1959 film described by a law professor as "probably the finest pure trial movie ever made." (Asimow, Michael. Picturing Justice, film review from a legal perspective, February 1998.)
While I was watching it Laura was watching episodes of "The Good Wife," a television legal drama. I was struck by how similar such programs are to the film, and wondered if the film was a pioneer in such dramas.
Well, it is cited as #4 in The 25 Greatest Legal Movies:1 is To kill a mockinbird; 2 is Twelve angry men; 3 is (surprisingly, at first, not so much on reflection) My cousin Vinny.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
a Twitter recommendation
looking through my Twitter feeds today, after 5pm, this one caught my eye:
Carl Bildt @carlbildt
Carl Bildt is Foreign Minister of Sweden since 2006. Before that most other things.
So, after looking for the book in theOPAC and finding it at 945.31 N, I walked back into the stacks, and got it. I do think this might be the first book recommendation I've gotten via Twitter (without a doubt, the first recommendation from Minister Bildt —or, almost certainly).
Norwich, John Julius. (1982). A history of Venice. New York : Knopf.
Carl Bildt
Rereading John Julius Norwich's "A History of Venice" is always a true pleasure. A great history told in a most enjoyable way.
Carl Bildt is Foreign Minister of Sweden since 2006. Before that most other things.
So, after looking for the book in theOPAC and finding it at 945.31 N, I walked back into the stacks, and got it. I do think this might be the first book recommendation I've gotten via Twitter (without a doubt, the first recommendation from Minister Bildt —or, almost certainly).
Norwich, John Julius. (1982). A history of Venice. New York : Knopf.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Madness visible
di Giovanni, Janine. (2003). Madness visible: a memoir of war. New York: Knopf.
I saw her on the Charlie Rose show last week, along with three other guests, all discussing Syria. I found each of them smart and interesting. I got this book, opened it, read the first tow paragraphs of her introduction, and got chills: I can not read about war and cruelty so very easily any longer.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Easy A
Stereotyped character, silly story. Mediocre.
Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter is re-imagined as a contemporary high school comedy in this tale of a scheming student who plots to give her popularity a boost by painting herself the easiest lay in school.
Not well done.
Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter is re-imagined as a contemporary high school comedy in this tale of a scheming student who plots to give her popularity a boost by painting herself the easiest lay in school.
Not well done.
Friday, July 20, 2012
The life and times of Hank Greenberg
A few weeks ago a Peninsula patron asked me for a biography of Hank Greenberg. Intrigued, I asked him if he was doing research about the original Hammering Hank; he said it was purely personal interest. I remarked that Greenberg, among many other things, had mentored Ralph Kiner early on in his career. How could that be, the man wondered, as Kiner played in Pittsburgh and Greenberg in Detroit. I said that Greenberg had wound up in Pittsburgh.
That was one of the many details of his life that the film covered. His birth in New York, his Jewish heritage and religion, his prowess on the ballfield of James Monroe High school, in Bronx, NY; the Detroit scout's promise to get young Hank a scholarship to Princeton; the virulent anti-Semitism he had to handle in the majors; his success on the field; his enlistment in the Army (depriving his baseball career of three prime years). All those and many more were covered in great detail.
A wonderful documentary of a genuine American baseball hero (well, great; even he didn't see himself as a hero).
That was one of the many details of his life that the film covered. His birth in New York, his Jewish heritage and religion, his prowess on the ballfield of James Monroe High school, in Bronx, NY; the Detroit scout's promise to get young Hank a scholarship to Princeton; the virulent anti-Semitism he had to handle in the majors; his success on the field; his enlistment in the Army (depriving his baseball career of three prime years). All those and many more were covered in great detail.
A wonderful documentary of a genuine American baseball hero (well, great; even he didn't see himself as a hero).
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Voice lessons
In a side column in a recent issue of the New Yorker, David Denby wrote: Those who were charmed by The Artist should see the real thing: "Singin' in the Rain," the great American movie musical about the transition from talkies to sound...The movie chronicles Hollywood's misadventures with early recording techniques, but does so with carefree gaiety and confidence — confidence in music and dance and in a specifically American style of impudent wit."
Yes, the American film is still robust, fun to watch —despite shortcomings such as the mismatches in age between Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor, his two costars, who are supposed to be about the same age. The singing and the dancing is contagious, energizing, and plain fun. Jean Hagen's character, Lina Lamont, still holds up, she with her screechy little voice and street pronunciation (cain't stend it).
The Artist I found difficult to enjoy. It dragged. Contemporary taste is highly favorable for it. Then again, in Rotten Tomatoes Singin' in the rain gets even higher numbers: 100-91 v. 98-90. In the end, I did enjoy it, but Singin' is better. O, and Cyd Charisse.
Yes, the American film is still robust, fun to watch —despite shortcomings such as the mismatches in age between Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor, his two costars, who are supposed to be about the same age. The singing and the dancing is contagious, energizing, and plain fun. Jean Hagen's character, Lina Lamont, still holds up, she with her screechy little voice and street pronunciation (cain't stend it).
The Artist I found difficult to enjoy. It dragged. Contemporary taste is highly favorable for it. Then again, in Rotten Tomatoes Singin' in the rain gets even higher numbers: 100-91 v. 98-90. In the end, I did enjoy it, but Singin' is better. O, and Cyd Charisse.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Suddenly
I cam across this DVD (1954) while looking for Singing in the rain on the PN shelves. Looked it up, and it sounded interesting.
Suddenly is the name of the small town invaded by professional assassin Frank Sinatra and his henchmen. Taking a local family hostage, Sinatra sets up a vigil at the second-story window of the family's home. From here, he intends to kill the President of the United States when the latter makes a whistle-stop visit. The film's tension level is enough to induce goose pimples from first scene to last. Sinatra is outstanding as the disgruntled war vet who hopes to become a "somebody" by killing the president. The parallels between his character and Lee Harvey Oswald's are too close for comfort, so much so that Suddenly was withdrawn from local TV packages for several years after the JFK assassination. Sinatra would claim in later years that he himself engineered the removal of Suddenly from general distribution, though in fact he'd lost whatever rights he'd held on the film when it lapsed into public domain. Be sure and miss the notorious colorized version of this black-and-white thriller, wherein Sinatra is transformed into Ol' Brown Eyes.
Well, they tried. It moves along fine. But to speak of tension is to stretch it. Sinatra tries to inject a touch of psychosis, or some sort of mental instability into his character, and almost makes it. Almost. His partners in crime are rank amateurs (both as criminals, and the actors). The good guys are wooden. Nice try. I can believe that the subject matter became very touchy after November 22, 1963. Still.
Suddenly is the name of the small town invaded by professional assassin Frank Sinatra and his henchmen. Taking a local family hostage, Sinatra sets up a vigil at the second-story window of the family's home. From here, he intends to kill the President of the United States when the latter makes a whistle-stop visit. The film's tension level is enough to induce goose pimples from first scene to last. Sinatra is outstanding as the disgruntled war vet who hopes to become a "somebody" by killing the president. The parallels between his character and Lee Harvey Oswald's are too close for comfort, so much so that Suddenly was withdrawn from local TV packages for several years after the JFK assassination. Sinatra would claim in later years that he himself engineered the removal of Suddenly from general distribution, though in fact he'd lost whatever rights he'd held on the film when it lapsed into public domain. Be sure and miss the notorious colorized version of this black-and-white thriller, wherein Sinatra is transformed into Ol' Brown Eyes.
Well, they tried. It moves along fine. But to speak of tension is to stretch it. Sinatra tries to inject a touch of psychosis, or some sort of mental instability into his character, and almost makes it. Almost. His partners in crime are rank amateurs (both as criminals, and the actors). The good guys are wooden. Nice try. I can believe that the subject matter became very touchy after November 22, 1963. Still.
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