Paris Crime Wave

I really started getting into classic French movies in 2007, shortly after subscribing to Netflix. Of course, the first thing one learns about classic French films is that- unlike classic Hollywood movies- French movies do not have happy endings- which I always find refreshing. Watching Rififi again recently (I own it) also reminds me how much American films from the ‘30s, ‘40s, and ‘50s influenced French cinema, especially American gangster movies, film noir, and Westerns. Like cowboys or samurai, the Parisian gangsters in Rififi operate outside the law and live by their own code (the black and white film only adds to the starkness and symbolism of the proceedings) but the movie does not glamorize criminal behavior and only uses it to study and say something about human behavior.

Most of the gangsters in Rififi are motivated by want of money, and even in their fatalistic, criminal underworld there are rules and a hierarchy: informers, junkies, and child abductors are the lowest of the low. Enter Tony (Jean Servais), a tough guy’s tough guy, recently released from five years imprisonment for jewel theft (and after getting pinched he did the right thing- he did not rat out his partner). Tony doesn’t know what he wants to do with his newfound freedom and when he finally agrees to help three other gangsters pull off a daring jewel heist, we’re not sure what Tony’s motivation is for participating; and that- along with the gritty Paris in winter street scenes shot in almost documentary style- is what makes the movie so interesting. Tony represents man’s search for meaning in a cold and broken world.

By the end of the film- which culminates in a speeding, suspenseful drive through the streets of Paris- Tony has found something to live- and die- for and that realization puts all the film’s previous action in a new light for both Tony and the audience. Directed by blacklisted American filmmaker Jules Dassin (who makes a brilliant cameo as the safecracker), Rififi is a treat to revisit annually- especially for fans of French movies, Existentialism, and film noir. While it predates the start of the French New Wave by a few years, the film is no less influential and for every gangster movie cliché it celebrates, Rififi also gifts something fresh, exciting, and unexpected to cinema- and life- even after 65 years. Grade: A-

Christmas Faves III – Part 2

Philippians 2: 5-8: Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus, Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 

Leona Lewis

John 14: 8-9: Philip said to him, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” 

John 10: 30: “The Father and I are one.”   

Matthew 28: 17-20: The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

The Partridge Family

The Incarnation was God’s answer to the double problem that faced fallen mankind. The Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, God the Son, became man, took to Himself and made his own a human nature; and in that nature offered to God the sacrifice which outbalanced the sin of mankind, and merited the supernatural restoration of man: Adam’s offense was expiated; the breach it had caused between God and man was healed, so that God and man might be at one again, and man brought back from servitude to sonship.

Thus, we have the unique instance of one single person with two natures. To the question “Who are you?” Christ would have but one answer. He is the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, God the Son, the Word. But to the questions “What are you?” Christ our Lord  would have two answers, for he has two natures; He is God and He is man. 

Note the consequences for our Lord’s actions. Nature decides what the person can do. This one Person had two natures, two sources of action from which He could draw. He had the divine nature, and so could do all that goes with being a man. But whether He was doing the things of God in His divine nature or doing the things of man in His human nature, in either event it was the Person who was doing them: and there was but the one Person and He was God. 1

Adoration of the Child by Gerard van Honthorst

01. The Drifters – “White Christmas” (1954)
02. Loretta Lynn – “Country Christmas” (2016)
03. Jimmy Durante – “Frosty the Snowman” (1950)
04. The Harry Simeone Chorale – “O’ Holy Night” (1963)
05. The Partridge Family – “White Christmas” (1971)
06. Burl Ives – “Happy Birthday, Jesus (A Child’s Prayer)” (1968)
07. The Harry Simeone Chorale – “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear / Good King Wenceslas / We Three Kings/ Villancico / Hark, the Herald, Angels Sing Medley” (1959)
08. Dolly Parton – “Hard Candy Christmas” (1984)
09. Ray Conniff and The Ray Conniff Singers – “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (1959)
10. Run-DMC – “Christmas in Hollis” (1987)
11. Sarah McLachlan – “O Little Town of Bethlehem” (2006)
12. Aretha Franklin – “O Christmas Tree” (1992)
13. Choir of St. Mary’s Cathedral – “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” (2000)
14. Blues Traveler – “Christmas” (1997)
15. Carpenters – “Silent Night” (1978)
16. U2 – “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” (1987)
17. The Harry Simeone Chorale – “The Little Drummer Boy” (1958)
18. Mormon Tabernacle Choir – “Joy to the World” (1970)
19. Leona Lewis – “One More Sleep” (2013)
20. Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers – “A Christmas to Remember” (1984)
21. Andrew Bird – “So Much Wine, Merry Christmas” (2014)

John 10:7-11: So Jesus said again,“Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came [before me] are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

 

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1 Frank Sheed, Theology and Sanity (San Francisco : Ignatius Press, reprint edition 1993)

Christmas Faves III – Part 1

Isaiah 9:5: For a child is born to us, a son is given to us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.

Matthew 1:23: “She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means “God is with us.”

Colossians 2:9-10: For in him dwells the whole fullness of the deity bodily, and you share in this fullness in him, who is the head of every principality and power.  

Bing Crosby

I could spend the rest of my life exploring and discovering Christmas music and still leave this earth without having heard it all. There are worse hobbies than hunting and gathering Christmas music and I’ve always been partial to the Christmas crooners- Bing, Dean, Johnny, and Andy. Sure, Sinatra could hold his own with secular Christmas standards, but he just couldn’t do the same with sacred songs- Dean Martin was smart enough to not even try- while Mr. Christmas, Nat King Cole, could sing both the sacred and the secular Christmas songs with ease. I’ve branched out over the years and have come to enjoy country Christmas songs, as well, and whatever else gets me in the mood for the holiday season. Here are some more of my favorite Christmas songs- old and new. Enjoy- and Merry Christmas!    

01. Bing Crosby – “Winter Wonderland” (1962)
02. Harry Belafonte – “Mary’s Boy Child” (1957)
03. Nat King Cole – “Away in a Manger” (1960)
04. Ella Fitzgerald – “Sleigh Ride” (1960)
05. Jim Brickman – “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” (1997)
06. Martina McBride – “O Holy Night” (1998)
07. Nat King Cole – “Silent Night” (1960)
08. Nat King Cole – “O, Little Town of Bethlehem” (1960)
09. Nat King Cole – “The Christmas Song” (1961)
10. Dean Martin – “Silver Bells” (1966)
11. Trisha Yearwood – “It Wasn’t His Child” (1994)
12. Vince Guaraldi Trio – “O Tannenbaum” (1965)
13. Perro Como feat. The Fontane Sisters – “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” (1951)
14. Jackie Wilson – “Deck the Halls” (1963)
15. Dean Martin – “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” (1966)
16. John Denver – “Christmas for Cowboys” (1975)
17. Andy Williams – “Sweet Little Jesus Boy” (1963)
18. Perry Como – “Medley: Caroling, Caroling / The First Noël / Hark! The Herald Angels Sing / Silent Night” (1968)
19. Jim Brickman – “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” (2016)
20. Leonard Bernstein, Mormon Tabernacle Choir & New York Philharmonic– “O Come All Ye Faithful” (1965)

Adoration of the Shepherds by Charles Le Brun

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Reg Dwight – Part 2

In addition to his trademark singing voice and stellar piano playing, Elton John had two other secret weapons helping to catapult him to ‘70s superstardom and universal acclaim: the boys in his band, who not only played their own instruments but also served as sensational backup singers; and, of course, the colorful lyrics of Bernie Taupin. In fact, of my 20 favorite Elton John songs, Mr. Taupin wrote the words to 16 of them. Who are Levon, Bennie and the Jets, Tiny Dancer, and Rocket Man? Who cares? It was the ‘70s, man, when Bernie and Elton just let their talents and imaginations run wild.

Sadly, weird, wonderful, and creative songs like those classic ‘70s John/Taupin compositions no longer exist in today’s boring, fractured pop musical landscape. Who is today’s Elton John? Certainly not John himself, or Lady Gaga (besides the costumes, what else has she in common with Sir Elton?) For the record, I have no desire to see the recent Elton John biopic Rocketman since everything I ever need to know about him I already learned from VH1’s Behind the Music. But I will tip my hat to the man (who is the same age as my parents) and simply say thank you for the music, Elton (and Bernie). Here are some more of my favorite Elton John songs. Enjoy!

01. Elton John – “Bennie and the Jets” (1973)

02. Elton John – “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” (1975)

03. Elton John – “Daniel” (1973)

04. Elton John – “Levon” (1971)

05. Elton John – “Tiny Dancer” (1971)

06. Elton John and Kiki Dee – “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” (1976)

07. Elton John – “Rocket Man” (1972)

08. Elton John – “I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues” (1983)

09. Elton John – “Little Jeannie” (1980)

10. Elton John – “Seasons - Reprise” (1971)

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Recommended Links:

Elton John – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (Remastered & Revisited (Extended Interview)