dual personalities

Tag: movies

September 22, 2022

Thursday musings

by chuckofish

It is finally cooling off in flyover country–thank goodness. Fall is officially here by the way, so I am ready to switch to turtlenecks anytime soon.

Meanwhile I am immersed in bible study–both my daily reading and my weekly study of Hebrews. Phew. It is a lot. Currently in Ezekiel, The Lord is saying things like:

“Because you have spoken nonsense and envisioned lies, therefore I am indeed against you.”

–13:8

Things never change. Isn’t that oddly comforting? I think so too.

Also, in case you were interested, I am now a person who uses “Bible Safe Gel Highlighters”.

In other news, since Tuesday was Sophia Loren’s birthday, I watched Legend of the Lost (1956) starring John Wayne, Rossano Brazzi and Sophia. Even though it was beautifully filmed on location in Libya by Jack Cardiff, directed by Henry Hathaway and boasted big international stars, it was not a box office hit.

It has always been a favorite of mine. Sophia, who looks sensational even when hot and sweaty, and John Wayne make an appealing and believable pair. The duke is a match for Sophia any day and she seems to appreciate that.

Last week I watched Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)–another re-telling of the real-life mutiny of the HMS Bounty in 1789 by Fletcher Christian–when it was on TCM. Shot in widescreen Ultra Panavision on location at enormous cost, it nevertheless flopped at the box office and I can understand why. Most critics blamed its star Marlon Brando, who was mocked for his English accent and foppish airs. I was prepared to laugh as well, but I have to say I thought Marlon was pretty good. Sure, he was a pain on set and terrible to work with, but his acting was fine and he is really, really handsome.

He tried to play Fletcher Christian as a man who was changed by his experience aboard the ship and he does that rather well. He is not a hero at the beginning, but he is by the end. (Contrast this with Clark Gable’s 1935 portrayal in which he is a hero from the get-go.)

However, I found the movie to be slow, and despite all the sturm and drang of fighting the weather and the elements, boring. Also, Trevor Howard as Bligh left a lot to be desired. Anyway, I did watch the whole thing, so that says something–probably that Marlon Brando held my interest.

Truman Capote wrote an interesting profile of Marlon Brando for The New Yorker in 1957 called “The Duke in His Domain,” which I re-read after seeing this movie. He seems to prove the point he made another time when he said, “The better the actor, the more stupid he is.” Whatever. Brando was a good actor.

3 Comments
September 13, 2022

A little venting

by chuckofish

Yesterday afternoon I went over to an old friend’s house to watch a movie on her huge-screen TV. This is something we do now that we are retired. My rude daughter #1 calls them “playdates”. Anyway, we watched the newest Jurassic World movie, Dominion. It was the extended version–two hours and 40 minutes. When I got home I wrote a detailed review of how really bad it was, and then my computer froze and I lost my review when I rebooted.

Well, it is probably just as well. I undoubtedly would have offended someone with my thoughts about emasculated men and genetically altered female clones who can procreate by themselves, and idiots who declare, “Science is truth!” but the minute they get in a tight spot are screaming, “Oh my God! Oh my God!” Irony unintended.

I’m sure Chris Pratt was paid a bezillion dollars for his twenty minutes of screen time, but he should bow out of any further sequels. The scene where he is rounding up dinosaurs on horseback (all CGI) was just embarrassing.

And once you’ve seen one dinosaur chomp someone’s head off, you’ve seen them all. Ho hum.

Anyway, after that I had to cleanse my palate with a good old fashioned John Wayne western–in this case The Comancheros (1961).

Equilibrium adjusted.

I finished the new Longmire book, Hell and Back, by Craig Johnson, and I have to say, I was disappointed. It was okay, but not up to his standard. I guess Johnson, at this point, is just churning them out one-a-year for his publisher. As one Amazon reviewer concluded his negative take, “And Henry says ‘I’m.'”–all aficionados know, Henry never speaks in contractions. A rush job and inadequate editing. Sigh.

Back to Richard Scarry

I liked this post. “My tendency to want to please people urges me to take the sharp edges off the Bible, to bring fog into its clarity. But, such a road only leads to me as lord—and that is the path of destruction.”

5 Comments
September 8, 2022

Here in the spacious classroom of the world*

by chuckofish

I have been inspired by daughter #1 to read some David McCullough history, but first I have to read #18 in the Walt Longmire series by Craig Johnson. My copy of Hell and Back arrived in the mail on schedule on Tuesday and I dove right in. I’ll let you now how it goes.

I am also reading Dane Ortlund’s Deeper for our women’s book group at church. I am not really one for book clubs since I tend to be too critical and usually am triggered by people and their comments, but I thought I’d give it a whirl. It will be good practice on keeping my mouth shut.

Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.

Ecclesiastes 5:2

I watched the original To Be or Not to Be (1942) starring Jack Benny and Carol Lombard earlier this week and it really is a terrific movie. It is Ernst Lubitsch at his best. The plot revolves around a troupe of actors in Nazi-occupied Warsaw who use their talents with disguise and acting to fool the occupying troops. It is a very funny, dark comedy about a not-very-funny situation. It is witty and light and never crosses the line into slapstick. Carole Lombard, radiantly beautiful and smart, was never better. (Sadly, she died before the movie was released.) And Jack Benny, who supposedly felt out of his depth, does a fine job as the hack actor who must rise to the occasion several times. Felix Bressart as Greenberg, who dreams of playing Shylock, stands out among the supporting cast, but they are all terrific.

Mel Brooks remade To Be or Not to Be in 1983 and, as I recall, it is a good movie too. But as comedies go, the original is one of the Top 10 best.

Also, I stumbled upon this old blogpost and I think the Oswald Chambers quote bears repeating.

P.S. John Wayne: An American Experience was voted the Best Museum in Fort Worth by the readers of @fwtxmag 🤠 (I voted.)

Have a good Thursday!

*Billy Collins, “The Only Day in Existence”

4 Comments
September 6, 2022

Chasing the clouds away

by chuckofish

It’s still rainy and gloomy here in flyover country, and we are pretty water-logged, but so far, no more flooding. Oy. Sunshine is promised for tomorrow. Anyway, we don’t mind the rainy weather. It gives us an excuse to stay inside and watch old movies and read old books.

Today we note the passing in 1959 of the popular English character actor Edmund Gwenn, who most people remember as Kris Kringle in Miracle of 34th Street (1947), for which he won an Oscar as best supporting actor. He played many memorable roles, however, such as Mr. Bennet in Pride and Prejudice (1940), Dr. Medford in Them! (1954), and Capt. Albert Wiles in The Trouble With Harry (1955). He co-starred with Lassie in three movies. And he played an Episcopal minister in Life With Father (1947) and in Mister Scoutmaster (1953). He was always great.

Two of his movies I have not seen are Undercurrent (1946) and Mister 800 (1950). I will try to find one of them to watch tonight.

And here’s a fun fact. His cousin in real life was the character actor Cecil Kellaway (who was more likely to play Catholic priests.)

Today is also the anniversary of the death of Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa (1910-98). Later this week I think I’ll watch Throne of Blood (1957), Kurosawa’s take on Macbeth with Toshiro Mifune, which I haven’t seen in a long time.

Writer Madeleine L’Engle also died on this day in 2007. I used to be a big fan of her writing back in the 1980s and I was thrilled to be able to hear her speak at my Episcopal church back then. A woman in the church who had been a classmate of her’s at Smith arranged the event. I came to realize that they were both women who had very high opinions of themselves and that is always ultimately unattractive. And now I doubt if I would agree with anything she believed. So it goes.

Have you seen this Instagram account? Everybody wants to be a cool kid I guess and be noticed as such.

And this made me LOL:

Yikes.

And…do you remember…

Bless the Lord, O my soul!
    O Lord my God, you are very great!
You are clothed with splendor and majesty,
2     covering yourself with light as with a garment,
    stretching out the heavens like a tent.
3 He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;
he makes the clouds his chariot;
    he rides on the wings of the wind;
4 he makes his messengers winds,
    his ministers a flaming fire.

Psalm 104: 1-4
4 Comments
September 5, 2022

“Here I raise my Ebenezer”*

by chuckofish

Our Labor Day weekend has been very rainy and gloomy. C’est la vie. We still had fun. Daughter #1 came in to town to have lunch with an old friend on Friday and then we visited several antique malls.

This is our idea of a good time. It was a lot of junk, but daughter #1 found a few things accidentally.

We watched The Wizard of Oz (1939) on Saturday night and were once again reminded what a wonderful movie it is. And let’s remember, it’s 83 years old! Almost an antique! It is one of my top five favorite/best movies ever. It is perfect. The technicolor! The details! The acting! Judy Garland! The Munchkins! Toto! No CG!

Good lord, I hope they don’t go through with plans for a “a modern reimagining of the iconic musical.” This would be a huge mistake. It is always a disaster to “re-imagine” something that is perfect. Just no.

But, yes, it is wonderful. Watching it on our big tv, I noticed several things for the first time. For instance, did you ever notice that in the scene where Dorothy and her three compadres enter the scary forest in search of the witch, the Scarecrow is carrying a handgun? He is. Anyway, it is worth watching again for the 100th time.

The boy and his family came over after church on Sunday to celebrate Labor Day with a barbecue. It was raining, but we had fun anyway.

Looking at the rain and breaking in the new sofa

Everyone enjoyed the burgers and hotdogs and a Tippins creme pie for dessert. It’s the little things, right?

Well, enjoy your day off if you have one today. Watch an old movie. Read a poem about work:

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,

Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong,

The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,

The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work,

The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck,

The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands,

The wood-cutter’s song, the ploughboy’s on his way in the morning, or at noon intermission or at sundown,

The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing,

Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else,

The day what belongs to the day—at night the party of young fellows, robust, friendly,

Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.

–Walt Whitman, “I Hear America Singing”

And this is a good illustration. “If a non-christian wants to know why we believe that the Bible is God’s word, there’s a lot of things that we could talk about.”

*Baptist minister Robert Robinson (1735–1790) wrote “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” at age 22, not long after his conversion, which was influenced in part by the preaching of evangelist George Whitefield. The meaning of Ebenezer originates more than a thousand years before Christ, during the ministry of the prophet Samuel, who played a pivotal role at a key juncture in the history of God’s people. Read all about it here.

2 Comments
August 30, 2022

Balm in Gilead

by chuckofish

Last week I mentioned in a post that Toshiro Mifune is one of my Top Five favorite actors. That got me thinking and when I had lunch with the boy on Thursday we discussed the topic at length. I explained that by Top Five, I meant my personal favorites, i.e. not necessarily the most handsome or most gifted actors. Just my favorites, the ones I will always stop and watch when one of their movies is on TCM etc. This explains why I have seen Bullitt so many times.

After much thought, these are my five:

  1. John Wayne–no surprise there.

2. Steve McQueen

3. Leslie Howard

4. Toshiro Mifune–

5. Paul Newman

That is a pretty great list, am I right? And none of it is a surprise to readers of this blog. (Errol Flynn almost edged his way in.) All five made some great movies and even the ones that are not so great boost my spirits.

I guess it is sad that there is no one on this list born later than 1930, but what can I say?

If I had to add a “modern” fave, I would go with this guy:

How about you?

I will also note that today is the birthday of Virginia Lee Burton (1909-1968), artist, author and founder of the textile collective Folly Cove. Her book The Little House has always been a favorite of mine and I will toast her tonight.

P.S. On Sunday when the wee bud and I were walking around the outside of the house “looking for things,” he said, “Let’s go in the nature room.” I thought that was kind of brilliant.

Have a great day. Watch a good movie. Read a good book. Look for things outside.

8 Comments
August 9, 2022

Here I’ll stand though he should win*

by chuckofish

You are my war club, my weapon for battle— with you I shatter nations, with you I destroy kingdoms,

with you I shatter horse and rider, with you I shatter chariot and driver…

-Jeremiah 51:20-21

Sorry, I couldn’t resist another look at the boy.

In other news, I was sorry to hear that historian David McCullough had died. I admired him a lot. Here’s a short interview he did at Baylor University when he was there to give a speech in 2016. I was interested to see that he is a re-reader. “I think that reading is essential to not just education but to a good life, and I read a lot. I have to read so much history and biography as part of my work, but when I’m reading for pleasure I read fiction and reread fiction that I’ve read 20 or 30 years ago, and I find I don’t necessarily react to it as I did then –– whether I think it’s better than I thought it was then, that sort of thing. “

And, by the way, I watched The Buccaneer (1938) last night. It was a rousing adventure loosely based on the real-life pirate Jean Lafitte (Frederic March) who sided with the U.S.A. at an important juncture in American history.

Cecil B. DeMille was a real pro at mastering a cast of thousands. All the actors, especially Akim Tamiroff, perform admirably, but March is hampered by a bad fake French accent and he’s no Errol Flynn. Having said that, however, I think it’s a better movie than the Yul Brynner remake of 1958. Definitely worth watching!

The God of love and peace be with you on this fine day.

*Homer, The Iliad (Robert Fitzgerald, translator)

4 Comments
August 4, 2022

Hot time, summer in the city

by chuckofish

Praise God that His grace is sufficient for each day.

How is your week going? I have been working inside, moving things around to accommodate my new wing chair, which I am picking up later today with the assistance of the boy and his truck. My home is definitely a work in progress…adding and subtracting and rediscovering things that I have put away. As the @madcapcottage boys say: “When it’s time to change! Let’s rearrange…”

I worked in the yard for small amounts of time this week, but we have entered that portion of our flyover summer when it is too darn hot to do much outside. The yard is on its own.

I also worked on (and finished) my new Rifle Co. puzzle.

It was a fun one!

And I am reading J.C. Ryle’s oft-quoted book Holiness.

Published in 1879, it is remarkably readable and relevant. I highly recommend it!

“It is vain to shut our eyes to the fact that there is a vast quantity of so-called Christianity nowadays which you cannot declare positively unsound, but which, nevertheless, is not full measure, good weight and sixteen ounces to the pound. It is a Christianity in which there is undeniably ‘something about Christ and something about grace and something about faith and something about repentance and something about holiness’, but it is not the real ‘thing as it is’ in the Bible. Things are out of place and out of proportion.”

Boy, old J.C. should see what passes for Christianity these days!

Tomorrow is the birthday of film director and writer John Huston, who was born in Nevada, Missouri in 1906. He made a lot of movies–some bad and some good. You might want to watch one of his good ones such as Key Largo (1948) or The African Queen (1951). He also directed The Bible: In the Beginning, which was the second highest-grossing movie in 1966. (No kidding.) He also played Noah. It is not a great movie, but I would like to see Peter O’Toole as the Three Angels again. He was pretty great.

You will recall that he (they) brings down the wrath of God on Sodom and Gomorrah.

In my Bible reading I am currently in Judges and have recently read all about Samson and Delilah–quite a story! I was reminded that Cecil B. deMille made a movie about them with Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr cleverly titled Samson and Delilah (1949). I want to check it out.

I mean that story was made for the movies!

When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, “Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands. 19 After putting him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him.[a] And his strength left him.

20 Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”

He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him.

21 Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grain in the prison. 22 But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

–Judges 16: 18-22

Well, we amuse ourselves.

4 Comments
August 2, 2022

Fun facts to know and tell and other stuff

by chuckofish

Does this picture spell summertime or what?

Summer is flying by, but there are actually 51 more days of summer!

Fun fact to know and tell: I always wondered where the French filmmaker, actor and spiritual father of the Fench New Wave, Jean-Pierre Melville, got the name Melville, which is very Scottish. Well, when he was with the French Resistance during WWII, he adopted the pseudonym Melville as a tribute to his favorite American author Herman Melville. He kept it as his stage name once the war was over. How about that? Please note that the famous Frenchman also died on this day in 1973, so you might want to toast him and watch one of his movies.

August is the Summer Under the Stars Month on TCM when a different star is celebrated every day. It’s not a particularly great lineup this year, but I will set my DVR on August 5 (Orson Welles), August 6 (Audrey Hepburn), August 9 (William Holden), and August 19 (Toshiro Mifune). And hold the phone, Gilbert Roland has his own day on August 24! Save the date!

This is a really good sermon. Read the whole thing.

Let’s forget about trying to please the world. The mission of the church is NOT to please the world anyway. So let’s not even try to be The Church of What’s Happening Now.

Instead let us please Christ by being the faithful church that “earnestly contends for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3) by the Scriptures and by the Apostles and Church Fathers. Then, and only then, we will be able wisely to “speak the truth in love” and to address what’s happening now, instead of being The Church of What’s Happening Now.

Here are some classic moments with Tony Dow as Wally Cleaver in Leave It to Beaver, which, let’s be frank, was really a great show. I chuckled throughout this highlight reel. Rest in peace, Tony, you were a great big brother.

And here’s a poem I like:

Blighted is the man
who doesn’t stick his neck out,
doesn’t think for himself,
doesn’t revere anything.
But he laughs on cue
while watching TV day and night.
He is like everybody else.
In all that he does, he gets by.
The believers are not so,
they don’t move with the times.
Therefore, the godly will not stand
in the court of human approval,
nor the Christlike at the best parties in town.
For who’s to say what is right?
And doesn’t everybody go to heaven?

–Ray Ortlund, “Psalm 1, a reverse translation”
Saying, “Hi, Mamu!”

Grace and peace to you today, my friends.

6 Comments
July 14, 2022

Loomings

by chuckofish

We seem to roll our eyes a lot these days. At the grocery store, at the gas pump, and so on. We say, “Is there no balm in Gilead?” and we aren’t kidding.

When in doubt, we re-read the first paragraph of Moby Dick…

Haven’t we all felt like methodically knocking people’s hats off in the street? Well, it may be high time to get to sea, but that is out of the question for me. So I watched John Huston’s 1956 version of Moby Dick. It is a wonderful and quite faithful rendering of the great novel and I recommend it.

Starbuck to Stubb and Flask: “It is an evil voyage, I tell thee. If Ahab has his way, neither thee nor me, nor any member of this ship’s company will ever see home again.”

Stubb: “Aw, come on, Mr. Starbuck, you’re just plain gloomy. Moby Dick may be big, but he ain’t THAT big.”

Starbuck: “I do not fear Moby Dick – I fear the wrath of God.”

Even better, re-read the book!

Maybe, as we approach Herman Melville’s birthday on August 1, we should have another Moby Dick reading party…

or at least make some punch…

…food for thought.

P.S. Anne is back after a four week break. Thanks be to God.

And daughter #1 sent me a link to this fabric and it made my day. Clearly there is a market for this! How great is that?

4 Comments