Savage Grace, directed by Tom Kalin. Starring Julianne Moore, Stephen Dillane, and Eddie Redmayne. 2007.

After a string of incredibly mediocre films at the manse here in Chico, gold was struck with this beauty. This film follows the personal lives of the heirs of Leo Hendrik Baekeland, of Bakelite plastic fame. Leo invented the first true plastic, and became incredibly wealthy. The casting is excellent. The photography is excellent. The dialog is raw, urbane, and powerful. The narrative is mysterious, sexual, poetic, and direct. Julianne Moore, as the mother, Barbara Baekeland, goes to some aggressive lengths to "cure" her homosexual son. Tom Kalin previously directed Swoon, many years ago.

Includes eye-to-eye reading of SPD's Worst Postmodern Lyric, "Scepter, Of the Autodidact (Recalcitrant Mode).

YUKO NASU

Richard Widmark, Night and the City.


RECENT MOVIES SEEN, WITH COMMENTARY


The Wrestler, starring Mickey Rourke, directed by Darren Aronofsky (2008).

--Eh.

Un conte de Noël/A Christmas Tale, starring Catherine Deneuve and Mathieu Amalric, directed by Arnaud Desplechin (2008).

--Eh.

Quid Pro Quo, starring Vera Farmiga, directed by Carlos Brooks (2008).

--Eh.

Where the Sidewalk Ends, starring Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews, directed by Otto Preminger (1950).

--Eh.

Night and the City, starring Richard Widmark and Gene Tierney, directed by Jules Dassin (1950).

--Not bad.