Sunday Morning! Rewatching Antonioni

Rufus F.

Rufus is a likeable curmudgeon. He has a PhD in History, sang for a decade in a punk band, and recently moved to NYC after nearly two decades in Canada. He wrote the book "The Paris Bureau" from Dio Press (2021).

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9 Responses

  1. Jaybird says:

    Watching Luke Cage. Fixing to quit because Cottonmouth is the only likable character.Report

  2. Aaron David says:

    I never really delved into the Italians, maybe because I found Fellini offputting for some reason. This is a nice overview though. Maybe “existentialist horror films” is a better description? Dunno, but you make me want to dive into them.

    I totally understand your friends point about Hamiton though, my wife and I came to the same conclusion about Sacramento, the city we met in. When I moved there in 2000 it was a bit beat-up, rough and tumble outside the suburbs, and the ‘burbs were pretty sad too. Now it’s all cookie-cutter bistros, Tower Records has closed, used bookstores are being swallowed by liqueur barns, and the gentrification is really bland, a bigger sin than being exclusive.

    Not reading anything really special at the moment, but I go on a mini vacation/road trip tomorrow. I have a nice copy of La Bas I have been meaning to get back into, and a few days to myself will help that, and maybe that will lead me to more of Houellebecq.Report

    • Rufus F. in reply to Aaron David says:

      Hamilton has entered into the stage of “gentrification” that’s just widescale financialized real estate speculation. Everything is now being hoovered up by Bay Street (heck, Wall Street too) investors trying to convince displaced Torontonians that the absolute worst parts of our city are worth paying the inflated rents they’ll need to charge to turn a profit and make the hustle work. It’s getting to be more ridiculous than anything. Really I’m increasingly convinced that “gentrification” has zero to do with hipsters and gourmet cupcake shops and all of that junk and everything to do with financialized real estate speculation. Since they’re pulling the same hustle absolutely everywhere in the greater Toronto area that there are still cheap properties, it will be interesting to see what happens when the bottom falls out. I’m saving to move to the southern U.S. where there are still affordable mortgages and adequate sunlight!

      I guess the Italians are all an acquired taste. I’m not realy sure why. I was thinking that Pasolini is my favorite, but he’s definitely an acquired taste- and do not start with “Salo”! I can go either way with Fellini. I still find 8 1/2 a bit tedious, but La Strada is one of my all-time favorite films and The Nights of Cabiria has one of the few absolutely perfect endings in film.Report

  3. Rufus F. says:

    I read someone on Antonioni who said he watched his films when he was 25 and hated them and then again at 37 and this time they clicked. It made a lot of sense to me.Report

    • Maribou in reply to Rufus F. says:

      Funnily enough, I rewatched Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead this week (the version with Roth & Oldman & Dreyfuss & Baby Ian Glenn) … I watched it at about 25 and hated it (much preferred the play script, had seen the play twice and loved it). Watched the film this week at 42 and it fit me perfectly.Report

  4. Slade the Leveller says:

    The definitely more low-brow Kim’s Convenience. It’s very funny.Report

  5. Saul Degraw says:

    I am reading To the Ends of the Earth by William Golding, more famous for the Lord of the Flies. It is about a young man journeying to Australia during the Napoleanic Wars for a government postReport