Venice

Up at 2:30 a.m. and in Venice by 9:45 a.m. (local time).

A 40-minute water bus (boat) ride from the airport to the Lido.

I visited Venice once before quite some time ago but I never had an opportunity to visit the Lido. The entire festival will be held there so this will be new for me.

The festival's top prize is The Golden Lion and they are present everywhere...

68th Venice International Film Festival

This year's 68th installment of the oldest film festival in the world will begin on Wednesday August 31st and run through Saturday September 10th in Venice, Italy.

I am fortunate and thankful in having been asked to serve as President of this year's SIGNIS jury for the festival.

We begin our work on Wednesday...

As If I Am Not There

Winner of this year's IFTA (Irish Film and Television Awards) for Best Film and Best Director. Directed by Irish filmmaker Juanita Wilson, this is her first feature film and follows her 2008 Oscar nominated short The Door.

Based on actual testimony from the Bosnian War in the 1990's as revealed during the International Criminal Tribunal at The Hague.

A young woman from Sarajevo begins her new job in the country as a school teacher. It's not long after this that she and the other villagers are kidnapped and transported away. The men are shot and the women are used as laborers and sex slaves for the soldiers.

Harrowing and hard to watch at times, it's difficult to comprehend how this was allowed to occur not that long ago.

An ending full of life and hope emerges from the darkness that came before it...

The Pipe

A documentary four years in the making, this film highlights the plight of specific farmers and fisherman in Rossport, County Mayo in the west of Ireland who are fighting with both Shell oil company and the Irish government to prevent a gas pipeline to be routed through their lands and fishing territory.

A topical story of the little man versus the system and the passions that are subsequently stirred...

The Guard

Written and directed by John Michael McDonagh (older brother of playwright-filmmaker Marin McDonagh) and highly recommended to anyone who hasn't see this gem yet.

Brendan Gleeson is top notch as the Irish cop stationed in the west (Connemara) of the country. Part rogue, part charmer, part savant, the character he portrays fits him like a custom glove.

Since this is a McDonagh film it is certainly not politically correct and this is quite refreshing in today's you-can't-say-that culture.

The tone is somewhat stylized with the set colors and music, reminiscent of something from the late 60' or early 70's.

Enjoyable and refreshing...

Red

The title is an acronym for describing certain ex-CIA agents as "Retired and Extremely Dangerous."

Quite a lot of big names in this cast including Bruce Willis, Mary-Louse Parker, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, Brian Cox, Helen Mirren, Richard Dreyfuss, and Ernest Borgnine.

Basically a bunch of older, retired agents get together to save themselves and expose corruption within the government. You don't have to invest much in this film as it's not required. Partly fun and partly tedious.

It is worth it though just to see Helen Mirren fire a machine gun with such aplomb.

Photo of the Day

There are still many of these historic street signs (if there are any at all!) in the south Dublin area. This is one that caught my eye today...

Dickens

- Charles Dickens

- my wife at the entrance to Dickens' former residence, which is now a dedicated museum

- "Dickens Dream" by R.W. Buss

- in Dickens' library

Dickens was only 58 years old when he died of a stroke in 1870. In his relatively short life he gave the world A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities, Bleak House, The Old Curiosity Shop, David Copperfield, and much more...

In was in this house that he wrote The Pickwick Papers, Nicholas Nickleby, and Oliver Twist.

His last words were, "Be natural my children. For the writer that is natural has fulfilled all the rules of art."

European churches

One benefit of traveling in Europe is the ability to attend Mass in some of the most beautiful and historic churches in the world. I'm always astounded when I think of the sacrifice and labor put into building and maintaining these houses of worship.

On Sunday we happened across The Church of the Immaculate Conception on Farm Street in the Mayfair area of London. This particular church opened in 1849 and is run by the Jesuits...

Beautiful, majestic, and intimate...

The Wizard of Oz

-Danielle Hope, who won the BBC's "Over the Rainbow" competition against 9,000 other potential Dorothys, earned her professional debut on the West End

- snowing on the stage and on the audience!

-Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and Dorothy

- the aftermath of the snow

- Michael Crawford as The Wizard of Oz

I've never been much of a fan of musical theater but that may have changed in recent years as the quality of the productions and stories have increased substantially. I saw Phantom of the Opera in Los Angeles with Michael Crawford and The Producers in New York with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick and thought they were both top notch productions.

The BBC aired a program last year that helped to transform my thinking on this particular genre of theater. The program, Over the Rainbow, was produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber in an effort to find the perfect Dorothy for his then upcoming West End production of The Wizard of Oz. A bit of a reality show much like American Idol or The X-Factor, the potential Dorothys competed each week for the opportunity of a lifetime.

Being a student of straight theater I could never understand the typical campy musical theater type of show. However, what Over the Rainbow showed me was the incredible amount of skill that an entertainer must have to perform at the highest level in musical theater. Not only an excellent voice, but the ability to act with honest emotion, to move sensibly and honestly in character, and have access to a wide range of emotions.

I'm not converted completely but it certainly opened my eyes and made me realize that musical theater can be a rewarding experience for this theater-goer...

I absolutely and thoroughly enjoyed this show. Partly because we all know the story and it brings back memories from childhood, partly because you forget how brilliant the original story is, partly because Andrew Lloyd Webber's version is not a strict adaptation, and partly because the audience of this matinee performance was filled with children who collectively laughed at the appropriate moments and booed the wicked witch repeatedly, adding up to what I can only describe as a wonderful theater experience.

I must thank my wife for this wonderful birthday gift...

London

Ottolenghi in Belgravia.

- A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square

- The train wasn't running due to local vandalism (this was around the time of the London riots) so we took a bus to the airport. What bus ride isn't complete without Strawberries and Prosecco? Cheers to my wife for a wonderful birthday trip. By the way, that's the new Olympic stadium under construction in the background.

-Mount Street in Mayfair

- Yotam Ottolenghi's new restaurant in Soho. We had a wonderful dinner there and a birthday treat from my lovely wife.

- Yes, that's a University of Nebraska pennant in Brooks Brothers' London shop window.

- Go Big Red!

Photo of the Day

Yes, it's summer but Ireland is mainly GREEN, which is why these roses in particular caught my eye this morning.

Nice, huh?

Photo of the Day

I sometimes will take a picture of something that captures my eye during one of my daily walks.

Not sure if it's a construction warning or something to do with the nearby cemetery.

Hmmm...

Flora

Lavender, not far from our back door...