A Sermon at the Movies #T

Spoiler Alert!  This article discusses certain aspects of the movie "The Mule."  If you haven't seen it and plan to do you might want to bookmark this page for a later date.  You have been warned.

BBBH said, "Let's go to the show tonight.  Clint Eastwood usually plays the good guy, but I guess he is the bad guy in this film, and I would like to see it."

Naturally we braved the elements and took our seats in a crowded theater, bothering the aisle seat people, of course, who left the remaining pair of seats inside.  BBBH muttered "Sorry," as she passed through; I said, "I'm not sorry, but excuse us anyway."

The picture ran its course and the house lights came up.  As we exited the theater we met a couple, our friends, also on their way out.  We greeted each other and stood a few moments in the foyer.  "I didn't like the way the show ended," remarked the gentleman.

"Oh?  Why not"

"Well, he should have taken the money and sailed off to the Caribbean in his new yacht."

"No," I replied.  "He got better than he deserved."

And there it is.  Perspective shaped by the forces that make each of us who he or she is.  In a sense my friend was rooting for the bad guy.  Go figure.  Perhaps his analysis suggested to him that the old man was caught up in a web from which he could not extricate himself.  And that is very likely the case, but still he made the choice to pursue the nefarious activities.  Actions have consequences.

My take on it was this.  The old man elicited our sympathies in many ways, yet he was knowingly engaged in poisoning his fellow-citizens with illicit drugs.  On his last run he was carrying 307 kilos of cocaine and that is not to mention the eleven previous runs.  He deserved punishment.

Yet he got better than he deserved, for in a sense "The Mule" is a story of redemption.  We see the man mending fences he tore down over this lifetime; we see reconciliation with his family, and he is 90 years old.  Of course we want a "happy ending."  And I think we got it.  Earl goes to prison, but even there he lives with the knowledge that his family has readmitted him into their lives.  He continues to pursue his work with his beloved day lilies on the prison grounds.

Earl confessed his sins in open court.  If we confess our sins in the open court of God's judgment God is "faithful and just to forgive us our sins."  Our consciences are clear.  We are redeemed.  But.here is a point that I think many people overlook.  Redemption does not erase the consequences of wrong behaviors.  Actions have consequences.

God forgives and we can  forgive ourselves.  But the price in the natural realm will be paid.

Fences, the Movie

BBBH and I don't go on  dates nearly enough.  Of course we dated, prenuptial, but like other couples we know, with  time we have been overcome by inertia too often.  The principal danger of this is that a couple may begin to take one another for granted, become blase, watch the spark die and just sit.  Lord, preserve us from such fate.

Last evening we went to a movie.  She wanted popcorn, so I sprang for popcorn.  Do you see the romantic overtones coming into play here?  The point.  We saw Fences  with Denzel Washington and Viola Davis.  We enjoyed the show and our after-performance review suggests that I might have liked it a bit the better.  There are several things that are certain.  1)  The performances were stellar.  2)  The cinematography did a reasonable job in its attempt to convince the viewer it was a cinematic production and not a stage play.  3) The writer, August Wilson, admirably turned a series of family life experiences into a coherent and entertaining whole.

To the first point, Denzel Washington, as Troy, gave a professional and moving rendition of a man who had his demons, but responsibility became his touchstone.  He was nominated for a Golden Globe and for the Academy Awards, Best Actor.  Viola Davis, as Troy's wife, was fantastic.  Just saying.  She, too, was nominated for GG Best Supporting Actress, which she won, and for the AW, same category.  Also, she has the most amazing hands!

Second point, though played on the silver screen, it was obvious that the story was written for the stage.  There were some scenes, however, where the director was able to utilize the camera to good effect, conveying parts of the unspoken story.  But I still watched feeling that I could enjoy the stage presentation.

Final point.  There is action  in the show, some violent and heart-wrenching, but if you are an action  movie fan, this  one  would not fill the bill for you.  Again, to the credit of the director, Washington, every scene is germane to the development of  the  story.  We are not big fans of the cinema, but our  ratings are given here  for your amusement.

On  a scale  of one to five, BBBH, gives it ✨ ✨ ✨. Story is drawn from common lives of common people.

My rating is ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ .   I thought  it  excellent entertainment and to me, the best stories are those that reflect  the human  condition.  Fantasy may have  been  my bag long ago, but I am older now.😀

Recommend:  See the movie.

To wrap up our evening, we  came home where I made  us a grilled cheese sandwich which we shared with our drinks of choice, milk for me, grapefruit juice  for  her.

Bits and Pieces

or, Around our Small Town

Stopped at our local cafe, saw the Studie in the parking lot as I left.  This is the Hawk.  As a young man I often drooled over the Hawk line but never purchased one.

A few evenings later, BBBH and I went to the local cinema.  Our single-screen theatre operates seven days a week and we joined the proprietors in celebration of ninety consecutive years in business.  The current patriarch of the family is 86 years of age and has literally worked in this establishment for eighty years.

What was showing?  There is the bill at the bottom left of the page.  Once again Disney has managed to irreparably screw up a fine set of literary characters.  In their defense, though, they only "borrowed" the Dodgson characters.  None of the nearly nonexistent story line had anything whatsoever to do with the original story.  Further defense: special fx.  Otherwise, nothing.

The comedic jeweler's establishment abuts the movie house.  Below is his latest offering.  I'm a little conflicted, or confused, or something because I don't want to set off Her fireworks.  Or perhaps he is thinking along a different line.

The fox? As we left the showing and drove past the courthouse a block away BBBH saw a fox run across the court parking lot.  When she tells me she saw a fox I fully believe it and certainly would not argue with her.  Especially since an on-going argument I once had with her when she told me she saw a "herd of elk" on the roadside.  I missed the sighting then, too, but several weeks later when we passed that spot she said, "See, there are the elk."  And she was right.

The sleek little G6 in front of the Studebaker is ours.  We bought it from the local dealer ten years ago next month.  It has now been driven 25,700 miles.

Let Me Entertain You, 1956

Look at some of the names set to entertain you on the big screen.
Gary Cooper, Susan Hayward, Richard Widmark,
William Holden, Brian Donlevy, Audie Murphy,
George Raft, Gene Tierney, Ginger Rogers.

Need daytime tv entertainment?  How about "My Little Margie," or "Our Miss Brooks," "Captain Kangaroo," "Arthur Godfrey"?

Conversations With Random People-- Fifteen #T

Or, more accurately, random conversations with people, for in this instance I am acquainted with the gentleman.

The set-up

Jim owns and operates the local movie theater.  He has worked there his entire life, for his father owned it before him.  I met the gentleman years ago.  He is a fixture in our community, a community booster and one of the good guys.  I first met him more than forty years ago.  Jim is 85


The incident

I met Jim this particular morning in the lobby of the local post office as I do occasionally.  We are both sorting our mail at the tall table, putting the discards into the tall round file at the end of the table.

"Nice catalog," Jim said.  "I get one from them about once a month, but I have no idea how I got on their list.  I always leave them here on the counter."

"I do that, too.  I sometimes get duplicate magazines."

We walked out the front door and down the steps together.  "Any good moom pitchers on the
schedule?" I asked.

"You bet.  I've never seen a bad one."

 The take-away

Imagine that.  A man who has been in that theater virtually every day of his life for eight decades who has never seen a bad movie.  Now that is loving your work.

Got me to thinking about the motion picture industry.  (But not too much.)  I doubt any writer sets out to write a "bad movie;" it is unlikely that any movie-maker aspires to make a bad movie, and I doubt that a producer would "kick in the bucks" to deliberately shoot a bad movie.  Yet I have seen many movies that certainly could not be described as "good."
Guess Jim is one of the lucky ones. 

What say you?

The barn is in need of serious attention, cleaning and organizing-wise.

BBBH started the task.

Here was a find.  Four framed photographs purporting to have been taken in Monticello, Indiana during the shooting of a movie.

The questions are
When did this event occur?
What was the movie?
Who created, produced, performed?
Do you think the flora evoke a tropical setting or does it look more like the Midwest?

I am serious about a couple of the questions.  I would really like to know if and when a movie was made in Monticello.

At the Movies: Cinderella

As a rule, I don't do movie reviews.  In part, this is because we do not often go to a show.  And partly it may be that my opinion may matter to no one but me.  But I record this as a memory for my elder years.  Call it journaling.

We enjoyed Lily James in her interpretation of Cinderella, the supporting cast, and the special fx.  In the car, I said to BBBH, "Call me a sentimental old fool, but I liked it."

She said, "You are a sentimental old fool.  And I can't get over those gowns!"

Donald is Eighty

On June 9, 1934, Donald Fauntleroy Duck made his debut upon the world's big entertainment stage in "The Wise Little Hen."¹

Donald has since appeared in more films than any other Disney character and he is the fifth-most  published comic book character.<sup>2

Donald's distinctive speech was voiced by Clarence Nash3 for fifty years.</sup>

And thus it was, eighty years ago today.








¹The pig character is Peter Pig, not Porky.
²Image and data from Wikipedia
³Clarence Nash 1904-1985

Lupita Tovar

I am not familiar with the work of María de Guadalupe Tovar.  Most of the films she played in were made before I was born, or during my childhood.  Many of them are Spanish language films.  Nevertheless, it is important to me to mention this lady, for on this day she will celebrate her 103rd birthday.  And that is perseverance. 

Lupita Tovar was born in Matias Romero, Oaxaca, Mexico.   She was "discovered" by a documentary film-maker as she performed in a school play in Mexico City.  She went to Hollywood in 1929 where she studied dramatics, guitar, dance and English.  She starred in The Invaders and in the Spanish language version of Dracula.  Tovar starred in Santa, Mexico's first talking movie.

Lupita married Paul Kohner in 1932.  The marriage lasted until his death fifty-six years later.  They have a daughter, Susan Kohner, who was an actress in her own right;  and a son.   Two  grandsons, are film directors.  Lupita also has two great-grandchildren.

Congratulations, Ms. Tovar, on a life well-lived!  Happy birthday.

Image:  Wikipedia
Information largely gleaned from the same source., and from
npr     (Link)

Update:  Ms.Tovar passed in November 2016 at age 106.