Absurdity, Allegory and China

For those who can get the USA Network, tonight the American Film Institute (AFI) will air the 36th AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Warren Beatty. Since I miss everything else, this is one I won’t be sad to sit out. One of my favorite films is McCabe and Mrs. Miller – good acting, great soundtrack (Leonard Cohen), and amazing light, and there’s even a Chinese opium den to keep this post blog-topical – starring none other than Warren Beatty. I hate to admit that I like this film as much as I do, mostly because I detest Warren Beatty and love Robert Altman who made the film. Since Altman is dead it is highly unlikely that we will hear what he had to say about Beatty, though it is worth quoting.

Warren has never said a kind word about McCabe and Mrs. Miller even though he got the best reviews of his career from it. When I die if that egotistical bastard says anything nice about me, then you know he’s lying, but I’ll haunt him to his grave for the unprofessional way that he treated me and our cast and crew. Other than him I’ve loved every actor I’ve ever worked with.

And speaking of the dead, I spent a good part of today wandering through Cimitière du Père Lachasie, the most prestigious burial ground in Paris. So here are a few from the cemetery. Click for a larger photo. And once you get there and still want to see a larger photo, click ‘All Sizes’ on the menu above the photo.