Movies, authors, etc.

When I went online this morning to check the newspapers, the first headline I saw was that Norman Mailer had died.

Based on Mailer's reputation as one of the most important American writers of the last century, I've collected several of his books without having read them. The one I'm most looking forward to is The Executioner's Song. I've finished just enough of Mailer's work to know you don't get into his books for light, recreational reading. At some point, I'll be so old that all I'll want to do is sit in my recliner and read, and that's the stage in life at which I'll work my way through the Mailer books.

Another American writer whose books I know I should read but haven't is Cormac McCarthy. About 20 years ago, he published a novel set in the old west called Blood Meridian. According to its reviews, this was an extremely violent tale; that got my attention because at the time, I was attracted to violent subject matter. It looked interesting, I added Blood Meridian to my library, and like the Mailer novels, assigned it to the will-read-someday category.

McCarthy more recently wrote a book called No Country For Old Men, which has been made into a movie by the Coen brothers, Joel and Ethan. The Coens have cranked out a long list of some of my favorite movies: Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, Miller's Crossing, Fargo, and O Brother, Where Art Thou ? are the ones springing immediately to mind. The new movie stars Tommy Lee Jones, who can usually be counted on to make a good picture. The combination of Tommy Lee and the Coens has me thinking I need to see No Country For Old Men. The reviews I read this morning suggest celebration of human decency is not the film's major accomplishment, but that's just something I appreciate, not something I demand.

Another movie I tentatively added to my must-see list a few months ago is Lions For Lambs, directed by Robert Redford and starring Redford, Tom Cruise, and Meryl Streep. With that lineup, I figured it couldn't go wrong; all the Redford-directed movies I've seen have been worthwhile. Lions For Lambs is a treatment of the war on terror, and as a political statement, has gotten negative reviews. Maybe those result from conservative bias on the part of the reviewers, or maybe it's really just a boring movie. I'm still mentally flipping a coin on whether to see it.

Finally, a movie called Before The Devil Knows You're Dead will be out soon. Like the other two, it appeals to me based on its director (Lumet) and star (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Judging by the reviews, it's pretty dark, so if I go, it'll be a solo flight.