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Tag: Tempers

  • Tempers: Close Encounters of the Third Kind

    In 1977 Richard Dreyfuss was very angry in two fantastic films.

    Two movies that with Jaws top the list of his greatest performances: Herbert Ross’ The Goodbye Girl and Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

    Two completely different films with a similarly distressed Dreyfuss as the glue that holds them together in my heart. Like a earth toned mid 70’s ice cream sandwich.

    (I did intend for this post to be on both films, but I quickly discovered that Close Encounters needs a space of its own. Don’t fret Marsha Mason fans. The Goodbye Girl will have a turn in the near future).

    The first thing you may remember about Close Encounters is the Devil’s Tower mashed potatoes. You may remember this because a pile of potatoes set before you hasn’t escaped unsculpted since. The second thing you may remember about Close Encounters is the melody the whole world sings to communicate with the Aliens. You may remember this because the Kodaly hand signs for the notes have been a stupid thing that you’re smug about remembering: Re, Mi, Do, Do, So

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  • Tempers: Sweet Bird of Youth

    You: If you had to have a dinner party with 10 famous people of your choosing who would you pick?

    Me: Well I’m glad you asked me that. When planning a fantasy celeb dinner party you must remember that it’s still a party. Gandhi, for example, is a great man, but at a party he might be a downer. With that in mind, my choices are: Jean Cocteau, Tina Fey, James Franco, Miles Davis, Groucho Marx, Nicki Minaj (Groucho needs a sassy young thing to chase) and two Geraldine Pages. One to perform, and one to interrogate.

    I first met Geraldine as Alexandra De Lago in Sweet Bird of Youth. It was love at first sight and we have enjoyed a lovely relationship ever since.

    This 1962 Richard Brooks film stars Page and Paul Newman who reprise their Broadway roles as aging movie star Alexandra De Lago (Princess Kosmonopolis) and sad gigolo Chance Wayne. During a screening of her latest “come back” picture De Lago is horrified to see that her youth has faded. She flees the theater mid-showing and embarks on a “I need to forget who I am” bender that spans several continents. Along the way De Lago picks up Chance who fulfills the duties of his position while attempting to exploit her fame and power. You see, Chance is desperate to reclaim the happiness of his youth: Heavenly Finley (Shirley Knight), the perfect white, blonde, nearly translucent example of virginal goodness. Unfortunately for Chance, Heavenly is the daughter of evil politician and virtue preservationist Boss Finley (Ed Begley).

    Though a shirtless Newman lends fuel for masturbatory fire and Begley is despicably grotesque, this is really Page’s show.

    You might consider Bird a poor choice for inclusion in Tempers. Many other characters  scream louder and kick harder. We all know Sonny Corleone has a scary temper, but the anxiety caused by unpredictability is also frightening. Deep in post-failure nihilism, Alexandra is too deflated to rage in her usual way. Instead she battles like a wilting Venus Fly Trap. Her fury never fully surfaces. She is forever on the verge of a tantrum, dropping one shoe and dangling the other.

    Still, she is a power.

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  • Series II: Tempers

    It’s time for another Mirror special series. Get ready for:

    Tempers.

    Don’t worry, Race in Film isn’t going anywhere, I’m just tacking another one on.

    tem·per

    /ˈtɛmpər/ –noun 1. a particular state of mind or feelings. 2. habit of mind, esp. with respect to irritability or patience, outbursts of anger, or the like; disposition: an even temper. 3. heat of mind or passion, shown in outbursts of anger, resentment, etc. Marcus Aurelius said “How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it.” Abert Einstein said "Anger dwells only in the bosom of fools." Mark Twain said "Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured." If this is true, I've been populating my life with corroded morons.

    Never go to bed mad. Stay up and fight.

    - Phyllis Diller

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