Born on this day – William Cullen Bryant:

William Cullen Bryant

Writer

November 3, 1794 – June 12, 1878

Credits:

Poems:

A Forest Hymn; A Meditation on Rhode Island Coal; A Song of Pitcairn's Island; A Summer Ramble; A Walk at Sunset; A Winter Piece; After a Tempest; An Indian at the Burial-place of his Fathers; An Indian Story; Autumn Woods; Blessed are they that Mourn; Green River; Hymn of the City; Hymn of the Waldenses; Hymn to Death; Hymn to the North Star; I broke the spell that held me long; I cannot forget with what fervid devotion; Innocent child and snow-white flower; Inscription for the Entrance to a Wood; June; Lines on Revisiting the Country; March; Monument Mountain; No Man knoweth his Sepulchre; Ode for an Agricultural Celebration; Oh fairest of the rural maids; Rizpah; Romero; Scene on the Banks of the Hudson; Song of Marion's Men; Song of the Greek Amazon; Song of the Stars; Song.—Soon as the glazed and gleaming snow; Song—Dost thou idly ask to hear; Sonnet.—Midsummer; Sonnet.—Mutation; Sonnet.—November; Sonnet.—October; Sonnet.—To Cole, the Painter, departing for Europe; Sonnet.—William Tell; Spring in Town; Summer Wind; Thanatopsis; The African Chief; The Ages; The Arctic Lover; The Burial-place. A Fragment; The Conjunction of Jupiter and Venus; The Damsel of Peru; The Death of the Flowers; The Disinterred Warrior; The Evening Wind; The Gladness of Nature; The Greek Boy; The Greek Partisan; The Hunter's Serenade; The Hurricane; The Indian Girl's Lament; The Journey of Life; The Lapse of Time; The Massacre at Scio; The Murdered Traveller; The New Moon; The Old Man's Funeral; The Past; The Prairies; The Rivulet; The Skies; The Twenty-second of December; The Two Graves; The West Wind; The Yellow Violet; To a Cloud; To a Musquito; To a Waterfowl; To the fringed Gentian; To the River Arve; Upon the mountain's distant head; When the firmament quivers with daylight's young beam.

Author humor:

Geraldine Brooks, on writing:

I swim in a sea of words.

They flow around me and through me and, by a process that is not fully clear to me, some delicate hidden membrane draws forth the stuff that is the necessary condition of my life.

– Geraldine Brooks.

On this day in the Star Trek universe:

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1991)

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Season 5. Episode 7.

Episode entitled: Unification I.

Released November 2, 1991.

Directed by Les Landau.

Written by Jeri Taylor, Rick Berman, Michael Piller, Brannon Braga, René Echevarria.

Created by Gene Roddenberry.

Music by Dennis McCarthy.

Cast: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, Leonard Nimoy, Joanna Miles, Stephen Root, Graham Jarvis, Malachi Throne, Norman Large, Daniel Roebuck, Erick Avari, Karen Hensel, Mark Lenard, Mimi Cozzens, Majel Barrett, Rachen Assapiomonwait, Carla Beachcomber, Michael Braveheart, Errol Bryand, Tracee Cocco, Gerard David Jr., Debbie David, Carmen Emeterio, Linda Harcharic, Christi Haydon, Alex Landi, Mark Lentry, Joyce Robinson, Guy Vardaman.

Jacob’s Ladder (1990) – A nightmarish final struggle (movie & screenplay):

Jacob’s Ladder (1990)

A nightmarish final struggle

 

Jacob’s Ladder (1990), directed by Adrian Lyne, released in the United States on November 2, 1990, and based on the screenplay by Bruce Joel Rubin, is a rarity of the genre: an intelligent horror story.

Jacob Singer (Tim Robbins) is a traumatized Vietnam veteran.

He works for the Post Office, and shares a cramped apartment with his girlfriend and co-worker, Jezebel (Elizabeth Peña), in a dilapidated block in Brooklyn, New York, during the 1970s.

Suffering from PTSD, Jacob is haunted by flashbacks from his time in the war, his pain compounded by the grief of losing his son in an accident.

His waking hours are invaded by bizarre and terrifying hallucinations of a locked underground subway station, and demons that stalk him wherever he goes.

He has disorientating periods when he awakes to find himself in an alternate reality where he is still married to his wife, Sarah (Patricia Kalember).

In these sections, his son Gabe (Macaulay Culkin) is still alive.

Jacob attempts to discover the truth about his condition and uncovers a conspiracy involving a failed drug experiment.

The title: Jacob’s Ladder, is a Biblical reference, from Genesis 28:10-21, in which a spiritual staircase, flanked by angels, provides a bridge between Heaven and Earth.

In the latter part of the movie, the chemist, Michael Newman (Matt Craven), describes the enhanced drug as: The Ladder.

Afflicted with back pain, Jacob visits his Chiropractor, Louis (Danny Aiello).

Louis is also his friend and confidante.

When Jacob confides his hallucinations, Louis offers solace and reassurance by quoting the 14th-century German theologian and philosopher, Meister Eckhart:

LOUIS:

Eckhart saw Hell, too. You know what he said? He said: ‘The only thing that burns in Hell, is the part of you that won't let go of your life, your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they're not punishing you,’ he said. ‘They're freeing your soul’ … So, the way he sees it: ‘if you're frightened of dying and – and you're holding on, you'll see devils tearing your life away. But, if you've made your peace, then the devils are really angels, freeing you from the earth.’ It’s just a matter of how you look at it, that’s all.

Bruce Joel Rubin’s screenplay, available in paperback, is an essential read for anyone who appreciates the movie.

It provides a wealth of insight and background information on the development of the story, including the inspiration and meaning behind some of the movie’s most stunning and disturbing images, particularly the visions of the “vibrating” men Jacob glimpses.

The book includes deleted scenes, with reasons why they didn’t make the final cut of the movie.

The acting is understated and flawless.

The strong supporting cast includes excellent character actors: Jason Alexander, John Capodice, Matt Craven, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Eriq La Salle, Ving Rhames, Brian Tarantina, Anthony Alessandro, Brent Hinkley, S. Epatha Merkerson, and John Patrick McLaughlin.

Adrian Lyne, like Ridley Scott, knows how to use light to powerful and atmospheric effect.

Maurice Jarre’s soundtrack sets a melancholic and haunting tone.

So many movies rely too heavily on the jump-shock moment to compensate for lack of plot, or character development.

Jacob’s Ladder doesn’t make that mistake.

The script and plot structure have been carefully thought out.

Jacob Singer is the main character, but in no way heroic.

We feel Jacob’s pain, bewilderment, and terror.

He fights when he has to, particularly in the scene where he is abducted from the street and forcibly strong-armed into the back of a car.

Jacob’s demeanor is, for the most part, quiet, friendly and affable, making his mounting fear and vulnerability more believable.

The quieter sections of the story are emotionally involving enough to make the moments of jarring horror nightmarish and chilling, with a final reveal that is both subtle and moving.

Jacob’s Ladder succeeds on many levels: as part war story, tragedy, drama, horror, mystery, hallucinatory nightmare, and theological thriller, giving the viewer much to think about and discuss.

It’s a disquieting and unforgettable experience that improves with repeat viewings, compelling the viewer to examine reality, existence, and the question of what comes after.

Life is fleeting.

Death is a certainty.

One day, we all have to climb that spiritual ladder.

Ascend … or descend?

Heaven … or Hell?

Which direction and destination will be yours?

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Recommended reading:

Jacob's Ladder

By Bruce Joel Rubin.

Published 2000.

Published by Applause Books.

ISBN-10: 155783086X

ISBN-13: 978-1557830869

Back cover description:

From the director of Fatal Attraction…

and the writer of Ghost…

Jacob’s Ladder.

Written by Bruce Joel Rubin.

An Adrian Lyne Film.

From Carolco Picture.

Produced by Alan Marshall.

Directed by Adrian Lyne.

With over 100 photographs from the film.

“… the screenplay moves from the nightmarish to the visionary … page for page, it is one of the very few screenplays I’ve read with the power to consistently raise hackles in broad daylight … Read it. It’s extraordinary.” – American Film.

“… one of the most original and powerful screenplays to be seen in Hollywood in years … One feels in the hands of a benevolent and sophisticated teller.” – Cinefantastique.

“… a humanistic thriller that hits like a thunderbolt.” – Fangoria.

The complete final shooting script in professional screenwriter’s format together with an annotated appendix of deleted scenes.

Jacob’s Chronicle, Bruce Joel Rubin’s book-length account of Jacob’s odyssey to the screen.

Applause screenplay series.

On this day in television history - Murphy’s Law (1988 - 1989):

Murphy’s Law

created by Lee David Zlotoff,

based on the Trace and Digger series of novels by Warren Murphy,

was released in the United States on November 2, 1988 and ran for one season until March 18, 1989.
Theme music by Steve Kipner.

Cast:

George Segal, Maggie Han, Josh Mostel, Sarah Sawatsky, Charles Rocket, Kim Lankford, Walter Marsh, Lynne Randall, Julia Sweeney, Elizabeth Savage, Robert Thurston, Valerie Mahaffey, Christine Belford, Carolyn Seymour, Patrick Macnee, Clyde Kusatsu, David Spielberg, Linda Darlow, Leslie Carlson, Gerard Christopher, Andi Matheny, Bill Morey, Robert Thurston, Alan Robertson, Steve Peterson, Joan Severance, Will Estes, Reni Santoni, Judy Landers, Jennifer Hetrick, Norman Fell, Garwin Sanford, John Standing, Jack Bannon, Bruce Gray, Richard Foronjy, Ronnie Claire Edwards, Jeffrey Byron, Ken Swofford, Joseph Cali, David Byrd, Marvin Kaplan, Tom O'Rourke, Diana Bellamy, Robin Mossley, Richard Roat, Jerry Potter, Sheelah Megill, Jano Frandsen, Nancy Isaak, Brian Knox McGugan, A.J. Freeman, Serge Houde, Frank Slaten.

On this day in movie history - Paris, Texas (1984):

Paris, Texas

directed by Wim Wenders,

written by L. M. Kit Carson and Sam Shepard,

was released in the United States on November 2, 1984.
Music by Ry Cooder.

Cast:

Harry Dean Stanton, Sam Berry, Bernhard Wicki, Dean Stockwell, Aurore Clément, Claresie Mobley, Hunter Carson, Viva Auder, Socorro Valdez, Edward Fayton, Justin Hogg, Nastassja Kinski, Tom Farrell, John Lurie, Jeni Vici, Sally Norvell, Sharon Menzel, The Mydolls, Brandy Tipton.