Maestro

Movies, Drama

Maestro

No Comments 18 February 2024

If you are hoping to learn a lot about Leonard Bernstein’s artistry, Maestro will disappoint you. There are two moments where one gets a sense of Bernstein’s creative power. Otherwise, the film is dedicated to chronicling his complicated love life. Bernstein is homosexual but marries and has children. Bradley Cooper (director and actor of Bernstein) focuses on telling this story. Bernstein’s musical artistry merely serves as a background that remains largely unexplored. I once saw a little video of Bernstein teaching the history of music in five minutes at Harvard. Given the title Maestro, I was hoping music would be at the center of the film. Perhaps there is a good documentary on Bernstein I can look for.

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Diary, Astute Observations

Leonhard Cohen’s Last Words

No Comments 7 January 2024

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Crocodile Dundee

Movies, Comedy, Drama

Crocodile Dundee

No Comments 3 January 2024

Crocodile Dundee was made with $7 million and took in over $300 million at the box office. It was the commercially most successful Australian film ever. Because the film became so popular, I wasn’t sure whether I had seen it or not. It turns out I had never seen at least the first “Crocodile Dundee” movie, and I fully appreciate why it was so successful. It is utterly charming. A young journalist happens to be in Australia when she hears the news that a man in the outback was attacked by a crocodile and then managed to rescue himself through an ordeal of several days.

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The Escort

Movies, Comedy

The Escort

No Comments 30 September 2023

This film is inspired by *Pretty Woman. *This time, the girl is a graduate of Stanford University who found out that she can make easy money by not using her degree from the elite university. The boy/man in this film is not rich. In fact, he is so behind in his rent that he reluctantly goes back to his father to get a cash infusion. The more salient new twist is this: our boy/man has a sex addiction.

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Elvis

Movies, Drama

Elvis

No Comments 7 May 2023

I love films about music legends such as Marley, Walk the Line, and Ray *because the soundtrack is guaranteed to be excellent. So I could not wait to see *Elvis. It starts out strong but pretty soon it fails to create the magic of great movies that pull you in and make you believe what you see is a real story. Baz Luhrmann, who wrote and directed the film, never lets you forget that the film and Elvis’s true life are different.

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SNL funny take on Trump’s indictment

Diary, Politics

SNL funny take on Trump’s indictment

No Comments 7 April 2023

The actor does a great job imitating Trump’s mannerisms. It is a well-written piece and made me laugh.


My own sense is that the change that Trump will indicted in Georgia is 80%. At the federal level it put the probability at 50%.


Click on picture below to play video.

Trump indictment

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A Little Alcohol Won’t Kill You or Make You Stronger

Diary, Must Know

A Little Alcohol Won’t Kill You or Make You Stronger

No Comments 3 April 2023

WSJ.com reports:

“People who drink a little don’t die sooner than people who never drank, study shows.

The findings suggest that the average man can drink up to about three drinks a day and expect to live as long as nondrinkers. Women might want to stop at about two drinks, the research suggested.”

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Rupert Murdoch marries again

Diary, Curious News

Rupert Murdoch marries again

No Comments 26 March 2023

Rupert Murdoch has made it into my blog because he is one of the strongest believers in the institution of marriage that I know (See my previous entry on Murdoch marriage adventures. Not long after his divorce from Mick Jagger’s old flame Jerry Hall, he got himself a new wife at age 92.  Here are the details which he shared with one of the newspapers he owns and then a report from the NY Times.


Rupert Murdoch engaged to Ann Lesley Smith

By Cindy Adams NY Post

Rupert Murdoch. Professionally, the parent of Earth’s media. Personally, the creator of new news himself. Celebrating March, his Nativity month, a new scoop is Mr. Murdoch’s getting married — again.

But first, before anything, we discuss the important stuff. Like his bride-to-be’s Asscher-cut diamond solitaire which the almost groom personally selected. He says: “I’m one-fourth Irish.” He presented the ring to her on St. Pat’s Day in our very own NYC.

He says: “I was very nervous. I dreaded falling in love — but I knew this would be my last. It better be. I’m happy.”

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Do also strength training

Diary, Must Know

Do also strength training

No Comments 30 January 2023

Washington Post reports:

“We found that just 1-3 hours per week of moderate exercise — brisk walking and/or vigorous aerobic exercise such as [high intensity interval training] training — and just 1-2 times per week of strength exercise substantially reduced the risk of death by all-causes,” McDonough says.

Given that walking to the bus or store counts, most people should be able to get in 60 minutes a week of aerobic exercise, McDonough says. And the two sessions of strength training doesn’t have to be at the gym, he adds. They can be with any form of resistance, such as gravity, hand weights, resistance bands, or even water bottles or cans from the cupboard, or hefting grocery bags.

So cardio or weights or both? If you’re looking to live longer, doing both is your best bet, experts say.


Source: https://tinyurl.com/465xbr9f

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AI wrote this poem

Diary, Must Know, Books, Poetry

AI wrote this poem

No Comments 17 January 2023

I gave the chatgpt3 AI toll these three words “morning coffee poem,” and it came back with this poem:

Morning coffee, black and strong
A aroma that wakes me up
The warmth of the cup in my hand
A ritual that never gets old.

A sip, a taste, a moment of peace
As the world outside starts to stir
The chaos of the day ahead
Is calmed by this simple pleasure.

The rich flavor, the bitter bite
A symphony on my tongue
A reminder that this day is mine
And I am ready to conquer it all.

With each sip, my mind comes alive
Ideas flow, my creativity flows
I am ready to face the day
Morning coffee, my daily dose.

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Poem “House Made of Evening Light” and others by N. Scott Momaday

Books, Poetry

Poem “House Made of Evening Light” and others by N. Scott Momaday

No Comments 8 January 2023

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A Special Christmas Gift Idea

Humor, Cartoons, People, Situations

A Special Christmas Gift Idea

No Comments 11 December 2022

A Christmas gift idea that Donald Trump will appreciate very much - not.

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Top Gun Maverick

Movies, Drama

Top Gun Maverick

No Comments 27 November 2022

I saw the original top gun movie and was not very impressed. It lacked depth and tried to make it up with too many acrobatic jet fighter stunts. Not surprisingly, I had no plans to see the sequel. But Top Gun Maverick received raving reviews. Every review I read claimed that the sequel was much better than the original. I got a chance to see it on a big cinema screen. Top Gun Maverick is a fantastic film. I was impressed with the storytelling, the camera work, the suspense, and the surprising twists and turns. No wonder that this is the best crossing film Tom Cruise has ever participated in. You can see that all people involved treated it as a labor of love. You can sense that the script was rewritten and reworked many times so that it would reach a level that is rare for action movies made mainly for young people. See Top Gun Maverick. I extend my rare money-back guarantee for it. If you don’t like the film, I will reimburse you for the price of the tickets.

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7 Days

Movies, Comedy

7 Days

No Comments 1 June 2022

Indian parents, even in the United States, still feel entitled that they can help find spouses for their children. Caucasian parents no longer have those rights. This romantic comedy of a man and woman of Indian descent who are living in the USA and are (n their mid-twenties is very creative. Except for a final scene, the film plays only in the house of the lady. The two seem to be a perfect mismatch. The woman goes on set-up dates by her mother so her mother pays the rent for her house.

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Coda

Movies, Drama

Coda

No Comments 27 March 2022

Coda is the remake of a French movie. The American version is taking place in a small fishing town in New England. At the center of the film is a high school senior whose parents and older brother are deaf. She has been the translator for her family with the outside “hearing” world for her entire life. But she’s getting tired of this as she wants to lead a more independent life.

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Wonderful Photos of Obama in White House

Diary

Wonderful Photos of Obama in White House

No Comments 5 February 2022

Nostalgia rises when I look at the photo gallery by Pete Souza, Obama’s official photographer. Click here to access:  photo gallery

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Why Men Don’t Listen and Women park badly  (Warum Männer nicht zuhören und Frauen schlecht einparken

Movies, Comedy

Why Men Don’t Listen and Women park badly (Warum Männer nicht zuhören und Frauen schlecht einparken

No Comments 29 January 2022

This German comedy is based on the book “Why Men Don’t Listen and Women Can’t Read Maps” by Allan and Barbara Pease. The film is funny. I cannot speak about the book because I have not read it. The film argues (explains) that the differences in men’s and women’s behavior are largely due to the different roles men and women had in early human societies. Anyone familiar with evolutionary psychology will know these ideas but they are put on display well in this comedy. The film is staged in Berlin in the year 2006. The internet is already a force in hooking up but we are not yet in the era of everyone having a profile on dating websites. The film is quite funny until the end. But the end is not a real end. The film just stops and you are left hanging. What happened to the other characters we got into?

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No Time to Die

Movies, Drama

No Time to Die

No Comments 24 January 2022

Sometimes in the 1990s I had vowed never to see another James Bond movie. In my early teens, I watched a James Bond movie every weekend. I described c my teenage love affair with James Bond that came to an end like many teenage love affairs do here: Me and Mr. Bond. But when Daniel Craig took over the role and the producers announced that they would give Bond emotional depth, I wanted to see whether they have achieved this in Casino RoyaleThey did as I wrote in my review.

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Love Hard

Movies, Comedy

Love Hard

No Comments 15 January 2022

Living in LA, a young white journalist writes about the trials and tribulations of finding a partner in the age of social media and online dating. Her recent date conveniently failed to mention a relevant extra-curricular activity: he is already married. Now our heroine is s back on her dating app and soon gets connected to a guy far away in Lake Placid, New York. They are hitting it off well, talking endlessly over the phone.

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Dune

Movies, Phantasy

Dune

No Comments 6 January 2022

I do not count myself as a big aficionado of Sci-Fi movies but Dunes get’s my two thumbs up. A marries futurism with features of the Middle Ages. On top, it puts the old theme of a person being the chosen one to lead humanity out of the darkness and mental superpower skills where you and take over the mind of another human being. The film is based on a 1965 novel that was considered unadaptable for the big screen after early flops. But the 2021 version is a success and I loved the attention to detail and learning about life in an inhospitable dessert. I am looking forward to the 2nd installment.

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Two poems: Daily I fall in love with ...

Books, Poetry

Two poems: Daily I fall in love with ...

No Comments 14 September 2021

First Poem: “Daily I Fall In Love With Waitresses”
by Elliot Fried

Daily I fall in love with waitresses
with their white bouncing name tags
and white rubber shoes.
I love how they bend over tables
pouring coffee.
Their perky breasts hover above potatoes
like jets coming in to LAX
hang above the suburbs—
shards of broken stars.
I feel their fingers
roughened by cube steaks softened with grease
slide over me.
Their hands and lean long bodies
keep moving so…
fumbling and clattering so harmoniously
that I am left overwhelmed, quivering.
Daily I fall in love with waitresses
with their cream-cheese cool.
They tell secrets in the kitchen
and I want them.
I know them.
They press buttons creases burgers buns—
their legs are menu smooth.

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RIP Eric Carle - The very hungry caterpillar

Books, Fiction, Movies, Phantasy

RIP Eric Carle - The very hungry caterpillar

No Comments 26 June 2021

Eric Carle made beautifully illustrated books. Here is his most famous one made into a beautiful short film of 6 minutes. Click on picture below to play the film.
Carle

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Amazing Short Story by Philip Roth

Books, Fiction

Amazing Short Story by Philip Roth

No Comments 22 June 2021

I came across the podcast by the Paris Review entitled Making Light. In it is a wonderful short story by Philip Roth. It is one of the best writing ever. Period. I was glued to my chair. The podcast version of the story is superb. The story starts around minute 10 of the podcast. But I suggest you listen to the entire podcast. It is a treat.

Listen to Making Light.

Printed Story

 

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Summer 2021

Diary

Summer 2021

No Comments 18 June 2021

Beautiful meadows courtesy of Robert Kallaschek

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Three Identical Strangers

Movies, Documentary

Three Identical Strangers

No Comments 25 April 2021

Imagine one day you run into someone who looks just like you, whose voice sounds like yours, and whose behavior seems to be a carbon copy of you. If you live in the greater New York area and are between 60 and 70, this is a real possibility, as we learn in the intriguing documentary Three identical strangers. Around 1960, an experiment was made to separate twins given up for adoption. The experimenters did not tell the adopting parents or the children about the existence of the other twins.

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White Tiger

Movies, Drama

White Tiger

No Comments 3 April 2021

I loved Slumdog Millionaire and Liondepiction of India. I was particularly moved by the scenes when Lion was lost in India.  When novels work well, they depict real social problems and injustices and mobilize us to action. After seeing White Tiger I felt paralyzed rather than mobilized. Charles Dickens’ novels created in the hearts of many people the desire to change the awful working conditions in 19th century Britain. I was disgusted by the murder that the protagonist committed, making me more outraged about the poor storytelling than about social conditions in India.  This was not how the writer and filmmaker intended it. I felt that they exaggerated so strongly and came across as so assured that their viewpoint is the correct one that I was turned off. I also did not learn anything new about India or became more sympathetic to the challenges for this gigantic country. Two thumbs down.

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NASA Rover Lands on Mars

Diary

NASA Rover Lands on Mars

No Comments 20 February 2021

I watched the actual landing, but this animation of how the landing was going to take place is more informative and fun to watch.

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My favorite music at the Presidential Inauguration 2021

Diary, Politics, Music, Pop

My favorite music at the Presidential Inauguration 2021

No Comments 21 January 2021

Hollywood and Nashville came out big yesterday producing two wonderful TV specials in addition to the performance at the inauguration itself.

First the Parade Across America Watch on Youtube

and then at night the

Biden inauguration: “Celebrating America” event hosted by Tom Hanks Watch on Youtube.

There were many great performance by ordinary citizens and stars.

I am picking out three that you should see if you missed them.

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Stunning Inauguration Poem by 22-year-old Amanda Gorman

Diary, Politics, Books, Poetry

Stunning Inauguration Poem by 22-year-old Amanda Gorman

No Comments 20 January 2021


Click on picture to watch “The Hill we Climb”.


Transcript below

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Joe Biden Inauguration speech was great

Diary, Must Know, Politics

Joe Biden Inauguration speech was great

No Comments 20 January 2021

I was not sure whether Biden could pull off a speech that would inspire. He did. If you missed it, see for yourself and read the transcript below.

biden
Click on picture to watch speech.

 

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Georgia on my mind

Diary, Politics

Georgia on my mind

No Comments 5 January 2021

Today the control of the senate will be decided.  John Legend and Barak Obama team up for Georgia.

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Powerful Video Art

Diary, Must Know, Music, Pop

Powerful Video Art

No Comments 28 December 2020

I had never seen Jafa’s powerful video collage “Love is the message, the message is death”. Very powerful and moving.  Watch it!
jafa

Click on picture to play video.

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Parasite

Movies, Drama

Parasite

No Comments 29 November 2020

In die middle of February, Donald Trump made fun of this year’s best picture. I watched Trump’s campaign lines. He could not believe that a South Korean film would win an American based movie award. He called for “great American movies” like Gone with the wind to win Oscars. So I wanted to see the South Korean film and see why and how it convinced the majority of the voters of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to do something that it has never done before: To give the best movie award to a foreign film.

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37% for Dictator in USA

Diary, Must Know, Politics

37% for Dictator in USA

No Comments 14 November 2020

This a scary poll and hard to believe but it would explain the Trump phenomenon.

[...] share of voters who want “a strong leader who does not have to bother with Congress and elections” grew from 25 percent in 1990 to 37 percent in 2017, according to the World Values Survey, which measured attitudes in 48 countries.

Source: https://wapo.st/3kuCg4s

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Biden TRiUMPhed - A new era begins

Diary, Politics

Biden TRiUMPhed - A new era begins

No Comments 8 November 2020

I have been writing one-liners for the last few days.

The Winning Line

“Biden TRiUMPhed”


Other candidates

“Trumped no more.”

“You are fired”

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Cute: U2 first ever TV appearance

Music, Pop

Cute: U2 first ever TV appearance

No Comments 6 November 2020

This is cute. U2’s first TV appearance when they were young boys and did not sound professional yet.

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Get on Up

Movies, Drama, Music, The Rest

Get on Up

No Comments 6 September 2020

The premature death of Chadwick Boseman due to colon cancer led to an international outpouring of grief. I had never seen a film with Boseman but I remembered how sad I was when Heath Ledger died much too young. People who knew Boseman gave eulogies that I would have given about Ledger, whose talent I admired deeply. So I wanted to see a film with Boseman. I chose the film about the musician James Brown.

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Joker

Diary, Must Know, Movies, Drama

Joker

No Comments 16 August 2020

When I think about the Joker I always see the painted face of Heath Ledger who gave an amazing performance in the Batman movie Dark Knight that unfortunately became his last chance to act. I decided to watch the film with the Joker now simply called Joker because Joaquin Phoenix won the Oscar for his performance. Make no mistake, his acting is an amazing feat. His portrayal of a mentally deranged person scarily convincing. But my heart was tied to Heath Ledger and I always thought about him while seeing the painted face of the new joker. There is a sense of violence at the center of the film that left me deeply unsettled, especially now that in many parts of the Western world right-wing nationalists seem to be ready to embrace violence to attack democratic institutions.

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Biden win is 70%

Diary, Politics

Biden win is 70%

No Comments 14 August 2020

Nate Silver put Trump’s chances only at 30%.

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The nightmare might end

Diary, Politics

The nightmare might end

No Comments 27 June 2020

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The Squid and the Whale

Movies, Drama

The Squid and the Whale

No Comments 8 April 2020

Noah Baumbach recently came out with a new film, The Mariage Story. It seemed to have received good reviews and I wanted to see it. But I thought I should first see his earlier film, The Squid and the Whale, which also covered the topic of divorce. The Squid and the Whale is intense.

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The Farewell

Movies, Drama

The Farewell

No Comments 30 January 2020

The farewell is very simple yet it is able to trigger deep emotions in the viewer’s heart. As the title suggests,  a family that immigrated from China returns to the homeland to say farewell to their mother who is diagnosed with an illness and will not allow her to live very long. One branch of the family returns from the USA and the 2nd one from Japan.  The film does a wonderful job portraying the challenges of any immigrant family anywhere.

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Peggy Noonan gives an interesting rationale for why Bolton and Biden should be called as witnesses

Diary, Politics

Peggy Noonan gives an interesting rationale for why Bolton and Biden should be called as witnesses

No Comments 24 January 2020

PM: I watched a couple of hours of debate on the first day of the Senate impeachment trial when the two parties fought over the rules. It was interesting to watch the arguments but the senate leader had counted the votes and all amendments to the rules were voted down 53 to 47. Every single Republican senator stayed with the “save our president” coalition. The most interesting questions is whether a few senators after the first 5 days will be willing to call witnesses. Peggy Noonan published the most interesting commentary I have read on the trial in the past couple of days.

Impeachment Needs Witnesses on Both Sides
Forget Democrats and Republicans. The interests of a third party, History, are more important.

 

 

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Small majority for Impeachment

Diary, Politics

Small majority for Impeachment

No Comments 23 January 2020

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The perfect secret (Das perfekte Geheimnis)

Movies, Comedy

The perfect secret (Das perfekte Geheimnis)

No Comments 11 January 2020

Imagine you know absolutely everything about another person, and you can fully predict what the person will think and do in the future. Would this help or hurt a relationship? This extreme form of knowing someone else does no exist but we all have a sense that we know some people much better than others.  Some people we can trust and we can predict with high certainty that they will behave well toward us. Other people, by contrast,  are complete wild cards and their unpredictability in thought and action can terrorize us.

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Impeachment

Diary, Politics

Impeachment

No Comments 20 December 2019

I have two sentiments about impeachment. One the one hand, I am sad that Trump whose actions are clearly worse than what Nixon did and that he will not get removed from office and I pitty Republicans who have to defend actions that are indefensible. But I also acknowledge that congressmen and senators reflect accurately what their masters the voters want. 48 percent want Trump removed and 48 want him to be left in office and face voters judgments next November. Here is a very interesting graphic courtesy of the Walll Street Journal that shows that congressman vote largely reflecting what their constituency wants.

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Once upon a time in Hollywood

Movies, Drama

Once upon a time in Hollywood

No Comments 15 December 2019

The attentive reader of my blog will have noticed that I like movies very much. If I had a 2nd chance to start my work life over, I might put all my efforts into becoming a movie critic for a major newspaper. So when a film about Hollywood is made, the city where so much of the history of film has been written, I am obviously curious. Especially, when the director is Quentin Tarantino, who I boycotted for most of my life but warmed up in Django Unchained (here you find my 2012 review).

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Never seen before on Breitbart. A story that does not support Donald Trump

Never seen before on Breitbart. A story that does not support Donald Trump

No Comments 5 December 2019

Not sure why Breitbart let a critical voice of Trump onto its platform. Have not seen this before.

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“Can you please wait and impeach me after my 2nd term is over”

Humor, People, The Best

“Can you please wait and impeach me after my 2nd term is over”

No Comments 3 December 2019

This needs to be filled in the humor category. Breitbart made me laugh…who would have thought. The actual headline was this:

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Impeachment Was on the Family Table This Thanksgiving

Diary, Politics

Impeachment Was on the Family Table This Thanksgiving

No Comments 2 December 2019

This opinion piece by a Harvard history professor in the WSJ is very clever and very fun to read.

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Homage to Sherlock Holmes in current Impeachment Trial

Diary, Astute Observations

Homage to Sherlock Holmes in current Impeachment Trial

No Comments 2 December 2019

The public at large believes Trump illegally pressured Ukraine, but the majority does not yet want to throw him out of office.  USA today published a great homage to Sherlock Holmes courtesy of an independent senator from Maine.

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Actors showing off their craft: Anne Hathaway and more

Diary

Actors showing off their craft: Anne Hathaway and more

No Comments 1 December 2019

A glimpse of how good an actor Anne Hathway can be in this fun impersonation. But it also let me to a treasure of other actors pulling off accents.

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One tree and four seasons

One tree and four seasons

No Comments 25 October 2019

Beautiful picture by Mattia Loki: One tree and landscape throughout the four seasons
tree

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Tumultuous scenes as Parliament inflicts 6th loss on PM and is sent home for 5 weeks

Diary, Politics

Tumultuous scenes as Parliament inflicts 6th loss on PM and is sent home for 5 weeks

No Comments 10 September 2019

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Democracy Saved

Democracy Saved

No Comments 5 September 2019

Boris Johnson tried circumvent democracy. But brave souls in the Tory party saved democracy with great costs to themselves. They were expelled because of their rebellion. History books will remember them.

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Franz Kafka’s “Metamorphosis”

Books, Fiction

Franz Kafka’s “Metamorphosis”

No Comments 9 August 2019

After many years, I had the chance to reread Kafka’s Metamorphosis. When I first encountered the piece, I was enthralled by the thought experiment Kafka pursued in the story. What if you wake up in the morning and you have turned into a little bug, but you still have your full consciousness? You can still understand what human beings are saying but they cannot understand you anymore and they see you a non-human terrifying, little creature to run away from. How would you feel? How would you cope with this situation?

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Will King Boris lead the the UK to fall apart

Diary, Politics, Travel, Europe

Will King Boris lead the the UK to fall apart

No Comments 25 July 2019

PM: My own sense is that the likelihood of the UK breaking apart has increased substantially with Boris Johnson becoming the prime minister of the UK. Here is a good summary of we know about King Boris.


Boris Johnson can’t be found out: we all know he’s bluffing
by Fintan O’Toole in The Guardian

The new PM’s rise to No 10 is the carefully managed product of three decades of a show stage-managed by and about himself.

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Toni Erdmannn

Toni Erdmannn

No Comments 13 July 2019

This film is billed as a comedy. Yes, there are moments that are extremely funny. But mostly Toni Erdmannis a subtle meditation on the relationship between a parent and a child—here a father and daughter. The father is introduced from the first scene as a practical prankster. A few scenes later the daughter is introduced at a celebratory gathering of the mother who has a new partner. As the father arrives the daughter is in the garden where she pretends to make important phone calls for her consulting job.

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The Demolition Artist: 3 Critics Debate Ivo van Hove

Diary

The Demolition Artist: 3 Critics Debate Ivo van Hove

No Comments 10 January 2019

Peter Murmann: Inspring dicussion of the work of theatre director Ivo van Hove in the NY Times (Jan. 9, 2019)

By Ben Brantley, Elisabeth Vincentelli and Jason Zinoman

Who is Ivo van Hove and why are theatergoers saying such (thrilling) (furious) (mystified) things about him? How did the unassuming Belgian director, who since 2001 has made the theater company Toneelgroep Amsterdam his base of operations, turn into the most important auteur on the international stage circuit — and now a three-time Broadway director?

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The Shape of Water

Movies, Drama, Phantasy

The Shape of Water

No Comments 29 December 2018

This is a fairy tale like no other I have seen before. It feels like a Beauty and the Beast inspired Sci-Fi film set during the Cold War USA of the early 1960s. There is real beauty in the love story between a mute woman and a male creature that comes across as a mixture between a mermaid and robot. He also cannot talk but clearly has intelligence and feelings. The film at times becomes rather annoying when the portrayal of the US government and its personnel becomes a caricature rather than a realistic portrayal what the USA military was like during the conflict with the Soviet Union.

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This week with Trump

Diary, Politics

This week with Trump

No Comments 14 December 2018

All eyes and ears are what Cohen said this week about been directed by Trump to pay hush money. Pecker cooperating with the special council is clearly worrisome for Trump. The New Yorker reports other interesting facts that suggest to me that Trumps chance of getting elected another term of gone down substantially down this week.

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Gurrumul

Movies, Documentary

Gurrumul

No Comments 10 July 2018

You may have never heard of Gurrumul. I certainly had not when I was asked to see this biopic. After the first 10 to 15 minutes, you realize that you are for a very special story that is deeply moving. It is a remarkable piece of work and I put up there on the level of Searching for Sugar Man, which is my all-time favorite documentary of a musician. The Gurrumul story is so different from Sugar Man that it feels in no way repetitive. But what they have in common individuals whose music and poetic vision is so strong that they find against to odds a large audience.

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Foxtrot

Movies, Drama

Foxtrot

No Comments 11 June 2018

The first third of this Israeli film is almost too hard to bear. A father and mother are visited by the military representatives who bring the sad news that their son has been killed in the line of duty. The next 40 minutes we are shown the horrific emotions that a father would go through at this moment. I was saying to myself, “I am not sure if I want to watch this for another hour or so.” But then the film takes an unexpected turn and we get a break.

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G7 meeting - one photo sums it up

Diary, Politics

G7 meeting - one photo sums it up

No Comments 10 June 2018

After 6 countries ganged up on Trump, he refused to sign the final communique. Trump is breaking all the rules but so far we have not seen that he can create more value than he destroys.
Let’s hope this chapter ends after 4 more years.

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The Shop around the Corner

Movies, Documentary

The Shop around the Corner

No Comments 1 June 2018

Today successful Hollywood actors are widely admired. This was not always the case. Some years ago, I visited LA and learned about the surprising history of Hollywood. The good society of LA looked down on actors. They were only seen as slightly better than prostitutes and so they were not allowed to live in town. The actors needed to move outside the city in a new area called Hollywood. I was reminded of this history in the opening minutes of The Shop around the Corner, which was produced in 1940.

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Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Movies, Drama

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

No Comments 13 May 2018

A mother lost her only daughter to rape and murder. She is underwhelmed by the efforts of the police department in a little town in Missouri to find the perpetrators of the crime. This is moment the film starts.

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Murder on the Orient Express

Movies, Drama

Murder on the Orient Express

No Comments 25 March 2018

I do not fully remember whether I saw an earlier version of Murder on the Orient Express as a child. There seem to be traces of an old lady on a train traveling for days in my memory. Kenneth Brannah’s film imagines the Agatha Christie story very differently from the images I find the remote corners of my memory. Since I am quite fond of excellent detectives, I enjoyed this remake of Murder on the Orient. When the detective finally solves the murder mystery, I was stunned. The story is excellent and I highly recommend this film if you like detective stories

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Once were Warriors

Movies, Drama

Once were Warriors

No Comments 19 February 2018

This film from New Zealand is quite heavy because of the domestic violence it portrays. But if you willing to stomach some disturbing scenes, it does a wonderful job of portraying the socio-economic conditions of Maori families in New Zealand. If you want to see a film about New Zealand that it a bit easier on the psyche, I recommend the wonderful Whale Rider or last year’s spectacular Hunt for the Wilderpeople.

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Walt Whitman Poem - Who Learns My Lesson Complete

Books, Poetry

Walt Whitman Poem - Who Learns My Lesson Complete

No Comments 7 February 2018

WHO learns my lesson complete? Boss and journeyman and apprentice? . . . . churchman and atheist? The stupid and the wise thinker . . . . parents and offspring . . . . merchant and clerk and porter and customer . . . . editor, author, artist and schoolboy? Draw nigh and commence, It is no lesson . . . . it lets down the bars to a good lesson, And that to another . . . . and every one to another still.

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Uma tells her story

Diary

Uma tells her story

No Comments 4 February 2018

A couple of months ago, Uma Thurman gave a short interview on the red carpet in which she visible got angry when asked about Harvey Weinstein. She said in a very poised language. “I have learned not to speak my mind when I am angry. I. am not a child any more. I will speak when I am less angy.”  Now she has spoken with Maureen Dowd of the NYT.

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I am Heath Ledger

Movies, Documentary

I am Heath Ledger

No Comments 4 February 2018

When Heath Ledger died at age 28, I was deeply sad. Very rarely has the death of someone who I did not even personally know affected me so deeply. The talent of Ledger was so extraordinary. When the news of his death traveled around the world, I felt we all had been cheated of a lifetime of spectacular performances that was still was lying ahead for Ledger.

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Shine

Movies, Documentary, Drama

Shine

No Comments 23 January 2018

For those of us who like classical music, Shine is a real treat. The film chronicles the life of the piano child prodigy David Helfgott.

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Snow in the Sahara Dessert

Diary, Curious News, Travel, Africa

Snow in the Sahara Dessert

No Comments 11 January 2018

Unexpected Picture: I remember the Police/Sting song “Tea in the Sahara.” Who would have guess we can now write a song “Snow in the Sahara.” The picture is from Algeria.

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Beautiful House

Diary

Beautiful House

No Comments 10 January 2018

This is a house I would like to walk around in.

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I am am a very stable genius

Diary, Politics

I am am a very stable genius

No Comments 7 January 2018

Here is the full twitter record of Trumps response to the being Wolffed.
trump-full

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Trump Got Wolffed

Diary, Politics

Trump Got Wolffed

No Comments 6 January 2018

This week in Trumpland.  As excerpts of Wolff’s book Fire and Fury appeared in New York Magazine, the White House released a statement than I republish below.  Bannon calling the Trump family meeting with Russians as “treasonous” in my mind has raised the stakes considerable for Trump. It is truly getting interesting and I suspect that the chance of him not serving out a full term (which at this point I still is more likley) has clearly increased.

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Muriel’s Wedding

Movies, Comedy

Muriel’s Wedding

No Comments 25 December 2017

I recently saw an interview with Björn Ulvaeus, the key creative force behind the songs of ABBA. He described how the makers of the film Muriel’s Wedding pursued him for a long time to get the license to use ABBA songs in the film. This piqued my interest to see the comedy made in the 1990s. The film is fun. It is different. It is also a good social commentary. Muriel dreams about her wedding. But she is a girl nobody likes in high school. What gets her through this challenging period are ABBA songs. And eventually she does marry but in a very unexpected way.

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Allied

Movies, Drama

Allied

No Comments 23 December 2017

Allied starts out similar to Casablanca. Same time (World War II), same place, comparable ambience. A male British agent, Max (Brad Pitt) and a French female agent Marianne (Marion Cotillard) are instructed to kill the German ambassador. The mission is very dangerous. They give themselves a 40% chance they will come out of it alive.

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Flake’s Speech

Diary

Flake’s Speech

No Comments 25 October 2017

WSJ: Republican Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona announced Tuesday in a speech on the Senate floor that he wouldn’t stand for re-election in 2018, citing sharp differences with both President Donald Trump and the direction of the Republican Party. Here is the text of his speech, as provided by his office.
PM: This may become a historic speech and hence I repost it here from the WSJ.

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Whiplash

Movies, Drama

Whiplash

No Comments 22 October 2017

Whiplash preceded LALA Land in the creative collaboration between the writer/director Damien Chazelle and composer Justin Hurwitz. An aspiring drummer meets a hard driving foul-mouthed teacher at the best music school in the USA. You feel like getting lashed for most of film.

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Lion

Movies, Documentary, Drama

Lion

No Comments 8 October 2017

What a story amazing story from India! Rarely was I so moved. A five-year-old boy insists that his older brother take him to his secret night work. They sneak out their mother’s house but before long the little boy is too tired to continue on. So the older brother leaves the younger brother behind at a train station and tells him not to move until he is back. When the little brother wakes up and his older brother has not returned and he starts searching for his older brother.

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The Brothers McMullen

Movies, Comedy

The Brothers McMullen

No Comments 4 August 2017

Three catholic brothers—John, Berry and Patrick—aged 33 to 21 try to figure out their love life. The oldest inherited the family home on Long Island and the two younger brothers move back in. Five years ago, their unpleasant and unappreciative father died and mother went straight back to Ireland to live with the love of her life who has been waiting for her for 35 years.

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Baby Driver

Movies, Drama

Baby Driver

No Comments 2 August 2017

Baby Driver is fresh. It mixes genres action movie, crime and love story, and music video. Baby, a taciturn man in his early twenties, lost his mother and father in a car accident when he was about 10. The parents were fighting in the front seats, shouted at each other, and she did see the breaking truck. Baby sitting in the back, saw it all and—bam—was an orphan.

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Blood Diamond

Movies, Drama

Blood Diamond

No Comments 3 July 2017

If you are about to get married and want to celebrate this significant event with a diamond, I do not recommend you watch Blood Diamond. Your enthusiasm for diamonds will be greatly diminished. You will no longer sing, “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend.” It is hard to get the idea out of one’s head because of these sparkling objects many people to lost their lives and one may literally wear blood on one’s hands. We also learn how prices for diamonds are kept artificially high because large companies buy up supply and store tons of diamonds in vaults. The film tells a very good story that seems to be in large measure true.

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Big Little Lies

Movies, Drama

Big Little Lies

No Comments 5 June 2017

The hype is well-deserved. Big Little Lies is a fantastic TV mini series. I highly recommended the series to a friend and she made the mistake of watching the last episode first. This was very unfortunate because rarely has a series done so well in gradually building up the tension and suspense, only to reach a dizzying climax in the final episode.

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Whiteley

Movies, Documentary

Whiteley

No Comments 5 June 2017

The most fundamental reason one paints is in order to see. –Brett Whiteley

I had never heard of the painter Bret Whiteley. A new documentary is a fantastic portrait of a superb talent who was born in 1939 and died much too young at the age of 53 in a motel room. Once again it was drugs that finished creative man. I felt sad for him but much sadder for his daughter. I highly recommend the film because Whiteley no doubt was an innovator in 20th century painting.

Here you can see some of his works displayed: Link

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Peggy Noonan: “Democracy Is Not Your Plaything”

Diary, Politics

Peggy Noonan: “Democracy Is Not Your Plaything”

No Comments 21 May 2017

Peggy Noonan just published (May 18) this very strong piece in the WSJ.

When the circus comes to Washington, it consumes everything, absorbs all energy.
This will be unpleasantly earnest, but having witnessed the atmospherics the past 10 days it’s what I think needs saying:
Democracy is not your plaything.
This is not a game.

The president of the United States has produced a building crisis that is unprecedented in our history. The question, at bottom, is whether Donald Trump has demonstrated, in his first four months, that he is unfit for the presidency—wholly unsuited in terms of judgment, knowledge, mental capacity, personal stability. That epic question is then broken down into discrete and specific questions: Did he improperly attempt to interfere with an FBI criminal investigation, did his presidential campaign collude with a foreign government, etc.

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Surprising New Finding: “Get Married, Get Healthy? Maybe Not.”

Surprising New Finding: “Get Married, Get Healthy? Maybe Not.”

No Comments 19 May 2017

By BELLA DEPAULOMAY (NYT)

In a nation as divided and contentious as our own, it is rare to find a belief we all share. But trust in the transformative power of marriage is close to universal — and it has endured for decades. This isn’t just a matter of faith, we’ve been assured. It’s science. Research is said to have established what our fairy tales promised: Marry and you will live happily ever after. And you will be healthier, too.

A new study challenges the claim that people who marry get healthier.

 

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Good Summary of the Week:  Trump fired director of the FBI who investigated  the Trump campaign

Diary, Politics

Good Summary of the Week:  Trump fired director of the FBI who investigated the Trump campaign

No Comments 14 May 2017

Not surprisingly but still disappointingly, the WSJ editorial pages wholeheartedly supported the firing of the FBI. The left-leaning predictably compared the firing to Watergate. Below are the two most interesting articles from this week. First the Guardian’s take on the week and then an opinion piece in the WSJ that argues that not FBI but congress should investigate whether Trump’s Russian connections constitute an impeachable offense.

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Beauty and the Beast

Movies, Phantasy

Beauty and the Beast

No Comments 17 April 2017

As an adult you walk into Beauty and the Beast not expecting suspense how the story will end. Of course the beast will get the beauty in the end! The open questions are about their journey. What challenges will the couple face before their happy ending? For me the best part of the movie had very little do with the two story itself. The makers of the film use the plot and the characters as an excuse to show off mesmerizing feats of imagination and creativity. The most stunning scene happens as the beauty (Emma Watson) takes her first dinner in the castle of the beast. She is alone. Only with the staff, who have been years transformed by curse some years ago from human beings into clocks, candle holders and walking closets. The beast is mad with fury in his quarters. We already have learned that the staff has a very strong incentive to ensure the beauty falls in love with the beast: If this happens before a rose dies the staff (and the prince who is trapped in the body of a beast) will be transformed again into their human form. But the rose has not much longer to live. I can assure you have never seen a staff figuratively and literally pulling out all the stops as in this scene. My gut feeling tells me that people behind Pixar movies had their hands in ‘cooking this scene”. In any case, go watch Beauty and the Beast have your iPhone ready and when this scene starts, record it on your phone. And next time when you get poor service at a restaurant, instead of complaining, ask the waiter or waitress to quickly watch this scene with you. This will give them clear ideas how you would like them to lift their service game.

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Dreaming of Mauritius

Travel, Africa

Dreaming of Mauritius

No Comments 5 April 2017

The weather is bad and I am dreaming of going to Mauritius…

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Keeping up with the Joneses

Movies, Comedy

Keeping up with the Joneses

No Comments 3 April 2017

A middle-age couple drops of their two boys for summer camp. For the first time since the kids were born, the husband and wife are alone. Time for some wild sex and parties? Not really. The two find it difficult to let lose until a new couple moves into the neighborhood.  They seem to have so much more spontaneous affection for each other and seem to lead so interesting lives. They are also so good at everything. I was almost tempted to stop watching the film after 30 minutes or so. It was not clear where the plot was heading. I did not find the film particularly funny. But somewhere, almost half way into the movie, suddenly it becomes clear what the film is all about. Once it reveals its true character, you cannot but laugh and be drawn into its message. I do not want to reveal too much because otherwise you will not be able to experience the surprise that is necessary to enjoy this film.

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Moonlight

Movies, Drama

Moonlight

No Comments 6 March 2017

The moment when Faye Dunaway pronounced erroneously La La Land as the winner of the 2017 Oscar for Best Picture was one of the most dramatic moment in all of Oscar history. A few winners’ speeches later, the director of La La Land graciously told the stunned audience there has been a mistake! 
“Moonlight is the real winner,” he announced. Confusion ensued but after a few minutes the true winning director, Barry Jenkins of Moonlight, took the microphone. He thanked everyone who helped him bring about his vision of making a film about the challenges of growing up as black gay kid. My interest was piqued.

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Definitely, Maybe

Movies, Comedy

Definitely, Maybe

No Comments 2 March 2017

Definitely, Maybe offers some new ideas for how to create tension in the romantic comedy genre. As always boy and girl cannot make up their mind who they want to be with. But the story is told in a different way. Our boy just received his divorce papers and is about to sign them. His 8-year-old daughter wants to know why it did not work out between her mom and him. She forces him to tell his story going back to when he first moved to NY City. If you are a romantic comedy fan and want light fare for an evening, this film is for you.

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Manchester by the Sea

Movies, Drama

Manchester by the Sea

No Comments 13 February 2017

This wonderful film deals with an intriguing question: how do you deal with something that one can never truly recover from?
Casey Affleck gives a stunning performance. If I were a voting member of the Academy of Motion Pictures, I would vote to give him the Oscar for best male performer in a leading role. Do not miss the chance to see him enact the role of the movie’s hero, who is trying to cope with something terrible that we only gradually understand.  The film manages to mix comedy with tragedy and offers a great night out at the movies.

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Red Dog - True Blue

Movies, Drama

Red Dog - True Blue

No Comments 28 January 2017

This prequel of the funny Red Dog disappoints. It has a very weak story. The original Red Dog was based on an amazing true story written up in a book that even the best fiction would have difficulty matching. So the screenplay writer, Daniel Taplitz, had a relatively easy time. But in this prequel had no true story to base the script on and Daniel Taplitz flounders badly. The story and its turns feel contrived. Again the dog is cute and the cinematography of the outback is beautiful. But that is not enough. Go see the original Red Dog and skip the Red Dog - True Blue.

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LaLa Land

Movies, Drama, Phantasy

LaLa Land

No Comments 7 January 2017

Unlike in the case of Sully, I knew very little about Lala Land except that it is a musical. Lala Land feels very fresh. It resurrects the musical genre but does it in a way that our current sensibilities are not offended. The most interesting part of the film is how it vi- sually told story. I almost need to see the film one more time to put my finger on how what made it visually so appealing. It sometimes moves seamlessly between what is real and what is fiction. I enjoyed the most the the opening and closing scenes. Lala Land is fun. At times you simply want to get up in your seat and start dancing. Enjoy!

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Sully

Movies, Documentary, Drama

Sully

No Comments 2 January 2017

Sully has been nominated by many critics as a top film of the year.  I knew why many critics loved the film.  Sully rejects landing a plane that lost both engines safely on the Hudson River and saving the lives of all 155 passengers makes him a hero. He insists that he was just doing his job. He also insists that he was not doing the alone. There was his co-pilot, the crew, the emergency response team of NYC.

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Departures

Movies, Drama

Departures

No Comments 26 December 2016

Christmas 2016. This wonderful film from Japan landed in my house during the holidays. It has been circling the airwaves since 2008. I am glad it finally reached me. The film won an Oscar for best foreign film and it is a treat fitting the holiday spirit. At the center of Depatures is Daigo, a thirty something cello player (Masahiro Motoki) in Tokyo whose classical orchestra closes down. Because he just had spent $US 150,000 on a cello he is now in a real fix. The event triggers soul-searching.

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Hacksaw Ridge

Movies, Drama

Hacksaw Ridge

No Comments 24 December 2016

I saw this film on the weekend after Donald Trump was elected President of the United States. The Donald as the commander-in-chief of the most powerful military in the world is not a comforting thought.

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