Best Post-Apocalypses

Via SFSignal comes a list from Discover Magazine of "favorite after-the-end-of-the-world scenarios" that "are all about life in the no-holds-barred aftermath". The list includes movies and books. The idea reminds me of this list I came up with (in response to yet another blog post -I love blogs) of apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic novels. Comparing the books from my old list with the books on this new list I notice I hadn't thought to include Lord of the Flies, because I don't still have that book for some reason. Of the 10 titles on Discover Magazine's list only these 2 are books:

A Canticle for Leibowitz (1950)
Lord of The Flies (1954)

Greed

Greed is a 1924 silent film directed by Erich von Stroheim (Foolish Wives, Grand Illusion, Sunset Boulevard, Great Gabbo). It has been restored by using still photographs in place of lost film footage. It is based on the Frank Norris novel McTeague, which can be read online here.

The 4-hour version of Greed can be seen at youtube divided into 29 parts. Part 1:

part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11, part 12, part 13, part 14, part 15, part 16, part 17, part 18, part 19, part 20, part 21, part 22, part 23, part 24, part 25, part 26, part 27, part 28, part 29

Or watch it in one go at this link.

The Guardian says

Part of the story's greatness, in both the novel and Stroheim's adaptation, is the degree to which it makes the deterioration of all three characters terrifyingly believable.

Roger Ebert considers it one of the "great movies" and begins his review by saying that the film:

is acclaimed as a classic despite missing several parts deemed essential by its creator. Its unhappy history is well known. Von Stroheim's original film was more than nine hours long. After it was cut, cut and cut again, it was released at about 140 minutes, in a version that he disowned--and that inspired a fistfight with Louis B. Mayer. It is this version that is often voted one of the greatest films of all time.

The New York Times has a review. FilmReference.com has a list of resources and an article about the film. Film Monthly also has an article.

The Wheel

The Wheel is the English title for Abel Gance's 1923 silent film La Roue. I saw Gance's Napoleon a little over a year ago.

This video does not have English intertitles/subtitles.
Part 1 (about 18 minutes):


Part 2 (about 1 1/2 hours):


FilmsDeFrance.com has a description and short review. They list the release at 94 minutes, so that's about right, though there's no seamless transition between the videos above and no end credits or "The End" shot. Having watched it, it feels like key elements are missing. Either that or I need English subtitles to make sense of it.

Foolish Wives

Foolish Wives is a 1922 silent film directed by and also starring Erich von Stroheim (Grand Illusion, Great Gabbo, Sunset Boulevard).

The first half of this has been at youtube for months, but the second half is still not there. The entire movie is available at Internet Archive without English translation. The Italian doesn't help me.

FilmReference.com calls this film "one of the most stunning of the silent era". Slant Magazine calls it one of the 100 Essential Films and describes it as

a seductive film, but it's also supremely sad because Von Stroheim sees something morally and emotionally debilitating in the way his characters forcibly cling to facades

This is one of the 25 films selected in 2008 by the Library of Congress to be included in the National Film Registry.

Orphans of the Storm

Orphans of the Storm is a 1921 silent film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish.

CinemaWeb's review opens by saying,

Orphans of the Storm marked a turning point for D.W. Griffith. It was his last complete artistic success, and, not coincidentally, features Lillian Gish's final performance for the director. Orphans of the Storm deserves a place of honor in every serious collection of the best silent films

and calls it "one of Lillian Gish's finest performances".

FilmsDeFrance's review calls it

a monumental work that is both enjoyable to watch and a fine example of the art of filmmaking.

This film is at youtube in 14 parts. Part 1:

part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11, part 12, part 13, part 14

The Edmund Fitzgerald

Today is the anniversary of the loss of the Edmund Fitzgerald in 1975. There is a site "dedicated to informing others". The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum has a section of their site devoted to this boat:

The legend of the Edmund Fitzgerald remains the most mysterious and controversial of all shipwreck tales heard around the Great Lakes. Her story is surpassed in books, film and media only by that of the Titanic.

The cause of the wreck has been a controversial subject from the beginning, and this article reports a new documentary exploring the latest research.

Gordon Lightfoot's The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald:

Lyrics

When David heard that Absalom had died

I went to Idlewild Presbyterian Church this afternoon to hear The Daughter sing in a concert by the University of Memphis' University Singers, and my favorite piece was When David Heard by Eric Whitacre. Stunning.



2 Samuel 18:33 "And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!"

I found a recording of this piece at the Internet Archive:


The picture at the top of the post is of Gustave Doré's Death of Absalom.

Sunday Psalm

Psalm 78
(verses 1-7)

1 Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

2 I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:

3 Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.

4 We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.

5 For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children:

6 That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children:

7 That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments:

KJV

Our Hospitality

Our Hospitality is a 1923 Buster Keaton film. Buster Keaton is my favorite of those old silent comedians, but I love him in talkies, too.

part 1:

Watch Buster Keaton - Our Hospitality 1/3 in Funny Videos  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

part 2:

Watch Buster Keaton - Our Hospitality 2/3 in Funny Videos  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

part 3:

Watch Buster Keaton - Our Hospitality 3/3 in Funny Videos  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

100 Most Spiritually Significant Films

I'm giving the the ArtsAndFaith.com list of 100 most spiritually significant films it's own post so I can more easily keep track of my progress towards watching the movies. Ones I've seen are in bold print. The list:

1 Ordet
2 Le Fils
3 The Miracle Maker
4 The Gospel According to Matthew
5 The Diary of a Country Priest
6 The Passion of Joan of Arc
7 The Decalogue
8 Babette's Feast
9 A Man Escaped
10 Andrei Rublev
11 Au Hasard Balthazar
12 The Seventh Seal
13 Ikiru
14 Winter Light
15 The Mission
16 The Apostle
17 Three Colors Trilogy
18 Jesus of Nazareth
19 Jesus of Montreal
20 The Flowers of St. Francis
21 Dead Man Walking
22 Stalker
23 Magnolia
24 La Promesse
25 Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
26 Tender Mercies
27 A Man for All Seasons
28 Wings of Desire
29 Day of Wrath
30 Yi Yi
31 The Hiding Place
32 Wild Strawberries
33 Rosetta
34 After Life
35 The Sacrifice
36 To End All Wars
37 Chariots of Fire
38 Shadowlands
39 The Big Kahuna
40 Not of This World
41 Schindler's List
42 Millions
43 The Straight Story
44 A Taste of Cherry
45 The Passion Of The Christ
46 Becket (1964)
47 Wit
48 Open City
49 Nazarin
50 Secrets & Lies
51 Romero
52 Places in the Heart
53 It's A Wonderful Life
54 Ponette
55 Les Misérables
56 Luther
57 Tokyo Story
58 Hell House
59 Breaking The Waves
60 Crimes And Misdemeanors
61 To Kill a Mockingbird
62 The Mirror
63 The Last Temptation Of Christ
64 The Gospel of John
65 Hotel Rwanda
66 Fearless
67 Solaris (1972)
68 The Night Of The Hunter (1955)
69 Cries and Whispers
70 Stromboli
71 Stevie
72 Dogville
73 My Night at Maud's
74 Black Robe
75 Close-Up
76 The Apu Trilogy
77 Werckmeister Harmonies
78 Waking Life
79 Koyaanisqatsi aka Koyaanisqatsi - Life Out of Balance.
80 Peter and Paul
81 13 Conversations About One Thing
82 The Sweet Hereafter
83 Dersu Uzala
84 Trial of Joan of Arc
85 Summer
86 Fiddler on the Roof
87 The Bicycle Thief
88 The Year Of Living Dangerously
89 Money
90 The Elephant Man
91 Faust (1926)
92 Molokai: The Story of Father Damien
93 A Moment of Innocence
94 Jean de Florette/Manon of the Spring
95 Sansho the Bailiff
96 Lilies of the Field
97 The Wind Will Carry Us aka Bad ma ra khahad bord.
98 The Addiction
99 The Song of Bernadette
100 Tales of Ugetsu

Nanook of the North

Nanook of the North is a 1922 silent documentary film, perhaps the first documentary film.

CinemaWeb says,

The resulting film is not a true ethnographic record. Flaherty's subjects improvised events from their daily lives or from customs of their culture's recent past. (Because he knew Eskimo society so well, Nanook is considered to be ethnographically correct.) Flaherty deliberately chose appealing, rather idealized, people -- even to the point of creating bogus families.

and goes on to commend it, saying

Nanook's accessibility and timelessness make it worth considering as an introduction for children to either documentary or silent film.

Roger Ebert considers it a movie "great" and says the film

stands alone in its stark regard for the courage and ingenuity of its heroes. Nanook is one of the most vital and unforgettable human beings ever recorded on film.

FilmReference.com includes an extensive list of resources and begins its article by saying,

Through the everyday life of one family, Nanook of the North typifies Eskimo life in the Arctic; it uses a number of sequences that demonstrate Inuit ingenuity and adaptability in one of the world's harshest climates.

and closes with this:

Nanook remains the most enduring of all Flaherty's films for its simplicity of purpose, structure, and design. It ennobles its subjects rather than exploits them. It relies on a few well-developed sequences. The images, sharp and uncluttered, are still memorable.

Best Genre Films of the 20's and 30's

Newsarama has a list of best genre films by decade. They talk a bit about what they mean by "genre" and then name these 4 films as the best of the 1920's:

Metropolis (1927)
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
Nosferatu (1922)
Phantom of the Opera (1925)

I've seen all 4 of these and link above to where I wrote about them.

Newsarama enters fully into the spirit of the thing by naming 11 films and 3 serials from the 1930's as best genre films of that decade. The films:

Frankenstein (1931)
Dracula (1931)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) (seen, but not since I started blogging)
Island of Lost Souls (1932)
The Invisible Man (1933)
King Kong (1933)
The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Flash Gordon (1936; serial and film edit) (seen, but not since I started blogging)
Things to Come (1936)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1938) (seen, but not since I started blogging)
The Wizard of Oz (1939) (seen, but not since I started blogging)

I would kick Bride of Frankenstein off this list, as I'm about the only one who prefers the original, and that would give me an even 10.

Rebecca

The Husband, The Elder Son and I saw this movie several years ago when I rented the VHS. It wasn't the first time I'd seen it, but it was the last until tonight. After I decided to buy it I found it impossible to find, as it was apparently in copyright Hell. There used to be a Criterion edition, but that was (and is) out of print. Finally, a DVD was bought online, and we watched it tonight. It was exactly as I remembered and well worth seeing again.

Rebecca, based on the novel by Daphne du Maurier, stars Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, Judith Anderson and George Sanders (who does make a good villain). It was directed by Alfred Hitchcock and produced by David Selznick.

From googlevideo:

or it's on youtube in 13 parts. Part 1 is here.

trailer:


The New York Times says it "is an altogether brilliant film, haunting, suspenseful, handsome and handsomely played."

Only the Cinema has a review.

9/17/2011: The Dancing Image has an extensive review.

The Triplets of Belleville

The Triplets of Belleville is a 2003 animated feature film. The Younger Son bought this at Borders this afternoon, and we watched it tonight. I laughed out loud through a lot of it and found it thoroughly delightful. It's now one of my favorite films.

Roger Ebert opens his review saying,

"The Triplets of Belleville" will have you walking out of the theater with a goofy damn grin on your face, wondering what just happened to you.

Slant Magazine says that

The entire film is like one elaborate spell, a ritual of character and events that makes little rational or logical sense

EW says,

If ''Finding Nemo'' is an awesome Pixar superpower, The Triplets of Belleville is a charming, idiosyncratic, self-governing duchy with huge tourism potential on the other side of the animated-movie planet.

Salon.com:

If "The Triplets of Belleville" is any indication, Chomet [the diretor], who was born in France and has lived in Canada since 1993, is one of the most inventive animators we've got.

There are screen shots here.

trailer:

13 Books That Shaped America

NPR has an article on a book about books, specifically 13 particular books that "represent the soul of the American republic". The NPR site has an excerpt from the book. Here's the list:

Of Plymouth Plantation
The Federalist Papers
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
The Journals of Lewis and Clark
Walden
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Souls of Black Folk
The Promised Land
How to Win Friends and Influence People
The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care
On the Road
The Feminine Mystique

I've read very few of these.

1/14/2009:
More specifically, the ones I've read are now in bold print. Ones I've read excerpts from but not the complete work are in italics.

A Farewell to Arms

A Farewell to Arms is a 1932 film based on the Hemingway novel by the same name. The movie stars Gary Cooper and Helen Hayes. It was directed by Frank Borzage.

Internet Archive has it online:


Slant Magazine says that Hemingway

was grandly contemptuous of Frank Borzage's version of Farewell to Arms, but time has been kind to the film. It launders out the writer's "I love you, you're good and plain and clean, but we're all going to die"-style pessimism and replaces it with a testament to the eternal love between a couple. This was Borzage's lifelong theme

The New York Times review begins with this:

Bravely as it is produced for the most part, there is too much sentiment and not enough strength in the pictorial conception of Ernest Hemingway's novel

Guy Fawkes Day

Today is Guy Fawkes Day.

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
Gunpowder treason and plot,
I know of no reason
Why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t'was his intent
To blow up king and parliament.
Three-score barrels of powder below
To prove old England's overthrow;

By God's mercy he was catched
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, let the bells ring.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!

There's a website telling the history and explaining the practices here. Time has an article that begins:

The English, among other talents, are adept at nurturing their grudges. How else does one explain the enduring enmity toward Guy Fawkes, a conspirator in a plot to blow up Parliament in 1605? Some four centuries after Fawkes was caught, tortured and executed for his role in a scheme that never came to fruition, Britons still celebrate his demise each Nov. 5 by burning his likeness in effigy and setting fireworks ablaze.

Jacques Tati

Today is the anniversary of the death in 1982 of film maker Jacques Tati. Mon Oncle (1958) won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, a Special Prize at Cannes and the New York Film Critics Award.

Senses of Cinema has an article that says:

As a filmmaker, Tati has recurring themes (the leisure class, modernisation, children at play, mass entertainment), and his compositions seem as mathematically calculated yet spontaneous and vibrant as Welles'. His movies beg for purveyors of theory to figure them all out for us. Nothing against the theoreticians, but given a filmography that includes titles like Playtime and Parade, and films that make constant references to having fun, anything short of complete submission to the Tati audio-visual experience carries the risk of revealing oneself to be one of the square, too-serious types that Tati constantly teased

Images Journal calls him

one of the great comic icons of French cinema, a Gallic equivalent of Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton, whose works as director, writer, and actor are regarded fondly by audiences as well as harder-to-please critics.

Films de France says he is

that rarest of phenomenon in filmmaking – an auteur with extraordinary powers of observation and an equally impressive ability to entertain.

My blog post on Play Time (1967 France/1973 U.S.) is here.

Jour de fête (1949):

(in French, no English subtitles)

A new note is played today

in As Slow As Possible. The piece will be completed in 2020. I wrote about this piece here, and at that link there is video and there are links to sheet music. This article says,

The sustained notes of the performance are possible thanks to the organ’s customised bellows, and tiny sandbags on strings, rigged to hold each note as long as necessary.

The upcoming change will be the seventh chord in the piece.

There is a sound file of the last note played here.

R.I.P. Michael Crichton

Michael Crichton died yesterday. I saw the news at /film. I remember reading The Andromeda Strain in high school.

This is an interview he did with Charlie Rose:


Obits:

Times Online:

Michael Crichton, the bestselling author behind the fictional world of Jurassic Park, died today at the age of 66 after a battle with cancer that he hid from the public eye.

io9:

One of the trademarks of Crichton's style is clean prose, fast pacing, and impeccably-researched biotech speculation.

The Guardian:

His family said that he died after a "courageous and private battle against cancer"

BBC:

His books have sold more than 150m copies. He also created the long-running US hospital TV drama ER.

E Online:

"I'm not an everyday writer," Crichton told Time in 1995, "and I never have been." But he was a dedicated writer, producing more than two dozen novels and nonfiction books. He was also a publishing phenomenon and a fixture on Forbes' wealthiest-people lists.

CNN:

Crichton was a distinctive figure in the entertainment business, a trained physician whose interests included writing, filmmaking and television. (He was physically distinctive as well, standing 6 feet 9 inches.)

Reuters:

Spielberg added: "Michael was a gentle soul who reserved his flamboyant side for his novels. There is no one in the wings that will ever take his place."

Entertainment Weekly:

Crichton considered himself an a storyteller, not an educator or polemicist ("What I do is entertain people," he told EW in 1994, comparing himself to Dickens and Robert Louis Stevenson, masters of narrative only later inducted into the literary canon), but he still wanted you to learn something, and he was adept at sneaking the spinach in there with the cotton candy.

Beliefnet:

The tragedy in losing a voice like this so relatively young seems magnified by the fact that he was trained in science, and struggling with cancer that all his training and studying couldn't cure. But his early work was substantial, and succeded in altering the shape of popular culture--part of a scientific, pop cultural, and literary legacy. His fans will miss him.

Other obits:
GreenCine
SFScope
Cinematical
SFSignal
Locus Online