Jeez – Thank Karma I chose crime over parenting! 🙂
Wow. A gaggle of gingers.
Well done video. It was an interesting touch to have the mother fly to Minnesota to meet with the 18 year old set of quadruplets. I’m sure the Minnesotan mother would have gotten a lot out of a similar trip, 14 or 15 years earlier. Also very interesting ending with the first day the girls are allowed to choose their own outfits. The husband and wife come across as salt of the Earth people. The girls are in very good hands.
Wow, I can’t believe I watched the whole video but when I started I had so much delight just watching those beautiful children and their lovely mom. Years ago when we lived in Dallas we had a friend who had triplet girls and that was an adventure for her, she could not handle taking all three out at one time until they were almost three years old because they were so adventurous and noisy. The dad was a doctor so they had enough money for live in help with the youngsters and the mom said they needed that extra help with her three.
Thank you for a pleasant 45 minutes this morning while I finished my coffee.
He writes about a “Star Wars” prequel, which I have no interest in, because I’m a grown man 🙂 , however, he writes that it, like much of Disney’s recent output, appears to be uninspiring dreck.
huxley writes:
It is an all-woman production. The creator/writer/director is Leslye Headland (formerly Harvey Weinstein’s assistant), a self-declared queer who wanted to make a show that would have made her feel better as a queer child. Her elevator pitch was “Frozen meets Kill Bill” (whatever that means). It’s about the deep love between two sisters (what??).
One must wonder what the Disney folks are thinking. It doesn’t seem to be about the audience or the bottom line.
This leads me to think about a larger question I’ve been pondering over the past, several years. Dr. Jordan Peterson provided much of the insight that has been driving my thought on the subject. Why is storytelling (scriptwriting, movie making, novel writing, rock lyric writing, producing and performing…) dominated by men?
First, let me state there have been many truly great female story tellers in all those genres, and some of them are at the very pinnacle of their chosen professions; Mary Shelley, the Bronte Sisters, Joni Mitchell, and on, and on…
Andrew Klavan (who, with Dr. Peterson, has shaped my thought on several subjects in recent years) states that you can tell an artform is dead when you see women entering the field. Not because of any talent imbalance among the sexes, but because women are capable of creating actual, real life, men tend to obsess about creating artificial “life” i.e. the arts. (Circling back to huxley, notice you see no female names in the current list of AI progenitors.) And, it is in the early, chaotic days of a new artform that you see much of the innovative, brilliant work done. Also, in those early days an artform is often unsafe, or risky. Therefore, when you see women flooding in it is a sign the artform is past it’s initial, innovative phase and is now “safe.” It has been “played out.”
Dr. Peterson is an expert on stories and archetypes. When he talks about males and story telling he states that boys and young men need heroic figures and archetypes to understand their purpose. For most women their purpose is innate, but boys need to learn their purpose. So most all cultures develop structures and stories that encourage boys to undertake the “heroes journey.”
(I’ll state an aside on this topic in a second comment.)
UN passes cease fire resolution. I hope Israel gives them the middle finger. And the US fails to issue a veto. So sad.
(my aside)
One of my children, a female, is particularly interested in books and storytelling. In her teen years she was hearing much from the culture about “patriarchy,” etc. To help her to not buy into the sophomoric garbage she was hearing I sat her down and initiated conversations about some of her favorite books and films.
Several had female protagonists. That trend was very popular at the time and there were a lot of authors, especially female authors, writing a lot of stuff, and some of it was quite good; telling girls’ and womens’ stories from a perspective few male authors could manage.
However, I focused on the stories with male protagonists and helped her to see that even in those stories, women were most always the heroes.
One example: Hermione is the hero of “Harry Potter.” She not only saves Harry and Ron countless times, but she patiently stays by their sides and leads them to maturity. Had she not met Harry Potter, Hermione would have likely been roughly the same adult, seven years later. But had Harry not met Hermione?!
As she and I worked through her bookshelf we noticed that theme over and over again; stories “about” damaged or feckless young men that featured heroic women guiding them to be something better. Again, Dr. Peterson has had a lot to say on this subject.
RTF,
As an aside to your post: The Disney Board is up for election and there are 2 candidates who have them running scared, one of whom was the Disney CFO for a couple of decades. They are running under the banner, “Restore the Magic”. Disney has been mounting a huge social media campaign against these two, while many of the comments I’ve seen support them as the need for a complete shakeup. I’m not sure how much they can do if elected as they would be 2 of 12, but interesting the status quo is fighting so hard.
And more to your point: I watched the entire culture of higher ed change as over the last 24 years the faculty went from male dominated to equity, to finally female dominated. OK, higher ed women tend to be on the harpy side, but the cultural shift and their influence in that happening was hard to miss.
(you knew this was coming… 🙂 a second aside)
There is a term for a syndrome that many claim affects female storytelling in today’s Hollywood; “The Mary Sue.”
from wikipedia
A Mary Sue is a character archetype in fiction, usually a young woman, who is often portrayed as inexplicably competent across all domains, gifted with unique talents or powers, liked or respected by most other characters, unrealistically free of weaknesses, extremely attractive, innately virtuous, and/or generally lacking meaningful character flaws.
There is a huge push in Hollywood to hire teams of women and tell “women’s stories.” Mary Sue’ism is a reason so many of these efforts do not garner an audience*. These stories are not organic. If your heroine has to be better than all those around her there can be no story arc. This is why Batman movies do better than Superman movies at the box office.
*There is a second, common approach that also, almost always fails; take an existing story about a man or men and swap in female characters.
No one wants to see the acolyte thats the wonder of it
Actually the nolan films did better the snyder films
The first marvel films under the paramount umbrella same then they threw out what
worked after 2019
physicsguy,
I am aware. It is sad to see what has been done with the truly unique and magical company that Walt Disney built. The Disney company formed so much of our culture since its inception. It is depressing to see the brand Walt Disney built being used to destroy the image of America and humanity that he had.
The name “Mary Sue” comes from the 1974 Star Trek fanfic A Trekkie’s Tale. Originally written as a parody of the standard Self-Insert Fic of the time (as opposed to any particular traits), the name was quickly adopted by the Star Trek fanfiction community. Its original meaning mostly held that it was an Always Female Author Avatar, regardless of character role or perceived quality. Often, the characters would get in a relationship with either Kirk or Spock, turn out to have a familial bond with a crew member, be a Half-Human Hybrid masquerading as a human, and die in a graceful, beautiful way to reinforce that the character was Too Good for This Sinful Earth. (Or space, as the case may be.)
Even back then, there wasn’t a total consensus on what was or wasn’t Mary Sue, since it’s not always immediately obvious which character is an Author Avatar. As this essay reveals, suspiciously Mary Sue-like characters were noted in subscriber-submitted articles for 19th-century childrens’ magazines, making this trope Older Than You Think.
The prototypical Mary Sue is an original female character in a fanfic who obviously serves as an idealized version of the author mainly for the purpose of Wish-Fulfillment. She’s exotically beautiful, often having an unusual hair or eye color, and has a similarly cool and exotic name. She’s exceptionally talented in an implausibly wide variety of areas, and may possess skills that are rare or nonexistent in the canon setting. She also lacks any realistic, or at least story-relevant, character flaws — either that or her “flaws” are obviously meant to be endearing.
Prime Minister’s Office: ‘USA changed position, no delegation to Washington’, Prime Minister Netanyahu has canceled an Israeli delegation to Washington to discuss the operation in Rafah due to the American refusal to veto a resolution in the UN Security Council.: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/387338
Clarity may (must?) begin to dawn for those inattentives out there in both polities. I hope a change of regime in America can bring repair to a one healthy alliance, but won’t hold my breath on it.
I think that is one of the main reasons. I work in open source, and everything is risky in the beginning, no one is paid, no one knows if the project will survive or die, and the survival rate is very small. In the early days of the project I am mostly involved with these days, there was one female developer, and she was very good. And there have been none in the 16 years since. Oh, a few minor fixes here and there for documentation typos and such, but nothing major. These days most of the developers are actually being paid, and women have showed up, but in traditional roles, not writing code.
Things are what they are, attempts to force equity seem to run up against human nature.
mary sues seem very sullen felicity jones daisy ridley, I guess Amy Adams is supposed to be very serious as lois, in the snyder films, I didn’t realize how wooden natalie portman was till later,
are there pod people running the studios, rhetorical,
I’m beginning to wonder if the IDF has pulled off a tremendous coup. The siege of the Shifa hospital is ongoing, and the terrorists are putting up stiff resistance, including shelling some hospital buildings. Hundreds of terrorist fighters have been killed or arrested. Which leaders are there who are so important to call for this from the Hamas viewpoint?
Andrew Klavan (who, with Dr. Peterson, has shaped my thought on several subjects in recent years) states that you can tell an artform is dead when you see women entering the field
==
Novels, plays, verse, and short fiction are dead art forms?
“Appeals Court Slashes Trump’s Bond to $175 Million in $454 Million Civil Fraud Judgment”
Somebody just blinked, or perhaps sobered up a wee bit? But, actually now anytime the state does something that the media can help make seem more normal, it is possibly to their advantage. In this case they have backed off from the totally preposterous to the exceptionally unreasonable.
I hope they don’t learn the lesson too well. You see, the faster their runaway train is going when it gets to the bridge out, the bigger splash and explosion it will make!
its largely on life support, the appeals bench is largely npc in new york state, from my sources, so magic eightball doesnt suggest much chance of success,
thought crime reduced to 5 quatloos,
Mike Gallagher is leaving Congress on April 19th. According to Wisconsin law, if he resigned and left before April 9th, there would have to be a special election to fill the seat. If he goes after April 9th, the seat will remain vacant until January. This does suggest that there may be a point to the conspiracy theories.
Maybe enough Republicans will resign to make Hakim Jeffries speaker. If Democrats vote as a bloc (which they usually do) they could declare Trump an insurrectionist and create a massive mess at election time. The new Congress will be sworn in before the electoral votes are counted on January 6th, but if Democrats do lose one or both Houses of Congress (unlikely) I wouldn’t put it past them to move up the electoral vote count. If anybody here brought up the conspiracy theory and I dismissed it, you were right.
Also, Gallagher’s vote against the Mayorkas impeachment could be explained by his move to Palantir, a company that does a lot of work for DHS, as well as DOD. Palantir co-founder Peter Theil’s recent coolness to Donald Trump might also be explained by Palantir’s Deep State connections.
Calling art forms dead is pejorative or polemical and distracts from the insight that some art forms are risky and pioneering and attract risk-takers, and others are older and established and not going through a productive or path-breaking phase.
whats the last new genuinely interesting novel or film or tv program have you seen recently, and why do you think that is,
the acolyte, was going to be hot garbage, because hesland, her job with weinstein, who probably didn’t do much worse than other hollywood moguls,
the Black Widow film, has a thinly disguised weinstein manque as a Russian
spymaster, played by Ray Winstone, the irony is if wasn’t for Weinstein and Allen, to cite too examples, well her career would still in character studies no one watched, if that
Trump faces more serious threat than the Democrats — instead, it’s the traitorous RINO class, mostly within the DC beltway and hangers on.
Troy Smith explains why the recent Congressional resignation by Michael Gallagher, WI-R, threatens to empower Ds to get Trump tossed from the ballot by passing a simple bill.
In one line: “…the Republican Party is just one retirement away from losing their majority in the House, and once again handing unilateral control of Washington D.C. to the Democratic Party and Joe Biden.”
THIS would be a disaster and should launch a Civil War of disobedience, at the very least.
MORE from Troy Smith:
“The Republican Party currently holds just 218 seats in the House, while the Democrats currently hold 213. Colorado Representative Ken Buck officially vacated his seat on Friday, March 22nd, pulling the Republican majority down an additional seat.
“Once Mike Gallagher departs on April 19th, the House Republican majority will have shrunk to just 217, the bare minimum needed to advance legislation in the body. As it stands, the Republican Party is just one retirement away from losing their majority in the House, and once again handing unilateral control of Washington D.C. to the Democratic Party and Joe Biden.
“Revealing an apparent sinister nature to Gallagher’s retirement, and the timing of the decision, Wisconsin law would afford a special election for Republicans to elect his replacement if Gallagher had just retired days earlier. If Gallagher had chosen to leave office anytime before the second Tuesday in April, a special election to choose his replacement would have occurred.
“Since Gallagher has decided to retire on the 19th, the second Friday of April, his seat will remain vacated until it is eventually filled by the winner of the 8th district of Wisconsin in the 2024 Election.”
Which means the threat of only one death or resignation in Congress will persist for over 7 months and put us into Hell.
the writer of one of her starring vehicles, the black dahlia, josh friedman, has gone on to helm cameron’s latests avatar films, and the thoroughly downscale adaptation of foundation,
When so much is being produced nothing really stands out. That’s one reason why long form TV series have replaced films. It’s a lot easier to remember the television shows of the last 20 years than the films. They make a deeper impression. But that was in the cable era. Now that everything is moving to streaming, and TV has already exploited so much material, maybe television series will become more forgettable. Films aren’t likely to reclaim their dominance, though — not when everything is a sequel, a remake, or a reboot.
well take streaming, there are a few items, like slough horses, for instance, but thats mostly due to the original source material, and a strong performance by gary oldman, a much more realistic portrayal of spy doings than say MI-5 which had a lot of gloss,
Jane Austin, Agatha Christi are not avaliable for response, Andrew.
Swing and a miss.
Exceptional talent and insight may not be chromasomal?
*WARNING* – harsh content coming – *WARNING* – any pro-Russian or pro-ISIS board members should stop reading here.
It has been an exciting few days for humble me – watching Russians being killed and ISIS suspects being captured and tortured.
Russia has been murdering, raping, and torturing Ukrainian babies, children, teenagers, and adult females & males for over 2-years now—and now, they want to punish Ukrainians some more for what ISIS recently did to them in Moscow. Meanwhile, neo-Nazi Russian officer who cut off killer’s ear wore a neo-Nazi patch – after Russia falsely claimed and still claims that Ukraine is the Nazi haven, when in fact it is Russia that is filled with Nazis!?! You can’t make this stuff up!
You’re new to this, when Stalin killed 40 million of his own people, the world cheered, same as with Mao’s 60 million, the New York Times from Duranty to Salisbury made all sorts of excuses for the former, how many Sinologists groveled at the latter’s feet, like aspiring concubines, the Times has never returned Duranty’s pulitzer apologist for the former, nor Matthews toe sucking Fidel, or
well need I go on, perhaps Schamberg’s exploration of year zero was the only bright light in their firmament, of course we saw how the Wandering Comas passing was seen by all the ‘right people’ like that of their favorite uncle
the Posts latin American correspondents, is the son in law of Cuban and East German spymasters, thats the current ones
who poses a bigger immediate threat to our liberties
yes much is made of bandera, a warlord who killed as many poles and jews as Soviets but who fought off Warsaw pact forces for four years in the Carpathian mountains, that is why they hold him in high esteem
sdferr @12:00pm,
Yet, do you predict there will be much change in the voting habits of Jewish Americans this November?
There are good movies, books, and music out there, but the talent pool is diluted and they are difficult to find. I find myself watching movies and TV shows I’ve already seen, since the hunt for fresh content is so frustratingly unsuccessful.
Art Deco @12:52pm,
Yes, according to a definition annunciated by Klavan, with which I happen to agree. And he now adds film to that category. “Played out” may be a better term.
We still marvel at the early art of the Renaissance. Of the 100 best paintings in the world, or statues in the world, what percent were done after 1800, or so? And then movie making became an art form. Look at the percentages of films most agree are great and when they were made. The percentages are lopsided towards the beginning, when the field is ripe for innovation and innovators are drawn to it.
I notice when you post videos to recorded music you appreciate it none of it is from the past 40 years, or so. 😉
so the inventory comes back to older material, one didn’t even look askance at before, either on britbox or these jury rigged outfits,
miguel+cervantes at 1:35 pm asks us: “what’s the last new genuinely interesting novel or film or tv program have you seen recently, and why do you think that is?”
In Hollywood film, “The Accountant” (2016) because of its surprising twists and uniquely powerful portrait of an Aspie (Asperger’s Syndrome, reduced to ‘Spectrum Disorders’ today) accountant who works for the mob, or mobs. It is exceptionally re-watchable.
But I’m biased because film noir is my favorite genre, and also because I have a life-long Aspie-buddy and too many Aspie GFs and dates to count.
From Germany, “The Lives of Others” by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, which won Best Foreign Film at the Academy. But has it been outdone by his more recent film, “Never Look Away” (2018).
In ‘Never Look Away’, we witness a re-working of materials and some themes familiar from ”Lives,” but with an opposite story arc. In place of ironic tragedy, we something rather opposite — a coming of age tale, borrowing from two German artist’s biographies, transformed into inspiration.
From IMDB: “Young artist Kurt Barnert (Tom Schilling) has fled to West Germany but continues to be tormented by the experiences of his childhood and youth in the Nazi years and during the GDR-regime. When he meets student Ellie (Paula Beer), he is convinced that he has met the love of his life and starts to create paintings that mirror not only his own fate, but also the traumas of an entire generation.”
Painterly and composed — THIS is like Ingmar Bergman with a pulse.
At the Washington Post, Ann Hornaday wrote, “The title of ‘Never Look Away’ is deliciously ironic: This is one of the most mesmerizing, compulsively watchable films in theaters right now.”
Of course, she wrote the year of its release. I’ve only viewed the last two-thirds some months ago on cable. I am yet to view it completely.
But the impact it made on me is profound and pleasurable, wishing others to view this magnificent and transporting 189 minute film.
I was so deeply impressed that I scoured the reviews on MetaCritic to weigh other admirers perceptions, and to test if they comport with mine. Those most praising compared it to “Lives of Others” more favourably. It’s even better.
Ben Roph concludes, “Never Look Away is a masterpiece of luminous beauty, capturing a fiction that is enhanced by reality. The cinematography is the best I’ve ever seen, it has an all-powerful quality that overwhelms beyond all images captured before. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s vision is one of wonder, beauty, sorrow and expression. It is an over-powering experience unlike any other, this is cinema at its height of her powers.” https://discussingfilm.net/2019/07/02/never-look-away-review-a-masterpiece-of-luminous-beauty/
“Never Look Away…All things true are beautiful”, Kurt’s mother counsels him when he’s small and just a boy. He stays true to her words — despite all obstacles.
yes the accountant is not bad, but that was like seven years ago,
It’s not within my ken, Rufus — quite apart from my general reluctance to make predictions.
Evenso, the way matters between the Bidenettes and Israel are going I won’t be surprised if Jewish voters start to change their preferences in large numbers this election season.
Particularly when (ha! prediction coming, though not mine! It’s Mike Doran’s.) the Bidenettes unilaterally recognize a “Palestinian” state in mid-summer.
om @2:00pm and Abraxas @1:29pm,
Andrew Klavan lauds Jane Austen often. His own daughter is a writer as is his sister-in-law and he is a big fan of their work. And they are both very talented.
His statement has nothing to do with women’s creative talents. It has to do with men. In the early stages of any art movement it is typically men, often impoverished, obsessed men, playing with experimental tools, chemicals and materials, often in unhealthy locations and conditions.
Oil paints, still and motion photography, stained glass, mosaics, sculpture, the graffiti movement in the ’80s and ’90s. How many of the teens, hanging upside down from elevated train bridges over urban streets at 2am, spray painting murals where females? Neo just posted a video about Buster Keaton. It was the early days of film and he was risking his life daily figuring out new techniques, that sometimes backfired and harmed him. Look at the video game industry that exploded in the ’90s. And look where it is now with “gamergate.” Science fiction writing. It’s a pattern that repeats over and over.
The point is not that women are not as creative as men. It’s that they are not typically as desperate as men. When a large enough percentage of young women are willing to risk their future on a career like writing for television, so much so that half or more of the writers’ rooms are females, it is a signal that television writing is now a safe profession. “Played out.” In 1950, when Mel Brooks told his mother he took a job writing for Sid Caesar’s, “Show of Shows” his mother wondered when Mel was going to grow up and get a real job, like his brothers. Now, if Mary Smith calls her parents and tells them she got a job writing on a new sitcom for Netflix her parents can’t wait to brag to their Country Club.
It’s time to roll into Rafah.
sdferr,
Unfortunately many people prefer punishing an enemy to embracing a compatriot. I think far too many American Jews still enjoy the two dimensional cartoon of an evil Trump coming for their freedoms over the reality that his administration was one of the most beneficial for the Jewish American cause in U.S. history. Understanding the Democrat Party and ascendant “Squad” are not their friends means having to let go of the comfort of TDS.
Nearly every country on earth is itching to recognize a Palestinian state. So why haven’t they? The answer is obvious. Palestinians would never accept the borders those nations would recognize.
New TV quality series:
Extraordinary Attorney Woo….best of K series, follow with Crash Landing on You.
Be careful, you may get hooked on K dramas/romcoms and never go back to US TV
For those of you who might have Netflix, there is a new series called “The Judge Dee Mysteries”. It is a Chinese production with English subtitles. The series is based on books by Robert van Gulik. A long time ago there was a series done in English. Some innocent fun.
Physicguy, my Wife watches all the Korean TV series. She is hooked
Rufus T Firefly:
So men are played out and aren’t driven to create art? So what is Andrew doing in a dying field, and how long has it been pining for the fijords?
I enjoy Andrew’s humor but I haven’t followed him closely in the last year it so.
Wokeness tends to smother thought and art, is that his point?
Rufus T Firefly…” I think far too many American Jews still enjoy the two dimensional cartoon of an evil Trump coming for their freedoms over the reality that his administration was one of the most beneficial for the Jewish American cause in U.S. history.”
It’s not just Trump, it’s also Trump *supporters*, and, more broadly, a whole set of Americans. See my post The Phobia(s) That May Destroy America:
Physicguy, my Wife watches all the Korean TV series. She is hooked.
SHIREHOME:
The Filipina wife of my lay minister friend is hooked on Korean culture. She’s a busy person, but she studies Korean part-time and wishes to visit Korea.
A language learning acquaintance is studying Korean for the same reason.
I’m studying French because I fell in love with the culture. I think it’s like falling in love with a person. You don’t exactly choose it, but if it happens, you best run with it.
Here I’ll straightup contradict m’self and make a soothsaying to which I expect to be held accountable: the Orioles will win the AL East in 2024! How’s about them apples?!
These Republican retirements from the House, specifically the ones that are leaving Congress early, strike me as particularly pathetic and faithless people. Especially this Gallagher fellow. Reason: they signed up to serve for a two-year term. Not one-and-a-half, not one-and-three-quarters — TWO.
Take Gallagher’s case in particular: given the timing and legal ramifications of his departure, what he is essentially doing — quite aside from the damage he inflicts on his caucus in the House — is stiffing all of his constituents in his district, because there will be no one to represent them in any way in D. C. until the next election, leaving them even more voiceless in the imperial capital than usual. To me, that’s even lower than RINO-level. I wonder if anyone has had a heart-to-heart with him about this fact.
TJ: thanks for the tip about “The Accountant”. Haven’t seen that one.
I have seen “The Lives of Others” and “Never Look Away” by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. The first is a masterpiece but it’s almost twenty years old now. The second is also excellent but (in my view) could have used some tighter editing. I think the phrase “Never look away” was uttered by the hero’s beautiful young aunt–the one who took him to the Decadent Art exhibit in Dresden and who loved to hear all the buses in the city bus depot sound their horns. And who was declared mentally unstable and killed by the Nazis in their euthanasia program–the movie’s ugliest scene.
Recently finished watching “Hell on Wheels” (2011-2016), “Manhattan” (2014-2015), and “SS-GB” (2017) on streaming video. All good.
Gallagher is taking a bullshit grifter job so I doubt heart to heart will matter to this turd. He is compromised or bought or both otherwise leave a couple of weeks sooner. More trash.
huxley @8:04pm,
It was love of a very pretty young woman that drove me to learn German.
Dieses Jahr feiern wir unseren 34ste Hochzeitstag.
om @5:14pm,
It’s not about art, or creativity, it’s about human nature.
There are people alive today who can paint so closely to Rembrandt’s style it is indistinguishable from an actual Rembrandt. There are trumpet players who can imitate Miles Davis. Film makers who can copy Fellini.
There are always extremely talented people. Men and women.
The people on the cutting edge; the early impressionists and early cubists, the early be-bop musicians, are often obsessives. “Starving artist” is a term for a reason.
In the early days of a new art movement there are generally a lot more men than women. My wife is 1,000 times a better photographer than I am, but 150 years ago when photography meant messing with toxic chemicals and flash powder and lugging very heavy equipment you didn’t see a lot of women messing with it. The fact that every minute of every day millions of teen girls are taking a dozen selfies is an indication that it is a mature art form. It doesn’t mean someone, very possibly a woman, won’t take an incredibly artistic photo tomorrow. But the bulk of the creative and inventive work in the field is already done. The early adopters, photographers working 100 years ago, figured out the camera angles, lighting, exposure times… and made the technology to make it all easy.
That’s what Andrew Klavan is saying.
Our host catches us up with Israel related news today. Let me add a related film and pop culture icon note: the New James Bond will be Jewish.
On a negative note, hecklers threaten to boycott the film franchise, if hired, they say.
“Fans call for boycott of James Bond movie because of Jewish actor”.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson, tall, dark and handsome at 33 years old. Last week, Barbara Broccoli said all that remains is a contract signing. Other sources suggest a couple more hurdles remain to make it official.
Aaron Taylor Johnson grew up in Buckinghamshire, UK, North of London, from English-Russian Jewish parents.
I think he’s been my choice too, from the short list disclosed in January.
Ex-Bond, Pierce Brosnan endorsed Cillian Murphy (“Oppenheimer” star).
But like Idris Alba, both are too old for the role.
A fourth eligible, whom I cannot recall just now, was too young or too short and too insubstantial, I thought.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson been quite active in film roles and has transitioned to action roles in the recent “Bullet Train” as well as he lead in this May’s “Fall Guy”.
But I first saw his chops in Joe Wright’s (p“Anna Karenina” (2012), playing Vronsky. He was quite good — better than Joe Wright’s film, in fact), and that was at around age 20!
Not only do the insults seem to come from the Left, the very-Right leaning Free Republic.com site’s thread on this story lacked detectable Jew Hate.
Aaron is the correct choice to be Bond. Let the signing commence!
Hubert on the mom’s NOT uttering to young Kurt “Never look away”, but an Aunt — yes, you are right. I stand corrected. (But it’s also in the first third or so that I missed in my January Cable TV Channel hotel room first look.)
On your point that “Never Look Away” needing editing? I think many who downgrade this and esteem “Lives of Others” higher feel the same way you do.
But my take with the long takes is that taking in and absorbing art work is better than quick takes. Because I majored in art history, perhaps I am too different or too deferential? My citation of other reviews reversing the two films suggests otherwise, I think. Regardless, it gets a high 7.9 by amateur reviewers at MetaCritic — compared to 8.4 for “Lives” at IMDB. A half point difference.
I don’t think ‘close enough’ only applies to the game of Horse Shoes.
Re: James Bond
T J:
Interesting. The final, disappointing Bond film, in which Daniel Craig ***SPOILER ALERT*** sacrifices himself, seemed to leave a young female black agent to be the new 007. It sure looked like the plan. Though there was already backlash then.
Perhaps the Bond producers have noticed that gender/race swapping has reached its expiration date.
It would be quite a surprising step to see a Jewish male Bond.
Chases Eagles at 9:21 pm writes: House Rep. Michael “Gallagher is taking a bullshit grifter job so I doubt heart to heart will matter to this turd. He is compromised or bought…”
Indeed. I think so, too. And I think that’s the real behind-the-scenes bidding war going with other R-squishes in Congress.
I SERIOUSLY fear this outcome — perhaps most likely coming by May or June. Cause for trepidations.
TJ at 1:43 says:
“Once Mike Gallagher departs on April 19th, the House Republican majority will have shrunk to just 217, the bare minimum needed to advance legislation in the body.”
This does not make sense to me. The Democrats still have only 213 seats. How does 213 beat 217? Isn’t the rule that majority rules, where majority is defined as the number of sitting elected members of Congress? And even if it is a majority of all possible seats, how do the Democrats get to 217 votes? And why is it 217? 50% + 1 is 218 votes.
Rufus T., wir freuen uns um euretwegen!
On Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the next Bond actor: based on the photos from my quick search, I hope they cast him as clean shaven and with a 50’s medium/ short hair length. Bearded or with “lots of hair” will ruin the image, I believe.
[Maybe they could make him look “disreputable” as part of some plot where he goes undercover, but that is not the usual Bond role.]
Just my prejudice.
Huxley, but on your Bond spoiler alert, in Western culture there has been only one man ever resurrected after death.
Oh, wait: Doyle brought back Holmes, so I suppose any semi-credible plot line is possible.
But the Craig ending did seem pretty definitive!
huxley in The Plan — as many thought after Craig’s final outing. But follow- the-money movie making suggests otherwise.
There was indeed a fear than Bond might be sex-swapped or even Karened. But Gal Gadot already has her Wonder Woman gig. So, Bond goes female was a no-go.
“Perhaps the Bond producers have noticed that gender/race swapping has reached its expiration date.” One sure hopes so. But still not Bob Iger at Disney, sadly.
“It would be quite a surprising step to see a Jewish male Bond.” Really?
When the make-up of Englander’s is now so wildly…diverse? I could imagine an English-Indian actor doing it, but I don’t follow that undoubtedly deep talent pool.
Going back to Rufus at 2:53PM. Back to Klavan, “The point is not that women are not as creative as men. It’s that they are not typically as desperate as men.”
Maybe. But besides the risk-taking men pioneering new artistic genres, what else explains the huge output gap?
If making a career out of it matters more to men, how is ‘desperation’ measured?
In film history, women’s careers show us a repeated pattern with the best women having shorter careers and smaller output than men. Possibly from misogyny, cry feminists. Well, again, how do you measure it?
Both Ida Lupino in Hollywood and Leni Riefenstahl in Germany fit this, nearly a century ago. More recently, both Penny Marshall and Sofia Coppola — who directed one of my top ten films of two different decades — do, too.
But haven’t the Academy Award winning Kathryn Bigelow with 10 films, and the late Italian great Lina Wertmuller (influenced by Fellini) with 25, broken this pattern? So it seems. Points against the feminist critique!
But manly (existential) ‘desperation’ remains on the table.
“It would be quite a surprising step to see a Jewish male Bond.” Really?
T J:
Just that Jewish isn’t the ethnic flavor of the month these days as noted in your link.
My software engineer wife’s comments on women in her profession was they are mostly competent but all the brilliant engineers she worked with were men. She also preferred working with men because “way less drama”.
Wife loves ‘The Accountant’.
RE: The Danger for Westerners in Hong Kong–Beware!
The PRC proceeds in its takeover of Hong Kong as a new “national security law,” Article 23, was put into effect, which, according to reports, is so broad in what it considers a crime, that if you criticized China or the CCP in some way here in the U.S. (you know that China tries to keep tabs on these things, right?) and happened to take a tour which stopped at Hong Kong, or had a layover at the airport in Hong Kong, Hong Kong authorities could conceivably arrest you for, say, “external interference,” prosecute, and imprison you for a long, long time.*
I thought james norton last seem in mcmafia or henry cavill would fit the role better
TJ @11:19pm,
Your examples don’t refute Klavan’s theory, they correspond with it. Again, it has nothing to do with talent, it’s just that when you see a creative field (and yes, even computer programming is/was creative) being flooded with women it means it is past its nadir. Not because women lack creativity, but because men are more likely to flail away, often unsuccessfully, at risky, unproven things.
“But haven’t the Academy Award winning Kathryn Bigelow with 10 films, and the late Italian great Lina Wertmuller (influenced by Fellini) with 25, broken this pattern?”
No. That is the pattern.
When I was running Business Development (special deals + new products & markets) at an early-stage company, a woman in the company sales force came to see me several times to suggest that we should really be doing something with a certain kind of product she heard customers expressing interest in. Her case was convincing, and she came over to my organization to run a small pilot project to get the product built by some engineers and sold, initially by her. The pilot was successful, and we set up a full-fledged business unit focused on the market, with her now in charge of building out and running a national sales and marketing organization, which she did very well.
There’s an example of a woman choosing to do something relatively high-risk when she could have stayed with the mainstream sales organization and quickly been promoted to one of the sales management jobs within it.
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Jeez – Thank Karma I chose crime over parenting! 🙂
Wow. A gaggle of gingers.
Well done video. It was an interesting touch to have the mother fly to Minnesota to meet with the 18 year old set of quadruplets. I’m sure the Minnesotan mother would have gotten a lot out of a similar trip, 14 or 15 years earlier. Also very interesting ending with the first day the girls are allowed to choose their own outfits. The husband and wife come across as salt of the Earth people. The girls are in very good hands.
Wow, I can’t believe I watched the whole video but when I started I had so much delight just watching those beautiful children and their lovely mom. Years ago when we lived in Dallas we had a friend who had triplet girls and that was an adventure for her, she could not handle taking all three out at one time until they were almost three years old because they were so adventurous and noisy. The dad was a doctor so they had enough money for live in help with the youngsters and the mom said they needed that extra help with her three.
Thank you for a pleasant 45 minutes this morning while I finished my coffee.
Yesterday huxley wrote a comment that has me thinking…
https://www.thenewneo.com/2024/03/23/open-thread-3-23-24/#comment-2730619
He writes about a “Star Wars” prequel, which I have no interest in, because I’m a grown man 🙂 , however, he writes that it, like much of Disney’s recent output, appears to be uninspiring dreck.
huxley writes:
This leads me to think about a larger question I’ve been pondering over the past, several years. Dr. Jordan Peterson provided much of the insight that has been driving my thought on the subject. Why is storytelling (scriptwriting, movie making, novel writing, rock lyric writing, producing and performing…) dominated by men?
First, let me state there have been many truly great female story tellers in all those genres, and some of them are at the very pinnacle of their chosen professions; Mary Shelley, the Bronte Sisters, Joni Mitchell, and on, and on…
Andrew Klavan (who, with Dr. Peterson, has shaped my thought on several subjects in recent years) states that you can tell an artform is dead when you see women entering the field. Not because of any talent imbalance among the sexes, but because women are capable of creating actual, real life, men tend to obsess about creating artificial “life” i.e. the arts. (Circling back to huxley, notice you see no female names in the current list of AI progenitors.) And, it is in the early, chaotic days of a new artform that you see much of the innovative, brilliant work done. Also, in those early days an artform is often unsafe, or risky. Therefore, when you see women flooding in it is a sign the artform is past it’s initial, innovative phase and is now “safe.” It has been “played out.”
Dr. Peterson is an expert on stories and archetypes. When he talks about males and story telling he states that boys and young men need heroic figures and archetypes to understand their purpose. For most women their purpose is innate, but boys need to learn their purpose. So most all cultures develop structures and stories that encourage boys to undertake the “heroes journey.”
(I’ll state an aside on this topic in a second comment.)
UN passes cease fire resolution. I hope Israel gives them the middle finger. And the US fails to issue a veto. So sad.
(my aside)
One of my children, a female, is particularly interested in books and storytelling. In her teen years she was hearing much from the culture about “patriarchy,” etc. To help her to not buy into the sophomoric garbage she was hearing I sat her down and initiated conversations about some of her favorite books and films.
Several had female protagonists. That trend was very popular at the time and there were a lot of authors, especially female authors, writing a lot of stuff, and some of it was quite good; telling girls’ and womens’ stories from a perspective few male authors could manage.
However, I focused on the stories with male protagonists and helped her to see that even in those stories, women were most always the heroes.
One example: Hermione is the hero of “Harry Potter.” She not only saves Harry and Ron countless times, but she patiently stays by their sides and leads them to maturity. Had she not met Harry Potter, Hermione would have likely been roughly the same adult, seven years later. But had Harry not met Hermione?!
As she and I worked through her bookshelf we noticed that theme over and over again; stories “about” damaged or feckless young men that featured heroic women guiding them to be something better. Again, Dr. Peterson has had a lot to say on this subject.
RTF,
As an aside to your post: The Disney Board is up for election and there are 2 candidates who have them running scared, one of whom was the Disney CFO for a couple of decades. They are running under the banner, “Restore the Magic”. Disney has been mounting a huge social media campaign against these two, while many of the comments I’ve seen support them as the need for a complete shakeup. I’m not sure how much they can do if elected as they would be 2 of 12, but interesting the status quo is fighting so hard.
And more to your point: I watched the entire culture of higher ed change as over the last 24 years the faculty went from male dominated to equity, to finally female dominated. OK, higher ed women tend to be on the harpy side, but the cultural shift and their influence in that happening was hard to miss.
(you knew this was coming… 🙂 a second aside)
There is a term for a syndrome that many claim affects female storytelling in today’s Hollywood; “The Mary Sue.”
from wikipedia
There is a huge push in Hollywood to hire teams of women and tell “women’s stories.” Mary Sue’ism is a reason so many of these efforts do not garner an audience*. These stories are not organic. If your heroine has to be better than all those around her there can be no story arc. This is why Batman movies do better than Superman movies at the box office.
*There is a second, common approach that also, almost always fails; take an existing story about a man or men and swap in female characters.
No one wants to see the acolyte thats the wonder of it
Actually the nolan films did better the snyder films
The first marvel films under the paramount umbrella same then they threw out what
worked after 2019
physicsguy,
I am aware. It is sad to see what has been done with the truly unique and magical company that Walt Disney built. The Disney company formed so much of our culture since its inception. It is depressing to see the brand Walt Disney built being used to destroy the image of America and humanity that he had.
From TV Tropes:
Prime Minister’s Office: ‘USA changed position, no delegation to Washington’, Prime Minister Netanyahu has canceled an Israeli delegation to Washington to discuss the operation in Rafah due to the American refusal to veto a resolution in the UN Security Council.: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/387338
Clarity may (must?) begin to dawn for those inattentives out there in both polities. I hope a change of regime in America can bring repair to a one healthy alliance, but won’t hold my breath on it.
For a few years now, billionaire investor Nelson Peltz has been attempting to wrest control of Disney away from current CEO Bob Iger. There’s a big shareholder meeting happening on April Fools Day that may determine a lot.
an artform is often unsafe, or risky
I think that is one of the main reasons. I work in open source, and everything is risky in the beginning, no one is paid, no one knows if the project will survive or die, and the survival rate is very small. In the early days of the project I am mostly involved with these days, there was one female developer, and she was very good. And there have been none in the 16 years since. Oh, a few minor fixes here and there for documentation typos and such, but nothing major. These days most of the developers are actually being paid, and women have showed up, but in traditional roles, not writing code.
Things are what they are, attempts to force equity seem to run up against human nature.
Appeals Court Slashes Trump’s Bond to $175 Million in $454 Million Civil Fraud Judgment
Did James’ ‘Train’ just derail
mary sues seem very sullen felicity jones daisy ridley, I guess Amy Adams is supposed to be very serious as lois, in the snyder films, I didn’t realize how wooden natalie portman was till later,
are there pod people running the studios, rhetorical,
I’m beginning to wonder if the IDF has pulled off a tremendous coup. The siege of the Shifa hospital is ongoing, and the terrorists are putting up stiff resistance, including shelling some hospital buildings. Hundreds of terrorist fighters have been killed or arrested. Which leaders are there who are so important to call for this from the Hamas viewpoint?
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2024/03/return-to-shifa-contd.php
Andrew Klavan (who, with Dr. Peterson, has shaped my thought on several subjects in recent years) states that you can tell an artform is dead when you see women entering the field
==
Novels, plays, verse, and short fiction are dead art forms?
“Appeals Court Slashes Trump’s Bond to $175 Million in $454 Million Civil Fraud Judgment”
Somebody just blinked, or perhaps sobered up a wee bit? But, actually now anytime the state does something that the media can help make seem more normal, it is possibly to their advantage. In this case they have backed off from the totally preposterous to the exceptionally unreasonable.
I hope they don’t learn the lesson too well. You see, the faster their runaway train is going when it gets to the bridge out, the bigger splash and explosion it will make!
its largely on life support, the appeals bench is largely npc in new york state, from my sources, so magic eightball doesnt suggest much chance of success,
thought crime reduced to 5 quatloos,
Mike Gallagher is leaving Congress on April 19th. According to Wisconsin law, if he resigned and left before April 9th, there would have to be a special election to fill the seat. If he goes after April 9th, the seat will remain vacant until January. This does suggest that there may be a point to the conspiracy theories.
Maybe enough Republicans will resign to make Hakim Jeffries speaker. If Democrats vote as a bloc (which they usually do) they could declare Trump an insurrectionist and create a massive mess at election time. The new Congress will be sworn in before the electoral votes are counted on January 6th, but if Democrats do lose one or both Houses of Congress (unlikely) I wouldn’t put it past them to move up the electoral vote count. If anybody here brought up the conspiracy theory and I dismissed it, you were right.
Also, Gallagher’s vote against the Mayorkas impeachment could be explained by his move to Palantir, a company that does a lot of work for DHS, as well as DOD. Palantir co-founder Peter Theil’s recent coolness to Donald Trump might also be explained by Palantir’s Deep State connections.
Calling art forms dead is pejorative or polemical and distracts from the insight that some art forms are risky and pioneering and attract risk-takers, and others are older and established and not going through a productive or path-breaking phase.
whats the last new genuinely interesting novel or film or tv program have you seen recently, and why do you think that is,
the acolyte, was going to be hot garbage, because hesland, her job with weinstein, who probably didn’t do much worse than other hollywood moguls,
the Black Widow film, has a thinly disguised weinstein manque as a Russian
spymaster, played by Ray Winstone, the irony is if wasn’t for Weinstein and Allen, to cite too examples, well her career would still in character studies no one watched, if that
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidjeans/2024/03/22/china-hawk-rep-mike-gallagher-is-taking-a-job-at-palantir/t
Busy thread today!
Trump faces more serious threat than the Democrats — instead, it’s the traitorous RINO class, mostly within the DC beltway and hangers on.
Troy Smith explains why the recent Congressional resignation by Michael Gallagher, WI-R, threatens to empower Ds to get Trump tossed from the ballot by passing a simple bill.
In one line: “…the Republican Party is just one retirement away from losing their majority in the House, and once again handing unilateral control of Washington D.C. to the Democratic Party and Joe Biden.”
THIS would be a disaster and should launch a Civil War of disobedience, at the very least.
MORE from Troy Smith:
“The Republican Party currently holds just 218 seats in the House, while the Democrats currently hold 213. Colorado Representative Ken Buck officially vacated his seat on Friday, March 22nd, pulling the Republican majority down an additional seat.
“Once Mike Gallagher departs on April 19th, the House Republican majority will have shrunk to just 217, the bare minimum needed to advance legislation in the body. As it stands, the Republican Party is just one retirement away from losing their majority in the House, and once again handing unilateral control of Washington D.C. to the Democratic Party and Joe Biden.
“Revealing an apparent sinister nature to Gallagher’s retirement, and the timing of the decision, Wisconsin law would afford a special election for Republicans to elect his replacement if Gallagher had just retired days earlier. If Gallagher had chosen to leave office anytime before the second Tuesday in April, a special election to choose his replacement would have occurred.
“Since Gallagher has decided to retire on the 19th, the second Friday of April, his seat will remain vacated until it is eventually filled by the winner of the 8th district of Wisconsin in the 2024 Election.”
Which means the threat of only one death or resignation in Congress will persist for over 7 months and put us into Hell.
“The RINO Plan To Ban Trump From The 2024 Ballot Is Underway” by Troy Smith https://slingshot.news/exclusive-the-rino-plan-to-ban-trump-from-the-2024-ballot-is-underway/
the writer of one of her starring vehicles, the black dahlia, josh friedman, has gone on to helm cameron’s latests avatar films, and the thoroughly downscale adaptation of foundation,
When so much is being produced nothing really stands out. That’s one reason why long form TV series have replaced films. It’s a lot easier to remember the television shows of the last 20 years than the films. They make a deeper impression. But that was in the cable era. Now that everything is moving to streaming, and TV has already exploited so much material, maybe television series will become more forgettable. Films aren’t likely to reclaim their dominance, though — not when everything is a sequel, a remake, or a reboot.
well take streaming, there are a few items, like slough horses, for instance, but thats mostly due to the original source material, and a strong performance by gary oldman, a much more realistic portrayal of spy doings than say MI-5 which had a lot of gloss,
Jane Austin, Agatha Christi are not avaliable for response, Andrew.
Swing and a miss.
Exceptional talent and insight may not be chromasomal?
*WARNING* – harsh content coming – *WARNING* – any pro-Russian or pro-ISIS board members should stop reading here.
It has been an exciting few days for humble me – watching Russians being killed and ISIS suspects being captured and tortured.
Russia has been murdering, raping, and torturing Ukrainian babies, children, teenagers, and adult females & males for over 2-years now—and now, they want to punish Ukrainians some more for what ISIS recently did to them in Moscow. Meanwhile, neo-Nazi Russian officer who cut off killer’s ear wore a neo-Nazi patch – after Russia falsely claimed and still claims that Ukraine is the Nazi haven, when in fact it is Russia that is filled with Nazis!?! You can’t make this stuff up!
ISIS – these madmen have been beheading, murdering, blowing up people ‘n ‘Thangs, throwing people off building, and a list of atrocities too long to mention. Ditto on the Meanwhile, ISIS is upset at how their terrorists are being treated by Russia – ISIS threatens to ‘massacre’ Putin and Russians and says Moscow attack terrorists’ torture ‘has increased our bloodlust’.
Life on Earth is a *LOT* like Life in a Prison…
You’re new to this, when Stalin killed 40 million of his own people, the world cheered, same as with Mao’s 60 million, the New York Times from Duranty to Salisbury made all sorts of excuses for the former, how many Sinologists groveled at the latter’s feet, like aspiring concubines, the Times has never returned Duranty’s pulitzer apologist for the former, nor Matthews toe sucking Fidel, or
well need I go on, perhaps Schamberg’s exploration of year zero was the only bright light in their firmament, of course we saw how the Wandering Comas passing was seen by all the ‘right people’ like that of their favorite uncle
the Posts latin American correspondents, is the son in law of Cuban and East German spymasters, thats the current ones
who poses a bigger immediate threat to our liberties
https://thenationalpulse.com/2024/03/25/shall-be-infringed-new-gun-grab-laws-criminalizes-shooting-ranges-private-security/
yes much is made of bandera, a warlord who killed as many poles and jews as Soviets but who fought off Warsaw pact forces for four years in the Carpathian mountains, that is why they hold him in high esteem
sdferr @12:00pm,
Yet, do you predict there will be much change in the voting habits of Jewish Americans this November?
There are good movies, books, and music out there, but the talent pool is diluted and they are difficult to find. I find myself watching movies and TV shows I’ve already seen, since the hunt for fresh content is so frustratingly unsuccessful.
Art Deco @12:52pm,
Yes, according to a definition annunciated by Klavan, with which I happen to agree. And he now adds film to that category. “Played out” may be a better term.
We still marvel at the early art of the Renaissance. Of the 100 best paintings in the world, or statues in the world, what percent were done after 1800, or so? And then movie making became an art form. Look at the percentages of films most agree are great and when they were made. The percentages are lopsided towards the beginning, when the field is ripe for innovation and innovators are drawn to it.
I notice when you post videos to recorded music you appreciate it none of it is from the past 40 years, or so. 😉
so the inventory comes back to older material, one didn’t even look askance at before, either on britbox or these jury rigged outfits,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cckxCdTsWyw&t=3383s
miguel+cervantes at 1:35 pm asks us: “what’s the last new genuinely interesting novel or film or tv program have you seen recently, and why do you think that is?”
In Hollywood film, “The Accountant” (2016) because of its surprising twists and uniquely powerful portrait of an Aspie (Asperger’s Syndrome, reduced to ‘Spectrum Disorders’ today) accountant who works for the mob, or mobs. It is exceptionally re-watchable.
But I’m biased because film noir is my favorite genre, and also because I have a life-long Aspie-buddy and too many Aspie GFs and dates to count.
From Germany, “The Lives of Others” by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, which won Best Foreign Film at the Academy. But has it been outdone by his more recent film, “Never Look Away” (2018).
In ‘Never Look Away’, we witness a re-working of materials and some themes familiar from ”Lives,” but with an opposite story arc. In place of ironic tragedy, we something rather opposite — a coming of age tale, borrowing from two German artist’s biographies, transformed into inspiration.
From IMDB: “Young artist Kurt Barnert (Tom Schilling) has fled to West Germany but continues to be tormented by the experiences of his childhood and youth in the Nazi years and during the GDR-regime. When he meets student Ellie (Paula Beer), he is convinced that he has met the love of his life and starts to create paintings that mirror not only his own fate, but also the traumas of an entire generation.”
Painterly and composed — THIS is like Ingmar Bergman with a pulse.
At the Washington Post, Ann Hornaday wrote, “The title of ‘Never Look Away’ is deliciously ironic: This is one of the most mesmerizing, compulsively watchable films in theaters right now.”
Of course, she wrote the year of its release. I’ve only viewed the last two-thirds some months ago on cable. I am yet to view it completely.
But the impact it made on me is profound and pleasurable, wishing others to view this magnificent and transporting 189 minute film.
I was so deeply impressed that I scoured the reviews on MetaCritic to weigh other admirers perceptions, and to test if they comport with mine. Those most praising compared it to “Lives of Others” more favourably. It’s even better.
Ben Roph concludes, “Never Look Away is a masterpiece of luminous beauty, capturing a fiction that is enhanced by reality. The cinematography is the best I’ve ever seen, it has an all-powerful quality that overwhelms beyond all images captured before. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s vision is one of wonder, beauty, sorrow and expression. It is an over-powering experience unlike any other, this is cinema at its height of her powers.”
https://discussingfilm.net/2019/07/02/never-look-away-review-a-masterpiece-of-luminous-beauty/
“Never Look Away…All things true are beautiful”, Kurt’s mother counsels him when he’s small and just a boy. He stays true to her words — despite all obstacles.
yes the accountant is not bad, but that was like seven years ago,
It’s not within my ken, Rufus — quite apart from my general reluctance to make predictions.
Evenso, the way matters between the Bidenettes and Israel are going I won’t be surprised if Jewish voters start to change their preferences in large numbers this election season.
Particularly when (ha! prediction coming, though not mine! It’s Mike Doran’s.) the Bidenettes unilaterally recognize a “Palestinian” state in mid-summer.
om @2:00pm and Abraxas @1:29pm,
Andrew Klavan lauds Jane Austen often. His own daughter is a writer as is his sister-in-law and he is a big fan of their work. And they are both very talented.
His statement has nothing to do with women’s creative talents. It has to do with men. In the early stages of any art movement it is typically men, often impoverished, obsessed men, playing with experimental tools, chemicals and materials, often in unhealthy locations and conditions.
Oil paints, still and motion photography, stained glass, mosaics, sculpture, the graffiti movement in the ’80s and ’90s. How many of the teens, hanging upside down from elevated train bridges over urban streets at 2am, spray painting murals where females? Neo just posted a video about Buster Keaton. It was the early days of film and he was risking his life daily figuring out new techniques, that sometimes backfired and harmed him. Look at the video game industry that exploded in the ’90s. And look where it is now with “gamergate.” Science fiction writing. It’s a pattern that repeats over and over.
The point is not that women are not as creative as men. It’s that they are not typically as desperate as men. When a large enough percentage of young women are willing to risk their future on a career like writing for television, so much so that half or more of the writers’ rooms are females, it is a signal that television writing is now a safe profession. “Played out.” In 1950, when Mel Brooks told his mother he took a job writing for Sid Caesar’s, “Show of Shows” his mother wondered when Mel was going to grow up and get a real job, like his brothers. Now, if Mary Smith calls her parents and tells them she got a job writing on a new sitcom for Netflix her parents can’t wait to brag to their Country Club.
It’s time to roll into Rafah.
sdferr,
Unfortunately many people prefer punishing an enemy to embracing a compatriot. I think far too many American Jews still enjoy the two dimensional cartoon of an evil Trump coming for their freedoms over the reality that his administration was one of the most beneficial for the Jewish American cause in U.S. history. Understanding the Democrat Party and ascendant “Squad” are not their friends means having to let go of the comfort of TDS.
The evil wolf is ravenous: https://mindfulfamilymedicine.com/the-tale-of-the-two-wolves-which-one-are-you-feeding/
Trump Defends! (8:02) — https://youtu.be/gdO7tFfVFYw?si=yt1iBz5Lpf-Fo6-B
Nearly every country on earth is itching to recognize a Palestinian state. So why haven’t they? The answer is obvious. Palestinians would never accept the borders those nations would recognize.
New TV quality series:
Extraordinary Attorney Woo….best of K series, follow with Crash Landing on You.
Be careful, you may get hooked on K dramas/romcoms and never go back to US TV
For those of you who might have Netflix, there is a new series called “The Judge Dee Mysteries”. It is a Chinese production with English subtitles. The series is based on books by Robert van Gulik. A long time ago there was a series done in English. Some innocent fun.
Physicguy, my Wife watches all the Korean TV series. She is hooked
Rufus T Firefly:
So men are played out and aren’t driven to create art? So what is Andrew doing in a dying field, and how long has it been pining for the fijords?
I enjoy Andrew’s humor but I haven’t followed him closely in the last year it so.
Wokeness tends to smother thought and art, is that his point?
Rufus T Firefly…” I think far too many American Jews still enjoy the two dimensional cartoon of an evil Trump coming for their freedoms over the reality that his administration was one of the most beneficial for the Jewish American cause in U.S. history.”
It’s not just Trump, it’s also Trump *supporters*, and, more broadly, a whole set of Americans. See my post The Phobia(s) That May Destroy America:
https://ricochet.com/548927/the-phobias-that-may-destroy-america-2/
https://twitter.com/SaysSimonson/status/1772341769264308461
Physicguy, my Wife watches all the Korean TV series. She is hooked.
SHIREHOME:
The Filipina wife of my lay minister friend is hooked on Korean culture. She’s a busy person, but she studies Korean part-time and wishes to visit Korea.
A language learning acquaintance is studying Korean for the same reason.
I’m studying French because I fell in love with the culture. I think it’s like falling in love with a person. You don’t exactly choose it, but if it happens, you best run with it.
Here I’ll straightup contradict m’self and make a soothsaying to which I expect to be held accountable: the Orioles will win the AL East in 2024! How’s about them apples?!
These Republican retirements from the House, specifically the ones that are leaving Congress early, strike me as particularly pathetic and faithless people. Especially this Gallagher fellow. Reason: they signed up to serve for a two-year term. Not one-and-a-half, not one-and-three-quarters — TWO.
Take Gallagher’s case in particular: given the timing and legal ramifications of his departure, what he is essentially doing — quite aside from the damage he inflicts on his caucus in the House — is stiffing all of his constituents in his district, because there will be no one to represent them in any way in D. C. until the next election, leaving them even more voiceless in the imperial capital than usual. To me, that’s even lower than RINO-level. I wonder if anyone has had a heart-to-heart with him about this fact.
TJ: thanks for the tip about “The Accountant”. Haven’t seen that one.
I have seen “The Lives of Others” and “Never Look Away” by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. The first is a masterpiece but it’s almost twenty years old now. The second is also excellent but (in my view) could have used some tighter editing. I think the phrase “Never look away” was uttered by the hero’s beautiful young aunt–the one who took him to the Decadent Art exhibit in Dresden and who loved to hear all the buses in the city bus depot sound their horns. And who was declared mentally unstable and killed by the Nazis in their euthanasia program–the movie’s ugliest scene.
Recently finished watching “Hell on Wheels” (2011-2016), “Manhattan” (2014-2015), and “SS-GB” (2017) on streaming video. All good.
Gallagher is taking a bullshit grifter job so I doubt heart to heart will matter to this turd. He is compromised or bought or both otherwise leave a couple of weeks sooner. More trash.
huxley @8:04pm,
It was love of a very pretty young woman that drove me to learn German.
Dieses Jahr feiern wir unseren 34ste Hochzeitstag.
om @5:14pm,
It’s not about art, or creativity, it’s about human nature.
There are people alive today who can paint so closely to Rembrandt’s style it is indistinguishable from an actual Rembrandt. There are trumpet players who can imitate Miles Davis. Film makers who can copy Fellini.
There are always extremely talented people. Men and women.
The people on the cutting edge; the early impressionists and early cubists, the early be-bop musicians, are often obsessives. “Starving artist” is a term for a reason.
In the early days of a new art movement there are generally a lot more men than women. My wife is 1,000 times a better photographer than I am, but 150 years ago when photography meant messing with toxic chemicals and flash powder and lugging very heavy equipment you didn’t see a lot of women messing with it. The fact that every minute of every day millions of teen girls are taking a dozen selfies is an indication that it is a mature art form. It doesn’t mean someone, very possibly a woman, won’t take an incredibly artistic photo tomorrow. But the bulk of the creative and inventive work in the field is already done. The early adopters, photographers working 100 years ago, figured out the camera angles, lighting, exposure times… and made the technology to make it all easy.
That’s what Andrew Klavan is saying.
Our host catches us up with Israel related news today. Let me add a related film and pop culture icon note: the New James Bond will be Jewish.
On a negative note, hecklers threaten to boycott the film franchise, if hired, they say.
“Fans call for boycott of James Bond movie because of Jewish actor”.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson, tall, dark and handsome at 33 years old. Last week, Barbara Broccoli said all that remains is a contract signing. Other sources suggest a couple more hurdles remain to make it official.
Aaron Taylor Johnson grew up in Buckinghamshire, UK, North of London, from English-Russian Jewish parents.
I think he’s been my choice too, from the short list disclosed in January.
Ex-Bond, Pierce Brosnan endorsed Cillian Murphy (“Oppenheimer” star).
But like Idris Alba, both are too old for the role.
A fourth eligible, whom I cannot recall just now, was too young or too short and too insubstantial, I thought.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson been quite active in film roles and has transitioned to action roles in the recent “Bullet Train” as well as he lead in this May’s “Fall Guy”.
But I first saw his chops in Joe Wright’s (p“Anna Karenina” (2012), playing Vronsky. He was quite good — better than Joe Wright’s film, in fact), and that was at around age 20!
But back to the brickbats in the story from Israel National News,
“Fans call for boycott of James Bond movie because of Jewish actor”.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/387299
Not only do the insults seem to come from the Left, the very-Right leaning Free Republic.com site’s thread on this story lacked detectable Jew Hate.
Aaron is the correct choice to be Bond. Let the signing commence!
Hubert on the mom’s NOT uttering to young Kurt “Never look away”, but an Aunt — yes, you are right. I stand corrected. (But it’s also in the first third or so that I missed in my January Cable TV Channel hotel room first look.)
On your point that “Never Look Away” needing editing? I think many who downgrade this and esteem “Lives of Others” higher feel the same way you do.
But my take with the long takes is that taking in and absorbing art work is better than quick takes. Because I majored in art history, perhaps I am too different or too deferential? My citation of other reviews reversing the two films suggests otherwise, I think. Regardless, it gets a high 7.9 by amateur reviewers at MetaCritic — compared to 8.4 for “Lives” at IMDB. A half point difference.
I don’t think ‘close enough’ only applies to the game of Horse Shoes.
Re: James Bond
T J:
Interesting. The final, disappointing Bond film, in which Daniel Craig ***SPOILER ALERT*** sacrifices himself, seemed to leave a young female black agent to be the new 007. It sure looked like the plan. Though there was already backlash then.
Perhaps the Bond producers have noticed that gender/race swapping has reached its expiration date.
It would be quite a surprising step to see a Jewish male Bond.
Chases Eagles at 9:21 pm writes: House Rep. Michael “Gallagher is taking a bullshit grifter job so I doubt heart to heart will matter to this turd. He is compromised or bought…”
Indeed. I think so, too. And I think that’s the real behind-the-scenes bidding war going with other R-squishes in Congress.
I SERIOUSLY fear this outcome — perhaps most likely coming by May or June. Cause for trepidations.
TJ at 1:43 says:
“Once Mike Gallagher departs on April 19th, the House Republican majority will have shrunk to just 217, the bare minimum needed to advance legislation in the body.”
This does not make sense to me. The Democrats still have only 213 seats. How does 213 beat 217? Isn’t the rule that majority rules, where majority is defined as the number of sitting elected members of Congress? And even if it is a majority of all possible seats, how do the Democrats get to 217 votes? And why is it 217? 50% + 1 is 218 votes.
Rufus T., wir freuen uns um euretwegen!
On Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the next Bond actor: based on the photos from my quick search, I hope they cast him as clean shaven and with a 50’s medium/ short hair length. Bearded or with “lots of hair” will ruin the image, I believe.
[Maybe they could make him look “disreputable” as part of some plot where he goes undercover, but that is not the usual Bond role.]
Just my prejudice.
Huxley, but on your Bond spoiler alert, in Western culture there has been only one man ever resurrected after death.
Oh, wait: Doyle brought back Holmes, so I suppose any semi-credible plot line is possible.
But the Craig ending did seem pretty definitive!
huxley in The Plan — as many thought after Craig’s final outing. But follow- the-money movie making suggests otherwise.
There was indeed a fear than Bond might be sex-swapped or even Karened. But Gal Gadot already has her Wonder Woman gig. So, Bond goes female was a no-go.
“Perhaps the Bond producers have noticed that gender/race swapping has reached its expiration date.” One sure hopes so. But still not Bob Iger at Disney, sadly.
“It would be quite a surprising step to see a Jewish male Bond.” Really?
When the make-up of Englander’s is now so wildly…diverse? I could imagine an English-Indian actor doing it, but I don’t follow that undoubtedly deep talent pool.
Going back to Rufus at 2:53PM. Back to Klavan, “The point is not that women are not as creative as men. It’s that they are not typically as desperate as men.”
Maybe. But besides the risk-taking men pioneering new artistic genres, what else explains the huge output gap?
If making a career out of it matters more to men, how is ‘desperation’ measured?
In film history, women’s careers show us a repeated pattern with the best women having shorter careers and smaller output than men. Possibly from misogyny, cry feminists. Well, again, how do you measure it?
Both Ida Lupino in Hollywood and Leni Riefenstahl in Germany fit this, nearly a century ago. More recently, both Penny Marshall and Sofia Coppola — who directed one of my top ten films of two different decades — do, too.
But haven’t the Academy Award winning Kathryn Bigelow with 10 films, and the late Italian great Lina Wertmuller (influenced by Fellini) with 25, broken this pattern? So it seems. Points against the feminist critique!
But manly (existential) ‘desperation’ remains on the table.
“It would be quite a surprising step to see a Jewish male Bond.” Really?
T J:
Just that Jewish isn’t the ethnic flavor of the month these days as noted in your link.
My software engineer wife’s comments on women in her profession was they are mostly competent but all the brilliant engineers she worked with were men. She also preferred working with men because “way less drama”.
Wife loves ‘The Accountant’.
RE: The Danger for Westerners in Hong Kong–Beware!
The PRC proceeds in its takeover of Hong Kong as a new “national security law,” Article 23, was put into effect, which, according to reports, is so broad in what it considers a crime, that if you criticized China or the CCP in some way here in the U.S. (you know that China tries to keep tabs on these things, right?) and happened to take a tour which stopped at Hong Kong, or had a layover at the airport in Hong Kong, Hong Kong authorities could conceivably arrest you for, say, “external interference,” prosecute, and imprison you for a long, long time.*
* See https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/25/hong-kong-article-23-national-security-law?ref=upstract.com
I thought james norton last seem in mcmafia or henry cavill would fit the role better
TJ @11:19pm,
Your examples don’t refute Klavan’s theory, they correspond with it. Again, it has nothing to do with talent, it’s just that when you see a creative field (and yes, even computer programming is/was creative) being flooded with women it means it is past its nadir. Not because women lack creativity, but because men are more likely to flail away, often unsuccessfully, at risky, unproven things.
“But haven’t the Academy Award winning Kathryn Bigelow with 10 films, and the late Italian great Lina Wertmuller (influenced by Fellini) with 25, broken this pattern?”
No. That is the pattern.
When I was running Business Development (special deals + new products & markets) at an early-stage company, a woman in the company sales force came to see me several times to suggest that we should really be doing something with a certain kind of product she heard customers expressing interest in. Her case was convincing, and she came over to my organization to run a small pilot project to get the product built by some engineers and sold, initially by her. The pilot was successful, and we set up a full-fledged business unit focused on the market, with her now in charge of building out and running a national sales and marketing organization, which she did very well.
There’s an example of a woman choosing to do something relatively high-risk when she could have stayed with the mainstream sales organization and quickly been promoted to one of the sales management jobs within it.