GOLDEN OLDIE 25: Cast Away

 

When Linda and I first saw this movie, I liked it a lot but she didn’t.  On second viewing, she probably was right.  After all, what can you say about a movie in which the lead male supporting actor is a soccer ball?

For those of you who missed it, the story line is simple.  Tom Hanks is a busy FedX honcho with an appealing girlfriend (Helen Hunt).  Hanks goes down in a plane crash, horrifically depicted, then learns to survive on an uninhabited south sea atoll – where he remains for 4+ years.  Miraculously rescued, he returns to civilization to find his girlfriend married to another,  and a mother to boot.  Suitable sadness ensues – and the last scenes give reason to hope.

Well, Hanks is excellent, as usual.  Hunt’s role is small, but she carries it off well.  I was interested in the scenes showing Hanks learning to survive in a totally wild setting with only a flashlight and a pocket watch for assistance.  Linda thought that section of the film was overlong and overdone, and I now tend to agree.  Also, there is some unnecessary pathos tossed in, which should have been discarded.  So, this film costs $3.99 on Amazon Prime, and probably is about worth it.  B-

In passing, I learned the sad fact that Helen Hunt is out of the movie business because some rare disorder has left her stone deaf!  Too bad; I liked her a lot.

A TOM HANKS MARATHON

 

I am through with Russell Crowe for the time being, although I am sure I will come back to him in a few weeks.  For now, I turn to my second favorite male actor, Tom Hanks.  I have at least half-dozen personal favorites I am planning to revisit:  Splash, Sleepless in Seattle, Big, You’ve got News, Cast Away, Charlie Wilson’s War, saving my personal favorite, Forest Gump for last*.  These are merely some of the movies I remember enjoying.  For now I am steering clear of heavy stuff.  If you think I should add something to the list, please “Comment”.  Parkfriend, that means you!

*I have already done Green Mile

GOLDEN OLDIE 24: Master and Commander

 

This is the last entry in my Russell Crowe hagiography, and my favorite - bar Gladiator, of course.  If I ever revise my Blogger biography I mean to add this to my list of best movies, & maybe drop Parent Trap (cute though it undoubtedly is).

Part of the reason I am so high on Master and Commander is that I know the story by heart.  I have read Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin 20-book series at least three times.  I feel like I went to college with Maturin & played football against Aubrey.  Hell, I dream 19^th century naval warfare!  In this movie I could have told you the name of every character down to the most insignificant, before the movie identified him.  And I do mean “him”; there is only one woman shown, and she for only a few seconds.  A chick-flic this isn’t.

The story is engrossing.  Aubrey (Crowe) is in charge of a frigate – a small man of war of the time (early 18^th century) – and ordered to prevent a larger, better armed French ship from rounding Cape Horne and feasting on British merchant shipping in the Pacific.  Much naval battle ensues, as well as some gut-wrenching scenes of combat with storms south of the Cape.  Maturin, the ship’s doctor, is an accomplished naturalist, a good amateur musician, and Aubrey’s friend; he is played, very ably, by Paul Bettany.  Bettany is featured in some fantastic scenes in the Galapagos Islands; these alone are worth the price of admission.

In passing:  I read somewhere that certain corporations require their executives to study this movie; Captain Aubrey’s way of behavior toward his crew apparently is judged to be exemplary, by the HR types. 

So, no use babbling on.  Go see this splendid movie, and marvel how completely the John Nash of A Beautiful Mind morphed into the Captain James Aubrey of this film.  So, hurray for Russell Crowe, and I am through with him – for awhile.  A

EARLY DETECTION?

                 Celebrating some long forgotten event

Some work done at UW and supervised by a scientist I had contact with while volunteering at Fred Hutch shows that OVCA is not the “silent killer”, as it sometimes is described, but rather exhibits certain definite symptoms even  when the cancer is at an early stage.  My take on this is that, although this “signal” is present it tends to get lost in the “noise” of normal female biology.  It is of little help to know the Russian invasion plan for Ukraine, if they are written in Mayan – if you get my drift.  What is needed is a translation that can differentiate between pains, bloating, appetite swings, etc., caused by OVCA and bio-fluctuations that are normal.  I think we still have a way to go.  But read this article; maybe I’m wrong

https://newsroom.uw.edu/postscript/ovarian-cancer-not-silent-killer 

 

GOLDEN OLDIE 23: A Beautiful Mind

            The Gladiator, as math professor

                                  You didn't screw off in his class!

Okay, and now we come to my eighth Russell Crowe movie.  It is far from my favorite, although well worth seeing; I include it here mostly to demonstrate Crowe’s remarkable breadth as an actor.  Who could have believed that Maximus from Gladiator could transform into the nerdy, tentative, vulnerable schizophrenic mathematician/economist John Nash.  Not me, for sure.

The story behind this movie is mostly true.  There was a Nash.  He won the Nobel Prize in economics for some theoretical stuff I can’t begin to understand.  He also was plagued by schizophrenia all his life, but managed to rise above it.

I don’t know how close to the truth the movie steers in little things.  Nash was a Princeton professor.  He was married to the same woman, on and off, for 58 years.  He had a son.  Beyond that I think the movie strays away from pure truth, to create  an interesting story.  Two of the denizens of Nash's own personal schizophrenic nightmare (as portrayed in the film), Paul Bettany and Ed Harris, are very good, as is Jennifer Connelly as Nash’s wife. 

Overall, A Beautiful Mind is a weird little piece of cinematic art, and may not be for everyone, but try it all the same.  And keep asking yourself, “can that guy really be the Gladiator?”  B-/C+

GOLDEN OLDIE 22: The Insider

 

I have decided to go on a Russell Crowe binge.  I already have reviewed four of his movies, and even from that small sample it should be obvious to anyone that he has a breadth of range that is truly extraordinary.  Now, I plan to revisit four more of his characters in rapid succession.  His best movie (so far) is Gladiator.  The one I have least appreciated is called something like Romper Stomper, which I will happily overlook.  As of now, the three I am planning to watch, or already have watched, are The Insider, A Beautiful Mind, and Master and Commander.

So, here goes:

The Insider clearly is Al Pacino’s movie.  Crowe is very good as a conflicted corporate dweeb, beset by a hyperactive conscious on the one hand, and a thoroughly unlikeable wife on the other.  The plot, which is a good one, revolves around the TV show 60 Minutes and its conflicted thinking about releasing information concerning the addictive and colossally unhealthy nature of cigarettes.  It (the plot) apparently has some basis in fact.  Christopher Plummer does an excellent job of portraying Mike Wallace.  Pacino is marvelous as a driven, obnoxious, principled associate producer; he carries the movie.  Even the weasels playing big tobacco execs are fine.

Watch this movie – and then go out and sell all your tobacco stock.  B

A Plea

                               An inclined, geocentric dipole

A plea for help.

In the turmoil of my recent move from my home of 40 years into The Willows, a retirement community, many precious  things seem, one way or another, to have disappeared.  One of them is an old (1964) book by Edward Irving, Paleomagnetism and its Application to Geological and Geophysical Problems.  The copy I am especially anxious to recover has the name Fred Vine on the inside cover, and mine just below it.  If you have this book, please tell me & I will exchange it for a nice, crisp $100 bill!  As a favor to me, please Share this note.  I fear my precious book is gone forever – in the dump, most likely – but it costs me nothing to try.  Thanks.  Myrl Beck

Golden Oldie 21: Casablanca

 

Well, hell!  Even Casablanca isn’t Casablanca anymore!

For years I have been using Casablanca as an upper asymptote for movie quality – a standard that might be approached, but never exceeded.  Then last night I watched it again, and I was disappointed.  Without question it is a towering work of real cinema art.  Bogart, as Rick, is the epitome of cool; nobody ever lit a cigarette with nearly so much style!  Bergman, as the always misty eyed, tragic heroine, is simply stunning; she puts me in mind of a girl from my high school who I always wanted to ask for a date, but lacked the courage.  Every other  player in the movie ranges from good to outstanding.  The backdrop is stunning.  And, for heaven’s sake – who among you, watching the scene where La Marseillaise drowns out De Wacht am Rhein doesn’t feel compelled to stand up and punch some  Nazi bastard in the snoot?

Many lines from Casablanca will live forever:  Play it Sam.  Play it again; Here’s looking at you, babe; We’ll always have Paris; Of all the gin joints in all the world, why did she have to walk into mine?; Round up the usual suspects; Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.  Hell, I would not be surprised if there is a large bunch of movie nuts who can recite the whole stinking movie with their eyes shut.

And so, obviously, Casablanca is a wonderful movie, and yet….  Last night I didn’t feel it.  Maybe I expected too much.  Maybe I’ve seen it too often.  But, anyway, Casablanca is hereby officially degraded to.     A

GOLDEN OLDIE 20: Gladiator

 

Nobody but Russell Crowe could possibly have played Maximus in this movie.  Nobody but Joaquin Phillips could possibly have oozed more delicious venom.  Nobody who sees this movie can possibly forget it.  Nobody.

Gladiator, released in 2000 and directed by Ridley Scott, is a magnificent movie.  The story is absorbing - thrilling, actually, although perhaps a bit too bloody for some.  The supporting cast, which contains quite a few names you will recognize, is great.  The backdrop is superlative.  The…. Do you get the idea that I like this movie?  Yeah, I do.

I’m not going to waste time outlining the plot; you know it already.  I am more interested in its historical antecedents.    Marcus Aurelius, as you probably knew already, is real.  He reigned over the Roman Empire during the second century A.D., and is known as the last of “the five good emperors”, which group included such well known figures as Trajan and Hadrian.  He was said to be a stoic philosopher.  He was indeed succeeded by Commodus, who was at least as bad as Phoenix has portrayed him.  Apparently he did publically fight and wound real gladiators, who of course were smart enough not to really fight back.

There, however, the historicity breaks down.  The character Maximus may have been based on a contemporary Roman general who led a brief revolt (against Commodus?).  Additionally, Commodus was not succeeded by Lucius as the movie implies, but by “the year of the five emperors”, only one of which – Septimius Severus – I have ever heard of. 

But, ‘nuff history lesson.  This grand, almost overawing movie hereby rises past Lawrence of Arabia and Casablanca to become my favorite movie of all time!  For now.  See it again and find out if you agree.  A+

GOLDEN OLDIE 19: Fly Away Home

 

This is another pick from the list of “Favorite Movies” which I slammed together a decade ago in setting up my “Biography”.  There were seven of them, three “lightweights” chosen mostly for entertainment value and/or the warm feeling they impart to your innards when they finally play out.  This is the last of the lightweights; it will remain on my list because I am a sentimental old fool.

So, it tells the story of a sad, partially orphaned little girl (Anna Paquin), her devoted father (Jeff Daniels), and a flock of newborn geese who often steal the scene.  The story revolves about teaching the orphaned little geese to migrate; ultimately by using ultralight aircraft!  Of course, the geese do successfully migrate, and to the exact spot were an epic battle is being waged between the forces of evil (land developers) and a devoted band of tree huggers!  Naturally.  Where else?

There are some very choice scenes, too:  The scrambling of a flight of military jets near the Canadian border in response to their radar presence is funny.  (The geese were born in Canada but are headed south for the winter).  A shot of the whole flock traversing the towers of NYC, led by Paquin in an ultralight – there. I’ve spilled the beans – is very good.  By and large, the acting throughout this little movie is at least adequate, grading upward into pretty darned good.  The geese star, of course. Paquin does a little too much screeching.   But, otherwise – what’s not to like.  Even the critics were relatively kind.  Thus, watch it sometime when you feel the need to disengage your brain. You could do a lot worse.

GOLDEN OLDIE 18: The Parent Trap

 

Having already revisited three movies I once designated as “favorites” in my blogger biography -  by reviewing Lawrence of Arabia, The Big Year, and A River Runs Through It - it has occurred to me that I might as well clean the table, so to speak, by reviewing the rest on the list – Parent Trap, Fly Away Home, Gladiator, and Casablanca.  So here goes:

Parent Trap (the 1998 edition) is a cute, harmless, amusing little movie that probably is surprised to find itself on a list – any list – that also contains Casablanca.  The star, Lindsay Lohan, at the time was appealing, talented, and full of promise.  The mess she has made of her life subsequently is only a bit short of tragic.  Lohan’s estranged parents are quite competently and amusingly portrayed by Dennis Quaid and Natasha Richardson.  (Richardson unfortunately died in 2009 as a result of a skiing accident.  She was only 46 years old, and  married to Liam Neesen.  She was the daughter of the famous English actress Vanessa Redgrave.  Her loss deprived us of many more happy hours at the theatre.)

  Several of the supporting characters are excellent, too, especially Lisa Ann  Walter as Chessy. Quaid’s housekeeper and Simon Kunz playing Martin, Richardson’s butler.

Oh, the story?  Don’t bother to worry about it.  Shakespeare it ain’t , but what the hell – you don’t view this kind of film to be edified.  Just kick back and enjoy it. It’s fun. A-

GOLDEN OLDIE 17: Lawrence of Arabia

 

Those of you who have actually read the annoying biographical stuff that “blogger” spews out every time you want to read one of little essays will be aware that I list Lawrence of Arabia as one of my all-time favorite movies.  (Currently there are six others, one of which – The Big Year – I already have reviewed).  It happens that I have not watched L of A for at least 30 years, so two nights ago I sat down with my little iPad and dove into it.  Boy, was I ever surprised.

My first comment is this:  watch it on a big screen.  Much (most?) of the attraction of L of A is provided by the spectacular desert backdrop, which doesn’t lend itself to being viewed on a screen measuring 4X6 inches, even if held 12 inches from ones nose.  The desert landscape shown was filmed largely in Jordan and Syria – places where TE Lawrence actually lived and fought.  It deserves to be appreciated.  Not the Atacama, but close.

As to the movie itself – well, you know the story.  Lawrence is sent out from Cairo to stir up the Arabs against the Turks, who were on the wrong side of WW1.  This he does with spectacular success, partly by promising independence and self-government to the Arabs when the war ends and the Turks are forced to cough up their empire.  But, of course, in the end France and Great Britain conspire to carve up the Arabian pie, leaving the Arabs still a largely subjugated people and Woodrow Wilson sulking on the sidelines.  This so depresses Lawrence that he commits suicide, using a motor cycle as his instrument.

The acting, I say without fear of disagreement, is absolutely superb.  Peter O’Toole* is Lawrence; he should have won an Oscar, but lost out to a worthy rival, Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird.  Other important cast members, all great, include Alex Guinness, Omar Sharif, Claude Rains, and a delightfully evil Jose Ferrer.  Anthony Quinn, as Sheik Auda Abu Tayi is worth the price of admission all by himself.

So, if you are part of the 10% of all English-speaking persons who have never seen this movie – find it playing in a comfortable theatre with a big screen and a good sound system, sit back and let it roll over you.  Warning:  it is very long, over three hours.  It is so long, in fact, that it has a ten minute musical intermission!  Bring lots of popcorn and Milk Duds.  A

*The picture itself did win an Oscar, as well as many other awards. Including Best Director.

I AM CONFUSED

                                              Karin Sigloch

                      and westward subsuction

Okay, so this blog mainly is addressed to Nick Zentner and his following (collectively known as Zentnerds and ranging in age from Patrick, age eight, to myself, some 80 years older).  I have just finished watching Nick’s interview with Karin Sigloch – twice – and I have some questions.

Dr. Sigloch indisputably is an ornament to geotectonics; that is not in question.  I understand her tool – seismic tomography – in a rudimentary sort of way, although I have a difficult time with her illustrations.  Probably my eyesight is to blame.  However, here is part of what I think she is saying:

1)    One can use seismic tomography to locate subducted slabs in the mantle.

2)    It is feasible to use the current location of these slabs as evidence of the former location of the trench that created them, and these subducted slabs can be regarded as fixed, thereby providing a frame of absolute – as opposed to relative motion.

3)    Given the above, it follows that the Insular Superterrane remained stationary from Mesozoic time, while the North American plate moved engulf it in a process we call accretion.

4)      The Insular Superterrane was in large part created by westward subduction

Have I got that right?

So, now to my questions:

1)    In view of the fact that the so called “California Triade” clearly requires eastward subduction, was there an oceanic plate caught between North America and Wrangellia that was eliminated by subduction in both – opposite - directions?  

2)    Were these two anti-parallel subduction zones active at the same time?

3)    Does Wrangellia show evidence of a similar “triade”, but facing the other way?  This might be expected to produce two distinct igneous belts.  I seem to recall that in British Columbia there is a second igneous province, called the Cassiar belt inboard of and roughly parallel tothe Coast Plutonic Complex – but I think the chronology won’t work.

4)    Are the rocks that compose “Baja B.C.” part of the accreted block.  In particular, did the Mt. Stuart batholith originate as part North America proper, or was it part of an exotic terrane?

As you can plainly see, I no longer am “cutting edge” where Cordilleran tectonics is concerned – if ever I was.  I hope that future Nick lectures will help me catch up!

 

GOLDEN OLDIE 15: A Room with a View

 

What a sweet and lovely little movie!  I had forgotten how much I liked it, 35 years ago.  Set mostly in a pre-WW1 England, with glimpses of Florence, this is the perfect balm for the modern, much buffeted, soul.  It is quite unapologetically a feel-good love story, staring two very appealing people – Helena Bonham-Carter and George Sands – both of whom went on to successful, if not blockbuster, acting careers.  Maggie Smith and Judi Dench add their usual touch of elegance, and Daniel Day Lewis plays to perfection a character one tends to despise.  All the rest of the cast, although less important, carry off their roles with style and grace.

This is a Merchant-Ivory film, shot in the English province of Kent and, of course, Florence, Italy.  Miraculously, the critics liked it.  Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, and the movie itself won Oscars; there were many more nominations.

Again, the plot is too complicated to summarize, but I don’t need to try – because you are going to hustle out and watch it yourself.  A-   

GOLDEN OLDIE 16: The Shipping News

 

You have got to see this movie!  It is one my all-time favorites.  Of course, the critics’ opinion was a resounding “Naah”, but as usual they got it wrong; their knock boils down to it being slow but, I imagine, that’s more or less how life is in Newfoundland.  Otherwise, the acting is terrific, the scenery is awe-inspiring, and the story totally engaging.  It’s a great movie; see it (Prime video $3.95}.

The Shipping News was filmed in the wonderful little town of Trinity, Newfoundland, which Linda and I visited a few years ago.  It was directed by Lasse Hallstrm, who apparently is of some note (I don’t follow such things).  It was derived from a Pulitzer Prize winning book by one Annie Prouix, about whom (again) I know nothing.  It was released in 2001.

The acting in this film is simply superb.  The male lead is Kevin Spacey*, playing a dweeb who is reclaimed by life and the love of a good woman.  He could hardly be better.  The good woman is played by Julianne Moore (excellent).  Judi Dench also has an important role, and discharges it with her usual superlative talent.  Cate Blanchette is outstanding in a brief appearance; she plays to perfection the kind of woman you hope your sons never meet.  And there are a half-dozen or so other participants whose names you might know, all of them good.  Take a gander and see if I am wrong!

I am not going to try to summarize the plot of this movie classic; it is too complicated to abbreviate and too good to butcher.  See it yourselves, and if you think I’m wrong say so in a Comment.  A

*Damn him for his disgusting transgressions; I miss seeing him on my Ipad and/or the silver screen. 

GOLDEN OLDIE 14: Major League

 

After The Green Mile I needed something light and frothy to help heal my nervous system – so last night I watched the ultimate in improbable feel-good movies, for something like the sixth time.  It is one of my select group of secret favorites, many of which are too embarrassing to name.  This one – Major League – is funny, harmless and, yes, dumb.  The plot concerns a fictitious Cleveland Indians baseball team that almost literally returns from the dead, thanks mainly to inspiration provided by its washed-up catcher, played by Tom Berenger.  Other notables on the cast include Wesley Snipes, Corbin Bernsen, and Charlie Sheen.  Rene Russo also is in the movie a lot, but I usually skip those parts, which I find annoying; you probably will feel otherwise.

So, anyway: Casablanca it’s not, but it is a harmless way to kill a few hours.  B-/C+

GOLDEN OLDIE 13: The Green Mile

 

Well, after subjecting myself (and you) to the slightly embarrassing but occasionally amusing trivia of Golden Oldie 12, I felt the need to, in a sense cleans my soul – so last night I watched The Green Mile (1991; directed by Frank Darabont, based on a story by – who else? – Stephen King.)  I tell you, man, this flic is HEAVY!  You’ve probably seen it already, but if not – it is deep and irretrievably into the supernatural.  Most of it takes place in what would now be called a prison ward for condemned prisoners.  The cast includes Tom Hanks (very good, as always), Sam Rockwell (excellent as the sort of nasty bastard you always hope never to meet in your lifetime), Michael Jeter as a poor little guy you root for, and a bunch of others too many to name who more than earn their money.

But the bedrock character here is played by Michael Clarke Duncan, portraying a simple giant imbued by providence with all possible kindness and compassion – and the supernatural ability to, in a sense, right wrongs - even to the ability to, in a sense,  thwart death.  Duncan, it turns out, at the time was 6’ 5” and weighed 315 lbs.; artful camera angles made him look even bigger.  Michael Clarke Duncan, in this movie, is simply magnificent.  Sadly, he died in 2012 at the age of 57.

And then, there is a mouse.

The critics liked this movie, and for once they were right.  It – and especially Duncan – got a lot of nominations and a few awards.  I’m not going to try to summarize the plot; anything I wrote would just make it sound stupid. Watch it yourself ($3.95 on Amazon Prime) and let the screen ambiance roll over you.  It will do you good.

GOLDEN OLDIE 12: The Replacements

 

Can gold tarnish?  I don’t think so, which is why I hesitate to designate this movie, The Replacements, as my Golden Oldie 12.  But I watched it last night, so what the hell.

The Replacements came out in 2000 to the unanimous disapproval of the critics, who for once were more or less right.  It stars Keanu Reeves (competent, but given to long looks of passive boredom), Gene Hackman (excellent, as always) and some reasonably competent minor players – especially what looks like a bunch of ladies who would do honor to any strip joint in the world.  I refer, of course, to the cheerleader squad.  There is a guy, Rhys Ifans, cast as a crazy Welshman, whom I have encountered in several movies subsequently – he is always a plus.  I laughed a lot when I first saw this movie, but last night I was a bit bored.

The plot, such as it is, revolves around a strike by NFL football players (which did occur), and a rather comic effort to continue the season, using large, violent, but relatively unskilled substitutes.  Reeves, however, is cast as a highly skilled, and undervalued quarterback with mental demons coursing through his head.  As you might expect, the movie is a feel-gooder, and as such probably worth watching.  Just don’t expect Casablanca.

Of course, there is the cheerleader squad.  C

GOLDEN OLDIE 11:Mystery, Alaska

 

So what’s not to like?  My latest Golden Oldie is a trivial, feel good, essentially preposterous tale about a tiny town in a particularly snowy part of Alaska* that is obsessed with – no, not moose hunting – HOCKEY!  It offers 90 minutes or so of slightly raunchy, totally unbelievable entertainment.  It came out in 1999 to largely contemptuous reviews from the pros (Yeah, what do they know?), but considerable appreciation from the likes of you and me.  The movie stars Russell Crowe who always is good, and includes commendable performances by Hank Azaria, Burt Reynolds, Mary McCormack, and a whole lot of quite effective lesser lights.  The hockey scenes seem authentic to me; a person who has never played the game, nor even watched one all the way through.

  Preposterous or not, Mystery Alaska is good, harmless fun.  B-

*The movie actually was filmed near Canmore, Alberta!