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.

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

Oh yes.
North By Northwest
Starring: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint
Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock
Date: 1959

Espionage, mistaken identity, unidentified (possibly communist) foreign bad guys. Cary Grant. Sleeper Trains. Steamy.

You simply have to see this film. It is iconic. Literally.

Hitchcock referred to this film as "the American 39 Steps."

This was my Grandma's favorite film. She also loved Cary Grant because "He is so handsome!"

Careless Talk Costs Lives

I dream of riding along city streets and country lanes on my sky blue vintage bicycle while wearing one of my fabulous full skirts with a bottle of sparkling cider, a baguette, something leafy and green (or flowers perhaps) and a Scotty puppy tucked into the basket.

I might be on a reconnaissance mission for the British government doing my part to fight the Gerries. I will discreetly snap photos as I run my fingers through my perfectly set hair when I stop for a rest. I must be careful not to puncture a tire because there is a shortage of rubber you know.

Because really, could any other bike be fit for me and my sense of style?

I found the perfect bike on Craigslist, I will just hope that Moose loves me more than that guitar amp he thinks he needs to buy.

***I really wish I had kept my then vintage bike from when I was in Junior High. It was black with white accents, classic lines and a 3 speed in the handle that you turned like the gears on a motorcycle.****

******* Update*******
My bicycle is now copper and I am wearing a trench coat and black beret. I am a member of the French Resistance smuggling weapon parts in hollowed out books. The Nazis think I am a little bit of French stuff but I have too much "Je ne sais quois."

SurvivorGal

We have discovered a fun television show thanks to Netflix Instant Play. It is called Survivorman and this guy gets dropped off in the wilderness and has to survive for 7 days using only what he has with him, and he films it. It's like real life MacGyver without the cold war and eco-terrorists but Les Stroud has completely inferior hair to Richard Dean Anderson.

The show has sparked my imagination to say the least. I find myself looking at everyday objects and trying to figure out how I could use them to survive.

As I was getting ready for bed I realized how most women have an extra valuable tool in their clothing. The bra. Stretchy, cups for carrying things AND underwire and hooks for fishing! You would be surprised how many times this guy is feet from fish but can't catch them! I think there should be a special episode of Survivorman called SurvivorGal.
Meantime we are going to be practicing survival skills at home such as starting a fire with a fire bow and blowing sparks into tinder bundles. I may take to carrying a Mini Leatherman and lighter as well as my ResQme.

Yes I really do carry a ResQme since my greatest fear in going off a bridge into the Willamette with my kids in the car. Yes, life jackets too. I know it is a little paranoid but when you see me soaking wet and ALIVE on the KATU news with 3 live children you won't think I am THAT crazy.

Saturday Night Cinema

Notorious
Starring: Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains
Date: 1946
Director: Alfred Hitchcock

This is my favorite movie.
This film has espionage, German bad guys, and Cary Grant. It has love, jealousy and the famous kissing scene. The censors wouldn't allow a kiss longer than 3 seconds so Hitch blocked an incredible scene where Grant and Bergman kiss for 3 minutes with dialogue interspersed. The camera never leaves them and there are no cuts.Keira and I viewed it last night and agreed that Bergman playing with Cary Grant's ear definitely makes up for any misgivings we might have had as to her fitness as leading lady.
The filming and plot of this film are superb. I can't say enough good about it except watch it.

Even though this was filmed in 1946 there are several not so nice allusions to the heroine's "virtue" or lack there of so be warned.

Note to self: Never cross Cary Grant in love, he can be viciously cruel.

Saturday Night Cinema

This Week: The 39 Steps
Starring: Robert Donat,Madeline Carroll with Peggy Ashcroft
Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock
Date:1935

This is one of my all time favorite movies. It has one of my favorite movie themes SPIES!

Set in London, but mostly Scotland.
Richard Hannay is suspected of a murder of which he is innocent. He flees to Scotland in search of a man in which to impart information from the spy who was killed in his apartment.
There are chases on a train and on a moor. There is a girl and handcuffs. There are sheep. There is humor, there is suspense. There are Scottish stereotypes and a man who is missing a finger!
I don't know why but the scenes on the moor seem oddly real to me considering this is a 75 year old film.
The scenes at the inn make me giggle. Stockings, they are so innocent yet risque. Handcuffs, surprisingly convenient.
Each time I see the train chase sequence I think how fun it would be if someone remade this film in the style of the Bourne films. Then I realize that what makes this film so great is the setting, the times and Hitchcock's brilliant camera work. A remake would try to distinguish itself and ruin what is great about this film.

This an old movie some of the DVD distributions out there are not so hot. If you rent this movie and the sound is spotty and the picture a little grainy just bear with it. If you buy the film, read the reviews and buy the expensive version, they say it is worth it in picture and sound quality.
The film was inspired by a short story of the same name by John Buchan. I have read the story and I liked it. Overall the book is similar but the 39 steps are actual, real, honest to goodness steps in the story and there isn't a love interest either. This is one time when I like the movie better!

7 out of 7 thimbles

And Now It's Time For Silly Pictures with Samurai Mom

I especially like the forest background of my curtains from our first apartment. I wish those would break too, so I could spend the money and make new ones. What ugly curtains.

Disguises

These are pictures from the Trunk or Treat the other night. I think tonight will be too crazy to post pictures.
Mario
Indiana Jones - there is a whip under that jacket,
And a repeat of Little Red Riding Hood.
Danvers as Mother Goose.
My disguise should Moose and I manage to find a baby sitter tonight and go downtown to a showing of Nosferatu. I figure it would be suicide to go into downtown Portland dressed as Sarah Palin. I will put this over my makeup and loose the suit- too bad I don't have a Patagonia fleece pullover.
Thanks to Pretty Little Things for the inspiration!

Communitsts, Germans and Stars. Oh, My!

I have never been a huge fan of Paul Newman mostly because I am not that familiar with his work (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) and only slightly familiar with his salad dressings. I have been delving deeper lately watching The Long Hot Summer, Exodus and tonight Torn Curtain is on the docket. I thought it was ironic that a Paul Newman Movie arrived in the mail the day he died.

"You like me! You Really Like me!"

I added one of those following gadgets on my blog. If you like to read my blog click on the "Follow this Blog." It is on the right underneath the label "People who like to spy on Samurai Mom." It is easy and if you really are spying on me blogger allows you to follow anonymously so I won't know who you are. I suspect you may be Russian because Russians are the bad guys (ergo spies) again. I am sad because I like Russia and would like to visit someday, but on the bright side James Bond and cold war movies are applicable again. For a while there the only bad guys were Arab Terrorists and that felt uncomfortable because it was pretty racist. But with Russians you know that you aren't being racist just anti-communist (I know, I know Russia is a technically democracy now but work with me people, Think of the MOVIES!) I would love to have German bad guys again, but that seems unlikely unless it is a movie about homeschooling or ideological freedoms.
Currently the only follower of my blog is my mom. I adore my mom and I am thrilled that she is following my blog but seriously imagine how it feels that the only person that admits to reading your blog is your mom. She has to like my blog, she's my mom. I sit there looking at my one follower (my mom) and feel like a total social misfit. So please let me feel like the sunburned Sally Field and let me say "You like me! You really like me!"