Devil's Advocate

I had mixed feelings about Devil's Advocate, a late 90s movie about a lawyer who is enlisted by a demonic firm. On one hand it was thoroughly engaging, often creepy, and definitely entertaining. On the other hand there was something cheesy about it and much of the acting seemed overdone. I was particularly turned off by the cliched way the protagonist's (Keanu Reeves) wife emotionally disintegrated. It was just too over the top. But in spite of that, the morality tale struggle between good and evil, the demon-faced lawyers, and the courtroom histrionics were all good fun.

I also very much enjoyed Al Pacino's performance as the Satan figure. He seemed to have a blast with the role.

Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, Again!

Last night I watched A Piece of Work for the second time. I had first seen it two years ago, and thought it was marvelous. I decided to watch it again after she died the other day and everyone was posting about her.

She was truly an amazing, driven woman. Sharp and talented. And caring, and strong. The documentary also captures her vulnerability. It's a great showcase of an exceptional professional and important icon.

The Flat

The Flat is a documentary filmed by an Israeli man who is trying to learn about his grandparents. It starts with his family cleaning out his grandmother's apartment soon after she dies. She and her husband had moved to Israel from Germany in the thirties. Going through her possessions, her grandson discovers a startling Nazi newspaper article about a Nazi visiting Palestine in the thirties, accompanied by his grandparents. He also finds a coin with the Star of David on one side and a swastika on the other. And pictures of his grandparents with the high level Nazi and his wife.

His mother doesn't recall her mother or father telling her anything about their life in Germany or the war years. One of the many interesting things about this documentary is the strange lack of curiosity the "2nd generation" had about their parents' experiences. This was true of the daughter of the Nazi in question as well, whom the filmmaker found and met with and interviewed at least twice. She was unaware of her father's activities during the war.

The Flat was a little slow, but the story being explored and the questions that it brings up are really very interesting and worthwhile.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, the movie

After having read the book, I was curious to see the movie, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

I was disappointed in it. It seemed even more sentimental and Francie was played in this weird sing-songy odd way that made her seem too strange and a little annoying. She was supposed to be a different kind of child, but this actress was whiny and ethereal and just didn't seem right. The film style was corny, and the pathos didn't have the more gritty realism of the book. I also thought the actor playing the father was too old.

It was interesting to see how they condensed the book for the screen. The novel spans several years, but they placed it all in about one year, without Francie aging. They cut some important moments, but did a good job getting in exposition without it feeling clunky or forced.

Honestly I wish I hadn't seen it, because now I think when I think of the book I'll be remembering this lesser version.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

I just finished re-reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, which I think I first read when I was around 12.

It totally holds up.

It is a poignant (sentimental toward the end) coming of age story set in tenement Brooklyn during the early years of the 20th Century. The descriptions of the poverty in Williamsburg are precisely detailed throughout. Money, in pennies and nickels and single dollars, figures prominently on each page, as getting by day-to-day is a constant struggle for survival.

Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn opens when Francie is 11 years old, selling junk with her brother, Neely, and ends when she is 17. The novel chronicles the lives of all her family members -- her parents Katie and Johnny, her aunts Sissy and Eve, as well as Francie and her brother, throughout these years.

Re-reading it decades later, I was struck by how many scenes I could remember, that made such an impression on me. Francie buying a bone for the dinner of soup, her father lying about her address to get her into a better school, her mother's refusal to ever accept charity, the tragic death in the family...

What Smith captures so beautifully is the way the world, or parts of it, can be magical for a child, even when surrounded by so much ugliness and suffering. For instance, young Francie is awed each week by the fresh flower always in the bowl at the library counter -- even as the librarian ignores her throughout her childhood. During the second half of the book Francie outgrows her sense of wonder, and looks back on it nostalgically as she enters her teens and is more painfully aware of her family's squalor.

It's really a wonderful book, which I think everyone should read. Very engaging, deeply moving. I cried through the entire last half of it.

I read it on my Kindle this time around, but pictured is the copy I read as a kid, which I've held on to all these years.

Dayna Kurtz at Barbes, Again!

I enjoyed hearing Dayna Kurtz at Barbes last month so much that I went back again last night. I'm a huge fan of this talented woman, and now have two of her albums.

Last night she performed new songs that will be on her next album, as well as some others. The new material was fabulous! Some highlights of the evening included "Venezuela" and "I Look Good In Bad" (which I requested, and which brought the house down).

You can hear her music and buy her albums on her website: http://daynakurtz.com/wp/http://daynakurtz.com/wp/

Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell

Last night I saw Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell perform at Lincoln Center Out of Doors. They were fantastic. Her voice is so beautiful and conveys so much emotion. She is a very unique artist, and her duets with Crowell were lovely. It was a great concert. Her rendition of "Red Dirt Girl" brought tears to my eyes.

Unfortunately the opening performer was sub-par, and a little painful to sit through.

I'm so delighted that I got to see her live. I only wish I had gotten to the venue a bit earlier, as the line stretched nearly three blocks when I got there. Still, our seats were pretty good.