dual personalities

Tag: movies

March 29, 2022

The hopes of youth fall thick in the blast

by chuckofish

I have not watched the Academy Awards in over ten years and this year was no different. I haven’t seen one movie that was nominated. Not one. Hollywood always had its Sodom and Gomorrah aspects, but now it is truly a “wretched hive of scum and villainy.”*

Anyway, I watched a really good movie instead–One Wonderful Sunday (1947), co-written and directed by the great Akira Kurosawa.

One of Kurosawa’s first post-war pictures, it explores the challenges of Japanese society after losing World War II. Two young people spend their Sunday together in Tokyo, pooling their meager spending money and battling the rain. (Kurosawa does love rain.)

Bad things happen and there are many references to the cost of the war with regards to the protagonists, especially Yuzo, the veteran. It reminded me in some ways of Bicycle Thieves (1948)–the loss of hope in the future, but the finding of grace in simple pleasures.

The two main actors–Isao Numasaki and Chieko Nakakita–are excellent and very appealing. It is a simple, human story, told without frills, but it packs quite a punch. I have the Criterion Collection DVD, but you can watch it here.

Speaking of rainy days and dark imagery, here’s a poem from the forgotten Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, which though familiar, you might enjoy reading again:

The day is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,
But at every gust the dead leaves fall,
And the day is dark and dreary.

My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past,
But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,
And the days are dark and dreary.

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary.

And this is a good article, sort of on the same subject. We’re living in a broken world. God hasn’t promised freedom from suffering in this life. “[W]e were raised on a steady diet of self-esteem; we’ve been graded on a generous curve; we’ve been told if we pursue our dreams, anything is possible. ‘You are going to change the world.’ And then we become adults and discover life is hard, we’re not all that special, and this world is a vicious place.”

*Obi-Wan-Kenobi

3 Comments
March 15, 2022

The Ides of March are come

by chuckofish

Today is the Ides of March–famous, as you know, for being the day Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC. “Beware the Ides of March” was a line we knew as children, long before reading the play in ninth grade. Well, I doubt if that is the case with kids anymore. But maybe we were just odd children.

Another famous person who died on March 15 is Benjamin McLane Spock (Dr. Spock). Besides being a world-famous pediatrician, Spock won a gold medal at the 1924 Olympics with his Yale University rowing team. No kidding.

Speaking of the 1924 Olympics, I watched Chariots of Fire (1981) on TCM the other night and was reminded what a really good movie it is. Here is Siskel and Ebert’s review from back in 1981.

I’m with Ebert on this one.

I also recently watched Captains Courageous (1937) on TCM. I had not seen it in a long time and I was impressed.

I am not a big fan of Spencer Tracy, but he is great in this movie as the Portuguese fisherman who saves spoiled rich kid Freddie Bartholomew’s life and then helps him become a better person. And Freddie gives 100%. The film bears the mark of a great director–Victor Fleming–and the cast is a wonderful mix of Hollywood regulars. The sailing scenes, probably filmed in a backlot tank, are very exciting. The first time I saw this movie was around 1966 when my DP and I went to see it at our local movie theater one Saturday afternoon with our neighbor Nancy and her mother. I loved it, but was very shocked by the ending and the way Spencer Tracy’s character dies–(spoiler alert) cut in half and all stove in and sinking out of sight. It was a lot for little kids to handle.

Today is also the birthday of Andrew Jackson (1767-1845), the seventh president of the U.S.A. He is out of favor these days, but he was a man of his time. The son of Ulster Presbyterians who emigrated to America in 1765, his father died just weeks before Andrew was born. Then he watched his two older brothers and his mother die–all at the hands of the British. He had strong feelings about a lot of things. It might be time to dust off The Buccaneer (1958) to watch in his honor. (Charlton Heston played Jackson twice: in The Buccaneer and in The President’s Lady (1953).

By the way, I did make some progress in my office…

…luckily I can close the closet door.

And the Christmas cactus keeps on going…

Woohoo!

And I love that Dolly did this:

4 Comments
March 3, 2022

For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen

by chuckofish

Well, the world is apparently going to hell in a hand-basket, but the weather has been nothing to complain about here in flyover country. Yesterday the temperature soared to over 80 degrees. In fact, we broke the record high on Wednesday of 79 from 1992. (Temperatures are expected to be about 30 degrees cooler today, but yesterday was beautiful.)

(Don’t you feel better after watching ol’ Gordon MacRae? Truly, I did.)

I felt moved to get out of the house and I walked around the pond at our local park. A breath of fresh air and the sun on your face does wonders for your spirit.

Yes, the ice is gone. The crocus (croci?) are blooming in Don’s yard…

…but they have just barely poked through in mine. However, the Christmas cactus is blooming anew. How about that?

Well, Ash Wednesday has come and gone. There were no pancakes for moi this year. No ashes. I did receive a letter from the Bishop of the diocese of Missouri asking for money. It was addressed to “Dear Siblings in Christ,” because, you know, we don’t have brothers and sisters in this diocese anymore. That would be too gender normative. The bishop needs money to “accomplish positive change.” Good luck with that.

I am very grateful for Anne Kennedy and her blog posts. She reads the New York Times so I don’t have to and she responds to their articles so I don’t have to. Here she is responding to their article about Ash Wednesday and Lent. “I’m so sorry, but I must say it once more with tears—you are not a Christian if you don’t believe in Jesus, and one of the markers of your belief, the fruit, if you will, is that you earnestly desire to be in church with other people who believe. There is no ‘unchurched Christian faithful.’ That is not a thing…” Read the whole post.

I watched a good movie (which I had never seen) on TCM–The Naked City (1948). It is an American film noir directed by Jules Dassin, starring Barry Fitzgerald and Don Taylor as police detectives in the 10th precinct of New York City. Shot entirely on location in NYC, it depicts the police investigation that follows the murder of a young model.

After years of devotion to NYPD Blue and Law and Order, it was fascinating to watch this movie, which certainly blazed the trail for later TV crime dramas. It won the Academy Award for black and white cinematography and for editing, and rightly so. It was very well done and the final scenes leading up to the denouement on the Williamsburg Bridge are very exciting. For anyone who has spent any time in NYC, it is a fascinating picture. Here’s a blog post that shows all the film locations and what they look like currently. It was also fun to notice several actors in uncredited parts who later came to prominence in movies and on TV: Paul Ford, James Gregory, Arthur O’Connell, David Opatoshu, John Randolph, as well as Yiddish icon Molly Picon.

Well, it’s back to Leviticus for me. Enjoy your Thursday!

For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.

2 Cor. 1:20
5 Comments
March 1, 2022

Crashing and burning with dignity

by chuckofish

A new month is starting and spring is on the horizon. Let us rejoice and sing! We still have a little ice and snow around, but Mother Nature is undeterred.

If you are in need of a mood lightener (and who isn’t?), I recommend this article. You also have to watch the embedded video which is pure gold. “You see, in a world plagued by sin and evil, in which churches increasingly have no room for church musicians without commercial appeal, Jon Daker represents hope, joy, and faith. Here is a regular guy who has managed to lift the spirits of millions thanks to his love of singing and a willingness to crash and burn with dignity.”

I also cannot express how much I love these daily updates that the daycare sends to daughter #2 and that she in turn sends to me from Maryland.

This is Life from the frontlines of daycare.

In case you forgot, today is the birthday of David Niven (1910-1983) so we’ll have to watch one of his movies tonight to celebrate! Maybe Separate Tables (1958) for which Niven won the Best Actor Oscar. Hard to believe, but it was the only time he was nominated and I can think of other roles for which he was more deserving. With 23 minutes and 39 seconds of screen time, his performance in this movie is the shortest ever to win an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

Here he is winning his Oscar. (Note how tiny Jerry Lewis appears to be next to John Wayne.)

It’s nice to see someone win who is so clearly pleased but has no ax to grind beyond saying thank you. But then, he had some class.

And since you enjoyed yesterday’s video, here’s Iron Horse with another Metallica cover–bluegrass style. Personally, I can’t get enough of this.

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; 
Praise Him, all creatures here below; 
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host: 
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

4 Comments
February 24, 2022

“I’m only a sinner saved by Grace”*

by chuckofish

In the past week I have had my annual follow-up appointments with my oncologist, surgeon and radiologist, along with an extra bonus dentist appointment. Add to that various tests and lab visits and you have a fun month. Ah, February. Needless to say, I will be happy to move on to March!

I watched the movie Something of Value (1957) on TCM the other night, which I had not seen in many years. I had read the book by Robert C. Ruark many years ago as well. The subject still resonates.

The poster misses the point as usual

The movie takes place in British colonial Kenya during the Mau Mau uprising (1952-1960) and centers on two friends, Peter (Rock Hudson) and Kimani (Sidney Poitier), who end up on opposite sides of the conflict. Written and directed by Richard Brooks, it tells a balanced story and does not take sides. For 1957, it is pretty stark and violent. My favorite character was Rock Hudson’s father, Henry MacKenzie, who says, when asked if he is afraid, “I fear nothing but the wrath of God.” To feel that in your heart and know it to be true is a great thing, whether you are facing marauding Mau Mau rebels or oncologists.

In other news, it is time for the annual Mardi Gras parade this weekend and once again, I could care less. But it is a Big Deal in our flyover city.

Literally my idea of Hell

I wish all those small businesses down in Soulard well, but oh mylanta.

This is an interesting article: “The information superhighway is a dead end, almost always leading us to rely more on itself than making us independent thinkers. It does not lead to wisdom.”

Sam Bush has some good ideas in this article: “There’s one catch to this furious attempt to be unique: trying not to be like everyone else has paradoxically become the definition of conformity. We may each be individual snowflakes, but, once we start to accumulate, we begin to look the same.”

I always thought that in order to survive childhood we need to think we’re special. That’s what good parents make us feel. But it is a sign of growing up when we figure out that we are not special. (Some people never figure that out.) Indeed, life is one long lesson in humility, right? And to be a Christian, one must be humble. “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30)

Well, we are experiencing yet another “wintery mix” event. Time perhaps to listen to some Del McCoury, age 83, who has a new album! Here’s a link to listen to a couple of his new songs.

I guess Tuesday was Twins Day–I missed that–but our twins were twins-ing per usual…Aren’t they grown up?

*James M. Gray (1851-1935)

3 Comments
February 22, 2022

Fun facts to know and tell

by chuckofish

Yes, the Christmas cactus is throwing out buds again! I mean really. Wow.

In other news, today marks the 175th anniversary of the Battle of Buena Vista in 1847, fought between the US invading forces, largely volunteers, under General Zachary Taylor, and the much larger Mexican Army under General Santa Anna.

Santa Anna had chosen the day of battle, not apparently aware that it was George Washington’s birthday, which galvanized patriotic sentiment among the U.S. forces.  The outcome of the battle was ambiguous, with both sides claiming victory. Santa Anna’s forces withdrew leaving the field to the surprised American forces, who had expected there to be another day of hard fighting. Since the American forces were largely volunteers rather than regular army, it increased Buena Vista’s popularity in the public imagination. The volunteers were characterized as raw citizen-soldiers who had defeated the far larger Mexican army, seen as a professional military force.

Ulysses Grant, writing about Buena Vista in his Personal Memoirs, said:

General Taylor’s victory at Buena Vista…with an army composed almost entirely of volunteers who had not been in battle before, and over a vastly superior force numerically, made his nomination for the Presidency by the Whigs a foregone conclusion. He was nominated and elected in 1848. I believe that he sincerely regretted this turn in his fortunes, preferring the peace afforded by a life free from abuse to the honor of filling the highest office in the gift of any people, the Presidency of the United States.

I wonder if perhaps USG didn’t feel the same way.

I bet you didn’t know that Buena Vista County, Iowa was named in honor of the battle, as was Buena Vista Township in Michigan’s Saginaw County. Cities named after the battle include Buena Vista in Virginia, Colorado, Oregon, New Jersey, Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia.

Today is also the birthday of the English actor John Mills (1908-2005). He was in a lot of good movies. Recently I watched Tiger Bay (1959) which I had never seen. It also stars John’s daughter, Hayley Mills, in her first movie. She was twelve. It is a British crime drama and also stars Horst Buchholz as a Polish sailor who commits a murder which Hayley witnesses. It takes place in Cardiff and is an interesting piece of post-war social commentary. I enjoyed it and you might too. It is available on Youtube.

Have a good week! We are expecting another round of rain, sleet and snow. Ho hum.

4 Comments
February 15, 2022

“Here’s to the sunny slopes of long ago”*

by chuckofish

Daughter #2 drove home for the weekend, so we had fun doing what we normally do: happy hour on Friday followed by the CD shuffle at home, estate sales and lunch out on Saturday, church on Sunday followed by brunch with the boy and his family. We also celebrated Valentine’s Day on Sunday as did daughter #2 (see yesterday’s post) by having a little party after church, complete with favors. However, no one took any pictures, so I have nothing to show for my efforts. Tant pis. You’ll just have to take my word for it that the table looked pretty and the wee twins did not throw their presents aside in disgust.

I was pleased to receive a new puzzle and also a special mat on which to put it together.

(This Peanuts puzzle is harder than it looks!)

The OM and I watched Bullitt (1968) which has become our traditional Valentine movie of choice, because it is a movie we both can love for obvious reasons. I remember when my parents went to see it at the movies back in the day. They enjoyed it as well, especially as it was shot in San Francisco, a favorite town of our father.

Last week we watched Lonesome Dove (1989)–old-fashioned style, one part each night over a four night period, the way it was originally intended to be viewed. I enjoyed it as always–Augustus McCrae and Captain Call are two of my favorite characters in fiction. The book, of course, is even better. It is full of interesting characters, all fully realized. There are no stereotypes, no cardboard cutouts. And there is no political agenda.

Well, a good dose of Gus and Woodrow is good for the soul. You might want to dust off the DVD or the book. I recommend both.

Fun fact: Robert Duvall is in both Bullitt and Lonesome Dove. Also, he went to college across the river in Elsah, Illinois. I had a friend (who has passed away) at my flyover institute who went to The Principia with him and was best friends with “Bobby’s” younger brother. He had quite a few good stories.

If you haven’t already read this article, maybe you should.

And, you know, this was really special. “His motives are still unknown but the administration believes it was some kind of a lapse in sanity,” she said.

And let us not forget this:

Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

–I Cor. 1:26-31

*Augustus McCrae

4 Comments
February 8, 2022

Ring the bells that still can ring

by chuckofish

After four months at the finisher, my elephant pillow is back! Pretty fab, if I don’t say so myself.

Reminded by a reference to it in Sunday’s sermon, we watched Apollo 13 (1995) on Sunday night. Directed by Ron Howard, it dramatizes the aborted 1970 lunar mission, Apollo 13, which was America’s fifth crewed mission to the Moon and was intended to be the third to land. It is a good movie. It avoids politics and sticks to the story–a story which is exciting enough without embellishment. Indeed, it is an amazing story of the heroic actions of a large group of NASA scientists and the astronauts themselves in order to bring them and their disabled lunar module home. It is a story of smart people using their god-given brains and not giving up in the face of terrible odds. Ron Howard plays it straight and it is a good movie, certainly his best.

I remember the events portrayed in the movie vividly. I was in the eighth grade and I remember how terribly anxious everyone was. We actually watched the re-entry of the module on television at school. It could have ended in disaster on national television, but thankfully, it did not. It ended in triumph.

President Nixon awarding the three Apollo 13 astronauts the Presidential Medal of Freedom

Yesterday I attended a live-streamed funeral service for another old friend from my flyover institute. Leonard was 95 and a veteran of both WWII and Korea. When he was 90 he published a memoir of his harrowing experiences as a medic in Korea. He wrote the memoir over several years in a creative writing class he took at LLI (a class he later facilitated.) He was a very interesting guy. He was half Episcopalian and half Jewish, but when he married the daughter of a prominent Jewish family, he became a full-time Jew. We chuckled about that and about a lot of things. It was a blessing and a privilege to be able to spend time with him and to know him.

He who makes peace in his high holy places, may he bring peace upon us, and upon all Israel; and say Amen.

Here’s Leonard’s favorite song by that other Leonard:

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in.

6 Comments
February 3, 2022

Be that as it may

by chuckofish

I was contemplating daughter #1’s thought-provoking post from yesterday and I was struck by something George Meyer said in the New Yorker article: “I say this to people and they think I’m kidding, but I didn’t realize that ‘The Dick Van Dyke Show’ was supposed to be funny. I thought you just watched it.”

I remembered how I use to watch syndicated episodes of “I Love Lucy” back in the 1960s when I was in elementary school. I thought it was kind of a sad show about poor people who lived in a tiny apartment. Lucy and her friend Ethel did really stupid things and their eye-rolling husbands were constantly exasperated. I had no clue it was supposed to be funny.

Well, I guess George and I figured out what was funny along the way. But I think it is safe to say, since the mid-20th century, parents have allowed their children to watch way too much television without much supervision and the cost to civilization has been great.

This reminded me that I did watch Greyfriars Bobby (1961) last week and was, once again, very touched by it. This Disney movie is child-appropriate and teaches some valuable lessons about kindness. It also shows what real poverty is in a very subtle way. Most twenty-first century Americans have little idea what real poverty is–when tenement-dwelling children can be shocked that the wee dog is fed chicken broth. “Chicken for the dog? I’ve never tasted it.” Only one of the children can read and write. But their hearts are warmed by the wee dog and the tavern keeper learns kindness and generosity. This lovely story led me to watch The Little Kidnappers (1953), a J. Arthur Rank production, about two wee Scottish-Canadian boys who go to live with their strict Calvinist grandparents in Nova Scotia when their parents die. The five and eight-year old actors who portray these boys are wonderful (the five-year old later appears in Greyfriars Bobby and Thomasina) and it is a wonderful story about forgiveness and learning to love one’s neighbor. It is available to watch on Youtube:

Anyway, as you may have heard, we are in the middle of a winter snowpocalypse which, in reality, affects me very little as I am retired and was not planning to travel anywhere. My bible study group is meeting via Zoom today–my first Zoom meeting since retiring last year. Well, the whole region is on hold again, which just goes to prove, if it’s not one thing, it’s another.

Meanwhile, I am reading this classic of Puritan writing by Stephen Charnock: Discourses upon the Existence and Attributes of God.

You can read more about him here.

Here is comfort in afflictions. As a sovereign, he is the author of afflictions, as a sovereign, he is the remover of them; he can command the waters of affliction to go so far, and no farther. If he speaks the word, a disease shall depart, as soon as a servant shall from your presence with a nod. If we are banished from one place, he can command a shelter for us from another. If he orders Moab, a nation that had no great kindness for his people, to let his outcasts dwell with them, they shall entertain them, and afford them sanctuary. (Is. 16:4) Again, God chasteneth as a sovereign, but teacheth as a father (Ps 90:12).

I think this antique wooden model that I rescued at the auction last weekend is so my ascetic:

And there’s this:

I am definitely going to start wearing sunglasses more often.

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

– Philippians 4:8

4 Comments
February 1, 2022

Another pop quiz

by chuckofish

Since it is February 1 and the birthday of John Ford, I thought it was time for another pop quiz! The following quotes are all from famous films directed by John Ford between 1939 and 1956. See how many you can get and I’ll post the answers in the comment section later today.

“My friends just call me Ringo – nickname I had as a kid. Right name’s Henry.”

“We seem to lose our heads in times like this. We do things together that we’d be mighty ashamed to do by ourselves!”

“You’ve been lucky, Huw. Lucky to suffer and lucky to spend these weary months in bed. For so God has given you a chance to make the spirit within yourself. And as your father cleans his lamp to have good light, so keep clean your spirit… By prayer, Huw. And by prayer, I don’t mean shouting, mumbling, and wallowing like a hog in religious sentiment. Prayer is only another name for good, clean, direct thinking. When you pray, think. Think well what you’re saying. Make your thoughts into things that are solid. In that way, your prayer will have strength, and that strength will become a part of you, body, mind, and spirit.”

“Listen, son: you and I are professionals. If the manager says, “Sacrifice”, we lay down a bunt and let somebody else hit the home runs. We know all about those destroyers out of commission, tied up around San Diego. We could use them here. But they’re not around. They won’t be. Our job is to lay down that sacrifice. That’s what we were trained for, and that’s what we’ll do. Understand?”

“Shakespeare was not meant for taverns… nor for tavern *louts*.”

“Well, that’s the last of the gringo-head cactus.”

–The army will never be the same when we retire, sir.

–The army is always the same. The sun and the moon change, but the army knows no seasons.

–This fella talked derogatory about the boy’s pappy.

–Yeah, he called him the teacher’s pet of a chowder-headed Mick sergeant. What’s that mean, doc?

An Indian will chase a thing till he thinks he’s chased it enough. Then he quits. Same way when he runs. Seems like he never learns there’s such a thing as a critter who’ll just keep coming on. So we’ll find ’em in the end I promise you. We’ll find ’em. Just as sure as the… turnin’ of the earth.

Join me in toasting Ford and in watching one of his great movies tonight. Oh, and here’s a fun fact: Wee Willie Winkie (1936)–directed by Ford–is the only movie in which Shirley Temple is spanked.

In other news, I noticed that after we have cleaned up all the toys and the twins have gone home, I always find things like this…

It is like the lingering Christmas decorations that continue to show up…

This article is right on target. “Any fearful thing you are made to focus on day after day will become hyper-magnified in your mind.”

I concur. “I feel sad for those who hold to a utilitarian view of the universe, of creation, of people. Life becomes a means to an end – an end that is never quite realized.”

“For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake,
But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you…

Isaiah 54:10

7 Comments