The Future Is Now
I can’t sleep because it is illogical to sleep when the dystopia has begun. It occurred to me as I was tossing and turning tonight that in the twentieth century, science fiction mostly concerned itself with then-inconceivable gadgetry like videophones and pocket devices that could connect you to the whole world –all of which is now real except for time travel and personal spaceships. In the last fifteen years, sci-fi has become dystopian, full of ravaged planets and people. This also is now real. Continue Reading →
Election as Entertainment
As we head into the final days of the 2016 presidential campaign, election ennui has become a problem. Regardless of how you’re casting your ballot, chances are good that words like “rigged,” “pantsuit,” “orange,” and, of course, “Skittles” long ago lost their appeal. (Who knew candy could prove so controversial outside of dentistry conventions?) To take the edge off this malaise, I’ve nominated some political novels, television shows, plays, and films to put the entertainment back into the election.
ADAPTATIONS
“Primary Colors” (1998)
The gold standard of modern election entertainment, this thinly disguised account of Bill Clinton’s first run for U.S. President is adapted from a Joe Klein novel. Directed by Mike Nichols from a screenplay by his old comedy buddy Elaine May (swoon), in a genius bit of casting, it stars John Travolta as Governor Jack Stanton (aka Bill) and Emma Freaking Thompson as Susan Stanton (aka Hillary). Continue Reading →
Age and ‘Aquarius’
One of my favorite freelance gigs is giving talks to local cinema clubs. The groups mostly are comprised of people over 50, which is my preferred demographic of human beings. As Louis CK once said, “Even the dumbest seventy-year-old is going to have seen more than the smartest twenty-year-old.” The following is a lecture I gave to a Westchester club about “Aquarius,” a long, demanding film that nonetheless held us rapt.
“Aquarius,” a film about Clara (Sonia Braga), a retired Brazilian music critic’s battle to keep her apartment despite pressure from real estate developers and her own family, is about so many things at once. It is a revenge thriller of sorts. It is a treatise on real estate development, greed, and the politics of housing, an issue we also are confronting here in the United States. It is is a rallying point for the Brazilian left, as many citizens in that country identify Clara with the Brazilian president impeached earlier this year in what many describe as a right-wing legislative coup d’état. But most importantly, at least to me, “Aquarius” is an unhurried, almost luxuriant portrayal of a complex sixtysomething woman who has led a very full life, and is still healthy and engaged enough to have many more years of joy and pains ahead of her. Continue Reading →