Netflix: Steal me a pencil

Diane and I watched Steal a pencil for me yesterday morning. It is a Holocaust movie and those I have for the most part avoided these last several years because of the pain and sorrow they elicited when I viewed them. Diane even went back and forth with this particular movie, repeatedly dropping it down on her Netflix queue. This one does have its pain and sorrow but those are overshadowed by the hope and love of the man and woman whose life is being documented. Very well done and Diane and I enjoyed it even with the reminder that humans can do some very terrible things to each other.

Movie: The Passion of Ayn Rand

Watched The Passion of Ayn Rand this morning with Diane. We enjoyed it a bunch and , yes, it is about the passion of Ayn Rand. Not foreign and no subtitles needed.

Very good movies: Red, The Twilight Samurai

We saw them this week. Both foreign with subtitles, both with unusual and out of the ordinary story lines, and both super.

Red here. From reviewer espoon at Netflix:

This is one of my very favorite films. It is a tale of romance, destiny, betrayal, love, and life. However, it is very subtle. It is a great piece of cinema, with terrific symbolism. The use of music and the color red is intriguing, and much more subtle than you'd expect. The story is simple enough. A lonely model meets a unscrupulous, old judge who spies on his neighbors. Her honesty and integrity touches the judge and he changes his ways. However, there is much more to it than this. They learn about each other, and learn about themselves. There are many parallels between the past of the judge and the present of the model, and I pick out something new every time I watch it. It is a film that makes you think, about life, fate, and love. It is really more a work of art than a piece of entertainment, and therefore probably not very interesting to the average viewer. I saw pieces of myself in the film, and was touched. Maybe you will be, too. Or maybe you'll just be bored. I recommend finding out.

The Twilight Samurai here. From a reviewer (Cult...) at Netflix:

OH my word what a surprising little gem. Much less a Samurai picture than the story of a single dad trying to raise his two girls and take care of a mom going senile. Being drawn into conflict isn't something he wants or seeks out. He doesn't desire glory or battle but merely to be a simple low class samurai. When he is drawn into conflict it is to protect people he loves. It is that desire to take care of those around him that makes him succeed. It's a surprising and very atypical example of the genre. Poetic and moving.

A Boxman Photo and a Couple of Movies

Items of note:

-a picture from Boxman of several kids and a merchant saving on energy consumption. Note the open air store front, the kids doubling and tripling up on transportation needs, and the time of year.

-two movies from Netflix the last two days, both worth watching: Or, My Treasure, the story of an Israeli teen ager who is caring for her aging prostitute mother without much success and something of a tragic ending; and Beyond Belief, a documentary of what two widows of the 911 disaster (their husbands were on the plane from Boston) have done with their lives whose focus for several years has been the helping of Afghani widows who have suffered from disaster and tragedy galore over the past decade.

Movies: A Japanese flick and a Michael Moore documentary

Last night, the Japanese movie, Shoujyo: An Adolescent, which moved slowly at first but eventually got kinda interesting. No biggie. This evening, the Michae Moore documentary, Sicko, is excellent and something every American should see. In the credits, Moore publicly thanks Kurt Vonnegut and also gives this link if you are interested in 'hooking a canuck' so you can become eligible for Canadian health coverage which is universal and free and excellent. Michael Moore's Sicko web site here. Love Michael Moore's sense of humor and his political savvy.

Truck Party at Stolls

A picture to end the day - trucks and truckers taking a break from the road. No party at our place today though we did watch an early afternoon movie (War Dance, a feel good movie about some youngsters in Urganda who do very well at a national music festival in spite of their war ravaged home front) and finished up one shortly after getting up (Kundun, about the Dali Lama - very good - he is still waiting to get back to his country - Tibet).

Lust, Caution

Lust, Caution: a Netflix movie that Diane and I watched this evening - Danielle and the girls had already retired. It's a goodie with the setting being1942 Shanghai. Chinese movie with subtitles, a love story, intrigue, and an ending that is predictable though nonetheless sad and disturbing. A five rating from me.

Rainy Day Tasks: Go to Bloomington, Stop at Eric's in Odon, Movie

Up to Bloomington for a visit with Number One Daughter, Miki, and then on to Sam's for goodies for the golf course. Home late in the afternoon after a brief stop at Eric's place just north of Odon. Did stop one more time, at the golf course where two inches of rain have fallen during the last 24 hours. Soggy and sodden. Remember though, April showers bring May flowers.

Home for a late afternoon and early evening movie: Amores Perros. This one, set in Mexico City, is a movie that Michael Vick might want to watch because of the apparently legal dog fighting that is front and center during the first half of the show. Complex and violent movie that takes you to the very end before getting everything tied up in a neat little bundle. Watch the old dude, disheveled and disreputable; he's the main guy and is alone in walking away from it all, at least for a bit. Dogs are everywhere.

Friday Afternoon Movie: The Real Dirt on Farmer John

Friday afternoon movie while the rains moved through the area: from Netflix - The Real Dirt on Farmer John. Another good one. Diane and I were deeply touched by this documentary of a man who was born on the land, inherited the land, worked the land, lost the land, then returned to the land and made it better with the help of a community of people wanting to have some connection to a land that for them remained something way outside the city limits of Chicago. I think part of the reason we were so deeply touched was that we got a peek at one of our parallel lives (as defined by Richard Bach in his book One). It was/is a honey.

Solar Farms, Red Road, The Jackal

News and Other Stuff of Note:

New solar farm going up near Phoenix. Will take up three square miles of desert and eventually provide energy for 70000 home. Completion date: 2011. Great idea. Let's do everything we can do to keep the sun shining...

Afternoon movie: Red Road. A honey set in Glasgow , Scotland (third most populous city in the United Kingdom at 1,700,000) which won the 2006 Cannes Jury Prize. 'Taut thriller' with a very satisfactory ending which includes a bit of tearing. Wouldn't call it a love story though does have a bit of lust in it and the use of sex to trap an unsuspecting male. Now that is new and different...

Evening movie: The Jackal. Shoot em up adventure with Bruce Willis, Richard Gere and Sidney Portier. In the end everything turned out and the bad guys met terrible ends and the good guys walked off into the sunset. However, lots of weak moments in this movie - scenes, script, acting. We were both kinda glad when it ended...

Movie: The Holy Land

Netflix gave us two movies yesterday (we're so lucky - two movies plus late night election news!). During the early evening hours we watched The Holy Land, a love story set in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem with the explosive tension of the political situation (brotherly hate) ever present though under wraps for the most part. Good stuff though not excellent and it does not end with the lovers heading off into the sunset hand in hand.

World turns and looks like today is going to be the best day for golfing in the next several. Jeesh...

Maverick and Gobbledygook, Constitional Showdown, 3:10 to Yuma, Boys BB

Joe Holley at WaPo gives us a lesson on one word that has gotten a lot of play recently (maverick, something which one of our presidential contenders claims to be or is seen as being)) and a second word (gobbledygook) that could describe a whole bunch of what passes as insight from a whole bunch of people who think they really know a thing or two about what is going on. Am thinking of politicians and pundits but don't exclude some of the rest of us (I include myself) who on occasion find ourselves just plain talking nonsense. Good morning read.

From tpm.com, a constitutional showdown on Bolten and Miers not showing up before Congress to answer questions on the attorney firings. Me thinks it's way past time.

Which reminds me of the movie we watched in two parts yesterday: 3:10 to Yuma with Russell Crowe and Christian Bale. It's an old fashioned cowboy movie where a good guy (Bale) is attempting to bring a bad guy (Crowe) to justice, or at least to a train station so that he can catch that 3:10 to Yuma so he can be tried for crimes against railroad companies. Lots of gunfights and killing and tough cowboy talk. Lots of good acting and good lines. Not a love story.

We watched it in two parts because we went on into town to take in the boys' high school sectional games. That would be the North Daviess Cougars going up against the Barr-Reeve Vikings and then the Loogootee Lions taking on the Washington Catholic Cardinals. The Vikings upset the Cougars (the #1 team in 1A this year) and the mighty Lions upended the Cardinals. Wanted the Cougars to win - good to want things even when you don't always get them. Want the Lions to win tonight and that would be a hugh upset if they did. (Scores: Barr-Reeve 59 North Daviess 49; Loogootee 52 Washington Catholic 49).

Time's getting on; best get out of here and open up the golf course on this first day of March.

The Ghost, Sam Walton

Afternoon movie: The Ghost. A 'terrifying spine-chiller from South Korea' kept us engrossed for a few hours this afternoon. We both got confused with who was who but in the end, with some careful attention and by comparing notes, we figured out what was going on. Our own confusion probably reduced the suspense and terror some but it retained sufficient horror and 'what's-going-to-happen-nextness' to keep us on the edge of our seats, scrunched up, biting our nails and holding our breath all at the same time. Well, not really, but it was entertaining.

Earlier in the day, finished Sam Walton's Made in America, the book written by the guy who made Wal-Mart (he did have a write helping him - John Huey). Down home guy makes good. As with Dave Halberstam's book, when I finished this one, I wanted to sit down and continue the conversation with Sam. The book was completed shortly before he died back in the early '90's so a lot has happened since then and most notably with Wal-Mart. Would love to have his comments on what his little store has become. From wikipedia.org:

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) is an American public corporation that runs a chain of large, discount department stores. It is the world's largest public corporation by revenue, according to the 2007 Fortune Global 500.^[3] Founded by Sam Walton in 1962, it was incorporated on October 31, 1969, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1972. It is the largest private employer in the world and the fourth largest utility or commercial employer, trailing the Chinese army, the British National Health Service, and the Indian Railways. Wal-Mart is the largest grocery retailer in the United States, with an estimated 20% of the retail grocery and consumables business, as well as the largest toy seller in the U.S., with an estimated 22% share of the toy market.

I think he would take it all in stride and be mildly impressed as he was with his success from the opening of his first store in 1962 to it's 2000 plus store in 1991 (6500 by 2005). I'm impressed.

Afternoon movie: The Bourne Ultimatum

From Netflix: The Bourne Ultimatum. Good adventure flick with the good guys winning in the end (again). The bad guys are part of our very own CIA. How can a movie like this even be made in a time of national crisis as we are in now what with the war on terror and all the bad guys out there trying to do very bad things to us if we let our guard down even a little bit? Those Hollywood people obviously have a different idea of the national interest. Matt Damon stars as Jason Bourne (not his real name) who goes through all sorts of fantastic situations to find some sort of resolution in the dark wetness of the East River. That super agent was ably assisted by two very capable women (played by Julia Stiles and Joan Allen) who were at the right place in the nick of time. Gave it a five.

Friday afternoon fun: fun on ice; movie: Body Heat

Picture: a variety of birds hanging out by the feeder.

Movie: Body Heat with William Hurt and Kathleen Turner. Good one made in 1981 and had us guessing right up to the end how it was going to turn out - who did what to whom. Kind of a love story but more a whodunit with lust and deviousness on the side. Good lines, good acting, good suspense.

Movie time: Cinema Paradiso

Picture: Jim B. leaving the girls' regional with Rivet up by seven. The Jeeps from NE Dubois had a terrific 4th quarter to win by a bunch.

From Netflix, a real honey of a love story. Cinema Paradiso has a slow beginning but hang with it, it turns out to be a fantastic movie. Italian. Subtitles.

Before the adult movie, Ian had us watching The Witches. It's cool - the Witches turn young, nasty, foul smelling boys into mice. Takes a young boy to save the young males of the world.

Afternoon movie and Hillary wins one!

Late afternoon movie: After the Wedding. Super excellent film with scenes from Bombay (Mumbai) and Copenhagen. Lots of relationship stuff in this one and lots of different story lines. Excellent story well told with great acting. Gave it a five. (First time we've watched a Danish film - language was very different.

Hillary declared winner in Super Tuesday New Mexico caucus. Delegate split: 14 for the lady, 12 for the gent. Hey, a win is a win... Lots of chatter in the blogosphere about the superdelegates, most of it whining. What a bore.

Afternoon movie: Vitus

Vitus: Best film Swiss prize for 2007. Excellent. Lots of good stuff in the movie: a child prodigy, a caring grampa, a father who is an inventor, a lovely young lady by the name of Isabel, a good story, airplanes and music, a mom and a dad who were in love with each other and showed it. We both enjoyed it a lot. Even watched the extra special items that came with the disc - scenes that were deleted, interview with the actor who played the grampa, film test for the eleven year old who played the prodigy.

Movie time: 300, Hearts in Atlantis

Picture: on the way to the ball game in Odon last night.

With the temperatures in the teens and the winds a-howling, was a good morning to watch a movie with lots of blood and gore and violence. '300' did the trick. Diane, after reading the description on the cover, thought maybe I'ld be watching this one by myself. By, lo and behold, she sat through the whole thing and in the end admitted that it was a good movie. And it was. turned out to be much more than blood and gore and violence; turned out to be about courage and honor and freedom and love and the saving-of-western-civilization-from-the-eastern-hordes. My oh my. Didn't realize that Leonidas (whose name was shared with my maternal grandfather) and his band of 300 had such a heavy duty to the fate of mankind. Or at least the fate of western man. Wonder how the Iranians would rate this movie? The Spartans were doing battle with the armies from Persia led by Xerxes. Persians, as you know, are Iranian's ancestors.

The other movie, Hearts in Atlantis, we watched Friday afternoon. Coming of age movie set in 1960. Coming of age means it's about youngsters and in this movie that would be eleven year olds. Or a particular eleven year old boy and his relationships with his friends, especially a beautiful young girl (with whom he shares a first kiss, one which the old man in the movie says he will compare every other kiss to). Other important relationships include that with his mother and an older man who rents a room in their house. The old man is played by Anthony Hopkins. Excellent movie with drama, suspense, love, laughter, adventure.

Time for a walk in the cold. World still turns. Btw, does anybody else think this has been a particularly windy winter? (And I don't mean because of all the politicians roaming the country and filing the airwaves with blow...)

Another afternoon movie: Ask the Dust

The film version of the book we both just completed and enjoyed so much. Ask the Dust, the movie, is different than the book, more romantic, but similar in a lot of ways as well. Both of us enjoyed the changes and the additions, the decidedly more romantic Arturo Bandini, the more complete fruition of his relationship with the lovely Mayan Princess, Camille. Still there was enough of the original story to recognize John Fante and also empathize with the Fante devotees who screamed and yelled about the movie being so different and ruining the story. A good love story and I really enjoyed the view of 1939-1940 Los Angeles.