Inappropriate Conversations

Solomon's Song Of Songs

Man: Greg
Woman: Karen
Friends: Laura

https://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/81-singing-a-song-for-lovers/

As I've noted in the (old, but) most recent Inappropriate Conversations podcasts, work-life balance and other issues have led to a pause in postings. Work-life balance has shifted again, recently. I can't say yet whether or when this will lead to new episodes of Inappropriate Conversations or Walk The Earth, but I do now that content will be starting to flow again. 

Starting today, I'm planning to post at regular intervals.
During what turned out to be a hiatus, I pulled the plug on promotional clips of past podcasts on SoundCloud. The IC_Greg account there is gone. That experience did lead me to create stand-alone files for some work, including speeches, poetry, and prose. 

I'll begin with "10 Areas of Agreement about Abortion" as a consolidation of a two-part podcast topic from 2011. Because our national dialog has not progressed much on the issue since the 1970s, the argument still seems somewhat fresh in spite of ignoring a decade of recent current events. 

Thanks for listening!

I won't be observing Noirvember this year, in the first year I've truly considered it. Not sure I have the time or the bandwidth to watch 30 movies, one per day, from the same genre/type. If I did, though, the list would look something like this, with five 6-packs of films covering topics like classics, pairs, need (I need to see these, and I haven't yet), foreign, and extras.

Classic
Crossfire (1947)
Railroaded! (1947)
The Big Sleep (1946)
D.O.A. (1949)
M (1931)
The Scarlet Claw (1944)

Pairs
The Maltese Falcon (1931)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Pickup on South Street (1953)
The Naked Kiss (1964)
Blood Simple (1984)
The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)

My personal need-to-see list
Criss Cross (1949)
Double Indemnity (1944)
Laura (1944)
Lady in the Lake (1946)
Following (1998)
Dark City (1998)

Foreign-language films
High and Low (1963)
Shoot the Piano Player (1960)
Umberto D. (1952)
Coup de Torchon (1981)
Alphaville (1965)
Todo Modo (1976)

Extras
L.A. Confidential (1997)
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
Body Heat (1981)
Brick (2005)
Palmetto (1998)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

And
In case that last choice, which is valid, is too controversial ... here's a substitute pick:
No Country for Old Men (2007)

Happy Noirvember!

Dear Criterion Collection or other parties of interest,

Looking around the United States in 2020, I can’t fathom an argument that the themes in Elio Petri’s penultimate feature film, Todo Modo (“One Way Or Another”) have no application here and now. 

The plot set-up from Wikipedia currently says, “During a mysterious epidemic that claims numerous political leaders, big industrialists, bankers, and business leaders of the ruling party, the Christian Democrats arrive in a hotel/hermitage/prison called Zafer. They gather for an annual three-day retreat (inspired by the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola) to atone for their past crimes of corruption and unethical practices. These exercises are practiced under the guidance of the unusual Don Gaetano (Marcello Mastroianni), a very influential but corrupt priest, who dominates all those at the retreat.”

I’ve heard the notion that understanding Petri’s film or the novel by Leonardo Sciascia would require a deeper awareness of 1970s Italian politics than an American audience could have. Logic like that has restricted the release of other films, like Carlos Saura’s underrated Spanish surrealist masterpiece The Garden Of Delights.   

That same insufficient argument didn’t stop the release of future Oscar-winning films like Z (Costa-Gavras) and Petri’s own Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion. Both of those films carry additional meaning in the countries they came from; still, their artistic impact is unquestioned internationally. From the 20 minutes of film clips I have found online in Italian with no subtitles, Todo Modo seems more outrageous than similar films, but we are living in outrageous times right now.

• Mysterious epidemic disrupting both political and social life in the country? Check. 
o As I’m writing this, the United States alone has 6.3 million positive cases of COVID-19 with almost 190 thousand deaths.

• Unparalleled, and often corrupt, intermingling of church and state? Check. 
o If you doubt this one, check out the Netflix series The Family from last year, covering events going back decades.

• Bomb threats and other violent menace directed toward political figures and journalists? Check. 
o There have been more than a dozen documented cases of domestic terrorism threats in the United States since the current president was inaugurated, including one where 16 different pipe bomb packages were mailed by suspect Cesar Altieri Sayoc Jr. to perceived critics and “enemies” of President Trump.

Todo Modo cannot be deemed inappropriate for consideration because its plot and themes are too remote and unrelatable to Americans today. In some ways, “One Way Or Another” may be too on-point. This risk of hitting too close to home should not be a concern. First, it is set in Italy almost 50 years ago. Second, even the storytelling then was intentionally stylized to send the message pointedly but somewhat indirectly. 

Those stylistic touches are another argument for delivering the highest quality video as quickly as possible, whether DVD or Blu-ray. Location, art direction, and cinematography set this film apart, even among Petri’s experiments. All that is balanced, somewhat, by world class actors like Mastroianni, Gian Maria Volontè, and Michel Piccoli among others. Todo Modo is rated highly among Petri’s work for a reason. 

Image quality is always a question with older films, but by the 1970s the notion of film restoration and archiving was well established. 
In 2014, the Museum of Modern Art showed a restored print at MoMA in New York. 
A year earlier, Senses of Cinema in Australia ran a feature about the film.
More recently, the Daughters of Darkness podcast closed out a series on Petri in 2016-17 with Todo Modo noted as his last true masterpiece.

There is a buzz. It may not be as noteworthy as the organ and piano from Ennio Morricone’s soundtrack, but Todo Modo should strike chords and find an audience. I have spent time with other films and TV movies set during pandemics this year, but this overlooked gem may be the most relevant and important of them all. 

Find a way to release “One Way Or Another” to an American audience with subtitles and whatever supporting extras you feel is necessary to provide point-and-time context. It is the right thing to do.

Sincerely,
IC_Greg 

We are here now, going nowhere, for very loving reasons.

As the old saying goes, imitation is the highest form of flattery, a well crafted remake is the musical version. 

Years ago, I named Mark E. Smith as a Different Drummer on an episode focused on used record stores, which is how I discovered his band, The Fall, during the transition from high school to college in the American Midwest. They are still my favorite band, or as close as I'll ever get to naming a favorite. 

The amount and quality of remakes by The Fall was not evident to me early on. Their approach to music was so unique that songs rarely stood out as remakes. There are exceptions, not always from the Country & Western genre but often enough. Here is a list:

It isn't an exhaustive list, either. 

Used Record Stores and a Healthy Aquarium

Spotify Day 3 is only missing a couple of these tracks, one by Imani Coppola and one by Chris Rice. The problem is that "Thirsty" from the missing Rice album, Past The Edges, is probably my favorite of all the songs Spotify does not yet have. 

The final day in this hypothetical music festival features some of the longest sets at the beginning and end, a bit like bookends. Most people might not consider Todd Snider a headliner for something like this. I certainly do. Whether with a band or in a man-with-guitar format, Snider brings something live that even his live albums only barely capture. 

Todd Snider

New Connection
New York Banker
Conservative, Christian, Right Wing Republican, Straight, White, American Males
You Got Away With It (A Tale of Two Fraternity Brothers)
Statistician's Blues
Beer Run
Just Like Old Times
Tension
Somebody's Coming
Once He Finds Us
A Lot More
Yesterdays and Used to Be's

Reba McEntire

Take It Back
Rumor Has It
Fancy
Bobby
If I Had Only Known
The Greatest Man I Never Knew

Chris Rice

It is Well with My Soul
Me and Becky
Smell the Color 9
Thirsty
Go Light Your World
The Final Move

Laurie Anderson

Difficult Listening Hour
Sharky's Day
Beautiful Red Dress
Mach 20
Let X=X

Imani Coppola

I'm a Tree
Voice in my Head
Contributing Member of Society
Cock Block (Little Jackie)
Lying to my Therapist
The Legend of a Cowgirl

Michael Franks

Sometimes I Just Forget to Smile
The Lady Wants to Know
Every Time She Whispers
The Art of Love
Three Today
Now I Know Why (They Call It Falling)

Dolly Parton

9 to 5
Jolene
Red Shoes
I Will Always Love You

Neil Young

After the Gold Rush (with Dolly Parton)
My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)
Out on a Weekend
Old King
Ohio
Southern Man
Oh Susannah
Harvest
Harvest Moon
Powderfinger
Rockin' in the Free World
Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)
One of These Days

Jarring transitions on this day, which is something I like. Ironically, I've envisioned what is probably both the most and least jarring transition with a duet. Could a Dolly Parton collaboration with Neil Young work on his "After the Gold Rush" classic? I'd say yes, in part because both Parton and Young have delivered surprisingly effective collaborations in the past. With Linda Ronstadt unavailable due to debilitation and Emmylou Harris not yet named a Different Drummer, Young and Parton together is the nearest substitute for a Trio performance. 

I won't take up the space required for other Different Drummers who could have made this list because they are still performing. I'll just note a couple that I've seen in concert, even though I didn't include them here: Al Stewart and King Missile (John S. Hall) would have been the next ones in. 
At the same time, it's heartbreaking that health or death blocked any consideration for -- among others -- Don Ellis, Queen (Freddie Mercury), Gisele MacKenzie, John Coltrane, John Fahey, Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen, The Fall (Mark E. Smith), Rush (Neil Peart), and Ronstadt. 

Mentally sunburned and exhausted, I'll stop here, refreshed nevertheless.