A Streetcar Named Desire
In contrast to On the Waterfront (1954), this film—also directed by Elia Kazan— feels dated although it is only three years older than On the Waterfront. Brando’s acting is not at fault. It is impeccable. The film has the timeless theme of the battle between men and women. But it is so much grounded in the Zeitgeist of the immediate post World War II period that we no longer can easily relate to what moves the characters. In fifty years from now, nobody may be able to relate to what people in New York felt during the first month after September 11. The film, based on the play by Tennessee Williams, takes place in a small apartment in the French quarter of New Orleans. In this particular version of the battle of sexes, the energy that makes the sparks fly derives from the differences in the backgrounds and characters of the two protagonists. He is working class, hot-headed, dominating, realistic, violent and full of life; she is aristocratic, shy, unstable, nymphomaniac, unrealistic, and on the decline. With an updated social context, this would still be fantastic material for a drama.
Election
Unlike his later masterpieces About Schmidt and Sideways, this film lacks existential gravity. Instead of directing it as a comedy, Payne should have cast it as a drama with comic scenes. This is the style he uses in his later movies. But you can see already here Payne’s immense ability to bring onto the screen the social psychology of contemporary America.
Kinsey
Kinsey is quilt-like, stringing together scenes that are crafted with brillance and others that are poorly conceived and enacted. I wish the writer-director had spent a little more time removing the occasional second rate material from the film. What makes the movie charming is our amazement about how far western society has travelled in only 60 years when it comes to talking and thinking about sex. Kinsey interviewed thousands of Americans of all races and classes in the 1940s and recorded their sexual biographies. The strongest scene in the entire film happens shortly after Kinsey’s mother passes away and when Kinsey asks his unappreciating, dictatorial father to sit for one these scientific interviews. To appreciate the situation, think about how you would react to finding out everything about your parent’s sexual history…
The Bourne Surpremacy
This is one the best action based dramas I have seen in a long time. The sequel is dramatically better than the first film in the franchise, The Bourne Identity. Call it a James Bond movie for the adult mind. 007 is not a real human being and his employer, the British secret service, is not a real bureaucratic organization. Unlike real humans beings James Bond does not fall in love with any of the beautiful women he has “relations” with. One exception: Once Bond does fall in love with his female counterpart (Diana Riggs) and gets married. But conveniently his wife is killled on the way to the honeymoon so that James is “free” for another beautiful woman in the next movie. The British secret service similarly is a fictionalized organization in which every employee like a good soldier works toward a common goal. Jason Bourne, by contrast, fell in love in the Bourne Identity and he works for an fractionalized and infighting CIA.
Brian Mehldau “Live in Tokyo”
I have been listening for the past week to this wonderful CD and cannot get enough of it. Mehldau’s jazz piano is very reminiscent of Keith Jarrett. But there is something wonderfully lightfooted about the tunes that he assembled in this recording, making his sound quite distinct from Jarrett’s.
Sideways
Some time ago I came to the conclusion that film is the highest art form for it can combine all means of communication: words, pictures and music. It comes closest to how we actually experience life and in the hands of a competent director, movies can make you forget completely your own reality for two hours. Watching Alexander Payne’s Sideways reaffirmed my conviction that film is the pinnacle of art. Payne is one of the masters of contemporary cinema. He picks excellent novels and then turns them into fantastic motion pictures. Sideways just like his previous masterpiece About Schmidt reaches deep into the human heart. Two college buddies who have seen better days spend seven days touring the wine region around Santa Barbara, California. Jack is about to get married in a week and his old buddy Miles, who is deeply depressed over his failed marriage, wants to take Jack out for a week of prenuptial fun. On the surface, Jack in his happy-go-lucky way seems to be the polar opposite of Miles and his pessimistic approach to life. But both of them are joined at the hip in their ability to screw things up for themselves. While Mile’s notion of a fun week means tasting a lot of good wine and playing some golf, Jack is eager to revise his buddies plans in unpredictable ways. Jack diagnoses on the second morning of their weeklong journey that both of them badly need to get some action during this week. Joining them for a week in California is richly rewarding because Payne embellishes the California landscape with beautiful drama and music. If you are a wine connoisseur, this is definitely a movie you will savor.
Write your own post-election editorial
One thing is for sure: There has not been in recent memory a U.S. presidential election that witnessed such a large number of people deeply emotionally involved in the contest. Democrats woke up on Wednesday disbelieving that the electorate would keep Bush as the leader of the nation. Republicans were, predictably, ecstatic that despite a relatively bad economy and Iraq spiraling out of control, a majority of Americans chose George Bush as the next president. George now has a mandate to fix the problems he has created. Prayer is probably not going to be an effective solution to the mess in Iraq. Since Islam just like Christianity only recognizes one God, Bush and the insurgent Iraqis are effectively praying to the same god. As far as I can tell, the Iraqis seem to pray at least as much as George Bush and the American public. Hence trying to outpray the opposition does not seem to be a very promising strategy 
. If you want to write your own post-election editorial, here is a funny start.
The Notebook
I asked the stewardess just after the plane had taken off: “Do you know what movie is going to be shown today?” “The Notebook,” she replied. “It is a chick flick, but it is really good.” The film turned out to be a love story where everything goes right. When misfortune seems to deliver a fatal blow to the bliss of the charming young lovers, a force intervenes to keep the story moving toward its happy end. If you want to take a break from the challenges of earthly romantic life, this film provides you an escape into fantasyland. The big advantage over “Titanic” is that the fiance who stands between the match made in heaven is a real nice guy. But don’t expect to get a deeper appreciation of your own life. This is all about what life could be…if it were a fantasy.
Edgar Allen Poe’s “Annabel Lee”
I found a wonderful poem by Edgar Allen Poe that possesses remarkable musicality.
It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.
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Losing one’s life in democratic elections
Until today I believed that the current elections in the U.S. are calm and civil compared to places like Ukraine where the oppositions candidate became very sick in the weeks leading up to this coming Sunday’s fateful election because he was apparently poisoned by the incumbent party. But then I read this short report about the famous Katherine Harris, who has a secure place George Bush’s Christmas card list for the foreseable future.
Katherine Harris Is Almost Hit by Car
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARASOTA, Fla., Oct. 27 (AP) -Representative Katherine Harris, Republican of Florida, and a group of supporters were almost hit by a speeding car on Tuesday evening, and the driver was charged on Wednesday with aggravated assault, the police said.
The driver, Barry M. Seltzer, 46, of Sarasota, told the police that he had been exercising “political expression.” Bystanders said a silver Cadillac sped through an intersection here and swerved onto the sidewalk. The car headed toward Ms. Harris before swerving and driving away, the police said. No one was injured.
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