July 14

Carol Frank was correct identifying "Sometimes it's easier to be mad at the people you trust because you know that they'll always love you no matter what you say" coming from The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants .

Try this one:

"We walk away from our dreams afraid we may fail, or worse yet, afraid we may succeed."

On Netflix

Dave:  To mix it up a bit in my OLLI class on political movies, this light-hearted comedy was shown.  Starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver this film tells the improbable story of a president look alike who stands in for the president after he suffers an unexpected stroke.  Frank Langella and Ving Rhames round out the cast as the devious chief of staff and president's body guard respectively.  Of course things change for the best with the impostor president.  The story is predicable, but enjoyable.  See this 1993 film for a lovely diversion. 

The Vow -  I need to shake up my queue as this was yet another romantic film.  It starred Rachel McAdams and  Channing Tatum, as a couple who needs to reconnect after McAdams slips into a coma after a car accident.  She does not remember the last five years and why she was estranged from her family.  Jessica Lange is not aging well as evident in this film.  The reason for the break up with the family is not believable. A so so film.  

On Netflix Streaming only:

Orange is the New Black -  This is, I believe, the third time Netflix has streamed a series in its entirety for their streaming subscribers.  Written by the creator of Weeds, this series tells the story of a young woman who lands in jail after committing a crime in her younger years.  Taylor Schilling plays Piper the lead and Jason Biggs is her boyfriend,  Kate Mulgrew plays a Russian who runs the kitchen.  I have only seen the first two episodes, but it is an engaging one.

A Classic:

The Great Gatsby  by F. Scott Fitzgerald - This classic was this month's book selection for my book group.  Although I read it in high school, I needed to reread it once again.  It is a short novel that received reviews that were mixed. at the time of publication.  The story is thin, but the language is lovely.  It was a turn in how authors wrote that made it a classic   It can be read on many levels; as a simple story, as a novel that depicts the time it takes place and one where you can delve into the symbolism.  I particularly liked the explanation of the classic cover  The publisher relates and I quote - "Cugat's rendition is not illustrative, but symbolic, even iconic:  the sad, hypnotic, heavily outlined eyes of a woman beam like headlights through a cobalt night sky.  Their irises are transfigured into reclining female nudes.  From one of the eyes streams a green luminescent tear; brightly rouged lips complete the sensual triangle.  Below, on earth, colored carnival lights blaze before a metropolitan skyline."  The publisher also stated that Fitzgerald's symbolic billboard eyes of D. TJ Eckleburg was derived from Cugat's jacket art.  A criticism that the publisher noted was that although most characters were well written and fleshed out, Gatsby was somewhat vague.   It is interesting that there are factual errors in The Great Gatsby that can be divided into external (actual outside world)  and internal (fictional world) errors.  The external ones were based on Ftizgerald's shaky geography and the haste in which the novel was manufactured.  i.e. he was a Midwesterner from San Francisco.  The internal ones  had to do with fictional places on Long Island (East and West Egg)  There are chronological problems too.    Too much action is crowded into late August.  The use of general language: a few days, several weeks and about six weeks cause some of the difficulties. I reas these insights from the preface, forward, The Text  of Gatsby and the publisher's afterward.  This is a case where having the actual book and not an electronic copy added to the pleasure and explanation of the novel. 

A Note About Reviewers/critics:

In today's Washington Post, Hank Stuever, their TV critic compares Honey Boo Boo with The Newsroom.  He pans Newsroom and celebrates Honey Boo Boo.  My questions to him is what planet does he live on. He doesn't like the talky nature, the flashback to the recent past and the major characters on The Newsroom while he enjoys the authenticness of Honey Boo Boo and her family.  I know people don't always agree with me, but what is he thinking.  Most of my friends not only enjoy The Newsroom, but are anxiously awaiting its return to HBO tonight at 9:00 p.m.  If you subscribe to HBO and haven't seen Newsroom, see it tonight and make your own decision.  I won't even suggest that you watch Honey Boo Boo.  If that make me a snob, so be it!!