Category Archives: Movies

Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work

Steve and I just got in from seeing this great documentary about Joan Rivers and Show Business.

I strongly recommend it!

It’s playing locally at the Carousel Grand….

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Burlesque- The Movie

I knew this was in production and Steve just sent me the trailer.  As he says, this is either going to be wonderful or a hot mess.

Either way, we will be there to see it!

With Cher, Christina Aguilera, Stanley Tucci, Alan Cummings, et al.

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Movie Recommendation: The Kids Are Alright

We just got home from seeing a great move, “The Kids Are Alright” with Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo and some great younger actors.

It was smart, funny and brilliantly acted and directed.

I recommend it whole heartedly!

Here is the Trailer:

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A Great Vampire Movie: “Let the Right One In”

We just finished watching this weeks episode of “True Blood”, a show I just love.  It’s the only TV show I watch.  It reminded me of a conversation we had earlier today about Vampire Movies.  Which made me want to mention “Let the Right One In.”

This is a truly great vampire film.  I think it’s Swedish.  It’s about a little girl vampire and it is mesmerizing.  This is no “Twilight”.  It’s very much a moody art film that draws you in slowly, but completely.  They are making a U.S. version for release later this year, but I can’t imagine it will be as good as the original.

“Let the Right One In” is out on DVD and I strongly recommend you Netflix it or even buy it…

Here are a long and a short trailer:

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Why is “To Kill a Mockingbird” Being Attacked?

This is an intriguing article by Jesse Kornbluth on the Huffington Post…Here is an excerpt with the link to the full article at the bottom:

I never thought I’d see the day when the lawyer who argued Brown v. Topeka Board of Education before the Supreme Court and went on to be the first African-American to sit on that Court would have his career reduced to that most dreaded of all contemporary labels: “activist.”

I never thought I’d see the day when you can legally carry concealed weapons into airports and bars and — my sweet Lord! — churches.

I never thought I’d see the day when allegedly smart adults would tell me that America’s poor were so powerful that, given the chance to own real estate, they bought so many houses they couldn’t afford that they tanked the economy of almost every country in the world.

But then I never thought I’d see the day when “To Kill A Mockingbird” — a novel that has inspired readers for half a century — would be derided as a book about “the limitations of liberalism” (by Malcolm Gladwell, no less, in The New Yorker, of all places) and “a sugar-coated myth of Alabama’s past” with a hero who’s “a repository of cracker-barrel epigrams” (by Allen Barra, in the Wall Street Journal)

But as we approach July 11th — the 50th anniversary of the publication of “To Kill a Mockingbird” (to buy the paperback from Amazon, click here; shamefully, there is no Kindle edition) — it’s probably not surprising that we’re seeing one of America’s best-loved books criticized for its “politics.”

via Jesse Kornbluth: ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ Anniversary: On Its 50th Birthday, Why Is ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ Being Attacked? (VIDEO).

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Filed under Movies, Politics, Social Commentary, The South

Letters to Juliet

We just returned from seeing “Letters to Juliet”.  If you are looking for a light, romantic movie with great Italian scenery, I would highly recommend this film.

It’s predictable and sweet, but a lovely way to spend the afternoon.  And Vanessa Redgrave is just luminous.

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Valley of the Dolls

A video tribute to one of my favorite trashy movies.

It’s so bad, it’s wonderful.

I can’t count the times I’ve seen it…

There was as much drama off-screen as on…Judy Garland was supposed to play the Susan Hayward part of Helen Lawson, but could not be coaxed out of her dressing room.  She had already recorded the songs and done the costume screen tests.

Rumor had it, Neely O’Hara was based on Garland and Helen Lawson was based on Ethel Merman.

And, of course, it was Sharon Tate’s most famous film.  Released just a year or so before she was tragically murdered by the Manson Family.

And it’s a perfect visual representation of late 1960’s fashion.

I remember having a fit because my parents would not take me to the theatre to see it when it first came out.  I was then about 10 years old…

What more can I say?

Here are some clips:

And here’s a campy, politically incorrect re-mix that I love:

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Filed under Entertainment, Movies, Social Commentary