A Simple Plan

A Simple Plan
first seen in New York
1998

Okay, so here's what I would do if I found a great big bag of money. Actually, scratch that; make it "might" instead of "would." It's one thing to speculate on what we would do in a given situation, another thing altogether when it actually happens, so I probably shouldn't be so sure of myself here. But here's what I like to think could happen if I were faced with the situation proposed in A Simple Plan:

Assuming I found the money, like in the movie, somewhere in the vicinity of where I live, say, a park or a vacant lot, I wouldn't take the money back home with me. I'd stash it someplace that couldn't be traced back to me, someplace that I could access in secret, at any time. I'd go to this place as little as possible, and only at night. I'd wear gloves at all times and wipe away any fingerprints I may have gotten on it initially.

If I found this bag with two other people, also as in the movie - well, actually, that's where the comparisons to the movie begin to break down. I don't have a sad-sack blood brother or an irresponsible, loudmouth friend. I have an older sister, but chances are she'd out-think me on this; indeed, I can see her in the Bill Paxton role more easily than myself!


So for the sake of argument, let's say I found the bag with two friends who I could control to a certain extent. I'd take control of the situation, arguing that the less they knew about where the money is, the safer it would be all around, like Paxton's character tries to do. I'd divide the money three ways, give each of them their share and get us all to agree to never see each other again.


Then, I'd take my share of the money, pay off any and all debts, and move out of town. If I have reason to believe that someone criminal may be looking for this money, it would be imperative for me to not only throw them off the trail, but to protect my loved ones.

Most importantly, I would not spend the money all at once in a big spree. That's something that tends to trip up a lot of people in movies like this; once they have big money, they can't wait to spend it on all the things they've been dreaming of all their lives. By doing so, they attract undue attention to themselves, and the next thing you know, BAM! - either the good guys or the bad guys catch up with them (depending on what kind of movie it is). 

I would spend the money at a slower pace, spread it out over a series of months, perhaps even years, and not make a big deal about it. In fact, I might even go to certain lengths to make myself look poorer than I actually am (not sure how, but given time, I bet I could think of something).

Basically, it would all come down to discretion. Having a lot of money can make people indulge in their worst excesses, especially when they've never had so much money before. It's understandable, but in a situation like this, it's the absolute wrong approach to take. It would make you a target, and in more than one way: if people know you have money, some would try to take advantage of you by hitting you up for some - playing on your sympathy, that sort of thing. People never think about stuff like that in stories like these, and it always comes back to bite them as a result.


In case it wasn't obvious, I love A Simple Plan. It's a fascinating character study with some rock-solid performances, and it's the kind of movie I could happily watch all the time precisely because it invites you to speculate on what you would do if it happened to you.

Star-spangled links

I'm back. Hope you had a better Fourth of July than I did. It wasn't terrible; I just went to a party I didn't like - although on the plus side, it was on the beach, at least. I've got something very special planned for my 500th post, which now looks like it won't be for another month or so at this rate, but it's something I know you're gonna like, so don't miss it! In the meantime...

In the wake of the death of Andy Griffith, here's Ivan's 2010 piece on The Andy Griffith Show on the occasion of its 50th anniversary.

Alex writes about a unique indie sci-fi film from the 80 called Born in Flames.

Ruth's partner-in-crime Ted writes about roads not taken for several popular films.

I miss old movie theater marquees. And so does Retrospace.

Go Retro is a nice little nostalgia blog that you should totally read. Here Pam writes at length about Steve McQueen.

Here's an interesting piece about how princess stories aren't what they used to be.

Whoopi Goldberg talks about using Kickstarter to fund her directing debut.

This New York Times article sums up many of my misgivings about superhero movies, and to an extent, superhero comics as well.

Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story

Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story
last seen @ The Museum of Art and Design, New York, NY
6.28.12

Years ago, a close friend gave me a gift: it was an anthology CD of Carpenters cover songs. It wasn't as if I was a Carpenters fan; she just thought it'd be something I'd like. And I did. I was naturally familiar with a few of the songs, like "Close To You" and "Top of the World" (my mother always liked that song, as I recall), but hearing them with a bit of a harder edge was a definite improvement.

I vaguely remember the days of AM radio in the 70s. Riding in the back seat of my parents' car, fighting with my sister over the radio, those were the days of "soft rock," so to speak: Gordon Lightfoot and Olivia Newton-John and Anne Murray and The Captain & Tennille and Air Supply (my sister loved Air Supply). Every now and then I'll hear a song from that period on the radio and I'll go, oh yeah, I remember that, and I'll be a kid in my parents' car again, or listening to my sister's 45s again. It's not like I have any deep abiding love for those records; it's more that they take me back to when life was a whole lot simpler.

Apollo 13

Apollo 13
first seen in Pittsfield, MA
1995

Writing about summer camp last week made me think a little more about it and I thought I'd go into a bit more detail this week. In the summers of 1995 and 1996, I was a counselor at a little sleepaway camp called Shire Village (which, despite the name, has nothing to do with Lord of the Rings). 

It's located in a tiny western Massachusetts town called Cummington. To get there I had to take the Greyhound to Northampton, where someone from the camp would greet us staff members coming up from New York and drive us the rest of the way. The camp ground is a converted farm, complete with a central courtyard, sleeping cabins, a dining area, and a few surrounding buildings, such as A-frames.

Shire was unique for several reasons. For one thing, the campers would pick their own activities. We counselors would arrange things like arts and crafts, woodworking, theater, sports, etc., and four times a day, the kids would pick what they wanted to do. Some activities would naturally get more participants than other, but that was to be expected. 

If no one came to your activity, then you'd just hook up with someone else's, but most of the time that wasn't a problem.  I usually varied between a sport of some kind (always an easy way to attract campers) and something arts-and-crafts-related, though I took part in others as well.

What also made Shire so unique was its politically-correct policy. It was something that they stressed to us staff during an orientation week before the kids arrived. Competitive attitudes were considered verboten, and not just sporting activities. Equality and inclusiveness was an absolute must. Kids who had been coming to Shire for years would joke about it, saying one had to act "Shire-ly." Personally, I found few problems with this philosophy, though some days it was easier to implement than others - but that's for another post.

The staff would usually spend their off days off the camp grounds. Often we'd go into Northampton, a college town with lots of cool stuff to do. Sometimes we'd head into the smaller South Hadley to see movies (I saw Independence Day there, in a theater that was part of a mall.)

Pittsfield was a town to the west of Cummington that, to be honest, had much less to recommend it. However, it did have baseball! Both summers I worked at Shire, I arranged trips out to Pittsfield to see the minor league team play there. It so happens that the ballfield there, Wahconah Park, is one of the oldest inprofessional baseball. For more about the place, I highly recommend reading the book Foul Ball by former big-league pitcher Jim Bouton, who led a movement to preserve Wahconah Park and keep it from the wrecking ball.

In the summer of 1995, a bunch of us counselors went into Pittsfield one evening to see Apollo 13 at the local mall.I don't remember where exactly in Pittsfield the mall was, nor do I remember much about the theater. There were about 8-10 of us, more or less, all piled into a van. I think it was a Saturday night. The mall was definitely packed. I think some of us also wanted to see Babe, which also came out that summer, but I definitely opted for Apollo 13, which I loved.

As much as I enjoyed my two summers at Shire Village, I don't believe I would wanna return there. Too old. Plus, as I mentioned last week, now that cell phones and iPads are everywhere, who knows how it would affect dealing with the kids? Bad enough that they fought over Magic: The Gathering cards...

Nights of Cabiria

Nights of Cabiria
seen on TV @ TCM
6.18.12

Years ago, I saw a Broadway musical, one of the very few Broadway musicals I've ever seen, called The Life. It was about the old Times Square, centered around a group of pimps and hos and hustlers making their way the only way they know how, hoping to one day escape "the life." It was an ensemble, but if any character was the main one, it was this ho named Queenie who has the most to lose and everything to gain in trying to leave the life behind with her lover - but, of course, it's not that easy.

I never gave much thought about the lives of those in the streetwalking trade until New York, under former mayor Rudy Giuliani, started renovating Times Square and kicking out the pimps and hos. I remember talking to Jenny about it at the time. She was, as you might imagine, no fan of Giuliani and was completely sympathetic to the working girls whose lives were being turned upside down. Regardless of what you may think about them from a moral perspective, the fact is that they didn't ask for this fate. Nowadays, Times Square doesn't really have a red light "district" as such; you can, of course, find porno theaters and hookers in the area, but they're not quite as prevalent as they were 30 or 40 years ago.

The working girls in Nights of Cabiria don't appear to have it so bad, all things considered. I don't recall seeing any pimps, they have decent places to live, and they get by. We see them hanging out with some of their tricks, and we see some of them trying to attract johns on the street, but that's about the extent of it. We never see any of the harsher realities of the skin trade, but then, one could argue it's not that kind of movie. That's okay, though...


...because I was really impressed with it on the whole. I remember seeing some of the films of Federico Fellini when I still worked in video retail, but that was a long time ago and I can't say I remember a great deal about them. I remember liking La Dolce Vita and being indifferent towards 8 1/2.

Cabiria, however, was different. I completely believed in Giulietta Masina's performance and I was caught up in it from beginning to end. No hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold stereotype here; she felt like a three-dimensional character, with passions and desires, sometimes happy, sometimes crabby, sometimes sad or innocent or nasty. And even when things don't turn out well for her, the film still manages to find a hopeful grace note to end on. Remarkable film.


So, of course, somebody has gotten the bright idea to remake it. I like Juliette Lewis, and I have no doubt that she would do a good job, but after seeing the original, I have to wonder if a remake could possibly touch it. I guess we'll find out soon enough, but man, I wish they'd leave this one alone...

Moonrise Kingdom

Moonrise Kingdom
seen @ Kew Gardens Cinemas, Kew Gardens, Queens, NY
6.19.12

I was never a Boy Scout or a Cub Scout, but I did have my share of overnight camp-outs while attending summer day camp. To hear my mother tell it, the reason she never sent me to sleepaway camp is because she knew I'd get homesick. Maybe that was true... but even at day camp, I got to experience overnight camping on a number of occasions. I think I still have my sleeping bag, but I'm not sure and I don't feel like looking for it.


I remember sleeping in lean-tos with other boys, which was awkward and uncomfortable most of the time. I remember trying and failing to start a fire the old-fashioned way, without lighter fluid. Of course we roasted marshmallows and told ghost stories, and used lots of cans of bug spray. And it's not even like we went all that far - I think we spent one overnight in a park in Staten Island, though I'm not sure. My mind is fixated on that being the place, and maybe it was.

It was the simplest, most basic form of camping. We never had to learn any hardcore camping skills; why would we need to, when we were only doing this for one or two nights a summer? My most vivid memory from that period is getting a nasty rash on my thighs while I was walking down a road with a counselor late at night. I don't remember how I got it, nor do I recall where we were coming from or going to, but that rash stands out - as you might imagine.


When I was older, I spent a couple of summers as a counselor at a sleepaway camp in Massachusetts. The site was a converted farm, with a dirt road leading to it from the street. We didn't teach the kids any outdoor camping skills either - we had a woodworking class, but most of the things taught there weren't necessarily for camping. And of course, the kids brought with them all manner of non-essential items from home, in particular - this being the 90s - Magic: The Gathering cards. While they played with them all the time, they also tended to be a bone of contention more often than not. I shudder to think what it would be like today, with kids carrying around cell phones and iPads.

While not a direct comparison, the unlikely love affair at the heart of Moonrise Kingdom reminds me a little bit of one of my earliest crushes as a kid. It was the summer of 1985, and I was traveling with my mother, my aunt and my cousin to California to visit relatives. At one point we stayed in a lodge at Sequoia National Park for a few days to see the giant trees. At the same time there was a girls' camp staying there, and that's how I met this chick named Amanda. 

We only knew each other for three days, but we clicked. I hung out with her friends, we went swimming, that kinda stuff. I recall we took part in some kind of nighttime game - it may have been a scavenger hunt or something. We didn't run away together into the woods like the kids in the movie, and though she was a camper, she wasn't a Girl Scout or anything like that, but the point is, to my young mind, it felt like an ultra-romantic affair. We promised to write each other once it came time to go, and we did for a little bit before the memories faded. I mooned over her for awhile and then got over her. Hadn't even thought about her in years until now...


Everything feels so much more intense at that age. What's nothing more than a mutual infatuation seems indistinguishable from Twoo Wuv. Sam and Suzy come across as so deadpan earnest (like many Wes Anderson characters) that it's easy to forget that they really are in love. There's nothing cynical or ironic about it, and it's nice to see.

I rode my bike to the theater. I had never done that before, which is a bit unusual, since the Kew Gardens is so close to me, but I had just bought a new bike lock a few days prior, so now I had no excuse. Truth be told, I combined riding and walking, because there's a steep incline leading to the theater and I did not wanna challenge it on the bike. Just don't have the legs for it! From my direction, you go up the hill, and then you make a left and you go down the hill from a different angle, and then you go up a little bit and there's the theater. I walked all this section. Even in Columbus I approached hills with great trepidation, but then, I had a better bike there. My current bike is one I bought second-hand.

George Cukor and his women

The Queer Film Blogathon is an event celebrating gay cinema, including its films, its filmmakers and its themes, hosted by Garbo Laughs and Pussy Goes Grrr. For a complete list of participating blogs, click on the links to either site.

George Cukor is one of the all-time great Hollywood filmmakers. In a career that spans from the dawn of the sound era all the way into the 70s and even the 80s, his films alternated between the most delightful comedies and the most compelling dramas, and his best ones always seemed to have great roles for women.


This point in particular holds significant meaning, even today. Earlier this month, at a ceremony honoring women in film, three-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep, considered by many to be America's greatest living actress, castigated modern Hollywood for their continued marginalization of female-centric films, as well as for the under-representation of women behind the camera. Even though films like Bridesmaids, The Help, and Mamma Mia have been huge financial successes in recent years, the studios prefer to aggressively court the young male demographic to a disproportionate degree. Once upon a time, however, "women's pictures" were practically a genre all its own, and many of the industry's biggest female stars, at one time or another, appeared in a George Cukor film. Here are five notable examples:
  

Cukor with Katharine Hepburn

- Katharine Hepburn (A Bill of Divorcement, Little Women, Sylvia Scarlett, Holiday, The Philadelphia Story, Keeper of the Flame, Adam's Rib, Pat and Mike, Love Among the Ruins, The Corn Is Green). Cukor's greatest co-collaborator, Hepburn made her debut in Bill and took off as a star with Little Women. Story was originally a play written for Hepburn and she was given the film rights by Howard Hughes, who bought them. It is said that she incorporated some of Cukor's mannerisms in her role. Story ended up reviving her film career after a slump. Rib and Pat and Mike were both made with Spencer Tracy and written by the team of Ruth Gordon & Garson Kanin, who met at Cukor's home in 1939. Love and Corn were TV films made in the 70s.


- Judy Holliday (Adam's Rib, Born Yesterday, The Marrying Kind, It Should Happen to You). According to legend, Hepburn, in Rib, urged Cukor to focus on Holliday more in their shared scenes because Hepburn was a fan (she built her up in the gossip columns) and hoped it would lead to Holliday getting to star in Born Yesterday, which Holliday originated on Broadway. Columbia head Harry Kohn wanted Rita Hayworth for Born, but she wasn't interested, and once he saw Holliday in Rib, he decided she was the right choice after all. Holliday would go on to win the Best Actress Oscar for Born. Kind was also written by Gordon & Kanin.

Cukor with Marilyn Monroe

- Joan Crawford (No More Ladies, The Women, Susan and God, A Woman's Face). The Women had an all-female cast which also included Norma Shearer and Rosalind Russell. Cukor was acquired as director after he was fired from Gone With the Wind due to uber-producer David O. Selznick's dissatisfaction with him. In later years, Crawford made a string of mostly forgetable genre pictures, as did her chief rival, Bette Davis. Cukor, late in life, spoke of this: "Of course she rationalized what she did. Joan even lied to herself. She would write to me about these pictures, actually believing that they were quality scripts. You could never tell her they were garbage. She was a star, and this was her next picture. She had to keep working, as did Bette. The two of them spawned a regrettable cycle in motion pictures."


- Greta Garbo (Camille, Two-Faced Woman). Camille was Garbo's favorite film that she made, and indeed, it garnered some of her best reviews ever. Woman was her last film, and it was condemned by the National Legion of Decency, the Roman Catholic Hollywood watchdog group, for its sexual content. Cukor, in talking about Garbo, praised her work ethic: "Garbo went through a great deal to get a scene right. She worked out every gesture in advance and learned every syllable of dialogue exactly as written. She never improvised and I respected her for that."

Cukor with Audrey Hepburn

- Judy Garland (A Star is Born). Cukor's first Technicolor film, as well as his first musical, it was considered a comeback vehicle for Garland, who hadn't made a movie in four years, since she left MGM. The initial cut screened at 210 minutes, then Cukor and his editor reduced it to 182 minutes, but Warner Brothers drastically chopped it down to 154 minutes without Cukor. Despite suffering drug problems, weight fluctuations, and psychosomatic illnesses during the filming, Garland would gain a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her role, only to lose to Grace Kelly, a controversial decision that hurt her. (In addition, Cukor was an advisor on The Wizard of Oz, and though he never shot any scenes, he made a few notable suggestions, such as removing Garland's blonde wig.)

Cukor's homosexuality was known within Hollywood, though he never flaunted it. In fact, he was one of the leading lights of the industry's gay subculture, throwing lavish Sunday afternoon parties at his house which attracted big-name stars and directors, some of them closeted gays. Among his close friendships included that of writer W. Somerset Maugham, who wrote, among other works, Of Human Bondage, The Painted Veil, The Razor's Edge and The Letter, all of which were turned into films. 

Cukor with Ingrid Bergman

During Cukor's time at MGM, the studio managed to cover up at least one incident in which he was arrested on a vice charge, which was later dropped and erased from the record. In the late 50s, Cukor had a relationship with a younger man named George Towers, though the latter would go on to get married in the 60s. Their relationship would evolve into that of a father to a son.


Cukor was a five-time Oscar nominee for Best Director, winning for My Fair Lady (with Audrey Hepburn), a Best Picture winner, and he was nominated for Little Women, The Philadelphia Story, A Double Life (also written by Gordon & Kanin) and Born Yesterday. He also won an Emmy for his TV film Love Among the Ruins, with Katharine Hepburn.