Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Christmas roundup

I hope everyone had a very nice Christmas. Patty, Danny, Shannon, and Tom were here with Jenn, Buzzy, and I. We went to see the Boston Pops, which was--miraculously--far less boring than it was last year.

We ate like kings and drank like the Kennedys. (Sorry. Stupid joke, especially since I've learned from Gary Wills' The Kennedy Imprisonment that Teddy was the only one who was much of a drinker.)

Buzzy made out like a bandit, spoiled puppy.


Santa also brought me one of these tight ceramic knives from Cerastar--which would make an excellent gift for the food nerd in your life (if you have one).

In other news, Raphy reminded me that I promised to turn in my Bond Fan Club badge if I didn't see CR by Christmas. Alas, puppy fatherhood has been far more time-consuming than I expected, so the badge is in the mail.

I see that Santa brought Bram a copy of Littell's "The Company." Good job, Santa. (Not so sure about that Rachael Ray book, though.) Also, in comments, Bram suggests that "The Good Shepherd" looks like it might be kind of interesting and I agree--though I stand by my comment--"force of nature" BS aside--that Angelina Jolie is not a very good actress.

Posted by jwb at 12:20 PM  · 3 Comments   

Friday, December 15, 2006

Is "The Good German" good?


You're probably sick of this little obsession of mine by now, so I promise that this is our last post on this distressing matter, at least until I see the movie.

By way of some explanation, one of our themes here has become my ... what's the word, sorrow, sadness, disappointment? ... when perfectly good ideas are debased by the creatively stunted halfwits who make most of the crap that comes out of Hollywood these days. However, this doesn't really seem to be the problem with "The Good German." The problem, I am beginning to think, is not a lack of ideas but a surfeit of them. "The Good German" seems to be Mr. Soderbergh in "experimental" mode. The question of whether such experimentalism is likely to engage an audience seems to be beside the point. Here's Magnolia Darkness from today's NY Times (comparing it with "Casablanca"):

while the language routinely waxes raw in "“The Good German,"” the most striking difference between it and a Hollywood film like "“Casablanca"” aren'’t the expletives, the new film'’s calculated cynicism or even that glimpse of bedroom coupling; it'’s that the older film feels as if it was made for the satisfaction of the audience while the other feels as if it was made for that of the director alone.

In the film laboratory that is Mr. Soderbergh'’s brain, ideas boil, steam and sputter. In 1989 he conquered Cannes and launched a thousand Harvey and Bob Weinstein stories with his independently financed sensation "Sex, Lies and Videotape," quickly becoming a legend before his time. He subsequently flopped and floundered before he brought his independent ways to bear on the studio apparatus, a metamorphosis that involved turning a television actor into the sexiest man alive, repurposing the Rat Pack and winning an Oscar.

It has been a second act that, until recently, seemed as smart as the man living it but that has grown gradually more disjointed as Mr. Soderbergh'’s penchant for experimentation has become an end in itself rather than a means to aesthetic liberation. That'’s too bad for us, for him and for Hollywood, which frankly could use all the help it can get....

Increasingly, Mr. Soderbergh's oscillation between glossy divertissements like the "“Ocean'’s"” films and modest diversions like "Bubble"” seems less like the natural workings of a restless imagination than a disengaged one. Even more than "Bubble"” or "“Ocean'’s Twelve,"” "“The Good German"” feels like the product of a filmmaker far more interested in his own handicraft--in the logistics of moving the camera among the characters with a dip and a glide--than in the audience for whom he'’s ostensibly creating that work.


The comparison with "Casablanca," which Soderbergh clearly invites, does not come out in has favor: "Manufactured for mass enjoyment, "“Casablanca"” runs wonderfully more than half a century after leaving the factory. It'’s sentimental and contrived. It's also the kind of well-wrought, pleasurable film that Mr. Soderbergh can do beautifully (see "Out of Sight"”) and seems recently reluctant to pursue."

Also in today's Times, Princess Diana not murdered by "MI5, MI6, the Mossad, the C.I.A., the N.S.A., the Freemasons, the Scientologists, the military-industrial complex or a cabal of sinister British establishment figures led by Queen Elizabeth II's 85-year-old husband, Prince Philip." What a relief.

Posted by jwb at 8:30 AM  · 2 Comments   

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

You're young and you got your health, what you want with a job?

Sorry, once again, for the lack of posting of late. Herewith is one of those annoying posts where I quickly cover several matters that are no doubt worthy of their own posts quickly in one brief post.

1. Hannibal Rising arrived in the mail last week and I read it over the weekend. The early reviews aren't so good. And while I agree that the story is a bit flimsy and contrived--I am prepared to be laughed at for saying this--I actually found it quite enjoyable. It's the story about how Hannibal became the complete psycho we all know and love, and while it doesn't really have any of the overbearing tension that made Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs such great late-night reads, it's nicely written. I'm not sure I would recommend it (especially for Raphy, who can be quite particular about these sorts of things), but it's not very long, so even if you read it and hate it, you'll have only wasted a few hours of your life.

2. Before HR, I was a few hundred pages into the new Pynchon, Against the Day, but was finding it hard going. There are numerous intertwined stories only some of which I found compelling. One, involving some boy baloonists named the Chums of Chance, is pretty interesting and reminded me (no doubt, on purpose) of some of the adventure stories I loved as a kid.

3. Anthony Lane, one of our most distinguished film critics, confirms my suspicions that The Good German really blows.

Posted by jwb at 3:45 PM  · 1 Comments   

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Buzzy


I'd like you to meet the newest member of our family. His name is Buzzy (or Baby Buzz, if you prefer*). (In the picture to the right, that's Buzzy on the right and Jenn on the left.) He'll be nine weeks old on Friday and is a member of the subspecies Canis lupis familiaris, Golden Retriever branch. As you can see, he is very cute. We love him very much, despite his rather eccentric sleeping habbits, which have caused his master to be absolutely exhausted this week.

* He's named after his father, who's called Buzz.

Posted by jwb at 2:00 PM  · 2 Comments   

Friday, December 01, 2006

Bloggety blog blog


Apologies for the lack of posting this week. We have had quite a lot of drama in our lives of late and none of it, alas, at the movie theater. My father ended up in the hospital on Thanksgiving. After a long and difficult week, he seems to be doing better and should be fine.

Anyway, in my last post, I promised to touch on a few controversial matters this week. I'll have to be brief, but here goes:

1. Every single person I know has seen Casino Royale, and the vast majority think it rocks. I keep hearing things like, "The best Bond film since Goldfinger." I'm not quite sure what that means since Goldfinger--or at least the second half of Goldfinger--sucks and is only redeemed by the beguiling presence of the hottest Bond girl, Honor Blackman.* Try watching it with the sound off. Nothing happens. Bond doesn't get sawed in half, some gangsters get gassed, and Bond wrestles Pussy in a hay stack. And those are the action scenes. OK. I'll admit that the scene with Pussy in the barn is pretty cool, but the rest is kind of a snooze. So, um, where was I. Oh, sorry, got a little distracted. Back to the question that is, I'm sure, on everyone's minds: And the answer is, alas, no, I have not seen it. I feel really bad about this, but there were some extenuating circumstances. (See above.) I know that my readers are probably disappointed in me and I will make the following promise: If I don't see it by Christmas, I will turn in my official Bond Fan Club badge. I mean it. I really do.

2. Crikey. It appears that "The Good German" sucks even more than I feared. I'm starting to feel bad for Soderbergh. (One smart-ass asked him if he was trying to make a spoof of "The Third Man." Ouch!)

3. I want to clear up one last thing, in case there was any doubt. Yes, Golden Retriever puppies are really cute.

I'll try a bit harder next week. Seacrest out.


*BTW, Marty: Take another hit off the crack pipe. Sophie Marceau? (For our readers, I'll merely note that Marty is Canadian, if you know what I mean.)

Posted by jwb at 4:30 PM  · 1 Comments