Jason's Blog, page 170

James Salter

I'm re-reading James Salter's short story collection Dusk and other stories, and am again taken by his use of language. It made a big impression on me when I discovered his work in the early 90s. I especially liked the way he ended his stories, that final sentence that etches itself into your memory. Here's the last paragraph of his story The cinema:



He heard her call his name. He said nothing. He lay there becoming small, smaller, vanishing. The room became a window, a facade, a group of buildings, squares and sections, in the end all of Rome. His ecstasy was beyond knowing. The roofs of the great cathedrals shone in the winter air.



And the story Am Strande von Tanger:



Later, in bed, he listens to her sobs. He tries to comfort her but he cannot. Her back is turned to him. She will not answer.

She has small breasts and large nipples. Also, as she herself says, a rather large behind. Her father has three secretaries. Hamburg is close to the sea.



I ripped off, or tried to, as best I could, this ending in one of my own stories, a one page strip that can be found on page 56 in Pocket Full of Rain.

Leonard Cohen

An interesting interview with Leonard Cohen, done by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation in 2006. I wish I had one tenth of this man's wisdom.

Norman Saunders

Just got my copy of "Norman Saunders", published by The Illustrated Press, a collection of his illustration work, from pulp and men's magazines to Topps trading cards. There's also sketches from China that he did during World War 2 and from Europe that he did on travels later in life. It's all great stuff. The book is a big, fat 360 page hardcover, so don't drop it on your foot.

I just realised...

...I haven't seen a film in the cinema since True Grit. I like movies, but it seems like more and more I'll just wait for the dvd. There were two films I thought about seeing this year. I was curious about Thor, but it was only available dubbed into French and in 3D. It being in French is okay, but I don't want to see any more films in 3D. The other film was Tree of Life. Days of Heaven is propably my one favourite film, but I've been disappointed in the last two Malick films, Thin Red Line and New World, and based on the trailer, Tree of Life seemed to be more of the same. Beautiful images, "poetic voiceovers" and no story. So I didn't see it. Maybe I'll regret that when I get it on dvd and have to watch it on my tv. What else has there been? Pirates 4, Green Lantern, Cowboys and Aliens? Sigh... Hollywood used to make movies for adults once. I guess the next film I'm interested in seeing in the cinema is the next Fincher, The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo which should be out in late December, so I'll just have to start counting the days...

Pee-Wee's Big Adventure

Paul Reubens is Pee-Wee Herman, a loner and a rebel, looking for his stolen bike. It's a remake of neorealist classic The Bicycle Thief! Directed by Tim Burton.



It's Tim Burton's first film and possibly his funniest. The Burtonesque touch is there right from the beginning, but there's also a pre CGI charm that is often missing from his later films. The film is obviously made on a low budget but has a lot of imagination. I'd say the Alamo and the biker bar sequences are my favourites. Re-watching it now, I had forgotten the bit with Twisted Sister.

Diner

Baltimore, 1959. A group of guys get together at a diner, talking about life and girls and stuff. Starring a lot of actors who then went on to become famous, written and directed by Barry Levinson.

Okay, so it's mostly about guys talking, Seinfeld The Movie, sort of, but that's fine, Levinson is very good with the way people speak. The film is capturing a time and a place without getting too nostalgic. It's a bit strange to see these actors back when they were young and goodlooking, Mickey Rourke had moviestar written all over him, so it's almost impossible to watch the film without thinking about the progress of time and aging.

Planes Trains and Automobiles

Steve Martin is trying to get home to his family for thanksgiving. Unfortunately, he has to travel with fat slob John Candy. Written and directed by John Hughes.

Those aren't pillows! It's a pretty safe, non-edgy comedy extolling middle class values like marriage and apple pie, it's practically a feelgood movie for chrissake that you could see with your grandmother, is there even the utterance of a "fuck" in the film?, oh yeah, there's the great car rental scene with Steve Martin, okay, but really, it's the kind of mainstream Hollywood film that you would feel slightly embarrased to be seen walking out of at age 17 when you saw yourself as a sensitive rebel, but less so at the age where you'd rather see a oh, I don't know, Billy Joel concert than one with Marilyn Manson or whoever is the equivalent of Marilyn Manson these days.

The Big Easy

New Orleans. Dennis Quaid is a Homicide lieutenant, Ellen Barkin is from the D.A.'s office, cracking down on police corruption. Also starring Ned Beatty and John Goodman, directed by Jim McBride.



It's a cop movie that takes it's time. The first action sequence comes at 70 minutes. This was back in the days when there didn't have to be a car crashing into a helicopter full of zombies right after the title sequence or the audience will fall asleep. The film is rather carried by the chemistry between Quaid and Barkin. Being set in New Orleans, there's also some great cajun music. Maybe not a classic but a fun film. Jim Garrison has a cameo as himself; he was later portrayed by Kevin Costner in JFK.

To Live And Die in L.A.

Cops William Petersen and John Pankow try to catch criminal Willem Dafoe. Also starring John Turturro and Dean Stockwell, cinematography by Robby Muller, directed by William Friedkin.



It starts out as a pretty simple Cops and Robbers film, or Cops and Counterfeiters, actually, but then becomes something more interesting, more of an existential does the end justify the means? sort of thing. The film has a dated 80s estethic to it, and it doesn't help that the score is by synth popgroup Wang Chung, but besides that it holds up quite well. If you wanted a bad guy in the 80s you could do worse than hire Willem Dafoe, there's a great car chase, and the film should take it's place somewhere between Point Blank and Heat on the list of the best portrayals of Los Angeles.

... and the back cover