Although the posts about movies have been less frequent, I continue to see a number of good movies. I won’t say much about two documentaries — Weather Underground and Arguing the World — since I wrote about them elsewhere. But the Mrs. and I did enjoy these a great deal and have continued to discuss them on different occasions.
In the theater a couple weeks ago — while in Chattanooga — I went out to a late night showing the The Master. I know McMark didn’t like this and I can understand why. P. T. Anderson has made another under-narrated movie that has the feel of There Will Be Blood — a story of unclear progression and ambiguous import — which is a reason to like Anderson’s defiance of Hollywood conventions. Plus, since I am a fan of both Anderson and one of the movie’s stars, Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master gets at least three stogies from Old Life.
This past weekend the Mrs. and I went to see Argo, Ben Afflick’s latest (in which he bears his chest to the female viewers’ delight). It is very good and works on a variety of levels. The inside Hollywood dimension, which features great performances by John Goodman and Alan Arkin, could carry the movie by itself. But the story about the Iranian Revolution and the hostage crisis is well handled and evokes for this middle-aged boomer some painful memories of a terrible period in U.S. history. And how often does Hollywood make a pro-CIA movie? (My wife and I thought Argo could be well paired with Three Days of the Condor and Burn After Reading.) An additional benefit is the way Argo movie indirectly highlights Turkey’s remarkable success as a Muslim society that embraced secularity and republican government and managed to hold on. Obviously, Iran did not follow a similar trajectory.
Finally, the Harts said a painful so-long to Dr. Paul Weston, the therapist featured in In Treatment. It looks like the series concludes with the third season. This is understandable in some ways because the pattern of weekly sessions with patients is hard to sustain as a recognizable narrative. The natural sequel would be a series that simply follows the life of Weston, played well by Gabriel Byrne. But to see Weston struggle through his vocation with another set of clients in a fourth season would have diminishing returns. Even so, it was a very good series and once again confirms the superiority of HBO in producing first-rate television.
Old Life 
Nice piece on Genovese and May. Genovese is always trotted out by the folks in Moscow as a vindication of Wilson’s “Southern Slavery as it Was”. I haven’t read it so I can’t comment (although that hasn’t stopped me before…)
I’ve seen part of “Arguing the World” but I can’t remember where. I once took Irving Howe’s memoir with me to “Adventureland” and read it between rides. Very entertaining.
If you liked the Weather Underground documentary you might enjoy “The Baader-Meinhof Complex” as well as the documentaries “Magic Trip” (about Ken Kesey) and “Obscene” (about Barney Rosset). Similar time periods, anyway.
I think you are way off on the Master, but I’ve already got that out of my system with a very long blog post on all of PTA’s movies. Let’s just say you owe it to your audience to entertain them at least enough that they are not considering opening up a vein. I’m reminded of the scene in “Airplane” where people in the neighboring seat are so bored by Robert Hays’ story that they keep committing suicide.
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Sure, there is always “Good Will Hunting.” But ever since “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” my wife and I have been convinced that the front-of-camera talent in the Affleck clan lies squarely with Casey. You have to love a man who can steal the show from Brad Pitt (sorry, Steven Soderbergh). Now to get the stomach up to view “The Killer Inside Me.” I think I’ll be alone for that one.
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Zrim – I would pass on “Killer”. Based on a Jim Thompson novel. One of the most violent movies I have seen and not worth being subjected to. Affleck’s character reminded me of Matt Damon’s Tom Ripley in “The Talented Mr. Ripley”, except he’s even more amoral.
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I was able to see Argo this past weekend also and thought it was well done too. The only criticism I would have is that the ending was somewhat semi-cathartic- if there is such a word as that. I was left with a feeling of anti-climax. Perhaps that was on purpose though. The conflict between the West and the Muslim countries may only be in its beginning stages. It has the potential to escalate to much greater heights. I am trying not to be apocalyptic.
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But John, the neo-cons have promised to be revenue neutral. That means no more wars on credit cards for their masters in Israel. Doesn’t it? The shape-shifters “evolve” based on time and situation. No “fact-checking” allowed in the middle of a lie….
Donald Fagen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0u4ms4mVdcI
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That’s the world we live in McMark- you and I both know that most likely is not going to change much until the Fat Lady sings.
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Is Donald Fagen the former Steely Dan lead singer? I never liked them much and was suspect of those who did. So, I did not listen to the song long enough to know what you linked it for. I often have trouble deciphering what you seek to communicate with the youtube links you send. This golden nugget from Cheap Trick explains the problem of the human condition with biblical precision:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLRcR1RdI1A&feature=player_embedded
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That is the same Donald Fagen. This is his 4th solo album, I believe. I didn’t know he had a new one out. This song sounds like the songs on his album, “The Nightfly”, which I like quite a bit (with the exception of a few songs). I have his 2 other albums but haven’t listened to them yet. His solo stuff is more soft & jazzy than his Steely Dan stuff.
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