Sundown At Between the Reels

Big things are coming, I assure you. Just because I'm not posting as much as I used to doesn't mean I'm not working on anything. 

As a Constant Reader, the Dark Tower was hanging over my head since I embarked on reading Stephen King. I'd kept it at bay because it is fantasy. And the fantasy genre is anathema to me. Especially when it comes to books. I don't have time to take on an 8 to 10 book series when my to-be-read- pile is hundreds of books long. I prioritize the classics. Carrie, Salem's Lot, The Shining, The Stand, Different Seasons, Pet Semetary, It, Misery and some of his later works like 11/22/63 and Revival. 

The Dark Tower is such an overwhelming undertaking because not only is it an 8 book series but several books outside of it serve as important books to have the 'full experience' of reading the series. The Stand, Black House, Salem's Lot, Insomnia and Eyes of the Dragon are just some of the required readings you have to do in order for full immersion. I don't want to half ass this journey, so I am prepared to take on the books I have already read as well as ones I have avoided (I'm looking at you Insomnia). 

Music has become a major blind spot for me. Maybe it's because my time has been occupied by other art. A couple of artists have come onto my radar like Yo La Tengo, thanks to their score to Kelly Reichardt's Old Joy. Yet the longing in my pop art heart has yearned for some catchy tuneage. I've listened to Olivia Rodrigo's Guts album front to back for the past couple years and count myself as a fan. Her new album, you seem so sad for a girl so in love, is to be released June 12 and I for one am hyping it as an event. You remember those, right? 

Sure we have movies and shows we associate with summer. But what about characters? Tom Ripley fits that description. The Talented Mr. Ripley was my first exposure to the character, and I quickly succumbed to his devilish charms. Patricia Highsmith created this murderous sociopath in 1951. Highsmith's magic trick was creating a villain who not only gets away with murder but becomes the person they murdered. He is a terrible person but Highsmith writes him in a way where you want him to get away with it. 

Hannah Arendt once wrote that "storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it." There is no better way to describe the way sexuality functions in Highsmith's novel. 

Watching Tom Ripley stroll through Italian villas and beaches wishing for the life of playboy Dickie Greenleaf. Like some dark, twisted flipside of a coin to the suave James Bond, I've seen this story and character play out through the eyes of Alain Delon in Purple Noon, Dennis Hopper in The American Friend, Matt Damon in The Talented Mr. Ripley, John Malkovich in Ripley's Game and, in the latest incarnation, Andrew Scott. 

Steve Zaillian is responsible for the latest version of the story. Having been obsessed with The Night Of and a fan of Searching For Bobby Fischer and A Civil Action, I'm kind of disappointed I haven't already watched this. 

FILLING IN THE GAPS

Steven Spielberg has a new film coming out. A science fiction one at that- Disclosure Day. 

Three films of his have eluded me: The Adventures of Tintin, The BFG, and Ready Player One. In the same way Zemeckis' animated films have eluded me, they don't nearly interest me as much as those director's live action features. I have nothing against animation. I love Pixar and several other non- Pixar works. It's just that when ranking their filmographies in terms of what interests me, the animated works are toward the bottom. 

There are around two dozen Hitchcock flicks I haven't seen. Movies that are more him mastering his craft and ironing out all the kinks. The movies he made before he was known as the 'Master of Suspense'.

There are also works from Mike Nichols, Coppola, Ford, Friedkin, Wilder, Leigh, Tony Scott and many others I plan on seeking out.