October 2016 - Page 6 of 7 - Ramblin' with Roger

Three fictional characters, redux

Popeye the Sailor, who, as my sister correctly noted, was the reason I would eat spinach as a child while rejecting other veggies.

I did this recent post about this Facebook meme of posting images of three fictional characters that define me, without describing them. And it was unsatisfactory. So this is a do-over.

I will say that Miles, who I haven’t actually seen this century, came closest to getting all the correct answers. He knew, as did Uthaclena. the first fellow is actor Michael Badalucco. But Miles knew he was playing Jimmy Berluti, one of the attorneys on the TV show The Practice in the late 1990s. He was, as Miles described, “an earnest, working-class guy who worked hard to become a good lawyer.” He wasn’t all shiny, and pretty, but a self-described schlub. Badalucco and I were in the same dorm my freshman year in college at SUNY New Paltz.

Miles nailed my next alter ego, played by actor Gavin MacLeod, who you may know better as Captain Stubing on The Love Boat. Here, though, he is Murray Slaughter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Miles notes that he was “a wisecracking TV writer who skewered the dumbest people around with his rapier wit.” But he was also not as well-recognized as the very dumb TV anchor Ted Baxter.

The third guy IS a young Sam Waterston, as Miles suspected, before his lengthy stint on Law & Order as crusading ADA, and later District Attorney Jack McCoy. Instead, this is from a short-lived TV series called I’ll Fly Away. The IMDB describes him thus: “Forrest Bedford [named for a Confederate general] is a Southern lawyer in the late 1950s, generally content with his privileged life. But the winds of change are blowing, and he becomes increasingly involved with civil rights cases.” He’s a guy who, despite his initial wish to maintain the status quo, realizes that it’s unfair and untenable. It was a great show in the early 1990s that lasted only a couple of seasons plus a concluding TV movie.

As for the other three characters, Dudley Do-Right was always intending to do the right thing, even if it happens by accident.

Kermit the Frog not only says that it’s not that easy being green, he knows you blend in with so many ordinary things. Surely, I have felt this.

Finally, Popeye the Sailor, who, as my sister correctly noted, was the reason I would eat spinach as a child while rejecting other veggies. I have what I believe to be a very long fuse. But there comes a point where, “That is all I can stands, ’cause I can’t stands no more.”

The 50 greatest films of the 21st Century

This is one of those well-regarded films that, for some reason, left me cold

The BBC surveyed 177 film critics “from every continent except Antarctica. “For the purposes of this poll, we have decided that a list of the greatest films of the 21st Century should include the year 2000” because the year “was a landmark in global cinema.”

Though I started this blog in 2005 and reviewed many of the films I’ve seen over the years, I wasn’t as detailed in the beginning. Still, my reviews will be the items that are hyperlinked. The movies I saw, the number will be italicized. A few movies I am not familiar with I’ve designated DK (don’t know).

I know that sometimes a movie doesn’t work for me – or you – for reasons not in the film. There are at least three films on this list that most people I know love, and they just didn’t work for me, in the theater, on that day. Very few films on this list did I see first on video; actually only one.

50. The Assassin (Hou Hsiao-hsien, 2015) -DK
49. Goodbye to Language (Jean-Luc Godard, 2014) – DK
48. Brooklyn (John Crowley, 2015) – I was captivated
47. Leviathan (Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2014) – DK
46. Certified Copy (Abbas Kiarostami, 2010) – DK, even though it has Juliette Binoche in it, I’ve discovered
45. Blue Is the Warmest Color (Abdellatif Kechiche, 2013) – I really wanted to see this, but it played too briefly here
44. 12 Years a Slave (Steve McQueen, 2013) – No I didn’t see it. I didn’t want to see it.
43. Melancholia (Lars von Trier, 2011) – this I DID want to see about a rogue planet about to collide with Earth, and how that affects people
42. Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012) -it’s very good but depressing as hell
41. Inside Out (Pete Docter, 2015) – the research done for this animated film about the emotions of a preteen girl makes the film work so well

40. Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee, 2005) – I remember being impatient with the sprawling scenery part taking too long, but crying at the end
39. The New World (Terrence Malick, 2005) – saw the ads about the Pocahontas story, but we weren’t seeing films then
38. City of God (Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund, 2002) – saw the trailer often, and read enough about this to know it was probably too violent for my taste
37. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2010) – DK
36. Timbuktu (Abderrahmane Sissako, 2014) – DK
35. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000) – I remember being mesmerized by the action sequences
34. Son of Saul (László Nemes, 2015) – this Holocaust film I saw the trailer for about a half dozen times, and IT was depressing
33. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008) – I found Heath Ledger’s death depressing and just wasn’t into seeing this at the time
32. The Lives of Others (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006) – saw the trailer, looked interesting – the monitoring of East Berlin residents – but didn’t
31. Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan, 2011) – DK, and this film has an interesting backstory

30. Oldboy (Park Chan-wook, 2003)- DK
29. WALL-E (Andrew Stanton, 2008) – it took me a while to get into it, and I was distracted. As I reread my review, I liked it better than I recall it.
28. Talk to Her (Pedro Almodóvar, 2002) – I didn’t see this one? Don’t know why; it was on the list of films to see at the time.
27. The Social Network (David Fincher, 2010) – I liked it. My review gave it short shrift because I was seeing lots of films at that time.
26. 25th Hour (Spike Lee, 2002) – Meant to see this one! Didn’t.
25. Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2000) -Meant to see THIS one. Didn’t.
24. The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012) – Thought to see this one…
23. Caché (Michael Haneke, 2005) – ANOTHER Juliette Binoche film I DK; the Daughter WAS one y.o.
22. Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003) – this is one of those well-regarded films that, for some reason, left me cold. Well-performed. I feel the need to see it again.
21. The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, 2014) – I was exceedingly fond of this, starting with the trailers

20. Synecdoche, New York (Charlie Kaufman, 2008) – there may be no film I wanted to like more than this, and… Actually, I enjoyed most of it, but I got lost in the final acts.
19. Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller, 2015) – with all the Oscar-nominated films out there, this wasn’t at the top of the list, and time not being fungible, never saw
18. The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke, 2009) – saw the trailer, didn’t see
17. Pan’s Labyrinth (Guillermo Del Toro, 2006) – Oscar-nominated, thought to see, didn’t
16. Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012) – DK
15. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Cristian Mungiu, 2007) – I wanted to see this, but knew I had to be in the right frame of mind – two students in Romania who try to arrange an illegal abortion – and I never did see it.
14. The Act of Killing (Joshua Oppenheimer, 2012) – saw the trailer. It’s a “documentary film about the individuals who participated in the Indonesian killings of 1965–66”. I thought to see it, but I suspect it didn’t stay in town long enough.
13. Children of Men (Alfonso Cuarón, 2006) saw the trailer about “global human infertility, civilization is on the brink of collapse as humanity faces extinction”. Yet I probably would have seen, given time.
12. Zodiac (David Fincher, 2007) – I just wasn’t in the mood
11. Inside Llewyn Davis (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2013) – well-acted, with authentic performances, and a great atmosphere. But the title character was SO pathetic, I didn’t much enjoy the film.

10. No Country for Old Men (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2007) – Oscar winner, and it looked so violent that I passed
9. A Separation (Asghar Farhadi, 2011) – saw the trailer, really wanted to see
8. Yi Yi: A One and a Two (Edward Yang, 2000) – DK
7. The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick, 2011) – wish I had seen, because people seemed to either love or hate this
6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004) – the only movie on this list I saw on a video. I love this film, I relate to this film, about memory, and whether one can/should block them out. My favorite movie on this list.
5. Boyhood (Richard Linklater, 2014) – yes, I enjoyed it, but I was probably more awestruck about the commitment of the director and the actors to a dozen-year project
4. Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001) – I remember enjoying it immensely, and realize that The Daughter might enjoy it.
3. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007) – Oscar-nominated, Daniel Day-Lewis, and I STILL wasn’t in the mood to see it. A few months later, I stumbled over the LAST 10 MINUTES of the film, on YouTube. Yes, I watched it. Now I feel I ought to see the rest.
2. In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-wai, 2000) – DK
1. Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001) – didn’t watch the television show Twin Peaks (I tried), and I’ve never seen a David Lynch film, except Elephant Man. Hmm.

So that is 12 of this 50, plus 14 of the other 52, making 26 of 102. Some of these I plan to see, now that I’ve been reminded of them. Quite a few I will NEVER see. And that’s all right.

Thanks to Don, my Facebook compadre, for the idea.

Ten things I’ve done that I’m still proud of

It’s not that I’m averse to changing the blog layout. I’m just not particularly adept at it.

For this iteration of Ask Roger Anything, Eunai gets right to the point:

Ten things you’ve done that you’re still proud of.

OK. I found this challenging. In no particular order:

1. Getting arrested at an antiwar demonstration in the town of Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, NY. The trial was very interesting.

2. Editing the Spider-Man Chronicles for FantaCo in 1982. I was learning how to do this by trial and error.

3. Going to grad school to get my Masters in Library Science when I was 37 to 39 years old.

4. Trying out for and appearing on JEOPARDY! in 1998.

5. My very good grasp of mass transit systems in fairly short order. That’s true in Albany, of course, but I’ve gotten comfortable in Atlanta, Boston, New York City, San Diego, San Francisco, and Toronto, and possibly others.

6. Keeping very good friends for a long time, even staying civil with ex-girlfriends.

7. Getting Black History Month at First Presbyterian to be less about the perceived needs of the black members and more focused on the whole community.

8. When I ride my bike, I generally follow the rules, even when no one is looking, or I don’t think anyone is looking. What I’ve noticed is that, sometimes, accurately used hand signals by a bicyclist has a calming effect on a driver. Of course, when I get passed by a guy riding on the wrong side, through the red light, my work is undercut, but so be it.

9. Helping to raise our daughter without totally wrecking her. Of course, she still has her teen years, so I still have my chance.

10. Doing this here blog, every day, for 11 years and about five months.
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And speaking of the blog, the fabulous Scott F wrote:

I’ve been reading your blog again and found I’ve missed it. How do you think you’ve changed as a blogger over the time you’ve been doing this? One thing that hasn’t changed is the layout of the page. Ever think of changing it? (By the way, that’s not me saying it needs a change.)

Welcome back.

Well, I sort of know what I’m doing about 90% of the time. I write ahead so that I don’t stress out if I get sick/too tired/too busy/a bad Internet connection.

I write about enough different things that you can say, “Well, that doesn’t particularly interest me,” but the next day might be more to your liking. The variety is more to MY liking; I can’t write the same category of post back to back.

Just a couple of weeks ago, I found a list of celebrities who will turn 70 in 2017 that I will write about. Knowing what the topics will be – and this also includes family birthdays, major holidays, and significant anniversaries – helps the brain to think about it casually so that when I actually DO write about it, it is not a tabula rasa. I may have even come across an article or two, which I’ll throw in the draft file until I get closer to the date.

I find that it is MUCH better to write about ANYTHING, so if that piece on Trump isn’t writing itself – it seldom does – then I’ll look for an ABC Wednesday post for three or four weeks from now, or a piece about a musician’s birthday, or a Music Throwback Saturday. As I’ve noted, some days, I have NO idea what is posting that particular day until it goes live, at which point I almost always see the damned typo.

As for the layout, it did change in May 2010 from my Blogger blog to this WordPress iteration. It’s not that I’m averse to changing it. I’m just not particularly adept at doing techie things or visual things, or especially techie visual things. Recently, some simple bit for my blog took a half-hour, which was aggravating, and I don’t have a half-hour to waste on something that wasn’t all that important in the grander scheme anyway.

Now if YOU want to take a shot at redesigning my blog, go ahead. Seriously. I also lack what George HW Bush called “the vision thing.” Change it to what? I have literally no idea.

Are YOU still blogging, BTW?

Susan Sarandon turns 70

Bull Durham is one of my two favorite baseball movies,

Susan Sarandon remains interesting in her 70th year, from her footwear choices to becoming a magnet for ageist comments when she dressed sexily at the SAG awards.

Then there her political comments. As a disgruntled Bernie Sanders supporter, she suggested that voting for Donald Trump would bring about the revolution, for which she’s been labeled a privileged fool, with some noting that the rest of us would be screwed if that should happen. Hey, maybe she’s right. And she made it clear that she wouldn’t vote for Hillary Clinton just because she’s a woman.

Here’s the list of films I saw featuring Susan Sarandon. But for everyone listed, there’s another I intended to see: Atlantic City, The Witches of Eastwick, Lorenzo’s Oil, The Great Waldo Pepper, to name a few.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) – I saw this in a theater, but it was at least a half dozen years later. Many folks in the theater had the appropriate gear, which I did not know about until I got there. Sarandon, of course, played Janet. I admit my affection for this movie is tied in part to my love for the song Time Warp; the bass line harmony is right in my range.

Pretty Baby (1978) – Brooke’ Shields’ youthful nudity was so much the issue that I forgot Sarandon was in this.

Bull Durham (1988) – one of my two favorite baseball movies, along with Field of Dreams. She plays Annie Savoy, who knows what she wants in life. I was truly sad that, at the time of the movie’s 15th anniversary in 2003, Sarandon and costar/beau Tim Robbins were invited, then uninvited, to The Baseball Hall of Fame’s celebration of the film, citing Robbins’ opposition to the Iraq war. This despite promises by both Robbins and Sarandon not to politicize the event.

Thelma & Louise (1991) – she was Louise Sawyer, another take-charge character. BTW, I have the soundtrack to this film.

Bob Roberts (1992) – starring Tim Robbins; don’t specifically remember Sarandon

The Client (1994) – saw this on TV; it almost NEVER sticks as much in my mind

Little Women (1944) – a very different role as Mrs. March, but always a strong persona

Dead Man Walking (1995) – my absolutely favorite Sarandon role. Especially Sister Helen Prejean face-to-face with the doomed Matthew Poncelet (Sean Penn), which was oddly sensual. I was against the death penalty before, but this enforced it. I have THIS soundtrack too.

James and the Giant Peach (1996) – she was the voice of Spider

Stepmom (1998) – “A terminally ill woman (Sarandon) has to settle on her former husband (Ed Harris)’s new lover, who will be their children’s stepmother (Julia Roberts).” This was treacle, saved by its performances, and I totally ate it up. (Oddly enough, see Relatable Breakup Song)

Cradle Will Rock (1999) – a bit preachy, about proletariat artists dealing with capitalists Nelson Rockefeller and William Randolph Hearst

Enchanted (2007) – even in animated form, I knew who was playing the wicked Queen Narissa

Robot & Frank (2012) – I liked this movie with Frank Langella, with Sarandon as a librarian with a job in the near future

Plus I saw her on TV shows such as Friends and 30 Rock.

WAY back in 2009, I put together a list of my 20 favorite actresses, and naturally, she was one. I suspect she was, and is, one of my top five picks.

M is for music that moves me

But other hearts in other lands are beating,
With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

I experience this all of the time, ALL of the time. I find music that moves me in a most profound way: What Happens in the Brain When Music Causes Chills?

Once, I would have been surprised that EVERYONE did not experience this until I saw this article from a couple of years ago: The Actual Neuroscience Behind Why Some People Don’t Like Music, something called musical anhedonia.

But the subtitle of the story about that first story is “The brains of people who get chills when the right song comes on are wired differently than others.” So it could be all of God Only Knows by the Beach Boys or the guitar solo at the end of Let’s Go Crazy by Prince, that will take me to another plane.

I saw the movie West Side Story when I was 10 or 11, and it was the music bit at the very end – go to the 4-minute mark here – that absolutely devastates me EVERY TIME I hear it. EVERY TIME. Of course, this comes from what takes place before.

I’ve described in detail how the Adagio in G Minor, attributed to Albinoni leaves me weeping, EVERY TIME.

I was really taken by 10,000 singing Beethoven – Ode an die Freude (Ode to Joy). What it lacks in polish, it more than makes up for in pure love.

Sometimes, it’s a lyric that will combine with the music. Listen to Finlandia, for instance:

This is my song, O God of all the nations,
A song of peace for lands afar and mine.
This is my home, the country where my heart is,
Here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine.
But other hearts in other lands are beating,
With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

My country’s skies are bluer than the ocean,
And sunlight beams on clover leaf and pine.
But other lands have sunlight too, and clover,
And skies are everywhere as blue as mine.
O hear my song, thou God of all the nations,
A song of peace for their land and for mine.

In what we call classical music, particularly in organ music, it’s often the chords that resolve the piece that feel like the power chords at the end of a rock song. Listen to Digital Fox, organ music of the late Virgil Fox on a CD I own. Note the endings of most of the pieces, but especially J.S. Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (0:00:00), J. Alain: Litanies (0:38:05), and C.M. Widor: Toccata from the Fifth Symphony (0:42:25), which I first heard at my graduation from library school.

This list of music that moves me doesn’t even scratch the surface.

ABC Wednesday – Round 19