First, I love the word "grotesquerie"! I've never heard it before, so thank you. Also, thank you for writing about Joan Didion. I just finished reading her book, The Year of Magical Thinking, about her journey of grieve after her husband of 40 years died suddenly and unexpectedly. I'd never read anything by her and I was captivated by her writing style. So moving. I didn't know that she had been a film critic, and I too wish that somebody would collect and publish her reviews.
I don't think I knew Didion wrote for Nat'l Review at one point. Wow--a reminder there was once a time when smart, interesting people were nuanced, multi-layered, and, well . . . interesting.
Star Wars great "a-wokening" (couldn't help myself) is pretty sad in some especially painful ways, but I'd say it stems from the same overall laziness & lack of imagination that gave us the atrocious prequels. Those were not "films" they were video game CGI extravaganzas designed to satisfy a kind of fan-geek who loses the forest amongst the trees. Within the Star Wars universe, technology and the details of the political struggles leading up to the Republic's demise were never central to the story. It was a space western, a morality tale of good vs. evil, and Greek-like hero's tale. Episodes 4-6 were not art haus cinema but perhaps it was exactly for that reason--that the films were a throwback to a more straightforward type of story--that they were great.
Keeping track of the factions & who's who in Ep. 1-3 was painful, the details about the various conflicts--even to include the Clone Wars--unnecessary, & the never-ending CGI seizure-inducing. Those movies weren't for a general audience and to a large extent neither are the United Colors of Beneton films, shows, & offshoots since. Ep 7 was good (not great, though) and only because it attempted to pay homage to the original SW vision.
Things change, however. I need to remind myself of that more often. If today's under-30 crowd likes the woke, socially conscious Star Wars--great. Mind you, Obi Wan Kenobi and Book of Bubba Fett were great. Mandalorian could be almost laughably in-artful in its woke pandering . . . but still closer to the original Star Wars than many other spinoffs.
Thank you for writing about the Wilkinson book on Joan Didion's film criticism for the National Review. I sent the paragraph on Didion's heartfelt reaction to John Wayne's Green Beret to novelist (and Vietnam-era Green Beret) K. Anderson, who related to me it was a favorite for him and his fellow special forces guys. I always suspected it was more than just entertainment for them, too.
Well I was hesitant to see Opus due to RT low scores, but I really like both John and Ayo. Your review convinced me that enjoying the parts of it will be good enough. But first: Black Bag!!!!
First, I love the word "grotesquerie"! I've never heard it before, so thank you. Also, thank you for writing about Joan Didion. I just finished reading her book, The Year of Magical Thinking, about her journey of grieve after her husband of 40 years died suddenly and unexpectedly. I'd never read anything by her and I was captivated by her writing style. So moving. I didn't know that she had been a film critic, and I too wish that somebody would collect and publish her reviews.
I don't think I knew Didion wrote for Nat'l Review at one point. Wow--a reminder there was once a time when smart, interesting people were nuanced, multi-layered, and, well . . . interesting.
Star Wars great "a-wokening" (couldn't help myself) is pretty sad in some especially painful ways, but I'd say it stems from the same overall laziness & lack of imagination that gave us the atrocious prequels. Those were not "films" they were video game CGI extravaganzas designed to satisfy a kind of fan-geek who loses the forest amongst the trees. Within the Star Wars universe, technology and the details of the political struggles leading up to the Republic's demise were never central to the story. It was a space western, a morality tale of good vs. evil, and Greek-like hero's tale. Episodes 4-6 were not art haus cinema but perhaps it was exactly for that reason--that the films were a throwback to a more straightforward type of story--that they were great.
Keeping track of the factions & who's who in Ep. 1-3 was painful, the details about the various conflicts--even to include the Clone Wars--unnecessary, & the never-ending CGI seizure-inducing. Those movies weren't for a general audience and to a large extent neither are the United Colors of Beneton films, shows, & offshoots since. Ep 7 was good (not great, though) and only because it attempted to pay homage to the original SW vision.
Things change, however. I need to remind myself of that more often. If today's under-30 crowd likes the woke, socially conscious Star Wars--great. Mind you, Obi Wan Kenobi and Book of Bubba Fett were great. Mandalorian could be almost laughably in-artful in its woke pandering . . . but still closer to the original Star Wars than many other spinoffs.
Thank you for writing about the Wilkinson book on Joan Didion's film criticism for the National Review. I sent the paragraph on Didion's heartfelt reaction to John Wayne's Green Beret to novelist (and Vietnam-era Green Beret) K. Anderson, who related to me it was a favorite for him and his fellow special forces guys. I always suspected it was more than just entertainment for them, too.
Well I was hesitant to see Opus due to RT low scores, but I really like both John and Ayo. Your review convinced me that enjoying the parts of it will be good enough. But first: Black Bag!!!!
We're doing BLACK BAG on Across the Movie Aisle this week, very excited for that.