“The film of the year”? – “The film of the year”? – Well, obviously, we had to run this one! – Rebecca Cope, in Harpers Bazaar, on Kill Your Darlings.
Kill Your Darlings “buzz” continues to roll on, full pace. Here’s Timothy M Gray, in Variety:“The chief lure of “Darlings” for mainstream audiences and kudos voters will be word of mouth about (Daniel) Radcliffe’s breakthrough performance (as Allen Ginsberg), though the film has many other assets…Radcliffe said he’s dissimilar to Ginsberg, but added, “We are both intensely curious and have a love of poetry.” He said that he liked Ginsberg’s most famous poem, “Howl,” and other works, but noted his favorite is “Kaddish,” in which the writer mourns the 1956 death of his mother.”
Michael C Hall (who plays the character of David Kammerer in the movie) has been talking about the project too.
The cast and director can also be seen here.
More (early, pre-general-release) reviews? – Well, not everyone is shouting from the rooftops. Here’s Bill Weber in Slant magazine with a less-than-enthusiastic survey/analysis
And not forgetting Bob Rosenthal‘s dissenting opinion here.
2013, the year of the Beat movies – not only On The Road and Kill Your Darlings, but Big Sur. A (second) trailer for that film was released just this past week.
Speaking of Kerouac, did everybody see the patently-ridiculous dyspeptic review of his Collected Poems published by Bruce Bawer in The New Criterion (sic)?
The Herbert Huncke biography we noted a few weeks back is reviewed by Troy Pozirekides in Boston’s Arts Fuse – here – “(In) over 400 well-researched pages”, he writes, “she provides a captivating look into a man who, by embodying the seedy underbelly of New York, evoked “beatness” to a tee”.
Timothy Leary‘s papers go on public display at the New York Public Library.
Two interesting items from the UK – Iain Sinclair‘s eagerly-anticipated latest (which he insists – and quite accurately – is not “a Beat book” – but still pretty pertinent) – American Smoke: Journeys To The End of the Light Musings on Olson Snyder, Kerouac, and others. It will be out on November 7.
An illuminating interview by Kevin Ring with the author is availablehere
And the “lost” English “Beat (“Beatnik”) poet, Royston Ellis, has been re-discovered and handsomely re-issued, via Miriam Linna’s “hip pocket paperback” imprint, Kicks Books.
Gone Man Squareda new collection includes the full texts of Ellis’ first two books of poetry,Jiving To Gyp (1959) and Rave (1960), along with select early writings, many of them previously unpublished. It was Ellis (John Lennon‘s “Beat” connection) who smartly suggested that the Beatles call themselves “The Beatles” not “The Beetles” (sic). He was subsequently one of the key inspirations for their classic, “Paperback Writer”. From 1966 to 1980 he lived in Dominica, and, since 1980, has settled and become a permanent resident in Sri Lanka. Author of over sixty published books (guides, novels, biographies and books of poetry), he’s lived a pretty interesting life.
Also from Kicks Books, upcoming, Benzedrine Highway – Poems 1959-1969 by the legendary Charles Plymell(with an introduction by Allen). More on that in the weeks to come.