Saturday Night Fever

Saturday Night Fever is a 1977 American drama film starring John Travolta as Tony Manero, a young Italian-American man who spends his weekends dancing at a local disco and dealing daily with social and family tensions and disillusionment in his working-class ethnic neighborhood in Brooklyn. The music! Ah, the 70s! You can listen to the soundtrack on YouTube. I watched the movie on Amazon Prime.

trailer:

Roger Ebert has it on his list of Great Movies. 81% of Rotten Tomatoes critics give it a positive review.

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That volunteer coneflower is doing well.

The Barefoot Contessa

The Barefoot Contessa is a 1954 drama film written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz about the life and loves of fictional Spanish sex symbol Maria Vargas. It stars Humphrey Bogart, Ava Gardner, and Edmond O'Brien. The film focuses on social positioning and high-powered politics within the world of film and high society. According to Wikipedia (they provide footnotes to sources) The Barefoot Contessa is considered one of Mankiewicz's most glamorous "Hollywood" films, and one of the most glamorous of Golden Hollywood, but it was produced out of Cinecittà Studios in Rome. I watched it free on Tubi.

trailer:

100% of Rotten Tomatoes critics gave it good reviews.

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One of the pothos has escaped its pot and begun wandering.

Join me for a drink and soak up some of our hot steamy summertime sunshine:

Thanks to Bleubeard and Elizabeth for hosting this long-running weekly blogger gathering.

John Carpenter's Vampires

John Carpenter's Vampires is a 1998 American neo-Western action horror film. This isn't a film that'll stick with you long-term. Maybe that makes it re-watchable... Maybe keep it in mind for mindless Halloween viewing. At any rate it was fun to watch. I saw it on Netflix.

trailer:

Reviews were mixed.

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The hydrangea should bloom much earlier, and now it looks like it may not bloom at all. Our last winter may be to blame. 

The Ice Storm (1997)

The Ice Storm is a 1997 American drama film directed by Ang Lee featuring an ensemble cast including Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Tobey Maguire, Christina Ricci, Elijah Wood, Katie Holmes, and Sigourney Weaver. Set during Thanksgiving 1973, the movie is about two dysfunctional New Canaan, Connecticut, upper-class families who are trying to deal with tumultuous social changes and personal and family trauma. This was hard to watch in some places -an emotional film, but I'm glad to have seen it. It is on Max.

trailer:

Deep Focus Review concludes with this:

The Ice Storm contains a deeply human authenticity and willingness to portray, but not resolve, its characters’ collective alienation. That the viewer must interpret and feel the silences between these characters establishes the ambiguous and investigatory mode of watching the film, thus challenging the viewer with prolonged consideration.

Criterion says, "Ten years after it was made, The Ice Storm looks like the best American film of the nineties." Roger Ebert gives it 4 out of 4 stars. 86% of Rotten Tomatoes critics give it a positive review.

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Chipmunks are a common sight on the patio.

Shetland 42

This 42 is on a building in Norway visited by Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez and Detective Sergeant Alison "Tosh" Macintosh as part of their investigation into a murder. Shetland is an excellent award-winning British television series, and we get them on DVD as they are released so we can re-watch them as the mood strikes us. This screen shot is from the third episode of the fourth season. The series should be watched from the beginning.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Close Encounters of the Third Kind is a 1977 American science fiction drama film written and directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, Cary Guffey, and François Truffaut. I remember when this one came out and I saw it in the theater. I loved it then, and I love it now. I found it free online somewhere but can't remember where. I have the DVD.

trailer:

The British Film Institute says, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind is the first of the new breed of science fiction film, which approaches the best in the literature". Empire Online says, "Years ahead of it's time in terms of SFX, it's a masterpiece of wide-eyed whimsy." Roger Ebert's website gives it a full 4-star review and says, "It is as good as you remember it and serves as a reminder of a time when blockbuster entertainments were still willing to show real ambition." 94% of Rotten Tomatoes critics gave it a positive review.

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The patio still has blooming asters, spearmint, zinnias, phlox, sosmos, coneflower, bee balm, catmint, coreopsis, black-eyed susans, pentas, abelia, honeysuckle, salvia, lantana... Some of it has gone to seed, but I don't dead-head my flowers.

Quo Vadis, Aida?

Quo Vadis, Aida? is a 2020 internationally co-produced war drama film. from Wikipedia:

The film dramatizes the events of the Srebrenica massacre, during which Serbian troops sent Bosniak men and boys to death in July 1995 led by Serbian convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić. Named for its protagonist, Quo Vadis, Aida? exposes the events through the eyes of a mother named Aida, a schoolteacher who works with the United Nations as a translator. After three and a half years under siege, the town of Srebrenica, close to the northeastern Serbian border, was declared a UN safety zone in 1993 and put under the protection of a Dutch battalion working for the UN.

I came across this film on a list of recommended films or I'd never have watched it. I saw it on Hulu.

trailer:

Roger Ebert's website opens a positive review with this:

Jasmila Zbanic’s “Quo Vadis, Aida?” is a razor-sharp incrimination of failed foreign policies from around the world embedded in a deeply humanist and moving character study of the kind of person that these policies leave behind. It’s a very specific story of war crimes in 1995, but it feels also like a modern commentary on how often foreign policy and U.N. intervention fails to see the human lives caught up in their decision making, and so often in their inability to make those tough decisions quickly and empathetically. Taut and intense, this is the kind of film that a critic hopes finds a broad enough audience to provoke conversation and insight about how we fix these broken systems. It truly feels like Zbanic’s work here could effect change if seen by the right people.

100% of Rotten Tomatoes critics give it a positive review.

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Hummingbird perched in the redbud tree:

Come On In My Kitchen

Come On In My Kitchen:

by Robert Johnson, who died on this date in 1983. He grew up in Memphis, and depending on which legend you believe, that fabled crossroads might actually be here.

The Young Girls of Rochefort

The Young Girls of Rochefort is a 1967 French musical comedy film written and directed by Jacques Demy. The ensemble cast is headlined by real-life sisters Catherine Deneuve and Françoise Dorléac, and features Gene Kelly. The director's The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is one of my all-time favorite films and this doesn't top it, but this is still a beautiful film and a sweet story. And you can't go wrong with Gene Kelly. I watched it on Max.

trailer:

98% of Rotten Tomatoes critics give it a positive review.

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Join me in sharing a drink over at Elizabeth's T Stands for Tuesday blogger gathering. Here's mine:

Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva

Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva is a 2022 Indian-language fantasy action-adventure film. I have enjoyed every Hindi film I've seen so far, and this is no exception. I watched it on Disney+.

trailer:

Reviews are mixed, seemingly depending on whether or not the reviewer likes or approves of Bollywood films. I like them.

Living (2022)

Living is a 2022 remake of the 1952 Kurosawa masterpiece. I was afraid I'd be disappointed in this movie, since I'm such an admirer of the original, but I can't praise this film highly enough. Highly recommended. I watched it on Netflix.

trailer:

Reviews are universally glowing. Seriously, watch this movie the first chance you get.

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The feeder is about empty, and I'll refill it later, but there's a hummingbird there now if you zoom in:

Here's a 6-second video:

Avatar: The Way of Water

Avatar: The Way of Water is a 2022 American epic science fiction sequel film directed and produced by James Cameron. It is pretty -very, very pretty- but that's all it has going for it in my opinion. I thought it would never end! But it is pretty.

trailer:

Roger Ebert's site has a positive 3.5 out of 4 stars review. 92% of Rotten Tomatoes audience reviews are positive.

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This is my several years old redbud tree that I'm trying to grow in a pot. So far, so good, but I wish I could find a larger pot.

Soldiers of the Damned

Soldiers of the Damned is a 2015 British war horror film. Since war is horror, this picture of the hunt for Nazi gold where the result is many people die horrible deaths seems on-target. You can watch it with your Amazon Prime subscription or on Tubi or on YouTube.

via YouTube, but it's age-restricted so you'll need to click through and watch it at the YouTube website:

Reviews are scarce, but how can you go wrong with end of WW2 German Nazis vs the Russian Red Army blowing everything up in the search for gold. Mindless entertainment, which sometimes (often?) suits my mood.

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I have a hummingbird feeder, but I also enjoy having flowers the hummingbirds will come to like this native honeysuckle.

Three Colours: Red

Three Colours: Red is a 1994 romantic mystery film co-written, produced and directed by Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieślowski. from Wikipedia: It is the final installment of the Three Colours trilogy, which examines the French Revolutionary ideals; it is preceded by Blue and White. Kieślowski had announced that this would be his final film, which proved true with the director's sudden death in 1996. Red is about fraternity, which it examines by showing characters whose lives gradually become closely interconnected, with bonds forming between two characters who appear to have little in common.

It took me forever to watch this trilogy for some reason, and I'm so happy I finally committed to it. They're definitely worth re-watching. And my Max watchlist continues to provide daily movie viewing opportunities. Someday I'll watch all in my watchlist, but that won't be anytime soon.

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Criterion calls it "an incandescent meditation on fate and chance". The Guardian has a positive review that closes with this: "The Three Colours trilogy is a highly wrought, intensely controlled and self-aware creation, high arthouse cinema of the sort that isn’t as fashionable as it was, but utterly distinctive and absorbing." 100% of Rotten Tomatoes critics give it a positive review.

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The asters have been a revelation, with what looks to me like completely different kinds of flowers. Anybody know anything about asters?

Vivre sa Vie

Vivre sa Vie (1962) is yet another French New Wave drama film written and directed by Jean-Luc Godard and yet another from my Max watchlist.

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Criterion says it "remains one of his most dynamic films, combining brilliant visual design with a tragic character study." FrenchFilms calls it "one of the most significant films of the French New Wave". Roger Ebert has it on his list of Great Movies. 89% of Rotten Tomatoes critics gave it a positive review, and the audience score is even higher.

Masculin Feminin

Masculin Feminin is a 1966 French New Wave film directed by Jean-Luc Godard. It's considered one of Godard's greatest films, but I'm glad I watched Breathless and Alphaville first. This is a very 60s thing. Another on my Max watchlist, I guess it's a good thing I have about 10 months left on my annual subscription.

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Slant Magazine says Godard "champions a marriage between image and action, both personal and political. If American pop culture is the devil, Godard not only has sympathy for it, he also tries to navigate and empower it." FrenchFilms opens a positive review by calling it "as revelatory as it is incisive." Roger Ebert has a positive review and says, "Godard works with a bright style and a sense of humor and his pictures leave a cumulative impression." 96% of Rotten Tomatoes critics gave it a positive review.

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My goal of posting photos of the patio has been foiled by the gray and dreary rain. Not much rain, mind you, but enough to keep things gray and damp. We did have a visiting hawk stop by, which always provides some excitement.

Lola Montes

Lola Montes is a 1955 historical romance film starring Martine Carol and Peter Ustinov. It is the last completed film of German-born director Max Ophüls. Based on a novel, it depicts the life of Irish dancer and courtesan Lola Montez (1821–1861) -though her actual life was a much rougher tale than this- and tells the story of the most famous of her many notorious affairs, those with Franz Liszt and Ludwig I of Bavaria. A co-production between France and West Germany, the dialogue is mostly in French and German, with a few English-language sequences. This is another from my Max watchlist.

trailer:

Slant Magazine says, "Lola Montès is Ophüls’s boldest vision of film as a medium that reveres beauty in order to both nurture and mock dreams." Criterion opens by calling it "visually ravishing, narratively daring". FrenchFilms has a positive review. Roger Ebert gives it 3.5 out of 4 stars, praising the director but criticizing the casting of Martine Carol in the lead. 82% of Rotten Tomatoes critics give it a positive review.

Rome, Open City

Rome, Open City is a 1945 Italian neorealist war drama film directed by Roberto Rossellini. Set in Rome in 1944, the film follows a diverse group of characters coping under the Nazi occupation, and centers on a Resistance fighter trying to escape the city with the help of a Catholic priest. The title refers to Rome being declared an open city after 14 August 1943. I watched it on Max as I clear out my watchlist on that service.

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Senses of Cinema closes with this:

Rome, Open City is probably the most celebrated and representative example of neo-realism – perhaps because of its timing, but also because the power of its mythos and melodrama is given sanction by visual and geographical claims to “authenticity” (20). Its undimmed excitement is ironically achieved by techniques – strong plotting, dramatic episodes, fast cutting (21) – which aim for a visceral response from the viewer that would be displaced in Rossellini’s later work. But the film’s real importance was never in its “objective”, unmediated, “overwhelming truth”, its “moral outrage” or its “desire to testify” (22), but in its clashing modes of realism, genre and archetype, a liberating model that would influence filmmakers worldwide.

Slant Magazine opens a positive review by calling it a "legendary cinematic achievement". The Guardian describes it as a classic and a "Thrillingly real wartime drama" Criterion calls it a "revelation, a harrowing drama about the Nazi occupation of Rome and the brave few who struggled against it" and "a shockingly authentic experience". 100% of Rotten Tomatoes critics give it a positive review.

An Autumn Afternoon

An Autumn Afternoon is a 1962 Japanese drama film directed by Yasujirō Ozu and is considered one of his greatest films. It was his last, and he died the year after its release. This is another from my Max watchist.

via YouTube:

The British Film Institute says, "Exquisitely moving and truthful, An Autumn Afternoon is a fitting end to the great career of Yasujiro Ozu." Criterion closes with this: "There’s no sentimentality, only profound compassion." The Guardian calls it "equisitely tender". Roger Ebert has it on his list of Great Movies. 95% of Rotten Tomatoes critics give it a positive review.

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This purple coneflower volunteered in the coreropsis pot:

Three Colors: White

Three Colors: White is a 1994 French/Polish comedy-drama film, the second in the Three Colours trilogy, themed on the French Revolutionary ideals. from Wikipedia: White is about equality, with the film depicting Karol Karol, a shy man who, after being left by his wife in humiliating circumstances in Paris, loses his money, his residency, and his friends. As a deeply ashamed beggar in Paris, Karol begins his effort to restore equality to his life through revenge. I watched it on Max.

trailer:

The Guardian closes a positive review with this: "What a strange confection White is – an opera of male agony and outrageously implausible picaresque adventure. Yet it succeeds amazingly on its own melodramatic terms." Roger Ebert gives it 3.5 out of 4 stars. 89% of Rotten Tomatoes critics gave it a positive review.

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And there's another Trump indictment. Read this latest one here.

Red Hot

Red Hot:

by Billy Lee Riley, who died on this date in 2009. He did some of his recording in Memphis, and his last public performance was in June 2009 at the New Daisy Theatre on Beale Street here.

Breaking the Waves

Breaking the Waves is a 1996 psychological drama film directed by Lars von Trier and starring Emily Watson in her feature film acting debut, and with Stellan Skarsgård, a frequent collaborator with von Trier. Set in the Scottish Highlands in the early 1970s, it is about a mentally unstable young woman and of the love she has for her husband. I watched it on Max as I clear out my watchlist there.

trailer:

Roger Ebert gives it a full 4-star review and concludes,

Not many movies like this get made, because not many filmmakers are so bold, angry and defiant. Like many truly spiritual films, it will offend the Pharisees. Here we have a story that forces us to take sides, to ask what really is right and wrong in a universe that seems harsh and indifferent. Is religious belief only a consolation for our inescapable destination in the grave? Or can faith give the power to triumph over death and evil? Bess knows.

Spirituality and Practice says,

Breaking the Waves comes across as a glorious paean to the mighty power of love. It provides a profound meditation on a line from "Les Miserables: "To love another person is to see the face of God."

85% of Rotten Tomatoes critics gave it a positive review, and the audience rating was even higher.

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Please post something drink related and join me at the T Stands for Tuesday blogger gathering. Mine's lemonade.

Le Samourai

Le Samourai is a 1967 neo-noir crime thriller film starring Alain Delon. I watched it on Max, as I steadily work my way through my watchlist on that service.

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Criterion calls Alain Delon's performance "career-defining" and calls the film "An elegantly stylized masterpiece of cool". Roger Ebert has it on his list of Great Movies. 100% of the Rotten Tomatoes critics gave it a positive review.

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I planted some seed labeled as "butterfly mix" back in the spring. So far this is all I have to show for it:

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We finished our re-watch of Good Omens season 1 and have now finished season 2. I'm delighted with this, though heartbroken (cries tears), and am looking forward to a third season. I'm re-watching the X Files late at night in an attempt at fighting the persistent insomnia, but I swear X Files is not as filled with conspiracy theories as the House Hearing on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena. I weep for America. You can watch it here:

or read a transcript at the C-SPAN web site.

Orpheus (1950)

Orpheus is a 1950 French re-working of the myth.It is directed by Jean Cocteau and stars Jean Marais. This is fascinating. I watched it on Max, but it's also available free online via YouTube (embedded below) and Internet Archive.

via YouTube here:

Senses of Cinema has an interesting article. 97% of Rotten Tomatoes critics gave it a positive review. Roger Ebert has it on his list of Great Movies.

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I remember how attractive abelia was to butterflies when I was child, and it serves to attract hummingbirds and some butterflies now. I have it planted along part of the fence on both sides of my patio.

Monsieur Hulot's Holiday

Monsieur Hulot's Holiday is a 1954 French comedy film directed by and starring Jacques Tati.

trailer:

Deep Focus Review has a lovely consideration. Criterion calls it "one of the most original—and hilarious—comedies ever made". Empire calls it "one of the best and most important films ever made.". Roger Ebert placed it on his list of Great Movies. 100% of Rotten Tomatoes critics gave it a positive review.

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My black-eyed susans are holding up well.

Beau Travail

Beau Travail is a 1999 French film directed by Claire Denis (a director well worth looking for) that is loosely based on Herman Melville's 1888 novella Billy Budd. It must've been too long since I last read Billy Budd, because I didn't see it. The story is set in Djibouti, where the protagonists are soldiers in the French Foreign Legion. Parts of the soundtrack of the movie are from Benjamin Britten's 1951 opera based on the novella. It's also been a long time since I last looked at the French Foreign Legion, but in case you were wondering... I don't qualify on a number of the requirements.

trailer:

The Guardian says,

Claire Denis’s film is a mesmeric, masculine ballet whose beauty and confident power, manifested in lugubrious scenes which suspend the normal rules of narrative procedure, simply go beyond conventional ideas of transgression or homoeroticism. She choreographs various exercises and drills for Galoup and his comrades to act out; some of these are normal workouts, but in a kind of hallucination or noonday mirage, they seem to become dance sequences and exotic tableaux. These happen either communally, or in a kind of one-on-one confrontation between Sentain and Galoup. They are juxtaposed with real dance sequences, at the Djibouti discotheques, where Galoup - though he actually has a girlfriend - makes it bitterly clear that it is only his connection to the Legion which has any emotional meaning for him.

But the “men” themselves are really just boys.

Criterion opens with this:

When Claire Denis’s Beau travail (1999) first appeared on American screens, the critic Stephen Holden used a striking phrase to capture its embracing of bold opposites: “voluptuous austerity.” His characterization, widely quoted since, illuminates the film on many levels, and also forecasts something important about its reception to come. Quickly, Beau travail acquired a passionate following in film culture, was voted best film of the year in the Village Voice critics’ poll in 2000, when it had its U.S. theatrical run—only the first of many surveys on which it has featured prominently—and inspired an outpouring of writing in internet cinephile spaces, film magazines, and academic journals alike. This wide-ranging response, from disparate corners, perfectly suits this work that holds in balance a rich and resonant set of tensions and contrasts. ...

The power of Denis’s cinema flows from the fact that it fully addresses both mind and body: the whole spectator.

The British Film Institute closes by calling it "one of cinema’s most compelling and original meditations on the need for, and simultaneous resistance to, intimacy." 86% of Rotten Tomatoes critics gave it a positive review.

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I planted aster seed in the Spring, and here's the first bloom:

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Everything Everywhere All at Once is an award-winning 2022 film starring Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jenny Slate, Harry Shum Jr., and James Hong. What fun!

trailer:

Roger Ebert's site gave it 3.5 out of 4 stars. 93% of Rotten Tomatoes critics gave it positive reviews. The BBC has a post making all kinds of interesting connections.

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I tend to treat movies and television like some people treat music, which is to say I keep it on much of the time without sitting still in front of it for long periods. In addition to the movies I watch, I watch a lot of series shows. Lately I'm watching the new seasons of What We Do in the Shadows, Futurama, and Strange New Worlds. We just finished a re-watch of Good Omens season one in preparation for the release of the second season.

Dead for a Dollar (2022)

Dead for a Dollar is a 2022 western film starring Christoph Waltz, Willem Dafoe, and Rachel Brosnahan. I'm glad to see they're still making traditional westerns. This is definitely worth watching if you like westerns, but it won't go in my re-watch queue.

trailer:

Home Sweet Home still needs some work -for example, I thought it would be easier and much less expensive to make this twin bed look like a couch- but all in all we're settling into a pleasant routine. Hoorah!

The Anniversary Swap

Thanks, first of all, to my swap partner Nicole, who emailed me to let me know that Today Is The Day to post our treats and treasures from the swap. I'd not have realized otherwise, as my blogging has taken a back seat to getting The Husband moved back in on a permanent basis. Combining two kitchens is a challenge, and he had gotten a few peices of furniture which there was absolutely no room for but which we absolutely wanted to keep. I had thought I had figured out where to put everything, but nothing fits that way. At any rate, most of the boxes are unpacked now, so that's progress.

If I had ever decided to blog from my phone keeping up would've been much easier -I'm keeping up with Facebook and email just fine, after all- but I've always blogged from my laptop which has a stand it stays on over in a corner...

I do hope to get back in the swing of things soon. In the meantime, thanks again to Nicole. She's been a saint through all of this!

I'm not sure I can do this, but I'm hoping I can add a photo of the post card and teas Nicole sent me by uploading them directly from my phone. We shall see...

Hoorah! It looks like it worked!

I'm going to go drink that peach tea she sent. Please join me over at the T Stands for Tuesday blogger gathering. I want to express my gratitude here for Elizabeth's willingness to do the work required to keep such an endeavor enjoyable and ongoing for so long. It has meant a lot to me over the years, and I appreciate it more than words can say.

Oh, dear! I forgot the 10! Nicole says we're supposed to include a 10 for the 10th Anniversary... Here's mine:

The Escape Artist 42

This is a screenshot from the first episode of the TV series The Escape Artist. We did not like this, not at all, and did not watch more than that first episode.

You Gotta Move

You Gotta Move:

by Mississippi Fred McDowell, who died on this date in 1972 in Memphis.

My Beautiful

My Beautiful Laundrette is a 1985 British romantic comedy-drama film. The story focuses on Omar, played by Gordon Warnecke, a young Pakistani man living in London, and his reunion and eventual romance with his old friend, a street punk named Johnny, played by Daniel Day-Lewis. I watched it on Max.

trailer:

Roger Ebert has a positive review. 98% or Rotten Tomatoes critics gave it positive reviews.

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Moving day was Tuesday, and I'm hoping to be back to my normal blogging routine soon. Nothing fits like I thought it would, so there's much rearranging of furniture going on. It'll be good to be back to normal.

Danika (2006)

Danika is a 2006 psychological thriller. I watched it on Tubi. It's also available via YouTube. It's age restricted on YouTube, so you'll need to click on the video to watch it via the YouTube site.

Desert Hearts

Desert Hearts is a 1985 American romantic drama film set in Reno, Nevada, in 1959 telling the story of a university professor awaiting a divorce who finds her true self through a relationship with another, more self-confident woman. I watched it on Max.

trailer:

Roger Ebert opens with this:

"Desert Hearts" tells the story of a woman in her 30s who suddenly is awakened to the turmoils of passionate love, and because that is basically a simple story, this is basically a simple movie. What makes it unusual is that the story is set in the 1950s and the woman falls in love with a lesbian.

Slant Magazine says "It advocates risk and consciousness as the only means to overcome the cold hand of so-called normative thought." 90% of Rotten Tomatoes critics love it.

Boogie Chillen'

Boogie Chillen:

by John Lee Hooker, who died on this date in 2001. He lived for a while in Memphis in the mid-1930s.

Three Thousand Years of Longing

Three Thousand Years of Longing is a 2022 fantasy romantic drama. The Younger Son gave the DVD to me as a present when it came out, but this time I watched it on Amazon Prime. Directed by George Miller, it stars Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton. This is a treasure of a film. Always re-watchable.

trailer:

Slant Magazine calls it "An Awe-Inspiring Ode to Storytelling". Roger Ebert's site has a positive review. NPR calls it charming. The Rolling Stone review is here. Empire Online calls it "a modern fairy tale worth seeking out."

The Vast of Night

The Vast of Night is a 2019 American science fiction mystery film directed by Andrew Patterson. The film follows young switchboard operator Fay Crocker (Sierra McCormick) and radio disc jockey Everett Sloan (Jake Horowitz) as they discover a mysterious audio frequency that could be extraterrestrial in origin. I watched it on Amazon Prime. I love this one and will gladly re-watch it. What a treat!

trailer:

The Guardian calls it "mesmerising retro sci-fi". Empire Online concludes, "The Vast Of Night is a modest film about small-town dreamers that delivers big-time rewards and announces a singular, exciting talent in director Andrew Patterson." Roger Ebert's site closes a glowing review with this: "This is an astonishing first feature. It works like gangbusters, start to finish." 93% of Rotten Tomatoes critics love it.

Happy Together (1997)

Happy Together is an award-winning 1997 Hong Kong romantic drama film directed by Wong Kar-wai about a gay couple from Hong Kong and their tumultuous on-again-off-again relationship as they go to Argentina together. I watched it on Max.

trailer:

Slant Magazine has a positive review and calls it "vibrant" and "colorful". 91% of Rotten Tomatoes audience reviewers gave it positive reviews.

A Day at the Races 42

from the Tootsie-Frootsie Ice Cream scene from A Day at the Races:

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For the last several years The Husband's work has had him living about 2 hours away. He came home on weekends (Thursday night through Saturday midday for him), and I would sometimes go visit him. He's being transferred back to Memphis, and we are in the process of moving his stuff back to the townhouse. I've let the blogging part of my life go to pot, sadly. I'm able to keep up with Facebook on my phone, but don't do any blogging that way. I hope to be back in the swing of things by mid-July. I'm sure it'll take some effort to mesh our ways back into common living -our eating habits and schedules, for example, couldn't be more different- but we are so grateful we can be back together full time!

From Beyond

From Beyond is a 1986 science fiction film. I watched it for Jeffrey Combs, because I'm a fan of his. I watched it on Paramount+.

trailer:

Slant Magazine gives it 3 out of 4 stars. Roger Ebert has a mixed review. 80% of Rotten Tomatoes critics love it.

Practical Mysticism

Practical Mysticism, by Evelyn Underhill (who died on this date in 1941 at 65 years of age) is a 1915 book that sets out her belief that spiritual life is part of human nature and as such is available to every human being. In this work she takes a secular approach. The Marginalian has an overview, which begins with this:

The great paradox of consciousness is that it constitutes both our entire experience of reality and our blindfold to reality as it really is. Forever trapped within it, we mistake our concepts of things for the things themselves, our theories for the universe, continually seeing the world not as it is but as we are. The supreme frontier of human freedom may be the ability to accept that something exists beyond understanding, that understanding is a machination of the mind and not a mirror of the world — that the world simply is, and our consciousness is a participant in its being but not a creator of it.

The English poet, novelist, mystic, and peace activist Evelyn Underhill (December 6, 1875–June 15, 1941) explores how to do that in her 1914 book Practical Mysticism — a field guide to mystical experience that is secular rather than religious, the product of “ordinary contemplation” springing from the very essence of human nature, available to all.

You can listen to Practical Mysticism read to you in the Librivox recording at this link. You can read it online here or here. The Preface:

This little book, written during the last months of peace, goes to press in the first weeks of the great war. Many will feel that in such a time of conflict and horror, when only the most ignorant, disloyal, or apathetic can hope for quietness of mind, a book which deals with that which is called the "contemplative" attitude to existence is wholly out of place. So obvious, indeed, is this point of view, that I had at first thought of postponing its publication. On the one hand, it seems as though the dreams of a spiritual renaissance, which promised so fairly but a little time ago, had perished in the sudden explosion of brute force. On the other hand, the thoughts of the English race are now turned, and rightly, towards the most concrete forms of action--struggle and endurance, practical sacrifices, difficult and long-continued effort--rather than towards the passive attitude of self-surrender which is all that the practice of mysticism seems, at first sight, to demand. Moreover, that deep conviction of the dependence of all human worth upon eternal values, the immanence of the Divine Spirit within the human soul, which lies at the root of a mystical concept of life, is hard indeed to reconcile with much of the human history now being poured red-hot from the cauldron of war. For all these reasons, we are likely during the present crisis to witness a revolt from those superficially mystical notions which threatened to become too popular during the immediate past.

Yet, the title deliberately chosen for this book--that of "Practical" Mysticism--means nothing if the attitude and the discipline which it recommends be adapted to fair weather alone: if the principles for which it stands break down when subjected to the pressure of events, and cannot be reconciled with the sterner duties of the national life. To accept this position is to reduce mysticism to the status of a spiritual plaything. On the contrary, if the experiences on which it is based have indeed the transcendent value for humanity which the mystics claim for them--if they reveal to us a world of higher truth and greater reality than the world of concrete happenings in which we seem to be immersed--then that value is increased rather than lessened when confronted by the overwhelming disharmonies and sufferings of the present time. It is significant that many of these experiences are reported to us from periods of war and distress: that the stronger the forces of destruction appeared, the more intense grew the spiritual vision which opposed them. We learn from these records that the mystical consciousness has the power of lifting those who possess it to a plane of reality which no struggle, no cruelty, can disturb: of conferring a certitude which no catastrophe can wreck. Yet it does not wrap its initiates in a selfish and otherworldly calm, isolate them from the pain and effort of the common life. Rather, it gives them renewed vitality; administering to the human spirit not--as some suppose--a soothing draught, but the most powerful of stimulants. Stayed upon eternal realities, that spirit will be far better able to endure and profit by the stern discipline which the race is now called to undergo, than those who are wholly at the mercy of events; better able to discern the real from the illusory issues, and to pronounce judgment on the new problems, new difficulties, new fields of activity now disclosed. Perhaps it is worth while to remind ourselves that the two women who have left the deepest mark upon the military history of France and England--Joan of Arc and Florence Nightingale--both acted under mystical compulsion. So, too, did one of the noblest of modern soldiers, General Gordon. Their national value was directly connected with their deep spiritual consciousness: their intensely practical energies were the flowers of a contemplative life.

We are often told, that in the critical periods of history it is the national soul which counts: that "where there is no vision, the people perish." No nation is truly defeated which retains its spiritual self-possession. No nation is truly victorious which does not emerge with soul unstained. If this be so, it becomes a part of true patriotism to keep the spiritual life, both of the individual citizen and of the social group, active and vigorous; its vision of realities unsullied by the entangled interests and passions of the time. This is a task in which all may do their part. The spiritual life is not a special career, involving abstraction from the world of things. It is a part of every man's life; and until he has realised it he is not a complete human being, has not entered into possession of all his powers. It is therefore the function of a practical mysticism to increase, not diminish, the total efficiency, the wisdom and steadfastness, of those who try to practise it. It will help them to enter, more completely than ever before, into the life of the group to which they belong. It will teach them to see the world in a truer proportion, discerning eternal beauty beyond and beneath apparent ruthlessness. It will educate them in a charity free from all taint of sentimentalism; it will confer on them an unconquerable hope; and assure them that still, even in the hour of greatest desolation, "There lives the dearest freshness deep down things." As a contribution, then, to these purposes, this little book is now published. It is addressed neither to the learned nor to the devout, who are already in possession of a wide literature dealing from many points of view with the experiences and philosophy of the mystics. Such readers are warned that they will find here nothing but the re-statement of elementary and familiar propositions, and invitations to a discipline immemorially old. Far from presuming to instruct those to whom first-hand information is both accessible and palatable, I write only for the larger class which, repelled by the formidable appearance of more elaborate works on the subject, would yet like to know what is meant by mysticism, and what it has to offer to the average man: how it helps to solve his problems, how it harmonises with the duties and ideals of his active life. For this reason, I presuppose in my readers no knowledge whatever of the subject, either upon the philosophic, religious, or historical side. Nor, since I wish my appeal to be general, do I urge the special claim of any one theological system, any one metaphysical school. I have merely attempted to put the view of the universe and man's place in it which is common to all mystics in plain and untechnical language: and to suggest the practical conditions under which ordinary persons may participate in their experience. Therefore the abnormal states of consciousness which sometimes appear in connection with mystical genius are not discussed: my business being confined to the description of a faculty which all men possess in a greater or less degree.

The reality and importance of this faculty are considered in the first three chapters. In the fourth and fifth is described the preliminary training of attention necessary for its use; in the sixth, the general self-discipline and attitude toward life which it involves. The seventh, eighth, and ninth chapters treat in an elementary way of the three great forms of contemplation; and in the tenth, the practical value of the life in which they have been actualised is examined. Those kind enough to attempt the perusal of the book are begged to read the first sections with some attention before passing to the latter part.

E. U.

September 12, 1914.

Chapter 1 begins,

WHAT IS MYSTICISM?

Those who are interested in that special attitude towards the universe which is now loosely called "mystical," find themselves beset by a multitude of persons who are constantly asking--some with real fervour, some with curiosity, and some with disdain--"What is mysticism?" When referred to the writings of the mystics themselves, and to other works in which this question appears to be answered, these people reply that such books are wholly incomprehensible to them.

On the other hand, the genuine inquirer will find before long a number of self-appointed apostles who are eager to answer his question in many strange and inconsistent ways, calculated to increase rather than resolve the obscurity of his mind. He will learn that mysticism is a philosophy, an illusion, a kind of religion, a disease; that it means having visions, performing conjuring tricks, leading an idle, dreamy, and selfish life, neglecting one's business, wallowing in vague spiritual emotions, and being "in tune with the infinite." He will discover that it emancipates him from all dogmas--sometimes from all morality--and at the same time that it is very superstitious. One expert tells him that it is simply "Catholic piety," another that Walt Whitman was a typical mystic; a third assures him that all mysticism comes from the East, and supports his statement by an appeal to the mango trick. At the end of a prolonged course of lectures, sermons, tea-parties, and talks with earnest persons, the inquirer is still heard saying--too often in tones of exasperation--"What is mysticism?"

I dare not pretend to solve a problem which has provided so much good hunting in the past. It is indeed the object of this little essay to persuade the practical man to the one satisfactory course: that of discovering the answer for himself. Yet perhaps it will give confidence if I confess pears to cover all the ground; or at least, all that part of the ground which is worth covering. It will hardly stretch to the mango trick; but it finds room at once for the visionaries and the philosophers, for Walt Whitman and the saints.
...

Pariah (2011)

Pariah is an award-winning 2011 drama film about a 17 year old black girl coming to terms with her identity as a lesbian. I watched it (on Amazon Prime) to help broaden my horizons during Pride Month.

trailer:

NPR describes it as

a tender, sporadically goofy, yet candid examination of emergent identity, a film whose lack of attitude sets it apart from much of the hard-bitten, thug-life storytelling that's dominated African-American cinema for decades. If anything, its source genre is the coming-of-age movie, and though the universe its freshly hatched lesbian inhabits is all black, Rees is blessedly unwilling to confine herself in any kind of ghetto, whether racial, sexual or aesthetic.

Roger Ebert calls it an "impressive debut for writer-director Dee Rees". 95% of Rotten Tomatoes critics love it.

The Black Hole (1979)

The Black Hole is a 1979 science fiction film starring Maximilian Schell, Robert Forster, Joseph Bottoms, Yvette Mimieux, Anthony Perkins and Ernest Borgnine, while the voices of the main robot characters are provided by Roddy McDowall and Slim Pickens. I saw this in the theater when it first came out, and thought it mind-numbingly bad. Sooo bad. I decided to give it another chance (Disney+). It was as bad as I remember. It's a bit of a cult classic among science fiction fans -and I get that- but I'm not joing the cult.

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Return to Oz

Return to Oz is a 1985 dark fantasy Disney film, an unofficial direct sequel to the Judy Garland Wizard of Oz classic. This film is fairly faithful to the L. Frank Baum books, with a Dorothy actor who is much more the Dorothy of those books. I wasn't expecting to love this, but I do. This movie stars Jean Marsh, Piper Laurie, and Fairuza Balk as Dorothy Gale in her first screen role. I watched it on Disney+.

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Neil Gaiman says, "Terrifying and visionary, funny and exciting, Return to Oz is one of the very best fantasy films I've ever seen." The Guardian gives it a positive review and says, "the tiny, pale, turquoise-eyed Balk proceeded to give one of the greatest child performances in cinema." Slash Film calls it essential viewing.

1990 The Bronx Warriors

1990 The Bronx Warriors is a 1982 Italian action-science fiction film. The draw here is Vic Morrow, but given the choice you should watch Escape from New York instead. Then once you've seen that, you should watch it again instead of Bronx Warriors. That's how much a waste of time this movie is. Unless you're a Vic Morrow completist, of course. In that case, go for it! I watched it on Tubi.

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Victor/Victoria

Victor/Victoria is an award-winning 1982 musical comedy film written and directed by Blake Edwards and starring Julie Andrews, James Garner, Robert Preston, and Lesley Ann Warren. I have always loved this movie and rewatched it (on Max) in honor of Pride Month. Also, Robert Preston is always a joy to behold, and I'll watch anything just knowing he's in it. And Leslie Ann Warren! Perfect!

Roger Ebert gives it a positive review and closes with this:

Because they all seem to be people first and genders second, they see the humor in their bewildering situation as quickly as anyone, and their cheerful ability to rise to a series of implausible occasions makes “Victor/Victoria” not only a funny movie, but, unexpectedly, a warm and friendly one.

97% of Rotten Tomatoes critics love it.

Popeye (1980)

Popeye is a 1980 live action film directed by Robert Altman and starring Robin Williams as Popeye the Sailor Man and Shelley Duvall as Olive Oyl. Its story follows Popeye's adventures as he arrives in the town of Sweethaven. I watched it on Paramount+.

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clip:

Reviews are all over the place, and people seem to love it or hate it. I love it! Roger Ebert has a positive review.

A Taste of Honey

A Taste of Honey is a 1961 British film about a high school senior who finds herself pregnant and with no place to live after her alcoholic mother takes a new lover. She finds a friend in a young gay man. I came across it on a list of important films exploring topics related to Gay Pride month. I watched it on Max.

via Internet Archive:

BFI closes with this:

If the then-daring subject matter suggests an issue-led drama urging moral tolerance, director Tony Richardson’s treatment is more a matter of poetic realism, highlighting sensitive changes of mood and emotion against a backdrop of grimly authentic Salford locations. Social attitudes may have moved on since 1961, but wide-eyed Rita Tushingham’s affecting central performance remains a delight.

Slant concludes, "A Taste of Honey is an essential title in global cinema’s shift toward investigating the inner lives of quotidian folk." Empire Online says, "It's easy to bandy about terms like "classic", but there is no other way to describe this magnificent, if dated, film."

Wild (2018)

Wild is a 2018 Danish horror short film about a family vacation gone wrong.

via YouTube:

Someday Baby Blues

Someday Baby Blues:

by Sleepy John Estes, who died on this date in 1977. He was born in West Tennessee and died and was buried there. He did some recording in Memphis.

Blood and Gold (2023)

Blood and Gold is a 2023 German film that takes place during the closing days of World War 2. It wasn't what I expected, but I liked it anyway. Many Nazis die in search of hidden gold. I watched it on Netflix.

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It has had generally positive reviews.

Spiderman: Homecoming

Spiderman: Homecoming is a 2017 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character. This is yet another re-boot and is the first film in a trilogy. It stars Tom Holland as Spider-Man, and Michael Keaton, Jon Favreau, Gwyneth Paltrow, Zendaya, Donald Glover, Jacob Batalon, Laura Harrier, Tony Revolori, Bokeem Woodbine, Tyne Daly, Marisa Tomei, and Robert Downey Jr. Spiderman isn't one of my favorite of the comic book superheroes, but this re-boot does a better job of engaging those of us who are older and is a better addition to the Marvel Universe. I'm glad I gave it a chance. We watched it on Disney+.

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The Guardian calls it "a crowd-pleasing triumph: a whip-smart teen movie with a charming central turn from Tom Holland". 92% of Rotten Tomatoes critics loved it.

We've seen and enjoyed the second movie in this trilogy -Spiderman: Far from Home- but not yet the third.

The Sword and the Sorcerer

The Sword and the Sorcerer is a 1982 sword and sorcery fantasy film I watched in memory of George Maharis, who died late last month. He is better known for his role in the TV series Route 66. Brave heroes, evil villains, epic battles, and ooo what a cool sword! I watched it on Tubi, but it's available free on other sites as well.

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Horror Cult Films has a positive review, noting that it was the most commercially successful independent film of its year. JoBlo calls it a "fantasy classic".