Jamesian Philosophy Refreshed

  The silliest 'pop culture' controversy of the moment involves the actress Margot Robbie, who plays the title character in the blockbuster 'Barbie.'  https://time.com/6576866/oscars-2024-greta-gerwig-snub-internet-fan-theory/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon   The Academy did not include either the lead actress or the director of Barbie as nominees for Best Actress or Best Director respectively.  But we are repeatedly reminded that both women are producers. If the movie wins Best Picture, they'll each have something nice for the home mantle.  The indignation feels forced. As does the sense that it is all a set-up for the campaign to win that Best Picture prize on a guilt theme. These are inside-Hollywood controversies that ought to concern us as much as a good watch to a retiree we've never met from a corporation for which we've never worked.  (Ah, but we buy their products! We should care who gets the nice gold watch. Sorry, no.)  Now,...

  There wasn't a lot remarkab le about the Oscars ceremony this year. Maybe it is just that I am more detached this year than I was not too long ago from the cycle of movies year-to-year. I had seen almost none of the nominees for the big categories, with the exception of  Tár. I enjoyed  Tár, a Cate Blanchette vehicle in which she plays a world-famous orchestra conductor, a protege of Leonard Bernstein no less. Blanchette's character becomes enmeshed in a career-threatening scandal. Anyway: it didn't win anything and, aside from my mild level of disappointment about that: there is nothing to report -- except, a very clever set of ads about a fellow named Otto Desc. The first ad shows us the image of a German-looking fellow whose full name is apparently Otto Descinski, known as Desc to his friends, and who has been a major influence in the world of cinematography for decades. Only today he will finally be recognized. That ad ran before the Oscars program proper got u...

I saw "The Judge" recently. A decent movie, though it didn't blow me away. Robert Downey Jr plays Hank Palmer, the sort of city-slicker defense lawyer Hollywood loves, because he is both glamorous and sleazy, so there's plenty of room for tragedy and personal growth. Robert Duvall plays his father, a small town judge who gets into trouble soon after his wife passes away, and who desperately requires the service of a good, even if sleazy, defense lawyer. That's the set up. The leading lady is Vera Farmiga, whose character, Samantha Powell, was the high school girlfriend of Hank Palmer. Of course they went their separate ways. Hank went to law school and a big city practice. Samantha stayed in the rural town they grew up in. One of the subplots of the story involves whether Samantha's daughter is Hank's child. I'm trying to be good and avoid spoilers here, so I'll say no more. As you may already have gathered, the plot is a bit formulaic,...