I ought to be writing a real post, but instead I am writing about how I ought to be writing a real post. Today, I hope to see the new X-Men movie, play some cards (I haven’t played Poker in ages, but I’ll be satisfied with Nuclear War or Car Wars: The Card Game), and watch two more episodes of Crusade so I can send the disc back and get the next one.
Aye, the Cuplog gets Cupdated, here at the Cuparium… by Cuparius. Fancy a cuppa?
I updated the About page.
The Way Ahead (also known as The Immortal Battalion) is a British film made in 1944 depicting civilians and their transition to life as soldiers during World War II. (Thanks again for the DVD, LT.) It was directed by Sir Carol Reed, the genius responsible for such masterpieces as The Third Man, Odd Man Out, Oliver!, and The Fallen Idol. It was co-written by Peter Ustinov, who also plays the part of a minor character named Rispoli, and stars David Niven as Perry. I was pleasantly astounded to see that the role of Sergeant Fletcher was played by none other than William Hartnell, the original star of Doctor Who, here credited as “Billy Hartnell.” I thought I noticed Trevor Howard playing the role of an officer on a ship, and sure enough, after consulting IMDb.com, he is listed in the cast as being uncredited for that role.
Trivia aside, I thought it was above average for a war movie. There are some moments that defy believability, such as a drill sergeant accompanying the men he has just trained on their first deployment, but overall it was a satisfying picture. I had half-expected to sit through a dull movie, but the characters and situations are interesting. For anyone interested in World War II movies, this is worth having on one’s shelf.
Overall Rating: Good
I made a few alterations to the site today. The archives index now lists the title of each entry as well as the date (not that it helps much, since most of the titles are about the difficulty of thinking of a title, but the information is there if you need it).
I have also added an index of engravings to the nonsensical feature, “Engravings by Heck; Comments by Cuparius.” Formerly, the only means of navigation was a Javascript button, but now you may access the complete list of engravings from every page that has an engraving. The link follows the original publication date below the caption.
I have also updated some pages found in the lists index. ‘Tis nothing earth-shattering, but now you know.
That’s all for the moment. Be seeing you… :-?
I would be remiss if I did not admit that my sole motivation in watching Princess of Thieves (2001) was to see Keira Knightley. I did not expect to see a masterpiece. Let’s be honest, she is usually the only redeeming feature of most of the movies she has been in, and often that isn’t enough to redeem the movie itself. This was no exception. When we noticed that Malcolm McDowell was in the cast (playing the Sheriff of Nottingham), my brother remarked that usually McDowell’s name in the credits has alone been the deciding factor in dissuading him from renting many a movie. Given McDowell’s record, I had to concede Danny Boy had a point. “What have we seen that McDowell was good in?” I asked, trying to recall. A Clockwork Orange — that’s about it. Danny Boy also liked him in Cat People. Looking at IMDb.com, I notice he was also in some early episodes of Lexx, but I still haven’t seen the first season, so I can’t comment on that.
Back to the topic (Princess of Thieves), this British television movie employed many of the wearisome clichés found in adventure movies, combined with some cartoonishly exaggerated performances (the worst offender being McDowell) [Edit: On second thought, the worst offender by far was Jonathan Hyde, who played Prince John in a performance reminiscent of Jeremy Irons in Dungeons & Dragons], and some unconvincing combat scenes. It seems as if this movie was made primarily to showcase Knightley’s charms. Charms she may have (I did mention that she was the only reason I watched it), but they are not enough to salvage this movie. [Edit: However, she is in the movie a lot, and at least it isn't Pirates of the Caribbean. This movie may not be good, but it's worth watching if you like Knightley.]
Overall Rating: Mediocre
Swashbuckling Rank: Poor
I recently watched the documentary Searching for the Great Hopewell Road. The Hopewell were one of the ancient Moundbuilder civilizations that “built thousands of monumental earthworks in the central Ohio Valley, including the largest geometric enclosures in the world.” Most fascinating to me were the links made between some of the cultural beliefs of the Woodland Indians of this region, the Anasazi of the Southwest, and the Mayas. All three purportedly had a belief that the Milky Way was some sort of sacred road of the spirit world, and all three constructed long, wide, straight roads that may have represented on earth the spiritual road they discerned in the night sky. The focus of the documentary is the discovery of what may be a straight road, 100 feet wide, connecting two sites of mound enclosures 60 miles apart. It is maddening how little is known about the ancient cultures of this continent, especially in this region.
Another thing of great interest to me were the interviews with descendents of some of the Ohio tribes, such as the Shawnee, Miami, and Delaware, who described various beliefs, some of which may have been inherited by their ancestors from the Moundbuilders. I was particularly interested in their Creation myth, which involved an endless expanse of water and a turtle coming up with the idea of creating the Earth by diving to the bottom, gathering mud, and piling it up to make some land. A mischievous muskrat helped, but he piled the mud on the turtle’s shell instead, and the turtle itself become the land. Creation by way of practical joke — it makes sense to me (and explains quite a lot, if taken further). I was also interested in two other ideas that separated the Woodland tribes from most others: they referred to the Great Spirit as “She,” and the moon was far more important to them than the sun. This last revelation was what led some of the scholars studying one of the great mounds connected by the road to look for lunar, rather than solar, observation markers at the mound. Sure enough, whereas there had been no evidence indicating any conscious attempts to trace the passage of the sun, there is evidence that the mound was used to trace the much more complicated lunar cycle.
I only wish the documentary had been longer. I love this sort of thing.
The other day I bought a box of saltines. There was nothing extraordinary about them; they were common saltines that cost $1.00 per box and they were the first I saw, so I bought them. When I brought them home and ate one, I was neither awestruck nor humbled by the experience. They were not even the best saltines I’ve ever eaten. They were not the worst, but they were certainly far from the best. They were perfectly ordinary saltines. I’m not surprised by this. What do I expect from a box of saltines that cost $1.00 per box? Well, consumers ought to expect more from a product that raises expectations when it is promoted as being far above average. These were not just common saltines after all, you see, for when I looked at the box as I was eating one of these seemingly mundane crackers, I discovered that they were, in fact, Saltines Supreme. I had purchased and eaten Saltines Supreme without even knowing the luxury in which I was indulging. How could I be unaware of their supremacy? How indeed…
Which brings me to the point: the advertising industry is populated by subhumans. I could go on and on (and on and on) about everything that irks me about the advertising industry, but I haven’t time for that now. There are much more important matters to cover…
None of which I care to discuss at the moment. Honestly, I can’t remember what I was planning to write. Thank you, and good night.
On Sunday night/Saturday morning I watched F.W. Murnau’s 1927 silent film, Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans. I never know what to expect from him. His Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens from 1922 (otherwise known simply as Nosferatu) still stands as the greatest vampire movie ever made (followed by the ingenious fictional movie about the movie, Shadow of the Vampire, from 2000), whereas his Phantom from the same year (apart from a single brief scene with spectacular visual effects) stands as one of the most agonizingly dull and woodenly acted movies I have ever endured.
Sunrise is notable for being the first and only recipient of the Academy Award for Best Picture, Unique and Artistic Production. In addition, it won for Best Cinematography, and Janet Gaynor won Best Actress in a Leading Role for playing The Wife. It certainly was unique, and I am a little surprised its style of storytelling wasn’t more influential. It had a fairy tale quality balanced by the little details of mannerisms and personality quirks that I think lent itself well to the medium. Initially, I was skeptical of the plot as it was presented, with its fidelity versus infidelity and rural versus urban themes, but as it progressed, I couldn’t help being drawn into the plot beyond the parable and, more importantly, the characters and their plight. The characters are more complex than one would guess at first glance, and at the same time serve as powerful allegorical symbols. It is not without its controversial elements, some of which I still find troubling, and I wouldn’t say the film is flawless, but it is worth watching for its directing, its impressive visual effects, and some good performances. Janet Gaynor, in particular, is outstanding.
I voted yesterday. When I was asked my party affiliation, I was surprised by the pride I took in answering, “Independent.” I felt a stirring in my chest, and something of an inclination to stand on a box and proclaim very loudly exactly what I thought about the state of elections in this nation and politics in general. I was, as usual, in a mood to rake some muck. The pollworkers had some trouble adjusting the techno-widget to allow me to vote for issues only, since I am ineligible to vote in the primaries due to my lack of any party affiliation, and I was fully prepared to unleash some indignant rage if they proved unable to let me vote. I am, and have always been, 100% against computerized voting, and considering the catastrophic errors and widespread instances of election fraud in the last presidential election, I feel justified in protesting any attempt to suppress votes, intentionally or unintentionally, IN AS LOUD A VOLUME AS NECESSARY. I could feel my blood pressure rising and my patience waning as I watched the pollworkers puzzling over what ought to have been a simple enough procedure. The citizens of this nation are not obligated to tolerate any infringement of their voting rights, and each and every instance of voter disenfranchisement must be loudly opposed. Any denial of any citizen’s legitimate voting rights is another crack in the foundation of the democratic process that is this nation, and we are coming perilously close (if it is not too late already) to a decline from a democratic republic to a self-perpetuating plutocratic oligarchy. Yes, I was prepared to declaim quite publicly, but they were finally able to figure out the gizmo so I could vote on the single item on the ballot that was not part of either primary: a school levy. I voted in favor of it. I accepted the “I Voted” sticker they handed me, but I didn’t wear it, for the first time since I first voted at the age of eighteen. I am not proud to vote in a country with elections as ridden with inaccuracy and fraud as a Third World banana republic. It is humiliating. I feel as if I and others of my generation (and the generations that follow) shall inherit ashes and rubble from the generation in power that has been systematically destroying the legacy left to us by the Founders and the Greatest Generation. When the dust has settled and the plutocrats have safely stashed their plunder in offshore accounts and fled responsibility, will there be enough left of our economy (and country) to rebuild, or will our country be reduced to an impoverished, ignorant, third-rate nation ruled by paranoia, intolerance, and religious fundamentalism? How much longer will we stagger under the delusion that this nation is governed “by the People”? I believe strongly in participation in free and fair elections. I wish we had them.