Catherine earned a BFA and specialized in movie making. She was one of the few from her class to get a job in her field after graduation in 1975. She edited films for Greenpeace. For many, that would be the dream job. However, while we all seek a world of peace and plenty for all its creatures, Catherine was not sure of that organization's methods or directions.
2009: Life is squiggly, and sometimes even circular. Just last night, Erika and I went to the Tidings concert by Allison Crowe. She sang, as she apparently usually does in this annual charity concert tour, the Phil Ochs song When I'm Gone. It turns out that in November 2009, Greenpeace released the Amchitka concert album giving the Joni Mitchell (Catherine's favourite singer), James Taylor and Phil Ochs portions of the October 16, 1970 concert in Vancouver BC that marked the founding of Greenpeace. The tickets to that concert, at $3 a throw, paid for Greenpeace's first ship. Connections in time, space and affinity, for Ochs has lone been one of my favourite singers.
Many of Catherine's books are about film. She liked Hollywood, and she liked movie reviews by Pauline Kael. In 1997 we were in England, Catherine and I in the back seat with chess prodigy Luke McShane. Up front were Adam Raoof (pronounced rowf), chess organizer and driver, and Rod McShane, dad and film critic (curiously, Rod's name turned up as the author of Luke's Daily Express chess column for two dates in November 2009).
A not very interesting road trip from London to Shropshire, with motorways packed by the gravid (I initially wanted to imply a mindless gravity, but gravid means pregnant; maybe that's about right, when the subject is a huge city!) influence of Birmingham (the road signs kept on pointing to Walsall), was made less exciting by Rod's grumbling (I think the Brits call it whingeing), but finally the subject came around to film. Rod didn't like Pauline Kael. This perked up Catherine, and she goaded Rod at least to address specifics. He knew he had an intellectual equal to spar with. I'm sure they didn't agree after the discussion either, but the rest of the trip was free from grumbling and far more pleasant--except that we got lost a couple of times.
Here is a list I found, in my hand on a restaurant table napkin. I don't remember when we did this
| Catherine | Jonathan |
|---|---|
| Room With a View | Dr. Strangelove |
| My Fair Lady | North by Northwest |
| Annie Hall | The Meaning of Life |
| Godfather I and II | Brazil |
| Green card | Secret Life of Henry Orient |
| Dracula (Gary Oldman) | Kind Hearts & Coronets |
| Shot in the Dark | The Man in the White Suit |
| The Sweet Hereafter | The Rickshaw Man |
| Chinatown | Road Kills |
| The Witches of Eastwick | The Witches of Eastwick |
| Wall Street | Die Düve |
| The Piano | The Great Chess Movie |
| Funny Face | The Wall (Australia) |
Dave Herder says "I can't believe that you don't have Lawrence of Arabia on your list of favourite movies."
Good one. I know that Catherine liked it. For myself, it's more a movie that I admire from afar than one I really get into. Citizen Kane falls in the same category.
2002: Catherine's favourite actors. I know that she liked Kevin Spacey and Gary Oldman. And she had nothing against Harvey Keitel. In the world of acting, it was no "pretty boys" for Catherine.
I think that Die Duve and The Man in the White Suit would not make my list now.
URL: This web page is:
http://members.shaw.ca/berry5868/cmovie
Last modified December 13, 2009