Saturday Night Cinema

What is this?  A Post?  Yes.  Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit has brought me out of retirement.  I must let the world know how I feel.  Also, I start mentoring a Classic Film class is couple of weeks and I thought that it might not be bad to post my movie thoughts again.  But this stuff is boring, back to the movie.

The Mister and I were sitting down to a long winter's night of television.  We currently have a show that we both like okay enough to watch together.  We love watching TV together but rarely can agree on a show being as I have taste and he...  So, when we find a show that we both like enough to watch it is date night every night.
I had command of the remote and as I was flipping through Netflix I saw Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.  The Mr. likes Jack Ryan,because, Harrison Ford, and I like spies or anything spy adjacent, as you know.  Then I saw who was playing Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, Chris Pine, otherwise known as Captain Kirk 90210.
  "Chris Pine," I say with interest, "I'm just gonna put that on my list." *boop*
The Mr. laughs.  He knows how I feel about Captain Kirk, both versions.

About a week or so later The Mr. says he would like to watch Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.  We are watching and the movie starts out SLOW, really slow.  There is an attack on a helicopter that our hero Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is riding in, he saves people, he is nearly paralyzed, we don't care because this movie is so slow.
 Then he goes to rehab.
 His PT is none other than Keira Knightly.  You may remember how I feel about her, if you don't see this post. I am ticked.  Here I settle down for a nice spy movie and it is boring already and then Keira Knightly.  I am banging on about how much I can't stand her and I look down at my knitting and The Mr.  laughs.  He laughs hard.
 "What?"
 "Did you see who that was?"
I look up the camera cuts to Kevin Costner.  Are you kidding me?  You may remember how I feel about him, if you don't see this post (same post!)
At this point I really don't know which way things are going to go  I could really hate this movie or it might be OK, but, I have never heard of it so maybe it was bad and went straight to Netflix?  Should I cut my losses now?  I am really into knitting this blanket right now and I don't want to stop to change the show so we keep on.  

This is when we learn that Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is not only a war hero but also a super economics genius.  The CIA wants him to be a financial analyst for them. Undercover.

This is also where Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit asks his physical therapist out to dinner.  Predictable.  She says no, she says goodbye. Does she say goodbye forever? Alas, no, it's Keira Knightly, you know she is in this movie for the long haul.

Fast forward, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit now works for a big fancy bank as a super smart financial something but really he is just reading super hot financial something.  He also collects information for the CIA and gives it to them in manila folders.  This is ostensibly 2005-ish and he is giving them paper files.

Then Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit then goes home to his....girlfriend Keira Knightly, now a super smart doctor. Surprise!  They have an argument that is obviously the one that they keep having over and over,  he wants her to marry him and she thinks he is having an affair, yadda, yadda, yadda.  They are SO meant to be together!

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit has to go to Russia to get more information and someone tries to kill him as soon as he arrives.  Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit then drowns this persons who is 3 times his size in the bathtub.  Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is no longer a Shadow Recruit  he is now active!

Finally, the movie starts.

Despite the inauspicious beginning I didn't mind this movie.

 Keira Knightly's clavicles were rarely on display (in this photo they even seem to be hiding them!) and Kevin Coster's line were short, blunt and monotone so he fit.  Fairly painless.

While I didn't buy Chris Pine as a super spy I did buy him as a Shadow Recruit, pretty tough but way out of his league and a little scared.

There were three things that I loved about this movie.  They are, in order: Kenneth Branagh, Russian Bad Guys, The Wall.

I was pretty scared when they showed the villan but were slow to reveal his face that it was actually going to be John Malkovich, mercifully it was Kenneth Branagh.

I don't know why but I really like Kenneth Branagh.  I loved Wallander but I was very aware the whole time that I was watching Wallander for Kenneth Branagh. Just as I dislike some actors and actresses I like Kenneth Branagh, and I always wonder why he and Emma Thompson couldn't work things out.  

Kenneth Branagh must agree with me because he was also the director and while there are some good screen shots with Chris Pine in them, all the good ones star Branagh,

and I'm OK with that.


The main part of this film happens in Russia and you know how I feel about Russian Bad Guys, they are second only to East German Bad Guys.

And this set.

 I love this wall.  I want to visit this wall.  I want to be besties with this wall.

Ultimately this movie was OK, not awful, huge plot holes, predictable but enjoyable enough.  Jack Ryan saves America and all is right with the world.   3.5 out of 7 thimbles.

Orange Jasmine

I was hesitant to try another Collette pattern.  Though I do enjoy wearing my Sencha, it required a great deal of adjustment to get it to look good enough...to wear with a belt.  I don't know if that is a glowing recommendation.

I could not find a blouse that was better suited for my fabric than Jasmine even though I did buy Simplicity 1779 and had even cut the pattern pieces out when I realized that I REALLY wanted to cut this blouse on the bias.

I have been having a lot of bias troubles in my sewing lately.  I have also been wanting an easy project.  Something where I just followed the pattern and finished a garment. The end. No pattern re-adjustments. No re-designs.

$16 is spendy for a pattern.  I rarely spend more than $5 on a pattern and even then they are Vogue patterns which make me swear. (Seriously, whoever is writing the instructions for Vogue patterns needs some lessons.)  Also, I couldn't just pick up a Collette pattern, I had to either use 1/2 tank of gas driving to other side of town OR pay $16 online, plus shipping, and then wait for it to arrive in the mail.  I chose option two.

When it arrived I remembered two things.  First, the pattern comes with the most darling instruction book, very detailed instructions and a clever pocket for holding the pattern piece. Second, the reason I hate Collette patterns, all sizes 0-18 are printed on one piece of tissue paper.  So, you have 10 lines on each piece and are somehow supposed to follow your line through the maze out to the other side.  It is lazy and looks sloppy.  How hard and costly would it be to print out TWO pieces of tissue with half the sizes on one piece and half on the other? Not hard at all.

Pattern printing complaints aside, the blouse went together like a breeze.  It was pretty straight forward, the most difficult part was adding the piping around the edges of the tie.  This was my own design and had nothing to do with the pattern.  Even matching up the stripes of the fabric to the design went swimmingly.

The pattern called for 2 7/8 yds and I had only 2 1/2 yds of my fabric.  That is another reason I hesitated to buy the pattern, but with very careful laying out, including matching the pattern of the fabric, I had just enough.

I should have measured my arms, the cuffs are a smidge tight for my muscles.  It would have been a simple fix if I had caught it before I cut, but I didn't and I did not have any more fabric to cut new cuffs.  I made some very skinny seams on the cuffs and the cuffs fit well enough but I would like another 1/8 of a inch of ease.

I found the fabric at Mill End.  I just love it.  I piped the edges of the tie in the matching grey fabric.  Originally, the loop for the tie was in the main fabric, but the bow looked a bit anemic so I swapped it out for the contrast.

Would I make it again? Yes.  I am a pretty adept seamstress and I can get over the bumps in the pattern layout. Honestly, the multiple patterns printed over one another is my only complaint.  I don't mind the price but for the price I would like the patterns to be easier to see.   I would modify the sleeves if I were to make it again, I think that they need to be looser so that they can hang or shorter, right now it just looks like too much fabric.

Thoughts on "The King's Speech"

 Date: 2010
Director: Tom Hooper
Starring: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter

Colin Firth in a kilt.  Discuss.

Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth on screen together again.  Discuss.

The years seem to have been kinder to Colin Firth than Jennifer Ehle.  Makeup or age?  Discuss.

Helena Bonham Carter was neither insipid or creepy as I feared she would be.

Geoffrey Rush. Hearts!

Worst Winston Churchill portrayal ever? Likely.

I want the shabby wall in Lionel's office.  Moose said "No."


The "scene"  Oh. My.  It was nothing.  It was even interlaced with British swears which are so ridiculously funny that you weren't even offended by the real swears.  Seriously, this movie would have a PG rating if not for that scene.  I think a brief discussion with the kids about how this is not appropriate language even for adults and why it is not appropriate would be fine.  You could also mute it and not miss the impact.

Overall it was a really good story about courage, trust and duty, but NOT a good film about stuttering.  As the mother of a stammerer I was very annoyed that the film insinuated that the MAIN cause of stuttering is a trauma of some sort.  That is NOT TRUE.  It may be the cause in some cases but not in all or even in most.

I realize that this is a historical film espousing the science of the time but most people don't know anything about stuttering and will not know that the film's message about stuttering is outdated. 

Every parent of a stammerer is afraid that something they did caused their child's dis-fluency and it is unfair to perpetuate those false fears.

What parents of stammerers do need is immense gifts of patience from the almighty and a loving "listening" face.

If I ever hear my kid or anyone else's kid making fun of a child's stutter like David did of Bertie's.  They are going to get a tongue lashing that will make them wish THEY had never learned to talk. 

5 out of 7 thimbles.

Salmon en Crote avec les Police

Otherwise entitled "How fulfilling my 2011 goals ended in a visit from the sheriff."
Monday was a busy day. I babysat in the morning and then set out with 3  kids in tow to do the bi-monthly grocery and sundries shopping trip.  When I got home I hustled to make a pumpkin pie from scratch and make dinner before friends arrived for games and dessert (see pumpkin pie above, and fulfillment of 2011 goal "socials" and continuation of 2010 goal "Find a Friend for Boba Fett.")


Pie:  There wasn't quite enough time to bake a pie and let it cool before our guests arrived so I ended up serving warm pumpkin pie.


Dinner:  On the menu was Salmon en Croute from Jamie's Food Revolution.

  I am really keen on this book not because I don't know how to cook but because I am serious in my kitchen laziness.  I want delicious healthy food fast with little trouble or clean up.  I am going to share the recipe/process with you here because the point of this book is to SHARE the recipes with friends.


First a little olive oil on the pan.


Then roll 2 sheets of puff pastry out together to fit the pan.


Next a little more olive oil and a salmon fillet on top.
I used a much smaller piece of salmon than I usually use for a salmon meal for my family.  I was pretty concerned about it but it turned out fine and I even had leftovers.


Then spread a bit of black olive tapenade over the salmon. 
I couldn't find a black olive tapenade and I know that I don't care for other tapenades; I was going to skip this step all together but I felt that there should be some sort of zing to the recipe so I added about 2 tsp of mayonnaise mixed with lemon juice for an impromptu ailoi sauce and spread that on the salmon. 


Next layer some fresh basil leaves over the salmon.


Then crumble a generous amount of fresh mozzarella cheese over the leaves.


Then lay out sliced tomatoes on the cheese.


Salt and pepper the cheese and tomato layers.


The final step is to pull up and pinch the puff pastry around the sides of the fish like a fish baby in a blanket.  I thought it looked so cute.


Bake in a 400 degree oven for 35 minutes
I had a pie in the oven so I had to bake it at 350 and that was unfortunate as we shall see.

The Review:
This was delicious!  Moose liked it, I liked it, Camrock liked it.  Boba Fett and Nutmeg thought that they would rather die than eat it, but they did eat it and they didn't die.


As any mom knows 3 out of 5 is a win!


The consensus was that it would have been much better if the pastry had been cooked at a hotter temperature it would have been crispier.  It was a bit doughy on the bottom which makes sense considering it was cooked 50 degrees too low.
 
I was also fairly inexpensive.  As I mentioned I usually use twice as much salmon for a meal for our family so this was half the salmon price plus a box of puff pastry which wasn't bad.  The mozzarella wasn't too pricey, and if you have basil or tomatoes from the garden...
It was a very posh feeling meal for so little effort.


The Gathering:
Our guests arrived just as dinner was put away and the pie came out of the oven.
We played games and had a good time while the boys ran around the house being boys.  We ate warm pie, it was good.


The Police:
Just as we were finishing up our pie one of the boys said that Boba Fett had called 911.  Just as we turned to look at Boba Fett the newly-installed-in-the-library-that-very-afternoon phone rang.


Boba Fett's face turned to one of despair as he cried "I thought it was a fake phone!"  Moose answered and told the nice 911 operator that it was a mistake and got the lecture and he hung up.


Our guests were packing up to leave when there was a bang-bang-bang on the side door.  It was the sheriff's deputy he had been wandering around the house looking for the front door.  He didn't find it.  When Moose showed him into the dining room Boba Fett hid under the table crying.


It was chaos.


I hope our guest will come back again sometime.


Dinner was good.

Saturday Night Cinema: The Bollywood Awards

After months of hard work the "Bollywood Pre-Screen" has finally ended. I did it for you gentle reader and because I wanted to find a great film for Cinema Domingo: Bollywood Edition. I have watched a lot on Indian sillyness and shed a great deal of tears. I have read many, many subtitles and I may be able to understand a bit of Hindi. I have a working knowledge of the Hindu godhead, I know Krishna from Vishnu from Ganesha.
I AM counting Bride and Prejudice and Bend it Like Beckham because they started me on this crazy Bollywood quest. I am NOT counting Indian Films like Water or Earth because they contain no singing nor dancing.
As the judge panel consists solely of myself let the ceremony begin.
Bend it like Beckham for "Darshan" B21 for "My Favorite Indian Song."

Bride and Prejudice for "No Life Without Wife" wins the "Song That Has Stuck in My Head the Most" award.
Runner up: Saawaryia for "Saawaryia"

Shahrukh Khan is known as "The King of Bollywood" for a reason, he is good, but he drives me nuts. He seems to excel in slapstick and goofiness. I do not appreciate slapstick or goofiness. He gets the award for "NOT Best Actor."
Zohra Sehgal wins "The Most Frequently Recognized Character Actor" award.

Aishwarya Rai gets the award for the "Most Beautiful Woman on the Planet."
This is of course self explanatory.

Lagaan gets the award for "Most Evil British Stereotype" and an honorable mention for teaching me about cricket, a sport that hitherto was a complete enigma and now is merely a puzzle.Jodhaa Akbar wins the award for "My Favorite Bollywood Film," for the story, the costumes, the leading lady and of course
honest to goodness Whirling Dervishes.

Guru receives the award for "Most Thought Provoking" I am not sure if this successfully bridged the gap between Bollywood and Film. The songs seemed very out of place with the tone of the movie. Abhishek Bachchan played the role of "Guru" very nicely.Saawariya receives the award for "Most Interesting Art Direction"
and also for "Man singing and dancing in a towel."
Kal Ho Naa Ho (Tomorrow May Never Come) wins the award for "The Most Tears Shed by the Judge" seriously touching yet ridiculous at the same time as it stars Shahrukh Khan.

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge recives the "Booby Prize" being the only film I could not finish because it was so bad. Shahrukh Khan strikes again.

Purab Aur Pachhim (East Meets West) wins the awards for "The Most Disturbing Movie I Have Ever Watched," "Least Sympathetic Leading Lady," and "Creepiest Villain Ever" Swinging London in the late 60's, micro mini skirts, moustaches gone wild and so many other things I can't even type them. I thought that I might need an eye transplant after watching this movie. But again, for you gentle reader. The song Hari Krishna wins the award for "The Most Brainwashing Song." I will not link to it because I only believe in brainwashing when it involves Cary Grant. Kuch Naa Kaho - Was the Runner Up for the Cinema Domingo Prize. It had all the elements: costumes, set in India, Aishwarya Rai, crazy love triangle, stellar dance scenes and a smoking hot villain to boot but alas it was out done byHum Dil De Chuke Sanam wins "The Cinema Domingo Prize" for meeting the initial criteria of starring Aishwaryia Rai, being set in India, compelling story as well as winning"Best Costumes," "My Favorite Saree Ever,""Outstanding Dance Numbers,""Most Interesting Love Triangle,""Lovely Sets,"
and "Most Potential for Post Movie Discussion."

Saturday Night Cinema

This week: Room for One More
Starring: Cary Grant and Betsy Drake also George Winslow
Director: Norman Taurog
Date: 1952

This movie was hard to find, I have been hoping to see it for years. Luckily it was released on DVD last year and my library got a copy of it early this year which was great news for me because I loved it. "Delightful" is an appropriate adjective for this movie. I am thinking about purchasing this movie I because I want my kids to internalize the messages.

"Room for One More" is saccharine sweet but Cary Grant manages to balance it out with his characteristic delivery. The youngest child "Teenie" is played by George Winslow, the ordinary looking little boy with the "froggy bass voice."
Betsy Drake was married to Cary Grant at the time so it is interesting to watch their interaction.

This movie exemplifies 1952 America. I am surprised that there wasn't an apple pie served.

Anne Rose has a big heart and is always taking in strays, one day the "stray" is a troubled girl from the orphanage, then it is a handicapped boy. Anne and "Poppy" show incredible patience and insight and help these two children become well adjusted young people as well as continue to raise their own three children.

What I loved about this is that they were not afraid to let the children fail.

There is an unabashed plug for the Foster care system as well as what might have well been an advertisement for the Boy Scouts of America including an Eagle Scout Court of Honor.

Cary Grant explains the birds and the bees to "Jimmy John" in a scene that explains everything and nothing all at once and another scene where a litter of kittens is actually being born.

There is another scene which I can't mention here because this is a family blog but when you watch the movie you will get it but the kids won't. Hilarious.

Based on the foster care and Boy Scouts of America I have a feeling that my Hanna friends are going to give this a huge thumbs up.

As for me I give it 6 out of 7 thimbles which is very, very good.

3 Mildly Entertaining Films

I have been listening to Atlas Shrugged on the iPod, it is around 63 hours or so. Listening to so much obejectivism and drooling over Francisco Domingo Carlos Andres Sebastián d'Anconia combined with putting our house up for sale hasn't left much time for movie watching, however; last weekend I watched a few flicks. They were...okay. I don't know that they were well done, two of them were low budget films and only one was mildly exciting. But they all made me think.
The first was "Arranged," a sleepy film about an Orthodox Jewish girl and a Muslim girl who are teachers in the same school. They find that they have a lot in common not the least of which being that they are both expecting arranged marriages.

I liked this film because I definitely see the wisdom in arranged marriages, and this movie didn't make them look weird just different. The acting was okay in some spots and bad in others. Obviously, a low budget film but not painful to watch like "Fireproof" (which I loved but can't stand to watch because of the poor acting.)
The second was "War Bride," again low budget and kind of sleepy.
Mostly I was confused?
What was the mother doing upstairs while she was crying and looking at her wedding picture? I don't think I want to know. What did she put in the little tin and then bury on her husband's grave? Why? What did any of this have to do with the film? Do Lily and Charlie ever discuss "Joe?" Why was Charlie so messed up after the war?? Yeah, yeah, PTSD but why? Why is Sophie going back to London? Are you trying to tell me that the family lavishes her with kindness and furs and then kicks her to the curb when her husband is killed?

None of these things are explained. Usually when a movie has gaping holes like this it means it was adapted from a book. As far as I can tell this is not, so those questions - just wasted celluloid.

A movie about a war bride could have been better. A war bride is a great plot device how can you ruin that?


The last was the BBC's production of "The 39 Steps" an adaptation of the book by John Buchan. You may remember that Hitchcock's The 39 Steps is one of my favorite movies and I was hoping for a modern remake. I was disappointed.
The most exciting part of this movie was when Rupert Penry-Jones took his shirt off and that WAS exciting. Can I just ask, if they had to go with a Blond James Bond couldn't they have chosen Rupert Penry-Jones instead of that blue collar worker they put in a tux and handed and Aston Martin?

Hitchcock always called North by Northwest the American version of The 39 Steps.

So what is this?











The British version of North by Northwest?

If so they didn't do a very good job. As much as I love Hitchcock's The 39 Steps I have to admit that North by Northwest is a better movie so it was an improvement on The 39 Steps. The BBC's The 39 Steps is in no way better than North by Northwest or even Hitchcock's The 39 Steps.

I would have thought that the BBC wouldn't tackle a remake unless they could do it better OR stay faithful to the book. They did neither. Bad form.

Just a handful of thimbles out of a possible 21 for all 3 films.

Wherein I Purchase 8 rolls of Packing Tape

I got this book from the library,it is called "301 Simple Things You Can Do To Sell Your Home Now and for More Money Than You Thought : How to Inexpensively Reorganize, Stage, and Prepare Your Home for Sale."

I read this book in one night. I liked this book, home staging is mostly common sense to me but I did get some pointers. I feel prepared. Except for two points.

The first is that this book was published in 2007, before the collapse of the housing market and when houses were selling like iced water bottles at the Fair in August. I am now trying to sell my house in the real world in a recession with unemployment skyrocketing and the Fed in danger of implosion at any moment. I just count my lucky stars that I live in Portland where the decline has been much less drastic than say Phoenix.

The second and most important is that this book devotes a mere 9 of 282 pages of the book to living in your home while it is staged and you are trying to sell and there are ZERO words of wisdom for living in your house while it is staged and you are trying to sell with KIDS in a slow market.

The good news is this is what my half of the sewing room/office looks like
Yes, this is the room formerly known as "Wall to Wall Fabric and Trim."
Note the ample storage space.
The bad news is this is what the rest of my house looks like
Those are boxes full of the room formerly known as "Wall to Wall Fabric and Trim."

Antler Damask in Sky

Another Margaret Bag this time 80% in Antler Damask Sky with Lattice lining and red rick rack trim.
I am not wild about the button, which is perhaps why I dreamed of the antique store with the "button bar" last night.
I have been trying to figure out a way to read while knitting for quite some time. A few months ago I decided that this pattern from Sew Liberated was just the thing. I had hoped to receive it for a birthday present but that didn't happen so I bought it for myself.
I used Antler Damask and Lattice along with red rick rack again. I appliqued little birds from Antler Damask onto the Lattice side.
It works okay, it holds a hardcover book like nobody's business, but paperback books not so much. Since I mostly own paperbacks because I find them easier to hold while reading, this is a problem. I restuffed the pillow to see if more batting would solve the problem. Gothic Tales would not be held under any circumstances but the paperback of Sense and Sensibility I read last night stayed in firmly as long as I didn't wiggle much.

So, I have mixed feelings about the pillow, it is cute, it works after a fashion but I find myself debating whether or not there are mods I can make to make it work better and the reason I spent $14.45 on a PILLOW pattern was so that I wouldn't have to reinvent the wheel and just a have a pillow that worked, to save time and frustration. I feel a little cheated. I never spend money on patterns and certainly not $14.45 for ANY pattern.

5 out of 7 thimbles for the Sew Liberated Reading Pillow pattern but I am not 5 thimbles happy.

Spooky Tales

It was our Annual Spooky Stories and Carmel Apples Night last night. We invited Los Dominguez and Luke. This year we simply sliced the apples and poured the carmel on top since last years melon ball experiment didn't work like we had hoped. We melted the Carmel candies in the double boiler with some marshmallows and cream. Success!

Commander C and Jonah told the same story trying to one up each other, Spencer told of a spider with long legs and Laura told a timely tale about the mortgage crisis. I told The Owl Witch and a story I found in a book but I changed the names to people we knew to make it scarier.

Last year I recommended this story by Elizabeth Gaskell. I liked it so much that I bought a copy of Elizabeth Gaskell's Gothic Tales and saved it to read this October. Now I have a new tale to recommend. It isn't really a ghost story like "The Old Nurses Tale" but "The Grey Woman" involves deception, a spooky castle and a brigand!

There are other good stories in Gothic Tales some more suspenseful than others. For example with the title of "Lois the Witch" set in 17th century Salem you KNOW how the story is going to turn out.

Six out of Seven thimbles for "Gothic Tales."

Saturday Night Cinema

Last night we went to a movie in the park. It was magical, it was The Wizard of Oz. Watching it on a large movie screen with an audience and my children seeing it for the first time was amazing. I have never been crazy about The Wizard of Oz before, I liked it alright but nothing special. But last night was extraordinary. The audience cheered each time Toto escaped the Miss Gulch/the Wicked Witch of the West, clapped at the end of songs and after every performance of the Cowardly Lion. Boba Fett and Nutmeg were entranced.
The Wizard of Oz
Date: 1939
Starring: Judy Garland
Directed by: Victor Flemming

This film won 2 Oscars in 1939 for Original Song and Original Song. It was up for several other things but it was competing with Gone With the Wind. Judy Garland's baby talk is a bit irritating but she is a competent actress at only 16 years, and I thank my luck stars a million times that they didn't choose Shirley Temple for the role as originally planned. I can't think of anyone more annoying than Shirley Temple and her baby talk (except John Malcovich) The role of The Cowardly Lion played by Bert Lahr is outstanding. I think he was my favorite character last night. The costumes are really quite brilliant.

Watch The Wizard of Oz again. Sit still and don't get up and if possible watch it with a child who has never seen it before.

6.5 out of 7 thimbles

Saturday Night Cinema

Charade
Date: 1963
Starring: Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn and a host of other great actors as well as a marginal to poor little boy actor with a French accent.
Directed by: Stanley Donen
Music by: Henry Mancini

I love this movie when I am in the mood for a spy type thriller with a lighthearted touch. There is mystery and some suspense, many laughs and a whole lot of wonderful Cary Grant.
I am not a huge fan of Audrey Hepburn, I think she is good in some things but in a lot of movies she annoys me. In Charade I like her. Cary Grant was uncomfortable because of the age difference between him and Audrey Hepburn so they made Audrey Hepburn's character chase after him with a lot of jokes fron Grant about his age.
The soundtrack is superb, Henry Mancini you know. Many wonderful lines including but not limited to Audrey Hepburn's character touching Cary Grant's chin and asking him, "How do you shave in there?" My 9 year old likes it too.

6 out of 7 thimbles

Saturday Night Cinema

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Starring: John Wayne, James Stewart
Directed By: John Ford
Date: 1962

This film has some interesting themes on statesmanship and citizenship. Stoddard is a reluctant statesman yet he does his duty. There is also a question about the rule of law and what is right and what keeps you alive when there is no law.

The set is very minimal, almost campy but it works leaving you to focus on the characters and story rather than be distracted by the set. Jimmy Stewart and John Wayne are two of the best hands down and this film is easy to watch even if the leading lady they are scrapping over is a little abrasive.

I think this is one of Boss Moss' favorite films.

6 out of 7 thimbles

Saturday Night Cinema

Since I last mentioned Severus Snape, I have finished reading the Harry Potter books and just this afternoon watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

How do I feel about Snape now that I have read all of the books? I just want to say that "I knew it!" and if I were to have another son I would name him Severus.
How was Alan Rickman in HBP? Snapeish and Snapetastic.
How did I like the movie HBP? It was good but a bit underwhelming. I think many of the parts of the book that they skipped were key to the story. I thought that it lacked a lot of emotion. Daniel Radcliff's "Felix Felicis Harry" was hilarious.
What magic spell would I most like to have? The one where Dumbledore cleans up the room with a flick of his wand.

7 out of 7 thimbles for the book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
and 5 out of 7 thimbles for the movie Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Saturday Night Cinema

Gone With The Wind
Starring: Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Olivia de Havilland and Leslie Howard
Directed by: Victor Fleming
Date: 1939

This is the film that fueled my adolescence, a scary thought, I know, but a woman can get a lot of tips, good and bad, from Scarlett O'Hara.

This film ranks as AFI's #4 best film ever. And why not? It has costumes, passion, war, accents and women who don't care about their reputation. It has blockade running, and epic score and the Virginia Reel.

This is the only movie I like Clark Gable in; I think he is a little goofy looking, but not in Gone With the Wind, oh no.

Vivien Leigh is amazing, it's no wonder the greatest actor ever fell in love with and married her.

I hope you have seen this already, if not you should make no delay in doing so. This movie is the definition of iconic. There have been countless books, and articles and whole movies made about the making of this movie. It is a long movie at 238 minutes but there is a nice intermission.

One of my favorite lines is this: "No, I don't think I will kiss you, although you need kissing, badly. That's what's wrong with you. You should be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how. "
7 out of 7 thimbles