FOR FRIENDS FAR & WIDE.

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	27 November 2005 PHOTO DIARY. Ah, the joys of owning both a rug and a cat, and having to clean both. I can finally finish that fur hat I've been working on.   Back to main PLAY: ROMANCE (2005). A trial involving fraud devolves into chaos. Mamet? Writing a comedy? Nicki & I had to go and see for ourselves. As it turns out, Mamet's rat-a-tat chatter lends itself well to the absurd, as his characters spit racial and homophobic epithets at each other in a malestrom of shit-flinging worthy of any episode of South Park—but plus the intellecutal vigor afforded by the author of Glengarry, Glen Ross and other highbrow swear-fests. See, it's one thing to rent a Mamet film and marvel at the dialogue; to see it actually performed live adds an almost dangerous thrill. The players, often forced to wait patiently for the audience through their spasms of laughter, somehow managed to stay the course as they recited their bile with brilliantly moronic gravitas. Solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through back massage? Oh yes, deadly serious; our bellies hurt from laughing so hard. The actual romance in Romance comes from various sources, like perpetually stoned judge's desire for peace in the Middle East, or the desperate pleas by the prosecutor's secret gay lover, &c. &c. In the end, the play boils down to an amused Mamet doodling out a string of comical vignettes with the virtuosity of a master, wholly without the stunning revelations of his normally mathematically constructed plots. But as far as trifles go, you can't do much better. Now if only someone made a soundboard for this just like they did for Al Pacino's Ricky Roma. —You people can't even order a grilled cheese sandwich without mentioning the Holocaust. —My people do not eat grilled cheese sandwiches! —Because they're not kosher? —Because they're not tasty!   Back to main MOVIE: PRIDE & PREJUDICE (2005). A young woman resists her parents' wishes to marry her to an unpleasant but wealthy gentleman. Jane Austen Society and fans of the 1995 BBC miniseries be damned, say I—this version of the Beloved Classic that Will Never Go Away is the best yet. The same guys who did Love, Actually are behind this film, and they bring all of their wit, pace, and easy charm with them. The inhabitants of this film seem so completely at home in their world of Victorian-era England that they make other films of their genre (Emma, even) feel stilted and stage-bound. The producers wisely opted to inject just the right amount of postmodern bluster, casual conversation, and natuarlistic body language to paint a portrait that is convincingly fresh for a modern audience. People sweat, even! And bump into one another, while hoisting drinks! Sacrelige to say, but Matthew MacFadyen plays the stylishly tortured Mr. Darcy with a precise, Clive Owen-like restraint; even Keira Knightley performs well enough for me to forgive her self-aware hotness, as well as her pretentiously sassy underbite. But aside from all of the classically engaging he-said-she-said drama, we get to see an indomitable Judy Dench attacking the head of the Bennet family, played by Donald Sutherland with a sensitivity that glows as warmly as the English countryside in the summer. Lovely enough to make a novel about class-bickering among the rich seem positively romantic. Ah—sir: Mrs. Bennet, Miss Bennet, Miss Bennet, and ... Miss Bennet.   Back to main Archives. 17 August 2003 — 24 August 2003 — 31 August 2003 — 07 September 2003 — 14 September 2003 — 02 November 2003 — 09 November 2003 — 16 November 2003 — 23 November 2003 — 30 November 2003 — 07 December 2003 — 01 February 2004 — 08 February 2004 — 15 February 2004 — 22 February 2004 — 29 February 2004 — 07 March 2004 — 14 March 2004 — 21 March 2004 — 28 March 2004 — 04 April 2004 — 11 April 2004 — 18 April 2004 — 25 April 2004 — 02 May 2004 — 09 May 2004 — 16 May 2004 — 23 May 2004 — 30 May 2004 — 06 June 2004 — 13 June 2004 — 20 June 2004 — 27 June 2004 — 04 July 2004 — 11 July 2004 — 18 July 2004 — 25 July 2004 — 01 August 2004 — 08 August 2004 — 15 August 2004 — 22 August 2004 — 29 August 2004 — 05 September 2004 — 12 September 2004 — 19 September 2004 — 26 September 2004 — 03 October 2004 — 10 October 2004 — 17 October 2004 — 24 October 2004 — 31 October 2004 — 07 November 2004 — 14 November 2004 — 21 November 2004 — 28 November 2004 — 05 December 2004 — 12 December 2004 — 19 December 2004 — 26 December 2004 — 02 January 2005 — 09 January 2005 — 23 January 2005 — 30 January 2005 — 06 February 2005 — 13 February 2005 — 20 February 2005 — 27 February 2005 — 13 March 2005 — 20 March 2005 — 27 March 2005 — 03 April 2005 — 10 April 2005 — 17 April 2005 — 24 April 2005 — 01 May 2005 — 08 May 2005 — 22 May 2005 — 29 May 2005 — 05 June 2005 — 12 June 2005 — 19 June 2005 — 26 June 2005 — 03 July 2005 — 10 July 2005 — 17 July 2005 — 24 July 2005 — 31 July 2005 — 07 August 2005 — 14 August 2005 — 28 August 2005 — 04 September 2005 — 25 September 2005 — 02 October 2005 — 09 October 2005 — 30 October 2005 — 06 November 2005 — 13 November 2005 — 20 November 2005 — 27 November 2005 — 04 December 2005 — 18 December 2005 — 01 January 2006 — 08 January 2006 — 15 January 2006 — 22 January 2006 — 05 February 2006 — 26 February 2006 — 12 March 2006 — 19 March 2006 — 26 March 2006 — 02 April 2006 — 16 April 2006 — 23 April 2006 — 30 April 2006 — 07 May 2006 — 14 May 2006 — 21 May 2006 — 04 June 2006 — 18 June 2006 — 25 June 2006 — 16 July 2006 — 23 July 2006 — 06 August 2006 — 13 August 2006 — 03 September 2006 — 17 September 2006 — 01 October 2006 —