The somewhat controversial You-tube celebrity high school teacher Professor Jiang has some interesting videos on the Odyssey and then how the Romans enlisted Virgil as a sort of anti-Homer to poison the masses with propaganda, which is why Dante put Virgil in hell. One of those things you can’t unsee.
I’m not seeing The Odyssey until next week, but last night I watched Interstellar. I have a comprehensive though somewhat evanescent familiarity with the basic physics that the film posits (which is after all the point) but I’ll be damned if I could make heads or tails out of the last hour. I do agree with your point about arguing with popcorn movies. One could say the same thing about a lot of Rock criticism.
I dig you, Chuck, the science def goes nowhere in INTERSTELLAR. It still lands for me pretty well, I mean I grew up watching DOCTOR WHO for heaven's sake, my bar for time travel accuracy is low
Very much agree re: Hail Caesar. As for The Odyssey, as a reformed English lit major/teacher, my take is -- the original story, like a good Shakespeare play, was already a popcorn movie for its time. Anyone getting themselves twisted over "accuracy" (the weighty literary kind or the icky bigoted kind) is missing the point, which is rip-roaring adventure. If Homer had been able to tell the story of Hail Caesar, he would have!
Yes! HAIL, CAESAR! is on my list of absolute favs. But I'll go to THE ODYSSEY also, I have come to accept Nolan as a stylist and a master of the cheap but expensive summer blockbuster
Re: the passing of Patrick Gleeson, I was hanging with Joe Henderson in the mid-70s when he took me to Patrick's place. They were working on horn parts; the lesson that day was that adding a live horn to synth horns gave it a more natural feel. Being in his home studio in the early days of synths was like being in a wizard's lair.
A "48 noir movie rec that imbeds a mystery that perhaps you are uniquely suited to solve.
The rec: Force of Evil directed/written by the great blacklisted Abraham Polonsky staring the also blacklisted John Garfield. Definitely one of the great noirs. With dialogue that is both lofty and hard boiled. Prefigures on the waterfront, everything david mamet ever wrote (for what that's worth) and then some. And garfield as always impeccable. Plus some great nyc shots and expressionist camera work and a nod to Potemkin.
The mystery: a key scene takes place in an after hours club, with an uncredited band:bass, drums, piano and a couple of horns playing live and cued by the club owner when a key plot point delivered. The band looks/feels like an actual band not just a bunch of extras. Who are these guys? They look real. All help appreciated!!
Although the film has loads of NYC exteriors I'm pretty sure the interiors (the club scene included) were shot at the Paramount Lot in LA, so they would have been an LA based (central ave?) group.
The somewhat controversial You-tube celebrity high school teacher Professor Jiang has some interesting videos on the Odyssey and then how the Romans enlisted Virgil as a sort of anti-Homer to poison the masses with propaganda, which is why Dante put Virgil in hell. One of those things you can’t unsee.
I’m not seeing The Odyssey until next week, but last night I watched Interstellar. I have a comprehensive though somewhat evanescent familiarity with the basic physics that the film posits (which is after all the point) but I’ll be damned if I could make heads or tails out of the last hour. I do agree with your point about arguing with popcorn movies. One could say the same thing about a lot of Rock criticism.
I dig you, Chuck, the science def goes nowhere in INTERSTELLAR. It still lands for me pretty well, I mean I grew up watching DOCTOR WHO for heaven's sake, my bar for time travel accuracy is low
If things don’t improve soon in this timeline, I may be in the market for a certified, pre-owned Tardis to see if it’s any better elsewhen.
Very much agree re: Hail Caesar. As for The Odyssey, as a reformed English lit major/teacher, my take is -- the original story, like a good Shakespeare play, was already a popcorn movie for its time. Anyone getting themselves twisted over "accuracy" (the weighty literary kind or the icky bigoted kind) is missing the point, which is rip-roaring adventure. If Homer had been able to tell the story of Hail Caesar, he would have!
Have you ever seen the De Niro Last Tycoon?
Thanks for comment...no never saw (or read) LAST TYCOON
“Hail, Caesar” is *so* much better than “The Odyssey”! Love that movie.
Yes! HAIL, CAESAR! is on my list of absolute favs. But I'll go to THE ODYSSEY also, I have come to accept Nolan as a stylist and a master of the cheap but expensive summer blockbuster
Re: the passing of Patrick Gleeson, I was hanging with Joe Henderson in the mid-70s when he took me to Patrick's place. They were working on horn parts; the lesson that day was that adding a live horn to synth horns gave it a more natural feel. Being in his home studio in the early days of synths was like being in a wizard's lair.
amazing anecdote! thanks
A "48 noir movie rec that imbeds a mystery that perhaps you are uniquely suited to solve.
The rec: Force of Evil directed/written by the great blacklisted Abraham Polonsky staring the also blacklisted John Garfield. Definitely one of the great noirs. With dialogue that is both lofty and hard boiled. Prefigures on the waterfront, everything david mamet ever wrote (for what that's worth) and then some. And garfield as always impeccable. Plus some great nyc shots and expressionist camera work and a nod to Potemkin.
The mystery: a key scene takes place in an after hours club, with an uncredited band:bass, drums, piano and a couple of horns playing live and cued by the club owner when a key plot point delivered. The band looks/feels like an actual band not just a bunch of extras. Who are these guys? They look real. All help appreciated!!
huh I'll see if I have a connect that knows
sweet!
Although the film has loads of NYC exteriors I'm pretty sure the interiors (the club scene included) were shot at the Paramount Lot in LA, so they would have been an LA based (central ave?) group.
my source drew a blank...sounds like a movie I should watch anyway!
Thx! I'm going dig in on some photo research and will report back if I find anything. Looking forward to your reaction to the film.