What I Watched in July

 

How to write quickly...that’s tough for me but I shall try so let’s go and read what I watched in July...oh and this is just a portion of the DVDs we own.

MOVIES

1. MY LEFT FOOT-1989

A great film performance by Daniel Day Lewis as the famous poet and artist Christy Brown who could only  use his left foot as he had cerebral palsy. Hugh O’Connor plays Christy as a kid and is also excellent. Such a great movie and so, so, so happy Day Lewis won the Oscar over The favourite, Tom Cruise, in “Born on the 4th of July.”

2. DOWNTON ABBEY #2- 2022

Glad I saw the movie but a bit disappointed. I think Julian Fellowes tried to please with too many sub-plots. Way too many...still fun though.

3. TOPPER-1937

I still laugh out loud with the great performance by Roland Young as the meek, hen-pecked Cosmo Topper who knows that Cary Grant and wife, Constance Bennett are ghosts having died in a car crash. These madcap marrieds decide to make meek Young their reason to get into heaven. Very funny and entertaining although Grant  was not a fan of Diva Bennett...who can blame him.

4. SUICIDE SQUAD- 2016

Stupid!  How’s that for short?

5. THE COMMAND - 2018

Excellent film based on the Kursk submarine disaster where  a Russian Sub blows up a good chunk of their sub, by accident, but 23 men live. The Russians, with their old, crappy submersibles can’t get afixed to the door to save the men and, when the British and others offer their help to save these men, the Russians turn them down. A few months after Putin was in power, he was still vacationing for 4 days after this disaster. I remember when this happened and it disgusted me but did not surprise me. Effective performances from everyone involved, from Matthias Schoenaerts as the leader of the 23 men, his wife played by the last James Bond love, Lea Seydoux and Colin Firth as the British admiral offering to help.

TV SHOWS

1. THE CAPOTE TAPES- 2019

A 2 part documentary based on the life of the weird, acerbic but intelligent Truman Capote, the author of "Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and “ In Cold Blood.” It is worth a watch for sure.

2. DAVID SUZUKI:  THE NATURE OF THINGS-BODY LANGUAGE-1960 TO PRESENT

Yes, this show started in 1960 on the CBC and is, in many ways, a Canadian institution that gives some great information on wildlife,  culture, science and this was a really good one on Body Language from 2017. It was so interesting to learn the subtle nuances that we give without saying a word. I love anything like this.

3. KEN BURNS: JACKIE ROBINSON-2016

Anything Ken Burns does, I watch and this was no different, about the famous baseball player that had to deal with so much racial prejudice when he played professional baseball. This is one sports person I do admire and respect.

4.  THE ORVILLE-2017- PRESENT

I love this show, created by Seth McFarlane of Family Guy fame plus movies and Oscar host.  He clearly loves Star Trek and pays homage with this series. The first 2 seasons were, for the most part, much lighter, than the 3rd but he is knocking it out of the ball park with this latest season.  The 2 episodes based on the child of Bortus brought tears to my eyes. Deeply moving. 

What did you watch??

 

Thursday Movie Picks-Math in Movies

 

I hate math! I don’t just dislike it...I hate it and it showed in my grades which were usually a straight D average. Funny, when you know I am a Credit Counsellor but budgeting is just adding, subtracting, dividing and multiplying...there are no bloody fractions, integers, calculus, trigonometry, algebra or any triangles or trains going to Chicago. Wandering through the Shelves picked a unique theme this week and, to be honest, I was stumped at first and then my first pick came into my head followed by a ton more. I’m not trying to imitate anyone else and will only comment on their beautiful mind rather than the hidden figures each one wishes we had. Here are my 3...

1. DEAR BRIGITTE-1965

Being a Jimmy Stewart fan, it’s little wonder I would pick this cute comedy where James Stewart plays a poet professor who has a son with a gift for math. His kid can figure out the equation before the computer can. The only thing the boy wants to do is meet Brigitte Bardot...yup the nerdy mathematical kid has the lusts for Brigitte. We also see how he helps other people win bets at the track etc... it’s not the best Stewart comedy but it’s sweet and it stars Bill Mumy just before he he got Lost in Space.

2.  GOOD WILL HUNTING-1997

Finally, Robin Williams won an Oscar for his role as the psychiatrist who helps a nasty little shit see the light played by a young Matt Damon. Matt Damon is a janitor at MIT who solves this very difficult math equation which alerts a Math prof. To the talent of this young janitor. This kid has a major chip on his shoulder but with the help of his best friend, played by Ben Affleck and his girlfriend, Minnie Driver ( who started going out with Matt before being unceremoniously dumped by him), he begins to see that he should not throw his gift away. He gets the help from the psychologist, played by Williams, and becoming friends in the process. Damon and Affleck wrote the screenplay and won the Oscar for this. Williams is excellent in this but I still feel he should have won for the Fisher King.

3. OCTOBER SKY-1999

A young Jake Gyllenhaal plays the son of miner Chris Cooper who has aspirations of leaving the dusty mines and finding a life outside of black lung disease. It is set in 1957, when a group of kids decide to build and fly a rocket after being inspired by Sputnik. Jake plays the real life Homer Hickam who wants to find a better life but finds a huge barrier, named his dad, who thinks his kid is wasting his time and should work in the mines. Only their high school teacher believes in what these small group of kids want to do. It is quite a good movie that should be better known. 

Which movies can you think of that involves math?

Crazy Times

 

I find that these times do feel crazy but, every decade seems to have crazy times when you think about it. We can have crazy times in our own little world or just crazy moments hence why I am showing our goof...Harley. He is just a crazy galoot like Yosemite Sam might say, but he brings so much joy except when he picks up garbage on the street and, before we can say “ Dang Nabbitt”, he is munching down it. I have tried to open up his jaws but that’s a laugh because his jaws close up like a vice. Anyway, back to crazy, here are 3 songs that came right into my head with the 3rd one being the best, in my opinion.

1. PSYCHO KILLER BY THE TALKING HEADS-1977

This is actually a song about a serial killer...I had no idea, so it actually feels sinister especially since it came out when the Son Of Sam killings were going on. Kind of freaky to be honest. I always did like this song...until finding out it’s from the viewpoint of a serial killer. I do like The Talking Heads whom I saw at my old high school! I couldn’t believe they came to this school and I enjoyed it.

2. SHE DRIVES ME CRAZY BY FINE YOUNG CANNIBALS-1988

I think my husband says this about me quite a bit...good. He drives me nuts, sometimes, so crazy is good...lol. I loved dancing to this song many times  and it was played  every time I went to a disco...yeah, we still called them discos in the late 80s.

3.  BRAIN DAMAGE BY PINK FLOYD-1973

This is one of my all time favourite songs by this band that comes from their legendary, iconic album, “Dark Side of the Moon” with the prism on the front cover. It is sung by Roger Waters and it’s based on their former band member, Syd Barrett. I had no idea but I guess Syd, who was a co-founder of this band took way too many psychotic drugs like LSD and, along with his mental instability,  brought on his downfall with this band where they dropped him. He would start playing a different song than the others, while on stage, and became very distant and moody. Even though he was out of the band, the band members always made sure he got his royalties. Syd was a gifted artist and spent the rest of his life painting and gardening before he died of pancreatic cancer in 2006. I didn’t know this and if any of you have more to add, I would love to know.

Which 3 crazy songs can you think of?

Movie Star for August

 

FRED MACMURRAY

BIRTHDATE: August 30, 1908

DEATH: November 5, 1991

AGED: 83 yrs

DIED FROM: Pneumonia  but was dealing with leukemia plus other ailments

MARRIED: twice with the 2nd being the actress, June Haver

CHILDREN: 4 all adopted. The first 2 with his first wife; twins with June

NICKNAME: Bud

TALENT: Star athlete in High School(football); saxophone player; Singer; excellent in leather crafts like saddles.

KNOWN FOR: his extreme stinginess; the model for Capt. Marvel!; golfing; Republican

This is a forgotten star in many ways although he did many films, starred with many a leading lady, including 7 times with Claudette Colbert. He started off  singing and dancing in theatre but became most famous for his less than nice characters  in “ Double Indemnity” and “The Apartment” but also his affable, nice guy roles especially in his many Disney movies in the late 50s and 60s and his famous TV role as widower, Steve Douglas in “ My 3 Sons” that ran for 12 years.  He was not one to bed every leading lady or starlet although I am certain he was not virginal but he seemed to be true to his 2 wives. His first wife died of cancer in 1953 and he met ( through John Wayne) and married June Haver (after she left the nunnery) in 1954 and stayed with her until his death. He loved his hometown of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin mentioning it almost every time he was interviewed and even had it in some of his movies. He refused to be a bad guy in any more film roles when he was slapped by a woman while at Disneyland with his family. She took her kids to see "The Apartment" not thinking it was a film where he played a real jerk. Suffice to say tgatcwoman was an idiot.

He bought a large piece of land where he raised cattle and farmed enjoying this country life. This land is now owned by the Gallo family, famous for the wine and his daughter lives there and promotes  what her dad started. At one point, due to his shrewdness in real estate, he was the 4th richest person in the United States. In fact, this man knew how to shove a coal up his ass and have it come out a Diamond. His stinginess was legendary often bringing his lunch to work and tipping spariningly. 

When he started his TV venture, he orchestrated a great contract, not only money wise, but he wanted all his scenes filmed first. This meant that he only worked 65 days in a year so he could play golf and be on his farm with his family. The other players on this TV series had to play to someone off screen when talking to “dad”  and had to act around what Fred wanted. 

His later years was marked with much illness from emphysema, ( he was a huge smoker) a severe stroke, leukaemia and finally pneumonia.

He may not be one of NY all time favourites but I think he should be more well known than what he is today.

FILMS

1. The Gilded Lady-1935

2. Alice Adams- 1935

3. Honeymoon in Bali-1939

4. The Lady is Willing-1942

5. Double Indemnity- 1944

6. The Egg and I- 1947

7. Never a Dull Moment- 1950

8. The Caine Mutiny-1954

9. Good Day for a Hanging-1959

10. The Apartment- 1960

DISNEY FILMS

1. The Shaggy Dog-1959

2. The Absent-Minded Professor-1961

3. Son of Flubber-1963

Thursday Movie Picks: TV Edition- Book Adaptations

 

TV time again and Wandering Through The Shelves loves books so we have books adapted to TV. I'm just going to swing right on in with my 3 and I love a good miniseries...

1. ROOTS-1977

This was the miniseries that catapulted everything into what we know today for the now called "limited run" series. This is based on a book by Aldous Huxley who wrote about his family history. Funny, when I watched this all those years ago, I wondered how he knew so many intricate details since record keeping was shoddy at best. It came out, years later, that his ancestry bio was fabricated. This does not mean that this series was any less riveting. We follow a young Kunte Kinte( played by Levar Burton) as he is captured and sent to the United( Ha) States of America to be a slave. We watch him grow, marry and have a daughter who is taken away to another plantation. We see her grow, have a child and watch that child grow up. To finally see how horribly treated the African American people were treated was a long time coming. This gave us a good indication why the Civil War erupted and that the South were just horribly wrong in their thinking. Some great stars were in this series and it's worth seeing. Even though Alex made up the people  what happened to his ancestors  plus thousands of others  was on the mark. 

2. SINS-1986

There were some mighty trashy miniseries in the 1980s and this is one of the best starring none other than Joan Collins. I was surprised at some of the other actors that were in this gaudy fun flick. We see the life of Joan Collins from when she is a little girl with her mom, brother and sister trying to hide from the mean Nazis but they are found. We follow the young gal as she struggles  through life by becoming a model in Paris to becoming the head of a major couture house while going through men like I can go through chocolate. She makes enemies who want to do her in but Joan shashays through with shouldr pads and all. You just love trash when you watch this. It comes from this book, written by Judith Gould, in 1982 that was a huge best seller.

3  POOR LITTLE RICH GIRL: THE BARBARA HUTTON STORY-1987

After Charlie's Angels, Farrah Fawcett wanted to show she was more than just hair and a pretty face and showcased her talents in some good movies like The Burning Bed.  She was also quite good as the Woolworth heiress, Barbara Hutton who inherited a huge fortune when she was just 5 yrs old. She married many times including Cary Grant whom she said was the only honest man she met. She truly had no direction in life and, when she died, she had less the $20,000 in the bank. Her life was very interesting and very sad despite her millions. I thought  Farrah was really quite good as this sad gal who was looking for love. This is based on the book, "Poor Little Rich Girl: the Life & Legend of Barbara Hutten." A really good movie worth seeing.

Which book to TV adaptations can you think of?

We’re having a steamy heat wave where it’s too damn Hot!

 

It just feels like the whole world is having a heat wave with people sweltering, forest fires and once large rivers and lakes drying up....it’s just nuts and I hate it. I hate the dead of summer because I can’t breathe and have a hard time sweating. Call it a gift from my mom and her dad but I  just have no idea what it feels like to have beads of sweat fall from my forehead. It’s weird but it’s true and I am so thankful for the air conditioning. That made me think about songs that are all about heat...not in heat although the songs might imply otherwise.

1. WE’RE HAVING A HEATWAVE SUNG BY ETHEL MERMAN-1938

This song is by Irving Berlin for the show “As Thousands Cheer” from 1933. I believe it was introduced by Ethel Waters but I like the way the other Ethel sings it. Marilyn Monroe made it famous again singing it in “ There’s No Business Like Show Business” which also stars Ethel Merman.

2. TOO DARN HOT SUNG BY ELLA FITZGERALD-1956

This is from another musical theatre hit called, “Kiss Me Kate” from 1948, made more famous by Ann Miller who sang the song in the film version and tap danced to it as well. I actually like the way Ella sings this song.

3. STEAM HEAT SUNG BY GEORGIA ENGEL -1976

Who knew sweet little Georgia could steam it up on the Mary Tyler Moore Show. When I saw this episode..um...when it came out back then, I was in Shock because you just don’t expect this from this gal, but she delivers. This song is also from a musical hit called “The Pajama Game”  made famous by Carol Haney, in 1948, who also starred in the film version starring Doris Day and John Raitt ( Bonnie Raitt’s dad).

Which hot songs can you come up with?

Thursday Movie Picks- Female Bosses

 

I was just, what’s the technical term?? Oh yes, blecchhh last week after the failed colonoscopy. For the next 3 days I felt like my walls were being stretched and I was in quite a bit of pain Which makes me wonder if diverticulitis is the culprit. I will have to go through it again but this time, no f#@,! 4L jug to drink. All I need is some vile Jim Jones juice to down and that should do it. 

This week, over at Wandering Through The Shelves, it’s about female bosses and I was quite surprised at how many movies had female bosses that were just mean bitches. I wanted to try and find 3 women bosses who were good and not vicious, sexually charged(or under-charged) harpies. I think I found 3 so let’s get the show on the road.

1. MILDRED PIERCE-1945

You can rely on Joan Crawford to be her own woman and this is the perfect part albeit kind of wild considering she was not the best mom in the world. She plays a wonderful wife and mom to 2 girls, one sweet and the other a total mean little bitch. The marriage is not the best and when the good little girl dies, the marriage falls apart mainly because Crawford’s mommy ways are beyond stupid when it comes to her mean, vile daughter played brilliantly by Ann Blyth. Crawford decides to get a job at a restaurant and soon learns the ropes and exceeds it becoming her own boss to a very successful restaurant of her own all the while giving in to the demands of this beast of a daughter. Her best friend, played by Eve Arden, knows who this gal is when she states,  "Crocodiles have the right idea...they eat their young.” Or something to that effect. Crawford won the Oscar for her role which she graciously accepted while “sick in bed with the flu” all dussied up in her best boudoir outfit.

2. THE FAR COUNTRY-1954

This is a western that stars James Stewart as a man who was swindled out of his cattle by a corrupt judge but takes them anyway, crossing into Canada with the herd. Along with his best friend, played by Walter Brennan, they decide to try their hand at gold prospecting and making a point of staying out of the less than savoury goings on at the lawless place called Dawson. The saloon owner and very wealthy owner of other business ventures, Ruth Roman, has the hots for James Stewart but also likes to own the town along with the judge. She makes sure she buys the food plus make herself richer with gals and gambling, so as to have the main competition go under. It finally comes to a head and Stewart must take sides but what will the owner of the saloon do now that she sees hubba hubba Stewart is silent no more? This is a pretty good western and the scenery is stunning. I had just visited Athabaskan glacier and was shocked when I saw this film because it has 2 great scenes at this famous glacier. You can see how much the glacier has shrunk since this film was made which is quite sad.

3. IT HAPPENED TO JANE-1959

You know that I had to choose a Doris Day movie because, in many of her comedies if the late 50s/ early 60s, she played a self made woman who was her own boss. This film tanked at the box office possibly due to the title of the movie but I found it fun. It's not an earth shattering comedy classic but a fun Doris Day romp as a widowed business lady of a lobster business. She sells her lobsters to businesses but when the railway screws up causing  her lobsters to bite the dust, she loses her biggest contract. Well, this won't do for this headstrong, spunky gal so she insists that the local lawyer  played by Jack Lemmon, take on the railway. The head of the railway is played to evil perfection by Ernie Kovacs with Granite-faced Steve Forrest wanting to make Day his own much to Lemmon's dismay. I have not seen this in years, but would like to watch this again because I found it thoroughly engaging.

Which female boss movies can you think of?

I have to put this hilarious send-up of Mildred Pierce by Carol Burnett because it's just perfect but don't watch it if you have not seen the movie and want to.