THE MT VOID
12/20/24 -- Vol. 43, No. 25, Whole Number 2359
Co-Editor: Mark Leeper,
mleeper@optonline.netCo-Editor: Evelyn Leeper,
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Topics:
Mini Reviews, Part 10 (MADE IN ENGLAND: THE FILMS OF
POWELL AND PRESSBURGER, MERCHANT IVORY, MY NAME
IS ALFRED HITCHCOCK) (film reviews
by Mark R. Leeper and Evelyn C. Leeper)
This Week's Reading (Christmas stories) (book comments
by Evelyn C. Leeper)
===================================================================
TOPIC: Mini Reviews, Part 10 (film reviews by Mark R. Leeper and
Evelyn C. Leeper)
Here is the tenth batch of mini-reviews, all 2024 documentaries
about film:
MADE IN ENGLAND: THE FILMS OF POWELL AND PRESSBURGER (2024):
There's a "game" Jews play: "And you know who else is Jewish?"
First this week was Claudia Sheinbaum, President of Mexico. And
now from watching MADE IN ENGLAND: THE FILMS OF POWELL AND
PRESSBURGER, we discover that one those those quintessentially
British filmmakers known as "The Archers" , Emeric Pressburger,
was a Hungarian Jew.
Two documentaries this year seem to indicate some sort of
synchronicity. Not only are both are about filmmakers, but both
are about a pair/team of filmmakers. (The other one is MERCHANT
IVORY.)
(There is also a documentary about a single filmmaker, MY NAME IS
ALFRED HITCHCOCK.)
MADE IN ENGLAND: THE FILMS OF POWELL AND PRESSBURGER is narrated
(and presumably written) by Martin Scorsese, and is one of his
many love letters to the cinema he grew up with. In this case, he
also points about what it has influenced in his own films.
But he also talks about the trials and tribulations that Michael
Powell and Emeric Pressburger went through and which eventually
broke up their partnership (but apparently not their friendship).
This is a dangerous film--it made me what to watch most of the
films Scorsese talked about. However, it hasn't figured out a way
to put more than 168 hours in a week, so ... (But some will
definitely make it to the stack.)
As with all of Scorsese's film documentaries, this is highly
recommended. [-ecl]
Released theatrically 12 July 2024.
Film Credits:
<
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt19895822/reference>
What others are saying:
<
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/made_in_england_the_films_of_powell_and_pressburger>
MERCHANT IVORY (2024): This two-hour documentary covers the films
of Ismail Merchant and James Ivory, many of them with with writer
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and composer Richard Robbins. The longevity
of their partnership is astonishing--forty-four years from 1961 to
2005--as is their output, coincidentally four-four films,
averaging one a year. (It is claimed to be the longest
partnership in independent cinema history.) The film covers both
their professional and romantic partnership, as well as details
such as Merchant's cooking, giving a more complete view of them
than just a catalog of award-winning films. [-ecl]
Released theatrically 30 August 2024.
Film Credits:
<
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14493970/reference>
What others are saying:
<
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/merchant_ivory>
MY NAME IS ALFRED HITCHCOCK (2024): There have been previous
documentaries about Alfred Hitchcock, such as DIAL H FOR HITCHCOCK
(1999) and I AM ALFRED HITCHCOCK (2021). There was also a
narrative film, HITCHCOCK (2012), about the making of PSYCHO.
However, MY NAME IS ALFRED HITCHCOCK differs in that all the words
are Hitchcock's, taken from interviews, articles, and so on, and
formed into a coherent thread covering his work. As such, it
provides a different perspective (although obviously one could
pick and choose to present almost any representation of
Hitchcock's position). A bit drier than some of the film
documentaries of 2024, but worth seeing. [-ecl]
Released theatrically 25 October 2024.
Film Credits:
<
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21154428/reference>
What others are saying:
<
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/my_name_is_alfred_hitchcock>
===================================================================
TOPIC: This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
I will once again give you my recommended Christmas reading list,
with a couple of additions:
"Happy Birthday, Dear Jesus" by Frederik Pohl
"'Tis the Season" by China Mieville
'Newton's Mass' by Timothy Esaias
"The Star" by Arthur C. Clarke
"Rebuttal" by Betsy Curtis
"The Star" is added because Charles Harris found "Rebuttal", a
response to it.
The ISFDb can help you find these.
You'll notice none of Connie Willis's Christmas stories are here.
They are a bit too syrupy for the anthology I am putting together
in my mind. You can find these in A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS (an
expanded edition of MIRACLE AND OTHER CHRISTMAS STORIES), which I
reviewed in the 12/24/21 issue of the MT VOID. See my review of
THE BEST OF FREDERIK POHL in the 09/04/09 issue of the MT VOID for
more comments on some of these stories. Or find these (and all my
on-line reviews) at <
http://leepers.us/evelyn/reviews.htm>. [-ecl]
===================================================================
Mark Leeper
mleeper@optonline.net Physicists who want to protect traditional Christmas
realize that the only way to keep from changing
Christmas is not to observe it.
--xkcd #679
MT VOID, 12/20/24 -- Vol. 43, No. 25, Whole Number 2359