edited by Jonathan Doyle

Classe tous risques (The Criterion Collection, 6.17.2008) Claude Sautet is best known for subtle interpretations of French bourgeois life in such films as Un coeur en hiver and Nelly & Monsieur Arnaud. Yet the director began his career with genre films. Classe Tous Risques, released in 1960, is considered the best of his early work and it's a fascinating companion to similar crime movies made around the same time by Jean-Pierre Melville. (continued)

Upcoming

July 2

Hancock

July 3

The Whackness

July 4

Diminished Capacity

Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson

Holding Trevor

Kabluey

We are Together

July 9

Full Battle Rattle

July 11

A Man Named Pearl

August

Eight Miles High

Garden Party

Harold

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Journey to the Center of the Earth

Meet Dave

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired

The Stone Angel

July 18

A Very British Gangster

Before I Forget

The Dark Knight

The Doorman

Felon

Lou Reed's Berlin

Transsiberian

July 22

Two Tickets to Paradise

July 23

Boy A

Husein's last hour

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This first-person account by N.Y. Times Baghdad correspondent Marc Santora, appearing in Sunday's edition, about Saddam Hussein's final hour of life is historic, essential reading -- tight, terse, riveting. (The eyewitness observations apparently came from Ali Adeeb and Khalid al-Ansary.)

"At 6:10 a.m., the trapdoor swung open. [Hussein] seemed to fall a good distance, but he died swiftly. After just a minute, his body was still. His eyes still were open but he was dead. Despite the scarf, the rope cut a gash into his neck."

Wait..."he died swiftly" but his body wasn't still until "a minute" had passed? Doesn't sound that swift to me. My idea of swift is the way Slim Pickens' Major Kong dies at the end of Dr, Strangelove.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on December 30, 2006 at 05:09 PM

comment #1

T.Holly says ...

One more reason why Hollywood Elsewhere is essential reading.

Posted by T.Holly at December 30, 2006 06:52 PM

comment #2

Mgmax says ...

Where precisely did you want the nuke he was riding to be dropped, Jeffrey?

Posted by Mgmax at December 30, 2006 07:31 PM

comment #3

gruver1 says ...

Wells to Mgmax: Wasn't thinking about that, of course. I was trying to convey my idea of a swift death. I don't want to drop a nuclear device on anyone, ever.

Posted by gruver1 at December 31, 2006 05:54 AM

comment #4

mitch says ...

I don't know, Jeff: Nuking from orbit those aliens on LV-426 seemed like a pretty fucking good idea.

Posted by mitch at December 31, 2006 06:18 AM

comment #5

vansmith says ...

Hanging people in the 21st century just shows the schism between the cultures...

Posted by vansmith at December 31, 2006 06:45 AM

comment #6

Devin Faraci says ...

Washington and Delaware hang people.

Posted by Devin Faraci at December 31, 2006 10:54 AM

comment #7

jumpy says ...

"The death penalty is not compatible with democracy...We are against by principle, whatever the crimes committed by Saddam Hussein -and he committed horrible ones."

Best wishes for the New Year

Posted by jumpy at December 31, 2006 11:42 AM

comment #8

jumpy says ...

"The death penalty is not compatible with democracy...We are against by principle, whatever the crimes committed by Saddam Hussein - and he committed horrible ones."

Best Wishes for the New Year

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VskbxuehP3I

Posted by jumpy at December 31, 2006 11:48 AM