During the Q&A following a lecture by film critic Pauline Kael which I attended years and years ago, I asked Ms. Kael what she thought about the trend that had taken hold at that time of filmmakers re-editing their released films.  She replied with a question-approving look on her face that she hadn’t decided.

I read an article the other day about Francis Ford Coppola’s second re-editing of ‘Apocalypse Now’ called ‘Apocalypse Now: Final Cut’, due out next week.  In a promotional lecture/interview mentioned in the piece, he says:

“In film-making and in life, extraordinary things happen to you, and it’s up to you to make them be positive.  Because the good news is that there is no hell, and the quasi-good news is that this is heaven.”

I recently ran across a favorite greeting card, with this wonderful illustration on the outside.  Inside, it says: ‘Listen to your instincts.’

I have never been able to make the picture and the sentiment match.  I think Coppola’s might work better.

Minus the ‘heaven’ part…