» This page is PART THREE, continued from » Part Two. This entry was split into THREE pages in order to adhere to principles of web site optimization. Here you go...
Speaking of Thelma & Louise...
» The Counselor | the Cormac & Ridley Tag Team
I should probably mention that The Counselor comes out October 25. I might have to get in shape to go see that.
I am curious about Cormac's ability to adapt his obvious skill in writing the novel ..
.. into the theater of cinema, non-adaptively. Cormac is known to set before his dinner guests literary plates that are rich, but not easily digestable. So I wonder if some will choke on his challenging cinematic story.
With Ridley directing. Lots of talent there. All the top leading men in one film. Most promising.
I'm also curious as to how Mr. Cormac will play his story .. cuz he is not mainstream. [ Tolstoy talks about ordinariness as being » "most terrible." ]
The Film school kids, back when I was dating the Film school girl, used to rail on Spielberg .. for being so 'commercial' .. as tho he had sold out.
Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of my all-time favorites. I even love the ride at Disneyland. How could these Film school students say such a thing?
Bukowski expresses a similar sentiment. Certainly Cormac understands the nuances of commercial success .. but at his age (and Ridley's age) ..
.. I would expect that they are more interested in making a definitive parting statement .. than winning popular acclaim.
So it might be a few decades before viewers can say, "Oh, I see what he was saying."
(Certainly they have assembled the talent to make whatever statement they like.)
[ Even Einstein said » "To punish me for my contempt for authority, fate made me an authority myself." ]
Stendhal (1783-1842) is famous for saying at the publication of » Le Rouge et Le Noir (1830, which met with harsh reviews) » "Dudes! It will take you 50 years to figure out what I'm saying."
The critics of Stendhal's day were pissing on his novel out in front of his house (figuratively speaking).
And sure 'nuf, come 1880, Stendhals writings experienced a resurgence of interest.
No, Stendhal did not live long enough to see his novel appreciated .. a novel now considered one of the best. Ever. Of all time. In any language.
For me, Cormac's writing has that same prophetic quality. Or at least something that feels similar.
Give Cormac 50 years and I think you will find that his writing wears well. Remarkably well. Time will tell.
But you neednt wait 50 years .. in order to learn the lesson that Cormac teaches » "There is NO LIMIT .. to the depravity that some will embrace. Here, let me show you what I mean."
Many of his other titles have been made in to film. Why not this one?
Anyway, I also took note of what Ridley said about Cormac's art »
"I think he writes the truth. Cormac is a writer's writer. Reading this script -- it was so fast and precise and crystal clear. It's like there's a series of cogs in a very clever clock. The cogs start to engage and -- a good word is dread. "
There is a guy painting the house here (the inside). Several days now. I made him coffee and asked if he was planning on seeing Ridley's new movie.
"What else has he done?" he asked.
When I got to Blade Runner, he said, "Blade Runner? That's like the best movie ever. A cult classic." He went on about what he liked about it. Eerily prophetic. So I told him the story about my furniture crafting friend.
The painter is also a fan of Anne Rice .. having read several of her titles. He particularly liked Lestat.
Mr. Scott has assembled for himself a cast consisting of some serious testosterone, no? The chemistry with the girls must be inflammatory. Downright combustible. Very sexy cast.
I also saw » Gravity .. with Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. (And that's pretty much it, cast-wise.)
Definitely a film you want to see AT the theater .. on a BIG screen (.. bigger the better). Unlike any other movie I have seen.
Very cool. Strong reviews. Katie liked it.
Stays with you. Very cool the way it shifts your perspective to satellite-orbiting heights.
While the idea of floating alone out in the darkness of space forever .. can be terrifying to some ..
.. I later found myself thinking about how George made those "figure-8's" out in space .. sort of the diagram of an orbital electron .. around Sandra and the space station.
And how very amazingly cool, in real life, that must be. Boner city. He was thinking out loud » "That reminds of the time...".
My mom used to take me to the Hayden planetarium there in New York .. where they would turn down the lights to very dark, and show high definition images of the stars and galaxies on the curved ceiling there.
I must say, it definitely gets going the imagination of a little guy. We wrote to NASA and they sent us photos of the astronauts. Large photos. Very cool.
To be honest, tho, I am not really crazy about the idea .. of the ship I use to get home catching fire .. every time I need to go home. Feel me?
"Oh, you mean that your Porsche catches on fire every time you go home? Uh, I think I'll just ride with Bob. Thanks, anyway."
The intensity of Gravity reminded me of (surprisingly enough) of » The Terminator (with Arnold) .. in that the distress of the relentless threats can be emotionally fatiguing.
Like maybe you want to go home and lie down .. and think about Newton and apples.
While there to see Gravity, I also saw some previews, of which » Out of the Furnace .. looked most interesting. It sports a surprising number of Academy Award winners and nominees (6). Lots of talent.
Woody Harrelson looks to be in rare form, natural-born mountain man. Eddie Vedder did the soundtrack. I am always impressed by his work.
And Casey Affleck. Wow. At first it seemed like he might be getting acting roles because of his brother. But now, it seems he has gone beyond Ben. He is in there with the big boys and holding his own.
He seems like one of those people (like the Dog) who everybody likes. Don't you just hate people like that? =)
I read somewhere that actors, as a group, tend to have more testosterone than any other. Certainly a believable statistic.
» Mr. Edward Snowden
I would like to send a quick shout-out to Edward Snowden .. and say that I was thinking of him the other day ..
.. that, while he is there in Russia, he should look into conducting a comparative study ..
.. of Dostoevsky's » Notes from Underground (120 pgs) .. and/with Daniel Kahneman's » Thinking, Fast and Slow (420 pgs).
Because, if I am not mistaken .. both books seem to be saying a similar thing .. certainly heading in the same general direction. And then apply this comparison to the way governments govern (sometimes irrationally).
Residing there in Russia, after having lived here in the States .. gives you an international perspective. An authoritative platform from which to speak .. beyond what a tourist can glean in a mere week or 10-day visit ..
.. a nice perch from which to share your ideas and insights .. on things beyond even the NSA. (Putin said » "No NSA shit.") Your views on cultural differences could be fascinating ..
.. especially if you can get out into the smaller villiages and explore and meet people there.
Because we-the-people are desperate for fresh ideas that do not included a financial-nuclear winter (.. or worse).
Friedman concurs. I'm sure Hemingway would, too.
Does Friedman's data-point, his insight from abroad (distant perspective) suggest, or even confirm, that the slide contines?
Notice that Notes from Underground was first translated and published in English in 1918 .. after World War 1 had been raging for a few years ..
.. some 50 years after the novel was originally written ..
.. as tho English-speaking peoples were suddenly looking for answers better than what they were getting from their leaders at the time.
» Dostoevsky Anticipates Kahneman?
Kahneman's book (2011, from the book's own inside-flap) » "challenges the rational model of judgment and decision-making."
While the Russian's 'gateway' novel (1864, also taken from the inside-flap) is » "an assertion of man's essentially irrational nature."
Question: Does Dostoevsky (the artist) foreshadow Kahneman (the scientist)? .. in the way similar to how Jonah presents Proust (1871-1922) in » Proust was a Neuroscientist?