cinema history class: allan kupfer spaghetti western tribute month

 By tradition, the first session of the year consists of Spaghetti Westerns (or some movies connected in some way to them). This year, Keith decided to open with Spaghetti Westerns, but made his choices based on his memories of his long-time friend, Allan Kupfer, who passed away late last year.

Reaction and Other Folderol:

The selections puzzled me at first; it would be hard to argue that these are the best Spaghetti Westerns, and I would be surprised to learn that they were Allan's favorites. Keith explained to me that he wasn't trying to show Allan's favorites. Rather, he chose movies that he thinks of in connection with Allan, given the many conversations they had on the topic and their abortive attempt to write a book about Spaghetti Westerns.

I feel kind of bad about the first movie, Comin' At Ya! (which Keith presented in 3-D). The image seemed off, which hampered my appreciation of the film. Only afterwards, when we were discussing it, did it come to light that I was probably wearing them backwaards. And there was a lot of humor that I missed. The 3-D effects were used a lot, often for comedic effect (for example, in one scene where a gunslinger is playing with a yo-yo). But somehow I didn't recognize the humorous intent and just got annoyed by a lot of it. Which was my loss.

Other than that, this session inluded a good deal of humor mixed in with the cruelty that marks so many Spaghetti Westerns. At times, especially during The Grand Duel (which starred a notably aging Lee Van Cleef), I was reminded of Keith having told us about how the Spaghetti Western genre had come to embrace comedy.

On the other hand, these were serious entries in the genre, even if none of them reached the heights of the Leone- or Corbucci-directed classics. Notably, Ringo: The Face of Revenge seemed like an attempt to reproduce the magic of Leone's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. It even reproduced the plot element of enemies having to work together because each one had half of a map. But, while it tried to be an epic, it fell short. It was a good movie in its own right, but it suffered for inviting comparisons to an obviously superior production.

The Trailers:

Comin' At Ya!

The Grand Duel

Fast Hand is Still My Name

Ringo: The Face of Revenge

tuli, rip

I hate to write obituaries for our cats. And it's especially painful when the cat dies young. Very young.

We got Tuli for Asher last summer after Eighteen died. He was born last April, so he was only about ten months old when he passed. Based on our conversation with the vet, Tuli probably had a heart attack in his sleep, and passed away without suffering. So at least there's that.

Tuli was a charmer. He was always curious about whoever came through the door, and I don't recall anyone being immune to his charms. Alla, the lay who comes to clean once a week would tell me about how Tuli was her little buddy, following her around the house as she went about her cleaning. And, as much as he kept himself busty with his cat activities, he always made sure to do them in a room where he could be near his people, keeping an eye on them and making sure to be a part of the pack.

But he gave his most ardent devotion to Asher. He had his special chair in Asher's room, where he would sit for hours watching Asher sleep, or do stuff on his computer.

We will miss Tuli.