“It’s the vibe.” I watched the film I’m recommending today because Julie Davis and her relentless enthusiasm forced me to. She just insisted. And insisted. And insisted. And she was right. It’s great. So now, I’m passing that enforcement on to you, gentle readers. But it’s a gift, not a burden. Really. You’ll see. The Castle is streaming on NETFLIX INSTANT. And can also be found on YOUTUBE($) and GOOGLE PLAY($) (to name but a few of the rental options.) When plans... Read more
As I have frequently remarked in the past — so frequently that my regular reader(s) doubtless grow tired of hearing it — YouTube is the classical music lover’s best friend. (Well, maybe not best. But a real solid one, at least.) The latest example? Henryk Szeryng and Ingrid Haebler’s recording of Mozart’s “Great” violin sonatas. All 5 hours, 3 minutes, and 7 seconds worth. (Also, WOW.) Like all previous instances of these amazing long-form YouTube videos, this one doubtless comes with a... Read more
Legendary Eli Wallach passed away yesterday, at the age of 98 (via The NY Times): More often than not, his film roles required him to play mustachioed characters who were lawless, evil or just plain nasty, which puzzled and challenged him. “Actually I lead a dual life,” he once said. “In the theater, I’m the little man, or the irritated man, the misunderstood man,” whereas in films “I do seem to keep getting cast as the bad guys.” His villain roles,... Read more
A funny little Cormac (Sixth Son) story, which I’m putting here for safe-keeping because it’s hilarious and my memory’s horrible and I really want to remember it and thisismyblogsoI’lldowhatIwant. We got cherries in our latest co-op basket. Sarah had given them to the boys with the (usual) requirement that they put the pits and stems in a plastic bowl, rather than “Hansel-and-Gretel-ing” them all ’round the house. (Yes, that’s a thing. Yes, that’s what usually happens. Yes, you should see... Read more
Today’s short isn’t a fiction piece, and it’s not animated. So, by virtue of those two facts, it’s a bit of a departure from my typical offerings. However, its description contains the following phrase: “…using a GoPro camera and a Quadcopter…” And SOLD! Seriously, though, this is gorgeous. Even if the technical details behind Philip Bloom’s video were not quite so nerdtastic, the imagery would make it worth your time. Just do yourself a favor and give it the Full-Screen HD... Read more
You know those times when you stumble across a premise for a film that sounds hyper-clichéd and unpleasantly treacly on paper and yet you still watch it (for some inexplicable reason) and it turns out that you were almost entirely wrong and it miraculously avoids a great many of the obvious pitfalls and manipulative missteps inherent in its premise and you actually sort-of end up liking it? Yeah, I love it when that happens, too. And yes, The Chorus (Les choristes) is streaming... Read more
So, Dodger ace (and all-around good guy) Clayton Kershaw threw a no-hitter last night. (Against the Rockies, which means my MLB.com account had me blacked me out for most of the game. Because Wyoming. …though they relented when things got REALLY interesting.) It was probably the best pitching performance I’ve ever seen (on TV). Clayton was almost impossibly dominant. Only one line-drive (which was a little hump-back liner to 3B, so not a serious threat), and one ball that was... Read more
A couple of days ago, I stumbled across the astonishing imagery of UK-based photographer Andy “Large Welsh fella with camera” Lee: Infrared and Iceland, a match made in heaven. “A match made in Heaven,” he says? Hard to argue with these results. These particularly images come from a pair of Lee’s Iceland-centric portfolios — Iceland I and Blue Iceland — but his entire body of work is mesmerizing. There’s something very Pierre Pelligrini-ish about his work with trees, for example — That’s a... Read more
Love these. That phrase could be interpreted either as a (grammatically questionable) description of my emotional response to Aaron Copland’s 1950’s-era arrangement of these ten classic American songs, or as a command. Which is fine. Either — in fact, both– will do. The choral versions are also fun, though a little too …cluttered for my ears. (And so, not quite as much fun as the solo setting.) And the historical value of the Peter Pears/Benjamin Britten performance makes it worth... Read more
The boys and I managed to squeeze in a bit of fishing this weekend. Once the snow stopped (because Wyoming.) We didn’t catch anything, though. Well, not yet, anyway. There was a fish that came close to Mark the Third’s line at one point, though. So there’s a decent chance we’ll have caught something by the time the story’s done. Sort of like Marrec: Returning home from another fishing trip almost empty handed, the story of this 6-minute short centres... Read more
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