December 7, 2006
From the desk of Jane Galt:Shameless Commercial Begging: DVD edition
1) The Complete Bertie and Jeeves Megaset If you have not read any of PG Wodehouse's "Jeeves" novels . . . well, then, oh, how I envy you, my friend. You have an enormous treat in store. PG Wodehouse writes stories set in a world of his own devising that's sort of England sometime between the wars, and sort of an American musical comedy about English aristocratic types. This is a BBC series starring Hugh Laurie (whom you may know from House), and his comedic partner Stephen Frye, who is, if anything, more brilliant than Mr Laurie. This is the complete series, and it's simply brilliant. The fourth season drags a little, but only in comparison to the previous three glorious years, and the four-disc set is at any rate cheaper than buying the first three seasons.
2) House Speaking of which, if you're not watching House . . . or if you missed the first season . . . you need to find out what you're missing. You don't watch the series for the deft characterization or gripping realism; you certainly don't watch it for the heartstring tugging medical miracles. No, you watch it for Hugh Laurie's brilliant misanthropy, and the fact that on Season Three, they're still siding with the Vicodin-popping doctor against the drug police. Libertarian heaven.
3) The Americanization of Emily Is possibly the most libertarian movie ever. I suspect this may have been James Garner's finest role, and I'm really very awfully fond of James Garner. As far as I know, this may have been the first (and last) movie that dared to question the portrayal of World War II as a sacred cause. Certain to be a crowd-pleaser at any anti-war party.
4) Reds Possibly the least libertarian movie ever. Answers the question: is it possible to have your heart stirred by the gosh-darned earnestness of someone else's grand ideological battle, while at the same time hating everything they stand for? The answer is yes.
5) Dr. Zhivago While we're on the topic of Russia, I just saw this for the first time this year. Before you ask, the hole was in Central Park around 83rd Street; I have apparently been hiding there for about 20 years. This is a Sunday night movie, after a long weekend when you're just slightly tired, and it's cold outside and warm inside, and you heat yourself a little soup and settle down on the couch with a bottle of wine. Even better if you have someone snuggly there, preferably one who doesn't mind maybe dressing up in your fake fur coat so you can get yourself in the mood by resting your head on his furry chest while you watch the movie.
Excuse me, are you still here? Ahem. Anyway. Great movie. Tres romantic. In a desperately sad, Russian sort of way.
6) Jezebel Speaking of grand romantic tragedies, this is a non-libertarian film in another way: it celebrates all the Burkean values, like blind adherence to tradition. It's also set in the old South. And yet, it's also one of my favourite movies. Rent or buy it if you want to explore the tortured depths of my political soul, or if you like a really satisfying period drama.
7) Firefly of course brings me back to my firm libertarian roots. I know, you're all "Battlestar Galactica is better", but I can resist peer pressure. Besides, I have a thing for orphans.
8) Then there's the dark side of my SF affection, which is Space: Above and Beyond I cannot explain my affection for this series, except to pass along the description a friend of mine gave it: it's like every World War II movie ever, set in space, with models.
Tell me you don't want to pop that in with a six pack and a large pepperoni and sausage with extra cheese.
9) Now, of course, I have to restore my highbrow credibility with you. Unfortunately, Bresson's The Pickpocket isn't available on DVD. The Third Man will have to be a less opaque and emotionally unavailable substitute. It is possibly the finest noir thriller ever made. By the end of it, I felt as if I'd spent ninety minutes vibrating like a guitar string.
10) And of course, you'll want something heartwarming for Christmas. I recommend A River Runs Through It, which may actually be my favourite movie, appealling to my upper-middlebrow sensibilities, my frantic love of running water, my WASP taste for stirring affirmations of good old-fashioned American values, and my Irish affection for the painful beauty of melancholy.
11) The complete Monty Python I don't think I need to explain this, do I?
Posted by Jane Galt at December 7, 2006 9:45 PM | TrackBack | Technorati inbound linksFirefly of course brings me back to my firm libertarian roots.
But no Farscape? Or are lecherous anarcho-capitalist puppets from Oz too much for you?
Somehow, I just KNEW the first comment would be about Firefly. ;)
2nd and 3rd comment too! There is no sense at all in comparing BSG to Firefly. They are different. I hope BSG goes on for another 3 or 4 years, and I think it's a tragedy that Firefly only went one season, having discovered it this summer on iTunes. The difference in the shows being that I could see myself watching a 3 night Firefly marathon a couple times a year. I tried a BSG marathon from the beginning this summer with my Dad and it'll be awhile before I want to trudge through Season 1 again.
Re: choice #9. Pickpocket is available on DVD from both Artificial Eye and Criterion. I know because I bought the Artificial Eye one earlier this year. It's quite a fun film for a Bresson because of all the hand-trickery.
I have generally the same feeling about Space: Above and Beyond. I watched it fairly avidly when it was on teevee, it was a good show. If it were on today instead of BSG it would probably receive comparable buzz, I think.
I second the recommendation for Dr. Zhivago. This also has strong libertarian (or at least anti-communist) themes, though it's a great movie with or without them.
"A River Runs Through It" is heartwarming?
Hi -
Great recommendations, and YES! Space Above And Beyond!
The last episode of that all too short series was great: Tell Our Mothers.
Still chokes me up...
And how could you miss Freescape? There are more cultural jokes and inside stories following inside threads than you can shake a stick at, and I for one have watched all of it at least three times.
Then again, I'm easily amused.
And no mention of MST3K? Shame on you... :-)
John
PS: And vibrating like a guitar string? Don't you mean zither string?
Mmmmm, Jezebel - I first saw that on the BIG screen in a summer revival festival in the grand movie palace at home. What a movie! And Zhivago! Now that you've seen the movie, read the book...it'll last you off and on all winter.
Not so fast.
I lost a lot of points with someone who really goes for that romance stuff by taking her to see Dr. Zhivago.
She absolutely hated it. She saw nothing romantic about a married-to-someone else man cavorting with Laura. She thought that he was a horrible cad who should have been trying to get back to his wife. As for Laura, do we really need to say anything more about a home-wrecker?
However, I did get something out of it. Strelnekov's "after the revolution, they'll all sing in tune" line is occasionally apt.
BSG is gritty and good and all that stuff, but it rather misses the point that I like my escapism to be, ya know, escapist. Firefly and Space: Above and Beyond hit this much better, starvation just isn't nearly as fun as heroic battle with horrific aliens or tossing the bad guy through the engine.
Wooster and Jeeves are the best!
An extra treat is the sumptuous cover illustrations in The Overlook Press's recent reissues:
http://www.overlookpress.com/pgw.php
I'm right with you on House and Firefly (and don't forget Serenity), but strongly disagree with Zhivago. I saw it back when it was in theaters, and my date and I both fell asleep. Literally. Second most boring movie I've ever seen, behind only Out of Africa.
i've never understood why i would bother watching something that didn't even make it through one season -- fly -- and thus by definition leaves you hanging (thought the movie was fine).
i sorta get the escapism point -- BSG can be heavy -- but it does have space battles and gunbattles and hot toaster babes (leaving aside that it's one of the best TV shows i've ever seen).
i really like house, but the parallels to CSI miami are a little disturbing (irritating lead, implausible cases, inside the body shots of what happened, etc.).
I don't think blind adherence to tradition was ever a Burkean value.
And are you realling joining Pat Buchanan in the claim that we should have sat World War II out?
I though Zhivago was pretentious, and the homewrecking aspect troubled me too. I haven't seen many of the other films you mention, so I guess my hole is deeper than yours, nyah nyah nyah.
I agree with the comment that Zhivago is outdone only by Out of Africa for sheer boredom.
Re The Third Man: All the lectures from Prof. Hubert Dreyfus' course on Existentialism in Literature, given last Spring at Berkeley, are available as free podcasts on iTunes. His lecture on The Third Man is especially interesting, and will change your perception of what's going on in the movie (although I disagree with some of his conclusions).
A River Runs Through It, which may actually be my favourite movie
One of my Top Ten. Makes me cry every time. Really a nicely done rendition of the book.
I *highly* recommend the book for A River Runs Through It. It is absolutely in my list of top 20 books in English, probably also in my top 10.
Agree w/River Runs Through It, Jeeves and Wooster.
Remember when ask.com was still Ask Jeeves? The cartoon butler was Stephen Frye from that series, drawn.
I watched Jeeves & Wooster eons ago...and am amused that some House fans have yet to discover that Hugh Laurie has a long and distinguished career as an actor and is British. Heck, he took this series just to get on telly, right? LOL
I recommend as a fine film: Spitfire Grill. Really good human drama, authentic core values. I love that movie.
Re Monty Python. I sometimes watch it on BBC America. It doesn't seem as funny and daring as it did when I was a kid in the 70s and the whole family gathered round the telly for it. However, it's still enjoyable. I tried to buy it for the bf last xmas but got ripped off on ebay; he never got the set...a bad omen for the relationship that fizzled shortly thereafter. LOL Can't say I didn't give it the ol' college try. Perhaps that's a new bf test, cuz I think it would be cool to have a bf think it's cool that his gf buys him the entire Monty Python series as a gift. LOL
BSG is good... but better than Firefly? Not even close in my book. Firefly had more interesting and complex characters and (for the most part) less formulaic and predictable plots, if only because it wasn't contained in such a straightforward Side A vs. Side B framework.
If you adore Jeeves and Wooster, there IS a musical comedy, called By Jeeves, by Andrew Lloyd Webber, and it's a hoot. I saw it in London about 10 years ago, and then happened across the CD in a secondhand CD store. In fact, I think I'll go listen to it as I hadn't happened to turn the radio on when I got home.
If Reds is any good, it's all in the second half. I got bored and turned off mid-way through, which I dow with maybe one movie in a hundred.
Firefly and Serenity are #10 and #18 on Amazon's 100 Top Selling DVDs of 2006. Yay!
A River Runs Through It, for me at least, is one of those few movies that gets better with each viewing. The ending, from the scene where Norman tells his father the news to Redford's parting voice-over, ranks as one of the best in cinema history.
I liked it so much, I have the final lines (from the story~ slightly different than the movie) on my office wall at work with a picture of a man fly fishing.
The most accurate libertarian movie I've ever seen is "Falling Down".
The money quote: "I'm the bad guy?"
No, No, No.
You vibrate like a zither string after watching The Third Man.
I was talking with my 30-year-old son about this wonderful fellow who plays Bertie Wooster on an old TV series. Such an endearing characterization and the actor actually plays the piano and sings at the same time. His name? Hugh Laurie. Son said, "He's the guy who plays House." End result? I am now as avid a fan of House as he is of Jeeves & Wooster. Thank heaven for DVDs!
I don't think I need to explain this, do I?
No, but no one can really explain Python anyway!
Wow, good call on "Falling Down". That's one of those movies I always wish I owned, but keep forgetting to buy.
And I can't believe there's so many "Space: Above and Beyond" fans. I thought I was the only one alive who still even remembered it existed.
I don't know if it's on DVD, but I'd think Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister would appeal. But some people don't realize it's a documentary.
JG,
Why not a "Shameless Commercial Flogging: Homeopathic edition"?
A starter list of assorted 'home cures' for various ailments (i.e. colds, sore throats, corns, Goiters,...)
You could have a peppercoin micro-payment link next to each category, as well as throwing it open for suggestions.
I waited for Reds and found it held up nicely over the quarter century. I can excuse the characters because this was the first socialist state. We now know that the concept has failed everytime it has been tried but they did not. What is amazing is that so many people have yet to learn this lesson.
If you like Wodehouse, you can pick up free mp3s of some of his works at http://librivox.org/completed-books
I prefer Psmith in the City to Jeeves; maybe I do have a thing for early socialists.
Perhaps you should stick to recommending cookware. There are some really dreadful choices on that list. Reds? Pretentious, bloated, humorless, wrong in every way. Dr. Zhivago? Loved it as a moody adolescent romantic but doubt that it would hold up well 25 years later. Jezebel? A ridiculous Gone With the Wind wannabe that Warner Brothers produced for Bette Davis as compensation for her losing out on the role of Scarlett O'Hara. But it plays on TCM frequently so nobody has to spend money on that dreck. The Americanization of Emily is a truly dreadful movie with a dreadful message. You are veering into Buchanan territory here, and this is a perfect illustration of why even though I subscribe to many libertarian principles there's just something truly repugnant about what passes for libertarian ideas on foreign policy. And it also perhaps explains why every card-carrying libertarian I've ever met is just a little "off", a little creepy.
To really appreciate the comedic genius of Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie you should see their "A Bit of Fry and Laurie" series from the BBC. Best sketch comedy since the Pythons.
Firefly of course brings me back to my firm libertarian roots. I know, you're all "Battlestar Galactica is better", but I can resist peer pressure. Besides, I have a thing for orphans.
Speaking of BSG and Firefly, check this out:
http://www.poobala.com/battlestarandfirefly.html
Tell me you don't want to pop that in with a six pack and a large pepperoni and sausage with extra cheese.
Pepperoni and mushroom, sure. The sausage on commercial pizza consistantly sucks.
"Reds" is the only movie that I've walked out of in my life. The worst movie I ever saw (at least the half I did see). As my friend whom I went with said "Who cares?".
Am I alone (no, no, you cry) in thinking that the title sequence in Jeeves and Wooster is a gem of popular art?
Reds Possibly the least libertarian movie ever. Answers the question: is it possible to have your heart stirred by the gosh-darned earnestness of someone else's grand ideological battle, while at the same time hating everything they stand for? The answer is yes.
Sounds like the Sopranos except of course that the Sopranos isn’t a total piece of s***.
"'A River Runs Through It, which may actually be my favourite movie'
One of my Top Ten. Makes me cry every time. Really a nicely done rendition of the book."
???? The book is a gem. The movie? A clothing catalogue. The book isn't just "innocence lost," but Eden; there's a difference. And the Word isn't just literature. There's a heck of a lot more going on in the book. The movie is pleasant, but the book is an ice ax.
No, but no one can really explain Python anyway!
No one explains the Spanish Iniquisition.
Wow. Count me in as another surprised "someone else liked Space:A&B?" person.
A starter list of assorted 'home cures' for various ailments (i.e. colds, sore throats, corns, Goiters,...)
Here's a sorta-remedy that bridges over to the recent cookware post: remove all or most onion and garlic smells from your hands by lathering the dishsoap against an exposed-aluminum implement.
No, I'm not kidding. My little sister found it in a book of home remedies for cleaning. I was flatly baffled to discover that it does work.
Also loved Space Above and Beyond and am grateful to it for introducing me to the greatness of Johnny Cash.
I prefer Firefly over BSG--the latter is way too intense for me.
Another good heartwarming film: The Shop Around the Corner with Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan.
Firefly is clearly better than BSG. BSG was great in the first 1.5 seasons but has been downhill since. The New Caprica plot was the nail in the coffin. The last two episodes (the ones with the boxing and Kat) have been atrocious.
If you like Fry & Laurie (as all right thinking people do) you really owe it to yourself to download their Saturday Night Fry radio series (available here http://www.sadena.com/radio/), which is the funniest thing they've ever done.
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