Jason graduated this weekend, and the ceremony included bagpipes. Afterward, we all went to eat Mexican food and then over to his condo for cake and conversation. The guests slowly dwindled until only Jason, Stephanie, and I were left.
Over the weekend, we went shopping and I bought too many movies. Hastings is having a sale on their used films, and I was able to get several of the awards season films from last year, including Milk, Rachel Getting Married, The Reader, and Doubt. Unfortunately, Frost/Nixon is too new for them to have used copies. I also picked up The Black Swan and A Letter for Three Wives, two films from the Fox Studio Classics collection.
Stephanie and I watched a couple more episodes of Buffy and an episode of Avatar. We all watched License to Kill which pits Timothy Dalton as James Bond against a suave drug lord who operates under the cover of a research facility, puppet President, international bank, decadent casino, and religious cult. Sufficed to say, everyone is pretty busy. At one point there were ninjas.
Stephanie gave me another tarot reading which went really differently than the first. I still didn't feel comfortable asking a question so it was open. Though I did get the Death card again (this time in the Hopes and Fears position), I didn't freak out and stayed generally calm and collected. The cards that she used were very pretty, and I'm contemplating borrowing some of her books and learning more about tarot. It's fascinating.
After the days of merriment, I returned home and opened my mail. Happily, I received my letter of acceptance from the English department so I'm officially going to graduate school in the Fall. In an unforeseen twist, they offered me a graduate teaching assistantship which I didn't expect at all since I missed the deadline posted on their website. This would require me to teach to first-year composition courses per semester in exchange for a 6 credit hour tuition waiver and a stipend of approximately $12,000 per school year. I'm extremely excited about this opportunity and can't wait to get enrolled and started.
Warning: spoilers
The season finale of Desperate Housewives aired Sunday evening, and I watched it online Monday evening after returning home from Jason's. Hatred runs deep for the show with many people rolling eyes and shirking when I bring it up. Unfortunately, their disparages seem slightly valid after this season. I never rolled my eyes, but I'm pretty sure they glazed over from time to time. In the hopes that the sixth season will offer a little more, I give you a list of six things I liked about the fifth season and six things I disliked.
Liked #1: Katherine and Bree's bonding
One aspect of the show that I enjoy is when the relationships between the various housewives are explored. Unfortunately, there wasn't much of that going on what with so many minor characters and rehashed plot points cropping up. However, time was taken to examine the tumultuous relationship between Bree and Katherine, expert caterers. Early in the season, some of the old animosity between the two returned when Bree turned into an egomaniac. Unfortunately, things were quickly cleared up, and the Katherine/Bree dynamic was swept off screen along with the catering kitchen scenes and Andrew, star assistant.
L#2: Orson's kleptomania
When Orson was introduced, he quickly went from jovial dentist to psychotic wife/mistress/Mike killer. While he actually hadn't participated in much foul play (and failed at the evil he attempted), he was still scary as hell for a while. It was nice to see some of his less pastel sweater personality traits shine through. When he realizes that his aim is to hurt Bree, I think I clapped. Bree needs to be hurt. She's been insufferable this season, and on top of that, she sent him to prison. No wonder his sanity is slipping a bit; mine would be gone.
L#3: Karen & Roberta, amateur detectives
When Lily Tomlin showed up, I cheered. When she and Kathryn started sleuthing, I was ecstatic. The chemistry and comedic timing that they have is wonderful. I would like to watch a show about them solving mysteries and kicking ass.
L#4: Edie Britt
Edie returned with this season's mystery in tow. During the season, her usual sluttish ways had been amended, and she seemed to settle down. However, she retained a coquettish edge. One of my favorite moments of the season was when she realized that her marriage was a sham. Her last few minutes made for great television. While her death wasn't particularly emotional, she got to narrate which was wonderful, and the tribute episode was one of the best of the season.
L#5: Gaby, formerly glamorous party-crasher
My favorite five-year transformation was Gaby who gained weight, two kids, and a frazzled stupor. One of the funniest visual gags was Carlos, completely unaware of his status as a party crasher, waving and grinning for nonexistent photographers. Gaby's ill-conceived attempts at parenting and covering up her fallen status were very entertaining. Unfortunately, she has since transformed into Gaby, awful and awfully rich person.
L#6: Lynette's job
The pizzeria closed, and Lynette gets to wield her powers of manipulation. It's a win-win situation!
Dislike #1: Dave and Dave's plans
Dave is not scary at all. They could have made him scary, but it was too important that he also be a tragic figure so he comes of as slightly unbalanced in a mostly harmless way. The sad thing is that Dave could have been frightening in his quest for revenge. Instead, he killed the one obligatory guy and talked about the Plan of No Sense (PNS). Despite living for no other reason and planning on killing himself afterward, Dave concocts the PNS to make someone's (first Katherine then M.J.) death look like an accident during a trip (first camping then fishing). Thankfully, Hallucination-Edie and Hallucination-Lila point out that Dave should just shot M.J. in the head. Unfortunately, the PNS's fishing trip comes to fruition.
D#2: Katherine & Mike
Possibly the most overwritten and under-planned plots of the season. Katherine and Mike have less chemistry than Susan and Mike. Hell, Susan and Katherine would make a better couple. During these scenes, I could literally see the writers around the table, trying to find something for Katherine and Mike to do.
D#3: Porter Scavo, fugitive
Porter didn't start the fire, but he did start lots of legal problems that we had to listen to. It seemed that the investigation and charges and conversations and worry would never end. (However, the fallout of Dave's revealed accusations faded away quickly after one punch.) While Porter's legal woes did give Bob more screen time, this just reaffirmed how bland Wisteria Lane's resident gays are. (And we didn't even get to see Karaoke Night at Bob and Lee's.)
D#4: Lack of casualties
This may be a crass thing to say, especially about a season that featured a fire, stabbing, and electrocution. However, everything seemed so pedestrian. Despite a dramatic buildup and a montage of characters in distress, only unnamed bystanders perished in the Great Club Fire. As for the obligatory murders, Dave still isn't scary, and we were already aware that every time Carlos and Gaby regain financial stability someone minor has to die.
D#5: Susan's love life
Susan's love life boils down to slapstick that is uncomfortable to watch. Susan's quest for love started with an under wraps relationship with Jackson that proceeded with unmitigated craziness. The middle contained scary possessive tendencies toward hapless Mike. It ended with a soulful declaration of love, a sham marriage, and deportation. Oh, that Susan.
D#6: The season finale
Since the season finale centered around Dave's PNS and tried to escalate it to a Plan of Awesome Revenge (PAR), it was bland, anti-climatic, and nonsensical. The PAR (really still the PNS) seemed to involve lots of driving; everyone seems to be driving around for an entire day without getting anywhere. Everything the PAR(NS) touches seems to become equally confusing. There's a cemetery in the middle of the woods. There's an intersection which exists in perpetual night. Other people unconnected with the PAR(NS) did regular stuff. And then Mike gets married to a mystery woman who is hopefully Felicia Tilman.
Recently, I've had a resurgence of interest in sci-fi which led me to watch the second pilot of Star Trek: the Original Series (the first pilot was apparently not aired). Prior to this, I had only seen a few of the movies, random episodes of Next Generation, and a Voyager marathon on Sci-Fi Channel.
I wasn't expecting much from the series, but after watching only six episodes, I'm hooked. (I even have a favorite character, Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy.) It's such an entertaining and interesting show. So far, they've tackled such lofty themes as the duality of human nature and the difference between Man and God in a mostly sophisticated way. Sure, it's campy and low budget, but the story lines find that balance between entertaining and thought-provoking.
In addition to watching Star Trek, I pulled out season 1 of Stargate: SG-1 and started watching where I last left off last year. My favorite thing about season 1 is that every episode has roughly the same plot: the team goes through the gate to explore a new world, something disastrous happens to all or one of them, everyone copes. (After one day on the job, I would be begging someone for a transfer.)
Saturday, I received my letter of acceptance from the Graduate College of the University of Oklahoma. (I'm now waiting patiently for my letter from the English department.) To celebrate I went to see J.J. Abram's Star Trek reboot which was very good (though I like the original series better). Somehow, it manages to update the concept, infuse it with action, and still retain the original series' sheen of campy fun. My one complaint is that everything moves so quickly that had I not already been familiar with these characters, I don't think I would have connected with them at all. It felt at times that everyone involved in the movie's production was afraid to slow down and really explore characters or themes, fearing (I assume) accidentally veering into Nemesis territory.
Through all this sci-fi watchage, I'm not quite sure what prompted my renewed interest. When I was in high school, I avidly read science fiction which replaced mystery as my genre of choice. However, this period was very brief, and I soon started reading predominately fantasy/adventure books. But the time I was in college, I had stopped reading straight genre novels in favor of books with a bit more substance. Since that small period in high school, I haven't actively sought out sci-fi shows or books.
I think it may have something to do with the intentions of these types of shows. An interview with Amanda Tapping is included in the Stargate season 1 box set, and she talks about how the show strives to make people see things in a different way and think about things outside of their reality. I think that's why I'm drawn to the genre. There's something thrilling about space exploration and the thought of discovering new worlds. That's why (technical issues aside) I prefer TOS to the new movie. The series is more about the prospects of new worlds and experiences while the newest movie is firmly in the action/adventure/blow stuff up mindset. It's that conjuring of the unknown that I like.
Random note: While writing this post, I was perusing the news and read that the Atlantis is blasting off to repair the Hubble telescope, and I'm enthralled by this. It must be amazing to actually leave Earth and glimpse everything that's beyond.
On Stephanie's suggestion, I stopped by Big Lots on Monday to check out the new Warner Bros. arrivals. I ended up buying six of those plus three other films.
Warner Bros. Classics
Johnny Belinda (1948)
Flying Down to Rio (1933)
The Band Wagon (1953)
I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang (1932)
Dames (1934)
Gold Diggers of 1935 (1934)
Other Films
Look At Me (2004)
Prick Up Your Ears (1987)
A Man For All Seasons (1966)
The only one I've watched so far is Fly Down to Rio which is the first movie that paired Ginger Rodgers and Fred Astaire. It's one of those movies from the 1930s that low on plot and character development yet with comedy, dancing, and spectacle in spades. At one point, Fred and Ginger dance the Carioca on a rotating platform that consists of five grand pianos. At this scene, I realized that I had seen this film years and years ago on TCM.
The next day I got an email from the campus bookstore about bargain books and decided to check it out. They had a large selection of $1 and $1.99 books, and I ended up buying a lot more than I need.
For Me
Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst
Insatiable: Tales from a Life of Delicious Excess by Gael Greene
Harvest for Hope: A Guide to Mindful Eating by Jane Goodall
The Imus Ranch: Cooking for Kids and Cowboys by Deirdre Imus
Biba's Italy: Favorite Recipes from the Splendid Cities by Biba Caggiano
Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer
Julie Taymor: Playing with Fire by Eileen Blumenthal
For Nana
Sacred Cows by Karen Olson
an anthology of short mystery stories
three Janet Evanovich novels
For Shari
Seeing Redd by Frank Beddor
Peter and the Secret of Rundoon by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
Peter and the Shadow Thieves by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
I also got several moleskin notebooks for $4.50 a piece which is good since they generally retail for $18+.
Glancing through the two cookbooks, I've found quite a few recipes I want to try out. Biba's Italy looks especially good. It's organized by regions and features quite a few dishes I've never heard of. The Imus Ranch cookbook is heavily vegetarian and vegan which will be fun to experiment with. My meals generally feature meat in some way, and though I don't want to go vegetarian, eating less meat would be good for my health.
Other than reading the first few pages of Insatiable and Harvest for Hope and looking at the pretty pictures in the Julie Taymor book, I haven't had a chance to really look at them, but several will definitely be put on my reading list for this year.
Cimarron (1931): Best Picture/AFI Post #1
Posted by Jeremiah Goodman at 4:15 PM Labels: AFI, Best PictureCimarron (USA 1931 35m)
d Wesley Ruggles; p William LeBaron, Wesley Ruggles; w Howard Estabrook, Edna Ferber (novel); c Edward Cronjager; ad Max Ree; fe William Hamilton; m Max Steiner
Richard Dix (Yancey Cravat), Irene Dunne (Sabra Cravat), Estelle Taylor (Dixie Lee), Edna May Oliver (Mrs. Tracy Wyatt), George E. Stone (Sol Levy), William Collier Jr. (The Kid), Stanley Fields (Lon Yountis), Robert McWade (Louis Hefner), Eugene Jackson (Isaiah)
Cimarron won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Art Direction, and Writing, Adaptation in 1931. It was also nominated for Best Cinematography. Wesley Ruggles was nominated for Best Director, Richard Dix was nominated for Best Leading Actor, and Irene Dunne was nominated for Best Leading Actress.
I was excited to see this film for multiple reasons. For one thing, I've heard multiple times from different sources that it is the worst film to win the Best Picture statuette, and since I personally believe that Forrest Gump is the worst film to ever win and will remain the worst film for decades to come, I had to make sure that one of the most disregarded of the lot wasn't actually worse. After watching Cimarron, I remain resolute in my Forrest hating convictions.
Secondly, the film is an adaptation of an Edna Ferber novel. Ferber wrote the plays that Dinner at Eight and Stage Door were adapted from as well as the novel Show Boat is adapted from. Also, the film was Irene Dunne's first major role, and I'm while I'm not terribly familiar with her as an actress, I loved her in Show Boat and My Favorite Wife.
Cimarron tells the story of the Cravats, the gentleman pioneer Yancey and his long suffering wife Sabra. It also tells the story of Oklahoma after the Indian reservations were made available in the first Land Rush. The movie starts just before the gun signaling the beginning of the Rush, and we meet Yancey who has his sights set on one particular parcel of land. Unfortunately, he tells a female competitor who snatches it up in a cavalier fashion. Having failed, he returns to Wichita, collects his wife and son Cim (and unintentionally Isaiah, a black teenaged servant), and returns to set up a newspaper in the dirty, savage town of Osage, Oklahoma. The film follows that trials and tribulations of the family through the decades.
With the exception of all the talking, the beginning feels just like a silent film. The visual spectacle of the chaotic land run reminded me of the battle scenes and cavalry charges of The Birth of a Nation and Battleship Potemkin. Every individual scene works as a moving painting, set up compositionally for thrills and whimsy.
The acting (especially that of Richard Dix) is boisterous and verging on melodramatic. Dix had made dozens of silent films and seems to be working within that acting style. Of course, he’s playing a larger-than-life character with a natural proclivity toward grandiose speeches and spurts of intense emotion. Most of the minor actors are given character parts that lend themselves to stereotyped portrayals. Dunne is the most naturalistic though she sometimes gives in the general spirit of overacting.
She’s also the core of the movie. While the movie is epic in scale, the real focus is on the love of two people. All other thematic devices are kept in the background. Sabra’s racism, the antics of the Cravat children, the antics of the townspeople, and the metamorphosis of Oklahoma all take backseat to Sabra and Yancey’s tumultuous marriage.
The other citizens of Osage are a mixed bag of types. Trouble manifests itself in the form of devious Lon Yountis, an outlaw who shot the previous editor of the newspaper and is generally unwashed, and The Kid, the young leader of a band of bank robbers. There’s the Jewish peddler (later shopkeeper), the kindly saloonkeeper, the socially awkward printer, and the immigrant furniture salesman who also operates the morgue in Osage’s early days. The loudest is the matronly battleaxe, Mrs. Tracy Wyatt whose function is to be prudish and haughty and dislike prostitution. However colorful, these characters pretty much stay – along with the Cravat’s two children – on the peripheral of the story, making token appearances when necessary.
For his part, Dix plays the husband with such abandon that it’s hard not to like him despite his many faults. Yancey's tragic flaw is hyperactivity. He operates like an overly intelligent kid perusing a toy store while on a sugar rush. Sure, he understands that sweatshops manufactured the toys and that the paint probably contains lead, but everything is so excited and cool looking. He’s often the voice of reason and many times supports the underdog, coming to the defense of Sol Levy, Osage’s seemingly sole Jew and a peddler of lace, zippers, and other accouterments, and Dixie Lee, the ruined woman who has to resort to operating a brothel to stay alive. He’s also the only respecter of the Native American population.
However, his sense of reason and compassion is easily overcome by his wanderlust. When he gets the telegram that the Cherokee Indians have been swindled out of their lands, he's momentarily pensive, looking forlornly out the window. But he quickly realizes that this means he can again help build something where there was nothing. He disregards the plight of the Cherokees and abandons his family and newspaper to gallantly ride into the sunset.
So Yancey becomes an irresponsible blowhard. He’s wrapped up in his own needs which seem to also be the needs of the growing United States. His desire of more is so intense that he often cannot see those around him. When Isaiah is shot trying to save Cim during a shootout with The Kid, he doesn't die instantly but falls unnoticed in an alleyway. After being wounded and killing The Kid, Yancey slowly marches toward home, passing the alley where Isaiah is lying. Though Isaiah reaches out and weakly calls for Yancey, he's unheard and dies. When Sabra is obviously scared of the future, he rushes off for years at a time.
It’s easy to see why the film has such a dubious reputation. (It has the worst imdb and rottentomato ratings of any Best Picture winner.) Even though it has great compassion for its minor characters, the film often stereotypes them, sometimes for comedic effect. I suppose it seems outmoded today and doesn’t “age well” (a phrase I dislike). It hovers in that area between silent and talkie, imbibing in the aesthetic and technical aspects of each. It’s a very flawed film with its poor handling of minorities, its hammy leading man, and its out-of-control plot points. Still, it’s a wonderfully entertaining movie that really highlights the sprawling landscape of pre-statehood Oklahoma as it transforms into a civilization of skyscrapers and acres of towering oil wells.
watched on April 17, 2009
**
I spent an extended weekend in Texas with Stephanie which was a lot of fun and more than made up for the day of swine flu jokes I endured. The trip down was relatively uneventful. On the way to her house, I stopped by Jason's condo to pick up things to deliver. The only other excitement stemmed from a particularly bad accident involving two semi-trucks which held up traffic for half an hour. Once I arrived, we had four days of merriment. We watched movies, talked about feelings, fell into Lifetime original movie territory, quickly retreated, and baked scones.
Stephanie also read my tarot with her new set of cards. I had asked her to do this since it's a subject that I've been mildly interested in for a long time. (Tarot is one of those things regularly featured on mystery shows such as Murder, She Wrote which I watched religiously for years.) Before we started, she explained that the process was not meant to be mystical or seen as an exercise in predicting the future. I expected to enjoy the reading but was surprised at how active I got in the process. The reading ended up taking roughly four hours, and several times I had strong reactions to the cards. Had I not actually shuffled and cut the deck I would have sworn that Stephanie had stacked it. The cards had very interesting things to say, and Stephanie and I also found quite a few things to say. It was nice to have such a structured forum in which to examine my life. (I didn't ask a question at the beginning since I felt too inexperienced.) Though the question of "how" could be troubling, it does not seem inconceivable to me that the cards and people are connected through the universe and thus ordered on some level. Perhaps my excessive Romanticism and pseudo-Existentialism is showing.
During all this scone-baking and card-reading, we watched quite a few movies including The Band's Visit, an Israeli film about the travails of a police band traveling to a gig from Egypt, The Taste of Others, a charming French film about the events and people surrounding one man's personal journey from being a boring office drone to a person interested in art and love, The Nines, a series of interlocking vignettes about a man who doesn't understand who or what he is and two women who are trying to help him, and Look Both Ways, an Australian film about death and the ways it effects us. We also watched filmed stage productions of Company and Sunday at the Park with George which I checked out from the library.
On the way home, I stopped by Mom and Dad's house. They showed me the new quilts including a beautiful one for me. Dad showed off his new golf club which is one of the most interesting clubs I've ever seen. I'm so glad that he enjoys it.
Remembrances of Days Past; or The Man Who Talked Too Much
Posted by Jeremiah Goodman at 9:42 AM Labels: family, film, meAfter procuring such a kick ass gift for Mom, I started obsessing about Dad's gift. My dad is notoriously noncommittal when it comes to giving ideas for gifts, and Mom's idea was socks. (I should explain that Mom and Dad's birthdays are insanely close together.) Finally, Joel told me that Dad wanted a hybrid golf club and that his three iron had recently broken. So we bought him a new hybrid three iron, and he used it Tuesday and really liked it.
Jenna was over last weekend, and as usual, we watched far too many movies. We watched The Trojan Women, My Fair Lady, and Anastasia. On Sunday, we visited Grandma and Grandpa and chatted about poetry and graduate school.
I also had a spontaneous burst of creativity and wrote three poems as well as the second part of another and the beginnings of several others. I've been writing much more than I did last year which is very encouraging. Also, I recently took a major step and actually read several of my recent poems to Nanny, Poppy, and Mom. Either they enjoyed them or imagined that I would throw myself in front of a train if they didn't. So my spirits were lifted, and while I can't let them see some of my racier poems and poems dealing with subjects they probably don't want to deal with, I feel that they now have some small idea of the things that I do with my spare time.
I loved the movie so much that I needed more and attempted to watch the 2008 remake. Okay, I realize this was a stupid thing to do, but how was I suppose to know that something with so much actresses I adore could be so bland. Maybe it was unfair to try watching it so soon after watching the original, but I doubt that I could have made it past the 24 minute point in any situation. It wasn't even bad; it was mind numbingly adequate.
Since the remake proved unwatchable, I watched Robert Altman's Dr. T and the Women instead since it too sports an eclectic set of actresses that I love. Now, I bought this for secondspin for two dollars, and I was expecting a bad movie and ended up completely surprised. It was so vibrant and funny.
Then I blissfully got online... People hate this film. No, I think that's too lenient. People loath this film. Even die hard Altman fans despise this film, and I have no idea why. It's not as good as Nashville or Short Cuts, but it's still Altman being extremely Altmanesque. It's hysterically funny, poignant, and whimsical. I mean Farrah Fawcett's character is suffering from a "Hespia Complex," a fictional mental condition where women who are loved too much retreat into a childlike state. And despite the ludicrous nature of her condition, the film makes the pain it causes her husband very real.
Now, I'm getting ready to spend the weekend plus Monday visiting Stephanie. (I may have to call in sick Tuesday.) All week I've been stuck at the circulation desk so I'm very tired and looking forward to relaxing. I've also been melancholy for the last two weeks. So much time at the circulation desk has been it crushingly clear that I currently have the same job I had in high school and most of college. This makes me wonder what the hell I'm doing.
Anyway, I'm over it now and hoping that this control that I've recently had over my bad moods will continue to grow. I need to learn to take my natural depression and use it to my advantage. Still, I'm looking forward to visiting Stephanie! I'm sure there will be merriment and spirits, movie watching and possible tarot reading! I've also decided not to bring a large amount of films this time. I'm bringing three things, one that we will watch and two that she can decide yes or no at her convenience. I'm such a good friend.