So here’s the plan — I’m gonna move back to my college town of Fredericksburg, Virginia, and start a poetry group there.
Gonna call it “Fred Poets Society.”
(I already e-mailed my old writing prof and told him he had to be our Mr. Keating.)
Tag Archives: Dead Poets Society
“These are what we stay alive for.”
Source: the “Cinema Lovers” Facebook page
Throwback Thursday: “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” (1989)!
I remember seeing “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” in the theater with my 11th grade girlfriend. When it was released, we thought this third entry in the film series would be the last. (Blockbusters tended to run in trilogies back then.) And what a great ostensible send-off it was! Indy was back, in fine form, doing what he did best — punching Nazis. Casting Sean Connery as his father was a stroke of genius, and the chemistry between him and Harrison Ford was priceless.
A couple of astute film fans on Facebook pointed out that 1989 was a great year for movies. This was the summer when Tim Burton’s “Batman” came out, along with “The Abyss,” “Lethal Weapon 2,” “Pet Sematary” and “Dead Poets Society.” Seriously, look at this list. It’s insane.
Poster for “Dead Poets Society” (1989)
Touchstone Pictures.
The first three episodes of “Station 11” (2021) are utterly engrossing.
Think of what Stephen King’s “The Stand” would be like if you removed Randall Flagg and all of its supernatural elements — then told character-focused stories with an intertwining mystery in the manner of “Lost” (2004-2010). And then maybe peppered it with a little “Dead Poets Society” (1989).
I know that sounds weird, but if you pay attention, it totally works.
“Fear the Walking Dead Poets Society?” With music by Glenn Miller?
Besides its references to Charles Bukowski, Sunday’s episode of “Fear the Walking Dead” also referenced Hughes Mearns’ haunting poem, “Antigonish.” I might have run this poem on the blog before; it is often referred to as “I Met a Man Who Wasn’t There.” (This is the piece that the character Phil is reciting when he is found by the search party.)
Strangely enough, I discovered just now that Mearns’ poem was set to music by none other than Glenn Miller himself. Miller entitled his 1939 jazz adaptation “The Little Man Who Wasn’t There,” which is another individual line in the poem.
Now all we need is zombie prep school lit students in the next episode.
“Antigonish,” by Hughes Mearns
Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
I wish, I wish he’d go away…
When I came home last night at three
The man was waiting there for me
But when I looked around the hall
I couldn’t see him there at all!
Go away, go away, don’t you come back any more!
Go away, go away, and please don’t slam the door… (slam!)
Last night I saw upon the stair
A little man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
Oh, how I wish he’d go away…
“Language was invented for one reason, boys — to woo women …”
Carpe diem.
Eric Robert Nolan, Author 