My Life Story by Mildred Pierce (the dog, not the movie) and The Week in Reviews

[I review the DVDs "The Double" and "A  Promise," the new book about famous Hollywood watering holes, "Of All the Gin Joints," and the revival of "A Chorus Line" plus I weigh in on the pizza at Serious Pie]

But First

It's Millie's birthday!

And here is her story.

My name is Mildred Pierce and today is my birthday.  Today I am six years old.  That's 42 to you humans.

I was rescued six years ago today from a life of drudgery on a ranch where I would have had to herd stuff.

When I was born in Camano Island, Washington, I was one of several and my name was Chanel. 

 

My biological parents, Monet and Joey, wanted a French theme, probably because my mother had a French name.
                   

                    Mom

                        Dad

Me - Chanel

Though I looked like a rat at birth, my parents were handsome so I had hope.

 

 

And sure enough, things started to look up.

 

 

 

 












When my adoptive parents came to get me, I was ready to go!

 

I packed my bags and got out of Podunk.  I was ready to hit the big time!

 

My parents named me Mildred Pierce, after a classic movie.  My Mom thought a dog named Mildred was funny.  I chose to go by Millie.

 

My new parents introduced me to my brother, Frederic.

 

 

He was kind of an odd duck, but hey, it takes all kinds.

 

As I settled into my new life, I learned a few things, such as going to the toilet on the floor inside is a no-no, and though Freddy gets to sleep on the bed, I don't.

 

We were soon joined by my brother, Tarquin, a piano virtuoso (and as it turns out, heavy drinker).

 

 

 

 

 

As I grew, my parents gave me many opportunities. 

 

I graduated from school with high marks in barking at intruders and walking on a leash,

 

 

 

 

but I decided that acting was in my blood. 

I was going to be an actress.

 

However, I needed some income so I thought I could model while also taking acting lessons.

 

 

I practiced my modeling skills and some opportunities came my way.

 

 

I eventually landed some acting roles.

 

 

 

I played Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet,"

 

 

 

Miss Havisham in "Great Expectations."

 

 

 

 

Hester Prynn in "The Scarlet Letter"

 

 

 

 

and the cuckoo in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."

 

 

 

 

I replaced Johnny Depp as Jackie Sparrow in a remake of "The Pirates of the Caribbean," with an all female cast,

 

 

 

and I won awards for my work as Joan Crawford in "Mommie Dearest."

 

 

Who can forget my famous line "NO MORE WIRE HANGERS!!!"

Despite my successes, like many celebrities, I have had to deal with some psychological issues over the years.

 

Thunder and firecrackers were a problem for me.

 

 

 

But after going into rehab and getting some counseling, my parents purchased  a "thunder shirt," and my outlook improved.

 

 

But now at 42, I have retired from acting.  Not many good roles for actresses in their forties these days.

I plan to live out my days looking after my aging parents, exercising my vocal chords, herding and looking after my brothers, Freddy and Tarquin.  They all need looking after.

 

Tarquin has a drinking problem.

 

 

And Freddy...well...Freddy has issues.

 

 

 

 

They all need me and it is my nature to be a caretaker. I spend most of my time these days being on guard and watching over my flock.

 

 

However, don't completely count me out.  You might see me from time to time in a cameo performance.

 

 

Happy Birthday to me!

 

 

Now let's PARTY!

 

 

Want to join me? 

And now on to

The Week in Reviews

***At The Theatre***

 

This is where I usually have "In Theatres Now," where I review a movie that is currently playing in a theatre.  However, to be completely honest, there just isn't a movie playing right now that I haven't already seen and reviewed or that I want to see.  It's that dark time before the fall season when all of the Oscar hopefuls are released. So I am going to review a classic musical I just saw that might be in a theatre near you or coming soon.

 

 A Chorus Line
Now playing at the Fifth Avenue Theatre, Seattle September 3-28

 

This 1975 musical pays homage to the Broadway dancers in the dance chorus of musicals.  Originally conceived, choreographed and directed by the brilliant Michael Bennett, it was only the fifth musical to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

 

The show opens on an empty stage as dancers are put through their paces to audition for a Broadway show.  The song "I Hope I Get It" echoes their ambition and need for this job.  As the group is whittled down to 17, the chosen ones line up and tell their stories.  Each has a personal story to tell about how and why they became a dancer.  "At the Ballet" and "Tits and Ass" are stand-out as well as "What I Did For Love" when the dancers are asked what they will do when they can no longer dance. And they aren't talking about lovers. The curtain call contains the famous dance number "One." 

 

Bennett was himself a dancer who started out playing Baby John in "West Side Story" when he was only a teenager.  After two seasons as a dancer on "Hullabaloo" his opportunity to choreograph two Broadway shows came along.  Though they were not successful, he met Marvin Hamlisch, who eventually wrote the music for "A Chorus Line."  As his career grew, Bennett had longed to do a musical about dancers and the difficult and often humiliating road they have to travel to get professional work.  He invited a number of dancers to some late-night talk sessions where they opened up about their lives and careers.  Bennett recorded hours and hours of these talks and from those "A Chorus Line" was born.  It was a smash hit on Broadway and by the time it closed, was the longest-running musical in New York theater history.  Bennett went on to have another hit with "Dreamgirls," but died in 1987 from AIDS-related lymphoma at the age of 44.

It's clear why it took so long for the movie version of this musical to get made and why the movie failed.  This show requires the intimacy that a live audience brings.  It's just each character answering the questions from a voice coming out of a dark theatre, each telling his or her story.  No glitz, no glamour, just those characters talking to you out there in the audience.  It's brilliant theatre.

My only criticism of the show would be that there are so many references that meant something in 1975, but perhaps not to show-goers these days.  It pains me to say it, but I don't think modern audiences remember Gwen Verdon and Cyd Charisse anymore (icons in the history of dance and cinema).  I don't see that updating some of the references to dates and movie stars and dancers of the past would hurt the show and bring it up into the 21st century. (But if you do remember them and lament that the greats of the Golden Age of Hollywood have been forgotten, catch my blog post next Friday). 

That said, this is a classic show that still holds up today, because no matter what century we are in, the difficult life of a dancer remains the same.  Dancers must do things the body is not meant to do. 

"A Chorus Line" captures what many of the dancers on "So You Think You Can Dance" want.  A Broadway show.  Do they really know what they are getting into?  Do they have what it takes?  I guess it doesn't matter because they are doing it for the "love" of dance.

Rosy the Reviewer says...Even if you have seen the film, if this show comes to a theatre near you, it's a must see.

 

 

 

***DVDS***

You Might Have Missed

(And Some You Will Be Glad You Did)

 

A Promise (2013)

 

 

A story of repressed love in 1917 Germany. 

 

Herr Hoffmeister (Alan Rickman), a German steel tycoon, hires young Friedrich (Richard Madden, who you may recognize from "Game of Thrones") as his assistant and Friedrich soon becomes invaluable to him.  So much so, that when Herr Hoffmeister becomes ill, he asks Friedrich to move into his mansion.  Lotte (Rebecca Hall) is Herr Hoffmeister's much younger wife and you know what that means. When Friedrich is sent to Mexico to start operations there, they promise to meet again, neither knowing how long that might be.

This film is a journey of restrained sexuality, and it's a journey not everyone might want to take with these characters.  But the cinematography is gorgeous and the mood is sensuous.

This is the first English-language film for French director, Patrice Leconte ("Monsieur Hire," "Ridicule," "Man on a Train").

As you probably have noticed from past reviews, I am a huge Rebecca Hall fan, and now I am also a huge fan of the nape of her neck which plays a huge role here as Friedrich moons over Lotte.  He also acts out in other creepy ways, such as sniffing the piano keys after Lotte has played the piano.  Rickman is always fun to watch, but Madden is a bit stiff, though a handsome suitor for Lotte's affections.

There is a slow motion sensuality about this film that will get to you (for good or ill), and there is a "promise" of a big finish. If you can hang on, you will get it.

Rosy the Reviewer says...I can't promise you will like this film (most of the critics did not).  I did, but maybe that's because now that I am retired, I like things that are in slow mo.



The Double (2013)

 

 

A timid, insecure, nebishy clerk in a unenviable job in a Kafka-esque world gets a shock when a new co-worker arrives who is not only his exact physical double but also everything he isn't- loud, confident and charismatic.

 

Simon James (Jesse Eisenberg) lives in a drab, nightmarish world that could be the past (his ill-fitting suit looks like what David Byrne wore when he was with the Talking Heads and the technology in the office is retro) or the future (post-apocalyptic?).  He is so unmemorable, his boss (Wallace Shawn) doesn't remember his name and the security guard at the company where he works never recognizes him.  But those are small things until his "double" appears, James Simon, and everyone loves James. No one seems to notice that they both look exactly alike. When James starts taking over Simon's life, Simon fights to reclaim his identity.

Mia Wasikowska plays Hannah, the object of both Simon's affections.

 

This film explores the duality of the human spirit:  who we are to the world and who we are inside and want to be.  When you are a cog in a wheel, you can be replaced by anyone - "doubled." Or something like that.  This film is not an easy one.

 

The plot of this film parallels another earlier but recent film, "The Enemy," starring Jake Gyllanhaal, but "The Double" has more humor.  However, since this is based on a Dostoevsky story, I would venture "The Enemy" borrowed more from this than the other way around.

 

Rosy the Reviewer says...Not really my cup of tea, but if you liked movies like "The Trial," Terry Gilliam films or you just like weird movies that make you think, then you might like this.

 

 

***Book of the Week***

 

 

"Of All the Gin Joints" - Stumbling Through Hollywood History by Mark Bailey (2014)

 

 

Anecdotes, history and quotes galore about the hotels and drinking establishments of Hollywood.

This is a unique travel memoir - a tour of the famous restaurants and watering holes of Hollywood with recipes for the cocktails they inspired, sprinkled with anecdotes about the famous drunks who drank them from the silent era to the 1960's. We tour Musso & Frank (famous for its bone dry martini - stirred, not shaken), The Brown Derby (where the Cobb Salad was invented), Trader Vic's (said to be the birthplace of the Mai Tai and if you haven't had their Scorpion Bowl, you haven't lived) and John Wayne was supposedly one of the first drinkers to try a Margarita.  The stories accompanying the recipes range from the well known such as Elizabeth Taylor loved the chili at Chasen's so much that she had it flown over to Italy while she was filming "Cleopatra. "

 

But there are many lesser known stories:  The Zombie was invented at Don the Beachcomber and was so potent the restaurant imposed a two-Zombie limit. 

 

"The Missionary's Downfall" was also invented there.

 

1 oz. light rum                                 1/4 c diced pineapple

1/2 oz. Peach brandy                        1/4 c mint leaves

1 oz. Honey Mix*                              1/4 c crushed ice

1/2 oz. fresh lime juice                      1 mint sprig

 

Put all of the ingredients in a blender and blend at highest speed for 15-30 seconds.  Pour into a goblet or a Collins glass.

 

*Honey mix:  same as simple syrup with 1 part honey to 1 part water 

 

John Travolta, at the height of his "Saturday Night Fever" fame went to Dan Tana's restaurant without a reservation.  When told it would be two hours before he could be accommodated, he said, "Don't you know who I am?" to which the maître d' allegedly replied, "Well, for you, Mr. Travolta, it will be three."        

 

Another story involves the currently immensely popular Moscow Mule. The bartender at the Cock 'n Bull Pub found himself saddled with too much vodka and ginger beer that would go bad if he didn't use it so he put the two together and the Moscow Mule was born.

 

Ava Gardner didn't like the taste of alcohol, but that didn't stop her because she DID enjoy being drunk.  She wanted to get there as fast as possible so she came up with "Mommy's Little Mixture."  "Dump every type of liquor you can find into a jug or pitcher or punch bowl and suck it down."

 

Rosy the Reviewer says...If you enjoy food, drink, humorous celebrity anecdotes and Hollywood history , you will love this book.

(this is an early review. Publication date:  September 30th)

 

***Restaurant of the Week***

Serious Pie

If you love interesting, thin crust craft pizzas, this is for you.

I have now tried all of Tom Douglas' Seattle restaurants, and like the others, this one did not disappoint.

Though I didn't enjoy my Yukon Gold potato with rosemary pizza as much as I had hoped, the fennel sausage pizza was to die for.  Also enjoyed the marinated lacinato kale salad with calabrian chilis and pine nuts.  Other pizza choices include Buffalo Mozzarella with red sauce and basil and the famous Penn Cove Clam with pancetta pizza, which I will try next time.

Word to the wise, the Virginia location (316 Virginia, next to the Dahlia Lounge) is small and always crowded.  No reservations so be prepared to wait unless you get there at an unfashionable time for lunch such as after 2:30 (but beware of weekday Happy Hour from 3-5pm) or late at night (Serious Pie is open 11am-11pm).  There is also a South Lake Union location that is bigger but you would have to fight off the Amazon folks, so it's probably a toss up).

Rosy the  Reviewer says...Pizza worth waiting for.

 

 

That's it for this week!

Thanks for reading!

 See you Tuesday

for

"What's Good About the End of Summer"

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Check your local library for DVDs and books mentioned.

Note:  Next time you are wondering whether or not to watch a particular film, check out my reviews on IMDB (The International Movie Database). 

Here is a quick link to get to all of them.  Choose the film you are interested in and then scroll down the list of reviewers to find "Rosy the Reviewer."
 

Or you can go directly to IMDB.  

Find the page for the movie, click on "Explore More" on the right side panel and then scroll down to "External Reviews."  Look for "Rosy the Reviewer" on the list. Or if you are using a mobile device, look for "Critics Reviews." Click on that and you will find me alphabetically under "Rosy the Reviewer."

 



Remembering Princess Diana

(First published in 2014)

Other than family members, there are three people whose deaths affected me so much I remember exactly where I was when I heard the news.

Many, many people can relate to that when it comes to the assassination of President Kennedy.  I remember I was sitting in class when the principal came on the PA system and said, "Our President has been shot."  I thought he meant our high school class president.  That's how far out of the realm of possibility I thought it could be that he was talking about the President of the United States.

Another death that affected me profoundly was the death of John Lennon.  I was lying in bed with my newborn son watching TV when the announcement was made.  It was shattering. The Beatles had a profound effect on my youth and our culture.  How could one of the Beatles possibly be dead?

And finally, I was in bed watching TV when I heard about Diana too.  I let out a scream.

Last Sunday, August 31st, marked the seventeenth anniversary of Princess Diana's death in a car accident.  She was killed in Paris in a speeding car driven by a drunken minion of Mohamed Al-Fayed, the owner of Harrod's and The Ritz Hotel in Paris and father of Dodi, who Diana was dating. She was only 36.  Supposedly the driver was speeding to avoid the paparazzi following them.

I still think of her.  She too had a profound effect on my life and her death was wrenching.

I have always been fascinated by the British Royal Family. I am a huge Anglophile.  I think I got it from my mother. 

I was born in 1948, the same year as Prince Charles so I think that was the fascination for my mother. She probably thought her little daughter could grow up to marry a prince. She was a bit of an Anglophile and had some cups with baby Prince Charles on them and other Royal collectibles. And when Princess Elizabeth became Queen at only 26, her coronation in 1953 was the first ever televised.  The whole world was watching.

No matter what you think of the British Royal Family, Queen Elizabeth has taken her vows very seriously and reigned earnestly for over 60 years. Many heads of state have come and gone, but Queen Elizabeth endures.

While poking around in my parents' closet (I was a nosy kid), I found a book called "The Little Princesses," all about Elizabeth and her sister, Princess Margaret, which started me down that road of "Royal Watching."

So of course I was terribly interested in who Prince Charles would marry.  But when Diana came along, my interest peaked.

Diana Spencer was 19, pretty and virginal and more Royal than the Queen. Diana's lineage went back to the 14th century and English King Edward III.  She was British through and through, whereas Queen Elizabeth's roots are German. Diana was perfect. And you can tell from the start she was besotted with Charles. 

However, the red flags were there early.  When their engagement was announced, at the end of this interview, the interviewer asked, "And you are in love?" to which Diana emphatically replied, "Course!" and to which Charles added, "Whatever 'in love' means."  Oops.  Clouds ahead.

But the wedding was fabulous.  I stayed up all night to watch it as did most of the world.

Everyone was mad about Shy Di, and when she produced "an heir and a spare," we were over the moon.  None of us knew that Charles was really in love with someone else and Diana had "issues."  But as a 19-year-old virgin, Diana was a lamb to the slaughter.

The cracks in the marriage and subsequent affairs on both sides were hidden for a time, but finally came out in 1992 in the book "Diana, Her True Story," written by journalist Andrew Morton but supposedly fed to Morton by Diana herself.

And when she was interviewed in 1995 by Martin Bashir for BBC's Panorama TV show, that was the final straw and the Queen made it clear that Charles and Diana needed to divorce.

After the divorce, Diana was forced to give up her Royal title, meaning that she would no longer be addressed as HRH.  Little Prince William poignantly said to her, "Don't worry, Mummy, I will give it back to you one day when I am King."  (sniff).

But she thrived in her 30's, raising her sons, falling in love and giving her life to many causes such as AIDS research and the eradication of land mines in Angola.  She was truly "The People's Princess."  I loved watching her life unfold.  And I have to confess I loved her clothes.

When she died, I stayed up all night again, this time to bid farewell.  I cried all night long as I watched her funeral procession with her sons following the casket

with Harry's card that said "Mummy" on top of it,

and at the end the hearse carrying her coffin to its final resting place - her childhood home.  I am sad again remembering this.


It is difficult to explain what Diana meant to me. 

I suppose it sounds silly to many who can't comprehend having feelings for someone they never met.  But to me, she represented youth, beauty, fairy tales, Princesses, motherhood, compassion.  Her compassion validated people. She famously held the hands of AIDS and leprosy patients when others feared doing so. Her soul touched the souls of others.  The love for her sons was palpable.  It was easy to think that she would have been a good friend. Hers was a story that you wanted to have a happy ending.  You rooted for her. And when she died before she could fulfill her promise or even find lasting happiness, it was a huge sadness.  She would be 53 now had she lived. 

All I can say is that I loved being in a world that she was in and when she died in such a terrible way, a little piece of me died with her.

I am probably not explaining myself very well.  It's difficult to explain what goes on in one's heart, but I wanted to write this today because I want her to be remembered.  She had a special light.  Her soul spoke to my soul.

I think Prince William and Prince Harry have that light too, and I am enjoying watching their lives unfold.  They appear to have avoided the pomp and stuffiness of the Royals that so stifled Diana.  So she lives on through them.

I have stood over and looked down onto the Alma Tunnel in Paris, where Diana died, and paid tribute at the memorial to Diana that is there.

I have visited Kensington Palace where she lived and seen the memorial fountain in Hyde Park. I have countless collectibles featuring her, and naturally, I have the Princess Diana doll with all of her clothes, including the wedding dress.  Even though she died tragically, I enjoy remembering her.

 

Thanks for Reading!

 

See you Friday for

 

"The Life Story of Mildred Pierce (the dog, not the movie character)

 

and

 

The Week in Reviews

 

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My New Job and The Week in Reviews

[I review the new movie "If I Stay," the DVDs "The Company You Keep" and "Love Punch" and a book about the infamous murder of Skylar Neese).

But First

"New job," you ask?  "I thought you were retired." 

Well I am, but I definitely have a new job.  I will get to that later.

Meanwhile, remember that blog post called "Today is the First Day of the Rest of My Life," where I set goals for myself for each month for the next year in order to shake myself out of retirement complacency?  Well, it's the end of month number two, and I am checking in with those of you who care.

As you may remember, I eased into this whole shaking up my life thing slowly.  I didn't want it to shake too much!

For July, I pledged to not order a Skinny Vanilla Latte, my usual caffeine of choice, but instead order anything else.  Check.  I did not order a Skinny Vanilla Latte once in July, though I must admit I am back to doing that again.  But to my credit, I did branch out and try some new flavors.  What's wrong with doing a little experimenting and then deciding you were right all along?

For August, I vowed to moisturize every day. 

I know, I know...like I said, I was easing into this changing my life thing slowly.  My motivation was the fact that I had a facial and thought I ought to keep up the good work, so to speak, not to mention I'm old and the face ain't what it used to be.  But the person giving me my facial was shocked that I rarely moisturized.  I told her that I had read about Katherine Hepburn's facial regimen.  She scrubbed the crap out of her face with a rough cloth and that was it.  I haven't gone that far but in fact, my beauty routine was merely a warm wash cloth on the face.

So did I moisturize in August?  I didn't rise to this challenge, I'm afraid.  I only did it a couple of times.  I guess I have a thing against putting crap on my face (except eye shadow, eye liner, mascara, blush and lipstick.  Does that count?).

Despite my "bad" habits, I don't have many wrinkles. I think good genes have something to do with it.

So I failed that challenge but onwards and upwards. 

For September, I vowed to ride my new bike every day that the sun shines and the way this summer has been going, I will be riding my bike a lot!  I am thinking of my Mom.  Riding her bike and walking were her main forms of exercise and she lived to be 91 so I am in good company.  Those good genes again.

So that little update leads me to this new job I was talking about.

My new job is.....ME!

That is the main thing I have learned about retirement in the last year+ since I have been retired.

When I first retired, I thought I needed to have all of these plans.

I joined a book club, signed up for Zumba, volunteered for regular hours at the senior center where I had been on the Board, signed up for some horse back riding lessons, started to meditate, applied to be on our local Council on Aging and worked on my blogging skills.  I made lists of household projects, daily routine lists, and made sure I went to the gym.

Since then, I realized I didn't want to go to the book club, which was several miles away, nor did I want to read a book dictated by that.  Likewise Zumba was too early in the morning for me and I am a crappy dancer.  Volunteering at the Senior Center required me to sign up for specific hours, and I didn't want to be locked into that kind of routine anymore.  As for the horseback riding, I will probably still do that, but for the horse's sake, I want to lose some weight first. 

I do meditate, which has helped me learn about myself.
  
I am a member of the Council on Aging, where I feel I am making a difference advocating for the rights and services of older people (like me), so that people can "age in place," something my mother was not able to do. 

I am on the Advisory Board of my local library, I blog, I go to the gym, I read, I cook, I go to concerts and the theatre and have accomplished many household tasks such as inventorying all of my cupboards and throwing out food where the sell by date had expired (I don't dare say how old some of that stuff was), have gone through all of my clothes and taken many to a consignment shop (a little extra cash never hurts), washed all of the curtains, and I am all caught up with my ironing.  Hubby is surprised that I actually choose to do household tasks and projects.

And that's the point.  I get to choose.

When I first retired, I thought it was essential that I replace my 40 years as a librarian with other purposeful activities.  I was terrified I would sit in front of the TV all day and not accomplish anything.  And here's the thing.  Sometimes I DO sit in front of the TV, because as you know, I love my television.  But what I learned was that it's OK, because my very existence is all the purpose I need.

Now that's not to say that I don't accomplish things.  I do. 

I am still that person who makes plans and lists.  I am still that responsible person who wants to do a good job.  But I get to choose the jobs I take on. 

And I am involved with some activities that are just as meaningful as the work I did for my community in the public library setting such as training to be a senior peer counselor. 

But my message here is not to freak out when you retire, because you are not working 40 hours per week at something else.  It's OK to just be.

Your new job when you retire is being alone with yourself, finding out who and what you are and acting accordingly.

When people ask for my advice about retirement or ask me what it's like, I tell them it could take a year or two to get used to being alone with yourself and figure it out.  You now have the time to be alone without the distractions of having to get to work on time, following directives from your boss, accomplishing tasks on time, etc.  I am not talking about necessarily being physically alone.  I am talking about having the time to listen to yourself and follow where it leads.

You now have the time to truly live your life.

When I do look back and see everything I am doing and am interested in, I am amazed I was able to do what I did when I was working and gone from the house 9-10 hours per day.  How I raised my children, kept the house clean and watched TV as much as I did, I will never know.  Well, yes I do, I was often bitchy and stressed.

So now my job is ME.  But I have my daily routines, and I even give myself days off.  Not from myself, but from the many activities that already occupy my time.

Hubby thinks that's hilarious since I don't have a regular job anymore, but I am busy so I need some days where I can go where the day takes me.  No gym, no appointments, no obligations.

But I like to think of Friday as "Fabulous Friday," and get out of the gym clothes and dress up - look fabulous! 

Since Hubby still works, Saturday usually includes some activity with Hubby that involves exercise - stair walking, bike riding, exploring - and then drinks and dinner.

So even in retirement, I have my routine because I am that kind of person, and I hate to repeat this cliche...Since I have retired, I'm busier than I ever was (when I first retired, I can't tell you how many times people said that to me and I thought, "Yeah, right...").

The point is this.  Whether it's taking Zumba classes or bicycling across the U.S. or being busier than you ever were or not busy at all, watching "Dating Naked" or "Masterpiece Theatre," retirement is a time to try things without fear of failure or being judged.  And it's a time to learn to be alone with yourself.  No matter what, you will always be you.

So the guilt I felt about retiring and the stress about what my purpose would be when I was not defined by my work have been replaced by a sense of freedom to be my true self knowing that my existence is my own purpose. 

And that's enough.  No matter what.
.

 

Now on to The Week In Reviews

***In Theatres Now***

 

If I Stay

 

 

Young Mia Hall's (Chloe Grace Moretz who starred in the remake of "Carrie") life changes in an instant when she is in a devastating car accident.  In a coma and near death, Mia has an out-of-body experience, and she must decide to stay or go.

Mia's mother and father are ex-punk rockers.  Mia couldn't be more different.  She is a conservative young lady with a passion for the cello.  She meets Adam (Jamie Blackley), a singer in a rock and roll band and they fall in love.  Mia has applied to Juilliard and everything is looking good for her until she is in a car accident with her family and falls into a coma.  She wakes up only to realize that her physical self is near death.  Through a series of flashbacks and lots of her ghostly self running around the hospital, we learn Mia's story.

Many of us wonder what it would be like if we could attend our own funeral.  This film is sort of like that.  As Mia lies in a coma, she gets to watch her family and friends visit her in the hospital.  I couldn't help but think how horrible it would be if we all get that opportunity and no one comes.

Based on the young adult novel of the same name by Gayle Forman published in 2009, this is supposed to be a tearjerker and teen girls will probably find it so.  But adults may be as annoyed with some of this as I was.

First of all, nothing is more obnoxious than precocious, wise-cracking children, unless it is too cool, wise-cracking parents.  Mia's mother played by Mireille Enos is particularly obnoxious.  Another annoyance is this continual use of Vancouver, B.C for other locations. It used to be a stand-in for Seattle, but now we are supposed to think we are in Portland.  If you know anything about Portland, you know it doesn't have a coastline, but the filmmakers didn't seem to think we would notice.  I did and it grated.  And I am not a big fan of movies with massive amounts of narration.  If you have to beat us over the head with the story instead of telling it visually, which is what movies are all about (remember, "A picture is worth a thousand words?"), then you are letting the film down.

But Moretz and Blackley make a handsome, appealing couple (I first noticed Blackley's handsomeness in "Snow White and the Huntsman" ), but all in all, this film doesn't pull the heart-strings it wanted to.  I was left unmoved, though the teen-aged girls in the audience swooned a bit.

There was a sequel to the book so there probably will be a sequel to the film. Since the story has a sequel and the ending of this film is so predictable, I don't think I am spoiling anything if I ask, will it be called "She Stayed?" 

Rosy the Reviewer says...if you are not a teen-aged girl, save your money.

***DVDS***

You Might Have Missed

(And Some You Will Be Glad You Did)

 

 

 

The Company You Keep (2012)

 

 

A wanted former Weather Underground radical with a new identity is discovered by a journalist and goes on the run to prove his innocence.

A star-powered cast joins Robert Redford in this exploration of aging radicals and the consequences of choices made in one's youth.

Based on the novel by Neil Gordon which in turn seems to be based on the true-life story of Sara Jane Olson, who like Susan Sarandan's character built a straight life for herself for 23 years while on the run from her role in a bombing by the Symbionese Liberation Army.

Redford plays Jim Grant, a widowed lawyer with a young daughter (too young for someone Redford's age, if you ask me), played by Jackie Evancho (who wowed viewers with her operatic voice and who finished second on the 5th season of "America's Got Talent").  Jim has created a new life for himself after a youth enmeshed in the Weather Underground.  He is wanted for his participation with that group in a Michigan bank robbery in 1980.  After the arrest of another figure in that robbery who had also created a new life for herself (Susan Sarandon), an ambitious reporter (Shia LeBeouf) starts looking more closely into the case which leads him to Grant.  Grant heads to Michigan to prove his innocence.

Anna Kendrick, Stanley Tucci, Brit Marling, Julie Christie, Nick Nolte, Terrence Howard, Chris Cooper, Richard Jenkins, and Brendan Gleeson round out the all-star cast and give this film acting gravitas.

No matter what you think of Redford's politics or the vehicles he chooses to direct and star in, you can count on him for serious films with integrity that will make you think.

Rosy the Reviewer says...a smart, engrossing adult story that brings back those revolutionary, idealistic Baby Boomer years.

 

 

 

The Love Punch (2013)

 

 

A divorced couple band together to get back retirement money stolen from their company by an unscrupulous French businessman.

 

Richard (Pierce Brosnan) and Kate (Emma Thompson) are divorced but that doesn't stop Richard from enlisting Kate's help in recovering stolen funds looted from Richard's company by a French businessman (Laurent Lafitte).  Aided by their friends Jerry (Timothy Spall) and Pen (Celia Imrie), faces you will recognize from many a British film, they all travel to Paris to recover the money.

 

There is a jewel heist plot, lots of making fun of the French (which British comedies like to do) and all kinds of tired jokes. It was nice to see Marisa Berensen in a cameo.  She hasn't been seen much.

 

Unlike the serious treatment senior citizens got in Redford's "The Company You Keep (see review above)," there is a certain kind of movie that gets a kick out of itself showing senior citizens having sex, participating in car chases and planning heists.  This is one of those movies. It wants to be a screwball comedy from the early 70's like "A Touch of Class" that starred Glenda Jackson and George Segal (one of my favorite movies of all time) or the Pink Panther films (there is even a reference to those), but instead it's a predictable, tired mess.  Brosnan and Thompson are as charming as ever, but this film lets them down.

 

I never understand films where divorced people team up especially when they got divorced because of cheating.  If my divorce for that very reason is any indication, I am not only unlikely to help my ex, but he is unlikely to ask me to.  But such is the stuff of these middle-aged comedies.

 

Rosy the Reviewer says...love Pierce Brosnan, love Emma Thompson, love British movies, hated this one.

***Book of the Week***

 

 

 

 

Pretty Little Killers: the Truth Behind the Savage Murder of Skylar Neese by Daleen Berry (2014)

 

 

True life account of the murder of a fifteen-year-old girl by her two "best friends."

Skylar Neese and Shelia Eddy had been friends since the second grade.  However, when Shelia befriended new girl Rachel Shoaf, the two became three and the dynamic changed and Shelia and Rachel began plotting Skylar's murder.

When the girls were finally accused and tried, their only explanation for the brutal stabbing of their friend was that they didn't want to be friends with her anymore.

This book attempts to explain what happened.

 

Many people think that reading true crime books is like reading the tabloids or pulp fiction.  But there are some wonderful true crime books out there.

What makes a really good true crime book?  Good writing.  Think Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood," a chilling account of the murder of the Clutter Family in Kansas in 1959 or Jon Krakauer's "Under the Banner of Heaven," that weaves the history of Mormonism into an account of a modern day murder or "The Executioner's Song" by Norman Mailer, which tells the tale of Gary Gilmore's execution and for which Mailer won a Pulitzer.

Rosy the Reviewer says...Unfortunately, this book doesn't rank up there with the best.  The writing lets it down. 

If this case interests you, watch the Dateline version (below) and if you like true crime books, check out the ones I mentioned above. 
 

 

 

That's it for this week!

Thanks for reading!

See you Tuesday

for

"Remembering Princess Diana"

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