As this short and uninspiring list shows, I have not been
watching much to write about lately. Not going to movies in theaters, renting
them from kiosks or getting them in the mail from Netflix does not leave many sources.
Netflix streaming and DVDs from the library offer much to choose from and I
have about 40 in the Flix queue and another 230 on a list to get from the
library someday, but I have just not been inspired to sit down and watch.
Because it has been over a month since the last list posting, this short one is
offered. At least it will provide a new place for John to comment about what he
has been seeing.
Here is what I have watched since I posted my last list.
[The ratings I give are on my own number system which is explained at the link
on the sidebar].
Modern Family
(Season Three) – 2011 (3.1). As regular viewers have learned to know the
characters more intimately, it is fun to watch them encounter new problems with
the vestiges of the old ones. The wise choices made in the second year to not
distract with guest stars and to keep the concentration on the central
characters and their interactions continues into the third year and the scripts
always feel fresh and continue to be quite funny.
Come Back, Little
Sheba – 1952 (3.0). Shirley Booth is one of the few actors who won the best
actress Tony, Oscar and Emmy. She only made five movies, and Sheba was the
first, for which she repeated her stage performance and won the Oscar,
perfectly capturing the middle aged Lola character, both pathetic and
sympathetic. The movie is by nature talkative, making the direction a bit
static, but overall it does not feel claustrophobic and holds its age well. The
opening music over the credits is annoying, but the movie itself is devoid of
obnoxious music because of the prevalence of dialogue and the integration of
radio music into the script. The changing times have made the mannerisms seem
dated, which they are, but the problems they encountered are still here.
The Abolitionists –
2012 (2.8). From PBS American Experience, this three part documentary covers
the abolitionist movement to end slavery in the United States. Using dramatic
reenactments and interviews with historians, the focus is on the leaders of the
movement, primarily William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass and the
ultimate affect they had on President Lincoln after decades of dedicated work.
It is hard to avoid the dreaded “What If?” historical inquiry as to how the
slavery, Civil War and Lincoln might have turned out significantly different
but for Garrison and Douglass.
Bernie – 2011
(2.8). Jack Black gives a fun Golden Globe nominated performance as a dedicated
Texas funeral director who becomes involved with an ornery but wealthy widow in
this droll drama based on a true story. The interspersed interviews with local
residents reveal the knowledge writer and director Richard Linklater has of his
native Texas. The ultimately unsettling involvement of the criminal justice
system in the story seems to call out for a documentary detailing that aspect.
My Fake Fiancé –
2009 (2.8). This ABC TV romantic comedy was better than expected thanks to good
chemistry between the leads (who are also in an ABC situation comedy series,
Melissa and Joey) and a script that had some tersely satisfactory exposition of
why these two people had missed the love boat to marriage and were desperate
enough to concoct a phony engagement and schedule their marriage in order to
get the gifts. An early developing subplot about a loan shark and his goons is
a weak cartoonish story line but thankfully it is not too disruptive if you
prefer to ignore it.
Big Love (Season
One) – 2006 DNF. A couple episodes of the first season of this HBO drama series
about a modern day Utah polygamist and his three wives and seven children
failed to encourage me to keep watching, especially knowing it goes on for five
seasons. I found the characters and their beliefs and problems unappealing.
Monty Python’s the
Meaning of Life – 1983 DNF. This was funny in 1983, if it was your kind of
humor and if you were in the right mood. Trying it 30 years later, possibly in
the right mood and open to the type of humor, after the first couple of
enumerated parts, it was not funny enough to keep watching.
Jan and I saw The Abolitionists also. she recorded it and we watched when we had time. I enjoyed it very much. A few years back I visited Ripley, Ohio to see the homes of te underground railroad there. The leader was John Rankin and we saw his house. We stayed in a Bed and Breakfast once owned by an abolitionist - I can't remember his name but the house had a skylight on the roof at the back. A candle in the skylight could not be seen from the river, but it could be seen from Rankin's house on the hill behind and so was used as a signal to let Rankin know that bounty hunterw were coming and to release any fugitives he was helping.
ReplyDeleteJan and I watched The Help a second time from Netflix. I have a better appreciation of the movie this time, although I still think the book is superior. The acting of the female actors is really very good. The male characters were stereotypes in the movie as well as the book, so did not allow the male actors to be very convincing.
ReplyDeleteI have just started reading “America Aflame”, a new history book about the years leading up to the Civil War and on into Reconstruction. I did not remember that many of the Protestant Evangelical abolitionists, like Henry Ward Beecher, were also virulently anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant and especially hostile to the Irish Catholics who came over because of the potato famine. Reverend Beecher, perhaps influenced by Rankin, moved his family from New England to Cincinnati (just upriver from Ripley) to be in a better location for his abolitionist work. His daughter Harriet crossed the Ohio River into Kentucky to see slavery first hand as part of her research for “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. Prior to publication of that book, the best selling book written by an American was an almost pornographic expose of what sexual escapades supposedly went on inside Catholic convents, written anonymously by someone claiming to have been a victim.
ReplyDelete“The Help” shows how enduring is deep seated prejudice. But in 1960, an Irish-American Catholic became President, and in 2008, an African-American was elected. In 2012, the four nominees of the two major parties for President and VP did not include one white Protestant.
Jan and I watched J Edgar from Netflix. I enjoyed it, but Jan thought it was too slow. I remember back in our college days that I shared the view of most people that J Edgar Hoover was above politics and only interested in keeping our nation crime free and free from Communism. I said something like this to you and your sneer was devastating.I paid attention and soon learned what a morally weak and evil man he was. DiCaprio does a good job of playing Hoover, as did the person who played his uncommsumated (?) lover Clyde Tollson. Many of the other characters seemed not so real.
ReplyDeleteHoover was a classic example of absolute power corrupting absolutely. It would be interesting to read a good biography of him or see a decent biopic, but he was so secretive and the speculation about his personal life was all over the place, so it would be very hard to come up with a book or script that could be considered dependable. Predictions for me on this latest movie are not good, so I will probably skip it. Out of curiosity I looked Hoover and Tolson up on the 1930 and 1940 census. Hoover was five years older, born in DC in 1900. In 1930 Hoover lived with his widowed mother in her home at 413 Seward Square, and in 1940 he lived in that home alone. In 1930 Tolson, a government lawyer, lived as a boarder in an apartment with a man one year younger who sold insurance. In 1940, Tolson was renting an apartment for $117 a month, but the census taker did not find him there and noted in the margin that the information was provided by his neighbor.
ReplyDeleteJan and I saw J Edgar from Netflix. I thought the movie was well done and that DeCapprio did a good job portraying him. What a sad character he was and how sad that he held so much power for so many years.
ReplyDeleteMy double entry about J Edgar is due to not finding my first post when I went to the site two days after my first post. I was sure I had posted an entry for J Edgar, but it wasn't there so I posted another. Now they both show. I think you would enjoy this movie because it will inspire you to comment on it, so my advice is not to skip it. I would enjoy reading your comments.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you are not just slipping. I don't know why the second post went into hiding for a while. I wasn't tinkering with anything from my end, so it was probably just a temporary glitch with Blogger. Netflix and my IMDb algorithm both agree I will not like J. Edgar, but it seems fairly easy to get from the library (probably another indicator of limited appeal) so I put it on hold and expect to have it in a couple weeks, and after viewing will post a comment.
ReplyDeleteJan and I saw Jeff, Who Lives at Home. We both enjoyed it and got a few laughs out of it. Tonight is the Academy Awards program. My wife loves it and because she enjoys it so much I want to watch it with her. Will you watch it Tom?
ReplyDeleteNetflix predicts Jeff at a submarginal 2.6 for me, but it is available for streaming, so we may take a flyer on it. I also have J. Edgar from the library and we may watch it in the next day or two. As for the Oscars, I did watch them on the TV in my office, so I could be doing other things at the same time. Susan does not bother watching them. I thought the host was terrible and as usual the show was overlong. Rather than have producers responsible for the telecast, they might consider having a movie editor handle it. Also, they should state up front that we know everyone wants to thank and express their love for all their spouses, partners, children, parents, family, friends, neighbors and relatives, so it is not necessary for them to tell us that when accepting an award; however if there is someone in those categories whom they do not love or appreciate, the winners can let us know that if they choose. I did decide to add several more of the various movies that were mentioned on the show to my library holds list.
ReplyDeleteI thought the MC was good - I liked his slightly irreverant humor, and he seemed in charge of the show. Also I thought they did a good job of moving the acceptance speeches along. If you don't enjoy the pomp and ritual and history of the show, don't watch it. Get the results off the internet or from the newspaper the next day. What makes the show fun is the glamour and the foibles and just seeing how the most succesful entertainers in the world behave in the spotlight of international TV.
ReplyDeleteHowever, your idea of making the thanking of close friends and relatives and co-workers the default, and making them say they exempt certain people from the canonical thank you list would make the show even more fun.