Song of Solomon

I read Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon in observance of Banned Books Week. Luminarium.org has numerous resources on the novel.

Reynolds Price wrote a review for the New York Times. Oprah selected it in 1996 for her book club. Toni Morrison won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993, and the press release describes this book as "an excellent introduction to the work of Toni Morrison".

After reading the book I can certainly understand objections to its placement in elementary and middle school libraries, but I don't understand objections to its placement in libraries used by more mature readers.

Toni Morrison has endorsed Barack Obama for president.

The picture at the top of the post is the picture on the cover of my paperback edition.

Bluebeard

Bluebeard (1944) is a thriller directed by Edgar Ulmer and starring John Carradine.

via Youtube:

1000 Misspent Hours says, "As the most ambitious of the PRC horror films, it definitely merits a look." Bright Lights Film Journal has an overview of Ulmer which includes their take on Bluebeard, including this on Carradine:

Bluebeard is distinguished first by Carradine’s superb performance, easily one of the best in his career, as Gaston Morel. Carradine’s career is made up almost entirely of character parts, at which he excelled; given the chance to carry a film, he does it beautifully here.

The Devil Bat

The Devil Bat is a 1940 black and white horror movie starring Bela Lugosi.

This bat makes cawing sounds. Terrifying! And a mysterious ingredient involved in the murders comes from Tibet.

via Youtube:

1000 Misspent Hours says, " It’s reassuring to know that even after all these years, I can still find movies that leave me wondering how they could possibly have gotten made."

Sunday Psalm

Psalm 80
verses 7-19

7 Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.

8 Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.

9 Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land.

10 The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars.

11 She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river.

12 Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her?

13 The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it.

14 Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine;

15 And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.

16 It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.

17 Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.

18 So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.

19 Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.

KJV

Masaki Kobayashi

Today is the anniversary of the death in 1996 of Japanese film director Masaki Kobayashi. There is a Facebook page for him.

from FilmReference.com:

By Japanese standards, Kobayashi made few films, working slowly and painstakingly with careful attention to detail.
...
an increasing concern with formal beauty characterized his work, most notably in Kaidan. This film, based on four of Lafcadio Hearn's ghost stories, carried for once no social message, but developed a strikingly original use of color and exquisitely stylized visual composition.

Kwaidan is a series of four ghost stories based on stories by Lafcadio Hearn which can be read online. The first film is based on a story called The Reconciliation, the second is from a story about a snow woman, the third is based on The Story of Mimi-Nashi-Hoichi, and the fourth is based on "In a Cup of Tea". You can watch it online at Youtube for $3, or in two parts at Internet Archive.

trailer:

1000 Misspent Hours has a review which describes the plots of each story in some detail. The New York Times review of the first 3 sections from the time calls it "a symphony of color and sound that is truly past compare." Ferdy on Film has a post (4/21/2009).

Mystery of the Wax Museum

Mystery of the Wax Museum is a 1933 Technicolor horror film directed by Michael Curtiz (We're No Angels and others) and starring Lionel Atwill and Fay Wray (best known for King Kong but she was also in The Vampire Bat).

Moria says it's "one of the genuine genre classics to emerge out of the 1930s Golden Age of Horror." 1000 Misspent Hours calls it "a miserable old clunker". from the New York Times review from its release:

It is all very well in its way to have a mad scientist performing operations in well-told stories, but when a melodrama depends upon the glimpses of covered bodies in a morgue and the stealing of some of them by an insane modeler in wax, it is going too far
...
After witnessing this unhealthy film, it is very agreeable to gaze upon a short subject dealing with the wonders of Yellowstone Park.

Classic-Horror.com says,

it was one of the earliest experiments with color film as well as one of the earliest treatments of a now well-known mystery plot, topped with an intriguing visual style and some horror icons in fine form for good measure.

10/29/2008: House of Mirth and Movies has a review.

The Ghoul

The Ghoul is a 1933 Boris Karloff horror film.

There are 2 versions of the film -one was reconstructed from an incomplete and partially decomposed print and the more recent DVD version was made from an excellent print found in the BFI archives.

The New York Times review at the time said, "A newsreel of a Sunday school picnic would have been more thrilling." 1000 Misspent Hours calls it "one of the better horror films of its era, regardless of nationality". There's nothing like a difference of opinion, and what a difference! It's hard for me to find fault with Karloff, since his Mummy is so brilliant, and this bears a couple of poor-relation similarities to that classic. Moria says, "Despite the film’s creakiness, an undeniable atmosphere does come through."

Dead Men Walk

Dead Men Walk is a 1943 movie with Dwight Frye, whom we have always enjoyed (Dracula, Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, The Vampire Bat), in his final horror film role.

I found the music to be particularly intrusive and even oppressive at times, but this movie just lasts an hour and is well worth that much time spent.

100 Misspent Hours calls it "one of the most imaginative and independent-spirited vampire movies of the 1940’s". BlogCritics has a negative review.

Steve Fossett's plane has been found

I had heard earlier this week that a hiker had discovered Fossett's ID, and now the remains of the plane have been discovered. Some human remains were also found. The New York Times reports:

Mark V. Rosenker, the acting chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, confirmed the finding, saying that while the remains were “very little,” he believed that Mr. Fossett’s identity could be confirmed genetically.

We used to follow Steve Fossett's exploits and enjoyed reading about his accomplishments.

Werewolf of London

Werewolf of London is a 1935 Universal Pictures horror movie with Henry Hull as the first feature film werewolf. Spring Byington plays a dippy aunt and is a real scene-stealer.

This film starts off in Tibet and in that segment misplaces one of the actors who is never seen again. I still wonder what happened to the good Dr.'s companion. I picture him still sitting on that rock. Ah, well, that's not the worst thing about this film. I honestly couldn't tell whether or not some scenes were supposed to be funny.

The New York Times review written at the film's release says

Designed solely to amaze and horrify, the film goes about its task with commendable thoroughness, sparing no grisly detail and springing from scene to scene with even greater ease than that oft attributed to the daring young aerialist. Granting that the central idea has been used before, the picture still rates the attention of action-and-horror enthusiasts.

100 Misspent Hours offers this mixed praise:

Despite its sometimes dragging pace, often ridiculous script, unnecessary and unfunny comic relief, and implausibly portrayed supporting characters, Werewolf of London is among the more entertaining 1930’s horror films I’ve seen.

Arbogast on Film examines Valerie Hobson's scream. Goatdog has a review.

trailer:

The Monster Walks

The Monster Walks is a 1932 horror movie. TCM has some information.

I didn't finish this one. Besides being slow and tedious, it was racially offensive. Too many other movies worth seeing to waste time on this one.

London After Midnight

London After Midnight is a 1927 mystery/horror film directed by Todd Browning and starring Lon Chaney, Sr. The last known print of this film was destroyed in a fire in 1965, but this restoration of pieced-together stills with inter-titles gives a hint at what we're missing:

100MisspentHours has a review. Moria says, "London After Midnight is one of the famous lost films of the great silent screen actor Lon Chaney [Sr]".

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

There are several film versions of Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and this one is the 1923 silent starring Lon Chaney, Sr.

Silent Film Sources begins their review with this caution: "The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a stilted spectacle that fails to live up to its legend" but adds one note of understanding: "Hunchback has few peers for lavish spectacle in the early Twenties (basically just Robin Hood, Orphans of the Storm and The Ten Commandments). It's easy to see what the public found so fascinating."

1000 Misspent Hours has a review that details the plot and describes some other aspects of the film and concludes:

this version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame remains the one to see. It has all the high-dollar production value of the 1939 version, an even hotter Esmeralda, and a far more thematically honest spin on the basic story. Plus, it has Lon Chaney in one of his best roles, which ought to be enough all by itself.

TCM has some information.

Le Manoir du Diable

Le Manoir du Diable, an 1896 short film directed by Georges Melies, is considered to be the first horror film and the first Vampire film.

via Internet Archive:

Moria says,

The Devil’s Manor was one of his earliest films and in this case it is simply he playing with stop-action camera effects. These allow the Devil to appear and manifest all manner of items – ghosts, witches, acrobats and angelic visions from out of a cauldron – and to transform back and forth into a bat. The film is a single note joke but it is made with a sense of humour

1000 Misspent Hours says,

an impressive piece of work for all its primitiveness, and it’s easy to forget that you’re really just watching the same trick being played over and over again on different objects and characters. There’s also a whisper of storytelling in the film, however faint and infrequently uttered

There is a review at Weird Wild Realm that says, "The set costumes are quite amazing, with some pyrotechnics thrown in." WiseGeek mentions that Melies himself plays the devil.

Danse Macabre

Danse Macabre is a 1922 film short starring Russian-born ballet dancer Adolph Bolm set to Saint-Saens' Danse Macabre.

HT: Arbogast on Film

It's a Wonderful Life: The Reckoning

I have it on The Highest Authority that if you actually like It's a Wonderful Life you should not watch this parody:

The Thin Man

The Thin Man is a 1934 comedy/detective film based on the novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett. In the film Nick and Nora Charles are played by Myrna Loy (Mr. Blandings Build His Dream House) and William Powell. Although there are no other books, this was the first of 6 films. This movie takes place during the Christmas holidays.

Roger Ebert describes it as "a murder mystery in which the murder and the mystery are insignificant compared to the personal styles of the actors".

trailer:




1/10/2009:
The Husband chose this to watch during our chili supper tonight. He was aiming at a comedy with a happy ending, and everybody did think it was funny.

1/26/2008:
Only the Cinema has a review.

Interview Palin

Yes, you! Even though Sarah Palin is being shielded like a hothouse flower, you can get answers from her. Well, you can get answers that sound like they came from her, which is the best we can do right now.

Click here for a randomly generated question and the Palin-speak answer. Here's a sample:

Q: What is the role of the US in Iraq and Afghanistan?

Afghanistan will lead to war and it doesn't have to keep. I do bring to this table, and that's the beauty of American elections, of course, and democracy, is with new leadership, and that's with the energy source that is needed to help us, diplomatic pressure. We need to have a good guy who is saying that. Now, one who would seek to protect the good guys in this, the leaders of Israel and her friends, her allies, including the United States of America, where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border. It is from God. What I think God's will has to be a multi-faceted solution that has much to do things better.

HT: Andrew Sullivan

7 Fascinating Literary Works for Bookworms

Bookstove has an interesting list of 7 books for bookworms:

One Hundred Years of Solitude (by Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
Midnight's Children (by Salman Rushdie)
Breathing Lessons (by Anne Tyler)
Rabbit Is Rich (by John Updike)
White Noise (by Don Delillo)
Catch 22 (by Joseph Heller)
Everything That Rises Must Converge (by Flannery O' Connor)

I've read all of them except for the Rabbit book. I really ought to read the Rabbit series. I've had good intentions along those lines but lousy follow-through.

Michaelmas

Today is Michaelmas. I remember that on more than one occasion Michaelmas was the day we went to the Mid-South Fair. Michaelmas is the Feast of St. Michael and all Angels, and it is a fall festival close to the Autumnal Equinox. Lots of celebrations focus on the story of St. Michael fighting a dragon. Here's a recipe for Dragon Bread.

Rudolf Steiner, founder of Waldorf education, wrote a booklet on Michaelmas.

The Michaelmas Daisy pictured above is from janerc's Flickr stream.