For all my affectations of trying to read many of the classic novels, historical and biographical books, enjoying a wide range of all music and of course classic movies I was raised a country kid.
I grew up in a small town, we went to the car races all summer long, and when I was a 12 year old boy and went with a friends family to the drive in ( another thing long gone from the landscape) to see this movie it was a highlight.
I loved this movie. As a twelve year old it had a cool star, fast cars, a Trans Am no less and enough cursing to be be considered cool. Later we would watch Porky's and feel the same but for now the Trans Am was a huge star, one that young boys would fall in love with.
Now I should admit that I also in this time frame or soon thereafter found The Dukes of Hazzard to be a great show too. That show too featured cars and racing as well as those Daisy Dukes.
With the Dukes still on CMT I got a chance to watch this the other day. It does not age well. I do not feel any affection for it. It is awful to watch.
However catching Smokey and the Bandit on cable a week or so ago I have to admit a stunning fact. I love this movie. It is a good story. It is not illuminating in any way. It does not teach or moralize. But it is funny.
Perhaps the best thing about the movie is Jackie Gleason. He was an underrated actor and in this role as Sheriff Buford T Pusser he lays it on thick. It works. Burt Reynolds underrated in many of his roles plays his part well and certainly not in an understated way. Sally Fields and Jerry Lee Lewis were also good.
Some movies just work. This movie is a snapshot of redneck culture in the mid seventies. Good, bad or indifferent it works. It still does.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Bat Out of Hell by Meatloaf
Driving the other night the local station, Stephen King's channel, played the title track from this seminal Meatloaf album.
This song ages well. Overdone,overblown, over dramatic all of these adjectives fit this song. Yet it still works.
Driving down a dark street on a cold winter night hearing this epic song was a treat. Sometimes a song just is in the right spot in your life.
Last Saturday night this song had me singing to myself going down the road. That does not happen often enough.
This song ages well. Overdone,overblown, over dramatic all of these adjectives fit this song. Yet it still works.
Driving down a dark street on a cold winter night hearing this epic song was a treat. Sometimes a song just is in the right spot in your life.
Last Saturday night this song had me singing to myself going down the road. That does not happen often enough.
The Betrayal of Local 14 by Julius Getman
Julius Getman a professor out of Austin Texas is a well respected labor law specialist. There is not doubt where this man comes down on the issue clearly siding with organized labor.
In conversations with friends in our " solving all the worlds problems lunches" in talking about the Reagan legacy I have often said the domestically perhaps the most long lasting policy he pursued was when he fired the Air Traffic Controllers. This was the beginning of a long steep decline in organized labor and it's influence.
In 1987 International Paper was sending signals that the upcoming negotiations with UPIU Local 14 in Jay, Maine were going to be contentious. It became soon apparent that the plan was to break the union or to gain concessions so deep that the effect would be the same.
This book tells the story of the year and half long strike. It tells the tale of a small Maine mill town torn apart. We learn about strikebreakers, the politics of a strike, the different parts to play and sometimes different agenda's of the international union and the local union leadership.
At different times in our lives we may feel differently about situations which we come across. I remember as a man in my early twenties during this strike and struggling to get on my feet not understanding why these men were striking. Of course I had a strong memory of my Dad and his position on such matters.
At this time in my life having long ago since come to the conclusion that 99.9 percent of for profit companies in this country have no morals and no soul I would never consider scabbing.
In the book Getman while he sides with the strikers is for the most part sympathetic to the replacement workers. Understanding that many of them are pawns in something bigger than they are that they cannot comprehend is something he does well.
When I say I would never scab I believe it but I also learned long ago one should never say never as one never knows until one walks in ones shoes.
The one thing that is clear to me is there is one evil in this story. That evil is International Paper.
They are not alone, search a website for who has fair and moral labor policies. The list will be short.
This book probably will not appeal to those on one side of the spectrum but with an open mind it is a book they should read.
An eye opening book. You will feel like you know the people we hear about. If you look hard enough around you you might know someone just like them.
In conversations with friends in our " solving all the worlds problems lunches" in talking about the Reagan legacy I have often said the domestically perhaps the most long lasting policy he pursued was when he fired the Air Traffic Controllers. This was the beginning of a long steep decline in organized labor and it's influence.
In 1987 International Paper was sending signals that the upcoming negotiations with UPIU Local 14 in Jay, Maine were going to be contentious. It became soon apparent that the plan was to break the union or to gain concessions so deep that the effect would be the same.
This book tells the story of the year and half long strike. It tells the tale of a small Maine mill town torn apart. We learn about strikebreakers, the politics of a strike, the different parts to play and sometimes different agenda's of the international union and the local union leadership.
At different times in our lives we may feel differently about situations which we come across. I remember as a man in my early twenties during this strike and struggling to get on my feet not understanding why these men were striking. Of course I had a strong memory of my Dad and his position on such matters.
At this time in my life having long ago since come to the conclusion that 99.9 percent of for profit companies in this country have no morals and no soul I would never consider scabbing.
In the book Getman while he sides with the strikers is for the most part sympathetic to the replacement workers. Understanding that many of them are pawns in something bigger than they are that they cannot comprehend is something he does well.
When I say I would never scab I believe it but I also learned long ago one should never say never as one never knows until one walks in ones shoes.
The one thing that is clear to me is there is one evil in this story. That evil is International Paper.
They are not alone, search a website for who has fair and moral labor policies. The list will be short.
This book probably will not appeal to those on one side of the spectrum but with an open mind it is a book they should read.
An eye opening book. You will feel like you know the people we hear about. If you look hard enough around you you might know someone just like them.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Citizen Kane
Consistently rated as the greatest movie of all time I was anxious to watch this movie. Orson Welles playing a newspaper magnate modeled after publisher William Hearst.
The movie is told in flashbacks where a reporter after his death is researching what was the significance of his last word " Rosebud"
The movie was good. It was interesting. Orson Welles was magnificent.
Perhaps its me, maybe it is just not my type of movie. But greatest movie of all time. I have seen many many movies I enjoyed more.
This was good but overrated. Watch it but do not expect the greatest movie ever.
The movie is told in flashbacks where a reporter after his death is researching what was the significance of his last word " Rosebud"
The movie was good. It was interesting. Orson Welles was magnificent.
Perhaps its me, maybe it is just not my type of movie. But greatest movie of all time. I have seen many many movies I enjoyed more.
This was good but overrated. Watch it but do not expect the greatest movie ever.
American Masters - Merle Haggard
PBS runs a great series of in depth retrospectives of influential artists across many spectrums. This was an excellent program.
Telling the story of Merle Haggard was very revealing. Not just as an artist, as a singer that my parents listened to but as a microcosm of a class of people born in the twenties and thirties with simple tastes and patriotism in great quantities.
It is not a stretch to understand the appeal of Haggard and how his followers of that time are the economically stretched but culturally conservative population that are still difficult to understand.
Haggard was shattered by the sudden death of a father he adored. He was a troubled youth ending in prison at San Quentin. A 1958 concert by Johnny Cash made him see what h wanted and that perhaps could take him there.
He was talented and it did happen. The peak year may have been 1970 when Okie from Muskogee swept awards of Country Music.
His music is timeless. His voice is much better than one thinks. When you listen to Sing me Back Home his voice is as good as many of the greats.
When my daughter was born about that time Haggard released a song called Think about a Lullaby. It was not a hit. It was however the perfect song for a Dad to sing his baby to sleep with.
For that alone I will always have a memory and connection to Merle Haggards music. From my parents listening on the weekends when I was little to singing his song to my newborn daughter.
This show told us much about him we did not know. That was enjoyable. For me however it reminded me of many things I needed to remember. That was priceless.
Love you Dad. I do still remember the songs you sang.
Telling the story of Merle Haggard was very revealing. Not just as an artist, as a singer that my parents listened to but as a microcosm of a class of people born in the twenties and thirties with simple tastes and patriotism in great quantities.
It is not a stretch to understand the appeal of Haggard and how his followers of that time are the economically stretched but culturally conservative population that are still difficult to understand.
Haggard was shattered by the sudden death of a father he adored. He was a troubled youth ending in prison at San Quentin. A 1958 concert by Johnny Cash made him see what h wanted and that perhaps could take him there.
He was talented and it did happen. The peak year may have been 1970 when Okie from Muskogee swept awards of Country Music.
His music is timeless. His voice is much better than one thinks. When you listen to Sing me Back Home his voice is as good as many of the greats.
When my daughter was born about that time Haggard released a song called Think about a Lullaby. It was not a hit. It was however the perfect song for a Dad to sing his baby to sleep with.
For that alone I will always have a memory and connection to Merle Haggards music. From my parents listening on the weekends when I was little to singing his song to my newborn daughter.
This show told us much about him we did not know. That was enjoyable. For me however it reminded me of many things I needed to remember. That was priceless.
Love you Dad. I do still remember the songs you sang.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
On The Waterfront
Perhaps I need to watch more bad movies. By using TCM as a movie source and using TIVO on the classics of the past I guess my reviews will remain more positive than most. I am not a great reviewer I do not want to watch movies I do not think will be good.
In this movie, finishing up my fifties run Marlon Brando plays Terry an ex boxer working the docks. The docks are run by a gangster who is well ensconced in town by a cooperative D A.
After unknowingly setting up an informant for murder by the mob Terry befriends the mans sister played by Eva Marie Saint. Soon he is convinced to work with the crime commission to change things by the sister and the local priest played by Karl Malden who is wonderful in his role.
The movie contends one of the most famous lines in the movies Brando's " I should have been a contendah"
He was right. This is a contender for one of the great movies. It was. Brando and Malden were tremendous in this move...energizing the screen.
Sometimes with the cartoon like figure he became late in life we forget how incredible Brando was. He was the real thing.
In this movie, finishing up my fifties run Marlon Brando plays Terry an ex boxer working the docks. The docks are run by a gangster who is well ensconced in town by a cooperative D A.
After unknowingly setting up an informant for murder by the mob Terry befriends the mans sister played by Eva Marie Saint. Soon he is convinced to work with the crime commission to change things by the sister and the local priest played by Karl Malden who is wonderful in his role.
The movie contends one of the most famous lines in the movies Brando's " I should have been a contendah"
He was right. This is a contender for one of the great movies. It was. Brando and Malden were tremendous in this move...energizing the screen.
Sometimes with the cartoon like figure he became late in life we forget how incredible Brando was. He was the real thing.
High Noon
Continuing forward with fifties week I watched this, another Gary Cooper classic. Shot in black and white this movie tells the tale of a Sheriff played by Cooper who is to be faced with a return to town of a convict, and his gang, that he put away.
Donna Reed plays the newlywed Quaker wife of the aging lawman played by Cooper. She wants him not to fight. Still Kane is worried about the townsfolk being terrorized if h goes through with his retirement.
The townspeople are no help either afraid or not willing to help for their own personal reasons such as Cooper's deputy played by Lloyd Bridges.
This is a great movie.
Sheb Wooley plays the gunman's brother and the title song sung by Frankie Laine was a hit and still provides a good time capsule to the era.
Again, a great movie
Donna Reed plays the newlywed Quaker wife of the aging lawman played by Cooper. She wants him not to fight. Still Kane is worried about the townsfolk being terrorized if h goes through with his retirement.
The townspeople are no help either afraid or not willing to help for their own personal reasons such as Cooper's deputy played by Lloyd Bridges.
This is a great movie.
Sheb Wooley plays the gunman's brother and the title song sung by Frankie Laine was a hit and still provides a good time capsule to the era.
Again, a great movie
Downtun Abbey
This show on PBS's Masterpiece Series is the story of a British family with the exception of the American wife. The story centers on an inheritance issue brought about by the sinking of the Titanic and an odd British estate practice called an Entail.
The plot is good but even moreso the acting is precise. The upstairs/downstairs part of the show is very intriguing showing us the lives of the the servant class as well as the estate holders.
Who would ever have thought that the lives of who is a butler and who is a valet could be so interesting.
With news that a new 8 part continuation of the series is planned and a Christmas special as well clearly I am not the first to say this is one of the finest shows I have seen on free TV in a long long time.
The plot is good but even moreso the acting is precise. The upstairs/downstairs part of the show is very intriguing showing us the lives of the the servant class as well as the estate holders.
Who would ever have thought that the lives of who is a butler and who is a valet could be so interesting.
With news that a new 8 part continuation of the series is planned and a Christmas special as well clearly I am not the first to say this is one of the finest shows I have seen on free TV in a long long time.
Friendly Persuasion
This also from the fifties is a William Wyler period piece about a Quaker family in Southern Indiana in 1862. Told as both a comedy and a drama as the family tries to keep their Quaker faith in a world closing in with worldly things. The war and the approaching confederate troops being one of them.
The scenery is wonderful, the mood is pleasant and the whole films elicits true thoughts of that idyllic life. Gary Cooper as Jess Birdwell is a strong man faced with conflicting choices and Anthony Perkins, in his pre Psycho days, plays the son faced with the biggest decisions. And the goose..well the goose has a story of its own.
This is a fine period piece. William Wyler does not make bad movies.
The scenery is wonderful, the mood is pleasant and the whole films elicits true thoughts of that idyllic life. Gary Cooper as Jess Birdwell is a strong man faced with conflicting choices and Anthony Perkins, in his pre Psycho days, plays the son faced with the biggest decisions. And the goose..well the goose has a story of its own.
This is a fine period piece. William Wyler does not make bad movies.
The Defiant Ones
Continuing my movies from the fifties week, TCM is a great channel, I watched this the other night. Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier play two convicts that escape after a car accident takes their transport vehicle off the road. They are chained together and being black and white in fifties Mississippi are not enamored of each other.
Curtis is wonderful in his role, much better to me than his celebrated performance in Some Like it Hot and Poitier is telling and sharp in his role as well.
Shot in black and white but very effectively this is a very good movie. Lon Chaney has a small role that for his few moments fills the screen.
Talking to my wife about the movie I commented that remade today it would be all bloody violence and with streams of profanity. I am not a prude but this movie had no profanity and felt no less realistic to me.
A very good movie.
Curtis is wonderful in his role, much better to me than his celebrated performance in Some Like it Hot and Poitier is telling and sharp in his role as well.
Shot in black and white but very effectively this is a very good movie. Lon Chaney has a small role that for his few moments fills the screen.
Talking to my wife about the movie I commented that remade today it would be all bloody violence and with streams of profanity. I am not a prude but this movie had no profanity and felt no less realistic to me.
A very good movie.
Friday, January 21, 2011
American Idol- New Season
With much fanfare Idol returned this week. Seeming to have a slightly more effort to feature the better auditions and less of the freaks worked well with the new judges. Jennifer Lopez, looking very pretty, was not comfortable with being mean and did not want to be. Steven Tyler was very personable, friendly and genuine and did not seem to be one to be mean either. Simon is missed. The show is different however without him.
The tone will be different. Still the talent is what will matter most and with Jimmy Iovine helping the contestants when they get to Hollywood the talent should be better.
Either way as long as my wife has a say we will be watching. Lets hope for the best
The tone will be different. Still the talent is what will matter most and with Jimmy Iovine helping the contestants when they get to Hollywood the talent should be better.
Either way as long as my wife has a say we will be watching. Lets hope for the best
Skins
This show debuted on MTV this week with much fanfare. A remake of a British show of the same name, even the plots are replicas of the original show the show has stirred controversy with sex, drugs and teenagers.
Some reviewers have called it very realistic and others have called it over the top so I suspect the truth is in the middle. I do not surely think that kids in this area party like that but then again they probably do.
The show itself was interesting, the characters ranged from obnoxious to sweet and I would imagine that most people could pick out a character that they identify with.
I might watch a few more episodes but it is unlikely. I am too old for this show, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about but other than that it is more explicit and more " real" is it any different from whatever has been controversial in other eras. I doubt it.
Some reviewers have called it very realistic and others have called it over the top so I suspect the truth is in the middle. I do not surely think that kids in this area party like that but then again they probably do.
The show itself was interesting, the characters ranged from obnoxious to sweet and I would imagine that most people could pick out a character that they identify with.
I might watch a few more episodes but it is unlikely. I am too old for this show, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about but other than that it is more explicit and more " real" is it any different from whatever has been controversial in other eras. I doubt it.
Rebel Without a Cause
This 1955 movie considered a classic was one I recorded a few weeks ago. I watched this in a few parts and have to say that it was better than I thought it would be.
As a tale of troubled teenagers the movie was, in some ways, a little highhanded. The overdone emotions of Jim Stark ( James Dean ) seem a little unrealistic in places especially the beginning. Still the character is likable and Dean jumps off the screen. Natalie Wood as his eventual love interest and Sal Mineo as Plato are wonderful, in fact Pineo may have been the best thing in the movie.
The characters are well developed if overemotional but then again having teenagers in my house I know this can be true.
Underrated in this movie is Jim Backus. From my generation we only think of him as Mr. Howell but he was wonderful in this movie. Playing James Dean's father, a henpecked husband who his son is embarrassed for as he feels him not manly enough Backus is very good.
A good movie better as a sum of its parts than what it seems in pieces.
As a tale of troubled teenagers the movie was, in some ways, a little highhanded. The overdone emotions of Jim Stark ( James Dean ) seem a little unrealistic in places especially the beginning. Still the character is likable and Dean jumps off the screen. Natalie Wood as his eventual love interest and Sal Mineo as Plato are wonderful, in fact Pineo may have been the best thing in the movie.
The characters are well developed if overemotional but then again having teenagers in my house I know this can be true.
Underrated in this movie is Jim Backus. From my generation we only think of him as Mr. Howell but he was wonderful in this movie. Playing James Dean's father, a henpecked husband who his son is embarrassed for as he feels him not manly enough Backus is very good.
A good movie better as a sum of its parts than what it seems in pieces.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
What Jesus Meant by Gary Wills
After reading What the Gospels Meant I moved onto Gary Wills next book What Jesus Meant. It is a great book. Of course with any theological book there are many opinions as to what is the right point of view.
Wills a Catholic offers a fairly stinging rebuke to modern religion. Stating that Jesus rebuked religion and the practice of anything that put anyone and anybody between Jesus and anyone who wanted to follow him.
Speaking about Jesus telling us to feed the hungry, clothe the poor, visit the sick and imprisoned as if those people were Jesus himself.
Jesus tells us to hope, believe and love and the greatest of these is love. This book tries to get to the real message of Jesus and take away all the impediments that exist.
Much of modern religion according to Wills is the practice and practices that Jesus himself rebuked when he said My reign is not of this order.
This is a great book
Wills a Catholic offers a fairly stinging rebuke to modern religion. Stating that Jesus rebuked religion and the practice of anything that put anyone and anybody between Jesus and anyone who wanted to follow him.
Speaking about Jesus telling us to feed the hungry, clothe the poor, visit the sick and imprisoned as if those people were Jesus himself.
Jesus tells us to hope, believe and love and the greatest of these is love. This book tries to get to the real message of Jesus and take away all the impediments that exist.
Much of modern religion according to Wills is the practice and practices that Jesus himself rebuked when he said My reign is not of this order.
This is a great book
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Listen to Her Heart by Tom Petty
This song from one of the early Tom Petty albums, pre commercial breakthrough Damn the Torpedoes . There are many song on those early albums such as American Girl that have become standards of classic rock stations.
Yesterday driving home Listen to Her Heart came on the radio. What a great song. The intro line to that song " You think your gonna take her away with your money and your cocaine" is a great rif.
Songs that you always turn up, you never turn off and that you always sing along with are rare. This is one of them.
When you hear Tom Petty the best advice I have is turn it up.
Yesterday driving home Listen to Her Heart came on the radio. What a great song. The intro line to that song " You think your gonna take her away with your money and your cocaine" is a great rif.
Songs that you always turn up, you never turn off and that you always sing along with are rare. This is one of them.
When you hear Tom Petty the best advice I have is turn it up.
The Reivers
This 1969 movie based on William Faulkner's last novel was a pleasant surprise. I saw it on TCM late one night, decided to Tivo it and watched it in a couple of parts recently.
Steve McQueen who in his time was one of the most popular actors. He was the epitome of cool. In this movie the role was a little off from his normal range but it fit him.
He plays Boone Higgenbottom a family friend of a well to do family in turn of the century Mississippi. The patriarch grandfather played by Will Geer has a new car delivered, a Wintom Flyer. Boone convinces the young grandson to allow him to borrow the car and they go to Memphis.
The plot takes them to a bordello and involves a horcerace. Lessons are learned and all comes out well. Mcqueen is wonderful and Will Geer is perfect in his role. Can Will Geer not play a role you want to have for a grandfather figure in your life?
Steve McQueen who in his time was one of the most popular actors. He was the epitome of cool. In this movie the role was a little off from his normal range but it fit him.
He plays Boone Higgenbottom a family friend of a well to do family in turn of the century Mississippi. The patriarch grandfather played by Will Geer has a new car delivered, a Wintom Flyer. Boone convinces the young grandson to allow him to borrow the car and they go to Memphis.
The plot takes them to a bordello and involves a horcerace. Lessons are learned and all comes out well. Mcqueen is wonderful and Will Geer is perfect in his role. Can Will Geer not play a role you want to have for a grandfather figure in your life?
Friday, January 14, 2011
Lights Out
This new show on FX debuted this past Tuesday and after having TIVO'd it I watched this late last night, sorry Dave.
The show is the story of boxer Lights Leary who having lost a controversial title fight on points retires at his wife's demand. Now it is five years later and he has the huge house, three girls in private school, a wife in medical school and a brother who he put through college running his business affairs. He also is broke.
This puts Lights played by Holt McCallney in a tough spot. He had medical issues, is haunted by his last fight and even finds that bar patrons want to give him, the last heavyweight champion, lip.
I liked the show. I think there is room to grow. It is a boxing show but about much more. A little fish out of water.
Stacy Keach is fantastic as Lights Dad.
I look forward to watching this show again.
The show is the story of boxer Lights Leary who having lost a controversial title fight on points retires at his wife's demand. Now it is five years later and he has the huge house, three girls in private school, a wife in medical school and a brother who he put through college running his business affairs. He also is broke.
This puts Lights played by Holt McCallney in a tough spot. He had medical issues, is haunted by his last fight and even finds that bar patrons want to give him, the last heavyweight champion, lip.
I liked the show. I think there is room to grow. It is a boxing show but about much more. A little fish out of water.
Stacy Keach is fantastic as Lights Dad.
I look forward to watching this show again.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Superbad
My wife likes to be popular and at times is more liberal than me. I had this movie taped to preview and last night with little on TV and with my middle son not interested in anything even slightly made to teach a person something we thought about watching this.
She thought it would be ok for him to watch and then 15 minutes in after sex jokes, drug jokes and masturbation jokes a plenty she looked at me like what are we doing.
The movie, one of Judd Apatow's creations, starring Micheal Cena and Jonah Hill is about what one would expect. Teen comedies rely on drinking, sex and drugs. The " McLovin" category is a funny offshoot with Bill Hader and Seth Rogan as police officers.
The movie offers a bit of a moral as both characters after relying on booze to help them " get with " the girl of their dreams" both find out that will not get them to where they want to be.
It is crude and foolish but at times funny. Still hard to advise someone to watch.
She thought it would be ok for him to watch and then 15 minutes in after sex jokes, drug jokes and masturbation jokes a plenty she looked at me like what are we doing.
The movie, one of Judd Apatow's creations, starring Micheal Cena and Jonah Hill is about what one would expect. Teen comedies rely on drinking, sex and drugs. The " McLovin" category is a funny offshoot with Bill Hader and Seth Rogan as police officers.
The movie offers a bit of a moral as both characters after relying on booze to help them " get with " the girl of their dreams" both find out that will not get them to where they want to be.
It is crude and foolish but at times funny. Still hard to advise someone to watch.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Unforgiven
I had never seen this movie. We watched it last weekend. Having won the Oscar I expected much from this movie. It was a good movie but I would have to call myself disappointed.
The story was good but by the end of it there is no hero. Not all movies need heroes and I suppose not all Westerns do but it certainly helps. Hearing that our character Clint Eastwood far from being a former bank robber et all was really nothing more than a terrorist of the time before settling down to raise a family is dispiriting.
The pro and epilogue letters about the wife who both tamed him and settled him add context and perhaps a lesson is to be learned that even the worst of us can be settled by love and faith.
A more textural problem with the movie is that no one is likable. Gene Hackman is certainly not. The closet we come to that is Morgan Freeman but his end is violent and jarring.
The biggest issue for me is the movie is not only spiritually dark but physically dark. You cannot see, It is dark and rainy and shadowy. I understand that is part of the setting of the tone but comparing that with the wide open vistas of the recent True Grit and there is no comparison.
It seems to be shedding a little light on the subject might have provided a contrast between the dark script and the location being bright.
Of course it won the Oscar so what I think does not matter. Still I was disappointed.
The story was good but by the end of it there is no hero. Not all movies need heroes and I suppose not all Westerns do but it certainly helps. Hearing that our character Clint Eastwood far from being a former bank robber et all was really nothing more than a terrorist of the time before settling down to raise a family is dispiriting.
The pro and epilogue letters about the wife who both tamed him and settled him add context and perhaps a lesson is to be learned that even the worst of us can be settled by love and faith.
A more textural problem with the movie is that no one is likable. Gene Hackman is certainly not. The closet we come to that is Morgan Freeman but his end is violent and jarring.
The biggest issue for me is the movie is not only spiritually dark but physically dark. You cannot see, It is dark and rainy and shadowy. I understand that is part of the setting of the tone but comparing that with the wide open vistas of the recent True Grit and there is no comparison.
It seems to be shedding a little light on the subject might have provided a contrast between the dark script and the location being bright.
Of course it won the Oscar so what I think does not matter. Still I was disappointed.
Forest Gump
I have watched this movie at least ten times. Of course it being on television practically every week on some cable channel makes that easy to do. I actually remember going to see it the weekend it came out on a sneak preview on a Saturday night only. It was a movie to remember.
It was witty and the practice of the special effects inserting Forest into situation after situation through the sixties and seventies was very new.
I still like the movie. We often quote parts of the movie around the house. " You ain't got no legs Lt. Dan, Get Down Shut up!, Run Forest, I was Running, and others are lines that get a chuckle be it me or my kids who say it.
The soundtrack was wonderful. Perhaps one of the most jarring moments comes when we first see Forest and Bubba in Vietnam and the scenery changes so quickly and we hear John Fogerty and Jimi Hendrix introducing us to this new location.
A great movie then. A great movie now. Underrated in this movie also was Sally Field. She is a great actress.
It was witty and the practice of the special effects inserting Forest into situation after situation through the sixties and seventies was very new.
I still like the movie. We often quote parts of the movie around the house. " You ain't got no legs Lt. Dan, Get Down Shut up!, Run Forest, I was Running, and others are lines that get a chuckle be it me or my kids who say it.
The soundtrack was wonderful. Perhaps one of the most jarring moments comes when we first see Forest and Bubba in Vietnam and the scenery changes so quickly and we hear John Fogerty and Jimi Hendrix introducing us to this new location.
A great movie then. A great movie now. Underrated in this movie also was Sally Field. She is a great actress.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Swift Justice with Nancy Grace
I do not like Nancy Grace. I, in the past, have found her shows on Headlines News to be shows that exploit victims and prejudge accused.
Her new syndicated show Swift Justice with Nancy Grace is on in the AM each day and a couple of times I have flipped through.
This show is like a car accident. You have to slow down. When I was a kid Judge Wapner and The People's Court was a huge show. Currently there are tons of courtroom shows led by Judge Judy. I realize that the Judge's personality is a big part of the draw and I am not a fan of Judy either.
This Nancy Grace show is, and I hate to admit this, addictive. The litigants are filled with funny cases, they are interesting enough to make you wonder if they are actors.
The show has no value, it kills brain cells and I strongly urge you not to let the dial stop. Because if you do...you might find yourself watching.
Her new syndicated show Swift Justice with Nancy Grace is on in the AM each day and a couple of times I have flipped through.
This show is like a car accident. You have to slow down. When I was a kid Judge Wapner and The People's Court was a huge show. Currently there are tons of courtroom shows led by Judge Judy. I realize that the Judge's personality is a big part of the draw and I am not a fan of Judy either.
This Nancy Grace show is, and I hate to admit this, addictive. The litigants are filled with funny cases, they are interesting enough to make you wonder if they are actors.
The show has no value, it kills brain cells and I strongly urge you not to let the dial stop. Because if you do...you might find yourself watching.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Alice's Restaraunt by Arlo Guthrie
This song from the Sixties was a protest song. You had to think about it to know it was. At eighteen minutes many might not get far enough into the song to understand the absurdity of the story Guthrie tells. He was not considered a military candidate due to an arrest for littering which is the basis of the song.
This song has special relevance for me and my children. We listened to it often when they were quite young. They did not understand it but they did like the rhythm and how the song went around and around.
LAter when my son was nine I took him to an Arlo Guthrie concert at the University. He enjoyed the show as much as any nine year old that gets tired. He remembers it though. We enjoyed the show.
As he approaches 16 he still enjoys the song. Last weekend he tells me that Alice's Restaraunt came on his shuffle and he listened to it. He listened. He remembers.
We usually play it once or twice around Thanksgiving. It is one of the only songs I know that relates to Thanksgiving.
This song has special relevance for me and my children. We listened to it often when they were quite young. They did not understand it but they did like the rhythm and how the song went around and around.
LAter when my son was nine I took him to an Arlo Guthrie concert at the University. He enjoyed the show as much as any nine year old that gets tired. He remembers it though. We enjoyed the show.
As he approaches 16 he still enjoys the song. Last weekend he tells me that Alice's Restaraunt came on his shuffle and he listened to it. He listened. He remembers.
We usually play it once or twice around Thanksgiving. It is one of the only songs I know that relates to Thanksgiving.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Twilight Zone---The Original Series
One of the good things about a long weekend is I can usually TIVO a few episodes of the original Twilight Zone of the Scyfy channel. This show is almost always well worth watching. Today I watched an episode about an old man who loved his grandfather clock and felt that if it stopped he would die as it had been given to him at his birth. Many famous actors and actresses appeared in Twilight Zone episodes and some of these are top notch.
The most famous is probably the one of the campiest, the William Shatner episode where he sees an alien being on the wings of an airplane. Surely it is campy, silly even, and by todays standards not even close to realistic, if such a thing can be but it is something you remember.
Not many TV shows can say that. Give me this show and Alfred Hitchcock presents and I can easily while away sometime in front of the black and white screen.
Thank you Rod Serling
The most famous is probably the one of the campiest, the William Shatner episode where he sees an alien being on the wings of an airplane. Surely it is campy, silly even, and by todays standards not even close to realistic, if such a thing can be but it is something you remember.
Not many TV shows can say that. Give me this show and Alfred Hitchcock presents and I can easily while away sometime in front of the black and white screen.
Thank you Rod Serling
Sheep Go to Heaven by Cake
A couple of weeks ago in reviewing my sister-in-laws Itunes library I found about 150 songs that I liked. Not many as our tastes are quite dissimilar but my taste is eclectic. Amongst the Shelby Lynne, Ella Fitzgerald, Kristin Chenoworth, Josh Ritter et all that I borrowed I found this song by Cake.
I had heard it before on the college radio station a few times so I was familiar with the song. In fact I have been listening to it and it is catchy.
Yet here I am a person who considers himself one who has read the Bible a few times and the Gospels many times even more but yet I failed to make the connection to the Bible verses Goats or Sheep and now it is even more interesting that this happy little peppy song is clearly a take on this Bible verse.
Bible lessons from Cake. One never knows where the learning will come from.
I had heard it before on the college radio station a few times so I was familiar with the song. In fact I have been listening to it and it is catchy.
Yet here I am a person who considers himself one who has read the Bible a few times and the Gospels many times even more but yet I failed to make the connection to the Bible verses Goats or Sheep and now it is even more interesting that this happy little peppy song is clearly a take on this Bible verse.
Bible lessons from Cake. One never knows where the learning will come from.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
True Grit
We went to see this movie on New Years Day. Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin and a young girl who has never been in a movie.
Having read about the movie beforehand I was aware that the Coen brothers wanted to write from the original book not remake the original movie which most are aware of. Having no strong recollection of the original movie this was not a concern of mine.
The movie: I cannot say enough. I was going to say that perhaps along with a totally different movie Toy Story III were the best movies of the year. Of course I see very few movies so i am not a great judge. But as I saw it on the first day of 2011 I must instead allow it to set the bar for 2011. A high bar it is.
The story of a young girl whose father is killed and her attempts to seek retribution for the murder. She hires a marshall played by Jeff Bridges ( Rooster Cogburn). I do not want to give away the whole plot but the scenery was wonderful.
Perhaps the most entertaining or interesting part of the movie for me was the language, the speech of the movie. The young lady, characters name Maddie Ross, speaks in such a way, with old proper English as do all the characters. To me it was by my description Shakespearan in the Old West.
Some of the deadpan comments by Bridges as Rooster Cogburn such as " That didn't pan out" were spot on and Matt Damon per usual for him was wonderful in his role as a Texas Ranger on the hunt for the same killer played by Josh Brolin,
This movie was a GEM. I give it a NINE
Having read about the movie beforehand I was aware that the Coen brothers wanted to write from the original book not remake the original movie which most are aware of. Having no strong recollection of the original movie this was not a concern of mine.
The movie: I cannot say enough. I was going to say that perhaps along with a totally different movie Toy Story III were the best movies of the year. Of course I see very few movies so i am not a great judge. But as I saw it on the first day of 2011 I must instead allow it to set the bar for 2011. A high bar it is.
The story of a young girl whose father is killed and her attempts to seek retribution for the murder. She hires a marshall played by Jeff Bridges ( Rooster Cogburn). I do not want to give away the whole plot but the scenery was wonderful.
Perhaps the most entertaining or interesting part of the movie for me was the language, the speech of the movie. The young lady, characters name Maddie Ross, speaks in such a way, with old proper English as do all the characters. To me it was by my description Shakespearan in the Old West.
Some of the deadpan comments by Bridges as Rooster Cogburn such as " That didn't pan out" were spot on and Matt Damon per usual for him was wonderful in his role as a Texas Ranger on the hunt for the same killer played by Josh Brolin,
This movie was a GEM. I give it a NINE
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