Z Is For Zootopia

 A to Z Challenge 2023

A Month  At The Movies

 

Film: Zootopia (2016)

Directors: Byron Howard & Rich Moore

2016 was a big year at the movies for Walt Disney Studios.  According to Box Office Mojo, they had 5 of the top 7 grossing films released in that year.  It was also a big year for animated children's movies with 3 of the aforementioned top 7.  Zootopia was 7th on the list grossing 341.3 million in the U.S. alone.

By gkaidan - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42701886

                                                                         Zootopia - Disney Enterprises Inc. 

Zootopia features Ginnifer Goodwin (Once Upon A Time) and Jason Bateman (Arrested Development) as the voices of Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde a bunny on the Zootopia police department,  and a fox,    a hustler, and a condog (a male fox is called a dog, look it up.).

This movie follows the standard buddy cop movie plot.  A by the book, play by the rules cop is partnered with an informant who flaunts and plays fast and loose with the laws.  As they learn to work together they go deeper and deeper to uncover a vast conspiracy.

This plot also underlies the main theme of the movie that biases and prejudices don't really show what the true heart of a person, or in this case an animal is. 

Positive Tomato: Sure to speak to kids d grown-ups alike, Zootopia unfolds a poignant lesson about how prejudice can hurt people, but also how it can be overcome. And it does all this in a wonderfully fun film. Kristy Pucko - Pajiba  

 Negative Tomato: It just never fully settles into its own message or visual style. Deidre Crimmins - Cinematic Essential

Resiliency: Resiliency is a major theme of the movie.  It can best be summed up by the Shakira song that plays in the film. Try Everything.

 

The lyrics are chock full of what they call at my school, Growth Mindset.

Consider the opening verse:

I messed up tonight, I lost another fight

Lost to myself, but I'll just start again 

I keep falling down, I keep on hitting the ground 

But I always get up now to see what's next

The song continues:

Birds don't just fly, they fall down and get up.

Nobody learns without getting it wrong.

After the familiar chorus, the 2nd verse preaches even more resiliency:

Look how far you've come, you filled your heart with love

Baby, you've done enough, take a deep breath 

Don't beat yourself up, no need to run so fast 

Sometimes we come last, but we did our best 

Try Everything - Shakira

Top 100: I enjoyed this film quite a bit, but it is nowhere near my top 100, I doubt it would even make the top 200.  

A to Z Connections: Bonnie Hunt who voices Judy's over-protected Mom also appears in Dave as a very eager White House tour guide. She co-starred, co-wrote, and directed Return To Me.  

Next Time: A to Z Reflection

Y is for You Cant Take It ...

 A  TO Z Challenge 2023

A Month At The Movies

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) 1  more time this month.

Film: You Can't Take It With You (1938)

Director: Frank Capra

You Can't Take It With You is your standard issue 1930's screwball comedy with the Frank Capra touch.  The below video does a great job in 9 minutes of recapping and reviewing the film.

The son of a Wall Street banker falls in love with the granddaughter of the person blocking the banker's money-making scheme.  Stars Edward Arnold, Lionel Barrymore, Jimmy Stewart and Jean Arthur.

Positive Tomato: It's one of the most amusing and satisfying pictures to be seen in months, and certain to be an enormous hit with audiences. Edwin Schallert - Los Angeles Times

Negative Tomato: It may be disappointment that any Frank Capra comedy should be heavy and overdone which makes You Can't Take It with You seem such a dud. Otis Ferguson - The New Republic

Resiliency: You Can't Take it with you is the oldest movie on this list.  It is celebrating its 85th anniversary this year. That its themes would still resonate with audiences today shows how resilient film can be.  

Top 100: This is one of those movies that I would tell you I think it would be my the top 100 and then wind up with 125+ films on my list.  It is definitely worthy of consideration and may end up making my actual list.  

A to Z Connection:  This is the third film featuring my favorite director Frank Capra in the challenge along with Arsenic and Old Lace and It's A Wonderful Life.  It is also the 3rd film featuring my favorite actor Jimmy Stewart (It's A Wonderful Life and Vertigo).  Speaking of 3s, it is the third film along with the aforementioned Arsenic and Old Lace and A Man For All Seasons to be adapted from a broadway play. This is the 5th and final Academy Award winner for Best Picture on my list.  The other 4 are A Man For All Seasons, Chariots of Fire, Ordinary People, and The Kings Speech.  The Kings Speech has also been produced on Broadway, but in this case, the play was adapted from the film, not vice-versa.

Next Time: Zoo-Dun-It?

W is for When

 A to Z Challenge

A Month At The Movies

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) 3  more times this month.

Film: When A Man Loves A Woman (1994) 

Director: Luis Mandoki

Positive Tomato: Here is a wise and ambitious film about the way alcoholism affects the fabric of a marriage. Roger Ebert - Chicago Sun-Times

Negative Tomato: Does her husband notice her addiction? How could he not? Does he care? Who knows! Jonah Koslofsky - The Spool

I've decided to alter the format of today's entry a little bit. I'll still tell you a brief synopsis of the 1994 Rom Dram but after that I'm going to type a transcript of a conversation I had with my wife earlier this week about the film.  The movie stars Meg Ryan and And Garcia as a working couple with 2 children.  Ryan has a drinking problem and the film examines the couples relationship as she seeks treatment and he copes with the aftermath of her addiction.  

Dave: Amy we've talked a lot about qualities that  movies my top 100 list would have and one of them is re-watchability.  You definitely think When A Man Loves A woman is rewatchable.  What makes it that way?

Amy: It's a really good movie.  It's a good depiction of both an alcoholic and an enabler and how those two things together make a storm.

Dave: How does that make it rewatchable?

Amy: Watching the pain get resolved.  The dual depiction gives it a unique perspective.

Dave: What do you think of Andy Garcia's character?

Amy: We see him as a tough guy at the beginning of the movie who has to help Mag Ryan and realize that he is as powerless as she is in rectifying the situation.

Also, watching the way he loves his children and communicates with them is very beautiful

Dave: Do you believe that this is a Meg Ryan vehicle, and that the title is a little misleading?

Amy:No, I think they beautifully create a movie where  there are two equal stars.  I think Andy's story is just as gripping as Meg's.

Dave: Were you a little surprised that I didn't have When Harry Met Sally as my W?

Amy: Yes! You like that movie a lot more than this one.  But then again, I don't fully  understand your selection process.

The conversation veered to different paths from there.

Resiliency:  If I would have asked Amy about the theme of resiiency in this film, I think she would have said something like that this movie examines the resiliency of this marriage through the lens of addiction and recovery. I didn't aske her, so we may never know.

Top 100: This movie would definitely be in Amy's top 100.  I like the film and enjoy watchingit with her, but at this point I would not consider it for my top 100. 

A to Z Connections: Like Ordinary People, this movie depicts a family in crisis.  Vertigo and Gattaca along with When a Man Loves a Woman were all primarily filmed in california.

Next Time: Xciting time travel movie.  

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U is for UHF

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) 5  more times this month.

Film: UHF (1989) 

Director: Jay Levey

Weird Al's Apartment in UHF
By Mountain Mike Johans…, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47260199

I love parodies. I grew up listening to one of the greatest parodists of all time, Allan Sherman.  My Mom and Dad would send out a Christmas Card each year where they would write our family's annual exploits to the tune of a Christmas carol.  I myself have written a number of parodies and have posted many in my blog. 

I even wrote a parody last Saturday to publicize my S is for Silverado post and put it on my Facebook page.

 (Sung to the tune of Desperado by The Eagles) 

Silverado, you are in my top eleven.

You star two great Kevin’s 

Plus one Glenn, and one Glover 

You’re a western

 But so much more than your genre 

Which is why I’m so fond a 

 This joy I’ve discovered.  

But with no disrespect to Alan Sherman, my parents, or myself, my favorite parodist is Weird Al Yankovic.

When Weird Al first started out he would send his songs to Dr. Demento who would play them on his syndicated radio program.  My favorite of which, and my all-time favorite Weird Al Song, is It's Still Billy Joel to Me, performed to the tune of It's Still Rock and Roll to Me by (Wait for it ....) Billy Joel.

 

I mean Weird Al had the audacity to rip Billy Joel's music while performing Billy Joel's music. I was impressed. In 1989, Weird Al set his sights on television and the movies at the same time by starring in and co-writing UHF a movie about a t.v. channel.  

At the time most network television was broadcast on VHF (Very High Frequency) and most independent stations were broadcast on UHF (Ultra High Frequency).  While some might argue about the quality of these frequencies.  The quality of the programming was generally regarded as infinitely better on VHF. 

 Positive Tomato - The individual parts may be greater than the sum of the whole, but man, are those parts funny. Austin Trunick - Under The Radar

Negative Tomato - This is the dreariest comedy in many a month, a depressing slog through recycled comic formulas. Roger Ebert - Chicago Sun-Times 

If I were to give UHF a 6 or less-word film review it would be: Walter Mitty meets SCTV. The film is essentially a bunch of parodies with a plot sandwiched in between them.  The movie begins with a pretty good Raiders parody.

Resiliency: Michael Richards (Kramer from Seinfeld) is the best part of this movie.  He plays Stanley Spadowski who shows resiliency after being fired from the best t.v. station in town where he worked as a janitor and ended up getting hired as a janitor at the station Yankovic manages to host a wildly successful children's t.v. program. 

Top 100: This movie straddles the fence between so dumb it's funny and so dumb it's dumb. It has many fine moments, but it is nowhere near making my top 100.

A to Z Connection: This is the 2nd film in the challenge about television (Quiz Show). 

Next Time: VHF (Very High Fears)

O is For Ordinary People

 A to Z Challenge

A Month At The Movies

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.

Next Time: Power over past choices.       

  

N is For North By Northwest

 A to Z Challenge

A Month At The Movies

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

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cary_Grant_North_by_Northwest_still.jpg#/media/File:Cary_Grant_North_by_Northwest_still.jpg

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. 

M is for A Man for All Seasons

 A to Z Challenge

A Month At The Movies

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.  

Next Time: Not the spy you're looking for. 

D is For Dave

 A to Z Challenge

A Month At The Movies

 

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) 22 more times this month.

Film: Dave (1993)

Director: Ivan Reittman

Presidential movies were all the rage in the 1990s. (The American President, Air Force One, JFK, Nixon, Absolute Power). In this one,  a presidential body double makes the most of what was supposed to be a temporary job.

 

 Dave (Official Traier)

 

Positive Tomato:  A genial, expertly played political comedy proves that the spirit of Mr. Smith still lives.  Richard Schickel - Time Magazine

Negative Tomato: As Kline begins to take his presidential duties seriously, the comedy seeps out, a listless civic-mindedness drifts in like the fog off the Potomac. Leah Rozen - People Magazine

If you've never seen this film. the 30th anniversary is a good time to jump on board.  This may be Kevin Klines best film and with a resume filled with hits gems like Cry Freedom and Silverado that is certainly saying something.  Charles Grodin is in only a few scenes but does a great job of showing the uniqueness of a guy like Dave.

Resiliency: The balancing the budget subplot of Dave is a great snapshot in Resiliency.

In the film, Dave visits a homeless shelter with the President's wife.  When the homeless shelters are stripped of funding, Dave is told by the President's draconian chief of staff (played ever so malevolently by Frank Langella) that he can keep the shelters by adding 650 million dollars to the budget.

In the next few scenes, Dave attempts to do just that and even brings his accountant, the aforementioned Grodin, to help him with the gargantuan task. 

To watch this scene and read more about its resiliency factor click here.

Top 100: One of my criteria for top 100 films lies in its rewatchability. I remember enjoying this movie increasingly upon every viewing.  For that reason alone, I cannot imagine a Top 100 film list of mine with Dave, not on it.

For more D in the A to Z Challenge, click here.

Next Time: E Equals Evil Empire

B is for Breaking Away

 A to Z Challenge

A Month At The Movies

.

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) 24 more times this month. 

Film: Breaking Away (1979)

Director: Peter Yates

By www.impawards.com, Fair use, Link 

Breaking Away is a coming-of-age sports movie about four friends from Bloomington, Indiana.  The movie features Dennis Christopher, Daniel Stern, Dennis Quaid, and Jackie Earle Hailey.   Dennis Quaid and Daniel Stern are probably the most famous of the 4 now, but at the time I only recognized Jackie Earle Hailey from the Bad News Bears films.

The movie takes place in the late '70s in Bloomington, Indiana, a college town in the midwest.  Christopher plays the main character Dave Stoller. The movie takes place in the year after Stoller and his 3 friends graduate from high school and are spending their gap year hanging around together when Stoller isn't cycling around Indiana or tormenting his father by cosplaying an Italian cyclist.  

The movie does a great job of confronting the divides between social classes and generations.  It has humor, introspection, romance, and intrigue while being true to its David vs. Goliath roots.  The American Film Institute (AFI) has placed on two of its lists of top 100 films.  In 2006 it was named #8 on the list of most inspirational movies.  In 2008 The AFI named it 8th on their list of sports moves.   

                                           ( Left To Right ) Christopher, Hailey,  Stern, Quaid

(Photo by John Springer Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

 This is both a well-written and well-acted movie as this monologue by Dennis Quaid will attest.

 

 

 Positive Tomato: I seriously can't imagine anyone not liking it. Gene Siskel - Chicago Tribune

Negative Tomato: This timeworn material probably should work, but it doesn't really since, most of the film's angst and conflict seem calculated. Jeremy Heilman - MovieMartyr.com

The movie was filmed entirely in Bloomington, Indiana.  If you are interested this video goes back and shows some of the main places where it was filmed.

 

Resiliency: Resiliency is sometimes pre-meditated as near the end of the movie when Dave and his friends tape Dave's feet to the bike pedals so as the commentators observe they can no longer switch riders for the duration of the race.  That scene is a visual reminder to me of  the end of Hebrews 12:1 , "And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."

Top 100:  When I last made my top 100 list, I wasn't really sure what to do with Breaking Away.  I loved it when it first came out but when I saw it last 20 years ago or so I remember thinking it hadn't aged well.  I watched it again earlier this year and it really resonated with me again.  It would definitely make my top 100 this time out and wouldn't be surprised at all if it broke into the top 50. 

For more A to Z challenge click here

 Next Time: C is for Champion

A is for Arsenic

A to Z Challenge 2023

A Month At The Movies

Hello and welcome 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) 25 more times this month. 

Film: Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

Director: Frank Capra

By Photographer not credited - <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/stream/cinemundial28unse#page/156/mode/1up">Cine Mundial, April 1943</a>, Public Domain, Link

Arsenic and Old Lace premiered on September 23rd, 1944.  This was exactly 20 years before I premiered.  It's a funny story actually, my Dad and my 9 months pregnant Mom were at an Arsenic and Old Lace 20th anniversary party when ... No, Just kidding.  

 Cary Grant stars in this dark comedy/ screwball comedy that was the first Frank Capra film I ever watched.  The basic gist of the film is that Mortimer Brewster (played by Grant) is a theatre critic and avowed bachelor who at the beginning of the film marries the girl next door to his boyhood home in Brooklyn.  

"The Fun" begins when Grant discovers his beloved salt of the earth aunts are actually serial murderers and is then also reunited with a few other of his sanity-challenged relatives. 

Positive Tomato: It's not mere hyperbole to state that Frank Capra's Arsenic and Old Lace ranks as one of the funniest films ever made. Matt Brunson - Film Frenzy 

Negative Tomato: Not one of Capra's best. Grant is too hammy and out of control, and without Boris Karloff as Jonathan Brewster, the joke is lost. Bob Bloom - Journal and Courier (Lafayette, Indiana)

I really enjoyed this movie watching it on T.V. as a kid.  In recent viewing, I found it a little long and a little uneven but still enjoyed it and would probably watch it again, especially with folks who have not seen it before.  

Resiliency: Mortimer Brewster shows a lot of resiliency throughout the film trying to figure out how to best deal with his family situation since he literally knows where the bodies are buried.  

Top 100: I don't think this will make my top 100 list. I'm a Big Frank Capra fan and while it's not one of my favorite Capra films, I do think that maybe it would make its way onto the bottom 100 of my top 200 film list.  

For more A to Z Challenge click here. 

Next Time: B is for Bike Movie

A to Z Challenge 2023 Theme Reveal: A Month At The Movies

 I have some good news.  I just saved 15% by switching my insurance to Geico.  No, my news is better than that.  The A to Z Challenge is coming to a blog near you and I am very excited.  The event begins in earnest on April 1st, but on March 12th you can participate in the theme reveal at A to Z challenge.com.

 I love the A to Z challenge. I don't think it's any great stretch to say that I am still blogging in no small part due to the A to Z challenge. From 2012 to 2021 I participated nine times in the challenge.  Over that time I have entered 5 of my blogs in the challenge sometimes as many as 3 in the same year. 

I love almost everything about the challenge.  I love reading other people's blogs and commenting on them. I love how so many of the blogs I currently have on my blogroll have participated at one time or another in the challenge.   I love creating a theme and disciplining myself to post 26 times on that theme. I especially love putting things in alphabetical order.  I think I'll put that last sentence in alphabetical order: "alphabetical, especially I in love order. putting things" (Yes, I put the punctuation marks in alphabetical order as well. Who Wouldn't?)

Every year until they make the big announcement  I get a little concerned that maybe they won't be doing the challenge this year.  I'm a weird dude, 49% optimist, 49% pessimist, and 2% milk in a glass half full. But I have been blogging for a long time and I've seen lots of blogs and blogging events be lost and gone forever, dreadful sorry Clementine over the years.  So when I heard the A to Z challenge was coming back and better than ever I was stoked.  

Since I am so jacked that the Challenge is on, I decided to announce my theme a little early this year. My 2023 Theme is A Month at the Movies.  

2692117 © Laura Domenica Cantisani | Dreamstime.com 

 I have been posting a lot lately about films.  I am spending this year revamping my 100 favorite film list.  I am trying to watch 12 new movies to me this year and post about them here.  I have been thinking about a simple movie theme for the challenge for the past few years.  I say a simple theme because in the past, I have participated in the challenge at more than one blog at a time, and last year I had 3 themes in one challenge: home runs, limericks, and wordle starting guesses.  Compared to those 26 movie reviews will be a walk in the park, but not A Walk to Remember, as my A film will be Arsenic and Old Lace.  

The A to Z Theme for 2023 is resiliency.  With each film I choose, I will incorporate how that film demonstrates resiliency in one way or another. 

I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but I am super excited about this year's A to Z challenge.   I'm so excited that I've already thought of my theme for the 2024 challenge.   Since I'm already in full reveal mode, and since my ADHD will probably interfere with remembering it for next year I'll just reveal my 2024 A to Z challenge theme now. The 2024 theme will be Narnian characters and creatures from A to Z.  My working title is Narnia: From Aslan to Zardeenah.  

Before I get too far ahead of myself here are the important dates for this year's challenge.

March 12th - March 18th:             Theme Reveal

April 1st:                                          The Letter A

April3rd -April 8th:                         Letters B-G

April 10th -15th:                               Letters H-M

April 17th -22nd:                              Letters N-S

April 24th-April30th:                       Letters Letters T-Z

May 1st - May 6th:                            A to Z Reflections

May 15th:                                            A to Z Road Trip Begins

 Check out   A to Z challenge.com for more information I may have missed. Click here for more on the Theme Reveal. Click here to see who has signed up so far.