If it don't fit don't force it

Star Wars: A New Hope

(1977)

Is it just me, or are the Jawas basically just Ewoks with hoods and a capitalistic sensibility?

Love in vain

King Kong

(1933)

Yeah, yeah, I know: I've been neglecting my Friday night deaccession project of late, but come on: after what I watched this afternoon, how could I not choose another tragic portrayal of man's exploitation of his simian brethren? No matter how often I see this, I ache for the big ape's confusion: I did it all for love; how can she let them do this to me?

It was science killed the beast

Project Nim

Crit

Good god, we can be a dumbass species. Quick quiz:

1. Good idea to take a newborn chimpanzee from his mother and--ostensibly in an effort to teach him sign language--hand him over to a loony hippie, who knows no sign language or anything about apes--to bring up as a child in her brand new Brady-bunch melded family?
2. And if that doesn't work out, good idea to hand him over to a bunch of student researchers, who do at least have sign language skills and primate knowledge, but lack any real guidance from the nominal director of the project, and to leave him there for five years, or until the chimp becomes stronger and more aggressive than any of the humans?
3. And if that doesn't work out, good idea to ship him from New York back to his natal facility in Oklahoma, where they have no place to lodge him but a cage and no capacity for catering to his special talents?
4. And then is it a good idea for his well-intentioned rescuer to move him to an equine rescue ranch, where they have no place to lodge him but another cage, and no other apes to keep him company?

It's a miracle he never killed anyone; I would have. Horrible.

Fundamental things

Casablanca

(1942)

As you know, I watch this every year around Bastille Day. This year, even though evening events this weekend make it inconvenient to watch it, I thought--especially after watching the U.S. women beat Brazil in one of the most exciting World Cup matches I've ever seen--that I'd better get it watched before Wednesday's semifinal match vs. France; wouldn't want anything to interfere with my own internal Franco-American amity. Wouldn't want La Marseillaise to sound sour.

Today's new notice: at the Belle Aurore flashback, when Rick and Ilsa are standing by the piano, he looks at her and seems to notice that her upset is more even than having Nazis tanking into Paris calls for--he doesn't know what, but he knows something's up, which gives an ironic twist to his jocularity about whether the conductor on the train can perform their nuptials.

A history of sadness

Beginners

Crit

There's only one thing that doesn't work here, but it's kind of a biggie: Mélanie Laurent's Anna is a cipher, nothing but the beautiful, brilliant, available woman who will love you forever if you don't fuck it up. It's not primarily her story, but then Casablanca is not primarily Ilsa's story, either, but we require and get the answers to the critical questions of her back story.

That said, the inevitability that Oliver (Ewan McGregor) will fuck it up is drawn convincingly (perhaps because autobiographically): though raised in love, he can't love and doesn't have a clue why until his father (a perfect Christopher Plummer) comes out soon after becoming a widower. Hal and Georgia (Mary Page Keller, also perfect in a small flashback role) always loved each other, but, as you might imagine, it was complicated, and the complications have leeched into Oliver. A lovely, sad film.

Trailer

• Elle s'appelait Sarah (Sarah's key)--Kristin Scott Thomas as a present-day journalist tracking down Vichy war crimes; looks intense, naturally.

How can I leave this behind?

This Is Spinal Tap

(1984)

Oh, you youngsters--you weren't even born in '67, when the Thamesmen apotheosized, were you? So how can you understand the deep connection a man of my generation feels to Tap? Still, maybe you can appreciate that their story still makes me laugh, and cry, and pass gas melodically. I only hope that someday you'll feel such a nostalgic wave, that you will feel compelled to smell your generation's glove.

The sins of the father

Buck

Crit

This guy is Jesus with an edge (then again, I suspect the original Jesus had more edge than we've been led to believe), his ministry horses and--because their behavior affects horses--humans as well. You could follow a worse messiah; many have.