You don’t become like Christ by beholding TV all week. And you don’t become like Christ by beholding the Internet all week. You don’t become like Christ when you fill your life with things of this world. You become like Christ when you behold the glory of Christ, and you expose your life, moment by moment, to his glory, all through God’s revelation in Scripture.
David Platt
I know this is true and I have good intentions regarding reading my Bible. (But, as we know, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.) And I know watching movies as part of my lenten practice would be frowned upon by those more devout than I. Nevertheless, I have watched several on my list this week: Chariots of Fire, Hombre, and The Robe. And I make no apologies for this. I will no doubt watch something from my list this weekend.
I do not watch network TV or the news. I am not on twitter or facebook. Most of the people I follow on Instagram are Calvinists, needlepointers or birdwatchers.
I try to keep my focus where it ought to be. I try hard and that’s the best I can do. It goes a long way in helping me keep my equilibrium and the serene outlook for which I am mysteriously famous.
Now as we journey through the 40 days of Lent and we continue our Lenten practice of movie viewing, I thought it would be fun to have another Pop Quiz! The movie quotes listed below are all from my favorite Lenten films, i.e. films having to do with sacrifice and redemption. List the movie titles in the Comments section and I’ll post the answers later today. Good luck!
-You crucified him. You, my master. Yet you freed me. I’ll never serve you again, you Roman pig. Masters of the world, you call yourselves. Thieves! Murderers! Jungle animals! A curse on you! A curse on your empire!
-Anybody here? Hey, Old Man. You home tonight? Can You spare a minute. It’s about time we had a little talk. I know I’m a pretty evil fellow… killed people in the war and got drunk… and chewed up municipal property and the like. I know I got no call to ask for much… but even so, You’ve got to admit You ain’t dealt me no cards in a long time. It’s beginning to look like You got things fixed so I can’t never win out. Inside, outside, all of them… rules and regulations and bosses. You made me like I am. Now just where am I supposed to fit in? Old Man, I gotta tell You. I started out pretty strong and fast. But it’s beginning to get to me. When does it end? What do You got in mind for me? What do I do now? Right. All right.
-God made countries, God makes kings, and the rules by which they govern. And those rules say that the Sabbath is His. And I for one intend to keep it that way.
-On the day of my judgment, when I stand before God, and He asks me why did I kill one of his true miracles, what am I gonna say? That it was my job? My job?
-You tell God the Father it was a kindness you done. I know you hurtin’ and worryin’, I can feel it on you, but you oughta quit on it now. Because I want it over and done. I do. I’m tired, boss. Tired of bein’ on the road, lonely as a sparrow in the rain. Tired of not ever having me a buddy to be with, or tell me where we’s coming from or going to, or why. Mostly I’m tired of people being ugly to each other. I’m tired of all the pain I feel and hear in the world everyday. There’s too much of it. It’s like pieces of glass in my head all the time. Can you understand?
-You’re a persistent cuss, pilgrim. You really aim to hang that up outside somewhere?
-That’s why I *painted* it.
-Well, take some advice, pilgrim. You put that thing up, you’ll have to defend it with a *gun*… and you ain’t exactly the type.
-He gave me water, and the heart to live. What has he done to merit this?
-He has taken the world of our sins onto Himself. To this end He said He was born, in that stable, where I first saw Him. For this cause, He came into the world.
-For this death?
-For this beginning.
-Wait a minute. You aren’t seriously suggesting that if I get through the wire… and case everything out there… and don’t get picked up… to turn myself in and get thrown back in the cooler for a couple of months so you can get the information you need?
-Yes.
-Know what you want to stay for? Something that means more to you than anything else – your families – your wives and kids. Like you, Lewis, your girls. Shipstead with his boys. They’ve got a right to stay here and grow up and be happy. That’s up to you people to have – nerve enough to not give it up.
-Just ’cause I ain’t gonna be around no more, maybe, don’t mean that I don’t care for you.
-I care ’bout you too, but you’ll be around. Don’t say that.
-Doesn’t matter where I was to be. We’ll always be friends. You and me made friends right off the bat. Don’t nobody ever change that. I kindly want to put my arm around you, then I’m gonna get up out of here and leave…I love you, boy.
-My husband and son are on that train. I want to get on that train. Did you hear me? I want to get on that train.
It is Friday and the weather has completely turned around since last week. The days are sunny and relatively warm. The birds are chirping away merrily. I saw two flickers in the oak tree in the front yard. Everyone is out and about. It is a veritable traffic jam of walkers in my neighborhood. We can see our shadows!
As usual, I have no plans for the weekend. Why break precedent?
In the Quelle Coincidence Dept. I read this article about Robinson Crusoe shortly after blogging about it.
I will also note that I watched Kit Carson (1940) with John Hall (on YouTube) and really enjoyed it. The plot reflects very little historical accuracy, but who cares? Kit Carson is depicted accurately (if hyper-romantically) and Hall is quite engaging. It is a mystery why he didn’t have more of a career. He is ably supported by Ward Bond and Dana Andrews. Next up: John Hall in Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1944).
Sunday is the birthday of the actor Charles Durning (1923-2012). You may recall him in The Sting (1973) or Tootsie (1982) or Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000). He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for both The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) and To Be or Not To Be (1983).
But did you know that during WWII Durning was in the first wave of American troops that landed on Omaha Beach during the invasion of Normandy? As it turned out, he was the only survivor of his unit that arrived in France on D-Day. After being wounded by a German anti-personnel mine, he spent six months recovering. Durning was then reassigned to the 398th Infantry Regiment with the 100th Infantry Division and participated in the battle of the Bulge. He was discharged in 1946. For his valor and the wounds he received during the war, Durning was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and three Purple Hearts. He is buried at Arlington Cemetery. I discovered this when I did a little research on the Silver Star, the third highest military decoration for valor in combat, after reading MacKinlay Kantor’s Glory For Me. Amazing. Wow. We salute you, Charles Durning.
This Sunday the gospel lesson is Mark 8:31-38:
Jesus began to teach his disciples that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
Here’s hoping you are not dreading anything this week.
I gather that yesterday was National Margarita Day. Why didn’t someone inform me? If I didn’t read Instagram, I would never know. (Note to self: stop reading Instagram.)
Today we toast the handsome actor John Hall (1915-1979) on his birthday. Best known for nearly blowing away in The Hurricane (1937) with Dorothy Lamour…
…he also starred as the title character in Kit Carson (1940) with Dana Andrews as Captain Fremont, which I am going to try and find to watch. I’m sure it’s dreadful, but who knows. Ward Bond plays his sidekick–how bad could it be? And that coat looks almost authentic.
The gospel lesson for today is:
“And in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this:
Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread;[a] 12 And forgive us our debts, As we also have forgiven our debtors; 13 And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil.[b]
14 For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; 15 but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Matthew 6:7-15
Seems pretty straightforward. But forgiveness is a hard thing.
When we strive against all thoughts of revenge; when we will not do our enemies mischief, but wish well to them, grieve at their calamities, pray for them, seek reconciliation with them, and show ourselves ready on all occasions to relieve them. (Thomas Watson, Body of Divinity)
Another Friday and another snowy week. I ventured out once for a doctor’s appointment and the driving was okay. I have driven so infrequently over the past 11 months, that I always worry that I will have forgotten how…and in the snow!
Recently I was reminded that the movie The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) was based on Glory For Me, a novel by MacKinlay Kantor, which he wrote in blank verse. I bought a used copy online and read it this week.
It is about about three service men, honorably discharged for medical causes toward the end of WWII, who return home to the same town where in peacetime they had not known one another. The Oscar-winning screenplay, written by Robert Emmett Sherwood, uses much of the book, but softens it up for the postwar audience. The book is quite graphic in parts, as books can be where films dared not be. I liked it and it reminds one how hard veterans returning to “normal” life have always had it, even after a “popular” war. I’ll have to watch the movie–which is a great one–again soon.
Earlier in the week the OM and I watched the movie Robinson Crusoe (1954) based on the novel written by Daniel Defoe and published in 1719. Everyone knows the story about a castaway who spends 28 years on a remote tropical desert island, encountering cannibals, captives, and mutineers, before ultimately being rescued, but I had never read the book or seen any of the movies based on it. I was interested in the 1954 version because it was directed by the famous Luis Bunuel, the Spanish director who is considered the “father of cinematic Surrealism.” It is, however, a straightforward telling of the story with Dan O’Herlihy as Crusoe and Jaime Fernandez, the Mexican movie star, as Friday. Both are engaging. They develop as characters and that is, after all, what we look for.
It is a much better movie than Castaway (2000), that’s for sure. So check it out. It’s available on Amazon Prime and Youtube.
“I learned to look more upon the bright side of my condition, and less upon the dark side, and to consider what I enjoyed rather than what I wanted; and this gave me sometimes such secret comforts, that I cannot express them; and which I take notice of here, to put those discontented people in mind of it, who cannot enjoy comfortably what God has given them, because they see and covet something that He has not given them. All our discontents about what we want appeared to me to spring from the want of thankfulness for what we have.”
Robinson Crusoe
I will note that yesterday was the anniversary of Martin Luther’s death in 1546. This article about his death is interesting. Even Episcopalians mark the day on their calendar of saints and well they should.
Behold, Lord An empty vessel that needs to be filled. My Lord, fill it I am weak in the faith; Strengthen me. I am cold in love; Warm me and make me fervent, That my love may go out to my neighbor… O Lord, help me. Strengthen my faith and trust in you… With me, there is an abundance of sin; In You is the fullness of righteousness. Therefore I will remain with You, Whom I can receive, But to Whom I may not give.
Martin Luther
Enjoy your weekend! Daughter #1 is taking the train home later today so she can fetch her car. Some fun is in the offing.
Love is in the air, right? I mean, Valentine’s Day approaches, so aren’t we all madly planning exciting and creative ways to celebrate? Well, maybe not. But okay, we’re all wondering what to watch on Valentine’s Day. Whatever.
In light of that, I thought it was time for another Pop Quiz. Identify the romantic movies from which each of these quotes comes and write your answers in the Comments section. I’ll post the answers later today.
– You seem to be very… earthly for a spirit.
– And you, madam, are enough to make a saint turn to blasphemy!
– How about making me vice president in charge of cheering you up?
– But you don’t know me – you don’t know who I am.
– I know all I want to know. Will you go?
– Is this a courting or a donnybrook? Have the good manners not to hit the man until he’s your husband and entitled to hit you back.
– Yes. Get off my back, lady. Stop living vicariously on what you think I do! There are plenty of warm rolls in the bakery – stop pressing your nose against the window!
– And if you get bored in Oklahoma City, you can always go over to Tulsa for the weekend!
-All a man has to do is be firm. You know how sometimes I have had to be firm with your mother.
-Yes, but father, but what can you do when they cry?
– Hmm… well, uh… that’s quite a question. You just have to make them understand that what you are doing is for their good.
– And wuv, tru wuv, will fowow you foweva…So tweasure your wuv.
– The fact that you’re not answering leads me to believe you’re either (a) not at home, (b) home but don’t want to talk to me, or (c) home, desperately want to talk to me, but trapped under something heavy. If it’s either (a) or (c), please call me back.
– Then you do love me, don’t you? Don’t you?
– You know I do.
– I killed you. Haunt me, then! Haunt your murderer! I know that ghosts have wandered on the Earth. Be with me always. Take any form, drive me mad, only do not leave me in this dark alone where I cannot find you. I cannot live without my life! I cannot die without my soul.
– You baked today. I can smell fresh bread on you. Sometime today, you cooked with salt pork. Smell that on you, too. You smell all over like soap: you took a bath. And, on top of that, you smell all over like a woman. I could find you in the dark, Mrs. Lowe, and I’m only part Indian.
Honey, there’s a spider in your bathroom the size of a Buick.”
It is Friday at last. The weekend is upon us. Huzzah!–although the weather doesn’t look great. Nevertheless I am happy, because…happiness is the weekend, right?
I have no plans per usual, but I will think of something. An estate sale, a trip to the antique mall–anything to get out of the house. Maybe I will just walk on the curb for some excitement.
This is a great podcast/article from John Piper on the Fog of Triviality that our culture embraces.
One of the curses of our culture, and it has permeated the church and most Christian communication, is banality, triviality, silliness, superficiality, and an eerie addiction to flippancy and levity. This is accompanied by what to me seems a baffling allergy to seriousness, dignity, articulate precision, brokenhearted joy in public speech. Carelessness in speech and casualness in demeanor turn up in places and times where you would least expect them — where you hope for clarity and earnestness and gravity.
Somebody had to say it. I am certainly guilty of it. It is good to be reminded of the “awe-fullness of God.”
On the bright side, I have good news for Richard Farnsworth fans! The Grey Fox (1983) is finally available to watch! I found it on Prime to rent for 99 cents.
I had not seen it since it was originally released in 1983 and it holds up very well. I am a great fan of Farnsworth who started his career at the age of 19 as a stuntman and extra in such movies as Gone With the Wind and Gunga Din in the 1930s.
Over the years he herded cattle on Red River where he doubled Montgomery Clift. He doubled Kirk Douglas in Spartacus and Steve McQueen on Wanted Dead or Alive. He doubled Henry Fonda in Fort Apache and on and on. When he finally turned to acting, he was nominated twice for an Academy Award. And he got to play Dolly Parton’s father!
He had quite a career.
So have a good weekend! Watch a good movie! Smile.
We did not do anything very exciting this weekend–at least not as exciting as going to a Zoom wedding like daughter #2 and Baby Katie, who attended her BFF Edwina’s nuptials on Saturday. They got dressed up and DN popped the Prosecco and it was a whole thing. I salute Edwina and Kevin for not putting it off because of the crazy time we live in. Because as Harry said to Sally, ““When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with a person, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.”
Speaking of movies, the other night we watched Action in the North Atlantic (1943) a typical Warner Brothers patriotic war film of that era starring Humphrey Bogart as the 1st Officer on a Liberty Ship in a convoy bound from Halifax to Murmansk. After German subs crush the convoy, his ship loses the convoy and heads alone to Murmansk.
In spite of attacks by German planes and a sneaky Nazi sub and the captain being wounded, the gallant crew manages to get the cargo through. I was quite impressed by the special effects wizardry–the whole thing was filmed in a tank on the back lot! Anyway, the movie works as an effective propaganda tool for recruiting for the wartime Merchant Marines. There is even a moving burial at sea scene where Bogart reads a good portion of the naval service for eight seamen who have died to which he adds:
Now, that’s the word of God. And it’s good. But I don’t think He’d mind if I put my oar in. These are eight men we knew and liked, guys like us. Guys we ate with and slept with and fought with. Well, we were just a little luckier than they were. We’ll miss them. All of them.
This all reminded me of one pf those “luckier guys” I was reading about in the Jewish Light obits recently, who died in his nineties. He had joined the Army Air Corps during WWII at 19. As a ball turret gunner in B17 bombers, he flew 33 missions over Germany. Back in St. Louis after the war, Lou worked in advertising for over 44 years. He had big accounts–“Everything from Scoop to Nuts”–and a good long life. But he was a ball turret gunner at 19! That’s the guy who hangs from the belly of the plane armed with two machine guns. Let’s just take a moment.
Lest we forget. Regular guys do amazing things and they do it 33 times.
Forgive me if I got a little off track there, but that’s how my mind works. The wee babes came over Sunday with their parents for taco night. We caught up on the weeks activities and gazed at the fire.
I just love the fire.
I hope you enjoy your day off (if you have one).
Jesus said, “I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Luke 6:27–36 (The lesson appointed for use on the feast of Martin Luther King, Jr.)
*Robert Robinson, 1758, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. I am glad to know that this old English hymn is still sung, including many times by the David Crowder Band. Who doesn’t love Crowder?
Today I thought we’d have a little pop quiz. Here are quotes from a dozen or so of my favorite movies. Can you guess them? If you can, good for you! Watch the movies–there’re all great ones.
Waiter, will you serve the nuts? I mean, will you serve the guests the nuts?
I don’t think I’ve ever drunk champagne before breakfast before. With breakfast on several occasions, but never before.
Well, there are some things a man just can’t run away from.
– I’ve heard about you.
-What have you heard?
-I’ve heard that you’re a low-down Yankee liar.
– Prove it.
Courage! What makes a king out of a slave? Courage! What makes the flag on the mast to wave? Courage! What makes the elephant charge his tusk in the misty mist, or the dusky dusk? What makes the muskrat guard his musk? Courage! What makes the sphinx the seventh wonder? Courage! What makes the dawn come up like thunder? Courage! What makes the Hottentot so hot? What puts the “ape” in apricot? What have they got that I ain’t got?
I’ll organize revolt, exact a death for a death, and I’ll never rest until every Saxon in this shire can stand up free men and strike a blow for Richard and England.
Face it, girls, I’m older and I have more insurance.
Read the newspaper. What does it say? All bad. It’s all bad. People have forgotten what life is all about. They’ve forgotten what it is to be alive. They need to be reminded. They need to be reminded of what they have and what they can lose. What I feel is the joy of life, the gift of life, the freedom of life, the wonderment of life!
So what else is on your mind besides hundred-proof women, ninety-proof whiskey, ‘n’ fourteen-carat gold?
You wanna hurt me? Go right ahead if it makes you feel any better. I’m an easy target. Yeah, you’re right, I talk too much. I also listen too much. I could be a cold-hearted cynic like you… but I don’t like to hurt people’s feelings. Well, you think what you want about me; I’m not changing. I like… I like me. My wife likes me. My customers like me. ‘Cause I’m the real article. What you see is what you get.
Impetuous! Homeric!
It’s money and adventure and fame. It’s the thrill of a lifetime and a long sea voyage that starts at six o’clock tomorrow morning.
I don’t like disturbances in my place. Either lay off politics or get out!
It took me a long, long time to learn my elbow from a hot rock.
You believe what you want. You work your side of the street, and I’ll work mine.
And here’s one more question: Do you think I relate to Doris Day, Thelma Ritter or Rock Hudson in the following scene:
I’ll post the answers in the Comments section later today. Until then, I’ll see you at the movies…
Well, happy new year! Much has been said about the terrible year 2020, but I am content to have lived through it. So onward and upward say I. Tally ho.
Here is the TCM Remembers video for 2020, noting the movie stars and directors who didn’t survive the year. There are a few surprises.
For instance, I did not know Stuart Whitman had died. It may be time to view The Comancheros (1961) again.
“Mon-sewer, words are what men live by… words they say and mean.”
Also, Harriet Frank Jr. died. She co-wrote a lot of good screenplays along with her husband Irving Ravetch, notably Hud (1963), Hombre (1967) and The Cowboys (1972). Check out the list to find some good movies to watch.
January may be the month to do a thorough investigation/viewing of the late Sean Connery’s oeuvre. I mean, who doesn’t love everyone’s favorite Scotsman who died this year at age 90? Granted, his type of sublime white masculinity is viewed by many as toxic these days, but whatever. Bah humbug. Come the apocalypse, I want to be on team Sean Connery.
(Not team Keanu Reeves/Stephan Colbert.)
Daughter #1 and I walked around Laumeier Sculpture Park yesterday morning. It was very cold.
Later the boy and his wee family came over for some New Year’s Eve fun. We ate a lot of chips ‘n dips and had a dance party and set off some fire crackers.
We watched Last Holiday (2006) starring our favorite, Queen Latifah, not to mention LL Cool J and Gerard Depardieu.
The OM, daughter #1 and I actually stayed up til midnight and then went outside (it was sleeting) and blew our party horns with the other rowdy neighbors. And today we start the new year–let’s count our blessings and make it a good one!
*Auld Lang Syne by Robert Burns
We twa hae run about the braes, and pou’d the gowans fine; But we’ve wander’d mony a weary fit, sin’ auld lang syne.
dual personalities 