Monday Roundup

Let's try this again - that last outpouring of musical opinion rather overwhelmed the rest of this post: but some of it I want to get said...

Mainly - I wanted to commemorate the passing of three giant figures of arts and culture: Richard Rorty, Ousmane Sembene and Rudolf Arnheim.

It was rather startling to learn that Arnheim was still alive - I know of him mostly as one of the very early generation of film theorists: that was a long time ago. He was 102 years old, that helps. Anyway, I have read about him, but not read him, but the Bordwell tribute linked to above makes me very interested in doing so.

I have read Rorty - Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature, even - I don't know how much I understood, but I was impressed. I mean, by the time I finished I'd probably learned enough to understand it if I reread it. It was inspiring - I have no doubt I will return to his work in the future - I am partial to many of his ideas. Argument as re-description; the value of constantly expanding what we know; the dangers of final vocabularies. AS far as I grasp it, it makes sense to me.

And Sembene - I've only seen three of his films, though I have seen Ceddo several times, and I heard him speak. He made superb use of his resources - his films seem simple, even crude - but he makes optimum use of what he has. Ritual, symbolism, allegory, political themes, words and images - he uses what he can control like a master.

And - beyond that? I'll point, without (much) comment for the moment: Moviezzz comments on EW's 25 best action films - a discussion with overtones of the philosophy of vagueness - when does a film with violence turn into an "action movie"? ZZZ's also got footage from the new PT Anderson film.

And oh - another Blogathon! July 15-21, at the Projection Booth: "Movies I've Borrowed for an Unreasonably Long Time" Blog-a-Thon. The way my viewing habits run hot and cold - very hot: right now I am in the midst of watching Deadwood start to finish (that Journey post previous I wrote hearing it read in the voice of E. B. Farnum), A Deadwood disk a day, more or less... at other times... I do have one film I've had for three months. Child's play. Somewhere in the house I have a Chaplin disk I lost back in 2001. Anyway - another blogathon to look forward to.

And speaking of which - later this week, Film Music blogathon at Windmills of my Mind.

Who reminds us, by the way, that today is Roger Ebert's birthday - the great man is back in action, here reviewing La Vie En Rose, a pretty fine use of film music itself. And that - or rather, this - Piaf doing what she did - is where I shall leave you. Bon soir!