sadly Point b. is also actually kinda sinister. Nudity (the celebration of the ideal human body) goes hand in hand with the old German notion of perfecting the human race.

Too bad The Criterion Collection costs money. There sure is a lot of 1940's era dreck free on youtube.

the key to Springfield has always been Elm Street. The Cartheginians knew it The Greeks knew it.

The cosmic ballet…goes on.

sounds like 'Amadeus' in London. I'm a sucker for the misunderstood bad boy genius trope, and Turner is a favorite so….I'm in. Spall early front runner for Oscar?

official position? funny.

Now I see the benefit of not following actor's and actresses' private lives. Ignorance of rumor, innuendo, and on-set tantrums is bliss.

My uncle's name is Dick Paine. His son is known as "Dicky". yes…they went to Harvard.

Decades ago a woman at my office returned from maternity leave. During the course of our perfunctory welcome back conversation it was revealed that her new daughter's name was "Ariel". Thinking she was a Shakespeare fan I said "oh from the…." "yes" she interupted "from the soap opera". :-)

James Bond has been difficult to live up to. Heavy sigh.

Nebraska < "Darkness on the Edge of Town"

More Utopia wonkery: European Utopias sought/seek to reform the whole of society whether the reformer was Plato, Thomas More, or Lenin. American Utopias on the other hand sought/seek to divorce themselves from a corrupt society at large, and just want/wanted to be left alone socially while interacting economically:…

FYI. There were/are quite a few successful american corporations/businesses which started as Utopian Societies. Amana (microwaves) Oneida (silverware) Shakers (furniture, seeds). Interestingly, many if not most american Utopian Societies were successful as businesses, but split up over social issues like free love or…

beats Kafka.

The circles motif never registered with me before, but I loved the film from the first as a screwball comedy. Those of us who love Hudsucker Proxy probably have The Philadelphia Story and The Bachelor and The Bobbysoxer memorized. :-)

I had forgotten the mezzanine!
Of course most american skyscrapers have no 13th floor so….

and they dock ya!

I don't get the outrage. A tempest in a teapot.

yes. Abraham Lincoln spelled words differently in different speeches….and Shakepeare made up his own words. Freedom of speech should mean: listen to me and the way I speak….or fuck off.

you just said……nothing.