The films being made today are losing the art of suspense. I love old suspense movies and am disappointed they no longer make them the way they used. Today they make horror movies instead. With horror the films scare and surprise with disturbing and shocking images. In suspense the excitement is built up from situation and circumstances.
One of the most suspenseful movies I have ever seen was Wait Until Dark starring Audrey Hepburn. It has been so long since I have seen it but remember literally jumping out of my seat. It was a simple plot: a blind woman locked in her home with two crooks. There was no shocking violence, you saw everything before it happened and it still leaves you tense throughout.
We cannot discuss suspense without mentioning Alfred Hitchcock, the master of suspense. One of my favorite Hitchcock films is Rear Window. Once when watching it—I had started it alone—my roommates and a neighbor came in and the movie briefly became background to the conversations. The skill and suspense of Hitchcock gradually yet quickly took over the attention of everyone in the room. For two in the room it was the first time seeing it.
They were tense and jittery, and those of us who have seen the movie were enjoying watching them. They would nervously inch to the edge of the seat then rock back, rise to a half stand then fall back into the sofa, raise their hands to the tops of their heads then back down all the while stone silent. Even their gasps were silent. How did Hitchcock accomplish all this? With the turn of a glance, the silent click of a phone and the flick of a light switch.
Suspense films used to be simple yet effective. Today they have to be grand and extravagant to be effective.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
The Time Machine Abandoned
Something that I have read and has stuck with me was the Ray Bradbury short story “The Time Machine.” This story, like most of Bradbury’s work is set in the future.
In this not too distant future children are outside talking excitedly and arguing. One is telling the unbelieving rest that he has found a time machine. The kid tells the others to follow him and he will take them to it. They follow him into a dusty old house up the stairs and into the dimly lit attic where they see an old man sitting stiffly in a wooden chair. The boy approaches the man and sits at his feet then asks for a story. The old man then begins a story about hunting the long extinct bison on the open prairies; that is followed by a story about fighting in the Civil War. The children are captivated and gather around.
I like this story because it places great value on the experiences of elders as those who lived in times we the younger generations were unable to see. The older are wiser.
I also like the value placed on storytelling. This is something that is being lost in current generations. Movies and television have made us unwilling to hear the telling of a story. We want to see it. Watching our stories we lose much of the humanness that used to be central to stories. Stories were about people and they were told by people. Today there are shown to us in pixels.
Think of how better things used to be when people tell stories, of when your parents told bedtime stories, sharing an exciting story of you day with a friend or sharing some unique experience. Tell stories, listen to others stories that is how we share our lives.
In this not too distant future children are outside talking excitedly and arguing. One is telling the unbelieving rest that he has found a time machine. The kid tells the others to follow him and he will take them to it. They follow him into a dusty old house up the stairs and into the dimly lit attic where they see an old man sitting stiffly in a wooden chair. The boy approaches the man and sits at his feet then asks for a story. The old man then begins a story about hunting the long extinct bison on the open prairies; that is followed by a story about fighting in the Civil War. The children are captivated and gather around.
I like this story because it places great value on the experiences of elders as those who lived in times we the younger generations were unable to see. The older are wiser.
I also like the value placed on storytelling. This is something that is being lost in current generations. Movies and television have made us unwilling to hear the telling of a story. We want to see it. Watching our stories we lose much of the humanness that used to be central to stories. Stories were about people and they were told by people. Today there are shown to us in pixels.
Think of how better things used to be when people tell stories, of when your parents told bedtime stories, sharing an exciting story of you day with a friend or sharing some unique experience. Tell stories, listen to others stories that is how we share our lives.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Cruising
An old time activity for passing the nights was cruising. Cruising was as simple as getting a group of friends and pilling them in a car to spend the evening together. I never fully lived in a cruising culture and yet I miss it. It seems such simple and pure fun.
I once had a teacher who spoke nostalgically of cruising. He told us they would get in that old car roll down the windows and drive. They did not need somewhere to go. That appeals to me. I feel that today everyone must be busy doing something or going somewhere in a hurry. To be driving just for joy of it.
On of my favorite movies is George Lucas’ American Graffiti; it’s a cruising movie. The film is set almost entirely at night, usually in a car and always within earshot of the car’s radio. One night after I first got my license I was driving down a large boulevard when a beautiful 1956 Chevy pulled out in front of me. I began admiring the car when I suddenly feel into the most captivating nostalgia I have ever experienced. I missed my turn and had to make the next.
The best part of cruising at night is the lighting. At night the street lights up, the streets clear and the dark hides much of the town’s flaws. Drive though an old part of town with the modern parts hidden by the night and you’ll drive into another age. Go out late enough on a large empty boulevard an you can hit all greens.
I once had a teacher who spoke nostalgically of cruising. He told us they would get in that old car roll down the windows and drive. They did not need somewhere to go. That appeals to me. I feel that today everyone must be busy doing something or going somewhere in a hurry. To be driving just for joy of it.
On of my favorite movies is George Lucas’ American Graffiti; it’s a cruising movie. The film is set almost entirely at night, usually in a car and always within earshot of the car’s radio. One night after I first got my license I was driving down a large boulevard when a beautiful 1956 Chevy pulled out in front of me. I began admiring the car when I suddenly feel into the most captivating nostalgia I have ever experienced. I missed my turn and had to make the next.
The best part of cruising at night is the lighting. At night the street lights up, the streets clear and the dark hides much of the town’s flaws. Drive though an old part of town with the modern parts hidden by the night and you’ll drive into another age. Go out late enough on a large empty boulevard an you can hit all greens.
Beauty Grows Slowly
Something that must have stood the test of time to gain true and complete beauty is an old tree. I love old trees, especially big old oaks. For me the trees are often the best part of visiting places that have changed little with the passing of time. If you haven’t noticed it is usually the places that have gone through time with little change that are the most beautiful. Places like Italy, an old university, grand old buildings, the Grand Canyon, and Yosemite Valley.
In those places the changes that have occurred are slow coming and only add to the beauty of those places. Trees are a part those slow changes, slowly growing taller, fuller and more gnarly.
I love driving to an old part of town and finding the tree lined neighborhoods. They have to be old trees who have spent the years stretching out across the sky to met their branches above the center of the road.
The new parts of towns have thin spindly trees that provide little shade and little joy. I am reminded of the saying “Only God can make a tree” and want to add “and it takes time.”
It's a Wonderful Life = Christmas
We are now approaching Christmas and for me one of the greatest parts of Christmas is the James Stewart movie It’s a Wonderful Life. This wonderful movie is often what gets me in the Christmas spirit.
It is such a solid classic and a warm picture of what a past generation of Americans valued and cherished. It is driven by the message that each individual is important and interconnected with so many others. This message and the skill in delivering it caused the American Film Institute to name it the most inspiring film of all time.
There are so many marvelous scenes in the movie and it seems a different one gets me each time. The dancing at the prom is always entertaining and a joy. The following scene “Buffalo Girls” is also humorous and heart-warming setting you up for the crash of the father’s death.
This year the scene that affected me most came after George Bailey discovers he wants to live again and God gives him his life back. He searches for proof finding the petals that had fallen off his little girl’s rose in his pocket where he had hid them. “Zuzu’s petals, Zuzu’s petals.”
Do yourself a favor and watch It’s a Wonderful Life early this Christmas. It will make your enjoyment of the Christmas season fuller and longer.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Star Wars in Childhood
The creation of Star Wars may not be too far into the past but it originated before my time. The Star Wars films are something I experienced secondhand and so did everyone else in my generation. What interests me about Star Wars as an object of nostalgia is the way it continued to be the strong cultural influence in recent generations as it was in the first.
When Star Wars first came out it gave that generation something completely new and exciting. There must have been something special about seeing those films when they first came into theaters; anticipation, surprise, and wonder. It seems that could not be recreated today. Especially because Star Wars is so important to our culture, it is alluded to in every form of media (cartoons, movies, commercials and our speech). Even it you manage to live until adulthood without seeing them you know what there is to be known.
Part of what keeps Star Wars central to our lives is the attempt to hold on to this element of Star Wars’ greatness. It cannot truly be relived, but people do their best. And part of that is to instill their love and amazement into the younger generations.
Thanks to their efforts Star Wars remains something special, especially within childhood. As children the movies were new to us, and they held so much imagination within them: Wookies, Jawas, Ewoks, lightsabers, and spaceships. Our imaginations (I think especially the boys) stemmed off those ideas in our play.
I remember I always wanted one of those speeders they used in Return of the Jedi.
Just recently, they were showing a commercial where a man carved the Thanksgiving turkey with a miniature lightsaber impressing all present.
For years I associated the sounds and images of the 20th Century Fox and THX solely to Star Wars. Even today when I hear those sounds I think of Star Wars.
When Star Wars first came out it gave that generation something completely new and exciting. There must have been something special about seeing those films when they first came into theaters; anticipation, surprise, and wonder. It seems that could not be recreated today. Especially because Star Wars is so important to our culture, it is alluded to in every form of media (cartoons, movies, commercials and our speech). Even it you manage to live until adulthood without seeing them you know what there is to be known.
Part of what keeps Star Wars central to our lives is the attempt to hold on to this element of Star Wars’ greatness. It cannot truly be relived, but people do their best. And part of that is to instill their love and amazement into the younger generations.
Thanks to their efforts Star Wars remains something special, especially within childhood. As children the movies were new to us, and they held so much imagination within them: Wookies, Jawas, Ewoks, lightsabers, and spaceships. Our imaginations (I think especially the boys) stemmed off those ideas in our play.
I remember I always wanted one of those speeders they used in Return of the Jedi.
Just recently, they were showing a commercial where a man carved the Thanksgiving turkey with a miniature lightsaber impressing all present.
For years I associated the sounds and images of the 20th Century Fox and THX solely to Star Wars. Even today when I hear those sounds I think of Star Wars.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Comfort in Familiarity
Writing my last post got me thinking of the fondness we have for familiarity.
Writing about Bernice’s rolls reminded me of the time of a returning visit from an old friend who had moved away. On the weekend of her visit, she attended our church and after the service there was a potluck. On her way to the area of the church were the potlucks are held she came up to us (I was sitting with two friends) at the last pew commenting how everything is still the same. She then moved on the repeat the observation when coming to Bernice’s rolls at the end of the table; right where she left them. She seemed delighted to be surrounded by familiarity.
There is some of that in each of us. It is what makes our own beds comfortable and inviting above all others. The first night in your own bed after a long vacation is magical. Also when returning home from somewhere unfamiliar one of the first places we go to is our own restroom. Time has done this. We come to love those things we have a history with. We are most comfortable in familiarity.
Right now, I am living outside of my hometown and on returning to it, after an extended period of time, I enjoy driving through town. I go through the old downtown, through the older tree lined neighborhoods of unique houses (very different from the modern cookie-cutter track homes). It is especially nice to drive streets I know well, streets I have been traveling all my life. The people walking those streets even look familiar though they are strangers.
Writing about Bernice’s rolls reminded me of the time of a returning visit from an old friend who had moved away. On the weekend of her visit, she attended our church and after the service there was a potluck. On her way to the area of the church were the potlucks are held she came up to us (I was sitting with two friends) at the last pew commenting how everything is still the same. She then moved on the repeat the observation when coming to Bernice’s rolls at the end of the table; right where she left them. She seemed delighted to be surrounded by familiarity.
There is some of that in each of us. It is what makes our own beds comfortable and inviting above all others. The first night in your own bed after a long vacation is magical. Also when returning home from somewhere unfamiliar one of the first places we go to is our own restroom. Time has done this. We come to love those things we have a history with. We are most comfortable in familiarity.
Right now, I am living outside of my hometown and on returning to it, after an extended period of time, I enjoy driving through town. I go through the old downtown, through the older tree lined neighborhoods of unique houses (very different from the modern cookie-cutter track homes). It is especially nice to drive streets I know well, streets I have been traveling all my life. The people walking those streets even look familiar though they are strangers.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Bernice's Rolls
Reminiscence and nostalgia come naturally come when thinking of or discussing certain topics, and food is one. Whenever in a discussion about food there is always the mention of mothers, grandmothers and sweet old ladies. And by nature these mothers and sweet old ladies are also some of the most devoted members of the local churches.
This gives rise to the glorious tradition of the church potluck. These potlucks may take place in the present but they draw their strength from the past. It is an old tradition. Often it dates back to the birth of the church.
You gather together with people you have known and loved all your life. Then you eat from the multitudes of vastly varying homemade foods from recipes that have been passed down from one generation to the next to be made by the skilled hands moved to a perfection achieved through the life time of cooking experience of your Sunday school teacher.
Bernice’s rolls are a large part of my understanding of church potlucks. Of the various foods offered on those ‘Love Feasts’ Bernice’s rolls enjoyed a special popularity and became a requirement for every event. They were consistently perfect. They always came in the same pans and sat in the place at the ends of the tables making finding and retrieving them easier. Without them the potluck would be incomplete.
I guess each church has its own special potluck dishes provided through the years by beautiful people and fine cooks. What are yours?
This gives rise to the glorious tradition of the church potluck. These potlucks may take place in the present but they draw their strength from the past. It is an old tradition. Often it dates back to the birth of the church.
You gather together with people you have known and loved all your life. Then you eat from the multitudes of vastly varying homemade foods from recipes that have been passed down from one generation to the next to be made by the skilled hands moved to a perfection achieved through the life time of cooking experience of your Sunday school teacher.
Bernice’s rolls are a large part of my understanding of church potlucks. Of the various foods offered on those ‘Love Feasts’ Bernice’s rolls enjoyed a special popularity and became a requirement for every event. They were consistently perfect. They always came in the same pans and sat in the place at the ends of the tables making finding and retrieving them easier. Without them the potluck would be incomplete.
I guess each church has its own special potluck dishes provided through the years by beautiful people and fine cooks. What are yours?
Friday, November 9, 2007
Workmanship of Craftsman
Something that I admire that has come from generations past is a pride in workmanship. For me the purist example of this still present today is Craftsman tools. Each Craftsman tool automatically comes with an unlimited lifetime warranty that lasts as long as the original buyer owns the tool. They have been doing this since 1927. If your grandfather bought a wrench in 1927 and it broke today he would get a new one today. If you by a Craftsman tool the only reason you would ever buy that tool again would be if yours was lost or stolen.
The funny thing about the warranty is that it is all but rendered useless by the high quality of their tools. I have never heard of the need to return a Craftsman tool, and everybody uses them. I have literally never even heard a farfetched myth that a Craftsman tool has ever broken. These tools have outlasted their original owners. They get traded and sold at yard sales, swap meets and car shows.
At times, I wonder if it were not for the fast growing population Craftsman’s fine workmanship would soon push them into bankruptcy. You would think a set of tools would just be passed from one generation to the next. It does not happen that way. No one wants to part with their tools.
The funny thing about the warranty is that it is all but rendered useless by the high quality of their tools. I have never heard of the need to return a Craftsman tool, and everybody uses them. I have literally never even heard a farfetched myth that a Craftsman tool has ever broken. These tools have outlasted their original owners. They get traded and sold at yard sales, swap meets and car shows.
At times, I wonder if it were not for the fast growing population Craftsman’s fine workmanship would soon push them into bankruptcy. You would think a set of tools would just be passed from one generation to the next. It does not happen that way. No one wants to part with their tools.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Th African Queen
Often when watching old movies I begin to wonder what it is that makes them so different, so special. I believe it is a number of things, and that acting is one of the most influential. The actors in those old movies are the greatest of film.
The African Queen starring Humphrey Bogart and Catherine Hepburn is the greatest acted film ever made. Just recently I watched the movie after not seeing it for a while and was stunned once again by the perfection of the performances. I was so awestruck by the acting that I watched it again the next day (something I almost never do).
The skills and talents of Bogart and Hepburn were so great they demanded deeper discussion. Why is the acting in this movie stand so stark against everything else? One reason would be the simple fact that this is the greatest actor of all time teamed with quite possibly the greatest actress of all time. And they have a natural chemistry!
Bogart and Hepburn are in the later years of their careers when the movie was made, and were at the peak of their abilities. Because it was later in their careers they not only had natural talent but the wisdom and skills only experience can give. They are give a clever script then placed alone on the small setting of a river boat so their performances are not dragged down by lesser talents. The African Queen is great acting and only great acting.
Their performances are what make the film so precious. I have been using the words ‘acting’ and ‘actors’ but they are really misleading. Watching the movie, their performances are so natural and real there are many moments where you will lose yourself forgetting you are watching a performance through the glass. They remove the boundaries separating you in realty and them in your TV causing you to feel you are watching the true reactions of people rather than the prepared actions of characters.
The superiority of their acting to anything else ever filmed has to be seen to be believed, but once you see it you will believe.
The African Queen starring Humphrey Bogart and Catherine Hepburn is the greatest acted film ever made. Just recently I watched the movie after not seeing it for a while and was stunned once again by the perfection of the performances. I was so awestruck by the acting that I watched it again the next day (something I almost never do).
The skills and talents of Bogart and Hepburn were so great they demanded deeper discussion. Why is the acting in this movie stand so stark against everything else? One reason would be the simple fact that this is the greatest actor of all time teamed with quite possibly the greatest actress of all time. And they have a natural chemistry!
Bogart and Hepburn are in the later years of their careers when the movie was made, and were at the peak of their abilities. Because it was later in their careers they not only had natural talent but the wisdom and skills only experience can give. They are give a clever script then placed alone on the small setting of a river boat so their performances are not dragged down by lesser talents. The African Queen is great acting and only great acting.
Their performances are what make the film so precious. I have been using the words ‘acting’ and ‘actors’ but they are really misleading. Watching the movie, their performances are so natural and real there are many moments where you will lose yourself forgetting you are watching a performance through the glass. They remove the boundaries separating you in realty and them in your TV causing you to feel you are watching the true reactions of people rather than the prepared actions of characters.
The superiority of their acting to anything else ever filmed has to be seen to be believed, but once you see it you will believe.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Mystery Fuels Adventure
One of my favorite books is Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Within the opening pages of Heart of Darkness, Conrad’s narrating character, Marlow, speaks of the wonder, mystery and adventure hidden within the blank spaces of maps. When the story was told, when the book was written these blank spaces were shrinking. The potential adventures were shrinking with those blank spaces.
Going back to the mystery of the blank maps, those spaces have been filled and the endless possibilities of adventure lost. So far this adventure has never been completely lost. When the European explorers sailed to the ends of the earth exposing all that was mysterious, human sense of adventure took to the unknown lands. The manifest destiny sent adventurous pilgrims west. Once the seas and lands were fully explored we took to the skies. The adventurers were the Wrights, Charles Lindbergh, and Amelia Earhart.
The concurring of the skies led to the jet age which opened a whole new mysterious void to renew our adventurous spirit, space. Those of that time quickly grasped the mysteries and explorations of space, and once again imaginations ran free and wild. We have massive amounts of science fiction as artifacts of those times. We also have the products of the good and evils of space age technology. My high school had a bomb shelter under a library that was built during the Cold War.
With the increase in technology and the use of satellites and space probes the once huge and overwhelming mysteries of space are quickly being filled. What will be the mysteries that fuel the adventures of future generations? Where will our imaginations lead us now?
I remember as a child the unknown provided room for the imagination to stretch. The less you understood of the world the more adventure there was in it. This could be the reason we grow less adventurous as we grow older."Now when I was a little chap I had a passion for maps . I would look for hours at South America,or Africa, or Australia and lose myself in all the glories of exploration. At that time there were many blank spaces on the earth, and when I saw one that looked particularly inviting on a map (but they all look that) I would put my finger on it and say, When I grow up I will go there… True, by this time it was not a blank space any more. It had got filled since my boyhood with rivers and lakes and names. It had ceased to be a blank space of delightful mystery—a white patch for a boy to dream gloriously over. It had become a place of darkness."
Going back to the mystery of the blank maps, those spaces have been filled and the endless possibilities of adventure lost. So far this adventure has never been completely lost. When the European explorers sailed to the ends of the earth exposing all that was mysterious, human sense of adventure took to the unknown lands. The manifest destiny sent adventurous pilgrims west. Once the seas and lands were fully explored we took to the skies. The adventurers were the Wrights, Charles Lindbergh, and Amelia Earhart.
The concurring of the skies led to the jet age which opened a whole new mysterious void to renew our adventurous spirit, space. Those of that time quickly grasped the mysteries and explorations of space, and once again imaginations ran free and wild. We have massive amounts of science fiction as artifacts of those times. We also have the products of the good and evils of space age technology. My high school had a bomb shelter under a library that was built during the Cold War.
With the increase in technology and the use of satellites and space probes the once huge and overwhelming mysteries of space are quickly being filled. What will be the mysteries that fuel the adventures of future generations? Where will our imaginations lead us now?
Saturday, October 27, 2007
A Few Things Automobiles Have Lost Over the Course of Time
HARDTOPS- Some of today may not even fully understand what a hardtop is. It is a car (mostly two-doors) without posts. When you roll the windows down everything is wide open. Hardtops were originally designed as a more practical and reliable alternative to the convertible. They were great. They were stylish, provided great visibility and made for roomy, spacious cabins. When wondering why hardtops are no longer made my first thought was that safety standards may not allow it but that can’t be so because they still make convertibles.
SUICIDE DOORS- Despite the dangerous sounding name, they really weren’t especially dangerous (they did have their cautions mainly when entering and exiting in traffic but that’s true of any door). Suicide doors have their hinges towards the rear of the car opening towards the front of the car. What makes them so great is the ease of entering and exiting. think of entering and exiting a conventional door. When seated in the car you are facing forward but your door opens backward. To exit you must open the door turn completely around and walk out in the direction opposite of which you started. They were abandoned by automakers when they began repelling the safety conscious in the 1960s but with child safety locks this may be less of a problem.
COLORED INTERIORS- I am tired of looking into new cars, many that are beautiful and well built to see that the automaker has failed to provide an interior worthy of and complementing to the rest of the car. It used to be, interiors were made to compliment the exterior. This included the option of many more colors than today’s neutrals of grey, tan and black. Black cars came with white, red and black interiors. Blue cars came with the option of black, white and several different patterns and shades of blue. Red cars came with white, peaches, and reds. Cars with dark exteriors were gorgeous with white interiors. Many cars had two-tone dashes and steering wheels; the top matched the exterior for looking in from the outside and the bottom matched the interior for those inside the car. Red interiors are classy and classic. A few years ago Pontiac offered a red leather interior in its GTO which was beautiful and unique in a world of tans and grays. Unfortunately, the exterior had little curb appeal so it was short lived. This showed the sad state of consumers today where outer appearances are everything.
TIRES THAT MATTERED- In the Disney movie Cars, one of my favorite cars is the old Mercury police car. It’s so classic with its big sleek look in that black and white pattern (Oh, the beauty of black and white). One of my favorite things about that car is the white walls tires that came complete with curb-feelers meant to protect them. Once again the designers and makers of cars in the past proved more capable in designing a completely marvelous car without a single detail over looked. That’s why white walls, redlines, raised white lettering and white lines mattered. They were more than tires they showed the auto industry and the drivers cared.
SUICIDE DOORS- Despite the dangerous sounding name, they really weren’t especially dangerous (they did have their cautions mainly when entering and exiting in traffic but that’s true of any door). Suicide doors have their hinges towards the rear of the car opening towards the front of the car. What makes them so great is the ease of entering and exiting. think of entering and exiting a conventional door. When seated in the car you are facing forward but your door opens backward. To exit you must open the door turn completely around and walk out in the direction opposite of which you started. They were abandoned by automakers when they began repelling the safety conscious in the 1960s but with child safety locks this may be less of a problem.
COLORED INTERIORS- I am tired of looking into new cars, many that are beautiful and well built to see that the automaker has failed to provide an interior worthy of and complementing to the rest of the car. It used to be, interiors were made to compliment the exterior. This included the option of many more colors than today’s neutrals of grey, tan and black. Black cars came with white, red and black interiors. Blue cars came with the option of black, white and several different patterns and shades of blue. Red cars came with white, peaches, and reds. Cars with dark exteriors were gorgeous with white interiors. Many cars had two-tone dashes and steering wheels; the top matched the exterior for looking in from the outside and the bottom matched the interior for those inside the car. Red interiors are classy and classic. A few years ago Pontiac offered a red leather interior in its GTO which was beautiful and unique in a world of tans and grays. Unfortunately, the exterior had little curb appeal so it was short lived. This showed the sad state of consumers today where outer appearances are everything.
TIRES THAT MATTERED- In the Disney movie Cars, one of my favorite cars is the old Mercury police car. It’s so classic with its big sleek look in that black and white pattern (Oh, the beauty of black and white). One of my favorite things about that car is the white walls tires that came complete with curb-feelers meant to protect them. Once again the designers and makers of cars in the past proved more capable in designing a completely marvelous car without a single detail over looked. That’s why white walls, redlines, raised white lettering and white lines mattered. They were more than tires they showed the auto industry and the drivers cared.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Beauty's Lack of Color
There is a special,elegant kind of beauty reserved for the contrast and simplicity of black and white. Watching black and white movies or looking through black and white photographs puts you in a softer mood then you were in the color of reality. Black and white has several advantages, especially in art. Not only does it create a nostalgic feel but it adds several visual and emotional appeals.
The emotions and tones of black and white films seem much more complete than color. Black and white romance moves are more romantic than color movies. Black and white suspense movies are more suspenseful than color. Film noir is often defined as black and white by requirement. It creates stark shadows, brilliant rays of light with clear paths of travel, and beautifully lit and textured faces.
Another element of black and white film is the greater freedom and responsibility of the viewer to create their own images and interpretations much like the readers of a book must use his imagination. In black and white film the viewer is given an incomplete view and must fill in the blanks of color. In Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times the female character greats Chaplin’s character outside of jail in what I have always understood to be a country blue and yellow dress. In reality it could be something very different. To another viewer it may be another color. Each viewer is free to make the film his own.
There are some movies in particular that are especially elegant in black and white and could not be any other way. Examples are: Hitchcock’s Psycho, Darryl F. Zanuck’s The Longest Day and the Humphrey Bogart movie The Treasure of Sierra Madre. In a Zagat’s review of the scenic camera work of The Treasure of Sierra Madre someone commented “color, we don’t need no stinking color” making a play of words on the famous line of the movie. The person who colorizes Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life will be the one who destroys Christmas.
There is also black and white photography that deserves mentioning. One of the most gorgeous things I have ever seen is the Ansel Adams photograph ‘Moonrise over Hernandez, NM.’ What I saw (it was in a museum) was an actual print by Adams; it was not a poster or a reproduction. It was easily the greatest piece of art I have ever witnessed, and quite possibly the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. The contrast was perfect making the photograph seem deep and real. The silvery brilliant white of the moon and distant clouds were perfectly set against the shining black of night. All the posters and prints seen everywhere else do little justice to the real thing.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Science fiction at its best
The Twilight Zone may have been science fiction at its best. It grew out of a time of great discovery, wonder, expectations and fears. It came out of the minds of those who saw atomic bombings, Sputnik, new technologies and man on the moon. What they did not see but imagined was equally as great and often depicted in the episodes of The Twilight Zone.
Part of the reason I feel Twilight Zone could be the best of science fiction is because it keeps the human spirit and experience at the forefront of the stories. No matter how far from reality the Twilight Zone may take us we know the elements of the human spirit and experience maintain a consistent relevance to our lives.
There are certain episodes that I often think of as being true to this. ‘The Obsolete Man’ is set in a totalitarian society where the state has outlawed anyone who is not beneficial to the state and proven the nonexistence of God. It tells of a man, Wordsworth, was declared obsolete and sentenced to death. He was a librarian in a state that banned books and a Christian in a state that ‘proved’ God did not exist. As part of his final rights he is give a say in the mode of his execution and a final wish will be heard. He asks that he be killed by an assassin by a mode and at a time known only by him and his assassin, this was granted. For his final wish he asks that his death be televised for all the state to view. This is also granted because it is believed it will glorify and display the ultimate power of the state.
The chancellor comes to Wordsworth’s room to see that everything is set up and to further glorify the state. Once in the room he turns to leave and finds the door looked. It is then that it is revealed that Wordsworth had a bomb hidden in his room set to go off at midnight. It then becomes a game of what is the greater weakness a faith in God or a faith in the state.
The episode explores the fears of man and “the worth, the dignity and rights of man” as Rod Serling so eloquently narrates.
Part of the reason I feel Twilight Zone could be the best of science fiction is because it keeps the human spirit and experience at the forefront of the stories. No matter how far from reality the Twilight Zone may take us we know the elements of the human spirit and experience maintain a consistent relevance to our lives.
There are certain episodes that I often think of as being true to this. ‘The Obsolete Man’ is set in a totalitarian society where the state has outlawed anyone who is not beneficial to the state and proven the nonexistence of God. It tells of a man, Wordsworth, was declared obsolete and sentenced to death. He was a librarian in a state that banned books and a Christian in a state that ‘proved’ God did not exist. As part of his final rights he is give a say in the mode of his execution and a final wish will be heard. He asks that he be killed by an assassin by a mode and at a time known only by him and his assassin, this was granted. For his final wish he asks that his death be televised for all the state to view. This is also granted because it is believed it will glorify and display the ultimate power of the state.
The chancellor comes to Wordsworth’s room to see that everything is set up and to further glorify the state. Once in the room he turns to leave and finds the door looked. It is then that it is revealed that Wordsworth had a bomb hidden in his room set to go off at midnight. It then becomes a game of what is the greater weakness a faith in God or a faith in the state.
The episode explores the fears of man and “the worth, the dignity and rights of man” as Rod Serling so eloquently narrates.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Everything's Plastic, Everything's Fake
I just got an old record player. This thing is big beautiful and real. It is encased in about a five foot long, three foot tall solidly built, beautifully crafted wood cabinet. It has the classic RCA insignia of the dog listening to the victrola below reading “His master’s voice.” Listening to it and watching the vinyl record turning I was reminded that there was once a time when everything was real. I, on the other hand, have grown up in a plastic world.
I knew only plastic milk cartons rather than glass bottles, plastic car bumpers rather than chrome, Federal Reserve notes rather than silver dollars, vinyl records rather than plastic compact discs and plastic and particleboard furniture rather than solid wood.
I enjoy walking through antique shops and looking through all the creations of the past (often distant past) realizing they are real and lasting. I was always especially interested in and in awe of the majesty of the old wood furniture radios and record players, even the first television sets. They have the charm of the old time personalities they brought into the living rooms of American families. Looking at an old box radio I see a family gathered around it listening to radio shows acted out entirely through voices. Looking at an old cabinet record player I hear Nat King Cole’s ‘When I Fall in Love’ and ‘Unforgettable’ and Glenn Miller’s ‘Midnight Serenade’ and ‘In the Mood.’
I am reminded of a nation that was more united in both its weaknesses and its strengths. Thinking of the fears stirred by Orson Welles’ radio depiction of H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds. Also of President Franklin Roosevelt’s war speech ‘A Day of Infamy.’ Looking at these pieces I see and hear a see a world, a time, a people and a nation I never knew.
I knew only plastic milk cartons rather than glass bottles, plastic car bumpers rather than chrome, Federal Reserve notes rather than silver dollars, vinyl records rather than plastic compact discs and plastic and particleboard furniture rather than solid wood.
I enjoy walking through antique shops and looking through all the creations of the past (often distant past) realizing they are real and lasting. I was always especially interested in and in awe of the majesty of the old wood furniture radios and record players, even the first television sets. They have the charm of the old time personalities they brought into the living rooms of American families. Looking at an old box radio I see a family gathered around it listening to radio shows acted out entirely through voices. Looking at an old cabinet record player I hear Nat King Cole’s ‘When I Fall in Love’ and ‘Unforgettable’ and Glenn Miller’s ‘Midnight Serenade’ and ‘In the Mood.’
I am reminded of a nation that was more united in both its weaknesses and its strengths. Thinking of the fears stirred by Orson Welles’ radio depiction of H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds. Also of President Franklin Roosevelt’s war speech ‘A Day of Infamy.’ Looking at these pieces I see and hear a see a world, a time, a people and a nation I never knew.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Rivalries
A rivalry between sports teams betters with age. The best rivalries are always the old rivalries, those with history. Also rivalries often stem from tradition, especially in schools. Part of the reason I have this topic in mind is this Sunday night’s football game is the Green Bay Packers vs. the Chicago Bears. I have always seen the Packers/Bears game as the epitome of professional football. Especially if played in harsh winter weather. Especially if played at Lambo Field. The football games of old rivals are usually passionate physical games, often in spite of how the rest of the season may have been for the teams involved. As a Miami Dolphins fan I have also enjoyed the Dolphins/Jets games. They are usually intense and close games many times going beyond the fourth quarter.
I also enjoyed the cross town rivalry between my high school and the new school in town. Because this rivalry was with a new school (about 10 years) the rivalry itself does not have much age. The reason the rivalry had the feel and character of an old rivalry was because of the age of my school, Redlands High School. RHS is and old school (over a hundred years) and for just about the entirety of those years it has been the sole high school of the town helping give it its small town feel. People in Redlands mostly stay in Redlands and when you have one high school it creates a community. Up until about a few years ago it seemed that everyone (going back 100 generations) in Redlands graduated from RHS. When the new school was built and began graduating classes the ‘old’ rivalry was started. Each year the game is played at Redlands University’s stadium and is sold out some years days in advance.
For the first seven to eight years of the rivalry RHS dominated mercilessly. I believe it was in the seventh year that the other team first scored against us (a single touchdown for six points). Even then it was scored after the first string had been taken out of the game and replaced by the Junior Varsity. After that year it has been a back and forth battle to obtain the year’s worth of bragging rights the victory brings. I thank God I graduated from a class that had that victory. It is something that will last for as long as I remain in Redlands. And it will grow sweeter with age.
I also enjoyed the cross town rivalry between my high school and the new school in town. Because this rivalry was with a new school (about 10 years) the rivalry itself does not have much age. The reason the rivalry had the feel and character of an old rivalry was because of the age of my school, Redlands High School. RHS is and old school (over a hundred years) and for just about the entirety of those years it has been the sole high school of the town helping give it its small town feel. People in Redlands mostly stay in Redlands and when you have one high school it creates a community. Up until about a few years ago it seemed that everyone (going back 100 generations) in Redlands graduated from RHS. When the new school was built and began graduating classes the ‘old’ rivalry was started. Each year the game is played at Redlands University’s stadium and is sold out some years days in advance.
For the first seven to eight years of the rivalry RHS dominated mercilessly. I believe it was in the seventh year that the other team first scored against us (a single touchdown for six points). Even then it was scored after the first string had been taken out of the game and replaced by the Junior Varsity. After that year it has been a back and forth battle to obtain the year’s worth of bragging rights the victory brings. I thank God I graduated from a class that had that victory. It is something that will last for as long as I remain in Redlands. And it will grow sweeter with age.
Friday, September 28, 2007
"What is more eloquent than silence?" Charlie Chaplin
What can be? The title of this article is a quotation from the Charlie Chaplin movie Limelight. Ignoring that Limelight is a talking movie I would like to move the topic of silent films. There is beauty and quality in silent films that I fear is overlooked by moviegoers today.
Something that sets silent films apart from modern sound films is the appeal to your emotions that is the center of most silent films. They could not tell their stories verbally so they did what they could to make you feel the story. Chaplin and his City Lights is one of the best examples. Throughout the film you will feel joy, sorrow, desperateness, love, pity and excitement. He makes you feel and that is real.
Silent films are generally known for their physical humor which City Lights also has but Chaplin gives you much more then laughter. The story of the tramp who falls in love with a blind flower girl is moving throughout. It ends with one of the greatest final scenes ever filmed. It is beautifully subtle and not over acted. It is not unheard of for people to be moved to tears by it.
It is probably the greatest example of silent film as well as one of the greatest examples of movie making. It is also a good movie for those who are not familiar with silent film. It is a relatively new movie (1931) and was made several years after sound had become the standard. As a result if feels very modern. It has a synchronized score that Chaplin himself wrote. It has more of that good, old time movie feel rather then the silent short feel. The genius of Chaplin’s direction and him being a perfectionist gave City Lights a flow so smooth it makes the text cards seem unnecessary. Chaplin is a great storyteller and leads you gently through the film. He shows you the story rather then explain it to you through dialogue.
I feel that people may have become inept when it comes to watching and appreciating silent movies. In communication there is what is called “media literacy.” The idea is that we learn how to take in and interpret the media. An example of this would be when the first moving pictures were recorded. The first moving pictures occurred in France. There is a story that at the first public showings of moving pictures the audience was shown film of people walking and traffic in city streets then for a dramatic ending they were shown a clip of a train coming straight towards and then over the camera. The audience freaked, ducked under their chairs and jumped out of the way trying not to be run over. The audience was not yet media literate for moving pictures.
Media literacy also occurs in more subtle ways such as dream sequences and flash backs in film: we have learned to understand the foggy screens. I also believe people can lose some media literacy when they take in changes from what it was. Think of how difficult it can be to read a King James Bible. I feel that this loss of media literacy is true of many people with silent movies. (We, after all, have been watching only sound for almost 80 years.) They are missing out on some great movies. Don’t miss out on these movies yourself. See the movie. You may have to look for it in the rental places. I think Netflix has it. Someone just put it on youtube.
Something that sets silent films apart from modern sound films is the appeal to your emotions that is the center of most silent films. They could not tell their stories verbally so they did what they could to make you feel the story. Chaplin and his City Lights is one of the best examples. Throughout the film you will feel joy, sorrow, desperateness, love, pity and excitement. He makes you feel and that is real.
Silent films are generally known for their physical humor which City Lights also has but Chaplin gives you much more then laughter. The story of the tramp who falls in love with a blind flower girl is moving throughout. It ends with one of the greatest final scenes ever filmed. It is beautifully subtle and not over acted. It is not unheard of for people to be moved to tears by it.
It is probably the greatest example of silent film as well as one of the greatest examples of movie making. It is also a good movie for those who are not familiar with silent film. It is a relatively new movie (1931) and was made several years after sound had become the standard. As a result if feels very modern. It has a synchronized score that Chaplin himself wrote. It has more of that good, old time movie feel rather then the silent short feel. The genius of Chaplin’s direction and him being a perfectionist gave City Lights a flow so smooth it makes the text cards seem unnecessary. Chaplin is a great storyteller and leads you gently through the film. He shows you the story rather then explain it to you through dialogue.
I feel that people may have become inept when it comes to watching and appreciating silent movies. In communication there is what is called “media literacy.” The idea is that we learn how to take in and interpret the media. An example of this would be when the first moving pictures were recorded. The first moving pictures occurred in France. There is a story that at the first public showings of moving pictures the audience was shown film of people walking and traffic in city streets then for a dramatic ending they were shown a clip of a train coming straight towards and then over the camera. The audience freaked, ducked under their chairs and jumped out of the way trying not to be run over. The audience was not yet media literate for moving pictures.
Media literacy also occurs in more subtle ways such as dream sequences and flash backs in film: we have learned to understand the foggy screens. I also believe people can lose some media literacy when they take in changes from what it was. Think of how difficult it can be to read a King James Bible. I feel that this loss of media literacy is true of many people with silent movies. (We, after all, have been watching only sound for almost 80 years.) They are missing out on some great movies. Don’t miss out on these movies yourself. See the movie. You may have to look for it in the rental places. I think Netflix has it. Someone just put it on youtube.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Old Friends
When ever I come across a set of friends that have been together for a lifetime I am amazed and enchanted by the fact of it. I enjoy the stories they have and the way they tell them together. Sometimes you can tell that two people have been friends for their lifetime by observing the way they hold a conversation. You do not have to overhear some piece of information that reveals dates, years or anything like that you just know. When old friends come together it is something special.
They seem to know each other so well and this understanding of each other goes much deeper then with other friendships it seem to go to a place that cannot be described only experienced and witnessed. They are so familiar with each other’s faces that at times they can move each other to laughter or sorrow by exchanging glances. They can read between the lines of each others speech. One can say “remember that time when…” and before he can finish the answer has been given and the conversation is well under way.
Only time passed can make an old friend. Sometimes fast friends can fit this description but it would lack many of the most important qualities of an old friendship. Old friends develop a chemistry together.
An old friend is that friend that seems to be present in the majority of your greatest memories. It does not matter what time or how many years the memories goes back he is there. When you have had this friend long enough it gets to the point where they will always be your old friend even if you eventually lose contact with them. They will always be in those memories they will always have played that part in you life.
The friendships like this seem to be present in the oldest generations most. I am not sure that this is entirely the effect of the need of decades of time together or if this kind of friendship is becoming a real rarity. It may be that modern times have put strains on these friendships. Today people do not stay put the way they used to. The world may be growing too unstable for these kinds of friends. It’s getting harder to trust that the familiarities of today will still exist as we know them in the decades to come. I can only hope that things are noot changing that fast and I see one of my friendships develope into old friends. Old friends, even the phrase itself seems to have a special warmth to it. Endearing. A feeling similiar to that when watching Rick Blaine and Captain Renault walking into the fog at the end of Casablanca.
They seem to know each other so well and this understanding of each other goes much deeper then with other friendships it seem to go to a place that cannot be described only experienced and witnessed. They are so familiar with each other’s faces that at times they can move each other to laughter or sorrow by exchanging glances. They can read between the lines of each others speech. One can say “remember that time when…” and before he can finish the answer has been given and the conversation is well under way.
Only time passed can make an old friend. Sometimes fast friends can fit this description but it would lack many of the most important qualities of an old friendship. Old friends develop a chemistry together.
An old friend is that friend that seems to be present in the majority of your greatest memories. It does not matter what time or how many years the memories goes back he is there. When you have had this friend long enough it gets to the point where they will always be your old friend even if you eventually lose contact with them. They will always be in those memories they will always have played that part in you life.
The friendships like this seem to be present in the oldest generations most. I am not sure that this is entirely the effect of the need of decades of time together or if this kind of friendship is becoming a real rarity. It may be that modern times have put strains on these friendships. Today people do not stay put the way they used to. The world may be growing too unstable for these kinds of friends. It’s getting harder to trust that the familiarities of today will still exist as we know them in the decades to come. I can only hope that things are noot changing that fast and I see one of my friendships develope into old friends. Old friends, even the phrase itself seems to have a special warmth to it. Endearing. A feeling similiar to that when watching Rick Blaine and Captain Renault walking into the fog at the end of Casablanca.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Citizen Kane
According to the American Film Institute and their list of 100 greatest films the greatest movie ever made was made over 60 years ago. The movies being made today do not even seem worthy of comparison. You would expect movies to grow progressively better as film makers grow more experienced and new techniques are developed. I feel that part of the problem is in the emphasis film makers are placing in technology and special effects.
In the golden age of film the focus of film makers was not on special effects but on the script, photography, emotion and acting. These are the points that make a great film. Casablanca used a cardboard plane and midgets as the background for the final and most important scene and is made better then anything with special effects. The original AFI list says only Citizen Kane betters it. (The revised list adds The Godfather.)
In the golden age scripts were written by real writers. The Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall film To Have and Have Not was based on a novel by Ernest Hemingway and had a screenplay written by William Faulkner.
It was common practice (especially in film noir) to use adaptations from literature to create scripts. The scripts read like literature because they are literature. (Sunset Boulevard is also a good example of this.)
Scripts today are witty banter at best. From time to time there comes a film that can sit alongside those old beautifully written films. When those films do come they stand out and do not seem to fit among other modern films. The two most recent films in the AFI top ten are Raging Bull (1980) and Schindler’s List (1993) (Raging Bull was just added). Both these movies are so far removed from other modern movies that they are even filmed in black and white.
In the golden age of film the focus of film makers was not on special effects but on the script, photography, emotion and acting. These are the points that make a great film. Casablanca used a cardboard plane and midgets as the background for the final and most important scene and is made better then anything with special effects. The original AFI list says only Citizen Kane betters it. (The revised list adds The Godfather.)
In the golden age scripts were written by real writers. The Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall film To Have and Have Not was based on a novel by Ernest Hemingway and had a screenplay written by William Faulkner.
It was common practice (especially in film noir) to use adaptations from literature to create scripts. The scripts read like literature because they are literature. (Sunset Boulevard is also a good example of this.)
Scripts today are witty banter at best. From time to time there comes a film that can sit alongside those old beautifully written films. When those films do come they stand out and do not seem to fit among other modern films. The two most recent films in the AFI top ten are Raging Bull (1980) and Schindler’s List (1993) (Raging Bull was just added). Both these movies are so far removed from other modern movies that they are even filmed in black and white.
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