Sep. 2024 Reading, Viewing: Curzio Malaparte, Under The Skin

Greatest hits of September undoubtedly include the discovery and experience of reading Curzio Malaparte’s unfinished novel The Kremlin Ball, as well as Under the Skin, about which I’d heard and read for so many years before finally viewing; they do NOT include watching Jaws 2 or Jaws 3D.

9/1
— James Lee Patrick, “10^6 to 1”, Secret History of Science Fiction [hereafter SHSF]
— George Saunders, “93990”, SHSF
Again, genre bending.

9/2
— Under The Skin (2013)
Directed by Jonathan Glazer, written by Glazer and Walter Campbell, based on the 2000 novel by Michel Faber; starring Scarlett Johansson et al.
For a while I’d heard people talk with deep approbation of this film, and considering that it was made by Glazer, whose Sexy Beast I love, it’s surprising that I hadn’t seen it. There are a few resonances with the latter, I will admit. But that film is primarily driven by Ben Kingsley and, secondly, Ray Winstone. It’s a character driven film. Whereas Under the Skin resolutely is not.
But it’s a pretty interesting film, albeit contemplative and not disposed to the narrative excesses. I suspect the ending is the weakest part. And yet parts of that ending were really necessary.
This is the kind of film that makes me feel bad for Scarlett Johansson … but she did choose to become the Black Widow. A decision she probably regrets … all the way to the bank.
— The Overstory, 20 pp.

9/3
— The Overstory, 35 pp.

9/7
— The Big Lebowski (1998), first hour
Directed, written, produced and co-edited by Joel and Ethan Coen; starring Jeff Bridges, David Huddleston, John Goodman, Sam Elliott, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, John Turturro, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Tara Reid, David Thewlis, Peter Stormare, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Jon Polito and Ben Gazzara.
I haven’t written about this film, as far as I know, but it’s kind of a formative moment in the Ashley Vaught story. I saw it at the Westcott Theatre in Syracuse, New York back in 1998, with a couple of friends. They were too high brow, and I don’t think enjoyed it as much as I did. Whereas I love a good bawdy laugh (did you see the Deliverance joke above?)

— Bullitt (1968)
Directed by Peter Yates (who made a number of interesting films, including The Hot Rock [1972]; The Friends of Eddie Coyle [1973], which is a late Robert Mitchum film that is really, really good; Breaking Away [1979], with Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern, and Jackie Earle Haley!); written by by Alan R. Trustman and Harry Kleiner based on the 1963 crime novel Mute Witness by Robert L. Fish; starring Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn (The Man From U.N.C.L.E.), Jacqueline Bisset, Don Gordon, Robert Duvall (as a cabbie! I was like, “What’s he doing in this movie?!”), Simon Oakland, and Norman Fell (future fame in Three’s Company).
Has the most well-known chase scene, arguably bar none, choreographed (and driven) by Bill Hickman, who I’ve written about elsewhere. Otherwise …
Watch for the car chase, then turn off.
— NYRB on Rachel Kushner‘s new book and ventures capitalism’s conservativism

9/8
— Homicide (1993-99), 1.4

9/9
— Georg Lukács, Theory of the Novel, 30 pp.
Ever wonder why all of these brilliant people are Hungarians? Ever heard of the Austro-Hungarian empire? One of my dissertation advisors was Hungarian (Miklos Vetö).
Oh man, “transcendental loci”? Yes fucking please!
— Curzio Malaparte, The Kremlin Ball, Foreward by Jenny McPhee, 10 pp.
Picked up this and Lukács because of the Kushner article in the NYRB. This dude’s last name is a play off of Bonaparte. Brilliant.
[10/13 update: Malaparte is not named in the Kushner article in NYRB, “The Secret Agent,” written by Anahid Nersessian. So where the fuck did you find this?]
— Earth Time, 15 pp.
— Michael Chabon, “The Martian Agent, A Planetary Romance”, SHSF
Land sloops.

9/11
— Mary McHugh, “Frankenstein’s Daughter”, SHSF
So many of these stories are not “sci-fi” but as you may know that is the logos of this collection. And I have no disagreements with this.

9/12
— Cornered (1945)
Directed by Edward Dmytryk, and written by John Paxton with uncredited help from Ben Hecht. starring Dick Powell and Walter Slezak.
Do not understand Dick Powell, as an noir actor. He was in Dymtryk’s Murder, My Sweet as well. To me he’s unshakably the boy next door, dad character.
It is interesting how Girard (Powell) bungles through every possible encounter, eventually undercutting his own motivation by admitting that he barely knew his wife; as well, the fact that Jarnac is this phantom character, even hidden in the shadows until the final scene.
— Kremlin Ball, 20 pp.

9/13
— Homicide, 1.5-7

9/14
— NYRB on Francine Prose’s memoir
— Runaway Jury (2003)
Directed by Gary Fleder, adapted by Brian Koppelman, David Levien, Rick Cleveland, and Matthew Chapman from John Grisham‘s 1996 novel of the same name; starring John Cusack, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman and Rachel Weisz.
So incredibly timely, and yet … in 2003 we were beginning two different wars, neither of which would amount to anything other than the senseless loss of life. Similarly, forgettable.
— Steven Millhauser, “The Wizard of West Orange”, SHSF. Finished the Secret History of Science Fiction.
This story is about Edison and the invention of something called the haptograph, which is supposed to recreate skin sensations. But it quickly points out that these do not have to be recreations and that there is a great space of possibility in what such a device could do.

9/15
— Lukács, Theory of the Novel, “The problems of a philosophy of the history of forms“
If I met a woman that spoke like this to me, …
— Earth Time, 20 pp.
— The Overstory, 30 pp.
Adam gets nabbed.
— The Kremlin Ball, 15 pp.
Kamenev gets nabbed. Coincidence? I don’t think so.

9/17
— The Overstory, 15 pp.
Adam gets 150 years.

9/20
— Mr. Monk’s Final Case: A Monk Movie (2023)
Directed by Randy Zisk, written by Andy Breckman; starring Tony Shalhoub, Traylor Howard, Jason Gray-Stanford, Ted Levine, Melora Hardin and Héctor Elizondo.
Where can you find a good billionaire to trust? As much as I like watching Tony Shalhoub, Jason Gray-Stanford was always and forever so hilarious. Doesn’t everyone love to see the flubs of the dumb guy. Lowering the bridge.
— Art Spiegelmann, Maus, 80 pp.

9/21
— Jaws (1975)
Directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Carl Gottlieb, based on the 1974 novel by Peter Benchley; starring Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw, Murray Hamilton, and Lorraine Gary.
The more you watch this, the less the shark is a meaningful part of it.
— Maus, 40 pp.
— Finished The Overstory

9/24
— Jaws 2 (1978)
Directed by Jeannot Szwarc and co-written by Carl Gottlieb; starring Roy Scheider, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton, Joseph Mascolo, Jeffrey Kramer, Collin Wilcox, Ann Dusenberry, Mark Gruner, Susan French, Barry Coe, Donna Wilkes, Gary Springer, and Keith Gordon (in his first film role!).
Of Gordon’s most famous credits is undoubtedly The Legend of Billie Jean (1985) and John Carpenter’s 1983 film Christine.
Probably this film is not as good as the first one, but only because of presence of Shaw and Dreyfuss in that one. I think this one has a higher body count (who know? some nerd, that’s who). And it has a scream queen in the character of such-and-such.
It is the best of the sequels, for what it’s worth.
— Jaws 3D (1983)
Directed by Joe Alves, written by Carl Gottlieb and Richard Matheson; starring Dennis Quaid, Bess Armstrong, Simon MacCorkindale and Louis Gossett Jr.
Whereas this film is probably the worse. But I will not be convinced to watch the fourth film in order to determine if that state is true. The writing here is horrible. It’s got at least two male leads, one of which we suspected would become a bad guy but instead becomes sharkbait. And Louis Gossett Jr. was one of two black people in the entire film, it seemed. And of course he was also the bad guy, in the end. Which was not soon enough. And should have involved the killing of the female lead, who was insufferable.

9/27
— Homicide, 1.9, “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes“
Cameo by Baltimore native John Waters!
— The Kremlin Ball, 10 pp.

9/28-30
— The Kremlin Ball, 50 pp.