Since Boston has that irritating penchant for opening movies a week after my NYC-area neighborhood gets them, I have to wait until next Friday to properly shred ASTEROID CITY to stop motion bits in the paper. I'll be much nicer to BLUE JEAN, which is part of next week's Critic's Notebook. And I was going to go see John Slattery in person at a screening of his film tonight, but you've convinced me to stay home and revisit some Glenda Jackson movies. Thanks for that!
I hear you, Richard, and I have friends -- good friends! -- who really liked "French Dispatch." For me, it was the rare movie that felt physically painful to experience. Must be allergies.
Fittingly, Glenda Jackson had this to say about the monstrous Margaret Thatcher:
“In coming to the basis of Thatcherism, I come to the spiritual part of what I regard as the desperately wrong track down which Thatcherism took this country. We were told that everything I had been taught to regard as a vice—and I still regard them as vices—was, in fact, under Thatcherism, a virtue: greed, selfishness, no care for the weaker, sharp elbows, sharp knees, all these were the way forward. We have heard much, and will continue to hear over next week, about the barriers that were broken down by Thatcherism, the establishment that was destroyed.”
Aha, an on-topic opportunity to thank Ty! After 55 years of procrastination I have finally added bird-listening to my list of hobbies (subset of music), via Cornell’s fabulous Merlin app. I already have six species from behind my townhouse and grabbed another six on a trip out of town. Credit goes equally to Ty and a long, compelling performance by (what proved to be) a Northern Cardinal. I swear the American Robins stopped to listen.
Isn't Merlin wonderful? I love that it's awakening people to the wildlife that's around us all the time but that we usually tune out. And that it's turning non-birders into birders by default. (FWIW, I wrote about it in a Zen Journal entry if you didn't see it: https://tyburrswatchlist.substack.com/p/zen-diary-a-bird-list-grows-in-brooklyn)
Stray thought … while Birder looks a bit slick, I hope to see his Palm Dessert episode, our March-April hangout. Birds are reconnecting to seasons and nature… I’m happy to report my catbird friend from last year has returned to my veggie garden … he startled me one day, as I was feeding the composter- thought he was going to perch on my shoulder. Enjoy the summer!
"Now that Woody Allen has become radioactive, there’s no other filmmaker who can sprinkle the stardust" As in "Stardust Memories", because that's what "Asteroid City" reminded of, with its premise of people gathering for an event, their mannered style of acting, and the particular appearance you refer to that I won't spoil.
Since Boston has that irritating penchant for opening movies a week after my NYC-area neighborhood gets them, I have to wait until next Friday to properly shred ASTEROID CITY to stop motion bits in the paper. I'll be much nicer to BLUE JEAN, which is part of next week's Critic's Notebook. And I was going to go see John Slattery in person at a screening of his film tonight, but you've convinced me to stay home and revisit some Glenda Jackson movies. Thanks for that!
A bit too harsh on The French Dispatch. Not many knee slappers but I smiled throughout the movie.
I hear you, Richard, and I have friends -- good friends! -- who really liked "French Dispatch." For me, it was the rare movie that felt physically painful to experience. Must be allergies.
Fittingly, Glenda Jackson had this to say about the monstrous Margaret Thatcher:
“In coming to the basis of Thatcherism, I come to the spiritual part of what I regard as the desperately wrong track down which Thatcherism took this country. We were told that everything I had been taught to regard as a vice—and I still regard them as vices—was, in fact, under Thatcherism, a virtue: greed, selfishness, no care for the weaker, sharp elbows, sharp knees, all these were the way forward. We have heard much, and will continue to hear over next week, about the barriers that were broken down by Thatcherism, the establishment that was destroyed.”
Aha, an on-topic opportunity to thank Ty! After 55 years of procrastination I have finally added bird-listening to my list of hobbies (subset of music), via Cornell’s fabulous Merlin app. I already have six species from behind my townhouse and grabbed another six on a trip out of town. Credit goes equally to Ty and a long, compelling performance by (what proved to be) a Northern Cardinal. I swear the American Robins stopped to listen.
Isn't Merlin wonderful? I love that it's awakening people to the wildlife that's around us all the time but that we usually tune out. And that it's turning non-birders into birders by default. (FWIW, I wrote about it in a Zen Journal entry if you didn't see it: https://tyburrswatchlist.substack.com/p/zen-diary-a-bird-list-grows-in-brooklyn)
Stray thought … while Birder looks a bit slick, I hope to see his Palm Dessert episode, our March-April hangout. Birds are reconnecting to seasons and nature… I’m happy to report my catbird friend from last year has returned to my veggie garden … he startled me one day, as I was feeding the composter- thought he was going to perch on my shoulder. Enjoy the summer!
"Now that Woody Allen has become radioactive, there’s no other filmmaker who can sprinkle the stardust" As in "Stardust Memories", because that's what "Asteroid City" reminded of, with its premise of people gathering for an event, their mannered style of acting, and the particular appearance you refer to that I won't spoil.