(I keep coming across this word in the William Boyd novel I'm reading)
Day two of my alone-time with Gabriel. On today's agenda: school, Panera Bread, Walmart (briefly), the Wildlife Center, and speech therapy. He might (but most likely might not) take a nap today and I'll watch another episode of the Secret Life of Masterpieces - I think Uccello is up next. Pizza for dinner tonight, maybe another walk - and hopefully a better night sleep.
Movie Review:
A Dangerous Method isn't much of a movie. It was hard to find any touches or trademarks of director David Cronenberg in it. I didn't know that it was based on Christopher Hampton's play of the same name (which itself was based on John Kerr's book A Most Dangerous Method), which explains the film's relentless talkiness and its few, constrained locations (though it is well-shot). It's kind of a boring film, but there are some pleasures to be had from it, most noticeably because of the cast: Michael Fassbender is Carl Jung, doing his revelatory work in psychoanalysis in Zurich; Viggo Mortensen is Sigmund Freud, not as financially well-off as Jung but seen as the father figure in Jung's field - dryly bemused, serious, sex-obsessed in Vienna; Keira Knightley is one of Jung's patients, at first crazy and haunted, but, due to his therapy, eventually a physician in her own right and one of the first female psychoanalysts. She was also his mistress, an outlet for Jung's brutal, pent-up sexuality. I enjoyed the actors a lot - especially Mortensen (Knightley is wired, a whirlwind, just this side of overacting) - and was interested in the history. I found Jung's and Freud's relationship chewy and understated, full of respect and challenge, but the film is a bit too stiff for my taste, too canned. (**1/2)
Paolo Roversi (#20)
Born in Ravenna in 1947, the Italian Roversi realized his passion for photography as a teenager after a family vacation to Spain. One of his first assignments was covering Ezra Pound's Venetian funeral for the Associated Press. His early work was in news photography - he had much respect for reporters. It wasn't until later on that he discovered Avedon, Bourdin, etc. and fashion photography. He later worked for Elle and Marie Claire and forged a long-term relationship with the Dior fashion empire. His works are typically relaxed, casual, usually shot in color, using a 10x8 Polaroid, although of late he has experimented a lot. He makes his home in Paris, where he has lived in since 1973.
History lesson today:
Check out this etching:
What's goin' on? Well, we're looking at the first ever assassination attempt of a U.S. president. The year? 1835. The prez? Andrew Jackson. The madman? Housepainter Richard Lawrence, possibly driven insane by breathing in paint chemicals (at one time, he thought he was Richard III). He thought the U.S. government owed him money (it didn't) and that Jackson killed his father (he didn't).
On the day in question (January 30), Jackson attended the funeral of a South Carolina congressman at the U.S. Capitol building. Carrying two flintlock pistols, Lawrence hid behind a pillar and waited for Jackson after the service. He approached him and shot at a distance of about 13 feet.
Miss.
He fired again. Miss.
Using the second pistol, he took another shot. Another miss.
It was later determined by Smithsonian researchers that the odds of both guns missing from this distance was 1 in 125,000! Was it the bad weather (Lawrence's specific weapons were not at their most effective in damp conditions) or just chance?
Lawrence was wrestled to the ground by congressman, including one by the name of Davy Crockett. The incident made Jackson paranoid; he thought Lawrence was hired by one of the members of the Whig party, his rivals. Lawrence was ruled insane and spent the rest of his life in a government hospital.
Thanks: http://patriciahysell.wordpress.com/2011/01/30/4341/
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/andrew-jackson-narrowly-escapes-assassination
New Movies Opening This Weekend:
Wrath of the Titans The same lousy reviews the first one got in 2010, perhaps fair since it looks like more of the same junk, with cheesy effects and the same slumming actors (Ralph Fiennes, Liam Neeson, Gemma Arterton).
Mirror Mirror Evidently it's the year of Snow White. Lily Collins (she of the so-bad-it's-okay Abduction) is Snow and Julia Roberts is the Evil Queen. Armie Hammer and Nathan Lane could liven things up in support, but the movie isn't getting good reviews, critics stating that the whole production is weirdly devoid of energy and muddled.
Bully Good, glowing reviews for this edgy, of-the-moment, controversial documentary that follows the life of five tormented kids suffering because of the way they look, act, talk - or what? Why are kids so horrible to one another? Produced by the Weinstein Co, it is definitely a movie that has people talking, especially about the 'R' rating.
Goon Surprisingly good reviews for what looks to me like a spin on Slap Shot with Seann William Scott in - what else? - goofy, ne'er-do-well mode as a black sheep who takes over a Halifax hockey team. Critics like it so far. Liev Schreiber, Eugene Levy, Jay Baruchel (who co-wrote the screenplay), and Alison Pill lend support.
The Intruders I know, I know, if you've seen one kid-haunted-by-a-ghost story, you've seen them all. But when the ghost is a specter who stands waiting at the bottom of your bed and is known as Hollow Face and the parents are played by Clive Owen (yes, please!) and Carice van Houten (spectacular star of the grand Black Book), I take notice. The action shifts between London and Spain. Directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later), in obvious homage to Guillermo del Toro.
Finally, let's give a thought and prayer to my dad. I'm confident that he'll get through his surgery tomorrow with flying colors!
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