Only by the very end of the movie did I realize that the Kittredges were the main characters of this story, not Paul. Quite brilliant overall. John Guare wrote this screenplay himself. Someday I will read through the whole play and compare. I loved Stockard Channing.

At Princeton's glorious little movie theater. It's banked with super comfy seats. Something was a little messed up with the audio, but overall, it puts the Nugget to shame. Sorry, Hanover, NH, but Princeton is way cooler in so, so many ways. Like Hoagie Haven. And Twist. Dirt Cowboy? Ben and Jerry's? Sorry, Hanover, but I've moved on.


How was the movie? Oh. Pretty good. Nothing worth writing about really. But now I've got a new pick up line: "I'll need some help with this chain mail." I got a kick out of that one.

1931 German film directed by G.W. Pabst. The extra interviews on the disk are wonderful!

It was on TV. I looked up the Gospel of Thomas afterwards.

Playing at the IFC center in the Village, this is a glorious, beautifully drawn and beautifully executed Irish film. It's been in the press lately because it's up for an Oscar tomorrow. I think it's an animator's ode to his art. I especially enjoyed the characters of Aisling and the cat, Pangur Bán. The voice talent was so charming and the story, while breaking apart a little at the end, was a very capable vessel for the artwork and the characters.

Sydney Pollack's 1969 film about a depression-era dance marathon. Stars Jane Fonda. No, this is not a feel good movie.

After leaving home, Molly falls in love with the very first man she meets, even though he's lazy, he drinks, and he more or less tricks her into marrying him. Then they're rich, because he discovers gold in his backyard. Then the second half is basically the Beverly Hillbillies as these two uneducated folks buy a fancy house in Denver and try to fit in with upper crust society there. Then they go to Europe, then they come back, then they split up and she goes back to Europe and he goes back to his mine country. Then she decides she loves him more than Europe, comes home on the Titanic, returns to Denver a hero, reunites with her husband.

I simply didn't understand, as an audience member, what was supposed to draw me in to this musical.

I learned that Debbie Reynolds is Carrie Fisher's mother and I was pleased to find out that Harve Presnell was a Broadway man and not a film actor. He has an admirable brassy quality to his sound.

I'm disappointed that this music didn't speak to me more. My expectations of Meredith Willson were too high, it seems. There was a theme that ran beginning to end, probably from Molly's first song of the show. But I didn't get any of that really charming, bounce-all-over-the-place melody that I like from Meredith Willson (e.g. "You Ought to Give Iowa a Try" and "It's Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas"). And Johnny's signature song, "I'll Never Say No to You" didn't stick in my head, even after three or more repetitions through the film. Either that's a bad sign for the melody, or that melody and me don't get along well. For a lesson in melodies that stick in your head after seeing a show only once, my case study is Les Misérables.

Sorry for the fourth grade book report. I'll try different formats in the future.


time: 15 min

Favorite part: after defusing one bomb, our hero pulls up on the red wire in the sand and the wire splits into six strands all leading to different bombs, surrounding him. This spider web image of red wire as he tugs these bombs out of the sand: visually and emotionally stunning.

I watched this to see Uta Hagen in action. I know she was disappointed with the film, but I found it very entertaining. The script is admirably tight and I enjoyed having the plot and characters and imagery circling in my mind as I went to bed that evening. As for Uta? Nothing stunning about her performance, but she certainly has gravity in all that she does. And she does stand apart from the rest of the cast.