Old Movies: A Reflection Of Our Times
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“Venetian Style” at MFA, Boston
Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese: Rivals in Renaissance Venice
Sixty paintings by 16th century “Venetian style” artists will be on view beginning March 15:
Titian (1485–1576), Tintoretto (1518-1594) and Veronese (1528–1588)
Venetian Style – “painters from Venice were not as concerned with sculptural form and hard edges of lines as they were with brilliant color and the sensitive use of light”
Mar 15, 2009 – Aug 16, 2009
MFA – Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Avenue of the Arts
465 Huntington Avenue
Boston, Massachusetts
617-267-9300
Image: St Mark’s Body Brought to Venice (1548), Tintoretto
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No One Gets Away Clean
I revisited the Steven Soderbergh movie “Traffic” this week and still enjoyed it. I was not surprised.
I had originally followed the TV mini series “Traffik” which was about 6 hours long and wondered how the movie would do. Besides the texture, plot, direction and performances in this movie, there is this notion that we are what we want to defeat. This seems to be a battle that we can’t win.
Still a very good movie.
An Inspiring Love Story – Slumdog Millionaire
During the holidays “Slumdog Millionaire” was given national distribution, which means that I finally got to see it. I, like many others, endured the lines to get into the multiplex but most people were there to see the new Clint Eastwood film, Gran Torino or the many other Hollywood Christmas releases. Slumdog is a special film and I hope more people get to see it. It certainly has all the 2009 award buzz. There is lots to like about this movie, from the colorful scenes, the use of subtitles and the way the story is told. It is a world, unfamiliar to me, trapped inside a love story that is both entertaining and beautiful. It explores some of the history of this part of the world which has dominated the news recently. Made me curious and thankful for my own blessing. This is a big screen movie so don’t wait until DVD.
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“Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection“
This is a new 2008 DVD collection of 7 early films from the master of suspense. The movies may have different plots and locations – spies in South America, the trials of a new wife, London court room intrigue, people lost at sea – but, they all have that element of surprise/edge of seat tension that director Alfred Hitchcock does so well.
“Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection“ :
The Lodger, 1927 – (Rare silent film)
Young and Innocent, 1937 – (Spies/intrigue)
Rebecca, 1940 – (Mrs. Danvers gave live-in help a bad name)
Lifeboat, 1944 – (Tallulah Bankhead at her best)
Spellbound, 1945 – (Ingrid Bergman/Gregory Peck – lovely!
Notorious, 1946 – (Ingrid Bergman/Cary Grant – lovely!)
The Paradine Case, 1947 – (Gregory Peck)
Sometimes You Just Can’t Get Over It – DVD’s
I was once in a workshop about intimacy and I remember this one quote that just stuck with me:
One Day Someone You Love, Will Do the Most Despicable Thing to You-And You Will Just Have to get Over It.
Two movies, “In the Valley of Elah” and “Before the Devil Knows Your Dead” says to me that sometimes you just can’t get over it.
J
ust before “In the Valley of Elah” was released I got to see this one scene, Both my Boys with Tommy Lee Jones (who I feel is an under rated actor) and Susan Sarandon and I thought to myself that the pain etched on Jones’ face was a pain that I never want to experience.
A number of the early reviews of this movie focused on it being an Antiwar flick. I saw it more about two families, both of them culpable in having the unthinkable happen. We are suppose to be safe with family, both immediate and extended family. In this case the military.
When we talk about war and the tragedies that ensue once the soldiers return home, we erroneously believe that the war is responsible, rather than the war being the thing that confirms the true nature of being. War never falls from the sky, we go to war – it never comes to us.
In Time, the Worst Things will Happen on Their Own-No Need for us to Agitate the Situation
“Before the Devil Knows Your Dead” is also about family and trust. Trust Me! We are often blinded (by closeness) when asked for our trust. This is not to say that we should not trust fam
ily or people in general, but you have to look deeply to see if you can find yourself in what is being asked of you. In this movie, one person had the chance to end the craziness before it started, but didn’t.
This family never heard the phrase “As you Sow, so Shall you Reap” or my favorite “Birds of a Feather Flock Together”