There is a library in our building that includes a DVD carousel with a mish-mash of all sorts of videos. For some reason my wife thought that Mr. Moto’s Last Warning would be entertaining. This was a 1939 film starring Peter Lorre in the cringe-worthy title role, John Carradine, and a whole lot of actors nobody heard from again. It was only 71 minutes, but seemed like several hours.
Virginia Field and George Sanders were hardly nobodies.
Well, I’ve never heard of them, but that doesn’t mean much.
I mostly recognize George Sanders from a mention in the Kinks song “Celluloid Heroes”
but, checking Wikipedia, I see there are a number of things he’s known for.
“Dear World, I am leaving because I am bored. I feel I have lived long enough. I am leaving you with your worries in this sweet cesspool. Good luck.”
How many lives have been saved because the person knew they could never surpass George Sanders’ suicide note?
I think George Eastman left the note that ended, “Why wait?”
I’ve always remembered it.
Eastman’s full note was: “To my friends, my work is done – Why wait? GE." Many people leave off that last part so it’s surprising to see someone skipping the first part.
One of the oddities of George Sanders life concerns his marriages. His 2nd wife was Zsa Zsa Gabor. His 4th wife was, very briefly, her sister Magda. I guess he didn’t see that coming for some reason.
Was the third wife Eva Gabor?
Very briefly, indeed. 32 days, according to Wiki.
I watched My Old Ass last night. I was expecting something completely different. I thought it was going to be more Apatow-esque. It’s basically a straight up coming-of-age drama with a weird super-natural (drug induced) twist. Once I figured out what kind of movie I was watching, I more or less enjoyed it. I wouldn’t say I’m exactly the target audience and I got a little bored around the hour mark waiting for something to happen.
In the end, I enjoyed the performances but the story over all was kind of lame. Not to brag or nothin’ but I figured out what Chad did to upset Elliott about a half hour before it was revealed.
The Piano Lesson, now available on Netflix, is a dramatic period-piece, based on a Pulitzer prize-winning play, produced by Denzel Washington and directed by his son.
The story involves the arrival from the South of a brother to his sister’s home in Pittsburgh. He needs money to buy some land, and he hopes to convince his sister to sell a family heirloom to get it, a piano (stolen from a wealthy household years before) that is decorated with carvings of members of their family.
The performances are universally excellent and the story moves at a brisk pace most of the time. It’s a bit stagey, as a motion picture based on a stage play might be. There are many characters, and there are some overly-talky parts as their individual motivations are revealed, but that’s not a distraction. (Turn on subtitles, as the dialogue is rapid-fire.) The story takes an especially unexpected turn near the end that I won’t reveal here.
The Piano Lesson is certainly not for everyone, but we found it to be a rewarding experience.
We watched My Old Ass last night.
Yeah, not really what I was expecting. I though Plaza would be a more central character. That something was “off” about the future is clear, but we are left wondering.
Typical coming of age thing otherwise. Well done, etc. but a fairly mundane story. Except for the time travel thing. Mostly mildly entertaining.
Give it 3 cranberries.
Very Russian. He and his brother, Tom Conway (who got his name first, so Tim Conway had to change his name from Tom) were born in Russian, but were pre-adolescents when they moved to the UK. They look somewhat alike, but they are total sound-alikes.
Gladiator 2
Somewhat recommended.
It’s pretty good, though the first half left me with “Meh, it’s OK” feelings. Second half was much better.
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Denzel Washington is amazing. I had no idea he was even in it. I followed non of the marketing or hype. Holy cow, he was terrific. Oscar? I think so. Best movie performance I’ve seen of him, but I probably have missed his best. This was great.
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Second half of movie was terrific, really good. Not in my top 10 of the year, but really well done. I was on board.
Note: I have not seen Gladiator(2000) since its opening weekend in the theater. I thought it was fine, but not great.
This more or less equals it. Good, really good sometimes, but not great.
I hope Denzel Washington wins or is at least nominated.
He’s getting up there in age now, at the time when you want to put in a performance that folks will remember you for. He’s three days older than me.
My favorite performance of his was in Much Ado About Nothing. The sneaky grin he had on his face when he was speaking to his men about getting Beatrix and Benedict to fall in love again just made my heart go pitter patter.
I would guess maybe Training Day or Malcolm X was his biggest performance, but I actually have not seen either.
This one actually hit me in a way where If I had never heard of him, I would have said, “Who was that guy in the main villain role?”
He was great.
He was great in Glory as well.
Out of the Loop, a documentary about the stand-up comedy scene in Chicago. Free with Amazon Prime.
I had a lot of fun watching this because I worked at a couple comedy clubs - and tried my hand at stand-up - during the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, and many of the interviewees were people I used to know back in the day, including one or two that I actually still keep in touch with.
Clearly made on a very low budget, it consists of talking-head interviews with no narrator, and as a result the narrative flow is pretty scattershot at times.
About a third of the way through, it takes a turn I didn’t expect by introducing race in a pretty frank way (the director is a black comedian), which helped solidify its voice a bit.
Not the greatest documentary you’ll ever see, but if you’re from Chicago and/or enjoy stand-up comedy, it’s worth a look.
Memoir of a Snail
Recommended.
A stop motion movie, but an R-rated one, but not for anything vulgar or violent. It’s just a very real story of a young brother and sister who are split up in the foster care system.
Odd. Cute. Sad. But hopeful.
I liked it quite a bit.
Miracle on 34th St. (1947)
This is number two or three on my all-time favorites list. Something about the way the Santa Claus lie bites all the adults in the ass really speaks to me. Clever, inventive with lots of amusing events running throughout (Maureen O’Hara’s look when she’s talking to drunken Mrs. Shellhammer on the phone is priceless). Of course there are mistakes and a few badly read lines, but I never tire of watching it. Stellar cast. Favorite line:
Alfred: (talking about Sawyer) He’s a psychologist.
Kris: That’s highly debata… (trails off).
ROTFLMAOSTK9s