Selling My Books on the Streets of Brooklyn 11/23 - Players

The Player, directed by Robert Altman, debuted in 1992 to critical acclaim. I resisted it until last night. I wasn’t interested in a satire of Hollywood types. Other than a killing, which surprised me, the story was exactly what I’d expected. I much prefer tinsel town’s finished products than stories about the process of getting movies into production. I did enjoy the against type casting of movie tough guy Brion James as an exec, and the performance of the always interesting Vincent D’Onofrio as a struggling eccentric writer. In reading the contributor’s comments at IMDb, where the film is rated 7.6 of ten, several list it as their all-time favorite. Only two thought it was bad. Michael Tolkin adapted the screenplay from his own novel. He has done others I enjoyed more: the under-rated Deep Cover (1992), Deep Impact (1998) and Changing Lanes (2002). The Player is smart, clever, but many of the characters are superficial, as intended, I know, but I like to care about those I invest two hours in watching. Several contributors said the film must be watched several times to be fully appreciated. One aspect that bolsters this argument is the many cameos. In reviewing the cast in the Special Features section, I saw that I failed to spot several celebrities. On the basis of one viewing, I rate The Player three on a scale of five. Another factor that may be prejudicing my opinion is my low regard for the politics of the opinionated Tim Robbins, the star, although he is a fine actor.

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. More government insanity: a Wyoming wind farm has pleaded guilty to killing 14 eagles and 149 other birds, and been assessed a one million dollar settlement. I don’t know of any action that doesn’t have some kind of negative impact. The key is always if the positives outweigh the negatives. Clearly, in government they do not. The spendthrifts continue to shake down businesses. The most shameful of these acts was the recent theft of billions of JP Morgan’s money. The company acquiesced to Washington’s request that it acquire firms that were threatened with extinction during the financial crisis, and was rewarded with a lawsuit when mortgages they acquired in the deal were deemed fraudulent. In The Magnificent Seven (1960), the bandit Calvera, played so memorably by Eli Wallach, says: "It goes to show you -- sooner or later you must answer for every good deed."

My thanks to the folks who bought books today on Bay Parkway.
Vic's 4th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/bszwlxh
Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3
Vic’s Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx