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My review of “A Beautiful Mind” (2001)

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I finally saw “A Beautiful Mind” (2001), and I really liked it.  It had a fantastic script with great performances by Russell Crowe, Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher Plummer, Paul Bettany and Adam Goldberg.  I’d give it a 9 out of 10.

I had no idea that Crowe was this good of an actor.  He had a “Rain Man” role in this film, in which an established actor can show his range by portraying a mentally ill person.  Yet even his terrific performance here was maybe outshined by Harris’.  I don’t know what it is about Harris … but he grows on you.  He’s a great actor, even in a somewhat one-note role like the one he has here.   He can be forceful and intimidating, and even genuinely frightening, but also sympathetic at the same time.  (See his performances in “The Stand” miniseries (1994) or that Saturday-afternoon, guilty-pleasure standby, “The Rock” (1996).)  Plus he’s just got a damned cool voice.  And those crazy-ass eyes that bore right through you.  Seriously, if Ed Harris were your Dad, would you ever f%#@ up as a teenager?  Ever?  I would never come home late with beer on my breath, EVEN IF ED HARRIS WERE AN OUT-OF-STATE UNCLE.

Ron Howard’s directing was good – very good.  Still, I couldn’t help comparing him with other directors who have a genius for this kind of source material.  This is a movie where the main character comes to doubt his perceptions of reality – when I think of films like “12 Monkeys,” “Vanilla Sky” or “Jacob’s Ladder,” I couldn’t help but wonder if their directors really would have given a tour de force with this story’s fantastic elements.  Think about it … if Terry Gilliam had directed “A Beautiful Mind,” wouldn’t this great movie be even better?

All in all, though, this was an excellent film.  I cheerfully recommend it.

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I hate to be a wet blanket …

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… but I’m disagreeing with those lauding “The Simpsons Guy,” the crossover between “Family Guy” and “The Simpsons.”  This was an average episode, and not a great one.  There was just too much self-referential humor and the running gag about the former copying the latter ran too long.

The “chicken fight” joke has always been lost on me.  I never got it the first time, and usually grab a snack whenever it pops up.  (Doesn’t it usually last like five minutes or more?)  A genuine team-up between Bart and Stewie would have been funnier than the character contrast, and there were too many weirdly dark moments (including the final chalkboard joke).

All I’m saying is that both shows are brilliant, and this landmark episode didn’t really reflect that.

Still, there were some nice moments — including the Emmy gag and the cameo(s) by James Wood.

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“The Second Temptation,” by W. H. Auden

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Part VII of “The Quest,” by W. H. Auden

The Second Temptation

His library annoyed him with its look
Of calm belief in being really there;
He threw away a rival’s boring book,
And clattered panting up the spiral stair.

Swaying upon the parapet he cried:
“O Uncreated Nothing, set me free,
Now let Thy perfect be identified,
Unending passion of the Night, with Thee.”

And his long-suffering flesh, that all the time
Had felt the simple cravings of the stone
And hoped to be rewarded for her climb,

Took it to be a promise when he spoke
That now at last she would be left alone,
And plunged into the college quad, and broke.

Auden8

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My review of “Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome” (2012)

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I’m blogging my past film and tv reviews from Facebook.  It’s too bad this promising BSG prequel never made it past the pilot phase.

*****

I was happy with the prequel web-miniseries “Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome” (2012) – it really seemed like a return to form to the immensely popular first two seasons of the tv show.  I’d give it an 8 out of 10.  Gone are the weird and confusing plotlines involving divine intervention and … (sigh) angels.  Instead we’re treated to a decent, escapist and gratifying sci-fi war-adventure story, with a few gritty horror elements thrown in to remind us that this is still Ron Moore’s unique Battlestar Galactica universe.  It seemed to consciously emulate “Aliens” (1986), which is a direction I think a lot of BSG fans would have been thrilled with.  (I’m a little confused about whether the SyFy Channel intended this as a possible pilot for a regular tv series … it seems that way, from how it’s written.)

There are also nice nods to the series, its followup prequel series, “Caprica,” and even the original 1970’s tv show.   I loved how one key actor/actress appeared to lend his/her voice to really nail a nice surprise in the finale.  That’s some damn fun continuity right there, and awesome fan service.

It’s a shaky pilot (?) in some ways.  Young William Adama is a two-dimensional clone of “Starship Troopers’” Johnny Rico, though he does grow a bit by the end of the story. There are also other clichés – at one point a commander states something along the lines of “the fate of the entire war hinging on this battle!!”  Ugh.  Another flaw was its inclusion of actors from the series – in different roles.  It was probably cool for Moore to keep it in the family and give these talented people additional high-profile work.  (My personal favorite is the great, underused character actor Ty Olsson.)  But it’s jarring, and takes you right out of the story – sometimes you’re too busy saying, “Hey!  It’s THAT guy!” to get immersed in the show.

Still, this was cool and exciting and fun.  What a shame it’s (apparently) not turning into a regular series.

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“Ulalume,” by Edgar Allan Poe

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“Ulalume,” by Edgar Allen Poe

The skies they were ashen and sober;
The leaves they were crisped and sere-
The leaves they were withering and sere;
It was night in the lonesome October
Of my most immemorial year;
It was hard by the dim lake of Auber,
In the misty mid region of Weir-
It was down by the dank tarn of Auber,
In the ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir.

Here once, through an alley Titanic,
Of cypress, I roamed with my Soul-
Of cypress, with Psyche, my Soul.
There were days when my heart was volcanic
As the scoriac rivers that roll-
As the lavas that restlessly roll
Their sulphurous currents down Yaanek
In the ultimate climes of the pole-
That groan as they roll down Mount Yaanek
In the realms of the boreal pole.

Our talk had been serious and sober,
But our thoughts they were palsied and sere-
Our memories were treacherous and sere-
For we knew not the month was October,
And we marked not the night of the year-
(Ah, night of all nights in the year!)
We noted not the dim lake of Auber-
(Though once we had journeyed down here),
Remembered not the dank tarn of Auber,
Nor the ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir.

And now, as the night was senescent,
And star-dials pointed to morn-
As the star-dials hinted of morn-
At the end of our path a liquescent
And nebulous lustre was born,
Out of which a miraculous crescent
Arose with a duplicate horn-
Astarte’s bediamonded crescent
Distinct with its duplicate horn.

And I said-“She is warmer than Dian:
She rolls through an ether of sighs-
She revels in a region of sighs:
She has seen that the tears are not dry on
These cheeks, where the worm never dies,
And has come past the stars of the Lion,
To point us the path to the skies-
To the Lethean peace of the skies-
Come up, in despite of the Lion,
To shine on us with her bright eyes-
Come up through the lair of the Lion,
With love in her luminous eyes.”

But Psyche, uplifting her finger,
Said-“Sadly this star I mistrust-
Her pallor I strangely mistrust:-
Oh, hasten!-oh, let us not linger!
Oh, fly!-let us fly!-for we must.”
In terror she spoke, letting sink her
Wings until they trailed in the dust-
In agony sobbed, letting sink her
Plumes till they trailed in the dust-
Till they sorrowfully trailed in the dust.

I replied-“This is nothing but dreaming:
Let us on by this tremulous light!
Let us bathe in this crystalline light!
Its Sybilic splendor is beaming
With Hope and in Beauty to-night:-
See!-it flickers up the sky through the night!
Ah, we safely may trust to its gleaming,
And be sure it will lead us aright-
We safely may trust to a gleaming
That cannot but guide us aright,
Since it flickers up to Heaven through the night.”

Thus I pacified Psyche and kissed her,
And tempted her out of her gloom-
And conquered her scruples and gloom;
And we passed to the end of the vista,
But were stopped by the door of a tomb-
By the door of a legended tomb;
And I said-“What is written, sweet sister,
On the door of this legended tomb?”
She replied-“Ulalume-Ulalume-
‘Tis the vault of thy lost Ulalume!”

Then my heart it grew ashen and sober
As the leaves that were crisped and sere-
As the leaves that were withering and sere-
And I cried-“It was surely October
On this very night of last year
That I journeyed-I journeyed down here-
That I brought a dread burden down here-
On this night of all nights in the year,
Ah, what demon has tempted me here?
Well I know, now, this dim lake of Auber-
This misty mid region of Weir-
Well I know, now, this dank tarn of Auber,
This ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir.”

poe

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I love the Russian language.

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Say anything at all in a deep voice, and it sounds like a threat.

PERESTROIKA.

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A tiny (but positive) review of “The Awakening” (2011).

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Okay … “The Awakening” (2011) had a certain surprise plot development that didn’t work.  But other than that, it was a darn good movie.  Rebecca Hall is terrific (and alluring), and this might be the most beautifully shot ghost story I’ve ever seen.  It was also nice and scary.  I’d give this an 8 out of 10.

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America’s Best Small Town.

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The following are pictures of Culpeper, Virginia, which I was lucky to see again, even if it was only briefly, on the way to the Blue Ridge Mountains this past Labor Day weekend.  (There was a time I would name Fredericksburg as America’s best small town, of course, but I’m not sure that Fredericksburg meets the definition of a small town any longer — more on that in the future.)

I remember Culpeper fondly indeed.  I found my first job after college here — working as a reporter for the Culpeper Star – Exponent newspaper.  (Third photo.)  I lived right on Main Street, which is pictured in the first two photos.  It wasn’t New York, but it was a warm community of good neighbors that I was lucky to join.

Yes, I did say newsPAPER.  There was time, kids, when news was actually printed in ink on a refined paper product that required hand delivery to your home.  Either that, or you could purchase it from a mechanical metal box on the street corner.

Check out the fourth photo of Mount Pony at the edge of town– this is something my friend pointed out to me.  (I know you can hardly see it — the picture is blurry because taken from a moving car.)

Until nearly the end of the Cold War, this was a 140,00-square-foot, federally operated “continuity of government” facility, housing people underground and designed to keep our government going in the event of a nuclear war. There were dormitories, food supplies and wells, protected from blasts and radiation by steel-reinforced concrete and lead shutters — it even had an indoor pistol-range and a helipad.  There were also just billions of dollars housed there by the Federal Reserve, to jump-start a post-apocalyptic economy.

It was decommissioned in 1992, and was bought in 2007 by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. It’s now a national film archive operated by the Library of Congress, with more than 6 million pieces of original film and television artifacts.  (Apparently old film stock can be dangerous to store, because it’s extremely flammable?)  It’s open to the public, and has its own theater that screens classic films for free  — it even has an organ that ascends to the screen when the theater shows silent films.  The Library of Congress has a running schedule right here:

http://www.loc.gov/loc/events/#eventlist9

That sounds pretty damn cool.  I’ve been dying to see a bunch of silent films I’ve never seen (particularly “Nosferatu” and “The Phantom of the Opera.”)  I might try to take a trip out there if they screen any such vintage movies around Halloween.  Because seeing classic horror films in an underground facility designed for the end of the world has got to be a unique experience.

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I wanna be your go-to flick-nerd.

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If you enjoy my movie or television reviews, follow “ericrnolan” at the Internet Movie Database:

http://www.imdb.com/user/ur52622160/comments

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My review of “American History X” (1998).

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I’m blogging some of my past film reviews on Facebook — here is my review two years ago of “American History X.”

*****

It was a weird coincidence for me watching “American History X” (1998) last night.  I’d borrowed it from the library over a week ago on my friend Lisa Bennett Chesser’s recommendation; well before Wade Michael Page went on a shooting spree in a Wisconsin Sikh temple.  (The Neo-nazis in this film even rally to white power music, as Page is said to have done.)

I’m glad I watched this.  It’s a good, smart, enjoyable film.  I learned from it.

I’d really rather not discuss its social or political messages on my wall.  One glance at an online discussion of this movie shows that they’re divisive and often ugly.  (There are even ongoing debates about which gangs or groups should rightly be called “Skinheads,” and which are racist.)  I’m just not in the mood for controversy this morning.   I’d rather just tell you what I thought about AHX as a film.

This movie had a lot of great things going for it, but two things stood out in particular.  The first was Edward Norton’s tour de force performance.  I’ve liked Norton elsewhere, like “Red Dragon,” where he was good.  Here, he’s phenomenal.   He’s goddam frightening as Neo-nazi Derek.  (He reminded me of Bill Moseley’s turn as “Otis Driftwood” in “House of 1,000 Corpses.”)  Then we see him as a redeemed man.  Then, through flashbacks, he’s made even more human and three-dimensional, as we see a sensitive young teenager traumatized by the death of his father.  Norton was so damned good that I still seem to have trouble believing that the same actor played all three roles.  I don’t pretend to be a film expert; reviews like this are just a hobby.  But I think I know great acting when I see it, and this was great acting.

The second was a really smart script.  Again, I learned from this.  I always assumed that Neo-nazis were poorly educated nuts from the fringes of society.  As it turns out, they actually do have an ideology, albeit a horrible and misguided one.  This movie makes a very smart move in scripting Derek and his younger brother as “brilliant” students, who articulate facts and motivations for doing odious things.  Listening to Derek’s tirades (including one cringe-inducing scene at a dinner-table) actually sheds light on what motivates the characters’ real-life counterparts.

Only two small things occurred to me that made this film a little less perfect than so many others have claimed it to be.  First, this movie doesn’t even know the meaning of subtlety.  Its message and delivery were so heavy handed that it was almost an ABC afterschool special.  We even have an overly convenient framing device – Derek’s adulating brother, Danny (played wonderfully by Edward Furlong), is asked by an African American history teacher to write a report on Derek’s life.  The superior film, “Crash” (2004,) for example, handled racism with a hell of a lot more finesse and surprises.

Second, one character arc was way too quick and implausible.  After one conversation with his redeemed older brother, Danny also disavows the Neo-nazi movement?  After years of propaganda and socialization by the group?  I’m not so sure a disturbed, fascist teenager can be deprogrammed so easily.  Did anyone else who saw this movie wonder about this as well?

Still, this was a great film.  I’d give it a 9 out of 10.  One final note – the ending quote by Abraham Lincoln was just beautiful.  I’d actually heard only snippets of it sampled by films before – once in “Apocalypse Now” and once in “X2: X-Men United.”  It’s better in its entirety.

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