Revisited the Icon Museum today. They have a slightly new name and an excellent new website (click the thumbnail):
There is lots of informative stuff there, so I won't run on and on about icons here.
Well....except to repeat this .... I grew up being told that Russians were God forsaken heathens out to kill us, and those Eastern Orthodox religions are blasphemous distortions of Christianity. Happily, I have since learned that viewpoint is bullsh#t. The Russian government may suck as bad as ours does, but historically the Russian peasants have been as religious as the best of them (for whatever that truth is worth).
The icons in the museum here represent the icons of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, wherever it may be practiced. If you like Art (which is why I go there), this is good stuff to enjoy, though it takes some getting used to, I agree.
Most of these 300-600 year old paintings are on cracked and badly warped wood panels, and the paint (egg tempera
* ) is always badly cracked with age.
A close-up....
There is no room in this artform for self-expressionism. There are very strict rules on how to represent the various holy figures, which is why so many of these look so much alike.
*
Egg tempera is an artist's paint made of colored pigments and egg yolk.
There were also some outstanding B&W photos that I will talk about in a day or so.
Saturday Early Morning MiniTripod Test
Later in the day ..... Keeping a promise to myself to smoke pot before I die....
Getting high didn't work...??? Had to call a pro for advice.....
Bus Trip to the Norman Rockwell Museum
Bussed out to Stockbridge (3 hours !! only 2 if you drive a better route than the bus had to take for passengers.)
Museum was larger and nicer than I expected, as was the whole experience. Mr Rockwell was a decent guy and there was much more to his art than magazine covers. Museum website is very good.
The hotel we lunched at, was built in 1776!! Wobbly, creeky floors !!
Nice videos and personal tours.
Godzilla Minus One / My Comments
This is an excellent, far above typical, Godzilla movie (and I love Godzilla movies). Not the usual "Godzilla vs XYZ" storyline. This is two very strong, well produced, interlaced storylines - the post WW2 struggle of common Japanese people and on top of that Godzilla shows up.
(Note: there is no mention of the atomic bomb drops on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The post-war devastation is simply presented as that - the outcome of war. Godzilla here is the biological result of post-war atomic bomb tests on the Bikini Atoll - 2300 miles from Japan.)
The personal / human storyline is credible, touching, well acted, ends nicely, and reminded me a lot of intense Japanese dramas of the 50's and 60's. There are some pretty emotional scenes to deal with (I hate it when little girls cry). The lead actor did very well as a tormented, cowardly ex-kamikaze pilot. The actress playing his neighbor was fantastic.
Mike said they made this movie for only $10M and that is mind-boggling. A lot of people must have worked for no pay - it is a knockout production.
The scenes of Godzilla reeking havoc are technically amazing / "movie magic". And the reactions of citizens on the ground are great - a crowd, running for their lives freezes and turns in awe to watch Godzilla's next move.
IMO, this movie ranks in the top 3 Godzilla movies for it's credibilty and that it focuses on people's thoughts and actions as much as on Godzilla wrecking stuff. The original 1953 Japanese version ("Gojira") and the 2016 "Shin Godzilla" are the other 2 movies. These 3 are not the Godzilla vs Monster XYZ plotline. It's "Godzilla is here, we created it, it's doing what huge confused, dangerous, fearful (newborn !!) animals do .... now what do we do ???"
AND !! ... we saw this in a theater and the spoken language was Japanese with English subtitles at the bottom. Haven't seen this since those European new-wave flicks in the 60's !!
Another Trip Back to the Past Rachel, Rebekah & Deb (15 years back?)
My Man Godfrey
A vintage Hollywood "classic". I had seen pieces of this movie over the years, but never paid it much attention until last night - from start to finish without interruption.
William P. is a favorite of mine, but I can't remember seeing a Carol L. movie before. They were both excellent, as is the screenplay, photography and direction. (She was really excellent in a roll younger than her actual age at the time !) You do have to keep in mind this was a Depression Era movie, and there are scenes that show the wealthy New York elite to be very shallow people.
The movie gets 7.9 / 10 at IMDB and I agree to that.
Decor by Deb
Ghosts of Christmas Past
The dissenting opinion .....
Christmas Eve 2023
And.... Great Grandson Archie Helping Santa (down in TX !!)
This is an excellent, far above typical, Godzilla movie (and I love Godzilla movies). Not the usual "Godzilla vs XYZ" storyline. This is two very strong, well produced, interlaced storylines - the post WW2 struggle of common Japanese people and on top of that Godzilla shows up.
IMO, this movie ranks in the top 3 Godzilla movies for it's credibilty and that it focuses on people's thoughts and actions as much as on Godzilla wrecking stuff. The original 1953 Japanese version ("Gojira") and the 2016 "Shin Godzilla" are the other 2 movies. These 3 are not the Godzilla vs Monster XYZ plotline. It's "Godzilla is here, we created it, it's doing what huge confused, dangerous, fearful (newborn !!) animals do .... now what do we do ???"
My Man Godfrey
