A Woman of a Certain Age Shares What She Learned on Her Summer Vacation and Wonders if Her Traveling Days are Coming to an End: Ireland 101 and other Travel Musings

Well, I know it wasn't really summer yet when I went on this vacation but it was almost summer and this is probably the only "summer vacation" I am going to get this year so here it is.

We are just back from a trip to Ireland and England, and I learned some things, some of which made me wonder if my travel days might be coming to an end, but I will get to that later.

On this most recent trip, I was reminded that Hubby and I have this bad habit of trying to do too much.  We have been known to try to take in every little village in the Lake District in one weekend or to do Paris in a day. So it's not surprising that we changed hotels six times in two weeks on a recent trip to Ireland.  Not recommended.  I don't mean Ireland.  No, Ireland is recommended.  It's the packing up every other day and moving on to the next place that is not recommended.

Hubby and I travel to Europe every other year or so.  I have a Swedish cousin and we like to meet up with her and her husband when we go over there. They are wonderful traveling companions and seem to like our company as they make the effort to meet up with us whenever we cross the pond.  We have visited them in Sweden a few times but they have also been over here, met us in Oxford where we rented a narrow boat and toured the Oxford canal (one of my all-time favorite vacations) as well as trips to Amsterdam and Positano (Italy's Amalfi Coast).  This year we decided to meet in Dublin where I had rented an Air B & B, which I will get to in a minute.

We arrived in Dublin on a Wednesday and since we weren't going to meet my cousin and her husband until the weekend, we decided to take in some of the Irish countryside.  So after a night at a lovely hotel across the street from Christ Church Cathedral,

View from our room!

and after an evening walking around Temple Bar (which in case you didn't know it, it's not a bar but a part of town - for some reason I had this idea that Temple Bar was Bono's bar in Dublin), we decided to take a road trip to The Dingle Peninsula and then swing on over to the Ring of Kerry.  I am a big Rick Steves fan and remembered one of the TV shows he did about the Ring of Kerry, where he said it was de rigeur to make that trek. 

Unfortunately, there were a few things I learned about road trips in Ireland.

The first thing we learned - Rental car insurance in Ireland: I don't know what made me do it but on our way to Ireland I decided to look up renting cars in Ireland, even though we had already made arrangements through Costco (and check that out - we have discovered, thanks to a friend's recommendation, that booking your rental car through Costco is by far the cheapest way to go) and had a fantastic rate.  Only $120 for a whole week! We couldn't believe it!  Well, you know what they say about something that seems to be too good to be true? 

What we didn't know and what I learned at the last minute was that Ireland is one of the few countries in the world (Israel and Jamaica are the other two) where you HAVE to buy in to the insurance offered by the rental company unless you come armed with a LETTER from your credit card company saying that they will cover everything that needs to be covered when renting a car in Ireland.  If you don't come with that letter, and you decline the insurance, they will automatically charge your credit card $45,000 or whatever the cost of the car would be which could ruin your trip right there if you only brought one credit card or your limits are decidedly below the cost of a new car. 

So after a big gulp, we listened to our options for the needed car rental insurance: 

• The Basic Plan - high deductible and did not cover some of the most basic problems encountered by people learning to drive on the left for the first time.
• Option Two - a deductible of $1750 but it covered most things like broken rear view mirrors and bent rims, the most likely damage when learning to drive on the left side of the road. 
• Option Three - The Gold Standard - $750 deductible and covered everything including your peace of mind. 
• The cost? Basic Plan - 25 euro per day.  Option Two - 35 euro per day.  Gold Standard - 55 euro per day. 

So after hearing our options explained to us by the handsome, charming young sales guy who looked like someone out of a Guy Ritchie movie - he was handsome and charming but you didn't want to cross him - we chose Option Two.  He congratulated us on choosing the most popular option and happily tacked on the additional 300 euro turning what we thought was a really good rental car deal of $120 to almost $400. Thank heavens the dollar was strong and was almost on par with the euro or it could have been even worse! We don't consider ourselves newbies when it comes to travel, but we certainly missed the boat on this, so if you plan to rent a car in Ireland, check with your credit card company and get that letter if possible to take with you.

So on board our now expensive rental car, next stop, Gorman's Clifftop House, The Dingle Peninsula.

View from our room

Second thing we learned - how long it takes to get places:  I had thought that driving to Dingle would not be a big deal and we could stop at Waterford and Cork along the way, not realizing that Dingle was five hours of driving from Dublin, not counting any stops.  So we abandoned the stops, but after five hours in the car, the lovely Irish countryside notwithstanding, we were wondering what we had done. And remember when I said we would "swing over to the Ring of Kerry from Dingle?"  Well, once in Dingle, we realized that the Ring of Kerry was another two hours away just to get there.  That didn't count actually DOING the Ring of Kerry.  So we ended up doing PART of the Ring of Kerry. 

We did it clockwise, which is actually backwards and went to Kenmare, which was a good thing because while stopping at a pub there we learned from the bartender that we had already seen the best bits and if we turned back now we would get ahead of the buses that would be headed around the Ring coming from the other direction.

After a quick tour of Kenmare, we took her advice and got the hell out of Dodge, er, Kenmare, to try to beat the ubiquitous buses.

Wish I had had time to do a little retail therapy!  I need one of those fascinators!

I had to throw in an arty shot! 

The Kenmare Stone Circle

Didn't quite escape the buses.

Or the timid drivers. Did I mention that the road on the Ring of Kerry is very narrow and circuitous? And it wasn't just the buses.  We were often behind timid drivers who put their brakes on at every turn.

If you have ever driven Highway One in California from the Monterey Peninsula to Big Sur on a weekend, it's like that.  But also very beautiful.

Torc Waterfall

Speaking of driving, if you have never driven on the left side of the road it is definitely doable but takes getting used to.  Also rental cars in England and Ireland tend to be manual (you pay quite a bit extra for an automatic), which can be scary for us Americans who depend on our automatic transmissions, but you can do it.  You don't want that rental car bill to be even more, do you?

When we were taking the shuttle from the rental car office to the cars, the shuttle driver was giving us all a little tutorial about driving in Ireland:

"There are three things to remember.  Drive on the left; a left turn is a short turn and the right turn is a long, wide turn; and pass on the right.  But one thing that is the same in the U.S. and here, when getting our point across to other drivers, we all use the same finger!"

Did I say the Irish people have a sense of humor?

Road Trips in Ireland - What I Learned

• First and foremost, the Irish countryside is absolutely beautiful, full of history and the Irish people are very warm and friendly -- and funny.
• But it's important to do your homework before you go. Don't assume anything just because you travel a lot.
• If you plan to rent a car, check with your credit card company about coverage.
• Be sure to get a car with a navigation system installed.  Most of the rental cars we encountered in Ireland and England came with an installed navigation system and it's a good one, important in countries with many unnamed roads.  What was so great about their nav system was the friendly voice that warns you that a turn is coming soon and never shames you when you screw up by saying RECALCULATING in an irritated, shaming voice like the U.S. nav systems tend to do.
• Plan ahead of time for how much time you want to spend in the car. If you don't want to spend a lot of time in the car, you can plan short day trips from Dublin and still experience the beautiful Irish countryside.  Back in the late 90's I was hooked on an Irish TV show called "Ballykissangel" and I had always wanted to visit the town where it was filmed.  We were able to do that and it was only an hour outside of Dublin.
• Don't bite off more than you can chew. If you do want to tour the country as in the Dingle Peninsula or the Ring of Kerry, which are about as far from Dublin as you can get, you might want to plan to do it in increments.  Make your way there slowly stopping in various towns and spending the night or at the very least stay in Killarney for the Ring of Kerry.

Once back in Dublin, we met up with my Swedish cousin and her husband and, we all headed to the Air B & B we had rented.

Here are my thoughts on Air B & B's:

We have had some good experiences, some bad experiences and some so-so experiences.  The main thing I don't like about them is that if you arrive and the house or apartment is not what you had expected, you have 24 hours to try to make things right or get your money back.  If you can get your host to make things right, that's great, but if not, then getting your money back doesn't solve the problem of where you are going to stay, especially if you have traveled ten hours to get overseas.  I also find it much more awkward to complain to an individual about his or her accommodation than I do to complain at a hotel.  Despite the fact that a person could get a bad review in Air B & B, there is less motivation to make things right for you than at a hotel.  So in my mind, even though you might get a nice place for less than what you would pay for comparable accommodation at a hotel, you are taking your chances a bit using Air B & B.

In this case, our apartment was OK, though it could have used a good cleaning.  Finding bits of soap in the shower from a past tenant was a bit off-putting and there was this bare wall with two big holes in it where a TV obviously had once been.  I felt compelled to call the host and ask if there was supposed to be a TV there in case it had been stolen, but when I rechecked the description of the apartment on the website, it did not list a TV.

But the apartment had a lovely view of the canal and was well-located.

We had fun walking around Temple Bar, though it's very touristy.  At our first hotel, the young bartender told us she and her friends never hung out there  when they went out, they went over north of the Liffey.  The river Liffey runs through Dublin and there is a whole debate about north of the Liffey vs. south of the Liffey.  Temple Bar and most of the Dublin tourist sites are south of the Liffey.

Speaking of tourists, I couldn't help but notice this time around how many tourists there were and it wasn't even peak season yet.  Maybe I am just getting old but having tourists swarming around everywhere we went really got on my nerves.

Now, I know that's a big irony since when I travel, I, too, am a tourist, but I try to be a tourist who could be mistaken for a local.  I can't tell you how many times I have been asked for directions in the London Underground and once, in Paris while wearing what I believe was a very chic long black fake fur coat, I was asked for directions -- by a Parisien!  So I make a point of not saying a whole lot and when I do, saying it quietly, so as not to add to that stereotype of the loud American.  I also try to dress well, fit in and carry the local currency.

Sadly, Hubby kind of ruins it for me because he insists on wearing shorts, a Seattle Mariners baseball cap and carrying a map that he consults constantly, which pretty much screams American tourist and blows my cover.

A highlight of our stay in Dublin was visiting the Guinness Storehouse, where the famous Guinness beer is made, and that being a highlight is saying a lot for me as I am not a big beer drinker. 

But the Guinness Storehouse is truly a destination with several floors of pubs, entertainment and souvenirs.  Hubby couldn't help but remark what an amazing job Guinness does of marketing itself. But let me tell you, it's a madhouse, so get your tickets ahead of time online. 

AND if you really want to have a wonderful, relaxing time, get the Connoisseur tickets for the private tasting. 

Yes, I know, it's almost three times the 20 euro cost to get in but it is entirely worth it, so one of my main tips for travel is this:  DON'T BE CHEAP or you might miss one of your great travel experiences.

For the Connoisseur Tasting, you get VIP lanyards and are taken to a secret and private bar/tasting room. 

There are only 16 people in each tasting so it was my cousin, her husband, Hubby and me and 12 other people.  Those 12 other people were actually all part of an American wedding party and they were already well on their way to getting hammered.  But they were a fun lively group (those are my hands in the foreground with the camera).

Once we were led into the very secret tasting room that our host described as the "Most exclusive bar in the world that pours Guinness Beer," we were treated to a lively history of Guinness as well as a tasting of four different beers. 

  

The session ended with each of us learning to pull a proper pint of Guinness: hold the glass at a 45 degree angle, fill it to just the top of the harp on the Guinness glass and then let it sit for exactly 119.5 seconds before topping it off. You don't want to have any spillage over the top AKA Arthur's Tears, so named for founder Arthur Guinness.  You want a lovely rounded top of foam.  You can see by my expression this is not easy! 

But I did it!

The Perfect Pint!

You will also want to do a pub crawl of Dublin night life and hopefully hear some local traditional music.  When we did this, I noticed that the men in Dublin seem to hang out in packs.  The night we went pub crawling all we saw everywhere were gangs of men drinking together. 

I think Ireland is very much a male-dominated culture where they prefer their own company, at least when drinking.  Even at the Guinness Storehouse there were groups of guys sitting together.  No women in sight.

I was also hoping to listen to traditional Irish music and possibly sing along in the pubs.  We went to a popular pub (O'Donohughes Pub), and there were two guys playing and singing, but the pub was so crowded and noisy we could barely hear them.  There was a little listening area that I managed to get to that seated about six people but it was obvious the performers were very irked by the lack of attention being paid to them. Kind of a letdown. We actually had a better time listening to the music provided in one of the restaurants at the Guinness Storehouse.

We also toured Trinity College, another must-do,

but, once again my laziness resulted in my not getting tickets ahead of time to see the Book of Kells and the lines were horrendous.  But I figured, I am a librarian and learned all about the Book of Kells in library school, so I didn't have to see it in person.  Lesson learned, though, about doing a better job of planning before I go.

The actress in me also had to see The Abbey Theatre (also known as The National Theatre of Ireland), the home of many of Ireland's leading playwrights and actors.

Walking around Dublin, I was struck by the clash of old and new. 

Dublin is certainly booming. You can always tell when a city is booming by the number of cranes. There were no fewer than seven cranes just across from our apartment and gleaming new buildings and construction was everywhere.

Dublin - What I Learned

• For your best travel experience, try to dress and act like a local
• Check out Temple Bar, Grafton Street, Trinity College and the Guinness Store House, but also don't miss the less touristy places for some special moments

• If you don't want to look like a tourist, scrap the map (are you listening, Hubby)?
• If you go the Air B & B route, be flexible
• Don't be cheap or you might miss out on a highlight of your trip
• Plan ahead for tickets for crowded events and attractions
• And just walk and enjoy your surroundings

 

Travel - It's the Little Things - What I Learned

Sometimes when traveling, it's the little unexpected things that are highlights.

Now don't laugh and don't judge. One thing I delighted in was my Starbucks app.

I know that Howard Schultz sold the Seattle Sonics out from under us Seattleites and that Starbucks has basically run the Mom and Pop coffee shops out of town, but other than that, Starbucks is not a really evil company, and I feel a certain comfort knowing I can travel the world and there is a Starbucks, able to churn out my Triple Grande Skinny Vanilla Latte whether I am in Oxford, England or Tokyo, Japan. 

But here is the best part. 

If you have the Starbucks app (even a Starbucks card works too, I think) and use it to pay for your drinks (which I do), you can load up the app with your own local money before you leave the country, and then use it to pay for your Starbucks drinks or food all over the world.  They scan your app and it automatically converts to the local currency at the local rate with no fees.  It's amazing.  I had to find a Starbucks every day just so I could go through the process and be amazed when I looked at the receipt.  However you may feel about Starbucks, that is one convenient and fun perk.

I have also enjoyed visiting the sites of TV shows I have followed.  I have visited Inspector Morse's haunts in Oxford and driven through the water splash in Yorkshire that was featured at the beginning of "All Creatures Great and Small," so while in Ireland I wanted to be sure to go to Avoca, which was the little town where "Ballykissangel" was filmed.  The show ran on PBS for several years. I had forgotten that it's been over 15 years since it ended but that didn't stop me.  I had vowed that if I ever went to Ireland I would find that little town.  And we did!

On the famous little bridge.

Outside of Fitzgerald's Pub.

INSIDE Fitzgerald's Pub!

And then while in London, we just had to walk across that zebra crossing featured on the album cover of "Abbey Road." 

 

Us and a bunch of other tourists!

  

It was a fun part of the trip just watching everyone trying to dodge traffic and get their pictures!

We also took a canal boat ride through Little Venice, reminding us of one of our favorite vacations, when we rented a narrow boat and toured the Oxford Canal.

  

Final Travel Thoughts - What I Learned

I learned that:

• Meeting up with olds friends makes a vacation special

• I am over flying through Iceland to Europe.  Yes, it is a cheaper option than many non-stop flights but it seems that everyone has now discovered it.  We flew to Europe via Iceland a couple of years ago and took advantage of staying over in Iceland for a few days and we enjoyed it. That is one of the perks of flying via Iceland Air. Either going or coming you can stop off there for no extra charge and we enjoyed our stay.  However, now I think that Iceland, particularly Iceland airport, is now a victim of its own success.  On this trip we had an 18 hour layover so decided to spend the night in a hotel near the airport.  The hotel was about four miles from the airport - four miles and a $30 taxi ride.  Likewise, we had lunch the next day where a small order of French fries was $10.  So it's expensive and the airport is a madhouse.  I am sticking with non-stop flights from now on!

• Airport lounges are an oasis of calm. If you have a long layover, check out buying a day pass for one of the lounges.  Several will sell you one for about $30 and I know that might sound like a lot for just a couple of hours but the lounges are quiet havens that usually provide free drinks and food.  A couple of drinks alone pay the cost of the pass.

• You don't want to be cheap! As I said, the private Connoisseur tasting at the Guinness Storehouse was a highlight of the trip but it was on the expensive side.  But when weighing whether or not to spend the money on your accommodation or special events, decide whether or not you will regret not doing it.  I am still regretting not buying a special London version of my favorite Starbucks coffee mug.  It was only ten euro but I was sure I could order it online at home.  Nope.  People are selling it on line for $40!

Like I said, it's the little things!

• Once you have been to a place a couple of times and already done the touristy things, that's when you discover the little things that make for a great vacation and make you feel like you are one of the locals. London is one of my favorite cities, and I have been there several times so now it's not so much about the Tower of London and Westminster, now it's about walking along the canal in Little Venice or checking out the Camden Town Market or just hanging out with the locals. Some of my favorite moments have been unexpected small things.

But what this woman of a certain age learned the most on this trip was this:

Despite my joy at the Starbucks app and seeing my friends, traveling just isn't as much fun anymore. 

Traveling is getting harder and harder.  Is it because of the inconveniences inherent in today's airline travel? Too many tourists? Is it that it's gotten too expensive?

Well, those things don't help but could it be that I am just getting too old?

Are my traveling days coming to an end?

Why do I think that?  Well....thank you for asking!

Here's why:

• I feel like I've lost my travel planning mojo. I totally dropped the ball on homework: why didn't I know about that rental car insurance?  Why didn't I get tickets for The Book of Kells? Why didn't I know how far away The Ring of Kerry was from Dingle?

And then once we were on the trip:

• Hubby got on my nerves on Day 1
• While contemplating the sun sparkling on the water as we drove the Ring of Kerry, I started to wonder what they were talking about on "The View."

• I missed those special quiet moments drinking wine with the wine-guzzling poodle.
• I was sleepy at 9pm, wanted to put on my onesie and didn't really want to go bar-hopping even though it was a Saturday night and I used to be the life of the party
• I can only walk two hours at a time before needing a drink
• I can't stand the crowds and am very judgy about tourists
• I just want to sleep in, but then what else is new?
• I need to know where the nearest toilet is at all times
• My back hurts, my feet hurt and I find it harder and harder to keep up
• I get crabby if the little village I am exploring doesn't have a Starbucks
• I miss my once-a-week-phone call from my kids
• I miss my routine

But looking at that list, I can't believe I just wrote it...or thought those thoughts.

Has my life been reduced to sleeping in, looking forward to watching "The View" with my wine-guzzling poodle and waiting for my kids to call me?

Travel in retirement is a strange thing.  When I was working, going on a trip, even with some of the hassles inherent to traveling, was a much-needed break from a routine I was required to do.  Now that I am retired and I can do whatever I want, I have created a routine that I enjoy and now travel almost seems like an unwelcome break in my routine.

But is that me? Is that my life? Am I going to give in to my routine?

Yes, travel can sometimes be inconvenient.  And yes, sometimes bad stuff can happen but missing my routine? That is the whole point of travel.  To jolt you out of your routine.  To remind you that you are still alive and curious and part of the world. To give up on travel is to give in to a less than stimulating routine and to give up on life.

My Dad, a wonderful man with many talents but never a big traveler to begin with, ended up down in his basement watching TV and writing a book that no one would ever read. He gave up on people and on life.  I don't want to end up like that.

Sir Anthony Hopkins was recently on "The Jimmy Kimmel Show," and Jimmy asked him, "You are turning 80 years old this year...In your 79+ years on this planet, is there a bit of wisdom you can share...something you think above all else you have learned?"

To which Mr. Hopkins replied, "Keep going.  Never give up."

Simple.

And now looking back on yet another successful trip, I need to remember that nothing bad happened, and I judge trips partly on whether or not something bad happened (and nothing did except maybe that whole thing with the Irish car rental insurance), but I also experienced some shining moments.  So I am going to take Sir Anthony's advice.  I don't want to end up like my Dad, so I am going to try to put aside the petty annoyances of travel, fight the urge to pull the curtains and sink into my routine and cast aside those old lady thoughts.

I am going to keep going and never give up.

Croatia, anyone?

Thanks for reading!

See you next Friday 

 

for my review of

"Paris Can Wait"

and

The Week in Reviews

(What to See or Read and What to Avoid)

 and the latest on

"My 1001 Movies I Must See Before 

 I Die Project." 

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Check your local library for DVDs and books mentioned.

"Wonder Woman" and The Week in Reviews

[I review the new movie "Wonder Woman" as well as DVDs  "I Am Not Your Negro" and "The Founder." The Book of the Week is "Nevertheless: A Memoir" by Alec Baldwin.  I also bring you up-to-date with "My 1001 Movies I Must See Before I Die" with "Le Trou."]





Wonder Woman

There is a new Wonder Woman in town!  And she's a wonder!

Growing up, I was never into superhero comics.  I was more of an Archie and Veronica kind of girl.  However, I did enjoy Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman on TV, and Wonder Woman (Lynda Carter) was a wonderful role model for little girls. Since that show went off the air, we haven't really had a woman superhero to look up to (Supergirl doesn't count).  But that's over now because we have a new Wonder Woman and she is wonderful.

Gal Gadot stars as Diana, Princess of the Amazons, and if an Amazon woman is a tall, strong gorgeous woman then Gal Gadot is all of that.  She is 5' 10, an ex- Miss Israel and absolutely stunning.  And she can act!

As most superhero comic fans know, Wonder Woman started out as Diana, Princess of the Amazons.  And in case you don't know Diana's story, in an exposition at the beginning of the film, we learn that the god Zeus had created mankind in his own image and everything was hunky dory and lovey dovey amongst the humans until Ares, Zeus's brother came along. 

Consumed with jealousy over Zeus and those namby pamby humans, Ares caused mistrust and strife among the humans which resulted in wars, hence Ares becoming the God of War.  Ares also killed all of his fellow gods and was a threat to mankind, so Zeus created the Amazon women to protect humankind and create peace.  And you know what?  I'm not surprised he created women to protect the world.  If we women ran the world...oh, well, I'm not going to get into that now.  Zeus also gave the Amazons the "god killer," a weapon capable of killing Ares.  But he also gave them Diana who will soon learn that she herself is a powerful weapon against evil.

When we first meet Diana, she is a little girl living on the mysterious, hidden island of Themyscira with her mother, Hippolyta, the Queen of the Amazons (Connie Nielson) and an island full of Amazons.  No men.  She is the only child on the island, and when I heard that, I couldn't help but wonder, who is her Daddy? Diana yearned to learn to fight but her mother forbade it.  However, she trained secretly with her aunt, General Antiope (played by Robin Wright who just seems to get younger and younger and skinnier and skinnier) to become one of the fiercest fighters.

One day, a biplane mysteriously makes its way through the fog of time that surrounds the island and crashes into the sea.  Diana sees this and also sees the pilot, handsome Chris Pine AKA Captain Steve Trevor going down with his plane.  She dives into the ocean to rescue him Little Mermaid-style, and none too soon because a boat full of Germans, who are chasing Steve, also gets through that fog and invades the beach.  How do we know they are Germans?  There is a swastika.  Hey, wait a minute. Biplane?  I thought this was WW I.  There were no swastikas in WW I!   But it is WW I, so just be warned. There is a bit of World War swapping going on in this film.  Anyway, the Germans get onto the island and the Amazon women do battle and ultimately win and that is when Diana learns about World War I raging on in the outside world (but like I said, it's kind of World War I AND World War II). 

The Amazons use their Lasso of Truth on Steve, and he is forced to tell them that he is a spy and had stolen a notebook, a notebook from the infamous Dr. Maru, also known as Dr. Poison (Elena Anaya), because of her penchant for gleefully concocting poisonous gases to kill mankind. Her bad attitude could be due to the fact that she has been horribly scarred and wears a Phantom of the Opera mask to hide her disfigurement.  She is joined in her evil pursuits by Ludendorff (Danny Huston), a Nazi - like officer (but not really a Nazi, because remember, this is World War I, not World War II) for whom she has concocted a substance that when inhaled makes him superhumanly strong.  Cocaine on steroids, if you will.  

Dr. Maru's notebook that Steve has stolen contains formulas for poisonous gases that the Germans plan to use to win the war, and Trevor further explains to the Amazons that when he was shot down he was trying to get that notebook back to British Headquarters. 

When Diana learns that a terrible war is raging and that innocent people are being killed, she believes that Ares is back.  Her Amazonian empathy comes into play and she sees that she must help Steve, go find the war and kill Ares, thus saving the world. 

Despite her mother's fears that Ares will find Diana and kill her, off Steve and she go to save the world and with the help of a motley trio of Steve's friends - Charlie, a morose Scott (Ewen Bremner), Sameer, an Algerian con man (Said Taghmaoui) and The Chief, a cool Native American (Eugene Brave Rock), she does just that.  There is no spoiler there.  We know Wonder Woman will prevail, because that's what she does.  She is Wonder Woman!

She also finds Ares and when she does, there is a bit of a twist, and I was also thinking we were going to get a Darth Vader "I am your father" moment.  Close, but not so.  I think I figured out who Diana's father was but I'm still not absolutely sure.

Sadly, though, Diana learns that the evil of the world is not all Ares' fault.  She learns that humans themselves are imperfect creatures and prone to bad judgment and war.  They have helped to create the evil in the world and it doesn't look like they learn from their mistakes, thus giving Diana a mission in life that will keep her busy for a very long time! Let the sequels commence!

Directed by Patty Jenkins (more Girl Power!) with a script by Allan Heinberg, there is excitement, there is drama, there is violence (but nothing really scary), there is romance and there is humor.  Jenkins does a good job with the powerful slow-mo fight scenes, but also with the softer humorous moments.

When seeing Steve for the first time - a man - Diana is in awe, especially when he steps out of the bath naked. I was in awe too!  I mean, it's Chris Pine! Very refreshing to see the dude naked for once instead of the woman.  Gadot never sheds her clothes. Sorry, guys.  And when Diana encounters early 20th century English life, there are some fish-out-of-water scenes that are very funny.  For example, when shopping for more appropriate clothes - I mean, she can hardly hang out in 1918 London in her barely there little armor dress - she sees a corset and asks if that is a new form of armor.  Well, kind of!

Gadot is wonderful - she's tall, she's gorgeous, she's warm and approachable - and Chris Pine is, well, Chris Pine.  Sigh.  The two are a wonderful combination of talent and beauty and have great chemistry.  And Gadot is a badass Wonder Woman.  I found myself crying out "Yes!" when she was fending off bullets with those special wrist bands of hers, fearlessly going into battle and basically kicking butt.

I was also happy to see David Thewlis again.  I won't go into detail. but he is decidedly out of character, in a good way. Anaya and Huston make great cartoon villains, and it all comes together to provide a great movie experience.  We women will enjoy Wonder Woman's kicking butt and men will enjoy watching her do it, because as I said, Gadot is quite the specimen of womanhood.

But more importantly, Wonder Woman is a wonderful role model for women and girls.  She is strong, fearless and powerful, traits we women rarely get credit for, but she is also compassionate and kind and fights for peace in the world, something men can learn from.

You know I usually hate sequels but I can't wait to see more Wonder Woman movies if they are going to be this good!

Rosy the Reviewer says...I cried tears of joy!  All young girls (and their mothers) will want to see this inspiring film!  Girl Power!

 

 

***Some Movies You Might Have Missed***

(And Some You Will Be Glad You Did)!

On DVD

 

I Am Not Your Negro (2016)

Samuel L. Jackson narrates this documentary based on James Baldwin's unfinished manuscript "Remember This House," an exploration of racism through Baldwin's reminiscences of civil rights leaders Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.

"The story of the Negro in America is the story of America, and it is not a pretty story."

James Baldwin was an African-American novelist, essayist, playwright and social commentator, considered one of America's greatest writers ("Go Tell It On The Mountain"), and whose works explored the social and psychological issues of black and gay Americans.  

At the age of 24, disillusioned by American prejudice, Baldwin moved to France where he lived for most of his life, but he returned to the U.S. in the 1950's at the height of the Civil Rights Movement to be an "observer" and to report on it as he traveled throughout the South. When he died in 1984 he left behind an unfinished manuscript, "Remember This House," that was to be his personal recollections of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr. and their assassinations. He wanted their lives to "bang against and reveal each other." 

The words from Baldwin's unfinished manuscript form the basis of this film and provide a personal history of the Civil Right Movement in America.

Director Raoul Peck uses film footage, television clips, written words, still photographs and music to show the depiction of black Americans in the United States and their struggles from the past to the present.

The film begins in 1954 with and interview by Dick Cavett where Cavett asks  Baldwin if things are better for negroes and Baldwin replies that he fears for the country.  And well he should as the film goes on to show white people giving testimonials about how God was against integration, 15-year-old Dorothy Counts being spat upon as she tried to go to school in North Carolina and white people holding up signs saying "Keep Alabama White."

The profiles of Malcolm X, King and Evers show their political and social differences but also how they were alike. Malcolm X once called Martin Luther King an Uncle Tom, but by the time each died, their positions were similar.

The film is brilliantly edited as it bombards us with unforgettable images, and it was fittingly nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature at the 2017 Academy Awards.

Jackson's voice-over is Baldwin's voice and Baldwin's dramatic prose resonates:

"You never had to look at me.  I had to look at you.  I know more about you than you know about me."

"History is not the past.  It is the present...We are our history."

"What white people have to do, is try and find out in their own hearts why it was necessary to have a n***** in the first place, because I'm not a n*****, I'm a man, but if you think I'm a n*****, it means you need it."

Watching this film, one can't help but be aware of one's white privilege and be ashamed and that's a good thing. Being reminded of the indignities and hatred black people have had to endure, it's a miracle that the black population has not succumbed to more rage and violence than has already been expressed.  Who can forget the LA riots of 1992 after the Rodney King verdict (brilliantly documented in the film "LA 92") and more recently the reactions to the shooting of Trayvon Martin and the response in Ferguson, Missouri to the fatal shooting of Michael Brown? And it is still going on. When will it end?  

Baldwin's fear for our country back in 1954 was prescient, and if he were alive today traveling around the U.S., sadly he would observe some of the same outrageous racism that he observed back in his lifetime.  We still have a long way to go.

Rosy the Reviewer says...I cried tears of sorrow.  All Americans should see this film.





The Founder (2016)

A biopic about Ray Kroc, who we all thought founded McDonalds, but he actually didn't!

Michael Keaton stars as Ray Kroc, a hard-working door-to-door salesman, or should I say "drive-in to drive-in" salesman, as he moves around the country trying to sell his multi-shake machines to drive-ins in the 1950's.  While sitting at one of those roller-skating waitress drive-ins so prevalent in the 50's, he is irritated by the slow service.  Later when he gets an order for eight of his multi-shake machines from a drive-in in San Bernardino, California, he is so surprised he decides to deliver them personally.  When he arrives he sees people lined up for the 15 cent burgers and is amazed at how fast the service is.

The drive-in is run by the McDonald brothers, it's called McDonalds and, they had devised an assembly-line operation for making their burgers fast and to a standard. Though they didn't yet know it, fast food was born.

Ray takes the brothers, Mac (John Carroll Lynch) and Dick (Nick Offerman), to dinner to find out how they devised their operation and they tell him their story: They moved west from New Hampshire, bought a movie theatre, but the depression hit so they bought a hot dog stand, turned it into a drive-in, decided to concentrate on one item, burgers, got rid of the car hops, dishes, etc., and made orders ready in 30 seconds.  They even practiced on a tennis court to perfect the first ever system to deliver food fast.  The only hurtle they had to get over was getting people to get our of their cars to go up to the take-out window.

Now Ray is a salesman and a bit of a visionary so he is fascinated by this "fast food" concept so he comes up with the idea of the franchise. The McDonald brothers had tried franchising, but could not maintain their standards.  They even had one restaurant in Phoenix with golden arches.  A light bulb goes off in Ray's mind. He wants in. As a salesman driving around small American towns he had noticed that all of those small towns had some of the same things: American flags and churches with crosses and arches so Ray had the idea of McDonald's franchises marked by those golden arches, adding American flags and crosses and marketing McDonald's as an American way of life, the "New American Church." And does he want to change the name?  No.  McDonald's reeks of America. Calling the restaurant Kroc's does not.

Kroc goes into business with the McDonald brothers, and through his own ruthlessness, manages to take over McDonalds and make a fortune buying up land and then leasing the land to the franchises which allowed him to maintain standards.  If the franchise didn't maintain the standards, then he cut the lease. 

So the revelation of this movie is that someone else, not Ray Kroc, had the idea for the fast and cheap burger, fries and shakes. The title of the film is ironic, but Ray Kroc did have the work ethic to make the franchises work, the moxie and how do I say this - sleaziness - to wrest McDonalds away from the McDonald brothers and make it his own. 

"Business is war.  Dog eat dog. Rat eat rat.  If my competitor was drowning, I would put a hose in his mouth."

Nice guy.

Directed by John Lee Hancock with a script by Robert Siegel, one wonders if that revelation is enough to keep you riveted for two hours.  Michael Keaton is a good actor but is he good enough to make you care about Ray Kroc?  I don't think so. The problem with the character is that yes, he is the consummate salesman.  He is also a bad husband and downright sleazy...but why?  The film never explores that.

Laura Dern plays Kroc's long-suffering first wife but has little to do except look concerned, and naturally, once Kroc started to make money he met a younger woman, divorced the first wife, and married the younger woman who actually outlived Ray and got to spend his fortune. 

Rosy the Reviewer says...I didn't cry and that's not a good thing, but if the history of McDonalds interests you and you are a fan of Michael Keaton - he was in every scene in this film - you might like this. 

 

***My 1001 Movies I Must See Before I Die Project***

197 to go!

Have YOU Seen this classic film?





Le Trou  (1960)

"Le Trou ("The Hole")" is the true life story of four inmates plotting their escape from prison.

Gaspard (Marc Michel) is a new inmate awaiting trial for the attempted murder of his wife.  He is transferred from his prison block to a new cell with some hardened inmates who are facing long sentences. With nothing to lose, the three men are plotting an escape.  Gaspard's arrival forces them to decide whether to abandon their plans or take him into their confidence.  At first the men are suspicious of young, handsome Gaspard, but when they realize he is up for a 20-year-sentence, they realize he is one of them, and Gaspard is swept up in their prison break plot.

Directed by Jacques Becker (his final film) and based on a novel by Jose Giovanni that depicted a true-life prison break that Giovanni had been a part of, Becker cast the film with nonprofessional actors, one of whom was actually one of the men in the real escape.

Do I like movies with all men?

No.

Do I like movies about prison breaks?

No.

Do I like movies in black and white?

Not particularly.

Did I like this movie?

Yes!

Why do I like a film even though it's about a subject I don't like?  And why do I sometimes dislike a film, even though it's about a subject I do like?  Here, director Jacques Becker has done a great job of creating the suspense needed to keep me interested as these men work doggedly to overcome the challenges of their escape and literally dig themselves out of prison.

Refreshingly, this is not one of those prison films (you see it in war films too) where each man embodies some archetypal character so that you as an audience member have someone to relate to.  No, neither we nor they care about each other's backstory.  They are just working class guys who want to get the hell out of prison.  However, Gaspard is different and the catalyst for the drama to come.

Some directors just can't let go of the long lingering shots and the real time walks down corridors which, though possibly artistic, I find boring as hell.  Some directors can't stand to cut anything even if it doesn't particularly serve the picture as a whole.  So even if the film is full of women, which I like and is about a subject I enjoy, woe is me if it takes forever to get to the point.   But here is a film all about men in prison planning a prison break and it had some scenes that were filmed in painstaking real time and yet the film galloped along and held my interest.  A true auteur tells a good story in a compact way that moves the story along with great images, taut editing and good acting and this film has all of that.

As an aside, have you ever heard that one of the reasons many actors are so photogenic is that they have big heads?  Well, Michel has the biggest head I have ever seen! But I digress.

Why it's a Must See: "The Hole' has been compared with Robert Bresson's A Man Escaped (1956) and Jean Renoir's 'Grand Illusion (1937), but Becker is less concerned than Bresson with transcendence or Renoir's critique of social differences.  The prisoner's virtues -- meticulousness, inventiveness, and the ability to form a collective -- become the highest values of 'The Hole.' Perhaps Becker is, of all directors...the one who has embodied and articulated these values most firmly...As it stands, The Hole is...a masterpiece."
---1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Rosy the Reviewer says...if you want a primer on how to do a prison break that is tense and exciting, this is for you. And it was a true story!

***Book of the Week***

Nevertheless: A Memoir by Alec Baldwin (2017)

A heartfelt survey of actor Alec Baldwin's life by Baldwin himself.

Alec Baldwin is a serious actor ("Glengarry Glen Ross," "The Departed") and just to be sure you know that, he is prone to throwing around a lot of names of plays, writers, other serious actors and the work he has done in the theatre. However, Baldwin has also had his share of, shall I say, less than stellar moments in his personal life such as reacting to paparazzis. Though self-deprecating to a certain extent and even quite humble at times, he seems to still feel self-justified in those encounters.

It's funny that he talks about himself as not being a big A-list actor. but I have always known who he was and thought of him as one, but ironically most of his fame has come from his TV role as Jack Donaghy on "30 Rock"—for which he won two Emmys, three Golden Globes, and seven Screen Actors Guild Awards—and playing Donald Trump on "Saturday Night Live."

In this memoir, Baldwin doesn't hold anything back.  He talks about his life growing up on Long Island, his parents' unhappy marriage, his uncertainty about what to do with his life, his struggles with drugs and alcohol and his bitter divorce and child custody fight with ex-wife Kim Basinger.  He makes it very clear who he likes and who he doesn't.  In fact at the end of the book there is an entire list of those he admires and had admired called "The Actors Index."  As for who he doesn't like?  Lots and lots of producers and directors and some actors. Of Harrison Ford he says "Ford, in person, is a little man, short, scrawny, and wiry, whose soft voice sounds as if it's coming from behind a door."  Ouch.  A bit of sour grapes, methinks?

Naturally he doesn't have much good to say about ex-wife Kim Basinger, either, since their child custody dispute over their only child, Ireland, was epic.  He owns up to the many reporters he has punched and that phone call to his daughter where he called her a pig? Well, he says it wasn't aimed at her but at you-know-who.

He talks about his love of classical music, his poliltical life, his meeting his current wife and love of his life, Hilaria, and at the end of the book, he explains the title of his memoir: "Nevertheless," which is very funny. It's from a joke he was told by actor Michael Gambon.  Too risqué to repeat here.  You will have to read the book.

As celebrity autobiographies go, this was very honest and open and as he says at the end:

 "I wrote this book in my own words and, such as it is, I offer it to you to entertain, to motivate, to inspire, and to learn.  Not so much for you to learn about me, but for me to learn about me.  I have learned so much while piecing this together.  My thanks to you for reading it."

Rosy the Reviewer says..."You are very welcome, Alec.  I enjoyed it."

Thanks for reading!

 

NOTE:

 

See you Tuesday for

 

"What a Woman of a Certain Age Learned on her Summer Vacation:

Ireland 101
and Other Travel Musings"

 

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