Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Saturday we had an early supper at India Gate (for twenty years A. said she hated Indian food, now it is probably in her top three. Go figure.) That kind of proximity to Mondo Video is irresistible, so after we ate I went in, looking for "Strangers on a Train". They didn't have it, so by default I went over to the "Noir" section. Stuck in there, for some reason (I don't think it is really "noir", but it has noir elements, I suppose) was "Chimes at Midnight", Orson Wells' take on Henry IV Parts I and II. I'd never seen it, and have always wanted to. Like most Wells projects there is a complicated back story-- it is regarded as flawed but brilliant, and there were budget issues, and so on.
I love Mondo-- it is the only thing I will miss when the new hotel goes up. Mike Faust runs his shop like Championship Vinyl, and I never know where my selection will put me on his hipness meter. He was okay with this pick. Who knows where it came from-- it was subtitled in Japanese, and had been dubbed from a laserdisc-- but it was terrific. Wells is easily the best Falstaff I've ever seen, and he completely gets the story-- there are laughs, but the point is the betrayal, and it is played like that throughout. It also has a good look. Falstaff looks bloated and splotchy, just the way a fat old drunkard would; the costumes looked like clothing, instead of like superhero uniforms; and the sets were appropriately medieval in their squalor. It's hard to believe that the film is not generally available-- but it is not. Mondo is the only place I've ever seen it, and that illustrates why independent shops like that are important. Tyler Cowen argues that "Our attachment to independent bookshops is, in part, affectation- a self-conscious desire to belong a particular community (or to seem to)," and that they do not do as good a job of making culture available as the big chains. I respectfully dissent.
Down the block from Mondo is Talking Leaves. In a lot of ways Talking Leaves is exactly what Cowann is talking about-- it is not a great place to go if you are looking for something in particular. It is, however, pretty good if you are prepared to be guided by serendipity, which I usually am. Indeed, although it is not entirely a guiding principle in my life, enjoying the unexpected is one of the principal reasons I like living in the city. It isn't really that there is so much going on-- it's more that you never know what you might encounter next. It is invigorating to have a place like Mondo around. I've seen "Strangers on a Train" a half a dozen times. We rented it at Blockbuster Saturday, and watched it first. It's still terrific, but compared to the Wells movie it's the suburbs.
Addendum: Now I feel all guilty about knocking the 'burbs. Thanks, Dave. Oh, and it turns out that if you want the Wells movie, you can get it on Amazon. Maybe I should hire a fact-checker.
I love Mondo-- it is the only thing I will miss when the new hotel goes up. Mike Faust runs his shop like Championship Vinyl, and I never know where my selection will put me on his hipness meter. He was okay with this pick. Who knows where it came from-- it was subtitled in Japanese, and had been dubbed from a laserdisc-- but it was terrific. Wells is easily the best Falstaff I've ever seen, and he completely gets the story-- there are laughs, but the point is the betrayal, and it is played like that throughout. It also has a good look. Falstaff looks bloated and splotchy, just the way a fat old drunkard would; the costumes looked like clothing, instead of like superhero uniforms; and the sets were appropriately medieval in their squalor. It's hard to believe that the film is not generally available-- but it is not. Mondo is the only place I've ever seen it, and that illustrates why independent shops like that are important. Tyler Cowen argues that "Our attachment to independent bookshops is, in part, affectation- a self-conscious desire to belong a particular community (or to seem to)," and that they do not do as good a job of making culture available as the big chains. I respectfully dissent.
Down the block from Mondo is Talking Leaves. In a lot of ways Talking Leaves is exactly what Cowann is talking about-- it is not a great place to go if you are looking for something in particular. It is, however, pretty good if you are prepared to be guided by serendipity, which I usually am. Indeed, although it is not entirely a guiding principle in my life, enjoying the unexpected is one of the principal reasons I like living in the city. It isn't really that there is so much going on-- it's more that you never know what you might encounter next. It is invigorating to have a place like Mondo around. I've seen "Strangers on a Train" a half a dozen times. We rented it at Blockbuster Saturday, and watched it first. It's still terrific, but compared to the Wells movie it's the suburbs.
Addendum: Now I feel all guilty about knocking the 'burbs. Thanks, Dave. Oh, and it turns out that if you want the Wells movie, you can get it on Amazon. Maybe I should hire a fact-checker.
// posted by Bill @ 9:31 AM 
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