March 16 Issue

I’ve got to bitch a little right up front. Not seriously bitch, more of a whinny annoyed-the-world-doesn’t-do-what-I-want-it-to bitch.

My first couple of issues came on a Tuesday. So here I am expecting another Tuesday delivery and – nope, not this time. This time, I am going out of town on business, my New Yorker has not gotten here, and I will miss half a week of reading time. Damn!

But, I got over it. Enough so to read 3 and ½ articles, all the cartoons, and a couple Talk Of The Town pieces.

Along the way, I met a New Yorker reader in line at Chipotle. She had this week’s, being Wednesday I still had last week’s. Why did she get hers before me? Double damn! We had a good chat about what we gravitate to in the NYer. For instance she skipped March 16 because she doesn’t like the style issue. Oh, this is the style issue? I guess Michelle O on the cover in 3 outfits should have been a clue. Or the red lettered header on the contents page that says Style issue. Observant, ain’t I?

Regardless, I found plenty to read, while admittedly over half of the 3 ½ articles I read were about movies.

I truly enjoyed the 2007 movie Michael Clayton. But I didn’t remember the director’s name until reading D. T. Max’s Onward and Upward With The Arts piece entitled Twister. Now I’m itching to see Duplicity, Tony Gilroy’s latest movie. Coming from the writing side of the business, Gilroy brings a depth of story chops to his work. He both wrote and directed this movie, which BTW was NOT reviewed here, but served as a great framework for Max’s exploration of Gilroy’s work and background. I may make some time to look at some of Gilroy’s older, as writer only, movies. It truly sounds, and from seeing Michael Clayton looks, like he has great handle on how to keep a story moving and engaging.

David Denby’s The Current Cinema “Youthquake” was equally interesting. It is essentially an overview of the little known Mumblecore film genre. So little known is this independent film movement, I’ve never heard of before. Not that I’m the paragon of all things film, but it’s high on my list of interests. I am glad to have been enlightened by Denby’s article. While I suspect that these films may turn out to be more of a curiosity for me, than a new thing-to-follow, I am looking forward to seeing “Alexander The Last” or “Mutual Appreciation”.

Not that I need to tell you this in the order I read things, but while I’m here let’s talk about the article I dropped out of. In retrospect, and not that this had any effect, the Patricia Marx article On And Off The Avenue – Made In The U.S.A./ Is it still possible to buy American? was one of the Style Issue features. And it had a good start. For one thing, the made-in-America challenge is one I pay attention to when possible. With all the skill and craftmenship this country is blessed with, you could wonder why we’d want anyone else’s goods. On then the other hand, every ounce of American will and drive and creativity has been imported via the generations of immigrants that make America what it is.

None of which tells you anything about Marx’s exploration of American goods in NY. The article started well, with Ms. Marx on the trail of yankee made goods. Then, for my tastes, it digressed into a list. At that point I noted that the list may be useful someday, but I don’t need to read it. I generally don’t spend much time reading lists of any sort that don’t affect my work. So I moved on.

To a life-long subject of enjoyment and occasional excitement. Dracula. From my earliest days of TV and movie watching, occult subjects have grabbed my attention, Dracula and Vampires chief among them. My childhood faves include Bela Logosi, Peter Cushing, and Christopher Lee; seen alternately on the greatest late night horror show, “Chiller Theater” with host Bill Cardille ( also known to fans as Chilly Billy Cardilly), and at an actual movie theater. Not one of these multiplexes housing 150 thumbnail sized screens. (though I have to admit I haven’t seen one of those in years – the stadium seating innovation works well for me) I’m talking about a gloriously decorated, one huge screen, theater. With popcorn and jujubes on the floor and hundreds of Saturday matinee children in tha audience (me and my friends) occasionally actually screaming at the good parts.

So, I can’t say why my eyes glossed over the listing in the table of contents, but when they lit on Joan Acocella’s Critic At Large offering, Why Dracula won’t die, was on it! Her article is an overview of Dracula and vampire literary history and several books that offer a variety of very similar sounding annotations. Each book has it’s own hook, but they seem thin to me. Of course, I’m not hot on annotated editions; I prefer the story, the characters, the escapism of being taken on a ride. Boatloads of pesky notes are distracting. Except when reading the Tanach in shul (got to do something to stave off the boredom) or Shakespeare. It just occurred to me to wonder if, as I’d expect, Ms. Acocella had to read every page of each of the books she discussed. I shudder to think about wading through not simply one annotated book. Reading the annotations. Perhaps researching the odd tidbit here and there, fact checking. But doing it for several of these beasts. Damn I hope she’s well paid.

While not entirely germane, I feel like sharing that as I write this I am on a short vacation in Fort Worth Texas. Here for a nephew’s Bar Mitzvah. While returning books to the library the night before leaving on this trip I treated myself to a short read for the flight. One of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer graphic novels. One written by Joss Wheadon himself. And featuring, as a major character – on Buffy’s side – Dracula himself. I always thought it was a pity they couldn’t do more with him in the TV series.

On the winding down side of this ride, I want to give a mention to Alex Wilkinson’s entertainingly written visit to an annual Shrinks convention happy hour. Well done. While maybe not so pertinent or informative as John Cassidy’s “Harder Times”, Wilkinson’s “Analytic Hour: How do you feel about that?” was eminently more fun.