Seen It, Seen It, Haven't Seen It

I just read at least a majority of David Thomson's Have You Seen...?, a book comprised of 1000 one-page essays on 1000 films, most of which he likes.

Thomson has a lot of odd views, but interesting things to say. The biggest problem with the book is he too often drops in his political views (which are too often tiresome), even when they don't fit. He also regularly brings up gay issues. They obviously mean a lot to him--more than they probably did to the people who made the films. Here he is on Fred Astaire in Top Hat:

In the movies, sex was class--that's what made Gable a king. Whereas Fred was odd. I think he knew it and worried over it--which is not the same as knowing he was gay. He surely knew that that part of him would never get expressed. Yet knowledge seldom kills desire.

I'm not sure what the point of this expostulation is.

By the way, page 106:

Blade Runner was not nominated in the year Gandhi won Best Picture. That is the only mention of Gandhi in this book.

Page 906:

I'm imagining how the headline, or something close to it, must have run: Gandhi beats Tootsie--and it gives an ominous warning of Hollywood in the 1980s.

Ha!