Saturday, April 14, 2012
Friday, April 13, 2012
First Lines: Thomas Bernhard - Extinction
On the twenty-ninth, having returned from Wolfsegg, I met my pupil Gambetti on the Pincio to discuss arrangements for the lessons he was to receive in May, writes Franz-Josef Murau, and impressed once again by his high intelligence, I was so refreshed and exhilarated, so glad to be living in Rome and not in Austria, that instead of walking home along the Via Condotti, as I usually do, I crossed the Flaminia and the Piazza del Popolo and walked the whole length of the Corso before returning to my apartment in the Piazza Minerva, where at about two o'clock I received the telegram informing me that my parents and my brother, Johannes, had died.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
The Omen (2006)
A remake of the 1976 horror classic The Omen (1976), an American official realizes that his young son may literally be the devil incarnate.
And like the original hardly much horror, but rather a sequence of unusual deaths.
Art: Alexandr Kosteckij
Find more at:
http://www.grammatarium.com/2010/08/09/fallen-dreamworlds-of-aleksandr-kosteckij/
First Lines: Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung
The force at the core leading our cause forward is the Chinese Communist Party.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Hannibal Rising (2007)
After the death of his parents during World War II, young Hannibal Lecter moves in with his beautiful aunt and begins plotting revenge on the barbarians responsible for his sister's death.
Competent prequel credibly depicting the famed villain's early life.
Doubt (2008)
In a Bronx Catholic school in 1964 a popular priest's ambiguous relationship with a troubled 12 year old black student is questioned by the school's principal.
Marvelously played, but a bit simplistic concerning the moral ambiguity the drama tries to analyze.
Duplicity (2009)
The whole convoluted plot twist of this spy love affair can't disguise the predictable ending.
The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
A debonair, adventuresome bank executive believes he has pulled off the perfect multi-million dollar heist, only to match wits with a sexy insurance investigator who will do anything to get her man.
Stylish 60s love adventure, now quite badly dated.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
First Lines: Francois Rabelais - Gargantua and Pantagruel
Readers, friends, if you turn these pages
Put your prejudice aside,
For, really, there's nothing here that's outrageous,
Nothing sick, or bad — or contagious.