BRIAN LIBBY

"Le Circle Rouge"

Valarie got me the Criterion Collection DVD of Jean-Pierre Melville's 1970 masterpiece, and it just gets better each time. I'd seen it twice before, once on the big screen when it was rereleased this year. Although Le Samourai will probably always be my favorite Melville film (and easily in my top 3 or 4 favorite films of any kind, all-time), I think Le Circle Rouge is kind of a Vertigo to Le Samourai's Rear Window. It's more complex and perhaps more ambitious. I just never get tired of great French noirs. They're very sincere in their affection for and debt to American noirs of the 1940s and 50s, yet because it's one country riffing on the work of another, there's that level of postmodernism that adds an extra layer of meaning. Plus the French have an added sense of style that's perfect for noir. Alain Delon arguably looks as cool in his trenchcoat and fedora as Bogart ever did.

Stoplight hang-ons

My fellow drivers, I feel compelled to speak against this injustice: If there's heavy traffic, and you find yourself slowly approaching an intersection, it's imperative that you make sure you either are able to get all the way across said intersection or stop short of it until a crossable lane of traffic develops. I am so sick of people who let themselves and their cars get stuck in the middle of an intersection for several seconds after the light turns red, obstructing drivers coming the other way. For God's sake, if the laws of traffic--including the unwritten ones--can't be obeyed, it means the very fabric of our society is crumbling!

If I sound a little over-dramatic, it's only because I was the victim of this offense what seemed like several times in the past few days. Of course I probably should not be pointing any fingers as a driver, because I am quite a lead-foot and take too many risks on the road. But at least I'm attentive to all the variables that comprise being a driver in heavy traffic--I'd never be stupid enough to let something that irresponsible happen.

Onion Refrigerator Magnet Headlines

A year or two ago we were given some of those little refrigerator magnets like some people have to make little poems, only ours are for making fake newspaper headlines, courtesy of The Onion. Here are a few samplings:

--Nascar Apologizes for Cool Ranch Butter
--Cake Saves Children
--99% Pope
--Grease Trap to Revolutionize St. Louis
--NASA Allocates Stolen Magic 747 to Stoner
--Tastier Fire Leads to $12 Genocide of Former Kitchen Staff
--Assistant Manager Abandons Black Hole, Headed Toward
First Ever Inflatable Islamic Gas Station

"Lord of the Rings"

This is probably sacrilege for a film reviewer, but I'm just not as blown away or excited by the "Lord of the Rings" movie trilogy as others seem to be. First of all, I've just never been a sword and sorcery guy. Also, while the plot is at heart a great story, all the attendant mythology, with its layers of language and peripheral characters, begins to weigh on me. And while the special effects are good, I feel like I'm always aware of it being CGI and have a hard time suspending disbelief. Does anyone else out there agree?

Eric Idle

Valarie and I had a blast Monday night seeing Monty Python's Eric Idle in "The Greedy Bastard Tour", in which he does various Python skits along with some new and pre-Python material with the help of three other players. In his online tour diary afterward, Idle said, "Last night was one of our finest shows, in the most improbable place: an old Porno cinema in Portland." Apparently The Aladdin Theater showed Deep Throat in the 1970s for a very long time. Going into the show, I felt a little conflicted about the idea of Idle just sort of serving up warmed-over Python skits, but once it started the show was so much fun I didn't care. I especially enjoyed the classic "No what I mean, nudge nudge" skit and an audience sing along of "Sit On My Face And Tell Me That You Love Me". For his encore, Idle sang a new song called "Fuck Christmas" that was absolutely brilliant in skewering pre-12/25 commercialism.

s's?

Since when is it normal to use an 's' followed by an apostrophe and another 's' with plural possesive nouns? I know I'm being a bit of a punctuation geek here, but how can a basic precept of the English written language just change? It never used to be considered right, but suddenly I'm seeing such usage all the time, such as with the movie Bridget Jones's Diary, although that's just one example. I, for one, am against such an apostrophe apostasy!

Osso Buco, "Red Medicine", open roads

Went to a cooking class yesterday in Seattle yesterday. It was hosted by a chef in his home, with about 10 people watching while he made osso buco (veal shank) in this fantastic sauce, as well as crab/avocado towers, pork ravioli with mascarpone cream sauce, and this dessert that was a cross between bread pudding and French toast, topped with egg nogg ice cream. Yum city. The class was bookended by three hours of driving each way, but I love being out on the open road, especially at night with the CD player going. Listened to Fugazi's masterful Red Medicine, which sounded great at 80 mph in a dark rainstorm. If only slow people would stay out of the left lane!

"Colombo"

Should it be considered a guilty pleasure that I love the old 'Colombo' TV show? I also feel I should qualify this by saying that while the show continues in occasional ABC network movie specials, it's really the 'Colombo' of the 1970s, and to a somewhat lesser extent the 80s and early 90s, that I particularly love. (There's an episode directed by Steven Spielberg that's awesome. And I'm not even that huge a fan of some of his movies.) But anyway, I think it's just fascinating how the show follows the exact same formula every time, but still manages to keep me watching. Peter Falk's police investigator character is on one hand almost a buffoon, with all his aw-shucks mannerisms and terrible wardrobe. (Not to mention that ancient Pugeot.) But at the same time, he's very shrewd in using that perception of him to his advantage, subtly able to go about finding more out than anyone ever reasonably expects--except us watching, and him. He's almost sort of off-radar as a threat, and yet it's like a praying mantis waiting to eat you for dinner.