Evolution of the Classics

We’ve been watching more classic movies. Kevin claims this is to educate me, and perhaps there’s some truth to that. I’m actually surprisingly bad for not watching a lot of movies.

Anyway, I found To Kill A Mockingbird to be interesting. Certainly not noir. I think it’s the kind of thing where you can look at it now and say it started a bit slow, but it definitely built up to something. Of course, I also find myself watching how movies are filmed more and more, and there are loose threads in some of the older movies, things that don’t tie in and don’t really add much. But I still enjoyed this movie.

Now, we also watched Double Indemnity. And I have to say that this was a great pick, definitely in the noir vein. Unless you count the daughter and her boyfriend. I suppose there was still a smidgen of optimism left for them.

Of course, watching them, I find myself wondering about the general foolishness of any man who would hatch a plan to kill someone for a woman he barely knows. Were people really once that stupi- I mean, trusting? That’s one of the things I note. Nowadays, you have to work it, to make the reader/viewer believe this guy would do this. But taking that on faith it was an interesting movie.

I also found The Maltese Falcon interesting. Yes, yes, be quiet. I admit it, I’d never seen that movie before. Now, I must admit to an offhand comment early on, asking if this main actor really made women swoon once upon a time. But at the end I decided he’d done a brilliant job with the role, as I hadn’t a clue which side was up where he was concerned.

And that’s something I’d like to comment on. See, so often you put a piece of work in front of someone and they say, “There’s a contradiction with this character.” And that’s it. But what if it’s the contradictions within the character that are meant to keep you offguard and guessing as to who the real person is? Because a lot of real people play games and put on faces, assuming slightly different versions of their persona, or even whole other personas, when they’re around different people. I mean, haven’t we all seen it? A friend/associate, completely relaxing and just being themselves, and then someone comes up who puts them in “the role” – whether they be famous author or actor or musician – and they have to go into performance mode.

Anyway, that was just a thought I had from watching that, because I really liked that aspect of the movie.

And finally, LA Confidential. I found this movie a bit slow to start, but I don’t mean that as a complaint. I think it’s the kind of thing where you have to lay a foundation for the characters so that the story can move later. And move it does. But while the pressure is on for writers to start off knitting, this is a movie that proves that some stories have to show you casting on the needle first, and the reward later is the greater for it.

I did like what James Ellroy said about the book in the dvd extras – that it had something for the whole family if your name was Manson. True…

But speaking of classics, I’d like to mention that Stephen Blackmoore has contributed a post at In For Questioning. If you read my theorizing about how technology might change the future of book production and selling, then you’ll know what Stephen’s addressing. He looks at things from a different perspective in an insightful piece called The Long Tail of POD. Definitely worth reading and pondering over. I’m going to save more of my comments on it for over there.

And now, we have a classic joke from Uncle Charlie.

Bill Clinton started jogging near his new home in Chappaqua.

But on each run he happened to jog past a hooker standing on the same street corner, day after day.

With some apprehension he would brace himself as he approached her for what was most certainly to follow.

Fifty dollars!" she would cry out from the curb.

"No, Five dollars!" fired back Clinton .

This ritual between Bill and the hooker continued for days.

He'd run by and she'd yell, "Fifty dollars!"

And he'd yell back, "Five dollars!"

One day however, Hillary decided that she wanted to accompany her husband on his jog!

As the jogging couple neared the problematic street corner, Bill realized the "pro" would bark her $50 offer and Hillary would wonder what he'd really been doing on all his past outings.

He realized he should have a darn good explanation for the junior Senator.

As they jogged into the turn that would take them past the corner, Bill became even more apprehensive than usual.

Sure enough, there was the hooker!

Bill tried to avoid the prostitute's eyes as she watched the pair jog past.

Then,from the sidewalk, the hooker yelled... “See what you get for five bucks!?"

And this comes courtesy of Norby

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