Go For the Heart'It's easy to fool the mind but it's hard to fool the heart.'
--Al Pacino
Working With Words
A weblog devoted to spurring a conversation among those who use words to varying degrees in their daily work. Hosted by John Ettorre, a Cleveland-based writer and editor. Please email me at: john.ettorre@gmail.com. "There comes a time when you realize that everything is a dream, and only those things preserved in writing have any possibility of being real." --James Salter
Thursday, February 18, 2010
About Me
- Name: John Ettorre
- Location: Cleveland, Ohio
I'm a Cleveland, Ohio-based writer, editor and writing coach, with more than 25 years of experience, including stints in Chicago and Washington, D.C. My work has appeared in more than 100 print and online publications, from the New York Times and the Christian Science Monitor to local and regional publications. My work has been recognized by awards (including an Emmy) from four journalism groups.
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11 Comments:
Oh, I don't know about that, Al. I think maybe you should stick to your script.
I gather you're not a big Pacino fan.
I don't buy it either. It sounds profound but maybe I just have a stupid, trusting heart.
The people have spoken (or at least two of them have): Al is full of it.
Oh, I respected Pacino's acting, at least early in his career. I just don't look to him for the answers to life's deep questions.
Fair enough.
Al fan weighing in: c'mon, already, critics! (and John, on a visceral level you picked a great photo, be still my time machine heart!)...
Al's quote speaks to the creation of art. Art is screen, theater, scripte, painting, writing. Take it in a broader context and see if it doesn't speak to you. Don't kill the messenger!
to paraphrase:
The heart always knows, even when the mind doesn't.
Thanks J, for sharing from a favorite. Ever see the old movie Author, Author?
script** ack.
Nice to see a fellow Pacino fan speak up. And glad that photo also spoke to you, Kim.
While Mike's certainly not alone in thinking his early stuff was much better than his most recent work, you'd have to say that that's not so much his fault as the fact that great parts just tend to be more in abundance for hot-looking young actors than older ones. While that's certainly more a factor for women than men, it does also affect male actors.
Having said that, I find him almost hypnotic to watch, even in some recent parts. While they may not have made me forget the Godfather or Dog Day Afternoon, he still tends to dominate any movie he's in. And I hope everyone has seen Heat, where for the first time he appears with his contemporary Deniro (they also both appeared in the Godfather, but never together, since Deniro was playing Pacino's father in flashbacks only). Maybe this hostility to Al is some form of writerly condescension to actors, but I think his work speaks on the screen in ways that every writer could only hope to do in their medium.
Finally, I don't think I've ever even heard of Author, Author, Kim, let alone not having seen it. But I'll make a point of looking for it now. Thanks for the tip.
Ya had to go and say DeNiro... and stop my heart again. I may be well placed, in Youngstown with my affinity for these Italian men, eh?
But truly, to me, artistic expression? for a writer to criticize an actor? Is like a painter criticizing a sculptor. We are taking the gifts we are given and crafting something else. We hope what we craft is breathtaking. In my opinion, the work of both Pacino and DeNiro are both...
I also list The Godfather as a favorite BOOK of mine, so I must mention Puzo who gave them the canvas.
Check Author, Author an obscure work of Pacino's but with... Diane Keaton... It's worth a gander.
Pacino and Deniro go together like oil and vinegar. One name always summons the other for me. And you're right--YTown is sure full of lots of dago men.
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