Emma

Last night I watched the 1996 movie Emma on Watch Instantly. I had enjoyed it tremendously in the theaters when it came out, and really enjoyed it again on second viewing.

I had also loved the Austen novel when I was in high school, and it's my favorite book of hers.

The story is a light one, a romantic comedy of manners, with a charming and sweet, but in some crucial ways unaware, heroine at the center. Gwynyth Paltrow did a great job in the title role, and overall the movie was completely charming.

The Little Stranger

I finally finished a novel! I have not been able to get into one for months -- I would read half a book and then give up on it. Then a friend recommended The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters. I loved Affinity and Fingersmith (was a bit bored by Tipping the Velvet and completely don't remember The Night Watch) -- so I was excited to give it a try.

The writing is excellent, very detailed and exact and absorbing. The story concerns the decline of an aristocratic family after WWII, centering on an isolated family consisting of an aging mother and her grown son and daughter. Slowly everyone in the household becomes unraveled by mysterious goings on in the house. The Little Stranger is narrated by Dr. Faraday whose mother happened to have been a maid in the house in its glory days. He slowly gets drawn into the family in spite of his status as a class outsider.

The ghost story sort of works, but I have to say, in the end I found myself more baffled than anything else. I don't think I really understood it. Frustrating.

Ann Hamilton: The Event of a Thread

 This afternoon I went to the Ann Hamilton installation at the Park Avenue Armory. The Event of a Thread fills the entire main space. Suspended in the center is a giant sheet of billowing white cloth. Throughout the space are swings suspended from the top. The movement of visitors on the swings connects to the cloth, which sways and folds, sways and folds.

The experience of swinging and watching the cloth was truly magical. The echoing of visitors and children in the space created a kind of cocoon of sound. It was truly beautiful and effective.

On one side of the installation was a table of caged pigeons, and two people sat at the table reading from scrolls. I was interested in this aspect of the work, but I didn't really get it.

I had never been to the Armory before. This is a majestic space for showing art, and I look forward to returning in the future.

Oscar & Lucinda

I read about half of the Peter Carey novel, Oscar & Lucinda, and though I liked it a lot, for some reason I stopped reading it. Still, I was curious to see the movie.

I just finished watching it and have to say I didn't care for it at all. I found the plot a little enigmatic and hard to follow, and the themes weren't really drawn out. It seemed cold and a bit confusing -- where people were staying, what city they were in, sometimes I wasn't sure.

The story is about a neurotic priest who gambles (Ralph Fiennes) and a lonely woman with a large inheritance who also gambles (Cate Blanchett). She buys a glass factory, they meet, and decide to make a wager about building and moving a glass church to a remote part of Australia. I just didn't dig it.

St. Mark's Poetry Project New Year's Day Marathon

I spent yesterday at The St. Mark's Poetry Project enjoying the always dynamic and inspiring new year's day marathon reading.

I volunteered from 4-6, and watched readers and performers till 8:30. Everyone was wonderful. The musical performances were particularly enjoyable. Lee Renaldo played, as did Lenny Kaye with a surprise appearance by Patti Smith.

Fun times. Happy new year!

Silence!

Silence! The Musical was really great. When it was over the first thing I said was, "That was perfect".

It's a musical parody of the horror movie Silence of the Lambs -- I wasn't sure what to expect. Maybe I was concerned it would be too kitschy, too odd, too strained. But, like I said, it was just perfect.

From the second the actors entered the stage till the end of the play, I was utterly entertained. The singing and dancing were terrific, and the humor, mocking the over-serious movie, was sustained throughout. I don't remember liking the film, and Silence! really exposes its absurdities. One of the standout musical numbers was "If I Could Smell Her Cunt", sung with deadpan serious longing. As one of my friends said, it offered a comedic corrective to some of the more problematic aspects (such as gender roles) of the original.

The cast seemed to be having a great time, and all the performances were excellent and spot on.

Les Miserables

For Christmas day I saw the movie Les Miserables, which just opened. The lines were crazy.

I actually liked it! Yes, it's over the top sentimental. Yes, it's drawn out melodrama. And yes, the singing dialogue could at times be a bit much (but I never found that embarrassing or awkward).

The fact is, the 157 minutes flew by. I was swept up in the story, and some of the songs were incredibly emotional. In particular, Anne Hathaway had me bawling during her wrenching "I Dreamed a Dream". The audience applauded enthusiastically. The male leads had weaker voices. Jackman had a beautiful song or too, but I thought his voice was kind of straining and thin for much of it. Russel Crowe as Javert was pretty lame. His singing I mean. Also, his acting wasn't particularly compelling, in a film where the caliber of the acting was pretty high all around. The woman playing Eponine was great too.