Wesley's FilmLit Log

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Seductive Shorts / Woody Allen

Some very interesting short films, off the Sundance Film Website?
www.seductiveshorts.com

Have been watching a lot of Woody Allen lately, I am officially a huge fan, I seem to connect with his stuff on many differently levels, I find it insightful, hilarious, clever, tight, sometimes over the top but usually in good taste with a lot of tongue-in-cheek stuff, but for the most part amazing explorations into the themes of love, relationships, insecurity and other material that I don't understand yet; he 'reuses' a lot of his same cast for his earlier movies ie: Diane Keaton, Mia Farrows and more; and its great:

-Annie Hall
-Manhattan
-Hannah and her Sisters
-Sweet and Downlown
-Crimes and Misdemeanors
-Husbands and Wives
-Play it Again, Sam
-Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex but Were Afraid to Ask
-Match Point

Recently Downloaded, ready to view:
-Mighty Aphrodite
-Bullets Over Broadway
-The Purple Rose of Cairo
-Interiors
-Wild Man Blues

Have been interested in reading about the lives of 'great' people, also a great opportunity to fill in a few of the huge gaps in my knowledge of the history of the world, America etc:
-Lives and Legacies: Benjamin Franklin
-relatively concise, quite funny at times; w/out going into too much detail
-Mahatma Gandhi and his Myths
-quick, tight read

Currently reading:
-The Autiobiography of Gandhi: The Story of My Experiments with Truth
-1/3 of the way through Book II, lots of talk of vegetarianism, has begun to relate his 'hardships' with racial persecution/discrimination in India and S. Africa; reveals his unwillingness to lie, cheat, willingness to endure some degree of 'suffering' to stand up for his 'rights'.
-Lolita by Nabokov (amazing writer, hilarious brilliant sentences, can't believe that English is second language, the author was originally from St. Petersburg, Russia).
-Miles by Miles Davis
-a fun read so far, halfway through

Next?:
-Autobiography of Ben Franklin and Other Writings
-The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
-more Nabokov? (recommended to check out 'Pale Flame' and 'Nidin')
-McSweeney's ?
-Stealing God's Thunder (more Ben Franklin)
-Einstein in Love (would like to read more about him)
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