October 30 revised

It has been a while since I posted. As some of you know I was in California and to my surprise Virgin America does not have free movies. In fact they charge $7 or $8 for a movie I could get on Netflix or HBO so I spent the flight going out watching four episodes of "Law and Order SVU" and coming back my set didn't work properly so I just read my magazines therefore there were no movies for me to review.

Carol Frank, Florrie and Lucy correctly identified "When a man says "no" to Champagne, he says "no" to life coming from The Deer Hunter."

Try this one (I think it is very hard!):

"Twenty dwarves took turns doing handstands on the carpet."

In Theaters:

Hereafter - As many of you know, Sy is very interested in psychics and I knew we would be seeing this film when it came out. It is directed by Clint Eastwood so I was game to go. Matt Damon stars as a psychic who has given up the trade. Of course, situations arise that change that. There are two additional stories that come together at the end with the Damon character. The set up is way too long. Eastwood needs a much better editor! The story is engrossing, but lagged. All the actors are good. A few of the major players were unknowns to me. Interesting, yes - must see, no.

Community Theater:

Reston Players' Production of "Wonderful Town" - This is the musical version of "My Sister Eileen." Although the story is quite dated, the actors are marvelous especially the lead female. I would like to remind you to not overlook the talent in your backyard.

DWTS Update:

I cant believe Bristol Palin is still on and they booted off Audrina. I need to remember it is first and foremost a popularity contest. Apparently all the conservatives are working overtime with their voting. I do have to admit Palin has improved over the weeks. The two athletes are so stiff; they need to go. The final three should be: Brandi, Corey and Jennifer. We will just have to wait and see.

In the meantime, enjoy the movies.

Roberta

October 30

It has been a while since I posted. As some of you know I was in California and to my surprise Virgin America does not have free movies. In fact they charge $7 or $8 for a movie I could get on Netflix or HBO so I spent the flight going out watching four episodes of "Law and Order SVU" and coming back my set didn't work properly so I just read my magazines therefore there were no movies for me to review.

Carol Frank, Florrie and Lucy correctly identified "When a man says "no" to Champagne, he says "no" to life coming from The Deer Hunter."

Try this one (I think it is very hard!):

"Twenty dwarves took turns doing handstands on the carpet."

In Theaters:

Hereafter - As many of you know, Sy is very interested in psychics and I knew we would be seeing this film when it came out. It is directed by Clint Eastwood so I was game to go. Matt Damon stars as a psychic who has given up the trade. Of course, situations arise that change that. There are two additional stories that come together at the end with the Damon character. The set up is way too long. Eastwood needs a much better editor! The story is engrossing, but lagged. All the actors are good. A few of the major players were unknowns to me. Interesting, yes - must see, no.

Community Theater:

Reston Players' Production of "Wonderful Town" - This is the musical version of "My Sister Eileen." Although the story is quite dated, the actors are marvelous especially the lead female. I would like to remind you to not overlook the talent in your backyard.

DWTS Update:

I cant believe Bristol Palin is still on and they booted off Audrina. I need to remember it is first and foremost a popularity contest. Apparently all the conservatives are working overtime with their voting. I do have to admit Palin has improved over the weeks. The two athletes are so stiff; they need to go. The final three should be: Brandi, Corey and Jennifer. We will just have to wait and see.

In the meantime, enjoy the movies.

Roberta

October 11

Carol Frank, Betty, Yolanda, and Wendy correctly identified "Might as well call it white jack!" coming from Ocean's Eleven.

Try this one:

"When a man say"no" to Champagne, he say "no" to his life."

In Movie Theaters:

Secretariat - This is this year's Seabiscuit. It is heartwarming, exciting and a feel good movie. You know how the story ends, but how it all began was news to me. Diane Lane does a fine job as Penny Tweedy Chenery and John Malkovich is wonderful as the trainer. The buzz is that he will be nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actor. I really enjoyed Margo Martindale playing Miss Ham, the secretary. Do yourself a favor and see this film.

On TCM and Netflix:

The Man Who Knew Too Much - This 1956 Alfred Hitchcock thriller starring Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day was our third movie in our Doris Day retrospect. I watched it this weekend to review it before showing it to the class. Although it is a bit dated, it does hold up. The story is good and Stewart and Day make a good pair. This is the movie where Day sings "Que Sera, Sera" in its entirety. It is interesting to see how far technology has come in making movies. As the actors are driving through French Morocco,
it is obvious that they have been planted in front of a moving picture of the country. Although the film had some upsetting themes of assignation and kidnapping, it was done in the gentlest way. At the class, we had a discussion about how women were portrayed in not only this film, but the previous one Please Don't Eat the Daisies. It is worth a rental.

Interesting Read:

Tulipomania by Mike Dash - Although this is not a page turner, it is an interesting read. It tells of the history of the tulip and the eventual mania it caused in the Northern Province in the early 1600's. History does repeat itself as you can make many comparisons to the stock market's rise and fall in the 1920's to this tulip mania.

Sy and I have seen the three big movies these last three weeks and if we had to prioritize which we liked best this is it: Go to The Social Network first and depending upon your mood and audience see either Wall Street or Secretariat. You can't go wrong with any of the three. I am happy to be able to say this as the movies have had a dry spell for adult entertainment for some time and it is so nice to have choices.

Roberta

October 4

Carol Frank, Betty and Florrie identified "Don't kid yourself Francessca. You are anything but a simple woman." coming from Bridges of Madison County.

Try this one:

"Might as well call it white jack!"

At Your Local Theater:

The Social Network - As most of you know, this is the story of the founders of Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin and Sean Parker. The film flashes back and forth from how the idea and company was formed to the present day legal battles. Aaron Sorkin of "The West Wing" wrote the screenplay and even at two hours, it is very engrossing. Since so many people are on Facebook, it is sure to capture the attention of many. Jesse Eisenberg plays Zuckerberg and is wonderful as is Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker who also was the founder of Napster. For those of you who live in Northern Virginia you might be interested to know that Sean Parker graduated from Oakton High School, my son's alma mater. This film is going to win lots of awards come Academy Award time.


On Netflix:

When In Rome - The best thing I can say about this film is that it was only 91 minutes long. It was dreadful. The story was ridiculous even for a light romantic comedy. The two stars, Kristen Bell and Josh Duhamel although nice looking people did not have any chemistry. Danny Devito has a small role in this film. One wonders if he needs money to have made such a poor choice in roles. Do yourself a favor and don't see this movie.

On Second Thought:

Please Don't Eat The Daisies - As I mentioned in my review of this film, I was going to show it to a group of people and then discuss it. It surprised me that after watching it a second time, I actually enjoyed it much better. It will never win any awards, but it was a nice way to spend two hours. The moral of the story - sometimes films deserve a second viewing.

With Wall Street, The Social Network, The Town and some good ones not even out yet, there are a bumper crop of films to see so enjoy the movies!!!

Roberta

September 29

Carol Frank, Betty and Florrie correctly identified "No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world." coming from Dead Poet's Society.

Try this one;

""Don't kid yourself Francesca. You are anything but a simple woman."

In Theaters:

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps - This is a sequel to the original Wall Street movie starring Michael Douglas once again. He is made for the role of Gordon Gekko. This story takes place eight years later with its main theme being revenge. I won't give the story away, but it was quite engrossing. At times it was a bit technical about stocks, buying on margin and leverage, but the story of the father, daughter, future son in law and how they enact their revenge is quite interesting. It does combine the news of the day; the downfall of Bear Sterns/Lehman Brothers into the plot. Josh Brolin plays a bad guy which he does well. I am not a fan of Shia LaBeouf and felt he was miscast. Susan Sarandon has a brief role as does Eli Wallach. The movie is long; just over two hours and I did look at my watch once. If you saw the first film, like Michael Douglas (who is looking more and more like his father as he ages) and are interested in the world of trading, this film is for you.

The Closet (Le Placard) - This was my final foreign film for the course I took from OLLI. It is a delightful French film about how a mild mannered man saves his job by pretending to be something he is not. It is set in contemporary Paris and shows typical French life at the workplace. The stars are not familiar to the American audience except for Gerard Depardieu in an unusual role. It does have subtitles, but it is worth putting on your cue.

DWTS Update:

I sometimes wonder why successful people go on this show. Do they really need the money? Michael Bolton embarrassed himself with his jive on Monday night and although Bruno was a bit harsh, he did deserve to go. In my opinion, in the next two weeks, The Situation and Margaret Cho will be dancing their swan song. Turn in next Monday and decide for yourself.

Might be of Interest:

I know I told you about the website groupon with its daily coupons. Here is another; it's a website called www.livingsocial.com. I am registered with them as well as groupon and another called specialicious whose email I do not know, but you could google it to find out. They all work the same way. They send you coupons each day for a variety of services from restaurants to hair salons to entertainment. Check it out for yourself.

There are so many good movies coming out in the next two weeks, I am sure I will be seeing another this weekend.

Roberta

September 22, 2010

Carol Frank, Florrie, Betty correctly identified "Which one of you nuts has got any guts " coming from One Few Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Try this one:

"No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world."

On Netflix:

A Single Man - Colin Firth was nominated for best actor for this film about a man grieving the loss of his lover. It takes place in the '60's and although Firth is a favorite of mine, I did not like this movie. It is very slow and the ending blew me away. If the rest of the film was like the end, I would say Wow, but for just a shocking ending it was not worth my time, but see it for yourself and make your own decision.

Das Leben Der Anderen (The Lives of Others) - Once again I am taking a foreign film course at OLLI and this was the first showing. It is marvelous. With German subtitles, this story is set in the former East Germany in 1984. At that time the country was ruled by the secret police, the Stasi. It is an involved tale about a state security captain who is ordered to monitor one of the country's top playwrights and his actress girlfriend. Why he is ordered to do it, what he finds out, what he does with the information adds up to a well crafted story. It is very long; more than two hours, but worth the watch. It won the 2006 Academy Award for best foreign language film. Do yourself a favor and rent this one. You won't be sorry.

An easy read:

Lowcountry Summer by Dorothea Benton Frank - This is not on the level of the other books I have read with my other book clubs, but it was an easy read and one that allowed me to peek into the life of a Southern belle. The main character's inflexibility during most of the novel was annoying, but I did enjoy the descriptions of the land. Not one to put on the top of your reading list, but a good beach or airplane read.

DWTS Update:

Well week one is over and although David Hasselhoff was in my bottom rung, there were three others that were just as bad or worse, but here is my take as of now (not necessarily where they landed on the leader board)
My leaders are: Jennifer Gray and Brandi
Just below and in the middle for me: Audrena Patridge, Kyle Massey, Rick Fox and Kurt Warner
Those we will be saying goodbye to soon: Bristol Palin, Margaret Cho, David Hasselhoff, Florence Henderson, Michael Bolton and Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino

Other thoughts: I loved watching Jennifer Gray dance. She brought back Baby of Dirty Dancing and was so elegant. Brandi seemed to be having a ball while remaining in character while she danced. I had forgotten she played Cinderella in a made for TV outing many years ago. Audrena was first out and did a fine cha cha. The judges and audience liked the guys: Kyle, Rick and Kurt more than I did although they made a respectable showing. For those in the bottom, I thought the judges rated Palin too high as she was so stiff. I really don't like this Mike guy at all, but since he is on the Jersey Shore show, I am sure he will be with us for a number of weeks. Margaret was disaster. There is a time to be funny which Louie's former partner did, but did it so much better. I am really disappointed as I love her role on "Drop Dead Diva." David Hasselhoff can't dance, but Florence Henderson still has some life in her at 76. I really don't have anything to say about Michael Bolton. He was just vanilla. Hopefully the judges and the public will agree with me. We will see.

Although it has been glorious weather here on the east coast, keep watching the movies and the new TV season.

Roberta