Nobody's Perfect

Expository Writing

Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot

We watched Some Like It Hot this week. It takes a while getting started, but as soon as the guys appear in their female disguises, it takes off and never stops. When Tony Curtis adopts his second disguise, as an oil tycoon, he does an impression of Cary Grant. It'll be interesting to see if anyone in the class picked up on that. I'll bet at least a couple of students did. I'll also be interested to hear what they made of the movie's famous final line. ("Nobody's perfect.") And then, of course, there's Marilyn Monroe. Will they see what made her an icon?

Great Performance

Cinema Criticism Writing

Robert Walker in Strangers on a Train

Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train (1951) is a somewhat neglected masterpiece. True, it did serve as the basis for the Billy Crystal-Danny DeVito Throw Momma From the Train (1987), but it tends to get short shrift compared to Hitchcock's Rear Window, Vertigo, North by Northwest, The Birds and especially Psycho. Watching Strangers on a Train again in class this week, I was struck by Robert Walker's charming and extremely disturbing performance as the psychopathic killer Bruno Anthony. I would say it's every bit as good (if not nearly as famous) as Anthony Perkins' performance as Norman Bates in Psycho.  

Standout Sequence

Comedy

We watched A Night at the Opera this week. There are so many funny bits in the film that it seems almost continuously hilarious. One bit that stands out, however, is the famous "stateroom" sequence, in which Groucho's tiny cabin on an ocean liner is filled by one person after another until they all finally spill out. This is an amazing sequence, partly because so much care is lavished on letting the gag build slowly and steadily. You don't see that sort of thing very much, then or now (especially now). It's said that the idea for the bit was provided by Buster Keaton, who served as a consultant. It's certainly Keatonesque.

Room Change: Composition

Composition

Unfortunately, we'll be in a different room again this week. On Thursday, 8/30/12, we'll be in the Cornell Social Sciences building, room 135.

Room Change: Expository Writing

Expository Writing
Unfortunately, we'll be in a different room again this week. On Wednesday, 8/29/12, our class will meet in the Cornell Social Sciences building, room 170.

Announcement

Expository Writing



This looks like it's going to be an amazing class. Lots of energy in the room -- of all sorts. One announcement for my students, however. I mentioned that there would usually be a short break during each class meeting, but not this week. Just too much to do. So maybe hit the rest rooms before coming to class this time.

Harmonious Students

Composition



Fascinating group of students this semester, including several music majors. During a short break in our first class, some of them pulled out sheet music and began singing together. That was a new one on me. I thought about requesting a song ("Volare," maybe?), but decided against it. Maybe we can put together some sort of talent show later in the semester...

First Class

Cinema Criticism Writing

I think a good group has somehow assembled for this class this semester. It's a small group, and some of the students seem to have landed in it almost by default. And yet they all seem to be really involved in film, deeply interested in language and totally ready to work together. I was so absorbed by what they had to say in our discussion period that I almost forgot to give them the short break I had promised. Hey, what more could I ask?

Back to School

Subversive Comedy

Buster Keaton in "Cops."

For our first class, we watched Charlie Chaplin's "Easy Street" and Buster Keaton's "Cops." Both are silent films, and some students thought the movies seemed to move very quickly, sometimes too fast to really figure out what was going on. Interesting! It can take a while to get used to the way a silent film presents all its information visually. We're so used to being told and shown what's happening at the same time that you have to learn to watch a silent film in a different way. From here on out, in any case, all the films this semester are "talkies."

Waiting in the Wings

Classes start on Monday so I've been busy tracking down films, writing syllabi and seeing to an assortment of minor but essential pre-semester errands. So far, so good, knock wood. 

Back to Batman

I put off seeing The Dark Knight Rises until I was reasonably sure that I wouldn't be thinking about the Colorado killings all the way through. I'm not a particular fan of director Christopher Nolan's ultra-grim approach to Batman's world (I prefer the mixture of comedy and horror that Tim Burton brought to his 1989 film). In addition, I think Nolan is one of those very talented directors (like Ang Lee, whose 2003 Hulk was famously disappointing) who are so determined to bring something original to the table that they fail to see  the tasty treats that are already on the table. I'd estimate that only about 15-20 percent of Rises has anything substantial to do with what interests me about Batman. All the French Revolution/A Tale of Two Cities stuff that Nolan drags into the story may seem high-toned and "important" to some, but to me it's totally beside the point. Still, as I say, Nolan is talented, so the film has a certain appeal, anyway. Plus, I enjoyed Anne Hathaway's conflicted Catwoman and Joseph Gordon-Levitt's determined cop character. I guess 2008's The Dark Knight is still my favorite of Nolan's series. Whatever its flaws, it does contain Heath Ledger's superb swan song: As the Joker, Ledger was completely appropriate to Batman's world and yet also entirely original.