run-down of mostly fluffy summer film-watching: the accidental tourist (1988) i mistakenly thought this would be a sort of romantic comedy, when it's actually a drama about a man and his grief over his son's death. generally well constructed and acted, but the reason i'd recommend it is b/c of geena davis's completely worthy academy award-winning performance. bride and prejudice (2004) poor jane austen. it was actually a pretty good idea to adapt her most famous novel to a bollywood-style musical set in india, but the execution was a decided failure in pretty much every way. characters act without any motivation; dialogue is stilted and unbelievable; and the bollywood-campiness is completely sporadic and never used to its fullest potential. skip this one. broadway melody of 1940 (1940) it amazes me that completely mediocre musicals like -singin' in the rain- become part of the canon, and great classics like this one get completely overlooked. typical plot, but astaire is unbelievably fantastic. can't buy me love (1987) blast from the past, from the days of disney's sunday night movies. a very 80's teen flick about the perils of popularity, but some scenes have surprisingly good writing. the incredibles (2004) wow. a pixar movie that i actually enjoyed w/ out reservations for once. much better plot than usual, a lot of good humor, and really fantastic visuals. latter days (2003) a fairly cheesy gay story about a mormon and an LA party boy, but solid acting by the two (good-looking) leads make this worth watching. noises off! (1992) the mother of all farces. it's easy to see how much better this would work onstage. despite a starry cast (inc. christopher reeve and carol burnett), this is mostly lackluster acting and the timing is generally rushed. moulin rouge! (2001) highly enjoyable and some virtuosic film-making. some truly classic moments (such as all the on-top-of-the-elephant scenes) and some good acting from nicole kidman. like all of luhrmann's films, a definite crowd-pleaser with no cheap shots. sommarnattens leende (1955) (smiles of a summer night) very hard to get the sondheim adaptation of this out of my head, but i enjoyed bergman's darker characterization. sneakers (1992) way worse than i remembered. to modern-day audiences the plot seems threadbare and the action mostly unbelievable. some like it hot (1959) another overrated classic: entertaining, but not a must-see. the action isn't that memorable, but the comedy and romance aren't bad. the most memorable moments are marilyn singing "i wanna be loved by you" and the classic ending line. the work of director spike jonze (2003) very disappointing installment in the directors' series. jonze seems content to include a single conceit in his music vids w/ absolutely no development whatsoever. completely forgettable.

providence has hit upon a great and fairly simple scheme to attract tourists. here's the description from the website:

WaterFire, Barnaby Evans' award winning fire sculpture installation on the three rivers in downtown Providence, has been praised by Rhode Island residents and international visitors alike as a powerful work of art and a moving symbol of Providence's renaissance. WaterFire centers on a series of 100 bonfires that blaze just above the surface of the three rivers that pass through the middle of downtown Providence. The string of fires illuminates nearly two-thirds of a mile of urban public spaces and parks, and residents and visitors gather to stroll along the river while listening to a memorable and eclectic selection of classical and world music that serves as a melodic accompaniment to the normal sounds of urban life. The fires are tended from sunset to past midnight by black-clad performers in boats who pass quietly before the flames. There are no admission charges to WaterFire.

this happens almost every weekend during the summer. andy and i went last weekend (we ate at a place the mills' tavern, which was sorely lacking in the vegetarian department, but andy quite enjoyed his lamb) and our friend finagled our way onto a boatride as well. also had a memorable time at a very comfortable coffee/wine place afterwards. the event also includes some live music (salsa dancing when we went) and the usual range of street performers. in itself it may not be worth a special trip, but it's worth planning a trip that includes it.

my favorite club of all time, manray in cambridge, closed saturday july 2, 2005 after 20 years. a sad day. this marks the end of a kind of small, modern-day utopia where people from all backgrounds could just enjoy good music and the company of others and dance like a fool, but hopefully it's not a permanent end as there are plans to reopen in a few months. this post is in homage to chris ewen (on the left above), the "backroom" DJ of future bible heroes reknown who for the past 6 or so of those 20 years has kept me a happy clubgoer. R.I.P. manray, and hurry on back.

i've just discovered how amazing brel is. i borrowed andy's copy of ces gens-la (an import) and the title track bowls me over every time. this is one of the few CDs i've encountered where i like pretty much every track, and i understand now what andy meant when he said listening to this stuff really makes you want to learn french. he has another of brel's CDs, infiniment, that's domestic and has english translations, and the translations prove that brel's status in france as a great poet is entirely well founded. it's interesting to read comparisons online to bob dylan and leonard cohen, although of course brel doesn't sound anything like them. hopefully they'll be releasing more of his music domestically. addendum: i finally found a translation of this song online! here it is: First - first there is the eldest, the one who's like a watermelon, who has a thick nose, who no longer knows his name, Sir, so much he drinks, so much he has drunk, who doesn't do a thing with his ten fingers, the one who is at the end of his rope, who is completely smashed and takes himself for the king, who gets drunk every night with bad wine, but who is to be found at dawn at church snoozing, stiff as a hard-on, pale as an Easter candle, and who mumbles, and whose eyes wander off... Let me tell you, Sir, those people, they don't think, Sir, they don't think - they pray! And then there's the other one, with tufts in his hair, who has never seen a comb, who is mean as a louse, the kind who'd give his shirt to the happy poor, who married that Denise, a girl from the city, I mean - from another city, and that's not all of it - he does his little business, with his little hat on, with his little coat on, in his little car, he would like very much to look as if, but he looks like nothing at all - one must not try to look rich when one is without a penny! Let me tell you, Sir, those people, they don't live, Sir, they don't live - they cheat! And then, there are the others... The mother who says nothing, or just anything; and from night till morning, in his handsome apostle's face and in its wooden frame, there's the father's moustache, - he died from a slip, and he looks down at his flock gulping their cold soup and one hears big shlrrps, and one hears big shlrrps! And there is the very old one, who doesn't stop rattling, and they wait for her to croak, because she holds the dough, and they don't even listen to what her poor hands try to tell... Let me tell you, Sir, those people, they don't talk, Sir, they don't talk - they count! And then, and then, and then - there is Frieda who is beautiful as the sun and who loves me as much as I love Frieda! Even we often tell each other that we'll get ourselves a house with lots of windows, with almost no walls, and that we'll live there, and that it will feel good, and that if it is not a sure bet, it's still a maybe... Because - the others are against, because - the others are against! The others, they say so, that she is too beautiful for me, that I am just good to skin cats - I have never killed no cats, or then, it was a long time ago, or maybe, I forgot, or they smelled funny... I mean, they are against... they are against... Sometimes, when we see each other, pretending it was not planned, with her big wet eyes, she says that she'll leave, she says that she'll come with me, then for a moment, only for a moment, then do I believe her, Sir, for a moment, only for a moment, because, those people, Sir, they don't leave! They don't leave, Sir, they don't leave... But it's getting late, Sir, I 'd better go home...