tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12690266.post4542509214872276781..comments2024-03-24T20:15:00.996-04:00Comments on Critic After Dark: A pair of Burnetts: 'Nightjohn' and 'Selma, Lord Selma'Noel Verahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05904212081036547668noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12690266.post-81465801602743335332011-03-12T02:12:35.631-05:002011-03-12T02:12:35.631-05:00Andy, did finally see Finding Buck McHenry. Over t...Andy, did finally see Finding Buck McHenry. Over the Hallmark Channel benevolence and happy ending there's an endless reservoir of pain here.Noel Verahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05904212081036547668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12690266.post-49620703431972916522010-02-15T19:32:41.202-05:002010-02-15T19:32:41.202-05:00Thanks Andy. No, I've missed that one. I did s...Thanks Andy. No, I've missed that one. I did see his recent TV movie--interesting, I think I should see it again, but on first glance it seems like standard Hallmark fare. I saw My Brother's Wedding, Jacobean drama that prefigures To Sleep with Anger. Saw Jonathan R.'s favorite, When it Rains (and it's lovely). I'd love to do a piece on To Sleep With Anger, someday.Noel Verahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05904212081036547668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12690266.post-19832701252548579882010-02-15T01:01:44.774-05:002010-02-15T01:01:44.774-05:00This is a tremendous piece Noel. Few have accounte...This is a tremendous piece Noel. Few have accounted for the small but fine and constant narrative glories of these small films, and none so well. Have you seen Burnett's FINDING BUCK MCHENRY (2000)? It also is of the "wholesome family television format", and also becomes, I think, a deeply troubling film. It too tells the story from the point of view of a child, but here it's a white teenager discovering for the first time the racist American past he has inherited. This of course cracks the wholesome facade of the first half of the film, though the facade keeps parading before us, just as what it is: covering immense scars. Then the white teen becomes overzealous (easily the most overzealous child in the history of cinema!) in his desire to try to heal (but heal what remains a scar), getting the media involved, etc. and it becomes a lesson in discretion: something dear to Burnett. Contrary to appearances, it's quite a violent film.Andy Rectorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15870363285627741234noreply@blogger.com