(no subject)

1. Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion but an escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality.
....
The emotion of art is impersonal. And the poet cannot reach this impersonality without surrendering himself wholly to the work to be done. And he is not likely to know what is to be done unless he lives in what is not merely the present, but the present moment of the past, unless he is conscious, not of what is dead, but of what is already living.

-T.S. Eliot, "Tradition and the Individual Talent"

[saw this on my DW correspondence list and decided what I had to say about it -- was best suited for my own journal -- because it is directed at Eliot, not the person who posted it.]

And suddenly, I feel the need to throw lots of legal memorandum, contracts, business memos, emails, financial justifications and technical writings at Eliot. Assuming of course he's being serious and not facetious, it was never clear with Eliot. Or maybe just ram Nabokov's Palefire down his throat. (Palefire is well, part poem and part satire. And most of the action takes place in the footnotes. It's basically a fight between the poet and a scholar analyzing his work. They live across from each other in the same community and are rivals.]
( Read more... )

Speaking of literary greats...

Co-worker: I should have heeded your warning.
Me: Eh?
Co-worker: I tried to read Sound and the Fury, and you were right.( Read more... )

Although interesting take on MASH. I haven't watched it in a very long time. The last time I watched MASH was in the 1980s. Something tells me that it hasn't held up well.

2. Spielberg wants to disqualify films shown simultaneously on streaming channels like Netflix from being nominated for Awards

Now, Spielberg and others are planning to do something about it by supporting a revised film academy regulation at an upcoming meeting of the organization’s board of governors that would disqualify Netflix from the Oscars, or at least how the streaming giant currently operates during awards season.

This year “Roma” got a limited theatrical qualifying run and an expensive campaign with one of the industry’s most successful awards publicists, Lisa Taback, leading the charge. But Netflix, operates somewhat outside of the industry while also infiltrating its most important institutions, like the Oscars and the Motion Picture Association of America. Some like Spielberg, are worried about what that will mean for the future of movies.

“Steven feels strongly about the difference between the streaming and theatrical situation,” an Amblin spokesperson told IndieWire’s Anne Thompson late last week. “He’ll be happy if the others will join (his campaign) when that comes up. He will see what happens.”

Sigh. If it were up to me, we'd do away with the awards completely. But alas, it's not. I want Netflix to continue doing what it has being doing...mainly because I wouldn't have seen some of these films otherwise. Movies in NYC are expensive.

Also Roma was an amazing film and in my opinion was among the few that deserved the awards it received.

[I don't think highly of Spielberg -- my brother told me a few horror stories from his time working in LA in the film world. ]

3. 5 Funniest TV Shows Ever..

Hmm. I laugh at weird things.

* Buffy -- weirdly had some of the funniest moments for me.
* The Good Wife -- I thought was hilarious
* MASH -- some of the early episodes were insanely absurd
* Cheers -- also had some insane moments
* The Good Place -- uneven at times, but when it's funny -- it's really funny.
* Marvelous Mrs. Maisel made me laugh a lot.

I don't find sketch comedy funny. It just doesn't work for me. Nor do most situational slapstick style comedies.