Ladies and Gentlemen--Mr. Leonard Cohen (1965)

This is a fun documentary for anyone who appreciates the evolution of Leonard Cohen's career. Before he was a man with a guitar...before his gravely voice and hat, he was a cleancut stand-up poet wearing suit and tie. Although, it was the early 1960s, he was already a notable writer with records of his readings on the market. He was also documenting his career for posterity. Funny thing is that he does not even look all that young. I guess he was in his late twenties at the time.

Leonard had been blessed with an idyllic childhood in Montreal, where his parents began shooting movies and photos of him as a young child. He is shown on bike, sled, skate, and ski. He talks about the first rebellious act as the refusal to sleep and we see shots of the late-night coffee houses and nightclubs where young people listened to the poets, who were the rock stars of the day. He began to view himself as a social critic. Always a poet. The film simply watches Cohen throughout the course of his day during a simpler time in history.

Soon after that I happened to watch Isle of Wight, made just five years later. The post-Woodstock mega music festival on a tiny island off the south of Great Britain attracted 600,000 young people who had come to see Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix, and others. We see a more laidback Leonard Cohen perform Suzanne, his hair shaggy and wearing a scruffy fatigue jacket.

The Tenant (1976)

I recently saw previews for a new film, the Ghost Writer, by Roman Polanski. It looks good and despite all his bad press in recent months, I wanted to see one of his older films. Of course, we all know about the creepy 1968 film, Rosemary's Baby. The Tenant is another psychological thriller, starring Polansky as Trelkowski, a quiet young man who rents an apartment somewhere in France and soon discovers that the previous occupant was a woman named Simone, who had flung herself out the window and was dying in the hospital. He actually goes to visit her and some kind of exchange of energy occurs that kills her and begins to unsettle his calm world. Complaints from neighbors and strange occurances begin to mount up. He becomes involved with a girlfriend (Isabelle Adjani) as he begins having a mental breakdown. That leads him to dressing up as the deceased Simone and lots of other crazy behaviors follow. I had to laugh when I received an email from my landlord the day after watching this bizarre film listing me along with a slew of other people. Beside my name was the word "tenant." Yes, anyone who has lived alone in old buildings knows how these places can rattle one's wellbeing at times. The occasional psycho thriller is enjoyable in a weird way.

The Single Man (2009)

I just heard that this movie is up for an Oscar and it's no wonder because I stopped in to see this on a quiet Monday night with just a few others watchers and thoroughly enjoyed the beautifully sad story. Fashion designer, Tom Ford, wrote the screenplay of the Christopher Isherwood novel and directed the stylish film with the help of the production design team who created the look of MadMen.

Colin Firth is an actor I have seen over and over in ensemble productions with more notable stars. Here he portrays George Falconer, a trim British English professor at a small southern California college 1962. Flashbacks show us his younger self during the 1940s meeting a handsome sailor (Matthew Goode). Sixteen years later, Jim and George share a cozy home by the beach until a car crash leaves George alone to grieve quietly at a time when there was no open gay life. He struggles to find meaning through his encounters with others until his own fate is revealed. His performance is completely engaging. Julianne Moore is the glamorous loving woman friend next door. I especially loved the scene where they dance together to the 1962 hit song by Booker T & The MGs, Green Onions. For what it's worth...Rolling Stone ranked this #181 of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

Dream of Life (2008)

I saw this documentary last year, an indepth look at the artist, Patti Smith, through the eyes of photographer/filmmaker, Steven Sebring. The filming took place over twelve years after her husband, Fred Sonic Smith, passed away in 1994 and Patti began to re-start her career after living quietly in Detroit raising her children, Jackson and Jesse. The film tells the story of her life as a developing poet/singer/songwriter/painter growing up in the midwest and moving to New York in the early 1970s. A truly artful film, it shows a lot of daily life, as well as important interviews with family and friends.

This wonderful PBS interview with Patti and Steven that explores the making of the film...http://video.pbs.org/video/1372960914/

Patti Smith's memoir, Just Kids, also just came out...recollections of the early years in New York when she and best friend, Robert Maplethorpe, were beginning their artistic lives.