Between rainy days and still being sick, I saw 24 movies in April. Numbering picks up from last month, asterisks indicate movies I had not seen previously, and ratings are based on a scale of 1-5 cans of tuna.
34. Love & Other Drugs* (2010) – The combination of Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhall proves deadly dull in this would-be romantic comedy/drama about a sick woman and a pharmaceutical sales rep. She’s a free spirit, which is just what the doctor ordered for the commitment-phobic, skirt-chasing drug rep. So, of course, they fall in love, even though he is warned that taking care of her is something he won’t want to do. Raise your hand if you didn’t see any of this coming. Anyone? Hathaway, showing considerably more skin than in “The Princess Diaries,” is no more appealing than Gyllenhall in this downer of a movie, which, by the way, may cause drowsiness (it sure made me fall asleep). 2½ cans.
35. Topper* (1931) – Cary Grant and Constance Bennett team up in this spirited comedy as ghosts. A couple of bon vivants who die in an automobile accident, they come back as apparitions, intent on being erstwhile guardian angels for an uptight banker named Cosmo Topper. Their materializing and dematerializing on film must have represented very advanced special effects at the time, and the comedy of this farce was probably considered pure hilarity in its day. It’s hard not to like anything with Cary Grant, a leading man who can wear a suit or a tux better than anyone in film history. 3 cans.
36. Who Am I This Time?* (1982) – The play’s the thing for shy and awkward Harry Nash (Christopher Walken), who lets loose his inner Stanley Kowalski in local community theater productions. A hardware clerk by day, Harry transforms into whatever character he plays and then recedes back to his quiet persona when the curtain comes down. Helene (Susan Sarandon) is passing through town but is there long enough to be persuaded by the local theater director to audition for the part of Stella in the troupe’s version of “A Streetcar Named Desire.” She falls hard for Harry, not understanding that her leading man is nothing like the part he plays. This is a sweet little movie, and as long as Harry and Helene can play their parts, their collaboration can have a long run. 3 cans.
37. Splendor in the Grass (1961) – Teenager Deani Loomis (Natalie Wood) has a problem – several, in fact. She has an overbearing, over-protective mother who is determined that she remain “unspoiled” and a hot boyfriend named Bud (Warren Beatty) who has other ideas. The two kids really love each other and they wrestle with the limits placed on their relationship by Deani’s mother and the mores of society as the Roaring 20s comes to an end. Bud has an overbearing father who encourages his son to find a girl not so set on remaining chaste. This is the ultimate tale of teenage angst and frustration and how your mother really can drive you crazy. Well played, and Beatty never looked better. 4½ cans.
38. His Way* (HBO 2011) – Jerry Weintraub is a movie producer, a concert promoter and music maker. He is also one of the great characters of the entertainment industry, as revealed in this documentary about how a kid from the Bronx worked his way up the ladder of success from the mailroom at the William Morris agency with chutzpah, hard work and good luck. Among his claims to fame are working with Elvis (he created Elvis’ memorable tour), Frank Sinatra (he produced Sinatra’s legendary concert at Madison Square Garden called “The Main Event”) and George Clooney (he produced the “Ocean 11/12/13” series with Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon). A natural raconteur, Jerry tells juicy stories about working with the stars, and they, in turn, love to dish about him. If you liked “The Kid Stays in the Picture” about Robert Evans, you’re bound to enjoy this gem about a guy who won’t take no for an answer. 4 cans.
39. 36 Hours (1964) – It is 1944, and U.S. Army Major Jeff Pike (James Garner) knows all the details of the upcoming D-Day invasion of Normandy. Unfortunately, the Germans know all about Jeff Pike. He is drugged and captured in Lisbon only a few days before D-Day and brought to what looks just like a U.S. Army hospital. When he wakes up, the staff there convinces him that six years have elapsed and engages him in conversation about the D-Day maneuvers. Will he disclose the details in time to prevent the invasion? Will the doubting German brass believe the experiment works and that Pike is telling the truth? Lots of intrigue here, and solid performances by Garner, Eva Marie Saint as the German nurse who helps him and Rod Taylor as the plotting German doctor who might not be trustworthy himself. 4 cans.
40. The Lincoln Lawyer* (2011) – Matthew McConaughey plays a wise-ass defense attorney with a creepy clientele and not necessarily the best ethical standards in this intriguing drama. When a case falls into his lap to defend Ryan Philippe on charges of assault, his only requirements are a fat fee from the client’s wealthy family and the real story from the accused, who claims to have been set up by a prostitute. The lawyer and his investigator (William Macy) aren’t completely convinced but are forced to defend him in the face of evidence to the contrary. This is an absorbing drama and McConaughey – not one of my favorite actors – does a believable job with his role. There are definitely holes in the story that ask you to not question the script, but I gave it 4 cans anyway.
41. The Dresser* (1983) – Tom Courtney is Norman, the manservant to a man-child Shakespearean actor played by Albert Finney. Alternately butler, secretary and all-around nanny to the increasingly mad actor, Norman flits around backstage, cajoling, obeying and bossing his boss in a love-hate relationship. As the actor’s mind and body begin to betray him, Norman’s workload increases and he feels even less appreciated. This is a comedy-drama that shows the demands of the theater and how they take their toll on all of the major players. Finney, a versatile and accomplished actor, plays his over-the-top actor with wit and determination, and Courtney is outstanding. The story? Not something I’d want to see again. 3½ cans, all for the actors.
42. The Young Philadelphians (1959) – On a rainy day when I am stuck at home with bronchitis, I can think of nothing better than immersing myself in a juicy melodrama starring one of my all-time favorite actors, Paul Newman. Here he plays Anthony Judson Lawrence, son of a social climbing mother who clings to the Lawrence name despite the fact that Tony’s father isn’t actually a Lawrence, a secret known only to a select few. Tony grows up on the Mainline in Philadelphia, eventually becoming a prominent and ambitious attorney who travels in all the right social circles. But how many compromises must he make to get to the top and stay there? Is he willing to give up the girl he loves for a better offer? Will he stick by his desperate friend in spite of the risk to his social standing? This is juicy stuff indeed, complete with a courtroom scene and a “whodunit” that makes it all the more interesting. I love this movie and was so excited to see that TCM was finally airing it. I haven’t seen it in years but it is always worth the wait. 4½ cans.
43. & 44. Schmatta: From Rags to Riches (2009) and Triangle: Remembering the Fire* (2011) – I am reviewing these movies together because they are both woven around the rag trade – the garment industry in New York City. In both films, the tragic 1911 fire at the Triangle Waist Factory plays a central role. “Schmatta” reviews the growth of the garment industry from its early days through its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s to its denouement today, when only 5% of all clothes sold in the U.S. are made in the U.S. Before 1911, we learn in “Triangle,” there were no laws governing the industry and its factories, most of which were in Manhattan. The 18-minute fire that swept through the Triangle Waist Company ended with 146 deaths, 90 from people jumping out of 8th &9th floor windows when they couldn’t access the crowded narrow staircases and the elevators broke down. Afterwards, much needed legislation addressed safety issues and the International Ladies Garment Workers Union swiftly moved in to protect the young and mostly immigrant workforce. Both of these documentaries offer a glimpse into history that is as fascinating as it is sad. 4 cans.
45. Being There (1979) – Chance is a gardener. He has spent his life tending to the garden of a rich old man and living in one room in his Washington, D.C., house, where he watches TV incessantly. He has never been in a car, talked on a phone or learned to read or write. So when the old man dies and a young attorney evicts him from the house, he has nowhere to go. He is hit by a car owned by a wealthy couple who take him home to care for him while he recovers. Because he is well dressed (thanks to the old man), they assume he is rich, and his simple ways impress them as wisdom. Through a series of misunderstandings, he becomes a celebrity, his wisdom pursued by high society and even by the President himself. People believe the man they call Chauncey Gardener is a messiah. There is even a scene where he walks across water, in case the audience doesn’t get it. Peter Sellars gives a remarkable performance as a guileless innocent, preyed upon by Shirley McLaine and trusted by her elderly, dying husband, Melvyn Douglas. This is a good satire, an indictment of the rich and of what happens when we watch just a little too much TV. 4 cans.
46. Absolute Power* (1994) – I have to plan my own Clint Eastwood film festival, because the more of his movies I watch, the more I like him as an actor and director. Here he gives his typical understated performance as Luther Whiting, a professional thief who is in the wrong place at the wrong time. Luther breaks into a mansion, and when the lady of the house returns unexpectedly with her inebriated lover, Luther is trapped behind a mirror that allows him to see all the action in the bedroom. A fight between the couple turns violent, and the man is about to be stabbed by his lover when two men burst into the room and kill her. It doesn’t spoil the movie to tell you that the man (Gene Hackman) is the President of the United States and the gunmen are his Secret Service agents. They spend the rest of the movie protecting the president and trying to track down Luther. Everybody is after the old guy, who resorts to every trick in his book to outwit, outplay and outlast them. Great cast (Ed Harris, Laura Linney, Dennis Haysbert, Scott Glen, Judy Davis) and plenty of twists and turns makes this a taut and absorbing tale. 4 cans.
47. Back to School (1986) – There is no sophistication, subtlety or even a modicum of good taste in this hilarious comedy, which is one of the reasons I love it. Rodney Dangerfield is all bugged-eyed and twitchy as a self-made businessman who decides at an advanced age to join his son in college. Defying all logic and reason, he gains admission by donating a building. Ignore the weak and unbelievable plot and watch this movie on your DVR or DVD so you can repeat the fast, furious and funny lines you will miss while laughing at the previous lines. The movie attempts to be heart-warming, but mainly it is a vehicle for Dangerfield’s blowhard and amusing character, and it cracks me up. My favorite line? Dangerfield to the teacher (Sally Kellerman) he is attempting to date despite her heavy schedule: “Why don’t you call me some time when you have no class?” That’s perfect, because nothing here has class. 4 cans.
48. Win Win* (2011) – Mike Flaherty (Paul Giamatti) is anything but a winner. His law practice is failing, as is the clanging boiler in his basement, and he is determined not to have to resort to supplementing his income to support the family he loves by bartending. So when an opportunity to become the legal guardian of an elderly man with the onset of dementia comes up, Mike convinces the court he’s the man for the ($1500 a month) job. Life gets complicated for the part-time high school wrestling coach when the old man’s grandson, Kyle (Alex Shaffer), shows up and Mike and his wife are forced to take care of him. The kid, an accomplished wrestler, goes out for the team, and Mike’s luck seems to change. Giamatti plays the hang-dog everyman with aplomb, Amy Ryan is perfectly cast as his wife, and Bobby Cannavale provides comic relief as Mike’s friend. The young actor who plays the wrestler actually was a wrestler from New Jersey and pulls off the part of Kyle credibly since he knows all the right moves. “Win Win” is a winner. 4 cans.
49. Susan Slade (1961) – Another rainy day, another melodrama for me. Susan Slade (Connie Stevens) is the 17-year old daughter of a loving and wealthy couple (Lloyd Nolan and Dorothy McGuire) who adore her. She meets a handsome, rich mountain climber on a cruise and goes where Deani Loomis’ mother (see “Splendor in the Grass,” above) wouldn’t let her go. If you’re guessing complications ensue, you’d be right. Troy Donahue plays a handsome horseman and would-be author with a crush on the lovely Ms. Stevens, and Bert Convy, the son of her parents’ best friends, is a suitor. This movie features soaring music and beautiful scenery enhanced by lush Technicolor. It tries mightily to overcome the trite script and the stiff acting, especially from Troy Donahue, who, as an actor, can best be described as very tall. 3 cans.
50. Cinema Verite* (HBO 2011) – Long before “Cops” started arresting bad boys on the street and hordes of housewives invaded American cities, the aptly-named Loud family became stars of “An American Family,” the first reality show on TV. This is a dramatization of the story behind the landmark 1973 PBS 10-hour documentary on what turned out to be a dysfunctional American family. Producer Craig Gilbert (James Gandolfini) is the heavy (literally), charming Pat Loud (Diane Lane, one of my favorite actresses) and her smarmy husband Bill (Tim Robbins) into allowing his cameras to capture their lives. The Louds warm to the cameras quickly, never forgetting they are being recorded, but not seeming to mind. I don’t know who is the bigger villain here – Gilbert, who manipulates Pat into more reality than she imagined, or the philandering husband she is encouraged to kick out of the house while the cameras roll. When the original show aired on PBS, it drew the highest ratings ever on what was then considered “educational” TV. This is an effective look back at that time and these people, who set the stage for TV reality that now includes such abominable fare as “Real World” and “Jersey Shore.” 4 cans.
51. Dial M for Murder* (1954) – A retired tennis pro (Ray Milland) plots the murder of his wealthy wife (Grace Kelly) in this stylish mystery directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The husband knows his wife has been cheating on him with an American mystery writer (Robert Cummings) and has a love letter to prove it. So he “persuades” a man from his past to do the deed, but not everything goes according to plan. There is much ado about telephone calls and latch keys and changing the story to accomplish the ultimate goal. Based on a play, the movie takes place almost entirely within the main characters’ apartment, but that just keeps the story taut. Excellent performances and Grace Kelly is gorgeous. Dial H for Hitchcock hit. 4 cans.
52. Dog Day Afternoon (1975) – On a sweltering New York day, a pair of armed robbers attempts the heist of a Brooklyn bank. But this is the gang that couldn’t shoot straight and they have arrived after most of the cash has left the building. Sonny (Al Pacino), a skittish and scared loser, is the “mastermind,“ aided by silent Sal (John Cazale), and soon they and their hostages are surrounded by legions of police and media. Sonny doesn’t really have a plan B – as he is reminded by one of the tellers he takes hostage – and he attempts to negotiate with the head cop (Charles Durning) while becoming part of the media circus assembling outside the bank. The steady parade of people in his life shows up – his wife, his mother, and his gay lover, for whom he decided to rob the bank to fund a sex-change operation – all with advice that makes the situation go from bad to worse. You can’t make this stuff up, and director Sidney Lumet (who recently passed away) didn’t have to. This story was “ripped from the headlines.” The most iconic scene is Pacino as Sonny taunting the cops by chanting “Attica, Attica,” a reference to a revolt at the New York prison that resulted in numerous deaths at the hands of anxious police. 4 cans.
53. The Jagged Edge (1985) – Jagged-edged knives, a violent murder, a handsome suspect and a “smoking gun” combine in this courtroom drama/mystery/suspense movie starring Glenn Close and Jeff Bridges. Bridges, a wealthy and charismatic publisher, hires Close, a former prosecutor who hasn’t been in a courtroom for 4 years, to defend him against charges he murdered his wife. There are plenty of red herrings here, and plenty of predictable scenarios. If you pay close attention, you can probably figure out whodunit. 3 cans.
54. The Big Chill (1983) – Before Glenn Close became a lawyer with large shoulder pads in “The Jagged Edge,” she appeared in this ensemble of attractive 30-somethings gathered for the funeral of one of their own. All college pals, they have gone on to various lives of their own, keeping in touch only here and there, but when unseen Alex kills himself, they turn up at the home of Close and her husband, played by Kevin Kline, to mourn the loss of their friend and their youth. Yes, it is a bit pretentious, but as someone about the same age as these friends, I remember appreciating the exploration of relationships and memories. And the soundtrack can’t be beat. It is true, as one of the first songs reminds us, “you can’t always get what you want, but if you try some time, you just might find you get what you need.” I needed and loved this dose of nostalgia. And I remembered that I love Kevin Kline. Also starring William Hurt, Mary Kay Place, Jeff Goldblum, JoBeth Williams, Tom Berenger and a very young Meg Tilly. Almost starring Kevin Costner, who plays the dead body of Alex and whose face is never seen. 4½ cans.
55. Gentlemen’s Agreement* (1947) – Gregory Peck stars as Phil Green, an earnest magazine writer in this somewhat preachy drama that examines the prevalence of anti-Semitism. Green’s angle on his story is to pretend he is Jewish so he can experience first-hand the prejudice of the day – being denied entry into everything from colleges to restaurants to communities. His premise works, even revealing the subtle prejudices of people he knows who swear they know better. This well-intentioned but overwrought drama gets extra credit for tackling an important subject and winning the Oscar for Best Movie. 3½ cans.
56. Private Benjamin (1980) – There are few movies I enjoy more than this comedy starring the adorable Goldie Hawn in the title role. Judy Benjamin is a young Jewish woman totally spoiled by her parents and whose mission in life is to land the right man. When her lawyer husband dies on their wedding night, she is inconsolable and, in her grief, is talked into joining the Army. After initial troubles fitting in, she eventually bonds with her platoon and begins to emerge as her own person – until she meets the French, Jewish gynecologist of her dreams (Armand Assante) and reverts to worrying about the color of the napkins. Hawn is either the best actress in the world or she genuinely loved playing this part, because when she and her troop dance to “We Are Family” in the barracks, it is totally joyful. There are great lines here and enough silliness and substance to make the movie worthwhile. I love this movie. 4½ cans.
57. William and Kate* (2011) – Since the Royal Wedding took place yesterday, I thought I would sit through this Lifetime TV docudrama about the courtship of the new Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Of course, I have no way to determine the authenticity of this depiction of the start of the love affair, but I also know I won’t ruin it by revealing that they have their ups and downs. Since the movie ends with William on bended knee, and since the wedding took place yesterday, we can only hope for a happy ever after. The actors playing the leads were appealing and the story caught me up on any unknown drama that may have taken place. Still, Citizen Kane it was not. 3 cans.
58. An American in Paris* (1951) – For a movie buff like me not to have seen this classic film is really unforgivable. Yet, I have to state frankly that there isn’t much of a movie here. The majority of the film is an homage to Gershwin music and the genius of Gene Kelly as a choreographer and dancer. Everything in the film leads up to magical 17-minute fantasy dance sequence, when Paris itself comes to life, seemingly leaping off the canvases of French painters with vibrant colors and exuberant dancing by Kelly and waif-like co-star Leslie Caron. The plot is as thin as Caron, who only comes alive when dancing. Still, the climactic dance, shot in a series of long, unedited scenes, is breathtaking. Kelly’s more athletic than balletic, and he shines here. Now I have to find “Singing in the Rain” and my obligations as a film buff will be complete. 4 cans.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Hi, Tech
Growing up in my house in the 1950s, you were lucky if you could find a pencil, preferably one that you didn’t have to sharpen with a razor blade. Pens were a rare commodity, and most of them had the name of a local business on them. This paucity of writing implements explains my penchant for pens today, as well as why I consider a trip to Staples fun.
Fast forward to my career at J&J, where I first had to master such high tech equipment as the AB Dick mimeograph machine, the name of which caused untold giggling when the maintenance guy would show up. Eventually we progressed to the kind of fax machines that we had to load with special paper, one sheet at a time, fastened around a drum. Getting and sending a fax seemed like punishment because the process was such an ordeal.
Then came computers. At first we shared them, but eventually we built a one-on-one relationship with the personal computer as we began to use them for the newest form of communications, e-mail. Soon came the visionary boss who told me that everyone would have a laptop. Whatever for? I naively thought, never imagining the 24/7 work cycle that would engulf my life. And because lugging that albatross around was literally back-breaking, we moved to the ubiquitous “Crackberry.” People at meetings would be sitting doing the Blackberry prayer – eyes cast downward, not so surreptitiously reading their e-mail. When I retired at the end of 2006, I thought the Blackberry would have to be surgically removed from my hand. I swear it took me a month to uncurl my fingers.
Meanwhile, back on the home front, we moved from extension phones through cordless phones to cell phones the size of a shoe box (remember Michael Douglas on the beach in “Wall Street?”). As they grew smaller and more capable, texting began, an art that I must say I have not as yet mastered. I blame that lack of adaptation on equipment, not personal, failure. However, with the upcoming departure of my favorite nephew to college in the fall, I realize that all lines of communication will be lost if I cannot text, since that is his favorite – and mostly only – form of communicating. After all, this is a kid who once texted my sister from the bathroom to say that he needed toilet paper. Really.
Given the availability of technology and my need to step up my game, I set out for the Verizon store this week to become one of the cool people who carries an iPhone. My friends, especially on Facebook, lauded its virtues. And my nephew got his, for his 18th birthday, last week.
Don’t think that I object to technology. Let me state as that as emphatically as I can. I embrace it. I still remember the first VCR I bought for $560 at Crazy Eddie (but don’t ask me what I wore yesterday). That thing helped me see every episode in the 14-year run of “Dallas,” after all. So I celebrate technology that helps me do what I like to do.
So off I went to the Verizon store. To buy my iPhone, at last. I thought.
Halfway through the discussion with my new best friend Richard, talking about exactly why I need this uber cool device, Richard asked me about my computer use. I have a desktop, a laptop and a netbook, which is too small to do much good but serves its limited purpose of letting me check e-mail or take notes when I travel.
But then he reached into his suit pocket and pulled out the Samsung Galaxy Tab, a tablet computer on the order of an iPad, but smaller and sleeker. I’ve seen iPads, and thought they were a “tweener” size – too big to put in my purse (always a necessity in my book) and a bit too big to hold in my tiny hands. But the Tab fit the bill on both counts. It is sleek and thin – as I am hoping to be someday – and smaller than a book. It was love at first sight.
“So, if I am on a bus trip, coming back from a basketball game” (welcome to my world) “I can actually access the internet and check scores?” I asked. Yes, he assured me, and much more. It can do everything the iPad and iPhone can do except hold the 5500 songs on my iPod – which neither of the Apple devices could do without hogging most of the memory. “I can load pictures, use it as a camera and take video?” I asked, knowing the slim likelihood of the latter since I have a Flip camera. Yes, he assured me as we watched video of his daughters singing in church last Sunday.
Armed with this information but still faced with the need to text, we moved to the “cheap phone” section of the store, where I picked up a new LG phone with a slide-out keyboard for texting (after rebate, $20), ordered a new service plan AND ordered the new Samsung Tab. I immediately took the phone home and mastered its capabilities, appropriately sending my nephew the first text. This time he won’t have to tease me by asking how long it took me to send it.
And now the new Tab has entered the house, and I have allotted the weekend to master it, too. So far I have set it up to check e-mail, local movie times, weather and sports scores. I can look up movies on the IMDB website and watch a trailer as well as see where the movie is playing and when. I can view Facebook, news sites that I have preset, check my schedule (though synching Outlook with Google calendar is a bit problematic just now). I can’t wait to sneak it out of my bag at a soccer game so I can keep up with the Yankees, or play on it while I while away time at the doctor’s office or wait on line somewhere. When I travel, I’ll be able to check on my flights and get alerts. The only downside of all this technology is that I think my carry-on bag will be completely full of chargers so I can keep all these devices working.
Maybe the Galaxy Tab doesn’t yet have the cachet of the iPhone or iPad, but I think the “cool” factor is equally apparent. Being able to call up the website I maintain for the Visiting Nurses and see it on screen at a meeting will come in handy, and, unlike the iPad, this device can access the Flash animation on the homepage. The image is sharp enough to watch a TV show or a movie, and the potential uses of this new gadget are limitless. Hey, maybe I’ll watch the movie “Limitless” on it someday.
I certainly have come a long way since pencils were in short supply in my house. Hi, tech, and welcome to my world!
Fast forward to my career at J&J, where I first had to master such high tech equipment as the AB Dick mimeograph machine, the name of which caused untold giggling when the maintenance guy would show up. Eventually we progressed to the kind of fax machines that we had to load with special paper, one sheet at a time, fastened around a drum. Getting and sending a fax seemed like punishment because the process was such an ordeal.
Then came computers. At first we shared them, but eventually we built a one-on-one relationship with the personal computer as we began to use them for the newest form of communications, e-mail. Soon came the visionary boss who told me that everyone would have a laptop. Whatever for? I naively thought, never imagining the 24/7 work cycle that would engulf my life. And because lugging that albatross around was literally back-breaking, we moved to the ubiquitous “Crackberry.” People at meetings would be sitting doing the Blackberry prayer – eyes cast downward, not so surreptitiously reading their e-mail. When I retired at the end of 2006, I thought the Blackberry would have to be surgically removed from my hand. I swear it took me a month to uncurl my fingers.
Meanwhile, back on the home front, we moved from extension phones through cordless phones to cell phones the size of a shoe box (remember Michael Douglas on the beach in “Wall Street?”). As they grew smaller and more capable, texting began, an art that I must say I have not as yet mastered. I blame that lack of adaptation on equipment, not personal, failure. However, with the upcoming departure of my favorite nephew to college in the fall, I realize that all lines of communication will be lost if I cannot text, since that is his favorite – and mostly only – form of communicating. After all, this is a kid who once texted my sister from the bathroom to say that he needed toilet paper. Really.
Given the availability of technology and my need to step up my game, I set out for the Verizon store this week to become one of the cool people who carries an iPhone. My friends, especially on Facebook, lauded its virtues. And my nephew got his, for his 18th birthday, last week.
Don’t think that I object to technology. Let me state as that as emphatically as I can. I embrace it. I still remember the first VCR I bought for $560 at Crazy Eddie (but don’t ask me what I wore yesterday). That thing helped me see every episode in the 14-year run of “Dallas,” after all. So I celebrate technology that helps me do what I like to do.
So off I went to the Verizon store. To buy my iPhone, at last. I thought.
Halfway through the discussion with my new best friend Richard, talking about exactly why I need this uber cool device, Richard asked me about my computer use. I have a desktop, a laptop and a netbook, which is too small to do much good but serves its limited purpose of letting me check e-mail or take notes when I travel.
But then he reached into his suit pocket and pulled out the Samsung Galaxy Tab, a tablet computer on the order of an iPad, but smaller and sleeker. I’ve seen iPads, and thought they were a “tweener” size – too big to put in my purse (always a necessity in my book) and a bit too big to hold in my tiny hands. But the Tab fit the bill on both counts. It is sleek and thin – as I am hoping to be someday – and smaller than a book. It was love at first sight.
“So, if I am on a bus trip, coming back from a basketball game” (welcome to my world) “I can actually access the internet and check scores?” I asked. Yes, he assured me, and much more. It can do everything the iPad and iPhone can do except hold the 5500 songs on my iPod – which neither of the Apple devices could do without hogging most of the memory. “I can load pictures, use it as a camera and take video?” I asked, knowing the slim likelihood of the latter since I have a Flip camera. Yes, he assured me as we watched video of his daughters singing in church last Sunday.
Armed with this information but still faced with the need to text, we moved to the “cheap phone” section of the store, where I picked up a new LG phone with a slide-out keyboard for texting (after rebate, $20), ordered a new service plan AND ordered the new Samsung Tab. I immediately took the phone home and mastered its capabilities, appropriately sending my nephew the first text. This time he won’t have to tease me by asking how long it took me to send it.
And now the new Tab has entered the house, and I have allotted the weekend to master it, too. So far I have set it up to check e-mail, local movie times, weather and sports scores. I can look up movies on the IMDB website and watch a trailer as well as see where the movie is playing and when. I can view Facebook, news sites that I have preset, check my schedule (though synching Outlook with Google calendar is a bit problematic just now). I can’t wait to sneak it out of my bag at a soccer game so I can keep up with the Yankees, or play on it while I while away time at the doctor’s office or wait on line somewhere. When I travel, I’ll be able to check on my flights and get alerts. The only downside of all this technology is that I think my carry-on bag will be completely full of chargers so I can keep all these devices working.
Maybe the Galaxy Tab doesn’t yet have the cachet of the iPhone or iPad, but I think the “cool” factor is equally apparent. Being able to call up the website I maintain for the Visiting Nurses and see it on screen at a meeting will come in handy, and, unlike the iPad, this device can access the Flash animation on the homepage. The image is sharp enough to watch a TV show or a movie, and the potential uses of this new gadget are limitless. Hey, maybe I’ll watch the movie “Limitless” on it someday.
I certainly have come a long way since pencils were in short supply in my house. Hi, tech, and welcome to my world!
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Tina's March Movies 2011
I had to take a break from March Madness basketball to squeeze in a few movies. Here is what I watched last month, with numbering picked up from February. Movies I haven't seen previously are indicated by an asterisk*.
25. Silkwood (TCM) – I generally bristle at movies that paint big business with broad strokes as the bad guy, but this Mike Nichols film makes a compelling case against real life nuclear company Kerr Magee. The brilliant Meryl Streep plays Karen Silkwood, who turns from an indifferent employee to an impassioned union activist fighting against the potentially deadly effects of handling plutonium. Streep is matched in her performance by Kurt Russell as her boyfriend and Cher as her lesbian roommate and fellow employee. This film is based on a true story, which I won’t spoil here, but it is a gripping tale delivered with subtlety and tenderness. 4½ cans.
26. The Last Detail (TCM) – Jack Nicholson plays a career sailor who draws the assignment to accompany a prisoner to a military jail. Together with another Navy lifer, he decides to make the trip memorable for the naïve young sailor (Randy Quaid). Nicholson, only 36 at the time of this Oscar-nominated performance, is a tough guy who doesn’t suffer fools gladly but takes pity on the inexperienced 18-year old and treats him to food and fun that he won’t have once his stint in prison begins. I can’t remember a film where Nicholson looks smaller – slim and short in stature – but he is the quintessential Jack, with the notable exception of the “killer smile” that he displayed in so many other movies. 3½ cans.
27. The King’s Speech (2010) – OK, I know it is kind of cheating to list this movie since I saw and reviewed it in December, but, after all, I went to the movies (in Hartford, killing time with RU basketball fans during the Big East Tournament) AND paid $8, so I think it is fair to at least list it. I won’t review it again except to note that seeing it all the way through without the film breaking (as it did twice when I originally saw it in Princeton) was a much better experience. Oscar-worthy. 4½ cans.
28. Four Seasons (TCM) – Alan Alda wrote, directed and stars in this very adult film (get your minds out of the gutter, that’s not what I mean) about three couples who vacation together each season. When Nick (Len Cariou) changes the dynamic among them by dumping his dull wife Annie (Sandy Dennis) and taking up with adorable and considerably younger Ginny (Bess Armstrong; why didn’t she have more of a film career?), resentments and jealousy abound. Alda casts himself in the least appealing role, as an outwardly affable guy with a judgmental and prickly nature. Like the seasons themselves, relationships among the couples and within each pair are constantly changing – sometimes warm and other times cold. Feelings and fears are exposed but there are enough laughs that you don’t mind when Alda’s character becomes priggish. 3½ cans.
29. The Harder They Fall* (1956) – This movie was Humphrey Bogart’s last. He plays a former sportswriter who becomes a press agent for a corrupt boxing promoter, hired to hype a giant South American boxer with minimal skills. In selling the boxer and his fights against hand-picked opponents who are just too happy to take the money and dive, he sells his soul. The boxer, an naïve and good-hearted soul who actually believes he can fight, comes to depend on Bogart as a manager and friend, not trusting (for good reason) the promoter, played with plenty of disdain by Rod Steiger. This film shows the corruption that plagues boxing and continues my recent run of boxing movies (starting with “The Fighter” and including “Requiem for a Heavyweight” and “Raging Bull”). Loaded with clichés, the movie is still an effective indictment against the business of boxing. 3½ cans.
30. Murphy’s Romance (1986) – The charming James Garner stars as a druggist in a small western town that becomes the new home of a much younger Sally Field. The spunky divorce and mother of Corey Haim is a down-on-her-luck would-be horse trainer, saddled with a deadbeat ex-husband who shows up in time to interrupt the growing May-December romance between Field & Garner. Garner can do everything from ride horses to make ice cream sodas to sew, and he spouts aphorisms that warm the heart of the plucky Field (who looks startlingly like Kristy MacNichol). Directed by Martin Ritt, who guided Field to an Oscar in Norma Rae, playing an even pluckier and more prickly character. I like her, I really, really like her. 4 cans.
31. Frozen River* (2008) – Melissa Leo lives with her two sons in a single-wide trailer in upstate NY just this side of the Canadian border, dreaming of a move up to a double-wide while working at the local dollar store. She can’t afford the double-wide, the rental company is about to take the TV and Christmas is fast approaching when she meets an equally desperate Native American woman who picks up extra cash by picking up illegals and smuggling them from Canada into the US in the trunk of her car. Despite her better judgment, Leo joins her in making runs that you just know won’t be as easy as she thinks. This was the first movie for which Leo gained acclaim before she won this year’s Oscar for her portrayal of Mark Wahlberg’s foul-mouthed mother in “The Fighter.” She is totally believable, desperate and dirty, yet a protective and wary mother. Serious, sullen and well done. 4 cans.
32. Network (1976) – I don’t think in 1976 I fully understood the satire created by Paddy Chayefsky in “Network,” and looking back on it now in the context of 2011, this movie seems more prophetic than I could have imagined. All of the madness of today’s reality TV was foretold in this story of a TV newsman (Peter Finch) who crosses the line into mental illness, exhorting viewers of the news to stick their heads out of the window and yell, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore.” Suddenly, his unpredictability leads to improved ratings, and his rants become fodder for a new network program exploiting him as the “mad prophet of the airwaves.” William Holden represents old-school news, dating back to the days of Edward R. Morrow, while ruthless network exec Faye Dunaway is so driven for ratings she prattles on about new show possibilities even as she beds down with the craggy Holden. Beatrice Straight won a supporting Oscar for what was the briefest winning role in the history of movies (nine minutes, or eight actual lines of dialog), and Peter Finch was named Best Actor, though the movie itself lost out on the Oscar to the popular underdog “Rocky.” This is not a movie I want to see every time it is on, but “Network” is a brilliant evisceration of TV and American culture that predates everything from Jerry Springer and Bill O’Reilly to “Cops.” My favorite scene shows a fringe group of activists negotiating with network brass for a show in which terrorists will stage weekly crimes for TV. 5 cans.
33. Just Wright* (2010) – I figured it was OK to take a break from March Madness to watch this basketball/romantic comedy starring Queen Latifah and rapper Common. The latter plays a basketball player who blows out his knee. Physical therapist Leslie Wright (Queen) is just right when it comes to rehabbing what ails him. Though he is involved with Leslie’s best friend, the player falls for his therapist when the gold digger dumps him. Only in the movies does a handsome rich man fall for a larger than life woman, and this fantasy expands further by making the hoopster’s Nets a playoff team. Latifah has a ton of personal charm that makes her easy to like to any movie she’s in, even a predictable one like this. 3½ cans.
25. Silkwood (TCM) – I generally bristle at movies that paint big business with broad strokes as the bad guy, but this Mike Nichols film makes a compelling case against real life nuclear company Kerr Magee. The brilliant Meryl Streep plays Karen Silkwood, who turns from an indifferent employee to an impassioned union activist fighting against the potentially deadly effects of handling plutonium. Streep is matched in her performance by Kurt Russell as her boyfriend and Cher as her lesbian roommate and fellow employee. This film is based on a true story, which I won’t spoil here, but it is a gripping tale delivered with subtlety and tenderness. 4½ cans.
26. The Last Detail (TCM) – Jack Nicholson plays a career sailor who draws the assignment to accompany a prisoner to a military jail. Together with another Navy lifer, he decides to make the trip memorable for the naïve young sailor (Randy Quaid). Nicholson, only 36 at the time of this Oscar-nominated performance, is a tough guy who doesn’t suffer fools gladly but takes pity on the inexperienced 18-year old and treats him to food and fun that he won’t have once his stint in prison begins. I can’t remember a film where Nicholson looks smaller – slim and short in stature – but he is the quintessential Jack, with the notable exception of the “killer smile” that he displayed in so many other movies. 3½ cans.
27. The King’s Speech (2010) – OK, I know it is kind of cheating to list this movie since I saw and reviewed it in December, but, after all, I went to the movies (in Hartford, killing time with RU basketball fans during the Big East Tournament) AND paid $8, so I think it is fair to at least list it. I won’t review it again except to note that seeing it all the way through without the film breaking (as it did twice when I originally saw it in Princeton) was a much better experience. Oscar-worthy. 4½ cans.
28. Four Seasons (TCM) – Alan Alda wrote, directed and stars in this very adult film (get your minds out of the gutter, that’s not what I mean) about three couples who vacation together each season. When Nick (Len Cariou) changes the dynamic among them by dumping his dull wife Annie (Sandy Dennis) and taking up with adorable and considerably younger Ginny (Bess Armstrong; why didn’t she have more of a film career?), resentments and jealousy abound. Alda casts himself in the least appealing role, as an outwardly affable guy with a judgmental and prickly nature. Like the seasons themselves, relationships among the couples and within each pair are constantly changing – sometimes warm and other times cold. Feelings and fears are exposed but there are enough laughs that you don’t mind when Alda’s character becomes priggish. 3½ cans.
29. The Harder They Fall* (1956) – This movie was Humphrey Bogart’s last. He plays a former sportswriter who becomes a press agent for a corrupt boxing promoter, hired to hype a giant South American boxer with minimal skills. In selling the boxer and his fights against hand-picked opponents who are just too happy to take the money and dive, he sells his soul. The boxer, an naïve and good-hearted soul who actually believes he can fight, comes to depend on Bogart as a manager and friend, not trusting (for good reason) the promoter, played with plenty of disdain by Rod Steiger. This film shows the corruption that plagues boxing and continues my recent run of boxing movies (starting with “The Fighter” and including “Requiem for a Heavyweight” and “Raging Bull”). Loaded with clichés, the movie is still an effective indictment against the business of boxing. 3½ cans.
30. Murphy’s Romance (1986) – The charming James Garner stars as a druggist in a small western town that becomes the new home of a much younger Sally Field. The spunky divorce and mother of Corey Haim is a down-on-her-luck would-be horse trainer, saddled with a deadbeat ex-husband who shows up in time to interrupt the growing May-December romance between Field & Garner. Garner can do everything from ride horses to make ice cream sodas to sew, and he spouts aphorisms that warm the heart of the plucky Field (who looks startlingly like Kristy MacNichol). Directed by Martin Ritt, who guided Field to an Oscar in Norma Rae, playing an even pluckier and more prickly character. I like her, I really, really like her. 4 cans.
31. Frozen River* (2008) – Melissa Leo lives with her two sons in a single-wide trailer in upstate NY just this side of the Canadian border, dreaming of a move up to a double-wide while working at the local dollar store. She can’t afford the double-wide, the rental company is about to take the TV and Christmas is fast approaching when she meets an equally desperate Native American woman who picks up extra cash by picking up illegals and smuggling them from Canada into the US in the trunk of her car. Despite her better judgment, Leo joins her in making runs that you just know won’t be as easy as she thinks. This was the first movie for which Leo gained acclaim before she won this year’s Oscar for her portrayal of Mark Wahlberg’s foul-mouthed mother in “The Fighter.” She is totally believable, desperate and dirty, yet a protective and wary mother. Serious, sullen and well done. 4 cans.
32. Network (1976) – I don’t think in 1976 I fully understood the satire created by Paddy Chayefsky in “Network,” and looking back on it now in the context of 2011, this movie seems more prophetic than I could have imagined. All of the madness of today’s reality TV was foretold in this story of a TV newsman (Peter Finch) who crosses the line into mental illness, exhorting viewers of the news to stick their heads out of the window and yell, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore.” Suddenly, his unpredictability leads to improved ratings, and his rants become fodder for a new network program exploiting him as the “mad prophet of the airwaves.” William Holden represents old-school news, dating back to the days of Edward R. Morrow, while ruthless network exec Faye Dunaway is so driven for ratings she prattles on about new show possibilities even as she beds down with the craggy Holden. Beatrice Straight won a supporting Oscar for what was the briefest winning role in the history of movies (nine minutes, or eight actual lines of dialog), and Peter Finch was named Best Actor, though the movie itself lost out on the Oscar to the popular underdog “Rocky.” This is not a movie I want to see every time it is on, but “Network” is a brilliant evisceration of TV and American culture that predates everything from Jerry Springer and Bill O’Reilly to “Cops.” My favorite scene shows a fringe group of activists negotiating with network brass for a show in which terrorists will stage weekly crimes for TV. 5 cans.
33. Just Wright* (2010) – I figured it was OK to take a break from March Madness to watch this basketball/romantic comedy starring Queen Latifah and rapper Common. The latter plays a basketball player who blows out his knee. Physical therapist Leslie Wright (Queen) is just right when it comes to rehabbing what ails him. Though he is involved with Leslie’s best friend, the player falls for his therapist when the gold digger dumps him. Only in the movies does a handsome rich man fall for a larger than life woman, and this fantasy expands further by making the hoopster’s Nets a playoff team. Latifah has a ton of personal charm that makes her easy to like to any movie she’s in, even a predictable one like this. 3½ cans.
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