Tuesday
Some Rankings
1. Third Man (movie)
2. Thin Man (book)
3. Thin Man (movie)
4. Third Man (book)
This list is not intended to dispute the point that Graham Greene is a superior writer to Dashiell Hammett, but only to note that I don't see this as a particular instantiation of that truth, qua written fiction (proviso provided because Greene also worked on the screenplay for #1). I would cite to, for example, Heart of the Matter versus The Continental Op (or any other Hammet work) as an example of Greene's evident superiority.
Another ranking to demonstrate an obvious point (Nicholas Cage is an excllent actor, with terrible taste in roles), mostly cross-posted from comments:
Movies I think Cage was good in:
Peggy Sue got Married
Raising Arizona
Moonstruck
It Could Happen to You (aka Cop Gives Waitress $2 Million Tip) (also, the movie is terrible)
Leaving Las Vegas (a rare moment of agreement between me and the academy)
Face/off
Adaptation
and Matchstick Men (despite the twitchiness)
I've heard he was quite good in:
Vampire's Kiss
Red Rock West
Wild at Heart
but to my great shame, I have not seen any of those. Even in his other roles, many of which were terrible choices, I find it hard to argue that he was actually bad (probably Gone in 60 Seconds, but I've tried to erase that from my memory). Also, I realize that this list doesn't demonstrate the terrible taste in roles part of my claim.
Disappointment at not getting into classes I requested:
1. Dworkin-Nagel colloquium on Law, Philosophy and Politics
2. Anything else
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2. Thin Man (book)
3. Thin Man (movie)
4. Third Man (book)
This list is not intended to dispute the point that Graham Greene is a superior writer to Dashiell Hammett, but only to note that I don't see this as a particular instantiation of that truth, qua written fiction (proviso provided because Greene also worked on the screenplay for #1). I would cite to, for example, Heart of the Matter versus The Continental Op (or any other Hammet work) as an example of Greene's evident superiority.
Another ranking to demonstrate an obvious point (Nicholas Cage is an excllent actor, with terrible taste in roles), mostly cross-posted from comments:
Movies I think Cage was good in:
Peggy Sue got Married
Raising Arizona
Moonstruck
It Could Happen to You (aka Cop Gives Waitress $2 Million Tip) (also, the movie is terrible)
Leaving Las Vegas (a rare moment of agreement between me and the academy)
Face/off
Adaptation
and Matchstick Men (despite the twitchiness)
I've heard he was quite good in:
Vampire's Kiss
Red Rock West
Wild at Heart
but to my great shame, I have not seen any of those. Even in his other roles, many of which were terrible choices, I find it hard to argue that he was actually bad (probably Gone in 60 Seconds, but I've tried to erase that from my memory). Also, I realize that this list doesn't demonstrate the terrible taste in roles part of my claim.
Disappointment at not getting into classes I requested:
1. Dworkin-Nagel colloquium on Law, Philosophy and Politics
2. Anything else
