- 2010 (1984) with Roy Scheider, John Lithgow, Helen Mirren, Bob Balaban
- 28 Days Later (2002) with Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston, Alex Palmer
- A Fish Called Wanda (1988) with John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, Michael Palin
- Aliens (1986) with Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Carrie Henn, Paul Reiser
- Another Earth (2011) with Brit Marling, William Mapother, Matthew-Lee Erlbach, DJ Flava
- Body Heat (1981) with William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Richard Crenna, Ted Danson
- Brokeback Mountain (2005) with Jake Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger, Michelle Williams, Randy Quaid
- Bugsy (1991) with Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, Harvey Keitel, Ben Kingsley
- Casino (1995) with Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, Joe Pesci
- Children of a Lesser God (1986) with William Hurt, Marlee Matlin, Piper Laurie
- Coraline (2009) with Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, John Hodgman, Jennifer Saunders
- Dances with Wolves (1990) with Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene
- Despicable Me (2010) with Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand
- Dracula (1992) with Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins
- Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010 documentary) with Banksy, Space Invader, Mr. Brainwash
- Far from Heaven (2002) with Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid, Dennis Haysbert
- Ghost Busters (1984) with Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Sigourney Weaver
- Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003) with Scarlett Johansson, Colin Firth, Tom Wilkinson, Judy Parfitt
- Grey Gardens (2009 TV Movie) with Drew Barrymore, Jessica Lange, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Ken Howard
- Hamam (The Turkish Bath) (1997) with Alessandro Gassman, Francesca d'Aloja, Carlo Cecchi
- Home Alone (1990) with Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern
- I Am Legend (2007) with Will Smith, Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan
- Ice Age (2002) with Denis Leary, John Leguizamo, Ray Romano
- In the Mouth of Madness (1994) with Sam Neill, Jürgen Prochnow, Julie Carmen, David Warner
- In the Valley of Elah (2007) with Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron, Jonathan Tucker, Jason Patric
- In Time (2011) with Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Cillian Murphy, Olivia Wilde
- Jacob's Ladder (1990) with Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Pena, Danny Aiello
- Jane Eyre (2011) with Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Jamie Bell, Su Elliot
- Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (2011) with Peyman Moaadi, Leila Hatami, Sareh Bayat, Shahab Hosseini
- Jurassic Park (1993) with Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum
- Lady Chatterley (2006) with Marina Hands, Jean-Louis Coulloc'h, Hippolyte Girardot
- Le renard et l'enfant (2007) with Bertille Noël-Bruneau, Isabelle Carré, Thomas Laliberté, Camille Lambert
- Light Sleeper (1992) with Willem Dafoe, Susan Sarandon, Dana Delany, David Clennon
- Lincoln (2012) with Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt
- Marley (2012 documentary) with Bob Marley, Ziggy Marley, Jimmy Cliff, Lee 'Scratch' Perry
- Max Manus (2008) with Aksel Hennie, Agnes Kittelsen, Nicolai Cleve Broch, Ken Duken
- Men in Black (1997) with Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Linda Fiorentino
- Michael Clayton (2007) with George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Tom Wilkinson, Michael O'Keefe
- Minority Report (2002) with Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton, Max von Sydow
- Miss Potter (2006) with Renée Zellweger, Ewan McGregor, Emily Watson, Barbara Flynn
- Moon (2009) with Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey, Dominique McElligott, Rosie Shaw
- Oblivion (2013) with Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman, Andrea Riseborough, Olga Kurylenko
- Out of Africa (1985) with Meryl Streep, Robert Redford, Klaus Maria Brandauer
- Pandorum (2009) with Dennis Quaid, Ben Foster, Cam Gigandet, Antje Traue
- Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) with Ivana Baquero, Ariadna Gil, Sergi López, Maribel Verdú
- Phoenix (1998) with Ray Liotta, Anthony LaPaglia, Daniel Baldwin
- Pitch Black (2000) with Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser, Vin Diesel, Keith David
- Prometheus (2012) with Noomi Rapace, Logan Marshall-Green, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron
- Ratatouille (2007) with Brad Garrett, Lou Romano, Patton Oswalt, Ian Holm
- Romancing the Stone (1984) with Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, Danny DeVito
- Romeo is Bleeding (1993) with Gary Oldman, Lena Olin, Wallace Wood, Juliette Lewis
- Scarface (1983) with Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer, Steven Bauer, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
- Shoot the Moon (1982) with Albert Finney, Diane Keaton, Karen Allen, Peter Weller
- Skyfall (2012) with Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Naomie Harris, Judi Dench
- Sleeping with the Enemy (1991) with Julia Roberts, Patrick Bergin, Kevin Anderson
- Snow White: A Tale of Terror (1997) with Sigourney Weaver, Sam Neill, Gil Bellows
- Solaris (2002) with George Clooney, Natascha McElhone, Ulrich Tukur, Viola Davis
- Something Wild (1986) with Jeff Daniels, Melanie Griffith, Ray Liotta
- The Accidental Tourist (1988) with William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Geena Davis, Amy Wright
- The Age of Innocence (1993) with Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, Winona Ryder
- The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) with Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, Sam Shepard
- The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011) with Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson
- The ‘Burbs (1989) with Tom Hanks, Bruce Dern, Carrie Fisher, Corey Feldman
- The End of the Affair (1999) with Ralph Fiennes, Julianne Moore, Stephen Rea
- The Grifters (1990) with Anjelica Huston, John Cusack, Annette Bening, Jan Munroe
- The King's Speech (2010) with Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Derek Jacobi
- The Last Seduction (1994) with Linda Fiorentino, Peter Berg, Bill Pullman
- The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) with Geena Davis, Samuel L. Jackson, Yvonne Zima, Craig Bierko
- The Money Pit (1986) with Tom Hanks, Shelley Long, Alexander Godunov, Maureen Stapleton
- The New Daughter (2009) with Kevin Costner, Ivana Baquero, Samantha Mathis, Gattlin Griffith
- The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) with Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon, Catherine O'Hara, William Hickey
- The Proposal (2009) with Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Mary Steenburgen, Craig T. Nelson
- The Shawshank Redemption (1994) with Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler
- The Shining (1980) with Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Scatman Crothers
- The Silence of the Lambs (1991) with Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Lawrence A. Bonney, Kasi Lemmons
- The Sixth Sense (1999) with Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette, Olivia Williams
- The Skeleton Key (2005) with Kate Hudson, Peter Sarsgaard, Joy Bryant, Gena Rowlands
- The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988) with Daniel Day-Lewis, Juliette Binoche, Lena Olin, Derek de Lint
- The Witches of Eastwick (1987) with Jack Nicholson, Cher, Susan Sarandon, Michelle Pfeiffer
- Traitor (2008) with Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Archie Panjabi, Saïd Taghmaoui
- Twelve Monkeys (1995) with Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt
- Volver (2006) with Penélope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Dueñas, Blanca Portillo
- What Dreams May Come (1998) with Robin Williams, Cuba Gooding Jr., Annabella Sciorra, Max von Sydow
- What Lies Beneath (2000) with Harrison Ford, Michelle Pfeiffer, Katharine Towne, Miranda Otto
- What Women Want (2000) with Mel Gibson, Helen Hunt, Marisa Tomei, Alan Alda
Showing posts with label favorites. Show all posts
Showing posts with label favorites. Show all posts
Monday, March 24, 2014
Favorite movies from the 1980s until now (so far)
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Favorite movies from the 1930s - 1970s
- 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) with Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester
- 40 Carats (1973) with Liv Ullmann, Edward Albert, Gene Kelly, Binnie Barnes
- Adam’s Rib (1949) with Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Judy Holliday
- Agatha (1979) with Dustin Hoffman, Vanessa Redgrave, Timothy Dalton, Helen Morse
- Alien (1979) with Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt
- All That Heaven Allows (1955) with Jane Wyman, Rock Hudson, Agnes Moorehead, Conrad Nagel
- All the Fine Young Cannibals (1960) with Robert Wagner, Natalie Wood, Susan Kohner, George Hamilton
- Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) with Cary Grant, Priscilla Lane, Raymond Massey
- Barefoot in the Park (1967) with Robert Redford, Jane Fonda, Charles Boyer, Mildred Natwick
- Brigadoon (1953) with Gene Kelly, Van Johnson, Cyd Charisse, Elaine Stewart
- Burnt Offerings (1976) with Karen Black, Oliver Reed, Burgess Meredith and Eileen Heckart
- BUtterfield 8 (1960) with Elizabeth Taylor, Laurence Harvey, Eddie Fisher, Dina Merrill
- De Dødes Tjern (1958) with Andre Bjerke, Bjørg Engh, Henki Kolstad
- Dial M for Murder (1954) with Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings
- Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (1973, TV) with Kim Darby, Jim Hutton, Barbara Anderson, William Demarest
- Don’t Look Now (1973) with Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) with Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman, Lana Turner
- Fantasia (1940)
- House of Dark Shadows (1970) with Jonathan Frid, Grayson Hall, Kathryn Leigh Scott, Roger Davis
- House of Wax (1953) with Vincent Price, Frank Lovejoy, Phyllis Kirk
- I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932) with Paul Muni, Glenda Farrell, Helen Vinson, Noel Francis
- It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) with James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore
- Klute (1971) with Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Charles Cioffi, Roy Scheider
- Light in the Piazza (1962) with Olivia de Havilland, George Hamilton, Yvette Mimieux
- Marlowe (1969) with James Garner, Gayle Hunnicutt, Carroll O'Connor, Rita Moreno
- Midnight Cowboy (1969) with Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Sylvia Miles, John McGiver
- Mon Oncle (1958) with Jacques Tati, Jean-Pierre Zola, Adrienne Servantie, Lucien Frégis
- Oliver! (1968) with Mark Lester, Ron Moody, Shani Wallis, Oliver Reed
- Psycho (1960) with Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles
- Rebecca (1940) with Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders
- Romeo and Juliet (1968) with Leonard Whiting, Olivia Hussey, John McEnery
- Rosemary’s Baby (1968) with Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon
- Splendor in the Grass (1961) with Natalie Wood, Warren Beatty, Pat Hingle
- Straight Time (1978) with Dustin Hoffman and Theresa Russell
- Sunday in New York (1963) with Rod Taylor, Jane Fonda, Cliff Robertson, Robert Culp
- The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1957) with Jennifer Jones, John Gielgud, Bill Travers, Virginia McKenna
- The African Queen (1951) with Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn, Robert Morley
- The Apartment (1960) with Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray
- The Paradine Case (1947) with Gregory Peck, Ann Todd, Charles Laughton, Charles Coburn
- The Pearl of Death (1944) with Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Dennis Hoey
- The Sentinel (1977) with Cristina Raines, Ava Gardner, Chris Sarandon, Martin Balsam
- The Split (1968) with Jim Brown, Diahann Carroll, Ernest Borgnine, Julie Harris
- The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947) with Humphrey Bogart, Barbara Stanwyck, Alexis Smith
- The Uninvited (1944) with Ray Milland, Ruth Hussey, Donald Crisp, Cornelia Otis Skinner
- Westworld (1973) with Yul Brynner, Richard Benjamin, James Brolin, Norman Bartold
Friday, August 3, 2012
Summer movie viewing
Some really
good (old and newer) movies that I have seen recently, in no particular order:
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Some of my favorite books
As promised in my post about writers from a few days ago--some of my
favorite authors and their books:
·
Thomas Hardy: Jude the Obscure; Tess of the d’Urbervilles;
The Mayor of Casterbridge; Far from the Madding Crowd
·
Henry James: The Portrait of a Lady; The Golden Bowl;
Washington Square; The Wings of the Dove; The Turn of the Screw
·
Charles Dickens: Great Expectations; A Christmas Carol;
A Tale of Two Cities; David Copperfield
·
Francois Mauriac: Viper’s Tangle; Therese; The Woman
of the Pharisees; The Desert of Love
·
C.S.
Lewis: The Screwtape Letters; Mere Christianity; Surprised by Joy; Miracles;
The Problem of Pain
·
Jean Rhys: Wide Sargasso Sea; Good Morning, Midnight; Smile
Please; Quartet
·
John Le Carre: A Perfect Spy; The Spy Who Came in from
the Cold
·
John Steinbeck: The Winter of Our Discontent; Of Mice
and Men; Cannery Row
·
Dorothy Sayers: Whose Body?; Strong Poison;
Have His Carcase; Hangman’s Holiday; Gaudy Night; Busman’s Honeymoon
·
Milan Kundera: The Unbearable Lightness of Being; Life
is Elsewhere; Immortality
·
Rollo May: The Meaning of Anxiety; Love and Will; Man’s
Search for Himself; The Courage to Create
·
George Eliot: The Mill on the Floss; Silas Marner
·
Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre
·
Emily Bronte: Wuthering Heights
·
Henry David Thoreau: Walden; Civil Disobedience
·
Ray Bradbury: The Martian Chronicles; Something Wicked
This Way Comes; Fahrenheit 451; Dandelion Wine; The Illustrated Man
·
Michael Crichton: The Andromeda Strain; The Terminal
Man; Timeline
·
Stanislaw Lem: Solaris
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Creatures of the night
Up late the
other night—of course I regretted it the following day, but the reason I stayed
up late was to watch the vampire film The
Hunger from 1983 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085701/) on TCM. I can never really pass up
an opportunity to watch yet another stylishly-made horror film, and TCM is a
great channel to find all those kinds of classic films, horror or otherwise. I
won’t say I was enthralled by the film, but it didn’t disappoint either—it had
its moments. It is definitely a film from the 1980s—I read somewhere that a
critic had said it was like watching a long MTV video—chic and stylish with
cool music, but without much substance—that was the gist of it. The Madonna
song Vogue came to mind when I was
watching it. The actors and actresses (David Bowie, Catherine Deneuve, and
Susan Sarandon) did a lot of posing for the camera, but that was the way things
were done then. The film was about modern-day vampires in an urban setting, who
frequented New York City nightclubs looking for potential victims. These
vampires were unlike most of the vampires we’ve come to know about--they could tolerate
the light of day, they murdered their victims with small knives shaped like
Egyptian ankhs, and they could see their reflections in mirrors. The story had
to do with David Bowie’s vampire John trying to find a cure for his rapid aging
that had suddenly set in and that would doom him to eternal life without his
vampire lover Miriam (Catherine Deneuve) who had made him a vampire in the
first place. The film was probably controversial when it came out due to some graphic
scenes of violence and sexual (lesbian) activity. I don’t recall much talk
about this film from that time, nor do I remember that it opened in many
theaters (according to IMDB it opened in 775 theaters nationwide in the USA, approximately
15 per state if it opened in all of them—that’s not many). Perhaps it was
considered an ‘art film’, in which case it would have opened at one or two
theaters in Westchester County where I grew up.
I’ve seen
many vampire films in my lifetime—starting with the House of Dark Shadows from 1970 directed by Dan Curtis, with Jonathan
Frid as the vampire Barnabas Collins (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065856/), followed by Scars of Dracula and The Satanic
Rites of Dracula (among several others) from 1970 and 1973 respectively (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067713/; http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070634/) with Christopher Lee as the vampire (he made
many Dracula films). These were followed by the original Nosferatu film from 1922 directed by FW Murnau with Max Schreck as a
very scary Nosferatu (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0013442/), as well as Nosferatu the Vampyre from 1979 directed by Werner Herzog, with
Klaus Kinski as Nosferatu (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079641/).
I remember the New York Times review of the latter film talking about the furor
in the Netherlands (where the film was partially shot) over Herzog’s wanting to
release tens of thousands of rats for one of the scenes in the film. Talk about the quest for realism on the part
of a director.
The classic
Dracula from 1931, directed by Tod
Browning, with Bela Lugosi (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021814/), and Dracula
from 1979, directed by John Badham, with Frank Langella http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079073/, are very good films, as is Interview with the Vampire from 1994,
directed by Neil Jordan, with Tom Cruise as Lestat (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110148/). But in my opinion, the best vampire film I’ve
ever seen is the 1992 film Bram Stoker’s
Dracula directed by Francis Ford Coppola (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103874/). I remember watching it for the first time when
it came out and being totally drawn in by its mastery and haunting atmosphere.
I’ve since seen it several more times, and each time I watch it I admire it
more and more as a nearly-perfect Dracula film. Gary Oldman as Dracula was
brilliant casting—he did an incredible job, as did Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder,
Anthony Hopkins and all the others. It is the specific scenes in Coppola’s film
that are unforgettable and haunting and that make it my favorite vampire movie—when
Jonathan Harker (played by Keanu Reeves) arrives at Dracula’s castle and the
shadow of the vampire precedes his entrance, Dracula crawling down the walls of
the castle on one of his nightly outings, the appearance of the female vampires
in the castle and their seduction of Jonathan, Dracula’s meeting with Mina, and
so many more.
Besides Gary
Oldman’s Dracula, I have to say that Jonathan Frid’s Barnabas Collins is my vampire
of choice. I’m not a fan of the Twilight
vampire movies; I saw the first film after reading the book and it was not for
me, but I understand that many people do like it. I might have liked the series
as a pre-teenager, but somehow I have the feeling that my entrance into the
world of vampires was forever shaped by Dark Shadows. However campy the series
might have been at times, it took itself seriously and has amassed a large
number of fans through the years. I’m looking forward to Tim Burton’s version
of Dark Shadows and Johnny Depp’s portrayal of Barnabas, but I doubt that
anyone could ever surpass Jonathan Frid’s portrayal of Barnabas Collins.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
A great song by Steely Dan
I heard this song this morning, one of my all-time favorites--Deacon Blues--a phenomenal song by Steely Dan. The lyrics are pure poetry. As someone who writes poetry, I take my hat off and acknowledge ‘best in class’. “I crawl like a viper through these suburban streets; Make love to these women, languid and bittersweet.” And the end of the song—“I cried when I wrote this song, sue me if I play too long; This brother is free, I'll be what I want to be”. And finally, "I want a name when I lose". You can just imagine them writing and living the song—taking their experiences and weaving them into a song that perfectly captures what they’ve experienced. Wonderfully inspired and nothing I could write here could do these lyrics justice—they’re perfect (at least to me), as is the rest of the song. It’s interesting to read about the different sources of inspiration for Steely Dan on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deacon_Blues).
I grew up listening to Steely Dan’s music, but never got a chance to see them in concert before the year 2000, when they played at the Oslo Spektrum concert arena. And what a terrific concert that was. Their music has aged well, considering that the song Deacon Blues is from the 1977 album Aja. Listening to their music was not just a trip down memory lane. Their music and lyrics are as relevant now as they were when they first appeared. You can find the song on YouTube, as always. Here is one link to the song:
Deacon Blues
This is the day
Of the expanding man
That shape is my shade
There where I used to stand
It seems like only yesterday
I gazed through the glass
At ramblers
Wild gamblers
That's all in the past
You call me a fool
You say it's a crazy scheme
This one's for real
I already bought the dream
So useless to ask me why
Throw a kiss and say goodbye
I'll make it this time
I'm ready to cross that fine line
CHORUS:
I'll learn to work the saxophone
I'll play just what I feel
Drink Scotch whisky all night long
And die behind the wheel
They got a name for the winners in the world
I want a name when I lose
They call Alabama the Crimson Tide
Call me Deacon Blues
My back to the wall
A victim of laughing chance
This is for me
The essence of true romance
Sharing the things we know and love
With those of my kind
Libations
Sensations
That stagger the mind
I crawl like a viper
Through these suburban streets
Make love to these women
Languid and bittersweet
I'll rise when the sun goes down
Cover every game in town
A world of my own
I'll make it my home sweet home
CHORUS
This is the night
Of the expanding the man
I take one last drag
As I approach the stand
I cried when I wrote this song
Sue me if I play too long
This brother is free
I'll be what I want to be
CHORUS
Of the expanding man
That shape is my shade
There where I used to stand
It seems like only yesterday
I gazed through the glass
At ramblers
Wild gamblers
That's all in the past
You call me a fool
You say it's a crazy scheme
This one's for real
I already bought the dream
So useless to ask me why
Throw a kiss and say goodbye
I'll make it this time
I'm ready to cross that fine line
CHORUS:
I'll learn to work the saxophone
I'll play just what I feel
Drink Scotch whisky all night long
And die behind the wheel
They got a name for the winners in the world
I want a name when I lose
They call Alabama the Crimson Tide
Call me Deacon Blues
My back to the wall
A victim of laughing chance
This is for me
The essence of true romance
Sharing the things we know and love
With those of my kind
Libations
Sensations
That stagger the mind
I crawl like a viper
Through these suburban streets
Make love to these women
Languid and bittersweet
I'll rise when the sun goes down
Cover every game in town
A world of my own
I'll make it my home sweet home
CHORUS
This is the night
Of the expanding the man
I take one last drag
As I approach the stand
I cried when I wrote this song
Sue me if I play too long
This brother is free
I'll be what I want to be
CHORUS
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Some wise words about rivers
I choose to listen to the river for a while, thinking river thoughts, before joining the night and the stars. — (Edward Abbey)
And I count myself more fortunate with each passing season to have recourse to these quiet, tree-strewn, untrimmed acres by the water. I would think it a sad commentary on the quality of American life if, with our pecuniary and natural abundance, we could not secure for our generation and those to come the existence of . . . a substantial remnant of a once great endowment of wild and scenic rivers. — (William Anderson, Congressman from Tennessee, Arguing for passage of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (1968))
Sit by a river. Find peace and meaning in the rhythm of the lifeblood of the Earth. — (Anonymous)
Boundaries don't protect rivers, people do. — (Brad Arrowsmith, Landowner along the Niobrara National Scenic River, Nebraska)
The river delights to lift us free, if only we dare to let go. Our true work is this voyage, this adventure. — (Richard Bach, Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah)
Wild rivers are earth's renegades, defying gravity, dancing to their own tunes, resisting the authority of humans, always chipping away, and eventually always winning. — (Richard Bangs, River Gods)
When protected, rivers serve as visible symbols of the care we take as temporary inhabitants and full-time stewards of a living, profoundly beautiful heritage of nature. — (John Echeverria, Pope Barrow, Richard Roos Collins, Rivers at Risk: The Concerned Citizen's Guide to Hydropower)
Choosing to save a river is more often an act of passion than of careful calculation. You make the choice because the river has touched your life in an intimate and irreversible way, because you are unwilling to accept its loss. — (David Bolling, How to Save a River: Handbook for Citizen Action)
Any river is really the summation of the whole valley. To think of it as nothing but water is to ignore the greater part. — (Hal Borland, This Hill, This Valley)
What makes a river so restful to people is that it doesn't have any doubt—it is sure to get where it is going, and it doesn't want to go anywhere else. — (Hal Boyle)
There are many ways to salvation, and one of them is to follow a river. — (David Brower, Foreword to Oregon Rivers by Larry Olson and John Daniel)
You don't need it, but will you take some advice from a Californian who's been around for a while? Cherish these rivers. Witness for them. Enjoy their unimprovable purpose as you sense it, and let those rivers that you never visit comfort you with the assurance that they are there, doing wonderfully what they have always done. — (David Brower, Foreword to Oregon Rivers by Larry Olson and John Daniel)
Keep your rivers flowing as they will, and you will continue to know the most important of all freedoms—the boundless scope of the human mind to contemplate wonders, and to begin to understand their meaning. — (David Brower, The Foreword to Oregon Rivers by Larry Olson and John Daniel)
The song of the river ends not at her banks but in the hearts of those who have loved her. — (Buffalo Joe)
The mark of a successful man is one that has spent an entire day on the bank of a river without feeling guilty about it. — (Chinese philosopher)
We call upon the waters that rim the earth, horizon to horizon, that flow in our rivers and streams, that fall upon our gardens and fields, and we ask that they teach us and show us the way. — (Chinook Blessing Litany)
In a country where nature has been so lavish and where we have been so spend-thrift of indigenous beauty, to set aside a few rivers in their natural state should be considered an obligation. — (Senator Frank Church from Idaho, Arguing for passage of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (1968))
In spite of the durability of rock-walled canyons and the surging power of cataracting water, the wild river is a fragile thing—the most fragile portion of the wilderness country. — (John Craighead, Biologist and one of the architects of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act)
The river called. The call is the thundering rumble of distant rapids, the intimate roar of white water . . . a primeval summons to primordial values. — (John Craighead, Naturalist Magazine (Autumn 1965))
A river is the coziest of friends. You must love it and live with it before you can know it. — (G.W. Curtis, Lotus Eating: Hudson and Rhine)
We don't tend to ask where a lake comes from. It lies before us, contained and complete, tantalizing in its depth but not its origin. A river is a different kind of mystery, a mystery of distance and becoming, a mystery of source. Touch its fluent body and you touch far places. You touch a story that must end somewhere but cannot stop telling itself, a story that is always just beginning. — (John Daniel, Oregon Rivers)
If you grew up in the country, chances are you have fond memories of lazy days down by a river, creek or pond. — (Darlene Donaldson, "The River" in Country Magazine)
To trace the history of a river or a raindrop . . . is also to trace the history of the soul, the history of the mind descending and arising in the body. In both, we constantly seek and stumble upon divinity, which like feeding the lake, and the spring becoming a waterfall, feeds, spills, falls, and feeds itself all over again. — (Gretel Ehrlich, Islands, The Universe, Home)
I stand by the river and I know that it has been here yesterday and will be here tomorrow and that therefore, since I am part of its pattern today, I also belong to all its yesterdays and will be a part of all its tomorrows. This is a kind of earthly immortality, a kinship with rivers and hills and rocks, with all things and all creatures that have ever lived or ever will live or have their being on the earth. It is my assurance of an orderly continuity in the great design of the universe. — (Virginia Eifert)
If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water. — (Loren Eiseley, "Four Quartets," in The Immense Journey)
Friday, February 11, 2011
Favorite Scandinavian films and TV shows
After writing yesterday’s post about my favorite films and TV shows (mostly American), I thought about the Scandinavian films and TV shows that I have seen and liked in the twenty years I have lived here in Oslo. Here are some of my favorites……..
Favorite films
· Deilig er fjorden (The fjord is wonderful)--Norwegian
· Hodet over vannet (Head above water)—Norwegian
· Insomnia--Norwegian
· Mannen som ikke kunne le (The Man who could not laugh)—Norwegian
· Max Manus—Norwegian
· Misery Harbor—Norwegian
· Veiviseren (Pathfinder)—Norwegian
· Flammen & Citronen (Flame & Citron)--Danish
· Pelle erobreren (Pelle the Conqueror)—Danish
· Smilla’s Sense of Snow—Danish
· Den Gode Viljen (The Best Intentions)—Swedish
· Fanny och Alexander—Swedish
· Pensjonat Oskar—Swedish
· Scener ur ett äktenskap (Scenes from a Marriage)--Swedish
· Brúðguminn (White Night Wedding)--Icelandic
Favorite horror/fantasy/thriller
· De dødes tjern (Lake of the Dead)--Norwegian
· Fritt Vilt (Cold Prey)-- Norwegian
· Skjult (Hidden)—Norwegian
· Villmark (Wilderness)—Norwegian
· Besökarna (The Visitors)--Swedish
· Låt den rätte komma in (Let the Right One In)—Swedish
· Nattevagten (Nightwatch)--Danish
· Sauna--Finnish
Favorite TV shows/series
· Beck--Swedish
· Wallander--Swedish
· Forbrydelsen (The Crime)--Danish
· Strisser på Samsø (A Cop on Samsø)--Danish
· Ørnen (The Eagle)—Danish
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Favorite movies and TV shows
(I'm updating this post as of 21 April 2013) to include Prometheus, Pitch Black and Oblivion under favorite sci-fi/horror films, and The Walking Dead under favorite TV shows)
One of my friends recently called me a film fanatic, and I have to say that she’s probably right. I’m not much of a TV watcher anymore (I used to be, but I hate reality TV and that’s all there is on TV these days), but you’ll never get me to stop going to the movies. I can’t think of a more pleasant way to spend a few hours than sitting in a dark theater with some candy and a box of popcorn, watching a movie. Movie theaters have changed—seats are very comfortable now (and they recline a bit), and each seat has its own plastic holder for water or soda bottles. Progress has been made for sure. The sound is exceptionally good, and the acoustics in the theater are too. You can now order tickets online and choose the seats you want. But that’s not why I go to the movies. I go because it’s a way to transport myself into another world for a few hours. I love being entertained; I love the fantasy, the magic, the escapism of movies. Always have and always will…….The following are some of my favorite movies, and while we’re at it, some of my favorite TV shows as well. If I listed all of the movies I’ve liked since I started going to the movies, the list would fill several pages for sure.
One of my friends recently called me a film fanatic, and I have to say that she’s probably right. I’m not much of a TV watcher anymore (I used to be, but I hate reality TV and that’s all there is on TV these days), but you’ll never get me to stop going to the movies. I can’t think of a more pleasant way to spend a few hours than sitting in a dark theater with some candy and a box of popcorn, watching a movie. Movie theaters have changed—seats are very comfortable now (and they recline a bit), and each seat has its own plastic holder for water or soda bottles. Progress has been made for sure. The sound is exceptionally good, and the acoustics in the theater are too. You can now order tickets online and choose the seats you want. But that’s not why I go to the movies. I go because it’s a way to transport myself into another world for a few hours. I love being entertained; I love the fantasy, the magic, the escapism of movies. Always have and always will…….The following are some of my favorite movies, and while we’re at it, some of my favorite TV shows as well. If I listed all of the movies I’ve liked since I started going to the movies, the list would fill several pages for sure.
Favorite sci-fi/horror/fantasy films
· 2001 A Space Odyssey
· 2010
· 28 Days Later
· Alien (all four films in the series)
· Blade Runner
· Bram Stoker’s Dracula
· Burnt Offerings
· District 9
· Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (TV movie)
· Don’t Look Now
· Harry Potter (all the films)
· House of Dark Shadows
· I Am Legend
· Invasion of the Body Snatchers
· Lord of the Rings film trilogy
· Men in Black
· Minority Report
· Night of Dark Shadows
· Pan’s Labyrinth
· Psycho
· Stardust
· The Birds
· The Exorcist
· The Last Wave
· The Man Who Fell to Earth
· The New Daughter
· The Omega Man
· The Sentinel
· The Shining
· The Sixth Sense
· Twelve Monkeys
· What Dreams May Come
· What Lies Beneath
Favorite films
· 40 Carats
· All That Heaven Allows
· All The Fine Young Cannibals
· A Perfect Spy (TV mini-series)
· Basic Instinct
· Body Heat
· Brigadoon
· BUtterfield 8
· French Kiss
· Hair
· Hold That Ghost
· It’s Complicated
· Jane Eyre (TV mini-series)
· Jerry McGuire
· Julie and Julia
· Klute
· Light Sleeper
· Love Story
· Marnie
· Night Sins (TV movie)
· Out of Africa
· Romancing the Stone
· Romeo is Bleeding
· Saturday Night Fever
· Some Came Running
· Something Wild
· Strangers on a Train
· Sunday in New York
· The Accidental Tourist
· The Age of Innocence
· The Apartment
· The Fabulous Baker Boys
· The Grifters
· The Hours
· The Last Seduction
· The Long Kiss Goodnight
· The Mechanic
· The Moon-Spinners
· The Pursuit of Happyness
· The Sandpiper
· The Shawshank Redemption
· The Thorn Birds (TV mini-series)
· The Witches of Eastwick
· When Harry Met Sally
· Witness
· Zee and Co.
Favorite animated films/TV shows
· Bernard Bear
· Bugs Bunny and all the Looney Tunes cartoons
· Coraline
· Courage the Cowardly Dog
· Fantasia
· Ratatouille
· Scooby Doo
· The Flintstones
· The Pink Panther
Favorite TV shows
· Alfred Hitchcock Presents
· Bewitched
· Bonanza
· Cheers
· CSI Miami
· Dark Shadows
· Days of Our Lives (soap opera)
· Dick Van Dyke Show
· Disneyland
· Frasier
· I Love Lucy
· I Spy
· Kojak
· Leave it to Beaver
· Mary Tyler Moore Show
· M*A*S*H
· Maya
· Night Gallery
· Remington Steele
· Six Feet Under
· Star Trek
· That Girl
· The Avengers
· The Brady Bunch
· The Donna Reed Show
· The Night Stalker
· The Prisoner
· The Rockford Files
· The Sopranos
· The Twilight Zone
· The Waltons
· The X-files
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