stephen

spartacus

The moment I recognized this would be a tragedy was during Spartacus’ great final speech to his army, when he tells them that they are better than the Romans, who are fat and surrounded by their slaves. Kubrick immediately cuts to Crassus, the human form of Rome, who is lean, and surrounded by centurions. ByContinue reading “spartacus”

brooks lord of flies

In reading it’s easy to forget a character’s complexion, so that in the novel one can forget that children are children, as they adopt adult tendencies; the film adaptation presents us with no such opportunity. The book is what changed my life–though I don’t deny I was prepared for a change to take place, asContinue reading “brooks lord of flies”

Miller: The Colossus of Maroussi (1941)

I have one of the most remarkably poor memories of anyone I’ve ever met. Perhaps the very worst. What I can handle, though, is something a lot of people have told me is not only strange, but also difficult: I’m generally reading between 20 and 30 books at a time, and I stretch out readingContinue reading “Miller: The Colossus of Maroussi (1941)”

film: Bauer: Умиращия лебед / The Dying Swan (1917)

july 8 07 Despite his short career, Bauer is supposed to rank up there with Griffith and Demille, but his work reminds me much more of Wegener in not only the dark subject matter, but also the emphasis on facial expressions. What this has which the others lack is a profound sense of beauty, theContinue reading “film: Bauer: Умиращия лебед / The Dying Swan (1917)”

Maxwell: The Married Virgin (1918)

Almost immediately this film breaks boundaries of the other films I’ve watched so far–this is more certainly Cinema than anything I’ve seen yet. Many reasons come to mind. The credits, so it introduces the characters one by one, little insights into their personalities, but the method of doing so in this film is different inContinue reading “Maxwell: The Married Virgin (1918)”

Proust: Swann’s Way: ‘Combray’ (1913)

I don’t want to pit Proust against Lawrence, but they simply beg to be tried, and how particularly funny, that it is a Frenchman being pitted against a Brit, and losing, for the time being, in terms of passion. I would not have considered comparing the two except that in Lady Chatterley, Clifford Chatterley isContinue reading “Proust: Swann’s Way: ‘Combray’ (1913)”

Byron – Occasional Pieces (1812)

Byron may be the most questionably reliable author I know of, even more so than whoever wrote The Things They Carried, so that by 1812 I’m still wondering if he’s telling the truth…does he really feel such sadness? Could it have taken the death of someone he loved for his writing such serious verse? DoesContinue reading “Byron – Occasional Pieces (1812)”

film: McG: Charlie et ses drôles de dames (2000)

That’s how they translate “Charlie’s Angels” in France…isn’t that funny? I can’t figure out how it translates, actually. Charlie and his funny ladies? Charlie and Some Funny Ladies of His. Whatever, I saw it in French, and I loved every moment of it, though I had to shout “what’s happening!?” a whole bunch when thingsContinue reading “film: McG: Charlie et ses drôles de dames (2000)”

film: Wright: Hot Fuzz (2007)

I’m not going to try extracting anything from this, because I don’t know if I’ve ever actually seen a cop-action-flick or whatever this movie is based on. But, I will say that I’ve spent the past week working on a website for a yoga center and it only just now occurs to me that onContinue reading “film: Wright: Hot Fuzz (2007)”

Byron – Occasional Pieces (1811)

1811 is an interesting year for Byron’s work, because it ends on such a vastly different tone than which it began. It ends with two poems to Thyrza, and looking ahead, it seems Thyrza is a name he dotes on for quite some time. In itself, this is unusual, given the number of women whoContinue reading “Byron – Occasional Pieces (1811)”