It\u2019s Monday of a new week here at BCB After Dark: the grooviest hole-in-the-wall for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Thanks for stopping by. The place seems empty without you. Come on in and join us. There\u2019s no cover charge. The dress code is casual. The hostess will seat you now. Bring your own beverage.<\/p>\n
BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.<\/p>\n
Last week, I asked other than Team USA, who were you pulling for in the World Baseball Classic?<\/a> Obviously there were 19 possible answers and 18 of the 19 countries got at least one vote. But Puerto Rico got the most with 16 percent of the vote and the Dominican Republic was second with 13 percent.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the part with the jazz and the movies. Feel free to skip it. But you might like it. You won\u2019t hurt our feelings if you don\u2019t.<\/p>\n Tonight I\u2019m writing about the movie In the Mood for Love in the next section, so I thought I\u2019d feature the Great American Songbook standard \u201cI\u2019m in the Mood for Love,\u201d written by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields.<\/p>\n The actual title of the movie in Cantonese translates to \u201cAge of Blossoms,\u201d but director Wong Kar-Wai knew that idiom wouldn\u2019t translate into English, so he struggled for an international title for his film. It wasn\u2019t until he was in post-production that he heard Bryan Ferry singing \u201cI\u2019m in the Mood for Love\u201d that he realized that that was the title to his movie.<\/p>\n Here is the great Charlie Parker performing it on his Charlie Parker with Strings album.<\/p>\n I\u2019m getting back to my thoughts on the top ten movies in the 2022 BFI Sight & Sound critics poll of the greatest movies of all time. I got caught up with Citizen Kane and Tokyo Story, but now with the World Baseball Classic going on, I\u2019m going to get back to my original idea of doing just some short capsules, although the first one got a little long today.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s two films finished fifth and sixth in the most recent Sight & Sound poll. They are director Wong Kar-Wai\u2019s In the Mood for Love and director Stanley Kubrick\u2019s 2001: A Space Odyssey. <\/p>\n 5. In the Mood for Love. (2000) Directed by Wong Kar-Wai. Starring Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung.<\/p>\n In the Mood for Love is an elegant love story that captures the pure aching sadness of love as well or better than any other film. Set in Hong Kong in 1962, the film paired two of the biggest stars in the world (Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung) in a carefully constructed love story where what isn\u2019t said is more important than what is.<\/p>\n The plot of In the Mood for Love isn\u2019t deep, but it gets the characters to where we need them to be. Mr. Chow (Leung) and Mrs. Chan (Cheung) become neighbors in an overcrowded building in Hong Kong. They both fled the Cultural Revolution in Mainland China (As Wong and his family had around this time) and while they aren\u2019t poor, they\u2019re forced to grab whatever lodgings they can find in crowded Hong Kong, no matter how small.<\/p>\n Both of their spouses are gone a lot and Wong wisely never shows either of them on camera. Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chan start spending a lot of time with each other out of loneliness and because it\u2019s nearly impossible to avoid each other in this tiny space. They become friends but they worry about how it looks. They meet in secluded places so that no one thinks they\u2019re having an affair.<\/p>\n But eventually, they realize their spouses are gone so much because they\u2019re having an affair with each other. Both are deeply wounded by their spouses\u2019 infidelity and they are pushed even closer to each other by the betrayal. Eventually, they realize what we\u2019ve realized for a long time\u2014Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chan are deeply in love with each other. But both of them know the pain and betrayal of infidelity and think \u201cwe\u2019d be no better than them\u201d if they consummated their love. Or at least, that\u2019s what they both think the other one thinks.<\/p>\n I\u2019m trying not to spoil the film, but this is one terribly sad love story of missed chances. Wong also smartly rejects any attempt to give these characters an easy way out of their predicament. But In the Mood for Love also highlights the beauty of love at every turn. Cheung reportedly spent 4 hours a day in makeup and wardrobe to get her into the pure image of beauty from Hong Kong in the early sixties. The same kind of care goes into recreating every small corner of Hong Kong of the period. (Most of the film was actually shot in Bangkok as Hong Kong of 2000 would have been unrecognizable to 1962 Hong Kong.) There\u2019s even a noir feel of dark alleys, rain and cramped spaces with covered with shadows.<\/p>\n The film\u2019s pace is slow and the scenes are more of a series of small stories that take place over a series of months and years. It\u2019s left up to us to fill in what took place in between cuts. It\u2019s also a \u201cheavy\u201d film with only a few light movements to ease the ache. The performances of Leung and Cheung are amazing and they\u2019re able to convey their true feelings to us through looks and tone rather than words. They are aided by a soundtrack of period specific Hong Kong pop tunes as well as a lot of Nat King Cole.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the trailer for the 20th anniversary restoration of the film. You can get a sense of the amazing look of the film here. You may also pick up the Vertigo influences in the way that Wong uses color and camera angles.<\/p>\n Would I put it in my top ten? Probably. I only saw In the Mood for Love for the first time back around this past Christmas, but I could instantly tell that it was a classic. I might want to rewatch it before committing to putting it in the top ten, but it\u2019s clear to me why the critics ranked it as high as they did. There aren\u2019t many on-screen love stories as painful and honest as this one.<\/p>\n 6. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Directed by Stanley Kubrick. Starring Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood.<\/p>\n