Luscious Fog: A Walk Through Chelsea

Running errands on the West Side, we got lost in the fog and ended up in gallery territory. Here's what we saw:


Terry Winters "Cricket Music, Tessellation Figures and Notebook" @ Matthew Marks (522 & 502 W 22 St) - This month is a banner one for abstract painting and Terry Winters' show of large oil on linen canvases is a delight. Bright and happy, they expand on the artist's exploration of nature and the "micro as macro" sensibility that has been his trademark. Not quite psychedelic, these pictures swirl with the compression-expansion of a sunflower and each canvas works this tension masterfully. The paintings have well-worked surfaces that are pleasantly surprising close-up. They also make nice reference to earlier modern masters of color such as Matisse, Delauney and Redon. Accompanying these paintings, up the street, is Winter's "Notebook" installation, a series of notebook paged collages that appear deceptively simple and give us a peek into the artist's process. DEFINITELY WORTH A VISIT! 
Up until April 14th 2012.

Tessellation Figure 7

Dan Walsh @ Paula Cooper (534 W 21 St) - Another show of luxurious abstract work. Ranging from unbelievably bright and colorful to deep and brooding, Walsh's cumulative process of layers creates opulent surfaces that dazzle the eye. Structural formality is countered with small details that have the decorative  depth of Aboriginal art. Do not miss the drawings in the front gallery. As a confessed "gold slut", I loved theses drawings! Worth a visit!
Closes April 21th 2012.


Georg Baselitz @ Gagosian (522 W 21st St) - This German master presents his largest canvases to date in this Barn of Art. I was pleasantly surprised by this show. Eschewing his preferred "upside-down" orientation, these portraits a split horizontally with the upper half featuring a close-up of the subject done with large patches of color similar to the Color Field painters that are embroidered with fine lines that bring detail to the face, and the lower half the rest of their body, often in a combination of motion and memory. Also featured is a black wood sculpture of a man and a woman arm in arm. I've often found Baselitz's work aggressive and deliberately ugly, but I found a genuine love and delicacy in these works. Bravo.
Up until April 7th 2012.

Georg Baselitz, installation view

Jonathan Lasker "Early Works 1977 - 1985" @ Cheim & Read (547 W 25th St)  - Speaking of abstract painting, the title says it all. Early works by one our better know abstract painters today. And indeed these are early. One can see the artist struggling to find a way to confront the concept of painting NOT being dead yet finding a clear and viable voice. The show is set up nicely, so by the time you get to the last gallery there's some nice resolution going on with three very satisfying canvases.
Ends March 24th 2012.



Also seen:
Anne Truitt @ Matthew Marks (525 W 24th) - A nice survey show of drawings dating back to the early 60's. Truitt's minimalist nature is overshadowed by phenomenal sense of color and line. Deceptively simple, another luscious abstract show! Loved it!!
Until April 14th.


Catherine Opie @ Mitchell-Innes & Nash (534 W 26) "High School Football - Opie continues her study of the structure of space and the development of community by turning to an all-American pass time. Large format landscapes dominate the back of the gallery while touching portraits of players grace the front. Don't miss Football Landscape #9: a masterpiece. Worth a peek. 
Until April 14th.


Sarah Charlesworth @ Susan Inglett (522 W 24) A show of new work entitled "Available Light" by a master of the photo-object. Light blue predominated especially in a charming striped piece. Nice to see her back.
Until April 14th. 



Melanie Willhide @ Von Lintel (520 W 23)  Mash-up meets Zen. Working with images retrieved from her stolen, formatted hard drive Willhide creates some very amusing and disturbing images. Think Lillian Bassman meets Weegee!
Closes March 24th.

THE VENEER OF THE ORDINARY: "Michael" at Film Forum

"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!"

We'll never know how The Shadow knew, but these days when evil, unthinkable events unfold we desperately try to reason them out. Though we think we can "sympathize" with certain crimes perhaps, generally no one can or wants to relate to the pedophile. First-time Austrian director Markus Schleinzer makes an audacious debut with his drama Michael, the story of a timid 35-year-old insurance salesman with a dreadful secret: he's holding a 10-year-old boy, Wolfgang, captive in his basement. Schleinzer has the cold, critical eye of Hitchcock or Chabrol that produces the appropriate cringe factor for such a story, which is told through the title character over a period of five months. What unfolds is a bleak tale of ordinariness gone wrong. Michael's exterior life is a dull as his work and his office. He's closed off and tight, yet receives invitations to skiing weekends and promotions at work. When told by his pals on their trip that the barmaid has eyes for him, he almost dutifully remains behind listening to her tales of single motherhood and then, rather embarrassingly, attempts to have sex with her. 


The only times Michael opens up is when the metal window barriers go down on his bland suburban home and he ventures into the basement past the foam-covered door. Trying to create a normalcy with his victim, Michael sets the table for dinner as though his dinner guest doesn't lived locked in his basement. Turning on the lights in the boys prison is as everyday as eating and brushing his teeth. They watch TV together until Michael announces enough; the boy's straggling to watch for a few minutes more subtly covers the desire to forestall his fate of sexual slavery. Cut to the encounter being noted in Michael's diary. Though not a story of Stockholm Syndrome, the film documents the taut relationship of a victim and his kidnapper who both find themselves in a hopeless situation several months in. 

Schleinzer has done a remarkable job of creating a horror story out of the mundane. Lingering shots of fluorescent lights, office interiors, and car garages emphasize the ordinariness of Michael's life (and kept reminding me of photographs by Bernd and Hilda Becher) and he often just sets the camera down and lets the scene unfold in front of it. His years of being a casting director certainly worked to his advantage as well. Michael Fuith as Michael is an exceptional tightly-wound powder keg who, when he does go off, shows the hysteric desperation of a man who has dug himself into a deep dark hole and cannot get out. David Rauchenberger plays Wolfgang with an sullen authenticity that ups the creepiness factor of this film ten-fold. It's achingly honest and makes it well worth the price of admission. One does not want to reveal the end of this film but suffice it to say Schleinzer gives his tale enough quirky twists and splashes of dark humor to give the viewer a thoroughly satisfying cinematic experience.


Michael will have a two week engagement February 15 - 28 at Film Forum, 209 West Houston Street with daily screenings at 1:15, 3:15, 6:00, 8:00 and 10:00

Balance Out of Life

Balance Out of Life from Wyatt Hodgson on Vimeo.

NICELY NICELY: A Walk Through Chelsea

The thaw and the need to pick up art brought us to Chelsea today. While in the neighborhood we saw:


Joel Sternfeld "First Pictures" @ Luhring Augustine (531 W 24) - As the title announces, the photographs in this large exhibit all date from 1970 to 1986, many of which have never before been printed for exhibition, and set up the vocabulary the photographer would refine in later work. Nearly encyclopedic in volume, the prints themselves are modest in size; representing four separate "volumes" of work, there is a nostalgic, yet witty quality that makes you know you are looking at one man's work. I find the shore photos particularly charming and the show is a wonderful chronicle of some awful low-end fashion and styling. This show ends February 4th so catch it if you can!

Joel Sternfeld "First Pictures"

Shirin Neshat @ Gladstone (515 W 24) - Voluptuous large black-and-white photographs, mostly portraits, all inscribed with either text or drawings based on a classic Persian epic "The Book of Kings". A 3-channel video from 2010 entitled "Over-Ruled" runs in the back: A panoramic panel of a judge and his "assistants" is flanked by an oud player on one side and a singer on the other. I found the proportions of the work rather stunted and might work better as a larger projection. Closes February 11th.


Damien Hirst "The Complete Spot Paintings 1986-2011" @ Gagosian (all galleries) - The title says it all: a preposterous amount of dots shown in a preposterous way (the true Hirst-Heads can earn a free signed print if they make the effort to see all 11 exhibits before March 17th). Of the two downtown spaces the one on W 21 Street is the more intriguing selection; a wide selection of sizes and densities show the fun playfulness of this conceit (a small canvas packed with tiny spots is particularly giddy). The pretentiousness of the conceit comes to the forée on W 24th Street where too much of the same thing in the same room shows their vapid side. The most effective section here is the back gallery with the tondo paintings, circles on circles were a nice 60's flashback! In NYC until February 18th.

Hirst Spot Paintings on 24th St

Chris Martin @ Mitchell-Innes & Nash (534 W 26) Paintings - The third show by this Brooklyn-based painter at this gallery is a provocative mix of some of the painters earlier tropes with newer ones, including a grid of newspaper on the surface of the paintings, a Jamaican flag color palette, and curious cut-outs. The contagious silliness that drew me to Martins work previously is lacking in these new works, but still on view in some of the largest canvases. Don't forget to pat the lucky lawn troll in the corner. Worth a peek.



Also seen:
Bosco Sodi "Ubi sunt" @ Pace (545 W 22) The unique signature style of this Mexican-born, Brooklyn-based artist is hard-worn ugly deep-pile shag carpet. This work reminds me of Arte Povera surface paintings or Yves Klein texture paintings in colors that go well with peoples sofas. Ugh!!

THE WEDDING (THE WALKER EVANS POLAROID PROJECT) WITH RONI HORN/A curatorial composition by Ydessa Hendeles @ Andrea Rosen (525 W 24) A high falutin' show for a lot of mediocre SX-70 nicely displayed. Roni Horn should register a protest. It's closing SOON!!


Clay Ketter @ Sonnabend (536 W 22)  Lush, large-format color photo show of decaying Spain. Nice work from this photographer. Worth a peek.

HAPPY NEW STUFF!!

Welcome to 2012, the year we all die, according to Mayan prophesy!!


In the meantime, let's live, laugh and love! Since it is Winter and cold we are staying close to home these days. But I was lured out for dinner last week at Bin 5 (1233 Bay Street at Maryland), the new establishment that took over the space occupied by long-time Island favorite Aesop's Table. The new owners are part of the Da Noi Italian Restaurant group and what they might turn this charming dining spot into was causing me great apprehension.


I'm happy to report my fears were unjustified. The interior has been totally revamped, replacing the bright pressed-tin walls with dark wood and paneling. The bar area has (rightly) been moved to the front of the main dining room and the areas once taken up with tacky window arrangements has made room for cozy, romantic seating. The room has been transformed into a warm, inviting boîte. The menu has a foothold in Italy, but is brave enough to venture into other culinary worlds. The duck and scallion rolls with hoisin sauce aren't the most imaginative thing on a menu, but they were crisp and hot, the duck was juicy and the sauce didn't overwhelm the dish. Salad greens were crisp and clean. My entree of Veal Cannellini, veal scalloppines stuffed with white beans, was simple and flavorful, as was the nightly special of Shepard's Pie! There is an extensive bottled wine list, and the by the glass selections were very good! Looking forward to a return visit soon.

Last night was the first Second Saturday Staten Island of the new year and if it was indicative of what's ahead for the arts on the Island, then I foresee an interesting and provocative year. We were finally able to find the DOORWAY gallery where Gayil Nalls had an installation called "The Smell of a Critical Moment". The few grids of photographs showing people silk-screening and wearing T-shirts designed by Nalls identifying the wearer as part of the 99% does not prepare you for the impact of the main part of the installation. Nalls worked with Occupy Wall Street protesters, providing them with white cotton T-shirts to wear and adorn. Each shirt hangs pristine on a rack in the rear gallery, along with a tag that shares some of the wearer's experience. Nalls is an artist who has been interested in olfactory experience as art and after two minutes or so in the rear gallery you begin to fully take in the invisible ambiance that takes over the space. I appreciated the effort to collect a moment in time; the idea that the 99% is characterized by sweat and perspiration may not be new, but the slightly antiseptic showroom quality of the display, along with (some of) the wearers' tags helps to brings a face and focus to a movement many in the Media call vague.


At Deep Tanks (150 Bay Street), Island artist DB Lampman performed a piece called "Brain Furniture". I had encountered some of Ms. Lampman's work out at the Freshkills Park not long ago, but I missed the performance she did with the strained bio-morphic figures she installed there. Here, working in a small confined space, she interacted with four torso-like light sculptures. Dressed in a youthful pinefore, Ms. Lampman interacted with these objects, controlling their light levels, raising them up and down and generally exploring and creating a neural network. Well scored, the piece was bright, fun, and concise, all positives in the world of performance. The piece had a strong feminist voice that was neither strident or clichéd. Drawings and paintings accompanied the installation and performance. Brava!! 

VETERANS OF ART: A Walk Through Chelsea

Autumn weather makes us want to wander. Since we had to pick up some catalogs, we strolled through Chelsea. While trawling through the galleries, we saw:


Joan Mitchell @ Cheim & Read (547 W 25) - Entitled "The Last Paintings", these twelve pictures are from the last five years of her life and show the artist at the top of her game. Large and ambitious, these giddy abstract canvases are both stark and bold. The innate presence of Nature in them is almost taken for granted (Mitchell moved to Paris, France in 1959 then to the outskirts of the city in 1967). But as with her other AbEx compatriots, her works seem deceptively simple but are actually rather complex. Walking up close to them you appreciate her mastery of the surface of her canvas and the complexity of her brushwork. A nice breath of Spring in NYC as Autumn approaches. Check it out!!



Richard Pousette-Dart @ Luhring Augustine (531 W 24) - "East River Studio" is a spectacular mini-retrospective of the youngest of the AbEx painters that he produced during the five years at his E 56th Street studio, an old brewery. Pousette-Dart exemplifies the post-WWII collision of art history with the fracturing of surrealism and abstraction. Sculptures that seem like rusting wires and metal plates are actually dreamy takes on Nature. Canvases are worked, cut apart, reworked, then tacked to stretchers. And many of these canvases are WORKED!! Another side of the AbEx obsession with surface, I can see their influence on artists like Terry Winters and the later work of Brice Marden. Curated by Christopher Wool, many of these works have not been seen in NYC since the early 1950s. Definitely worth a visit!!

Matta @ The Pace Gallery (534 W 25) - This "Centennial Celebration" focuses on the later years of this Surrealist master. Almost museum-like in its adoration, one see's the essence of his earlier work on a much larger scale. No work dates from before 1975, so all the canvases are large, yet the scrambled biomorphic blobs and explosions are all there. Like Mitchell's work, the surfaces of the pictures are even more intriguing viewed up close. And once again we see the artist's influence on others, not only AbEx artists but those of the Eighties' as well. There's nothing extremely surprising here but well worth a peek.



Yoko Ono @ Galerie Lelong (528 W 26) - Another titled installation, "Uncursed", is Ono's way of "re-creating" an action that she performed in Hiroshima. Just in time for Performa 11 and it's Fluxus Weekend, Ono provides a thoughtful and droll view of life in New York with large rubber centipedes crawling up the back corner. Large old doors without their locks stand and recline around the rear gallery with small glossy puddles of sky nearby. Random quartets of identical holes lead you to that gallery. Dramatic in its presentation, I didn't come out feeling blessed. Worth a peak.

Also Seen:


Peter Hujar @ Matthew Marks (523 W24) - "Three Lives: Peter Hujar, Paul Thek, & David Wojnarowicz" is a charming exhibit of mostly vintage prints Hujar took of his two best-known lovers along with self-portraits from as early as 1957. The loveliness of the prints is offset by the decay of the body. A very heartfelt installation.


Sarah Braman "Yours" @ Mitchell-Innes & Nash (534 W26) - In her first NYC show, the artist presents sculptural and wall works. The stars of the show are the sculptures, all of which meld large pieces of a mobile home with very formal modern boxes. I found the pieces very droll, sort of taking a home apart to create a series of garden follies. Be sure to check out the vanity mirror that's incorporated in the piece entitled "Coffin"!!

Anh Duong @ Sonnabend Gallery (536 W22) - An interesting and provocative exhibit of self-portraits. A queasy blend of Balthus, German Expressionism and Alice Neel, the artist peers out at us constantly in beguiling yet mundane scenerios. Paranoids should avoid, otherwise go!

Back in the saddle again: A Walk thru Chelsea

On a recent rainy Friday we found ourselves delivering art to W 26th St. While in the neighborhood we saw:


Deborah Butterfield @ Danese (535 W 24) - It took an artist of Butterfield's stature and reliability to get to go up to the top floor of this building to see this gallery's premier show. Elegant and austere, Butterfield continues to produce her equine sculptures from found wood. The pieces convey the strength and tenderness of these beautiful animals.

Agnes Martin @ Pace (524 W25 St) - A small survey of Grey Paintings from the 80's. Martin was able to captured the veiled quality of the second string color field painters and tie it into the Minimalist movement that the 60's and the earthworks of the 70's. Working in New Mexico, Martin's work reflects the majestic meditative landscape there. Most impressive are the canvases who's greys are lovely washes of blues.


Social Media @ Pace (510 W25 St) - This group show just closed but took an interesting look at the way social media is changing the artist's way of seeing. One got the sense of media overload and the virtual became visceral. Penelope Umbrico used thousands of images off of Flicker to create images of sunsets. Emilio Chapela's "According to Google" is a multi-volume collection of images gleaned off of the search engine, each volume titled singularly like "Sex" and "Love". While thumbing through these bound books one can't help but chortle at some of the unusual images that crop up. Christopher Baker's "Murmur Study" places thermal printers high on the wall and printing out reams upon reams of tweets referencing emotional sounds like "ooo" and "aahh". The output is funny and frightening.


Richard Serra @ Gagosian (555 W24) - Two enormous new works, Junction and Cycle. The artist continues to explore the juxtaposition and nesting of his huge cor-ten steel walls. Vertiginous and scary, Serra is at the top of his game.

Also seen:
David Byrne @ Pace (508 W 25) "Tight Spot" - An enormous inflatable globe stuffed into a tight spot under the High Line that emitted some low thrumming sound. Huh?


Paul Winstanley @ Mitchell-Innes & Nash (534 W 26) Paintings - A second US show by this British painter. Using photography as a jumping off point, these pictures are too hazy to be photo-realistic and too real to be expressionist. A bit too mundane in their imagery, the most interesting works tend to come in pairs of similar images executed in slight variations in color and representation. Worth a peek.


Lari Pittman @ Gladstone (515 W 24) - As Pittman's "prestige" moves up, his paintings become more and more about less and less. Thin and flashy, the artist obviously took a trip to Brazil and these canvases are the result. Ho-hum.

November is National Novel Writing Month

November is National Novel Writing Month!


We are taking the plunge..... Are you?

15 Film I Must Own - Pt 3

Least I forget some foreign favorites:

11) Amarcord (1973) – Fellini, Fellini, Fellini! How could I pull up a list of “must-haves” with at least one! (I own over a half dozen btw) When I recently upgraded to a Blu-Ray player this was the second disc I upgraded (see the next entry for the first)! This heartfelt memoir of the filmmaker’s hometown and family is so charming and affecting I dare anyone to say it isn’t the Maestro’s masterpiece. His meticulous recreation of place, his synthetic imagination, the music, the characters… How can you argue against it? Magali Noël, is ageless as the eternal Grandisca, Pupella Maggio and Armando Brancia as the filmmaker’s mother and father and the gorgeous Bruno Zanin, make Fellini’s past gorgeous, impeccable and heartfelt! A masterpiece!!

12) Topsy-Turvy (1999) – Mike Leigh is without doubt the renaissance of English Cinema. I have been watching this director for some time and I knew I had to include a film by him. My gut instinct was to go with “Secrets and Lies”, with Brenda Blethyn, Timothy Spall and Marianne Jean-Baptiste. But when I go to my DVD library, the very first film I updated to Blu-Ray was Leigh’s “Topsy-Turvy”. Leigh is an actors’ director if ever there was one. Most of his work is placed in the present or near distant past, so to undertake a serious piece of historical drama for this filmmaker was unconventional, at least. This amazing piece of history re-creates the moment in time when W. S. Gilbert (Jim Broadbent) and Sir Arthur Sullivan IAllan Corduner) come to a crossroads in their collaboration only to overcome the obstacles and produce, perhaps, their most endearing work, The Mikado. Period detail, incisive performances and love of the music helps the director to produce a monument to a faded empire. Hats off to the two stars as well as Leslie Manville as Gilbert’s stifled wife and Shirley Henderson.

13) Mon Oncle (1972) Of all the French masters, Jacque Tati is France’s pre-eminent director. A French Hitchcock with a comic bent and Welles’ misfortune. My early film memories have Tati tattooed all over them. It doesn’t really matter what “version” of this film you see (there was an “International” edition in the States), it’s a true synthesis of mise en scene. What the characters say is unimportant, the humor plays out on a simple pantomime level, but also rises above mere physical comedy to social commentary through its longing for a France that was rapidly disappearing. Mr. Hulot’s relatives and their comically cold house are consuming the land that Tati loves (by the time that Tati made “Playtime” Paris is a memory reflected in windows). Gorgeously shot and played it, it has some of the best performances by dogs in a film in the 20th Century!

14) Russian Ark (2002) – A technical marvel and a monument to a people and a culture that I will never see in my lifetime. Aleksandr Sokurov’s journey through time, space, and Russia’s Winter Palace and Hermitage is a testament to the long rich history of the country. With over 2000 actors and three orchestras, this seamless 100 minute journey was shot in one take over a 36 hour period (it took three tries to complete the film), utilizes historical characters that mingle with those in other eras and well as current times. The cinematography by Tilman Büttman is seamless, dizzying at moments, and allows the majesty of the building to unfold before the viewers eyes kaleidoscopicall! I’m sure serious Russian aficionados might find flaw in it, but I continue to find this film stunning. Do NOT miss the last twenty minutes of this film: they are luscious, amazing and unforgettable.

15) Grey Gardens (1975) – The Maysles Brothers (along with Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer) created an epic documentary when they wandered into the lives of two women, Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edith (aka Little Edie). A study of a mother and daughter, famous and infamous, once high in society, by the mid-70’s forgotten by most everyone. Though shot on a “documentary budget” this little film provides more drama and “real life” than any Hollywood creation. Frightening, hilarious, sad and scary, the mother and daughter open up to the camera with a heartfelt desperation at real “actor” can only hope to achieve. A horrid musical and 2009 film adaptation by HBO pay poor homage to this steely eyed look into an American window. Perhaps the echt-reality show, it will always make you feel better about your life after watching it.

15 Films I Must Own – part 2

I know I dwelt on the comedies in my first installment so I will try and sober up in this next installment:

6) Hobson’s Choice (1954) – David Lean co-wrote and directed his adaptation of a popular stage play about the eldest spinster daughter (Brenda de Banzie) of a Sulford boot merchant, Henry Hobson (Charles Laughton) and her marriage to the shop’s boot hand, William Mossop (John Mills). Lean went on to produce some of cinema’s most lush, epic films but you can already see his great sense of place in this charming tale set in Manchester. Laughton delivers a truly great screen performance of the inebriate Hobson, Mills is endearingly charming as Mossop but the day goes to de Banzie. Maggie Hobson is a strong, smart, business-minded, unapologetic woman who makes good for herself and those around her. It’s a proto-feminist tale done deftly with style and charm.

7) Stage Fright (1950) – Hitchcock supposedly felt he let down his audience by presenting a lie as a flashback. Given time and taste many have come to love this fact about it. I find it to be one of the master’s most synthetic works; the juxtaposition of “real life” versus “theatrics” constantly turns in on itself as this murder mystery plays out. All the Hitchcock bits are here (the camera following a character off the street and into a house, rear projection, his cameo) plus he had a cast that could breathe life into the material. Marlene Dietrich is pretty much Dietrich and I’m sure her fastidiousness worked well with his. He had his blank-slate leading lady in Jane Wyman (who does some of the best “back acting” in cinema history) but filled the gapes with English staples Alistair Sim and Sybil Thorndike (a disarmingly funny cameo by Joyce Grenfell). It’s a lovely balance of mystery, comedy and romance that I never fail to enjoy.

8) A Streetcar Named Desire (1972) – I’ve always depended on the kindness of Streetcar! Whenever I’m feeling down, nothing makes me feel better than watching Blanche DuBois (Vivian Leigh) and Stanley Kowalski (Marlon Brando) go at it. It’s not just the “fact” that my life is sooo much better than theirs, but every time I return to this movie I find these two gigantic performances fresh and engrossing. They are like to tops battling it out on a schoolyard: the forces that drive them together, the whine and the whirr and someone’s ultimate defeat. Kazan was wise to open this stage play just enough while remaining true the basic plot (Tennessee Williams’ film adaptations were often watered down by Hollywood due to their sexual content). Beautifully photographed by Harry Stradling, Jr. and scored by effectively by Alex North, this movie reaped four Academy Awards.

9) A Lion in Winter (1968) – As dysfunctional then as they are now, the English royals never cease to provide excellent entertainment. Peter O’Toole and Katherine Hepburn reign as Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine in James Goldman’s adaptation of his stage play. Though from very different schools of acting, these two create sparks as they thrust and parry their way through this unconventional holiday drama. Director Anthony Harvey does an adequate job of keeping this topsy-turvy tale on track but he has a hard time keeping up with his stars and his location (the film was shot on location in France and Ireland). Hepburn snagged her 4th Oscar for this film. It’s also first film appearances by Anthony Hopkins and Timothy Dalton, as Richard and Phillip II, respectively, two powerful men with a rather close past! I wonder if you wonder why I chose it?

10) Nashville (1975) – I remember seeing this film with my father in Philly when it first came out. I had never seen anything quite like it then and haven’t seen anything quite like it since. Robert Altman is the ultimate American film auteur; his style is unique, the aural quality lush and, whether or not the film has succeeded, you were taken on a unique journey. This film finds Altman in the right place at the right time and holds up a mirror to America that is still relevant and a little scary. Politics, religion and pop culture converge and collide (literally) in an American industry capital Drama plays out large and small with a stunning cast that includes Lily Tomlin, Henry Gibson, Altman muse Shelley Duvall, Geraldine Chaplin, a hilarious Barbara Harris and a silent Jeff Goldblum. The music sung is original and written by cast members, as well as others including Gary Busey. And the opening K-Tel credits are a hoot!

Up next, we go overseas…..