Recs, review and poetry
Jul. 27th, 2011 05:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakTwo X-Men recs, both Mystique/Raven-centric (which makes me happy indeed), set post First Class, with excellent ensemble use:
Puzzle Pieces: Magneto's team realises that Darwin might still be alive and attempts to find him. When they are caught in an ambush and half the team is captured, Mystique has to lead the rescue effort. Darwin calls in the kind of help that Mystique doesn't want, but does need. Great Raven-becoming-Mystique arc, Angel is fleshed out more and given plausible motivations, and the eventual joining of teams for the rescue has just the right amount of tension and effectiveness you'd hope for.
Faceless in our dreaming state: this one also presents a different yet also plausible version of how Raven and the rest of the newly formed team around Magneto might adjust to each other (excellent characterisation of Emma!), and of how they might interact with Charles, Hank & Co. post film.
Recently watched on dvd:
Howl: an oddity which defies definition and might be a genre of its own, though Cronenberg's Naked Lunch goes a bit (but only a bit) in the same direction, taking as it did a basically unfilmable classic by a Beat poet and interspersing it with the author's life. However, Cronenberg's film is still fiction with a plot (of sorts) and alternate names, whereas Howl, directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman (whose most famous film so far was the documentary The Celluloid Closet), mixes animated sequences to the sound of Allen Ginsberg's poem Howl with sequences of a young Ginsberg (played by James Franco) reciting, sequences of slightly older Ginsberg (still James Franco) being interviewed about his life, and scenes from the obscenity trial against Lawrence Ferlinghetti (who published Howl) (showcase of spot-that-famous-actor, for example Jon "Don Draper" Hamn as Ferlinghetti's and Ginsberg's lawyer). Not a biopic, because the acted interview and trial scenes are a) more in the style of reenactment, as sometimes now is the custom in documentaries , and b) just about one third of the film; the other two thirds are really the poem recitation and animation. So basically this is a film both of and about a poem. Which I haven't seen done before.
Now, I actually met Allen Ginsberg once. In the usual way one meets a world famous poet, i.e. I went to a reading/recitation evening of his in Munich and had one of his books signed for me. It was a great experience (he was an old man by then of course, but it was amazing how vibrant and alert he came across). It did make seeing Franco as Ginsberg a bit disconcerting because they don't look much alike, and for the first few minutes of the film, don't much sound alike, either. Then Franco gets into Ginsberg's very distinctive way of reciting (and the animated sequence capture the jazz rhythms of it all very wellL), shows the body language and mannerisms, and once he acquires a beard for the interview sequences it's a dead-on impersonation, so that at the very end of the film when you see brief footage of old Allen G. reciting (just as I've seen him) it's not a jolting experience but transitions very well. The animation didn't go for a literal 1-to-1 translation of Ginsberg's imagery but for the most part was really well done and inventive. When I watched the Making of documentary on the dvd I found out this was originally inspired by Ginsberg's publisher wanting something to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Howl (as it turned out the film was released on the 55th anniversary instead), and I suspect Ginsberg would have enjoyed this war more than an actual biopic.
Unconnected to the film: my favourite Ginsberg anecdote is probably the one about him visiting Ezra Pound in 1967 and playing Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band for him. Supposedly the line "no one was saved" in Eleanor Rigby made Pound smile a little, which is Ezra Pound for you. The whole encounter is one of those bizarre-wouldn't-dare-to-invent-it things because Pound did some truly awful things during the war, including antisemtic propaganda broadcasts, and Allen Ginsberg knew this but also regarded Pound as one of the poets whose poetry most shaped him as a writer, so he literally reached out a hand, and Pound responded with the only bit of remorse he ver expressed on the subject to the Jewish-American poet who came armed with Beatles, Dylan and Donovan records and the declaration that "Your cantos were very important to me": “My worst mistake was that stupid suburban prejudice of anti-Semitism – spoiled everything.”
Ginsberg had met the Beatles in person in 1965 and then re-met Paul McCartney via mutual friend Barry Miles in 1967, which led to a long term transatlantic friendship and Paul backing him up on guitar when Ginsberg recited his Ballad of the Skeletons at the Royal Albert Hall on October 16th, 1995. (Conversely, Electric Arguments, the title of the third Fireman album, is taken from an Allen Ginsberg poem.) Behold:
Puzzle Pieces: Magneto's team realises that Darwin might still be alive and attempts to find him. When they are caught in an ambush and half the team is captured, Mystique has to lead the rescue effort. Darwin calls in the kind of help that Mystique doesn't want, but does need. Great Raven-becoming-Mystique arc, Angel is fleshed out more and given plausible motivations, and the eventual joining of teams for the rescue has just the right amount of tension and effectiveness you'd hope for.
Faceless in our dreaming state: this one also presents a different yet also plausible version of how Raven and the rest of the newly formed team around Magneto might adjust to each other (excellent characterisation of Emma!), and of how they might interact with Charles, Hank & Co. post film.
Recently watched on dvd:
Howl: an oddity which defies definition and might be a genre of its own, though Cronenberg's Naked Lunch goes a bit (but only a bit) in the same direction, taking as it did a basically unfilmable classic by a Beat poet and interspersing it with the author's life. However, Cronenberg's film is still fiction with a plot (of sorts) and alternate names, whereas Howl, directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman (whose most famous film so far was the documentary The Celluloid Closet), mixes animated sequences to the sound of Allen Ginsberg's poem Howl with sequences of a young Ginsberg (played by James Franco) reciting, sequences of slightly older Ginsberg (still James Franco) being interviewed about his life, and scenes from the obscenity trial against Lawrence Ferlinghetti (who published Howl) (showcase of spot-that-famous-actor, for example Jon "Don Draper" Hamn as Ferlinghetti's and Ginsberg's lawyer). Not a biopic, because the acted interview and trial scenes are a) more in the style of reenactment, as sometimes now is the custom in documentaries , and b) just about one third of the film; the other two thirds are really the poem recitation and animation. So basically this is a film both of and about a poem. Which I haven't seen done before.
Now, I actually met Allen Ginsberg once. In the usual way one meets a world famous poet, i.e. I went to a reading/recitation evening of his in Munich and had one of his books signed for me. It was a great experience (he was an old man by then of course, but it was amazing how vibrant and alert he came across). It did make seeing Franco as Ginsberg a bit disconcerting because they don't look much alike, and for the first few minutes of the film, don't much sound alike, either. Then Franco gets into Ginsberg's very distinctive way of reciting (and the animated sequence capture the jazz rhythms of it all very wellL), shows the body language and mannerisms, and once he acquires a beard for the interview sequences it's a dead-on impersonation, so that at the very end of the film when you see brief footage of old Allen G. reciting (just as I've seen him) it's not a jolting experience but transitions very well. The animation didn't go for a literal 1-to-1 translation of Ginsberg's imagery but for the most part was really well done and inventive. When I watched the Making of documentary on the dvd I found out this was originally inspired by Ginsberg's publisher wanting something to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Howl (as it turned out the film was released on the 55th anniversary instead), and I suspect Ginsberg would have enjoyed this war more than an actual biopic.
Unconnected to the film: my favourite Ginsberg anecdote is probably the one about him visiting Ezra Pound in 1967 and playing Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band for him. Supposedly the line "no one was saved" in Eleanor Rigby made Pound smile a little, which is Ezra Pound for you. The whole encounter is one of those bizarre-wouldn't-dare-to-invent-it things because Pound did some truly awful things during the war, including antisemtic propaganda broadcasts, and Allen Ginsberg knew this but also regarded Pound as one of the poets whose poetry most shaped him as a writer, so he literally reached out a hand, and Pound responded with the only bit of remorse he ver expressed on the subject to the Jewish-American poet who came armed with Beatles, Dylan and Donovan records and the declaration that "Your cantos were very important to me": “My worst mistake was that stupid suburban prejudice of anti-Semitism – spoiled everything.”
Ginsberg had met the Beatles in person in 1965 and then re-met Paul McCartney via mutual friend Barry Miles in 1967, which led to a long term transatlantic friendship and Paul backing him up on guitar when Ginsberg recited his Ballad of the Skeletons at the Royal Albert Hall on October 16th, 1995. (Conversely, Electric Arguments, the title of the third Fireman album, is taken from an Allen Ginsberg poem.) Behold:
no subject
Date: 2011-07-27 04:40 pm (UTC)But seeing it again with McCartney playing the guitar was amazing. I had no idea he was so into the Beatles. Really. My mind is blown, in all the good ways.
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Date: 2011-07-27 05:14 pm (UTC)June 3rd 1965 encounter: The Beatles had been invited to Allen Ginsberg's 39th birthday party by mutual friend and Indica Gallery co-founder Barry Miles. Although few of the party goers expected them to show, John and Cynthia Lennon, George Harrison and Pattie Boyd arrived.
The party was thrown by David Larcher at his basement flat in London's Chester Square. When the two Beatles and their partners entered the flat, Ginsberg was high and wearing nothing but a sign on his penis saying "No Waiting".
Lennon and Harrison anxiously looked around for photographers, and were grateful to see none. When Ginsberg spotted the new arrivals, he rushed over to embrace Lennon. Harrison turned his back to sheild Cynthia and Pattie, and Lennon sternly told Ginsberg: "You don't do that in front of the birds!"
(Famous last words, John)
Ginsberg & McCartney went better than Ginsberg & Lennon: A few weeks before the Greek voyage (in 1967), Miles brought Allen Ginsberg round to visit Paul at Cavendish Avenue. Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull were already there, Marianne dressed in transparent white, Mick in a frilly shirt and a white silk scarf so long it trailed across the carpet. He lay draped over the rocking chair with one leg over the arm and told them he had just bought the film rights to Walter M. Miller's post-apocalyptic novel A Canticle for Leibowitz. 'I rather fancy myself as the old monk flapping round the desert in me robes!' he said, fluttering his hands.
Allen Ginsberg had a full rabbinical beard, long hair and was wearing a Tibetan oracle ring and Yoruba beads. Paul: 'I remember him coming round to my house with his harmonium and sitting cross-legged, giving us a little prayer or two. He was charming. The big thing I remember him for was his poetry and his harmonium, his chanting and his singing.' They discussed LSD, and Paul told Allen that the Beat Generation and the local eccentrics on the streets of Liverpool had a lot in common. Mick had been reading Eliphas Levi and for an hour they compared Eastern mysticism and Western ritual magic. It was a typical sixties Cavendish Avenue discussion. As they talked, Paul idly opened some of the parcels that fans had sent him. There was always a sack or two of fan mail waiting in the hall sent over by the fan club in case he felt like browsing through it. In one package there was a red satin shirt and he found some coloured marker pens and began drawing psychedelic paisley patterns on it. When it came time to go, Paul gave the shirt to Allen, saying, 'A present from Swinging London.' Though it was rather too small for him, Allen nevertheless wore it to the Legalise Pot Rally in Hyde Park the next day.
And lastly: A great fan of Linda's home-cooking was none other than the poet Allen Ginsberg, who had first met Paul through Barry Miles (Paul's and Allen's biographer) in 1967. In 1994, when Miles was working on Paul's book, Allen came to the UK and was eager to renew the acquaintance, so a Sunday dinner at the family homestead was arranged. Miles and Ginsberg both noted how physical and affectionate Paul and Linda were with their children, who were all there; 'lots of hugs and touching', Miles recalls, 'more like a big Italian family than a usual middle-class English one - but then, of course, they were neither of them English middle-class'.
The crowd sat around the kitchen table, clearly the social centre of the house, and dined on vegetable lasagne and a veggie loaf, which the guests found delicious. 'Allen rather greedily helped himself to seconds before anyone else, and then polished off the last portion, proclaiming it to be the tastiest food he'd eaten in a long time. He genuinely seemed to love it,' Miles remembers, but then, if you've eaten Allen's cooking, you'll know why he enjoyed it so much. Linda and Allen talked about vegetarian diets and health problems - alas, they would both succumb to cancer within a few years.
'Linda behaved as if Allen was an old friend,' Miles wrote to me on e-mail. 'It's something he sometimes brings out in people, but by no means always. She touched his arm while speaking, and Linda indulged her nostalgia for New York, because they were the only two New Yorkers in a roomful of Brits. Allen liked her very much, which is rare, because he was notorious for not even being able to remember women's names - he just blanked women from his life, but Linda remained there, possibly because she was famous, but also because they had a rapport. When we left, Mary drove us back to town, and I was very struck by the hugs and kisses between Linda and her girls, and also the way they unselfconsciously spoke about how much they loved each other. Linda often came across as strident in public, but in private she was much softer, vulnerable, open and loving.'
Allen, Paul and Linda saw each other again at the McCartney home in East Hampton; they wrote haikus together (Allen's revenge for them serving him veggie loaf?), which sadly are lost, but, as Barry Miles recalls, they were formal seventeen-syllable haikus, and pretty good.
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Date: 2011-07-28 02:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-28 04:55 am (UTC)What killed it (it being Zapple, the Apple text and poetry division) dead was one of Miles' big ideas to make an album in New York with the granddaddy of beat poets, Allen Ginsberg (...). Ginsberg agreed, but perturbingly businesslike for a hippie, he said he wanted some sort of special contract with Zapple, a real piece of paper with words and percentages and amounts on it. He didn't know what a mistake this was because Klein was now involved in the financial Apple/Zapple setup. Klein said he and Ginsberg would have to have a meeting to discuss this piece of paper. Miles brought Ginsberg along. To say the pair of them didn't hit it off was something of an understatement. Here comes the shuffling unkempt Jewish beat poet with peanut butter in his beard talking about his projected royalties, and across the desk there's a glaring Klein the archcapitalist Jewish lawyer/accountant, who abhorred the idea of giving anybody any royalties, especially to what he called to his face "a fake faggellah poet." No, they did not get on. Ginsberg apparantly adopted the asana position and was doing a quick "Ommmm." He invited Klein to join in to get the right vibes going. Klein would have none of it. He shouted, 'Get offa my carpet and outa my office, you goddamn queer hippie!" Soon KLein withdrew all Zapple funding and scrapped the whole idea forthwith. Miles was mortified. He was stuck with all these tapes and living in the Chelsea Hotel in New York, absolutely out of money, out of everything, and going out of his mind. Eventually he got his tapes compiled and they were released by various other specialist labels.
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Date: 2011-07-28 05:14 am (UTC)That's a lovely photo of Ginsberg. I wonder why I haven't seen it before.
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Date: 2011-07-28 05:53 am (UTC)A story that should be handed out to all anti-Semites who mysteriously believe in such a thing as an International Jewish Conspiracy.
Very true. You can also add the story of the big Lee and John Eastman vs Allen Klein 1969 showdown as reported by Peter Brown; Klein had found out that Lee was born Leopold Epstein - his parents were Russian Jews immigrating, and Lee had done the proverbial rags to riches thing of the time, complete with Harvard scholarship getting him out of the Bronx and name change - so he (also John and Yoko as instructed by him) kept calling the Eastmans "Epstein" (particular Beatles irony obvious) which to me always sounded like having the subtext of "you assimilating and kowtowing-to-the-WASPs traitor!" from one Jewish New Yorker to another.
PS
Date: 2011-07-27 05:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-28 02:42 am (UTC)Also, there is that scene where Jon Hamm, Mary Louise-Parker and Franco are all on screen together. Hello nurse.
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Date: 2011-07-28 04:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-28 05:09 am (UTC)OTOH, it was my dad who pegged Franco to come out of the Spiderfranchise alive, which was one of his better calls. (My dad, for the record, believes that someday people will understand that 'Pearl Harbor' is in fact, an understated work of genius.)
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Date: 2011-07-28 01:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-28 07:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-28 03:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-28 04:56 am (UTC)