Sorry I missed the party. It would have been great to meet
fellow avians.
Would anyone in the LA area be up for having a group dinner
every once in a while?
I've tried skulking in the shadows with regard to the 'Long
Goodbye'discussion but have finally broken down to add my two
cents.
1. I personally come down on the 'I don't think Altman's film
was terribly good' side of the argument because to a large
degree I don't find the arguments defending his film
persuasive.
Altman and Brackett's notion that the genre wouldn't hold up
for contemporary audiences if it was played straight doesn't
hold water for me. I'd cite 'Harper', 'Marlowe', 'Farewell My
Lovely', 'Chinatown'and 'Body Heat' as films made before
during and after LG that successfully (as fims and not in
terms of box office) stuck with the basic conventions and
mood of the genre. In almost every case the attempt was made
to have the material appeal to a contemoroary audience
without resorting to the bizarre and extremely self-conscious
mocking of the genre that LG does.
2. I certainly don't buy the absolutism of the statements
that art has no morals, shouldn't preach morality etc. Almost
all literature since the beginning of time has been very much
consciously moral. The whole 'art for art's sake' or art has
no morality argument is a relatively recent notion and is not
a terribly convincing one based on the overwhelming evidence
to the contrary. And as a minor matter I certainly wouldn't
turn to Oscar Wilde for advice on morality of any sort let
alone the uses or morality in literature.
In fact if you look at the life and works of Hammett,
Chandler, MacDonald et al it is very clear that moral
concerns were very much a part of their personal characters
and their fiction. Not one of their creations suggests that
their protagonists feel that crime is an activity that should
be treated indifferently nor are any of the criminals ever
portrayed as good people whose morals or lives should be
emmulated.
Here endth the lesson.
Cheers.
Mike
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Terrill Lankford"
<lankford2000@...>
> To: <
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Friday, February 16, 2007 10:38 PM
> Subject: Re: RARA-AVIS: Re: The Long
Goodbye
>
> >
> > Sidebar: any rare birds (even TLG haters) in
L.A. who would like
to visit
> > Marlowe's pad are invitied to a party at High
Tower this Sunday
starting
> > at 2pm. Contact me off-list for
details.
>
>
> Okay, watching not only The Long Goodbye but also a
short film
prologue for
> Michael Connelly's Echo Park in the very same
apartment and iconic
structure
> where they were both shot was really cool. Thanks,
Terrill, for
your
> hospitality, which was sufficient to overcome the
absence of naked
girls on
> the balcony of the adjacent apartment. Well, almost
sufficient.
>
> I've no doubt a good time was had by all.
>
> Jim Beaver
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 19 Feb 2007 EST