GOLDEN OLDIE 45: tO kILL A mOCKINGBIRD

To help recover from the trauma of Eiger Sanction, last night I indulged myself with a recognized classic, To Kill a Mockingbird.  You’ve all seen it, undoubtedly liked it – and could do better than to see it again.  It came out in 1962 to unanimous critical acclaim and was showered with awards.  It may rank as Gregory Peck’s best effort, although he participated in many other noteworthy movies which I may get around to reviewing.  Three supporting actors also deserve high praise: the Finch kids, Scout (Mary Badham) and Jem (Phillip Alford), and the falsely accused Negro victim, Brock Peters.  Of the three, only Peters seems to have had much of an acting career after Mockingbird.  A character who certainly did have a successful post-Mockingbird career is Robert Duvall – Boo, in the movie – who saves the kids in the end.

The film is shot in black and white and is unsparing in its characterization of life in a small southern town not quite a century ago.  Things are better now, no doubt, but I suspect, still not so hot.  But, then, as they say, let him who is without sin cast the first stone.  A 

GOLDEN OLDIE 44: The Eiger Sanction

                                                    Dirty Harry?

Last night I set out to “review” this movie for my Golden Oldies list.  I did it because I remember liking the climbing scenes.  However, this time around I found that the poor acting, stupid plot, and general slap-dashery of the film so bothered me that I never managed to get Clint to the Eiger.  Dirty Harry turned out to be a pretty good director, but this isn’t one of his better efforts.  Save your money.  C

GOLDIEN OLDIE 42: Erin Brockovitch

 

Well, after several evenings of enjoying light-hearted bits of fluff, I decided to get serious – and dialed up Erin Brockovitch as my next Golden Oldie.  I was only a little disappointed. 

As you almost certainly know, this was Julia Robert’s movie, almost entirely.  She portrays a poorly educated unmarried mother of three with unlimited chutzpah, boundless self-confidence, and great legs.  Viewing her performance here reminded me of something I once wrote about Steve Jobs.  To paraphrase:  I am glad there are Erin Brockovichs in the world, and I thank God I was never married to one!

So, Erin takes on the perfect foil:  PG&E, a faceless corporation widely despised for, amongst other sins, starting forest fires.  One notes with pleasure that their stock has halved in value in the past several years, and nobody is predicting it to rise.  Apparently a division of PG&E managed to poison the drinking water of a small California desert town, with all sorts of hideous consequences.  It seems that the story told here is based on historical fact, at least in part.

Two supporting actors, Albert Finney and Aaron Eckhart, do a commendable job.  But, as I said earlier, Roberts is nearly the whole show.  And, with her short skirts and high-heels, she is quite some story!

So, most of this flic is a deep downer, but it is rescued to some extent by an upbeat ending.  If you hate all faceless corporations – I have my Michigan relatives in mind – you may derive great satisfaction out of Erin Brockovitch; otherwise, like me, you will turn with relief back to harmless bits of cinematic fluff.  C+

GOLDEN OLDIE 41: tORTILLA sOUP

 

Having enjoyed what I saw of Jacqueline Obradors in Six Days, Seven Nights (and I saw a lot of her), I decided to follow her to my latest Golden Oldie, Tortilla Soup, which I recall liking a lot many years ago.  I was not disappointed; this is a darned good movie.  The lead participant is an aging Mexican Chef, played beautifully by Hector Elizando, whom I shall duly follow someday soon to a movie you all know, Pretty Woman. 

Anyway, Tortilla Soup involves the travails of three nice young  women wrestling with love, life, and a difficult father.  There are many scenes depicting the preparation of Mexican food, which reminds us that Mexican is regarded as one of the world’s great cuisines (French, Turkish and Chinese being the others).  We are not talking tacos and frijoles here! 

And Ms. Obradors is fine, even with all her clothes in place.

So, see this movie, after going to Chihuahua’s in Ferndale, WA, for a great meal.  Their Cadillac margaritas are superb!  B  

GOLDEN OLDIE 40: Six days, seven nights

 

So, following Witness, I followed Harrison Ford to this funny little bit of fluff, in which Ford portrays a burned out, alcohol-soaked pilot living the good life on a fictitious South Sea Island populated almost exclusively by beautiful people.  His co-star is Anne Heche; herselt also beautiful, and an accomplished comic actress to boot.  I am sorry not to have seen more of her.  The plot, involving plane crashes, pirates, and some entertaining love-stuff, is preposterous, trivial – and lots of fun.  Bit creature Jacqueline Obrador alone is worth the price of admission – if you are male.

So, this is another “what’s not to like” sort of film.  At the very least it will get your mind off global politics.  C+

GOLDEN OLDIE 39: Witrness

 

Well, having become curious about Lucas Haas from my last Golden Oldie, Leap of Faith, I followed him to this offering, which I recalled as being a very good movie.  I was right.

Haas is splendid here, as he was in Leap, but these two movies seem to be the apogee of his career.  He labored on for 40 or so more years, but I don’t recall anything he did that excited much enthusiasm.  Anyway, thanks, Lucas, for two great efforts.

But watching 39, Witness, left me with a new enthusiasm, Kelly McGillis.  She is so beautiful in this movie it almost hurts; one could almost drown in her eyes!  Sadly, she also seems to have faded from view; I wonder why.

So, the star of the whole shebang is Harrison Ford; competent as usual.  The setting is Amish country, Pennsylvania, both beautiful and culturally interesting.  Two bit players that deserve special notice are Jan Rubes as an Amish elder, and Alexander Godunov as a lusty young buck.  (More on Godunov in a later Oldie).

All in all, this is a fine picture, with just the right blend of violence, romance, and drama.  I rate it a B+

GOLDEN OLDIE 38: Leap of Faith

 

You know, Steve Martin  really is a talented guy.  Not only is he about the funniest person in the entertainment business today, he also is a virtuoso on the banjo!  Hell, if he weren’t so old I wouldn’t be surprised to see him turn up as the new quarterback of the Seattle Seahawks.  As you probably can guess, Martin is the star of my Golden Oldie 38, Leap of Faith.

But it wasn’t Steve Martin that led me to this movie, it was his co-star, Debra Winger.  I had a surge of renewed appreciation for her owing to her performance in Golden Oldie 37, so I followed her here.  Martin is magnificent, but so is she.  I wish she had made more movies.  Where ever did she go?  Liam Neeson and Lucas Haas also are good; I may follow the later to my next Oldie.  One of the best male actors of our time, Philip Seymour Hoffman, also is said to have a bit part here, but I failed to recognize him.

The plot revolves around a travelling evangelism/con game troop stranded in a small and impoverished rural village afflicted by drought.   Despite Martin’s cynicism, what looks like a miracle occurs.  Two, in fact.

And there is a lot of nice gospel music, and even a little romance.  What’s not to like? B

GOLDEN OLDIE 37: An Officer and a Gentleman

 

Time to make an abrupt turn away from cute little comedies and consider something a little more gritty.  For the last two nights I have plowed my way through An Officer and a Gentleman, which has far too much violence and bloodshed to qualify as in any way cute or light-hearted, but has the requisite happy ending – always necessary to make my list.  The ostensible star is Richard Gere, then (1982) just beginning his extraordinary run of popularity.  Gere is fine in his role, but the real stars here are Debra Winger, as the devious man-trap with a heart of gold, and – especially - Lou Gossett, Jr., terrifyingly realistic as the kind of drill sergeant every young draftee prays to avoid.  Too bad I have seen so little from either lately; in this flic they were magnificent! 

You know the story:  unlikely disadvantaged slacker pulls up his socks and manages to graduate from a naval OCS program for would-be jet pilots.  I particularly liked it because it was filmed in Pt Townsend, WA, and nearby Ft Warden, both of which I know well.  Heck, I’ve even had a few beers in the tavern where Gere wins his bloody fight.  Thankfully, I was meek and nobody tried to throw me out!

So, hell, try to see this movie.  It won’t let you down.  B     

 

 

GOLDEN OLDIE 36: Saving Grace

 

Well, gang, as I mentioned in my last Golden Oldie, I have become a big fan of Brenda Blethyn.  This being the case,  last night I researched her on the Internet.  Turns out she is the star of a movie I saw, and really enjoyed, many years ago.  So I watched it again last night - and hereby appoint it to the important post of Golden Oldie # 36.

 The name of the movie is Saving Grace.  It was directed by someone named Nigel Cole, released in 2000,  is set in an English seaside village of a few decades ago, and didn’t stir up the wrath of the critics to any measurable degree.  Blethyn is Grace, an impoverished, hopelessly middle class widow and master gardener who bumbles her way to salvation by growing pot!  Along the way she interacts with some very funny characters.  One of them is Martin Clunes, who later portrayed Doc Martin in the long-running British TV series of the same name.  I think the TV show and this movie may have been shot in the same pretty little village – probably in Cornwall, if I read the rocks right.

Anyway, Saving Grace is a harmless, pleasant way to kill a couple of hours.  I give it a resounding B

GOLDEN OLDIE 35: Pride and Prejudice

 

This is the second Jane Austin book-turned-movie that I have watched during my Golden Oldies sojourn, and probably the last.  (Are there more?).  The first was Sense and Sensibility, which I liked a whole lot.  This one; maybe not so much.

You know the story, so I won’t go there.  It is set in rural 19^th century England, which for me is a big plus.  It turns out well, thus leaving the viewer with a warm glow in the belly.  It is the acting I wish to consider.

There is no disputing that Keira Knightley is a dish.  She is the star of the show and manages to hold her own against several celebrated actpersons, whom I shall discuss later.  Her romantic partner is Matthew Macfyden, who unfortunately exhibits all the emotional breadth of a wooden cigar store Indian.  I realize he is supposed to be stoic, but jeez!  The mob of Bennet girls is diverting, and the guy who plays Darcy’s hopelessly inept sidekick does a good job.

The three accomplished actors I want to discuss are Judi Dench, Brenda Blethyn, and Donald Sutherland.  Of Dench, what can one say?  She is always wonderful, even in small roles like this one.  Sutherland, to my mind, is perfect as the male head of household consisting of five excitable females.  He loves them all, but would really like to get back to his pipe and newspaper.

For me, the “find” in this movie is Brenda Blethyn.  She plays the distraught housewife/mother, with four excitable, at times rattle-brained unmarried daughters to nurture, and plays it to perfection.  I didn’t realize until today, but she also is the mother in A River Runs Through It, and the star of Saving Grace, which I will feature one of these days.  I’ll bet she has had a distinguished movie career, which I will research one of these days.

So, anyway, Pride and Prejudice is not one of Hollywood’s proudest creations, but it is pretty good regardless.  It is worth a couple of hours of your time.  B

GOLDEN OLDIE 34: Grosse Pointe Blank

 

This is one of my secret, all-time guilty pleasures.  The story is so preposterous as to be downright stupid, and I guess you’d have to say that the acting isn’t particularly stellar – adequate certainly, but not sparkling.  It stars John Cusack (and his sister, Joan), Minnie Driver, Dan Aykroyd (pretty funny), with a couple of cute bits by Alan Arkin as a beleaguered psychologist.   Cusack is a reluctant hit man who comes home to take his high school girlfriend to their ten-year anniversary party – and to whack her daddy.  See what I mean by stupid?  But it’s funny.

I particularly admired Minnie Driver in this otherwise not particularly outstanding endeavor.  (The critics gave it a pass, by the way).  I wonder what ever happened to her.

GOLDEN OLDIE 33: The Dream Team

 

Last night I decided to take a break from Leaphorn and Chee and watch a movie, to add to my Golden Oldie sequence.  I hit on an Oldie that maybe isn’t exactly Golden, but is fun just the same.  Its name has been lurking around the edge of my increasingly leaky brain for some time.  This is because my favorite on-line geology instructor, Nick Zentner, has for some months been referring to a group of geologists bent on deciphering the mysteries of the Cascade Crystalline Core (the terribly complicated rock exposures along parts of WA State 20, the road that runs through the North Cascades National Park.)  All I can say (to Nick’s Dream Team) is LOL.  It was outcrops like the North Cascades Crystalline Core that made me give up honest rock-based geology and take up theoretical geophysics!

But, the original (cinematic) Dream Team consisted of four lunatics released from their asylum under highly improbable circumstances.  It was directed by Howard Zieff (of whom I know nothing) and released in 1989.  Miraculously, the critics didn’t exactly hate it.  The star is Michael Keaton, who does a creditable job of portraying Jack Nicolson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest  He is really good; wonder what happened to him.  Christopher Lloyd is excellent as a psychiatrist wannabe obsessed with order, and Peter Boyle is very funny as an advertising executive who REALLY got religion.  The other characters are good, too. 

Thumb nail:  The Dream Team is a harmless, amusing way to waste an evening.  Not quite Casablanca, but worthwhile.  B-

LEAPHORN, CHEE, HILLERMAN & ME

               Hillerman country

I continue to glide joyfully through the totality of Tony Hillerman's Navajo Cop books.  There are 18 in all, and tonight I will finish #9, God willing and Putin don’t interfere!  After Tony’s death his daughter Ann attempted to keep the franchise going but, in my opinion, with little success.  Ann’s characters have the same names, but they just aren’t the same people – if you get my drift.

So, the first two books in the series may be the best, and certainly pack the most enlightenment about Navajo history, religion and culture.  Somewhere about book four Hillerman hits us with a gut-wrenching depiction of gradual descent into and through Alzheimer’s disease. It made me realize how lucky I am it is only my peripherals – even important ones like hearing and eyesight –  that are failing.  The essential me is still pretty much still here -  for better or for worse!

So, I enthusiastically recommend that you dig into the Hillerman oeuvre at your earliest possible convenience.  You can get them for less than $4.00 from Abebooks, if your eyes will allow you to read real book books.  Me, I read them on my iPad, at about $10/whack.