Beautiful Feet

This film is hard to watch if you understand the artist's soul. It's claustophobic yet riveting. The epilogue is also interesting, and the final shot... Well, understandably, Netflix won't let me screen-capture it. It's out of this world.  And, of course, I was blessed to see a Lowry in a gallery the day after I watched the film. I also loved this older film, which I had wanted to see because I might have a long-term crush on Matt Damon and love the music of Arvo Part, as did my companion. It seems to be a Love It or Hate It film, but I loved everything about it, even if it was draining to watch. Good if you're into the culture of slow (anything). Also superclaustrophobic despite the desert setting. Here's an interesting writeup about it [total spoilers!]:  https://offscreen.com/view/gerry#.Xka8FBuQcL4.twitter  

Arvo Part - The Deer's Cry            Vox Clamantis; Jaan-Elk Tulve     ECM New Series               ECM 2466 A mixture of the new and old recorded here by Estonian choir Vox Clamantis, this CD includes the world recording premiere of Habitare fratres in unum and the largely plainchant And One of the Pharisees , which had its world premiere in California in 1992. There is a variety of Pärt’s music here: from the innocence-evoking Drei Hirtenkinder aus Fátima to the ode to a gittern, Sei gelobt, du Baum . (Read the info about the latter here .) Serendipitously, I started my day reading St. Patrick’s 4th-century prayer, The Deer’s Cry , and the title track contains a purity comparable to Lang’s I Lie . The Alleluia-Tropus is different than my recording by Vox Clamantis with Sinfonietta Riga: at a decade’s distance, this a c...

Vyacheslav Artyomov - Symphony Gentle Emanation; Tristia II   Russian National Orchestra; Teodor Currentzis; Vladimir Ponkin Divine Art            dda 25144 Vyacheslav Artyomov - Symphony on the Threshold of a Bright World; Ave Atque Vale; Ave, Crux Alba  National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia; Vladimir Ashkenazy  Divine Art            dda 25143 I hadn't known about Russian composer  Vyacheslav Artyomov until I was asked to review two of his records for an upcoming magazine issue. To get aquainted with him, during my first listen I employed a drawing exercise from a book I use, pictured above, which suggested drawing the sounds of a piece of music. I think the result (this is Tracks 3–8) is accurate. In my research about him, I heard that he also has done some film scoring, notably the 1995 short B&W film, Koza ( Coc...

  Photograph by Sigrid Estrada  I had such a great time chatting with Mark Alpert , author of The Orion Plan and The Six (read my reviews here and here ), in New York last week that I forgot to get a pic {Marge Simpson sound}. Mark suggested meeting on the Upper West Side at a classic New York diner , and it was a good place to sit down and discuss what motivates and informs his content, themes and style. Remember when you had to discuss “the author’s intent” in high school English? And then you heard an author say about their book, “Oh, well that’s great if that’s what you got out of it, but that wasn’t intentional”? There’s a caveat in that. Those exam questions make us assume that we can ascribe things to writers that are not necessarily there, and we should learn to drop that presumptive approach to literature the minute we’re out of school. Case in point: I learned things about this author that surprised me because I had reflected on his books with my ...

Photo credit: Julien Lambert CanStage's presentation of  Cold Blood was the much-anticipated follow-up (but not prequel or epilogue, they point out) to last year's Kiss and Cry , created by  Michele Anne De Mey, Jaco Van Dormael and the Collectif Kiss & Cry, with text by Thomas Gunzig. While some reviews found it not as satisfying as the fi rst, I disagree, with one exception. Cold Blood is  very different than the other, and that is a good thing. While I loved last year's, this one was more disparate because its text was on a theme, whereas last year's was a theme along a narrative, and more linear. This week covered the topic of death but with humour, and there was more variation in the scenes: contrary to promotional material, there are more than just fingers and miniatures, including some surprises. Add music ranging from Bowie to Arvo Part and clever filming ideas, and you have a very satisfying show--and it's perfect for those with timely short at...