Showing posts with label The Gerald. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Gerald. Show all posts

Friday, November 22, 2013

Remembering President Kennedy and The Week in Reviews

[I review the movies "Prisoners," "The Heat," "War of the Buttons," "Broken City" and recommend a good book.]

But first


Today is the anniversary of the day President Kennedy was shot. Not a day for levity.



I remember it well. 

I was in chemistry class (10th grade), and when the principal came on the PA system and said, "Our President has been shot," it was so far from the realm of possibility for my young mind that I thought he meant the Student Council President.

And after that day, life was forever changed for us Baby Boomers. 

We may have been afraid of the bomb, but witnessing the images of our President being shot and the aftermath, shook our lives as if the ground had literally shaken beneath our feet. If something could happen to the President, then none of us was safe.  Perhaps that is what fostered the Baby Boomer uprisings - protests, hippies, drugs, sex and rock & roll.  We realized we had to make our own rules and live life while we had it.

I recently heard that the pink suit Jackie Kennedy was wearing that day has been put away in the National Archives, not to come out until 50 years from now, so none of us Baby Boomers will live to see that in the flesh, but I don't need to or want to.  It was enough to live through those times.



Where were you when you heard President Kennedy had been shot?




***The Week in Reviews***

Two little girls are kidnapped and their fathers will go to almost any lengths to find them.

Jake Gyllenhaal and Hugh Jackman do a fine acting job but this script lets them down.  It's starts out well and will have you on the edge of your seat as you anticipate what might happen next,  but as the film goes on the plot has more holes in it than swiss cheese. I think it's about practically everyone in this film being a prisoner of some kind, but it's quite an unpleasant film to watch and it's way too long.
Rosy the Reviewer says...though some critics disagree with me, I think you can save yourself the $11.00 and if you are still interested, see it when it comes out on DVD.



***DVDS***
Movies You Might Have Missed
And some you will be glad you did!
(I see the bad ones so you don't have to)



The Heat (2013)

A tight-laced by the book cop is paired with a ruler breaker cop as they work together to bring down a drug lord.

Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy star.
Here is my criterion for judging a comedy.  Did it make me laugh out loud?

Rosy the Reviewer says...it was really funny.  Made me laugh out loud.







It's 1944 and young boys from two different French villages wage a war in counterpoint to the backdrop of the "real war" going on around them.  The spoils?  Whoever captures the most buttons from opposing gangs.
Heartwarming French film starring the cutest kids (and you know how I usually dislike kids in films).  And how much cuter can you get than cute kids speaking French? And ah, what kids get up to when adults aren't around. Gloriously lush French countryside adds to the film as it hides the evil of the French villagers who are collaborating with the Nazis. Subtitles.
Rosy the Reviewer says...C'est enjoyable!




Broken City (2013)


Usual story of disgraced cop trying to uncover the corruption in his city.
Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe and Catherine Zeta-Jones star.  I have never forgiven Russell Crowe for his singing in "Les Miserables."

Rosy the Reviewer says...lots of clichés but at least Crowe doesn't sing.  Thank the Lord!  If you like this kind of thing, it's mercilessly short.



***Books***
The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver (2009)



Kingsolver's first novel since 2000 tells the story of Harrison Shepherd, a spectator in the world of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo during their friendship with Leon Trotsky in 1930's Mexico.  Shepherd goes on to become a novelist attacked by HUAC but it his chaotic childhood that haunts him.

I found it a difficult read at times but you can't fault her beautiful prose. My book club read this together and it inspires good discussion.

Rosy the Reviewer says...readers who like historical fiction and detailed prose will enjoy this.

***Theatre***



A drag queen travels to the outback with his drag queen and transsexual friends to meet his son.

This musical version of the film the Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994), is a very campy, fun  The songs are all pop songs of the 80's and 90's, mostly disco.  The costume designer for the film won an Oscar for the costumes.

Rosy the Reviewer says...lots of fun but not much substance.  The costumes star.



***Food***



Hipster bar offering delicious craft cocktails and comfort food.

Rosy the Reviewer says...Great retro atmosphere, friendly bartenders and BIG drinks!





That's it for this week.



See you next Tuesday!



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