Sunday, December 31, 2017

Wind River 2017




For most of its running time, Wind River which I watched last night is a tough and pretty good murder mystery that is set in God's country Wyoming. It begins with a young girl running for her life in the snow and we soon learn that she is a native American and how and why she was running for her life is the basis of the story. Set mainly on a Native American reservation the film stars Jeremy Renner (wonderful as usual) as a tracker with the Fish and Wildlife Service who was once married to a beautiful Native American woman, but are now divorced. A great loss hangs over their life and somewhat mirrors the death of the young girl we meet at the beginning of the film. Into the movie comes a green FBI agent played beautifully by Elizabeth Olsen who is quickly becoming one of my favorite young actresses. Olsen is lost and not yet found and depends on Renner to help her with this case. This is the perfect film to watch during this cold rush and although I felt somewhat let down by the last part of the movie I can still say cuddle up for a good and fast thriller that is violent, nasty and disturbing here and there, so be warned. Directed and written by Taylor Sheridan known as a screenwriter who wrote last years Hell or High Water and who makes his directorial debut with this film, he has a good eye and ear for movement and dialogue.

Thursday, December 28, 2017

Rose Marie 1923-2017




I want to thank

I want to thank the following magazines, books and journals for publishing my art during 2017






ODDBALL, WINDMILL, OTHER-WISE, ONE PERSON'S TRASH, SHANGHAI LITERARY REVIEW, CLAUDIUS SPEAKS, THE LIGHT EKPHRASTIC, SWITCHED ON GUTENBERG, SOUTH 85 JOURNAL, CRAWL SPACE & NEBO.


Last collage of 2017


Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Tim Rollins 1955-2017





Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Oddball Magazine

  posted today. photo of coney island.

https://oddballmagazine.com/2017/12/26/poem-by-thomas-oconnell/

Friday, December 22, 2017

THE 20 BEST FILMS OF 2017













CALL ME BY YOUR NAME
LADY BIRD
THE ORNITHOLOGIST

COLUMBUS
THE SHAPE OF WATER
GET OUT
A GHOST STORY
WONDERSTRUCK
BEACH RATS
A QUIET PASSION
BABY DRIVER
THE SALESMAN
RAW
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING MISSOURI
GOOD TIME
PERSONAL SHOPPER
THE LOST CITY OF Z
STAYING VERTICAL
COLOSSAL
LADY MACBETH

Thursday, December 21, 2017

Elizabeth Murray Painting In The 80's Pace Gallery














I'm glad I got to see this magnificent show before it closes on Jan. 13 and urge anyone interested in "painting" to see it. I wasn't expecting to be so impressed and moved by these large twisty works, they took me by surprise, and I haven't stopped thinking about them since this cold afternoon when I entered the Pace Gallery on 25th street. These are works by the late artist from the 1980's that are loopy and cartoony in places, but are also about paint, shape, texture, and depth among other things that we sometimes are lucky to see and feel in the work of a superb artist, and Murray was surely superb. The works are very large, larger than I was expecting and each work is shaped and stand out from the wall in aggressive but lovely ways. They are also very organic, biomorphic and sometimes sci-fi in their abstract imagery and the use acidity colors. They are tangy and beautiful, touching and humorous, and also sad because of the fact that Murray died young. There is also her beautiful feel for her materials, her use of paint, her brush strokes and her imagination with her surfaces and how she makes her pieces seem like they are moving and move us. One of the best exhibitions of 2017

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Keely Smith 1928-2017


Saturday, December 16, 2017

The Shape Of Water 2017












                 A fairy tale for adults so you should leave the kids at home unless you want to explain to them what Sally Hawkins is doing in the bathtub and why is Michael Shannon lying bare ass on top of his wife. I would also give a warning to cat lovers and violence and gore haters, this is after all a Guillermo del Toro film.
                Set in a dank Baltimore at the height of the cold war circa 1962 this tale of a lost princess of sorts concerns a mute young woman who is a badly treated cleaning woman at a vast and creepy scientific facility who tolls away on the night shift along side her co-cleaner and close friend the darling Octavia Spencer. The place is run by a towering pile of evil and misdeed Michael Shannon who is in danger of forever being cast as kings of meanness if he’s not careful but still he is fun to watch as he goes about his nasty deeds.
                     Into this cold wet and forbidding center of secrets and fear comes a creature brought back from not a black lagoon but a Technicolor one, and all of the problems that meet and greet our little Eliza begin with this fabulous creature. There are all sorts of nasties hanging and running around including a Russian spy and his cold war cohorts who fit snugly into a rusty tin of stereotypical cookies. Eliza lives above a falling down but beautiful movie palace in a crummy loft like space along with her best friend who lives next door and is an old but still struggling commercial artist who happens to be gay and has his own problems including making a living doing illustrations for ads just when the industry is changing over from art to photography.
               This part is beautifully rendered by the great Richard Jenkins who pretty much steals every scene he’s in which is not a easy task considering who he’s acting with.  The plot line about commercial art is a nice touch among many including a vivid feel for the period with all the commercial products and services in place including a beautiful array of vintage shiny cars, black and white television programs and perfect attire. Del Toro wears his heart and soul on his sleeve along with his vast and affectionate knowledge and love of old movies, pulp fiction especially of the sci-fi kind, toys and games.
                  He is also political and always finds ways to bring his liberal leanings into his films, and “Water is no exception. There are side trips to racism and homophobia along with sexual workplace harassment that is presented to us in the movie before it had become one of the main topics of discussion in the media and everywhere else and serves to show us how it has always been with us.
                     But this is a love story above all else and the side bars of vast conspiracies, the military-industrial  complex, racial and sexual injustices take a back seat to the odd and unusual love story between Hawkins and the “creature”. For most of this strange and lovely film I was enchanted and moved even though it slows down towards the end with somewhat expected twists, turns and comeuppances.  A special nod must be given to the marvelous Sally Hawkins who delivers a wonderful almost pantomime performance that is nuanced and one might say choreographed and she is as usual a marvel to watch.         

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