Ellie as Poet [Bryan]

I was rummaging through some old boxes yesterday and found some old papers from Ellie's undergraduate days, including from her creative writing classes. I was impressed. Here are two poems.

Aesthetic (1998)

we are trying
to find what is
which is not
to ignore what is
not but
to peel it
peel it away
peel it away and remove
feathers and veils and sequins
aprons and glasses and clothes
hair and skin and fat
muscles and tendons and organs
bones and cartilage and blood
and
Words
to pour out the
glass of mere existence
to find what is
still full
when everything is emptied
to keep eyeballs and
hold them in
our hands
to keep their big round
black spots
looking at us
to see something in
the Blackness


Poetry Is (1998)

Words that tingle
in the fingers,
Words that tickle -- a feather
in the throat;

Words that pulse red
in the chest,
Words that escape
from guarded thoughts;

Words that hollow
out sensations,
Words that live
in one world and another;

Words that track wet prints
on hard, dry sand,
Words that irrigate, flow
through clouded minds;

Words that seek assurance
in obscurity,
Words that blindly hit
on the mark;

Words that bloom beautiful
in fields of ugliness
Words that float answers
in oceans of questions;

Words that cry with the baby
in the night,
Words that hold the bitterness
of the failure of lifetimes;

Words that tell truth --
Poetry is.

What I'll be doing tomorrow [Bryan] -- Upated

I should add that Obama continues to do exactly what he said he would do -- bring the country together. From the New York Times today:

As contenders for the presidency, [Obama and McCain] had hammered each other for much of 2008 over their conflicting approaches to foreign policy, especially in Iraq. (He’d lose a war! He’d stay a hundred years!) Now, however, Mr. Obama said he wanted Mr. McCain’s advice, people in each camp briefed on the conversation said. What did he see on the trip? What did he learn?

It was just one step in a post-election courtship that historians say has few modern parallels, beginning with a private meeting in Mr. Obama’s transition office in Chicago just two weeks after the vote. On Monday night, Mr. McCain will be the guest of honor at a black-tie dinner celebrating Mr. Obama’s inauguration.

Over the last three months, Mr. Obama has quietly consulted Mr. McCain about many of the new administration’s potential nominees to top national security jobs and about other issues — in one case relaying back a contender’s answers to questions Mr. McCain had suggested.

From the Sunday Times:

From the shallow brittleness of George W Bush to the supple strength of Obama is a revolution in temperament and style not seen since Jimmy Carter gave way to Ronald Reagan 28 years ago. It signals the kind of administration that now looms before us: a conciliatory, inclusive, pragmatic form of liberalism. It’s a liberalism eager to learn from the insights of conservatives, and it is pioneered by a president-elect shrewd enough to know that generosity of spirit means more leverage and influence, not less....

We cannot know whether he will succeed, whether partisanship and America’s culture war will slowly eat him up, or whether in government, as he makes decisions with winners and losers, his aura will evaporate. But what we can say is that, so far, he shows every sign of meaning what he said about leaving that divisive, destructive froth behind. Just reading the papers every morning, we see every sign that the gravity of the crisis his predecessor bequeaths him makes this necessary.

The Washington establishment still doesn’t know quite what to make of him. For almost two decades the town has been divided ideologically and culturally — red and blue, neoliberal and neoconservative — shying and plunging in mood swings and feuding. For 16 years, under the guidance of political hatchet men such as Bill Clinton’s Dick Morris and Bush’s Karl Rove, these divisions have been seen as ways to wedge your way to short-term political advantage, to exploit American difference for electoral or PR gain.

The press learnt that cynicism was the only reliable guide to understanding politics and that world-weariness was the same as wisdom. That fear of seeming naive was what inhibited many in the press from greater scepticism about Saddam’s alleged arsenal in the run-up to the Iraq war.

It was an emotionally familiar and comfortable rut. The baby-boomer generation, reared and suckled on post-Vietnam divides, staged their battles like bitter spouses after years of a failed marriage who never really planned on divorce. Now, with this first post-boomer politician, the children who witnessed their parents’ endless fighting have taken over. And it’s the children who seem like adults.

Take a few largely symbolic things that Obama has done since November 4. He gave his chief rival and fierce competitor, Hillary Clinton, the biggest job in his government. He reached out to John McCain, his opponent in the autumn campaign, and will hold a dinner in McCain’s honour soon. He asked a powerful evangelical voice, Rick Warren, to give the inaugural invocation.

Last week he dined with a group of Republican columnists who endorsed his opponent. The dinner was at the home of George Will, the closest America gets to a Tory mind. He did this before he talked to any journalists who had actually supported him. At the Pentagon, Obama has asked Bush’s appointee, Robert Gates, to stay on. He asked Mark Dybul, Bush’s only openly gay appointee, to remain as global Aids co-ordinator. This is not Karl Rove’s America. In so many ways, it symbolises its undoing.

Obama acts like a kind of antacid to the American stomach. He has walked through the churn of racial and cultural and religious polarisation and somehow calmed everyone down.

Last spring he faced his biggest crisis — the exploitation by the Republican right of his incendiary former pastor Jeremiah Wright, a man whose penchant for polarisation was pathological. At a moment of extreme emotion and political peril, Obama found a way to give a speech that remains the greatest of recent times, to remind Americans of their complex and painful racial past, and not to condescend or cavil. The intellectual achievement of the speech was impressive enough — sufficient to provoke Garry Wills, the Lincoln scholar, to compare it to the Gettysburg address. That Obama wrote and delivered it as he heard in his ears every racial stereotype that had pummelled his psyche for his entire life bespoke an emotional maturity that still shocks....

He doesn’t charm like Clinton did and Bush tried to. Unlike both men, but especially Clinton, he appears to have no need to be loved by everyone in the room. He often finds it hard to disguise how tired he feels. He is capable of evoking enormous inspiration, but he has yet to be able to hide it when he is bored. There is a wryness to his conversation and a dryness to his humour, both of which are sustained by an intellect of power. The revered liberal jurist Larry Tribe has said that in decades of teaching at Harvard Law School, he has never had a cleverer student than Obama. I don’t think he’s exaggerating. Intellectually, Obama is in Bill Clinton’s league. But what he has over Clinton is emotional intelligence to buttress his grasp of policy.

What he gets, what he seems to intuit, is how to make others feel as if they are being heard. This is simple enough in theory but hard to pull off consistently in practice. His model is to figure out what another person needs and, if it helps Obama to get what he wants, to provide it.

He sensed that Hillary Clinton needed independent respect in defeat. He couldn’t give her the vice-presidency, which she desperately wanted, because it would have given her a dangerous rival power base if they succeeded. So he offered her the next best thing, and she, unlike her husband, was smart enough to say yes.

He realised that Rick Warren was an egomaniac and wanted some kind of platform, so he gave him a largely symbolic role at the inauguration and allowed Warren to preen. He knew that what Washington pundits really craved was not the truth, but a sense of their own importance. So he let them throw him a dinner party.

He sensed that McCain was in deep emotional withdrawal after his horrifying and crude descent into raw partisanship last autumn. And so he celebrated the old, bipartisan McCain and asked for his support in the Senate.

This is not typical for politicians in any climate and era. In the post-Clinton, post-Bush divide of the US, it’s a shock of sorts, and one most Washingtonians have yet to absorb. More shocks, I suspect, are to come, as people begin to realise that the new politics Obama promised is actually more than just a marketing device for a campaign....

How a president acts [Bryan] -- Updated

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

President Goofus and President Gallant - Peer Pressers

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

Recent pictures [Bryan]

I must say, kids look really cute when they are all bundled up.

Andrew's third birthday party

Nora recently lost her first tooth

Goofy Andrew

Nora's first piano recital

Family Kazoo recital

The Incarnation [Bryan]

A interesting after-Christmas reflection, from Catholic Andrew Sullivan:

The reason I call myself a Christian is not because I manage to subscribe, at any given moment, to all the truths that the hierarchy of my church insists I believe in; let alone because I am a good person or a "good Catholic." I call myself a Christian because I believe that, in a way I cannot fully understand, the force behind everything decided to prove itself benign by becoming us, and being with us. And as soon as people grasped what had happened, what was happening, the world changed for ever. The Gospels - all of them, including those that were rejected by the early Church - are mere sketches of a life actually lived, and an experience that can never be reduced to words or texts or doctrines. And the world as it was - as it still is - was unable to tolerate this immense occasion; and so Jesus was executed and the life more in touch with divinity than any other life was ended abruptly, when it was still achingly young. The existence of such a life was both so wondrous that it changed everything; and also so terrifying it had to be snuffed out.

The point of this incarnation was surely not to construct a litany of offenses by which we are to judge our own lives at any moment, to force us to thrash and writhe in a constant ordeal of self-criticism and guilt. The point was merely to be with us; and by being with us, to show us better how to be human, how better to embrace our lives by accepting the divine around us and inside us. By letting go, we become. By giving up, we gain. And we learn how to live - now, which is the only time that matters.

Overheard at the Warnick house [Bryan]

My mother-in-law, after playing "Hungry Hungry Hippos" for the first time remarks:

"It is kind of a primitive game, isn't it."

Frost/Nixon [Bryan]

Being something of a political junkie, I was excited to see Frost/Nixon, a dramatic retelling of the interviews between David Frost and disgraced ex-president Richard Nixon in 1977. The film, however, exceeded even my wildest expectations. At the end of the movie, a collective "wow" seemed to rise up from the movie theater.

Just think of this: The movie is about a political interview. These things happen all time time, and they are among the most boring events on television. Yet, Ron Howard tells the story so that the audience is hanging on every word, every nuance, every expression, every turn of phrase. The interview is depicted as a moment of high personal drama for both Nixon and Frost, and the movie makes it seem as if justice itself hangs in the balance.

The film has a human touch the moved me immensely. Nixon is shown as a tormented figure, haunted by personal and political demons. He is depicted as a figure always trying to fit in with an elite crowd that would never accept him. He strives to find that last shred of dignity in the life of the monster that he had become. Frank Langella's performance as Nixon is breathtaking. I continued to loath Nixon's crimes, and the movie certainly does not exonerate him. But at the same time, I came to see myself in him as a somewhat defensive, insecure, paranoid, and imperfect person. Langella turns Nixon into an everyman, which is quite an achievement. The rest of the cast is also brilliant.

The movie, of course, like most historical films, is not perfectly true to history. It exaggerates Nixon's sympathetic side, the extent of his "confession" in the actual interviews, and the complicity of both Frost and Nixon in manipulating the made-for-TV event. There was a sentiment about the movie, however, which rang true to me from what I know about Nixon. And from what little I understand about human nature.

So, you should go see it. It is, I believe, a remarkable achievement.

Great Holiday Recipe [Bryan]

I'm not usually a recipe blogger, but we made a Christmas ham for our progressive dinner party that was really yummy (or at least I thought so). The key was the cranberry relish we made that goes went with it. Here is the recipe:

1 (12 oz) bag fresh cranberries

1 (6 oz) bag dried apricots (chopped)

2 cups orange juice

1 ¼ cup sugar

½ cup water

Heat all the above to a boil and then simmer 30 minutes stirring occasionally.

Many thanks to my Mom and my aunt Darlene for passing this along.

He's an acquisitive youngster [Bryan]

Scene: Ellie and Andrew (2 years old) and driving along in our car.  

Andrew: Mom, what do you want for Christmas?

Ellie: Um, I would really like chocolate for Christmas.

Andrew: You can't have chocolate for Christmas. You ask for toys for Christmas. 

Ellie: No, you can ask for anything for Christmas.  It is okay to ask for chocolate.

Andrew thinks for a minute.

Andrew (excitedly): I want toys AND chocolate! 

Eliza Bennet on Facebook [Bryan]

Hilarious. So, what would have happened had the characters of Pride and Prejudice had facebook? Now we know: Here is the whole thing.

Andrew's Shopping List [Bryan]

Our little Andrew was watching Ellie make her grocery shopping list today. He said he wanted to make his own list. Here is what he put:

1. Eggnog
2. Marshmallows
3. Orange Juice
4. Fire

The Obama Transition [Bryan]

Many people have asked me what I think about the Obama transition. The answer: So far, I couldn't be any happier. Just like during the campaign, he has been a model of maturity and professionalism. Once again, he has been the grownup in the room, surrounded by children, howling critics, and worry warts (like me). While some of my friends on the Left feel let down (too centrist!), I ask them: What did you expect? Obama promised to reach out to those who disagreed with him, and he has done exactly that. He promised to bring the country together, and already he is taking steps toward that. He promised to be a pragmatist, not driven by ideology, and it seems he intends to do that.

Consider the following examples:

1. Joe Lieberman. While many Democrats were screaming blood after his despicable behavior during the campaign, Obama went out of his way to keep Lieberman as part of the caucus. Any personal vendettas, if there were any, took a back seat to Obama's larger goals (the same thing occurred to a lesser extent with the Hillary Clinton pick).

2. The recent Governor's convention. The governors "were taken with Obama's openness, policy depth and just that he showed up to engage in a real back-and-forth, a move none could recall on the part of a newly elected president." One governor called it "unprecedented."

3. Bob Gates. In order to unify the country behind his foreign policy, Obama decided to keep Gates on at Defense. Whatever his party affiliation, almost everybody agrees that Gates has done a good job in the tough, post-Rumsfeld situation. Obama recognized that achievement, looked beyond party, and kept him.

4. Economic team. With the economy really bad, and Bush not showing any leadership, Obama put together an experienced and (by most accounts) brilliant economic team. It has, in fact, had something of a soothing effect on markets. He seems to be filling the leadership vacuum as best he can.

5. Cabinet Appointments. Obama has put many smart, experienced people on his cabinet. These people will have strong opinions and also big egos. Obama is showing that he does not want yes-men (or yes-women); he wants real dialogue. He has the intellectual confidence to tolerate disagreement -- the contrast with Bush could not be sharper.

6. Policy statements. Obama has continued to vow to vigorously pursue health care reform, end torture, close Guantanamo, and renew American diplomacy. He has shown that he understands basic counter-cyclical economics and the need for deficit spending during recession. He has also continued to emphasize that such spending should be aimed at rebuilding infrastructure -- the best sort of economic stimulus there is. On a policy front, then, he is still making all of the right noises.

We will see if this continues. Right now, though, he is off to a good start.

Links:
Obama's impressive performance at the Governor's convention -- including a glowing assessment by Utah Governor Huntsman.
People on both sides of the aisle are impressed with the transition.
David Brooks -- "He’s off to a start that nearly justifies the hype."
Obama's foreign policy team and renewal of American diplomacy

Report Card Blues, Part 2 [Ellie]

Short Version:
I overreacted.

(Since when is this news?)

Slightly Longer Version:
When I went to Nora's Parent-Teacher Conference (armed, I admit, with evidence of Nora's brilliance from home) I was quickly reassured that none of my documentation was necessary. The grades we had been shocked by were simply "placeholders"--put there if a) that subject hadn't really been studied, or b) the teacher didn't actually know how Nora was doing in that department (our surmise, not actually admitted). When I explained how the grading system made it sound to us like Nora was somehow behind where she should be, the teacher assured me that Nora was above average in most things and "far above" in some others, and that we would see better grades in the following quarters. The report card is designed to show progress, so the highest grades are not given out at all until the end of the year. While I don't agree with this as a grading policy, I am placated. So, either the report card meant nothing or Nora's teacher gets an A+ for telling me what I wanted to hear. :-)

The Farm Mystique [Bryan]

For decades, my grandparents worked a dairy farm in Pleasant Grove, Utah. Uninspired by the toil of milking cows, my father fled farm life for a doctoral degree as quickly as he could. We visited the farm often, though, and those visits now form a kaleidoscope of powerful memories. The farm was a wonderland of poignant experiences. Different sights. Smells. Adventures. Friendships.

Although my cousins who grew up on the farm might laugh at this, it was a magical place for me: climbing the haystack, chasing the chickens, watching the milking, riding the tractors, petting the new calf, playing in the irrigation ditch, and so forth. There was nothing like this in the suburbs.

It was a place brimming with history. It was a history not of far-away lands or famous generals, but of my own family and my own people. This was our soil. Watered for generations with our sweat, blood, and tears. This was my soil. As a boy, I would venture into the old storage shed by the chicken coop and peer at the dusty tools and mysterious machinery. I would enter the "old house" (the house my great grandparents had once lived) and stare in wonder at a household frozen in time. The house, although falling apart, was still filled with the tired and worn-out belongings -- the old clothes, plates, furniture, pictures -- of family members that I had never personally known or loved, but who made me what I am. There was a thoughtful silence in that house. I could picture my dad as a young boy coming in for cookies at the end of milking. Great grandma would be standing at the window. The summer would be hot and dusty. There would be an embrace. A few words. The boy would then run off. Time for ball in the pasture.

When I was a boy, we would visit my grandparents own small house. It was always a bustling place. It would burst at the seams with kids, laughter, and love. I miss that place. I especially miss it during the holidays.

I remember past Thanksgivings at the farm. We would pull up in the driveway. The air would be crisp, with a dusting of freshly fallen snow. The dogs would come out to greet us. We would go inside. "Hi there, Bryan, what is going on with you?" Chatter. The kind of friendly banter you find only among people who know each other well.

Smell: the aroma of turkey and fresh rolls hovering in the air. Listen: the sound of the football game playing in the background (The Lions are losing again). Walk: there isn't a corner of the house that is unfilled with a cousin, aunt, or uncle. Laugh: We cousins sit together -- usually at the kid's table in the kitchen -- and crack jokes. Run: We go outside and play something, anything.

Will my children have such experiences? Do they know what it is to drink milk straight from the cow? To suck the marrow out of life? To run free for hours in a world of magic? Will they ever be haunted with such powerful memories?

Andy Warhol Exhibit [Bryan]

Last Saturday, Ellie and I went to Andy Warhol: Other Voices, Other Rooms , an exhibit at the Wexner Center at Ohio State. This exhibit is a big deal; it is the exclusive U.S. presentation.

Displayed are some of Warhol's famous silkscreens, but it focuses on his video work. I was most intrigued by his "screen tests." What this consists of is a person staring at the camera for minutes (sometimes hours) on end. It is a strange experience to stare at somebody like that -- to watch their facial ticks, eye movements, and lip licking. It feels eerie, almost intrusive. Like some unknown line has been crossed.

Here is the collection of screen shots from an earlier exhibit:



The rest of films were even more odd: some fascinating, some stupid, some vaguely pornographic, and all of them aimed to getting you to look at life (and film) in a different way. Warhol's goal, of course, was to collapse distinctions: high and low art, male and female, fiction and reality, public and private, people and technology, etc. His video work certainly seems to continue with this theme.

The other highlight was experiencing the famous "silver clouds." Apparently in 1966 Warhol held an exhibit in NYC, Silver Clouds, that consisted of a roomful of silver, metalized plastic pillow-shaped balloons inflated with helium and oxygen. These balloons floated around the room. This was replicated for us and looked something like this:

My blog type [Bryan]

This website claims to identify your personality based on your blog. I'm usually skeptical about such things: the claims about personality are so general they are usually meaningless. Still, I put in some random blogs on my reading list to test this site and the results aren't too shabby. My own personality description isn't completely accurate (risk taker?), but the overall results are interesting and not entirely without merit.

My blog:

The independent and problem-solving type. They are especially attuned to the demands of the moment are masters of responding to challenges that arise spontaneously. They generally prefer to think things out for themselves and often avoid inter-personal conflicts.

The Mechanics enjoy working together with other independent and highly skilled people and often like seek fun and action both in their work and personal life. They enjoy adventure and risk such as in driving race cars or working as policemen and firefighters.

My sister-in-law Anna's blog:

The entertaining and friendly type. They are especially attuned to pleasure and beauty and like to fill their surroundings with soft fabrics, bright colors and sweet smells. They live in the present moment and don´t like to plan ahead - they are always in risk of exhausting themselves.

The enjoy work that makes them able to help other people in a concrete and visible way. They tend to avoid conflicts and rarely initiate confrontation - qualities that can make it hard for them in management positions.

My friend Jared's blog:

The gentle and compassionate type. They are especially attuned their inner values and what other people need. They are not friends of many words and tend to take the worries of the world on their shoulders. They tend to follow the path of least resistance and have to look out not to be taken advantage of.

They often prefer working quietly, behind the scene as a part of a team. They tend to value their friends and family above what they do for a living.

Perfect Holiday Gift Idea [Bryan]

Looking for the perfect gift for that special someone in your life? Well, you need look no further. This book changed my life, and I know it will do the same for you.

Available now to pre-order in paperback ($16.95).

Seriously -- I've felt a little sheepish telling people to buy my book since it was $55.00 in hardcover. Now that it is in paperback, no more! Go buy my book. If you don't, I will never, ever, ever, ever, talk to you again.

Report Card Blues [Ellie]

Rats! I swore to Bryan that my next post would be lighthearted--maybe even funny--but now I have something I just have to get out, and I don't know if it's either of those.

A lot of people asked me, during the year before I sent Nora to Kindergarten, if I was nervous. I admitted it, but when I did, my reasons had to do with fear for her safety or innocence. If I would've dug deeper, I would've realized that one of the things I dreaded most about sending Nora out into the world was that the people out there wouldn't find her as delightful and brilliant as we do.

We just got Nora's report card back for her first term of Kindergarten, and it was a shock to our systems. Not at all what we expected. Her teacher doesn't seem to think Nora's anything special at all. Delightful, but not brilliant. I, being pregnant, cried, and Bryan, influenced by my freakout, suggested we could go together to the parent-teacher conference and explain how since he was a PhD in Education and I was a former teacher, our daughter couldn't possibly be merely average. Her grades were at best a mistake and at worst criminal negligence!

Several days of reflection have calmed us a little. We'll probably leave the weapons (or academic degrees) at home, now. But it still hurts. In some ways it feels like me in my role as a mother that the teacher is rating. It plays to all my current insecurities and adds new ones.

So, at what point does a mother separate criticism of her child from criticism of herself? Does it ever happen? Should it?

[Note: This post started as a response to a thoughtful blog post by a good friend. I miss you, Becky!]

Cinematic masterpieces [Bryan]

Awhile back, Professor Travis Anderson, who runs the International Cinema program at BYU, was asked about his favorite films. Below is the list he came up with. I've been trying to slowly work my way through his list, and it has really been a learning experience. There are films there that have left me thinking for months. My favorite so far has been "The Bicycle Thief." After naming his favorite film as "Cinema Paradiso," Anderson continues:

My second favorite would be a close call between Mikhalkov’s subtle and haunting “Slave of Love,” a Russian masterpiece with perhaps the second-best ending of any film (and no words do it justice—you just have to see it), and Tarkovsky’s “Nostalghia” (Which is the better film, but has only the third-best ending of all time). My favorite director is certainly Andrei Tarkovsky, with “Nostalghia” my favorite among his films. It’s a much more cerebral film than “Cinema Paradiso,” of course, but equally beautiful in its own way—with “Solaris” and “Stalker” not far behind. As I’ve noted in lectures here for 15 years, I’d watch “Solaris” just to see the pivotal scene where the lovers float weightlessly while the artistic relics of our culture float around them and initiate their transformation into real human beings.

Let’s see. Some other favorites. The list is a long one: De Sica’s “The Bicycle Thief” (which still moves me tremendously); Majidi’s “Children of Heaven” and “The Color of Paradise” (a breathtakingly profound film with another fantastic ending); Yimou’s “Not One Less” and “To Live”; Kiarostami’s “The Wind Will Carry Us”; Dreyer’s “Ordet” (perhaps the best religious film ever made, with a climax that will completely stun you); Wenders’ “Wings of Desire” (if only this world and the next were so lovingly intertwined); Scott’s “The Duelists” (gorgeous natural-light cinematography) and “Blade Runner” (a perennial guilty pleasure); Leoni’s “Once Upon a Time in the West” (with another Morriconi musical masterwork—the best moment of which is during the crane shot at the station, when both the camera and the music soar heavenwards to reveal a landscape that will always be mythical); Cimino’s “Heaven’s Gate,” which contains one of the most beautiful representations of community ever recorded on film (the roller-skating scene), and yet another fantastic soundtrack; Joffe’s “The Mission” (which is almost as beautiful as Morriconi’s score, and that’s saying something); Woody Allen’s “Crimes and Misdemeanors” (an astonishing, under-appreciated masterpiece); Antonioni’s “The Passenger” (with what, for years, was the longest single take on film—and certainly the most lyrical); Herzog’s “Aguirre: the Wrath of God,” “Nosferatu,” and “Lessons of Darkness” (all of which leave me speechless); Ray’s “Apu Trilogy” and “Devi”; Resnais’ “Hiroshima, mon amour”; “Roeg’s “Walkabout” and Antonioni’s “L’avventura” (both of which are virtual courses in the masterful use of mis-en-scene); Wier’s “Picnic at Hanging Rock,” “Fearless,” and ‘The Truman Show” (has this guy ever made a bad film?); Betancor’s “Valentina” (one of the best films about childhood ever made); Berri’s “Jean de Florette” and “Manon of the Spring”; Coppola’s “The Conversation” (which I personally think is his best film); Erici’s “The Spirit of the Beehive” (if you haven’t seen this film, you’ve missed perhaps the best about film ever made—with the exception of “Cinema Paradiso,” of course); Branagh’s “Henry V,” Olmi’s “The Tree of Wooden Clogs,” Gibson’s “Braveheart,” Ivory’s “Remains of the Day,” Spielberg’s “Empire of the Sun” and “Saving Private Ryan,” Malick’s “Days of Heaven” and “The Thin Red Line,” Zefirelli’s “La Traviata,” Madden’s “Shakespeare in Love,” Radford’s “Il Postino,” and Eastwood’s “The Unforgiven.” I love all these films. And I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few.

Among the best recent films I’ve seen are Samuell’s “Jeux d’enfants” (“Love Me if You Dare” is the English title, I think), which is tragic, but riveting; Juenet’s “Amelie”; De Laubier’s “Veloma,” perhaps the most insightful film about isolation and spiritual longing I’ve ever seen; Cantet’s “Time Out,” which will haunt you forever; and Belvaux’s incredible trilogy, “Cavale,” “Afterlife,” and “An Amazing Couple,” which must be seen together and which redefine what films can contribute to the discussion of ethical judgment. All of these are French, interestingly enough. In fact, in terms of numbers, most the best films I’ve seen in recent years have been French.

A few other recent films which I liked quite a lot—both by female directors—are Jill Sprecher’s “Thirteen Converations about One Thing” (perhaps the most philosophically interesting film I’ve seen in quite a while) and Penny Panayotopoulou’s “Hard Goodbyes: My Father” (this one will reduce you to a weeping wreck—but without a moment of disingenuity).

Kim Ki’duk’s “Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall . . . and Spring” is an absolute stunner. Perhaps the most beautiful cinematography of any film in recent memory. And a morality tale to die for—this is the film that “Why Has Bodhi-dharma Left for the East” ever-so-much wanted to be. And if you’ll let me include two TV mini-series, I’d have to add “Brideshead Revisited,” which is so good it almost surpasses the prose, and, of course, “Lonesome Dove.”

So, if you are looking for some movies to see, there you go.

Ah, Stravinsky [Bryan]