dual personalities

Tag: movies

November 4, 2025

My times are in your hand*

by chuckofish

The maple tree leaves have turned in our neck of the woods, but the oak trees are just starting. We had a serious drought and there are consequences.

Leaf blowers have not really started yet–it will no doubt be a noisy Advent. C’est la vie.

This is a good explanation of why the leaves turn in the fall and “the colors of autumn fill the earth with a special beauty that reflects the artistry and creative power of God” from the John 10:10 Project.

And one last…

Here’s good news: In celebration of his birth centennial, TCM will honor Rock Hudson with a month-long tribute every Tuesday in November. He’s the Star of the Month! So check out the schedule on Tuesday nights.

Today we also celebrate the birth of Augustus Montague Toplady, Anglican cleric and hymn writer, in 1740. He is best remembered as the author of the hymn Rock of Ages, which we sing quite frequently at my church.

(He was as handsome as Rock Hudson!)

Toplady, we are told, underwent a religious awakening in August 1755. In his own diary, he wrote “I was awakened in the month of August, 1755, but not, as has been falsely reported, under Mr. John Wesley, or any preacher connected with him. Thought awakened in 1755. I was not led into a full and clear view of all the doctrines of grace, till the year 1758, when, through the great goodness of God, my Arminian prejudices received an effectual shock, in reading Dr. Manton’s Sermons on the 17th of St. John”. A man after my own heart.

Nothing in my hand I bring,
simply to the cross I cling;
naked, come to thee for dress;
helpless, look to thee for grace;
foul, I to the fountain fly;
wash me, Savior, or I die.

Have a good Tuesday!

*Psalm 31:15

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October 30, 2025

Baby the rain must fall

by chuckofish

Yesterday was a rainy, yucky day and I felt lousy so I indulged myself and watched movies, starting with the wonderful The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947). I was also inspired by an old DP blogpost which listed great movie scenes, so I thought I would do one with great movies with scenes in the rain, such as The Seven Samurai (1954)…

…The Public Enemy (1931)

…and then seventy years later, Road to Perdition (2002)

…the final scene in Cool Hand Luke (1967)

..and also the finale of Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)

…and the finale of Casablanca (1942) (okay–in the fog)

…and, of course:

And lest we forget:

Turn up the sound, watch them all. You’ll be glad you did.

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October 29, 2025

It was a stormy night, like this

by chuckofish

I have a cold and am very stuffed up. I can hardly breathe. Such a bummer.

Meanwhile, October is almost over and I have not watched any movies on my list of seasonal favorites! Not a one. But I will watch The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947). It’s such a good one.

I may not get much else done this week, but I will do that!

Hang in there and I will too.

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October 14, 2025

Del Griffith! How the hell are ya?

by chuckofish

I watched the documentary about Canadian actor John Candy, I Like Me, which is available on Prime.

It is directed by Colin Hanks and he certainly got all the cool kids to participate, including his father, Tom Hanks, plus Steve Martin, Bill Murray, Martin Short, Catherine O’Hara and many more. There is lots of archival footage. A lot of good film clips. But no one says anything that is really a surprise, except for maybe Macaulay Culkin, who being a child at the time, had a different point of view. We learn that John’s father died when he was 5, and that it very much impacted his life. He wrestled with his early death for his entire life. But aren’t we all coping with something? Coping never goes well when you self-medicate with alcohol and over-indulgence. And I think everyone already knows that Hollywood is a terrible place and it will chew you up and spit you out. Ultimately, the film just leaves you with a sad feeling.

Thankfully we can cheer ourselves up with a John Candy movie…

Thanksgiving is just around the corner!

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October 6, 2025

My heart is filled with thankfulness

by chuckofish

Yes, that season is upon us–even the boy has a giant skeleton in his front yard. (He inherited it from his in-laws.) Well, to each his own.

Anyway, I had a nice weekend. Pizza night at the boy’s house. A couple of estate sales. A trip to Hobby Lobby. Mr. Smith and daughter #1 came over Saturday night for Chick-fil-a and a movie.

We watched The Man Who Went Up a Hill and Came Down a Mountain (1995)–a favorite of ours from the good ol’ Harvey Weinstein Miramax days. It is a perfect movie–the kind they don’t know how to make anymore.

Highly recommended!

Sunday I went to church as usual and heard a good sermon on Philippians 2:5-11. We had our final Sunday School class on the Power of Story in the Works of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. I wish it were not over! I brought the twins new notebooks from the dollar store for them to draw/take notes/journal in. They were very pleased. After church we went to the bud’s soccer game which was very pleasant, even if it was a little on the warm side. We will be freezing soon enough.

After the game I went home and took it easy.

My heart is filled with thankfulness
To Him who bore my pain;
Who plumbed the depths of my disgrace
And gave me life again.
Who crushed my curse of sinfulness,
And clothed me with His light,
And wrote His law of righteousness
With power upon my heart.

For every day I have on earth
Is given by the King.
So I will give my life, my all,
To love and follow Him.

4 Comments
October 1, 2025

Another turned page

by chuckofish

It’s October! Zut alors! Last year at this time I was in beautiful Monument Valley with the OM and daughter #1.

Guess I’ll watch The Searchers (1956) this week…

Well, we must “live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.” Who said that? Yes, of course, it was Thoreau in “Walden, or, Life in the Woods”.

Earlier in September, we were told by the Missouri Department of Conservation to be “bear aware” when hiking in the woods. So just as a reminder, here is where bears have been sighted in Missouri since 2020:

Yikes! Take care with those bird feeders and barbecues!

Here are Nine Hymn Lyrics You’ve Probably Misunderstood. We sing all these hymns in church. The author suggests that “something that was written 500 years ago can be confusing to a modern audience,” and maybe that is so. If so, “you can learn to sing these words with renewed faith as you come to better understand what they mean!”

And here’s a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke about Autumn:


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September 22, 2025

Our hope springs eternal

by chuckofish

How was your weekend? Since daughter #1 was out of town and I had no plans of my own, it was a pretty quiet one for me. There wasn’t even a good estate sale to go to!

I did watch some good movies…

Friday night I watched The Natural (1984) and it was great. Just great. I loved everything about it. Robert Redford was perfect as were all the supporting characters–especially Richard Farnsworth with his sad blue eyes.

The cinematography was exceptional, the music was perfect, the direction A+. The script was unusually restrained and, may I say, profound. I cried at the beginning. I cried at the end.

I also watched Tom Horn (1980) which is Steve McQueen’s penultimate movie and a favorite of mine. It also stars Richard Farnsworth.

Directed by William Wiard and adapted to the screen by Thomas McGuane and Bud Schrake from Horn’s own autobiography, it is a sad, serious movie about changing times.

I highly recommend both movies.

We went to church as usual on Sunday; the twins were great. Lottie took good notes–writing down the words she didn’t know for clarification later: “vindicate ungodly”. I hope her dad obliged!

We had a great sermon on Philippians 1:18-26 and a wonderful adult class on C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.

After church the boy and the twins and I stopped at the kennel to pick up Mr. Smith. He rode to my house with the boy and behaved himself.

(He was a little bedraggled from having played in his water dish.)

When we got home, the boy helped me move some furniture out to the curb where it will be picked up on Bulky Trash Pick-up day. So grateful for that help!

After they went home, I watched the livestream of the memorial service for Charlie Kirk–100,000+ (original estimates of 100K bumped to up to 300,000) people in a stadium and the President of the U.S. plus most of his cabinet and Elon Musk in attendance. Impressive. You can watch it on Youtube.

Yup.

Daughter #2 arrived back from the prairie and she picked up Mr. Smith and stayed for a glass of wine.

Happy Monday–have a good week!

4 Comments
September 17, 2025

“Pick me out a winner, Bobby”*

by chuckofish

Yesterday Robert Redford died in his sleep at his home in Sundance, Utah at the age of 89. He was never a particular favorite of mine, but it is always sad to see a Hollywood icon from the olden days die. He was undeniably handsome, but he had a cold, cynical look in his eye that made him less attractive to me than, say, Paul Newman. But I really liked him in The Sting (1973) and The Natural (1984)–two of my favorite movies.

Maybe I’ll watch The Natural. Sigh.

It’s been a sad week.

This is a good one about reading as the best way to rebel in a world that can glance at everything and gaze at nothing. “In our world today, many voices seek our attention. Influencers everywhere hawk their wares. How tragic if we develop the capacity to attune to everything but the Word of the Lord. The most radical, countercultural practice we can cultivate today is an intensity in reading and listening to the Scriptures.”

So watch an old movie, read an old book, read the Bible!

103 How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

104 Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.

105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

(Psalm 119:103-105)

*Roy Hobbs in The Natural

3 Comments
September 9, 2025

Bound for glory

by chuckofish

Our beautiful weather continues, although they say it is going to heat up again by the end of the week. I will endeavor to live in the moment and enjoy it.

This made me LOL:

This is an interesting article about an unexpected encounter with an American Patriot. “I was intrigued to see a solitary grave with a military headstone out in the middle of nowhere. There were no houses or businesses anywhere in sight. It was a very rural area without any nearby tourist attractions…Not a place where I expected to see a veterans’ cemetery or even a solitary grave.”

The twins are coming over to my house tonight while their parents go to some parent-teacher thing at school. I am planning to make them suggest we watch The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh (1963), also known as Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow of Romney Marsh. I loved that movie when I was their age and especially the song.

You remember the story of Dr. Syn, a country vicar who leads a rebel band against the King’s naval press gangs in the 18th century. Dr. Syn conceals his secret identity behind a sackcloth mask, and carries on activities a la Scarlet Pimpernel from his parish base. The twins may be too jaded to enjoy it, but I hope not.

And Josiah Queen has a new song!

4 Comments
September 8, 2025

“Oh, God. I can’t wait to get into bed and stretch out. You know, there’s a Bob Hope movie on television later.”*

by chuckofish

How was your weekend? Mine was lovely. The weather was perfect. The sky was blue. I enjoyed great conversation, good fellowship at my mini-retreat in a beautiful setting…

I watched a good movie with daughter #1–in fact, my favorite Woody Allen movie (besides Annie Hall)–Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993). There is no bad language, no sex–just middle aged neurotics trying to solve a murder! I love the end where Woody is so relieved to find his wife (Diane Keaton) bound and gagged, but okay–he is so relieved and happy! It is like Cary Grant and Irene Dunne!

And you have to love Diane in a turtleneck, a blouse, a tweed jacket, and a belt!

Meanwhile we are back on our fall schedule of going to the 8:30 a.m. service at church, followed by Sunday School, and then on to a soccer game at 12:15. The boy and I went to the class on “The Power of Story in the Works of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien” taught by our favorite college professor with a ponytail. It was very good. Also, our Associate Pastor is back from sabbatical and he gave a really good sermon on Philippians 1: 1-11.

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace,[d] both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

And BTW I heartily agree with this article by Albert Mohler Jr.: “I try to be appropriately respectful of all elected officials, but Sen. Kaine uttered one of the most profoundly wrong, dangerous, and downright stupid comments a member of the Senate might articulate.” Who are these ignorant people?

Have a good week! Pray hard.

*Larry Lipton in Manhattan Murder Mystery

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