BruceH

The Third Man is my favourite film of all time. God bless you, my son. Actually, if I had to name a single favorite film, it would certainly be The Third Man. I just wanted to sound, you know, reasonable.

The Third Man is my favourite film of all time. I highly recommend a book about the film entitled "In Search of the Third Man" by Charles Drazen. Yes, that is a fascinating book.

Now's your chance, Brandon---the new, 2-disc Third Man Criterion is coming out on the 22nd.

Looking forward to the new 2-disc Third Man. I don't care what anyone says, this is still one of my favorite films of all time (the British version, of course.)

By the way, it's "Henry Kuttner"---two T's and a K. Just FYI.

Yep, my birthday came five weeks early this year. (I also ordered Playtime, Trouble In Paradise, and Dazed & Confused.) Three of my favorite movies. I'd even put Playtime and Trouble in Paradise in My Top 10. Oddly enough, so would I.

Prestige dates of that era often tended to sound like rather off-the-cuff, let's roll the tape and see what we get affairs, compared to Blue Note dates of the same era on which similar musicians were playing the same style of music. Alfred Lion opted for pre-session rehearsal and preparation, and Bob Weinstock typically did not. This album almost has a Blue Note feel to it. Far more typical of Prestige's "shagginess" would be, say, the Jenkins-Jackie McLean "Alto Madness," also from 1957, which has some fine moments on it but hardly seems to have been produced at all -- given the minimal writing and the blow-till-you-drop length of the title track, with its seemingly endless series of exchanges between the two altoists, intense though those exchanges are at times. Again, I have the feeling that Clifford Jordan was the de facto producer on "Jenkins, Jordan, and Timmons." Yes, I remember being quite surprised at how little I liked Alto Madness. I always thought of you as more of a "Tenor Madness" kind of guy. It is a better album, to be sure. But I'm more of a Mad Magazine/Harvey Kurtzman kind of guy.

I happened to see him live a year or two ago at Yoshi's and he friggin' BURNED! It was an ear-opening, revelatory experiance.

Prestige dates of that era often tended to sound like rather off-the-cuff, let's roll the tape and see what we get affairs, compared to Blue Note dates of the same era on which similar musicians were playing the same style of music. Alfred Lion opted for pre-session rehearsal and preparation, and Bob Weinstock typically did not. This album almost has a Blue Note feel to it. Far more typical of Prestige's "shagginess" would be, say, the Jenkins-Jackie McLean "Alto Madness," also from 1957, which has some fine moments on it but hardly seems to have been produced at all -- given the minimal writing and the blow-till-you-drop length of the title track, with its seemingly endless series of exchanges between the two altoists, intense though those exchanges are at times. Again, I have the feeling that Clifford Jordan was the de facto producer on "Jenkins, Jordan, and Timmons." Yes, I remember being quite surprised at how little I liked Alto Madness.

Are you going to open up a branch here?

Huh?--What did you say?

That new Chabon, The Yiddish Policeman's Union, looks intriguing. I heard him interviewed on Fresh Air recently and it made me want to go out and buy it. BTW, re-reading Revolution In the Head by Ian MacDonald. Love that book. Also, Peanuts: 1963-1964.

Yep, my birthday came five weeks early this year. (I also ordered Playtime, Trouble In Paradise, and Dazed & Confused.)

Dumb question, I know but, is Army of Shadows as good as Platoon?[assuming you saw, liked Platoon] Actually, I saw Platoon and thought it was one of Stone's better efforts. They're very different films. Army is about the French Resistance, particularly when there were only a few hundred of them and they were in constant danger of being caught. Platoon is of course about America's Vietnam quagmire. Hmmm. I could get into a whole thing about respective subtlety-quotients, but...no. Let's just say that, even given the old apples-and-oranges caveat, Army of Shadows is at least as good as Platoon, maybe even a tad better. (Personally, I'd say it's at least a hundred times better, but hey, that's just me.)

I have. It's great. In fact, I seem to recall a thread about that somewhere...

I've been a fan of this album for years. Don't remember when I bought it, actually, but I imagine it had a lot to do with having both Jenkins and Jordan's names on it (not to mention Timmons.) But yeah, the album's one of those gems that's quite a bit better than you initially expected and repays obsessive listening. I put a couple of the tracks from this on a jazz tape, and used to listen to it all the time in the car.

Heh

but there's a lot more to a singing career (and getting votes) than just one's voice - as anyone who's seen (heard!) some of the pro celebrity guest singers on the show can atest. Such as being male (and the last one left) in a competition with an audience that skews young and female. You got it.

I ordered this on May 13th (it was supposed to be released on the 15th.) It arrived in the mail on the 15th! Sweet! When I went to see this in the theater in the Fall of 2006, I was just sort of hoping it would be good. I didn't know it would be the best war movie I've ever seen in my life. Well, one of the best, anyway. A heretofore obscure Melville film that didn't even get shown in the US until 37 years after it was made. And it turns out to be one of Melville's best. The image quality on the DVD is superb; I've rewatched the film twice already. Haven't checked out any of the extras yet.

If you're going to be a jazz fan, you can't be quite so thin-skinned. (Still, the guy's an idiot.)

Wow.

Happy Birthday Larry!

Sounds like it might be really great!

Holy leapin' catfish that is amazing! What a thing to have! Thanks for the photos.

Bummer!!