Because you are part of a small and select group, your opinions really matter to me. What do you think of this concept for a book? Have you read the whole blog? What questions would you like me to ask the inmates? What works/what doesn't.
Please email your answers to me at:
ltrsfrominside@aol.com
Thank you.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Letters from the Inside, Michael Swango, #16
Dear KK---
Please excuse my use of pencil today and my extreme brevity.
I will call the two letters of mine that you received on 20 APRIL-and raise you one more! Because today I received three of your letters--what a marvelous surprise. (Ed.: This is so odd because I never write that often. I suspect the prison only allows them to mail letters on certain days and collects their mail and delivers it weekly.)
So I simply had to let you know that--clearly--a lengthy letter or two will be coming your way over the weekend. I haven't the time to go over all of them before this has to go in the outgoing mail, but let me again assure you on the very last line of your letter of MON 4/20 "Hope all my questions haven't irked you."
Most people don't mean it when they say they will discuss anything & everything--I do. Nothing you ask or say can bother me--because I want to know you, KK, as intensely and as well as possible--and am more than willing to allow you to do the same.
Mail is coming. Take care & talk to you gain very soon.
Yours,
Michael
P.S. A stunning poem by Deborah Digges lamenting her deceased husband-told through the stark reminders of his closets full of clothes. The lines regarding smell and shape are one I can totally relate to & understand...
[This was her third husband, who died in 03.]
***
[A poem by Deborah Digges from her collection TRAPEZE 04]
"Seersucker Suit," Deborah Digges
To the curator of the museum, to the exhibition of fathers,
to the next room from this closet of trousers
and trousers, full sail the walnut hangers of shirts,
O the great ghost ships of his shoes.
Through the racks and the riggings,
belt buckles ringing and coins in coat pockets
and moths that fly up from the black woolen remnants,
his smell like a kiss blown through hallways of cedar,
the shape of him locked in his burial clothers,
his voice tucked deep in his name,
his keys and the bells to his heart,
I am passing his light blue seersucker suit
with one grass-stained knee,
and a white shirt, clean boxers, clean socks, a handkerchief.
Please excuse my use of pencil today and my extreme brevity.
I will call the two letters of mine that you received on 20 APRIL-and raise you one more! Because today I received three of your letters--what a marvelous surprise. (Ed.: This is so odd because I never write that often. I suspect the prison only allows them to mail letters on certain days and collects their mail and delivers it weekly.)
So I simply had to let you know that--clearly--a lengthy letter or two will be coming your way over the weekend. I haven't the time to go over all of them before this has to go in the outgoing mail, but let me again assure you on the very last line of your letter of MON 4/20 "Hope all my questions haven't irked you."
Most people don't mean it when they say they will discuss anything & everything--I do. Nothing you ask or say can bother me--because I want to know you, KK, as intensely and as well as possible--and am more than willing to allow you to do the same.
Mail is coming. Take care & talk to you gain very soon.
Yours,
Michael
P.S. A stunning poem by Deborah Digges lamenting her deceased husband-told through the stark reminders of his closets full of clothes. The lines regarding smell and shape are one I can totally relate to & understand...
[This was her third husband, who died in 03.]
***
[A poem by Deborah Digges from her collection TRAPEZE 04]
"Seersucker Suit," Deborah Digges
To the curator of the museum, to the exhibition of fathers,
to the next room from this closet of trousers
and trousers, full sail the walnut hangers of shirts,
O the great ghost ships of his shoes.
Through the racks and the riggings,
belt buckles ringing and coins in coat pockets
and moths that fly up from the black woolen remnants,
his smell like a kiss blown through hallways of cedar,
the shape of him locked in his burial clothers,
his voice tucked deep in his name,
his keys and the bells to his heart,
I am passing his light blue seersucker suit
with one grass-stained knee,
and a white shirt, clean boxers, clean socks, a handkerchief.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Thomas Bart Whitaker's Latest Blog Entry: Mentions Me
He writes letters to a friend who set up a blog for him and posts them. His latest letter mentions me and the New Yorker article I sent to him near the end of the entry. He even links to it.
MINUTES BEFORE SIX: TAKE FOUR
MINUTES BEFORE SIX: TAKE FOUR
Letters from the Outside, In, KK to Swango, #12
As you know, I sometimes will post the letters I have written to the inmates. Many times, though, I handwrite them so I don't have copies. This last one, in response to the letters of his [#15] I just posted, was typed so I will share it with you today.
***
Hello Michael,
Just got your letter about how you deal with incarceration. Much to digest and reply here. First, I, too, like particular names and words. In fact, there is a website devoted to just that---words people like and their reasons why. I submitted my word, “FURTIVE.” I have always loved it. A friend told me he loves the words, “LINGER” and “TROUSERS.”
I have to admit I understand clinical depression really well. I suffer from bouts of it. I understand, so well, that “What next?” question. Seems like you are not depressed about your situation and have mentally adapted to it. Also, seems like it isn’t so awful, meaning you mentioned the food was adequate, it appears you have access to TV shows/movies and reading material. For someone who is interested in these things, it is important that you continue to be able to keep abreast of what is going on in the world, the physical one and the artistic one.
You mention letters of these sorts—the more personal ones—take more time to write. Good! I enjoy these much more than the others. Sure movies are exciting, but nothing beats the rough and tumble real world. Reality is always more interesting than fiction. I am very interested in human nature, so I find this stuff particularly compelling. The incarceration and how one deals with it, but moreso, the actual crimes. The compulsion that put you in this position in the first place. I know you frequently write that you cannot discuss all details. However, you also reiterated in your last letter that you are eager to delve into it, no matter how personal. I am not skittish about hearing about the murders or poison. I am fascinated and would welcome great detail.
As for IN TREATMENT, I am working my way through the dvds of the first season as I also watch the second season in real time. The first season has a woman, Laura, who is a dr. and really attractive. She goes to Gabrial Byrne (who is so attractive!) for relationship issues. She falls insanely in love with him and being that his own marriage is flawed he begins an affair with him. At the same time, his other patient, a fighter pilot who killed a village of children leaves his wife and beings an affair with her also. We also see the Dr. with his own therapist discussing his marriage decline and unethical behavior.
Anyway, in season two he has different patients because he has now moved his office to Brooklyn because he moved out of his wife’s home and is living alone now. The affair is over and he is alone. He finds out the fighter pilot who had discontinued therapy had then killed himself and he is being sued for not helping him psychologically. The lawyer on his case is an ex-patient who is really successful but single and unhinged. She blames him for having an abortion 20 years ago and she felt as a doctor he abandoned her. She gets off his legal case and delegates it to another atty. but decides to resume therapy with him. She is lonely, wants to be married and have a kid, but meets all the wrong guys. Then she gets pregnant from a one-night stand. That is where I am with the show now and eagerly await more episodes. He still sees his therapist who counsels him on his behavior. He tries to regroup with his wife but she has moved one. He has two other patients; one is a young boy whose parents are split and who have issues not fighting over him. He is attracted to that woman. Then he has an older man, a CEO whose company did something faulty that lead to the death of people and now his world has crashed down around him. His daughter lives in Africa doing charity work and he worries for her. He tries to kill himself and is in the mental ward.
I am enclosing an interesting article from this week’s New Yorker about interesting and freaky neurological research.
I’m noticing some changes in my city. I remember the NYC of the 70s and 80s. Man that shit was gritty. Dangerous, artsy, dark and pained. Then the late 90s came, and I moved here to a more homogenized, Disneyfied City. Believe me, I'm not complaining. While the gritty City was something interesting to see from AFAR, I am happy to live in a cleaner, safer place.
But the economy has really tanked. The educated, middle management types are without jobs. Rents are dropping which almost never happens. Stores are going out of business. There are more homeless than I remember seeing in the last 10 years. The crazies are OUT.
It's getting scary and tension-ridden up in this piece, but way more interesting.
I don't want an unsafe, tension-filled City, but still appreciate the fact that this environment is the petri-dish from which true art grows.
Anyway, I look forward to more serious and soul-searching letters. Hope you are well. --KK
***
Hello Michael,
Just got your letter about how you deal with incarceration. Much to digest and reply here. First, I, too, like particular names and words. In fact, there is a website devoted to just that---words people like and their reasons why. I submitted my word, “FURTIVE.” I have always loved it. A friend told me he loves the words, “LINGER” and “TROUSERS.”
I have to admit I understand clinical depression really well. I suffer from bouts of it. I understand, so well, that “What next?” question. Seems like you are not depressed about your situation and have mentally adapted to it. Also, seems like it isn’t so awful, meaning you mentioned the food was adequate, it appears you have access to TV shows/movies and reading material. For someone who is interested in these things, it is important that you continue to be able to keep abreast of what is going on in the world, the physical one and the artistic one.
You mention letters of these sorts—the more personal ones—take more time to write. Good! I enjoy these much more than the others. Sure movies are exciting, but nothing beats the rough and tumble real world. Reality is always more interesting than fiction. I am very interested in human nature, so I find this stuff particularly compelling. The incarceration and how one deals with it, but moreso, the actual crimes. The compulsion that put you in this position in the first place. I know you frequently write that you cannot discuss all details. However, you also reiterated in your last letter that you are eager to delve into it, no matter how personal. I am not skittish about hearing about the murders or poison. I am fascinated and would welcome great detail.
As for IN TREATMENT, I am working my way through the dvds of the first season as I also watch the second season in real time. The first season has a woman, Laura, who is a dr. and really attractive. She goes to Gabrial Byrne (who is so attractive!) for relationship issues. She falls insanely in love with him and being that his own marriage is flawed he begins an affair with him. At the same time, his other patient, a fighter pilot who killed a village of children leaves his wife and beings an affair with her also. We also see the Dr. with his own therapist discussing his marriage decline and unethical behavior.
Anyway, in season two he has different patients because he has now moved his office to Brooklyn because he moved out of his wife’s home and is living alone now. The affair is over and he is alone. He finds out the fighter pilot who had discontinued therapy had then killed himself and he is being sued for not helping him psychologically. The lawyer on his case is an ex-patient who is really successful but single and unhinged. She blames him for having an abortion 20 years ago and she felt as a doctor he abandoned her. She gets off his legal case and delegates it to another atty. but decides to resume therapy with him. She is lonely, wants to be married and have a kid, but meets all the wrong guys. Then she gets pregnant from a one-night stand. That is where I am with the show now and eagerly await more episodes. He still sees his therapist who counsels him on his behavior. He tries to regroup with his wife but she has moved one. He has two other patients; one is a young boy whose parents are split and who have issues not fighting over him. He is attracted to that woman. Then he has an older man, a CEO whose company did something faulty that lead to the death of people and now his world has crashed down around him. His daughter lives in Africa doing charity work and he worries for her. He tries to kill himself and is in the mental ward.
I am enclosing an interesting article from this week’s New Yorker about interesting and freaky neurological research.
I’m noticing some changes in my city. I remember the NYC of the 70s and 80s. Man that shit was gritty. Dangerous, artsy, dark and pained. Then the late 90s came, and I moved here to a more homogenized, Disneyfied City. Believe me, I'm not complaining. While the gritty City was something interesting to see from AFAR, I am happy to live in a cleaner, safer place.
But the economy has really tanked. The educated, middle management types are without jobs. Rents are dropping which almost never happens. Stores are going out of business. There are more homeless than I remember seeing in the last 10 years. The crazies are OUT.
It's getting scary and tension-ridden up in this piece, but way more interesting.
I don't want an unsafe, tension-filled City, but still appreciate the fact that this environment is the petri-dish from which true art grows.
Anyway, I look forward to more serious and soul-searching letters. Hope you are well. --KK
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Letters from the Inside, Michael Swango, #15
This one answers my questions about how he feels about his incarceration.
Dear KK---
Scheherazade*, Stephen King, and an unknown but insightful disabled man...let me try to link these together to try to begin to explain how one adapts & adjusts psychologically & day-to-day with a total change in ones life, such as my situation...
Sometime in the late 80s or early 90s, before this, before Africa, I saw a remarkable interview with a man who had been paralyzed in a car accident at the age of 17 (from the waist down). When interviewed he was about 40 y.o. He of course talked about the accident, his initial awful realizations, his rehab, etc. --but most of all [and the focus of the interview] he talked about how he learned and struggled & finally succeeded in remaking his life-more importantly his inner vision of life-into something compatible with his devastating physical injury and permanent disability. He talked about how, since his injury [ about 23 years previously] he had met many many men & women & teens who were in the same condition, or worse. And those who had succeeded in rebuilding their life view to take into account their condition were far, far happier, and engaged in lie to a much greater degree. I recall that he quoted Dylan Thomas's famous lines about "Not Going Gently Into That Good Night...Rage, Rage Against the Dying of the Light."
He said that was fine for a life or death struggle--but when you rage & bitch about a wheelchair, no matter how long, at some point you realize you're still in the chair, you're not dead, and you'd "best just get on with it." And that's what he did.
He said that he met many people his own age---who had also been paralyzed as teens--and again, those how had been able to accept their situation and build on it, rather than curse fate & God & humanity & bad luck for 20+ years, were much happier & more productive --employment, family, health, in general.
Ok-put that aside for just a moment. You & I have both mentioned [independently, I find that fascinating...] the tragic suicide of the son of Sylvia Plath-and the pathos & brutal irony that that engenders. Not sure if you saw or heard word of the death by suicide of another major female poet on 10 APRIL: "Deborah Digges"- who jumped to her death at a stadium at U-MASS in Amhearst, MASS. Age 59.
I remember reading her first collection: Vesper Sparrows/in the mid-1980s. Sort of lost track of her after that, but would hear her name on occasion in literary reviews, etc.
I mentioned this because the choice so many [far too many] men & women make between life & death is not so different (of course it is in degree) than the choice one makes when faced with a life-changing illness or injury/or sudden loss of a lifetime job or/partner/or incarceration.
Look at the recent spate of multiple murders/suicides in families by men who have lost all hope after being hit hard by the current recession: 4 dead Maryland/5 dead in California. These men were not paralyzed or incarcerated; yet, that was the choice they made...
In his late 90s novel, Bag of Bones, Stephen King wrote about a man who had just lost his wife-and who was of course devastated, depressed, and ultimately contemplates suicide. What stops him is what Stephen King calls "What comes next?" It's impossible to recount his brilliant analysis in full, but it simply boils down to this: A man or woman usually won't end their life if they become interested or curious in "What happens next?" Whether it's the next chapter of a book, the next episode of "LOST", will Erica come out of her coma on "General Hospital"?...will it be Obama or Hillary? Will it be Obama or McCain? OK--how will those first hundred days turn out? Will GM go into bankruptcy? Will the Cubs finally win a World Series? My dog is pregnant-will her puppies be OK? ...a friend is getting married--what will the wedding be like? Should I go or kill myself?
All this sounds incredibly self-evident to you or I or millions of other people - because everyday we wake up with all the above and more-much more-on our minds...percolating, simmering...we wonder & look ahead because that's what people do. Of course self evident.
But in the days or hours or minutes before that final irrevocable act, whether caused by chemical depression, intense grief, economic helplessness, the loss or breakup of a man or woman--the suicidal individual DOES NOT ask himself/herself "What comes next?" Because in their mind, nothing comes next...nothing...
In the Arabian Nights, the lovely Scheherazade is sentence to die at dawn. To survive she tells a story...and at dawn the King essentially asks "What Comes Next?" So the execution is put off; and the next night she does the same-for 1001 nights-until finally she is pardoned.
Not suicide-but the point is the same. Death forestalled by "What Comes Next?"
The whole purpose of the class of anti-depression drugs known as the "Serotonin Uptake Inhibitors" is to increase serotonin in the brain and get the depressed person interested in something/anything - so long as they again begin to ask: "What Comes Next?"
It's now Wednesday. It takes longer to write a letter like this one than many of my previous ones! But I have no problem discussing such intense or difficult subjects. You are one of the few people I know who seems genuinely interested & engaged in virtually all things.
So-this is just a beginning to the answers to the questions you have asked about my incarceration. How I have been able to adjust my life view and remain intensely & vibrantly engaged in all things is clearly a whole other letter or letters. I will tell you it partly involves Marcus Aurelius, Stoicism, and the concept and actuality of building a "memory palace" in one's mind. Lots to talk about, and I promise to get it all, and anything else you wish to delve into--briefly or in detail, even intimate detail, although you seem a bit averse & skittish....
But must get this in the mail. Still want to comment a bit on your "Angelina Jolie of India" article AND the one about shopping for jeans (very funny!) - and a few other things from your last letter.
In the meantime-ran across these items I thought you might find of interest.
>Very favorable review of the beginning of Season II of "IN TREATMENT". Since I can't see this, you'll have to keep me updated.
:-) Thanks!
>Local review of "THE INFORMERS". None have been very favorable that I have seen or heard.
>A friend in the financial world sent me this column on another "B. Madoff." it's from the "N.Y. Times" (March), so you may well have seen/read it.
Take care, KK. Will try to write more (as above) tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed what I understand was some outstanding NYC weather the last couple of days. Be well and write soon.
Yours,
Michael
*One of the most mysterious & beautiful names...you recall our earlier conversation... I mentioned Edna St. Vincent Millay; which would be even more lovely as Charlotte or Skyler or Elisha.
Dear KK---
Scheherazade*, Stephen King, and an unknown but insightful disabled man...let me try to link these together to try to begin to explain how one adapts & adjusts psychologically & day-to-day with a total change in ones life, such as my situation...
Sometime in the late 80s or early 90s, before this, before Africa, I saw a remarkable interview with a man who had been paralyzed in a car accident at the age of 17 (from the waist down). When interviewed he was about 40 y.o. He of course talked about the accident, his initial awful realizations, his rehab, etc. --but most of all [and the focus of the interview] he talked about how he learned and struggled & finally succeeded in remaking his life-more importantly his inner vision of life-into something compatible with his devastating physical injury and permanent disability. He talked about how, since his injury [ about 23 years previously] he had met many many men & women & teens who were in the same condition, or worse. And those who had succeeded in rebuilding their life view to take into account their condition were far, far happier, and engaged in lie to a much greater degree. I recall that he quoted Dylan Thomas's famous lines about "Not Going Gently Into That Good Night...Rage, Rage Against the Dying of the Light."
He said that was fine for a life or death struggle--but when you rage & bitch about a wheelchair, no matter how long, at some point you realize you're still in the chair, you're not dead, and you'd "best just get on with it." And that's what he did.
He said that he met many people his own age---who had also been paralyzed as teens--and again, those how had been able to accept their situation and build on it, rather than curse fate & God & humanity & bad luck for 20+ years, were much happier & more productive --employment, family, health, in general.
Ok-put that aside for just a moment. You & I have both mentioned [independently, I find that fascinating...] the tragic suicide of the son of Sylvia Plath-and the pathos & brutal irony that that engenders. Not sure if you saw or heard word of the death by suicide of another major female poet on 10 APRIL: "Deborah Digges"- who jumped to her death at a stadium at U-MASS in Amhearst, MASS. Age 59.
I remember reading her first collection: Vesper Sparrows/in the mid-1980s. Sort of lost track of her after that, but would hear her name on occasion in literary reviews, etc.
I mentioned this because the choice so many [far too many] men & women make between life & death is not so different (of course it is in degree) than the choice one makes when faced with a life-changing illness or injury/or sudden loss of a lifetime job or/partner/or incarceration.
Look at the recent spate of multiple murders/suicides in families by men who have lost all hope after being hit hard by the current recession: 4 dead Maryland/5 dead in California. These men were not paralyzed or incarcerated; yet, that was the choice they made...
In his late 90s novel, Bag of Bones, Stephen King wrote about a man who had just lost his wife-and who was of course devastated, depressed, and ultimately contemplates suicide. What stops him is what Stephen King calls "What comes next?" It's impossible to recount his brilliant analysis in full, but it simply boils down to this: A man or woman usually won't end their life if they become interested or curious in "What happens next?" Whether it's the next chapter of a book, the next episode of "LOST", will Erica come out of her coma on "General Hospital"?...will it be Obama or Hillary? Will it be Obama or McCain? OK--how will those first hundred days turn out? Will GM go into bankruptcy? Will the Cubs finally win a World Series? My dog is pregnant-will her puppies be OK? ...a friend is getting married--what will the wedding be like? Should I go or kill myself?
All this sounds incredibly self-evident to you or I or millions of other people - because everyday we wake up with all the above and more-much more-on our minds...percolating, simmering...we wonder & look ahead because that's what people do. Of course self evident.
But in the days or hours or minutes before that final irrevocable act, whether caused by chemical depression, intense grief, economic helplessness, the loss or breakup of a man or woman--the suicidal individual DOES NOT ask himself/herself "What comes next?" Because in their mind, nothing comes next...nothing...
In the Arabian Nights, the lovely Scheherazade is sentence to die at dawn. To survive she tells a story...and at dawn the King essentially asks "What Comes Next?" So the execution is put off; and the next night she does the same-for 1001 nights-until finally she is pardoned.
Not suicide-but the point is the same. Death forestalled by "What Comes Next?"
The whole purpose of the class of anti-depression drugs known as the "Serotonin Uptake Inhibitors" is to increase serotonin in the brain and get the depressed person interested in something/anything - so long as they again begin to ask: "What Comes Next?"
It's now Wednesday. It takes longer to write a letter like this one than many of my previous ones! But I have no problem discussing such intense or difficult subjects. You are one of the few people I know who seems genuinely interested & engaged in virtually all things.
So-this is just a beginning to the answers to the questions you have asked about my incarceration. How I have been able to adjust my life view and remain intensely & vibrantly engaged in all things is clearly a whole other letter or letters. I will tell you it partly involves Marcus Aurelius, Stoicism, and the concept and actuality of building a "memory palace" in one's mind. Lots to talk about, and I promise to get it all, and anything else you wish to delve into--briefly or in detail, even intimate detail, although you seem a bit averse & skittish....
But must get this in the mail. Still want to comment a bit on your "Angelina Jolie of India" article AND the one about shopping for jeans (very funny!) - and a few other things from your last letter.
In the meantime-ran across these items I thought you might find of interest.
>Very favorable review of the beginning of Season II of "IN TREATMENT". Since I can't see this, you'll have to keep me updated.
:-) Thanks!
>Local review of "THE INFORMERS". None have been very favorable that I have seen or heard.
>A friend in the financial world sent me this column on another "B. Madoff." it's from the "N.Y. Times" (March), so you may well have seen/read it.
Take care, KK. Will try to write more (as above) tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed what I understand was some outstanding NYC weather the last couple of days. Be well and write soon.
Yours,
Michael
*One of the most mysterious & beautiful names...you recall our earlier conversation... I mentioned Edna St. Vincent Millay; which would be even more lovely as Charlotte or Skyler or Elisha.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Letters from the Inside, Michael Swango, #14
Dear KK---
Hi. When last we spoke, I believe I was trying to defend the brilliant but much-maligned films of M. Night Shyamalan! Curious about your more detailed opinions of both "The Village" and "Unbreakable".
More on films to begin this letter. A couple of months ago I did see a brief review of "Donkey Punch". It was unclear whether it was deadly serious or a black comedy. What a surprise--the girls want to report the homicide, the guys want to dump the body and party on! However, that film reminded me of one I have seen--a pitch black comedy from 998:
"VERY BAD THINGS" starring Christian Slater/Cameron Diaz/Jeanne Triplehorn/Jon Favreau/Jeremy Piven/Leland Orser [actually, fairly impressive cast]: "Black - make that really black-comedy about a guy who goes to Las Vegas with four pals for a bachelor party. The scene turns ugly very fast [i.e.-a dead hooker], leaving the friends to deal with a couple of crimes and raging guilt-as the wedding draws nearer. Extreme, to say the least, but true to its dark mandate, which is awfully grim."
Quite a film to say the least.
I continue to read & hear positive things about "LYMELIFE". I'm a big Alex Baldwin fan [he's brilliantly funny in "30 Rock"]. And I noticed that Jill Hennessey is in the film as well. She's more well-known for TV: 90s Law & Order and that show where she played a medical examiner [title escapes me]. Will be curious to read your "KK Review."
I heard a review [by the "At the Movies" duo on TV] of "THE SOLOIST" -- based on the true-story film with Robert Downey, Jr. and Jamie Foxx about the newspaper reporter and the homeless cello prodigy. "Too maudlin, too stereotypical, and too many musical montages."
But like all reviews, I take it with a grain of salt. However, I did notice that it co-stars one of my favorite actresses: Catherine Keener (we could easily do two pages on her films.) --Being John Malkovich ++
They also reviewed "Every Little Step", although I wonder how many times "Chorus Line" can be repackaged....
And our boy Mickey Rourke has a supporting role in "THE INFORMERS", based on Bret Easton Ellis's 1994 novel. They hated it. Period. Not surprising--everything by Mr. Ellis is definitely an acquired taste. I'll wait for more info. What is the verdict in New York?
Two more film items:
>I think I saw "The Drowning Pool" with Paul Newman as a private eye (?) before I came here.
>You mentioned Fred Durst's directorial debut a few weeks ago; so I thought you might be familiar with a film I know only from its pay-cable listing:
"POPULATION 436": starring Jeremy Sisto and Fred Durst/"A census-taker investigates why a town's population never changes. Intriguing premise-let me know if you've seen it or known any more about it. *Thanks
***
When you check out Ms. Arbus' photographs, let me know if you see that photo of the family with 12 daughters. By all means print out a few of her more striking photos when you are able and send them. Thank you.
With your "catching up" on HBO, and your mention of James Gandolfini in the Broadway show [God of Carnage], I must mention Marcia Gay Harden is also in God of Carnage. She had a pretty good role as a corporate atty in the just-completed Second Season of "DAMAGES" on FX.
"The Sopranos" I wasn't able to see it until it showed up on A&E, and I must say it lived up to all the hype & glory. As you note so often--it is the outstanding writing that makes it great. Currently they are showing (finally) the final season-leading up to that infamous "blackout" ending.
You could teach a college seminar on "The Sopranos" --so many nuances & levels of understanding...
Given all the coincidences leading up to your dating Eric Schaeffer: If it were a romantic comedy you two would be together today! Thirteen years, etc., etc. Most interesting to say the least. Especially your involvement with the show.
Do send me a brief (or longer) review/commentary on his Showtime series "I Can't Believe I'm Still Single..." It sounds like the male version of your column & blog. "STARVED" was so good. So different/and again--pushed the "basic cable" envelope even for FX. If you ever talk to him or message him--tell him to get another season of that show!
Thank you for the very funny Woody Allen "essay" on Madoff & the lobsters {"I had to wait half an hour to jump, I was twelfth in line."] Obviously we could talk for hours on Woody Allen's films--but although I know he has written quite a bit, I've not read any of his books. If this sis a fair sample, I should definitely add him to my lengthy reading list...
This has already run into Friday-so let me wrap this up. However, I have more to write over the weekend-regarding my situation here, etc., etc. I will start with that so as not to get engrossed in the myriad of fascinating topics you constantly bring up!
Have enclosed an article reprinted from the New York Times--so you may have already seen it. That photo of Denzel is a real shocker. Your thoughts? [Ed.: He is referencing Denzel's weight gain.]
Again, will write more over the weekend. Stay safe & stay well. Take care, KK
Yours,
Michael
Hi. When last we spoke, I believe I was trying to defend the brilliant but much-maligned films of M. Night Shyamalan! Curious about your more detailed opinions of both "The Village" and "Unbreakable".
More on films to begin this letter. A couple of months ago I did see a brief review of "Donkey Punch". It was unclear whether it was deadly serious or a black comedy. What a surprise--the girls want to report the homicide, the guys want to dump the body and party on! However, that film reminded me of one I have seen--a pitch black comedy from 998:
"VERY BAD THINGS" starring Christian Slater/Cameron Diaz/Jeanne Triplehorn/Jon Favreau/Jeremy Piven/Leland Orser [actually, fairly impressive cast]: "Black - make that really black-comedy about a guy who goes to Las Vegas with four pals for a bachelor party. The scene turns ugly very fast [i.e.-a dead hooker], leaving the friends to deal with a couple of crimes and raging guilt-as the wedding draws nearer. Extreme, to say the least, but true to its dark mandate, which is awfully grim."
Quite a film to say the least.
I continue to read & hear positive things about "LYMELIFE". I'm a big Alex Baldwin fan [he's brilliantly funny in "30 Rock"]. And I noticed that Jill Hennessey is in the film as well. She's more well-known for TV: 90s Law & Order and that show where she played a medical examiner [title escapes me]. Will be curious to read your "KK Review."
I heard a review [by the "At the Movies" duo on TV] of "THE SOLOIST" -- based on the true-story film with Robert Downey, Jr. and Jamie Foxx about the newspaper reporter and the homeless cello prodigy. "Too maudlin, too stereotypical, and too many musical montages."
But like all reviews, I take it with a grain of salt. However, I did notice that it co-stars one of my favorite actresses: Catherine Keener (we could easily do two pages on her films.) --Being John Malkovich ++
They also reviewed "Every Little Step", although I wonder how many times "Chorus Line" can be repackaged....
And our boy Mickey Rourke has a supporting role in "THE INFORMERS", based on Bret Easton Ellis's 1994 novel. They hated it. Period. Not surprising--everything by Mr. Ellis is definitely an acquired taste. I'll wait for more info. What is the verdict in New York?
Two more film items:
>I think I saw "The Drowning Pool" with Paul Newman as a private eye (?) before I came here.
>You mentioned Fred Durst's directorial debut a few weeks ago; so I thought you might be familiar with a film I know only from its pay-cable listing:
"POPULATION 436": starring Jeremy Sisto and Fred Durst/"A census-taker investigates why a town's population never changes. Intriguing premise-let me know if you've seen it or known any more about it. *Thanks
***
When you check out Ms. Arbus' photographs, let me know if you see that photo of the family with 12 daughters. By all means print out a few of her more striking photos when you are able and send them. Thank you.
With your "catching up" on HBO, and your mention of James Gandolfini in the Broadway show [God of Carnage], I must mention Marcia Gay Harden is also in God of Carnage. She had a pretty good role as a corporate atty in the just-completed Second Season of "DAMAGES" on FX.
"The Sopranos" I wasn't able to see it until it showed up on A&E, and I must say it lived up to all the hype & glory. As you note so often--it is the outstanding writing that makes it great. Currently they are showing (finally) the final season-leading up to that infamous "blackout" ending.
You could teach a college seminar on "The Sopranos" --so many nuances & levels of understanding...
Given all the coincidences leading up to your dating Eric Schaeffer: If it were a romantic comedy you two would be together today! Thirteen years, etc., etc. Most interesting to say the least. Especially your involvement with the show.
Do send me a brief (or longer) review/commentary on his Showtime series "I Can't Believe I'm Still Single..." It sounds like the male version of your column & blog. "STARVED" was so good. So different/and again--pushed the "basic cable" envelope even for FX. If you ever talk to him or message him--tell him to get another season of that show!
Thank you for the very funny Woody Allen "essay" on Madoff & the lobsters {"I had to wait half an hour to jump, I was twelfth in line."] Obviously we could talk for hours on Woody Allen's films--but although I know he has written quite a bit, I've not read any of his books. If this sis a fair sample, I should definitely add him to my lengthy reading list...
This has already run into Friday-so let me wrap this up. However, I have more to write over the weekend-regarding my situation here, etc., etc. I will start with that so as not to get engrossed in the myriad of fascinating topics you constantly bring up!
Have enclosed an article reprinted from the New York Times--so you may have already seen it. That photo of Denzel is a real shocker. Your thoughts? [Ed.: He is referencing Denzel's weight gain.]
Again, will write more over the weekend. Stay safe & stay well
Yours,
Michael
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Thomas Bart Whitaker on 20/20
You can watch the whole 45-minute show and see Bart talk about how he ended up on Death Row here: 20/20
