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Lainie Kazan recommended The Graduate (1967) in Movies (curated)

 
The Graduate (1967)
The Graduate (1967)
1967 | Classics, Comedy, Drama

"The story, the acting was sublime. [Director] Mike Nichols did an incredible job. He just did such an amazing job. The story of the old woman and the young student was so new — we had never seen that onscreen, a depiction of that. Once again, I thought this was just a brilliant character study of these people. The story was extraordinary. I loved the relationship with Anne Bancroft and Dustin Hoffman. I just thought that was staggering. And Dustin Hoffman’s performance was so sweet, and he was so insecure and a mumbling fool in so many ways. And she was so seductive. You know, she was a counselor at my camp? She was a drama counselor. When I was nine, she was 17 or 18, and she came to the camp and I was the only one who really took to her of all my camp friends. She would have me lie on the ground and we’d be in this bunk — like in a rehearsal hall or something — she would have us lie on the floor and picture the sky and picture all the different things that could come from the sky [laughing]. She just inspired me. Then I watched her on The Goldbergs — not the new Goldbergs — but The Goldbergs with Molly Goldberg, the brilliant, brilliant television show in the 1950s. Then I saw her in The Graduate — I was a young woman — and I was just — oh my God, she was so beautiful. And I couldn’t believe I had known her. She inspired me to act, she really did. As did Francis Coppola. I went to college with him — Hofstra University. He was the person who wrote all the plays. He wrote the shows — all the original shows that I was the star of. I’d be hired to do all the shows that he had written and his uncle would write the music, so it was kind of great."

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The Zig Zag Girl
The Zig Zag Girl
Elly Griffiths | 2015 | Crime, History & Politics, Mystery, Thriller
8
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Captivating mystery set in the 1950s
When DI Edgard Stephens sees the body of a girl, cut into three, it reminds him of a magic trick: the Zig Zag Girl. His friend, Max Mephisto, used to perform it. Max and Edgar served in the war together as part of a secret unit called the Magic Men. Max still performs, but when another person turns up dead, he reluctantly helps Edgar look into the deaths--especially since this one seems tied to magic as well. Both men feel like the murders may be linked to their war days, and if they're not careful, their whole unit could be in danger.

This was the twenty-sixth (and final!) book in my #atozchallenge! I challenged myself to read a book from my shelves that started with each letter of the alphabet.

"'The way the body was cut into three, each part put into a black box, it reminded me of a magic trick. One you used to do before the war.'"

I absolutely adore Elly Griffiths, but I don't read a lot of historical fiction, so I've always kept this series in my back pocket. When I needed a "Z" book for my challenge, this seemed like a perfect fit. No surprise, really, but this was an easy and interesting read. Griffiths is such a good writer, and this is written in what I've come to think of as Elly's style--a fun, enjoyable form, where she captures the essence of each of her characters so well.

The book is filled with magic and war stories. The mystery is quite captivating--it's a good case, which draws you into the story. And Edgar, Max, and their crew are very compelling. I enjoyed the themes of friendship and wartime, plus the surprising vulnerability that shone through in both Max and Edgar. I would certainly read the next book in the series. 4+ stars.
  
In Heaven by The Meteors England
In Heaven by The Meteors England
1981 | Rock
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I heard this around second year at school, I must have been about 13. I bought it on vinyl and just caned it. The production on it is great. The Meteors were completely obsessed with 1950s music, doo-wop, rockabilly. And they were purists, you know. They despised people like the Stray Cats and the Polecats and the more charty bands of the time. Nigel Lewis, the bass player, I was quite influenced by his voice. In early Sleafords stuff I try and mimic it a little. It still sounds great. It's almost comical, lots of horror references. The Meteors invented psychobilly, there weren't any psychobilly bands around before them. It would be interesting to talk to Nigel Lewis, I tried to contact him but he never really got back to me. He left after the first album and they went to shit after that really. Well, now it sounds alright. But they got more thuggish, it wasn't very intelligent. There was a little bit of nerdiness about it at the beginning. Once Nigel Lewis left, P Paul Fenech got really arrogant and it married itself to the scooter scene at the time, which was predominantly white lads on scooters, pilot jackets, skinheads. It wasn't a very nice scene at all. There was a streak of racism, very misogynistic as well, just not very intelligent. Scooter rallies were quite hostile environments, you know. I went to one in Donnington in about 1984 and Desmond Dekker played and there were skinheads trying to get onstage and batter him with pieces of wood. It was just terrible. There was a little mod contingent but it was mostly this new breed of second generation mods who turned out to be scooter boys and psychobillies as well, the two things merged almost, it wasn't very nice. I was interested in the scooter thing and mod thing but I wasn't too taken with this, ""Oh fuck off, get your tits out!"" thing, and there was a lot of that. It just wasn't very inspiring."

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