2 Things @ Once

This Is What You Get When You Clean Out Your Gmail Drafts Folder

The virtual house cleaning I mentioned a few days back continues, as today I delved into my Gmail drafts folder, a repository of lists, writing ideas and half-baked blog posts. In the era before I had my laptop, I would write blog entries in a variety of places and save them in my gmail account before posting them. Now I do most of my writing on my computer and save it there until dumping it on the interwebs.

Today, I came across a listing of brief movie reviews that I compiled way back in January of 2007! As far as I can tell, they were never posted. So here they are, a mixed bag of film blurbs--

The Working Man (1933)
Thank God for TCM! Films like this delightful comedy (little known and unavailable on DVD) make my cable supscription so worthwhile. (****)

7th Heaven (1927)
This beautifully shot, tender love story set during WWI confirms that when Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell appear in a movie together, their farewell scenes will consume half the movie. (***)

Monarch of the Glen - Series Four
An entertaining escape to the Scottish Highlands. (****)

Flightplan (2005)
This flight should have been detained prior to take-off so they could have plugged all the holes in the screenplay. (**1/2)

Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970)
Good performances highlight this early Blaxploitation pic directed by Ossie Davis, but I was a tad restless for a movie that's only 97 minutes long. (***)

Fashions of 1934 (1934)
As his-and-hers high fashion counterfeiters, platinum blonde Bette Davis looks good but this is charmer William Powell's show all the way. (***)

Written on the Wind (1956)
Douglas Sirk directed this colorful but thoroughly unbelievable romantic melodrama. (**)

So Big (1932)
So dull. (*1/2)

Shaft (1971)
Didn't have enough plot or 70s kitsch to keep me interested. (**)

Marple: Murder at the Vicarage (2004)
I'm not a huge Agatha Christie fan but watching Geraldine McEwan as Miss Marple is a true pleasure. Top-notch production and great location shooting as well. (*****)

Marple: A Murder is Announced (2005)
Ditto above. (****)

Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004)
Stupid humor centering around a child's game. Just what the doctor ordered. (***)

Dolls (1987)
Horribly hilarious. I laughed all the way through. (***)

Six Feet Under - Fifth Season
Like many TV series that over-stay their welcome, SFU hits a low point in seasons 3/4, but the concluding episodes bring the show to a satisfying close. (****)

Tarnation (2003)
A dreamlike, kinetic self-portrait of one man's troubled youth and his relationship with his mentally ill mother. (****)

Shattered Glass (2003)
An impressive cast and a fascinating true tale of one journalist's self-destruction. (****)

Delurking Day, Better Late Than Never

Delurking Day was two weeks ago and I totally missed it but I didn't want the month to go by without having my do-over De-Day. So, do me a favor--come out of the shadows any and all of you who regularly, semi-regularly or irregularly visit this site and give me a shout out in the comments. It will do this blog's fragile ego a world of good.

Crossing My Fingers

I hope the rumors about an Arrested Development movie are true. I really miss the wacky Bluth family. Thank god for 30 Rock, the closest thing right now to great absurd comedy since AD prematurely wrapped a few years ago.

Review: Sweet Land (2005)

A close knit (and closed minded) Norwegian community in post-WWI rural Minnesota is less than welcoming to Inge (Elizabeth Reaser), a newly arrived German mail order bride. Sweet Land tells the story of Inge's experience and the budding romance between this outcast and her intended, a quiet and hard working farmer named Lars Torvik (Tim Guinee). The cast includes Alan Cumming, John Heard, Ned Beatty, Lois Smith and Alex Kingston. Strong performances, gorgeous landscapes, and an atmospheric soundtrack meld perfectly in this quiet and affecting romance.

I give it 3.5 out of 5 phonographs.

Updike Unread

John Updike has never been on my radar of books I'd like to (or should) read. I suppose I'm like many people today who, upon hearing the news of his death, are thinking maybe now I should get around to reading a book by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author. If anyone would recommend one over another, I'd welcome the suggestion.

Baloneyvitch

The Blagojevich circus rolled into New York today, where he made the rounds on national TV proving to the rest of the country what we in Illinois have known for a while now--this man is a complete yahoo. They can't impeach him fast enough as far as I'm concerned.

Personally, I'm looking forward to the moment when they call the vote in the state senate (any day now.) The magic number is 40 votes (out of 59 senators) and I'll be counting right along.

I just finished watching Blago on Larry King Live and I can't say I'm surprised he wasn't asked any really pressing questions. Softballs all the way and lead-ins for clips and comedy bits. It irritated me that in his various appearances throughout the day, no one interviewing him countered the point that Blago keeps playing up, whining because he can't call witnesses and defend himself in his impeachment trial--that is, that this is an impeachment trial, not a criminal trial.

All they have to do (from what I understand) is prove he's abused his power and is unfit to serve as governor. His recent TV tour has only helped to prove that (Oprah Winfrey? Really?!) not to mention the things he's said and done in the past weeks, months, and let's face it, years.

My blood boiled today every time he used the phrase "will of the people." If Blago really meant what he said about working for the people (what a joke), he'd have resigned and let the state of Illinois, which is in utter political and economic crisis right now, try to right itself from this fiasco and move forward.

Something I've Never Understood

You know how when you read a work of classic literature, it's often preceded by an "introduction"? Why isn't it called "spoilers"? And why doesn't it come at the end of the book, since it invariably contains plot points and character developments you don't want to know before reading the book? I'm irked by this every time I read a book with an introduction.

Well, It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time

A few weeks ago, friends and I made a date to see a few photography exhibits, including the showing of Michael Wolf photos at the Museum of Contemporary Photography which we missed the last time we were downtown touring exhibits. (The campus of Columbia College was on break and therefore the building was closed.)

So, we're going for round two, including the new exhibit at the Art Institute, Yousuf Karsh: Regarding Heroes. Of course, we've chosen to go on the weekend weather forecasters are calling winter's coldest so far. The high today will be 9. I'm heading out now, taking the El downtown, trying to ignore the fact that the current temp is 6, with a windchill of -12.

Film: Be Kind Rewind (2008)

After a bizarre electrical accident in a power plant magnetizes the already whacked-out Jerry Gerber (Jack Black playing Jack Black), he unwittingly erases all the videos in his friend's very-behind-the-times video store. To save the store (and in a convoluted way, their entire fading New Jersey neighborhood) the two buddies go about restocking the shelves with homemade versions of the missing films.

I was intrigued by the premise but ultimately disappointed by director Michel Gondry's most recent film. The segments featuring Jerry and Mike (Mos Def) making their films guerrilla style in the neighborhood, employing friends and strangers to help, were fun but the over arching story, centering on store owner Elroy Fletcher (Danny Glover) and the myth of Fats Waller, was dull. Plus, there was too much uncontrolled Jack Black and far too much Mia Farrow, as a dotty customer, for my taste.

~ I give it 2 out of 5 blank video cassettes.

ER: It's Like a Car Wreck

It's pretty terrible but I can't stop watching. I mean, after fifteen years I have to see it through to the bitter end. And thankfully, this season is the bitter end.