I finally watched Miller’s Crossing ... again. After Dan had mentioned it, I looked it up but couldn’t remember whether it was a movie I had seen before. It sounded familiar but there just wasn’t quite enough in any summary I found for me to make a true determination. The John Turturro scene in the woods brought it all back fresh. This is an updated noir-type film that has all of the familiar characters and standard double-crosses of that genre. Every character in the film has an agenda tucked away just out of the viewer's sight. It has a language all its own and I always like that. Here nor there, at least one scene was filmed in New Orleans because a streetcar is seen going past a Whitney Bank. The clock in the film is a dead giveaway. I think that's the branch at Carrollton and Oak but I could easily be wrong about that. The Whitney is everywhere. Most of the film was shot indoors but the the few exteriors, except that streetcar scene, look like they were shot in Prohibition era Chicago/New York/LA. Very nondescript and no city is ever mentioned. It's not a bad film but it just doesn't quite elevate itself to greatness. All of the elements were there. Albert Finney and Turturro were excellent. Gabriel Byrne was adequate as the very self-destructive protagonist and Marcia Gay Harden was fine as the femme fatale. Can't really say why I didn't think much of it but I didn't and it's probably why I couldn't remember if I had seen it. Now, I'll have this entry to fall back on if it ever comes up again. One of the perks of blogging, I suppose. :)
After I got back from errand-running this afternoon, I had enough time to get on the bike for a few minutes. I need to do a lot more of that. Maybe not as much as delmer and Dan but much more than I have been. It's great exercise and there are simply gorgeous cycling conditions out here most of the time. A standard sunset picture I intended to look at but do nothing else with turned out to offer a pleasant surprise that I didn't notice in the viewfinder. As a colleague used to say, "even a blind hog sometimes finds an acorn".
Bush Fire Station Number 2 - Bush, LA - January 5, 2008 - There's a monster inside. See the eyes?
Quote of the Day
Nah, it stayed a hat and no, I didn't chase it. Nothing more foolish than a man chasin' his hat.
Tom Reagan, Miller's Crossing
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "It's a good thing "eating healthy" wasn't one of my resolutions, 'cause I think I've eaten more refined carbohydrates in the past three days than I did during all of 2007, except for when K-Lilly got that coffee cake that one time and then went back to Nevada, leaving me alone with the coffee cake."
Wonderful picture, Rob. I noticed the monster even before I read the caption, too. :)
Maybe a cat? The sunset looks more like a forest fire, don't you think? A very nice picture. I like it. Do your knees bother you much after a bike ride?
Thanks, Kim.
I don't think it's a cat, Mom. It's a reflection or lamp(s) of some sort. If I'd have seen it in my camera when I took the picture, I'd have gone in for a closer look. Cycling is the perfect exercise for my arthritic knee. Like swimming, it's no impact ... unless my foot slips off of the pedal. :) It's better than walking and much better than running.
LOL! I saw the monster too! Though I had to look for it. Neat capture, Rob!
Thanks, Andrea. I rode past the firehouse today but the door was closed so we may never know what it was ... and I hope he doesn't know where we live. :)
Miller's Crossing is number 4 in my queue (after Secretary, Once, and Mercury Rising, if you care.) I'm not sure if it's there because of Dan or because I'm trying to see every Coen brother movie. BAsed on your description, I don't think I've yet seen it.
I love the picture and the eyes and how the sky appears to be on fire behind the station.
I predict you'll come back to Miller's Crossing. But who knows. It's only after watching it several times that I realized that the Gabriel Byrne character is actually the guy pulling all the strings. In the process, he's everyone's punching bag.
Wonderful picture, Rob. For some reason it reminds me of an all-night ride I did once. I was with another guy and we saw a steady red light, way off in the distance. We thought it was another bike. In the dark, there was nothing to give us perspective. It seemed like we rode and rode and rode, and never seemed to gain on that light. Then suddenly, the red light turned out to be a lamp burning outside a fire station way out in the countryside ...
I've seen it twice and you may be right, Dan, that I may come back to it. A minor quibble to be sure but I'm not sure Byrne's character was doing anything but flying by the seat of his pants. His second trip to Miller's Crossing could have been his last. He had no way of knowing that Bernie (Turturro) had provided an adequate substitute.