Favorite Films, Favorite Directors: Day of The Outlaw by Andre De Toth

Ed here: Day of The Outlaw is one of the most powerful and unique westerns I've ever seen. The relationship  between Robert Ryan and Burl Ives puts this in my top ten westerns.  The dancing scene here is one of the most chilling and remarkable sequences ever put to film. The final half hour is worthy of John Ford at his best as a FILM director. Psychologically Ford couldn't have pulled it off. Director Andrew De Toth directed many of my favorite B crime and western pictures.  He wrote many major films but always preferred to direct lower-budget because he said big stars defined the film rather than the writing and acting. Jack Warner said he would triple De Toth's budget if he'd put John Wayne in the picture. But De Toth  told him he thought Wayne was "big and stupid." In a rage Warner cut the budget on the film even more and told him he had fifteen days to shoot it. De Toth brought it in in fourteen under budget. It's one of my favorite B crime films "Crime Wave." He was right. Sterling Hayden did a much better job than Wayne would have. De Toth later explained that he liked protagonists who were conflicted, remorseful sometimes, and agitated. So do I. Think of Anthony Mann's protagonists, especially James Stewart.Here from the U.K.'s Telegraph is reviewer Tim Robey's excellent take on the picture.Tim Robey recommends... Day of the Outlaw (1959)In his weekly column, Tim Robey recommends a film that is indisputably worth two hours of your time. This week: Day of the Outlaw, a mesmerising Western that continually redefines what heroism might mean.Every great Western is a unique statement on them all. Consider how many of the best examples are about how the West was lost, not won – and how they like to blur the binary sort of morality we might associate with gunfights at dawn. André de Toth's mesmerising Day of the Outlaw keeps redefining everything it's saying: what heroism might mean, what an outlaw is, how best to deal with one. If your routine matinée Western offers the sure ground of favourite stars trading banter on the same old backlots, this is more like clambering up a rocky outcrop which could tumble at any moment.It was filmed in wintry Oregon, doubling as a tiny Wyoming town with the entirely apt name of Bitters. Russell Harlan was the cinematographer, but it could hardly look less like Howard Hawks's glowing, sunset-hued Rio Bravo, which he shot the same year. Harlan's use of monochrome here is pitiless, frigid, unconsoling. The mountains enclose every exterior shot, and snow is everywhere. Matching the movie's grim visage with a rugged one of his own, Robert Ryan gives a central performance that's ruthlessly tough. As the story begins, he's riding in to air a grievance about barbed–wire fences, and we immediately quail for whoever's on the receiving end.What really stands between Ryan's Blaise Starrett and local farmer Hal (Alan Marshal) isn't the fence. It's Helen (Tina Louise), the lover Starrett missed his chance to marry years before. The movie's first 20 minutes culminate in deadlock, a stand–off, and a bottle being rolled along the bar: when it falls, they'll draw. It doesn't fall. The movie chooses this inspired moment to introduce its real threat: seven army deserters, led by dying captain Jack Bruhn (Burl Ives), who barge in and hold the whole town to ransom.Ryan, hitherto suspected to be the villain of the piece, is suddenly placed in the strange position of being its hero: the only man able to stand up to this brutal incursion of desperate, sex-starved men. All except Bruhn are immediately eyeing up the town's women, and before long de Toth is staging a tense bar-room dance sequence, like some ceilidh from hell. To incongruously jaunty honky-tonk piano, Bruhn's men swing their captive partners around the room like rag-dolls.for the rest go here:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/recommendations/10047540/Tim-Robey-recommends...-Day-of-the-Outlaw-1959.html
Source:http://newimprovedgorman.blogspot.com/2013/08/favorite-films-favorite-directors-day.html

Favorite Films, Favorite Directors: Day of The Outlaw by Andre De Toth Images

CineMobile - Day of the Outlaw
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“The English Girl” by Daniel Silva – A British Needle in a French Haystack

In the last few years Daniel Silva has made a name for himself as the author of various exciting thrillers and mystery novels, many of them revolving around a recurring protagonist, Gabriel Allon, master Israeli intelligence officer and art restorer extraordinaire. After finishing a case where his ridiculously-useless (for intelligence work of course) talent turned out to actually have a purpose, Gabriel Allon finds himself entangled in a whole different kind of web in The English Girl. An important British woman has reportedly disappeared on the French island of Corsica, and things wouldn't be so bad if that woman didn't have information which could utterly destroy the career of a prime minister, and if she wasn't taken as a hostage.If there was a single way to describe this book, I would say that it’s a non-stop thriller ride set on one of the most artistically-conscious roads there are out there. Daniel Silva incorporates a fair amount of art as well as interesting facts in relation to it in his book. He describes some pieces of work in great detail, and even delves into touches on a few more or less abstract concepts. However, he doesn’t focus on that aspect of the story more than is necessary and spends most of the time developing the actual subject, and boy is he good at that.Contrary to most mystery novels these days, this one actually is unpredictable. In general, I can predict a fair amount of the twists and turns a book is trying to hide, but this time around I just found myself giving up on the predictions and reading through it without making it into some kind of personal contest. It shows that Daniel Silva took his time crafting the story; he is a master at leading his readers by the nose and putting them exactly where he wants them to be.Finally, I feel like I have to dedicate this little section of the review to the characters. Silva does a magnificent job at making his characters feel lifelike, three-dimensional, and actually human. They aren’t cookie-cutter characters with personalities copy-pasted from the book of clichés… rather, each and every one of them feels quite unique and important, especially Allon who, despite being one of the most impossibly-indomitable humans on the planet, feels like he could actually exist. All in all, The English Girl is one of the most surprising and enthralling mysteries I’ve had the pleasure of reading in a while, and I safely recommend it to any fans of the genre.Places, where you can buy The English Girl Visit The English Girl Amazon webpage Visit The English Girl Amazon (Canada) webpage Visit The English Girl Barnes & Noble webpage More of the Daniel Silva's book reviews:The Fallen Angel
Source:http://quick-book-review.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-english-girl-by-daniel-silva.html

“The English Girl” by Daniel Silva – A British Needle in a French Haystack Images

Dan's Pick of the Week: Trouble Will Find Me by The National

     While most people this week are probably listening to Daft Punk’s new album with much praise, I’ll be busy celebrating the release of Trouble Will Find Me, the new album by The National, which has me rejoicing greatly. For their sixth release, the band has not sacrificed their strong lyrics for a quick indulging sound. Instead, the exact opposite has occurred: the music is more disjunct and the lyrics are deeper than ever. They are so deep that I had to listen to the album three times before I could even fathom the amount of intensity that is contained.      So what can one expect from The National? Over the course of their discography, the band has recorded with various musicians like Sufjan Stevens, St. Vincent, and Richard Reed Parry. Their albums gradually became more orchestral to the point of being declared a chamber pop band. The music continues to grow larger in sound and instrumentation, but one thing that you will not find in The National’s music is a frequent use of synthesizers. The gradual transformation in their sound encourages the fans to keep coming back, but it also prevents them from getting scared off in the presence of some abrupt change (ex. Radiohead). Regarding the syncopated rhythms and various meters, the band has been leaning this way for some time. It is most present within the b-sides of their previous album, High Violet.     Trouble Will Find Me seems to have elements from the band’s past two albums, but overall it’s quite unique. Matt Berninger spills out the deepest parts of himself throughout this record to the point of questioning his own morality and intentions. His music seems to be a way in which he vents out all his inner conflicts which end up in the form of a story. This incorporates much lyrical continuity within the album that it would be impossible to separate any track from the listing. This is probably why Trouble Will Find Me is one of The National’s longest albums.      One thing that I have learned about all the band’s albums is that none of them can be taken lightly. They are like babies: They constantly need affection and your full attention. As ridiculous as it sounds, it is very true, especially when compared to a band like Daft Punk, where one could zone out while listening and still be able to appreciate the music. Everything keeps moving in Trouble Will Find Me, and one could easily miss out on some great lyrical moments.     There are some pretty rocking songs on this album, however. “Sea Of Love” would probably win the title, but I cannot forget songs like “Demons” and “Graceless”. “I Should Live In Salt” is the perfect album opener, which introduces the narrator’s struggles alongside an epic and inducing melody. “Don’t Swallow The Cap” is deeply emotional, containing many elements of death. “Slipped” sounds like it should be within the deep tracks of Boxer or High Violet. My favorite songs, however are the last four tracks of the album. “I Need My Girl” is an instant classic with its catchy lyrics and bitter tone. It acts as a “Runaway” of this album. “Humiliation” sounds like it starts the second track of Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs; however, the rest of the music is quite unique. It tells a story of a night gone crazy, hence the humiliation. “Pink Rabbits” completes this album with the most beautiful melody and amazing lyrics. Matt Berninger sings, “Am I the one you think about when you sit in your faint chair drinking pink rabbits?”. The album closer is “Hard To Find” which is the ideal track to be placed at the end.     The National tends to build their albums up from beginning to end with the most intense music at the finish line. I greatly admire this technique and it has never failed to please me. Overall, The National is maintaining their reputation as a band with dark and passionate music alongside incredibly deep lyrics. Trouble Will Find Me does not disappoint!
Source:http://frogsonaloginabog.blogspot.com/2013/05/dans-pick-of-week-trouble-will-find-me.html

Dan's Pick of the Week: Trouble Will Find Me by The National Images

The National Picks TELEFUNKEN for "Trouble Will Find Me"
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Mixtape Of The Week: Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire Lost In Translation ...
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Santigold: LMFAO Makes Me Cry - Stereogum
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And Then It’s Spring by Julie Fogliano

Weekly Trip to the LibraryThis is a great book to help young children notice the small changes that come ever so gradually with the shift from winter to spring. After a long snowy winter a boy and his dog decide to plant a garden. They dig the brown earth, they plant, and they wait. They wait and wait. They wait so long they wonder if the birds ate the seeds. They imagine the bears stomping on the seeds. With patience as the theme this book shows children they can make a change to what they want to see happen, but change doesn't happen overnight and it may take some time.This is a very sweet and poetic book. The woodblock printing and pencil drawings are colorful, very intricate, and beautiful. The book was the recipient of the 2011 Caldecott Medal. And Then It's Spring is one The Washington Post's Best Kids Books of 2012. One of Kirkus Reviews' Best Children's Books of 2012.
Source:http://bestnannynewsletter.blogspot.com/2013/05/and-then-its-spring-by-julie-fogliano.html

And Then It’s Spring by Julie Fogliano Images

And Then It's Spring | by Julie Fogliano, illustrated by Erin E. Stead ...
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Review: And Then It’s Spring by Julie Fogliano — @100scopenotes ...
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Great Kid Books: And Then It's Spring, by Julie Fogliano and Erin ...
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and then it's spring by Julie Fogliano and Erin E. Stead
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