Three Beautiful Things 02/23/14: Oscar Nominated Short Documentaries, Terry Reports on 'Bazz, Thames Television's *King Lear*

1.  I saw three remarkable documentary short movies today.  The Bijou Metro is showing the documentary short movies that were nominated for Oscars in two programs, A and B.  I went to program A.  The first was the stirring story of one-time concert pianist Alice Herz-Sommer.  In the movie, she is 109 years old, the oldest survivor of the Holocaust.  I came home and learned she died today in London at the age of 110.  The movie is entitled, "The Lady in Number 6:  Music Saved My Life".    The second movie was raw, intense, and nearly unbearable to watch.  I took it in and it shook me, rattled me, unsettled me.  It graphically detailed the Yemenese government's March, 2011 violent crack down on the unarmed protest encampment in Change Square in Sana'a.  It's entitled, "Karama Has No Walls".  The third documentary of Program A is "Facing Fear" which tells the story of how, as a young gay teenager, Matthew Boger was beaten, and left for dead, by a gang of teen-age neo-Nazis.  Matthew, by coincidence, meets a member of that gang, Tim Zaal, twenty-five years later.  A story of forgiveness unfolds.  When I went to the Bijou, I thought I'd watch both Program A and B.  I decided I needed to live with Program A for a while before I go see Program B later this week.

2.  It was fun getting text message updates from Terry who was watching the Blazers and Timberwolves at the Moda Center in Portland.  He was keeping a close eye on 'Bazz, who, surprisingly, played twenty-two minutes and scored two points!  (He hoisted eight shots, hit one, and, as always, had no assists, keeping his season total at 2.)

3.  It's kind of a creaky production, and I am having fun watching the 1974 Thames Television presentation of King Lear, with Patrick Magee playing the title role.  As always, here's what I enjoy:  I do not carry in my mind an image of what King Lear, the character, should be or how he should be played, so every performance I see gives me a fresh look, gives me another King Lear.  It's fun to see how this particular King Lear is unfolding and developing.  As it should be, it's unlike any King Lear I've ever seen before.