Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
JULY 7, 2021 – Amidst the latest heatwave in Minnesota, I sought relief by watching movies with extreme-winter scenes. Over the years, I’ve seen many films that feature ice, snow, and cold. Much of the snow was artificial—crushed marble in Dr. Zhivago, for example, and cornflakes painted white in It’s a Wonderful Life. For snowy …
JUNE 11, 2021 – Years ago while browsing the shelves of an independent bookstore, I encountered a tome called, Empire of the Czars by Marquis de Custine, a French nobleman who spent three months in Russia in 1839. His acerbic insights endured as a companion to the discerning examination of the United States by his …
APRIL 25, 2021 – Last night we watched Stowaway on Netflix. The estimated cost: $6 billion. No, not our Texas-style “bundled” cable/internet subscription for April because of cold weather without regulation of utilities. And no, not the actual production budget for the film. Six billion is the estimated cost (according to the internet) of sending …
MARCH 25, 2021 – “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” I got that from a 2016 Smithsonian article quoting Wiliam Faulkner in a fascinating story behind the film, Free State of Jones, written and directed by Gary Ross (Hunger Games; Seabiscuit), and starring Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club – Best Actor). The …
MARCH 18, 2021 – As I lifted the receiver and started dialing home, Barbie S_________ (don’t worry; by fifth grade she’d become “Barb” and “Barbara”) interrupted me. She was one of my party group and consistently the smartest, most aware kid in our class. “We’re not leaving in the middle of the movie, are we?!” …
MARCH 17, 2021 – Often I play a mind game involving conversations with people of my past, including myself; past—as opposed to future—is only natural, given that “my movie,” you might say, is well past intermission. Speaking of “intermission,” I remember clearly my introduction to the word. The occasion was my eighth birthday party, or …
FEBRUARY 25, 2021 – After practicing law all day, what did I do yesterday evening? I watched Nuremberg, the 2000 mini-series starring Alec Baldwin. This cinematic experience was the inevitable sequel to my having watched Tokyo Trial. (See my 2/23/21 post.) Despite some historical inaccuracies, Nuremberg provides a reasonably satisfactory overview of the proceedings against …
FEBRUARY 24, 2021 – My wife and I have been watching The Crown on Netflix. I’m surprised. I’ve never been interested in British Royalty—they’re British and they’re royalty. Besides, I’ve always thought the current members were off kilter; not up to the job. Now I’m learning that apparently the Queen lacks a normal range of …
FEBRUARY 23 2021 – Recently, I watched on Netflix the four-episode, historical drama, Tokyo Trial (2016). It’s the Pacific (war) Theater counterpart to Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) and mini-series Nuremberg (2000). A Japanese-Canadian co-production, Tokyo Trial was co-directed by a Dutchman and an American and filmed mostly in . . . Lithuania. Nominated for Best …
FEBRUARY 17, 2021 – Last December I watched a Russian TV series entitled Zhukov, the famous Red Army general who led Soviet forces to victory in WW II. Everything about the (Star Media) production—except the subtitling—was superb. (With a little imagination an Anglophone can interpret the fractured English.) Casting, acting, direction, cinematography, soundtrack—including whole-cloth musical …
FEBRUARY 8, 2021 – I’ve been living in a cave. Forever I’d heard of the landmark film, The Birth of a Nation and its racist reputation, but until last week, I’d never watched it. Worse, I didn’t know what it was about! I’d assumed it was about the founding of America; despite an exhaustive search, …
JANUARY 24, 2021 – With our month-long house guests’ (son/daughter-in-law) departure Friday, so went nightly card games, lively banter, and scintillating conversation. “We’ll have to find a show to watch,” I said to my wife. Yesterday evening we designated . . . Designated Survivor and binge-watched four episodes. For story line(s), writing, acting, directing, casting, …
DECEMBER 26, 2020 – My mother never failed to make me laugh when she laughed at the joke about the guy on the bus with carrots sticking out of his ears and who says, “I can’t hear you, I’ve got carrots sticking out of my ears,” when a fellow passenger tells him he has carrots …
NOVEMBER 30, 2020 – Unless you’re Norwegian, you’ve probably never heard of Jan Baalsrud. I hadn’t until the Netflix movie, The 12th Man. As I later learned from a 2016 New York Times magazine article, the film accurately portrays actual events. (The scenery’s out-of-this-world . . . because it’s in Norway.) Baalsrud was part of …
NOVEMBER 18, 2020 – Despite our real-life struggles to avoid danger, eschew evil, and experience peace, we flock to entertainment that features terror, conflict, and villainy. I’m talking, for example, about the Xfinity series, Yellowstone, recommended to us by trusted friends. My wife and I are now deep into the show. It offers something for …
NOVEMBER 13, 2020 – To distract myself further from the news, yesterday evening I watched the 2001 German film, As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me. It’s based on an allegedly true story, later fully debunked, about a German POW sentenced to 25 years in a post-World War II gulag prison camp on the …
OCTOBER 30, 2020 – Wednesday evening I eschewed the news and watched a movie. (My wife worked away in her home office—in the light of a horror film called . . . BREAKING NEWS!) I scrolled through Netflix and settled on Destiny, a film in Arabic, directed by Youssef Chahine (winner of the Cannes 50th …
SEPTEMBER 27, 2020 – Netflix and competitors have produced quality TV entertainment in volumes unimaginable a generation ago. For many people isolated during the pandemic, Netflix is a godsend. Starting in March, I’ve watched 60 (!) episodes of Bolivar, dozens more of The Borgias, The Medicis, and Marco Polo. My wife, meanwhile, has watched This, …
AUGUST 28, 2020 – Last night my wife and I watched portions of the RNC. We wearied of the shameless fear-mongering and contemptuous disregard for truth. What put us over the top, however, was the dense, unmasked crowd on the South Lawn of the White House. Cable commentators (GoebbelsNews excepted) couldn’t hide their dismay. Rudy …
MAY 9, 2020 – I’m pleased to announce that I’ve now slogged through 59 installments of the 60-episode Netflix series, Bolívar. I’m saving the final segment for some special occasion—perhaps the return of democracy and economic prosperity to El Libertado’s homeland, Venezuela. Actually, I know how the story ends: Bolívar dies and all goes to …
APRIL 5, 2020 – A week ago while out for a walk, my wife and I encountered our neighbor Kent, who was himself out for a walk–his good wife Joan, a 3M health specialist, was working hard from home. At a distance of a lot more than twice the recommended gap, we carried on a …
JANUARY 12, 2020 – Several reasons existed for me not to watch The Two Popes. I’m not Catholic. Moreover, I have an extremely negative view of the history of Catholicism—and disgust for widespread pedophilia among parish priests and the coordinated coverup by church hierarchy. My family and I once for two seconds got within two …
DECEMBER 8, 2019 – Friday evening my wife and I binge-watched on Netflix, Martin Scorsese’s masterwork, The Irishman. I say “binge-watched,” because though the film is not a series, it runs for three-and-a-half-hours—the equivalent of several back-to-back episodes of a series. The title role, played by Robert De Niro, was the nickname of Frank Sheeran, …