Sacco and Vanzetti: 80 Years Later

On this day in 1927, Italian immigrants and anarchist leaders Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were put to death by electrocution in Charlestown, MA for a crime they probably did not commit.  The story of Sacco and Vanzetti continues to be studied as an example of xenophobia and failures of the criminal justice system in America.  As much as we’ve advanced in the past 80 years there’s still a lot that hasn’t changed.  In the 1920’s, Italians were seen as fearsome foreigners while today Italian-Americans are part of the mainstream American population that can look at new immigrants and foreigners as criminals.  Similarly, those with unpopular political views are not always granted free speech and sometimes are punished for their views.  I don’t know what lesson there is here other than looking back at the past as the good old days or saying that we’re better now than we were then are both wrong.

More on the anniversary of Sacco and Vanzetti’s execution at:

Replaying injustice: Sacco and Venzetti, 80 years later by Mike Milliard, Boston Phoenix

Lessons of Sacco and Vanzetti by Peter Miller, The Huffington Post

Sacco and Vanzetti: Innocent or Guilty by Jack Kelly, American Heritage

Italy’s American Baggage byAndrea Cammileri, The New York Times

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Movie Review: Adaptation

Coming off the success of Being John Malcovich, writer Charlie Kaufman took on the task of adapting Susan Orlean’s The Orchid Thief to film. Unable to convey Orlean’s prose and the concept of flowers to a screenplay, Kaufman stuck himself in the story and wrote a screenplay about Adaptation (2002) instead. Or so Kaufman would like us to believe. After some rumination on the nature of adaptation (and adaptation in nature) the film concludes with an over-the-top Hollywood finish written by Kaufman’s fictional twin brother. That Kaufman is one of the cleverest writers in the movies today makes me think he planned this all along. After all he made Being John Malcovich defy disbelief and was able to make Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind much more than it’s clever yet contrived premise.

Anyhow, Adaptation is a funny and introspective movie about writing, about being shy and timid, and about how writers and filmmakers toy with the minds of their audiences. In this last sense it reminds me a lot of Robert Altman’s The Player which also a uses a lot of narrative trickery to question the difference between film and reality. The two movies would make a good double feature, although I think Adaptation is the better of the two because it’s a whole lot less self-congratulatory about it.

Anna at Isak recently wrote a review of The Orchid Thief, a book I’ve not yet read but one that is probably much different than what’s portrayed in the film. You’ve got to wonder what Orlean thought of the portrayal of herself in Adaptation. I hope it made her laugh.

Update on 24 August

A few additional points I did not make in my original review:

1. I usually do not like Nicholas Cage, but he is excellent in this movie in the dual roles of Charlie and Donald Kaufman.  Being shy and timid myself, I think he captures that aspect of personality well.
2. There are a couple of graphic depictions of car accidents in this film that makes it sort of a horror film for people like myself who are phobic about automobiles.
3. I did a little research (a.k.a. Google) and learned that Susan Orlean and John LaRoche love the movie and its depictions of themselves.  Here’s a relavent interview.

Beer Review: Grimbergen Abbey Ale

Another selection from Charlie’s Kitchen.

Beer: Abbey Ale
Brewer: Grimbergen
Source: Draught
Rating: *** (7.3 of 10)

Comments:  I can’t find an Abbey Ale on the web, but I believe I tasted the Grimbergen Dubbel since it was brown in color.  Whatever it was, it was a darn fine beer in the Belgian abbey traditions.  In addition to the chestnut brown color and a thick creamy head, this gave off a rich beery aroma.  The beer has a crisp, dry taste that doesn’t linger on the tongue, but grows deeper in flavor as the beer mellows in the glass.  Very tasty.  I’d drink it again.