The New Yorker has named its 36 best films of 2020.
Checking in at #30: “Gatsby in Connecticut.”
The magazine writes:
In this engaging rabbit-hole documentary, a nonprofessional filmmaker [Robert Steven Williams] pursues his obsession with “The Great Gatsby,” tracing key elements of Fitzgerald’s story to Westport, Connecticut—and connecting with a writer who published a related report in The New Yorker.
Appearing on any Top Films list a great accomplishment. But this is doubly impressive: It’s the New Yorker.
And it includes all releases this past year. Not just independent films. Not just documentaries. Every movie you could have streamed anywhere, or seen in a theater (for the 2 months in early 2020 when there were such things).
Congratulations, Robert! F. Scott, Zelda, Jay, Nick and Daisy would be proud.
(Click here for the full New Yorker story. Hat tip: Dick Lowenstein)
“All Things Warm” is the name of Westport VFW Post 399’s winter drive. They’re collecting new and gently used warm clothing and blankets, for veterans their families.
Coats, hats, scarves, gloves, mittens, sweaters, thermals, winter socks, pajamas, boots — if it’s warm, they want it.
Drop-offs are accepted at the VFW Post (465 Riverside Avenue, at the Saugatuck Avenue split) through December 19.
VFW on Riverside Avenue
Emma Dantas — a Staples High School senior — is co-president of the Yale New Haven Hospital Junior Board. The institution is on the front lines fighting COVID. They need our help — and you can do it in a guilty-pleasure way.
Just buy lunch or dinner at Shake Shack in Westport, Darien or New Haven this Monday (December 7) between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. Use the code “DONATION” at checkout — on the app, online or in person.
25% of the price of your order will go to Yale New Haven Hospital. It’s incredibly easy — and important. Tasty, too!
(Photo courtesy of Westport Patch)
And finally … on this date in 1933, the 21st Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified. It repealed the 18th Amendment — in other words, it ended Prohibition.
Plenty of songs lamented the decade-plus ban on alcohol. Among the most famous: Bessie Smith’s 1928 “Me and My Gin,” and Louis Armstrong’s 1929 “Knockin’ a Jug,” with Jack Teagarden. The latter is one of the first major recorded collaborations of black and white musicians — and its title comes from an empty gallon of whiskey Armstrong saw in the studio. It was full when the session started.
Bessie Smith…at the end of your post. The best. If your readers keep on listening after her first song they will be in for a wonderful Blues treat. My husband is standing at the back door transfixed. I think this was all recorded in Europe where they seemed to have had a great appreciation for our American indigenous music.
Nice to see The Hub of the Universe rounding out the Top 10. Thanks for the tip Dick.
Added props to local author Richard “Deej” Webb who is an executive producer of “Gatsby in Connecticut” and co-wrote, with Mr. Williams, the companion book “Boats Against The Current” (see web link.)