Wednesday Double Feature – High Seas

by on November 18, 2015 at 8:22 am
Posted In: Rhapsodies

This week’s selection was adventures on the high seas during the napolianic wars

image_film_hornblower_1472The first of my selection was Captain Horatio Hornblower starring Gregory Peck. Based on the works of C. S. Forester.

I’ve never actually read any of the Hornblower Novels and my only real exposure to them were though the BBC series of miniseries. And indirectly the Honor Harrington series that is essentially Hornblower in space. As for Peck, while I’m certainly aware of his reputation, the only thing I saw him in was John Huston’s Moby Dick as Captain Ahab, which I always thought he was terribly miscast for. Because of that first impression I’m ashamed to admit I never want out of my way to see any other of his films.

The film is a collection of bits from three of the novels starting with a mission to support a deranged revolutionary against the Spanish who were allies of Napoleon only for the Spanish to turn against Napoleon so Hornblower fight the man he was allied  with just a day before. From there more missions occur against the french with Hornblower’s forbidden romance with Lady Barbara Wellesey the sister of Lord Wellington. (Their significant others die ,so they are brought together in the end.)

This was a perfectly solid film. Peck’s performance was very good (though the character’s habitual clearing of his throat got old very quickly) The nautical scenes were very well done (and I can’t help wondering it was model work and how much of it was actually filming the actual ships at sea.

master-and-commander_5987On the otposite extreme was Peter Weir’s Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World staring Russel Crowe as Captain Jack Aubrey and Paul Bethany as his friend and ship’s surgeon Dr. Stephen Maturin.

Based on the Aubrey-Maturin series of historical novels by Patrick O’Brian. Master and Commander tell’s the story of the crew of the aging HMS Surprise in a deadly cat and mouse game against a superior and advaned French Ship.

It is interesting comparing this with the Hornblower film. While Hornblower portrays a much more romanticized version of the period. While Master and Comander acts like a realistic snapshot. While Hornblower certainly does not deny that naval battles will have casualties Master and Commander shows it as a meat grinder.

If I had any problem with it was that this was primarily Aubrey (Russel Crowe’s ) film with Mautren’s role only coming into his own halfway through the film.

Otherwise this film was amazing and had me gripping my seat in interest all the way through. (The Galapagos Islands make a great cameo, iguanas and all)

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Wednesday Double Feature – Jerks

by on November 11, 2015 at 8:43 am
Posted In: Rhapsodies

The theme for this week’s film selection was jerks. Insufferable self centered, self destructive jerks.

I got the idea for this week’s selection when I heard that comic writer Grant Morrison had based an urban sorcerer he created (because he was not allowed to use DC comic’s main urban John Constantine in Doom Patrol) on one of the main characters in the dark Brittish comedy Whithnail and I. Obviously I had to check this out.

withnail_and_iWhithnail and I tells the story of two out of work actors, “I” a relatively normal neurotic and his best friend Whithnail a down on his luck, upper crust, pompous, self centered drunk, who spend their time in their squalid London apartment waiting for their dole checks and  going to the local pub to get drunk and stay warm.

In an attempt to get away from it all they go on an impromptu vacation in the lake country, staying in a cottage belonging to Whithnail’s uncle, and failing miserably at it almost starving to death and having to break up most of the house’s furniture for firewood.

I liked the two central characters but despite the outrageousness of the two main characters I’m not sure I’d consider this a comedy despite it’s darkly humorous overlook. After a fashion it felt like what Young Ones would be like if it took place in a more real world and was a little more serious.

FandlinLVBecause a few of my friends who had seen it described Whithnail and I as “Fear and Loathing in Britain” I realized I was past due in watching Terry Gilliam’s adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.. I confess I only made it about two thirds  though the book the one time I tried (though I’m comfortably sure that was because I was listening to it on and audio book and I’ve found that not all books work in the format) For the most part my views of Hunter S Thompson are unfairly based on the caricature of him in Doonesbury (which Thompson hated) and I’m afraid a lot of my viewing of the movie were though the lens of Doonesbury’s Uncle Duke.

Still this story of Thompson’s alter ego Raul Duke, played brilliantly by Johnny Depp with Benicio del Toro as as his sidekick and attorney Dr. Gonzo, rampage through Las vegas in a drug fueled three days.

This has quickly become part of my Terry Gilliam top five list. He turns Las Vegas into a hallucinogenic nightmare fairyland almost as much of a fantasy as many of his other films.

Depp and Del Torro have great chemistry together with Depp virtually channeling Thompson and Del Toro going back and forth between drug addled clown and truly scary monster.

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Dairy Based Culture Shock

by on November 8, 2015 at 11:46 am
Posted In: Test

I had to make an emergency milk and cookies run this morning (literally, and yes I was making all of the inevitable jokes to myself all the way up to Trader Joe’s) and to make things even more interesting due to some differences of opinion regarding coffee hour policy I was buying the milk and cookies seperatly.

Anyway, when i  got their I found myself with a bit of culture shock looking though the dairy isle (albeit not thinking straight due to sleep deprivation and being in a rush) the fact that couldn’t find any cream. Sure there was heavy cream for whipping and there was half and half but there was nothing I would have called cream growing up for coffee. Even weirder to me, glancing down the isle, it was interesting that the vegan alternatives had become so ubiquitous I found myself consciously looking for dairy cream.

I ended up getting the half and half

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Impressionism & Antipasto

by on November 8, 2015 at 8:37 am
Posted In: Test
One of the many selling points of the exhibit.

One of the many selling points of the exhibit.

I finally got around to seeing the Settle Art Museum’s “intimate Impressionism” exhibit as something to do for two hours while waiting for another event (it was something I wanted to do, honest) Anyway when I got there the place was packed. This meant I planned to do the initial scan of the exhibit and then come back on a nice quiet weekday to take it all in at my leisure, preferably with a magnifying glass.

Still the whole thing just blew me away. I recognized a lot of the pieces either from the few times I went to the national gallery or from textbooks, but still this was amazing. Lately I’ve found myself drawn more and more to the “craft” of art and the brush technique of a lot of these paintings were amazing making me really wanting to stare at each painting for fifteen minutes. Looking at what some of what some of these artists did to get definition in white dresses not to mention showing slight with single brushstrokes.

I found myself falling in love with Renoir all over again, especially in one of his paintings, The Mussel Harvest 1879, where he does some absolutely fascinating things mixing greens and purples which briefly had me thinking about painted opals.

Ultimately I left far earlier than I would I have liked but honestly the place was that crowded. While I obviously don’t begrudge people the privilege of seeing art I really can’t get into my zone if there’s more than five people in a gallery. Besides my other event was about to happen.

By that I mean that Big John’s PFI, one of Seattle’s best kept culinary secrets,was having it’s annual food and wine tastings. This can not be missed since everything that Big John’s has from salami, the best selection of cheeses in the city, meatballs, stuffed tomatoes, Italian  wines, cookies… all to the accompaniment of a guy playing old standbys like “That’s amore” and “Oh Marie” I left feeling quite full.

So all in all a pleasant afternoon and evening. (with the small exception of avoiding crashing on the Burke-Gilman on the way home when I got a face full of wet tree branch in my face.(Don’t worry, it had leaves.)

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