It's odd but I didn't really "hear" Santaolla's music during my three exposures to the film. You may have heard the old saying is that the best scores are almost unnoticable because the music blends so well with what's happening on-screen. I suppose this is proof of that theory, although my favorite scores have mostly tended to be ones that leap out and call attention to themselves.

In any event, Santaolla's score kicked in during a radio interview with Innaritu that I happened to be listening to last week on KCRW (89.9). Around halfway during the talk the host played a piece of Gustavo's score. Innaritu had brought it to the studio himself on digital tape. And I suddenly found myself waking up to it.

Santaolla is an old friend of Innaritu's from Mexico City. He composed the music for Innaritu's AMORES PERROS ('00) as well as his short film called "Mexico" that was part of the World Trade Center disaster compilation piece called 11'09'01.

Best Evocations

This has been a big JFK week on the tube. All kinds of documentaries and tributes have been airing in recognition of the 40th anniversary of his murder, which arrives tomorrow -- Saturday, November 22nd. It's all a ratings gambit, of course, but it gets to you anyway. Long-dormant emotions seeping back into our systems, and at times pouring in like a flash flood.

It's odd, but they haven't shown the finest televised Kennedy memorial tribute -- certainly the saddest and most personal. It ran 15 years ago on PBS, on the occasion of the assassination's 25th anniversary. It was all head shots -- news people and Kennedy confidantes recalling what they were doing and feeling over those four dark days, without any cutaways to footage of any kind.

And then at the very end it did cut to footage -- those uplifting romantic images we've all seen time and again, full of spirit and smiles, and yet delivered with a certain restraint due to a delicate, dignified musical score. It was the documentary maker's decision to hold back on the emotion until the very end that made the difference.

Watching this week's docs (I've seen three) has reminded me of the undiminished magnetism that tapes, newsreels and voice-recordings of Kennedy still have, especially when you compare them to movies about Kennedy's life, like THIRTEEN DAYS or the various Kennedy biopics on TV (the best being THE MISSILES OF OCTOBER), or even Oliver Stone's JFK, an expanded "director's cut" of which has just been issued on DVD.

These films are okay (or better than okay) for their own purposes, but they really don't cut it as evocations of the mystique. They're vaguely irritating; you want to wave them away on some level. There's no shaking the fact that the JFK portrayals/impersonations by Bruce Greenwood, William Devane, Martin Sheen, et. al. are piss poor. The Real McCoy had a quality these guys can't get close to.

Even in Stone's melodrama, which doesn't have an actor playing Kennedy, there's a curious sense that the Presidential slaying that weighs so heavily upon Kevin Costner's Jim Garrison isn't about the real Kennedy murder, but some kind of replication.

Kennedy's voice was magnificent. What a salesman...a speaking style and cultured aura that cut through the air like some kind of linguistic sword, ripe and crisp and tonally electric. From a pure presentation perspective, the man was a class act.

I started poking around the web a couple of nights ago and found these sound clips. (Clip 1 - 344K Real Media) (Clip 2 - 4 MB Windows Media) (Clip 3 - 973K Windows Media) It's not just the timbre of the voice or the style of delivery that affects people, but the intimations of the character behind them.

Two nights ago I watched George W. Bush speak at a state dinner thrown for him at Buckingham Palace. Awful things happen to the English language when Bush opens his mouth. His slip-shod, slurry-voiced speaking style seems to personify everything provincial and blinkered about today's hunkered-down, flag-waving Americans, just as Kennedy's speeches seemed to connote a better educated and more forward-looking nation -- "seemed" being the operative term, of course.

The 40th anniversary docs are using a lot of the same footage, and we all know how familiarity has a way of shutting down our senses. Partly because of these saturation levels, it's interesting to note that Errol Morris' THE FOG OF WAR, (Sony Classics, Dec. 19), a brilliant look at the life and career of Robert S. MacNamara, delivers the single most poignant Kennedy "moment" of all.

It comes as MacNamara recalls how he was first told about Kennedy's shooting (i.e., by Attorney General Robert Kennedy, over the phone). We hear him speak in voice-over as Morris shows us silent, slowed-down color footage of Kennedy sitting at a desk, apparently waiting to give a speech and not saying or doing anything. Not motionless, but far from animated.

Hearing MacNamara speak of Kennedy's death while Kennedy is shown just sitting there has a haunting effect. It's as if he's sensing on some level that things will soon come to an end, and he's being quietly brave or stoic about it. It's like you can see a hint of resignation, or a kind of fatalism (which he always had inside him, according to friends).

"It's very evocative," says FOG OF WAR associate producer Anne Petrone, who helped Morris locate this fascinating out-take among the UCLA archives. "It looks like he's fading from life."

Petrone, the archives research supervisor on THE FOG OF WAR, says that Morris "always looks for the outtakes. That's when the most interesting things seem to happen...they provide almost a window into the private vs. public persona."

Morris "loved this [Kennedy] footage so much, she says, that he paid a premium to do "a high-definition video transfer of the original footage" in order to make it look as good as possible.

It's interesting on another level that THE FOG OF WAR's most touching emotional moment comes when MacNamara talks about how he helped select Kennedy's final resting place at Arlington National Cemetery.

MacNamara maintains his composure when he talks about 25,000 men who died under his tenure as Defense Secretary during the Kennedy and Johnson adminstrations. Nor does he seem deeply affected when he talks about the 100,000 Tokyo residents who were burned to death in a single evening after U.S. planes fire-bombed that city near the end of World War II, an action he says he advised Air Force Colonel Curtis LeMay to do.

But he chokes up when he talks about Kennedy. Emotions are not proportional.

I'm reading that a Kennedy doc worth seeing is "Unrivalled Access: The JFK Films by Robert Drew" (History Channel, Saturday at 8:30am). It apparently consists of four films: PRIMARY, CRISIS, ADVENTURES IN THE NEW FRONTIER and FACES OF NOVEMBER. A reader tells me all but the third are now out on DVD as well.

Long Buried

I'm not feeling ardent about this, but with all the attention paid to the Kennedy assassination all these years you'd think that the two B movies that Lee Oswald was starting to watch at the Texas theatre just before he was arrested by Dallas detectives would be viewable on video or DVD. As curios, at least. I'm presuming neither is any good, but they're semi-important historically.

This is why you have to read my column. Nobody gives a shit about this stuff except me. Can you imagine David Poland writing about the whereabouts of CRY OF BATTLE with Van Heflin? Or the other film playing that day, WAR IS HELL?

I don't know which film was playing when Oswald, breathless from running around after having (allegedly) shot to death Officer J.D. Tippit, bought a ticket at the Texas theatre box-office and sat down in the middle of the orchestra section. One account says it was CRY OF BATTLE. I read somewhere else it was WAR IS HELL. Does anyone know?

Directed and written by Burt Topper, WAR IS HELL was released on 10.23.63. It's such an obscure, under-the-radar film the IMDB doesn't even carry a capsule synopsis. I think it takes place in Korea, but don't quote me. It has a no-star cast, or at least one that appears to qualify as such. Baynes Burton, Bobby Byles, Wally Campo...has anyone ever heard of these guys? Topper gave himself a role as "Lt. Hallen."

Topper was strictly a B-level helmer. His other credits include WAR HERO, TANK SQUAD , DIARY OF A TEENAGE BRIDE and SPACE PROBE TAURUS. Topper is 86 years old and, according to the IMDB, still kicking.

To judge by the cast, CRY OF BATTLE, which was released on 10.9.63, is seemingly the higher-grade of the two. It costars Heflin, Rita Moreno and James MacArthur (the son of Helen Hayes).

It's set during World War II, and is about "the spoiled son of a wealthy businessman" -- this has to be MacArthur -- "who grows up and becomes a regular guy after he finds himself involved in the Phillipine guerrilla movement fighting against the Japanese," yaddah yaddah. I guess Rita Moreno played his Phillipine love interest.

BATTLE was apparently released on VHS by Prism Entertainment in '94, but it's nowhere to be found now.

L.A. Afterglow

"I wanted to pass on a Happy Holidays greeting this year in appreciation for the fine work you do in your column, and am sending it early in anticipation of the DVD release of TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A., which is slated for 12.2, and I was wondering about your take on it. It was THE FRENCH CONNECTION lifted and dropped into L.A., but it had an edge and style and drive all its own.

"I always liked it, thought Friedkin had recaptured some kind of energy, and am looking forward to the DVD. Just typing his name reminds me of seeing SORCERER when it first came out. He had the power then to insist that an overture of Tangerine Dream music be played for about ten minutes prior to the start of the film. That made for some weird vibes in the downtown Chicago theatre I saw it in." -- Joe Hanrahan

Wells to Hanrahan: The first time I saw TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A., I was somewhere between so-so and moderately positive about it. The second time I liked it better. The third time I liked it even more. After seeing it the fourth time, which was on late-night cable two or three years ago, I began to realize it was much, much better than I'd given it credit for earlier. I can't wait for the fifth time with the DVD.

"Cops with morally questionable or conflicted agendas go back at least as far as Kirk Douglas's detective in William Wyler's DETECTIVE STORY (1951), but it was still striking when LIVE AND DIE confronted the audience with a major cop character (William Petersen's) who's as ruthless any fiendish criminal mastermind and a bit of an out-and-out shit on a personal level.

"Willem Dafoe's extremely shrewd and intelligent villain -- a big-time counterfeiter named Eric Masters -- is among his best-ever performances. Willam Pankow, John Turturo and Dean Stockwell are also vivid and well wrought. And I love the soundtrack score by Wang Chung.

"The DVD will feature commentary by director William Friedkin, include deleted scenes and alternate endings, and a documentary called "Counterfeit World: The Making of TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A.. I'd love to get hold of an advance copy and review it, but the publicist for MGM/ UA Home Video doesn't like me (the feelings are mutual and for good reasons), so I guess I'll just buy a copy when it comes out.

By the way...

"I saw that Joe Hanrahan sent you an e-mail about Paul Newman. I know Joe and wanted to let you know that Joe is a wonderful actor/director/writer. He performs frequently in productions here in St. Louis but should be in films. He's never pursued it, I think because he's always had big corporate jobs. Love your thinking and writing!" -- Jeff Tompkins, St. Louis.

Wells to Tompkins: Thanks. Best to you & Joe.

Ho-Ho-Ho....Blacch!

"I've seen BAD SANTA and absolutely loved it! It immediately jumps up to my 2nd favorite Christmas flick behind A CHRISTMAS STORY. This is the kind of comedy I love, one that does not fear to go down the road of true bad taste, instead of taking the safe Farrelly Brothers road of farts and kicked-in-the-nuts humor. A drunk Billy Bob wearing a Santa costume and swearing at little kids is exactly what this stuck-up holiday needs.

"But to me, those Disney execs bad-mouthing it seemed like drummed-up publicity. How could they not know what they were getting into? None of them read the script? Nobody knew director Terry Zwigoff's work? Nobody noticed the title was BAD SANTA?! Bullshit. It seems like they're saying; 'This film is so sick that Disney hates it -- now you have to see it for yourself!'" -- Ross Williams .

Wells to Williams: You liked BAD SANTA and...choke...A CHRISTMAS STORY? Is that reasonable? Bob Clark, the director of TURK 182, was one of the most cloying and icky-fingered hacks of all time. That narration in CHRISTMAS STORY...well, I'd rather not think about it. But c'mon...

"Please give Disney a message for me regarding their complaints about BAD SANTA: 'Shut up and get back to work on whatever worthless, straight-to-video sequel you're trying to dupe people into watching.' Thank you." -- Jacob.

"I enjoyed your take on BAD SANTA, which I've been reluctant to see since hearing Dimension took it away from Zwigoff (not just in post, but by hiring someone else to do re-shoots). But for the record, the lovely Ms. Lauren Graham, whom I adore, is very much in her mid 30s, not her mid 20s. And I do share your fondness for Bolognese sauce and MASTER & COMMANDER, and appreciate your support of both causes." -- Paul Dykstra.

"I read the BAD SANTA script about a year and a half ago and it was and still is the funniest script I have read. Credit on the title page was given first to the Coens, and then Glenn Ficarra and John Requa and Terry Zwigoff, so the Coens definitely wrote a draft. I have been looking forward to the movie ever since I read the script and have told everyone I know how funny it's going to be." -- Joshua Levine.

"I found it odd that you described Lauren Graham's character in BAD SANTA as the 'token Zwigoff fantasy female' when Zwigoff has only made one other dramatic feature, and the women in that one were too flawed and complex to even remotely warrant the tag of fantasy figures (well, Ileana Douglas and Teri Garr's characters in GHOST WORLD were fantasy figures of sorts, but not the kind you're talking about).

"I'm not saying Graham's SANTA character was realistic -- nothing in the movie was, and that was the point of it -- but I think it's awfully unfair to characterize him as a filmmaker who doesn't do right by women." -- Andrew Johnston, president of New York Film Critics Society.

Wells to Johnston: Zwigoff has done fairly well by his female characters so far, but I could feel a little fantasy thing going when he arranged for Thora Birch to get naked and do the nasty with Steve Buscemi -- his stand-in figure -- in GHOST WORLD. Even if she only fucked him once. Billy Bob is his stand-in in SANTA, kind of, and I felt the same thing was kind of going on when "Santa" started doing Graham's character.

Commander and Julie Richter

"This is in response to Julie Richter's taking you to task for suggesting that women might not be into seeing MASTER AND COMMANDER.

"She's right in one respect -- there are definitely women who will dig this movie the same as there are guys who enjoy 'sensitive' movies. (I myself for some reason really like A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT.) But the vast majority of women will not like this movie in the same way a majority of men have never liked like FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL, even though we probably shouldn't make blanket assumptions.

"However, I, speaking as an individual, can also make the assumption that most women can only piss sitting down. I'm sure I could find some who can do it standing up, but the majority would have to squat. I am glad, in any event, that Julie enjoyed MASTER AND COMMANDER, but I'd like to know how many other women were in that theater with her." -- Shawn Mangrum

Wells to Richter: Julie...you wanna jump in here?

Richter to Mangrum: "I saw the movie last Friday and Saturday nights. I went with a close female friend Friday night, and Saturday I went alone. And I'm happy to report that the theater was packed both nights, with mostly people age 30 and above. And I did try to observe the make-up of the crowd. My estimate is that it was about 60 % male and 40 % female. And in a recent interview, Russell Crowe stated that about 40 % of O'Brian's readers are females. So I guess the movie audiences I observed would corroborate his figure.

"Most lovely of all, the person sitting next to me on Saturday night was also alone, and she was a quintessential "little old lady," at least 80 years old. As the credits rolled, and I asked her what she'd thought, her verdict was that it was 'brilliant, an amazing movie. So there you go."

Wells Postscript: A Fox publicist informs me last weekend's audience was 48% female, according to exit polls.

Hud, Bolognese, etc.

"Hud was a man, and a movie of the times he lived and drank beer in. He was an old-fashioned cowboy who couldn't change. Science and law had eclipsed him. His father and his nephew left Hud antiquated and isolated on the ranch. Hud drove a Cadillac convertible. If HUD were made today, he'd go out rip-roarin' on a Hummer, fueled by American soldiers' blood.

"Wells, where is this generation's Martin Ritt?

"Why is there no Bolognese sauce? Because the average doofus only responds to 'meat sauce' on limited shelf space. I searched the 'net and also found a paucity of Bolognese. Amazon foods carries only a vegetarian Bolognese, which is a bit of a contradiction. You might try looking in a store akin to Bristol Farms.

"I suggest you get Marcella Hazan's cookbook out of the library, and whip yourself up a batch to be held in discrete aliquots of small, freezable containers. Only a gastronomic philistine eats Bolognese with spaghetti. Get a good fusili, rigatoni or conchiglie -- a pasta with corkscrews, ridges or concaves to more efficiently transport meat particles from plate to mouth.

"I'll see the Terry Zwigoff movie on your recommendation, although I'm a bit of a Christmas traditionalist. CRUMB is my absolute favorite documentary. Somehow I feel a kinship with Charles Crumb, the wiseacre psychotic. GHOST WORLD was close to wonderful also." -- Arizona Joe

Wells to Arizona Joe: I haven't yet reached that stage of spiritual maturity at which I'll be able to read recipes and carefully prepare dishes according to their instructions. I've made sauces from powder and milk and butter, and I make great garlic mashed potatoes, but that's as far as I go.

Apology

I used the term "drilled' instead of "killed" in referring to Aileen Wournos's shooting of seven victims during her serial-killing crime spree. I didn't mean to sound facile about the deaths of these men. I'm always trying to avoid using too-common verbs and I have a thing about using a certain street patois, but sometimes this comes out wrong. I've changed the copy, in any case.

A guy wrote and convinced me of the insensitivity of using the term "drilled." He did the right thing in doing this. He also said he doesn't want to hear my political views. Gee, that's too bad. He can go elsewhere if he wants, because it's all one big kettle -- movies, politics, life in America, etc. -- and you can't remove this or that ingredient. He was responding to something I wrote about two movies, in any case -- UNCOVERED: THE TRUTH ABOUT THE WAR IN IRAQ and THE BRAVADOS.