Entry 5:

Dear Geoffrey,

When I wake up in the morning and open the newspaper, which I need even more than my coffee, I turn first to the sports, second to the entertainment. This morning I was pleased to see the Yankees are moving their erratic-throwing second baseman Chuck Knoblauch (never a favorite of mine; besides, I'm a Mets fan) to left field. He has some kind of psychological throwing-to-first problem, like that old Mets catcher Mackey Sasser who couldn't seem to toss the ball back to the pitcher. I'm always fascinated when those big lunks start showing neurotic symptoms: Did you ever see the Robert Mulligan movie about Jimmy Piersall, Fear Strikes Out? Maybe it's like the current vogue for mobsters who see shrinks--Tony Soprano. I do like The Sopranos more than most movies these days because I go to movies and novels more for character than plot, and that show has some interesting characters.

What you said about the disconnect between high and low art in movies rings true, though I don't think it's the budgets. The Sundance generation is still turning out low-budget films and aping Cassavetes or Scorsese. Maybe it's that there's no longer a true, happy-to-be-itself B movie any more. Also, I dug your reference to Anthony Mann's Fall of the Roman Empire regarding Gladiator. Let's face it, the Mann movie's script was no great shakes either, but it has gorgeous compositions. What disappointed me most in Gladiator was the mise en scene, if you will; the shots seemed MTV-edited, with no true connection between foreground and background, thanks to all those digitalized special effects. That made it look cheesy to me, whatever it cost. I find myself responding very strongly and viscerally to a movie's "integrity" on the level of the shot; if the director has no conception of that spatial continuity and jumps from tracking shots to slice-and-dice editing, I start to lose faith. One more reason I liked House of Mirth.

Did you get a chance to see Pollock? Ed Harris' feeling for shot and space is surprisingly good for a first-time director. The movie doesn't really embed Pollock in a painter's milieu, and those quick cameos of DeKooning and Kline are embarrassing, but I love Marcia Gay Harden as Lee Krasner. It's a strong and nuanced performance--I'm rooting for her for a Supporting Actress Oscar.

Catch you later. I gotta take my daughter to first grade.

Phillip