The Lurker (imported) wrote: Mon Jul 07, 2008 1:42 pm The Head Writer on the Sopranos was a Matt Weiner. He is the creator of Mad Men, on AMC. I love both shows! The new season of Mad Med Starts in three weeks!

If Weiner writes it, it must be great. Thanks.

bobov (imported) wrote: Mon Jul 07, 2008 9:59 am Berlin Alexanderplatz tempts me, though the transition from Weimar to National Socialism is not immediately interesting. Does it have an interest beyond the historical

characters?

Fassbinder was one of the greatest film makers who ever lived or worked but he is not everyone's cup of tea. I don’t know how to describe his work.

Fassbinder works from the perspective of post-war Germany and the impact of its past and the occupation of the allies but his films are not usually historical narrations.

Fassbinder was addicted to every drug in the world. He died young. He was apparently a difficult man, but he worked with a company of actors who appear repeatedly in his films.

The cinematographer had not worked with him before the Berlin Alexanderplatz project, which is a depiction of a classic modern German novel. I think that he and Fassbinder got on well enough, but the main actor in the series had not worked with Fassbinder and clashed with him.

I don't know how to describe Berlin Alexanderplatz. It's hard to watch. It demands 15 1/2 hours of attentive viewing. You can read about the film at the Criterion website.

I think that Fassbinder is almost an aquired taste. He is not easy to watch the way many French film makers and even some German ones are.

I always took Meadow as she takes herself - a daughter who loves her family, even knowing they're criminals. I find nothing surprising in that. Most people do love their families, even while seeing their flaws. I suppose there are people who'd say Meadow should have rejected her family as soon as possible, but I don't think I'd want to know those people. Love and loyalty must be reciprocated. Meadow never knew anything but love and loyalty from Tony and the rest.

How do you get your DVDs, if you don't rent from Netflix or a comparable service? Buying would cost a fortune if you watched as many DVDs as I do. I think some libraries offer DVDs, but I wouldn't want to be limited by their selections.

I've never used a cell phone either, because I keep reading reports of the health risk. The NY Times recently ran the comments of several neurosurgeons who said they'd only use cell phones with ear pieces.

I'm 58, but I try to keep up to date (just learning about Twitter now). It's the best way to keep young.

One way of reading intellectual history - I first heard this from the scholar Harold Bloom - is that each generation builds upon its predecessors by confronting them. A sort of conceptual "murder." So Kerr is on to something large, in a small domain.

I hadn't thought of Dexter as a sadist, though I suppose he might kill his victims without telling them what's happening. Still, those whose object is cruelty go so much further.

Fassbinder has long been celebrated among cineastes. I simply haven't seen Berlin Alexanderplatz. Being hard to watch isn't a virtue in itself, though Fassbinder often accessible.

bobov (imported) wrote: Wed Jul 09, 2008 12:53 pm I always took Meadow as she takes herself - a daughter who loves her family, even knowing they're criminals. I find nothing surprising in that. Most people do love their families, even while seeing their flaws. I suppose there are people who'd say Meadow should have rejected her family as soon as possible, but I don't think I'd want to know those people. Love and loyalty must be reciprocated. Meadow never knew anything but love and loyalty from Tony and the rest.

How do you get your DVDs, if you don't rent from Netflix or a comparable service? Buying would cost a fortune if you watched as many DVDs as I do. I think some libraries offer DVDs, but I wouldn't want to be limited by their selections.

I've never used a cell phone either, because I keep reading reports of the health risk. The NY Times recently ran the comments of several neurosurgeons who said they'd only use cell phones with ear pieces.

I'm 58, but I try to keep up to date (just learning about Twitter now). It's the best way to keep young.

One way of reading intellectual history - I first heard this from the scholar Harold Bloom - is that each generation builds upon its predecessors by confronting them. A sort of conceptual "murder." So Kerr is on to something large, in a small domain.

I hadn't thought of Dexter as a sadist, though I suppose he might kill his victims without telling them what's happening. Still, those whose object is cruelty go so much further.

Fassbinder has long been celebrated among cineastes. I simply haven't seen Berlin Alexanderplatz. Being hard to watch isn't a virtue in itself, though Fassbinder often accessible.

I think Fassbinder is accessible. He clearly loves movies. I understand that he was brutal on the job, but the cinema photographer for Berlin Alexanderplatz apparently enjoyed a good relationship with Fassbinder. He has not worked with him earlier. That film is hard for me to watch because the characters endure immense suffering but remain accountable for the horrors that create or, at least, join, I find most if not all of his movies hard to watch, not because Fassbinder is not a great director but because he is a great director. He makes you look.

Dexter is sadistic. The series repeatedly shows Dexter about to do something horrific but it does not show the details. He reaches for the drill and the camera cuts away. The victims are posed primly but they are about to receive reckoning for their own cruelty. His victim are conscious, though he told his brother he had not intended for him to wake.

Harold Bloom wrote a fine study on the anxiety of influence and the resulting need for rebellion and patricide. I think Bloom is a bit pretentious in this but he gets away with almost anything he advocates. I admire him for that. Philip Kerr does seem to play on Bloom and Freud’s insight.

One reason that I am poor is that I did buy DVDs. I have never rented one. I have no idea how to enroll with Netflex.

I think that Meadow evolves during the Sopranos. In that way, she is almost only one of her kind. Tony never evolves. The son does not evolve though one has the notion at the end of the series how A J might have grown. Carmela always sells out. Meadow seems to evolve from an idealist young woman into a future mob attorney. Dr. Melfi finally realizes that Tony has not changed but has simply manipulated her.

David Chase says that the mobsters lie most of the time. They lie to themselves. The characters in the series lie to themselves. There are bitter but funny moments. The idea of a mobster having a higher power in a brilliant parody of American self-delusion and narcissism. Christopher does what a thug does; he murders his AA sponsor. Christopher never understands himself. Tony never confesses to himself who he is.

Thanks for your post. I enjoyed it.