Spirits in the cloud

Morrissey - Ouija Board Ouija Board
by jpdc11

It should be announced at the outset of this blog that a) I have little to contribute, and b) I have strong opinions. Also, c) I love using Heather's pottery, but I know almost nothing about it or any other art.

I saw a great movie over Thanksgiving break, Sullivan's Travels, which I thoroughly recommend. Here, I hope, is the trailer:

It's an interesting picture about the function of art and the responsibilities of artists, meant more to provoke laughs with some thought than to proclaim anything - but there are a few proclamations in there. It was somewhat recently referred to in the Coen Bros. O Brother Where Art Thou, so there are a number of people besides me who find it has currency and relevance.

Speaking of the Coens, I saw their latest, A Serious Man, and laughed a lot, and would recommend it as a good picture for a rainy day - both smart and clever, and only very occasionally too smart or clever for its own good. I also recently saw George Clooney's new picture (Clooey was in O Brother, of course) Up in the Air. Also good, and more amusing than anything he's done lately (though I haven't seen the Fantastic Mr. Fox as of yet) but I'd give it merely a "pretty good picture." I think it attempts to do the same thing that Preston Sturges tried more succesfully in Sullivan's Travels - to light-heatedly address tough circumstances, and to make the audience laugh first, and perhaps consider questions, but not provide answers. It is only somewhat effective at this - I think the writer/director (e.g Sturges) is too ambivalent and too restrained and evenhanded in his treatment of both characters and themes. I will say, as a former St. Louis resident, the airport has never, ever looked better. It may be Clooney's presence that improves his surroundings, but I think the director has a good eye, and a good mind, and a good understanding of his story's structure, and a good understanding of his characters - but I don't think the story works, and I'd recommend he watch Sullivan's Travels to see how to tell a story, take a stand for asking questions, and still provide a subversively moral core to the final product.