Wildly Popular
RIP Anne Rice, 80, wildly successful author. Born Howard Allen Frances O’Brien in New Orleans, she was a brought up in a strict Catholic home. She wrote more than 35 books, including six under two pseudonyms, and a memoir. 150 million copies of her works are in circulation worldwide. Her first novel, Interview with the Vampire, published in 1976, was an immediate sensation, and was adapted to the screen, as were several other of her novels. TV series based on two of her books have been announced. Her novel Lestat was adapted to the stage, music by Elton John, lyrics by Bernie Taupin. Her work has also been adapted to comics and graphic novels. Her son Christopher was a best-selling author at 22. Tragically, her little girl was taken by leukemia in 1972. Although her faith in Christ remained steadfast, she broke with organized religion. Well done, Madam.
For those who believe America is racist, here’s info to the contrary from a nypost.com article by Rav Arora: “For the first three quarters of 2021, Asian women’s median weekly earnings surpassed those of white men… close to 10 percent more.”
From an article at foxnews.com by Jessica Chasmar, in my own words: Many are not surprised that America is creating an entitlement mentality even among the most fortunate. Chasten Buttigieg, the husband of pseudo-Transportation Secretary Pete, is upset he will soon have to resume paying his student loans. Hubby’s salary is $221,400 and Chasten is a part-time drama school teacher. In addition to their D.C. apartment, the couple owns a home on Lake Michigan in Traverse City, which they purchased this year after selling their home in South Bend, Indiana.
Born in Tokyo in 1947, Takeshi Kitano, a superstar in Japan, seems to have done it all regarding the arts. He dropped out of college and went into comedy, becoming part of a wildly popular two-man team under the title Beat, which in effect became his middle name. It led to a TV run that is still going. He has hosted variety and game shows, and also done radio. He turned to film and was just as successful. He also did some boxing and tap dancing. He has written at least six books, fiction and non-fiction, most translated into French, one into English. I first heard his name mentioned by Quentin Tarantino, and I’m pretty sure I rented one of his early flicks but don’t remember which. I don’t think I’ll forget Hana-Bi (1997), released in the USA as Fireworks, which I watched Friday night courtesy of Netflix by mail. It’s a story about bad luck, the cruelties that an unfortunate few suffer. Kitano plays a hardnosed cop whose wife has terminal leukemia. They lost a toddler daughter to an unnamed disease a few years earlier. While he’s visiting her in the hospital, his partner is wounded in the line of duty and paralyzed from the waist down. The guy’s wife leaves him, taking their daughter. He fights off thoughts of suicide by turning to art. The paintings used are Kitano’s, done while he was recuperating from a near fatal motorcycle accident in 1994. It is not great art but infinitely better than most folks, including yours truly, can do. Complicating matters, Kitano’s character has borrowed heavily from the Yakuza to pay his bills, which leads to several confrontations. The violence is quick and graphic. The story is told in non-linear form, which I at first found confusing. There are also shots that seem like still photography, sort of anti-cinematic. I was reminded of the work of Terrence Mallick, although Hana-Bi is infinitely more understandable than the bizarre, obscure films of that auteur. Although it is relentlessly downbeat, bleak, it is absorbing. I was surprised the ending was familiar, then realized I’d seen the last few minutes on one of the Spanish stations. It remains uncompromising to the bitter end. How ironic that it is the product of someone famous for comedy. 30,000+ users at IMDb have rated it, forging to a consensus of 7.8 on a scale of ten. Its pace is slow, the 1:43 running time seeming longer. I bet it is one of those films, like Martin Scorsese’s, that seem better with each viewing. It was awarded the Golden Lion Award at the 54th Venice International Film Festival. Kitano may have created a masterpiece. This dynamo has 68 credits as an actor, 26 as a writer, 19 as a director and 17 an an editor. Here’s the renaissance man in character in Hana-Bi:
Not much action curbside on this gorgeous late fall day. My thanks to Boris, who donated six books evenly divided between English and Russian, and to the sweet elderly woman who did her customary weekend swap and buy of books in Russian. There was only one other sale, but it was one of the best ever at the floating book shop. A gentleman called his teenage daughter, Maria, in the Ukraine, and used his phone to scan the items. She reads English. She picked out the young adult School of Fear by Gitty Daneshvari. Spasibo, my dear. I learned that the word for thank you is the same as that in Russian.
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