SEPTEMBER '26: TURNING
“That old September feeling, left over from school days, of summer passing, vacation nearly done, obligations gathering, books and football in the air ... Another fall, another turned page: there was something of jubilee in that annual autumnal beginning, as if last year's mistakes had been wiped clean by summer.” ― Wallace Stegner in "Angle of Repose"
NOTES:
I write and send out these reviews for primarily personal reasons. My mind turns dark quickly and I have to fight this sinking-down daily. I know everyone is not like this. But I am and some others tell me they are also. So I track the things that helped me recently and share them. It feels important to let you know that as I do this I am also working for justice and supporting the rule of law in this nation in all the ways that I possibly can.
Please excuse my writerly bar talk here, but I think of these reviews as a Lucky Strike in the trenches. I keep my hands cupped around the red ember.
SEPTEMBER CHARITY:
LIVE MUSIC: Bruce Hornsby and Jerry Garcia
The poor video quality of this live performance cannot hide the fun these two amazing musical improvisors are having messing with each other. The audio is good and not processed in my hearing. Too many perfect little jazz "mistakes" that an engineer would remove. Sounds just right.
Jerry Garcia is ill here and struggling in his life, but for these moments on this stage, he challenges Bruce Hornsby and pushes at him within the confines of the song. The smile on Garcia's face when he extends the solo forcing Hornsby to react is pure gold.
AUDIOBOOKS: "Get Shorty" read by Joe Mantegna and "Be Cool" read by Campbell Scott, both written by Elmore Leonard
It's about attitude and no one knows how to get it on the page better than the departed chain-smoking writer of westerns and crime novels, the great Elmore Leonard.
One famous writer, when asked about the quality of Leonard's writing, said, "I believe the man made a deal with the devil."
Yeah. A Detroit Tigers fan. What is not to like? Back to the matter at hand. Leonard's two funny and borderline insane Hollywood novels as audiobooks.
Joe Mantegna, sounding to me like he is channeling Ray Romano, does an okay job reading "Get Shorty." I prefer a flat tone in an audiobook because it doesn't call attention to the reader, and this is close to that, but Mantegna tries too hard at times to be cool, so he sounds a bit disconnected. He likes to hit the punch lines a little too hard also. There is always an undercurrent with this actor where he sounds like he's acting to do you a favor. But the writing saves him and listening to the audiobook works. It's fun.
Campbell Scott is another kind of audiobook reader altogether. His reading of "Be Cool" is almost scary it is so good. He has a way of doing female dialogue and making the listener forget that it's a male voice slightly altered to indicate, but not imitate, a 2female voice. Terrific work.
SCREEN: "Old Henry" directed by Potsy Ponciroli staring Tim Blake Nelson and Stephen Dorff
Here's your daily dose of toxic masculinity. OMG, as they say. I feature this critically acclaimed B western only because of Tim Blake Nelson and Stephen Dorff.
These guys need to go head-to-head in a Sam Shepherd play. Dorff's motormouth villain here is almost impossible to make believable, but he does drag the character along and gets it pretty damn close. He is extremely good. Or at least good enough that you want him shot dead as soon as possible.
This is one of those westerns that attempts to look and feel "real" (notice the authentic dirt on their shirts and the bacon grease in their hair) but wherein bloody men are running around with bullet holes in them the size of coffee cups.
The movie starts with a wounded man with a hole in his chest resting up and recovering. I'm sorry, but I have to repeat that. The wounded man rests up in a bed to recover from a bullet that has to be dug out of his chest. The knife sterilized in a candle flame, of course. All good here. Give the man a glass of water.
Anyway, the punch line of the movie is that you don't mess with Nelson's character because, guess what, he's a famous gunfighter sociopath that everyone thought was dead. The son he abused throughout the pic finds out and now thinks highly of his dear old dad.
There are other westerns out there that hit all the right notes and feel a bit more authentic. I will list a few next month, but to give you a taste, try "Open Range."
This 2003 western stars Robert Duvall and Kevin Costner who directed and produced. Costner's character is not too bright in the film. I don't know if that is more authentic, but it sure as hell beats him playing smart. Refreshing.
END QUOTE:
Andrew Copeman, a teacher, wrote that he witnessed Frank McCourt responding to a student asking him why they should read Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart."
McCourt replied, "You will read it for the same reasons why your parents waste their money on your piano lessons. So you won't be a boring little shite for the rest of your life."