Charlton Heston

The Naked Jungle
$9.98
Another great Heston movie of the period. Good action and acting. I love the movie.

The Agony and the Ecstasy
$9.98
Based on Irving Stone's novel, this film gives us a somewhat fictionalized account of the professional relations between Pope Julius II and Michaelangelo. They don't make movies like this anymore. It begins with a short historical introduction, focusing on the work of the artist. Several of Michaelangelo's sculptures are featured. The extraordinary life-like detail of his statuary in marble is incredible. Even more astounding, is the fact that he carved some of these masterworks at the age of 17!

Having explored a number of museums in the past, and remembering some of the truly laughable excuses for "modern art" submitted for our perusal, I had to ask myself: How many modern "artists", in our modern age, would be capable of emulating such work? In fact, how many 17 year olds, in our time, could/would aspire to even attempt such works? Oh, how far Western art has fallen...

The story commences as Michaelangelo, primarily a sculptor, is commissioned (coerced) into the vast project of painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Disgruntled and initially un-inspired by the Pope's original concept, Michaelangelo flees Rome, and the Pope sends forth his soldiers to arrest him.

However, while hiding in the mountains, Mike finds his inspiration, and returns to his client with an even better plan for the ceiling...

Ben-Hur
$19.96
Surpassing even Cecil B. DeMille's 'Ten Commandments' in terms of spectacle, this 1959 celluloid behemoth still holds its own against such modern-day imitators as 'Gladiator.' No film since has presented the Greco-Roman world in such over-the-top spectacle. The chariot race is still compelling (even in the claustrophobic pan-and-scan VHS version), and the script combines reverent Biblical drama and polished Hollywood romance as only a film of this era could. A classic, despite (or perhaps because of) its many campy elements and rumored gay subtext.

Charlton Heston: An Incredible Life: (Revised Edition)
$6.50
I wonder if this person even bothered to proof. I've seen better work from junior high students. But first off--she needs to break the exclamation point key off the keyboard. I'm reminded of what Lewis Thomas said in his great essay "Notes on Punctuation."

"Exclamation points are the most irritating of all. Look! they say, look at what I just said! How amazing is my thought! It is like being forced to watch someone else's small child jumping up and down crazily in the center of the living room shouting to attract attention. If a sentence really has something of importance to say, something quite remarkable, it doesn't need a mark to point it out. And if it is really, after all, a banal sentence needing more zing, the exclamation point simply emphasizes its banality!"

From The Medusa and the Snail: More Notes of a Biology Watcher (1979:103-6).