Robert Harris‘s “Conclave” was published on or about 12.1.16 — almost exactly eight years ago. Earlier that year Luca Guadagnino‘s A Bigger Splash, which costarred Ralph Fiennes as a free-spirited, middle-aged Dionysian and who eight years later would topline as a reverent, somber-minded cardinal in Edward Berger‘s film version of Conclave, opened in theatres and sorta kinda flopped.

From “Much Better Splash Than Expected — Perverse, Noirish, High-Style, Sensual,” an HE review posted on 4.11.16.

“The undercurrent of A Bigger Splash is gently mesmerizing, and that was enough for me. I can’t wait to see it again, or more precisely go there again. I felt like I was savoring a brief vacation. I’m not saying the dramatic ingredients are secondary, but they almost are.

“You feel so nicely brought along by Yorick Le Saux‘s sun-speckled afternoon cinematography and Walter Fasano‘s disciplined cutting, and by the nostalgic Stones vibe (there’s a lip-synch dance sequence that made me fall in love all over again with ‘Emotional Rescue’) and especially by Ralph Fiennes’ giddy-ass, run-at-the-mouth, rock-and-roll madman performance that I was going ‘wow, I almost don’t even care what may or may not happen in this thing.

“Well, I did as far as the plot unfolded. When the heavy-ass, third-act complications arrived I was…well, not uninterested. They’re definitely intriguing as far as they go, especially when the law steps in and starts asking questions. But I just liked being there.”

Posted on 4.12.16: There’s a kick-in-the-pants sequence in Luca Guadagnino‘s A Bigger Splash that uses the Rolling Stones’ “Emotional Rescue.” Sing it, feel it…infectious. But it brought back a misheard-lyrics issue from way back. Go online and the song ostensibly begins as follows:

“Is there nothing I can say, nothing I can do?
Change your mind. I’m so in love with you.
You’re too deep in, you can’t get out.
You’re just a poor girl in a rich man’s house.”

I’ve never heard “too deep in.” Idiotic as it sounds, I’ve always heard “bootie bear.” Here’s how the opening stanza sounds to my ears:

“Is there nuttin’ I can say, nuttin’ I can do?
Change yo’ mind. Ahm so in love wit you.
Bootie bear, yuh can’t get out.
You’re just a poor girl…rich man’s house.”

All these years I’ve told myself that “bootie bear” was a romantic nickname that the guy had given the girl in question. People do this. A girlfriend from the mid ’80s used to call me “huggie bear” so it’s not that crazy.

As reported last night by The Washington Post:

From WaPo commenter:

The River House, 447 E. 52nd Street (cul de sac along the frigid East River), New York, NY 10022.

Eleven days ago a N.Y. Times headline severely traumatized the wokeys and pretty much sent them into a tailspin. Diversity Stalinists lamenting from coast to coast…”oh, noooo!”…and all of it stemming from a single impact-grenade piece by Kabir Chibber.

And then came Robbie Collin’s similar Telegraph story — “Hollywood’s great unwokening has been unleashed.” Excerpt: “Loath as I am to give the w-word an airing, there’s no avoiding it here: 2024 was the year in which Hollywood began to move into its post-woke era.”

The tide has turned, ayeholes! Sanity and proper proportion are being restored.

I’m finally about to sit through Pablo Larrain ‘s Maria (Netflix, 12.11) which I blew off seeing during last September’s Telluride Film Festival.

Reviews have been middling to mediocre, and I just know it’s going to sap my spirit and send me into the doldrums.

In my eyes, ears and soul the first two of Larrain’s feminist dramas — Jackie and Spencer — were torture to sit through, and it’ll be a miracle if I wind up being pleasantly surprised by Maria.

Later today I’m also going to sit through Part Two of The Brutalist, and I guess I’m kind of wondering how the…uhm, violation scene will be handled.

From a January ‘23 review of the London production of A Streetcar Named Desire, written by TimeOut‘s Andzej Lukowski:

Mescal’s Streetcar is coming to NYC from 2.28 thru 4.6.

John Williams is best known for having composed knockout scores for a long list of Steven Spielberg films, reaching all the way back to the Gerald R. Ford administraion. But of all his rousing musical world-builders, the absolute peak was his score for E.T., the Extra Terrestrial (’82). The final four minutes of Spielberg’s suburban family fantasy is owned by Williams’ violins, horns and cymbal-crash moments. It’s as if the film’s emotional finale exists to support Williams’ music rather than the other way around.

YouTube commenter: “Very few movies have an emotional climax this poignant and tear-inducing, and so much of that comes from Williams’ score here. Really one of his greatest moments, and Spielberg trusts that Williams will deliver.”

HE’s own Bobby Peru wrote the other day that I’ve become a broken anti-woke record. “Several posts per week for years about the same topic is ridiculous,” he wrote, “especially when the culture has moved on from an antiquated term that only still holds water in conservative echo chambers.”

HE’s wise and comprehensive reply will, of course, be lost on the likes of Mr. Peru. Because members of the woke left**, like vampires, are unable to see their own reflection:

“You can kvetch and complain all you want, Bobby, but the below video is a dose of trans-mocking humor, and it’s FUNNY.  

“You can kvetch and complain all you want, Bobby, but Kamala Harris lost the election because she wouldn’t acknowledge that woke-ism (which includes (a) an across-the-board dismissal of straight white dudes and (b) a screeching rejection of the way things used to be before progressive left INSANITY invaded the culture around six or seven years ago) is even a thing, much less a form of social retribution. 

A few weeks ago Bill Maher described the Democratic party as a ‘Portlandia sketch.’

“Wokeism, you’ve written, is ‘an antiquated term that holds water only in conservative echo chambers’? The presidential election happened only six weeks ago, and a mass rejection of progressive left insanity was a significant factor in Kamala’s loss. SIX WEEKS AGO.    

“You can kvetch and complain all you want, Bobby, but wokeism (or fear of woke judgment about any number of sins and shortcomings, including presumed transphobia) is why Emilia Perez is one of the five Best Picture hotties as we speak. Criticizing this film COULD lead to accusations of bigotry and a subsequent loss of income and so (hellooo?) people are playing it safe by saying they love it, and this is an ongoing social awareness thing RIGHT NOW. Which signifies, obviously, that people haven’t ‘moved on.’

“Gender-neutrai acting awards represent a kind of fungus on the brain. Nobody wants members of the trans community to get anything but a fair and unbiased shake in any field of endeavor, but trans trendiness resulting in the elimination of basic gender norms that have been in place since the first stirrings of life on planet earth?…get outta here, man!”

Friendo #1: “Your readers, like Bobby, are insane on the subject. They don’t get it. They’re quadrupling down on living in their bubble. They don’t get the MYTHOLOGY of the trans issue — that it’s not about ‘trans rights,’ but about the progressive left’s hostility to gender norms. We can see that in something as trivial-yet-revealing as the movement in movie awards toward gender-neutral acting categories.

“Ordinary. People. Do. Not. Like. This. Shit.

“And yes, that’s why Emilia Pérez –an utter mediocrity as far as I’m concerned (you can feel the film slide into emotional and dramatic oblivion in its second half) — is shaping up as a potential Best Picture winner.”

Friendo #2: ‘You should remind Bobby that the UK just banned puberty blockers, which makes the US the only major nation that hasn’t.

“The woke thing is a disease that has spread all over, and even other countries are now pissed at the US. I was watching The Brutalist (but it could be any Oscar movie) and I thought, okay, here we go. Now the Black character has entered the story and we must patiently wait for the narrative to play out so everyone can not feel guilty about themselves and the Academy will accept their film as meeting the standards of the DEI mandate. EVERY MOVIE. EVERY MOVIE.

“Remind Bobby that Hollywood can only tell the same story, and tell it over and over and over again.

“It’s Christian rock, essentially. Bow down to the gods of woke or you will be punished. We just accept it now and try hard to like movies within that context but they are all mandated to be woke. Some are better movies than others but every one them adheres to the ideology. Even A Complete Unknown adheres in this respect by leaning hard into the heartache felt by Elle Fanning‘s Sylvie Russo (aka Suze Rotolo) and Monica Barbaro‘s Joan Baez (had it with that sellfish asshole!)

“They seem to want their films to appeal to women’s studies graduates from Oberlin.”

** HE remains a sensible left-centrist. Okay, just a centrist.

In a 12.12.24 Vanity Fair piece, Guy Pearce has an interesting conversation with Jordan Hoffman: