Monthly Archives: October 2012

Never Sorry Folly?

Posted on October 29, 2012 by Kathy

I’m recommending Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry and Almayer’s Folly, both showing at the Cinematheque this weekend. Unlike past weeks, I haven’t seen either one. The documentary about Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has earned a 97% at the website Rotten Tomatoes, … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Movies | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ozu’s “Tokyo Story”

Posted on October 24, 2012 by Kathy

Yasujiro Ozu’s 1953 Tokyo Story is a quiet, moving film about an essential theme of life: change. It’s not to be missed. Chishu Ryu, Ozu’s iconic actor, plays an elderly father who travels from the countryside to Tokyo with his wife to visit … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

To See, or Not to See?

Posted on October 19, 2012 by Kathy

Documentaries are often tempting, because their subject matter is usually inherently interesting: some unique, strange, or heartwarming story that inspired the filmmakers to begin with. In Kumare, this weekend’s Museum selection, the filmmaker, Vikram Gandhi (at left) conned people into believing he was … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Leave a comment

A Clown, but Not “Klown”

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Kathy

Maybe I’ll always be recommending a classic film, here, in my weekly musings on my husband John’s film programs. If so, I may get boring, but I gotta be me. I generally want people to read classic books and see classic … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies, Uncategorized | 4 Comments

A Collection of Choosers

Posted on October 12, 2012 by Kathy

I discussed the electoral college with my Latin students today, apropos of the Presidential election, of course, and described its Roman historical and etymological roots. As a break from our essential but enervating grammar explanations, such a lesson passes as … Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Reflecting on the 47%

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Kathy

By now everybody knows what Republican candidate Mitt Romney said about 47% of Americans. It goes something like this. People will vote for President Obama because they are dependent on government and believe they are victims. These 47%  pay no … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Good Docs

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Kathy

Two documentaries at the Cleveland Museum of Art sound interesting this weekend. Booker’s Place: A Mississippi Story revisits a 1965 NBC interview, in which an African-American waiter named Booker Wright spoke openly to TV reporters and later paid the price. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Leave a comment

Hands Down, It’s “Madame de…”

Posted on October 7, 2012 by Kathy

No zombies or giant man-eating sandworms for me this weekend. I’ll pass over Juan of the Dead (Cuba’s first zombie movie) and Dune, David Lynch’s version of the Frank Herbert science-fiction novel, for Max Ophuls’s exquisite 1953 gem, The Earrings … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | 7 Comments

La Grande Illusion

Posted on October 6, 2012 by Kathy

It happened again tonight. As I was tearing up watching Jean Renoir’s great 1937 anti-war film La Grande Illusion at the Cinematheque, I was thinking that I should have told everyone I know to come and see it. John didn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | 1 Comment