It was much longer than Avatar, the latest Hollywood blockbuster. Even breaking the length of James Cameron’s own record for box office revenue, which clocks in at some 2 1/2+ hours. And at about 3 1/4 hours of low tech, stellar acting and great storytelling, Warren Beatty’s 1981 film “Reds” seems to get lost in dungeons of old and classic films. I had a chance to devote more than 3 precious hours and experience this film the other night. With three Oscar wins (a slew of nominations) including Beatty as best director, Maureen Stapleton as best supporting actress and best cinematography (Vittorio Storaro), the film was sheer joy to watch.
I’m feeling a bit nostalgic about films. While I am appalled that Cameron’s Avatar won best picture at the Golden Globes, and will likely lose any respect for the Oscar’s if the film takes away best picture later this year. But along the lines of “Reds,” I’ve queued up “Lawrence of Arabia” for another 3 hour + stint sometime later this month. Eager to watch Sir Lawrence hammer the Ottomans and giving rise to power of the Arab and Beduin people. And, where we are today.It seems a good time to watch a film about the Russian Revolution and the fervor in left-wing Americans in their own war of trying to give rise to both Socialist and Communist parties here in the United States. This takes place in the early 1900’s — in both America and Russia, with a few scenes taking place just over the Russian border in Finland. It’s about love, friendship, art, politics and dreams. Yet I couldn’t help think about the tea-party movement that is building so much fervor in our present day political climate and t he spin-offs and in-fighting in the dozens of different tea parties. And those behind many of such tea parties efforts to make the current administrations efforts to move the economy, improve healthcare and fight the war on terror appear like “Bolshevik Plots,” might take a few hours of their day and take a trip back in time and reflect.
Apple released a major upgrade to its photo management and editing software, Aperture, last week. My upgrade is on the way and I’m confident that once and for all this will put those still hanging on to Adobe’s LightRoom effort will ultimately give in and recognize the superior tools, advanced features and ease of use that has been the case as Aperture has matured over the last three years. Just might inspire me to take a short trip into the desert or baja or somewhere for a little diversion and exploration in creative photography. Stay tuned.
For those of you who’ve been reading The Digital Tavern over the years, you certainly will attest to my lack of consistency ever since taking off on my around the world motorcycle trip. But I’ve been ba
ck long enough. And I’ve let the dust collect on the tavern after each false start in trying to get it up and running. Suffice to say, I’ve got a lot of irons in the fire. And I do have another blog that also is in dire need of attention. But as blogging goes. It’s still a passion. And no matter how I try, I’ll never be able to share the breadth and depth of any discussion in 140 characters.
But for those who’d like to follow my Twitter feeds, which in the past have been updated much more often than the blogs. I invite you to hop on over to any of my feeds and follow me. There’s more coming down the line.
Twitter: Digital_Tavern | allankarl | worldrider | clearcloud ctc
And for those of you who followed that crazy motorcycle ride around the world, and want to be updated when the books and speaking engagements are announced you can become a WorldRider Facebook Fan and subscribe to updates at the WorldRider website.
