I'm nearing the end of a bio on film director Sidney Lumet (1924-2011) by Maura Spiegel. I'm really learning a lot about this phenomenal director. He can be described as an "Actor's Director," definitely. This skill with working with actors was cultivated by his childhood experience as an actor in Broadway plays and briefly on the screen. He directed some of the finest films of his era: Twelve Angry Men, Serpico, and Network to name a few. The bio is called Sidney Lumet: A Life and I highly recommend it.
I watched an Al Pacino vehicle last night called Sea of Love (1989). Fairly mediocre and forgettable, but I really liked the repartee and comedic asides involving cop buddies Pacino and John Goodman's character. The film starts off really well, but soon takes a turn into a formulaic, standard whodunit.
I also watched David Lean's epic Ryan's Daughter (1970) today, a 3 hour and 15 minute tale of a teacher's wife who has an affair with an officer in 1916 Northern Ireland. There are some breathtaking shots of the beautiful landscape and while there were some memorable moments, it doesn't really stand up to some of Lean's better material such as Lawrence of Arabia or Brief Encounter. The latter film's Trevor Howard turns up in Ryan's Daughter in a late-career performance as a priest. The performances are good, but the character development isn't really substantial to the point where you don't really get heavily invested in the characters.
I did an hour of power yoga this morning. As someone who has a desire to maximize my concentration on, absorption in, and enjoyment of movies, I found that exercise such as this will do a lot to promote these areas of the viewing experience. I need to make this a habit! I feel so much more content and present.