BruceH

I watched most of that too (missed the first 10 minutes or so.) One tends to forget that if he hadn't created 60 Minutes he still would have had an amazing career. Weird how the giants of television history all seem to passing away at once. Now watching Cash Cab.

Found the Artie Shaw Self-Portrait box used for a quite reasonable price, so I finally got it. Has some stuff I already had (of course) but still worth it.

With all due respect to everyone involved, I've got to admit that as soon as I heard about it, I looked forward to NOT seeing the Pelham remake.

I think Sandler's huge fund of barely-disguised hostility would have made him good for the role, but his hyper-recognizability would have made him terrible. So I'm glad he wasn't used. this "barely-disguised hostility" (i refer to it as rage) you mention is what made Sandler perfect for Anderson's Punch Drunk Love. one of my absolute favorite movies. and his 'hyper-recognizability' didn't hurt the film at all in my opinion. the flip side to Sandler's rage is his seeming 'hyper-sensitivity.' seems to me Anderson wrote the role w/ this exact combination in mind and maybe w/ Sandler in mind because that's already his M.O. for anyone paying attention. maybe the character was even inspired by Sandler himself. i'll write Anderson a letter... but since i haven't seen IB, i can't speak to Sandler in it (or not). Quite. My impression was that Anderson did indeed fashion the role with Sandler in mind; it certainly wouldn't surprise me at least. Something about Punch Drunk Love didn't work for me, though...it was only a half-successful movie as far as I'm concerned. On the other hand, Sandler was fine in Funny People (not his fault the film was too long.) I feel strongly that using him as the "bear Jew" in IB would have been stunt casting of the worst sort, and a distraction. As Mike Myers WAS a distraction, though a more minor one.

I think Sandler's huge fund of barely-disguised hostility would have made him good for the role, but his hyper-recognizability would have made him terrible. So I'm glad he wasn't used. And I could have done without Mike Myers. Oh God, yes! That was the worst casting decision in the whole film.

Those two points are extremely germane, Tom, and you put them really well.

Movieland---Jerome Charyn I actually read this a few years ago, but I'm enjoying giving it another once-over.

Yeah, it was always my understanding that drummers were the most notoriously unreliable or immature musicians.

Agreed.

Yes indeed. Actually, I'm still hoping that Chris will eventually decide to come back. Didn't he do something like this before? Unless my memory is playing tricks (entirely possible) I seem to recall him getting mad about something, leaving angrily, then apparently deciding to let bygones be bygones and coming back. So it could happen again. Maybe.

I think Sandler's huge fund of barely-disguised hostility would have made him good for the role, but his hyper-recognizability would have made him terrible. So I'm glad he wasn't used.

Yeah, he blows hot and cold. Like Dexter.

He wore his hat in a very similar way...but let's just agree to disagree about this show.

Well, it's more like appreciating the artistry that went into creating and delineating them, and how the episodes unfold. Also, Draper reminds me of my father (not the cheating-on-his-wife part, but other things.)

Yes. Since this is the US Government (Library of Congress), why can't they just release a disc themselves, perhaps through the Smithsonian? That would be a beautiful way to celebrate Pres' 100th birthday. They could at least send a copy of it to my house.

Thanks for that. An 'infant progeny' indeed!

Could Eno's 70's "song" albums be considered 'prog rock'? If so, then I guess I'm into prog rock after all...

Yes. And why anyone would be dumb enough to take pointers on how to live their lives from either one of these characters is beyond me.

I wonder, is it better to get the Mosaic or Self-Portrait?

"A Slice Of The Top" is kind of costly. I was very fortunate to pick this up recently when one of the forums members made it available in the "Offering And Looking For" section. Yes, that's the one I was going to mention. Already OOP a few years back when I started seriously looking for it. I eventually ran down a reasonably priced used copy, but it's a bit on the rare side.

I still hope they do this at some point because it could be very, very good. Lucky Thompson is one of the greats. (I must have somehow missed this thread before.)

Alex, you're right on the money. There's a palpable sense of joy to "IB" that's infectious and liberating. And I got a sense from this film that it was less a live-action cartoon (though one could certainly say it had "cartoonish" aspects) as it was a filmed comic book. There's a distinction there, somewhere, though it's more of a gut reaction on my part than anything I'm prepared to analyze further right now. Also, it did amuse me that there were so many subtitles while the audience that I saw it with was overwhelmingly young male. I assume, too, that you were just as pleased as I was by how the movie was practically a love-letter to film geekery in general. Not only the references (Max Linder, Chaplin, G. W. Pabst, Emil Jannings, David O. Selznick, etc.) but that the plot hinges at several points on cinema.

I don't really think the male chauvinism on the series is "glorified and glamorized" at all...it's just a fact of life, which it was. Your mileage, as the kids say, may of course vary quite a bit. The character I had the most problem with for a long time was Pete Campbell. He was the guy I "loved to hate." Such a pathetic douche...never more so when he was like a little boy trying to put on the grown-up shoes...which was most of the time. But I've even lightened up on him a bit lately. He can't help himself. (The douche...)

"Oh, all of 'em!" (Sarah Palin reply.)

Good point. A few years back I asked Mosaic about a 60's Mobley box, and they said pretty much the same thing. Most or all of the stuff is in print, so there's little point. Now that's no longer true. Several of the albums have been allowed to go back out of print. However, given the economy and the fact that re-issues of all types seem to be OVER right now, I don't think it's too likely.