Me From A to Z:
Amateur Parodist,
Blogger,
Christian,
David Davidovich,
Evangelical Sans Trump Kool-Aid,
Father of 3 Adult Children,
Giraffe lover,
Husband of One Amazing Wife,
Iguchi Appreciator,
Jester,
Kindegarten Clear,
Library Lover
Muppet Man
Narnian
Optimist
Poet
Quintessential Worker
RITA (Republican In Theory, Anyways.)
Stonehill Fan
Teacher
U of I Parent - ILL,
Voracious reader,
White Sox Fan,
Xenophile
Yankovic Enthusiast
Zoo Afficionado
Sox Fam
A Quote to Start Things Off
We cannot seem to escape paradox: I do not think I want to. Madeline L’Engle Walking on Water
Hello and welcome back to A Month at the Movies, my contribution to the A to Z challenge for 2023.
This year I am copying from a myriad of other A to Z challengers by reprinting the same synopsis about my theme with every letter. You can skip over this part if you want to.
I love movies and have decided to share with you a movie each day that I have enjoyed to one degree or another. With each entry, I'll give a brief synopsis of the film, share a positive and negative review from Rotten Tomatoes ( a website, I didn't use much at all until preparing for the challenge), discuss its resiliency (the theme of the A to Z challenge this year), and other tidbits like whether the film may appear in my top 100 film list, which I have been revamping this year. I think that's enough in the way of introduction, considering you'll be reading it (hopefully) 9 more times this month.
Film: Quiz Show (1994)
Director: Robert Redford
Positive Tomato: Redford's best film to date is a poignant examination of pop culture, TV, greed, and race relations in American society of the 1950s, with the perfect casting of John Turturro, Ralph Fiennes, and particularly Paul Scofield. Emanuel Levy - Emanuel Levy.com
Negative Tomato: As a pure period piece Quiz Show delivers beautifully, but Redford's foursquare, documentary-like approach, however artful, unspools a story with about as much drama as a game show itself. Monica Hayde - Palo Alto Weekly
Quiz Show is Robert Redford's amazing take on the quiz show scandals of the 1950s. This trailer gives a pretty good synopsis...
Herb Stempel, Charles Van Doren & Jack Barry on 21 By Macfadden Publications, no photographer credited - https://archive.org/stream/radiotvmirr00mac#page/20/mode/1up TV Radio Mirror, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=91457687
By Georges Biard, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9071793
Resiliency: Robert Redford who is a director better known for his work in front of the camera was able to convince director Martin Scorsese to act in Quiz Show. The Resilient Scorsese looks really good in this clip.
Top 100: The 1955 film Marty is mentioned multiple times in this movie. My wife and I decided to watch Marty after seeing this film, and Marty is now one of our favorite movies. Quiz Show is definitely in my top 100, but Marty is in my top 10.
A to Z Connections: Robert Redford also directed Ordinary People. Paul Scofield (A Man For All Seasons) is mesmerizing as the father of Charles Van Doren.
Hello and welcome back to A Month at the Movies, my contribution to the A to Z challenge for 2023.
This year I am copying from a myriad of other A to Z challengers by reprinting the same synopsis about my theme with every letter. You can skip over this part if you want to.
I love movies and have decided to share with you a movie each day that I have enjoyed to one degree or another. With each entry, I'll give a brief synopsis of the film, share a positive and negative review from Rotten Tomatoes ( a website, I didn't use much at all until preparing for the challenge), discuss its resiliency (the theme of the A to Z challenge this year), and other tidbits like whether the film may appear in my top 100 film list, which I have been revamping this year. I think that's enough in the way of introduction, considering you'll be reading it (hopefully) 10 more times this month.
Film: Persuasion
Director: Roger Michell
By Rwendland - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38421041
19th-century author Jane Austen completed 6 novels in her lifetime and in the late 20th century and the early 21st they were all made into movies or mini-series, or both. Persuasion was originally made for television and was shown on B.B.C Screen Two in April 1995 and again on Christmas Day of that year. It was also shown in the U.S. in 1997 as part of Masterpiece Theatre. In between, long before streaming services would do the same exact thing, it was released in U.S. theatres in September of 1995 where it earned 5.5 million at the box office.
Positive Tomato: Persuasion is proof that the most repressed love stories can have the sweetest payoff. Like Anne herself, the movie reveals its wonders slowly. David Ansen - Newsweek
Negative Tomato: Austen was always fun to read, and known for her candid insight into human affairs, but somehow Michell and Dear seem to have left these basic ingredients out. Barbara Shulgasser - San Francisco Examiner
By Bow and flag, HMS Victory, Historic Dockyard, Portsmouth by Robin Sones, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=128835950
The film stars Amanda Root as Anne Elliot and Ciaran Hinds as Fredrick Wentworth. Years before the film takes place Wentworth proposed to Anne and was rejected because she was (wait for it) persuaded not to accept the match because of class differences. Now fortunes have changed. Anne's family is as snobby as ever but is dealing with the repercussions of years of living beyond their means. Anne is achieving spinster status and is generally overlooked by her self-absorbed family, while Wentworth is now an eligible bachelor due to a lucrative naval career in The West Indies.
The book is about the transformation of Anne, to use an analogy from the movie, The Holiday, from best friend to leading lady. As the pages turn she becomes the star of her own life. In the film, she shines even brighter. The acting is stellar, the locations (many of them pictured here) are spectacular and the musical arrangement is exquisite. The antepenultimate scene in the film where Anne and Wentworth walk down a promenade as a circus performers marches past is one of the most exquisite multisensory experiences I, have ever seen in a film.
Resiliency: The resiliency of Anne's and Wentworth's love for each other is best summed up in this letter from Wentworth to Anne.
Note: This Youtube video continues after the letter scene to show the leasd up to the circus scene I just mentioned plus. If you have not watched this movie yet, and plan to, I would stop watching this clip after the letter scene ends at the 1:28 mark.
Top 100: This is definitely in my top 25 movies of all time. I think it will end up somewhere in the late teens. There will be 3 Jane Austen movies in my top 25, and this is my favorite.
A to Z Connection: Corin Redgrave plays Anne's obsequious father here and portrays Sir Thomas More's son-in-law in A Man For All Seasons.
Hello and welcome back to A Month at the Movies, my contribution to the A to Z challenge for 2023.
This year I am copying from a myriad of other A to Z challengers by reprinting the same synopsis about my theme with every letter. You can skip over this part if you want to.
I love movies and have decided to share with you a movie each day that I have enjoyed to one degree or another. With each entry, I'll give a brief synopsis of the film, share a positive and negative review from Rotten Tomatoes ( a website, I didn't use much at all until preparing for the challenge), discuss its resiliency (the theme of the A to Z challenge this year), and other tidbits like whether the film may appear in my top 100 film list, which I have been revamping this year. I think that's enough in the way of introduction, considering you'll be reading it (hopefully) 11 more times this month.
Film: Ordinary People (1980)
Director: Robert Redford
Robert Redford has long been one of my favorite actors. Through the decades he has been in one outstanding film after another, Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid (1969), The Sting (1973), All The President's Men (1976), The Natural (1984), and Sneakers (1992), just to name a few. It is very surprising to me, therefore, that I admire Redford more for his work behind the camera as a director than his work as an actor. In 1980 Redord made his directorial debut in Ordinary People, the film version of the 1976 Judith Guest novel.
Positive Tomato: Ordinary People is rare moviemaking and easily one of the best films of 1980. But to spurt volumes of superlatives would not do it justice. Redford's film is deceptively quiet and subtle. Dann Gire - Chicago Daily Herald
Negative Tomato: The movie is about the harm that repression can do, but the movie is just as repressive and sanitized as the way of life it means to expose, and it backs away from anything messier than standard TV-style psychiatric explanations. Pauline Kael - New Yorker
The movie features Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, and Timothy Hutton as the Jarretts, an "ordinary" suburban family still caught in the wake of a series of tragic circumstances. Judd Hirsch also stars as the psychiatrist who works with Conrad Jarrett (Hutton) to work through those circumstances.
Resiliency: While there is much to be said about resiliency in this film, much of this movie's strength comes from showing a family failing to find that resiliency. This scene shows that lack or resiliency in what should be just a simple family photo.
The direction by Redford is top-notch. Each of the 4 main stars is arguably in the best role of their careers. Mary Tyler Moore is known for playing vibrant and loveable characters. She is amazing here as a woman seemingly incapable of loving her family when they need that love the most.
The film was nominated for 6 Academy Awards and won 4. Mary Tyler Moore was nominated for Best Actress but lost to Sissay Spacek (Coal Miner's Daughter). Judd Hirsch and Timothy Hutton were both nominated for Best Supporting Actor. As seen here Hutton prevailed over Hirsch. Hutton makes one of the best and briefest acceptance speeches I have ever seen.
Redford won for Best Director. Ordinary People also took home Oscars for Best Picture, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Top 100: I'd like to take a moment to correct some things I've said recently in other A to Z Posts. Last week when talking about It's A Wonderful Life, I mentioned it was my all-time favorite film. The truth is, I have 3 all-time favorite films that are pretty much in a virtual tie. It's A Wonderful Life is one of them and if pressed I'll sometimes say it's my favorite. Ordinary People is another one of those three. So obviously it's in my top 100. The third film that shares the top spot will be featured sometime next week.
In yesterday's post, I made a comment about Northwest Highway saying that I can't really expect a film I don't watch very often to really be in my top 100. After I wrote that I realized it's been a long time since I've watched Ordinary People. This is because of some of the subject matter in the film, and also because of some family situations over the past few years. However, this does not diminish my feelings for this movie. My wife and I love this film and do hope someday to be able to sit down as a family and be once again captivated by this story.
A To Z Connection: Cary Grant's (North by Northwest) last film was Walk, Don't Run (1966). One of Grant's co-stars in the film is Jim Hutton, the father of Timothy Hutton. Ordinary People was the younger Hutton's first feature film.
Hello and welcome back to A Month at the Movies, my contribution to the A to Z challenge for 2023.
This year I am copying from a myriad of other A to Z challengers by reprinting the same synopsis about my theme with every letter. You can skip over this part if you want to.
I love movies and have decided to share with you a movie each day that I have enjoyed to one degree or another. With each entry, I'll give a brief synopsis of the film, share a positive and negative review from Rotten Tomatoes ( a website, I didn't use much at all until preparing for the challenge), discuss its resiliency (the theme of the A to Z challenge this year), and other tidbits like whether the film may appear in my top 100 film list, which I have been revamping this year. I think that's enough in the way of introduction, considering you'll be reading it (hopefully) 12 more times this month.
Film: North By Northwest (1959)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock<
By Ante Brkan - Dr. Macro, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14857139
Alfred Hitchcock is one of my favorite movie directors. So, it's no surprise that one of his efforts has ended up here in the challenge this month. If you are not familiar with North by Northwest, here is Hitchcock, himself to introduce it for you.
Positive Tomato: It is consistently entertaining, its excitement pointed by but never interrupted by the jokes... But it is on Mr. Grant's own performance, intent, resourceful, witty, as always beautifully timed, that a large part of the pleasure depends. Dilys Powell - Sunday Times (UK)
Negative Tomato: Hitchcock apparently hopes that his fans will laugh off the glaring lack of dramatic nourishment in this concoction on viewing the hilarious and impossible situations In which he throws the long-suffering Grant. John Vosburgh - Miami Herald
By Mike Quinn, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45941549
This painting depicting a scene in North by Northwest is part of a mural in the Leytonstone (The section of London where Hitchcock was born.) Tube station
As an homage to the scene where the airplane is spraying bullets at a frenzied Grant, I will now spray you, the reader, with bullet points about the film its director, and some of the cast.
The above painting depicting the aforementioned scene is part of a mural in the Leytonstone (The section of London where Hitchcock was born.) Tube station.
Alfred Hitchcock featured the motif of the "wrong man" in several of his films.
Hitchcock and Grant collaborated on 4 films from 1941- 1959. North by Northwest was the last of these films.
North by Northwest was Hitchcock's 2nd highest-grossing film 2nd only to Psycho. It was Cary Grant's highest-grossing film.
Leo G. Carrol (who was in 6 Hitchcock films) plays the head of a secret international counterespionage and law-enforcement agency in the film and essentially plays the same type of role in the 1960s television phenomenon The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
Resiliency: Hitchcock directed 53 films in 51 years. Grant was in over 70 movies in a 35-year span.
Top 100: I do not have a ready answer when asked what my favorite Hitchcock film is. I sometimes think it might be this one. If that turns out to be the case, I won't have any Alfred Hitchcock movies in my top 100. That's not a slight against this film. It's an enjoyable well written, superbly acted thrill ride of a movie that sits on my D.V.D. shelf more than a top 100 film should.
A to Z Connection: This is the second Cary Grant film in the Challenge. Arsenic and Old Lace led off the alphabetical review of films, and North by Northwest gets us started on the 2nd half of the alphabet.
Hello and welcome back to A Month at the Movies, my contribution to the A to Z challenge for 2023.
This year I am copying from a myriad of other A to Z challengers by reprinting the same synopsis about my theme with every letter. You can skip over this part if you want to.
I love movies and have decided to share with you a movie each day that I have enjoyed to one degree or another. With each entry, I'll give a brief synopsis of the film, share a positive and negative review from Rotten Tomatoes ( a website, I didn't use much at all until preparing for the challenge), discuss its resiliency (the theme of the A to Z challenge this year), and other tidbits like whether the film may appear in my top 100 film list, which I have been revamping this year. I think that's enough in the way of introduction, considering you'll be reading it (hopefully) 13 more times this month.
Film: A Man For All Seasons (1966)
Director: Fred Zinnemann
By w:Robert Bolt - Scanned by uploader, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54061906
A Man For All Seasons is based on the play of the same name. It is the story of British Lord Chancellor Sir Thomas More. According to Wikipedia More in addition to having served as Lord Chancellor was also an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. More is one of my heroes, which is odd because He was a Roman Catholic opposed to the Protestant Reformation and I am a former Catholic who is a big fan of the Protestant Reformation.
The reason why I am such a fan or More and A Man For All Seasons is that More was an exemplar of standing up for your faith with dignity, grace, and intellectual integrity.
The plot synopsis for A Man For All Seasons in IMDB is so rock solid I will just quote it here rather than bore you with a lesser synopsis...
Thomas More (Paul Scofield) is at odds with Henry VIII (Robert Shaw) over the kings wish to divorce his wife, Catharine of Aragon; so that he may marry Anne Boleyn. More understands that from the standpoint of the Roman Catholic church, the king would be heretical.
More , the appointed Lord chancellor, is so highly regarded that his outspoken unwillingness to break with Rome makes Henry VIII look and unreasonable and the king is furious. As the king's wrath rows, he tries to discredit More by attempts at legal trickery, but the attempts fail. More feels the heat being turned up and determines it best to resign his post to retire to private life. Unfortunately, because More's resignation speaks so loudly of the kings intended impropriety, the kings will stil settle for no less than More's approval of the divorce. More, however refuses to relent.
Henry now has legislation passed that establishes himself as having supreme power in English religous affairs, breaking with Rome and, thereby, establishing the Church of England. He then has legislation passed establishing it as treasonous for any member of the king's court to refuse to sign off on it. More's refusal to sign off dooms him to be beheaded, but he will be remembere as a deeply principled "man for all seasons."
This clip is proof that you can make a great movie and a bad trailer for it.
Positive Tomato: Such a film as A Man For All Seasons makes the silly efforts of avant-garde and "new" picture directors look raw and hideous. This film combines so many qualities of excellence that it stands alone as an example of what a motion picture can be. Marjory Adams - Boston Globe
Negative Tomato: Despite the awards which have been extravagantly heaped upon it and the cool brilliance of Paul Scofield's performance, it remains a costume drama which adds nothing to our understanding of the times, or indeed of men. Craig McGregor - Sydney Morning Herald
This film was nominated for 8 Academy Awards and won 6 including Best Actor, (Paul Scofield), Best Picture, and Best Director (Fred Zinnemann). While I agree with all of those selections, I think the award that highlights the greatest strength of this film is the Oscar for Best Cinematography going to Ted Moore. Moore gives us a gorgeously filmed picture from beginning to end.
Resiliency: Paul Scofield won a Tony award and an Oscar for his portrayal of More.
Top 100: I sometimes am questioned about whether my list of top 100 films is for technical excellence or for how much I enjoyed the film. I have yet to land what I would call a satisfactory answer to that question. I will say this, the excellence of the Zinnemann direction, Moore cinematography, and the Scofield portrayal of More are 3 reasons why this film resonates so much with me and why it is certainly in my top 100 favorite films.
Hello and welcome back to A Month at the Movies, my contribution to the A to Z challenge for 2023.
This year I am copying from a myriad of other A to Z challengers by reprinting the same synopsis about my theme with every letter. You can skip over this part if you want to.
I love movies and have decided to share with you a movie each day that I have enjoyed to one degree or another. With each entry, I'll give a brief synopsis of the film, share a positive and negative review from Rotten Tomatoes ( a website, I didn't use much at all until preparing for the challenge), discuss its resiliency (the theme of the A to Z challenge this year), and other tidbits like whether the film may appear in my top 100 film list, which I have been revamping this year. I think that's enough in the way of introduction, considering you'll be reading it (hopefully) 14 more times this month.
Film: The Last Full Measure
Director: Todd Robinson
The title of this film is based on a phrase from the last sentence of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vainthat this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
The film itself tells 2 important stories at the same time. The story of how William H. Pitsenbarger (Pitts) a 21-year-old USAF Pararescue saved the lives of soldiers in the aftermath of Operation Abilene in Vietnam. It also tells the story of how almost 25 years after Pittsenbarger died saving others how he was finally awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously in 1990.
The movie stars Sebastian Stan who Marvel fans know as Bucky/The Winter Soldier and who my wife (Hi Amy) didn't know cause she only watches movies based on real things like The Muppets. Stan's character is tasked with doing a full review of Pittsenbarger to see if he can get his medal. The star-laden cast includes William Hurt, Samuel L. Jackson, Ed Harris, Jeremy Irvine and Amy Madigan as well as Christopher Plumber, and Peter Fonda both in their final film roles.
Positive Tomato: The way the story is told is fresh, the violence is not sensationalized at all, and the acting is top notch. Alan Ng - Film Threat
Negative Tomato: Unlike that medal that eluded Pitsenbarger's memory for decades, "The Last Full Measure" doesn't do it's hero justice. Garrett Mitchell - Arizona Republic
I wanted to include some more information I gleaned about the real Pittsenbarger in preparing for this piece.
By US Air Force Photo - Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Public Affairs [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6374172
By Ray Schmid (3APS), USAF - U.S. DefenseImagery photo VIRIN: DF-SD-03-17788, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14299554
A U.S. Air Force A1C William Hart Pitsenbarger, 38th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron, saves a Vietnamese soldier from a minefield at Bien Hoa Air Base, Vietnam, 7 March 1966. Original description: "As the Kaman HH-43F Huskie (Pedro) hovers, Airman First Class (A1C) William Hart Pitsenbarger, USAF, Pararescue Crew Member, Detachment 6, 38th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron (ARRS) is extracted while holding a wounded Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) soldier from the burning minefield. The soldier lost a foot when he stepped on a landmine. Nobody could figure out how to extract the wounded soldier without tripping the mines. A1C Pitsenbarger said, "No problem, just lower me down on the penetrator, I'll straddle the guy, pick him up, and then you can lift me up." Risky as everyone knew that the prop wash could also set off the mines. A1C Pitsenbarger earned the Airman's Medal and Vietnam's Medal of Military Merit and the Gallantry Cross with Bronze Palm for this action." - Wikimedia Commons
Fitzenbarger's parents receiving the Medal of Honor on his behalf.
By TSGT Gary Coppage - http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123048972, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11691235
T
Resiliency: This movie has triple-strength resiliency. The resiliency and valor of Pittsenbarger who gave his life to save men he didn't even know. The resiliency and determination of everyone involved in getting Fitzenberger's Medal of Honor awarded to him posthumously. Finally, The resiliency of writer, and director Todd Robinson, who it took according to Wikipedia 20 years to make the movie. It was unsuccessfully pitched more than 50 times and when it did land a deal in 2007 the company was sold and the project shelved. Robinson and executive producer Sidney Sherman spend the next 10 years investigating alternate funding sources. Production of the film began in 2017.
Top 100: I love this movie. It is one of my 3 favorite war movies of all time. Seargent York and The ar Horse are the other 2 ( Pittsenbarger is played by Jeremy Irvine, who also starred in The War Horse). It is probably the most recently made movie in my top 100 and also quite possibly the one that the fewest people have ever seen I cannot recommend this movie strongly enough.
Hello and welcome back to A Month at the Movies, my contribution to the A to Z challenge for 2023.
This year I am copying from a myriad of other A to Z challengers by reprinting the same synopsis about my theme with every letter. You can skip over this part if you want to.
I love movies and have decided to share with you a movie each day that I have enjoyed to one degree or another. With each entry, I'll give a brief synopsis of the film, share a positive and negative review from Rotten Tomatoes ( a website, I didn't use much at all until preparing for the challenge), discuss its resiliency (the theme of the A to Z challenge this year), and other tidbits like whether the film may appear in my top 100 film list, which I have been revamping this year. I think that's enough in the way of introduction, considering you'll be reading it (hopefully) 15 more times this month.
Film: The King's Speech (2011)
Director: Tom Hooper
By www.lancashire.gov.uk - Flickr: Filming Colin and Helena, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32805634
Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, and Helena Bonham Carter are all amazing in this film that celebrates growth mindset on a royal stage. A stuttering prince becomes King and finds his voice.
Positive Tomato: reminds us of a time - not long ago at all - when substance counted for something, and admiration, even among those born to privilege, had to be earned. Bill Newcott - AARP Movies for Grownups.
Negative Tomato: A wonderfully-acted, well-crafted motion picture, but one that is also brutally dull. Brent McKnight - The Last Thing I See.
I usually don't comment on the tomatoes and just get on with my business. Today, I'll deviate from that practice to say I did not find this movie boring at all. It is a captivating story from beginning to end. It is an uplifting movie and in many ways a surprising one. It's hard to be surprising in a bio-pic but I think this one pulls it off nicely.
Resiliency: It takes resiliency to overcome an impediment, It takes resiliency to restore faith in the monarchy, It takes resiliency to encourage your people on the brink of war. Prince Albert of York later known as King George VI had to do all 3 pretty much simultaneously.
Top 100: I like this movie an awful lot and if you asked me I'd say I think it would be in my top 100. Then, when we counted all the films I'd think would be in my top 100, and got upwards of 165, I'd have a decision to make. At that point, this movie's reign might be over.
A To Z Connection: This is the 2nd film in the challenge featuring a portrayal of Prince Edward of York who for a short time was King Edward VIII (Chariots of Fire)
Some of my fellow poets who contribute at Poetry Friday are working on a progressive poem for April's National Poetry Month. I signed up for today and then quickly forgot about it. Thanks for all the reminders on my J post for the A to Z Challenge.
Here is the poem so far with my line on the bottom,
Suddenly everything fell into place
like raindrops hitting soil and sinking in
When morning first poked me, I'd wished it away
my mind in the midst, muddled, confused
Was this a dream, or reality rousing my response?
The sun surged, urging me to join in it's rising.
Rising like a crystal ball reflecting on morning dew.
I jumped out of bed, ready to explore the day
My feet pull me outside and into the garden
Where lillies and bees weave ... but wait what's that?
A bevy of bunnies jart and dart and play in the clover.
A dog barks and flash, the bunderstorm is over.
That's my line and I'm sticking to it. Tomorrow, Irene Latham at Live Your Poem contributes the next line.
My daughter Emma and I signed up for a progressive poem this month and then clean forgot about it with all the revelry brought by my 25th wedding anniversary yesterday. On my 15 minute break from work I am catching up hers for April 11th and will have mine early this afternoon.
A progressive poem is a poem where different poets contribute one line at a time. Here is what we have so far including my contribution for Emma at the last line:
Suddenly everything fell into place
like raindrops hitting soil and sinking in
When morning first poked me, I'd wished it away
my mind in the midst, muddled, confused
Was this a dream, or reality rousing my response?
The sun surged, urging me to join in it's rising.
Rising like a crystal ball reflecting on morning dew.
I jumped out of bed, ready to explore the day
My feet pull me outside and into the garden
Where lillies and bees weave ... but wait what's that?
A bevy of bunnies jart and dart and play in the clover.
Hello and welcome back to A Month at the Movies, my contribution to the A to Z challenge for 2023.
This year I am copying from a myriad of other A to Z challengers by reprinting the same synopsis about my theme with every letter. You can skip over this part if you want to.
I love movies and have decided to share with you a movie each day that I have enjoyed to one degree or another. With each entry, I'll give a brief synopsis of the film, share a positive and negative review from Rotten Tomatoes ( a website, I didn't use much at all until preparing for the challenge), discuss its resiliency (the theme of the A to Z challenge this year), and other tidbits like whether the film may appear in my top 100 film list, which I have been revamping this year. I think that's enough in the way of introduction, considering you'll be reading it (hopefully) 16 more times this month.
The Jesus Revolution is the most recent movie included in the challenge this year. Its story goes back more than 50 years and was inspired by the events depicted in the Time Magazine cover story shown below. Ultimately that story is inspired by the story of Jesus told in the Gospels.
Positive Tomato: Intriguing and occasionally inspiring...the acting is consistently strong, especially by Jonathan Roumie. There are heroes here, but no halos as the true-life characters live through problems and flaws. Michael Medved - The Michael Medved Show
Negative Tomato: Jesus Revolution takes a fascinating period of American history - the hippie movement and its associated fallout within the Christian co mmunity - and transforms it into a bland, TV movie-of-the-week experience. James Berardinelli - ReelViews
The movie tells the story of the Jesus movement by focusing on these 4 characters:
Chuck Smith portrayed by Kelsey Grammar best known for his long career playing Frasier Crane on Cheers and then Frasier.
Lonnie Frisbee played by Jonathan Roumie best now for playing Jesus in The Chosen.
Greg Laurie is played by Joel Courtney and Cathe is played by Anna Grace Barlow.
T
Lonnie Frisbee & Chuck Smith
Kelsey Grammar & Jonathan Roumie
I liked this movie and especially liked the warts and all approach of the characterizations. Each of these characters is flawed. Each of these characters makes mistakes. Some of you who know the historry of these events know that not all the mistakes some of these characters made are mentioned in the movie. Some have suggested that this means a white-washing of the events. I don't land that way. If a two hour movie was made about me many of my foibles, sins, and setbacks would not be seen. I have more than 2 hours of foibles, sins and setbacks in a day let alone a life time, However, that each of these characters are shown as human rather than superhuman it is easier to see the divine in them,
Resiliency: The resiliency of this story flows from the title. The actual life , death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was relevant and powerful enough to capture the attention of the Hippie movement and then the world. Easter was days ago where Christians all over the world celebrated the greatest event in history. If that's not resiliency, I don't know what is.
Top 100: Like I said I really enjoyed this movie and would recommend it highly. However, I doubt that it will be in my top 100. First of all, I generally need to watch a movie at least twice before I can know for sure whether it's top 100 material. But I usually have a better sense for when it isn't.
A TO Z Connections: This is the second movie to depict Christian ministers (Chariots of Fire). This is the 4th movie, to depict historic events (Chariots of Fire, 42, and Hidden Figures).
Hello and welcome back to A Month at the Movies, my contribution to the A to Z challenge for 2023.
This year I am copying from a myriad of other A to Z challengers by reprinting the same synopsis about my theme with every letter. You can skip over this part if you want to.
I love movies and have decided to share with you a movie each day that I have enjoyed to one degree or another. With each entry, I'll give a brief synopsis of the film, share a positive and negative review from Rotten Tomatoes ( a website, I didn't use much at all until preparing for the challenge), discuss its resiliency (the theme of the A to Z challenge this year), and other tidbits like whether the film may appear in my top 100 film list, which I have been revamping this year. I think that's enough in the way of introduction, considering you'll be reading it (hopefully) 17 more times this month.
Film: It's A Wonderful Life (1946)
Director: Frank Capra
By National Telefilm Associates - Original 1946 film, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18061926
It's A Wonderful Life is a film that needs no introduction.
Positive Tomato: Capra remained true to classical Hollywood narrative, conceived and directed here, it is true, with almost hallucinatory skill. The scenes of tenderness are capable of penetrating the armor of even the most skeptical critical mind.Andre Bazin - L'ecran Francais
Original Trailer
Negative Tomato: Capra is an old-time movie craftsman, the master of every trick in the bag, and in many ways he is more at home with the medium than any other Hollywood director. But all of his details give the impression of contrived effect. Manny Farber - The New Republic
By National Telefilm Associates - Screenshot of the movie, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17631672
Resiliency: My favorite moment of resiliency in the movie is when the Bailey's use their wedding gift money to get their Building & Loan customers through the run on the bank.
Top 100: It's Actually in the Top 1. It's A Wonderful Life is my favorite movie of all time. Starring Jimmy Stewart, my favorite actor of all time, and directed by Frank Capra, my favorite director of all time.
By National Telefilm Associates - Screenshot of the movie, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17596045
A to Z Connection: This is the 2nd movie on my list directed by Frank Capra (Arsenic and Old Lace).
Next Time: Just a movie about a revolutionary movement.
I have a routine when it comes to my A to Z challenge posts. I schedule the time of the post for the date of the post. For example, today is April 11th or numerically 4/11 so I would generally schedule my post for 4:11 a.m. so people could see it as they were checking their computers in the morning.
This by the way is not an A to Z post but I am posting this at 4:11 in the morning because April 11th is a very significant day in my life. It is the day I married my wife Amy. Today is almost as significant as that day as it is our 25th wedding anniversary.
I have scheduled my A to Z post at 4:11 p.m. It talks about my favorite movie It's A Wonderful Life.
In that film, the main character gets a glimpse of what life might have been like if he was never born and gets to realize what a wonderful life he had.
In December of 2005, our 3rd and final child was born and 2 days after they were released from the hospital I rushed Amy to the emergency room. They did tests and her heart was working at 10% capacity. I remember driving back from the emergency room to my house with 3 children between the ages of 3 days and 6 years old and I got a glimpse of what my life might look like If Amy was gone. I prayed on the way home and asked God to restore her to health.
Thankfully Amy was back to 100% use of her heart and her kidneys and was home to our family in a few short days. We were never given an adequate reason for the occurrence but we believe it was due to a lack of proper hydration after the C-section.
I really didn't need an angel to show me the worth of my wife. We were best friends for 8 years before she signed the Marry Dave Agreement. She takes the best care of me and our children. Often preparing and perfecting foods for us that she doesn't even like to eat. While she is just a sinner that said I Do, she is a loving, Godly influencer on me and our children.
I have had the opportunity in the past 5 years to substitute teach in the same building where she works as a school psychologist. I have never seen anyone take their job so seriously and still love on the children and show compassion and concern to the teachers, administration, and parents. We also have worked side by side the last 2 summers working concessions at a ballpark where she would bring sunshine even in a two-hour rain delay.
So you see she really is a wonderful wife. Happy Anniversary Amy. You really do complete me.
Hello and welcome back to A Month at the Movies, my contribution to the A to Z challenge for 2023.
This year I am copying from a myriad of other A to Z challengers by reprinting the same synopsis about my theme with every letter. You can skip over this part if you want to.
I love movies and have decided to share with you a movie each day that I have enjoyed to one degree or another. With each entry, I'll give a brief synopsis of the film, share a positive and negative review from Rotten Tomatoes ( a website, I didn't use much at all until preparing for the challenge), discuss its resiliency (the theme of the A to Z challenge this year), and other tidbits like whether the film may appear in my top 100 film list, which I have been revamping this year. I think that's enough in the way of introduction, considering you'll be reading it (hopefully) 18 more times this month.
Film: Hidden Figures (2016)
Director: Theodore Melfi
Trailer for Hidden Figures ...
Hidden Figures tells the story of Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan who were among a group of African American Mathematicians who worked at NASA during the time that John Glenn orbited the earth.
Positive Tomato: Hidden Figures puts the familiar period-piece lens on an overlooked part of space history without glossing over the ugly bits while still feeling hopeful for what science and technology can achieve when the best and the brightest can participate. Nathan Matisse - Ars Technica
Negative Tomato:
Hidden Figures will likely satisfy on the actress' strength, but Taraji - and her audience - deserve better than focus-grouped pablum. Chris McCoy - Memphis Flyer
The film stars Taraji P Henson as Katharine Johnson, Janelle Monae as Mary Jackson, and Octavia Spencer as Dorothy Vaughn. The cast includes Kevin Costner, Aldis Hodge, Jim Parsons, Kirsten Dunst, and Mahershala Ali.
Katherine Johnson - NASA 1966
Resiliency: Each of the 3 main women featured in this movie gives a clinic on resiliency. It would be hard to boil that down into one moment or one quote.
My mind always goes back to the scene where Mary Jackson has to go to court to convince a judge for her to take engineering classes at an all-white school. She says to the judge:
I plan on being an engineer at Nasa, but I can't do that without taking them classes at that all-white high school, and I can't change the color of my skin, so I have no choice, but to be the first, which I can't do without you sir. Your honor, out of all the case you gonna hear today, which one is gonna matter hundred years from now? Which one is gonna make you the first?
Top 100: There is no uncertainty. This movie is definitely in my top 100 films of all time. The only question is where. I would not be surprised if it makes it into the top 75.
A to Z Connections: This is the second film in the challenge to depict a space program (Gattaca). It is also the fifth film to deal with a character or characters fighting against some sort of discrimination (Breaking Away, Chariots of Fire, 42, and Gattaca).
Hello and welcome back to A Month at the Movies, my contribution to the A to Z challenge for 2023.
This year I am copying from a myriad of other A to Z challengers by reprinting the same synopsis about my theme with every letter. You can skip over this part if you want to.
I love movies and have decided to share with you a movie each day that I have enjoyed to one degree or another. With each entry, I'll give a brief synopsis of the film, share a positive and negative review from Rotten Tomatoes ( a website, I didn't use much at all until preparing for the challenge), discuss its resiliency (the theme of the A to Z challenge this year), and other tidbits like whether the film may appear in my top 100 film list, which I have been revamping this year. I think that's enough in the way of introduction, considering you'll be reading it (hopefully) 19 more times this month.
Film: Gattaca (1997)
.Director: Andre Niccol
By Unknown author - ProSieben MAXX HD, screenshot (15.06.2014), Public Domain, Link
Gattaca is a genre blending delight of a movie. Part science fiction, part cultural critique, part noir; Roger Ebert rightly called it a thriller with ideas. Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, and Jude Law head a stellar cast in a work that is superbly written, beautifully captured on film, and blessed with an evocative score.
Positive Tomato: The writer- director crafts a paranoid discriminatory world out of ripped-from-the-headlines science. Adapting a noirish mood and an austere dystopian backdrop, it's the sort of Orwellian vision that could only exist in a movie. Brian Eggert - Deep Focus Review
Negative Tomato: You have to admire Nicol's humanizing agenda in movie terrain usually crowded with numbing technology and digital stereo explosions. But jeez what a downer.Jan Stuart - The Advocate
Resiliency: Ethan Hawke, who I remember best from his sweaty toothed madman poem in Dead Poets Society does a character study of resiliency in Gattaca. Science conspired against him and he was told he would never reach for the stars. But reach for the stars, he did and the degree that he did reach shows his resiliency and disregard for the imposed status quo.
Top 100: Gattaca is a movie that I could see ranking any where between 75 and 125. So we'll have to wait and see if Gattaca makes the list.
A to Z Connections: This is the 2nd science fiction film in the challenge (The Empire Strikes Back).
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