Movies about magic: I have now seen both The Illusionist and The Prestige. Both were enjoyable. Of the two, I found The Illusionist to be more magical, although The Prestige had moments that were pretty stunning, visually. If you want to see a real magician, I suggest you all get your hands on a copy of Ricky Jay and His Fifty-two Assistants. Now that's a wizard.
New Music: I strongly suggest that all 80s music afficionados get themselves a copy of White Bread Black Beer by Scritti Politti, or, more aptly, Green Gartside. It is quite beautiful.
I have also been listening to new-to-me disks by Lindsey Buckingham, who's kind of a genius. When I say the words "Fleetwood Mac," do not flee: LB is completely beautiful and utterly strange. In a good way. There's an actual new disk called Under the Skin, very lovely.
Finally, while I was traveling hither and yon for meetings, I listened to Rufus Wainwright's
Want 2. It's quite thrilling. Big voice and gorgeous songs.
I love Rufus! I know! I'm running out to get Scritti Politti! Dangerous politics!!
ReplyDeleteI'll have to go see the Illusionist. I saw the Prestige and I thought there were some lovely moments and it was generally entertaining (and Christian Bale is pretty) but the ending was a big old flop. I thought they completely failed to follow Michael Caine's voiceover commentary about the requirements of "the prestige," especially the part about needing to maintain a bit of doubt for the audience. There was no doubt in that ending (even though they tried to make some); therefore, no magic.
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