Robert Shaw Film, Cuban Missile Crisis and Me

Sunday evening we went to see the Robert Shaw film MAN OF MANY VOICES at the Rich Theater at the Atlanta Performing Arts Center.

The film editor is Amy Linton, a friend.  We met her through her mother Ruth.

We learned a lot about Robert Shaw.  He was a music conductor during changing times. He went where his ear for music led him and the decisions he made was based on the quality of music, which has nothing to do race or politics.  He was a conductor with guts.

Also Robert Shaw was a heavy drinker, womanizer, and not a family man.  He hardly knew his children of his first marriage.

The film clips sequences were well placed and his story from birth to death held us spellbound.  

The film also brought back plenty of personal memories.  For instance, Robert Shaw and his Shaw Chorale singers went to Moscow to give a concert.

This was in 1962.  The U.S.A. and Russia were facing each other ready for showdown over the newly discovered missiles headed for Cuba, which became known as the "Cuban Missile Crisis".   Both sides were ready use nuclear weapons.  If a balloon popped it might have caused WWIII.

I remember some of us local good old boys met over a few beers and decided President John Kennedy needed us to get him out of this mess.

I enlisted in the Navy because of the Cuban Missile Crisis.  But, because of the beer I drunk the night before they found sugar in my blood, so I had to come back after drinking plenty of water, flushing myself out, so to speak.  Then I was accepted.

When the State Department learned that the Shaw Choralers   planned to sing some very religious timeless Christmas songs, including Bach Mass, Minor B,  the State Department had a fit.  Russia was ruled by the anti-religious  Communist U.S.S.R.  Religious songs and services were strictly prohibited.

The State Department  warned this music could set off World War III.  I think  Shaw felt:  Good music deserved to be played.

He went ahead and played the music.

Which might have soothed the stress between the two nations, not tightened it.  The Cuban Missile Crisis was no longer a crisis.

And all this time I thought the Cuban Missile Crisis was all about me.

Looking at the Movie FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS

We saw the movie FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS yesterday.  Not bad.

It is a true story about a wanna-be classical singer who, as they say, had more money than sense.  She was a terrible singer but her husband did not have the heart to tell her, so he gave fat tips to people, suggesting they should tell Florence how good she is.

Florence Foster Jenkins was played by Meryl Streep.  Her husband played by Hugh Grant, and the piano player, who in my opinion stole the show, was Simon Helgrove.  Another who stole the show was Nina Arlanda, who played a gum chewing sexy blond showgirl who recently married the owner of a meat company and he is trying to indoctrinate her into high society.

World War II in going on and Patriotism was coming strongly alive to show "those boys fighting for us" true appreciation.
The movie has a living room party scene where people come alive doing the Boogey Woogey.  It was a great demo!  And more than once The 1940s fast pace music broke out to fit the times.  It was well done.

Florence decides to give a concert at Carnegie Hall in invite about 1000 service men to show her appreciation. 

They and musical patrons pack the house and Florence (Streep) sings for them.  Everybody almost laughs her off the stage.  But suddenly the people realized she was giving all music ability she had to show them her appreciation. 

She got a standing ovation.

And died not long after that, in 1944.

Did I tell you the time when a bunch of us Navy friends went to Carnegie Hall?  Not that it had anything to do with this movie, but I recognized the layers of balconies.  We went on a week night to see a Folk Singers concert night.  There were a bunch of popular singers and groups there but the only person I remember by name there was Johnny Cash, and he wasn't what I would call a folk singer.  

Chicken-fat's view on MONEY MONSTER

The above is the projector room in a multiplex theater.  Those two consoles via computers control 14 movies at once.  No manpower needed.

Today we saw the movie MONEY MONSTER directed by Jodie Foster starring George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Caitriona Balfe*, and others.

Caitriona Balfe* is the starlet of the TV cable series *OUTLANDER (a time traveler in Scotland's history).

MONEY MONSTER is about a TV news/business analysis star (George Clooney) who tells the latest daily business news in his own charming way of singing, dancing, blowing horns, and surprised popup visuals.  He is an ego maniac and full of himself... actually, the two are just about the same.

The plot opens in the studio as Clooney gives his ra-ma-tazz dog and pony financial show.  A stranger suddenly comes on the scene with a gun in his hand.  He makes Clooney put on a suicide bomb jacket and he holds the detonator. 

The guy, a $14/hour truck driver just lost his inheritance because he put it all in an investment company.  The company invested by programmed trading... it was untouched by human hands.  The computer analyzes what is going up and down and automatically buys low and sells high.  But it took something like an 8 million dip and a lot of people lost their investments.  He wanted answers.  He centered on Clooney because he recommended the stock. 

 The  company blamed it on a "glitch" in the program.   But was it?

Nobody can define the word "glitch" 

Or does "glitch" mean a human being covering up something?

Go see for yourself and see.

It is a good movie.  No doubt it was made by Hollywood formulas but it keeps you on edge as you watch it, it is entertaining, and it hints how crooked Wall Street investors can be and how helpless we are.

Checking out the JAMES BOND move SPECTRE

Yesterday we rented the latest  JAMES BOND movie SPECTRE. 

Man!  Was it good!  Before the credits James was responsible for tearing up almost a whole city block in Mexico City, jumped on a flying helicopter, kicked all the bad guys out in mid air (not without some good hand to hand combat).

Man!  Was it good!?

As soon as they got the fist action packed  scene out of the way, and the opening song and format screen credits and the duel came on that always opens the Bond movies  I knew I was James Bond.  My adrenalin rose with the music and I felt I could leap buildings in a single bound - wait!  Wrong hero.

After it was over and I was still trying to catch my breath I started thinking about the details.   Like all James Bond movies I can think of it had a countdown on a ticking time bomb with the heroine tied beside it.  It has some beautiful scenes of the Alps, like many Bond movies.  Like other Bond flicks for comic relief was Q who was the inventor for the British Spy 00 network.  In this movie I learned his title:  Quartermaster.  That makes sense.

As in the other movies the super brains villain was suave, witty, slightly effeminate, and had a fat long haired white cat.  However, here is one original twist.  James and the main bad guy were raised by the same grownups.  It almost was like Smothers Brothers plot of "Mama loved you more".

It was good.

The Movie TRUMBO

I wanted to see TRUMBO because I read and liked one of Dalton Trumbo's books, JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN. It was an anti-war novel and critical the warmonger leaders.  I also liked the beat of the music in the previews.

Dalton Trumbo was of the ten Hollywood screenplay writers who was blacklisted during the witch hunt of "commies" during the red scare - they refused to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities".  Trumbo was sentenced to a year in prison for contempt of Congress for refusing to testify.

He was a registered Communist Party member, which was perfectly legal.  It was just a political party, no espionage or anything like that.  He refused to provide them names of other members of the party.  It was a matter of principle.

After Trumbo served his time he was still on the Hollywood Blacklist and could not get work under his name.  So, he began writing screen plays under pseudo names and selling his stories to other writers not as good to use as his own.

Hedda Hopper was constantly against the black listed men, which kept them from being hired.  It took the bravery of the King Brothers and Kirk Douglas to hire them and a plug from new president John F. Kennedy didn't hurt.

The movie was well done.  They combined acting with real newsreels and TV news of the time. 

The movie was directed by Johnny Roach; written by John McNamara;  and starred Bryan Cranston, Diane Lane, and John Goodman and others.

If You Can't Beat 'Em, Join 'Em!

Watching Governor Chris Christy smiling and endorsing Donald Trump reminds me of the old saying, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!"

It also reminds me of a scene in the movie "O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU?"  when Governor "Pappy" O'Daniel" , played by Charles Durning, see the  crowd go wild over the band "Soggy Bottom Boys", a group of outlaw fugitive from the chain-gang, makes an instant decision to hop on their bandwagon. and pardon them.

JOY at the Movie Tavern

Yesterday we went to the Move Tavern to see movie JOY.

JOY is a pleasant movie, a rags to riches kind of movie about a young lady who invented a mop that one can wring out without having to actually having to touch the mop strings with their hands.  The name stars in it are Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, and Bradley Cooper.  You would expect Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper to have a romance.  Nope, their relationship was all-business.   The movie based on the true story of Joy Mangano, a self made millionaire who had to fight all kinds of odds to get where she is.  It also gives the entrails of the home shopping networks.

It was good.  Very good.

What was not good while we were watching it was constant chatter of little old ladies.  I think a lot of elderly retirees use the Movie Tavern in the daytime as their social outlet.  They had no idea they should have been quiet during the movie.  

There was a request on the screen before the movie to please  cut off your cell phone, but I suppose they thought talking didn't count.

Also, at the Movie Tavern there is no concession counter.  Instead there are many white shirt waiters and waitresses buzzing around with their round trays held high as a waiter at the Waldorf-Astoria  might do.  The prices are high, considering mostly it is finger food or comfort foot they offer.  The waiter we dealt with and others in earshot were very courteous. Also, the wide walk strip that runs the width of the theater that separated the upper seats and lower seats was the walking area for the waiting staff.  I noticed that each time they crossed from one side to the other then bent over and hurried to the other side like there might be a snapper shooting at them.

When we left, parked at the curb in front was a shuttle bus for assistant living home.  Of course! 

Checking Out WHIPLASH, the movie

Watching WHIPLASH was about like watching a sadistic self-centered D.I. at a Marine boot camp.  You naturally feel for the young boot trainee that the cruel D.I. has leveled his sights on.

It was written and directed by Damien Chazell, based on his own experiences in a high school band.  Winning Band Competitions was the number one focus of the teacher/ band leader Terrence Fletcher, played by J.K. Simmons.

The protagonist, Andrew Neiman was played by Mike Teller, loved jazz music and wanted to be part of it.  He had in his head all the great memorable jazz greats and their performances.   He was enthused and competitive wanting the number one chair as the drummer.

His band teacher was more centered on timely discipline of the beat than inspiration.  He goaded his students, embarrassing individuals  in front of their peers, calling them names that suited their personality, like if they were gay he would call them names anti-gay kind of names, if they were chubby, then he made fun of the Happy Meals they might have rather be eating or with one he made fun of the kids parents.  He was a sadistic trainer.   He would angrily throw a chair or a drum at students not living up to his expectations.  He was very cruel and took the inspiration out of the musically minded students.

If you bumbled or challenged the teacher you were out of there with the teacher calling you names as you exited.  At least one embarrassed picked -on student committed suicide.

According to Terrence Fletcher winning at band competitions was everything.

My son was in a band that was always winning at high school band competitions.   Did he have to put up with all that kind of  rigid stuff?

The movie title WHIPLASH was the name of a jazz instrumental that the band students practiced with their leaders harassing them throughout.

Of course, WHIPLASH has other meanings metaphorically and what it is, which is sort of like BACKFIRED.  which is the  ending climax, sort of.

I think jazz is based on improvisation of music, no strict rhythm beats or rules - you do your own thing, sort of.  But, I am probably wrong.

I thought the movie was good,  high tension drama, and an ending with a question mark.

Actor  J.K. Simmons has been around a long time.  He was a shrink in LAW AND ORDER , and had a minor role in several movies, playing "second fiddler", so to speak.    But in this movie he got in your face, and I mean in your face, and proved what a good actor he is.

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Checking Out Woody Allen's MAGIC MOONLIGHT movie

Movie:  MAGIC IN THE MOONLIGHT written and directed by Woody Allen.

The two main stars in this movie are British actor Colin Firth and American actress Emma Stone.  The plot is in Europe in 1928 hopping between Germany, maybe Spain and Italy.  Colin Firth's character is an illusionist who openly admits all his magic tricks are just tricks and he vows to expose phony clairvoyants and mystics.

Emma Stone is the  phony clairvoyant and mystic and Colin Firth is the illusionist and spirit buster.  Emma  is  down to earth and  unpretentious.  Colin is a sophisticated snob.  Do you know what that is?  A Hollywood formula for the leading man and leading woman to fall in love.  Guaranteed!

The character Colin portrays get in several debates with Emma's characters, and other characters about what is real and solid and what is not.  He was debating against magic but the debate could easily be against religion with almost the same words.

Woody Allen has not made movies in the United States for several years now.  It is too costly.  It is cheaper in other parts of the world.    They ride all over Europe in a little sports car visiting the upper crust of society with the Mediterranean as the backdrop - pretty cheaply too!

I have always thought Woody Allen movies were great.    They get complex.  The self-worthiness of things are always  on the chopping block.  This movie, I'm not so sure.

Oh, What Big Eyes You Have!

We saw the movie BIG EYES this weekend.  It was a Tim Burton movie and because of that I thought it would be great.   When I saw it, I thought  it wasn't all that great.  I think the reason we were not impressed with it so much because we did not have the element of surprise.  We knew what would be the "capper" .  We heard and read too many interviews about the movie.

But in case you do not know how it ended I will not ruin it for you.  It might help you like it better.

However, I have to say, that Tim Burton was out of his element; he is famous for making supernatural movies such as EDWARD SCISSOR HANDS and animated features such as THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS and other dark movies such as BATMAN RETURNS or  THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW.  This movie was on the sunny side, sort of.

As far as I know it is a factual story about the artist couple Walter  and Margaret Keane.

Now, to my own personal eyewitness of the BIG EYE paintings:

When I was in the Navy stationed in Lakehurst, New Jersey, we frequently went to New York City, and without fail went to Greenwich Village.  Some time or another, in an art gallery window was some paintings or prints of the BIG EYED sad little children by "Keane"  I was impressed by the sad feelings the pictures stimulated.  Then, about every time we went to the Village I saw more BIG EYES by "Keane" in the galleries windows.  The popularity grew and grew.  The pictures were selling like hotcakes.

This was in the year 1963-65 when we there often.  And that was about the time period the movie took place.   A big murel of Keane's BIG EYES was to be at the New York City World's Fair in 1965, but something went wrong.  See the picture and find what.

I thought it would be funny if at the end some old irate customer demanded his money back because he thought the name of it was "BIG ASS".

Checking Out CHEF

starring Jon Favreau, and co-starring Sofía Vergara, John Leguizamo, Scarlett Johansson, Oliver Platt, Bobby Cannavale, Dustin Hoffman, and Robert Downey, Jr. 

We watched the movie CHEF.   It is about a man who is a chef a chef of a nice restaurant.  It was produced, directed by Jon Favreau and also starred him.  Also it had John Leguizamo, Scarlett Johnasson, Oliver Platt, Bobby Cannavale, Dustin Hoffman, and Robert Downey, Jr. 

Jon is a down to earth type of guy with down to earth assistants.  The only thing he wants in life is to create spectacular food to be appreciated.  But if one demands the spotlight  he gets the attention of critics,  Over reacting to a critic's column  was the Chef's downfall.

He also rediscovered other important things that should be in his life, like his son.

He gets a food truck and makes the best of his situation.

You get a good food preparation movie with close-ups of bacon sizzling and popping on the grill and other things being cut and cooked.  You also get a road trip that goes from Miami that focuses on New Orleans and Houston, Texas ;  not only the local food but also the local music. of Miami, New  Orleans and Houston.

It was good and fattening.  

Wes Anderson's Movie THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

This movie was directed by Wes Anderson,  produced by Wes Anderson,  screenplay by Wes Anderson and the story was by Wes Anderson,  Steven M. Rules, and Scott Rudin.

The base of the movie is the grand Budapest Hotel in the Alps and the hotel's concierge over a period of time that Germany was ravaging over Europe and how the Third Reich effected every one - and believe or not, it is a comedy, with its serious ponders.

I enjoyed it because it was a good history lesson and the cinematography.   The cinematographer, Robert Yeoman did a great job   - I think either he or the director Wes Anderson was compulsive on showing human motion  in a comparison way..... hard to explain.  Think of ducks walking single file with the mama duck leading...... there is plenty of that kind of orderly kind of motion..... plus some chase scenes, which any action packed movie will have some good chase scenes - it is an unwritten law.

The cameo of stars came and went and some came back.   The main star, the  concierge Monsieur Gustave was played by Ralph Fiennes; Jude Law was an author; Jeff Goldblum had reoccurring part;  so did Ed Norton;  Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, and many more.

Once during the movie we snoozed.   We went back to see what we missed and overlapped ourselves maybe 20 to 30 minutes and in the parts we saw the second time we discovered one thing neat about the movie that each time you watch it, I think you will notice something visually or implied that you haven't noticed before.  

The Movie HER

Theodore and Samantha (HER) kidding around.

HER was a 5 academy award nominee so it must be good right?

It was directed and produced by Spike Jonez - so, again, it must be good, right? Well, it is a thinker. It is about a lonely guy who falls in love with a microbit that has been programmed with human feelings and emotions... the microchip's name is Samatha - and as their involvement gets more involved with each other things get terrible complicated. Remember, it she is a electronic micro and can carry on a romance with over 4000 people at the same time - as a matter of fact, she was doing just that, but she only had love feelings for slightly over 400 - which my swift electronic computer like mind quickly calculated that she fell in love with about 10% of her workload. HER (Samatha) even arranged for human surrogate female when physical love was called for. It is a movie that keeps you thinking, that is for sure. But, at my age, when I think too much I get sleepy. So, I fell asleep in the middle of it, but finished it off this morning. It starred Joaquin Phoenix and Amy Adams - quick, name me a movie lately that Amy Adams hasn't been in. Scarlett Johansson was Samatha's voice. Not bad.

Theordore and Samatha look at the city's skyline together.

Checking out AUGUST - OSAGE COUNTY

We watched AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY video the other day.  It is about an extended family of two aging sisters, their husbands,  and grown children.  It takes place in Osage County, Oklahoma; prairie county.  The husband of one of the sisters first is missing and they find his body.  Not many kind words are spoken in the movie, there are no love lost, I don't think, between any of them except two that  are secretly having an affair, and even then it in incest.  It was originally a play, now a movie.   As events unfold and people tell what is really on their mind you can understand how it has the makings for a play:  A Tennessee Williams gut-wrenching , let no stone be unturned kind of play.  Depressing story but  good acting, in my opinion.

The movie was directed by John Wells and written by Tracy Letts.

Starring Meryl Street, Julia Roberts, Chris Cooper, Wean McGregor, Margo Martindale, and Sam Shepard. 

Checking out NEBRASKA (the movile)

Bruce Dern (Woody) and  Will Fort (David)

NEBRASKA, directed by Alexander Payne and written by Bob Nelson.  Starring Bruce Dern, Will Fort, June Squibb,  Stacy Keach, and more.

The first thing you will notice is that the movie is in black and white.   My first thought was "Why?"  But after watching it I think color would have taken something out of the movie.

It is a trip movie.   Woody Grant ( Bruce Dern) gets one of those bulk rate notice from something like Publishers' Clearing House insinuating there is a good chance he has won a $1,000,000.  He insists on driving  to Lincoln, Nebraska, to claim his million dollars.  Woody is apparently half senile and seems to be  in another world during most the movie.  His son, David (Will Fort),  risks  his job to go along with his father to watch out for him.

Also his Will's brother Ross (Bob Odenkirk), a local anchorman,  is good supporting part.

They dropped by Woody's hometown Hawthorne, Nebraska,  that   he  was born in and grew up in and still have plenty of relatives nearby.   

In Hawthorne one of the middle age unemployed cousin/nephew is facing a crime charge.  It was casually mentioned, like asking how is the RAPE charge coming and the man's parents quickly jumped in and  said it was not RAPE, nothing like it.  It is SEXUALLY ASSAULT charge they said.  Big difference they felt.  The word meant everything to their reputation.

Up until this point his relatives  and old partner could take him or leave him but somehow word got out that he WON $1,000,000 and suddenly everybody becomes gushy friendly and  reminds the Bruce character of all the favors they have helped him out with.... first it was nice then they got vicious.  All in the name of greed.

Bruce's wife Kate is played by June Squibb.  She is a blunt speaking  tell-it-like it is motherly type that uses four-letter words almost as often as she used sentences, or it seemed that way.

I thought it was a good movie that was a good study of mankind, and not without humor.

Bruce Dern received the Best Actor Award for it at the Cannes Film Festival.  And it has been nominated for 6 Academy Awards.

June Squibb (Kate)

Checking out the tastless movie BAD GRANDPA

We rented BAD GRANDPA tonight.  It is so terrible and in poor taste it is good.  It is a road trip movie and obnoxiously gross.  It is also obnoxiously funny.    Farting contests and it splatters all over a restaurant's wall?  Really!  The old man is constantly looking for "poon-tang" from Missouri or Iowa to Raleigh, North Carolina and has the most disgusting pickup lines.  One unique thing about the movie I think there were very few real actors.  Most of the people you see are having honest human down-to-earth reactions and comments, they didn't know they were being filmed.  Not bad, in a way.

Checking Out Woody Allen's BLUE JASMINE

BLUE JASMINE directed and written by Woody Allen

Basically, Blue Jasmine is about a woman  named  Jasmine who rose up above her commoner-life environment to the elite status.   How?  Apparently, she did it the most common way one rises above their peers, she married a rich man.

Unfortunately,  her husband, as rich and as generous as he appeared to be was nothing but a white collar crook.  He got rich by creating a Ponzi scheme which caught up with him.  Easy come, easy go.

Then Jasmine was broke.  She moved in with her sister, a hard working commoner.  As much as she turned her nose up at her sister, she wasn't above eating her food or sleep under her roof.

The movie was typical Woody Allen.  A typical Woody Allen movie writes itself.  One just  adds the plot and step back - The story starts metamorphosing on its own.  Or, that is how it appears anyway.

If you like disappointments, disillusions, pretentious, superficial, and despair with an occasional wise-crack that adds or take away from something profound you will probably like this.  I know I did.  

Checking Out JOBS

click to enlarge

JOBS, directed by Joshua Michael Stern and starring Ashton Kutcher, is not what you think.  That is, it is not what you think if you are thinking it is going to be a spicy movie, like the kind of movie Linda Lovelace was in.  Get your mind out of the gutter!

It is about a compulsive guy named Steve who started a new company he named APPLE.    APPLE became known as a very innovative computer manufacturer.  Steve hired a lot people and fired people if they didn't share his enthusiasm.  There were a lot of JOBS coming and going.  Then it went public and it became a corporation with a board of directors.  And suddenly Steve was fired from his own company - he lost his JOB - and APPLE was ran like a corporation it was and lost its reputation for  being fearless, innovative, exploring new ground.  The stock began to fall and people were laid off - JOBS lost!

Steve and some friends started their company in his parents' garage.  Walt Disney started  his Walt Disney productions in a garage.  Maybe like Disney Steve relied on the technical know-how of his geek friends, which the movie hinted  Steve did not share the monetary awards property.   The movie did not mention it, but it appears that Steve might have had the Asperger syndrome - completely able to focus  on one subject  and could care less about the human distractions around him.   

The board of directors knew they needed Steve's reckless dreaming leadership, so they gave him his own JOB back as CEO.  And he got rid of many of his old buddies - in a separation packages he bought  the controlling JOBS.  

Is it no wonder the movie was called JOBS?  Oh, and another thing, Steve's last name was  JOBS.   I say "was" because he  died.

25 Best Movies of 2013

Bhob Stewart sent me this.  If you consider yourself a cinema nut I think you will enjoy this video:

http://vimeo.com/80862133

Checking Out THE COMPANY YOU KEEP

We watched the movie THE COMPANY YOU KEEP.   It starred  and was directed by Robert Redford.  It is about a handful of men and women in their  late 60s and 70s who have respectful careers, such as lawyers, college professors, judges, and so who haven't seen each  other in years, yet they had something very important in common with each other.

They changed their names and were fugitives of the law, namely, the FBI.   In their youth they were organized left winged idealistic radicals.  The belonged to the same group, the weather underground. .   

One of their exploits went wrong and somebody was killed- this part was vague, or I nodded, I forgot which.  The FBI has been after them since.   The FBI wanted to catch them, even though it had been 50 years.... the FBI wanted them so badly, maybe not because of the death, but because they have been hunting them for 50 years a so.  They were a challenge.  A young news reporter was inexperienced enough to ask questions and look where the FBI didn't and flushed them all out.  That is about all you need to know.  I think it was fairly good.

It also starred Julie Christie, Susan Sarandon, Nick Nolte, Chris Cooper, Richard Jenkins,  Terrance Howard, Sam Elliott, and Jackie Evancho (her first movie).