A Priceless Exchange

Assuming you understand what it means….

I Know The Things I'm Not

Norah Jones at 40 … I think she’s as good as she has ever been, maybe better … distinctive sound, wonderful voice, still beautiful…

Movies Watched -- Paris, Texas (1984)

145 minute running time … at least an hour too long … a heartbreak story, totally contrived and I hated the ending … what if mother and son didn’t want to be reunited? People in trailer parks in Texas don’t talk like this … Nastassja Kinski’s fake “southern” accent is painful. This is an affected movie by major German phony Wim Wenders, stupidly awarded the Palm D’Or. Skip it. Let me see if I can find a mainstream critic who had the balls to call this one out. (There are none, everyone was fooled.)

Oh, Travis [not Bickle]

This Is Lyrical Combat, Gentlemen

A classic … over 20 years old and still fresh today. Eminem a mega-talent.

Movies Watched -- The White Ribbon (2009)

In German. 144 minute running time, which I’d normally say is about 44 minutes too long, but this movie was amazing, wow, I loved it … pre-World War I Germany … the sickness, the repression, the cruelty of life in a small village, all foreshadowing the coming horrors of the 20th century … this was a tour de force, recommended, green-go! I think I have John Farr to thank for this reco, who wrote: “A masterpiece in a minor key.” Wrong, there’s nothing minor about this masterpiece. I see now that it won the Palm D’Or, much deserved.

FOR I THE LORD YOUR GOD AM A JEALOUS GOD, VISITING THE INIQUITY OF THE FATHERS UPON THE CHILDREN TO THE THIRD AND THE FOURTH GENERATION OF THOSE WHO HATE ME.

I’m sick and tired of persecutions, threats and perverse acts of revenge.

Movies Watched -- Death in Venice (1971)

130 minute running time so at least 40 minutes too long … shots of Venice kind of nice but this was an awful, awful movie… story is about a gay composer who has a nervous breakdown and goes to Venice to recover, where he sees this androgynous boy and gets infatuated and things go downhill from there… this must be some kind of homosexual classic, whatever, yuck, I couldn’t care less. Red rating, skip it.

Ugh, it figures this was a Farr reco, he did me dirty by categorizing it as “drama” instead of “Gay-themed.” “A heady meditation on art and passion,” oh spare me, John.

Tadzio, oh Tadzio!

Them Other Bitches Is Basic

Big fan of Snoh Aalegra, I think she’s super talented… not thrilled with the rap interlude, but I’ll suffer it to hear the rest of the song, which I dig:

Movies Watched -- Shadows (1959)

81 minute running time … 1959 Manhattan … the beat scene, man, can you dig it? I couldn’t. Story about a dumb white guy who falls in love with a mulatto girl … I guess it was pretty revolutionary back then, anti-miscegenation laws and all that ... Tony turns tail when he discovers she’s “black.” I wasn’t thrilled though.

From a Criterion essay: “It has no hero, no villain, no linear plotline, no gerrymandered suspense, no practiced comedy….”

I belong to me.

Kinda Thought They Might Care

Great cover by JP Cooper of Billie the Kid’s song…

Movies Watched -- The Last Seduction (1994)

110 minute running time and it felt at least 20 minutes too long … convoluted story that didn’t really make any sense … SPOILER the twist about Mike having married a man was stupid and the whole movie was unsatisfying … foul-mouthed Linda Fiorentino as femme fatale, the movie really belonged to her ... nice to see Bill Pullman and western New York state (“cow country”) featured … but this was dumb… and bad. Crap from 1994. Give it a miss.

I'm hung like a horse. Think about it.