I’m tied to this film for two reasons: first is that Howard Hughes was obsessed with this movie, and since I was slightly obsessed with Howard Hughes… well, you get it. The second is that I LOVE THE HELL OUT OF PATRICK MCGOOHAN, who is in my mind the best actor ever, and… just watch the following 58 second scene. This is both the character he plays – and the real man, oddly enough – in… less than a minute. Very funny scene.
If you’ve never seen Triumph of the Will, here it is in a full version.
The images at the beginning of the film with all the children at the airport yelling “Heil Hitler” over and over again… chilling.
This is what the state is. This is what the state does.
Charlotte’s Cinema On The Web presents… Holiday! (Or at least the parts of it that I can find.) Now y’all have no excuses. :D
Part the First: (the rest of them are behind the cut)
I made myself a lovely baked salmon dinner. It was so damned delicious that it nearly took the National Guard to restrain me from eating both salmon fillets in one sitting. Fortunately I did largely restrain myself. I shall have some of the leftovers flaked into an omelet tomorrow morning. Oh, yes I shall. It was that good, folks. What is my secret, you ask? Liquid smoke. Oh, and BBQ spice rub. And adobo seasoning. But mostly the liquid smoke. It paired nicely with buttered noodles, green beans, and a gargantu-salad. A bag of salad has like 45 calories in the whole thing, and the salad goes off rather quick if you don’t eat it the next day. So I usually eat the whole damned bag of salad as an appetizer. Keeps me from going overboard on the main course.
Dunno why I’m still procrastinating on reading RTR. I have about 250 pages to go over by the end of tomorrow. Better get a move-on.
Oh, and because I can, here’s my favorite scene from Bringing Up Baby. This is the first movie ever to use the word “gay” as a slang term for homosexual. Cary Grant (the gorgeous, magnificent, enthralling, perfect Cary Grant) ad-libbed the line. Enjoy!
Filed under: school, vie quotidienne | Tags: france, movies, orson welles, weird french words
I find it very sad that The Magnificent Ambersons is out of print on DVD in the US. It is, however, still very much available on DVD in France. I shall get myself a copy forthwith while in-country. I hope someone finds Welles’ original ending someday. There was supposedly a print sent to him while he was in Brazil. It’s probably mouldering in someone’s attic by now.
In reading reviews of TMA on Amazon.fr, I came across the lovely word “hollywoodiens.” I guess that makes sense to designate the denizens of Hollywood. What would the word be in English, though? Hollywooders? Hollywoodites? No earthly idea.
More maybe later.
Filed under: first principles project, school, vie quotidienne, work | Tags: dancing, FDR, first principles project, france, movies, music, orson welles, philosophizing, put money in thy purse, school, snoozers, study abroad, work, youtube
I just wanted to proclaim my undying love for Orson Welles. The 10 minutes that he’s actually on screen in The Third Man make the entire movie worth watching. Joseph Cotten isn’t half bad either.
Sending in a registration form tomorrow for classes at the Irish Arts center. I know I’m going to take classes in ceili and set dancing, but I’m not sure yet whether the third class will be an intro to solo Irish dance or a fiddle class. I think probably the latter… but I don’t have the money for an instrument right now. Will just rent, then, and see if I like it (and if I’m any good!) before actually buying a violin. The class that I really want to take (on the tinwhistle) is at a time when I can’t get to the Center. Damn!!
Finally finished registration for Columbia. 2 French courses, elementary logic, earth science, art hum, and a class on the renaissance. Woo hoo. I don’t want to take the science course, but needs must. Alas, alackaday. It shouldn’t be too terribly bad, though. What I really need to do is start getting application materials together for Paris. I’ve simply got to get into that program and get out of America for a year. Will see how long I can stay abroad. The carte de sejour should last for about a year, so if I can get a decent summer job in Paris I may well stay until the visa runs out. That’s the plan at least. If not, I can go to England or Germany or… god knows where else. Maybe apply for an overseas internship through Columbia, or to that State Department language program.
Someone I know vaguely from FDR emailed me about an interesting blog project that’s been cooked up. The idea is for a group of us to write blog entries on various aspects of certain philosophical first principles, and then combine those writings into a sort of wiki. I’m not sure exactly what the audience is for the wiki, but I’d like to use this blog to explore some aspects of first principles, so this project comes at a good time. We’ll see where it leads.
Have been working a lot at the music dept. Have over $400 racked up for next Friday’s paycheck. Can’t come at a better time. I promised myself that I would not let my savings account get below a certain level. Well, it is about $65 above that level right now, so if I don’t make enough money every month to cover rent and bills, I don’t eat. Or… don’t do something else. Don’t get to spend any money, let’s say. I hope that Ye Olde SFP gives me more work-study money.
Tired tonight. More maybe tomorrow.
And the famous cuckoo clock speech from The Third Man. Forgive the Spanish subtitles.
And a gratuitous Irish reel set from the Transatlantic Sessions:
