STAGING | Erstwhile Flâneur, Philosopher

Denis Villeneuve’s “Incendies” (2010): Seeking Expiation

In Denis Villeneuve’s 2010 film "Incendies" siblings seek a brother and father never known to deliver letters from their recently deceased mother.

2021-10-17
On Film, Movies, Cinema Viewing Journal

Read, Viewed: September 2021

During September I finished reading "Shadow of the Torturer" a short story by Adalbert Stifter, luminary of 19th century German literature, and watched "Forbidden Games."

2021-10-10
Monthly Reading, Viewing Report

René Clément’s “Forbidden Games” (1952): Mourning as Indifference

"Forbidden Games" (1952) tells a story of how children, uninitiated in the rituals of mourning, recognize the loss of those dearest through substitution.

2021-09-20
On Film, Movies, Cinema Viewing Journal

Read, Viewed: August 2021

Moments of grace: finishing Lois Lowry’s "Number the Stars," Edith Wharton’s "Ethan Frome", and viewing again the 2000 film "Sexy Beast."

2021-09-04
Monthly Reading, Viewing Report

Read & Viewed: July 2021

What I read—James. M Cain, Galileo—was more memorable than what I viewed—”The Glory Stompers,” “Marnie”—during the month of July. The former does not include “Portnoy’s Complaint.”

2021-08-03
Monthly Reading, Viewing Report

Ain’t it cool?!: “John Wick” (2014)

The culture of the exotic, fascinating underworld thrills us in “John Wick,” not merely the well-choreographed gun-fu.

2021-07-26
On Film, Movies, Cinema Confessions of a Bad Movie Watcher

Read, Viewed: June 2021

In June, read Cain’s “Serenade,” watched Bogart’s “Sahara” (1943), carefully perused Red Sonja, and erred into surprising reflections on time and history in “Star Trek.”

2021-07-04
Monthly Reading, Viewing Report

“Collateral” (2004): Notes on Michael Mann and Modern Urban Space

Notes on the debt to “Miami Vice,” the treatment of urban space, and stylistic gunplay in Michael Mann’s 2004 film “Collateral,” which stars Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise.

2021-06-27
On Film, Movies, Cinema Viewing Journal

May 2021 Reading and Viewing: Glorious Consumption, Indeed

Any month (like May) that includes a viewing of “Miller’s Crossing” and a reading of Schiller’s “Don Carlos” is a monument to glorious, edifying cultural consumption.

2021-06-02
Monthly Reading, Viewing Report

Fred Hyatt: Not Enough Technology Pessimism!

A spirited response enjoining MORE pessimism to Fred Hyatt’s Washington Post editorial on technology and democracy

2021-05-28
On Ideas, Concepts, Intuitions

Satire or Misanthropy? “Solar,” by Ian McEwan

Ian McEwan’s 2010 novel “Solar” is a misanthropic retelling of ten years in the life of erstwhile Nobel Prize recipient Michael Beard

2021-05-23
On Literature, Books Reading Journal

Read and Viewed: April 2021

April truly was the cruellest month, but only because I read not a word of T.S. Eliot.

2021-05-06
Monthly Reading, Viewing Report

Joseph Losey’s “Accident” (1967): Elliptical yet fascinating

“Accident” narrates the sexual and professional tensions between an Oxford philosophy professor, his colleague, and his students, in events leading to the title event.

2021-04-11
Viewing Journal On Film, Movies, Cinema

Read and Watched: March 2021

Black history month extended 60 days, at least, reading through Mary Shelley and seeing my first Dick Powell film …

2021-04-01
Monthly Reading, Viewing Report

Affecting Song and W.E.B. Du Bois’ “Souls of Black Folk”

Each chapter of W.E.B. Du Bois’ “The Souls of Black Folk” begins with an excerpt of verse and a few bars of music, begging the question why this song?

2021-03-31
On Literature, Books Reading Journal