Category: Arts & letters

A serious cat

~ Patrick O'Grady ~ 29 Comments
Chief of Staff Mia Sopaipilla prepares the Turkenbunker for The Commander.
Chief of Staff Mia Sopaipilla prepares the Turkenbunker for The Commander.

Sigh. Arm warmers and knee warmers yesterday, everything warmers today. And I haven’t even been outside yet.

Herself and I had planned to catch this evening’s opening of the Coen brothers’ latest, “Inside Llewyn Davis,” but you know what they say about the best-laid plans.

The brothers chatted with Terry Gross on “Fresh Air” the other day, and Field Marshal Turkish von Turkenstein (commander, 1st Feline Home Defense Force) was appalled to hear them libeling cats so freely.

The Commander inspects his (purely defensive) chemical-weapons stockpile.
The Commander inspects his (purely defensive) chemical-weapons stockpile.

Discussing the honor and privilege of persuading a cat to participate in their latest film, Ethan spake thusly:

“In ‘True Grit’ we had a vulture, a trained vulture … that was a pain and that was even — by vulture standards — probably a stupid vulture, and that was frustrating. But I would take a vulture over a cat. The cat was just horrible.”

As a consequence, the Turk’ has declared war on the Coen brothers, and we are forbidden to see the film.

It’s censorship, true, but what are we to do? This is war.

The parting glass: R.I.P., Peter O’Toole

~ Patrick O'Grady ~ 4 Comments
Peter O'Toole and Katherine Hepburn in "A Lion In Winter."
Peter O’Toole and Katherine Hepburn in “A Lion In Winter.”

Peter O’Toole went west today. Some called him a ham, but damn — “The Lion In Winter” is and will always be one of my favorite films, alongside “My Favorite Year” and, of course, “Lawrence of Arabia.”

“Lion” was based on a Broadway play by James Goldman, and it is a darkly funny bit of work, with Anthony Hopkins, Nigel Terry and Timothy Dalton chipping in. I prefer it to “Lawrence,” which The New York Times dismissed as a “huge, thundering camel-opera” in a 1962 review (I’d call that a little harsh).

Steven Spielberg had a different take. He called it “the first film I saw that made me want to be a moviemaker.” It made me want to read “Seven Pillars of Wisdom,” by T.E. Lawrence, and if you’ve never picked up a copy, I recommend it to you.

The film was restored, laboriously, for its 50th anniversary, and the book has likewise been abridged and restored. Alas, O’Toole could not be returned to youth and vigor. He will be missed.