What I Want For Christmas

I'm beginning to think of what I might want for Christmas.

So far, I'm thinking of two esoteric items. One is a copy of De Nederlandse Opera's 2007 production of John Adams and Peter Sellar's "Dr. Atomic." For being so distant, the Nederlandse folks did an astonishingly-good job of portraying the Manhattan Project and New Mexico. As far as I know, it's the only opera that refers to Santa Clara Pueblo and the Jemez and Sangre de Cristo Mountains, all with an unforgettable nightmarish edge.

Unfortunately the part I like best isn't on YouTube, but this is OK:




The other is a copy of "Clouds of Sils Maria" the 2014 movie that I think is the best film of the century so far. To a soul, the critics misjudged it - pitched so far above their heads they can't catch it. It may be the only movie that ever really captured the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche.

Here, Maria (Juliette Binoche) grills Valentine (Kristen Stewart) about the performance of a fresh but controversial actress (played by Chloe Grace Moretz) who is about to join their theatrical project. They begin edging into Nietzsche territory....