From the NYTimes:
I reckon I spent five hours at most in Philip Seymour Hoffman’s close company, six at a pinch. Otherwise it was standing around with other people on the set of “A Most Wanted Man,” watching him on the monitor and afterward telling him he was great, or deciding better to keep your thoughts to yourself. I didn’t even do a lot of that: a couple of visits to the set, one silly walk-on part that required me to grow a disgusting beard, took all day and delivered a smudgy picture of somebody I was grateful not to recognize. There’s probably nobody more redundant in the film world than a writer of origin hanging around the set of his movie, as I’ve learned to my cost…
Philip took vivid stock of everything, all the time. It was painful and exhausting work, and probably in the end his undoing. The world was too bright for him to handle. He had to screw up his eyes or be dazzled to death. Like Chatterton, he went seven times round the moon to your one, and every time he set off, you were never sure he’d come back, which is what I believe somebody said about the German poet Hölderlin: Whenever he left the room, you were afraid you’d seen the last of him. And if that sounds like wisdom after the event, it isn’t. Philip was burning himself out before your eyes. Nobody could live at his pace and stay the course, and in bursts of startling intimacy he needed you to know it…
Trollhattan
Dazzling bit of writing (of course, given the author). Still can’t believe he’s gone…really gone.
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/culture/sundance-tintype-portraits-2014#slide-9
RIP
schrodinger's cat
I loved the both Tinker, Tailor and Smiley’s People but couldn’t stand Constant Gardener. It may be because of Ralph Fiennes though, he puts me to sleep whenever he is on screen.
Wag
Picked up the book in the airport, and it’s up there in class so far.
schrodinger's cat
Unreasonable and bossy kitteh who wants you to be on call 24/7
The Pale Scot
Maybe the greatest thing I’ve seen on the internet.
http://blog.ninapaley.com/2012/10/01/this-land-is-mine/
This land is mine,
An animated recounting of the various holders of Palestine
shelley
And just found out Elaine Stritch died yesterday.
Check him out in ‘Best Budapest Hotel.’ He’s a hoot.
Mike in NC
@schrodinger’s cat: Have you seen “The Grand Budapest Hotel”? He was very good in that.
ETA – Shelly beat me to it.
BGinCHI
@Mike in NC: I liked him in that too. Fun film if you keep your expectations low and already like Wes Anderson.
schrodinger's cat
@Mike in NC:
@shelley:
No I haven’t. I will check it out.
dmbeaster
The movies are mostly good, but read the books. And read every word, as they are that good.
Most important insight I learned from Le Carre — spooks at the core are professionals at crime since so much trade craft involves means otherwise illegal. Its corrosive and degrades them no matter how just their cause. Its why there must be vigorous oversight and checks on their activities since you cannot afford not to. They are conditioned to lie and cut corners.
the Conster
@schrodinger’s cat:
You haven’t seen The Grand Budapest Hotel then.
WereBear
I’ve taken acting classes and did a bit of on-stage work connected with it, and doing it right is difficult enough. Doing it in an awesome manner must take every brain cell, and perhaps body as well, in concentration.
A lot of tension involved in the profession, too; you can easily take too much on and overwork when you’re “hot” and then fret when you don’t get work. Sometimes I think the days of traveling repertory were actually better.
An excellent overview in is William Goldman’s works on screenwriting, where he touched on the pitfalls and contradictions inherent in move stardom.
Speaking of mesmerizing talent, here is Mithrandir and Reverend Jim, sharing a moment.
pamelabrown53
@schrodinger’s cat: It’s funny how different actors touch different people in different ways. To me, Ralph Fiennes represents what I love most about British actors: understatement, the low, slow burn. He doesn’t put me to sleep; he, instead, has me on edge as to when the internal pressure will cause him to erupt. Suffice it to say, I liked “The Constant Gardener”. To each his/her own.
pamelabrown53
@Mike in NC: “The Grand Budapest Hotel” was a film I actually wanted to see in the theatre. Somehow missed it and look forward to its release on Netflix. Did you see “the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”? if so, how would you compare it “The Grand Budapest…”?
the Conster
@pamelabrown53:
Grand Budapest is protoypical Wes Anderson prop driven over the top campy fun – IOW, the opposite of Best Exotic, with the exception of the character played by Dev Patel.
schrodinger's cat
@pamelabrown53: The modern day orientalism of Best Exotic did not sit well with me. They also got many of the details regarding India wrong, so I could not get into the spirit of things.
@the Conster: Dev Patel and the rest of the Indian cast bugged me to no end.
StringOnAStick
@WereBear: Wow, Mithy is growing up! I’ve got a certain weakness for the long haired gray/brown tabbies.
pamelabrown53
@the Conster: Thanks for the feedback. I’m not a Wes Anderson officiando.
cckids
@schrodinger’s cat:
Knowing too much about the locale & setting of a movie can really throw you out of the experience when they screw it up. I regularly have this issue with movies set in/around Vegas; things just are SO WRONG.
If I were versed in Twittese, I’d add: #firstworldproblems.
schrodinger's cat
@the Conster: No, but I have seen The English Patient. Yawn.
I will try to get a DVD of the Budapest since it has gotten such high marks from at least 3 BJers including you.
schrodinger's cat
@cckids: I had the same problem with Slum Dog Millionaire. Most of my friends, loved it. While I sat shaking my head when I watched it.
hells littlest angel
@dmbeaster: I can’t think of any other writer with such a profound, unsentimental understanding of what it means to be morally conflicted, to be in the position of having to choose between doing the right thing and grabbing some for yourself, to be a weak human being in a position of great power. His novels are portraits of fascinating, complex people in excruciating situations — and most of them are people I wouldn’t want to get within a mile of.
Mike E
@pamelabrown53: I have an inordinate affection for The Royal Tannenbaums…Fantastic Mr Fox is a hoot and a half, too. Anderson is hit or miss with the rest.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
High praise, given that Le Carré uses IIRC the same phrase in tribute to George Smiley in “The Secret Pilgrim”
@schrodinger’s cat: @the Conster: No, but I have seen The English Patient. Yawn.
Heh. I assume you’ve seen that episode of Seinfeld? Bag Lunch! I know nothing (really) about India, so I wasn’t shaking my head during Slumdog, but I was a bit confused by all the over-the-top praise. I put it down as a movie I have to rewatch, but I haven’t gotten around to it.
Amir Khalid
@cckids:
As a resident of Kuala Lumpur, I found Entrapment‘s mistakes about KL distracting. (You might remember the movie; it starred Sean Connery’s wrinkles, Catherine Zeta-Jones’s tush and the Petronas Towers.) Most annoying of all, was that the part in KL was set in late December 1999, with the ending on the morning of New Year’s Day 2000. That period coincided with Ramadhan. In the movie, you see Muslims eating lunch.
WereBear
Obviously, so do I :)
the Conster
@Amir Khalid:
When do you sleep? Do you sleep?
WaterGirl
@The Pale Scot: Until just a couple of months ago I really thought it was possible for there to be a peace agreement. At this point it’s obvious to me that Israel has zero interest in a two -state solution OR a one-state solution where Palestinians have full rights. It’s very depressing.
The little movie at your link was very powerful. I wish I had seen the “who’s who” part before I watched, though. I obviously got some of the references, but my knowledge of history didn’t include about half of them.
schrodinger's cat
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I did see that episode and agreed with Elaine 100%.
I did not get the over the top praise either. There is one scene, where the gangster asks Latika to make him a sandwich, and she uses mustard in a bright yellow bottle. People use a lot of ketchup in India but never mustard on a sandwich. I don’t even think it is readily available.
ETA: If I remember correctly, she makes a ham sandwich with mustard for a Muslim gangster. Facepaw!
Mnemosyne
@shelley:
Have you ever seen the DA Pennebaker documentary about the recording of the original cast album for “Company”? The big drama (so to speak) is that Stritch tries for hours to get a version of “Ladies Who Lunch” that she, the producer, and Steven Sondheim are happy with, and it’s just not working. Eventually, she agrees to come back the next day and nails it in the first take. Really interesting fly-on-the-wall doc in the Pennebaker style.
Yatsuno
@WaterGirl:
To be fair, Israel has NEVER been interested in this. If any Palestinians were to remain in the country they were to be at best second-class citizens.
Amir Khalid
@the Conster:
I keep very strange hours these days, now that I’m out of the workforce for medical reasons.
Elizabelle
RE Grand Budapest Hotel:
DCists: it’s in rotation this week at the Arlington Cinema and Drafthouse.
Didn’t get to see it in theatres, so catching it with a brew sounds good. 9:50 p tonight; 4:30 tomorrow and I think a Tuesday 9:50 showing as well.
Looked fun and offbeat, and a terrific cast.
Bob In Portland
So sorry, but no one here seems to read Russia Today. Here’s an interesting list of questions:
maurinsky
I love Wes Anderson, but as Wes Anderson as GBP was, I thought it lacked the emotional resonance of Tennenbaums or Moonrise Kingdom. Fiennes was great in it, though.