Category Archives: Movies

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?

2025, home, Movies, pets, State Fair

Why Bother with a Pillow?

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When I went to bed the night before Opening Day (do I need to say, of State Fair?), I was ready! 

I had the alarm set for 5:40; I wanted to have enough time to do my leg exercises before we left for the fair.  We normally get home around dinner time and I didn’t figure I would do both sets of exercises at night. 

The turtle bag was packed – everything on the packing list crossed off – cash, coupon booklets, tickets, Tylenol, bandaids, wipes, container for cookies, fan, hat:

Packed and ready to go

I went to bed a smidge earlier than normal, but not too much.  I pet the cat and then snuggled down.  That’s when the trouble started.

Apparently several episodes of Death in Paradise was a bit much for evening viewing.  Woke up from a weird intense dream of bodies floating in the Caribbean.  Dozing off again did not come easily and I ended up turning on “To Catch a Thief”.  Then woke up to the dog whining at 1 a.m. – one of the smoke alarms was squeaking.  Took a few minutes to figure out if it was my room or the hallway and then we had to dig out batteries.  Dozing off again did not come easily.  Ended up reciting A is for antelope, B is for baboon, C is for capybara…. got all the way to the end of the alphabet – twice.    Woke up at 2:30 to make a trip to the bathroom.  This time I ended up turning on Murder on the Orient Express.  At 5:15 I rolled over and when I looked at the time, I just gave it up.  Plenty of time to do my exercises, pick up a bit, feed the critters, water the bales. 

I can’t recall the last time I had such a rough night.  Obviously opening day was clearly keeping me a little over-wired!  Luckily it didn’t keep me from enjoying my first day at the fair and I slept exceedingly well that night.  But I do wonder if I need an updated “go back to sleep” routine?

Why couldn’t Goldilocks sleep?

2025, books, Fantasy, Media, Movies, TV

All For One….

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When we talked about esoteric knowledge the other day, I would not have said that The Three Musketeers was a particular interest of mine.  Then I stumbled upon a tv series from 2014-2016, a British production.  Binge-watching is a perfect occupation when you’re nursing a knee. 

This particular series is a little darker than I like, but I realize that I’ve seen quite a few of the musketeer movies over the years, so it’s intriguing to see this one.  The production values are quite good – costumes and dialog seem more realistic than a lot of historical dramas.  Of course, there seems to be at least one nubile young woman each episode who manages to fall for one of the musketeers in just a day or so.  Then there’s the fact that all of the musketeers except D’Artagnan (the only character played by an actor who I recognize – Santiago Cabrera) have old, unhealed loved tragedies in their past.  Athos in particular can’t seem to get over his.

And it’s VERY violent.  I find myself listening more than watching every now and then.  I’m not surprised that there were only three seasons.  I’m about half way through the second season and I’m starting to wonder if Paris is going to run out of population, so many people get murdered each episode.  Last night I actually muted it for about five minutes while Captain Treville was getting operated on.  (Thank goodness I live in an age with anesthetic.)  It’s another show that I can’t watch up until bedtime or I have dreams that are much too intense.

As I’ve been watching the show, it occurs to me that I can’t remember if I ever READ The Three Musketeers.  All the comparisons that I’m making in my mind may be from other movies/series I’ve seen.  And there is still the one big question of why Dumas titled his tome The Three Musketeers when there are clearly four of them?  Maybe the book explains this?  So I put it on hold at the library.  I’ll let you know!

Did you have a play sword as a kid?  Ever taken fencing or shooting lessons?

2025, Fantasy, Movies, News

Val Kilmer – RIP

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The sad news showed up late Tuesday that Val Kilmer has passed away.  He was just 65 and it was apparently pneumonia that got him in the end, although he did have quite a horrific battle with throat cancer 8-10 years back.

He had a fairly prolific career although I have heard many stories about him being notoriously hard to work with.  I can’t say that he was anywhere close to a favorite – I’ve really only seen a handful of his films, almost all of them from early in his career. 

Two of his early works I’ve seen repeatedly are Real Genius and Willow.  In Real Genius he plays a top of the charts college genius – kind of hard to tell the plot without some serious spoilers.  The movie is not even remotely realistic but it’s fun and the good guys win without guns, fistfights or even any blood. 

Willow is an amazing fantasy with witchcraft, brownies, trolls, fairies and an epic battle.  Spoiler alert – the good guys win.  In addition to Val Kilmer playing a charming rogue, the movie is graced with an incredible performance by Warwick Davis.  Here is my favorite scene (although I love lots of scenes in this film). This is as Willow (Davis) is leaving his village on his quest.

Kaya gives Willow a Braided Bush

Given my track record, the next couple of weeks will probably see me tracking down some more of his movies that I haven’t seen.  Hopefully I won’t be disappointed.

Any Val Kilmer movies that you particularly like?  Particularly dislike?

2025, Gatherings, Movies, Mysteries, Uncategorized

The Big Screen

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During my other book club yesterday, we got to talking about movies = what we like, what we don’t like, the benefit of seeing things on the big screen, etc.

I was mentioning that I had really enjoyed seeing Conclave on the big screen (although to be fair, I have watched it a couple of times since it came to my tv).  This led to the first movies we remember seeing “on the big screen”.

My family did drive-in movies when I was a kid; How the West Was Won may have been my first.  I barely remember it.  I clearly remember seeing Gone With the Wind when I was about 7.  For some reason I have a very clear memory of the last scene from the swing set that was on the playground right below that huge screen.

The first couple of movies that I saw in a movie theatre were Disney.  Bambi was traumatizing to me.  Losing his mother in that fire left me bereft; I’ve never seen it since.  The other was Fantasia.  I adore Fantasia and have seen it many times.  I love all the various bits, although the hippo ballerinas and the Arabian dance/fish from the Nutcracker rank right up there.  And I am very fond of Night on Bald Mountain that blends right into Ave Maria.  I have watched Fantasia 2000 a couple of times; Firebird is wonderful but I prefer the original Fantasia the best.  Even on the small screen!

Do you remember the earliest movies you viewed?

2025, Media, Movies, Mysteries, Uncategorized

Oblivious?

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I’ve probably seen the first 10 minutes of the movie Laura 100 times.  It’s one of my go-to bedtime movies.  I can actually recite the first five minutes of the movie by heart.  For fun, I had it on during the afternoon over the weekend and I just happened to look at the screen as Clifton Web and Dana Andrews had this discussion:

DA:  Three years ago in your October 17 column you started out to write a book review but then at the bottom of the column you switched over to the Harrington murder case
CW:  Are the processes of the creative mind now under the jurisdiction of the police?
DA: You said Harrington was rubbed out with a shotgun loaded with buckshot, the way Laura Hunt was murdered, the night before last.
CW: Did I?
DA: Yeah. But he was really killed with a sash weight.
CW: How ordinary. My version was obviously superior.

A sash weight?  Despite how many times I’ve seen this scene, I would never in a gzillion years been able to tell you Harrington got clobbered by a sash weight

I’m not sure which is more amazing, that the line could get by me SO many times or that I   actually know what a sash weight is.  I live in a house that still has sash weights.  I’ve even taken out a window with sash weights and then put it back!

My guess is that knowing about sash weights will become a fairly specialized bit of knowledge as the years go by.

Tell me about something that you know that seems a little rarer than it used to! 

2025, Family, Gatherings, Kids, Movies, Uncategorized

What’s In A Name

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A couple of Sundays ago, Husband and I arrived at church to play bells with the hand bell choir and found, upon reading the bulletin, that there was to be a baptism. That wasn’t at all unusual, but what was unusual was the name the parents chose for their son. Yes, we were to participate in the baptism of a little boy who had been named “Tarzan”.

Of all the names to hang on someone, Tarzan isn’t one that immediately pops into my mind. We have had some unusual names for baptisms lately, like Coven, pronounced like cove and not like the name for a group of witches. Tarzan, however, really takes the cake. What would you call him for short? Zan? Tarzy? Tartar? Zanzan?

I really can’t imagine what could have led people to choose that name, and I can foresee a rough time for the child once he starts school. We didn’t get to see little Tarzan as the family all had the flu and they cancelled and haven’t rescheduled the baptism.

What are some unusual names that you have run across? If you had to change your name, what would you change it to?

2025, Fantasy, Food, Gatherings, Movies

Hello – My Name is Inigo Montoya

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Right before Christmas I discovered that there were two Princess Bride cookbooks.  Who knew?  You all know me well enough to know that I couldn’t stay away from this.  The first one came to the library yesterday… I was outside the library door when they opened.

It’s a fabulous book… lots and lots of glossy stills from the movie and a lot of chat about the filming, in front of and behind the camera.  Even without the recipes it’s a fun read.

The recipes themselves are nothing out of the ordinary but the NAMES of the recipes are a hoot.  Here are a few:

  • Hash You Wish
  • Buttercup Buttermilk Scones
  • Chips of Insanity
  • Mostly Dead
  • Bonetti’s Defense
  • Anybody Want a Peanut
  • Bread Pirate Roberts

Normally I like to make one or two recipes from a cookbook like this… just for fun.  I’m thinking the Bread Pirate Roberts and the Chips of Insanity are on my list.

Maybe we should have a Princess Bride theme party.  The Lightning Sand pudding cookie cups look fun too!

Have you ever been to a fun theme party?

2025, animals, Family, Fantasy, holidays, Movies

Our Holiday Movie

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All autumn I was dreading “the Christmas movie”. On Christmas morning, YA and I have almost always opened stockings and then gone to the movies. We did skip a couple of years due to COVID and one year we just couldn’t find anything at theatres that we liked so we streamed a movie and watched it from the comfort of the sofa.

I knew from YA comments that she wanted to see Wicked. And you all know from my rant last summer that I was not that interested. The thought of seeing a 2½ hour movie (that is just Part I) of a musical that I’m not crazy about just didn’t seem like a fun way to spend a morning, much less a holiday morning. So when I saw a poster at Southdale for Red One, I thought we might find a compromise.

Two weeks before Christmas we went to see Wicked at the Riverview. I always like the Riverview, even if I’m not that wild about what’s showing and that’s exactly how it turned out. We had a nice enough time, I didn’t have to close my eyes over anything gory. Since I’ve gone on and on about Wicked already, I won’t get into it here – suffice it to say it was a good decision not to see this as our Christmas Day movie.

Red One turned out to be at the end of it’s run before Christmas Day (how does this make sense that a Christmas movie stops showing a couple of days before Christmas?) so we decided to see our holiday movie on Solstice this year.

The movie lived up to my expectations. Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans are the main stars. Johnson can’t act his way out of a paper bag but his charm is that he knows this and doesn’t try. A bit refreshing actually. I only know Chris Evans as Captain America, but he gave a creditable performance as the guy who gets transformed by Christmas spirit.

It’s almost impossible to do spoilers for a movie like this… if you don’t know where it’s going, then you’ve never seen a Christmas movie. Here are a few things I thought were particularly fun:

  • • The reindeer are all female.
    • Johnson is the commander of E.L.F., the groups that “guards” Santa. He explains this to Evans at one point saying that as far as Evans is concerned, it stands for Extremely Large and Formidable.
    • Toy stores are the portals to the North Pole transit system, which reaches all over the world.
    • Santa is a smallish, muscular guy who works out a lot and loves cookies, except for macaroons.
  • And, of course, there is a massive polar bear named Garcia on the E.L.F. team.

By the time we got home from the theatre, YA had discovered that Red One is already out on Prime Video. I’ve watched it twice more since then!

Do you have a favorite holiday movie?