All the President's Men

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Last Holiday

I had seen some clips of this on YouTube and was curious enough to request it from the library.

 

Louie and I watched it Thursday night and both really enjoyed it. Queen Latifah plays the role of a sales clerk who is timid but has a book of "possibilities" that she dreams about. Her neighbor kid was my favorite character! He was a young teen who enjoys eating the delicious meals she cooks and challenges the people who come looking for her.

 

Sean is her dream / love interest who also works at the store where she works was played by LL Cool J. When she hits her head and the resulting CAT scan shows that she has a disease and only weeks to live, she cashes out everything and goes to the Pupp Hotel in the Czech Republic.

 

What a fun, funny, and "live life" movie! I'm glad we both liked it. 

The Longest Day

I confess that I watched this 1962 World War II movie because . . . I own the book and thought I'd watch the movie first to see if I wanted to read it or donate it. I'm so glad the public libraries provide me with these opportunities!

 

This isn't a spoiler, but . . . the book is in the donation pile.

 

Here are my observations:

• it's in black and white! Old school
• German and French with subtitles . . . interesting (the parts with Americans, British, etc. were in English and not subtitled). They had lots of German speaking actors!
• slow pace . . . three hours long?! (I checked this after I had already started watching.)
• green screen! This made me giggle. There was a scene early on with German commanders in front of beach fortifications and they were clearly using green screen technology.
• John Wayne - I had already recognized several actors' faces, but his was the first STAR I saw.
• D-Day / June 6, 1944 / invasion at Normandy . . . war sucks 
• I started thinking about the current war in Iran and the people dying now and it seems so horrible and pointless. My momma raised a pacifist.
• Henry Fonda as Teddy Roosevelt's son! Loved this.
• both sides commenting "I wonder whose side God is on." Interesting . . . 
• Sean Connery! So young.
• Bagpipers with the Scots - seriously? Did bagpipers go into battle like that? At the front of the soldiers?
• What a massive production . . . explosions, men, guns, tanks . . . I wonder if some of the footage was actual historical footage from 1944.
• This movie was a very big deal.
• William Shatner! So young.

 

Watching this made me think of how removed I am from the reality of these events. When I watched Saving Private Ryan, it made me feel as though I was there, storming the beaches, in the thick of battle, seeing people get hit and die right around me . . .  I'm not much of a student of history. As much as I dislike war movies, perhaps I need to spend just a little time each month thinking about the past and learning lessons from it.

 

It seemed as though the movie maker (and the author of the book?) portrayed the Germans as not too quick. A small part of me would like to do a little more digging on what happened on 6/6/44 and how the Allies were successful. But most of me wants to move on.

 

I looked up the book and found this info:

"The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan is a classic, bestselling 1959 book that provides a detailed, minute-by-minute account of the D-Day invasion (June 6, 1944) through interviews with over 1,000 participants from both the Allied and German sides, as well as civilians, creating a comprehensive narrative of the pivotal battle. It's known for pioneering a new style of military history by blending grand strategy with personal stories of courage and tragedy, and was adapted into a famous 1962 film." 

 

So kudos to Ryan for doing the interviews and writing the book! And boo to me for grabbing and quoting  this AI garbage that seems to be accurate  . . . I love pictures, so here's one:

 

The Founder

I had seen a few movie clips from this film on YouTube. Having worked at a McDonald's from 1982?-1985? I was familiar with Ray Kroc's name and story. I gleaned that he had made a fortune off the McDonald brothers, but didn't know to what extent.

 

Louie and I both found this movie to be really sad. Kroc seems to have been a selfish jerk. He pretty much stole their concept, ditched his wife of 27 years, and made it big. He died in 1984 and at least his wife Joan donated much of their wealth. (Though it seems as though she and Kroc got together despite being previously married to other people. They each left their spouse to get together with one another. Sounds like they were made for one another.)

 

I thought the movie was well-cast and well-acted. I loved the 1950s cars and clothing. I was heart broken for Dick and Mac McDonald, who seemed to be decent human beings. The nail in the coffin for me was when Kroc opened a McDonald's right across the street from their original store (which they could no longer call McDonald's because of Kroc . . . ). What an awful person he was! Selfish and vindictive.

Gaslight

I was watching Jeopardy! with friends back in November and one of the clues was about an old movie. Gaslight was the correct answer.

I was flabbergasted. Not only had I never heard of this movie, I thought "gaslight" was a new term, like Karen, Boomer, rizz, etc.

Being the curious sort that I am, I looked it up online. This "thriller / mystery" was made in 1944. It stars Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer, and Joseph Cotten. I love that 18 year old Angela Lansbury has a role as a saucy maid!

 

I had to get it from the library to watch it for myself! Adapted from a 1938 play written by Patrick Hamilton, the movie basically "follows a young woman whose husband slowly manipulates her into believing that she is descending into insanity." (Wikipedia)

Watching it was so frustrating! Bergman slowly transforms from a talented, spirited young woman in love into a timid, terrified shell of a person afraid of her home and afraid of leaving it. This was a movie where I yelled at the screen. "Don't listen to him! Run! Kill him!" (Yes, I got a bit bloodthirsty after seeing this man destroy her with deceitful words.)

I'm glad I watched it because it gives so much more depth to the word "gaslighting" than I had previously understood. It made me curious to watch more Ingrid Bergman movies. (Joseph Cotten plays the good guy who helps uncover the crimes. I cheered him on.)

Vincent Van Gogh

I originally posted this on my "Musings" blog, but realized it fit better here. So I guess this is "cross posted."

I had seen a few clips involving Van Gogh on YouTube and was curious about the show. There are several movies about Vincent Van Gogh and I selected Loving Vincent from the library. What a trip!

The entire movie is drawn / painted based on Van Gogh's artistic style. It reminded me of the immersion experience that Ann and I went to. At times, it was visually challenging, but I loved at the end when they showed pictures of the actors that the characters were based on. 

 

I really loved how we got to "see" Van Gogh from different people's perspectives. (Also fascinating that the story is told from the POV of the postmaster's son.) Van Gogh died at age 37 and his younger brother died within the same year at age 33 from syphilis. Theo's son was named for his artist uncle and lived until 1978. Vincent Van Gogh (the nephew) preserved his uncle's legacy. I am curious to read the correspondence that survived these men. They wrote a lot of letters!

After watching this, I got two books on Vincent and his art (which I haven't looked at yet). I also requested the Dr. Who DVD from the library that holds the video clips that sparked this for me! (It's Vincent and the Doctor - Season 5, Episode 10.) That actor brought tears to my eyes!

 

I also wanted to note that I've always pronounced the name "Van Go" (as do most Americans!) but on The Great British Baking Show and in the Dr. Who clip, Europeans always say, "Van Goff." I'm  guessing they're correct . . .

Mrs. Miniver

I'm adding this even though I rarely blog movies. Jean G at church made a reference to when we watched this together (Ladies book club folks) and I couldn't really remember it. 

So I requested it from the library and remembered it as Louie and I watched it. I didn't love it, didn't hate it.

It starts in 1939 in England. It deals with WWII, classism, love, faith, . . . 

Here's what stands out for me:

• Why have Americans portraying Brits when you can hear their non-accent? Irritating!
  
• Greer Carson is lovely, but is Mrs. Miniver such an amazing and captivating woman that everyone around her changes their behavior?
• Does anyone else think it a little creepy that she keeps kissing her adult son on the mouth?
• I love that Clarence (actor Henry Travers) from It's a Wonderful Life plays a sweet little old man in this movie!
• Since this movie came out in 1942, I looked up the cast list to see who's still alive. It's a bit sobering to think about. The actor who played Tobie is still alive, but his "sister" Judy has died.