Category Archives: Movies

2026, Business, Fantasy, Food, Gatherings, Movies

Conversations in the Dark

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I couldn’t resist.  Got up early on Sunday morning and headed to SunStreet Breads for their last day.  Got there a little after 6; there was one fellow already standing outside the door but since I didn’t have a coat on, I stayed in the car listening to my book on CD.  When the next two guys joined the little line at 6:10, I got out and joined them.

We had a great time, first talking about bakeries and donuts and rustic breads. Everybody had other bakeries that they sometimes frequent but it was clear that Sunstreet had a place in all our hearts.  I can’t remember why somebody in the line behind me highly commended the movie The Hail Mary Project.  I mentioned that I wasn’t sure I wanted to see that – another favorite book of mine that I don’t want “sullied” by some movie producer’s vision.  This led to a lively bit of talk about science fiction movies.  The first guy in line and I convinced to the two younger men between us that they needed to see Forbidden Planet with Leslie Nielsen and Walter Pidgeon.  I mentioned John Scalzi, but apparently any science fiction written after 1985 was a non-starter for my new friend in the front of the line.  The topic then returned to the bakery with all of us listing what we were planning on purchasing. 

At 6:30, opening time, the line was all the way back to the Caribou Coffee – probably 40 folks.  There were signs up about no espresso (I’m guessing that’s a time suck you can’t afford when you have lines out the door) and only six pastries per person.  All three of my guys did the six pastries bit but since I was just there for the experience, I just got three – a raspberry cream scone, a laugen croissant (kind of a pretzel crust) and a blueberry turnover for YA.  Oh and one last tray of outrageously expensive (but yummy) animal cookies.  

The line was even longer when I left.  I headed on home with my treasures, realizing that I’d had a great time – not so much because I’d gotten pastries on the last day of my favorite bakery but because it had been a blast to talk about donuts, bakeries and science friction in the wee hours of the morning.

Any really good conversations recently?

2026, books, Movies, TV

Tired….

25 Comments

I’m that proverbial early bird.  Not sure it’s ever gotten me any early worms.  It’s pretty rare that I can stay asleep longer than 5 or 5:30, although occasionally in the winter when it’s dark later in the morning, I can manage a little bit longer.  In the summer, once the sun starts heading into the sky, I’m done for.

This is not a problem unless I have too many late nights.  Usually I’m not a night owl  but….

I’m binging Brokenwood these days, so one night in the last week, I was  up until midnight watching the last of the DVDs that I had from the library.  Another night this week, I stayed up too late watching some Peter Davison Dr Who episodes (the DVD was due the next day).   A third night I was getting close to the end of Inside a Dog by Alexandra Horowitz.  It wasn’t really a page-turner (4 stars) but I really wanted to see if the author was going to wrap it up with anything more surprising than she had already presented (spoiler alert – she didn’t). 

No regrets about any of these nights but since sleeping in doesn’t happen so I am dragging a little bit the last couple of days.  Nothing too serious and after a few more regular nights, I’ll be back to my bright-eyed, bushy-tailed morning gal.  Unless I find something else compelling that keeps me up……

What’s worth it to you to lose some sleep?  Last thing that kept you up past your usual bedtime?

2025, Family, holidays, Movies, Mysteries

How Did This Happen?

45 Comments

Holiday movies are a staple for me.  I wait (sometimes patiently, sometimes not) for the day after Thanksgiving and then I cut loose – holiday movies galore for the weeks.  I prefer older movies although it seems every year or so something pops up that gets added to be stable of favorites.  Last year was Red One.  Three years ago it was The Christmas Chronicles.  Four years ago it was Klaus.  I’ll try any Christmas Carol at least once although Alistair Sims is the top of my list, followed shortly thereafter by Patrick Stewart.  And I simply cannot stay away from White Christmas despite its drecky and implausible plot.

The Bishop’s Wife, Miracle on 34th Street (the original only please) and, of course, It’s a Wonderful Life are still my top contenders; I usually watch these more than once a season.  I had Wonderful Life on last night when YA wandered in.  I was about ¾ of the way through and she said “when does he go to his weird world”?  What?  What?  So I tried to succinctly explain that Clarence the angel was showing George a world in which he had never been born.  This took a bit of explaining.  Anyway, YA stayed for the rest of the movie and asked MANY questions as we went along.  Zuzu’s petals were particularly hard to explain. 

Then we got to the scene in which Harry shows up after flying through a snowstorm (questions about where had Harry been, where did the movie take place).  I’ve probably seen this movie 100 times and I still choke up a bit when Harry says “To my big brother George – the richest man in town”.  YA looked at me in surprise, as if tearing up at a movie you’ve seen before is just too weird to understand.  I suppose we shouldn’t discuss the last line of Princess Bride, should we?

How can YA, at the age of 30 and having lived her entire life under the same roof with me, not know this movie?  Or get a little verklempt at the end?  I feel like a complete failure as a parent!

Watched any holiday movies this year? And do not list Die Hard as a holiday movie.  Just don’t.

2025, books, Fantasy, Movies

Way Back Monsters

25 Comments

If you were at the Blevins Book Club on Sunday, then you knew this was coming. 

I found an annotated copy of Frankenstein which among a ton of other information, included a list of all the Frankenstein (and quasi-Frankenstein) movies.  You all know I can’t keep away from something like that.

Of the first three Frankenstein films, only the first one from 1910 has survived.  It’s a short and is interesting because the “creation” is not made by putting body pieces together but by pouring a bunch of chemicals into a big vat and then heating it up.  For 1910, it’s actually some very interesting visual effects.  (It’s about 13 minutes long so it’s easy to satisfy your curiosity on YouTube, but too long to post here.)

The monster is an interesting blend of clown, yeti, caveman and monster from the black lagoon and doesn’t actually kill anyone before he seems to repent his very nature and “disappears” into the big mirror in Victor’s study.  But the pantywaist nature of Victor was spot-on.  See the monster and fling yourself out of the room and fall prostrate on the bed.  Monster comes into the room – fall prostrate on the floor.  Next time you see the monster, fall back prostrate in your chair.  The film maker clearly got that part of the book right.

Anyway, the next two films, Without a Soul (1915) and Il Mostro di Frankenstein (1921) have been lost and not much is known about them. The plot of Without a Soul included a dream sequence in which the doctor lives the Frankenstein story fairly closely, but then he wakes up.  The only thing really known about Il Mostro is that many consider it the first Italian horror film.

That’s it up until Universal came up with their massive laboratory, lightning technology and green, neck-bolted creature in 1931.  Which they promptly copyrighted, even going so far as to sue someone planning some kind of Without a Soul re-make.  

There are supposedly some references/appearances of the monster in two films by Sidney Lanfield in 1936 but I’m not willing to watch One in a Million or Sing, Baby, Sing again. 

Have you seen any Frankenstein movies?  Any favorites?

2025, Business, Media, Movies, Technology

I Robot

28 Comments

A wave of nostalgia hit me yesterday when I went to get a gift card for YA’s stocking.  When I was a kid, my folks would drop me off in front of the movie theater, I’d meet up with my friends, plunk down my buck, get the popcorn, find a seat, see the movie.  No checking a website for availability, no buying the tickets ahead of time, no assigned seats. 

When I walked into the Southdale AMC, it looked very similar to the photo in the header.  Just a bank of screens but no bodies whatsoever.  For years I’ve left movie arrangements to YA, so I had to idea that people had become quite so irrelevant to the process.  These days you can still buy a ticket from one of the automated kiosks but apparently most people buy the tickets online, choose their assigned seat and just go straight to the “ticket taker”.

If there was a way to get a gift card at a kiosk, I couldn’t figure it out, so I asked the ticket taker.  Apparently you do still need a person to get a gift card; he took care of it for me.  I thought about it as I went back to the car; nobody lets customers sell themselves giftcards at the self-checkout.  I suppose that there are just a few too many ways that the sale can go catty-whompus.  This was proved correct about 15 minutes later at Trader Joes.  I’m not sure what happened but even the cashier couldn’t make the cards scan properly.  The supervisor who got called over couldn’t figure it out either.  Eventually they did total out my groceries and then do a whole new transaction for the gift cards. 

I’m pretty sure that eventually they’ll figure out a way to automate giftcards and then there probably won’t even be a ticket taker when you go to the movies.  They’ll most likely AI the popcorn and pretzels one of these days!

What’s something that’s been automated these days that surprised you?

2025, Art, Media, Movies, Theatre, TV

Diane Ladd 1935-2025

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I saw the sad news that Diane Ladd passed away yesterday – she was 89.  

She began acting at the age of 18 and just retired 3 years ago; her last roles were in Gigi & Nate and Isle of Hope.  When she first came to my attention was the year I graduated high school, when she appeared in Chinatown and then Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.  Both great performances and she was nominated for a Golden Globe, Academy Award and a BAFTA – winning the BAFTA. 

One of my favorite of her performances was as Etta, the sister-in-law of Theresa Turner in Black Widow.  It wasn’t a huge part but she really made her cool but nasty character sizzle on the screen.  The header photo is the best one I can find of her in that role.

I also really liked Rambling Rose in which she plays a southern woman who battles to keep a younger teenager from going under the knife unnecessarily.  Here’s a good clip from that:

I also remember a really nice part she played in a Columbo episode.  She’s a wheelchair bound woman whose husband kills her mother.  She wears pretty, diaphanous dresses and appears fragile, but turns out to be a strong and kind woman.  It’s one of my favorite Columbo episodes. 

Her part in Alice didn’t do much for me.  Of course, the I didn’t care the the show BEFORE she stepped in, but trying to shoehorn her into the role that Flo had vacated didn’t seem to work all that well.  But she was popular and did win a Golden Globe for her work.

Most of the news stories today have “mother of Laura Dern” in their titles.  It’s a shame because I don’t think that’s her big claim to fame.  She had a long, diverse and entertaining career; that’s what the headlines should be!

Have you seen Diane Ladd in anything?  Do you have a favorite?

2025, books, Movies, Science, space, Travel, Uncategorized

Sci Fi

15 Comments

I have never been a big fan of Science Fiction books or movies. I like Star Wars and Star Trek, but I really don’t consider them real Science Fiction, as they just seem to be Westerns that happen hundreds of years from now.

As I was contemplating the recent 550 mile drive from Dickinson to Luverne, I thought about one of the few Science Fiction books I love from my preteen years, A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L’Engle, in which she describes people traveling through space using a tesseract, which is instantaneous travel by making folds in space and time. It would have been been so great to just roll up the Great Plains and get to Luverne instantaneously instead of driving eight hours! I suppose would have gladly accepted an offer from Scotty to “beam me down” to Luverne as well.

What are your most favorite and least favorite Science Fiction stories and movies? Where would you like to be teletransported?

2025, books, Movies, Mysteries

The Warden Threw a Party

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After Robert Redford’s death last week, I re-visited my goal to see more of his films.  I was able to find The Last Castle for free through my cable so watched it a few nights ago.  As I was watching it, a couple of things occurred to me.  First… while Robert Redford made beautiful and thought-provoking films, a lot of them are dark and depressing.  Second… I really don’t care for jailhouse movies. 

Yes, The Last Castle is a jailhouse movie.  No serious spoiler alerts except to say that it is dark and depressing.  And you know it almost immediately when an inmate, who clearly hasn’t done anything and is panicking in the jail yard, is killed by the prison guards.   I did battle it out until the end, but it wasn’t a feel good scenario. 

The realization that I avoid jailhouse movies occurred to me fairly early into the movie.  I’ve never watched The Shawshank Redemption, despite MANY people telling me it’s the best.  No Green Mile, no O Brother Where Art Thou, no Papillon (although I did read the book).   I haven’t even seen Jailhouse Rock; my aversion to jail movies apparently goes back aways.

That isn’t to say that I’ve taken a pass on all of them.  I have seen Cool Hand Luke, The Great Escape, Escape from New York as well as two other jail movies with Robert Redford – Brubaker and The Chase.  Technically The Chase isn’t in jail but it’s the chase after a jailbreak, so I’m including it.

Not too sure why I don’t like jail movies although it might be tied to the fact that I don’t like a lot of movies in which the chips are obviously stacked against the protagonist.  I’ve shied away from The Hunger Games and the Maze Runner – those kinds of things – for that reason.  And no movies about gladiators at all.

Any jailhouse movies that you’ve liked?  Any types of movies you shy away from?

2025, Media, Movies, News, Theatre

Robert Redford – RIP

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Robert Redford did so much during his career and it’s tempting to put up lists of his appearances and his time behind the camera as well as the microphone.  But the list would go on and on and on.

He was born in 1936 and began his career at the age of 23 on Broadway, starring in Tall Story.  His biggest early hit was Barefoot in the Park and went on to make a movie of that name with Jane Fonda.  Many small roles in television in the early years as well.  He worried about his “blond male” stereotype but eventually found not just his niche, but his first massive success in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in 1969.

I was 13 when I saw BCSK and was gutted. I’ve never been able to watch the entire movie since and I wore a poncho (in solidarity) until I wore it out.  I also cried for about an hour after seeing The Way We Were – have also never watched that one at all since.

However, I have watched Spy Game (with Brad Pitt) repeatedly and Sneakers (with Dan Akroyd, Ben Kingsley, Mary McDonnell, Sidney Poitier, David Strathairn, River Phoenix) is one of my “watch-in-the-middle-of-the-night” movies.

In what I consider an amazing feat, his directorial debut was Ordinary People in 1980.  Four academy awards.  This is a searing film but so so so good.  Redford said in an interview once that he came across Mary Tyler Moore sitting on the beach looking out at the ocean and he just knew that she would be right for this part, even though she had never really done anything that serious before.  I’ve watched it repeatedly. 

A few years ago I tried to watch all of Redford’s movies. It was too big of a project but did result in my having seen A LOT of them.  Let’s see how many of the holes I can fill in.

It’s not a secret that he was a gifted actor, a gifted filmmaker, a gifted teacher and a gifted political activist.  Not too many of his ilk come along these days.  He will be missed.

Any favorite Robert Redford films?

2025, Fantasy, Movies, Mysteries

Godzilla – Again

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You all know I have an affinity for Godzilla movies.  I don’t know why.  Most of them aren’t all that well made and of course they are pretty violent.  But like many of the mysteries in life, Godzilla and I seem to keep crossing paths.

It happened again last week when I stumbled across Godzilla Minus One, which came out in 2023, written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki.  This is the 37th film in the Godzilla franchise and I’m pretty sure I’ve seen most of them.  While Minus One got great reviews, I wasn’t holding my breath. 

There is much more of a human element to this one, although seeing the aftermath of WWII on the ordinary Japanese citizen was depressing.  Then this massive, basically indestructible monster comes and destroys what little is left.  And, as always, nobody can ever say why Godzilla does what he does. 

I noticed right away that this Godzilla is a really good match for the earlier Godzillas.  Of course, much better CGI and photography but his spiny back and the shape of his head and neck were just like the classic.  And then towards the end, I thought “this music sounds so familiar”.  After the movie was over, I found the original 1954 Godzilla with soundtrack composed by Akira Ifukube.  This is apparently now known as The Ifukube March and has been used in several of the movies over the years:

The composer for Godzilla Minus One (Naoki Sato) did a great salute by incorporating the march into the final “battle scene”:

If you had suggested to me when I was younger that someday I would know enough about Godzilla to recognize his classic form and his classic music, I would have laughed until I cried.  Guess I’d better get out the tissues.

Seen any good movies lately?  Any stinkers?