This Week's Top Five List

More pop culture fun from this week's edition of Dr. John's Record Shelf...

 

A Tuesday Thought

Keen insight from the mind of Denis Diderot (1713-1784), one of the leading lights of the Enlightenment:

"To attempt the destruction of our passions is the height of folly. What a noble aim is that of the zealot who tortures himself like a madman in order to desire nothing, love nothing, feel nothing, and who, if he succeeded, would end up a complete monster!" 

Great Song

Even if you aren't a Replacements fan (hard for me to understand, but whatever), you might like this song by them.  It's from late in their career when they (by which I mostly mean Paul Westerberg) had softened their approach somewhat. 

Summer Movie Roundup, Part 5

Here's the last summary post of movies I saw some months ago, but never got around to writing up.  At this point, anyone of these would make a great rental or on-demand choice (since they are long gone from theaters).  For the record, my favorite movie of the summer was Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom, but Beasts of the Southern Wild was pretty close (the picture above is from that film).

Safety Not Guaranteed (Colin Trevorrow)- I was won over by this movie almost immediately.  Low key and somewhat meandering, the story turns on a great hook: a guy advertises for a companion to join him in time travel.  The reporters who pursue the story behind the ad start out cynical and even somewhat predatory, but the sincerity of their target slowly erodes their disbelief in various ways.  The cast is filled with TV stars (Aubrey Plaza of Parks and Recreation, Jake Johnson of The New Girl and Mark Duplass of The League), which is not often a good sign.  But in this case, I think their small-screen skills keep this on an easily relatable level.  I'll be looking forward to what the guys who made this come up with next. 

The Dark Knight Rises (Christopher Nolan)- I've been something less-than enthusiastic about the spate of super-hero movies in recent years.  Many are entertaining, but few are memorable.  I think this one maybe breaks that mold. There are elements of its plot that I find disturbing, especially it's lack of faith in democratic institutions, or the subtly fascistic obeisance to corporate might. But I have to admit that it treats such themes seriously and not just as a pretext for pyrotechnics.  Nolan seems to recognize that the whole concept of a superhero raises disturbing questions about power and how its wielded, and I'd say I felt disturbed leaving the theater, which counts for a lot in making sure a work or art sticks with you.  

Carlos (Olivier Assayas)- Okay, technically this was a made for TV miniseries which I saw on DVD.  But it was released theatrically, I just never had a chance to catch it.  This tale of terror and politics in the 1970s was immensely gripping and the charisma of Carlos (famously known as The Jackal) sure comes across in Assayas' account of his career.  It's actually an interesting counterpoint to The Dark Knight, with the politics much more in evidence and the violence more often deferred, lending considerably to the suspense.  Carlos begins as a somewhat misguided but sympathetic character but evolves over the three plus hours into an obvious monster.  This is the perhaps inevitable result of vigilante-type justice-- no matter how noble the cause.  When you set yourself up as judge and jury it becomes impossible to continue exercising such power in the interests of others (despite one's rhetoric), in real life anyway if not in comic books.  Assayas is masterful in bringing his audience along to draw just such a conclusion. 

Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin)- This was a truly one-of-a-kind movie, in terms of both narrative and style.  It recounts the adventures of a youngster growing up in a remote (physically and psychologically) part of the Mississippi delta, where the inhabitants are so deeply embedded in their environment that the consequences of natural disaster are taken to be almost entirely the fault of human error (in this case, the construction of a levy).  On one hand, it's a bit hard to generate much sympathy for most of the characters in this story; but in the end there's something ennobling about how fiercely they protect their prerogative to live life their chosen way.  It was difficult not to view this as a political allegory, given its election year appearance, but I doubt that was foremost in the filmmaker's mind. Instead, the young protagonist's sense of herself as a part of something much bigger while nonetheless battling to protect her own independence has much broader implications than any narrow current events link would suggest.  Overall, a magical, thought provoking movie-- and that combination does not come along very often.      

Monday's Quote

A great observation from American author Clarence Day (1874-1935):

"The world of books is the most remarkable creation of man. Nothing else that he builds ever lasts. Monuments fall, nations perish, civilization grow old and die out, but in the world of books are volumes that have seen this happen."
 

Good Song

Drivin'n'Cryin' is another veteran rock outfit enjoying something of a comeback recently -- critically at least-- not unlike Redd Kross and Shoes, each of which have had clips posted here recently. Here's their tribute to fellow Georgians R.E.M.:

Friday Family Blogging Quiz

I've done one of these in a really long time, but I've had some requests for the quiz to return.  So, my question to you is: where was this picture of Natalie taken?  A couple of hints, it's from about four years ago, and the location is somewhere in Western New York.  Put your guesses in the comments section, and I'll announce the winner next week.  Good luck!

Friday Family Blogging

It may look like Nik is unaware of the alien life form sneaking up behind him, but in fact he's just displaying his devil-may-care attitude to personal danger. 

Friday Philosophy

Today's quote comes courtesy of the longshoreman philosopher Eric Hoffer (1902-1983):

"The less justified a man is in claiming excellence for his own self, the more ready he is to claim all excellence for his nation, his religion, his race or his holy cause. A man is likely to mind his own business when it is worth minding. When it is not, he takes his mind off his own meaningless affairs by minding other people's business."

Great Song

This is really good, by Teenage Fanclub off their most recent album called Shadows.  Now that I think of it, that's at least a couple years old, so maybe something new is on the way (fingers crossed!).

Toonerville Thursday

I should've featured Grandpaw Sims here last week, right after the election, but better late than never.

A Thought for Thursday

Something to think about from the pen of the colorful physicist Richard Feynman (1918-1988)

“I can live with doubt and uncertainty and not knowing. I think it is much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers that might be wrong. If we will only allow that, as we progress, we remain unsure, we will leave opportunities for alternatives. We will not become enthusiastic for the fact, the knowledge, the absolute truth of the day, but remain always uncertain … In order to make progress, one must leave the door to the unknown ajar.” 
 

Cool Song

I just picked up a really nice compilation CD called How Many Roads: Black America Sings Bob Dylan.  This is one of my favorites off that record after a couple of plays:

This Week's Top Five

This week the Top Five List from Dr. John's Record Shelf draws from a couple of academic disciplines to effect, we hope, an entertaining bit of whimsy...

A Tuesday Thought

Words of wisdom from the noted jurist Louis Brandeis (1856-1941):

"America has believed that in differentiation, 

not in uniformity, lies the path of progress. It 

acted on this belief; it has advanced human 

happiness, and it has prospered."

Happy Birthday Richard!

All the best tidings to my brother-in-law Richard today as he celebrates his birthday.  Hope you have a great day and many more to come!

Good Song

These guys were in the forefront of the No Depression/Americana movement in the nineties along with Uncle Tupelo and a couple other bands.  This is one of their better tunes:

Summer Movie Roundup #4

This is the second of my catch-all posts passing summary judgements on movies I saw over the past few months (mostly last summer), for which I didn't get around to composing full reviews.  Last week I covered the movies I did not like.  This week, some that I enjoyed but fell short of classic (or even semi-classic) status.

Hysteria (Tanya Wexler)- This is an oddball kind of movie, with a provocative theme about doctors treating women for the titular malady in the nineteenth century, but the tone is almost that of a screwball comedy.  Maggie Gyllenhall, who is usually pretty good, goes over the top with the stereotypical elements of her role as the crusading feminist, but the rest of the cast strike just the right tone (Rupert Everett, as the main character's dissolute best friend is the best).  I wouldn't go out of my way to see this again, but it was a pleasant enough way to spend one evening.

The Amazing Spider-Man (Marc Webb)- This franchise has developed to the point that it requires little more than strong actors and top of the line special effects to maintain its entertainment value (or maybe that's just inherent to the character?).  But now, a little while after seeing it, I can't remember any particular points that made it special, and certainly nothing to justify a retelling of the origin story so shortly after the Tobey McGuire version (was that even ten years ago?).

Bernie (Richard Linklater)- I could rank this higher just on style alone, but in the end the story is just a bit too slight to stand with Linklater's best work (though, now that I think of it, the plots to Dazed and Confused, Before Sunrise, and School of Rock aren't exactly Tolstoian in conception either).  Jack Black plays a beloved small town mortician who murders Shirley MacLaine playing a small town harridan, and the rest of the community wants him to get away with it.  I have a feeling that this is a movie that will grow in my estimation when I see it again, which is almost a sure thing.     

God Bless America (Bobcat Goldthwait)-  I was always a fan of Bobcat Goldthwait's stand-up comedy, and he's brought his peculiarly warped sensibility to the movies he's directed (check out World's Greatest Dad as well-- quite possibly the best Robin Williams movie ever).  This is truly black comedy, as an ordinary schlub, mistakenly believing that he is dying, goes on a murderous spree targeting all the idiots who diminish our collective humanity (you know, like reality TV stars and high school bullies).  The humor is extremely dry as well as dark, so this won't be for everyone, but I found it among the most original movies I've seen in years.  The picture above features the stars Joel Murray (Bill's little brother) and Tara Lynn Barr, both of whom are excellent.

Next time, I'll list out my favorites from last summer.

A Monday Quote

Activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902) called it as she saw it, and I think she nailed it:

"That only a few, under any circumstances, protest against the injustice of long-established laws and customs, does not disprove the fact of the oppressions, while the satisfaction of the many, if real only proves their apathy and deeper degradation."

Cool Song

Nina Simone had one of the all-time great jazz-soul voices, and when she wrapped it around some classic Dylan lyrics, as here, something special happened.