'They Shoot Horses, Don't They?'

It's really hard to tell whether this is about marathon dancing or about the meaninglessness of life.

I guess it's easy to connect the two, but you get the feeling it could've been about doctors, lawyers or ditch diggers and the girl still would've wanted to die.

And I don't see the big moral deal about marathon dances. If idiots want to waste their time doing it, then feel free.

It's no more different than reality TV today or game shows. People trying to make money by not really working.

'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'

This is about as fast of a read as you'll ever come across. It's wildly entertaining and witty and pretty funny.

But I just get the feeling that Douglas Adams took everything too seriously -- mostly people taking themselves and their "stuff" too seriously. Adams tries so hard to trivialize thought and philosophy and religion that he comes off as petty.

Also, if Earth and its inhabitants are so insignficant compared to the breadth and vastness of the universe, then it really doesn't matter how we behave and how we treat each other. Just a confluence of ambiguous points.

'The Nose'

I actually first read this (and was subsequently thrust into the world of Russian literature) my senior year of college by one professor Petrovic (98 percent sure on the name). 

He was actually Serbian. 

Boy, could he drink. 

'Where Angels Fear to Tread'

What defines us as a people? Or, more to the point, what defines us as individuals? Is it money and material items? Is it how we treat each other? Is it how we live? Is it how our culture evolves? Is it how we evolve? 

How the hell do we get it in our heads that somehow we (no matter where you live, how much you make or how you spend it) are better or worse off than someone else? 

Why are some gracious with much and others trapped within the prison of their own pretensions with just as much? 

When does the "stuff" outweigh the thought? 

'Reds'

Since I've started this little project, this is by far the best and my favorite of the films seen. 

It has some fantastic performances, it's vastly interesting from a journalistic and historic point of view. It's more than three hours long and I was glued to the screen for its entirety. 

Warren Beatty's interesting. He directed the picture and it just looks great. Also, the interviews with the "Witnesses" are just amazing. He's 43 in "Reds" and he's as refreshing and energetic as anyone in the picture. Where does he rank in the pantheon of actors? 

Also, I realize who Maggie Gyllenhaal reminds me of: a young Diane Keaton. They have very much the same mannerisms and body language. Both oh-so very sexy. 

'Junk Yard'

Isn't The Birthday Party the biggest misnomer in rock music?

If a band could somehow try to sound like the opposite of their name, The Birthday Party did it.

This is reckless, angry-sounding and raw. Sounds like it was recorded in someone's basement. Kept waiting to hear the guy's mom walk in and change out the laundry.



This is good. Exactly what punk should've been in the first place.

'The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter'

In a word, "obnoxious."

Just glad I only have to listen to it once.

Most frustrating only because at times, for 30-second slices throughout, they sound incredibly good and coherent. With direction.

I just need direction.

'Through the Looking-Glass'

What's most odd about "Through the Looking-Glass" is it's almost entire disconnect with Lewis Carroll's previous "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland."

Both happen with the same main character and both are dreams. In "Looking-Glass," Alice is seven years old, probably a year older than in "Adventures." Also, the cat, Dinah, has just had kittens. So a year between dreams is logical.

There is a sea change in Alice between the adventures. In the first, she jumps from being a precocious young girl to being a top-notch problem solver and a legit pragmatist. In "Looking-Glass" she is even more so. She's more like a 14 year old than a young girl. For example, she knows quite a bit of mathematics.

Otherwise, there are characters (the Madd Hatter, the March Hare) who make appearances in the second dream, but Alice does not seem to recognize them. Also, there is little actual reference by Alice to the previous dream.

It all makes sense, really. We have to remember as readers that we are taking this girl's dreams a lot more seriously because they are published in a book. To her, they are fleeting adventures in her sub-concious, probably forgotten after a couple of days.

'The Shipping News'

A brilliant piece of fiction. Annie Proulx is so stinking good. It's not even really funny.

The story of redemption is always compelling. This isn't the typical redemption story either. No one was hooked on crack or heroin. Nobody was living on the streets or had some kind of physical disability.

In fact, most obstacles in life include neither disability or drugs. Nor do they result in some fantastical victory in a sporting event.

No, most of life's ups and downs are primarily inane and often all in our heads. Or something we can not really do much about.

I think that was part of the realization for our hero Quoyle, who found in Newfoundland that nature, the elements ruled the roost. And that was part of the cleansing -- having the water wash away an fear or inhibition. Having the wind and waves carry off the past.

A new beginning, ironically, in Newfoundland. A place where a-many new beginnings found a home.

'Lolita'

James Mason is so dreamy.

As I continue to watch more and more of the films I need to see before I die, and I delve further and further into the films of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, it's clear how gutsy and and down-right dirty filmmakers were.

Films like "The Philadelphia Story" and "Some Like It Hot" are filled with innuendo and just straight-up sex jokes. Making intercourse so coarse and vulgar.

Then a two-and-a-half hour film about pedophilia. In 1962. Geez. In three more years members of the public would be burning Beatles records.

By the way, Shelley Winters is a pure nut. She's so good on film you get the feeling she was kind of like that in real life.

'Chinatown'

I don't dig detective stories very much. If detectives are so stinking calm, collected and smarter than everyone else, why aren't they curing cancer or doing heart surgery or teaching?

It's interesting that Jack Nicholson has worked with such an array of directors in his career: Stanley Kubrick ("The Shining"), Martin Scorsese ("The Departed"), Tim Burton ("Batman," "Mars Attacks"), Roman Polanski ("Chinatown"), Milos Forman ("One Flew Over ..."), Sean Penn ("The Pledge") and Elia Kazan ("The Last Tycoon").

It's hard to believe he's 71 years old. He's going to die one of these tragic days and this country won't know what to do with itself.

'Hoop Dreams'

A devastatingly honest documentary about the life of an inner-city, African-American male who has intentions of playing professional basketball. It balances between the social issues happening in Chicago mixed with the poverty and big business of high school and collegiate sports.

'Cause it's about the money. It's about exploitation. The entire journey from freshman in high school to a professional player is like trying to explain quantum physics to a toddler. Even for the adults. There's just so many equations that goes into "making it," but all kid sees is a game. A game they're pretty good at fueled by an insane need to not only leave the ghetto, but to also make millions of dollars. It's all a dream.

It's such a mixed-up situation that is so intrinsic to the American sports fabric that it's impossible to exorcise.

A mesmerizing piece.

'The Night of the Hunter'

This film is CREEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPY. There isn't a creepier cast of characters and yet at times it's so corny, cartoonish and almost whimsical that it's hard to remember who stinking dark it is.

Like all the animals that make appearances and the really outdated acting and action scenes -- often, the villian (played gloriously by Robert Mitchum) isn't much more than the ghost or gobllin in a Scooby Doo cartoon.

However, there's tons of dead-end storylines and characters. Like the lovable uncle, who turns out to be no help because he's a lush.

It deserves tons of criticism despite it being 50 years old (there are probably a hundred movies made before "The Night of the Hunter" that don't fell so dated), but it has some good suspense, some excellent performances and more than a few great shots.

'Moonstruck'

More of a cultural study than a movie. If you really think about it, the plot is really boring, predictable and dumb.

But it's a whimsical, fun look at the Italian-American sub-culture -- how they think, work, live, love and co-exist.

Nick Cage is Nick Cage and Cher is Cher. Neither knock my socks off.

The Italians are a funny group. It's fascinating watching films where their culture is prominent.

The use of food, family and language tends to give them a lot of depth that many American sub-groups do not have.

'One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich'

I was slightly caught off guard by this book. 

Considering it's a first-hand look at the Soviet gulags the Stalinist 1950s, I assumed it would be hell on Earth. 

Don't get me wrong. I do not want to spend one day in a Soviet prison. Then again, I wasn't the worst place in the world. 

In fact, our hero, Denisovich, ends the day on a very high note, with hope and happiness as he drifted off the sleep. Another character, Alyosha, a Christian, sees prison as an ascetic experience, being able to concentrate on God. 

During the work period of the day, the prisoners seem pleased to work, if anything to stave off the cold. But there's a pride in what they do. 

Of course, maybe none of these guys really have anything else to look forward to so the extra bread ration, the Bible, a cigarette or a good day's work gives them peace and comfort where it would clearly not be enough for the free man. 

This book also made me think about crime and punishment. No matter what we think about criminals -- no matter the crime -- we could never truly punish them. Of course, we kill criminals who receive the death penalty, but to say the prison experience could not be made tougher is crazy. But we -- especially Americans -- could never do it. As much as we hate crime, there are certain things we can not take away from the lowest of the low, the scummiest of the scummy. 

'Some Like It Hot'

Joe: Why would a guy want to marry a guy?

Jerry: Security!

Thanks to Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis for their take on gay rights.

****

I get Marilyn Monroe's appeal.

She has big breasts. And she was probably a slut. Perfectly understandable.

'Never Let Me Go'

I often visit book stores and I always say that I could be sold on a book I've never heard of by the book cover or book title.

"Never Let Me Go" initially hooked me because of the title. It sounded so sincere, so desperate.

I don't think the story itself was as sincere or desperate. In fact, the title comes from a fictional song Kaz Ishiguro makes up for his plot. It's a sincere title used in a very unsincere way.

That defines the book. I don't feel Ishiguro captured the true torment and fear and desperation the characters had to have been feeling.

'Raising Arizona'

It's in movies like "Raising Arizona" where I can garner respect for an actor.

Like Nick Cage. The guy hasn't done a thing in his career that I would consider worthwhile. Except "Raising Arizona." I think he's great in it, but I think it's in spite of himself and more due to the burgeoning geniuses of the Coen brothers.

Now, actors and actresses flock to the modern auteurs like the Coens, Wes Anderson, Paul Thomas Anderson, Martin Scorsese, Sofia Coppola and others because they can almost be guaranteed of a well-received film and probably a pretty nice role.

At the time, Cage probably didn't know what he was getting into. Looking back, it's his best role ever.

Nowadays, I can tell who takes their acting jobs seriously when they're signing up to do a Coen brothers film.

'The Conversation'

What a brilliant piece of filmmaking.

Great shots, great acting, great premise, great writing. Another feather in the cap of the great John Cazale.

Most interesting is the idea of space and sound. In "An American in Paris," I noted the use of space when Gene Kelly dances on a 7-foot length of sidewalk, or a table. How the dancing is better because there are boundaries or limits in terms of space.

In sound recording, the goal of Gene Hackman's character and others in his industry were to record by either being hundreds of yards away or inches away. During the conversation of note, men are recording from on top of roofs and nearby apartments. Hackman's character is bugged twice: By his rival with the pen, and finally by the "director's" people somewhere in his apartment or on his person (I believe it to be on his eyeglasses ... the woman took them off the night the tapes were stolen and the eyeglasses are alluded to in the conversation scene).

Also interesting is language. How Hackman interprets the conversation, mixing and matching the different recordings to find the most clear. In the end, he completely misinterprets. The twist happens.

'Slow Train Coming'

Evangelical Christians love to claim Bob Dylan's "Slow Train Coming" as one of their own.

It was/is a victory to them: A secular artist finding God and singing about it.

I think Dylan did find God, but I don't think he was necessarily praising God or even worshipping God. Honestly, considering all the interviews I've read and listened to of Dylan, I can't imagine him being dedicated to anything, more or less thinking about one's soul or the afterlife. I don't think he believes in the cigarette hanging on his own lips.

The thing about Christianity and religion is that you don't have to believe to be religious and vice versa. Dylan is inherently soulful and spiritual. Had the album have Islamic or Buddhist overtones, Christians would be burning this record instead of celebrating the understanding, peace, love and reverence it shows.

'Bookends'

If someone were to create an All-Hangers On band, Ringo Starr would be the drummer adn Art Garfunkel would be vocalist.

I don't know what to think of Simon and Garfunkel. As a kid, I fell in love with some of their melodies as some of the most beautiful songs ever written. As I grew and listened to them more and more, I grew tired of them. I fell out of love.

Frankly, I listen to "Bookends" and all I think about is the scene in "Almost Famous" when Frances McDormand catches Zooey Deschanel with a copy of the record underneath her coat and declares both Simon and Garfunkel as "high."

"America" is almost a perfect song.

'The Slider'

I believe it's shocking how much cred T. Rex and Marc Bolan gets from legitimate musical artists.

To me, it's polished, corporate rock. It's fake raw. You can distort your guitars all you want, but in the end you're Boston with worse vocals.

'I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight'

I have a new favorite album.

After about two and a half listens, Richard and Linda Thompson's "I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight" has shot up into the top 20 records of all time in my book.

The melodies are fantastic, siding a bit more on the American folk and rock side than on the Fairport Convention-y British folk (although there's still some there). It's melodic without being sugary sweet. The vocals are sublime as both Thompsons know how to play to each other's registers and harmonize like mockingbirds.

It's a really honest, true record. It's easy to sink your teeth into and digest. It's something to invest in. It's not bankrupt.

'The Philadelphia Story'

It's amazing watching arguably the greatest actors in the world on one screen.

To me, Cary Grant plays Cary Grant. A lot like George Clooney seems to play himself in a lot of ways in terms of mannerisms, interacting with others, etc.

Katharine Hepburn is clearly fantastic and always exuded a certain class and dignity as a starlet.

But the real classic performances in "The Philadelphia Story" is Jimmy Stewart and Virginia Weidler.

Stewart, certainly, is one of the top 5 actors ever. He's funny and his physical attributes jump off the screen as he lopes around with that gangly frame. He overshadows Hepburn and Grant in this film despite getting third billing.

Weilder plays Hepburn's little sister, Dinah, who serves as some Cupid/imp trying to manipulate everybody. She's not cute, but considering she shares the screen with legends the entire film, she stakes her own claim as being very talented. A most enjoyable role in the film.

'2001: A Space Odyssey'

When you hear the word "filmmaking" one must consider "2001: A Space Odyssey." I believe it ot be one of the purest forms of film.

It's not about the writing or the actors or even the director or anything else. It's a story that is exemplified by some of the greatest visuals created by man.

It is nectar to the eye. The shots of the African wilderness to the beautiful space shots. As much as Beethoven's music was destined to be replayed and recorded billions of times, Stanley Kubrick's "2001" was meant to be recorded on film and mass produced for the big screen or television.

All of this without really mentioning the meaning behind the film. The ideas of evolution, thought, primal vs. rational, wrong vs. right. How all of this spanned four million years from a tribe of raw pre-human apes to a sophisticated super computer that essentially begged for its life and, as it died, almost whispered that it could "feel."

A mesmerizing film.

'Forever Changes'

Do you think the members of the band Love were idealists?

I don't think there's much to this album. It's extremely 1960s. I am of the mind that if your an artist the worst thing you can do is date your music. Of course, I also operate under the presumption that bands like the Beatles, Rolling Stones, et al. never dated their music and it sounds as fresh and good as it did 40 years ago.

My point is that "Forever Changes" doesn't sound as good as it did 40 years ago.

Some good songs, but I would argue it's easily forgettable within the genre and age.

'Beverly Hills Cop'

I hate what Eddie Murphy represents. He's a raw, scathing talent. Yet, Hollywood grabbed a hold of him and sapped out the talent and replaced it with bad writing, poor direction and money.

It's said that Murphy's downfall was more recent. In fact, it can be traced back to movies like "Beverly Hills Cop," which are just awful. He's not funny and he's a piss-poor actor. It is lacking any of the spark and vitality that Murphy had in his Saturday Night Live or stand-up days.

Or maybe Murphy was overrated to begin with and what he's become today was an inevitability.

Plus, the 1980s suck. Everything about it. Just bad.