The Invisible Counterpoint

Despite the fact that by all accounts, Baz Luhrmann is likely well into pre-production on The Great Gatsby — which will likely be shot in Australia, and in 3-D , and feature Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire and Carey Mulligan in starring roles — the elusive director refused to admit anything at a dinner for Geoffrey Rush in Brooklyn on Thursday night. “I’m not doing Gatsby right now for this reason,” he told Vulture when asked why he was shooting Gatsby in Australia when his “team” was mostly located in New York. “Because despite what might be out there, I have made no comment about anything. So until I say it, it’s not said, you know.” Not really. Luhrmann explained further , with the clarity of a murky swamp. What it means is, much like what goes on in any event, when you’re in the middle of the work, there’s all sorts of things you’re doing, and, you know, when I’m really clear — I, right now, my only focus is absorbing — I’ve been studying [F. Scott] Fitzgerald now fo...

It’s bad enough that Michael Dowse’s retro-comedy Take Me Home Tonight isn’t nearly as much fun as the ’80s actually were. Even worse, it’s less fun than most ’80s comedies were — and that’s bad. Topher Grace plays Matt, a recent MIT grad circa 1988, whose life is stuck on “pause”: He’s working a dead-end job at Suncoast Video, and he still has the hots for Tori (Teresa Palmer), the golden goddess who wouldn’t look twice at him in high school and who barely looks once now. She comes into the store one day; he not-so-subtly puts the moves on her, telling her he works for Goldman Sachs (in the old days, this was supposed to drive girls wild). They agree to meet later at a huge Labor Day bash, where Matt will be able to perpetuate his silly lie and, with luck, win the girl. [. . .] I get that Dowse ( Fubar , It’s All Gone Pete Tong ) isn’t just mimicking ’80s comedies; he’s actually trying to make one, trusting, I suppose, that the audience is in on his ultra-ironic joke. The movi...

According to a new report, the roundly chilly response to James Franco’s Oscar hosting gig has hardly lessened his profile at Yale. In fact, the post-grad polymath — who is in the early stages of obtaining a Ph.D. in English from the Ivy League institution — was back on the East Coast mere hours after the Oscarcast ended, journalists in tow and mythology expanding by the hour. “At 9 the next morning,” notes today’s NYT , “[Franco] was in a Starbucks in New Haven, hunched over a book and barely recognizable in a gray sweatshirt, but still wearing his tuxedo pants.” I mean, of course he was still in tuxedo pants. Just add it to the legend promulgated by Franco’s peers and faculty alike: (S.T. Vanairsdale, “ Report From Yale: James Franco Still Likes Doing Things,” Movieline, 4 March 2011) "journalists in tow and mythology expanding by the hour" is really good. He, like Portman, speaks to our love of frenzied activity, of not sitting still, and routine daily acclaim;...

But a gut feeling tells those of us who were only mildly impressed by The King’s Speech that something feels wrong. That’s not to say the multiple Oscar-winning biopic of stuttering King George VI isn’t good. It is. But would it feel any more right if it was The Social Network that had won Best Pic and wound up outranking some of the above titles? Maybe, if only because TSN felt more impactful in the overall scheme of things, culturally speaking; the same could be argued of Black Swan, with its stylish bravado and unforgettable central performance. Then again, digging into the list we’re reminded of Oscar’s prior history of selecting dubious Best Picture winners; The King’s Speech also outranks Shakespeare in Love, Forrest Gump, Dances with Wolves, and Crash. And that feels just right. (Jen Yamato, “Is King’s Speech Really Better Than Unforgiven, The Sting, and These Other Best Picture Oscar Winners?,” Movieline, 4 March 2011) I have a feeling that King's Speech is going ...

ABC News: All Chinese children learn English starting in kindergarten. By the time they are ten they are bilingual! American schools can't teach reading and writing one language very well. Lloyd (Lloyd DeMause, “Learning,” Realpsychohistory, 15 Nov. 2011) - - - - - "ABC News: All Chinese children learn English starting in kindergarten. By 
the time they are 
ten they are bilingual! American schools can't teach reading and writing 
one language very well. 
Lloyd" Lloyd. Your current posts would not make it past your own 1999 - 2005 
filter for *others'* posts. (Rachel Stoltenberg) - - - - - Rachel: Did you see the ABC News report on Chinese children now all 
learning English from the 
beginning of their schooling? It was very detailed, had lots of 
schools reporting, gave 
statistical evidence that was convincing. Your doubt below is unvalidated. Can you
give evidence the ABC News report was wrong? 
 Lloyd (Lloyd DeMause)...