the list you go, "Oh well," like I've done a lot of times before.
[2001, on his gift with accents] I can do a rough approximation of virtually any accent. I've always done them; as a kid I used to do the Beatles as a party piece. When I was with the Royal Court Theatre we used to piss around and people would say, "I bet you can't do Zimbabwe," so I did it. The accent on The Contender (2000) - Illinois - was the hardest I ever had to do, because there's no melody to catch on to. Most accents have a music to them, but Illinois is a very flat, unimaginative thing.
[1997, on quitting drinking] I did a lot of stupid things. When you're drunk, you think you can pull any bird in the room and they'll just love the idea of it. You also think you can say anything you like to anybody without them taking offense. Actually, you need the sauce to fill whatever hole that's there in yourself. And, believe it or not, I was always a bit shy and retiring really. Honest. But a lot of the time, I wasn't partying. I was drinking alone, which is worse, it's often solitary and desperate. I got to the point where I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I talked on the phone when it wasn't plugged in, and I was getting out of bed, crawling across the floor on my hands and knees, vomiting in the shower and blaming it on the shampoo. You name it, I've probably been there. And back again.
[1997, on the paparazzi] I once had dinner with Brad Pitt at the Ivy in London and when we came out of the restaurant we were surrounded by hoards of photographers waiting for him not me. We had to drive off like the clappers with them chasing. And they were chasing us right through the red lights. It was like the Grand Prix going through the center of London. I couldn't believe it.
[1997, on Nil by Mouth (1997)] To be very honest with you, these lucrative villains subsidize the more personal stuff. Air Force One (1997)'s not a movie I'd particularly want to go and see myself, it's just not my cup of tea. But I'm lucky that I have this lucrative second career. I'm getting older, I'm nearly 40 and I've got responsibilities and a family. I've got to put food on the table and pay the mortgage like everybody else. If I want to take time away from the marketplace as an actor, and take two years out of my life to go off and do something like this that I feel very passionate about, I have to go and do a movie like "Air Force One" that buys me freedom, as cynical as that sounds.
[1990] With Sid and Nancy (1986), I'd never really liked the script. It put me off cause I think it was a rather inarticulate, monosyllabic, banal kind of generation of people. I liked that particular idea (director) Alex Cox had developed, to do a love story about Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen . But that was about all it had going for it. In terms of dialogue, it was quite terrible. And I think we did a good job of lifting some of that off the page and making it work. Acting is a passion, I'm obsessed. It drives my girlfriend mad cause I'm so self obsessed. I don't want any stone left unturned. I wanted to be Sid Vicious, I didn't want to play him. But there are two scenes I'm happy with a couple of scenes that maybe worked, I never enjoyed the film.
[1990] I made the decision not to always play the token Englishman. I think the real juicy roles in my generation are going to go to the American actors.
[1990, on preparing for his role in State of Grace (1990)] The only research I did was drinking in Irish bars.
[1987, on losing 45 pounds to play Sid Vicious ] I was obsessed with being really, really, really, skinny. I thought, this is the visual image I want to present, I want this before I do anything else.
[on his character George Smiley from Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)] George is a man of few words. He doesn't need the karate and the fast car and the gun. That's what makes George dangerous, is the fact that he does blend in and he disappears. He's the one to watch. He's the leopard camouflaged by the jungle, ready to pounce, so its nice to play someone like that. He operates from a very unseemly passive position.
Britain has always had spies and I think we've spied rather well. But we have a rather romantic view of it and [ John le Carré ] was the first to really show the reality. He told me that you would be given an assignment and go to Russia or to Czechoslovakia. You would be sent to watch someone. You would be in some miserable little room with a fake ID, and it would be very lonely and often very boring. He said that the terror of having your cover blown was exhausting: you were always waiting for the footsteps on the stairs. I guess that's why so many of them hit the bottle.
I didn't do drugs. It wasn't my thing. But the drink was terrible. Today when I look back, it's like I was another person. You could call it a coping mechanism, but that would be an excuse. I just drank too much.
[on Sid and Nancy (1986)] I was never really that interested in the punk movement. I was a blues guy: I liked Motown, James Brown . I read the script and thought it was a load of rubbish. But my agent said, "They're offering £35,000". I was getting £80 a week at the Royal Court at the time and I thought "I could do with a flat", it changed my life overnight.
[on receiving an Oscar nomination for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)] One of my career ambitions was fulfilled working with John Hurt . I loved his work long before I ever had the idea of being an actor, so I was nervous to meet him. I was like a fanboy, like that annoying character on 'Saturday Night Live'. I'm sitting there. 'Do you remember when you were in Midnight Express (1978)? Remember that scene you were in?' And he doesn't disappoint.
[on why George Smiley is the role of a lifetime] Well, first of all, it's a role that's all subtext, it's all inside, it's all going on but you're not necessarily expressing it. It's an iconic part, it's just a wonderful leading role and it's the sort of role that one, in a career, dreams about. It's a role that will come along once or twice. If you look at any of those great parts, for instance, you take someone like Daniel Day Lewis -- who I think, any way you slice it, is a genius actor. But look at Daniel Plainview (Lewis's character in There Will Be Blood (2007)). How often do you get a Daniel Plainview? [Robert] De Niro has some incredible roles, but one does think of Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver (1976). It's hard to top them. So this kind of role -- and when I say this kind of role, I usually play extrovert characters -- this role is also very quiet, it's subdued, it requires a different kind of thing, it's a minimalist performance in that sense. It's a "please don't ask me to bounce off the walls anymore," you know what I mean? I've been waiting for it.
[on the two versions of 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy'] I got from the book that there's a little bit of a sadist in George Smiley and, if anything, (Alec) Guinness' was a little more huggable than mine.
Clint Eastwood gave me the best advice when I directed: 'Get more sleep than your actors.'
I don't remember doing Sid and Nancy (1986). I've wiped that from the hard drive.
[on Sin (2003)] Oh God, that's possibly the worst movie ever made. I even felt sorry for the trees they cut down for the script paper. I hadn't worked, I needed some money after the divorce (from Donya Fiorentino in 2001). If you're a connoisseur of the terrible, you might get a twisted joy out of it.
I'm 56 now, and if you've managed to work as long as I have, you understand that these roles everyone fusses over are your career; they're not your life. It's just a job, really. You have financial responsibilities, you have children, you have all those things all the regular people have. Honestly, I forget I'm an actor until I'm reminded.
It was the most thrilling experience watching myself for the first time in JFK (1991), for example, because I couldn't believe I was in it - Oliver Stone at the very height of his powers, the sheer energy of it all, his commitment. When I saw the finished product I had to pinch myself. I thought, Wow, I'm in this movie. This is terrific.
I'm trying to give my sons an education about movies as well. You sit there and watch a comedy, let's say Meet the Fockers (2004), and it's Robert De Niro . You tell them this guy was at one time considered the greatest living actor. My boys look at me and say, "Really? This guy? He's a middle-aged dad." So what I've tried to do recently is introduce them one by one to the great movies of the 1970s - The Godfather (1972), Mean Streets (1973), The Deer Hunter (1978), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), the work of Lindsay Anderson , Francis Ford Coppola , Martin Scorsese , Gene Hackman , Al Pacino , John Cazale , Peter Sellers . I try to give them a sense of what cinema used to be like rather than just these tent-pole movies that come and go on demand within five minutes. Don't get me wrong; there are directors I would still want to work with - Wes Anderson , Paul Thomas Anderson . I've never worked with Todd Haynes . I love John Sayles . I've never worked with Scorsese. A great director is a great artist.
[on Air Force One (1997)] That movie had some enjoyable moments. I remember the flight deck was on a sound stage and there was a big sign that said "No Drinking, No Smoking and No Eating On Set." At one point I looked over and [ Harrison Ford ] was in the doorway beneath the sign with a burrito, a cigar and a cup of coffee, which I thought was hilarious. I could never get the image out of my head. Nowadays we would take out an iPhone and post something like that on Instagram.
There's a lot of rubbish talked about acting, and it's often propagated by practitioners of it. You just want to say, "Oh, shut up."
I just think political correctness is crap. That's what I think about it. I think it's like, take a fucking joke. Get over it. I heard about a science teacher who was teaching that God made the earth and God made everything and that if you believe anything else you're stupid. A Buddhist kid in the class got very upset about this, so the parents went in and are suing the school! The school is changing its curriculum! I thought, All right, go to the school and complain about it and then that's the end of it. But they're going to sue! No one can take a joke anymore.
I know it certainly doesn't mean anything to win a Golden Globe, that's for sure. It's a meaningless event. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is kidding you that something's happening. They're fucking ridiculous. There's nothing going on at all. It's 90 nobodies having a wank. Everybody's getting drunk, and everybody's sucking up to everybody. Boycott the fucking thing. Just say we're not going to play this silly game with you anymore. The Oscars are different. But it's showbiz. It's all showbiz. That makes me sound like I've got sour grapes or something, doesn't it?
Now we're in this thing where everything has to be analyzed and dissected behind the scenes. I personally never want to know how the guy pulls the rabbit out of the hat. I don't need people prying. Maybe I'm shy. I don't know. You look at a movie like Hannibal (2001), and even with all that make-up, it was the most free I've ever been. I think it's because I was hidden. On the other side of that coin, the most stressful role, the most painful to do, was Smiley in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011). There's no mask. It's very exposed. You have to play boring in an interesting way. Not that Smiley is a boring character, but he's plain. Everything is dialed way down. You look at something like _The Professional_ or True Romance (1993) or even State of Grace (1990), and there's a kinetic sort of ferocity and a fire to those characters, where the volume is up. I understand why Alec Guinness had a kind of nervous breakdown leading up to the shooting of the original Tinker Tailor and wanted out. I had a breakdown too, briefly. At first I passed on the movie, but then I couldn't stop thinking about it. Once I signed on, I thought, Fuck me! I can't do this. I can't pull this off. Everybody's going to see what a fake I am. This is the moment I get found out. Who does he think he is? He thinks he's Alec Guinness . Now, normally I agonize after a movie, not before. I'll walk down a street and suddenly I'm thinking of a scene I did two years ago. I'll go, "That's how I should have done that line."
More and more, people in this culture are able to hide behind comedy and satire to say things we can't ordinarily say, because it's all too politically correct.
Sometimes not getting a role ends up being the best thing. When a project turns out to be a disaster, you look at it and go, "Wow, I dodged a bullet there."
[on his character Jackie from State of Grace (1990)] He's a sweetheart. I miss him. I just think he needs a good cuddle. [laughs] He's a very tormented soul, Jackie. The reason I like characters like him is that they are bright, they're passionate, they have got the gift of gab. I mean, Jackie should go to drama school!
[on his character Jackie from State of Grace (1990)] I'll tell you what's also interesting. On the surface of it, my language in the film is full of four-letter words, but that's mixed with a kind of poetic elegance. It's terribly subtle, but the tune, the lilt, is still very Irish even though it's New York slang. It gives a kind of pelt bristling beneath the cloth.
[on "The King Of Cool" Steve McQueen] He just made acting look as effortless as breathing.
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John le Carré
John le Carré on The Night Manager on TV: they’ve totally changed my book – but it works
They made the agent a woman, changed the location and the ending. The bestselling thriller writer on the pain and pleasure of adaptations from The Spy Who Came in from the Cold to the BBC’s new six-part series
The Night Manager, in which the leading investigator is now a woman, played by Olivia Colman. Photograph: BBC/The Ink Factory/Mitch Jenkins
John le Carré
Saturday 20 February 2016 03.00 EST
Last modified on Monday 3 October 2016 05.19 EDT
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The Spy Who Came in from the Cold provided me with my first experience of the film trade, and in retrospect it was an unusually benign baptism of fire. The director and I got along fine. I enjoyed an amiable relationship with the screenwriter, who as a former instructor in the black arts at a British spy school during the second world war turned out to know much more about espionage than I did. No great liberties were taken with my story – although I no longer see that as a criterion – and my only job was to provide the odd grace note to the screenplay while befriending Richard Burton and keeping a beady eye on his alcohol consumption.
It was an old-style studio movie. Almost everyone in the unit was a full-time studio employee. Over the camp fires at night, old hands regaled me with steamy tales of Clark Gable and Dorothy Lamour. The director, Martin Ritt, was an angry leftist who still bore the unhealed wounds of the Hollywood blacklist. The open hostility between director and star, with Burton cast as the feckless lotus-eater and Ritt as the injured unforgiver, fed Burton’s sense of alienation and gave force to his performance.
And the journey from book to film was a glide: the story a single, if tangled, thread, with an avenging hero headed for his own destruction, and an innocent female victim waiting for hers. Ritt wanted the book as it stood, got it, and made it superbly. What more could a writer ask? Filmmaking was clearly a service industry. You write it, they film it, job done. Or so, in my innocence, I may have thought.
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Hugh Laurie (left) as Roper and Tom Hiddleston as Jonathan Pine in The Night Manager. Photograph: BBC/The Ink Factory/Des Willie
My second experience of the trade, which followed hot on the first, brought me smartly to earth. The book in question, my firstborn, was Call for the Dead , but the studio reckoned the title too spooky for a movie audience and rechristened it The Deadly Affair.
The book’s structure was always fishy, but I vaguely assumed the makers would fix that with a bit of help from me. In the event, the director, Sidney Lumet of Twelve Angry Men fame, expressed not the least desire to meet me, let alone discuss the film he proposed to make. James Mason was cast as George Smiley, but for contractual reasons had to be called Dobbs. The nearest I came to the thrill of the shoot was eating cucumber sandwiches with Mason at the Ritz hotel in Piccadilly. If there was a grand opening somewhere, I never got to hear of it. When the movie finally came to a cinema near me, I treated myself to a ticket one afternoon and watched it alone. It had a cast to dream of: Mason, Maximilian Schell, Simone Signoret , Harry Andrews, Roy Kinnear – not to mention a beautiful young female Scandinavian actor who to my astonishment stripped naked, which in the Swinging Sixties was a kind of necessary dare. The sight of her so impressed me that I left the cinema thinking of little else. When I came to my senses, I had an impression of an assembly of nicely shot cameos that didn’t quite add up. Had Lumet read my book? Maybe he had. And maybe that was the problem.
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Richard Burton in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965). Photograph: Sportsphoto Ltd/Allstar
Since then, some 15 of my novels have found their way to the screen, either as feature film or television. But the transition remains as unpredictable to me, as frustrating and rewarding, as it ever was. I’ve seen fictional characters that I have spent loving years writing about turned overnight into cardboard. I’ve seen two-dimensional walk-on characters from the edge of one of my novels appear magically enlarged and remade. I have watched scenes from my novels where I sweated blood to crank up the tension, fall flat on their faces for sheer want of the most elementary stagecraft. I have seen some of my dullest, least achieved writing brought vividly to life by splendid direction and acting. In the beginning was the word. The writer lives or dies by it. To the filmmaker, in the beginning was the image. The creative battle has raged happily ever since the first movie flickered into life.
What have I learned?
That any author who goes into a script conference seeing himself as the guard dog of his novel is wasting his time. The reasons are so obvious they’re silly. A novel that takes a dozen hours of patient reading is to be transformed into a film that takes a hundred minutes of impatient viewing.
The most the novelist can ask is that somehow the arc of his story survives and the audience will leave the cinema having met some of the characters, and shared some of the emotions, that the reader experienced when he closed the book.
And that’s already a big ask. The novelist is an egomane who refuses to delegate his job to anyone. He invents his own characters, dresses them, voices them, invests them with appetites, weaknesses and mannerisms. He creates scenes for them, sets them in whatever location takes his fancy, by day or night, in whatever season of the year. He can decide to be one minute the omniscient voice of God, and the next step down into the story and be part of it.
As to budget: well, a ream of middleweight A4 copy paper these days comes in at six or seven pounds. After that, in my case, it’s the spiralling cost of rollerball refills. For the movie, start around the $20m mark and work upwards.
If anyone had put a bomb under the Bafta building we’d have lost half the top brass of British Intelligence
Now look at the job of the luckless screenwriter who is adapting a novel of 450-odd pages. Studio executives are too highly paid to read books. Minions provide them with what they call coverage, which is movie jargon for precis. Five pages are enough, thank you, and no fancy words or long sentences.
But the screenwriter can’t make do with coverage. He is paid (highly as a rule) to wade through the entire book and, as the trade has it, pick the fly shit out of the pepper. This achieved, he will be required by his producers to provide a treatment, setting out his intended march route, which when it comes to writing the actual screen play he will almost certainly ignore. This may be because, after the first rush, he forgets what’s in the treatment. Or it may be because he discovers that, put to the test, the treatment is as much of a headache as the original novel.
But there’s also a darker reason why a screenwriter may take off on his own. Rather than adapt an intractable novel, he decides to impose on it a better one of his own invention, one he’s been nursing in his head for years but somehow never got around to putting on paper. I’ve watched that happen a few times, and it ends in tears.
So what movies from my work, if any, do I remember with pleasure, even pride?
The good news is, bad movies get forgotten in a day; whereas bad books, if you happen to have written one or two, have a way of coming back to haunt you long after you thought you’d forgotten them; not least because there is always some smart new critic out there who insists that your worst work is your best.
Pleasure? Pride? In the case of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, yes to the pride, no to the pleasure. My brief passage with the troubled, brilliantly talented Richard Burton left behind a sadness that was accentuated by his early death. The harshness of his relationship with Ritt, for all the creative usefulness it may have had, has not faded with time.
The movies I like best to remember – crass as it may seem – are those that were the happiest in the making. Not laughter all the way: not that kind of happiness at all. But movies where director, cast and crew came genuinely to relish what they were making; where the inevitable squabbles and rivalries gave way to a larger, shared purpose.
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Alec Guinness in the 1979 TV spy drama Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Photograph: BBC/Sportsphoto Ltd/Allstar
The first – and chief – of these remains for ever the BBC’s production of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy , with Alec Guinness in the lead, which gathered a near-mystical groundswell as the seven-month shoot ran on. When it was done, the makers showed the whole piece to an invited audience at Bafta – four episodes before lunch, three afterwards. If anyone had put a bomb under the building, we’d have lost half the top brass of British Intelligence. And they loved it. So did I. Even Alec – eternally hard to please where his own work was concerned – loved it.
And as a footnote: the feature film of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy , with Gary Oldman as George Smiley, seemed to enthuse its makers in the same eerie way.
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Gary Oldman and Benedict Cumberbatch in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011). Photograph: Allstar/Focus Features
It wasn’t until The Constant Gardener came along that I – and, I believe, its makers – felt the old buzz. I had always loved writing the book: from the first furtive soundings of disaffected employees of Big Pharma in London, to forages among the industry’s white chimneys of Basel, and finally to the tribal villages of Kenya, where young mothers who could barely read were being bamboozled into signing “consent forms” that made guinea pigs of their own children.
The film’s producer, Simon Channing Williams , felt as passionately as did our Brazilian director, Fernando Meirelles , that the film had something important to say. With Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz to help them, they said it; and, having said it, set up a much-needed clinic in the slums of Kibera, and a much-needed school on the shores of Lake Turkana. Both thrive to this day. The script – now by adding to the original story, now by subtracting from it – took its own weird course, but somehow the arc survived and so did the passion. And along the way, Weisz won a well-deserved Oscar.
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Rachel Weisz and Ralph Fiennes in The Constant Gardener (2005). Photograph: Allstar/Focus Features/Sportsphoto Ltd
Up till now, these two movies were pretty much the high points of my in-and-out relationship with the trade.
I had misgivings when I learned that The Night Manager was to become a six-hour movie for television, updated for our times.
I suppose that in an odd way I was shocked, not least because 20 years ago I had given up the movie rights for dead. The star director, Sydney Pollack (Tootsie, Out of Africa, etc) had fallen in love with my novel and persuaded the studio to buy it for him. Robert Towne of Chinatown fame was signed to write the screenplay and, in some mysterious fashion I still can’t get a hold of, failed to complete it. Large sums of money changed hands, leaving the movie rights stranded in Hollywood’s vaults; and me – since by common consent the novel was eminently filmable – in a state of grumpy mourning.
Now this.
The television part of it was fine by me. The long form has often suited my work better than feature, and television drama these days, whether from the US or Scandinavia or, more rarely, from Britain, is scaling new heights.
But a novel I had written nearly a quarter of a century ago reset in present time? With none of Pine’s trip to northern Quebec in the story? None of Central America? My beloved Colombian drugs barons replaced by Middle Eastern warlords? No zillion dollar luxury yacht for Richard Roper? A new ending to the story, yet to be discussed? What did that mean?
Oh, and by the way, if it’s all right by you, David, we’ll be turning your leading investigator into a woman. She won’t be your Mr Burr, she’ll be our Mrs Burr, shrewd, gutsy, dour, sparkling and heavily pregnant throughout the movie, which is fun because in life, as in the movie, she’ll be pregnant, too.
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Official Trailer for The Night Manager
To all of which, a lesser being such as myself might reasonably have responded: why not write your own bloody novel? With all those changes, what’s left of mine?
And the answer, surprisingly, is: a great deal is left, more than I dared hope.
Take Mrs Burr. All right, in the novel she was a man; a rough-cut, ponderous, no-nonsense fellow, but a man for all that, and a throwback to my own distant days in the secret world when female agent-runners were a rarity; or if they weren’t, I never met one. But did we really want this in 2015? One white middle-aged man pitched against another white middle-aged man and using a third, younger, white middle-aged man as his weapon of choice?
Today, of course, I wish I’d written Mrs Burr into my novel instead of her ponderous husband. But I hadn’t, and that was then. So all I could do, still guardedly, was welcome her to the family and hope to heaven that the writer, director and producers had the wit to conjure an enjoyable and believable character into life.
And they did. Enter Olivia Colman .
Then there was the agony of Roper’s yacht. I loved that yacht. In the novel, we spend a lot of time on it. It’s Roper’s headquarters. It keeps him offshore. It makes a wicked Flying Dutchman of him. I’d been a guest on a very rich man’s yacht, and I’d watched him run the world from it.
But luxury yachts, it seems, cost the earth to hire, and in movies – unless you’re going to sink them – they quickly become claustrophobic. Far better then, for the movie, to give Roper a billionaire’s island in the sun with a palatial Gatsby -style villa at its centre and a sprinkling of cottages for his underlings and protectors.
And as the script grew under David Farr’s capable hand – I had seen and admired his stage productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford – and as I listened from afar to the progress of the four-month shoot, and was even treated now and then to snippets of film, I began to feel the buzz, those little churnings of the stomach that give an early warning of the excitement to come. From snippets of footage – rushes – you learn one thing at most if you’re lucky: that you’ve got a director you can trust. Susanne Bier was instantly that director – not simply because she was known to be very good and had an Oscar to show for it, but because from the first clips she announced her meticulous style of storytelling, and you knew you could sit back and join her, rather than wait uneasily to trip her up.
Gradually the dramatic triangle begins to emerge – or is it a quadrangle? Hugh Laurie as Roper versus Tom Hiddleston as Pine. And Jed, played by the peerless Elizabeth Debicki , as the prize. And the fourth member? Corcoran, the Iago of the piece, or better perhaps the Bosola, played by Tom Hollander, the devil with all the best lines.
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David Dencik (left) and Gary Oldman in the 2011 film adaptation of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Photograph: Moviestore/REX Shutterstock
By now I am simply part of the audience, because this isn’t the film of the book, it’s the film of the film, which is what we all pray for, and it seems to me that this time round we may really have got it: film doing its own job, opening up my novel in ways I didn’t think anyone had noticed – and maybe I hadn’t noticed them, which is what happened to me with the BBC’s version of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and happened again with The Constant Gardener.
Then, a few days ago, I finally get to see the whole movie, three hours in the evening, three the next morning. And what I like best of all is how Susanne Bier goes on chewing at the bone of the drama long after other directors would have given up; and how, in this back-and-forth interaction between film and book, a two-way process occurs, as I begin to spot in her film things she herself may not be aware of, just as she has spotted things in my novel that I may not have been aware of.
Does she realise, for instance, that in her film Richard Roper goes down winning? He does to my eye, anyway. However our story ends, he comes over as a fellow who, for all the awful things he’s done, has been hard done by in return.
Maybe that’s because Laurie’s Roper has been enter taining us for so long with his cool, his wit, his urbanity and his sheer wickedness that we don’t want to let him go. Or maybe it’s because we’ve taken to wondering by now whether Pine isn’t enjoying himself a bit too much in his role of avenging angel. Whether Pine’s sins, put together, are not in their own way on a par with Roper’s?
Has Bier really thought that one out, I ask myself? Or is this just a case of two superb British actors of a certain class subconsciously giving out an aura of insuperability, of a complicity that extends beyond the rational into the homoerotic? Put another way, are Pine and Roper mutually aware of their purposes from the very start? At moments it almost seems so: as if Roper actually enjoys being a partner in his own destruction, just for the pleasure of pairing with someone as intelligent and ruthless as himself; almost as if he’s a little in love with his own executioner.
Did I really get all that into the novel? I’d like to think I did.
But if I didn’t, my thanks to the movie for doing it for me.
• © David Cornwell, October 2015. The Night Manager begins on BBC1 tomorrow evening at 9pm, and on BBC First in Australia at 8pm on Sunday 20 March. The novel is reissued this month by Penguin Modern Classics.
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Which capital city sits on the river Manzaneres? | 10 Rivers that flow through Europe's Capital Cities - 10 Most Today
Leisure & Travel
Below is a list of 10 rivers that flow through capital cities in Europe
1. River Thames, London , England – The River Thames flows through London and London’s major attractions are situated right along the banks of the river, such as the Big Ben and Westminster Palace, the Tower Bridge and Tower of London and the London Eye
River Thames, London, England
2. The Seine, Paris , France – The Seine flows through Paris and a boat tour of the Seine River is considered one of the best attractions of Paris . A romantic activity in the most romantic destinations in the world. What else do you need? Another romantic activity is to put a love lock on the Pont des Arts Bridge over the Seine
The Seine, Paris. Picture taken from the Eiffel Tower
3. The Tiber, Rome , Italy – The history of Rome relates to the Tiber River which flows through the heart of the city, and very close to Vatican City
The Tiber and Vatican City, Rome, Italy
4. River Liffey, Dublin , Ireland – The Liffey river supplies much of Dublin’s water, and is also used for recreational purposes. The Temple Bar area lies on the south bank of the Liffey
River Liffey, Dublin, Ireland
5. The Danube, Budapest , Hungary – The Danube is the second longest river in Europe, after the Volga. It is 2,872 km (1,785 mi) long and flows through 4 capital cities: Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest and Belgrade. Budapest is the largest city on the Danube and is actually the unification of two parts on both banks of the Danube – Buda on the west bank and Pest on the east bank. They were unified to a single city in 1873
The Danube, Budapest, Hungary
The Danube, Budapest, Hungary
6. Moskva River (Moscow River), Moscow , Russia – The Moskva river is 503 km (313 mi) long and flows through Moscow. The Kremlin is situated on the bank of the river
Moskva River, Moscow. Picture taken from within the Kremlin
7. The Amstel, Amsterdam , the Netherlands – Amsterdam has countless artificial canals, but the Amstel river is flows naturally through the city
The Amstel, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
8. Spree River, Berlin , Germany – The Spree river flows through the German states of Saxony, Brandenburg and Berlin. It also flows through the Czech Republic. In Berlin itself, it passes very close to main attractions of Berlin in the heart of the city, such as Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag
Spree River and the Berlin TV Tower, Berlin
9. Vltava River, Prague, Czech Republic – The Vltava river is the longest river in the Czech Republic. In Prague, it flows under Charles Bridge – one of the most famous bridges in the world , and just a short walking distance away from the river is the Old Town Square in Prague , one of the most famous city squares in the world
Charles Bridge and Vltava river, Prague
10. Manzanares River, Madrid, Spain – In a way, the city of Madrid was founded thanks to the Manzanares river, as the city was first founded as a citadel overlooking the river by the Moors in the 9th century
Manzanares River, Madrid
| Madrid |
"Who is the founder of Facebook, doing so at the age of 20? He was named by Time magazine as ""Person of the Year"" in 2010. His personal fortune is estimated at over 17 billion dollars." | Interesting Facts about Madrid - Fun Facts about Madrid
Fun & Interesting Facts About Madrid
Madrid has been the capital of Spain since the 17th century. It is also the largest city of Spain.
The name Madrid comes from the Arabic "magerit" which means 'place of many streams'.
Madrid is home to a prestigious bull-fighting museum, where people can go and get a brief insight about the sport and its history. The costumes worn by ‘Maloletes’ have also been put on display here.
Madrid has no beach, although there is a plan to create an urban beach area by the year 2010, near river Manzanares.
Madrid is famous for its open-air pool called the ‘Aquasur’. This pool has five giant slides and is a favorite with the kids during summer. The main attractions here are the five giant water slides.
Madrid is located on a plateau that is 650 meters above sea level. It is the highest capital city in Europe.
Madrid is the political center of Spain.
Madrid is known for a ‘carnivale’, which is celebrated weeks before Lent. Here, the highlights of the festival are ‘Ash Wednesday’ and ‘Shrove Tuesday’, where men bury a mock coffin by the riverside to recollect a tragic event that took place in the 18th century.
Madrid’s official symbol is a bear that feast on the berries from the madrono tree. This symbolizes Madrid’s growth and highlights the importance of wildlife and wood that is required to build the country.
Madrid is a major center for international business and commerce. It is one of the largest centers for finance in Europe and the largest financial center in Spain.
The international airport of Madrid, at Barajas, is the largest one in Spain.
Due to its economic output, standard of living, and market size, Madrid is considered to be a major financial center of the Iberian Peninsula.
‘Madrilenos’ are often called ‘Gatos’ (cats) because of their late sleeping habits and because of the legend of the Arab soldier who climbed the outer walls of the great city with the nimbleness of a cat. Thus, Madrilenos are called ‘Gatos’, because of their swift, agile movements.
Madrid is home to the head offices of a number of major Spanish companies, including three of the world’s 100 largest companies.
Madrid enjoys more cloudless days than almost any other city in Europe.
According to FIFA, Real Madrid FC is the world's most successful football club of the 20th century. Their stadium is called Bernabéu, and it is located in Chamartín, in the North of Madrid. It has a capacity of 85,000 spectators.
Madrid is home to a number of universities, some of which are the oldest in the world.
Madrid is world-famous for its old cafés, cozy tapas bars and restaurants that brim with life.
How to Cite
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The title of which classic TV comedy series comes from a Shakespeare sonnet? | Poetry Classroom: Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare - Tweetspeak Poetry
By Karen Swallow Prior 23 Comments
Welcome to this month’s poetry classroom, with author and literature professor Karen Swallow Prior. Karen specializes in classics and will be treating us to a discussion of classic love poetry. We invite you to respond to the poems—their forms, images, sounds, meanings, surprises—ask questions of Karen and each other, and write your own poems along the way.
____
This is perhaps the most famous of Shakespeare’s sonnets, made so because it is often taken as a loving monument to the beauty of the speaker’s beloved. After all, the beloved here is compared to one of the loveliest of things—a summer’s day—and comes out the winner for she is deemed “more lovely and more temperate” than that harsh, changing, and ever-declining season. Indeed, the poet says, the beloved’s brightness is “eternal” and “shall not fade.” What more powerful expression of love could there be than this, the steadfast belief in a lover’s eternal beauty and grace.
Ah, but there’s a catch. An “if,” a “not quite,” or rather a “so long as …” in this poem. It is found there in the last two lines, the couplet, the very place where all Shakespearean sonnets offer a turn in thought, a punch line, a “gotcha.”
In this case, the catch is that the beloved’s eternal beauty will not fade so as long as “this”—“this” being the poem itself—lives and “gives life to thee.” It is the poem that makes the beloved’s beauty immortal, not her beauty itself that is immortal.
And where does this poem come from? Why from the poet, of course.
As is too case often in love, it turns out to be all about the lover rather than the beloved.
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st,
Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to Time thou grow’st.
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
Painting by Jean-Honore Fragonard (1732-1806). Post by Karen Swallow Prior, author of Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me.
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| The Darling Buds of May |
What is the name of Rupert Murdoch's worldwide media company? | Poetry Classroom: Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare - Tweetspeak Poetry
By Karen Swallow Prior 23 Comments
Welcome to this month’s poetry classroom, with author and literature professor Karen Swallow Prior. Karen specializes in classics and will be treating us to a discussion of classic love poetry. We invite you to respond to the poems—their forms, images, sounds, meanings, surprises—ask questions of Karen and each other, and write your own poems along the way.
____
This is perhaps the most famous of Shakespeare’s sonnets, made so because it is often taken as a loving monument to the beauty of the speaker’s beloved. After all, the beloved here is compared to one of the loveliest of things—a summer’s day—and comes out the winner for she is deemed “more lovely and more temperate” than that harsh, changing, and ever-declining season. Indeed, the poet says, the beloved’s brightness is “eternal” and “shall not fade.” What more powerful expression of love could there be than this, the steadfast belief in a lover’s eternal beauty and grace.
Ah, but there’s a catch. An “if,” a “not quite,” or rather a “so long as …” in this poem. It is found there in the last two lines, the couplet, the very place where all Shakespearean sonnets offer a turn in thought, a punch line, a “gotcha.”
In this case, the catch is that the beloved’s eternal beauty will not fade so as long as “this”—“this” being the poem itself—lives and “gives life to thee.” It is the poem that makes the beloved’s beauty immortal, not her beauty itself that is immortal.
And where does this poem come from? Why from the poet, of course.
As is too case often in love, it turns out to be all about the lover rather than the beloved.
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st,
Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to Time thou grow’st.
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
Painting by Jean-Honore Fragonard (1732-1806). Post by Karen Swallow Prior, author of Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me.
________________
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What is the name of the curved upper surface of a liquid in a tube? | Meniscus | Define Meniscus at Dictionary.com
meniscus
[mi-nis-ahy, -nis-kahy, -kee] /mɪˈnɪs aɪ, -ˈnɪs kaɪ, -ki/ (Show IPA), meniscuses.
1.
a crescent or a crescent-shaped body.
2.
the convex or concave upper surface of a column of liquid, the curvature of which is caused by surface tension.
3.
Optics. a lens with a crescent-shaped section; a concavo-convex or convexo-concave lens.
4.
Anatomy. a disk of cartilage between the articulating ends of the bones in a joint.
Origin of meniscus
1685-95; < New Latin < Greek mēnískos crescent, diminutive of mḗnē moon
Related forms
[mi-nis-koid] /mɪˈnɪs kɔɪd/ (Show IPA), adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Examples from the Web for meniscus
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Historical Examples
The images of the meniscus of the mercury column and of the moving fork are focused on the plate by a lens.
The Book of Cheese Charles Thom and Walter Warner Fisk
The height of the meniscus is then read on a millimetre scale attached to the capillary.
British Dictionary definitions for meniscus
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noun (pl) -nisci (-ˈnɪsaɪ), -niscuses
1.
the curved upper surface of a liquid standing in a tube, produced by the surface tension
2.
a crescent or half-moon-shaped body or design
3.
a crescent-shaped fibrous cartilage between the bones at certain joints, esp at the knee
4.
a crescent-shaped lens; a concavo-convex or convexo-concave lens
Derived Forms
C17: from New Latin, from Greek mēniskos crescent, diminutive of mēnē moon
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for meniscus
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n.
"crescent-shaped body," 1690s in reference to lenses, c.1812 in reference to liquid surfaces, Modern Latin meniscus, from Greek meniskos "lunar crescent," diminutive of mene "moon" (see moon (n.)). Related: Meniscoid.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
meniscus me·nis·cus (mə-nĭs'kəs)
n. pl. me·nis·cus·es or me·nis·ci (-nĭs'ī, -kī, -kē)
A crescent-shaped body.
A concavo-convex lens.
The curved upper surface of a nonturbulent liquid in a container that is concave if the liquid wets the walls and convex if it does not.
A disk of cartilage that acts as a cushion between the ends of bones in a joint.
me·nis'cal (-kəl) or me·nis'cate' (-kāt') or me·nis'coid' (-koid') or men'is·coi'dal (měn'ĭs-koid'l) adj.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
| Meniscus |
Prior to Bill Clinton, who was the last Democrat President of the USA? | Surface Tension - Chemistry LibreTexts
Surface Tension
Contributors
Surface tension is the energy, or work, required to increase the surface area of a liquid due to intermolecular forces . Since these intermolecular forces vary depending on the nature of the liquid (e.g. water vs. gasoline) or solutes in the liquid (e.g. surfactants like detergent), each solution exhibits differing surface tension properties.
Introduction
Whether you know it or not, you already have seen surface tension at work. Whenever you fill a glass of water too far, you may notice afterward that the level of the water in the glass is actually higher than the height of the glass (Figure 1 below). You may have also noticed that the water that you spilled has formed into pools that rise up off the counter. Both of these phenomena are due to surface tension.
Surface Tension
In a sample of water, there are two types of molecules. Those that are on the outside, exterior, and those that are on the inside, interior. The interior molecules are attracted to all the molecules around them, while the exterior molecules are attracted to only the other surface molecules and to those below the surface. This makes it so that the energy state of the molecules on the interior is much lower than that of the molecules on the exterior. Because of this, the molecules try to maintain a minimum surface area, thus allowing more molecules to have a lower energy state. This is what creates what is referred to as surface tension. An illustration of this can be seen in Figure 1 below.
Figure 1: Molecules at the surface of water experience a net attraction to other molecules in the liquid, which holds the surface of the bulk sample together. In contrast, those in the interior experience uniform attractive forces..
The water molecules attract one another due to the water's polar property. The hydrogen ends, which are positive in comparison to the negative ends of the oxygen cause water to "stick" together. This is why there is surface tension and takes a certain amount of energy to break these intermolecular bonds. Same goes for other liquids, even hydrophobic liquids such as oil. There are forces between the liquid such as Van der Waals forces that are responsible for the intermolecular forces found within the liquid. It will then take a certain amount of energy to break these forces, and the surface tension. Water is one liquid known to have a very high surface tension value and is difficult to overcome.
Figure 2: (a) A paper clip can “float” on water because of surface tension. (b) Surface tension also allows insects such as this water strider to “walk on water.”
Surface tension of water can cause things to float which are more dense than water, allowing organisms to literally walk on water (Figure 2). An Examples of such an organisms is the water strider, which can run across the surface of water, due to the intermolecular forces of the molecules, and the force of the strider which is distributed to its legs. Surface tension also allows for the formation of droplets that we see in nature.
Related Topics
There are several other important concepts that are related to surface tension. The first of these is the idea of cohesive and adhesive Forces ). Put simply cohesive forces are those that hold the body of a liquid together with minimum surface area and adhesive forces are those that try to make a body of a liquid spread out. So if the cohesive forces are stronger then the adhesive forces, the body of water will maintain its shape, but if the opposite is true than the liquid will be spread out, maximizing its surface area. Any substance that you can add to a liquid that allows a liquid to increase its surface area is called a wetting agent .
Figure 3: (a) This drawing illustrates the shape of the meniscus and the relative height of a mercury column when a glass capillary is put into liquid mercury. The meniscus is convex and the surface of the liquid inside the tube is lower than the level of the liquid outside the tube. (b) Because water adheres strongly to the polar surface of glass, it has a concave meniscus, whereas mercury, which does not adhere to the glass, has a convex meniscus.
In the lab there are also several important points to remember about surface tension. The first you've probably noticed before. This is the idea of a meniscus (Figure 3). This is the concave (curved in) or convex (curved out) look that water or other liquids have when they are in test tubes. This is caused by the attraction between the glass and the liquid. With water, this causes it to climb up the sides of a test tube. This attraction is amplified as the diameter of the tubes increases; this is called capillary action . This can be seen if you take a tube with a very small diameter (a capillary tube) and lower it into a body of water. The liquid will climb up into the tube, even though there is no outside force. You may have also seen this when you put a straw into a drink and notice that the liquid level inside the straw is higher than it is in your drink. All of this however, requires that the adhesive forces (between the liquid and the capillary surface) be higher than the cohesive forces (between the liquid and itself), otherwise there will be no capillary action or the opposite can even happen. Mercury has higher cohesive forces then adhesive forces, so the level of the liquid will actually be lower in the capillary tubes then compared to the rest of the mercury (Figure 3B).
References
Petrucci, Ralph H., et al. General Chemistry: Principles and Modern Applications. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2007.
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In the Bible, which four word phrase comprise the first words spoken by God, as recorded in theBook of Genesis? | John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Matthew Henry Commentary
1:1-5 The plainest reason why the Son of God is called the Word, seems to be, that as our words explain our minds to others, so was the Son of God sent in order to reveal his Father's mind to the world. What the evangelist says of Christ proves that he is God. He asserts, His existence in the beginning; His coexistence with the Father. The Word was with God. All things were made by him, and not as an instrument. Without him was not any thing made that was made, from the highest angel to the meanest worm. This shows how well qualified he was for the work of our redemption and salvation. The light of reason, as well as the life of sense, is derived from him, and depends upon him. This eternal Word, this true Light shines, but the darkness comprehends it not. Let us pray without ceasing, that our eyes may be opened to behold this Light, that we may walk in it; and thus be made wise unto salvation, by faith in Jesus Christ.
| Light Fantastic (TV series) |
In which city would you find the Spanish Steps? | Genesis Lesson 2 - The Creation of Heavans and Earth
THE PENTATEUCH PART I: GENESIS
LESSON 2
Lesson 1 Genesis Lessons List Lesson 3
My Lord and my God,
We acknowledge, Lord, that You are the author of Creation.� You created the cosmos. �You fixed the earth upon its foundation and clothed the earth with mountains and oceans.� You brought forth life upon the earth and then You created Your masterpiece - man. You created man in Your image and likeness - created in the image of grace and holiness and blessed with an immortal soul.� You placed man in the Sanctuary of Eden as a being who was destined to live eternally in Your fellowship.� Help us to be ever mindful, Father, that Jesus Christ and the Sacraments of Your Church are the bridge by which we are promised our return to You in the heavenly Eden.� Send your Holy Spirit, Father, to guide us in our study. We ask this in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.� Amen.
+ + +
Lord, you have been our refuge from age to age. Before the mountains were born, before the earth and the world came to birth, from eternity to eternity you are God.
There are other passages that can be cited which point to the pre-existence of Jesus including Hebrews 1:2-3 ; 11:3 ; John 1:15 , 30 ; 8:58 ; and 17:5 ; 1 John 1:1 .
The New Testament, therefore, reveals that God authored Creation through the creative force of the eternal Word, God the Son ( Jn 1:1-3 ), through whom all creation flowed: ...for in Him were created all things in heaven and on earth: everything visible and everything invisible, ..[...] all things were created through him and for him.� He exists before all things and in him all things hold together.� See CCC# 291 .( 2 )
In the first sentence of the Prologue of the Gospel of St. John, the Greek text begins with the same words that in Hebrew begin the Prologue of Genesis 1:1 : "In (the) beginning."� Like the Hebrew text in Genesis, the first words of St. John's Prologue begin without the definite article "the:" in Greek, en arche, "In beginning"'the same Greek words that begin the Genesis Prologue in the Greek Septuagint Old Testament translation, also without the article "the."� In the 3rd century AD, Origen of Alexandria, revered head of the Christian school of theology in Alexandria, Egypt, wrote: What is the beginning of all things except our Lord and "Savior of all," Jesus Christ "the firstborn of every creature?"� In this beginning, therefore, that is, in his Word, "God made heaven and earth" as the evangelist John also says in the beginning of his Gospel (Origen: Homilies on Genesis, 1:1). Origen is using the word "firstborn" in the sense of "first in rank."� He is not saying that Jesus was the first creature that was created, a heresy embraced by some who misinterpret what St. Paul wrote in Colossians 1:15 .
Please read the Gospel of John 1:1-5 and verses 9a & b .
The Gospel of St. John identifies Jesus in verse 1 as "The Word."
Question: What other word does the Gospel of St. John associate with Jesus in addition to Jesus the "Word" and the "Life?"� Please see verses 4-5 and 9 .
Answer: Jesus is the "Light."
Jesus will identify Himself as "the Light" on the Feast of Tabernacles during the last year of His ministry: Jesus spoke to the people again, he said: I am the light of the world; anyone who follows me will not be walking in the dark but will have the light of life ( Jn 8:12 ).
Question: As the "Light" of the world, what power does Jesus, "the Light," overcome?� What is the connection to Genesis 1:4-5 ?� Note: in the New Jerusalem Bible the translation reads "there was darkness over the deep" ( Gen 1:2 ).� A better translation is "there was darkness over the abyss." The abyss is the Tehom in Hebrew and the Abyssos in Greek, the bottomless and unfathomable deep of the underworld and perhaps the part of the universe set in opposition to the heights of the heavens (Anchor Bible Dictionary, vol. 1, page 49).
Answer: Jesus, the "Light of the world," overcame (was victorious over) the "darkness" of sin and despair ( Jn 1:4-5 , 9 , � 8:12 ) as in Genesis 1:4-5 the "Light" overcame the "darkness." �Jesus is goodness and righteousness.� His goodness, represented as "light," cannot be imprisoned by the darkness of the forces that stand in opposition to the goodness of God.
Creation is the foundation of God's plan of salvation.� It is the beginning of salvation history that will reach its fulfillment in the saving work of Jesus Christ (see CCC# 280 ).� Keeping in mind Jesus' role in the Creation event, please re-read Genesis 1:1-5 .� But before you read the passage, please note that the Hebrew word for "God" in chapter 1 of Genesis is Elohim.� "El" is the Hebrew word for "god" in the singular, meaning any [false] god, or "God," the One True God.� In Hebrew, the plural of el is elohim.� In Hebrew this word is written in a lower case first letter when referring to false gods but when referring to the One God the word is written both in the singular "El" and in the plural "Elohim" with a capital letter as "God" is in the English translations.� The Prologue verses in Genesis ( 1:1-31 ) use the plural "Elohim"'consistent with the New Covenant revelation of the Most Holy Trinity as One God in three persons.
The revelation of the Most Holy Trinity was a mystery that was not revealed to the Old Covenant Church but which was made known to the New Covenant Church by Jesus the promised Redeemer-Messiah.� Jesus is identified in the New Testament as the Son of God ( Mt 16:16 ; Mk 1:1 ; Lk 1:35 ; Jn 1:18 , 34 ); He spoke of Himself as the Son of God who is His Father ( Mt 10:32-33 ; Mk 14:36 ; Lk 10:21-22 ; Jn 14:6-10 ), and He promised He would send God the Holy Spirit as the counselor who would come to teach and guide the Church ( Jn 14:26 ).� Also please note that in Hebrew as well as in Greek, the words "wind," "spirit" and "breath" are the same word: ruah is the word in Hebrew, which is pneuma in Greek.� In Genesis 1:2 it is God's holy wind/spirit/breath [ruah] that hovers [rahap] above the waters of Creation just as God's Spirit hovered over the waters of the Jordan River at Jesus' baptism ( Mt 3:16-17 ; Mk 1:9-11 ; Lk 3:21-22 ).
The Fathers of the Church (the disciples of the Apostles and their disciples in the first 3-4 centuries of the Church) taught that although the mystery of the Trinity was hidden from us in the Old Testament, the promise of that mystery was revealed in Scripture from the very first account of Creation.
Question: Recalling St. John, St. Paul, and St. Peter's revelation of the pre-existence of Christ and His role in Creation, can you see the hidden promise of the Trinity in the first three verses of Genesis? Please identify the key words in the passage (see Jn 1:1-5 ; Col 1:15-17 ; and 1 Pt 1:20 ).
Answer: In the beginning God [Elohim] created heaven and earth.� Now the earth was a formless void, there was darkness over the deep, with a divine wind [ruah] sweeping [more literally =hovering] over the waters. God [Elohim] said, 'Let there be light, and there was light.'
God in the plural (Elohim): God the Father
Divine wind (ruah): God the Holy Spirit
God said: the creative force of God's spoken word; the Word of God = God the Son.� God's Word is the "Light" = Christ according to John 1:3-5 and 9 : [verses 3-5]...in Him was life, life that was the light of men; and light shines in the darkness, and darkness could not overpower it. Verse 9: The Word was the real light that gives light to everyone...
Question: What is the order of the Godhead as revealed in Genesis 1:1-3 ?
Answer: God the Father, God the Holy Spirit, and the spoken word of God in the Creation event is the "Living Word," God the Son.( 3 )
The Church teaches that the Creation event was the unified work of the Most Holy Trinity: The Old Testament suggests and the New Covenant reveals the creative action of the Son and the Spirit, inseparably one with that of the Father.� This creative cooperation is clearly affirmed in the Church's rule of faith: "There exists but one God... he is the Father, God, the Creator, the author, the giver of order.� He made all things by himself, this is, by his Word and by his Wisdom," "by the Son and the Spirit" who, so to speak, are "his hands."� Creation is the common work of the Holy Trinity (CCC# 292 ).
Genesis 1:3 reveals that God's Spirit was sweeping over the waters.� In commenting on this passage in Genesis, St. Ephraim (303-363/73) wrote: It was appropriate to reveal here that the Spirit hovered in order for us to learn that the work of creation was held in common by the Spirit with the Father and the Son.� The Father spoke.� The Son created.� And so it was also right that the Spirit offered its work, clearly shown through its hovering, in order to demonstrate its unity with the other persons.� Thus we learn that all was brought to perfection and accomplished by the Trinity (Ephraim, Commentary on Genesis I).
In the event of Jesus' baptism, the Holy Trinity is also present: in God the Son who receives St. John the Baptist's baptism of repentance in order to sanctify the waters of Christian baptism, in God the Father, whose voice is heard from heaven, and in God the Holy Spirit who opens the heavens and descends in the form of a dove ( Mt 3:16-17 ; Mk 1:9-11 ; Lk 3:21-22 ), hovering above what will become the waters of a new creation for believers baptized into the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ Jesus ( Rom 6:3-6 ).� Connecting the action of the Holy Spirit in the Creation event to Jesus' baptism, St. Jerome wrote: In the beginning of Genesis, it is written: "And the Spirit was stirring above the waters."� You see, then, what it says in the beginning of Genesis.� Now for its mystical meaning - "The Spirit was stirring above the waters" - already at that time baptism was being foreshadowed.� It could not be true baptism, to be sure, without the Spirit (St. Jerome, Homilies 10, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, vol. I, page 6).
The word which Jerome translated as "stirring" is rendered "sweeping" in the New Jerusalem Bible. The word which describes the action of God's Spirit above the waters, is the Hebrew verb rhp [with vowels = rahap, also spelled rachaph]. Rahap can also be translated as "hovering" or "moved" (Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon).� This Hebrew word is used only three times in Old Testament:
Once in Jeremiah 23:9 .
Jewish Bible scholars, both ancient and modern, have seen a connection between the limited use of this Hebrew word in the birth of Creation as we know it and in the birth of the nation of Israel.� In Deuteronomy 32:11 the verb rahap is used to express Yahweh's divine activity in leading the newly created nation of Israel, separated out from the chaos of the pagan world, through "the howling expanses of the� wastelands" ( Dt 32:10 ) on way to Canaan.� Referring to Israel personified as "Jacob" (Jacob, renamed Israel was the physical father of the twelve tribes of Israel), the passage reads: ...Yahweh's portion was his people, Jacob was to be the measure of his inheritance.� In the desert he finds him, in the howling expanses of the wastelands [tohu].� He protects him, rears him, guards him as the pupil of his eye.� Like an eagle watching [literally "stirring"] its nest, hovering [rahap] over its young, he spreads out his wings to hold him, he supports him on his pinions ( Dt 32:9-11 ).
The word which Jerome translated as "stirring" is rendered "sweeping" in the New Jerusalem Bible. The word which describes the action of God's Spirit above the waters, is the Hebrew verb rhp [with vowels = rahap, also spelled rachaph]. Rahap can also be translated as "hovering" or "move/moving" (Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon). The Hebrew word rahap is found only three times in Sacred Scripture:
Twice in the Pentateuch (in Genesis 1:3 and Deuteronomy 32:11 )
Once in Jeremiah 23:9 ("all my bones shake [rahap]").
The Hebrew words tohu wabohu (lit. = wasteland formless) are only found twice in Sacred Scripture:
Jeremiah 4:23
Jewish Bible scholars, both ancient and modern, have seen a connection between the limited use of these Hebrew words in the birth of Creation as we know it and in the birth of the nation of Israel. In Deuteronomy 32:11 the verb rahap is used to express Yahweh's divine activity in leading the newly created nation of Israel, separated out from the chaos of the pagan world, through "the howling expanses of the wastelands" ( Dt 32:10 ) on way to Canaan. Referring to Israel personified as "Jacob" (Jacob, renamed Israel was the physical father of the twelve tribes of Israel), the passage reads: ...Yahweh's portion was his people, Jacob was to be the measure of his inheritance. In the desert he finds him, in the howling expanses of the wastelands [tohu]. He protects him, rears him, guards him as the pupil of his eye. Like an eagle watching [literally "stirring"] its nest, hovering [rahap] over its young, he spreads out his wings to hold him, he supports him on his pinions ( Dt 32:9-11 ).
In this passage God's "hovering" over Israel is compared to an eagle hovering over its young - spreading out protective wings to guard and support the children of Israel as God led them in the visible manifestation of Yahweh's Shekinah (in Hebrew the manifestation of God's glory) in the Glory Cloud.� The use of the verb rahap in the Deuteronomy passage establishes a comparison between God's Divine Presence hovering over Israel in the wilderness, as manifested in the Glory Cloud, and the protection of God's presence hovering over Creation in Genesis 1:3 .� In addition, in Deuteronomy 32:10 the wilderness is identified in Hebrew by the noun tohu.� This is the same word that is used in Genesis 1:2b for the state of earth over which the Spirit of God hovered in the Creation event.� The noun tohu and verb rahap are found together no where else in Scripture except in the Creation event in Genesis 1:3 and in Moses' final homily summarizing the Exodus experience in Deuteronomy 32:11 (Genesis, Waltke, page 59-60). �The Glory Cloud (pillar of cloud and fire), which led Israel on her Exodus journey, was a manifestation of the Spirit of God.
Question: What are the functions of the Glory Cloud that are attributed to the Holy Spirit?� See Nehemiah 9:19-20 ; Isaiah 63:11-14 ; and Haggai 2:5 .
Answer: Functions of Glory Cloud attributed to the Holy Spirit:
Nehemiah 9:19-20a : ... you, in your great compassion, did not abandon them in the desert; the pillar of cloud did not leave them, leading them on their path by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, lighting the way ahead of them by which they were to go.� You gave them your good spirit to instruct them...
Isaiah 63:11-14a : But he called the past to mind, Moses his servant.� Where is he who saved them from the sea, the Shepherd of his flock?� Where was he who put his holy spirit among them, whose glorious arm led the way by Moses' right hand?� Who divided the waters before them to win himself everlasting renown, who led them through the depths as easily as a horse through the desert?� They stumbled as little as cattle going down to the plain.� Yahweh's Spirit led them to rest.
Haggai 2:5-7 : ...and my spirit is present among you.� Do not be afraid!� For Yahweh Sabaoth says this: A little while now, and I shall shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land.� I shall shake all the nations, and the treasures of all the nations will flow in, and I shall fill this Temple with glory*, says Yahweh Sabaoth. (A reference to when the Glory Cloud, as a visible manifestation of God's presence, filled the Temple of Solomon in 1 Kings 8:10-11 ).
Question: What were the actions of the Holy Spirit in the Creation event in Genesis 1:1-31 , and what does the action of the God the Son and God the Holy Spirit reveal about Creation?� See CCC# 292 .
Answer:
The Holy Spirit was present bringing light into the darkness
The Spirit divided the waters and made dry land appear
The Spirit regulated the day and night sequence
The Spirit presided over the creation of life
Creation is the unified work of the Most Holy Trinity
Question: How does God's Spirit in the Glory Cloud protect Israel in the Exodus compared to the mission of the Holy Spirit in the Creation event?
The Glory Cloud led Israel out of the darkness of slavery into the light of freedom.
The Glory Cloud presided over the parting of the waters of the Red Sea for the children of Israel to cross the chaos of the waters on dry land.
The Glory Cloud guarded Israel day and night.
The Glory Cloud protected the lives of the children of Israel and presided over the birth of Israel as a nation.
Genesis 1:2 : Now the earth was a formless void [toho ra bohu], there was darkness over the deep, with a divine wind [ruah] sweeping [rahap] over the waters.
Verse 2 of the Creation event, presents the earth as already having been formed and completely covered by water.� It is possible that there were other periods of creation and de-creation on earth between verses 1 and 2.� Our Creation event begins with God's spirit hovering over the waters of chaos.
Genesis 1:3-5 : 3God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light.� 4God saw that light was good, and God divided light from darkness.� 5God called the light 'day' and the darkness he called 'night.' Evening came and morning came: the first day.
Verse three begins a repeated sequence of God's announcement: "God said," followed by God's command: "Let the/ there," which results in a creation event.
Question:� On the first day God created "light."� How can there be light in the cosmos before the creation of the sun, moon, and stars, which doesn't occur until Genesis 1:14 ?
Answer: Galileo Galilei wrote: The Bible tells us how to go the Heaven, not how the heavens go.� The Bible is not a scientific text book.� What the inspired writers received was what they would be able to put into words that could be understood by their contemporaries and future generations.
The passage tells us that after the earth was created, God created light as a force or a concept in the universe. ( 4 )St. Augustine made the distinction between the light born from God and the light made by God: The light born from God is one thing; the light that God made is another.� The light born from God is the very Wisdom of God, but the light made by God is something mutable, whether corporeal or incorporeal (On the Literal Interpretation of Genesis, 5.20). God created "light," separating the light out of the darkness of the cosmos and pronounced it was "good" ( Gen 1:4 ), as He will continue to judge each act of creation as "good."
Since the sun and the moon had not been fixed in the heavens, the day and night referred to in verse five cannot be day and night as we known them.� �It is interesting to note that the Hebrew text of Genesis 1:5 does not have the definite article "the" as it does in the English translation.� It will not be until day six that "day" will be defined as "the sixth day."( 5 )
Genesis 1:5b : Evening came and morning came: the first day.� It was from the repetition of this phrase indicating that the "day" progressed from the night that the Hebrew people began and ended each day at sunset, in ancient times and a practice Jews continue to observe today.
Please read Genesis 1:6-13 : The progression of the Creation event, days 2-3.
1:6God said, 'Let there be a vault through the middle of the waters to divide the waters in two.'� And so it was. � 7 God made the vault, and it divided the waters under the vault from the waters above the vault.� 8God called the vault 'heaven.'� Evening came and morning came: the second day.� 9God said, 'Let the waters under the heaven come together into a single mass, and let dry land appear.'� And so it was. 10God called the dry land 'earth' and the mass of waters 'seas', and God saw that it was good.� 11God said, 'Let the earth produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants, and fruit trees on earth, bearing fruit with their seed inside, each corresponding to its own species.' And so it was.� 12The earth produced vegetation: the various kinds of seed-bearing plants and the fruit trees with seed inside, each corresponding to its own species.� God saw that it was good.� 13Evening came and morning came: the third day.
Question: On the days designated (in the Hebrew text) "a second day" and "a third day" in verses 8-10, where are the waters in relation to the land?� See Genesis 7:11-12 ; 8:22
Answer: The waters are in the rivers, seas, and oceans.� There is also water above the earth's atmosphere, perhaps creating a "greenhouse" effect, a climate without seasons.� The vault of waters above the earth will be pierced in the event of the Great Flood ( Gen 7:11-12 ) and God will establish seasons after the Flood ( Gen 8:22 ).
Question: What has transpired in the creation of the earth in the first three days?
Answer:
Light is created which is separate from the darkness.
The separation of the land from the water
Vegetative life (seed-bearing plants; no weeds) on earth
Question: What word repetitions are you noticing in the account to this point?
Answer: Repetition of the phrases "God said," "God saw it was good," "and so it was," and every sequence ends with the repeated phrase: "evening came and morning came: a ___ day."� The word of God is a creative force.� He has formed the cosmos out of nothing and He has "seen" and judged the Creation "good" (thus far, three times in verses 3 , 10 , and 12 ).
Question: What then are the three repeated actions of the Most Holy Trinity in the process of the Creation event?
Answer:
He judged the process of Creation (God saw it was good).
Please read Genesis 1:14-23 : Creation, days 4 through 5
1:14God said, 'Let there be lights in the vault of heaven to divide day from night, and let them indicate festivals, days and years.� 15Let them be lights in the vault of heaven to shine on the earth.'� And so it was.� 16God made the two great lights: the greater light to govern the day, the smaller light to govern the night, and the stars.� 17God set them in the vault of heaven to shine on the earth, 18to govern the day and night and to divide light from darkness.� God saw that it was good.� 19Evening came and morning came: the fourth day.� 20God said, 'Let the waters be alive with a swarm of living creatures, and let birds wing their way above the earth across the vault of heaven.'� And so it was.� 21God created the great sea-monsters and all the creatures that glide and teem in the waters in their own species, and winged birds in their own species.� 22God saw that it was good.� God blessed them, saying, 'Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the waters of the seas; and let the birds multiply on land.'� 23Evening came and morning came: the fifth day.
The same repetitions are present that were observed in the first three days of the Prologue.� The days are still designated as "a day."
Question:� What was created on the 4th day?
Answer: God made the sun, moon, stars and the planets.
Question: Read Genesis 1:14-19 .� What is the reason given for the creation of the sun, moon, stars (and planets; the ancients thought the planets were wandering stars)?� There are four reasons given in this passage.
Answer: These heavenly objects were created to:
divide day from night
to date the annual Holy Days
to provide light for the earth
to rule or govern the day and night
Note: Holy Days would not be appointed until the formation of the Sinai Covenant ( Ex. 12 ; Lev 23 ; Num 28-29 ).
Question: On what day was life created to fill the sky and fill the waters?
Answer: Life was created to fill the sky and the waters on the fifth day.
Question: What is special about the stage of creation on the fifth day?
Answer: God created creatures: animal life in the form of the birds and the sea creatures.� He blessed them and He willed them to perpetuate life by creating more of their own kind.
These creatures possess a soul (nepesh/ nepes in Hebrew).� In essence, nepesh means "passionate vitality."� Animal and plant souls differ from human souls; human souls are immortal, being set apart by the "breath" (Spirit) of God ( Gen 2:7 ). The Old Testament understanding of nepesh differs from the New Testament concept of "soul" as expressed in the Greek word psyche (Genesis, Waltke, pages 70-71).
Please read Genesis 1:24-31 The Creation of the Beasts and Man on the Sixth day
1:24God said, 'Let the earth produce every kind of living creature' in its own species: cattle, creeping things and wild animals of all kinds.'� And so it was.� 25God made wild animals in their own species, and cattle in theirs, and every creature that crawls along the earth in its own species. God saw that it was good.� 26God said, 'Let us make man in our own image, in the likeness of ourselves, and let them be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of the heaven, the cattle, all the wild animals and all the creatures that creep along the ground.'� 27God created man in the image of himself, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.� 28God blessed them, saying to them, 'Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.� Be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven and all the living creatures that move on earth.� 29God also said, 'Look, to you I give all the seed-bearing plants everywhere on the surface of the earth, and all the trees with seed-bearing fruit; this will be your food.� 30And to all the wild animals, all the birds of heaven and all the living creatures that creep along the ground, I give all the foliage of the plants as their food.' And so it was.� 31God saw all he had made, and indeed it was very good.� Evening came and morning came: the sixth day.
The affirmation of the goodness of God's Creation is repeated consistently throughout the prologue of Genesis as God the Holy Spirit "hovers" over Creation.� As He "hovers," He "sees," and in seeing God judges each stage of Creation as "good."�
Question: How many times is the phrase repeated that God "saw it was good" between Genesis 1:3 and 31 ?
Answer: That Creation is "good" is pronounced seven times in Genesis 1:4 , 10 , 12 , 18 , 21 , 25 , 31 , and in verse 31 , where the pronouncement is that Creation is "very good."� Seven is the number which symbolizes perfection, especially spiritual perfection; it is the number of the Holy Spirit.
In Genesis 1:26 God said: Let US make man in OUR OWN image and likeness. Notice the use of the first person plural.� You may remember that the Hebrew word for God in Genesis chapter one is the plural form, Elohim.� The first person plural is also used in Genesis 3:22 : Then Yahweh God said, 'Now that the man has become like one of us in knowing good from evil... �While some Christian Bible scholars have seen this passage as another hidden revelation of the Trinity in the Old Testament, other scholars have suggested that God is referring to the angels of the heavenly court.� However, never has it been suggested in either Jewish or Christian tradition that angels cooperated in the creation of the world nor does Scripture ever identify these spirit beings as being created "in the image and likeness" of God: Let us make man in our own image and likeness. In addition, Nehemiah 9:6 : You, Yahweh, are the one, only Yahweh, you have created the heavens, the heaven of heavens and all their array, the earth and all it bears, the seas and all they hold.
Question: What is unique about the creation of man?� What is man's rank in the created order of the world? How is man different from the other creatures of Creation?� Hint: Genesis 1:26-28 .
Answer: Man was created to be "master" over the creatures in creation ( Gen 1:26 ), making man God's representative or steward in God's earthly kingdom, and man is separated from the other living creatures in that he was created in the "image and likeness" of God ( Gen 1:26-27 ). �Man was created in the image of the divine triune God - the Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.� Man was created as a sinless being, possessing the gift of an immortal soul. Man was created in a perfect state of grace, clothed in the image of the Divine Triune God.� See CCC# 307 , 355-57 .
Question: How many times is the word "created" repeated in Genesis 1:27 ?� Why is this significant?
Answer: In Genesis 1:27 , the Hebrew word bara, the verb "to create," is repeated 3 times: God created man in the image of himself, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.� Repetitions of words are significant.� The Creation account of Genesis is full of sevens, the number of perfection, but no other book in the Bible has as many repetitions of threes (as a number or in repetitions) as the book of Genesis. Three is the number of importance, significance, and the fullness of God's divine plan in Jewish tradition; for Christians it is also the number of the Trinity.� In Scripture the number three, or the repetition of threes, is a signal that what is happing is of theological importance in salvation history.
The verb "to create," bara, is repeated a total of 7 times in chapter 1 of the Genesis Prologue ( 1:1 , 21 , 27 (3 times), 2:3 , 4a ), and whenever it is used in Scripture the word always has God as its subject (CCC# 290 ).� The seven-time repetition of the Hebrew word "to create" is symbolically fitting since in Jewish tradition 7 is the number of fullness and perfection.� God's acts of creating are perfect.� In this act of creation, our first parents are infused with God's "perfection" - the gift of grace, the Trinity's divine life.�� The infusion of the grace of divine life into the first man creates a covenant, a family bond between man and God in which God "fathers" the first human being.� God is not only Creator, as He is of the animals, but He is God the eternal Father, having communicated His life to man through His ruah, the breath of His spirit ( Gen 2:7 ).�� The covenant with Adam is the first in a series of divine covenant bonds God will establish in the progression of salvation history.( 6 ) The Hebrew word bara will be used two more times before the end of the Prologue. In the symbolic importance of numbers, seven is not only the number of perfection; it is also the number of the Holy Spirit.
Question:� What does it mean in Genesis 1:27 that man is created in the "image and likeness" of God?� Hint:� what are the attributes of God? Also see Genesis 2:4-7 and 5:1-3 .
Answer: In imperfect human fathering, offspring receive life and human characteristics like eye and hair color, etc.� But God is spirit and so God gave His human children His spiritual attributes in His perfect, divine "fathering."� Man was created infused with the very life of God - divine grace. In Genesis chapter 2 God breathed His breath into man.� The first man was created in the image of righteousness, in the likeness of holiness, and received the gift of grace--a gift of divine son-ship.� He was created to be an immortal, sinless being. �This unique condition separated man from the beasts that were created on the same sixth day in the Creation account.� Man has an immortal soul created by God.� From the time of Adam's creation forward in time, the spiritual soul of every human being will be created by God to be immortal; the soul will not perish but will only separate from the body at death [see CCC#s 355-366 ].� Infused with grace, Adam and Eve are uniquely united to God not just as "Creator" but as "Father".� The first Adam was created to be an immortal, sinless, son and the first Eve to be an immortal and sinless daughter.
Question: What does God determine as food for man and food for the beasts?� See Genesis 1:29-30 .
Answer: Man's food is to be all the seed-bearing fruit and plants while all the animals of the land, sea and air are to eat all the foliage of the plants for their food.� There is no killing of animals for food, nor is the eating of animal flesh an option.� The eating of cooked animal meat will not be permitted until after the Flood in Genesis 9:1-4 .
Question: What is God's first blessing for mankind?� See Genesis 1:28 .
Answer: The blessings of human fertility and dominion over a fertile earth and all its creatures.
For the first time in the Prologue of Creation, day six is designated "the sixth day."
Please read Genesis 2:1-4a : The Climax of Creation on the Seventh day
2:2Thus heaven and earth were completed with all their array.� 3On the seventh day God had completed the work he had been doing.� He rested on the seventh day after all the work he had been doing.� 4God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on that day he rested after all his work of creating.� Such was the story of heaven and earth as they were created.
Question: What is the climax of the Creation event and the last thing God created?
Answer: God created a "day of rest."�
Question: The Hebrew word sabbat, or "Sabbath," means "seventh day."� The seventh day of the week is Saturday.� In Hebrew it is the only day of the week that has a name; the others are day 1, 2, etc.� If Saturday was the last day of the Creation event, what was the day on which creation began?� How many times are the words: "the seventh day" repeated in Genesis 2:1-4 ?
Answer: "The seventh day" is repeated three times.� In the division of Creation to correspond with what we understand as a week in time, with Saturday being the last day in a seven-part division, then the Creation event began on what we acknowledge as Sunday.
The "New Creation" in Christ Jesus will inaugurate a new "day of rest" on the Lord's Day, which was also the first day of the old Creation.
Question: How will God's work in the Creation event determine man's obligations as God's master over the earth?
Answer: Man will work six days, as God worked during the six "days" of Creation, and man will rest on the seventh day, as God rested on the seventh day of Creation.
Question: Why did God bless the seventh day?� What is the connection between the Old Covenant Sabbath and the New Covenant Lord's Day? See CCC# 344-349 .
Answer: God sanctified the day of rest as a holy day of communion between God and man and as a promise of the eternal blessings that were to come through the saving work of Jesus Christ and the new "day of rest" on "the eighth day" (the day after the seventh), which would not be temporal but eternal: ��The eighth day.� But for us a new day has dawned: the day of Christ's Resurrection.� The seventh day completes the first creation.� The eighth day begins the new creation.� Thus, the work of creation culminates in the greater work of redemption.� The first creation finds its meaning and its summit in the new creation in Christ, the splendor of which surpasses that of the first creation (CCC# 349 ).
Question: What did Jesus say about the "seventh day" Sabbath in Mark 2:27 ?
Answer: In rebuking the Pharisees Jesus said: The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath; so the Son of man is master even of the Sabbath.�
The Sabbath was a day created for man to cease his work and to enter into God's "rest," - into fellowship and communion with God.� It is man's creation in the image and likeness of God and his invitation to communion with God that separates him from the other creatures of creation.� In the formation of the Sinai Covenant, God will make the observance of the Sabbath a condition of covenant obedience in the Ten Commandments ( Ex 20:8-10 ; Dt 5:12-15 ).� In commanding the Sabbath observance, God will recall the Creation event: For in six days Yahweh made the heavens, earth and sea and all that these contain, but on the seventh day he rested; that is why Yahweh has blessed the Sabbath day and made it sacred ( Ex 20:11 ).� God's rest on the seventh day of Creation becomes a metaphor for the mystery promised mankind through the saving work of Jesus Christ and the promise of eternal rest in the life of the Most Holy Trinity.�
How Are We to Interpret the Creation Account?
According to a literalist reading of the Creation account, all of Creation was formed in a six-day period from evening to morning.� The Catholic Church does not require belief in a literal 6-day creation, nor does the Church oppose the belief in a literal interpretation of Genesis chapters 1 and 2.�
There are several different theories of Creation that Christian scholars embrace:�
Literal interpretation: The theory that the earth was created in a literal 6 days, composed of 6 twenty-four hour periods, holds that God created the universe and all life in 6 sequential natural days marked by evenings and mornings. According to this view, God created the universe and all life in approximately 144 hours in the sequence presented in Genesis 1.
Day / Age Theory: The day-age theory agrees that the events recorded in Genesis chapter 1 are sequential. However, this view parts company with the 24-hour view regarding the length of the creation days. According to the day-age theory, God did not create the universe and all life in 6 twenty-four hour days, but in 6 sequential ages of unspecified, though finite, duration.� Each of the six days represents a geological age covering millions of years.� (Unfortunately for this theory, geologists have been unable to find a match between the geologic evidence and the creations of each of the 6-day periods).
The Gap Theory: Allows a form of evolution by accepting a gap between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 .� Proponents of this theory suggest that perhaps Satan's fall from heaven to earth produced such chaos on earth that God destroyed creation and started over.
Symbolist Interpretation: Each day is a symbol of some spiritual reality.� Some ancient Christian and Jewish scholars saw the 6 days of creation as symbols of the different periods of Salvation history.
The Framework Hypothesis: The Framework view was developed by Biblical scholar Meredith G. Kline and proposes that the days of Genesis form a figurative framework in which the divine works of creation are narrated in a topical, rather than sequential, order. This view holds that the picture of God completing His work of creation in six days and resting on the seventh was not intended to reveal the sequence or duration of creation, but to proclaim an eschatological theology of creation.
Mythical View: All of the creation account is myth and none of it is history.� The Biblical account was completely invented by the Hebrew people to explain their world and their early history, much like the Egyptians authored a mythological account of creation.� The Catholic Church does not accept this view.
There are some fascinating aspects to the Framework Hypothesis which we might explore. We usually view Creation in Genesis as a progression of six days, but there is another way to view Creation and that is as two sets of 3 days.�
Question: What was created in the first three day period?
Answer:
Day #1: Light separated from darkness
Day #2: Divided the waters to separate the earth from heaven
Day #3: The land appears, separated from the water, and God created vegetation.
These three days of Creation can be summarized as: Day #1 = Time; Day #2 = Space; Day #3 = Life: all of which are judged to be "good."
In this view of Creation, for the first 3 days God creates time, space, and life.� In the next set of 3 days, God fills the first 3 days with that which will rule or govern:
CREATES REALMS
3. Dry land/ vegetation ( Gen 1:9-13 )
3. Land creatures and man ( Gen 1:24-31 )
Adapted from a chart by Bruce Waltke, Genesis, page 57
Whether one believes in a literal 6-day creation period is really not the issue. The issue is: Do you believe that God is the author of Creation? One may believe in a literal 6-day creation or that God used evolution in some way (other than Darwinism which denies God's intimate involvement in the Creation event). In 1907 Pope Pius X addressed the issues concerning what Catholics must believe about the Creation in the encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis. This document was followed in 1950 by Pope Pius XII's encyclical entitled Humani Generis. These two documents help to define what Catholics must believe about the history of creation to be in accord with the teachings of the Church.
For those Catholic Christians who struggle with the question of evolution, the Magisterium of the Catholic Church has presented in various documents these guidelines for what Catholic Christians must believe about Creation:
The creation by God of all things at the beginning of time.
The special creation of man, who was endowed by God immediately with an immortal soul.
The creation of a single individual, Adam, from whom all men have descended and who transmitted original sin to all mankind.
The formation of woman from man.
The unity of the human family.
The original happiness of our first parents in a state of justice and grace.
The divine command given to man by God to prove his obedience.
The transgression of that command at the instigation of Satan in the form of a serpent.
The fall of our original parents from their primitive state of innocence.
The promise of a future redeemer.
[Pascendi Dominici Gregis, Pope Pius X; Humani Generis, Pope Pius XII; Vatican II: Lumen Gentium, 3; also see CCC#s 279 , 296-98 , 343 , 355-58 , 369-73 , 374-79 , 390-95 , 397 , 410-11 , 766 ]
Question: Putting the arguments for and against evolution aside, what is the reason Scripture and Tradition gives for the creation of the world?�
Answer:� Scripture and Tradition have always taught the fundamental truth that the world was made for the glory of God, to show forth His goodness, and to communicate His love.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church records:� Scripture and Tradition never cease to teach and celebrate this fundamental truth: "The world was made for the glory of God."� St. Bonaventure explains that God created all things "not to increase his glory, but to show it forth and to communicate it," for God has no other reason for creating than his love and goodness: "Creatures came into existence when the key of love opened his hand." In this citation the Catechism quotes from the Vatican I document Dei Filius: This one, true God, of his own goodness and "almighty power," not for increasing his own beatitude, nor for attaining his perfection, but in order to manifest this perfection through the benefits which he bestows on creatures, with absolute freedom of counsel "and from the beginning of time, made out of nothing both orders of creatures, the spiritual and the corporeal..." (CCC# 293 , and Dei Filius, 1:DS 3002)
The Book of Wisdom records that God created our world to be filled with goodness: the creatures of the world have health in them, in them is no fatal poison, and Hades has no power over the world: for uprightness is immortal ( Wis 1:14 ).� Everything within Creation is subject to God's divine will and in the Creation event it was God's will that Creation was to operate for the sake of goodness for the life that inhabited it: The glory of God consists in the realization of this manifestation and communication of his goodness, for which the world was created (CCC# 294 ).� God created all things not to increase His glory but to show His goodness and to communicate His love.� He simply has no other reason for creating than His love and goodness.� St. Thomas Aquinas wrote: Creatures came into existence when the key of love opened His hand.�
Question: How many repetitions of words or phrases did you find in the Genesis Prologue?
Answer:
Three times: 2:2 (twice), 3
As we continue in our study, it is important to remember that creation, destruction, regeneration, and restoration through covenant are the main themes of the Bible.� The Bible begins in Creation and Covenant and ends in a re-Creation and a New Covenant.� A covenant is more than a promise and it is more than a contract.� Contracts are concerned with material goods like property, but covenants are concerned with intangibles like truth, loyalty, justice, and fidelity.� Most important from a Biblical perspective, covenants create family bonds.� We will be looking at the seven Old Testament Biblical Covenants - covenants between God and individuals within the line of the "promised seed," a covenant between God and Israel as a holy nation, and with individuals who are also bound to the Sinai Covenant.�� The seven covenants of the Old Testament will be fulfilled in the final Covenant, the 8th Covenant, which is the New Covenant in the blood of the Messiah [see the Chart of Yahweh Eight Covenants].
Question for group discussion:
Question: The first Biblical covenant is the covenant God formed with Adam in Eden ( Hosea 6:7 ).� Biblical covenants contain both blessings for obedience to the covenant bond ( Gen 1:28-30 ) and obligations ( Gen 2:15-17 ). How would you sum up the first blessings of the Covenant with Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:28-30 , and what obligations were involved in living out the covenant blessings?
Answer: The first man and woman were given the blessings of fertility and dominion over the earth.� The blessing of human fertility required a committed relationship between a man and a woman.� Dominion over the earth required reaping the blessing of the earth's fertility and called for man's careful stewardship over God's gift of the natural world.
Question: In this age of man, does mankind have any obligation to these first covenantal blessings?� Does "dominion" mean "ownership" or "stewardship"?� To whom does the earth belong?
St. Paul also attributed the creation of world to God the Son in Hebrews 1:2-3 and 11:3 .� In Hebrews 11:3 St. Paul wrote: it is by faith that we understand that the universe(s) was fashioned by the word of God... The parenthesis (s) after the word "universe" in the Scripture quotation indicates that in the Greek text the word "universe" is plural (aiones), which might suggest multiple worlds and multiple galaxies.� However, in Hebrews 3:11b the universe is presented equivalent to the singular "that which is seen," so the plural probably represents the vastness of the entire universe.� The belief that the "word (singular) of God" brought the universe into being is a belief basic to Judaism and Christianity ( Gen 1:3 ; 6 , 9 , Ps 33:6 , 9 ; Heb 11:3 ).� John 1:1 and Hebrews 1:2 identify God's "word" with the Son, who is God's active force in the Creation event: the Living Word.
Question: Please read the passages in Hebrews 1:2-3 and 11:3 and discuss how an understanding of God the Son's role, and the role of the Most Holy Trinity, in Creation has changed your understanding of the Creation event.
Question: In what personal re-creation event in your life has God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit taken an active role?� See John 1:3 , 5 ; Matthew 3:11 ; 28:19-20 ; Romans 6:3 .
Answer: In the Sacrament of Baptism.
Question: How are Christians re-born and restored to the image of God through Christian baptism?� See Romans 6:3-4 ; Galatians 3:27 ; Colossians 2:12 ; 2 Peter 1:3-4 ; CCC#s 168 ; 265 ; 683 ; 1213 ; 1227 ; 1250 ; 1265-66 ; 1277 ; 1692 .
Answer: In the spiritual transformation and re-birth of Christian baptism, we are no longer children in the fallen family of Adam but become re-born through water and the Spirit as children in the family of God ( Jn 3:3 , 5 ).� Not only are we made in God's image, but through the regenerative power of Christian baptism we are restored to His likeness, becoming sinless and righteous sons and daughters of a Divine Father who, in the fullness of life in Christ, �communicates His own divine life to us ( 1 Pt 1:3-4 ).
Question: Is the Sacrament of Baptism necessary for our salvation or is it only an initiation rite into fellowship with the Church?� See CCC# 1277-80 .
Answer: The Sacrament of Baptism is necessary for our sanctification and for our ultimate salvation.� After St. Peter's great homily in Jerusalem on the Feast of Pentecost, the Jewish crowd asked him what they must do in order to be saved:� 'You must repent,' Peter answered, 'and every one of you must be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit ( Acts 2:38 ). �Through the holy Sacrament of Baptism, in re-birth through water and the Spirit of God, we return to the condition of righteousness and communion with God which Adam and Eve enjoyed before their fall from grace. This condition of grace is God's desire for the destiny of all humanity ( 2 Pet 3:9 ; CCC# 1037 ; 2822 ), but the free-will choice to accept or reject God's divine gift of salvation is ours to make: Baptism is birth into the new life in Christ.� In accordance with the Lord's will, it is necessary for salvation, as the Church herself, which we enter by Baptism (CCC# 1277 ).� We must maintain this condition of grace through the repentance of sins and through the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation (CCC# 1426 , 1440 , 1446 , 1485-1496 ).
Endnotes:
1 . In recording Jesus' birth, St. Luke wrote: Now it happened that, while they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to a son, her first-born ( Lk 2:6-7 ). ��Some have interpreted this passage to suggest if Jesus was Mary's "first-born" that she had other children.� On the contrary, as the first to open Mary's womb and as the first-born, only begotten Son of God, Jesus' title, according to the traditions of His people, was the "first-born son," the re'shiyt.� The Church has always taught, from the time of the disciples of the Apostles, the first Bishops of the Church, that Mary's virginity remained in tact and Jesus was her only child (see CCC#s 499-501 ).� Mary's continued virginity is a dogma of the Church.� See the Marian Dogmas in the Charts/ Church doctrine section; a dogma defines a truth what one must believe to be Catholic.
2 . Perhaps you recognized some of the references from Colossians 1:15-17 and the Hebrew word "be" in the Final Doxology of the Eucharistic Prayer of the Roman Catholic Mass (in Latin, the Per Ipsum) when the priest elevates the Host and prays: Through Him, with Him, in Him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is Yours, Almighty Father, for ever and ever.� Amen.
3 . The order of the Godhead hidden in Genesis verses 1-3 may seem odd to you.� We usually speak of the Trinity in the order of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (see Matthew 28:19-20 ).� But the order of Father, Holy Spirit, and Son is the same order St. John used in Revelation 1:4-5 .� St. John also spoke of the Holy Spirit in association with the number 7 (in Genesis the first line is composed of seven Hebrew words and there are seven days in the Creation cycle; see Rev 1:4 ).� 7 is one of the four "perfect numbers" in Sacred Scripture (the others are 3, 10, and 12).� The number 7 indicates fullness, completion, perfection, and it is the number of the Holy Spirit. For more information on the symbolic meaning of numbers in Scripture, please see the document "The Significance of Numbers in Scripture" in the Documents section.
4 . "Big Bang Theory" is the most widely accepted theory for the formation of the universe by modern cosmologists.� It was first introduced by a Belgian physicist and Roman Catholic priest, Father Georges Lamaitre.� In 1927-31, Fr. Lamaitre formulated the theory that the entire universe had suddenly expanded from a primordial hot and dense initial condition at some finite time in the past, calling his theory the "hypothesis of the primeval atom."� Fr. Lamaitre's theory was coined "the Big Bang" after a radio program discussing the theory in 1949.� A huge explosion in the cosmos would produce what is described in Genesis 1:3-4 : sudden light cutting through the darkness of space.� The problem with applying this theory to the Creation event is that in Genesis the earth has already been formed previous to the creation of light.� It is possible that God first created "light" in cosmic explosion that shattered the darkness of space, but it is also possible that "the light" is a spiritual concept representing goodness and holiness as opposed to dark forces that are in opposition to God.
5 . Hebrew-English Old Testament, John R. Kohlenerger III, Zondervan, 1987, page 1; The Jewish Study Bible, Oxford University Press, 1999, page 12.� Both sources reference the oldest know O. T. Hebrew Masoretic text: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia [from Leningrad Codex B19a].
6 . Hosea 6:7 can be translated "They have broken the covenant like Adam..." �The word "adam" can mean the first man "Adam", or "man", or even "ground" or "earth."� The Jewish Tanach (Old Testament) translates Hosea 6:6-7 : For I desire kindness, not sacrifice; and knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings.� But they, like Adam, transgressed the covenant; there they betrayed Me.
Michal Hunt, Copyright © 2009 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.
Catechism references for Genesis 1:1-2:4 [* indicates the Scripture passage is either quoted or paraphrased in the citation]
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In the original Beatles line-up, who was the bass guitarist? | The Beatles Through The Years: The Guitars
This is how the guitar would have appeared when John first bought it in 1960.
John with his Rickenbacker in Hamburg.
In 1960 when The Beatles were playing in Hamburg, Germany John decided he wanted a really good guitar and chose the Rickenbacker 325. Lennon used this Rickenbacker from 1960 to '64 (It's last TV appearance occurring on the Beatles US TV Debut on The Ed Sullivan Show) Over the course of those four years John changed the knobs and had it painted (perhaps he'd done it himself?) black. This is thought to be The Beatles manager Brian Epstein's idea to give the band a better look.
This is the Guitar most associated with Lennon's Early Beatles Rhythm sound.
John Rehearsing for British TV show Ready Steady Go with the Rickenbacker
After The Beatles took the USA by storm in early 1964, during their first visit, Rickenbacker, realising The Beatles' incredible marketing potential of their guitars, visited John in The Beatles suite in the Plaza Hotel in New York City to offer him their newest model. The 12-string Rickenbacker 360 *record abruptly stops* Wait... what?! I hear all you Beatle guitar aficionados crying out. Well, let me tell you... John tried out the Rickenbacker 360 and apparently wasn't that into it and suggested FC Hall (the head of Rickenbacker) show it to George. (Which we'll get to in a second.) Hall then brought out the jetglo (black) 325, which looked shiny and new and perfect. Lennon said yes to this one and it was shipped to the Deauville Hotel in Miami in time for the second Ed Sullivan Show appearance, that was being broadcast from there. From then on it was Lennon's working guitar right up until the late '65 tours where it was retired. Eventually, this beauty ended up on display at The John Lennon Museum in Japan. (Yes, there's a John Lennon Museum in Japan.)
1962 - 1970 (John)
1962 - c.1968 (George)
John later stripped the finish off this guitar and used it during his Bed-In for Peace in 1969.
But before it went to bed it was heavily used in Beatles concerts and recordings from 1962 to '65
Many of the guitars used by the Beatles were played by more than one member, and in 1962, Brian Epstein bought John & George matching acoustic Gibson J-160E guitars from a Liverpool music shop. They got mixed up many times, and the guitar thought to be Lennon's, but was actually Harrison's, was stolen during their 1963 Finsbury Park Christmas Show. (It has since been recovered and you can check out the story here )
Lennon's Jumbo at the Beatles Exhibit at the LBJ Library in Austin, TX in 2015. (Picture: TBTTY)
However, they both used the guitar until John finally bought another one in 1964 to use in concert and recording. He had it re-finished by Dutch artists 'The Fool' in 1967 and planned to use it during the first satellite broadcast where the Beatles performed 'All You Need Is Love'. For whatever reason John decided to just sing and not play the guitar. Later on, John stripped this finish off and had it sanded back to it's natural colour and used it (perhaps for the last time) during his & Yoko 's famous "Bed-In For Peace" and on 'Give Peace A Chance.'
How it would have looked had John used it during the 'Our World' broadcast.
Gibson are offering a faithful re-creation of the "Bed In" J-160E
Now, George's guitar (which was actually Lennon's 'Jumbo'.....still with me here?) is believed by many to be "lost" as he gave it away sometime after the Sgt Pepper sessions. But the new smartphone app that Dhani Harrison put together showcasing George's guitar collection that is still part of the Harrison estate seems to showcase a certain 1962 Gibson J160e.......Maybe Harrison (who was an avid sharer of his instruments) didn't give this guitar away after all? L'Angelo Mysterioso, indeed!
The J-160e as it appears in the App.
How the guitar appeared when Lennon first acquired it in 1965.
Although he never used it live while with the Beatles, Paul put the Casino to work a lot in the Studio.
John & George rehearse for The Beatles one and only live appearance on British TV's 'Top of the Pops' with their Casino's. Loving John's outfit here too!
They were also the main guitars for their final world tour in 1966.
Lennon during shooting of the 'Paperback Writer'/'Rain' promo 1966
The Epiphone Casino actually came into The Beatles' stable through their bass player Paul acquiring one in late 1964 (on the advice of John Mayall) so he could keep his hand in on the guitar work in the studio. Before Paul had it restrung left handed John played it and obviously liked it as a couple of months later he and George got one each (John's was the only one not to have a Bigsby tremelo arm. Presumably because he didn't use or like them) and used them on their last ever tour in 1966. Paul used his for his lead guitar work with the Beatles and continues to use his on tour to this day stating that if he could only have one Electric guitar it would be the Casino. John and George had theirs sanded down and Lennon used his until 1971 when he complained during sessions for his Imagine album that it was getting harder to hold down a chord on it. George seemed to have stopped using his in 1967 Although he may have used it in his solo career but since he enjoyed using Fender guitars for their easy slide guitar capabilities.
The Cavern Bass was Paul's first Hofner until they gave him a newer model.
Macca with his original Hofner Bass in 1961. This was stolen during the 'Get Back' sessions in 1969 and has never been recovered. Whoever has this Bass. Give it back.
In 1961 Stuart Sutcliffe was leaving the Beatles. He couldn't really play music and wasn't particularly interested in learning. Since Stuart had been the band's bass player, Paul was tasked by John and George with the responsibility of taking it up and being the Beatles' official bass player. So, with a pocket full of Deutsch Marks and dreams of being the next Paul McCartney (Wait a moment!), he went to a music shop in Hamburg where he saw a bass hanging up. Though it wasn't what other rock musical artists were playing, it was just what McCartney wanted since he was left-handed. Right-handed guitars and basses were awkward to play due to the cut-away and knobs being on the top instead of the bottom. Macca plonked down the dosh (about 30 quid back then) and walked out of that music house holding the bass that he would make history with. Macca used the Bass until late 1963 when Hofner gave him their updated model (see below) and relegated it to Back up duty before having it re-finished and new pick-ups installed. It is last seen during the Let It Be film and it was during this time it was stolen.
Paul rocking his original Hofner during the Revolution video in 1968.
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Paul with his new Bass, perhaps it's first outing?
Paul shows Ed Sullivan the Hofner before the Beatles debut appearance on his show.
Just after The Beatles had recorded their second album With The Beatles in 1963, Hofner gave Paul their new model of bass, possibly the most famous of all the guitars used by the Beatles. Macca started using it straight away, relegating his first one to back-up duty. He stopped using it in the studio when Rickenbacker gave him their 4001 model in 1965, but continued to use it on tour until they stopped touring in 1966. Then, it was left alone for a couple of years, until he started using it again during the Let It Be sessions. After the Beatles split, he stopped using it during Wings and his 80's solo output, until Elvis Costello made him get it out for Flowers In The Dirt in 1989. Since then, Paul has used his Hofner on tour and in the studio to the point that is has become something you expect to see when you see Paul McCartney perform.
Paul with the Hofner on it's last tour for 23 years.
The 1969 Rooftop Gig would be the last time the Hofner would be played live for 20 years. That gig was also the last time The Beatles played together live.
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Played By: PAUL McCARTNEY
Years Active: 1965 - c.1984
The Rickenbacker 4001 was given to Paul when he was at actor Burt Lancaster's house in California in 1965
Paul began using this Bass on 'Rubber Soul'
When FC Hall of Rickenbacker gave John & George new Rickenbacker's in 1964 he also offered a right-handed model of the 4001 to Paul. Paul didn't like it for a few reasons: for one, it was heavier than the Hofner; not to mention, it was right-handed; and whereas Hall was prepared to gift John & George their guitars, he wanted money for the bass, because he thought Paul was carrying all the money. That was the last straw for Macca, who punched Hall in the face and walked out of the room screaming "I'm not paying for ANYTHING!"......
....Just kidding. Although I have read that Hall DID want a small fee for Paul's bass.....
It wasn't until The Beatles were touring the USA in the summer of 1965 that Hall had built a left-handed Model of the Rickenbacker 4001. And after rock musical artists like The Byrds had started using Rickenbacker guitars because of The Beatles, Hall decided to give Paul this bass completely free of charge in Burt Lancaster's house. (Poor old Burt didn't get one though!) So, Paul set out to make his new bass famous and used it on studio albums, as well as on tour with Wings in the 70's, before retiring it in the mid 80's in favour of his Hofner. Will Macca ever play the Rickenbacker on tour again? My guess is probably not, since it's a heavy piece of equipment and Paul's getting older now. Besides, the Hofner serves all his needs stage wise. But still, it would be nice to see it on just a couple of songs; how about it, Macca?
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This Guitar was used on Beatles tours and records until Harrison got his Casino in 1965
George had two of these guitars. The first one got smashed on the motorway, but George was using it as a backup by then. He acquired them in 1963 as George's guitar hero Chet Atkins was using one on his records when The Beatles were hitting it big in the UK. He used it until he started getting inundated with Guitars as The Beatles achieved worldwide fame and finally stopped using Gretsch guitars altogether in 1965. This is a classic guitar and has been used by many artists including Elvis.....
Even the King of Rock & Roll liked the Country Gent.
Harrison with his Country Gent in 1963
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Years Active: 1964 - 1966, 1987
Jangle Pop was born when George started using this guitar in 1964.
As stated above this was originally offered to John who passed on it. George started using this guitar immediately after returning from The Beatles first US visit, and it is seen in their first feature film A Hard Day's Night, and heard on the soundtrack album. Like John's Rickenbacker 325 and Paul's Hofner this guitar is one of the most famous instruments the Beatles played. George stopped using it when he got another 360 from a Minneapolis Radion Station in 1965 and used this on tour but both guitars were retired after The Beatles touring life came to an end in 1966. In 1987 George dusted it off and used it on his album Cloud Nine and it is still part of his estate today and featured prominently (but was never played) during his memorial Concert For George in 2002. The second 360 was stolen in 1969 along with Paul's first Hofner.
Anyone who thinks they may have this guitar, please don't put it up for auction. Instead, contact Olivia or Dhani Harrison and return this piece of history to where it belongs: The George Harrison Estate. It never hurts to do the right thing.
Lennon with the 360/12. This guitar was originally offered to him but he didn't like it. He looks to be having second thoughts about it here though....
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| Stuart Sutcliffe |
A party called VERITAS stood for seats in the 2005 General Election. Who was the Chairman of that party? | mccartney1
Paul McCartney's Guitars
The Guitarist
Although primarily known for his bass playing, Sir Paul McCartney started his rock and roll career on a six-string guitar. When he met John Lennon at the St. Peter's Parish Fete on 6 July 1957, he impressed the leader of The Quarry Men by knocking out a dead-on version of "Twenty Flight Rock." McCartney was soon offered a job with the band and after a few practices debuted at the New Clubmoor Hall, Norris Green, Liverpool on 18 October 1957. "I kind of went in first of all as lead guitarist really," McCartney says in the Tony Bacon interview from The Bass Book, "because I wasn't bad on guitar. And when I wasn't on stage I was even better. But when I got up on stage at the very first gig I totally blew it -- I had never experienced these things called nerves before." After cocking up his solo on "Guitar Boogie Shuffle," he decided to "lean back" and play rhythm. (Significantly, in an effort to impress Lennon after this disastrous outing, McCartney showed him a song he'd written, "I Lost My Little Girl," which prompted Lennon to show McCartney a few songs he'd written -- launching a formidable songwriting partnership.) Before long McCartney nominated his mate George Harrison for lead duties, and continued playing rhythm through the second Hamburg trip in early 1961,
when he was called upon to replace struggling bassist Stuart Sutcliffe. From that point he would provide virtuoso bass accompaniment for The Beatles throughout their career.
From his first solo album McCartney has stepped out from behind the bass and displayed his considerable talent playing six-string guitar, but few fans realized during the Beatles' recording years that McCartney was providing some of the tastiest guitar playing to be heard on those records, rivaling Lennon in spirit and Harrison in technique. His solos can be heard on, among other songs, "Taxman," "Drive My Car," "The End," "Good Morning, Good Morning" and "Helter Skelter." Now this musician, who brought a new spirit and prestige to bass guitar, is being appreciated belatedly for his six-string work.
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A party called RESPECT stood for seats in the 2005 General Election. Who was the Chairman of that party? | Socialism Today - The problem with Respect
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The problem with Respect
JUDY BEISHON looks at the politics and electoral record of Respect, and at its structures, determined by the narrow, exclusive approach of the Socialist Workers� Party (SWP) and George Galloway.
RATHER THAN OFFERING a bold political alternative to New Labour, Respect was founded on the idea that the Socialist Alliance had failed because it was overtly socialist and therefore that Respect should not follow its example. This was connected to the aim of taking more of an electoral orientation. So in Respect�s founding statement the only reference to socialism is hidden in the �s� of the acronym RESPECT, and it is rarely mentioned elsewhere either in writing or verbally.
The founding statement lists goals such as an end to the occupation of Iraq, an end to all privatisation, a raising of the minimum wage and bringing back the railways and other public services into democratic public ownership. Its constitution adds: "Our overall aim is to help create a socially just and ecologically sustainable society", and then mentions the need for "common ownership and democratic control".
However, at Respect�s first conference in October 2004, of the 42 resolutions passed there were no references to common ownership or to socialism as a goal. During that conference, leading SWP member, Lindsay German, argued against a resolution which proposed that Respect should aim for a socialist society. She said that political diversity is needed in Respect, and also that the resolution was moved in �bad faith� � a common argument of the SWP against resolutions it disagrees with.
A composite of resolutions from five branches on �press and publications� merely said: "Respect needs to project an alternative politics that has at its centre a redistribution of wealth in order to fund public services and tackle poverty". Another resolution called only for renationalisation of "the railways, gas, electricity and water industries", and another of "rail and bus services". Many didn�t even go that far, with one branch ending a resolution on student fees with: "The cost of providing education should be met in the same manner as the cost of maintaining defence and other essential services, ie through the tax system". Another simply said: "Respect will campaign to challenge the power of the multinational drug companies".
The lack of willingness to raise the issue of public ownership has not just been revealed on its conference floor. Following the collapse of the Longbridge Rover car plant, Respect initially just called on the government to hand over a �100 million loan demanded by the asset-stripping owners, Phoenix. In contrast, the Socialist Party called immediately for the plant to be taken into public ownership.
In general, non-SWP Respect leaders, like Salma Yaqoob, limit themselves to arguing � sometimes eloquently � against the Iraq intervention, �social injustice�, and �inequality�, which is understandable from people who do not regard themselves as socialists. But SWP representatives, like Lindsay German and John Rees, instead of raising political understanding by injecting some awareness of the need for socialism, just follow in the wake of those like Salma Yaqoob, making no mention of the �s� word.
Reflecting its leadership composition, which includes the non-SWP George Galloway, and various Muslim community leaders, Respect does not have a unified political position on most issues, including on its attitude towards New Labour. It put out a gushing obituary following the death of New Labour�s ex-foreign secretary, Robin Cook, saying that he was a voice for "sanity, reason and peace" and was a "courageous, outstanding figure". It made no reference to the fact that Cook had played the role of foreign secretary for British imperialism and had supported the interventions in Kosovo and Afghanistan.
Despite the anti-working class nature of New Labour, the Respect conference passed a resolution not to oppose left, anti-war New Labour candidates. George Galloway has gone further than the SWP regarding his stance towards New Labour and has, in the past, raised the prospect of Respect possibly helping to reclaim the Labour Party. He was also reported as saying at the Respect conference that people should vote Labour where there was no Respect candidate standing.
Despite Respect being a centralised organisation rather than a genuine coalition, this does not mean that its national committee or even the executive committee has political control over its public representatives. In order to keep its celebrities, religious leaders and its one well-known political representative � George Galloway � on board, its figureheads are allowed to freely express their personal opinions in public. The SWP attempts to be controlling and authoritarian on some issues, such as on who will be in the leadership bodies and who will be election candidates, but decides to emphasise the looseness of a �coalition� when it comes to issues of programme and policy.
As on public ownership and socialism, there are a number of subsidiary programmatic issues that Respect has had great difficulties with, due to its composition and the SWP�s unwillingness and inability to explain what is correct politically and to be honest when a political compromise is necessary. Compromises are not called compromises but are passed off as political principle or are treated with silence. But its silence on a number of issues means that it shares responsibility for the positions taken. For instance, to adapt to the religious Muslim leaders on the executive, any references to �secularism�, whether referring to the nature of Respect itself, to workers� organisations in Iraq or anywhere, or to the education system in Britain, are simply voted down. George Galloway has been allowed to express his views against abortion and voluntary euthanasia with no direct criticism from the SWP.
The SWP has also forced Respect to accept Galloway�s refusal to live on an average worker�s wage. Although the SWP leaders try to present themselves as the theoreticians of Respect, it is George Galloway who sets the policy at the end of the day, because of his relative weight in the media and reputation in the anti-war movement. Galloway�s increased profile internationally as a result of his US senate hearing and his position as a left MP who overturned a significant New Labour majority, has increased his ability to dictate the agenda inside Respect.
Recently, divisions resurfaced on the issue of terrorism. A Respect conference resolution on Iraq made no qualification when it called for support for the �Iraqi resistance�, a position the SWP ran into difficulties with in the Stop the War Coalition. But more recently, tensions in the Respect leadership were evident following the 7/7 London bombings, when George Galloway was vociferously condemning the bombers, calling them �monsters� and suchlike, while the SWP was trying not to use the word �condemn� at all in relation to the attacks.
The electoral record
IN THE 2004 European elections, Respect�s first national electoral outing, George Galloway got 4.84% of the vote (91,175 votes) in the London Euro seat (a slightly lower, but similar, percentage to the vote of Irish Socialist Party member and TD � member of the Irish parliament � Joe Higgins in Dublin). Then, in the 2005 general election, concentrating on the Muslim anti-war vote, Respect won the Bethnal Green and Bow seat putting George Galloway back in parliament, and came second in Birmingham Sparkbrook, East Ham and West Ham with 27%, 21% and 20% of the vote respectively. They stood in 26 seats altogether. Lindsay German, in the June edition of Socialist Review compares this favourably to the Green Party, which stood 200 candidates, with their best result being in Brighton Pavilion where they came third with 20%.
However, the SWP leaders of Respect are highly selective with their comparisons, writing out of their history books the existence and achievements of the Socialist Party and its forerunner the �Militant tendency�. For instance, Lindsay German, in the same Socialist Review, says that the 2005 general election "marked the revival of the left electorally in Britain", and in the next sentence says that the votes of George Galloway, Salma Yaqoob, herself and Abdul Khaliq Mian (from the Muslim Alliance) "have not been seen since 1945 when Communists Phil Piratin and Willie Gallagher were returned as MPs". So the parliamentary victories achieved in the 1980s by Militant�s Dave Nellist, Terry Fields and Pat Wall, who stood on Marxist policies, are deliberately ignored. The Respect leaders also gave no recognition during the general election campaign to the Socialist Green Unity Coalition (SGUC), which stood a slightly higher number of candidates than Respect, including Socialist Party member Dave Nellist, who received 1,874 votes in Coventry North East.
The Socialist Party welcomed George Galloway�s victory in Bethnal Green and Bow and recognises it as an achievement for Respect. Galloway succeeded partly because of his reputation as a leading anti-war figurehead, which he built up over years, mostly prior to Respect�s existence. It is also the case that Respect�s best votes were achieved by orientating to anti-war Muslims. However, this was not done on a class basis, with equal emphasis on social and economic issues to that of Iraq, but largely as an �anti-war party�, and partly through religious leaders. Where they stood in areas without high Muslim populations, their votes were significantly lower.
Working-class Muslims have moved against New Labour as a result of the Iraq war and, as one of the most oppressed sections of society, are important to win to the labour movement. However, this must be done on the basis of a class-based appeal and not an opportunist one resting on religion and culture in the way that Respect has swung towards. At times, Respect has portrayed itself as �the party for Muslims� and Galloway as a religious man who is personally against drinking alcohol, abortion and voluntary euthanasia. At a recent Respect meeting for students in Leicester, he even said that he was fasting for Ramadan � despite the fact that he is not Muslim himself.
There are significant dangers with this approach, particularly of creating potentially dangerous divisions between working-class people from different backgrounds and communities. The task should be not just to attract Muslim votes and allegiance, but to take the starting point of the radicalisation and anti-New Labour mood of Muslim youth and workers and take it further, by introducing the need for class unity and socialist ideas that can show a way forward.
The problem with Respect�s approach towards Muslim organisations, is not in the main what has been said and written, but what has not been said and written. While it is possible for socialists to oppose the war on Iraq in alliance with organisations like the Muslim Association of Britain, or in an electoral alliance against New Labour, it is not acceptable for them to never write or speak a word of analysis or criticism on the political solution those organisations offer to the problems faced by working-class people, including Muslims. However, the SWP is silent on these issues, trying to paper over political chasms to avoid offending its allies and friends in Respect.
When the Socialist Party works with others in coalitions and alliances, whether in a majority or minority position, our stance is always to put forward a programme and strategy to advance the struggle and consciousness and to try to win the others involved to that strategy. For example, we were in a minority on Liverpool council in the 1980s battles with the government, but we won majority support on the council and among workers in Liverpool on the basis of putting forward a strategy to advance the struggle. And while paying great attention to the detail of strategy and tactics, we do not hide our belief in the necessity for socialism, and are always prepared to critically analyse the views and aims of other organisations in our own material. Even though the SWP form a majority in Respect, instead of putting forward a programme and strategy to advance campaigns and political consciousness, it appeals to the lowest common denominator in the arguments and positions it puts forward.
Centralism not democratic federalism
IN ITS CONSTITUTION, Respect calls itself "broad, open and inclusive", and "politically pluralistic". The constitution states: "Members of other parties, organisations, or faith groups who join Respect are entitled to keep their identity as members of these organisations or groups whilst participating fully within the structures and activities of Respect� Trade unions at the national, regional or local level may affiliate to Respect. They will have the right of representation at annual and other conferences". And: "Any group of at least 20 members will have the right to organise within Respect and to present resolutions to conferences � consistent with the agenda of the conference".
In practise, however, there are great limitations to the extent to which other political organisations � other than the SWP � can keep their identity within Respect. Respect�s 2005 general election candidates had to be selected by majority vote at local level and approved by the national council. In most cases the SWP can mobilise their members to achieve an SWP �majority� for such selection meetings. If a candidate from a minority organisation within Respect gets through this process, it is then the SWP�s position that no organisation can be part of Respect and stand in an election under its own name and determine its own election campaign politically or organisationally.
So it is impossible for any organisation or group of workers to be part of Respect without placing its election campaigns under the direct control of the SWP. This is the same situation as when the SWP controlled the Socialist Alliance. Groups of workers or organisations were told they had to give up control of their own campaigns and stand in the name of the Socialist Alliance. Worse still, if they refused to submit to this control, the SWP declared that the Socialist Alliance would stand against them, as it did on more than one occasion, including when the Campaign Against Tube Privatisation stood for the London Assembly, with the support of a majority of branches of the rail workers� union, the RMT, in the London underground.
The right of "any group of at least 20 members" to organise within Respect is at the discretion of the SWP, as no such right was granted regarding delegate attendance and contributions at Respect�s first conference. At that event, all resolutions that were backed by the SWP were carried, and all those opposed by the SWP were defeated. A resolution for the right of political platforms to exist was defeated, as was one asking for the right of existence of groups such as the disabled, black members and lesbian/gay members. The national council is elected by the conference through a slate system. As the SWP had a significant majority, they were able to choose which slate became the leadership body. Although a minority of members of the present national council are in the SWP (ten out of 48), the SWP decided who will be on the council � ie others are only there at the SWP�s grace and favour.
Reflecting weakness in the trade unions, only seven national council members have a trade union position mentioned next to their name on Respect�s website. Around ten on the council are Muslims, with some of them being members of either the Muslim Association of Britain or the Muslim Council of Britain. There is no provision in Respect for significant minorities or non-union affiliates to have representation on the national council � this is entirely at the discretion of the SWP majority.
SWP member and Respect national secretary, John Rees, in May�s Socialist Review, declares the intention to create a "mass left-wing alternative to New Labour". But you will search in vain for encouragement to build democratic branches and to engage in democratic debate and discussion of political ideas to strengthen Respect politically. Instead, rally audiences are urged to join up to �help Respect win in the next elections� and SWP and Respect members are urged to build "a network of supporters and activists in every area". (Socialist Review, June 2005) Most Respect rallies are characterised by an absence of any political discussion or debate, with usually no questions or contributions being invited from the floor. The Respect conference too had no real political debate, with resolutions only having one speaker for and one against.
This approach will not succeed in recruiting, retaining and politically developing young working-class people, or workers of any age and background for that matter. In this period, where an increasing number of people are moving in an anti-capitalist direction, there is a demand for accurate analysis of events, information about socialism and Marxism, and democratic discussion on the way forward. The SWP�s approach will not satisfy these demands. The lack of democracy and debate that exists in their own party is taken into Respect and other organisations under its control.
None of the lessons of the demise of the Socialist Alliance have been learnt by those in Respect�s leadership. The SWP was completely unwilling to compromise on the Socialist Alliance�s constitution, to retain an element of federalism in order to keep all participants on board. The Socialist Party proposed a federal constitution that would have made it a genuine alliance and maintained the maximum possible degree of unity. But in the event of this not being accepted, we were prepared to stay in the alliance on the basis of a proposed variation of a �status quo� constitution, or even on the basis of a simple limit on the representation of any single organisation in leadership bodies, as was also proposed.
However, the SWP refused any compromise and forced through its own �one member one vote� constitution with 52% of the conference vote. This meant that any organisation or group staying in the Socialist Alliance would have to accept the dictates of the SWP. The Socialist Party was unable to remain in on that basis and other groups, organisations and individuals who remained involved also came to realise that the SWP�s approach was intolerable. It ultimately caused the demise of the Socialist Alliance. For alliances or coalitions to be attractive to a fresh layer of workers, they will have to be inclusive, democratic and arrive at a way of working and constitution that prevents participating organisations from feeling they are not fully involved. Especially now, in the post-Stalinist era, there is great sensitivity on the issue of democracy, with people being repelled by any situation that smells of manipulation or dictates beyond their control.
In the Socialist Party, we will continue to help to propagate socialist ideas and socialist unity in the labour movement as a whole. As well as seeking agreements with other left organisations to avoid us standing against each other in the May 2006 elections, we are also continuing to work as part of the Socialist Green Unity Coalition, which came into being before the May 2005 elections. In particular, however, we look forward to participating in future developments towards a new mass workers� party, the creation of which is now an urgent task for workers in Britain. We intend to play an active role in helping to initiate steps towards that vital goal, which will include proposing the necessity of a fully inclusive, democratic, federal constitution.
| George Galloway |
In the original Beatles line-up who was the drummer? | Socialism Today - The problem with Respect
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The problem with Respect
JUDY BEISHON looks at the politics and electoral record of Respect, and at its structures, determined by the narrow, exclusive approach of the Socialist Workers� Party (SWP) and George Galloway.
RATHER THAN OFFERING a bold political alternative to New Labour, Respect was founded on the idea that the Socialist Alliance had failed because it was overtly socialist and therefore that Respect should not follow its example. This was connected to the aim of taking more of an electoral orientation. So in Respect�s founding statement the only reference to socialism is hidden in the �s� of the acronym RESPECT, and it is rarely mentioned elsewhere either in writing or verbally.
The founding statement lists goals such as an end to the occupation of Iraq, an end to all privatisation, a raising of the minimum wage and bringing back the railways and other public services into democratic public ownership. Its constitution adds: "Our overall aim is to help create a socially just and ecologically sustainable society", and then mentions the need for "common ownership and democratic control".
However, at Respect�s first conference in October 2004, of the 42 resolutions passed there were no references to common ownership or to socialism as a goal. During that conference, leading SWP member, Lindsay German, argued against a resolution which proposed that Respect should aim for a socialist society. She said that political diversity is needed in Respect, and also that the resolution was moved in �bad faith� � a common argument of the SWP against resolutions it disagrees with.
A composite of resolutions from five branches on �press and publications� merely said: "Respect needs to project an alternative politics that has at its centre a redistribution of wealth in order to fund public services and tackle poverty". Another resolution called only for renationalisation of "the railways, gas, electricity and water industries", and another of "rail and bus services". Many didn�t even go that far, with one branch ending a resolution on student fees with: "The cost of providing education should be met in the same manner as the cost of maintaining defence and other essential services, ie through the tax system". Another simply said: "Respect will campaign to challenge the power of the multinational drug companies".
The lack of willingness to raise the issue of public ownership has not just been revealed on its conference floor. Following the collapse of the Longbridge Rover car plant, Respect initially just called on the government to hand over a �100 million loan demanded by the asset-stripping owners, Phoenix. In contrast, the Socialist Party called immediately for the plant to be taken into public ownership.
In general, non-SWP Respect leaders, like Salma Yaqoob, limit themselves to arguing � sometimes eloquently � against the Iraq intervention, �social injustice�, and �inequality�, which is understandable from people who do not regard themselves as socialists. But SWP representatives, like Lindsay German and John Rees, instead of raising political understanding by injecting some awareness of the need for socialism, just follow in the wake of those like Salma Yaqoob, making no mention of the �s� word.
Reflecting its leadership composition, which includes the non-SWP George Galloway, and various Muslim community leaders, Respect does not have a unified political position on most issues, including on its attitude towards New Labour. It put out a gushing obituary following the death of New Labour�s ex-foreign secretary, Robin Cook, saying that he was a voice for "sanity, reason and peace" and was a "courageous, outstanding figure". It made no reference to the fact that Cook had played the role of foreign secretary for British imperialism and had supported the interventions in Kosovo and Afghanistan.
Despite the anti-working class nature of New Labour, the Respect conference passed a resolution not to oppose left, anti-war New Labour candidates. George Galloway has gone further than the SWP regarding his stance towards New Labour and has, in the past, raised the prospect of Respect possibly helping to reclaim the Labour Party. He was also reported as saying at the Respect conference that people should vote Labour where there was no Respect candidate standing.
Despite Respect being a centralised organisation rather than a genuine coalition, this does not mean that its national committee or even the executive committee has political control over its public representatives. In order to keep its celebrities, religious leaders and its one well-known political representative � George Galloway � on board, its figureheads are allowed to freely express their personal opinions in public. The SWP attempts to be controlling and authoritarian on some issues, such as on who will be in the leadership bodies and who will be election candidates, but decides to emphasise the looseness of a �coalition� when it comes to issues of programme and policy.
As on public ownership and socialism, there are a number of subsidiary programmatic issues that Respect has had great difficulties with, due to its composition and the SWP�s unwillingness and inability to explain what is correct politically and to be honest when a political compromise is necessary. Compromises are not called compromises but are passed off as political principle or are treated with silence. But its silence on a number of issues means that it shares responsibility for the positions taken. For instance, to adapt to the religious Muslim leaders on the executive, any references to �secularism�, whether referring to the nature of Respect itself, to workers� organisations in Iraq or anywhere, or to the education system in Britain, are simply voted down. George Galloway has been allowed to express his views against abortion and voluntary euthanasia with no direct criticism from the SWP.
The SWP has also forced Respect to accept Galloway�s refusal to live on an average worker�s wage. Although the SWP leaders try to present themselves as the theoreticians of Respect, it is George Galloway who sets the policy at the end of the day, because of his relative weight in the media and reputation in the anti-war movement. Galloway�s increased profile internationally as a result of his US senate hearing and his position as a left MP who overturned a significant New Labour majority, has increased his ability to dictate the agenda inside Respect.
Recently, divisions resurfaced on the issue of terrorism. A Respect conference resolution on Iraq made no qualification when it called for support for the �Iraqi resistance�, a position the SWP ran into difficulties with in the Stop the War Coalition. But more recently, tensions in the Respect leadership were evident following the 7/7 London bombings, when George Galloway was vociferously condemning the bombers, calling them �monsters� and suchlike, while the SWP was trying not to use the word �condemn� at all in relation to the attacks.
The electoral record
IN THE 2004 European elections, Respect�s first national electoral outing, George Galloway got 4.84% of the vote (91,175 votes) in the London Euro seat (a slightly lower, but similar, percentage to the vote of Irish Socialist Party member and TD � member of the Irish parliament � Joe Higgins in Dublin). Then, in the 2005 general election, concentrating on the Muslim anti-war vote, Respect won the Bethnal Green and Bow seat putting George Galloway back in parliament, and came second in Birmingham Sparkbrook, East Ham and West Ham with 27%, 21% and 20% of the vote respectively. They stood in 26 seats altogether. Lindsay German, in the June edition of Socialist Review compares this favourably to the Green Party, which stood 200 candidates, with their best result being in Brighton Pavilion where they came third with 20%.
However, the SWP leaders of Respect are highly selective with their comparisons, writing out of their history books the existence and achievements of the Socialist Party and its forerunner the �Militant tendency�. For instance, Lindsay German, in the same Socialist Review, says that the 2005 general election "marked the revival of the left electorally in Britain", and in the next sentence says that the votes of George Galloway, Salma Yaqoob, herself and Abdul Khaliq Mian (from the Muslim Alliance) "have not been seen since 1945 when Communists Phil Piratin and Willie Gallagher were returned as MPs". So the parliamentary victories achieved in the 1980s by Militant�s Dave Nellist, Terry Fields and Pat Wall, who stood on Marxist policies, are deliberately ignored. The Respect leaders also gave no recognition during the general election campaign to the Socialist Green Unity Coalition (SGUC), which stood a slightly higher number of candidates than Respect, including Socialist Party member Dave Nellist, who received 1,874 votes in Coventry North East.
The Socialist Party welcomed George Galloway�s victory in Bethnal Green and Bow and recognises it as an achievement for Respect. Galloway succeeded partly because of his reputation as a leading anti-war figurehead, which he built up over years, mostly prior to Respect�s existence. It is also the case that Respect�s best votes were achieved by orientating to anti-war Muslims. However, this was not done on a class basis, with equal emphasis on social and economic issues to that of Iraq, but largely as an �anti-war party�, and partly through religious leaders. Where they stood in areas without high Muslim populations, their votes were significantly lower.
Working-class Muslims have moved against New Labour as a result of the Iraq war and, as one of the most oppressed sections of society, are important to win to the labour movement. However, this must be done on the basis of a class-based appeal and not an opportunist one resting on religion and culture in the way that Respect has swung towards. At times, Respect has portrayed itself as �the party for Muslims� and Galloway as a religious man who is personally against drinking alcohol, abortion and voluntary euthanasia. At a recent Respect meeting for students in Leicester, he even said that he was fasting for Ramadan � despite the fact that he is not Muslim himself.
There are significant dangers with this approach, particularly of creating potentially dangerous divisions between working-class people from different backgrounds and communities. The task should be not just to attract Muslim votes and allegiance, but to take the starting point of the radicalisation and anti-New Labour mood of Muslim youth and workers and take it further, by introducing the need for class unity and socialist ideas that can show a way forward.
The problem with Respect�s approach towards Muslim organisations, is not in the main what has been said and written, but what has not been said and written. While it is possible for socialists to oppose the war on Iraq in alliance with organisations like the Muslim Association of Britain, or in an electoral alliance against New Labour, it is not acceptable for them to never write or speak a word of analysis or criticism on the political solution those organisations offer to the problems faced by working-class people, including Muslims. However, the SWP is silent on these issues, trying to paper over political chasms to avoid offending its allies and friends in Respect.
When the Socialist Party works with others in coalitions and alliances, whether in a majority or minority position, our stance is always to put forward a programme and strategy to advance the struggle and consciousness and to try to win the others involved to that strategy. For example, we were in a minority on Liverpool council in the 1980s battles with the government, but we won majority support on the council and among workers in Liverpool on the basis of putting forward a strategy to advance the struggle. And while paying great attention to the detail of strategy and tactics, we do not hide our belief in the necessity for socialism, and are always prepared to critically analyse the views and aims of other organisations in our own material. Even though the SWP form a majority in Respect, instead of putting forward a programme and strategy to advance campaigns and political consciousness, it appeals to the lowest common denominator in the arguments and positions it puts forward.
Centralism not democratic federalism
IN ITS CONSTITUTION, Respect calls itself "broad, open and inclusive", and "politically pluralistic". The constitution states: "Members of other parties, organisations, or faith groups who join Respect are entitled to keep their identity as members of these organisations or groups whilst participating fully within the structures and activities of Respect� Trade unions at the national, regional or local level may affiliate to Respect. They will have the right of representation at annual and other conferences". And: "Any group of at least 20 members will have the right to organise within Respect and to present resolutions to conferences � consistent with the agenda of the conference".
In practise, however, there are great limitations to the extent to which other political organisations � other than the SWP � can keep their identity within Respect. Respect�s 2005 general election candidates had to be selected by majority vote at local level and approved by the national council. In most cases the SWP can mobilise their members to achieve an SWP �majority� for such selection meetings. If a candidate from a minority organisation within Respect gets through this process, it is then the SWP�s position that no organisation can be part of Respect and stand in an election under its own name and determine its own election campaign politically or organisationally.
So it is impossible for any organisation or group of workers to be part of Respect without placing its election campaigns under the direct control of the SWP. This is the same situation as when the SWP controlled the Socialist Alliance. Groups of workers or organisations were told they had to give up control of their own campaigns and stand in the name of the Socialist Alliance. Worse still, if they refused to submit to this control, the SWP declared that the Socialist Alliance would stand against them, as it did on more than one occasion, including when the Campaign Against Tube Privatisation stood for the London Assembly, with the support of a majority of branches of the rail workers� union, the RMT, in the London underground.
The right of "any group of at least 20 members" to organise within Respect is at the discretion of the SWP, as no such right was granted regarding delegate attendance and contributions at Respect�s first conference. At that event, all resolutions that were backed by the SWP were carried, and all those opposed by the SWP were defeated. A resolution for the right of political platforms to exist was defeated, as was one asking for the right of existence of groups such as the disabled, black members and lesbian/gay members. The national council is elected by the conference through a slate system. As the SWP had a significant majority, they were able to choose which slate became the leadership body. Although a minority of members of the present national council are in the SWP (ten out of 48), the SWP decided who will be on the council � ie others are only there at the SWP�s grace and favour.
Reflecting weakness in the trade unions, only seven national council members have a trade union position mentioned next to their name on Respect�s website. Around ten on the council are Muslims, with some of them being members of either the Muslim Association of Britain or the Muslim Council of Britain. There is no provision in Respect for significant minorities or non-union affiliates to have representation on the national council � this is entirely at the discretion of the SWP majority.
SWP member and Respect national secretary, John Rees, in May�s Socialist Review, declares the intention to create a "mass left-wing alternative to New Labour". But you will search in vain for encouragement to build democratic branches and to engage in democratic debate and discussion of political ideas to strengthen Respect politically. Instead, rally audiences are urged to join up to �help Respect win in the next elections� and SWP and Respect members are urged to build "a network of supporters and activists in every area". (Socialist Review, June 2005) Most Respect rallies are characterised by an absence of any political discussion or debate, with usually no questions or contributions being invited from the floor. The Respect conference too had no real political debate, with resolutions only having one speaker for and one against.
This approach will not succeed in recruiting, retaining and politically developing young working-class people, or workers of any age and background for that matter. In this period, where an increasing number of people are moving in an anti-capitalist direction, there is a demand for accurate analysis of events, information about socialism and Marxism, and democratic discussion on the way forward. The SWP�s approach will not satisfy these demands. The lack of democracy and debate that exists in their own party is taken into Respect and other organisations under its control.
None of the lessons of the demise of the Socialist Alliance have been learnt by those in Respect�s leadership. The SWP was completely unwilling to compromise on the Socialist Alliance�s constitution, to retain an element of federalism in order to keep all participants on board. The Socialist Party proposed a federal constitution that would have made it a genuine alliance and maintained the maximum possible degree of unity. But in the event of this not being accepted, we were prepared to stay in the alliance on the basis of a proposed variation of a �status quo� constitution, or even on the basis of a simple limit on the representation of any single organisation in leadership bodies, as was also proposed.
However, the SWP refused any compromise and forced through its own �one member one vote� constitution with 52% of the conference vote. This meant that any organisation or group staying in the Socialist Alliance would have to accept the dictates of the SWP. The Socialist Party was unable to remain in on that basis and other groups, organisations and individuals who remained involved also came to realise that the SWP�s approach was intolerable. It ultimately caused the demise of the Socialist Alliance. For alliances or coalitions to be attractive to a fresh layer of workers, they will have to be inclusive, democratic and arrive at a way of working and constitution that prevents participating organisations from feeling they are not fully involved. Especially now, in the post-Stalinist era, there is great sensitivity on the issue of democracy, with people being repelled by any situation that smells of manipulation or dictates beyond their control.
In the Socialist Party, we will continue to help to propagate socialist ideas and socialist unity in the labour movement as a whole. As well as seeking agreements with other left organisations to avoid us standing against each other in the May 2006 elections, we are also continuing to work as part of the Socialist Green Unity Coalition, which came into being before the May 2005 elections. In particular, however, we look forward to participating in future developments towards a new mass workers� party, the creation of which is now an urgent task for workers in Britain. We intend to play an active role in helping to initiate steps towards that vital goal, which will include proposing the necessity of a fully inclusive, democratic, federal constitution.
| i don't know |
What is the traditional name for a 30th wedding anniversary? | What is your 30th wedding anniversary called? | Reference.com
What is your 30th wedding anniversary called?
A:
Quick Answer
A 30th wedding anniversary may be referred to as a pearl anniversary or as a trigentennial anniversary. Pearl refers to the traditional type of gift that should be exchanged between partners to commemorate the anniversary.
Full Answer
According to traditional gift giving, a fifth wedding anniversary is referred to as the wooden anniversary, a 10th anniversary is tin, a 20th anniversary is china, a 40th anniversary is ruby, a 50th anniversary is golden and a 60th anniversary is diamond.
In terms of names that represent the numbers, a fifth anniversary is a quinquennial, a 10th anniversary is a decennial, a 20th anniversary is a vigintennial, a 40th anniversary is a quadragennial, a 50th anniversary is a semicentennial or quinquagenary and a 60th anniversary is a sexagennial.
| Pearl (disambiguation) |
In which city would you find The Spanish Riding School? | Top 10 30th Wedding Anniversary Gift Ideas for Him
Home » Anniversary and Festival » Top 10 30th Wedding Anniversary Gift Ideas for Him
Top 10 30th Wedding Anniversary Gift Ideas for Him
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It is not easy to maintain love for thirty long years and if your husband and you have managed to keep the flame of love burning this long, it is only natural to do as much. The ways to keep the flames of love glowing and the flower of passion blooming is to have a remembrance of what it was like thirty years earlier. The below are the gift ideas on your 30th wedding anniversary :
10. A 30th Wedding Anniversary T-Shirt
Do you love to knit? This is the best time to try to knit a shirt bearing the writings of 30th wedding anniversary and present it to your husband. Probably, you are a grandmother meaning that you have all the time to do this if you have the skills. If you do not posses such skills then you have the option of visiting a textile store and tell them to customize a pair of T-shirts with the 30th wedding anniversary written.
9. A Wedding Afghan
Another memorable gift is a heartwarming wedding afghan, practically and personalized for him. On the afghan, your names (as many as 20 characters), the anniversary years or the wedding date enclosed nicely within an embroidered heart design. The fabric used to make it is soft pure cotton and tencel fabrics blend which make them perfect for snuggling.
8. A Decorative Wine Box
Another great 30tn wedding anniversary gift idea for you husband in a nice decorative wine box. At his age, your husband has grandchildren; he is established financially and he is keen to enjoy himself. It is the time to give him a nice wine box, which you can enjoy together with him as you recount the happenings of the yester years.
7. Sabuy Wristwatch
Men no matter their ages will always love wristwatches. A great gift you can consider giving him is a Sabuy wristwatch, which is a simple but elegant electronic watch. The good thing is that these watches come as pairs so you can buy a pair for you and your husband. This is a gift you husband will definitely love.
6. A Romantic Dinner
You can secretly, with the help of your children organize a dinner for two at home with a privately hired chef. This is especially important if your husband is the busy time with no time to go out for a dinner and yet wanted to celebrate with you on the day of your 30th wedding anniversary.
5. Pearl Cufflinks
It is the responsibility of every wife to ensure that her husbands are smartly dressed. Since pearl is the is the official traditional gift idea for the 30th wedding anniversary it will serve him well and remind his colleagues and peers that he has just achieved his thirty years milestone in marriage depicting that such a marriage has been successful.
4. A Nice Anniversary Cake
Nice-Anniversary-Cake
If you are an excellent cook, why not try something you are highly skilled in such as preparing a nutritious, delicious and healthy 30th Wedding anniversary cake. To give it the modern 30th anniversary touch, you can serve it in an elegant serving set accented with large, nicely shaped crystals to represent diamond.
3. Watch Box
Over the years, I believe your husband has either bought or received as gifts a number of wristwatches. One great gift you can buy him is a nicely designed watch box made of strong, durable and easy to maintain fabric such as faux leather. They come in different sizes and so you need to get one large enough to hold the number of watches he has.
2. Split Heart Keychain
This one of unique, elegant and highly regarded gifts you can ever think of to give to your husband on your 30th wedding anniversary. The split heart keychain is designed to have two complementary sides. They can be customized for you so that one side of the heart has your name and the other your husbands. Give your love one side and keep the other to always remind you of all that you share.
1. A Sturdy Pocket Knife
You never know when it may be needed by your husband but a nice, sturdy pocket knife is one gift you can choose to give your husband on your 30th wedding anniversary celebrations. Find pocket knife and let the manufactures laser engrave the initials of his name on the handle. This may just prove handy in case he is befallen by a bad omen.
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In Indian cuisine what vegetable is indicated by the word DAL? | A Guide to Indian Dal, Lentils, Beans, and Pulses - Indiaphile
Indiaphile
A Guide to Indian Dal, Lentils, Beans, and Pulses
January 23, 2014
By Puja Thomas-Patel 93 Comments
So many different Indian foods are made with lentils. From kichidee (simple rice and lentils) to soups, flat breads and even some Maggie noodles (think Ramen noodles) are made from lentils. Beans and lentils are a primary source of protein for many vegetarians, and India is full of vegetarians.
When I was a kid, I didn’t like lentils very much. I especially hated cooked mung beans. For some weird reason, I loved snacking on sprouted mung beans but wouldn’t touch them the second they were cooked. My mom used to try to get me to eat mung dal (soup) by calling it “French soup” and trying to convince me I would like it because I liked Western food. As an adult, lentils are more of a comfort food for me and I even like mung dal now.
I know there is a lot of confusion on the difference between lentils, beans and dals. So let me try to clear some of it up. Lentils are legumes that are shaped like a lens (wide in the middle and narrowed at the ends). Beans on the other hand are larger. Mung beans are not lentils and used to belong to the species that we commonly call bean but have been reclassified and so are no longer technically beans. It’s confusing!
The better word for all these little gems is pulse. A pulse is a dry legume that grows in a pod of one to 12 seeds. It includes beans, lentils, peas and other little seeds I commonly (but incorrectly) refer to as lentils or beans.
Indian pulses are usually available in three types: the whole pulse, the split pulse with the skins on, and the split pulse with the skins removed.
Dal is often translated as “lentils” but actually refers to a split version of a number of lentils, peas, chickpeas (chana), kidney beans and so on. If a pulse is split into half, it is a dal. For example, split mung beans are mung dal.
A stew or soup made with any kind of pulses, whole or split, is known as dal. If the whole pulse is cooked into a dry curry or stir fried simply with spices but not much liquid, it’s called kathor in Gujarati. Just remember, wet is dal, dry is kathoor.
Pulses are used to make a wide variety of food in Indian cuisine. Desserts are commonly made with pulses. Pulses are often ground into flour, such as besan (garbanzo bean flour). This flour is used to make a huge variety of foods such as vegetable pakora, khandvi , kadhi , sev, puda and so much more (the list of things you can cook with garbanzo bean flour is literally endless!). Pulses are also soaked and then ground into a paste (often with soaked rice) to make dishes like dosa and idlee.
Adding pulses to your diet is a great way to eat healthier. They are so full of protein, fiber, iron and so many other nutrients.
Here are some of the most commonly eaten dals, lentils and pulses in India (India is a huge country with a large variation in diet from place to place. This list is specific to what is most commonly eaten in Gujarati cuisine but also translates to many other parts of India). And if you are interested in adding more lentils to your diet, here is a great list of common non-Indian lentils by Oh My Veggies. Check it out!
Mung Beans
Whole and Split Mung Beans
Mung beans (also known as green gram, Hindi: moong, Gujarati: mug), are little green seeds that are yellow inside. They have been eaten by Indians for thousands of years. Mung beans are used for both sweet and savory dishes in Indian cooking. They are eaten whole, sprouted , split with the skins on and split with the skins removed. In fact, mung dal (split with the skins removed) is one of the most commonly used lentils in my kitchen.
Mung beans with their skins on have a flavor reminiscent of green leafy vegetables but the mung dal with the skins removed has a mild sweet flavor and is often used for desserts.
Urad Dal
Urad, Urad Dal Chilka (split urad with skin), and Urad Dal (split urad without skin)
Urad (also known as black gram, black lentil, Hindi: urad, Gujarati: adad), is a little black seed with a white interior. It is very similar to a mung bean in size and shape but tastes entirely different. It has also been eaten in India for thousands of years and is highly prized. Urad has an earthy flavor and an unusual mucousy texture (it’s a good thing!) when it’s cooked. The popular, and amazing, dal makhani is made with urad. Papad (or poppadums) are usually made with urad dal as well.
Garbanzo Beans
Chickpea (Channa) – Split Channa, Desi Chana and Kabuli Channa. Kabuli Channa is the familiar Garbanzo bean common in the Mediterranean diet.
Garbanzo Beans (also known as chickpea, Bengal gram, Hindi: channa, Gujarati: channa). Garbanzo beans are found in two forms, the smaller dark skinned beans known as desi channa and the larger white skinned beans known as Kabuli channa. Garbanzo beans are commonly eaten in India in as whole beans, as split lentils and a multitude of dishes are also made with garbanzo bean flour (known as besan). Channa Masala is the most popular dish made with Kabuli channa.
Channa are slightly nutty in taste. The brown ones are earthier in flavor and tend have a drier texture.
Masoor Dal
Masoor and Masoor Dal
Masoor (also known as red lentil, Hindi: masoor, Gujarati: masoor) is a brown skinned lentil that is orange on the inside. Masoor dal has a pleasant earthy flavor and is very common in Northern India. It is commonly used to make dal, soups and stews.
Pigeon Pea (Toor Dal)
Split Pigeon Peas (Toor Dal)
Pigeon Pea (also known as tropical green pea, Hindi: toor, Gujarati: tuver), is a beige lentil with a yellow interior. This is the most important pulse in a Gujarati household. The fresh peas are highly prized and used for curries and stuffing in spicy handpies. They have a delicious nutty flavor that is very distinctive. The dried and split peas are a staple in everyday cooking as well. The famous “Gujarati Dal” is made with this pea where the balance between spicy, sweet and sour is most important.
Black-Eyed Peas and Azuki
Black Eyed Peas and Azuki Beans
Black-eyed pea (also known as cow pea, Hindi: lobia, Gujarati: chora). Black-eyed peas have a distinctive flavor and are an all around pulse in Indian cuisine. They’re used to make curries, dals, papads and fritters.
Azuki bean (also known as red cow pea, Hindi: chori, Gujarati: lal chora). Azuki beans have a sweet nutty flavor and are another all around pulse. They are used very much like black-eyed peas.
Other
Pea (Hindi: matar, Gujarati: vatana). Although split peas are uncommon in Indian cuisine, whole dried peas have a mild earthy flavor and a hearty mouth feel and texture. They are used for one the most beloved street food stews called ragda.
Kidney Bean (Hindi: rajma, Gujarati: rajma). Kidney beans have a strong earthy flavor and nice silky texture. They are made into a delicious curry simply called rajma. It is delicious eaten with rice. It is important to note that kidney beans can be toxic if not cooked properly. They must be pre-soaked and boiled for at least 30 minutes to ensure they are safe for eating. Do not cook them in the slow cooker because that multiplies their toxicity.
Bean
Toxic. Do not cook in slow cooker.
8 hours to overnight
Cooking Notes:
Before you cook the pulses, sift through them to take out any pebbles or debris. Then rinse them a few times.
Pulses taste best when they are cooked slowly. When cooking pulses on the stove top, bring to a boil and lower heat to medium low and let simmer. Start counting the cooking time once the pot has come to a boil and not before. In the case of kidney beans, boil for 30 minutes before lowering heat to simmer.
If your pulses are old, they can take double the time to cook. If they haven’t softened in the time indicated, don’t worry. Just cook until soft. Make sure to add more water as needed.
When cooking pulses, hold off adding salt or acids (such as lemon or vinegar) until the end, or the they will not soften.
Water: If you are cooking on the stovetop or slow cooker, use about 3 to 4 times the water. In the pressure cooker, two times the water will do. Always keep an eye on the stove and add more water if it starts to look dry.
Indian pressure cookers are a little different from the ones available in the West. They usually release steam regularly in what is referred to as “whistles.” These whistles are counted to determine cook time. They are not always accurate and can vary from cooker to cooker. So use these whistle counts as a guide and figure out what works best for your cooker.
Soaking: In the cases where soaking is optional, if you soak the pulses, it will reduce the cooking time. The cooking time I’ve mentioned is for unsoaked pulses.
Slow cookers can be a great, convenient way to prepare pulses, just throw everything in in the morning and when you get home from work your food is ready. But some beans are toxic until they are boiled (for at least 30 minutes), and slow cookers can actually make them more toxic. If you want to use the slow cooker on these beans, boil them for 30 minutes before adding them to the mixture, or use canned beans which are already boiled.
| Lentil |
What nationality was the pointillist artist KANDINSKY | 23 Classic Indian Restaurant Dishes You Can Make At Home
23 Classic Indian Restaurant Dishes You Can Make At Home
Give your takeout delivery guy a break. You can make great Indian food at home.
pinchofyum.com
Think of aloo tikki as delicious Indian potato fritters. These appetizers or snacks are made with mashed potatoes and a variety of spices, formed into patties, then fried in oil. You’ll find them sold on the streets of Northern India and on the menu of your local takeout.
Try making it at home with the recipe here .
ID: 3872856
frugalfeeding.com
This quintessential Indian condiment is used to top many Indian appetizers and is made with mangoes, vinegar, sugar, and spices. Mango chutney is probably the most recognizable chutney, and the most widely available, but chutneys can be made from a number of other ingredients including mint and tamarind.
Try making it at home with the recipe here .
ID: 3872862
James Roper / saveur.com
Think of samosas as being an Indian version of empanadas. These are a favorite appetizer made with with a flaky pastry enveloping a hearty filling of potatoes and vegetables. They’re folded into triangles, fried, and served with chutneys.
Try making it at home with the recipe here .
ID: 3872864
budgetbytes.com
Raita is your best friend if you’re having Indian food for the first time. Not exactly sure how spicy your dish is going to be? Think you might not be able to handle it? Have no fear. Raita’s got your back. This cooling cucumber-mint yogurt sauce will dial down the heat if things get too hot.
Try making it at home with the recipe here .
ID: 3872938
Momos are simply Indian dumplings. The spices used in the filling and sauce are more characteristic of Indian cuisine than Chinese cuisine, but like dumplings, momos are steamed or fried and come with a variety of vegetable and meat fillings.
Try making it at home with the recipe here .
ID: 3872939
Shri / food52.com
Pakora and bhaji are two terms for vegetables that are battered and deep fried, kind of like tempura. Onion is one of the most popular varieties of pakora and bhaji, but other vegetables are prepared the same way. That’s a pretty convincing way to get your 3-5 a day.
Try making it at home with the recipe here .
ID: 3873998
cookrepublic.com
Palak paneer is what Popeye would eat if he ate Indian food. It’s cooked spinach with a soft, fresh white cheese called paneer, and it’s amazing. You might also know this dish as saag paneer. “Palak” is the Hindi word for spinich, while “saag” means greens, so the two terms are somewhat overlapping.
Try making it at home with the recipe here .
ID: 3872949
vegrecipesofindia.com
Chana dal is a dish consisting primarily of split chickpeas stewed with spices such as turmeric. Dal also refers to other legumes such as peas, kidney beans, and lentils, and it’s possible you might also find these varieties on your restaurant menu.
Try making it at home with the recipe here .
ID: 3872973
veganricha.com
Aloo gobi is a flavorful dish made with potatoes and cauliflower that are cooked in garlic, ginger, turmeric, and other spices. It’s typically on the spicier side and is drier because, unlike many main dishes, it isn’t served as a stew or in a sauce.
Try making it at home with the recipe here .
ID: 3872977
lecremedelacrumb.com
Traditionally, tandoori chicken is roasted in a clay oven called a tandoor. The chicken is marinated in yogurt and spices overnight before it goes in the tandoor on long skewers. If your kitchen or takeout spot doesn’t have a clay oven, a grill or broiler will do the trick.
Try making it at home with the recipe here .
ID: 3873030
chewoutloud.com
Chicken tikka masala is a classic Indian takeout dish and a prominent feature of Indian as well as British cuisine. It’s so popular that it’s even been called, unofficially, the “national dish of the U.K.” Pieces of tandoori chicken are cut up and stewed in a rich, spicy tomato-based sauce consisting of a spice mix called garam masala. If it’s your first time having Indian food, this is a good one to start with.
Try making it at home with the recipe here .
ID: 3873003
Nags / cookingandme.com
Butter chicken is very similar to chicken tikka masala, but whole, bone-in pieces of chicken may be used. In most cases, however, chicken tikka masala and butter chicken are nearly interchangeable.
Try making it at home with the recipe here .
ID: 3872980
jamieoliver.com
Lamb rogan josh originally comes from Pakistan and the Kashmir region of Northern India and is available today at most Indian takeout restaurants around the world. After the meat marinates in yogurt, garlic, and ginger, it’s cooked with onions, peppers, and loads of spices. Cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, coriander, fennel seeds, garam masala, and the list goes on.
Try making it at home with the recipe here .
ID: 3872985
Landon Nordeman / saveur.com
Vindaloos are characterized by a thinner, typically tangier sauce made with a splash of vinegar. These dishes also typically tend to be on the spicier side with a blend of hot chilies in the mix, so proceed with caution.
Try making it at home with the recipe here .
ID: 3872991
View this image ›
Penny De Los Santos / saveur.com
If spicy food isn’t your game, korma might be a safer bet. This curry dish is often made with coconut milk and ground up almonds or cashews, which give the sauce a pleasant nutty flavor and smoothness. The mildness of the sauce lets the aroma of milder spices shine.
Try making it at home with the recipe here .
ID: 3872995
| i don't know |
Cricket - The leading run scorer in test match cricket is Sachin Tendulkar. What is the name of the Indian batsman who is second highest scorer of test match runs? | Who will be the next 'great' test match batsman? | GiveMeSport
Who will be the next 'great' test match batsman?
Published
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With the likes of Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Shiv Chanderpaul all due to retire from international test cricket in the near future, the question on many cricket lovers minds is; who will be the next generation of great test match batsmen?
Jayawardene, Chanderpaul and Sangakkara are six to eight respectively in the order of leading all time run scorers in test match cricket. Of the top five all-time leading run scorers, four have retired in the last two years, with the one exception being Brian Lara who retired in 2006. As many would be aware, Sachin Tendulkar is the all-time leading run scorer in test matches with 15,921 runs in 200 test matches. In positions two to five follow Ricky Ponting, Jaques Kallis, Rahul Dravid and Brian Lara.
With that in mind we must now look to the future, and consider who may be the current or potential future crop of great test match batsmen, and if in fact any will ever come close to scoring the vast amount of runs that Sachin Tendulkar managed to amass in his 200 test matches spanning a 24-year career.
In the modern day and age, cricketers now play more international cricket than ever with the recent introduction of T20 cricket to the international stage, and the increased number of one day internationals being played. On the flip side of this there are now less test matches played per year, meaning test batsmen now may not have the same opportunity to score the vast bulk of runs accumulated by Tendulkar.
Despite the fact that test cricket has a great deal of competition from the other formats in terms of entertainment value and spectators, it remains the pinnacle, and most challenging and rewarding or formats for the cricketing faithful. All that being said, who can we look at today as a great batsmen or potentially great batsmen?
The next batsmen in the list of leading run scorers in test cricket, to still be active today is Australian captain Michael Clarke. The 33-year-old batsmen who was fondly nicknamed ‘pup’ in his early days with the Australian test team has scored 8,240 runs in 105 matches, hitting 27 centuries along the way. Clarke’s highest score came in 2012 against India when he hit 329 not out, which was the fourth highest score by an Australian. In the same year he scored three further double centuries which helped cement his position as Australia test captain. Clarke may yet add to his tally, however be mindful that he is nearing the end of his test career.
One of Michael Clarke’s opposing captain’s Alastair Cook, is the next closest batsmen on the list with 8,092 runs in his 103 test match appearances. Alistair Cook holds the record as the youngest Englishmen to reach 1,500, 3,000 and 5,000 runs, and is set to become England’s leading run scorer of all-time and first Englishmen to make 10,000 career test runs. At only 29-years of age, Cook may yet potentially make another 40-60 test match appearances, and if so should break into the top ten of all-time leading run scorers.
As you scroll down the list of the leading run scorers, the next two names to appear from the current crop of players, may come as a surprise to many, for very different reasons. 36-year-old Pakistan captain Younis Khan, despite a chequered career, including bans, fall-outs and numerous scandals, has amassed 7,399 in 89 matches, and was the third Pakistan batsmen to hit a triple hundred when he hit 313 against Sri Lanka in 2009. Khan however, has not played test cricket since 2013, and there remain doubts over his test career, and how many more opportunities he will have to add to his tally.
The other name on the list who is slightly surprising, due mostly to his reputation as a limited overs batsmen, is South African AB De Villiers. The 30-year-old wicket keeper batsman has scored 7,168 runs in 92 test matches. De Villiers, despite his age, appears to have the mind set and body of a man much younger than he is, and would feel confident of his place in the side for a number of years, and ability to make his way past 10,000 runs and possibly into the top ten of the list of all-time run scorers.
Beyond the current ‘semi-great’ batmen on show today, where may the future greats come from, as we look around the test match circuit today?
A man who has been backed by many, and even the great Sachin Tendulkar himself, is the 25-year-old Indian batsmen Virat Kohli. Kohli came onto the test scene in 2011, but struggled in his first series, away from home against the bowling of the West Indies. Kohli made his name however, in what was a dismal series for India, when he was their highest run scorer in the series against Australia in 2012. During that series he hit his maiden test century at Adelaide scoring 116. Kohli has scored 1,721 runs in 24 matches, and with his expressive, solid and determined personality, combined with an impressive technique looks set to score many more runs, in many more tests for his country.
Another impressive batsmen to come out of India, is Cheteshwar Pujara. Pujara currently holds the highest test average of any batsmen currently playing today with a minimum of 20 innings. The 26-year-old has scored 1,650 runs at an average of 58.92 in just 19 test matches. Pujara has made a name for himself by batting stoutly and with little risk scoring double hundreds against both England and Australia, an achievement not even matched by the all-time leading run scorer Sachin Tendulkar.
Of the younger batsmen currently expressing themselves in the test arena, there are few to have made a real impression. Englishmen Joe Root however, is somewhat of an exception and in just 16 test matches has scored 1,155, and most notably scored a recent double century at Lords, in addition to the 180 he scored at the same ground in the Ashes series in 2013. Root who is 23-years-old has been tipped by English greats such as Michael Vaughan and Geoffrey Boycott, to be the next great English test batsmen, and up to now has proved to have such potential.
Another stand out performer of recent is 23-year-old Kiwi Kane Williamson. Williamson has played 31 test matches, and scored 1,964 runs. Whilst Williamson is not the most fluent, or flamboyant of batsmen, his recent form has been emphatic, scoring three centuries in his last four test matches. The most impressive aspect of the young Kiwi batsman’s game is his ability to dig in, concentrate and eke out the runs in tough conditions, which is set to stand him in good stead to score thousands more runs at the top of the innings for New Zealand over the next ten years or so.
Whether any of the current batting superstars do break into the list of all-time greats is yet to be seen, however, it is clear that test cricket is entering a new era, and we can conclude that the past 10-15 years have seen some of the greatest batsmen of all-time.
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| Rahul Dravid |
Brookfield public boarding school for boys is the setting for what famous novel, which also became a famous film? | Dravid becomes highest scorer in fourth innings - Cricket Country
›
Dravid becomes highest scorer in fourth innings
Senior batsman Rahul Dravid has surpassed West Indies legend Brian Lara to become the highest run-scorer among batsmen who have batted in the fourth innings of a Test match.
By CricketCountry Staff
| Updated : July 25, 2011 9:20 PM IST
Rahul Dravid became highest scorer in fourth innings in Tests after scoring 36 at Lord’s © Getty Images
New Delhi: Jul 25, 2011
Senior batsman Rahul Dravid has surpassed West Indies legend Brian Lara to become the highest run-scorer among batsmen who have batted in the fourth innings of a Test match.
After scoring 36 in the second innings, Dravid has accumulated 1470 runs whenever India have batted last in a Test match surpassing Lara’s record of 1440 runs.
‘The Wall’ has played 52 innings in which he has scored 1470 runs at a healthy average of 43.23 having scored one century and nine 50′s. The only century was 103 not out in a drawn Test match at Hamilton back in 1998.
The effort is more praiseworthy as one of his nine half centuries came in a winning cause against Australia at Adelaide in 2003-04.
However Sunil Gavaskar, Ricky Ponting, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Younis Khan have scored four centuries each whenever their team has batted last. World’s highest run-scorer Sachin Tendulkar has 1371 runs with three centuries while Gavaskar scored 1398 runs.
| i don't know |
What is the longest river in Asia? | What is the longest river in Asia? | Reference.com
What is the longest river in Asia?
A:
Quick Answer
The Yangtze River in China is the longest river in Asia. It flows for 3,915 miles, or 6,300 kilometers. This length makes it the third-longest river in the world after the Nile and the Amazon.
Full Answer
This river is one of the most important bodies of water in Chinese history as the culture of southern China developed along its length. Using it for travel, trade, fishing, irrigation and other ventures has continued unabated for thousands of years. Today, the Yangtze is home to Three Gorges Dam, which is the largest hydroelectric power station in the entire world, producing 18,000 megawatts of power.
| Yangtze |
Florizel Street was the original working title of which famous British television soap? | National Academic Quiz Tournaments, LLC
School
You Gotta Know These Asian Rivers
Asia is home to seven of the world's twelve longest rivers, but its waterways are also of high cultural, spiritual, and economic importance. Here are the ten Asian rivers that every quiz bowl team should be familiar with.
The Yangtze (or Chang Jiang or Ch'ang Chiang) is the longest river in China and Asia and the third longest in the world. It rises in the Kunlun Mountains, flows across the Tibetan Plateau, passes the cities of Chongqing, Wuhan, Nanjing, and Shanghai, and empties into the South China Sea. Its basin is China's granary and is home to nearly one in every three Chinese citizens. The river has been in the news for the construction of the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest, which will reduce flooding but displace 1.5 million people and bury more than 1,300 known archaeological sites.
The Brahmaputra (or Tsangpo or Jamuna) runs 1,800 miles from its source in the Tibetan Himalayas; it starts eastward across the plateau, then turns south into the Indian state of Assam, and then enters Bangladesh where it merges with the Ganges to form the world's largest delta. While serving as a historical route to Tibet, the river is also prone to disastrous flooding.
The Yellow River (or Huang He or Huang Ho) is, at 3,400 miles, China's second-longest; it is also the most important to the northern half of the country. It rises in Qinghai province and flows into the Bohai Gulf of the Yellow Sea. The river's name comes from the extraordinary amount of loess silt that it carries, an average of 57 pounds for every cubic yard of water. Among its notable features is the Grand Canal, built during the Ming Dynasty, that links it to the Yangtze.
The Ganges (or Ganga) is the holiest river of Hinduism. It rises in the Himalayas and flows a comparatively short 1,560 miles to the world's largest delta on the Bay of Bengal. Among that delta's distributaries are the Hooghly (on whose banks Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) may be found) and the Padma (which enters Bangladesh). Approximately one in every twelve human beings lives in the Ganges Basin, a population density that is rapidly polluting the river; a significant source of that pollution is cremated remains.
The Mekong is the chief river of Southeast Asia. It originates in eastern Tibet, forms much of the Laos-Thailand border, flows south through Cambodia, and enters the South China Sea in southern Vietnam just south of Ho Chi Minh City. The capital cities of Vientiane and Phnom Penh are on the Mekong. The building of dams and clearing of rapids are a source of diplomatic conflict between China, Laos, and Cambodia.
The Tigris is the eastern of the two rivers that define the historic region of Mesopotamia (meaning, "The Land Between Two Rivers") that was home to the ancient civilizations of Sumer and Akkad. It rises in Turkey, then flows southeast by Mosul, Tikrit, and Baghdad before joining the Euphrates to make the Shatt-al-Arab, which subsequently empties into the Persian Gulf.
The Euphrates defines the western border of Mesopotamia; it also rises in the Zagros Mountains of Turkey and its shores are home to Fallujah and Babylon. It is the longer of the two rivers with a course of 1,740 miles (compared to the Tigris' 1,180). Both the Tigris and the Euphrates have changed courses several times leaving ruins in the desert where cities have been abandoned.
The Irrawaddy (or Ayeyarwaddy) is the chief river of Myanmar (also known as Burma). It flows 1,350 miles past Yangon (formerly Rangoon) and Mandalay to the Gulf of Martaban, an arm of the Bay of Bengal. Its delta is one of the world's most important rice-growing regions, and its name is thought to come from the Sanskrit word for "elephant."
The Indus is the chief river of Pakistan as well as being the ultimate source of the name of India. It rises in Tibet and flows 1,800 miles to a delta on the Arabian Sea southeast of Karachi. The five major tributaries of the Indus, the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej Rivers, are the source of the name of the Punjab region, which is Persian for "Land of the Five Rivers". The Indus is the cradle of the Indus Valley Civilization, one of the world's earliest urban areas, whose main cities were Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa.
The Jordan River rises in Syria from springs near Mount Hermon. It flows south to Lake Merom, through the Sea of Galilee, and into the Dead Sea, which lies 1,300 feet below sea level. The river forms the nation of Jordan's boundary with the West Bank and northern Israel. In the New Testament, the river was the site of the baptism of John the Baptist. In modern times, about 80% of its water is diverted for human use, a figure that has led to the shrinking of the Dead Sea and serious contention among bordering nations.
This article was contributed by NAQT writer Raj Dhuwalia.
| i don't know |
Insomnia Cafe was the original working title of which famous American comedy series? | Friends | Friends Central | Fandom powered by Wikia
[ show ]
About
Crane and Kauffman began developing Friends under the title "Insomnia Cafe" in November 1993. They presented the idea to Bright, with whom they had previously worked, and together they pitched a seven-page treatment of the series to NBC. After several script rewrites and changes, the series was finally named "Friends" and premiered on NBC's coveted Thursday 8:30 pm timeslot. Filming for the series took place at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California in front of a live audience. After ten seasons on the network, the series finale was heavily promoted by NBC, and viewing parties were organized around the U.S.. The finale, which was first aired on May 6, 2004, was watched by an average of 52.5 million American viewers, making it the fourth most-watched series finale in television history.
Friends received positive reviews throughout its run, and became one of the most popular sitcoms of its time. The series won many awards and was nominated for 63 Primetime Emmy Awards. The series was also very successful in the ratings, consistently ranking in the top ten in the final primetime ratings. Friends has made a large cultural impact, and the Central Perk coffee house featured prominently in the series has inspired various imitations worldwide. Repeats of the series continue to air worldwide, while each season has been released on DVD. Following the series finale, the spin-off series Joey was created, and rumors of a film continue to circulate.
Characters
Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green , a fashion enthusiast who starts working at the coffee shop, but later moves into management at Bloomingdale's and later at Ralph Lauren. Jennifer Aniston had already appeared in several unsuccessful sitcom pilots before being cast in Friends.
Courteney Cox Arquette as Monica Geller (later Monica Geller-Bing), a chef who changes jobs often throughout the show, ending up as head chef at Javu. She is known for her obsessive-compulsive and competitive nature and is often ridiculed for having been an extremely overweight child by the others. She eventually marries longtime friend Chandler Bing in season seven. Courteney Cox was already an accomplished TV and film actress when she was cast, having appeared in the likes of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and with several minor roles on sitcoms such as Seinfeld and Family Ties.
Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay (later Phoebe Buffay-Hannigan), an eccentric masseuse and musician. Phoebe became homeless at the age of 14, and is known for being street-smart yet naive. She later marries Mike Hannigan and changes her name to his. Lisa Kudrow had previously played Ursula Buffay on Mad About You , and reprised the dual role of twin sister Ursula as a recurring character during several episodes of Friends. Prior to her role on Friends, Kudrow was an office manager and researcher for her father, a headache specialist.
Matt Le Blanc as Joey Tribbiani , a struggling actor who becomes famous for his role on Days of our Lives as Dr. Drake Ramoray. Joey is a womanizer with many girlfriends throughout the series. He also has a strong appreciation for food, especially meatball subs. LeBlanc had appeared as Vinnie Verducci in Married... with Children in the early 1990s and starred in that sitcom's short-lived spin-off, Top of the Heap, as well as in the unrelated Vinnie & Bobby, but before that had mainly been focusing on advertising and modeling work when he was cast as Joey Tribbiani.
Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing , a sarcastic executive in statistical analysis and data reconfiguration for a large multi-national corporation. Chandler quits his job and becomes a junior copywriter at an advertising agency and marries longtime friend Monica Geller. Like Aniston, Perry had already appeared in several unsuccessful sitcom pilots before being cast.
David Schwimmer as Ross Geller , Monica's older brother, a paleontologist working at a museum of Prehistoric History and later a professor of paleontology at New York University. Ross has three unsuccessful marriages through the series, and is involved in an "on-again, off-again" relationship with Rachel. The character of Ross was written with David Schwimmer in mind; having auditioned for Crane and Kauffman in the past, Schwimmer was said to have a memorable voice and was most known for his Broadway work.
Before their roles on Friends, the main six cast members were somewhat familiar to television viewers, but were not considered to be stars. During the series' ten season run, the actors all achieved household name celebrity status, and all pursued careers in the movies, with varied success. Aniston's movie career is predominantly populated with light romantic comedies including The Good Girl, Bruce Almighty, Along Came Polly, Rumor Has It, The Break Up and Derailed. Cox made several lightweight films and achieved her greatest success with the Scream series, in which she co-starred with her husband, David Arquette , who had made a guest appearance as Ursula 's stalker in Friends. This was followed by the critically acclaimed TV series, Dirt, that portrayed her as a ruthless editor of a two-bit tabloid magazine. Kudrow fared best in low budget indie films, most notably The Opposite of Sex and Happy Endings, and also films like the comedy hit Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion and Analyze This. Most recently Kudrow played a main character alongside Hilary Swank in 2007's P.S. I Love You. Perry co-starred in the Canadian mafia comedy The Whole Nine Yards and its sequel The Whole Ten Yards along with Bruce Willis , who had also made guest appearances on the show. He also starred in the romantic comedy Fools Rush In. He also starred as the title character in the critically acclaimed The Ron Clark Story, and has since co-starred in TV drama Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and an episode of Scrubs titled "My Unicorn" as Murray. He has also played the leading role of the film Numb which, whilst released straight to DVD, has gained an appreciation and collection of high praise from critics. Matt LeBlanc took a leading role in Lost in Space and starred as the boyfriend of Alex (Lucy Liu) in Charlie's Angels. He also reprised his role as Joey Tribbiani in the show's spin off series, Joey . In 2001, Schwimmer co-starred as Capt. Herbert Sobel in the 2001 TV mini-series Band of Brothers. In 2005, Schwimmer starred as the voice for the giraffe Melman in the movie Madagascar a role which he reprised in the 2008 Madagascar 2. David Schwimmer directed ten episodes of Friends and two of Joey. His big directorial debut "Run Fatboy Run" was released on March 28, 2008.
Aniston at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival.
Series co-creator David Crane wanted all six characters to be equally prominent, and the series was lauded as being "the first true 'ensemble' show". The cast members made efforts to keep the ensemble format and not allow one member to dominate; they entered themselves in the same acting categories for awards, opted for collective instead of individual salary negotiations, and asked to appear together on magazine cover photos in the first season.
In their original contracts for the first two seasons, each main cast member was paid $1,600 per episode. Before the third season, the cast threatened to go on strike unless they received pay increases, which resulted in each actor receiving $100,000 per episode. For the series' sixth season, the cast members were offered $250,000 to return. The cast members again entered negotiations before the sixth season, asking for $750,000 per episode, and during the ninth and tenth seasons, received $1 million per episode.
Behind the scenes, the show was known for its unusually cohesive and unified cast. The six main actors made deliberate efforts, from early on, to keep the show's ensemble format and not allow one member to dominate; notably for a show of its length, the six principals each appeared in every episode of the run. The actors became such close friends that one guest star, Tom Selleck , reported sometimes feeling left out. The cast remained good friends after the show's run, most notably Cox and Aniston, with Aniston being godmother to Cox and David Arquette's daughter, Coco. In their official farewell commemorative Friends Til' The End, they each separately acknowledged in their interviews that the cast had become their family.
Storylines and format
The first season introduces the six main characters: Rachel Green , Monica Geller , Phoebe Buffay , Joey Tribbiani , Chandler Bing , and Ross Geller . Rachel, who left her fiance at the altar on her wedding day, has come to New York and ends up living with Monica. It establishes early on in the season that Ross has been infatuated with Rachel since the two characters attended high school. Several episodes revolve around his attempts to tell her how he feels. Meanwhile, Ross's estranged lesbian wife Carol is pregnant with his baby. This puts him and Carol's lesbian life partner, Susan (played by Jessica Hecht ), in an awkward position. When the baby is born at the end of the season, Ross, Carol, and Susan agree to name him Ben: after a name tag on a janitor's uniform worn by Phoebe. The episodic nature of the season sees the other characters having multiple dates, many of which go wrong (Monica dates a minor in one episode ). The recurring character of Janice (played by Maggie Wheeler ) is introduced as a girlfriend Chandler breaks up with in an early episode but frequently returns to through the ensuing ten seasons.
The second season features more serialized storylines; it begins when Rachel discovers that Ross is dating Julie (played by Lauren Tom ), someone he knew from grad school. Julie returns for several episodes early in the season. Rachel's attempts to tell Ross she likes him mirror his own failed attempts in the first season, though the characters eventually begin a relationship that lasts into the following season. Joey, a struggling actor in the first season, gets a part in a fictionalized version of the soap opera Days of Our Lives but loses the part soon after when he angers the writers by saying in an interview that he writes many of his own lines. Tom Selleck begins a recurring guest role as Dr. Richard Burke. Richard, a friend of Monica and Ross' parents who is recently divorced and with grown children, is 21 years older than Monica but despite this they date for the second half of the season. In the season finale, they end the relationship when they realize that he does not want any more children and she does. The second season also served to deepen Chandler and Joey's friendship. This becomes especially apparent in the episodes in which Joey temporarily moves out and a creepy guy named Eddie ( Adam Goldberg ) moves in.
The third season took on a significantly greater serialized format. Rachel begins working at Bloomingdales and Ross becomes jealous of her coworker, Mark. Ross and Rachel break up after Ross sleeps with the hot girl from the copy shop, Chloe. His insistence that he and Rachel were "on a break" becomes a running gag through the remaining seasons. The two show significant animosity towards each other through the second half of the season, though the cliffhanger ending suggests the two reconcile. Interestingly, the first episode after they break up does not focus on the two of them, but on Chandler, who's having a very hard time dealing with the situation, as it reminds him of his parents' divorce. Phoebe, established as having no family except for an identical twin sister, becomes acquainted with her half-brother (played by Giovanni Ribisi ) and in the finale discovers her birth mother she never knew she had (played by Teri Garr ). Joey develops a crush on Kate, his acting partner in a new play. (played by Dina Meyer ) At first, she doesn't harbor feelings for him, even after sleeping together. However, after her boyfriend/director dumps her following a scathing review of the play, she turns to Joey for support. The relationship doesn't last long, as she is given an opportunity on a soap opera in Los Angeles. Monica begins a relationship with Pete Becker , a millionaire who has a crush on her. (played by Jon Favreau ) At first, she only sees him as a friend, but eventually, the two begin to date. Preparing for what she thinks is a marriage proposal, Pete confides in her that he wants to become the Ultimate Fighting Champion. After seeing him get beat up badly in two matches, she tells him he has to give it up. Since he won't, she breaks up with him.
During the fourth season , actress Lisa Kudrow became pregnant. This was written into the show by having Phoebe become a surrogate mother to the children of her brother and his wife (played by Debra Jo Rupp ). Ross and Rachel briefly reconcile in the premiere but soon break up again. During the middle of the season, Monica and Rachel are forced to switch apartments with Joey and Chandler after losing a bet on how well the four know each other. They bribe Joey and Chandler to switch back with Knicks season tickets and a one-minute kiss. Mid-season, having moved on, Ross begins dating an English woman called Emily (played by Helen Baxendale ) and the finale, featuring the wedding of the characters, was filmed on location in London. Chandler and Monica sleep together when, after a wedding guest mistakes Monica for Ross' mother, Monica seeks comfort in the arms of a friend. Rachel, depressed by the impending wedding enough to chase away a potential boyfriend in Joshua, attends the wedding at the last minute, intending to tell Ross that she still loves him, but decides not to. Things are thrown into chaos when Ross replaces Emily's name with Rachel's while saying his vows.
The fifth season follows Monica and Chandler keeping their new relationship a secret from their friends, while Ross' marriage to Emily ends before it even started, following their wedding (Baxendale's pregnancy prevented her from appearing on-screen in all but two episodes). Phoebe starts a relationship with Gary ( Michael Rapaport ), a police officer she meets after finding his badge. Although leery of moving in with Gary, she eventually relents. The relationship ends with a bang, literally, when Gary shoots a bird outside of their apartment. Monica and Chandler's relationship becomes public and on a trip to Las Vegas, they decide to get married. On a cliffhanger, Ross and Rachel drunkenly stumble out of the wedding chapel. It received Emmy nominations in 1999 for Outstanding Comedy Series.
In the sixth season premiere Ross and Rachel's marriage is established to be a drunken mistake and, although Ross is reluctant to do so, the two get a divorce (Ross's third) after failing to get an annulment. Monica and Chandler decide just to move into her apartment together and Rachel moves in with Phoebe. Joey, still a struggling actor, gets a female roommate and a part on a cable television series called "Mac and C.H.E.E.S.E", where he stars alongside a robot. Ross gets a job lecturing at New York University and starts dating his college student, Elizabeth (played by Alexandra Holden ). Bruce Willis makes a three-episode cameo as her father. Phoebe and Rachel's apartment catches on fire, causing Rachel to move in with Joey and Phoebe with Chandler and Monica. In the final episodes, Chandler decides to propose to Monica. Trying to make it a surprise, he starts acting like his old commitment-phobic self, telling her he opposes marriage. For a brief moment Monica considers going to back to Richard, who confesses to her that he still loves her and is willing to have children with her. Monica gets wind of Chandler's idea, and attempts to propose to him but breaks down in tears and cannot finish. Chandler then asks her to marry him and the show is ended with celebration with many of the friends who were standing outside the door. It nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series at Emmy Award 2000.
The seventh season largely concerns various wedding-related antics by Monica and Chandler. Joey's television series is canceled but he is offered his old job back on Days of Our Lives. Phoebe's apartment is fixed but due to the way the apartment has been rebuilt, Rachel stays with Joey. The two-part season finale follows Monica and Chandler's wedding, with guest stars that include Kathleen Turner as Chandler's transvestite father. The closing moments of the season reveal that Rachel is pregnant.
The eighth season 's first episodes follow a "Who's the father?" format, with the father revealed to be Ross in episode two and Rachel telling him in episode three. Joey begins to develop romantic feelings for roommate Rachel and when Joey's feelings are revealed things become awkward for the two. Eventually their friendship returns to its status quo but in the finale, following Rachel's giving birth to a daughter, she accepts an accidental [roposal of marriage from him. The season was regarded as a return to form for the series; its ratings increased as viewers tuned in for comfort following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. It won the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2002. The first in that category for the series.
The ninth season follows Ross and Rachel living together with baby Emma after she and Joey clear up the misdirected proposal. She soon moves back in with Joey after a fight with Ross. Monica and Chandler, inspired by Ross and Rachel, decide to conceive a child of their own. They seek medical advice after several episodes of trying for a baby, and discover that both of them are physically unable to conceive. Paul Rudd appears in the recurring role of Mike Hannigan, a new boyfriend for Phoebe. Hank Azaria returns as David "the scientist guy", a character originated in the first season, and Phoebe must choose between the two in a touching finale, deciding to choose Mike. The finale is set in Barbados, where the group goes to hear Ross give a keynote speech at a Paleontologist conference. Aisha Tyler appears as the series' first recurring black character. Tyler plays Charlie, Joey's intelligent girlfriend. Even though Joey's attracted to her, she finds herself eventually becoming attracted to Ross, who is more her intellectual equal. After Charlie dumps Joey, Joey and Rachel's feelings for each other return. They agree to clear it with Ross first, until Joey catches Ross kissing Charlie. The finale ends with Joey and Rachel kissing.
The tenth season closes up several storylines; Joey and Rachel try to contend with Ross' feelings about them being together. However, consummating the relationship becomes disastrous, and they decide to remain friends. Charlie decides to return to Benjamin Hobart ( Greg Kinnear ), her old flame, and from whom Ross was trying to obtain a research grant. Monica and Chandler decide to adopt a child, and meet Erica, a birth mother from Ohio (played by Anna Faris ). Erica gives birth to twins in the series finale. Phoebe and Mike get married towards the end of the season and Rachel takes a job based in Paris. Ross declares his love for her and they resume their relationship (not making any mistakes this time) in the season finale, while Monica and Chandler move out of their apartment into the suburbs. Joey is upset that everything is changing. Rachel still gets on the plane even with Ross' confessions, but later appears at his apartment door admitting she loves him too. In the series finale, at the end, a tearful Rachel says 'Shall we go get some coffee?' to which Chandler sarcastically responds, 'Sure. Where?' (the last words spoken on the show).
Production
Conception
"It's about sex, love, relationships, careers, a time in your life when everything's possible. And it's about friendship because when you're single and in the city, your friends are your family."
—The original treatment used by Crane, Kauffman and Bright to pitch the series to NBC.
David Crane and Marta Kauffman began developing three new television pilots — which would premiere in the Fall 1994 season — following the cancellation of their sitcom, Family Album, by CBS in November 1993. Kauffman and Crane decided to pitch the series about "six people in their 20's making their way in Manhattan" to NBC, which they felt best suited the network's style. Crane and Kauffman presented the idea to their production partner Kevin Bright, who had served as executive producer on their HBO series Dream On. The idea for the series was conceived when Crane and Kauffman began thinking about the time when they had finished college and started living by themselves in New York; Kauffman believed they were looking at a time when the future was "more of a question mark". They found the concept to be interesting, as they believed "everybody knows that feeling", and because it was also how they felt about their own lives at the time. The team titled the series Insomnia Cafe (other working titles included Across the Hall, Six of One and Friends Like Us), and pitched the idea as a seven-page treatment to NBC in December 1993.
At the same time, Warren Littlefield, the then-president of NBC Entertainment, was seeking a comedy involving young people living together and sharing expenses. Littlefield wanted the group to share memorable periods of their lives with friends, who had become "new, surrogate family members". However, Littlefield found difficulty in bringing the concept to life, and found the scripts developed by NBC to be terrible. When Kauffman, Crane and Bright pitched Insomnia Cafe, Littlefield was impressed that they knew who their characters were. NBC bought the idea as a put pilot, meaning they risked financial penalties if the pilot was not filmed. Kauffman and Crane began writing a pilot script for a show now titled Friends Like Us, which took three days to write. Littlefield wanted the series to represent Generation X and explore a new kind of tribal bonding, but the trio did not share his vision. Crane argued that it was not a series for one generation, and wanted to produce a series that everyone would enjoy watching. NBC liked the pilot script and ordered the series under another title, Six of One, mainly due to the similar title it shared with the ABC sitcom These Friends of Mine.
Development
Casting
Once it became apparent that the series was a favored project at NBC, Littlefield reported that he was getting calls from every agent in town, wanting their client to be a part of the series. Auditions for the lead roles took place in New York and Los Angeles. The casting director shortlisted 1,000 actors who had replied for each role down to 75. Those who received a callback read again in front of Crane, Kauffman and Bright. At the end of March, the number of potential actors had been reduced to three or four for each part, and were asked to read for Les Moonves, president of Warner Bros. Television.
During the casting process, more changes occurred to the series' storylines. The writers found that they had to adjust the characters they had written to suit the actors, and the discovery process of the characters occurred throughout the first season. Kauffman acknowledged that Joey's character became "this whole new being", and that "it wasn't until we did the first Thanksgiving episode that we realized how much fun Monica's neuroses are." Having worked with Schwimmer before, the series creators wrote the character of Ross with him in mind, and he was the first actor cast. Aniston, Perry and Kudrow were cast based on their auditions.
The producers wanted Courteney Cox to portray Rachel; however, Cox asked to play Monica. Kauffman said that Cox had "this cheery, upbeat energy", which was not how they envisioned Monica. When Cox auditioned for the role, the producers were surprised by her direction of the character and she was cast. When Matt LeBlanc auditioned for Joey, he put a "different spin" on Joey. The writers did not originally intend for Joey to be dim, but found it to be a major source of comedy. LeBlanc also gave the character heart, which the writers did not realize Joey had.
Writing
In the weeks after NBC's pick up of Friends, Crane, Kauffman and Bright reviewed sent-in scripts that writers had originally prepared for other series, mainly unproduced Seinfeld episodes. Kauffman and Crane hired a team of seven young writers because "When you're 40, you can't do it anymore. The networks and studios are looking for young people coming in out of college." According to Crane, the creators felt that utilizing six equal characters, rather than emphasizing one or two, would allow for "myriad story lines and give the show legs". The majority of the storyline ideas came from the writers, although the actors added ideas. The writers originally planned a big love story between Joey and Monica, as they intended them to be the most sexual of the characters in the series pitch. The idea of a romantic interest between Ross and Rachel emerged during the time when Kauffman and Crane were writing the pilot script.
During the production of the pilot, NBC requested that the script be changed to feature one dominant storyline and several minor ones, but the writers wanted to keep three story lines of equal weight and refused. NBC thought the cast was too young, and pushed for an older character who could give the young adults advice. Crane and Kauffman were forced to comply, and wrote a draft of an early episode which featured "Pat the cop". Crane found the storyline to be terrible, and Kauffman joked, "You know the kids book, Pat the Bunny? We had Pat the Cop." NBC eventually consented and dropped the idea.
The producers would outline the storylines for each season early in the previous summer. Before an episode went into production, Kauffman and Crane would revise the script written by another writer, mainly if something felt foreign to either the series or a character. Unlike other storylines, the idea for a relationship between Joey and Rachel was decided on halfway through the eighth season. The creators did not want Ross and Rachel to get back together so soon, and while looking for a romantic impediment, a writer suggested Joey's romantic interest in Rachel. The storyline was incorporated into the season; however, when the actors feared that the storyline would make their characters unlikeable, the storyline was wrapped up, until it again resurfaced in the season's finale. For the ninth season, the writers were unsure about the amount of storyline to give to Rachel's baby, as they neither wanted the show to revolve around a baby nor pretend there to be none.
Filming
The Greenwich Village building used as the friends' apartment in establishing shots as of Aug. 2008.
The first season was shot on Stage 5 at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. The NBC executives had worried that the coffee house setting was too hip and asked for the series to be set in a diner, but eventually consented to the coffee house concept. The opening title sequence was filmed in a fountain at the Warner Bros. Ranch at 4:00 am, while it was particularly cold for a Burbank morning. At the beginning of the second season, production moved to the larger Stage 24, which was renamed "The Friends Stage" after the series finale. Filming began in the summer of 1994 in front of a live audience, who were given a summary of the series to familiarize themselves with the six main characters; a hired comedian entertained the studio audience between takes. Each 22-minute episode took six hours to film — twice the length of most sitcom tapings — mainly due to the several retakes and rewrites of the script.
Although the producers always wanted to find the right stories to take advantage of being on location, Friends was never shot in New York. Bright felt that filming outside the studio made episodes less funny, even when shooting on the lot outside, and that the live audience was an integral part of the series. When the series was criticized for incorrectly depicting New York, with the financially struggling group of friends being able to afford huge apartments, Bright noted that the set had to be big enough for the cameras, lighting, and "for the audience to be able to see what's going on"; the apartments also needed to provide a place for the actors to execute the funny scripts. The fourth season finale was shot on location in London because the producers knew of the country's large fanbase. The scenes were shot in a studio with three audiences of 500 each, the show's largest audiences throughout its run. Although some people thought the season 5 finale was filmed on location in Las Vegas, the episode was filmed at Warner Bros. Studios, where they took down the Central Perk set to be replaced with Cesar's Palace (the only time in the show's run that the coffee shop set was taken down).
Broadcast
After the produced pilot lived up to NBC's hopes, the series premiered with the name Friends on September 22, 1994 on the coveted Thursday 8:30 pm timeslot. The pilot aired between Mad About You and Seinfeld, and was watched by almost 22 million American viewers. The series was a huge success throughout its run, and was a staple of NBC's Thursday night line-up, dubbed by the network as Must See TV. When Crane told reporters in 2001 that the ninth season was a possibility, critics believed that he was posturing, and that at least two of the cast members would not sign on for another season. When it was confirmed that Friends would return for a ninth season, the news was mainly about the amount of money — $1 million per episode — that it took to bring the series back for another season.
After year-long expectations that the ninth season would be the series' last, NBC signed a deal in late December 2002 to bring the series back for a final tenth season. The series' creative team did not want to extend negotiations into the next year, and wanted to start writing the rest of the ninth season episodes and a potential series finale. NBC agreed to pay $10 million to Warner Bros. for the production of each tenth season episode, the highest price in television history for a 30-minute series. Although NBC was unable to bring in enough advertising revenue from commercials to cover the costs, the series was integral to the Thursday night schedule, which brought high ratings and profits to the other television series. The cast demanded that the tenth season be reduced from the usual 24 episodes to 18 episodes to allow them to work on outside projects.
Series finale
Main article: The Last One
The cast became very emotional while filming the final episode. Jennifer Aniston explained, "We're like very delicate china right now, and we're speeding toward a brick wall."
The series' creators completed the first draft of the hour-long finale in January 2004, four months before its original airing. Crane, Kauffman and Bright decided to watch finales from other sitcoms to prepare the episode's outline, paying attention to what worked and what did not. Kauffman found that they liked the ones which stayed true to the series, citing the finale of The Mary Tyler Moore Show as the gold standard. The writers had difficulty writing the finale, and spent several days thinking about the finale scene without being able to write a word. Crane said that they did not want to do "something high concept, or take the show out of the show". The most critical parts of the finale were shot without an audience, and with a minimum amount of crew. The main cast enjoyed the finale and were confident that the fans would react similarly. David Schwimmer said the finale was "exactly what I had hoped. We all end up with a sense of a new beginning and the audience has a sense that it's a new chapter in the lives of all these characters."
NBC heavily promoted the series finale, which was preceded by weeks of media hype. Local NBC affiliates organized viewing parties around the U.S., including an event at Universal CityWalk featuring a special broadcast of the finale on an outdoor Astrovision screen. The finale was the subject of two episodes of Dateline NBC, a weekly television newsmagazine, one of which ran for two hours. A one-hour retrospective of clips from previous episodes was shown before to the airing of the episode. Following the finale, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno was filmed on the set of the Friends' Central Perk cafe, which featured the series' cast as guests. The advertising rates for the finale averaged $2 million for 30 seconds of commercial time, breaking the record held by the Seinfeld finale at $1.7 million.
52.5 million American viewers watched the finale on May 6, 2004, making it the most-watched entertainment telecast in six years. Although it was not the series' most-watched episode, the finale was the fourth most-watched series finale in television history, only behind the finales of M*A*S*H, Cheers and Seinfeld, which were watched by 105, 80.4 and 76.2 million viewers respectively. The retrospective episode was watched by fewer than 36 million viewers, and the finale was the second most-watched television show of the year, only behind the Super Bowl. Following the finales of Friends and Frasier, media critics speculated about the fate of the sitcom genre. Expressed opinions varied between a signaling of the end of the sitcom genre, a small decline in the large history of the genre, and a general reduction of scripted television in favor of reality shows. Kauffman and Crane stated that they would not have signed on for an eleventh season, even if all the cast members wanted to continue. Crane said that it took them a while to accept the idea of a tenth season, which they decided to do because they had enough stories left to tell to justify the season.
Impact
Critical reception
Early reviews of the series were mixed. Tom Feran of The Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote that the series traded "vaguely and less successfully on the hanging-out style of Seinfeld", while Ann Hodges of the Houston Chronicle called it "the new Seinfeld wannabe, but it will never be as funny as Seinfeld." In the Los Angeles Daily News, Ray Richmond named the series as "one of the brighter comedies of the new season", and The Los Angeles Times called it "flat-out the best comedy series of the new season".
Chicago Sun-Times' Ginny Holbert found Joey and Rachel's characteristics to be underdeveloped, while Richmond commended the cast as a "likeable, youth ensemble" with "good chemistry". Robert Bianco of USA Today was complementary of Schwimmer, calling him "terrific". He also praised the female leads, but was concerned that Perry's role as Chandler was "undefined" and that LeBlanc was "relying too much on the same brain-dead stud routine that was already tired the last two times he tried it". The authors of Friends Like Us: The Unofficial Guide to Friends thought that the cast was "trying just a little too hard", in particular Perry and Schwimmer.
As the series progressed, reviews became more positive, and Friends became one of the most popular sitcoms of its time. Critics commended the series for its consistently sharp writing and the chemistry between the main actors. Noel Holston of Newsday, who had dismissed the pilot as a "so-so Seinfeld wannabe" in 1994, reneged his review after rewatching the episode, and felt like writing an apology to the writers. Heather Havrilesky of Salon.com thought that the series "hit its stride" in the second season. Havrilesky found the character-specific jokes and situations "could reliably make you laugh out loud a few times each episode", and the quality of writing allowed the stories to be "original and innovative". Bill Carter of The New York Times called the eighth season a "truly stunning comeback". Carter found that by "generating new hot story lines and high-decibel laughs", the series made its way "back into the hearts of its fans". However, Liane Bonin of Entertainment Weekly felt that the direction of the ninth season was a "disappointing buzzkill", criticizing it for the non-stop celebrity guest spots and going into jump the shark territory. Although disappointed with the season, Bonin noted that "the writing [was] still sharp". Havrilesky thought that the tenth season was "alarmingly awful, far worse than you would ever imagine a show that was once so good could be."
Reviews of the series finale were mixed to positive. USA Today's Robert Bianco described the finale as entertaining and satisfying, and praised it for deftly mixing emotion and humor while showcasing each of the stars. Sarah Rodman of the Boston Herald praised Aniston and Schwimmer for their acting, but felt that their characters' reunion was "a bit too neat, even if it was what most of the show's legions of fans wanted." Roger Catlin of The Hartford Courant felt that newcomers to the series would be "surprised at how laughless the affair could be, and how nearly every strained gag depends on the sheer stupidity of its characters." Ken Parish Perkins, writing for Fort Worth Star-Telegram, pointed out that the finale was "more touching than comical, more satisfying in terms of closure than knee-slappingly funny."
Cultural impact
Central Perk couch as displayed on the Warner Bros. Studios Tour.
Although the producers thought of Friends as "only a TV show", numerous psychologists investigated the cultural impact of Friends during the series' run. Aniston's hairstyle was nicknamed " The Rachel " and copied around the world. Joey Tribbiani's catchphrase "How you doin'?" has become a popular part of Western English slang, often used as a pick-up line or when greeting friends. The show also popularized the idea of the "laminated list", a list of celebrities that a person's partner will permit them to sleep with if they were to ever meet them. In " The One With Frank Jr. " the characters exchange "lists" verbally, while Ross creates a physical list and laminates it, making his choices permanent. The concept of the laminated list has been adopted by the Hollywood Stock Exchange website. The series also impacted on the English language, according to a study by a linguistics professor at the University of Toronto. The professor found that the characters used the word "so" as an adjective more often than other intensifiers, such as "very" and "really". Although the preference had already made its way into the American vernacular, usage on the series may have accelerated the change. The show is also responsible for popularizing the phrase "going commando".
The phrase "Ross and Rachel" has appeared as a joke in Scrubs: the janitor describes J.D.'s relationship with Elliot as "not exactly Ross and Rachel." Friends has been referenced again in the Scrubs episode, "My Cold Shower"; Carla describes J.D and Elliot's relationship as being, "On and off more than Ross and Rachel, from Friends." Also in Scrubs, when Elliot and J.D. are deciding to get back together, J.D. says "We don't always have to be arguing over if we were on a break", to which Elliot responds "Did you watch the Friends re-run on NBC last night?". On the 100th episode of the television show One Tree Hill (Lucas' and Lindsay's wedding), a character references Ross saying the wrong name at the altar when he was marrying Emily. In one episode of the British show Skins, a Russian girl learns English from Friends, and uses many of the catchphrases (such as "How you doin'" and "We were on a break") as a recurring joke.
One of the principal settings of the series, the Central Perk coffee house has inspired various imitations worldwide (the coffee house is based on Cholmondeley's, a coffee shop and lounge in Usen Castle at Brandeis University, the alma mater of the show's creators), including the now-defunct "Phoenix Perk" in Dublin (named for the Phoenix Park in the city) and the 'Riverdale Perk' in Toronto. In 2006 Iranian businessman Mojtaba Asadian started a "Central Perk" franchise, registering the name in 32 countries. The décor of his coffee houses are inspired by that in Friends. James Michael Tyler , who plays Gunther , the Central Perk waiter in love with Rachel, attended the grand opening of the flagship Dubai café and is the spokesman for the company. Central Perk was rebuilt as part of a museum exhibit at Warner Bros. Studios, and was shown on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in October 2008. Lisa Kudrow revisited the set for the first time since the series finale in 2004.
Additionally, many fans have attempted to recreate the look of the "Friends" apartments. Many companies now sell replicas of props appearing on the sets of Friends. One such example is www.friendsposter.com, which features Monica's famous peephole frame, and many posters that are featured in both Monica and Joey and Chandler's apartments.
The name of every Friends episode, with the exceptions of the very first and last episodes (titled " The Pilot " and " The Last One " respectively), starts with "The One...", e.g. "The One With Ross' Inappropriate Song", though the Pilot is sometimes called "The One Where Monica Gets A Roommate", or "The One Where It All Began". In continuing with this tradition, a boxed set containing all ten seasons on DVD was called "The One With All Ten Seasons". This tradition is based on the way people, when unable to remember the actual title of an episode of a TV show, will describe it as "it's the one with..." and then state the main storyline of the episode.
A parody of Friends was created in Britain called Chums and was aired on SM-TV. It features 3 characters named Ant, Dec and Cat Deely. Cat Deely can be seen as a parody of Rachel's actions. The episodes include short episodes, also beginning with "The One...". Most of the episodes feature pretend shows like Pokefight, based on Pokemon. Also Nickelodeon's 'Snick' used to make short episodes called 'Buds' with the Snick cast. They would act like the friends cast but with different, pointless plots.
Awards and nominations
Main article: List of Friends' awards and nominations
To maintain the series' ensemble format, the main cast members decided to enter themselves in the same acting categories for awards. Beginning with the series' eighth season, the actors decided to submit themselves in the lead actor balloting, rather than in the supporting actor fields. The series was nominated for 63 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning six. Jennifer Aniston and Lisa Kudrow are the only main cast members to win an Emmy, while Courteney Cox is the only actor not to be nominated. The series won the 2002 Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series, with nominations in 1995, 1996, 1999, 2000 and 2003. The series also won an American Comedy Award, one GLAAD Media Award, one Golden Globe Award, three Logie Awards, six People's Choice Awards, one Satellite Award, and then two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Ratings
U.S. ratings
The 66-minute series finale was named by Entertainment Tonight as the biggest TV moment of the year 2004, and was the second highest rated show in 2004, bringing in 52.5 million viewers (43% of all viewers that night), beaten only by Super Bowl XXXVIII. However, it did not surpass the ratings received by series finales for M*A*S*H (106 m), Cheers (80.4 m) or Seinfeld (76.3 m), nor was it the most watched episode of Friends-that accolade remains with the Season Two episode " The One After The Superbowl ", which aired on January 28, 1996 and drew 52.9 million viewers.
The table below indicates the ratings of Friends in the U.S., where it consistently ranked within the top ten of the final television ratings. "Rank" refers to how well Friends rated compared to other television series which aired during primetime hours of the corresponding television season. The television season tends to begin in September, and ends during the May of the following year, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps. "Viewers" refers to the average number of viewers for all original episodes, broadcast during the television season in the series' regular timeslot. "Rank" is shown in relation to the total number of series airing on the then-six major English-language networks in a given season. The "season premiere" is the date that the first episode of the season aired, and the "season finale" is the date that the final episode of the season aired.
Season
21.4
Australian and New Zealand ratings
Friends debuted on Australian television in 1996, on the Seven Network. For the first season, it averaged 1,788,000 viewers per episode, and was the 8th most watched regular program that year. The second season aired on the Nine Network by the end of 1996, and took the number 2 position and averaged 2,291,000 viewers per episode. The third season aired in mid-1997 and saw an increase in its position and viewers, being the most watched regular program, averaging 2,543,000 viewers per episode. Repeats were also averaging 1,918,000 viewers, and they were the 6th most watched regular program of the year. The fourth season aired in 1998, and continued to increase in ratings, averaging 2,586,000 viewers. The fifth season aired in 1999, but saw a slight drop in viewers. It averaged 2,340,000 viewers per episode, but still managed to retain its number one position.
The sixth season, aired in 2000, fell into a contentious year for TV ratings in Australia. Previously, ratings had been calculated by Nielsen Media Research, but OzTAM took over. OzTAM showed slight differences in ratings for most shows broadcast on Nine Network, and saw a significant drop in total viewers across all networks. OzTAM had Friends averaging 1,816,000 viewers nationally, and ranked it as the 3rd most watched program of the year. Nielsen Media Research Australia , however, had Friends averaging 2,340,000 viewers per episode, and ranked it as the most watched program.
The eighth season, aired in 2002, saw erratic scheduling of Friends on the Nine Network , and as a result saw a major drop in viewers. It ranked as the 10th most watched regular program that year, averaging 1,629,000 viewers. As a result of the Athens Olympics, Friends saw a decrease in its ratings. It was put on hiatus twice, for periods of four and seven months long respectively. The tenth season averaged 1,716,000 viewers per episode, and was ranked as the 6th most watched program of the year. It was also ranked as the third most watched scripted program. The finale averaged 2,273,000 viewers, though it was not the highest rated episode of Friends ever.
While Cable TV channel Arena (a Foxtel and Optus channel) aired Friends repeats daily, channel Nine did not air Friends repeats like it did with another popular US sitcom, Frasier. In November 2007, it was announced that Network Ten had bought the rights to the show (although Nine retains some last season episodes which are replayed late-night, thus making it aired simultaneously by two separate networks), and that it would air it seven nights a week from December 2 screening at 7:00p.m., replacing Futurama repeats. It was also a part of the 2007/2008 summer schedule, meaning that the show has aired on all of Australia's "Big Three" television networks. In February 2008, Friends was moved to the 6pm Monday-Friday timeslot, and replaced long-running 6 p.m. repeats of The Simpsons in Network Ten's regular schedule. Due to sexual content and low level coarse language, many episodes were edited to fit the G ratings, and the first two episodes of the fifth season were cut altogether due to Monica and Chandler's relationship acts. On July 28, 2008, Network Ten moved episodes of Friends to 7pm weeknights, allowing for the episodes to remain unedited.
In New Zealand, Friends first debuted on TV2 during the middle of 1995. The show typically screened around 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday nights but some seasons were screened on Sunday nights. Repeats were screened at 7:00 p.m. during December and January between 1996 and 1998 when Shortland Street went off the air for the Summer break. TV2 began screening repeats at 6:30 p.m. from 2000 onwards, running constant repeats of all previous seasons. Currently, the show plays every weeknight at 6:00 p.m. Comedy Central has announced they will screen Friends when TV2 loses the rights around 2015-16.
British and Irish ratings
Friends was originally aired on the terrestrial Channel 4 from 1995 onwards. New episodes were then shown on Sky One in the late 1990s, although the series achieved a more mainstream audience through repeat showings on Channel 4. The program was repeated daily on Channel 4 and S4C in Wales until recently, it is still repeated twice a day on E4 with 2 back-to-back episodes. However during the summer when the 4 network is overridden by Big Brother it is repeated three times a day usually in between shows such as Hollyoaks and Big Brother's Little Brother. Friends is currently shown exclusively on Comedy Central in the UK, the episodes are available in HD for the first time in the UK market.
The Irish channel RTÉ Two was the first channel in Europe to air both the premiere and finale episodes of Friends. The show achieved exceptionally high ratings throughout the initial run, and continues to run twice weekly on RTÉ Two, and weekdays on Channel 6.
Merchandise
The 40-disc Friends - The Complete Series Collection DVD box set was released in .
A wide range of Friends merchandise has been produced by various companies. All ten seasons have been released on DVD individually and as a box set. Warner Bros. has also talked about plans of a future Blu-ray release. Each season release contains special features and footage originally cut from the series. For the first season, each episode is updated with color correction and sound enhancement. In late September 1995, WEA Records released the Friends Original TV Soundtrack , containing music featured in previous and future episodes. In between some of the songs, there is spoken dialog from scenes from the show's first season. The soundtrack debuted on the Billboard 200 at number 46, and sold 500,000 copies in November 1995. In 1999, a second soundtrack album entitled Friends Again was released. Other merchandise include a Friends version of the DVD game "Scene It?", and a quiz computer game, entitled "Friends: The One with All the Trivia", "hosted" by James Michael Tyler , Christina Pickles , Elliott Gould and Maggie Wheeler as their respective characters from the series.
All ten seasons were re-released in region 2 on October 25, 2004. For region 1, when Season Ten was released on November 15, 2005, the WB made a limited edition box called "The One With All Ten Seasons" to fit all individual ten seasons in. The collection was cased in wood with black covering and a plastic door with all of the Friends pictured on it. One year later, the WB released The Complete Series , cased in a red box with an exclusive booklet about the show, cast, and original pilot pitch. Instead of individually boxing and organizing the shows by season, this collection organized the 40 discs into volumes sorted by how many episodes to a disc, and they were split up by a disc holder for each cast member. This version was released in the UK on 12 November 2007.
DVD name
Main article: Joey (TV Series)
Joey Title Card
After the series finale in 2004, LeBlanc signed on for the spin-off series, Joey, following Joey's move to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career. Kauffman and Crane were not interested in the spin-off, although Bright accepted to executive produce the series with Scott Silveri and Shana Goldberg-Meehan. NBC heavily promoted Joey and gave it Friends' Thursday 8:00 pm timeslot. The pilot was watched by 18.60 million American viewers, but ratings continually decreased throughout the series' two seasons, averaging 10.20 million viewers in the first season and 7.10 million in the second. The final broadcast episode on March 7, 2006 was watched by 7.09 million viewers; NBC canceled the series on May 15, 2006 after two seasons. Bright blamed the collaboration between NBC executives, the studio and other producers for quickly ruining the series: "On Friends Joey was a womanizer but we enjoyed his exploits. He was a solid friend, a guy you knew you could count on. Joey was deconstructed to be a guy who couldn't get a job, couldn't ask a girl out. He became a pathetic, mopey character. I felt he was moving in the wrong direction, but I was not heard."
Film
Following the series finale, rumors began to emerge of a Friends film, although all were proven to be untrue. Rumors of a film reemerged after the release of the Sex and the City film in 2008, which proved to be a success at the box office. The Daily Telegraph reported in July 2008 that the main cast members had agreed to star in the project, and that filming was going to start within the next 18 months. A source commented that "Jennifer, Courteney and the rest of the cast are [eager] to reprise their roles, under the right circumstances [...] Jennifer says she and Courteney have already talked this summer about what they want out of a Friends movie." When asked about the film, Kudrow said that she was unaware of the talks, but expressed interest in the idea. However, the director of publicity for Warner Bros. said there was "no truth in the story", and Perry's spokeswoman added that "nothing is happening in this regard, so the rumor is false."
| Friends |
In Indian cuisine, what vegetable is indicated by the word SAG? | Most Popular TV Shows - TV.com
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ABC
Grey's Anatomy is a medical drama about a group of surgeons working at Seattle Grace Hospital. The show centers around Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) and her life as a resident at the hospital. In addition to her relationship with her neurosurgeon husband, Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey), and best friend Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh), it also explores her relationships with her peers and the other doctors around her. Each episode dives into different medical cases and personal dramas of the doctors at Seattle Grace, with Dr. Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) at the helm of the surgical department as the new Chief of Surgery.moreless
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Lifetime (ended 2013)
Army Wives tells the story of four women and one man who are brought together by their common bond – they all have military spouses. The series is based on the book Under the Sabers: The Unwritten Code of Army Wives by Tanya Biank.
Army Wives is produced by ABC Television Studio and The Mark Gordon Company.
Pamela Moran used to be a member of the Boston police department. She is now a homemaker allowing her husband to be the breadwinner of the family. She is, as we learn, earning some money as a surrogate mother.
Denise Sherwood tries to maintain the image of perfect military wife and mother, even if it means hiding the occasional bruise.
Claudia Joy Holden is the one the others look to for leadership and guidance. She is fully supportive of her husband's career and hoping a secret from her past doesn't come to light.
Roxy LeBlanc is newlywed to PFC Trevor LeBlanc after only knowing him four days. She is new to military life and uncertain if she will be able to fit in.
Roland Burton is a psychiatrist who is the "army wife" of Joan Burton. Joan has been serving in Afghanistan for two years and now they need to reconnect as a family.moreless
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Arrow is a modern retelling of the DC Comic character Green Arrow. Multi-millionaire playboy Oliver Queen is missing, and presumed dead after a shipwreck at sea. He is found five years later, having survived on a desert island off his wits and by mastering the bow and arrow. When he returns to Starling City however, he discovers that it is rife with corruption and crime. Oliver decides to put his skills to use by taking on the persona of Arrow and becoming the vigilante that Starling City needs. The show stars Stephen Amell in the title role. Green Arrow has been portrayed two times by a real life actor, and voiced in twelve separate cartoon/animations starting in 1973.moreless
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The CW (Returning January 13, 2017)
The Vampire Diaries is based on a novel series penned by L.J. Smith where you are given the insight into the diary of 17-year old Elena Gilbert ( Nina Dobrev ). Elena and her 15-year-old brother, Jeremy ( Steven R. McQueen ), who live with their Aunt Jenna ( Sara Canning ). Elena seeks comfort from her familiar social circle – best friend Bonnie ( Katerina Graham ), frenemy Caroline Forbes ( Candice Accola ), and former boyfriend Matt Donovan( Zach Roerig , Friday Night Lights ). At Mystic Falls High, Elena and her friends become fixated by a mysterious new student, Stefan Salvatore ( Paul Wesley , Fallen). Stefan and Damon ( Ian Somerhalder , Lost ) are vampire brothers – one good, one evil – at war for Elena's soul. The Vampire Diaries is from Alloy Entertainment and Bonanza Productions Inc in association with Warner Bros. Television and CBS Television Studios.moreless
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NBC
"In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories."
This hard-hitting and emotional companion series from NBC's Law & Order franchise chronicles the life and crimes of the elite Special Victims Unit of the New York Police Department. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit was created by Emmy Award-winning producer Dick Wolf. SVU celebrated its 200th episode in April 2008. Although Law & Order: Special Victims Unit carries the brand name Law & Order, the newer program has established a strong and unique identity. It has proved itself as a hit in its own right. In the 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 seasons, the series broke into the Top 20. Mariska Hargitay has won a Golden Globe and Emmy each for her portrayal of Det. Olivia Benson. It also garnered Emmy wins for guest-stars Amanda Plummer, Leslie Caron, and Cynthia Nixon. The series' popularity was recognized with the People's Choice Awards, Image Awards, Satellite Awards, and the TV Guide Awards with nominations for Favorite New Series.
The drama follows Det. Elliot Stabler, a seasoned veteran of the unit who has seen it all, and his partner Olivia Benson whose difficult past is the reason she joined the unit. Overseeing the team is Capt. Donald Cragen. Cragen's tough-but-supportive approach to the team's complex cases guides the squad through the challenges they face every day. Also featured is Det. John Munch, a transfer from Baltimore's homicide unit, who brings his acerbic wit, conspiracy theories and street-honed investigative skills. Munch is partnered with Det. Odafin Tutuola, whose unique sense of humor and investigative experience make him a formidable match for Munch.
Season 13 brought major changes to the squad. Det. Stabler left and was replaced by two new detectives. Dr. Huang also departed. Det. Nick Amaro brings empathy to his cases while dealing with a stressful home life. Det. Amanda Rollins' dogged persistence and instincts help her close cases, but her secrets could derail her career. A varied DA roster introduced Bureau Chief Michael Cutter, and the returning ADA Casey Novak with continued support from ADA Alexandra Cabot to bring closure to the intense investigations.
NBC Broadcast History:
September 2012 to present – Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m.
January 2011 to May 2012 – Wednesdays at 10:00 p.m.
September 2010 to December 2010 – Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m.
March 2010 to May 2010 – Wednesdays at 10:00 p.m.
September 2009 to March 2010 – Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m.
September 2003 to May 2009 – Tuesdays at 10:00 p.m.
January 2000 to May 2003 – Fridays at 10:00 p.m.
September 1999 to November 1999 – Mondays at 9:00 p.m.
L&O: SVU Showrunners:
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ABC (ended 2010)
After Oceanic Air Flight 815 tears apart in mid-air and crashes on a Pacific island on September 22nd 2004, its survivors are forced to find inner strength they never knew they had in order to survive. But they discover that the island holds many secrets, including a mysterious smoke monster, polar bears, housing with electricity and hot & cold running water, a group of island residents known as "The Others," and a mysterious man named Jacob. The survivors also find signs of those who came to the island before them, including a 19th century sailing ship called The Black Rock and the ruins of an ancient statue, as well as bunkers belonging to the DHARMA Initiative -- a group of scientific researchers who inhabited the island in the recent past. Lost has won a Golden Globe, 10 Saturn Awards and 10 Emmy Awards.moreless
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Set in a storybook Connecticut town populated with an eclectic mix of everyday folks and lovable lunatics, Gilmore Girls is a humorous multigenerational series about friendship, family and the ties that bind. Thirtysomething Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham) has made her share of mistakes in life, but she has been doing her best to see that her college-bound daughter - and best friend in the world - Rory (Alexis Bledel), doesn't follow in her footsteps. That may be easier said than done, considering that the two share the same interests, the same intellect, the same coffee addiction and the same eyes. Rory is more serious than Lorelai, but there are tendencies, especially in the love department, that clearly indicate she is her mother's daughter. From the beginning, this unique mother-daughter team has been growing up together. Lorelai was just Rory's age when she became pregnant and made the tough decision to raise her baby alone.
Gilmore Girls was the first series to make it to air supported by the Family Friendly Forum's script development fund. An initiative between some of the nation's top advertisers and The WB, the program is intended to offer a greater array of compelling family programming on network television. The strong and loving mother-daughter relationship portrayed in Gilmore Girls reflects the growing reality of this new type of American family.moreless
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CBS
After his father is murdered, Lieutenant Commander Steven J. McGarrett decides to return home to Oahu in order to catch the killer. The governor offers him the opportunity to run a new task force where he is able to call the shots. Steve brings together his own team, starting with Chin Ho Kelly, an ex-Honolulu Police Detective and former protege of McGarrett's father. Kelly has been assigned to a federal security patrol after being suspected of corruption. Detective Danny (Danno) Williams is a New Jersey cop who recently moved to the island to be close to his 8-year-old daughter, Grace. Kono Kalakaua is Kelly's cousin and a rookie officer, fresh from the academy. McGarrett's team is given full backing from the governor.moreless
| i don't know |
What was the name of the Chief Commissioner of the London Metropolitan police force who resigned in 2011? | London's 'Met,' a renowned police force with a checkered past - CNN.com
London's 'Met,' a renowned police force with a checkered past
By Tim Lister (CNN)
Met chief Paul Stephenson (left) and Assistant Commissioner John Yates quit over alleged police links with journalists.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
The Met was founded in 1829 on the initiative of then Home Secretary Sir Robert Peel
London force deals with terrorism, complex fraud cases, cyber-crime and international drug syndicates
Recent controversies include 2005 shooting of Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes
Current crisis about excessively close relationships between senior officers and media
Editor's Note: Watch UK lawmakers question Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks live from 1:30 p.m. GMT / 9:30 a.m. ET Tuesday on CNN.com and also via CNN Apps including iPhone, iPad, Android and selected Nokia devices. Also watch lawmakers question leading members of the Metropolitan Police including former chief Paul Stephenson from 11 a.m. GMT / 7 a.m. ET Tuesday.
(CNN) -- When he became the Commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police in 1972, Robert Mark told his new subordinates: "The basic test of a decent police force is that it catches more criminals than it employs."
Mark later said he was astonished by the arrogance and institutionalized wrongdoing he found when he arrived at the Met, as it's commonly known. And he launched an anti-corruption drive that led to the "early retirement" or reassignment of dozens of officers.
The British public began to reassess a police force often lauded as among the world's finest: incorruptible, the "people's friend." The London "bobby" was celebrated in British films, walking his beat in size 12 boots with no more than a truncheon, engaging with locals and escorting villains to the "station."
Scotland Yard, the Met's fabled headquarters, had been an inspiration to Arthur Conan Doyle and Monty Python's Flying Circus alike. The elite Flying Squad was nicknamed "The Sweeney" (Cockney rhyming slang: Flying Squad/Sweeney Todd) which became the title of a long-running TV series about the unit.
Founded in 1829 on the initiative of then Home Secretary Sir Robert Peel (hence the colloquial term "bobby" for a policeman), the Metropolitan Police originally comprised 895 constables for a population of more than two million.
Alleged UK police corruption uncovered
Second police officer quits amid scandal
News Corp's Rebekah Brooks arrested
Both the Met and the size of London have expanded exponentially since. And so has the complexity of policing -- extending to terrorism, complex fraud cases, cyber-crime and international drug syndicates where Chechens, Jamaicans and others feud over London turf.
In the 1960s, specialist units like the Flying Squad, that tackled armed robbery, and the Vice Squad became influential -- units with great autonomy and to some critics too little scrutiny. For some officers, the temptation to cut corners, tampering with evidence, taking bribes from underworld figures, became irresistible.
In 1977, the then head of the Flying Squad, Chief Superintendent Ken Drury, was jailed along with 12 other Scotland Yard detectives, for accepting bribes. One fellow officer said of Drury that he was also expert at "falsifying or manipulating alibi statements" and "the repeated harassment of witnesses until we had got what we wanted from them." It also transpired that the head of the obscene publications squad had been extracting protection money from Soho pornographers.
Then came "Operation Countryman" -- a six-year inquiry carried out by an external police force into police corruption in London. The man who led it complained of resistance at the highest levels within the Met. Of the few criminal prosecutions launched, even fewer were successful.
Despite the creation of a sizeable anti-corruption unit within the Met, further scandals emerged in the 1990s, with serving and retired detectives accused of links with organized crime and drug dealers. Some had offshore bank accounts containing six-figure sums.
Phone-hacking scandal expands with police probe
The Metropolitan Police's handling of civil unrest, racial issues and terrorism has also come under the microscope.
In 1979 and the early 1980s, when there were a number of riots and violent protests in London, police conduct was widely criticized. In one protest by the Anti-Nazi League, a young New Zealander, Blair Peach, was hit by a cosh carried by a member of the Met's "Special Patrol Group" and died. It was 30 years before the Met published its conclusion that Peach was killed by a police officer, but that other police officers in the same unit had refused to cooperate with the inquiry by lying to investigators. The officer responsible was never identified.
At the same time, evidence emerged of racism in the Met, which had few recruits from ethnic minorities. After riots in south London in 1981, a public inquiry found disproportionate and indiscriminate use of "stop and search" powers by the police against black people. An inquiry into the murder of a black teenager, Stephen Lawrence, in 1993 found the force suffered from "institutional racism" and that detectives had made little effort to apprehend the white youths suspected of killing Lawrence in an unprovoked attack.
In 2005, a 27-year old Brazilian -- Jean Charles de Menezes -- was shot dead at an underground station in London after being mistaken by police for Hussain Osman, one of four would-be suicide bombers. An inquest recorded an "open verdict" -- in effect not absolving the police, and the Met made a compensation payment of $160,000 to the victim's family.
The truth is, we've all been in this together.
--British PM David Cameron
News Corporation Ltd.
To its critics, the shooting illustrated a changing culture in the Met, one where aggression and a resort to firearms had trumped community policing and restraint. That perception was reinforced by the death of Ian Tomlinson, a newspaper vendor who was hit by an officer with a baton during protests at the G20 summit in 2009. A poll taken shortly afterwards showed 59% of people felt the police had used an unacceptable level of violence at the London protests.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) launched three investigations into incidents during the summit.
The Met's defenders point out that crime rates in the capital have fallen, that London has been free of terrorism since 2005 and that its specialist units have rolled up some substantial criminal networks as well as investigated the "cash for peerages" scandal that rocked the Labour government led by Tony Blair. There has also been greater outreach to ethnic minorities.
The current crisis for the Metropolitan Police is about both illegal conduct and excessively close relationships between senior officers and media executives.
A Scotland Yard inquiry is underway into alleged illegal payments to police officers in exchange for information. In addition, the IPCC is investigating whether Assistant Commissioner John Yates had "inappropriately" hired the daughter of a long-time associate, Neil Wallis. Wallis was a senior executive at News International who later became a consultant to the Met. He was arrested last week in connection with the phone-hacking scandal. Yates resigned Monday but vigorously denied any wrong-doing.
Police chief steps down amid scandal
Another former senior officer, Andy Hayman, who was in charge of the original hacking investigation, became a columnist with The Times, a News International title, after his retirement. During heated exchanges with a parliamentary committee last week, Hayman was dubbed "Clouseau rather than Columbo." He later attacked what he called the "lynch-mob mentality" of the committee.
The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, has acknowledged that relationships between the media, police and politicians became too cozy. "The truth is, we've all been in this together," Cameron said on July 8.
Of the British people, he said: "Just look at who they put their trust in. The police to protect them. The politicians to represent them. The press to inform them. All of them have let them down."
Whatever the results of the many inquiries now underway, faith in the Metropolitan Police has again been shaken. One poll found that 63% of the public felt less confidence in the police after the latest revelations.
With the London Olympics less than a year away, the Met's top officer and the man in change of its counter-terrorism operations are gone; and the rest of its leadership is dogged by the turmoil within.
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Which Australian cricketer is the third highest scorer of test match runs, after Tendulkar and Dravid? | Democratisation and reformation of the police force | Free Malaysia Today
Democratisation and reformation of the police force
July 22, 2011
FMT LETTER
From P Dev Anand Pillai, via e-mail
As I write this piece, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner of London, Sir Paul Stephenson and his deputy and head of counter terrorism John Yates both the number one and two respectively of the London Metropolitan police force have resigned due to the News of the World phone hacking scandal which has brought the entire British media to its knees when the public was let known as to how phones were hacked all in the name of sensational news. As we see these people take responsiblity for their acts or that of their subordinates or when their credibility as civil servants entrusted with the office of the head of police, is questioned or belittled, we tend to think will our police force ever be like this?
Perhaps the word responsibility or credibility in office is not important to policemen in Malaysia, for our men here, it is more of a license to hone the art of survival in the vast web of corruption that we Malaysians have to endure. The reformation of the police force is long overdue but do we see such an effort ever taking off? Will the Independant Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission ( IPCMC) ever be set up in this country?
We had seen how the government buckles under pressure from the policemen threatening to allow lawlessness in the country if such a commission were ever set up. This is the result of years of indoctrination and propaganda which the police have been subject to all in the name and interests of protecting the political elite in this country. In the process, we have created automatons or just plain complaint robots out of our men in blue.
There are many who are educated in the force today, amongst some of them there are even PHd holders sitting in the ranks of ASP and above but even by having such an education, in general we do not see the police force being a educated one till today. With the recruitment of young boys and girls from the non-Malay segment of society after the Hindraf uprising and the upset elections for BN in 2007 and 2008 respectively, the standard of intellect is still low and pathetic.
Most believe that once they don the uniform, the people will have to submit to them and they can’t be questioned when they are supposedly carrying out their duties. This does not augur well for the future of the force. Many amongst the young Rela recruits who have been now seconded to the Police for the additional “beef up” look that they are trying to spook the people with, don’t even know what the basic rights of citizens are under the Federal Constitution.
Most don’t even know that the Federal Constitution is the highest law of the land and the Police Act 1967, which the police see as their bible, is subservient to the Constitution. Any provision in the Police Act which runs contrary to the rights provided under the Consitution is to be declared null and void. With such a power instrument such as the Constitution in our hands, most Malaysians still seem naive and ignorant when it comes to knowing their rights.
This makes the job of the police much easier as they don’t have to know themselves what the said rights are. Education in the force though it may have improved over the years in the upper ranks, has not seen the same trend in the lower ranks. There have been many from the lower ranks who have studied on the side and made it on their own as practising lawyers and some have even asked for inter-departmental transfers and gone on to the prosecution services as deputy public prosecutors.
But overall, the education and the intellectual level is still wanting. This was last seen when they had charged Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj the MP for Sungei Siput under Section 122 of the Penal Code for waging a war against the Yang Dipertuan Agong. If we had smarter police officers who are in charge and having the discretion to take action, such a absurd charge would not have been thought about in the first place.
Our Police force has been taught to apprehend first and then think off a charge to frame on the arrestee. When the first 24 hours is up and they have yet to frame a charge, they run to a friendly and equally intellectually challenged magistrate who will rubber stamp anything that the police asks for.
Without stopping to ask, why and for what an extension of the remand period is needed, most of these magistrates will just nod at everything the arresting or investigating officer of the police says.
Only when a member of the Bar is present acting on behalf of the arrestee, the whole act is thwarted and they would have to think of something to respond to the questioning of the lawyer representing the arrestee.
The good and capable officers are usually kept in cold storage departments of the force, mainly for the fact that they are known to question their superiors on orders that are to be carried out and they may even have given their view of how it should be done. This is where democratization of the force is necessary. The Inspector General of Police should be answerable to a Parliamentary Select Committee like what we see being implemented in the State of Selangor by the current administration where every state employee and elected representatives know that they will be made answerable to how their allocations were spent.
State Chief Police Officers (CPO) and Officers in Charge of Police Districts (OCPD) should be made to meet the people and tell them what they intend to do for the State before being subject to being elected by the people in an election to choose the CPOs and the OCPDs. These are new arrangements which does not follow the British model that we are used to, but it can be modified to suit our own needs taking into account that corruption seeps in the deepest in the police force.
We had seen for ourselves the video in Malaysiakini and in Youtube of how our Malaysians friends in London had a field day using a loud-hailer to call out to the Prime Minister and shame him in front of the hotel that he was staying in, all in full view of the British police force. The police never harrassed them but instead ensured that they were behind a barricade and a given line when they went about on the tirade of the PM.
This is what rights is all about in a democracy and this is what a smart, democratic and efficient policing is all about. Here we have the police and the immigration picking up the French lawyer who is going to initiate the case into the Scorpene Submarines purchase by our government when he was about to disembark in KLIA from Penang.
This is all the result of decades of indoctrination in the police force which has created a class of policemen and women who can’t understand what fundamental rights are all about in a democracy. They can’t comprehend what ideology is, they just can’t understand the concept of communism, socialism, capitalism and our own brand of executive-controlled state guided psuedo-democracy. They seemed to be so automated that their education is simply like putting in programmed circuits in a robot’s motherboard.
We must have a police force that is free from the reigns of the executive when it comes to policing. What we see today is that the police force bends backwards when it comes to BN and attacks like a wounded terrier when it comes to the opposition. Yet despite all this, they still go running to the opposition lawyers when they are sacked from the force, knowing well that it is only they who are brave enough to face the onslaught of the prosecution and the executive.
Each of the races has their objectives when they join the force, the Malays are divided two categories, one is a group that really does the work and are capable and intelligent. This group will slowly rise up but will be eventually overtaken by the other group which specialises in “apple-polishing”, they do this so well that they are moved up just at the right time to overtake the more deserving ones who usually end up in the sidelines till retirement.
Amongst the Chinese, they join the force to build contacts which will be useful later when they come out into the business world. Off course, there are those who will stay on and retire in the police force but for the Chinese, they see themselves as an asset which the Malay dominated police force need badly to liaise with the business world and the underworld which is dominated by the Chinese.
For the Indians, they see it as a kind of empowerment, donning the blue uniform which will give them power which they can wield over the common man and most of all they see it as a way to make the contacts with the right parties for future purposes. One has regularly seen many lower ranking Malay and Indian policemen also doubling up as runners for tycoons, developers, money-lenders, petrol kiosk owners and other well to do individuals who seem to trust the policemen in mufti to do their bidding for them.
Amongst the Indians there is a common feeling that they should know the way the force works so that they will be able to reap the maximum benefits from it before the past catches up with them. They will try and get into the divisions of the force which has the most maximum contact with the business world which in a way will lead them to know the underworld as well. They will be quite contended if they reach the position of ASP, DSP and SP, anything beyond that will be a bonus provided their horroscope stars are shining. Therefore, they see the police force as an opportunity to benefit for themselves and not a a service to the people and the nation.
The day the police start their reformation and become policemen first instead of moonlighting as political mafia thugs, will be the day we see the good old ways of policing and co-operation with the people coming into life again. Perhaps when the opposition alliance manages to maintain control of most of the West Coast states again, the reformation process will start. All this while the people have been passive and have taken the brickbats and the brutality when they have to face the police.
But as the truth comes out through many other modes of modern media, and as the indoctrination wears thin, the people are now realising that they have been taken for fools all this while. They have now begun to ask questions as they gain knowledge as to what their rights is under the Constitution which has long been the most misunderstood written instrument in the country. Though it empowers, many are still ignorant.
The democratisation and reformation of the police force lies with the people, and this is something which all must realise and the best way to ensure that we be a part of it is to ensure that you are a registered voter.
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The Marcia Blane academy for girls is the setting for what famous novel, which also became a famous film? | The 100 best novels: No 79 – The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark (1960) | Books | The Guardian
The 100 best novels
The 100 best novels: No 79 – The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark (1960)
Short and bittersweet, Muriel Spark’s tale of the downfall of a Scottish schoolmistress is a masterpiece of narrative fiction
Muriel Spark: sublime wit and brevity. Photograph: Frank Monaco/Rex Features
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The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is probably the shortest novel on this list, a sublime miracle of wit and brevity, and a Scots classic that’s a masterclass in narrative construction and the art of “less is more”. The action centres on the romantic, fascinating, comic and ultimately tragic schoolmistress Jean Brodie who will, in the most archetypal sense, suffer for the sin of hubris, her excessive self-confidence. At first, her ideas about beauty and goodness, her mysterious glamour and charm will dazzle and seduce her girls – “the crème de la crème” – at the Marcia Blaine School, but in the end the same gifts will cause her downfall. “Give me a girl at an impressionable age,” she boasts, “and she is mine for life.” Eventually that prediction will be fulfilled in the saddest way imaginable.
It is, as Miss Brodie says, “nineteen-thirty-six. The age of chivalry is dead.” The novel’s theme, deftly laid out in a narrative that flashes backwards and forwards, to and from the 1930s, is the education of six wonderfully distinctive, heartless and romantic 10-year-old girls (Monica, Sandy, Rose, Mary, Jenny, and Eunice) and the covert classroom drama that leads to Miss Brodie’s “betrayal”, her peremptory dismissal from Marcia Blaine by her great enemy, the headmistress, Miss Mackay. That, of course, has nothing to do with school, and everything to do with sex, and the art teacher, Teddy Lloyd, with whom Miss Brodie (defiantly in her “prime”) is hopelessly in love.
It had been Miss Brodie’s plan to control and manipulate the lives of “her girls”. But finally, it is Sandy who, before she becomes Sister Helena of the Transfiguration, exacts the decisive revenge that will doom her teacher to a bitter and solitary spinsterhood. Miss Brodie will never get over it, and die quite soon. “‘Whatever possessed you?’ said Miss Brodie in a very Scottish way, as if Sandy had given away a pound of marmalade to an English duke.”
My paperback edition runs to just 128 pages. The elfin spirit of Robert Louis Stevenson ( No 24 in this series ) hovers over every line, and Muriel Spark nods to this influence by having some of the girls read Kidnapped.
The trailer for the film adaptation of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969).
A note on the text
Muriel Spark occupies a special place in the Observer’s literary history. As a young woman, she had made her way as a poet, literary editor and literary biographer in postwar London. But it was as a short-story writer that she first came to prominence at the very end of 1951, when she won the Observer short story competition for her surreal and, in places, richly poetic “The Seraph and the Zambesi”. Her novels followed soon after; by the late 1950s, she was fully established as a writer to watch.
Spark’s method of composition became quite famous. She composed her fiction in a copperplate hand, usually a single draft with very few corrections, in spiral-bound school notebooks from the Edinburgh stationer and bookseller James Thin. It was in such a volume that she began to write about a middle-aged schoolteacher, drawn from her own school memories.
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is so short that it was first published, in its entirety, in the New Yorker, and then reissued in volume form by Macmillan in the UK in 1961. The character of Miss Jean Brodie became Spark’s “milch cow”, and brought her international fame, especially after the novel was made into a film starring Maggie Smith , who won an Academy (best actress) award for her performance.
In real life, the character of Miss Brodie was based in part on Christina Kay, a teacher of Spark’s for two years at her Edinburgh school, James Gillespie’s School for Girls. the author would later write of her thus: “What filled our minds with wonder and made Christina Kay so memorable was the personal drama and poetry within which everything in her classroom happened.” Miss Kay was the basis for the good parts of Brodie’s character, but also some of the more bizarre. For example, Miss Kay did hang posters of Renaissance paintings on the wall, and also of Mussolini marching with Italian fascists.
Another Scottish writer, Candia McWilliam, identified the novel’s lasting appeal when she wrote that it is “sublimely funny, and also very short, with much to say about sex”. She adds that it is “technically beyond praise. The pressure it exerts upon the mind is controlled by a guiding spirit that reveals to us the moral universe while affording the refreshment of laughter and revelation.” What better definition of a classic?
Three more from Muriel Spark
Memento Mori (1959); The Ballad of Peckham Rye (1960); The Girls of Slender Means (1961).
| The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie |
What is the longest river in Europe? | How to be Well-read in No Time: 45 Short Novels - Listmuse.com
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How to be well-read in no time: 45 short novels
How to be well-read in no time: 45 short novels is a list of books that provides a varied glimpse of the written style of many of the great authors. A concise selection, the titles can be worked through over a very short period, or, alternatively, they can be sandwiched between larger classics in an even more ambitious reading program. For further reading suggestions see our Top 100 Novels of All Time .
1. Slaughterhouse-Five
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2. The Trial
By Franz Kafka | Used Price: 70% Off
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3. Animal Farm
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By John Steinbeck | Rock-bottom Price: $0.01
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By Virginia Woolf
'I, who would wish to feel close over me the protective waves of the ordinary, catch with the tail of my eye some far horizon.' Intensely visionary yet absorbed with the everyday; experimental, daring and challenging, The Waves is regarded by many as Virginia Woolf's greatest achievement. ... More »
6. The Old Man and the Sea
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By William Faulkner
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26. Fathers and Sons
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34. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
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Television adverts - which actor provides the voice in the adverts for British Gas? | Most annoying radio ads - British Gas | Satellite & Digital TV Support forums
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Most annoying radio ads - British Gas
North East
For me it has to be the British Gas adverts.)(-red'O'-red
I HATE THEM! I listen a lot to LBC Radio and they're forever playing the British Gas adverts. I hate everything about them. First off is that stupid Cockney voiceover. I have nothing against Cockneys, but this guy isn't one. He's putting on the accent. It's so fake.
Then we have that most annoying crappy Blur record which is played in the background on every BG advert. I run to switch off. Most annoying because aside from the adverts, LBC is my favourite talk radio station.
2cvbloke Bulbs need shelter too...
Joined:
113
My Satellite Setup:
No satellite stuff for the moment (aside from a 43cm minidish that was on the house already), Samsung SyncMaster T27B550 Smart TV & Monitor, and a few computers...
My Location:
Near Pontop Pike, Co. Durham
I think the voice-over on the BG ads is Timothy Spall, and looking up his biography, he is a londoner (born in Battersea), but he's an actor, so his "home accent" has probably gone a bit skewiff over the years...
One thing I hate about the adverts is using Blur's "The Universal" as their theme, one of my favourite songs abused for their self righteous promotion, didn't like them one bit for that, not to mention their lies about lowering prices when the blummin' cost of the gas was falling anyway!!! )(-red
And one of their ads was banned for claiming efficiency over a christmas period they couldn't actually fulfil, so, they are pretty much shooting themselves in the foot...
And that ad with the blatantly branded flying VW Caddy vans advertising they offer nectar points for their customers, gawd that is so annoying, I wonder how much they were paid by VW for that bit of product placement... :-Nooo
| Timothy Spall |
Films - Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon starred in a remake of which famous western? | Most annoying radio ads - British Gas | Satellite & Digital TV Support forums
Satellite & Digital TV Support forums
This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.
Most annoying radio ads - British Gas
North East
For me it has to be the British Gas adverts.)(-red'O'-red
I HATE THEM! I listen a lot to LBC Radio and they're forever playing the British Gas adverts. I hate everything about them. First off is that stupid Cockney voiceover. I have nothing against Cockneys, but this guy isn't one. He's putting on the accent. It's so fake.
Then we have that most annoying crappy Blur record which is played in the background on every BG advert. I run to switch off. Most annoying because aside from the adverts, LBC is my favourite talk radio station.
2cvbloke Bulbs need shelter too...
Joined:
113
My Satellite Setup:
No satellite stuff for the moment (aside from a 43cm minidish that was on the house already), Samsung SyncMaster T27B550 Smart TV & Monitor, and a few computers...
My Location:
Near Pontop Pike, Co. Durham
I think the voice-over on the BG ads is Timothy Spall, and looking up his biography, he is a londoner (born in Battersea), but he's an actor, so his "home accent" has probably gone a bit skewiff over the years...
One thing I hate about the adverts is using Blur's "The Universal" as their theme, one of my favourite songs abused for their self righteous promotion, didn't like them one bit for that, not to mention their lies about lowering prices when the blummin' cost of the gas was falling anyway!!! )(-red
And one of their ads was banned for claiming efficiency over a christmas period they couldn't actually fulfil, so, they are pretty much shooting themselves in the foot...
And that ad with the blatantly branded flying VW Caddy vans advertising they offer nectar points for their customers, gawd that is so annoying, I wonder how much they were paid by VW for that bit of product placement... :-Nooo
| i don't know |
In our solar system, which planet is the hottest, with a mean surface temperature of 457 degrees centigrade? | How Hot is Venus?
How Hot is Venus?
By Nola Taylor Redd, Space.com Contributor |
November 16, 2012 06:15pm ET
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Although it is the second planet from the sun, Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system. The reason Venus is hotter than even Mercury is not because of its position in the solar system but because of its thick, dense cloud layer.
The lower left of this image shows a differential temperature map (not absolute values) of the venusian cloud tops, derived from the Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer, VIRTIS, on the planet’s night-side. The darker the region, the colder the cloud tops.
Credit: ESA/MPS/DLR/IDA VIRTIS infrared image: ESA/VIRTIS/INAF-IASF/Obs. de Paris-LESIA
A warm blanket
Venus is the planet most similar to the Earth in terms of size and mass , but its atmosphere causes huge differences in the temperatures of the two planets. The distance to Venus from the sun plays only a small role in the cause of its elevated heat wave.
The atmosphere of Venus is made up almost completely of carbon dioxide, with traces of nitrogen. Much of the hydrogen in the atmosphere evaporated early in the formation of Venus , leaving a thick atmosphere across the planet. At the surface , the atmosphere presses down as hard as water 3,000 feet beneath Earth's ocean.
The average temperature on Venus is 864 degrees Fahrenheit (462 degrees Celsius). Temperature changes slightly traveling through the atmosphere, growing cooler farther away from the surface. Lead would melt on the surface of the planet, where the temperature is around 872 F (467 C).
Temperatures are cooler in the upper atmosphere, ranging from (minus 43 C) to (minus 173 C).
Balmy all year-round
Temperatures on Venus remain consistent over time. For one thing, the planet takes 243 Earth days to spin once on its axis (and it spins backwards, at that; on Venus, the sun rises in the west and sets in the east). The nights on Venus are as warm as the days.
Venus also has a very small tilt of only 3.39 degrees with respect to the sun, compared to 23.4 degrees on Earth. On our planet, it is the tilt that provides us with the change in seasons; the hemisphere slanted closer to the sun feels the heat of spring and summer. The lack of tilt means that even if Venus got rid of its overheated atmosphere , it would still feel fairly consistent temperatures year round.
The lack of significant tilt causes only slight temperature variations from the equator to the poles, as well.
— Nola Taylor Redd, SPACE.com Contributor
Related:
| VENUS |
"Which singer, originally successful as part of a pop group, had solo top ten hits in the 1970's with the records ""Fallen Angel"" and ""My Eyes Adored You""?" | USATODAY.com
FAQ: Temperature, temperature records
Q: What's the highest elevation in the USA ever to record a reliable 100-degree reading?
A: The record may well be Jackson, Wyo., (elevation 6,200 feet), which recorded a high of 101° on July 17, 1934. In general, it would appear that an elevation of 6,000 to 6,500 feet is the upper limit throughout the West for 100° to be recorded. However, Santa Fe (elevation 7,000 feet) reached 99.5° on June 26, 1994, during the worst heat wave on record in the Southwest USA.
For more, this USA TODAY page lists each state's high temperature record.
(Answered by Christopher Burt, author of Extreme Weather , Sept. 24, 2007)
Q: What's the highest temperature ever recorded in Hawaii?
A: The Aloha States record high temperature of 100°F was set at Pahala, on the south side of the Big Island, on April 27, 1931. Thanks to the moderating influence of the surrounding Pacific Ocean, temperatures above the low 90s in Hawaii are unusual. Hawaiis all-time high is unusually cool -- every other states record high is above 100°F, with the exception of Alaska, which also has an all-time high of just 100°F.
Our state weather snapshot and this Hawaii climate summary (pdf) from the National Climatic Data Center have more about the weather in paradise.
(Answered by Doyle Rice, USA TODAY's weather editor, September 16, 2007)
Q: Why do bank thermometers tend to run warm? And how accurate are car thermometers?
A: Quite often, the temperature sensors for bank thermometers arent placed in the shade away from pavement and other objects. This leads to temperature readings that exceed the "official" temperature, typically taken at the nearest airport. Car thermometers, often located behind the front bumper or near the grill, are typically well-shaded. Locating the sensor near fresh air intakes helps to prevent an influence from the engine compartment. However, car thermometers can run slightly warm, mainly due to the warming influence of pavement.
There's plenty more about temperature on this USA TODAY resource page .
(Answered by meteorologist Bob Swanson, USA TODAY's assistant weather editor, September 12, 2007)
Q: What's the record for the highest nighttime temperature ever recorded?
A: Death Valley, Calif., recorded a low of 104° on the night of July 23-24, 2003, which is the highest overnight low anywhere in the world that I could find. Outside of the U.S. Desert Southwest, the only 100° minimum Ive seen was 100° on July 30, 1989, at Muscat, Oman. During this summer's heat wave in southern Italy, the town of Cefalu, Sicily, dropped to only 98.1° on the night of June 24-25. This was the highest minimum on record for Europe.
This page from Death Valley National Park has more about the weather and climate of the hottest, driest place in the USA.
(Answered by writer Christopher Burt, author of Extreme Weather , Sept. 10, 2007)
Q: Along which type of front is the 'worst' weather found in winter? Is this the same in summer?
A: While 'worst' is a relative term, cold fronts tend to generate some of the more sudden changes in weather. A late-spring or early-summer cold front can drive a wedge of cool, dry air below warm, moist air, sending it skyward and resulting in severe thunderstorms. This can bring damaging winds and hail in some spots, while other spots stay dry and enjoy cooler air behind the front. The more gradual lifting that occurs along a warm front, as warm air overruns cold air to the north, can result in widespread and prolonged rainfall or heavy snow in the winter.
Learn more about storms and fronts on this USA TODAY resource page .
(Answered by meteorologist Bob Swanson, USA TODAY's assistant weather editor, July 29, 2007)
Q: Which places have the same weather most of the year?
A: Because of the Earth's tilt, every place on Earth receives an amount of solar radiation that varies during the course of the year. This input of energy tends to be the most constant at the equator. Therefore, tropical locations near the equator tend to have constant heat and humidity nearly year-round. Tropical islands receive the additional benefit of the moderating influence of water, keeping their weather even more constant.
Learn more about how Earth's tilt impacts the seasons on this USA TODAY resource page .
(Answered by meteorologist Bob Swanson, USA TODAY's assistant weather editor, April 9, 2007)
Q: What major U.S. cities have the highest yearly average temperatures?
A: Christopher Burt's book Extreme Weather reports that Key West, Fla., with an annual average temperature of 78.0°F, is the warmest city in the USA by this definition. Other warm cities include Honolulu (77.5°F), Miami (76.6°F) and Fort Lauderdale (75.7°F). But despite its year-round warmth, Key West has only reached 100°F once, in August 1886. On the other end of the spectrum, the coldest major U.S. city is Fairbanks, Alaska, with an annual average of 26.7°F.
You can check monthly average temperartures for most major U.S. cities on USATODAY.com's city guide pages .
(Answered by Doyle Rice, USA TODAYs weather editor, April 2, 2007)
Q: Is there a city or town in the USA that maintains a 70°F temperature year round?
A: The one location I found that comes closest is Hilo, Hawaii , a town on the east side of the Big Island. Hilo has an annual average temperature of 74°F, with July being the warmest month at 76°F and January the coolest at 71°F. The all-time records arent too extreme in Hilo, either, with a record high of 94°F and a record low of 53°F. But bring your raincoat Hilo is also very wet, with an annual average of nearly 130 inches of rain.
This USA TODAY Hawaii state snapshot has much more about the weather and climate of the Aloha State, as does this Climate of Hawaii publication from the National Climatic Data Center.
(Answered by Doyle Rice, USA TODAYs weather editor, March 26, 2007)
Q: Does wind affect the temperature on a thermometer?
A: No, wind has no effect on the actual temperature on a thermometer. However, wind can affect the way the temperature feels on your skin. As the wind blows, it cools your body. This is why forecasters report the wind-chill temperature, which is how cold the air feels to the average person at a specific wind speed.
Learn more about wind chill on this USA TODAY resource page .
(Answered by meteorologist Julya Johnson from WBIR-TV in Knoxville, Tenn., March 7, 2007)
Q: Why does the frost line go deeper when the temperature starts getting warmer?
A: The frost line, also known as the freezing depth, is the depth to which the ground freezes during the winter. More specifically, it is the water within the soil that freezes. The frost line starts near the surface and gets deeper during the course of the winter. Just as it takes a prolonged period of cold air temperatures to begin the freezing process in the ground, there is also a lag time before warmer temperatures at the surface make an impact on the frost line well below ground level. The frost line may penetrate even deeper during this lag time.
Due to differences in wintertime temperatures from region to region, the frost line will be deeper in colder climes, while the ground may not freeze at all in warmer locations. The frost line is important, particularly to builders. Building codes require that foundations be dug at least to the depth of the frost line. Failure to do so would compromise the structural integrity of the building as the ground shifts, or heaves, during the freezing process.
For more about how ground freezes, check out this USA TODAY resource page .
(Answered by meteorologist Bob Swanson, USA TODAY's assistant weather editor)
Q: What's the difference in the temperature in the shade versus in the sun? Is there a rule of thumb - such as it's usually 10°F cooler in the shade?
A: Temperatures in the sun, naturally, are warmer than those in the shade. But the best way to determine the difference is to actually measure the temperature in the shade vs. the temperature in the sun.
I don't think you can have a "rule of thumb" to determine the difference of the temperature in the sun vs. the shade because of several factors:
1 - Time of year. The sun angle will have a big impact on how much solar radiation reaches the surface. Any time of year, there will be a difference, but, obviously, more of a difference in the summer than in the winter.
2 - The time of day, for similar reasons of differing solar radiation depending on time of day.
3 - Wind. While only living things can feel wind chill, the wind will mix the air and disperse the extra heat better than on a calm day.
This Ask Jack answer by former USA TODAY weather editor Jack Williams explains why official temperatures are recorded in the shade, not the sun. It also shows a photo of Jack in Antarctica, where the sun-soaked thermometer reads 80°F although the actual air temperature was in the 20s.
(Answered by meteorologist Howard Bernstein of WUSA-TV in Washington, D.C., February 19, 2007)
Q: Why does the coldest part of the winter come one month after the shortest day of the year?
A: Its mainly because it takes time for the atmosphere to adjust to the decreased amount of solar energy that occurs in the winter. This atmospheric lag is due to the huge volume of water in the oceans, which cover 71% of the Earths surface and are a major contributor of energy to the atmosphere. Less solar energy in winter slowly lowers the temperature of water in the oceans, which in turn slowly cools the atmosphere. This is the reason for the temperature lag in winter, as well as during the summer, when the warmest weather occurs several weeks after the longest day.
For a real-life example that explains the summertime lag, turn on a stove and feel over the burner the air is heated almost immediately (analogous to land on long, sunny days near the summer solstice). Put a pot of water over the heat, however, and the air above the water is not nearly as warm as it was before. It takes more energy to increase the temperature of water, which in turn warms the air above the water.
To learn more about the Earth's seasons, check out this USA TODAY resource page .
(Answered by meteorologist Bob Swanson, USA TODAY's assistant weather editor, February 5, 2007)
Q: Is the urban heat island effect as evident in winter as in summer?
A: The urban heat island effect results when solar radiation heats up pavement and building surfaces in urban areas while this same energy is used for evaporation and transpiration in rural areas. At night, energy from Earth radiates more rapidly to space in rural locations, while building inhibits the same amount of heat loss in cities. Thus, the urban heat island tends to keep cities warmer, sometimes up to 10 to 15° F, both day and night than the surrounding countryside.
We don't think about life-threatening heat waves during the winter, but the urban heat island effect can still keep cities significantly warmer than surrounding areas. While the lower angle of the sun and shorter days reduce solar radiation everywhere in the winter, the concentration of heating sources in cities can still keep urban areas much warmer than rural locations.
There's plenty more about urban heat islands on this USA TODAY resource page .
(Answered by meteorologist Bob Swanson, USA TODAY's assistant weather editor, February 4, 2007)
Q: Why is it warmer at lower elevations and cooler at higher elevations, since you're closer to the sun at higher elevations?
A: It is true that the sun's energy, particularly its ultraviolet radiation, can be more intense high in the mountains and can lead to some nasty sunburns if you're not careful.
However, the main source of energy for the troposphere the lowest layer of the atmosphere where we live and most weather happens is not the sun directly, but rather the sun-warmed surface of the Earth. Due to the effect of gravity, air is densest near the surface of the Earth. Air, heated at the surface, becomes less dense than its surroundings and rises. Since pressure also decreases with elevation, this rising air expands and cools as it rises. The temperature of the troposphere thus decreases as you climb to higher elevations.
Beyond the troposphere, the temperature of the stratosphere actually increases with altitude, due to the concentration of ozone which increases with altitude in the stratosphere. Since ozone absorbs ultraviolet energy from the sun, the stratosphere is warmest where the ozone concentration is greatest.
Learn more about temperature on this USA TODAY resource page .
(Answered by meteorologist Bob Swanson, USA TODAY's assistant weather editor, January 25, 2007)
Q: Can hot water freeze in cold air before hitting the ground?
A: Given the right conditions, it can. One necessary condition is that the air be very cold, on the order of -35°F or colder. If the water temperature is close to the boiling point, it is close to evaporating anyway. Now toss the water out of its cup and into the air, and it will have more surface area, increasing the amount of evaporation. A cloud of frozen ice crystals will result.
Learn more about the phases of water on this USA TODAY resource page .
(Answered by meteorologist Bob Swanson, USA TODAY's assistant weather editor, January 23, 2007)
Q: How many states have never recorded a temperature below 0°?
A: Just one Hawaii. The lowest temperature ever recorded in Hawaii was 12°, measured on May 17, 1979, at the Mauna Kea Observatory on the Big Island. Most states have record lows well below 0°, except for Florida, which has an all-time low of -2°. That record was set in Tallahassee on Feb. 13, 1899.
For each state's all-time low temperature record, check out this USA TODAY resource page . Another good reference for weather records is Christopher Burt's book Extreme Weather .
(Answered by Doyle Rice, USA TODAYs weather editor, January 22, 2007)
Q: What's the difference between "arctic" and "polar" air?
A: An air mass is simply a large volume of air that has similar temperature and water vapor content throughout. Air masses tend to take on characteristics of the areas where they form. In the case of arctic air, the source region for the air mass is above the Arctic Circle. This cold and dry air tends to only form during the winter. Polar air masses form at high latitudes, but not typically above the Arctic Circle. While not as cold or dry as arctic air, polar air can result in winter storms in the USA as well as welcome relief during hot summer months.
Learn more about air masses on this USA TODAY resource page .
(Answered by meteorologist Bob Swanson, USA TODAY's assistant weather editor, January 15, 2007)
Q: Where are the USA's coolest temperatures found during the summer?
A: If you are looking to stay cool in the summertime, head for Alaska. Barrow, located north of the Arctic Circle on the Arctic Ocean, has a chilly average summertime high temperature of 47°F. Nome sees average highs near 58°F in the summertime. Othern Alaskan average highs include 62°F in Anchorage, 59°F in Valdez, and 57°F in Dutch Harbor and Kodiak.
Remember that summer temperatures in Alaska can get much warmer. Temperatures in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Valdez regularly hit the 70s to low 80s at least a few times in summer.
In the lower 48, the coasts of northern California, Oregon and Washington are the coolest spots, with daytime high temperatures in the 50s and low 60s, thanks to cold ocean waters flowing south from higher latitudes
Places like Astoria, Ore., and Cape Disappointment, Wash., are cool because of the cold "California Current," which flows south and causes upwelling of even cooler ocean waters right along the coast. When warm air from inland locations moves over the cold ocean, fog frequently forms near the ocean, holding daytime temperatures to the 50s and low 60s.
Cape Disappointment is the foggiest place in the USA, with 106 days of fog per year. Astoria, Ore., has average highs near 62°F in the middle of summer with frequent fog as well.
That cold California Current continues down most of the West Coast, causing similar weather conditions. Fog and low clouds commonly linger all day long in places like Pt. Reyes, San Francisco, Monterey, and Morrow Bay, Calif.
A quote commonly misattributed to Mark Twain once said, "the coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." While it is true that clouds and low fog frequently hug the California coast holding temperatures to the 50s and low 60s in the summertime, these conditions are frequently interrupted by much warmer, "offshore," wind events, where temperatures climb into the 90s...far from cool.
(Answered by meteorologist Nick OKelly of KUSA-TV in Denver, December 19, 2006)
Q: Is there a difference between the centigrade and Celsius temperature scales?
A: No, they are two names for the same metric temperature scale, where 0° is the freezing point and 100° is the temperature at which water boils. The USA is one of the only nations in the world that still uses the Fahrenheit temperature scale for measuring temperatures. However, the entire scientific world (including the USA) uses the Celsius scale. After a brief surge of interest in the 1970s, the USAs attempt to switch to the metric system soon fizzled out.
This USA TODAY resource page shows how to convert between the Fahrenheit and Celsius temperature scales.
(Answered by Doyle Rice, USA TODAY's weather editor, November 27, 2006)
Q: At what temperature can wind chill injure or kill you?
A: Wind chill is not the actual air temperature, but rather the temperature it feels like to humans and animals based on the rate of heat loss due to the wind. Meteorologists use the wind chill index to determine how cold it feels to the average person. However, the way it feels to people will vary depending upon age, health and how much clothing is worn. While different for each person, wind chill temperatures below zero can become dangerous.
For more, check out this National Weather Service wind chill FAQ.
(Answered by meteorologist Julya Johnson of WBIR-TV in Knoxville, Tenn., November 15, 2006)
Q: Why is the coldest weather associated with light or no wind?
A: The coldest temperatures usually occur when the wind is light or calm because the air isnt mixing. During light or calm winds, the coldest air settles toward the Earths surface, where we live. However, when its windy , air feels colder to the exposed skin because of the wind chill.
This USA TODAY resource page has more about wind chill.
(Answered by Cindy Preszler, John Fuller, Scott Connell and Mike Roberts of the KSDK-TV weather team in St. Louis, November 14, 2006)
Q: At what time of day do the daily high and low temperatures usually occur? Are there exceptions to this?
A: High temperatures usually occur between 3:00 and 4:00 p.m., usually at about 3:00 p.m. in the winter and 4:00 p.m. in the summer. The sun is at its highest point in the sky at noon, but theres always a "lag" in temperature response. (This "lag" also takes place as the seasons change ; for example, although the sun's angle is most direct on the summer solstice in June, the warmest months are in July and August.)
The daily low temperatures usually occur just before sunrise, after the heat from the day escapes back into space overnight.
There are exceptions to this, of course. One example would be the timing of the passage of a strong warm or cold front . There are very few rules that always work when talking about the weather!
(Answered by meteorologist Tony Pann of WUSA-TV in Washington, November 6, 2006)
Q: Two fields are exposed to the same amount of sunlight. The one field is covered with water and the other field is dry. Over which field will the air temperature be higher?
A: When sunshine hits the ground, its energy goes into increasing the temperature of the soil which, in turn, heats the surrounding air. When the soil is wet, however, some of the sun's energy goes into changing liquid water in the soil into water vapor. This takes away from the energy available to heat the ground. Therefore, the air temperature over dry soil would be warmer than the air temperature over wet soil.
Learn more about phase changes of water on this USA TODAY resource page .
(Answered by meteorologist Bob Swanson, USA TODAY's assistant weather editor, October 15, 2006)
Q: Why is it that since our body temperature is 98.6°, when we are outside in 85° weather, we feel hot? Shouldn't we feel cold?
A: Your body is always creating heat through internal processes and exercise, as well as losing heat to your surroundings. The body, particularly a part of the brain called the hypothalamus, tries to maintain a balance between this heat creation and heat loss, maintaining a core temperature around 98.6°. When at rest, this balance is most easily attained when surrounding temperatures are near 70°. When the air temperature is higher, the body must take steps to increase heat loss, including sweating and increasing blood flow to the skin.
There's plenty more about how the body regulates temperature on this USA TODAY resource page .
(Answered by meteorologist Bob Swanson, USA TODAY's assistant weather editor, September 28, 2006)
Q: When a daily record high or low temperature is recorded for a location, is it averaged into the statistics for the following year?
A: No. Climate scientists generally use a 30-year average to which current temperatures can be compared as "departures from normal." This 30-year period is often referred to as the "climate normal, and is updated every 10 years for the most recent 30-year period (the data set widely used now is from 1971-2000; previous data sets were from 1951-80 and 1961-90). We are now starting to use a 100-year (1901-2000) normal for national statistics.
But once a daily record temperature is verified, its included in a historical data set, which includes all data for the location's period of record, which is different from the climate normal data set.
(Answered byJay Lawrimore, chief of the Climate Monitoring Branch at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Sept.25, 2006)
Q: What's the difference between a frost and a freeze?
A: Frost is defined as a fuzzy covering of ice crystals that forms on surfaces at or below freezing. A frost also has come to mean a brief dip in temperatures to freezing or just below, with or without ice crystals. With ice crystals, the technical name is hoarfrost. Black frost refers to a dry freeze without ice crystals, which kills vegetation, turning it black.
A freeze, on the other hand, occurs when the temperature drops well below freezing and may or may not include ice crystals. The amount of time below freezing to warrant a freeze warning varies depending on geography. Freeze warnings are issued when temperatures will be below freezing for a sufficient amount of time to do damage to vegetation.
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There's plenty more about frost, snow and ice on this USA TODAY resource page .
(Answered by meteorologist Bob Swanson, USA TODAY's assistant weather editor, September 12, 2006)
Q: If the Arctic and northern Canada have more daylight than the USA in the summer, why isn't it warmer up there?
A: It's not so much the length of daylight but the sun's angle that determines how warm a location might become. Locations at high latitudes, despite longer daylight hours in the summer, receive only a glancing blow from the sun's rays, while latitudes closer to the equator receive much more intense radiation and therefore more solar energy that contributes to daytime heating.
That said, while parts of Alaska and Canada can be bitterly cold during the winter, they can be quite comfortable places to visit during the summertime.
There's plenty more about Alaskan summer weather on this USA TODAY resource page .
(Answered by meteorologist Bob Swanson, USA TODAY's assistant weather editor, September 6, 2006)
Q: Is International Falls, Minnesota, the official "Icebox of the Nation"? One source claimed that Tower had the record with a temperature -60°F and Embarrass only -57°F, another source said Embarrass had hit -64°F, which location is the nation's true cold spot?
A: From a meteorological or climatological standpoint, determining what location deserves to call itself the "Icebox of the Nation" depends on the criteria used.
Of the three cities listed, Tower has the lowest annual mean temperature, at 34.6°F. Embarrass isn't far behind, however, at 34.9°F. The annual mean temperature at International Falls is 37.4°F, the lowest of any National Weather Service first-order station located at a city in the contiguous USA.
Focusing just on daily minimum temperatures, the normal (1971-2000 average) value is 26.1°F at International Falls and 20.3°F at Tower. Although no official normals data are available for Embarrass, the average daily minimum temperature there, based on data from 1994-2001, is 22.9°F. The normal daily low during January typically the coldest month is -8.4°F at International Falls and -13.6°F at Tower, while the average daily low for January at Embarrass (again, based on data from 1994-2001) is -9.6°F.
In terms of number of days per year at or below 0°F, Tower averages about 71 days per year, while Embarrass and International Falls each average about 64 days per year.
Tower has also been colder, officially, than any city in Minnesota, a designation it achieved when the NWS Cooperative observer there recorded a low temperature of -60°F on February 2, 1996, setting a new official, all-time state record low. Less than two weeks prior, on January 21, 1996, Embarrass recorded its official all-time record low of -57°F. Unofficially, the mercury at Embarrass dipped as low as -64°F on February 2 of that year, while the same morning a thermometer placed in a swamp near the Tower observing site reportedly registered -74°F. The official low in International Falls that day was -45°F. The record low for International Falls is -55°F, recorded on January 6, 1909.
Whether this earns Tower the right to officially call itself the "Icebox of the Nation" may be a contentious legal issue. In 1987, both International Falls and Fraser, Colo., submitted applications to secure a trademark to the title, "Icebox of the Nation." Fraser ultimately was granted the trademark, and a two-year legal battle between the cities ensued.
In 1989, just as the case was to be heard by the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, Fraser agreed to give up the rights to use the title nationally or with manufacturers who wish to conduct cold-weather product testing, in exchange for $2,000 to cover legal fees. Although Fraser retained the right to use the title within the state of Colorado, a recent article in the Denver Post describes how some residents are now mounting an effort to scrap the label altogether.
Meanwhile, the rivalry between the three northern Minnesota towns continues, as discussed in a 2004 article in The New York Times .
Other cities that have called themselves "The Icebox of the Nation" (or "The Nation's Icebox") include Pellston, Mich., Truckee, Calif., Stanley, Idaho, and West Yellowstone, Mont.
Based on USA TODAY's archive of U.S. daily national temperature extremes since April 1995 , which are provided by the National Weather Service, Stanley, Idaho, has been the nation's cold spot (outside of Alaska) more often than any other location, having recorded or tied for the lowest temperature in the contiguous USA a total of 478 days. This is followed by West Yellowstone, Mont. (385 days), Gunnison, Colo. (208 days), Truckee, Calif. (184 days), and Saranac Lake, N.Y. (143 days). During the same period, Fraser has recorded the lowest temperature in the nation 103 times, while International Falls has done so a total of 75 times.
Incidentally, the lowest temperature ever recorded in the lower 48 states was -69.7°F which was rounded off to -70°F at Rogers Pass, Mont., on Jan. 20, 1954. For more, see our article on state record low temperatures .
(Answered by Sean Potter, a certified consulting meteorologist and science writer in New York City, August 9, 2006)
Q: I live in Boston and the heat has me wondering. What makes one day 97 and the next day 79 if both days are sunny and clear?
A: While energy from the sun does serve to warm the air, other factors affect air temperature, especially the direction of the wind. A process called advection, in which the wind transports a colder or warmer air mass into an area, can sometimes overwhelm the heating of the sun. That is to say, a cold wind from the north can lower the temperatures during a day that is sunny. Likewise, a warm southerly breeze can make the mercury climb, even on an overcast day.
Existing soil conditions also contribute to how quickly the mercury rises on a sunny day. Much of the solar energy that moves through the atmosphere does not directly heat the air. Rather, the sunshine reaches the ground and warms it, which in turn heats the air near the surface. If the soil is dry without much green vegetation, the sun quickly warms it and air temperatures climb quickly. If there has been a recent rain and soils are wet, much of the solar energy goes into evaporating water in the soil, rather than heating the soil.
Learn more about air temperature on this USA TODAY resource page .
(Answered by meteorologist Bob Swanson, USA TODAY's assistant weather editor, August 2, 2006)
Q: Why does northern Japan tend to be so much colder than Ireland, even though it's closer to the equator?
A: It is true that northern Japan is closer to the equator than Ireland. By way of example, Sapporo is at 43°N latitude, while Dublin is around 53°N latitude. It is also true that northern Japan is colder than Ireland, but only in the winter. The average high in Sapporo in January is 31°F, while Dublin averages 46°F. However, the average August high in Sapporo is 73°F, but only 66°F in Dublin.
It should be remembered that temperature is not determined solely by average sun angle during the year. Especially in the case of these two island nations, the surrounding ocean temperatures can have a significant influence on air temperature. Ireland is far warmer than locations at similar latitudes in Canada or Russia due to the warming influence of the warm North Atlantic Current. Northern Japan, on the other hand, is influenced by the cold Oyashio Current. Northern Japan can also get reinforcing blasts of continental polar air blowing in from Siberia, located to the northwest.
Learn more about the ocean's impact on temperature on this USA TODAY resource page .
(Answered by meteorologist Bob Swanson, USA TODAY's assistant weather editor, July 31, 2006)
Q: In the summer, why are coastal locations usually cooler than those inland?
A: Sea breezes help keep coastal locations cooler during the summer than those inland. They form during the day, when land heats up more quickly than nearby ocean water. As the land heats up, warm, light air above the ground begins to rise. Cooler air over the ocean, which is heavier and denser, pushes inland to replace the rising warm air, creating a cooling sea breeze.
The opposite occurs during the night, when the ocean water stays warm and the land cools off quickly. The cooler air over the land moves offshore to replace the warm, rising air over the ocean. This cycle creates a mild land breeze during the night at the beach.
Coastal locations not only stay cooler than inland areas during the summer, but they are usually milder during the winter as well. The nearby ocean water acts as a temperature moderator, since water takes longer to both heat and cool than land. As a result, areas near the ocean often stay warmer than inland locations during the winter.
Learn more about sea breezes on this USA TODAY resource page .
(Answered by Greg Seroka of USA TODAYs weather staff, July 25, 2006)
Q: What is a cooling degree day?
A: A cooling degree day is used during warm weather to estimate the required energy for cooling indoor air to a comfortable temperature. One cooling degree day occurs for each degree a days average air temperature is above 65°F. Large cooling degree day values imply warm weather and, thus, a large energy demand for cooling.
This Climate Prediction Center page has more about degree days, as does this National Climatic Data Center page .
(Answered by meteorologist Tracy McCormick of the National Weather Service in Taunton, Mass., June 14, 2006)
Q: What is the average temperature of the Earth?
A: According to the World Meteorological Organization and the National Climatic Data Center , the average temperature of the Earths surface in 2005 was 58.1°F. This was the second-warmest year since record-keeping began in 1861. The warmest year on record was 1998. The global average is based on readings from more than 7,200 ground weather stations around the world and from ships and buoys at sea.
Learn more about the Earth's average temperature in 2005 on this USA TODAY resource page .
(Answered by meteorologist Bob Swanson, USA TODAY's assistant weather editor, January 17, 2006)
Q: Has the average temperature of the Earth risen over the last hundred years or so?
A: According to the National Climatic Data Center , global surface temperatures rose about 1°F between 1880 to 2001. This increase, however, was not uniform across the globe and has been greatest over North America and Eurasia. The United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change suggests said that by the end of this century, average global temperatures should increase from 2.5°F to 10°F.
Learn more global warming and climate change on this USA TODAY resource page .
(Answered by meteorologist Bob Swanson, USA TODAY's assistant weather editor, January 12, 2006)
Q: How do changes in the Gulf Stream's temperature and speed affect the weather?
A: Near the Gulf Stream, the ocean temperature modifies the lower layers of the atmosphere, which results in stronger winds and thunderstorm development. The speed of the Gulf Stream can also affect local conditions by interacting with the wind to change the characteristics of wind-driven waves. When the wind blows in an opposite direction to a strong ocean current, the waves tend to be steeper and break more frequently.
(Answered by Joe Sienkiewicz, science and operations officer with NOAAs Ocean Prediction Center in Camp Springs, Md., January 5, 2006.)
Q: How are Fahrenheit temperatures converted to Celsius?
A: Celsius is the unit of temperature measurement in the metric system. The easiest way to convert Fahrenheit to Celsius is to subtract 32 from the Fahrenheit reading, divide that number by 9, then multiply the result by 5. To reverse the process, multiply a Celsius reading by 9, divide the answer by 5, then add 32 to the result.
According to the U.S. Metric Association , the only other countries other than the USA that have not officially adopted the metric system are Liberia (in western Africa) and Myanmar, in Southeast Asia.
Learn more about temperature conversions on this USA TODAY resource page .
(Answered by meteorologist Bob Swanson, USA TODAY's assistant weather editor, January 3, 2006)
Q: Has a temperature of 100°F ever been recorded in January in the USA?
A: According to the records of the National Climatic Data Center , it's never happened. The highest temperature ever recorded in the USA in January was a reading of 95°F in Los Angeles on January 18, 1971. December is the only other month without a 100°F reading in the USA.
(Answered by Doyle Rice, USA TODAY's weather editor, January 2, 2006)
Q: Why are temperatures typically lowest around sunrise?
A: Just like your household budget, the Earth has an energy budget. During the day, energy arriving from the sun exceeds energy that the Earth radiates back into space, so temperatures usually rise. At night, incoming solar energy drops off, but the Earth continues to radiate energy, so temperatures typically fall. Dawn comes after a full night in which the Earth has lost energy and received very little, much like the day before your paycheck arrives and your bank account is at its lowest.
(Answered by meteorologist Bob Swanson, USA TODAY's assistant weather editor, December 6, 2005)
Q: What are the highest and lowest temperatures ever recorded on the nine planets of the solar system?
A: With the sun being the main source of energy for all planets in the solar system, it would seem obvious that Mercury, being the closest to the sun, would be the hottest planet. However, since Mercury does not have an atmosphere, Venus holds the record of hottest in the solar system, with an average temperature around 867°F. Pluto, the most distant from the sun, is the coldest planet with an average temperature of -369°F.
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center maintains a page of planet facts on this resource page .
(Answered by meteorologist Bob Swanson, USA TODAY's assistant weather editor, December 4, 2005)
Q: I know the highest air temperature in U.S. history is 134°F in Death Valley, but what is the record for highest ground temperature?
A: Long-term records are kept only for air temperature. These readings are typically taken over open, grassy surfaces about two meters above ground level. Unfortunately, there are no records kept for ground temperatures. However, the EPA reports that pavement can range from 120°F to 140° F, while some roofs can reach 150°F to 190°F. Pavement and buildings contribute to the urban heat island effect.
Our converting between temperature scales page has more on the different scales.
Once you have converted to the Kelvin scale you're ready to figure out what twice as cold means. "Twice as cold would mean only half the heat energy," Weinbeck says. "So that the absolute temperature would be half of 255.46 K or 127.73 K. Such temperatures would certainly shiver your timbers!"
To see how much it would shiver your timbers, convert back to Celsius. Since you added 273.16 to the Celsius temperature to get the Kelvin temperature, you'd do the opposite to go the other way. That is, subtract 273.16 from 127.73 K to get the Celsius temperature of minus 145.43 degrees. This is a lot colder than the world record cold of minus 89.6 degrees C. set July 21, 1983 at the Russian Vostok Station in Antarctica. If tomorrow is really going to be that cold, the sun must be dying.
Q: What are the coldest and the hottest temperatures in each of the states in the USA, in history.
A: If you go to the USATODAY.com Weather extremes page you'll find links at the top of the page the lists of the highest and lowest temperatures for each of the 50 U.S. states. When you go to those pages you'll see a graphic at the top of each on the warmest and coldest records. Scroll down for the complete list of state records. Our extremes page has the nation's highest and lowest readings for the past week plus links to a lot more U.S. and global information on weather extremes.
Q: Does the "wind chill" actually lower the temperature of the air?
A: No. A USATODAY.com file on Wind chill applies only to people and animals explains why.
Q: What is the global temperature index? How is it calculated and how does one interpret the numbers?
A: Don't feel bad about being clueless on the ABC Morning News "temperature index." No one on the USATODAY.com Weather Team could figure it out. In 1998 Chris Vaccaro called ABC and find out what's going on. Here's his report:
"I finally spoke with Ronnie Riece who is the only person there during the daytime. She is the daytime producer for ABC World News Now. She asked me if I was familiar with the show, I said no. She then went on to explain that the shows is on early in the morning and isn't exactly the most serious news show. The temperature index has been on the program for a few years now. Its purpose is to poke fun at the other indexes that people don't understand. She said there is an actual mathematical formula that only one person knows and computes using data from several cities. She also said that its just for viewers to see that if the index goes up its going to be hotter and if it goes down its going to be cooler."
What can we say? At USATODAY.com we try to help our readers make sense of the world, not make fun of them.
Q: Should you measure temperature in the sun or shade?
A: Thermometers - which measure temperature - should always be in the shade to give a more accurate reading. Direct sunshine warms the instrument, making readings warmer than the air. Thermometers should also be at least three feet above the ground and away from buildings which give off heat.
Q: What do forecasts of normal, above normal or below temperatures mean?
A: In weather and climate, "normal" is the same thing as "average." To be more precise, normals generally refer to averages of a 30-year period. Right now, in the USA and many other countries, they are 1961 through 1990 averages. By the 2002 , they will become the 1971-2000 averages. The USATODAY.com Online weather almanac has links to guides to the month-to-month weather of cities around the world. Among other things, these include the normal temperatures for each month.
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"Who wrote the poem ""The Darkling Thrush""? He is better known as a classic novelist?" | Analysis Of Thomas Hardy s The Darkling Thrush Free Essays
Analysis Of Thomas Hardy S The Darkling Thrush
THE DARKLING THRUSH ANALYSIS TRI ANISSAH ARFIANI; 121211233040 1. Illustration 1st Stanza In this first stanza,... the speaker is lying on bushes when the weather is very cold. According to the speaker, the winter doesn’t have a white snow like any other winter but the snow is dirty. We can see this as the writer used “…Winter’s dregs…”, dregs is a term to called a black or dirty residue that comes out in the bottom of our cup when we have drunk our coffee. In addition, beside the cold weather the...
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2014 Dr. Faustino Introduction to Poetry “The Darkling Thrush” “The Darkling Thrush” by... Thomas Hardy is a thirty-two line poem that contains four stanzas. The first two stanzas provide the setting of the poem and the last two stanzas describe more about his feeling towards winter. In "The Darkling Thrush" brings subtle messages to light regarding the seasons and even the elements but here's the thing, though: like everything else in "The Darkling Thrush," all of the classical allusions in this poem...
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Devices Towards the end of the 19th Century, Thomas Hardy composed, "The Darkling Thrush" which... illustrates how happiness can be found amid dismay and gloom if one still has hope. Poetic devices strongly emphasize the author's message regarding the bleak isolation of the world and how hope can still remain. Techniques involving the choice of diction, atmosphere, and the change of mood demonstrate Hardy's implication as shown in "The Darkling Thrush". As the poem begins, the reader is stricken...
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Analyse of “the Darkling Thrush”
Analyse of “The Darkling Thrush” Thomas Hardy presents a theme of hope in his poem The... Darkling Thrush. In the poem winter season has brought about death and despair. A tired old man leans over a coppice gate in a desolate area, to see the ghosts of the past and little hope for the future. Hardy uses imagery to evoke ideas and images in the readers mind. “The land's sharp features seemed to me. The Century's corpse outleant, His crypt the cloudy canopy, The wind its death-lament.” In describing...
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An Examination of Thomas Hardy's "The Darkling Thrush"
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Analysis of the Poem: the Darkling Thrush
The Darkling Thrush Paraphrase and analyze the poem: Speaker: The speaker in the first two stanzas is portrayed as pessimistic... and dark, but this changed in the two last stanzas. In any case, the speaker is conveyed to have strong feelings for nature. Form: Rhyming scheme is clearly visible giving to poem a rhythm. The 3rd stanza’s rhyming scheme seems to have been modified, if not a little disturbed having a not as good phonetic ending at the end of each stanza conveying the speaker’s disturbance...
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Critical Analysis of Convergence of the Twain Thomas Hardy
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Thomas Hardy Frank & Chelsea Here are a few poems and things to write about. The Man he Killed The short lines, simple... rhyme scheme, and everyday language make the piece almost nursery rhyme like in simplicity, again in ironic contrast to its less than pleasant subject. The Voice Though the vigorous anapaestic metre of the poem helps convey this initial hope, it proves unwieldy for Hardy, as is evident in the clumsy third stanza, where “listlessness” rhymes with Hardy's unfortunate coinage...
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Analysis of Thomas Hardy
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Analyse the poetry of Thomas Hardy
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Darkling Thrush Brief Analysis
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Estrangement in W B Yeats and Thomas Hardy
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Thomas Hardy
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Nature Is at the Heart of ‘the Darkling Thrush’ and Most of Hardy's Most Famous Poems.
Nature is at the heart of ‘The Darkling Thrush’ and most of Hardy’s most famous poems. Hardy is a renowned rural... poet which suggests that he has a keen interest and knowledge of nature. However, this is not to say that nature is at the heart at every one of his most famous poems – it is sometimes merely a backdrop for other themes, such as war, fate and lost love. Hardy explores human nature in ‘Drummer Hodge’, the downward spiral of mankind using ‘Channel Firing’ and romantic grief in ‘The Voice’...
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Thomas Hardy as a War Poet
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Thomas Hardy Poems Notes
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Present, Time 1468 Words | 4 Pages
Referring Closely to 2 Poems, Discuss the Poetic Methods Hardy Uses to Evoke Distinctive Settings in His Poem.
discuss the poetic methods Hardy uses to evoke distinctive settings in his poem. Thomas Hardy’s ‘The Ruined Maid’ is a poem... about a young woman named Amelia who meets her old friend, and character foil, in town from her old life in the rural areas. As the poem progresses, with her friend making contrasting comparisons between how Amelia was and how she is now, we begin to realize that she had traded in her virtues to have, ironically at that era, a better life. Hardy evokes distinctive settings...
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The Darkling Thrush
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The Darkling Thrush
Hardy’s poem, “The Darkling Thrush” brings into perspective two different worlds. There is the present world before his very eyes... and the one in the future. This view becomes imperative when one takes cognizance of the context in which the poem is written. The poem is reportedly written by Thomas Hardy on the eve of the 20th century. The first world is the world of the 19th century Victorian society, marked historically by the industrial revolution with its attendant abuse of morality, nature and...
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thomas hardy
Thomas Hardy, OM (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist, in the tradition... of George Eliot, he was also influenced both in his novels and poetry by Romanticism, especially by William Wordsworth.[1] Charles Dickens is another important influence on Thomas Hardy.[2] Like Dickens, he was also highly critical of much in Victorian society, though Hardy focused more on a declining rural society. While Hardy wrote poetry throughout his life, and regarded himself...
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Neutral Tones by Thomas Hardy
Neutral Tones by Thomas Hardy (1867) Neutral Tones BY THOMAS HARDY We stood by a pond that... winter day, And the sun was white, as though chidden of God, And a few leaves lay on the starving sod; – They had fallen from an ash, and were gray. Your eyes on me were as eyes that rove Over tedious riddles of years ago; And some words played between us to and fro On which lost the more by our love. The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing Alive enough to have...
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The Going by Thomas Hardy
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Is Thomas Hardy Obsessed with the Past?
Q) A critic has described Hardy as, “A poet obsessed with the past.” How far do you agree with the claim? In your answer, you should... either refer to two/three poems in detail, or range more widely through the whole selection. Many of Thomas Hardy’s poems are centered on the feelings summoned up when reminiscing about the past. On the surface, it seems as though Hardy is ‘obsessed with the past’ as many poems are laced with memories which conjure up feelings of nostalgia. It is important...
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Oxen by Thomas Hardy
TP CASTT: Oxen by Thomas Hardy Title- I predict the poem will be about something about an ox. In addition, I predict the... oxen in the poem will symbolize strength, so an idea of strength or power might be portrayed. Paraphrase- It is Christmas Eve and an elder is telling the children a story near the fire. The children initially believe the story about Oxen kneeling and did not doubt the fact at all. Years later, the children obviously grow older and eventually do not believe the story...
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At Castle Boterel by Thomas Hardy
At Castle Boterel by Thomas Hardy The poem was written in March 1913 when Hardy visited Cornwall after the death... of his wife Emma Lavinia Gifford. The fictional name of the poem came from Boscastle, a mile from where Emma lived when she first met Hardy. It recalls a small incident during a journey he had together with Emma on a road near Boscastle forty years earlier. The fact that the poem is set in Cornwall means that it immediately stands out from the bulk of Hardy’s work which was set in...
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During Wind and Rain Thomas Hardy Full analysis
During Wind and Rain, Hardy uses up to 5 themes ,4 major ones and a minor one in it to portray the imagery and situation of what the poet... himself is trying to set forward. The first theme of Time shows how Hardy is very aware that time moves on. Nothing lasts for-ever. All joys are temporary. Human happiness is only temporary. Each stanza ends with an image of the years passing. He seems to regret the changes that time has brought to the happy family scenes. In all case Hardy introduces the subject...
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Research Paper on Thomas Hardy
tragedy is often discussed in terms of this book. Fascinated by Greek tragedy, Hardy uses tragic circumstances to enhance the Wessex... countryside and its inhabitants. By doing so he not only develops his story, but attains a certain grandeur for his novel. His first attempts at tragedy were The Return of the Native and The Mayor of Casterbridge, but Tess of the d'Urbervilles is the culmination of his efforts. In this work, Hardy projects ancient drama into modern novel form. To accomplish this, he models...
Harold Bloom, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy 1917 Words | 5 Pages
The Philosophy of Thomas Hardy
the Philosophy of Thomas Hardy Hardy: An Artist and Not a Philosopher Hardy was an artist and not a... philosopher. He repeatedly affirmed that the ‘Views’ expressed in his novels were not his convictions or beliefs; they were simply “impressions” of the moment. His writings were all, ‘mood dictated’,merely, ‘explorations of reality’, and so it would be wrong to expect any systematised philosophy of life. But when certain impressions persist and are constantly repeated in the creative works, diaries...
Arthur Schopenhauer, Life, Meaning of life 1958 Words | 4 Pages
|[pic] |Thomas Hardy's poetry - study guide |... [pic] |Navigation Home page |[|Introduction | |Contents Forum Maximize |p|About Thomas Hardy | |Search Comment Mail me |i|War poems ...
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Comparative Analysis on a Jest of God by Margaret Laurence and Tess of the D'Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy
reader's understanding of the characters. The method in which an author conveys the setting, society, and feelings is crucial in the attempt to impart an... idea to the readers. In both A Jest of God by Margaret Laurence and Tess of the D'Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy, the authors use techniques to convey their own ideas of society through the main characters. In Hardy's novel, we see him use several means to demonstrate the rigours of the society in which both he and Tess lived. Similarly in Laurence's novel...
Character, Fiction, First-person narrative 1423 Words | 4 Pages
poem by Thomas hardy
poems NEUTRAL TONES by: Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) E stood by a pond that winter day, And the sun was white, as though... chidden of God, And a few leaves lay on the starving sod, --They had fallen from an ash, and were gray. Your eyes on me were as eyes that rove Over tedious riddles solved years ago; And some words played between us to and fro-- On which lost the more by our love. The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing Alive enough to have strength to die; And a grin of...
Love, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Poetry 4086 Words | 15 Pages
Far from the Madding Crowd Thomas Hardy
"Far from the Madding Crowd Thomas Hardy The following is a summary of critical viewpoints on Hardy's Far from the Madding... Crowd. See also Thomas Hardy Literary Criticism, Thomas Hardy Short Story Criticism, and Jude the Obscure Criticism. INTRODUCTION Long considered one of England's foremost nineteenth-century novelists, Hardy established his reputation with the publication of Far from the Madding Crowd in 1874. It was the first of his so-called “Wessex novels,” set in a fictitious English...
Criticism, Far from the Madding Crowd, Jude the Obscure 931 Words | 3 Pages
Thomas Hardy Poems
it joy lies slain, And why unblooms the best hope ever sown? --Crass Casualty obstructs the sun and rain, And dicing Time for gladness casts a moan....... These purblind Doomsters had as readily strown Blisses about my pilgrimage as pain. HAP ANALYSIS Firstly the word 'hap' means 'that which happens by chance.' The poem is a sonnet, although it is presented as three stanzas in that the traditional octave is split into two stanzas each of four lines and the sestet is a stanza on its own. The rhyme...
Beijing Subway, Love, Madrid Metro 16091 Words | 45 Pages
Analysis of the Voice by Thomas Hardy
POEM: THE VOICE BY THOMAS HARDY What is the genre of this poem? To me this poem speaks about “Woman Much Missed” Meaning there... is someone very dear to the poet that is much missed & is no longer seen. The poem has a sense of Reminiscence, Depression, Sorrow & Death. What is the tone of voice? The tone of voice is rather Nostalgic, Emotive and Anxious. Because he says “Let me view you, then, Standing as when I drew near to the town Where you would wait for me: yes as I knew you then,” What...
Alliteration, Assonance, Genre 474 Words | 2 Pages
An Analysis of “the Workbox”
Alford 1 Jacqueline S. Alford Professor Hayden English 1102 6 November 2011 An Analysis of “The Workbox” When is a gift... more then a gift? Can a gift be given not out of love, but out of cruelty with intent to punish, threaten, and subjugate? The poem “The Workbox” written in 1914 by Thomas Hardy explores this topic. Throughout the poem the theme is shown to be that a kind gesture and concerned words can be a false veneer that is meant to thinly veil anger, cruelty, and dominance. Hardy’s...
Love, Marriage, Shock 747 Words | 3 Pages
Thomas Hardy Biography and Summary of Tess
Part I: Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy, born June 2, 1840, was a novelist and a poet. His mother, who... was well read, educated him until he went to school at age eight. He went to Mr. Last’s Academy for Young Gentlemen in Dorchester where he learned Latin, and showed academic potential. His formal education ended at age sixteen however because his family’s social position lacked the means for a university education. He was apprenticed to James Hicks, a local architect. In 1862, Hardy moved to London...
Alec Issigonis, Desperate Remedies, John Cowper Powys 1250 Words | 4 Pages
Thomas Cook Analysis
PEST Analysis of Thomas Cook PEST Analysis is mainly used to scan the environment. PEST refers to political,... economical, social and technological factors. Thus Pest is used to analyses and scans the general environment surrounding Thomas cook. It is through PEST that the company will be able to detect as well as monitor the weak signals in order to recognize the fractures which shape the environment. Political Factors The UK travel and tourism industry has faced immense pressure from the government...
American Express, Tourism, Travel 1613 Words | 5 Pages
Thomas Money Service Business Analysis
Thomas Money Service Incorporated Business Analysis Leslie (Scott) McCrory ECO/561 Economics March 14, 2011 Facilitator David... Francom Thomas Money Service Incorporated Business Analysis Executive Summary Thomas Money Service Incorporated is a consumer finance company, and conducted business successfully for 71 years. The organizations primary financing services pertained to commercial real estate and business loans. In 1946, the company decided to incorporate a subsidiary business to...
Cost, Costs, Economics 1315 Words | 5 Pages
Dylan Thomas Literary Analysis
Dylan Thomas Literary Works Analysis "And Death Shall Have No Dominion" is a poem in three nine-line stanzas. Each of the... stanzas begins and ends with the title line, which echoes Romans 6:9 from the King James translation of the Christian New Testament: "Death hath no more dominion."(Dylan Thomas, 30) When Saint Paul said in his letter to the Romans that "death hath no more dominion," he meant that those who had chosen salvation would not suffer eternal damnation and spiritual death. Instead,...
Authorized King James Version, Bible, Cengage Learning 1468 Words | 4 Pages
Character and Fate in "The Mayor of Casterbridge" by Thomas Hardy.
Character and Fate In the book "The Mayor of Casterbridge" written by Thomas Hardy, the character Michael Henchard experiences a... dramatic rise to grace and even more dramatic fall from it. He tries to demonstrate how fateful coincidences, character, and temperament act together in life to determine the outcome of a person's life. Fate plays a very important part in "The Mayor of Casterbridge". Thomas Hardy uses the plot of the novel relies on number of coincidences. The key initial event in the...
Dorchester, Dorset, Jude the Obscure, Novel 921 Words | 3 Pages
Critical Analysis of Thomas Hardy’s Novel Tess of the D’urbervilles.
Critical analysis of Thomas Hardy’s novel Tess of the D’Urbervilles. Thomas Hardy is on of the... brightest representatives of English realism at the end of 19th and the beginning of 20th century. At that time, a new stage in the development of the English literature began, characterized with the conflict between the supporters of realism and the new modernist artistic directions. He learned from his predecessors to raise important and interesting problems, to tell interesting stories , to portray...
Character, Fiction, Jude the Obscure 1171 Words | 3 Pages
Comparison Thomas Hardy's poem "The Convergence of the Twain: (Lines on the Loss of the Titanic)"
ENGL 216: English Literature II SEMESTER OF ENROLLMENT: Spring 2013 ENGL 216-B01 LUO___ NAME: _________ ID #__ WRITING STYLE USED: APA______________... When you think of an event do you think of the before or after, or do you compare them? In Thomas Hardy's poem "The Convergence of the Twain: (Lines on the Loss of the Titanic)" he compares the intent of the original areas within the ship purpose to the current location at the bottom of the ocean; in addition to the fate of the ship and the iceberg...
Belfast, English literature, Iceberg 1283 Words | 3 Pages
Short Story and Thomas Hardy
years 2007- 2009 and 2010-2012.] CONTENTS Introduction: how to use these Notes The stories: The Son’s Veto Her First Ball The Fly in the Ointment The... Destructors A Horse and Two Goats The Rain Horse My Greatest Ambition Sandpiper At Hiruharama Thomas Hardy Katherine Mansfield V.S. Pritchett Graham Greene R.K. Narayan Ted Hughes Morris Lurie Ahdaf Soueif Penelope Fitzgerald 1 Introduction These notes are intended to give some background information on each author and/or story as an aid to further...
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Fiction, Lord Emsworth 2864 Words | 9 Pages
Swot Analysis of M&S
SWOT analysis The strengths and weaknesses of a SWOT analysis focus on the current market position of a business in relation... to its: • Customers – is the business meeting the needs of its target markets • Competitors- is the business offering a better way of meeting customer needs compared with its competitors • Internal resources- is the business making effective use of its internal resources to meet customer needs and deal with competition The opportunities and threats...
George Davies, High Street, Management 459 Words | 4 Pages
hardy
Population Genetics / Hardy-Weinberg Problems Directions: Work out the following problems on a separate piece of paper. Show ALL work and... circle your answers. 1) If the frequency of a recessive allele is 30% in a population of 100 people, how many would you predict would be carriers of this allele, but would not express the recessive phenotype? q= 0.30 p= 0.70 Carriers = 2pq = 2(.3)(.7) = .42 #= (.42)(100) = 42 individuals 2) From a sample of 278 American Indians, the following...
Albinism, Allele, Allele frequency 798 Words | 6 Pages
Dylan Thomas
Thomas’ Dying Light Dylan Marlais Thomas was born in Swansea, Wales on October 27, 1914. After leaving school, he... worked briefly as a junior reporter on the South Wales Evening Post. In November of 1923 he moved to London and in December of that he published his first book, Eighteen Poems. In April 1936 he met his future wife, Caitlin Macnamara. In September 1936, his second volume of poetry, Twenty-five Poems, was released. In July 1937 Dylan and Caitlin were married and in the following...
Caitlin MacNamara, Death, Dylan Thomas 1219 Words | 4 Pages
Brl Hardy : Globalizing an Australian Wine Company
Intgrativecasestudy 1.1 Wine Industry - Porter Analysis Porter analysis, a highly competitive industry under consolidation... with very high market potential and growth. Faire un summary des points clefs: • A COMPLETER DETAILS: • 1.Bargaining power of customers = High 5/5 o No switching cost o Numerous players, numerous wine o At final customer level § Change in consumer habits and needs: • “Industry was becoming increasingly fashion-driven” Australian wine was becoming a “hot trend” o At...
Australian wine, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay 1043 Words | 4 Pages
Thomas Hardy- "The Voice"
The first stanza begins when Hardy listens “the voice” “Saying that now you are not as you were When you had changed from the one who was all... to me” the phrase “you are not as you were” suggests to the reader a feeling of nostalgia as he remembers “the one who was all to me”, the long vowels transmit melancholy, and it is emphasized by “all to me” that creates an echoing effect. To continue this feeling the poet finishes “But as at first, when our day was fair” this phrase, started with staccato...
Emotion, Feeling, International Phonetic Alphabet 459 Words | 2 Pages
Thomas Green Case Analysis
Thomas Green Case Analysis Question #1 1. I feel that Green is underperforming in his new role. I can attribute this... to a few things: I believe Green felt as if he had “paid his dues” and deserved this promotion, even though he had only been in the account executive role for such a short period of time. He wanted to “come in and dazzle them at Dynamic Displays”. Once he got the promotion, he felt as if he could take his foot off of the gas. He did not go into the new role with the same...
A Great Way to Care 1401 Words | 4 Pages
Business Failure Analysis s
Business Failure Analysis LDR 531/Organizational Leadership Business Failure Analysis Businesses are created with the intention... to be successful, achieve goals, and create profits. The continuity of business success depends on the capability to forecast changes on markets and economies, and create a plan to adapt to change, if management failure to forecast changes, the business welfare will be unstable. Blockbuster was a leader on the movies rental business, and failure to reinvent as company,...
Blockbuster Inc., Business, Failure 992 Words | 3 Pages
| Thomas Hardy |
Words - what adjective is used to describe a person who is fox-like in appearance or manner? | The Darkling Thrush Homework Help - eNotes.com
The Darkling Thrush Homework Help
We’ve answered 319,187 questions. We can answer yours, too.
After three stanzas describing relentless hopelessness in a blighted landscape of death, desolation and "winter's dregs," the poet hears the sound of a thrush singing. The aged bird is "caroling"...
Asked by user7275589 on
February 28, 2016 at 5:38 PM
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Imagery throughout the first three stanzas of the poem creates feelings of sadness. In stanza one, words like "spectre," "grey," "desolate," "weakening," and "broken lyre" create sadness by...
Asked by tobiokakaren on
February 23, 2016 at 10:19 AM
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The speaker leans on a gate opening into the woods. The season is winter and the atmosphere and climate are a "spectre-grey." There is a grey color, possibly to the sky and the frost itself, and it...
Asked by pearson16 on
November 9, 2015 at 4:22 PM
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The Darkling Thrush
Thomas Hardy’s sad but lovely poem, “The Darkling Thrush,” was written in 1899 on the eve of a new century. This is not extraneous information since the poem’s speaker points to the passage...
Asked by ao2663 on
October 18, 2015 at 10:03 AM
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There are different emotional experiences that Hardy goes through in "The Darkling Thrush." One example of how he communicates his feelings occurs when he describes the scene of bleakness that is...
Asked by sajidab on
April 19, 2015 at 5:11 PM
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The Darkling Thrush
Thomas Hardy loved his life and home in Dorset County, England where he grew to be the literary giant of his time both as a novelist and a poet. His prolific works span both the romantic and...
Asked by user4385811 on
June 5, 2014 at 7:16 AM
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The three generalizations of Thomas Hardy's poems are: 1. The Beauty of Creation Thomas Hardy conveys this in his poem entitled, “Beeny Cliff.” He talks of the “opal and the sapphire of...
Asked by user4385811 on
June 5, 2014 at 7:04 AM
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1 educator answer.
The Darkling Thrush
'The Darkling Thrush' is like much Victorian poetry in terms of style, content, and purpose, and taps into some specifically late Victorian themes. Like much Victorian poetry,' The Darkling Thrush'...
Asked by sallysal1987 on
April 29, 2013 at 12:31 AM
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The Darkling Thrush
The poem as a whole is concerned with the continual nature of life in the midst of hardship, whether that be physical or mental. The narrator comments on the cold, gray frost that covers the...
Asked by sallysal1987 on
April 8, 2013 at 7:10 PM
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The Darkling Thrush
The speaker of the poem is outside, describing the desolate winter landscape. He focuses on the barren and cold aspects as they symbolize a general despondency that the speaker feels at the end of...
Asked by sallysal1987 on
April 8, 2013 at 6:59 PM
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1 educator answer.
The Darkling Thrush
Allusion is a literary technique using specific language to refer to something else of significance, either directly or indirectly. In the phrase indicated, the narrator is using religious language...
Asked by sallysal1987 on
April 8, 2013 at 6:30 PM
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While the phrase explicitly refers to the thrush, a case could be made that it also refers to the poem's author, and by extension the entire field of poetry and literature. In the poem, the...
Asked by sallysal1987 on
April 7, 2013 at 6:18 PM
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There are two major themes of nature in the poem. The first is represented by the narrator's gloom in seeing the cold earth and dead vegetation. There seems to be no life at all, and the entire...
Asked by sallysal1987 on
April 7, 2013 at 6:08 PM
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1 educator answer.
The Darkling Thrush
Most of the symbolism in the poem is aimed towards the finding of hope in seemingly dire circumstances. The idea is that there is no place where life will not be renewed, even if the whole world...
Asked by sallysal1987 on
April 7, 2013 at 6:05 PM
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Hardy’s poem, written in 1900, is a lament to the end of the seventeenth century. The central metaphor is most clearly identified in the second stanza: The land's sharp features seemed to be The...
Asked by sallysal1987 on
March 31, 2013 at 6:12 PM
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As a large metaphor for the changing attitudes of the turn of the century (19th to 20th), Thomas Hardy chose the song of “an aged thrush” in the evening light, puffing himself up and singing in...
Asked by sallysal1987 on
March 31, 2013 at 6:10 PM
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Because of its themes of renewal, life in darkness, and finding joy when circumstances seem dire, "The Darkling Thrush" contains many examples of powerful and expressive imagery. One good example...
Asked by sallysal1987 on
March 31, 2013 at 4:53 PM
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One aspect of the style of this poem is the extensive use that Hardy makes of personification in the way he bestows human qualities on the landscape. This is achieved in a number of different...
Asked by sallysal1987 on
March 26, 2013 at 8:23 AM
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1 educator answer.
The Darkling Thrush
It is difficult to overstate how traumatic the Victorian era was for so many and how much the very basic assumptions of life had changed during the nineteenth century. Hardy in particular was...
Asked by sallysal1987 on
March 26, 2013 at 8:21 AM
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1 educator answer.
The Darkling Thrush
There is a definite sense in which Hardy, in this poem, is writing about more than simply his own feelings at the turn of the century and the point of transition between the Victorian era and the...
Asked by sallysal1987 on
March 26, 2013 at 8:13 AM
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The tone of the first two verses is very pessimistic. Does the thrush and its song provide a more uplifting message however? In the first verse Hardy writes 'Winter's dregs made desolate / The...
Asked by sallysal1987 on
March 25, 2013 at 8:03 AM
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Hardy capitalises several nouns throughout the poem: ‘Frost’(2) and ‘Winter’(3) in the first stanza, ‘Century’s’(10) in the second, and ‘Hope’(31) in the final stanza. He does...
Asked by sallysal1987 on
March 24, 2013 at 10:59 AM
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I would suggest that the theme of order and chaos is embedded in Hardy's poems through a couple of ways. One such way is in the structure of the poem. The poem's structure is in a conventional...
Asked by sallysal1987 on
March 24, 2013 at 10:44 AM
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This poem by Thomas Hardy, perhaps better known as a novelist, is in abab eight line stanzas, giving it a lyrical tone and musical beat, not unlike a thrush’s song in the wilderness. The images...
Asked by sallysal1987 on
March 23, 2013 at 11:45 PM
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Stanza three of Thomas Hardy's "The Darkling Thrush" marks a break from the first two stanzas' tone of patent despair. Suddenly, In a full-hearted evensong Of joy illimited; An aged thrush,...
Asked by sallysal1987 on
March 17, 2013 at 8:18 PM
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"The Darkling Thrush" is a nature poem by Thomas Hardy, and its subject is the titular bird which raises the narrator's spirits through its singing. The narrator speaks of a frost-bitten landscape,...
Asked by sallysal1987 on
March 3, 2013 at 7:37 PM
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Imagery is descriptive language that is used to create a picture in a person’s head. This includes both figurative language and sensory details. One way that style is used for meaning is through...
Asked by rockprincess96 on
October 3, 2012 at 2:20 PM
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In the first stanza of "The Darkling Thrush," the "dregs" are the least valuable part of something, the sediment or grounds left at the bottom of a liquid. A common phrase is "the dregs of society"...
Asked by levi2009 on
August 28, 2012 at 9:34 PM
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1 educator answer.
The Darkling Thrush
The first thing you need to cover in a critical appreciation of the poem 'The Darkling Thrush' by the poet Thomas Hardy is the poetic form, including both meter and rhyme scheme. The meter of the...
Asked by sanjuktabose on
August 13, 2012 at 2:07 PM
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Thomas Hardy uses the thrush in his poem "The Darkling Thrush" to signify the appearance of hope in an otherwise gloomy and harsh environment. "The Darkling Thrush" is all about Hardy's...
Asked by tapusss on
July 30, 2012 at 2:20 PM
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Remember when everyone was excited and anxious about the “Y2K” or the change from the twentieth to the twenty-first century. In 1899, Thomas Hardy felt the same way when the end of the...
Asked by ssmv on
July 12, 2012 at 6:14 AM
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1 educator answer.
The Darkling Thrush
Thomas Hardy creates a bleak, unforgiving landscape in the first stanza of "The Darkling Thrush" through imagery and diction. The first stanza captures the bleak and gloomy mood of the landscape by...
Asked by ruhul94 on
May 12, 2012 at 3:22 PM
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It is the end of the year, in the sason of winter when the landscape looks bleak.In the 1st part of the poem the landscape is described as a hopeless and gloomy one.There is noting bright,...
Asked by emosushan on
May 3, 2012 at 3:59 PM
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The Darkling Thrush
(a) They provide an important chance to evaluate the world in a decisive way. Poetry, above all else, is an experience. As such, there is always something of one's own experience that the reader...
Asked by mkn457 on
May 1, 2012 at 6:20 AM
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Words - what adjective is used to describe a person who is wolf-like in appearance or manner? | Describing Personality: Character Traits and Temperaments | ILU English
Lesson Plans & Ideas
Describing Personality: Character Traits and Temperaments
Attempts to describe personality types, character traits, and temperaments have always amused people. Even though human personality has defied all attempts to categorize it into a few types, so many attempts have been made to do so. It was the Greeks who first attempted a description of human personality and character. They categorized human personality under the scope of the four temperaments – sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic and melancholic.
Today English language has a variety of words for describing people, their personality, character and temperament. These words can be categorized into words that describe a person’s general behavior and outlook, attitude towards others, attitude towards money and property, and his view of life. In this ESL lesson you will learn how to describe someone’s personality and character.
The following is a list of adjectives for describing someone’s personality, character traits and temperament. You can search by word or category to find the most suitable word for describing a person’s character.
Personality Types: General Categories
Vocabulary for Describing Personality Types, Character Traits, and Temperaments
Describing positive personality types: Appealing, elegant or neat outlook and behaviour
adorable, affluent, alluring, appealing, aristocratic, arresting, attractive, beautiful, becoming, beguiling, bewitching, breathtaking, captivating, charismatic, charming, chic, Circean, classy, clean, clubby, couth, crisp, cuddly, dapper, dashing, dazzling, dear, debonair, decorous, desirable, devastating, dignified, elegant, enchanting, engaging, enthralling, enticing, entrancing, exquisite, fancy, fashionable, fetching, finished, flowery, flush, glamorous, glorious, graceful, gracious, handsome, healthy, highborn, immaculate, impeccable, imperial, ingratiating, intoxicating, inviting, irresistible, kingly, lardy-dardy, lavish, lush, luxuriant, luxurious, magnetic, modish, natty, neat, nifty, nubile, opulent, ornate, plush, plushy, polished, posh, prepossessing, pretty, princely, privileged, prosperous, redolent, refined, regal, resplendent, rich, ritzy, royal, scrumptious, seductive, select, silk-stocking, sleek, slick, smart, smooth, snazzy, soigne, sophisticated, spanking, spellbinding, spiffy, splashy, splendid, spotless, spruce, stainless, stately, sterling, striking, stunning, stylish, suave, sumptuous, surefooted, sure-handed, svelte, swank, swanky, swell, swish, tantalizing, tasty, tidy, trendy, trig, trim, ultrachic, ultramodern, ultrarich, voguish, wealthy, well, well-groomed, well-heeled, well-off, winning, winsome, yummy
Describing negative personality types: unappealing, shabby or clumsy outlook and behaviour
abysmal, angular, awkward, awry, cadaverous, clumsy, contaminated, crumpled, decrepit, derelict, destitute, dingy, disfigured, disgusting, dowdy, down-and-out, drippy, dumpy, fiddle-footed, filthy, frightful, frowzy, funky gaudy, gawky, geeky, ghastly, gnarly, graceless, grisly, grotesque, gruesome, hard-up, heavy-footed, hideous, homely, horrid, horrific, imperfect, impoverished, impure, incongruous, indecorous, indigent, inelegant, infelicitous, lowborn, lowly, macabre, malodorous, meretricious, messy, monstrous, odious, oily, overdressed, penniless, penurious, plain, poor, putrid, ragged, ragtag, rancid, ratty, repellent, repugnant, repulsive, revolting, rough, rugged, scabrous, scandalous, scraggly, scummy, scuzzy, seedy, shabby, shaggy, shocking, shoddy, sickening, simian, slatternly, slavering, sleazy, slimy, slobbery, sloppy, slovenly, slummy, sordid, squalid, stinky, subhuman, tacky, tawdry, tenth-rate, tousled, ugly, ulcerous, unappealing, unbecoming, unclean, uncoordinated, uncouth, undesirable, undignified, unfashionable, unfit, unhandy, unhealthy, unkempt, unpolished, unsanitary, unsavory, unsightly, untidy, weather-beaten, woolly
Positive personality traits: Warm, friendly or loving approach and behaviour
adoring, affable, affectionate, agreeable, amiable, amicable, amorous, appreciative, approachable, ardent, chummy, companionable, compassionate, congenial, convivial, cordial, devoted, disarming, earthy, empathic, familiar, favorable, fond, forgiving, friendly, genial, good-humored, good-natured, gracious, gregarious, heartwarming, hearty, hospitable, ingratiating, intimate, kind, kindhearted, kindly, kindred, largehearted, likable, lovable, loving, merciful, neighborly, open, open-hearted, pally, palsy-walsy, personable, reverent, romantic, sensitive, sensual, sentimental, sociable, soft, soft-hearted, summery, sympathetic, tender, tender-hearted, touching, warm, warm-hearted, well-disposed, worshipful
Negative personality traits: Cold, unfriendly, or irritable outlook and behaviour
abrupt, alien, aloof, arid, asexual, ashen, astringent, austere, bad-tempered, bilious, bitter, bleak, bloody, blunt, brusque, brutal, callous, cantankerous, catty, cheap, chilly, closed, cold, coldblooded, cold-hearted, contemptuous, crabby, cranky, cross, crotchety, cruel, crusty, cryptic, curmudgeonly, cursed, curt, cussed, cutthroat, cynical, dispassionate, distant, domineering, dour, Draconian, dry, dyspeptic, egocentric, empty, envious, forbidding, formidable, freezing, frigid, frosty, gelid, glacial, glowering, gray, greedy, grouchy, grudging, gruff, grumpy, hardened, hardhearted, hateful,naughty, heartless, hollow, huffish, humiliating, icy, ignoble, ill-humored, ill-natured, ill-tempered, impersonal, inconsiderate, indifferent, inhospitable, insensitive, insulting, insusceptible, intolerant, irreconcilable, irritable, jealous, liverish, matter-of-fact, mean, mechanical, merciless, misanthropic, miserly, nasty, niggardly, nippy, ornery, parched, parsimonious, peckish, peevish, penurious, petty, piercing, pinchbeck, pitiless, Procrustean, psychopathic, reactionary, remorseless, remote, ruthless, sadistic, salty, self-serving, sharp-tongued, shrewish, snappish, snarly, snippety, snippy, snitty, snotty, sour, spleenful, stark, steely, stern, still, stoical, stony, strict, surly, suspicious, testy, tetchy, thick-skinned, tight, tight-fisted, touchy, troglodytic, truculent, tyrannical, uncharitable, uncommunicative, uncongenial, unfeeling, unforgiving, unfriendly,ungrateful, unkind, unkindly, unmerciful, unmoved, unsympathetic, vengeful, venomous, vexatious, vicious, vitriolic, waspish, wintry, withholding, wizened, wooden, wrongheaded
Words for describing positive, sociable and outgoing characters
ambitious, assertive, blatant, bloviating, blustering, boisterous, bold, bombastic, brash, brazen, breathy, chatty, choleric, defiant, dramatic, emphatic, evangelical, excited, exhibitionist, expansive, expressive, extemporaneous, extroverted, exuberant, flagrant, flamboyant, flashy, flirtatious, forward, freewheeling, garrulous, grandiloquent, gregarious, gushy, high-profile, histrionic, immodest, indiscreet, intrusive, jabbering, lippy, loquacious, loud, loudmouthed, madcap, meteoric, militant, noisy, obtrusive, outgoing, outspoken, overbearing, overt, overweening, petulant, presumptuous, prolix, protrusive, protuberant, public, pugnacious, pushy, raucous, rousing, shrill, sonorous, spectacular, splashy, stagestruck, stagy, stentorian, strident, swinging, switched-on, talkative, theatrical, throaty, turgid, uninhibited, unreserved, unselfconscious, uproarious, verbose, visible, vitriolic, vocal, vociferous, voluble, wordy
Words for describing unsociable, introverted and reserved characters
abashed, alien, alienated, alone, aloof, anonymous, antisocial, ascetic, asocial, austere, autonomous, awkward, bashful, chary, donnish, claustral, cloistered, concealed, confidential, covert, coy, crafty, delitescent, detached, discreet, distant, elusive, enigmatic, estranged, evasive, ghostly, guarded, hermitic, indirect, inhibited, inner- directed, inscrutable, insular, introspective, introverted, invisible, inward, isolated, laconic, latent, lone, lonely, low-profile, misty, misunderstood, modest, monastic, monkish, mum, mute, mysterious, nebulous, nonverbal, oblique, obscure, occult, paradoxical, passive, phantom, private, quiescent, quiet, reclusive, reluctant, remote, repressed, reserved, restrained, reticent, retiring, secluded, secretive, self-absorbed, self-conscious, self-effacing, sensitive, sequestered, shadowy, shamefaced, sheepish, short-spoken, shy, silent, smoky, sneaky, soft-spoken, solitary, solo, spectral, sphinxlike, spooky, standoffish, stay-at-home, stealthy, still, stolid, strange, subterranean, surreptitious, suspicious, taciturn, tactful, tight-lipped, tiptoe, unapproachable, unassertive, unassuming, unclear, uncommunicative, undemonstrative, understated, unexpressive, unfathomable, unobtrusive, unsociable, vanishing, veiled, voiceless, wary, watchful, wistful, withdrawn, wordless, xenophobic
Words for describing people's attitude towards others: Assertive and confident character types
abusive, adamant, assuming, assured, authoritative, autocratic, bossy, bullheaded, bumptious certain, cocksure, commanding, compelling, conclusive, confident, controlling, decisive, determined, direct, directed, dogged, dogmatic, dominant, domineering, do-or-die, egoistic, egotistic, emphatic, enduring, entitled, entrenched, firm, fixed, focused, forceful, formidable, grandiose, hard-bitten, hard-boiled, hard- edged, hardened, hardheaded, headstrong, hellbent, high and mighty, high-flown, high-handed, high-powered, immovable, impenetrable, imperative, imperious, impervious, implacable, impregnable, independent, indestructible, indomitable, inexorable, inflated, inflexible, insistent, insuperable, intent, intimidating, intractable, invincible, invulnerable, ironbound, ironclad, irresistible, lordly macno, magisterial, magistral, messianic, mighty, militaristic, mulish obdurate, obstinate, omnipotent, one-sided, opinionated, orgulous, ossified, overweening, overwhelming, persistent, persuasive, pertinacious, pigheaded, poised, portentous, possessive, predominant, preponderant, presumptuous, prideful, prodigious, proprietary, proud, purposeful, pushy, recalcitrant, redoubtable, refractory, relentless, renitent, resolute, rigid, secure, self-assured, self-confident, self-important, self-involved, self-possessed, self-righteous, self-satisfied, self-seeking, single-minded, smug, stiff, strident, strong-minded, strong-willed, stubborn, sure, swaggering, swashbuckling, swellheaded, take-charge, tenacious, territorial, thick-skinned, turgid, unassailable, unbending, undaunted, unfaltering, unflagging, unflinching, unreceptive, unregenerate, unrelenting, unstinting, unstoppable, unswerving, unwary, unwieldy, unwilling, unyielding, vain, vainglorious, vehement, willful
Describing people's attitude towards others: Submissive, diffident and uncertain character types
accommodating, acquiescent, adaptable, ambivalent, apologetic, apprehensive, assailable, awkward, balky, changeable, chary, compliant, conciliatory, culpable, cursory, dainty, deferential, dependent, diffident, doubtful, downtrodden, dubious, ductile, effeminate, equivocal, exposed, fatalistic, fawning, flexible, flimsy, halfhearted, halting, haphazard, harmless, hesitant, humiliated, ill-at-ease, impalpable, inconclusive, inconstant, incredulous, indecisive, indirect, inoffensive, insecure, irresolute, labile, lambent, loath, lost, malleable, masochistic, mealy-mouthed, meek, mousy, mutable, noncommittal, obedient, obeisant, obsequious, penitent, phlegmatic, plastic, pliable, pliant, prostrate, protean qualmish, queasy, questioning, quizzical, receptive, reconciled, reluctant, repentant, reserved, resigned, respectful, self-denying, serviceable, servile, shackled, slavish, solicitous, squishy, subdued, submissive, subservient, suggestible, supple, suppliant, susceptible, sycophantic, tentative, tenuous, thin-skinned, timid, tongue-tied, tractable, tremulous, vacillating, vague, vulnerable, wavering, yielding,
Describing strength of character and personality: Strong, bold, or tough temperaments
able-bodied, adventuresome, adventurous, all-powerful, audacious, belligerent, bluff, blunt, bold, brash, brave, brawny, courageous daring, dauntless, decisive, doughty, durante, effective, fearless, firm, flinty, forbidding, formidable, full-blooded, gritty, gutsy, gutty, hale, hardball, hard-nosed, hardy, heavy, hell-for-leather, indestructible, inexhaustible, intrepid, lionhearted, lusty, manly, massive, mettlesome, mighty, militant, motivated, muscular, nervy, oppressive, physical, plucky, potent, powerful, ready, reliant, resilient, robust, rocky, rough, rugged, ruthless, scrappy, seif-made, self-reliant, self-sufficient, self-supporting, self-sustaining, solid, spartan, spirited, spunky, stalwart, staunch, steadfast, steely, stout, stout-hearted, strapping, street-smart, streetwise, strong, sturdy, substantial, thriving, tough, truculent, unblinking, valiant, valorous, venturesome, warlike, yeomanly
Describing lack of strength of character and personality: Weak and fearful temperaments
abashed, afraid, ailing, alarmed, anemic, anxious, apprehensive, ashamed, asthmatic, bloodless, brittle, clinging, consumptive, cowardly, craven, creaky, cringing, debilitated, decrepit, delicate, desperate, disconcerted, faint, fainthearted, faltering, fearful, feeble, fidgety, fitful, flimsy, fragile, frail, frangible, frightened, futile, gutless, hagridden, helpless, horrified, horror-struck, humbled, humiliated, hung-up, ill, impotent, impoverished, incapacitated, ineffective, inept, infirm, insecure, insufficient, jittery, lame, lily-livered, limp, limp-wristed, mawkish, meager, milk-livered, mortified, namby-pamby, needy, nervous, neurotic, oversensitive, overwhelmed, pale, pallid, paltry, panicked, panic-stricken, paranoid, pathetic, petrified, pitiful, plaintive, poor-spirited, punchless, puny, pusillanimous, recreant, scared, shaky, sheepish, short-winded, shrinking, sickly, simpering, skimpy, skittish, slight, sniveling, snuffling, spasmodic, spineless, spooked, squeamish, stressed, stressed-out, sulky, terrified, timid, timorous, toothless, tottering, trapped, trembling, tremulous uncomfortable, undernourished, uneasy, unnerved, unwell, uptight vertiginous, wary, washed-out, washy, watery, weak, weakhearted, weak-kneed, wet, whining, whiny, white, white-livered, wimpy, wispy, wormy
Vocabulary for describing active and lively characters
acrobatic, active, adroit, agile, alert, alive, ambulatory, athletic, attentive, avid, awake, bouncy, breezy, bright-eyed, brisk, bubbly, bustling, busy, buxom, catalytic, chipper, crisp, curious, deft, diligent, dynamic, eager, effervescent, elusive, energetic, energized, enterprising, errant, exhilarated, exuberant, fecund, feisty, fervent, fleet, fleet-footed, fluent, fluid, footloose, free, fresh, frisky, frolicsome, galvanic, go-go, gymnastic, hale, high-spirited, high-strung, hurried, industrious, interested, intrigued, irrepressible, itinerant jaunty, jingly, kinetic, lambent, liberated, light, limber, lissome, lithe, lively, mercurial, mobile, motile, nimble, nomadic, operose, outdoorsy, peppy, perky, productive, prolific, prompt quick, quicksilver, rambunctious, rapid, ready, renascent, saltatory, sassy, saucy, sentient, sinuous, skittish, snappy, speedy, spirited, sprightly, springy, spruce, spry, strenuous, supple, swift, switched-on, sylphlike, tireless, unencumbered, up-and-coming, vibrant, vigilant, vigorous, vital, vivacious, volant, volatile, wakeful, whippy, wide-awake, wide-eyed, zappy, zestful, zesty, zingy
Vocabulary for describing inactive and lazy characters
abstracted, aged, apathetic, asleep, atrophied, barren, beat, benumbed, blank, blase, bored, bovine, bushed, cadaverous, comatose, complacent, dazed, dead, disinterested, docile, doltish, dopey, dormant, draggy, dreamy, drooping, droopy, drowsy, drugged, dull, dulled, emotionless, empty, enervated, exhausted, fallow, fatigued, flat, floppy glassy, glassy-eyed, groggy, haggard, hazy, hoary, hypnotic, hypnotized, idle, immobile, impassive, impervious, inactive, inanimate, inattentive, incapacitated, indifferent, indolent, inert, insensate, insipid, lackadaisical, languid, languorous, late, latent, lazy, leaden, lethargic, lifeless, listless, logy, lymphatic, malingering, moribund, mute, numb, overripe, paralyzed, passive, phlegmatic, placid, pococurante, poky, porcine, punch-drunk, punchy, rusty, sagging, sapped, satiated, sedentary, semi- comatose, semiconscious, senseless, shiftless, shot, slack, sleepy, slothful, slow, slowpoke, sluggish, sodden, somnolent, spaced-out, spent, spiritless, stagnant, static, stiff, stuporous, supine, tardy, tepid, tired, torpid, truant, uninterested, unmindful, unmotivated, unresponsive vacant, vacuous, weary, wizened, world-weary, worn-out, yawning, zomboid, zonked
Describing happy and optimistic outlook to life
agrin, airy, amazed, amused, amusing, astonished, beatific, bemused, blissful, blithe, buoyant, carefree, cavalier, cheerful, cheery, chipper, content, contented, convivial, delighted, devil-may-care, droll, ebullient, ecstatic, elated, enchanted, enraptured, enthusiastic,euphoric, expectant, exuberant, exultant, fanciful, fancy-free, festive, flying, frolicsome, fulfilled, fun-loving, funny, glad, gleeful, glowing, happy, happy-go-lucky, harmonious, hilarious, hopeful, humorous, impish, infectious jaunty, jocose, jocular, jocund, jolly, jovial, joyful, joyous, jubilant, laughing, lighthearted, merry, mirthful, mischievous, optimistic, overjoyed, perky, playful, pleased, puckish, radiant, rapturous, ravished, relieved, rhapsodic, roguish, roseate, rosy, sanguine, sated, satisfied, silly, sky-high, spirited, sportive, starry-eyed, stoked, sunny, thankful, triumphant, waggish, whimsical, wishful
Describing unhappy sad and pessimistic outlook to life
abject, absorbed, abysmal, achy, afflicted, aggrieved, agonizing, anguished, beleaguered, bereaved, bereft, bleak, blue, brokenhearted, brooding, bummed, bummed-out, chagrined, cheerless, contrite, crestfallen, crushed, dark, dejected, demure, depressed, deprived, desolate, despondent, disconsolate, discontented, discouraged, disenchanted, disgusted, disillusioned, dismal, dissatisfied, distraught, distressed, disturbed, doleful, dolorous, doomed, dour, down, down-at-heel, downbeat, downcast, elegiac, embittered, fatalistic, forlorn, fretful, funereal, gloomy, glum, grave, grief-stricken, grieving, grim, grouchy, gram, grumpy, guilt-ridden, guilty, hapless, harried, heartbroken, heavy-hearted, homesick, hopeless, humorless, hurt, inconsolable, indisposed, injured, joyless, lachrymose, languishing, lonely, lonesome, lovesick, lugubrious, melancholy, miserable, misty-eyed, moody, mopey, morbid, morose, mournful, nostalgic, oppressed, out-of-sorts, owlish, pained, pathetic, pensive, perturbed, pessimistic, pining, pitiable, pitiful, plaintive, plangent, poignant, pouty, pungent, regretful, remorseful, repentant, rueful, ruthful, sad, saturnine, serious, severe, sighing, sober, solemn, somber, soppy, sorrowful, sorry, stern, stricken, subdued, suffering, suicidal, sulky, sullen, surly, teary, teary-eyed, tortured, tragic, tristful, troubled, unfortunate, unfulfilled, unhappy, unlucky wailful, weepy, wistful, woebegone, woeful, wounded, wrecked, wretched, wronged
Describing inherent positive emotional status: Calm, gentle, and easygoing types
apollonian, calm, casual, composed, constrained, cool, cool-headed, demure, dewy, dispassionate, dryeyed, easygoing, emollient, even-tempered gentle, imperturbable, laconic, laid-back, lenient, levelheaded, low-key, low-pressure, meditative, mellow, mild, muted neutral, nonchalant, nonviolent, objective, pacific, pacifistic, passive, patient, peaceful, poised, quiet, relaxed, restrained, reticent, sedate, self-disciplined, self-possessed, serene, soft, steady, stoical, subdued taciturn, tame, temperate, tempered, tranquil, unbothered, unemotional, unflappable, unforced, unhassled, unhurried, unruffled, unstirred, untroubled
Describing inherent negative emotional status: Angry, aggressive, and passionate types
aggravated, aggressive, aghast, agitated, amorous, angered, angry, animated, annoyed, antsy, argumentative, avid, bellicose, belligerent, blooming, brash, breathless choleric, combative, competitive, contentious, dedicated, defiant, dramatic, edgy, effusive, emotional, excitable, excited, explosive, ferocious, feverish, fierce, fiery, fire-eating, flighty, flustered, frazzled, free-swinging, frenzied, fuming, furious harried, hassled, henpecked, high-keyed, high-pressure,high-strung, hostile, hot, hot-blooded, hotheaded, huffy, hungry, hyper, hysterical impassioned, impetuous, impulsive, incensed, indignant, inflammatory, intemperate, intensive, intent, irascible, irate, irrepressible, jealous livid, lusty mad, manic, miffed, militant, militaristic, overwrought, overzealous passionate, peeved, peppery, perfervid, piqued, pissed, pissed off, pugnacious, pushy quarrelsome rabid, raddled, raging, rambunctious, rash, resentful, restive, restless, ruffled, rumbustious scrappy, seething, self-indulgent, sensuous, short, short-tempered, sick and tired, snappish, sore, steaming, stewing, sthenic, stir-crazy, stirred up, stormy, strained, subjective, sulfurous, sultry, temperamental, tempestuous, tense, testy, ticked, ticked-off, ticklish, torrid, touchy, troubled, truculent, tumultuous, turbulent, turned-on, unglued, unreasonable, unreconciled, unremitting, unrestrained, unsettled, unstable, upset, vehement, Vesuvian, vexed, violent, visceral, volcanic, warm-blooded, white-hot, worked-up, wound-up, wrathful, wrought-up, wroth, zealous
Describing a person's view of life: Moderate and balanced views and opinions
balanced, businesslike, careful, cautious, celibate, chary, circumspect, clocklike, closemouthed, collected, composed, concise, concrete, conscientious, conservative, consistent, constant, controlled, conventional, cool-headed, diplomatic, down-to-earth, equitable, factual, frugal, gingerly, inveterate, laconic, levelheaded, matter-of-fact, middle-of-the-road, mild, moderate, modest, no-nonsense, objective, obsolete, old-fashioned, orderly, orthodox, ossified, outdated, outmoded, passe, penny-wise, pious, practical, pragmatic, prudent rational, reasonable, regimented, regular, safe, sane, sensible, sober, sound, sparing, square, stable, standardized, standpat, steady, stick-in-the-mud, sticky, stodgy, strait-laced, stringent, studied, tactful, temperate, thrifty, tough-minded, ultraconservative, utilitarian, workmanlike
Describing a person's view of life: Excessive and radical views
aberrant, abnormal, addictive, alcoholic, amok, anarchic, anarchistic, apoplectic, avaricious, berserk, brash, chaotic, crazed, crazy, daffy, daft, delirious, demoniacal, deranged, deviant, dizzy, dotty, dysfunctional, eldritch, epicurean, erratic, esurient, excessive, extravagant, extreme, fanatic, fanatical, febrile, fey, flagrant, flaky, florid, frantic, freakish, frenetic, frenzied, gonzo, greedy, headlong, hedonistic, heedless, hog wild, homicidal, hyper, hysterical, immodest, incendiary, inordinate, insane, insatiable, irrational, kamikaze, lunatic, mad, madcap, maniacal, monomaniacal, nihilistic, obsessive, odd, off, off-the-wall, overwrought, perfervid, phrenetic, pinko, pixilated, potty, prodigal, profuse, psycho, psychotic, punk, quirky, rabid, radical, raging, rakish, rapacious, rash, ravening, raving, reckless, screwy, spasmodic, strange, streaky, surreal, ultra, ultraist, unbalanced, unbridled, unconventional, uncurbed, unfettered, unhinged, unrestrained, voracious, wacky, warped, wasteful, way-out, weird, wiggy, wild-eyed, wired zany, zooey
Vocabulary for describing a person's manners: Proper, courteous, and refined manners
ceremonious, chaste, civil, civilized, classical, clubby, conforming, conventional, correct, courteous, courtly, couth, cultivated, cultured decent, decorous, delicate, demure, dignified, diplomatic, discreet, effete, elitist, established, esthetic, ethical, fastidious, felicitous, finicky, formal, fussy, gallant, genteel, gentlemanly, gracious, holier-than-thou, honorable, ingratiating, irreproachable, kosher, law-abiding, legitimate, maidenly, mannered, matronly, modern, modest, moral, moralistic, obedient, official, orthodox, polite, pompous, precious, presentable, priggish, prim, prissy, pristine, professional, proper, prudent, prudish, punctilious, punctual, puritanical, refined, religious, reputable, respectable, respectful, rhetorical, righteous, rigid, safe, sanctimonious, seemly, self-righteous, smooth, smug, snobbish, snooty, soapy, sporting, sportsmanlike, squeamish, stable, staid, starchy, stiff, stilted, straight, stuffy, suave, tasteful, taut, traditional, tweedy, unflappable, upright, uptight, urbane, well-behaved, well bred, well mannered
Vocabulary for describing manners: Vulgar and rude manners
abandoned, aberrant, abnormal, abominable, aboriginal, abusive, animalistic, atavistic, barbaric, base, bawdy, beastly, bibulous, bizarre, blasphemous, blooey, blunt, boorish, brash, brazen, brutish, caddish, cannibalistic, carnal, cheap, cheeky, coarse, common, coquettish, crass, crude, debauched, decadent, degenerate, depraved, deviant, dirty, dirty-minded, discourteous, disobedient, disorderly, disreputable, dissipated, dissolute, egregious, feral, flatulent, flip, flippant, flooey, foul, garish, gauche, gross, heathenish, heteroclite, heterodox, hoggish, ill-bred, illicit, ill-mannered, immoderate, immoral, impertinent, impolite, impolitic, improper, impudent, inappropriate, incongruous, indecent, indecorous, indelicate, inexcusable, informal, insolent, intoxicated, irregular, irreverent, kinky, knockabout, lascivious, lawless, lecherous, lewd, libertine, libidinous, licentious, loose, loud, low, lowbrow, lubricious, lustful, mannerless, meretricious, native, naughty, obscene, obstreperous, offbeat, offhand, outlandish, outrageous, overdressed, perverted, plebeian, primitive, profane, profligate, promiscuous, prurient, prying, queer, Rabelaisian, racy, raffish, rakish, rambunctious, randy, rank, raucous, raunchy, raw, rebellious, refractory, revolutionary, ribald, riotous, ripped, rip-roaring, risque, roily, rough, rough-and-tumble, rough-hewn, rowdy, rowdydowdy, rude, rumbustious, rustic, ruttish, salacious, sassy, savage, scabrous, scandalous, scurrilous, self-abandoned, shameless, showy, slutty, smutty, steamy, swinish, tactless, tasteless, tawdry, tipsy, trashy, unbecoming, unblushing, uncivil, uncivilized, uncontrollable, unconventional, uncool, uncouth, uncultured, undiplomatic, ungracious, unmanageable, unmannered, unmannerly, unnatural, unrefined, unruly, unseemly, unsportsmanlike, untamed, untoward, vulgar, wanton, weird, wild
Describing intelligent and clever personality types
abreast, accurate, acute, analytical, apt, articulate, astute, au fait, authoritative, bookish, bright, brilliant, broad-ranging canny, cerebral, clear, clearheaded, clearsighted, clever, cogent, cognizant, coherent, comprehensive, concise, conscious, conversant, cunning, discerning, donnish, droll educated, erudite, expert, facile, fluent glib, heads-up, heady, highbrow, high-minded, imaginative, incisive, informed, ingenious, innovative, inquiring, inquisitive, insightful, intellectual, intelligent, interpretive, inventive, keen, knowing, knowledgeable, learned, limpid, literate,logical, lucid, luminous, observant, omnilegent, omniscient, organized, pawky, pedagogic, penetrating, perceptive, percipient, perspicacious, piercing, pithy, precocious, prescient, proficient, profound quick-witted rational, recondite, reflective, retentive, right, ruminant, savvy, serious-minded, sharp, sharp-witted, shrewd, silver-tongued, smart, smoothtongued, subtle, succinct, terse, trenchant, tuned-in, ultrasmart, uncanny, understanding, unerring, urbane, well-advised, well-informed, well-read, well-rounded, well-spoken, witty, worldly, worldly-wise
Describing stupid, ignorant personality types
absent-minded, abstracted, addlebrained, addled, agog, amnesiac, backward, baffled, befogged, befuddled, benighted, besotted, bewildered, blithering, bovine, confounded, confused, cretinous, dense, dim, dimwitted, disorganized, disoriented, doltish, dull, dumb, dumbfounded, duncical, empty-headed, erroneous, fallible, fatuous, fat-witted, feeble-minded, foggy, fuzzy, hazy, idiotic, ignorant, illiterate, imbecilic, inarticulate, incognizant, incoherent, incompetent, inconscient, lumpish, maundering, mindless, mixed-up, moronic, muddled, muddleheaded, myopic, mystified, numb, oblivious, obtuse, opaque, perplexed, preoccupied, puzzled, rambling, rattled, retarded, scatterbrained, senile, simple, simpleminded, slow, slow-witted, sophomoric, spaced, spaced-out, spacey, speechless, stunned, stunted, stupefied, stupid, stuporous, subliterate, subnormal, thick, thickheaded, thick-witted, turbid, unclear, unconscious, undiscerning, unfocused, uninformed, unknowing, unlearned, unlettered, unorganized, unread, unschooled, unskilled, untutored, unversed, vacant, vacuous, witless, woodenheaded, woozy, wrong, zoned out, zonked out
Describing a person's abilities: Bright and skillful
ablaze, able, acclaimed, accomplished, adept, adequate, admirable, admired, ageless, aglow, all-around, amazing, ambidextrous, anointed, artful, artistic, arty, atypical, auspicious, avant-garde, bedazzling, blessed, bodacious, breathtaking, bright, brilliant, capable, celebrated, charismatic, colorful, competent, conspicuous, consummate, controversial, coordinated, corking, creative, creditable dazzling, different, distinct, distinctive, distinguished, divine, eccentric, efficient, effulgent, eminent, esteemed, estimable, excellent, exceptional, exclusive, exemplary, exotic, extraordinary, famous, fascinating, favored, fine, first-class, first-rate, flashing, foremost, fortunate, glimmering, glittering, glorious, glossy, glowing, grand, great handy, heavenly, honored, iconoclastic, idiosyncratic, illuminated, illustrious, imaginative, imperial, important, imposing, impressive, incandescent, incomparable, incredible, individual, indubitable, inimitable, inspiring, invaluable, inviolate, iridescent, jazzy, light, lucky, luminous, lustrous magical, magnificent, majestic, major, marquee, marvelous, masterful, matchless, nonpareil, notable, noted, noteworthy, novel original, otherworldly, outstanding, peculiar, peerless, perfect, phenomenal, praiseworthy, preeminent, prepared, prestigious, priceless, primary, Promethean, prominent, protean, proverbial, quaint, qualified, radiant, rare, refulgent, remarkable, renowned, resourceful, respected, resplendent, reverential, ripe, sacred, saintly, scintillating, select, sensational, serendipitous, shining, signal, significant, singular, skillful, sole, sovereign, sparkling, special, spicy, splendid, startling, stellar, storied, stupendous, sublime, successful, super, superb, superhuman, superior, superlative, supernatural, supreme, surefooted, sure-handed, talented, terrific, tiptop, titled, together, top, topflight, topnotch, top-of-the-line, towering, transfigured, uncommon, unconventional, unequaled, unexcelled, unique, unmatched, unorthodox, unprecedented, unusual, unwonted, utopian, valuable, valued, varied, vast, versatile, victorious, vintage, vivid, well-known, well-spoken, well-thought-of, whiz-bang, wonderful, wondrous, worthwhile, worthy
Describing a person's abilities: Dull or average
automatic, average, banal, bland, blank, boring, bourgeois, characterless, colorless, common, commonplace, conventional, cursory, customary, elated, derivative, dim, dingy, dismal, down-to-earth, drab, dreary, dull, empty, everyday, expressionless, faded, fair, fallible, familiar, faulty, flat, glib, gratuitous, habitual, hackneyed, homespun, humble, humdrum, imitative, inartistic, inconclusive, inconspicuous, indifferent, inefficient, inept, inferior, inglorious, innocuous, insignificant, insipid, jejune, lackluster, lifeless, low-class, lowly, low- quality, lukewarm, lusterless, matter-of-fact, mediocre, menial, middling, mild, minor, modest, mortal, mundane, musty, negligible, nondescript, obvious, okay, one-dimensional, ordinary, passable, pedestrian, perfunctory, petit bourgeois, plain, plain-spoken, plastic, plebeian, proletarian, prosaic, prototypical, regular, repetitive, rinky-dink, run-of-the- mill, secondary, second-class, second-rate, shoddy, simple, small-time, soggy, soporific, spare, stagnant, stale, standard, stereotypical, sterile, stock, stripped-down, subordinate, superficial, superfluous, tarnished, tasteless, tedious, tepid, terrestrial, timeworn, tiresome, tolerable, trite, typical, unadorned, unassuming, undistinctive, undistinguished, unexceptional, unexciting, unhip, unimaginative, uninspiring, uninteresting, unprepared, unpretentious, unqualified, unsung, untalented, untitled, useless, usual, vapid, workaday, would-be
Describing one's level of maturity: Wise and experienced
actualized, adult, all-knowing, all-seeing, august, aware, awesome, balanced, broad, broad-minded, centered, clear, clear-sighted, cogent, coherent, complex, contemplative, deep, discriminating, disinterested, dispassionate, eloquent, enlightened, ethereal, exalted, experienced, farseeing, farsighted, focused, grand, grown-up, immortal, impartial, infallible, infinite, influential, integrated, judicious, just, large-minded, levelheaded, lofty, lucid, magisterial, majestic, mantic, masterful, masterly, mature, metaphysical, mystical, noble, old, omnipresent, omniscient, open-minded, orbicular, oriented, patriarchal, perfect, philosophical, practiced, prescient, profound, prophetic, resonant, sacred, sacrosanct, sagacious, sage, sapient, serene, sophisticated, spiritual, sublime, supernal, supreme, sybilline, telepathic, unassailable, unbiased, understanding, universal, venerable, veteran, visionary, weathered, weighty, wise, wizardly
Describing one's level of maturity: Foolish and immature
abstract, absurd, adolescent, affected, amateurish, anthropocentric, anti-intellectual, artless, artsy, asinine, bathetic, bedazzled, biased, bigoted, blind, bumbling, callow, capricious, careless, childish, chumpish, clownish, comical, corny, cretinous, cute, cutesy, daffy, daft, distracted, dopey, ethnocentric, farcical, flabbergasted, flatulent, flighty, foolhardy, foolish, foppish, frivolous, frothy, garrulous, gibbering, giddy, goofy, half-baked, harebrained, harum-scarum, hasty, homophobic, idiotic, ill-advised, imbecilic, immature, impetuous, impractical, imprudent, inane, indiscreet, inexperienced, infantile, injudicious, in the clouds, irrational, juvenile, laughable, lightheaded, long-winded, loquacious, ludicrous, melodramatic, mincing, minor, misanthropic, misogynous, moronic, mushyheaded, muzzy, naive, narrow, narrow-minded, nattering, nerdy, nonplussed, nutty, parochial, pedantic, petty, piddling, pinchbeck, prejudiced, preposterous, pretentious, prolix, provincial, pubescent, puerile, quixotic, quizzical, rash, rattlebrained, redundant, repetitious, ridiculoussappy, sectarian, sententious, shallow,soft-headed, sophistic, speechless, spoony, superficial, superstitious, trifling, trivial, unfledged, ungrounded, unrealistic, unwise, unworldly, verdant, waggish, wide-eyed, windy, woollyheaded, yeasty, youthful, zany
Describing moral status: Good, sincere and honest
aboveboard, angelic, authentic benevolent, bona fide, candid, capital, choice, conscientious, constant dear, decent, deserving, devout, direct, earnest, ethical, fair, fair-minded, fine, first-rate, forthcoming, forthright, foursquare, frank, free, genuine, God-fearing, good, guileless, harmonious, high-minded, holy, honest, honorable, humane, idealistic, impartial, incorruptible, irreproachable judicious, just loving, loyal, magnanimous, moral, natural, noble, organic, real, reliable, reverent, righteous, right-minded, scrupulous, selfless, seraphic, simon-pure, sincere, straightforward, sublime, true, true-blue, truthful, unimpeachable, up-and-up, up-front, upright, upstanding, veracious, vestal, virtuous, wholehearted, wholesome, worthy
Describing moral status: Bad, false and dishonest
accursed, adulterous, affected, amoral, apocryphal, apostate, arch, artificial, awful, backhanded, bad, baleful, baneful, barefaced, base, bent, bloodthirsty, bogus, calumnious, canting, casuistic, contemptible, corrupt, counterfeit, crafty, crooked, cunning, cursed, damned, debased, deceitful, deceptive, delusive, demoniacal, despicable, detestable, devilish, devious, diabolical, disgraced, dishonest, disingenuous, disloyal, dissembling, duplicitous, egregious, evasive, evil, execrable, fake, fallen, false, fatuous, feigned, fell, fiendish, flagitious, flagrant, foul, foxy, fraudulent, fulsome, furtive, guileful, hangdog, heinous, heretical, hexed, high-sounding, hollow, horrid, hypocritical ignoble, ignominious, infamous, infernal, insidious, insincere, irredeemable Janus-faced, jive loathsome, lowdown malefic, malevolent, malignant, mealy-mouthed, mendacious, miscreant, misleading, mock, monstrous, moralistic, murderous, nefarious, odious, ostentatious, perfidious, pernicious, perverse, phony, predatory, pretentious, pseudo, purulent, recreant, reprobate, rotten, sanctimonious, scurvy, selfish, serpentine, shady, sham, shameful, shifty, sinful, sinister, slanderous, slippery, sly, sneaky, sophistic, sorcerous, specious, spurious, stealthy, synthetic, tainted, terrible, traitorous, treacherous, two-faced, unashamed, unconscionable, unctuous, underhanded, unfair, ungodly, unholy, unjust, unpardonable, unprincipled, unscrupulous, untruthful, unworthy, vain, venal, venomous, vile, villainous, viperous, virtueless, vulpine, wicked, wily, worthless
Vocabulary for describing giving, generous personality types
accessible, accommodating, adaptable, approving, artless beatific, believing candid, careless, childlike, complaisant, compliant, credulous, democratic, dewy-eyed, doting, dulcet, easy, faithful, frank, free, generous, giving, good-natured, gracious, grateful, guileless, gullible, hopeful, humble, impressionable, inconsistent, indiscriminate, indulgent, ingenuous, innocent, instinctive, intuitive, lax, liberal, naive, natural, obliging, open, permissive, rapt, reciprocating, saccharine, selfless, simple, sugary, sweet, syrupy, tender, tolerant, transparent, trustful, trusting, ultraliberal, unabashed, uncritical, understanding, undesigning, unguarded, unquestioning, unsophisticated, unsparing, unsullied, unsuspecting, unwitting, young
Vocabulary for describing Demanding, selfish personality types
abrasive, accusatory, acerbic, acidic, acquisitive, admonishing, agnostic, arbitrary, arrogant, assiduous, assumptive, atheistic, biting, blameful, bumptious, cagey, calculating, captious, carping, categorical, caustic, caviling, censorious, challenging, cheap, chiding, choosy, clinical, compulsive, conceited, condescending, constipated, contemptuous, contradictory, contrary, costive, covetous, crafty, critical, deliberate, demanding, deprecatory, derogatory, dictatorial, didactic, disabused, disapproving, disbelieving, disciplined, discriminating, disdainful, disparaging, distrustful, doctrinaire, dogmatic, egocentric, exacting, exigent, facetious, fastidious, fault-finding, fussy, gluttonous, grabby, greedy, guarded, hard, harsh, high-and-mighty, hubristic, huffy, hypercritical, impatient, incisive, insistent, ironic, judgmental, logical, materialistic, measured, methodical, meticulous, mocking, mordacious, mordant, narcissistic, niggling, obsessive, omnivorous, opinionated, opportunistic, painstaking, particular, patronizing, pejorative, peremptory, perseverant, persistent, pertinacious, picky, pointed, political, precise, procacious, querulous, ravenous, rebuking, reproving, rigorous, sanctimonious, sarcastic, sardonic, satiric, satirical, scolding, scornful, scrimping, scrupulous, sedulous, selective, self-centered, selfish, self-serving, self-willed, sharp, sharp-edged, skeptical, slashing, specific, stingy, supercilious, superior, systematic, tactical, tendentious, thorough, tireless, trenchant, ultracritical, unbelieving, ungenerous, unrelenting, unstinting, uppish, vain, vituperative, voracious, withholding, wolfish, wry
Way with people: Helpful, positive, or nice to others
accessory, accommodating, aggrandizing, altruistic, amenable, amicable, attached, avuncular, beneficent, benevolent, benign, big-hearted, brotherly, caring, charitable, chivalrous, civic-minded, clement, compassionate, concerned, conciliatory, conscientious, considerate, constructive, cooperative, dutiful, eager, equable, equitable, faithful, fatherly, felicitous, fortunate, fraternal, good-hearted, helpful, heroic, humane, humanitarian, indulgent, instructive, intimate, large,,lenient, loving, loyal, magnanimous, maternal, merciful, motherly, neighborly, nice, obliging, paternal, patriotic, philanthropic, pleasant, positive, progressive, propitiatory, propitious, protective, provident, reliable, responsible, responsive, selfless, self-sacrificing, sensitive, sharing, sisterly, social, social-minded, solicitous, soothing, sunny, supportive, sympathetic, tender, thoughtful, tonic, trustworthy, trusty, unfailing, unselfish, upbeat, useful, valuable, voluntary, well-intentioned, well-meaning, wholesome, worthwhile
Way with people: Troublesome, negative, or unpleasant to others
abrasive, abusive, acrid, acrimonious, annoying, antagonistic, argumentative, avaricious, averse, baneful, bilious, bitter, bothersome, bullying, cagey, capricious, cloying, complaining, covetous, crafty, crappy, creepy, crotchety, crummy, cutthroat, dangerous, designing, destructive, difficult, discontented, disquieting, disturbing, divisive, downbeat, envious, fearsome, fickle, fierce, foxy, harsh, horrendous, horrible, horrid, horrific, importunate, incompatible, infamous, inhumane, snobbish, snoopy, snotty, sordid, sour, spiteful, spleenful, sticky, stuck-up, subversive, terrifying, thorny, thoughtless, toxic, treacly, tricky, troublesome, truculent, unconcerned, undependable, unfaithful, nosy, invidious, irksome, irreconcilable, irresponsible jackleg, jangly, jaundiced, libelous, lousy, lupine, maddening, maladjusted, manipulative, mean, meddlesome, menacing, nagging, nauseating, negative, negligent, nerve-racking, nettlesome, nihilistic, notorious, noxious, objectionable, obnoxious, odious, offensive, officious, ominous, onerous, oppressive, pernicious, pesky, pestilent, pesty, petulant, pompous, prankish, preachy, prickly, provocative, pugnacious, querulous, rancid, rancorous, rapacious, rascally, remorseless, reprehensible, restrictive, rivalrous, roguish, sacrilegious, savage, scary, scathing, scurrilous, seditious, self-destructive, severe, sharp, sick, slanderous, slashing, slinking, sly, small, smirking, snide, sniffy, ungrateful, unpleasant, unsympathetic, useless, venomous, vicious, vindictive, virulent, vitriolic, vituperative, vulpine
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Lesson Plans & Ideas
Describing Personality: Character Traits and Temperaments
Attempts to describe personality types, character traits, and temperaments have always amused people. Even though human personality has defied all attempts to categorize it into a few types, so many attempts have been made to do so. It was the Greeks who first attempted a description of human personality and character. They categorized human personality under the scope of the four temperaments – sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic and melancholic.
Today English language has a variety of words for describing people, their personality, character and temperament. These words can be categorized into words that describe a person’s general behavior and outlook, attitude towards others, attitude towards money and property, and his view of life. In this ESL lesson you will learn how to describe someone’s personality and character.
The following is a list of adjectives for describing someone’s personality, character traits and temperament. You can search by word or category to find the most suitable word for describing a person’s character.
Personality Types: General Categories
Vocabulary for Describing Personality Types, Character Traits, and Temperaments
Describing positive personality types: Appealing, elegant or neat outlook and behaviour
adorable, affluent, alluring, appealing, aristocratic, arresting, attractive, beautiful, becoming, beguiling, bewitching, breathtaking, captivating, charismatic, charming, chic, Circean, classy, clean, clubby, couth, crisp, cuddly, dapper, dashing, dazzling, dear, debonair, decorous, desirable, devastating, dignified, elegant, enchanting, engaging, enthralling, enticing, entrancing, exquisite, fancy, fashionable, fetching, finished, flowery, flush, glamorous, glorious, graceful, gracious, handsome, healthy, highborn, immaculate, impeccable, imperial, ingratiating, intoxicating, inviting, irresistible, kingly, lardy-dardy, lavish, lush, luxuriant, luxurious, magnetic, modish, natty, neat, nifty, nubile, opulent, ornate, plush, plushy, polished, posh, prepossessing, pretty, princely, privileged, prosperous, redolent, refined, regal, resplendent, rich, ritzy, royal, scrumptious, seductive, select, silk-stocking, sleek, slick, smart, smooth, snazzy, soigne, sophisticated, spanking, spellbinding, spiffy, splashy, splendid, spotless, spruce, stainless, stately, sterling, striking, stunning, stylish, suave, sumptuous, surefooted, sure-handed, svelte, swank, swanky, swell, swish, tantalizing, tasty, tidy, trendy, trig, trim, ultrachic, ultramodern, ultrarich, voguish, wealthy, well, well-groomed, well-heeled, well-off, winning, winsome, yummy
Describing negative personality types: unappealing, shabby or clumsy outlook and behaviour
abysmal, angular, awkward, awry, cadaverous, clumsy, contaminated, crumpled, decrepit, derelict, destitute, dingy, disfigured, disgusting, dowdy, down-and-out, drippy, dumpy, fiddle-footed, filthy, frightful, frowzy, funky gaudy, gawky, geeky, ghastly, gnarly, graceless, grisly, grotesque, gruesome, hard-up, heavy-footed, hideous, homely, horrid, horrific, imperfect, impoverished, impure, incongruous, indecorous, indigent, inelegant, infelicitous, lowborn, lowly, macabre, malodorous, meretricious, messy, monstrous, odious, oily, overdressed, penniless, penurious, plain, poor, putrid, ragged, ragtag, rancid, ratty, repellent, repugnant, repulsive, revolting, rough, rugged, scabrous, scandalous, scraggly, scummy, scuzzy, seedy, shabby, shaggy, shocking, shoddy, sickening, simian, slatternly, slavering, sleazy, slimy, slobbery, sloppy, slovenly, slummy, sordid, squalid, stinky, subhuman, tacky, tawdry, tenth-rate, tousled, ugly, ulcerous, unappealing, unbecoming, unclean, uncoordinated, uncouth, undesirable, undignified, unfashionable, unfit, unhandy, unhealthy, unkempt, unpolished, unsanitary, unsavory, unsightly, untidy, weather-beaten, woolly
Positive personality traits: Warm, friendly or loving approach and behaviour
adoring, affable, affectionate, agreeable, amiable, amicable, amorous, appreciative, approachable, ardent, chummy, companionable, compassionate, congenial, convivial, cordial, devoted, disarming, earthy, empathic, familiar, favorable, fond, forgiving, friendly, genial, good-humored, good-natured, gracious, gregarious, heartwarming, hearty, hospitable, ingratiating, intimate, kind, kindhearted, kindly, kindred, largehearted, likable, lovable, loving, merciful, neighborly, open, open-hearted, pally, palsy-walsy, personable, reverent, romantic, sensitive, sensual, sentimental, sociable, soft, soft-hearted, summery, sympathetic, tender, tender-hearted, touching, warm, warm-hearted, well-disposed, worshipful
Negative personality traits: Cold, unfriendly, or irritable outlook and behaviour
abrupt, alien, aloof, arid, asexual, ashen, astringent, austere, bad-tempered, bilious, bitter, bleak, bloody, blunt, brusque, brutal, callous, cantankerous, catty, cheap, chilly, closed, cold, coldblooded, cold-hearted, contemptuous, crabby, cranky, cross, crotchety, cruel, crusty, cryptic, curmudgeonly, cursed, curt, cussed, cutthroat, cynical, dispassionate, distant, domineering, dour, Draconian, dry, dyspeptic, egocentric, empty, envious, forbidding, formidable, freezing, frigid, frosty, gelid, glacial, glowering, gray, greedy, grouchy, grudging, gruff, grumpy, hardened, hardhearted, hateful,naughty, heartless, hollow, huffish, humiliating, icy, ignoble, ill-humored, ill-natured, ill-tempered, impersonal, inconsiderate, indifferent, inhospitable, insensitive, insulting, insusceptible, intolerant, irreconcilable, irritable, jealous, liverish, matter-of-fact, mean, mechanical, merciless, misanthropic, miserly, nasty, niggardly, nippy, ornery, parched, parsimonious, peckish, peevish, penurious, petty, piercing, pinchbeck, pitiless, Procrustean, psychopathic, reactionary, remorseless, remote, ruthless, sadistic, salty, self-serving, sharp-tongued, shrewish, snappish, snarly, snippety, snippy, snitty, snotty, sour, spleenful, stark, steely, stern, still, stoical, stony, strict, surly, suspicious, testy, tetchy, thick-skinned, tight, tight-fisted, touchy, troglodytic, truculent, tyrannical, uncharitable, uncommunicative, uncongenial, unfeeling, unforgiving, unfriendly,ungrateful, unkind, unkindly, unmerciful, unmoved, unsympathetic, vengeful, venomous, vexatious, vicious, vitriolic, waspish, wintry, withholding, wizened, wooden, wrongheaded
Words for describing positive, sociable and outgoing characters
ambitious, assertive, blatant, bloviating, blustering, boisterous, bold, bombastic, brash, brazen, breathy, chatty, choleric, defiant, dramatic, emphatic, evangelical, excited, exhibitionist, expansive, expressive, extemporaneous, extroverted, exuberant, flagrant, flamboyant, flashy, flirtatious, forward, freewheeling, garrulous, grandiloquent, gregarious, gushy, high-profile, histrionic, immodest, indiscreet, intrusive, jabbering, lippy, loquacious, loud, loudmouthed, madcap, meteoric, militant, noisy, obtrusive, outgoing, outspoken, overbearing, overt, overweening, petulant, presumptuous, prolix, protrusive, protuberant, public, pugnacious, pushy, raucous, rousing, shrill, sonorous, spectacular, splashy, stagestruck, stagy, stentorian, strident, swinging, switched-on, talkative, theatrical, throaty, turgid, uninhibited, unreserved, unselfconscious, uproarious, verbose, visible, vitriolic, vocal, vociferous, voluble, wordy
Words for describing unsociable, introverted and reserved characters
abashed, alien, alienated, alone, aloof, anonymous, antisocial, ascetic, asocial, austere, autonomous, awkward, bashful, chary, donnish, claustral, cloistered, concealed, confidential, covert, coy, crafty, delitescent, detached, discreet, distant, elusive, enigmatic, estranged, evasive, ghostly, guarded, hermitic, indirect, inhibited, inner- directed, inscrutable, insular, introspective, introverted, invisible, inward, isolated, laconic, latent, lone, lonely, low-profile, misty, misunderstood, modest, monastic, monkish, mum, mute, mysterious, nebulous, nonverbal, oblique, obscure, occult, paradoxical, passive, phantom, private, quiescent, quiet, reclusive, reluctant, remote, repressed, reserved, restrained, reticent, retiring, secluded, secretive, self-absorbed, self-conscious, self-effacing, sensitive, sequestered, shadowy, shamefaced, sheepish, short-spoken, shy, silent, smoky, sneaky, soft-spoken, solitary, solo, spectral, sphinxlike, spooky, standoffish, stay-at-home, stealthy, still, stolid, strange, subterranean, surreptitious, suspicious, taciturn, tactful, tight-lipped, tiptoe, unapproachable, unassertive, unassuming, unclear, uncommunicative, undemonstrative, understated, unexpressive, unfathomable, unobtrusive, unsociable, vanishing, veiled, voiceless, wary, watchful, wistful, withdrawn, wordless, xenophobic
Words for describing people's attitude towards others: Assertive and confident character types
abusive, adamant, assuming, assured, authoritative, autocratic, bossy, bullheaded, bumptious certain, cocksure, commanding, compelling, conclusive, confident, controlling, decisive, determined, direct, directed, dogged, dogmatic, dominant, domineering, do-or-die, egoistic, egotistic, emphatic, enduring, entitled, entrenched, firm, fixed, focused, forceful, formidable, grandiose, hard-bitten, hard-boiled, hard- edged, hardened, hardheaded, headstrong, hellbent, high and mighty, high-flown, high-handed, high-powered, immovable, impenetrable, imperative, imperious, impervious, implacable, impregnable, independent, indestructible, indomitable, inexorable, inflated, inflexible, insistent, insuperable, intent, intimidating, intractable, invincible, invulnerable, ironbound, ironclad, irresistible, lordly macno, magisterial, magistral, messianic, mighty, militaristic, mulish obdurate, obstinate, omnipotent, one-sided, opinionated, orgulous, ossified, overweening, overwhelming, persistent, persuasive, pertinacious, pigheaded, poised, portentous, possessive, predominant, preponderant, presumptuous, prideful, prodigious, proprietary, proud, purposeful, pushy, recalcitrant, redoubtable, refractory, relentless, renitent, resolute, rigid, secure, self-assured, self-confident, self-important, self-involved, self-possessed, self-righteous, self-satisfied, self-seeking, single-minded, smug, stiff, strident, strong-minded, strong-willed, stubborn, sure, swaggering, swashbuckling, swellheaded, take-charge, tenacious, territorial, thick-skinned, turgid, unassailable, unbending, undaunted, unfaltering, unflagging, unflinching, unreceptive, unregenerate, unrelenting, unstinting, unstoppable, unswerving, unwary, unwieldy, unwilling, unyielding, vain, vainglorious, vehement, willful
Describing people's attitude towards others: Submissive, diffident and uncertain character types
accommodating, acquiescent, adaptable, ambivalent, apologetic, apprehensive, assailable, awkward, balky, changeable, chary, compliant, conciliatory, culpable, cursory, dainty, deferential, dependent, diffident, doubtful, downtrodden, dubious, ductile, effeminate, equivocal, exposed, fatalistic, fawning, flexible, flimsy, halfhearted, halting, haphazard, harmless, hesitant, humiliated, ill-at-ease, impalpable, inconclusive, inconstant, incredulous, indecisive, indirect, inoffensive, insecure, irresolute, labile, lambent, loath, lost, malleable, masochistic, mealy-mouthed, meek, mousy, mutable, noncommittal, obedient, obeisant, obsequious, penitent, phlegmatic, plastic, pliable, pliant, prostrate, protean qualmish, queasy, questioning, quizzical, receptive, reconciled, reluctant, repentant, reserved, resigned, respectful, self-denying, serviceable, servile, shackled, slavish, solicitous, squishy, subdued, submissive, subservient, suggestible, supple, suppliant, susceptible, sycophantic, tentative, tenuous, thin-skinned, timid, tongue-tied, tractable, tremulous, vacillating, vague, vulnerable, wavering, yielding,
Describing strength of character and personality: Strong, bold, or tough temperaments
able-bodied, adventuresome, adventurous, all-powerful, audacious, belligerent, bluff, blunt, bold, brash, brave, brawny, courageous daring, dauntless, decisive, doughty, durante, effective, fearless, firm, flinty, forbidding, formidable, full-blooded, gritty, gutsy, gutty, hale, hardball, hard-nosed, hardy, heavy, hell-for-leather, indestructible, inexhaustible, intrepid, lionhearted, lusty, manly, massive, mettlesome, mighty, militant, motivated, muscular, nervy, oppressive, physical, plucky, potent, powerful, ready, reliant, resilient, robust, rocky, rough, rugged, ruthless, scrappy, seif-made, self-reliant, self-sufficient, self-supporting, self-sustaining, solid, spartan, spirited, spunky, stalwart, staunch, steadfast, steely, stout, stout-hearted, strapping, street-smart, streetwise, strong, sturdy, substantial, thriving, tough, truculent, unblinking, valiant, valorous, venturesome, warlike, yeomanly
Describing lack of strength of character and personality: Weak and fearful temperaments
abashed, afraid, ailing, alarmed, anemic, anxious, apprehensive, ashamed, asthmatic, bloodless, brittle, clinging, consumptive, cowardly, craven, creaky, cringing, debilitated, decrepit, delicate, desperate, disconcerted, faint, fainthearted, faltering, fearful, feeble, fidgety, fitful, flimsy, fragile, frail, frangible, frightened, futile, gutless, hagridden, helpless, horrified, horror-struck, humbled, humiliated, hung-up, ill, impotent, impoverished, incapacitated, ineffective, inept, infirm, insecure, insufficient, jittery, lame, lily-livered, limp, limp-wristed, mawkish, meager, milk-livered, mortified, namby-pamby, needy, nervous, neurotic, oversensitive, overwhelmed, pale, pallid, paltry, panicked, panic-stricken, paranoid, pathetic, petrified, pitiful, plaintive, poor-spirited, punchless, puny, pusillanimous, recreant, scared, shaky, sheepish, short-winded, shrinking, sickly, simpering, skimpy, skittish, slight, sniveling, snuffling, spasmodic, spineless, spooked, squeamish, stressed, stressed-out, sulky, terrified, timid, timorous, toothless, tottering, trapped, trembling, tremulous uncomfortable, undernourished, uneasy, unnerved, unwell, uptight vertiginous, wary, washed-out, washy, watery, weak, weakhearted, weak-kneed, wet, whining, whiny, white, white-livered, wimpy, wispy, wormy
Vocabulary for describing active and lively characters
acrobatic, active, adroit, agile, alert, alive, ambulatory, athletic, attentive, avid, awake, bouncy, breezy, bright-eyed, brisk, bubbly, bustling, busy, buxom, catalytic, chipper, crisp, curious, deft, diligent, dynamic, eager, effervescent, elusive, energetic, energized, enterprising, errant, exhilarated, exuberant, fecund, feisty, fervent, fleet, fleet-footed, fluent, fluid, footloose, free, fresh, frisky, frolicsome, galvanic, go-go, gymnastic, hale, high-spirited, high-strung, hurried, industrious, interested, intrigued, irrepressible, itinerant jaunty, jingly, kinetic, lambent, liberated, light, limber, lissome, lithe, lively, mercurial, mobile, motile, nimble, nomadic, operose, outdoorsy, peppy, perky, productive, prolific, prompt quick, quicksilver, rambunctious, rapid, ready, renascent, saltatory, sassy, saucy, sentient, sinuous, skittish, snappy, speedy, spirited, sprightly, springy, spruce, spry, strenuous, supple, swift, switched-on, sylphlike, tireless, unencumbered, up-and-coming, vibrant, vigilant, vigorous, vital, vivacious, volant, volatile, wakeful, whippy, wide-awake, wide-eyed, zappy, zestful, zesty, zingy
Vocabulary for describing inactive and lazy characters
abstracted, aged, apathetic, asleep, atrophied, barren, beat, benumbed, blank, blase, bored, bovine, bushed, cadaverous, comatose, complacent, dazed, dead, disinterested, docile, doltish, dopey, dormant, draggy, dreamy, drooping, droopy, drowsy, drugged, dull, dulled, emotionless, empty, enervated, exhausted, fallow, fatigued, flat, floppy glassy, glassy-eyed, groggy, haggard, hazy, hoary, hypnotic, hypnotized, idle, immobile, impassive, impervious, inactive, inanimate, inattentive, incapacitated, indifferent, indolent, inert, insensate, insipid, lackadaisical, languid, languorous, late, latent, lazy, leaden, lethargic, lifeless, listless, logy, lymphatic, malingering, moribund, mute, numb, overripe, paralyzed, passive, phlegmatic, placid, pococurante, poky, porcine, punch-drunk, punchy, rusty, sagging, sapped, satiated, sedentary, semi- comatose, semiconscious, senseless, shiftless, shot, slack, sleepy, slothful, slow, slowpoke, sluggish, sodden, somnolent, spaced-out, spent, spiritless, stagnant, static, stiff, stuporous, supine, tardy, tepid, tired, torpid, truant, uninterested, unmindful, unmotivated, unresponsive vacant, vacuous, weary, wizened, world-weary, worn-out, yawning, zomboid, zonked
Describing happy and optimistic outlook to life
agrin, airy, amazed, amused, amusing, astonished, beatific, bemused, blissful, blithe, buoyant, carefree, cavalier, cheerful, cheery, chipper, content, contented, convivial, delighted, devil-may-care, droll, ebullient, ecstatic, elated, enchanted, enraptured, enthusiastic,euphoric, expectant, exuberant, exultant, fanciful, fancy-free, festive, flying, frolicsome, fulfilled, fun-loving, funny, glad, gleeful, glowing, happy, happy-go-lucky, harmonious, hilarious, hopeful, humorous, impish, infectious jaunty, jocose, jocular, jocund, jolly, jovial, joyful, joyous, jubilant, laughing, lighthearted, merry, mirthful, mischievous, optimistic, overjoyed, perky, playful, pleased, puckish, radiant, rapturous, ravished, relieved, rhapsodic, roguish, roseate, rosy, sanguine, sated, satisfied, silly, sky-high, spirited, sportive, starry-eyed, stoked, sunny, thankful, triumphant, waggish, whimsical, wishful
Describing unhappy sad and pessimistic outlook to life
abject, absorbed, abysmal, achy, afflicted, aggrieved, agonizing, anguished, beleaguered, bereaved, bereft, bleak, blue, brokenhearted, brooding, bummed, bummed-out, chagrined, cheerless, contrite, crestfallen, crushed, dark, dejected, demure, depressed, deprived, desolate, despondent, disconsolate, discontented, discouraged, disenchanted, disgusted, disillusioned, dismal, dissatisfied, distraught, distressed, disturbed, doleful, dolorous, doomed, dour, down, down-at-heel, downbeat, downcast, elegiac, embittered, fatalistic, forlorn, fretful, funereal, gloomy, glum, grave, grief-stricken, grieving, grim, grouchy, gram, grumpy, guilt-ridden, guilty, hapless, harried, heartbroken, heavy-hearted, homesick, hopeless, humorless, hurt, inconsolable, indisposed, injured, joyless, lachrymose, languishing, lonely, lonesome, lovesick, lugubrious, melancholy, miserable, misty-eyed, moody, mopey, morbid, morose, mournful, nostalgic, oppressed, out-of-sorts, owlish, pained, pathetic, pensive, perturbed, pessimistic, pining, pitiable, pitiful, plaintive, plangent, poignant, pouty, pungent, regretful, remorseful, repentant, rueful, ruthful, sad, saturnine, serious, severe, sighing, sober, solemn, somber, soppy, sorrowful, sorry, stern, stricken, subdued, suffering, suicidal, sulky, sullen, surly, teary, teary-eyed, tortured, tragic, tristful, troubled, unfortunate, unfulfilled, unhappy, unlucky wailful, weepy, wistful, woebegone, woeful, wounded, wrecked, wretched, wronged
Describing inherent positive emotional status: Calm, gentle, and easygoing types
apollonian, calm, casual, composed, constrained, cool, cool-headed, demure, dewy, dispassionate, dryeyed, easygoing, emollient, even-tempered gentle, imperturbable, laconic, laid-back, lenient, levelheaded, low-key, low-pressure, meditative, mellow, mild, muted neutral, nonchalant, nonviolent, objective, pacific, pacifistic, passive, patient, peaceful, poised, quiet, relaxed, restrained, reticent, sedate, self-disciplined, self-possessed, serene, soft, steady, stoical, subdued taciturn, tame, temperate, tempered, tranquil, unbothered, unemotional, unflappable, unforced, unhassled, unhurried, unruffled, unstirred, untroubled
Describing inherent negative emotional status: Angry, aggressive, and passionate types
aggravated, aggressive, aghast, agitated, amorous, angered, angry, animated, annoyed, antsy, argumentative, avid, bellicose, belligerent, blooming, brash, breathless choleric, combative, competitive, contentious, dedicated, defiant, dramatic, edgy, effusive, emotional, excitable, excited, explosive, ferocious, feverish, fierce, fiery, fire-eating, flighty, flustered, frazzled, free-swinging, frenzied, fuming, furious harried, hassled, henpecked, high-keyed, high-pressure,high-strung, hostile, hot, hot-blooded, hotheaded, huffy, hungry, hyper, hysterical impassioned, impetuous, impulsive, incensed, indignant, inflammatory, intemperate, intensive, intent, irascible, irate, irrepressible, jealous livid, lusty mad, manic, miffed, militant, militaristic, overwrought, overzealous passionate, peeved, peppery, perfervid, piqued, pissed, pissed off, pugnacious, pushy quarrelsome rabid, raddled, raging, rambunctious, rash, resentful, restive, restless, ruffled, rumbustious scrappy, seething, self-indulgent, sensuous, short, short-tempered, sick and tired, snappish, sore, steaming, stewing, sthenic, stir-crazy, stirred up, stormy, strained, subjective, sulfurous, sultry, temperamental, tempestuous, tense, testy, ticked, ticked-off, ticklish, torrid, touchy, troubled, truculent, tumultuous, turbulent, turned-on, unglued, unreasonable, unreconciled, unremitting, unrestrained, unsettled, unstable, upset, vehement, Vesuvian, vexed, violent, visceral, volcanic, warm-blooded, white-hot, worked-up, wound-up, wrathful, wrought-up, wroth, zealous
Describing a person's view of life: Moderate and balanced views and opinions
balanced, businesslike, careful, cautious, celibate, chary, circumspect, clocklike, closemouthed, collected, composed, concise, concrete, conscientious, conservative, consistent, constant, controlled, conventional, cool-headed, diplomatic, down-to-earth, equitable, factual, frugal, gingerly, inveterate, laconic, levelheaded, matter-of-fact, middle-of-the-road, mild, moderate, modest, no-nonsense, objective, obsolete, old-fashioned, orderly, orthodox, ossified, outdated, outmoded, passe, penny-wise, pious, practical, pragmatic, prudent rational, reasonable, regimented, regular, safe, sane, sensible, sober, sound, sparing, square, stable, standardized, standpat, steady, stick-in-the-mud, sticky, stodgy, strait-laced, stringent, studied, tactful, temperate, thrifty, tough-minded, ultraconservative, utilitarian, workmanlike
Describing a person's view of life: Excessive and radical views
aberrant, abnormal, addictive, alcoholic, amok, anarchic, anarchistic, apoplectic, avaricious, berserk, brash, chaotic, crazed, crazy, daffy, daft, delirious, demoniacal, deranged, deviant, dizzy, dotty, dysfunctional, eldritch, epicurean, erratic, esurient, excessive, extravagant, extreme, fanatic, fanatical, febrile, fey, flagrant, flaky, florid, frantic, freakish, frenetic, frenzied, gonzo, greedy, headlong, hedonistic, heedless, hog wild, homicidal, hyper, hysterical, immodest, incendiary, inordinate, insane, insatiable, irrational, kamikaze, lunatic, mad, madcap, maniacal, monomaniacal, nihilistic, obsessive, odd, off, off-the-wall, overwrought, perfervid, phrenetic, pinko, pixilated, potty, prodigal, profuse, psycho, psychotic, punk, quirky, rabid, radical, raging, rakish, rapacious, rash, ravening, raving, reckless, screwy, spasmodic, strange, streaky, surreal, ultra, ultraist, unbalanced, unbridled, unconventional, uncurbed, unfettered, unhinged, unrestrained, voracious, wacky, warped, wasteful, way-out, weird, wiggy, wild-eyed, wired zany, zooey
Vocabulary for describing a person's manners: Proper, courteous, and refined manners
ceremonious, chaste, civil, civilized, classical, clubby, conforming, conventional, correct, courteous, courtly, couth, cultivated, cultured decent, decorous, delicate, demure, dignified, diplomatic, discreet, effete, elitist, established, esthetic, ethical, fastidious, felicitous, finicky, formal, fussy, gallant, genteel, gentlemanly, gracious, holier-than-thou, honorable, ingratiating, irreproachable, kosher, law-abiding, legitimate, maidenly, mannered, matronly, modern, modest, moral, moralistic, obedient, official, orthodox, polite, pompous, precious, presentable, priggish, prim, prissy, pristine, professional, proper, prudent, prudish, punctilious, punctual, puritanical, refined, religious, reputable, respectable, respectful, rhetorical, righteous, rigid, safe, sanctimonious, seemly, self-righteous, smooth, smug, snobbish, snooty, soapy, sporting, sportsmanlike, squeamish, stable, staid, starchy, stiff, stilted, straight, stuffy, suave, tasteful, taut, traditional, tweedy, unflappable, upright, uptight, urbane, well-behaved, well bred, well mannered
Vocabulary for describing manners: Vulgar and rude manners
abandoned, aberrant, abnormal, abominable, aboriginal, abusive, animalistic, atavistic, barbaric, base, bawdy, beastly, bibulous, bizarre, blasphemous, blooey, blunt, boorish, brash, brazen, brutish, caddish, cannibalistic, carnal, cheap, cheeky, coarse, common, coquettish, crass, crude, debauched, decadent, degenerate, depraved, deviant, dirty, dirty-minded, discourteous, disobedient, disorderly, disreputable, dissipated, dissolute, egregious, feral, flatulent, flip, flippant, flooey, foul, garish, gauche, gross, heathenish, heteroclite, heterodox, hoggish, ill-bred, illicit, ill-mannered, immoderate, immoral, impertinent, impolite, impolitic, improper, impudent, inappropriate, incongruous, indecent, indecorous, indelicate, inexcusable, informal, insolent, intoxicated, irregular, irreverent, kinky, knockabout, lascivious, lawless, lecherous, lewd, libertine, libidinous, licentious, loose, loud, low, lowbrow, lubricious, lustful, mannerless, meretricious, native, naughty, obscene, obstreperous, offbeat, offhand, outlandish, outrageous, overdressed, perverted, plebeian, primitive, profane, profligate, promiscuous, prurient, prying, queer, Rabelaisian, racy, raffish, rakish, rambunctious, randy, rank, raucous, raunchy, raw, rebellious, refractory, revolutionary, ribald, riotous, ripped, rip-roaring, risque, roily, rough, rough-and-tumble, rough-hewn, rowdy, rowdydowdy, rude, rumbustious, rustic, ruttish, salacious, sassy, savage, scabrous, scandalous, scurrilous, self-abandoned, shameless, showy, slutty, smutty, steamy, swinish, tactless, tasteless, tawdry, tipsy, trashy, unbecoming, unblushing, uncivil, uncivilized, uncontrollable, unconventional, uncool, uncouth, uncultured, undiplomatic, ungracious, unmanageable, unmannered, unmannerly, unnatural, unrefined, unruly, unseemly, unsportsmanlike, untamed, untoward, vulgar, wanton, weird, wild
Describing intelligent and clever personality types
abreast, accurate, acute, analytical, apt, articulate, astute, au fait, authoritative, bookish, bright, brilliant, broad-ranging canny, cerebral, clear, clearheaded, clearsighted, clever, cogent, cognizant, coherent, comprehensive, concise, conscious, conversant, cunning, discerning, donnish, droll educated, erudite, expert, facile, fluent glib, heads-up, heady, highbrow, high-minded, imaginative, incisive, informed, ingenious, innovative, inquiring, inquisitive, insightful, intellectual, intelligent, interpretive, inventive, keen, knowing, knowledgeable, learned, limpid, literate,logical, lucid, luminous, observant, omnilegent, omniscient, organized, pawky, pedagogic, penetrating, perceptive, percipient, perspicacious, piercing, pithy, precocious, prescient, proficient, profound quick-witted rational, recondite, reflective, retentive, right, ruminant, savvy, serious-minded, sharp, sharp-witted, shrewd, silver-tongued, smart, smoothtongued, subtle, succinct, terse, trenchant, tuned-in, ultrasmart, uncanny, understanding, unerring, urbane, well-advised, well-informed, well-read, well-rounded, well-spoken, witty, worldly, worldly-wise
Describing stupid, ignorant personality types
absent-minded, abstracted, addlebrained, addled, agog, amnesiac, backward, baffled, befogged, befuddled, benighted, besotted, bewildered, blithering, bovine, confounded, confused, cretinous, dense, dim, dimwitted, disorganized, disoriented, doltish, dull, dumb, dumbfounded, duncical, empty-headed, erroneous, fallible, fatuous, fat-witted, feeble-minded, foggy, fuzzy, hazy, idiotic, ignorant, illiterate, imbecilic, inarticulate, incognizant, incoherent, incompetent, inconscient, lumpish, maundering, mindless, mixed-up, moronic, muddled, muddleheaded, myopic, mystified, numb, oblivious, obtuse, opaque, perplexed, preoccupied, puzzled, rambling, rattled, retarded, scatterbrained, senile, simple, simpleminded, slow, slow-witted, sophomoric, spaced, spaced-out, spacey, speechless, stunned, stunted, stupefied, stupid, stuporous, subliterate, subnormal, thick, thickheaded, thick-witted, turbid, unclear, unconscious, undiscerning, unfocused, uninformed, unknowing, unlearned, unlettered, unorganized, unread, unschooled, unskilled, untutored, unversed, vacant, vacuous, witless, woodenheaded, woozy, wrong, zoned out, zonked out
Describing a person's abilities: Bright and skillful
ablaze, able, acclaimed, accomplished, adept, adequate, admirable, admired, ageless, aglow, all-around, amazing, ambidextrous, anointed, artful, artistic, arty, atypical, auspicious, avant-garde, bedazzling, blessed, bodacious, breathtaking, bright, brilliant, capable, celebrated, charismatic, colorful, competent, conspicuous, consummate, controversial, coordinated, corking, creative, creditable dazzling, different, distinct, distinctive, distinguished, divine, eccentric, efficient, effulgent, eminent, esteemed, estimable, excellent, exceptional, exclusive, exemplary, exotic, extraordinary, famous, fascinating, favored, fine, first-class, first-rate, flashing, foremost, fortunate, glimmering, glittering, glorious, glossy, glowing, grand, great handy, heavenly, honored, iconoclastic, idiosyncratic, illuminated, illustrious, imaginative, imperial, important, imposing, impressive, incandescent, incomparable, incredible, individual, indubitable, inimitable, inspiring, invaluable, inviolate, iridescent, jazzy, light, lucky, luminous, lustrous magical, magnificent, majestic, major, marquee, marvelous, masterful, matchless, nonpareil, notable, noted, noteworthy, novel original, otherworldly, outstanding, peculiar, peerless, perfect, phenomenal, praiseworthy, preeminent, prepared, prestigious, priceless, primary, Promethean, prominent, protean, proverbial, quaint, qualified, radiant, rare, refulgent, remarkable, renowned, resourceful, respected, resplendent, reverential, ripe, sacred, saintly, scintillating, select, sensational, serendipitous, shining, signal, significant, singular, skillful, sole, sovereign, sparkling, special, spicy, splendid, startling, stellar, storied, stupendous, sublime, successful, super, superb, superhuman, superior, superlative, supernatural, supreme, surefooted, sure-handed, talented, terrific, tiptop, titled, together, top, topflight, topnotch, top-of-the-line, towering, transfigured, uncommon, unconventional, unequaled, unexcelled, unique, unmatched, unorthodox, unprecedented, unusual, unwonted, utopian, valuable, valued, varied, vast, versatile, victorious, vintage, vivid, well-known, well-spoken, well-thought-of, whiz-bang, wonderful, wondrous, worthwhile, worthy
Describing a person's abilities: Dull or average
automatic, average, banal, bland, blank, boring, bourgeois, characterless, colorless, common, commonplace, conventional, cursory, customary, elated, derivative, dim, dingy, dismal, down-to-earth, drab, dreary, dull, empty, everyday, expressionless, faded, fair, fallible, familiar, faulty, flat, glib, gratuitous, habitual, hackneyed, homespun, humble, humdrum, imitative, inartistic, inconclusive, inconspicuous, indifferent, inefficient, inept, inferior, inglorious, innocuous, insignificant, insipid, jejune, lackluster, lifeless, low-class, lowly, low- quality, lukewarm, lusterless, matter-of-fact, mediocre, menial, middling, mild, minor, modest, mortal, mundane, musty, negligible, nondescript, obvious, okay, one-dimensional, ordinary, passable, pedestrian, perfunctory, petit bourgeois, plain, plain-spoken, plastic, plebeian, proletarian, prosaic, prototypical, regular, repetitive, rinky-dink, run-of-the- mill, secondary, second-class, second-rate, shoddy, simple, small-time, soggy, soporific, spare, stagnant, stale, standard, stereotypical, sterile, stock, stripped-down, subordinate, superficial, superfluous, tarnished, tasteless, tedious, tepid, terrestrial, timeworn, tiresome, tolerable, trite, typical, unadorned, unassuming, undistinctive, undistinguished, unexceptional, unexciting, unhip, unimaginative, uninspiring, uninteresting, unprepared, unpretentious, unqualified, unsung, untalented, untitled, useless, usual, vapid, workaday, would-be
Describing one's level of maturity: Wise and experienced
actualized, adult, all-knowing, all-seeing, august, aware, awesome, balanced, broad, broad-minded, centered, clear, clear-sighted, cogent, coherent, complex, contemplative, deep, discriminating, disinterested, dispassionate, eloquent, enlightened, ethereal, exalted, experienced, farseeing, farsighted, focused, grand, grown-up, immortal, impartial, infallible, infinite, influential, integrated, judicious, just, large-minded, levelheaded, lofty, lucid, magisterial, majestic, mantic, masterful, masterly, mature, metaphysical, mystical, noble, old, omnipresent, omniscient, open-minded, orbicular, oriented, patriarchal, perfect, philosophical, practiced, prescient, profound, prophetic, resonant, sacred, sacrosanct, sagacious, sage, sapient, serene, sophisticated, spiritual, sublime, supernal, supreme, sybilline, telepathic, unassailable, unbiased, understanding, universal, venerable, veteran, visionary, weathered, weighty, wise, wizardly
Describing one's level of maturity: Foolish and immature
abstract, absurd, adolescent, affected, amateurish, anthropocentric, anti-intellectual, artless, artsy, asinine, bathetic, bedazzled, biased, bigoted, blind, bumbling, callow, capricious, careless, childish, chumpish, clownish, comical, corny, cretinous, cute, cutesy, daffy, daft, distracted, dopey, ethnocentric, farcical, flabbergasted, flatulent, flighty, foolhardy, foolish, foppish, frivolous, frothy, garrulous, gibbering, giddy, goofy, half-baked, harebrained, harum-scarum, hasty, homophobic, idiotic, ill-advised, imbecilic, immature, impetuous, impractical, imprudent, inane, indiscreet, inexperienced, infantile, injudicious, in the clouds, irrational, juvenile, laughable, lightheaded, long-winded, loquacious, ludicrous, melodramatic, mincing, minor, misanthropic, misogynous, moronic, mushyheaded, muzzy, naive, narrow, narrow-minded, nattering, nerdy, nonplussed, nutty, parochial, pedantic, petty, piddling, pinchbeck, prejudiced, preposterous, pretentious, prolix, provincial, pubescent, puerile, quixotic, quizzical, rash, rattlebrained, redundant, repetitious, ridiculoussappy, sectarian, sententious, shallow,soft-headed, sophistic, speechless, spoony, superficial, superstitious, trifling, trivial, unfledged, ungrounded, unrealistic, unwise, unworldly, verdant, waggish, wide-eyed, windy, woollyheaded, yeasty, youthful, zany
Describing moral status: Good, sincere and honest
aboveboard, angelic, authentic benevolent, bona fide, candid, capital, choice, conscientious, constant dear, decent, deserving, devout, direct, earnest, ethical, fair, fair-minded, fine, first-rate, forthcoming, forthright, foursquare, frank, free, genuine, God-fearing, good, guileless, harmonious, high-minded, holy, honest, honorable, humane, idealistic, impartial, incorruptible, irreproachable judicious, just loving, loyal, magnanimous, moral, natural, noble, organic, real, reliable, reverent, righteous, right-minded, scrupulous, selfless, seraphic, simon-pure, sincere, straightforward, sublime, true, true-blue, truthful, unimpeachable, up-and-up, up-front, upright, upstanding, veracious, vestal, virtuous, wholehearted, wholesome, worthy
Describing moral status: Bad, false and dishonest
accursed, adulterous, affected, amoral, apocryphal, apostate, arch, artificial, awful, backhanded, bad, baleful, baneful, barefaced, base, bent, bloodthirsty, bogus, calumnious, canting, casuistic, contemptible, corrupt, counterfeit, crafty, crooked, cunning, cursed, damned, debased, deceitful, deceptive, delusive, demoniacal, despicable, detestable, devilish, devious, diabolical, disgraced, dishonest, disingenuous, disloyal, dissembling, duplicitous, egregious, evasive, evil, execrable, fake, fallen, false, fatuous, feigned, fell, fiendish, flagitious, flagrant, foul, foxy, fraudulent, fulsome, furtive, guileful, hangdog, heinous, heretical, hexed, high-sounding, hollow, horrid, hypocritical ignoble, ignominious, infamous, infernal, insidious, insincere, irredeemable Janus-faced, jive loathsome, lowdown malefic, malevolent, malignant, mealy-mouthed, mendacious, miscreant, misleading, mock, monstrous, moralistic, murderous, nefarious, odious, ostentatious, perfidious, pernicious, perverse, phony, predatory, pretentious, pseudo, purulent, recreant, reprobate, rotten, sanctimonious, scurvy, selfish, serpentine, shady, sham, shameful, shifty, sinful, sinister, slanderous, slippery, sly, sneaky, sophistic, sorcerous, specious, spurious, stealthy, synthetic, tainted, terrible, traitorous, treacherous, two-faced, unashamed, unconscionable, unctuous, underhanded, unfair, ungodly, unholy, unjust, unpardonable, unprincipled, unscrupulous, untruthful, unworthy, vain, venal, venomous, vile, villainous, viperous, virtueless, vulpine, wicked, wily, worthless
Vocabulary for describing giving, generous personality types
accessible, accommodating, adaptable, approving, artless beatific, believing candid, careless, childlike, complaisant, compliant, credulous, democratic, dewy-eyed, doting, dulcet, easy, faithful, frank, free, generous, giving, good-natured, gracious, grateful, guileless, gullible, hopeful, humble, impressionable, inconsistent, indiscriminate, indulgent, ingenuous, innocent, instinctive, intuitive, lax, liberal, naive, natural, obliging, open, permissive, rapt, reciprocating, saccharine, selfless, simple, sugary, sweet, syrupy, tender, tolerant, transparent, trustful, trusting, ultraliberal, unabashed, uncritical, understanding, undesigning, unguarded, unquestioning, unsophisticated, unsparing, unsullied, unsuspecting, unwitting, young
Vocabulary for describing Demanding, selfish personality types
abrasive, accusatory, acerbic, acidic, acquisitive, admonishing, agnostic, arbitrary, arrogant, assiduous, assumptive, atheistic, biting, blameful, bumptious, cagey, calculating, captious, carping, categorical, caustic, caviling, censorious, challenging, cheap, chiding, choosy, clinical, compulsive, conceited, condescending, constipated, contemptuous, contradictory, contrary, costive, covetous, crafty, critical, deliberate, demanding, deprecatory, derogatory, dictatorial, didactic, disabused, disapproving, disbelieving, disciplined, discriminating, disdainful, disparaging, distrustful, doctrinaire, dogmatic, egocentric, exacting, exigent, facetious, fastidious, fault-finding, fussy, gluttonous, grabby, greedy, guarded, hard, harsh, high-and-mighty, hubristic, huffy, hypercritical, impatient, incisive, insistent, ironic, judgmental, logical, materialistic, measured, methodical, meticulous, mocking, mordacious, mordant, narcissistic, niggling, obsessive, omnivorous, opinionated, opportunistic, painstaking, particular, patronizing, pejorative, peremptory, perseverant, persistent, pertinacious, picky, pointed, political, precise, procacious, querulous, ravenous, rebuking, reproving, rigorous, sanctimonious, sarcastic, sardonic, satiric, satirical, scolding, scornful, scrimping, scrupulous, sedulous, selective, self-centered, selfish, self-serving, self-willed, sharp, sharp-edged, skeptical, slashing, specific, stingy, supercilious, superior, systematic, tactical, tendentious, thorough, tireless, trenchant, ultracritical, unbelieving, ungenerous, unrelenting, unstinting, uppish, vain, vituperative, voracious, withholding, wolfish, wry
Way with people: Helpful, positive, or nice to others
accessory, accommodating, aggrandizing, altruistic, amenable, amicable, attached, avuncular, beneficent, benevolent, benign, big-hearted, brotherly, caring, charitable, chivalrous, civic-minded, clement, compassionate, concerned, conciliatory, conscientious, considerate, constructive, cooperative, dutiful, eager, equable, equitable, faithful, fatherly, felicitous, fortunate, fraternal, good-hearted, helpful, heroic, humane, humanitarian, indulgent, instructive, intimate, large,,lenient, loving, loyal, magnanimous, maternal, merciful, motherly, neighborly, nice, obliging, paternal, patriotic, philanthropic, pleasant, positive, progressive, propitiatory, propitious, protective, provident, reliable, responsible, responsive, selfless, self-sacrificing, sensitive, sharing, sisterly, social, social-minded, solicitous, soothing, sunny, supportive, sympathetic, tender, thoughtful, tonic, trustworthy, trusty, unfailing, unselfish, upbeat, useful, valuable, voluntary, well-intentioned, well-meaning, wholesome, worthwhile
Way with people: Troublesome, negative, or unpleasant to others
abrasive, abusive, acrid, acrimonious, annoying, antagonistic, argumentative, avaricious, averse, baneful, bilious, bitter, bothersome, bullying, cagey, capricious, cloying, complaining, covetous, crafty, crappy, creepy, crotchety, crummy, cutthroat, dangerous, designing, destructive, difficult, discontented, disquieting, disturbing, divisive, downbeat, envious, fearsome, fickle, fierce, foxy, harsh, horrendous, horrible, horrid, horrific, importunate, incompatible, infamous, inhumane, snobbish, snoopy, snotty, sordid, sour, spiteful, spleenful, sticky, stuck-up, subversive, terrifying, thorny, thoughtless, toxic, treacly, tricky, troublesome, truculent, unconcerned, undependable, unfaithful, nosy, invidious, irksome, irreconcilable, irresponsible jackleg, jangly, jaundiced, libelous, lousy, lupine, maddening, maladjusted, manipulative, mean, meddlesome, menacing, nagging, nauseating, negative, negligent, nerve-racking, nettlesome, nihilistic, notorious, noxious, objectionable, obnoxious, odious, offensive, officious, ominous, onerous, oppressive, pernicious, pesky, pestilent, pesty, petulant, pompous, prankish, preachy, prickly, provocative, pugnacious, querulous, rancid, rancorous, rapacious, rascally, remorseless, reprehensible, restrictive, rivalrous, roguish, sacrilegious, savage, scary, scathing, scurrilous, seditious, self-destructive, severe, sharp, sick, slanderous, slashing, slinking, sly, small, smirking, snide, sniffy, ungrateful, unpleasant, unsympathetic, useless, venomous, vicious, vindictive, virulent, vitriolic, vituperative, vulpine
| i don't know |
In our solar system, which planet is the coldest, with a mean surface temperature of minus two hundred degrees centigrade? | What is the Earth's Average Temperature? - Universe Today
Universe Today
What is the Earth’s Average Temperature?
Article Updated: 26 Jul , 2016
by Matt Williams
Earth is the only planet in our Solar System where life is known to exists. Note the use of the word “known”, which is indicative of the fact that our knowledge of the Solar System is still in its infancy, and the search for life continues. However, from all observable indications, Earth is the only place in our Solar System where life can – and does – exist on the surface.
This is due to a number of factors, which include Earth’s position relative to the Sun. Being in the “Goldilocks Zone” (aka. habitable zone ), and the existence of an atmosphere (and magnetosphere), Earth is able to maintain a stable average temperature on its surface that allows for the existence of warm, flowing water on its surface, and conditions favorable to life.
Variations:
The average temperature on the surface of Earth depends on a number of factors. These include the time of day, the time of year, and where the temperatures measurements are being taken. Given that the Earth experiences a sidereal rotation of approximately 24 hours – which means one side is never always facing towards the Sun – temperatures rise in the day and drop in the evening, sometimes substantially.
And given that Earth has an inclined axis (approximately 23° towards the Sun’s equator), the Northern and Southern Hemispheres of Earth are either tilted towards or away from the Sun during the summer and winter seasons, respectively. And given that equatorial regions of the Earth are closer to the Sun, and certain parts of the world experience more sunlight and less cloud cover, temperatures range widely across the planet.
However, not every region on the planet experiences four seasons. At the equator, the temperature is on average higher and the region does not experience cold and hot seasons in the same way the Northern and Southern Hemispheres do. This is because the amount of sunlight the reaches the equator changes very little, although the temperatures do vary somewhat during the rainy season.
Measurement:
The average surface temperature on Earth is approximately 14°C; but as already noted, this varies. For instance, the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth was 70.7°C (159°F), which was taken in the Lut Desert of Iran. These measurements were part of a global temperature survey conducted by scientists at NASA’s Earth Observatory during the summers of 2003 to 2009. For five of the seven years surveyed (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2009) the Lut Desert was the hottest spot on Earth.
However, it was not the hottest spot for every single year in the survey. In 2003, the satellites recorded a temperature of 69.3°C (156.7°F) – the second highest in the seven-year analysis – in the shrublands of Queensland, Australia. And in 2008, the Flaming Mountain got its due, with a yearly maximum temperature of 66.8°C (152.2°F) recorded in the nearby Turpan Basin in western China.
Meanwhile, the coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth was measured at the Soviet Vostok Station on the Antarctic Plateau. Using ground-based measurements, the temperature reached a historic low of -89.2°C (-129°F) on July 21st, 1983. Analysis of satellite data indicated a probable temperature of around -93.2 °C (-135.8 °F; 180.0 K), also in Antarctica, on August 10th, 2010. However, this reading was not confirmed by ground measurements, and thus the previous record remains.
All of these measurements were based on temperature readings that were performed in accordance with the World Meteorological Organization standard . By these regulations, air temperature is measured out of direct sunlight – because the materials in and around the thermometer can absorb radiation and affect the sensing of heat – and thermometers are to be situated 1.2 to 2 meters off the ground.
Comparison to Other Planets:
Despite variations in temperature according to time of day, season, and location, Earth’s temperatures are remarkably stable compared to other planets in the Solar System. For instance, on Mercury, temperatures range from molten hot to extremely cold, due to its proximity to the Sun, lack of an atmosphere, and its slow rotation. In short, temperatures can reach up to 465 °C on the side facing the Sun, and drop to -184°C on the side facing away from it.
Venus, thanks to its thick atmosphere of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide, is the hottest planet in our Solar System. At its hottest, it can reach temperatures of up to 460 °C on a regular basis. Meanwhile, Mars’ average surface temperature is -55 °C, but the Red Planet also experiences some variability, with temperatures ranging as high as 20 °C at the equator during midday, to as low as -153 °C at the poles.
On average though, it is much colder than Earth, being just on the outer edge of the habitable zone, and because of its thin atmosphere – which is not sufficient to retain heat. In addition, its surface temperature can vary by as much as 20 °C due to Mars’ eccentric orbit around the Sun (meaning that it is closer to the Sun at certain points in its orbit than at others).
Since Jupiter is a gas giant, and has no solid surface, an accurate assessment of it’s “surface temperature” is impossible. But measurements taken from the top of Jupiter’s clouds indicate a temperature of approximately -145°C. Similarly, Saturn is a rather cold gas giant planet, with an average temperature of -178 °Celsius. But because of Saturn’s tilt, the southern and northern hemispheres are heated differently, causing seasonal temperature variation.
Uranus is the coldest planet in our Solar System, with a lowest recorded temperature of -224°C, while temperatures in Neptune’s upper atmosphere reach as low as -218°C. In short, the Solar System runs the gambit from extreme cold to extreme hot, with plenty of variance and only a few places that are temperate enough to sustain life. And of all of those, it is only planet Earth that seems to strike the careful balance required to sustain it perpetually.
Variations Throughout History:
Estimates on the average surface temperature of Earth are somewhat limited due to the fact that temperatures have only been recorded for the past two hundred years. Thus, throughout history the recorded highs and lows have varied considerably. An extreme example of this would during the early history of the Solar System, some 3.75 billion years ago.
At this time, the Sun roughly 25% fainter than it is today, and Earth’s atmosphere was still in the process of formation. Nevertheless, according to some research , it is believed that the Earth’s primordial atmosphere – due to its concentrations of methane and carbon dioxide – could have sustained surface temperatures above freezing.
The Earth has been through five major ice ages in the past 2.4 billion years, including the one we are currently living in. Credit: NASA Goddard’s Scientific Visualization Studio
Earth has also undergone periodic climate shifts in the past 2.4 billion years, including five major ice ages – known as the Huronian, Cryogenian, Andean-Saharan, Karoo, and Pliocene-Quaternary, respectively. These consisted of glacial periods where the accumulation of snow and ice increased the surface albedo, more of the Sun’s energy was reflected into space, and the planet maintained a lower atmospheric and average surface temperature.
These periods were separated by “inter-glacial periods”, where increases in greenhouse gases – such as those released by volcanic activity – increased the global temperature and produced a thaw. This process, which is also known as “global warming”, has become a source of controversy during the modern age, where human agency has become a dominant factor in climate change. Hence why some geologists use the term “ Anthropocene ” to refer to this period.
Thanks to increasing concentrations of CO² and other greenhouses gases, which are generated by human activity, average surface temperatures have been steadily increasing since the mid-20th century . For the past few decades, NASA has been charting average surface temperature increases through the Earth Observatory.
This map represents global temperature anomalies averaged from 2008 through 2012. Credit: NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies/NASA Goddard’s Scientific Visualization Studio.
Internal Temperatures:
When talking about the temperatures of planets, there is a major difference between what is measured at the surface and what conditions exist within the planet’s interior. Essentially, the temperature gets cooler the farther one ventures from the core, which is due to the planet’s internal pressure steadily decreasing the father out one goes. And while scientists have never sent a probe to our planet’s core to obtain accurate measurements, various estimates have been made.
For instance, it is believed that the temperature of the Earth’s inner core is as high as 7000 °C, whereas the outer core is thought to be between 4000 and 6000 °C. Meanwhile, the mantle, the region that lies just below the Earth’s outer crust, is estimated to be around 870 °C. And of course, the temperature continues to steadily cool as you rise in the atmosphere.
In the end, temperatures vary considerably on every planet in our Solar System, due to a multitude of factors. But from what we can tell, Earth is alone in that it experiences temperature variations small enough to achieve a degree of stability. Basically, it is the only place we know of that it is both warm enough and cool enough to support life. Everywhere else is just too extreme!
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"Who wrote the poem ""Snake"". He is better known as a classic novelist?" | Planet reports by Mrs M - issuu
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Our Solar System
Written by 5L
Contents Mercury………………………………….Page 3 Venus…………………………………….Page 13 Earth……………………………………..Page 16 Mars………………………………………Page 22 Jupiter…………………………………..Page 36 Saturn……………………………………Page 50 Uranus…………………………………..Page 58 Neptune………………………………..Page 62
Mercury
Mercury is the first planet from the Sun. It got its name from the Roman God Mercury. Mercury was very fast, they gave it the name Mercury because it is the fastest God and the first planet (Mercury) is the fastest planet.
The wings represent speed
God Mercury
Description Mercury is 2,440KM in diameter. There are no moons that have been recorded so far. It is the smallest planet in our Solar System. It is known as a terrestrial planet but it has no living life that has been found on Mercury. Standing on its surface at its closest point to the Sun, the Sun would appear three times larger than on Earth. The special feature of this planet is that it’s so close to the Sun.
Mercury during the day
Composition Mercury has an Iron core the size of Earth’s moon it also take up 70% of its weight. Sometimes is goes by the name “Iron planet.” On top of the core lies an outer rocky shell that is about 550KM thick from the core. The temperature can range from 173o – 427o. In the atmosphere there are small amounts of Hydrogen, Helium and oxygen. There are also tinier amounts of Sodium, Potassium, calcium and Magnesium.
Inside of Mercury
Iron
Position The distance from the sun to Mercury is 57,910,000KM. But with it being so close to the sun it can reach a scorching temperature 400oc. Mercury is the first planet in the alignment, the minimum distance to the Sun is around 28.5 Million Kilometres and the maximum is 43.5 Million Kilometres.
Mercury
Alignment of the planets
Universe
Orbit The length of one day is 58 Earth days, 15 Earth hours and 30 Earth minuets. It takes Mercury 88 Earth days to orbit the Sun (One year) so its very quick.
Orbit of Mercury Mercury is the smallest and the closest planet in the Solar System. It is not safe to live, let alone go on it. Scientist don’t believe that is any life on it.
By Mackenzie
Mercury
By Mia http://megahdwall.com
Mercury is a planet in our Solar System. Like all the planets in our Solar System, Mercury is named after a Roman God. His name was Mercury. Mercury was a Roman God messenger god and was also the god of the travellers. Description
The diameter of Mercury is 2,440km. It is the same size as the united states, so this makes Mercury about two—fifths the size of Earth. Mercury has no moons mostly because of its little gravity and orbit. The other reason is Mercury is too close to the sun. One of mercury’s special features is the Caliros basin. The Caliros Basin was probably caused by a large impact in the early solar system. Composition Mercury is a metal ball of iron with a very thin crust. Mercury’s core makes up about 75% of the planet, while Mercury’s crust is only about 300 to 400 miles thick. The temperature on Mercury in the day is very hot at 420c but the temperature at night is an extreme –180c. It would be impossible for any living creature to survive there. Mercury’s atmosphere has small amounts of Hydrogen, helium and oxygen.
Position Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun and it is only a little bit larger than our moon (Earth’s). Mercury is about half as far from the Sun as Earth is. The distance in kilometres is
57,910,000km. Orbit Mercury rotates very slowly so, the Sun only rises and sets every two Mercury years, that means Mercury has 176 days of sunlight and 176 days of darkness. It takes almost 88 Earth days to complete one orbit around the Sun. If you were somehow on Mercury you would not weigh as much as you do on Earth, because Mercury is smaller, so it has less gravity. If you weigh 32kg on Earth, you would only weigh about 12kg on Mercury. Mercury may be far away from Earth but that does not mean that there isn't so much to learn about it and so many things yet to be discovered.
atmosphere
Orbit
Planet
Venus is the sixth biggest planet. It was named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty because of a particular woman. It is also the brightest planet in the night sky because its thick clouds reflect most of the sunlight that reaches it.
VENUS
DESCRIPTION
The mass of Venus is 4.867E24kg and is 460 million square kilometres. It has no natural moons at all. It is smaller than Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus and Earth but is Larger than Mars and Mercury. It has more than one-hundred volcano Calderas and one of them are more than 100km wide. Also Venus is the sixth biggest planet in our Solar System
COMPOSTION Venus’ core is made up of Iron and rocky mantle. 97% of the atmosphere is made up of carbon dioxide and 3 % of it is Nitrogen with little amounts of gas. The temperature of Venus’ atmosphere can get over 400 c and if you were to go on the planet you would get crushed by the heavy atmosphere. VENUS’ CORE POSITION Venus is the second planet from the sun with Mercury placed in front of it. The planet Venus is 108,200,000km from the sun. It is hotter than Mercury only because it has a very thick atmosphere.
SOLAR SYSTEM
ORBIT A day on Venus is 116d 18h and o minutes. A year on Venus takes 224 days. Earth and Venus are very similar in many ways.
Venus is known as Earth’s twin planet as they are close in size, weight and made of nearly the same composition. If you were to go on Venus you would instantly die.
VENUS AND EARTH COMPARISAN
By Scoutt
Venus Venus is a planet. It is named for the ancient Roman goddess of love and beauty, it is believed Venus was named for the most beautiful of the ancient gods. Description Venus doesn't have any natural satellites. Venus is 6052 km in diameter (the distance around the middle of the planet). Composition Venus is made up of a central iron core and a rocky mantle, similar to the composition of earth. The climate on Venus is 462c or 863F that is 410 degrees hotter than the hottest desert. It is 460 degrees day or night. Position Venus is the second planet from the sun and the sixth largest. It is 108,200,000km from the sun. Orbit Venus takes 243 earth days to rotate around on its axis (length of one day). Venus is the second brightest object in the night sky after the moon. It can be seen without a telescope and looks like a star in the night sky. By Tory
Earth Planet Earth means ground. Other planets got their names from Greek Romans or God’s or Goddesses. Description The size of Earth around the equator 12,726 km the surface area is 500 million km. Earth only has one moon and it is called “moon�. Composition Earth is made of thing like frozen water and lakes and it is rock because it is one of the first four planets but the surface is mostly water. The planet climate on Earth is it is warm near the equator and cold at the poles. Our planet is able to support a variety of living things because it is diverse. The atmosphere of Earth is a largest of gases that are surrounding it. Is primarily composed of nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (21%). Position There are 10 planets it in our solar system including Pluto the dwarf planet. Earth is located in preteen mars and Venus and it is the third planet from the sun. The disentrance from the sun is 149,600,000 km and it is the largest of the terrestrial planet unlike the other planets in the solar system.
The Solar System
Orbit One day on Earth is a 24 hour period. One year is 365 days so that is 8760 hours. Earth is the only planet they can have life living on it without it dying because it is not too close to the sun or not too far away from the sun. By Kelso
Earth
Earth is a planet in our solar system. Earth is an English/German word which means the ground. Description Earth is 12756 kms in diameter. Earth has one moon. The moon is rocky, has a solid surface with craters. The moon has a thin atmosphere, no water and no life. Composition The Earth’s core is made of nickel and iron. It’s mantle is made of rock. Earth’s surface is mainly covered in liquid. Earth’s atmosphere is made of water vapour, carbon dioxide, nitrogen and oxygen. The climate varies from very cold to very hot. Positon Earth is the 3 rd planet from the sun. The distance from the sun is 149 600 000 kilometres. Orbit Earth’s length of one day takes 23 hours 56 minutes and 4.1 seconds which is rounded to 24 hours. It’s year is exactly 365.24 day which is 365 day. Every 4 th year is 366 days.
by LACHLAN
EARTH Earth is a planet in our solar system. The name Earth is an English/German name which simply means the ground.
DESCRIPTION The diameter of Earth is 6371km. Earth has one moon. Earth’s special feature is that there are living things on Earth e.g. people, animals and nature. Earth is the 4th smallest planeat.
COMPOSITION Earth is made up of rock, lava, dirt, iron, oxygen and a lot of other things. Earth’s climate is sometimes hot and sometimes cold but it depends where you live in the world. The atmosphere is a mix of nitrogen, oxygen and other gases and the higher you go the thinner the air.
POSITION Earth is the 3rd planet from the sun and is he 5th last planet. Earth is 149, 6000, 000km from the sun.
ORBIT The length of one day on Earth is 23houes 56mins and 4.1sec. The length of one year on Earth is 365days, 8765hours, 526000mins, and 13.6million sec.
Earth is a rock and so are all of the other planets and it is the only planet that is known to man where living beings can survive. The population there can be over 312000 people born and over 328000 people die. By Lexi
EARTH Earth is an English and German name that means ground. Many planets got their name from Greek gods but earth just meant ground.
Description The diameter distance around is 12, 726 km, the surface area is 510 million sq. km. Earth has one moon. Neil Armstrong was the first to make a landing on the moon in 1969.
Composition Earth is made of rivers, lakes, seas, oceans and frozen water as glaciers and ice caps. The climate on earth Varies due to movement of the atmosphere and its water Vapour distributed by clouds and falling rain. Generally conditions become colder from the equator (tropics) to the poles. Composition of the earth’s atmosphere is Nitrogen 78%-Other 1%-Oxygen 21%.
Position Earths location is 3rd from the sun Its neighbours are on the left side Venus and on the right side Mars. Earth is 149, 600, 000 km from the sun
Orbit The length of one day on earth is 24h. The length of one year is 365 days and 366 days if leap year. Earth has high Mountains and deep ocean trenches which make up only 1/5000th of the earth’s surface. By Will
Mars Mars is a rock planet in our solar system and was named for the Roman God of war because of its reddish colour.
Description Mars is 6790 km in diameter and has to moons. Their names are Phobos and Deimos. Mars is a relative size to Earth. It’s only a bit more than half the size of Earth. Composition The Planet Mars is mainly made up of Iron and sulfur. Mars is one of the five rock planets in our solar system. The climate on mars is 125 degrees and what water remains if either frozen or deep underground. The atmosphere is 1% of Earths so it does not protect Mars from the sun. Position The Planet Mars is 227,9000,000 km and is the fourth planet from the sun which means it is not very hot at all and is the smallest planet from the sun.
The position of Mars in our solar system
Orbit The planet Mars has a very similar day length to Earths. Its day length is 24 hours and 37 minutes. It’s year length or how long it takes to orbit the sun is 687 day which is nearly two Earth years.
Mars is the fourth planet in our solar system and scientists are thinking about sending people to live on Mars forever and also the month of March was named after the planet Mars in our solar system.
By Charlie
Mars Mars was named after the roman god of war, it’s also called the red planet.
Description The size of Mars’s diameter is 0.53 that of earth and the mass is one ninth that of earth. Mars is the third smallest planet in our solar system. Mars has two moons, Deimos and Phobos. Mars along with, Mercury, Venus, and Earth are terrestrial or rocky planets.
Composition Mars is made of dirt, rocks, iron, ice on the top and bottom and the soil may contain iron oxide. There are volcanoes, canyons and dusty plains. The atmosphere of mars is less than 1% of earths. The temperature can get very cold and barely gets above 20.c and can get down to minus 73.c mars cannot retain any heat energy.
Position Mars is the 4th planet from the sun in between earth and Jupiter. There are 8 planets in total. Mars is 228 million km from the sun.
Mars
Our solar system
Orbit It takes mars 686.9 days to orbit the sun which is once every 1.8 earth years the red planet speeds along at 53.979 miles per hour. It takes 24 hours 37 minutes and 22 seconds to rotate on its axis.
Mars gets its red colour from all the rusted iron.
Mars is also known as the red planet.
The red planet is small, rocky, cold, 4th from the sun. You cannot live on mars because it is 95% carbon dioxide.
By Connor
Mars BY HOLLY
Mars is a planet in our solar system that orbits the sun. Mars’ blood red colour led Greeks to naming ‘Mars’ Ares, their god of war. When the Romans defeated the Greeks in battle, the Romans changed ‘Ares’, to their god of war, Mars.
Greeks and Romans in Battle
Description Mars is quiet a small planet being 3,390 KM in diameter. Mars has 2 moons the size of Asteroids, their names are Phobos and Deimos. Mars has a gravity scale of 3.711 m/s² which would not let you walk on Mars but float just like being on Earth’s moon. Mars is the second smallest planet in our solar system because of Mercury with 2,440kmin it’s diameter. The iron dioxide is what makes Mars a reddish colour, Mars is sometimes known as ‘’Red Planet.’’
Phobos
Demos
Mars’ Moons
Composition Mars centre is made of a core which is mainly iron and sulfur and is covered by a crust that is made of basalt. Mars has just enough iron dioxide to keep the planet going. Mars has a thin atmosphere-too thin to easily support life-animals and humans. The very thin air on Mars can also become very dusty. Mars would be around the same temperature as Earth because it is close to Earth but Mars is a lot colder. Mars can get as cold as 81, in fact most of the time on Mars would be around that temperature.
e
Position
Position Mars is closer to the Asteroid Belt, so it has more of a chance of being struck by large objects from the Asteroid Belt. Mars is 4th closest planet to the sun and the closest planet to Earth. Mars is 227,990,000 km away from the sun. Mars can easily be seen if you have the right telescope from earth because the reddish colour is very noticeable in the night sky.
Mars’ Position in our Solar System
:
Orbit Mars’ day is very similar to Earth’s day but its year is very different to Earth’s, nearly double the time. Mars takes 1 day and 40 minutes to spin on its axis but Mars takes 686.980 to orbit the sun once.
Mars’ Orbit Path Mars
Mars is known as the ultimate lonely destination because there are so many great parts in Mars but nobody lives or visits Mars. They are planning to start a colony on Mars and will be sending groups of people over to Mars every 2 years starting in 2024. Mars has the second largest mountain in our solar system named Olympus Mons. When the first and only successful flyby happened, later after it happened they had noticed that Mars has special optical illusions including straight and curved lines. Mars From A Telescope on Earth
Jupiter Jupiter
Jupiter is a Giant Gas Planet, Giant Gas Planets are made from a rocky core to a gas atmosphere. Jupiter was named after the Roman God. It was named around the 7th or 8th century. Jupiter was named after the Roman God the highest God of the Romans because Jupiter is the biggest planet.
Description Jupiter has 67 moons revolving around it, Jupiter has the most moons of the planets. Jupiter is 139822 km in diameter, which makes it the largest planet in the Solar System.
Composition Jupiter is made from water, methane and ammonia. The climate on Jupiter is very cold and windy above the clouds far below the clouds it is even windier and hotter than a furnace. Within the clouds there is constant lighting. Jupiter’s volume is over 1300 times the volume of Earth.
Position Jupiter is the 5th planet from the Sun, but the 1st Giant Gas planet. Jupiter is 69, 911 km from the sun. Jupiter is between Mars and Saturn.
Jupiter
Orbit Jupiter takes 9 hr 56 min to rotate around on its axis. For Jupiter to orbit around the Sun it takes 11.86 Earth years, which is 144 months in 1 year for Jupiter. Jupiter is known for the Great Red Spot. The Great Red Spot is an enormous storm, three Earths would fit within its boundaries. Scientists believe Jupiter’s Great Red Spot has been there for more than 400 years. Scientists believe Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is slowly dying. By Carlyle
Jupiter Information report
By Chelsea
Jupiter Jupiter is named after the Roman God of all the Roman God’s. Jupiter was named Jupiter because it is the largest planet in our solar system and Jupiter the roman god is the highest God in the Roman times.
Description Jupiter is known for its big red spot, but Jupiter’s spot is currently shrinking and soon there will not be a red spot on Jupiter, Before Jupiter’s spot started to shrink you could fit three Earth’s in it and have extra room to spare. Jupiter actually has 67 natural satellites unlike earth that only has one, Four of Jupiter’s moons are Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Calisto. Io is the fourth largest moon in our solar system at the diameter of 3,642 km, but Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system, Ganymede is three times larger than the moon orbiting around earth. Jupiter is 69,911 km wide and it weighs 1.898E27 kg. If you stuck Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune together Jupiter would be 2 ½ times heavier. Jupiter is a giant gas planet. A gas planet is a planet that isn’t made entirely of rock or solids.
Composition Jupiter’s climate is between -100c and -160c. Jupiter’s atmosphere is made up of Molecular hydrogen, helium and hydrogen sulfide. Jupiter is made of Water, Methane and Ammonia.
Position Jupiter is the fifth planet in our solar system placed between the asteroid belt and Saturn. Jupiter is 788,500,000 km away from the sun.
Orbit Jupiter’s day is 9 hours and 56 minutes long. Jupiter’s year is 4,332 earth days or 11.86 earth years
Jupiter has rings that are made of ice. They are faint, dark and very narrow.
Jupiter Jupiter is a planet in our Solar System. Like all planets in our Solar System, Jupiter was named by the Romans. The Romans named the planet after their King of Gods – Jupiter. Jupiter was also God of the sky and thunder. Jupiter is the largest object in the sky so that is how Jupiter got its name.
Description Jupiter is 69, 911 km in radius. It has 50 confirmed moons, but has four main moons. Their names are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. Jupiter is larger than Saturn, Uranus and Neptune and all the other smaller planets put together. One interesting fact about Jupiter is that you can fit all of the other planets within it. Jupiter has very light, narrow rings. Unlike Saturn, which has bright ice rings, Jupiter has dark rings which are made up of dust and tiny pieces of rock
Composition Jupiter is made of Hydrogen and Helium, Water, Methane and Ammonia. The core is thought to contain Rock and Metallic Hydrogen, but no one definitely knows because it is impossible to get to the core of Jupiter. The temperature on Jupiter is minus 145 degrees Celsius. The atmosphere is mostly Molecular Hydrogen and Helium. Some scientists believe that there is a thin layer of clouds made of water under the Ammonia layer. The theory is based on flashes of lightning. Lightning on Jupiter can be a thousand times as powerful as lightning on Earth. Lightning
Position Jupiter is the fifth planet away from the Sun. Jupiter is between two other planets; Mars and Saturn. Both Saturn and Mars are quite cold planets. In between Mars and Jupiter there is an Asteroid Belt. The Asteroids are mostly made of carbon but the Asteroids further away from the Sun are made of Silicate Rock. Jupiter is 778,500,000 km from the Sun.
Orbit Because Jupiter has a large orbital path around the Sun, one Jupiter year is 11.86 Earth years. The time it takes for Jupiter to rotate on its axis (also known as length of one day) is 9 hours and 56 Earth time. All planets orbit around the Sun while spinning on its axis in a circular motion.
Size in Comparison There is a Giant Red Spot in Jupiter’s atmosphere which is known to be a massive storm that has been going on for over 400 years. It is like a hurricane on Earth, but it is much larger. It is believed that Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is more than twice the size of Earth so that means The Great Red Spot could swallow up Earth. Winds inside the Storm reach speeds of about 270 kilometres an hour. Nobody knows when The Great Red Spot first appeared on Jupiter, but it has been seen on Jupiter ever since people started looking through telescopes about 400 years ago.
Great Red Spot
By Gemma
Jupiter Jupiter is a planet in our solar system. It is named after the Roman God of the sky and thunder. It was given its name in the 8th or the 7th century. It was named after the Roman people of that time. Jupiter
Great Red spot
Description Jupiter is the biggest planet in our solar system with a diameter of 69,911km. It has a giant storm that was two to three times bigger than Earth. It has been for over four centuries and hasn’t stopped for a second. Jupiter has 67 natural satellites and the four main ones are called IO, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.
Composition Jupiter is made of water, methane and ammonia. It is a gas giant and it is not known if Jupiter has a solid surface or not. The atmosphere is cold and windy. At the level of the clouds there is constant lightning. Far below the clouds, it is hotter than a blast furnace.
Position Jupiter’s position in our solar system is the fifth planet. It is 588,000,000km from Earth and 778,500,00km from the sun. It is the first planet after the asteroid belt.
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Jupiter
Orbit Jupiter’s year is at least 11.86 Earth years and Jupiter’s day takes 9 hours and 55 minutes. That is at least half a day on Earth. Jupiter spins counter clockwise just like most of the other planets and dwarf planets. There was a spacecraft called NASA that went to Jupiter for five years in 2011. The spacecraft will be back sometime in 2016. Scientists believe that Jupiter’s great red spot is shrinking, which means that someday this amazing feature of Jupiter might vanish. Jupiter is 4.5 billion years old just like Earth and any other planet in our solar system. Scientists say that there is global warming on Jupiter. They say that it is caused by the lightning in the clouds, but otherwise they do not know how Jupiter has global warming.
By Jemma
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Jupiter By Mali
The romans named the planet Jupiter after their king of gods who was also the god of sky and thunder. Jupiter is the largest object in the solar system and the most powerful. Description Jupiter is 69,911 km in diameter it is so big that three earths could fit inside it. Jupiter has sixteen moons the main Four are called Ganymede, cellist, Europa and Io. Jupiter is the biggest planet in the solar system. The great red spot is a huge storm on Jupiter, it has raged for at least 46 | P a g e
350 years. Jupiter has dark narrow rings that are made of tiny pieces of rock and dust. Jupiter’s Big Red Spot Jupiter
Earth
Jupiter's Rings
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Composition Source www.2astro.psu.edu Jupiter is made of water, methane and ammonia therefore it is a gas plant. The temperature on Jupiter is 234 degrees but increases every day. Jupiter is the warmest planet. The atmosphere is mainly composed of hydrogen and helium. Jupiter's Materials
Position Jupiter is the fifth planet from the sun at the distance of about 778 million km. In between mars and Jupiter there is an asteroid belt, Asteroid belts are very dangerous many have hit Mars and Jupiter in the past.
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Jupiter's Position
Orbit One day on Jupiter takes about ten hours One Year on Jupiter is 12 years (4,333Earth days) Jupiter is now orbiting the sun on its axis at 3 degrees Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system, it is the fourth brightest object in space.
The Asteroid Belt between Jupiter and Mars
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Saturn Saturn is a gas giant there are only two gas planet in our solar system. Saturn gets its name off a Roman God of farming, civilization and prosperity it was also the name of the rockets that powered the Apollo astronauts to the moon. Description Saturn is approximately 75 thousand kilometres it is the second biggest planet in the solar system. A special feature of Saturn is its rings which is made up of space junk and asteroids. It also has over 30 moons, Saturn's biggest moon is Titan. Composition Saturn is a gas giant that is made out of hydrogen and helium. The average temperature is 288 degrees and the atmosphere is also hydrogen and helium.
Position Saturn is the 6th planet in our solar system. It is in between the biggest planet in our solar system Jupiter and Uranus. It is 1,433,000,000 km away from the sun. Orbit The length of one day on Saturn is 10 hours and 39 minutes and the time it takes for Saturn to orbit the sun is amazingly 29.7 human earth years. Saturn’s rings are made out of rocks, moons, space junk and all kinds of things. By Curtis
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Saturn is the sixth planet in the solar system and it got its name after the Roman God of agriculture and time. The planet is called Saturn because it takes a long time to go around the sun.
The size of Saturn is 58,232km in diameter. Saturn has 62 moons and the biggest one is Triton. Saturn’s rings have big and small chunks of ice and small amounts of carbonaceous dust. Saturn’s rings stretch out more than 120,700km from the planet but the rings are amazingly thin and are 20 meters thick. Saturn is so big that it can turn hydrogen to solid. Saturn’s one of the fastest spinning planets and rotates at the speed of 11.5 hours which means it turns over 10,000 km/h. Saturn also has very powerful magnetic field witch sends out strong radio signals.
Saturn is made out of a rocky core with hydrogen surrounding it. The orange colour on Saturn is because Saturn has more sulphur in its atmosphere. Saturn’s atmosphere is made of 75% hydrogen and 25% helium, with a trace of other substances like water, ice and methane. The surface temperature of Saturn is -139c and the winds are ten times stronger than a hurricane on Earth, which gets up to 1,000 km/h.
Saturn is the sixth planet in the solar system and it is 1,433,000,000 km from the sun. That would mean that Saturn’s year is longer than Earth’s year.
Saturn
It takes Saturn 10.656 hours to spin on its axis. Saturn rotates faster than Earth so a day on Saturn is shorter than a day on Earth. It takes 29.45 years (or 10,759 days) to orbit the sun. The orbit distance is 1,426,666,422 km (9.88AU). Saturn takes 29 and a half years to travel around the sun once.
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Many people and scientist say that the rings around Saturn are so stunning and that is why it the most beautiful planet on the solar system. Saturn’s beautiful rings
What Saturn looks like
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SATURN Saturn is a planet in our solar system it is named after a Roman God. Saturn is made out of gas. Description Saturn is the second largest planet in our solar system, Jupiter is the biggest in our solar system. The rings are made out of specks of dirt and specks of dust, there are billions of pieces of dust and dirt in Saturn rings but from earth it might not look like it. From Earth it looks like pieces of gold in Saturn’s rings. Saturn has the most moons in the solar system, it has 32 moons. The most beautiful moon is Titan, it is orange and blue when the sun is on it. Saturn is the most beautiful planet in the solar system because of the rings, although other planets have rings their’s is not as visible as Saturn’s rings. Composition Saturn is a giant gas planet it has got a lot of types of gases. These are the gases that Saturn has; 94% hydrogen 6% of helium and amounts of methane and ammonia. The climate on Saturn is minus 285 Fahrenheit which is minus 178 degrees Celsius. Position Saturn is the 6th planet in our solar system. The distance from the sun is 1,433,000,000 km.
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Orbit One day in Saturn is 10h 39mins, that is the second shortest in our solar system. Jupiter is the fastest spinning planet in our solar system. One year on Saturn is 10,832 days in a year that is way longer than earths. Earth is only 365. One walk around Saturn’s rings is 365,882km that is the biggest ring. They are the most visible rings as they are made out little specks of dust and dirt.
By Nathan
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Saturn Saturn is a gas giant. A gas giant is a planet that is made up of hydrogen and helium. Saturn was named after Roman mythology. This is the god of agriculture and harvest. Description The size of Saturn is 42,700,000,000km . Saturn has 31 known moons. The 4 main moons are Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Lappets. 2
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Composition Saturn is not made up of rock like some planets are. Saturn is made up of gas. A planet that is made up of gas can be called a gas planet or a gas giant. Saturn has an atmosphere of 94% hydrogen and 6% helium.
The Core
Positioning Saturn is the sixth planet in our solar system. Because Saturn is one of the last planets, it is on the outer side of the Astro belt. Saturn is 1,433,000,000km away from the sun. Since Saturn is so far away from the sun, it cannot have life on it.
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Orbit The rotation on its axis in 10 hours and 39 minutes. Saturn is one of the fastest spinning planets in our solar system. On Saturn the time that is takes to orbit the sun is 29.7 Earth years. That is equivalent to 10840.5 Earth days. Saturn is one of four planets that have rings. Saturn’s rings are made up of billions of pieces of rock and dust. By Tom
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Uranus
By Montanna
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Uranus is a planet in our Solar System. It was named after the ancient Greek God of the sky because it was believed to be the offspring of the ancient Gods Aether and Hemera, Air and Day. Uranus is also the second smallest gas giant and Uranus is after the asteroid belt.
Solar System
Description Uranus is a large planet with a diameter of 51,118km. Uranus also has 27 moons; some of their names are Ariel, Puck, Portia and Juliet. Uranus and Neptune are about the same size, with Uranus being slightly bigger. It also has 9 bright rings as well as well as several faint rings.
Composition The material on Uranus is mostly made of various ices like water, ammonia and methane. The temperature on Uranus The planet Uranus in not the farthest planet 59 | P a g e
from the sun but it is the coldest planet in the solar system with a temperature of -224.c. Finally the atmosphere on Uranus is composed primarily of hydrogen and helium.
Uranus’ rings
various ices like water, ammonia ands methane.
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Position Uranus’ location is the 7th planet in the solar system which means it is the 7th planet from the sun. Uranus’ distance from the sun is 2,877,000,000km.
Orbit The time Uranus takes to obit the sun in years is 84 Earth years. The time Uranus takes to orbit the sun in days is 30,687 earth days. Uranus is a very interesting planet with lots of interesting facts. One fact that is particularly interesting is that Uranus was first seen through a telescope on March 13, 1781 by a man named William Herschel.
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Neptune The planet Neptune is named after the Roman god of the sea. The blue-green sea like colour inspired several astronomers to suggest names for the planet. In late 1946 the planet adopted the name Neptune.
Description Neptune is 24.622 Km in diameter and has ten moons, their names are Nix,Gabreill ,2005 Fy, ErisItydra ,itydra,Quaroar,2003 EL,sedan,orus and Varurn. On one side of the asteroid belt Neptune is the biggest planet and on the other side it is the smallest planet.
Composition Neptune’s atmosphere is the smallest out of all the gas planets in our solar system. Neptune has dangerous storms and really wild winds. Neptune is made of Helium, Hydrogen and Ice.
Position Neptune is the 8th planet from the sun. It is the last planet in the solar system and that is why it is so cold. Neptune is 4.550B Km away from the sun.
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Orbit Neptune takes 16 hours to rotate on its axis and 165 years to orbit the sun. Neptune is the last planet in the solar system but it was not always the last planet. This is because Pluto which was the last planet was renamed as a dwarf planet.
The Planet Neptune
By Bryce
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Neptune Neptune is the smallest gas planet that orbits the sun. Neptune got its name from roman water gods because of its dark blue colour.
Description Neptune is 24,622KM in diameter and has 13 moons called Triton, Nereid, Proteus, Naiad, Larissa, Galatea, Thalassa, Despina, Halimede, Neso, Psamathe, Laomedeia and Sao. Neptune is the smallest gas planet but compared to planets close to the sun it is bigger, in fact it is the fourth biggest planet in our solar system, with Jupiter being the biggest.
Composition Neptune is very cold. The temperature on Neptune can drop to -353 Celsius. It has the coldest atmosphere in our solar system. Neptune is made of hydrogen, helium and ice.
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Position Neptune is the 8th planet, the furthest away from the sun that is why it is so cold. Neptune is 41/2billion km away from the sun.
Orbit Neptune takes 16HR 6mins and 36sec to spine on its axes. It takes 165 times longer than earth to have a full year.
The reason why Neptune is dark blue is because it is so cold. By Carlin
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NEPTUNE
By Zac
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Classification Neptune is the smallest gas planet. It was named after the roman god of the sea because of its deep blue colour.
Neptune roman god
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Description Neptune is 24,622km in diameter. It has 13 moons named Iriton, Nereid, Proteu, Naiad, Larissa, Galatea, Thalassa, Despina, Halimeda, Neso, Psamathe, Laomedeia, and Sao. Neptune is the 4th largest planet in the solar system. Only about one thousandth of light received by Earth reaches Neptune.
Neptune’s moons
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Composition Neptune’s upper atmosphere is hydrogen, helium and methane gas. Its mantle is water, ammonia, and methane ices. Its core is rock and ice. Even with a chill in the air Neptune still manages to host some of the most violent and extreme conditions in the solar system.
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Position Neptune is 4,503,000,000km away from the sun. Neptune is between Uranus and Pluto (dwarf planet) it is the 8th planet from the sun.
Our solar system
Orbit Length of one Neptune day is 16h and 6m in earth time. One Neptune year is 365.25 days or 164.79 years on earth.
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Neptune
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"The opera ""The Cunning Little Vixen"" and the song cycle ""The diary of one who has vanished"" are the works of which composer?" | Long Beach Opera - The Cunning Little Vixen
Long Beach Opera
The Cunning Little Vixen
By Leoš Janá?ek
Leoš Janácek composed a Czech “Midsummer Night’s Dream” by turning a serial comic strip from a local newspaper into one of his most touching and inventive operas. The ingenious story tells the adventures of Vixen Sharp-Ears set in a world populated by humans as well as forest and barnyard animals.
Janácek’s opera is a masterful amalgam of operatic dialogue, songs, chorus, wordless singing, ballet, mime, and orchestral interludes. He combines the mythic, the tragic and the comic, creating a philosophical reflection on the cycle of life and death. It is one of the 20th century’s most imaginative excursions into a fantasy.
Meet the cast of creatures of "The Cunning Little Vixen".
Príhody Lišky Bystroušky - The Cunning Little Vixen
"My very own Vixen Bystrouska, where did you take your lament from, when the old forester tied you to the kennel? You, motif of the sharp teeth, where have you seen yourself before? You chicks and you, cockerel, not suspecting the Vixen's schemes, where did you hatch before you pit-a-patted on stage? There, in my yard. There were three in the morning, and before the evening nine. The white one was the wild one among you. The hen called you vigilantly. "KO Krrrrrrrrrr!" she taught you to peck, to drink, to scratch. Your whole life, chicks - even the spiritual life, the envy, the greed - ran before my eyes.
(Leoš Janá?ek)
According to the Janá?ek's servant for fourty-four years, Marie Stejskalová, it was her laughing at the newspaper cartoons of the adventures of Vixen Sharp-Ears that drew her master to the subject of P?íhody Lišky Bystroušky, a story that appeared in a local newspaper in 1920. The Brno popular newspaper Lidové noviny had commissioned Rudolf T?snohlídek to write a novel to be serialised which was to be based around a series of drawings by Stanislav Lolek telling the tale of the adventures of Vixen Sharp-Ears."
T?snohlídek’s novel became the basis for the libretto. Janá?ek moves away from pure traditionalism by pioneering a fantastic musical language for the forest, based on his ‘notebook’ of animal sounds and a bitter sweet lyricism for the Vixen and the Fox. These stylistic innovations are married with a moving pantheistic close where the Forester realises, in one of Janá?ek’s most tender passages that nature has a cyclical basis, which goes much beyond the traditional mirrors of the fairy-tale opera genre, such as found in Dvo?ák’s Rusalka. It has, unsurprisingly received a large number of performances across the world.
Synopsis
Act I
It all begins on a sunny, summer afternoon in the woods. The Forester is taking a nap. Around him, flora and fauna are in full swing. Crickets waltz, dragonflies buzz and a frog leaps after a mosquito, landing on the Forester's nose. He wakes to find a little fox cub, and takes her back home as a pet for the kids.
In the Forester's yard, several months later, the fox cub has become a mature, and cunning, vixen. She discusses love with Lapak the dog. The Vixen brushes off the dog's advances, and nips at the heels of the Forester's two children, Frantík and Pepík. The Forester ties the Vixen up and, as night falls, she dreams that she's transformed into a young girl.
At dawn, Lapak and the Rooster warn the Vixen not to be such an upstart. "You shouldn't have licked the dishes," the dog advises. The Vixen has advice of her own for the submissive hens in the barnyard. She says, "Friends, sisters, abolish the old order. Create a new world where you'll get your fair share." The selfish Rooster takes offense. A squabble breaks out, and the Vixen — true to her nature as a fox in the henhouse — begins killing the hens. The Forester and his wife put a stop to the commotion, but the Vixen bites through her leash, knocks over the Forester and escapes back to the woods.
Act II
The scene switches to a local Inn, where the Forester and the Schoolmaster are at the bar playing cards, joined by the local Priest. The Forester sings a song about the passing of time and the men gently rib each other, commenting on events in their lives. Night falls, and a short interlude brings us to a forest path. The Vixen observes the tipsy Schoolmaster making his way home and mistaking a sunflower for a girlfriend. The Priest comes along, too. His mind wanders back to a girl he once knew. All are startled by a shotgun blast. It's the Forester, trying to shoot the Vixen.
The scene changes again, to the door of the Vixen's burrow. She hears rustling nearby. It's a male fox — and handsome, too. By the moonlight she tells him her life story. After a few awkward moments the two fall in love, and retreat inside the burrow. From above, an owl and a blue jay comment on the situation. Soon the two foxes emerge and announce their impending marriage, to be administered by the Woodpecker, and they celebrate with a rambunctious dance.
Act III
Time has passed and now the Vixen has a family. The scene is a clearing in the forest. Harasta, the poultry dealer, sings a folk song. He notices a dead rabbit beside the trail. So does the Forester, who also spies part of a fox tail nearby. Thinking it must belong to the Vixen, he sets a trap and they both leave.
The Vixen, with her husband and their family of little cubs, sees the trap for what it is. When Harasta walks by with his bag full of poultry, the Vixen senses an opportunity. She feigns an injury. When Harasta goes for his gun, she lures him into the forest where he trips, falling flat on his nose. Quickly, the foxes dig into Harasta's poultry bag. But before they finish he returns with his gun, and fires. They all scatter, except for one — the Vixen, who lies dying.
The scene changes back to the local Inn, where the mood is melancholy. The Schoolmaster is sad to hear that the woman he fancies has married someone else. The Forester feels old age coming on. They both miss their friend the Priest, who has moved away.
The final scene contains some of Janacek's most passionately lyrical music. The Forester sets out for home, walking through the woods. A sweet memory comes back to him — of gathering wild mushrooms with his wife, as a young couple in love. "Is it real or a fairy tale?" he asks himself. At peace with his beloved woods and with himself, he lies down for a nap and the scene mirrors the very opening of the opera. Animals hover around him. He dreams about the Vixen, but as he reaches out to grab her he finds only a frog, the grandson of the frog that landed on his face in Act One. The opera ends as the Forester quietly lets his gun slip to the ground.
The Returning Little Vixen
When writing P?íhody lišky bystroušky (or ‘The Cunning Little Vixen’, as it has come to be called), Leoš Janá?ek was not entirely sure what to call his new work, an ‘opera’, a ‘fable’ or perhaps, most aptly, an ‘opera idyll’. There is a balance in the piece between realism (the various animals on stage and the stories of how Janá?ek notated their real-life counterparts’ noises and calls) and symbolism (the dual casting of animals and humans, the Forester’s final numinous epiphany). Of all Janá?ek’s operas, this one - his seventh - is perhaps most open to visual interpretation, but the composer himself was undecided of how his seventh opera should be staged. It is through the design that the audience is made aware that the opera is not just a simple tale about forest animals, but about the wider cycle of nature. A realistic mise en scène shows the gap between the animals and humans, where a less literal interpretation joins the two. It is not entirely clear whether Janá?ek wanted the two worlds linked. He encouraged the doubling of various parts, but this may have been partly a cost-effective decision for small or provincial theatres, such as in Janá?ek’s home-town of Brno. He wrote after the first performance of The Vixen in Mainz that ‘only a hint should surface of the sameness of our cycle and that of animal life. That is enough – it is true that for most this symbolism is too little’. Whatever the associations, two styles of production are associated with The Vixen, one realistic and one more symbolic. Composed in Brno and at Janá?ek’s retreat in Hukvaldy without hitch or revision, the opera was premiered in Brno on November 6, 1924, as recollected by his maid.
The master took great pleasure from the Brno première of The Vixen. He would come back from rehearsals laughing at how the singers were learning to crawl on all fours. The opera chief Neumann, the producer Zítek, and the painter Milén, who designed the sets, made such beautiful work out of The Vixen, that it surprised even the master.
(Janá?ek’s housekeeper)
Indeed ‘the master’ had very few reservations about the production, only that some of the roles were cast as adults, where children would have been more fitting. Milén’s designs for the Brno premiere tended towards a more ‘arty’ style, with most famously a cubist dachshund. Vixen Sharp-Ears was a foxified human, wearing a feather boa and a hat with subtle little ears, as depicted in Milén’s illustration on the front page of the original piano score. The Prague premiere (in a new production by Ferdinand Pujman and sets by Josef ?apek) was given on 18 May 1925 as part of that year’s International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) festival, leading to the first broadcast of one of Janá?ek’s operas. Not all aspects of the production pleased the composer. The Forester’s Act III aria when his ‘gun simply slips from his hand’ was changed to him convulsing in death throes. Janá?ek and his German translator Max Brod despised the idea. When Brod made his own translation of the opera for the first foreign premiere in Mainz in 1927, he also placed his own stamp on the opera, ‘to make things clearer and more concentrated’. His German version of the text was more of a free adaptation of Janá?ek’s original rather than a faithful translation. It created links between Harašta’s invisible lover Terynka and the title-role, but on the contrary he abolished many of the doubled parts, breaking down the connections between the animals and humans. Janá?ek never interpolated Brod’s changes into his original, preferring his own intentions. The opera continued to remain dear to the composer throughout his life and the final scene was played at his funeral in 1928, as later recalled by his wife.
At ten there was the funeral at the theatre. The opera director František Neumann began to play the final scene from The Cunning Little Vixen where the Forester – sung by Arnold Flögl – reminisces. As soon as I heard the first few bars it was if a strong stream of light shone through that eerie indistinctness which had enveloped me […]. Music was necessary for me to grasp fully what had happened, so that I could feel in its full intensity that Leoš, who had written this work so packed with life, was now lying dead.
(Janá?ek's wife)
After Janá?ek’s death, before World War II, further performances took place in Brno, in Prague (1937, in a new orchestration by František Škvor and Jaroslav ?ídký) as well as in Liberec, Bratislava, Olomouc, Plze? and Ostrava. For some time however the opera remained only popular in Czechoslovakia, despite notable premieres in Mainz and Zagreb (1939). After the war Walter Felsenstein’s staged the opera at the Komische Oper, Berlin. Conducted by Václav Neumann, the production was seen in Paris in 1957 and Prague in 1962. This more realistic production helped to popularise the little-known piece, bringing it to non-Czech audiences. Contrary to prevailing opinion, however, Felsenstein's production did not establish The Vixen outside Central Europe. The opera’s first UK performance was at the Sadler’s Wells Opera in 1961, conducted by Colin Davis, in a production by Colin Graham with designs by Barry Kay. Still, The Cunning Little Vixen did not appear with regularity outside Germany and Czechoslovakia until the 1970s. It was performed at the Royal Academy of Music in 1973 and in 1975 Jonathan Miller staged a production at Glyndebourne, which then toured and conducted by a young Simon Rattle. The opera was also staged during the 1970s in Santa Fe (1975), Melbourne (1976), San Francisco (1977), Osaka (1977), Gothenburg (1978) and Tokyo (1978), marking its final established entry into the world-wide repertory. (Gavin Plumley)
Leoš Janá?ek
Leoš Janá?ek (July 3, 1854 – August 12, 1928) was a Czech composer. He was inspired by Czech, Moravian and all Slavic folk music and on these roots created his original style. His most celebrated compositions, besides his operas, include the symphonic poem Sinfonietta, the oratorial Glagolitic Mass, the rhapsody Taras Bulba, the instrumental cycle Lachian Dances, and his string quartets.
Life And Work
Janá?ek was born in Hukvaldy, Moravia, (then part of the Austrian Empire), the son of a schoolmaster. In 1865 he enrolled as a ward of the foundation of the Abbey of St. Thomas in Brno, where he took part in choral singing and occasionally played the organ. In 1874 went to Prague to study music at Prague organ school and made a living as a music teacher. He also conducted various amateur choirs. From October 1879 to February 1880 he studied piano, organ, and composition at the Leipzig Conservatory; among his teachers there were Oskar Paul and Leo Grill. From April to June 1880 he studied composition at the Vienna Conservatory with Franz Krenn. In Leipzig Janá?ek composed Thema con variazioni for piano in B flat subtitled Zdenka’s Variations. In 1881 he returned to Brno, where he married Zdenka Schulzová. He was appointed director of the organ school, a post he held until 1919, when the organ school became the Brno Conservatory. In 1888 he attended the performance in Prague of Tchaikovsky’s music, and he met the older composer personally. At that time he also started a systematic study and collection of folk songs, dances and music. In 1903 his daughter Olga died. In 1905 Janá?ek attended a demonstration in support of a Czech university in Brno, which inspired his composition of the 1. X. 1905 piano sonata. In 1916 he started a long professional and personal relationship with theatre critic, dramatist and translator Max Brod. When Jen?fa was performed in Prague in 1916 it was a great success, and brought Janá?ek his first acclaim; he was 62. A year later he met Kamila Stösslová, a young married woman who was an inspiration to him for the remaining years of his life, and with whom he conducted an obsessive correspondence – passionate on his side at least. In 1924, the year of his 70th birthday, the first biography of Janá?ek was published by Max Brod. In 1925 he retired. In 1926 Janá?ek travelled to England, The Netherlands and Germany. In August 1928, along with Kamila Stösslová and her son Otta, he made an excursion to Štramberk. Soon after this Janá?ek became ill, and died in the sanatorium of Dr. L. Klein in Ostrava. He is buried at the Central Cemetery in Brno.
Style
In 1874 Janá?ek became friends with Antonín Dvo?ák, and began composing in a relatively traditional romantic style, but after his opera Šárka (1881), his style began to change. He made a study of Moravian and Slovak folk music and used elements of it in his own music. He especially focused on studying and reproducing the rhythm and the pitch contour and inflections of normal Czech speech, which helped in creating the very distinctive vocal melodies in his opera Jen?fa (1904). Going much farther than Modest Mussorgsky and anticipating the later work of Béla Bartók in such styles, Janá?ek made this a distinguishing feature of his vocal writing (Samson 1977). He is best known for the music he wrote from this point to the end of his life. Although many consider his output from this period to mark his mature style, he had been writing in this fashion for quite a number of years but had simply not received wide public acclaim earlier. Much of Janá?ek's work displays great originality and individuality. His work is tonal, although it employs a vastly expanded view of tonality. He also uses unorthodox chord spacings and structures, often making use of modality: "there is no music without key. Atonality abolishes definite key, and thus tonal modulation....Folksong knows of no atonality." (Hollander 1963) He features accompaniment figures and patterns, with according to Jim Samson, "the on-going movement of his music...similarly achieved by unorthodox means—often a discourse of short, 'unfinished' phrases comprising constant repetitions of short motives which gather momentum in a cumulative manner." (Samson 1977)
Legacy
Janá?ek belongs to a wave of 20th century composers who were seeking greater realism and greater connection with everyday life, combined with a more all-encompassing use of musical resources. His operas in particular demonstrate the use of "speech"-derived melodic lines, folk and traditional material, and complex modal musical argument. Janá?ek's works are still regularly performed around the world, and are generally considered popular with audiences. He would also inspire later composers in his homeland, as well as music theorists, among them Jaroslav Volek, to place modal development alongside of harmony in importance in music. Many see the operas Ká?a Kabanová (1921), The Cunning Little Vixen (1924), The Makropulos Affair (1926) and From the House of the Dead (after a novel by Dostoevsky, premiered in 1930, after his death) as his finest works. The conductor Sir Charles Mackerras has become particularly closely associated with them. His chamber music, while not especially voluminous, includes works which are generally considered to be "in the standard repertory" as 20th century classics, particularly his two string quartets: Quartet No. 1, "The Kreutzer Sonata" inspired by the Tolstoy novel, and the Quartet No. 2, "Intimate Letters". At Frankfurt am Main modern music festival in 1926 Ilona Št?pánová-Kurzová performed the world premiere of Janá?ek's Concertino; the Czech premiere took place on February 16 1926 in Brno. Other well known pieces by Janá?ek include the Sinfonietta, the Glagolitic Mass (the text written in Old Church Slavonic), Lachian Dances, and the rhapsody Taras Bulba. These pieces and the above mentioned four late operas were all written in the last decade of Janá?ek's life.
Operas
1894 - Po?átek Románu, "The Beginning of a Romance"
1904 - Její pastorky?a, "Her Stepdaughter", known in English as Jen?fa
1904 - Osud, "Fate"
1920 - Výlety pana Brou?ka, "The Excursions of Mr. Broucek"
1921 - Ká?a Kabanová
1924 - P?íhody lišky Bystroušky, "The Cunning Little Vixen"
1926 - V?c Makropulos, "The Makropoulos Affair"
1930 - Z mrtvého domu, "From the House of the Dead"
Kamila Stösslová - the composer's muse
Every year it was customary for Janá?ek to spend a few weeks in the Moravian spa town of Luha?ovice. There he took the waters and strolled through the countryside. His opera Osud is set there, and it recalls much of the cosmopolitan holiday atmosphere of the place in the opening of the first act. In the summer of 1917 Janá?ek was enjoying great popularity, as Jen?fa had finally been heard in Prague. Something more important happened at the spa town however, as it was there that he met Kamila Stösslová, the young wife of an antique dealer from Písek, who greatly influenced the composer’s last period of productivity. Janá?ek was twice her age yet became utterly infatuated with her. Their relationship is detailed extensively in their correspondence of more than seven hundred letters. Many of Stösslová’s letters were burnt by Janá?ek, but the large majority of his to her survived.
Throughout their communications Janá?ek mentioned his work and often told Stösslová that she was the influence for the work at hand. Very shortly after the composer’s visit to Luha?ovice in July 1917 he started composing the setting of the poem’s ‘from the pen of a self-taught man’ printed in the local paper, which told the story of a farm boy’s sexual infatuation with a gypsy girl. These poems became the song cycle Zápisník zmizelého [A Diary of One who disappeared]. Janá?ek wrote to Kamila saying that, ‘regularly in the afternoon a few motifs occur to me for those beautiful little poems about that Gypsy love. Perhaps a nice little musical romance will come out of it – and a tiny bit of the Luha?ovice mood would be in it.’
ndeed he went on to write further that ‘the black Gypsy girl in my Diary – that was especially you’. As soon as the final revision of the work was completed Janá?ek started work on the next ‘Kamila’ work, his opera Kát'a Kabanová. Again the influence of his love for Stösslová was clearly stated in his series of letters to her on the subject. He wrote that he ‘always placed [her] image on Kát'a Kabanová when [he] was writing the opera’, and when it was finished he told her that ‘you know it’s your work’. In fact throughout their correspondence, and as Janá?ek finished Kát’a and moved onto the Vixen, and Emilia in V?c Makropulos he drew parallels with their characters and that of Kamila. But as John Tyrrell writes in his introduction to the English edition of the letters that although they are ‘the most important source for the understanding of Janá?ek’s emotional and creative life in the last twelve years’, apart from their musicological significance ‘they contain a great love story’.
Their story was not always happy. As with Janá?ek’s obsession with Kamila Urválková and his affair with Gabriela Horvátová (the Kostelni?ka for the Prague premiere of Jen?fa) there were recriminations at home, and his dealings with his wife became increasingly strained. The relationship with Stösslová was never consummated however, and sometimes her lack of ability in replying to the composer’s letters caused him great upset. That apart, she was the woman who influenced the composer more than anyone or anything else. More often than not the warmth that he felt towards her found its way into the amazingly humanitarian works of his last period of composition.
Throughout his life of domestic fireworks we see there are two things which influenced him profoundly, over and over again: a sense of place, and a sense of those whom he loved and who loved him. The impact of Kamila Stösslová cannot be emphasised enough when considering the great operas of his maturity. For a man whose first main opera was heard in his 50th year, the achievement of Leoš Janá?ek is immense and emotionally startling.
PERFORMANCES
Sat. January 17, 2009 - 8pm
Sun. January 25, 2009- 4pm
2 hours 30 minutes, 1 intermission
Sung in English with English Supertitles
Location
Long Beach Performing Arts Center
300 E. Ocean Boulevard
| Leoš Janáček |
Which country is bordered by Georgia to the north, Turkey to the west and Azerbaijan to the east? | Leoš Janáček - Classical Archives
Leoš Janáček
Read biography at allmusic.com .... More
Click on a category to view the list of works
Recordings: 2,200 tracks
The Cunning Little Vixen (suite, orch. by Talich)
15 tracks
10 Silesian Songs from Helena Salichová's collection, JW 5/13
2 tracks
The Diary of One Who Disappeared (Zápisník zmizelého), song cycle for mezzo-soprano, tenor, female chorus, and piano, JW 5/12
67 tracks
| i don't know |
Andy Murray is the number one British male tennis player. Who is the British number two who first came to prominence by reaching the semi-final of this year's Queen's Club Tournament? | James Ward (Tennis Player) - Pics, Videos, Dating, & News
Tennis Player
Male
Born Feb 9, 1987
James Ward is a British tennis player, and British no. 2 behind Andy Murray. As of 11 June 2012 he is ranked 171 in the ATP singles rankings and 573 in doubles. He is mostly known for reaching the quarter finals of the 2010 Eastbourne International and the semi-finals of the 2011 Queen's Club Championship as a wildcard entry.… Read More
related links
Vectura On Lookout For Deals To Build Specialized Lung Drug Business
Yahoo News - Nov 01, 2016
' By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - <mark>James Ward</mark>-Lilley, the former AstraZeneca executive who created a UK respiratory medicine business in June by merging Vectura and SkyePharma, is already thinking about his next deal. This time he would like to buy a company with an established U.S. sales force to accelerate the group\'s ambitions as it develops specialized lung drugs that are wholly owned by Vectura, rather than partnered with Big Pharma. \"It would make a lot of sense if we ...
Tennis Murray Sweeps Into Wimbledon Second Round
Yahoo News - Jun 28, 2016
' - Andy Murray made a flying start to his bid for a second Wimbledon title as the world number two crushed British wildcard Liam Broady 6-2, 6-3, 6-4. Murray has lost successive Grand Slam finals to Novak Djokovic this year, but the 2013 Wimbledon champion believes he can end that frustrating run now he is reunited with coach Ivan Lendl after a two-year hiatus in their partnership. After world number one Djokovic, the Wimbledon champion for the last two years, cruised past Britain\'s <mark>J...
Quotes From Day One At Wimbledon
Yahoo News - Jun 27, 2016
'A selection of the best quotes from Day One at Wimbledon: British world number 772 Marcus Willis after reaching the second round with victory over world number 54 Ricardas Berankis. Men\'s top seed Novak Djokovic, who eliminated <mark>James Ward</mark> of Britain 6-0 7-6(3) 6-4 in the first round. \"This is probably the most unique experience in tennis, playing as defending champion at Wimbledon on new grass.\" Men\'s third seed Roger Federer after labouring past Argentine Guido Pella 7-6(5)...
Tennis Djokovic To Play Wildcard Ward In Wimbledon First Round
Yahoo News - Jun 24, 2016
'LONDON, June 24 (Reuters) - Defending men\'s champion Novak Djokovic will play British wildcard <mark>James Ward</mark> in the first round of the Wimbledon championships on Monday as he continues his bid for a calendar year grand slam. The 29-year-old Serb, the top seed, could face a semi-final with third seed Roger Federer, the seven-times champion he beat in the last two finals at the All England Club. Federer, who missed the French Open through injury, plays Guido Pella in the first round...
Learn about the memorable moments in the evolution of James Ward.
CHILDHOOD
1987 Birth Born on February 9, 1987.
1997 10 Years Old Ward beat Lithuanian No. 2 Laurynas Grigelis and became the first Briton other than Tim Henman, Greg Rusedski, or Andy Murray to win a live rubber since Andrew Richardson beat Zimbabwe's Byron Black in 1997. … Read More
Evans lost the second singles match, Fleming and Skupski won their doubles, but Ward and Evans were both beaten on the final day. This was described as a humiliating Davis Cup defeat for Great Britain and led to the resignation of Davis Cup captain John Lloyd. Britain was then threatened with relegation to the third tier of the competition. Read Less
TWENTIES
2008 21 Years Old Ward qualified for only his second ATP tour event, the 2008 Stella Artois Championships at the Queen's Club in London. … Read More
In the first round on 9 June he met former US Open and Australian Open champion, Russian player Marat Safin. Ward took the first set after breaking Safin in the third game of the match and managed to hold his serve for the rest of the set to take it 6â4. However Safin upped his game in the second set, gained an early break and won the set comfortably 6â1. Ward was also broken early in the deciding set losing 6â4, 1â6, 4â6.<br /><br /> In February, Davis Cup captain John Lloyd selected six Britons for a play-off contest, to find two singles players for the Ukraine tie. In these, Ward competed in the previous longest match in tennis history, lasting 6 hours and 40 minutes, against Chris Eaton on 25 February. Eaton won the match 6â3, 6â2, 6â7, 2â6, 21â19, but it was not sanctioned by the ATP so was not an official record. Read Less
He reached the quarterfinals of the 2010 Aegon International and the semifinals of the 2011 Aegon Championships as a wildcard entry.
It was exceeded later by the Isner-Mahut match at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships. … Read More
This was the second time that Ward had played a five set match â the first occasion had been the previous Monday also at the play-offs.<br /><br /> In May, he became the first British player to win a challenger title on clay since Tim Henman in 1995. He beat Carsten Ball in the final of the Sarasota Open in Florida, USA. This win propelled him into the top 250 of the ATP's rankings, establishing himself as British No. 2.<br /><br /> In September, Ward was struck with glandular fever, and dropped to British No. 3.<br /><br /> In March, Ward made his Davis Cup debut in the Europe/Africa Zone Group II tie vs Lithuania, in Vilnius, with Dan Evans, Ken Skupski, and Colin Fleming. The Lithuanian side entered the tie as underdogs; fielding a team of teenagers. Read Less
In June 2010, Ward reached his first ATP World Tour quarterfinal at the Aegon International, Eastbourne, UK. … Read More
Ward beat second seed Feliciano López (who had beaten Rafael Nadal the week before) when López had to retire. He followed it up with a victory over the other man to lose at the semifinals of Queens the week before, Rainer Schüttler. He was eventually beaten by the young Ukrainian talent Alexandr Dolgopolov in straight sets.<br /><br /> The new Davis Cup captain Leon Smith selected Ward to take part in Great Britain's vital Davis Cup tie vs Turkey at Eastbourne in July alongside Jamie Baker, Ken Skupski, Colin Fleming, and Alex Ward (non player). Defeat would have meant Great Britain's relegation to Europe Zone Group III. Ward contributed to the victory by winning both his singles matches, Britain eventually winning 5â0, and giving Great Britain a first Davis Cup win in three years.<br /><br /> At the Delhi Commonwealth Games in October, Ward became the first Englishman to play tennis in a Commonwealth Games. Seeded fourth in the singles, he beat Jamie Murray in the second round to reach the quarterfinals. Read Less
…
Ward lost at the first hurdle in six of his seven tournaments at the beginning of this year. So when Leon Smith, Britain's Davis Cup captain selected his team for the Euro/Africa Zone Group II tie against Tunisia in March, he sprang a surprise, omitting Alex Bogdanovic, having recalled the 26-year-old to the squad after a three-year absence. Instead, Smith's singles players were Ward (No. 214) and Jamie Baker (No. 406), who had lost first time out in his last two events. Although Bogdanovic (No. 374) had lost all six of his live Davis Cup rubbers, he had at least won a Futures tournament in the United States that year. Ward played a key role in Great Britain's 4â1 victory, winning both his live singles rubbers, and ultimately clinching the tie by beating Malek Jaziri 3â6, 6â3, 3â6, 6â3, 8â6 in the fourth rubber. <br /><br />At the Queen's Club Championships, Ward reached the semifinals of an ATP tour event for the first time. He defeated fourth seed and future Grand Slam champion Stanislas Wawrinka in straight sets in the second round. Read Less
Ward followed this up by defeating defending champion and 13th seed Sam Querrey, coming from a set down to win in three sets to equal his run at Eastbourne in 2010. … Read More
Ward then defeated Adrian Mannarino in three sets, despite missing seven match points in the second-set tiebreaker. He was eventually defeated by Jo Wilfried Tsonga, having held a set point in the second-set tiebreaker.<br /><br /> At Wimbledon Ward entered as a wildcard, but lost in the first round to Michaël Llodra.<br /><br /> In July, Ward took part in the Davis Cup Luxembourg tie. Ward could not make good a ranking deficit of 106 places against world No. 81 Gilles Muller, and he lost the first rubber. Great Britain won 4â1, with Ward winning the dead rubber against unranked Laurent Bram, a full-time coach who played competitively when he could.<br /><br /> Following a short break, Ward's first tournament back was the Lexington Challenger. As top seed, Ward reached the final, losing to Wayne Odesnik. He was also runner-up in the doubles tournament. Read Less
2011 24 Years Old Two weeks later, Ward won the second Challenger tournament of his career at the 2011 Odlum Brown Vancouver Open, defeating Robby Ginepri. … Read More
The win saw Ward rise to world No. 144. On 15 August ward rose to a career-high ranking of No. 140.<br /><br /> In September, Ward was selected for the Davis Cup promotion tie against Hungary. In the first rubber, Ward had a sometimes dramatic win over the visitors' No. 1 Attila Balazs. The drama came not so much from any searing quality of tennis, but from Ward's constant battle with cramping in his leg and queasiness that meant he had to nip backstage mid-match to empty the contents of his stomach. Ward had occasionally looked likely to default against an opponent ranked No. 262 in the world. With Andy Murray, Colin Fleming, and Ross Hutchins winning, Great Britain claimed a decisive 3â0 lead, and was promoted into Europe/Africa Zone Group I. <br /><br /> Ward qualified for his first Grand Slam other than Wimbledon, but lost in the first round of the Australian Open to Slovenian Blaž KavÄiÄ. Read Less
2013 26 Years Old In January 2013, Ward failed to qualify for the Australian Open, reaching the third round of qualifying before losing to Julian Reister. … Read More
Ward remained in Australia to compete in the Charles Sturt Adelaide International, where he reached the final, defeating top seed YÅ«ichi Sugita along the way, before losing to home favourite Matthew Barton.<br /><br /> Ward was then selected for Great Britain's Davis Cup team for their Europe/Africa Zone Group I match against Russia in Coventry. Ward lost an epic first rubber to Evgeny Donskoy to give Russia a 2â0 lead heading into the doubles rubber the following day. The doubles pairing of Jonny Marray and Colin Fleming gave the home side some hope going into the final day of matches, where Ward opened the day. Ward stunned the much higher seeded Russian Dmitry Tursunov to level the tie. Dan Evans would eventually complete a remarkable turnaround, with a straight-set victory over Donskoy. The last time Great Britain had come from 2â0 down to win a Davis Cup tie was 83 years ago against Germany, Consequently, Great Britain won a place in the 16-team World Group play-offs in September. Ward had to be placed on a drip to help him recover from his efforts. The following Monday afternoon, Ward was not feeling well so he was again put on a drip. Read Less
| James Ward |
Amoebas and some parasites, including those which cause malaria and sleeping- sickness are different forms of which microscopic single-celled organisms? | James Ward (Tennis Player) - Pics, Videos, Dating, & News
Tennis Player
Male
Born Feb 9, 1987
James Ward is a British tennis player, and British no. 2 behind Andy Murray. As of 11 June 2012 he is ranked 171 in the ATP singles rankings and 573 in doubles. He is mostly known for reaching the quarter finals of the 2010 Eastbourne International and the semi-finals of the 2011 Queen's Club Championship as a wildcard entry.… Read More
related links
Vectura On Lookout For Deals To Build Specialized Lung Drug Business
Yahoo News - Nov 01, 2016
' By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - <mark>James Ward</mark>-Lilley, the former AstraZeneca executive who created a UK respiratory medicine business in June by merging Vectura and SkyePharma, is already thinking about his next deal. This time he would like to buy a company with an established U.S. sales force to accelerate the group\'s ambitions as it develops specialized lung drugs that are wholly owned by Vectura, rather than partnered with Big Pharma. \"It would make a lot of sense if we ...
Tennis Murray Sweeps Into Wimbledon Second Round
Yahoo News - Jun 28, 2016
' - Andy Murray made a flying start to his bid for a second Wimbledon title as the world number two crushed British wildcard Liam Broady 6-2, 6-3, 6-4. Murray has lost successive Grand Slam finals to Novak Djokovic this year, but the 2013 Wimbledon champion believes he can end that frustrating run now he is reunited with coach Ivan Lendl after a two-year hiatus in their partnership. After world number one Djokovic, the Wimbledon champion for the last two years, cruised past Britain\'s <mark>J...
Quotes From Day One At Wimbledon
Yahoo News - Jun 27, 2016
'A selection of the best quotes from Day One at Wimbledon: British world number 772 Marcus Willis after reaching the second round with victory over world number 54 Ricardas Berankis. Men\'s top seed Novak Djokovic, who eliminated <mark>James Ward</mark> of Britain 6-0 7-6(3) 6-4 in the first round. \"This is probably the most unique experience in tennis, playing as defending champion at Wimbledon on new grass.\" Men\'s third seed Roger Federer after labouring past Argentine Guido Pella 7-6(5)...
Tennis Djokovic To Play Wildcard Ward In Wimbledon First Round
Yahoo News - Jun 24, 2016
'LONDON, June 24 (Reuters) - Defending men\'s champion Novak Djokovic will play British wildcard <mark>James Ward</mark> in the first round of the Wimbledon championships on Monday as he continues his bid for a calendar year grand slam. The 29-year-old Serb, the top seed, could face a semi-final with third seed Roger Federer, the seven-times champion he beat in the last two finals at the All England Club. Federer, who missed the French Open through injury, plays Guido Pella in the first round...
Learn about the memorable moments in the evolution of James Ward.
CHILDHOOD
1987 Birth Born on February 9, 1987.
1997 10 Years Old Ward beat Lithuanian No. 2 Laurynas Grigelis and became the first Briton other than Tim Henman, Greg Rusedski, or Andy Murray to win a live rubber since Andrew Richardson beat Zimbabwe's Byron Black in 1997. … Read More
Evans lost the second singles match, Fleming and Skupski won their doubles, but Ward and Evans were both beaten on the final day. This was described as a humiliating Davis Cup defeat for Great Britain and led to the resignation of Davis Cup captain John Lloyd. Britain was then threatened with relegation to the third tier of the competition. Read Less
TWENTIES
2008 21 Years Old Ward qualified for only his second ATP tour event, the 2008 Stella Artois Championships at the Queen's Club in London. … Read More
In the first round on 9 June he met former US Open and Australian Open champion, Russian player Marat Safin. Ward took the first set after breaking Safin in the third game of the match and managed to hold his serve for the rest of the set to take it 6â4. However Safin upped his game in the second set, gained an early break and won the set comfortably 6â1. Ward was also broken early in the deciding set losing 6â4, 1â6, 4â6.<br /><br /> In February, Davis Cup captain John Lloyd selected six Britons for a play-off contest, to find two singles players for the Ukraine tie. In these, Ward competed in the previous longest match in tennis history, lasting 6 hours and 40 minutes, against Chris Eaton on 25 February. Eaton won the match 6â3, 6â2, 6â7, 2â6, 21â19, but it was not sanctioned by the ATP so was not an official record. Read Less
He reached the quarterfinals of the 2010 Aegon International and the semifinals of the 2011 Aegon Championships as a wildcard entry.
It was exceeded later by the Isner-Mahut match at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships. … Read More
This was the second time that Ward had played a five set match â the first occasion had been the previous Monday also at the play-offs.<br /><br /> In May, he became the first British player to win a challenger title on clay since Tim Henman in 1995. He beat Carsten Ball in the final of the Sarasota Open in Florida, USA. This win propelled him into the top 250 of the ATP's rankings, establishing himself as British No. 2.<br /><br /> In September, Ward was struck with glandular fever, and dropped to British No. 3.<br /><br /> In March, Ward made his Davis Cup debut in the Europe/Africa Zone Group II tie vs Lithuania, in Vilnius, with Dan Evans, Ken Skupski, and Colin Fleming. The Lithuanian side entered the tie as underdogs; fielding a team of teenagers. Read Less
In June 2010, Ward reached his first ATP World Tour quarterfinal at the Aegon International, Eastbourne, UK. … Read More
Ward beat second seed Feliciano López (who had beaten Rafael Nadal the week before) when López had to retire. He followed it up with a victory over the other man to lose at the semifinals of Queens the week before, Rainer Schüttler. He was eventually beaten by the young Ukrainian talent Alexandr Dolgopolov in straight sets.<br /><br /> The new Davis Cup captain Leon Smith selected Ward to take part in Great Britain's vital Davis Cup tie vs Turkey at Eastbourne in July alongside Jamie Baker, Ken Skupski, Colin Fleming, and Alex Ward (non player). Defeat would have meant Great Britain's relegation to Europe Zone Group III. Ward contributed to the victory by winning both his singles matches, Britain eventually winning 5â0, and giving Great Britain a first Davis Cup win in three years.<br /><br /> At the Delhi Commonwealth Games in October, Ward became the first Englishman to play tennis in a Commonwealth Games. Seeded fourth in the singles, he beat Jamie Murray in the second round to reach the quarterfinals. Read Less
…
Ward lost at the first hurdle in six of his seven tournaments at the beginning of this year. So when Leon Smith, Britain's Davis Cup captain selected his team for the Euro/Africa Zone Group II tie against Tunisia in March, he sprang a surprise, omitting Alex Bogdanovic, having recalled the 26-year-old to the squad after a three-year absence. Instead, Smith's singles players were Ward (No. 214) and Jamie Baker (No. 406), who had lost first time out in his last two events. Although Bogdanovic (No. 374) had lost all six of his live Davis Cup rubbers, he had at least won a Futures tournament in the United States that year. Ward played a key role in Great Britain's 4â1 victory, winning both his live singles rubbers, and ultimately clinching the tie by beating Malek Jaziri 3â6, 6â3, 3â6, 6â3, 8â6 in the fourth rubber. <br /><br />At the Queen's Club Championships, Ward reached the semifinals of an ATP tour event for the first time. He defeated fourth seed and future Grand Slam champion Stanislas Wawrinka in straight sets in the second round. Read Less
Ward followed this up by defeating defending champion and 13th seed Sam Querrey, coming from a set down to win in three sets to equal his run at Eastbourne in 2010. … Read More
Ward then defeated Adrian Mannarino in three sets, despite missing seven match points in the second-set tiebreaker. He was eventually defeated by Jo Wilfried Tsonga, having held a set point in the second-set tiebreaker.<br /><br /> At Wimbledon Ward entered as a wildcard, but lost in the first round to Michaël Llodra.<br /><br /> In July, Ward took part in the Davis Cup Luxembourg tie. Ward could not make good a ranking deficit of 106 places against world No. 81 Gilles Muller, and he lost the first rubber. Great Britain won 4â1, with Ward winning the dead rubber against unranked Laurent Bram, a full-time coach who played competitively when he could.<br /><br /> Following a short break, Ward's first tournament back was the Lexington Challenger. As top seed, Ward reached the final, losing to Wayne Odesnik. He was also runner-up in the doubles tournament. Read Less
2011 24 Years Old Two weeks later, Ward won the second Challenger tournament of his career at the 2011 Odlum Brown Vancouver Open, defeating Robby Ginepri. … Read More
The win saw Ward rise to world No. 144. On 15 August ward rose to a career-high ranking of No. 140.<br /><br /> In September, Ward was selected for the Davis Cup promotion tie against Hungary. In the first rubber, Ward had a sometimes dramatic win over the visitors' No. 1 Attila Balazs. The drama came not so much from any searing quality of tennis, but from Ward's constant battle with cramping in his leg and queasiness that meant he had to nip backstage mid-match to empty the contents of his stomach. Ward had occasionally looked likely to default against an opponent ranked No. 262 in the world. With Andy Murray, Colin Fleming, and Ross Hutchins winning, Great Britain claimed a decisive 3â0 lead, and was promoted into Europe/Africa Zone Group I. <br /><br /> Ward qualified for his first Grand Slam other than Wimbledon, but lost in the first round of the Australian Open to Slovenian Blaž KavÄiÄ. Read Less
2013 26 Years Old In January 2013, Ward failed to qualify for the Australian Open, reaching the third round of qualifying before losing to Julian Reister. … Read More
Ward remained in Australia to compete in the Charles Sturt Adelaide International, where he reached the final, defeating top seed YÅ«ichi Sugita along the way, before losing to home favourite Matthew Barton.<br /><br /> Ward was then selected for Great Britain's Davis Cup team for their Europe/Africa Zone Group I match against Russia in Coventry. Ward lost an epic first rubber to Evgeny Donskoy to give Russia a 2â0 lead heading into the doubles rubber the following day. The doubles pairing of Jonny Marray and Colin Fleming gave the home side some hope going into the final day of matches, where Ward opened the day. Ward stunned the much higher seeded Russian Dmitry Tursunov to level the tie. Dan Evans would eventually complete a remarkable turnaround, with a straight-set victory over Donskoy. The last time Great Britain had come from 2â0 down to win a Davis Cup tie was 83 years ago against Germany, Consequently, Great Britain won a place in the 16-team World Group play-offs in September. Ward had to be placed on a drip to help him recover from his efforts. The following Monday afternoon, Ward was not feeling well so he was again put on a drip. Read Less
| i don't know |
In which English city would you find the district of Holgate? | Archbishop Holgate’s School
Archbishop Holgate’s School
Profiles of previous Archbishops of York
Archbishop Holgate’s School
At Archbishop Holgate’s School our commitment to ‘Values, Care and Achievement’ underpins all that we do. The school’s Christian values of Trust, Forgiveness, Compassion and Justice are complemented by pastoral care that values each student as an individual and helps maximise their achievement by making the most of their individual gifts and talents.
An important part of the life of our school is our commitment to service and fundraising. The information below gives a flavour of what we do at Archbishop Holgate’s School.
Archbishop Holgate’s School - Our links with the Church of England
Archbishop Holgate's School was founded by one of the leading statesmen of the reign of King Henry VIII. Robert Holgate held absolute political power in the North, running the King's Council in the North from the King's Manor, raising armies to subdue the Scots, and operating with the authority of the King himself. In 1545, Henry VIII made him Archbishop of York, thereby complementing Holgate's political authority with the authority of one of the two leading roles in the Church of England, and cementing his position of absolute supremacy (second only to the King himself) in matters spiritual and temporal north of the Trent. Very soon after he was enthroned as Archbishop of York, Holgate founded a number of schools. Holgate took a close personal interest in the organisation of each school; his own signature lies at the bottom of each of the twenty-four pages of each of the three surviving copies of our school's Foundation Deed. Holgate fell from grace politically, but remained Archbishop of York, a role he fulfilled vigorously until 1554.
The original school site, between Ogleforth and the City Walls, was on land in the shadow of York Minster owned by Holgate himself. Links between Church and School have remained strong. Indeed, the story of the school over more than four and a half centuries has been intertwined with the story of successive Archbishops of York. No school in the country has more distinguished links with the Church of England than this one, including successive Archbishops serving as Foundation Governors of the school. Other Foundation Governors have included a senior Canon Residentiary of York Minster, and a senior representative from York St John University.
Archbishop Holgate's is not, however, an exclusively Church of England institution. The school is committed to exploring ways in which these and other links with the Church of England can be deepened, and ways in which our links with other denominations and faiths can also be further developed. Members of the school community – both students and staff – come to Archbishop Holgate's from a wide variety of denominations, beliefs and faiths, and are gladly accepted, in the expectation that they will feel at ease in such a setting.
At the start of 2011 there were only two hundred or so Church of England maintained secondary schools in the country, and four in the Diocese of York. The other three being Manor VA School, York; All Saints' VA School, Ingleby Barwick, Middlesbrough (opened as new build in 2003) and Archbishop Sentamu, Hull (which became an Academy in 2008). Indeed in April 2010 both Archbishop Holgate’s and Manor successfully became Church of England Academies. The school believes that having a Christian foundation at the centre of all it does give the school an extra dimension, an additional facet, giving it a distinctiveness which makes it different from most community schools. Church status does not provide a context for evangelising; those committed to Christianity will, on the other hand, often find many ways in which their faith can find expression through the corporate values of the school.
Our links with the Church of England include an annual invitation to hold our Carol Service in York Minster; a deepening relationship with our 'home' parish of Heslington; and developing links with other parishes and churches within the area we serve.
Recognising its historic foundation, the school hopes to preserve and develop its religious character in accordance with the principles of the Church of England and in partnership with the Church at parish and diocesan level. The school aims to serve its community by providing an education of the highest quality within the context of Christian belief and practice. It encourages an understanding of the meaning and significance of faith, and promotes Christian values through the experience it offers to all its students.
In 2013 the school celebrated 50 years since it moved from Lord Mayors Walk and opened on its current site on Hull Road. To celebrate this jubilee milestone the school community has worked on the development of a new contemplative garden at the heart of the school which has been designed by A’ level students. The first stage is complete and this wonderful new space sits just outside the school Chapel and is called the Archbishop Tutu Spiritual Garden. This resource complements the Chapel and adds to the work of the Chaplaincy team in the spiritual development of Archbishop Holgate’s young people, helping them to flourish as rounded individuals.
Archbishop Holgate’s School - South Africa link
The Diocese of York is twinned with three Dioceses in South Africa – the Dioceses of Cape Town, False Bay and Saldhana Bay. As a Church school Archbishop Holgate’s has fostered a great link with the Diocese of Cape Town. This started with a visit by two staff in 2004 and has continued with four subsequent visits by staff and students, the most recent in March this year. These visits involve extensive community service and educational elements; as well as getting to know the people, culture and history of Cape Town. The latter is achieved through visits to churches, youth groups and through home stay. As a fruit of their on-going relationship with the Diocese of Cape Town the school played host in 2011 and 2012 to two Capetonian students who came to study in the Sixth Form as part of a month long exchange. Archbishop Holgate’s students made reciprocal visits to the prestigious St Cyprian’s School in Cape Town. The school has also welcomed a group of Capetonian footballers and youth workers from the Diocese, as well as numerous members of the clergy. Recently we were exceptionally honoured to welcome Archbishop Desmond Tutu to the school in November 2013.
Whilst with us he toured the school, listened to presentations about the work with Cape Town, addresses students and dedicated the site of a new spiritual garden in the heart of the school. At present the school is making plans for our forthcoming visit with the next group of young people in Spring 2016. This will be the sixth such visit and the students are busy fundraising for the projects they will be working with.
Archbishop Holgate’s School - Charity work and School Council
At Archbishop Holgate’s School students are encouraged to give of their time, energy, creativity, as well as their money, for charity. The ethos which drives our charity mission is Matthew 25 “When Lord did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? When did we ever see you a stranger and welcome you into our homes or naked and clothe you? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you? And the King will reply, ‘I tell you whenever you did this for one of the least of my brothers’, you did it for me”. Charities are chosen annually, by the school community, and are supported through various fund raising events such as cake sales, sponsored events, dance marathons, non-uniform days and fun runs. The school has also looked to raise substantial monies for larger projects such as the classroom bought in 2010 for a pre-school in our link Diocese of Cape Town; as well as supporting national charities such as Children in Need, Comic Relief, Macmillan Cancer Care Trust, Cystic Fibrosis and local York based charities such as Arclight, St Leonard’s Hospice, SCBU and York against Cancer.
For further information please visit www.archbishopholgates.org . The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, has been Patron of Archbishop Holgate’s School since 2007.
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Which Italian liqueur is a key ingredient of the well known sweet, Tiramisu? | Holiday Parks Lake District | Caravan Parks Lake District - Holgates
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On this day, 8th November, which famous poet who was blind in his later years, died in his home in London in 1647? | William Wordsworth | Poetry Foundation
William Wordsworth
Poet Details
1770–1850
Discussing prose written by poets, Joseph Brodsky has remarked, “the tradition of dividing literature into poetry and prose dates from the beginnings of prose, since it was only in prose that such a distinction could be made.” This insight is worth bearing in mind when considering the various prose works of the poet William Wordsworth. For Wordsworth poetic composition was a primary mode of expression; prose was secondary. Wordsworth seems to have written prose mostly in order to find a structure for his poetic beliefs and political enthusiasms. Over the course of a prolific poetic career, in fact, Wordsworth produced little prose, though he did compose two works of lasting general interest, one on poetics—“Preface to Lyrical Ballads”—and the other on the landscape of his native region—his tourist handbook, A Guide through the District of the Lakes, which retains more than a local interest as geographical background to his poems and biography. Wordsworth is not, of course, remembered as a prose writer but as a poet of spiritual and epistemological speculation, a poet concerned with the human relationship to nature. Yet recently, certain critics, as part of a revisionist critique of older interpretations of Wordsworth’s verse, have turned to his political essays for evidence, especially concerning the poet's rejection of his youthful radicalism. Wordsworth's political writings, especially “A Letter to the Bishop of Llandaff,” The Convention of Cintra (1809), and Two Addresses to the Freeholders of Westmoreland (1818), while historically significant, are of primary interest as background for the poetry: for Wordsworth, poetics always determined politics.
William Wordsworth, son of John and Ann Cookson Wordsworth, was born on 7 April 1770 in Cockermouth, Cumberland. The Wordsworth children—Richard, William, Dorothy, John, and Christopher—remained close throughout their lives, and the support Dorothy offered William during his long career has attained legendary status. John Wordsworth, William's father, was legal agent to Sir James Lowther, Baronet of Lowther (later Earl of Lonsdale), a political magnate and property owner. Wordsworth's deep love for the “beauteous forms” of the natural world was established early. The Wordsworth children seem to have lived in a sort of rural paradise along the Derwent River, which ran past the terraced garden below the ample house whose tenancy John Wordsworth had obtained from his employer before his marriage to Ann Cookson. William attended the grammar school near Cockermouth Church and Ann Birkett's school at Penrith, the home of his maternal grandparents. The intense lifelong friendship between Dorothy and William Wordsworth probably began when they, along with Mary Hutchinson, attended school at Penrith. Wordsworth's early childhood beside the Derwent and his schooling at Cockermouth are vividly recalled in various passages of The Prelude and in shorter poems such as the sonnet “Address from the Spirit of Cockermouth Castle.” His experiences in and around Hawkshead, where William and Richard Wordsworth began attending school in 1779, would also provide the poet with a store of images and sensory experience that he would continue to draw on throughout his poetic career, but especially during the “great decade” of 1798 to 1808. This childhood idyll was not to continue, however. In March of 1778 Ann Wordsworth died while visiting a friend in London. In June 1778 Dorothy was sent to live in Halifax, Yorkshire, with her mother's cousin Elizabeth Threlkeld, and she lived with a succession of relatives thereafter. She did not see William again until 1787.
In December of 1783 John Wordsworth, returning home from a business trip, lost his way and was forced to spend a cold night in the open. Very ill when he reached home, he died 30 December. Though separated from their sister, all the boys eventually attended school together at Hawkshead, staying in the house of Ann Tyson. In 1787, despite poor finances caused by ongoing litigation over Lord Lowther's debt to John Wordsworth's estate, Wordsworth went up to Cambridge as a sizar in St. John's College. As he himself later noted, Wordsworth's undergraduate career was not distinguished by particular brilliance. In the third book of The Prelude Wordsworth recorded his reactions to life at Cambridge and his changing attitude toward his studies. During his last summer as an undergraduate, he and his college friend Robert Jones—much influenced by William Coxe's Sketches of the Natural, Civil, and Political State of Swisserland (1779)—decided to make a tour of the Alps, departing from Dover on 13 July 1790.
Though Wordsworth, encouraged by his headmaster William Taylor, had been composing verse since his days at Hawkshead Grammar School, his poetic career begins with this first trip to France and Switzerland. During this period he also formed his early political opinions—especially his hatred of tyranny. These opinions would be profoundly transformed over the coming years but never completely abandoned. Wordsworth was intoxicated by the combination of revolutionary fervor he found in France—he and Jones arrived on the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille—and by the impressive natural beauty of the countryside and mountains. Returning to England in October, Wordsworth was awarded a pass degree from Cambridge in January 1791, spent several months in London, and then traveled to Jones's parents' home in North Wales. During 1791 Wordsworth's interest in both poetry and politics gained in sophistication, as natural sensitivity strengthened his perceptions of the natural and social scenes he encountered. In a letter to William Matthews , a Cambridge friend, he lamented his lack of Italian and weak Spanish—he would have liked to be reading modern poetry.
Wordsworth's passion for democracy, as is clear in his “Letter to the Bishop of Llandaff” (also called “Apology for the French Revolution”), is the result of his two youthful trips to France. In November 1791 Wordsworth returned to France, where he attended sessions of the National Assembly and the Jacobin Club. In December he met and fell in love with Annette Vallon, and at the beginning of 1792 he became the close friend of an intellectual and philosophical army officer, Michel Beaupuy, with whom he discussed politics. Wordsworth had been an instinctive democrat since childhood, and his experiences in revolutionary France strengthened and developed his convictions. His sympathy for ordinary people would remain with Wordsworth even after his revolutionary fervor had been replaced with the “softened feudalism” he endorsed in his Two Addresses to the Freeholders of Westmoreland in 1818.
While still in France, Wordsworth began work on the first extended poetic efforts of his maturity, Descriptive Sketches, which was published in 1793, after the appearance of a poem written at Cambridge, An Evening Walk (1793). Having exhausted his money, he left France in early December 1792 before Annette Vallon gave birth to his child Caroline. Back in England, the young radical cast about for a suitable career. As a fervent democrat, he had serious reservations about “vegetating in a paltry curacy,” though he had written to William Matthews from France in May 1792 that he intended to be ordained the following winter or spring. Perhaps this plan was why he was reading sermons early in 1793, when he came across a sermon by Richard Watson, Bishop of Llandaff, on “the Wisdom and Goodness of God” in making both rich and poor, with an appendix denouncing the French Revolution. His democratic sympathies aroused, he spent several weeks in February and March working on a reply.
By this time, his relationship with Annette Vallon had become known to his English relatives, and any further opportunity of entering the Church was foreclosed. In any case Wordsworth had been reading atheist William Godwin’s recently published Political Justice (1793), and had come powerfully under its sway. “A Letter to the Bishop of Llandaff”—not published until 1876, when it was included in Alexandere B. Grosart’s edition of Wordsworth’s prose—is the youthful poet and democrat’s indignant reply to the forces of darkness, repression, and monarchy. Its prose shares something of the revolutionary clarity of Thomas Paine’s. Wordsworth, in fact, quoted Paine in his refutation of Bishop Watson’s appendix: “If you had looked in the articles of the rights of man, you would have found your efforts superseded. Equality, without which liberty cannot exist, is to be met with in perfection in that state in which no distinctions are admitted but such as have evidently for their object the general good.” Just how radical Wordsworth’s political beliefs were during this period can be judged from other passages in this “Letter”: “At a period big with the fate of the human race, I am sorry that you attach so much importance to the personal sufferings of the late royal martyr.... You wish it to be supposed that you are one of those who are unpersuaded of the guilt of Louis XVI. If you had attended to the history of the French revolution as minutely as its importance demands, so far from stopping to bewail his death, you would rather have regretted that the blind fondness of his people had placed a human being in that monstrous situation....” Remarking upon the stripping of property from the French priesthood, Wordsworth asserted: “The assembly were true to justice and refused to compromise the interests of the Nation by accepting as a satisfaction the insidious offerings of compulsive charity. They enforced their right: they took from the clergy a considerable portion of their wealth, and applied it to the alleviation of the national misery.”
“A Letter to the Bishop of Llandaff” is remarkable partly because Wordsworth seems to have begun relinquishing its tenets almost as soon as he had composed them. Though he remained for the time being a strong supporter of the French Revolution, the poetic side of Wordsworth’s personality began asserting itself, causing the poet to reexamine, between 1793 and 1796, his adherence to Godwin’s rationalistic model of human behavior, upon which Wordsworth’s republicanism was largely founded. Whether “A Letter to Bishop the of Llandaff” remained unpublished through caution or circumstance is not clear. As Wordsworth turned his attention to poetry, he developed, through the process of poetic composition, his own theory of human nature, one that had very little to do with Godwin’s rationalism. During this period Wordsworth met another radical young man with literary aspirations, Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
In 1794 and 1795 Wordsworth divided his time between London and the Lake Country, at one point telling William Matthews that he would rather be in London because cataracts and mountains were good occasionally but would not do for constant companions. Nevertheless, in September 1795 William and Dorothy Wordsworth settled at Racedown Lodge in Dorset, where they would live for two years. In The Prelude Wordsworth wrote that his sister “Maintained a saving intercourse / With my true self,” and “preserved me still / A poet.” At Racedown Wordsworth composed The Borderers, a tragedy in which he came fully to terms with Godwin’s philosophy, finally rejecting it as an insufficiently rich approach to life for a poet. Then Wordsworth for the first time found his mature poetic voice, writing The Ruined Cottage, which would be published in 1814 as part of The Excursion, itself conceived as one part of a masterwork, The Recluse, which was to worry Wordsworth throughout his life, a poem proposed to him by Coleridge and planned as a full statement of the two poets’ emerging philosophy of life.
In 1797, to be closer to Coleridge, the Wordsworth’s moved to Alfoxden House, near the village of Nether Stowey. Because of the odd habits of the household—especially their walking over the countryside at all hours—the local population suspected that the Wordsworth’s and their visitors were French spies, and a government agent was actually dispatched to keep an eye on them. The years between 1797 and 1800 mark the period of Wordsworth and Coleridge’s close collaboration, and also the beginning of Wordsworth’s mature poetic career. Wordsworth wrote the poems that would go into the 1798 and 1800 editions of Lyrical Ballads—poems such as “Tintern Abbey,” “Expostulation and Reply,” “The Tables Turned,” “Goody Blake and Harry Gill,” and “Michael” (written, Wordsworth told James Fox, “to shew that men who did not wear fine clothes can feel deeply”). During 1798 Wordsworth also worked on a piece of prose setting out his evolving ideas on justice and morality. Called the “Essay on Morals” by later editors, it was set aside and never finished. Wordsworth seems to have been attempting to work out and justify his changing political and social ideas—ideas that had begun to develop intuitively during the process of poetic composition. The poet in Wordsworth was beginning to dominate the democrat, and the poet found a political philosophy based on power, violence, and reason anathema. In the “Essay on Morals” Wordsworth concerns himself with the relationship between writing and political justice, and, though he had explicitly rejected Edmund Burke’s philosophy in his scorching “Letter to the Bishop of Llandaff,” he seems to be developing a Burkean idea of community.
In September 1798 the Wordsworth’s set off for Germany with Coleridge, returning separately, after some disagreements, in May 1799. In Germany Wordsworth continued to write poems, and when he returned to England he began to prepare a new edition of Lyrical Ballads. The second edition—that of 1800—included an extended preface by Wordsworth, explaining his reasons for choosing to write as he had and setting out a personal poetics that has remained influential and controversial to the present day. For Victorian readers such as Matthew Arnold, who tended to venerate Wordsworth, the preface was a fount of wisdom; but the modernists were deeply suspicious of Wordsworth’s reliance on feeling: poets such as T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound, while they could accept the strictures on poetic diction, found the underlying theory unacceptable. Subsequent critics have focused on the literary and historical sources of Wordsworth’s ideas, demonstrating that, while the poet certainly reinvented English poetic diction, his theories were deeply rooted in the practice of earlier poets, especially John Milton. This preface, Wordsworth’s only extended statement of his poetics, has become the source of many of the commonplaces and controversies of poetic theory and criticism. For Wordsworth, poetry, which should be written in “the real language of men,” is nevertheless “the spontaneous overflow of feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.”
The “Preface to Lyrical Ballads” (revised and expanded many times for later editions) is not a systematic poetics, but a partly polemical, partly pedantic, and still problematic statement of Wordsworth’s beliefs about poetry and poetic language. The preface in all its versions is highly discursive, the poet “thinking aloud” in an attempt to formulate ideas about poetry based on poems he has already written. It is important to remember when reading the preface that it both chronologically and logically follows the composition of most of the poems. The two central ideas of the preface are the need for reforming poetic diction—which, according to Wordsworth, had become far too artificial—and the role of the poet in society, which Wordsworth saw as having become too marginal. He had also come to the conclusion that the troubles of society were specifically urban in nature. This view finds eloquent expression in Wordsworth’s most powerful early poem, “Tintern Abbey.” Thinking of the way in which his memories of the Wye River valley had sustained him, Wordsworth wrote:
Though absent long,
These forms of beauty have not been to me,
As is a landscape to a blind man’s eye:
But oft, in lonely rooms, and mid the din
Of towns and cities, I have owed to them,
In hours of weariness, sensations sweet [.]
The poem concludes with a meditation on the power of nature to prevail against the false and superficial “dreary intercourse of daily life” that Wordsworth associated with city life, especially literary life in London. In the preface, Wordsworth characterized those forces as acting against the elevation of mind in which the poet specializes, and he identified them with urban life:
For a multitude of causes unknown to former times are now acting with combined force to blunt the discriminating powers of the mind, and unfitting it for all voluntary exertion to reduce it to a state of almost savage torpor. The most effective of these causes are the great national events which are daily taking place, and the encreasing accumulation of men in cities, where the uniformity of their occupations produces a craving for extraordinary incident which the rapid communication of intelligence hourly gratifies. To this tendency of life and manners the literature of the atrical exhibitions of the country have conformed themselves. The invaluable works of our elder writers, I had almost said the works of Shakespear and Milton, are driven into neglect by frantic novels, sickly and stupid German Tragedies, and deluges of idle and extravagent stories in verse.”
In a letter to Catherine Clarkson years later (4 June 1812), Wordsworth blamed not social institutions but people themselves for the ills of society: “As to public affairs; they are most alarming ... The [Prince Regent] seems neither respected or beloved; and the lower orders have been for upwards of thirty years accumulating in pestilential masses of ignorant population; the effects now begin to show themselves....” These words are remarkable in light of Wordsworth’s early identification with just such “masses of population,” though it is evident even in the preface that he had already begun to represent “the lower orders” as fundamentally removed from the affairs of both state and the arts. This belief is extraordinary considering the faith he had expressed in “the people” in “A Letter to the Bishop of Llandaff.”
Even before the publication of the first edition in 1798, Wordsworth was certainly aware that the poems in Lyrical Ballads were different from the conventional verse of the day, and he knew that fashionable reviewers would probably dismiss them as insufficiently elevated in tone and subject matter. They did, with a vengeance, and a good part of Wordsworth’s additions to the preface for the 1802 edition are attempts to answer his critics. But even in the 1800 version of the preface Wordsworth made an explicit connection between a plain poetic diction and a proper relationship to nature and society; that is, he makes the issue of a poetic diction a moral one, and his critique of a sonnet by Thomas Gray is an ethical demonstration as well as an example of literary criticism directed by one generation against the preceding one. As Wordsworth revised the preface for later editions, the changes reflected Wordsworth’s increasingly conservative and establishment views.
By December 1799 William and Dorothy Wordsworth were living in Dove Cottage, at Town End, Grasmere. In May 1802 Sir James Lowther, Earl of Lonsdale, died, and, though the litigation over his debt to the estate of Wordsworth’s father had not been settled, his heir, Sir William Lowther, agreed to pay the Wordsworth children the entire sum. With financial prospects, Wordsworth married Mary Hutchinson on 2 October 1802. The settlement helped to support a growing family and also allowed the Wordsworths to continue their generosity to various friends and men of letters, many of whom came to stay at Dove Cottage, sometimes for months on end. The death of the earl of Lonsdale also marked the beginning of a close economic and political relationship between William Wordsworth and Sir William Lowther (who became earl of Lonsdale in 1807) that would have a significant effect on the poet’s political philosophy in the years to come.
Wordsworth continued to write poetry with energy and passion over the next several years, and while fashionable critics such as Francis Jeffrey continued to snipe, his reputation and finances slowly improved. During these years he composed “The Solitary Reaper,” “Resolution and Independence,” and “Ode: Intimations of Immortality,” perhaps the greatest lyrics of his maturity. In these poems Wordsworth presents a fully developed, yet morally flexible, picture of the relationship between human beings and the natural world. Influenced by Neoplatonism, these poems also prepare the way for Wordsworth’s return to conventional religious belief. In 1805 Wordsworth completed a massive revision of the “poem to Coleridge” that would be published, after undergoing periodic adjustment and revision, after the poet’s death in 1850. Many critics believe that the “1805 Prelude,” as it has come to be called, is Wordsworth’s greatest poetic achievement.
In May 1808, his “great decade” behind him, Wordsworth moved with his family to Allan Bank, a larger house in Grasmere. Thomas De Quincy took over Dove Cottage. Evidence of a decisive turn in Wordsworth’s social and political views—and, by extension, his poetical views as well—during this period is to be found in The Convention of Cintra (1809), an extended political tract concerning the British expedition to Portugal to fight against Napoleon’s forces encamped on the Spanish peninsula. In 1793 Wordsworth had written in his “Letter to the Bishop of Llandaff,” “In France royalty is no more.” In 1808 he might have said “In William Wordsworth, Jacobinism is no more.” In place of Wordsworth’s early belief in equality, The Convention of Cintra presents a narrowly patriotic and nationalist view of European politics and a profoundly reactionary political philosophy expressed in tortured rhetoric:
But, from the moment of the rising of the people of the Pyrenean peninsula, there was a mighty change; we were instantaneously animated; and, from that moment, the contest assumed the dignity, which it is not in the power of any thing but hope to bestow; and, if I may dare to transfer language, prompted by a revelation of the state of being that admits not of decay or change, to the concerns and interests of our transitory planet, from that moment “this corruptible put on incorruption, and this mortal put on immortality.”
The rest of Wordsworth’s peroration is similarly tangled in syntax and thought. Furthermore, Wordsworth seems to have retreated into a form of rationalism he had rejected in order to become the great poet of 1797-1807:
Never, indeed, was the fellowship of our sentient nature more intimately felt—never was the irresistible power of justice more gloriously displayed than when the British and Spanish Nations, with an impulse like that of two ancient heros throwing down their weapons and reconciled in the field, ... embraced each other—to solemnize this conversion of love, not by festivities of peace, but by combating side by side through danger and under affliction in the devotedness of perfect brotherhood. This was a conjunction which excited hope as fervent as it was rational.
Throughout The Convention of Cintra Wordsworth seems to have given himself over to rigid abstractions such as Patriotism, Justice, and Power, and it is possible to argue that the diminution of Wordsworth’s poetic power dates from this period. If “A Letter to the Bishop of Llandaff” was derivative of Godwin, The Convention of Cintra is certainly derivative of Edmund Burke. When Henry Crabb Robinson showed a copy of Wordsworth’s pamphlet to Thomas Quayle, Quayle said that Wordsworth’s style resembled the worst of Burke’s. The radical republican of 1793 has by this point adopted not only Burke’s style but the essence of his thought as well. The transformation of his ideas seems to have cost Wordsworth his clarity of language, so apparent in “A Letter to the Bishop of Llandaff,” and even the “Preface to Lyrical Ballads,” which, though structurally complicated, is never obscure in the way of The Convention of Cintra.
In spite of his claim that he wrote “so few letters, and employ my pen so little in any way,” Wordsworth was a prolific correspondent throughout his life, and his letters provide a useful prose fabric upon which to trace the embroidery of the poems. One brief sequence of letters from 1811 and 1812 illustrates Wordsworth’s range of tone and subject in this literary subgenre. Writing on 28 March 1811 to C. W. Pasley, who had sent Wordsworth a copy of his Military Policy and Institutions of the British Empire (1810), Wordsworth said how much he enjoyed the book, which he had “expected with great impatience,” and remarked that having read it carefully, he considered himself “in a high degree instructed” by the volume. Then the theorist of The Convention of Cintra began a critique of Pasley’s book, which according to Wordsworth is overly pessimistic about Britain’s chances for defeating France and overly belligerent in suggesting that the English must launch an all-out war of conquest, beginning in Sicily, on the European continent, planting the seeds of justice wherever the armies are successful. Wordsworth, whose life had taught him to be economically astute, saw the folly of such an expedition, and told Pasley so, in exquisite detail. In fact, one is able to gain a clearer appreciation of Wordsworth’s later political thinking from this and other letters of the period than from The Convention of Cintra with its overblown rhetoric. The letter to Pasley has the considerable virtue, for the sake of Wordsworth’s prose, that it is rooted in the specifics of replying to an actual text. The letter to Pasley still, however, exhibits the poet’s lamentable willingness to subscribe to the clichés of nationalism: “Was there ever an instance, since the world began, of the peaceful arts thriving under a despotism so oppressive as that of France is and must continue to be, and among a people so unsettled, so depraved, and so undisciplined in civil arts and habits as the French nation must now be?” In his youth, Wordsworth, while an enthusiast of the French Revolution, had the analytic ability of a historian; by 1811 he had only the empty categories of a pedant. His idealism, adopted for the purposes of poetic composition, led him to sweeping political conclusions unfounded in reality: “The mind of the Country [England] is so far before that of France, and that that mind has empowered the hands of the country to raise so much national wealth, that France must condescend to accept from us what she will be unable herself to produce” [emphasis in original]. Wordsworth argued that Pasley’s scheme is unnecessary because the mind and hands of England would produce the economic defeat of the French. There is, as has been noted, considerable economic acumen in this letter, though the commonsense insights are continually undercut by the rhetoric in which they are couched.
Another side of Wordsworth is revealed in a 6 February 1812 letter to the early of Lonsdale: “I regret that it is not in my power to wait upon you personally; as the experience which. I have had of your Lordship’s gracious manners would have rendered quite pleasing to me the delicate task, which, through the means of a Letter, I am undertaking not without some reluctance.” Wordsworth’s self-consciousness clings to every word, as well it might—he was asking that Lord Lonsdale consider appointing him to “any Office [that] should be at your Lordship’s disposal (the duties of which would not call so largely upon my exertions as to prevent me from giving a considerable portion of my time to study)....” Though he had to wait more than a year, in 1813 Wordsworth was appointed, under Lonsdale’s patronage, to the post of Distributor of Stamps for Westmorland and Penrith.
On Wednesday evening, 2 December 1812, William Wordsworth wrote to his friend Robert Southey about the death of Thomas Wordsworth, the poet’s six-year-old son, the previous day. The simplicity and directness of this letter communicate Wordsworth’s sorrow with great power and integrity:
Symptoms of the measles appeared upon my Son Thomas last Thursday; he was most favorable held till Tuesday, between ten and eleven at that hour was particularly lightsome and comfortable; without any assignable cause a sudden change took place, an inflammation had commenced on the lungs which it was impossible to check and the sweet Innocent yielded up his soul to God before six in the evening. He did not appear to suffer much in body, but I fear something in mind as he was of an age to have thought much upon death a subject to which his mind was daily led by the grave of his Sister.
Thomas was the second child of William and Mary Wordsworth to die in childhood. Catherine had died the previous June, a few months before her fourth birthday.
In late 1812 Lord Lonsdale proposed that he provide one hundred pounds a year for the support of Wordsworth and his family until a salaried position became available. Wordsworth was at first somewhat reluctant to accept the patronage, but he accepted, and on 8 January 1813 he wrote to acknowledge receipt of payment. He was relieved when the post of Distributor of Stamps was offered to him a few months later. With this assurance of economic security, the Wordsworths moved to Rydal Mount, the poet’s final home, in May 1813. Lonsdale’s gift and patronage marked a deepening of the relations between the aristocratic earl and the formerly radical republican and supporter of revolution in France and democracy in England. Politically, Wordsworth had completely transformed himself; poetically, he repeated earlier formulas and began rearranging his poems in a seemingly infinite sequence of thematically organized volumes.
Other than letters and miscellaneous notes, Wordsworth’s political prose writings conclude with Two Addresses to the Freeholders of Westmoreland (1818). These have been described by one critic as “nearly unreadable,” but they are crucial to an understanding of Wordsworth’s entanglement in local and national politics. As Distributor of Stamps, Wordsworth should not have engaged in electioneering, but his two addresses back the local nobility in no uncertain terms. By this time, Wordsworth had come to believe that the only way to preserve the virtues celebrated in “Michael” and other early poems was to maintain the traditional social orders of English society. Fully the Tory mouthpiece, Wordsworth argued that the Whigs had put too much faith in human nature, as they (and he) did at the commencement of the French Revolution. The Two Addresses praise Edmund Burke for just those values Wordsworth had earlier excoriated. By this time Wordsworth had fully incorporated Burke’s system of beliefs into his own, and several passages of the 1850 Prelude are redolent with Burkean sentimental and political philosophy.
Wordsworth’s last major work in prose represents a return to his earliest interest in the land and scenery of the English Lake District. In 1810 artist Joseph Wilkinson published Select Views in Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Lancashire , with an introduction by Wordsworth. In 1822 Wordsworth returned to his introduction, expanding it into a book most commonly known as A Guide through the District of the Lakes, which continues to be republished in a variety of editions. Wordsworth’s love of his native region is evident in the Guide, which remains useful for the reader of Wordsworth’s poetry as well as for the tourist of the Lake District.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge died in 1834, and, though the men had grown apart, Wordsworth continued to pay particular attention to Coleridge’s erratic first son, Hartley, a minor poet and biographer who haunted the Lake District on “pot house wanderings,” to use Wordsworth’s memorable phrase. Hartley, the child addressed in Coleridge’s “Frost at Midnight” and Wordsworth’s “To H.C. Six Years Old,” as well as the basis for the child represented in the Immortality Ode, was a feckless figure beloved by the local farmers, and Wordsworth took a special interest in seeing to his welfare. Hartley died in 1849, only a few months before Wordsworth, who instructed that his friend’s son be buried in the Wordsworth plot in Grasmere Churchyard. “He would have wished it,” said Wordsworth.
In 1843 Wordsworth was named poet laureate of England, though by this time he had for the most part quit composing verse. He revised and rearranged his poems, published various editions, and entertained literary guests and friends. When he died in 1850 he had for some years been venerated as a sage, his most ardent detractors glossing over the radical origins of his poetics and politics. Wordsworth’s prose, while not extensive and often difficult, reveals the poet’s historical context. A careful reading of Wordsworth’s prose will lead, perhaps, to a clearer understanding of the path he traveled from the eighteenth century to the Victorian age, and modern readers will recognized the origins of their own literary and political culture.
WRITINGS BY THE AUTHOR:
BOOKS
An Evening Walk. An Epistle; in verse. Addressed to a young Lady, from the Lakes of the North of England (London: Printed for J. Johnson, 1793).
Descriptive Sketches. In Verse. Taken during a Pedestrian Tour in the Italian, Grison, Swiss, and Savoyard Alps (London: Printed for J. Johnson, 1793).
Lyrical Ballads, with a few Other Poems, by Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Bristol: Printed by Biggs & Cottle for T. N. Longman, London, 1798; London: Printed for J. & A. Arch, 1798; revised and enlarged edition, 2 volumes, London: Printed for T. N. Longman & O. Rees by Biggs & Co., Bristol, 1800; revised again, London: T. N. Longman and O. Rees, 1802; Philadelphia: Printed & sold by James Humphreys, 1802).
Poems, in two Volumes (London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees & Orme, 1807).
Concerning The Relations of Great Britain, Spain, and Portugal to Each Other, and to the Common Enemy, at this Crisis; and Specifically as Affected by the Convention of Cintra (London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees & Orme, 1809).
The Excursion, being a portion of The Recluse, a Poem (London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, 1814; New York: C. & S. Francis, 1849).
Poems By William Wordsworth, Including Lyrical Ballads, and the Miscellaneous Pieces of the Author, 2 volumes (London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, 1815).
The White Doe of Rylstone: or The Fate of the Nortons. A Poem (London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown by James Ballantyne, Edinburgh, 1815).
Thanksgiving Ode, January 18, 1816. With Other Short Pieces, Chiefly referring to Recent Public Events (London: Printed by Thomas Davison for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, 1816).
A Letter to A Friend of Robert Burns (London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, 1816).
Two Addresses to the Freeholders of Westmoreland (Kendal: Printed by Airey & Bellingham, 1818).
Peter Bell, A Tale in Verse (London: Printed by Strahan & Spottiswoode for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, 1819).
The Waggoner, A Poem. To Which are added, Sonnets (London: Printed by Strahan & Spottiswoode for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, 1819).
Miscellaneous Poems of William Wordsworth, 4 volumes (London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, 1820).
The River Duddon, A series of Sonnets: Vaudracour and Julia: and Other Poems. To which is annexed, A Topographical Description of the Country of the Lakes, in the North of England (London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, 1820).
A Description of the Scenery of the Lakes in The North of England. Third Edition, (Now first published separately) (London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, 1822; revised and enlarged, 1823); revised and enlarged again as A Guide through the District of the Lakes in The North of England (Kendal: Published by Hudson & Nicholson / London: Longman & Co., Moxon, and Whitaker & Co., 1835).
Memorials of a Tour on the Continent, 1820 (London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, 1822).
Ecclesiastical Sketches (London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, 1822).
The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth, 4 volumes (Boston: Published by Cummings & Hilliard, printed by Hilliard & Metcalf, 1824).
The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth (5 volumes, London: Printed for Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown & Green, 1827; revised edition, 4 volumes, London: Printed for Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green & Longman, 1832).
The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth [pirated edition] (Paris: A. & W. Galignani, 1828).
Selections from the Poems of William Wordsworth, Esq. Chiefly for the Use of Schools and Young Persons, edited by Joseph Hine (London: Moxon, 1831).
Yarrow Revisited, And Other Poems (London: Printed for Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green & Longman and Edward Moxon, 1835; Boston: J. Monroe & Co, 1835; New York: R. Bartlett & S. Raynor, 1835).
The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth (6 volumes, London: Moxon, 1836, 1837; enlarged, 7 volumes, 1842; enlarged again, 8 volumes, 1851).
The Complete Poetical Works of William Wordsworth, edited by Henry Reed (Philadelphia: J. Kay, Jun., and Brother / Boston: J. Munroe, 1837).
The Sonnets of William Wordsworth (London: Edward Moxon, 1838).
Poems, Chiefly of Early and Late Years; Including The Borderers, A Tragedy (London: Edward Moxon, 1842).
Kendal and Windermere Railway. Two Letters Reprinted from The Morning Post. Revised, with Additions (Kendal: Printed by Branthwaite & Son, 1845; London: Whittaker & Co. and Edward Moxon / Kendal: R. Branthwaite & Son, 1845).
The Poems of William Wordsworth, D.C.L., Poet Laureate (London: Moxon, 1845).
The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth, D.C.L., Poet Laureate, 6 volumes (London: Moxon, 1849, 1850).
The Prelude, Or Growth of a Poet's Mind, An Autobiographical Poem (London: Moxon, 1850; New York: D. Appleton / Philadelphia: Geo. S. Appleton, 1850).
The Prose Works of William Wordsworth, edited by Reverend Alexander B. Grosart (London: Moxon, 1876; facsimile, New York: AMS Press, 1967).
The Recluse ["Home at Grasmere"] (London & New York: Macmillan, 1888).
Editions
| John Milton |
On this day, 8th November, which famous mathematician and astronomer was born in 1656? He was the first to realise that comets do not appear randomly. | John Milton - John Milton Biography - Poem Hunter
John Milton - John Milton Biography - Poem Hunter
Biography
Biography of John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth (republic) of England under Oliver Cromwell. He wrote at a time of religious flux and political upheaval, and is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost.
Milton's poetry and prose reflect deep personal convictions, a passion for freedom and self determination, and the urgent issues and political turbulence of his day. Writing in English, Latin, and Italian, he achieved international renown within his lifetime, and his celebrated Areopagitica, (written in condemnation of pre-publication censorship) is among history's most influential and impassioned defenses of free speech and freedom of the press.
William Hayley's 1796 biography called him the "greatest English author", and he remains generally regarded "as one of the preeminent writers in the English language"; though critical reception has oscillated in the centuries since his death (often on account of his republicanism). Samuel Johnson praised Paradise Lost as "a poem which...with respect to design may claim the first place, and with respect to performance, the second, among the productions of the human mind". Though Johnson (a Tory and recipient of royal patronage) described his politics as those of an "acrimonious and surly republican".
Because of his republicanism, Milton has been the subject of centuries of British partisanship (a "nonconformist" biography by John Toland, a hostile account by Anthony à Wood etc.).
Biography
The phases of Milton's life parallel the major historical and political divisions in Stuart Britain. Under the increasingly personal rule of Charles I and its breakdown in constitutional confusion and war, Milton studied, travelled, wrote poetry mostly for private circulation, and launched a career as pamphleteer and publicist. Under the Commonwealth of England, from being thought dangerously radical and even heretical, the shift in accepted attitudes in government placed him in public office, and he even acted as an official spokesman in certain of his publications. The Restoration of 1660 deprived Milton, now completely blind, of his public platform, but this period saw him complete most of his major works of poetry.
Milton's views developed from his very extensive reading, as well as travel and experience, from his student days of the 1620s to the English Revolution. By the time of his death in 1674, Milton was impoverished and on the margins of English intellectual life, yet unrepentant for his political choices, and of Europe-wide fame.
Early Life
John Milton was born on Bread Street, London, on 9 December 1608, as the son of the composer John Milton and his wife Sarah Jeffrey. The senior John Milton (1562–1647) moved to London around 1583 after being disinherited by his devout Catholic father, Richard Milton, for embracing Protestantism. In London, the senior John Milton married Sarah Jeffrey (1572–1637), the poet's mother, and found lasting financial success as a scrivener. He lived in, and worked from, a house on Bread Street, where the Mermaid Tavern was located in Cheapside. The elder Milton was noted for his skill as a musical composer, and this talent left Milton with a lifetime appreciation for music and friendship with musicians such as Henry Lawes.
Milton's father's prosperity provided his eldest son with a private tutor, Thomas Young, and then a place at St Paul's School in London. There he began the study of Latin and Greek, and the classical languages left an imprint on his poetry in English (he wrote also in Italian and Latin). His first datable compositions are two psalms done at age 15 at Long Bennington. One contemporary source is the Brief Lives of John Aubrey, an uneven compilation including first-hand reports. In the work, Aubrey quotes Christopher, Milton's younger brother: "When he was young, he studied very hard and sat up very late, commonly till twelve or one o'clock at night".
Milton matriculated at Christ's College, Cambridge, in 1625 and graduated with a B.A. in 1629, ranking fourth of 24 honours graduates that year in the University of Cambridge. Preparing to become an Anglican priest, he stayed on to obtain his Master of Arts degree on 3 July 1632.
Milton was probably rusticated for quarrelling in his first year with his tutor, William Chappell. He was certainly at home in the Lent Term 1626; there he wrote his Elegia Prima, a first Latin elegy, to Charles Diodati, a friend from St Paul's. Based on remarks of John Aubrey, Chappell "whipt" Milton. This story is now disputed. Certainly Milton disliked Chappell. Christopher Hill cautiously notes that Milton was "apparently" rusticated, and that the differences between Chappell and Milton may have been either religious or personal, as far as we can know. Another factor, possibly, was the plague, by which Cambridge was badly affected in 1625. Later in 1626 Milton's tutor was Nathaniel Tovey.
At Cambridge Milton was on good terms with Edward King, for whom he later wrote Lycidas. He also befriended Anglo-American dissident and theologian, Roger Williams. Milton tutored Williams in Hebrew in exchange for lessons in Dutch. Otherwise at Cambridge he developed a reputation for poetic skill and general erudition, but experienced alienation from his peers and university life as a whole. Watching his fellow students attempting comedy upon the college stage, he later observed 'they thought themselves gallant men, and I thought them fools'. Milton, due to his hair, which he wore long, and his general delicacy of manner, was known as the "Lady of Christ's".
Milton was disdainful of the university curriculum, which consisted of stilted formal debates on abstruse topics, conducted in Latin. His own corpus is not devoid of humour, notably his sixth prolusion and his epitaphs on the death of Thomas Hobson. While at Cambridge he wrote a number of his well-known shorter English poems, among them On the Morning of Christ's Nativity, his Epitaph on the admirable Dramatick Poet, W. Shakespeare, his first poem to appear in print, L'Allegro and Il Penseroso.
Study, Poetry, and Travel
Upon receiving his M.A. in 1632, Milton retired to Hammersmith, his father's new home since the previous year. He also lived at Horton, Berkshire, from 1635 and undertook six years of self-directed private study. Christopher Hill points out that this was not retreat into a rural or pastoral idyll at all: Hammersmith was then a "suburban village" falling into the orbit of London, and even Horton was becoming deforested, and suffered from the plague. He read both ancient and modern works of theology, philosophy, history, politics, literature and science, in preparation for a prospective poetical career. Milton's intellectual development can be charted via entries in his commonplace book (like a scrapbook), now in the British Library. As a result of such intensive study, Milton is considered to be among the most learned of all English poets; in addition to his years of private study, Milton had command of Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, Spanish, and Italian from his school and undergraduate days; he also added Old English to his linguistic repertoire in the 1650s while researching his History of Britain, and probably acquired proficiency in Dutch soon after.
Milton continued to write poetry during this period of study: his Arcades and Comus were both commissioned for masques composed for noble patrons, connections of the Egerton family, and performed in 1632 and 1634 respectively. Comus argues for the virtuousness of temperance and chastity.
He contributed his pastoral elegy Lycidas to a memorial collection for one of his Cambridge classmates. Drafts of these poems are preserved in Milton’s poetry notebook, known as the Trinity Manuscript because it is now kept at Trinity College, Cambridge.
In May 1638, Milton embarked upon a tour of France and Italy that lasted up to July or August 1639. His travels supplemented his study with new and direct experience of artistic and religious traditions, especially Roman Catholicism. He met famous theorists and intellectuals of the time, and was able to display his poetic skills. For specific details of what happened within Milton's "grand tour", there appears to be just one primary source: Milton's own Defensio Secunda. Although there are other records, including some letters and some references in his other prose tracts, the bulk of the information about the tour comes from a work that, according to Barbara Lewalski, "was not intended as autobiography but as rhetoric, designed to emphasise his sterling reputation with the learned of Europe."
In [Florence], which I have always admired above all others because of the elegance, not just of its tongue, but also of its wit, I lingered for about two months. There I at once became the friend of many gentlemen eminent in rank and learning, whose private academies I frequented — a Florentine institution which deserves great praise not only for promoting humane studies but also for encouraging friendly intercourse.
– Milton's account of Florence in Defensio Secunda
He first went to Calais, and then on to Paris, riding horseback, with a letter from diplomat Henry Wotton to ambassador John Scudamore. Through Scudamore, Milton met Hugo Grotius, a Dutch law philosopher, playwright and poet. Milton left France soon after this meeting. He travelled south, from Nice to Genoa, and then to Livorno and Pisa. He reached Florence in July 1638. While there, Milton enjoyed many of the sites and structures of the city. His candour of manner and erudite neo-Latin poetry earned him friends in Florentine intellectual circles, and he met the astronomer Galileo, who was under virtual house arrest at Arcetri, as well as others. Milton probably visited the Florentine Academy and the Academia della Crusca along with smaller academies in the area including the Apatisti and the Svogliati.
He left Florence in September to continue to Rome. With the connections from Florence, Milton was able to have easy access to Rome's intellectual society. His poetic abilities impressed those like Giovanni Salzilli, who praised Milton within an epigram. In late October, Milton, despite his dislike for the Society of Jesus, attended a dinner given by the English College, Rome, meeting English Catholics who were also guests, theologian Henry Holden and the poet Patrick Cary. He also attended musical events, including oratorios, operas and melodramas. Milton left for Naples toward the end of November, where he stayed only for a month because of the Spanish control. During that time he was introduced to Giovanni Battista Manso, patron to both Torquato Tasso and to Giovanni Battista Marino.
Originally Milton wanted to leave Naples in order to travel to Sicily, and then on to Greece, but he returned to England during the summer of 1639 because of what he claimed, in Defensio Secunda, were "sad tidings of civil war in England." Matters became more complicated when Milton received word that Diodati, his childhood friend, had died. Milton in fact stayed another seven months on the continent, and spent time at Geneva with Diodati's uncle after he returned to Rome. In Defensio Secunda, Milton proclaimed he was warned against a return to Rome because of his frankness about religion, but he stayed in the city for two months and was able to experience Carnival and meet Lukas Holste, a Vatican librarian, who guided Milton through its collection. He was introduced to Cardinal Francesco Barberini who invited Milton to an opera hosted by the Cardinal. Around March Milton travelled once again to Florence, staying there for two months, attending further meetings of the academies, and spent time with friends. After leaving Florence he travelled through Lucca, Bologna, and Ferrara before coming to Venice. In Venice Milton was exposed to a model of Republicanism, later important in his political writings, but he soon found another model when he travelled to Geneva. From Switzerland, Milton travelled to Paris and then to Calais before finally arriving back in England in either July or August 1639.
Civil War, Prose Tracts, and Marriage
On returning to England, where the Bishops' Wars presaged further armed conflict, Milton began to write prose tracts against episcopacy, in the service of the Puritan and Parliamentary cause. Milton's first foray into polemics was Of Reformation touching Church Discipline in England (1641), followed by Of Prelatical Episcopacy, the two defences of Smectymnuus (a group of presbyterian divines named from their initials: the "TY" belonged to Milton's old tutor Thomas Young), and The Reason of Church-Government Urged against Prelaty. With frequent passages of real eloquence lighting up the rough controversial style of the period, and deploying a wide knowledge of church history, he vigorously attacked the High-church party of the Church of England and their leader, William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury.
Though supported by his father’s investments, at this time Milton became a private schoolmaster, educating his nephews and other children of the well-to-do. This experience, and discussions with educational reformer Samuel Hartlib, led him to write in 1644 his short tract, Of Education, urging a reform of the national universities.
In June 1643 Milton paid a visit to the manor house at Forest Hill, Oxfordshire, and returned with a 16-year-old bride, Mary Powell. A month later, finding life difficult with the severe 35-year-old schoolmaster and pamphleteer, Mary returned to her family. Because of the outbreak of the Civil War, she did not return until 1645; in the meantime her desertion prompted Milton, over the next three years, to publish a series of pamphlets arguing for the legality and morality of divorce. (Anna Beer, one of Milton's most recent biographers, points to a lack of evidence and the dangers of cynicism in urging that it was not necessarily the case that the private life so animated the public polemicising.) In 1643 Milton had a brush with the authorities over these writings, in parallel with Hezekiah Woodward, who had more trouble. It was the hostile response accorded the divorce tracts that spurred Milton to write Areopagitica, his celebrated attack on pre-printing censorship.
Secretary for Foreign Tongues
With the parliamentary victory in the Civil War, Milton used his pen in defense of the republican principles represented by the Commonwealth. The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates (1649) defended popular government and implicitly sanctioned the regicide; Milton’s political reputation got him appointed Secretary for Foreign Tongues by the Council of State in March 1649. Though Milton's main job description was to compose the English Republic's foreign correspondence in Latin, he also was called upon to produce propaganda for the regime and to serve as a censor. In October 1649 he published Eikonoklastes, an explicit defense of the regicide, in response to the Eikon Basilike, a phenomenal best-seller popularly attributed to Charles I that portrayed the King as an innocent Christian martyr. A month after Milton had tried to break this powerful image of Charles I (the literal translation of Eikonoklastes is 'the image breaker'), the exiled Charles II and his party published a defense of monarchy, Defensio Regia Pro Carolo Primo, written by the leading humanist Claudius Salmasius. By January of the following year, Milton was ordered to write a defense of the English people by the Council of State. Given the European audience and the English Republic's desire to establish diplomatic and cultural legitimacy, Milton worked more slowly than usual, as he drew on the learning marshalled by his years of study to compose a riposte. On 24 February 1652 Milton published his Latin defense of the English People, Defensio Pro Populo Anglicano, also known as the First Defense. Milton's pure Latin prose and evident learning, exemplified in the First Defense, quickly made him a European reputation, and the work ran to numerous editions.
In 1654, in response to an anonymous Royalist tract "Regii sanguinis clamor", a work that made many personal attacks on Milton, he completed a second defense of the English nation, Defensio secunda, which praised Oliver Cromwell, now Lord Protector, while exhorting him to remain true to the principles of the Revolution. Alexander Morus, to whom Milton wrongly attributed the Clamor (in fact by Peter du Moulin), published an attack on Milton, in response to which Milton published the autobiographical Defensio pro se in 1655. In addition to these literary defenses of the Commonwealth and his character, Milton continued to translate official correspondence into Latin. By 1654 Milton had become totally blind, probably due to the onset of glaucoma. This forced him to dictate his verse and prose to amanuenses (helpers), one of whom was the poet Andrew Marvell. One of his best-known sonnets, On His Blindness, is presumed to date from this period.
Family
Milton and Mary Powell (1625–1652) had four children:
Anne (born 7 July 1646)
Mary (born 25 October 1648)
John (16 March 1651 – June 1652)
Deborah (2 May 1652 – ?)
His first wife, Mary Powell, died on 5 May 1652 from complications following Deborah's birth. Milton's daughters survived to adulthood, but he had always a strained relationship with them.
On 12 November 1656, Milton was married again, to Katherine Woodcock. She died on 3 February 1658, less than four months after giving birth to a daughter, Katherine, who also died.
Milton married for a third time on 24 February 1662, to Elizabeth Mynshull (1638–1728), the niece of Thomas Mynshull, a wealthy apothecary and philanthropist in Manchester. Despite a 31-year age gap, the marriage seemed happy, according to John Aubrey, and was to last more than 11 years until Milton's death. (A plaque on the wall of Mynshull's House in Manchester describes Elizabeth as Milton's "3rd and Best wife".)
Two nephews, John Phillips and Edward Phillips, were well known as writers. They were sons of Milton's sister Anne. John acted as a secretary, and Edward was Milton's first biographer.
The Restoration
Though Cromwell’s death in 1658 caused the English Republic to collapse into feuding military and political factions, Milton stubbornly clung to the beliefs that had originally inspired him to write for the Commonwealth. In 1659 he published A Treatise of Civil Power, attacking the concept of a state-dominated church (the position known as Erastianism), as well as Considerations touching the likeliest means to remove hirelings, denouncing corrupt practises in church governance. As the Republic disintegrated, Milton wrote several proposals to retain a non-monarchical government against the wishes of parliament, soldiers and the people:
A Letter to a Friend, Concerning the Ruptures of the Commonwealth, written in October 1659, was a response to General Lambert's recent dissolution of the Rump Parliament
Proposals of certain expedients for the preventing of a civil war now feared, written in November 1659
The Ready and Easy Way to Establishing a Free Commonwealth, in two editions, responded to General Monck's march towards London to restore the Long Parliament (which led to the restoration of the monarchy). The work is an impassioned, bitter, and futile jeremiad damning the English people for backsliding from the cause of liberty and advocating the establishment of an authoritarian rule by an oligarchy set up by unelected parliament.
Upon the Restoration in May 1660, Milton went into hiding for his life, while a warrant was issued for his arrest and his writings burnt. He re-emerged after a general pardon was issued, but was nevertheless arrested and briefly imprisoned before influential friends, such as Marvell, now an MP, intervened. On 24 February 1663 Milton remarried, for a third and final time, a Wistaston, Cheshire-born woman Elizabeth (Betty) Minshull, then aged 24, and spent the remaining decade of his life living quietly in London, only retiring to a cottage – Milton's Cottage – in Chalfont St. Giles, his only extant home, during the Great Plague of London.
During this period Milton published several minor prose works, such as a grammar textbook, Art of Logic, and a History of Britain. His only explicitly political tracts were the 1672 Of True Religion, arguing for toleration (except for Catholics), and a translation of a Polish tract advocating an elective monarchy. Both these works were referred to in the Exclusion debate – the attempt to exclude the heir presumptive, James, Duke of York, from the throne of England because he was Roman Catholic – that would preoccupy politics in the 1670s and '80s and precipitate the formation of the Whig party and the Glorious Revolution.
Milton died of kidney failure on 8 November 1674 and was buried in the church of St Giles Cripplegate; according to an early biographer, his funeral was attended by “his learned and great Friends in London, not without a friendly concourse of the Vulgar.”
Published Poetry
Milton's poetry was slow to see the light of day, at least under his name. His first published poem was On Shakespear (1630), anonymously included in the Second Folio edition of Shakespeare. In the midst of the excitement attending the possibility of establishing a new English government, Milton collected his work in 1645 Poems. The anonymous edition of Comus was published in 1637, and the publication of Lycidas in 1638 in Justa Edouardo King Naufrago was signed J. M. Otherwise the 1645 collection was the only poetry of his to see print, until Paradise Lost appeared in 1667.
Paradise Lost
Milton’s magnum opus, the blank-verse epic poem Paradise Lost, was composed by the blind and impoverished Milton from 1658 to 1664 (first edition) with small but significant revisions published in 1674 (second edition). As a blind poet, Milton dictated his verse to a series of aides in his employ. It reflects his personal despair at the failure of the Revolution, yet affirms an ultimate optimism in human potential. Milton encoded many references to his unyielding support for the "Good Old Cause".
On 27 April 1667, Milton sold the publication rights to Paradise Lost to publisher Samuel Simmons for £5, equivalent to approximately £7,400 income in 2008, with a further £5 to be paid if and when each print run of between 1,300 and 1,500 copies sold out. The first run, a quarto edition priced at three shillings per copy, was published in August 1667 and sold out in eighteen months.
Milton followed up Paradise Lost with its sequel, Paradise Regained, published alongside the tragedy Samson Agonistes, in 1671. Both these works also resonate with Milton’s post-Restoration political situation. Just before his death in 1674, Milton supervised a second edition of Paradise Lost, accompanied by an explanation of "why the poem rhymes not" and prefatory verses by Marvell. Milton republished his 1645 Poems in 1673, as well a collection of his letters and the Latin prolusions from his Cambridge days. A 1668 edition of Paradise Lost, reported to have been Milton's personal copy, is now housed in the archives of the University of Western Ontario.
Views
An unfinished religious manifesto, De doctrina christiana, probably written by Milton, lays out many of his heterodox theological views, and was not discovered and published until 1823. Milton's key beliefs were idiosyncratic, not those of an identifiable group or faction, and often they go well beyond the orthodoxy of the time. Their tone, however, stemmed from the Puritan emphasis on the centrality and inviolability of conscience. He was his own man, but it is Areopagitica, where he was anticipated by Henry Robinson and others, that has lasted best of his prose works.
Philosophy
By the late 1650s, Milton was a proponent of monism or animist materialism, the notion that a single material substance which is "animate, self-active, and free" composes everything in the universe: from stones and trees and bodies to minds, souls, angels, and God. Milton devised this position to avoid the mind-body dualism of Plato and Descartes as well as the mechanistic determinism of Hobbes. Milton's monism is most notably reflected in Paradise Lost when he has angels eat and engage in sexual intercourse and the De Doctrina, where he denies the dual natures of man and argues for a theory of Creation ex Deo.
Political thought
In his political writing, Milton addressed particular themes at different periods. The years 1641–42 were dedicated to church politics and the struggle against episcopacy. After his divorce writings, Areopagitica, and a gap, he wrote in 1649–54 in the aftermath of the execution of Charles I, and in polemic justification of the regicide and the existing Parliamentarian regime. Then in 1659–60 he foresaw the Restoration, and wrote to head it off.
Milton's own beliefs were in some cases both unpopular and dangerous, and this was true particularly to his commitment to republicanism. In coming centuries, Milton would be claimed as an early apostle of liberalism. According to James Tully:
... with Locke as with Milton, republican and contraction conceptions of political freedom join hands in common opposition to the disengaged and passive subjection offered by absolutists such as Hobbes and Robert Filmer.
A friend and ally in the pamphlet wars was Marchamont Nedham. Austin Woolrych considers that although they were quite close, there is "little real affinity, beyond a broad republicanism", between their approaches. Blair Worden remarks that both Milton and Nedham, with others such as Andrew Marvell and James Harrington, would have taken the problem with the Rump Parliament to be not the republic, but the fact that it was not a proper republic. Woolrych speaks of "the gulf between Milton's vision of the Commonwealth's future and the reality". In the early version of his History of Britain, begun in 1649, Milton was already writing off the members of the Long Parliament as incorrigible.
He praised Oliver Cromwell as the Protectorate was set up; though subsequently he had major reservations. When Cromwell seemed to be backsliding as a revolutionary, after a couple of years in power, Milton moved closer to the position of Sir Henry Vane, to whom he wrote a sonnet in 1652. The group of disaffected republicans included, besides Vane, John Bradshaw, John Hutchinson, Edmund Ludlow, Henry Marten, Robert Overton, Edward Sexby and John Streater; but not Marvell, who remained with Cromwell's party. Milton had already commended Overton, along with Edmund Whalley and Bulstrode Whitelocke, in Defensio Secunda. Nigel Smith writes that
... John Streater, and the form of republicanism he stood for, was a fulfilment of Milton's most optimistic ideas of free speech and of public heroism
As Richard Cromwell fell from power, he envisaged a step towards a freer republic or “free commonwealth”, writing in the hope of this outcome in early 1660. Milton had argued for an awkward position, in the Ready and Easy Way, because he wanted to invoke the Good Old Cause and gain the support of the republicans, but without offering a democratic solution of any kind. His proposal, backed by reference (amongst other reasons) to the oligarchical Dutch and Venetian constitutions, was for a council with perpetual membership. This attitude cut right across the grain of popular opinion of the time, which swung decisively behind the restoration of the Stuart monarchy that took place later in the year. Milton, an associate of and advocate on behalf of the regicides, was silenced on political matters as Charles II returned.
Theology
Like many Renaissance artists before him, Milton attempted to integrate Christian theology with classical modes. In his early poems, the poet narrator expresses a tension between vice and virtue, the latter invariably related to Protestantism. In Comus Milton may make ironic use of the Caroline court masque by elevating notions of purity and virtue over the conventions of court revelry and superstition. In his later poems, Milton's theological concerns become more explicit. In 1648 he wrote a hymn How lovely are thy dwelling fair, a paraphrase of Psalm 84, that explains his view on God.
Milton embraced many heterodox Christian theological views. He rejected the Trinity, in the belief that the Son was subordinate to the Father, a position known as Arianism; and his sympathy or curiosity was probably engaged by Socinianism: in August 1650 he licensed for publication by William Dugard the Racovian Catechism, based on a non-trinitarian creed. A source has interpreted him as broadly Protestant, if not always easy to locate in a more precise religious category.
In his 1641 treatise, Of Reformation, Milton expressed his dislike for Catholicism and episcopacy, presenting Rome as a modern Babylon, and bishops as Egyptian taskmasters. These analogies conform to Milton's puritanical preference for Old Testament imagery. He knew at least four commentaries on Genesis: those of John Calvin, Paulus Fagius, David Pareus and Andreus Rivetus.
Through the Interregnum, Milton often presents England, rescued from the trappings of a worldly monarchy, as an elect nation akin to the Old Testament Israel, and shows its leader, Oliver Cromwell, as a latter-day Moses. These views were bound up in Protestant views of the Millennium, which some sects, such as the Fifth Monarchists predicted would arrive in England. Milton, however, would later criticise the "worldly" millenarian views of these and others, and expressed orthodox ideas on the prophecy of the Four Empires.
The Restoration of the Stuart monarchy in 1660 began a new phase in Milton's work. In Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes Milton mourns the end of the godly Commonwealth. The Garden of Eden may allegorically reflect Milton's view of England's recent Fall from Grace, while Samson's blindness and captivity – mirroring Milton's own lost sight – may be a metaphor for England's blind acceptance of Charles II as king. Illustrated by Paradise Lost is mortalism, the belief that the soul lies dormant after the body dies.
Despite the Restoration of the monarchy Milton did not lose his personal faith; Samson shows how the loss of national salvation did not necessarily preclude the salvation of the individual, while Paradise Regained expresses Milton's continuing belief in the promise of Christian salvation through Jesus Christ.
Though he may have maintained his personal faith in spite of the defeats suffered by his cause, the Dictionary of National Biography recounts how he had been alienated from the Church of England by Archbishop William Laud, and then moved similarly from the Dissenters by their denunciation of religious tolerance in England.
Milton had come to stand apart from all sects, though apparently finding the Quakers most congenial. He never went to any religious services in his later years. When a servant brought back accounts of sermons from nonconformist meetings, Milton became so sarcastic that the man at last gave up his place.
Religious Toleration
Milton called in the Aeropagitica for "the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties" (applied, however, only to the conflicting Protestant sects, and not to atheists, Jews, Muslims or Catholics). "Milton argued for disestablishment as the only effective way of achieving broad toleration. Rather than force a man's conscience, government should recognise the persuasive force of the gospel."
Divorce
His thinking on divorce caused him considerable trouble with the authorities. An orthodox Presbyterian view of the time was that Milton's views on divorce constituted a one-man heresy:
The fervently Presbyterian Edwards had included Milton’s divorce tracts in his list in Gangraena of heretical publications that threatened the religious and moral fabric of the nation; Milton responded by mocking him as “shallow Edwards” in the satirical sonnet “On the New Forcers of Conscience under the Long Parliament,” usually dated to the latter half of 1646.
Even here, though, his originality is qualified: Thomas Gataker had already identified "mutual solace" as a principal goal in marriage. Milton abandoned his campaign to legitimise divorce after 1645, but he expressed support for polygamy in the De doctrina christiana, the theological treatise that provides the clearest evidence for his views.
History
History was particularly important for the political class of the period, and Lewalski considers that Milton "more than most illustrates" a remark of Thomas Hobbes on the weight placed at the time on the classical Latin historical writers Tacitus, Livy, Sallust and Cicero, and their republican attitudes. Milton himself wrote that "Worthy deeds are not often destitute of worthy relaters", in Book II of his History of Britain. A sense of history mattered greatly to him:
The course of human history, the immediate impact of the civil disorders, and his own traumatic personal life, are all regarded by Milton as typical of the predicament he describes as "the misery that has bin since Adam".
Legacy and Influence
Once Paradise Lost was published, Milton's stature as epic poet was immediately recognised. He cast a formidable shadow over English poetry in the 18th and 19th centuries; he was often judged equal or superior to all other English poets, including Shakespeare. Very early on, though, he was championed by Whigs, and decried by Tories: with the regicide Edmund Ludlow he was claimed as an early Whig, while the High Tory Anglican minister Luke Milbourne lumped Milton in with other "Agents of Darkness" such as John Knox, George Buchanan, Richard Baxter, Algernon Sidney and John Locke.
Early Reception of The Poetry
John Dryden, an early enthusiast, in 1677 began the trend of describing Milton as the poet of the sublime. Dryden's The State of Innocence and the Fall of Man: an Opera (1677) is evidence of an immediate cultural influence. In 1695, Patrick Hume became the first editor of Paradise Lost, providing an extensive apparatus of annotation and commentary, particularly chasing down allusions.
In 1732 the classical scholar Richard Bentley offered a corrected version of Paradise Lost. Bentley was considered presumptuous, and was attacked in the following year by Zachary Pearce. Christopher Ricks judges that, as critic, Bentley was both acute and wrong-headed, and "incorrigibly eccentric"; William Empson also finds Pearce to be more sympathetic to Bentley's underlying line of thought than is warranted.
There was an early, partial translation of Paradise Lost into German by Theodore Haak, and based on that a standard verse translation by Ernest Gottlieb von Berge. A subsequent prose translation by Johann Jakob Bodmer was very popular; it influenced Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock. The German-language Milton tradition returned to England in the person of the artist Henry Fuseli.
Many enlightenment thinkers of the 18th century revered and commented on Milton's poetry and non-poetical works. In addition to John Dryden, among them were Alexander Pope, Joseph Addison, Thomas Newton, and Samuel Johnson. For example in The Spectator Joseph Addison wrote extensive notes, annotations, and interpretations of certain passages of Paradise Lost. Jonathan Richardson, senior, and Jonathan Richardson, the younger, co-wrote a book of criticism. In 1749, Thomas Newton published an extensive edition of Milton's poetical works with annotations provided by himself, Dryden, Pope, Addison, the Richardsons (father and son) and others. Newton's edition of Milton was a culmination of the honour bestowed upon Milton by early Enlightenment thinkers; it may also have been prompted by Richard Bentley's infamous edition, described above. Samuel Johnson wrote numerous essays on Paradise Lost, and Milton was included in his Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets (1779–1781).
Blake
William Blake considered Milton the major English poet. Blake placed Edmund Spenser as Milton's precursor, and saw himself as Milton's poetical son. In his Milton a Poem, Blake uses Milton as a character.
Romantic Theory
Edmund Burke was a theorist of the sublime, and he regarded Milton's description of Hell as exemplary of sublimity as aesthetic concept. For Burke it was to set alongside mountain-tops, a storm at sea, and infinity. In The Beautiful and the Sublime he wrote "No person seems better to have understood the secret of heightening, or of setting terrible things, if I may use the expression, in their strongest light, by the force of a judicious obscurity than Milton."
The Romantic poets valued his exploration of blank verse, but for the most part rejected his religiosity. William Wordsworth began his sonnet "London, 1802" with "Milton! thou should'st be living at this hour" and modelled The Prelude, his own blank verse epic, on Paradise Lost. John Keats found the yoke of Milton's style uncongenial; he exclaimed that "Miltonic verse cannot be written but in an artful or rather artist's humour." Keats felt that Paradise Lost was a "beautiful and grand curiosity"; but his own unfinished attempt at epic poetry, Hyperion, was unsatisfactory to the author because, amongst other things, it had too many "Miltonic inversions". In The Madwoman in the Attic, Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar note that Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein is, in the view of many critics, "one of the key 'Romantic' readings of Paradise Lost."
Later Legacy
The Victorian age witnessed a continuation of Milton's influence, George Eliot and Thomas Hardy being particularly inspired by Milton's poetry and biography. By contrast, the early 20th century, with the efforts of T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound, witnessed a reduction in Milton's critical stature. Harold Bloom, in The Anxiety of Influence, could still write that "Milton is the central problem in any theory and history of poetic influence in English [...]".
Milton's Areopagitica is still cited as relevant to the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. A quotation from Areopagitica – "A good book is the precious lifeblood of a master spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life" – is displayed in many public libraries, including the New York Public Library.
The title of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy is derived from a quotation, "His dark materials to create more worlds", line 915 of Book II in Paradise Lost. Pullman was concerned to produce a version of Milton's poem accessible to teenagers, and has spoken of Milton as "our greatest public poet".
T. S. Eliot believed that "of no other poet is it so difficult to consider the poetry simply as poetry, without our theological and political dispositions... making unlawful entry".
Literary Legacy
Milton's use of blank verse, in addition to his stylistic innovations (such as grandiloquence of voice and vision, peculiar diction and phraseology) influenced later poets. At the time poetic blank verse was considered distinct from its use in verse drama, and Paradise Lost was taken as a unique examplar. Said Isaac Watts in 1734, "Mr. Milton is esteemed the parent and author of blank verse among us". "Miltonic verse" might be synonymous for a century with blank verse as poetry, a new poetic terrain independent from both the drama and the heroic couplet.
Lack of rhyme was sometimes taken as Milton's defining innovation. He himself considered the rhymeless quality of Paradise Lost to be an extension of his own personal liberty:
This neglect then of Rhime ... is to be esteem'd an example set, the first in English, of ancient liberty recover'd to heroic Poem from the troublesom and modern bondage of Rimeing.
This pursuit of freedom was largely a reaction against conservative values entrenched within the rigid heroic couplet. Within a dominant culture that stressed elegance and finish, he granted primacy to freedom, breadth and imaginative suggestiveness, eventually developed into the romantic vision of sublime terror. Reaction to Milton’s poetic worldview included, grudgingly, acknowledgement that of poet’s resemblance to classical writers (Greek and Roman poetry being unrhymed. Blank verse came to be a recognised medium for religious works and for translations of the classics. Unrhymed lyrics like Collins' Ode to Evening (in the meter of Milton's translation of Horace's Ode to Pyrrha) were not uncommon after 1740.
A second aspect of Milton's blank verse was the use of unconventional rhythm:
His blank-verse paragraph, and his audacious and victorious attempt to combine blank and rhymed verse with paragraphic effect in Lycidas, lay down indestructible models and patterns of English verse-rhythm, as distinguished from the narrower and more strait-laced forms of English metre.
Before Milton, "the sense of regular rhythm ... had been knocked into the English head so securely that it was part of their nature". The "Heroick measure", according to Samuel Johnson, "is pure ... when the accent rests upon every second syllable through the whole line The repetition of this sound or percussion at equal times, is the most complete harmony of which a single verse is capable", Caesural pauses, most agreed, were best placed at the middle and the end of the line. In order to support this symmetry, lines were most often octo- or deca-syllabic, with no enjambed endings. To this schema Milton introduced modifications, which included hypermetrical syllables (trisyllabic feet), inversion or slighting of stresses, and the shifting of pauses to all parts of the line. Milton deemed these features to be reflective of "the transcendental union of order and freedom". Admirers remained hesitant to adopt such departures from traditional metrical schemes: "The English ... had been writing separate lines for so long that they could not rid themselves of the habit”. Isaac Watts preferred his lines distinct from each other, as did Oliver Goldsmith, Henry Pemberton, and Scott of Amwell, whose general opinion it was that Milton's frequent omission of the initial unaccented foot was "displeasing to a nice ear". It was not until the late 18th century that poets (beginning with Gray) began to appreciate "the composition of Milton's harmony ... how he loved to vary his pauses, his measures, and his feet, which gives that enchanting air of freedom and wilderness to his versification".
While neo-classical diction was as restrictive as its prosody, and narrow imagery paired with uniformity of sentence structure resulted in a small set of 800 nouns circumscribing the vocabulary of 90% of heroic couplets ever written up to the eighteenth century, and tradition required that the same adjectives attach to the same nouns, followed by the same verbs, Milton's pursuit of liberty extended into his vocabulary as well. It included many Latinate neologisms, as well as obsolete words already dropped from popular usage so completely that their meanings were no longer understood. In 1740 Francis Peck identified some examples of Milton's "old" words (now popular). The “Miltonian dialect” as it was called, was emulated by later poets; Pope used the diction of Paradise Lost in his Homer translation, while the lyric poetry of Gray and Collins was frequently criticised for their use of “obsolete words out of Spenser and Milton”. The language of Thomson’s finest poems (e.g. The Seasons, Castle of Indolence) was self-consciously modelled after the Miltonian dialect, with the same tone and sensibilities as Paradise Lost. Following to Milton, English poetry from Pope to John Keats exhibited a steadily increasing attention to the connotative, the imaginative and poetic, value of words.
Miltonic Effects
The varied manifestations of personal liberty in Milton's works (e.g. abandonment of rhyme, irregular rhythms, peculiar diction) converge to create specific Miltonian effects that live on to this day. Raymond Dexter identifies nine outstanding characteristics specific to Paradise Lost that survived into later poetic movements:
1. Dignity, reserve and stateliness
Of Man's first disobedience, and the fruit
Of that forbidden Tree, whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
Restore us, and regain the blissful seat,
Sing, Heavenly Muse (i. 1–6)
2. Sonorous, orotund voice
O thou that, with surpassing glory crown'd
Look'st from thy sole dominion like the god
Of this new World. (iv. 32-4)
3. Inversion of the natural order of words and phrases
Ten paces huge
He back recoil’d. (vi. 193-4)
"temperate vapours bland"(v. 5)
4. The omission of words not necessary to the sense
And where their weakness, how attempted best,
By force or subtlety. (ii. 357-8)
5. Parenthesis and opposition
Their song was partial, but the harmony
(What could it less when Spirits immortal sing?)
Suspended Hell, and took with ravishment
The thronging audience. In discourse more sweet
(For eloquence the soul, song charms the sense)
Others apart sat on a hill retired (ii. 552-7)
6. The use of one part of speech for another
"with gems . . . rich emblazed", "grinned horrible", (adjective used as adverb)
"Heaven's azure" or "the vast of Heaven". (adjective used as noun)
"without disturb they took alarm"; "the place of her retire." (verbs used as nouns )
May serve to better us and worse our foes (adjective used as verb)
Yet oft his heart, divine of something ill (verb, adjective employed in participal sense)
"fuell'd entrails," "his con-sorted Eve," "roses bushing round." (substantive used as verb).
7. Vocabulary
Archaic words from Chaucer, Spenser and Shakespeare: "erst," "grunsel," "welkin," "frore," "lore," "grisly," "ken" etc. Unusual Words from Greek or Latin: "dulcet," "panoplie," "sapience," "nocent," "congratulant” etc. Words employed in senses obsolete to the eighteenth century: "the secret top Of Oreb," "a singèd bottom all in-volved With stench," "tempt an abyss,” "his uncouth way"
8. The introduction into a comparatively short passage of proper names in number, not necessary to the sense, but adding richness, color, and imaginative suggestiveness
And what resounds
In fable or romance of Uther's son,
Begirt with British and Armoric knights;
And all who since, baptised or infidel,
jousted in Aspramont, or Montalban,
Damasco, or Marocco, or Trebisond;
Or whom Biserta sent from Afric shore
When Charlemain with all his peerage fell
By Fontarabbia. (i. 579-87)
"Sail-broad vans," "high-climbing hill," "arch-chemic sun," "half-rounding guards," "night-warbling bird," "love-labour'd song"
John Milton's Works:
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"Which snooker player co-hosted the TV show ""Big Break"" with Jim Davidson?" | Big Break - Show News, Reviews, Recaps and Photos - TV.com
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Big Break is a British game show based around the game of snooker, it is presented by comedian Jim Davidson and former snooker player John Virgo. There are three contestants participating, each joined by a professional snooker player chosen at random. The contestant would answer the questions and the pro player would take care of the elements occurring on the snooker table.
The following are the rounds in Big Break:
Red Hot
Each contestant starts with ten seconds on their clock, they are then given three questions, for each one they get right ten seconds is added to their clock. The snooker player then has to pot as many of the 10 red balls in the time won by the contestants. The lowest scoring team is eliminated.
Virgo's Trick Shot
The contestant eliminated in Red Hot is given the chance to win a consolation prize, they have to recreate a trick shot performed by John Virgo.
Pocket Money
The snooker player would play by traditional snooker rules for ninety seconds. For every ball they potted it would be worth money for their contestant, the values in pounds were ten times the points in snooker (so the reds are worth £10, the yellow is £20 and so on). If the player missed a ball the contestant would have to answer a question before play is resumed, the category of the question is determined by which ball is missed. The lowest scoring team is eliminated.
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Big Break is a British game show based around the game of snooker, it is presented by comedian Jim Davidson and former snooker player John Virgo. There are three contestants participating, each joined by a professional snooker player chosen at random. The contestant would answer the questions and the pro player would take care of the elements occurring on the snooker table.
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What is the name given to fundamental particles of light? | List of particles
List of particles
This is a list of particles in particle physics, including currently known and hypothetical elementary particles, as well as the composite particles that can be built up from them.
For a chronological listing of subatomic particles by discovery date, see Timeline of particle discoveries.
A new particle is discovered: The first detection of the positron occurred in 1932 in a cloud chamber built by Carl D. Anderson. The track of the positron can be seen, going from top to bottom and curving to the right.
Elementary particles
An elementary particle is a particle with no measurable internal structure, that is, it is not a composite of other particles. They are the fundamental objects of quantum field theory. Elementary particles can be classified according to their spin, with fermions having half-integer spin and bosons integer spin.
Standard Model
The Standard Model of particle physics is our current understanding of the physics of elementary particles. All Standard Model particles except the Higgs boson have been observed.
Fermions (half-integer spin)
Quark structure proton: 2 up quarks and 1 down quark.
Fermions have half-integer spin; for all known elementary fermions this is ½. Each fermion has its own distinct antiparticle. Fermions are the basic building blocks of all matter . They are classified according to whether they interact via the colour force or not. According to the Standard Model, there are 12 flavours of elementary fermions: six quarks and six leptons.
Quarks interact via the colour force. Their respective antiparticles are known as antiquarks. Quarks exist in six flavours:
Generation
>112
See below
The Higgs boson (spin-0) is predicted by electroweak theory, and is the only Standard Model particle not yet observed. In the Higgs mechanism of the Standard Model, the massive Higgs boson is created by spontaneous symmetry breaking of the Higgs field. The intrinsic masses of the elementary particles (particularly the massive W± and Z0 bosons) would be explained by their interactions with this field. Many physicists expect the Higgs to be discovered at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) particle accelerator now under construction at CERN.
Hypothetical particles
Supersymmetric theories predict the existence of more particles, none of which have been confirmed experimentally as of 2006.
The neutralino (spin-½) is a superposition of the superpartners of several neutral Standard Model particles. It is a leading candidate for dark matter. The partners of charged bosons are called charginos.
The photino (spin-½) is the superpartner of the photon .
The gravitino (spin-3⁄2) is the superpartner of the graviton boson in supergravity theories.
Sleptons and squarks (spin-0) are the supersymmetric partners of the Standard Model fermions. The stop squark (superpartner of the top quark) is thought to have a low mass and is often the subject of experimental searches.
Other theories predict the existence of additional bosons.
The graviton (spin-2) has been proposed to mediate gravity in theories of quantum gravity.
The graviscalar (spin-0) and graviphoton (spin-1).
The axion (spin-0) is a pseudoscalar particle introduced in Peccei-Quinn theory to solve the strong-CP problem.
The saxion (spin-0, scalar, R parity=1) and the axino (spin-1/2, R parity = -1) form together with the axion a supermultiplet in supersymmetric extensions of Peccei-Quinn theory.
The X boson and the Y boson are predicted by GUT theories to be heavier equivalents of the W and Z.
The magnetic photon.
Sterile neutrinos are introduced by many extensions to the Standard Model, and may be needed to explain the LSND results.
Mirror particles are predicted by theories that restore Parity symmetry.
Magnetic monopole is a generic name for particles with non-zero magnetic charge. They are predicted by some GUT theories.
Tachyon is a generic name for hypothetical particles that travel faster than the speed of light and have an imaginary rest mass.
The preon was a suggested substructure for both quarks and leptons, but modern collider experiments have all but disproven their existence.
Composite particles
Hadrons are defined as strongly interacting composite particles. Hadrons are either:
Fermions, in which case they are called baryons.
Bosons, in which case they are called mesons.
Quark models, first proposed in 1964 independently by Murray Gell-Mann and George Zweig (who called quarks "aces"), describe the known hadrons as composed of valence quarks and/or antiquarks, tightly bound by the colour force, which is mediated by gluons. A "sea" of virtual quark-antiquark pairs is also present in each hadron.
Baryons (fermions)
A combination of three u, d or s-quarks with a total spin of 3/2 form the so-called baryon decuplet.
Ordinary baryons ( fermions) contain three valence quarks or three valence antiquarks each.
Nucleons are the fermionic constituents of normal atomic nuclei:
Hyperons such as the Λ, Σ, Ξ, and Ω particles, which contain one or more strange quarks, are short-lived and heavier than nucleons. Although not normally present in atomic nuclei, they can appear in short-lived hypernuclei.
A number of charmed and bottom baryons have also been observed.
Some hints at the existence of exotic baryons have been found recently; however, negative results have also been reported. Their existence is uncertain.
Pentaquarks consist of four valence quarks and one valence antiquark.
Mesons (bosons)
Mesons of spin 0 form a nonet
Ordinary mesons ( bosons) contain a valence quark and a valence antiquark, and include the pion, kaon, the J/ψ, and many other types of mesons. In quantum hadrodynamic models, the strong force between nucleons is mediated by mesons.
Exotic mesons may also exist. Positive signatures have been reported for all of these particles at some time, but their existence is still somewhat uncertain.
Tetraquarks consist of two valence quarks and two valence antiquarks.
Glueballs are bound states of gluons with no valence quarks.
Hybrids consist of one or more valence quark-antiquark pairs and one or more real gluons.
Atomic nuclei
Atomic nuclei consist of protons and neutrons. Each type of nucleus contains a specific number of protons and a specific number of neutrons , and is called a nuclide or isotope. Nuclear reactions can change one nuclide into another. See Isotope table (complete) for a list of isotopes.
Atoms
Atoms are the smallest neutral particles into which matter can be divided by chemical reactions. An atom consists of a small, heavy nucleus surrounded by a relatively large, light cloud of electrons. Each type of atom corresponds to a specific chemical element , of which 111 have been officially named. Refer to the periodic table for an overview.
Molecules
Molecules are the smallest particles into which a non-elemental substance can be divided while maintaining the physical properties of the substance. Each type of molecule corresponds to a specific chemical compound. Molecules are composites of one or more atoms. See list of compounds for a list of molecules.
Condensed matter
The field equations of condensed matter physics are remarkably similar to those of high energy particle physics. As a result, much of the theory of particle physics applies to condensed matter physics as well; in particular, there are a selection of field excitations, called quasi-particles, that can be created and explored. These include:
Phonons are vibrational modes in a crystal lattice.
Excitons are bound states of an electron and a hole.
Plasmons are coherent excitations of a plasma .
Polaritons are mixtures of photons with other quasi-particles.
Polarons are moving, charged (quasi-) particles that are surrounded by ions in a material.
Magnons are coherent excitations of electron spins in a material.
Other
A WIMP (weakly interacting massive particle) is any one of a number of particles that might explain dark matter (such as the neutralino or the axion).
The pomeron, used to explain the elastic scattering of hadrons and the location of Regge poles in Regge theory.
The skyrmion, a topological soliton of the pion field, used to model the low-energy properties of the nucleon, such as the axial vector current coupling and the mass.
A goldstone boson is a massless excitation of a field that has been spontaneously broken. The pions are quasi-Goldstone bosons (quasi- because they are not exactly massless) of the broken chiral isospin symmetry of quantum chromodynamics.
A goldstino is a Goldstone fermion produced by the spontaneous breaking of supersymmetry.
An instanton is a field configuration which is a local minimum of the Euclidean action. Instantons are used in nonperturbative calculations of tunneling rates.
A dyon is a hypothetical particle with both electric and magnetic charges
A geon is an electromagnetic or gravitational wave which is held together in a confined region by the gravitational attraction of its own field energy.
An Oh-My-God particle is an ultra-high energy cosmic ray (probably a proton ) falling well beyond the GZK cutoff, the energy limit beyond which virtually no cosmic rays should be detected.
A spurion is the name given to a "particle" inserted mathematically into an isospin-violating decay in order to analyze it as though it conserved isospin.
Classification by speed
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Unformatted text preview: 5.2 Light as a particle Light is also a particle. Scientists have given it the name photon , and it was listed among the fundamental particles in Table 3.1. To understand more about what we mean by a particle, we go back to Chapter 3, when we talked about an electron as a fundamental particle and a proton as a composite particle. In many ways, when we call something particle-like, we are saying that it can be counted. You could say that you got hit by one electron, or one proton, or three quarks. Another important property of a particle is that it moves in a straight line unless something forces it to change direction. Consider a rock. It can be thought of as particle-like because if it is near the surface of the Earth, the pull of gravity will cause it to stay in place or fall. Alternatively, if it is far away from any planets or stars, it could travel forever in a straight line until it hit something. An electron moves like a rock traveling in space, but if it happens to be near a proton, it could move in a circle around it because of the electric force between the two (more about this in 5 - 6 Chapter 7). The same phenomenon occurs when the attraction of gravity causes the Earth to orbit around the Sun. Billiard balls on a pool table likewise demonstrate this property when they either move across the table in a straight line or are forced to change direction by bumping the side of the table or another ball. What is some evidence that light is particle-like? Let us get back to the light coming from our laser, as shown in Figure 5.2. As we dim the laser, we notice that the color of the light on the back wall stays the same and the spots remain in the same place. The difference is in the brightness of the spots, which get progressively dimmer. From this, we learn that the laser is sending less light. If we dim things enough, we could count each particle of light after leaves the laser, hits one of the holes in the wall, changes direction, and strikes the back wall. The light is behaving like a particle. Another example of light acting like a particle is in Figure 5.2b, where each photon enters the spectrometer individually. In a very real sense, light hits your eye one photon at a time. Since this is a lot to take in, lets look at some more examples. A typical light bulb makes photons that hit our eyes. If it is a dim bulb, there are fewer photons. If there is no light at all, there are no photons, and the room will be dark. Darkness is the absence of photons. When you look at a light bulb, the light often looks white. What you are seeing is all of the different visible wavelength photons hitting your eyes. When you shine this same white light into a prism, it breaks the light into different colors. This is light acting as both a particle and a wave. 5 - 7 Ultimately, we say light is both a wave and a particle, and can be described as either because it has the properties of both. In many ways, this is the essence of quantum mechanics, because it has the properties of both....
Chapter 6 Gravity and General Relativity For more than seventy-five years, the theori
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In our solar system which is the largest planet? | What is the Biggest Planet in the Solar System? - Universe Today
Universe Today
What is the Biggest Planet in the Solar System?
Article Updated: 23 Dec , 2015
by Matt Williams
Ever since the invention of the telescope four hundred years ago, astronomers have been fascinated by the gas giant of Jupiter. Between it’s constant, swirling clouds, its many, many moons, and its Giant Red Spot, there are many things about this planet that are both delightful and fascinating.
But perhaps the most impressive feature about Jupiter is its sheer size. In terms of mass, volume, and surface area, Jupiter is the biggest planet in our Solar System by a wide margin. But just what makes Jupiter so massive, and what else do we know about it?
Size and Mass:
Jupiter’s mass, volume, surface area and mean circumference are 1.8981 x 1027 kg, 1.43128 x 1015 km3, 6.1419 x 1010 km2, and 4.39264 x 105 km respectively. To put that in perspective, Jupiter diameter is roughly 11 times that of Earth, and 2.5 the mass of all the other planets in the Solar System combined.
But, being a gas giant, Jupiter has a relatively low density – 1.326 g/cm3 – which is less than one quarter of Earth’s. This means that while Jupiter’s volume is equivalent to about 1,321 Earths, it is only 318 times as massive. The low density is one way scientists are able to determine that it is made mostly of gases, though the debate still rages on what exists at its core (see below).
Composition:
Jupiter is composed primarily of gaseous and liquid matter. It is the largest of the gas giants, and like them, is divided between a gaseous outer atmosphere and an interior that is made up of denser materials. It’s upper atmosphere is composed of about 88–92% hydrogen and 8–12% helium by percent volume of gas molecules, and approx. 75% hydrogen and 24% helium by mass, with the remaining one percent consisting of other elements.
This cut-away illustrates a model of the interior of Jupiter, with a rocky core overlaid by a deep layer of liquid metallic hydrogen. Credit: Kelvinsong/Wikimedia Commons
The atmosphere contains trace amounts of methane, water vapor, ammonia, and silicon-based compounds as well as trace amounts of benzene and other hydrocarbons. There are also traces of carbon, ethane, hydrogen sulfide, neon, oxygen, phosphine, and sulfur. Crystals of frozen ammonia have also been observed in the outermost layer of the atmosphere.
The interior contains denser materials, such that the distribution is roughly 71% hydrogen, 24% helium and 5% other elements by mass. It is believed that Jupiter’s core is a dense mix of elements – a surrounding layer of liquid metallic hydrogen with some helium, and an outer layer predominantly of molecular hydrogen. The core has also been described as rocky, but this remains unknown as well.
In 1997, the existence of the core was suggested by gravitational measurements, indicating a mass of from 12 to 45 times the Earth’s mass, or roughly 4%–14% of the total mass of Jupiter. The presence of a core is also supported by models of planetary formation that indicate how a rocky or icy core would have been necessary at some point in the planet’s history in order to collect its bulk of hydrogen and helium from the protosolar nebula.
However, it is possible that this core has since shrunk due to convection currents of hot, liquid, metallic hydrogen mixing with the molten core. This core may even be absent now, but a detailed analysis is needed before this can be confirmed. The Juno mission , which launched in August 2011, is expected to provide some insight into these questions, and thereby make progress on the problem of the core.
The temperature and pressure inside Jupiter increase steadily toward the core. At the “surface”, the pressure and temperature are believed to be 10 bars and 340 K (67 °C, 152 °F). At the “phase transition” region, where hydrogen becomes metallic, it is believed the temperature is 10,000 K (9,700 °C; 17,500 °F) and the pressure is 200 GPa. The temperature at the core boundary is estimated to be 36,000 K (35,700 °C; 64,300 °F) and the interior pressure at roughly 3,000–4,500 GPa.
Moons:
The Jovian system currently includes 67 known moons. The four largest are known as the Galilean Moons , which are named after their discoverer, Galileo Galilei . They include: Io , the most volcanically active body in our Solar System; Europa , which is suspected of having a massive subsurface ocean; Ganymede , the largest moon in our Solar System; and Callisto , which is also thought to have a subsurface ocean and features some of the oldest surface material in the Solar System.
Then there’s the Inner Group (or Amalthea group), which is made up of four small moons that have diameters of less than 200 km, orbit at radii less than 200,000 km, and have orbital inclinations of less than half a degree. This groups includes the moons of Metis , Adrastea , Amalthea , and Thebe . Along with a number of as-yet-unseen inner moonlets, these moons replenish and maintain Jupiter’s faint ring system.
Jupiter also has an array of Irregular Satellites, which are substantially smaller and have more distant and eccentric orbits than the others. These moons are broken down into families that have similarities in orbit and composition, and are believed to be largely the result of collisions from large objects that were captured by Jupiter’s gravity.
Illustration of Jupiter and the Galilean satellites. Credit: NASA
Interesting Facts:
Much like Earth, Jupiter experiences auroras near its northern and southern poles. But on Jupiter, the auroral activity is much more intense and rarely ever stops. The intense radiation, Jupiter’s magnetic field, and the abundance of material from Io’s volcanoes that react with Jupiter’s ionosphere creates a light show that is truly spectacular.
Jupiter also has a violent atmosphere. Winds in the clouds can reach speeds of up to 620 kph (385 mph). Storms form within hours and can become thousands of km in diameter overnight. One storm, the Great Red Spot , has been raging since at least the late 1600s. The storm has been shrinking and expanding throughout its history; but in 2012, it was suggested that the Giant Red Spot might eventually disappear .
The discovery of exoplanets has revealed that planets can get even bigger than Jupiter. In fact, the number of “ Super Jupiters ” observed by the Kepler space probe (as well as ground-based telescopes) in the past few years has been staggering. In fact, as of 2015, more than 300 such planets have been identified.
Notable examples include PSR B1620-26 b (Methuselah), which was the first super-Jupiter to be observed (in 2003). At 12.7 billion years of age, it is also the third oldest known planet in the universe. There’s also HD 80606 b (Niobe), which has the most eccentric orbit of any known planet, and 2M1207b (Lerna), which orbits the brown dwarf Fomalhaut b (Illion).
Scientist theorize that a gas gain could get 15 times the size of Jupiter before it began deuterium fusion, making it a brown dwarf star. Good thing too, since the last thing the Solar System needs if for Jupiter to go nova!
Jupiter was appropriately named by the ancient Romans, who chose to name after the king of the Gods (Jupiter, or Jove). The more we have come to know and understand about this most-massive of Solar planets, the more deserving of this name it appears.
If you’re wondering, here’s how big planets can get with a lot of mass, and here’s what is the biggest star in the Universe . And here’s the 2nd largest planet in the Solar System.
Here’s another article about the which is the largest planet in the Solar System , and here’s what’s the smallest planet in the Solar System .
We have recorded a whole series of podcasts about the Solar System at Astronomy Cast . Check them out here.
Source:
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In our solar system which is the smallest planet? | Exoplanet Exploration: Planets Beyond our Solar System: Largest unnamed world in the solar system
Largest unnamed world in the solar system
By Preston Dyches,
NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab
New K2 results peg 2007 OR10 as the largest unnamed body in our solar system and the third largest of the current roster of about half a dozen dwarf planets. The dwarf planet Haumea has an oblong shape that is wider on its long axis than 2007 OR10, but its overall volume is smaller. Credit: Konkoly Observatory/András Pál, Hungarian Astronomical Association/Iván Éder, NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI
Dwarf planets tend to be a mysterious bunch. With the exception of Ceres, which resides in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, all members of this class of minor planets in our solar system lurk in the depths beyond Neptune. They are far from Earth – small and cold – which makes them difficult to observe, even with large telescopes. So it's little wonder astronomers only discovered most of them in the past decade or so.
Pluto is a prime example of this elusiveness. Before NASA's New Horizons spacecraft visited it in 2015, the largest of the dwarf planets had appeared as little more than a fuzzy blob, even to the keen-eyed Hubble Space Telescope. Given the inherent challenges in trying to observe these far-flung worlds, astronomers often need to combine data from a variety of sources in order to tease out basic details about their properties.
NASA's Kepler spacecraft observed dwarf planet 2007 OR10 for 19 days in late 2014. The object's apparent movement (indicated by the arrow) against the stars is caused by Kepler's changing position as it orbits the sun. The diffuse light at right is from Mars, which was near the field of view. Credit: Konkoly Observatory/László Molnár/András Pál
Recently, a group of astronomers did just that by combining data from two space observatories to reveal something surprising: a dwarf planet named 2007 OR10 is significantly larger than previously thought.
The results peg 2007 OR10 as the largest unnamed world in our solar system and the third largest of the current roster of about half a dozen dwarf planets. The study also found that the object is quite dark and rotating more slowly than almost any other body orbiting our sun, taking close to 45 hours to complete its daily spin.
For their research, the scientists used NASA's repurposed planet-hunting Kepler space telescope -- its mission now known as K2 -- along with the archival data from the infrared Herschel Space Observatory. Herschel was a mission of the European Space Agency with NASA participation. The research paper reporting these results is published in The Astronomical Journal.
"K2 has made yet another important contribution in revising the size estimate of 2007 OR10. But what's really powerful is how combining K2 and Herschel data yields such a wealth of information about the object's physical properties," said Geert Barentsen, Kepler/K2 research scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California.
The revised measurement of the planet's diameter, 955 miles (1,535 kilometers), is about 60 miles (100 kilometers) greater than the next largest dwarf planet, Makemake, or about one-third smaller than Pluto. Another dwarf planet, named Haumea, has an oblong shape that is wider on its long axis than 2007 OR10, but its overall volume is smaller.
Like its predecessor mission, K2 searches for the change in brightness of distant objects. The tiny, telltale dip in the brightness of a star can be the signature of a planet passing, or transiting, in front. But, closer to home, K2 also looks out into our solar system to observe small bodies such as comets, asteroids, moons and dwarf planets. Because of its exquisite sensitivity to small changes in brightness, Kepler is an excellent instrument for observing the brightness of distant solar system objects and how that changes as they rotate.
Figuring out the size of small, faint objects far from Earth is tricky business. Since they appear as mere points of light, it can be a challenge to determine whether the light they emit represents a smaller, brighter object, or a larger, darker one. This is what makes it so difficult to observe 2007 OR10 -- although its elliptical orbit brings it nearly as close to the sun as Neptune, it is currently twice as far from the sun as Pluto.
Enter the dynamic duo of Kepler and Herschel.
Previous estimates based on Herschel data alone suggested a diameter of roughly 795 miles (1,280 kilometers) for 2007 OR10. However, without a handle on the object's rotation period, those studies were limited in their ability to estimate its overall brightness, and hence its size. The discovery of the very slow rotation by K2 was essential for the team to construct more detailed models that revealed the peculiarities of this dwarf planet. The rotation measurements even included hints of variations in brightness across its surface.
Together, the two space telescopes allowed the team to measure the fraction of sunlight reflected by 2007 OR10 (using Kepler) and the fraction absorbed and later radiated back as heat (using Herschel). Putting these two data sets together provided an unambiguous estimation of the dwarf planet's size and how reflective it is.
According to the new measurements, the diameter of 2007 OR10 is some 155 miles (250 kilometers) larger than previously thought. The larger size also implies higher gravity and a very dark surface -- the latter because the same amount of light is being reflected by a larger body. This dark nature is different from most dwarf planets, which are much brighter. Previous ground-based observations found 2007 OR10 has a characteristic red color, and other researchers have suggested this might be due to methane ices on its surface.
"Our revised larger size for 2007 OR10 makes it increasingly likely the planet is covered in volatile ices of methane, carbon monoxide and nitrogen, which would be easily lost to space by a smaller object," said András Pál at Konkoly Observatory in Budapest, Hungary, who led the research. "It's thrilling to tease out details like this about a distant, new world -- especially since it has such an exceptionally dark and reddish surface for its size."
As for when 2007 OR10 will finally get a name, that honor belongs to the object's discoverers. Astronomers Meg Schwamb, Mike Brown and David Rabinowitz spotted it in 2007 as part of a survey to search for distant solar system bodies using the Samuel Oschin Telescope at Palomar Observatory near San Diego.
"The names of Pluto-sized bodies each tell a story about the characteristics of their respective objects. In the past, we haven't known enough about 2007 OR10 to give it a name that would do it justice," said Schwamb. "I think we're coming to a point where we can give 2007 OR10 its rightful name."
Ames manages the Kepler and K2 missions for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, managed Kepler mission development. Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation operates the flight system with support from the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado in Boulder.
For more information about the Kepler and K2 missions, visit:
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Which traditional Scottish soup is made with the principal ingredients of haddock and potatoes, served in fish stock and sometimes milk with onion added and garnished with parsley? | Scotiafile: Traditional Scottish Fare
A collection of facts about Scotland that you may or may not be aware of. Posted in good faith and for all Scot-o- files. Please feel free to comment.
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Traditional Scottish Fare
Apart from the best fish suppers in the world, and the great divide between Glasgow and Edinburgh (vinegar or brown sauce), what has Scotland got to offer the well-educated palate?
Fried Mars Bars, pudding sandwiches (bread, butter, brown sugar and sultanas – the new jeely piece), and deep fried pizza for sure but, the new Munchy Box, must take the biscuit. Described by none other than Steven Segal as the true sign of multiculturalism in Scotland the Munchy Box contains all you could ever imagine a doggy bag would from the food hall. Every stall that is and the Scots are lapping it up.
In the past our ancestors feasted on game, dairy products, fish, fruit, and vegetables which form the chief ingredients in traditional Scots cooking. The absence of expensive spices meant common fair was simple but nutritious. The wealth of seafood available on and off the coasts provided the earliest settlers with their healthy sustenance. When agriculture was introduced because of the climate wheat was difficult to grow so oats become the staple diet supplemented by a pottage of herbs and roots (and when available some meat or stock for flavoring), with bread and cheese whenever possible. Come feudal times the landed gentry gorged on venison, boar, and salmon all heavily seasoned with expensive spices (pepper, cloves, cinnamon, etc.), whilst poor people ate meagerly by comparison. The main source of carbohydrate was bread made from oats or barley. Oatmeal was the staple diet and was commonly carried in bags so it could be quickly made into porridge or oatcakes.
Cooking was done in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day new things were added to the pot. Any leftovers were kept in the pot as stock for the next day. Often the stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme:
“Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old."
The influence of French Cuisine became apparent during the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots and the discovery of the potato, again impacted upon our national cuisine. By the 19th and 20th centuries large-scale immigration to Scotland from Italy, the Middle East, India, Pakistan and China started to influence Scots cooking with more emphasis on fresh produce and spiced foods. The influence of newcomers continues to evolve Scottish cuisine.
Chicken tikka masala is a dish of roasted chunks (tikka) of chicken in a spicy sauce and yogurt. It is thought to have been invented by Ali Ahmed Aslam (proprietor of the Shish Mahal restaurant in Glasgow).The sauce is usually creamy, spiced and orange-coloured. It has been baked in a tandoor oven, and served in a masala (spice mix) sauce.
Soups
Cullen skink (Scots for a shin, knuckle, or hough of beef)
Traditional fish soup from Cullen in Moray and made with smoked haddock, potatoes and onions. A finnan haddie is used in authentic Cullen skink. Eaten with oatcakes (breed).
Cock-a-leekie soup
Made from leeks and chicken stock, often thickened with rice, or sometimes barley. The original recipe added prunes during cooking to increase the nutritional value of the broth. Probably originated in France and was made with onions. The first recipe was printed in 1598, though the name “cock-a-leekie” did not come into use until the 18th century.
Scotch broth is a filling soup made from the principal ingredients of barley, stewing or braising cuts of lamb, mutton or beef, root vegetables such as carrots, swedes or sometimes turnips and dried pulses (most often split peas and red lentils). Cabbage and leeks are often added shortly before serving to preserve their texture, colour and flavours. The proportions and ingredients vary according to the recipe or availability.
Fish Dishes
Arbroath Smokies are originally from Auchmithie (Angus). So the story goes a fish store caught fire one night, destroying barrels of haddock preserved in salt. The following morning they found the haddock cooked and quiet tasty. In reality smoked haddock probably originated in Scandanavia and brought over by the Vikings.
Crappit heid might be an apt description for someone who has been out for a night on the skite, but is also a traditional Scots fish course. The origins can be traced to the fishing communities of the North, Hebrides and North-Eastern Scotland in the eighteenth century. Whilst the more expensive fillets of fish, such as cod or haddock were sold in the market to the better off, fish offal was cooked up in a pot by the fisher folk. The receipt includes the head of a large cod or similar sized fish, washed, descaled and stuffed with a mixture of oats, suet, onion, white pepper and the liver of the fish in question. This was then sewn or skewered to close the aperture and boiled in seawater. The cooked dish was served with potatoes or other root vegetables in season. Later a court bouillon of fish stock and onion was used to make a soup which was often eaten before the fish head. This was a healthy and nutritious dish, rich in carbohydrates, proteins, fats and more importantly cod liver oil.
Finnan haddie (aka Finnan haddock, Finnan or Findrum speldings) is a cold- haddock which was smoked over green wood and peat. Some believe the name comes from Findon, Aberdeenshire, (also sometimes called Finnan), others insist it is a corruption of the village of Findhorn at the mouth of the river in Moray. Certainly a popular dish in Aberdeenshire since the 1640s but only was eaten South of the Border in the mid-19th century with the construction of the railway link connecting Aberdeen to London in the 1840s. The traditional preparation was to roast or grill the whole pieces of fish over high heat. Finnan haddie is also often served poached in milk for breakfast and is an important part of traditional kedgeree and the Arnold Bennett omelet.
Fish Supper. Deep-fried fish was first introduced into Britain during the 16th century by Jewish refugees from Portugal and Spain. Originally the dish was derived from pescado frito. Busy North Sea ports in the late 19th century combined with development of railways meant major industrial cities in the UK could be supplied quickly with fresh fish. The first fish and chip shop was opened in Oldham in 1860 and very quickly fried fish and chips became the stock meal among the working classes. The first chippy appeared in Dundee in 1870. During World War 2 when food was rationed, fish and potatoes were exempt and many believe fish and chips kept the nation going during the war. In Scotland haddock was the fish of choice where as in England it was traditionally made with cod. Best made chips came from Golden Wonder potatoes cut thicker than French Fires. Traditional beef dripping or lard was used to fry but these have been generally replaced with vegetable oils. Batter varies now but originally consisted of a simple water and flour batter, with a little sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and vinegar added to create lightness. A fish supper was usually served with salt and vinegar sprinkled over the fish and chips at the time it is served. In Edinburgh, saut a sauce in the form of "chippy sauce” is a combination of Gold Star brown sauce and water or malt vinegar and is very popular. Originally a fish supper was served in an old newspaper. Traditionally a fish supper was eaten on a Friday and this may relate to the long-standing Roman Catholic tradition of not eating meat on Fridays. Rising sea temperatures are transforming the makeup of fish stocks in coastal waters around the UK. Where cod and haddock once thrived, sea bass, hake, red mullet and anchovies are now being caught in rising numbers. Marine scientists have found that the seas round the UK have risen in temperature by a remarkable 1.6C since 1980, a jump that is almost four times the global average rise for ocean temperatures. Cold-loving fish so favoured in battered fish dishes have moved north towards Iceland and the Faroe Isles and only haddock survives in some northern UK waters.
Kedgeree (kitcherie, kitchari, kidgeree, kedgaree, or kitchiri) is a dish consisting of cooked, flaked fish (traditionally smoked haddock), boiled rice, parsley, hard-boiled eggs, curry powder, butter or cream and occasionally sultanas. Its origins lie in India and were brought to the UK by returning British colonials in Victorian times. Became part of the fashionable Anglo-Indian cuisine and was eaten by the better off for breakfast. Ordinary people picked up on the idea and in an age of pre-refrigeration by converting yesterday's leftovers into a hearty and appealing breakfast. Bubble and squeak is probably the best known refry of left over food.
Kippers are herring split from tail to head along the dorsal ridge, gutted, salted or pickled, and cold smoked over smoldering woodchips (typically oak). Scottish kippers are red in colour not achieved by dying but caused by the curing process. Mallaig was once the busiest herring port in Europe and famous for its traditionally smoked kippers, as well as Stornoway kippers and Loch Fyne kippers. The exact origin of kippers is unknown, though fish have been slit, gutted and smoked since before recorded history. Kippers are traditionally eaten for breakfast, sometimes with scrambled eggs and were very popularly with inland and urban working-class populations before World War II.
Meat Dishes
Mince and tatties where traditionally the meat came from cheaper cuts of beef, such as chuck and blade or neck and clod. Essentially the dish consists of varying amounts of onions, minced beef, carrots or other root vegetables, seasoning and stock, to which some cooks add thickening agents such as flour, oatmeal or cornflour.
The Square Sausage (lorne sausage, sliced sausage) is said to originate in Lorne, Argyll. The sausage is also the ideal size to make a sandwich using one or two slices from a plain loaf of bread or a Scots roll (well fired). Sausage meat is a mixture of pork and beef minced and then mixed with rusk and spices and set in a rectangular cuboid tin. Once set, it is sliced into pieces generally about 10cm square by about 1cm thick. The sausage is rarely a perfect square given the minced state of the meat. Unlike other forms of traditional sausage, square sausage is not encased in anything and needs to be tightly packed into a mould to hold it together. There are two theories as to how it got its name. Tommy Lorne was a popular Scottish music hall comedian of the 1920s; or more than likely it was named after the historic Scottish region of Lorne, part of modern day Argyll and Bute.
A Scotch pie (mutton pie) is a small, double-crust made from hot water crust pastry and filled with minced mutton or other meat. Individual pie maker’s recipes are closely guarded secrets for fear of imitations. It is baked in a round, straight-sided tin, about 8 cm in diameter and 4 cm high, and the top "crust" (which is soft) is placed about 1 cm lower than the rim to make a space for adding accompaniments such as mashed potatoes, baked beans, brown sauce, gravy or an egg. Typically there is a round hole of about 7.5mm in the centre of the top crust, which has given rise to the colloquial name 'chimney pie' in Scotland. Traditionally on the football terracing accompanied by a drink of Bovril, resulting in the occasional reference to football pies. Every year, the Scotch Pie Club holds the World Scotch Pie Championship.
Bridies were thought to have been invented by a Fofar baker in the 1850s. Although the etymology is unknown many believe the name came from Margaret Bridie of Glamis. She sold the popular pasties at the Buttermarket in Forfar. Unlike pasties bridies are made without potatoes and much lighter in texture. Shortcrust pastry was traditionally used but in the rest of Scotland, flaky pastry is preferred. Bridies are filled with minced steak, butter, and beef suet seasoned with salt and pepper. Sometimes minced onions are added. Prior to baking the bridie’s filling is placed on pastry dough, which is then folded into a semi-circular or triangular shape; finally, the edges are crimped. To differentiate between plain and onion bridies the baker pokes one hole in the top for plain and two for onions.
Oatmeal
Haggis is a savoury pudding containing sheep's pluck (heart, liver and lungs); minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally encased in the animal's stomach and simmered for approximately three hours. Modern commercial haggis is prepared in a sausage casing rather than an actual stomach. Haggis is now considered the national dish of Scotland as a result of Robert Burns' poem Address to a Haggis of 1787. Haggis is traditionally served with "neeps and tatties", boiled and mashed separately and a dram (a glass of Scotch whisky), especially as the main course of a Burns supper. There is no evidence to support haggis originated in Scotland with reference to a Lancashire dish called 'hagese' in 1430. The first Scottish reference appears in circa 1520 in William Dunbar poem, Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy. Irrespective of its true origins haggis represents the first real fast food and was a practical way to use spoiling offal near the site of a hunt. Preparation required no additional cooking vessels with the ingredients boiled in an ad hoc vessel made from animal hide . The liver and kidneys were grilled directly over a fire, but the stomach, intestines, and lungs needed to be boiled for human consumption . Available fillers such as oatmeal, salt and onions were added to the mix. Haggis provided the ideal food for Highland cattle drovers. The men were sent with dry ingredients conveniently packaged in a sheep's stomach for easy transport.
Porridge Oats is a dish made by boiling ground, crushed, or chopped oats in water, milk, or both, with optional flavourings, usually served hot in a bowl or dish. It may be sweetened with sugar or served as a savoury dish. Traditionally cooked in a large metal kettle over hot coals or heated in a cheaper earthenware container by adding hot stones until boiling hot. Porridge is one of the easiest ways to digest grains or legumes and is used traditionally in many cultures to nurse the sick back to health. Toasting the oats beforehand for a couple of minutes gives the finished dish a distinctly nutty, roasted flavour. Letting the porridge sit, lidded, for 5 to 15 minutes may develop a little more flavour. A little salt added towards the end of cooking is essential, whether or not the porridge is sweetened.
Savory Puddings
Skirlie Skirlie hails from the NE of Scotland and consists of oatmeal fried with fat (lard, beef dripping or butter), onions, and seasonings. Used as the basis of white puddings, it can also be served as a side-dish or used as a stuffing for chicken or other fowl. Ideal with mince & tatties.
White pudding (mealy pudding) is very similar to black pudding, but does not include blood. Consequently, it consists of pork meat and fat, suet, bread, spices and oatmeal formed into the shape of a large sausage. Earlier versions (pre-1990) had sheep's brain added as a binding agent. The pudding may be cooked whole, or cut into slices and fried or grilled.
Red pudding is a meat dish served mainly at chip shops in parts of East Scotland (Fife). The ingredients consist of bacon, beef, pork, pork rind, suet, rusks, wheat flour, spices, salt, beef fat and colouring. To encase it, the food is thickly coated in batter, deep fried, and served hot, ready to be taken away. The taste is similar to a saveloy, a type of pork sausage.
Black pudding is a type of blood sausage from pork blood and a relatively high proportion of oatmeal. It can be eaten cold, as it is cooked in production, but is often grilled, fried or boiled in its skin. Black pudding is a delicacy in Stornoway and other parts of the UK. The Stornoway black pudding, made on the Western Isles of Scotland, has been granted Protected Geographical Indicator of Origin status.
Bannocks and Oatcakes
Bannock (Northern English or Celtic meaning baked dough) describe a variety of flat quick bread. Bannock is also a word applied to any large, round article baked or cooked from grain. When a round bannock is cut into wedges, the wedges are called scones. In Scotland, the words bannock and scone are often used interchangeably. Bannocks can be distinguished from oat cakes because they are baked on a girdle, whereas oatcakes are toasted before the fire after having been partly baked on a girdle. Bannocks come in a large variety of types ranging from cake to shortbread and are not restricted to oatmeal as the only ingredient. Oats were one of the few grains which grow well in the north of Scotland and were, until the 20th century, the staple grain used. Oatcakes were traditionally eaten with every meal as a major source of carbohydrate in the diet. First defined in 1562 but in common use long before that time. The original bannocks were heavy, flat cakes of unleavened barley or oatmeal dough formed into a round or oval shape, then cooked on a girdle. Oat biscuits were known to exist in Scotland since at least the time of the Roman conquest of Britain in AD 43. Before the 19th century, bannocks were cooked on a bannock stane, a large, flat, rounded piece of sandstone, placed directly onto a fire, then used as a cooking surface. Scottish soldiers in the 14th century carried a metal plate and a sack of oatmeal. They would heat the plate over fire, moisten a bit of oatmeal and make an oatcake to ease the pangs of hunger. The Scottish were renowned then for being able to march long distances.
In the Druid tradition bannocks were baked in different forms to mark the changing seasons. When Christianity took over bannocks also became assimilated:
St Bride's bannock for spring (Imbolc 1st February )
St Bride's Bannock was baked for the first day of spring and was called "bonnach Bride" or "Bride's Bannock." These were given out to small girls who went around town with a Bride doll. One bannock was also left out that night for St Brigid as she visited farms to bless them. St Bride’s bannock became St Brigids bannock in honor of St Brigid became a popular Christmas treat. Sautie Bannocks were made for Bannock Nicht (aka Shrove Tuesday -14th February) from oatmeal, egg, and salt, with the liquid for the mixture being either beef broth or milk. Only one person made the Sautie Bannock, and she was not allowed to speak. The other girls would try to tease her into speaking. A finger ring would be worked into the dough. The cooked bannock was shared out amongst the unmarried women present; whoever got the piece with the ring would be the next to be married.
Bealtaine bannock for summer (30th April/1st May )
This bannock is made with animal fat (such as bacon grease), and it is placed in a pile of embers, on top of a stone, to cook in the fire. Once it's blackened on both sides, it can be removed, and eaten with a blend of eggs and milk. It's said that if you eat one on Beltane morning, you'll be guaranteed abundance for your crops and livestock.
Lughnasagh or Lammas bannock (August 1)
The Lughnasagh or "lunastain" and Lammas Bannock (bonnach lunastain") were always made form the first grains of the first harvest. Traditionally the lunastain, was given to a man and when given to a woman was called a luineag. As Christianity took over, the Lammas bannock (or Loafmas) became the Marymas bannock in honor of the Virgin Mary. Eventually the Marymas Bannock became a loaf of bread made on the 15th August, the Feast Day of Mary ("Feill Moire"). More recently the Mary mas loaf became critical part of the Christian Harvest Festival. At the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, once the loaf was blessed it was taken home and the father broke the bread giving a piece to each of his family in order of age. The family would then sing a song to Mary, walking clockwise around the fire. The ashes from the fire were then scattered in the fields.
Samhain bannock for winter (end of October). This was a plain bannock made at Hallowe'en. These were left outside the door along with milk for the dead, or it could be included amongst food set on a table inside for ancestors who had passed to the "Summerlands" and wanted to join others at the table. This was called a "Dumb Supper" as it would be served and eaten in silence. Later the Samhain Bannock included currants and evolved into "soul cakes." Children would beg for Samhain Bannock from house to house on All Souls Day. This collecting was called "Souling." The cakes were made in memory of those who had died. In exchange for the bannocks, the collectors were supposed to say prayers for the dead people. Samhain Bannocks could also be called "Dumb Bannocks", and were used to predict who would get married in the upcoming year. In this tradition, the cake was baked one hour before midnight on Hallowe'en. The women would then score their initials in it, and wait. A shadow figure was supposed to appear, and say who would be getting married. In a similar fashion the "Sautie Bannock" was made for Hallowe'en in some parts of the Highlands . The bannock would be made by four or five single women working together in silence. A small bit of soot was added whilst complete silence was maintained until the following morning. Each girl took a piece of the Sautie Bannock to put under their pillow that night in order to dream about who would be their husband.
There are many regional variations found in Scotland. Like the above these were often made for special ocassions:
In Orkney the Beremeal Bannock was made from beremeal, flour, salt, milk or water, plus either baking powder, or baking soda and cream of tartar (older recipes). In the Shetlands they are called "Bruinies".
On the Isle of Barra Cod Liver Bannocks are made from oatmeal and minced-cod liver, and steamed.
The Cryin' bannock (or "Cryin' Kebback" ) was baked prior to women going into labour. It was made from oatmeal, milk and sugar and eaten by the women attending the childbirth (men were bad luck at a birth in Scots tradition). It was also handed out to the first person met on the way to church to get the child baptized.
The "Faillad bannock" or “leftover bannock" could attract the unwanted attention of little people and it was a strongly held belief uneaten bannock needed to be broken and a piece of coal left on the top of it. The uneaten bannock also had a hole made in the centre, usually by pressure from the thumb of the right hand in the centre, and turned clockwise.
As the name implies the fife bannock is made in Fife but was made with finely ground wheat flour. The Brodick Bannock from the Isle of Aran was verty similar.
Hogmanay Bannock was made for Hogmanay (Scottish New Year), in the form of a small bannock made with oats and caraway seeds, with a hole in the centre and notched edges. Children were given them in the morning, and had to eat them all otherwise bad luck would follow. The hole was made by holding the bannock in your left hand, and by pressing in the centre with the thumb of your right hand, and rotating the bannock sunwise (i.e. clockwise.) Some speculate that the fluting or notching on the edges symbolized the sun's rays and is a hangover from Celtic Yule festivals. If the Hogmanay Bannock crumbled during baking, it meant bad luck such as illness or death for the particular child the bannock was made for.
Mashlum Bannocks were made with a mixture of flours, rather than entirely from one grain, such as oatmeal, barley or wheat.
Michaelmas Bannock (or "struan" ) is a special cake sometimes called a Struan Michael or St Michael's bannock. Traditionally these were baked on the eve of St Michael's day by the oldest daughter and without using metal implements. The ingredients were barley, oats and rye, ideally, in equal parts, and then mixed together with sheep's milk and baking soda to make soft, smooth dough. Available fruit could be added, as well as flavourings such as caraway seed and a sweetener, like honey. In some traditions, a silver coin would be hidden in the bannock for a child to find. A batter made from cream, eggs, and melted butter was brushed on one side of the bannock. The bannock was baked on a lambskin (called a "uinicinn"), and when the underside was brown, it was flipped to cook the batter side. Brushing and flipping continued until each side had three layers of cooked batter. It was a large bannock, around 9 inches (23 cm) wide, and about 1/2 inch (1 cm) thick. If the Michaelmas Bannock broke before being baked, it was bad luck to the daughter. If it broke after baking, it was bad luck to the whole household. Those that made Michaelmas Bannock the night before would take them to a mass at church the next morning to have them blessed. Leftover flour on the baking surface had to be gathered up, put in a legging, and taken the next day and sprinkled on the livestock as both a blessing and protection against curses. Michaelmas Bannock could be served plain, or with a topping such as butter and honey. It was traditional for everyone in the family to have a piece of the bannock. Later, the Michaelmas Bannock faded from tradition and was replaced with scones.
Pease Bannock was made in the Borders and consisted of dried field peas ground into a meal sometime with bean meal added. It would be made in an oval shape, about 2 inches (5 cm) thick, and called a "fadge."
Pitcaithly bannocks came from Pitcaithly in Perthshire, and are like shortbread in consistency. It is made as a large, round circle, from a mixture of wheat and rice flours, sugar, and butter, along with chopped almonds, and candied citrus peel. A dough is formed by mixing the flours and sugar with butter added and a then mix of nuts and peel. Cut into a thick circle, then pricked with a fork before cooking. Often the Pitcaithly Bannock is decorated with refined sugar right after removing it from the oven.
Salt Bannock ("Bonnach Salainn" ) was a bannock made from whatever meal was available with the addition of a whole lot of salt. Traditionally they were eaten in silence without a drink and just before bed. The salt bannock was thought to allow the person to dreams about their future. Young single women were advised to go to bed backwards as well. They were told that what they would see in their dreams was the man who would be her husband bringing her a drink.
Silverweed Bannock was made from the boiled roots of Silverweed Cinquefoil, the favourite food of Fairies. These were definitely not left in the house overnight as the "Fallaid Bannock."
St Columba's Bannock was a special bannock made for St Columba's Day (the day before Good Friday). The night before, the bannock would be made out of oats or rye with a silver coin in it, and cooked on a fire made from wood from oak, rowan or yew trees. Children got pieces of it on the day to see who found the lucky coin. Whoever got the St Columba's Bannock, was in charge of the baby lambs for the next year. St. Columba is the patron saint of shepherds and oatmeal, barleymeal or rye bannocks was one of the few food stuffs that Columba allowed himself in his monastery on the island of Iona.
Teethin' Bannock was a large bannock made of oatmeal and butter or cream, for young children whose teeth were coming in. Traditionally Teethin' Bannock was baked with neighbours present, but the person making it had to remain silent. Sometimes a large teething ring was baked into it, and then it was given to the child to play with. The neighbours present took a piece of the bannock home with them.
Yetholm Bannock is shortbread which contains pieces of (crystallized) ginger. The plain shortbread is made from wheat flour (with no oatmeal) with added egg yolk for added richness, plus 1 generous tablespoon of chopped candied ginger. The dough is shaped in an oblong form before baking. Yetholm Bannock is named after Yetholm, a town near Scotland's southern border with England.
Yule Bannock is made from finely-ground oatmeal, rolled into a circle and notched at the end to prevent crumbling. The tradition was to bake them early on Christmas Day with one for each person as a present. Storing them could present a problem but if they survived intact to the Christmas table it meant good luck. As a mark of Christianity, the bannock was marked on the top with a cross, dividing it into four. For serving, the bannock was broken into pieces.
Potatoe Dishes
"To stove" means "to stew" in Scots. The term seems to derive from the French adjective "étuvée" which may be translated as "steamed" or bra. Stovies is a potatoe dish with variously additions, onions, carrots, other vegetables, roast beef, corned beef, minced beef or other meat. Like Bubble and squeak, Stovies it is a dish intended to use left-over food. The potatoes are cooked by slow stewing in a closed pot with fat and stock. Lard, beef dripping or butter may be used as the fat. It is also common to stew the potatoes in water alone with onion before adding the other ingredients. Stovies may be accompanied by oatcakes.
A potato scone (tattie scone) is a savoury griddle scone made with boiled potatoes (mashed), butter (no milk) plain flour, and salt. Potato scones are traditionally made as circles about 6 inches (18 cm) across and then cut into quarters. They may also be baked in small rounds. They are generally unleavened and are thinner, 7 mm or so, than what is usually considered a scone; they resemble a soft oatcake. They are often served hot as part of the full Scottish breakfast with fried eggs, bacon and sliced sausage.
Dessert
Clootie Dumpling (from cloot meaning a strip or piece of cloth) is a traditional dessert pudding made with flour, breadcrumbs, dried fruit (sultanas and currants), suet, sugar and spice with some milk to bind it, and sometimes golden syrup. Ingredients are mixed well into a dough, then wrapped up in a floured cloth, placed in a large pan of boiling water and simmered for a couple of hours before being lifted out and dried before the fire or in an oven. Recipes vary from region to region e.g. in North Fife and Dundee it is not common to use breadcrumbs but the use of treacle is common.
Cake
Black Bun is a fruit cake completely covered with pastry. Up until the Scottish Reformation, 1560 it was eaten on Twelfth Night (5th January) on the eve of Epiphany, and the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas. It is thought to be introduced been introduced following the return of Mary, Queen of Scots. After the Reformation it was enjoyed at Hogmanay. The cake mixture typically contains raisins, currants, almonds, citrus peel, allspice, ginger, cinnamon and black pepper. The cake contents are similar to a traditional Christmas cake or Christmas pudding mixture. It was called the King Cake and there was a bean hidden in the cake. Whoever found it became the King for the evening. This may relate to a common practice at Christmas time when the roles were reversed and the Royal Family served their servants. In Scotland the celebration of Christmas was outlawed in 1560 and the use of a King cake at that time ended. It became common by the early 19th century to carry black bun with you when first footing. The gift of a black bun was meant to symbolise that the receiving family would not go hungry during the forthcoming year. It was also used a traditional cake to serve to those visiting homes as part of Hogmanay, to be consumed with whisky.
Dundee cake is a famous traditional Scottish fruit cake with a rich flavour. The cake is often made with currants, sultanas and almonds; sometimes, fruit peel may be added to it. A popular story is that Mary Queen of Scots did not like glace cherries in her cakes, so the cake was first made for her, as a fruit cake that used blanched almonds and not cherries. By the nineteenth-century Dundee Cake was mass-produced by the marmalade company called Keiller's. The top of the cake is typically decorated with concentric circles of almonds.
Scottish Rolls
A buttery (rowie, rollie, or Aberdeen roll) is a savoury Scottish bread roll. The buttery was originally made for the fishermen sailing from Aberdeen's harbour. They needed a roll that would not become stale during the two weeks or more that they were at sea. The high fat content meant the rolls also provided an immediate energy source. They are noted for flaky texture and buttery taste, similar to a flattened, round croissant, with a very salty taste. They are often toasted with jam or butter, or just with tea, although the high fat content (partly lard) makes them extremely hot when toasted. The name Aberdeen roll suggests butteries are a specialty of Aberdeen but they are common throughout the Northeast of Scotland.
Preserves
Marmalade is a fruit preserve made from the juice and peel of citrus fruits boiled with sugar and water. It can be produced from kumquats, lemons, limes, grapefruits, mandarins, sweet oranges, bergamots and other citrus fruits, or any combination thereof. Marmalade is generally distinguished from jam by its fruit peel. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, "marmalade" appeared in the English language in 1480, borrowed from French marmelade which, in turn, came from the Galician-Portuguese marmelada. The extension of "marmalade" in the English language to refer to citrus fruits was made in the 17th century, when citrus first began to be plentiful enough in England for the usage to become common. The Scottish city of Dundee has a long association with marmalade. James Keiller and his mother Janet ran a small sweet and preserves shop in the Seagate section of Dundee. In 1797 they opened a factory to produce "Dundee Marmalade", a preserve distinguished by thick chunks of bitter Seville orange rind. The business prospered, and remains a signature marmalade producer today. Orange Marmalade in Britain happened by accident after a ship full of oranges broke down in the port of Dundee and the ingenious Scots made marmalade out of them.
The Abernethy biscuit was invented by Scottish doctor John Abernethy in the 18th century as a digestive improver and improve health. Abernethy thought most diseases were due to disorders in digestion and had a local baler make up a biscuit by adapting the plain captain’s biscuit with added sugar (for energy), and caraway seeds as an anti-flatulence agent. In the baking the effect of ammonium bicarbonate makes the Abernethy a cross between an all butter biscuit and a shortcake. Abernethy biscuits remain popular in Scotland
Although shortbread has been around for centuries, it became more refined during the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots in the 16th century. . Shortbread was expensive and reserved as a luxury for special occasions such as Christmas, Hogmanay (Scottish New Year’s Eve), and weddings. In Shetland, it is traditional to break a decorated shortbread cake over the head of a new bride on the entrance of her new house. Short is an old word for crumbly and traditional shortbread is made from one part white sugar, two parts butter, and three parts flour (by weight). Some add a portion of salt. The crumbly texture is a result of the fat inhibiting the formation of long protein (gluten) strands. Shortbread is usually formed into one of three shapes: one large circle, which is divided into segments as soon as it is taken out of the oven (petticoat tails, which may have been named from the French petits cotés, a pointed biscuit eaten with wine, or petites gastelles, the old French for little cakes); individual round biscuits (shortbread rounds); or a thick (¾" or 2 cm) oblong slab cut into fingers. The biscuits are usually patterned with the tines of a fork before cooking or with a springerle-type biscuit mould. Shortbread is sometimes shaped in hearts and other shapes for special occasions.
Thomas Tunnock Limited (Tunnock's), is a family baker based in Uddingston, Lanarkshire, Scotland. The company was formed by Thomas Tunnock as Tunnock's in 1890. It is now the 20th oldest family firm in Scotland. One of their evergreen products is the Tunnock's Tea Cake. This is a biscuit and not a tea cake per se, and consists of a dark chocolate covered marshmallow perched on shortbread. The Snowball is similar to the Tea Cake, with the addition of grated coconut to the exterior of a soft chocolate shell but with no biscuit base. Tunnock's Caramel Wafers are also popular.
Confectionary
Tablet (taiblet in Scots) is a medium-hard, sugary confection. Tablet is usually made from sugar, condensed milk, and butter, boiled to a soft-ball stage and allowed to crystallize. It is flavoured with vanilla, and may have nut pieces added. Tablet differs from fudge in that it has a brittle, grainy texture which is medium hard. Fudge is much softer.
A Soor ploom is a sharp flavoured, round, green boiled sweet originally associated with Galashiels, Scotland. They are sold loose by weight in paper bags, traditionally in "quarters". They are said to have been first made in 1337 in commemoration of a skirmish near Galashiels. A raiding party from England were overwhelmed and killed by local men when discovered eating unripe plums. "Soor Plooms" is the motto of the town Galashiels.
Creamola Foam was a soft drink produced in the form of soluble crystals. It was manufactured at Kinning Park, in Glasgow and sold mainly in Scotland from the 1950s until Nestlé ended production in October 1998. The colourful crystals were dissolved in cold water to form a sweet, effervescent drink. It was packaged in a small tin with a tight metal lid. To open you pried off the top with a teaspoon. And paper seal covered the foam crystals to keep them dry. The label had a cartoon girl and boy drinking with straws. The drink originally came in raspberry, orange, and lemon flavours. Cola was added to the range at a later date. More recently due to popularity similar confectionary products have been introduced.
Irn Bru was first produced in 1901 in Falkirk under the name Iron Brew. In 1946 laws prohibited the use of brew in the title because the drink was not brewed. It was rebranded as Irn-Bru. The product was successfully branded as "Scotland's other national drink" (after whisky) and is now made in Westfield, Cumbernauld, by A.G. Barr of Glasgow, since mid-1990s. The orange coloured sweet drink remains the number one selling soft drink in Scotland and the third best selling soft drink in the UK and is bright orange colour. As of 1999 it contained 0.002% of ammonium ferric citrate, sugar, 32 flavouring agents including caffeine and quinine (but not in Australia), and two controversial colourings (Sunset Yellow FCF and Ponceau 4R). On 27 January 2010, A.G. Barr agreed to a Food Standards Agency voluntary ban on these two colourings although no date has been set for their replacement. A common myth was it was used as a cure for hangovers. Irn Bru now sells all over the globe.
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Which composer wrote the opera 'Falstaff', based on the Shakespeare play 'The Merry wives of Windsor'? | The 55 Types Of Deliciously Famous Soups Of The World
The 55 Types Of Deliciously Famous Soups Of The World
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Did you know that records of the first types of soups dated back to 6,000 BC? And that the main ingredient was the hippopotamus? Yeah.. it’s unimaginable but it’s true. Every culture in the world have their own types of soup. Some are thick, some are thin, some are spicy, some are taken with a side dish like bread. Below are soups drank by the world over.
Ajiaco
From Colombia, you have the Ajiaco, which ingredients typically include chicken, corn, at least two kinds of potatoes, sour cream, capers, avocado, and guasca.
Albondigas
A traditional Mexican meatball soup made with sauteed onions, garlic, broth, and tomatoes.
Avgolemono
Avgolemono in Greece means egg-lemon. This soup contains chicken, lemon and egg as it’s main ingredient.
Borscht
The strong red coloured vegetable soup from Eastern Europe that includes beet roots as it’s main.
Bouillabaisse
Bouillabaisse, originating all the way from the city of Marseille of France, is usually a fish stock containing different kinds of cooked fish and shellfish which usually are complemented with garlic, orange peel, basil, bay leaf, fennel and saffron.
Broccoli Cheese
The perfect broccoli cheese soup is thick, creamy, and cheesy.
Caldo verde
From the province of Minho, Northern Portugal comes this soup made of mashed potatoes, minced collard greens, savoy cabbage, kale, onions and slices of chorizo.
Callaloo
The thick, creamy soup made with okra and crab meat from Trinidad and Tobago.
Chicken Soup
The world’s most famous soup made from chicken, simmered in water, usually with various other ingredients.
Chlodnik
A cold variety of borsch — beetroot soup traditional to some Northern European and Slavic countries made with sour cream, soured milk, kefir or yoghurt, radishes or cucumbers, garnished with dill or parsley.
Clam Chowder
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A New England soup that contains clams with potatoes, onions and bacon. When done right, clam chowder should be rich and filling, but not sludgy or stew-like. Its texture should be creamy without feeling leaden, like you’re sipping on gravy. Tender chunks of potato should barely hold their shape, dissolving on your tongue, their soft texture contrasting with tender bites of salty pork and briny clam.
Cock-a-leekie
From Scotland, the soup dish of leeks, potatoes, chicken stock and sometimes with a hint of prunes.
Cullen Skink
From the town of Cullen in Moray, on the north-east coast of Scotland comes the soup that is often served as a starter at formal Scottish dinners. Always thick with smoked Finnan haddock, potatoes and onions as its ingredients.
Egg Drop
A Chinese soup of beaten eggs, chicken broth, and boiled water. Condiments such as table salt, black pepper, and green onion are also commonly added.
Erwtensoep
A thick pea soup, eaten in the Netherlands as a winter dish, traditionally served with sliced sausage.
Faki soupa
Lentils as it’s main, this Greek soup is both healthy and filling. It has since been made popular in the Middle East and Mediterranean. Others include onions, carrots, olive oil, parsley and possibly tomato sauce or vinegar.
Fanesca
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Traditional to Ecuador, Fanesca is usually served the week before easter and typically includes figleaf gourd, pumpkin, and twelve different kinds of grains (representing the disciples of Jesus), and salt cod (due to the belief that you must not eat red meat during these days).
Fasolada
Sometimes referred to as the ‘national food of the Greeks’. Fasolada is a soup of dry white beans, olive oil, and vegetables.
French Onion Soup
An onion and beef broth or a beef stock based soup traditionally served with croutons and cheese as toppings.
Fufu and Egusi
From Nigeria, Fufu and Egusi soup is made with vegetables, meat, fish, and balls of wheat gluten.
Gazpacho
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Hailing from Spain, this vegetable soup is popular in warmer areas and during the summer, particularly in Spain’s Andalusia and Portugal’s Alentejo and Algarve regions. Gazpacho is a concoction of bread, tomato, bell pepper, garlic, olive oil, salt and vinegar.
Ginataan
A dessert soup from the Philippines whose name is derived from the Filipino word for coconut milk, ‘gata’, the main ingredient in the soup.
A very popular type of health soup found in Chinese & Korean communities made out of Ginseng roots. Chicken and other herbs and spices are often added to it.
Goulash
The Hungarian spicy dish, made of beef, onions, red peppers, and paprika powder. Goulash draws its name from the Hungarian word for a cattle stockman / herdsman.
Gumbo
Originated in southern Louisiana during the 18th century, gumbo consists primarily of a strongly-flavored stock, meat or shellfish, a thickener, and the vegetable holy trinity of celery, bell peppers, and onions.
Harira
Harira is a famous Moroccan soup that uses lamb, fresh tomatoes, chickpeas, and lentils, flavoured with harissa hot sauce.
Hot and Sour Soup
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Hot and sour soup is a Chinese soup claimed variously by the regional cuisines of Beijing and Sichuan as a regional dish. Hot and sour soup is a lot like chili; every family has their own recipe, and each family thinks that theirs is the best.
Kimchi jigae
A variety of jjigae or stew-like Korean dish made with kimchi and other ingredients, such as scallions, onions, diced tofu, pork, and seafood, although pork and seafood are generally not used in the same recipe.
Lablabi
A straightforward Tunisian garlic and cumin flavoured chickpea soup served over small pieces of stale crusty bread.
Lobster Bisque
Bisque is a smooth, creamy, highly seasoned soup of French origin, classically based on a strained broth of lobsters.
Menudo
A traditional Mexican soup largely made out of tripe and hominy. It is considered by some as a cure for hangovers.
Minestrone
From Italy comes this vegetarian soup, made thick with the addition of pasta or rice. Beans, onions, celery, carrots, stock, and tomatoes are commonly added to it.
Miso soup
Japan’s most famous soup made from fish broth, fermented soy and ‘dashi’.
Mulligatawny Soup
An Anglo-Indian curried soup which means ‘pepper water’ in Tamil.
Iskembe Corbasi
A type of tripe soup often seasoned with vinegar or lemon juice, prepared in Greece, Turkey and the Balkans.
Pasulj
A type of bean dish also popular throughout the Balkan nations. It is normally prepared with meat, particularly smoked meat such as smoked bacon, smoked sausage, and smoked joints, and is a typical winter dish.
Pho
The Vietnamese beef/chicken soup cooked with scallion, welsh onion, cherred ginger, wild coriander, basil, cinnamon, star anise, cloves and black cardamom.
Pozole
A pre-Columbian soup made from hominy, with pork, chile, and other seasonings and garnish, such as cabbage, lettuce, oregano, cilantro, avocado, radish, lime juice.
Rassolnik, made with kidneys or giblets and pickles, is known for hangover relief because rassol, the brining liquid from pickles, contains vitamins which help the body to hold water and counteract dehydration produced by drinking too much , which causes hangovers.
Sambar
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A South Indian stew made from pigeon peas, vegetables, tamarind and spices, Sambar is an everyday dish in Southern India. One of the myth is that it originated in the kitchen of Thanjavur Marathas ruler, Shahuji, during the 19th century from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Shahji was trying to make a dish called amti, experimented with pigeon peas instead of mung bean, and tamarind pulp instead kokum, and the court named it sambhar after the guest of the day, Sambhaji, the second emperor of the Maratha Empire.
Scotch Broth
A filling soup from Scotland which principal ingredients are usually barley, a cut of beef or lamb, carrots, turnips or swedes, cabbage and leeks.
Shark Fin
A Chinese delicacy commonly served as part of a Chinese feast, usually at special occasions such as weddings and banquets as a symbol of wealth and prestige.
Shchav
A sorrel soup in Polish, Russian and Yiddish cuisines made from water, sorrel leaves, salt and egg yolks which is often served cold with sour cream.
Solyanka
Cabbage soup from Russia made of mainly three different kinds of main ingredient being either meat, fish or mushrooms. All of them contain pickled cucumbers with brine, and often cabbage, salty mushrooms, cream and dill.
Sopa Negra
Black bean soup Costa Rican style made of black beans, chicken broth, eggs, fresh cilantro, onions, garlic and sweet pepper.
Sour Soup
A cold soup popular in the summertime in Bulgaria and the Republic of Macedonia made from yoghurt, cucumbers, garlic, nuts, dill, vegetable oil, and water.
Tomato Soup
Tomato soup, a very popular comfort food in Poland and United States, is made in a variety of ways.
Tom Kha Gai
Made with coconut milk, galangal, lemon grass and chicken. The fried chillies add a smoky flavor as well as texture, color and heat, but not so much that it overwhelms the soup.
Tom Yam
One of the most famous dishes in Thai cuisine known for its distinct hot and sour flavours made of stock and fresh ingredients such as lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, shallots, lime juice, fish sauce, tamarind, and crushed chillis.
Torpedo
Found commonly in parts of Malaysia especially Penang, Sup Torpedo is a type of exotic soup that includes the penis of a bull as the main ingredient. It is reputed to be an aphrodisiac.
Trahana
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Dried foods based on a fermented mixture of grain and yoghurt or fermented milk, usually consumed as soup found in Turkey, Greece, Egypt and Iraq. The Turkish tarhana consists of cracked wheat, yoghurt, and vegetables fermented then dried. The Greek trahana contains only cracked wheat and yoghurt.
Vichyssoise
A French style soup made of puréed leeks, onions, potatoes, cream, and chicken stock traditionally served cold.
Waterzooi
Means “watery mess’ in Dutch. Made of fish or chicken, carrots, leeks and potatoes, herbs, eggs, cream and butter.
Zurek
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The group 'Gorillaz' made a record which got to number 4 in the pop charts in 2001. The title of the record was the name of which film star? | Gorillaz | Gorillaz Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia
Gorillaz are a virtual band created in 1997 by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett that consist of four fictional animated band members: 2-D (Vocals/Keys) , Murdoc Niccals (Bass Guitar) , Russel Hobbs (Percussion) and Noodle (Lead Guitar) .
Contents
[ show ]
Band Creation
The band was created by Damon Albarn from the Britpop band Blur, and Jamie Hewlett, the co-creator of the comic book Tank Girl . Their style is reminiscent of 80's dance music with strong influences from hip-hop, dub, electro, and pop.
Unlike other fictional bands whose music has had real-life success, they are neither a parody of a particular genre (Spinal Tap, A Mighty Wind) nor marketed to young children (The Archies), and their actual musical output is far more of an attraction to most of their fans than their existence as cartoon characters.
The band's first album, 2001's Gorillaz , sold over 3 million copies and earned them an entry in the Guinness Book of Records as the Most Successful Virtual Band. Their second studio album, Demon Days, was released in 2005 and included the hit singles " Feel Good Inc. ", " Dare ", " Dirty Harry " and " El Mañana/Kids With Guns ." Demon Days went Double Platinum in the U.S., Triple Platinum in the U.K., and earned 5 Grammy award nominations for 2005.
Phase One: Celebrity Take Down (1999-2003)
Damon Albarn
Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett first met in 1990 when Graham Coxon , a fan of Hewlett's work, asked him to interview Blur , which was a band both Albarn and Coxon and had recently formed. The interview was published in Deadline magazine , home of Hewlett's comic series, Tank Girl . Albarn and Hewlett started sharing a flat on Westbourne Grove in London in 1997.
The idea to create Gorillaz came about when the two were watching MTV : "If you watch MTV for too long, it's a bit like hell – there's nothing of substance there. So we got this idea for a cartoon band, something that would be a comment on that," Hewlett has said. The band originally identified themselves as "Gorilla" and the first song they recorded was "Ghost Train" which was later released as a B-side on their single " Rock the House " and the B-side compilation G Sides . The trio of musicians behind Gorillaz' first incarnation included Damon Albarn, Del the Funky Homosapien and Dan the Automator .
The Gorillaz were very well received in the UK underground music scene and generated a lot of word-of-mouth advertising, as well as a large shroud of mystery over who was behind Gorillaz and what could be expected from the band in the months to come. Promo outlets circulated a promotional booklet to promote the fictional backstory behind the cartoon band.
The band's official website, Gorillaz.com , was a virtual representation of Kong Studios , the band's fictional studio and home. Inside, you could browse through each member's bedroom, their recording environment and even the hallways and bathrooms. Each room also had bonus surprises and games to play: for example, the lobby had a remix machine, the cafeteria contained the message board on the wall and Murdoc's Winnebago (accessible only by using the enhanced section of the Gorillaz album) contained a voodoo doll of 2D. Each member also had his or her own computer which contained pictures, samples used in various Gorillaz songs, their favorite websites and their e-mail inboxes. Because of the nature of the site, an official fansite, fans.gorillaz.com, was created to hold the standard band website information, including news, a discography and the band's touring schedules.
The band's first single, " Clint Eastwood ", was released on March 5, 2001. It became a smash hit and put Gorillaz into the global spotlight. Due to this, the fictional band members' Hotmail accounts were abandoned (and later hacked) and the inboxes on the site were never updated. Later that same month, their first full-length album, the self-titled Gorillaz was released, producing four singles: "Clint Eastwood", "19-2000", "Tomorrow Comes Today", and "Rock the House".
Each of the singles' animated music videos contained surreal and often times very dark and bizzare storylines and imagery, though "Clint Eastwood" and "19-2000" were the only singles to break through the American music scene. "19-2000" became popular after being featured in both an Icebreakers commercial, as well as in EA Sports' FIFA 2001. Also the trumpets from the song "Rock the House" can be heard in various MTV shows. The video for "Tomorrow Comes Today" was only broadcast once in the US on Toonami as a "Midnight Run" special where they played animated music videos from Gorillaz, Daft Punk, and Kenna. Around this time, a half-hour TV mockumentary entitled "Charts Of Darkness" was released. It follows Channel 4 news reporter Krishnan Guru-Murthy attempting to track down Albarn and Hewlett after they were placed in an insane asylum. The special also interviews Rachel Stevens of S Club 7 fame and a few of the band's voice talents, who had been given roles to play.
The end of the year brought the song "911", a collaboration between the Gorillaz and rap artists D12 (without Eminem) and Terry Hall about the September 11, 2001 attacks. Meanwhile "G-Sides", a compilation of the B-sides from the first three singles was released in Japan and quickly followed with international releases in early 2002. The new year also saw a complicated performance at the 2002 Brit Awards, featuring the band in 3D animation, weaving in and out of each other on four large screens along with rap accompaniment by Phi Life Cypher. Finally, "Laika Come Home", a dub remix album, containing most of the tracks from "Gorillaz" reworked by Spacemonkeyz, was released in June 2002. The single to follow, "Lil' Dub Chefin'", contained an original track by the Spacemonkeyz titled "Spacemonkeyz Theme". In November 2002, a DVD titled Phase One: Celebrity Take Down was released. The DVD contains all five videos (including the abandoned video for "5/4"), the "Charts Of Darkness" documentary, the five Gorilla Bites (short vignettes), a tour of the website by the MEL 9000 server and much more. The DVD's menu was designed much like the band's website and depicts an abandoned Kong Studios .
Along with the November 2002 release of the DVD Phase One: Celebrity Take Down, the band's website closed down almost completely. The fictional Kong Studios was no longer accessible. Instead, visitors could only enter a police portacabin, where the message board and chats were still accessible. From there, a small robot called G.R.3.G. could be used to explore the abandoned Kong Studios in a 3-D shockwave environment, though doing so would only grant access to a few games. The Abandoned Gorillaz Site
Rumors were going around this time that the Gorillaz team were busy preparing a film, but an EMI interview later revealed that plans for the film were abandoned. In an interview with Haruka Kuroda (the voice of Noodle), Kuroda stated that Jamie Hewlett rejected many scripts before giving up on the movie.
Phase Two: Slowboat To Hades
On December 8, 2004, the website reopened with an exclusive video entitled "Rock It" and the announcement of a new album on the way, which would be produced by Danger Mouse and contain a guest appearance by De La Soul. A talent contest entitled Search For A Star was also announced, allowing fans to send in a minute-long clip of video or audio or an image file. The prize included collaborating with the band by working with them to create the music and video for "El Mañana", the fourth single for the new album, although it has been announced that it will be a double-A side with 'Kids With Guns' as well as getting their own virtual room on the newly rebuilt Kong Studios website.
A second promotional booklet was issued, recapping the previously issued booklet, as well as detailing the failed movie production in Hollywood and the breakup and reforming of Gorillaz. A culture jamming project named Reject False Icons was formed criticizing modern pop figures.
The new album was first reported to be released in March 2005, but was later changed to May of the same year. The name of the album was originally reported to be We Are Happy Landfill, but was later changed to Demon Days . The first release of the album was a white label 12" promotional single of the song "Dirty Harry" featuring Bootie Brown and the Children's Choir San Fernandez. "Dirty Harry" was ineligible for the charts due to its status as a promotional single.
The first proper single from the album was "Feel Good Inc.", released as an EP in Japan and as a CD single in Europe and Australia. The single entered the UK Singles Chart at #22, several weeks before the CD single was released. This happened because the single was released as a 7" vinyl in April, and new charts regulations included sales at online music stores, where the song had been available since March 22. "Feel Good Inc." managed to reach #2 in the UK Singles Chart the week it was released, being the band's highest ever positioned single up to that point in time. The single stayed in the top ten for eight consecutive weeks. In the United States, it peaked at #14. The song would also garner a Record of the Year nomination at the 2006 Grammy Awards.
The album, Demon Days, was #1 in the Album Charts on its first week, but fell as low as #29 in just seven weeks. However, as the music video for the second single "DARE" started getting played on MTV and other music channels, Demon Days rose up to the top 10 again. "DARE" was released on August 29, 2005 in the UK, where it debuted at #1. A Japanese EP followed September 7. "DARE" eventually reached #87 in the United States, also becoming a Top 10 hit on the Modern Rock listings.
The third single off Demon Days was "Dirty Harry", which had already been released as a promotional single earlier that year. It was released in the UK on November 21, 2005. On its first week, it charted at #6. The release of the single raised the album once again back up to the top 10.
On 6 November 2005, Gorillaz-Unofficial [1] announced Jamie Hewlett had revealed that the song "El Mañana" would be the fourth single from Demon Days, but it has been confirmed that it will be a double A-side with "Kids With Guns" , to have a UK release on 10 April 2006. link
On December 18, Demon Days went triple platinum in the UK and would end up racking up over a million copies sold in the UK by the end of the year, making it the 5th best selling album of 2005 there. Demon Days has also gone double platinum in the US and has sold over 6 million copies worldwide.
In 2007 and 2008, Gorillaz will go on a holographic world tour. The cartoon members will be shown as holograms on stage using Pepper's ghost technology, giving them a life-like appearance on stage. Damon Albarn will not be present for the tour, as they will be pre-recorded. A prototype version of the holograms was used at the 2005 MTV EMA Awards and again at the 2006 Grammy Awards with Madonna, where the band played a pre-recorded version of "Feel Good Inc."
Phase Three: Escape to Plastic Beach (2008–2012)
In late 2007, Albarn and Hewlett began working on Carousel, a new Gorillaz project which eventually evolved into the band's third studio album Plastic Beach.[44][45]
Albarn said "I'm making this the biggest and most pop record I've ever made in many ways, but with all my experience to try and at least present something that has got depth."[45] The album features guest performances by Snoop Dogg, Lou Reed, Mos Def, Bobby Womack, Gruff Rhys, Mark E. Smith, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Kano, Bashy, De La Soul, Little Dragon, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, sinfonia ViVA, and The Lebanese National Orchestra for Oriental Arabic Music.[45][46][47]
On 18 January 2010, it was announced that Gorillaz would be headlining the final night of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on 18 April 2010.[48] The first single from the album, "Stylo", featuring Bobby Womack and Mos Def was made available for download 26 January 2010.[49] Further singles from the album include "On Melancholy Hill", "Superfast Jellyfish" and "Rhinestone Eyes", as well as "White Flag", which was released exclusively for Record Store Day 2010.[citation needed]
Plastic Beach was first released on 3 March 2010 in Japan, followed by multiple other dates for other countries. The album received positive reviews from critics. To fit the Plastic Beach theme, the Gorillaz website was dramatically altered and changed. A virtual tour of the Plastic Beach was added, including a new Gorillaz game titled Escape to the Plastic Beach. Several 'Shorts' of each band member was included in the follow-up to the album's release, to give fans an understanding of the fictional band members' story before their arrival to the island. A Windows 7 theme was also released. In early July 2010, they announced their first world tour, titled the "Escape to Plastic Beach World Tour".
In October 2010, Damon Albarn announced to the media that he would not let the cast of Glee cover the band's songs, claiming that the music on the Fox network's TV show is a "very poor substitute for the real thing". This statement led most people to believe that Gorillaz had been asked by Glee producers to lend their music to the show, which they had not. Albarn responded to the confusion with a laugh and said "and now they definitely won't."[50]
On 5 October 2010, Gorillaz announced their new single "Doncamatic" featuring Daley.[51] It premiered later that same day on Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 show. The single was released on 22 November 2010.
On 8 December 2010, Albarn confirmed via an interview that a Gorillaz album recorded on the American leg of the Escape to Plastic Beach tour will be released to download for free exclusively to paying fan club members from the Gorillaz website on Christmas Day, 25 December 2010.[52] On 15 December 2010, Albarn confirmed whilst interviewed on Triple J that the new album would be titled The Fall as it was recorded on their American tour in October.[citation needed] The official video for "Phoner to Arizona" was also released on Gorillaz' official website for free on 24 December 2010.[53] It was announced that Gorillaz would be performing on 16 March 2011 at the MTV Woodie awards. They were also nominated for the Best Video Woodie for "Stylo" at the MTV woodie awards.[citation needed]
Gorillaz released a digital single of the tracks "Revolving Doors" and "Amarillo" from their new album The Fall on 14 March 2011.[citation needed] Photos were released of frontman Damon Albarn and rapper Pharrell Williams recording with an iPad, Omnichord and a Korg Donca Matic when on Gorillaz' Escape to Plastic Beach World Tour, Albarn said in an interview that he does not know when the track will be released.
On 18 April 2011, Gorillaz announced the release of their own version of the iPad app iElectribe, by Korg - which features loops and samples taken from The Fall as well as other samples. The new Gorillaz version features a Gorillaz designed and styled interface, and is customized to generate Gorillaz samples from their fourth album The Fall and includes 128 new sounds created by Gorillaz and 64 ready-to-use pre-programmed patterns from Gorillaz, Stephen Sedgwick (Gorillaz' engineer) and Korg. There have been noted problems with the app's availability outside of the United Kingdom. The app was based on Korg's Electribe: R device app.[54][55][56]
On 5 October 2011, Gorillaz announced their first "greatest hits" compilation, The Singles Collection 2001–2011,[57] which was released on 28 November 2011.
On 9 February 2012, Gorillaz announced "DoYaThing", a single to promote the Gorillaz-branded Converse shoes that were soon to be released. The song would be part of Converse's "Three Artists, One Song" projects, with the two collaborators being James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem and André 3000 of Outkast. The track was available for free download on Converse's website, and in Journeys stores by way of scanning a QR code. An explicit, 13 minute-long version of the song became available for listening shortly after on Gorillaz.com. Jamie Hewlett returned to direct the single's music video, featuring animated versions of the two collaborators on the track.[58][59]
The video, which premiered on 29 February 2012 shows the original four Gorillaz members reunited in a three bedroom flat at 212 Wobble Street, London. Also appearing are "The Boogeyman" and André 3000 (wearing a black mask with a white X on it), who surprises 2D in various places. Russel, still a giant, rests on the roof of the building. Noodle's windmill island which featured in "Feel Good Inc." and "El Mañana" is afloat again and anchored to the side of the building. Murdoc is shown to be recording new installments of his radio show from the apartment, while Noodle sleeps. The video ends with 2D receiving an eviction notice from a baboon in a postman's uniform (apparently Murphy's avatar in the project), putting the permanency of the band's residence into question once again.
"Indefinite hiatus" and other projects (2012–present)
In April 2012, Albarn told The Guardian that he and Hewlett had fallen out and that future Gorillaz projects were "unlikely". Tension between the two had been building during phase 3, as Albarn had felt that "we were at cross purposes somewhat on [Plastic Beach]" and that the visuals were not matching the music very well. [1] However, in an interview with The Independent, Hewlett stated "I just want to do some of my own stuff, and Damon has many projects – he’s always doing 10 things at once – so it's all right to separate for a bit and try different things" and that while the concept of Gorillaz has "run its course for now, it doesn't mean it's packed away for good", although a future collaboration with Albarn would be something "completely different." He also revealed that he would like to revisit some of the unfinished projects that they worked on between albums. [2]
On 25 April, in an interview with Metro, Albarn later clarified that his previous statements were "from an article which was an interesting take on a very long conversation." When asked about the future of the Gorillaz, he went on to say that once he had worked out his differences with Jamie Hewlett, he was confident that they'd make another record. When asked if sorting his differences with Hewlett would be difficult, Albarn said:
"I don't think so. We've been through too much together for it to be that big of a mountain to climb. We've just fallen out like mates do sometimes. I'm not the only person to fall out with mates and then make up again – everyone does it." [3]
On March 27, 2013 Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett's Opera "Monkey" was announced to be re-shown in New York from July 6-28. Damon and Jamie are now confirmed to have settled their dispute and are back in good relations with each other.[ citation needed ] News on Damon Albarn's virtual band Gorillaz had been sparse and few as of 2013, but Jamie Hewlett has confirmed that there will be a new Gorillaz album out in the future, but only after Damon's main band Blur has put out their new record.
Jamie revealed the new Gorillaz plans that he and Damon discussed for the future whilst speaking at a launch event for the pair's opera 'Monkey Journey To The West' in New York city recently.
It has been claimed that Jamie Hewlett said:
"There’s a five- year gap between the albums because they take a long time to do and and they’re very exhausting and when you’re finished you feel like you need to go do other stuff."
The Gorillaz animator and comic artist also talked about how difficult it will be for a new Gorillaz record to be commercially successful. He is reported to have said that "the music industry’s changed so much since we started doing Gorillaz. There’s no money in the industry, and many popular bands now make songs and film it from their bedrooms. It doesn’t cost anything, and so Gorillaz is kind of expensive. It’s expensive to do because it’s animated."
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The Gorillaz logo.
The official backstory of the virtual band members of Gorillaz , as established by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett.
Contents
Phase 1: 1998-2002
The Gorillaz in Phase 1.
The story of Gorillaz begins on August 15th, 1997. Stu-Pot was a mentally deficient keyboard enthusiast and part-time employee at Uncle Norm's Organ Emporium. Satanist hoodlum Murdoc Niccals decided to ram-raid Uncle Norm's Organ Emporium to procure synthesizer equipment in order to establish a "chart topping" musical group. However, Murdoc ended driving his Vauxhall Astra through the building and directly into Stu-Pot's head, permanently damaging ("fracturing") Stu-Pot's left eye and putting him into a catatonic state. Murdoc was sentenced to "30,000 hours of community service, plus 10 hours every week of caring for the vegetabilized Stu-Pot". Not long after, Murdoc again injured Stu-Pot in a car accident in Nottingham's Tesco parking lot when attempting a 360° in order to impress some women. During the initial rotation, he was thrown through the windshield and landed face first on a curb. This permanently damaged Stu-Pot's right eye, but revived him from his coma. Murdoc then recruited the newly recovered (albeit still mentally defective) Stu-Pot as the keyboardist and vocalist for his group, re-dubbing him 2-D for the matching pair of dents in his head from the accidents.
In September of 1998, Murdoc acquired the property of Kong Studios , a sprawling haunted studio with a rather shady history, situated atop a hill in the midst of a run-down cemetery and landfill in Districtshire, Essex.
Murdoc then found a drummer for the group in a Soho record store: African-American expatriate Russel Hobbs . Russel was a middle-class New York native and was deeply troubled as a youth. He was expelled from an expensive private school for suffering from demonic possession. The trauma of said possession resulted in a four-year coma from which Russel was roused only by an elaborately executed exorcism. After his recovery, Russel began attending Brooklyn High School, where he quickly cultivated friendships with a group of rappers, DJs, MCs and street musicians. He has said that "hip-hop saved [his] soul."
This was a short-lived respite, however, as all of Russel's newfound friends were suddenly gunned-down one night in a drive-by shooting. Russel, the sole survivor, became the unwilling receptacle for the spirits of all of his slain compatriots, most notable of whom was the rhyme dropping blue phantom, Del . With their latent possession of his body, Russel gained incredible musical prowess in percussion, rap, and hip-hop as well as a disturbing side-effect: his eyes glowed an eerie white. With this new and violent turn of events, Russel's family shipped him off to England in hopes of helping him recover from his traumas quietly - not realizing they'd put him directly into the path of Murdoc's aspirations to superstardom, and the excesses that came along with it.
At that point, all the fledgling group needed was a guitarist. Their first guitarist was 2-D's girlfriend, Paula Cracker , but she was shortly fired from the band after Russel caught her and Murdoc making love in the studio toilets. Disgusted by this, Russel broke Murdoc's nose five more times. Like so many British bands before them, the trio placed an advertisement in NME. The very day the ad ran, a FedEx freight container from Japan was delivered to their doorstep and out jumped a mysterious amnesiac 8-year-old wielding a Gibson Les Paul. The tiny girl made an incomprehensible introduction in Japanese and tore into a "riff to end all riffs" which ended with an impressive karate kick to the air. She then spoke a single word in English to the stunned boys, which became her moniker: " Noodle ". After the band was finally assembled, they changed their name to Gorillaz. Their first song was called " Ghost Train " and was recorded at Kong Studios. Murdoc posted a copy of the song, some photos of the band and a manifesto over to Mr. Whiffy Smithy at EMI.
On November 5th, 1998, Gorillaz played their first show at the Camden Brownhouse which ended prematurely due to a riot during their song "Punk". EMI A&R man Whiffy Smiffy discharged several rounds from shotgun to disperse the crowd enough to make his way to the stage and quickly signed them to the label. Gorillaz released their first collection of music on the " Tomorrow Comes Today " EP in November 2000.
Their first full-length debut album, "Gorillaz" was released on March 26th, 2001. During its release, the album spawned four singles; " Clint Eastwood ," " 19-2000 ," " Rock the House " and "Tomorrow Comes Today."
During 2001, Gorillaz began touring through various countries including England, France, Ireland and Japan.
On February 20th, 2002, Gorillaz performed at the Brit Awards where they were nominated for 6 Brit Awards but won nothing.
Also in 2002, Gorillaz collaborated with rappers, D12 and Terry Hall to create the downloadable single, " 911 ."
From February 23rd - March 11th, 2002, Gorillaz embarked on an 11-month tour of North America. At the end of the American Tour, of that year, the Gorillaz took a six-month break in L.A on March 13th. There they attempted to get a movie project off the ground. The band played their last gig together at the Isle of MTV Festival in Portugal on July 20th. Meanwhile, that Halloween, Kong Studios had been shut down tight in its owner's absence by local law enforcement after an unknown man was seen running, naked and in hysterics, in the marshes near the studio. The police proceeded to keep the area secured while they investigated the strange paranormal events surrounding Kong. The Gorillaz spent the interim period working on their movie while living in a large rented home in the Hollywood Hills.
Alas, the film was not meant to be, due in part to extensive over-partying, in-fighting, and disagreements with producers, directors, and a notable incident of Murdoc getting himself banned from the Playboy Mansion for stealing ashtrays. Gorillaz tried to create a movie, but everyone was too concentrated on doing drugs and hanging out with celebrities. Murdoc almost got a TV show, but they replaced him at the last minute. When Murdoc almost killed 2-D it became too much and they went their separate ways on a year and a half hiatus.
Post-Phase 1 to Pre-Phase 2: 2003-2004
2D went back to Eastbourne and worked at his father's fun fair, where his ego got a significant boost and re-established his grip on reality, and come to terms with his newfound pop icon status with the ladies. He also began a friendship with Shane Lynch from Boyzone.
Russell remained in LA, but became increasingly haunted by the Grim Reaper, who eventually banished Del from his body. Luckily, Russel was approached by Ike Turner who offered him sanctuary in his basement to recover.
Murdoc headed to Mexico to booze it up in Tijuana brothels, getting himself arrested for passing bad checks in the process. He enjoyed little company in his Mexican jail cell aside from his raven, Cortez, and two Mexican mobsters who would later help break him out.
Noodle went back to Japan in a fruitful attempt to uncover the secrets of her own past after suffering from nightmares and visions on the Gorillaz Tour. In Japan, she was reuntied with her mentor, Mr. Kyuzo and learned that she was part of a secret government super soldier project and could speak English fluently. Noodle was the only survivor after the project was scrapped. Mr. Kyuzo earsed Noodle's memory using the words, "Ocean Bacon" and sent her off to England in the FedEx crate.
Noodle's return to Kong Studios.
Armed with her newfound knowledge and iron resolve, Noodle was the first to return to Kong Studios. There she went to task battling the zombie and monster-infested darkness of the building, set up the "Search For A Star" contest, and began the process of pulling the band back together to record their new album, Demon Days .
Phase 2: 2004-2007
The Gorillaz in Phase 2.
With the band reunited, the process of recording Demon Days began with the help of music producer, Dangermouse.
Demon Days was released on May 23rd 2005.
The first single off the album was "Feel Good Inc." featuring De La Soul and it entered the UK Charts at No.2. The album's second single, "Dare" featuring Shaun Ryder, became their first single to go to No.1. The third single was "Dirty Harry" featuring Bootie Brown and the last single was a double-sided single containing the songs, "Kids With Guns," featuring Neneh Cherry and "El Manana."
Noodle decided to write her own album, "Demon Days" The first song she wrote was "DARE", and recorded the first video which she starred in. She felt that Murdoc spent the whole time showing off in the video for "Feel Good Inc." This is why she decided to make the video herself. Noodle also felt that the boys were being too silly. 2D and Russel heard her from upstairs and in the bathroom because the music was turned up so loud. At the end of the video, Noodle plays a little prank on Murdoc and takes the camera into the Winnebago while he is sleeping.
On March 27th 2005, Gorillaz performed at the Manchester Opera House where they were joined with most of the collaborators from the Demon Days album.
From June 6th - June 22nd, Gorillaz enbarked on The Deman Detour; a series of live radio shows throughout America.
On February 15th 2006, Gorillaz perfomed "Dirty Harry" at the Brit Awards featuring a huge chour of children and guest star, Bootie Brown.
Around 2006, Noodle wanted to leave Gorillaz for a break. She planned to leave straight after the filming of the "El Manana" video shoot. On March 7th 2006, Gorillaz started the shoot for "El Manana" which starred Noodle on windmill island. Halfway through the video, the island gets shot down by the Boogieman's minions. The island goes down with Noodle on it, but she grabs a parachute and escapes. Russel and 2-D search for her but cannot find her anywhere. The music video aired on Channel 4 on March 11th, 2006.
Gorillaz ended Phase 2 after performing a series of five shows at New York's Harlem Apollo and then went their separete ways.
In 2006, Noodle's voice was heard from a radio in the Brain Room at the ruins of Kong Studios. Murdoc attempted to travel through the bowels of hell in order to bring her back, but failed. This "rescue attempt" was then revealed to be a drunken stupor.
Phase 3: 2008-2012
The Gorillaz in Phase 3. Note: Russel is depicted in normal size for the group picture.
Murdoc went on the spend the new few years on a bender around the world. In 2008, Murdoc began to run low on money, so he burned down the ruins of Kong Studios, cashed in on the insurence money, blamed the fire on some kids and fled the country. He also mentioned that part of the reason for the move was to flee from a deadly underground network of pirates simply referred to as the "Black Clouds." The Black Clouds, who were out to kill him after their business deal went south.
While searching the world for a new hideout, Murdoc discovered an island in the middle of the ocean made entirly out of landfull stuck together. He sprayed the island bright pink and used the insurence money to build a new Gorillaz HQ on top, renaming the island, "Plastic Beach." According to the pelican at the entrance of the building on the band's website, Plastic Beach is the farthest point from any other land mass in the world, dubbed "Point Nemo".After finding the island, he shipped a great deal of the band's belongings to Plastic Beach, their new home. While residing on the island, Murdoc began production for the third Gorillaz ablum, but he had to reassemble his band mates.
Murdoc said he tried to recover clues to Noodle's whereabouts from the wreckage of the windmill from El Manana, but the most he could obtain was a DNA sample. He later used her DNA to create a violent cyborg version of Noodle, who acts as his bodyguard. In the Stylo video, Cyborg Noodle is shown to be adept at the use of firearms, nearly blowing away a police officer that was in pursuit of 2D and Murdoc as they fled toward Plastic Beach. However, Noodle is confirmed to be alive due to her appearance in the "On Melancholy Hill" and "Rhinestone Eyes" videos. Part of the album artwork for Plastic Beach also included a picture of a battered and bruised Noodle with jet-black eyes. Since a robot can't bruise, it makes sense that this picture would be of the real noodle rather than the cyborg version. (Of course, that brings up the question of how she got those eyes and what exactly they mean, but time will tell.) Noodle is being hunted by pirates in a manner similar to Murdoc for unknown reasons, (more on that later) and the cruise ship she was sailing on was sunk by attacking bombers, leaving her drifting at sea in a life raft.
2D was gassed, kidnapped in his Beruit retreat, and taken to Plastic Beach in a suitcase (as shown in 2D's Plastic Beach Ident video clip). He believes Murdoc was the one who kidnapped him; however, it appears that a new character, a demon wearing a gas mask known as the Boogie Man, was his kidnapper. The Boogie Man is the embodiment of all wordly evil and appears in several artworks, as well as 2D's Ident, the Stylo video, and the storyboard for Rhinestone Eyes. Currently, he is being held at Plastic Beach against his will by Murdoc, who forces him to assist in the making of his music tracks.
Little was known about the fate of Russell initially, as Murdoc mentioned he had essentially dropped off the face of the earth. Murdoc mentions that he used a drum machine built from all of Russel's equipment to provide percussion for his album. Finally, Russel's Plastic Beach Ident clip hit the website, showing him stomping down a fishing dock in a barely suppressed rage and jumping off the end into the ocean. When the album dropped and the artwork for the record debuted, it depicted Russel as a giant; he is now as tall as all of Plastic Beach. In the "Making of Plastic Beach" documentary, included in the deluxe edition of the album, Jamie Hewlett shows Mos Def the artwork for the album and explains the back story for each character. He says that in swimming the ENTIRE way to Plastic Beach, Russell ingested so much pollution, trash and toxic waste that he was transformed into a giant, making a reference to Gulliver's Travels. Russell's situation reinforces the idea of human excess destroying nature already present on the album. On the way to Plastic Beach, Russel finds the sea-stranded Noodle and rescues her, and together they continue on to be reunited with the rest of the band.
Murdoc and 2D proceed to make their way to Plastic Beach via a road trip to the ocean in a 1969 Camaro SS (dubbed "Stylo'). Murdoc and 2D are attacked by Bruce Willis, driving a 1968 El Camino. Cyborg Noodle is rendered useless due to a bullet through her head, and Willis opens fire on the two, resulting in a car chase that makes up the Stylo video. Murdoc drives them off a cliff into the ocean, and the car transforms into a shark shaped submarine. The car chase was recorded on film by Murdoc's personal camera crew and was edited the make the music video for the "Stylo" single.
The Plasic Beach album was released on March 3rd 2010.
The Boogieman moments before taking several bullets through his cape from Cyborg Noodle's rifle.
Murdoc, 2D, and the newly recovered Cyborg Noodle, along with all the collaborators for the Plastic Beach album, make their way to Point Nemo together, traveling side by side in an armada of underwater vehicles. Upon arriving in a thick fog, Murdoc sights the Boogie Man and orders his Cyborg bodyguard to open fire. The Boogie Man escapes, leaving the fog to dissipate and reveal Plastic Beach.
On November 21st, Gorillaz released a new single called "Doncamatic" featuring Daley. The music video for the single featured Daley piloting a one man submarine through the depths of the ocean on his way to Plastic Beach. The song went to No.37 in the UK Singles Charts.
From October 3rd - December 21st, Gorillaz set off on their first world tour; "The Escape to Plastic Beach World Tour." Unfortunatly Murdoc, 2-D and Cyborg Noodle spent the entire tour locked in the dressing room while the Gorillaz "live band" took over the stage. Murdoc suspected that when he refused to give his soul to Satan for making Gorillaz successful, he kept the real Gorillaz out of the shows and gave the glory to the Gorillaz Live band. The live band consisted on Daman Albarn and half of The Clash. It was also Satan who sent the Boogieman to track Murdoc down to claim his soul.
During the American leg of the tour, 2-D had been working on a new collection of Gorillaz music on his iPad. He had been experimenting with new sounds and apps in various locations during the tour, including his hotel room, backstage in the dressing rooms, and in the back of the tour bus. This collection of new music was become, "The Fall." It was released on Christmas Day in 2010 for free download from their website to the members of their Sub-Division fan club. The album was physically released on CD on April 18th, 2011. The first single off the album was a double sided single featuring the tracks, "Revolving Doors" / "Amarillo."
The band in Phase 3, along with Cyborg Noodle.
The storyboard of the now cancelled music video for "Rhinestone Eyes" reveals that the gas mask demon known as the Boogie Man has a grudge against Murdoc due to a deal they made. This could mean that the Boogie Man represents the Black Cloud in this video, as he is also seen summoning pirates, as well as planes similar to the ones that attacked Noodle, to raid Plastic Beach in an attempt at Murdoc's life. The album's collaborators, along with Cyborg Noodle, arm themselves with guns and retaliate, while Murdoc hides for fear of his own safety. 2D, who is shown to be deathly afraid of whales, is frightened senseless when a whale nearly rams the underside of the island during the battle. However, just as it closes it's jaws around the underwater window of 2D's room, Russel appears and hurls the whale into an enemy plane, destroying it. Russel then leans onto the Beach and opens his mouth, revealing the real Noodle. Noodle then takes off her mask, revealing scars around her eye.
Soon after that, the Black Clouds bombarded the island, now going for an all-out attack on the island. In the chaos, the whale managed to break through the wall where 2D was and the singer shared the fate of Jonah: being swallowed whole by the whale. While this was going on, Cyborg Noodle suffered a severe malfunction and tried to kill Murdoc, but was put offline permanently by Noodle. Russel managed to rescue Noodle and 2D managed to escape the whale. The Boogieman was "destroyed" by the Evangelist, a polar opposite of the Boogieman. Murdoc was killed in the bombarding of the garbage island. Or so the Black Clouds thought. In truth, Murdoc had a badly disguised decoy take his place and make it look like he committed suicide. The Boogieman collected the decoy's soul but was "wiped out" by the Evangelist. Meanwhile, the real Murdoc escaped the island in a rowboat, but was caught up in a typhoon and eventually landed in Hawaii. There, he began to record a radio show to celebrate Gorillaz' Ten Year anniversary. Turns out he wasn't in Hawaii, but a ransacked house in London, where the other three members managed to reach him. It's unknown what happened then.
Notice of Eviction.
As of October 16, 2011, the four remaining band members were seen living at 212 Wobble Street, London(as seen in the DoYaThing music video). 2D is seen checking on Noodle as she sleeps. Most of her facial injuries appear to have healed. The Boogieman was also revealed to still be alive and lived in with the band, reading a newspaper. Russel is later seen sleeping on the roof of the row house as 2D receives a letter stating that the band was being evicted from the residence. The floating windmill island can be seen in a state of disrepair and anchored to the roof of the building.
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"Sport - which tennis player has the nickname ""BOOM-BOOM""?" | Hall of Fame – TalkTennis
E-mail: [email protected]
The achievements of some of the most famous Tennis stars in the history of the sport are listed below.
Andre Agassi
Andre Agassi finally retired in 2006 at the age of 36, after enjoying one of the most successful Tennis careers in living memory. Agassi remains one of only five players in the history of the sport to have won all four Grand Slam titles. As for many players, the victory which alluded Agassi for the longest was the Men’s Singles title at the French Open. After making a dramatic comeback from a two set deficit, he finally claimed the title in 1999, by defeating Andrei Medvedev 1-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in the Final of the tournament.
During the course of his career, Agassi won eight Grand Slam tournaments. He was one of the most popular players of the 1990s, frequently drawing attention to himself with his well-developed sense of fashion. His rivalry with compatriot Pete Sampras drew a great deal of public interest; any match which saw them pitched against each other was always guaranteed to draw a large audience.
Agassi was the object of great tabloid scrutiny for a time in 1996 following his split with the actress Brooke Shields. His personal troubles led to a slump in his career, but he recovered quickly and enjoyed a further ten years as a professional player before a back injury forced him into retirement. Agassi married fellow Tennis star Steffi Graf in 2001.
Those interested in learning more about Agassi and his career can visit the star’s Official website or his Online Fan Club.
Boris Becker
Boris Becker stormed onto the international Tennis stage in 1985, when he defeated Kevin Curran to become the youngest ever player to win Wimbledon, at the age of just 17. His power was immediately admired by observers and he acquired the nick-name ‘Boom Boom Becker’ on account of his formidable serve. He would win Wimbledon again in 1986 and 1989. He was finally ranked as the World Number One after his impressive performance in the 1991 Australian Open. By the end of his career, Becker had won 49 Singles titles (including 6 Grand Slams) and 15 Doubles titles. He also won a Gold medal for Germany with Michael Stich in the Men’s Doubles in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Björn Borg
Björn Borg was born in Stockholm in 1956. He enjoyed a successful Tennis career which included eleven Grand Slam titles, including an impressive six victories at the French Open. Borg’s notorious icy exterior meant Tennis commentators tagged him with the nickname ‘Ice Borg’ relatively early in his career. This name never seemed more apt than when Borg faced his nemesis John McEnroe.
The intensity of McEnroe and Borg’s rivalry was never greater than during the famous Wimbledon Men’s Singles Final of 1980. Unfortunately for Borg, most Tennis fans look back nostalgically at McEnroe’s dramatic fourth set victory, and sometimes forget that Borg was the eventual victor in what is generally considered to be one of the greatest finals in the history of the tournament. The final score was 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (16-18), 8-6. During the course of his career, Borg amassed over $3 million in prize money. His achievements were recognised when he was inducted to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987.
Jimmy Connors
Connors won 109 titles during his career, including two Wimbledon Men’s Singles titles, off the back of his fantastic array of shots, most notably his incredible backhand. He also distinguished himself by becoming the only player to win the U.S. Open on all three surfaces on which it has been played: grass, clay and the hard court. A contemporary of Björn Borg and John McEnroe, the 1970s and early 1980s were the heyday of Connors’ career. In 1974, he came close to grasping a Golden Grand Slam, managing to win three of the four Grand Slam tournaments; only the French Open alluded him that year, as it would for the duration of his career.
For further study of Jimmy Connors then check out his specialist page here on TalkTennis.
Roger Federer
Roger Federer looks set to become one of the greatest Tennis players of all time. Federer is currently the undisputed World Number One and has already won ten Grand Slam tournaments and won over $30 million in prize money. He has become particularly skilled on grass, and took the Wimbledon Men’s Singles title with relative ease for four consecutive years between 2003 and 2006.
Born in 1981 in Basel, Switzerland, the esteem with which Federer is held by his compatriots was recently made plain by the commission of a postage stamp bearing the Tennis star. Such an honour is unprecedented in Switzerland, as this accolade is usually reserved for long-dead national heroes. More information about Federer’s achievements and developments in his career can be found on his Official Website.
Steffi Graf
Steffi Graf is an undisputed Tennis legend. A number of pundits and polls have claimed that the former German star might even have been the greatest female player of the 20th Century. During the course of her career Graf won an incredible 22 Grand Slam tournaments, and accomplished the rare feat of winning all four Grand Slams in a single year (1988). She is also the only player to have won each of the four Grand Slams at least four times.
Graf was comfortable on all surfaces, reflected in the 377 weeks she spent ranked as the World Number One by the Women’s Tennis Association. Her Grand Slam victories were also complemented by many other Singles titles, two Olympic Gold medals (in 1984 and 1988) and a Silver medal in 1992. Graf was a member of the Fed Cup team for seven years.
Steffi Graf retired from professional Tennis in August 1999 at the relatively young age of 30 due to persistent knee problems. In the same year, she delighted tabloid editors by becoming involved with fellow Tennis player Andre Agassi. The couple were married in 2001 and have two children together.
For more on Steffi Graf then click here
Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis was born in Slovakia (formally Czechoslovakia) in 1980. She became the youngest ever Wimbledon Champion when she and her partner Helena Suková won the Ladies Doubles title when Hingis was only fifteen years old. By 1997, she had reached Number One in the world rankings, had won the Wimbledon Ladies’ Singles title and the Australian Open. She had also managed to deny Venus Williams the Women’s Singles U.S Open title. While injuries forced her to withdraw from the game in 2001, she made a return to professional Tennis in the 2006/2007 season.
Hingis has had quite a career – to read more about it then check out our page dedicated to her.
Billie Jean King
Billie Jean King was born in California in 1943. By the end of her career she had amassed a whopping 39 Grand Slam victories (12 Singles, 16 Ladies’ Doubles and 11 Mixed Doubles) and over $1 million in prize money at a time when tournaments did not have the immense purses typical today.
The American was ranked fourth in the world by 1960 when she was only seventeen years old, and first won a Wimbledon title, the Ladies’ Doubles, a year later. King’s contribution to Tennis did not end with her incredible achievements on the court. Both during her career and after her retirement, King’s dedication to securing equal opportunities (and, controversially, equal prize money) for women has been second to none. In recent years, the dedication of King and other advocates for complete equality has paid off; the French Open and Wimbledon will pay the winners of the Ladies’ and Men’s Finals equal amounts for the first time in 2007. Such developments have not been without serious debate though.
King is well remembered for defeating Bobby King in a match broadcast to over 50 million people from the Houston Astrodome in 1973. She defeated King 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 in the match which became known as the "Battle of the Sexes".
John McEnroe
When most people think of John McEnroe, they recall his notoriously short fuse. His frequent displays of temper, including explosions such as "You cannot be serious!", earned him the nick-name "the Super-brat".
McEnroe is remembered for the tense Men’s Singles Final of 1980, when he finally succumbed to his great rival Björn Borg in the fifth set, despite an impressive victory in the fourth. He exacted his revenge on Borg later in 1980, and again in 1981, when he defeated the Wimbledon Champion at the U.S. Open. He took particular pride in representing the United States in the Davis Cup, an honour he perhaps took particularly seriously as a consequence of his father’s military background. Indeed, McEnroe was born in Germany, where his father was serving, in 1959 before moving back to New York as a toddler.
While McEnroe might have almost as many tantrums as aces to his name during his career, he will ultimately be remembered for consistently ranking amongst the top ten male players in the world for ten consecutive years. During that time, he accumulated an impressive seventeen Grand Slam titles: seven Singles'; nine Men’s Doubles; and one Mixed Doubles. McEnroe is now a popular tennis commentator.
Fred Perry
As visitors enter the All England Club to watch Wimbledon each summer, they walk past a statue of Britain’s greatest Tennis hero. Fred Perry is the most successful British male Tennis star of all time. His achievements are all the more remarkable considering that he did not take up Tennis until he was eighteen years old; prior to being introduced to the sport, Perry had been a World Table Tennis Champion.
Born in Stockport in Cheshire in 1909, Perry went on to win each of the Grand Slam tournaments during the course of his career; the so-called Career Golden Grand Slam. He ranked amongst the top ten players in the world between 1931 and 1936, and was consistently ranked at Number One from 1934-6. Perry represented Great Britain a number of times in the Davis Cup, leading the team to the success which has alluded the national team in recent years. He died in Australia in 1995.
For more on the last male English Wimbledon Champion this click here .
Pete Sampras
Pete Sampras was born in 1971 in Washington D.C. He first captured international attention when he beat Andre Agassi in the final match of the U.S. Open at the age of only nineteen. The roots of a long rivalry were born during the match.
Sampras was always at his most comfortable on the lawns of Wimbledon. He often referred to Centre Court as his "Cathedral". He won his first Wimbledon title in 1993 and would dominate Centre Court for the duration of the 1990s, losing out only to Dutchman Richard Krajicek in the 1996 semi-finals. Fans who flocked to Wimbledon to see Sampras play became even more excited when he was pitched against Agassi. Yet his success was not restricted to Wimbledon alone; from 1993-8 Sampras was ranked as the World Number One on the basis of his success in a variety of Championships.
Those interested in learning more about Sampras might want to look at his Official Website or the Pete Sampras Fan Site .
Monica Seles
Monica Seles was born in Novi Sad in the former Yugoslavia in 1973. Seles has also represented the United States, as she became a U.S citizen in 1994. She became the youngest ever Champion of the French Open in 1990. She went on to win a further eight Grand Slam tournaments.
Seles’ career was interrupted in 1993 when she was stabbed in the back during a match in Hamburg in front of 6000 spectators. Her attacker turned out to be a mentally unstable man who was unhappy that Seles had usurped Steffi Graf from the Number One ranking. Fortunately, Seles’ injuries were not life threatening and she recovered quickly.
For more on Monica Seles then read our page on her.
Serena Williams
There are few professional Tennis players who have had the experience of battling their way through the initial stages of a Grand Slam tournament only to look across the net in the Final to be confronted by their own sibling. This is, however, a scenario which the Williams sisters have become accustomed to in recent years. Venus and Serena are the two youngest of the five daughters of Richard Williams. They were raised in the rough L.A. suburb of Compton. Determined for his daughters to find a way out of their deprived neighbourhood, Richard Williams drilled them in the fundamentals of Tennis. When Serena and Venus showed clear aptitude for the sport, he started them on a carefully regimented training programme and began to enter them in youth competitions.
Serena was born in Michigan in 1981. Despite being a year younger than Venus, she managed to win a Grand Slam tournament before her sister. She subsequently won another seven Grand Slams and a number of other Singles and Doubles titles. Before 2002, Serena existed somewhat in the shadow of Venus, but emphatically bucked that trend when she won the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open that year. Since that point, she has been a prominent figure in women’s tennis, although her forays in other areas such as fashion have seen her influence dwindle.
Venus Williams
Venus Williams was born in Lynnwood, California in 1980. Venus has had a career marked by winning and losing streaks, but her losing streaks have not detracted from an extraordinary record. She entered her first Grand Slam tournament, the U.S. Open, in 1997, where she became the first unseeded player to reach the Final. She was denied the title in that year, however, by Martina Hingis.
Venus fulfilled a dream in 2000 when she won Wimbledon after beating her sister in the the semi-final and her compatriot Lindsay Davenport in the Final. On the following day, she also claimed the Ladies’ Doubles title, with Serena as her partner. The sisters also played together in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, when they took home a Gold medal on behalf of the United States. Venus also managed to win the Gold medal in the Women’s Singles event.
| Boris Becker |
The group 'Bananarama' made a record which got to number 3 in the pop charts in 1984. The title of the record contained the name of what film star? | Boris Becker - Biography - IMDb
Boris Becker
Jump to: Overview (4) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (2) | Trivia (30) | Personal Quotes (1)
Overview (4)
6' 1½" (1.87 m)
Mini Bio (1)
Boris Franz Becker was born on November 22, 1967 in Leimen, West Germany, the only son in the family of an architect. His father built the tennis center (Blau-Weiss Tennisklub), where young Becker was usually playing against young Steffi Graf in training matches. In 1984 he became a professional tennis player.
Becker was an unknown 17-year-old unseeded outsider at the Wimbledon tennis tournament in 1985, when he shot to fame by setting the record for Wimbledon, becoming the youngest player ever to win the men's final. He was also the first unseeded player ever and the first German to win the men's single title at Wimbledon. He was nicknamed "Boom Boom" for his huge serve. Becker reached the Wimbledon final 7 times in 10 years and won 3 men's single titles, among the total of 49 singles and 15 doubles victories over the course of his career. Becker became the second youngest player, after Björn Borg , to be introduced into the tennis' Hall of Fame in 2003. He ranks third in sport career earnings with $25,080,956. But pressures and demands on him brought too much stress into his life.
At the age of 31 Becker retired from professional tennis. In 1993, he married Barbara Feltus , who was the daughter of an African-American serviceman and a white German lady. The celebrity couple appeared naked on the cover of "Stern" magazine before their marriage (the photo was made by her father). They married on December 17, 1993, and had their first son, Noah, born on January 18, 1994, and their second son Elias, born on September 4, 1999. Becker gained respect for his stance against racism. But in 2000, his wife took both sons to Florida and filed a petition in Miami court, ignoring their prenuptial agreement, that entitled her to a single payoff of $2,500,000. She got 14,400,000 and the custody of both sons, and her lawyer was paid for by Becker.
His high-profile marriage and an equally high-profile divorce from model Barbara Feltus was paralleled by the story of him impregnating a Russian-African model Angela Ermakova at an upscale London restaurant in the summer of 1999, and having an illegitimate child (Anna, born on March 22, 2000). After having positive DNA test results, Becker recognized his fatherhood of a daughter Anna and payed a generous $5,000,000 settlement in 2001. This came on top of his tax problems, for which he was fined $500,000. He also suffered from alcohol and drug addiction, which complicated matters in his turbulent life.
Boris Becker was able to overcome the mistakes of his past and moved on with his life, by first moving from Monaco to Mallorca and to Zug, Switzerland. His sincere and open autobiography, titled "Boris Becker - The Player: The Autobiography" was published in 2004. He works with a British TV sports-show and has a regular gig as a BBC commentator at Wimbledon. Becker also plays exhibitions on the Senior ATP Tour and on the Billie Jean King's World Team Tennis tour. Outside of his sports career Boris Becker has been a successful businessman. He owns half of the tennis racquet company Völkl, collaborates with watchmakers, owns several Mercedes dealerships and also does promotions for Mercedes-Benz.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Steve Shelokhonov
Spouse (2)
(January 26, 2001) A Munich court granted Becker a divorce. Ex-wife Barbara reportedly got a $14.4 million settlement, their condo on Florida's exclusive Fisher Island and custody of their sons, Noah and Elias.
Member of the Laureus World Sports Academy, a European foundation devoted to achieving social change through sports.
Father Karl-Heinz, an architect, designed the tennis center where Becker and Steffi Graf played against each other as children.
Never won a professional tournament on clay.
In 1992, ignoring his nation's euphoria over reunification, Becker refused to serve as ambassador for Berlin's bid to host the 2000 Olympics, saying he feared a triumphant Germany might stir its citizens' old fantasies about a master race.
Owns 3 Mercedes-Benz dealerships.
The only unseeded player to win the Wimbledon's men's singles title and the first German ever to win it.
(August 4, 2002) Boris Becker Sports Collection presented in Italy. It will be launched worldwide in February 2003.
Won the 1992 Olympic men's tennis doubles title with Michael Stich .
(October 24, 2002) Convicted of tax evasion after a two-day trial in Munich. Becker was given two years' probation, fined $500,000, and ordered to pay all court costs. Becker, who admitted he lived in Germany from 1991-1993 while claiming to reside in the tax haven of Monte Carlo, has already paid $3 million in back taxes.
Publisher of Germany's Tennis Magazine [2002]
Fathered a daughter, Anna (b. March 22, 2000 in London, UK), by Russian-African model Angela Ermakova. The child was conceived in a closet at Nobu restaurant, where Ermakova worked as a waitress, after a drunken Becker had a fight with his wife. At first he denied paternity, but after DNA tests proved his paternity Becker said he wants to meet Anna - but is afraid that Ermakova would turn the meeting into a media circus. On July 9, 2001, he agreed to pay Ermakova $5 million.
Career prize earnings: $21,966,402.
Youngest men's Wimbledon champ in history (1985 at age 17 years, 7 months). Becker won 49 singles titles, including six Grand Slams [Wimbledon (1985, 1986, 1989), Australian Open (1991, 1996) and US Open (1989)], plus 15 doubles titles.
First player to win a Grand Slam title after becoming a father (1996 Australian Open)
Inducted into The International Tennis Hall of Fame on July 12, 2003.
Lives in Schwyz, Switzerland.
Has written with "advisers" his yet-untitled autobiography, due in stores in November, Bertelsmann Publishers announced. (August 6, 2003).
Announced his retirement on June 25, 1999. Hours after losing to Patrick Rafter in the 4th round at Wimbledon.
Although he can speak English, Becker was granted permission to testify in German and have the proceedings translated into German during his divorce trial in Miami.
Son of Elvira Becker .
Signs with PokerStars.net and will play on its European Tour (November 2007).
Launched "Boris Becker TV" online media platform. The site follows Becker's daily life, and shows clips of his career. (May 2009).
Married Lilly Kerssenberg the same day his ex-wife Barbara remarried. Among the 200 guests were Mika Häkkinen and Franz Beckenbauer .
Amadeus Benedict Edley Luis Becker, Becker's 4th child, and first with wife Lilly Kerssenberg, born on February 9, 2010 in London, UK.
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Which composer wrote the opera 'A Midsummer Nights Dream' based on Shakespeare's play? | Shakespeare Inspired Operas
Shakespeare Inspired Operas
You are here: Home / William Shakespeare Resources / Shakespeare Inspired Operas
Shakespeare’s themes and stories have inspired numerous operas over the years. Here’s our list of operas that have used Shakespeare as inspiration:
The Tempest
The Tempest by Felice Lattuada (1922)
The Knot Garden by Michael Tippett (1970)
Un Re In Ascolto by Luciano Berio’s [A Listening King] (1984)
The Tempest by John C Eaton (1985)
The Enchanted Isle by Thomas Shadwell (1674)
Roméo et Juliette by Charles Gounod (1867)
A Village Romeo and Juliet by Frederick Delius (1901),
West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein (1957)
I Capuleti e i Montecchi by Vincenzo Bellini (1830).
Giulietta e Romeo by Nicola Vaccai (1825)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Benjamin Britten (1960)
The Fairy Queen by Henry Purcell (1692).
Macbeth by Giuseppe Verdi (1847)
Macbeth by Ernest Bloch (1910)
Hamlet by Ambroise Thomas (1868)
Otello by Giuseppe Verdi (1887)
Otello by Giulio Rossini (1816)
Béatrice et Bénédict by Hector Berlioz (1862)
Timon of Athens by Stephen Oliver (1991)
The Taming of the Shrew
Kiss Me Kate by Cole Porter (1953)
Operas based on the character of Falstaff
At the Boar’s Head by Gustav Holst (1925)
Der Kustigen Weiber von Windsor by Otto Nicolai (1849)
Sir John in Love by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1929)
Falstaff by Giuseppe Verdi (1893)
April 23, 2016 at 8:39 pm
Two other works – The Boys from Syracuse, a musical, was based on A Comedy of Errors by Rogers and Hart; while Das Liebesverbot was an early opera by Richard Wagner, based on Measure for Measure. Berlioz also included a portion of Merchant of Venice in Les Troyens.
August 20, 2013 at 5:36 am
Samuel Barber set “Antony and Cleopatra” to a libretto adapted by Franco Zeffirelli from Shakespeare. It opened the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center in 1966. Though deemed a failure at the time of it’s premiere, it was revised by the composer and recorded for New World Records. Lyric Opera of Chicago staged the revised version; a performance was televised as part of PBS’ “Great Performances” series.
August 20, 2013 at 5:31 am
Regarding “The Taming of the Shrew” there are a number of other operas:
The first opera based on the play, Il duca di Atene, was an opera buffa with a libretto by Carlo Francesco Badini and music by Ferdinando Bertoni. The opera was first performed in London in 1780.[105]
In 1795 the Spanish composer Vicente Martín y Soler wrote La capricciosa corretta, an opera buffa with libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, partly adapted from the play. It was first performed in London.
Another operatic version came in 1828, when Frederic Reynolds adapted Garrick’s Catherine and Petruchio, adding an overture by Rossini and songs from Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets set to music by tenor John Braham and T. Cooke. Starring J.W. Wallack and Fanny Ayton, the opera was staged at Drury Lane, but it was not successful, and closed after only a few performances.[106]
In 1874, Hermann Goetz created Der Widerspänstigen Zähmung, a comic opera first performed at the National Theatre Mannheim in Germany; the libretto was by Joseph Widmann and Goetz.
In 1927, Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari wrote a verismo opera called Sly, or The Legend of the Sleeper Awoken, based on the prologue of the play, with a libretto by Giovacchino Forzano. First performed at La Scala in Milan, the opera starred Aureliano Pertile as Sly (tenor) and Mercedes Llopart as Dolly (soprano).
In 1953, Vittorio Giannini adapted the play into an opera buffa, with a libretto by Giannini and Dorothy Fee.
In 1957, Vissarion Shebalin composed the best known Russian opera based on Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew (Укрощение строптивой)
It is my understanding that the Goetz setting is still frequently performed in German speaking countries, and several recordings exist. The Giannini was also recorded in the LP era.
| Benjamin Britten |
Which traditional Scottish soup is made with the principal ingredients of leek, onions and chicken stew, and sometimes also with prunes? | Shakespeare and Opera | British Council
Shakespeare and Opera
Shakespeare and music
In the first decade of the 17th-century, just as Shakespeare was at the height of his powers as a playwright, a new form of music theatre was invented in the Italian city of Florence and given the name ‘opera’. Whereas Shakespeare was exploring the power and intensity of poetry and language in his dramas, composers of the Italian Renaissance – chief among them Claudio Monteverdi – were focusing on the dramatic possibilities of combining words and music in a theatrical context.
Given Shakespeare’s extraordinary storytelling powers and his ability to draw vivid, complex characters, it was inevitable that composers of opera would turn to his plays for inspiration. Perhaps the earliest example of a musical treatment of a play by Shakespeare is The Fairy-Queen (1692) by the English composer Henry Purcell. This is a ‘semi-opera’ based on A Midsummer Night’s Dream, where sections of the play are interwoven with music and songs.
It wasn’t until the 19th century that opera really began to engage with Shakespeare, both as a dramatist and in terms of the psychological journeys made by the characters in his plays. In 1816, the Italian composer Gioachino Rossini (celebrated for his great comic operas such as The Barber of Seville) wrote an ‘opera seria’ – or serious opera – based on Othello. (In accordance with the conventions of the time, Rossini supplied an alternative happy ending to the work, where Iago’s deceit is discovered just in time!)
Perhaps the greatest and most enduring operatic settings of Shakespeare are by another Italian composer, Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901), whose ideas about drama and character were heavily influenced by Shakespeare throughout his career. Verdi wrote three operatic masterpieces based on Shakespeare plays: Macbeth, Othello and Falstaff (the latter based on The Merry Wives of Windsor and the Henry IV plays). These operas remain at the heart of the international repertoire, matching Shakespeare in their dramatic impact as well as their emotional and psychological depth.
Of all of Shakespeare’s works, Romeo and Juliet has inspired more composers than any other, across many musical forms. Its combination of youthful romance, family discord and profound tragedy provides all the ingredients for great music drama. From the 19th century, there are two outstanding operatic settings of the play: I Capuleti e i Montecchi by the Sicilian-born composer Vincenzo Bellini, and Frenchman Charles Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette.
In the middle of the 20th century, Leonard Bernstein updated Shakespeare’s love story to contemporary New York and brought it to Broadway as West Side Story, a work that is treated increasingly as a fully-fledged opera. Another prominent work from the same period is Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1958), full of evocative and sensitive musical responses to Shakespeare’s language, quoting directly from the play.
There are around 200 operatic treatments of Shakespeare’s plays, though only a handful have entered the core repertoire of opera companies around the world. Shakespeare provided an important platform for some of opera’s greatest geniuses including Richard Wagner (Das Liebesverbot, based on Measure for Measure, was his second opera), and Hector Berlioz, for whom Shakespeare was a lifelong obsession (Béatrice et Bénédict tells the story of the central characters in Much Ado About Nothing).
Today’s composers of opera continue to engage with Shakespeare. Important works in recent decades include operatic versions of King Lear by the German composer Aribert Reimann and by Aulis Salinnen, one of Finland’s most prominent musical figures. In Britain, Thomas Adès has made a striking contribution to the contemporary operatic repertoire with The Tempest, given its world premiere at the Royal Opera House in 2004. Meanwhile, Glyndebourne has announced a major commission based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet, by the Australian composer Brett Dean, to be premiered at the 2017 festival.
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Who was the leader of the early christian church in Ephesus addressed by a letter from St Paul in the New Testament? | Ancient Ephesus and the New Testament - Mark D. Roberts
Mark D. Roberts
Ancient Ephesus and the New Testament
Ancient Ephesus
How our knowledge of the ancient city of Ephesus
enriches our knowledge of the New Testament
by Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts
Copyright © 2011 by Mark D. Roberts and Patheos.com
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Ancient Ephesus and the New Testament: Introduction
For many of us, the events of the Bible seem to take place in some distant, magic world of “Bible lands,” a wonderland rather like the one discovered by Alice. We read about Jerusalem, Nazareth, Corinth, and Ephesus, but picture some hazy world shaped by illustrations in our children’s Bibles. The places in which the stories of the Bible happened seem unreal, and, therefore, so can the stories.
The more we actually know about the places in which the Bible was written and in which the stories happened, the more we’ll be able to read the Bible as it was meant to be read, as the account of real experiences by real people in real places. Moreover, we’ll be able to understand the meaning of the Bible more accurately and precisely.
I’ve spent a great deal of my life studying the Bible from both an academic and a pastoral perspective. I’ve also examined in great detail many of the archeological descriptions of biblical sites. The Internet has made all of this much easier and quite wonderful, actually. (Check out sites such as http://www.holylandphotos.org/ and http://www.bibleplaces.com/ ). But, until a few years ago, I had visited only one place that could count as part of “Bible lands.” In 1984, and again in 2004, I visited Rome, the city to which Paul’s famous letter is addressed, and which is referenced in several New Testament passages. Strictly speaking, however, none of the biblical stories actually took place in Rome.
The Arch of Titus in Rome, which commemorates the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple in AD 70
So you can imagine how excited I was in 2007 and then again this past summer (2011) to visit some of the locations in which New Testament events actually happened. In 2007, I visited Athens and Ephesus. This year, I was able to visit Patmos, Crete, Antalya (Attalia), Cyprus, and Israel, in addition to Ephesus (for the second time). Many of these islands or cities play a relatively minor role in the New Testament, with the obvious exception of Israel, of course.
Athens appears in the New Testament as the place where Paul preached his famous “sermon” on the Areopagus (Mars Hill, Acts 17:22ff). But Ephesus is arguably one of the most important of cities in early Christianity. Jerusalem probably takes first place in this competition, but Ephesus runs a close second, along with Antioch. In the second century and beyond, Rome became the most prominent city for Christianity.
Why was Ephesus so significant for early Christianity? In part, this had to do with the prominence of the city itself in the first century and its central location along the coast of Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). But, more importantly, Ephesus attracted many influential Christian leaders, including Paul, John, and Timothy. (Ephesus claims to be the last place where Mary, the mother of Jesus, lived, though the historical evidence for this is mixed at best. I’ll have more to say about this later.)
Prior to my visit to Ephesus, I had studied this city in great detail. It almost felt as if I had been there. So you can imagine my joy in actually seeing the extensive remains of the ancient city of Ephesus with my own eyes. During my first visit to Ephesus, the temperature was well over 100 degrees, but this didn’t wilt my enthusiasm. This year, I toured the ancient city with the temperature hovering around 90 degrees. Much better! I was also able to see parts of the city that I had missed in 2007.
In the posts that follow, I’ll share some of my pictures of Ephesus and explain how our knowledge of the ancient city enriches our understanding of the New Testament, especially Acts 18-19. If you’ve been to Ephesus, this can serve as a helpful reminder. If you’ve never been there, consider this an introduction and invitation.
The Location and Environment of Ephesus
Ephesus, or what is left of it, lies on the western edge of modern day Turkey, just about five miles inland from the Aegean coast. The picture to the right shows the location of Ephesus. It is close to the modern town of Selcuk. Most tourists visit Ephesus by way of the port city of Kusadasi, which is about a 45-minute drive from Ephesus. The countryside between these two cities is fertile, lush with agriculture. It reminded me of farmlands inland from San Diego, California.
Given the current location of Ephesus, you might be surprised to learn that it was once a major port city. No, Ephesus didn’t move, or not much, anyway. Ancient cities did tend to move around a bit. When a city burned down, they’d rebuild it nearby. Ephesus was no exception. But it wasn’t a change of location that made Ephesus a port city. Rather, it was the changing shoreline. In ancient times, Ephesus had a harbor, such that the city went right up to the water. But sediment from the Cayster River eventually filled in the harbor. (The photo to the right shows the location of the ancient harbor, with the ruins of the city in the center and foreground of the picture.)
Ephesus itself lies in a valley. It is protected by steep hills on either side. In days gone by, this would have helped to guard the city from enemy attack. The valley also adds to the beauty of the location, even today.
One of the most famous of Ephesus’s ancient structures, the Temple of Artemis, was not located in the center of the city as it was found in Roman times. Rather, the Artemision was a mile or so out of town. All that remains of the temple is a single pillar, which lies just to the left of the center of the picture to the right. (In the photo to the right, Ephesus lies on the other side of the two low hills in the middle of the picture, and at the bottom of the larger hill in the background. If you look carefully at the center of the picture, you can see the single pillar that remains of the Temple of Artemis. Ironically, you can see much more of this Temple in the British Museum or in the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.)
Tomorrow, we’ll begin our online photo tour of Ephesus.
Touring Ancient Ephesus
Ancient Ephesus lies in a valley between two hills. This valley slopes toward the sea. Therefore, tours of the city tend to start at the eastern end and work toward the west, which means tourists can walk downhill rather than up. This is helpful in the summer especially, when the temperatures can be quite steamy. When we were in Ephesus in 2007, the thermometer was well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and there is almost no shade available among the ruins. It was cooler in 2011, with temperatures in the low 90s. In the photo to the right, you can see Ephesus nestled between the hills. To the left, you can see the seats of the theatre. The white buildings are the place where many ancient houses are currently being excavated. The tour begins in the middle of the saddle.
Near the eastern entrance to ancient Ephesus you’ll find plenty of vendors, some of them literally sticking their wares into your face, only a couple of inches from your nose. You can buy clothing, hats (recommended for the tour if it’s hot and sunny), soft drinks, and various souvenirs. Don’t bother with the supposedly authentic old coins. They’re neither authentic nor old. In this location you’ll see one of my favorite signs in the world: Genuine Fake Watches. You’ve got to commend the vendors for their honesty. But this sign raises a question: What would fake fake watches be?
The beginning of the tour of Ephesus is relatively unimpressive. For the most part, you see dozens of stones, obviously part of ancient buildings. But you won’t see any restored ruins, except in the distance. Almost all of what makes Ephesus so special lies out of view, down the slope of the valley.
Near the beginning of the tour there was a stack of what looked like pieces of terra cotta pipe. Indeed, these sections of pipe were once part of the elaborate fresh water system for Ephesus. The Romans, who were masters of moving water around, had built aqueducts that brought water to the city. Then large pipes, pieces of which you can see in the photo to the right, moved the water around to key locations of the city (the baths, fountains, men’s toilet, etc.).
Tomorrow the tour continues.
Touring Ancient Ephesus, Part 2
A tour of Ephesus usually begins, as I explained yesterday, at the eastern end of the city because from there you walk downhill rather than uphill. In the map to the right, the tour would begin just to the right of the civic agora. On this map, you can see several of the major features of the ancient Ephesus, including the two agoras (public gathering places), the theatre, and the Library of Celsus. When you’re walking through Ephesus today, it seems small, like a town that might have had 5,000 residents. In fact, ancient Ephesus had perhaps as many as 200,000 residents. Many of their homes have not been excavated or refurbished. But even with all the original structures intact, a person today would be impressed by the extent to which people were crowded together in this city, as in others throughout the Roman Empire.
The Library of Celsus is the most beautiful of the restored buildings in Ephesus, and is often the place of evening concerts and other festivities. This library, which was once one of the largest in the ancient world, was not built during the first century AD, the time of greatest interest for New Testament scholars. It was constructed in AD 135 by a man who built it in honor of his father, Celsus, who had been a governor of Asia Minor (the location of Ephesus in the Roman Empire). Today, the library consists of a rebuilt façade, without the rooms that once contained thousands of scrolls.
For students of the New Testament and early Christianity, the Library of Celsus contains an easily overlooked treasure. It was, in fact, overlooked by many of the archeologists who painstakingly rebuilt the facade of the library. On the steps leading up to the entrance of the library, there is an easily missed carving, perhaps a piece of ancient graffiti. You can see it in the photo to the right. It is a menorah, a Jewish symbol. It was carved into the steps by some unknown Jewish resident of Ephesus sometime after the building of the library. Why is this unimpressive carving so important? Because it is the only archeological evidence we have for the existence of a Jewish community in Ephesus. The book of Acts testifies to such a community and their synagogue. But, as of this time, evidence of the synagogue has not been found.
If your tour begins in the eastern end of Ephesus, you first walk into one of the two agoras (or public squares) of the ancient city. There’s not much left of this civic agora, the place where the official business of Ephesus was once conducted. One of the buildings alongside the civic agora was the Prytaneion. This building was the center of city business. It was dedicated to the goddess Hestia, and contained the city’s sacred flame that was never allowed to go out. There is not much left of the Prytaneion, apart from a couple of rebuilt pillars. It was in this location that two statues of the goddess Artemis were discovered. They are now found in the Ephesus museum. I’ll have more to say about them later.
One of the highlights of the Ephesus tour is the men’s toilet, found along Curetes Street. This bathroom, as we’d say in the USA, once contained about twenty places for men to do their business. It had a running water sewage system in its day. Perhaps the most surprising part of this bathroom is that the seats were placed very few inches apart, without any barriers. So a man might find himself sitting next to another man, almost touching as they used the facilities. Apparently, men used this as a place to socialize. There certainly wasn’t much privacy, that’s for sure. In 2007, you could sit on the ancient toilets. Today, they are now off limits so as to preserve them.
Rather than continue this blog “tour” of Ephesus, I’m going to change gears in my next post and begin to make connections between the New Testament and the ancient city.
Ephesus in the New Testament
Early Christianity was significantly an urban movement. This might sound surprising if you’re used to thinking of Christians continuing the mode of Jesus, whose ministry happened largely (but not only) in rural Galilee. Yet, when we pay close attention to the facts of Christianity in the first-century A.D., we see the prominence of cities, including Jerusalem, Antioch (in Syria), Corinth, Rome, and Ephesus.
Curetes Street, the "main drag" of ancient Ephesus
Arguably, Ephesus was the most important city for Christians at the end of the first century. Jerusalem had pride of place at first. Rome was growing in influence in the early second century. Yet, not only was Ephesus situated rather in the center of an area in which Christianity was thriving, but also it was an important city in its own right. Moreover, it was associated with several prominent Christians, including Paul, Timothy, John, and perhaps even the Virgin Mary. (People who live near Ephesus today, along with many Roman Catholics throughout the world, believe that Mary lived just outside of Ephesus during her last days on earth. The photo to the right shows the center of Ephesus today, Curetes Street with the Library of Celsus in the distance.)
The fact that Christianity was primarily an urban movement helps to explain its rapid spread throughout the Roman world. Cities were the hubs of travel, trade, and culture. If one influenced a major city in a region, then one would also be able to influence the whole region. Thus, for example, if Paul were to establish a vital Christian presence in Ephesus, then this would spill over to other cities throughout Asia Minor.
Papyrus 46, showing portions of Galatians and Philippians
When we think of Ephesus and the New Testament, most of us would at first remember the letter of Paul called “The Letter to the Ephesians” or, simply, “Ephesians.” But it turns out that the connection between this letter and Ephesus is rather tenuous. Some of the earliest manuscripts of the letter do not contain the words “in Ephesus” (en Epheso in Greek). For example, Papyrus 46, one of the oldest and most reliable manuscripts of Paul’s letters, does not mention Ephesus. (The picture to the right shows part of this manuscript.) Many scholars believe that the so-called Letter to the Ephesians was originally a circular letter intended for several churches, including the church in Ephesus. This many also explain why the letter has so little in it that is uniquely Ephesian (no mention of the Temple of Artemis, for example).
The oldest references to Ephesus in the New Testament are found in Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. There, he writes:
If with merely human hopes I fought with wild animals at Ephesus, what would I have gained by it? (1 Cor 15:32)
I do not want to see you now just in passing, for I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. (1 Cor 16:7-9)
Unfortunately, we don’t know exactly what Paul means by fighting wild animals at Ephesus. The Ephesians were enthusiastic for games in which African animals fought against animals or people. But it seems most likely that Paul is speaking metaphorically, referring to some conflict that he had in Ephesus. Nevertheless, it does seem obvious that Paul was writing the letter we know as 1 Corinthians from Ephesus, where he was engaged in missionary work for an extended period of time. It was during this time that he must have “fought with wild animals.” Perhaps Paul was referring to the conflict we read about in Acts 19. I’ll turn to this in my next post in this series.
The Apostle Paul in Ephesus
In my last post, I quoted a passage from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians in which he wrote, “But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries” (1 Cor 16:8-9). This fits perfectly with the picture painted of Paul’s Ephesian ministry in Acts of the Apostles.
In Acts 18, Paul visited Ephesus briefly on his trip from Corinth back to Jerusalem (18:18-22). Verse 24 introduces a Jewish teacher named Apollos, who taught in the synagogue in Ephesus. This synagogue hasn’t been located by archeologists. Apollos accurately passed on some truths about Jesus, but didn’t know the whole story. So a leading Christian couple, Priscilla and Aquila, taught Apollos the what he had been missing. More fully informed, Apollos journeyed on to Corinth.
The Odeum in Ephesus
Acts 19 begins with Paul’s appearance at Ephesus. First, he laid hands on some disciples who received the Holy Spirit with power (19:1-7). Next, he presented the message of the kingdom of God in the Jewish synagogue, arguing persuasively. But when most of the Jews were closed to Paul’s message, he moved to the lecture hall of Tyrannus, where he continued preaching for two years. Today, we do not know exactly the location of this lecture hall. In all likelihood, it was a place where the men of Ephesus gathered for lectures on various subjects, including philosophy and religion. Ephesus was well known in the ancient world as a place of learning, and Paul would have been seen as one more philosopher with a tempting message offering transformation and immortality. (The photo to the right shows the Odeum in Ephesus, a theatre that could seat more than 1,000 people. Public lectures were given here. This was also the place where the city business was done.)
Paul’s ministry flourished, in part because of the power of God that brought healing and deliverance from demonic oppression. Many Ephesians who had been enamored with magical practices (what we’d call dark magic, not stage magic) renounced these practices and publicly burned their books of magic.
This sounds innocuous enough to us, but it doesn’t take too much imagination to see how the success of Paul’s ministry led to trouble. Magic and superstition permeated Ephesian culture, so that the burning of magic books would have seemed antisocial. It would be rather like if a whole bunch of people in my city got together and burned their their Christian books. Moreover, the people who wrote, bought, and sold books of magic would rightly have perceived an economic threat from Paul and those influenced by him.
This latter issue, the economic danger posed by Paul, in fact led to a major brouhaha in Ephesus. I’ll examine this more closely in my next post.
Artemis and Her Temple
All that's left of the temple of Artemis near ancient Ephesus
In my last post, I summarized the beginning of Paul’s ministry in Ephesus as it’s described in Acts 19. We saw that, after first being stymied in his effort to reach out to Ephesian Jews through the synagogue, Paul switched to a lecture hall, where he experienced a more positive response to his preaching. In fact, the success of Paul’s ministry led to a major disturbance in the city. In order to grasp the nature of this uproar, we must understand one of the most important facts about ancient Ephesus: it was home to the temple of Artemis.
In 2007, a survey of 100 million voters resulted in a new list of the Seven Wonders of the World. In its current state, the Temple of Artemis would never make such a list. But in its heyday, which includes the first century A.D., this temple was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It was one of the largest temples in the world and drew visitors from far and wide.
Statue of Artemis of Ephesus
The goddess Artemis was a combination of the Greek goddess named Artemis, the virginal goddess of the hunt, and a local goddess with a very different job identity. In Asia Minor, the region of Ephesus, this Greek goddess was combined with elements associated with the Anatolian goddess Cybele, who was associated with the earth and with fertility, and was sometimes known as the Great Mother. (Yes, the Ephesian Artemis somehow combined the virginal Artemis with Cybele, the fertile mother. The photo to the right shows a statue of Artemis that was found at Ephesus and is now prominently displayed in the Ephesian museum. The “crown” on her head is a representation of the temple. The “eggs” surrounding her midsection are perhaps some fertility symbol, though scholars don’t agree on their denotation.)
Model of temple of Artemis of Ephesus
For Ephesus, having the temple of Artemis nearby (about a mile from the main city) was a great boon. On the one hand, the presence of such a temple demonstrated the importance of Ephesus and was thought to bring special blessing upon the city. On the other hand, worshipers came from all around to visit the temple, and in so doing spent lots of money on lodging, offerings, souvenirs, and so forth.
Today, little is left of the temple of Artemis. You must use your imagination to picture its former glory. There is, however, a model of the temple in the museum which can help to fill in the blanks.
Columns in the Hagia Sophia claimed to be from the temple of Artemis
Ironically, you can see more of the temple of Artemis into two distant locations. The British Museum in London displays portions of the pillars represented in the model to the right. A couple of large pillars, purportedly from the temple of Artemis, are integral to the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.
Therefore, anything that threatened the prominence of Artemis and her temple would have been seen as a major threat to Ephesus itself. In my next post we’ll see how this played out in Acts 19.
Paul and the Silversmiths
Now that we know something about the goddess Artemis and her importance for Ephesus, we’re ready to get back to the story of Paul’s ministry in this city.
As Paul’s ministry began to thrive in Ephesus, a certain Demetrius became concerned. He was a silversmith who made little pieces of jewelry in the image of the goddess Artemis or, as most scholars think, of her temple. These were not souvenirs that worshipers took home with them, but rather small offerings given to the goddess when devotees visited her temple. Demetrius, noting the growing impact of Paul’s ministry, gathered the other silversmiths together and presented his case:
“Men, you know that we get our wealth from this business. You also see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost the whole of Asia this Paul has persuaded and drawn away a considerable number of people by saying that gods made with hands are not gods. And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be scorned, and she will be deprived of her majesty that brought all Asia and the world to worship her.” (Acts 19:25-27)
Notice that Demetrius was worried, first of all, about the potential loss of income if too many people were to become Christians. Second, he was worried about the loss of glory for Artemis.
Tommaso Laureti, "Triumph of Christianity," late 16th century.
Demetrius understood something essential about Christianity, something that reflected accurate insight. He knew that when people become Christians, they stop worshiping pagan gods. While we might assume this to be true, nobody in Ephesus would have done so (besides the Jews, who were vigorous monotheists). It was very common in the ancient world for people to add new gods to their personal pantheon. It was uncommon for them to insist that there was only one true God. If Paul had offered up Jesus, not as the only Savior of the world, but simply as one more savior among many, then the Ephesians would probably have built a temple to Jesus and included him in their pagan celebrations. But Christianity was distinctive, unsettling so, from an Ephesian point of view, in that it claimed the total allegiance of followers. Thus Demetrius rightly concluded that the success of Christianity would lead to the demise of Artemis worship. (That this very thing ultimately happened in the Roman Empire is celebrated on one of the ceiling frescoes in the Vatican. Tommaso Laureti, painting in the late 16th century, represented the “Triumph of Christianity” with a shattered statue of a god before the cross of Christ.)
Commercial agora in Ephesus
Though Acts doesn’t tell us exactly where Demetrius made his speech, it most likely happened within the commercial agora (or marketplace), that is adjacent to the Library of Celsus. This large space is quite open today, but once would have been surrounded by colonnades, under which merchants and craftsmen sold their goods. It was a central gathering place in Ephesus, one that would be filled with people. Plus, it was near the theater, which figures prominently in the story of Paul and Ephesus.
The theater in Ephesus
Demetrius’s effort was successful. The enraged silversmiths began shouting praises to Artemis. They grabbed some of Paul’s companions and dragged them to the theater. This theater, much of which is still intact, is an impressive structure even today. It could contain up to 25,000 people. Folks sitting in the “cheap seats” would have had an impressive view of the harbor (now just a marshy area). According to Acts, Paul wanted to go to the theater, no doubt to defend his friends. But some Christians and even some of the city officials convinced Paul that this would not be wise.
I’ll finish up the story of Paul and the silversmiths in my next post in this series.
Paul and the Silversmiths, Part 2
When we last left our series on Ancient Ephesus and the New Testament, the city was in an uproar. A gang of silversmiths, at the instigation of a certain Demetrius, was rioting, dragging several of Paul’s colleagues to the theater. When Paul tried to go to the theater, he was dissuaded by some of other Christians and even some civic officials. It simply wasn’t safe for Paul to show up in such a chaotic and dangerous environment.
Vendors in Ephesus, not far from the theatre
The description in Acts 19 of the mob in the theater is ironic, though in a way not immediately recognizable in English. It reads: “Meanwhile, some were shouting one thing, some another; for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together” (v. 32). Even in English, one can see the humor in that most in the mob didn’t even know why they were there. But the word translated here as “assembly” is, in Greek, ekklesia. As you may know, this word is usually translated as “church” in the New Testament. In secular Greek, ekklesia meant “assembly of people,” but usually stood for the orderly gathering of citizens of a given city. So ekklesia in Acts 19:32 is doubly ironic, in that the mob surely isn’t a church, and it surely isn’t orderly.
At some point during the fracas a Jew named Alexander tried to speak. Though we don’t know why he did this, it’s most likely he was going to put some distance between the Jews of Ephesus and Paul. But Alexander was shouted down while the mob chanted: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” for a couple of hours.
Finally, the town clerk (more like the mayor than the office manager), got the people quiet. He made a diplomatic speech, reassuring the crowd that Paul and company were “neither temple robbers nor blasphemers of our goddess” (v. 37). If Demetrius had a complaint, he should bring that up in an orderly way, through the courts or the proconsuls. The clerk closed by saying, “If there is anything further you want to know, it must be settled in the regular assembly” (v. 39). Here, once again, we find the use of ekklesia, now in the Greek expression en tei ennomoi ekklesiai (“in the lawful assembly”).
Why would the clerk have spoken in Paul’s defense, especially since it seems likely that he was a worshiper of Artemis? The answer comes in verse 40: “For we are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.” Who would charge the Ephesians with rioting? The Romans. And the Romans didn’t ignore civic unrest because they knew it could easily turn against them. If the Ephesians were to allow a riot, Rome might very well clamp down on Ephesian freedoms and authority. No matter what the clerk actually thought of Paul and the Christians, he was eager to keep the peace. And, according to Acts 19, in this he was ultimately successful.
Part of a pillar from the temple of Artemis, found today in the British Museum, London
What Demetrius feared ultimately came to pass, though not only because of the growth of Christianity. In time, the worship of Artemis began to fade and her famed temple lost its glory. Today, you can see more interesting remnants of the Ephesian Artemision in the British Museum in London than in Ephesus itself. But this is not to say that Christianity is dominant in Ephesus and environs. Turkey is predominantly a Muslim country today, though most Turks are secular in their orientation (this may be changing, however). And the most prominent church in the area, very near the Artemision, is itself in ruins. Christian activity around Ephesus is mostly centered in a small house that is supposedly the place from which the Virgin Mary was taken to heaven. I’ll say a bit more about this next time.
The House of the Virgin Mary?
For most of my life, I never gave much thought to what happened to Mary, the mother of Jesus, after his death. I figured that she went to Jerusalem, where James, one of her other sons (or stepsons, if you prefer), was a prominent early Christian leader. A good bit of ancient tradition supports this hunch, as it turns out. (See, for example, the online Catholic Encyclopedia article on “The Blessed Virgin Mary .” )
It’s curious that Mary received little special attention among the early Christians. In fact, her life after Jesus’ death remains largely a mystery. But, when I took my first trip to Ephesus in 2007, I learned that many people believe that Mary spent her last days near this city, and that’s where she died (or was taken up to heaven).
The so-called House of the Virgin Mary near Ephesus
Many tours of ancient Ephesus include a side trip to the so-called House of the Virgin Mary. This sacred site lies several miles south of Ephesus, up on the top of a mountain. Unlike barren Ephesus, Mary’s house is hidden in a forest, where the temperatures are several degrees cooler and shade is ample. If you’re visiting Ephesus in the summer, you’ll appreciate the literal atmosphere at Mary’s house.
The evidence for Mary having spent her last days here is circumstantial and supernatural. The circumstantial evidence is this:
• Shortly before his death, Jesus entrusted his mother to the care of the Beloved Disciple (John 19:26-27).
• Christian tradition holds that the Beloved Disciple was John.
The ruins of the Basilica of St. John, near Ephesus
• Christian tradition also associates John with Ephesus, where he supposedly spent the latter part of his life. It is believed that he was buried there, and that his body used to lie under the Basilica of St. John (now in ruins, as you can see in the photo to the right).
• It is possible that John took Mary with him to Ephesus, perhaps because Jerusalem in the late first century A.D. was not hospitable for the mother of the controversial Messiah. Or perhaps she moved to Ephesus after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 70.
The supernatural evidence is this:
• Early in the 19th century, a German nun named Anne Catherine Emmerich claimed to have visions. Among these, she “saw” the house of the Virgin Mary, and described it in great detail. Her visions were ultimately published, and near the end of the 19th century a Catholic research team found the site described by Emmerich, though she had never seen it in person. (Emmerich’s writings on the death of Jesus had a profound influence on Mel Gibson and his The Passion of the Christ.)
Catholic tradition is divided on the final residence of Mary, though several popes have endorsed Mary’s House as a religious shrine. A few years ago, Pope Benedict XVI visited the site, honoring it with his presence and words, though not definitively declaring it to be Mary’s house.
The buildings on the site are not old enough to have been the actual dwellings of Mary. But it’s certainly possible that they were built in the place and design of the original buildings. A Turkish website has several Quicktime videos that allow you to take a virtual tour of the site and its buildings.
Prayer wall at the House of Mary near Ephesus
One of the more interesting features of Mary’s House is a prayer wall near the dwelling. Pilgrims come from all over the world to this place, and many offer special prayers. These prayers are written on small pieces of paper that are attached to the wall.
As it turns out, Christians are not the only ones who make pilgrimages to Mary’s House. Many Muslims come as well, since they honor Mary as the mother of the prophet Jesus. For this reason, when Pope Benedict XVI visited Mary’s House, he said, “From here in Ephesus, a city blessed by the presence of Mary Most Holy — who we know is loved and venerated also by Muslims – let us lift up to the Lord a special prayer for peace between peoples.”
Did Mary actually live near Ephesus? Was this her final dwelling? I don’t believe we have adequate historical grounds for deciding the question either way. But if you’re ever in Ephesus, it’s worth a trip up to Mary’s House, especially if it’s a hot day and you’d like some moments of relief.
How the Wealthy Lived in Ancient Ephesus
During my last visit to Ephesus, I had the opportunity to tour the so-called “Terrace Houses,” which are stacked in three terraces on Bulbul Mountain in the center of Ephesus. Centuries ago, they were buried by landslides that were likely caused by earthquakes. The Terrace Houses are currently being excavated, with the promise of many more similar excavations yet to come.
Here are some pictures I took of the Terrace Houses (except for the first photo, which I found on WikiCommons).
View of the location of the Terrace Houses (under those white protective roofs). http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kuretenstra%C3%9Fe100.jpg
Side view of the Terraces Houses from Curetes Street
Some elements of the Terraces Houses have been well preserved. But many of the mosaics that covered the walls and floors have to be reassembled. The German headline refers to this as "The Biggest Puzzle in the World."
Another view of the a small part of the puzzle, with results pictured on the wall
A view showing at least two of the houses being excavated
This close-up gives you a sense of the elaborate and beautiful frescoes that once covered the walls of these houses.
Using terra cotta pipes, the houses had indoor running hot and cold water, as well as heat.
A mosaic of a lion on one of the floors of the Terraces houses.
If you visit Ephesus, I recommend a tour of the Terrace Houses. This requires, I believe, reservations made in advance.
Katt D.
Thank you so much for the walk though Ephesus, it has been very intresting and enlighting and when reading of the Scriptures now I will be able to see clear the intent of the word
Love, Blessings and Prayers
| Timothy |
In which year did the novelists George Bernard Shaw and George Orwell die? (Will accept plus or minus one year) | 2. The Letters To Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, And Thyatira | Bible.org
2. The Letters To Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, And Thyatira
Article contributed by www.walvoord.com
Introduction
In the second chapter of the book of Revelation the second major division of the book begins. As previously mentioned, chapter 1 seems to fulfill the command of 1:19, “Write the things which thou hast seen.” Beginning in chapter 4, the material deals with “the things which shall be hereafter” (1:19). In chapters 2 and 3 the messages to the seven churches are referred to as “the things which are” (cf. 1:19). These messages, therefore, contain divine revelation and exhortation pertaining to the present age; and, having special pertinence in the present situation in the church, they constitute one of the most incisive and penetrating exhortations in the entire New Testament in relation to church doctrine and Christian living.
It is remarkable that so little attention has been paid to the importance of these two chapters. Archbishop Trench is cited by Seiss as lamenting that the Church of England omits reference to any of the material in these two chapters in portions selected for use in public services. Trench writes,
It is…to be regretted that while every chapter of every other book of the New Testament is set forth to be read in the Church, and, wherever there is daily service, is read in the Church, three times in the year, and some, or portions of some, oftener, while even of the Apocalypse itself two chapters and portions of others have been admitted into the service, under no circumstances whatever can the second and third chapters ever be heard in the congregation. 65
In the revival of interest in eschatology in the twentieth century there has been a partial remedy of the previous neglect of the book of Revelation including special attention to the messages to the seven churches. Recent studies such as The Postman of Patmos by C. A. Hadjiantoniou have helped to dramatize the living character of these letters in the modern church, and the attention to their contribution has been duly given by competent New Testament scholars. It remains true, however, that many casual worshipers in Christian churches today who are quite familiar with the Sermon on the Mount are not aware of die existence of these seven messages of Christ. Their incisive character and pointed denunciation of departure from biblical morality and theology have tended to keep them out of the mainstream of contemporary theological thought. Many of the evils and shortcomings which exist in the church today are a direct outgrowth of neglect of the solemn instruction given to these seven churches.
There has been some debate concerning the theological significance of these seven churches. It is obvious, as there were many churches located in the area where these churches were found, that God divinely selected seven and seven only, and did not send messages to other churches that conceivably might have been more important. Swete states that there were from five hundred to one thousand townships in the province of Asia in the first century, some of them far larger than the cities of Thyatira and Philadelphia, and undoubtedly a number of them had Christian churches. 66 He suggests that the answer to the problem of selection is found in the geographical location of the seven churches in the form of a gentle arch and located on a circular road connecting the most populous part of the province. The messages directed to these seven churches should therefore be considered as sent to the rest of the province and other churches as well.
The geographical order of presentation is followed, beginning at Ephesus, moving north to Smyrna, then farther north to Pergamos, then east to Thyatira, south to Sardis, east to Philadelphia, and southeast to Laodicea. However, other churches in the area were ignored, such as the church at Colossae and the churches at Magnesia (Manisa) and Tralles. It is understandable that the number of churches should be limited to seven as this is the number of completeness or universality in the Scripture, but there undoubtedly were other principles which determined the selection.
First of all, each church needed a particular message, and the spiritual state of each church corresponded precisely to the exhortation which was given. The selection of the churches was also governed by the fact that each church was in some way normative and illustrated conditions common in local churches at that time as well as throughout later history. The messages to the seven churches therefore embody admonition suitable for churches in many types of spiritual need. Along with the messages to the churches were exhortations which are personal in character constituting instruction and warning to the individual Christian. Each of the messages as given to the churches therefore ends in a personal exhortation beginning with the phrase “He that hath an ear, let him hear.”
Many expositors believe that in addition to the obvious implication of these messages the seven churches represent the chronological development of church history viewed spiritually. They note that Ephesus seems to be characteristic of the Apostolic Period in general and that the progression of evil climaxing in Laodicea seems to indicate the final state of apostasy of the church. This point of view is postulated upon a providential arrangement of these churches not only in a geographical order but by divine purpose, presenting also a progress of Christian experience corresponding to church history. As in all scriptural illustrations, however, it is obvious that every detail of the messages addressed to these particular churches is not necessarily fulfilled in succeeding periods of church history. What is claimed is that there does seem to be a remarkable progression in the messages. It would seem almost incredible that such a progression should be a pure accident, and the order of the messages to the churches seems to be divinely selected to give prophetically the main movement of church history.
Milligan is quite opposed to the idea that the seven churches represent chronological periods:
If we examine the tables of such a period drawn up by different inquirers, we shall find them so utterly divergent as to prove fatal to the principle upon which they are constructed. No one has been able to prepare a chronological scheme making even an approach to general acceptance. The history of the Church can not be portioned off into seven successive periods marked by characteristics to which those noted in the seven epistles correspond. Besides this, the whole idea rests upon that historical interpretation of the Apocalypse which is simply destructive both of the meaning and influence of the book. 67
The prophetic interpretation of the messages to the seven churches, to be sure, should not be pressed beyond bounds, as it is a deduction from the content, not from the explicit statement of the passage. It is fully in keeping with the futurist point of view rather than the historic, as Milligan claims. It is not necessary to hold, as some have, that without the second and third chapters of the book of Revelation the church would be left without instruction regarding its progress in the present age. Other passages such as I Timothy 4 and 2 Peter 2-3 give information on this subject.
Much additional light, however, is given by a study of the messages to the seven churches, and the general trend indicated confirms other Scripture that, instead of progressive improvement and a trend toward righteousness and peace in the church age, it may be expected that the age will end in failure as symbolized in the church of Laodicea. This is taught expressly in passages describing the growing apostasy in the professing church culminating in the apostate Christendom of the time of the great tribulation. Simultaneous with this development in the church as a whole there will be fulfillment of the divine plan of God in calling out a true church designed to be a holy bride for the Son of God and a promised translation from the earth before the final tragic scenes of the tribulation are enacted.
Each message addressed to the seven churches of Asia has its own distinctive characteristics, but there are also many similarities. Each message begins with the expression “I know thy works.” Each offers a promise, “to him that overcometh.” Although there is variation in the order, each has the same concluding sentence, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” Each of the messages begins with an introduction in which the Lord Jesus is described, but in each message the description differs in keeping with the message addressed to the church. Most of the letters to the churches contain words of warning as well as promise to those who hear and respond. In general, these messages are letters of reproof, rebuke, and reassurance.
The Letter to Ephesus: The Church Without Love (2:1-7)
2:1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;
Christ the Sovereign Judge. The first letter is addressed to the angel or messenger of the church of Ephesus. The Greek word aggelos, which has been transliterated in the English word angel, is frequently used in the Bible of angels, and this seems to be its principal use as noted by Arndt and Gingrich. 68 However, it is often used also of men in Greek literature as a whole, and in several instances this word referred to human messengers in the Bible (Matt. 11:10; Mark 1:2; Luke 7:24, 27; 9:52). It is properly understood here as referring to human messengers to these seven churches. These messengers were probably the pastors of these churches or prophets through whom the message was to be delivered to the congregation.
The messenger of the church at Ephesus, which at that time was a large metropolitan city, was undoubtedly an important person and a leader in Christian testimony at that time. When the book of Revelation was written, Ephesus, the most prominent city in the Roman province of Asia, had already had a long history of Christian witness. Paul had ministered there for three years as recorded in Acts 19. The effectiveness of his ministry is stated in Acts 19:10: “All they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.” The preaching of the gospel had affected the worship of Diana, in whose honor the temple of Diana had been built in Ephesus, a structure considered one of the seven wonders of the world. The reduction in the sale of idols of Diana and the Christian teaching that these idols were not worthy of worship resulted in the riot recorded in Acts 19:23-41.
Demetrius, a leader among the silversmiths in Ephesus, called a meeting of his fellow craftsmen and addressed them in these words: “Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth. Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands: So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth” (Acts 19:25-27). The resulting riot forced Paul’s departure from Ephesus, but the incident is a remarkable testimony to the power and effectiveness of early Christian witness in this important city.
After Paul’s ministry at Ephesus came to a close, evidence indicates that Timothy for many years led the work as superintendent of the churches in the area. There is reason to believe that the Apostle John himself, now exiled on Patmos, had succeeded Timothy as the pastor at large in Ephesus. It was to this church and to Christians living in Ephesus at the close of the first century, some thirty years after Paul, that the first of the seven messages is addressed.
Christ is introduced in the message to Ephesus as the One who “holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.” This portrayal of Christ corresponding to that given early in the first chapter of Revelation is a symbolic presentation of the fact that Christ holds the messengers of these churches in His right hand, a place of sovereign protection as well as divine authority over them. The word for “hold” (Gr., kraton) means “to hold authoritatively.” The messengers, therefore, are held in divine protection and under divine control. Earlier, John had written of the security of the believer in the hands of an Almighty God in John 10:28-29: “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” The same truth is presented symbolically in this vision of Christ.
2:2-3 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
Commendation of doctrine and diligence. The second important fact in this vision, Christ walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks or lampstands (Gr., lychnio„n), symbolizes His presence and observation of the testimony of the churches of Asia. His message to the church is based on His knowledge of their notable and commendable works. He mentions their labor or toil, their patience or steadfastness, their abhorrence of those who were evil, and their ready detection of false teachers who claimed to be apostles but who were not. These remarkable characteristics are sorely needed in the church today where too often there is failure to serve the Lord patiently, and the tendency is to compromise both with moral and theological evil. The Ephesian church is therefore commended for abhorring that which is morally bad as well as that which is theologically in error.
In contrast to the fact that they could not bear those who were evil, he commends them for continuing to bear their proper burdens, repeating again the fact that they have patience, literally, that they “keep on having patience,” which is an advance on the statement in verse 2. Likewise it is noted that their labor is motivated as work “for my name’s sake” and that they have not fainted or grown weary. These remarkable characteristics establish the fact that the church had served the Lord well, and few modern churches could qualify for such commendation.
2:4-5 Nevertheless I have something against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
Indictment for lack of devotion. In spite of these most desirable traits Christ declared that the church at Ephesus had failed in one important matter, namely, “thou hast left thy first love.” In the Greek the order of the words is especially emphatic in that the object of the verb is before the verb—“thy first love thou hast left.” The word for love (Gr., agape„n) is the deepest and most meaningful word for love found in the Greek language. Though they had not departed completely from love for God, their love no longer had the fervency, depth, or meaning it once had had in the church.
The spiritual problem of the church at Ephesus can best be seen in the perspective of the threefold nature of man’s spiritual poverty. Some spiritual needs stem from lack of faith in God so that the individual either falls short of salvation itself, or, if saved, he lacks an abiding dependence on God and the promises of His Word. This constitutes a defect in the area of the intellect or in theology. The second problem of spiritual experience is in the exercise of human will. Many who have trusted in God have never yielded themselves completely to God, and as a result have not been filled with the Spirit. There is no indication that the church had seriously fallen short in either of these two spiritual areas. Their defect was a matter of heart rather than of head or will. The ardor which they once had had grown cold.
In the letter to the Ephesians, written some thirty years before in the early days of the history of this church, Paul commended them for their love for all saints. He wrote at that time, “Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers” (Eph. 1:15-16). The church seems to have fulfilled the same commendable qualities found in the apostolic church in Jerusalem. The period following Pentecost, described in Acts 2, was characterized by love and devotion for Christ Himself, a love for the Word of God, a love manifested in fellowship with the saints and in their prayer to God, and a love expressed in commendation to Timothy of “all them also that love his appearing” (2 Tim. 4:8).
The church at Ephesus was now in its second generation of Christians, those who had come into the church in the thirty years since Paul had ministered in their midst. Though they continued to labor faithfully as those who had preceded them, the love of God which characterized the first generation was missing. This cooling of heart which had overtaken them in relationship to God was a dangerous forerunner of spiritual apathy which later was to erase all Christian testimony in this important center of Christian influence. Thus it has ever been in the history of the church: first a cooling of spiritual love, then the love of God replaced by a love for the things of the world, with resulting compromise and spiritual corruption. This is followed by departure from the faith and loss of effective spiritual testimony.
In other portions of Scripture the danger of fading love for God is described. In Paul’s first letter to Timothy he wrote, “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Tim. 6:10). In similar vein the Apostle John wrote in one epistle, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (I John 2:15). The danger of substituting love for idols for love for God is stated in the closing verse of the same epistle: “Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21). Even loved ones can stand between the child of God and his love for his heavenly Father. Christ Himself said, “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matt. 10:37). Even the God-given institution of marriage can stand in the way of a true love for God. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband” (1 Cor. 7:34). Whatever the object of love, anything which hinders a true love for God may cause a Christian to lose his first love even as was true of Ephesus so long ago.
To correct the spiritual declension into which they had fallen, the Lord directs three urgent exhortations. First He commands, “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen.” To correct any departure from God the first step is to go back to the place of departure. Ephesian Christians were therefore exhorted to remember the ardor which once gripped their hearts, the causes for it, the wonder of their newfound salvation, and the joy and satisfaction that were theirs in Christ. So often spiritual defection, whether of mind or heart, comes from forgetting that which once was known. The second aspect of his exhortation is embodied in the word repent (Gr., metanoeson, meaning “to change the mind”). They were to have a different attitude toward Christ and should resume that fervent love which once they had. In keeping with these first two exhortations the final one is embodied in the words “do the first works.” A true love for God is always manifested in the works which it produces. Though the Ephesian church had been faithful in many appointed tasks, these did not in themselves reflect a true love for God. They were not merely bondslaves of Jesus Christ bound by legal obligation, but they were those whose hearts had been given to the Saviour.
The Ephesian Christians were also sharply warned that if they did not heed the exhortation, they could expect sudden judgment and removal of the candlestick. As Alford comments, this is “not Christ’s final coming, but His coming in special judgment is here indicated.” 69 The meaning seems to be that He would remove the church as a testimony for Christ. This, of course, was tragically fulfilled ultimately. The church retained its vigor for several centuries and was not only the seat of Eastern bishops but also the meeting place of the third General Council which took place in a.d. 431 and was held in the Church of Saint Mary, whose ruins are still extant today. Ephesus declined as a city, however, after the fifth century, and the Turks deported its remaining inhabitants in the fourteenth century. The city, now uninhabited, is one of the important ruins in that area, located seven miles from the sea due to accumulation of silt which has stopped up the harbor of this once important seaport.
2:6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate.
Commendation of hating the enemies of truth. Coupled with the exhortation to repent is the final word of approbation in verse 6 in which the Ephesian church is commended for hating the deeds of the Nicolaitans. Much scholarly speculation has arisen concerning the precise nature of this group’s error. 70 The Nicolaitans apparently were a sect, and some have interpreted their name as meaning “conquering of the people” from nikao„, meaning “to conquer” and laos, meaning “the people.” This view considers the Nicolaitans as the forerunners of the clerical hierarchy superimposed upon the laity and robbing them of spiritual freedom. Others have considered them as a licentious sect advocating complete freedom in Christian conduct including participation in heathen feasts and free love. Alford states, “The prevailing opinion among the fathers was, that they were a sect founded by Nicolaus the proselyte of Antioch, one of the seven deacons.” 71 Alford believes that this is substantially correct, and that it is supported by the statement “which I also hate” (v. 6) concerning which Alford states, “This strong expression in the mouth of our Lord unquestionably points at deeds of abomination and impurity: cf. Isa. 61:8; Jer. 44:4; Amos 5:21; Zech. 8:17.” 72 That which was hated by the Ephesians was embraced by the church at Pergamos according to Revelation 2:15. Whatever the precise nature of this sect, it is noteworthy that a true love for God involves a fervent hate of that which counterfeits and distorts the purity of biblical truth. David raised the same question when he wrote, “Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies” (Ps. 139:21-22). Though the Christian, like God, should love the world in the sense of desiring to extend to it the benefits of salvation, like David he should hate those who are the enemies of God.
2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
The invitation and promise. The letter to the Ephesians, like the other six letters, closes with an invitation and a promise: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” Though the message is directed to the church as such through its pastor, the individual is urged to respond to the exhortation and warning. So it is ever that God speaks to the ones who will hear.
Similarly to the closing messages to other churches, the message to the church at Ephesus contains a promise given to those who overcome: “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” The promise here mentioned for overcomers is not a message to a special group of Christians distinguished by their spirituality and power in contrast to genuine Christians who lack these qualities; it is rather a general description of that which is normal, to be expected among those who are true followers of the Lord. The Apostle John in his first epistle asks, “Who is he that overcometh the world?” (I John 5:5). He answers the question, “He that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God.” In other words, those in the Ephesian church who were genuine Christians and by this token had overcome the unbelief and sin of the world are promised the right to the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
This tree, first mentioned in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3:22, is later found in the midst of the street of the new Jerusalem, where it bears its fruit for the abundant health and life of the nation (Rev. 22:2). It is especially appropriate that those who hate the evil deeds of the world and the idolatrous wicked worship are given that spiritual recompense of abiding in the abundant life which is in Christ in the eternity to come. The gracious nature of the promise is designed to restore and rekindle that love of Christ known in the early fervent days of the church and to be realized without diminishing in the eternity to come.
The Letter to Smyrna: The Church in Suffering (2:8-11)
The church of Smyrna was singled out by our Lord for the second of the seven letters. If one traveled from Ephesus to Smyrna, he would cover a distance of about thirty-five miles to the north, entering Smyrna by what was called the “Ephesian Gate.” Smyrna was a wealthy city, second only to Ephesus in the entire area and, like Ephesus, a seaport. Unlike Ephesus, which today is uninhabited, Smyrna is still a large city and contains a Christian church. Unger states,
Anciently it was one of the finest cities of Asia, and was called “The lovely—the crown of Ionia—the ornament of Asia.” It is now the chief city of Anatolia, with a mixed population of 200,000 people, one-third of whom are Christians. 73
In this large and flourishing commercial center was the little church to which this message was sent. Smyrna is mentioned only here in Scripture, but from other literature it is evident that this city was noted for its wickedness and opposition to the Christian gospel in the first century.
2:8 And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;
Christ the Eternal One. To this church our Lord is introduced as the One who is “the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive.” In describing Himself as “the first and the last” Christ is relating Himself to time and eternity. He is the eternal God who has always existed in the past and who will always exist in the future. In keeping with this attribute He is also portrayed as the One who was dead, literally, the One “who became dead,” referring to His death on the cross. He is also the One who is alive, literally, “who lives,” referring to His resurrection as the eternal and resurrected One. He is not only the eternal One in relation to time but the resurrected One in relation to life. In His person He therefore is presented as the eternal One, a description which is prominent in the first chapter in the Revelation as given to John on the Isle of Patmos. The church at Smyrna is told that the One who was eternal became incarnate and died, a reminder that even the eternal Son of God willingly became subject to the rejection and persecution of man. Like Christ, the church at Smyrna should anticipate ultimate victory. Even as the grave could not hold Christ, and He is now described as the One who “lives,” symbolizing His triumph over death, rejection, and mistrial, so they too could anticipate their ultimate victory.
These features of the person and work of Christ are especially adapted to constitute words of encouragement to the church at Smyrna which was undergoing great trial and affliction. The word Smyrna itself means “myrrh,” a sweet perfume used in embalming dead bodies, and included in the holy anointing oil used in the Tabernacle worship in the Old Testament (Exodus 30:23). It was also a common perfume and is mentioned as used by the bridegroom in the Song of Solomon 3:6 where the question is asked, “Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchants?” Likewise in Psalm 45:8, the heavenly Bridegroom is described as using myrrh as perfume: “All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.” The fragrance of Christ as the bridegroom is thus represented typically by the myrrh.
2:9 I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.
Commendation of faithfulness in trial. In the best manuscripts the expression “thy works” is omitted, making the statement much more direct: “I know thy tribulation, and poverty.” In referring to their tribulation He assures them that He knows of their oppression by their enemies and its resulting affliction. The word used for “poverty” (Gr., pto„cheian) is the word for abject poverty. They were not just poor (Gr., penia). It may be that they were drawn from a poor class of people, but it is more probable that their extreme poverty is explained by the fact that they had been robbed of their goods in the process of their persecution and affliction. He quickly reminds them, however, “But thou art rich.” In the same spirit James refers to “the poor of this world rich in faith” (James 2:5) using the same Greek words for poverty and riches. Paul used the verb forms of the same words in his statement “as poor, yet making many rich” (2 Cor. 6:10).
It would seem that their persecutors were not only pagans, who naturally would be offended by the peculiarities of the Christian faith, but also hostile Jews and Satan himself. Recognition of the opposition of Jews is made in verse 9 where Christ said, “I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.” As Alford observes,
These slanderers were in all probability actually Jews by birth, but not (see Rom. 2:28; Matt. 3:9; John 8:33; 2 Cor. 11:22; Phil. 3:4 ff.) in spiritual reality; the same who everywhere, in St. Paul’s time and afterwards, were the most active enemies of the Christians. 74
Alford confirms this interpretation by the account of the martyrdom of Polycarp in which the Jews were active. 75 Thus it has always been in the church; false religion has been most zealous in opposing that which is true. The Smyrna Christians found few friends in the hostile world around them.
2:10-11 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.
The exhortation and promise. Their present persecution, however, was only the forerunner of that which was to come. Christ predicted that the devil would cast some of them into prison, doing all in his power to stamp out this testimony in the midst of his domain. Christ indicated that they would be cast into prison and would be tried and would have tribulation ten days. He exhorted them, nevertheless, “Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer… be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”
Scholars have pondered the allusion to the ten days. If the church at Smyrna is taken as representative of the church in persecution in the second or third century, ten days may be representative of this period. W. A. Spurgeon, assuming that the seven churches correspond to church history as a whole, states,
Is it not obvious that the “ten days” of persecution during which Satan would cast some of this Church into prison, refers to one of the seven church epochs to which the seven churches correspond? Then the “ten days” of persecution must refer to the ten persecutions of secular history during which great numbers of Christians were imprisoned and slain. Over these martyrs the second death will have no power. 76
Some have found ten specific periods of persecution in these centuries. Walter Scott, who does not hold this view, quotes White in itemizing ten pagan persecutions as follows:
The first under Nero, a.d. 54; the second under Domitian, a.d. 81; the third under Trajan a.d. 98; the fourth under Adrian [Hadrian], a.d. 117; the fifth under Septimius Severus, a.d. 193; the sixth under Maximin, a.d. 235; the seventh under Decius, a.d. 249; the eighth under Valerian, a.d. 254; the ninth under Aurelian, a.d. 270; the tenth under Diocletian, a.d. 284. 77
The date mentioned is the beginning of the reign of each emperor, not necessarily the beginning of the persecution. Some have applied the “ten days” to the ten years of persecution under Diocletian.
Most commentators such as Swete and Walter Scott take the reference to ten days as a symbolic representation of a specific period of time. Walter Scott writes for instance,
The expression “ten days” signifies a limited period, a brief time inconsistent with the length and period of pagan persecutions covering 250 years. The following reference to “ten days” will confirm the meaning of the term as implying a brief and limited time: Genesis 24:55; Nehemiah 5:18; Daniel 1:12; Acts 25:6; Jeremiah 42:7, etc. 78
Likewise Alford states, “The expression is probably used to signify a short and limited time.” 79 Alford cites scriptural support in the following references: Genesis 24:55; Numbers 11:19; Daniel 1:12; see also Numbers 14:22; 1 Samuel 1:8; Job 19:3; Acts 25:6. 80 It is clear in any case that the church at Smyrna could expect further persecution including imprisonment for some of their number.
The problem of human suffering raised in the message to the church at Smyrna has occupied the minds of men through the centuries. For those of the Christian faith it is not difficult to understand why the ungodly should suffer. The question remaining, however, is why the godly should suffer as in the case of the Smyrna church. The answer to this question is largely bound up in the doctrine of the sovereignty of God. The will of God, however, is holy, just, and good. An explanation is given in Scripture for varied aspects of Christian suffering. In some cases, suffering in the life of a child of God may be disciplinary as indicated in God’s dealings with the church at Corinth (1 Cor. 11:30-32; cf. Heb. 12:3-13). In other cases it may be preventative as illustrated in Paul’s thorn in the flesh (2 Cor. 12:7). Paul was kept from exulting above measure in the divine revelation given to him through the humiliation of his thorn in the flesh.
Suffering is also represented in Scripture as teaching the child of God what could otherwise remain unlearned. Even Christ is said to have “learned… obedience by the things which he suffered” (Heb. 5:8), and for Christians in general the experience of suffering is educative. Paul writes in Romans 5:3-5, “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”
Still a further reason for suffering is found in the fact that Christians through suffering can often bear a better testimony for Christ. This was true of Paul of whom it was said in Acts 9:16, “For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.” The experience of the church at Smyrna, therefore, though undesired by them, was undoubtedly designed by an infinitely wise and loving God for their good as well as for the better testimony of the gospel.
To this suffering church Christ addresses two exhortations which are His watchword to all in similar circumstances. First, in 2:10 He writes them, “Fear none of those things,” which literally translated is “Stop being afraid.” They had nothing really to fear in this persecution because it could not rob them of their priceless eternal blessings in Christ. In any case they were in the hands of God. Whatever was permitted was by His wise design. Second, Christ exhorts them, “Be thou faithful unto death,” which translated literally is “Become faithful even unto death.” Up to this time apparently none of their number had died. They were exhorted to be faithful to the Lord when the test came even if it resulted in their death. Though their own lives might be sacrificed, their real riches were as far removed from this world as the heavens are above the earth. Being faithful unto death, they would be all the more sure that they would receive the crown of life. This is not to be understood as a crown or a reward attending eternal life, but rather that their crown would be life eternal itself. These words of encouragement and exhortation no doubt strengthened John himself as he was enduring the rigors of exile on a bleak island in his aged condition.
The persecutions and trials of the church at Smyrna were to be continued, as witnessed not only by the prophecy recorded here but by secular history. According to Ignatius, not long after the book of Revelation was written, Polycarp, the famous early church father, assumed the office of bishop in the church in Smyrna. It may be that he was already pastor of this church. 81 Here he was a minister for many years, finally climaxing his testimony by dying a martyr’s death. When asked by his heathen judges to recant his Christian faith, he replied, “Four score and six years have I served the Lord, and He never wronged me: How then can I blaspheme my King and Savior?” 82 The faithfulness of Polycarp to the end seems to have characterized this church in Smyrna in its entire testimony and resulted in this church’s continuous faithful witness for God after many others of the early churches had long lost their testimony.
The crown of life is apparently the crown of eternal life. The glories of life eternal stand in contrast to the trials of martyrdom and erase the dark shadows of persecution and death. The crown of life may be contrasted to the other crowns promised the child of God: the crown of righteousness for a godly life (2 Tim. 4:8), the crown of glory for faithful shepherds (1 Peter 5:4), the crown of gold, the evidence of our redemption (Rev. 4:4), the crown of rejoicing (1 Thess. 2:19), believers in heaven won by Paul, and the incorruptible crown (1 Cor. 9:25) for self-control in the race of life. The crown follows the cross. Some would limit the crown of life to martyrs, however, as a crown of abundant blessing—a crown of “royal environment,” a “symbol of victory,” and a “crown of joy.” 83
In concluding the message to the church at Smyrna, the promise is given, “He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.” The world in its rejection of the Christian message can inflict martyrdom and terminate life in this world, but those who are faithful in their opportunity to receive Christ in this life are promised that they will not be overcome with the second death, the sad lot of those who depart this life without faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. The rich reward of those who are faithful unto death was also the expectation of the Apostle Paul who wrote as he was facing imminent martyrdom, “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing” (2 Tim. 4:6-8).
Just as the church at Ephesus in large measure is representative of the spiritual state of the church of Jesus Christ in the world at the close of the first century, the fruit of apostolic ministry and faithful labor, so the trials of the church in Smyrna symbolize the persecution and trials the early church endured until the time of Constantine in the beginning of the fourth century. Though beset by many foes and without the power of wealth which characterized the later church, these years witnessed to the purity and fidelity of those who represented Christ.
It is noteworthy that the word of Christ to the church of Smyrna contains no word of rebuke. The very trials that afflicted them assured, them of deliverance from any lack of fervency for the Lord and kept them from any impurity or compromise with evil. Such is the recompense for those who endure trial for Christ in this age. The purifying fires of affliction caused the lamp of testimony to burn all the more brilliantly. The length of their trial, described here as being ten days, whether interpreted literally or not, is short in comparison with the eternal blessings which would be theirs when their days of trial were over. They could be comforted by the fact that the sufferings of this present time do not continue forever, and the blessings that are ours in Christ through His salvation and precious promises will go on through eternity. The second death with its reference to the judgment at the great white throne (Rev. 20:11-15) was not to be their lot, but they were assured eternal blessings in the presence of the Lord.
The Letter to Pergamos: The Church in Compromise (2:12-17)
2:12 And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;
Christ the judge of compromise. To the church at Pergamos, or Pergamum, one of the most prominent cities of Asia, the third message of Christ was directed. Located in the western part of Asia Minor north of Smyrna and about twenty miles from the Mediterranean Sea, it was a wealthy city with many temples devoted to idol worship and full of statues, altars, and sacred groves. It was an important religious center where the pagan cults of Athena, Asclepius, Dionysus, and Zeus were prominent. This city was the official residence of the Attalic princes. A university was also located there. Among its famous treasures was a large library of two hundred thousand volumes, later sent to Egypt as a gift from Anthony to Cleopatra. One of the products for which this city was famous was paper or parchment, which seems to have originated here, the paper itself being called pergamena. One of the prominent buildings was the magnificent temple of Esculapius (also spelled Asklepios), a pagan god whose idol was in the form of a serpent. Alford observes that some, such as Grotius and Wetstein, interpret the expression “Satan’s seat” (v. 13) as referring to this temple. 84 As Alford points out, however, the expression is “Satan’s throne” not “the serpent’s throne.” 85 Alford prefers to leave the expression an undefined allusion to satanic power. Others identify it with the great altar of Zeus that once stood in the city and now may be seen in East Berlin. Although the glory of the ancient city has long since vanished, a small village named Bergama is located below the ruins of the old city. A nominal Christian testimony has continued in the town to modern times.
In this atmosphere completely adverse to Christian testimony was situated the little church to which Christ addressed this letter. As in the messages to the other churches, Christ is introduced in special character: here as the One who “hath the sharp sword with two edges,” a description given to Him earlier, in 1:16. Here there is added emphasis by the repeated use of the article before the word sword and before each adjective. Christ is described as having the sword, the two-edged one, the sharp one. The sword mentioned is a long spearlike sword, apparently referring to the double-edged character of the Word of God. Reference is made to this spearlike sword seven times in the Bible (Luke 2:35; Rev. 1:16; 2:12,16; 6:8; 19:15, 21). The last two references in Revelation 19, where it speaks of the sword proceeding from the mouth of Christ in keeping with the introductory description in 1:16, seem to make plain that the sword here refers to the Word of God. Its representation as a double-edged sword indicates on the one hand the sword as the Word of God which separates the ones who are the vessels of grace from condemnation with the world, and which by its promises and message of salvation cuts loose the chains of sin and condemnation which bind the helpless sinner. On the other hand, the same Word of God is the means of condemnation and rejection for those who refuse the message of grace. The Word of God is at once the instrument of salvation and the instrument of death. This twofold character is especially pertinent to the church at Pergamos, which needed to be reminded of the distinct position of those who are true Christians as opposed to those who reject the gospel.
2:13 I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.
Commendation for holding fast. In verse 13 Christ extends a word of commendation to the church in Pergamos. He first notes the fact that they were dwelling “where Satan’s seat is.” In the best manuscripts the expression “thy works” is omitted, which gives added emphasis to the fact that “Satan’s seat” is the place of their dwelling. The mention of Satan’s seat or throne, referred to again at the end of the verse in the expression “where Satan dwelleth,” is a reference to satanic power in the evil religious character of the city of Pergamos manifested in persecution of Christians and perhaps epitomized in the worship of Esculapius, the serpent god.
Christ notes that in spite of their evil environment the Pergamos Christians have held fast to His name and have not denied the faith. The reference to “my name” seems to embody a personal loyalty and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ with all that this represented; in addition to this they have not denied the body of Christian truth which accompanies faith in Christ, to which He refers in the expression “my faith.” Divine judgment takes into consideration the forces of evil arrayed against the Christian. To those who are found faithful in such circumstances commendation is all the more generous. The faithfulness of the church at Pergamos is a challenge to Christians today to stand true when engulfed by the evil of this present world, the apostasy within the ranks of religion, and the temptation to compromise their stand for the truth.
As a symbol of the faithfulness of these saints in Pergamos, one of the early martyrs is here named as “Antipas,” who is declared to be “my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.” There has been speculation as to the character of this person, but there is no certain word concerning the nature of his martyrdom. His name means “against all” which perhaps symbolizes the fact that he may have stood alone against the forces of evil and was faithful even unto death. The church at Pergamos as a whole was commended for standing unwaveringly for Christ even though one of their members had paid the supreme price.
2:14-15 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate.
Rebuke for compromise. In spite of these many tokens of faithfulness in a time of temptation and trial, the Lord indicated that all was not well with the church at Pergamos. Two blots on their record labeled them as the compromising church. According to verses 14 and 15 they held the doctrine of Balaam and the doctrine of the Nicolaitans.
The reference to Balaam is an allusion to the experience of Balaam recorded in Numbers 22-25 when he was hired by the kings of the Midianites and the Moabites to curse the children of Israel. The sad record of the prophet, who went along with this plan as far as he was able but without being successful in cursing Israel, is given a large place in the book of Numbers. According to Numbers 31, Moses was angry with the children of Israel for not exterminating the women of the Midianites. Here we learn for the first time that the prophet Balaam had advised King Balak to corrupt Israel by tempting them to sin through intermarriage with their women and the resulting inducement to worship idols.
Numbers 31:15-16 records that Moses said to the children of Israel, “Have ye saved all the women alive? Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord.” The doctrine of Balaam therefore was the teaching that the people of God should intermarry with the heathen and compromise in the matter of idolatrous worship. This is in contrast to “the way of Balaam,” that is, selling his prophetic gift for money (2 Peter 2:15), and “the error of Balaam,” his assumption that God would curse Israel (Jude 11).
Undoubtedly intermarriage with the heathen and spiritual compromise were real issues in Pergamos where civic life and religious life were so entwined. It would be most difficult for Christians in this city to have any kind of social contact with the outside world without becoming involved with the worship of idols or in the matter of intermarriage with non-Christians. Practically all meat was offered to idols before it was consumed, and it was difficult for Christians to accept a social engagement or even to buy meat in the market place without in some sense compromising in respect to the meat offered to idols.
Intermarriage with the heathen was also a real problem. Social relations with the heathen world would lead in some instances to partaking of the heathen feasts which in turn led to heathen immorality which was a part of the idolatrous worship. Apparently there were some in the Pergamos church who held that Christians had liberty in this matter. Christ’s absolute condemnation of the doctrine of Balaam as it related to the church at Pergamos is a clear testimony to the fact that Christians must at all costs remain pure and separate from defilement with the world and its religion and moral standards. In a similar way they were rebuked for holding the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. That for which the Ephesian church was commended as hating now becomes embraced by some in the church of Pergamos. Nicolaitanism seems to represent moral departure (see discussion at 2:6).
The expression “which things I hate” is not found in the best manuscripts in verse 15, but it does occur in the original reference to this doctrine (2:6). What God hates the Christian ought to hatt as well. The modem tendency to blur distinctions of moral and theological character and to manifest unconcern in those areas had its counterpart in the early church of Pergamos. The word of Christ to this church on this point constitutes a stem warning to modem Christians to examine their morality and faith and to demand freedom to follow the Word of God with the guidance of the Holy Spirit where this conflicts with the standards of men.
The parallel in the history of the church to the temptation and failure foreshadowed at Pergamos is all too evident to students of church history. With the so-called conversion of Constantine the Emperor, the time of persecution which the church had previously endured was replaced by a period in which the church was favored by the government. The edicts of persecution which had characterized the previous administration were repealed and Christians were allowed to worship according to the dictates of their conscience. Near the end of the fourth century, Theodosius actually proscribed paganism.
Under these circumstances it soon became popular to be a Christian, and the conscience of the church was quickly blurred. It became increasingly difficult to maintain a clear distinction between the church and the world and to preserve the purity of biblical doctrine. Though some benefit was secured by the successful defense of biblical truth by the Council of Nicea in a.d. 325 as opposed to the defection from the faith by Alius and his followers, the history of the three centuries which followed is a record of increasing corruption of the church, departure from biblical doctrine, and an attempt to combine Christian theology with pagan philosophy.
As a result the church soon lost its hope of the early return of Christ, and biblical simplicity was replaced by a complicated church organization which substituted human creeds and worship of Mary, the mother of our Lord, for true biblical doctrine. The church committed the same sin of which Israel was guilty in the Old Testament, namely, the worship of idols and union with the heathen world. The solemn warning of Christ given to the church at Ephesus was forgotten.
2:16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
Warning to repent. In this abrupt command, Christ issued a sharp word to the church at Pergamos and their modern counterparts: “Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.” Even though many in the church at Pergamos had been faithful and one of their number had died as a martyr to the faith, it was nevertheless true that the evil character of those things which were invading the church was so serious in the mind of Christ that it involved fighting against them with the sword of His mouth. There is no alternative to continued impurity and compromise with the truth except that of divine judgment. The apostasy which is seen in its early stage in the church at Pergamos has its culmination in the future apostate church in Revelation 17 which is ultimately brought into divine judgment by Christ the Head of the church.
2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.
Invitation and promise. As in His messages to the other churches, Christ gives a promise and an invitation to individuals. “He that hath an ear” is invited to listen. To him is given the threefold promise of verse 17, contained in this revelation. First of all, the believer is assured that he will have the benefit of eating of the hidden manna. Just as Israel received manna from heaven as its food in the wilderness replacing the onions and garlic of Egypt, so for the true believer in the Lord Jesus there is the hidden Manna, that bread from heaven which the world does not know or see which is the present spiritual food of the saints as well as a part of their future heritage. This seems to refer to the benefits of fellowship with Christ and the spiritual strength that is afforded by that experience.
In addition to the hidden manna, those who overcome by faith are promised a white stone, possibly a brilliant diamond. In courts of law being given a white stone is thought to represent acquittal in contrast to a black stone which would indicate condemnation. Hadjiantoniou suggests several other representations such as happiness, or a symbol of friendship, or a passport to important social events. 86 Alford in an extended discussion, after listing many divergent views, supports the position of Bengel along with Hengstenberg and Duesterdieck “that the figure is derived from the practice of using small stones inscribed with writing, for various purposes, and that, further than this, the imagery belongs to the occasion itself only.” 87 Alford believes that the real value of the stone is the inscription on it rather than the stone’s intrinsic worth. The stone’s value rests in the new name of the recipient which is his title to eternal glory. 88
The giving of the white stone to the believer here, then, is the indication that he has been accepted or favored by Christ, a wonderful assurance especially for those who have been rejected by the wicked world and are the objects of its persecution. In addition to receiving the stone, a new name written on the stone is promised them, the name described as one “which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.”
In the Old Testament the high priest had the names of the twelve tribes of Israel inscribed upon the stones carried upon his breast, symbolic of the fact that whenever he appeared before God he was a mediator representing the entire twelve tribes of Israel. Here is a name that belongs to the individual. Some consider it to be that of Jehovah, the unspoken name of God in the Old Testament. Others have regarded it as a personal name indicating their own enrollment in heaven. Whatever its character, the name symbolizes the personal heritage of the glories that are beyond this world and the assurance of eternal salvation. Christians in this modern day as well as Christians in the church at Pergamos are reminded by this Scripture that it is God’s purpose to separate them from all evil and compromise and to have them as His peculiar inheritance throughout eternity. However difficult their lot in this life, they are assured infinite blessing in the life to come.
The Letter to Thyatira: The Church Tolerating Apostasy (2:18-29)
2:18 And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass.
Christ the Holy One. The fourth message of Christ was addressed to the angel of the church in Thyatira, a small thriving town located about forty miles southeast of Pergamos, The city had been established as a Macedonian colony by Alexander the Great after the destruction of the Persian empire. Located in a rich agricultural area, Thyatira was famous for the manufacture of purple dye, and numerous references are found in secular literature of the period to the trade guilds which manufactured cloth. 89 It is remarkable that Christ should single out a very small church in a relatively obscure city for such an important letter. However, the message reaches far beyond the immediate circumstances in the church at Thyatira. One other mention of Thyatira is found in Acts 16:14-15 where the conversion of Lydia is recorded in these words: “And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.”
As there is no record in Scripture of any evangelistic effort in the city of Thyatira, it may be that the gospel was first brought to Thyatira through the instrumentality of Lydia. Her role of a seller of purple indicates that she was a representative of the thriving trade in purple cloth originating in Thyatira. Though Lydia was probably already deceased, Christ directed the longest of the seven letters to this small Christian assembly which may have been the fruit of her witness. All was not well in Thyatira, and to this little church is addressed one of the most severe of the seven epistles.
Christ is introduced in verse 18 as “the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass.” In 1:14-15 a similar description is given where Christ is pictured as the righteous Judge who, knowing all things, can ferret out every evil. His sovereign judgment deals with all who fail to measure up to His perfect righteousness. The chief point of distinction in this description of Christ is that He is named the Son of God in contrast to the designation in chapter 1 where He is called the Son of Man. His title here is in keeping with the character of the judgment pronounced upon the church. Their diversion from the true worship of Jesus Christ the Son of God was so serious that it called for a reiteration of His deity. The description of His eyes as a flame of fire speaks of burning indignation and purifying judgment. In a similar way His feet are declared to be like fine brass (Gr., chalkolibano„). This word, found only here in the Bible, has puzzled scholars. It seems to represent an alloy of precious metal such as gold, silver, brass, or copper. Its exact character is not known, but there is general agreement with the conclusion of Swete that it is “the name of a mixed metal of great brilliance.” 90 The point in mentioning it here is in reference not to its quality as metal, but to its brilliant appearance enhancing the revelation of Christ as a glorious judge.
2:19 I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.
Commendation of works, faith, and love. In verse 19 Christ commends the church at Thyatira in a remarkable way, considering the severe condemnation, which may be translated freely as follows: “I know your works and the love and the faith and the service and your patience and your last works being more than the first.” In the commendations of the church at Smyrna and at Pergamos the expression “thy works” is not in the best manuscripts, which emphasizes the fact that the principal point of commendation in Smyrna was their faithful suffering and in Pergamos the place in which they were giving their testimony. In Thyatira, however, works are mentioned, because their works were prominent, and of these the omniscient Christ was fully aware.
It is remarkable that the church was commended first for its charity, or love, especially when none of the three preceding churches was commended for this quality. In addition, mention is made of their service, their faith, and their patience, and of the fact that their last works were greater than the former works, in contrast, for instance, to the case of the Ephesian church. In spite of these most commendable features, the church at Thyatira was guilty of terrible sin; and with this fact Christ deals beginning in verse 20.
2:20-23 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.
Indictment for spiritual wickedness. Here is a sweeping indictment of the church’s toleration of the woman named Jezebel and her teaching and influence which led the church to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed to idols. The expression “a few things” found in the Authorized Version is omitted in the best manuscripts, the point being that there is one principal objection to the church at Thyatira, namely, the evil works of the woman called Jezebel. Some manuscripts add sou to the word woman, hence meaning “thy woman,” or “thy wife.” Alford favors the interpretation that Jezebel was actually the wife of the pastor at Thyatira on the ground that “on the whole, the evidence for sou being inserted in the text seems to me to be preponderant.” 91 Alford is not sure, however, that the phrase should be taken literally, perhaps only symbolically. 92
In any case, it is possible that there was actually a woman leader in the church at Thyatira and that her dominant position may have been derived from the fact that Lydia, another woman, had brought them the message in the first place. This woman, Jezebel, is not a true messenger of divine truth. Though she claimed the right and office of a prophetess, she had urged the Christians in Thyatira to continue their pagan worship of idols which characterized the unbelievers in the city. They were therefore not only permitted to participate in the idolatrous feasts by eating things sacrificed to idols but they were also instructed to take part in the immorality which characterized the worship of idols.
In promoting these wrongs, the woman prophetess, whose real name was probably not Jezebel, was fulfilling the role of the historic Jezebel in the Old Testament. According to I Kings, Jezebel was the wife of Ahab, the king of Israel, and she was the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians. She was one of the most evil characters of the Old Testament, who attempted to combine the worship of Israel with the worship of the idol Baal. She did what she could to stamp out all true worship of the Lord and influenced her weak husband to the extent that it is recorded in I Kings 16:33, “And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.”
Jezebel herself had a most unenviable record of evil. She was responsible for the killing of Naboth and possession of his vineyard for her husband (1 Kings 21:1-16). She had also killed practically all the prophets of the Lord and did what she could to kill the Prophet Elijah (1 Kings 19:2). So evil was Jezebel’s character that she is singled out by Elijah for a special prophecy that she would come to a sudden end and that her body would be eaten by dogs—a prophecy fulfilled in 2 Kings 9:33-35. She is therefore the epitome of subtle corruption and a symbol of immorality and idolatry.
The Jezebel in Thyatira had a similar influence upon the church and broke down all boundaries of moral separation from the wicked world. According to verse 21 she was given “space” or “time” (Gr., chronon) to repent, and she had not done so. A terrible judgment is therefore pronounced upon her that she herself will be cast into the bed of affliction and that those who shared her evil deeds will be cast into tribulation. As Swete expresses it, “In this case there is a sharp contrast between the luxurious couch where the sin was committed and the bed of pain.” 93 In the expression “I will cast” (Gr., ballo) the present tense is used for an emphatic future as if Christ were already in the process of executing His judgment. He describes those who will share her judgment as committing adultery with her.
Though fornication referring to sexual immorality in general is frequently mentioned in the book of Revelation, this is the only place where adultery is indicated, with more particular reference to violation of the marriage vow. Those in Thyatira who had sinned in this way had not only violated the moral law of God but had sinned against their covenant relationship with the Lord which bound them to inward purity as well as outward piety.
Christ also predicts that Jezebel’s children will be killed “with death,” an emphatic judgment of such character that “all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and the hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.” The word translated “reins” in the Authorized Version (Gr., nephrous), literally “kidneys,” was a reference to the fact that Christ searches the innermost being of the individual. In modern terminology the term would be “minds and hearts.” There can be no hiding from Christ of any iniquity whether overt or covert act. These solemn words addressed to the church at Thyatira are applicable to anyone who dares to corrupt the purity of the truth of God and spoil the worship of the Lord with idolatrous and heathen practices.
The message to the assembly in Thyatira seems to foreshadow that period of church history known as the Middle Ages preceding the Protestant Reformation. In that period the church became corrupt as it sought to combine Christianity with pagan philosophy and heathen religious rites so that much of the ritual of the church of that period is directly traceable to comparable ceremonies in heathen religion. During this period also there began that exaltation of Mary the mother of our Lord which has tended to exalt her to the plane of a female deity through whom intercession to God should be made, and apart from whose favor there can be no salvation. The prominence of a woman prophetess in the church at Thyatira anticipates the prominence of this unscriptural exaltation of Mary. Along with this, the church experienced spiritual depravity, and idols in the form of religious statues were introduced. Not only gross immorality but spiritual fornication resulted, much as was true in the church of Thyatira.
Like the church in Thyatira, however, many noble qualities can be found in the church in the Middle Ages. Individuals, in spite of the ecclesiastical system of which they were a part, were often characterized by a true love for God and selfless service and faith. Of such God is the rewarder, and due recognition is made of their faithfulness without glossing over the evil that is inherent in the system as a whole.
The participation in idol worship and eating of things offered to idols also foreshadows the departure from the scriptural doctrine of the finished sacrifice of Christ. In the Middle Ages the false teaching of the continual sacrifice of Christ was advocated, transforming the observance of the elements of the Lord’s Supper into another sacrifice of Christ. This fundamental error of the church in the Middle Ages has been corrected in modern Protestantism by the recognition of the bread and the cup as symbols, but not the sacrifice itself, which Christ performed once and for all upon the cross of Calvary. In contrast to the false doctrine exalting the Virgin Mary to the role of deity and coredeemer, Christ introduces Himself in this message to the church of Thyatira as the Son of God, the One to whom alone we owe our redemption and in whose hands alone our final judgment rests.
2:24-25 But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden. But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.
Exhortation to the godly remnant. It is significant that having brought into judgment those who were evil in the church of Thyatira a special word is given to the godly remnant in this church. Here for the first time in the messages to the seven churches a group is singled out within a local church as being the continuing true testimony of the Lord. The godly remnant is described as not having or holding the doctrine of Jezebel and as not knowing “the depths” or the deep things of Satan. Here reference is made to the satanic system often seen in great detail in false cults which compete with the true Christian faith. Just as there are the deep things of God (1 Cor. 2:10) which are taught by the Spirit, so there are the deep things of Satan which result from his work.
The meaning of the expression “as they speak” is debatable. Alford believes that the subject of the verb “speak” is a reference to apostolic teaching embraced in the command which immediately follows: “I will put upon you none other burden.” A parallel is found in Acts 15:28 where the council of Jerusalem determined, “It seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things.” The clause is therefore an introduction to the material which follows rather than a conclusion of the material which preceded. As Alford summarizes it, “This act of simple obedience, and no deep matters beyond their reach, was what the Lord required of them.” 94
To the godly remnant, then, Christ gives a limited responsibility. The evil character of the followers of Jezebel is such that they are beyond reclaim, but the true Christians are urged to hold fast to what they already have and await the coming of the Lord. It is remarkable that here first in the seven churches there is reference to the coming of Christ for His church as the hope of those who are engulfed by an apostate system.
2:26-29 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. And I will give him the morning star. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
The invitation and promise. As in the letters to the other churches, Christ closes His message to the church at Thyatira with a challenge to those who are overcomers. He promises that those who keep His works unto the end will be given a responsible position of judgment over the nations. Closely following the prediction of a second coming is this first reference in Revelation to the millennial reign of Christ (cf., however, 1:6-7). The overcoming Christians are promised places of authority. They will share the rule of Christ over the nations of the world.
The word for “rule” (Gr., poimanei) means literally “to shepherd.” Their rule will not be simply that of executing judgment, but also that of administering mercy and direction to those who are the sheep as contrasted to the goats (Matt. 25:31-46). The power to rule in this way was given to Christ by His heavenly Father (John 5:22).
To the overcomers also is given the promise of “the morning star.” While various explanations of this expression have been given, 95 it seems to refer to Christ Himself in His role as the returning One who will rapture the church before the dark hours preceding the dawn of the millennial kingdom.
The letter to the church at Thyatira closes with the familiar invitation to individuals who have ears to hear. Beginning with this letter this exhortation comes last in contrast to its position before the promise to overcomers in preceding letters. The word of Christ to the church of Thyatira is therefore addressed to any who will hear, who find themselves in similar need of this searching exhortation.
65 Richard Chenevix Trench, Epistles to the Seven Churches, p. 10, cited by J. A. Seiss, The Apocalypse, p. 67.
66 Henry B. Swete, The Apocalypse of St. John, pp. 57-58.
67 William Milligan, Discussions on the Apocalypse, p. 269.
68 William F. Arndt and Wilbur F. Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, s.v. aggelos, pp. 7-8.
69 Henry Alford, The Greek New Testament, IV, 563.
70 Cf. Scofield Reference Bible, note 1, p. 1332.
71 Alford, IV, 563.
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Mythology - Prosperina was the Roman goddess of the underworld. Who was the Greek equivalent? | Proserpina, Roman Goddess of springtime and Queen of the Underworld | Goddess A Day
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In the children's programme 'The Magic Roundabout', shown on television in the 1960's , who was the narrator? | 1000+ images about Persefone on Pinterest | Alan lee, Pomegranates and Pomegranate seeds
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Perserpina(Roman)Persephone(Greek) Springtime and Queen of the Underworld. She is the daughter of Ceres(Rome) Demeter(Greek) Jupiter (Roman)Zeus(Greek). In the Roman version, Proserpina was gathering flowers with some nymphs in Sicily, when Pluto, God of the Underworld, came out of Mount Etna and abducted her. He eventually freed her, after first tricking her into eating pomegranate seeds in the Underworld, ensuring that she would have to return the...
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Which playwright, with a three letter surname, wrote the plays The Lady's not for Burning and Venus Observed? | Christopher Fry, playwright: papers - Archives Hub
Archives Hub
https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/data/gb71-thm/319
Scope and Content
This material has been arranged chronologically according to the order that works were first performed or broadcast, except correspondence, which has been arranged alphabetically by surname of correspondent. The archive is organised into the following series:
Scripts
Correspondence
Family and School papers
This collection contains Christopher Fry's scripts for stage plays, film, radio and television drama as well as his correspondence, notes and diaries and material relating to the performance of his plays.
Administrative / Biographical History
Christopher Fry was born on 18 December 1907. He was originally named Arthur Hammond Harris and during his childhood adopted the surname Fry from his maternal grandmother. In his late twenties he became known as Christopher Fry. He went to Bedford Modern School , where he wrote his first play at eleven and his first verse drama at eighteen. He worked for a short period as an actor and teacher and then became director of a repertory theatre in Tunbridge Wells in 1934, directing the English premiere of George Bernard Shaw 's Village Wooing . He also worked as a composer lyricist .
In 1938 Fry wrote The Boy with a Cart after being invited by a Sussex vicar to celebrate St Cuthman , who pushed his mother from Cornwall to Steyning in a wheelbarrow. In 1939 he wrote The Tower based on the history of Tewkesbury Abbey . Both these plays are said to be influenced by T.S. Eliot 's Murder in the Cathedral . During the war he spent four years as a non-combatant in the Pioneer Corps as well as being the director of the Oxford Repertory Players in 1940. In 1946 A Phoenix Too Frequent was staged at the Mercury Theatre in London and featured Paul Scofield . It was based on the story by Petronius about a widow who is persuaded not to lock herself away in her husband's tomb. In 1946 he also wrote an early version of The Firstborn telling the story of the struggle between Moses and the Pharaoh in Egypt . He then wrote Thor with Angels about the spread of Christianity for the Canterbury Festival in 1948.
In 1946 Alec Clunes commissioned The Lady's Not For Burning for the Arts Theatre Club , which features a soldier who wants to be hanged and a suspected witch who does not want to be burned. First performed in 1948, it then had a long run in London 's West End with John Gielgud , Pamela Brown , Richard Burton and Claire Bloom . Seen by some as an important return to verse drama, others including Kenneth Tynan saw it as backward looking. In 1950 it transferred to New York 's Broadway with Burton. In 1950 Fry also wrote a translation of Jean Anouilh 's L'Invitation au chateau as Ring Round the Moon for Peter Brook . He also wrote Venus Observed for Laurence Olivier , in which an astronomer asks his son to choose his own stepmother from three former mistresses. In 1950 he wrote A Sleep of Prisoners for the Festival of Britain in 1951, which featured four prisoners of war who recreate Old Testament stories in their dreams. In 1953 he wrote the screenplay for The Beggar's Opera directed by Peter Brook and with Olivier in the lead role. In 1954 he wrote The Dark is Light Enough , the third part of his seasonal plays, starring Edith Evans , set as the Hungarians rise up against Austrian rule in the 19th century. In 1955 his translations of Anouilh's L'alouette as The Lark and Giraudoux's La guerre de Troi n'aura pas lieu as Tiger at the Gates were both performed in London 's West End.
In the late 1950s Fry went to Rome to help re-write the screenplay for Ben Hur . He also wrote the screenplay for Barabbas (1962) and for The Bible (1966). He continued writing plays, although his type of verse drama had fallen out of favour since the rise of realistic prose drama in the 1950s. In 1961 he wrote Curtmantle about the conflict between Henry II and Thomas Becket and in 1970, the fourth season play, A Yard of Sun about family reunions after a war. He also translated Giraudoux's Pour Lucrece as Duel of Angels in 1960 and Judith in 1962. In addition, he translated Henrik Ibsen 's Peer Gynt in 1970 and Edmond Rostand 's Cyrano de Bergerac in 1975, both for the Chichester Festival Theatre . A Ringing of Bells was commissioned by his old school in 2000 and was put on at the National Theatre the following year.
In 1962 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and in 1999 The Lady's Not For Burning was voted as one of the hundred best plays of the twentieth century in a National Theatre poll. He died on 30 June 2005.
Arrangement
This material has been arranged chronologically according to the order that works were first performed or broadcast, except correspondence, which has been arranged alphabetically by surname of correspondent. The archive is organised into the following series:
Scripts
Family and School papers
Conditions Governing Access
This archive collection is available for consultation in the V&A Blythe House Archive and Library Study Room by appointment only. Full details of access arrangements may be found here: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/a/archives/ .
Access to some of the material may be restricted. These are noted in the catalogue where relevant.
Acquisition Information
Bequest of Christopher Fry, 2005.
Other Finding Aids
An item level list describing in more detail most of the individual letters in THM/319/9 is available as a Word document. This list can be found in the first box of correspondence. Please ask for details.
Separated Material
Material received with the archive which has been transferred to other collections:
Jerome K Jerome, Stage-Land: Curious Manners and Customs of its Inhabitants , published by Chatto & Windus in 1889.
Typescripts for Temple Folly and Joanna Laughs, both by Bridget Boland.
Playbills for Tumbridge Wells Theatre, 1823, 1824 and 1829.
Single sheet broadside announcing the 'Total Destruction of Drury Lane Theatre' in 1809.
Three letters from Sarah Siddons, one dated 1809.
Conditions Governing Use
Information on copying and commercial reproduction may be found here: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/a/archives/ .
Accruals
No further accruals to this collection are expected.
Related Material
See also Theatre & Performance Core Collections: material relating to Christopher Fry may be found in several collections, including his biographical file, relevant production files, and photographs. Please ask for more details.
Subjects
| Christopher Fry |
The song 'If ever I would leave you' came from which musical? | Christopher Fry, playwright: papers - Archives Hub
Archives Hub
https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/data/gb71-thm/319
Scope and Content
This material has been arranged chronologically according to the order that works were first performed or broadcast, except correspondence, which has been arranged alphabetically by surname of correspondent. The archive is organised into the following series:
Scripts
Correspondence
Family and School papers
This collection contains Christopher Fry's scripts for stage plays, film, radio and television drama as well as his correspondence, notes and diaries and material relating to the performance of his plays.
Administrative / Biographical History
Christopher Fry was born on 18 December 1907. He was originally named Arthur Hammond Harris and during his childhood adopted the surname Fry from his maternal grandmother. In his late twenties he became known as Christopher Fry. He went to Bedford Modern School , where he wrote his first play at eleven and his first verse drama at eighteen. He worked for a short period as an actor and teacher and then became director of a repertory theatre in Tunbridge Wells in 1934, directing the English premiere of George Bernard Shaw 's Village Wooing . He also worked as a composer lyricist .
In 1938 Fry wrote The Boy with a Cart after being invited by a Sussex vicar to celebrate St Cuthman , who pushed his mother from Cornwall to Steyning in a wheelbarrow. In 1939 he wrote The Tower based on the history of Tewkesbury Abbey . Both these plays are said to be influenced by T.S. Eliot 's Murder in the Cathedral . During the war he spent four years as a non-combatant in the Pioneer Corps as well as being the director of the Oxford Repertory Players in 1940. In 1946 A Phoenix Too Frequent was staged at the Mercury Theatre in London and featured Paul Scofield . It was based on the story by Petronius about a widow who is persuaded not to lock herself away in her husband's tomb. In 1946 he also wrote an early version of The Firstborn telling the story of the struggle between Moses and the Pharaoh in Egypt . He then wrote Thor with Angels about the spread of Christianity for the Canterbury Festival in 1948.
In 1946 Alec Clunes commissioned The Lady's Not For Burning for the Arts Theatre Club , which features a soldier who wants to be hanged and a suspected witch who does not want to be burned. First performed in 1948, it then had a long run in London 's West End with John Gielgud , Pamela Brown , Richard Burton and Claire Bloom . Seen by some as an important return to verse drama, others including Kenneth Tynan saw it as backward looking. In 1950 it transferred to New York 's Broadway with Burton. In 1950 Fry also wrote a translation of Jean Anouilh 's L'Invitation au chateau as Ring Round the Moon for Peter Brook . He also wrote Venus Observed for Laurence Olivier , in which an astronomer asks his son to choose his own stepmother from three former mistresses. In 1950 he wrote A Sleep of Prisoners for the Festival of Britain in 1951, which featured four prisoners of war who recreate Old Testament stories in their dreams. In 1953 he wrote the screenplay for The Beggar's Opera directed by Peter Brook and with Olivier in the lead role. In 1954 he wrote The Dark is Light Enough , the third part of his seasonal plays, starring Edith Evans , set as the Hungarians rise up against Austrian rule in the 19th century. In 1955 his translations of Anouilh's L'alouette as The Lark and Giraudoux's La guerre de Troi n'aura pas lieu as Tiger at the Gates were both performed in London 's West End.
In the late 1950s Fry went to Rome to help re-write the screenplay for Ben Hur . He also wrote the screenplay for Barabbas (1962) and for The Bible (1966). He continued writing plays, although his type of verse drama had fallen out of favour since the rise of realistic prose drama in the 1950s. In 1961 he wrote Curtmantle about the conflict between Henry II and Thomas Becket and in 1970, the fourth season play, A Yard of Sun about family reunions after a war. He also translated Giraudoux's Pour Lucrece as Duel of Angels in 1960 and Judith in 1962. In addition, he translated Henrik Ibsen 's Peer Gynt in 1970 and Edmond Rostand 's Cyrano de Bergerac in 1975, both for the Chichester Festival Theatre . A Ringing of Bells was commissioned by his old school in 2000 and was put on at the National Theatre the following year.
In 1962 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and in 1999 The Lady's Not For Burning was voted as one of the hundred best plays of the twentieth century in a National Theatre poll. He died on 30 June 2005.
Arrangement
This material has been arranged chronologically according to the order that works were first performed or broadcast, except correspondence, which has been arranged alphabetically by surname of correspondent. The archive is organised into the following series:
Scripts
Family and School papers
Conditions Governing Access
This archive collection is available for consultation in the V&A Blythe House Archive and Library Study Room by appointment only. Full details of access arrangements may be found here: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/a/archives/ .
Access to some of the material may be restricted. These are noted in the catalogue where relevant.
Acquisition Information
Bequest of Christopher Fry, 2005.
Other Finding Aids
An item level list describing in more detail most of the individual letters in THM/319/9 is available as a Word document. This list can be found in the first box of correspondence. Please ask for details.
Separated Material
Material received with the archive which has been transferred to other collections:
Jerome K Jerome, Stage-Land: Curious Manners and Customs of its Inhabitants , published by Chatto & Windus in 1889.
Typescripts for Temple Folly and Joanna Laughs, both by Bridget Boland.
Playbills for Tumbridge Wells Theatre, 1823, 1824 and 1829.
Single sheet broadside announcing the 'Total Destruction of Drury Lane Theatre' in 1809.
Three letters from Sarah Siddons, one dated 1809.
Conditions Governing Use
Information on copying and commercial reproduction may be found here: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/a/archives/ .
Accruals
No further accruals to this collection are expected.
Related Material
See also Theatre & Performance Core Collections: material relating to Christopher Fry may be found in several collections, including his biographical file, relevant production files, and photographs. Please ask for more details.
Subjects
| i don't know |
Who was the leader of the early Christian church in Crete addressed by a letter from St Paul in the New Testament? | SparkNotes: Bible: The New Testament: Context
Table of Contents
Plot Overview
The New Testament is the second, shorter part of the Christian Bible. Unlike the Old Testament, which covers hundreds of years of history, the New Testament only covers several decades, and is a collection of the religious teachings and beliefs of Christianity. The New Testament is not a single book written by one person, but, rather, a collection of twenty-seven books written in Greek by people from various places. There are many ways to interpret the New Testament. Millions of people view it as absolutely true scripture, and use its teachings as the basis of their belief systems. Some biblical scholars interpret it as a work of literature that uses beautiful poetry to describe religious myths. Others study its ethical and philosophical ideas, as its stories of the faithful attempt to instill certain values and outline an appropriate way to live.
The books of the New Testament were written in first- or second-century Palestine, a region that at the time was under the rule of the Roman Empire. Many of the stories are based on the rituals and beliefs of Judaism, as Jesus Christ and his disciples were all Jews. As a result, both Greco-Roman culture and Judaic traditions dominate the political, social, and economic scene of the New Testament. Judaism at that time was not a single tradition or set of beliefs, but contained many different divisions within itself. These divisions figure prominently in New Testament stories. The strictest Jews, the Sadducees, were the upper class of priests. They interpreted scripture literally and adhered to rituals strictly. They were opposed to oral tradition and to the concept of eternal life, since the latter is not discussed in the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament. The Pharisees, in contrast to the Sadducees, interpreted Jewish law for laypeople and established Jewish life outside of the temple. They were more liberal in their acceptance of scripture, regarding oral tradition and the words of prophets as scriptural as well.
Judaism at the time of Christ involved a rigid social hierarchy. The temple and the high priests who worked there were considered to be pure, holy, and closer to God than anyone else. The hierarchy continued with people who were Jews by birth, followed by converts to Judaism. Gentiles, or non-Jews, were considered by Jews to be ritually impure and not in the service of God. The New Testament documents a shift in this hierarchy. Christians challenged the system in which birth into the Israelite community determined a person’s level of purity. They said, instead, that repentance and acceptance of the teachings of Jesus Christ determined a person’s purity.
The writers of the books that now comprise the New Testament did not intend for their writings to replace or rival the Old Testament. The Christian scriptures were originally intended to be utilitarian documents, responding to specific needs of the early church. It was only with the passage of more than a hundred years after Jesus’s death that Christians began to use the term “New Testament” to refer to the scriptures that the fledgling church was beginning to view as a single sacred unit. Early Christians viewed the New Testament as the fulfillment of promises made in the Old Testament, rather than as the replacement of the Jewish scriptures.
The historical context of the New Testament greatly influences the way we interpret it as literature. Many of the speakers in the Bible address issues and problems unique to their moment in history, and a knowledge of the various cultural forces of biblical times provides a basis for understanding the characters’ motivations and reactions. Furthermore, the New Testament’s role as influential religious doctrine is another context. Just as historical situations shaped the development of the New Testament, the New Testament has also influenced the progress of history. Reading religious documents as literature requires an unusual understanding of the events surrounding the writing of the text.
Structure and Composition
Only in the second century a.d. did Christians begin to use the term “New Testament” to refer to their collection of scriptures. The New Testament as we now know it is comprised of twenty-seven books, but it was not originally written as a coherent whole. Jesus himself did not produce any written record of his work. The books that comprise the New Testament were mostly written in the century following his death, in response to specific needs of the early church and its leaders. At the time of Jesus’s crucifixion in approximately 30 a.d., most of the first generation of Christians believed that the end of the world was imminent. They therefore considered it unnecessary to compose records of Jesus’s life. By the mid-60s a.d., however, most Christians who had known Jesus and witnessed his actions firsthand were dying. It became necessary, then, to produce works that would testify to Jesus’s life. As it became clear that the second coming of Jesus would be delayed, the leaders of the church began to compose works that would enable the nascent Christian Church to survive.
The books that comprise the New Testament can be separated into three broad categories. First are the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. “Gospel” literally means “good news.” The “good news” to which these gospels refer is the life, teachings, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. The Gospels usually appear first among the texts of the New Testament, with Matthew placed first of all. But the order of the New Testament is based on importance, not chronology. The Gospels were probably written between 65 and 110 a.d., with Mark written first and John last.
The second category of texts in the New Testament are the letters from Paul. Paul of Tarsus was an early church leader and energetic missionary who spread the Gospel of Jesus across the Roman Empire, preaching to Gentiles as well as to Jews, who were the earliest targets of missionary activity. Paul wrote many letters to various Christian communities throughout the Mediterranean, settling points of doctrine and instructing new Christians in matters of faith. By the end of the second century a.d., Christian communities had collected thirteen letters that they attributed to Paul, and each letter became known by the name of the community or individual to whom it was addressed: Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. A fourteenth letter, Hebrews, long accepted by Eastern churches, was accepted by Western churches in the fourth century a.d. The actual authorship and date of composition of many of these letters is seriously disputed, but it is generally agreed that Paul wrote some of them in the 50s a.d., making them the oldest existing Christian texts.
Other books in the New Testament are somewhat harder to classify. Acts of the Apostles (known simply as Acts) is a continuation of the Gospel According to Luke, giving the history of the church in the years after Jesus’s crucifixion. Acts traces the expansion of the church, as it moves out from Jerusalem and spreads throughout the Gentile world. The protagonists of the book are Peter, the chief of the Twelve Apostles, who were Jesus’s closest disciples, and Paul of Tarsus, the greatest early Christian missionary. Also included in the New Testament are seven letters, known as the Letters to all Christians, or the Catholic—in its literal sense, meaning “universal”—Letters, which resemble extended homilies. These letters are generally understood to have been written after the Pauline letters: James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2 and 3 John, and Jude. Finally, the Book of Revelation, written in the closing years of the first century, is an extended vision predicting the events of the end of the world and the second coming of Jesus.
In its early centuries, the church was highly decentralized. Each individual church community collected its own sacred documents. The fragmented nature of the church was complicated by the difference in intellectual tradition between the East, which spoke Greek as its scholarly language and was ruled from Byzantium following the division of the Roman Empire, and the West, which spoke Latin and was centered in Rome. The process by which individual church communities came together to decide on a canon of sacred works, and the process by which they preserved those works, is not entirely clear. Criteria that seem to have been important in canonization include the authorship of the texts—texts presumed to have been written by apostles, such as Matthew, or by those who witnessed Jesus’s revelation firsthand, such as Paul, were given priority—and the importance and wide acceptance of the doctrine expressed in the texts. It is known that in the decades just before and after 200 a.d., church leaders widely accepted the sacred nature of a collection of twenty works, including the four Gospels, thirteen Pauline letters, Acts, 1 Peter, and 1 John. The remaining seven works—Hebrews, Revelation, James, 2 and 3 John, Jude, and 2 Peter—were cited from the second to the fourth centuries and accepted as scripture in some, but not all, churches. Finally, by the late fourth century, there was wide, but not absolute, agreement in the Greek East and the Latin West on a canon of twenty-seven works.
It is generally agreed that the books of the New Testament were originally written in Greek, the scholarly language current at the time, and divided into chapters and verses. It is possible that a few books of the New Testament were originally written in Aramaic, a dialect popular among the Jews of Palestine, and most likely the language that Jesus himself spoke.
More Help
| Titus (disambiguation) |
Mythology - Diana was the Roman goddess of fertility and hunting. Who was the Greek equivalent? | The Letters of Paul
The Letters of Paul
1 Thessalonians | 2 Thessalonians | 1 Timothy | 2 Timothy | Titus | Philemon
Paul wrote thirteen letters which are included in the New Testament. Some scholars add the letter to the Hebrews. Most disagree that Paul wrote it. Therefore, I am not including it in this essay.
A number of the Scriptures in our family library provide subject headings for these epistles. I have used a different version for each epistle to show the form that each follows.
Information about Paul, the places where the citizens lived (the first nine epistles), and the persons (to whom the last three are addressed) comes from Smith's Bible Dictionary. For the dates, my references are Edward Reese (Reese Chronological Bible); Frank Klassen (Reese Chronological Bible); William Smith (Smith's Bible Dictionary); J. B. Phillips (Phillips Revised Student Edition); Charles B. Williams (Williams New Testament). For the places of writing, my reference is Smith's Bible Dictionary. When Reese, Phillips, or Williams disagree, it is noted.
The Background of Paul
Known as Saul prior to his ministry, Paul was born of Hebrew parents about A.D. 5, or a few years earlier, in Tarsus, a city of Cilicia. He later became a Roman citizen and also became fluent in speaking and writing in the Greek language. He was brought up in boyhood in Jerusalem, where he was taught by Gamaliel. Before he became a Christian missionary, he was a Pharisee. His trade was tent-making.
After his miraculous conversion in A.D. 37, he participated in missionary expeditions. On the first journey (A.D. 45-47), Barnabas was his partner. On the second journey (A.D. 50-54), Silas (or Silvanus) was his partner. For part of the third journey (A.D. 50-54), Luke was his partner. Paul was imprisoned in Jerusalem in A.D. 58, in C�sarea from A.D. 58-60, and in Rome from A.D. 61-63 and from A.D. 65-67.
Versions Compared
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In the children's programme 'Paddington Bear' shown on television in the 1970's, who was the narrator? | Paddington Bear | CBBC on Choice Wikia | Fandom powered by Wikia
CBBC on Choice Wikia
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Paddington Bear is a series of British animated shorts based on the Paddington Bear book series by Michael Bond produced by FilmFair. This was the first television series based on the popular children's book Paddington Bear. In the United States it was usually shown on pay television as filler in between programs. Its narrator was actor Michael Hordern. The series has a very distinctive art style. Paddington himself is a stop-motion animated puppet who moves within a 3-dimensional space and interacts with 2-dimensional animated drawings of the human characters, buildings, etc.
Contents
Edit
Series One (episodes 1 to 30, entitled Paddington) was aired on the BBC1 in 1975, and Series Two (episodes 31 to 56, entitled The Adventures of Paddington) between 1978 and 1979, with specials airing in 1980, 1984 and 1986. Internationally, episodes of the series aired in the United States on PBS, on the syndicated series Romper Room, on Nickelodeon as a segment on the program Pinwheel and on USA Network as a segment on the Calliope (TV series) in the late 1970s and early 1980s, as well as in between preschool programming on The Disney Channel as a segment on the programme Lunch Box from the late 1980s into the 1990s.[1][2] The series also aired on HBO in between features, usually when they were airing children's programmes.
Episodes
"Please Look After This Bear"
5 January 1975
The very first story, in which Mr and Mrs. Brown meet Paddington in a railway station, which results in his name.
02
"A Bear in Hot Water"
6 January 1975
Paddington
arrives at the Brown household, and Judy attempts to explain how to have a bath. Paddington does not manage very well, but in spite of this, the Browns decide to keep him.
03
7 January 1975
Paddington
travels on the underground with Mrs. Brown and Judy, but finds himself in a spot of bother with one of the inspectors.
04
"A Shopping Expedition"
8 January 1975
Mrs. Brown takes Paddington to buy some pyjamas, but he gets lost and mistakes a shop window for a changing room.
05
"Paddington and the Old Master"
9 January 1975
Paddington's
friend, Mr. Gruber, an antique dealer, shows Paddington a special type of painting called an "Old Master". Paddington then helps Mr. Brown win a painting competition.
06
"A Spot of Decorating"
12 January 1975
Paddington attempts to decorate the Browns' attic, but he gets into a mess and accidentally wallpapers over the door.
07
Paddington takes the clothes to the launderette.
13
"Too Much Off the Top"
22 January 1975
Paddington gets a job at a barber's shop, but the barber unwisely goes out — leaving Paddington in charge.
14
"A Visit to the Dentist"
23 January 1975
Paddington goes to see the dentist.
15
3 May 1975
Paddington
makes a mess in Mr. Curry's front room to test the new vacuum cleaner he received, when the neighbour suddenly bursts in and points out that the reason for the lack of electric sockets in the house is that he uses gas!
16
23 December 1975
Paddington
engages in a snowball fight in the garden with Jonathan and Judy, but a stray snowball goes through Mr. Curry's bedroom window and melts in the middle of his bed. Later, Paddington helpfully shuts Mr. Curry's back door and locks him out of his house. Eventually, Paddington has to disguise himself as a snowbear to escape his neighbour's wrath.
17
"Paddington and the Christmas Shopping"
3 December 1975
Paddington goes on a Christmas shopping expedition.
18
25 December 1975
Paddington's
first Christmas with the Browns is a success: he is showered with presents, and has also bought some lovely gifts for all the family.
19
"Mr. Curry Takes a Bath"
5 May 1975
The
Browns have had a sauna installed as a present for Mr. Brown. However, Mr. Curry decides to try it out. In an attempt to keep him out, Paddington buys a combination padlock and puts it on the door, but Mr. Curry beats him to it, and pays the price when he finds himself locked in. In the meantime, Paddington tries to work out why the pre-set combination of the padlock — which is the date of his birthday — doesn't seem to open it!
20
"Paddington Turns Detective"
6 May 1975
One night, while using his torchlight, Paddington notices that the light flashes back, and decides to investigate.
21
"Paddington and the Cold Snap"
18 May 1975
Paddington
attempts to mend Mr. Curry's frozen pipes, when the plumber, whom Mr. Curry still owes for his last job, refuses to help.
22
"Trouble at the Wax Works"
25 May 1975
Paddington goes on an outing with Mr. Gruber, and is mistaken for one of the statues in the museum.
23
"Paddington Makes a Clean Sweep"
1 June 1975
Paddington has some misdemeanors attempting to clean a chimney. First he breaks a chimney brush and then gets his head stuck.
24
"A Sticky Time"
8 June 1975
Paddington makes some toffees. However, he accidentally gets a bit of his fur stuck in the process.
25
"Paddington Hits the Jackpot:"
22 June 1975
Paddington appears on the quiz show Lucky For Some, and wins the money in a rather unorthodox way.
26
29 June 1975
Paddington
attends Mr. Arnold Parker's golf tournament. Mr. Curry is there too, and Paddington is surprised when he wins because his ball landed on a train track.
27
"A Visit to the Hospital"
6 July 1975
Paddington
visits Mr. Curry in hospital, but decides to have his head checked first. When Dr. Heinz tells Paddington to say the opposite of what the doctor says, Paddington gets the better of him and opposes every word Dr. Heinz says.
28
13 July 1975
Paddington
is mistaken for a famous gourmet in a restaurant. He enjoys a gargantuan meal, but then has to take the consequences.
29
Paddington visits the funfair where he has his fortune told by Madame Zaza.
30
27 July 1975
Paddington
was coming downstairs for tea, when he soon found himself with everyone holding a special party in his honour. Mr. Gruber gives Paddington a book on paper tearing, and in the process, he accidentally tears one of Mr. Curry's pound notes.
31
31 October 1978
Mr.
Gruber takes Paddington on an outing to the Royal Courts of Justice to watch a case. But while waiting, a misunderstanding ensues when the court nearest the bench Paddington is at call a "Mr. Brown" to the stand.
32
7 November 1978
Paddington
tries to bake a cake for Mr. Curry, but when it comes to getting it in and out of the oven, it seemed far too beyond Paddington's control, and so he decides to decorate the oven – to look like a cake.
33
"A Picnic on the River:"
14 November 1978
The Browns decide to go punting, but disaster strikes when Paddington is put in charge of the pole.
34
Paddington builds a rock garden.
35
"In and Out of Trouble"
28 November 1978
Paddington has trouble using Mr. Curry's old hammock.
36
"Paddington at the Tower"
5 December 1978
Mr. Gruber takes Paddington on an outing to the Tower of London on his day off.
37
"A Visit to the Bank"
12 December 1978
Paddington goes to the bank to withdraw his life savings, but doesn't know exactly what to do as it is his first time.
38
19 December 1978
Paddington
manages to empty a restaurant car in a train by telling them that the fish they are eating is off: he misunderstood a chef's comment when he said it was off the menu.
39
Paddington buys a share in the Portobello Rd Oil Company.
49
"Paddington in a Hole"
6 March 1979
Mr. Curry assigns Paddington to make him a serving hatch, all is fine until the end...
50
"Paddington and the Finishing Touch"
13 March 1979
Paddington
decides to thank Mr. Gruber for his kindness by finding him a finishing touch for his patio. When it comes to bringing it home, however, Paddington finds some surprises.
51
"Trouble in the Bargain Basement"
20 March 1979
Paddington
visits a bargain basement in a shopping store, in order to find something that was very good value. When he tries a demonstration at making pancakes with a frying pan, he accidentally flips the batter all over the audience.
52
"An Outing in the Park"
27 March 1979
Paddington goes to the local park to see a brass band concert, and he discovers how Schubert hadn't finished his symphony.
53
| Michael Hordern |
Which novelist, with a three letter surname, wrote the novels 'The Name of the Rose' and 'Foucault's Pendulum'? | Paddington Bear | CBBC on Choice Wikia | Fandom powered by Wikia
CBBC on Choice Wikia
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Paddington Bear is a series of British animated shorts based on the Paddington Bear book series by Michael Bond produced by FilmFair. This was the first television series based on the popular children's book Paddington Bear. In the United States it was usually shown on pay television as filler in between programs. Its narrator was actor Michael Hordern. The series has a very distinctive art style. Paddington himself is a stop-motion animated puppet who moves within a 3-dimensional space and interacts with 2-dimensional animated drawings of the human characters, buildings, etc.
Contents
Edit
Series One (episodes 1 to 30, entitled Paddington) was aired on the BBC1 in 1975, and Series Two (episodes 31 to 56, entitled The Adventures of Paddington) between 1978 and 1979, with specials airing in 1980, 1984 and 1986. Internationally, episodes of the series aired in the United States on PBS, on the syndicated series Romper Room, on Nickelodeon as a segment on the program Pinwheel and on USA Network as a segment on the Calliope (TV series) in the late 1970s and early 1980s, as well as in between preschool programming on The Disney Channel as a segment on the programme Lunch Box from the late 1980s into the 1990s.[1][2] The series also aired on HBO in between features, usually when they were airing children's programmes.
Episodes
"Please Look After This Bear"
5 January 1975
The very first story, in which Mr and Mrs. Brown meet Paddington in a railway station, which results in his name.
02
"A Bear in Hot Water"
6 January 1975
Paddington
arrives at the Brown household, and Judy attempts to explain how to have a bath. Paddington does not manage very well, but in spite of this, the Browns decide to keep him.
03
7 January 1975
Paddington
travels on the underground with Mrs. Brown and Judy, but finds himself in a spot of bother with one of the inspectors.
04
"A Shopping Expedition"
8 January 1975
Mrs. Brown takes Paddington to buy some pyjamas, but he gets lost and mistakes a shop window for a changing room.
05
"Paddington and the Old Master"
9 January 1975
Paddington's
friend, Mr. Gruber, an antique dealer, shows Paddington a special type of painting called an "Old Master". Paddington then helps Mr. Brown win a painting competition.
06
"A Spot of Decorating"
12 January 1975
Paddington attempts to decorate the Browns' attic, but he gets into a mess and accidentally wallpapers over the door.
07
Paddington takes the clothes to the launderette.
13
"Too Much Off the Top"
22 January 1975
Paddington gets a job at a barber's shop, but the barber unwisely goes out — leaving Paddington in charge.
14
"A Visit to the Dentist"
23 January 1975
Paddington goes to see the dentist.
15
3 May 1975
Paddington
makes a mess in Mr. Curry's front room to test the new vacuum cleaner he received, when the neighbour suddenly bursts in and points out that the reason for the lack of electric sockets in the house is that he uses gas!
16
23 December 1975
Paddington
engages in a snowball fight in the garden with Jonathan and Judy, but a stray snowball goes through Mr. Curry's bedroom window and melts in the middle of his bed. Later, Paddington helpfully shuts Mr. Curry's back door and locks him out of his house. Eventually, Paddington has to disguise himself as a snowbear to escape his neighbour's wrath.
17
"Paddington and the Christmas Shopping"
3 December 1975
Paddington goes on a Christmas shopping expedition.
18
25 December 1975
Paddington's
first Christmas with the Browns is a success: he is showered with presents, and has also bought some lovely gifts for all the family.
19
"Mr. Curry Takes a Bath"
5 May 1975
The
Browns have had a sauna installed as a present for Mr. Brown. However, Mr. Curry decides to try it out. In an attempt to keep him out, Paddington buys a combination padlock and puts it on the door, but Mr. Curry beats him to it, and pays the price when he finds himself locked in. In the meantime, Paddington tries to work out why the pre-set combination of the padlock — which is the date of his birthday — doesn't seem to open it!
20
"Paddington Turns Detective"
6 May 1975
One night, while using his torchlight, Paddington notices that the light flashes back, and decides to investigate.
21
"Paddington and the Cold Snap"
18 May 1975
Paddington
attempts to mend Mr. Curry's frozen pipes, when the plumber, whom Mr. Curry still owes for his last job, refuses to help.
22
"Trouble at the Wax Works"
25 May 1975
Paddington goes on an outing with Mr. Gruber, and is mistaken for one of the statues in the museum.
23
"Paddington Makes a Clean Sweep"
1 June 1975
Paddington has some misdemeanors attempting to clean a chimney. First he breaks a chimney brush and then gets his head stuck.
24
"A Sticky Time"
8 June 1975
Paddington makes some toffees. However, he accidentally gets a bit of his fur stuck in the process.
25
"Paddington Hits the Jackpot:"
22 June 1975
Paddington appears on the quiz show Lucky For Some, and wins the money in a rather unorthodox way.
26
29 June 1975
Paddington
attends Mr. Arnold Parker's golf tournament. Mr. Curry is there too, and Paddington is surprised when he wins because his ball landed on a train track.
27
"A Visit to the Hospital"
6 July 1975
Paddington
visits Mr. Curry in hospital, but decides to have his head checked first. When Dr. Heinz tells Paddington to say the opposite of what the doctor says, Paddington gets the better of him and opposes every word Dr. Heinz says.
28
13 July 1975
Paddington
is mistaken for a famous gourmet in a restaurant. He enjoys a gargantuan meal, but then has to take the consequences.
29
Paddington visits the funfair where he has his fortune told by Madame Zaza.
30
27 July 1975
Paddington
was coming downstairs for tea, when he soon found himself with everyone holding a special party in his honour. Mr. Gruber gives Paddington a book on paper tearing, and in the process, he accidentally tears one of Mr. Curry's pound notes.
31
31 October 1978
Mr.
Gruber takes Paddington on an outing to the Royal Courts of Justice to watch a case. But while waiting, a misunderstanding ensues when the court nearest the bench Paddington is at call a "Mr. Brown" to the stand.
32
7 November 1978
Paddington
tries to bake a cake for Mr. Curry, but when it comes to getting it in and out of the oven, it seemed far too beyond Paddington's control, and so he decides to decorate the oven – to look like a cake.
33
"A Picnic on the River:"
14 November 1978
The Browns decide to go punting, but disaster strikes when Paddington is put in charge of the pole.
34
Paddington builds a rock garden.
35
"In and Out of Trouble"
28 November 1978
Paddington has trouble using Mr. Curry's old hammock.
36
"Paddington at the Tower"
5 December 1978
Mr. Gruber takes Paddington on an outing to the Tower of London on his day off.
37
"A Visit to the Bank"
12 December 1978
Paddington goes to the bank to withdraw his life savings, but doesn't know exactly what to do as it is his first time.
38
19 December 1978
Paddington
manages to empty a restaurant car in a train by telling them that the fish they are eating is off: he misunderstood a chef's comment when he said it was off the menu.
39
Paddington buys a share in the Portobello Rd Oil Company.
49
"Paddington in a Hole"
6 March 1979
Mr. Curry assigns Paddington to make him a serving hatch, all is fine until the end...
50
"Paddington and the Finishing Touch"
13 March 1979
Paddington
decides to thank Mr. Gruber for his kindness by finding him a finishing touch for his patio. When it comes to bringing it home, however, Paddington finds some surprises.
51
"Trouble in the Bargain Basement"
20 March 1979
Paddington
visits a bargain basement in a shopping store, in order to find something that was very good value. When he tries a demonstration at making pancakes with a frying pan, he accidentally flips the batter all over the audience.
52
"An Outing in the Park"
27 March 1979
Paddington goes to the local park to see a brass band concert, and he discovers how Schubert hadn't finished his symphony.
53
| i don't know |
"The song ""If I ruled the world"" came from which musical?" | If I Ruled the World - Tony Bennett | Song Info | AllMusic
If I Ruled the World
google+
Song Review by William Ruhlmann
In 1963, a musical called Pickwick, based on Charles Dickens' novel The Pickwick Papers, was mounted in London's West End. The songs were written by composer Cyril Ornadel and lyricist Leslie Bricusse. Bricusse was known as co-writer of the songs in Anthony Newley's musical Stop the World -- I Want to Get Off. The most notable song in Pickwick was the ballad "If I Ruled the World," sung by Harry Secombe, a typically philosophical Bricusse lyric that spoke idealistically about what the world could be like: "Every day would be the first day of spring," to begin with. The show opened in July 1963, and a cast album was in the U.K. charts in August. In the fall, Secombe's rendition of "If I Ruled the World" was released as a single and made the British Top 20. For his next project, Bricusse re-teamed with Newley for the musical The Roar of the Greasepaint -- The Smell of the Crowd, which premiered regionally in England in August 1964. Tony Bennett got first crack at the show's big ballad, "Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)," and turned it into an American success in the fall of 1964, his first pop Top 40 and easy listening Top Ten hit in more than a year. Naturally, Bennett looked to Bricusse for a follow-up, and as it happened there were plans to stage Pickwick in America, so the time was ripe to launch "If I Ruled the World" in the U.S. The first week of January 1965, Bennett cut a version of the song backed by his usual trio, led by Ralph Sharon, an orchestra arranged and conducted by Don Costa, and the Will Bronson Chorus. The single was in the charts by the second week of February, and it gave Bennett another pop Top 40 and easy listening Top Ten hit. Pickwick, which opened on Broadway in October 1965, was not a success, but "If I Ruled the World" went on to become a standard. Bennett's peers, such as Robert Goulet and Sammy Davis Jr., recorded it, naturally, but it also became a favorite among a wide range of pop, soul, and jazz singers, including Sarah Vaughan, Nancy Wilson, James Brown, Tom Jones, Stevie Wonder, and Dionne Warwick, all of whom also recorded it.
Appears On
| Pickwick |
"In the famous American TV series, which actress played ""Ally McBeal""?" | Harry Secombe - If I Ruled The World (BBC TV 1963) - YouTube
Harry Secombe - If I Ruled The World (BBC TV 1963)
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Uploaded on Oct 7, 2011
Harry Secombe sings "If I Ruled The World" from the musical Pickwick, a song which would become his signature.
This audio only, home recording is from a 1963 Boxing Day evening (from 8.20 to 9.05pm) BBC TV show "Who Is Secombe?", which no longer exists in the TV archives. It was recorded directly from the TV on open reel 1/4 inch tape at a speed of 3.75 ips.
I'm pretty sure the first voice on this clip is conductor Eric Robinson, who regularly appeared on BBC TV music shows of the 60s
Harry reached # 18 in the UK charts with this song in 1963.
Category
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In 2008, the 800th Formula One race was held at night. In which Grand Prix did this take place? | The Big Picture - Boston.com
Boston.com
The Singapore Grand Prix
Formula One Racing held its 800th race on Sunday in Singapore,with the Singapore Grand Prix - also the first Formula One race held at night. Organizers built, then lined a 5 kilometer track with over 1,600 lamps, said to be four times brighter than those used at football stadiums. Twenty drivers drove 61 laps for a total of 309 kilometers at speeds sometimes approaching 300 kilometers per hour - in a country that once banned the sport, in part for promoting reckless driving. Driver Fernando Alonso of Renault won the race with a time of 1:57:16.304. ( 25 photos total )
Formula One cars drive around the Marina Bay Street Circuit of the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix during the time qualifying session September 27, 2008. The Singapore GP on Sunday will be F1's first night race, the first to be held in the island state and the first on an Asian street circuit. (REUTERS/Tim Chong)
| Singapore |
Which German river flows 1159 kilometres from the Czech Republic flowing into the North Sea just north of Hamburg? | Marina Bay Singapore street track - circuit information · F1 Fanatic
Minor revisions were made to the circuit in 2009, and in 2013 the Singapore Sling chicane which formed turn ten was replaced with a more conventional left-hander. For 2015 the approach to turn 13 has been altered in a bid to improve overtaking opportunities .
Track views
The track layout has some nice features, but the first sector stands out for me – especially the fast right-hand kink of turn six and the braking zone of turn seven. You need a car that’s able to ride the bumps, can use the kerbs and gives you confidence through the low and medium-speed corners.
I think the Singapore Grand Prix ranks as the toughest race of the year because of the heat. It’s physically draining and you’ve also got the mental challenge of racing so close to the walls with a small margin of error.
Nico Hulkenberg
It’s a challenging race – particularly on the brakes. The circuit sees a large number of braking events, with low average speed around the lap reducing cooling opportunities. It’s also a very bumpy track, with heavy use of the kerbs making it tough on the car.
The layout makes overtaking a difficult task – often resulting in action-packed races, with unsuccessful passing attempts leaving debris on the track and resulting in frequent safety car appearances.
Paddy Lowe, Mercedes executive director for technical
Singapore has a quirky little technical problem that’s specific to the Marina Bay Street Circuit. Near the Anderson Bridge the cars pass over something underground – we’ve never ascertained what it is – that creates electrical interference on the cars. Sensors start showing some strange readings and the actuators that control the throttle position and the clutch start moving and are no longer under the control of the driver.
It lasts for a very short period of time, but the worrying thing is that if we get that little burst of electrical interference just as the car is making a gear change, it can upset the delicate timing of the throttle, the clutch and the gear change barrel. It can actually upset the shift and cause a gear to break.
The first time we went to Singapore it was quite a serious problem because we’d never experienced it before, but we now know what countermeasures to take, such as electrical shielding on the car and a few other software changes.
Tim Goss, McLaren technical director
Marina Bay, Singapore track data
Lap data
| i don't know |
Aspirin was originally obtained from which tree? | The History of Aspirin - Who Invented Aspirin?
The History of Aspirin
By Mary Bellis
Updated August 13, 2016.
Aspirin or acetylsalicylic acid is a derivative of salicylic acid. It is a mild, non-narcotic analgesic that’s useful in the relief of headache and muscle and joint aches. The drug works by inhibiting the production of prostaglandins, body chemicals that are necessary for blood clotting and also responsible for sensitizing nerve endings to pain.
Early history
The father of modern medicine was Hippocrates, who lived sometime between 460 B.C and 377 B.C. Hippocrates left historical records of pain relief treatments, including the use of powder made from the bark and leaves of the willow tree to help heal headaches, pains and fevers. However, it took wasn’t until 1829 that scientists discovered that it was a compound called salicin in willow plants that relieved the pain.
In "From A Miracle Drug" Sophie Jourdier of the Royal Society of Chemistry wrote:
"It was not long before the active ingredient in willow bark was isolated; in 1828, Johann Buchner, professor of pharmacy at the University of Munich, isolated a tiny amount of bitter tasting yellow, needle-like crystals, which he called salicin. Two Italians, Brugnatelli and Fontana, had in fact already obtained salicin in 1826, but in a highly impure form. By 1829, [French chemist] Henri Leroux had improved the extraction procedure to obtain about 30g from 1.5kg of bark. In 1838, Raffaele Piria [an Italian chemist] then working at the Sorbonne in Paris, split salicin into a sugar and an aromatic component (salicylaldehyde) and converted the latter, by hydrolysis and oxidation, to an acid of crystallised colourless needles, which he named salicylic acid."
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So while Henri Leroux had extracted salicin in crystalline form for the first time, it was Raffaele Piria who succeeded in obtaining the salicylic acid in its pure state. The problem, though, was that salicylic acid was hard on the stomach and a means of 'buffering' the compound was needed.
Turning an extract into medicine
The first person to achieve this was a French chemist named Charles Frederic Gerhardt. In 1853, Gerhardt neutralized salicylic acid by buffering it with sodium (sodium salicylate) and acetyl chloride to create acetylsalicylic acid. Gerhardt's product worked but he had no desire to market it and abandoned his discovery.
In 1899, a German chemist named Felix Hoffmann, who worked for a German company called Bayer, rediscovered Gerhardt's formula. Felix Hoffmann made some of the formula and gave it to his father who was suffering from the pain of arthritis. The formula worked and Felix Hoffmann then convinced Bayer to market the new wonder drug . Aspirin was patented on February 27, 1900.
The folks at Bayer came up with the name Aspirin. It comes from the “A" in acetyl chloride, the "spir" in spiraea ulmaria (the plant they derived the salicylic acid from) and the “in” was a then familiar name ending for medicines.
Aspirin was first sold as a powder. In 1915, the first Aspirin tablets were made. Interestingly, the names Aspirin and Heroin were once trademarks belonging to Bayer. After Germany lost World War I, Bayer was forced to give up both trademarks as part of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.
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Aspirin Essay
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Aspirin or acetylsalicylate acid is a compound that is widely used in medicine. The use of aspirin in medicine began long before the active reagent was removed from its natural source. The first documented use of aspirin was found in the writings of Hippocrates, the so called father of medicine. Hippocrates prescribed that willow bark could be used to remedy a wide range of conditions such as pain, fever and inflammation. Scientists began to seek to extract the active compound from willow tree bark. The name of the compound that was first extracted was salicin. Scientist such as Henri Leroux continued to work on salicin, first converting it to a sugar (glucose) and an aromatic compound (salicyaldehyde) and then converting it to an acid (salicylic acid) by oxidation and hydrolysis. This acidic compound was found to be too harsh on the stomach so scientists such as Charles Frederic Gerhardt and Hoffman sought to find a way to buffer it. Finally, acetyl chloride was used to buffer the salicylic acid and that is how aspirin or acetylsalicylate was formed.
Aspirin is used for a wide range of maladies beginning at headaches and ranging from menstrual pains to use in preventing cancerous tumors. Aspirin is used antiplatelet. This means that it is used to stop platelets from congregating and forming blood clots. This helps to prevent heart attack and strokes. Aspirin is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). NSAIDs are medications with analgesic, antipyretic and in higher doses anti-inflammatory effects. An analgesic is a drug that produces temporary pain relief without inducing a stupor and has no drowsy-side effects. Aspirin is said to be antipyretic because it can be used to reduce or to cure fevers and its anti-inflammatory properties allow it to be used to reduce swellings and other bruises (inflammations) in and outside of the body. Non-steroidal means they are not steroids, which often have similar effects.
Aspirin is able to remedy these maladies...
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"In the famous American TV series ""The Sopranos"", which actor played Tony Soprano?" | Actor James Gandolfini of 'The Sopranos' dies at 51 | Fox News
Actor James Gandolfini of 'The Sopranos' dies at 51
Published June 20, 2013
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Actor James Gandolfini, who rose to fame as crime boss Tony Soprano on the “The Sopranos,” died of a possible heart attack in Italy.
Hospital officials say the actor, 51, arrived by ambulance at 10:40pm. Resuscitation efforts were suspended and he was pronounced dead at 11:00pm.
An autopsy will be performed within 24 hours of his death, as required by law.
Gandolfini was on vacation in Italy with his 13-year-old son Michael and his sister, who reportedly found him unconscious in the bathroom of their hotel and called for help. He was due to take part in a film festival this weekend.
A New Jersey native, Gandolfini appeared in films and on the stage before his breakthrough part in 1999 as Mafia boss Tony Soprano in the HBO series, which brought him three Emmys during its six-year run.
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Fans gather to remember James Gandolfini
“We're all in shock and feeling immeasurable sadness at the loss of a beloved member of our family,” said a statement from HBO. “He was special man, a great talent, but more importantly a gentle and loving person who treated everyone no matter their title or position with equal respect.
[pullquote]
“He touched so many of us over the years with his humor, his warmth and his humility. Our hearts go out to his wife and children during this terrible time. He will be deeply missed by all of us. “
His managers Mark Armstrong and Nancy Sanders said, “It is with immense sorrow that we report our client James Gandolfini passed away today while on holiday in Rome, Italy. Our hearts are shattered and we will miss him deeply. He and his family were part of our family for many years and we are all grieving.”
Organizers of the Taormina Film Festival in Sicily were scrambling to put together a tribute to Gandolfini, who had been expected to attend the festival's closing ceremony this weekend and receive an award. Organizers Mario Sesti and Tiziana Rocca said Gandolfini will instead be honored with a tribute "remembering his career and talent."
He is survived by his wife, Deborah Lin, their baby daughter and his son Michael, with his ex-wife, Marcy Wudarski, from whom he was divorced in December 2002.
Gandolfini, easily recognized with his bear-like frame, turned Tony Soprano into a multi-faceted character who merged mob boss and family man. In addition to his Emmys, the part brought him a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
He played Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in Kathryn Bigelow's Osama bin Laden hunt docudrama "Zero Dark Thirty." He worked with Chase for the `60s period drama "Not Fade Away," in which he played the old-school father of a wannabe rocker. And in Andrew Dominick's crime flick "Killing Them Softly," he played an aged, washed-up hit man.
On Broadway, he garnered a best-actor Tony Award nomination for 2009's "God of Carnage."
Deploying his unsought clout as a star, Gandolfini produced a pair documentaries for HBO focused on a cause he held dear: veterans affairs.
Gandolfini's performance in "The Sopranos" was indelible and career-making, but he refused to be stereotyped as the bulky mobster who was a therapy patient, family man and cold-blooded killer.
After the series concluded with its breathtaking blackout ending, Gandolfini's varied film work included comedies such as "In the Loop," a political satire, and the heartwarming drama "Welcome to the Rileys," which costarred Kristen Stewart. He voiced the Wild Thing Carol in "Where the Wild Things Are."
Gandolfini grew up in Park Ridge, N.J., the son of a building maintenance chief at a Catholic school and a high school lunch lady.
After earning a degree in communications from Rutgers University, Gandolfini moved to New York, where he worked as a bartender, bouncer and nightclub manager. When he was 25, he joined a friend of a friend in an acting class.
Gandolfini's first big break was a Broadway production of "A Streetcar Named Desire" where he played Steve, one of Stanley Kowalski's poker buddies. His film debut was in Sidney Lumet's "A Stranger Among Us" (1992).
In a December 2012 interview with The Associated Press, Gandolfini said he gravitated to acting as a release, a way to get rid of anger. "I don't know what exactly I was angry about," he said.
"I try to avoid certain things and certain kinds of violence at this point," he said last year. "I'm getting older, too. I don't want to be beating people up as much. I don't want to be beating women up and those kinds of things that much anymore."
"Sopranos" producer and creator David Chase issued a statement Wednesday night saying, “He was a genius. Anyone who saw him even in the smallest of his performances knows that. He is one of the greatest actors of this or any time.
"A great deal of that genius resided in those sad eyes. I remember telling him many times, 'You don't get it. You're like Mozart.’ There would be silence at the other end of the phone.
"For Deborah and Michael and Liliana this is crushing. And it's bad for the rest of the world. He wasn't easy sometimes. But he was my partner, he was my brother in ways I can't explain and never will be able to explain.”
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie also paid tribute to Gandolfini, saying, "It's an awful shock. James Gandolfini was a fine actor, a Rutgers alum and a true Jersey guy. I was a huge fan of his and the character he played so authentically, Tony Soprano. I have gotten to know Jimmy and many of the other actors in the Sopranos cast and I can say that each of them are an individual New Jersey treasure."
Sen. Robert Menendez, D-NJ, said late Wednesday he was saddened to hear about the death of a "talented actor whose unforgettable performances made him a television icon." He said Gandolfini was a proud New Jerseyan and a Rutgers University graduate.
The senator said he has displayed Gandolfini's photo in his Washington, D.C., office for years as part of a New Jersey Wall of Fame.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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James Gandolfini dead at 51: 'Sopranos' star suffers heart attack while in Italy with son; autopsy to be performed Thursday
Flashback: James Gandolfini dead at 51
Actor James Gandolfini is dead at 51. He suffered a massive heart attack while on a trip to Italy with his son, Michael.
(MARIO ANZUONI/REUTERS)
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Updated: Thursday, June 20, 2013, 5:52 PM
An autopsy on the body of James Gandolfini, the New Jersey-bred actor whose Mafia-boss character survived six seasons of mob hits and panic attacks on “The Sopranos,” will be performed Thursday, the Associated Press reported.
The man behind Tony Soprano was with his teenage son, Michael, 13, in Italy when he suffered a massive heart attack on Wednesday, a source close to the barrel-chested actor said. He was 51.
Gandolfini and his family had spent “a beautiful day out together,” the actor’s assistant, Tom Richardson, told friend Mike Sullivan on Wednesday.
New York Daily News published this on June 20, 2013.
(New York Daily News)
New York Daily News published this on June 20, 2013.
(New York Daily News)
New York Daily News published this on June 20, 2013.
(New York Daily News)
“When they got back to the hotel, Jimmy went to use the restroom. And something happened in there. ... His sister said he was alive when they took him out in the ambulance on the way to the hospital,” Richardson said, according to Sullivan, a close pal of “Sopranos” actor Tony Sirico.
It was 13-year-old Michael who discovered Gandolfini and called for help, Antonio D'amore, manager of Boscolo Excedra hotel, t old NBC.
James Gandolfini (second from left) with his wife Debbie (right), son Michael and a guest in September 2011 in Hollywood.
(Steve Granitz/WireImage)
The news floored Gandolfini’s friends, fellow actors and “Sopranos” co-stars, including Steve Schirripa, who was in a box suite at Yankee Stadium when word reached him by phone. The color drained from Schirripa’s face and uncertainty reigned for a half-hour as he and other “Sopranos” cast members, like Lorraine Bracco and Steve Van Zandt called each other, desperate for details.
“I had to get up and leave,” said Schirripa, who played Tony’s brother-in-law, Bobby Baccalieri. “It was like being told a brother had died. Jimmy Gandolfini was as great a friend as he was an actor and a human being.”
James Gandolfini (center) is best known for his role as Tony in HBO's 'The Sopranos,' acting alongside Tony Sirico (from left), Steven Van Zandt, Michael Imperioli and Vicent Pastore.
(ANTHONY NESTE/AP)
“The phone hasn’t stopped. I spoke to a lot of the guys from ‘The Sopranos.’ We were crying,” Schirripa added. “People joke about us being a family. But we are a family.”
Soon enough, Twitter and Facebook exploded with rumors and contradictory information about Gandolfini’s death, including claims that it was a hoax.
James Gandolfini (right) with 'The Sopranos' creator David Chase.
(JILL CONNELLY/AP)
But managers Mark Armstrong and Nancy Sanders confirmed the death in a statement: “It is with immense sorrow that we report our client James Gandolfini passed away today.”
“Our hearts are shattered, and we will miss him deeply.”
James Gandolfini and his wife Deborah Lin were married in Hawaii in 2008.
(Richard Corkery/New York Daily News)
The stunning news came almost exactly six years after the gut-wrenching and inconclusive series finale of “The Sopranos.”
Gandolfini was a frequent visitor to Italy, where his parents both grew up. His family owns land near Milan.
The 46-year-old actor married Deborah Lin, 40, during a 20-minute church ceremony at the Central Union Church in Honolulu.
(Starsurf/Splash News)
It was initially unclear whether the actor had been suffering from health problems before his sudden death. He was in Italy partly to attend the 59th Taormina Film Festival in Sicily.
Gandolfini had been working on a new TV series, “Criminal Justice,” and speculation had always swirled about a “Sopranos” movie.
Gandolfini poses with wife Deborah Lin and son Michael outside the Tribeca Film Festival in 2010.
(Andrew H. Walker/ Getty Images)
Film and TV bigs, and other notables, flooded social media with an extraordinary deluge of condolences and praise.
“RIP James Gandolfini!” the prolific Jersey screenwriter Kevin Smith wrote on Twitter. “Your iconic portrayal of mob boss Tony Soprano gave soul to a monster and fostered perverse pride in the Garden State!”
James Gandolfini with son Michael during Celebrities Attend Toronto Raptors vs. New Jersey Nets Game in May 2012.
(James Devaney/ WireImage)
Gandolfini became famous relatively late in his career thanks to his breakout role on “The Sopranos,” and the press-shy celeb had largely avoided the spotlight following the hit HBO show’s final season, in 2007.
The burly native of Westwood, in Bergen County, N.J., had appeared in several supporting roles since then, playing the director of the CIA in “Zero Dark Thirty” and the gruff blue-collar father of a rock star wanna-be in “Not Fade Away.”
James Gandolfini was spotted in West Hollywood with his wife and their baby daughter in October 2012.
(Roscoe/Splash News)
Gandolfini hit Broadway in 2009 with the comedy “God of Carnage.”
“I seek out good stories, basically — that’s it,” he told The Star-Ledger of Newark in December. “The older I get, the funnier-looking I get, the more comedies I’m offered. I’m starting to look like a toad, so I’ll probably be getting even more soon.”
James Gandolfini sipping a coffee in the first season of the HBO smash hit 'The Sopranos.'
(HBO/Courtesy Everett Collection)
Gandolfini’s second wife, former model Deborah Lin, gave birth to a baby girl in October. The couple married in 2008.
Gandolfini — a Rutgers University grad who spent part of his early career supporting himself as a nightclub manager — had his son Michael with his ex-wife, Marcy Wudarski.
The late James Gandolfini (right), as Tony Soprano, and Lorraine Bracco, as Dr. Jennifer Melfi, appear in this scene from the fourth season of 'The Sopranos.'
(AP)
His big break came in 1992 when he landed a role in a Broadway version of “A Streetcar Named Desire,” starring Alec Baldwin and Jessica Lange.
Fame arrived in 1999, as “The Sopranos” garnered critical acclaim and cult popularity on its way to becoming a TV classic.
James Gandolfini (from left) played a tough-guy mob boss on 'The Sopranos' with costars Steven Van Zandt and Tony Sirico.
(Craig Blankenhorn/AP)
Gandolfini won three Emmy Awards for his sparkling depiction of Tony Soprano, an emotionally tortured mobster who tries to balance the pressures of being a mob boss with the stresses of family life.
The depressed head of the DiMeo crime family ends up in therapy — a no-no for wiseguys — and tells his shrink the story of his life while cooperating with and competing against mobsters from both sides of the Hudson River.
The Soprano family from the wildly popular HBO drama series 'The Sopranos.' The series ran from 1999 through 2007 and starred Edie Falco (from left), James Gandolfini, Robert Iler and Jamie-Lynn Sigler.
(Craig Blankenhorn/HBO)
Gandolfini’s nuanced portrayal of a modern Godfather earned him Emmys in 2000, 2001 and 2003.
The actor whose character mentored Gandolfini’s on “The Sopranos” was crushed.
Actress Edie Falco (left) and actor James Gandolfini attend the premiere of 'Boardwalk Empire' at the Ziegfeld Theatre in 2010.
(Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)
“I loved him,” said Dominic Chianese, who played Corrado (Junior) Soprano. “I cried because he was just a sweetheart.”
In 2003, after his bruising contract dispute with HBO held up production of the show, the stubborn but generous actor paid his co-stars back for the delay, handing them five-figure sums from his new deal.
A look at James Gandolfini's acting career.
(New York Daily News; Photo by Anthony Neste/HBO via AP)
The same year, Gandolfini joked about “The Sopranos” losing an Emmy to buttoned-up rival “The West Wing.”
“We’re thieves and crooks. They show me in my underwear far too much,” he quipped.
For his roles, he drew on his own humble upbringing, raised by a high school custodian father and a lunch lady mother who emigrated from Italy. She pushed her son to attend Rutgers over his objections.
“I basically went to college because I was the first male Italian born in America,” Gandolfini said on “Inside the Actors Studio” in 2004. “It was important to my mother. . . . The first night they had a five-keg party there and I said, ‘What was I fighting about?’ ”
After Rutgers, he landed a gig at the Manhattan club Private Eyes, where an eclectic clientele provided the actor with plenty of acting material.
“The club was straight two nights a week, gay two nights a week and kind of everything else two nights a week, so I spent a few years just watching people . . . and saw a lot of interesting things,” he said in the interview.
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"Sixties pop music - Who recorded the 1964 hit record ""Juliet""?" | The Four Pennies - Juliet - YouTube
The Four Pennies - Juliet
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Turpentine was originally obtained predominantly from which tree? | The Four Pennies - Juliet - YouTube
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In golf, the 9 iron club was originally known by what old Scottish name? | Antique Hickory Golf Clubs - Vintage Golf Clubs, Golf Books, Prints, Memorabilia
Standard Golf Co. The New Mills R.N.B. Model alloy head Putter C.1910
A very nice example of this particular model restored for play or display. The length is 34.75" (88cm). The sole is clearly stamped with the makers name and other details relating to this putter.
For full details and images please refer to item P008L on the Vintage Putters page.
MacLennan 13° large persimmon head stripe top Brassie c.1925
A very attractive brassie fully restored for play. The swing weight is D0 and the length is 41" (104cm). The shorter than average length for a brassie will help to give more control during the swing.
For full details and images please refer to item W004Z on the Vintage Wods for Play page.
Price £138.00
D. Simpson (Ranfurly Castle) 16° large head Brassie c.1928
A beautiful brassie with a slightly longer shaft than normal so this club may suit the taller player. Fully restored to play condition, the swing weight is D2 and the length is 43" (109cm).
For full details and images please refer to item W013K on the Vintage Woods for Play page.
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Ernest Sales (Sunningdale) Gassiat style rectangular persimmon wood Putter with pistol grip c.1928
An immaculate Gassiat style putter beautifully restored will now make a marvellous display club. The length is 34.25" (87cm).
For full details and images please refer to item P001W on the Vintage Putters for PLay page.
Price £375.00
J.M. Sunter (Elie) 16 deg. large headed stripe top Spoon c.1925
A superb large headed spoon fully restored is now ready for play. The swing weight is C8 and the club measures 42" (107cm).
For full details and images please refer to item W009S on the Vintage Woods for Play page.
Price £135.00
Lockwood Brown (London) 15° medium size head Spoon with a stiff shaft c.1920
A very nice spoon fully restored ready for play. The swimg weight is D3 and the length is 41.50" (105cm).
For full details and images please refer to item W007T on the Vintage Woods for PLay page.
Price £128.00
New Canvas & Leather medium size Carry Bag with two pockets and hood.
A quality 1920's style bag that will comfortably carry 10 clubs with dividers to help protect the woods from the irons. Made from top quality canvas and high grade leather and finished using good quality trimmings.
For full details and images please refer to item C001C at the top of the Canvas & Leather Bags page.
Price £132.00
Frank Taylor (I.O.W.) A late elegant scare-neck longnose Putter c.1930
Beautifully restored including the fitting of a new rams horn sole insert and the re fitting of the long lead back weight. This club is now ready for either play or display. Length 35" (89cm).
For full details and images please refer to item P002S on the Vintage Putters for Play page.
Gents 6 Club Play Set
A great six club play set for the golfer who wants to test his skills with hickory clubs as used in the 1920's compared with todays modern clubs.
The set comprises of a lofted Driver, Mid Iron, Mashie, Mashie Niblick, Niblick ans Putter. All with good lofts and swing weights and fitted with matching hide grips except for putter which has a period grip. The clubs have been fully restored to play condition.
For full details and numerous images please refer to item FPS091 on the Play Sets and Play Clubs page.
St. Andrews Golf Co. 50° 'Dedum' deep grooved Niblick c.1915
A great club for the collecter or to use when having a friendly game as this type of iron was eventually banned for use in a tournament due to the deep grooves helping to achieve more back spin compared to the normal patterned face. The club has bee restored to play condition, the swing weight is D8 and the length is 36" (91cm).
For full details and images please refer to item I1010R on the Vintage Irons for Play page.
Price £105.00
The Murray-Wood alloy mallet head Putter c.1910
A superb and rare alloy head putter which has been restored back to play condition or for display. This putter would make a wonderful gift/retirement present for the golf enthusiast. The length is 34" (86cm).
For full details and images please refer to item P009K on the Vintage Putters for Play page.
Price £125.00
Tom Morris (St. Andrews) elongated mallet head socket Putter c.1895
A fabulous very early socket head putter by this famous maker has been restored back to play condition or will make a superb display club. The length is 36" (91cm). His name is clearly visible across the crown of the head.
For full details and images please refer to item P004P on the Antique Clubs c.1850-1900 page.
Price £495.00
George Brews (Royal Blackheath) long-nose scareneck dark stained beech wood Putter c.1890
A magnificent long-nose putter in totally original condition except for a minor repair to the grip at the top of the shaft. The length is 34" (86cm).
George Brews was the professional-club maker at Royal Blackheath (the oldest golf club outside Scotland) from 1890 to 1902. During that time he also made Samuel Ryder's first putter.
For full details and images please refer to item P009L on the Antique Clubs c.1850 to 1900 page.
Gents 4 Iron Play Set
Four good irons fully restored to play condition include a Mid Iron, Mashie, Mashie Niblick and Niblick. The face lofts range from 27° to 55°. The swing weight for the mid iron is D3 and the other three irons are D5.
For full details and images please refer to item FPS096 on the Play Clubs and Play Sets page.
Price £275.00
Unknown Maker 15° LEFT HAND small headed Brassie c.1925
An exquisite looking left hand brassie with ivorine face insert. The club has been restored to play condition. The swing weight is D0 and the length is 42" (107cm).
For full details and images please refer to item W005X on the Vintage Woods for Play page.
Price £145.00
New Canvas & Leather Pencil Bag with two pockets.
Replicating the 1920's style, this bag will carry up to 8 clubs quite comfortably. Made from strong canvas material dyed Khaki in colour with good quality leather trimmimgs. Please not that this bag does not come with a hood.
For full details and images please refer to item C123 on the Canvas & Leather Bags page.
Price £82.00
William Gibson (Kinghorn) 26 deg. rustless Push Iron c.1925
This rare and very collectable iron has been fully restored to play condition. It is normally used for shots when a down wind prevails. If hit correctly it should create considerable back spin when the ball lands on the green. Normally only used by the better player, Harry Vardon popularized the shot. This iron fits in-between a driving iron and a mid iron. The swing weight is C3 and the length is 38.50" (98cm).
For full details and images please refer to item I004T on the Vintage Irons for Play page.
Price £95.00
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Washington DC stands on which river? | Vintage Golf Clubs - Collector Information | Collectors Weekly
Vintage Golf Clubs
Overview eBay Auctions Show & Tell
When we say "vintage golf clubs," we aren't talking about the Titleist blades used by Tiger Woods for the Tiger Slam in 2000 and 2001, which were allegedly posted for sale on eBay in 2010. We're talking about real, old, vintage clubs.
Golf was likely invented by 15th-century Scottish shepherds, who entertained themselves by hitting anything they could find into holes and at targets. Their “game” evolved over the next few centuries, and in 1860 the first Open Championship—known in the U.S. as the British Open—was played at the Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland, marking the beginning of modern golf.
The earliest clubs that can be found today are from the 17th century. Those, however, are museum pieces. Clubs from the 18th and early 19th centuries occasionally make their way into private collections, but you may well need to take out a second mortgage to afford them. Such clubs, though, invoke the memory of golf’s first stars, men such as Allan Robertson, a St Andrews golfer who died in 1859. The clubs made from 1860 onward are the ones most collectors trouble themselves with. This is also when some standardization of clubs began.
In those days, the heads of Douglas McEwan golf clubs (also sold as D. McEwan & Son) were made of beech while the shafts were fashioned from hickory, a wood whose elasticity allowed for the maximization of torque in a swing. Prior to that, most club heads were made of thorn wood or fruitwood and were fixed to ash shafts.
Throughout the 1860s and 1870s , golf’s first superstar, Young Tom Morris, as he was known, dominated the British links while Scottish club makers monopolized the club-making industry—back then, some golfers still made their own clubs. Almost all of the 19th-century clubs in a player’s bag were “long nose” or “long-headed” woods, which received that name because of their long heads (five or six inches), rounded backs, and slightly curved faces—they resembled the heads of walking sticks . Long-nose woods gave players a lot of control, and since this was the era of feather balls , controlling shots was paramount.
Golfers would carry about five of these long-nose woods, one being the putter, during a typical round of golf. The equivalent of today’s driver was the play club, which was used from the tee box. Fairway woods were called “spoons” and were designed to produce different lofts so a ball would travel varying distances. Most players packed three spoons in their bags.
McEwan was only one of numerous Scottish clubs manufacturers. Clubs were normally affixed with an engraving bearing the maker’s name. Today, these engravings help collectors iden...tify these early clubs.
In addition to the woods, players also carried one iron, which helped golfers chip the ball out of tall grass or other trouble—courses weren’t nearly as groomed as they are today. Irons were often made of bronze—or, you guessed it, iron—and were produced by experienced blacksmiths. Bronze remained the more common material, however, for players using feather balls, as the iron clubs were strong enough to burst them at the seams.
It wasn’t until the 1880s or ’90s that irons became more common than woods in a set. Examples of early irons include the “cleek,” a long iron used for play in the fairway, and “lofters” or “niblicks,” which were used for approach shots.
Around the time that irons began appearing more commonly in bags, American companies such as Spalding, MacGregor, and B.G.I. started rivaling the Scottish club producers. Soon, long nose woods were replaced by scared- and socket-head woods. These had shorter head lengths and thicker necks than their forerunners. It was right around this time—1895 to be exact—that Englishman Horace Rawlins won the inaugural U.S. Open at Newport Country Club in Rhode Island.
Woods of the late 19th century were some of the first golf clubs to be partially made by machine. They were often shaped on lathes, with the finishing done by hand. Convex bulges were inserted into the clubs.
Manufacturers also experimented with the ways in which the club’s shaft was attached to its head. Spliced and forked connections were toyed with, but soon the socket joint, which is still used today, was introduced by makers such as George Forrester. To make this connection, the socket was drilled into the club’s head, which, in turn, was glued to the club’s shaft. By the early 1910s , socket-headed woods were being used by most golfers, although one of the game’s brightest stars, Walter Hagen, resisted and continued to use scared-head woods.
Thanks to the introduction of the Haskell ball, which had a rubber core, persimmon wood began being used at the turn of the 20th century for club heads, while companies such as Standard Golf Company experimented with aluminum headed clubs such as the Mills model.
It was also around this time that the first one-piece clubs were introduced. These rare clubs are probably the most collectible of the turn-of-the-century-era woods. They were the brainchild of Willie Dunn Jr. and his nephew John Duncan Dunn, although nobody is quite sure exactly how they were produced. The Dunns made these clubs for B.G.I., Spalding, and MacGregor from 1894 to 1902.
As irons became more popular, machines took over manufacturing. In fact, the ability to mass produce irons helped shaped the game. Before long, irons completely took over as the most prevalent club used by golfers.
Most irons bore the stamp of their manufacturer, and a rare few were chrome-plated. The faces of these early-20th-century irons were usually marked in a plethora of different patterns. The earliest, and most collectible of the machine-made irons, though, had unmarked faces.
In the 1910s and ’20s, steel shafts were used in clubs, which gave all clubs in a set a consistent feel. In 1926, steel-shafted clubs were cleared for tournament play by the United States Golf Association. Early steel-shafted clubs are not considered particularly collectible unless they have some sort of unusual shape or marking.
The 1930s brought about more changes to club design. Gene Sarazen, one of the day’s biggest stars, wanted a club specifically designed to dig balls out of sand traps, so in 1932 he invented the sand wedge by soldering a flange onto the base of a niblick or lofter.
Steel-shafted clubs from post-1945 through the 1970s are actually quite collectible, as many are still in good enough condition to use. Collectors often try to accumulate them in complete sets rather than as individual clubs.
In the 1960s engineer Karsten Solheim, founder of Ping, invented perimeter weighting, which distributed the weight of the golf club throughout its perimeter and increased the size of the sweet spot. But the greatest golf innovation of the postwar decades was probably the metal wood, which was introduced in the 1970s by Gary Adams, founder of TaylorMade. Metal woods are the only woods you see today, and makers have experimented with different metals such as titanium to make clubs lighter and more forgiving.
As with many antiques, older is better when it comes to vintage golf clubs. Although a set of long nose woods may not help you in the local charity scramble, they are quite a catch for any golf collector.
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'Where Eagles Dare', 'The Guns of Navaronne' and 'Ice Station Zebra' were hugely successful films in the 1960's and 70's. Who wrote the novels on which these films were based? | What's Your Favorite War Movie?
-The Enemy Below (unique submarine/destroyer movie with views from both sides)
-A Walk in the Sun (different, more personal)
And to all those in the military service, past and present, living and deceased, we thank you for your service, sacrifice, and courage. You are the true heroes.
Vinny Castellano
A few additions – war movies without actual battlefield scenes but classics just the same:
-Casablanca (Bogart’s best – great wartime story of love, patriotism, and sacrifice)-The Great Escape (great supporting cast – James Garner, James Coburn, Steve McQueen, … rousing score by Elmer Bernstein)-The Best Years of Our Lives (poignant scenes and memorable moments)
Bjodrie
http://www.facebook.com/people/Nadja-Araújo-Do-Carmo/100003862798749 Nadja Araújo Do Carmo
My favorite war movies are:
1963 Carl Foreman’s THE VICTORS
1962 Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton & Bernhard Wicki’s THE LONGEST DAY
1988 Oliver Stone’s PLATOON
1973 George Pan Cosmatos’ MASSACRE IN ROME
1965 Ken Annakin’s BATTLE OF THE BULGE
1957 David Lean’s THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI
1957 Stanley Kubrick’s PATHS OF GLORY
1974 Peter Davis’ HEARTS AND MINDS
1958 Edward Dmytryk’s THE YOUNG LIONS
1962 Vincente Minnelli’s THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE
1979 Francis Coppola’s APOCALYPSE NOW
Lyn
The Deer Hunter is my favorite. It shows the way war destroys the soldiers who are asked to fight and how they do it and even SEEK to do it without catching on to the stupidity at bottom.
Bigmac01can
My favorite war movie was “The Great Escape”, it showed the determination, and ingenuity of prisoners, who refused to sit out the war, and ended with tragic results.
Jesseray
All quiet on the Western Front (original version) and Paths of Glory.
Shultsjw
Henry V with Kenneth Branagh. “We chosen few… we band of brothers!”
Ganderson
“And Crispin Crispian shall not go by from this day to the ending of the world, but we in it shall be remember’d. We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; for he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile, this day shall gentle his condition. And gentlemen in England now a-bed shall think themselves accursed they were not here and hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks that fought with us upon St. Crispen’s Day.” What a great war movie line by some Hollywood hack writer — ‘Bill’ something-or-other, gets the credit.
Fauna
PLATOON, THE BIG RED ONE, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN & FLYING TIGERS.
Rdmcgraw
No question, it’s BATTLEGROUND, a true depiction of a soldier’s life. Next it would have to be the one where Burgess played Ernie Pyle with Robert Mitchum, but I can’t recall the title at the moment. Ron
Stphifer
“Action in the North Atlantic” WB 1943, Lloyd Bacon, dir. For three reasons: 1) love the special effects–the WB tank filled with a whole convoy of ships and a hugh wolfpack of subs, 2) my Dad was a sonar man on a DE making two convoys across the Atlantic, and 3) non-stop action with no internal conflicts among the crew of the Liberty ship and Germans who speak German with no subtitles.
JackJones
As a teenager during the 40s I saw all the WWII movies as they were released. Somebody above called them “propaganda” and I guess many of them were which doesn’t distract from the fact they were also great movies. And in the early years of the war were great morale builders. I remember seeing “Action in the North Atlantic” at a midnite show and it’s still a favorite of mine as are many of those that have been mentioned. A couple good one I haven’t seen listed are “In Love and War” (1958) and “Gallipoli” (1981). And I can never get enough of “Band of Brothers”.
Ddouglass
no question…”The Great Escape” – Brilliant.
Fbusch
Scanning all the previous comments, I agree with all of them,… But, the ones I watch most often are Sahara, (made as a propaganda film during wwii), and one no one else mentioned, Charge of the Light Brigade with Errol Flynn It’s odd, that many of everyones favorites choke me up and bring tears now in my senior years that were just high adventure when I was younger……
kjam
No poor son of a bitch ever won a war by dying for his country, He won that war by making the other poor son of a bitch die for his country. Patton
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=710877693 Michelle Dreyer
Undeniably “Where Eagles Dare” – Richard Burton & Clint Eastwood
Canwestside
In Harms Way … John Wayne & Kirk Douglas
Dahak
Very difficult, high on the list is Band Of Brothers, 12 O’clock High, Where Eagles Dare, Task Force, The Story of Dr Wassell who was awarded the Navy Cross, and obscure as it may be Zulu about 11 Victoria Crosses for that small incident.
Robin Larson
There are many that were really excellent, Great Escape and Dirty Dozen are in my top 5 movies period. But Bridge on the River Kwai and 12 O’Clock High are also in my top 15-20. However, from a realism and poignant standpoint, Saving Private Ryan is the best.
http://www.awesomesauciness.wordpress.com/ CJ
Bataan, The Longest Day, Saving Private Ryan, The Great Escape, The Dirty Dozen, Midway
Rbergman
Favorite War Movie is actually a mini series, Winds of War
Debbie
Patton and Battle of the Bulge
Smurray
We Were Soldiers and From Here to Eternity
Jmoore18
Definately “Dr. Strangelove”
Peter Sellers was, as usual, amazing playing 3 different characters. I never cared much for George C. Scott ( I think that’s his name) before, but he was very good in this movie, spoofing himself as the hard Patton-like general. And of course there’s Slim Pickins riding the bomb down yelling “YEE HA!”
Debbie
I forgot to add “Sink the Bismarck”. A stunning piece of German machinery.
weofme
Wasn’t going to bother with this till I saw that De Palma’s masterpiece:CASUALTIES of WAR
is still waiting to get the recognition it deserves.
Ethan Duke
All Quiet on the Western Front, The Great Escape, Stalag 17
lobohusk
The Bridges of Toko Ri
Briney
Looks like you got almost all of them.
hypatiab7
Nope. You all seem to think that the only wars movies were made about were World War I through Viet Nam. My favorite war movie is “Drums Along the Mohawk” with
Henry Fonda which is about part of the Revolutionary War.
Crbarclift
I was always a fan of the WWII movies about specific battles that were made during the war years such as Bataan, Wake Island and Guadalcanal. It seemed that William Bendix, another favorite, was always in them. My list is varied and includes many others, Paths of Glory, Das Boot, Apocalypse Now, Sam Fuller’s The Steel Helmet, Fixed Bayonets & The Big Red One, Pork Chop Hill, Battleground, Attack, Saving Private Ryan, Twelve O’Clock High, The Longest Day, the brilliant Russian film Stalingrad, The Dirty Dozen, A Walk in the Sun, Patton and on and on. I see that one comment below mentioned Dr. Strangelove, which for me would make my all-time favorite films top 10, war movie or not. As far as one favorite, impossible.
DEBRES
YOU HAVE DEFINETLY NAMED SOME GREAT MOVIES. I DO THANK YOU 4 REMINDING
ME OF A WALK IN IN THE SUN!
http://www.facebook.com/people/Timothy-Thompson/1506583107 Timothy Thompson
Command Decision Clark Gable, Walter Pidgeon, Van Johnson to name a few.
DEBRES
one of the best along with BATTLEGROUND,PATTON,12 O’CLOCK HIGH. I ALSO RECOMMEND SOME LESSER KNOWN: PLATOON, THE RAVINE,CROSS OF IRON, FROM HELL TO VICTORY, THE VICTORS, RUN SILENT RUN DEEP,SAILOR OF THE KING, EAGLE SQUADRON. HOW ABOUT RED BADGE OF COURAGE?
http://www.facebook.com/people/Timothy-Thompson/1506583107 Timothy Thompson
Forgot another great movie one that I have been trying to resee, The Best of Enemies a great War Comedy David Niven, Sordi.
Tribefan52
Father Goose, Operation Petticoat (both w/Cary Grant) 12 O’clock High, Bridge on the RIver Kwai, Stalag 17, Great Escape, Sergeant York, Patton, Ike(Countdown to D-Day) Boys in Company C(’77)
Run Silent,Run Deep, Heaven Knows Mr. Allison, Murphy’s War, War Lover, Guns of Naverone, Destination Tokyo
Boyington
Can’t pick just one, so here goes:
American Revolution: The Scarlet Coat (about Benedict Arnold)
Civil War: Shenandoah (with Jimmy Stewart)
Civil War – silent: The Coward (1915 by Thomas H. Ince)
WWI – trench: Joyeux Noel (the Christmas “truce”)
WWI – flying: Hell’s Angels (directed by Howard Hughes)
WWI – romance: The Shopworn Angel (with Jimmy Stewart)
WWI – silent: Four Sons (directed by John Ford)
WWII – Pacific: The Fighting Seabees (with John Wayne)
WWII – Europe: The Story of G.I. Joe (about Ernie Pyle)
WWII – flying: The Dam Busters (love the Lancaster!)
WWII – submarine: Das Boot (german U-boat)
WWII – comedy: Father Goose (with Cary Grant)
WWII – romance: Casablanca (you have to ask?)
WWII – USA homefront: Mr. Winkle Goes To War (with Edward G. Robinson)
WWII – England homefront: Journey For Margaret (with Robert Young)
WWII – Germany homefront: The Mortal Storm (with Jimmy Stewart)
WWII – Russian: Enemy at The Gates (about Stalingrad)
WWII – foreign language: A Generation (about the resistance in Poland)
Korea: The Hunters (with Robert Mitchum)
Vietnam: We Were Soldiers (with Mel Gibson)
Mite4him
Wow you know your war movies! I’m impressed!!
hypatiab7
Miscellania – Gunga Din, Wee Willie Winkie, The Charge of the Light Brigade, anything with
Joan of Arc, Spartacus, any movie where Troy gets salted
Hfshaffner
My wife and I just watched “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo” starring Van Johnson in one of his
greatest roles. This movie is our very favorite of the WWII films. It shows the famous
Doolittle Raid of April 1942, wherein we dropped bombs on Japan in the first airraid after the
Jap bombing of Pearl Harbor.
Van Johnson, in the role of Lieutenant Ted Lawson, is absolutely brilliant, and should have
won an Oscar for his portrayal. Lawson’s book, written with Bob Considine was a best-seller,
that is faiithfully translated to the big screen.
This film, written by Dalton Trumbo, is a classic that should be shown to kids of today who
need to know what a real HERO is. Van Johnson, as Ted Lawson, was certainly one of the
great Heroes of WWII.
Battle Of The Bulge + The Longest Day
Judy Lynn
In Harm’s Way, Operation Pacific, From Here to Eternity,12 O’Clock High,Memphis Bell.
Ixlplk
I think Apocalypse Now is to war movies what 2001: A Space Odyssey is to sci fi – and everything else.
Orangulu
Battleground. The best.
Katieg1
“The Longest Day”, “Tora, Tora, Tora” “Midway” “Bataan”and a movie tribute to Army nurses–“So Proudly We Hail”. My mother, who was a 1st Lt in Nurse Corps stationed at various points in Pacific Theatre, told me that, barring the romance (“Of which there was some,” she giggled) this movie was very much like what life was for her field hospital staff in WWII. My Army dad was stationed in South America, watching for Nazi saboteurs and infiltration on Amazon, so I don’t know of any movies from that point of view.) I guess we all have our reasons why a certain movie captures our heart.
“We Were Soldiers” for Vietnam
“The Winds of War,” “War and Remembrance,” and “Band of Brothers” for miniseries
Pruckerj
Black Book – foreign
Feather
I collect WWII movies and have more than a 100 DVDs. Unfortunately, what I consider the second-greatest WWII film ever made is not available on DVD: “The Story of GI Joe”. Oscar-level performances by Burgess Meredith as correspondent Ernie Pyle and by a very young Robert Mitchum as The Lieutenant. Episodic, gritty and very real. I want this film on DVD.
But my favorite WWII film is John Ford’s “They Were Expendable” — and American Odyssey. Not popular because it reminded us of defeat and sacrifice at a time when we were on the verge of victory, it nevertheless serves as a reminder of what made the victory possible. Wonderful performance by Wayne in the No. 2 role — both his heartbreaking romance with nurse Donna Reed and his funeral oration are highlights. But the real star is Robert Montgomery (who also directed some second unit sequences. James Agee once wrote that the heart of the film are the departures — the gut wrenching scenes where parts of the unit are left behind — when Montgomery looks at the 16-year-old kid and tells him “Watch him”, referring to an older veteran, it’s hard to avoid tears. And the final scene at the airstrip, when the two Army officers are forced to give up their seats on the last plane out of the Phillippines, is to me the single most powerful moment in WWII movies. Just a great, great film.
I know that if you take a poll, most of the votes will be for more recent films. And while The Dirty Dozen and Red Tails and the like have their place, the only modern film that earns a place on my list is Saving Private Ryan. Just my personal top five:
1. They Were Expendable
5. A Biidge Too Far
Vking001
The movie you refer to “The Story of GI Joe” is on DVD and can be bought on EBay for $5.00 to $10.00. The movie is also one of my favorites that is why I know it is on DVD, because I have a copy.
Nat Tunes
I know your comment is dated, but I believe GI Joe is now on DVD
Thomas Finnerty
The Dawn Patrol – E. Flynn; D. Niven; B. Rathbone; D. Crisp
Curtisclanii
The all time classic is The Enemy Below.
Tim
I watched “A Midnight Clear” for Memorial Day.
Sageaqua
Mine would be Steal Helmet
Bobby LaGuardia
I dont really have any. I find them very boring.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=713983697 Gordon S. Jackson
A lot of my favourites are British – “The Dam Busters”, “Sink the Bismark”, “The Battle of the River Plate” (aka “Pursuit of the Graf Spee). “Carve Her Name With Pride”, “The Bridge on the River Kwai”, “”King Rat” and most definitely “Oh! What a Lovely War.” From the U.S. I go with “Pork Chop Hill”, (Gregory Peck), the original “All Quiet on the Western Front”, “Where Eagles Dare” (brilliant), “Patton”, “The Enemy Below”, “The Gallant Hours” (a very underrated Cagney) and “The Longest Day.” There is one other, however, Kon Ichikowa’s fantastic Japanese entry, “The Burmese Harp”. “Harp” along with “Lovely War” I find to be the two most powerful anti-war themed films I have ever seen, with honourable mentions going to “Paths of Glory”, “The Hill” and “Three Came Home.”
Peter Q.
Attack!.. Jack Palance and Eddie Albert
Palance plays Joe Costa a Lieutenant under Albert’s command,Captain Cooney also with an early Lee Marvin. This movie realy packs a wallop. Not for the kids or squeamish.
Joe
“Battleground,” Breakthrough,”The Great Escape.”
WT
My favorite war movies are: The Great Escape, Cry Havoc, So Proudly We Hail, White Cliffs of Dover, Until They Sail, Gone with the Wind, Stalag 17, the Guns of Navarone, Up Periscope, From Here to Eternity, and Passage to Marseille.
Rpjohnson3
my favorite war movie is Paths of Glory with Kork Douglas.
Bob
Mine too, though it’s more of an antiwar movie. So Kork was Kirk’s evil twin?
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=713983697 Gordon S. Jackson
Of course, all of the foregoing said, there are just too many to do justice to the topic.
DKG
Mine is a little known English movie ” The Cockleshell Heros” about a Royal marine clandestine raid
on German ships in a French port with Trevor Howard.
Juleen61
Eureka! Another war movie buff that saw Cockleshell Heroes! That has been my favorite war movie since my younger brother and I saw it when we were about 13 and 10. I have searched for years for the DVD available to buy.
juleen61
Saving private Ryan
Chuck
My personal favorite is a little known picture titled “Marines Let’s Go” great story for a low budget film…
rgordon7
John Rabe
tlynette
Ooooo, I like you! 😀 Both “The Seventh Cross” and “The Mortal Storm” are SOOOOOO good! Granted, I’m big on authenticity, and you really have to suspend belief that Spencer Tracy, James Stewart and Robert Young are German (“Father Knows Best” a Nazi???), but they work the stealth and pursuit angles of WW II so well. Another good prelude to war film I really like, is the 1978 version of “The Thirty-Nine Steps” with Robert Powell. The lead-up to the Great War stays as the theme of John Buchan’s book, but veers off with a lot of cat-and-mouse between Powell’s resourceful Richard Hannay and those sleek, sneaky, unctuously suave German spies — it’s a terrific picture. “Confessions of a Nazi Spy” is pretty darn good, too.
Peter Q.
Stairway to Heaven…David Niven and Kim Hunter
British bomber crewman David Niven dives out of his burning plane without a parachute after talking to a ground control Kim Hunter. Missed in his fall by the reaper, he lands on earth alive and falls in love with Kim..The only thing wrong Heaven wants him back. High Court room segment is Great. Guess who wins…………LOVE..
Swisdom
Sahara – Bogart, etc. Just watch it if you haven’t already.
Juleen61
The Cockleshell Heroes (#1), The Man Who Never Was (#2), The Longest Day (#3).
http://profile.yahoo.com/XWH4Q6R3PMMAQHIMVA2DP73454 raymond h
A tie between:A Midnight Clear, and Full Metal Jacket.
CalifSunshine
Three Came Home with Claudette Colbert, The Longest Day, John Wayne et al and Tora, Tora, Tora
CalifSunshine
P>S> forgot to list The English Patient
Sms1211
In Harm’s Way, Where Eagles Dare, The Mortal Storm, Above Suspicion, Escape
Tadenny
As a former sailor (1956-1962) I liked “In Harm’s Way.” Although fictional it contained many elements of the Pacific war. It would have been even better with today’s computer graphics, but the battle scenes were an important, not overwhelming, part of the story.
Mike
Audie Murphy’s bio ” To Hell And Back “
Debbie
A war picture of sorts, from a family’s point of view: “Since You Went Away” with Claudette Colbert and Jennifer Jones is a fave.
Jamesgasaway
I am a veteran who served in both Korea and Vietnam. For some reason or other, I just don’t watch war movies. Maybe I have had enough…
Dave Brown
In Harm’s Way, Patton, Bridges at Toko Ri, Mr. Roberts & about 20 others
Topyule
Heaven Knows Mr Allison has long been my favorite. A great story and two great entertainers.
Ldiaz40
Two great movies:
City of Life and Death, excellent chinese movie on the 1937 massacre at the city of Nanking by the japanese.
The other: Saving Private Ryan.
Carroll Vernee
Hard to select just one. The Dirty Dozen, Stalag 17, Saving Private Ryan. Green Berets, Pearl Harbor, for the visiual; Best mini series: Winds of War
Laurence Goldstein
My favorite war movie is 12 o’clock High. It is very realistic, beautifully acted and is still relevant today.
David Ecklein
Most of the films mentioned are US or British. Some others worth seeing:
(1) Alexander Nevsky (1938, USSR) – 13th century defeat of the Teutonic Knights at Novgorod
(2) Yamato (2005, Japan) – the largest battleship ever built, and its suicidal mission off Okinawa.
(3) The Adventures of Werner Holt (1964, East Germany) – disillusionment of a WW2 Nazi soldier
Book65worm1
I have found that when it comes to war movies, I always end up dividing movies into categories. What is the best combat movie? Homefront movie? Which war…WWI, WW2, Vietnam, foreign, etc? POW movie? Holocaust film? Other?
Vlr1953
War and Remembrance and Winds of War.
Striff
My favorite is In Harms Way with the Duke, and then Green Beret. A big fan of JW, no one does it better!!
MrAlphaPac
Come and See
Karl Albert
The Longest Day, Where Eagles Dare, The Winds of War and War And Remembrance, Tora, Tora, Tora, The Guns of Navaronne, Midway, Schindler’s List
Lion72
The Caine Mutiny, especially the courtmartial scene with Van Johnson, Fred MacMurray, Joes Ferrer, and whoever played Willie Keith.
Randd82
Favorite war movie is “Kelly’s Heros”, very close second goes to “The Dirty Dozen”. Jefferson!
Lilymac
I like the 40’sand 50’s war movies. One of the best is “Attack” with Jack Palance. that’s one of my favorites.
hiram
Thanks, Feather. I had to scroll through 40 comments to find someone mentioning A BRIDGE TOO FAR, which, like THEY WERE EXPENDABLE, focuses on loss and defeat. That’s why they might be the best two.
I would also mention a little little-known French film called TOMORROW IS MY TURN with Charles Aznavour as a French POW working on a farm in Germany (it is not a combat film, and some, I suppose, would say it isn’t even a war film), but I saw it more than 40 years ago and it’s very high on my list of movies I would like to see again before I die. Not available on DVD, as far as I know.
Chester
Battle of Britain is right up there. So is Desperate Journey and Blue Max, Hells Angels, Ritorno de Piloto and The Devils Brigade. Gosh, I like movies too much and there are too many choices!
http://profile.yahoo.com/7P37EWZFBEPQFBKBNXVFNRKZYE yahoo-7P37EWZFBEPQFBKBNXVFNRKZYE
I like the war films with “believable” action in them, but my favorites are any that make you stop and think “WOW, how did they endure all that and still go on to live normal lives” Military or civilian, our side or the enemy, makes no difference. The fact that they lived through those horror’s and could continue on kinda makes our “problems” seem very minor by comparison.
Kari Selinheimo
Apocalypse nouv
Eightsecondrider49
Dark of the Sun, Lost Command, Go Tell the Spartans, Sahara (Bogart), and two I wish would come out on DVD, Jump Into Hell and China Gate.
Mike
There are many, but one that I always love watching is “Bridge on the River Kwai”…Alec Guiness was amazing. The way he was torn between proving his men could build the perfect bridge…better than the “enemy”. Then being “lost” in his pride of the bridge and their work …and losing his objective of stopping the enemy. Then realizing what he did…protecting the bridge…was wrong. His emotional struggle was perfect to watch. A great performance.
There are many other great war movies, but that is just one that I have always liked.
Barenekd
Sandman
I’d probably have to say…..: “Pork Chop Hill”, “All Quiet on the Western Front (Original)”, “Paths of Glory”, “Steel Helmet”, “The Enemy Below”, “Air Force”, “Bataan”, “Von Ryan’s Express”, “The Train”, “The Purple Heart”…just to name a few, there are so very many more. Even though it’s technically not a “war movie”, Ken Burns’ “The Civil War” should be mentioned.
Charles
Favorite war movies: Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, Twelve O’clock High, The Bridge On the River Kwai, Battle of Britain, The Guns of Navarone, Sands of Iwo Jima, They Were Expendable, The Secret of Santa Vittoria, Stalag 17, Sargeant York, Mister Roberts, Zulu, Operation Pacific, Run Silent, Run Deep, Battleground, not in any particular order.
http://profile.yahoo.com/4FLXJMC7JMF573JQ7RN7F7DSNY thomas
Saving Private Ryan and Stalag 17 are two of my favorites. But perhaps The Guns of Navarone tops my list.
Moviebuff
My favorite war movie is “The Longest Day”. B & W, all star cast, German characters who actually speak German, and even a touch of humor. What’s not to like?
Stove
Night of the Shootoing Stars..Italian version of the WWll and also The Sand Pebbles..McQueen is an excellent actor as as sailor in 1920’s China…
http://www.facebook.com/people/Matt-Gaffney/1450547336 Matt Gaffney
Sands of Iwo Jima, Bridge on the River Kwai, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, Full Metal Jacket, Midway, The Guns of Navarone, Mister Roberts, Run Silent Run Deep. Battle Cry. Guadalcanal Diary. There are just so many to choose from.
Robertaaronsr
We Were Soligers,pork chop hill, zulu
whitewatermom
Kelly’s Heroes, Bridge on the River Kwai,Gettysburg, Das Boot, Guns of Navarone, Heaven Knows Mr Allison, The Big Red One, Sink the Bismark.
Jbauer62236
1 All Quiet on the Western Front
2 A Walk in the Sun
3 A Very Long Engagement
all because they are so anti-war
Bern
My favourite has to be Das Boot. Seeing the war through the eyes of the Germans is especially refreshing. Enemy at the Gate was well done with a great story line, another non-American story. Saving Private Ryan was graphic, shocking and believable. Deer Hunter had such an impact on me that I changed my mind about joining the army. What about Valkyrie? Tom Cruise would not have been my first choice but he managed to pull it off. And the list goes on…
A333
Off the top of my head; The Bedford Incident, Das Boot, The Bridge, Talvisota/The Winter War, Kukushka, Go Tell the Spartans, The Sand Pebbles, The Last Valley, The Caine Mutiny and many others are impressive. Zulu and Zulu Dawn were both interesting. Kelly’s Heroes was entertaining. Things like Saving Private Ryan are very disappointing.
ranchorenal
YES to Kelly’s Heroes and NO to Saving Private Ryan? You gotta be kiddin’!
Photogrickfee
Chronologically speaking: “All Quiet on the Western Front” (1930); “Sahara” (1943); “A Walk in the Sun” (1945); “They Were Expendable” (1945); “The Story of G.I. Joe” (1945); “Paths of Glory” (1957); “War and Peace” (1968); “Apocalypse Now” (1979); “Das Boot” (1981); “Platoon” (1986); “Saving Private Ryan” (1998); “City of Life and Death” (2009).
In Harms Way, & Hunt for Red October
Jim
William Wellman’s “The Story of G.I. Joe”, with Robert Mitchum, and Anthony Mann’s “Men In War”, with Robert Ryan. Both are unglamorously realistic, and neither glorifies war in any way. Stanley Kubrick’s “Paths of Glory” deserves a mention as well.
Rvdelinger
In Harm’s Way
Joe
My all time favorite is The Great Escape. Followed very closely by A Bridge Too Far, The Longest Day, and Saving Private Ryan. Honorable mention goes to Battleground, with Van Johnson.
Richard
The Great Escape is by far my favorite because McQueen is so great in it. Of the others, I love The Longest Day, Tora Tora Tora, Midway and the others based most closely on true events. If they had ever shown a movie like Saving Private Ryan in the theaters at the time of the war, it would have scared the crap out of all the potential enlisties. What a movie that is!
Photogrickfee
Oops! After posting my top dozen war films below I realized that there were at least three other titles certainly worthy of mention: “The Road to Glory” (Howard Hawks, 1936); “Ivan’s Childhood (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1961); “The Battle of Algiers” (Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966). And additional kudos to such films as “Sergeant York” (1941), “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo” (1944) and “Objective, Burma” (1945) as well.
Billy from South Philly
Band of Brothers
Lfkwell
“They Were Expendable” directed by John Ford with the Duke and Robt. Montgomery. Beautifully shot with all the Ford trademarks. The scene where Wayne just sits down on the beach after his PT boat is destroyed is a classic.
W.D. Southworth
Task Force, Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan,& Jane Wyatt
tunaman62
platoon, objective burma, saving private ryan, pt 109 , a bridge too far , harms way, this is just a few!!
Mpodwill
There area two for me that qualify as my “favorite” war movies. First is Howard Hawks’ “Air Force” from 1943. A marvelous “small epic” that follows a B-17 crew from Pearl Harbor to Wake Island to the fall of the Philippines and finally to the battle of the Coral Sea. Second is a film with practically no war action — but it tears your gut out nevertheless. I refer to “The Sullivans” (1944) and directed by Lloyd Bacon. This is the tale of the 5 brothers who insisted on joining the military together (after Pearl Harbor). All 5 lost their lives in naval action off Guadalcanal. The pathos at the home front (Thomas Mitchell, Selena Royle and Anne Baxter) will touch any heart.
Peter Q.
Hell and High Water..A Richard Widmark classic. During the cold war using a jap submarine.
looking for a commie atom bomb base. They find a B-29 made up as American with an A bomb. They must destroy before it drops the bomb with America to blam…Sound preaty close to today. Great ending.
Rogerzdodger
Not in any particular order re: World War II only: To Hell and Back, Mr. Roberts, Patton, A Bridge Too Far, Tora, Tora,Tora, Midway, South Pacific, and for a little wishful thinking: The Final Countdown.
Debbie
Another good war movie is: Torpedo Run.
Scott584
There are so many great war movies, but above all for me is Zulu, We were Soldiers and the 300 Spartans. It’s amazing what a few good men can do in a situation where they are outnumbered. Makes you proud.
Also the Great Raid should be mentioned here. In an era of anti-war, anti-American Hollywood Productions it is anything but.
Dave Sherman
My all time favorite is the Story of G I Joe, Robert Mitchum * Burgess Merideth. the story of Ernie Pyle
RichardWferri
As a vet and film lover, I’d have to give the nod to JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN and BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI.
Gary Vidmar
Malick’s philosophical version of THE THIN RED LINE (played very loud);
Tony Richardson’s under-appreciated historical satire, THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE;
Dalton Trumbo’s psychological treatise in JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN;
and, of course, Kubrick’s highly charged FULL METAL JACKET.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_OC6SKJLQDZEY674X7VRYBWH6AI Tom
“Patriot” – “Gettysburg” – Ken Burns’ “Civil War” Series – “All Quiet on the Western Front” – “Tora,Tora, Tora !” – “Enemy at the Gates” – “The Longest Day” – “Saving Private Ryan” – “Midway” – “Patton” – “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo” – “Hamburger Hill” – “Apocalypse Now” – ” Platoon” – “The Deer Hunter” – “We Were Soldiers” – and the Vietnam War scenes from “Forrest Gump” !
rgordon7
tlynette – though “The Seventh Cross” and “The Mortal Storm” were topical films, set in a very specific then-current time, place and circumstance, I believe that (at least from today’s perspective) the “lack of authenticity” in casting (Spencer Tracy, James Stewart & Robert Young) broadens the message of the films – and adds an almost mythic element of universality that was, I suspect, not necessarily so fully intended at the time of production – a “human condition” universality that would, I also suspect, not necessarily be quite so apparent in these classic films today had the casting been more “period-correct Germanic” and less familiar to us…
BTW, I definitely need to see “The Thirty-Nine Steps”…
Geneva P.
Carve her Name With Pride
Miniseries – War and Remembrance and Winds of War
David Malin
I love ZULU, SAHARA, THE DIRTY DOZEN, and THE LONGEST DAY.
Fiftiesbaby
Just to name two: Hell Is For Heroes & Bridge on the River Kwai, both excellent!
Blueheron46733
Sargeant York with Gary Cooper. Also Friendly Persuasion with Gary Cooper. Also like Kelly’s Heroes!
Rddeaton1
One of the most unique, and definitely for those who love aviation, would be 633 SQUADRON. The author, Frederick E. Smith was planning a sequel to this, and I was trying to locate an agent for him here in the US. Sadly, he just passed away at the age of 93. He thought they did a “pretty good” job of making the movie, and had plans for a sequel, based on the succeeding volumes of the exploits of 633 SQUADRON, all published in England.
Next, GETTYSBURG. Then, Bridge On The River Kwai, The Longest Day, and Tora Tora Tora.
ClarkFlynn1
Inn of the Sixth Happiness
Geneva P.
Yes, yes, YES. I love that movie!! What a war story AND love story.
Danaboo46
The Devil’s Brigade
J. Keen Holland
It’s hard to settle on just one and doing so depends a bit on what you want your choice to say about war.
We don’t see a lot of movies about the Eastern Front in WW2, so Cross of Iron will probably not get too many mentions, but it is a powerful film. It is often seen as an anti-war film and in that context The Americanization of Emily ought to be on the list. For war’s effect on the home front, it is hard to beat Mrs. Minniver and Since You Went Away.
The Western Front has seen a lot of big pictures worth seeing The Longest Day, A Bridge Too Far, The Battle of the Bulge (1965).
There are three movies I like that start with Pearl Harbor and follow different parts of the war in the Pacific – Tora! Tora! Tora!, Midway, and In Harm’s Way. Thirty Seconds over Tokyo also deserves mention.
The biopics on Patton and MacArthur from our side, and Rommel (The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel,1951) from the other side, offer some interesting views of the professional soldier and the challenges he faces.
Getting away from WW2 – two Charlton Heston films: 55 Days at Peking and Khartoum; one of the few films about the American war for independence, The Patriot; John Wayne’s The Alamo; and, saving the best for last, Zulu.
albert
I liked Midway. perhaps because my step dad was co-pilot on the pby that rescused the one man from toperdo squarden 8. but it was a good movie I thought. better than pearl harbor although that was good also.
Briney
“Tora” and “The Desert Fox” two more great shows. And, “Zulu.” I agree – Fantastic film.
Fbusch
Stop saying movies I love!! Zulu an alltime fav, then i found Zulu Dawn,,,, now I watch them in order.
Jbruno
Battle of Britian, The McConnell Story, Gettysburg…..
BIGGUNN966
JOHN WAYNE”S GREEN BERETS. top box office draw the year it came out. can’t remember what won the acadamy but it wasn’t seen by as many as JOHN WAYNE!!!
Orsh549
I’m a Navy Veteran and I have an outstanding collection of War Films. They are all favorites of mine, so here is a couple in my collection: Civil War – GODS AND GENERALS, GETTYSBURG, WW1 – ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, THE FLY BOYS, WW2 – THEY WERE EXPENDABLE, DECISION BEFORE DAWN, TORA, TORA, TORA!!, BRIDGE AT REMAGEN, THE LONGEST DAY and many more. Korea – THE FORGOTTEN WAR, Vietnam – RESCUE DAWN, APOCALYPSE NOW, SIEGE AT FIRE BASE GLORIA. Other eras such as the Plains Indian Wars – SON OF THE MORNING STAR, GERONIMO, SITTING BULL, and all documentaries on this era. The Zulu Wars – ZULU DAWN, ZULU . and many other movies from earlier times such as Revolutionary War etc.
http://www.facebook.com/hypatiab7 Michelle Malkin
Drums Along the Mohawk
raysson
GERONIMO the 1962 version with Chuck Connors and Ross Martin…..or the 1993 version with Lou Diamond Phillips and Gene Hackman that was directed by action guru Walter Hill.
Chulswitt
“Battle Cry” and “Dawn Patrol” ( Errol Flynn )
Gdrusselljr
Sands of Iwo Jima. Classic John Wayne.
http://www.aceofclubstp.com/ Ace of Clubs
Johnny Got His Gun
Bruce Eder
SAHARA, directed by Zoltan Korda, with Humphrey Bogart, Bruce Bennett, and Dan Duryea — love that picture for a lot of reasons, including the fact that it captures, through a small-scale story, a key turning point in the Second World War — when the British hold at El Alamein and subsequently defeat the Germans in North Africa, it sets the stage for the end of the war — out of that Allied Victory, the Germans have to take over all of France (and try to get Spain to go into the war on their side, which Franco — heeding the advice of the anti-Hitler German intelligence chief Admiral Wilhelm Canaris — declined to do). From there follows the invasions of Italy and France, and the defeat of the Reich.
St52897al
I loved that movie too. I bought it and have watched it many times.
Xalf18
Bataan is my favorite. Look at the castL Robert Taylor, Robert Walker, Lloyd Nolan, Thomas Mitchell. This was one of the best morale builders of WWII, showing how a handful of Americans, including a sailor (Robt. Walker), held off hordes of sneaky Japs (as Japanese were called then–also “Nips” (for Nipponese). It depicted how sneaky those Japanese really were (they feigned death when shot and only wounded and then when an American’s back is turned, the Jap got up and stabbed the American in the back. At the end, the movie shows Robert Taylor alone and firing his heavy machine gun at the hordes of Japanese soldiers charging. Great propaganda film–it worked!
Sahara would be my next best–depicting J.Caroll Naish–who was really Irish-as an Italian soldier. After the war, Naish morphed into the role of Luigi–the little Italian immigrant–on the radio comedy, “Life with Luigi”. Sahara starred Humphrey Bogart, Dan Duryea, Lloyd Bridges (I believe), and Bruce Bennett.
Engrex
Full Metal Jacket. It was the closest thing to my military experience of the late 60’s.
M60A1
Where Eagles Dare. I know its got a LOT of problems (helicopter, among others) but I just like it!!!
Romi
I like it, too. 🙂
Tim Levy
Battle of the bulge, Where Eagles Dare, To Hell and Back, and Kelly’s Hero’s
Xalf18
I might add that the movie which moved me the most was an anti-war war movie–“All Quiet on the Western Front” starring Lew Ayres as Paul Baum and Louis Wolheim as Kat (his mentor). A young Ben Alexander (who later played Joe Friday’s sidekick on TV’s “Dragnet) was also in this devastating anti-war movie, which depicted the horrors of war, emphasizing that war is not glorious, that soldiers are trying to just stay alive. Lew Ayres became a conscientious objector during WWII. This movie in gloomy black and white (it really captured the atmosphere and feeling of gloom and doom) is said to have led to Ayre’s decision. When the film was re-released in 1952 (I believe), during the Korean War, Ayre’s commented that it should not have been re-released because The Korean War was in progress and it may have served to demoralize Americans from serving in the military.
“All Quiet on the Western Front” won the Academy Award for best picture. It is an absolute classic, especially when Remarque (the author) looked at the German side of the war. I have watched this film at least once a year, and each time, it breaks me up.
Engrex
Remarque was a German who fought for Germany.
hypatiab7
I almost forgot the British H.G. Wells sf movie “Things to Come (also known as
“The Shape of Things to come”). The movie shows World War II going on and on
with lots of battle scenes on the ground and in the air showing the horrors of
mustard gas or a later development on it and incredible tanks and planes. Then,
when modern civilization falls, it shows the fight between the city and hill peoples.
This goes on until the last of the scientists in Basra develop a sleep gas carried
in huge airplanes and end all wars. Wells made incredibly correct guesses about
most of this, considering that it was made in the 30’s with Wells overlooking
everything. I have photos of him on the set with the actors and director (Menzies).
Xalf8
How about Howard Hughes’ “Hells Angels” starring Jean Harlow, about WWI?
Kelly Fan
Easily by far the best light hearted war movie and each of the actors plays their character great, Kelly’s Heroes. Yea not believeable but it’s fun with some, not alot, good war scenes. Funny just real funny, I could watch that movie 100’s times, what am I saying I have watch it 100 times. I am not big on owning movies but that is one in my small collection.
Vann Morrison
Another light hearted war movie, What Did You Do in the War Daddy? directed by Blake Edwards and starring James Coburn, Dick Shawn, Carrol O’Connor and Harry Morgan
albert
does anyone have a favorite submarine movie from ww two?
Xalf8
Destination Tokyo. I believe Cary Grant starred in it. Their sub enters Tokyo Bay. Also, “Crash Dive” with Tyrone Power and Ann Baxter.
Weebee
Destination Tokyo with Cary Grant
hypatiab7
“The Enemy Below” which was later made into an incredible original “Star Trek” episode.
John Vandelden
My favorite war movie would be Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison with Robert Mitchum as it depicts the life of a soldier on his own battling the Japanese and getting religion at the same time.
Grim Reaper
What is it with these posters? They were asked which “one” war movie they liked best. So what do we get? A long laundry list of movie libraries that the various posters had. What is this? A politicians blog? We are unable to answer a direct question with a direct answer? Oh no! Don’t force me to pick just one? Vacillation is now the new order of the day? Give me a break! Oh yeah, the answer you wanted.
My one all time favorite war movie is “The Longest Day”. Why? Because it is largely based on fact, has a stellar cast, and it was very well acted and produced. See, that wasn’t so hard to do.
Romi
I guess some of us can’t choose just one. Sorry about that. 🙂
hypatiab7
I’m not sorry. Some people are just too picky. It’s not like this was a contest for a prize.
Fbusch
I can’t do it with potato chips either….
Pogo65
Many of those mentioned but here are a few of the obscure & forgotten:
“The Hill” – Sean Connery (WWII)
“Hell Is For Heroes” – Steve McQueen (WWII)
“Breaker Morant” – Edward Woodward (Boer War)
“Run Silent, Run Deep” – Clark Gable & Burt Lancaster (WWII)
“Men In War” – Aldo Ray & Robert Ryan (Korean War)
Helen
The Longest Day, followed by Operation Petticoat and Father Goose.
Xalf8
Operation Petticoat and Father Goose were comedies, which really would not be classified as war movies.
ranchorenal
I see a lot of war movies here that I love, and even a few of the Really Great Ones — those that not only keep you glued to your seat with realistic action, compelling danger, and excitement (e.g., Guns of Navarone, Windtalkers, Band of Brothers, or Where Eagles Dare), but those with superb acting and a great musical score — movies that uplift (or depress) you, make you cry, and compel you to watch them over and over. For me, that would be Schindler’s List, Saving Pvt. Ryan, A Bridge Too Far, and especially my all-time favorite, 12 O’Clock High.
Pogo65
Albert, as I mentioned in my previous post “Run Silent, Run Deep” is an excellent WWII Sub movie.
DRSCHNK
Longest day !
Pquig
Platoon is the most realistic. Having spent 2 years in the infantry, that is as close as you can get to the real thing.
PQ
Too many. Battleground, The Longest Day, The Great Escape, Von Ryans Express……
Shadow0109
“Sahara” with Bogart, Duryea, Bruce Bennett, Rex Ingram, Lloyd Bridges and a bunch of Brits I don’t know 🙁 Sorry about that.
moviebuffie
As a woman, war movies are hardly my first interest, but I have enjoyed and/or admired “Battle of the Bulge,” “Guns of Navarone,” “Dirty Dozen,” & “Shindler’s List.” Another film worth mentioning is a Japanese produced film about Pearl Harbor & WWII made in 1968. It was released outside of Japan under the name “Admiral Yamamoto.” Japanese Navy officers were not so gung-ho to war with the US, unlike the Army. Yamamoto thought attacking Pearl Harbor was a bad idea, but he did what he had to do as an officer. It was as much a character study as a war movie. FYI, it seems they have made another version of this just recently – in 2011.
hypatiab7
That reminds me of “The One That Got Away” with Hardy Kruger. He played a real German Air Force pilot who was catured and sent to Canada. He escaped to the US (not yet in the war) and they had to let him go. So, he returned to Germany and got shot down. He’d have been better off if he’d stayed in Canada. His escape scene was similar to one in “49th Parallel”
which ended very differently.
My favorite war movie is The Train starring Burt Lancaster. Suspenseful to the end.
mba2
Too tough to pick just one, so….
King of Hearts, Paths of Glory, Patton
Tschihara
Twelve O’Clock High; All Quiet on the Western Front.
Sweetlassie7
The Dirty Dozen!
Twwilson
A lot of great war movies have been mentioned here including many at the top of my list but since we are to name only one, even though I rate a number as highly, I have to say mine is a film I have not seen mentioned, A Walk In The Sun (1945). It follows Harry Brown’s novel to the letter with the dialogue right out of the book. The only change of any substance is that the ending is extended. The book ends during the assault on the farm house. I well recall seeing this film at the time of its release when I was 9 years old. Just plain guys with plain banter.
Mickey
1) Saving Private Ryan. The first half hour of that movie is almost too realistic. Just a great looking movie and well directed. Great cast and great performances by all.
2) Platoon – you can almost feel the crotch rot. Also great performances by a great cast.
3) Full Metal Jacket – beautiful dark movie.
4) Apocalypse Now – Another dark beautiful movie.
And then the rest. I love war movies.
And thanks to all who have served in the military.
Bill
Not going to list all of my favorites but 3 I really like Zulu, Breaker Morant and Destination Tokyo. The appendectomy done in this film actually happened. It was
performed on the USS Silversides SS236. Pharmacist’s mate Thomas Mooere removed
George Platter’s appendix 150 feet below the ocean’s surface. Photographs of the
surgery are on display where this submarine is docked, in Muskegon, Michigan, at
the Great Lakes Naval Memorial and Museum.
Jkbop2
The Big Red One
Doug
I interviewed over 375 WW II veterans for the historical record, and one of the war films that I believe is one of the most authentic, based on many of my interviews, is “The Story of G. I. Joe” (1945), directed by William Wellman.
Cutwould
Action in the North Atlantic with Humphry Bogart
Jvm99
Blackhawk Down
Glitterkitty
“Hell in the Pacific” (1968, starring Lee Marvin, Toshiro Mifune) and the 1985 sci-fi remake “Enemy Mine” (starring Dennis Quaid and Louis Gossett Jr.)
“The Bitter Tea of General Yen” (1933, directed by Frank Capra and starring Barbara Stanwyck)
“Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing” (1955, starring William Holden and Jennifer Jones)
“The Hunt for Red October” (1990, Alec Baldwin, Sean Connery)
“Destination Tokyo” (1943, Cary Grant)
“The African Queen” (1951, Katherine Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart)
“Yamato” (2005, Takashi Soramachi, Shido Nakamura, a dramatization of the true story of the sinking of the largest, heaviest and most powerfully armed Japanese battleship ever constructed)
“Saboteur” (1942, directed by Alfred Hitchcock)
“Notorious” (1946, directed by Alfred Hitchcock)
“Go For Broke!” (1951, Van Johnson)
“Lifeboat” (1944, directed by Alfred Hitchcock)
“First Yank Into Tokyo” (1945)
“American Guerrilla in the Philippines” (1950, directed by Fritz Lang)
“Between Heaven and Hell” (1956)
“The Enemy Below” (1957)
There really are so many good war/war-related films around…too many to list!
LM
“The Purple Heart”, “Twelve O’Clock High”, “Attack!”, “Men In War” and a special mention for the 1960s TV series COMBAT! In my opinion the best episodes were as good as any war movie…
Machiste
A Walk In The Sun
USA-1
# 1….”PLATOON” #2…..”PATTON”……#3…..”DAS BOAT”….EACH OF THESE MOVIES ARE AS CLOSE TO WHAT ACTUALLY TOOK PLACE DURING EACH MOMENT IN VIETNAM AND DURING WWII
Jjct1173
I have several favorite war movies. the Longest Day, To Hell and Back, Sergeant York, In Harms Way, The Green Berets, Battle of the Bulge. There are not really any that I don’t like.
FalmouthBill
The enemy below, The first Yank in Tokyo, Pride of the Marines, Purple Heart, Night of the Generals, The Young Lions, Heaven knows Mr. Alison, Sahara, The Bridge on the River Kwai, 36 Hours, and for sheer comic relief Mr. Roberts, Kellys Heroes, and 1941 !
Vann Morrison
Right off the top of my head I’d have to say Sam Peckinpah’s The Cross of Iron.There are some really good ones out there and some real stinkers. When they first came out with VHS I started collecting
war movies. I remember paying almost $90 for a copy of Kelly’s Heroes when it first came out on tape.
Today I have 1053 war movies in my collection. I’ve looked hard and long to get many of them and had to buy a multi region player to watch alot of them that aren’t available here in the US. There are quite a few that are still out there that haven’t been released yet. ie A Yank in viet Nam with Marshall Thompson. Some have been on the market and then taken out of print. Some are only available in Europe or Asia, for instance The Victors, available in England and Take the High Ground available in Spain. Others have had the rights bought on them and belong to TCM, Battle Stations with Pat O’Brien and The Girl and the General starring Rod Stieger. I’m constantly searching the internet for new titles.
I just discovered this week that “Bridge to the Sun” with Carrol Baker and James Shigata was released
on DVD.
Jim
Favorite most recent is SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. Among the classic Hayes Code controlled movies, 12 O’CLOCK HIGH with G. Peck, SANDS OF IWO JIMA w/J. Wayne.
john batman
Favorite war movie is tied between “The War Lover” and “From Here to Eternity” with a close second as”Saving Private Ryan” ! For the realism quotient, “Saving Private Ryan” takes the cake tho! JB
Gonnaplotz
“Three Came Home,” w/Claudette Colbert, gave a grim, real (this is based on a true account of civilian families captured by the Japanese) look at what went on in Japanese prison camps, and how ordinary people — husbands and wives, children, missionaries, etc. — were affected by the brutal treatment of the (then) enemy, how the Japanese captors were affected by what happened at Hiroshima, and how they (especially the women) coped until it was over. A very well directed film, and realistically played by all the actors. Another excellent film, also an autobiographical document of actual experiences, is “So Proudly We Hail,” again with Claudette Colbert, Veronica Lake, and other stars of the time — about the experiences of Army nurses during WW II in Japanese combat areas, I believe in the Philippines. Both of these films are excellent and keep one on the edge of one’s seat throughout.
Gwynne G.
As a favorite I’d vote for “Never So Few” closely followed by “The Hunt for Red October” and “Saving Private Ryan”.
william
a walk in the sun also the train.although i like most any wwii movie
jpp452
The Train is my favourite, closely followed by Paths of Glory, Passchendaele and The Guns of Navarone. There are too many that fall into the next highest level, including the satires Catch-22 and M*A*S*H. Glitterkitty’s list is a very good one, as are many of the films named by others.
One of the best of all is a post-War film, The Days of Their Lives, about the readjustment to civilian life by an air force officer with no marketable skills for civilian work.
Coyoteman51
Bridge on the River Kwai — Even Guinness said in much later interviews he didn’t believe his character would have behaved as he did – it still remains a powerfull film
Trippy Trellis
Seventh, 30 Seconds Over Tokyo
Rmaglaughlin
Too many to count really. Being retired Army I do have a few. Pork Chop Hill, Saving Private Ryan, Operation Pacific, that’s for my Dad, The Longest Day, Twelve O’Clock High, Command Decision, Tora Tora Tora, The Great Escape (great adventure) and of course We Were Soldiers. Apocolypse Now is good but overated by too many civilians. Sorry, had to say that. There are some bad ones out there too. A lot of war movies also double as great adventure such as The Great Escape and The Guns of Navarone. Many out there arten’t as well known as many of the Sam Fuller movies, I.E. The Helmet. A lot of good Brit movies out there too.
Johnhancock
Ha Ha Ha too funny
Linda
We Were Soldiers, In Harm’s Way, Gettysburg
Johnny M.
If I have to pick “one” Movie it would be “Heaven Knows Mr. Allison” Mitchum & Kerr make a wonderful team.
Coyoteman51
Sorry , that was a pow movie- for war movies it would be The Thin Red Line – by Terrence Malick
Billiard1234
IT HAS TO BE VON RYAN’S EXPRESS.
Filmposters
All great films listed here, but very surprised that no one has mentioned the the most realistic and riveting war movie ever made, the Russian picture “Come and See” by Elem Klimov. “Makes Platoon look like a tea party in the mud” said one review at the time….and it wasn’t wrong!!
Elly May
Also Inglorious Bastards is a favorite war movie of mine
Shiera Wilson
The Longest Day
billgrove57
I’m not sure this counts, but I really love “The Wild Geese”. It’s about aging mercenaries that get double-crossed and have to escape with their lives.
BoB
Always near the top of my list, Bill
Lwshere
Ssands of Iwo Jima and Battle Ccry
Flimfilmman
THE GUNS OF NAVARONE. Gregory Peck. Anthony Quinn. David Niven. Great Dimitri Tiomkin score. Faithful adaptation of the Alistair MacLean novel – improving the novel by changing the traitor to a woman and making Captain Mallory’s execution of her more heart-rending.
Dmbaisley
A few of mine were “Mrs. Miniver” with Greer Garson & Walter Pigeon, “Tora, Tora, Tora” and “Paradise Road” with Glenn Close, Frances McDormand, and Julianna Margulies.
Debbie
I too liked “The Hunt For Red October” but I wouldn’t put it in the category of a war film.
Paul Reimann
Porkchop Hill. It shows both the courage of the fighting man and the stalemate of plitics.
LM
Agree, a very thouighful film…
Rckhirsch
“The Young Lions:, “Tthe Guns of Navarone”, “Saving Private Ryam’. “In Harms Way”/’
Maureen
Kelly’s Heroes, Dirty Dozen, In Harm’s Way, The Green Berets, Heaven Knows Mr.Allison, and The Longest Day. I seem to have problems in picking only one favorite.
Debbie
Another film I thought of that shows the effect of war on the family is “The Human Comedy” with Mickey Rooney. When that telegraph arrives informing him of his brother’s death….so much pain.
John Field
There are so many great ones…”The Great Escape” (no pun intended), “Das Booat” and “A bridge Too Far” are among my favorites..and, of course, “Patton.” John
Steve O
“The Lighthorsemen” is a 1987 Australian movie about the Australian Lighthorse Infantry (not cavalry) in World War I in north Africa. It has drama, romance, and an excellent dose of the realities of war.
Wmoskoviz
Men in War with Robert Ryan and or The Cruel Sea with Jack Hawkins !!!!!!!!!!!
Lbgrove
The original ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT.
Joel
“Twelve O’Clock High”. Best ever!
LM
Agree. A film like Twelve O’Cloch High could never be made again with the same look and feel of authenticity.
Frankie
“All Quiet on the Western Front” – “Bridge on the River Kwai” – “Stalag 17” – “Grand Illusion”… and others!!
Teresa S.
All quiet on the western front with Lew Ayres I think it is quit surreal especially coming out so close to the end of WWI. Teresa S.
Lennybay
“A Walk in the Sun”, “Bataan”, “Das Boot”, “Saving Private Ryan”
Amsfan
Twelve O’Clock High, The Great Escape, Darby’s Rangers and In Harm’s Way
Rnmrbts
I enjoy war films. I like the ones already listed by fans, but I believe, at least today, my favorite war flick is “The Gallant Hours”, “The Frogman”, Fireball Forward, Guadalcanal Diary, One Minute to Zero, Sahara (both 43 & `95 versions), A Walk in the Sun, They Were Expendable and Corvette K-225. I also enjoyed The Bedford Incident, A Bell for Adamo, and Destination Gobi. I had VHS copies of both Corvellet K-225 and Attack force Z but gave them away thinking I had DVD copies – I didn’t and know you cant find either one…
em
The Purple Heart, The Great Escape, and So Proudly We Hail.
hypatiab7
“The Hasty Heart” (also called “None But the Hasty Heart). It showed soldiers recovering from injuries and being told that they wouldn’t recover. Really a heart wrenching film.
caesar benigno
as a member of the WW II 8th af i have to pick memphis bell with m bodine and 12 o’clock high,as far as a army film it has to be to hell and back and sahara , agood navy film would be they were expendable. most instructive film showing improper and proper use of intellegence it has to be tora tora tora and midway
http://caftanwoman.blogspot.com/ Patricia (Caftan Woman)
William Wellman’s “Battleground” is my favourite war movie. Great script and ensemble cast. My feet start to ache just thinking about James Whitmore’s Oscar nominated performance. The ending gets to me every time.
Timothyjireland
Best WW II movie ever …..Battleground
Babyeue
Her are 12 I didn’t see on anyones list,Where Eagles dare,Sailor of the King,Enemy at the Gate,The Deer Hunter,Gods and Generals;Attack,Bridge at Remagen,The Devils Brigade,Windtalkers,Run silent Run deep, Flags of our Fathers and Band of Brothers
air force brat
my dad, a WWII air force veteran said that “memphis belle” came closest to portraying the war.there weren’t many john waynes,mostly just young men like him
Edocg
In fact there were no John Waynes. John Wayne never went to war. He did not want to. Yes I know he was not fit for service but there were many actors and actresses who went into harms way to support the troops. Mr. Wayne did not think he needed to. Not much of a hero. An Air Force veteran in WWII? I salute your father and all the young men like him.
http://profile.yahoo.com/T2H5HYUCHB6QJW56ZEFZKINSUI Fizzwidget
Viet Nam movies…Full metal jacket,Platoon
Gknapp2953
saving private Ryan, Kelley’s Heroes
bobbo
Patton with Geroge C Scott and I dont know if this counts as Movie but Band OF Brothers
Majic
My favorite is Robert Mitchum in Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison.
BoB
At the top of my list is Battleground. Also, The Wild Geese and In Harm’s Way. Very gritty all 3.
Bobbo
and bridge over the river kawi and the great escape
Joncorvette
12 O’Clock High is a classic for sure!
Mel
Where Eagles Dare is my favorite war movie
Bobbo
Stalag 13 – William Holden was the best in that one!
Sheepman
“Patton” with George C. Scott, 1970. Well done and accurate as I knew one of “Old Blood and Guts” aide’s for many years. As a youngster during WWII, Patton was truly one of our big heroes; along with Gen. Eisenhower and Gen. MacArthur. Thanks for the query. “Doc”, USAF Veteran
Carl-Edward
‘From Here To Eternity’ is I think, one of the finest war stories ever filmed. Rather than rely on sensationalistic battle scenes after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, it portrays individuals living in the psychological vacuum of an army base just before the attack.. Here there are no military stereotypes, but people who have – sometimes unconsciously – continued to live their own lives, irrespective of the stifling conformity any military organisation will attempt to impose on anyone connected with it.
Airforcefe
Das Boot in it’s original subtitled form with the “unamericanized” translation was great when it makes you cheer for whom you eventually realized were the enemy. !2′ O’clock High, Tora Tora Tora and Midway watchable many times
Edocg
Forgive me the question. You remark that in “Das Boot”, you “cheer for who you eventually realized were the enemy. It was the story of a U-Boat from the beginning with no story, plot, or visual ambiguity.
maddy312
To Hell & Back (Audie Murphy’s (war biography – a true American Hero), The Big Red 1, Memphis Belle, The Longest Day, Saving Private Ryan, U-571, Das Boot……it really is too hard to pick just one!
Briney
“To Hell and Back,” and “Das Boot,” I forgot to mention in my listing. Audie Murphy’s WWII heroic exploits were excellently told. “Das Boot,” has to be the best sub’ picture. At least, in my book.
Briney
“Twelve O’Clock High,” as someone just mentioned – another great flick.
rsalia13
Great “oldie”:” HELL BELOW.” Submarine movie with Robert Montgomery, Walter Huston, Madge Evans, Robert Young ,and, incredibly , Jimmy Durante. First rate story,clever discourse and all around excellent acting.
Joe S. Cline
M*A*S*H, Patton, The Great Escape
D328nav
The Enemy Below – Absolutely perfect rendition of how we conducted ASW in the late 40’s extending to the early 60’s.
Mommastern0
What Did You Do In the War Daddy? Great movie Love Harry Morgan in it.
Peavish1
I love the old war movies, but nothing I have ever seen had the emotional impact of, or portrayed the gritty reality of war like “Saving Private Ryan”
Rhc1945
It isn’t possible to name ONE war picture as my favorite. Just two…On the British side because England was there from the outset it has to be “The Cruel Sea” .Given the absolute dedication an the contribution of America(after they had their collective ass kicked 12/7/41) “They Were Expendable” Illustrates,to me, what this cause meant to America. Let us remember our Vets always From “The Great War”,WW11,Korea,Vietnam,Iraq,Afghanistan, and so it goes.
Edocg
1) Das Boot, 2) The Longest Day, 3) Mash
Manuel
Sargent York, To Hell and Back, Midway, We Were Soldiers, Tora, Tora, Tora, Patton, staglag 13 and Battle of the Bulge
Joe, USMC
Back to Bataan, The Longest Day, The Devils Brigade and the Dirty Dozen, all great movies.
Joe USMC
Plus Sands of Iwo Jima and Fying Leathernecks
Steve in Sacramento
I haven’t perhaps seen enough war movies to definitively pick my favorites (for instance, still haven’t seen GRAND ILLUSION or PATHS OF GLORY), but I just want to second a few of the mentions below, especially DAS BOOT (totally immersive, pun inevitable!), STALAG 17 (yes, a somewhat strange mix of drama and comedy, but ultimately one of my favorites), and HEAVEN KNOWS, MR. ALLISON, which has such a great naturalistic feel to it. HELL IN THE PACIFIC is pretty interesting, TORA TORA TORA’s invasion of Pearl Harbor is just incredible, as is the opening of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. Should also mention BAND OF BROTHERS, I think, APOCALYPSE NOW, THE DEER HUNTER, and LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA. Oh, and SAHARA (the one with Bogie) is pretty awesome. I guess there are too many to list here.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000999314580 Bruce Riffle
WHERE EAGLES DARE
Jtcrgs455
Any of the movies starring John Wayne. All thing considered, Blue Max is one of my favorites along with From Here to Eternity. BTW does anyone know the war movie that Mort Sahl was in in the ’50s ? where he picked up the phone and said “Good morning WW II”
Walt
all the young man with alan ladd, sidney poitier & mort sahl
Bill M.
I’d like to mention several: “Stalag 17”; “Eight Iron Men” &; “The Last Time I Saw Archie”. BILL M.
Dwight
Gettysburg. I know it is not a WWII movie but it is a war movie.
Jen1003
They were Expendable; Where Eagles Dare; Battleground; A Bridge Too Far; Full Metal Jacket
Klorenzsoxfan
Sink the Bismarck
Wallyz79
the Dirty Dozen, Kelly’s Heroes, Green Berets, Bridge on the River Kwai, Guns of Navarone and the Great Escape. Can’t turn any of them off if you come across them.
Jim
The Longest Day, Saving Private Ryan, The Big Red One, Platoon, Hell Is For Heroes, The Enemy Below,Hell To Eternity, Go Tell The Spartans, The Bridge At Remagen
Bucker
THERE’S TOO MANY…..THIS IS NOT IN ORDER OF PREFERENCE….DIRTY DOZEN, BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, GREAT ESCAPE, STALAG 17, TO HELL AND BACK, THE STEEL HELMUT, THE THREE CHUCK NORRIS MOVIES AS CAPT. BRADOCK, MISSING IN ACTION, ETC.
http://www.facebook.com/Hexegoon Tom Schumacher
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison
I like them because they are all well made, and well told.
Something suitable for any guest, and I wouldn’t mind – even if I just watched it.
Tejah
There are too many great war flicks. They range from historical subject matter or time period events to when the film was made & its storyline.
Betty K
So Proudly We Hail! Cry Havoc! Apocalypse Now! Bridge On the River Kwai Sergent York
Klossner9
They Were Expendable, and Patton.
Emk00_2001
Kelly’s Heroes, the Dirty Dozen, The Longest Day, Tora! Tora! Tora!, Midway, Patton, Battle of the Bulge. It’s hard to pick just one
http://profile.yahoo.com/WQ2BSTMDEES4RIKGT4ECSVRE5I Whirlpooloff
I think your list nails it. I would have started with Patton though.
Charles R. Corradini
Why ” Patton” of course-If it were not for George S. Patton There would not be any war films
Eartheater
Battle of the Bulge, Midway,Red Ball Express,Sands of Iwo Jima,Darby’s Rangers,Fighter Squadron,Merril’s Marauders,12 oclock high. Too many more to name
Sjudy
When Trumpets Fade
Biotecnm
Stalag 17. William Holden best actor Oscar & a young Peter Graves as a rat. Many great supporting players make this a must see.
roger lynn
the guns of navarone,,is my all time fave,,,go tell the spartans,the big red one are close behind
Ridderw
The Longest Day, Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers, A Bridge Too Far, Midway, Battle of the Bulge.
Cv66seabear
It is impossible to choose just one. To Hell and Back, Guns of Navarone, Bridge on River Kwai, Tora! Tora! Tora!, PT109, Operation Petticoat, Where Eagles Dare, Mr. Roberts, Kellys Heroes, Battle of the Bulge, Pattton, Das Boot, A Bridge too Far, Run Silent Run Deep, Gray Lady Down, U571, THe Great Escape, Sergeant York, Flags of our Fathers/Letters from Iwo Jima, Heartbreak RIdge, BZAttle of the Bulge, Midway, Father Goose and many more!
Oh Hell – each one brings back memories and each one I like for different reasons, there isn’t one I don’t like.
Patsy
Dirty Dozen, Stalag 17, Midway…but love lots more
Jls
4. All Quiet on the Western Front
Anthor1
Saving Private Ryan &Kelly’s Heroes.
Wranglerjeep
to hell and back
Martylee13045x
The 1930 “All Quiet on the Western Front”…still astonishing for greatly advancing early sound film making…and remaining both eternally real and deeply moving.
docnoir
I’m with you and I thought Johnny gets his gun says it all. Who needs wars.
Bill
12 o’clock High, Battleground, The Sands of Iwo Jima, Where Eagles Dare, A Walk in the Sun and Kelly ‘s Heros
Almikejuno13
Rather than a “favorite” I thought I’d mention two virtually unknown Vietnam-era films that had me in stunned tears, in both cases, for the stark realism I remember from my time there….”Go Tell The Spartans” (with Burt Lancaster) and I believe the other title is “Under Heavy Fire” or “Under Fire” which I think was a direct-to-cable film. The insanity of that conflict, localized and in general, was brilliantly manifested in these examples of superb cinematic achievement..but I sense one “had to be there” to be properly jolted by the lessons of the films. They carried the equally brilliant “Apolcalypse Now” some steps further.
classicsforever
Far too many great ones to choose from. However, “Zulu” is a good study of small unit tactics. A very well made movie.
Mlgoens52
Being a Navy Vet during Vietnam, (1970-74) and son of a 20year Navy man my picks are kind of obvious; The Enemy Below, Mr. Roberts, Run Silent Run Deep, Operation Pacific, Tora Tora Tora, and PT-109. And to all you guys that listed Band of Brothers, that was a 10 part mini series on HBO as was The Pacific. Both great, I own the DVD’s of both.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Susan-Woods/100000090516059 Susan Woods
Sands of Iwo Jima, Midway, We Were Soldiers, In Harms Way, To Hell and Back, Saving Private Ryan, Kelly’s Heros, The Longest Day, Stalag 17. There are really too many to choose from. God Bless Our Patriots in Uniform!
Ken_gerry1
Destination Tokyo, Battleground, Flat Top,Great Escape, Where Eagles Dare, Operation Pacific,
Kelly`s Heroes, Midway, Tora Tora Tora, Flying Tigers, Longest Day, In Harm`s Way, Dirty Dozen
Just to name a few
Silkcitycd
The Steel Helmet, Fixed Bayonets, The Big Red One, Guadalcanal Diary, A Walk In The Sun, Bataan, Gung Ho, Wake Island, The Enemy Below, 12 O’Clock High, Battleground, The Tanks Are Coming, To Hell and Back… HOW do you pick a favorite?
hotstock
Zulu for tactics, Das Boot for the most realistic version of submarine life (picked by more than half of retired Navy admirals asked that belong to USAA that have had submarine commands), The Great Escape for intrigue, and Kelly’s Heroes for some humor involved. The grandest: Patton. That opening dialogue by George C. Scott in front of the flag is unmatched, and you know that the movie you are about to see will be a humdinger. Unfortunately, many of today’s youngsters don’t even know about it, much less seen it. In Europe, D-Day gets one paragraph in their history books. Too bad all of the 50,000 bombs dropped at Omaha Beach missed their target (they landed a mile inland; the single greatest failure of D-Day).
Whizzkd
Tie. They Were Expendable, The Enemy Below.
Kitkatpress
Patton, They were soilders, Great Escape- all were kick butt movies !!!
Biogon44
‘In Which We Serve’ and ‘Sink the Bismarck’. Also ‘Paths of Glory’ and ‘The Red Badge of Courage’..
Joeiron
The Enemy Below for a drama. Kelley’s Heroes for a good comedy. It was one of Clint Eastwood’s best!
Cadesgrams
Tears of the Sun, Blood Diamond
Wandafred555
Most of mine have been mentioned here, but a few from me:
WW1–“All Quite on the Western Front”- “Paths of Glory”
WW2- “A Walk in the Sun”- “The Story og G.I. Joe”
Korea- “The Steel Helmet”- “Pork Chop Hill”
Gerard
I am thinking Sands of Iwo Jima….
David F. Podesta
12 O’Clock High, Command Decision, Saving Pvt. Ryan, Platoon, Apocolypse Now, We Were Soldiers Once, From Here To Eternity, A Wing And A Prayer, There are so many good war movies …
Drcarver
The Longest Day because of the stellar cast, complexity of plot and story and the historic accuracy is great, but there were so many great war movies it is hard to pick just one
Eccolima54
Where Eagles dare (starring “The Clint”, Richard Burton, Mary Uhre, Ingrid Pitt, Victor Beaumont, Ferdy Mayne and many others).
TUfan
Lots of good ones mentioned, but I have to add “Memphis Belle” to the list.
rda24
A Bridge Too Far….Based on a true story with lots of good actors and action.
BigD34689
Band of Brothers is number 1! I think because you get so involved in their lives and it’s so realistic!
Paulval
Saving Private Ryan. There is NOTHING like that fade in/out of Ryan’s face from past to present. It really makes you love those soldiers. And the scene on the beach can never be forgotten. Heck, some of those guys were dead before their feet hit the sand.
Tommy T-
Cross of Iron–WWII on the Russian Front fron the German perspective. Refreshing because there are no holocaust overtones.
Nils Goering
PATTON – He was a remarkable person and an extraordinary military man in real life. George C. Scott gave a rousing performance that came close to capturing Patton’s persona. However, as with so many instances in ‘biographical’ motion pictures, the real life person is more complex and interesting and far transcends any actor’s interprative performance of the flesh and blood being. Too often the screenwriter and/or the director will bring their own prejudices, biases and personal conclusions to bear when re-creating a film regarding an historical person or an historical event. It’s just the nature of the beast, it’s impossible to tell or capture the whole story in the time constraints of a theatrical film. ‘Patton’ succeded better than most in capturing the true 1940s atmosphere of World War II. Other notable war pictures were ‘The Longest Day’, ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’, ‘The Steel Helmet’, ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ and ‘The Sand Pebbles’. When one thinks of a ‘War’ movie it is usually WWI and WWII that come to mind. But, war has been a part of this planet since its beginning. So, there are hundreds of films depicting hundreds of different wars to chose from. Greek Wars, Roman Wars, Tribal Wars, British Wars, French Wars, Chinese Wars, Japan feudal Wars, The French and Indian War, The War of 1812, The American Revolution, The Civil War on through to the Vietnam War and the current Mid-East Wars – they’ve all been the theme or backdrop for any number of motion pictures. War is hell and so is choosing a favorite war picture.
Freedom_lost2001
So many great war movies it’s rather hard to say which is my favorite, but I believe that w/o our system of government many of these stories would never have been told. We can be thankful that we can look @ War w/ amusement, horror, chagrin, tolerance, love &/or hatred for the subject yet hope we never have to face it again. Be thankful we always have the men & women who’ll step up to the challenges we face w/ the coming of War.
Rappa_n
One of the best was The Fightning Seabees,with the Duke.There are many more.
Brooklyn1948
Guadalcanal Diary is right up at the top
Willgs
They Were Expendable, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, Sgt. York, and one of Errol Flynns’ most underrated performances Objective Burma.
Rjfnikon
“The Longest Day” without question if we are limiting it to WWII
Klaatuyu
Sgt York still stands up. Don’t you love his mailing address? “Valley of the Three Forks of the Wolf”.
Emily
The Guns of Navarrone, A Bridge Too Far, The Were Expendable, The Bridge on the River Kwai
docnoir
Johnny Got His Gun. Sweeping vets under the rug and out of the way continues.
Sandra Gebert
Summer of My German Soldier
Briney
“All Quiet on the Western Front.” The Lew Ayres 1930 edition. A excellent B&W adaptation of Erich Remarque’s gripping novel, which passionately lays bare the cruelty, the. waste, and futility of war. “Flame & Citron.” A low budget Danish film, ignored on the main circuit. A gripping, and violently realistic true story of Danish assassins ridding the country of Nazi collaborators. “Defiance.” Russian citizens fight the Nazis from their own village, created deep within the forest. “Uprising.” A great story of Polish Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto, fighting to the last man, woman, and child, against the vicious Nazis. “Cockleshell Heroes.” It should be shot again. Royal Marines on a suicide mission to destroy Nazi shipping in Bordeaux Harbor. Twelve started out in kayaks. Two came back. Great true story. “Saving Private Ryan.” Stephen Spielberg’s terrific story of a Ranger squad desperately trying to find a sole surviving son – Pvt. Ryan – amid hellish European battlefields. Tom Hanks in top form. “The Man Who Never Was.” Clifton Webb excellent as one of the devious minded Brits, who actually fooled the Nazis about their invasion plans by using a corpse. “Band of Brothers.” Another great Spielberg film. Fantastic and realistic battle scenes. Stirring characterizations by unknowns.”Guns of the Navarone.” Gregory Peck leads commandos against the German Army to destroy shore batteries on a huge cliff, commanding, what looks like the Straights of Gibraltar. “Mrs Minivar.” Greer Garson, Walter Pigeon, triumphant. “Saboteur” and “Foreign Correspondent.” Alfred Hitchcock’s scrumptiously told tales, as only he knew how to tell them in glorious B&W. “The Eagle Has Landed.” Donald Sutherland at his best, as the dagger-wielding Nazi spy, who uncovers what were true British deception plans for the invasion of Normandy. “Four Feathers.” Alexander Korda’s technicolor – and story – riveting film with Ralph Richardson. “The Great Raid.” This story about US Army Rangers and guerrillas burrowing through Japanese lines to save 500 condemned POWs, is special.
Gepaw
MOST PSYCHOLOGICAL—-12 O’CLOCK HIGH
MOST REALISTIC— BAND OF BROTHERS
MOST HISTORICAL— TIE THE LONGEST DAY AND BATTLE OF THE BULGE
MOST HUMAN INTEREST— SAVING PRIVATE RYAN
MOST HOLLYWOOD— THE BLUE MAX
MOST ANTI-WAR —-TIE ALL QUIET ON WESTERN FRONT and PATHS OF GLORY
RIP
Tcpasss
PORK CHOP HILL THE SEVEN SAMRAI JARHEAD FAREWELL TO THE KING APOCOLYPSE NOW because you can’t just have one
Gloria
I like many. These come to mind: Sgt York, Memphis Belle, The Fighting Sullivans, Pearl Harbor. I loved Judgment at Nuremberg (post war).
Hecker001
There have been several great ones. But a short list of three stand above the others for me: Gettysburg; Gods and Generals; The Longest Day.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Bruce-Brewer/100000960328617 Bruce Brewer
Sands of Iwo Jima. I almost cry everytime John Wayne gets shot in the back.
Msidd
Run Silent, Run Deep and The Enemy Below
Rob in L.A.
Das Boot, The Great Escape, The Bridge on the River Kwai
Pacerdad
Band of Brothers, The Longest Day, Saving Private Ryan, Casablanca
Frosty
“Paths of Glory”, “The Sands of Iwo Jimo”, “The Longest Day”, “Apocalypse Now”, And, for laughs, “King of Hearts” and “The Day the Clown Cried”
Geo
“All Quiet on the Western Front,” the original black and white version, not the re-make where the young soldier’s interest in collecting butterflies is changed to bird-watching and sketching birds.
Also “Run Silent, Run Deep” with Clark Gable shouting, “Dive! Dive!”
Aedtaylor
The Great Escape is the BEST. I never get tired of watching it.
C21delano
The Guns Of Naverone, In Harms Way, Kelly”s Heroes, Casablanca
Marvwaddy
The Sands of Iwo Jima, The Great Escape, Run Silent Run Deep, Pearl Harbor, The Longest Day, Twelve O’clock High, We Were Soldiers
rbroehm
comand disision, the great escape, in harms way, and kelly’s heroes
Avilamd83
Full Metal Jacket, because it is an anti-war movie. It captures the insanity of war just as Paths of Glory does. These are my favorite two.
Peter Q.
Destroyer..Edward G Robinson
Nugget59
My favourite War Movie is ‘The Longest day’ for the sheer magnitude of its sound and spectacle. There are some other real good ones as my favourites, these are ‘Wake Island, Dunkirk, The War Lover, Sea of Sand, Sink the Bismarck, Cross of Lorraine, A Bridge Too Far
Eldersburg Rick
Saving Private Ryan, A Walk in the Sun, and Zulu
GYSGTOFMARINESRET
A Walk in the Sun. (I would have put “The D.I. with Jack Webb, but that’s a “Get Ready for War” movie.
Cjgrup
Paths of Glory
Marty
Bridge on the River Kwai (why did they have to kill William Holden!)…but a great movie and movie musical score. Mrs. Miniver; a truly wonderful movie in every way. Kelly’s Hero’s; a classic, and one of my adult son’s all time favorites. Band of Brothers; a really exceptional movie. I know there are many, many more, too many to list them all. I love movies and always have.
Csantas1111
The reason Holden was killed is that they followed the storyline in the book by Pierre Boulle. I find it more dramatic–and tragic–this way/although apin to watch. though young, I saw it on the screen when I came out, and that picture of his being hit and dying will never leave me. constantine
Anne
Apocalypse Now, Saving Private Ryan, M*A*S*H
Csantas1111
The most powerful ending of any of the war epics!
Sharclon8
Seargent York: 1) York’s commanding officer explaining the reason why we sometimes must defend ourselves. 2) York sitting on the side of his mountain as the wind turns the pages to the Bible verse, “Rend unto Ceasar that which is Ceasars and to God that which is Gods” — An inspring true story.
The Great Escape – The beginning of the picture we are reminded that every specific of the escape is absolutely true. Amazing what man can do. Again, inspiring.
The Longest Day – An amazing story – well done by the movie.
Lperiu
“Edge of Darknes” (1943) Errol Flynn. It’s my favority war movie. And also “D Day”. There are a lot of american war movies. And I like almost all.
Goldenyears
The Cranes Are Flying-Mikhail Kalatazov.
Beliveau Jacques
The Longest Day
jerry j.
Hell in the Pacific, with Lee Marvin and Toshiro Mifune. And I like The Red Badge of Courage, with Audy Murphy and Bill Mauldin.
Kaydetheus
yh favorite war movie, if one can have a favorite war movie, is Private Ryan.
Jparana
Last of the Mohicans, A Bridge Too Far, Zulu, Zulu Dawn, Mrs. Miniver, Band of Brothers, The Sands of Iwo Jimo, We Were Soldiers, Battle of Britian and many others.
Dah26000
My Boy Jack, Path’s of Glory, The Sand Pebbles
Ken Roche
I agree with Dah and Cjgrup:
“Paths of Glory” and “Sandpebbles” ~ will also add that great rareity: “Broken Lullaby”
All special films… amoung others.
heynow
battle of britain, sgt.york, longest day, blackhawk down, guns of navarone, where eagles dare, battleground, so many more…
James Martin
There are a lot of great war movies but as a John Wayne fan(nut) all of his
Marco Polo
Glory
Boomboomranger
twelve o’clock high,battleground,any john wayne war pic especially “they were expendable” which spig weed wrote and the sand of iwo jima,the dirty dozen,kellys heroes,bogey in “sahara”
bsteele2
The Longest Day, Band of Brothers, Stalag 17.
hughcapet
I never get tired of Stalag 17 – great cast of characters.
M031773
My favorite is In Harms Way, great cast!
hughcapet
yeah, great theme with solid actors. Did not care much for the “toy” boats in the ensuing sea battle. They were laughable, especially when one of the “toy” boat’s bow literally tore apart after a torpedo strike. I think Otto Preminger, the director, should have added some old WWII reels for those parts. I believe Kirk Douglas made a derisive comment about the same thing.
Walt
Boy, tough one. Let’s see, Patton, Battleground, Sands of Iwo Jima, The Longest Day, Kelly’s Heroes, Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers, A Bridge Too Far, Sgt. York, Pork Chop Hill, The Story of G.I. Joe, Is Paris Burning?, The Memphis Belle, Twelve O’Clock High, In Harm’s Way, Wake Island, The Alamo, The Horse Soldiers, The Dirty Dozen, Stalag 17, The Great Escape, We Were Soldiers. Needless to say, I love a good war movie!
Feklarrr
You got all the great ones but might add Hell to Eternity
Walt
I forgot the Terror War! Blackhawk Down, The Hurt Locker and the first battle, Flight 93.
Peter Q.
The Best Years of Our Lives..Fredric March, Dana Andrews, Myrna Loy & Harold Russell
The best of them all……1946
Frank4510
the dirty dozen. the longest day. von ryans express. in harms way. blackhawk dowm. where eagles dare. the great escape. the devils brigade. the green berets.
greycrow50
Das Boot, Paths Of Glory, Breaker Morant, Zulu, The Train, Dr. Strangelove, Gallipoli. I wonder if there is movie about Finland’s Winter War against the Soviet Union. I have seen a documentary. There is most likely a Finnish made one.
George5180
Wow,great choices!
Maryjo
My favourite war movies are in two categories, 1. The “action” war movies and 2. The “families at home” type war time movies. (Some of course are about both.)
Category One
1.Das Boot – One of the best films ever made. The war from a German vantage point.
2. The Cruel Sea – an all time favourite film of mine. Jack Hawkins gives a wonderful performance.
3. 12 O’Clock High – If Gregory Peck had never made another film – he would always be remembered for this. An accurate portrayal of the incredible pressure and tension the USA airforce was under,WW2
4. The Battle of Britain – Fantastic camera work in this RAF versus the Luftwaffe film. Great British cast.
5. Breaker Morant. My favourite Australian film set in the Boer War. Based on a true story.
6. A Town like Alice. Story about a group of English,Dutch & Australian women and children taken prisoner by the Japanese after the fall of Singapore. English Feature Film and later longer telemovie movie version starring Bryan Brown (much better than b&w Brit film.)
7. Sink the Bismarck. How the British (Kenneth Moore) Navy chased down and eventually trapped the
mighty Bismarck – the pride of the German navy.
8. In Which We Serve – Another film about the Royal Navy,starring Noel Coward,John Mills & Celia Johnson.
9. The Deer Hunter – A poignant movie about the Vietnam War – Robert DeNiro was magnificent.
10. In Harms Way – John Wayne, Kirk Douglas & Patricia Neale.
Rduckham
The Longest Day and Apocalypse Now.
Maryjo
Category 2.
I forgot to mention They Were Expendable (John Wayne, Donna Reed) in category one. Great film. 2. Mrs Miniver – Greer Garson & Walter Pidgeon – a hugely successful war film that brought the war home to those who hadn’t realised what England was experiencing.3. Along with Mrs Miniver, Director William Wyler gave the world one of it’s all time GREAT movies,The Best Years of Our Lives was about the return of servicemen at the end of WW2 and the problems of fitting back into their old lives. 4. Carve Her Name With Pride. Another British film, this time with Virginia McKenna, about a French speaking English woman who spies for the British. Based on a true story.5. The Young Lions – Marlon Brando,Montgomery Clift, Dean Martin,Maximilian Schell, Barbara Rush, Hope Lange, Mai Zetterling. World War 2 from both sides. 6. Jacknife – Story about three close friends – one of whom is killed in Vietnam – and how the remaining two overcome the anguish and psychological damage of the war and it’s cost. Stars Robert De Niro,Ed Harris and Kathy Baker. 7. The Light Horseman – Australian film about their light horse brigade (mentioned also in Gallipoli) in WW1. 8. Hope & Glory – An hilarious film about a British family forced to leave London due to the wartime bombing and move in with relatives in the country who see the bright side of life despite the danger all around them. Sarah Miles as the mother is outstanding.
sag27
All Quiet on the Western Front
Fbusch
Being old and with little to do, I’ve just read all of these comments…….First many thanks for jogging my memory with many fine films seen long ago. Which also got me to thinking about how we classify our likes and dislikes. For me, films fall into several types. propaganda films to fireup patriatism during a time of war,(many of which are still great films). then, accurate historical films showing actual battles etc, (even when hollywood thinks they could fight the war better than those actually there). The horror and destruction in war is very overpowering , so, lets paint it in pastel colors, etc. Films that depict the valor of individuals in the face of situations beyond the normal scope of human endeavor. ( Audy Murphy, The troops at yorks drift, etc.). then the films who with varying sucess try to make war funny. There are many. (even though humor creeps in often in real life). oddly I enjoy many of the wwII propaganda films from all the antoganists. Still remember the young russian girl dancing with her childhood friends shortly before she has to kill a young german soldier while crying. Or the chinese rebel fighters dying to the last man while defending their villages. I especially enjoyed all the english films on the old late, late show in the blk&whte tv days, While I don’t remember most of the names today, they gave us an unvarnished look at their travails. Well. enough wool gathering, Think I’ll go watch Sailer of the King again.
Vann Morrison
I believe that was Roark’s Drift instead of York’s Drift
bren57
glory saving private ryan, the dirty dozen
Burt
Without a doubt Saving Private Ryan. Speilberg won best Director and should have won for best movie. the first 20 minutes still boggles the mind. You really thought you were there. Its worth putting on just for that!!
Ginnio
My favorite war movie, and I have many favorites, is Casablanca. Sands of Iwo Jima comes in a close second.
T-man
Tie among a few. Desperate Journey. Zulu. 12 O’clock High. Saving Private Ryan. Patton. In Harm’s Way.
Gypsy331
Tie between The Dirty Dozen and Flying Tigers.
Libertypointaa
The Seige of Fire Base Gloria
So real…. according to my husband who served with US Marines during Tet Offensive. Vietnamese farmers by day, but dressed in VC black pajamas at night; the women sappers; the consequences of soldiers not adequately guarding the base’s perimeters; being overrun by VC. This is a very popular film for “the guys who’ve been there.” A difficult film to find, sells fast, and have seen prices as high as $46 +.
Others: Band of Brothers, We Were Soldiers, Halls of Montezuma, Desperate Journey, Edge of Darkness, Hamburger Hill (very real), Sobibor, Defiance, Sgt. York, Sands of Iwo Jima, Flying Leathernecks, and many more.
Wcz243
I too was in nam , 3rd recon,s.o., USMC, Fire Base Gloria is a great movie for all the feather merchants that have no idea of what it was like in the Nam. gsgt. coffee,0369, 0411, 3 tours’
Anibaln Perez
your husband is correct on fire base gloria ,too bad they haven’t made some of the tet offensive on khesanh{dmz} i was in 3/26,lima co. semper fi….
Brotherlov
Battle Cry.
Dave in Raleigh
Das Boot, without a doubt. But many others rank close. If you’ve never seen Decision Before Dawn, the realism is so stark, it’s hard to determine if the film was a documentary filmed live, or on a set. Also a German perspective, but with a major twist. Right up there is Counterfeit Traitor, with one of William Holden’s best performances (IMHO) with Lili Palmer and other great supporting cast. Another German angle, Die Wiess Rose (The White Rose), for those that don’t know that millions of non-Jewsih were executed by the Nazis, and that there was some resistance to facism in Germany. Finally, The Killing Fields has to rank pretty high in my book.
Kevin
Overlord, as it really captures the spirit of the times, how the ordinary soldier trained and felt, and Das Boot for its ralism. There is not a trace of phoney heroism in either.
Rjwidmann
Saving Private Ryan and Blackhawk Down for portraying the true terror of combat
Trustbuster
We Were Soldiers, Saving Private Ryan, A Walk in the Sun, The Great Escape, The Caine Mutiny, Bridge on the River Kwai, A Bridge Too Far, Mr. Roberts, The Longest Day, The Big Red One, Paths of Glory, The Grand Illusion, Tora Tora Tora, Zulu, Pork Chop Hill, Patton, From Here to Eternity
Kb_at_3
add to that, Objective Burma, Twelve O’Clock High, They were Expendible, Defiance, God Is My Co-pilot, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, Merrill’s Mauraders, The Devil’s Brigade and Darby’s Rangers.
Anibaln Perez
my god you named some i’ve forgotten “pork chop hill” with gregory peck.,”from here to eternity” with burt lancaster.,”patton”with george c. scott…
Lawrence Ressler.
My favorite war movie is “Gettysburg”. I had the privilege of seeing in in a theater in the West side of Akron after driving about 50 miles in a rainstorm to to watch it. Watching and listening to the cannons going off one after the other, echoing throughout the Dolby SurroundSound speaker system in the theater was an amazing experience to behold, bringing the sound and vision of the most important battle of the US Civil War to life for a modern audience. “Gettysburg” was a great, epic war picture that every elementary school student should see when growing up.
Linda B.
I actually have quite a few favorites….The Best Years of Our Lives, Casablanca, The Dirty Dozen, The Great Escape, and I never recall the name, a movie starring Myrna Loy, Wooly Monty and Shirley Temple (a teenager)…A Majority of One is my all time favorite post WWII movie.
Forgetfull65
Beach Red,Cornel Wilde,Rip Torn,Burr DeBenning,Dale Ishimoto.Made on a very small budget.Best example of the human tragedy and the horror of war.
Anibaln Perez
hey what ever happened to the sequel from “full metal jacket” it’s called “boys from company “c”.” also my other favorites from the day were ” where eagle dare” ,”guns of navarrone” “the dirty dozen” , and my john wayne favorite is “back to battaan” and “the hall of montezuma”
skate185
The Boys From Company ‘C’ was made in ’78, almost 20 years before FMJ, but was neither a sequel nor a prequel. Interestingly, both had R. Lee Ermey as drill instructor.
cdfvip
In Harm’s Way and the Fighting 69th. Sgt York; The fighting 69th is very good movie about WW1 Sgt tells a diffrant type of story but Gary Cooper did a wondrful job as Sgt A York. In Harms Way was a wondeful story about the Navy in the eraly days of WW2. But for a diffrant type of view on WW2 I would suggest finding the TV movie War and Remberance and the Winds Of war. Those two movies really gave me an insiders look into the history of the camps that the Germans built. I had family in Poland back in WW2 and now I know why my family would cry at times.
tbone,illinois the, battle of the bulge, the frogmen,stalag 17 are a few of my favorites
Sonofike
Apocalypse Now followed closely by From Here to Eternity
joycewr
Favorite Movies with actual fighting: They Were Expendable; Battleground; So Proudly We Hail; Saving Private Ryan;
Movies with war as the back-drop: Casablanca; Mr. Roberts
Homefront movies: Since You Went Away; Human Comedy; Best Years of our Lives
British: One of our Aircraft is missing
Jimnet1739
Where Eagles Dare, Enemy at the Gates, Stalag 17, Mr. Roberts, Full Metal Jacket
Hockeytown49341
The Longest Day, and The Best Years of Our Lies.
georgiacee
539 comments. Why add one more? Loved the reminder of all the war movies that are so good for varied reasons. Didn’t read through all the list but did anyone mention The Americanization of Emily or Kelly’s Heroes?
Trodb
They Were Ex[endable, Back to Bataan
http://www.facebook.com/john.stevenson.96343 John Stevenson
SAVING PRIVATE RYAN; TORA, TORA, TORA; OPERATION PACIFIC; SANDS OF IWO JIMA; HAMBURGER HILL; WE WERE SOLDIERS; THEY WERE EXPENDABLE; GUADALCANAL DIARY; RED DAWN… yes, I like War movies!
Tmackw
Most war movies are about boom-boom and bluster in the name of some holy grail idea about honor. Very few have ever told the true story: War is Hell. I defy anyone who reads this to say otherwise. I was in a war. I served. I am a vet. I lost friends. I won’t say my true thoughts. So few, if any, would understand.
[email protected]
hi so true the medi wont let the real truth come out about war movies or anything else nowdays. what war were you in,and thank you for going my ex was in nam. god bless you for all you and so sorry about the loss you went through. tx u gaberilla
[email protected]
i did like we were soliders and in harms way,,tx u gaberilla
Jcole
In Harm’s Way – and Tora Tora Tora. Both had an epic feel, outstanding casts and a engaging story lines. I never served, have immense respect for those who did, and both of these movies deliver what appears to be a factually accurate and engaging account. JDC
Luckyew7
dirty dozen, saving private ryan and the longest day. honorable mentions sands of iwo jima, where eagles dare and kelly’s heroes.
CarterCE
Luckyew7:
Here’s a trivia question concerning “Where Eagles Dare” (which is also one of my favorite war movies): How many people does Clint Eastwood’s character kill in this movie?? It is difficult to keep track. Good luck.
Rob
Band of Brothers, no equal……………
Ron
They were expendable, A bridge too far,Longest day….. so many great movies.
Slftrek
Anything with John Wayne and as many stars as they can find…IE: Longest Day!!!!
Cherthebean
Kelly’s Heros is great for a little comedy thrown in. But, In harms way and midway are great! I did like the Ben Affleck Pearl harbor all though it was panned.
SIRDICK
They were Expendable, Battle Ground, The Enemy below, One Minute To Zero
Brygolf
dam busters
CarterCE
I don’t think anyobody has just ONE favorite war movie. My favorites are “Paths of Glory” (1957), “The Enemy Below” (1957), “Run Silent, Run Deep” (1958), “Apocolypse Now” (1979) and “Grand Illusion” (1937).
Pt15
dirty dozen,tora tora tora,midway and throw in kellys heros and operation petticoat as lighter
Pilotari
There are so many but if I had to pick one I would have to say ” The Big Red One”
Boospa
Strangely enough, to me the best “War” movies were anti-war! Perhaps the very best was “Paths of Glory”, the 1957 WWI film by Stanley Kubrick, starring Kirk Douglas…it briefly showed the horrors of that conflict but actually showed the utter ruthlessness of the French General Staff in sending their own men to certain death simply to advance their own careers. This type of action resulted in a number of mutinies in the French Army in 1917, wherein if the Germans had known about, could have won (or elongated) he war……..
Bmeupdee7
In agreeing with you as to anti-war, a good one that comes to mind that illustrates how easily a totally senseless war could start–with supurb performances by both Richard Widmark & Sidney Poitier–“The Bedford Incident.” This was one of the most chilling movies I’ve seen because of its horribly simple plausibility!
Bryan
Gloy and the Longest Day and Band of Brothers and Letters from Iwo Jima
Tjac41166
There were so many, and so many already mentioned…but I haven’t seen anyone mention
Errol Flynn in Objective Burma, one of the all time best war movies made during the war.
Jaime
Of the many excellent war movies herein mentioned,I choose:
PATHS OF GLORY; GETTYSBURG and DAS BOOT
UB
Hands down Otto Premingers In Harms Way.
projectpat
All-Star cast: The Dirty Dozen
Sl Dunaway
the deer hunter
Wayne P.
How about some “older war” movies like “Braveheart” or even the original “300 Spartans” with Richard Egan? Another of Kubricks that hasnt gotten as much mention as “Paths of Glory” and which ISNT an anti-war film, is Spartacus…am thinking that the scene where they line up in battle formation and wait for the enemy charge to roll out the ‘fired brushes’ in that picture mayve inspired Mel Gibson to do something similar, but with horses, in Braveheart!
Vanoffun
In Harms Way
fogelmama
The Best Years of Our Lives – a great film that probably did a great deal to help the rest of us to understand the challenges facing returning vets.
I would also list a film called Decision Before Dawn – made only a few years after WWII, and it showed the struggles of a German soldier whose decision was to help the Allies win the war. It should be better known than it is.
Mikeevans340
great call on decision before dawn, an outstanding movie, guess it didn’t have
the right top-shelf cast to make it the classic that some others were, but I do
agree that it is a great film
Ed
With no disrespect to all the newer films with their great direction and special effects, others have mentioned several older films that while directorally are spectacular even while lacking in special effects, I would also have to chime kin for some of the older ones. Battleground, In Harm’s Way, Flying Leathernecks, Gung-Ho!, Objective, Burma!, All Quiet on the Western Front (1st version), The Bridge, Bataan, Return to Bataan, Where Eagles Dare, The Eagle Has Landed.
Vann Morrison
They Were Expendable; Battleground; Objective: Burma!; The Story of GI Joe.
NSG
Actually, I have 2. somewhat related in their historical significance, Tora Tora Tora, because it tells both sides of what went on prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. And at the end of this movie, the quote of Admiral Yamamoto, who feared that all the Japanese had done was to “awaken a sleeping giant”. The other movie is Midway, which showed how only about 6 months after the attack on Pearl, the US was able to regroup and defeat the Japanese at the battle on this crucial island. Both movies had many top-notch celebrities, adding more to the enjoyment.
Mikeevans340
when the trumpets fade
James
Anything with John Wayne–The Longest Day, In Harm’s Way, The Flying Tigers, Back to Bataan–to name just a few!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CFL-Fan
Waterloo, even though it only has the Iron Duke instead of the Duke.
Chasmichaelp
Enemy at the Gates. Ok, so it is not about US soldiers. But the Russians killed or captured over 600,000 German A-holes. Since the only good German is a dead German, the Russians accomplished a lot of good. And just think of how many American lives they saved by sparing us a confrontation with the Kraut 6th army when we finally arrived in Europe.
Pinkcoconutlady
“The Dirty Dozen” and then “The Best Years Of Our Lives” and then “In Harms Way” in that order ! All Great Movies…………
Ppasq
My greatest war movie and in fact my favorite movie of all time is “Attack” The cast is the greatest with Lee Marvin, Eddie Albert, Jack Palance in the main rolls, but the secondary roles had top stars, Buddy Ebsen(Beverly Hillbillies)Robert Strauss(Stalog 17) Richard Jaeckel(Dirty Dozen) and more. Peter Von Ecyk who perhaps is the best Nazi portrayer(The Longest day) is in it for about 5 minutes. Strother Martin(Cool hand Luke) is killed off before the opening credits run. Watch the movie from the very beginning and you will see why.
Wingcobda
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo.
Ariel
Today is my birthday, and I am doing the same thing I do every year, watching the greatest war movie ever made, The Longest Day. Last night I watched Ike: Countdown to D-Day. Tom Selleck is great as Eisenhower. It’s amazing to watch the elements come together for the invasion.
Tleek
Bridge Over The River Kwai
Chuck Russell
Saving Private Ryan
Cornificius
I think that special mention should go to the Fighting Seabees starring John Wayne and Susan Hayward. It is a very strong film emotionally and features a fabulous blend of different types of propaganda techniques. I also like The Patriot (Mel Gibson), Gettysburg, Casablanca, Great Escape, Dam Busters, Objective Burma, a Bridge too Far, and Mr. Roberts.
ernie
movies would be hard…maybe “BATTLE OF THE BULGE” or “12 O’CLOCK HIGH”…BUT..since
HBO has produced movies, it is “BAND OF BROTHERS”…what a great series…also hon mention
‘SAVING PVT. RYAN”…too many to mention here but 30 seconds over tokyo, crash dive, destination
tokyo, battleground….wow….so many…& the bogie-ray massey flicks…ernie
Lolly828
The Great Escape and the Dirty Dozen! Also, Saving Private Ryan
Cadesgrams
Just saw one last night that I recorded on my DVR. Mrs. Minivar, I thought it was a great movie. Let you know what it was like at home while family was away fighting.
Cornificius
I love Mrs. Miniver. It was either Churchill or FDR who said that the final sermon by the local Vicar was worth a new fleet of destroyers or words to that effect. Excellent choice!!
billy
A walk in the sun.. never tire of it. great cast
http://profile.yahoo.com/MDNOXQRN3KV322MZVFI3GGV43E Sandy
bridge over the rver kawai, with lots of stars
Jim
Homecoming, with Clark Gable and Lana Turner.
Doppleganger51
how about war of the worlds the original
Tat2jo4069
too many to list..lol some favs are night of the generals ,ridge at ramagan,where eagles dare.kellys heroes das’boot ..just to name a few lol
Charleyit
Hands down no debate. Saving Private Ryan!!!!!!
PKSPANDA
MY FAVORITE WAR MOVIE IS IN HARMS WAY, WITH JOHN WAYNE, KIRK DOUGLAS, HENRY FONDA. AWESOME ACTING
Truckski
Where Eagles Dare, Richard Burton & Clint Eastwood.
Butch
Bridge Over River Kwai….Dirty Dozen….To Hell and Back
Scoob
In Harms Way is by far the one I watch the most. Others I continually watch are -The Blue Max (George Peppard and James Mason) The Big Red One (Newer Long release), Battle of the Bulge, Stalag 17.
Here are a few more that might not get mentioned: Hell is for Hero’s (Steve McQueen, Fess Parker and Bob Newhart), Fireball Forward (Eddie Albert and Ben Gazarra),The Boys in Company C (R Lee Ermey and Stan Shaw pair up well), Go Tell the Spartans with Burt Lancaster.
All great movies too!
STALAG 17
Tammy
Absoultly, Mrs. Miniver, war is not just the battle but those left behind to cope, live in fear and hold on to hope. The Best Years of our Lives, touching and realistic, not all soldiers came home to fanfare, many brought back physical and emotional scars. This film was the first to explore the less than perfect “Hero’s Return”. Finally, All’s Quiet on the Western Front, seeing thing from the soldier’s eye.
William
Run Silent Run Deep and The Enemy Below
Bobbirose_81
Impossible to do. So many have done their best to present war and all assosiated with it. Each effort has it’s own qualitys. Just not possible.
DEBRES
I AGREE! 2 MANY & EVERYONE HAS THIER FAVORITE. SOME OF MINE ARE: BATTLEGROUND, A WALK IN THE SUN, CROSS OF IRON, NORTHWEST PASSAGE.
rogerscorpion
12 O’Clock High, SAC,
Note the historical developments in each of these sub-genres.
Johnfburton
When talking about war films there are so many that stand out as great cinematic and patriotic achievements over the years, when you consider such films as “The Longest Day” and “Saving Private Ryan,” along with such memorable ones as “The Big Red One,” “Patton” and “Sahara” (a personal favorite). But three really stand out: “Attack,” “Battleground” and “Men in War.” I think these three have left a lasting impression, in part, because they are smaller more intimate, character driven tales of men in combat, and concentrate for the most part on the “dog face” boots-on-the-ground enlisted men and their struggles and on their quiet acts of heroism. These films also benefit from terrific direction from some truly A-list helmers, as Robert Aldrich, William Wellman and Anthony Mann, who very often imbue their work with a psychological complexity and a Hemingway-like terseness that does embody the author’s definition of courage: “Grace under pressure.”
If you’re not familiar with these movies, I whole heartedly recommend you check them out.
harryfaversham
Attack…a terrific small budgeted WW2 movie. What it lacked in bucks it has in battle grit and fear. The acting is solid, no light weights here. The scene between Jack Palance and the tank, gave me and my pals nightmares when we were kids. As a matter of fact I’m starting to get the sweats thinking about it right now….Good Choice John.
Srb
“Battleground” and don’t forget “To Hell and Back”. A bit different from Audie’s book but it was close to what happen to him and his Company. Another old one “The Steel Helmet”. A outstanding “meaty” part for Gene Evens as the sargeant.
harryfaversham
Bataan… with a tough Robert Taylor and a tougher Lloyd Nolan. A story about 13 G.I.’s fighting a rear-guard action against the Japs as they were then known for you sensitive types. Sort of a mini- Thermopylae’s. Great hand to hand action with a big emotionally charged ending. I highly recommend it.
Palpeaches
Tora Tora Tora, Gung Ho, Merrill’s Marauders
Joy
Seven Days in May..The Young Lions, The Deerslayer
Intelnet33
There are many. Near the top are The Dirty Dozen, Bataan, They Were Expendable but I need to add Errol Flynn’s Operation Burma to this list of great suggestions by others
B.Shields
The Longest Day, although, I never depicted the Canadian, or British beaches like it did the American ones, We all won this war you know, in fact Canada and Britian had been at war since 1939, I know because my father and uncle were both army.
Bev
No problem here. PLATOON!
calhoun1
I agree it was a good Vietnam film. I think I am much older than you, so my likes are probable in the past and not so recent. The film I picked fit what was happening to the whole world, and my family at the time, but I do like all war movies except Deer Huner
Jkelleyjr
Paths of Glory, Operation Burma,We Were Soldiers Once.
Irish-7
A Bridge Too Far is my favorite movie, period. As a former paratrooper, I can relate to the plight of the Airborne soldiers as they prepare for the dangerous mission(s) during Operation Market Garden. I would have difficulty comparing anything that I did in my 30 year career in the Army with the intensity if this battle, though.
calhoun1
There are so many I like, born during WWII and having 2 uncles, and my father overseas
I really like the old movies. I felt The Longest Day told the story of just how hare those
landings were and the losses for all of us Americans, and us Canadian at Juno, the British at Sword and Gold Beaches
Bmeupdee7
So many excellent ones mentioned. However, 2 British films I will never forget: Sink The Bismark, and my personal favorite, The Man Who Never Was.
Normangillen
The Battle of the River Plate (aka Pursuit of the Graf Spee), 1956.
bill
Full Metal Jacket is my favorite war movie. i was in the miitary and it comes very close to reality. the first half of the movie was brutally real. basic training, boot camp….what ever you call it, now or then, is an experience you’ll never forget….after 44 years i still have dreams about it. . i never get tired of this movie.
Wayne P.
Every Kubrick war movie is different just like his whole filmography is so varied…FMJ, Paths to Glory (anti-war to the hilt but honors the sacrificial gallantry of men under cowardly leaders), and my personal fave…Spartacus…the classic battle scenes pre-dated Braveheart with striking similarities! SK continued the fine line of directing from Victor Fleming, Henry Hathaway and Howard Hawks as he spanned both the end of the Studio Age and the Modern Era splendidly.
JIM DRISCOLL
“THE GUNS OF NAVARONE” continues to be my favorite war film of all time. It’s a bit commercial….true….. but a great story with good effects, a great plot, and a solid cast. Maybe in part because I first saw it with my dad, a WWII vet himself, it has, in my mind, stood the test of time. I still love watching those big guns fall into the sea, to the chagrin of those nasty Germans!
===JIM DRISCOLL===
Platoon
Mike
For a long time my favorite was Platoon. Then along came Saving Private Ryan. I believe both movies were done very well, and though based on fictional characters they both brought a higher level of accuracy in depicting each war.
M. Clark
My #1s go to both Patton and Glory. Super stellar performances from George C. Scott, Morgan Freeman, and Denzel Washington.
raysson
M. Clark:
PATTON won eight Oscars including the Best Picture of 1970 including winning Best Director,Best Screenplay and Best Actor(George C. Scott).
GLORY was nominated for nine Oscars including Best Picture in 1989. It won the Oscar for Denzel Washington(Best Supporting Actor). It’s nominations for Best Actor(Matthew Broderick), Best Supporting Actor nominations(Morgan Freeman, Cary Elwes, and Denzel Washington,which Washington won the Oscar)
JIM DRISCOLL
All films mentioned herein have their strong points. But let’s not forget Bogie, and his wartime contributions: “CASABLANCA” — ” ACTION IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC” —“ACROSS THE PACIFIC”, among others.
==JIM DRISCOLL===
A Guin
In my era there was The Longest Day, The Dirty Dozen, The Great Escape. I also liked Run Silent, Run Deep.
tlynette
Oooo! “Run Silent, Run Deep” is a great one!
Belle2
A Walk In The Sun
Inupiaq
Lawrence of Arabia and Das Boot, with honorable mention to All Quiet on the Western Front
Karrtooni1
SOOOOO many great war movies, but no mention of a more recent WWII great…Pearl Harbor !!
jbog1038
This is a very tough category to list as my favorite. I have seen and admired many actors and actresses in war movies in my time, but one film that affected me as a youngster was “Sands of Iwo Jima” with fine acting by John Wayne. He plays a tough Marine Sergeant who proudly displays his rigorous war training to his soldiers. Lots of action and a great World War II drama.
“The Fighting Seabees” is a close second which starred Susan Hayward in one of her finest acting roles. She plays a journalist who is torn between two lovers: John Wayne and Dennis O’Keefe. This was one of the best World War II movies to come out in the 40’s involving construction workers who fought the enemy with great valor and might.
Art Chiodo
I’m with you on this one (Sands of Iwo Jima)..I think John Wayne should have won the
academy award for this one or at least nominated. When the movie came to my home
town..I must have gone to see it 3 or 4 times.
Netherlandj
Battle Cry with Van Heflin and Tab Hunter. So good and just tears at my heart at the ending…..
rufnek
I like that one too. Saw it in a theater when it first came out and before they cut out for TV play the shots of the real troops playing the bulk of Huxley’s Harlots giving the finger to the troops riding in trucks who pass them on their march back to camp. That film touched very lightly on some subjects not previously addressed in war films (watered down compared with the book on which it was based, of course, as was From Here to Eternity). Notice, too, the more realistic way in which the Navajo radiomen were depicted in that film instead of the BS of Windtalkers. (What would be the point of the Japanese learning the code from a captured Navajo when they would have to speak Navajo in order to put it in context?) Battleground was another good film from that era.
Another good, realistic film is Between Heaven and Hell, in which one nervous officer ends up machine-gunning his own men, and another officer goes off his nut commanding an isolated frontline company that is about half screwy from trying to survive both their commander and the Japanese.
Kathy
The Great Escape. It has never grown old. And what a cast!
JOHN
THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES WAS IN MY OPINION A GREAT MOVIE
lost in the 50’s
Thought provoking and so touching… great directing… I never miss this one when TCM is showing it.
Roadrunner4654
Great story, great performances. Arguably one of the best movies ever.
Elizabeth J. Y.
Oh, it’s such a long list. In Harm’s Way is another one I love.
Elizabeth J. Y.
Another fascinating film that includes, in full-color close-up, the heartbreaking firebombing of Dresden is Map of the Human Heart. Also Empire of the Sun. So many, impossible to choose.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Sally-Stark/100000380617204 Sally Stark
Sink the Bismark, Private Ryan,
JIM DRISCOLL
“SAVING PRIVATE RYAN” may have gotten kudos for realism, but the plot premise was really dumb….all those men risking their lives to find a soldier because of the loss of that soldier;’s brothers. It was just one long battle. Actually, it really had no plot. But it WAS well done, production value-wise.
===JIM DRISCOLL===
rufnek
I think of Saving Pvt Ryan as basically 3 movies loosely strung together. The first film is the Normandy landing in which the most realistic element is the noise of battle over which you can’t hear a damn thing anyone says. I was less impressed with bits like the actor running around holding a severed plastic arm.
The second film is of a supposedly veteran Ranger team searching for Ryan–composed of actors who obviously don’t know jack about squad tactics in combat and so get picked off one by one because of dumb mistakes no recruit would make. I never have figured out why the multilingual clerk-typist gets attached to a combat squad. What was he supposed to do–ask the French and Germans if they had seen Pvt Ryan?
Third film is after they find Ryan and fight that Looney Tunes battle with the Germans. Unbelieveable!
Johny2291
The only thing Looney Tunes were your comments about Saving Private Ryan!! Unbelievable!!!
Johny2291
I’ll tell you what’s dumb; your comments about Saving Private Ryan!!
Oldcoon57
The Big Red One,,,,,Enemy Below,,,,,, Enemy at the gates
Vcw1216
From the battlefield to the homefront: They Were Expendable; In Harm’s Way; Bridge on the River Kwai; Mr. Roberts; Mrs. Miniver; Since You Went Away. The characters of these films inspire me with their moments of extraordinary courage.
gliznorph
Not exactly a conventional war movie, but how about “Dr. Strangelove” ? With the absurdity and the humor is the coldly clinical approach to “nuclear combat” as Maj. Kong says at one point.
Helenandron1
too many to mention but one I.d love to see is HOLD BACK THE NIGHT Korean war movie starring JOHN PAYNE
zm73
Hard to choose but I’d have to say The Red Badge of Courage.
Bridget
kathleenwong
War movies… newer, The Dirty Dozen, blood and guts and lots of laughs… old stuff…
Mr. Roberts, The Guns of Navarone, Mrs. Miniver… From Here to Eternity. The real blow by blow movies are just too painful, it is hard to watch all that waste of humanity.
Menialtr
Not a big fan of war movies, but “The Longest Day” would probably be my favorite.
Seamusthe2
3. Gallipoli
Hfshaffner
Our favorite war movie is”Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo” starring the great Van Johnson in one of
his most memorable roles. Filmed during WWII about the first US raid on Japan in retaliation for
the bombing of Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, the film tells the true story of Lieut. Ted Lawson,
played by Van Johnson, who is a pilot of a B27 bomber that is assigned a secret mission, which
turns out to be the bombing of Tokyo, and other major cities in Japan. Lawson’s chief is
General Jimmy Doolittle (Spencer Tracy) who charges 25 B27 pilots to go and pay back
The Japs for their sordid deeds at Pearl Harbor, and beyond.
Lawson’s plane successfully completes its mission, but runs into engine trouble and goes
down in enemy territory. The ensuing events are extremely well related, and as it turns out
Lawson loses a leg during the period in which his outfit is rescued by Chinese patriots.
Van Johnson should have won an Oscar for his performance which is outstanding in
every way. This movie is one of the greats of WWII.
John Bateman
This movie “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo” is truly a memorable WWII movie in my books too. The airplane identifier in the Army Air Forces early in the war is B25, made by Republic Aviation I think on the West Coast. My dad was in the raid too, flying in the B25 called “The Ruptured Duck” as a machine gunner, port side weapon man. Being captured in China by the Japs was something he never talked about ever. I understand that now, after a stint in VietNam in the Army,First Cavalry Division, which we heard was Custer’s old 7th brought back into service, because the Army was out of division numbers in the late 1960’s. I thought Van Johnson was relly great in the movie too by the way!
Clpapa1
Flag of Our Fathers
Black & White Critic in Color
Saving private Ryan was good and so was Miracle at St. Anna, but hands down….Bridge on the River Kwai tops my list.
rufnek
The most realistic war movie ever is the Audie Murphy version of The Red Badge of Courage because it does the best job of depicting the fog of battle and the thin line between cowardice and heroism in combat.
My second favorite war film, because it also depicts the confusion of battle and its effects on various people, is A Walk in the Sun.
Another favorite–although it’s not about combat–is The Hill because of its great cast and the fact it depicts the inequalty, incompetence, and abuse of power that I often saw when I was in the military. Another good film with a great cast that also does that is From Here to Eternity, which actually was filmed at Schofeld barracks in Hawaii with real soldiers in the background. That’s apparent in scenes of troops doing close order drill–you can’t teach actors to march like that (just like the actors in Saving Pvt Ryan didn’t know a damn thing about basic cover and concealment or squad tactics that a recruit learns in the first weeks of basic training).
D Gordo
“To Hell and Back” with Audie Murphy
Daisy
The Longest Day and Saving Private Ryan – but there are several other good ones as well. Just as long as it isn’t a Civil War film. I hate the Civil War, as wars go. It isn’t a western, but It reminds me of that era, and I also hate westerns.
Bowdenj
They Were Expendable, hands down!!
Carolyn E Naclerio
Where can you find “The longest Day”?
JIM DRISCOLL
ON THE CALENDAR FOR JUNE….IT’S JUNE 20TH………………JD
Wayne P.
Right here at MU (we wouldnt dare suggest Amazon, would we?:)
Rap
we were soldiers – mel gibson
Ldiponzio
my two favorite movies are “wake island” and “retreat hell” both movie avents are true and
in both events marines fought against ovwhelming odds.
JIM DRISCOLL
WOW…GOING BACK AWAYS. RECALL “RETREAT, HELL”….BUT BE SURE TO PUT A COMMA IN THERE. THEY WEREN’T RETREATING HELL…BUT “RETREAT, HELL!!! ”
AN EXPLETIVE….RARE FOR MOVIES OF THAT DAY. GOD BLESS FRANK LOVEJOY.
frillbot
The Blue Max for the airplanes, Saving Pvt Ryan, The Great Escape….and The Sand Pebbles.
Jack Fitzpatrick
NONE OF THEM!!!
Jim
Blue Max, Flyboys, Saving Prt. Ryan, Band of Brothers, Battle of Britian, God is my Co-Pilot, Flying Tigers, and Braveheart
Stuart
Paths of Glory (Stanley Kubrick, Kirk Douglas, Adolphe Menjou, 1957), which the elder Douglas made as price for making The Vikings for the studio. It starts with a World War I battle scene, in which Kirk’s French regiment is decimated in a futile attack. The enemy is never seen. In fact, the enemy (aside from the French army) never appears in the entire film.
Bruno
Battleground(1949)
Barryfleckmann
“They Were Expendable” (1945) Robert Montgomery, John Wayne and Donna Reed. Donna Reed never looked so beautiful!!
Wayne P.
Youre right! And, she was very pretty too in “Green Dolphin Street” 1947, but its not a war pic.
Dbevel74
In Harm’s Way & Operation Pacific; the Duke & Patricia Neal! Doesn’t get any better.
Madgrunt_crazy
The best war movie made in the 1940’s, A Walk in the Sun, 1950’s, The Steel Helmet, Men in War, 1960/s, Lawrence of Arabia, 1970’s The Wind and the Lion, 1980’s, Platoon, 1990’s, When Trumpets Fade, 2000s Band of Brothers and Pacific [both on cable].
Hangarbud
Bridge on the River Kwai-Alec Guiness, William Holden
Pioneerbobby
Blackhawk Down – Eric Bana, Sam Shepard
Zacken
They were expendable or A Bridge Too Far
Raymond Stein
I’ve seen many great war films but I still like “The Longest Day” the best.
The Blue Carbuncle
Midway – “I want that 4th carrier!”
Meggyx13
Glory
Titanic
Great Escape Eastwood, In Harm’s Way (John Wayne) Tora, Tora, Tora, & Best realistic Saving Private Ryan…..too many US dead in FRANCE!
Karen Kearns
Sorry Titanic, Eastwood was not in the Great Escape. Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, and James Coburn were the major players.
Karen Kearns
Twelve O’Clock High, Green Berets, To Hell and Back, Operation Petticoat, Wackiest Ship in the Army
Grantfwalker
Hell is for Heroes. 1962. Steve Mcqueen.
Four horsemen of the Apocalype. 1962. Glen Ford
The Young lions. 1958. Marlon Brando
Jade_graff
My Favorite war movie is In Harm’s Way starring John Wayne.
Filmax
BATAAN! Great casting that includes Robert Taylor, Lloyd Nolan, Thomas Mitchell, George Murphy,
Robert Walker, Desi Arnez, Barry Nelson, Ken Spencer, Lee Bowman, Philip Terry, and others. Sort of AND THEN THERE WERE NONE story, but done so well as a war drama (based on the real deal) with Tay Garnett directing.
duncanjay01
I believe that the best war movie was Platoon why because it featured some of the greatest actors doing what they do best!! It was a time before Charlie Sheen became a huge hollywood household
name plus it was one of the first acting jobs for Johnny Depp
Law
Law
1961…THE GUNS OF NAVARONE: I LOVE THIS MOVIE…
A British team is sent to cross occupied Greek territory and destroy the massive German gun emplacement that commands a key sea channel
Ptigor
Patton!
Stellar cast and great performances. It’s a movie I watch every time it’s on.
Pkf1228
Great Escape, Stalag 17, Good Morning Viet Nam
Shoedog
In Harms Way, John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Burgess Meredith, and many more.
Feather
I guess I’m old school (and keeping it to WWII films):
1. They Were Expendable — John Ford’s epic story of an American PT boat squadron in the Phillippines during the first months of the war. A story of sacrifice, not triumph. Great performances by Robert Montgomery and John Wayne … and a gut-wrentching finale.
2. The Story of GI Joe — An episodic, realistic re-imagining of Ernie Pyle’s historic coverage of the war in North Africa and Italy. Burgess Meredith is Oscar-worthy as Pyle, but rh real revelation is a young acter named Robert Mitchum, playing “The Lieutenant”.
BTW: WHY THE HECK IS THIS CLASSIC NOT ABAILABLE ON DVD???
3. Saving Private Ryan — You know this one … the opening 20 minutes on Omaha Beach are the most intense, realistic depiction of combat ever captured on the screen.
4. Battleground — Excellent account of the siege of Bastogne as seen from the perspective of one squad of the 101st. Great ensemble cast.
5. 12 O’Clock High — The war in the air — told from the POV of of a general in commanf of a B-17 wing and the pressures of command he faces.
6. Hail the Conquering Hero — Okay, a homefront movie that has the courage to lamphon hero worship (and mother worship!) in the middle of the war. Hilarious Preston Sturges story about the son of a Medal of Honor winner (Eddie Bracken) who is rejected by the Army for hay fever. He gets a little help from a squad of Marines, headed by William Demerest.
7. Stalag 17 — The best POW movie ever made — a wonderful combination of comedy and drama, while an honest depection of the men behind bars (and the Germans are not depicted as buffoons or idiots as in so many such films).
8. Sink the Bismark — The British made a long series of straightforward,, honest (MUCH more honest than Hollywood) WWII movies. This is my favorite, but Dam Busters, The Search for the Graf Spee could be included just as easily.
9. Why We Fight — Frank Capra’s brilliant series of propagada films were made to indoctrinate soliders in the service as to why were in the war. Still nothing better to get the American POV in 1941-45. It’s propaganda, yes — but the best propaganda ever made.
10. The Big Red One — Sam Fuller’s very personal account of one infantry squad in the First Infantry Division from North Africa to Sicily to France. It’s a journey Fuller himself made. A great young cast, led by grizzled sergeant Lee Marvin.
I admiire about a 100 other films from Longest Day, 30 Seconds over Tokyo, Memphis Belle (the 1944 documentary), Tora, Tora, Tora, A Walk in the Sun, The Gallant Hours, Tuskegee Airmen (much better gthan the recent Red Tails), Guadalcanal Diary … ….
Wayne Hutchens
the movie took me back to the story’s of my Father making me sad mad crying pissed and so on that’s what a good movie does. Took me back to 68 I didn’t like that so much but I loved it on the same card, the guy’s that were there will understand the rest don’t mean crap. Oh for all of you the skeeters in Nam were the same as Indiana no bigger just hated them bitting me I guess !!! Saving Private Ryan I have it in DVD have seen it allot !!!! have lived it once will never go back to war again NEVER…
Carroll
The Dirty Dozen and Saving Private Ryan. Couldn’t choose between them
Sally
Stalag 17 and later The Great Escape
Christiana19119
Zulu and Zulu Dawn
Christiana19119
I don’t think that Saving Private Ryan is a war movie — it’s an anti-war movie. I thought Tom Hanks’ character was a sanctimonious hypocrite. All I liked aboutthe movie was Matt Damon’s character, who did not ask to be saved and did not accept the offer to be.
Also, I don’t categorize either Stalag 17 or The Great Escape as war movies, though I thought they were both great (Stalag 17 was one of Wm Holden’s best), but they were about plans to escape a prison camp — not war.
Tleek
war movie and anti-war movies are still war movies. And any movie that takes place during the war with the war in the background is a war movie. Stalag 17 and the Great Escape are considered war movies.
Johny2291
I often wonder why people get on line to talk about a subject that they obviously don’t know anything about. This is such a case. No rational thinking person would make such comments. All you have succeded in doing, is to embarass yourself and diminish three great WAR movies. Shame on you!
Rick A
Never took the time to watch ‘SAVING PRIVATE RYAN’ could be I’m not a fan of Spielbergs !
As for ‘Stalag 17’ & ‘The Great Escape’, the premise was a War Theme.
Well crafted entertainment. Can watch the latter any time.
As for Anti-War Movies, I guess you could put my all time favorite in that list, being the BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI. who can for forget climpton’s final words : “MADNESS, MADNESS”
Katmacadoo
Bridge on the River Qwai
Rick A
BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI
Sharon
Stalag 17 with William Holden
Wb2ljt
Battleground with James Whitmore , Van Johnson etc.
Rick A
Yeah, Battleground was a well made MGM outing. Interesting it was all shot on a Giant sound Stage specially iced up @ MGM.
KenR
Wb2ljt / RA / and Feather……Not big on a lot of War movies, but looks like I may have to take a look at this one (one of Dory’s attempts to add dramatic grunt to MGM’s content of the day)
Yep, ‘River Kwai’ was a stylish production, big in all depts, especially character study.
Feathers titles, are interesting and I like his (her?) comments about honesty!
As for an off-beat quality American war based fim, with a slant towards telling it like it is,
“The Outsider” is difficult to beat. This is also probably Tony Curtis at his acting best.
Sadly it seems no-one has seen this one of a kind classic! — perhaps serious character studies
are wasted on commercial audiences — are audiences unwilling to feel, and think, about another humans honest reaction to the personal impact of war? Nothing glossy about this one.
Where is it now? and who bothered to look at it….?
thelaw2047
The Green Berets (John Wayne)
Wayne Hutchens
Love John Wayne But; he new very little of Nam most know very lillle even for us that were there. Setting in the American Legion 1969 talking with guys of WWII and the Vietnam was still going strong them saying I wouldn’t want to be there, I could seee it in there faces they didn’t want no part of it. I was where I seen to much, body bag duty for getting drunk 2wks of it, oh I wasn’t drunk nor was I late getting back to the base. To many bad movies on all the wars I look at them over and over anyway wishing it never happened to any of us. Green Berets I liked it old blood and guts John did his part for the war putting it out there for the draft dodging SOB’s and the pot heads that are still with us today. God Forgive them maybe some day we will too. Wayne…
Geo
Up Periscope, Merrills mauraders, Darby’s Rangers
Ronster666
Kelly’s Heroes – funny moments, but shows the stupidity of war.
Tom
Objective Burma 1945 Errol Flynn, the best war movie made during the war
Susan Green
Platoon. Most genuine of what it was really like. A good didication to all who died. I was growing up during the nam war and will always remember.
Buck
Immortal Sargent and Imitation General
http://www.facebook.com/max.fraley Max Duane Fraley
Bridge On The River Kwai with Bataan a close second.
Joeccosta
Patton with George C. Scott playing George C. Patton (actually, the general’s middle initial was S., but the point is of course that Scott’s performance was definitive). And, Paths of Glory.
TmtJo8
SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, and Kelly’s Heroes
TmtJo8
TmtJo8
Das Boot the original 9 hour mini series, and also Holocaust truly horrifying watching the duel conflict of both the Dorf and weiss families, as one tries to avoid extinction.
rsc
dirty dozen and kelly’s heros
Marsbonfire2020
sailor of the king/with Avery young Jeffery Hunter and Michael Rennie
El Vato
A Bridge too Far, Kelly’s Heros, All Quiet on the Western Front, Generation Kill & Band of Brothers
JohnM43
The Longest Day — this is the most compelling war movie I have seen. The cast is a who’s who of the movie industry at the time. I have seen it numerous times and it never disappoints.
tunaman62
saving private ryan , objective burma , run silent run deep , kelly’s heros, platoon
Gary
Great movie Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood
Charles Oliver
The Old Gringo starring Gregory Peck. Is it available? Charles Oliver
Webbpierce
I agree. It shows a country in civil war and everyone lives for the moment. Real life
Dave B
13 Rue Madelene with Cagney and Conte, The Great Escape, and Stalag 17.
Beckyhiggins1
Midway
Robert7561
The most realistic war movie is Saving private Ryan, another good one is The longest day, and old and goodie is alls quiet on the western front, gunga din, and beau geste.
sweetmolly
The Battle of Britain.
Jared DiGi or(DiGirolamo)
Got to go with 2 apcolypse now and no a 2 tossup between we were soldiers and saving private ryan so those 2 will end in a tie for second but no 1 is my choice
Pcdemuth
COMMAND DECISION with CLARK GABLE very little WAR but alot a big Decision!!!!
Lynnediing
By a mile my favorite is Doctor Strangelove or How I Learn to Stop Worrying and Start Loving the Bomb. I think every head of state and every military command should be forced to watch it a minimum of once a year.
Ann
Purple Heart….great WWII film with Dana Andrews and Farley Granger
Lynnediting
Have to add my appreciation of The Longest Day. Also, Glory mainly because of it’s portrayal of an historical event that had been ignored and nearly wiped out of the historical record.
Daffna55
The Longest Day. Also Mrs. Miniver, from the civilian side.
Johny2291
Ojective Burma,Merrill’s Mauraders,Sink the Bismarck,The Cruel Sea, Battleground and Go For Broke all from WW ll. Pork Chop Hill and Fixed Bayonets!, from the Korean War. If we include all wars over time I would include: from the Civil War, Gettysburg, a truly great war movie.( I forgot WW l:Sergeant York and a made for tv movie, The Lost Battalion.) As we reflect, let us remember all the soldiers who fought and died in all the conflicts to keep us free.
Jacobite2
It’s only technically a war movie, but the most realistic portrayal of life in the military (war or peace) is “The Hill’. I can’t always watch it all the way through. “From Here to Eternity” very honorable mention.
RM1 Doc
A Bridge Too Far!
Boomboomranger
i have many favorites to add to the list so i will only pick three. these are the ones i watch the most on dvd 12 o’clock high,battle ground, and sink the bismark. there is another that is so good it is disturbing the name escapes me but broderick crawford is memerable in it and frank gorshin of all people the one i like but is not yet on dvd i don’t think, is a piece of wartime propoganda about the royal canadian navy and stars randolph scott and one of the adult mousekateers jimmy dodd it is korvette k-225. command decision is also on my short list.
Gus
Band of Brothers above all. It has to be one of the most realistic war films I have ever seen.
Also high on my list The Longest Day, The Great Escape, 12 o’clock High, The Way to the Stars, One of our aircraft is missing, Dambusters, A Bridge too far, Albert RN, Task Force (Gary Cooper), Mrs Miniver, Bridge on the River Kwai, Das Boot, Battle of Britain and probably the best anti war movie Paths of Glory.
Xalf18
You overlooked “All Quiet on the Western Front” w/ Lew Ayres as far as anti-war war movies are concerned. In my opinion, “All Quiet” was–in my opinion– the most devastating anti-war movie ever made. It resulted in Lew Ayres (the star) becoming a Conscientious Objector in WWII. Ayres also objected to the film’s re-release in 1951 or 1952, when the Korean War was at its height, because it would demoralize Americans.
“Paths of Glory” was actually based on true incidents prevalent in the French army where decimation (selecting every 10th man) was common when a group of soldiers retreated and were accused of cowardice–as the case in “Paths of Glory”, with the soldiers selected court-martialed for cowardice and desertion in the face of the enemy, convicted and then shot by a firing squad. It was a coverup by the officers who thought nothing of sacrificing lives for obtaining an objective and glory. As the poem from which the title is taken: “The Paths of Glory lead but to the grave”.
I do not think the anti-war message was very strong in “Paths of Glory”–it basically identified the stupidity and deviseness of the French general staff–especially as portrayed by Adolphe Menjou-as well as the cowardice of the French officers (Wayne Morris in particular as the cowardly lieutenant–who appoints Ralph Meeker as his squad’s selection for execution). The casting of actors in the roles played was quite unusual. The actor portraying the priest has usually been portrayed in films as a heavy.
Henrycaron525
Objective Burma. One of the all time best war flicks from the Golden age of Hollywood. Excellent cast and direction. This movie dose not flinch in its depiction of the horrors of war in the Pacific. This is a must see film. It gets my highest recommendation.
KenR
13- “Action in the North Atlantic”
14-“The Purple Heart”-w/Dana Andrews, Farley Granger, Sam Levene
15-“Dragonseed”-w/Katherine Hepburn, Walter Houston, Turhan Bey (Japanese occupation of China)
jonsilver
I began to say they don’t make ’em like Gunga Din any more, but then I thought of The Man Who Would Be King…of course, it’s now 39 years since that one…
Suz
Paths of Glory
Xalf18
Add: “13 Rue Madeline”–it shows how a slipup in using utensils for eating can trap a spy.
“The Great Escape”-also a slipup in maintaining a character of a particular nationality can
trap you.
Task Force with Gary Cooper & Walter Brennan!
EXMP
JUDGEMENT AT NUREMBURG- TO SHOW THE INSANITY OF IT ALL
Kelvin Hodges
“Winds Of War” HBO Mini Series WWII Special and of course for the Vietnam war “We Were Soldiers” it touched on what it was like for the recruits in the “60’s starting in the hell hole “La Drang Valley”. It shows the cost of keeping communism at bay and the price and the real meaning of “Some Gave All”.
Poppopfaber
Ted Turners 2 Civil War movies Gods & Generals & Gettysburg. However, it was a shame that he did not keep his word & make the 3rd movie of the trilogy.
Chevya2k
Yes…”The Last Measure”…that was the name of that flic. 🙁 I heard that it just turned out to be too much money so TT let it die. Sad.
Scottramfan
The 300 Spartans with Richard Egan.
Wayne P.
Spartacus by the ever excellent Stanley Kubrick would be another good pick along those lines…and, of course, moving up in history about 1500 years, how about Braveheart?
Torsan0531
Zulu, would be my choice
Dilen2
My favorite wr movie is The Fighting Seabees with John Wayne.
Lafect
Lots of terrific movies, but nobody mentioned Memphis Belle.
Xalf18
Good choice although John Lithgow hurt the movie–he was very distracting. What was most distrubing was when the German fightter plane shot down by the Memphis Belle’s tail gunner crashes into the B-17 and splits it in half, hearing the lone voice in the doomed bomber “I don’t want to die”–most haunting.
Xalf18
What about “Glory”? “The Story of Dr. Wassel” (Gary Cooper), “The Patriot”, “The Crusades” ?
Lawolfman
Favorite war movie- EMPIRE OF THE SUN Steven Spielberg
Eccolima54
My favourite war movie is CASABLANCA (Bogart and Bergman).
Please bear in mind that this movie was made during the second world war (1941-1942) at a time when it was not known that Germany would loose the war. France had been defeated by Germany in only 23 days and America had not yet entered the war.
The movie plot therefore takes place “real time” compared to its production. That makes this particular movie very, very special.
[email protected]
casablanca and bridge on river kawai
Chevya2k
My personal favorite? WOW!! So many— off the top of my head I’d have to say “Platoon”
Brbrkirchhoff
In Harms way.. John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Burgess Meridith… rulz the seas!!
chrijeff
I don’t know if it counts as a “movie,” but–the miniseries “Rough Riders,” hands down! (I’ve always loved Teddy Roosevelt, anyway.)
Briandelliott
Full Metal Jacket and the Green Berets top my list
duke1029
“Pro-War: and “Anti-War” films are essentially two different genres. Stanley Kubrick’s “Paths of Glory” is the best comment on the insanity of war ever made. Ostensibly about the French army during World War I, it really is a thinly-disguised, trenchant criticism of American involvement in the recently completed Korean War. It surpasses some truly outstanding anti-war films like “The Big Parade,” “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Platoon,” and “The Deer Hunter.” The most stirring statement on wartime patriotsm and the fulfillment of duty is John Ford’s “They Were Expendable,” featuring some of the greatest outdoor black and white photographyfrom the Golden Age of Hollywood.. Both Ford and star Robert Montgomey had war experience in the South Pacific, and the film celebrates the theme of victory in defeat during the early dark days of the War without undue sentimentality or jingoistic flag-waving. Unfortunately by the time it was completed, the War was over and the public had tired of films about it. Both films are masterpieces.
Charles Oliver
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin was one of the best war movies and best performance of Nicolas Cage in his entire movie career
Barbaracottle
The Best Years Of Our Lives
Inupiaq
For me, _Das Boot_ and _All Quiet on the Western Front_ lead a brilliant pack. If someone objects that these war movies are *really* antiwar movies, well, all right. _Patton_ and _Lawrence of Arabia_, then–do those qualify as “war” movies?
Almerkel1
Run Silent, Run Deep
marian Cullen
Best Years Of Our Lives is my favorite war movie even though the story deals with post war effects on various peoples lives. War is limitted in its duration, but post war effects never leave, because fighting in a war leaves an indelible mark on each person who either willingly or non willingly participated in it. There is nothing funny about real wars, even though veryone appreciates the comic relief we can experience by watching films like Mash. But those are illusions, just like Dr. Shows.and cop shows, law and order type shows. They really dont show what it is really like to be a cop whose very life is in danger 24/7, or a patient who is actually really sick and what it is like to take care of him or her. Perry Mason may have been compelling to watch, but no one suddenly blurts out ” I did it Ididit” in a real court of law. Yours truly, MarianCullen R.N.
KenR
Certainly one of the greats mARIAN, and agree with your philosopy ~ I supose its a bit like going for ‘reality’ with over the top sex and violence in Movies, TV, etc….. there can be no ‘reality’ in an ‘artificial’ interpretation of reality. Only a documentary can give this, and too many of these are ‘set-up’ nowdays!. Ends up being just a bunch of folk taking themselves too seriously (all too often at societies expence)
mARIAN cULLEN
How about Dr. Strangelove starring Peter Sellers?, Strategic Air Command, The Bridge Over The RiverKwai ( not sure of the spelling but you know which one I mean, starring Sir Alec Guiness. How about the one abou WWI starring a young Helen Hayes as the nurse opposite Gary Cooper, ( name of film escapes me right now. The very controversial film Birth Of a Nation which was about a very different type of war that is still raging. Tora Tora Tora, Mogambo, The African Queen which of course was set in World War II, From Here to Eternity, who can forget Frank sinatra, earnest Borgnine, Burt lancaster deborah Kerrs,and Donna Reed and Montgomery Clifts performances in that star sudded classic, Oh there are so many Great War movies about a subject that is anything but great. War is Hell as Truman stated. There is nothing great about real war, and yet since it does, sadly ocur on a rather frequent basis, we need to deal with it somehow and so we romanticise it in films and musicals, like South Pacific, How about the highly and very endearing romanicization of the civil war- Gone with the Wind. its one of millions of peoples particularly women’s favorite films and novels of all tim, yet there certainly was nothinng romantic about the huge deathtoll and utter destruction of all the major cities of the South It seems to be a quirk of human nature that so few people are interested in watching those hard core documentary fils about the war especially those that were filmed in Nazi Germany where you literally see the wasted skeletons of the men and women who were coraled in concentration camps, ultimately put to death and saw the dump trucks just dumping hundreds upon hundreds of real human corpse into ditches, as though they were nothing more than heaps of untreated garbage. No very few people want to watch hose. They don’t want to see the real thing because it is horrific, and frightening to see what its all really like. Far easier to sit and be entertained, cy cry a little or laugh alot or be riveted to a completely fictional tale based upon nothing more than a persons imagination, history classes taken years ago and good writing skills who were lucky enough to get a publisher to read their manuscript.
Idond
Where Eagles Dare. Burton at his best. Eastwood helped.
nick
Easy, three films by Sam Fuller. His two Korean war films with Gene Evans, a man who I think should have become a star. Finally from 1980 Fullers The Big Red One, Lee Marvins really last great film.
Pitamom
Two stand out alone–A Bridge Too Far (WWII) and We Were Soldiers (Vietnam). Although my husband was impressed with the scenes of the Normandy Invasion in Saving Private Ryan. My husband was a highly decorated Vietnam Era Special Forces Vet (now in Arlington Cemetery) and avid history buff. A Bridge Too Far, 1977, was about the disasterous Operation Market Garden intended to quickly end the war, but faulty intelligence, politics, weather…turned everything into “worms”. Cast includes Sean Connery, Sir Laurence Olivier, Anthony Hopkins, Robert Redford, Michael Caine, Elliott Gould, Edward Fox, James Caan, Gene Hackman, and many more familiar actors as well as Liv Ullmann. We Were Soldiers ( based on Moore’s book; We Were Soldiers Once…and Young) is about the Airborne soldiers of Fort Bragg and one of the first big battles in Vietnam. Mel Gibson played Lt. Col. Hal Moore in 1965 as he commanded the air calvalry. (He was also the first AND last big Officer to be on a battlefield during the war in Vietnam–while actually fighting!) My husband was impressed with the way the fighting was handled and the men realistically portrayed. Cast includes Mel Gibson, Sam Elliott, Chris Klein, Keri Russell, Madeleine Stowe, Greg Kinnear, Barry Pepper…
For the rationale of only one family member in a war zone at a time; watch a very old movie called The Fighting Sullivans.
Sheila1111
War movies are often quite intense. Though I’m glad to have watched many of the greats, the emotional hangover is too strong to watch repeatedly. Therefore, my favorites are “Kelly’s Heros”, “The Great Escape”, & “The Bridge over the River Kwai”.
LvsGllyn9
“saving Private Ryan”…but I’m a big Tom Hanks fan…Dirty Dozen was another good one…so was Kelly’s Hero’s
Thomas
Objective Burma, probably the best intense cat and mouse action war film made during
WWII, a classic Errol Flynn character.
LvsGllyn9
to Pitamom…saw “Private Ryan” in the theater when it came out, went with a friend of mine who was born in Ireland….when we left the theater, she said, “Imagine that opening scene really happening?” I wasn’t sure whether to smack her or fall down in shock….I thank your husband for his service, & his life..& yes, not a big Mel Gibson fan, but “we were soldiers” was very good..
LvsGllyn9
Oh..saw the fighting Sullivans, Damon’s Character in “Private Ryan” was loosly based on that….
Rustle Crow
Actually SPR was based on a real incident, the Niland brothers. It is mentioned in the “Band of Brothers” book. One brother later turned up alive as a POW.
Wilmah
Dr. zhivago was by far my favorite war movie. Saving Private was very dark.
Stitchingkat
On Wings of Eagles with John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara!
Bryce_adams
What I consider to be one of the finest war films of all-time is “The Great Escape.” The movie is based upon true events that transpired in a Allied POW camp. Coupled with the superb actors in the film, shooting on the movie began before the script was even finished.
Bowdenj
‘The Young Lions’ comes to mind. ‘A Film Unfinished’ made by Nazi’s.
http://www.facebook.com/shannon.bloom.75 Shannon Bloom
All Quiet on the Western Front
http://www.facebook.com/shannon.bloom.75 Shannon Bloom
Occurance at Owl Creek & Red badge of Courage
Wayne P.
The former sure was a good episode by Rod Serling on the Twilight Zone in 1962.
Sal
What did you do in the war daddy
Doublnot
The Gallant Hours – James Cagney
Twelve O’Clock High – Gregory Peck
bonaparte3
Randallhorn000
They Were Expendable- pure poetry from Ford.
The Story of G.I. Joe- It put Mitchum on the map- B. Meredith as Ernie Pyle.
Stalag 17- Holden unforgettable- Wilder’s classic.
Guns of Navarone- Intelligent, exciting, classic. Great cast, great direction.
Patton- Yes, pro-war but unforgettable.
Bridge on the River Kwai- Lean, McGuiness, Holden, Hawkins, Hayakawa. WOW! Epic.
The Great Escape- Look for it on a revival theater’s big screen. A must.
Sahara- Bogart & his tank in the desert. Great cast! Exciting!
Das Boot- Once seen, never forgotten.
The Longest Day- All-star excitement Zanuck style. A must.
Apocalypse Now- Both versions.
49th Parallel- The Criterion issue. Exciting, great story.
So many great War films! Least I forget: Air Force, Dirty Dozen, Battleground, Paths of Glory, Full Metal Jacket, Saving Private Ryan, Twelve O’Clock High, The Train, King Rat, Five Graves to Cairo,
The Hill, A Very Long Engagement, Casablanca, Three Kings, Courage Under Fire, Run Silent, Run Deep, Heaven Knows Mr. Allison, Sink the Bismark, Glory, Mister Roberts, Deer Hunter, Diary of Ann Frank. Thanks for reading!
Mikejaral
you nailed the good ones, battleground is one of my all time favorites, but so are all the rest you listed.
tlynette
Got a nice list there! Stalag 17, Glory, Mister Roberts, Best Years of Our Lives, Tora! Tora! Tora! … love all these!
http://www.facebook.com/people/Sally-Stark/100000380617204 Sally Stark
JOURNEY’S END
Lawolfman
Nobody else picked EMPIRE OF THE SUN as favorite war movie. You are all invited to my house to see it. I think you’ll change your minds.
Brian Shopsky
most movies about ww2
Tropshirt69
sands of iwo jima,stalag 17 12’o clock high, patton the great escape run silent run deep….firebase gloria
LittleBud42
My favorite war movie of all time is “Guns of Navarone, followed by Stalag 17, Sergeant York; whereas my favorite heart thumper movie is “Kings Roll”
Dsucharski
I would say it’s between “Bridge on the River Kwai” and “The Great Escape”.
Erny325
A Bridge Too Far & Gettysburg – both (for movies) historically very accurate. As was Tora, Tora, Tora. Saving Private Ryan, sad to say, is only accurate for the beach landing – after that it becomes pure Hollywood fiction…
Belleamie5953
my favorites are Attack, with Jack Palance and The enemy below, with robert Mitchum. Heaven knows, Mr allison. and Silent night.
Cougar
Brass Target, The Beast ,What Prize Glory ,Immation General, King of Hearts,and the rest that are mentioned already.
Cougar
Brass Target, The Beast ,What Prize Glory ,Immation General, King of Hearts,and the rest that are mentioned already.
Cougar
Brass Target, The Beast ,What Prize Glory ,Immation General, King of Hearts,and the rest that are mentioned already.
Cougar
Brass Target, The Beast ,What Prize Glory ,Immation General, King of Hearts,and the rest that are mentioned already.
Cougar
Brass Target, The Beast ,What Prize Glory ,Immation General, King of Hearts,and the rest that are mentioned already.
Cougar
Brass Target, The Beast ,What Prize Glory ,Immation General, King of Hearts,and the rest that are mentioned already.
Cougar
Brass Target, The Beast ,What Prize Glory ,Immation General, King of Hearts,and the rest that are mentioned already.
Cougar
Brass Target, The Beast ,What Prize Glory ,Immation General, King of Hearts,and the rest that are mentioned already.
Cougar
Brass Target, The Beast ,What Prize Glory ,Immation General, King of Hearts,and the rest that are mentioned already.
Cougar
Brass Target, The Beast ,What Prize Glory ,Immation General, King of Hearts,and the rest that are mentioned already.
Cougar
Brass Target, The Beast ,What Prize Glory ,Immation General, King of Hearts,and the rest that are mentioned already.
Eric Nilsson
Decision Before Dawn. I first saw this on Saturday Night at the Movies on NBC in 1961 or 1962. I later found out that my Dad’s division, the 44th Infantry Division, took Mannheim (the locale of the movie). I’ve also read the book on which the movie is based (“Call It Treason”) and the movie fairly closely follows the book. Granted, the movie is about the spy operation, but my Dad told me that the 44th’s artillery general, General Beiderlinden, ordered a 15-minute barrage on the city to force a surrender; the surrender was started, but SS zealots scotched the first surrender and caused an unnecessary delay before the Americans took the city.
Eric Nilsson
Decision Before Dawn. I first saw this on Saturday Night at the Movies on NBC in 1961 or 1962. I later found out that my Dad’s division, the 44th Infantry Division, took Mannheim (the locale of the movie). I’ve also read the book on which the movie is based (“Call It Treason”) and the movie fairly closely follows the book. Granted, the movie is about the spy operation, but my Dad told me that the 44th’s artillery general, General Beiderlinden, ordered a 15-minute barrage on the city to force a surrender; the surrender was started, but SS zealots scotched the first surrender and caused an unnecessary delay before the Americans took the city.
Eric Nilsson
Decision Before Dawn. I first saw this on Saturday Night at the Movies on NBC in 1961 or 1962. I later found out that my Dad’s division, the 44th Infantry Division, took Mannheim (the locale of the movie). I’ve also read the book on which the movie is based (“Call It Treason”) and the movie fairly closely follows the book. Granted, the movie is about the spy operation, but my Dad told me that the 44th’s artillery general, General Beiderlinden, ordered a 15-minute barrage on the city to force a surrender; the surrender was started, but SS zealots scotched the first surrender and caused an unnecessary delay before the Americans took the city.
Eric Nilsson
Decision Before Dawn. I first saw this on Saturday Night at the Movies on NBC in 1961 or 1962. I later found out that my Dad’s division, the 44th Infantry Division, took Mannheim (the locale of the movie). I’ve also read the book on which the movie is based (“Call It Treason”) and the movie fairly closely follows the book. Granted, the movie is about the spy operation, but my Dad told me that the 44th’s artillery general, General Beiderlinden, ordered a 15-minute barrage on the city to force a surrender; the surrender was started, but SS zealots scotched the first surrender and caused an unnecessary delay before the Americans took the city.
Eric Nilsson
Decision Before Dawn. I first saw this on Saturday Night at the Movies on NBC in 1961 or 1962. I later found out that my Dad’s division, the 44th Infantry Division, took Mannheim (the locale of the movie). I’ve also read the book on which the movie is based (“Call It Treason”) and the movie fairly closely follows the book. Granted, the movie is about the spy operation, but my Dad told me that the 44th’s artillery general, General Beiderlinden, ordered a 15-minute barrage on the city to force a surrender; the surrender was started, but SS zealots scotched the first surrender and caused an unnecessary delay before the Americans took the city.
Eric Nilsson
Decision Before Dawn. I first saw this on Saturday Night at the Movies on NBC in 1961 or 1962. I later found out that my Dad’s division, the 44th Infantry Division, took Mannheim (the locale of the movie). I’ve also read the book on which the movie is based (“Call It Treason”) and the movie fairly closely follows the book. Granted, the movie is about the spy operation, but my Dad told me that the 44th’s artillery general, General Beiderlinden, ordered a 15-minute barrage on the city to force a surrender; the surrender was started, but SS zealots scotched the first surrender and caused an unnecessary delay before the Americans took the city.
Eric Nilsson
Decision Before Dawn. I first saw this on Saturday Night at the Movies on NBC in 1961 or 1962. I later found out that my Dad’s division, the 44th Infantry Division, took Mannheim (the locale of the movie). I’ve also read the book on which the movie is based (“Call It Treason”) and the movie fairly closely follows the book. Granted, the movie is about the spy operation, but my Dad told me that the 44th’s artillery general, General Beiderlinden, ordered a 15-minute barrage on the city to force a surrender; the surrender was started, but SS zealots scotched the first surrender and caused an unnecessary delay before the Americans took the city.
Eric Nilsson
Decision Before Dawn. I first saw this on Saturday Night at the Movies on NBC in 1961 or 1962. I later found out that my Dad’s division, the 44th Infantry Division, took Mannheim (the locale of the movie). I’ve also read the book on which the movie is based (“Call It Treason”) and the movie fairly closely follows the book. Granted, the movie is about the spy operation, but my Dad told me that the 44th’s artillery general, General Beiderlinden, ordered a 15-minute barrage on the city to force a surrender; the surrender was started, but SS zealots scotched the first surrender and caused an unnecessary delay before the Americans took the city.
Eric Nilsson
Decision Before Dawn. I first saw this on Saturday Night at the Movies on NBC in 1961 or 1962. I later found out that my Dad’s division, the 44th Infantry Division, took Mannheim (the locale of the movie). I’ve also read the book on which the movie is based (“Call It Treason”) and the movie fairly closely follows the book. Granted, the movie is about the spy operation, but my Dad told me that the 44th’s artillery general, General Beiderlinden, ordered a 15-minute barrage on the city to force a surrender; the surrender was started, but SS zealots scotched the first surrender and caused an unnecessary delay before the Americans took the city.
Eric Nilsson
Decision Before Dawn. I first saw this on Saturday Night at the Movies on NBC in 1961 or 1962. I later found out that my Dad’s division, the 44th Infantry Division, took Mannheim (the locale of the movie). I’ve also read the book on which the movie is based (“Call It Treason”) and the movie fairly closely follows the book. Granted, the movie is about the spy operation, but my Dad told me that the 44th’s artillery general, General Beiderlinden, ordered a 15-minute barrage on the city to force a surrender; the surrender was started, but SS zealots scotched the first surrender and caused an unnecessary delay before the Americans took the city.
Eric Nilsson
Decision Before Dawn. I first saw this on Saturday Night at the Movies on NBC in 1961 or 1962. I later found out that my Dad’s division, the 44th Infantry Division, took Mannheim (the locale of the movie). I’ve also read the book on which the movie is based (“Call It Treason”) and the movie fairly closely follows the book. Granted, the movie is about the spy operation, but my Dad told me that the 44th’s artillery general, General Beiderlinden, ordered a 15-minute barrage on the city to force a surrender; the surrender was started, but SS zealots scotched the first surrender and caused an unnecessary delay before the Americans took the city.
4yourview
Das Boot, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Paths of Glory, Patton, The Guns of Navarone, Tora, Tora, Tora, Saving Private Ryan, Gettysburg, and The Edge of Darkness.
4yourview
Das Boot, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Paths of Glory, Patton, The Guns of Navarone, Tora, Tora, Tora, Saving Private Ryan, Gettysburg, and The Edge of Darkness.
4yourview
Das Boot, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Paths of Glory, Patton, The Guns of Navarone, Tora, Tora, Tora, Saving Private Ryan, Gettysburg, and The Edge of Darkness.
4yourview
Das Boot, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Paths of Glory, Patton, The Guns of Navarone, Tora, Tora, Tora, Saving Private Ryan, Gettysburg, and The Edge of Darkness.
4yourview
Das Boot, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Paths of Glory, Patton, The Guns of Navarone, Tora, Tora, Tora, Saving Private Ryan, Gettysburg, and The Edge of Darkness.
4yourview
Das Boot, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Paths of Glory, Patton, The Guns of Navarone, Tora, Tora, Tora, Saving Private Ryan, Gettysburg, and The Edge of Darkness.
4yourview
Das Boot, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Paths of Glory, Patton, The Guns of Navarone, Tora, Tora, Tora, Saving Private Ryan, Gettysburg, and The Edge of Darkness.
4yourview
Das Boot, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Paths of Glory, Patton, The Guns of Navarone, Tora, Tora, Tora, Saving Private Ryan, Gettysburg, and The Edge of Darkness.
4yourview
Das Boot, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Paths of Glory, Patton, The Guns of Navarone, Tora, Tora, Tora, Saving Private Ryan, Gettysburg, and The Edge of Darkness.
4yourview
Das Boot, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Paths of Glory, Patton, The Guns of Navarone, Tora, Tora, Tora, Saving Private Ryan, Gettysburg, and The Edge of Darkness.
4yourview
Das Boot, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Paths of Glory, Patton, The Guns of Navarone, Tora, Tora, Tora, Saving Private Ryan, Gettysburg, and The Edge of Darkness.
http://www.facebook.com/robert.g.clark.9 Robert G. Clark
The Great Escape followed closely by Guns of Navarone.
Rick Daversa
“A Walk in the Sun” and “12 o’clock High”
http://www.facebook.com/mark.gitter Mark Gitter
It was “Just A Little Walk IN The Warm Italian Sun,” So They Say. The 12 Infrintry,Texans,
from all over the country. A Farmer,from Deluth,Minn., A cabby from Brooklyn, New York,
Yea, gonna take a little walk on a Salerno,Italy, beach in 1944. Cross Section of America,
Tyne and Tinker, a sargent and private, never met before, this was there 1st time in war.
It was a 1st time for all of us. “Dose out the iight, Dose out that light! They can see you.
You’re not alone, you’ve got your gun! “Mary, OH Sweet Mary, he’s go t no face!”
Rfhamson
dirty dozen—great story and great cast–#2 would be bridge on the river kwai
http://profile.yahoo.com/3IZG5BR7UJ3BWLQRKFIVTZMXBA JohnQ
The man Who Never Was
John
All Quite on the Western Front, The B/W original
Kevin
War movies have always been one of my favorite genres. I would top the list with The Great Escape. Also on my list would be All Quiet on the Western Front, Twelve O’Clock High, Bridge on the River Kwai, The Longest Day, Sink the Bismarck!, The Guns of Naverone, The Dirty Dozen, The Blue Max, The Battle of Britain, The Deer Hunter, Stalag 17, Midway, Tora! Tora! Tora!, Das Boot, Full Metal Jacket, Gettysburg, and Saving Private Ryan. If you get into mini-series, Band of Brothers and The Winds of War.
Jimt B
i COULDN’T HAVE COME UP WITH A BETTER LIST THAN THIS’.. mIGHT HAVE ADDED “GUADACANAL DIARY,” SANDS OF IWO JIMA, CJARLSON’S RAIDERS
JIM
blademan
Attack! A Walk in the Sun, Men in War, Between Heaven and Hell, Run Silent Run Deep, The Enemy Below, From Here to Eternity, Paths of Glory, The Steel Helmet, Bataan, Stalag 17, King Rat.
Steve
TO HELL AND BACK, the TRUE story of the most decorated WWII war hero, Audie Murphy. And what makes it even more perfect, Audie Murphy plays himself in the film! Check it out, you won’t believe it’s true, but it all is…
Cbeledw
You’re right. This movie has to be seen to be believed. Audie was reluctant to star in it and suggested Tony Curtis for the role. Thank God, the studio overrode him. The movie is basically a re-enacted documentary and is almost completely factual all the way through culminating in Audie Murphy’s incredible bravery and exploits. One of the things that makes this film so moving is that Murphy insisted on showing the images of his fallen comrades in the scene where he gets the medal of honor.
A footnote. Audie Murphy is buried in Arlington Cemetery, but long before his death he made it plain that he didn’t want his tombstone to be decorated with the obligatory gold star every Medal of Honor recipient is entitled to. The most decorated veteran of any American war lies under a tombstone simple and unadorned.
Biff
Hamburger Hill…..and….Waterloo
Roger Lynn
the Guns Of Navarone and Force 10 From Navarone great films,,East of Sudan,Gone With the Wind are runners-up
Artmt34
The Steel Helmet with Gene Evans
Leedegrance54
The Guns Of Navarone
apache6
I’m a Vietnam Vet (air cav) so I say “APOCALYPSE NOW”,and “WE WERE SOLDIERS” especally the “AIR CAV” scenes in “APOCALYPSE NOW”.They were very realistic !!
Jerlou
The Sands of Iwo Jima or The Big Red One.
Terrislaughter1395
In Harm’s Way
Golfshopbob
From WW2 – Twelve O’clock High Vietnam – Full Metal Jacket. As a USAF Combat Crew Member on B52s (flew backwards being a gunner) 12 O’clock made me join the USAF and Full saw what us Zoomies did to Charlie to protect our grunts….
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=809959874 Anne Rouse Schulman
Hands down…..In Harm’s Way
BawxGi
What war movie is it where the solder is shot and the other one is runing with him on his back thru the snow and he tells him he is tough as nails it starts off with them runing thru the snow
Blademan
That was “When Trumpets Fade”.
The guy doing the carrying was Ron Eldard, later in “Blackhawk Down” which should be on everyone’s list. And the wounded guy being carried was Jeffrey Donovan, the current star of “Burn Notice.”
Forgot that one, but yeah, a great movie and certainly worth a look for those of you who haven’t seen it.
http://www.facebook.com/elderpterrell Perry Terrell
“Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo”, Spencer Tracy, Van Johnson
Jim Brown
They Were Expendable, BattleCry
Dog888k
A War TV movie I would like to see again sometime was Tribes (1970) with Darin McGavin as a tough Marine drill sergeant trying to make a hippie (Jan Michael Vincent) into a Marine. If I remember Tribes got good critical reviews, and then vanished from circulation. Does anyone remember seeing it?
Raysson
TRIBES premiered as part of the ABC-TV Movie of the Week back in 1970. This was a made for TV movie with Darren McGavin and Jan Michael Vincent. This hard hitting Marine War drama was produced by Aaron Spelling. It got critical reviews and the last I heard about this movie it ended up somewhere back in the 1990’s on a late night syndicated program…
ALSO RECOMMENDED:
The D.I. The greatest Jack Webb Military drama ever made about a tough as nails D.I.(Jack Webb) who takes a mangy bunch of young recruits and really turns them into United States Marines…..Highly Recommended….that was a huge hit back in 1957.
THE BIG RED ONE…Lee Marvin and Mark Hamill(yes,that Mark Hamill of Star Wars fame) and Richard Thomas in a hard hitting WWII War Movie.
THE GREEN BERETS….John Wayne in the heart of the Vietnam War………….1968
Joe
What about terrace Malick’s THE THIN RED LINE remake
Rustle Crow
Great movie about the need of the individual vs. society’s rules. Darren McGavin was great as the DI. I have been looking for it on DVD for years.
Dog888k
I suppose that in the list of great Medieval war movies would have to be the 2 versions of Henry V (Olivier and Branaugh). And a classic I watched once and never really got bowled over by is The Big Parade from 1926 about an American outfit in WWI.
jonsilver
Yes to the two Henry V’s…”we few, we happy few, we band of brothers…”
sockman
Hands down, for accuracy: Zulu, Waterloo, and Charge of the Light Brigade. Might also toss in Glory as an honorable mention.
sockman
Jim
Zulu….Four Feathers(1938)…..Patton…..Hell is for heros (steve McQueen)…and lots more including Audie Murphys Red Badge of Courage…..and his life story To Hell and Back.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cbeledw
Most of the greats have been named, but after perusing the responses, I can’t remember anyone writing about WINGS. I never thought a “silent” movie could make me weep, but WINGS succeeded. It was directed by William Wellman, who knew a thing or two about flying, and the flying sequences remain amazing, especially since planes of the period were, well, the planes depicted. WINGS was the only silent movie to win an Oscar for best picture of the year. It deserved the award.
Paul Kaye
full metat jacket
Mikejaral
really like wwII storys that are true or based on true events, how true the movie Wings of eagles with john wayne is I do not know, but it was a great movie. my favorite doc. is still Victory at sea, there is no better. covers everything. the series and the movie
Gerald1964
All Quiet on the Western Front is a classic and I guess my all-time favorite; it speaks so well of a younger generation and the de-humanizing effect of war. One of the solutions offered concerning war I thought was great–send the leaders of each country at war into a boxing arena and let him fight it out.
Bill DeLeshe
My favorite is “The Big Parade”…It had romance,humor,and drama….And it was the biggest box office draw,at the time..Also war movies were based from “The Big Parade”..for a long time afterewards……
Filmax
Bridge On The River Kwai is No. 1. Bataan, They Were Expendable, Twelve O’Clock High, Das Boot, and Story of GI Joe round out my WWII agenda. Outside that time frame I nominate Apocalypse Now, The Charge of the Last Brigade, ZULU, Four Feathers, WINGS and Paths of Glory.
Dog888k
It only lasts for 60 seconds, but the scene of the British troops fleeing from George Washington driving a 2010 Dodge across the plains toward them makes a powerful statement about War.
http://www.facebook.com/delores.phillips.5 Delores Phillips
Casuaty of war with Sean Penn and Michael J Foxx
Jim
Hi Delores,
Am always fascinated when I encounter a a lady (I’m not being sexist), actually I think it’s great that women ALSO enjoy war movies!!!
Jim B.
Raysson
There was a great WWII movie from 1976 about a renegade band of women taking on the Japanese in the South Pacific called THE MUTHERS…with Stella Stevens and Jayne Kennedy not to mention Claudia Moore that was a straight “B” movie fare that contain a lot of graphic violence,nudity and strong sexual content that gave it a hard “R” rating.
http://www.facebook.com/delores.phillips.5 Delores Phillips
Caualty of War with Sean Penn and Michael J Foxx. Also Uncomon Valor with Gene Hackman and Robert Stack
Joestalin
All Quiet on the Western Front.
Raysson
THE DIRTY DOZEN…the movie that became one of the highest grossing film of 1967 that became a boxoffice magnet….beating out Sean Connery’s “You Only Live Twice” for the summer of 1967 boxoffice…..the movie that was a hard hitting action World War II adventure picture starring Lee Marvin,Robert Ryan and Ernest Borgnine with George Kennedy, Charles Bronson,and Clint Walker,Donald Sutherland, Robert Meeker and Jim Brown.
Jimmarbro
Yes, this is a great movie and cast…..But if memory serves me right I think it was the year
we first met James Bond, in Dr. No..
Norman Bates
Sorry to say…and alot of people might disagree…but I always liked Psycho II.
Raysson
For the record….PSYCHO OR PSYCHO II were NOT war movies….they belong in the horror section…thank you.
KenR
…Back to the Celler with you Norman!
Raysson
Raysson
Luigi of NYC:
KELLY ‘S HEROES was a hilarious WW2 themed flick that had high adventure and comedy….. You couldn’t get a better CAST…..Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland, Don Rickles, not to mention the great Carroll O’Connor…witty dialogue and a terrific screenplay!!!….AND…one of the great movie theme songs of the 1970’s “Burning Bridges” by the Mike Curb Congregation that became a huge top 40 pop hit in 1970.
Raysson
THE BOYS OF BRAZIL….what a cast….Gregory Peck and Laurence Olivier…..
NIGHT OF THE GENERALS…..Omar Sharif and Peter O’Toole in a WW2 flick about the Nazi regime.
Crollyson
My favorite war movie is A Walk in the Sun, directed by Lewis Milestone. Like his earlier The Purple Heart, he is able to deliver wonderful ensemble performances from his actors. In both films, Dana Andrews stands out, as I show in HOLLYWOOD ENIGMA: DANA ANDREWS.
Raysson
ALSO RECOMMENDED:
William Wyler’s 1946 Oscar winning masterpiece THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES that also starred Dana Andrews and Virginia Mayo…..it was one of the great pre WW2 movies of the the mid-1940’s that dealt with our soldiers coming home and there effects afterward…at a running time of three and a half hours…this was the first film that ever talk about Veterans that served our country.
http://www.facebook.com/leslie.sexton.77 Leslie Sexton
In Harm’s Way, Patton, Kelly’s Heroes, Where Eagles Dare, M*A*S*H, The Guns of Navarone, there are others just can’t remember all of them. There is a great movie written by the same guy who wrote M*A*S*H about a psychiatric ward, Gregory Peck and Tony Curtis were both in it. Mostly about the effects of PTSD. It is sad and funny. If you liked M*A*S*H , you would like this.
Raysson
Leslie Sexton:
The name of that great movie that was written by the same guy who wrote M*A*S*H about a doctor and his patients in a psychiatric ward was titled CAPTAIN NEWMAN,M.D. that was released by Universal Pictures in 1963. This movie had a brilliant cast that included not only Gregory Peck and Tony Curtis,but also on board this drama is Bobby Darin and Angie Dickinson. The movie dealt with Captain Newman(Gregory Peck),and his patients in the psychiatric ward that were going through the effects of PTSD after WWII. The screenplay was written by Ring Lardner,Jr. This movie is available on DVD from MCA/Universal Home Video and it is seen from time to time on Turner Classic Movies.
Cougar
Brass Target, The Great Escape,The Enemy Below.Four Feathers,
Tom Herbert
There are so many to choose from, however the two that I both own and look for when they are on Turner Classic Movies are “They were Expendable” and “Battleground.” They are well acted and the characters are believable. Even though I am a Duke fan, most of his stretch the imagination to a point they become almost cartoonish.
Pkmeans
In Harm’s Way, From Here to Eternity, Saving Private Ryan,Mr. Roberts
Gfkseratt
THREE EXCELLENT CHOICES; i’ve become fully aware of just
how MANY great war movies are out there!!
Nudge
Wings, in the end you just kill your friend.
Netherlandj
Battle Cry with Van Heflin. SUCH a great movie that I watch it every time it airs…..
Gclure
Das Boot.
Paul R
To Hell and Back, Anzio,saving Private Ryan, Ambush Bay..another one of those Gems. Band of Brothers collection, The Pacific, Hell is for Heroes, Hell to Eternity,The Great Escape,Guns of Navarone, Dirty Dozen,Kellys Heroes,Where Eagles Dare,Red Beach,Longest Day,Flight of The Intruder,30 seconds over Tokyo,The War Lover,In Harms Way,PT 109,Das Boot,Run Silent Run Deep,Von Ryans Express, The Train,Battle of the Bulge, Patton,Bridge on river Kwai, Devils Brigade,Sahara,Sands of Iwo Jima,Flags of Our Fathers,Letters from Iwo Jima,Tora Tora Tora,Battleground, Midway,Miracle at St.Anns another one missed,Stalog 17,The Beast,None but the Brave,633 Squadron,Battle of Britan,TheEnemy Below,They Were Expendable,Bat 21,Navy Seals, And how about Act Of Valor, Uncommon Valor,Hamberger Hill, Platoon,Pork Chop Hill….lets see there are probaly 20 more…Enemy at the gates…
c3cubed
The Best Years of our Lives – is dramatic perfection. Even at over 3 hours, the time flies by so quickly because of masterful editing. I don’t want it to end.
Then there’s the other classic trio: Guns of Navarone, Great Escape and Dirty Dozen. All of these films capture the WWII atmosphere beautifully, with excellent scoring to match.
The Train: is another gem.
Raysson
c3cubed:
THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES won five Oscars including the Best Picture of 1946. This was a movie that won not only Best Picture,but Best Director(William Wyler),and Best Screenplay. This movie was pure dramatic perfection…even at a running time of over three hours,it was a masterpiece of great movie making. The first film after WWII to deal with the afterlife and tragic of the veterans with the transition after the war,and the first film to deal with the Veterans that come back home after serving their country. Brilliant movie of the mid-1940’s.
BRIDGE OVER THE RIVER KWAI was also an Oscar winning as well. Winning five Oscars including Best Picture,Best Director(David Lean),Best Actor(Alec Guinness),and Best Supporting Actor. This was one of the great WWII adventure films that was superb coming out of the mid-1950’s. Released in 1957 and it is best seen in its entirely on a curved 180-degree Widescreen auditorium in full 70MM projection.
Then there’s the other classic trio:
THE TRAIN-with Burt Lancaster…a classic gem from 1964 directed by John Frankenheimer.
THE GUNS OF NAVARONE-What a cast!! Gregory Peck, Anthony Quinn and David Niven!!!
VON RYAN’S EXPRESS-Trevor Howard and Frank Sinatra
FROM HERE TO ETERNITY-Another classic masterpiece from 1953 that won the Oscar that year for Best Picture!–You have in one terrific cast….Burt Lancaster, Frank Sinatra, Montgomery Clift, Robert Ryan, and Ernest Borgnine.
IS PARIS BURNING?-Another classic WWII drama from 1966 with Orson Welles, Glenn Ford, with Robert Stack and Henry Fonda.
THE GREAT ESCAPE-The second highest grossing picture of 1963. A bonafide classic from John Sturges with James Garner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, James Coburn, and David McCallum.
THE DIRTY DOZEN-another bonafide WWII classic that went on to become the highest grossing film of 1967(released in the summer of that year..beating out James Bond-007’s You Only Live Twice for the top box-office picture)…where else will you find a good strong supporting cast that has Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, Donald Sutherland, George Kennedy, Robert Ryan, Clint Walker, Ralph Meeker, John Cassetteves, and Ernest Borgnine.
BATTLE OF THE BULGE-another classic WWII adventure from 1966 that was originally presented in CINERAMA! starring Henry Fonda, Robert Shaw, Charles Bronson, Telly Savalas and James MacArthur.
Kathy
battleground great actors great stuff
Bartstarrr15
Battleground. Van Johnson with the eggs in his helmet was best.
Terryburton
i liked the old cliff rorertson and michael caine movie – to late the hero as well as the bruce willis movie tears of the sun enjoyed them both
Raysson
THE BLACK BRIGADE-this was originally a made for TV movie that aired as part of the ABC Movie of the Week on January 20,1970. Interested TV-movie that was produced by Aaron Spelling and Danny Thomas that forgotten WWII gem about a band of African-American soldiers along with their commanding white officer sent out to destroy an enemy bridge before the Nazis do. Along the way these brave black soldiers faced racial discrimination against their own counterparts in the fight of freedom and respect in the white’s man army,WWII. This movie had a great cast,and you’ll couldn’t get a better cast!!!! Stephen Boyd, Robert Hooks, Rosie Grier, Richard Pryor, Billy Dee Williams, Moses Gunn, Scatman Crothers,and a young teenage looking Glynn Turman.
FYI: This was originally the pilot for a new television series coming from Aaron Spelling and Danny Thomas that featured a multiracial cast in 1970….on the heels of the hugely successful “The Mod Squad” that was on the same network..ABC….
Raysson
THE YOUNG WARRIORS…a rarely seen 1967 gem about a marine sergeant (James Drury of TV’s The Virginian)who takes a bunch of young recruits and turns them into fighting men taking on the Nazis during WWII. Written by Richard Matheson,based on his short story novel. Good premise,but is not available on DVD.
HELL IS FOR HEROES…another hard hitting WW2 adventure from 1962….what a cast!!!! You have in one picture….Steve McQueen, Fess Parker,and the comedical stylings of Bob Newhart(in his film debut)
BettieG
As a Billy Wilder fan, I’d have to say Stalag 17
Ericstone6
Midway in Sensurround. A movie made almost totally with scenes from other movies. Most notably Tora Tora Tora. I was fourteen years old when it came out in 1976 and to me it was pure magic. That was also the year of Logan’s Run, Bugsy Malone, Family Plot, Murder by Death and King Kong. In my eyes it was the best year ever for movies.
Raysson
Ericstone6:
I too remember seeing MIDWAY back in 1976 as a eleven year-old. Saw it on the super ULTRAVISION screen in SENSURROUND(a method of moviegoing experience that Universal Studios used a lot of in the 1970’s…..several movies had this SENSURROUND effect including “Earthquake!”, “Airport 1977”,and the theatrical version of “Battlestar Galactica” just to name a few. You’re right….this was a movie that was made using actual footage of vintage WW 2 clips and footage from other movies. As for the cast…you have in one picture Henry Fonda, Glenn Ford, Charlton Heston, Robert Wagner, Toshiro Mufune, Clint Walker, Brian Keith to name a few. This was a huge boxoffice hit when it came out in 1976…the same year that was noted for “Logan’s Run”, “Murder By Death”, “Silver Streak”, “Car Wash”, “Bugsy Malone”, “Network!”,the top grossing boxoffice hit of that year was a horror flick “The Omen” with Gregory Peck….also came out that year…the final theatrical feature from director Alfred Hitchcock “Family Plot”, and the Oscar winning boxoffice champ “Rocky”,not to mention the remake of “King Kong”(Jeff Bridges and Jessica Lange),and the remake of “A Star Is Born” with Kris Kristofferson and Barbra Streisand,and a “Jaws” rip-off called “Grizzly” about a killer bear that was a boxoffice hit too!…..In my eyes it was the best year ever for movies….
Ericstone6 write me sometime at [email protected]
Raysson
TORA! TORA! TORA! was a huge boxoffice hit for 20th Century Fox in 1970….the studio saw three war movies becoming boxoffice gold…one was “M*A*S*H”(which by the way was set during the Korean War),and the other was “PATTON”…the winner of 8 Oscars including Best Picture.
TORA! TORA! TORA! was a movie that used vintage WW 2 clips and footage from other movies.The result is a all-star cast that includes Hal Holbrook, E.G. Marshall, Glenn Ford and Henry Fonda……got to see this movie on a SUPER ULTRAVISION screen in full 70MM!
Bazz
Bataan 1943 staring RobertTaylor, Lloyd Nolan,Thomas Mitchell, Robert Walker, Desi Arnez and others. A squad of mixed personal fighting a delaying action against the Japanese.
Gmc3609
How about Sgt. York and PT boat 109?
Magyverish
I don’t know the name of the movie, but it had a theme song “the Brave & the Bold”
It was a very good war movie.
Dave
Stanley Kubrick’s Paths of Glory (anti-war) , From Here to Eternity and Young Lions.
KenR
Hey Dave, et all, lets take another look at this film.
“Paths of Glory” is, and always will be a Kirk Douglas production — his idea, his money, and his dedicated guidence — Mr Douglas may have given a new comer the opportunity to direct, but that is no excuse to put his name above this magnificent title. Kubrick also had the assistance of a superb Director of Photography to help him along (he always surrounded himself with top D.O.Ps to bolster his films along as did Hitchcock)
Douglas is one of the formost producers of films that took the side of the underdog ~ subjects regarded by general filmakers as uncommercial. He has given the world several unforgetable films such as this masterpiece. Its a most worthy choice.
Raysson
“PATHS OF GLORY” is regarded as a bonafide classic from director Stanley Kubrick…a movie that looked at the opposite side of battle for a general’s point of view within the midst of World War I. Kirk Douglas also gave Kubrick to direct a masterpiece three years later with the Oscar winning “Spartacus”…with was produced under Kirk Douglas’ production company Byrna Productions……By the way..Kubrick also had the assistance of a brilliant Director of Photography to help him bring some of the greatest movies ever made(among the Kubrick classic collection includes “Lolita”, “Dr. Strangelove”, “2001”, “A Clockwork Orange”,and even to “Barry Lyndon”,and “The Shining” to name a few.).
FROM HERE TO ETERNITY-Won the 1953 Oscar for Best Picture and Best Director with an impressive cast ranging from Montgomery Clift to Burt Lancaster, Donna Reed, Frank Sinatra,and Ernest Borgnine.
THE YOUNG LIONS-From director Edward Dmytryk starring Dean Martin and Marlon Brando.
THE CAINE MUTINY-Classic WW 2 adventure from 1954 that includes Humphrey Bogart, Van Heflin, Fred MacMurray…..
Wayne P.
Yes, agree with you about the under-rated quality of SK’s directorial work…the only screenplay for his films that he didnt write himself was Spartacus. A lot of the movie fanfare faithful on the later blogs have criticized his movies for being pretentious and grossly indulgent but I firmly believe he went “out there ” and left some game-changing work on the screen. Who can deny that 2001 and Clockwork Orange werent ground-breaking films? The classical music scores to both of those are much different from standard fare of the late 60s and early 70s as well. Even his early offerings Killers Kiss and The Killing had much to admire about them…about his only weak effort was his first, in my book, Fear and Desire but he was trying to make a movie on the cheap to get noticed and he did it with all of those! Not bad for a quite good Look staff photographer with only a HS diploma who hung out in the NY parks playing chess when he was young!
Raysson
Wayne is right…Stanley Kubrick set the bar for what was to come in ground breaking films.
Movies like “Lolita”, “Dr. Strangelove”, and “2001:A Space Odyssey” were groundbreaking in their own right not to mention went beyond the limits with “A Clockwork Orange” and “The Shining”….Kubrick’s last war movie that he did was 1987’s “Full Metal Jacket” about Vietnam was as groundbreaking as you can get.
Bob62
“Patton” “Tora,Tora,Tora” and “Full metal jacket”
Martinrick
“Tora Tora Tora”, “The Blue Max”, “Star of Africa”, “Saving Private Ryan”, “Cross of Iron”, “Das Boot”, “Flags of Our Fathers/Letters from Iwo Jima”, “A Bridge Too Far”, “Battle of Britian”, “Fire on the Planes”, “Stalingrad”, “801” (all three of the 801 films are great), “Mash” and “Kelley’s Heroes”. Sorry – it’s a long list!
Martinrick
Oh yes, “The Red Baron” is also amazing!
Delawaredeans
Most people at war spend most of their time in endless waiting, bored silly, doing vital support work, or mindless busy-work. All with little thanks or recognition. Humor was one of the few outlets available to them. This very real part of war is ably depicted in movies such as:
SOUTH PACIFIC
-One of the most honored films of any genre in any year
-Roughly follows actual events
-Covers a classic example of irregular warefare
-Shows how the Arab world was taught to modernize their methods of warfare to match western methods and equipment
-Great cinematography, filmed in similar desert regions
Raysson
Delawaredeans:
Speaking of LAWRENCE OF ARABIA….On the 50th Anniversary of this David Lean classic……the winner of seven Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director is about to be reissue back in theaters for a special limited engagement coming October 4, 2012. This newly restored version will be given the full IMAX treatment and also will be given in select theaters the full 70MM-6 Track Dobly Stereo/DTS presentation. please check your theatre for local listings….the best way to see LAWRENCE OF ARABIA is in the theaters in spectacular 70MM!
THE AMBUSHERS-George Peppard, Vince Edwards, and James Franciscus
Bkleffew
Finally came across someone who said The fighting Sullivans!
dog888k
There is that strange movie, Counterpoint, set during the Battle oft the Bulge. Charlton Heston and his USO symphony orchestra get captured by the Germans around Bastogne, and have to play games with a Wagner- loving German commander to keep from getting shot or imprisoned. I saw it once on TV and there seems to be no video of it. Odd movie, but interesting.
Raysson
Speaking of Charlton Heston….he had another WW 2 thriller only this time it is set inside a submarine. It was called GREY LADY DOWN that came out around 1978 where Charlton Heston was a commander of a submarine out to destroy a German fleet from getting toward British soil. Tense thriller.
And speaking of comedies associated with WW 2:….who remembers Steven Spielburg’s first and only attempt a raunchy comedy set in WW 2 called ” 1941″ with John Belushi, Dan Ackroyd, Slim Pickens,
Warren Oates, Toshiro Mufune just to name a few….I remember seeing this in the theatres around Christmas of 1979….It may have been a boxoffice flop was it had some hilarious moments.
Chuck
You must have got confused there. GRAY LADY DOWN is a mid-70’s movie about a nuke sub that gets rammed by a freighter and the crew needs to be rescued using a deep water submersible. Still a very good movie- but not the one you’re thinking of.
raja999
HBO mini-series – Band of Brothers
Raysson
One of the most groundbreaking films to ever deal with the subject of homosexuality in WW 2 in a frank manner was the 1967 Marlon Brando drama REFLECTIONS IN A GOLDEN EYE…. In 1967,this movie had the censors on edge!
But Marlon Brando’s performance is worth watching.
Rustle Crow
Similar theme explored in “The Sergeant” with Rod Steiger.
Roger Lynn
The Guns Of Navarone,,Force 10 From Navarone,,The Big Red One,,Stalag 17,The Bridge On The River Kwai,,Go Tell The Spartans,,these are the best,,The Last Of The Mohicans if Indian wars count,,Drums Along The Mohawk,,and the best Gary Cooper western or movie period Distant Drums…..
Raysson
Roger Lynn,
I’m surprised that anyone even mentioned anything about movies concerning Indian Wars….but you’re right….the best were “Last Of The Mohicans”, “Drums Along The Mohawk”, “Distant Drums”(arguably Gary Cooper’s second greatest western behind High Noon),and “The Searchers” to name a few. But no one can best describe the plight of the American Indian in terms of war was John Ford’s classic Western “Cheyenne Autumn”……raysson@yahoo:disqus .com
Raysson
[email protected]
raja999
I really like “Cheyenne Autumn”, but when it comes to the plight of the American Indian, my choice would have to be “Dances With Wolves”.
Another excellent Indian War movie was “They Died With Their Boots On”.
jonsilver
The Lonesome Dove mini-series…
Dog888k
Hope and Glory, about London life during the Blitz, has one of greatest of all movie scenes, where a German pilot bails out of his plane and stands there smoking in a field, while all the London Moms grab knives,and go rushing out in a mob to cut up the silk from his parachute.
Raysson
HOPE AND GLORY was director John Boorman’s film about life in London during the Blitz of World War II. This was told through the eyes of a child,and it was based on John Boorman’s own childhood account of that era. This was directed by John Boorman,the same Boorman who brought you Deliverance and Excalibur. A masterpiece of brilliant cinema.
ALSO RECOMMENDED:
Steven Spielburg’s 1987 epic EMPIRE OF THE SUN…astounding WW 2 epic.
THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK one of the great World War II dramas of the late-1950’s. A brilliant cast with Millie Perkins and Shelley Winters and Ed Wynn directed by the great George Stevens from 1959. Nominated for an impressive nine Oscars including Best Picture winning Shelley Winters the Best Supporting Actress Oscar of 1959….THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK became the second highest grossing picture of 1959 behind the mega-Oscar spectacle BEN-HUR……
Frank1168
I have 2 of the greatest anti-war ever made. The original version of “All Quiet On the Western Front” with Lew Ayers. The second choice is Kirk Douglas as Colonel Dax in “Paths of Glory.” Both remarkable films.
RS71
Sahara with Humphrey Bogart.
elginman
Sergeant Joe Gunn, U.S. Army, and that ain’t a piece of junk, etc. You tell ’em Sarge.
fanny
Fanny, it’s good to know someone out there agrees with me. Thanks.
Frank1168
I feel there were several scenes in “Saving Private Ryan” that were absolutely ridiculous. The scene where one of the soldiers looking for Pvt. Ryan, showing off his dog tags and saying to the passing German prisoner’s “Juden, Juden.” Nonsense.
georgetta ross
MY FAVORITE WAR MOVIE IS “HELL IS FOR HEROES!!! NEXT BEST IS{ THE DIRTY DOZEN !!
Cougar
King of Hearts, Imatation General,The Lost Battlion,A Midnight Clear,The Great Escape,Where Eagles Dare,Das Boat,The Beast,,Stalag 17,The Frogman,Thunder of Drums,Operation Petticoat,P.T. Boat109,Wackiest Ship in the Army,Patton,Sahara,Five Graves of Cario,The Deseart Fox,
Frank1168
How can you classify the movie “Wackiest Ship in the Army” as a real war movie.
raja999
Posey, what a name for a guy that looks like you.
Judi Perry
I am surprised that!! no one has mentioned my all time favorite: Battle Cry. I fell in love with Aldo Ray in this movie! there are many others I love but most are listed somewhere below; however I did not see Stalag 17 with William Holden and more.
Tsagiglalal
-I have always loved “Battle Hymn” about a soldier who built an orphanage and have to agree with “Hope and Glory” and “Empire of the Sun”.
Frank1168
I had previously given 2 of the most anti-war movies ever made. I will now add to the list the Russian made movie “Stalingrad.” and “As far as my feet will carry me.” This movie details the life and struggles of a German soldier as a p.o.w., of the Russians. Great impact of both.
dog888k
Maybe the heaviest anti-war movie of them all is that oddity from 1969 Oh What a Lovely War which takes a sledgehammer to British generalship on the Western Front in WWI and hammers its message for close to 3 hours. The basic premise that Haig and French et al were stupid butchers of their troops is nothing new, and the movie is full of startling scenes, but the movie just goes on and on and on.
GUEST
Why us? Color Sergant Borne reply “because we’re here, lad.”
Bkleffew
The Fighting Sullivans, such a tear jerker! Watched this many times! Had my kids watch it growing up so, when the movie Saving Private Ryan came out, my kids were aware of The Sullivan act! I have not seen Saving Private Ryan yet.
elginman
Was a sad flick. Have you ever read how the Sullivan family was notified of their deaths? more shocking.
Raysson
Bkleffew:
I saw SAVING PRIVATE RYAN in December of 1998,the opening weekend it came out. I took in the matinee for this one with a capacity crowd…..there are scenes in this movie that are not for the squeamish,so I’m warning you upfront before you see it….scenes of strong and intense graphic violence,scenes of gory stuff,not to mention some explicit strong language and some really horrific scenes that are not recommended for those under 17 years of age…..It was “R” rated for a good reason.
Oscar winner for John Williams’ HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC…one of the best scores ever done for a Spielburg movie!
John
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo is my all time favorite. Saw it for the first time in the theater as a kid, and have watched it many many times since it became available on VHS and DVD.
Percy
The Steel Helmet (Gene Evans)–Battleground–Hell and Back–Heaven Knows Mr. Allison (Mitchum and Kerr)
The Longest Day–Red Badge of Courage (even if they did make Audie Murphy a Yankee) and lie about who won that war!
Kubrick movies for the most part cr-p
Frank1168
Gene Evans? did you date yourself:)
Bruce
Sands of Iwo Jima, I almost cried when the Duke got shot in the back
elginman
The Great Escape, Battleground, Bataan
Richard L Ray
I like “Saving Private Ryan”, “The Sands of Iwo Jima”, but being a Vietnam vet I like “Platoon” and “We Were Soldiers” best. One distinction however, we Marines did not have pot smoking barraks in the rear, forward area or any where else for that matter. Sure guys smoked it, but not around me.
Percy
I would like to add four others to my list. Breaker Morant, The Man Who Never Was and The Counterfeit Traitor all based on actual events and the forth maybe the best, actually a pre-war movie Ship of Fools.
R Quesenbury
Battleground, the story of the 101st Airborne in he Battle of the Bulge. After that, k”The Caine Mutiny” and “Mr. Roberts.”
http://www.facebook.com/people/Lance-Liebl-Sr/1510776796 Lance Liebl Sr.
Guadalcanal Diary and Fighting Seabee’s
Virginia
I Love Stalag 17 although there wasn’t much “War” in it and in some respects a little to lighthearted, I thought there was some really good acting, and you still really got a sense that there was a war going on around them.
Virginia
Should have mentioned a few of my favorite movies about the after affects of war and espionage during the war, movies such as The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit” , the Day of the Jackal, the Eye of the Needle, and the Manchurian Candidate. Again, not battle heavy like some of the others, but nonetheless great tales.
Raysson
American Revolution – (tied for first) musical “1776” and docudrama, “John Adams”;
The war between Britain and the Zulus in Africa: “Zulus” (no brainer here).
elginman
I think Platoon is realistic, as is Casualties of War(Sean Penn) really outstanding.
bashir
my favorite war movie are bridge on the river quie and guns of navorone. and von ryan express. and great scape
Larrykandel
guadal canal diary,sands of iwo jima,guns of navarone,battlegrund
Pepe38
THEY WERE EXPENDABLE…………………directed by John Ford. Robert Montgomery and John Wayne.
It was released in 1944 or 1945. It was a war movie…………with a lot of sentiment. A great supporting cast.
Brick312
I have always thought that Sergeant York has been the all time best war movie.
Spider_mike
The Dirty Dozen.
First saw it as a preteen with my father in the late 70’s and that was it. Still watch it every year on fathers day with my own sons. No need to remind anyone here of the cast. It’s as rugged as a cast can get.
Marlin
I like that one a lot myself…that is definitely an underrated war picture.
http://profile.yahoo.com/GQGSUNNCKOFZ3Q5SHDS7LC7TVU david
as one who served almost four years in viet nam, i dont usually watch movies on that war. but my son bought the movie of mel gibson in we were soldiers and i couldnt make it through the entire movie. it was great and showed the pain endured by the people dealing with it at home
Msllittlenucks
My favorite war movies: The Guns of Navarone, The Great Escape, Von Ryan’s Express, The Dirty Dozen and Where Eagles Dare – marshall @msllittlenucks.com
Lauradyoung
We Were Soldiers with Mel Gbson. The horror of that battle is everything I’ve ever imagined Vietnam to be.
lone wolf
Full metal jacket by far the best war movie.
Frank1168
One of the worst was “Von Ryan’s Express.” Sure, Sinatra looks like a man with an Irish surname. The movie made the Italian’s appear more foolish than they were. Oh, Sinatra’s plane crash’s and he has a band-aid on his forehead.
Raysson
Frank1168:
Wanna see a really good performance from Frank Sinatra? Check out the 1953 Oscar winner FROM HERE TO ETERNITY with Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Ernest Borgnine and Donna Reed. Frank Sinatra gives one of the best performances in this movie which was a runaway boxoffice hit when it came out in 1953.
Speaking of VON RYAN’S EXPRESS it made been a bad movie,but it really do much at the boxoffice when it came out in 1965. A good WWII movie which was given the full widescreen Cinema Scope and Color treatment.
Kyle678
In my opinion realistic-based war movies are more interesting than war “epics”. On my list are: Battleground, A Walk in the Sun, They Were Expendable, 12 O’Clock High, Glory, We Were Soldiers, Saving Private Ryan, and The Hurt Locker.
http://www.facebook.com/melanie.aguiar.98 Melanie Aguiar
Good Morning VietNam
Rushtom
I can only think of two–“Bridge over the River Kwai” with William Holden, and watch anything he’s in as well as
Alan Ladd. Also “Stalag 17” as well as “The Dirty Dozen”–Can anyone recite the routine they were using for
the castle?–Ha! Neither can I!
Katherineferg
Theyve been playing it on Antenna TV a lot lately!
Raysson
GLORY was a brilliant movie about the first African-American infantry that fought against the Confederate army during the Civil War. This movie was nominated for eight Oscars including Best Picture of 1989 and Best Director(Edward Zwick), Best Actor(Matthew Broderick), Best Supporting Actor(Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington)…….
It won Denzel Washington the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 1989.
http://www.facebook.com/pat.ready.507 Pat Ready
Saving Private Ryan Tom Hanks charater and group of men were sent to find one soldier because he may have been the the sole surviving son. This was before the military stopped sending all the sons to war in the same area at the same time or on the same ship.By the time the order was issued for the team to find Ryan he may have been dead, but the Capt and his men looked until they found him. They Took their orders serously. That attitude is shown by many of our military today.
Cap’n jack
Band of brothers, the mini series is right u p there……also compare the story of Awalk in the sun and Private Ryan
Phil Kuoni
1969’s “Battle of Britain” since it told of a time when the entire outcome of the war hinged on “The Few” preventing the invasion of England!
will starr
My favorite war movie is STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN, with Kim Stanley and David Niven.
dianeOFchicago
The BEST war movie of all times has to be “THE DIRTY DOZEN’ with Lee Marvin and Jim Brown!!!! I can watch that movie every day.
azviewer
Force 10 from Navarone is a great movie. Harrison Ford and Robert Shaw are good, but Edward Fox steals the show as the demolition expert “Millie!” There are laughs that offset the drama that unfolds. Good characters!
azviewer
Best War Movies: “Force 10 From Navarone,” “The Great Escape,” The Dirty Dozen” and “Patton.”
John M
“Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo”….best story about the Doolittle raid. Great performances by the entire cast including Spencer Tracy as Doolittle. Saw it in the theater as a child and many, many times on VHS and DVD. Recommend “Destination Tokyo” also which has a connection with it concerning the Navy’s reconnaisance prior to the raid. Both first class war movies.
http://www.facebook.com/hlynnknits Heidi Lynn McDonald Stetler
“To Hell and Back”
Jim Kyser
Go For Broke, the WW II story of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Neisi Japanese Americans and their heroic service despite the fact that many of their families were interred in U.S. “relocation camps.” The late Senator Dan Inouye was awarded (belatedly) the Medal of Honor for his service with the 442nd.
Robert Feldman
‘Wake Island’ Paramount-1942-We should never forget the Gallantry of the Marines who died on Wake Island at the beginning of our involvement in world War II
John M
“Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo”.
fbusch
Scanning these comments, I see several “types” of war movies. The straight ones, (A walk In The Sun), The action type, (The Dirty dozen), the sentimental type, (The Green Berets) The documentaries, (The Longest Day), And of course, The Propaganda films to bolster the folks back home. So many fine films that have held my attention for many years But, My favorite is still ” Sailor of The King”
briansnat
A few I like, “A Walk in the Sun”, “Paths of Glory”, “The Young Lions”, “Carve Her Name with Pride”, “Saving Private Ryan”, “King Rat” and “Sgt York”.
Observation now
Funny, no one has mentioned “The Sands of Iwo Jima” many politicians yelp about the values of this film. Just interesting.
Innisfree
Midway, by far is my favorite war film; followed closely by Tora, Tora, Tora. They are extremely well casted movies, and also contain actual WWII footage. They don’t make films like this anymore.
TYRONE
I LIKED PLATOON THE LONGEST DAY THE DIRTY DOZEN SCHINDLER’S LIST LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL SAVING PRIVATE RYAN AND THE GREAT ESCAPE BASED ON REAL EVENTS IT GOT TURNED INTO A HOLLYWOOD FANTASY NO AMERICANS WERE INVOLVED JUST THE BRITISH P.O.W.S
TYRONE
THE WARS TRIBES FULL METAL JACKET THE HURT LOCKER THE SILENT ENEMY THE COCKELL SHELL HEROES M.A.S.H
Timotheus
Kelly’s Heroes, The Big Parade, Pork Chop Hill, 55 Days At Peking, besides those those have been mentioned extensively.
hjhank
1 MIDWAY, 2 TORA TORA TORA, 3 30 SECONDS OVER TOKYO
http://www.facebook.com/mark.gitter Mark Gitter
“The Story of GI Joe!” As Ernie Pyle put it,”Bullets raced over and through us;”mud in my mouth,rain in my face!” “Guess I’m alive, as I spit out Italys finest!” Burgess Merideth wiped
his head under his helmut and looked up into the night, as the blooded fire from Monte Cacino
roared into us. Robert Mitchem, a great captain, who dies as Christ, and gave his all for his men.
OK Where’s the movie? thanks, Mark Gitter.
Hildegard Brosseau
In Which We Serve.
kartink
I have paged through all the responses. It is hard to believe that no one mentioned “The Victors.” I believe it was produced in 1964 with an excellent cast as long as my arm: George Peppard, George Hamilton, Eli Wallach, Vince Edwards (briefly), Melina Mercouri, Jeanne Moreau, Romy Schneider, Elke Sommer, Peter Fonda (briefly), Robert Mitchum’s kid, and many more. It was a sad, funny, poignant, hard-hitting movie about WWII. None better.
Kartink
talaktochoba
so many to choose, but the one that takes place in and around an insane asylum says the most, followed by “Das Boot”;
raysson
Das Boot won the Oscar in 1981 for Best Foreign Language Film. The WWII epic was nominated for six Oscars including Best Picture in 1981.
talaktochoba
ANYBODY who dares insult this list by adding “Patton” to it really should apologise after they do the research, because they will find it was “Patton’s Pets and Eleanor’s N***rs”, as they were called at the time, soldiers Patton like George Washington and Tecumseh Sherman before him didn’t want but then thanked God for after he got them, who won North Africa for him like Sicily and the Argonne after;
at least Patton was man enough to openly admit he was wrong–hopefully anyone who does the research will admit that movie has no place here;
me$hi
The best war movie of all time is black hawk down,saving private Ryan and the Schindlers list
raysson
Best World War II movies ever made…..”Patton”, “Saving Private Ryan”, “The Dirty Dozen”, “From Here To Eternity”, “They Were Expendable”, “The Longest Day”, “Where Eagles Dare”,”Battle of the Bulge”,and “Schindler’s List”,not to mention “Red Tails”
raysson
Ice Station Zebra…one of the great Cold War thrillers of the late 1960’s with Rock Hudson and Ernest Borgnine in CINERAMA!
The Vietnam Movies: “We Were Soldiers”, “The Deer Hunter”, “Platoon”, “Hamburger Hill’, “Apocalypse Now”, “Rescue Dawn”, “The Boys in Company C”,”The Green Berets”.
angel06
Black hawk dawn 😀
Romantickitty
Casablanca, The Great Escape, The Best Years of Our Lives, The Dirty Dozen, Sgt. York, From Here to Eternity and In Harms Way.
war horse
The Big Red One- namely because I was in the BRO in Vietnam 1968-69, hits kinda close to home for me
Carter Peterson
Ford’s overlooked THEY WERE EXPENDABLE, which is a fine war film and an outstanding drama.
PAM
HELL IS FOR HEREOS, FROM HERE TO ETERNITY,TO HELL AND BACK Those
were all good movies. Plus BATAAN, with Robert Taylor, and ATTACK, with Jack Palance.
And ALL of the JOHN WAYNE War movies…….
Bill Dunphy
I get hooked if I turn on the T.V. and there is a classic war picture on as much as the next guy, i.e., Bataan, G.I.Joe,The Road to Burma, etc. ! But the truth be told I enjoy pictures set during the war [are they then “war movies” ?] with a broader story than just a specific battle/event.
My absolute, favorite war films are the ones with more story/dialogue than bombs & bullets. The Enemy Below, Pride of the Marines, Night of the Generals, The young Lions, Stalag 17, From Here to Eternity !
Does the “cold” war count, then how about The Bedford Incident, or Seven Days in May ?
http://twitter.com/RotorhedGreg Greg Evans
All quiet on the Western front shows how pointless war truly is. As a veteran of many battles in Iraq and Afghanistan, it’s such a waste of young life and all the people left behind.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1653083050 Steve Nicewanger
Heaven Knows Mr Allison 1957
HECTOR ESPINAL
THE GOD FATHER IS THE BEST MOVIE
Raysson
HECTOR,
THE GODFATHER WAS NOT A WAR MOVIE….IT IS A BONAFIDE CLASSIC,BUT IT IS NOT A WAR MOVIE.
roverrocks
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), Breaker Morant, Gallipoli, Paths of Glory, Wings (1927), The Train with Burt Lancaster, Dawn Patrol with Errol Flynn, Das Boot, The Four Feathers, Full Metal Jacket, Platoon, Glory, So Proudly We Hail (1943), Fail Safe, The Bedford Incident, The Cross of Iron. I think Breaker Morant overall was the greatest war movie I ever saw. Riveting and sad.
http://www.facebook.com/vincent.j.anello Vincent J. Anello
I like almost every war movie that I have watched, all very good but my favorite is Platoon, Saving Pvt. Ryan, The Deer Hunter, The Flying Tigers, guadal canal all A very close second and all others very very good. Not to forget Full metal jacket
raysson
Steve McQueen in THE SAND PEBBLES with Richard Crenna from 1966.
Another Steve McQueen actioner from 1962 is the intense and riveting World War II drama titled HELL IS FOR HEROES with McQueen, Bobby Darin, Fess Parker, Claude Akins,and Bob Newhart.
http://www.facebook.com/alexander.constantopoulos Alexander Constantopoulos
Sahara or Bataan. It really is a toss up. 3rd place is not even on the chart.
Laura Young
We Were Soldiers and Glory. They both get to me every time. Mel Gibson and Sam Elliot give amazing performances in We Were Soldiers. The musical score is also incredible. Glory includes one of the finest performances ever in a war movie by Denzel Washington. I also thought Matthew Broderick gave his best film performance as Colonel Robert Shaw.
giver13
Top Gun. I have seen it at least 50 times.
raysson
Giver13:
I would consider the 1986 blockbuster TOP GUN as a movie during the age of the Cold War. It came out at the height of the Gulf War during the mid-80’s. Just like you,I have seen TOP GUN numerous times,most recently when it was re-released back in theatres in 3-D. The movie cemented Tom Cruise’ career as a bonafide action star and boxoffice “pretty boy” magnet. Seen it in 70mm the opening weekend of it’s release around Memorial Day of 1986.
Popeye
There are sooo many !!! But I select “Mister Roberts”, and “Away All Boats”, as these movies brought back some of the memories of the exploits I had while serving overseas in the U.S.Navy on a troop transport.
http://www.facebook.com/charles.m.lee.10 Charles M Lee
There is no war movie that can touch Saving Private Ryan. The next one would be Kelly’s Heroes.
Terry
Darby’s Rangers, Hell To Eternity, Sink The Bismarck, Heaven Knows Mr. Allison, Father Goose, To Hell and Back, Bataan, Back to Bataan, The Green Berets, Operation Pacific, They were Expendable, Flying Leathernecks, The Outlaw Josey Wales(GREAT), Where Eagles Dare, Kelly’s Heros, Heart Break Ridge, Go For Broke and The Big Red Ones.
vinod
‘Where Eagles Dare’ with Richard Burton & Clint Eastwood.
‘Ice Station Zebra’ with Rock Hudson. Both witten by Allister McClain
raysson
ICE STATION ZEBRA was Rock Hudson’s return to boxoffice status upon it’s release in 1968. This was a riveting action-packed Cold War thriller that was directed by the great John Sturges and was given the CINERAMA and Super Panavision treatment with a excellent cast that included Ernest Borgnine, Jim Brown and Patrick McGoohan. You haven’t live ICE STATION ZEBRA unless you see it a theatre in a large auditorium with full 70mm widescreen projection and stereophonic sound.
Antone
Paths of Glory. This movie brilliantly shows that some military leaders are more interested in personal reputation than in the military mission or the welfare of their troops. During WWI the French high command made a colossal blunder which caused the failure of the mission and the unnecessary loss of many lives. Rather than admitting their error, they blamed the debacle on the cowardice of the troops. They forced each unit commander to select one soldier to be publicly executed as scapegoats. Gallipoli and Breaker Morant had similar themes.
During WWII Monty, Patton & MacArthur were always eager to showboat while Ike and Bradley quietly did their jobs.
Watchingwolf
The Young Lions
raysson
THE YOUNG LIONS showcased two of Hollywood’s greatest actors in the riveting WWII adventure-drama from 1958…You have Dean Martin and Marlon Brando in the roles of their careers directed by the great Edward Dymtryk.
vinod
You are absolutely right. I saw it when it was released in the movie theatre 70 mm widescreen.
I was just blown away by the movie the sound the music the cast story. A great cinematic experience. Like WEST SIDE STORY. greatest musical of all time Side
finagle
I’m surprised that no one mentioned the “The Devils Brigade” or “Hatrms Way”. Two excellent but often overlooked movies.
Percy
Battleground, The Steel Helmet, To Hell and Back
Percy
Also Breaker Morant and Heaven Knows Mr. Allison
cinemabon
“All quiet on the Western Front” and “Patton”
Jim Caldwell
13 Rue Madeline Jimmy Cagney
In Harm’s Way
My favorite war movie is the Fighting 69th with Pat Obrien and Jimmy Cagney
Loie
White Cliffs Of Dover
Glen Schecter
My favorite war movies would have to be “Von Ryan’s Express” with Frank Sinatra and “Kelly’s Heroes” with Clint Eastwood. The Army Air Corps jacket that Sinatra wore in “Von Ryan’s Express” was the same one Bob Crane wore in “Hogan’s Heroes”
Sally Stark
JOURNEY’S END, from WWI 1930 and BATTLEGROUND, WWII 1949
msbtucker
30 SECONDS OVER TOKYO – my absolute favorite! STALAG 17 comes in second for my husband and I.
roger lynn
Stalag 17 is sure one of mine great acting by all Mr Strauss was Nominated for an Oscar,and Mr Holden won the Best Actor Oscar
Mary Clark
I just can’t leave out The Great Escape
Thomas Sondag
Bridge on the River Kwai Ive watched this movie probably a dozen times, never get tired of it.
Uncle Phil
BATTLEGROUND and Stalag 17 get my vote. Just something about those black & white war movies.
TCMrick
I agree with many of the comments, I think The Longest Day and Midway were able to be relativly accurate with All Star casts who lived through the actual war years..
Kat
The Longest Day has to be ranked the best….you didn’t need the color of blood as in Saving Private Ryan, to be total captivity….Midway is almost tied, From Here to Eternity and Von Ryans Express was fabulous and not shown enough….we should tell Turner Classic Movies to show that along with From Here To Eternity and The Great Escape.
Tsagiglalal
-In my opinion…Battle Cry.
Gary B.
Watership Down…no question about it…oh wait..I thought it was favorite WARREN movie…my bad….nevermind
raysson
WATERSHIP DOWN was an animated cartoon…..NOT A WAR MOVIE!!!
raysson
“TORA! TORA! TORA!” has be ranked among the best of the great World War II Movies of all time. It’s right up there with “PATTON” and “MIDWAY”. From the previous comment, Turner Classic Movies shows From Here To Eternity, The Dirty Dozen and Von Ryan’s Express not to mention The Great Escape every so often. TCM recently showed Saving Private Ryan as a tribute to Steven Spielburg. They need to show more vintage war movies often.
CWS_FAN
Ah yes; TCM for chopped up films. Moreover colorized renditions of classic black and white films. Money does not buy class.
Raymond
Ronald Reagan in HELLCATS OF THE NAVY
Glenn Ford and Ernest Borgnine in TORPEDO RUN
John Patterson
Okay.Civil War:”Gettysburg”;”Gods&Generals”;”Glory”.
Indian Wars:John Ford/John Wayne’s Cavalry Trilogy;Sam Peckinpah’s”Major Dundee”;John Ford’s”Sergeant Rutledge”.
Spanish American War:1997’s Mini Series”Rough Riders”.
WWI:”Sergeant York”;”The Blue Max”.
WWII:North African Theatre:”Sahara”;”The Desert Fox/Desert Rats”.
European Theatre:”The Longest Day”;”Saving Private Ryan”;”Red Tails”;”The Great Escape”;”The Dirty Dozen”;”Patton”;”Twelve O’clock High”;”The Devil’s Brigade”;”To Hell and Back”;”Battleground”;”Big Red One”;”A Bridge Too Far”.
China Burma India Theater:”Flying Tigers”;”Merrill’s Marauders”;”Never so Few”.
Pacific Theater:”Tora Tora Tora”;”Pearl Harbor;”Sands of Iwo Jima”;”Battlecry”;”The Great Raid”;
“Air Force”;”Midway”;”Flying Leathernecks”;”Thin Red Line”;”From Here to Eternity”;”PT109″;”Flags of Our Fathers”/”Letters From Iwo Jima”;”Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo”;”Halls of Montezuma”..
England Stands Alone:”Battle of Britian”;’633 Squadron”.
Russian Front:”Enemy At The Gates”.
War on the Sea:”The Enemy Below”;”Operation Pacific”.
Comedies:”Operation Petticoat”;”Catch 22″.
Korea:”MASH”;”Bridges at Toko Ri”;”The Hunters”;”All the Young Men”.
Cold War:”Dr.Strangelove”;”Fail Safe”.
Vietnam:”Flight of the Intruder”;”Full Metal Jacket”;”Hamburger Hill”.
Comedies:”Good Morning Vietnam”.
Gulf War:”Three Kings”;”Courage Under Fire”.
Iraq War:”Home of the Brave”.
Military Movies*(*Not really war movies):”A Few Good Men”;”Antwone Fischer”.
raysson
12’O CLOCK HIGH was not only a great World War II movie,but also became a great television series in its own right. Gregory Peck was in the 1949 theatrical version that won the Oscar.
Robert Lansing was in the television series of the same title.
Mark Malak
Couldn’t agree more.The outstanding cast in the movie brought out the real horror of war without all the blood and guts like they do it now.The TV show was great,too.I never missed it,though it did lose alot when Lansing left.
Burl A. Morgan
The Great Escape is the best for WW2, Sgt. York for WW1.
pat & chuck
It’s too hard to pick just one. The best war movies involving the home front are The White Cliffs of Dover, Mrs. Miniver, and Since You Went Away. The best war movies regarding battles are The Longest Day, Tora Tora Tora, and The Great Escape.
Griz
Griz-
A Walk In The Sun was a very good ensemble movie and my favorite, The Longest Day (First week every June), John Ford’s Cavalry Trilogy with John Wayne and cast-
Art
WWII: To Hell and Back; In Harms’ Way
Vietnam War: We Were Soldiers
oldfarter
Hands down, my favorite war movie is the WWI drama, “Lawrence of Arabia”. Folks tend to forget it’s a war movie. For “had a bad day” watching, for my money you can’t beat “The Dirty Dozen”.
BernardS
From Here to Eternity, The Search, The Bridge on the River Kwai are my TOP THREE war
movies. Nothing else comes close.
Laura B.
All Quiet on the Western Front, with young and beautiful Lew Ayres (and won Best Picture).
[email protected]
A number of great war movies:From Here to Eternity, Lawrence of Arabia, The Bridge on the River Kwai, To Hell and Back, Sargent York, 12 O’Clock High — But the two most memorable are Battleground from WW II and Go Tell the Spartans from Vietnam. The Burt Lancaster movie, Spartans, gives a highly accurate account of our abandoning a winning strategy in Vietnam — called the “Safe Villages Strategy — for the foolish, wasteful, expensive, massive bombing raids on the north. As we abandoned the safe villages, our friends among the Vietnamese people were routinely slaughtered by the tens of thousands — LBJ’s bombing and withdrawal of protective American troops from safe villages very literally lost us the war. Go Tell the Spartans tells the story of this strategy and its ultimate failure. Great movie! great acting w/ Lancaster!!
CWS_FAN
I thought that I was the only one around who liked Tell It To The Spartans. Burt Lancaster was the best.
AlbertInTucson
Lots of good nominees, Folks. I would quibble that THE FIGHTING SULLIVANS and FROM HERE TO ETERNITY are not “war’ movies, per se, as much as “pre-war” movies as the out break of WWII is basically the climax of each.
Good call, BTW, on LAWRENCE OF ARABIA as a “War” movie.
IMPOSSIBLE to pick one but if I had to, it would be TWELVE O’CLOCK HIGH. Despite very limited combat scenes (and only actual combat footage used) it is as good a war movie as any ever made.
One that I haven’t seen mentioned and is seldom shown is HALLS OF MONTEZUMA. Very similar “Burden/Stress of Command” tone to TWELVE O’CLOCK HIGH. The under-rated,Richard Widmark, is a Marine Lt pushed to the breaking point as he leads is men on an unspecified South Pacific island.
Another good “Cold War” nominee would be THE BEDFORD INCIDENT starring Widmark and Sidney Poitier. An American destroyer tracks a Russian sub that has violated NATO territorial waters.
I would add 2 more starring Robert Mitchum:
THE STORY OF G.I. JOE, co-starring Burgess Meredith as war correspondent, Ernie Pyle.
THE ENEMY BELOW, co-starring Curt Jurgens as a German U-Boat skipper matching wits with Destroyer Escort commander, Mitchum.
NCLyle
All excellent choices Albert. I couldn’t agree more. Additionally, I love Tucson.
raymond
AlbertInTucson:
Great List by the way. I have compiled a complete listing of 100 of the Greatest World War II Movie Ever Made on my “Flixster” site. Go to “Flixster” @www.flixster.com/rayman0071
raymond
David Lean made two great War Movies that were Oscar winners.
“BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI” was the winner of 5 Oscars including Best Picture of 1957.
“LAWRENCE OF ARABIA”-Went on to become one of the biggest colossal hit in the history of Columbia Pictures that went on to win 7 Oscars including Best Picture of 1962. It is astounding that LAWRENCE OF ARABIA was Columbia’s biggest hit a huge colossal masterpiece that became a major moneymaker for the studio. LAWRENCE OF ARABIA was the studio’s top-grossing picture for 15 years until CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND dethroned it in 1977.
raymond
2013 MARKS THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 1963 MOVIE “THE GREAT ESCAPE”. The ALL TIME World War II epic with James Garner and Steve McQueen went to become the second highest grossing picture of 1963…a huge moneymaker for the Mirisch Corporation and United Artists.
taj683
I vote for PATTON. The reason being is that it was one of the first movies that showed how politics dictated military moves behind the scenes during wartime situations. How many lives were lost due unnecessarily due to political moves instead of thought out strategic moves? The thought of Patton and MacArthur continuing on to Moscow is a very interesting plot that didn’t happen due to politics.
This just may be one of the hardest categories to pick just one movie. I like the idea of categorizing them somehow but if I have to pick just one then it’s PATTON for me.
FalmouthBill
Two others: the train and in harms way
Gayle Feyrer
Lawrence of Arabia! I’d never have thought of it as a “war movie,” but I suppose it is. Since it’s in my top 10 movies, that’s definitely the one. I guess next is The Deer Hunter, though it’s almost more about violence than war, but I love the acting and it’s a heart-wrenching story. In general, I can take serial killer flics, and even horror movies more easily than war movies, though war movies beat boxing movies. I end up covering my eyes in those. Does mercenary count? Then Dogs of War is next, though it’s a fictional war so I guess it’s out. So Bridge on the River Kwai and From Here to Eternity are next.
Oldman054
Sargent York. To Hell and Back and because my uncle was there and was one of the men in the mess hall during the real attack, TORA TORA TORA.
Artist10200
Saving Private Ryan is one of the best. It really shows what war is like, not the phony stuff that John Wayne did.
rhill3850
John Wayne made movies for entertainment; not a social statement.
CWS_FAN
TrueExcept for the Green Berets. Much needed at the time.
Phil
Full Metal jacket, Apocalypse Now, Saving Pvt. Ryan Crimson Tide, K-19 , Kelly’s Heroes, Valkyrie, Inglorious Bastards, Hunt for the Red October, Tora tora Tora, , Tears of the Sun, and Black Hawk Down & Pearl Harbor !!!!
jbourne5181
is’nt it amazing how chunky Vincent D’Onofrio was in that movie? most people don’t even recognize him
Jerry
Take the High Ground Basic Training During the Korean War, Stalag 17, Combat, Auction in The North Atlantic, Casablanca, Mash, Pork Chop Hill, Spy that came out of the Cold good Cold War Film, They came by Night.
Jerry
My mistake All through the Night nt They came by night.
Timothy Crowe
Tim
Saving Private Ryan, Kelly’s Heroes, Das Boot- as the whole film is brought down to a very human personal level (RECOMMENDED) and Holacaust -extremely harrowing a prime example of man’s inhumanity to man.
William Donovan
voyage to the bottom of the sea
raysson
William
Irwin Allen’ classic 1961 science fiction adventure VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA is NOT classified in the World War II category. It is classified under the “Cold War” era of movies and this film was released during the height of the “Cold War”. It is however a great movie starring Walter Pidgeon and Peter Lorre. VOYAGE is a prime example of man’s humanity not only to himself but his own environment and the world beneath it. A Classic movie that when on to become a classic weekly TV-series under the same title itself that is one of my all time favorites!
jbourne5181
raysson
Tim,
There was a great World War II movie called HALOCAUST that was produced under Billy Graham’s production company that had a short theatrical run in 1972 upon its release. And speaking of a human personal level,you may want to add Steven Spielburg’s SCHINDLER’S LIST. A movie that saw man’s inhumanity to man and the way man treats his fellow beings.
movie buff
A lot of great war movies listed below. I particularly like Waterloo. The performances of Steiger as Napoleon and Christopher Plummer as Wellington are outstanding. Very well filmed with tremendous battle scenes and a great screenplay. I also like Gettysburg and Tora Tora Tora. Very well done.
Darnell
The realism of ” Saving Private Ryan” makes it almost the best ‘anti-war’ movie ever made… I’ll never forget that transparent American Flag…. It makes me cry everytime.
Dana Thompson
Okay, I know not many folks liked it, but I loved “Pearl Harbor” and of course “Saving Private Ryan”
Al Hooper
I agree re: “Pearl Harbor.” A masterful treatment of characters caught in the pincers of history. The critics didn’t like it because it wasn’t soapy enough for them. But it was and is a great flick.
– Al Hooper (E-HOOPER.COM)
raysson
Al Hooper,
The same can be said about Otto Preminger’s 1965 World War II Epic “IN HARM’S WAY” about the attack on Pearl Harbor. Upon its theatrical release,the critics bashed it since it was close to a three-hour soap opera,not to mention some exciting battle sequences along with extensive footage of actual events.This movie had an all-star cast ranging from Kirk Douglas, Henry Fonda,and John Wayne.
But Michael Bay’s 2001 version of “Pearl Harbor” was masterful in its own way not to mention it was laden with over the top CGI special effects. Upon its theatrical release(it came out around the Memorial Day weekend of 2001)it was clobbered by the critics and audiences alike since it was more than a three and a half hour soap opera added with over the top action sequences.
Bill
12 O’clock High was, perhaps, the most real war movie of it’s time, showing every aspect of modern conflict.
John
There no doubt about Hell and Back about the most decorated soldier in the history of World War II Audrey Murphy.
John Patterson
Civil War:Glory;Shennandoah.Indian Wars:John Ford’s”Cavalry Trilogy”;”Sergeant Rutledge”.
Spanish American War:”Rough Riders”.WWI:”The Blue Max”;”Sergeant York”.WWII:ETO:”The Longest Day”;”Saving Private Ryan”;”The Dirty Dozen””;”The Big Red One”;”Saving Private Ryan”;”The Battle of the Bulge”;”Battleground”;”Band of Brothers”;”The Enemy Below”.Pacific Theatre:”Tora Tora Tora”;”Midway”;”Flying Tigers”;”Flying Leathernecks”;”Sands of Iwo Jima”;”The Pacific”;”Windtalkers”;”Flags of our Fathers”;”Merrill’s Marauders”;”The Great Raid”;”From Here to Etrernity”.
Korea:”Bridges at Toko Ri”;”The Hunters”;”Pork Chop Hill”.
Vietnam:”Full Metal Jacket”;”Flight of the Intruder”;”Hamburger Hill”.
Gulf War:”Courage Under Fire”.Bosnia:”Behind Enemy Lines”.
War Comedies:”Good Morning Vietnam”;”Catch 22″;”Operation Pacific”;”M*A*S*H”.
Military Dramas:”A Few Good Men”;”Crimson Tide”;”Manchurian Candidate”;”Antwone Fisher”.
Sandeaux
Attack! (Robert Aldrich.Jack Palance) All Quiet on the Western Front( Lewis Milestone) Pork Chop Hill (Lewis Milestone. Gregory Peck) The Deer Hunter ( Michael Cimino. Robert De Niro) Stalag 17 ( Billy Wilder. William Holden) Thew Young Lions ( Edward Dmytryk. Marlon Brando. Montgomery Clift. Dean Martin) Patton ( Franklin J. Schaffner. George C. Scott) Patriot ( Roland Emmerich.Mel Gibson) Saving private Ryan (Steven Speilberg.Tom Hanks) Wintalkers ( John Woo. Nicolas Cage) From Here to eternity ( Fred Zinneman. Burt Lancaster. Montgomery Clift. Frank Sinatra) The Longest Day (Darryl F.Zanuck) Objective Burma (Raoul Walsh. Errol Flynn) The Naked and the dead ( Raoul Walsh.Aldo Ray) Men in War( Anthony Mann. Robert Ryan.Aldo Ray) The Great Escape (John Sturges, Steve McQueen. James Garner)War and Peace(King Vidor. Audrey Hepburn.Mel Ferrer) Sergeant York( Howard Hawks. Gary Cooper)
Rustle Crow
Thank you for mentioning “Attack”. One of my favorites.
T. La Pare
“To Hell and Back” and “Stalag17”! Stalag17 is my all time favorite Christmas movie!
Ellen Christy Snyder
Full Metal Jacket and Battle Cry.
DeLores Wright
My Fav all -time war movie has to be “The Dirty Dozen”…
raysson
DeLores Wright:
THE DIRTY DOZEN became one of the highest grossing pictures of 1967…a colossal hit for MGM….a World War II bonanza that beat out that year’s 007 picture “You Only Live Twice” as the top winner at the boxoffice in 1967. And speaking of THE DIRTY DOZEN you have a top notch cast included Lee Marvin(in the role that define his career),with
Jim Brown, Charles Bronson, Richard Jaeckel, Ernest Borgnine, George Kennedy,with Ralph Meeker and Clint Walker among others!!!
Ray Mares
Battleground (1949) …No Question- also check cast…
Van Johnson John Hodiak Ricardo Montalban …
George Murphy ..Marshall Thompson Don Taylor …
James Whitmore Douglas Fowley … Leon Ames Herbert Anderson
Richard Jaeckel … James Arness
alan
To this day, James Whitmore, on seeing his shadow, looking up, lip quivering, and screaming “Look. Its shining.” still brings tear to my eyes
Ray Mares
Yeah, great moment in a great film…first one that captured the REAL war.
Rustle Crow
And that scene where the American and German fight hand-to-hand, all you see are their legs as they roll around. And then the American gets up, and he has blood all over his mouth, and you realize he bit the German’s throat out. Not your everyday glory of war movie.
raysson
15 of MGM’s best male actors starred in this action-packed World War II drama from 1949 called BATTLEGROUND that featured MGM’s best male leads in one picture!!!
You have Van Johnson,Cesar Romero, Ricardo Montalban, George Murphy, Don Taylor,
Leon Ames, James Whitmore, John Hodiak, Herbert Anderson, Richard Jaeckel and Marshall Thompson,and in a small but supporting role a very young James Arness
Guido Muldoon
Stalag 17 is a gret movie. I haven’t seen it years though
raysson
Otto Preminger’s “Stalag 17” was one of the great war movies from the golden age of the 1950’s. Released in 1953,the film was a huge hit and it was nominated for 7 Oscars including Best Picture,and won William Holden the Oscar for Best Actor. It has a great cast that featured Peter Graves, Richard Jaeckel,and even Otto Preminger himself in the role and the head general of the P.O.W. prison during World War II. “Stalag 17” was indeed the basis and the inspiration for the television series “Hogan’s Heroes” just in case you wanted to know.
julian
My favourite war movie is “PATHS OF GLORY”, with Kirk Douglas, Adolphe Menjou etc….
in fact, it is one of my favourite movies of any type, along with several others including
“NIGHT OF THE HUUNTER” , “THE THIRD MAN”, and “A CLOCKWORK ORANGE”
……and just about any movie by Werner Herzog!! (his best, for me, was “AGUIRRE, WRATH
OF GOD”
I forgot to say that I have recently seeh
a new movie named “PRIVATE PEACEFUL”, which
reminded me a lot of “Paths of Glory”………..see it (“Private Peaceful”) when and if you can
it was released here in New Zealand about six weeks ago.
JON
CONSPIRACY, IT WAS AN ALL BRITISH CAST EXCEPT, STANLEY TUCCI. IT DEALT WITH THE TOP NAZIS DISCUSSING THE FINAL SOLUTION. BOTH SCARY AND EYE OPENING.
Monique LaCosta
My favorites involve the aftermath of War: Coming Home with Jane Fonda and The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). I also like The Dirty Dozen and I can appreciate Platoon which showed very realistic combat scenes.
raysson
“In Love And War” starring Steve McQueen,Robert Wagner,Jeffrey Hunter and Dana Wynter is available on DVD through the Amazon website. It is available on Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Released by Columbia Pictures in 1962.
Also Available on DVD too….”Hell Is For Heroes” with the great Steve McQueen along with Fess Parker,Simon Oakland,Claude Akins,and in his feature debut the great Bob Newhart from 1962!
Vann Morrison
raysson, I believe you’re thinking of “The War Lover”. McQueen and Wagner are pilot and co-pilot on a B-17 with Dana Wynter as their mutual love interest.
“In Love and War” Wagner and Hunter are Marines in the Pacific.
Both are good movies.
In Harm’s Way
Mike Otworth
-Agree! Fantastic cast and great direction by Otto Preminger. Also very effective score, including the very unusual closing credits.
raysson
Agree! Directed by Otto Preminger with an effective Oscar nominated score by Jerry Goldsmith. IN HARM’S WAY was listed with an all star cast that included John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Glenn Ford, Burgess Meredith and Hugh O’Brien.
Also recommended FROM HERE TO ETERNITY…the Best Picture winner of 1953
Garry Ireton
One movie based on the return of a Vietnam vet ,who returns from nam needing help From the VA but is turned away is The Park Is Mine ,Starting Tommy Lee Jones as the vet needing help but is turned away and takes over Central Park in New York city, I seen it once maybe twice on TV it is not shown much I believe our government did not want it shown
maureengp
The Americanization of Emily. The Longest Day. Casablanca. Glory. Gettysburg. Atonement (just for scene at Dunkirk!).
Shirley
Dirty Dozen without a doubt !
raysson
THE DIRTY DOZEN became one of the top grossing films of 1967,beating out that year’s James Bond movie YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE as it took box-office gold. This was the moneymaker of 1967 and a HUGE winner for MGM.
N
band of brothers
raysson
MURPHY’S WAR was a World War II adventure film from 1971 starring Peter O’Toole.
raysson
THE HILL….one of the great World War II movie set in a P.O.W. prison camp in Africa that was directed by the great Sidney Lumet and Starring Sean Connery.
jbourne5181
no question about it , for me it’s Platoon which I’ve watched at least 50 times and once or twice a year I’ll take a weekend day to myself and watch Band of Brothers straight through
raysson
PLATOON was one of the most harrowing and intense films that ever depicted the battle of the Vietnam War during the 1960’s. Oliver Stone’s brilliant war epic became a huge boxoffice hit,sweeping five Oscars including the Best Picture statue for 1986. The movie made stars out of Willem Dafoe, Tom Bergener, and Charlie Sheen. PLATOON became one of the influential movies to come out of the 1980’s the depicted the struggle and insanity of soldiers in the Vietnam War. PLATOON is right up their with THE DEER HUNTER and APOCALYPSE NOW and WHEN WE WERE SOLDIERS in its graphic and violent detail of the Vietnam War.
Another movie that is very good is BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY with Tom Cruise from 1991.
tophat
Has anyone seen ” Hanoi Hilton “?
Gnslinger99
I think the Sands of Iwo Jima was a great war movie
raysson
Two underrated movies that are NOT even mentioned here….First is the 1967 World War II Movie “FIRST TO FIGHT” that starred Chad Everett(later of “Medical Center” fame,and before that was in the short-lived western series “The Dakotas”)as the sole survive when his squad is ambushed at Guadalcanal and is decorated a war hero who returns to fight one last time. Great movie. With a powerful screenplay written by Gene L. Coon(who also wrote several episodes of the TV-shows “Have Gun With Travel”,”The Man From UNCLE”,”The Wild Wild West”,and “Star Trek”)…..A Must See available on DVD through Warner Home Video.
The other one was called “THE YOUNG WARRIORS”,that was released that same year. This movie was based on a short story by acclaimed writer Richard Matheson which was based on his experiences as a soldier in World War II. The film stars James Drury(of the television western series “The Virginian”) as a tough sergeant who takes over a squad of young recruits where they’re assigned on a dangerous mission against the Germans. The film also stars Robert Pine,Steve Carlson, Jeff Scott, Norman Fell, Buck Young,and features a youthful Kent McCord(later of “Adam 12” fame) as one of the young recruits. It also features Tony Dow(yes,Wally of “Leave It To Beaver” fame)as another one of the young recruits. This is one of the underrated World War II Movies that is not available on DVD. Released by Universal Pictures.
TomC
“Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence” and “A Town called Alice” were two great Japanese POW films. David Bowie is brilliant as the passive resister Mr. Lawrence and Brian Brown was awesome as the Aussie prisoner who’s disrespectful attitude saves his life.
Markoosie Patsauq
Bridge Too Far, Longest Day, Battle of Bulge. Tops in my opinion
jbourne5181
one word answer – Platoon
Joan
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison! Wonderful performance by Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr. Two very different people stranded on an island during WWII. Can’t see it often enough!
Michele Wood
Battleground and the aftermath movie The Best Years of our Lives
raysson
William Wyler’s THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES won 5 Oscars including Best Picture of 1946. This was a movie that dealt with our soldiers coming home and the aftermath that follows after their service in World War II. Poignant movie with incredible performances throughout its entire 168 minute run.
Michele Wood
Thanks it is one of my favorites
Mindy Newell
BRILLIANT movie, one of my very, very favorites, a perfect “war’s aftermath” film that really hits (and excuse the pun) home.
jonsilver
Midway, The Train, The Great Escape, Battleground, The Americanization of Emily, Fort Apache, Patton, MASH, Apocalypse Now and, of course, Casablanca.
grandeur70
Agree with you with THE GREEN BERETS. THE DEER HUNTER is one of the all time greats in cinema.
classic movies lady
My favorite war movie is Destination Tokyo. When the young man had to have an operation for his appendix, it hit close to home because I had to have an emergency operation for ruptured appendix when I was in the seventh grade. In fact, I had two operations back-to-back. I was not able to go back to school until I was in the eighth grade. I know exactly how that young man felt!
raysson
MIDWAY (In Sensurround!), CASABLANCA, THE BRIDGES AT REMEDAN, ANZIO!
Not to mention the Steven Spielburg World War II comedy spoof “1941”
A Pruden
Lone Survivor starring Mark Wahlberg, based off a real event of Navy Seals doing extraordinary actions.
MovieFan
Das Boot, Patton, They Were Expendable, Saving Private Ryan, A Walk In The Sun
edro3111
Destination Tokyo, Apocalypse Now and 12 O’Clock High.
Otter
The Winds of War and War and Remembrance.
grandeur70
They were TV SERIES. Does that count?
Rick A
No Question, It’s “THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI”
Quiggy
War is hell, whether fought on the planet Earth or in outer space. Which is why I see no reason why Starship Troopers can’t be my favorite war movie.
Mindy Newell
Can’t name just one, and in no particular order: BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, STALAG 17, THE GREAT ESCAPE, FULL METAL JACKET, APOCALYPSE NOW, THE LONGEST DAY, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, SANDS OF IWO JIMA, DESTINATION: TOKYO…so many others.
David Bruce Patterson
All Quiet on the Western Front
raysson
BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI won 7 Oscars including Best Picture,Best Director and Best Actor in 1957.
bornagain710
What about The Big Red One starring Lee Marvin!!
stitchingkat
As a Marine Corps wife of 32 years, I have to say my favorite is Wings of Eagles with the unbeatable John Wayne and superb and flawlessly beautiful Maureen O’Hara. She is very realistic as a military wife (Navy) in those days (and still now, with some women), as she cannot seem to reconcile her position as “non-Navy issue”. I love the evolution of her struggle to fit into her role (or quit it), which definitely mirrors many military wives’ roles throughout American history. She is different from me because I have always been proud to be a Marine Corps wife and was disappointed but understanding when my husband retired after 20 years. It definitely takes a special kind of strength, especially in wartime, but you either have it, and want to preserve your marriage, or you don’t.
Gazstaf
Beneath Hill 60 & Thin Red Line!
Woodhen16
Doesn’t say “modern.” “Zulu” is my favorite. About 100 soldiers stood off a fierce attack by 3-4,000 Zulus on the warpath. After the battle ended in a standoff, the Zulu warriors withdrew, saluting a brave enemy by banging on their shields with their spears. Eleven Victoria Crosses were earned by participants in the Battle of Rorke’s Drift.
grandeur70
A masterpiece.It was great in 70mm.
bornagain710
A BRIDGE TOO FAR
Vann Morrison
Has anyone seen “Dark Blue World”? A great movie from the Czech Republic about Czech pilots flying for the RAF during the Battle of Britain. If you love Spitfires you’ll like this movie. Some good dogfight scenes and the strafing of a German FLAK train in France with the rescue of a downed pilot. Plus a love triangle between two of the Czech pilots and English actress Tara Fitzgerald. One poignant scene in the movie has the Czech pilots on bicycles with cardboard wings practicing formations and tactics. Since they don’t speak English the RAF won’t let them fly. A dogfight between a Spitfire and an ME-109 is taking place in the sky above them and all they can do is stand there and observe. A smoking 20mm shell casing falls out of the sky and lands at their feet. Half of the movie is in Czech with English subtitles and half in English.
jumbybird
I’m partial to “Where Eagles Dare” and “The Guns of Navarone”
hiram
A BRIDGE TOO FAR. No war movie can be considered great unless it deals at least a little with the suffering of civilians. For an unusual choice, on a small scale OPEN RANGE is a movie about the essential nature of war since 1914 — be prepared to die or to kill all of them, or at least enough of them to make them quit.
NavyVet6468
Saving Private Ryan, One of my favorites, it gives a real sense of what it was like during the invasion of Normandy.
Roger Womack
Soldier Blue was pretty good !
WDPjr
Guns of Navarone and Great Escape are very highly entertaining. Tora Tora Tora as well.
I think Bridge on the River Kwai is a much better movie overall, but it is so much more than a war movie that I don’t consider it as one. Same with Lawrence of Arabia. Same with Best Years of Our Lives.
They Were Expendable is my favorite of the propaganda type movies made during WWII. Best of the later B&W WWII movies I think are The Train and The Longest Day.
Saving Private Ryan has a tremendous opening 30 minutes or so, but after that I felt it was just an average movie. Pearl Harbor also had some great war sequences, but I didn’t much care for that movie overall.
With so much to consider, how can anyone pick just one “favorite”???
grandeur70
War films should NEVER be entertaining!
WDPjr
ALL films should ALWAYS be entertaining!!! including war films.
grandeur70
Do you understand the meaning of the word ‘entertaining’ ? Judging by your comment ,do you also mean that films on the horrors of the nazi death camps should ALWAYS be entertaining? Think before you make stupid and ignorant statements that ‘ALL films should ALWAYS be entertaining’!
WDPjr
Lighten up, pal. Everyone knows what “entertaining” means, it is not a trick word. Movies are art. We are not talking about documentaries, and anyone who depends on Hollywood movies for historically accurate reporting is truly ignorant because movies take artistic license w/facts all the time. Nor are war movies some kind of solemn, holy rite or whatever you had in mind by saying “war films should never be entertaining”. No movie, war movie or not, is ever made for any other reason than entertainment. A movie that is not entertaining is a failure. You must be confused – just because a movie evokes strong emotional responses instead of laughter does not make that movie unentertaining. So leave me alone, I have just as much right to my opinions as you do. You should think before you make stupid and ignorant statements yourself, disparaging people you don’t know.
grandeur70
You never said that documentaries were excluded. A movie could be anything including documentaries.
Tony
‘Come and See’ and ‘Paths of Glory’
grandeur70
I agree .COME AND SEE. is perhaps the best war film of all time afterTHE BURMESE HARP
Wolfhound 5152
A walk in the sun. Battleground. Red badge of courage.
Debbie R
Saving Private Ryan
Vann Morrison
Debbie, did you know that the story behind SPR is based on a paragraph in the book “Band of Brothers”? In the book there was a paratrooper named Fritz Nihland and as in the movie his three brothers were killed in action and their mother received their death notices on the same day. But, unlike the movie they actually knew where Nihland was and the Division Chaplain drove up to the front in a jeep and brought him back.
grandeur70
John Frankenheimer’s THE TRAIN with Burt Lancaster from 1964
wrangler04
to hell and back, audie murphy was a real one
John Fraraccio
Hard as heck to pick, but given the choice I’d sit through The Longest Day again, from start to finish, BD in letterbox format, really good sound system, the works. A Bridge Too Far pays direct homage with probably the best color photography applied to the genre. And here’s a pitch for another foreign war movie you’d likely never heard of: Die Bruecke (“The Bridge”), which must’ve caught Darryl F. Zanuck’s eye, for he chose its director to helm The Longest Day’s “German episodes.”
Richard
Two of my favorite WWII films, both British and both from 1955 are “The Dam Busters” and “The Cockleshell Heroes”. Saw them as a young teenager on TV and I never tire of watching them over and over even now at the age of 65.
Bill Proctor
NONE BUT THE BRAVE & VON RYAN’S EXPRESS starring Frank Sinatra
Vann Morrison
Don’t forget NEVER SO FEW and KINGS GO FORTH both starring Frank Sinatra.
Even though he wasn’t the lead in FROM HERE TO ETERNITY he had a major part.
WDPjr
I enjoy WWII movies very much, and I think Sinatra is a very good actor. But I did not like “Never So Few” which I thought was a below-average war movie.
Vann Morrison
WDPjr, there’s a book titled: McQueen, a Bad Boy in Hollywood.
In the book it talks about “Never So Few”. Initally the part that Steve McQueen had was supposed to go to Sammy Davis Jr. He turned the part down and they chose McQueen as a last minute pick to fill the part.
From what I remember reading, Sinatra and McQueen really didn’t get along that well. On the movie sets Sinatra liked to play practical jokes on the other actors. One day on the set he sneaked up behind McQueen and put a cherry bomb on the back of his cartridge belt. Steve McQueen was dislexic and was engrossed in trying to read his script and when the cherry bomb went off it scared him and he jumped. Sinatra was laughing his ass off and it made McQueen mad. So he grabbed a carbine that was loaded with blanks from a prop guy and shoved the barrel into Sinatra’s stomach and shot him several times with blanks. Which pissed Sinatra off. They almost came to blows and Sinatra finally told McQueen, “You gas me kid!” and they laughed it off.
If you can find a copy of that book I highly recommend reading it.
WDPjr
Very interesting story. I had not heard that one before, but I had heard that McQueen had conflicts w/other actors, too. Yul Brynner for instance in “Magnificent Seven”. I had also heard McQueen liked to cut his dialogue lines down to a bare minimum, although I had not heard about the dyslexia. I like to get stories like that, even tho it doesn’t make me like the movie any better! Thx.
raysson
I heard Steve McQueen had conflicts with Robert Vaughn on the set of “Bullitt” where he was uncontrollable.
Raysson
NONE BUT THE BRAVE marked the directorial debut of Frank Sinatra who not only stars in this but is executive producer of this movie from 1965 that also starred Clint Walker and Tommy Sands that was filmed on location in the South Seas.
Vann Morrison
I just saw “FURY” with Brad Pitt. Impressive movie and very brutal. Lots of carnage. The tank battle between the Shermans and the Tiger tank is probably the best tank on tank action ever filmed. Lots and lots of WWII vehicles. I think most of them came from the Bovington Tank Museum where the Tiger tank came from. Some of the characters are abrasive and annoying.
A lot of effort was put into movie on the period and the setting. A decent story line. The main question I have about the plot is why they didn’t send infantry support with the tanks. But then I realize it’s just for entertainment. Another decent movie about tanks is Saints and Soldiers: The Void. The third in the Saints and Soldiers series. For a movie without a huge budget it’s well acted and has a good story line. For all those who like armor there’s some tank on tank action between two M-18 Hellcats and some Pzkw IIIs. If you watch the DVD, make sure you watch the extras on the making of the movie.
mrpilgrim
The infantry captain in ‘Fury’ explained that Wardaddy’s tanks was all they had to send at the time. I thought they were an excellent portrayal of a real tank crew. Being stuck in one of those death traps-that our soldiers used to call Zippos-because they went up in flames so easy, would tend to make people ‘abrasive’. And they didn’t seem that way to me. Especially when the action started, then they clicked like a well-oiled machine-which they were. And their all staying to stop the Nazi’s from possibly killing up to 2000 ‘cooks and mechanics’ and stopping a vital supply train-was what a real American tank crew would have done. Their would have been at least one soldier to make everyone stop and think before ‘running’-especially out of that bunch. And that final battle against the ‘SS’ which every American soldier hated as they did was great. They knew their chances were close to zero but stayed with it. And Bible and Wardaddy connecting on the bible verses was great also. As for dirt and grit, it was one of the most accurate movies ever. In fact capturing the essence of war and how evil and dirty it is, and how it can turn a man into an animal was perfect. I was pleasantly surprised at Pitt and the rest of them at how well they did in their portrayals. I think their long time spent with actual veterans of WWII-one a tanker-was time well spent.
Vann Morrison
There’s a book titled “Death Traps” by Belton Cooper. It’s probably the best book written about WWII armor in Europe from D-Day to the end of the war. Cooper was an ordnance officer and talks extensively about the Sherman and all its inadequacies as well as their strong points. The same with German armor. In the book he goes indepth about how they recovered knocked out Sherman tanks and how they had them back into the fight within 72 hours.
Vann Morrison
I just had an afterthought. There’s another book titled “Another River, Another Town” by John Irwin. Irwin was a 19 year old gunner on a Sherman tank in the last three months of the war in Europe. Towards the remaining weeks of the war he and his crew transitioned to the M-26 Pershing. It’s interesting that some of the actions he was involved with in the Pershing are also mentioned in Cooper’s book. Both books are a good.
Jeff Jenkins
Your review reminded me of the “dirt and grit” and the “abrasiveness”, “fatalism” and how the crew “clicked like a well oiled machine” when the action started in “Das Boot” which I think is best viewed in German with English subtitles.
John
Agreed. My premiere viewing in a converted strip-mall theater made me notice the damp spots on the drop ceiling, I kid you not.
RicochetRabbit62
The NAZI’S FELT SORRY FOR THE AMERICAN TANKER’S IN THERE RONSON LIGHTER’S. MY UNCLE WAS A COMMANDER IN A PANZER MK.5 /PANTHER TO YOU. 1 SHOT THE M-4 SHERMAN WAS BLOWN IN A THOUSAND PIECES WITH THE MEN SCREAMING FROM FLAMES. SOLDIERS SHOT THEM DEAD FROM SUFFERING A PRELONGED DEATH.
pegman
“Battleground” first and right along with it would be “Das Boot”
Uncle Phil
LOVED “BATTLEGROUND”, too!!!
raysson
I just got back from seeing “UNBROKEN” that was directed by Angelina Jolie and was based on the harrowing story of Olympic athletic Louie Zamperini who endured a series of traumas and events during World War II including surviving 47 days adrift in the South Pacific and then went through pure hell in a Japanese POW Camp somewhere in the South Pacific and taking a brutal scenes of torture by a sadistic Japanese prison guard..but somewhere along the way he manages to escape the POW camp and lives to tell the story of his ordeal. A Must See picture!
fbusch
I saw it recently on the box, and was very impressed by it.
Louis Martinez
FIXED BAYONETS…….GENE EVANS, RICHARD BASEHART, SKIP HOMEIER……AND AN UNCREDITED JAMES DEAN AS ‘DOGGIE’
vb
TORA! TORA! TORA!-45th Golden Anniversry
PATTON-the 45th golden anniversary of two great WW2 films from 1970
RicochetRabbit62
Both of those movies were GREAT, I was a ARMY BRAT & lived in W. GERMANY for 10 yrs. I could still smell death in some of the bunkers I found jumping the wire off Bittburg airbase & Bamburg tank base. I found lots of Nazi items, especially the MP 43 & a P 38 with the NAZI EAGLE & 2 WAFFEN SS BAYONET’S with there covers.
Michael
The longest day.
grandeur70
It would have been better if it wasn’t a “spot the movie star” type of film.
John
…but it probably wouldn’t have been as popular. And Zanuck wanted EVERYONE to see it. To his credit the word must’ve gotten to all involved, star, not-yet-star or “wannabe,” to recognize what they portray. Personally I think they all do, and that helps make the film memorable.
dirkwrestler
There is something to be said about too much realism: I’m still kicking the sand outta my shoes from watching the opening Beach scene in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. Whew!
grandeur70
What a very tedious film.
John
After Omaha the storyline is allowed to kick in. And a contrived story line it is. But the film is about as visceral as it can get. And the more I watch Hanks the more I like his portrayal.
TALOS63
King Rat is the film that has the most realism and fantasic performances.
buzz daly
the purple heart
Vann Morrison
I just saw American Sniper the other day. I had already read the book. Very impressive movie. If you’re a veteran you’ll understand it, especially if you were deployed and left your wife and family behind. I think Clint Eastwood has outdone himself on this one. The movie didn’t really follow the book so much, but what movie does. To me it wasn’t so much about the war or killing the bad guys as it was more about when you come home and there’s no more war to fight. What to do with yourself and how you act around family and friends. The really hard part is getting them to understand. Once again my hats off to Clint Eastwood and especially Bradley Cooper in his portrayal of Kyle. I understand why veterans and conservative minded people like the movie and why liberals hate it so much.
raysson
AMERICAN SNIPER was nominated for six Oscars including Best Picture and won for Best Sound Editing.
raysson
Vann….I also got the chance to see Clint Eastwood’s “American Sniper” over the weekend and to me it was very impressive. If you were a veteran fighting in Iraq you wouldn’t know the situation that was around them and the chances for survival they took. What does these backward retarded liberals know? Let one of these right wing liberals put on a uniform and a gun and land them in the situation in the Middle East where they would take a bullet and see what they will experience through the eyes of war veteran that has seen it all and live to tell the tale.
fbusch
come on Raysson, LEFTWING LIBERALS!!
Mr. Hoover
war of the roses !
raysson
“War of the Roses” was a situation comedy with Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner and not a movie about world war 2 or the war in vietnam
Mr. Hoover
A tiny dose of ( misplaced. it appears ) humor .
Jonathan Silverberg
The PBS miniseries from the 60’s that had David Warner as Henry and Ian Holm as Richard Crookback?
http://www.1001moviequotes.com/ 1001 movie quotes
I find Band of Brothers better than any other war movie!
raysson
There was another called “Tour Of Duty” that originally was on network television that starred Tom Berenger about a group of soldiers fighting the war in Vietnam during the 1960’s and early-1970’s
Rustle Crow
“Amberjack, Rossi and Clearboy are all dead in the rose garden, sir.”
Although it’s not my favorite, and it has a little too much ’60s sensibility to it, I’ve always been partial to “Castle Keep”. I’m surprised no one else has mentioned it.
And “Play Dirty” has to be one of the grittiest movies ever.
Jeff Jenkins
I’ve seen “Castle Keep” and you are right. It is somewhat obscure and “different” but worth watching. I haven’t seen “PlayDirty” (at least I don’t think so) but I will look for it.
rogerscorpion
Michael Caine & Nigel Davenport.
mrpilgrim
‘Castle Keep’–excellent movie that hardly anyone has seen let alone heard of. I tried to by it here but was told it wasn’t available anymore! The one movie I called in to order along with a big list of others, but was so bummed that they didn’t have it that I just said ‘okay, thanks anyway’.
rogerscorpion
Michele Cain was great in play dirty.
http://www.livewatchmovies.com/ Ashley Bredon Williams
The American Snipper is the best war movie for all times. It tell the story of a solider that he never leave duty.
raysson
To: Ashley Bredon Williams:
Out of the six nominations that Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper received including the Best Picture nomination as well as for Best Actor, Best Director,Best Screenplay,and Best Supporting Actress it won the 2014 Oscar for Sound Editing. But make no mistake. American Sniper is the greatest war movie since Francis Coppula’s Apocalypse Now and Oliver Stone’s Platoon in the harrowing tale of the sniper that set the tone for American history.
http://www.livewatchmovies.com/ Ashley Bredon Williams
yes it’s true so that’s why i like this movie a lot.
Jonathan Silverberg
Midway, with all of that real aerial combat footage.
raysson
It is best to see MIDWAY in the way it was meant to be seen in the theaters….on a super panavision widescreen and experience the excitement in SENSURROUND SOUND. Not only combinating real World War 2 aerial combat footage but seeing Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Glenn Ford, and James Stewart in the prime of their careers.
TrippyTrellis
I think most would consider this magnificent film a historical drama, not a war movie.
Debbie R
I just saw American Sniper when it came out & I loved it. I was not aware that it was a true story either. But it was awesome.
Richard 1
There a many fine war movies which makes it a hard choice, so I will list some of my favorites, “The War Lover” with Steve McQueen and Robert Wagner, Bogart in “Sahara,” “12 O’clock High” with Gregory Peck, “Pork Chop Hill” also with Peck, “The Best Years of Our Lives” with a large cast, “Schindler’s list” and “Saving Private Ryan” from Speilberg, and if you want a war comedy try “What Did you do in the War Daddy?”
fbusch
I think that the guy who writes the dialog makes a real difference in a films quality.
marjiilew
I love “The Enemy Below” and “Father Goose”. I have special ties to “The Great Escape” because the prisoner who looked after the stove was (in real life) Patrick Langford who was from my home town of Jasper, Alberta. I also have ties to “Dambusters” as another Jasper boy, Alden Cottam was killed when his plane was shot down while trying to bomb the Eder Dam. Both of those movies were great!! Also liked “Bridge on the River Kwai”.
Bobby Litwin
I am glad you mentioned “The Enemy Below,” marjiilew. I had forgotten it, and “Run Silent, Run Deep.” Although it’s not a War movie, I like “Casablanca” a lot. It is a great movie, particularly when the Patriots in Rick’s drown out the Germans singing with the very emotional “Marseilles.” Plus, my Uncle Phil Epstein won an Oscar for writing the Screenplay, a long time ago.
mrpilgrim
Mine used to be one of several because they were all excellent–but ‘Saving Private Ryan’, ‘Battleground’, ‘We Were Soldiers’, ‘Windtalkers’, ‘Hell Is For Heroes’, ‘Hamburger Hill’, and I’m sure I left out a couple but my best one now is the terribly under acknowledged ‘Fury’-With Brad Pitt and an excellent fellow tank crew. That whole movie was the greatest as far as the depiction of war goes, but the ending battle takes the award for number 1. I mean, as an American it will bring a tear to your eye. It shows the reason will just barely beat Hitler and the evil war machine.
John
Forgot about Battleground. Excellent flick.
mrpilgrim
John-you’re right. ‘Battleground’ is one of the best! I don’y how I forgot it and I remembered it later that day but didn’t have time to go back and add it; by the time I did I had forgot all about it.
fbusch
Finally, We were soldiers! mentioned. by the way, I recently saw the guy who was there as the reporter, on ‘Vietnam in hd’.
NasirJones
Favorite would be the great escape. Follows up would be kelly’s heroes, saving private ryan and von ryan’s express
grandeur70
My favourites are THE BURMESE HEART, followed by COME AND SEE; BALLAD OF A SOLDIER; LENINGRAD ( not the recent film with the same name) and PATHS OF GLORY
Taabish
Very few movies are as moving as “The Pianist (2002)”.
“The Hurt Locker” and “Saving Private Ryan” are other favorites.
rogerscorpion
DAS BOOT TRUE LIFE ABOARD A NAZI U-BOAT
NICOLAS
My favorite war movies of all time probably are the Sam Fuller Movies, Steel Helmet and fried Bayonettes. Both which take place during the Korean War and feature an actor who I think should hav become a bigger star, Gene Evans.
fbusch
I must agree, since I’m a big Gene Evans fan!
raysson
CHINA GATE was another great War movie directed by Samuel Fuller. This war movie set against the backdrop of the French/Indochina War had a great cast that included Gene Barry, Lee Van Cleef, Angie Dickinson and the great Nat King Cole. Wasn’t the best of Samuel Fuller’s movies but it is worth watching in the letterbox format (originally filmed in Cinemascope).
raysson
CHINA GATE, released in 1957 is another underrated of Samuel Fuller’s war movies of the 1950’s
tolly devlin
Air Force by Howard Hawks & John Ford’s They Were Expendable are two of my favorites, but that D-Day scene in Saving Private Ryan is a major accomplishment. Some other faves are Hamburger Hill, Pork Chop Hill, Band of Brothers,Path of Glory & Full Metal Jacket.
Trevelyn Wolf
The Cruel Sea, Band of Brothers, Ike: Countdown to D-Day.
Alex Krajci
Sahara, with Humphrey Bogart and Sink the Bismark are my alltime favorite war movies.
John Vandelden
The Great Escape is my favorite wartime movie. Based on actual fact and very informative. Also an excellent cast.
raysson
SAVING PRIVATE RYAN was nominated for eleven Oscars including Best Picture and won five Oscars for Best Director,Cinematopgraphy,Best Actor(Tom Hanks),and Best Original Score (John Williams)…was the second highest grossing picture of 1998.
raysson
FURY…a great World War II drama with Brad Pitt that should have gotten Oscar buzz…..
Ralph C. Dyson
Saving Pvt Ryan, Midway, Tora,Tora,Tora, Memphis Belle, Unbroken, American Sniper, all great movies
Guy Charlebois
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Monzini Kredenza
Objective Burma, Destination Tokyo, Saving Private Ryan, Action in the North Atlantic, Tora-Tora-Tora, Taking Chance, American Sniper, Act of Valor, Zero Dark Thirty.
jrr22
There were so many good war movies but was really moved by Taking Chance (if you watch this, have a box of kleenix next to you), Soldier of the King, Battle of the Bulge, Action in the North Atlantic, The Great Escape, In Harm’s Way, Sink the Bismark, Kelly’s Heroes, etc., etc.
DGabriel
There is no such thing as a ” favourite war movie” –
Jeff Jenkins
OMG! A pacifist shows up on a discussion of favorite war movies. Troll. British troll judging by your use of “favourite” vs. favorite.
sister_petra
I agree
Running Blue Eyes
Tora! Tora! Tora! Accurate details of what really happened and all the errors on the part of the leaders of the U.S.
FalmouthBill
A great many of my favorite “war” movies, are not really “war” movies, but stories that happen to be set during a war, “wartime” movies. For instance Heaven Knows Mr. Allison, Night of the Generals, Pride of the Marines, The Bedford Incident [ does the “cold” war count ?], etc.. But, for pure war movies, I enjoy The Enemy Below, Gung Ho, Run Silent, Run Deep, Destination Tokyo, Stalag 17, etc.
WDPjr
Stalag 17 is one of my all time favorite movies of any genre.
Jeff Jenkins
“Heaven Knows Mr. Allison” is a great “wartime” movie as is one of my favorites, “Father Goose”. For the “Cold War” I vote “Dr. Strangelove”.
riskey .
PATTON
raysson
This year marks the film’s 45th anniversary…PATTON upon its release in 1970 was a huge commercial and critically acclaim success making it one of the top ten highest grossing pictures of that year…the winner of 8 Oscars including Best Picture.
Tom Retzleff
In Harms Way. with the Duke, and Horse Soldiers with William Holden
raysson
IN HARM’S WAY-directed by Otto Preminger and starring John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum from 1965.
WDPjr
Robert Mitchum is not in this one – that is Jim Mitchum, Robert’s brother.
Curtis
I have the movie,and it says James Mitchum,unless he goes by Jim?
WDPjr
James went by Jim, which I picked up from a couple different sources. But I was wrong: he is not Robert’s brother — he is in fact Robert Mitchum’s son.
Vince
It was Jim Mitchum. He’s Robert’s son. Although he did play Robert’s brother in “Thunder Road”.
Bobby Litwin
There’s no better “whoomping” sound than big Navy guns in “In Harm’s Way” and in the final sea battle of “a Mother-Lovin’, Gut-Bustin’ Navy War!” The first 15 minutes or so of “Saving Private Ryan,” according to some Combat Veterans, come closer than any other War movie to the real terror of an amphibious landing. As for Infantry combat, “We Were Warriors” is so realistic you won’t want to miss a minute for another cold beer. The best examples of General Officers and their decisions about Mission and Sacrifice should include Eisenhower in “The Longest Day,” “Patton,” and “MacArthur,” with Gregory Peck’s spot-on turn as our Nation’s Best Wartime General and Peacetime Administrator. His final Roll Call with the Cadets at West Point is unforgettable: “. . .my last thoughts will be of the Corps, and the Corps, and the Corps.”
Dave Millard
“Too Late the Hero” was a great movie as well – never hear about that one…
Linda Kelley
The Longest Day and Patton
Curtis
I have Pearl Harber,guns of Navarone,Longest Day,Midway,The Bridge on the River Kwai,Dirty Dozen,Tweve O’Clock High,and my Favorite The Great Raid,and U-571.Oh/And Mrs.Miniver..
allen
sands of iwo jima twelve o’clock high and casa blanca(yes it is a war movie)
David Berry
IN HARMS WAY
Andy Allu
Anything by Samuel Fuller (Steel Helmet, Fixed Bayonets, Big Red One, Hell & High water) or Walk in the Sun, Sahara, Midway…. heck they are all so good.
Ronald Talbert
From Here to Eternity… Perfect cast, great story!
Christopher Wolf
There’s quite a few super War movies. Being a veteran, my favorite has to be Oliver Stone’s “Platoon”
Dobbs
I have two favorites. Objective,Burma! and Saving Private Ryan.
Patricia Dries
I have three movies that I really like “Titanic” “All Mine To Give” and “Never Say Goodbye” with Rock Hudson
Steinar Stefferud
My best wwII Movies is “Iron Cross” with James Coburn.
“Uboot-26” “Heroes of Telemark” with Kirk Douglas.
Nicole
For WWII: ‘Mrs. Miniver’ for family life during war,’30 Seconds over Tokyo’ for air combat footage of Japan, and ‘Battleground’ for realism on the Battle of the Bulge.
John
If you liked Mrs Miniver for what it aimed for then try a later and semi-autobiographical take on the same period, Hope and Glory.
Curtis
Where I saw Waterloo Bridge A Romance in World war ll TMC Was I saw it the first time
Neil’
There are quite a few excellent war movies. Some I unable to pass up on TV.My list is Sahara,They were expendable, A bridge too far and Objective Burma.
fbusch
these are all top shelf, even though they ere all wartime propaganda epics.
Nicoles below are also great.
Mike
A walk in the Sun
fbusch
a walk in the sun although the dialog was pretty stilted, I can still watch it many times.
Mike S.
How about Pearl Harbor? A descent amount of humor, romance,flightier plane action and fairly good acting.
fbusch
Having seen the originals co-opted for this film, I felt they just tried to put too much in their version.
John Foran
Bataan 30 seconds over Tokyo Glory Gettysburg, the Lost Battalion, A Guy named Joe
b nonymous
Saving Private Ryan, for realism, In Harms Way, for the Duke, The Guns of Navarone for Gregory Peck and his great line when he tells David Niven off about getting the job done after they kill the girl. No line ever delivered better in my opinion.
Butch Knouse
You mean the female spy.
b nonymous
Yes, after they kill the female spy.
Tom la Pare
Stalag 17 with William Holden and 36 Hours, James Garner!
Summersunshine
Stalag 17, In Harm’s Way comes to mind…..then the WAR MOVIE (whose name I can’t recall) where the son returns home without arms…..and makes the transition into being a man again.
WDPjr
You might be thinking of “The Best Years of Our Lives”. Harold Russell was in the movie and was actually a double-amputee from injuries during WWII. This is a movie about returning servicemen and their various problems re-adjusting to civilian life. Not really a “war” movie, but a great, great movie everyone should see.
Linda Wilson-Sterling
Casablanca, my favorite movie of all time.
F. G. Kaye
PATTON ! Period…
b nonymous
Looking over the list of some of the recent posts, I noticed no one mentions the Great Escape.
A true story to some degree but hollywoodized for the common folk. Great cast, like the story.
Black & White Critic in Color
Bridge on the River Kiwi; Patton; Saving Private Ryan; Red tails
speedle24
The very best was “kelly’s Heroes”. A lot of comedy with some very well presented drama. For pure war I would have to cite “Hell is for Heroes” with McQueen, Coburn and (no kidding) Bob Newhart.
Melinda
Where Eagle’s Dare.
evangeline
I get a kick out of war movies: A Bridge Too Far, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Bridge on the River Kwai, Darkness at Noon [Apocalypse, Now] and Casablanca.
Scott Allen
My favorites are Battle of Britain, Bridges of Toko Ri, Bridge on the River Kwai, Patton, and The Great Escape
Steve Wethington
Probably Guadall Canal or Enemy Below
http://www.rowlandscherman.com Rowland
Das Boot, Platoon, Saving Private Ryan, Pork Chop Hill
lyndell
“300” modern wars are too clean.
Robert G. Clark
| Alistair MacLean |
Which English painter, the co-founder and first president of the Royal Academy, was the principal court painter to George III ? | Sterling Adult Spring 2012 by Canadian Manda Group - issuu
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TABLE OF CONTENTS Sterling, 1 Sterling Epicure, 20 Sterling Ethos, 28 Sterling Signature, 32 Silver Oak, 34 Splinter, 39 Fall River Press, 41 Hearst Books, 43 Lark Crafts, 51 Where Women Create, 63 Pixiq, 65 Puzzlewright, 70 Distribution, 77 Index, 124
STERLING
Scrumptious recipes, all featuring ultra-healthy, super-nutritious leafy greens Sales Points Nava Atlas is a bestselling author; more than 500,000 copies of her titles are in print Author’s website, VegKitchen.com, has grown into one of the most widely visited and respected resources on vegan cooking with more than 200,000 page views per month Author is featured regularly in VegNews, BlogTalk Radio, Cookstr.com and on Martha Stewart Radio, Huffington Post, AP, and Creators Syndicate columns Author has an active and rapidly growing Facebook page for VegKitchen (facebook.com/VegKitchen) Author has a wide network of colleagues in the vegetarian and vegan community who will be thrilled to support the launch of Wild About Greens The book’s photographer Susan Voisin’s FatFree Vegan Kitchen (blog.fatfreevegan.com) is one of the most popular vegan sites on the web Author contributes regularly to One Green Planet (onegreenplanet.org) and other healthy living portals on the web
Marketing & PUBLICITY campaign • National publicity • Features and reviews in cooking magazines • Mother’s Day gift guide coverage • Promotion on author’s website, vegkitchen.com • Online recipe excerpts, reviews, and vegan blog outreach • Social media campaign through author platforms on Facebook (vegkitchen.com) and Twitter (@navaatlas2) • Regional author events
K
ale, collards, spinach, Asian greens, and many more leafy greens are a breeze to grow and prepare. Celebrated vegan and vegetarian cookbook author Nava Atlas serves up 125 recipes that showcase the most commonly used varieties in a wide selection of flavorful dishes. Nava’s up-to-the-minute ideas range from using sturdy collard greens as wrappers for savory fillings to making luscious dips from arugula and watercress. There’s even a section on green juices and smoothies that make it easier than ever to incorporate the most nutritious foods on earth into delicious everyday fare that everyone can enjoy.
Wild About Greens 125 Delicious Vegan Recipes for Kale, Collards, Arugula, Bok Choy, and other Leafy Veggies Everyone Loves Nava Atlas 978-1-4027-8588-7 $24.95 ($29.95 CAN) | Hard | 7 1/2 x 9 1/2 | 240 pages (all in 2-color, 8-page full-color photo insert) ebook: 978-1-4027-9632-6 | $7.99 ($9.99 CAN) Territory: World | June 2012 Nava Atlas has written 10 previous bestselling cookbooks including Vegan Holiday Kitchen (Sterling 2011). She has long been considered an expert in meat-free holiday fare, which is the most popular area of her website, VegKitchen. com. Nava is also a visual artist, whose work has been shown nationally in museums, galleries, and alternative art spaces, and is part of numerous museum and university collections.
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STERLING
Everyday Gluten-Free Slow Cooking More Than 140 Delicious Recipes Kimberly Mayone & Kitty Broihier, MS, RD A slow cooker makes it so easy to prepare delicious meals-and now, for the first time, here are 140 simple, scrumptious, and safe recipes developed and tested for anyone who embraces the gluten-free life--or who simply feels it's more healthful to avoid gluten. These dishes offer dozens of satisfying and effortless mealtime solutions for busy families, where celiac disease or gluten intolerance is a concern. Delicious recipes such as Louisiana Crab and Pecan Dip; Apple & Thyme Roasted Chicken; and Vanilla Poached Pears make it easy to “eat healthy,” and are guaranteed to please even the most finicky palate.
Kimberly Mayone is a cookbook author and owner of WOW Delicious™, a recipe development company. The editor of Flavorista.com and a regular contributor to fresh Magazine, Mrs. Mayone has also written for Health magazine. Kitty Broihier, MS, RD is a cookbook author and owner of NutriComm Inc., a food and nutrition communications consulting company. Previously on the editorial staff at Good Housekeeping magazine, Ms. Broihier has written many magazine articles and contributes regularly to a variety of national and regional publications. She is a member of the American Dietetic Association and currently serves as President of the Maine Dietetic Association.
Publisher: Sterling Published: March 2012 240 pages 978-1-4027-8553-5 $22.95 ($27.95 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket all in 2-color 8X9 Carton Quantity: 22 Territory: World Author Hometown: South Portland, ME (Both)
-National publicity -Features and reviews in cooking magazines, and food columns in newspapers nationwide -Mother’s Day gift guide coverage -Online recipe excerpts, food blogger outreach
- The authors' previous book, The Everyday Low-Carb Slow Cooker Cookbook, has sold nearly 111,000 copies - Authors have registered two domain names: glutenfreeslowcooking.com and theglutenfreeslowcooker.com - Book includes dairy-free and vegetarian recipes - Kitty Broihier reviews all of the consumer recipes published in fresh Magazine for Hannaford Supermarkets to determine their gluten-free status; fresh Magazine would be a good first serial option
The Chia Book Wayne Coates, PhD For people trying to lose weight and enhance well-being, it's a little miracle: chia, a tiny seed that the Aztecs used for centuries as a super food, provides a complete source of dietary protein with more omega-3 fatty acids than salmon and more fiber--but fewer carbs--than rice, grains, and corn. In fact, chia is a gluten-free natural appetite suppressant that helps regenerate muscle, sustain energy, and balance blood sugar. This definitive work covers the history and benefits of chia, and features a comprehensive daily strategy for weight loss, plus delicious recipes!
Dr. Wayne Coates is Professor Emeritus in the Office of Arid Lands Studies at the University of Arizona, and is perhaps the world's foremost educator on chia seeds. He was among the first to grow chia experimentally and later for commercial purposes. Dr. Coates is the co-author, with Ricardo Ayerza, of Chia: Rediscovering a Forgotten Crop of the Aztecs. He lives in Prescott, Arizona.
-Author is founder of the educational chia website www.azchia.com and head of Arizona Chia's retail operation - Chia is both gluten- and sugar-free, and good for both celiacs and diabetics - Ideal for runners and other athletes because it boosts endurance and muscle recovery, and is recommended as well for dieters and those suffering from arthritis
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Publisher: Sterling Published: May 2012 192 pages 978-1-4027-9943-3 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper all in 2-color 6X9 Territory: World Author Hometown: Prescott, AZ
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Feeding Eden The Trials and Triumphs of a Food Allergy Family Susan Weissman Imagine rushing your child to the hospital, terrified for his life…just because he took a mouthful of the wrong food or a few drops of milk touched his skin. Susan Weissman knows how that feels. From birth, her son Eden suffered from allergies so intense that an errant bite could be deadly: Dairy, eggs, soy, nuts, fish, shellfish, and several fruits all wreaked havoc with his body. Susan had to make food the focus of her existence just to lead him safely through a world filled with edible landmines. In Feeding Eden, Susan writes with poignancy, honesty, and humor about her quest to help her son--including trying a cluster of alternative therapies-as well as the effect of Eden's illness on their entire family. More than just a story for parents with severely allergic children, this is a stirring account of one woman's recipe for motherhood as she rises to a challenge she has no choice but to conquer-and successfully restores her entire family's appetite for life Susan Weissman is an active member of national organizations focused on food allergies, including the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network and the Food Allergy Initiative. She is published in several electronic and print publications including Allergic Living magazine, Mom Writers Literary Magazine, and The Huffington Post. She maintains an online presence through her blog peanutsineden.com and through Twitter at twitter.com/susanweissman. She lives in New York City.
-National publicity -20-city radio satellite tour -Tie into authors lecture schedule throughout the spring -Cross promotion with major food allergy organizations -Reviews and features in parenting, food, and food allergy publications -Online campaign to mommy bloggers, and food allergy bloggers -Promotions on author website, susanweissman.com -Social media campaign through author platforms on Twitter (@susanweissman), and as a contributor to the Huffington Post (huffingtonpost.com/susan-weissman)
- More than two million school-age children and 12 million Americans have food allergies - With rates of allergies rising, it has been said that allergies are the “new” autism - FEEDING EDEN is one of the first food allergy memoirs in a growing trend, and is an appealing twist on the “momoir”: if you Google “food allergy memoir,” Susan's website www.peanutsineden.com is one of the top results
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Publisher: Sterling Published: March 2012 240 pages 978-1-4027-8122-3 $24.95 ($29.95 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket 6X9 Carton Quantity: 20 Territory: WENG Author Hometown: New York, NY
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Pot, Inc. Inside Medical Marijuana, America’s Most Outlaw Industry Greg Campbell, author of Blood Diamonds and Flawless Greg Campbell, coauthor of the bestselling Flawless and Blood Diamonds, presents a compelling, close-up investigation of a hot-button topic: America's schizophrenic attitude to the legalization of pot. Campbell, a suburban father whose biggest vice is a cold beer, seems like the last person who would grow weed in his basement. But his attitude changed in 2009, when his home state of Colorado led the nation in mainstreaming medical marijuana. Watching with fascination as above-board and financially thriving dispensaries popped up everywhere, Campbell wondered, “Why not me?” Pot, Inc. chronicles Greg's journey into DIY ganjapreneurialism, as he learns how to cultivate marijuana, examines America's often unduly harsh laws, and unearths ignorance about pot's centuries-old therapeutic value--ignorance the government is desperate to maintain. Along the way, he also gains a very personal insight into the drug's medicinal value that shapes his opinion about legalization. GREG CAMPBELL is the author of Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History (a Denver Post, Globe & Mail, and Library Journal bestseller), Blood Diamonds: Tracing the Deadly Path of the World's Most Precious Stones (the source material for the Leonardo DiCaprio movie of the same name), and The Road to Kosovo: A Balkan Diary. An award-winning journalist, his writing has appeared in The Wall Street Journal Magazine, The Economist, The San Francisco Times, Paris Match, and The Christian Science Monitor, among others. He lives in Fort Collins, CO.
-National publicity -20-city radio tour -Features and reviews in general interest print publications -Online coverage and blog outreach -Author events in CO -Promotions on author website, www.bygregcampbell.com -Follow Greg on Twitter (@greg_campbell) -Galleys available - Marijuana is the most frequently used drug in the US--more than every other drug combined. About a third of the population over the age of twelve has smoked at least once and an estimated 20 million smoke it every year. Two million smoke it every day - Greg's has a growing Internet and social media presence, including a revised website (bygregcampbell.com) featuring his blogging for The Green Zone, plus Twitter, Facebook, and a personal blog - Greg's is the first book to tackle the current medical marijuana debate in an investigative yet personal way
Praise for FLAWLESS: "Like a diamond, this true-life caper is clear, colorful, and brilliant." --Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Fans of caper books and movies will be in seventh heaven here. ...A must-read for true-crime fans." --Booklist (starred review)
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Publisher: Sterling Published: April 2012 288 pages 978-1-4027-7925-1 $22.95 ($27.95 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket 6X9 Territory: WENG Author Hometown: Fort Collins, CO
Sales Points Conservative books sell well, and this subject matter is current and popular There has been a resurgence in sales of the Constitution, from a Kindle edition ranked 550, to a 2008 Wilder edition (36,000 copies sold) Things will heat up going into Election Day, with several Tea Party Express tours scheduled before the 2012 elections Organizations like Wallbuilders, Oathkeepers, Rainbow Resources (a homeschooling organization), and other freedom groups order this book consistently Sales Points • National media outreach • Conservative radio interviews and giveaways • Social media campaign to political bloggers and websites • Tie-in with author’s lecture tour throughout the spring The Constitution Made Easy A Tea Partier’s Guide Michael Holler
W
ritten by a fixture on the Tea Party rally circuit, and unofficially adopted by the Party as its US Constitution guide, this book goes to the ultimate source for answers to the hot-button questions about how our nation is meant to be governed. Each spread pairs a page from the Constitution with a modernized version, clearing up the archaic legalese and making the meaning of the original accessible to anyone. An insightful introduction and detailed endnotes further illuminate the original principles outlined by the architects of the Constitution.
978-1-4027-9832-0 $12.95 ($14.95 Can) | Hard | 5½ x 8¼ | 144 pages ebook 978-1-4027-8931-1 | $6.99 ($8.99 Can) Territory: World | February 2012
Mike Holler is a freelance writer and speaker who tours with the Tea Party Express, where he often speaks to hundreds or thousands of people at rallies and shares the dais with governors and other famous political personages—where enthusiasm for the Constitution is quite high. He leads Constitution seminars every month, and is a frequent guest and guest host on radio. He lives in the mountains of Colorado. See theconstitutionmadeeasy.com.
A huge success in the author’s original selfpublished edition, this is the essential political guide to have as the 2012 election season heats up.
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Barbra: A Retrospective Allegra Rossi A lavish tribute to perhaps the world's most beloved and enduring star: the incomparable actress, director, and diva, Barbra Streisand. Streisand is a record-breaking global phenomenon who has won virtually every award the entertainment industry has to bestow: Oscars®, Emmys®, Grammys®, Tonys®, a Peabody, and more. This large-format, fully illustrated book celebrates her uniquely brilliant career with hundreds of rarely published photographs, album artwork, memorabilia, annotated lists, and special in-depth features on everything from her trend-setting style to her transcendent voice. Streisand's millions of fans will delight in the treasures they'll discover inside, as they follow Barbra from her Brooklyn childhood to her nightclub appearances, emergence as a Broadway star, rise to Hollywood legend…and beyond. Allegra Rossi is an entertainment writer and author of Romancing the World: A Biography of Il Divo. She lives in London, England.
-National publicity -Features and reviews in entertainment, music, women’s, and general interest magazines -Newspaper coverage in feature and book review sections -Online coverage targeting entertainment and music blogs and fan websites -Blads available
- Published to coincide with Barbra Streisand's 70th birthday in April 2012 - She remains one of the most commercially and critically successful entertainers in modern entertainment history, with more than 71.5 million albums shipped in the United States and 140 million albums sold worldwide - Includes a complete and comprehensive discography
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Publisher: Sterling Published: February 2012 288 pages 978-1-4027-8823-9 $29.95 ($35.95 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket all in color 9 X 12 Carton Quantity: 8 Territory: WENG
STERLING
Zombie Love The Do's, Don'ts, and It Depends of Undead Dating Jeff Busch, Ph.Z Just because you're a reanimated corpse doesn't mean you can't fall in love--as this hilarious dating guide parody proves. Dating is tough, but hooking up when you're undead can be a nightmare. It's hard enough to meet that special something without having to worry about fetid breath, angry mobs, and missing (ahem) appendages. And if you do score a night on the prowl with the zombie of your dreams, you'll face all the usual dating concerns, and then some: How soon is too soon to call after a first date? What's the best cover-up for a shotgun wound? And what's the proper dining etiquette when your meal tries to call the authorities? Filled with insightful advice, tips, quizzes, and more, Zombie Love will help any walking corpse find a soul mate and maybe even a happily ever afterlife.
Flawless Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History Scott Andrew Selby and Greg Campbell, author of Blood Diamonds On February 15, 2003, a group of thieves broke into an allegedly airtight vault in the international diamond capital of Antwerp, Belgium and made off with over $108 million dollars worth of diamonds and other valuables. The crime seemed flawless--but the getaway was not. Scott Andrew Selby, a Harvard Law grad and diamond expert, and Greg Campbell, author of Blood Diamonds, undertook a global chase to uncover the true story behind this daring heist. Tracking the threads of the story throughout Europe, the authors put together the puzzle of what actually happened that Valentine’s Day weekend. Now in paper, this real-life Ocean’s Eleven provides a thrilling in-depth study detailing the better-than-fiction heist of the century.
It's a Jungle in There Inspiring Lessons, Hard-Won Insights, and Other Acts of Entrepreneurial Daring Steven Schussler, founder of the Rainforest Cafe, with Marvin Karlins Lessons on life and business, from the founder of the Rainforest Café--now available in paperback. As a burgeoning businessman in the 1980s, Steve Schussler stopped at nothing to make his dream of a tropical-themed restaurant come true. Drawing from his own triumphs, he now distills his principles for entrepreneurs on a budget, and also reveals the ways in which his lessons—from self-branding to developing strategic partnerships—can transform larger corporations. "A bright pep talk for aspiring entrepreneurs."--Kirkus Reviews “[F]un, inspiring, and full of sound business advice.” --Donald J. Trump
My Boyfriend Wrote a Book About Me Hilary Winston TV writer Hilary Winston offers up a witty collection of autobiographical tales about her misadventures in dating. Just when she feels she's getting her life together, Hilary discovers that her ex has written a novel about their relationship in which he calls her the “fat-assed girlfriend.” Her response to this affront is just one of the stories in this deliciously funny, laugh-out-loud, tell-all, newly available in paper. "Winston's memoir is funny, sensitive, and in the end accomplishes what her ex-boyfriend's novel never could--brazenly tell a story of their relationship destined for the nonfiction shelves." --Booklist
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Publisher: Sterling Published: February 2012 160 pages 978-1-4027-9228-1 $12.95 ($14.95 Canadian) Paper all in 2-color 5X7 Carton Quantity: 68 Territory: World
Publisher: Sterling Published: February 2012 336 pages 978-1-4027-9755-2 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper 6X9 Territory: World
Publisher: Sterling Published: February 2012 256 pages 978-1-4027-9277-9 $12.95 ($14.95 Canadian) Paper 5 1/2 X 8 1/4 Territory: World
Publisher: Sterling Published: May 2012 240 pages 978-1-4027-9997-6 $12.95 ($14.95 Canadian) Paper 5 1/2 X 8 1/4 Territory: WENG
STERLING
Gorgeous Wedding Hairstyles A Step-by-Step Guide to 34 Spectacular Hairstyles Eric Mayost A gorgeous coiffure is a bride's crowning glory--and thanks to this fabulous how-to guide, she can have the hairstyle of her dreams without that expensive last-minute trip to a salon. Whether the desired look is elegantly classic or thoroughly modern, the book's step-by-step instructions and color photos make it easy to achieve flawless professional results. There are also beautiful hairstyles for all the other ladies of the bridal party, from the flower girls to the maid of honor. Eric Mayost, top Tel Aviv hairstylist, is the owner of one of the city's trendiest salons. He has styled hair for ads, television shows, and leading fashion magazines, and led professional hairstyling courses and seminars. He's known for creating hairstyles that are innovative and hip. Mayost is also the author of the bestseller Spectacular Hair.
Publisher: Sterling Published: February 2012 144 pages 978-1-4027-8589-4 $16.95 ($19.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 8 X 10 Carton Quantity: 30 Territory: World with exclusions*
- The previous two books in this series have sold more than 31,000 copies total
At the Mountains of Madness (Illustrated Classics) H.P. Lovecraft, Illustrated by Ian N. J. Culbard I am forced into speech because men of science have refused to follow my advice without knowing why. H.P. Lovecraft's terrifying horror story gets an illustrated interpretation by one of today's finest graphic novel artists. Geologist William Dyer--the narrator of this novella--is desperate to stop a research team planning a journey to Antarctica. He himself led a disastrous mission there, only to discover evidence of blood-chilling evil from beyond Earth. Will the new expedition continue its plans? And what will happen if they go? Once again, as he did in The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Hound of the Baskervilles, Ian N. J. Culbard has created an unforgettably powerful retelling of a classic tale.
In 2006, Ian N. J. Culbard surpassed thousands of other writers and had his work published in Dark Horse Comics' New Recruits anthology. He has since appeared in the anthology series Dark Horse Presents, Judge Dredd Magazine, and 2000 AD. Culbard is an acclaimed animation director. This is the third full-length graphic novel for which he has created the art, having previously collaborated on The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Hound of the Baskervilles with Ian Edginton.
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Publisher: Sterling Published: February 2012 128 pages 978-1-4027-8042-4 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 6 1/2 X 9 1/2 Carton Quantity: 40 Territory: US/Can
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Record Store Days From Vinyl to Digital and Back Again Gary Calamar and Phil Gallo, foreword by Peter Buck of R.E.M. “There’s nothing as glamorous as a record store.” – Paul McCartney In this era of digital downloads, the small, indie record shop might sound like an anachronism. But, in fact, record stores served as community centers, information exchanges, clubs, art galleries, and launching pads for numerous bands and record labels. Record Store Days takes a long, loving look back at the retail refuges that enthralled at least three generations of music lovers, providing a glimpse into the special alchemy that makes a great record store. Written and compiled by two record store veterans, this lively and nostalgic anthology--now availabe in paperback--includes photographs and reminiscences from musicians, music industry executives, former record store clerks, and, of course, avid fans.
Clint A Retrospective Richard Schickel, introduction by Clint Eastwood This will make your day! Written by renowned film critic and acclaimed documentary filmmaker Richard Schickel, this lavish celebration of Clint Eastwood's life and films--now in paperback--features an introduction by the legend himself. Richly illustrated with over 300 spectacular images, including memorable stills and behind-the-scenes photos, Clint spans his entire career, from the early spaghetti westerns and iconic “Dirty” Harry films to the soulful Bird (1988), the masterful Unforgiven (1992), and modern classics like Mystic River (2003), Million Dollar Baby (2004), Flags of Our Fathers (2006), and J. Edgar (2011).
Elvis: All Shook Up Stories and Insights from David Halberstam, William F. Buckley, Bono, Robert Plant, Ann-Margret, Peggy Lipton, and Many More With an introduction by Roy Blount, Jr. Elvis remains the “King” of rock-and this star-studded collection pays tribute to his enduring power. Admirers from all walks of life weigh in, including award-winning journalists and influential thinkers (William F. Buckley Jr.); rock stars (Kris Kristofferson, Bono); starlets (Ann Margret, Barbara Eden), and many others. Entertaining and illuminating, this anthology shows why people are still “all shook up” over Elvis.
Canyon of Dreams The Magic and the Music of Laurel Canyon Harvey Kubernik, foreword by Ray Manzarek, afterword by Lou Adler A lavishly illustrated insider’s look at 80 years of music and culture in Laurel Canyon--a ZIP code with its own playlist. Sonny & Cher, the Doors, the Monkees, the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; the Eagles, Carole King, and others cultivated their immortal sounds in this L.A.-based musical fraternity. Written by a long-time Canyon resident who knows them all, Canyon of Dreams traces the history of the community and its enduring legacy. Taking a deeply personal approach, it uses a multiple-voice narration based on exclusive interviews with the area’s musical elite. Because of their close connection with Kubernik, some of these stars are speaking openly for the first time. New in paper.
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Publisher: Sterling Published: February 2012 256 pages 978-1-4027-9455-1 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 8X8 Carton Quantity: 18 Territory: World Author Hometown: Los Angeles, CA (Calamar)Los Angeles, CA (Gallo)
Publisher: Sterling Published: March 2012 296 pages 978-1-4027-9704-0 $17.95 ($21.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 7 1/2 X 9 Territory: WENG Author Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Publisher: Sterling Published: July 2012 144 pages 978-1-4027-8418-7 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket 6X9 Territory: North America Only
Publisher: Sterling Published: March 2012 384 pages 978-1-4027-9761-3 $17.95 ($21.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 7 1/2 X 10 Carton Quantity: 12 Territory: World Author Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
THE QUICK-FIX SERIES: A new e-book publishing program Sterling’s new Quick-Fix series, created in partnership with thefix.com, features compact, affordable e-books that focus on addiction, recovery, self-help, and celebrities. In keeping with the popular website’s approach, these books offer a hip, edgy view of the subject of all forms of addiction and recovery, complete with investigative reporting on important current hot topics. By design, they’re not only controversial, entertaining, and informative, but dedicated to seeking a more enlightened, progressive view on this most serious subject.
ALL EBOOKS: $2.99 ($3.99 CAN) • 60 PAGES • ALL IN COLOR
978-1-4027-9791-0 • AVAILABLE NOW
978-1-4027-9794-1 • AUGUST 2012
ABOUT THEFIX.COM’S CREATOR MAER ROSHAN,
founder & editor-in-chief of TheFix.com is a writer and editor who also founded the awardwinning Radar Magazine and the popular website Radaronline.com. He has served as deputy editor of New York, and editorial director of Talk, features editor of Interview, and editor in chief of QW. His articles have appeared in The New York Times, the Miami Herald, Vogue, New York, The New Republic and many other publications. In 2007 AdAge included him in its annual list of the top editors in the business.
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Winston Churchill, CEO 25 Lessons for Bold Business Leaders. Alan Axelrod, author of Ghandi and Napoleon, CEO Winston Churchill was the quintessential leader of the 20th century--and a perfect subject for Alan Axelrod’s bestselling CEO series. Churchill skillfully converted crisis into victory, making the boldest of visions seem attainable; even though he sometimes failed audaciously, he embraced his errors and used them to become stronger. Axelrod looks at this much-studied figure in a way nobody has before, exploring 25 key facets of Churchill’s leadership style and decision-making, from his early years as a junior cavalry officer to his role in WWII, and demonstrates how he overcame near-impossible obstacles. Fluidly and engagingly written, each lesson is enlivened with a vivid vignette from Churchill’s life. New in paperback.
Theodore Roosevelt, CEO 7 Principles to Guide and Inspire Modern Leaders Alan Axelrod The newest in Alan Axelrod's celebrated CEO series examines Theodore Roosevelt--typically ranked among the top five US presidents by historians. Following in the vein of his popular Winston Churchill, CEO and Gandhi, CEO, Axelrod provides an unprecedented look at this much-studied figure. In an engaging, conversational style, Axelrod explores seven inspirational areas that characterize Roosevelt's leadership “lives,” from the active life to the learning life, and derives from them 136 invaluable lessons for modern business executives.
Gandhi, CEO 14 Principles to Guide & Inspire Modern Leaders Alan Axelrod Gandhi, a CEO? Absolutely—and an incomparable example for our uncertain times, when we need leaders we can trust and admire. Not only was he a moral and intensely spiritual man, but also a supremely practical manager and a powerful agent for change, able to nurture the rebirth of an entire nation. Alan Axelrod looks at this much-studied figure in a way nobody has before, employing his fluid, engaging, and conversational style to bring each lesson to life through quotes and vivid examples from Gandhi's life. New in paperback.
Profiles in Folly History's Worst Decisions and Why They Went Wrong Alan Axelrod Using the same engrossing anecdotal format that proved so popular in Profiles in Audacity, bestselling author Alan Axelrod turns to the dark side of audacious decision-making and explores history's most tragic errors. While Axelrod looks at the hopelessly dumb and the overtly evil, the main focus is on smart people who had the best of intentions--but whose plans went disastrously wrong. The 35 compelling, often poignant stories include: the sailing of the Titanic; Edward Bernays's 1929 campaign to recruit women smokers; Neville Chamberlain's appeasement of the Nazis; Ken Lay's deception with Enron; and even the choice to create a “New Coke.” These are cautionary tales--albeit with exquisite twists ranging from acerbic to horrific. New in paperback. 12
Publisher: Sterling Published: March 2012 288 pages 978-1-4027-9776-7 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper 6X9 Territory: World Author Hometown: Atlanta, GA
Publisher: Sterling Published: March 2012 272 pages 978-1-4027-8483-5 $22.95 ($27.95 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket 6X9 Carton Quantity: 18 Territory: World Author Hometown: Atlanta, GA
Publisher: Sterling Published: March 2012 224 pages 978-1-4027-9777-4 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper 6X9 Territory: World Author Hometown: Atlanta, GA
Publisher: Sterling Published: April 2012 368 pages 978-1-4027-9778-1 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper 6X9 Territory: World Author Hometown: Atlanta, GA
STERLING
One Week in June: The U.S. Open Stories and Insights About Playing on the Nation's Finest Fairways from Phil Mickelson, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Grantland Rice, Jack Nicklaus, Dave Anderson, and Many More Introduction by Tom Kite, foreword by Don Wade An insider’s pass to the world’s greatest golf tournament! One Week in June: The U.S. Open--now aavailable in paperback--takes fans behind the scenes of the U.S. Open, giving them a rare and privileged peek into the tournament: its glorious history, finest moments, and even its quirkiest happenings. With everything from decades-old newspaper accounts to first-person memoirs, this is a complete look at what Tom Kite calls “the most physically, psychologically, and emotionally exhausting event we play.” The unique compilation features pieces by many of our best known sportswriters, including Grantland Rice, Dan Jenkins, Rick Reilly, Dick Schaap, and Jim Murry, along with the words of the golf legends themselves, such as Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, and Phil Mickelson.
Publisher: Sterling Published: March 2012 448 pages 978-1-4027-9754-5 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper 6X9 Territory: WENG
A former senior editor at Golf Digest, Don Wade has been a golf analyst and reporter for CBS, NBC, and USA Network. He is the author of One Week in April: The Masters, as well as six bestselling golf books, including And Then Jack Said to Arnie…. Wade’s work has appeared in The New York Times and the Boston Globe.
- A follow-up to the popular First Sunday in April: The Masters
- Includes stories from Grantland Rice, Phil Mickelson, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and many, many others - Nearly eight million Americans watched the U.S. Open last year
Glory in the Fall The Greatest Moments in World Series History Edited by Peter Golenbock The most amazing baseball games happened when fall arrived and the boys of summer played for the championship. During those two weeks in October (now November), time stood still. Nothing else mattered. This anthology, now available in paperback, captures the best and worst of times as teams battled for the glory. It features timeless writing by such renowned authors as Stephen Jay Gould, Roger Angell, David Halberstam, Stephen King, and more! Ranging from Robert W. Creamer's look at Casey Stengel's 1923 inside-the-park home run (1923) to Jack Curry's thoughts on the 1994's cancelled series, Glory in the Fall will delight every fan of the game. An ABC Good Morning America Best Books for the Holidays 2010.
PETER GOLENBOCK is the author of Dynasty; The Bronx Zoo: The Astonishing Inside Story of the 1978 World Champion New York Yankees; Wild, High, and Tight; Balls; and The Forever Boys, among many others.
- Includes renowned writers such as Stephen Jay Gould, Tom Oliphant, Roger Angell, David Halberstam, Tom Verducci, Stephen King, and many, many more - Excellent reviews from Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, and many other publications
"A wonderful and chock-full collection of sports journalism." --Publisher's Weekly "An all-star cast of writers...Little is missing in this elegant and comprehensive compilation....this fills a hole in this field of baseball writing..."--Library Journal
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Publisher: Sterling Published: March 2012 424 pages 978-1-4027-9752-1 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper 6X9 Territory: World
STERLING
The Writer's Devotional 365 Inspirational Exercises, Ideas, Tips & Motivations on Writing Amy Peters Whether you're writing fiction or nonfiction, screenplays or poetry, or simply trying to keep a more compelling journal or blog, this invaluable volume will get your creative juices flowing. Beautifully designed with a cloth-bound cover and ribbon place marker, it's filled with 365 inspiring quotations and informative tutorials to help you develop your unique voice. Each day of the week focuses on a different aspect of the writing life, from the business of writing, to the nuts and bolts of editing, to tips and tricks for getting past writer's block.
Great Expectations: Pregnancy & Childbirth Sandy Jones & Marcie Jones The most empowering, informative, and reassuring pregnancy guide for moms-to-be is now thoroughly revised! This new edition of Great Expectations: Pregnancy and Childbirth still has everything moms loved about the first book, including the quick-reference format and appealing mom-to-mom voice. Prospective moms will find the most current and comprehensive week-to-week section and Internet resources, as well up-to-date advice on prenatal testing, weight and nutrition, pregnancy for older women; c-sections, and newborns. Great Expectations: Pregnancy and Childbirth gives readers the confidence they need to ask their obstetrician, midwife, or family practitioner the right questions at the right time.
Dollar Bill Origami Another Way to Impress Your Friends with Money Duy Nguyen If you've got a dollar, you've got an origami creation! Written for intermediate-to-advanced origami practitioners by well-known expert Duy Nguyen, this collection features 19 fun projects. Five sheets of currency-sized paper are included for practice, but the techniques will work with any type of paper money. Start with simple designs such as the Gun & Holster and the Pushpin, and then move onto greater creative challenges like the Chinese Dragon, Elephant, and Boa Constrictor.
The Encyclopedia of New Wave Daniel Bukszpan The Talking Heads, The Boomtown Rats, Blondie, Elvis Costello: this fun new addition to the successful Encyclopedia series celebrates the hugely influential New Wave musical movement of the late 1970s and 80s. Originating as a less-aggressive sister movement to punk, New Wave encompassed a wide range of styles, from Brit pub-rock to electronica, synth-pop, and even ska. The Encyclopedia of New Wave comprehensively captures this eclectic music, all of which enthralled the newly emergent MTV generation. With its tendency toward romantic minimalism, dark dance beats, and gender-bending antics, New Wave changed the course of popular musical history, as well as fashion and art.
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Publisher: Sterling Published: March 2012 384 pages 978-1-4027-8183-4 $17.95 ($21.95 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket all in color 5 X 7 1/2 Carton Quantity: 20 Territory: World Author Hometown: Madison, CT
Publisher: Sterling Published: May 2012 672 pages 978-1-4027-8185-8 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in 2-color 5 1/2 X 8 3/4 Carton Quantity: 44 Territory: World Author Hometown: Brevard, NC (Jones, S)Baltimore, MD (Jones, M)
Publisher: Sterling Published: April 2012 128 pages 978-1-4027-9148-2 $9.95 ($11.95 Canadian) Flexibound all in color 8X8 Carton Quantity: 24 Territory: World Author Hometown: Everett, WA
Publisher: Sterling Published: May 2012 304 pages 978-1-4027-8472-9 $24.95 ($29.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color; 500-600 illustrations 9X9 Carton Quantity: 10 Territory: World Author Hometown: New York, NY
STERLING
The Math Book From Pythagoras to the 57th Dimension, 250 Milestones in the History of Mathematics Clifford A. Pickover Math's infinite mysteries unfold in this new paperback edition of the bestselling The Math Book. Beginning millions of years ago with ancient “ant odometers” and moving through time to our modern-day quest for new dimensions, prolific polymath Clifford Pickover covers 250 milestones in mathematical history. Among the numerous concepts readers will encounter as they dip into this inviting anthology: cicada-generated prime numbers, magic squares, and the butterfly effect. Each topic is presented in a lavishly illustrated spread, including formulas and real-world applications of the theorems. Internationally renowned author Clifford Pickover has published more than 40 books, translated into over a dozen languages. He is an associate editor for several journals and the author of over 200 articles on various subjects. Dr. Pickover received his PhD from Yale University's Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry and he holds over 70 U.S. patents for inventions dealing with computing technologies and interfaces. His website, pickover.com, has received millions of visits.
Publisher: Sterling Published: February 2012 528 pages 978-1-4027-8829-1 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 7 5/16 X 8 7/16 Carton Quantity: 12 Territory: World Author Hometown: Yorktown Heights, NY
- Author has extensive connections in the math and science community, having written the “Brain Strain” column for Odyssey, edited several scientific journals, and received considerable attention from media outlets like CNN, the Discovery Channel, The New York Times, and WIRED - The Math Book has been in unceasing demand, remaining in the top five on the Scientific American Book Club bestseller list almost continuously for well over a year since publication
Praise for The Math Book and Clifford Pickover: “Pickover contemplates realms beyond our known reality.”--The New York Times “I can't imagine anybody whose minds won't be stretched by [Pickover's] books.”--Arthur C. Clarke "Bucky Fuller thought big, Arthur C. Clarke thinks big, but Cliff Pickover outdoes them both.”--WIRED
A Passion to Lead Theodore Roosevelt in His Own Words Edited by Laura Ross Outdoorsman, politician, patriot, soldier, bestselling author, naturalist, winner of the Medal of Honor and the Nobel Peace Prize, Theodore Roosevelt was both a consummate man of action and a prolific author. A Passion to Lead is a collection of excerpts from his writings--his autobiography, memoirs such as Rough Riders, speeches, articles, and letters--that bring the man to life in his own eloquent words. Along with the text are images (some never before published) that give added dimension to the man and his era. Theodore Roosevelt, 26th president of the United States, was one of the great orators and phrasemakers of his time.
- Bestselling new Roosevelt biographies continue to be published, notably Edmund Morris's Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning trilogy (final volume, Colonel Roosevelt , 2010) and David McCullough's Mornings on Horseback - The handsome foil-stamped, die-cut leather case cover and luxurious embellishments make this the perfect gift for lovers of biography and history - In Spring 2012, at the time of publication, the American Museum of Natural History will be honoring Roosevelt's founding of the institution with the newly renovated Roosevelt rotunda and a highly promoted exhibition and celebration
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Publisher: Sterling Published: May 2012 372 pages 978-1-4027-8735-5 $29.95 ($35.95 Canadian) Hard all in color 8 1/2 X 9 Carton Quantity: 10 Territory: WENG
STERLING
The Real History of the Civil War A New Look at the Past Alan Axelrod The Civil War is shrouded in legend and mythology--but this new entry in The Real History series provides a clear, fresh view of the events for curious readers who want an intellectual, but not dryly academic, presentation of this inexhaustibly fascinating subject. Covering everything from the roots of the conflict to Reconstruction, Axelrod addresses a range of less-discussed subjects such as the efforts made to avert war (including Lincoln's initial hesitant response); the fragmentation of popular opinion in both the North and the South; and the institutional problems that afflicted the Union and Confederate Armies. Axelrod also explores the so-called “turning points� of the war and whether slavery really was the major cause of the conflict. . Diary excerpts, letters, informative sidebars, and contemporary photography, art, and maps round out this absorbing, thought-provoking study.
Publisher: Sterling Published: July 2012 400 pages 978-1-4027-6390-8 $24.95 ($29.95 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket all in color 6 3/4 X 8 3/4 Carton Quantity: 10 Territory: World Author Hometown: Atlanta, GA
Alan Axelrod is the prolific author of over 60 popular business and history books, including Sterling's CEO, Profiles in, the Real History, and Risk series. He has been a creative consultant and on-camera personality for documentary series on A&E and Discovery Channel, among others, and has appeared on MSNBC, CNN, CNBC, Fox, and numerous radio programs, including NPR. He has been featured in BusinessWeek, Fortune, Men's Health, Cosmopolitan, and USA Today. Axelrod lives in Atlanta, Georgia. - Reviews in history and general interest magazines - Newspaper review coverage - Online coverage and blog outreach -Appeals to those eager to acquire a solid overview without being written down to or having to wade through long, dry academic texts; readers have sent letters praising the easy, conversational style -Includes fresh insights and straightforward analysis, with sidebars on such subjects as trivia, alternative histories, and reality checks on popular myths -Visually appealing design filled with illustrations, photographs, and maps
The Sacred Language of Trees A. T. Mann This insightful and exquisite book explains how our primal relationship with trees--a central theme in religion, myth, and culture--continues to evolve in an age of environmental fragility. Author A. T. Mann explores the properties of trees, and our complicated relationship with them. Stunning arboreal art and photographs celebrate the mystery of trees, enhanced by quotes from poetry, literature, and spiritual texts. Investigating the tree in varying guises, from Jungian symbolism to Indian fertility worship, Mann shows us new ways to appreciate them in our conscious and unconscious lives. The Sacred Language of Trees will make us aware of trees' importance to the future of humanity and Earth itself. A. T. Mann is an architect, author, and astrologer. He graduated from the Cornell University College of Architecture, practiced in New York City and Rome, and won a Progressive Architecture design citation in 1970. He has written or co-written 20 books (translated into many languages), including Sacred Landscapes (with Lynn Davis), Mandala Astrological Tarot, Sacred Architecture, Sacred Sexuality, and the 2011 Mandala Calendar. Mann has lived and lectured around the world, and has taught at the Danish Design School, the Netherlands Design Institute, and Manchester Metropolitan University. His website is atmann.net.
- New book from a highly regarded expert on New Age subjects - Will appeal to a variety of readers (ancient wisdom, psychology, history, literature) - Great book for readers interested in ecological conservation
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Publisher: Sterling Ethos Published: June 2012 256 pages 978-1-4027-6731-9 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket 75 b/w illus. 6 1/8 X 8 Carton Quantity: 20 Territory: World Author Hometown: Hudson, NY
STERLING
Weird Science Mad Marvels from the Way-Out World! Matt Lake and Randy Fairbanks What's WEIRD about science? How about two-headed cows, animals with ears on their knees, crop circles, frogs falling from the sky, and scientists from the planet Venus? It's all here--and more--as this continuation of the much-loved series takes kids on a scientific ride to the wacky side. With two members of America's popular Weird hunter team at the helm, budding mad scientists will enjoy a wacky cross-country journey they'll never forget. New in paperback.
Weird Wisconsin Your Travel Guide to Wisconsin's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets By Linda S. Godfrey & Richard D. Hendricks, foreword by Mark Moran and Mark Sceurman There's a lot more to the Badger State than badgers; it's also filled to the brim with weirdness. Visit Burlington's Spinning Top Museum and recoil at the worm shower of Palmyra. Take a look at Highway 13's Reptile Man, see the World's Largest Six Pack, then get spooked over the haunted bridges of Stevens Point. From Madison's Loony Lawyer to the Wily Wizard of Waukesha, this indispensible guide takes you on a journey you'll never forget.
Weird Illinois Your Travel Guide to Illinois' Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets Troy Taylor If it's weird and it's in Illinois, it's in Weird Illinois. With notepad and camera in hand, Troy Taylor, a Prairie State sleuth in pursuit of the eccentric and the uncanny, has followed the trail down main roads, back roads, and all roads in between. Whether it's a man-eating Piasa Bird, an abandoned insane asylum, or the haunted tomb of a certain famous Abe, Troy has chronicled the story and presents it here for you in this new paperback edition of the popular guide. .
Weird Minnesota Your Travel Guide to Minnesota's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets Eric Dregni Hail Minnesota for its strange sites, bizarre history, and peculiar folks! Come along and climb the Witch's Tower, sit down in a two-story outhouse, and spend a night in the Drunk Tank at the JailHouse Historic Inn. Then go gape at the country's largest collection of underwear. After all that, relax at the Bowling Hall of Fame. This new paperback version of Weird Minnesota is a wild and wacky trip you'll never forget.
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Publisher: Sterling Published: June 2012 120 pages 978-1-4027-6041-9 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket all in color 9X9 Territory: North America Only Author Hometown: Lutherville, MD (Lake)Brooklyn, NY (Fairbanks)
Publisher: Sterling Published: February 2012 272 pages 978-1-4027-9219-9 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 8X8 Carton Quantity: 22 Territory: North America Only Author Hometown: Elkhorn, WI (Godfrey) Madison, WI (Hendricks)
Publisher: Sterling Published: May 2012 256 pages 978-1-4027-8825-3 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 8X8 Carton Quantity: 20 Territory: North America Only
Publisher: Sterling Published: May 2012 256 pages 978-1-4027-8826-0 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 8X8 Carton Quantity: 20 Territory: North America Only Author Hometown: Minneapolis, MN
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Calligraphy Studio The Ultimate Introduction to the Art of Hand Lettering Christopher Calderhead No fancy computer typeface can ever replace the subtle artistry and personalized expressiveness of calligraphic handwriting. And here's the proof: a beautifully designed, easy-to-understand guidebook that takes the reader from the basic pen-strokes of traditional hands such as Uncial and Italic to the proud completion of 15 breathtaking projects. The author, an acknowledged master of this classic art, shows how to achieve the essential coordination of hand and eye, and how to apply the aesthetic principles that shape both the individual characters and the completed page.
Artful Watercolor Learning to Use the Secrets of Light Lou Bonamarte and Carolyn Janik Many art books offer advice on how to perform the techniques used by creative watercolorists, but this one goes farther by also explaining the “why” and “when” aspects of using these critical skills. Artful Watercolor exhaustively covers the best uses of light and shadow, color values, mixing custom colors, applying washes, and understanding shape, as well as exploring expressions of harmony and conflict, order and chaos within the composition. Numerous exercises and tips help guide readers through expressive detail work, wet/dry painting, and fixing mistakes.
The Visual Language of Drawing Lessons on the Art of Seeing James Lancel McElhinney & the Instructors of The Art Students League of New York Featuring the insights of 15 current and former Art Students League instructors, this stunning volume reassesses the art of drawing not as a technique, but as the essential grammar of all visual thinking. In an illuminating introductory essay, James Lancel McElhinney punctures the myth that learning to draw is something for experts only, and presents methods for making, appreciating, and teaching drawing. The 15 contributors then offer a broad range of stylistic approaches and methodologies, accompanied by examples of their own and their students' artwork. A final section of basic exercises, along with information on materials, techniques, and resources, completes this inspirational study.
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Publisher: Sterling Published: May 2012 208 pages 978-1-4027-3369-7 $22.95 ($27.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 8 1/2 X 11 Carton Quantity: 8 Territory: World Author Hometown: New York, NY
Publisher: Sterling Published: June 2012 224 pages 978-1-4027-5409-8 $24.95 ($29.95 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket all in color 8 1/2 X 10 Territory: World
Publisher: Sterling Published: July 2012 240 pages 978-1-4027-6848-4 $27.95 ($33.95 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket all in color 8 1/2 X 11 Territory: World
Classic Thrillers Relaunched in
MARKETING & PUBLICITY CAMPAIGN • Trade Advertising • Print Advertising • Online Advertising
G
et ready for excitement! Alistair MacLean, one of the 20th century’s greatest action/adventure writers, has long been out of print. Now, finally, his bestsellers are back in attractive new editions.
Heroes of amazing strength and resolve, impossible odds, and betrayal where it is least expected are all hallmarks of ALISTAIR MACLEAN’s work. His riveting books, especially those set during World War II or in the naval arena he knew so well, have long enthralled readers, and many of them— such as The Guns of Navarone, Ice Station Zebra, and Where Eagles Dare—became blockbuster Hollywood films.
All Books
$11.95 | Paper | 5½ x 8¼ | ebooks: $4.99 Territory: World | May 2012
978-1-4027-9254-0 | 464 pages 978-1-4027-9255-7 (ebook)
978-1-4027-9246-5 | 304 pages 978-1-4027-9247-2 (ebook)
978-1-4027-9260-1 | 448 pages 978-1-4027-9261-8 (ebook)
[
978-1-4027-9248-9 | 336 pages 978-1-4027-9249-6 (ebook)
978-1-4027-9258-8 | 304 pages 978-1-4027-9259-5 (ebook)
[
978-1-4027-9252-6 | 384 pages 978-1-4027-9253-3 (ebook)
Alistair Maclean was called “ one of the best suspense writers around,” by the National
Review, and The New York Times called his
“splendid thriller of wartime adventure.”
The Guns of Navarone a
978-1-4027-9256-4 | 256 pages 978-1-4027-9257-1 (ebook)
978-1-4027-9250-2 | 352 pages 978-1-4027-9251-9 (ebook)
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Bake the
way
Sales Points Author has a growing following on her award-winning blog (more than 11,000 subscribers), on Twitter (more than 3,500 followers), and on Facebook (more than 7,000 fans) A completely fresh take on the dessert cookbook, organized to inspire your inner artist Packed with hundreds of gorgeous photographs, this book is a knockout value at the retail price Recipes are geared for dessert-makers of any skill level
Marketing • National publicity • 20-city food radio satellite tour • Features and reviews in cooking and general-interest magazines • Online coverage targeting food- and baking-focused blogs and websites • Promotions on author website, sprinkelbakes.com • Social media campaign through author platforms on Facebook (facebook.com/SprinkleBakes) and Twitter (@SprinkleBakes) • Online advertising campaign • Local author events in TN • Galleys and blads available
H
SprinkleBakes
ow can you make cakes, cookies, and candy even more fun? Cook like an artist! Combining her awesome skills as a baker, confectioner, and painter, Heather Baird has created a gorgeous, innovative cookbook, designed to unleash the creative side of every baker.
Dessert Recipes to Inspire Your Inner Artist Heather Baird, Author of the Award-Winning SprinkleBakes Blog 978-1-4027-8636-5 $19.95 ($23.95 Can) | Paper | 73/8 x 9 1/8 288 pages (all in color) | Territory: World | May 2012 ebook: 978-1-4027-9166-6 $9.99 ($11.99 Can)
Heather sees dessert making as one of the few truly creative outlets for the home cook. So, instead of arranging recipes by dessert type (cookies, tarts, cakes, etc.), she has organized them by line, color, and sculpture. As a result, SprinkleBakes is at once a breathtakingly comprehensive dessert cookbook and an artist’s instructional that explains brush strokes, sculpture molds, color theory, and much more. With easy-to-follow instructions and beautiful step-by-step photographs, Heather shows how anyone can make her jaw-dropping creations, from Mehndi Hand Ginger Cookies to Snow Glass Apples to her seasonal masterpiece, a Duraflame®-inspired Yule Log.
mehndi hand cookies YIeld: Approximately 15 hand cookies
A few years ago, my best friend was experiencing some turbulence in her life, so I decided she needed a batch of homemade cookies to make her feel better. I wanted to make something fun and personal, yet artful and representative of good fortune. Ann is a talented artist with an extensive background in printmaking. Early in our friendship, we both were intrigued by the beauty of mehndi design. We even threw a henna party once. The idea came to me that I should do a mehndi-inspired cookie for her. 3K cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons ground ginger 1K teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon baking soda K teaspoonsalt N teaspoon ground allspice N teaspoon grated nutmeg
Heather Baird is an accomplished painter and photographer whose works are in public and private collections across the United States, but her passion is creating eye-popping, mouthwatering desserts. She is a devoted practitioner of international confectionery technique who explores the outer limits of patisserie. She writes about her adventures in the world of creative dessert-making in her award-winning blog at sprinklebakes.com. Heather lives in Knoxville, TN, with her husband, Mark, and a mischievous pug named Biscuit.
K pound (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature O cup packed dark brown sugar K cup molasses (not blackstrap) 1 egg, at room temperature K teaspoon vanilla extract
1. In a large bowl, sift the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, allspice, and nutmeg. Set aside.
discs. Wrap each disc in a double covering of plastic wrap. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for 2 to 4 hours.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium speed until smooth.
9. While waiting for the dough to chill, make a template by tracing your hand on a piece of heavy stock craft paper or a piece of sturdy cardboard. do not spread your fingers out for tracing; a closed-hand silhouette makes for a larger canvas to draw on.
3. Add the brown sugar and beat for 1 minute. 4. Add the molasses and beat until well combined, about 2 minutes. 5. Add the egg and beat until well blended, about 1 minute.
10. When the dough is chilled, roll out each disc between two sheets of wax paper to a 1/4inch thickness with a rolling pin.
6. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the vanilla extract.
11. Preheat the oven to 350°F.line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
7. With the mixer still on low speed, beat in the flour mixture until just combined.
12. Place the template on top of the dough and cut around it with a plain-edge knife. Repeat until all the dough is used. Cookie-dough scraps can be kneaded and rerolled until all the dough is used.
8. Turn the dough out onto wax paper and form into a ball; divide the ball in half. Form each half into a ball. Flatten the balls into two
mehndi hand cookies * 135
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SALES POINTS Gordon Ramsay is a household name, with a food empire comprised of world-renowned restaurants, TV shows, and cookbooks The book, now Americanized, is a must-buy for fans of his restaurants and TV shows Attractive paperback price point
Gordon Ramsay’s Fast Food More Than 100 Delicious, Super-Fast, and Easy Recipes Gordon Ramsay
MARKETING & PUBLICITY CAMPAIGN
978-1-4027-9787-3 $24.95 ($29.95 Can) | Paper with flaps | 7¾ x 10 256 pages | all in color | Territory: US/CAN | March 2012
• National publicity • Features and reviews in cooking magazines, and food columns in newspapers nationwide
Internationally renowned chef GORDON RAMSAY has opened a string of successful restaurants across the globe, from Italy to LA. In 2011 Ramsay enjoyed another exciting year, with the launch of Laurier Gordon Ramsay in Montreal, Canada and the opening of Bread Street Kitchen in London’s City district.
• Mother’s & Father’s Day gift guide coverage • Online recipe excerpts, food blogger outreach
E
veryone needs quick, healthy, and delicious recipes for feeding a family—and no one’s better at providing them than Gordon Ramsay, the threestar chef famous for his no-nonsense cooking. Here he serves up a feast of doable ideas: more than 100 recipes and 15 great menus for putting food on the table each and every day. Many of the dishes take only 15 minutes to prepare and cook; none takes longer than half an hour—and you can put together an entire meal in only 30–45 minutes. Ramsay also offers timesaving shortcuts, plus info on how to stock your pantry.
Gordon has become a star of the small screen both in the UK and internationally, with two top-rated shows in America: Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares and Hell’s Kitchen are into their third and ninth years respectively, while his latest show, Masterchef US, is now in its second season and is proving to be another massive hit with viewers. Gordon has also published a number of books, many of which have become bestsellers across the world, notably his autobiography, Roasting in Hell’s Kitchen. In 2006, Gordon was awarded an OBE for services to the industry. Ramsay lives with his wife and four children in South London, along with their two bulldogs Rumpole and Romeo.
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THREE-STAR CHEF FLAVORS+HEALTHY EATING EQUALS A WINNING COMBINATION!
SALES POINTS Delicious and healthy eating is a powerful combination, especially when associated with this world-renowned three-star chef Gordon Ramsay is a household name with a well-established food empire An attractive Americanization of a book that has solid sales, and now an appealing price point
MARKETING & PUBLICITY CAMPAIGN • National publicity
Gordon Ramsay’s Healthy Appetite 125 Super-Fresh Recipes for a High-Energy Life Gordon Ramsay
• Features and reviews in cooking magazines, and food columns in newspapers nationwide
978-1-4027-9788-0 | $24.95 ($29.95 Can) | Paper with flaps 7¾ x 10 | 256 pages | all in color | Territory: US/CAN | March 2012
• Mother’s & Father’s Day gift guide coverage • Online recipe excerpts, food blogger outreach
Internationally renowned chef GORDON RAMSAY has opened a string of successful restaurants across the globe, from Italy to LA. In 2011 Ramsay enjoyed another exciting year, with the launch of Laurier Gordon Ramsay in Montreal, Canada and the opening of Bread Street Kitchen in London’s City district.
Y
ou are what you eat—and Gordon Ramsay’s Healthy Appetite will help you feel and look your best. Ramsay himself is a super-fit marathon runner and high-energy personality who knows what it takes to stay in the peak of health. He has created 125 fresh, great-tasting recipes that are completely in tune with the way people want to eat today. From mouthwatering Buckwheat Crepes with Smoked Salmon to kid-friendly Chicken Burgers with Sweet Potato Wedges, every recipe is scrumptious. And because even healthy people need a treat, there are delicious desserts like a light Chocolate Mousse!
Gordon has become a star of the small screen both in the UK and internationally, with two top-rated shows in America: Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares and Hell’s Kitchen are into their third and ninth years respectively, while his latest show, Masterchef US, is now in its second season and is proving to be another massive hit with viewers. Gordon has also published a number of books, many of which have become bestsellers across the world, notably his autobiography, Roasting in Hell’s Kitchen. In 2006, Gordon was awarded an OBE for services to the industry. Ramsay lives with his wife and four children in South London, along with their two bulldogs Rumpole and Romeo.
23
STERLING
How to Talk about Wine Discover the Secrets of Wine Ten Minutes at a Time Bernard Klem What is terroir? How do grapes become wine? What are tannins? This delightful portable guide has the answers to these questions and much more. Bernard Klem has whipped up a fun, easily digestible handbook that explains everything the novice needs to know to speak intelligently about wine at the store, restaurant, or table. From bottles and labels to the oenophile's lingo, it describes wine essentials, including: smell, taste, color, and effervescence. The left-hand side of each page features basic terminology, while the right-hand side uses more advanced language. For a tasty finale, there's practical information about matching wine with food, shopping for wine, and even what wine to bring as a guest.
Publisher: Sterling Epicure Published: March 2012 96 pages 978-1-4027-7735-6 $9.95 ($11.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in 2-color 4 1/4 X 9 Territory: World Author Hometown: Trumbull, CT
It's the witty, wise Wine 101 that every would-be expert should have!
Bordeaux Oz Clarke “There is no better introduction to the world's most dazzling wine region.” --Decanter Written by one of the world's most respected and knowledgeable wine experts, this is the finest one-volume, full-color introduction to Bordeaux. Oz Clarke has created a refreshingly witty and readable guide to France's famous wine region, filled with evocative descriptions, engaging personal anecdotes, stunning images, and practical information. He turns his spotlight on the most notable Bordeaux wine areas (including St-Emilion, Pomerol, Margaux, and Pauillac), examines the state of French winemaking, suggests best buys, and recommends hundreds of affordable, modern chateaux where one can enjoy a glass. This is Oz Clarke at his witty, incisive best.
A Glass Half Full A Cellar Master's Journey Through Wine and Life Kevin Zraly At just 25 years of age, Kevin Zraly had already gone further than most wine experts of the time. Already a cellar master at New York City's renowned Windows on the World restaurant, he had also visited many of the major wineries in California and Europe and taught America's first accredited college course in wine tasting. A wine revolution was happening--and Kevin was one of its major players. In this highly entertaining memoir, filled with a “Who's Who” of wine, James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award winner Kevin Zraly opens up about his memorable experiences in his life--including, for the first time, the events of 9/11, family tragedies, and his own bout with cancer. But ever the optimist, Kevin faces the future looking at the glass half-full…with vintage wine.
The Ultimate Wine Companion The Complete Guide to Understanding Wine by the World's Foremost Wine Authorities Edited by Kevin Zraly, author of the bestselling Windows on the World Wine Course Kevin Zraly, author of one of the bestselling wine books of all time, Windows on the World Complete Wine Course, has assembled the finest writers of the last 50 years to explain everything you need to know about wine. Each one addresses the subject he or she is most famous for, including decanting, tasting, grapes, matching food and wine, winemaking, sustainable vineyards, the various wine regions, and terroir. Complete with regional vintage charts, grape charts, a glossary, and vintage labels, this book--now in paperback--is like an entire wine library in a single volume. Experts include: Hugh Johnson • Robert M. Parker, Jr. • Jancis Robinson • Robert Mondavi • Baron Philippe de Rothschild • Joseph Bastianich Frank Prial • and more! 24
Publisher: Sterling Epicure Published: June 2012 320 pages 978-1-4027-9706-4 $35.00 ($42.00 Canadian) Hard 8 X 10 1/4 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Sterling Epicure Published: March 2012 248 pages 978-1-4027-8960-1 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket 8 pg b/w photo insert 5 1/2 X 8 1/4 Territory: World Author Hometown: New Paltz, NY
Publisher: Sterling Epicure Published: March 2012 384 pages 978-1-4027-9753-8 $16.95 ($19.95 Canadian) Paper 7X9 Territory: WENG
Sales Points Italian food is always popular, and this book is filled with both the familiar classics AND cherished family favorites from a down-home cook Lisa originally self-published these recipes. Now, they’re completely re-edited and user-friendly for both the professional and nonprofessional cook alike
Marketing & PUBLICITY campaign • Major national publicity • Tie-in with author appearances • 20-city radio satellite tour • Features and reviews in cooking and general-interest magazines • Newspaper coverage in lifestyle and book review sections • Online coverage targeting food and family-focused blogs and websites Whatever Happened to Sunday Dinner? A Year of Italian Menus, with 250 Recipes That Celebrate Family by Lisa Caponigri
• Promotions on author website, lisacaponigri.com • Social media campaign through author platforms on Facebook (Whatever Happened to Sunday Dinner) and Twitter (@lisacaponigri)
978-1-4027-8482-8 $24.95 ($29.95 Can) | Hard | 73⁄8 x 9¼ 336 pages | all in color; 100 illustrations ebook 978-1-4027-9443-8 $9.99 ($11.99 Can) Territory: World | April 2012
• Galleys and blads available
The family that eats together stays together…
When she was a young girl, Lisa Caponigri regularly traveled on extended research trips to Italy with her father, an internationally known professor of Italian philosophy. Then, on school vacations Caponigri’s Sicilian grandmother invited her to spend time at her home, and under her grandmother’s watchful eye Lisa mastered Italian home cooking. Later in life, Lisa moved to Italy to raise her family and continued to study Italian cuisine. Lisa now resides in South Bend, Indiana and dedicates herself to spreading the gospel of Italian cooking in America.
That’s what Lisa Caponigri believes, and she created Whatever Happened to Sunday Dinner? to give real families recipes they can easily cook and enjoy together. Caponigri has devised 52 delicious Italian menus—one for each Sunday of the year—that feature all the favorites, including classics like crostini, lasagne, polenta, stuffed peppers, veal piccata, risotto al Milanese, and ricotta pie. There are also many surprises like Woodman’s pasta and Italian french fries—and traditional, treasured dishes from her own family’s kitchen, such as Nana’s Strufoli and Grandma Caponigri’s Ragu Sauce.
Beautifully photographed by Guy Ambrosino, Whatever Happened to Sunday Dinner? showcases food styling by former Gourmet magazine editor Kate Winslow.
25
SALES POINTS Seattle-centric, but with plenty of recipes that can be made anywhere Features a Seattle Edible map on reverse of jacket for all those traveling to the area Includes Seattle’s most up-to-date food sources
MARKETING • Major cross-promotion with over 60 Edible magazines nationwide, including full-page book ads, e-mail marketing, social media marketing, and online advertising • Cross-promotion with Edible Seattle and edibleseattle.com • Social media campaign through Edible Seattle platforms on Facebook (Edible Seattle) and Twitter (@edibleseattle) • Promotions with stores and restaurants featured in book • Online campaign to food and Seattle-based bloggers and websites • Local media and events in Seattle • eblad available
EDIBLE SEATTLE: THE COOKBOOK Edited by Jill Lightner 978-1-4027-8555-9 $19.95 ($23.95 Can) | Hard | 8 x 9 | 184 pages (all in color) ebook 978-1-4027-9834-4 $9.99 ($11.99 Can) Territory: North America Only | May 2012
D
elicious, local, sustainable food, made with style: that’s Seattle cooking, and it’s a shining example of what the Edible community is all about. Edible Seattle features all the fresh flavors of the northwest: crab, salmon, and Shigoku oysters; chanterelles, and apples and pears, to name just a few homegrown delicacies. Foodies will find out about Seattle favorites like a crisp Romano bean salad with Rhonda Gothberg’s feta cheese; Pike Place Market spices; and Herbfarm’s Douglas fir syrup. More than 100 recipes, along with visits to top restaurants, fine shops with local specialities, and interviews with chefs and restaurateurs make this the ultimate, beautifully photographed guide to the Seattle foodie scene.
JILL LIGHTNER, the editor of Edible Seattle, has lived in the city for many years. She personally wrote all the profiles of the chefs, restaurateurs, and food producers who contributed recipes to this volume.
26
STERLING
Summer in a Glass The Coming of Age of Winemaking in the Finger Lakes Evan Dawson, foreword by James Molesworth New York's Finger Lakes is home to the country's fastest-growing wine region, and each year millions of tourists spill into the tasting rooms of its wineries. Filled with fun and likable characters, Summer in a Glass brings this burgeoning area to life and captures its exciting diversity--from its immigrant German winemakers to its young, technically trained connoisseurs, from classic Rieslings to up-and-coming Cabernet Francs.
Publisher: Sterling Epicure Published: April 2012 288 pages 978-1-4027-9710-1 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps 6X9 Carton Quantity: 32 Territory: World
"...Dawson [composes] a useful travel guide, lessons in Wine 101, and, most important, a reminder of what makes wine so alluring. A fast, engaging read for wine lovers." -- Library Journal
Beyond Jefferson’s Vines The Evolution of Quality Wine in Virginia Richard Leahy For 30 years, Thomas Jefferson grew grapes in his Monticello vineyards in hopes of producing fine wine --but to no avail. Today that has completely changed. Virginia wine now has a reputation as some of the best in America, with increasing sales and more wineries (nearly 200) welcoming an ever-larger number of visitors. Richard Leahy, a former editor for Vineyard & Winery Management magazine, has written the essential book on Virginia wine, covering its history, interviews with the state's top winemakers, and updates on the latest industry developments.
M.F.K. Fisher: Musings on Wine and Other Libations M. F. K. Fisher, edited by Anne Zimmerman For MFK Fisher, one of America's most-read and best-loved food writers, wine was a passion nurtured during her time in France and, later, California. This anthology, edited by acclaimed biographer Anne Zimmerman (An Extravagant Hunger: The Passionate Years of M.F.K. Fisher), is the first ever to gather Fisher's finest writings on wine. In sparkling prose, Fisher reminisces about marvelous meals enjoyed and drinks savored; describes the many memorable restaurants that welcomed and even educated her; discuses rosĂŠs, sherry, chilled whites, and cocktails; and escorts readers from Dijon to Sonoma. Open a bottle, open the book, and linger over some of the best wine writing ever done.
The Wine Region of Rioja Ana Fabiano Rioja, a breathtaking region of northern Spain, produces some of the best wines. This exceptionally beautiful illustrated volume pays tribute to Riojan winemaking and culture-and it is the only wine book endorsed by the Riojan government. Ana Fabiano has traveled the world representing Riojan wines, and this work is the fruit of 20 years of research. She delved into Castilian books, conducted interviews with local experts, and spoke with generations of winemakers. The result is a book from the heart that provides a historical overview of the area along with up-to-the-moment information on each valley, including its bodegas, grape varietals, wines, and producers. To enhance enjoyment of these wonderful wines, Fabiano provides a food section with recipes and pairings.
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Publisher: Sterling Epicure Published: May 2012 256 pages 978-1-4027-9774-3 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket 12 b/w illus. 6X9 Territory: World
Publisher: Sterling Epicure Published: May 2012 196 pages 978-1-4027-7813-1 $18.95 ($22.95 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket 5 X 7 1/8 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Sterling Epicure Published: May 2012 256 pages 978-1-4027-5403-6 $35.00 ($42.00 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket all in color 9X9 Territory: World Author Hometown: New Paltz, NY
STERLING ETHOS
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STERLING
The Miracle Chase Three Women, Three Miracles, and a Ten Year Journey of Discovery and Friendship Joan Luise Hill, Katie Mahon, and Mary Beth Phillips, PhD What exactly is a miracle? That’s the question three women--each of whom experienced something extraordinary in her life--try to answer. Joan's son survived a catastrophic illness. Katie escaped a notorious serial killer. And Meb's 6-month-old daughter had suffered abuse and was now blind. The Miracle Chase is the story of how they went on a quest to discover what the great religions can tell us about miracles, why some people are blessed with miracles, and how anyone could believe in miracles in an age of science. In the process, Joan, Katie, and Meb transform a friendship into a spiritual odyssey. New in paperback.
Joan Hill was president of the Foundation for Osteoporosis Research and Education for ten years. Katie Mahon is a three-time past president of the San Francisco Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, which she helped take from a grassroots movement to a million-dollar organization. Meb Phillips was the “mother” of the groundbreaking California Trustline Registry, legislation that affected childcare in California and the nation. She speaks regularly at conferences and at state hearings, and has appeared on local and national television, dozens of talk shows including Oprah!, and has been featured in national magazine articles.
Publisher: Sterling Ethos Published: March 2012 240 pages 978-1-4027-9545-9 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper 5 1/2 X 8 1/4 Territory: World Author Hometown: New York, NY (Mahon)Walnut Creek, CA (Phillips)Pebble Beach, CA (Hill)
- Authors have energetically promoted the hardcover with events around the country - Authors' website (www.themiraclechase) is active, with an online Miracle Club and newsletter - Blurbs from three NY Times bestselling authors: Ann Hood ( The Knitting Circle), Priscilla Warner (The Faith Club), and Regina Brett (God Never Blinks) - Co-author Meb Phillips has appeared on many nationally syndicated talk shows, including Oprah! - Includes discussion questions for book clubs, a suggested miracle-related reading list, and suggestions for how to create your own Miracle Club
Infinite Quest Develop Your Psychic Intuition to Take Charge of Your Life John Edward Bestselling author John Edward has captivated audiences worldwide with his unique and powerful psychic skills. Now, he shows people how they too can tap into their psychic selves. Infinite Quest--now in paperback--will help readers to develop their intuition and renew their own latent powers, so they can confidently take chances and make choices. By following certain guidelines and intuition-building exercises, we can learn to get in touch with our Spirit Guides and identify the psychic energy around us on deeper levels. Edward also discusses how technology can work with our “sixth sense,” and explains how to use divination tools. Like his new eponymous website, Infinite Quest is truly a “portal to all things metaphysical.”
John Edward has had two internationally syndicated talk shows, Crossing Over with John Edward and John Edward Cross Country. He has been a frequent guest on CNN's Larry King Live and many other talk shows, including the Today Show, Oprah!, and The View. John is a regular guest on AM radio and has been featured in articles in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and People. He is the author of four New York Times bestsellers, conducts seminars around the world, and is the founder of infinitequest.com. John lives in the New York metropolitan area with his wife and two children.
-In hardcover, Infinite Quest was a New York Times bestseller. -Edward’s books have sold more than 3,000,000 copies -John has a vast, loyal following, and does more than 150 seminars a year. His website, infinitequest.com, has more than 30,000 paid members and johnedward.net has had over 28 million hits
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Publisher: Sterling Ethos Published: April 2012 320 pages 978-1-4027-9779-8 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper 6X9 Territory: World Author Hometown: Long Island, NY
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STERLING
The Church Visible The Ceremonial Life and Protocol of the Roman Catholic Church James-Charles Noonan Jr. Revised and updated for the 21st century: the legendary resource on the universality, spirituality, and grandeur of the post-Vatican II Catholic Church. Filled with detailed information that will fascinate any Catholic (What is a zucchetto and who wears one? Why do cardinals have their title in the middle of their names? How do the Knights of Malta serve in the modern Church?), it's also an indispensable reference for scholars, journalists, and anyone in business or government who has practical dealings with the Church. James-Charles Noonan, Jr. is a specialist in diplomatic, social, business, and Church protocol, and a consultant for many international organizations, including numerous official bodies of the Roman Catholic Church. He is recognized worldwide as an expert on Church protocol and ceremonial.
- A new edition of a definitive resource - Provides new information and insight on the past 15 years of the Roman Catholic Church, including the legacy of John Paul II and the ascension of Pope Benedict XVI
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Publisher: Sterling Ethos Published: May 2012 596 pages 978-1-4027-8730-0 $34.95 ($41.95 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket 3 full-color inserts, plus 20 b&w illus 7 3/8 X 9 1/4 Carton Quantity: 8 Territory: WENG
STERLING
The Mother's Wisdom Deck Niki Dewart and Elizabeth Marglin with illustrations by Jenny Kostecki-Shaw No other job so deftly merges the transcendent with the tedious as motherhood. And mothers would be the first to admit they could always use a little support and guidance. So, in honor of all the moms in the world, here's the Mother's Wisdom Deck. This beautiful kit features a full-color book plus a deck of 52 cards whimsically illustrated with universal symbols of empowered motherhood. Arranged into four suits--Natural Mother, Animal Mother, Ancestral Mother, and Divine Mother--these cards can either reveal a message (like Tarot) or simply provide moms with inspiration and wisdom for their lifelong journey. NIKI DEWART, M.A., is an independent curator and writer specializing in ritual arts and wisdom traditions. Niki also has led youth rites of passage for the Ojai Foundation, and guided experiential pilgrimages focused on ritual arts, healing traditions, and indigenous wisdom. ELIZABETH MARGLIN, M.A., studied Asian religion with Robert Thurman at Columbia College and received her MA in journalism from CU Boulder. She freelanced as a health, fitness, art, and travel writer; ghostwrote Deepak Chopra's newsletters, and is an editor at Natural Solutions magazine. JENNY KOSTECKI is the author/illustrator of the children's books My Travelin' Eye (Henry Holt, 2008) and Same, Same but Di"erent (Henry Holt, 2011). She illustrates books, cards, gift products, and advertising for clients such as10-Speed Press, Hallmark, American Greetings, Land of Nod, and Crocodile Creek Toys. Her website is dancingelephantstudio.com
Publisher: Sterling Ethos Published: May 2012 192 pages 978-1-4027-8699-0 $17.95 ($21.95 Canadian) Kit full-color book + components 6 1/2 X 6 1/2 Carton Quantity: 8 Territory: World
Yoga to the Rescue: Ageless Beauty How to Keep Yourself Glowingly Beautiful Inside and Out! Amy Luwis Is yoga a fountain of youth? Amy Luwis, creator of the popular RescueGirl line and author of Yoga to the Rescue, shows how it can be the magical key to ageless beauty-inside and out. Using a warm, fun “girlfriend” voice, and witty easy-to-follow drawings, Luwis guides readers through poses that help diminish wrinkles, lessen varicose veins, improve posture; reduce fatigue, diminish depression, and strengthen the mind and body. Safety tips, modifications to the poses, mini-workouts, and advice on living like a yogini make this an awesome reference. Writer/illustrator Amy Luwis is the author of Yoga to the Rescue: Remedies for Real Girls (Sterling, 2007). When Amy isn't doing her favorite poses or doodling, she's busy with the nonprofit organization she co-founded, 1-800-Save-a-Pet.com, North America's largest Web-based pet-adoption service.
- Yoga is enormously popular: Yoga Journal estimates 16.5 million people in the U.S. practice, and some experts say it could be as high as 28 million. - Amy Luwis developed an iPhone app for Yoga to the Rescue: Ageless Beauty and sold 5000 in the first month
“This is a fabulous exercise book. I love the illustrations-you really want to know and hang out with these girls!”-Janelle Erlichman-Diamond, The Washington Post “It's fun…like working out with a girlfriend.”-Liz Phair, rock star “The girly girl's CliffsNotes on yoga. If you want 48 unpretentious, quick fixes for everyday problems, this book's for you.”-Kristen Dollard, Editor Yoga Life online magazine
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Publisher: Sterling Ethos Published: June 2012 144 pages 978-1-4027-8415-6 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 5 1/2 X 6 3/4 Territory: World
STERLING SIGNATURE
Signature Shakespeare Series Featuring remarkable laser-cut paper designs throughout, this new series offers stunning presentations of Shakespeare’s plays, complete with scholarship, commentary, notes, and illustrated essays about Shakespeare’s language and performances of the play. It’s a keepsake package worthy of the greatest, and most loved, playwright in the English language.
The Signature Shakespeare series volumes include: • Beautiful Illustrations, plus paintings and photographs that add depth to front and back matter. • Introductions by premier contemporary scholars along with essays on editing the text and the quartos and folios used in the edition. • Essays on Shakespeare’s England, language, and life; on performing Shakespeare; and on the lasting influence of the play on music, art, film, and dance. • Illuminating notes that don’t pull the readers away from the text, including one-word margin definitions and facing-page glosses. Longer end notes after each play provide extra information and more comprehensive analysis.
Macbeth
by William Shakespeare; edited by Jesse M. Lander, illustrated by Kevin Stanton
Sales Points
Publisher: Sterling Signature Published: May 2012
• Kevin Stanton has created over 35 custom-designed paper-cut illustrations for the body of the play, 5 laser-cut 2-page tip-in overlays (one for each act), and a laser-cut tip-on for the cover
352 pages 978-1-4027-9003-4 $29.95 ($35.95 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket all in color 7 X 9 3/4 Carton Quantity: 8 Territory: WENG
• Word explications and play notes are always placed directly adjacent to the relevant lines of the play; one is never forced to flip around to find one’s way, making this a unique experience for a reader of Shakespeare • Beautiful package for a perennially popular author; will appeal to longstanding readers and collectors of Shakespeare as well as the beginning student. Paper-cuts will also appeal to a specialty and art market
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare; edited by Mario DiGangi, illustrated by Kevin Stanton
About the editors Jesse M. Lander (Editor), Notre Dame, IN: PhD, Columbia University; Thomas J. and Robert T. Rolfs Associate Professor of English, and Director, Graduate Studies in English, University of Notre Dame.
Publisher: Sterling Signature Published: May 2012 396 pages 978-1-4027-9002-7 $29.95 ($35.95 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket all in color 7 X 9 3/4 Carton Quantity: 8 Territory: WENG
David Scott Kastan (Series Editor; Introduction), New Haven, CT: PhD, University of Chicago; George M. Bodman Professor of English, Yale University. Mario DiGangi (Editor), New York, NY: Ph.D., Columbia University; Professor of English, Lehman College, CUNY.
ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR Kevin Stanton Brooklyn, NY: BFA, Communications Design, Pratt Institute. Specializes in hand-cut paper artwork.
Beekeeping
A Primer on Starting & Keeping a Hive by Dominique DeVito
• 10,000 copies of the hardcover edition have been sold
For centuries humans have relied on bees’ miraculous, life-sustaining work to pollinate crops, produce honey and wax, and sustain our natural food chain. Although beekeeping may seem like a daunting, even dangerous task, it doesn’t have to be. Regardless of whether you want to start a business or are simply looking for a new hobby, Dominique DeVito sets forth everything you need to know about bees and bee- keeping in this complete, authoritative how-to guide that includes delicious and healthy honey recipes to make with the bounty from your own backyard hive!
• The recent locavore movement has generated a great deal of interest in sustainability and locally produced food, with more and more couples and families growing crops in their own backyards
Publisher: Sterling Signature Published: May 2012 224 pages 978-1-4027-9783-5 $12.95 ($14.95 Canadian) Paper all in 2-color 6X9 Carton Quantity: 20 Territory: World
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SILVER OAK
One child murdered, another lost to lies Sales Points Chris Womersley has written two award-winning novels, including Bereft This novel marks the first time this author is in print in the United States Womersley’s writing has been compared to Cormac McCarthy and Peter Carey
Marketing & PUBLICITY campaign • National media outreach • National and regional radio campaign, including interviews, reviews, and giveaways • Reviews and features in general-interest magazines and newspapers nationwide • Print and online coverage in mystery/thriller/ fiction roundups • Early-reader programs including Amazon Vine, GoodReads, BookBrowse, and Library Thing • Advertising campaign • ARCs available
I
t is 1919 and the Great War has ended. Sergeant Quinn Walker decides to return home to the small and desolate town of Flint, Australia, to set right the past. Ten years earlier, he had fled following the horrific murder of his beloved younger sister Sarah—a crime that everyone believes Quinn committed. When he arrives, Quinn learns the town has not escaped the deadly flu epidemic sweeping the globe. As he works up the courage to confront the tragedy that shattered his life, he befriends a mysterious orphan girl whose powers verge on magical and who seems to know more than any child should about the evil that lives in Flint. In gorgeously spare language, Bereft tells a powerful story about love, loss, and redemption in a world ravaged by war and disease.
Bereft A Novel Chris Womersley 978-1-4027-9813-9 $24.95 ($29.95 Can) | Hard | 6 x 9 | 272 pages ebook 978-1-4027-9839-9 | $11.99 ($13.99 Can) Territory: US/CAN/Philippines | May 2012
Chris Womersley’s first book, The Low Road, won the Ned Kelly Award for Best First Crime Fiction. Bereft won the Indie Award for best Australian novel and Book of the Year from the ABIA. It was also the runner-up for the prestigious Miles Franklin Award and was shortlisted for the ASL Gold Medal for Literature, the Ned Kelly Award for Fiction, and the Age Book of the Year award. Australian native Womersley is a print and radio journalist who lives in Sydney.
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A Sizzling Urban Fantasy SALES POINTS The wildfire success of vampire fiction shows no signs of slowing, and the market is ready for the next big thing Lynda Hilburn has self-published to much acclaim; The Vampire Shrink was heralded by Library Journal as “A good choice for the ever-demanding aficionados of vampire fiction” The Vampire Shrink combines all the successful elements of previous hit vampire series, but one-ups them by featuring a smart, tough heroine
MARKETING & PUBLICITY CAMPAIGN • National publicity • Book review coverage • National print advertising to targeted mystery publications • Outreach to vampire fiction/urban fantasy communities online. The Vampire Shrink Lynda Hilburn
• Social media campaign revolving around main character of series, Kismet Knight.
978-1-4027-9278-6 $14.95 ($17.95 Can) | Paper | 6¼ x 9¼ | 320 pages ebook 978-1-4027-9279-3 | $7.99 ($9.99 Can) Territory: US/CAN/Philippines | April 2012
• Search engine marketing campaign
T
his deliciously sexy novel will feed the hunger of ravenous, vampire-loving fans.
What’s real? What’s not? As inexplicable events and romantic opportunities pile up, along with the corpses, Kismet finds herself in a whirlwind of passion, mystery, and danger. But this tough and funny heroine—who doesn’t do damsel in distress—is about to turn the vampire-meets-girl convention on its head.
Kismet Knight, a brainy Denver-based psychologist with a stalled career and a nonexistent love life, is about to have her world rocked. Not only does her newest patient, Midnight, long to become a vampire, but the teenager insists that a coven of the undead hangs out at a local goth club. The always-rational Kismet dismisses Midnight’s claims as the delusions of an attention-starved girl—until bodies start turning up drained of blood and the hottest self-described vampire ever to walk the face of the earth enters her office.
LYNDA HILBURN is a clinical hypnotherapist and licensed psychotherapist. Her lifelong fascination with the occult and paranormal led her to write paranormal romance novels, and her professional training shaped her Kismet Knight series, which begins with The Vampire Shrink. Lynda lives in Boulder, Colorado, with her son.
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A taut thriller about two rural Minnesota towns locked in a deadly feud— and a teenage girl caught in the crossfire. A gripping thriller with characters struggling against recognizable domestic and societal pressures, even as a psychopath stalks the periphery Praise from bestselling author Michael Connelly, a sentiment echoed by Nelson DeMille: “Brian Freeman is a first-rate storyteller” Freeman has an impressive online platform based at his website, bfreemanbooks.com
Marketing & PUBLICITY campaign • 10-city author tour • National media • National book reviews in print publications, in newspapers, and online • National print advertising • Tie-in with Brian’s ongoing tours and lectures • Social networking campaign reaching out to Brian’s fans • Promotion on Brian’s website, bfreemanbooks.com
A powerful research corporation enriches residents of affluent Barron, while in blue-collar St. Croix, victims of the company’s carcinogenic waste struggle to survive.
B
ad blood escalates into open warfare when the beautiful daughter of the corporation’s president is found shot dead—and a St. Croix girl, Olivia Hawk, is accused of the crime. Reluctantly, Olivia’s mother summons her estranged husband, Christopher, a Minneapolis lawyer to come defend his daughter. But as Christopher struggles to unravel the mystery, he uncovers ugly truths endangering the residents of both towns. And looming over everything are chilling, apocalyptic threats from a psychopath known only as “Aquarius.”
Spilled Blood: A Novel Brian Freeman 978-1-4027-9812-2 $24.95 ($29.95 Can) | Hard | 6 x 9 304 pages | Territory: US/Canada/Phillipines | May 2012 ebook: 978-1-4027-9838-2 | $11.99 ($13.99 Can)
Often likened to Harlan Coben and David Baldacci, awardwinning author Brian Freeman is an internationally bestselling author of psychological suspense novels. His books have been sold in 46 countries and translated into 20 languages. Brian’s debut thriller, Immoral, won the Macavity Award and ® was a nominee for the Edgar, Dagger, Anthony, and Barry awards for best first novel. Since then, each subsequent novel has been published to similar acclaim. Freeman lives and writes in his native state of Minnesota.
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ALEX CONNOR, AUTHOR OF THE OTHER REMBRANDT ONCE AGAIN WHIPS UP
A RIVETING MIX OF ART, HISTORY AND—
MURDER. Art historian and artist Alex Connor uses her research into the private lives of great artists and her knowledge of the world of big-ticket art dealers and collectors to give authenticity to her portrait of the underside of the art world. Intrigue and scandal centering on the British royal family at a time when they’re dominating the headlines.
Could a single scandalous painting rock two British monarchies centuries apart? It could—if the painting provided proof that a competing heir to the royal throne was born to a prostitute in the 18th century.
T
he evidence, a painting by William Hogarth done in 1732, was supposedly destroyed. But hundreds of years later, on a private jet, news that the explosive evidence has been stolen leaks to several of the most powerful figures in the art world. Dying of cancer but charged with preventing the painting from seeing the light of day, revered dealer Sir Oliver Peters resolves to hunt down the missing work. When the other dealers from the jet start turning up dead, Sir Oliver realizes he’s battling more than time.
THE HOGARTH CONSPIRACY Alex Connor 978-1-4027-9006-5 $14.95 ($17.95 Can) | Paper | 6¼ x 9¼ 416 pages | Terriotry: US/CAN/Philippines | June 2012 ebook 978-1-4027-9018-8 $9.99 ($11.99 Can)
ALEX CONNOR’S work has been featured in the Times, the Telegraph, Observer, Hello!, the Daily Mail, and many foreign newspapers, such as Le Figaro and La Sicilia. She is a Fellow of The Royal Society of Arts.
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SPLINTER
Classic Lines Timeless stories. Fashion-forward design. SALES POINTS • Hip, edgy, stylish design will appeal to teens and bring a new audience to these timeless classic novels • These books appear on many high school and college reading lists
W
ith French flaps and beautiful, bold covers featuring periodinspired clothing straight from a fashion designer’s sketchbook, these books are simply decadent! Without changing a word of the stories that readers have cherished for centuries, our Classic Lines series is for today’s teens, who are as bold as Victorian heroines.
Pride & Prejudice 978-1-4027-8530-6 | 416 pages
Jane Eyre 978-1-4027-8533-7 | 576 pages
Fashion illustrator SARA SINGH’S art has appeared in such prominent publications as Vogue, the New York Times, and House Beautiful, and she has worked for designers like Givenchy, Tiffany, and Neiman Marcus.
All books: $8.95 ($9.95 Can) Paperback with flaps | 5 3/8 x 8 1/4 Territory: World English March 2012
Sense & Sensibility 978-1-4027-8531-3 | 400 pages
Wuthering Heights 978-1-4027-8736-2 | 368 pages
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STERLING
The Beasts of Tarzan The Adventures of Lord Greystoke, Book Three Edgar Rice Burroughs First, in Tarzan of the Apes, the orphaned young Lord Greystoke was adopted by a great ape and taught the ways of the jungle and how to survive in the wild. In The Return of Tarzan he had to learn the equally deadly laws of “civilized” European society. Now, in this third thrilling installment in Edgar Rice Burroughs’s perennially popular series, Tarzan is exiled on a wild island filled with dangers. There, he must enlist the help of a noble panther and a tribe of apes in order to return to the mainland and rescue his wife and infant son from the clutches of his nemesis, the villainous Nikolas Rokoff.
The Hollow Earth At the Earth's Core and Pellucidar Edgar Rice Burroughs Readers can now enjoy two action-packed, adventure-filled fantasies from Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs--At the Earth's Core and Pellucidar--in this one volume! While working in the Sahara, David Innes--heir to a mining fortune--makes a shocking discovery: an unknown world exists below ground, at the Earth's core. Once trapped in this primeval land known as Pellucidar, Innes must battle an array of terrifying prehistoric creatures and primitive tribes if he is ever to return to the Earth's surface.
Publisher: Fall River Published: February 2012 208 pages 978-1-4351-3442-3 $7.95 ($9.95 Canadian) Paper 5 1/2 X 8 1/4 Carton Quantity: 56 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Fall River Published: July 2012 352 pages 978-1-4351-3439-3 $9.95 ($11.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps 5 1/2 X 8 1/4 Territory: US/Can
This new edition features a map of Burroughs' imaginary land plus a glossary of terminology.
The Land that Time Forgot The Land that Time Forgot, The People that Time Forgot, Out of Time's Abyss Edgar Rice Burroughs Set during the turmoil of World War I, Edgar Rice Burroughs' fantasy The Land that Time Forgot transports readers to an amazing lost world. This attractive new edition contains all three novels in the classic Caspak trilogy--The Land that Time Forgot, The People that Time Forgot, and Out of Time's Abyss--as well as Burroughs's original map of Caspak and a glossary. When a German U-boat sinks their ship, British and American survivors commandeer the enemy submarine. Going far off-course into the South Seas, they end up on the mysterious island of Caspak, where savage human tribes exist alongside several species of dinosaurs and other forms of prehistoric life. Will they ever be able to escape?
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Publisher: Fall River Published: May 2012 344 pages 978-1-4351-3440-9 $9.95 ($11.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps 5 1/2 X 8 1/4 Territory: US/Can
HEARST BOOKS
SALES POINTS Great eye-catching package with faux crocodile red cover Star appeal: Includes celebrity photos, interviews with star designers and trendsetters, including Donna Karan and Tim Gunn; introduction by editor in chief Joanna Coles, and foreword by fashion editor and Project Runway judge Nina Garcia
MARKETING POINTS • Excerpt from the book to run in Marie Claire in February issue • Advertising to run in Marie Claire from March onwards • Massive social campaign around Marie Claire’s presence on Facebook and Twitter (625,000 followers) • National media campaign based on concept of book and author solving your fashion emergencies • Fashion blog coverage • Fashion week (February 9-16, 2012) press promotions • Promotions with websites and blogs of the designers featured in the book • Big-mouth awareness campaign to fashionistas
G
ot a fashion emergency?
Here’s your lifeline, anytime, for any occasion! Marie Claire Outfit 911 has the best intel on wardrobe essentials, whether you’re heating things up for an all-night beach party or dressing to impress in the boardroom. Filled with inspiring images of the most fashion-forward celebs, this style safety manual showcases time-tested tips from the magazine’s editors as well as the design world’s most astute gurus like Tim Gunn, Michael Kors, and Donna Karan. And these accessible, classic pieces are adaptable to a range of ages and budgets. Featuring a hot, hip design and an eye-catching package, Marie Claire Outfit 911 is the final word on fashion for the most important moments of your life.
Marie Claire Outfit 911 Fabulous Fixes for Every Fashion Emergency Joyce Corrigan 978-1-58816-871-9 $24.95 ($29.95 Can) | Hard | 7 x 8 | 184 pages (all in color) Territory: North America Only | February 2012
JOYCE CORRIGAN is a contributing editor at Marie Claire and has appeared as the magazine’s style expert on Good Morning America, Fox News, CBS This Morning and MSNBC. She was also a key player on two reality shows—VH1’s The Shot and Style Network’s Running in Heels. Corrigan lives in Bedford, New York with her husband, TV director and cameraman Gary Corrigan, and their son. MARIE CLAIRE is the fashion magazine with character, substance, and depth for women with a point of view, an opinion, and a sense of humor. Each issue is edited for a sexy, stylish, confident woman who is never afraid to make intelligence a part of her wardrobe. The median age of the one million readers (newsstand/subscribers) is 37 with a HHI of $81,000. Total readership per month is 3.9 million.
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SALES POINTS The Home Book proved House Beautiful’s appeal in the upmarket, large-format décor book category with 38,000 sold Great gift format: the ultimate practical and beautiful kitchen guide House Beautiful will support the book with editorial and advertising coverage, as well as online The book will be launched officially at the Kitchen & Bath trade show in April
MARKETING & PUBLICITY CAMPAIGN • National publicity • National print and online coverage • Advertising in House Beautiful magazine • Editorial coverage in House Beautiful magazine • Promotions on housebeautiful.com
A beautiful follow-up to the House Beautiful Home Book.
House Beautiful Kitchens Creating a Beautiful Kitchen of Your Own Lisa Cregan
K
itchens big and small, classic and coolly modern: House Beautiful presents the ultimate designs for the most-loved room in the house. Some of the country’s finest designers usher you through the kitchens they created—often their own—explaining how they arrived at their decorating choices and showcasing eye-catching options. The styles range from “Farm Nouveau” to quintessential Scandinavian to a bold, bright “Rhapsody in Blue.” “Stalking the Look” sections help you source everything from lamps to unique appliances, and breakout sessions focus on special issues, such as planning, color consults, and energy efficiency.
978-1-58816-900-6 | $40.00 ($48.00 Can) Hard | 9 x 11 | 336 pages | all in color ebook 978-1-58816-957-0 | $19.99 ($23.99 Can) Territory: World | April 2012
Includes kitchens designed for: Jonathan Adler; Jeff Lewis (star of Bravo’s Flipping Out); James Radin, who consulted on Diane Keaton’s envy-inducing kitchen in the film Something’s Gotta Give; and Food Network host and “The Barefoot Contessa” cookbook author Ina Garten. LISA CREGAN is a contributing writer to House Beautiful and is also the author of House Beautiful Blue (Spring 11) and House Beautiful Style 101 (Fall 11). She has been a long time resident of Chicago, IL and now lives in Palm Beach, FL.
As a leading authority on home design and decoration, House Beautiful reaches 6.3 million readers every month—more than any other shelter magazine. House Beautiful helps readers achieve rooms that feel right, not just stylish; and rooms to live in, not just showrooms. Inspired by the past, living in the present, and looking to the future, House Beautiful accompanies its readers on their quest to create the house of their dreams.
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SALES POINTS Delish.com is in the top ten food destinations online The triple-tested recipes in this photo-rich book make it a snap for home cooks to expand their cooking skills This is the first of many Delish-branded books and will be accompanied by extensive promotions on Delish.com
MARKETING & PUBLICITY CAMPAIGN • National publicity with Delish editor Elizabeth Shepard • Newspaper coverage • Online coverage and blog outreach • Cross-promotion on Delish.com
D
elish Cooking School is in session! The very first cookbook from Delish.com not only presents
450 fabulous triple-tested recipes; it’s also a complete cooking course. With step-by-step photographs and detailed explanations of essential techniques—such as poaching a perfect egg, stuffing a chicken, glazing a ham, preventing pasta from sticking together, and more—this invaluable kitchen companion teaches beginners all the basics and helps more experienced cooks improve their
Delish Cooking School Learning to Cook Step-by-Step 978-1-58816-930-3 $34.95 ($41.95 Can) | Hard | 73/8 x 91/2 | 688 pages (all in color) ebook 978-1-58816-953-2 | $16.99 ($19.99 Can) Territory: North America Only | March 2012 HEARST MAGAZINES and MSN partnered to develop and launch Delish.com.
skills and spice up their repertoire. Many of the recipes
As a leading website for home cooks, Delish is the must-go-to
feature fail-safe how-to advice that assures great
resource for incredible recipes, the latest in food news, wonderful
results every time, whether you want to make a tender
ideas for entertaining, the best of the food blogs, and so much
meatloaf, prevent pies from sagging in the middle, or
more. Delish helps every cook at every level of skill prepare
bake really fudgy brownies.
quick, easy, and healthy meals.
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SALES POINTS Cupcakes are hugely popular—from food trucks to Magnolia Bakery, these attractively decorated cakes are popping up everywhere. Previous cookbooks sold in this attractive 5x7 spiral package have included Good Housekeeping’s The Great Christmas Cookie Swap (182,000 sold). Delish.com is one of the top 10 food-related destinations on the web. It’s a strong brand that provides recipes, cooking advice, and food celebrity news through MSN.com. The site will promote the book heavily at publication and beyond.
MARKETING & PUBLICITY CAMPAIGN • National publicity • Newspaper coverage in food and book review sections • Online coverage and blog outreach • Cross-promotion on delish.com
S
eductively sweet cupcakes made 102 colorful ways are right at your fingertips with these mouthwatering recipes from Delish.com, the leading website for home cooks everywhere. With this adorable spiral-bound cookbook, you’ll learn to whip up gorgeous cupcakes—color by color, just right for every occasion. Spread the love on Valentine’s Day with divine pink- and red-frosted treats loaded with decadent Chocolate Truffle Hearts. Celebrate summer with sunny yellow Fruity Citrus Wedges. Embrace the Christmas spirit with charming Christmas Berries and Minty Snowflakes cupcakes. Each tiny delight is a feast for the eyes and a treat for the tongue.
Delish Cupcakes by Color More Than 100 Cupcakes to Dazzle and Amaze The Editors of Delish 978-1-58816-934-1 $12.95 ($14.95 Can) | Concealed Spiral-Bound Hard 5 x 7 | 136 pages (all in color) | ebook 978-1-58816-931-0 $9.99 ($11.99 Can) Territory: North America Only | April 2012
HEARST MAGAZINES and MSN partnered to develop and launch Delish.com. As a leading website for home cooks, Delish is the must-go-to resource for incredible recipes, the latest in food news, wonderful ideas for entertaining, the best of the food blogs, and much more. Delish helps cooks at every skill level prepare quick, easy, and healthy meals. The website is also accessible through the MSN home page and in editorial programming across its network, including on the MSN Lifestyle Channel and other relevant channels.
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STERLING
Popular Mechanics The Pocket Genius 563 Facts That Make You the Smartest Person in the Room Randol, Susan Which 1958 invention can be used to repair a broken taillight, reassemble a vase, close wounds, and lift fingerprints? How fast (in milliseconds) does a batter have to react in order to hit a fastball hurtling in at 90 mph? What's the easiest way to demagnetize a screwdriver? Test your grasp of scientific trivia with this handy pocket-sized book, complied by the editors of Popular Mechanics. It's chock-full of brainteasers, multiple-choice questions, and amazing facts on cars, home how-to, nature, sports, science and technology, and much more.
Publisher: Hearst Published: May 2012 176 pages 978-1-5881-6879-5 $9.95 ($11.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 5 3/8 X 6 Territory: World
Popular Mechanics inspires, instructs, and influences 9 million curious minds that read the magazine every month. The magazine features breakthroughs in the latest innovations in science and technology.
- Popular Mechanics will promote the book with advertising and editorial coverage - This fun trivia book covers a variety of popular topics that will work in many situations, from bar trivia contests to game nights at home - The attractive package in a small trim size and affordable price tag make this a great impulse buy for trivia fans on the go
Popular Mechanics The Complete Boy Mechanic 359 Fun & Amazing Things to Build The Editors of Popular Mechanics The Boy Mechanic--bigger and better! This handsome hardcover features every one of the fantastic vintage projects and handy advice from both The Boy Mechanic and The Boy Mechanic Makes Toys. Taken from the turn-of-the-last-century volumes of The Boy Mechanic, these 359 projects are still doable and delightful today. Like a miscellany for the home how-to crowd, the book offers instructions for making toy boats and planes, hammocks, sleds, skates, and special equipment for your own spy lab (such as periscopes), as well as fortunetelling tricks, illusions, games, and more. Charming original illustrations throughout make this an appealing, nostalgic, and fun guide for everyone. Popular Mechanics inspires, instructs, and influences 9 million curious minds that read the magazine every month. The magazine features breakthroughs in the latest innovations in science and technology.
- The Boy Mechanic series has been a sales juggernaut. 116,000 copies of The Boy Mechanic have been sold in its original flexibound format since 2006, and 86,000 copies of The Boy Mechanic Makes Toys. In total, 262,000 copies of all the titles in the Boy Mechanic series have been sold. - This bindup is produced in a new hardcover edition that embraces the content's vintage roots and will relaunch the Boy Mechanic series in a new format. The innovative package features an exposed board cover, with a vintage tip-on image and stamped title. - Released in time for Father's day, this is the perfect gift for any dad who spends time with his workbench--or wants to.
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Publisher: Hearst Published: February 2012 536 pages 978-1-5881-6859-7 $12.95 ($14.95 Canadian) Hard b/w illus. throughout 5 X 7 5/8 Carton Quantity: 16 Territory: World with exclusions*
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STERLING
Good Housekeeping Light & Healthy Cooking 250 Delicious, Satisfying, Guilt-Free Recipes The Editors of Good Housekeeping Great-tasting food and guilt-free eating pleasure: with this brand-new collection of 250 light, healthy, and delicious recipes from Good Housekeeping, you don't have to sacrifice flavor to eat right. From a scrumptious homey lasagna to a strawberry-rhubarb crisp you'll be proud to serve, all these dishes are family-friendly. Not only do the recipes incorporate healthful ingredients, and have 30 percent or fewer calories from fat, but many take less than a half-hour to complete. You'll even find slimmed-down versions of beloved comfort foods like burritos, burgers, pizza, pastas, and brownies. With invaluable tips on counting calories, understanding food labels, sensible shopping, and more, this cookbook makes eating well simple and satisfying.
Good Housekeeping Grill It! Mouthwatering Recipes for Unbeatable Barbecue The Editors of Good Housekeeping Fire up the grill! America loves to barbecue, and the experts at Good Housekeeping have a bestselling collection of 100 sure-fire recipes-including ones new to this edition! Of course you'll learn how to make the perfect burger, but you'll also find Grilled Pesto and Mozzarella Pizzas, Mojito-Rubbed Chicken with Pineapple, Baby-Back Ribs Supreme, Shrimp Sonoma, Campfire Corn with Herb Butter, and much more. All the basics are here, including advice on accessories, terrific marinades, ideas for flavoring the fire, and instructions for preparing many faves indoors in a grill pan.
Good Housekeeping Easy Gluten-Free! Healthy and Delicious Recipes for Every Meal The Editors of Good Housekeeping Going gluten-free is easy, thanks to Good Housekeeping's user-friendly and enticing new cookbook. It takes the challenge out of preparing tasty dishes for every meal. In addition to mouthwatering recipes for Morning Glory Muffins, Spaghetti Squash “Pasta” Puttanesca, and Flourless Chocolate-Hazelnut Cake, this collection contains a wealth of information on how to eliminate gluten from your diet. It helps you tell if you're gluten-intolerant; shop for, and cook with, readily available gluten-free ingredients; avoid hidden gluten in packaged foods and pantry staples; and prepare favorite foods… minus the gluten. With yummy dishes like Oven-Baked Macaroni and Cheese and Chicken Tikka Masala, you'll almost forget you're eating gluten-free!
Good Housekeeping Stain Rescue! The A-Z Guide to Removing Smudges, Spots & Spills The Editors of Good Housekeeping Get that ketchup off your shirt and the crayon out of your couch with this ultimate A-Z stain-removal guide from the experts at The Good Housekeeping Institute. Now with a vibrant new design and photography, Stain Rescue reveals how to remove hundreds of stains from fabric, upholstery, and carpeting--quickly and easily. Organized by type of stain, it provides information on bleach, tools, and must-have products; mystery stains, stain prevention, and treating and storing heirloom textiles. You'll even see how to remove the top ten kid stains!
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Publisher: Hearst Published: March 2012 304 pages 978-1-5881-6836-8 $24.95 ($29.95 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket all in color 7 3/8 X 9 1/4 Carton Quantity: 14 Territory: World with exclusions*
Publisher: Hearst Published: May 2012 160 pages 978-1-5881-6939-6 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Concealed Spiral-Bound Hard all in color 6X9 Carton Quantity: 20 Territory: World with exclusions*
Publisher: Hearst Published: April 2012 176 pages 978-1-5881-6870-2 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Concealed Spiral-Bound Hard all in color 6X9 Carton Quantity: 20 Territory: World with exclusions*
Publisher: Hearst Published: April 2012 288 pages 978-1-5881-6938-9 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Concealed Spiral-Bound Hard all in color 5X7 Carton Quantity: 14 Territory: World with exclusions*
invites you... SALES POINTS Veranda caters to a discerning and wealthy readership—a loyal audience that collects back issues of the magazine and who will be big buyers for the book Published to coincide with the magazine’s 25th anniversary in April; Veranda will promote the book throughout the year A gorgeous package to rival anything on the market, the book is lush and luxurious for a discerning audience
MARKETING & PUBLICITY CAMPAIGN • Full page ad in March/April issue • Editorial coverage in May/June anniversary issue and facebook • Twitter giveaway promotion • Offerpop contest • Author appearances in Atlanta, New York, and Cashiers, NC
The Houses of Veranda Lisa Newsom
• Magazine promotional events in Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, Boston, San Francisco
978-1-58816-927-3 | $60.00 ($72.00 Can) | Hard 10 x 12 | 288 pages (all in color) eBook 978-1-58816-958-7 $30.00 ($36.00 Can) Territory: World | April 2012
Step inside the finest interiors, all decorated by the world’s best and most influential designers.
Author LISA NEWSOM is the founding editor of Veranda and is widely respected by leading architects and designers for her singular vision and aesthetic.
The readers of Veranda expect escape: every issue presents stunning interiors in lush layouts. And that’s exactly what this dream book delivers. These 30 homes are among the most spectacular ever featured in the magazine, with breathtaking rooms both traditional and modern plus everything in between. With a whisper of gracious text, this beautiful collection draws you into a world where you can imagine your own pied-à-terre in Paris, your aerie in the Hollywood Hills, and your home-away-from home on Barbados. VERANDA has half a million affluent women subscribers aged 35–54 with a serious interest in design.
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lark crafts
More than 30 million ounces of Mod Podge are sold each year Modpodgerocks.com, has 200,000 page views each month (300,000 during the holidays), and Amy’s blog is ranked #8 on Babble.com’s Top 50 Mom Craft Blogs for 2011 The book will be heavily supported by Mod Podge’s manufacturer, Plaid®. They will promote the book on their website and at key trade shows, including a feature booth display at CHA, and collaborate on promotions with key accounts and giveaways for publicity outlets Actively promoted on the author’s popular blog + contributors’ blogs Mod Podge is celebrating its 45th anniversary in 2012 Marketing • National publicity • Reviews and features in craft publications • Major cross-promotion with Plaid, the manufacturer of Mod Podge • Social media campaign to craft bloggers and websites
Mod Podge Rocks!
• Cross-promotion on author’s blog, modpodgerocksblog.com
Decoupage Your World Amy Anderson 978-1-4547-0241-2 | $14.95 ($17.95 Can) | Paper | 8 ½ x 10 128 pages, all in color | Territory: World | June 2012
• Events in craft stores by request
M
od Podge Rocks! features over 35 decoupage projects that showcase the versatility of this celebrated product. Contemporary and fun—just like author Amy Anderson’s popular Mod Podge Rocks! website—the book includes everything from home accessories and holiday décor to wearables and jewelry. Joining Amy herself as guest project designers are some of the hottest names in crafting, such as Cathie Filian and Candie Cooper. A basic section outlines the
techniques, and each project features beauty shots, easy-to-follow instructions, and how-to photos.
Amy Anderson lives in Atlanta, Georgia. Her
website, modpodgerocks.com, is hugely popular. In 2010 Amy developed two e-books for FaveCrafts: 12 Fun and Fabulous Mod Podge Projects (26 pages), and Quick and Easy Decoupage (25 pages). They have been available for approximately eight months and been downloaded over 100,000 times.
Since 1967, crafters have entrusted their most treasured creations to Mod Podge®—the number-one, all-in-one glue, sealer, and fınish product that’s water-based for easy cleanup and totally nontoxic. The popularity of Mod Podge continues to grow, as does its product lineup that now includes Glitter, Outdoor, Dimensional Magic, and Glow-in-the-Dark formulas.
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Creative Quilting with Beads 20+ Projects with Dimension, Sparkle & Shine Valerie Van Arsdale Shrader Quilters have expanded the traditional boundaries of their art, embellishing their work with beads, embroidery, and surface design. They, as well as other fiber artists and sewers, will warmly welcome this idea-packed resource that opens up a new realm of creative potential. An illustrated basics section and quilting primer, fun techniques to experiment with, and 24 unique projects created by well-known designers--including a retro-chic throw pillow, miniature wall quilt, and fabric greeting card--will provide quilters with hours of enjoyment, instruction, and inspiration. Valerie Shrader is a senior editor on the needlearts team at Lark Crafts and has written or edited dozens of books related to textiles and needlework-including Simple Contemporary Quilts; Sew Cool, Sew Simple: Stylish Skirts; and Hip Handbags. Valerie lives in Asheville, NC.
Publisher: Lark Crafts Published: February 2012 128 pages 978-1-4547-0336-5 $17.95 ($21.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 8 1/2 X 10 Carton Quantity: 28 Territory: World Author Hometown: Asheville, NC
- New low price point makes this a bargain - Features some well-known quilters like Deborah Boschert (of Twelve by Twelve), Larkin Jean Van Horn, and Sarah Ann Smith
Art Quilt Portfolio: The Natural World Profiles of Major Artists, Galleries of Inspiring Works Martha Sielman This lavish collection of art quilts, all focused on the natural world, inaugurates a gorgeous new series on one of the most popular topics in needlework. Written by Martha Sielman, the executive director of the world's largest art quilt organization, each entry celebrates one of the themes that quilters love best. Every book will feature profiles of the top artists who specialize in that subject, along with nearly 90 amazing gallery images. With the explosion of art quilt exhibits, the blockbuster success of previous books on the subject, and the author's growing renown, quilters will find this inspirational compilation a must-have.
Martha Sielman is the author of Masters: Art Quilts, Volumes 1 and 2 and the Executive Director of Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc. (SAQA). She has been a professional artist, author, lecturer, curator, juror, and arts administrator for over 20 years.
- The single-theme focus and gallery approach will appeal to artists and collectors - There's a proven audience for image-heavy books on this topic; Martha Sielman's previous book, Masters: Art Quilts, sold more then 20,000 copies - The author's organization, Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc., received a Visual Arts grant from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2010 and has a rapidly growing membership
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Publisher: Lark Crafts Published: April 2012 192 pages 978-1-6005-9928-6 $24.95 ($29.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 8 1/2 X 10 Carton Quantity: 20 Territory: World Author Hometown: Storrs, CT
STERLING
Ceramic Studio: Hand Building Shay Amber With a wealth of information, elegant design, and time-tested advice, this beautiful beginner's book covers the most popular topic in ceramics. Just as in her celebrated workshops, artist Shay Amber guides would-be potters through all the basics of hand building, from pinching and coiling to draping slabs, adding gorgeous surface embellishments, and firing. Twelve teaching projects--including a pinched tea bowl and coil-built espresso cup set--build a repertoire of skills. Hundreds of step-by-step images demonstrate key steps while extensive galleries of images provide inspiration.
Publisher: Lark Crafts Published: February 2012 128 pages 978-1-4547-0201-6 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 8 1/2 X 11 Carton Quantity: 24 Territory: World
This book was formerly published in hardcover as Ceramics for Beginners: Hand Building.
Ceramic Studio: Wheel Throwing Emily Reason Featuring the same bright, open design as Ceramic Studio: Hand Building, this second entry in the series offers an introduction to the mechanics of wheel-thrown ceramics. Artist Emily Reason takes beginners through nine projects, including a mug, pitcher, teapot, and fluted baking dish. Starting from one of two fundamental forms (cylinder or bowl) she covers such basics as centering, pulling a handle, trimming, firing, and glazing. Color bands throughout point the reader to related information on various techniques, while gallery sections provide inspiration. This book was formerly published in hardcover as Ceramics for Beginners: Wheel Throwing.
Mastering Raku Making Ware * Glazes * Building Kilns * Firing Steven Branfman From firing to finishing, this definitive reference on raku--now in paperback--is a must-have for artists of all skill levels. Ceramists will be informed and inspired by this attractive hands-on book, which focuses on techniques, not projects. It's packed with ideas, designs, and recipes, and covers every aspect of the raku process: types of clay, forming techniques, decoration, glazes, kilns and kiln construction, and much more. A beautiful gallery of works from around the world provides extra creative motivation.
The Complete Guide to Chair Caning Restoring Cane, Rush, Splint, Wicker & Rattan Furniture Jim Widess Jim Widess, co-author of the bestselling The Caner's Handbook and a top authority in the field, presents a caning guide that readers will treasure for years to come. With the help of his amazingly detailed instructions and illuminating color photographs, even novices can fix virtually any piece of cane or wicker furniture; at the same time, professionals or collectors will value the hundreds of expert, time-tested tips Widess has amassed during three decades of work. Each chapter features a color gallery showcasing a variety of styles and techniques.
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Publisher: Lark Crafts Published: February 2012 128 pages 978-1-4547-0202-3 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 8 1/2 X 11 Carton Quantity: 24 Territory: World Author Hometown: Marshall, NC
Publisher: Lark Crafts Published: March 2012 176 pages 978-1-4547-0367-9 $21.95 ($26.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 8 1/2 X 11 Carton Quantity: 16 Territory: World - Other Author Hometown: Newton, MA
Publisher: Lark Crafts Published: February 2012 128 pages 978-1-4547-0384-6 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 8 1/2 X 10 Carton Quantity: 32 Territory: World Author Hometown: Berkeley, CA
STERLING
The Collage Workbook How to Get Started and Stay Inspired Randel Plowman Both a popular hobby and a recognized art form, collage encompasses a wide range of creative styles and techniques--explored here by the creator of the popular A Collage a Day blog. Offering step-by-step instruction, visual inspiration, and even a library of copyright-free images, this hands-on guide covers all the necessary materials, tools, and know-how, from adding color and transferring images, to dĂŠcollage (tearing away layers). And to spark the reader's imagination, there are 52 creativity prompts, such as a collage using the letters of a single word.
Quilled Flowers A Garden of 35 Paper Projects Alli Bartkowski Paper quilling--rolling and shaping thin strips of paper to create decorative effects--meets the popular art of flower crafting in 35 simple, yet engaging projects. Alli Bartkowski, one of the leading experts of quilling, presents a bouquet of bloom-inspired items in this springtime-hued collection. She explains how to form basic quilled shapes, roses, loops, and many other effects, so crafters can make everything from cleverly framed artworks to unique greeting cards, decorative flowers, jewelry, and more.
Metal Clay Fusion Diverse Clays, Detailed Techniques, Artful Projects Gordon K. Uyehara The first entry in the new Metal Clay Master Class series features the world's leading artist in this versatile medium, which can be molded like clay, but after firing is pure metal. Gordon K. Uyehara will inspire jewelry makers everywhere with his working methods, expertise, and designs. He offers detailed instructions for 22 original projects using several types of metal clay, including silver, bronze, and copper. A handsome gallery of work demonstrates Uyehara's skill and the extraordinary possibilities of the material.
Heat, Color, Set & Fire Surface Effects for Metal Jewelry Mary Hettmansperger A classic how-to jewelry book--and a natural complement and follow-up to Mary Hettmansperger's bestselling Wrap, Stitch, Fold & Rivet. Internationally renowned author Hettmansperger demonstrates easy, effective ways to embellish common metal jewelry. She uses paints, pencils, and dips to achieve dramatic color; applies foils, resins, mica, and other materials to alter the jewelry's surface; and works with unusual techniques, like the ancient Korean art of Keum Boo, to create a gold-gilt effect. Rings, bracelets, necklaces and pins--virtually any piece can become individualized and breathtaking.
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Publisher: Lark Crafts Published: June 2012 132 pages 978-1-4547-0199-6 $17.95 ($21.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 9X9 Territory: World Author Hometown: Madison, WI
Publisher: Lark Crafts Published: March 2012 128 pages 978-1-4547-0120-0 $16.95 ($19.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 8 1/2 X 10 Carton Quantity: 20 Territory: World Author Hometown: Fairport, NY
Publisher: Lark Crafts Published: March 2012 144 pages 978-1-6005-9697-1 $27.95 ($33.95 Canadian) Hard all in color 8 1/2 X 10 Carton Quantity: 12 Territory: World Author Hometown: Honolulu, HI
Publisher: Lark Crafts Published: April 2012 128 pages 978-1-4547-0016-6 $27.95 ($33.95 Canadian) Hard all in color 8 1/2 X 10 Carton Quantity: 20 Territory: World Author Hometown: Peru, IN
STERLING
One + One: Scarves, Shawls & Shrugs 25+ Projects from Just Two Skeins Iris Schreier One + One = Two skeins! That's all it takes to make any of these 25 breathtaking knitted accessories. Scarves, Shawls & Shrugs is the first in a new series by renowned designer Iris Schreier that showcases the many possibilities of working with just two skeins of yarn. Mixing yarn types, weights, and colors, she presents a dazzling array of stylish and sophisticated wraps. Schreier created about half the projects herself, while other prominent designers provided the rest. The projects range from easy to unique and offer new ideas for blending yarns and creating pieces with high appeal, beautiful drape, and practical functionality.
Iris Schreier is founder and designer of Artyarns, and the author of several best-selling Lark books, including Exquisite Little Knits (with co-author Laurie Kimmelstiel, 2004), Modular Knits (2005), Lacy Little Knits (2007), and Iris Schreier's Reversible Knits (2009). Her original techniques are used in knitting workshops around the world, Iris has appeared on the television programs Knitty Gritty and Needle Arts Studio, and her work has been featured in leading needlearts magazines, most recently in Vogue Knitting.
Publisher: Lark Crafts Published: March 2012 132 pages 978-1-4547-0129-3 $17.95 ($21.95 Canadian) Flexibound Paper all in color 8 1/2 X 8 1/2 Carton Quantity: 32 Territory: World Author Hometown: White Plains, NY
- Successful author and entrepreneur well known to the industry and the consumer; she recently rebranded her company through a high-profile national campaign funded by American Express - Schreier has a loyal fan base, and her previous books have sold nearly 100,000 copies
Two-Hour Cross-Stitch: Flowers 300 Quick & Easy Designs Trice Boerens It takes only two short hours to grow a cross-stitch garden! These 300 easy, quick, vintage-and-retro inspired designs all feature lovely and richly colorful flower-based motifs. Some are singular blossoms, while others are gathered in wreaths or placed in pretty flowerpots. Plus, there are other charming images to help fill out a sampler, including windmills, children on garden swings or bestowing a bouquet, and even flower-bearing teddy bears. Every stitcher will cherish this charming collection. Trice Boerens of Ogden, Utah, is an established crafting author and designer who has written books for Sterling, American School of Needlework, Quarry, and Watson-Guptill. Her areas of expertise include needlework, quilting, and paper crafts. She is the author of Lark's new 45 Quilt Blocks series, and authored the original Sterling/Chappelle Two-Hour Cross-Stitch, which sold over 100,000 copies.
- The second book in this series, planned for Spring 2013, will feature animal motifs - Boerens' original Two-Hour Cross-Stitch (Sterling/Chappelle) sold over 100,000 copies
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Publisher: Lark Crafts Published: March 2012 156 pages 978-1-4547-0116-3 $17.95 ($21.95 Canadian) Flexibound Paper all in color 8X8 Territory: World Author Hometown: Ogden, UT
STERLING
Diane Fitzgerald's Favorite Beading Projects Designs from Stringing to Beadweaving Diane Fitzgerald She's the grande dame of beading and a legend in the field, and now Diane Fitzgerald is back with 24 of her very best, never-before-published projects! These favorites are drawn from Diane's 20+ years of creating and teaching, and highlight her signature style. As she does in her sold-out classes worldwide, Diane provides a wealth of professional tips for getting great results. Packed with color and amazing designs, this essential title from one of today's leading bead artists belongs in the libraries of aspiring beaders everywhere.
Japanese Beadwork with Sonoko Nozue 25 Jewelry Designs from a Master Artist Sonoko Nozue Take a master class with Japan's first lady of beadwork--Sonoko Nozue! This unique entry in the best-selling Beadweaving Master Class series--and Nozue's first book in English--offers 25 projects showcasing the artist's signature melding of traditional Japanese style with modern dramatic flair. Overflowing with crystals and pearls, these pieces are lush, romantic, and one-of-a-kind.
Publisher: Lark Crafts Published: March 2012 128 pages 978-1-6005-9922-4 $27.95 ($33.95 Canadian) Hard all in color 8 1/2 X 10 Carton Quantity: 20 Territory: World Author Hometown: Minneapolis, MN
Publisher: Lark Crafts Published: April 2012 128 pages 978-1-4547-0278-8 $27.95 ($33.95 Canadian) Hard all in color 8 1/2 X 10 Carton Quantity: 18 Territory: WENG
A gallery of additional works from Nozue will inspire advanced jewelers in their creative exploration, and the images and design throughout beautifully capture an appealing Japanese aesthetic.
Beading with Crystals 36 Simply Inspired Jewelry Designs Jean Campbell and Katherine Duncan Aimone Snap up this special reprint of a popular bestseller, now repackaged with a new cover and a lower price! Glittering and colorful bicones, buttons, drops, and rhinestones are the stars of the show in this exceptional entry in Lark Jewelry & Beading's Beading with series. Begin your creative journey by learning from an extensive section on basic techniques that includes stringing, knotting, off-loom beading, edgings, brick stitch, herringbone stitch, ladder stitch, netting, peyote stitch, square stitch, right angle weave, and wirework.
Making Wire & Bead Jewelry Artful Wirework Techniques Janice Berkebile & Tracy Stanley Wire and bead jewelry is one of the hottest subjects in jewelry-making today, and this book comes from two of the best-known teachers in the field, Janice Berkebile and Tracy Stanley. With beautiful designs, more than 500 how-to photographs that teach you visually, and accessible and accurate instructions, this book is a dream come true for jewelers. This is jewelry with texture and impressive wirework. This book of artful wirework instruction and 24 great projects will become the cornerstone of your jewelry-making library.
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Publisher: Lark Crafts Published: April 2012 144 pages 978-1-4547-0360-0 $17.95 ($21.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 8 1/2 X 10 Territory: World Author Hometown: Minneapolis, MN (Campell)Asheville, NC (Duncan)
Publisher: Lark Crafts Published: May 2012 144 pages 978-1-4547-0287-0 $24.95 ($29.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 8 1/2 X 10 Territory: World Author Hometown: Seattle, WA (Berkebile)Bellevue, WA (Stanley)
STERLING
Making Mini Books Big Ideas for 30+ Little Projects Kathleen McCafferty Everyone loves handmade books--and these adorable mini volumes are generally easier to craft than their larger counterparts! Some even require only folding and stapling. This charming collection includes beautiful leather-clad journals, block print notepads, accordion-fold mini-zines, and others that feature interior pockets, unique closures, colorful stitching, and eye-catching bindings. An invaluable illustrated stitch guide provides the essential info for every binding. Kathleen McCafferty is an editor for Lark Books and edited the bestselling Making Handmade Books by Alisa Golden. She lives in Asheville, North Carolina.
Publisher: Lark Crafts Published: April 2012 144 pages 978-1-4547-0200-9 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 9X9 Carton Quantity: 20 Territory: World Author Hometown: Asheville, NC
- Lark titles on book arts are consistently strong sellers; Cover to Cover, for example, has sold more than 100,000 copies in hardcover and paper - Features over 25 bookmakers who will actively promote the book - Several of the book's projects will be used in high-profile blog giveaways to promote the book
The Complete Decorated Journal A Compendium of Journaling Techniques Gwen Diehn Now two of the most successful books by Gwen Diehn, The Decorated Page and The Decorated Journal, are bound together into one comprehensive and inspiring volume. The combined contents offer readers an unmatched collection of great ideas and techniques, from the latest supplies (papers, adhesives, paints, pens) to innovative layouts (mandalas, diagonals, cutouts, grids). Sidebars highlight specific genres, such as pillow books, nature journals, and illuminated manuscripts. Plus, newly added content includes journaling artist profiles along with galleries of their work, new techniques, and a new project where readers learn to make a journal from a butter box. Gwen Diehn has exhibited her artwork internationally and has worked in many private and public collections, including the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington. She has taught college art as well as workshops for many years and is the author of numerous books, including Making Books That Fly, Fold, Wrap, Hide, Pop Up, Twist & Turn and Simple Printmaking. Her most recent book, Live & Learn: Real Life Journals, was listed as one of the top ten crafts books of 2010 by Booklist.
- Author's previous books have a solid track record; previous editions of The Decorated Page have sold nearly 45,000 copies, and previous editions of The Decorated Journal have sold over 20,000 copies - Two celebrated resources combined into one, PLUS 13 artist profiles with a gallery of their work, new techniques, and a new project complete with how-to illustrations - Great value at 240 pages and $21.95
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Publisher: Lark Crafts Published: April 2012 240 pages 978-1-4547-0203-0 $21.95 ($26.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 8 1/2 X 10 Carton Quantity: 12 Territory: World Author Hometown: Swanannoa, NC
STERLING
Heart-Felt Holidays 40 Festive Felt Projects to Celebrate the Seasons Kathy Sheldon & Amanda Carestio Celebrate--and craft--from the heart! The same team that brought you the top-selling Fa la la la Felt now offers another adorable book of fresh, easy-to-make felt decorations--this time with festive and fun holiday themes for the rest of the year. Using readily available store-bought felt sheets, crafters can have year-round enjoyment creating 40 charming projects for Valentine's Day, Easter, Halloween, Mother's Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and more.
Hand in Hand Crafting with Kids Jenny Doh “Mommy bloggers” are a hugely popular source of advice for parents on everything from discipline to which stores have the best deals. And one of the top trending topics is crafting with your kids. Hand in Hand offers the best of the best: 20 superstar mommy bloggers share exclusive, photo-rich insights into their creative lives along with a favorite how-to craft for parent and child to make together. The 20 projects feature a well-balanced mix of techniques, materials, colors, and styles for a range of ages.
Creative Concrete Ornaments for the Garden Making Pots, Planters, Birdbaths, Sculpture & More Sherri Warner Hunter Sherri Warner Hunter, author of the bestselling Creating with Concrete, proves once again that concrete isn't just for sidewalks anymore; it's perfect for the garden too. A selection of 30 beautiful designs suggests the range of this increasingly popular material, and the illustrated instructions make the craft's fundamentals easy to learn. The simplest projects come first, so beginners can work their way through the book progressively, building on their skills. Projects include a carved trough, sandcast bowl, elegant relief panel, and--for more skilled crafters--a decorative walkway, sculpture, and water feature.
Pop-Up Cards And Other Greetings That Slide, Dangle & Move Sandi Genovese Pop-up cards, with their wonderfully interactive, dimensional nature, are all the rage these days--and renowned artist Sandi Genovese shows crafters how to make their own. These 25 memorable projects truly make cards pop, including a multi-tiered chocolate cake design that looks good enough to eat; an ornament-bedecked, three-dimensional Christmas tree card for the holidays; and the accordion-folded “Hand in Hand” card that seems to applaud when it's opened and closed. All projects feature a gorgeous color shot of the completed card, templates, and a vibrant page layout.
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Publisher: Lark Crafts Published: April 2012 132 pages 978-1-4547-0281-8 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 9X9 Carton Quantity: 20 Territory: World Author Hometown: Charleston, SC (Sheldon)Asheville, NC (Carestio)
Publisher: Lark Crafts Published: April 2012 160 pages 978-1-4547-0240-5 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 8 1/2 X 10 Carton Quantity: 24 Territory: World Author Hometown: Santa Ana, CA
Publisher: Lark Crafts Published: March 2012 176 pages 978-1-4547-0353-2 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 8 1/2 X 10 Carton Quantity: 22 Territory: World Author Hometown: Bell Buckle, TN
Publisher: Lark Crafts Published: May 2012 128 pages 978-1-4547-0320-4 $17.95 ($21.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 8 1/2 X 10 Territory: World Author Hometown: Laguna Beach, CA
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STERLING
Sabine Lippert's Beaded Fantasies 30 Romantic Jewelry Projects Sabine Lippert The bestselling Beadweaving Master Class series welcomes Sabine Lippert, Europe's top beadwork designer, in a gorgeous book that showcases 30 dazzling designs. Lippert's lavish combination of glass pearls, crystals, and seed beads evokes the Gilded Age, and these breathtaking projects all feature her trademark tiers of beads layered into opulent jewelry. Yet every piece uses the most popular and beloved stitches in beading: the right-angle weave and peyote. Most of the bracelets, necklaces, earrings, pendants, and chokers here are new, but Sabine has included a few of her favorite classics. A gallery of Sabine's and other beaders' work rounds out this stunning volume.
Publisher: Lark Crafts Published: May 2012 144 pages 978-1-4547-0246-7 $27.95 ($33.95 Canadian) Hard all in color 8 1/2 X 10 Territory: World
Sabine Lippert teaches beading workshops in Germany, England, and the United States, as well as at Creativa (a huge German trade show). She is the author of 2009's Das Perlenkochbuch (The Bead Cookbook), and she maintains an active and popular blog, on which she posts images of new beaded jewelry designs almost daily. Lippert also is a Swarovski Ambassador. She lives in Bonn, Germany.
- Sabine Lippert is Europe's top beader - Lippert's popular blog (try-to-be-better.blogspot.com) has a large international following, with 600 to 1000 click-throughs daily. And with her huge presence in the Facebook beading community (facebook.com/pages/trytobead), Sabine has legions of fans - Lippert is a Swarovski Ambassador, which lends her both prestige and a visible platform - Several projects are reserved for social-media marketing to generate enthusiasm among customers
“Sabine Lippert’s use of pearls, crystals, and seed beads, with innovative thread paths, results in beautifully encrusted jewels that are infinitely wearable. The way she shares her design approach of evolving pieces of beadwork into a variety of designs encourages readers to take their own design journeys. We can be thankful that Sabine’s long craft history led her to beads.”— Marcia DeCoster
Showcase 500 Rings New Directions in Art Jewelry Marthe Le Van & Bruce Metcalf, Juror Rings have outsold every other subject covered by our “500” books, so it's only fitting that we begin the next generation of the series with Showcase: 500 Rings. This dynamic gallery volume looks at the jeweler's art as it's being interpreted by leading designers from around the world--some exploring dazzlingly innovative styles with highly advanced techniques and costly materials; others using simple, traditional methods and creating works of quiet elegance. What they all have in common is that every image contains elements of surprise and awe.
Juror Bruce Metcalf was a contributing editor to Metalsmith magazine for nearly two decades and taught at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. His honors include a Pew Fellowship in the Arts, a National Endowment for the Arts Visual Artists Fellowship, a Fulbright Teaching & Research Fellowship in Korea, and a National Endowment for the Arts Craftsmen's Fellowship. Marthe Le Van is a Senior Content Editor for Lark Jewelry & Beading. She has written, edited, juried, or curated more than 40 jewelry books since 2000.
- Follow-up to the best-selling “500” book of all time, 1000 Rings (Lark Books, 2004) - Rings are the most popular form of jewelry - All rings in the book were created since 2000 - Many designers here have never before been featured in a 500 Series book
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Publisher: Lark Crafts Published: May 2012 420 pages 978-1-4547-0288-7 $27.95 ($33.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 8X8 Territory: World Author Hometown: Bala Cynwyd, PA (Metcalf)Asheville, NC (Le Van)
STERLING
Stash Happy: Appliqué 25 Fresh Projects for Fabric Lovers Cynthia Shaffer Got stash? Great, because we've got super-cute ideas for using it! This third entry in the popular Stash Happy series showcases appliqué, and it features plenty of techniques and unique project ideas. First, a short basics section helps novice sewers get up to speed. Then the fun really begins, with projects that range from embellished store-bought items (like cute Mary Jane shoes) to 100% original creations. Even the motifs offer lots of variety, including kid's drawings, coffee cups, and pretty paisley. How-to photography, templates, and tips speed crafters along their way.
Crochet Garden Bunches of Flowers, Leaves, and Other Delights Suzann Thompson Building on the success of her first book, Crochet Bouquet, Suzann Thompson presents a delightful collection of garden-inspired creations. After briefly reviewing the basics, Suzann arranges her designs in four distinct sections: Botanical Gardens, featuring well-known varieties; Inspired Gardens, based on decorative motifs; International Gardens, incorporating flowers from throughout the world; and Fun and Fantastic Gardens, with imaginative takes on traditional favorites. Simple and fun, they all use widely available yarns. Inspirational projects show how to use the motifs to decorate garments, accessories, and home décor items.
New Crewel: The Motif Collection More Exquisite Designs in Modern Embroidery Katherine Shaughnessy Katherine Shaughnessy, author of The New Crewel, continues her original, modern approach to needlework--and takes crewel embroidery to a higher level. For this stunning collection of motifs, all in circular patterns, she has whipped up a fresh menu of creative ideas, including 30 new designs, five new stitches, and ten inspirational projects. Just as with Katherine's first compilation, this includes photographs and color diagrams of each motif, along with how-to illustrations, plus a feature not offered previously: a CD of the motifs for easy download.
Fat Quarterly Shape Workshop for Quilters 60 Blocks + a Dozen Quilts and Projects! Katy Jones, Brioni Greenberg, Tacha Bruecher & John Q. Adams The authors of Fat Quarterly, the wildly popular ezine on quilting, share the secrets of their quilting success in a collection of 60 quilt blocks and 12 quilts and projects, with a helpful introduction and coverage of basic techniques. Each chapter offers 10 colorful quilt blocks, instructions for a full-size quilt and a smaller project, plus all the necessary templates. Both a trusted guide and an inspirational workshop, this is a perfect resource for all quilters, especially members of traditional and online quilting bees.
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Publisher: Lark Crafts Published: April 2012 128 pages 978-1-4547-0280-1 $16.95 ($19.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 8 1/2 X 10 Carton Quantity: 24 Territory: World Author Hometown: Orange, CA
Publisher: Lark Crafts Published: May 2012 132 pages 978-1-6005-9927-9 $16.95 ($19.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 8X9 Territory: World Author Hometown: Dublin, TX
Publisher: Lark Crafts Published: June 2012 112 pages 978-1-6005-9795-4 $16.95 ($19.95 Canadian) Paperback Book with CD all in color 9X9 Territory: World Author Hometown: Marfa, TX
Publisher: Lark Crafts Published: May 2012 144 pages 978-1-4547-0282-5 $21.95 ($26.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 8 X 10 Carton Quantity: 30 Territory: World
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STERLING
We Make Dolls! Top Dollmakers Share Their Secrets & Patterns Jenny Doh Making super-cute stitched dolls is a beloved tradition, and today it's more popular than ever! Here are some of the freshest new designs from 10 of the world's leading dollmakers. Along with the book's 23 projects--which feature full-size templates and include trendy plush creatures as well as sweet-faced human and animal forms--are profiles of the artists, including colorful pictures of their studios and explanations of their signature techniques. The international roster represents nations from the US and Mexico to Germany, Portugal, and Russia.
30-Minute Bracelets 60 Quick & Creative Projects for Jewelers Marthe Le Van We live in a hurry-up world-so busy crafters will find these quick, inventive ideas for creating spectacular jewelry a godsend. The newest entry in the popular 30-Minute Series offers 60 exciting designs for bracelets, bangles, and cuffs, all featuring easy-to-follow instructions with no more than ten steps. Showcasing everything from pink pearls and sterling silver to nontraditional and repurposed materials, these varied projects are fresh, fantastic, and fun.
A Bounty of Bead & Wire Necklaces 50 Fun, Fast Jewelry Projects Nathalie Mornu Fun, fast, and fabulous! Drawn from Lark Jewelry & Beading's most popular titles, these 50 projects offer a bounty of options for everyone who loves to make and wear jewelry: polished designs, the stylish medium of bead and wire, and an attractive presentation that allows even complete beginners to craft something beautiful. From the jasper and garnet City Lights necklace to the exotic black-and-white spiraled Anemone, each piece is gorgeous and doable. The distinguished contributing designers include Kaari Meng, owner of the popular French General boutique, and nationally recognized jeweler and teacher Brenda Schweder.
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Publisher: Lark Crafts Published: June 2012 160 pages 978-1-4547-0249-8 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 8 1/2 X 10 Territory: World Author Hometown: Santa Ana, CA
Publisher: Lark Crafts Published: June 2012 136 pages 978-1-6005-9488-5 $21.95 ($26.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 8X9 Territory: World Author Hometown: Asheville, NC
Publisher: Lark Crafts Published: June 2012 160 pages 978-1-4547-0289-4 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 8 1/2 X 10 Territory: World Author Hometown: Asheville, NC
WHERE WOMEN CREATE
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STERLING
Where Women Create: Book of Organization The Art of Creating Order Jo Packham & The Publishers of Somerset Studio Where Women Create: Book of Organization--the third in the Where Women Create series, published in association with the wildly popular magazine of the same name--is the essential guide to getting the most out of your creative workspace. In 144 eye-catching and photograph-filled pages, it features storage ideas, tips, tricks, and dos and don'ts for organizing over 10 types of crafts studios. Profiles showcase more than 25 artistic, inspirational women and delve into their organization style and techniques. The featured crafts include paper, fabric, jewelry, journaling, mixed media, and needlework. Jo Packham has been a leading innovator in the crafts and handmade publishing market for more than 30 years. A successful entrepreneur who has recently partnered with Stampington & Company, she is now creating a new imprint with Sterling, WWC PRESS. Jo is the creator/editor-in-chief of two bestselling magazines: Where Women Create: Inspiring Work Spaces of Extraordinary Women and Where Women Cook: The Heart and Soul of Cooking. She is also the author of Where Women Create (2005) and Where Women Create: Book of Inspiration (2010) and the co-founder of THE CREATIVE CONNECTION Event. Jo lives in Ogden, Utah.
- Features and reviews in decorating and women’s interest magazines - Newspaper coverage in lifestyle columns - Online coverage on decorating blogs and women’s interest websites - Local media and events in 25 contributors' hometowns - Cross promotion with contributors' blogs and social media platforms - Coverage in Where Women Create magazine- to include print ads - Promotions at CREATIVE CONNECTION conference in St. Paul, MN - Blads available
- Where Women Create: Book of Organization will be promoted in the bestselling magazines Where Women Cook and Where Women Create - It will be promoted on the popular blogs of the more than 25 women featured in the book - The author will promote the book at events where she is the keynote speaker, making personal appearances, or events where she is involved with either of the magazines around the country
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Publisher: WWC Press Published: May 2012 176 pages 978-1-4027-9151-2 $24.95 ($29.95 Canadian) Hard all in color 8 1/2 X 10 Territory: World Author Hometown: Ogden, UT
PIXIQ
STERLING
Android Photography A Guide to Mobile Creativity Jolie O'Dell Take great photos with your Android™ smart phone! Despite the popularity of Android™ and its huge app store, there hasn't been much information to be found on making the most of its in-phone camera. Now, this enlightening guide helps users get a great shot, anytime, anywhere. It details many of the great apps available for Android™; shows how to apply them to create, edit, and enhance images; and explains the easiest and best ways to share those pictures with friends and family.
One Light Flash Professional-Quality Lighting on a Budget John Denton & Adam Duckworth Just one flash unit and a DSLR camera: that's all it takes to get beautifully lighted images. Revealing his proven shooting techniques, leading photographer John Denton shows how to achieve great effects--indoors and out--from minimal equipment. He explains how to modify a single flash to get specific results, and apply that equipment most effectively. Numerous diagrams and photos present detailed set-ups, and this richly illustrated guide also features tutorials, post-processing tips, and a look at various photographic genres, from weddings to lifestyle to nudes.
Wildlife Photographer of the Year: Portfolio 21 Lark Books This memorable volume showcases all the winning and commended photographs from the world's most prestigious wildlife photography competition: Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year. This year, for the first time, it is published by the Natural History Museum. From emotive portraits of endangered species to awe-inspiring shots of Earth's wildest landscapes, this outstanding collection covers a wide range of natural subjects and styles. Together, they reveal the splendor, drama, and variety of life on our planet.
Digital Outdoor Photography 101 Top Tips Heather Angel Award-winning wildlife photographer Heather Angel has created a comprehensive, must-have guide for anyone eager to create amazing nature, wildlife, landscape, and macro photos. Through 101 of her best time-tested tips--each one beautifully illustrated--Heather covers everything from packing for a photographic field trip to practical shooting advice, technical tricks, and specific gear recommendations. Inspirational anecdotes from her years of traveling the world abound, and she even explains how to create a “fix-it kit” to handle accidents in the field.
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Publisher: Pixiq Published: February 2012 160 pages 978-1-4547-0346-4 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 9 1/8 X 5 Territory: US/Can/Philippines Author Hometown: San Francisco, CA
Publisher: Pixiq Published: February 2012 176 pages 978-1-4547-0347-1 $27.95 ($33.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 9 1/4 X 10 Carton Quantity: 14 Territory: US/Can/Philippines
Publisher: Pixiq Published: February 2012 160 pages 978-1-4547-0405-8 $29.95 ($35.95 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket all in color 10 X 9 7/8 Carton Quantity: 11 Territory: NA/Cntrl Amer/Caribbean
Publisher: Pixiq Published: March 2012 176 pages 978-1-4547-0117-0 $24.95 ($29.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 8 1/2 X 11 Carton Quantity: 20 Territory: World
STERLING
Creative EVIL Photography Getting the Most from Your Mirrorless Camera Haje Jan Kamps When it comes to cameras, E.V.I.L. is good! E.V.I.L. stands for Electronic-Viewfinder, Interchangeable-Lens--and it's the most innovative, hottest, and stylish type of camera to hit the photography market in the past five years. Hip amateurs and professionals alike are snatching these cameras up, and this book is tailored specifically to today's trend-setting users. Creative E.V.I.L. Photography highlights the unique advantages offered by these mirrorless cameras, including incredible image quality despite their small size, more discreet street shooting, and great HD video. With this specialized guide in hand, photographers will easily exploit the unique characteristics of their new equipment.
Publisher: Pixiq Published: April 2012 192 pages 978-1-4547-0348-8 $27.95 ($33.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 8 1/4 X 9 1/4 Territory: US/Can/Philippines
Haje Jan Kamps is the fastest up-and-coming digital photography writer on the scene today. Starting his first digital photography website in 1998 (at age 17), his successful Photocritic.org site has been extremely popular, cultivating a large and dedicated readership with extensive coverage on major blog aggregators such as Slashdot, Digg, and Lifehacker. He has extensive experience in technical editing and ghost writing, in addition to authoring two previous books. He resides in London when he isn't traveling the world.
- Written by an author, and leading PIXIQ.com blogger, who is deeply into the digital age and well respected for his up-to-date knowledge of the digital photography field - Fully up-to-date, covering all the current technology from all the relevant camera manufacturers - The market for this equipment is rapidly growing; E.V.I.L. is fast becoming the new standard for photographic technology (DSLRs are out, E.V.I.L.s are in)
Food Photography Pro Secrets for Styling, Lighting & Shooting Lara Ferroni Top blogger and pro photographer Lara Ferroni serves up a one-stop guide to food-photography success! Packed with her tried-and-true secrets, this comprehensive guide details everything you need to know about sourcing and styling food, drinks, and props. Ferroni profiles several of the industry's top professional food photographers, and includes detailed case studies of their most successful shots--complete with lighting diagrams and equipment setups. This diverse collection of stunning images images and easy-to-follow shooting instructions perfectly encompasses the field of modern food photography, covering everything from blog and editorial photography to corporate advertising and publicity shots.
Lara Ferroni is a successful Seattle-based food photographer and acclaimed food-photography workshop leader. Lara's work has been featured on blogs such as Design*Sponge and ThePictureKitchen.com. Her extensive list of professional clients includes Epicurious.com, Gourmet.com, Imbibe Magazine, Katia's Chocolates, Herbco International, and Seattle Coffee Works, to name a few. Lara's photos have appeared in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. She is also the author of the recipe book Doughnuts.
- Ferroni's blog site has been awarded special recognition, including being named one of Saveur's Sites We Love, honored at London's Times Online as Best of the Food Blogs, and selected as one of Gourmet's Favorite Food Sites - Food photography is a trend that reaches far beyond just pro photographers; food blogging and iPhone photographs of food are both hot trends right now
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Publisher: Pixiq Published: March 2012 192 pages 978-1-4547-0408-9 $29.95 ($35.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 7 1/2 X 9 11/16 Territory: US/Can/Philippines
STERLING
Portrait Photography Secrets of Posing & Lighting Mark Cleghorn Now completely updated, this bestselling portrait photography guide from acclaimed author Mark Cleghorn features easy-to-follow instructions and detailed photo sequences that help photographers, from beginners to aspiring professionals, create compelling images. With tips on software, studio lighting and equipment, settings and locations, poses and expressions, and interacting with models, Portrait Photography covers every skill needed to master this creative medium.
Mark Cleghorn is an internationally known photographer and author who has specialized in portrait and wedding photography for almost 30 years. He is a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society and a member of the Master Photographers Association (MPA) and the British Institute of Professional Photography (BIPP). He was chosen BIPP Fashion Photographer of the Year and the MPA Portrait and Avant-Garde Wedding Photographer of the Year twice. He has a total of 17 Kodak European gold awards and 40 commendations, as well as 30 BIPP gold, silver, and bronze medals. He lives in Cardiff, South Glamorgan, UK.
Publisher: Pixiq Published: June 2012 144 pages 978-1-4547-0243-6 $29.95 ($35.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 8 1/2 X 11 Territory: World
- Written by a renowned, multi-award-winning photographer - First edition has sold more than 41,000 copies!
Digital Photographer's Guide to Dramatic Photoshop Effects Jim Zuckerman Jim Zuckerman, a teacher and pro photographer renowned for his vivid, surreal images, walks readers step-by-step through creating brilliant, eye-catching composite images and enhanced photographs using the most powerful digital darkroom tool: Adobe PhotoshopÂŽ. Zuckerman includes a range of techniques that will enhance existing photographs, produce stunning fantasy images, or make pictures resemble oil and watercolor paintings. He explains which tools to use and where to find them, and gives advice on choosing the right photo for implementing a specific technique; bringing out a photograph's hidden assets, and so much more. Inspiring examples of Zuckerman's own work feature detailed explanations of how he achieved each image, making this a must-have book for every digital photographer. Jim Zuckerman has lectured and taught creative photography at UCLA, Kent State University, and the Palm Beach Photographic Center. He has been a contributing editor to PHOTOgraphic magazine for 32 years, and also writes for Shutterbug. His images have been published in hundreds of books and magazines, including several Time-Life Books, publications of the National Geographic Society, Outdoor Photographer, Omni Magazine, CondĂŠ Nast Traveler, and Science Fiction Age. He is the author of 15 books, including Pro Secrets to Dramatic Digital Photos.
- Adobe recently introduced Photoshop Express for small devices such as smart phones and tablets. As photo-editing apps become increasingly versatile, more people will find themselves continuing the image-making process beyond capture, and this book provides approachable step-by-step recipes for creating amazing new images from snapshots. - Zuckerman makes a living teaching online and travel workshops, which allows him constant access to his audience. He also writes for Shutterbug and PHOTOgraphic magazines and has a substantial web presence, including a photo blog and a separate website with photo galleries and instructional articles.
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Publisher: Pixiq Published: May 2012 128 pages 978-1-4547-0118-7 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 8 1/2 X 10 Territory: World Author Hometown: Franklin, TN
STERLING
Advanced Digital Black & White Photography John Beardsworth Fans of black-and-white photography can bring their skills up-to-date with this revised and richly illustrated guide! Extremely popular in its first edition, it now includes information about the latest cameras and photographic technology, as well as new filters and software tools such as Adobe速 Photoshop速 5.5. John Beardsworth explains how to think in monochrome, creatively convert pictures to B&W, fine-tune the monochrome image, and record expressive, eye-catching black-and-white interpretations.
Creative Portraiture Natalie Dybisz Edgy, evocative portraits and unique post-processing details make this the most creative, hip portrait book available. It goes beyond the technical aspects of lighting and posing (though they are well covered) and reveals how to capture the essence of your subject's true inner self. Acclaimed photographer Natalie Dybisz offers advice on building trust, planning shoots, directing people, and using digital tools such as post-editing and compositing to create great portraits. An extensive showcase chapter presents several artists' works and methods.
Making Movies with Your iPhone Ben Harvell All iPhone速 owners know that this amazingly sophisticated piece of equipment can take wonderfully artistic photos--but not everyone realizes how great it is for making movies. Now, the secret is out! In this first and only book exclusively dedicated to shooting video with an iPhone, technology expert Ben Harvell reveals how to turn this dynamic tool from a fancy consumer device to a pro-quality video instrument.
Michael Freeman's Digital Photography Handbook Michael Freeman Michael Freeman's popular Pro-Photographer's DSLR Handbook is now retitled and fully updated for the digital age! Freeman simply, clearly, and effectively lays out the concepts behind digital image-making, including all the technical and artistic fundamentals that turn good photos into great ones. He covers the latest cameras, accessories, and software programs; envisioning and capturing a scene; effectively handling workflow and editing; using special effects; printing and publishing; and much more. .
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Publisher: Pixiq Published: May 2012 192 pages 978-1-4547-0419-5 $24.95 ($29.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 7 1/4 X 10 1/4 Carton Quantity: 20 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Pixiq Published: May 2012 176 pages 978-1-4547-0403-4 $29.95 ($35.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 9 1/4 X 10 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Pixiq Published: April 2012 160 pages 978-1-4547-0404-1 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 9 X 4 3/4 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Pixiq Published: May 2012 256 pages 978-1-4547-0420-1 $24.95 ($29.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 7 1/4 X 10 Territory: US/Can
PUZZLEWRIGHT PRESS
STERLING
Puzzle Masterpieces Dazzling Variety Crosswords for Word Lovers Patrick Berry Words, prepare to meet your master--and sophisticated solvers, prepare for a treat. Patrick Berry’s puzzles are unparalleled; whether in the New York Times or Games Magazine, everything he touches turns to mind-stretching gold. And here he has created the most eye-catching crosswords ever seen, in a collection that’s as visually gorgeous as it is mentally stimulating. The grids in these puzzles don’t look anything like typical crosswords--instead, they come in a variety of shapes, each with its own unique twist. Of course, these attractive challenges are all filled with the freshest words and phrases, and clued with a wicked sense of wordplay. This handsome volume, now in paperback, makes the perfect gift for any word lover.
Crosswords from the Underground 72 Puzzles From Alternative Newspapers Ben Tausig Solvers who want something fresh, fun, and filled with contemporary themes need look no further! Constructed by puzzle wizard Ben Tausig for his crossword feature published in alternative weeklies such as the Village Voice and the Chicago Reader, these puzzles are perfect for those who know their Ashlee Simpson from their Marge Simpson and want to test their up-to-the-minute knowledge of pop culture. As a special extra, the answers to every puzzle include amusing sidelights and explanations of some of the more difficult answers.
Bed & Breakfast Sunday Crosswords Edited by Leslie Billig A good night's sleep, a sumptuous breakfast, and a large crossword are a puzzler's idea of the perfect Sunday morning. The third item is right here, in this topnotch selection of Sunday-size puzzles. Guaranteed to provide hours of entertainment, and complete with terrific themes and plenty of punny clues, these brain-benders were originally published in The Uptown Puzzle Club and crafted by the best constructors in the business. Puzzle master Leslie Billig edited them all and provides a collection of fun facts about the more imaginative answers.
Triple-Stack Crosswords Martin Ashwood-Smith Triple-stack means triple-solving goodness--and a unique challenge for word lovers! Each of these 72 daily-sized puzzles features wide-open grids with at least one set of three 15-letter answers stacked on top of each other. This is one tough feat to accomplish, but puzzle-making genius Ashwood-Smith makes it look easy. In addition to the challenging triple-stacking, crossword mavens get tons of clever clues featuring all manner of wordplay.
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Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: February 2012 96 pages 978-1-4027-9726-2 $9.95 ($11.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in 2-color 7X7 Carton Quantity: 120 Territory: World Author Hometown: Athens, GA
Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: March 2012 96 pages 978-1-4027-8157-5 $8.95 ($10.95 Canadian) Concealed Spiral-Bound Paper 8 X 10 Carton Quantity: 50 Territory: World Author Hometown: New York, NY
Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: March 2012 96 pages 978-1-4027-9449-0 $8.95 ($10.95 Canadian) Concealed Spiral-Bound Paper 8 1/2 X 11 Territory: World
Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: April 2012 96 pages 978-1-4027-8273-2 $8.95 ($10.95 Canadian) Concealed Spiral-Bound Paper 8 X 10 Carton Quantity: 50 Territory: WENG
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STERLING Ninja Assassin Sudoku: Black Belt Frank Longo
Ninja Assassin Sudoku: Blue Belt Frank Longo
Ninja Assassin Sudoku: Brown Belt Frank Longo
Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: March 2012 176 pages 978-1-4027-9954-9 $6.95 ($8.95 Canadian) Paper 4 5/16 X 7 Territory: World
Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: March 2012 176 pages 978-1-4549-0152-5 $6.95 ($8.95 Canadian) Paper 4 5/16 X 7 Territory: World
Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: March 2012 176 pages 978-1-4027-9953-2 $6.95 ($8.95 Canadian) Paper 4 5/16 X 7 Territory: World
Ninja Assassin Sudoku: Green Belt Frank Longo
Ninja Assassin Sudoku: Yellow Belt Frank Longo
Ninja Assassin Sudoku: White Belt Frank Longo
Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: March 2012 176 pages 978-1-4027-9952-5 $6.95 ($8.95 Canadian) Paper 4 5/16 X 7 Territory: World
Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: March 2012 176 pages 978-1-4549-0151-8 $6.95 ($8.95 Canadian) Paper 4 5/16 X 7 Territory: World
Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: March 2012 176 pages 978-1-4027-9951-8 $6.95 ($8.95 Canadian) Paper 4 5/16 X 7 Territory: World
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STERLING Second-Degree White Belt Kakuro Conceptis Puzzles
Second-Degree Green Belt Kakuro Conceptis Puzzles
Second-Degree Brown Belt Kakuro Conceptis Puzzles
Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: March 2012 192 pages 978-1-4027-8794-2 $7.95 ($9.95 Canadian) Paper 5 3/8 X 8 1/4 Territory: World
Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: March 2012 192 pages 978-1-4027-8795-9 $7.95 ($9.95 Canadian) Paper 5 3/8 X 8 1/4 Territory: World
Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: March 2012 192 pages 978-1-4027-8796-6 $7.95 ($9.95 Canadian) Paper 5 3/8 X 8 1/4 Territory: World
Second-Degree Black Belt Kakuro Conceptis Puzzles
Large Print Sudoku #3 Frank Longo
Tricky Tridoku Japheth J. Light
Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: February 2012 288 pages 978-1-4027-9725-5 $12.95 ($14.95 Canadian) Concealed Spiral-Bound Paper 8 X 10 Carton Quantity: 16 Territory: World Author Hometown: Hoboken, NJ
Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: April 2012 240 pages 978-1-4027-8143-8 $7.95 ($9.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 5 1/4 X 5 1/2 Carton Quantity: 48 Territory: World Author Hometown: Melbourne, FL
Kooky Kakuro Puzzles Conceptis Puzzles
Los Angeles Times Crosswords 24 72 Puzzles from the Daily Paper Edited by Rich Norris
Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: March 2012 192 pages 978-1-4027-8797-3 $7.95 ($9.95 Canadian) Paper 5 3/8 X 8 1/4 Territory: World
The Nastiest Sudoku Book Ever Frank Longo Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: April 2012 448 pages 978-1-4027-8015-8 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper 6X9 Territory: World Author Hometown: Hoboken, NJ
Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: May 2012 96 pages 978-1-4027-8275-6 $8.95 ($10.95 Canadian) Concealed Spiral-Bound Paper 8 X 10 Carton Quantity: 48 Territory: World
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Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: April 2012 96 pages 978-1-4027-9445-2 $8.95 ($10.95 Canadian) Concealed Spiral-Bound Paper 8 X 10 Territory: World Author Hometown: Apple Valley, CA
STERLING "D" Is for Dalmatian Easy Crosswords Patrick Jordan
"H" Is for Holstein Easy Crosswords Harvey Estes
"O" Is for Orca Easy Crosswords Randolph Ross
Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: April 2012 96 pages 978-1-4027-7420-1 $8.95 ($10.95 Canadian) Concealed Spiral-Bound Paper 8 X 10 Carton Quantity: 50 Territory: WENG
Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: April 2012 96 pages 978-1-4027-7418-8 $8.95 ($10.95 Canadian) Concealed Spiral-Bound Paper 8 X 10 Carton Quantity: 50 Territory: WENG
Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: April 2012 96 pages 978-1-4027-7424-9 $8.95 ($10.95 Canadian) Concealed Spiral-Bound Paper 8 X 10 Carton Quantity: 50 Territory: WENG
"P" Is for Panda Easy Crosswords Mel Rosen
"Z" Is for Zebra Easy Crosswords Mel Rosen
Hip Pocket Hangman Mike Ward
Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: April 2012 96 pages 978-1-4027-7406-5 $8.95 ($10.95 Canadian) Concealed Spiral-Bound Paper 8 X 10 Carton Quantity: 50 Territory: WENG
Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: April 2012 96 pages 978-1-4027-7407-2 $8.95 ($10.95 Canadian) Concealed Spiral-Bound Paper 8 X 10 Carton Quantity: 50 Territory: WENG
Hip Pocket Tough Hangman Mike Ward
Sit & Solve速 Take Five Word Puzzles Puzzability
Sit & Solve速 Pop Music Crosswords Jeffrey Harris
Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: April 2012 96 pages 978-1-4027-7461-4 $6.95 ($8.95 Canadian) Paper 5X7 Carton Quantity: 80 Territory: World
Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: July 2012 96 pages 978-1-4027-8550-4 $5.95 ($6.95 Canadian) Paper 4 1/2 X 6 Territory: World
Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: May 2012 96 pages 978-1-4027-8438-5 $5.95 ($6.95 Canadian) Paper 4 1/2 X 6 Territory: World
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Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: April 2012 96 pages 978-1-4027-8455-2 $6.95 ($8.95 Canadian) Paper 5X7 Carton Quantity: 80 Territory: World
STERLING Dots Incredible! Connect 24,135 Dots in 84 Puzzles Conceptis Puzzles Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: May 2012 96 pages 978-1-4027-8223-7 $8.95 ($10.95 Canadian) Concealed Spiral-Bound Paper 8 X 10 Territory: World
David L. Hoyt's Word Rodeo David L. Hoyt Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: April 2012 128 pages 978-1-4027-9117-8 $6.95 ($8.95 Canadian) Paper 5 3/8 X 8 1/4 Territory: World
Pun Amok The Word Game with Crazy Clues Shawn Kennedy Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: May 2012 128 pages 978-1-4027-7868-1 $7.95 ($9.95 Canadian) Paper 5 3/8 X 8 1/4 Territory: World
Welcome to Dotville 80 Great Dot-to-Dot Puzzles Conceptis Puzzles Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: May 2012 96 pages 978-1-4027-8392-0 $8.95 ($10.95 Canadian) Concealed Spiral-Bound Paper 8 X 10 Carton Quantity: 48 Territory: World
Crowd-Pleasing Puzzles Great Games for Group Gatherings or Solo Solving Patrick Berry & Todd McClary Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: July 2012 128 pages 978-1-4027-9079-9 $9.95 ($11.95 Canadian) Concealed Spiral-Bound Paper 8 X 10 Territory: World
Super IQ Tests Fraser Simpson Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: July 2012 240 pages 978-1-4027-9727-9 $7.95 ($9.95 Canadian) Paper all in 2-color 5 1/4 X 5 1/2 Territory: World
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Tangram Puzzles 466 Tricky Shapes to Confound & Astound Chris Crawford Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: May 2012 96 pages 978-1-4027-9724-8 $15.95 ($18.95 Canadian) Concealed Spiral-Bound Hard all in 2-color 8X8 Territory: World
Scratch & Play Test Your Blackjack IQ Andrew Brisman Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: June 2012 96 pages 978-1-4027-8156-8 $8.95 ($10.95 Canadian) Paper 5 3/8 X 8 1/4 Territory: World
Sex, Drugs & Rock 'n' Roll Crosswords Brendan Emmett Quigley Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: June 2012 96 pages 978-1-4027-7213-9 $8.95 ($10.95 Canadian) Concealed Spiral-Bound Paper 8 X 10 Carton Quantity: 48 Territory: World
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mental_floss Crosswords Matt Gaffney mental_floss teams up with puzzle maestro Matt Gaffney for one of the most amazing books of crosswords ever devised. Each of these 66 puzzles not only features a topnotch theme and witty clues, but there's also a secret puzzle inside the puzzle--what aficionados call a “meta-puzzle,� and what you'll call diabolical fun. Look for the hints and spot the hidden puzzle, then decide what the final answer is and check your solution at the back of the book . . . but remember, no peeking! Matt Gaffney has been a professional crossword puzzle writer for the past 15 years. He's written eight books of crossword puzzles, four books of variety puzzles, and the 2006 narrative book Gridlock: Crossword Puzzles and the Mad Geniuses Who Create Them. Gaffney lives in Staunton, Virginia.
Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: November 2012 96 pages 978-1-4027-8551-1 $8.95 ($10.95 Canadian) Concealed Spiral-Bound Paper 8 X 10 Territory: WENG Author Hometown: Staunton, VA
- mental_floss is a well-known trivia magazine with legions of dedicated readers - High-quality puzzles with a bonus puzzle at the end offers a unique challenge to solvers - Explanatory notes in the back explain how the meta-puzzle works
mental_floss Sudoku Frank Longo mental_floss, the magazine for trivia lovers, teams up with sudoku master Frank Longo to bring you a collection of well over 200 superbly stimulating sudoku puzzles suited for newbies and experts alike. The rules of this numeric game are simple, but the challenges increase with every puzzle. Who knows? Perhaps the next great sudoku master will be you. Make mental_floss Sudoku an essential part of your daily mental hygiene! Frank Longo is a freelance puzzle creator who lives in Hoboken, New Jersey. He has had more than 3,000 puzzles published since 1993 and written many books for Sterling, including Master Ninja Sudoku, Beyond Black Belt Sudoku, and Beach Blanket Sudoku, as well as crossword books. He is known for being able to produce sudoku that are diabolically difficult, yet fair, requiring the solver to use advanced techniques not found in typical newspaper and magazine puzzles.
- The highest-quality puzzles from a proven expert in the field - Branded with a well-known trivia magazine with legions of dedicated readers - High-quality paper assures that a few erasures won't destroy the pages
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Publisher: Puzzlewright Published: November 2012 160 pages 978-1-4027-8939-7 $7.95 ($9.95 Canadian) Concealed Spiral-Bound Paper 6X9 Territory: WENG Author Hometown: Hoboken, NJ
DISTRIBUTION
SALES POINTS Lady Gaga’s Born This Way has sold more than five million albums worldwide Lady Gaga topped the Forbes Most Influential Celebrity list in 2011
O
oh, la, la, Gaga! She’s sold millions of albums, turned heads with her crazy outfits, and continues to scandalize the world. Now the Lady Gaga: Dress Her Up! paper-doll book gives you your own Gaga to adorn in a range of wild, surreal outfits, from her black lace bodysuit to her controversial Meat dress. Choose from 20 costumes, plus added accessories and hairstyles such as the Telephone hat and Bow hair. And there are illustrations of her spectacular stage sets, so you can place Gaga in “Orbit” and carry her in the “Egg!”
Lady Gaga: Dress Her Up! 978-1-84732-942-4 $9.95 | Carlton Books | Paper 81/2 x 11 | 34 pages (all in color) Territory: US only | Available Now
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SALES POINTS Author has designed a bestselling line of greeting cards Knit your own Valentine’s, anniversary, or wedding gift Say “I love you” with 20 easy knitting patterns With cute characters including animals, fruits, and vegetables
K
nitters love to knit – now they can knit for the ones they love!
Perfect for Valentine’s Day, birthdays, anniversaries, engagements, or weddings, this charming collection contains 20 patterns that show how much you care. All You Knit Is Love features adorable animals, including swans (“On Our Anniversary”), penguins (“You’re P-p-p-perfect”), and chicks (“You’re Tweet”), as well as chilies (“Hot Stuff”) and, of course, author Debbie Harrold’s famous pea design (“Ha Pea Valentine’s”). So forget flowers and chocolates—say it with knitting, instead!
All You Knit Is Love
20 Patterns for Romantic Handmade Gifts Debbie Harrold 978-1-908449-04-7 $9.95 ($11.95 Can) | Paper | 7 x 7 | 48 pages (all in color) Territory: US/CAN | Collins & Brown | February 2012
DEBBIE HARROLD is the designer behind the highly successful Knit & Purl range of greeting cards. Their knitted pea card (“Ha Pea Birthday”) is the number one bestselling birthday card in Paperchase.
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Knitting with The Color Guys Inspiration, Ideas, and Projects from the Kaffe Fassett Studio Kaffe Fassett & Brandon Mably Kaffe Fassett, perhaps the most celebrated textile artist in the world today, is known above all for his mastery of color. In his first book collaboration with Brandon Mably, his studio manager, Kaffe finds exciting inspiration in the textures, shapes, and patterns all around us--in nature and in everyday life--to create more than 30 vibrant, gorgeous knitting projects: scarves, gloves, leg warmers, pillows, afghans, all with the signature color flair that is the Kaffe Fassett trademark. Kaffe Fassett has a tremendous following all over the world as the premier color knit/quilt/needlepoint designer. He has authored more than 30 books and his designs are instantly recognizable. A true pioneer, he was the first-ever living textile designer to have a show at the Victoria and Albert museum in London.
Publisher: Sixth&Spring Books Published: February 2012 176 pages 978-1-9360-9637-4 $24.95 ($29.95 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket all in color 8 1/2 X 10 Carton Quantity: 28 Territory: WENG
Brandon Mably tours the world conducting classes and seminars on knitting and the use of color in fashion. He has authored numerous books, including Knitting Color.
- All new and original designs from Kaffe Fassett, one of the most well-known names in textiles
Vogue速 Knitting Stitchionary速 Volume One: Knit & Purl The Ultimate Stitch Dictionary from the Editors of Vogue速 Knitting Magazine Editors of Vogue Knitting Magazine This essential reference gives every knitter, from the novice to the most experienced, a complete catalog of all the pattern stitches available from the Vogue速 Knitting archives. Over 300 pattern stitches are presented, from simple knit and purl to lace, traveling stitches, and specialty stitches--including eye of lynx, bobble block, peppercorn, and bamboo--with written directions and all necessary charts. Plus, there's an easy-to-use index for quick reference. This popular volume is the definitive book of its kind and a must-have for any knitter.
- Bestselling knitting title now in paperback--more than 40,000 sold - Instructions for all swatches included
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Publisher: Sixth&Spring Books Published: February 2012 184 pages 978-1-9360-9623-7 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 11 X 8 1/2 Carton Quantity: 20 Territory: US/Can
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Capturing the Moment in Oils David Curtis and Robin Capon From award-winning painter David Curtis comes a fabulous on-the-page oil painting course, now in paperback, with all the techniques needed to work outdoors--in every type of weather--as well as in the studio. Through finished pieces and stage-by-stage examples, students learn how to capture the subtle effects of light and mood and achieve expressive, original results. Curtis pays special attention to drawing skills, while his evocative landscapes, coastal scenes, interiors, and figure compositions provide inspiration. David Curtis is one of the UK's best-known painters, with a number of prestigious art awards. His work is widely exhibited and is also published as fine-art cards and prints. He is the author of the bestselling Light and Mood in Watercolours and Capturing the Moment in Oils.
Publisher: Batsford Published: February 2012 128 pages 978-1-8499-4030-6 $17.95 ($21.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 8 1/2 X 10 7/8 Carton Quantity: 20 Territory: US/Can
Robin Capon is an experienced author and art journalist, having written several books, including Light and Mood in Watercolour and Abstract with David Curtis and Colour Techniques with Claire Harrigan. He is a regular contributor to the Artist and Leisure Painter. He lives in Lyme Regis, Dorset.
- Illustrated with the author's atmospheric, accomplished paintings - Also contains step-by-step painting examples
Colour Confidence in Embroidery Trish Burr How does color affect embroidery? How can it bring needlework to life? Crafters will uncover the possibilities in this unique, in-depth exploration of color in embroidery. From color selection and blending to choosing complimentary colors and creative contrasting and shading, it highlights a variety of techniques for surface and counted thread embroidery projects. More than 200 stitched examples with DMC thread keys, plus color schemes and projects such as roses, fruits, and birds will inspire stitchers. Trish Burr is the author of the highly successful Redoute's Finest Flowers in Embroidery (2002), Long and Short Stitch Embroidery: A Collection of Flowers (2006), Crewel & Surface Embroidery-Inspirational Floral Designs (2008), Needle Painting Embroidery-Fresh Ideas for Beginners, and The Long & the Short of it-A Needle Painting Workshop (DVD), all published by Sally Milner Publishing.
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Publisher: Sally Milner Publishing Published: February 2012 256 pages 978-1-8635-1426-2 $32.95 ($39.95 Canadian) Hard all in color 8 1/4 X 11 Carton Quantity: 10 Territory: US/Can
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Pretty Puzzles: Challenging Sudoku for Discerning Solvers Carlton Books Are you discerning? Do you like only the finest things--even when you're choosing a puzzle book? Then here's an eye-catching collection you're sure to love! Packaged between two of the prettiest covers you've ever seen are some of the most challenging brainteasers you've ever tackled. This must-have accessory includes more than 100 sudoku grids!
Pretty Puzzles: Killer Sudoku for Discerning Solvers Carlton Books Killer puzzles‌.killer look! Don't be fooled by how pretty this book is; these sudoku are not for wimps! But if you like your sudoku to be as tough as you are, this is the book for you. More than 100 grids will provide hours of brainbusting fun.
Pretty Puzzles: Quick Puzzles for Discerning Solvers Carlton Books Want to solve some puzzles pretty quick? Go for it, with this stylish and groundbreaking collection that's perfect for people who like their puzzles fast and furious. Try your hand at an assortment of over 100 brainteasers.
Pretty Puzzles: Travel Puzzles for Discerning Solvers Carlton Books Whether you're traveling by plane, train, or automobile, you should go--and solve--in style. This entertaining mix of puzzles makes the hours fly by, so getting from here to there will be a breeze!
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Publisher: Carlton Books Published: February 2012 128 pages 978-1-8473-2906-6 $5.95 (No Canadian Rights) Paper all in 2-color 4X6 Carton Quantity: 90 Territory: US Only
Publisher: Carlton Books Published: February 2012 128 pages 978-1-8473-2905-9 $5.95 (No Canadian Rights) Paper all in 2-color 4X6 Carton Quantity: 90 Territory: US Only
Publisher: Carlton Books Published: February 2012 128 pages 978-1-8473-2907-3 $5.95 (No Canadian Rights) Paper all in 2-color 4X6 Carton Quantity: 90 Territory: US Only
Publisher: Carlton Books Published: February 2012 128 pages 978-1-8473-2908-0 $5.95 (No Canadian Rights) Paper all in 2-color 4X6 Carton Quantity: 90 Territory: US Only
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The Miracle of Baking Soda Practical Tips for Health & Home Dr. Penny Stanway From cooking and cleaning to health and beauty, baking soda is an all-purpose, almost magical ingredient. This comprehensive compendium covers it all, with instructions for using it to keep your house sparkling fresh, leaven dough and breads, whiten teeth, rebalance the digestive system, and much more. An A-Z of common ailments details the ways baking soda can enhance our well-being. The book is filled with recipes for fun foods like gingerbread, as well as for body-care and cleaning products. It's a must-have for every home.
The Miracle of Olive Oil Practical Tips for Health, Home & Beauty Dr. Penny Stanway Written by an experienced doctor who is also a trained cook, The Miracle of Olive Oil is packed with helpful information on everything from food preparation to health and beauty. With an A-Z section of ailments against which olive oil has proved effective, a collection of 32 delicious recipes, and tips on how to use this wondrous oil to enhance hair, nails, and skin, this is an essential guide for anyone interested in eating--and living--well.
Positive Psychology for Overcoming Depression Self-Help Strategies for Happiness, Inner Strength and Well-Being Miriam Akhtar, foreword by Dr. Phil Hammond The stresses of modern life have led to an unprecedented rise in depression. But there is new hope, as psychologist Miriam Akhtar explains in this reassuring self-help manual extolling the benefits of Positive Psychology. Drawing upon inspiring real-life case studies, Akhtar shows how Positive Psychology can teach us how to savor positive events, express gratitude for everyday experiences we may take for granted, develop optimism, and cultivate resilience in the face of difficulties.
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Publisher: Watkins Published: February 2012 144 pages 978-1-7802-8216-9 $12.95 ($14.95 Canadian) Paper 4 3/4 X 7 Carton Quantity: 90 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Watkins Published: February 2012 144 pages 978-1-7802-8105-6 $12.95 ($14.95 Canadian) Paper 4 3/4 X 7 Carton Quantity: 90 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Watkins Published: February 2012 264 pages 978-1-7802-8104-9 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper 5 X 7 3/4 Carton Quantity: 32 Territory: US/Can
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The Essential Guide to Herbs More Than 100 Herbs for Well-Being, Healing and Happiness Lesley Bremness At once informative, engaging, and inspirational, this concise guide covers more than 100 of today's most important herbs. They're grouped according to their therapeutic qualities, with each entry featuring the herb's Latin name, traditional uses, optimal growing conditions, and ways it can benefit body, mind, and spirit. Readers get expert guidance on harvesting their own herbs, and easy ideas for integrating herbs into daily life, from healing sachets to herbal infusions.
Dirty Talking & Texting Tips...!! Lisa Sweet Keep your modern romance at OMG with these must-have flirtexting tips and techniques! Whether it's time to TDTM (Talk Dirty to Me) or shout out TMI! (Too Much Information!), you'll be totally plugged in. See how to get him hot and bothered in 15 words or less, use emoticons to enhance your sexy thoughts, and punctuate in a way that will have him texting back for more. Great for long-distance relationships-or even simple silent flirtation across the dinner table!
Good Dog! The Easy Way to Train Your Dog Sarah Whitehead There is no such thing as a bad dog; there are only untrained owners. This groundbreaking guide focuses on teaching owners how to bond with and train their dogs in a natural, positive way. It features sections on how dogs learn, team-building exercises, scent work, and more. The combination of expert guidance and step-by-step photographic training sequences will help owners turn puppies and problem pooches alike into friendly, well-behaved dogs that are healthy, happy, and a pleasure to own.
Rescue Me! How to Successfully Re-Home a Rescue Dog Alison Smith with The Dog's Trust There's nothing more tragic than an abandoned or abused dog. But with the right kind of dedicated care, the story can have a happy ending. Rescue Me! offers heartwarming case histories and detailed illustrated advice to show how to turn a fearful, possibly sick or undernourished animal into a healthy, loving pet. With chapters on bonding with the new dog, building trust and obedience, and keeping the dog fit and happy, Rescue Me! can turn a potential tragedy into a lifetime of faithful companionship.
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Publisher: Watkins Published: February 2012 288 pages 978-1-9074-8682-1 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 5 X 6 1/2 Carton Quantity: 20 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Carlton Books Published: February 2012 96 pages 978-1-8473-2411-5 $7.95 ($9.95 Canadian) Hard all in color 3 3/4 X 5 1/2 Carton Quantity: 80 Territory: US/Can Author Hometown: East Greenwich, RI
Publisher: Collins & Brown Published: February 2012 128 pages 978-1-8434-0628-0 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 6X8 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Collins & Brown Published: February 2012 128 pages 978-1-8434-0627-3 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 6X8 Territory: US/Can
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Digital Fashion Print with Photoshop® and Illustrator® Kevin Tallon Turn hand-drawn motifs into digital patterns ready for real fabric with the help of this essential guide to working with Photoshop® and Illustrator® in fashion print design. Step-by-step instructions and handy screen grabs bring these popular applications to the designer's fingertips, complete with tips on scanning, working with color, creating seamless patterns, and preparing designs for real-life application. Helpful hints and a wealth of inspirational images from the best in the business make this a must-have handbook for fashion design students, professionals, and enthusiasts alike. Kevin Tallon is a visiting teacher on the BA Fashion Design course at the influential Central Saint Martins College, where he set up the Design Laboratory. He also works within the fashion industry and is the author of Creative Fashion Design with Illustrator, Digital Fashion Illustration with Photoshop and Illustrator, and Fashion Tribes China.
Publisher: Batsford Published: February 2012 176 pages 978-1-8499-4004-7 $24.95 ($29.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 10 X 10 Carton Quantity: 10 Territory: US/Can
- Create stunning fabric print designs using Photoshop and Illustrator, the two industry-standard software packages
Scandinavian Design Ingrid Sommar Since the beginning of the 1990s a new generation of Scandinavian designers has appeared to international acclaim, and once again pushed the boundaries of modern design and innovation. Classic pieces such as Arne Jacobsen's Ant Chair have been reinterpreted, while architects such as Snøhetta and 3 x Nielsen have made bold statements in their structures. With over 300 images, this stylish design bible offers a stunning and comprehensive overview of this perennially popular and environmentally friendly genre, from architecture and furniture to fashion and graphics.
Ingrid Sommar has written for many journals and periodicals, including Form, Arkitektur, Graphis, and Elle Decoration. She is the author of two additional books, Stockholm Modern and Ø Design, both published by Wahlström & Widstrand. She lives in Malmö, Sweden.
- Stores such as Sweden's Ikea continue to attract audiences from around the world eager to achieve the Scandinavian look in their own homes - This update of the 2003 first edition includes new pictures and text, plus more emphasis on green issues and sustainability in design - Beautifully presented and lavishly illustrated, the book sits easily alongside glossy magazines such as Dwell and Wallpaper* that champion young Scandinavian designers
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Publisher: Carlton Books Published: February 2012 224 pages 978-1-8473-2589-1 $27.95 ($33.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 7 X 8 5/8 Carton Quantity: 20 Territory: US/Can
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Arctic Bruce Parry with Huw Lewis-Jones It's the last great wilderness--one of the least developed and most endangered regions of our planet. This full-color companion to a BBC2 series takes us on a seven-month journey around the Arctic with bestselling author Bruce Parry. Traversing Greenland, Canada, Alaska, Russia, and Scandinavia, Parry immerses himself in the lives of fishermen, oil workers, native hunters, bush pilots, miners, firefighters, and scientists--providing a human focus on the cultural and environmental upheavals that are shaking the Arctic today, and which are being felt throughout the globe.
The Sea Painter's World The New Marine Art of Geoff Hunt Geoff Hunt This timely follow-up to Conway's highly successful Marine Art of Geoff Hunt presents the considerable artistic output of Britain's leading marine painter since 2003. Heavily illustrated with images ranging from large paintings to sketchbook drawings, with text written by the artist himself, the book sets Geoff's work in a broadly geographical context, showcasing his plein-air work alongside exhaustively researched maritime history paintings, such as the definitive Mary Rose, to which he owes his standing as Britain's leading marine artist.
Brian Cook's Landscapes of Britain Brian Cook Brian Cook's landscape illustrations from the 1930s, 40s and 50s--with their heightened use of color--have become iconic. This stunning collection, newly released in a special compact edition, gathers his very best work. It includes commentary by Cook on his working methods, the printing process that allowed him to create his characteristic bold hues, and the design principles of his craft. A stunning book for designers, collectors, and any lover of landscape art.
The Landscape Photography Workshop Ross Hoddinott & Mark Bauer Two leading landscape photographers share their wealth of experience and teaching skills in this lavishly illustrated workshop-in-a-book. From landscape essentials, such as composition and filtration, to post-processing and printing, and including assignments to help readers turn theory into practice, The Landscape Photography Workshop is an indispensable guide for anyone who dreams of taking their landscape shots from adequate to awe-inspiring.
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Publisher: Conway Published: February 2012 272 pages 978-1-8448-6130-9 $29.95 ($35.95 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket all in color 7 1/2 X 9 3/4 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Conway Published: February 2012 144 pages 978-1-8448-6142-2 $50.00 ($60.00 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket all in color 11 X 11 7/8 Carton Quantity: 10 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Batsford Published: March 2012 128 pages 978-1-8499-4036-8 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Hard all in color 7 3/4 X 5 7/8 Carton Quantity: 16 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Photographers' Institute Press Published: February 2012 176 pages 978-1-8610-8891-8 $24.95 ($29.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 8 1/4 X 9 1/4 Carton Quantity: 24 Territory: US/Can
STERLING
London Buildings An Architectural Tour Hannah Dipper and Robin Farquhar Let design duo Robin Farquhar and Hannah Dipper (People Will Always Need Plates) take you on a stylish graphic tour of 45 London buildings. These striking illustrations, notable for their clean lines and bold blocks of color, appear here for the first time in book form. From Sir Christopher Wren's 1675 Greenwich Royal Observatory to Richard Rogers' 2000 Montevetro development, this collection is as diverse and inspiring as the city itself. Includes a foreword by design expert Max Fraser.
London Movie Guide Walks, Tours and Locations Simon RH James Covering more than 750 films, this entertaining illustrated guide is a must for both cinema buffs and London lovers. Organized by area, and featuring a fully annotated map--so readers follow the footsteps of Jude Law in Closer or Gwyneth Paltrow in Sliding Doors--this decades-spanning collection of movies includes such classics as Brief Encounter, The Red Shoes, Alfie, Harry Potter, Bridget Jones, Sherlock Holmes, and more!
The World of Charles Dickens The Life, Times and Works of the Great Victorian Novelist Martin Fido Two centuries after his birth, Charles Dickens remains a beloved author whose works seem timeless--yet if ever a man was the product of his times, it was he. The virtues and vices of the Victorian Age Dickens so memorably set forth mirrored his own life, from his poverty-stricken childhood to his dizzying rise to fame. In The World of Charles Dickens, eminent scholar Martin Fido traces that complex and fascinating history in all its drama, tragedy, and triumph.
Dickens's England A Traveller's Companion Tony Lynch Book lovers will go wild over this A-Z guidebook to Dickens-related destinations. It takes travelers (including the armchair kind) to Mr. Pickwick's Bath, David Copperfield's Yarmouth, Nicholas Nickelby's Yorkshire, and, of course, the London of so many Dickens novels. Filled with a mix of old-time illustrations and up-to-date photographs, it also covers places associated with Dickens himself, including his birthplace, the site of the blacking factory where he worked as a child, his favorite vacation spots, and his final home in Kent.
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Publisher: Batsford Published: February 2012 96 pages 978-1-8499-4023-8 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Hard 45 color illus. 7 7/8 X 7 7/8 Carton Quantity: 20 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Batsford Published: February 2012 308 pages 978-1-8499-4013-9 $17.95 ($21.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 7X7 Carton Quantity: 10 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Carlton Books Published: February 2012 144 pages 978-1-8473-2943-1 $24.95 (No Canadian Rights) Hardcover with Jacket 150 color & b/w illus. 9 X 11 Carton Quantity: 12 Territory: US Only
Publisher: Batsford Published: March 2012 208 pages 978-1-8499-4035-1 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Hard all in color 6 X 7 7/8 Territory: US/Can
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Cathedrals of the World Text by Graziella Leyla CiagĂ A valuable resource for architecture students, travelers, and anyone interested in our religious heritage, Cathedrals of the World takes an exciting journey through Christianity by way of its most impressive architectural creations. Starting with early Christian, Romanesque, and Gothic structures through the Renaissance and Baroque periods to the modern age, this stunning compendium spans the globe, presenting such awe-inspiring monuments as the St. Mark's Basilica, Westminster Cathedral, Johnson's Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California, and Richard Meier's Jubilee Church in Rome. Each example was selected for its exceptional historical value, aesthetic attributes, and architectural significance. Graziella Leyla CiagĂ has a PhD in environmental and architectural heritage and specializes in the restoration of monuments. Since 1999 she has taught the history of architecture at Milan Polytechnic, and she also works as a professional architect in projects relating to the conservation, restoration, and enhancement of the cultural heritage.
Publisher: White Star Publishers Published: February 2012 216 pages 978-8-8544-0634-6 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket 224 color photos 6 1/3 X 11 4/5 Territory: US/Can
The Cathedrals of England Foreword by Simon Jenkins This glorious hardcover classic, newly reissued, celebrates the soaring majesty of England's cathedrals. It elegantly and concisely traces the history of each one of these 40 key edifices, backed with iconic line drawings by artist Brian Cook, as well as stunning photos. From London's Westminster Abby, site of the crowning of nearly every English monarch, to the immense Gothic masterpiece at York to Canterbury, Durham, and Oxford, all of England's grandest houses of worship are here.
- Stunning reissue of the classic 1934 Batsford title - Includes every primary cathedral in England, plus the most important parish cathedrals - Features 150 photographs and illustrations, including more than 30 line drawings
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Publisher: Batsford Published: March 2012 224 pages 978-1-8499-4029-0 $24.95 ($29.95 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket 150 b/w photos & illus. 5 1/4 X 8 1/2 Carton Quantity: 28 Territory: US/Can
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The Eternal Army The Terracotta Soldiers of the First Emperor Edited by Roberto Ciarla, photographs by Araldo De Luca More than 22 centuries ago, in China's northwestern Shaanxi province, the first Qin emperor was buried in a magnificent tomb surrounded by an army of some 7,000 terra-cotta soldiers. This lavish volume offers a detailed look at that astonishing army, and the life and times of the man whose resting place it guards. Combining photographs taken expressly for the book with essays by leading experts, this is both a profile of a legendary figure and an unprecedented view of a spectacular archaeological site.
From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima The War in the Pacific 1941-1945 Richard Overy, foreword by Dale Dye From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima takes readers on an up-close-and-personal journey through the relentless war against Japan in the Pacific Islands, the capstone to Allied victory in World War II. Here is the story of the heroic men who toiled on islands whose names have become synonymous with bloodshed, hardship, and indomitable spirit. This inspiring heart-and-gut wrenching story is brought to life by the addition of 20 carefully selected facsimile pieces of memorabilia, including Franklin D. Roosevelt's draft, with handwritten notes, of his “Day of Infamy� speech, and 6 situation maps. Also features a foreword by Captain Dale Dye, senior military advisor on HBO's The Pacific.
The Western Front Experience 1914-1918 Gary Sheffield Ninety-four years after its end, the First World War still fascinates. From the ordinary soldiers to the commanding generals, from obscure actions to major battles, The Western Front Experience is a riveting, all-encompassing guide to one of the most terrible periods of warfare the world has ever known. Endorsed by the Imperial War Museum, and including 15 rare and painstakingly researched facsimile items, here is history at its finest.
Our Friends Beneath the Sands The French Foreign Legion in France's Colonial Conquests 1870-1935 Martin Windrow Thanks to countless films and books, an entire mythology surrounds the French Foreign Legion and the anonymous, desperate men who fought and died under the desert sun. But the reality is far richer, and Martin Windrow describes it in gripping detail, including the colonial missions in North Africa and Vietnam, the imperative to build empire, and the impact of Islamic fundamentalism.
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Publisher: White Star Publishers Published: February 2012 288 pages 978-8-8544-0627-8 $24.95 ($29.95 Canadian) Flexibound with Flaps 346 color photos 8 1/2 X 11 4/5 Carton Quantity: 8 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Carlton Books Published: February 2012 64 pages 978-1-8473-2894-6 $29.95 (No Canadian Rights) Hard 175 color & b/w photos 8 1/2 X 11 Carton Quantity: 10 Territory: US Only
Publisher: Carlton Books Published: February 2012 80 pages 978-1-8473-2917-2 $29.95 (No Canadian Rights) Hard 100 color & b/w photos 8 1/2 X 11 Carton Quantity: 10 Territory: US Only
Publisher: Phoenix Published: February 2012 752 pages 978-0-7538-2856-4 $19.95 (No Canadian Rights) Paper 83 b/w photos 6 X 9 1/4 Carton Quantity: 8 Territory: US Only
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Jason Statham Taking Stock Len Brown Adrenaline junkie Jason Statham--England's homegrown, all-action hero--has taken Hollywood by storm in movies like Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and The Transporter. Inside this insightful and gripping biography, the first to tackle its superstar subject, you'll find that Jason has had anything but an ordinary journey to the top. Aside from the 20 thrilling films he has under his belt since 1998, Jason was also an Olympic diver, a fashion model, and a black-market salesman--and that's just the beginning of this leading man's dramatic story.
Katy Perry California Girl Jo Berry At the tender age of 16, everyone's favorite California “gurl” dropped out of high school and made a life-changing move to LA. Eight years later, Katy Perry was on the brink of giving it all up when her sophomore album, One of the Boys, elevated her to superstardom. Jo Berry's insightful biography reveals all the intimate details of Perry's life, loves, and art--including her marriage to Russell Brand, her retro-chic style, and her irresistible music.
Michael Bublé Crazy Life Olivia King Since his debut in 2003, Michael Bublé has sold 25 million albums, won two Grammys® and multiple Junos, topped the charts in the US and around the world, and thrilled an ever-growing army of fans with his powerful live performances. Michael Bublé: Crazy Life celebrates this phenomenally gifted, charismatic entertainer. Packed with stunning photographs and lavishly designed spreads charting his meteoric rise to stardom, it's a must-have for the millions of Michael Bublé fans worldwide.
The Treasures of Noël Coward Barry Day O.B.E. Playwright, director, actor, songwriter, singer: few artists have influenced popular culture more than the legendary Noël Coward. He chronicled high society with sparkling wit, played a crucial role in Britain's propaganda efforts during World War II, and made a splash in Hollywood. This lavishly illustrated volume, with its elegant slipcase, celebrates everything Coward. It includes 20 removable pieces of facsimile memorabilia--letters, sheet music, manuscript drafts, drawings, and programs--as well as a DVD featuring previously unseen, personal footage.
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Publisher: Orion Published: February 2012 256 pages 978-1-4091-3265-3 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket 6 X 9 1/4 Carton Quantity: 14 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Orion Published: February 2012 256 pages 978-1-4091-3361-2 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket 6 X 9 1/4 Carton Quantity: 12 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Orion Published: March 2012 144 pages 978-1-4091-4033-7 $17.95 (No Canadian Rights) Hardcover with Jacket all in color 7 1/4 X 9 3/4 Carton Quantity: 20 Territory: US Only
Publisher: Andre Deutsch Published: March 2012 64 pages 978-0-2330-0349-8 $50.00 (No Canadian Rights) Hardcover with Slipcase 140 color & b/w photos 9 3/4 X 11 Carton Quantity: 8 Territory: US Only
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Classic Rock T-Shirts Over 400 Vintage Tees from the '70s and '80s Lisa Kidner & Sam Knee T-shirts have become an essential fashion statement--a form of self-definition for both the average person and those in cutting-edge subcultures. This fascinating compilation takes you on a visual journey through the most popular, style-setting rock-based tees from the 1970s and '80s. Featuring such iconic bands as AC/DC, the Beastie Boys, Bon Jovi, Public Enemy, the Ramones, the Stones, and the Sex Pistols, it showcases a range of designs from this timeless era of pop culture and puts you inside the collections of T-shirt fans and fanatics, with wonderful backstories and gorgeous spreads.
Sam Knee worked for four years in San Francisco, grading T-shirts and sourcing vintage clothes for a number of retailers. He has traveled worldwide in pursuit of rare and unusual T-shirts.
Publisher: Carlton Books Published: March 2012 160 pages 978-1-8473-2919-6 $16.95 (No Canadian Rights) Hard all in color 8 1/4 X 8 1/4 Carton Quantity: 12 Territory: US Only
Formerly a fashion journalist for 19 magazine, Lisa Kidner has a degree in fashion textiles. After dealing in vintage clothing at Portobello market in London, Lisa and Sam sold a range of their clothes under the Heart of Glass label at UK retailer Whistles and under the Upper Fifth range at Top Shop.
The Fantasy Tattoo Sourcebook Over 500 Images for Body Decoration Carlton Books Choosing a design to wear for a lifetime can be difficult. That's where The Fantasy Tattoo Sourcebook comes in, with 500 magical, astrological, mythological, and nature-based designs to copy directly from its pages, plus advice on creating original motifs. It even explains how to try the chosen image on for size using body paint and stencils! This is both a stylish reference and a practical guide to getting the tattoo of your dreams.
-It is now estimated that as much as 10%% of the population in the US has tattoos -The reality TV shows Miami Ink, LA Ink, and NY Ink have popularized tattoo art
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Publisher: Carlton Books Published: March 2012 256 pages 978-1-8473-2984-4 $14.95 (No Canadian Rights) Paper 500 color & b/w illus. 5 7/8 X 6 3/4 Carton Quantity: 36 Territory: US Only
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The Sneaker Hall of Fame All-Time Favorite Footwear Brands Neal Heard From old-school models to hot new styles, The Sneaker Hall of Fame pays tribute to the cult popularity of this most versatile shoe--the ones with the greatest designs, technology, and cultural cachet. More than 300 photographs tell the story of 20 classics, including the 1923 Converse Chuck Taylor, 1968 Onitsuka Tiger Corsair, 1969 Adidas Superstar, and 1985 Nike Air Jordan. In addition to detailed profiles of the top iconic footwear, there's background on the major brands, including Converse, Fila, New Balance, and Puma. Neal Heard is an acknowledged sneaker aficionado and vintage dealer who has sourced, collected, and dealt in deadstock trainers since the early 1990s. He lives in Wales, UK.
Publisher: Carlton Books Published: March 2012 224 pages 978-1-8473-2926-4 $19.95 (No Canadian Rights) Hard 500 color & b/w photos 8 1/2 X 5 1/2 Carton Quantity: 24 Territory: US Only
- Images include historical memorabilia, logo development, and advertisements, as well as specially shot photographs of the shoes and their special details
Muck, Sweat & Gears A Celebration of Cycling Alan Anderson Whether your idea of cycling is a relaxed meander along a towpath on a summer's evening, the exhilaration of racing through the Rockies, or the satisfaction of biking to work, this witty, lively, and informative book is sure to inspire and entertain. Packed with fascinating facts, quotations, statistics, stories, personalities, advice, and trivia, Muck, Sweat & Gears is the ultimate guide to bike culture. An avid touring cyclist, Alan Anderson has pedaled through the UK and Europe and clocks up a couple of thousand miles a year on his Dawes touring bike. He has contributed book reviews to publications such as New Statesman, Times Literary Supplement, and Private Eye.
- Commuting by bike has doubled in the last decade, and most US cities have plans to promote urban cycling
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Publisher: Carlton Books Published: March 2012 160 pages 978-1-8473-2839-7 $14.95 (No Canadian Rights) Hardcover with Jacket 4 X 7 1/4 Territory: US Only
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The Knitted Home Hand-Knitted Projects Room by Room Sian Brown Nothing is cozier or more stylish than a home filled with gorgeous handmade knits and crochet. This beautiful book has projects for nine rooms plus the garden, each with its own color palette and theme and all made with only the purest wools, alpaca, mohair, cashmere, silk, cotton, and bamboo. Snuggle up to soft fleecy throws; brighten a guest room with new cushion covers; or set a pretty table with matching placemats, coasters, and napkin rings. All basic needlework techniques are clearly explained.
Knitlympics Knit Your Favourite Sports Star Carol Meldrum Turn your home into an Olympic Stadium with Knitlympics, the only book that lets you knit your favorite athletes! Whether you're a fan of track, swimming, or gymnastics, there's a project for you. Knit up your own lightning-fast Usain Bolt, mustachioed Mark Spitz, or sparrow-like Olga Korbut. Or enjoy the opening festivities with your own Olympic torch and go for the gold by knitting medals and a podium!
Textured Crochet Lace 64 Crochet Lace Patterns to Create Rugs, Scarves, Beanies and More Renate Kirkpatrick This collection of versatile lace patterns will increase your crocheting knowledge, confidence, and pleasure with easy-to-follow instructions for mastering new techniques and stitches. Work your way through all 64, and you can combine them into a beautiful afghan rug for your own home . . . or turn a single square into a scarf or shawl. There are colorful swatches throughout, as well as ideas for incorporating color or novelty in each square.
The Sewing Workshop Learn to Sew with 30+ Easy, Pattern-Free Projects Linda Lee Welcome to The Sewing Workshop, filled cover-to-cover with projects from three of our most popular sewing box sets. These 30+ stylish patterns for sewing small- to medium-size accessories, like drawstring pouches, mini totes, and backpacks, will surprise and delight even the most seasoned crafter. Inside you'll also find in-depth informative tutorials, tips, and troubleshooting techniques, as well as a robust materials list.
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Publisher: Guild of Master Craftsman Published: March 2012 176 pages 978-1-8610-8807-9 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 7 1/4 X 9 3/4 Carton Quantity: 24 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Collins & Brown Published: March 2012 96 pages 978-1-8434-0670-9 $12.95 ($14.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 7X7 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Sally Milner Publishing Published: March 2012 128 pages 978-1-8635-1430-9 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 8 1/4 X 11 Carton Quantity: 20 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Sixth&Spring Books Published: April 2012 128 pages 978-1-9360-9640-4 $17.95 ($21.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 8X8 Carton Quantity: 36 Territory: WENG
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Scarves Guild of Master Craftsman This fun and fabulous collection of scarves will make you reach for your needles and get stitching right away. Scarves is packed with 30 colorful projects that are easy, fast, and enjoyable to knit. All of the designs were created by the readers of the popular Knitting magazine and display their great eye for style and color, as well as their nifty skills with needles.
Techno Cozies Sue Culligan Personalize your cell phone, laptop, or iPod速 with Techno Cozies, the ultimate hands-on cozy book, covering four different crafts and numerous techniques. Inside you will find 30 knitted, crocheted, sewn, and felted projects, varying in complexity. Each project is clearly set out, with easy-to-follow patterns and concise instructions that provide all the necessary know-how to turn your electronic device into a unique style statement.
Hats Guild of Master Craftsman These 30 hats, from the classic and chic to the cute and quirky, will delight knitters and put the perfect finishing touch on any outfit. Many of the brilliantly imaginative designs were created by readers of Knitting magazine and showcase the designers' great eye for color and nifty skill with needles. Plus, they're easy, fun, and fast to knit--especially with the timesaving tips and special needlework techniques that add style and professional flair.
Brooches & Pins Louise Compagnone There's nothing like a handmade brooch to put a beautiful finishing touch on an outfit--and now anyone can create a unique piece of jewelry in just a few simple steps. Brooches & Pins explains how to use widely available materials such as wood, metal, ceramics, Bakelite, and ribbons to complete 20 fun and fabulous projects. Crafters will paint, sew, engrave, felt, and print their way to making a tape-measure rosette, Bakelite button cardigan clasp, and more!
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Publisher: Guild of Master Craftsman Published: March 2012 156 pages 978-1-8610-8822-2 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 8 1/4 X 8 1/4 Carton Quantity: 34 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Guild of Master Craftsman Published: March 2012 156 pages 978-1-8610-8871-0 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 8 1/4 X 8 1/4 Carton Quantity: 34 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Guild of Master Craftsman Published: April 2012 156 pages 978-1-8610-8866-6 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 8 1/4 X 8 1/4 Carton Quantity: 34 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Guild of Master Craftsman Published: April 2012 120 pages 978-1-8610-8886-4 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 8 1/4 X 8 1/4 Carton Quantity: 42 Territory: US/Can
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The Shoe Best Foot Forward Tamsin Blanchard With over 200 sumptuous images, this book is every footwear fetishist's dream! Newly updated to showcase the most current designers and the celebrities that wear them, The Shoe reveals fascinating facts about the industry along with profiles of the world's most coveted and iconic designer brands. Of course, there's an A-Z of the big three-Manolo Blahnik, Jimmy Choo and Christian Louboutin-but you'll also sigh over legendary classics from Ferragamo, Gucci and Prada, as well as today's fashion favorites. Tamsin Blanchard was formerly fashion editor at the Independent and is currently style director at the Telegraph Magazine. She has written for the Observer, Vogue, Marie Claire, and US Harper’s Bazaar, and taught fashion journalism at Central Saint Martins and the University of Westminster in London. Tamsin has written six books, including Antonio Berardi: Sex and Sensibility and Green is the New Black.
Publisher: Carlton Books Published: April 2012 160 pages 978-1-7809-7071-4 $14.95 (No Canadian Rights) Paper 200 color & b/w photos 8 1/4 X 8 1/4 Territory: US Only
• A great gift book for shoe shopaholics, fetishists, and fashionistas, and those who want the inside story on their favorite brands and designers.
The Handbag To Have & To Hold Carmel Allen The handbag is the portable office, bank, and emergency kit for women everywhere. Now this indispensable accessory and key fashion statement has its own comprehensive, lavishly illustrated history: The Handbag. From the classics--Chanel, Hermès, Gucci, Vuitton--to the “it” bags of this century--the Fendi B, Marc Jacobs' Stam, and Dior's Gaucho--The Handbag holds it all. This is a must-have style guide for handbag lovers and all those interested in fashion. Carmel Allen, formerly editor of Living Etc., was marketing director at Heals before joining the Conran Shop as creative director and marketing director in February 2011. She has also worked as a beauty and fashion editor for a wide range of publications, including Tattler, the Observer, the Financial Times, Vogue, and InStyle .
- Includes a newly updated, insightful A-Z illustrating international designers and brands of the twenty-first century, which now follow fashion's seasonal trends - New additions include the “it” bags of this century, such as the Fendi B, Marc Jacob's Stam, and Dior's Gaucho, along with images of them being held by such style-setters as Victoria Beckham, Kate Moss, and Alexa Chung, whose endorsements are key in marketing the bags
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Publisher: Carlton Books Published: April 2012 160 pages 978-1-7809-7070-7 $14.95 (No Canadian Rights) Paper 200 color & b/w photos 8 1/4 X 8 1/4 Territory: US Only
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A Native Plants Reader Dunne, Niall Brooklyn Botanic Garden has long championed native plants and suggested ways for gardeners to create attractive designs with indigenous flora that nurture a sense of place and provide a habitat for wildlife. This engaging collection continues that tradition, with essays, stories, and helpful tips from experts whose passion for native plants, concern with the loss of diversity, and hope for future preservation of our native plant heritage will inspire gardeners and non-gardeners alike.
The Dry Garden Beth Chatto With today's increasingly hot summers and dry winters, gardeners need guidance on plants that will thrive in our changing climate. Beth Chatto's classic work The Dry Garden suggests an array of easy-to-care-for plants that naturally flourish in dry conditions and provide a year-round display of beautiful foliage and flowers. She shares her immense knowledge, from soil types and garden-design principles to plant characteristics and growing tips.
Beth Chatto's Garden Notebook Beth Chatto One of the great gardening writers of our time opens up her own personal notebooks to fans. With revealing honesty, Beth Chatto shares her gardening successes (and occasional failures), and describes what it takes to maintain her unique and flourishing garden. Written from notes she's made over the years, this engaging, often surprising book covers the entire range of gardening topics in a style that's both literally and figuratively down to earth.
The Birdman Abroad Stuart Winter, foreword by Chris Packham Award-winning journalist Stuart Winter is one of the UK's most beloved birdwatchers, delighting millions while delivering a serious message about the environment in books, blogs, magazines, and newspaper columns. His cleverly written tales, accompanied by amusing line drawings, reveal surprising facts about birds and birding around the world. In his second engaging compilation, Winter travels the globe to present more adventures in birdwatching, from NY and LA to Cyprus, Israel, Gambia, and the Falkland Islands.
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Publisher: Brooklyn Botanic Garden Published: March 2012 120 pages 978-1-8895-3880-8 $12.95 ($14.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 6X9 Carton Quantity: 64 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Orion Published: March 2012 256 pages 978-0-7528-1642-5 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper 5 X 7 3/4 Carton Quantity: 48 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Orion Published: March 2012 384 pages 978-0-7528-1644-9 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper b/w illus. throughout 5 X 7 3/4 Carton Quantity: 48 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: New Holland Published: March 2012 224 pages 978-1-8477-3692-5 $12.95 ($14.95 Canadian) Paper 20 b/w illus. 5 X 7 3/4 Carton Quantity: 20 Territory: US/Can
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The Art of Faery An Inspirational Collection of Art for Faery Lovers Presented by David Riché, foreword by Brian Froud What is Faery? Quite simply, it is our connection to nature, to the world about us ... and within us. The Art of Faery, now available in paperback, brings together the world's best fairy artists. This magical volume expresses the many varieties of visions of Faery that range from the angelic and realistic to the gothic and abstract. With a beautifully illustrated foreword by Brian Froud--the “godfather” of modern fairy art--this is the definitive collection of this otherworldly art form.
The World of Faery An Inspirational Collection of Art for Faery Lovers Presented by David Riché, foreword by Alan Lee Following the success of The Art of Faery comes this stunning collection, newly in paperback, from top fairy artists like Amy Brown, Linda Ravenscroft, Marc Potts, Josephine Wall, and many more. All mediums are represented in a rich display: watercolor, pen and ink, oil and pastel, even digitally produced and photographic art. Fairy fans of all ages will fall under the magical spell of these enchanting works of art!
Wedding Photography Mark Cleghorn Some amateur photographers discover that weddings offer an opportunity to turn pro. Others volunteer to shoot a friend or relative's wedding for free. Both kinds will find the behind-the-lens instruction they need in this comprehensive guide. What kind of equipment should you bring? What's the best way to pose a group shot? How do you provide digital access to the photos? From composition to post-production, it's all here, with copious examples, explained by a recognized leader in the field.
Masters of Photography Classic Photographic Artists of Our Time Reuel Golden From the pioneers of the early part of the century to the experimental artists who will take us into the future, Masters of Photography is an indispensable guide to over 50 of the world's best-known and most influential photographers. Arranged in alphabetical order by photographer, from Eve Arnold to Weegee, each entry contains fascinating biographical and technical details along with sumptuous reproductions of representative and groundbreaking works.
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Publisher: Collins & Brown Published: March 2012 112 pages 978-1-8434-0306-7 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 8 1/2 X 11 1/4 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Collins & Brown Published: March 2012 112 pages 978-1-8434-0666-2 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 8 5/8 X 11 1/2 Carton Quantity: 30 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Photographers' Institute Press Published: March 2012 176 pages 978-1-8610-8854-3 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 7 1/4 X 9 3/4 Carton Quantity: 28 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Carlton Books Published: March 2012 256 pages 978-1-8444-2004-9 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps 250 color & b/w photos 5X7 Carton Quantity: 28 Territory: US/Can Author Hometown: New York, NY
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The Complete Book of Massage Mary Atkinson with Esme Floyd Massage: it's the natural, time-tested, non-invasive, chemical-free therapy for so many of the body's systems. Its proven benefits range from boosting the circulation to maintaining mobility and strengthening weakened joints. Here, designed for safe, effective home use, is an easy-to-follow illustrated introduction to basic massage techniques, with detailed sequences for every part of the body--including Indian head massage, hand and foot massage, self-massage, and whole-body massages. This comprehensive guide is ideal for anyone who wants to learn the essentials of professional massage.
The Holistic Therapy Bible Over 80 Effective Treatments to Heal the Mind, Body & Spirit Jane Alexander “Holistic� has become an umbrella term for a wide array of therapeutic systems, encompassing natural health, emotional healing, and spirituality. The Holistic Therapy Bible sorts them out, making it easy for readers to find the ones that fit their own specific needs. Encyclopedic in scope--from acupuncture to zero-balancing--with a practical exercise or tip on virtually every page, it demystifies a complex subject for anyone seeking a healthier, happier life.
You Can Conquer Pain How to Break the Pain Cycle and Regain Control of Your Life Leon Chaitow Conquer pain without resorting to harmful medicines! That's the promise of this guide written by an internationally recognized expert on holistic health. It offers a wide range of natural approaches, including meditation, hypnotherapy, light and color therapy, herbalism, and more. A special directory lists advice on common problems such as headache, neck and shoulder pain, and backache, while self-help exercises and illuminating diagrams take readers on a step-by-step journey to a pain-free life.
Get Fit for the Games Every Woman's Total Fitness Workout Peta Bee, with a foreword by Victoria Pendleton MBE With the London 2012 Olympics around the corner, even spectators are feeling the urge to get in shape. Geared especially for women, this official London 2012 book, written by a leading fitness journalist and featuring 70 exercises divided into three levels--Bronze, Silver, and Gold--offers everything from diet advice to exercise programs illustrated with step-by-step photographs. Whatever shape you're in now, Get Fit for the Games will help you become stronger, healthier, and more physically confident.
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Publisher: Carlton Books Published: March 2012 320 pages 978-1-8473-2946-2 $19.95 (No Canadian Rights) Paper all in color 7 3/4 X 10 1/4 Carton Quantity: 11 Territory: US Only
Publisher: Carlton Books Published: March 2012 256 pages 978-1-8473-2947-9 $19.95 (No Canadian Rights) Paper all in color 7 3/4 X 10 1/4 Carton Quantity: 14 Territory: US Only
Publisher: Watkins Published: May 2012 176 pages 978-1-7802-8121-6 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 6 1/2 X 9 1/4 Carton Quantity: 28 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Carlton Books Published: March 2012 224 pages 978-1-8473-2725-3 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 6 X 8 1/4 Territory: US/Can
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Life-Changing Conversations 7 Strategies for Talking About What Matters Most Sarah Rozenthuler, foreword by Neale Donald Walsch So much in life hinges on the ability to say the right thing, at the right time, to the right person, in the right way. Now expert psychologist and coach Sarah Rozenthuler provides a practical guide to having the kinds of conversations that will turn your life around, from negotiating with difficult neighbors to asking for a raise to ending a long-term relationship. “A useful, practical book . . . I highly recommend it!”--Christiane Northrup, M.D., author of the New York Times bestselling Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom. Features a foreword by Neale Donald Walsch, bestselling author of Conversations with God.
The Self-Esteem Coach 10 Days to a Confident New You Lynda Field Research shows that happiness and self-esteem do not depend on success; on the contrary, success is the result of happiness and self-esteem. That means we can raise our game in every area of our lives if we simply concentrate on becoming more self-confident and content! Through her 10-day self-esteem program, top life coach and self-esteem expert Lynda Field will help you become motivated, solve personal problems, focus on your goals, and enjoy strong relationships. It's the effortless way to become a confident new you.
Explorer of the Mind The Biography of Sigmund Freud Ruth Sheppard Sigmund Freud, the “Father of Psychoanalysis,” remains a towering figure even 73 years after his death. His development of such therapeutic innovations as the “talking cure,” free association, and dream interpretation revolutionized our understanding of human thought and behavior. Featuring more than 170 images and at least 15 facsimile documents, including rare memorabilia from the Sigmund Freud Archives, Explorer of the Mind details the life of this iconoclastic genius, examining how he developed his famous theories. It also reveals his struggles with his own neuroses and how they led to his pioneering self-analysis, in which he refined his still-unproven techniques by applying them to himself.
Celtic Visions Seership, Omens and Dreams of the Otherworld Caitlin Matthews Through prayers, chants, and practical exercises, Celtic Visions teaches readers how to tap into their inner spiritual power, enabling them to experience heightened perception and open portals to other realms of existence. Drawn from ancient Gaelic and Welsh sources, this visionary guide reveals the truth behind the prophetic visions of the druids and seers. It explains their methods for communicating with the Otherworld through omens and fairy lore and explores the Celtic gift of “second sight”--the ability to perceive both the visible and the invisible aspects of reality.
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Publisher: Watkins Published: March 2012 288 pages 978-1-7802-8110-0 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper 5 X 7 3/4 Carton Quantity: 44 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Watkins Published: March 2012 256 pages 978-1-7802-8116-2 $17.95 ($21.95 Canadian) Paper 5 1/4 X 8 1/2 Carton Quantity: 48 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Andre Deutsch Published: March 2012 92 pages 978-0-2330-0330-6 $44.95 (No Canadian Rights) Hardcover with Slipcase 160 color & b/w photos 9 3/4 X 11 Territory: US Only
Publisher: Watkins Published: March 2012 256 pages 978-1-7802-8111-7 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket 4 3/4 X 7 1/4 Carton Quantity: 24 Territory: US/Can
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Wonders of the World De Fabianis, Valeria From familiar sights like Mt. Rushmore to more exotic fare like the Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa, Wonders of the World brings some of the planet's most remarkable natural features and manmade structures right into your home. Conservationists, nature lovers, and photography aficionados alike will appreciate the superb photography and illuminating accompanying text of this welcome addition to the CubeBook series.
360° London Unique Perspectives of the World's Greatest City Nick Wood These specially commissioned 360° photos put you at the center of the action, with panoramic views of London's greatest landmarks, from the iconic Houses of Parliament to Soho's nightlife to bustling Smithfield's Market and more. Skyline images contain annotations to guide you, and each all-encompassing picture is enhanced with a helpful array of fascinating details, providing the ultimate insider's look at London.
Stolen Childhoods The Untold Stories of the Children Interned by the Japanese in the Second World War Nicola Tyrer When the Japanese entered World War II, some 20,000 British civilians in Asia were marched off to concentration camps. Over 3,000 of them were children. Now, for the first time, the extraordinary experiences of these innocent victims of war have been collected in one volume. The result is an unforgettable window into a brutally shattered world. The harrowing stories of these children are marked with horror, suffering, and self-sacrifice, yet they also testify to the resilience, adaptability, and irrepressibility of the human spirit.
Victory in Europe From D-Day to the Destruction of the Third Reich 1944-1945 Julian Thompson, in association with the Imperial War Museum History comes to life in this gripping account of the storming and taking of Hitler's “Fortress Europe” by the Allies during the final 11 months of World War II. Written by a leading military historian and containing 15 facsimile items of memorabilia from the Imperial War Museum and other repositories--including maps, diary excerpts, and letters--Victory in Europe takes readers from D-Day, Operation Market Garden, and Arnhem to the Battle of the Bulge, the fall of Berlin, and Germany's unconditional surrender.
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Publisher: White Star Publishers Published: March 2012 504 pages 978-8-8544-0599-8 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Hard 400 color photos 6 1/2 X 6 1/2 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Carlton Books Published: March 2012 160 pages 978-1-8473-2603-4 $35.00 (No Canadian Rights) Hardcover with Jacket all in color 11 X 9 3/4 Territory: US Only
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson Published: March 2012 368 pages 978-0-2978-5878-2 $29.95 (No Canadian Rights) Hardcover with Jacket 40 b/w photos 6 X 9 1/4 Carton Quantity: 10 Territory: US Only
Publisher: Carlton Books Published: March 2012 64 pages 978-1-7809-7072-1 $29.95 (No Canadian Rights) Hard 150 color & b/w photos 8 1/2 X 11 Carton Quantity: 10 Territory: US Only
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The Spirit of London Paul Cohen-Portheim, foreword by Simon Jenkins First published in 1935, this classic snapshot of London in the years before the Second World War glows with its Austrian author's affection for British life and customs yet also abounds with critical insight. Exploring the London scene in a time when age-old traditions were stubbornly resisting the tides of modernism, Paul Cohen-Portheim reflects on the enduring spirit embodied in the city's people, its buildings, its culture, and its history.
Royal London A Guide to the Capital's Historic and Iconic Royal Sites Jane Struthers In anticipation of Queen Elizabeth's 2012 diamond jubilee, celebrate the enduring influence of the British monarchy on the cultural, social, and architectural landscape of London. Sumptuously illustrated with specially commissioned photographs, and containing new features on William and Kate's wedding, this fully updated edition of Royal London reveals the fascinating history behind over 130 buildings, parks, gardens, statues, and other London attractions--and even includes a locator map so you can plot your own regal walking tour.
London's Afternoon Teas A Guide to London's Most Stylish and Exquisite Tea Venues Susan Cohen London and tea go together like jam and scones, and this lovely guide presents 40 fine places to enjoy afternoon tea in the city. From classic spots like Claridge's and the Wolseley to more unexpected, off-the-beaten-path places, there's something here to suit every taste and budget. A history of the venues, details on their available teas, and advice on nearby attractions make this the hippest, most up-to-date source of information for London residents and tourists alike.
London's Best Pubs (2nd Edition) A Guide to London's Most Interesting and Unusual Pubs Peter Haydon & Tim Hampson A thirst-inducing, indispensable guide for pub aficionados! The London pub is an institution, and this completely updated book gives the lowdown on 117 of the best. They're all organized by area, mapped, and photographed inside and out. Every entry features an overview of the cask ales on offer, historical and architectural details, and a description of the pub's character. A “Where to go if you like…” section helps readers locate special pub choices by interest.
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Publisher: Batsford Published: March 2012 224 pages 978-1-8499-4028-3 $24.95 ($29.95 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket 40 b/w photos & illus. 5 1/4 X 8 1/2 Carton Quantity: 28 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: New Holland Published: April 2012 160 pages 978-1-8477-3964-3 $19.95 (No Canadian Rights) Paper all in color 6 3/4 X 8 1/4 Carton Quantity: 24 Territory: US Only
Publisher: New Holland Published: April 2012 96 pages 978-1-8477-3993-3 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Hard 50 color photos 5 7/8 X 8 1/4 Carton Quantity: 40 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: New Holland Published: April 2012 224 pages 978-1-8477-3919-3 $19.95 (No Canadian Rights) Paper with flaps all in color 6 3/4 X 8 1/4 Carton Quantity: 24 Territory: US Only
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Me, You & the Kids, Too The Ultimate Time-Saving Cookbook with Recipe Variations for the Whole Family RenĂŠe Elliott Making healthy, delicious food for the family doesn't have to take forever. These recipes and time-saving tips can have anyone--even novice cooks--serving up memorable meals in minutes. Each of the 85 recipes is further broken down into infant- and toddler-friendly versions adapted from an adult main dish so you can easily prepare them at the same time. The tasty recipes include Roasted Vegetable Lasagna, hearty Chicken Burgers, Lamb Tagine, Scallops with Spicy Black Bean Sauce, and much more.
RenĂŠe Elliott is the founder of Planet Organic, the UK's largest organic supermarket. She is the author of Healthy Eating for Your Baby & Toddler (Duncan Baird).
Publisher: Duncan Baird Published: March 2012 176 pages 978-1-8489-9012-8 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket all in color 7 1/2 X 9 1/2 Carton Quantity: 54 Territory: US/Can
Lemongrass and Ginger Cookbook Vibrant Asian Recipes Leemei Tan Rich in aromatic spices, herbs, and flavorings, Asian food explodes deliciously in your mouth. Now, thanks to Leemei Tan, home cooks can easily master the art of preparing this delectable cuisine. She explains how to make perfect sushi, creamy curries, spicy stir-fries, and crisp tempura, and work with noodles, kaffir lime leaves, or wasabi. More than 100 recipes feature a marvelous range of tastes, textures, and aromas from across the continent. From Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup and Japanese Sake Steamed Salmon to Thai Papaya Salad and Indian Saffron Chicken Pilau, these imaginative recipes will inspire and delight.
Leemei Tan is a recipe writer, food stylist, and photographer. Born in Malaysia, she lives in London and travels extensively, sharing both her recipes and travel experiences in her food blog, www.mycookinghut.com, which is currently attracting 50,000 visitors and 250,000 page views per month. She has been interviewed by the New York Times and was featured in Grazia magazine as one of the best female food bloggers in the world. She has had recipes published in the BBC's Olive magazine and contributes to several publications, including Flavours magazine in Southeast Asia.
- A fresh new cookbook author who is bringing a cool, contemporary, but authentic voice to the growing trend of Asian cooking - Beautifully designed and packaged, this is a must-have book for the modern kitchen - Packed with inspiring dishes from a leading voice in the blogosphere
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Publisher: Duncan Baird Published: April 2012 224 pages 978-1-8489-9013-5 $24.95 ($29.95 Canadian) Hard all in color 7 1/2 X 9 1/2 Territory: US/Can
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Knitting Never Felt Better The Definitive Guide to Fabulous Felting Nicky Epstein Nicky Epstein's definitive and bestselling guide to felting is in paperback at last! Using ten chic garments and more than 150 stunning sample swatches, the ever-popular Epstein covers the top methods for turning wool yarn into vibrant and dense textures. This lavishly illustrated book is bursting with patterns, stitches, and techniques for lace, mosaics, cables, and more, along with Epstein's whimsical ideas for dimensional embellishments and an array of attractive home-décor projects. Nicky Epstein is the bestselling author of Knitting on the Edge, Knitting Over the Edge, and Knitting Beyond the Edge, as well as Nicky Epstein’s Knitted Flowers, Knitting Never Felt Better, Nicky Epstein's Crocheted Flowers and Nicky Epstein’s Signature Scarves. She is one of today’s hottest knitwear designers, and has gained worldwide recognition for her abundant creativity, groundbreaking sense of style and informative workshops. Her designs have been featured in Vogue® Knitting and other knitting publications.
Publisher: Nicky Epstein Books Published: April 2012 188 pages 978-1-9360-9636-7 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 11 X 8 1/2 Carton Quantity: 20 Territory: WENG Author Hometown: New York, NY
- Bestselling knitting title now in paperback - Index added for quick reference
60 More Quick Baby Knits Adorable Projects for Newborns to Tots in 220 Superwash® Sport from Cascade Yarns Sixth&Spring Books State-of-the-art yarn! Innovative styles! Irresistible projects! This follow-up to 60 Quick Baby Knits gives budget-minded knitters 60 more inexpensive, time-saving ways to create fabulous baby fashions. Fans of the wildly popular “60 Knits” series are already into the lighter sportweight wool, exclusively from Cascade Yarns-and new readers will welcome its many advantages. Projects include the Paris Cardigan and Birdhouse Sweater from Pat Olski, Amy Barht's Bunny Blanket, and Veronica Manno's Smart Striped Vest.
- Cascade Yarns are some of the most popular on the market - Cascade 220 is very affordable and widely available, perfect for knitters watching their budgets - Includes a huge number of projects-a great value for the price
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Publisher: Sixth&Spring Books Published: May 2012 184 pages 978-1-9360-9643-5 $17.95 ($21.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 8X9 Carton Quantity: 36 Territory: WENG
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Crochet Bakemono (Monsters!) Lan-Anh Bui & Josephine Wan “Bakemono� are shape-shifting monsters straight out of traditional Japanese folklore--and now they can come adorably to life through the art of crochet! Here are plans, patterns, and illustrated instructions for 20 wild and wacky Bakemono creations that take only basic skills to complete. Just as they did with their well-received title Amigurumi, the authors have captured Japanese pop culture and brought it to a Western audience. The result is an inspirational sourcebook that crafters will turn to again and again. Lan-Anh Bui and Josephine Wan are the authors of the hugely successful Amigurumi. Both live and work close to London.
Publisher: Guild of Master Craftsman Published: April 2012 144 pages 978-1-8610-8847-5 $17.95 ($21.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 8 1/4 X 9 1/4 Carton Quantity: 34 Territory: US/Can
50 Knit and Crochet Accessories Go From Beginner to Expert with Easy Bags, Mittens, Socks and Hats Collins & Brown From the elegant to the funky, the hip to the casual, 50 Knit and Crochet Accessories has it all. Coordinate projects from top designers like Sue Bradley, Carol Meldrum, Katherine Hunt, Clare Garland, and more to create a complete look that is all your own! Whether your style is a glitzy golden shell bag and lace gloves, warm and trendy hound's-tooth socks, or a toasty-warm Incan hat, you'll find it here.
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Publisher: Collins & Brown Published: April 2012 256 pages 978-1-8434-0675-4 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 7X7 Territory: US/Can
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Wire Jewelry Masterclass Wrapped, Coiled and Woven Pieces Using Fine Materials Abby Hook Comprehensive and fabulous, Wire Jewelry Masterclass takes an in-depth look at an intricate and rewarding craft. The 24 projects, which range from simple Dragon's tear briolette earrings to a Poseidon-under-the-sea pendant, will delight and inspire jewelers of all levels and tastes. Divided into beginner, intermediate, and advanced sections, this beautifully photographed step-by-step guide is the ticket to wire jewelry expertise!
Silver Clay Workshop Getting Started in Silver Clay Jewellery Melanie Blaikie Love silver jewelry but don't have time to learn traditional silversmithing techniques? Silver clay is as simple to work with as modeling clay, yet it's 99.9% pure silver! The 22 projects in this handy guide are perfect for newcomers, who will learn how to shape, roll, cut, mold, and indent the clay with the help of a comprehensive techniques section. From pendants and bracelets to rings and statement beads, Silver Clay Workshop opens up a bright new world of jewelry making!
Woodturning Evolution Dynamic Projects for You to Make Nick Agar & David Springett, foreword by Jacques Vesery Two expert wood turners, Nick Agar and David Springett, have developed a radical new way to use narrow strips of wood (usually of little use to wood turners) to produce curvy, graceful, asymmetrical vessels. They offer their innovative methods and stunning designs to the home woodworker in 14 unique projects, complete with guidance on tools, techniques, and materials.
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Publisher: Guild of Master Craftsman Published: April 2012 192 pages 978-1-8610-8842-0 $21.95 ($26.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 8 1/4 X 9 1/4 Carton Quantity: 26 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Guild of Master Craftsman Published: April 2012 160 pages 978-1-8610-8832-1 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 8 1/4 X 9 1/4 Carton Quantity: 34 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Guild of Master Craftsman Published: April 2012 176 pages 978-1-8610-8827-7 $24.95 ($29.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 8 1/4 X 10 7/8 Carton Quantity: 24 Territory: US/Can
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1960s Fashion Print Marnie Fogg Fashion thrives during periods of cultural foment, and this essential sourcebook explores the wealth of fashion print produced during the tumultuous, revolutionary 1960s. Exclusive illustrations showcase the work of such creative pioneers as Biba, Warhol, Marimekko, and Zandra Rhodes, while hundreds of images and illuminating captions convey the impact of the era's great movements. From Pop Art and Flower Power to Indian motifs and the Magical Mystery Tour, this stunning artistic journey explores a time when art from cultures old and new found expression on fabric. Marnie Fogg is a media consultant on all aspects of the fashion industry. She lectured in Visual Studies and the Culture of Fashion at the University of Nottingham, and is the author of Boutique: A 60s Cultural Phenomenon (Mitchell Beazley), and Print in Fashion (Batsford). She lives in Duffield, Derbyshire.
Publisher: Batsford Published: April 2012 192 pages 978-1-8499-4034-4 $29.95 ($35.95 Canadian) Hard all in color 8 5/8 X 8 5/8 Territory: US/Can
Vintage Fashion Sourcebook Key Looks and Labels and Where to Find Them Emma Baxter-Wright, Karen Clarkson, Sarah Kennedy, Kate Mulvey For anyone interested in collecting and wearing vintage, or eager to check out classic style for inspiration, this lavishly illustrated sourcebook offers a decade-by-decade showcase of twentieth-century fashion. “Key looks” pages present major trends, from Coco Chanel's Style Russe in the 1920s and Christian Dior's 1950s A-line dresses to Emilio Pucci's psychedelic prints and Azzedine Alaïa's “body con” clothing. Fashionistas will love it--and also appreciate the pointers on sourcing and caring for vintage pieces.
- With the current obsession with all things “vintage,” this book appeals to women who want to develop a unique look that is not mass market, as well as to those who want to snag an amazing original piece at a thrifty price - Includes shopping sources in the US and UK
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Publisher: Carlton Books Published: April 2012 64 pages 978-1-8473-2792-5 $9.95 (No Canadian Rights) Paper 100 color & b/w photos 8 1/2 X 10 7/8 Territory: US Only
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Heavy Metal From Hard Rock to Extreme Metal Text by Kory Grow Here's one for the headbangers! With its loud, aggressive rhythms; slashing guitar solos, and often-disturbing themes, metal is mesmerizing: it cuts to the bone and takes rock right to the edge. Heavy Metal takes readers on an in-depth musical journey through this testosterone-fueled style, including its origins, development, and subgenres, such as thrash, doom, death, and gothic metal. With exclusive pictures and commentary from experts in the form, it analyzes such groundbreaking bands as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, MĂśtley CrĂźe, Motorhead, Metallica, Megadeth, and Savatage through their sounds, lyrics, themes, and trend-setting actions.
Kory Grow is the senior editor of Revolver magazine, the United States' largest magazine covering hard rock and heavy metal. In his career, he's interviewed artists ranging from Metallica to Ozzy Osbourne to Avenged Sevenfold to Darkthrone. He has also written about heavy metal for Guitar World, Metal Hammer, Decibel, Alternative Press, the Village Voice, and more. He lives in Astoria, New York, with his wife and cat.
Publisher: White Star Publishers Published: April 2012 272 pages 978-8-8544-0635-3 $39.95 ($47.95 Canadian) Hard 235 color photos 10 1/4 X 11 4/5 Territory: US/Can Author Hometown: Astoria, NY
-Sections dedicated to the various types of metal: heavy metal, thrash metal, nu-metal, power metal, death metal, and black metal -Minor movements and subgenres of metal are also discussed, to help readers understand the vastness of the whole spectrum of this genre
Document and Eyewitness An Intimate History of Rough Trade Neil Taylor The British record company Rough Trade has been a pioneer in the independent music industry for more than 30 years. Document and Eyewitness tells the definitive story of this trailblazing label through the voices of founder Geoff Travis, Jarvis Cocker, Robert Wyatt, Green Gartside, and other musicians. Serious fans of punk, dub, and rock will learn more about the bands they love--from Cabaret Voltaire and Kleenex to The Fall, The Smiths, The Strokes, and beyond. Neil Taylor worked for the NME during the mid-1980s and has more recently worked in publishing. He is a dedicated regionalist and now lives in Winchester.
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Publisher: Orion Published: April 2012 432 pages 978-1-4091-3558-6 $15.95 (No Canadian Rights) Paper 32 color photos, 32 b/w photos 5 1/2 X 8 1/2 Territory: US Only
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The Complete Garden Expert Dr. D.G. Hessayon Over 50 years ago, the first of the Expert guides appeared, the initial entry in what is now the world's top-selling gardening series. The Garden Expert briefly discussed many aspects of plant care, but Dr. Hessayon always promised to produce a truly comprehensive look at all aspects of gardening. Now, finally, this one-stop volume has arrived. From A-Z, fences to fuschias, garden design to garden problems, The Complete Garden Expert is the must-have book that covers it all!
The Hot Book of Chillies David Floyd From long and trim to round and berry-like, mild green to fiery orange, there are some 400 varieties of chilli grown worldwide. The Hot Book of Chillies brings this incredible ingredient to your fingertips with a comprehensive look at all things chilli. Discover the history and biology of the plants, their nutritional and medicinal values, and how to preserve and use chillies at home. In addition to recipes for salsas, hot sauces, jams, and chutneys, a gallery presents nearly 100 of the most popular kinds.
Bartending A Professional's Guide to the Industry Adam W. Freeth For aspiring and professional bartenders alike, Bartending offers expert advice on all aspects of running a successful bar--from tools, equipment, and glassware to providing the ultimate in customer service. Easy-to-follow recipes cover a range of classic to modern cocktails, accompanied by hints and tips for perfect pouring and presentation. This essential guide is loaded with invaluable advice and information to help you be the best in the bar business.
Best Man Best Speech How to Be the Best Best Man Dominic Bliss Being the groom's best man is a huge honor, but the responsibilities it entails can seem overwhelming. Now, Best Man Best Speech comes to the rescue, offering dependable guidance on all the best man's duties--from how to tie a bow tie to how to avoid trouble on stag night. For that all-important speech, it explains in detail where to find good material, how to avoid stage fright, and even how to use risquĂŠ humor without going too far.
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Publisher: Expert Published: May 2012 256 pages 978-0-9035-0598-7 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 7 1/4 X 9 1/2 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: New Holland Published: May 2012 128 pages 978-1-8453-7034-3 $14.95 (No Canadian Rights) Paper with flaps all in color 8 1/4 X 10 1/2 Carton Quantity: 26 Territory: US Only
Publisher: New Holland Published: April 2012 192 pages 978-1-7800-9002-3 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 7 1/2 X 9 3/4 Carton Quantity: 20 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: New Holland Published: May 2012 128 pages 978-1-7800-9136-5 $8.95 ($10.95 Canadian) Paper 5 X 7 3/4 Carton Quantity: 80 Territory: US/Can
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What It Takes to Become a Chess Master Andrew Soltis Chess players sometimes wonder if they have what it takes to become a chess master. International Grandmaster Andrew Soltis answers their questions: How much talent does it take, what do you need to know, how much do you have to practice, which tournaments do you enter, and who do you have to beat? He offers detailed advice, practical exercises, and test games to make any player more competitive and help rising stars join the elite ranks of chess.
Asterix Omnibus 3 Includes Asterix and the Big Fight #7, Asterix in Britain #8, and Asterix and the Normans #9 Rene Goscinny & Albert Uderzo Three great Asterix titles in one! In Asterix and the Big Fight, the Romans persuade a Gaulish chief to challenge Vitalstatistix to single combat--and everyone's caught up in a battle to save their home. Asterix in Britain finds our hero and his friend Obelix rushing to the aid of a British village trying hold out against Roman invaders. But will bad English food, drink, and weather do the Gauls in first? The Gauls face a Norman invasion in Asterix and the Normans. Can Asterix and his friends teach their enemies the meaning of fear?
Asterix Omnibus 4 Includes Asterix the Legionary #10, Asterix and the Chieftain's Shield #11, and Asterix at the Olympic Games #12 Rene Goscinny & Albert Uderzo Asterix's millions of fans will want this attractive collector's edition, featuring three favorite stories. In Asterix the Legionary, Asterix and Obelix head to battle to rescue Tragicomix, whom the Romans have forcibly conscripted. The two find their friend…and cause a BIG commotion, too. It's a race to the finish in Asterix and the Chieftain's Shield as the Romans and the Gauls both try to track down a missing shield that Caesar needs for a triumphant ceremony. Can Asterix and his friends find it first? And Asterix and the Gauls go for the gold in Asterix at the Olympic Games--but their magic potion is banned! Can our heroes win without it?
Asterix Omnibus 4 Includes Asterix the Legionary #10, Asterix and the Chieftain's Shield #11, and Asterix at the Olympic Games #12 Rene Goscinny & Albert Uderzo Asterix's millions of fans will want this great anthology, featuring three favorite stories. In Asterix the Legionary, Asterix and Obelix head to battle to rescue Tragicomix, whom the Romans have forcibly conscripted. The two find their friend…and cause a BIG commotion, too. It's a race to the finish in Asterix and the Chieftain's Shield as the Romans and the Gauls both try to track down a missing shield that Caesar needs for a triumphant ceremony. Can Asterix and his friends find it first? And Asterix and the Gauls go for the gold in Asterix at the Olympic Games--but their magic potion is banned! Can our heroes win without it?
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Publisher: Batsford Published: April 2012 208 pages 978-1-8499-4026-9 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Paper 6 1/8 X 9 1/4 Territory: US/Can Author Hometown: New York, NY
Publisher: Orion Published: May 2012 150 pages 978-1-4440-0475-5 $19.95 (No Canadian Rights) Paper all in color 8 1/2 X 11 1/4 Carton Quantity: 20 Territory: US Only
Publisher: Orion Published: April 2012 144 pages 978-1-4440-0428-1 $27.95 (No Canadian Rights) Hard all in color 8 1/2 X 11 1/4 Territory: US Only
Publisher: Orion Published: July 2012 144 pages 978-1-4440-0487-8 $19.95 (No Canadian Rights) Paper all in color 8 1/2 X 11 1/4 Carton Quantity: 20 Territory: US Only
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The Treasures of the Olympic Games An Interactive History of the Olympic Games Olympic Museum Can't wait for the London Olympics? The Treasures of the Olympic Games, published in association with the official Olympic Museum in Lausanne, captures the glorious history of the summer Olympic Games. In addition to more than 200 photographs, the book contains 20 removable facsimiles of rare historical documents from the museum's exclusive archive--including an athlete's rail pass, a police report detailing the tragic terrorist attack at the 1972 Munich Olympics, and a flame bearer's guide. Plus, relive the Games' most dramatic moments with a DVD featuring Jesse Owens, Bob Beamon, and other immortals.
The Tennis Book The Illustrated Encyclopedia of World Tennis John Parsons with Henry Wancke, foreword by Tim Henman Written by two of the game's leading authorities, The Tennis Book is the definitive work on one of the world's most exhilarating sports. Loaded with over 200 photographs, this comprehensive volume traces tennis from its aristocratic beginnings in the 1800s to the high-energy, all-action global sport of today. With profiles of court legends, insightful analysis of the greatest matches, and an in-depth look at the politics, controversies, and oddities of the game, The Tennis Book serves up an unmatched collection of aces.
The Car The History of the Automobile Rod Green America's love affair with the automobile has been going strong for more than a century, but the real story began in 1886, when German engineer Karl Benz received a patent for the first gasoline-powered motor vehicle. The Car documents this fascinating history, from the fragile engineering of the earliest models to the cutting-edge technology of today . . . and tomorrow. A unique collection of facsimile documents and memorabilia, including Benz's pioneering patent, makes The Car a must-have for any automobile enthusiast.
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Publisher: Carlton Books Published: April 2012 64 pages 978-1-8473-2845-8 $50.00 (No Canadian Rights) Hardcover with Slipcase 200 color & b/w photos 11 X 9 3/4 Carton Quantity: 8 Territory: US Only
Publisher: Carlton Books Published: May 2012 224 pages 978-1-7809-7012-7 $34.95 (No Canadian Rights) Hardcover with Jacket 200 color & b/w photos 9 X 11 Territory: US Only
Publisher: Carlton Books Published: May 2012 96 pages 978-1-8473-2876-2 $39.95 (No Canadian Rights) Hard 150 color & b/w photos 9 3/4 X 11 Territory: US Only
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The Hidden Geometry of Life The Science and Spirituality of Nature Karen L. French Encompassing nature, science, art, architecture, and spirituality, and illustrated with over 700 photographs and line drawings, The Hidden Geometry of Life illuminates the secret underpinnings of existence. In her trademark easy-to-understand style, mathematician Karen French shows how sacred geometry permeates every level of being, manifesting itself in simple shapes and numbers, music and sounds, light and color, even in the mysteries of creation itself. But these geometrical archetypes are more than the building blocks of reality: they are gateways to profound new levels of awareness. Karen L. French has a Joint Honours degree in Mathematics and Management Sciences and an MSc in Marketing, both from the University of Manchester. She has had a lifelong interest in sacred geometry.
Publisher: Watkins Published: April 2012 240 pages 978-1-7802-8108-7 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 7 1/2 X 9 1/2 Territory: US/Can
Mad Men and Scandalous Scientists Joel Levy Most science chronicles present a triumphant march through time, with revolutionary thinkers and their discoveries following in orderly progression. But the truth is far more entertaining. Mad Men and Scandalous Scientists examines the most vicious battles among the greatest minds of our time--such as Huxley and Wilberforce's debate on Darwin's theory of evolution and the shocking “War of Currents� between Tesla and Edison. From passionate competition to vindictive sniping, these rivalries prove that the world of science is far from cold and methodical. Reissue of Scientific Feuds.
Joel Levy is the author of more than a dozen books, including The Atlas of Lost Treasures (Godsfield, 2008), The Doomsday Book: Scenarios for the End of the World (Vision, 2005) and Lost Cities of the Ancient World (New Holland, 2011).
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Publisher: New Holland Published: April 2012 256 pages 978-1-7800-9064-1 $12.95 (No Canadian Rights) Paper 20 b/w illus. 5 X 7 3/4 Carton Quantity: 36 Territory: US Only
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Nelson Mandela A Force for Freedom Christina Scott The name Nelson Mandela is synonymous with freedom and moral integrity. He is the living symbol of the triumphant struggle to replace South Africa's apartheid regime with a multiracial democracy. Fully illustrated, this biography chronicles the remarkable life of Nelson Mandela, from his days as student activist and guerrilla leader to his 27 years in prison to his position as an iconic elder statesman beloved the world over.
The Routemaster Pocket-Book 1956 Conway Publishing The iconic 1956 double-decker Routemaster bus is as much a symbol of London as Big Ben or Tower Bridge. Today it's gone international, doing everything from hauling tourists around Manhattan to providing passenger service in Sri Lanka. This illustrated portrait, complete with photos, diagrams, and technical details, reveals the secrets of the Routemaster's success and pays tribute to its revolutionary design features--many of which originated in the aircraft innovations of WWII.
Hidden Stonehenge Ancient Temple in North America Reveals the Key to Ancient Wonders Gordon R. Freeman Hidden Stonehenge is the remarkable chronicle of one man's thrilling quest to solve a profound archeological mystery. On the remote plains of southern Alberta sits an ancient temple older than England's Stonehenge by some 800 years. Yet, like Stonehenge, it features a built-in calendar of astonishing accuracy. Incredibly, 5,000 years ago, Britons and Plains Indians were making precise astronomical observations at these two sites. Follow Professor Freeman as he explores the astonishing implications of his discoveries.
Family in War Life at Home During the Second World War, 1939-1945 Maureen Waller, in association with the Imperial War Museum Family in War explores the trials, tribulations, and jubilations collectively experienced by the British public from 1939-1945. Drawing on firsthand accounts and the personal archives of the Allpress family, the book chronicles the life of a typical London family during World War II--from the morale-boosting campaigns, films, and songs to air raids, evacuations, and rationing. Special attention is paid to the aftershocks of war: couples reunited after years of separation, the residual effects of female independence, and children becoming reacquainted with their long-absent combat-stricken fathers.
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Publisher: Andre Deutsch Published: February 2012 176 pages 978-0-2330-0306-1 $24.95 ($29.95 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket 130 color & b/w photos 8 1/2 X 11 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Conway Published: April 2012 128 pages 978-1-8448-6152-1 $12.95 ($14.95 Canadian) Hard 70 b/w illus. 5X7 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Watkins Published: April 2012 294 pages 978-1-7802-8095-0 $19.95 ($19.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps 6 2/3 X 9 2/3 Carton Quantity: 38 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Conway Published: May 2012 224 pages 978-1-8448-6151-4 $29.95 ($35.95 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket 100 color photos, 100 b/w photos 7 1/2 X 9 3/4 Territory: US/Can
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The Art of War The New Illustrated Edition Sun Tzu, translated by Samuel B. Griffith This classic Chinese text, the earliest known treatise on war, offers strategy and tactics that can be applied to every type of human conflict. Central to Sun Tzu's philosophy is the concept of using deception and superior intelligence to minimize risk, which has made his book required reading at military, business, and law schools around the world. With a Foreword by B.H. Liddell Hart and a 74-page Introduction, this deluxe edition--beautifully presented in a sumptuous silk case--is a standout offering in the successful Art of Wisdom series. Samuel B. Griffith served during World War II with the US Marines in the Pacific. He obtained his Ph.D. in Chinese military history at New College, Oxford University, and is the translator of Mao Tse-Tung's On Guerrilla Warfare.
Publisher: Watkins Published: May 2012 272 pages 978-1-8448-3179-1 $24.95 ($29.95 Canadian) Hard all in color 6 X 9 1/4 Carton Quantity: 10 Territory: US/Can
- The Art of War is the most successful guide ever on military strategy--yet the principles of this book have been successfully applied to other fields, notably business and sport - Beautifully designed and illustrated with full-color artworks and photographs - A fine translation of one of the great literary works of history, this edition has sold over 200,000 copies worldwide
The Five Rings Musashi Miyamoto's Art of Strategy Musashi Miyamoto, translated by David K. Groff This new title in the Art of Wisdom series is a luxuriously illustrated edition of the ultimate Japanese warrior classic. Written by the legendary swordsman Musashi Miyamoto, The Five Rings (c.1645) is more than just a manual on sword-fighting techniques: its Zen philosophy offers tactics and strategies as relevant to personal success today as they were to 17th-century samurai. The Five Rings speaks to every age about the essential roles of harmony and self-mastery in our lives. In addition to The Five Rings, this beautiful volume includes two additional short texts by Miyamoto: The Art of Swordsmanship and The Way of Self-Reliance.
Musashi Miyamoto (c.1584-1645) was a duelist and renowned warrior who fought his first duel at the age of 13 and was never defeated. He wrote The Five Rings in a cave during the last years of his life.
-Like Sun Tzu's The Art of War, this ancient Japanese text is a classic of military strategy that also offers practical lessons for modern readers -A beautiful edition of the classic treatise, with magnificent illustrations and a new translation
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Publisher: Watkins Published: May 2012 272 pages 978-1-7802-8120-9 $24.95 ($29.95 Canadian) Hard all in color 6 X 9 1/4 Carton Quantity: 12 Territory: US/Can
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The Essential Guide to Psychic Powers Develop Your Intuitive, Telepathic and Healing Skills Sarah Bartlett Have you ever sensed that something would happen before it took place? Had powerful warning dreams or felt an overwhelming connection to someone far away? We all have the potential to develop psychic powers and connect with otherworldly dimensions--and this comprehensive guide can help. Featuring practical exercises, explanations, and meditations, it leads you through many facets of psychic phenomena, from clairvoyance and dowsing to divination and out-of-body experiences. The Essential Guide to Psychic Powers will provide you with personal insight into your own psychic potential and give you access to a fascinating world beyond the everyday.
The Mindfulness Breakthrough The Revolutionary Treatment for Stress, Anxiety and Depression Sarah Silverton Inspired by Eastern meditative practices, mindfulness is a powerful holistic approach to overcoming stress and achieving emotional balance. Now the first fully illustrated book on the subject guides the reader through key techniques to the state of being fully engaged in the moment, including breathing, relaxation, body scanning, and concentration building. The result is a gentler, less judgmental, more positive response to life. Included are chapters on using mindfulness to self-treat problems such as depression, stress, anxiety, and relationship issues.
The Seer Volume One of The 'O' Manuscript, The Scandinavian Bestseller Lars Muhl Bedridden for three years, author Lars Muhl was cured by a mysterious seer--only to find himself on the adventure of a lifetime . . . and beyond. The Seer is the first of three books that together comprise The O Manuscript: the story of an extraordinary personal and spiritual quest that challenges conventional wisdom and takes readers on a mystical journey through time.
Carl Jung: Wounded Healer of the Soul An Illustrated Biography Claire Dunne, foreword by Olivier Bernier, introduction by Jean Houston Fifty years after his death, Carl Jung's revolutionary theories still attract and fascinate readers, as shown by the bestselling success of the recently published illuminated volume The Red Book. This critically acclaimed biography does full justice to his lasting contributions to psychology and philosophy, his tumultuous relationship with Freud, and his wide-ranging spiritual explorations. Showcasing superb artwork reflecting Jung's teachings, including works by Georges Rouault, RenĂŠ Magritte, and Paul Klee, as well as works by Jung himself and art from indigenous cultures and the ancient world, Claire Dunne explores the journey of a healer who honed his skills by attending to the wounds in his own soul.
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Publisher: Watkins Published: April 2012 288 pages 978-1-7802-8113-1 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 5 X 6 1/2 Carton Quantity: 24 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Watkins Published: April 2012 176 pages 978-1-7802-8107-0 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 6 1/2 X 9 1/4 Carton Quantity: 30 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Watkins Published: June 2012 176 pages 978-1-7802-8097-4 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket 5 1/4 X 8 1/2 Carton Quantity: 48 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Watkins Published: April 2012 272 pages 978-1-7802-8114-8 $24.95 ($29.95 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket all in color 6 X 9 1/4 Carton Quantity: 12 Territory: US/Can
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Under the Sword Life Lessons to Awaken the Zen Warrior in You Vernon Kitabu Turner In our fast-changing, uncertain world, it's easy to feel under the gun. Now Zen master Vernon Kitabu Turner throws away the gun and picks up the sword in an inspiring practical guide filled with step-by step advice to help you transform your life by unifying mind, body, and spirit. Wrapping profound truths in homespun analogies, Turner employs his trademark engaging style to awaken your inner samurai.
The Mystery Experience A Revolutionary Approach to Spiritual Awakening Tim Freke What is the Mystery Experience? It's nothing less than life itself--literally, the journey of your life. Join author and “stand-up philosopher� Tim Freke--who appears on the BBC and the History Channel--on a magical mystery tour of spiritual rebirth, with stops at quantum physics, Tao, Walt Whitman, Greek mythology, Carl Jung, and more. All you need to bring along is your curiosity, your desire to begin a grand global adventure . . . and an open mind.
Transformational NLP The Spiritual Approach to Harnessing the Power of Neuro-Linguistic Programming Cissi Williams Neuro-Linguistic Programming--or NLP--is a popular and effective approach to therapy and self-realization. Now a leading practitioner reveals the spiritual dimension that makes NLP an even more powerful tool for freeing ourselves from egoism and unlocking our full potential. With practical exercises based on the author's many years of coaching, Transformational NLP can help readers access their wise inner self, attain freedom from self-limiting negative beliefs, and experience extraordinary new levels of awareness.
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Publisher: Watkins Published: May 2012 192 pages 978-1-7802-8098-1 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper 5 X 7 3/4 Carton Quantity: 64 Territory: US/Can Author Hometown: Virginia Beach, VA
Publisher: Watkins Published: May 2012 320 pages 978-1-7802-8149-0 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket 5 1/4 X 8 1/2 Carton Quantity: 32 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Watkins Published: May 2012 272 pages 978-1-7802-8122-3 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper 5 X 7 3/4 Carton Quantity: 32 Territory: US/Can
STERLING
Knitted Booties for Tiny Feet Catherine Bouquerel Now even the tiniest tots can show off fun footwear! This detailed guide shows how to create 20 pairs of the most adorable baby shoes ever, in styles ranging from sweet Strawberry Jam slippers to sailor-style booties to urban fashion-forward low-tops . Even beginners can make a gift for family or friends, thanks to the detailed pictorial glossary of all the necessary knitting and crochet stitches and techniques. Catherine Bouquerel is a textile designer who works for thread- and yarn-makers such as Phildar and Bergère de France. She lives in Ville d'Avray, France.
Publisher: Sixth&Spring Books Published: June 2012 64 pages 978-1-9360-9638-1 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 8 X 9 1/4 Carton Quantity: 36 Territory: WENG
Cuddly Knits for Wee Ones Catherine Bouquerel This adorable book of 20 projects for babies features sweaters, blankets, and onesies--including a Junior Varsity cardigan, Fairytale Dress-Up hooded poncho with matching booties, and other cute fashion-forward designs. They're all soft, warm, and cozy, knitted in trendy palettes rather than old-fashioned pastels. A pictorial glossary contains numerous needlework stitches and techniques for those who need a refresher, making this a must-have for new and expectant mothers, doting grandparents, and friends and family in search of the perfect baby-shower gift.
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Publisher: Sixth&Spring Books Published: July 2012 64 pages 978-1-9360-9639-8 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 8 X 9 1/4 Carton Quantity: 36 Territory: WENG
STERLING
Knit Red Stitching for Women's Heart Health Laura Zander Gorgeous knitwear--that does good, too! The knitting community has always come together to support a great cause, and Knit Red once again attests to knitters' generous, giving spirit. These 30 beautiful red-themed projects help raise awareness of the number-one killer of women today: heart disease. The patterns are all donated by top designers, including Debbie Stoller, Debbie Bliss, Iris Schreier, and Deborah Newton. In addition, the book offers important medical information, a Heart Healthy Resources and Action Plan, and powerful stories from survivors of this deadly ailment. Laura Zander is the founder of the online superstore jimmybeanswool.com and an avid knitter who has partnered with the Heart Truth Foundation to raise awareness and money to fight the #1 killer of women.
Publisher: Sixth&Spring Books Published: June 2012 160 pages 978-1-9360-9642-8 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Hardcover with Jacket all in color 8 1/2 X 10 Carton Quantity: 28 Territory: WENG
- Book will have large publicity campaign and visibility - National media outreach, plus scheduled for launch at TNNA in June 2012
Sci-Fi Art The Ultimate Guide to Mastering Digital Painting Techniques ImagineFX Following the success of Fantasy Workshop, Fantasy Creatures, and Manga, the ImagineFX team turns to sci-fi! With reference to creative painting programs--including Photoshop, Illustrator, and Corel Painter--Sci-Fi Art presents step-by-step instructions and screen grabs to help artists progress from basic “pencil� roughs to first-stage line art and ultimately finished color art. Soon you'll be using the very latest techniques to design your own digital paintings and first-class sci-fi art featuring amazing characters, scenes, and close-ups. ImagineFX is the only magazine for fantasy and sci-fi artists. Each issue contains an eclectic mixture of in-depth workshops from the world's best artists, galleries and interviews, features, community news, software and hardware reviews, and news of the latest sci-fi and fantasy films and comics.
- Produced with ImagineFX, the world's leading fantasy magazine - A follow-up title in this leading fantasy art series
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Publisher: Collins & Brown Published: June 2012 208 pages 978-1-8434-0676-1 $24.95 ($29.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 8 5/8 X 8 5/8 Territory: US/Can
STERLING
Love Good Food Easy-to-Cook, Stylish Recipes Inspired by Modern Flavors Sophie Michell From glamorous young chef Sophie Michell comes this beautifully photographed collection of modern, innovative, and utterly delicious recipes. These are irresistible dishes that excite with gourmet flair, but don't require hours in the kitchen--they're all doable, whether you're an experienced cook or a relative newbie. Plus, these meals are visually gorgeous, healthy, and with an array of international flavors that pop and entice. From Miso-Glazed Pork Belly to Micro-Herb & Parmesan Ravioli, Sophie shows you how to wow your friends, your family, and yourself! Sophie Michell is one of the most talented young chefs on UK television. She co-presented Cook Yourself Thin and has appeared on many other popular food shows. In 2012, she will make two appearances on the popular Food Network cooking show, Iron Chef. Sophie has worked in many top London restaurants, was the private chef for a supermodel, and cooks for various other A-list clients. She was nominated for the Young Chef of the Year Award and is a columnist for Grazia, Healthy, and Top SantĂŠ. Her cookbooks include Irresistible, Fabulous Food, and the TV tie-in Cook Yourself Thin, which she co-authored.
Publisher: Duncan Baird Published: June 2012 208 pages 978-1-8489-9014-2 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Hard all in color 7 1/2 X 9 1/2 Carton Quantity: 14 Territory: US/Can
- An imaginative collection of recipes, including many that offer a modern spin on traditional favorites from around the world
The Top 100 Finger Food Recipes Delicious, Healthy Meals for Your Toddler Christine Bailey Every parent knows that babies and toddlers can be fussy eaters. This collection of 100 quick and easy recipes for delicious finger foods from nutritional consultant Christine Bailey is the perfect solution. Each recipe has a list of nutrients and at-a-glance ingredient symbols, as well as tips on preparation and storage. From nutritious breakfasts such as Crunchy Granola Chunks to tasty lunches and dinners like Italian Tuna Balls, as well as yummy snacks and desserts like Secret Chocolate Cupcakes, here are plenty of new tastes and textures for children to explore. Christine Bailey, M.Sc., is a nutritionist, food and health consultant, chef, and cookery teacher. She writes for numerous health and food magazines and advises local authorities and schools, as well as national and local child-care organizations, on children's nutrition. She is the author of The Top 100 Low-Salt Recipes, The Top 100 Recipes for Brainy Kids, The Juice Diet, The Top 100 Baby Food Recipes, and The Raw Food Diet, all for DBP.
- Focuses on an important and highly topical issue: how parents can give their children the best nutrition - 100 mouthwatering recipes that are quick and easy to make - Each recipe comes with nutritional information, a list of nutrients, and at-a-glance ingredient symbols
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Publisher: Duncan Baird Published: June 2012 144 pages 978-1-8489-9015-9 $9.95 ($11.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps all in color 5 1/2 X 6 3/4 Carton Quantity: 60 Territory: US/Can
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STERLING
Change Your Life, Change Your World Ten Spiritual Lessons for a New Way of Being and Living Amoda Maa Jeevan, foreword by John Selby In these troubling times, the search for a meaningful life presents a formidable challenge. These 10 life-changing lessons offer the answer: a spiritual way to relate to today's world and to act within it. The lessons address themes such as Forgiveness, Gratitude, and Surrender, and are each accompanied by a Daily Declaration, a Call to Action, and a Self-reflection Exercise. Written with simplicity and grace, and charged with profound truths, they shift the focus of human existence from ego to heart, from poverty to abundance, and from war to peace.
Masters of Wisdom: Gandhi Radical Wisdom for a Changing World Edited by Alan Jacobs Over 60 years after his death, Gandhi is more popular and relevant than ever. This inspiring anthology offers a judicious selection of his writings, from speeches, news articles, letters, and state documents to autobiography. Packed with all the rich incident and driving narrative of a novel, and filled with profound examples of Gandhi's timeless spiritual and political wisdom, this is a book that will find a permanent place on your shelf . . . and in your heart.
Masters of Wisdom: Thoreau Transcendent Nature for a Modern World Edited by Alan Jacobs This invaluable anthology captures the intelligence, charm, and wisdom of Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), one of America's greatest thinkers and writers--a giant who influenced the whole world. Editor Alan Jacobs has assembled extracts from Thoreau's public and private writings, his delightfully lyrical poems, and his classic spiritual memoir, Walden, to fashion what amounts to an impressionistic autobiography, a source of inspiration more needful than ever in these politically, economically, and environmentally challenging times.
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Publisher: Watkins Published: June 2012 192 pages 978-1-7802-8124-7 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper 5 X 7 3/4 Carton Quantity: 64 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Watkins Published: June 2012 240 pages 978-1-7802-8126-1 $12.95 ($14.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps 5 X 7 3/4 Carton Quantity: 36 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Watkins Published: June 2012 240 pages 978-1-7802-8125-4 $12.95 ($14.95 Canadian) Paper with flaps 5 X 7 3/4 Carton Quantity: 36 Territory: US/Can
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STERLING
The Brilliant Memory Tool Kit Tips, Tricks and Techniques to Boost Your Memory Power Dominic O'Brien Thanks to his amazing techniques, memory master Dominic O'Brien has won the World Memory Championship eight times and become legendary for his ability to beat the Las Vegas casinos at blackjack. Now, with this three-part kit that teaches O'Brien's method, anyone can enjoy dramatically improved memory in mere weeks. The kit consists of a guidebook, a pictorial memory “Journey Map,” and 50 flash cards with tips for mental associations that will help you instantly recall people's names, the items on a list, and numbers with up to 100 digits! Dominic O'Brien holds numerous memory-related world records, and was named Brain of the Year in 1994 and Grandmaster of Memory by the Brain Trust of Great Britain. He is President of the World Memory Sports Council. His books include You Can Have an Amazing Memory and How to Develop a Brilliant Memory Week by Week.
Publisher: Watkins Published: June 2012 88 pages 978-1-7802-8119-3 $19.95 ($23.95 Canadian) Kit full-color book + map + 50 flash cards 5 1/4 X 7 1/4 Territory: US/Can
- Uniquely qualified author has won the World Memory Championship eight times - Includes flash cards and an illustrated Memory Journey Map with 50 stages for focused training
Attracting Abundance Meditations, Visualizations, and Exercises to Help You Harness Positive Energy Jane Struthers Tapping into the spirit of the “Law of Attraction” made famous by the international bestseller The Secret, this beautifully illustrated deck of 52 daily meditation cards offers a new way to focus and channel positive energy from the world around us. Divided into four suits--Love and Relationships, Career and Prosperity, Creativity, and Spiritual Growth--each card features a unique visualization, meditation, exercise, or inspiring quotation. The box itself folds to become an easel for displaying the cards as the reader meditates on its message. Delivering powerful inspiration and positivity, the deck can help readers use the Law of Attraction to attain the best that life has to offer. Jane Struthers is the author of The Psychic Bible, The Tarot Bible, and The Fortune-Teller's Bible.
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Publisher: Watkins Published: June 2012 978-1-7802-8123-0 $17.95 ($21.95 Canadian) Card Deck 52 full-color cards 5 1/4 X 7 1/4 Territory: US/Can
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STERLING
A Complete Guide to Manicure & Pedicure Leigh Toselli Graceful, silky hands and smooth, delicate feet--each with beautifully colored nails--speak volumes about our state of health and attention to personal grooming. A Complete Guide to Manicure & Pedicure takes a practical and visual approach to hand and foot care, with lots of DIY information, tips, and practical advice as well as insights from podiatrists, chiropodists, nail technicians, beauty therapists, and cosmetic houses. This is the perfect guide for the home spa and for cosmeticians and nail-care professionals alike.
Parlour Games Indoor Fun for the Whole Family! Katie Hewett Tune out, turn off, and have fun! In an era where everyone is hooked on cell phones and video games, what better way to bring family and friends of all ages together than good old-fashioned parlour games? From Charades to Consequences, Chinese Whispers to Twenty Questions, here are over 65 classic games that don't cost a penny to play yet are worth their weight in gold when it comes to memories of family togetherness and laughter. So instead of reaching for that remote control, why not play a few parlour games instead?
The Urban Birder David Lindo, foreword by Stephen Moss Birding is cool and anyone can do it, even in the heart of the city. That's the message of David Lindo, a.k.a. the Urban Birder. Whether the reader is at home, in the park, traveling to work, or just looking out a window, the opportunities are always there. This inspirational guide to birding in our cities recounts Lindo's personal journey of discovery, and includes entertaining stories of encounters with human as well as avian city dwellers around the world.
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Publisher: New Holland Published: June 2012 128 pages 978-1-8477-3566-9 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Paper all in color 8 1/2 X 11 Carton Quantity: 20 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: Collins & Brown Published: June 2012 128 pages 978-1-8434-0674-7 $9.95 ($11.95 Canadian) Hard all in color 5 X 6 1/4 Territory: US/Can
Publisher: New Holland Published: July 2012 224 pages 978-1-8477-3950-6 $14.95 ($17.95 Canadian) Hard 30 b/w photos 5 X 7 3/4 Carton Quantity: 20 Territory: US/Can
WHITE STAR REDUCTIONS
These visually spectacular books now at a new low price
ISBN
60 More Quick Baby Knits, 103
Carl Jung: Wounded Healer of the Soul, 114
CubeBook: Wonders of Italy, 123
50 Knit and Crochet Accessories, 104 360° London, 100
1960s Fashion Print, 106
Advanced Digital Black & White Photography, 69 All You Knit is Love, 79
Android Photography, 66 Arctic, 86
Art of Faery, The, 97 Art of War, The, 13
Art Quilt Portfolio: The Natural World (Art Quilt Portfolio), 53
Caravan to Vaccares, 19
Cathedrals of the World, 88 Celtic Visions, 99
Ceramic Studio: Hand Building, 54
Ceramic Studio: Wheel Throwing, 54
Change Your Life, Change Your World, 119 Chia Book, The, 3
Church Visible, 30
Classic Rock T-Shirts, 91 Clint, 10
CubeBook: Wildlife, 123
Cuddly Knits for Wee Ones, 116
D
D Is for Dalmatian Easy Crosswords, 74 David L. Hoyt’s Word Rodeo, 75 Delish Cooking School, 46
Delish Cupcakes by Color, 47
Diane Fitzgerald’s Favorite Beading Projects, 57 Dickens’s England, 87
Digital Fashion Print with Photoshop and Illustrator, 85
Artful Watercolor, 18
Coming Home, Starting Over (A Quick Fix Book), 11
Digital Photographer’s Guide to Dramatic Photoshop Effects, 68
Attracting Abundance, 120
Complete Decorated Journal, The, 58
Dive the World, 123
Complete Guide to Chair Caning, 54
Dollar Bill Origami, 14
Colour Confidence in Embroidery, 81
Digital Outdoor Photography, 66
At the Mountains of Madness (Illustrated Classics), 9
Complete Book of Massage, The, 98
Dirty Talking & Texting Tips...!!, 84
Complete Garden Expert, 108
Complete Guide to Manicure & Pedicure, A, 121
Dots Incredible!, 75
Barbra: A Retrospective, 7 Bartending, 108
Beading with Crystals, 57 Bear Island, 19
Beasts of Tarzan, The (The Adventures of Lord Greystoke), 42 Bed & Breakfast Sunday Crosswords, 71 Beekeeping, 33 Bereft, 35
Best Man Best Speech, 108
Beth Chatto’s Garden Notebook, 96 Beyond Jefferson’s Vines, 27 Birdman Abroad, 96 Bordeaux, 24
Bounty of Bead & Wire Necklaces, 62 Brian Cook’s Landscapes of Britain, 86
Brilliant Memory Tool Kit, The, 120 Brooches & Pins, 94
C
Capturing the Moment in Oils, 81
Constitution Made Easy, The, 6
Craving Creativity (A Quick Fix Book), 11 Courtney Comes Clean (A Quick Fix Book), 11
Creative Concrete Ornaments for the Garden, 59 Creative EVIL Photography, 67 Creative Portraiture, 69
Creative Quilting with Beads, 53
Crochet Bakemono (Monsters!), 104 Crochet Garden, 61
Crosswords from the Underground, 71
Crowd-Pleasing Puzzles, 75
CubeBook: Baby Animals, 123 CubeBook: Cars, 123 CubeBook: Cats, 123
CubeBook: Dogs, 123
Dr. Drew’s Camera Cure, 11 Dry Garden, The, 96
E
Edible Seattle: The Cookbook, 26 Elvis: All Shook Up, 10
Encyclopedia of New Wave, The, 14 Essential Guide to Herbs, 84 Essential Guide to Psychic Powers, The, 114 Eternal Army, 89
Everyday Gluten-Free Slow Cooking, 3 Explorer of the Mind, 99
F
Jane Eyre (Classic Lines), 40
mental_floss Crosswords, 76
Metal Clay Fusion (Metal Clay Master Class), 55
Japanese Beadwork with Sonoko Nozue (Beadweaving Master Class), 57
Get Fit for the Games, 98
K
Glory in the Fall, 13
Knit Red, 117
Knitted Booties for Tiny Feet, 116
Glass Half Full, 24 Good Dog!, 84
Good Housekeeping Grill It!, 49
Good Housekeeping Light & Healthy Cooking, 49
Good Housekeeping Stain Rescue!, 49 Gordon Ramsay’s Fast Food, 22
Gordon Ramsay’s Healthy Appetite, 23 Gorgeous Wedding Hairstyles, 9
Great Expectations: Pregnancy & Childbirth, 14
H
H Is for Holstein Easy Crosswords, 74
Katy Perry, 90 Knitlympics, 93
Knitted Home, 93
Knitting Never Felt Better, 103
Knitting with The Color Guys, 80 Kooky Kakuro Puzzles, 73
L
Lady Gaga: Dress Her Up!, 78 Land that Time Forgot, The, 42 Landscape Photography Workshop, The, 86
Large Print Sudoku #3, 73
Lemongrass and Ginger Cookbook, 102 Life-Changing Conversations, 99
Hand in Hand, 59
London’s Best Pubs (2nd Edition), 101
Heat, Color, Set & Fire, 55 Heavy Metal, 107
Hidden Geometry of Life, The, 111 Hidden Stonehenge, 112
Hip Pocket Hangman, 74
Hip Pocket Tough Hangman, 74
Me, You & the Kids, Too, 102
Los Angeles Times Crosswords 24, 73 Love Good Food, 118
M
M.F.K. Fisher: Musings on Wine and Other Libations, 27
Hollow Earth, 42
Mad Men and Scandalous Scientists, 111
House Beautiful Kitchens, 45
Making Movies with Your iPhone, 69
How to Talk about Wine, 24
Marie Claire Outfit 911, 44
mental_floss Sudoku, 76
Michael Freeman’s Digital Photography Handbook, 69
Mindfulness Breakthrough, The, 114 Miracle Chase, The, 29
Miracle of Baking Soda, The, 83 Miracle of Olive Oil, The, 83 Mod Podge Rocks!, 52
Mother’s Wisdom Deck, The, 31 Muck, Sweat & Gears, 92
My Boyfriend Wrote A Book About Me, 8
Mystery Experience, The, 115
Narconon Wants You! (A Quick Fix Book), 11
Nastiest Sudoku Book Ever, The, 73 Native Plants Reader, A, 96 Nelson Mandela, 112
New Crewel: The Motif Collection, 61
Ninja Assassin Sudoku: Black Belt, 72 Ninja Assassin Sudoku: Blue Belt, 72 Ninja Assassin Sudoku: Brown Belt, 72 Ninja Assassin Sudoku: Green Belt, 72 Ninja Assassin Sudoku: White Belt, 72
Holistic Therapy Bible, The, 98
Macbeth (Signature Shakespeare), 33
Ninja Assassin Sudoku: Yellow Belt, 72
Hot Book of Chillies, The, 108
Making Mini Books, 58
Houses of VERANDA, The, 50
Making Wire & Bead Jewelry, 57
I
Mastering Raku (A Lark Ceramics Book), 54
Infinite Quest, 29
It’s a Jungle in There, 8
Masters of Wisdom: Thoreau, 119
Israel from Above, 123
Masters of Wisdom: Gandhi, 119
Math Book, The, (Sterling Milestones), 15
O Is for Orca Easy Crosswords, 74 One + One: Scarves, Shawls & Shrugs, 56 One Light Flash, 66
One Week in June: The U.S. Open, 13 Our Friends Beneath the Sands, 89
P
Yoga to the Rescue: Ageless Beauty, 31
Z
Z Is for Zebra Easy Crosswords, 74 Zombie Love, 8
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| i don't know |
'A Kiss Before Dying', 'Rosemary's Baby' and 'The Stepford Wives' were hugely successful films in the 1960's and 70's. Who wrote the novels on which these films were based? | The Kind of Face You Hate: October 2012
The Kind of Face You Slash - Day 31: Till My Ghastly Tale is Told
I've decided, for this last post, to end at the beginning, the metaphorical beginning, sort of, anyway. In terms of modern horror, though, the night in 1816, in a house off of Lake Geneva in Switzerland, when Percy Shelley, Mary Shelley, John Polidori, and one other person I don't care about, gathered together for probably all sorts of reasons, but left the rest of the world who couldn't get in on that action one of the greatest novels in the horror genre, and also a short story that's kind of a piece of shit. So let us hop into my Delorean and, as Christopher Lloyd once so famously urged, go "all the way backwards into the past."
Not that this post is going to be about that night. It's not even going to be about Frankenstein, or how much or how little credit Percy Shelley should get for that great novel. I know there's a push these days to shift focus away from Mary and over to Percy as the real brains, or at least the real stylist, behind Frankenstein, but for one thing, I simply don't care, and I will always consider Mary the author, and for another thing as terrific as the book is, almost front to back (it's not perfect, obviously, but whatever) the core brilliance of it is in the ideas. Frankenstein is one of those perfect ideas that is so rich that other writers have been able to play off it, quite rewardingly even, again and again in the almost two hundred years since, with the understanding, always explicit, that this is Mary Shelley's ground, we know that, but it can't be left alone. It's too good. No, this post is going to be about a later Mary Shelley story, as well as, apart from Frankenstein, the only other complete work of fiction to come out of that evening, John Polidori's The Vampyre: A Tale, which is now considered to be the first vampire story, as we might think of those, ever written. It gave birth to the genre, basically, so that's an accomplishment. But, you know...it's sort of lousy.
This is not an original opinion. I'm not sure anybody now really likes "The Vampyre," and having read it now I find no reason to push against that tide of negativity. The story is, two guys suddenly find themselves moving into London society at the same time. One of them, our hero, is Aubrey, a young man who fell ass-backwards into a pile of money when his parents died, and is beholden in any way only to his sister, who I guess also got a wad of cash out of the deal, so he, Aubrey, a romantic fellow, enters London society, and is found by the ladies of that society to be most winning:
He was handsome, frank, and rich: for these reasons, upon his entering into the gay circles, many mothers surrounded him, striving which should describe with least truth their languishing or romping favourites: the daughters at the same time, by their brightening countenances when he approached, and by their sparkling eyes, when he opened his lips, soon led him into false notions of his talents and his merit.
You get the gist: swelled head, handsome fellow, romping favourites. But he's no dummy, and the romantic notions of life and women that he'd picked up from books he soon realizes is maybe kind of bogus. However, then he meets Lord Ruthven, the other, more mysterious, person to recently enter high society. Lord Ruthven's face bears a "deadly hue," he has one "dead gray eye," (I think it's just the one) and he stares at people a lot, doesn't talk much, but the ladies seem to take to him, as well. For example:
Lady Mercer, who had been the mockery of every monster shewn in drawing-rooms since her marriage, threw herself in his way, and did all but put on the dress of a mountebank, to attract his notice: - though in vain: - when she stood before him, though his eyes were apparently fixed upon hers, still it seemed as if they were unperceived; even her unappalled impudence was baffled, and she left the field.
That is ice cold, baffling a lady's unappalled impudence like that. And perhaps you noticed that unbelievably goofball punctuation, that batshit colon-dash-colon-dash dump right in the middle there. And the commas! I thought I overused them, but Polidori scatters them like road spikes out of the back of James Bond's car (that's good, right?). The point is, very early in "The Vampyre" is all screwy and straining for the kind of educated and worldly prose that Mary Shelley achieved in Frankenstein. That's not to say Polidori wasn't educated, he was, but he wasn't much of a writer. To give you some better examples, I should inform you that Aubrey is fascinated by Ruthven, and accompanies him on a trip across mainland Europe. There, Aubrey clues into this weird power that Ruthven has of drawing women into his circle and, not turning them into vampires, or killing them, as you might expect, but rather turning them into slutty jerks. Aubrey's having none of that and tells Ruthven that he'd like to part company and go his own way. Ruthven says "Okay," and Aubrey moves on to Greece, where he meets a girl:
Under the same roof as himself, existed a being, so beautiful and delicate, that she might have formed the model for a painter, wishing to portray oil canvass the promised hope of the faithful Mahomet's paradise, save that her eyes spoke too much mind for any one to think she could belong to those who had no souls. As she danced upon the plain, or tripped along the mountain's side, one would have thought the gazelle a poor type of her beauties; for who would have exchanged her eye, apparently the eye of animated nature, for that sleepy luxurious look of the animal suited but to taste of an epicure.
So what you're saying is, she's pretty. Also, in the next sentence Polidori just drops the fact that her name is Ianthe so casually that I thought at first that "Ianthe" was another reference, like "Mahomet" (Lord Ruthven's name is revealed in a similar way). Anyway, the story is packed with this kind of writing. All it is, is this kind of writing. Everything that can be stated not only can but should be overstated; anything that can be stated plainly can be obscured by nonsense. Or, now and then, what you can do is, you can state something so plainly that the reader is somehow, against all logic, left wondering what you meant. So, Ianthe's not long for this world, Lord Ruthven also kills women and he kills her, and when Aubrey is there, cradling her dead body, her parents show up:
To describe their grief would be impossible; but when they ascertained the cause of their child's death, they looked at Aubrey, and pointed to the corpse. They were inconsolable; both died broken-hearted.
What, right then? Are we meant to think that, many unhappy years down the road, Ianthe's parents slipped sadly into the Great Unknown, thoughts of their lost daughter never far from their minds, or there, that night, they pointed at Ianthe's body, went "Ack! Grief!" and then died? Obviously, my preference is for the latter, but I would have liked to read another giant block of text barely explaining it in further detail. Polidori did manage to appease me with his ridiculous ending, however. It's all so stupidly overheated, and I've rambled about this one long enough, but I'm going to skip ahead and spoil it. Basically, Ruthven sets his evil eye on Aubrey's sister, she falls for him, Aubrey's all "We'll see about that!", everybody else is all "You're crazy!" so that by the time Aubrey tracks down his sister, who has by now married Ruthven, it's too late. The last line of "The Vampyre" is:
Lord Ruthven had disappeared, and Aubrey's sister had glutted the thirst of a VAMPYRE!
Like the reveal that Ruthven's a vampire is a shocking twist. Not only has Ianthe already indirectly clued Aubrey, and therefore the reader, into this, but the story is called "The Vampyre." That exclamation point did make me shit my pants, though. The funny thing is, Polidori had to fight for the credit of having written this, because at the time (it was published in 1820) people naturally assumed Lord Byron was the real author (all these people, Shelley, Byron, Polidori, were connected, and Polidori was reworking a basic idea from Byron). Lord Byron, less surprisingly, was frustrated over having been linked to "The Vampyre." "Thanks, but no thanks," is what I imagine he said about fifty times a day, through gritted teeth.
Moving on to finer things, lastly we have Mary Shelley's "Transofrmation." Written in 1831 (nine years after Percy Shelley died, making it impossible for him to shepherd her through the writing of this (or any number of other novels and stories) very good story, as Stuart Gordon, of all people, notes in his introduction to The Mammoth Book of Body Horror, where you can find "Transformation," so take that, you stupid jerks), it tells the story of Guido, an Italian orphan taken in by the Marchese Troella, a kind and wealthy man -- Guido himself is due a very decent inheritance down the line -- whose daughter Juliet catches young Guido's eye. Shades of Victor Frankenstein and Elizabeth, there, but this romance goes rather differently. Guido's affections are reciprocated, but the problem is, Guido is kind of a shithead. A different kind of shithead from Victor Frankenstein, I should note. "I desired to see the world," Guido says, "and I was indulged":
I was arrogant and self-willed; I loved display, and above all, I threw all control far from me. Who could control me in Paris? My young friends were eager to foster passions which furnished them with pleasures. I was deemed handsome -- I was master of every knightly accomplishment. I was disconnected with any political party. I grew a favourite with all: my presumption and arrogance were pardoned in one so young: I became a spoiled child. Who could control me? not the letters and advice of Torella -- only strong necessity visiting me in the abhorred shape of an empty purse. But there were means to refill this void. Acre after acre, estate after estate, I sold. My dress, my jewels, my horses and their caparisons, were almost unrivalled in gorgeous Paris, while the lands of my inheritance passed into possession of others.
He gets worse, too. He burns through his inheritance and can't support Juliet without hand-outs from Torella, and any plea for sensible behavior is at best scoffed at, at worst it results in violence. Eventually, Guido is cast out, though he knows that a changing of his ways and mind will bring him back into the fold, and he will be free to marry Juliet. But he resists, and becomes bitter and impoverished, until one day, while witnessing a horrible shipwreck from a rocky shore, he meets a strange dwarf who seems to have scrambled to safety from the sinking ship. The first words the dwarf says are "By St. Beelzebub!", which, right there, is a clue. Seeing an evil in Guido's heart similar to his own "To what saint did you offer prayers, friend -- if not to mine?") the dwarf listens to Guido's tale of self-made woe and makes a curious offer: the dwarf while inhabit Guido's handsome body for three days; Guido will inhabit the dwarfs somewhat demonic form for the same period of time. Guido's reward will be the dwarfs wooden chest filled with gold and jewels, which he can use to fund his revenge against those who he, Guido, feels have done him wrong. Guido is unsure, but agrees. And guess what? After three days, the dwarf doesn't show up to switch back. He did leave the treasure, and food, but now Guido is stuck in a body that Mary Shelley describes in uncharitable terms (I myself have chosen to go easy in that regard). Furious and frustrated, and also coming to realize that this mess, the whole mess of his life, is his own fault, Guido twigs to what the dwarf is probably up to, and he chases after him, back to Genoa.
"Transformation" offers up a number of possible endings, and I frankly believe that Shelley chose the easiest one. It's not that the ending doesn't work, but the moral lesson being taught -- and I'm not against that, particularly since the lesson is essentially "Don't be an asshole" -- might have carried with it a few more barbs. It's described rather well, and rather interestingly, and anyway I hope that you, like me, can easily see the difference between Shelley's prose and Polidori's, but though he's filled with remorse, Guido comes out of this rather more unscathed than I think is appropriate. Or, I don't know..."appropriate" doesn't sound right. But something more visceral. Still, he has to live with himself, which as Shelley sees it constitutes a wound that won't heal.
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The Kind of Face You Slash - Day 30: It is All Disease and Nobody Will Know
When I wrote briefly about Ray Bradbury last October, circumstances dictated that I focus on those aspects of his writing about which I'm less than fond -- the particularly Spring-choked nostalgia, the cuteness, his special brand of densely sentimental prose. I haven't warmed to those aspects since he passed away earlier this year, but the story under discussion last year, "The Tombling Day," offered the opportunity to talk only about those things, and while I tried to temper my negativity with a "but I like these ones" list of Bradbury stories I was quite fond of, the overall impression I gave was not what I would call sympathetic to Bradbury's vast body of work. Given that vastness, I might have tried to temper things a bit more, but for what it was, the post was an honest one.
When Bradbury died on June 5, like the rest of you I read a lot about him on-line, and along with coming across this quote...
I learned that I was right and everyone else was wrong when I was nine. Buck Rogers arrived on the scene that year, and it was instant love. I collected the daily strips, and was madness maddened by them. Friends criticized. Friends made fun. I tore up the Buck Rogers strips. For a month I walked through my fourth-grade classes, stunned and empty. One day I burst into tears, wondering what devastation had happened to me. The answer was: Buck Rogers. He was gone, and life simply wasn’t worth living. The next thought was: Those are not my friends, the ones who got me to tear the strips apart and so tear my own life down the middle; they are my enemies.
I went back to collecting Buck Rogers. My life has been happy ever since. For that was the beginning of my writing science fiction. Since then, I never listened to anyone who criticized my taste in space travel, sideshows or gorillas. When this occurs, I pack up my dinosaurs and leave the room.
...which is unimpeachably magnificent, I also picked up a lot of recommendations for Bradbury stories I hadn't read. That night, I scoured through my collection of his books and picked two of those stories, "The October Game" and "Heavy-Set," and read them. Both are terrific, "The October Game" being an especially nasty horror story of unconscionable revenge, and "Heavy-Set," while not horror, turned out to be a pitch-black chronicle of a mother and son relationship that ends, I suspect, right before it did, in fact, become a horror story. I loved "Heavy-Set" in particular -- there was no genre category in which it could be slotted, it didn't deal with imagination, there was no hint of fantasy, even in a metaphorical sense, which in my experience of Bradbury was up to then unheard of. That one opened up the possibilities of Bradbury for me a bit, that for every story I disliked there could be one or two or three that hit me like a brick across my jaw. The fact that both stories were rather chillingly bleak did not escape my notice, and did not strike me as coincidental. I hope that doesn't say anything about me.
I read four Bradbury stories for today, but one of those wasn't horror, and I plan on dispensing with it quickly. Also, I didn't like it. While "The Haunting of the New" is certainly not a happy story (I'm not sure Bradbury wrote a lot of those, to be honest), in terms of the prose it does make room for just about all of the things about Bradbury I don't like. Nearly a ghost story, but a self-conscious flip on the idea, "The Haunting of the New" describes characters who live lives of unending and frivolous decadence, the globally scattered crew coming together every few years at Grynwood, the home of Nora, the chief and most enabling sybarite. But Charles, the narrator, arrives one day after being invited to another blowout only to be told by Nora that Grynwood burned down four years ago -- the identical structure he can see and walk through is a complete, exact-to-the-last-dust-speck replica. And this house being new, despite looking old, it doesn't want them anymore. Nora says that people like her and Charles are "evil" (a strong word that I doubt even Bradbury means) and is forcing her to leave. She offers the house to Charles, but the house wants him gone, too. A fine enough idea for a story, I suppose, except:
"There are a thousand young men in me, Charles.
They thrust and buried themselves there. When they withdrew, Charles, I thought they withdrew. But no, no, now I'm sure there is not a single one whose barb, whose lovely poisoned thorn is not caught in my flesh, one place or another. God, God, how I loved their barbs, their thorns. God how I loved to be pinned and bruised. I thought the medicines of time and travel might heal the grip marks. But now I know I am all fingerprints. Their lives no inch of my flesh, Chuck, [that] is not [in the] FBI file systems of palm print and Egyptian whorl of finger stigmata. I have been stabbed by a thousand lovely boys and thought I did not bleed but God I do bleed now. I have bled all over this house. And my friends who denied guilt and conscience, in a great subway heave of flesh have trammeled through here and jounced and mouthed each other and sweat upon floors and buckshot the walls with their agonies and descents, each from the other's crosses. The house has been stormed by assassins, Charlie, each seeking to kill the other's loneliness with their short swords, no one finding surcease, only a momentary groaning out of relaxation."
So. Lots of metaphors in there. I won't try to sort through them all, but I'm pretty sure "barbs" are penises. So are "thorns" and "short swords." This story made me groan and squirm and fire buckshot at crosses, and I was very glad to realize it wasn't a horror story and I could flee from it in good conscience.
But the Bradbury stories that were horror? Or near enough anyway? Those are something else again. Taking the stories in the order of least to most horror, I'll begin with "A Touch of Petulance," first published in Kirby McCauley's Dark Forces anthology. This story exemplifies one of Bradbury's greatest strengths, which was to take an old idea and employ it towards an end no one had thought of before. "A Touch of Petulance" begins this way:
On an otherwise ordinary evening in May, a week before his twenty-ninth birthday, Johnathan Hughes met his fate, commuting from another time, another year, another life.
His fate was unrecognizable at first, of course, and boarded the train at the same hour, in Pennsylvania Station, and sat with Hughes for the dinnertime journey across Long Island.
That "fate" turns out to be Hughes's future self, an old man who has traveled from 1999 (that Bradbury doesn't waste a second with some useless explanation of the mechanics of time travel is also to his credit) just a few days after murdering his wife, a woman that present-day Hughes has only been married to for one extremely happy year. It is the goal of future Hughes to make current Hughes aware of this, and to plant the seeds that will stop this from happening. What could have gone wrong in their marriage, the current Hughes wonders, and his older self really doesn't have an explanation. All he can say is that over time, Hughes will come to hate his wife, and he must avoid this at all costs. To say more about the plot would be to ruin it, but this story did wind up in a horror anthology. I'm not sure it is horror, really, but it's black, all right, even hopeless. The old man is referred to as Hughes's "fate," after all. That's no accident.
Better still is "The Women," from his 1969 collection I Sing the Body Electric!. If "A Touch of Petulance" is a great example of one of Brabury's creative gifts, "The Women" is an example of what may have been his greatest gift, which was to imagine something entirely new, to look at something ordinary and imbue it with a mystery that is unique. In "The Women," a man and his wife are near the end of their vacation at a beach-side hotel. They are on the beach, and the man is anxious to take one last swim before they have to leave, but his wife keeps finding ways to distract him, by asking him to do a favor, or getting him talking about some other topic. She does this because she knows she has a romantic rival, namely, the ocean.
This sounds absurd when phrased bluntly, but at his best, Bradbury's magic was to take the most wild and ridiculous fantasy or horror ideas and make them seem, if only for the span of a ten page story, entirely believable. Not to beat a horse I'm sure I killed years ago, but one of the keys to this is to not explain himself. Bradbury doesn't tell us why or how the ocean can love anything (the thinking and feeling part of the ocean is described only as "the phosphorescence"), let alone this particular man, whom Bradbury describes as having a "cow body," nor does he let us in on how the man's wife clues into this. That's just how it is, and the world is a mysterious place. Bradbury writes:
Each day he should have come down to the water, to bathe, to swim. But he had never moved. There was a woman on the sand with him, a woman in a black bathing suit who lay next to him talking quietly, laughing. Sometimes they held hands, sometimes they listened to a little sounding machine that they dialed and out which music came.
The phosphorescence hung quietly in the waves. It was the end of the season. September. Things were shutting down.
So from the ocean's point of view, it's now or never. Well, it turns out to be now, and the end of "The Women" is brutal and tragic and free from any maliciousness or villainy. Like any natural disaster, it just is.
Finally, there's "Fever Dream," an eight-page bit of awfulness and horror that seems to have been written specifically to terrorize all of Bradbury's young readers the next time they got sick. Available any number of places, but read by me in The Vintage Bradbury, "Fever Dream" is about a young boy named Charles, who is sick. With a cold, maybe, or maybe, according to his genial but possibly arrogant doctor, scarlet fever. Charles is convinced something else is going on, something much worse. He sees his hands and legs changing color and twitching, and he forms a theory that he explains to his doctor this way:
"I've been thinking...Do germs ever get big? I mean, in biology class they told us about one-celled animals, amoebas and things, and how millions of years ago they got together until there was a bunch and they made the first body. And more and more cells got together and got bigger and then finally maybe there was a fish and finally here we are, and all we are is a bunch of cells that decided to get together, to help each other out. Isn't that right?"
"What's all this about?" The doctor bent over him.
"I've got to tell you this. Doctor oh, I've got to!" he cried. "What would happen, oh just pretend, please pretend, that just like in the old days, a lot of microbes got together and wanted to make a bunch, and reproduced, and made more--"
Of course, no one else can see these changes in Charles's body, which leaves the door open for more than one explanation for what's going on here, but the best-case scenario is that a thirteen-year-old boy has gone insane. The worst case scenario is one of the blood-chilling "Patient X" scenarios I've ever read, and, like I say, "Fever Dream" is all of eight pages long. It really is a superior story, and the last page or so is so wonderfully precise in its clinical horror that I had to smile. Wonderful, and terrible. That, to me, was Bradbury's greatness.
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The Kind of Face You Slash - Day 29: She's In Her Coffin, Laughing Merrily
Perhaps you'll recall the many times this month when I've expressed some amount of displeasure over the sanity-crushing grip the eldritch immensity of Howard Phillips Lovecraft's influence has on modern horror fiction. I haven't changed my mind about that, and in fact I'd rather all influences, whatever or whoever they happen to be, would be shoved more aggressively into the attic rather than set with a proud wink on the desks of horror writers everywhere. I can't change the world, alas, but what I can do is point out other stories by writers who have been influenced by someone who, in my opinion, is more deserving, and has a greater claim, on the souls who toil within the genre than Lovecraft (yeah, I'm sick of him! What of it?!). That writer is, well, look:
It hardly needs to be said that without Poe there would be no Lovecraft, or at least not the Lovecraft we know. This is not to say that the two writers are all that similar, and as for Poe himself I'd appreciate it if you'd allow me to link to this post , and let what I wrote there suffice. The gist is, in terms of modern horror, at least in America, Poe's shadow looms larger than a lot of people, including people who write in and about horror, seem willing to admit. To the degree, I should say, that the existence of editor Ellen Datlow's Poe feels like kind of an anomaly. Even Straub's anthology Poe's Children only really took Poe's name as a symbol in the title -- it didn't look for stories that explicitly absorbed Poe as Datlow attempted here. Striking a note that was slightly worrisome, in her introduction Datlow writes that she told her writers that she didn't want pastiches (fine, good) but "I asked each writer to tell me in advance what work of Poe's was to be riffed on..." Oh, hm, well. Why does a specific Poe story have to be riffed on? Why can't something wholly new be written in his spirit? I don't know, you're asking the wrong guy, but based on what I read for today I can't say that Datlow's choice is giving me a great deal of heartburn.
As far as whose stories I chose to read, I had several options, including a number by writers I'd never covered on this blog before. This normally would have been my preference, but in the end I was too strongly pulled in by stories by two guys, Laird Barron and John Langan, I've dealt with before, more than once in the case of Barron. About Laird Barron's "Strappado," I'd only heard it was a good one, and I've been wanting to ramp up my reading of Barron's fiction, so that's that one taken care of, and as for Langan's "Technicolor" I knew that it dealt in some way with Poe's "Masque of the Red Death," and it was told entirely as a lecture delivered by an English professor. Barron I already liked , but what I knew of Langan's work hadn't impressed me , and I suspect it would be lying to myself as much as you if I claimed part of my interest in "Technicolor" wasn't to see if Langan sprawled face-first into a giant table full of pies after the seat of his pants split in front of everybody. Which...more about how that turned out in a little bit.
Barron's "Strappado" is actually fairly close to being in the spirit of Poe than being a straight riff. Reading this removed from the context of Datlow's anthology, I don't believe I would have automatically made the connection to "The Cask of Amontillado" that comes through reasonably strongly once you know the idea. Still, Barron's excellent story stands firmly on its own two legs. It's told from the point of view of Kenshi Suzuki, a man who's ashamed of his lack of connection to Japan, the home of his parents, and overall has a quietly nervous, not withdrawn, but unsure-of-himself demeanor. Kenshi is nevertheless successful, his vague Hollywood production job taking him all over the world on various junkets, during one of which he had a brief but torrid affair with an Englishman named Swayne Harris. As the story opens, the two men find their paths crossing again in an Indian tourism mecca. After sex, they head out for a night on the town, eschewing Kenshi's suggestion of a popular disco in favor of Swayne's of a more hole-in-the-wall location. Kenshi's discomfort with exploring the fringes of foreign countries is overcome by his inability to assert himself, and much of the rest of the story will find him following along. In the nightclub Swayne picked, the two men find themselves in a group of mixed European high-rollers (including one American, who is of course fat and loud and bigoted, Barron choosing to stick with the tiresome "Ha ha ha we're terrible!" self-xenophobia that I find so obnoxious; also, one of the characters is named Luis Guzman, which, I feel, is a strange choice). Swayne adds to the electricity so far generated by money, booze, and vague hints of sex by announcing that he can get them all into the new exhibit by guerrilla artist Van Iblis. This is a big deal -- Van Iblis's work has been banned in England, and his stuff work is often dark and disturbing and is often of an extra-legal, if not quite criminal -- if you get my distinction -- nature. So like Banksy, essentially, but more likely to be focused on death.
But they all go, and are quite excited during the journey to the hidden away warehouse where the exhibit will take place, a journey which is long enough that it's dawn by the time the two cars carrying the wealthy international group arrives. But Barron gets at something very appealingly specific when he writes:
Guzman and Rashid's groups climbed from the vans and congregated, faces slack and bruised by hangovers, jet lag, and burgeoning unease. What had seemed a lark in the cozy confines of the disco became a more ominous prospect as each took stock and realized he or she hadn't a bloody clue as to north or south, or up and down, for that matter. Gnats came at them in quick, sniping swarms, and several people cursed when they lost shoes to the soft, wet earth. Black and white chickens scratched in the weedy ruts.
Embarking on drunken adventures you soon wish you'd been sober enough to decline (as Kenshi actually wanted to) is universal, although the adventures open to these characters is a bit beyond what most people are used to. Which is not beside the point, I suppose, but given Kenshi's head-down, charmingly shy demeanor, their wealth becomes irrelevant pretty easily, if you choose to make it so. In any case, the "adventure" continues when outside the warehouse, associates of Van Iblis instruct the partygoers to strip naked. They're paired off -- due to an odd number of people, Kenshi is alone at the end of this process -- and two by two, they're ushered into the warehouse. And since Barron is vague about what goes on inside, I'll leave it even more vague by telling you nothing. But, you know, it's not good. However, what makes "Strappado" stand out from other horror stories to which it might bear some similarity (I can't think of a specific one, but "Strappado" does not bowl you over with its originality, nor does Barron mean it to) is that in this case, there is actually room for an aftermath -- typically the aftermath in stories like this is someone feasting on corpses or something, but with "Strappado" Barron is at least a little bit interested in the kind of effect horror can have on somebody, the anger and disgust and even upending of basic personality that can follow. In a very subtle way, Barron's story achieves a greater sense of dread than if it had ended with everybody getting their heads split in two, because in Barron's story, for some people the dread doesn't end. An obvious idea, you'd think, but just as obviously an idea few writers have, or at least had and then didn't reject.
As for Langan's "Technicolor," I...okay, I'll just relieve whatever meager suspense I've managed to build up and say that Langan wins this round. I'm not entirely convinced that he brings his very complicated story all the way home, but he at least comes damn close. And anyway, he may have -- a reread someday will decide that for me. But what Langan pulls off here is fairly extraordinary. I'm wary of overselling this, but when you consider that the story, as I've said, takes the form of a college English lecture, and that I, at least, rarely failed to believe the language used, I could picture the professor, any male English professor I ever had, really, saying these very things (well, up to a point), and was moved by the end to pull my Poe biography off the bookshelf to see how much, if any, of what the professor is going on about was based even a little bit on truth (one important element does seem to have come from Poe's delirium in the hospital shortly before his death), and read, and read, and read on fascinated by the strange alternate partial biography of Poe that Langan was laying out, clueless as to where this was all going, I'm fairly confident has achieved something quite admirable with "Technicolor." And he does that, by the way, with a story that finally feels a bit less like something Poe would have written than fuckin' Lovecraft! But I'm not even angry about that!
"Technicolor" is a hard story to summarize, primarily because I'm loathe to spoil the narrative force of it. Langan very seamlessly carries his story from an interesting analysis of the color scheme at play in Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death," told in a thoroughly convincing impersonation of academic speak, into the shadow inspiration for Poe's classic story, who the man was who inspired it, what the man did that inspired it, what the man was trying to do when he did the thing that inspired it, and where this led, and left, a drunken, tumor-addled, and grief-stricken Edgar Allan Poe in his final days. Langan even drops a throwaway bit of classroom atmosphere that pays off quite fairly later on. All structured like a lecture. And it's no small feat -- one I honestly didn't believe Langan would bring off -- that the language necessary for this premise never drives into a ditch. There's interaction between the professor and his students, and the students' words are not given to us, yet at no point does Langan resort to "What's that you say? You want to know what Poe meant by placing the braziers where he did in each of the colored rooms? Well, I'll tell you..." He might skirt that once or twice, but never goes off the road. Plus, the ending, which I think is fairly strong (if I have an issue with it, it's that for as present as Poe is in this story, there's not much of Poe's specific imagination in the ending) somehow feels even more chilling knowing that it's occurring somewhere as innocuous as a college classroom. Not sacred, mind you, because, well, anyway...no, it's that it's so ordinary and everyday, and I can pull up a vision of one of several versions of that place in my head at any time. This is like the idea of horror being more frightening in daylight, but in this case it's more like horror being more frightening in a barbershop. So I guess you may have had the last laugh, John Langan.
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The Kind of Face You Slash - Day 28: Some Appalling Violation of Myself
Editors Jeff and Ann VanderMeer's anthology The Weird strikes me as hands down the most significant horror collection published this year. I think they might resist the idea that the stories gathered together in their book are simply "horror" stories, or even horror at all (I have my own doubts in this regard about one the stories I chose for today), but early in their introduction to the 1,100-plus page volume, they set about defining the "weird" story in terms that not only sound pretty good to me, but render the core goals of weird fiction as inseparable from what horror is, at its best. They write:
With unease and the temporary abolition of the rational, can also come the strangely beautiful, intertwined with terror. Reverie or epiphany, yes, but dark reverie or epiphany -- not the lightness of "I wandered softly as a cloud" but the weight of, for example, seminal early twentieth-century writer and artist Alfred Kubin's sensation of being "overcome...by a dark power that conjured up before my mind strange creatures, houses, landscapes, grotesque and frightful situations." The Weird can be transformative -- sometimes literally -- entertaining monsters while not always seeing them as monstrous. It strives for a kind of understanding even when something cannot be understood, and acknowledges failure as sign and symbol of our limitations.
I don't really know what else I have to add to that. Good night, folks. Ha ha no, but seriously, the VanderMeers then go about providing the reader with 110 examples -- that's how many stories this book contains -- of the above written by authors like Franz Kafka, Mervyn Peake, William Gibson, Marc Laidlaw, Clive Barker, Shirley Jackson, Jorge Luis Borges, Robert Bloch, Thomas Ligotti, Brian Evenson, and, well, shit, I'm not going to name them all. And obviously, I've only read a sliver of this thing, but as far as I'm concerned weird fiction is the wing of the horror genre that offers up the most potential for unease, and the greatest opportunity for writers to unchain their imagination -- it's where the real thrill of the genre comes from, so if you're maybe not sold on horror as an artform, maybe this is the book that can make you feel like a stupid idiot.
Now, I have to confess, I chose the stories for today in something of a panic. Since purchasing The Weird, partially with an eye towards this current project, I had one story pegged as my number one choice. I'd never heard of it, or of the author, it sounded strange and beguiling and eerie, it was long and I felt it could stand in for the book as a whole, or anyway I'd do my damnedest to force the issue. But then I started it this morning, and I just couldn't hack it. Not today, anyhow. I could tell early on that this story, which I won't name for fear of putting readers off it, through no fault of its own, was too dense and disorienting for my current state of mind, which, if you're curious, is "blown out and useless." So I was scrambling, but as luck would have it I ended up landing on two quite good ones that illustrate rather well what the VanderMeers are trying to illustrate.
The first is "The Hell Screen" by Ryunosuke Akutagawa. Akutagawa killed himself in 1927, at age 35, claiming in his last words that he felt a "vague insecurity," which I'd say is about as sad and skin-crawling, when you think about it, a final emotional state as I can think of. Akutagawa is best known as the author of the source material for Akira Kurosawa's classic film Rashomon. The two Akutagawa stories adapted by Kurosawa for the film were "Rashomon" and "In a Grove." There's a hefty dose of confusion here when you realize that the story of Kurosawa's film is taken entirely from "In a Grove" whereas from "Rashomon" Kurosawa only took the title. I'm not going to be able to explain this to you, but I remember being baffled by this as, some years ago, I read a slender volume of Akutagawa stories called Rashomon and Other Stories. That book (and if you've ever seen Jim Jarmusch's film Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai, you may remember Forrest Whitaker's character reading a book with that title; he was reading the exact same edition I read, and so when I first saw Ghost Dog when Forest Whitaker was shown reading it I said "Hey I read that book." True story) is a little bit lost to memory now, but I do remember the story "Yam Gruel," which I enjoyed considerably, and overall I was fascinated by Akutagawa's very clean, fairy tale-like prose. The simplicity of his style made his fiction live in a way that a more insistently baroque approach would not have achieved. "The Hell Screen" is very similar, though it is a quite a bit darker than anything else I can remember reading by Akutagawa.
The story is about the benevolent Lord Horikawa, a man who:
...had a kind and generous heart that would partake in the happiness and distress of all, even the humblest among his subjects. For these reasons, when he encountered a procession of ghosts in the large palace of Nijo, he was able to pass through them unscathed. And when the spirit of Secretary Tooru prowled every night the Kawaranoin Palace in Higashi-Sanjo, famed for the garden inspired by the marine landscape of Shiogama in the Michinoku province, the Lord reprimanded it, after which the spectre vanished forever. Of course, as soon as the people of Kyoto, young and old, men and women, heard Horikawa's name, they would genuflect as if they had seen Buddha's avatar.
Among Lord Horikawa's subjects is Yoshihide, a great painter, and a terrible man. "He was avaricious, mean, cowardly, lazy and insatiable, but above all he was insolent and conceited," Akutagawa writers. Many stories exist about Yoshihide abusing, even torturing, his models in order to get the painting he wants, based on his belief that he has to see a thing actually happening before he can paint it. He is despised by everyone. In turn, he despises everyone, except for his daughter Yuzuki. Yoshihide adores her so much that he scares and chases off any potential suitors, because he never wants Yuzuki to leave her side -- whether I should be reading something more into Yoshihide's love of his daughter, I don't know. Similarly ambiguous is the relationship between Lord Horikawa and Yuzuki, after the girl, against her father's wishes, though he's powerless to stop it, goes to work for Horikawa. The narrator of the story, a servant who doesn't factor into the plot but is around to observe much that goes on, mentions the gossip that Horikawa harbored a love for Yuzuki, but the narrator refutes this as impossible. Though I don't think it's impossible.
One day Horikawa hires Yoshihide to paint for him a vision of Hell, and Yoshihide agrees. Much of the painting Yoshihide -- who now is almost frothing with rage at Horikawa -- is able to complete from memory, of fires, of dead bodies seen on the street, and so forth, but there is one detail that he can't complete, involving a royal carriage, that he must ask Horikawa to provide for him -- not just the carriage, but what Yoshihide imagines happening to the carriage in his painting of Hell. Horikawa agrees, and this is as much as I'm prepared to reveal about the plot of "The Hell Screen." Where it goes is genuinely shocking and horrific, but, it must be noted, it is not supernatural. So what makes "The Hell Screen" a "weird" story? The key is the ambiguity in various relationships Akutagawa has set up, but also in what one character does in the end. Why would this person do this thing? There is no explanation, not provided by Akutagawa, and not known by the nearly all-seeing narrator. But the narrator cannot see what's hidden inside a person's mind, and he can't hear what's never said aloud. If "The Hell Screen" was ever turned into a movie, it would never survive the motivation whores who demand nothing less than irrefutable logic, clearly stated, supporting the actions of every character in every film, but it is precisely the absence of that that makes "The Hell Screen" both so terrifying and so weird. Actions are performed in the story that in practical, and mechanical, terms could be carried out by any living person, but nevertheless they make no goddamn sense.
More traditionally weird, in that it is both bonkers and provocative, is M. John Harrison's "The New Rays." Harrison almost found his way into an earlier iteration of The Kind of Face You Slash through his novel The Course of the Heart. That book is a kind of philosophical expansion of Arthur Machen's classic horror story " The Great God Pan ," and back when I wrote up that story, I thought hey, this'd be good. Well, it wasn't. Not because the novel is bad , but rather because I truly did not, and do not, know what I thought, or think, of it. The Course of the Heart defeated me in a way -- my delight in noticing that Harrison was mirroring Machen's enigmatic references to the Jack the Ripper murders (then not far in the past) in his story by referencing with similar mysteriousness the notorious Moors Murders in his novel, was short lived, due the sudden realization that wherever Harrison was going, I was unable to follow. For the time being, I'm willing to blame myself for this, but if I ever try to re-read The Course of the Heart, I'll be going in punching.
For now, though, I can heartily recommend "The New Rays" as a wonderful example of the weird story, and as something that is quite unlike what I imagine anyone unfamiliar with the genre might expect. The main character is a woman, who is dying. The disease that is killing her we might assume to be a form of cancer, though we're never told specifically what it is. Perhaps it's the idea of cancer. Anyway, she's visiting a clinic run by Dr. Alexandre, assisted by "a beautiful crippled girl," and in back of the clinic is a treatment shed where his unusual methods are put into practice.
In the black and chaotic moment when the rays arrive, Dr. Alexandre and his assistant struggle into their loose yellowish rubber suits and round tinted goggles. Once they are covered from head to foot like this all their kindness seems to be replaced by panic. They grab you roughly: there is no turning back: up on the table you go, trembling as you help them fasten the straps...
If you are getting your treatment free of charge, you have to agree to have it without an anesthetic. You mustn't pass out.
Through the most abyssal vomits and discharges, when the rays seem to be laying down a thick coat of poison in every organ, you can still hear the urgent, earnest voice of the crippled girl. 'Are you conscious? Can you raise your head? Are you aware that you have lost control of your bowels? We must know.'...
Sometimes the rays don't arrive at all. What bliss to be let off with a cup of tea in the reception room and told to go home again!
Obviously, there is a parallel here with chemotherapy, but Dr. Alexandre's treatment is much stranger than this. Another part of it is the "blue bodies," little smooth, faceless, translucent creatures, the use or importance of which remains unclear right through to the end of "The New Rays," even when an actual physical use of them is described. For the most part, these blue bodies sound kind of, you know, cute, and are treated in relaxed moments as charming lab animals. But it's clear that the clinic creates these things, and the narrator gets some cold glares and a verbal dressing down for wondering about the fates of the blue bodies after they've served their bizarre medical purpose.
What is weird, the story seems to think, is medical science, medical treatment, the experience of a dying person moving through these strange rooms and being enveloped by massive humming machines. It would be rather difficult to make that work completely, though, since as unpleasant and frustrating, even infuriating, as such experiences may be, the reason behind it all could be logically explained. Not so in "The New Rays." The story does seem to invite such readings, but then what of the blue bodies? The story was written in 1982, so even the contemporary and controversial medical issues that might provide "The New Rays" with a convenient metaphorical explanation for its strange goings-on, would not have applied then. But the uneasiness remains the same, the desire to be made well and the desire to escape the things and the people that are supposed to make you well, are all the same. The desire to maybe just go home and sit in a room and maybe die, rather than put up with all of that, remains. There's no real plot to "The New Rays," outside of the consideration of those desires.
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The Kind of Face You Slash - Day 27: Lord of the Desert
It's very easy to forget how many different areas of horror Robert Bloch managed to cover in his long career. At some point in his career, unquestionably after Hitchcock's adaptation of Psycho was released, Bloch became known primarily as a writer of non-supernatural horror and suspense, but you didn't even have to know his work solely through that film or novel. When I was growing up, my reading of Bloch was restricted to what I could find in used bookstores, which tended to mean that I was reading the various Tor reprints of suspense novels Bloch wrote in the 1950s, 60s, and, well, so on -- the Tor reprints covered a lot of years. But among those novels, none of them (that I read), not The Kidnapper or Firebug or The Night of the Ripper or Night-World or American Gothic, involved any kind of supernatural element. One Bloch novel that Tor published at around that time, Lori, was a ghost story, but it was at the time a new novel (1989), plus I didn't read it until many years afterwards, and, not that this is exactly relevant to my point, it was far from Bloch's finest hour.
Bloch's specialty, the popular perception went, was writing about killers, not exactly of the everyday type, but at least of the technically possible type (another contributing factor to this was the amount of Jack the Ripper-related fiction Bloch wrote). He also gained a reputation for writing short stories that ended with a kind of punchline, some horrifying revelation in the last sentence that gave the whole thing its punch. The first Bloch books I ever read, before I even read Psycho, were a pair of story collections from the 1980s, published by Tor, called Midnight Pleasures and Fear and Trembling, and the two stories I remember best are "Nocturnes" and "The Night Before Christmas," both of which end in punchlines, neither of which are supernatural, and, for the record, both are terrific. So he was good at this stuff, but it might surprise some people -- not you, probably, but some people -- to learn that Bloch was originally another, albeit earlier than most, Lovecraft acolyte. Lovecraft even replied to a young Robert Bloch's fan letter with writing advice. And that Lovecraft influence could be found rather heavily in his early work. (By the way, I know that there are plenty of supernatural stories in both Midnight Pleasures and Fear and Trembling -- I just don't remember them.)
It was not my intention today to write about Robert Bloch's Lovecraftian fiction. As I think I've made clear this month, the whole world of Lovecraftians, and even Lovecraft himself to a degree, is starting to wear me out. My intention was only to write about Bloch, a man I wrote only a glancing post about several years ago. Since I've gone back to several other horror writers since loosening up the restrictions I originally placed on myself, I figured Bloch was more than deserving of a second go 'round, and so from my bookshelf I removed my old Belmont paperback copy of his 1962 collection Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper (that title story is probably the most famous and most influential thing Bloch ever wrote, outside of Psycho, of course). I picked two stories I hadn't read, based on their titles, and have only myself to blame if I somehow didn't wonder to myself "I wonder if this Robert Bloch story called 'The Faceless God' is going to be anything like H. P. Lovecraft, who Bloch so admired." I must have. This was just yesterday, so I should remember, but I must have.
The other thing is, also unplanned, both the stories were set in Egypt (there's at least one other Egypt story in this book, called "Beetles"). The setting of one of those, "The Eyes of the Mummy," could be assumed. The plot is very basic: our narrator is fascinated by Egypt and its strange myths, but following a strange and fatal incident that occurred before the story's action, one involving a possibly supernatural occurrence the resulted in the death of a colleague, he withdrew from this field of interest. Until, that is, one day when another colleague, Professor Weildan, approaches him with an opportunity that seems hard to resist. Basically, go to Egypt, where there's this tomb that has a mummy in it, a mummy of a priest from an ancient, diabolical cult. But because of this priest's outcast status at the time of his death, the tomb is for all intents and purposes unknown, and Weildan assures our narrator that there will be jewels a-plenty. Once in Egypt, though, things get dicey when Weildan meets with their contact and spy, who our narrator overhears the two men arguing -- the spy seems afraid. And although the narrator doesn't see this, it's pretty clear that Weildan murders the man. The fact that Weildan does this, and the narrator knows he did it and doesn't flee, should tell you something about both of them.
They get to the tomb, and things are looking up when they throw off the mummy's lid and see two astonishing jewels in place of the corpse's eyes:
Two great yellow disks burned up at us through the darkness. Not diamonds or sapphires or opals were they, or any known stone; their enormous size precluded any thought of inclusion in a common category. They were not cut or faceted, yet they blinded with their brightness -- a fierce flashing stabbed our retinas like naked fire.
These were the jewels we sought -- and they had been worth seeking. I stooped to remove them, but Weildan's voice restrained me.
"Don't," [Weildan] warned. "We'll get them later, without harming the mummy."
I heard his voice as though from afar. I was not conscious of again standing erect. Instead I remained stopped over those flaming stones. I stared at them.
So the narrator is pretty taken with these jewels, and I'll halt the plot summary right there. What I found interesting about this one -- and this is a very solid story overall -- was its treatment of the mummy. It's not a shambling, be-bandanged pseudo-zombies, it's a much more psychological thing here, but then, early on, mummies usually weren't shambling, be-bandanged pseudo-zombies. The original Freund/Karloff 1932 film feature the mummy that way very briefly, as a highly effective early mood-setter, but after that Karloff's Imhotep can pass as living. Those bandages became a staple later on in the Universal films, but then those stopped, and more recently in those iffy Stephen Sommers mummies are like ghost demons or something. Yet the bandages are what we think of when we hear the word. Isn't that interesting? No? Well, I thought it was.
"The Eyes of the Mummy" connects to "The Faceless God" beyond the shared Egypt setting. This plays into "The Faceless God" more, but in both you have protagonists who are morally questionable. Typically, it's my belief that having basically evil characters (the narrator of "The Eyes of the Mummy" isn't evil, but he is greedy) face, and lose to, the horror of your story or novel is a little bit of a cheat, in that seeing a villain get their comeuppance can rob the horror of its horror. EC Comics did this time and time again, but they had such a bright and vividly salacious way of going about it that it was essentially the house style, and quite entertaining. The problem is that it can turn horror into just another kind of revenge story. But with "The Faceless God," which features a truly awful piece of filth as its main character, Bloch makes it work. The character is Doctor Carnoti, a man with archaeology and anthropology in his background, but who is introduced to the reader in the first paragraph as he is torturing a man for information -- this is medieval, bloody, disabling torture -- and, once Carnoti gets what he wants he orders the man killed by one of his servants. What he wants is information on the location of a massive statue buried in the middle of nowhere, Egypt division, but which was briefly and partially uncovered by accident by a passing caravan. Carnoti is interested because it's supposedly very well preserved, the Egyptian god depicted is unknown (and three-headed), and all of this comes together to cause Carnoti to believe this discovery will make him rich and famous. The problem is, the Egyptians who hire him know that this is a statue of Nyarlathotep, a walking nightmare of a god whose existence has been wiped away from Egyptian mythological texts, and whose specific attributes were disbursed to other legends of other gods. It is best, it had been decided, that no one speak of Nyarlathotep.
"The Faceless God" is basically a Lovecraft story written by Robert Bloch, which for me at least means that it goes down a lot more smoothly. But it's very explicitly Lovecraft. First there's Nyarlathotep, which is a Lovecraft creation, and then there's this passage, one of the most interesting in "The Faceless God," where Bloch turns briefly away from Carnoti to create a scholarly history that combines our world and Lovecraft's:
[Nyarlathotep] is mentioned cryptically in the Necronomicon, for Alhazred heard it whispered in tales of shadowed Irem. The fabulous Book of Eibon hints at the myth in veiled and diverse ways, for it was writ in a far-off time when it was not yet deemed safe to speak of things that had walked upon the earth when it was young. Ludvig Prinn, who traveled in Saracenic lands and learned strange sorceries, awesomely implies his knowledge in the infamous Mysteries of the Worm.
But his worship, in late years, seems to have died out. There is no mention of it in in Sir James Frazer's Golden Bough, and most reputable ethnologists and anthropologists are frankly ignorant of the Faceless One's history...
For whatever reason, I really like that mention of The Golden Bough, even if it's only to point out how strange that Frazer never mentions Nyarlathotep. But of course that's the point: The Faceless God is sadistically and diabolically and hatefully powerful, he cannot even exist in legend. And uncovering that statue is a form of blasphemy, and will bring him down on you.
Which is what happens to Carnoti. The reason this story can put a villain like Carnoti front and center without seeming like a cheat is that only someone like Carnoti would go after this statue, his avarice driving him straight through any objections offered up for his own good. And simply freeing a portion of that giant statue from the sand is actually sort of the end of the story, even though there are several more pages to go. But he's doomed, and in the rest of "The Faceless God," Bloch merely chronicles, with no little satisfied cruelty, Carnoti's descent into madness and finally a kind of reverent death. Along the way, Bloch writes in a way, and about things, I'm simply not used to from him; however often he may have done it, it's outside of my experience of his work. But his handle on this sort of thing, giant evil gods who live only to destroy men and make them suffer, is quite firm. It's like Lovecraft, but without the turgidness. "The Faceless One" is swift that Lovecraft only achieved in his very short stories, like "Pickman's Model" and "The Music of Erich Zann." It's really, really effective, this story, and genuinely horrifying. In fact, that's another reason Carnoti's villainy doesn't really cut into the terror: the terror of Nyarlathotep is so immense, that the Earthly evil of Carnoti feels almost like nothing. Carnoti doesn't become humanized by the end of "The Faceless One," and he's not redeemed at all, but he becomes such a helpless insect under the magnifying glass of a sadistic god, that from a certain distance he could be any one of us.
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The Kind of Face You Slash - Day 26: This Is Really Happening
In one of my favorite thriller novels, Marathon Man by William Goldman, what the reader had up to a certain point believed, or was meant to believe, were two separate characters is revealed to be the same person at the moment of his death. One of them is Scylla, government assassin, and the other is Doc, regular-person brother to our hero, Babe (nicknames both, of a very Goldman-y sort). In the novel, in one strand of the plot, we are witness to Scylla being mortally wounded. In another strand of the plot, Babe is coming home from somewhere or another, and when he enters his apartment he sees his brother dying on his floor from the exact same kind of wound we know Scylla has recently suffered. Ergo, one and one makes two. It's a brilliant piece of narrative legerdemain, exquisite in its simplicity (the film version doesn't even bother trying to mask Doc/Scylla's identity because it can't). That novel was written in 1974, and in 1986 Goldman set about ruining what I consider the best moment from the earlier novel (not counting that great ending) by writing a sequel to Marathon Man called Brothers, in which, as you might suspect from that title, he brought Scylla/Doc back to life. He survived because, phew, that was close, but I'm okay now. Basically. A maddening, frustrating choice. But what Goldman's decision failed to do, though it took me a little while to realize it, was it failed to ruin Marathon Man for me. Part of this is probably because Brothers is not an entirely bad novel; it's completely fucking bonkers, and its own ending is an intriguing downer, but it's not bad. But more than that, I seem to have been blessed with the capacity to acknowledge an original novel or film as completely separate from its sequel, should one exist, if I choose to do so. If the sequel works, then it's part of a larger whole. If it doesn't work, then fuck it. It's often said, and it sounds right to me, that if you become upset to the point of fuming and brooding for days on end because of something somebody else has done, then you are allowing yourself to be made upset, and that each person has the power to essentially get over that and move on and be happy. The realm of failed sequels is the only area of my life in which I've been able to make this work.
Before getting to the main parallel I'm about to lay out here, it's interesting to note that Ira Levin, the writer under discussion today, once achieved a very similar feat of ingenious simplicity in his 1953 novel A Kiss Before Dying, where a major twist in the plot is obscured just a smidge by the judicious withholding of information. This of course is done all the time by all writers everywhere, but there is a way that Levin and Goldman go about it, the sly style of it, the methods of their distraction, that really powers these moments. Another parallel between the two writers is that, like Goldman, Levin wrote a genre masterpiece, 1967's Rosemary's Baby, and thirty years later wrote a sequel, Son of Rosemary (incidentally, another parallel is that these novels would turn out to be their authors' last, with Levin dying ten years later without a follow up, and Goldman, at 81 and no novel since 1986, seems to have long since packed it in), that is terrible and ruins the earlier book by association. No, it doesn't ruin the earlier book. I've already gone over that. But it is...well, wait, is it terrible? I'm not convinced it is. I'm perfectly comfortable stating that Son of Rosemary is fairly bad, but terrible I don't know about.
Ira Levin had a rather interesting career, it seems to me. A Kiss Before Dying was his first novel, Rosemary's Baby his second (a fourteen-year gap between the two, you'll note), and after that he wrote five more: This Perfect Day (probably his most obscure novel, apparently science fiction, though I haven't read it), The Stepford Wives, The Boys From Brazil, Sliver (which got the film it deserved, let's put it like that), that was 1991, and then in 1997, Son of Rosemary. Seven novels in forty-four years seems a bit lean, but in between all that he also wrote nine plays, the most famous of which would clearly have to be No Time For Sergeants from 1956, turned into a TV play and later a film starring Andy Griffith, and Deathtrap from 1978, the record-breaking and intensely clever piece that was adapted four years later into the very underrated Sidney Lumet film with Michael Caine and a frankly terrifying Christopher Reeve. He also wrote a musical -- book and lyrics, anyway -- called Drat! The Cat!. A full career, I'd say, and an interestingly crafty one. So with that in mind, wouldn't you sort of have to think that if Ira Levin was going to write a sequel to his most famous novel, that he wouldn't just toss it off out of spite for, I don't know, his fans? That some level of that craftiness must be at play somewhere, and that if it wasn't this would be the first time in his career that he chose to leave that bit out?
Apparently you wouldn't have to think that, because the consensus on Son of Rosemary has always been that it's an unforgivable cop-out that not only doesn't work on its own terms, but even completely washes away his classic 1967 original (and by extension, Roman Polanski's masterful 1968 film adaptation, about which more in a little while). In 1999, I worked with a guy who I judged to be a discerning horror fan, and I asked him if he'd read Son of Rosemary, a book that at that point I was pretty sure I'd never bother with. He said he had, and it was terrible. I asked him what was so terrible about it, and he told me -- and listen, I'm going to be spoiling Son of Rosemary in this post, so if that matters to stop reading....NOW! -- that (SPOILER I WARNED YOU GUYS!) at the end of the novel, Ira Levin reveals that it was all a dream. Not just Son of Rosemary, mind you; Rosemary's Baby turns out to have a been a dream, too. A dream had by Rosemary Woodhouse, so at least there's that, but everything else? Down the shitter. Needless to say, I was appalled, and disappointed that the ever-crafty Levin would pull something as bone-stupid as that. Well, skip ahead a little while (no idea how long, possibly as soon as later that same night), and I decided I wanted further details, so I read some on-line reviews of Son of Rosemary. Most of them echoed my friend, but I saw at least one that said "Wait, hold on you guys, read the book a little closer. It's not what you think." I'm paraphrasing, but the gist is on the money, and left me somewhat intrigued by the notion that maybe this anonymous internet douche was right, and my friend was wrong. Maybe Son of Rosemary was actually being misunderstood and unfairly maligned by, essentially, everyone except this one person. Skip ahead again to this year, to now, and I've finally gotten around to reading Son of Rosemary, and you know what? It was being misunderstood. This lid-blowing revelation is somewhat tempered by the fact that it still isn't a very good novel, and it will be my choice and preference hereafter to regard Rosemary's Baby as the "real" book and Son of Rosemary as the failed but, if not exactly noble, then at least not ignoble, experiment.
And so what, at last, is the story of Son of Rosemary? The story is, it's 1999. The millenium is about to turn (which, I realize that, but just let it go, will you?) and on November 9, Dr. Stanley Shand, who you might remember as one of the Satanists working in league with Roman and Minnie Castavet to impregnate Rosemary (who was offered up without resistance by her ambitious actor husband, Guy) with Satan's child in the original story -- Phil Leeds played Shand in the film -- is hit by a car and killed. At just about that very instant, Rosemary Woodhouse, who has been in a coma since 1972, wakes up. This coma, we will learn, was brought on by the Satanists via a curse of some sort to get her out of the way so that Adrian, the Son of Satan (aka Andy, to Rosemary) could be raised by them without his mother's interference. And what Rosemary has awoken to, in 1999, is a world where Adrian is 33 years old, goes by Andy, is incredibly rich, and is beloved by the entire planet for his peacekeeping, peacemaking, charitable and humanistic deeds. He's like a secular preacher, or, to be more to the point, a secular Jesus. He even looks like Jesus. The important thing here being when Rosemary wakes up, all the hospital staff are wearing "I Heart Andy" pins, and are thunderstruck to learn that this old woman who has been asleep for the last twenty-seven years, is the mother of Andy -- that Andy, the one everybody hearts.
Rosemary and Andy finally meet, and it's quite a loving reunion. (And incidentally, Levin, who writes well about Rosemary's initial, unthinkable shock over the years lost to her coma, pretty swiftly moves her past that, which I can see being necessary on one level, but otherwise feels like he sort of didn't give a shit.) Andy informs Rosemary that she is the only one who knows the secret of his birth, and that one of the reasons he'd very much prefer to keep it that way, apart from all the obvious ones, is because he's shed all that Satanist baggage, the Castavets are dead, all of them are dead (Shand's death revived Rosemary because he was the last one). Not only that, but Andy has met his true father, and assures Rosemary that he found him even worse than advertised. As for Guy, Rosemary thinks:
Guy must have died early in the twenty-seven years.
Or Satan was a welsher -- and why not? To mangle Oscar Wilde or whoever, once you commit rape, the next thing you know, you're not paying your debts.
For whichever reason, Guy hadn't gotten his agreed-upon price for nine months' use of her. He hadn't become the next Olivier or Brando.
Poor Guy.
Sorry, no more tears.
Which is better than that piece of shit deserves, but I quote this only because I find it indicative of the kind of playful touch Levin brings to his cynicism, and the entirely winning way in which Rosemary is portrayed for much of the novel.
Anyway, Andy's the head of what you might call a massive corporate non-profit charity, and at the time of Rosemary's literal awakening, plans are moving full-steam ahead for a global candle-lighting once the clock strikes midnight on January 1, 2000. Candles -- all the candles, for the world -- provided by Andy's company, called God's Children. And yes I know I called it secular, which that name would seem to belie, but outside of that, and Andy's Jesus resemblance/complex, the whole megillah does seem removed from any particular faith, Christian or otherwise. Okay, so the candles thing, which Rosemary thinks sounds beautiful, and soon she's part of the company, and she's famous and there are "I Heart Rosemary" pins, and she's starting to get flirty with Joe, Andy's driver, and what's losing twenty-seven years here and there?
Having no desire to turn this post into the Cliff’s Notes for Son of Rosemary, I shall now cut to the chase. Eventually, as you might expect, things begin to feel off. Rosemary meets a woman, an employee and former lover of Andy’s, who says things like “You have no idea what goes on” on a certain floor of Andy’s apartment/office complex. This woman wants out of the business. She is subsequently murdered, and it turns out she was actually a double agent, working for one of Andy’s few enemies (a group of Randian objectivists) who, it further appears, murdered her themselves and unsuccessfully tried to pin it on Andy. But Rosemary, knowing what she does about her son’s paternity, can’t shake her discomfort about the whole thing. This discomfort begins when she first sees Andy’s eyes transform from normal human eyes to the slit, tiger-eyes we know from the original story, and he has little horns, too, both features he explains he can mask from the outside world, to disguise himself. But he doesn’t always choose to disguise himself from Rosemary. There’s also the fact – and I think we can agree that this is no small thing – that Andy starts putting the moves, sexually I mean, on Rosemary. Who, you’ll remember, is his mother. His excuse, in the face of Rosemary’s shocked rejection, is some nonsense about her being beautiful and the only one who knows the truth about him and so on, and there’s no one in the world he loves as much as her. But frankly he takes the whole episode (or episodes) rather too lightly. So does Rosemary, when you get right down to it, but she’s had a lot thrown at her, I guess. Anyway, her fears become so great that she wonders about these candles that Andy is dispensing to all the peoples of the world. She asks Joe, who has connections, to have them tested by a lab for some kind of poison bioweapon junk or whatever, which he does. The results are negative. The candles are clean. Two more things: the woman, the double agent who was murdered, was into word games and puzzles and such, which you might recall is a pastime shared by Rosemary (remember Scrabble?), and in the early days of their short-lived friendship, she gives Rosemary a doozy of an anagram. “Roast mules.” That’s an anagram, Rosemary is told, for a single ten-letter word that would be known to any five-year-old child. Off and on, Levin describes Rosemary’s attempts to solve this anagram, usually as a way to focus her brain on more urgent matters. The other thing is, at one point we learn that of the many Broadway plays knocking the New York theater crowds for a loop in 1999 is a hugely successful revival of Drat! The Cat!. See above.
I’d like to cut even more to the chase now, since the ending is the main thing worth talking about here. One of my main problems with the bulk of Son of Rosemary is how much it resembles Sliver in its dull-corporate-skyscraper “intrigue” and focus, for too much of the time, on new technology and business practices – when this stuff kicks in, Levin’s prose becomes much less interesting and funny, and turns instead airless and technical. There’s obviously much crazier stuff behind the plot of Son of Rosemary (and in fairness, even Sliver includes a guy getting his eyes clawed out by a cat), but if I didn’t know that I might have been tempted to drop the whole thing. And Son of Rosemary, to whatever degree it succeeds, and even fails, really depends on a familiarity with Rosemary’s Baby. I can’t imagine someone picking this book off the shelf, saying “Hm, I wonder what this is all about” and getting anything out of it whatsoever. But I’m doing a lousy job of cutting to the chase, so: it’s New Year’s Eve. Rosemary has figured out that Andy was behind the murder, and he shamefully confesses to it (I’m very unhappy to report that Rosemary says that if he can honestly deny his culpability, she’ll go to bed with him; not that I think she had any intention of following through, but still, I mean, Jesus…). He pins it mainly on his overzealous followers, but Rosemary’s point has been made. Later, she goes to meet him at his apartment (she really gets over shit fast, this lady) to prepare for the candle-lighting, and finds him crucified to his wall. He’d been pinned there by his dad, Satan. Who has been hiding out as Joe, the flirty driver, this whole time. After Rosemary un-stabs Andy from the wall, Satan arrives, offers Rosemary a place in Hell, which Andy urges her to take, because just now, outside, candles are being lit, and the poison that Joe/Satan lied about not being in there begins to rise into the air, and the world begins, very quickly, to die. Rosemary, meanwhile, is all set to say “No thank you, Satan,” but Andy and Satan both insist that being the Devil’s best lady really makes Hell go down a lot smoother, and she finally, reluctantly, agrees. She gets on an elevator to the Underworld, and it’s like a furnace, and Rosemary thinks this is all rather a bit more unpleasant than she’d been promised. At which point Joe transforms into more of what you’d expect Satan to look like, roars “I LIE!” to her, and then eats her, or something. Or is about to eat her or something, but then Rosemary wakes up. In 1967, with Guy. They’re still looking for an apartment. In Rosemary’s Baby, the apartment building they moved into, the one housing the Castavets and other Satanists, was called the Bram. But in this New York, in 1966 (the original novel was published in 1967, but the story is set in 1966) there is no Bram, as, indeed, there isn’t in our, Levin’s readers, world. Guy is preparing to audition for a new musical called Drat! The Cat!. Then Hutch calls. Hutch is Rosemary’s friend, who shared her suspicions about the Castavets in Rosemary’s Baby, and was rewarded by being put into a coma, from which he never awoke. But here’s Hutch, alive and well, and he’s got great news about an apartment. The apartment is in the Dakota. The Dakota is real. The Dakota also played the Bram in Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby. Mention is made of one of the Beatles moving into the Dakota, and we all know what happened to him outside of that very building fourteen years later. Hutch also says that he figured out the “roast mules” anagram in no time flat. Which…hm.
The solution to “roast mules” is never given in the novel. I know the answer, only because I stumbled across it in the course of what I will charitably refer to as my “research.” But the answer, which is one thing I don’t think I’ll spoil, is not irrelevant to where Rosemary finds herself at the end of Son of Rosemary. Also not irrelevant, I’d say, is the fact that “roast mules” is an anagram for “soulmaster,” one of the solutions Rosemary discards, as it doesn’t fit all the requirements laid out by the murdered woman. The point is, there are all sorts of reasons to think that this “dream” twist that ruined everything for everybody forever, is not, in fact, a dream. And at the very end, it seems pretty clearly insinuated that Rosemary doesn’t think it was a dream, either. Things are just not right. She’s back where she was, somehow, but slightly different. What happens next? The same thing? Is this damnation? Is this the horror that Satan really prepared for her, to repeat the nightmare of her life? If so, then why the Dakota, and not the Bram? So that she won’t be prepared for a repeat? Or, perhaps, it WAS all a dream, but a dream of what’s actually to come, in real New York, in a real place like the Dakota. Plus there’s more practical reasons to believe the “it’s all a dream” business is a misdirection, such as why her dream of 1999 life would so closely resemble what we know 1999 life to actually have been like. You can either give Ira Levin credit for not cheating that horribly, or you can’t. I can, and do, because there’s too much that’s too weird about Rosemary’s post-“dream” life.
And it’s all in the aid of what, exactly? To render a sequel that is frankly misbegotten no matter how you slice it somewhat more interesting and at least defensible? Obviously, no, I don’t believe this was Levin’s circuitous motivation for writing the book, though that was the result. In the acknowledgments, Levin says he was given the “roast mules” puzzle at a party by Bebe Neuwirth’s dad some years before he wrote Son of Rosemary. I have to think this was the seed. Or rather, the eventual solution was the seed. Or a seed. But also, curiously, it wasn't until well after Levin published Rosemary's Baby that he realized a couple of things. One was that, as he'd mapped it out, Adrian was born in June of 1966. Or 6/66. Somehow he hadn't realize that. Also that in 1999, Adrian would be 33, the same age as Jesus when he was crucified. So plugging Adrian into that year, as a Messiah figure at war with his father (and he is at war -- Adrian is not a complete liar, or completely bad) as the millennium ended...well, I mean, the man's not made of stone. Would he take all that blessed serendipity and just obliterate it like so many claim he did with Son of Rosemary? But Levin was not a religious man, which probably accounts for why he was so wry about the whole thing, and he was also not entirely thrilled that his original novel spurred people to take the idea of Satan more seriously, rather than less, as he'd sort of hoped they would. It must be said this lends some fuel to the idea that the dream is a dream, as does the sheer cartoon version of Hell that he presents as Rosemary and Satan are taking the elevator down to...well, just typing those words out. How can you take something seriously when it all turns out to be a dream? And I haven't even talked about Drat! The Cat!, the presence of which means, I guess, that in the world of these two novels, there is an Ira Levin who wrote that musical, but presumably did not write Rosemary's Baby or Son of Rosemary. Although, maybe instead of bolstering arguments that this is a dream, perhaps it's Levin's way of distracting angry readers of Son of Rosemary. "Whatever has upset you about that book, I didn't do it. I was somewhere else."
That's only a philosophical argument, though. The evidence on the page indicates something else, that the dream cliché is being messed with, and the reader is being messed with, and that Son of Rosemary is a puzzle to be solved, and to close the book angry at the thought that Levin has obliterated the book you originally loved is to quit the game early. Of course, all this realization achieves, as far as I'm concerned, is to turn the book from very bad to just pretty bad. But it's not dismissable. After today, I may never speak of Son of Rosemary in the same breath as Rosemary's Baby, and when I watch Polanski's film or reread Levin's novel, that story will be contained within itself, and I won't think "Interesting, because I know that in thirty years, these characters will..." Because no they won't, Rosemary's Baby ends when it ends. However, I will, should the opportunity ever arise, defend the sequel, provided it's being denigrated for the wrong reasons, which it almost certainly will be.
* * * * * *
Some of the above information about Ira Levin and his inspirations comes from the new Criterion Blu-ray disc of Polanski's Rosemary's Baby, which is due in stores on Oct. 30. One of the special features on that disc is a short interview with Levin conducted by Leonard Lopate, from 1997 when Levin was promoting Son of Rosemary. It's very interesting, and nice to hear Levin talk about his career, but I'd say that the real pull of Criterion's edition is, well, the film (which looks gorgeous here, by the way), which wins a tight race against Chinatown for my favorite Polanski films, and is simply one of the greatest films of all time. I'm endlessly impressed and chilled by it, and while it's well known as one of the most slavishly faithful novel-to-film adaptations ever made (there are a few anecdotes about this aspect of the film, but in the interview with Lopate, Levin talks about writing about clothes worn by characters being a certain color in his novel, which Polanski diligently reproduced on film, even though for Levin the color was chosen more for the word -- red, yellow, whatever -- and how it played into the rest of the sentence, rather than anything visual he was trying to get across), there is a great deal that is unique to the film that just knocks me out.
For instance, John Cassavetes. Casting Cassavetes as Guy Woodhouse was a stroke of genius on a number of levels. Not least of course is who Cassavetes was, as a filmmaker and as an actor, and how he would peddle his skills in front of the screen -- which were considerable -- in order to fund the films he wanted to write and direct and only occasionally star in. Given the passion of the man, it's not hard to find a connection between what Guy does to Rosemary and what Cassavetes may well have thought he was doing to himself, and how he weighed that in his mind, against what would, for him, have been the benefits. Not that I'm interested in psychoanalyzing the man, and I'm certainly not judging him, even a little bit. It's just, you know, interesting.
Still, of more immediate and lasting importance is the performance Cassavetes gives in Rosemary's Baby. In a film packed with terrific acting and casting so perfect as to feel almost foreordained (Ruth Gordon gets all the praise, and she's wonderful, but Sidney Blackmer as her Satanist husband is even better, for my money; I realize there's a great deal of satire and black comedy at the end of the film, but the way Blackmer responds to Mia Farrow-as-Rosemary's horrified "Oh God...!" by shouting "God is dead! Satan lives! The Year is One!" is genuinely frightening), Cassavetes still manages to stand out. He happened to have just the right face and voice and general bearing (I can't define this, don't ask me to) for Guy, and watching him skulk around in the background at the end when Rosemary confronts the Satanists during their celebration, Cassavetes embodies the vermin in a suit Guy has become. Guy can't face Rosemary, and seeing him slipping into shadows and hiding behind walls is one of the many dead-on-the-money bits this film is bursting with (I'm quite the fan of this one, just for the record). But the single best moment in the film, in the whole thing, is this:
Here, the audience, if they're new to Rosemary's Baby, won't know what Guy and Roman have just been discussing. Their conversation had previously been represented by Polanski through a shot of the room the two men would be facing as they spoke, the smoke from their cigars blowing infernally into view while the men themselves are blocked by a doorway. Now we see them after the conversation is over. And when we go back and watch it again, because why wouldn't we, we can look at John Cassavetes-as-Guy's face and know that Roman has just told him that he and Minnie are Satanists working to bring the Antichrist to Earth, and that to do so they need a woman to be impregnated by Satan. He has further told Guy that they want to use Rosemary, and that if Guy agrees to this, and aids them in this goal, of allowing his wife to be raped by the devil and thereby bring Hell to Earth, then Guy's acting career will proceed without obstacle to the greatest heights of success and fame. And in Cassavetes' face, you can see the lingering shock. And you can also see that the motherfucker is considering it. This is the genius of Rosemary's Baby.
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The Kind of Face You Slash - Day 25: Name of a Little Blue Man
The back cover copy of my reprint edition of The Devil's Bride from Creation Publishing, Seabury Quinn's only novel about paranormal investigator (or whatever) Dr. Jules de Grandin informs the reader that Quinn's fiction was known for "strong elements of sadistic violence, misogynistic torture and cruelty, negative racial profiling, and frequent female nudity." Leaving aside the delight I always take in a work of prose being described as "containing nudity," this stuff is always intended to draw in readers more than it is to warn them, but there's some junk later on about "relics of a less enlightened age," so clearly they want everybody, including themselves, to feel okay about reading this garbage. I'm always bothered by this "Oh dear, the past..." hand-wringing when it comes to pulp fiction, though I certainly have my limits, which probably aren't much less or more severe than your own. I just don't need the warnings. I can handle myself, I think.
Of course, at the moment I have to take Creation Publishing at their word regarding the contents of The Devil's Bride, it not being the Quinn I read for today, but what I did read, about which more in a moment, while containing some pretty sadistic violence aimed at women, I don't happen to believe that it's axiomatic that such violence equals misogyny (in the stories I read, this sort of thing is pretty severely frowned upon). I also read nothing in the way of "negative racial profiling," or even any nudity! I was guaranteed nudity! "Quinn was sure to include at least one scene of a naked girl...", it says! THIS IS BULLSHIT!
Anyhow. Enough about Creation Publishing's PC ass-covering. I read stories published in The Casebook of Jules de Grandin, one of a series of Quinn reprints put out by Popular Library back in the 1960s and '70s, when they didn't give a crap about any of this. Now, I'll be honest, I approached these stories with some trepidation, because I have a feeling that, speaking generally, I enjoy this kind of pulp series more in theory than I do in practice. There was a lot of very fine writing from the pulp era, but there was a whole lot of quite terrible writing. A few years ago, I was very excited to finally read The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu by Sax Rohmer, and I was pretty stunned at the vice-like grip and breakneck momentum that book did not offer. It felt mired in quicksand even during the action scenes, and Rohmer seemed to have no sense of urgency or velocity or drive. It sort of put me off the whole thing for a while, and I worried Quinn would not be much different. And the two Jules de Grandin stories I read for today, "Children of Ubasti" and "The House of Horror," are either kind of dumb, in one case, or chickenshit, in another, but momentum is not something either lacked. They moved damn fast, almost to a fault, though I'd rather, with this sort of thing, that the writer err on that side than the other.
These stories don't chronicle the beginning of Quinn's de Grandin series, but from what I can gather, Jules de Grandin is the Sherlock Holmes figure, though maybe a little bit more polite and less outwardly arrogant, not to mention more comfortable with people, and Dr. Trowbridge, with whom he lives and who subsequently writes down their adventures so that others might marvel, is Watson, though with considerably less personality or things to do or words to say. Trowbridge really is a blank, only once in the two stories showing any kind of unique reaction (in the moment I'm thinking of, he feels de Grandin is being rather too ghoulish), but it doesn't really matter. The reason it doesn't matter is the same reason I don't have a great deal to say about either "Children of Ubasti" or "The House of Horror," which is that these stories are fairly trashy, reasonably fun, kind of shocking -- the whole sadistic violence thing, while generally not presented "on-stage," as it were, is still very much present, and inventive -- and very clearly meant to achieve those goals and nothing else. Ironically, if they'd actually been as racist and misogynistic as I'd been told, I'd have a great deal more to think about and wade through. There would be something with heft to deal with.
Not that I mind, as a reader, that they don't. For stories written in the 1920s about an occult detective, I'd much prefer that they don't, if you want to know the truth. Anyway, I'm not left with nothing to deal with. I do have one thing, which Robert A. W. Lowndes, who wrote the introduction to The Casebook of Jules de Grandin, gets to the heart of when he begins his intro by defining the difference between a writer, and a teller of tales:
...I consider the "writer" of fiction as a person who carefully plots and plans his fiction out in advance, before resorting to a first draft...The writer will then resort to secondary elaboration when he or she sits down to write the story...But the teller of tales starts out at once with nothing more than an idea, and sometimes not so much as that.
Needless to say, Lowndes considers Seabury Quinn a teller of tales, and quotes him as describing the writing of his first Jules de Grandin story in that very way. And brother, does it show. Spoilers for both "Children of Ubasti" and "The House of Horror" follow, but, so, in "Children of Ubasti," two African demons, spawns of the ancient and evil city of Bubatsis (and before you say anything, the demons were not sent by the people of Africa, or anybody in Africa, to destroy the Western world; these demons terrorize the inhabitants of their own continent just as thoroughly) have arrived in, you know, New Jersey, and what they do is, they've set up shop -- ostensibly, one's a man and one's a woman -- and they hire young women from an agency that hires out housekeepers. But no housekeeping is to be done, and the women are used as vile pawns in a terrible game, which involves the women being told, basically, "If you can escape us, good for you. If you can't, we'll kill you and feed you to the next girl. That's what you ate last night, by the way." We learn all this because one young woman actually did escape, via the cunning method of throwing footstools at the demons and jumping out a window. When de Grandin hears this woman's story, he says "Oh, well, these are cat demons from Bubatsis," so he and his heroic cohorts -- including a Muslim Turk, who just kind of shows up -- go to the demons' house, the address of which de Grandin discovered because the demons told somebody, and then they kill the demons with shotguns. It was touch and go there for a while, but they had shotguns. Jules de Grandin has done it again.
Meanwhile, in "The House of Horror," Trowbridge and de Grandin are on the road at night, trying to find their way to a "workmen's settlement," where a young boy is in need of a dose of anti-toxin, which the two doctors plan on administering. They get lost and figure, screw the kid, he's hopeless, and decide to ask for help from the inhabitants of a big, opulent house that's out there in the woods there. The door to this house opens, seemingly of its own accord, and closes in the same way, but it's not ghosts -- it's an old man, who asks the doctors to check out his daughter, who's sick. De Grandin gets suspicious early on, he gives the daughter, who the father believes is suffering from sleeping sickness, a placebo, and they go to bed, where de Grandin shows Trowbridge that the windows are basically sealed shut. They're prisoners! Except they can get up in the middle of the night and wander around the house. They go see the girl, who is awake, and super pretty, except her eyes have been dicked around with so that they "roll[ed] grotesquely to right and left, they peered futilely in opposite directions, lending to her sweet, pale face the half-ludicrous, wholly hideous expression of a bloating frog." So that's no good. De Grandin and Trowbridge are like "We'll see about this!" and they find the secret button on the wall that opens the front door, which they open, and outside a massive storm is raging. They go out and see the old man rolling Trowbridge's car down a very steep hill or something. Trowbridge and de Grandin go after him, but before they can reach the old man the storm causes a massive branch to break off a tree, and it falls on the old man and kills him. The villain of the story has just been killed by a falling tree branch while the two heroes go "Hey, what?" The dying old man has a few confessions left in him, thankfully, and he says "The reason I did all this shit is in my office. Go read it. Go in my basement, too." Which they do, and it turns out his crippled son, years ago, had been rejected by a beautiful vaudeville actress, and he killed himself, so his dad vowed revenge. First on the actress, then on just ladies overall. He's been kidnapping young women and removing all their arm and leg bones and keeping them alive in his basement. This is all pretty surprising, and weird, and disturbing. De Grandin goes "We can't bring these women back to society. It would be too cruel! I don't know if I want to just murder them, though. I need to think about this." So he and Trowbridge go upstairs to think about if they're going to murder these women, but before they can reach a decision, the huge storm floods the basement and drowns the women and then Trowbridge and de Grandin grab the girl with the mudskipper eyes and then the house collapses. "I'll fix her eyes," de Grandin says. The end.
Now...this is all pretty absurd. Both stories are, specifically because of the way the stories unfold, if that's the phrase I want. The sick kid in "The House of Horror" means nothing. The fact that de Grandin and Trowbridge are locked into the house means nothing. Why this old man would ask the doctors to look at his daughter is never explained, because why would he ever do that? But it's the next part of the story. Each thing is just the next thing. And I was, in a grimy sort of way, getting into the moral dilemma that faced our heroes at the end of that particular story, and Quinn bails in the most cowardly way imaginable. "Should we put these women out of their misery? Wup, the whole house is suddenly falling down, we better skedaddle." This is ridiculous.
And I honestly don't care. Or I do care, but I take it as less of a negative than a supremely goofy near-positive. If all of Seabury Quinn's stories are this stupidly wild, then I think I'm on board. I mean, why not?
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| Ira Levin |
Which Dutch painter, famous for his portraits, was the principal court painter to Charles II ? | Theatre Archives
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20th Century Boy: Wimbledon at the New Wimbledon Theatre
This brand new musical, inspired by the life of rock legend Marc Bolan, explodes onto stage nearly 40 years after the star’s tragic death. Featuring some of the greatest pop songs ever written, 20th Century Boy tells the story of Marc Bolan and his band T Rex, dispersing the myths and taking the audience on a joyful yet poignant journey through Marc's fascinating life.
3 Winters at the Lyttelton Theatre, National
From the remnants of monarchy to Communism, democracy, war and the EU: Croatia 1945-2011. The Kos family argue, fall in and out of love. Against a country in turmoil, Tena Stivicic's 3 Winters created the portrait of an eclectic family, held together by the courage to survive.
42nd Street - Manchester at the Palace Theatre - Manchester
Winner of the 1980 Tony Award for Best New Musical and the 2001 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical: 42nd Street - the timeless, inspiring tale of small town Peggy Sawyer's rise from chorine to Broadway star. And those songs! Lullaby of Broadway, We're in the Money, Shuffle Off to Buffalo, Keep Young and Beautiful, I Only Have Eyes For You and the spectacular title number, danced down a flight of steps that lights up as brightly as the faces of the cast. Audiences will find out what it's like to float up to Musical Comedy Heaven.
6000 Miles Away at the Sadler's Wells
Following its successful international tour, Sadler’s Wells is delighted to present the return of 6000 miles away, devised and performed by Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist Sylvie Guillem. Widely recognised as one of the world’s greatest dancers, Guillem stars in this critically lauded evening of work by three of today’s most important choreographers: Mats Ek, William Forsythe and Jir&iapos; Kyli&aapos;n.
9 to 5 The Musical - Wimbledon at the New Wimbledon Theatre
Fiesty, fun and oh so fabulous! This show features Dolly Parton's original hit title song, 9 to 5 which won her an Oscar nomination and 4 Grammy Award nominations along with her new Tony and Grammy nominated score. These 18 original numbers that mix Broadway and pop with Dolly's signature witty lyrics will have you kicking up your heels. Leave your daily grind behind and join in on the fun.
9 to 5 The Musical: Edinburgh at the Edinburgh Playhouse
Feisty, fun and oh so fabulous! This show features Dolly Parton's original hit title song, which won her an Oscar nomination and 4 Grammy Award nominations, along with her new Tony and Grammy nominated score for the show. These 18 original numbers mix Broadway and pop with Dolly's signature witty lyrics and will have you kicking up your heels. Leave your daily grind behind and join in on the fun.
A Chorus of Disapproval at the Harold Pinter Theatre
Making his West End theatre debut, Rob Brydon stars alongside Nigel Harman (Shrek, EastEnders) and Ashley Jensen(Extras, Ugly Betty) in Alan Ayckbourn's riotous comedy 'A Chorus of Disapproval, directed by Olivier and Tony award-winner Trevor Nunn. Joining the trio on stage will be Teresa Banham, Daisy Beaumont, Georgia Brown, Rob Compton, Matthew Cottle and Steven Edis with further casting to be announced shortly.
A Christmas Carol at the Arts Theatre
A Christmas Carol is the most famous book Charles Dickens ever wrote and one of the most daring. As the Ghosts spirit Scrooge from his past to his present to his future, Dickens plunges the reader cinematically from the miser's dank and creaking house in the City to riotous festivities, from cozy hearths to graveyards.
A Handful Of Stars at the Trafalgar Studio Two
In the Irish town of Wexford where "Shot-gun" weddings are outnumbered only by random acts of violence the pool hall is Jimmy's sanctuary. But will such as place embrace his bright ambition or bring it down, burning to the ground?
A Mad World My Masters at the Barbican Theatre
The Royal Shakepeare Company in association with English Touring Theatre present A Mad World My Masters by Thomas Middleton. Edited by Sean Foley and Phil Porter and Directed by Sean Foley. Following its 2013 hit hun in Stratford-Upon-Avon and nationwide tour A Mad World My Masters comes to the Barbican for a strictly limited season in May 2015.
ABBAWORLD at the Museum Hall, Earls Court
Fully approved and supported by ABBA, ABBAWORLD will make its stunning, sequin spangled world debut in London at Earls Court on 27 January 2010. The hugely interactive experience will take visitors on a mind-blowing journey through ABBAWORLDS' 25 rooms, bursting with exclusive music, footage, images and never-before-displayed memorabilia from the personal collections of the world's most cherished pop icons; Agnetha, Benny, Bj�rnand Frida.
Abigail's Party at the Wyndham's Theatre
In 1970s suburbia, Beverly and her husband Laurence are hosting a drinks party for their neighbours. There is plenty of alcohol, an array of cheese-pineapple savoury bites and olives, and Demis Roussos on the record player. But as prejudices are unmasked and tempers flare, the evening seems headed for disaster.
Alexander Armstrong & His Band Celebrate The Great British Songbook at the St James Theatre Studio
Alexander Armstrong, acclaimed comedian, actor, musician and presenter, celebrates his love of music and great songs in this fantastic new show. With his exceptionally versatile band, Alexander breathes new life into songs from Noel Coward, Anthony Newley, Mike Batt, Neil Hannon and many others in this new show created especially for the London Festival of Cabaret. London Festival of Cabaret season ticket: receive a 15% discount on your ticket face values when you book for four or more different shows from the London Festival of Cabaret season. Call 020 7492 0890 to book. Not valid for multiple purchases on the same show.
Alternative Eurovision - Wonderground at the The London Wonderground
The critically acclaimed E4 Udderbelly Festival institution is back for another sensational season! After sell out shows in 2011, this wonderful twisted array of camp, flamboyant and outrageous acts will again present their unique take on classic Eurovision moments. There'll be something for everyone who loves the kitschiest shows on the planet. Visit timeout.com/live for line-up details.
Alun Cochrane - Udderbelly at the Udderbelly
Alun has appeared on a range of TV and radio shows including BBC Two's Never Mind The Buzzcocks and Mock The Week, BBC One's Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow and Have I Got News For You, Channel 4's 8 Out Of 10 Cats and Radio 4's Just A Minute as well as various stand-up spots on Comedy Central.
American Buffalo at the Wyndham's Theatre
Damian Lewis, known internationally for his Emmy® and Golden Globe® award-winning performance as ‘Nicholas Brody’ in Homeland, returns to the West End, alongside the Emmy® and Golden Globe® Award winner John Goodman and Outer Critics Circle Theatre Award winner Tom Sturridge, in this major new revival directed by D Evans. David Mamet's explosive drama examines the fickle nature of honour among thieves. As three small-time crooks plan one big-time heist, a tragedy of errors spins this razor-sharp and darkly funny play into a blistering account of divided loyalties, insatiable greed and a coveted Buffalo nickel.
Andy Zaltzman (& guests): Satirist for Hire - Election Special at the Udderbelly
Andy Zaltzman brings his uniquely interactive satirical stand up show to Udderbelly Festival for three election specials. As polling day approaches and the nation cowers behind its collective sofa hoping for the least bad outcome, Andy and top guest comediens will address the audiences queries, complaints, demands and general gripes.
Andy Zaltzman Swears to Tell the Truth, Half Truth and Everything But the Truth - Udderbelly at the Udderbelly
Zaltzman - the star of worldwide smash hit podcast, The Bugle, Radio 4's Andy Zaltzman's History Of The Third Millennium, Political Animal and (sporadically) The Now Show, as well as Yes, It's The Ashes and 7 Day Sunday (5 Live) - is under oath, and on a mission to solve the all of the planet's problems.
Anjin: The Shogun and the English Samurai at the Sadler's Wells
William Adams, known in Japanese as Anjin, was an English maritime pilot who is believed to be the first Englishman to ever reach Japan. His story is brought to the stage in a stunning new play directed by the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Artistic Director, Gregory Doran, and written by Mike Poulton with Shoichiro Kawai.
Autobahn at the King's Head Theatre
Regarded as one of the most celebrated American playwriters, Neil LaBute has enthralled audiences all over the world with his layered characters, sharp dialogue and subtle social commentaries. Savio(u)r is thrilled to present the London premiere of his play, Autobahn, directed by Off West End Award nominee Tim Sullivan.
Autumn Glory at the Sadler's Wells
This season's triple bill, Autumn Glory, features Ninette de Valois' Checkmate, with a score by Sir Arthur Bliss and iconic designs by E. McKnight Kauffer, Frederick Ashton's Symphonic Variations performed by six dancers to one of Cesar Franck's finest works and Pineapple Poll, choreographed by John Cranko and danced to a foot tapping medley of Gilbert and Sullivan.
Avenue Q at the Wyndham's Theatre
Avenue Q is now in its 5th sensational year as London's funniest show! The characters on this downtown street in New York are out of work, out of luck and desperately seeking their purpose in life; just what are you supposed to do with a B.A. in English? With its hugely talented cast of performers and puppets - you've never seen a show like Avenue Q before! Contains scenes unsuitable for children under 12.
Baggage at the Arts Theatre
Baggage is the story of close friends, reunited through tragedy hoping to repair their damaged relationship before it's too late. Flashback to Primrose Hill and Lima airport 2007 and enjoy their Internet dating rollercoaster. Can true love and friendship prevail? Click and Add to Basket then Checkout, or Carry on Shopping? After all you're only ever two clicks from blissful happiness. "What became of those people we used to be?"
Bakersfield Mist at the Duchess Theatre
Bakersfield Mist marks the return to the London stage of multi award-winner Kathleen Turner for the first time since her tour-de-force performance in Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. Inspired by true events, this new play by Stephen Sachs asks vital questions about what makes art and people truly authentic.
Barb Jungr- Mad About The Boy and No Regrets at the Soho Theatre
Britain's top song stylist and international cabaret singer in a special collection for London Festival of Cabaret. Walk on the dark side of love and loss, sex and corruption of the soul as Barb sings Springsteen, Coward, Dylan, Weill, Cohen and more. Every performance is a roller coaster ride. Are you strong enough? London Festival of Cabaret season ticket: receive a 15% discount on your ticket face values when you book for four or more different shows from the London Festival of Cabaret season. Call 020 7492 0890 to book. Not valid for multiple purchases on the same show.
Barry Manilow - Ipswich at the Ipswich Town FC
With over 50 Top 40 Hits, Barry Manilow's unparalleled career encompasses virtually every arena of music, including performing, composing, arranging and producing. A Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, Manilow has triumphed in every medium of entertainment. With worldwide record sales exceeding 80 million, Barry Manilow has produced, arranged, and released over 40 albums over the course of his career. This pop icon has written hundreds of songs and performed around the globe thrilling millions of fans, winning a Grammy, two Emmys, a Tony Award and an Oscar nomination along the way.
Barry Manilow - Southampton at the The Ageas Bowl
With over 50 Top 40 Hits, Barry Manilow's unparalleled career encompasses virtually every arena of music, including performing, composing, arranging and producing. A Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, Manilow has triumphed in every medium of entertainment. With worldwide record sales exceeding 80 million, Barry Manilow has produced, arranged, and released over 40 albums over the course of his career. This pop icon has written hundreds of songs and performed around the globe thrilling millions of fans, winning a Grammy, two Emmys, a Tony Award and an Oscar nomination along the way.
Barry Manilow - Wembley Arena at the Wembley Arena
Manilow, the undisputed #1 Adult Contemporary Artist of all time, will bring his high energy, hit-packed concert to cities across the nation and around the world. With more than 50 Top 40 hits like, Mandy, Can't Smile Without You and Copacabana (at The Copa).
Battleacts! at the The Light Bar at The Vault Festival
BattleActs! is an award-winning late-night comedy party show that has performed to rave reviews around the country. The show sees two teams of fearless improvisers pitched against each other by a ball-busting compere. Each team attempts to prove their worth and battle it out for the ultimate prize: the audience’s respect! BattleActs! take what Whose Line Is It Anyway? and popular panel shows such as Mock the Week and Have I Got News For You and combine it with a high-octane mix of seemingly impossible verbal and physical challenges.
Be Bop A Lula at the Ambassadors Theatre
Four giants of the Rock ‘n’ Roll world come together for the first time in BE BOP A LULA! A brand-new show which will take your breath away from the first chord to the explosive finale! Backed by some of the UK’s finest musicians, Gavin Stanley and Lars Young recreate these legends with passion and a very real ‘feel’ of the artists and their music.
Being Shakespeare at the Harold Pinter Theatre
Simon Callow brings to life Shakespeare's unforgettable characters and the real man behind the legend in this triumphant play, Being Shakespeare. It took the Edinburgh Festival by storm and, following a hugely successful national tour, Callow's magnificent performance is now set to light up the West End for a strictly limited season.
Belongings at the Trafalgar Studio Two
A young female soldier returns from Afghanistan to a home she no longer recognises or connects with. She has proved herself in combat but her hardest battle is yet to come, as she navigates family politics, old relationships, and the memory of betrayal. From the deserts of a modern war to the battleground of a family kitchen, Morgan Lloyd Malcolm's explosive new play delves into one woman's quest for identity and a place she can call home.
Birmingham Royal Ballet - Opposites Attract! at the Sadler's Wells
Opposites Attract features three modern ballets. Lyric Pieces is American choreographer Jessica Lang's first ballet for a major European company, set to music by Norwegian romantic Edvard Grieg. Take Five is director David Bintley's personal tribute to jazz icon Dave Brubeck. Completing the bill, one of Hans van Manen's most famous works, Gr?sse Fuge, is an invigorating and uplifting experience that has lost none of its power over the last 40 years.
Birmingham Royal Ballet's The Prince of the Pagodas at the London Coliseum
David Bintley's new interpretation of The Prince of the Pagodas is one of the most exciting UK ballet premieres of 2014. This imaginative reworking of a classic fairytale celebrates the power of family love. With spectacular and imaginative costumes by War Horse designer Rae Smith and inspired by Benjamin Britten's only full-length ballet score, these London premiere performances are the culmination of the year-long Britten 100 celebrations.
Blithe Spirit at the Gielgud Theatre
In order to observe a spiritualist first-hand for a planned novel, writer Charles Condomine (Charles Edwards) and wife Ruth (Janie Dee) invite friends the Bradmans to dinner and a séance with local clairvoyant Madame Arcati (Angela Lansbury), whom they are certain is a fake. That all changes when the ghost of his first wife Elvira is summoned. Elvira overstays her welcome in the following days, causing a rift between Charles and his at-first disbelieving, then jealous second wife. The feuding wives, ghostly and mortal, plot to sabotage Charles’ existence and other's. But who will succeed?
Blofeld and Baxter: Memories of a Test Match Special at the Lyric Theatre
Following a sell-out 28 date UK tour, a BBC Radio 4 show and a return season at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Henry Blofeld and Peter Baxter invite you to join them for a behind the scenes exclusive of what makes TMS so special. Hear tall tales from across the globe from Brian Johnston to Jonathan Agnew and discover the extraordinary escapades of players both on and off the pitch. They will regale you with even more untold stories from memory lane and offer ‘direct from the booth' insights from the Ashes and a summer of cricket.
Blood Brothers at the Phoenix Theatre
Written by Willy Russell, one of the country's leading contemporary dramatists, BLOOD BROTHERS tells the captivating and moving tale of twins who, separated at birth, grow up on opposite sides of the tracks. The incredible score includes Bright New Day and the emotionally charged Tell Me It's Not True. Experience this great British musical at the Phoenix Theatre today!
Bloodshot at the St James Theatre Studio
Jazz, cabaret and a single shot in Holland Park set the scene for a pulse-racing crime thriller. 1957, London. Derek is a skilled photographer, very down on his luck. A mysterious envelope drops through the letter box of his cold bedsit a stranger asking him to take secret pictures of an elegant young woman as she walks in Holland Park… The reward is handsome.
Boom Boom Club Prospero's Tavern - Wonderground at the The London Wonderground
Welcome to the boozer at the end of the world, where flotsam and jetsam gather to tell tall tales of times gone by. Kaleidoscopic cabaret featuring a revolving cast and live rock?n?roll soundtrack. Spectacular circus, heart-breaking song, and surreal comedy rub shoulders at the party which never, ever ends.
Boris Charmatz Musee de la Dance - enfant at the Sadler's Wells
Dancer and choreographer Boris Charmatz has been subverting forms of dance and movement for over 15 years. Director since 2009 of the Rennes and Britanny National Choreographic Centre, he maintains an extensive touring schedule, working on improvised pieces on a regular basis while also continuing his work as a performer with Tino Sehgal and Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker.
Bourgeois and Maurice We Started a Band - Wonderground at the The London Wonderground
Twisting modern life into some of the catchiest, most peculiar pop songs you'll hear this year, award-winning cabaret duo Bourgeois & Maurice bring their critically-acclaimed 4-piece band show to London Wonderground for two nights only. An unrivalled mix of social commentary, musical comedy and fashion so high you?ll wonder what you?ve taken.
Boyzone: Durham at the Durham County Cricket Club
Boyzone are to take to the stage this summer for a concert at the Emirates Durham International Cricket Ground in Chester-le-Street. “We love the chance to play outdoors through the summer so I’m looking forward to a great night in Durham,” said Ronan. Formed more than 20 years ago Boyzone have released 21 singles and seven albums, and chalking up 25 million record sales with singles including Love Me For A Reason, Father and Son and Picture of You. Other hits included Words, A Different Beat, All That I Need, No Matter What, When The Going Gets Tough and You Needed Me.
Brasil Brasileiro at the Sadler's Wells
The exuberance and energy of Brazil returns to Sadler's Wells this summer as 35 performers from Rio de Janeiro bring alive the spirit that makes Brazil so unique. Famed for its euphoric dance heritage, this is a country where the musical culture of Africa and Europe merge in a melting pot of dance forms to create its own national rhythm: the samba.
Brassed Off: Dartford at the The Orchard Theatre
To coincide with the 30th anniversary of the miners strike, this adaptation of much-loved Britflick of Brassed Off is directed by Damian Cruden (Director of Olivier Award winning The Railway Children) and stars John McArdle (Brookside) and Andrew Dunn (Dinner Ladies and Coronation Street).
British Summer Time - A Day at the Park at the Hyde Park
A Day At the Park, the ultimate show for the entire family to enjoy at Barclaycard Presents British Summer Time Hyde Park featuring a cross generational package of artists to keep the youngest to the oldest member of the family entertained! JLS, The Beach Boys, The Saturdays and Paul Young line-up alongside The Gruffalo, Horrible Histories and Brainiac for a day of the best music, comedy and entertainment for all ages. With further international acts and artists appearing across all four stages, Sunday 7th July will welcome the whole family to a great day out as part of the 10-day extravaganza.
British Summer Time - Bon Jovi at the Hyde Park
Bon Jovi’s huge concert in London’s Hyde Park has recruited more rock gods as part of Barclaycard Presents British Summer Time Hyde Park. Shaping up to be a day of rock on the main stage, Kaiser Chiefs will step up to the Great Oak Stage alongside fellow British stars Bush, to join Bon Jovi’s previously announced show on Friday July 5th.
British Summer Time - Elton John at the Hyde Park
British Summer Time Hyde Park celebrate a great evening of British songwriters as three of the country’s finest take to The Great Oak Stage, the Grammy Award-winning legend ELTON JOHN and his band as the headline act. Added to the bill will be the legendary former-Kinks frontman, RAY DAVIES and the outstanding ELVIS COSTELLO performing full sets with their own bands in the run up to Sir Elton and his band.
British Summer Time - Lionel Richie & Jennifer Lopez at the Hyde Park
Get ready for a double-barrelled blast of classic pop-soul with Lionel Richie and Jennifer Lopez in hot 'n' heady Hyde Park this summer. Expect sleek, sexy renditions of hits Love Don’t Cost A Thing, On The Floor and Jenny From The Block from incomparable Latino superstar J-Lo. before closing down the evening with hit after singalong hit from ex-Commodores main man Richie, including Hello, Three Times A Lady and a bound-to-be ecstatic All Night Long. Special guests including Nile Rogers and Chic, Eliza Dolittle, Al Jarreau and Beverley Knight make this final night of the Barclaycard British Summer Time festival utterly unmissable.
Camille O'Sullivan Chameleon - Wonderground at the The London Wonderground
Camille has stunned audiences around the world with 5-star sell-out performances, including the London Roundhouse, Sydney Opera House and New York. Changeling celebrates the release of her new studio album featuring songs by Arcade Fire, Radiohead and Snow Patrol as well as Cave, Waits and Bowie. Expect fire, ice, darkness, joy and pure passion.
Camille O'Sullivan Changeling - Wonderground at the The London Wonderground
Camille has stunned audiences around the world with 5-star sell-out performances, including the London Roundhouse, Sydney Opera House and New York. Changeling celebrates the release of her new studio album featuring songs by Arcade Fire, Radiohead and Snow Patrol as well as Cave, Waits and Bowie. Expect fire, ice, darkness, joy and pure passion.
Camille O'Sullivan Feel - Wonderground at the The London Wonderground
Chameleon like on stage each song has a different character and story to tell-Dark, fierce, amusing and mesmerizing, Camille transforms songs of Cave, Brel, Waits, Bowie into an intense theatrical experience. With recent 5-star sell-out performances, including London's Royal Festival Hall, 6 week run in London's West End, Sydney Opera House and New York and a show stealing appearance on Jools Holland . Expect fire, ice, darkness, joy and pure passion. A sellout success at Edinburgh Fringe 2011
Camille O'Sullivan The Cat's Miaow - Wonderground at the The London Wonderground
An evening of variety of different wonderful performers with Camille the kitty hosting. The kitty is back, complete with a dark and deliciously sensational variety show for two nights only. Camille hosts an evening with some special friends from music, circus, dance and theatre, plus some purrrrrrrfect tunes from the kitty herself!. Meow!
Camille O'Sullivan The Dark Angel - Wonderground at the The London Wonderground
Chameleon like on stage each song has a different character and story to tell-Dark, fierce, amusing and mesmerizing, Camille transforms songs of Cave, Brel, Waits, Bowie into an intense theatrical experience. With recent 5-star sell-out performances, including London?s Royal Festival Hall, 6 week run in London?s West End, Sydney Opera House and New York and a show stealing appearance on Jools Holland . Expect fire, ice, darkness, joy and pure passion. A sellout success at Edinburgh Fringe 2011.
Carmen at the London Coliseum
A passionate tale of lust, seduction and betrayal, no ther opera boasts as popular a following as Bizet's Carmen. Set during the dying days of Franco's Spain, Calixto Bieito's acclaimed production of this must see opera has been enjoyed by audiences across Europe.
Carmina Burana And Serenade at the London Coliseum
In the year that marks Director David Bintley's 20th year with Birmingham Royal Ballet, this programme celebrates this two decade lond relationship by combining an early piece by one of Bintley's heroes, George Balanchine, with the first ballet Bintley created for the company as Director, Carmina Burana.
Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet at the Sadler's Wells
Making their much anticipated UK premiere New York's Cedar Lake is one of the world's most exciting dance companies. Led by artistic director Benoit-Swan Pouffer, they combine powerful physicality with classical technique in works created by some of today?s most provocative dance makers.
Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet: Triple Bill at the Sadler's Wells
Founded in 2003, New York based Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet has been recognised for its exceptionally talented dancers and an emphasis on cultivating collaborations with the world's most sought after choreographers. Under the Artistic Direction of Benoit- Swan Pouffer, Cedar Lake has amassed one of themost diverse repertoires in dance.
Celebrity Night At Cafe Red at the Trafalgar Studio Two
Saturday Night at Cafe Red, the Frenchest chain restaurant in town - with strings of onions, checked tablecloths, and candles in wine bottles to prove it. But this is a night of change, of fresh ideas - visiting Celebrity Chef Extraordinaire Roly Ryan is in the kitchen whisking up trouble. How can he know his diners have also brought their own unusual ingredients to the table?
Charley Bear at the Ambassadors Theatre
This year Little Charley Bear (As seen on CBeebies!) will be appearing live on stage for the first time at the Ambassadors Theatre in London’s West End. Only Adult tickets are available online. To make a booking including Adult and Child tickets please contact us by telephone and speak to one of our representatives.
Charley's Aunt at the Menier Chocolate Factory
Charley's rich Aunt, Donna Lucia, is visiting from Brazil and the timing couldn't be better. Her presence as a chaperone will allow him and his friend Jack to ask their respective true loves, Amy and Kitty, for their hands in marriage. But time is ticking, so where is Charley's Aunt? On learning she will be delayed by several days, they blackmail their eccentric friend, Lord Fancourt Babberley, to save their romantic plans and pose as Donna Lucia. and then Charley's real Aunt arrives.
Chris De Burgh in Concert - 11 May 2015 at the Royal Albert Hall
Chris de Burgh is an Irish/British singer-songwriter and instrumentalist. He is most famous for his 1986 love song 'Lady In Red', which reached number one in several countries. De Burgh has sold over 45 million albums worldwide. His emotional songs combine melody and rhythm with storytelling.
Christmas Carol at the Trafalgar Studio Two
The heart of Ebenezer Scrooge is as cold as ice. Christmas, for the bitter old miser, is not a good enough reason to be jolly. Horla, the company that produced the Grimms Trilogy among other festive offerings, return to Trafalgar Studio 2 with their critically acclaimed A Christmas Carol.
Christmas Special Intimate Card Shark Shows at the The Royal Institution Conversation Room
Up close and personal with the UK's leading sleight of hand expert Steve Truglia AIMC. These special shows are being held for December only in the Royal Institution's Conversation Room, a stunning library within this historic grade 1 listed building in London's Mayfair.
Christmas Spectacular at the The O2 Arena
Music, lights, carols, special effects along with a dazzling indoor firework finale will make up the 2010 Christmas Spectacular at the O2. This year's extravaganza will feature names such as Ruthie Henshall, Rhydian Roberts and music played by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra making it a perfect Christmas treat.
Christmas With The Rat Pack at the London Palladium
Tis the season to be merry! Beat the winter blues with the special Christmas version of the hit show for the festive season, take a trip back in time to the glamorous, glitzy nights of Las Vegas in the late 1950s and early 60s where , in the company of three of the world's most popular entertainers, the fabulous Burrelli Sisters and The Rat Pack Big Band , you will experience Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr and Dean Martin performing a the famous Sands hotel.
Chronixx at the Somerset House
Jamaica’s Jamar Rolando McNaughton Jr (aka Chronixx) adds reggae to this year’s line-up. Surrounded by Burro Barton, Norris Man and Gregory Isaacs during his formative years, Chronixx has been inspired by his many mentors to become the reggae artist that we see today.
Cinderella at the London Coliseum
A brand new Cinderella ballet, choreographed by the internationally acclaimed Christopher Wheeldon, will be performed live at the London Coliseum in July 2015. Premiered by the Dutch National Ballet at Dutch National Opera & Ballet in December 2012 to a rapturous reception from both ballet fans and critics alike, this will be the first time the ballethas been performed on stage outside the Netherlands.
Cipollino at the London Coliseum
The fairy-tale story by Italian author Gianni Rodari tells of the adventures of the Little Onion boy (Cipollino), who fights the unjust treatment of his fellow vegetable folk (his little girlfriend Radish, old Mr Pumpkin, handyman Master Grape) by the fruit "aristocracy" (foppish Prince Lemon, martinet Signor Tomato and the Count Cherry).
Circa: Beyond at the The London Wonderground
Circa are quite simply one of the world's great contemporary circus companies. Their new show Beyond, combines stunning circus skills with a joyous reflection on the absurdity of our species. Acrobats hang, lift and balance in a series of ever-more challenging acrobatic configurations. Venture Beyond to discover the animal within and what makes us human.
Circus Maximus at the Udderbelly
The UK's foremost circus competition returns this April - live once more from the giant purple cow. In a week of exciting heats, 20 of the UK's hottest circus acts perform for your applause, adoration and votes to win a place in the grand final.
Circus Maximus - finals at the Udderbelly
Twenty of the UK's hottest circus acts will dazzle and delight you with remarkable feats of bamboozling skill, physical prowess and unexpected hilarity. A unique and exciting live show, unlike anything you've ever experienced, this is the UK's first ever circus competition. The country’s finest circus talents compete in the iconic Udderbelly for the votes of the audience and judges. The prize? £5,000 and the opportunity to develop a new show with Underbelly Productions and Circus Space - the UK's foremost centre for circus arts.
Circus Maximus - heat 1 at the Udderbelly
Twenty of the UK's hottest circus acts will dazzle and delight you with remarkable feats of bamboozling skill, physical prowess and unexpected hilarity. A unique and exciting live show, unlike anything you've ever experienced, this is the UK's first ever circus competition. The country’s finest circus talents compete in the iconic Udderbelly for the votes of the audience and judges. The prize? £5,000 and the opportunity to develop a new show with Underbelly Productions and Circus Space - the UK's foremost centre for circus arts.
Circus Maximus - heat 2 at the Udderbelly
Twenty of the UK's hottest circus acts will dazzle and delight you with remarkable feats of bamboozling skill, physical prowess and unexpected hilarity. A unique and exciting live show, unlike anything you've ever experienced, this is the UK's first ever circus competition. The country’s finest circus talents compete in the iconic Udderbelly for the votes of the audience and judges. The prize? £5,000 and the opportunity to develop a new show with Underbelly Productions and Circus Space - the UK's foremost centre for circus arts.
Circus Maximus - heat 3 at the Udderbelly
Twenty of the UK's hottest circus acts will dazzle and delight you with remarkable feats of bamboozling skill, physical prowess and unexpected hilarity. A unique and exciting live show, unlike anything you've ever experienced, this is the UK's first ever circus competition. The country’s finest circus talents compete in the iconic Udderbelly for the votes of the audience and judges. The prize? £5,000 and the opportunity to develop a new show with Underbelly Productions and Circus Space - the UK's foremost centre for circus arts.
Circus Maximus - heat 4 at the Udderbelly
Twenty of the UK's hottest circus acts will dazzle and delight you with remarkable feats of bamboozling skill, physical prowess and unexpected hilarity. A unique and exciting live show, unlike anything you've ever experienced, this is the UK's first ever circus competition. The country’s finest circus talents compete in the iconic Udderbelly for the votes of the audience and judges. The prize? £5,000 and the opportunity to develop a new show with Underbelly Productions and Circus Space - the UK's foremost centre for circus arts.
Cirkus Cirkor - Underman at the Roundhouse
Renowned for creating circus on a grand scale, Swedish company Cirkus Cirk?r now take a more intimate approach with their latest production. Touching and artfully simple, Underm?n is an insight into the lives of circus performers and a tale of passion, love, Vegas and loss. Currently taking Europe by storm, the show now comes to the UK for the first time.
Cirque Eloize ? iD at the Peacock Theatre
A leader in the world of contemporary circus, Cirque Éloize has been creating moving performances filled with magic since 1993. Based on the multidisciplinary talents of its artists, Cirque Éloize expresses its innovative nature through theatricality and humanity, and combines circus arts with music, dance and theatre.
Cirque Eloize: Cirkopolis at the Peacock Theatre
A World leader in contemporary circus and a firm favourite in the West End, Cirque Eloize returns to the Peacock Theatre with a bold new show, following the success of iD in 2013. Based on the talents of its extraordinaru performers, Cirque Eloize expresses its innovative nature through theatricality and humanity, and combines circus arts with music, dance and theatre.
Clare Teal at the The Pheasantry
As part of the London Festival of Cabaret our very own Queen of Swing celebrates the music of her heroines, the leading lights of the jazz and big band world Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Judy Garland, Doris Day and may of their illustrious Contemporaries. London Festival of Cabaret season ticket: receive a 15% discount on your ticket face values when you book for four or more different shows from the London Festival of Cabaret season. Call 020 7492 0890 to book. Not valid for multiple purchases on the same show.
Collabro at the London Palladium
Britain's Got Talent 2014 winners Collabro have announced a 23 date nationwide UK Tour for 2015 and will be joined by very special guest and runner up Lucy Kay. Collabro are an English musical theatre boy band who took the Britain's Got Talent judges and viewers breath away with their renditions of classic tracks.
Comedy Club 4 Kids - Udderbelly at the Udderbelly
The Comedy Club 4 Kids is back with the best stand-ups and sketch acts from the international circuit doing their thing for an audience of children and their families
but without the rude bits! It's just like a normal comedy club, but it's on in the day, kids are allowed in, and thus there is a higher than usual chance of heckles like "why is that your face!?"
Comedy in the Dark - Udderbelly at the Udderbelly
Comedy in the Dark is an innovative show which features top comedians performing in the dark. It's the most fun you can have with the lights switched off. Since the show premiered in Leicester 2008 it has visited Edinburgh Fringe, London and Denmark and returns to Udderbelly Festival and toured the UK.
Communicating Doors at the Menier Chocolate Factory
Set in a near dystopian future, a dominatrix flees for her life through a hotel communicating door only to find herself 20 years in the past. Stalked by a psychopath in the present and the past, the opportunity to alter time for the better puts the lives of three women at stake.
Compagnie du Hanneton James Thierree - Tabac Rouge at the Sadler's Wells
Tabac Rouge is a fascinating world in which mystery, mirrors, music and movement combine to catapult you into the unfathomable logic of dreams. Thiérrée marks his return to London after an absence of four years, with a vibrant tribute to dance and theatre.
Cool Hand Luke at the Aldwych Theatre
Starring Marc Warren (Hustle, Mad Dogs) as the charismatic rebel, Cool Hand Luke is the hard-hitting story of a true original.In a powerful new adaptation for the stage by Emma Reeves, based on Donn Pearce's acclaimed novel, and directed by Andrew Loudon Cool Hand Luke is the raw, uncompromising tale of sticking it to 'The Man'.
Cool Rider: The Cult Musical Sequel at the Duchess Theatre
Perhaps the greatest sequel ever told, COOL RIDER, the cult musical sequel is BACK and in the West End for one week only. After the rapturous reception of this cult classic, the team are cool riding into the historic Duchess Theatre this April.
Coppelia at the London Coliseum
With a wild mix of abracadabra and some mischievous maidens, comic chaos is riotously unleashed when humans and automatons collide in Dr. Coppelius's spooky toyshop. Peter Wright's enchanting family friendly production of this joyous and witty ballet is an ever-popular celebration of love, with a sparkling score and breathtaking choreography.
Cynthia Erivo at the Charing Cross Theatre
Singular Sensations - Cynthia Erivo Edward Seckerson(formerly the presenter of BBC Radio 3’s long-running musical theatre show Stage & Screen), continues his Singular Sensations series of in-depth encounters with stars of musical theatre at London’s Charing Cross Theatre. The event at Charing Cross Theatre on Sunday 19th July at 3pm will feature Cynthia Erivo.
Daddy Long Legs at the St. James Theatre
Daddy Long Legs, the two person musical written by Multiple Tony Award and Olivier Award winning director John Caird and Tony Nominated Composer Paul Gordon, continues to tour the country to glowing reviews and standing ovations. With an emphasis on story-telling over special effects, the musical’s romantic story and lyrical score are thrilling audiences all across the country. With plans in the works for productions in London, Canada, New York and beyond, Daddy Long Legs continues to prove that you don’t need overblown budgets and dazzling special effects to achieve the emotional heart that this musical succeeds in delivering night after night.
Dame Diana Rigg - No Turn Unstoned at the Duchess Theatre
Dame Diana Rigg- No Turn Unstoned, A history and anecdotes of life in the theatre. Dame Diana Rigg, DBE, is one of the UK's leading stage and screen actresses. Notable roles include Medea, Mother Courage, Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf, The Avengers, Game Of Thrones, Mother Love and On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Direct from a sell out season at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Tony & Emmy Award Winner Dame Diana brings to the West End her best selling work for the first time. The performance will be followed by a question and answer session.
Damned by Despair at the Olivier Theatre
This fast-paced adventure story embraces bandits and beautiful women between glimpses of heaven and hell. The subversive and at times riotous exploration of faith and the transformative power of love races across the Italian landscape, relishing the unpredictability of fate, an extraordinary array of characters and their very real dilemmas.
Dance 'til Dawn at the Aldwych Theatre
Fresh from wowing audiences across the country with Midnight Tango, Strictly Come Dancing favourites Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace bring you their sensational new production Dance 'Til Dawn, a show straight from the Golden Age of Hollywood. Get ready for an unforgettable evening of timeless sophistication and world class dance, with stunning sets, glamorous costumes and a full live band performing iconic numbers including Feeling Good, Moon River and Stand By Me.
Dance 'Til Dawn: Edinburgh at the Edinburgh Playhouse
Strictly Come Dancing favourites Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace are back with a brand new show, Dance ‘Til Dawn! After wowing audiences across the country with Midnight Tango, the dazzling duo return in a sensational dance show straight from the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Dancing on Ice - The Final Tour 2014: Manchester at the Manchester Arena
Jayne Torvill, Christopher Dean and ITV have announced that Dancing on Ice will end next year and this will be followed by the last ever Dancing on Ice tour - a spectacular live show, that will perform across the UK, starting in March 2014.
Dancing on Ice - The Final Tour 2014: Newcastle at the Metro Radio Arena
Jayne Torvill, Christopher Dean and ITV have announced that Dancing on Ice will end next year and this will be followed by the last ever Dancing on Ice tour - a spectacular live show, that will perform across the UK, starting in March 2014.
Dancing on Ice - The Final Tour 2014: Nottingham at the Capital FM Arena
Jayne Torvill, Christopher Dean and ITV have announced that Dancing on Ice will end next year and this will be followed by the last ever Dancing on Ice tour - a spectacular live show, that will perform across the UK, starting in March 2014.
Dancing on Ice - The Final Tour 2014: Sheffield at the Sheffield Motorpoint Arena
Jayne Torvill, Christopher Dean and ITV have announced that Dancing on Ice will end next year and this will be followed by the last ever Dancing on Ice tour - a spectacular live show, with performances in arenas all over the UK.
Dancing on Ice - The Final Tour 2014: Wembley Arena at the Wembley Arena
Jayne Torvill, Christopher Dean and ITV have announced that Dancing on Ice will end next year and this will be followed by the last ever Dancing on Ice tour - a spectacular live show, with performances in arenas all over the UK.
Death of a Salesman at the Noel Coward Theatre
In the land of the free, each man is in charge of his own destiny. Willy Loman knows and cherishes this truth. After a life of honest hard work, it's Willy's birthright to retire with his loving wife and watch his two athletic, handsome sons continue his legacy. Yet as old age begins to take hold and retirement beckons, Willy's dream seems further away than ever. Decades of graft have somehow failed to translate into wealth and his eldest son refuses to follow the path his father has chosen for him. As actions buried in his past re-surface, Willy struggles to reconcile his long cherished dream with the life he has actually lived.
Deathtrap at the Noel Coward Theatre
A murder mystery so wickedly good, it's to die for! Matthew Warchus directs a unique cast which includes Simon Russell Beale (lead in the sell-out National Theatre production of London Assurance)and Jonathan Groff (star of the hit US TV series Glee. Ingeniously clever and hilariously twisted, Deathtrap is the most celebrated thriller by Ira Levin, author of The Stepford Wives, Rosemary's Baby, The Boys from Brazil and A Kiss Before Dying.
Deca Dance at the Sadler's Wells
Batsheva Ensemble is the younger branch of Israel's world-renowned contemporary dance group, Batsheva Dance Company. Led by artistic director Ohad Naharin, they have been described as "acrobats of God" (San Francisco Chronicle) who "dance like demons" (New York Times).
Decomposed Jazz at the The Cage at The Vault Festival
Decomposed Jazz blends Jazz with Avant Garde contemporary music. These seemingly unconnected styles were both seen as “complicated noise” when they first developed. We will explore this phenomenon by reaching into two diverse worlds to find the true essence of the genres and see how they relate to the modern ear. Complicated rhythm is the order of the day. Dust off those eardrums and come along for the ride.
Democracy at the Old Vic Theatre
Democracy takes us into a world of political intrigue, espionage and betrayal . Based on real life events during the final months in office of the charismatic West German Chancellor Willy Brandt, this political tale unfolds as suspicions rise of a Stasi spy infiltrating his inner circle. Tensions mount as Brandt's precarious coalition government is pushed to its limits.
Dessa Rose at the Trafalgar Studio Two
This powerful and moving story, set in 1846 in the ante-bellum South, follows two young women on their journey to acceptance. With elements of blues, folk, hymns and gospel, Dessa Rose perfectly blends history and fiction. The storytelling for which Ahrens and Flaherty are most famous is masterfully exhibited throughout. Passionate and innocent Dessa Rose is a young slave faced with a barrage of hardships because of the colour of her skin. While Ruth, a young white mother, faces difficulties because of her gender.
Di and Viv and Rose at the Vaudeville Theatre
Di and Viv and Rose stars Tamzin Outhwaite, Samantha Spiro and Jenna Russell, and is a hilarious and thoughtful exploration of friendship's impact on life and life's impact on friendship. Anna Mackin directs Amelia Bullmore's acclaimed new play, which crackles with wisdom and wit.
Diana Vishneva: On The Edge at the London Coliseum
Diana Visheva: On The Edge celebrates the extraodinary artistic versatility of one of today's greatest dancers. Praised for her dazzling technique and dramatic intensity, Vishenva is the starof two works commissioned specifically for her: Jean Christophe Maillot's intriguing pas de trois Switch and Carolyn Carlson's profound solo work Woman In A Room. Diana Vishneva: On The Edge recieved its World Premiere at Segerstorm Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, California in November 2014. It recieved its European premiere in 2015 at the National Centre for Contemporary Choreography in Roubaix, followed by performances in Mente-Carlo at the Salle Garnier, The Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow and the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. This production is performed to a specially conceived and mastered soundtrack.
Dickens Abridged at the Arts Theatre
From the madcap pen of Reduced Shakespeare Company founder member Adam Long, Dickens Abridged is unlike any Dickens-based show you’ve ever seen before. In just ninety minutes, five Charles Dickens devotees from Santa Cruz, California, bring hundreds of Dickens’ best loved characters to life, in a hilarious, breakneck show that'll have you laughing all the way to the workhouse.
Disney On Ice - Dare to Dream: Birmingham at the National Indoor Arena, Birmingham
Classic meets contemporary in Disney On Ice presents Dare to Dream! Join your favourite Disney Princesses in a celebration of 75 years of Disney Princess stories, including two-modern day princesses, Rapunzel and Tiana; the always elegant Cinderella; and the princess who started it all, Snow White. Laugh at Disney's hilarious hair-raising escapade, Tangled, as Rapunzel; her unlikely companion, Flynn; and Maximus, the Captain of the Guard's determined horse; embark on an uproarious journey that takes adventure to new lengths!
Disney On Ice - Dare to Dream: Glasgow at the Glasgow Braehead Arena
Classic meets contemporary in Disney On Ice presents Dare to Dream! Join your favourite Disney Princesses in a celebration of 75 years of Disney Princess stories, including two-modern day princesses, Rapunzel and Tiana; the always elegant Cinderella; and the princess who started it all, Snow White. Laugh at Disney's hilarious hair-raising escapade, Tangled, as Rapunzel; her unlikely companion, Flynn; and Maximus, the Captain of the Guard's determined horse; embark on an uproarious journey that takes adventure to new lengths!
Disney On Ice - Dare to Dream: Manchester at the Manchester Arena
Classic meets contemporary in Disney On Ice presents Dare to Dream! Join your favourite Disney Princesses in a celebration of 75 years of Disney Princess stories, including two-modern day princesses, Rapunzel and Tiana; the always elegant Cinderella; and the princess who started it all, Snow White. Laugh at Disney's hilarious hair-raising escapade, Tangled, as Rapunzel; her unlikely companion, Flynn; and Maximus, the Captain of the Guard's determined horse; embark on an uproarious journey that takes adventure to new lengths!
Disney On Ice - Dare to Dream: Newcastle at the Metro Radio Arena
Classic meets contemporary in Disney On Ice presents Dare to Dream! Join your favourite Disney Princesses in a celebration of 75 years of Disney Princess stories, including two-modern day princesses, Rapunzel and Tiana; the always elegant Cinderella; and the princess who started it all, Snow White. Laugh at Disney's hilarious hair-raising escapade, Tangled, as Rapunzel; her unlikely companion, Flynn; and Maximus, the Captain of the Guard's determined horse; embark on an uproarious journey that takes adventure to new lengths!
Disney On Ice - Dare to Dream: O2 Arena at the The O2 Arena
Classic meets contemporary in Disney On Ice presents Dare to Dream! Join your favourite Disney Princesses in a celebration of 75 years of Disney Princess stories, including two-modern day princesses, Rapunzel and Tiana; the always elegant Cinderella; and the princess who started it all, Snow White. Laugh at Disney's hilarious hair-raising escapade, Tangled, as Rapunzel; her unlikely companion, Flynn; and Maximus, the Captain of the Guard's determined horse; embark on an uproarious journey that takes adventure to new lengths!
Disney On Ice - Dare to Dream: Sheffield at the Sheffield Motorpoint Arena
Classic meets contemporary in Disney On Ice presents Dare to Dream! Join your favourite Disney Princesses in a celebration of 75 years of Disney Princess stories, including two-modern day princesses, Rapunzel and Tiana; the always elegant Cinderella; and the princess who started it all, Snow White. Laugh at Disney's hilarious hair-raising escapade, Tangled, as Rapunzel; her unlikely companion, Flynn; and Maximus, the Captain of the Guard's determined horse; embark on an uproarious journey that takes adventure to new lengths!
Disney On Ice - Magical Ice Festival - Aberdeen at the AECC Aberdeen
Join us for an unforgettable show your family will melt for! See your favourite Disney princesses Ariel, Rapunzel and Belle in a new twist of fairytale fun. Plus for the first time in UK - join royal sisters Anna and Elsa from the Disney sensation Frozen, as they journey on a breath taking adventure live on ice!
Disney On Ice - Magical Ice Festival - Birmingham at the LG Arena, NEC
Join us for an unforgettable show your family will melt for! See your favourite Disney princesses Ariel, Rapunzel and Belle in a new twist of fairytale fun. Plus for the first time in UK - join royal sisters Anna and Elsa from the Disney sensation Frozen, as they journey on a breath taking adventure live on ice!
Disney On Ice - Magical Ice Festival - Cardiff at the Cardiff Motorpoint Arena
Join us for an unforgettable show your family will melt for! See your favourite Disney princesses Ariel, Rapunzel and Belle in a new twist of fairytale fun. Plus for the first time in UK - join royal sisters Anna and Elsa from the Disney sensation Frozen, as they journey on a breath taking adventure live on ice!
Disney On Ice - Magical Ice Festival - Glasgow at the SECC - The Hydro
Join us for an unforgettable show your family will melt for! See your favourite Disney princesses Ariel, Rapunzel and Belle in a new twist of fairytale fun. Plus for the first time in UK - join royal sisters Anna and Elsa from the Disney sensation Frozen, as they journey on a breath taking adventure live on ice!
Disney On Ice - Magical Ice Festival - Leeds at the Leeds Arena
Join us for an unforgettable show your family will melt for! See your favourite Disney princesses Ariel, Rapunzel and Belle in a new twist of fairytale fun. Plus for the first time in UK - join royal sisters Anna and Elsa from the Disney sensation Frozen, as they journey on a breath taking adventure live on ice!
Disney On Ice - Magical Ice Festival - Liverpool at the Liverpool Echo Arena
Join us for an unforgettable show your family will melt for! See your favourite Disney princesses Ariel, Rapunzel and Belle in a new twist of fairytale fun. Plus for the first time in UK - join royal sisters Anna and Elsa from the Disney sensation Frozen, as they journey on a breath taking adventure live on ice!
Disney On Ice - Magical Ice Festival - Nottingham at the Capital FM Arena
Join us for an unforgettable show your family will melt for! See your favourite Disney princesses Ariel, Rapunzel and Belle in a new twist of fairytale fun. Plus for the first time in UK - join royal sisters Anna and Elsa from the Disney sensation Frozen, as they journey on a breath taking adventure live on ice!
Disney On Ice - Magical Ice Festival Wembley at the Wembley Arena
Join us for an unforgettable show your family will melt for! See your favourite Disney princesses Ariel, Rapunzel and Belle in a new twist of fairytale fun. Plus for the first time in UK - join royal sisters Anna and Elsa from the Disney sensation Frozen, as they journey on a breath taking adventure live on ice!
Disney On Ice presents 100 Years of Magic: Birmingham at the National Indoor Arena, Birmingham
Join the celebration as more than 60 of Disneys unforgettable characters from 18 beloved stories come to life in Disney On Ice celebrates 100 Years of Magic. You’ll be captivated by the one and only Mickey Mouse, the irresistible Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck, Jiminy Cricket, Pinocchio and many of the Disney Princesses.
Disney On Ice presents 100 Years Of Magic: Glasgow at the Glasgow Braehead Arena
Join the celebration as more than 60 of Disneys unforgettable characters from 18 beloved stories come to life in Disney On Ice celebrates 100 Years of Magic. You’ll be captivated by the one and only Mickey Mouse, the irresistible Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck, Jiminy Cricket, Pinocchio and many of the Disney Princesses.
Disney On Ice presents 100 Years of Magic: Manchester at the Manchester Arena
Join the celebration as more than 60 of Disneys unforgettable characters from 18 beloved stories come to life in Disney On Ice celebrates 100 Years of Magic. You’ll be captivated by the one and only Mickey Mouse, the irresistible Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck, Jiminy Cricket, Pinocchio and many of the Disney Princesses.
Disney On Ice presents 100 Years of Magic: Newcastle at the Metro Radio Arena
Join the celebration as more than 60 of Disneys unforgettable characters from 18 beloved stories come to life in Disney On Ice celebrates 100 Years of Magic. You’ll be captivated by the one and only Mickey Mouse, the irresistible Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck, Jiminy Cricket, Pinocchio and many of the Disney Princesses.
Disney On Ice presents 100 Years of Magic: O2 Arena at the The O2 Arena
Join the celebration as more than 60 of Disneys unforgettable characters from 18 beloved stories come to life in Disney On Ice celebrates 100 Years of Magic. You’ll be captivated by the one and only Mickey Mouse, the irresistible Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck, Jiminy Cricket, Pinocchio and many of the Disney Princesses.
Disney On Ice presents 100 Years of Magic: Sheffield at the Sheffield Motorpoint Arena
Join the celebration as more than 60 of Disneys unforgettable characters from 18 beloved stories come to life in Disney On Ice celebrates 100 Years of Magic. You’ll be captivated by the one and only Mickey Mouse, the irresistible Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck, Jiminy Cricket, Pinocchio and many of the Disney Princesses.
Don Carlo at the Royal Opera House
Don Carlos falls in love with Elizabeth, daughter of Henry II of France. But his father, King Philip II of Spain, intends to marry her himself to se-cure a peace treaty. Can Don Carlos give up his love for the good of the state?
Don Giovanni at the Royal Opera House
The impulsive and charismatic Don Giovanni travels through Europe seducing women, accompanied by his long-suffering servant Leporello. When he commits murder, he unleashes vengeance from beyond the grave. Kasper Holten, ROH Director of Opera, presents a mesmerizing new production of Mozart’s sublime tragicomedy.
Don McLean at the Royal Albert Hall
Don't miss the chance to see revered American singer/songwriter, most famous for his 1971 hit American Pie, along with Crying, And I Love You So, Vincent (Starry Night), Castles In The Air and many more. After learning his craft from friend and mentor Pete Seeger during the sixties, McLean went on to international fame and notoriety.
Elvis Presley - Live on Stage at the Eventim Apollo
What was it like to experience an Elvis concert in Vegas? Elvis started a rock 'n' roll revolution in 1954 and now, 60 years later, the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll is once again shaking up the entertainment industry with this amazing show.
Emerging Cabaret Stars and Writers presented by Simon Greiff at the The Crazy Coqs
A showcase of the latest talents breaking through in Cabaret. The evening features new performers and songwriters. London Festival of Cabaret season ticket: receive a 15% discount on your ticket face values when you book for four or more different shows from the London Festival of Cabaret season. Call 020 7492 0890 to book. Not valid for multiple purchases on the same show.
Epstein: The Man Who Made The Beatles at the Leicester Square Theatre
Epstein: The Man Who Made The Beatles brings the story of the Fab Four's enigmatic manager Brian Epstein to the stage. The music entrepreneur's stellar career made him a household name, yet his controversial personal life remained very much in the closet. Brian died in 1967 of an accidental overdose at the age of 32.
Eric and Little Ern at the St. James Theatre
This affectionate and very funny homage to Morecambe and Wise, the greatest comedy double act that Britain has ever produced, vividly brings back memories of a kinder, bygone era. This strictly limited West End season follows the show's critically acclaimed, sold-out first run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Evita at the Dominion Theatre
Evita, the musical considered by many to be Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s masterwork, is playing for 55 performances only in the West End, with musical theatre and pop icon Marti Pellow playing Che, and the brilliant Portugueuse actress / singer Madalena Alberto as Eva Peron.
Evita: Edinburgh at the Edinburgh Playhouse
Featuring some of the most famous and inspiring stage music ever written, including the classic songs Don’t Cry For Me Argentina, On This Night of a Thousand Stars, Oh What a Circus, You Must Love Me and Another Suitcase in Another Hall, Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s extraordinary musical Evita embarks on a spectacular national tour.
Explosion UK Tour at the Lyric Theatre
Explosion starts by presenting traditional flamenco at its very best as the company play, sing and dance everything from Bulerias to Farrucas to Tangos. The show, which is strongly influenced by ballet, its entwined with a strong story of love and passion.
F***ing Outside the Box at the Studio at The Vault Festival
This one-woman comedy drama explores how the hyper-sexualisation of our culture affects young people's relationships, sex lives and self-esteem. How much are young women today in control of their sexuality and how much are they influenced by distorted images and messages in our media?
Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre: The Rite Of Spring And Petrushka at the Sadler's Wells
Originally created to mark the 100th anniversary of Igor Stravinsky’s masterpiece, The Rite of Spring, Sadler’s Wells and Fabulous Beast present two works by award winning choreographer and Sadler’s Wells’ newest Associate Artist Michael Keegan-Dolan, honouring two of Stravinsky’s most famous ballets.
Falstaff at the Royal Opera House
Old, large and lecherous, Sir John Falstaff can’t resist food or the ladies. But he gets more than he bargains for when he attempts to seduce two married women, who plot to have fun at his expense! Verdi’s comic swansong returns to the Royal Opera House in the first revival of a witty and exuberant production by Robert Carsen.
Fame: Edinburgh at the Edinburgh Playhouse
Based on the Oscar winning musical film and hugely successful TV series; Fame The Musical is back and it’s gonna live forever! This brand new production will take you on a hi-octane roller coaster ride through dizzy heights and crashing lows as a group of star-struck wannabes embark on their quest for the ultimate accolade fame.
Fat Tuesday at the The Vault
Live music all night, carnival parade, immersive theatre & costumes. The Big Easy, The City That Care Forgot or simply Nola, what ever you care call it its coming to London Town. Kansas Smittys and Americana Arts are collaborating on what will be the london Mardi Gras Party. Shrove Tuesday is celebrated across the world, we have pancakes here. but in New Orleans they have one hell of a party - Mardi Gras. Literally translating to fat tuesday it marks the night before lent and the people take to the streets with parading, dancing, wild masks and carefree abandon to get their sinnin’ done.
Fog. Vapour. Wisp. at the Dark Tunnel at The Vault Festival
Fog, Vapour, Wisp explores the dark, light and grey hues of humanity whilst begging the fundamental questions; what happens if we lose our soul-skin and how do we get it back? Are we all wandering on a stormy cliff in the darkness? How do we find our way back home?
Follies at the Royal Albert Hall
For one matinee and one evening performance only, FOLLIES in Concert makes a spectacular and rare return to the UK. Follies tells the story of the former showgirls of the Ziegfeld Follies, admidst a wealth of well-known songs, including Losing My Mind, Broadway Baby and I'm Still Here.
For the Trumpets Shall Sound at the The Cage at The Vault Festival.
Ruth is clearing out her Mother's attic, with the help of her son Jamie, when they make an interesting discovery; a box containing photographs, letters, a diary and even an old army officer's tunic that belonged to Ruth's grandfather. Persuaded by Jamie, Ruth begins to read her grandfather's diary. immediately she finds herself immersed in the landscape of France during the Great War where she follows her grandfather as he meets her grandmother and falls in love. However, it seems that there is a third person in this story, one who has been kept secret, until now.
Forever Crazy at the The Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse Paris presents Forever Crazy, the ultimate cabaret entertainment experience that has been seducing audiences in Paris for over 60 years. Forever Crazy is an extravagant and opulent production taking place in a purpose-built luxurious venue on London’s Southbank. Featuring a cast of ten dazzlingly beautiful classically trained dancers, this lavish spectacle takes place against the backdrop of stunning lighting and visual effects which serve to make this show an artistic masterpiece. Forever Crazy is a celebration of femininity, sensuality and creativity which will leave you longing for more. The most seductive cabaret in Paris is set to be the most sensational show in London.
Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons at the Royal Albert Hall
After 2 sensational sold-out performances at the Hall in 2013, Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons will return for another 2 shows in 2015. These concerts will see the legendary falsetto and his band, who have sold over 100 million records worldwide, accompanied by the London Symphony Orchestra.
Freddie Flintoff: 2nd Innings at the Palace Theatre
Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff, hero of the historic 2005 Victorious, Ashes England team, is hitting the road to celebrate his 10 year anniversary and share his memories of that long hot summer, as well as some behind the the crease insights to the game. Freddie is joined on stage by comedy writer and producer, Clyde Holcroft, his podcast partner in crime. Featuring a little bit of Elvis and couple of googlies, it's unscripted, unedited, unguarded and unleashed. buckle In.
Friday Night Freakshow - Udderbelly at the Udderbelly
Back for its fifth year running, the cow takes a turn to the dark side with Friday Night Freakshow! The nation’s naughtiest comics take to the stage with burlesque beauties and all manner of ‘spesh acts’, to bring London a late-night feast not for the feint of heart. But don’t fret it’s not all nails-in-faces and shock acts here just the best in the titillating and twisted. Hosted by EastEnd Cabaret’s dark and delicious Bernadette Byrne and her own personal freak, Victor Victoria (Winners, ‘Best Cabaret’ Adelaide Fringe 2012).
Frisky and Mannish - Wonderground at the The London Wonderground
School? College? Job? YAWN. Life isn?t about spreadsheets, it's about joy and laughter and POP MUSIC. London's resident experts of pop hermeneutics and 'fully-blown superstars' (Time Out), are back at the Udderbelly to blow the bloody hooves off it. Expect classics, alongside things they haven't even made up yet.
From Here To Eternity at the Shaftesbury Theatre
Lyricist Tim Rice makes his long-awaited return to the musical spotlight with From Here to Eternity. Adapted from James Jones' 1951 novel, this WWII-set tale of torrid relationships unfolds amid the swirl of events surrounding the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. Starring Darius Campbell as Warden, Siubhan Harrison as Lorene, Robert Lonsdale as Prewitt, Ryan Sampson as Maggio and Rebecca Thornhill as Karen.
From Morning to Midnight at the Lyttelton Theatre, National
Georg Kaiser’s German Expressionist masterpiece From Morning to Midnight, in a new version by Dennis Kelly, explores the tragedy of an ordinary man who steps outside his humdrum life and, over the course of one crazy, alienating day, destroys himself.
Frozen Sing-along at the Dominion Theatre
Disney’s double Oscar winning animated feature, Frozen, will be screened at the Dominion Theatre for a limited period from 18th February 2015 in stunning high-definition with onscreen lyrics, allowing audiences to follow the music and join in, in true sing-along tradition. Sing-along Frozen is the perfect opportunity for all fans to dress up, “Let it Go” and sing their hearts out with Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Olaf, Prince Hans and the mystical trolls! Join us for sing-along Frozen, the perfect half term treat for the whole family. Please call to book Child (under 16), Student, Senior and Family tickets
Fully Committed at the Menier Chocolate Factory
In celebration of its tenth anniversary year, the Chocolate Factory presents a brand new production of Fully Committed, the show that put it on the map in 2004. This whirlwind culinary comedy is set in one of Manhattan’s hottest restaurants, where the city never sleeps and the phone never stops ringing.
Future Cinema Presents Dirty Dancing at the Secret Location
For one weekend only, a secret outdoor East London location will transport audiences back to Kellerman’s Holiday Resort in the Summer of ’63, bringing one of the most loved movies of all time to life for one weekend only. Innocence. Romance. Mambo. Watermelons. Join Baby and Johnny for a mass dance-along to one of the most iconic dance movies in cinema history
Gad Elmaleh at the Eventim Apollo
Five years after ‘Papa est en haut’, France’s favorite comedian is back with a new set of characters and situations. This show, entitled ‘Sans Tambour
’, offers a more intimate set-up for the stand-up comedian and his crowd. And the production, sober and polished, the smaller venues, as well as the choice of themes present in this work contribute to the atmosphere. It was the artist’s primary intention to restore the warmth and proximity with his audience by speaking to its singularity. This new and more personal show analyses with brilliance the small worries of our day to day lives. Gad Elmaleh shows once again his unique gift for observation that he has been very well known for since his very first performance. The comedian writes-up a show that delivers equal parts of efficient comedic stand-up and grandiloquence of his unparalleled theatrics and gestures.
Ghost The Musical - Manchester at the Manchester Opera House
GHOST is a timeless fantasy about the power of love. Walking back to their apartment one night, Sam and Molly are mugged, leaving Sam murdered on a dark street. Sam is trapped as a ghost between this world and the next and unable to leave Molly who he learns is in grave danger. With the help of a phony storefront psychic, Oda Mae Brown, Sam tries to communicate with Molly in the hope of saving and protecting her.
Ghost The Musical - Wimbledon at the New Wimbledon Theatre
Direct from the West End, the smash-hit musical Ghost goes on tour this Spring. Based on the phenomenal Oscar-winning movie that captured the hearts and imaginations of a generation back in the 90s, Ghost is a timeless fantasy about the power of love.
Ghosts at the Trafalgar Studio One
Following a sold out run at the Almeida Theatre, the critically acclaimed Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen transfers to the Trafalgar Studios for a strictly limited season. Recipient of FIVE 2014 Laurence Olivier Award Nominations: Best Revival Best Actress Lesley Manville Best Director Richard Eyre Best Actor in a Supporting Role Jack Lowden Best Lighting Design Peter Mumford
Gina Yashere: Laughing to America at the Udderbelly
Gina Yashere has had a momentous year. She witnessed the triumph of the London Olympics. OK, from her couch in Los Angeles, but still has much to say. She was able to finally let go of one of her biggest regrets: that she never got a ‘Jim'll fix it’ badge. She discovered she could destroy a policeman's self-esteem with the word 'pleb'. And finally and most momentous of all: Gina was forced to purchase reading glasses. You better believe she has A LOT to say about that. This will be a 12-month round up like you've never heard before. Suitable for ages 15 and over. Runs approximately one hour.
Giselle at the Royal Opera House
Peter Wright's beautiful production retains all the important elements of Giselle's great classical heritage. It is no surprise then that this is not just a regular favourite of ballet aficionados but also a wonderful work through which anyone can discover the enduring appeal of classical ballet.
Giselle at the Royal Opera House
Giselle is the quintessential Romantic ballet. It transformed the dance world when it was first performed in Paris in 1841 and remains at the centre of the classical repertory. Although the choreography and designs have undergone many changes over the years, the essence of Giselle remains the same. The Royal Ballet’s production uses Marius Petipa’s classic version (after the original choreography by Jules Perrot and Jean Coralli), first staged in St Petersburg in 1884.
Giselle, Ou Les Wilis at the London Coliseum
This spring the Mikhailovsky Theatre ballet company will take to the stage of the London Coliseum for a third time. The programme will include ballets by Nacho Duato, in addition to classics Giselle, Don Quixote, and Laurencia. The performances will feature Mikhailovsky Theatre ballet stars Natalia Osipova, Ivan Vasiliev, and Leonid Sarafanov, as well as Guest Principal Dancers Polina Semionova and Marcelo Gomes.
Good People at the Noel Coward Theatre
Following a sell-out run at Hampstead Theatre, the darkly comic Good People transfers to the Noël Coward Theatre for a limited 10 week run, starring the impeccable Imelda Staunton. She's reunited here with Jonathan Kent, who directed her to such great effect in Sweeney Todd and Gypsy. An incisive slice of modern American drama, the play won the New York Drama Desk Critic’s Circle Award for Best Play of the 2010 - 2011 Season.
Goodnight Mister Tom at the Phoenix Theatre
Goodnight Mister Tom follows the journey of a young boy, William Beech, as he is evacuated from London during the air-raids of World War II and put into the care of Tom Oakley, an elderly recluse. It is here William finds more than just protection from the falling bombs and Tom Oakley also finds himself saved by young William.
Grupo Corpo: Triz & Parabelo at the Sadler's Wells
Brazil's internationally acclaimed dance company returns to Sadler's Wells for its first performance since 2011. With a history stretching back nearly 40 years, Grupo Corpo's 22 virtuosic dancers combine the precision of classical ballet with the sensuality and passion of Latin dance rhythms. Grupo Corpo translates as Group Body, reflecting the movement style of the dancers, who co-ordinate to fill the stage with unmatched energy and excitement.
Guillaume Tell at the Royal Opera House
Rossini’s epic finale masterpiece Guillaume Tell returns to the Royal Opera House after an absence of more than 20 years in a new contemporary production by award winning director Damiano Michieletto, who makes his UK debut. Music Director of the Royal Opera Antonio Pappano conducts a cast that includes many who sang on his acclaimed 2011 recording of the opera.
Gyles Brandreth - Looking For Happiness at the Leicester Square Theatre
When Gyles Brandreth set out to find the seven secrets of happiness he started in Las Vegas and ended up in the psychiatrist's chair. What he discovered about who gets to be happy and how, plus other useful lessons picked up along the way, from Frank Sinatra and The Queen among others, provide the essence of a unique one-man show that should make you laugh and could change your life.
Happy New at the Trafalgar Studio Two
'People don't really accept chickens, which is wrong, 'cos we invented the pecking order.' Following a sensational sell-out run at the Old Red Lion Theatre in 2012, extended to an unprecedented eight weeks, Happy New proudly transfers to Trafalgar Studio 2.
Hardeep Singh Kohli Chat Masala - Udderbelly at the Udderbelly
Hardeep combines his first true loves of cooking and chatting in his own unique, articulate and utterly charming way. Hardeep will interview guests and stars whilst cooking up a curry that audience members can get the chance to sample. 'Kohli's evening of cookery and anecdotes. left a reassuringly warm aftertaste'
Henry IV Part One at the Barbican Theatre
With his crown under threat from enemies both foreign and domestic, Henry IV prepares for war. As his father gets ready to defend his crown, Prince Hal is languishing in the taverns and brothels of London, revelling in the company of his friend, the notorious Sir John Falstaff. With the onset of war, Hal must confront his responsibilities to family and throne. RSC Artistic Director Gregory Doran and the creative team that brought you the five-star production of Richard II continue their exploration of Shakespeare’s History plays at the Barbican with Henry IV Parts I & II, an epic, comic and thrilling vision of a nation in turmoil. The matchless Anthony Sher stars as Falstaff.
Henry IV Part Two at the Barbican Theatre
RSC Artistic Director Gregory Doran and the creative team that brought you the five star production of Richard II continue their exploration of Shakespeare’s History plays at the Barbican with Henry IV Parts I & II, an epic, comic and thrilling vision of a nation in turmoil.
Henry VI: Harry the Sixth at the Globe Theatre
Following the death of Henry V, celebrated for having united England and subjugated France, divisions appear at the highest levels first between those around the infant Henry VI, later between the two great factions in English politics: the houses of Lancaster and York. Only the young Lord Talbot, locked in combat with the bewitching and enigmatic Joan of Arc, seems capable of redeeming a divided and dishonoured kingdom.
Hofesh Shechter- Sun at the Sadler's Wells
Sadler's Wells Associate Artist Hofesh Shechter is one of the UK's most exciting contemporary artists, having gained international renown for his raw, honest choreography and highly charged, atmospheric music scores. They return once again to Sadler's Wells to unveil the hotly anticipated UK premiere of Shechter's latest work, Sun.
Holding The Man at the Trafalgar Studio One
Based on the much loved award winning book by Tim Conigrave, adapted for the stage by acclaimed playwright Tommy Murphy, Holding the Man is a hilariously funny, tender and moving play following the remarkable true life love story of Tim Conigrave and John Caleo. It is a celebration that speaks across generations, sexual preference and culture.
Horrible Histories - Barmy Britain Part 1 at the Garrick Theatre
Have you ever wondered why the Romans never won MasterChef? Would you lose your heart or head to horrible Henry? Will Parliament escape gunpowder Guy? Come to loathsome London, where you can enrol in a Georgian Crime School, dare to dance the Tyburn jig and find out what a baby farmer did, in this brilliantly blecchy, very funny history lesson from the Birmingham Stage Company. Your kids will laugh their socks off - and learn a thing or two at the same time - when the curtain goes up on this history of Britain with the nasty bits left in.
Horrible Histories - Barmy Britain Part 2 at the Garrick Theatre
We all want to meet people from history. The trouble is - everyone's dead! So it's time to prepare yourself for Horrible Histories live on stage, with the return of Barmy Britain - Part Two. After last year's sell out success, don't miss your chance to welcome back the most horrible show in the West End.
I Can't Sing! The X Factor Musical at the London Palladium
I Can't Sing! is Harry Hill's hilarious new X-Factor musical, which goes behind the microphones and under the judges' desks at the biggest show on earth and reveals the (not necessarily accurate) tale of heartache and laughter which keeps millions of us glued to The X Factor, week-after-week.
i don't believe in outer space at the Sadler's Wells
I don't believe in outer space is, as the title suggests, a very personal piece that looks at the nature of our existence through William Forsythe's eyes, both comic and tragic in places. Featuring 14 dancers and a soundtrack by Thom Willems, the work's movements reflect the world's fragility, power, and mortality at the same time.
I Dreamed a Dream - Manchester at the Palace Theatre - Manchester
If she can dare to dream so can you. Join Susan Boyle at the Palace Theatre as I Dreamed a Dream takes you on a musical journey of her life. Please Note: Tickets will not be post out until 2 weeks before the event.
I Found My Horn at the Trafalgar Studio Two
Jasper Rees' hit show I Found My Horn will return to London to play a season at the Trafalgar Studios this spring with co-writer Jonathan Guy Lewis reprising his role in the one man play. Also returning to direct the new production of the mid-life crisis memoir is the show's original director Harry Burton. I Found My Horn will play in the Trafalgar Studio's intimate Studio 2 space from 1 April to 3 May 14.
Ida Barr's Festive Bingo at the Arts Theatre
Ida Barr is a music hall singer who has embraced hip hop and rap, reflecting the culturally diverse landscape of the London's East End, where she has been living in retirement for several decades.She's an inner city pensioner in multi-cultural post-new Labour Britain; her glory days are behind her but her creativity is still flowering.
Ida Barr's Royal Flush Bingo - Udderbelly at the Udderbelly
What better way to celebrate the connubials than with a riotous afternoon of Bingo with the People's Pensioner, Ida Barr. Music Hall singer turned RnB star Ida will call her own patented numbers and dish out top prizes. Expect to win big, sing-a-long and party like its 1939, init!
In The Vale Of Health - Japes at the Hampstead Theatre
The extraordinary collection of Simon Gray's work, three unseen plays and one revival, performed under the umbrella title, In The Vale Of Health, which refers to the Hampstead hamlet where all four plays are set, offers a unique experience five years after the writer's death.
In The Vale Of Health - Japes Too at the Hampstead Theatre
The extraordinary collection of Simon Gray's work, three unseen plays and one revival, performed under the umbrella title, In The Vale Of Health, which refers to the Hampstead hamlet where all four plays are set, offers a unique experience five years after the writer's death.
In The Vale Of Health - Michael at the Hampstead Theatre
The extraordinary collection of Simon Gray's work, three unseen plays and one revival, performed under the umbrella title, In The Vale Of Health, which refers to the Hampstead hamlet where all four plays are set, offers a unique experience five years after the writer's death.
In The Vale Of Health - Missing Dates at the Hampstead Theatre
The extraordinary collection of Simon Gray's work, three unseen plays and one revival, performed under the umbrella title, In The Vale Of Health, which refers to the Hampstead hamlet where all four plays are set, offers a unique experience five years after the writer's death.
In-Finite Space: Part II at the The Cage at The Vault Festival
A contemporary performance tells the story of the entire universe and as everybody knows, it all revolves around YOU! Take charge with Twitter (#InfiniteReach) as we travel the cosmos together; add your creative thoughts like shooting stars across IJAD’s constellation and experience the terrifying vastness and cataclysmic expanse of The Everything.
Invincible at the St. James Theatre
The recession is biting hard and so Emily and Oliver have decided to downsize and shift their middle-class London lifestyle to a small town in the north of England. They want to live, work and to raise their two young children in a friendly community, among what Emily terms ‘real people’, away from the cold anonymity of the city.
Iolanthe - G & S Opera Company: Dartford at the The Orchard Theatre
Iolanthe is a delightful operetta about a fairy banished for Fairyland for life for marrying a mortal. Gilbert's incisive witty political satire is as relevant today as it was when Iolanthe was first performed in 1882 and many consider the Ialanthe music among the best of Sullivan's work. In this "fairy opera", the House of Lords is lampooned as a bastion of the ineffective , privileged and dim-witted. The political party system and other institutions also come in for a dose of satire.
Iolanthe - G & S Opera Company: Harrogate at the The Royal Hall, Harrogate
Iolanthe is a delightful operetta about a fairy banished for Fairyland for life for marrying a mortal. Gilbert's incisive witty political satire is as relevant today as it was when Iolanthe was first performed in 1882 and many consider the Ialanthe music among the best of Sullivan's work.
Isy Suttie - Udderbelly at the Udderbelly
Best known as Dobby from C4's Peep Show, Isy's back with a new musical stand up show. Featuring real-life love stories and songs alongside a one woman-mini-musical about a couple called Pearl and Dave, this show's a must for anyone who likes their comedy joyful and bittersweet.
It Came Out of the Blue at the Dark Tunnel at The Vault Festival
It Came Out of the Blue is an interactive piece created and performed by The Galloping Cuckoos. It plays with ideas of memory and loss of identity. Share your memories, embrace someone else’s and assist the performers in piecing together their lost lives. They may just reminisce about the person you remind them of.
Ivan Putrov: Men In Motion at the London Coliseum
Former Royal Ballet Principle , Ivan Putrov, presents an evening of works exploring the history and beauty of the male dancer over the last century. First presented at Sadler's Wells in 2012, Men In Motion has enjoyed sell-out success twice on the main stage, and has since been performed at venues across Europe.
Jackie Mason - Fearless at the Wyndham's Theatre
The US Emmy, Grammy and Tony Award-winning comic legend, Jackie Mason, is back in London with an all new show - Fearless This is Jackie's farewell to the UK and the last chance for audiences to see one of the greatest stand-up comics of all time.
Jackie Mason: Ready to Rumble at the Adelphi Theatre
Jackie Mason, widely regarded as one of the greatest stand-up comics of all time, will play three seccussive shows at the legendary Adelphi Theatre in London on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of June 2015. Coming on the heels of the UK's general electon, Mason's brand new show will be an evening of his trademark pungent satire, and brilliant observations, with a particular eye for the Anglo-American political scene, pop culture and current events. His latest targets include 50 Shades of Grey, the Kardashians, President Obama and Syria, the Milliband brothers, Madonna and the Apple Watch.
James Freedman: Man of Steal at the Trafalgar Studio One
Funny and fast-fingered, this unique and extraordinary show exposes how the bad guys really work, sharing a life-time spent studying hustlers, street criminals and con-men. Hailed a genius in his field by Derren Brown, stealth-crime expert James Freedman is the only man to have picked the pockets of the Mayor of London, the Chancellor and the Governor of the Bank of England.
James Last at the Royal Albert Hall
James Last, the legendary German Composer and big band leader, will once again return to the iconic Royal Albert Hall. With his happy sound, James last has enchanted millions of people around the globe. Whether pop or polka, rock and roll or waltzes, jazz or classical, this extremely versatile musician is the master of a wide variety of music.
Janie Dee in Cabaret at the St James Theatre Studio
Award winning actress and Singer JANIE DEE is delighted to bring her new cabaret to the St James Studio as part of the London Cabaret Festival * The twin themes of charm and versatility have followed Janie throughout her extraordinarily varied career which encompasses stage, film, television, radio and cabaret. London Festival of Cabaret season ticket: receive a 15% discount on your ticket face values when you book for four or more different shows from the London Festival of Cabaret season. Call 020 7492 0890 to book. Not valid for multiple purchases on the same show.
Jesus Christ Superstar: Glasgow at the SECC - The Hydro
Jesus Christ Superstar first came to major theatres when it debuted on Broadway in October 1971 at the Mark Hellinger Theatre in New York. The Broadway production ran for 720 performances, closing two years later after grossing £2.8 million at the box office, and Andrew Lloyd Webber won the prestigious Drama Desk Award as Most Promising Composer for Jesus Christ Superstar in 1972.
Jesus Christ Superstar: Leeds at the Leeds Arena
Jesus Christ Superstar first came to major theatres when it debuted on Broadway in October 1971 at the Mark Hellinger Theatre in New York. The Broadway production ran for 720 performances, closing two years later after grossing £2.8 million at the box office, and Andrew Lloyd Webber won the prestigious Drama Desk Award as Most Promising Composer for Jesus Christ Superstar in 1972.
Jesus Christ Superstar: Liverpool at the Liverpool Echo Arena
Jesus Christ Superstar first came to major theatres when it debuted on Broadway in October 1971 at the Mark Hellinger Theatre in New York. The Broadway production ran for 720 performances, closing two years later after grossing £2.8 million at the box office, and Andrew Lloyd Webber won the prestigious Drama Desk Award as Most Promising Composer for Jesus Christ Superstar in 1972.
Jesus Christ Superstar: Nottingham at the Capital FM Arena
Jesus Christ Superstar first came to major theatres when it debuted on Broadway in October 1971 at the Mark Hellinger Theatre in New York. The Broadway production ran for 720 performances, closing two years later after grossing £2.8 million at the box office, and Andrew Lloyd Webber won the prestigious Drama Desk Award as Most Promising Composer for Jesus Christ Superstar in 1972.
Jesus Christ Superstar: O2 Arena at the The O2 Arena
Jesus Christ Superstar first came to major theatres when it debuted on Broadway in October 1971 at the Mark Hellinger Theatre in New York. The Broadway production ran for 720 performances, closing two years later after grossing £2.8 million at the box office, and Andrew Lloyd Webber won the prestigious Drama Desk Award as Most Promising Composer for Jesus Christ Superstar in 1972.
Jonah & Otto at the Park Theatre
Tim Stark directs the London Premiere of Robert Holman's "Intricately layered creation, brimming with emotional wonder". Robert Holman is the acclaimed author of Making Noise Quietly and co-writer, with Simon Stephens and David Eldridge , of a Thousand Stars Explode In The Sky. His extensive writing career his included commissions from The Royal Court, the Bush and the RSC.
Jongleurs Comedy Show - 1 June at the Jongleurs Piccadilly
Eat, Drink, Laugh and Dance in the very heart of London?s West End. A truly stunning comedy club just off Piccadilly Circus with a VIP Red Carpet entrance and the very best food and drink service to accompany a 2 hour show from the best comedians in the world. With guaranteed table seating, an extensive food and drinks menu, and an after show party ? it?s a night out with a difference. Doors open at 6.30pm for pre show dinner, last entry is at 7.30pm and the show starts at 8.30 pm ? we advise booking well in advance as this will be the place to see top comedy in the West End of London ? and expect the unexpected !! ? special guests may just turn up as well as our advertised comedians. After the show you can stay and relax with our after show party till the early hours ? truly a night out to remember!
Jongleurs Comedy Show - 13 July at the Jongleurs Piccadilly
A truly stunning comedy club just off Piccadilly Circus with a VIP Red Carpet entrance and the very best food and drink service to accompany a 2 hour show from the best comedians in the world. With guaranteed table seating, an extensive food and drinks menu, and an after show party - it's a night out with a difference. Doors open at 6.30pm for pre show dinner, last entry is at 7.30pm and the show starts at 8.30 pm - we advise booking well in advance as this will be the place to see top comedy in the West End of London and expect the unexpected !! - special guests may just turn up as well as our advertised comedians. After the show you can stay and relax with our after show party till the early hours - truly a night out to remember!
Jongleurs Comedy Show - 14 July at the Jongleurs Piccadilly
A truly stunning comedy club just off Piccadilly Circus with a VIP Red Carpet entrance and the very best food and drink service to accompany a 2 hour show from the best comedians in the world. With guaranteed table seating, an extensive food and drinks menu, and an after show party - it's a night out with a difference. Doors open at 6.30pm for pre show dinner, last entry is at 7.30pm and the show starts at 8.30 pm - we advise booking well in advance as this will be the place to see top comedy in the West End of London - and expect the unexpected!! - special guests may just turn up as well as our advertised comedians. After the show you can stay and relax with our after show party till the early hours - truly a night out to remember!
Jongleurs Comedy Show - 18 May at the Jongleurs Piccadilly
Eat, Drink, Laugh and Dance in the very heart of London?s West End. A truly stunning comedy club just off Piccadilly Circus with a VIP Red Carpet entrance and the very best food and drink service to accompany a 2 hour show from the best comedians in the world. With guaranteed table seating, an extensive food and drinks menu, and an after show party ? it?s a night out with a difference. Doors open at 6.30pm for pre show dinner, last entry is at 7.30pm and the show starts at 8.30 pm ? we advise booking well in advance as this will be the place to see top comedy in the West End of London ? and expect the unexpected !! ? special guests may just turn up as well as our advertised comedians. After the show you can stay and relax with our after show party till the early hours ? truly a night out to remember!
Jongleurs Comedy Show - 2 June at the Jongleurs Piccadilly
Eat, Drink, Laugh and Dance in the very heart of London?s West End. A truly stunning comedy club just off Piccadilly Circus with a VIP Red Carpet entrance and the very best food and drink service to accompany a 2 hour show from the best comedians in the world. With guaranteed table seating, an extensive food and drinks menu, and an after show party ? it?s a night out with a difference. Doors open at 6.30pm for pre show dinner, last entry is at 7.30pm and the show starts at 8.30 pm ? we advise booking well in advance as this will be the place to see top comedy in the West End of London ? and expect the unexpected !! ? special guests may just turn up as well as our advertised comedians. After the show you can stay and relax with our after show party till the early hours ? truly a night out to remember!
Jongleurs Comedy Show - 20 July at the Jongleurs Piccadilly
A truly stunning comedy club just off Piccadilly Circus with a VIP Red Carpet entrance and the very best food and drink service to accompany a 2 hour show from the best comedians in the world. With guaranteed table seating, an extensive food and drinks menu, and an after show party - it's a night out with a difference. Doors open at 6.30pm for pre show dinner, last entry is at 7.30pm and the show starts at 8.30 pm - we advise booking well in advance as this will be the place to see top comedy in the West End of London - and expect the unexpected!! - special guests may just turn up as well as our advertised comedians. After the show you can stay and relax with our after show party till the early hours - truly a night out to remember!
Jongleurs Comedy Show - 25 May at the Jongleurs Piccadilly
Eat, Drink, Laugh and Dance in the very heart of London?s West End. A truly stunning comedy club just off Piccadilly Circus with a VIP Red Carpet entrance and the very best food and drink service to accompany a 2 hour show from the best comedians in the world. With guaranteed table seating, an extensive food and drinks menu, and an after show party ? it?s a night out with a difference. Doors open at 6.30pm for pre show dinner, last entry is at 7.30pm and the show starts at 8.30 pm ? we advise booking well in advance as this will be the place to see top comedy in the West End of London ? and expect the unexpected !! ? special guests may just turn up as well as our advertised comedians. After the show you can stay and relax with our after show party till the early hours ? truly a night out to remember!
Jongleurs Comedy Show - 26 May at the Jongleurs Piccadilly
Eat, Drink, Laugh and Dance in the very heart of London?s West End. A truly stunning comedy club just off Piccadilly Circus with a VIP Red Carpet entrance and the very best food and drink service to accompany a 2 hour show from the best comedians in the world. With guaranteed table seating, an extensive food and drinks menu, and an after show party ? it?s a night out with a difference. Doors open at 6.30pm for pre show dinner, last entry is at 7.30pm and the show starts at 8.30 pm ? we advise booking well in advance as this will be the place to see top comedy in the West End of London ? and expect the unexpected !! ? special guests may just turn up as well as our advertised comedians. After the show you can stay and relax with our after show party till the early hours ? truly a night out to remember!
Journey's End at the Duke of York's Theatre
David Grindley's international multi-award winning production of R.C. Sherriff's masterpiece Journey's End is a must see of British theatre. Based on the author's own experience in the trenches, this gripping tale about ordinary men in extraordinary circumstances celebrates humour and courage, engaging audiences with a compelling insight of how in the face of adversity, the human spirit will always triumph.
Juanes at the Roundhouse
With seven solo albums to his credit and multi-platinum sales of over 16 million copies, Juanes is the world’s leading all-Spanish language rock artist both a 2-time Grammy and 20-time Latin Grammy winner with nine #1 singles on Billboard’s Latin Singles charts.
King Charles III at the Wyndham's Theatre
Following a sold-out run at the Almeida Theatre, Mike Bartlett’s critically acclaimed new future history play King Charles III transfers to Wyndham’s Theatre for a strictly limited season. he Queen is dead: after a lifetime of waiting, the prince ascends the throne. A future of power. But how to rule?
King Lear at the Olivier Theatre
The finest Shakesperean actor of his generation, Simon Russell Beale stars in the Bard's matchless tragedy about an aged king who decides to divide his kingdom between his three daughters, according to which of them is most eloquent in praising him. Sam Mendes directs.
Kit & McConnel at the The Pheasantry
London Festival of Cabaret presents Kit and McConnel , After their recent sell out UK tour with Joan Rivers, Kit and McConnel are delighted to be back at the Pheasantry once again. With fresh songs, freshly turned piano and new shoes by Primark, do join this sophisticated duo on their continuing mission to extract ridicule from any subject, no matter how sacred. London Festival of Cabaret season ticket: receive a 15% discount on your ticket face values when you book for four or more different shows from the London Festival of Cabaret season. Call 020 7492 0890 to book. Not valid for multiple purchases on the same show.
KT Sullivan and Karen Kohler - Vienna to Weimar at the The Crazy Coqs
Vienna to Weimarbrings together two of New York's favourite cabaret artists, KT Sullivan and Karen Kohler, in a provocative blend of voices and feminine sensibilities. Journey with them from 1870s Vienna and the operetta of Strauss and Lehar to 1930s Berlin and the cabaret music of Hollaender, Weill, Brecht, Spoliansky, and more. These two award-winning interpreters of the Great American and European songbooks prove that love, lust, power and illusion are as timeless today as they were nearly 100 years ago. London Festival of Cabaret season ticket: receive a 15% discount on your ticket face values when you book for four or more different shows from the London Festival of Cabaret season. Call 020 7492 0890 to book. Not valid for multiple purchases on the same show.
La Boheme at the King's Head Theatre
The show that started it all! our inaugural production in November 2009 went on to three West End transfers, an Olivier Award, a WhatsOnStage award and UK and international tours. Featuring some of your favourite singers, both fromthe original cast and more recent revivals, La Boheme fittingly runs over christmas.
La Boheme at the Royal Opera House
A lost key and an accidental touch of cold hands in the dark. So begins one of the great romances in all of opera, here in a production by John Copley that brings 19th century Paris to the stage in vivid detail.
La Fille Mal Gardee - The Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House
Cornfields, haystacks and farmyard merriment are the backdrops to Frederick Ashton's sunny rural comedy La Fille Mal Gardee, inspired by the landscapes of his beloved Sussex. This is one of The Royal Ballet's most popular works - and no wonder given its wealth of delightful choreography, begun with farmyard chickens! Its many highlights include the Ribbon pas de deux and the famous Clog Dance. Conducted by The Royal Ballet's Music Director Barry Wordsworth, this wonderfully light hearted and iconic Ashton ballet is perfect entertainment for newcomers and Royal Ballet regulars of all ages.
La Traviata at the Royal Opera House
Alfredo and the courtesan Violetta fall passionately in love. But Violetta is seriously ill and Alfredo’s father disapproves of their relationship can their love overcome such obstacles? Richard Eyre’s classic production of Verdi's opera conveys the indulgent social whirl of 19th-century Paris.
La Traviata at the Royal Opera House
'A toast to the pleasures of life!’ so sing Violetta, her new admirer Alfredo and her party guests in the opening scene of Giuseppe Verdi’s La traviata. But beneath the surface glamour of Violetta’s Parisian life run darker undercurrents: her doomed love for Alfredo and the tensions the lovers encounter when they break society’s conventions. La traviata, based on Alexander Dumas fils’s play La Dame aux camélias, is one of Verdi’s most popular operas, combining drama, profound emotion and wonderful melodies.
Late in Las Vegas at the The Vault
VAULT hosts the finest of the Seventies for two nights only! Psychedelic sound and sensation from 1030 to 3am with bands, DJ's, magic, food, gambling and spectacle. Good people drink good beer, says Hunter. Not just for audiences of the show, these nights promise to be the best entertainment VAULT has to offer.
Laurencia at the London Coliseum
Laurencia arouses particular interest, as a production from the ‘golden age’ of Soviet ballet that is not being performed anywhere else. It has been revived by the Mikhailovsky Theatre’s Principal Guest Ballet Master Mikhail Messerer, an acknowledged expert on ballet heritage, who is in great demand all over the world as a teacher. On 2nd and 3rd April London audiences will see Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev, whose performance of the ballet critics called ‘phenomenal’.
Le nozze di Figaro at the New Wimbledon Theatre
The entire action of Mozart's life-enhancing opera takes place within a single day; a day of madness as the subtitle of the original text describes it. Figaro and Susanna?s determination to marry enrages their master, the Count, reducing him to a state of lustful frustration, disregarding his wife, the Countess, who is left to suff er the miseries of unrequited love. In a breathless circle of plots and counter-plots, the Count pursues Susanna, the young and hormonally volcanic Cherubino pursues anything in a skirt and the scheming pair of Bartolo and Marcellina come close to upsetting Figaro?s plans but are caught in a web of their own devising.
Lead Belly Fest at the Royal Albert Hall
Iconic folk blues singer, songwriter and guitarist Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter , famed for his vast repertoire of songs and incredible influence, will be celebrated in a special night of music at The Royal Albert Hall. Paying tribute at Lead Belly Fest will be legendary Van Morrison, musical maestro Jools Holland, Animals frontman Eric Burdon, Manfred Mann Singer Paul Jones, Rose Royce's Gwen Dickey and former Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show vocalist Dennis Locorriere. Josh White Jr., Laurence Jones, Gemma Ray and Ruby Turner will also join this incredible line up, as well as Slim Chance, the band formed originally by Ronnie Lane. The night's house band will be Blues Inc. Performing under the direction of Mick Rogers.
Lili la Scala - Songs To Make You Smile - Wonderground at the The London Wonderground
In these uncertain times, we all need a little something to make us smile. With vintage pin-up looks and the voice of a nightingale, Lili la Scala wants to do just that with joyous songs of yesteryear. Written by Michael Rosen and in association with the Royal Shakespeare Company
Lilies On The Land at the Arts Theatre
Lilies on the Land is a truly remarkable and sparkling piece of theatre which celebrates an extraordinary episode in Britain's history, the Women's Land Army of World War II. These gripping but charming tales chart the personal journeys of four women who sign up to become Land Girls, determined to work endless, backbreaking hours on farms across the country in a bid to do their best for the War Effort.
Liola at the Lyttelton Theatre, National
This high-spirited drama by Pirandello defies expectations. It is not the intellectual whirlwind of his Six Characters in Search of an Author but takes us instead to the heart of a rural community where property and kinship provoke fierce passions. Liolà, a young man untroubled by tradi-tion, takes the part of nature all the way.
LIZA (on an E) at the Lyric Theatre
Following a smash hit West End season earlier in the year, Australian star Trevor Ashley returns to the West End for one night only, as the irrepressible, incomparable and infamously iconic Liza Minnelli in LIZA (on an E). 'Liza' will dish the dirt on her extraordinary life, with a live on stage band, as she raises the rafters and brings the entire house down with power-packed performance of all her greatest hits.
LMA Orchestra - Bach By Candelight at the St Martin-in-the-Fields
LMA Orchestra has been resident at the world renowned St Martin-in-the-Fields Church in Trafalgar Square since 1992, giving well over 400 concerts and reaching an audience exceeding 160,000. With a finely balanced mix of the best established professionals and talented young players at the start of their careers, LMA Orchestra perform an exciting repertoire of master works from the great baroque, classical and romantic composers
LMA Orchestra - Bach Concerto Festival 1 at the St Martin-in-the-Fields
LMA Orchestra has been resident at the world renowned St Martin-in-the-Fields Church in Trafalgar Square since 1992, giving well over 400 concerts and reaching an audience exceeding 160,000. With a finely balanced mix of the best established professionals and talented young players at the start of their careers, LMA Orchestra perform an exciting repertoire of master works from the great baroque, classical and romantic composers
LMA Orchestra - Bach Concerto Festival 2 at the St Martin-in-the-Fields
LMA Orchestra has been resident at the world renowned St Martin-in-the-Fields Church in Trafalgar Square since 1992, giving well over 400 concerts and reaching an audience exceeding 160,000. With a finely balanced mix of the best established professionals and talented young players at the start of their careers, LMA Orchestra perform an exciting repertoire of master works from the great baroque, classical and romantic composers
LMA Orchestra - Beethoven and Gershwin at the St Martin-in-the-Fields
LMA Orchestra has been resident at the world renowned St Martin-in-the-Fields Church in Trafalgar Square since 1992, giving well over 400 concerts and reaching an audience exceeding 160,000. With a finely balanced mix of the best established professionals and talented young players at the start of their careers, LMA Orchestra perform an exciting repertoire of master works from the great baroque, classical and romantic composers
LMA Orchestra - Summer Songs and Dances at the St Martin-in-the-Fields
LMA Orchestra has been resident at the world renowned St Martin-in-the-Fields Church in Trafalgar Square since 1992, giving well over 400 concerts and reaching an audience exceeding 160,000. With a finely balanced mix of the best established professionals and talented young players at the start of their careers, LMA Orchestra perform an exciting repertoire of master works from the great baroque, classical and romantic composers
LMA Orchestra - Summer Suites and Serenades at the St Martin-in-the-Fields
LMA Orchestra has been resident at the world renowned St Martin-in-the-Fields Church in Trafalgar Square since 1992, giving well over 400 concerts and reaching an audience exceeding 160,000. With a finely balanced mix of the best established professionals and talented young players at the start of their careers, LMA Orchestra perform an exciting repertoire of master works from the great baroque, classical and romantic composers
London Assurance at the Olivier Theatre
Dion Boucicault, the Irish genius of London theatre in the age of Dickens, wrote the brilliantly funny London Assurance in 1841 and thereby created - in Sir Harcourt and Lady Spanker - two of the great comic roles of the English stage, played at the NT by Simon Russell Beale and Fiona Shaw.
London Road at the Olivier Theatre
London Road documents the events of 2006, when the quiet rural town of Ipswich was shattered by the discovery of the bodies of five women. Adam Cork's music uses the melodic speech patterns captured on Alecky Blythe's recorded interviews with the people of Ipswich to create this extraordinary work.
London Wall at the St. James Theatre
The Two’s Company production of LONDON WALL by John Van Druten transfers to the St. James Theatre, for a limited run. In a solicitor’s office, Brewer, the office manager, sees pretty new typist Pat as fair game, even though she is a green 19 and going steady with a reliable boyfriend. Some of the more experienced secretaries try to warn her. Others leave her to her fate. Meanwhile, cynical Miss Janus is jilted by her lover and at the desperate age of 35 her romantic life seems to be over.
Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games at the London Palladium
Don't miss multi award-winning, multi record-breaking Michael Flatley - the Lord of Dance himself - as he returns to the West End stage for the final time with his most spectacular show to date, featuring a very special guest-star, former Girls Aloud star Nadine Coyle.
Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games - Wembley Arena at the Wembley Arena
Michael Flatley’s Lord Of The Dance: Dangerous Games a spectacular new staging of the traditional master piece will return to London in 2015 With 200-plus dates planned across 15 countries over the next 18 months, and will include one of Michael’s final performances at a special one-off show to launch the World Tour at The SSE Arena in celebration of Lord Of The Dance’s unique record, Highest Number Of Tickets Ever Sold for a Wembley event.
Lorraine & Alan at the The Pit at The Vault Festival
Alan. 23. Recent graduate in Marine Biology. (High 2.2.) Son of Blakeney, Norfolk. Bedroom dweller and seal tour guide extraordinaire. One August, Alan discovers a mysterious young woman lying amongst the seals and their lives become irreversibly entwined. But who is Lorraine? Where does she come from? And why does she take so long in the bath?
Los Vivancos at the London Coliseum
The West End's temperature is set to soar this summer as seven brothers with model good looks and killer dance moves make their London stage debut. With rippling torsos and lightning fast footwork, Los Vivancos ooze passion and macho attitude from every pore.
Love's Labour's Lost at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Shakespeare's sparkling comedy, here presented agaianst a timely WWI setting, delights in championing and then unravelling an unrealistic vow, and mischievously suggesting that the study of the opposite sex is in fact the highest of all academic endeavours. Christopher Luscombe directs one acting company in both Love's Labour's Lost and Love's Labour's Won (usually known as Much Ado About Nothing) in this present RSC season.
Love's Labour's Won (or Much Ado about Nothing) at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Christopher Luscombe directs the second of Shakespeare's matching pair of comedies that rejoice in our capacity to find love in the most unlikely places. Better known as Much Ado About Nothing, the play is performed under the title Love's Labour's Won, a name possibly attributed to it during Shakespeare's lifetime.
Lucy Porter - Udderbelly at the Udderbelly
Lucy Porter is one of the UK's best loved live stand-up comedians. Her TV appearances include Mock the Week, Never Mind the Buzzcocks and Have I Got News For You. She is a firm favourite on BBC Radio 4 and has toured internationally to places such as Cape Town, Las Vegas and Hong Kong.
Marcus Brigstocke: Unavailable for Comment - Udderbelly at the Udderbelly
Top comedy guests will be forced to answer for every failing in today’s society. Marcus' guests won't know who they are or what mistakes they'll be asked to defend until their Paxman-esque host makes it clear. Just like real guests on Newsnight and Question Time - they will have to improvise / bullshit their way out of trouble and they won’t be released until they do. Imagine the most toe-curling interviews you've ever seen on TV. Live, improvised, outrageous, libelous and utterly hilarious. Book early!
Mark Baldwin & Ladysmith Black Mambazo: INALA at the Sadler's Wells
Celebrating 21 years of democracy in South Africa, INALA presents choral legends Ladysmith Black Mambazo, in an artistic collaboration with multi award winning choreographer Mark Baldwin and world class dancers including talent from the Royal Ballet and Rambert. An ambitious new production, INALA embraces an exhilarating fusion of South Africa and Western Cultures live on stage.
Mark Knopfler and Band at the Royal Albert Hall
Multiple Grammt award winner Mark Knopfler returns to the Royal Albert Hall following the release of his forthcoming eighth studio album, Tracker. Knopfler will be performing with a seven piece band, most of whom have been working with him for the best part of two decades: Guy Fletcher (Keyboards), Richard Bennett (Guitar), Jim Cox (Piano), Mike McGoldrick (Whistle and Flute) , John McCusker (Fiddle And Cittern), Glenn Worf (Bass) and Ian Thomas (Drums).
Mark Morris Dance Group: Two Mixed Bills Programme A at the Sadler's Wells
The master of American contemporary dance, Mark Morris has become the benchmark of creativity for a generation of dancers, choreographers and audiences. Morris has created dancers for more than thirty years, which have ranged from the austere to the joyful, able to switch between the deeply moving to the downright silly.
Mark Morris Mixed Dance Group: Two Mixed Bills-Programme B at the Sadler's Wells
The master of American contemporary dance, Mark Morris has become the benchmark of creativity for a generation of dancers, choreographers and audiences. Morris has created dances for more than thirty years, which have ranged from the austere to the joyful, able to switch between the deeply moving to the downright silly.
Matchbox Theatre at the Hampstead Theatre
It would seem remiss if no theatre producer soon shapes an evening from the texts in Matchbox Theatre, The Guardian. Published last Autumn, multi award winning Michael Frayn's latest book, Matchbox Theatre inventively blurred the boundaries between his work for page and for stage. "Are these mini-plays or short stories?" asked readers and critics alike. Originally written for the smallest theatre in the world - the imagination - Frayn's Matchbox Theatre is now brought to glorious stage life. Enjoy a Kaleidoscopic range of new mini plays - or short stories - which are both hilariously entertaining and absurdly familiar.
Mercury Fur at the Trafalgar Studio Two
Mercury Fur is set in a post-apocalyptic version of London's East End, where terror, gangs, violence and drugs in the form of butterflies rule. The protagonists are a gang of youths, surviving by their wits. They deal the butterflies, engaging in trade with objects from places like the British Museum, looted by their butterfly-addicted customers. But their main source of 'income' is holding parties for wealthy clients, in which their wildest fantasies are brought to life.
Merrily We Roll Along at the Menier Chocolate Factory
Based on the play by Kaufman and Hart, Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s musical charts the turbulent relationship between three friends, Franklin, Charley and Mary, over three decades. Starting in 1980 and travelling backwards in time, this powerful and moving story features some of Sondheim’s most beautiful songs including ‘Good Thing Going’, ‘Not a Day Goes By’ and ‘Old Friends’.
Midnight Express at the London Coliseum
All Aboard! Peter Schaufuss’s Midnight Express Rolls into the London Coliseum 9th-14th April. The production will not only dazzle admirers of Peter Schaufuss’s unconventional style, but inspire anyone who identifies with the themes of Billy Hayes’s bestselling 1977 book.
Midnight Tango at the Phoenix Theatre
Everyone's favourite Strictly stars, VINCENT SIMONE and FLAVIA CACACE make a welcome return to the West End from 30 January 2013, in their incredible live show, Midnight Tango. This strictly limited season runs for 5 weeks only at the Phoenix Theatre, prior to a UK tour.
Mike and the Mechanics in Concert - 8 May 2015 at the Royal Albert Hall
After nearly 10 years and a massive reunion world tour with Genesis, Mike Rutherford recently joined forces with one of the UK's most successful R&B acts Andrew Roachford, and Canadian-born actor and singer Tim Howar for a new generation of Mike & The Mechanics. Originally formed in 1984, Mike & The Mechanics was a side project for Mike Rutherford that would go on to sell over 10 million records worldwide. The band featured vocalists Paul Carrack and Paul Young (formerly of Sad Café), and developed a rich catalogue of hit after hit including Silent Running, All I Need Is A Miracle, Over My Shoulder and the massive worldwide hit single The Living Years.
Million Dollar Quartet at the Noel Coward Theatre
A smash hit on Broadway and in Chicago, the Tony Award-winning?MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET tells the electrifying story of the night ELVIS PRESLEY, JOHNNY CASH, CARL PERKINS and JERRY LEE LEWIS came together to make music, and ended up making history. Inspired by the actual event, that took place on 4 December 1956 at Sun Records in Memphis,?this ecstatic and engaging musical is a story of fame, friendship, discovery, divided loyalties, professional jealousy and incredible music as four of the music industry's most extraordinary talents, all in their creative prime, made music together for the first and only time in their careers.
Miss Havisham's Expectations at the Trafalgar Studio Two
Award-winning actress Linda Marlowe stars in Miss Havisham's Expectations as the iconic jilted bride "Norma" Havisham. forever in her wedding dress alongside the stopped clock and untouched cake. Prepare to be amazed as she invites us to share her side of the story - a tale of passion, vengeance and more than a little magic.
Missing at the The Cage at The Vault Festival
Missing seeks, with the lightest of touches, to scrutinize the vast scale and unique mystery of disappearance. Winner of the Scottish Daily Mail Edinburgh Fringe Drama Award, this sell-out show transfers from a highly successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe 2013.
Mojo at the Harold Pinter Theatre
Rupert Grint and Ben Whishaw star in the first major revival of the play which dazzled London at the Royal Court prior to a sell-out West End run in 1996, for which it won the Olivier Award for Best New Comedy. Fast-paced and savagely funny, Mojo reunites two of British theatre's great collaborators, writer Jez Butterworth and director Ian Rickson. Mojo is now in its final weeks Must End 8 February! Don’t leave it until it's too late book now for an extraordinary new production of this modern classic.
Monty Python at the The O2 Arena
The legendary Monty Python comedy team - John Cleese, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam - has reformed for a series of farewell shows at London’s O2 Arena this summer. If you thought the shows had sold out faster than you can say 'Ni!', think again. We’ve got a limited cache of tickets available and they’re hotter than molten Spam, so book yours today.
Morgan & Wests Utterly Spiffin at the Udderbelly
Time travelling Victorian magic duo Morgan & West unload another boxful of bafflement and impossibility. Witness a mountain of mysterious magic, a hatful of hyper-reality, and of course a truck full of tricks and tea. (Sadly there are no actual mountains or trucks on stage during the show, Mr West simply would not have them).
Mummenschanz - The Musicians Of Silence at the Peacock Theatre
This summer Mummenschanz make its first appearence in the UK since 2006. The performers of Mummenschanz create inspiring and capativating illusions using colourful masks, incredible props and skillful sleight of hand, producing a magical world of possibilities , all without uttering a word.
My First Ballet Coppelia at the Peacock Theatre
My First Ballet: Coppelia tells the comic family tale of an eccentric toymaker and his mechinal doll in a beautifully adapted version for young audiences. Delibes's irresistibly melodic score is accompanied with narration to ensure that everyone enjoys this classic fairy tale.
Nederlands Dans Theatre 1: Sehnsucht Schmetterling at the Sadler's Wells
One of the world's most innovative contemporary dance companies, Nederlands Dans Theatre 1 are known for combining virtuoso classical technique with intriguing visual sets and themes. They return to Sadler's Wells for the first time since celebrating their 50th anniversary in 2009, bringing two works never before seen in the UK.
Neil Young at the Hyde Park
On Saturday 12th July legendary songwriter, Neil Young and Crazy Horse plus special guests, The National will be joined by many more exciting recording artists across four stages - yet to be announced - for what will undoubtedly be another scorching Summer of sound.
Neville's Island at the Duke of York's Theatre
Don’t miss this autumn’s star-studded comedy hit from the multi-award winning writer of Calendar Girls and Kinky Boots. Neville’s Island follows the misadventures of four out-of-condition, out-of-their depth businessmen on an out-of-control team-building exercise. Shipwrecked in the Lake District, menaced by wildlife and with only a sausage between them, our unlikely explorers battle the elements and each other as corporate bonding descends into a hilarious carnival of squabbling, French Cricket and cagoules.
New English Ballet Theatre - Tryst: Devotion and Betrayal at the Peacock Theatre
Following their highly successful West End debut season and gala at the Royal Opera House, New English Ballet Theatre returns with an innovative collaboration between visual art, music and dance. This varied and compelling programme showcases the stars of the future in 5 world premieres from world-class choreographers, presenting a new generation of creative talent.
Noel Coward's Christmas Spirits at the St James Theatre Studio
Noel Coward's Christmas Spirits written and Directed by Nick Hutchison, Musical Direction by Stefan Bednarczyk Designed by Annie Gosney I'll sing of home and love and work of Magna Carta and Dunkirk and Christmas Bells and charity and pride. Starring Stefan Bednarczyk, Issy Van Randwyck and Charlotte Wakefield, this promises to be a celebration of Christmas even the Luftwaffle can't destroy! Starring Charlotte Wakefield, Stefan Bednarczyk and Issy Van Randywyck.
Noises Off at the Old Vic Theatre
Winner of both Olivier and Tony Awards for Best Comedy, this celebrated play serves up a riotous double bill - a play within a play. Hurtling along at breakneck speed it follows the backstage antics of a touring theatre company as they stumble their way through rehearsals to a shambolic first night and a final disastrous performance.
Not I, Footfalls, Rockaby at the Duchess Theatre
Lisa Dwan follows two sell-out runs at the Royal Court Theatres with a West End transfer of her one-woman Samuel Beckett trilogym to the Duchess Theatre. After her critically acclaimed performance of his landmark one-woman piece Not I, Lisa performs two other Beckett classics, Footfalls and Rockaby, directed by Walter Asmus.
Not So Grimm Fairytales - Udderbelly at the Udderbelly
All your favourite Grimm characters. Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Tom Thumb, a handful of princesses, a whirlwind of witches and one weally, weally wicked wolf. are all brought to life in this energetic, colourful, laugh-a- minute show, with music, surprises,a touch of magic and lots of fun for all the family!
Oliver! - Plymouth at the Theatre Royal Plymouth
A fabulous new Cameron Mackintosh production, one of the most beloved British musicals ever, Oliver! is coming to the Theatre Royal Plymouth. Bringing vividly to life Dickens' timeless characters with its ever-popular story of the boy who asked for more, Lionel Bart's sensational score includes Food Glorious Food, Consider Yourself, You've Got to Pick-a-Pocket or Two, I'd Do Anything, Oom Pah Pah, As Long As He Needs Me and many more.
Olivier Dubois Company - Tragedie at the Sadler's Wells
Focusing on the anatomy of the human body, Tragédie sees nine men and nine women stripped bare both literally and figuratively to explore the human condition. In their over exposed nudity, the dancers combine concise repetitious phrases of movement creating a hypnotic chorus where body and soul meet.
Onassis at the Novello Theatre
Robert Lindsay stars as Onassis with a superb cast of characters portraying his family and the women he loved. First performed to great acclaim at Chichester's Minerva Theatre, this explosive new play by Martin Sherman opens at the Novello Theatre this September for a strictly limited season.
OnBlackheath at the Blackheath Common
OnBlackheath - a unique celebration of good food and fantastic music, set on stunning Blackheath, one of the capital’s most beautiful open spaces. Escape the bustle of the city and feast upon a world-class line-up of great music, top chefs and fun for kids of all ages!Enjoy food demos from a host of top culinary names on the Food Stage, explore the Food Village, featuring Gizzi Erskine’s Chefs Club, nibble on the hottest street food, pick up some delicious produce at the Farmer’s Market and take the little ones on a trip to Kids Fun Factory, where untold wonders await.
Once at the Phoenix Theatre
Winner of two 2014 Olivier Awards including Best Actress in a Musical and Outstanding Achievement in Music. Once is based on the 2006 Irish musical film of the same name, written and directed by John Carney. It has been brillliantly adapted from stage to screen by Enda Walsh and retains much of the films original grammy nominated soundtrack written by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, including the hit song 'Falling Slowly', which recieved a 2007 Accademy Award for Best Original Song.
One Man Star Wars - Udderbelly at the Udderbelly
Canadian actor Charles Ross spent much of his childhood far, far away, watching Star Wars videos. The result of this misspent youth is his hilarious show, where he single-handedly plays all the characters, sings the music, flies the ships, fights the battles and condenses the plots into just sixty minutes!
One Man, Two Guvnors at the Theatre Royal Haymarket
Holed up at The Cricketers' Arms, the permanently ravenous Francis spots the chance of an extra meal ticket and takes a second job with one Stanley Stubbers, who is hiding from the police and waiting to be re-united with Rachel. To prevent discovery, Francis must keep his two guvnors apart. Simple.
One Man, Two Guvnors: Dartford at the The Orchard Theatre
The National Theatre’s award-winning comedy One Man, Two Guvnors is embarking on its biggest-ever tour of the UK and Ireland and will be visiting The Orchard Theatre in August 2014. Now seen by over 1 million people worldwide, this internationally acclaimed smash-hit is a glorious celebration of British comedy a unique, laugh-out-loud mix of satire, songs, slapstick and glittering one-liners.
One Man, Two Guvnors: Hull at the Hull New Theatre
The National Theatre’s award-winning comedy One Man, Two Guvnors is embarking on its biggest-ever tour of the UK and Ireland, and visiting Hull New Theatre in June 2014. Now seen by over 1 million people worldwide, this internationally acclaimed smash-hit is a glorious celebration of British comedy a unique, laugh-out-loud mix of satire, songs, slapstick and glittering one-liners.
Oppenheimer at the Swan Theatre
1939: fascism spreads across Europe, Franco marches on Barcelona and two German chemists discover the processes of atomic fission. In Berkeley, California, theoretical physicists recognise the horrendous potential of this new science: a weapon that draws its power from the very building blocks of the universe. The ambitious and charismatic J Robert Oppenheimer finds himself uniquely placed to spearhead the largest scientific undertaking in all of human history.
Oppenheimer at the Vaudeville Theatre
1930 Fascism spreads across Europe, Franco marches on Barcelona and two German chemists discover the processes of atomic fission. In Berkeley, California, theoretical physicists recognise the horrendous potential of this new science; a weapon that draws its power from the very building blocks of the universe. The ambitious and charismatic J Robert Oppenheimer finds himself uniquely placed to spearhead the largest scientific undertaking in all of human history.
Ordinary Days at the Trafalgar Studio Two
When Deb loses her most precious possession--the notes to her graduate thesis--she unwittingly starts a chain of events that turns the ordinary days of four New Yorkers into something extraordinary.Told through a series of intricately connected songs and vignettes, Ordinary Days is an original musical about growing up and enjoying the view. Starring Daniel Boys and Julie Atherton
Other Desert Cities at the Old Vic Theatre
The Old Vic presents the UK premiere of Other Desert Cities by playwright / screenwriter Jon Robin Baitz, best known as the creator of the internationally hit TV series Brothers and Sisters. Directed by Lindsay Posner, this new production is the first of a season of plays to be presented in-the-round at The Old Vic.
Our Ajax at the Southwark Playhouse
An epic drama of heroism, love and homeland, Sophocles’s Ajax is brought urgently to life in this thrilling new play by Olivier Award-winner Timberlake Wertenbaker. Torn between army politics and the love of his soldiers on the front line of war, the legendary leader begins to spiral out of control.
Our Boys at the Duchess Theatre
Fired by anger at the neglect of our wounded heroes, Our Boys remains as relevant now as was in 1993, when it won a Best New Play award. This first West End production comes from the creative team behind international hit Journey's End.
Our Country's Good at the St. James Theatre
Our Country’s Good is the true story of a ragbag cast of convicts, who put on a play under the guidance of an earnest young marine officer. As the barriers between captors and captives break down, they start to discover each other, both onstage and behind the scenes…
Our Town at the King's Head Theatre
Following their acclaimed double bill of two classic Thornton Wilder one acts, The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden and The Long Christmas Dinner, Savior is pleased to be returning to the King's Head Theatre with their production of Our Town for the play's 75th anniversary in its first major London revival generation. Directed by Off West End Award nominee Tim sullivan.
Paul Carrack at the London Palladium
Legendary Sheffield-born singer, songwriter and former frontman of Ace, Squeeze and Mike & The Mechanics returns to the road following his widely acclaimed recent album release Rain or Shine, a mix of new original songs and classic tracks. With a back catalogue of hits to his name including How Long, Tempted and The Living Years, Paul's marvelously soulful voice is known to millions around the world.
Paul Daniels Hair Today Gone Tomorrow - Udderbelly at the Udderbelly
In the world of television magic, no one has enjoyed more success than Paul Daniels. From the moment he burst onto our screens, his magic shows have topped the ratings. He is undoubtedly the most successful TV magician of the 20th century, and international sex symbol! He promises not to dance!
People at the Lyttelton Theatre, National
A new play by Alan Bennett Frances de la Tour takes the part of Dorothy in her third new play by Alan Bennett at the National following The History Boys and The Habit of Art. She is joined by Selina Cadell and Linda Bassett
Peppa Pig's Treasure Hunt at the Criterion Theatre
Ahoy there me Hearties! Peppa Pig and her friends are going on a treasure hunt and need your help! Only Adult tickets are available online. To make a booking including Adult and Child tickets please contact us by telephone and speak to one of our representatives.
Peter Pan - The Never Ending Story: Birmingham at the National Indoor Arena, Birmingham
Peter Pan, The Never Ending Story World Arena Tour. See the boy who never grows up in a live adventure you’ll never forget. Peter Pan, The Never Ending Story World Arena Tour is a high-flying, hi-tech fantasy adventure that combines the drama and excitement of live theatre with the epic visuals of a blockbuster movie. Theatre… with added fairy dust!
Peter Pan - The Never Ending Story: Glasgow at the SECC - The Hydro
Peter Pan, The Never Ending Story World Arena Tour. See the boy who never grows up in a live adventure you’ll never forget. Peter Pan, The Never Ending Story World Arena Tour is a high-flying, hi-tech fantasy adventure that combines the drama and excitement of live theatre with the epic visuals of a blockbuster movie. Theatre… with added fairy dust!
Peter Pan - The Never Ending Story: Leeds at the Leeds Arena
Peter Pan, The Never Ending Story World Arena Tour. See the boy who never grows up in a live adventure you’ll never forget. Peter Pan, The Never Ending Story World Arena Tour is a high-flying, hi-tech fantasy adventure that combines the drama and excitement of live theatre with the epic visuals of a blockbuster movie. Theatre… with added fairy dust!
Peter Pan - The Never Ending Story: Manchester at the Manchester Arena
See the boy who never grows up in a live adventure you'll never forget. Peter Pan, The Never Ending Story World Arena Tour is a high-flying, hi-tech fantasy adventure that combines the drama and excitement of live theatre with the epic visuals of a blockbuster movie…and added fairy dust.
Peter Pan - The Never Ending Story: Newcastle at the Metro Radio Arena
Peter Pan, The Never Ending Story World Arena Tour. See the boy who never grows up in a live adventure you’ll never forget. Peter Pan, The Never Ending Story World Arena Tour is a high-flying, hi-tech fantasy adventure that combines the drama and excitement of live theatre with the epic visuals of a blockbuster movie. Theatre… with added fairy dust!
Peter Pan - The Never Ending Story: Nottingham at the Capital FM Arena
Peter Pan, The Never Ending Story World Arena Tour. See the boy who never grows up in a live adventure you’ll never forget. Peter Pan, The Never Ending Story World Arena Tour is a high-flying, hi-tech fantasy adventure that combines the drama and excitement of live theatre with the epic visuals of a blockbuster movie. Theatre… with added fairy dust!
Peter Pan - The Never Ending Story: Wembley at the Wembley Arena
See the boy who never grows up in a live adventure you’ll never forget. Peter Pan, The Never Ending Story World Arena Tour is a high-flying, hi-tech fantasy adventure that combines the drama and excitement of live theatre with the epic visuals of a blockbuster movie. Theatre… with added fairy dust.
Pina Bausch: Ahnen at the Sadler's Wells
Tanzheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, Ahnen Beginning her work as a choreographer in 1968, Pina Bausch is the inventor of tanztheater as it is known today. During 40 years as Artistic Director of Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, she nurtured an ensemble of vivid imagination and grand scale. Since her untimely death in 2009, the company has continued to tour her 46 choreographic works around the world.
Pina Bausch: Auf Dem Gebirge Hat Man Ein Gescheri Gehort at the Sadler's Wells
Tanzheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, Auf Dem Gebirge Hat Man Ein Geschrei Gehort (On The Mountain A Cry Was Heard) Beginning her work as a choreographer in 1968, Pina Bausch is the inventor of tanztheater as it is known today. During 40 years as Artistic Director of Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, she nurtured an ensemble of vivid imagination and grand scale. Since her untimely death in 2009, the company has continued to tour her 46 choreographic works around the world.
Port at the Lyttelton Theatre, National
A richly colourful portrait of a town with the everyday writ large, Simon Stephens’ Port is a celebration of the human spirit as Ra-chel, through sheer courage and despite an economic and political climate that pushes her into the very margins, looks to the future and opts for love and life and for something better.
Posh at the Duke of York's Theatre
In an oak-panelled room in Oxford, ten young bloods with cut-glass vowels and deep pockets are meeting, intent on restoring their right to rule. Members of an elite student dining society, the boys are bunkering down for a wild night of debauchery, decadence and bloody good wine. But this isn't just a jolly: they're planning a revolution. Welcome to the Riot Club
Prince Of Denmark at the Ambassadors Theatre
A decade before Shakespeare’s play begins, there’s romance, rivalry and rebellion in the air as teenagers Hamlet, Ophelia and Laertes rage against their parents’ expectations in royal Elisnore. This thrilling prequel to Hamlet enjoyed a sold out run at the National Theatre in 2008 when it played before NT’s landmark production with Rory Kinnear in the title role
Priscilla Queen of the Desert at the Palace Theatre
Based on the Oscar-winning film, 'Priscilla' is a Big-Hit Musical. It is the heart warming, uplifting adventure of three friends who hop aboard a battered old bus to take their show to the middle of the Australian outback in search for love and friendship.
Professor Vanessa's Wondershow at the Roundhouse
Walk through a lost world of original vintage circus side-shows dating back to the 1930s-1950s and gasp at the hair-raising aerial performances, contemporary cabaret and illusion. Peek at the headless lady if you dare, marvel at the girl in the goldfish bowl, feel the power of Electra, the 27,000 volt girl and gaze with wonder at the spectacle that unfolds around you. The show features an enviable line up of artists from the circus, cabaret and variety world including Miss Behave, Marawa The Amazing, Jon Marshall and his Sideshow Illusions and The Insect Circus.
Queen Extravaganza - Bath at the Bath- Komedia
The Queen Extravaganza is a spectacular touring concert show designed to take the glorious music and live experience of legendary rock band Queen and bring it to generations of fans. Two of Queen’s original band mates and songwriters iconic drummer Roger Taylor and legendary guitarist Brian Mayare the masterminds behind The Queen Extravaganza.
Queen Extravaganza - Birmingham at the O2 Academy Birmingham
The Queen Extravaganza is a spectacular touring concert show designed to take the glorious music and live experience of legendary rock band Queen and bring it to generations of fans. Two of Queen’s original band mates and songwriters iconic drummer Roger Taylor and legendary guitarist Brian Mayare the masterminds behind The Queen Extravaganza.
Queen Extravaganza - Bournemouth at the Old Fire Station- Bournemouth
The Queen Extravaganza is a spectacular touring concert show designed to take the glorious music and live experience of legendary rock band Queen and bring it to generations of fans. Two of Queen’s original band mates and songwriters iconic drummer Roger Taylor and legendary guitarist Brian Mayare the masterminds behind The Queen Extravaganza.
Queen Extravaganza - Bristol at the O2 Academy Bristol
The Queen Extravaganza is a spectacular touring concert show designed to take the glorious music and live experience of legendary rock band Queen and bring it to generations of fans. Two of Queen’s original band mates and songwriters iconic drummer Roger Taylor and legendary guitarist Brian Mayare the masterminds behind The Queen Extravaganza.
Queen Extravaganza - Glasgow at the O2 ABC Glasgow
The Queen Extravaganza is a spectacular touring concert show designed to take the glorious music and live experience of legendary rock band Queen and bring it to generations of fans. Two of Queen’s original band mates and songwriters iconic drummer Roger Taylor and legendary guitarist Brian Mayare the masterminds behind The Queen Extravaganza.
Queen Extravaganza - Leamington Spa at the The Assembly - Leamington Spa
The Queen Extravaganza is a spectacular touring concert show designed to take the glorious music and live experience of legendary rock band Queen and bring it to generations of fans. Two of Queen’s original band mates and songwriters iconic drummer Roger Taylor and legendary guitarist Brian Mayare the masterminds behind The Queen Extravaganza.
Queen Extravaganza - Leicester at the O2 Academy Leicester
The Queen Extravaganza is a spectacular touring concert show designed to take the glorious music and live experience of legendary rock band Queen and bring it to generations of fans. Two of Queen’s original band mates and songwriters iconic drummer Roger Taylor and legendary guitarist Brian Mayare the masterminds behind The Queen Extravaganza.
Queen Extravaganza - Liverpool at the O2 Academy Liverpool
The Queen Extravaganza is a spectacular touring concert show designed to take the glorious music and live experience of legendary rock band Queen and bring it to generations of fans. Two of Queen’s original band mates and songwriters iconic drummer Roger Taylor and legendary guitarist Brian Mayare the masterminds behind The Queen Extravaganza.
Queen Extravaganza - London at the O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire
The Queen Extravaganza is a spectacular touring concert show designed to take the glorious music and live experience of legendary rock band Queen and bring it to generations of fans. Two of Queen’s original band mates and songwriters iconic drummer Roger Taylor and legendary guitarist Brian Mayare the masterminds behind The Queen Extravaganza.
Queen Extravaganza - Manchester at the Manchester-Gorilla
The Queen Extravaganza is a spectacular touring concert show designed to take the glorious music and live experience of legendary rock band Queen and bring it to generations of fans. Two of Queen’s original band mates and songwriters iconic drummer Roger Taylor and legendary guitarist Brian Mayare the masterminds behind The Queen Extravaganza.
Queen Extravaganza - Newcastle at the O2 Academy Newcastle
The Queen Extravaganza is a spectacular touring concert show designed to take the glorious music and live experience of legendary rock band Queen and bring it to generations of fans. Two of Queen’s original band mates and songwriters iconic drummer Roger Taylor and legendary guitarist Brian Mayare the masterminds behind The Queen Extravaganza.
Queen Extravaganza - Oxford at the O2 Academy Oxford
The Queen Extravaganza is a spectacular touring concert show designed to take the glorious music and live experience of legendary rock band Queen and bring it to generations of fans. Two of Queen’s original band mates and songwriters iconic drummer Roger Taylor and legendary guitarist Brian Mayare the masterminds behind The Queen Extravaganza.
Queen Extravaganza - Reading at the Sub89 Reading
The Queen Extravaganza is a spectacular touring concert show designed to take the glorious music and live experience of legendary rock band Queen and bring it to generations of fans. Two of Queen’s original band mates and songwriters iconic drummer Roger Taylor and legendary guitarist Brian Mayare the masterminds behind The Queen Extravaganza.
Queen Extravaganza - Sheffield at the O2 Academy Sheffield
The Queen Extravaganza is a spectacular touring concert show designed to take the glorious music and live experience of legendary rock band Queen and bring it to generations of fans. Two of Queen’s original band mates and songwriters iconic drummer Roger Taylor and legendary guitarist Brian Mayare the masterminds behind The Queen Extravaganza.
Queen Extravaganza - Worthing at the Worthing Assembly Hall
The Queen Extravaganza is a spectacular touring concert show designed to take the glorious music and live experience of legendary rock band Queen and bring it to generations of fans. Two of Queen’s original band mates and songwriters iconic drummer Roger Taylor and legendary guitarist Brian Mayare the masterminds behind The Queen Extravaganza.
Queen Extravaganza - Worthing at the Pavilion Theatre, Worthing
The Queen Extravaganza is a spectacular touring concert show designed to take the glorious music and live experience of legendary rock band Queen and bring it to generations of fans. Two of Queen’s original band mates and songwriters iconic drummer Roger Taylor and legendary guitarist Brian Mayare the masterminds behind The Queen Extravaganza.
Quimeras at the Sadler's Wells
Legendary guitarist, composer, dramatist and producer Paco Peña presents his 2010 work Quimeras, directed by Southbank Centre artistic director Jude Kelly. Exploring the lure of travel and the dream of a better life, Quimeras tells the story of a group of migrants who have come to Spain from Africa in search of work.
Rabbit Hole at the Vaudeville Theatre
Downtown Abbey’s Joanne Froggatt stars in Nigel Harman's production of David Lindsay-Abaire's poignant play Rabbit Hole, now making its long-awaited UK debut. Recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2007 and four Tony Award nominations including Best Play, Rabbit Hole includes comedy as well as drama in its study of how a family copes with a major loss.
Rambert Dance Company at the Sadler's Wells
An inventive and groundbreaking choreographer, Javier De Frutos returns to create a world premiere inspired by the life and work of Tennessee Williams. Set to music from A Streetcar Named Desire, this new work is De Frutos at his very best.
Rambert Dance Company Featuring Labyrinth of Love at the Sadler's Wells
Unrivalled in their ability to present exciting and new international choreography as well as some of the most memorable masterpieces from the past 100 years, Rambert Dance Company continues to impress audiences and critics alike with their biannual visits to Sadler's Wells.
Rambert Dance Company Mixed at the Sadler's Wells
In 2011, Rambert Dance Company celebrates 85 years at the heart of British dance, producing and touring some of the UK's most iconic and memorable dance experiences. This May, audiences have a rare opportunity to enjoy the work of American choreographer, Paul Taylor.
Relative Values at the Harold Pinter Theatre
One of Noël Coward’s most successful comedies. Set in the early 1950s, Relative Values is about the uproarious culture clash between the glittering world of Hollywood and the stiff upper lip of the English aristocracy. Starring three of the UK's finest comic talents, Patricia Hodge, Caroline Quentin and Rory Bremner.
Relatively Speaking at the Wyndham's Theatre
Greg only met Ginny a month ago but has already made up his mind that she's the girl for him. When she tells him that she's going to visit her parents, he decides this is the moment to ask her father for his daughter's hand. Discovering a scribbled address, he follows her to Buckinghamshire where he finds Philip and Sheila enjoying a peaceful Sunday morning breakfast in the garden, but the only thing is they're not Ginny's parents.
Result at the Pleasance Theatre
Ichiro is living far from home in rainy England, where the only language he understands is football. Ashley trains six days a week and his girlfriend wants him to spend Sundays with her. Titch sits alone in the changing room long after the floodlights have been switched off. Their coach think he knows it all. The team's psychologist knows he has a lot to learn.
Revolution at the Theatre Royal Haymarket
'Live. Breathe. Dance. Love' is the theme of the soon to launch dance phenomenon, which will showcase some of the most celebrated performers from the UK and will be fronted by international artist & Sky1's Got to Dance judge, Kimberly Wyatt, and fellow judge actor and performer, Adam Garcia.
RIP at the King's Head Theatre
Whitechapel, 1888. The most infamous serial killer of all time has brutally murdered five women. Their mutilated bodies lie in a cold morgue ready for dissection and their souls reamin in perpetual limbo as they witness their own post-mortems and desperately wait for justice to prevail. Police Surgeons, Dr Phillips and Dr Bond, guide us through this world of secrets, where no stone is left unturned. Told through song and taken from the writings of the people who knew these women best, RIP will have you clinging to your seats and singing all the way home.
Rise And Fall Of The City Of Mahagonny at the Royal Opera House
Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht's satiric opera was written to throw a salutary chill over the warmth of comfortable art. It was opera as anti opera, and had a stormy reception when first performed in 1930. In this new production for The Royal Opera House, director John Fulljames and designers Es Devlin and Christina Cunningham show that 80 years have sharpended the opera's observations on the city's corrupting encouragement of greed and excess- whether through money, drink or sex. In the end, even God washes his hands of this dystopia of mankind unchecked.
Riverdance: Edinburgh at the Edinburgh Playhouse
This 20th Anniversary UK Tour, gives Riverdance fans old and new, the opportunity to celebrate an incredible milestone for an incredible show. Twenty years after it took its first steps, a truly phenomenal piece of theatrical entertainment is back by popular demand. Don’t miss this anniversary tour!
Road Show at the Menier Chocolate Factory
Road Show, the latest musical by American composer Stephen Sondheim, is to receive its UK premiere. Set in the early part of the twentieth-century, Road Show?tells the true boom-and-bust story of Addison Mizner and his fast-talking brother Wilson, two of the most colourful and outrageous fortune seekers in American history.?
Rock of Ages at the Shaftesbury Theatre
ROCK OF AGES is the new 'absurdly enjoyable rock musical' (New York Times). A world wide smash hit, it features a raucous mix of 28 classic rock hits including 'Don't Stop Believin', 'We Built This City', 'The Final Countdown', 'Wanted Dead or Alive' and 'Here I Go Again'.
Rock of Ages at the Garrick Theatre
ROCK OF AGES is the new 'absurdly enjoyable rock musical' (New York Times). A world wide smash hit, it features a raucous mix of 28 classic rock hits including 'Don't Stop Believin', 'We Built This City', 'The Final Countdown', 'Wanted Dead or Alive' and 'Here I Go Again'.
Roland Petit's Coppelia at the London Coliseum
The Moscow Stanislavsky Ballet debuts Coppélia at the London Coliseum 6 performances only Thursday 11 to 14 July 2013 The Moscow Stanislavsky Ballet brings Roland Petit's 1975 version of one of the world's most well-known and charming ballets, Coppélia, to the London Coliseum for the first time this July, with music from the English National Ballet Orchestra.
Romeo & Juliet - National Youth Theatre at the Ambassadors Theatre
Following on from the success of BBC 2’s When Romeo Met Juliet, National Youth Theatre brings this electrifying production of Romeo and Juliet to the West End stage. Set in the enticing Skamania/New Wave era of the 80s, against a back-drop of youth unemployment and economic recession, award-winning playwright Lolita Chakrabarti (Red Velvet) has adapted Shakespeare’s beloved tragedy to thrilling effect.
Rosas Early Works Bartok at the Sadler's Wells
Presented in three parts, the evening includes the dance duet Mikrokosmos, set to a composition by Bela Bartok for two pianos, a musical work by Gyorgy Ligeti, performed by two pianists, and a dance to the Fourth String Quartet by Bela Bartok. All the music is performed live.
Rosas Early Works Elena's Aria at the Sadler's Wells
Elena's Aria is largely the result of Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker questioning her own work, evaluating her past and seeking a way forward. In this production she forgoes the use of repetitive music, using arias instead, and allows the movements to follow their own path regardless of the music.
Royal Ballet of Flanders - Artifact at the Sadler's Wells
A ballet in four parts, Artifact features music by J.S. Bach and scenography, lighting, costumes and choreography all by William Forsythe. It is famous for the way it subverts the traditional physical principles of ballet and plays with audiences ideas about what ballet can be.
Royal Family of Strange People - Wonderground at the The London Wonderground
The world's most stupendous collection of human oddities come together for only 18 shows! An evening of extraordinary stunts, strange behaviour and acts that push the very boundaries of what the human body is able to achieve. A variety show unlike anything you will have seen before, The Royal Family is the finest family of freaks ever assembled in London
Royal Swedish Ballet: Mats Ek's Juliet & Romeo at the Sadler's Wells
The world's fourth oldest ballet company, Royal Swedish Ballet perform in London for the first time since 1995 . To celebrate their 240th anniversary, Johannes Ohman, the director of the Royal Swedish Ballet commissioned renowned choreographer Mats Ek to create a full length adaptation of a timeless love story for 32 of the company's dancers. Having created many new interpretations of classics, Ek's Juliet & Romeo attracted much acclaim both in Sweden and internationally. Making its UK premiere this Autumn , Ek brings a quirky twist to this much loved ballet.
Ruby Wax - Losing It at the Duchess Theatre
Ruby Wax had it all - career, dream house, husband, kids, so when was the moment she realised she was the 1 in 4. Somewhere between painting her kitchen beige (again), realising she didn't own a life manual or comprehend the contents of a children's party bag?
Russell Howard: Wonderbox - Aberdeen at the AECC Aberdeen
Russell Howard, one of our funniest and most successful comedians, returns to his first tour for three years. Wonderbox follows his sell-out, thrice-extended, 2011 UK tour. In this new show, the star and creator of the award-winning hit TV show, Russell Howard's Good News, promises us more of his trademark brand of upbeat and razor-sharp comedy.
Russell Howard: Wonderbox - Belfast at the Odyssey Arena, Belfast
Russell Howard, one of our funniest and most successful comedians, returns to his first tour for three years. Wonderbox follows his sell-out, thrice-extended, 2011 UK tour. In this new show, the star and creator of the award-winning hit TV show, Russell Howard's Good News, promises us more of his trademark brand of upbeat and razor-sharp comedy.
Russell Howard: Wonderbox - Bournemouth at the The Windsor Hall, Bournemouth International Centre
Russell Howard, one of our funniest and most successful comedians, returns to his first tour for three years. Wonderbox follows his sell-out, thrice-extended, 2011 UK tour. In this new show, the star and creator of the award-winning hit TV show, Russell Howard's Good News, promises us more of his trademark brand of upbeat and razor-sharp comedy.
Russell Howard: Wonderbox - Glasgow at the SECC - The Hydro
Russell Howard, one of our funniest and most successful comedians, returns to his first tour for three years. Wonderbox follows his sell-out, thrice-extended, 2011 UK tour. In this new show, the star and creator of the award-winning hit TV show, Russell Howard's Good News, promises us more of his trademark brand of upbeat and razor-sharp comedy.
Russell Howard: Wonderbox - Leeds at the Leeds Arena
Russell Howard, one of our funniest and most successful comedians, returns to his first tour for three years. Wonderbox follows his sell-out, thrice-extended, 2011 UK tour. In this new show, the star and creator of the award-winning hit TV show, Russell Howard's Good News, promises us more of his trademark brand of upbeat and razor-sharp comedy.
Russell Howard: Wonderbox - Liverpool at the Liverpool Echo Arena
Russell Howard, one of our funniest and most successful comedians, returns to his first tour for three years. Wonderbox follows his sell-out, thrice-extended, 2011 UK tour. In this new show, the star and creator of the award-winning hit TV show, Russell Howard's Good News, promises us more of his trademark brand of upbeat and razor-sharp comedy.
Russell Howard: Wonderbox - O2 Arena at the The O2 Arena
Russell Howard, one of our funniest and most successful comedians, returns to his first tour for three years. Wonderbox follows his sell-out, thrice-extended, 2011 UK tour. In this new show, the star and creator of the award-winning hit TV show, Russell Howard's Good News, promises us more of his trademark brand of upbeat and razor-sharp comedy.
Russell Howard: Wonderbox - Royal Albert Hall at the Royal Albert Hall
Russell Howard, one of our funniest and most successful comedians, returns to his first tour for three years. Wonderbox follows his sell-out, thrice-extended, 2011 UK tour. In this new show, the star and creator of the award-winning hit TV show, Russell Howard's Good News, promises us more of his trademark brand of upbeat and razor-sharp comedy.
Russell Howard: Wonderbox - Sheffield at the Sheffield Motorpoint Arena
Russell Howard, one of our funniest and most successful comedians, returns to his first tour for three years. Wonderbox follows his sell-out, thrice-extended, 2011 UK tour. In this new show, the star and creator of the award-winning hit TV show, Russell Howard's Good News, promises us more of his trademark brand of upbeat and razor-sharp comedy.
Russell Howard: Wonderbox - Wembley at the Wembley Arena
Russell Howard, one of our funniest and most successful comedians, returns to his first tour for three years. Wonderbox follows his sell-out, thrice-extended, 2011 UK tour. In this new show, the star and creator of the award-winning hit TV show, Russell Howard's Good News, promises us more of his trademark brand of upbeat and razor-sharp comedy.
Russell Howard:Wonderbox - Birmingham at the LG Arena, NEC
Russell Howard, one of our funniest and most successful comedians, returns to his first tour for three years. Wonderbox follows his sell-out, thrice-extended, 2011 UK tour. In this new show, the star and creator of the award-winning hit TV show, Russell Howard's Good News, promises us more of his trademark brand of upbeat and razor-sharp comedy.
Russell Howard:Wonderbox - Brighton at the The Brighton Centre
Russell Howard, one of our funniest and most successful comedians, returns to his first tour for three years. Wonderbox follows his sell-out, thrice-extended, 2011 UK tour. In this new show, the star and creator of the award-winning hit TV show, Russell Howard's Good News, promises us more of his trademark brand of upbeat and razor-sharp comedy.
Russell Howard:Wonderbox - Cardiff at the Cardiff Motorpoint Arena
Russell Howard, one of our funniest and most successful comedians, returns to his first tour for three years. Wonderbox follows his sell-out, thrice-extended, 2011 UK tour. In this new show, the star and creator of the award-winning hit TV show, Russell Howard's Good News, promises us more of his trademark brand of upbeat and razor-sharp comedy.
Russell Howard:Wonderbox - Manchester at the Manchester Arena
Russell Howard, one of our funniest and most successful comedians, returns to his first tour for three years. Wonderbox follows his sell-out, thrice-extended, 2011 UK tour. In this new show, the star and creator of the award-winning hit TV show, Russell Howard's Good News, promises us more of his trademark brand of upbeat and razor-sharp comedy.
Russell Howard:Wonderbox - Newcastle at the Metro Radio Arena
Russell Howard, one of our funniest and most successful comedians, returns to his first tour for three years. Wonderbox follows his sell-out, thrice-extended, 2011 UK tour. In this new show, the star and creator of the award-winning hit TV show, Russell Howard's Good News, promises us more of his trademark brand of upbeat and razor-sharp comedy.
Russell Howard:Wonderbox - Nottingham at the Capital FM Arena
Russell Howard, one of our funniest and most successful comedians, returns to his first tour for three years. Wonderbox follows his sell-out, thrice-extended, 2011 UK tour. In this new show, the star and creator of the award-winning hit TV show, Russell Howard's Good News, promises us more of his trademark brand of upbeat and razor-sharp comedy.
Ruth Leon from There to Here at the St James Theatre Studio
Ruth Leon is a writer and broadcaster specialising in theatre and all the performing arts, an especially cabaret. Ruth is Artistic Director of Crazy Coqs at Brasserie Zedel, London’s newest cabaret bar, bringing the artform of ‘classic cabaret’ back to London. London Festival of Cabaret season ticket: receive a 15% discount on your ticket face values when you book for four or more different shows from the London Festival of Cabaret season. Call 020 7492 0890 to book. Not valid for multiple purchases on the same show.
Rutherford and Son at the St. James Theatre
Set in 1912 and relocated to industrial Yorkshire , Rutherford & Son tells the story of iron-fisted John Rutherford as he battles the scheming rebellion of his eldest son and his daughter’s scandalous love-affair, while fighting to prevent the legacy of the family glassworks from shattering. Tackling timeless issues of family dynamics both at home and in business, this remarkable drama is as relevant today as when it was first performed.
Sadler's Sampled: Dada Masilo - Swan Lake at the Sadler's Wells
Bringing world-class dance to new audiences, Sadler’s Sampled is a two week taster festival of dance. In only its second year, Sadler’s Sampled allows spectators to get closer to the action with standing tickets, and activities before and after each show. Opening the festival is the young South African dancer and choreographer Dada Masilo, with her interpretation of Swan Lake.
Sadler's Sampled: Eastman - Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui - 4 D at the Sadler's Wells
Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui presents 4D. With a title that is purposefully open to interpretation the programme consists of four duets that have existed as segments from Cherkaoui’s catalogue of work, brought together to form one programme.
Sadler's Sampled: Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre - Rian at the Sadler's Wells
Described as “one of the most daring and highly original dance theatre companies in the world” (The Times) Fabulous Beast make their second visit of the season to Sadler’s Wells for Sadler’s Sampled with Rian, a celebration of Ireland’s roots and traditions which recently received a Bessie award for Outstanding Producion.
Sadler's Wells Family Weekend: Aracaladanza - Constelaciones at the Sadler's Wells
Aracaladanza- Constelaciones, inspired by Joan Miro's universe. If a writer had to write with his eyes and a painter had to paint with his ears, how would a choreographer have to choreograph? We have never managed to find an answer but we are convinced that a smile can help us in the impossible dream of capturing the universe. Aracaldanza have been irresistibly drawn to a painter: Joan Miro has entered our dreams; he has tinted our imagination with an explosion of colour, guiding us through a long journey. The result is Constelaciones.
Salena Jones at the The Pheasantry
London Festival of Cabaret presents Salena Jones, A stunning British based US singer who has a touch of Sarah Vaughan in her technique. She's on fine form, packing a soulful and emotional punch live and is backed here by a highly skilled band: Pianist Will Bartlett, Bassist Matt Ridley, drummer Pat Davey, Saxophonist Rhichard Shepherd and percussionist Hugh Wilkinson. London Festival of Cabaret season ticket: receive a 15% discount on your ticket face values when you book for four or more different shows from the London Festival of Cabaret season. Call 020 7492 0890 to book. Not valid for multiple purchases on the same show.
San Francisco Ballet Programme A at the Sadler's Wells
Programme A features George Balanchine's iconic large-scale work,Divertimento No. 15, set to Mozart's chamber piece; choreographerEdwaard Liang's abstract ballet Symphonic Dances, set to Rachmaninov's intensely spiritual composition of the same name; andChristopher Wheeldon's uplifting Number Nine, hailed as a "delectable paintbox of a dance" by The San Francisco Chronicle.
San Francisco Ballet Programme B at the Sadler's Wells
Programme B brings together Wheeldon's atmospheric 2010 ballet Ghosts; Ashley Page's highly physical Guide to Strange Places set to pulsating music by John Adams; and Trio, choreographed by Tomasson and set to Tchaikovsky's glorious Souvenir de Florence. A visually stunning triptych of a ballet, Trio boasts set and costumes as lush as the choreography.
San Francisco Ballet Programme C at the Sadler's Wells
Programme C is comprised of four works: Mark Morris' Beaux, a playful colourful work for nine men featuring costumes by Isaac Mizrahi; San Francisco Ballet Choreographer in Residence Yuri Possokhov's interpretation of Prokofiev's Classical Symphony; Possokhov's multimedia dance theatre work RAKU, based on the story of the burning of Kyoto?s Golden Pavilion in 1950; and Christopher Wheeldon's ethereal Within the Golden Hour, set to music by Italian composer Ezio Bosso and Vivaldi.
Scottish Ballet - Romeo and Juliet at the Sadler's Wells
Following its sold out success in A Streetcar Named Desire in 2012, Scottish Ballet returns with another powerful reinterpretation of an all time classic, with a unique version of Romeo & Juliet. Incredibly moving and enduringly relevant, the production was created for Scottish Ballet by Polish choreographer Krzysztof Pastor in 2008, and has since gained status as one of the company’s most iconic works.
Scottish Ballet Double Bill at the Sadler's Wells
After 2009's hugely successful 40th anniversary performances at Sadler's Wells, Scottish Ballet returns with an atmospheric double bill originally unveiled at this year's Edinburgh International Festival. Kenneth MacMillan's Song of the Earth was created for Stuttgart Ballet in 1965 at the invitation of Artistic Director John Cranko. Set to a live performance of Mahler's song cycle Das Lied von der Erde, the lyrics to which were translated from a collection of eighth century Chinese poems offering bittersweet reflections on human emotion, Song of the Earth explores man's struggle to accept mortality.
Scottish Ballet: A Streetcar Named Desire at the Sadler's Wells
Scottish Ballet is one of Sadler's Wells' mosr popualr visiting companies. Its repertoire includes new versions of the classics, seminal works from the 20th century modern ballet canon, signature pieces by current choreographers and new commissions. Returning in Spring 2015, they present their take on one of Tennessee Williams' most famous plays, A Streetcar Named Desire.
Scrooge at the London Palladium
Based on Charles Dickens' famous novel A Christmas Carol, which tells the story of a miserable business man who finds redemption after being visited by three spirits on Christmas Eve, Scrooge The Musical is based on the 1970 film and features Leslie Bricusse's Oscar nominated song Thank You Very Much. Starring Tommy Steele.
Shed & Shrine of Innocence at the The Pit at The Vault Festival
Shed is an intimate piece of physical theatre, inviting you into the world of the loner. The piece moves between the comic humdrum of passing the time, and the larger-than-life characters she discovers around her. The space is dark, compact and bare: the reality of our loner’s life, as we first understand it to be. Shrine of Innocence uses choreographed movement, a dynamic soundtrack and voice
Shen Yun at the London Coliseum
Having captivated millions worldwide, New York based Shen Yun Performing Arts is delighted to return to London with a brand new show. Inspired by ancient Chinese culture, Shen Yun presents classical Chinese dance at its best: with 90 dancers, live orchestra, stunning handmade costumes, and graceful dance routines.
Shrek The Musical: Leeds at the Leeds Grand Theatre
Based on the award-winning DreamWorks Animation film, direct from the West End and larger than life, Shrek the Musical is must-see show for your whole family. Welcome to the world of Far Far Away a land of princesses in towers, terrifying dragons and a handsome
oops, wrong story. If you’ve seen the films, you’ll know that grouchy green ogre Shrek is no Prince Charming. He is, however, a lot more fun.
Shrek The Musical: Newcastle at the Theatre Royal Newcastle
Based on the award-winning DreamWorks Animation film, direct from the West End and larger than life, Shrek the Musical is must-see show for your whole family. Welcome to the land of Far Far Away a land of princesses in towers, terrifying dragons and a handsome
oops, wrong story. If you’ve seen the films, you’ll know that grouchy green ogre Shrek is no Prince Charming. He is, however, a lot more fun.
Shrek The Musical: Nottingham at the Theatre Royal Nottingham
Based on the award-winning DreamWorks Animation film, direct from the West End and larger than life, Shrek the Musical is must-see show for your whole family. Welcome to the world of Far Far Away a land of princesses in towers, terrifying dragons and a handsome
oops, wrong story. If you’ve seen the films, you’ll know that grouchy green ogre Shrek is no Prince Charming. He is, however, a lot more fun.
Sideways Rain at the Sadler's Wells
Alias is an award-winning contemporary dance company based in Geneva led by choreographer and director Guilherme Botelho. Since its creation, Aliashas produced more than 20 new works and performed in Europe, Africa, Asia and North and South America to critical acclaim.
Silent Night in the Vaults at the The Vault
A special Saturday night of silent disco and hidden happenings at the VAULT festival. Expect a feast of musical choices thanks to guest DJs spinning tunes via the medium of silent disco, other surprises. Grab some headphones and flick between three channels. Top party tunes to an audience of headphone-wearing hedonists.
Silent Opera - L'Orfeo at the Trinity Buoy Wharf
Silent Opera is an exhilarating form that looks to the modern day fascination with technology and the personal soundcloud. Apply this to opera, and you have a personal filmic soundscape that enables you complete freedom within the world of the opera. Silent Opera can bring masterpieces to life in a vivid and real sense. It can also bring opera to weird and wonderful spaces with intimacy and scale.
Simon Boccanegra at the Royal Opera House
What is the personal price of political success? The question lies at the heart of Giuseppe Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra. The opera is a sympathetic portrait of a man whose past catches up with him. While the 1857 premiere of Simon Boccanegra was not a success, 20 years later Verdi revised the score and libretto with writer Arrigo Boito. The opera’s ‘rebirth’ in Milan in 1881 met with great acclaim. Simon Boccanegra is now recognized as one of Verdi’s most compelling works.
Simon Callow in The Man Jesus at the Lyric Theatre
Simon Callow in the Lyric Theatre Belfast production of The Man Jesus by Matthew Hurt and Directed by Joseph Alford. Simon Callow, One of Britains bets loved actors, performs this fresh and moving account of biblical stories including the raising of Lazarus , the wedding at Cana and the journey fo Jerusalem. His powerful portrayal of the tyrants, traitors and madmen in Jesus life asks people of all faiths and none: what sort of a man was able to inspire the history of the world?
Sister Act - Liverpool at the Liverpool Empire
From producers Whoopi Goldberg and Stage Entertainment (Hairspray, Singin? in the Rain), the five times Tony nominated West End and Broadway hit Sister Act is going on tour!Based on the smash hit movie of the same name, this fabulous, family-friendly, feel-good show is packed with songs inspired by Motown, funk, soul and disco, which more than a million people saw in the West End!
Sister Act - Manchester at the Manchester Opera House
From producers Whoopi Goldberg and Stage Entertainment (Hairspray, Singin' in the Rain), the five times Tony nominated West End and Broadway hit Sister Act is going on tour!Based on the smash hit movie of the same name, this fabulous, family-friendly, feel-good show is packed with songs inspired by Motown, funk, soul and disco, which more than a million people saw in the West End!
Sister Act - Milton Keynes at the Milton Keynes Theatre
From producers Whoopi Goldberg and Stage Entertainment (Hairspray, Singin' in the Rain), the five times Tony nominated West End and Broadway hit Sister Act is going on tour!Based on the smash hit movie of the same name, this fabulous, family-friendly, feel-good show is packed with songs inspired by Motown, funk, soul and disco, which more than a million people saw in the West End!
Sister Act - Wimbledon at the New Wimbledon Theatre
From producers Whoopi Goldberg and Stage Entertainment (Hairspray, Singin' in the Rain), the five times Tony nominated West End and Broadway hit Sister Act is going on tour!Based on the smash hit movie of the same name, this fabulous, family-friendly, feel-good show is packed with songs inspired by Motown, funk, soul and disco, which more than a million people saw in the West End!
Sister Act - Woking at the New Victoria Theatre
From producers Whoopi Goldberg and Stage Entertainment (Hairspray, Singin' in the Rain), the five times Tony nominated West End and Broadway hit Sister Act is going on tour!Based on the smash hit movie of the same name, this fabulous, family-friendly, feel-good show is packed with songs inspired by Motown, funk, soul and disco, which more than a million people saw in the West End!
Skylight at the Wyndham's Theatre
On a bitterly cold London evening, schoolteacher Kyra Hollis receives an unexpected visit from her former lover, Tom Sergeant, a successful and charismatic restaurateur whose wife has recently died. As the evening progresses, the two attempt to rekindle their once passionate relationship only to find themselves locked in a dangerous battle of opposing ideologies and mutual desires.
Slapdash Galaxy - Wonderground at the The London Wonderground
Slapdash Galaxy Shadow puppets in space! Two brothers must flee their home planet, on a quest across the universe. Let your imagination soar with an intergalactic shadow puppet adventure from the award winning creator of 'Swamp Juice' and 'Sticks Stones Broken Bones'. Monsters, aliens and giant smoke rings! Come see an entire shadow puppet universe, made from bits of rubbish. A feast for the imagination. Some parts a bit scary for under 7 yrs.
Sleeping Beauty - English National Ballet at the London Coliseum
The Sleeping Beauty reawakens the magic of the world’s favourite fairy tale in an enchanted world of castles and curses, forests and fairies. Kenneth MacMillan’s production of the popular classic is the perfect way bring some sparkle into your New Year. The Sleeping Beauty features some of Tchaikovsky’s best-loved ballet music ever, including the Rose Adagio and the music used as Once Upon a Dream in Disney’s Sleeping Beauty.
Sleeping Beauty - Peter Schaufuss Ballet at the London Coliseum
Sleeping Beauty, Tchaikovsky's second and most romantic ballet, premiered in St Petersberg in 1890. Since its premiere there have been countless tradtional productions and some modern versions. The traditional emphasis is on dancing and technique; in the modern, psychological interpretation usually comes to the fore, focusing on the struggle between good and evil and a young girl's transition from child to woman.
Sleeping Beauty On Ice: Bradford at the Alhambra Theatre
Set to the magnificent music of Tchaikovsky, The Sleeping Beauty on Ice tells the classic fairytale love story through sublime world class skating, breathtaking high speed lifts and throws, awe-inspiring aerial gymnastics, stilt skating and fire effects – all in the intimacy of the theatre stage.
Sleeping Beauty On Ice: Woking at the New Victoria Theatre
Set to the magnificent music of Tchaikovsky, The Sleeping Beauty on Ice tells the classic fairytale love story through sublime world class skating, breathtaking high speed lifts and throws, awe-inspiring aerial gymnastics, stilt skating and fire effects – all in the intimacy of the theatre stage.
Sol Pico Dance Company El Llac at the Sadler's Wells
Catalan dance phenomenon Sol Pico and her multi award-winning company make their first visit to Sadler's Wells with El Llac de les Mosques, a piece that explores the choices we all face in middle age through the medium of a rock 'n' roll concert.
Solo at the The Pit at The Vault Festival
SOLO premiered in July 2013 in an abandoned oil refinery in Athens. Waterloo arches serve as an ideal backdrop, forming a land between life and death, between reality and imagination. International artists bring SOLO to London, to contribute to the artistic exchange between the two cities at this time of reflection for European art and society.
Some Girl I Used To Know at the Arts Theatre
Denise Van OUten stars in a funny and touching new one-woman musical play about life and love, that features a party mix tape of songs from the 80s and 90s by Culture Culture Club, Soft Cell and others, interpreted by Van Outen.
Some Like It Hip Hop at the Peacock Theatre
Some Like it Hip Hop, written by ZooNation founder Kate Prince and Felix Harrison, is the company's first full-length production since the award-winning West End smash hit, Into the Hoods. With a nod to Billy Wilder's much loved film and Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, Some Like it Hip Hop is a comical tale of love, mistaken identity, cross-dressing, gender stereotypes and revolution; all played out in ZooNation's trademark style of hip hop, comedy and physical theatre.
Some Like It Hip Hop at the Peacock Theatre
ZooNation's Some Like It Hip Hop was one of the most successful new shows to hit the West End last year, wowing audiences and prompting widespread critical praise, five star reviews and standing ovations with its infectious "wit, heart and magnificent energy" (The Independent). Already following in the footsteps of its phenomenal 2006 smash hit Into the Hoods, Some Like It Hip Hop unites truly sensational dancing with a typically clever and engrossing storyline.
Some Small Love Story at the Arts Theatre
Some Small Love Story was nominated for both the Musical Theatre Matters’ Best Lyrics Award and The Stage’s ‘Must-See’ at the 2011 Edinburgh Fringe. It's a bold piece of contemporary musical theatre. Two tales of passionate love and searing heartbreak collide in this stripped back production.
Somewhere Over The David O'Doherty - Udderbelly at the Udderbelly
David O'Doherty 2010 Irish Comedian of the Year, 2008 Edinburgh Comedy Award winner, 1990 East Leinster under 14 triple jump bronze medallist is coming to London. There will be standing up, there will be sitting down, there will be a small plastic keyboard from 1986.
Spectacular at the Spiegeltent - Wonderground at the The London Wonderground
Come one, come all and experience the best of comedy, cabaret and old-fashioned variety in Time Out Live's showcase of wonderment, from acrobatic aerialists to side-splitting funnies. The opening Spectacular at the Spiegeltent is the perfect way to sample the delights to come at the colossal Priceless London Wonderground over the summer!
Speed-the-Plow at the Playhouse Theatre
Multi award-winning movie star Lindsay Lohan takes her first ever stage role as Karen in David Mamet's brilliantly satirical portrayal of the Hollywood system, a part which was originally played in New York in 1988 by Madonna. Lindsay Posner, whose previous Mamet productions in London have been outstanding, directs. Author of Glengarry Glen Ross, Oleanna and American Buffalo, Mamet is arguably the foremost playwright of his generation, and his high-octane modern classic Speed-the-Plow is replete with his trademark wit and mesmerising dialogue. When a hugely bankable star agrees to appear in a sure-fire commercial hit, film producers Bobby Gould and Charlie Fox are convinced this is the break of a lifetime. That is until temporary secretary Karen derails the dream. When she persuades Bobby to dump the blockbuster in favour of a story which can only be described as box-office poison, Charlie is forced to resort to desperate measures.
Spymonkey's Love-In - Udderbelly at the Udderbelly
Outrageous naughtiness, a pole-dancing Joan of Arc, Jacques Cousteau on acid, a mermaid who can't get up the duff and Tantric ping-pong balls. A new cabaret from the international comedy sensation that Vegas couldn't tame, last seen in their sell-out stage hits Spymonkey's Moby Dick and Cooped.
St Matthew Passion at the Olivier Theatre
Bach's Passion is presented in two parts and retells the dramatic story of the events leading to Christ's crucifixion. Part one includes the last supper and the betrayal and arrest of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, while part two depicts His trial, crucifixion and burial.
Starlight Express - Hull at the Hull New Theatre
Bill Kenwright presents one of the best loved and longest running musicals in theatrical history, as Andrew Lloyd Webber's sensational Starlight Express explodes back onto the stage with a new production for 2012, destined to take the UK by electrifying storm. Light years ahead of the rest, this futuristic tale about love and hope in the face of adversity promises to take you on the ride of a lifetime - with two hours of speed, spectacle, energy and turbo charged excitement, combined with an electrifying sound track, dazzling sets and costumes, some of Andrew Lloyd Webber's most memorable musical hits and extraordinary roller-choreography by TV's favourite dance show judge Arlene Phillips.
Sticks, Stones and Broken Bones - Udderbelly at the Udderbelly
Come Play in the Dark From Montreal, Jeff Achtem transforms bits of junk into surreal shadow puppets. Flying chickens, brain transplants and sneaky Ninjas! In each shadow puppet scene, the audience simultaneously watches the visual transformation of household junk, into shadow puppet cartoons. A feast for the imagination.
Stop! - The Play at the Trafalgar Studio Two
The first half is set in the rehearsal room, as five neurotic actors, one inexperienced director and an overworked stage manager, battle with the task of mounting what is surely the world’s most terrible play. The second half is the hysterically chaotic first night.
Storm in a Flower Vase at the Arts Theatre
Constance Spry played a leading role in London society during the '30s, but beneath the image of a highly respected business woman lay a different story: one of marital discord, affairs and heartache. Storm in a Flower Vase tells this story, in an intimate expose of a complicated, driven and profoundly unconventional soul.
Strange Interlude at the Lyttelton Theatre, National
Shattered when the love of her life is killed in the war and haunted by their unconsummated passion, Nina escapes her jealous Ivy League father and embarks on a series of tawdry sexual escapades until, cajoled by her appalled, long-suffering suitor Charles, she marries the amiable young Sam. But while pregnant, Nina learns a horrifying secret that precipitates a desperate, life-changing decision and propels her fatally into the arms of another.
Strangers On A Train at the Gielgud Theatre
Two Strangers, One Conversation, The Perfect Murder: get on board for the West End's most gripping new thriller. Adapted by Craig Warner from Patricia Highsmith's acclaimed novel and Alfred Hitchcock's legendary movie of it, this new stage production stars Laurence Fox, Jack Huston, Christian Mckay, Miranda Raison and Imogen Stubbs.
Strictly Come Dancing The Live Tour 2015 - London O2 Arena at the The O2 Arena
Strictly Come Dancing Live returns for an eighth golden year. This multi-million-pound production takes to the road in January and February 2015, bringing the magic of BBC TV's flagship entertainment show to Strictly fans all over the UK. The ultimate in feel-good entertainment, Strictly Come Dancing Live features all the must-haves from the hugely popular BBC1 TV series. Stunning costumes, outspoken judges, dazzling dances by your favourite celebrity contestants and brand-new routines courtesy of the ever-popular professional dancers make this a must-see show that's certain to bring a smile to your face and banish the winter blues.
Strictly Confidential: Cardiff at the Cardiff Motorpoint Arena
The brand new show, written and directed by Revel Horwood, the country’s most notorious TV entertainment judge, will take fans on an epic journey told through music, song and breathtaking dance routines. The two month tour will premiere in theatres across the UK from June next year.
Strictly Confidential: Edinburgh at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre
The brand new show, written and directed by Revel Horwood, the country’s most notorious TV entertainment judge, will take fans on an epic journey told through music, song and breathtaking dance routines. The two month tour will premiere in theatres across the UK from June next year.
Susan Calman's Happy Place - Udderbelly at the Udderbelly
Susan enjoys dancing to TV theme tunes, confrontations in shops and pretending to be Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect. Come and laugh at simple things that cheer her up. And some stuff that annoys her. Like people who don't say good morning to newsreaders on the television. That's just rude.
Swallows and Amazons at the Vaudeville Theatre
All aboard The Swallow! Follow Captain John and his able crew as they set sail to Wildcat Island on an exotic adventure to encounter savages, capture dastardly pirates and defeat mortal enemies. An action-packed musical adventure for the whole family, Swallows and Amazons is a story of an idyllic era, of endless summer evenings and the beauty of youthful imagination.
Swan Lake - Peter Schaufuss Ballet at the London Coliseum
Swan Lake, Tchaikovsky's first full length ballet, premiered at Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre in 1877. The trilogy of Tchaikovsky ballets all have their roots in fairy tales. To see them as a trilogy rather than three separate works, emphasises something else they have in common ? the child in an adult world and the transition between the two.
Swan Lake: Reloaded at the London Coliseum
High culture and entertainment merge into a stunning visual work of art' Rundfunk Berlin Brandenburg. ‘It's powerful, shameless and colourful, a dance party for your senses' Södeeranlands Nyheter. TCHAIKOVSKY MEETS STREET DANCE. Created by Fredrik Rydman Swan Lake Reloaded uses the remixed music of Tchaikovsky original combined with a host Swedish and international pop and rock writers.
Swan Lake: The Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House
Anthony Dowell's classic production of the world's most loved ballet. The Winter Season, Anthony Dowell's magnificent product returns to the stage , with sumptuous designs by Yolande Sonnabend inspired by Imperial Russia of 1895, when the ballet was first performed . It makes for an unforgettable Royal Ballet experience for ballet lovers and newcomers alike.
Sweeney Todd at the London Coliseum
Academy Award-winning actress Emma Thompson and international opera and concert star Bryn Terfel reprise their roles as Mrs Lovett and Sweeney Todd in this concert staging of Stephen Sondheim’s gloriously gruesome musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
Sweet Bird of Youth at the Old Vic Theatre
Marianne Elliott directs Kim Cattrall as a fading Hollywood legend ravaged by the bitterness of failure and despair, in Tennessee Williams’s powerful and poetic, Sweet Bird of Youth. Fleeing the disastrous premiere of her comeback film, Alexandra Del Lago (Cattrall) travels incognito as The Princess Kosmonopolis seeking refuge in drink, drugs and the arms of Chance Wayne, an idealistic young dreamer turned gigiolo and hellbent on achieving his own movie stardom. A trip to Chance’s hometown in a bid to win back his childhood sweetheart sees their relationship of convenience unravel in Williams’s vivid and haunting portrait of the destruction of dreams.
Sweet Charity at the Theatre Royal Haymarket
Sweet Charity follows the misadventures of love encountered by the gullible and guileless Charity Hope Valentine, a woman who always gives her heart and her dreams to the wrong man; features favourite hits such as Hey, Big Spender, If My Friends Could See Me Now and The Rhythm of Life.
Symphony at the The Cage at The Vault Festival
Theatre meets live gig as 3 of the UK's hottest and most successful young writers collaborate with the award winning new writing company nabokov to present an eclectic mix of stories told through the innovative use of music and spoken word.
Taboo at the Brixton Club House
A musical portrait of a brief but remarkable era, 1980s London. These gloriously self-indulgent years, played out against a backdrop of mass unemployment and social upheaval, sparked a rebellion among young people which ultimately found its expression in outrageous fashions and a decadent nightlife. These were the "New Romantics" - leaders of a phenomenon which left a lasting influence on both the face and fate of pop, fashion and social culture.
Taking Part at the Criterion Theatre
A funny, timely tale of true grit, self belief and canny opportunism. Lucky Henry, a Congolese security guard, has set his sights on representing his country at the 2012 Olympics. Only one problem; he's a terrible swimmer and his Russian coach wants to fly home on the first day of training.
Tango Fire: Flames of Desire at the Peacock Theatre
Direct from Buenos Aires, following sell-out seasons in New York, London, Barcelona, Hamburg, and Cape Town, Argentina's hottest dance show returns to the UK with their brand new show Tango Fire Flames of Desire. This sizzling show features ten sensational dancers including three world Tango champions, accompanied by Quarteto Fuego, a quartet of brilliant musicians and one of Argentina's finest young singers.
TangoFugue: Vault Edition at the The Cage at The Vault Festival
TangoFugue brings together the Fugues of Johann Sebastian Bach and Tangos by Astor Piazzolla, exploring the subtle nuances and explosive nature of these two worlds. Johann Sebastian Bach is considered the master of the Fugue and Piazzolla is widely acknowledged as the father of Tango Nuevo. Come see how the master and the father get on together!
TAO Dance Theatre: 6 plus 7 at the Sadler's Wells
A double bill of two pieces call "6 and 7". This is the continuation of a series that has been presented by SW in the LBS starting with "2" and "Weight x3" in 2011 and "4" and "5" in Spring 2014. There are 6 and then 7 dancers in each respective piece.
Tap Dogs at the Novello Theatre
Tap Dogs, the global dance phenomenon, has been seen worldwide by over 11 million people. Winner of 11 major international awards including an Olivier for Best Choreography, Tap Dogs has exhilarated theatre audiences across the globe and will now energise and hydrate the West End this summer with an explosion of dance.
The 7 Fingers: Sequence 8 at the Peacock Theatre
Hailing from Quebec, renowned as the home of the modern circus discipline, The 7 Fingers are one of the world's best-loved and most inventive contemporary circus companies. Weaving together theatrical narratives and physical skills with breathtaking results, they have won a legion of fans the world over.
The 8th Fold at the Duchess Theatre
The 8th Fold is a musical about loss, learning, and new beginnings. Set in the recent past, and rooted in the American war on terror, it tells the story of one year in the life of four boys ravaged by grief, and the steps they take towards a brave new start. It's a celebration of friendship, remembrance, and hope for the future.
The A-Z Of Mrs P at the Southwark Playhouse
We take the existence of the A - Z Street Guide for granted, but the story of its creation is fascinating and rich with human interest. The A - Z of Mrs P recounts the tale in a novel musical setting, and unveils the remarkable truth behind Phyllis Persall's invention of the indispensable and iconic book.
The Act at the Trafalgar Studio Two
Fresh from two sellout runs at Ovalhouse, The Act now transfers to Trafalgar Studios 2 for a limited 5 week season. Sex and politics collide in an innovative cabaret -style production comprised of personal anecdotes, verbatim House of Commons speeches and song, parlayed in a captivating tour-de-force performance by Matthew Baldwin.
The antiSocial Network at the Studio at The Vault Festival
Are you connected? Really connected? Isn’t there a disconnect between you and the people you work with, live with and love'? Welcome to The antiSocial Network - a topsy-turvy world of too many friends, text wars and digital cacophony. Reflections of our digital world unravel to reveal a story about friendship and loss through illness.
The Art of Hearts at the The Vault
After the steaming success of their 2012 Valentines ball, the Artful Badger once again invite you to explore the amorous arts. Secret performances, two rooms of music and large scale installations set the scene for mischief and match making. Sweet siren song, beautiful bondage ladies, stalls, games, alluring aerial performances, delectable dancers and of course. a romantically rampant party.
The Artist - Live in Concert at the Royal Albert Hall
Two years after it charmed the world with its nostalgic look at the golden days of the Hollywood silent film, five-times Oscar-winning movie The Artist now comes to the Royal Albert Hall for an exclusive UK premiere, with its score performed live by the London Symphony Orchestra. The LSO, with composer-pianist Ludovic Bource and conductor Ernst Van Tiel, bring this gorgeous monochrome modern classic to life, playing synchronously with a high-definition screening of the film. Counting Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Score among its quintet of Academy Awards, an already wonderful film experience will here transcend to the sublime. Written and directed by Michel Hazanavicius, scored by Ludovic Bource and starring Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo, the film takes place in Hollywood between 1927 and 1932. It focuses on the relationship between an older silent film star and a rising young actress, as silent cinema falls out of fashion and is replaced by the talkies.
The Boat Factory at the King's Head Theatre
In the best tradition of great storytelling, two actors - Dan Gordon and Michael Condron - skilfully conjure up a host of colourful characters from the glory days of Belfast’s shipbuilding era to construct a poignant, funny and moving picture of a lost way of life, and of friendship, hardship, humour and heroism.
The Boy With Tape On His Face at the Duchess Theatre
Only chance to see the multi award winning "hysterically funny" (Time Out) Edinburgh Fringe Festival sell out sensation, The Boy With Tape on His Face as he brings his critically acclaimed 5 star smash hit show to London's West End this Christmas for 22 performances only.
The Boy with Tape on His Face - Cornucopia at the Palace Theatre
Once upon a time, Sam Wills was a New Zealand stand-up with a mouthiness problem. But, as The Boy With Tape On His Face, he's created a hilarious, vintage-style vaudeville act with a modern spin that will instantly make you think of silent, golden age screen comedy legends Harpo Marx and Buster Keaton.
The Children's Hour at the Harold Pinter Theatre
When a schoolgirl's whisper spreads, it triggers a chain of events with extraordinary consequences. Karen Wright (Keira Knightley) and Martha Dobie (Elisabeth Moss) run a girls' boarding school in 1930's New England, where they become entangled in a devastating story of deceit, shame and courage.
The Christmas Truce at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre
In commemoration of the centenary of the outbreak of World War One, RSC Deputy Artistic Director Erica Whyman directs Phil Porter's uplifting new play for families that celebrates a remarkable Christmas story. It recounts the true and moving story of British and German soldiers who left their trenches on Christmas Eve 100 years ago to meet their enemies in No Man's Land, sharing gifts, conversation and a game of football.
The Circus of Horrors at the Lyric Theatre
The Circus of Horrors storms into London’s West End with what is undoubtedly its greatest show to date. The show that smashed into the finals of BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT is back with an awe-inspiring rock n roller coaster of a show that flies like a bat out of hell to celebrate an astounding 18 years of shock n' roll.
The Full Monty at the Noel Coward Theatre
In 1997, a British film about six out of work Sheffield steelworkers with nothing to lose, took the world by storm. And now they're back, live on stage, only this time, for them, it really has to be. The Full Monty!
The Generation Of Z: Apocalypse at the Dept.W, Whitechapel
The Generation Of Z Apocalypse is the immersive live experience that puts you squarely into the dark heart of a Zombie massacre. Forget sitting down, this is multimedia storytelling on steroids with no fourth wall and no interval. Every choice is life or death and survival is in your hands.
The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
The Gershwin's Porgy and Bess is a diligent and respectful adaptation by Suzan-Lori Parke and Diedre L. Murray that retains the essence of the original, classic 1935 opera, while giving a contemporary spin to its dialogue and racial characterisation. Its more intimate production helps still further to make the show fresh and accessible to modern musical theatre audiences.
The Horne Section - Udderbelly at the Udderbelly
Gathering together the UK's finest musicians and throwing them on stage with the world's most exciting comics, Alex Horne has created something truly unique. This is potent comedy, a heady mix of spontaneous stand-up, spectacular performance and outlandish musical talent. Hot on the rhythmic heels of their very own Radio 4 series and three years of sell-out shows in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the West End and across the world, the Horne Section bring their indomitable fanfare to London Wonderground.
The Horne Sections Questions Sessions at the Udderbelly
The first band to ever host Never Mind The Buzzcocks (BBC 2) return to the mother-cow with a brand new show
this time with a quiz twist. Hot on the heels of three series of their BBC Radio 4 series and four years of sell out shows in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and West End led by the brilliant comedian Alex Horne.
The Hothouse at the Trafalgar Studio One
Harold Pinter’s macabre tragicomedy returns to London’s West End in this new production directed by Jamie Lloyd (Donmar’s Passion, Broadway’s Cyrano de Bergerac, National Theatre's She Stoops to Conquer, Royal Court’s The Pride). It follows the critically acclaimed and sold out Macbeth, starring James McAvoy, in a thrilling season of work for Trafalgar Transformed. Starring Simon Russell Beale (Privates on Parade, National Theatre's Timon of Athens and Collaborators) and John Simm (Elling, Sheffield Theatres' Hamlet and Betrayal).
The Magistrate at the Olivier Theatre
With his louche air and a developed taste for smoking, gambling, port and women, it’s hard to believe Cis Farringdon is only fourteen. And that’s because he isn’t. Agatha his mother lopped five years from her true age and his when she married the amiable Posket.
The Magnets present Gobsmacked - Wonderground at the The London Wonderground
Glorious vocal harmonies and incredible beatboxing from one of the must see acts on the British festival scene. With a reputation built on three consecutive sell-out runs at the Edinburgh Fringe, this sonically stunning, spectacularly theatrical and utterly inclusive six-man sound machine will change your expectations of a cappella music.
The Merchants Of Bollywood at the Peacock Theatre
After more than 1000 performances, including a sell-out critically acclaimed international tour and two packed Summer seasons at the Peacock Theatre, the glamour and glitter of Bollywood is back! A theatrical dance extravaganza, The Merchants of Bollywood charts the enchanting history of the world’s largest and most prolific film industry, and the dynasty of stars that have lit its way over generations.
The Mikado - The Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company: Dartford at the The Orchard Theatre
The Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company are the finest professional performers of G&S to be found anywhere in the world. Not without reason The Mikado is one of the most popular of the Savoy Opera and has delighted audiences for more than a century. This is a hilarious , topsy-turvy tale, which shows the talents of this remarkable British duo at their very best.
The Mikado - The Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company: Harrogate at the The Royal Hall, Harrogate
The Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company are the finest professional performers of G&S to be found anywhere in the world. Not without reason The Mikado is one of the most popular of the Savoy Opera and has delighted audiences for more than a century. This is a hilarious , topsy-turvy tale, which shows the talents of this remarkable British duo at their very best.
The Mousetrap: Blackpool at the Blackpool Grand Theatre
The Mousetrap is famous around the world for being the longest running show of any kind in the history of British theatre with over 25,000 performances it’s a play to be proud of. To celebrate 60 incredible years on stage, it’s now on its first ever tour, with a star cast.
The Mousetrap: Dartford at the The Orchard Theatre
The Mousetrap is famous around the world for being the longest running show of any kind in the history of British theatre with over 25,000 performances it’s a play to be proud of. To celebrate 60 incredible years on stage, it’s now on its first ever tour, with a star cast.
The Mousetrap: Hayes at the The Beck Theatre, Hayes
The Mousetrap is famous around the world for being the longest running show of any kind in the history of British theatre with over 25,000 performances it’s a play to be proud of. To celebrate 60 incredible years on stage, it’s now on its first ever tour, with a star cast.
The Mousetrap: High Wycombe at the Wycombe Swan
The Mousetrap is famous around the world for being the longest running show of any kind in the history of British theatre with over 25,000 performances it’s a play to be proud of. To celebrate 60 incredible years on stage, it’s now on its first ever tour, with a star cast.
The Nutcracker - English National Ballet at the London Coliseum
Journey back in time with English National Ballet to a frost covered, gas lit London and join Clara, her nutcracker doll and the magician Drosselmeyer in this traditional, festive tale for all the family. In a world of Edwardian elegance, Nutcracker brings to life the eternally popular Tchaikovsky score featuring the Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy and Waltz Of The Flowers. This classical production is a magical, memorable and unmissable Christmas treat.
The Nutcracker - Peter Schaufuss Ballet at the London Coliseum
Based on Hoffmann's fairy story, The Nutcracker premiered in 1892 has become a perennial Christmas favourite. Nutcracker together with the other two ballets can be interpreted as three dreams ? one a nightmare, one a sensual experience, and one a happy dream. In all three, sitting alongside the traditional 'fairy tale element' is the human journey from pain and cruelty to joyful redemption. With the trilogy complete, Tchaikovsky had taken ballet to a new peak.
The Pearl Fishers at the London Coliseum
Cherished for its popular duet, The Pearl Fishers offers a compelling tale of friendship tested by love. Amid Bizet’s outpouring of memorable melodies, colourful orchestration and evocative choruses is a story that is not all sweetness and light. A painful love triangle exploring themes of desire and rejection, longing and loss, and religious strictures lies at the heart of The Pearl Fishers themes explored in Penny Woolcock’s admired original 2010 production. From the mesmerising underwater paradise of its opening sequence to the reality of designer Dick Bird’s shanty town setting, Woolcock’s staging seeks to reveal the truth lurking beneath Bizet’s Orientalist confection.
The Perfect American at the London Coliseum
Based on Peter Stephan Jungk’s novel and written by Philip Glass, one of the world’s most important composers, The Perfect American imagines the final years of Walt Disney’s life, including mythical imaginings of Abraham Lincoln and Andy Warhol.
The Pirates Of Penzance at the London Coliseum
Sentimental pirates, blundering policeman, absurd adventures and improbable paradoxes- Gilbert and Sullivan's dazzling The Pirates Of Penzance comes to ENO in a highly anticipated new production from renowned film maker and director Mike Leigh. This much loved comic opera is a showcase of brilliant humour and razor sharp wit and features a sparkling score full of memorable melodies and catchy tunes.
The Pirates Of Penzance: Dartford at the The Orchard Theatre
The Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company are the finest professional performers of G & S to be found anywhere in the world. This wonderfully, jolly romp complete with a brave(ish!) band of swashbuckling pirates, a completely dotty Major-General Stanley, his beautiful unwed daughters and a bumbling bunch of hopeless but hilarious British policeman, has all the elements from simply excellent entertainment.
The Royal Danish Ballet - Bournonville Celebration at the Peacock Theatre
Ten years since The Royal Danish Ballet’s last visit to Sadler’s Wells, principals and soloists from this internationally renowned company perform a program featuring excerpts from works by August Bournonville, the acclaimed 19th century Royal Danish Ballet choreographer and ballet master who created more than fifty works for the company.
The Ruling Class at the Trafalgar Studio One
BAFTA Award-winning James McAvoy (Filth, X-Men) returns to Trafalgar Transformed, following his Olivier-nominated, critically acclaimed performance in Macbeth. Jack, a possible paranoid schizophrenic with a Messiah complex, inherits the title of the 14th Earl of Gurney after his father passes away in a bizarre accident. Singularly unsuited to a life in the upper echelons of elite society, Jack finds himself at the centre of a ruthless power struggle as his scheming family strives to uphold their reputation.
The Three Lions at the St. James Theatre
The Three Lions By William Gaminara A footballer, a prince and a prime minister walk into a hotel room. This hilarious new comedy offers a behind the scenes glimpse of diplomacy in action, revealing what went on between David Cameron, David Beckham and Prince William in a Swiss Hotel the nght before England's bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup. In Spite of missed planes, mistaken Identities, misunderstanding and sartorial challenges , they are determined to bring the beautiful game home. But, when things start to go disastorously wrong, three heads may not be better than one!
The Three Shonas at the The Pheasantry
Shona White, Shona Lindsay and Shonagh Daly- share their favourite songs, new and old, in this spectacular new show created especially for the London Festival of Cabaret. London Festival of Cabaret season ticket: receive a 15% discount on your ticket face values when you book for four or more different shows from the London Festival of Cabaret season. Call 020 7492 0890 to book. Not valid for multiple purchases on the same show.
The Thrill of Love at the St. James Theatre
Ruth Ellis was the last woman to be hanged in Britain, convicted of the coldblooded killing of her unfaithful lover. Directed by James Dacre, this gripping new play by the author of the hugely popular Be My Baby takes a new look at the real woman behind the headlines and at the events that drive her to murder.
The Tiger Who Came To Tea at the Lyric Theatre
The doorbell rings just as Sophie and her mummy are sitting down to tea. Who could it possibly be? What they certainly don't expect to see at the door is a big, stripy tiger! This delightful family show is packed with oodles of magic, sing-a-long songs and clumsy chaos!
The Trials Of Oscar Wilde at the Trafalgar Studio Two
A thrilling dramatisation of the libel and criminal trials of Oscar Wilde by his grandson Merlin Holland and John O'Connor. " A sell out success. John Gorick is a beguiling Wilde in a smart play that reveals the establishment at its worst." The Observer.
The Tsar's Bride at the Royal Opera House
When Tsar Ivan the Terrible selects Marfa as his new bride, a web of romantic and political jealousy and intrigue brings about death and disaster for her and everyone around. The power of the few and privileged can still control - and ruin - the lives of anyone they choose.
The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg at the Gielgud Theatre
It's 1957 and we are in the French port of Cherbourg. Jazz, sailors and vin rouge dance deliciously in the air, and l'amour laps against the shores of the heart! Boy (young auto mechanic Guy Fouchier) loves girl (umbrella shop sales assistant Genevi?ve Emery). They whisper "je t'aime" with the certainty of youth, but when war comes between them, Genevi?ve has to choose between waiting for her homespun hero or plumping for the dashing diamond dealer asking for her hand. quel dilemme!
The Veil at the Lyttelton Theatre, National
May 1822, rural Ireland. The defrocked Reverend Berkeley arrives at the crumbling former glory of Mount Prospect House to accompany seventeen-year-old Hannah to England. She is to be married off to a Marquis in order to resolve the debts of her mother's estate. However, compelled by the strange voices that haunt his beautiful young charge and a fascination with the psychic current that pervades the house, Berkeley proposes a seance, the consequences of which are catastrophic.
The Vertical Hour at the Park Theatre
Award-winning Sir David Hare's gripping play pits personal philosophies against global politics. The Vertical Hour premiered on Broadway in 2006 directed by Sam Mendes, followed by its UK premiere at the Royal Court in 2008, when it became the venue's fastest selling new play ever.
The Wah! Wah! Girls at the Peacock Theatre
Inspired by the world of the Mujra dancers, who for generations have entertained the rich and powerful with a spellbinding mix of dance and song,Wah! Wah! Girls tells a passionate and playful story of love against the odds. Set against the vibrant background of the East End in 2012, these unstoppable girls uncover deep secrets and create unexpected dreams.
The Weir at the Wyndham's Theatre
Following the critically acclaimed sell-out run at the Donmar Warehouse, this modern ghost story transfers to Wyndham's Theatre for twelve weeks only. When it first premièred in 1997, The Weir won the Evening Standard, Critics' Circle and Olivier awards for Best New Play, and established Conor McPherson as one of our greatest living playwrights.
The Who Hits 50! British Tour 2014 - VIP Experiences: Birmingham at the National Indoor Arena, Birmingham
2014 sees The Who, one of rock's legendary and defining bands celebrate 50 years of maximum R+B. The Who Hits 50 UK tour will see the band take their audience on an "Amazing Journey" through their entire career from the days of The High Numbers to classic albums such as Who's Next, Tommy, Quadrophenia, My Generation and live at Leeds.
The Who Hits 50! British Tour 2014 - VIP Experiences: Cardiff at the Cardiff Motorpoint Arena
2014 sees The Who, one of rock's legendary and defining bands celebrate 50 years of maximum R+B. The Who Hits 50 UK tour will see the band take their audience on an "Amazing Journey" through their entire career from the days of The High Numbers to classic albums such as Who's Next, Tommy, Quadrophenia, My Generation and live at Leeds.
The Who Hits 50! British Tour 2014 - VIP Experiences: Glasgow at the SECC - The Hydro
2014 sees The Who, one of rock's legendary and defining bands celebrate 50 years of maximum R+B. The Who Hits 50 UK tour will see the band take their audience on an "Amazing Journey" through their entire career from the days of The High Numbers to classic albums such as Who's Next, Tommy, Quadrophenia, My Generation and live at Leeds.
The Who Hits 50! British Tour 2014 - VIP Experiences: Leeds at the Leeds Arena
2014 sees The Who, one of rock's legendary and defining bands celebrate 50 years of maximum R+B. The Who Hits 50 UK tour will see the band take their audience on an "Amazing Journey" through their entire career from the days of The High Numbers to classic albums such as Who's Next, Tommy, Quadrophenia, My Generation and live at Leeds.
The Who Hits 50! British Tour 2014 - VIP Experiences: Liverpool at the Liverpool Echo Arena
2014 sees The Who, one of rock's legendary and defining bands celebrate 50 years of maximum R+B. The Who Hits 50 UK tour will see the band take their audience on an "Amazing Journey" through their entire career from the days of The High Numbers to classic albums such as Who's Next, Tommy, Quadrophenia, My Generation and live at Leeds.
The Who Hits 50! British Tour 2014 - VIP Experiences: Manchester at the Manchester Arena
2014 sees The Who, one of rock's legendary and defining bands celebrate 50 years of maximum R+B. The Who Hits 50 UK tour will see the band take their audience on an "Amazing Journey" through their entire career from the days of The High Numbers to classic albums such as Who's Next, Tommy, Quadrophenia, My Generation and live at Leeds.
The Who Hits 50! British Tour 2014 - VIP Experiences: Newcastle at the Metro Radio Arena
2014 sees The Who, one of rock's legendary and defining bands celebrate 50 years of maximum R+B. The Who Hits 50 UK tour will see the band take their audience on an "Amazing Journey" through their entire career from the days of The High Numbers to classic albums such as Who's Next, Tommy, Quadrophenia, My Generation and live at Leeds.
The Who Hits 50! British Tour 2014 - VIP Experiences: Nottingham at the Capital FM Arena
2014 sees The Who, one of rock's legendary and defining bands celebrate 50 years of maximum R+B. The Who Hits 50 UK tour will see the band take their audience on an "Amazing Journey" through their entire career from the days of The High Numbers to classic albums such as Who's Next, Tommy, Quadrophenia, My Generation and live at Leeds.
The Who Hits 50! British Tour 2014 - VIP Experiences: O2 Arena at the The O2 Arena
2014 sees The Who, one of rock's legendary and defining bands celebrate 50 years of maximum R+B. The Who Hits 50 UK tour will see the band take their audience on an "Amazing Journey" through their entire career from the days of The High Numbers to classic albums such as Who's Next, Tommy, Quadrophenia, My Generation and live at Leeds.
The Wintershall Nativity at the Wintershall
The Wintershall Nativity is an ecumenical entertaining play for everyone as well as a gentle reminder of the lovely Christian principles on which we are meant to run our lives: love, kindness, care for all, patience and forgiveness. The action takes place in and around rural Holly Barn, where the audience can enjoy hot mince pies before the play.
The Wintershall Nativity - London at the BBC Broadcasting House Piazza
The Wintershall Nativity is an entertaining play for everyone as well as a gentle reminder of the lovely Christian principles on which we are meant to run our lives: love, kindness, care for all, patience and forgiveness. This year, this wonderful production can be seen as usual in its regular venue of the Holly Barn Theatre at Wintershall, but such is its popularity that this second, London-based production of the play will also take place at recently vacated former BBC headquarters, Broadcasting House.
The Witch of Edmonton at the Swan Theatre
RSC Artistic Director Gregory Doran directs the final production in the Roaring Girls Season with Dame Eileen Atkins returning to the Company to play Elizabeth Sawyer. In this classic Elizabetahan drama set in the village of Edmonton, old, lonely and poor Elizabeth Sawyer is accused by her neighbours of being a witch. She wishes that she really was bewitched and so able to wreak vengeance. Unluckily for Elizabeth and the villagers of Edmonton, someone with the power to grant that wish is listening.
The Wizard Of Oz at the London Palladium
Follow the yellow brick road over the rainbow and into The London Palladium for Andrew Lloyd Webber's new production of The Wizard of Oz. PLEASE NOTE: Stalls rows A and B are not suitable for children. Side stalls may be restricted view.
Third Floor at the Trafalgar Studio Two
When a young woman buys her first flat it seems that all her dreams are coming true. Then she meets him. Overbearing, brash, and prone to spectacular gaffs, her across-the-hall neighbour is definitely strange - yet strangely attractive. But when an innocent prank goes horribly wrong the newly-formed friendship is pushed to breaking point. Only then do the neighbours realise they don't know as much about each other as they thought they did.
This Comedian at the Duchess Theatre
Comedy is the new rock n roll. So we handpick the best talentfrom TV, radio and live comedy to tell us what it's like to actually be a comedian. Stories and anecdotes from the backwaters of comedy turned into brilliant stand up by Sara Pascoe (Mock The Week, QI, Never Mind The Buzzcocks) James Acaster (Live At The Apollo, Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow), Katherine Ryan (Never Mind The Buzzcocks, 8 Out Of 10 Cats, The Apprentice: You're Fired) and Robin Ince (Infinite Monkey Cage) with MC Michael Legge (Comedy Central's Alternative Comedy Experience, Do The Right Thing) who tell us whats it's really like to actually be a comedian.
This May Hurt A Bit at the St. James Theatre
With characteristic wit, tenderness and dives into surrealism, Stella Feehily's new play explores one family's journey through the digestive system of the NHS, and asks: what is the prognosis for this much loved, fiercely debated institution? Feehily's previous plays for Out Of Joint include Bang Bang Bang, Dreams Of Violence, O go my Man and Duck.
Thomas Ades: See The Music, Hear The Dance at the Sadler's Wells
Pianist, Conductor, Composer, Thomas Ades is one of the UK's most influential contemporary artists. A multi award winner, he remains the only composer to have won the Royal Philharmonic Prize for large scale composition three times. In this epic new Sadler's Wells programme, See The Music, Hear The Dance, Ades conducts his only London appearance in 2014.
Three Sisters at the The Young Vic
In a remote Russian town, Olga, Masha and Irina yearn for the adrenaline rush of life in Moscow ? but their plans go nowhere. Disaster, deception, meaningless self-sacrifice ? in Chekhov's heartbreaking masterpiece, each new twist of fate sees the sisters' control over their destiny slip away. Visionary director Benedict Andrews, lauded in Berlin and Sydney, returns to the Young Vic after his triumphant The Return of Ulysses in 2011. Renowned German designer Johannes Sch?tz makes his Young Vic debut.
Three Sisters at the Wyndham's Theatre
Internationally renowned film / theatre director, producer and screenwriter Andrei Konchalovsky brings his production of Anton Chekov’s Three Sisters from Moscow’s Moccobeta State Academic Theatre to London’s Wyndham’s Theatre. It will be performed in its original Russian with English surtitles.
Time Out Introduces - Udderbelly at the Udderbelly
Arena-filling stand-ups, DVD bestsellers, telly regulars - it's taken years for household-name comics to get to where they are today. So, who will be the next superstar stand-ups? Find out at 'Time Out Introduces. ', showcasing Britain's best up-and-coming comics handpicked by Time Out Comedy Editor Ben Williams. Full line up to be announced.
Timon of Athens at the Olivier Theatre
Wealthy friend to the rich and powerful, patron of the arts, ostentatious host, Timon of Athens showers gifts and hospitality on the city's elite. He vastly outspends his resources but, finding his coffers empty, reassures his loyal steward that all will be well.
Tina C In The T(ina) Party - Udderbelly at the Udderbelly
Delicious character comedy from multi award-winning comedian Christopher Green. Country music singer turned White Trash activist Tina C ran for the White House, now she's taking on Sarah Palin and the Tea Party in an evening of bespoke songs and finely honed political comedy - and damn fine legs!
Tina C's Global Depression Tour - Wonderground at the The London Wonderground
As heard on the hit Radio 4 comedy series. Global country music celebrity Tina C. has decided to solve the financial crisis worldwide and this summer she's hitting London, using only the power of her unique intellect, beautiful songs and her life changing legs, she?s here to heal the hurt.
TOAST at the Park Theatre
Starring Matthew Kelly and Simon Greenall. The brilliantly observed, moving and funny play from the writer of the international smash hit One Man Two Guv'nors. Richard Bean's first major play is directed by Eleanor Rhode, whose credits include the multi award nominated production of Thark at Park Theatre, and the Time Out Critic's Choice porductions of The Drawer Boy and Generous.
Toby Hadoke's Doctor Who Double Bill at the Garrick Theatre
In celebration of Doctor Who's 50th anniversary, acclaimed comedian and Sony Gold nominee Toby Hadoke performs both of his Who-themed solo shows in a West End double bill for one night only. No superfan's 50th anniversary celebration will be complete without this unique opportunity to see both ‘Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf' and ‘My Stepson Stole My Sonic Screwdriver' presented together for the first, and quite possibly last time.
Tongue Fu at the The Spiegeltent
The UK’s sharpest poets, storytellers and comedians perform with jaw-dropping improvised soundtracks and films from the genre hopping Tongue Fu Band and East London design studio CR&D. One of London’s liveliest and largest spoken word shows, it is a riotous experiment in live literature, music, film and improvisation.
Tonight's The Night: Edinburgh at the Edinburgh Playhouse
Rod Stewart is quite simply one of the best selling recording artists of all time. In a career spanning five decades he’s as popular now as ever with his acclaimed new album ‘Time’ topping the UK charts, a sell-out Arena Tour in 2013 and last year’s No.1 Bestseller Rod - An Autobiography.
Tonight's The Night: Wimbledon at the New Wimbledon Theatre
Tonight’s the Night, Ben Elton's smash hit West End musical comedy inspired by Rod's songs is an all-singing, all-dancing feelgood show that went on to play sold-out theatres across the UK. Now it's back, and with it your chance to rediscover the magic of classic songs including Maggie May, Baby Jane, Hot Legs, Sailing and many more.
Top Girls at the Trafalgar Studio One
It's Thatcher's England and hard-nosed businesswoman Marlene is hosting a dinner party to celebrate her promotion to MD of the Top Girls Employment Agency. Her guests - all powerful women from myth and history - create an extraordinary gathering.? A provocative study of powerful women in Thatcher's Britain, the play examines the compromises made by women in the quest for success, and what happens to those left behind.
Top Hat at the Aldwych Theatre
Top Hat, WINNER of 3 Laurence Olivier awards including Best New Musical, and WINNER of the Evening Standard Best Night Out award, brings the glamour of Hollywood’s golden age and the glorious, tap-dancing magic of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers to the West End in one of the greatest dance musicals of all time.
Top Hat: Wimbledon at the New Wimbledon Theatre
Direct from its tremendous success in London, winning three Olivier awards for Best New Musical, Best Choreography, Best Costumes and the Evening Standard Award for Best Night Out, this spectacular West End production will be touring for the very first time. Top Hat brings the glamour of Hollywood’s golden age and the glorious, tap-dancing magic of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers to the stage in one of the greatest dance musicals of all time.
Top Hat: Wolverhampton at the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre
Direct from its tremendous success in London, winning three Olivier awards for Best New Musical, Best Choreography, Best Costumes and the Evening Standard Award For Best Night Out, this spectacular West End production will be embarking on a 47 week UK tour from August 2014.
Tosca at the Royal Opera House
From its famous, dissonant opening chords, Tosca conjures up a world of political instability and menace. The Chief of Police, Scarpia one of the most malevolent villains in opera ruthlessly pursues and tortures enemies of the state. His dark, demonic music contrasts with the expansive melodies of the idealistic lovers, Tosca and Cavaradossi, who express their passion in sublime arias. Giacomo Puccini’s dramatic work was an instant hit with audiences on its 1900 premiere and it remains one of the most performed of all operas.
Toyah in Concert - 22nd Nov 2014 at the O2 Academy Islington
Songs From The Intergalactic Ranchouse will feature a set list focusing on Toyah’s Safari Records catalogue which boasts the top 40 hit singles Good Morning Universe, Thunder In The Mountains, It’s A Mystery, I Want To Be Free and Rebel Run. Alongside this will be classics Neon Womb and Danced which were first seen and heard on our screens on the much-loved BBC programmes The Old Grey Whistle Test and Shoestring.
Traces: Circus at the Peacock Theatre
This young, astonishingly talented French-Canadian company have pioneered a whole new brand of circus . Traces was a runway hit at the Edinburgh Festival in 2007, and now returns to The Peacock following its 2009 success. Combining awe-inspiring circus training with infectious urban energy, four men and one womangive dazzling, gravity defying displays of skill, balancing casually on each other's heads, or tumbling through hoops and leaping spectacularly up giant poles without using their hands. But Traces is more than just displaying of acrobatic brilliance, as snippets of the performers' real lives are revealed through film clips. A family friendly show.
Ultima Vez: What The Body Does Not Remember at the Sadler's Wells
The amazing debut of Wim Vandekeybus and Ultima Vez in 1987 stunned the world of dance at the time. Vandekeybus and composers Thierry de Mey and Peter Vermeersch received the prestigious Bessie Award in New York for this “brutal confrontation of dance and music: the dangerous, combative landscape of What the Body Does Not Remember.” 28 years later and with a new cast and live music by contemporary ensemble Ictus, the show still stands as one of the most exciting pieces of dance ever made and is once again on an unmissable world tour.
Umoja - The Spirit Of Togetherness at the Peacock Theatre
Umoja is a pulsating musical celebration of South African song and dance. From the potent rhythms of tribal music to the intricate steps of gumboot dancing, the jazz of Sophiatown, the joy of gospel and the pounding energy of contemporary kwaito.
Up and Over It - Wonderground at the The London Wonderground
Since going viral in 2010 (with over 10m hits), cabaret upstarts Up & Over It, have performed around the world and this year joined the cast of the award-winning La Soiree. Now, the Riverdance alumni present their fun and in-yer-face, electro-pop, nouveau folk, deconstruction of the Irish dance blockbuster.
Uprising And The Art Of Not Looking Back at the Sadler's Wells
Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist Hofesh Shechter has become one of the UK’s most celebrated young artists in recent years. He returns to present this thrilling double bill of two of his most acclaimed works for all-male and all female companies respectively, Uprising and The Art of Not Looking Back.
Urinetown the Musical at the Apollo Theatre
Award-winner Jamie Lloyd (Richard III, The Commitments) directs this sharp-witted rampant riot of a musical, which tells the tale of a town about to burst, a place where spending a penny can prove problematic when the privilege to pee has a preposterous price tag.
Wau Wau Sisters Last Supper - Wonderground at the The London Wonderground
Who says you can't love everybody? Let New York's bravest and bawdiest duo show you how as twelve disciples, umpteen cocktails, endless fun and fearless abandon surge towards a bacchanalian finale you will never forget! Their audacious and deliciously profane reinvention of The Last Supper has critics raving.
Wayne McGregor - Random Dance: Atomos at the Sadler's Wells
Cutting edge contemporary choreographer Wayne McGregor has now been leading this company through a radical trajectory of work for 20 years. A Resident Company of Sadler's Wells, Wayne McGregor- Random Dance has won accolades and wards around the world. McGregors latest full length work Atomos returns to Sadler's Wells, having enjoyed a rapturous reception at its World Premiere in 2013. Atomising bodies, movement, film, sound and light into miniature shards of intense sensation, Atomos is performed by ten incredible dancers in McGregor's unique style- sculptural, rigorous, jarring and hauntingly beautiful.
What You Will at the Apollo Theatre
This hysterical (and occasionally historical) 90-minute gallop through all things Shakespearean is an irreverent one-man everything there is 'to be or not to be' about William Shakespeare: the greatest soliloquies ever written along with accounts of the funniest disasters ever perpetrated on the stage. Juliet's foolish nurse, gory Macbeth, Hamlet, Richard II, even Charles Dickens, James Thurber, Noel Coward and Stevie Wonder all make appearances during the evening.
Whatsonstage.com Awards at the Palace Theatre
The Whatsonstage.com Awards Ceremony and Concert has become one of the highlights of the theatregoing calendar: an unmissable night with lots of glitz, glamour and fun and a chance for you, the theatregoer voter, to take part in the culmination of the only major theatre accolades decided across the board by the public.
White Christmas at the Dominion Theatre
Aled Jones and Tom Chambers star as Bob Wallace and Phil Davies in the West End Premiere of Irving Berlin's White Christmas at London's Dominion Theatre for a strictly limited eight week season. Make it a Christmas you'll never forget with this spectacular festive feelgood musical based on the much loved movie classic.
Whose line is it anyway?. Live at the Adelphi Theatre
Legendary televised improv show Whose Line Is It Anyway? will make its official worldwide premiere as a live show at the Adelphi Theatre on London’s West End from Saturday 20th June. Original co-creators Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson will be working with regulars Colin Mochrie, Josie Lawrence, Greg Proops, Brad Sherwood and Clive Anderson for a limited two-week run.
Wolf Hall at the Aldwych Theatre
Hilary Mantel?s prize-winning novels about the rise of Thomas Cromwell through the ranks of British poiltics to the right hand of Henry VIII have been hailed as a landmark in British culture. Mike Poulton?s thrilling stage adaptations, directed by Jeremy Herrin and enthusiastically supported by Mantel herself, opened to rave reviews in Stratford-upon-Avon. Now these 'rich and riveting' (Mail on Sunday) plays of power, passion and politics in Henry's court transfer to the Aldwych Theatre for a strictly limited London season. Wolf Hall is the first part of Mantel's Cromwell series (she's presently working on the third) and its events directly precede those of Bring Up The Bodies.
Wolf Pack at the Studio at The Vault Festival
Traditionally classical, contemporary, pop, rock, jazz and folk music occupy separate worlds, divided by ill-defined and constantly changing lines. WOLF PACK occupy the no-mans land in the middle. Join us to explore an abstract one-word theme through contemporary music, narration, theatre, spoken word, audience participation, comedy and cardboard in two brand new concerts. You'll laugh, you'll sing, you'll dance, but don't fear: we're here. Think you know what to expect? Think again.
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What is scotland's deepest loch? | The Five Largest Freshwater Lochs in Scotland - Holiday Parks
The Five Largest Freshwater Lochs in Scotland
The Five Largest Freshwater Lochs in Scotland
January 22, 2013 at 2:44 pm
The Five Largest Freshwater Lochs in Scotland: Lochs by Volume, Area, Length and Depth
Loch Ness might get almost all the press when it comes to the Scottish Lochs, but it’s by no means the largest or longest. There are at least 31,460 lochs in Scotland, and out of these, there are lochs that are deeper, longer and larger in area than Loch Ness. Loch is simply the Scottish Gaelic and Irish word for a lake or sea inlet, and there is only one natural body of water called a ‘lake’ in Scotland: Lake Menteith. This article is a guide to the five largest lochs by volume, area, length and depth.
Holiday Parks offer breaks at Lomond Woods at Loch Lomond – the largest loch in Scotland by surface area.
5 Largest Scottish Lochs by Volume
Loch Ness is by far the largest loch in Scotland by volume, and it contains more water than all of the lakes in England and Wales combined. Of course, it’s apparently the home of the fabled Loch Ness monster, and this huge volume of water has given Nessy plenty of space to hide over since her modern ‘sighting’ in 1933.
5 Largest Scottish Lochs by Area
Loch Ness wins for volume for its consistent depth for its area, but Loch Lomond actually has a considerably larger surface area. Most originated from glacial over deepening of the valleys they now occupy, and are subsequently long and thin in shape. Loch Lomond has a bulbous southern expanse of water, which gives it a greater surface area than the other lochs.
5 Longest Scottish Lochs
Loch Awe is the longest loch – just beating Loch Ness by 2km. It is located to the West of Loch Lomond in Argylle and Bute. While it has a length of 41km, it has an average width of 1km. It is particularly well renowned for trout and salmon – so if you’re a keen fisher, then Loch Awe is a good spot.
5 Deepest Scottish Lochs by Depth
Loch Morar is the deepest freshwater body in the British Isles, at a depth of 310m. Much like Loch Ness, it’s home to a legendary monster – dubbed morag by the locals. Loch Morar would be able to fit the newly opened London building The Shard, which is also 310m in height, exactly in its depth.
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Which horse, trained by the father of the jockey Ruby Walsh, won the 2000 Grand National? | Lochaber Geopark
Home / Explore Lochaber / Superlative Lochaber / The Deepest Loch
Britain’s Deepest Loch
Loch Morar, which is situated near the coastal village of Morar, is the deepest freshwater loch in the British Isles.
The deepest loch in Britain
At 310m (1017ft) deep, it is deeper than much of the seabed off the west coast of Scotland.
The loch fills a steep-sided rock basin carved out by glaciers. It is 18km (12 miles) long and over 2km (1mile) wide in places.
The water from Loch Morar spills down to the sea along the River Morar. At one time it drained further south across the Mointeach Mhòr, but this route became blocked by glacial debris.
Things to do
Loch Morar is a popular holiday spot on the picturesque Road to the Isles from Fort William to Mallaig and is an excellent place for paddling. The area is also a walkers’ paradise, with something for every level. There is also excellent fishing. For more details visit www.lochmorar.org.uk .
Wildlife
A great opportunity to see Otters, Red Deer and Sea Eagles. Time to get the camera and do your best David Attenborough impression.
But watch out if you’re on the water. Loch Morar is also rumoured to be home to a relative of the Loch Ness monster, known as Morag!
For more information about the Loch Morar area and trip planning vist www.lochmorar.org.uk .
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