>>>>My 10 favorite movies
>>>>
>>>>It's a Wonderful Life
>>>>Christmas Story
>>>>White Christmas
>>>>Casablanca
>>>>To Kill a Mockingbird
>>>>Blues Brothers
>>>>League of Their Own
>>>>Glory Road
>>>>The Majestic
>>>>Dogma
>>>>
>>>>Honorable mention: Animal House and the original M*A*S*H movie
>>>
>>>I came late to the game, so I will mention 10 movies that I love and did not saw mentioned by anyone, starting for one I can't believe it is not in anyone's list:
>>>
>>>- 2001 Space Odissey
>>>- Dirty Rotten Scroundels
>>>- Alfie (1963)
>>>- Nueve Reinas (Nine Queens)
>>>- Tous les matinees du monde (my french is non existent so probably I misspell it)
>>>- First Contact (Star Trek VIII I believe)
>>>- The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
>>>- The Orange Clockwork
>>>- Memphies Belle (Probable misspell too)
>>>- Full Metal Jacket
>>
>>Stanley Kubrick was incapable of making a dull movie but I am ambivalent about both "A Clockwork Orange" and "Full Metal Jacket." The violence in Orange made me uneasy, as I guess it was supposed to. The first half of Full Metal Jacket was terrific, the second half less so IMO. He more than made up for it with "The Shining," the creepiest movie I have ever seen.
>>
>>The other week I read a story in The New Yorker set in an unnamed South American city. It was part of their 20 Under 40 series. (Memorably parodied in the NY Times in an op-ed piece called 10 Under 10). The writer was Daniel Alarcon and the city seemed to be Buenos Aires. Comment?
>>
>>
http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2010/08/16/100816fi_fiction_alarcon>>
>>I was pleased that Mario Vargas Llosa won the Nobel Prize in literature this week. Although he wrote more serious books, "Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter" had me hook, line, and sinker. A classic comic novel that doesn't just try to make you laugh. The scriptwriter's radio episodes become so convoluted he can't keep track of them himself and eventually kills them all off.
>
>Daniel Alarcón was born in Peru but grew up (since the age of 3) in Birmingham, Alabama. Based on the environment he describes, it could be about many countries, but I think it is likely about Peru. There were huge state union strikes in the 70s that eventually brought down the military regime (until economic decline virtually ruined the power of their unions in the 80s) It was a complicated period. It is a very sad story about opportunities missed or lost. Excellent read. thanks for posting it. I didn't realize it was an excerpt from his novel-in-progress. I look forward to the full novel.
That is one of my few complaints about The New Yorker. They never tell you.
Thank you for the info on Daniel Alarcón.
Just for smiles --
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/27/opinion/27welter.html
