Tina's August Movies

As the dog days of summer dwindled, here are the movies I watched during the month of August. You'll note that once again I have topped 100 movies for the year, and we still have 4 months to go. Numbering picks up from last month and movies I had not seen previously are marked with an *.

97. America’s Heart and Soul* (2004) – From the mountains to the prairies, to the oceans, this panoramic view of America represents the ultimate reality show. We see a real cowboy, an aeronautical acrobat, a man who fights oil rig fires, a farmer, people literally dancing on mountains, and so many more people committed to their calling, whatever that might be. The sweeping vistas of this documentary show America the beautiful, with breathtaking views from sea to shining sea. I wish I’d seen this movie in a theater to really enjoy the richness of color and tone that is magnificent throughout the film. 4 cans.

98. Inform and Delight: The Work of Milton Glaser* (2008) – You may not know the name Milton Glaser, but chances are you know his work. The graphic designer behind the ubiquitous “I ♥ NY” campaign is an artist, an illustrator and an intellectual whose work represents the visual depiction of ideas. A founder of New York magazine, Glaser also helped turn New York on to small, local restaurants with his creation of “The Underground Gourmet.” He designed an iconic poster of Bob Dylan that instantly calls the 1960s to mind. He has also designed restaurants – from concept and space to menu graphics – food products at Grand Union, logos for schools and art museums, posters, books and campaigns for social causes. The documentary, which I watched on the Sundance Channel, is an excellent reminder of the impact good design has on everyday living, making ordinary objects identifiable and easier to understand. Glaser is a gem, and so is this movie. 4 cans.

99. Tadpole* (2002) – Prep school student Oscar Grubman (Aaron Stanford) has a problem. Home for Thanksgiving, he will have to spend time with his annoying father (John Ritter) and the woman on whom he has a mad, crazy crush that he is sure is love – his stepmother, Eve (Signorney Weaver). Just to complicate matters further, the 15-year old gets seduced by Eve’s 40ish best friend, Diane (Bebe Neuwirth). Oscar is a smart kid who speaks French, reads and quotes from Voltaire but, understandably at 15, knows nothing about love. This film pays considerable homage to films ranging from “The Graduate” (and even includes a Simon & Garfunkel song) to “Ordinary People” to “The Summer of 42.” In many ways, awkwardness prevails here, mitigated only by the earnestness and charm of young Oscar and his sweet portrayal by Stanford in the role. 3½ cans.

100. Crazy Stupid Love* (2011) – Love has moved from being a many-splendored thing to just being crazy and stupid in this entertaining comedy. Schlubby Cal Weaver (Steve Carrell) is shocked and angry when his wife Emily (Julianne Moore) suddenly tells him she wants a divorce after 25 years of wedded boredom. He drags his mopey self a bar, where his lack of appropriate attire and total lack of game fail to attract women but pique the interest of slick local lothario Jacob (Ryan Gosling), who decides he can remake Cal. It turns out something like “Extreme Makeover, Man Edition,” as Jacob convinces Cal he is “better than The GAP.” The problem is that Cal isn’t really destined to be a player, and he is still in love with Emily, who seems to want him back. Meanwhile, his 13-year-old son is in love with the 17-year old babysitter, who, in turn, is in love with Cal. There are some unforeseen twists and turns here that work out well. Do we each have one true soul mate? And can we pledge never to give up when fighting for that one true love? Stay tuned. This movie is a fun ride, if a little long and meandering in parts, and features great work by an outstanding cast. Ryan Gosling is downright yummy. 4½ cans. This movie marks my 3^rd consecutive year of seeing at least 100 films.

101. The Yellow Rolls Royce (1964) – Rex Harrison and Shirley MacLaine fare best in this trilogy of tales connected by – you guessed it – a yellow Rolls Royce. Harrison plays a wealthy British diplomat who buys the Rolls as a belated anniversary gift for his disinterested wife (Jeanne Moreau). MacLaine is the floozy girlfriend of an American mobster (George C. Scott) who is “touring” Italy between mob hits. The third tale, with Ingrid Bergman and Omar Sharif, is the least believable. Nonetheless, this movie has great views of Europe, lush cinematography and a good deal of charm. And the backseat of that Rolls gets plenty of action. 3½ cans.

102. The Help* (2011) – This very satisfying movie adaptation of the Kathryn Stockett novel depicts life in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1962, when the rich white ladies had nothing more to do than go to Junior League meetings, plan charity benefits and play bridge. Meanwhile, their black maids did the cooking, shopping and cleaning and raised and loved their white babies. Skeeter Phelan (Emma Stone), an aspiring writer, doesn’t fit in with her society friends, and she decides to tell the story of Southern society from the viewpoint of the “help.” This is a rich picture of the pre-Civil Rights South, when paying maids less than minimum wage was considered perfectly acceptable, as was passing them down from mother to daughter and firing them at any time for a real or perceived transgression. Skeeter forms friendships of a sort with several of the help (Viola Davis in what will be at least an Oscar-nominated performance as Aibileen and Octavia Spencer as sassy Minny) as she convinces them to tell their stories – and there are plenty of juicy stories to tell. This is a faithful adaptation of the book but reading it is not a prerequisite to thoroughly enjoying the movie. The focus on human dignity, friendship, trust and a taste of revenge makes it all worthwhile. There are broad brushes of stereotypes in the characters, but that fault doesn’t diminish the impact of the movie. This movie is important, it is special and it is not to be missed. Best movie I have seen so far this year. 5 cans.

103. Sunrise at Campobello (1960) – Ralph Bellamy does a credible job playing Franklin Delano Roosevelt from the time he contracted infantile paralysis (polio) in 1921 until his return to a national stage at the 1924 Democratic National Convention. The paralyzed politician is determined – with the encouragement of his chief advisor, Louie Howe (Hume Cronyn) – to return to the spotlight in hopes of seeking the presidency one day. FDR, as we now know, was rarely photographed in a wheelchair, and, with the help of heavy metal braces and physical support by his son, appeared to walk. In this movie, he is wheelchair bound, honing his upper body strength and remaining determinedly chipper. Greer Garson is much too pretty to accurately depict wife Eleanor, even with false teeth. Eleanor must learn to cope with her husband’s condition and must take on speaking engagements in lieu of her husband to keep his name in the public. The movie is well-done, but it leaves out so much of what we now know about FDR, his wife and his condition. However, grading it on a scale of “it is what it is,” I’ll give it 3½ cans. Besides, when do I ever get to see “Spin & Marty’s” Tim Considine (who plays son James Roosevelt) in anything other than a Disney movie?

104. Flipped* (2010) – If you liked the movie “Stand By Me,” or if you are a fan of the TV series “The Wonder Years,” chances are you’ll flip for director Rob Reiner’s sweet romantic movie. Bryce Losky (Callan McAuliff) and his family move to the suburban neighborhood where friendly Juli Baker (Madelyn Carroll) lives. One look at Bryce’s eyes and little Juli falls hard for the second-grader, and for the next six years, as she pursues and annoys him, he avoids and ignores her. But at the end of junior high, the tables turn, and suddenly it is Bryce whose crush becomes unrequited love. This is a gentle stroll down memory lane, when life was uncomplicated – unless you were a kid in love. Reiner shows his knack for getting the best out of child actors, and, in the end, it’s hard not to have a crush on the whole movie. 4 cans.

105. One on One (1977) – As a big basketball fan, I have a certain fondness for this story about a freshman basketball player recruited from a hick town to play for fictional Western University, a powerhouse basketball team. Robby Benson plays Henry Steele, a kid whose ball-handling skills and ability to score are highly prized as a recruit, but whose innocence and desire to please hinder his role on a team run by an authoritarian coach (G.D. Spradlin, who is as much of an SOB here as he was in Godfather II). Henry comes in as a star, but his style doesn’t fit the coach’s system, and he works his way down the coach’s bench. But his love for the game and willingness to take whatever is dished out – along with a budding relationship with his tutor (Annette O’Toole) – help his resolve to remain in school when the coach demands he give up his scholarship. This movie shows the unsavory aspects of college athletics (no-show jobs, cash from boosters) but is grounded by a winning performance from Benson – who actually can play. 3½ cans.

106. The Kids Are Alright (2010) – Since I reviewed this movie last year and gave it 4 ½ cans, I won’t repeat the review except to say that I still enjoyed it. One thing I noticed, at the end, was that when the parents of the daughter drove her to college, it only required one trip from the car by each of them and their son to unload the car. I didn’t know how unrealistic that was at the time, but, having seen my nephew Brandon’s carload of crap headed to the University of Maryland, I can say that this scene was pure fantasy.

107. The Clearing* (2004) – You mean there is actually a Robert Redford movie that I knew nothing about? Yes, this suspenseful drama stars Redford as Wayne, a wealthy businessman living a comfortable life with his lovely wife Eileen (Helen Mirren), until one day when he is abducted by a disgruntled former employee he barely knows (Willem Dafoe, excellent as a semi-deranged loser). When Wayne doesn’t show up for dinner, Eileen knows something is amiss. As she and the authorities wait for contact by the kidnapper(s), she learns more about her husband than she ever wanted to know. Meanwhile, Wayne has only his wits to help him escape as the kidnapper leads him through the woods to a clearing. This is a taut drama that incorporates the mundane parts of police work needed to identify potential bad guys while the family impatiently waits. Good performances and Redford and Mirren alone make the movie worth seeing. 3½ cans.

108. The Last Dance* (2000) – This is one of those cheesy Hallmark dramas that you don’t want to like, isn’t high art but you watch all the way through anyway. The ever-lovely Maureen O’Hara plays Helen Parker, an aging former Latin teacher, widowed at an early age and long retired. When she develops heart trouble, she lands in the hospital and is tended to by nurse Todd (Eric Stolz), a former student. Turns out Mrs. P still has a few lessons to teach Todd and his family about life and love and building memories. I hate that this stuff always gives me a lump in my throat, but Ita Sit (“so be it” in Latin). 3 cans.

109. The Sweet Smell of Success* (1957) – The Sweet Smell of Success didn’t quite stink, but it didn’t quite succeed for me, either. A quintessential 50s movie, this black and white film features Tony Curtis as Sidney Falco, a New York press agent, desperately currying favor with all-powerful columnist J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster). The mention of a client’s name in J.J.’s column can make or break the press agent, who bows to every whim of the smug writer. The plot seemed less important as a story than as a device to showcase the ruthlessness of the main characters, with the tale neatly set in the after-hours nightclubs and joints of New York City. I am not a Burt Lancaster fan, but Tony Curtis brings a handsome face and a skittish sense of desperation to his role. 3 cans.

110. Divorce, American Style* (1964) – Marriage may be complicated, but it’s nothing compared to divorce in this black comedy starring Dick Van Dyke and Debbie Reynolds as a bickering couple who uncouple. Van Dyke goes from a successful businessman in a nice house to living on less that $100 a week. Their separation and divorce is filled with rancor and not enough regret. Jason Robards plays a divorced man who befriends Van Dyke, recruiting him to date his own ex-wife and relieve his alimony burden. The only scene I thought was genuinely funny was when divorced dad Tom Bosley explains to Debbie Reynolds the plethora of kids belonging to him, his ex-wife, her first husband, her next husband, his second ex-wife, etc. Even the kids can’t keep track of all their siblings. I didn’t want to keep track of the characters in this movie, since only Van Johnson, playing a local used car salesman, seemed like a good guy. 2½ cans.

Almost Gone

“I don’t remember growing older; when did they?” (“Fiddler on the Roof”)

Well, of course I don’t remember growing older. I’m old now, and I can’t remember much.

But I do remember the past 18 years with my nephew, Brandon.

He is about to start a new life as a freshman at the University of Maryland. Brandon is excited and ready – we hope – to leave home. I’ll let his parents worry about the practical things: Will he like his roommate? Does he have enough contact lens solution? Will he ever do laundry?

Instead, I’ll wax poetic about my own worries for him and look back at our time together. Does he have enough empathy for people? What kind of place will the world be when he is ready to enter it as an adult? Did I spend enough quality aunt-time with him?

Will he text me from college once in a while?

I have to admit that being an aunt is easy. When Brandon would get cranky or involved in video games to the point that a bomb could explode in the room and he wouldn’t notice, I’d leave and go home. It’s not like being a parent, where you have to stick around, even on the worst days, and where you worry about them every minute, even as you worry about your role as a parent.

No, as an aunt, it is all about fun. I think of the first time I took him to the Jersey shore. His mother sent every piece of aqua equipment imaginable, from goggles to shoes to those swimmies kids wear on their arms, a Styrofoam bubble and enough sunscreen to live for years in the desert. When we first entered the ocean and he felt the waves, he clung tightly to me and implored, “Stop the waves, T, stop the waves.” I tried to explain that although I might appear to be all powerful as his aunt, it was actually beyond my realm to stop the waves.

We liked to play catch in the backyard when he was little, and, as he grew, I’d throw the ball as high as I could. One day I was hitting balls to him when his friend came over to play. “You better back up,” he warned. “My aunt can really hit.” Few compliments have meant more to me than that expression of admiration.

We went to movies together that he enjoyed (while I enjoyed a nap) and a few we enjoyed equally. When I couldn’t stop crying during “My Dog Skip,” he patted me to comfort me and later told my sister that the movie was “heartbreaking.” An astute movie review from a seven-year-old, I thought.

Years ago, when I had him laughing hysterically about some silly thing, Brandon told me that I was the funniest person he knew. “Do you know a lot of funny people?” I inquired. “Yes, I do,” he asserted. I think he was six at the time.

And then there was the infamous Sno-Cap “incident” (which must always be referenced with “air quotes;” even as a child, Brandon was big on “air” quotes). I wasn’t actually present for the Sno-Cap “incident,” but I experienced the fallout. Brandon was at the movies with the other movie fanatic in the family, his father, when he shoved a few too many (probably something like 60) Sno-Caps in his mouth and thought he was choking. His father took him to the bathroom, got him water and took him home, concerned that he was still choking. On the way home, they stopped at the police station, where they called the Rescue Squad (manned, ironically, by the person from the movies who sold him the Sno-Caps), who examined him and assured them both that he was fine. For years afterwards, Brandon refused to eat at the movies for fear of choking. (I guess the idea of only eating 4-5 Sno-Caps at one time held little or no appeal.) But he was so spooked for so long, that we would be at a movie or a Rutgers basketball game and he’d turn to me to ask, “Am I still breathing?” I told him that if he could ask that question, he was, in fact, able to breathe. He’s gotten over the fear of eating bad food at public events and understands now that he is breathing all of the time, but none of us will ever forget the Sno-Cap “incident.”

I remember the first basketball game we went to together. He was fascinated less by the play on the court than by the numbers changing on the scoreboard. A few years later he knew enough to remark instead on the use of a zone defense vs. man-to-man. You can only imagine how that thrilled me as a basketball fanatic.

Over time, as he got more involved in his own activities, my role was simply to tag along to watch. I have seen many boring T-ball games, more than a few soccer games in the blistering heat or the freezing cold, and I witnessed his one brief moment in an off-off-Broadway, middle school production of “West Side Story,” where he played a Jet – or was he a Shark? All I remember is that he was in the “rumble” scene, brandishing a paper towel roll as his weapon.

Every now and then I was called on to consult on a school project, but much less often than I anticipated. When he did his college essays, I was ready, willing and able to assist, but I found his essay so well-written that I could barely suggest a thing to change. Not that I was surprised. As his English-major aunt, I would expect him to have at least a modicum of writing ability. Luckily, he never needed my help in math. It is more likely that I would need his.

It is harder and harder these days to spend time together or even to communicate with Brandon – except by text. After all, this is the kid who once texted his mother from the bathroom because he needed a new roll of toilet paper (yes, this is a true story). Now he is out of school and spends time with his friends (who, much to my pleasure, call me “Aunt T”), works part-time and devotes countless hours doing what all boys his age do – playing video games, downloading music and staring at small screens while tapping on their keyboards. When we head out for an infrequent lunch together, he likes to play songs for me from his iPod that he has picked out because he thinks I’ll like them. While I don’t think we have any of the same songs on our respective iPods, I have to admit that the kid has a good ear for what I might enjoy.

I guess that the infrequent times spent together in these latter years will help me adjust to his absence, being away at college, busy with his friends, his studies and God-knows what else. It is his parents’ job to counsel him, and I am sure they have done it well. The advice from his aunt is somewhat different. Before he went to Cancun with his friends as his graduation gift from Mom and Dad, I advised him that if he got so drunk that he felt like he was going to throw up he should stick his finger down his throat and do it. You don’t get that kind of wisdom from parents or just any elder, you know, and I was young once, too.

Brandon is starting the best time of his life, with so many years and so much promise ahead. I can’t help wondering what life has in store for him, and if he is ready to tackle it all head on. I can’t help wondering if he knows everything he should know. I can’t help wondering if I will be able to dance at his wedding.

I can’t help wondering if I can learn to Skype so I can “see” him once in a while. He promised to Skype me (a noun used as a verb – horrors) on my birthday in October, so I have until then to get up to speed.

But mostly I can’t help wondering where the time has gone, even as I am thankful for every minute we spent together.

I just know it is time for him to go. Good luck, Brandon. Do great things, have fun and, once in a while, think about the times we spent together. I know I will.

Tina's July Movies

I am closing in on 100 movies and sticking to my goal of seeing as many new ones as possible along with old movies I haven't seen in 20 years or more. This month features a number of interesting documentaries (thank you, HBO) as well as a few of my favorite comedies. Here is what I watched (new movies noted with an * and numbering picks up from last month).

81. Page One: Inside The New York Times* (2011) – Though I was not sure why I felt drawn to this movie, my sister offered the answer: I was editor of my high school newspaper for two years, which I had forgotten. Of course, any comparison between Somerville High's Valkyrie News and the august newspaper of record, The New York Times, can be made only in noting they are both printed with ink on paper, but that seems to be the issue these days with the Times. This engrossing documentary casts a wide net around the news business, delineating the failures of such recognized names as the Tribune company (The Chicago Tribune and The Seattle Post-Intelligencer), and discussing the credibility and responsibility of traditional media vs. the new activist journalism, as offered by WikiLeakes. The film poses the question of the role of newspapers, with a legacy of journalistic integrity and perceived duty to the democracy, versus the media frenzy that emanates from Twitter, the Huffington Post and other on-line options. Notes one of the journalists: "The media is not the message, the message is the media." The death knell and demise of print journalism in general and of The Times specifically has been reported for years, and this film tackles whether it is imminent and necessary. I vote no. 4 cans.
82. Slap Shot (1977) – Paul Newman, sports and a comedy. These are three things I love individually, and here, collectively, they make for a raucous two-hour movie about the trials and tribulations of a minor league hockey team about to fold. Newman is Reg Dunlap, the player-coach of the Charlestown Chiefs, a horrible hockey team in a crappy league full of has-beens and never-weres. When the bespectacled Hanson brothers – all three of them – arrive on the scene (complete with their toys) and are let loose on the ice, mayhem ensues and the team succeeds. Ah, but enough to make them an attractive franchise for another town to purchase? Newman is terrific, skating enough to seem credible as a hockey player. Michael Ontkean is the brainy player who won’t fight, and Strother Martin, Newman’s nemesis in the great “Cool Hand Luke,” is the general manager of the hockey club. 4 cans for a lot of laughs and the great Maxine Nightingale song, “Get Right Back to Where You Started From.”
83. Valentine’s Day* (2010) – Any Hollywood star or pseudo-star who was not in this picture must have been out of the country when this pastiche of Valentine’s Day stories was produced, because the cast here – all in relatively small parts – includes Julia Roberts, Jennifer Garner, Anne Hathaway, Queen Latifah, Ashton Kutcher, Jessica Biel, Shirley MacLaine, Hector Elizondo, Bradley Cooper, Topher Grace, Patrick Dempsey, Eric Dane (lots of TV folks here), George Lopez, Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner. The whole thing reminded me of an episode of “The Love Boat,” with so many characters and just a dollop of script. The obvious premise is Valentine’s Day, with people falling into and out of love, relationships that are starting and ending, loosely held together by Kutcher’s florist business. The movie tries mightily to be endearing but reaches only the bottom of the cuteness scale. 3 cans.
84. The Lake House* (2006) – If you think a long distance relationship is tough (see #80, “Going the Distance”), try one in which the couple lives in the same house but in two different years. I didn’t want to like this movie because I have long-standing issues with anything that requires me to suspend my sense of reality, but I couldn’t help rooting for Kate the doctor (Sandra Bullock) and Alex the architect (Keanu Reeves) to bridge the gap in time and meet in this romantic fantasy. Alex moves into the lake house built by his father after Kate moves out, and they strike up a correspondence by leaving letters in the mail box, even though he lives in 2004 and she is from 2006. Will they get together? Will they fall in love? Will Cher show up and start singing “If I Could Turn Back Time?” (She doesn’t, thankfully.) This movie captured my imagination with its appealing leads and extenuating circumstances, and it made me want to go jump into that lake. 4 cans.
85. Mother (1996) – Sci-fi author John Henderson (writer-director Albert Brooks) has just been divorced by wife number two and has writer’s block. Wondering why he is failing with women and hoping to unblock, he decides to move in with his mother (Debbie Reynolds) to figure out how their relationship affects his life. Mother Henderson is sweet and loving, though her care and concern seems more critical than supportive to John, and the two go together like Oscar and Felix with slightly lower-key histrionics. Reynolds is brilliant as the slightly befuddled mother whose routine is interrupted by annoying son John. There are great bits with her trying to cope with technology, but my favorite part is when she offers her skeptical son the vintage sherbet with what she calls the “protective ice layer” residing in her freezer. I always insisted to my mother that her ice cream was stale, only to hear her counter that ice cream cannot go stale. Anyone who has ever had a mother will probably recognize qualities in this mother that remind them of their own. 4 cans.
86. Up Close & Personal (1996) – Tally Atwater (Michelle Pfeiffer) is all cheekbones and ambition as she enters the Miami TV newsroom commandeered by veteran newsman Warren Justice (Robert Redford). But she’s willing to work hard to overcome her lack of experience and soon Warren takes her under his wing to teach her the news biz. She such a good student that she not only advances, she gets the guy, too. Very loosely related to real-life newswoman Jessica Savitch, this movie shows the evolution of Tally from ditsy on-camera rookie into a seasoned reporter. And the shot of Redford at the bottom of the escalator is sigh-inducing. The movie’s two immensely attractive stars carry off the love story better than the somewhat cheesy news part. They are enough for me to award 3½ cans.
87. High Plains Drifter* (1973) – This movie is what I think of when I think of Clint Eastwood. Here he is a mysterious, steely stranger who arrives in a corrupt town and is prevailed upon to protect the citizens from the bad guys who are headed their way, bound for revenge. He organizes the townsfolk with a minimum of words and a maximum of fear, getting them ready to shoot from the rooftops of the town he has them literally paint red. When it is all over, he leaves town as mysteriously as he came. OK, I’ll admit it: I don’t know what the hell this was about. Revenge, clearly, but a metaphor for something deeper? Was he related to the marshal the town leaders killed and dumped in an unmarked grave? We can only guess because the stranger’s name is never revealed. If you like westerns, this might appeal, but it was clearly not my kind of movie. 2 cans.
88. Beginners* (2011) – Oliver (Ewan MacGregor) is the grown son of Hal (Christopher Plummer), a lifelong gay man who was married to Oliver’s mother for 40 years until her death, when he came flying out of the closet. When we meet Oliver, he is numbly moving his late father’s possessions and dog, Arthur, to his nondescript house. The son of a joyless marriage, Oliver draws cartoons of sad people when he is at work as an illustrator. When he meets Anna at a party, things begin to look up – briefly – but since his exposure to real relationships with people is skewed, he only recognizes happiness in his father’s last years, before he became sick and while he enjoyed friends, fireworks and parties. I sacrificed a near-perfect day to sit inside and endure this dreary movie with my pool pal, Dee, who described this film as follows: “Other than liking the actors, who all did a fine job with what script they had, ‘Beginners’ sucked the joy out of the theatre, the shopping center, the county, and central New Jersey like a huge black hole in outer space. 5 cans for the dog.” I agree. The dog was great and gets 5 cans of Alpo. The rest of the film? For me, “Beginners” couldn’t end soon enough. 2 cans.
89. Courage Under Fire (1996) – Courage has many meanings in this war drama. Lieutenant Colonel Nat Serling (Denzel Washington) is charged with reviewing the case of the Captain Karen Ward (Meg Ryan), who is under consideration for the Medal of Honor for her bravery in battle. But the conflicting stories provided by the men in her command confuse and frustrate Serling, who is under fire to wrap up the investigation and see the first woman receive this honor. Meanwhile, Serling is suffering from his own conflicts, emanating from his role in the friendly fire death of his good friend, a fact that the Army has covered up. Washington is determined and stoic as he clashes with the soldiers below and above him in rank. Meg Ryan handles her unlikely role as the Army officer well, and Matt Damon, in his breakthrough movie role, delivers a memorable performance as one of the soldiers who knows what really happened in that battle. I found the movie a little hard to follow, with the dialog often overpowered by the loud gunfire. But after multiple flashbacks showing various versions of the incident, you get the idea and appreciate the danger and demands placed on the soldiers. 3½ cans.
90. Who Is Jackson Pollack?* (2006) – That’s trucker Teri Horton’s question when someone with knowledge of art tells her that the painting she bought for $5 in a thrift store may just be the creation of one of the most important artists of the century. But is it actually a Pollack painting? If it is, it could be worth as much as $50 million. Teri, who lives in a trailer behind a VFW, may not have a background in art, but she does have dogged determination, and she enlists the aid of experts in her quest to authenticate the painting. The art establishment scoffs at the notion that a piece as important as a Pollack painting could have ended up in a thrift store in the first place. This documentary covers the search for the truth, interviews the experts and the skeptics, and follows the CSI-like work of one man who feels Teri has the real thing and tries to prove it with DNA and fingerprints. The question remains as the film ends, with Teri turning down an offer of $9 million for the potential masterpiece the 75+ year old thinks is worth much more. 4 cans of paint for this engrossing and entertaining film.
91. Lost in America (1985) – When ad man David (Albert Brooks) fails to get the promotion to which he feels entitled, he convinces his wife Linda (Julie Hagerty) to quit her job, liquidate their assets and buy a Winnebago so they can travel the country and find themselves. First stop? Las Vegas, where Linda manages to gamble away their “nest egg” while David sleeps. Can two yuppies become two hippies and live off the land? This is a clever comedy, filled with hilarious Brooks rants (he wrote the script, much of which sounds and seems improvised). The understated Hagerty ‘s performance balances Brooks’ over the top madness. The best scene in the movie is when ever-the-adman Brooks tries to sell casino boss Garry Marshall on the idea of returning their money as a sure-fire way to attract more gamblers, despite Marshall’s contention that then everyone will want their money back. This movie is a winner. 4 cans.
92. The Curious Case of Curt Flood* (2011) – This HBO documentary traces the story of baseball star Curt Flood, an accomplished athlete who challenged baseball’s reserve clause in the 1970s. By order of the Supreme Court, major league baseball was not subject to antitrust regulations, and the reserve clause bound players to the teams that signed them. Flood, traded against his will, took on the baseball establishment, backed by the players union but taking on the challenge alone. He failed to win the case, but his inroads against baseball eventually led to changes in the collective bargaining agreement that ultimately provided for salary arbitration and free agency (with ballplayers routinely signing for millions). Flood, for his part, lost his career as an athlete and retreated into alcoholism and depression, leaving the country and abandoning his family. Before his death at age 59, the man who was the voice of the ballplayers ironically lost his own voice to cancer. But by then, he had gained the respect of Civil Rights leaders and his fellow athletes for his courage in taking on a system he likened to slavery. 4 cans.
93. In & Out (1997) – Kevin Kline is at his most charming as Howard Bracket, engaged to marry fellow teacher Emily (hilarious Joan Cusack) when former student Cameron Drake (Matt Dillon) tells the world in his Oscar acceptance speech that Howard is gay. The small town of Greenleaf is shaken, the principal is ready to fire Howard, and Howard refutes it all, trying to convince his finance and himself that he is not gay after all. Covering the story is a TV reporter (Tom Sellick), who thinks otherwise. This is a comedic romp for Kline, whose body language alone could win an Oscar. Cusack, the woman who is scheduled to marry Kline that week, is confused and crazed. Debbie Reynolds, Wilford Brimley and Bob Newhart join in the fun in perfect supporting roles. There are so many juicy comic bits, and Kline shines throughout. 4½ cans.
94. Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead* (2007) – Cash-strapped brothers Andy and Hank plan what appears to be a simple robbery of a jewelry store, but the heist goes awry in this crime drama. Directed by Sidney Lumet, the story goes back and forth between past and present, and secret lives are unveiled as the brothers grow more desperate to dig themselves out of the hole. The strong cast includes Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke as the brothers, Marisa Tomei as the woman they share and Albert Finney as the father. Suspenseful and increasingly forlorn tale. 3½ cans.
95. There’s Something Wrong With Aunt Diane* (2011) – And we’ll never know exactly what it was. This HBO documentary examines the case of Diane Schuler, suburban New York mother and aunt, who drove for one and a half miles the wrong way on the Taconic Parkway in July 2009, eventually crashing into another car and killing its three occupants, herself, her daughter and three nieces. Only her young son survived. The filmmakers review the facts of the case, tracing Diane’s route from an upstate NY campground to her eventual tragic end. Along the way we hear the 911 calls where other drivers reported her car traveling in the wrong direction. We see footage of her stop at a gas station convenience store and a McDonald’s. Although her autopsy revealed excessive amounts of alcohol and marijuana in her system, her family staunchly defends her as a very responsible woman whose first priority was her family. They insist she must have had a medical episode that precipitated her bizarre behavior along the ride home, when one of her nieces phoned her father to say that, “There’s something wrong with Aunt Diane.” A second set of tests on her samples confirmed the initial report and that the samples were hers, but what happened remains a tragic mystery to her husband and family and those who lost loved ones. 4 cans.
96. No Contract, No Cookies * (2010) - These HBO documentaries are compelling, and this one hits home with the story of 138 workers at the Stella D’Oro bakery in the Bronx. A veritable United Nations of workers, the employees went out on strike for 11 months after an investment company bought the cookie maker and slashed wages and benefits. Their solidarity eventually resulted in a ruling in their favor, but it was a Pyrrhic victory when the company simply turned around and closed the plant, moving baking operations to a non-union factory in Ohio. The reality of seeing these people, many of whom at worked for Stella D’Oro for 25+ years as bakers, forklift operators, janitors and the like, threatened with losing their homes brought today’s economic hard times to life. In the end, they were no winners. And I’ll probably never eat a Stella D’Oro cookie again. 4 cookies.

Memories

Recently I watched a hilarious YouTube parody of the song “Memories” from the Broadway musical “Cats.” (Check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzSaoN2LdfU) In this version, an older woman laments her loss of memory, how she can’t find the keys, doesn’t know why she went into a room and, well, other stuff that I can’t quite remember.

This experience got me thinking about my own memory. I decided that a memory is like a woman’s purse: You know that what you are looking for is in there somewhere, and if you root around long enough, eventually you will find it.

However, unlike a woman’s purse, you cannot simply dump out all of the contents and discard the useless stuff, like the Lifesavers stuck to a tissue. We seem destined to retain – if not find – everything, especially the stuff we really don’t need. For instance, unless I am going to be a contestant on “Jeopardy” and that’s the night they happen to have a category for “New York Yankees Line-ups From the Early 1960s,” there is a lot of Lifesaver-stuck-to-a-tissue type of information that I wish I could just toss out.

My mind is filled with useless information that prevents me from accessing the information I need or want. This issue can be embarrassing. When I worked, I would claim not to know Wendy from accounting, and my assistant would always say, “You know her. You’d know her if you saw her.” OK, let’s take it on blind faith that somehow I know who the hell Wendy from accounting is. On the other hand, it is amazing the amount of detail I can recall about a basketball game, like when Khadijah Rushdan passed between someone’s legs to Epiphanny Prince in the Auburn game and that Rutgers scored in the first 10 seconds of that game. Yet I not only cannot recall the score of that game, I usually can’t remember the score of the game I just watched. I just remember that my team won. If we get blown out by 40 points, I might just try to forget the whole thing.

If you are of a certain age, try going through your high school yearbook. In mine, written in neat penmanship over the countless pictures of girls with flips, are now meaningless phrases like, “2 good to 2 B forgotten,” signed by people who swear they will never forget French class. Really? And who is Karen, who said she’d never forget me? I wonder if she has, because I have no memory of her at all.

Once, a few years ago, I took a photography class taught in the local adult school by a man who was a teacher in my high school. I was proud that I even recognized his name. When he went through the class roster, he recognized mine, too, and asked me if I had him in 6th period chemistry (“had him” is not the bad thing you are thinking, OK?). 6th period chemistry? I took chemistry? And then he started asking me about people in the class, names I hadn’t heard in 40 years. Did I remember them? I barely remembered taking chemistry at all. And aside from salt being NaCl and water being H2O, I claim no knowledge of the periodic table, which, surprisingly, has never held me back as an adult.

My contention isn’t that I am losing my mind, but instead that it is so overstuffed with information that I cannot locate the things I need to know. I think we all have selective memory. That doesn’t mean we remember only those things we want to remember. Our mind just selects for us the stuff that will stay with us forever, whether we need to know it or not. Do I really need to know all the words to “Love Child” by the Supremes? That piece of information takes up valuable space that might better be used on something I need to know. I figure that there is only so much room in the purse that is my mind, and I wish I could dump out at least some of the useless contents. Why can’t I remember that I wanted to stop at the cleaners? Probably because my brain cells are saving themselves for something else, like memorizing what everyone orders at dinner, so when the waitress asks, “Who had the linguini?” I can point to the right person every time. But don’t ask me what I wore that night.

When I worked, I used to write down what I wore every day so I wouldn’t repeat the same thing at meetings or events. Of course, I couldn’t remember what anyone else wore, so why I thought they would remember what I wore remains a mystery to me to this day. Besides, nearly every entry started with “black pants,” since I had more clothing in black than Johnny Cash (raise your hand if you’ve heard me say that one before…).

People come up with their own tricks to help them remember things. Though I doubt the guy who invented the Post-It note had this in mind, I remember seeing many women leaving J&J at the end of the day with a string of Post-It notes stapled around the handles of their purses. I have friends who have Post-It notes on the dashboard of their cars. Writing things down helps – if you remember to take the paper or Post-It note with you.

My sister likes to write things down on the tiniest scraps of paper. When she is preparing a holiday meal, you’ll find every serving bowl with little scribbles that say “mashed potatoes.” Yet, inevitably, when we put the food on the table she’ll suddenly realize she forgot to make the peas (so that means one little bowl stands empty, except for the tiny scrap of paper with “peas” written on it).

I find it helpful to place things where I can’t miss them – like right in front of the garage door. If I have to take my laptop to a meeting, I’ll hang the bag from the doorknob, so I can’t miss it on my way out. The other thing that helps is doing things immediately when you remember them. How many times have I gotten out of bed in the middle of the night and written something down, or grabbed my passport at that moment, so I wouldn’t forget that I need it next month? I’d answer that question, but I can’t recall.

In fact, I wanted to write this essay for some time, and I would have, if I hadn’t forgotten about it.

Tina's June Movies

There is a lot of variety in this month's movies, almost all of which I saw for the first time, and none of which really stood out to me, unless you like movies about financial crises and tort reform (which I did, I'll admit). Numbering picks up from May, and new movies are indicated with an *.

JUNE *=First time movie
69. Fire & Ice* – McEnroe/Borg (2011) – This HBO special documents the intense rivalry of tennis players John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg in the early 1980s. McEnroe was the tempestuous upstart, Borg the stoic Swede, and of their memorable matches, none is remembered more than their epic battle at Wimbledon. McEnroe won a nearly interminable 4th set tiebreaker 18-16, but Borg won the 5th set and the Wimbledon trophy. I was a big tennis fan at the time, and I recall that match vividly. Each man would go on to win many championships, but Borg abruptly retired at age 25, leaving McEnroe without a comparable rival but with a lifelong friend. These men and their contrasting styles made tennis a compelling sport in the 1980s, and the fire and ice they brought to the game has been lacking since. 4 cans.
70. Get Him to the Greek* (2010) – Aaron Green (Jonah Hill) is a man with a mission impossible. His task, which he must accept as a low-level lackey for a music company, is to escort rock superstar Aldous Snow (Russell Brand) from London to Los Angeles to perform in a concert intended to revive his flagging career. Along the way the mission becomes an exercise in observing and participating in boorish rock star behavior, with drinking, drugs and women waylaying our heroes from their destination. I endured this movie without laughing even once, because even the few clever references were overshadowed by scenes that were supposed to be funny that I thought were insipid, silly or disgusting. The movie was well played, particularly by Brand as the lonely and self-indulgent caricature of a rock idol and Hill as an affable loser who becomes his friend. I’m just glad I didn’t pay to see this one in the movies. 2½ cans.
71. Play Misty For Me* (1971) – Long-haired, 70s clad DJ David Garver (Clint Eastwood) has an ardent fan in Evelyn (Jessica Walters), who calls him nightly to request that he play “Misty” for her. Actually, she is less an ardent fan than a psychotic lunatic stalker. After a few sexual encounters, Evelyn’s take on their relationship is quite different from Dave’s, and she is determined to make him love her by pulling a bunch of bizarre and scary stunts to get his attention. The laid-back DJ can’t figure out how to discourage or get rid of her as he pursues a relationship with former girlfriend Toby (Donna Mills, sporting the quintessential 70s shag haircut). This movie, directed by Eastwood, portrays him as the strong, silent type, the same kind of character he would go on to play in so many movies. It came long before “Fatal Attraction,” with Glenn Close as a psychotic lunatic woman, but has nearly as much suspense – though not carried out as well (no boiling rabbits on the stove). 4 cans.
72. Love in the Afternoon* (1957) – The lovely Audrey Hepburn is French cello student Ariane, daughter of a detective (Maurice Chevalier). Intrigued by her father’s dossier on middle-aged playboy “Mr. Flanagan” (Gary Cooper), she meets up with the businessman in his hotel and begins an unlikely affair. They listen to music provided by Flanagan’s band of music-playing gypsies and exchange no information about each other, including first names. Of course, she’s read his dossier, so she knows exactly what kind of man he is, but all he knows is that she is a girl whose name begins with the letter A, and he calls her “The Thin Girl” (oh, if only anyone would ever call me that!). She convinces him that she’s been around the block as many times as he has, which makes her even more mysterious and interesting. There is nothing Gary Cooper can do to convince me he is anything other than wooden as an actor, but this is a somewhat amusing charmer from legendary director Billy Wilder and it has an “Ahhhh” ending. 3 cans.
73. The Holiday* (2006) – Unlucky in love Brit Iris (Kate Winslet) and California girl Cameron Diaz swap houses for the Christmas season to escape their problems with men and promptly meet new men in this movie by Nancy Meyer. If only life were that simple. Winslet adapts easily to beautiful Hollywood, making friends with screenwriter Eli Wallach and composer Jack Black. Meanwhile, back at Winslet’s remote English cottage, Diaz has only to open the door to find Iris’ brother, played by Jude Law, stopping by unexpectedly. Guess the rest – go ahead, you can do it. The women are charming, if a little befuddled by their love lives, and the men are too good to be true. (So is Diaz’ wardrobe, if we are to believe all those coats and outfits came out of the one bag she lugs into the house. But I digress.) Overlooking the improbability of it all, I still found this movie satisfying in a chick-flick kind of way. Diaz and Law look sensational, Winslet a little bedraggled and for once Jack Black does not overact. 4 cans.
74. Heart Like A Wheel* (1983) – Bonnie Bedelia portrays the real-life Shirley Muldowney, the first professional female drag racer, in this bio-pic. Supported by her mechanic husband, Shirley sets out to break into the male, good-ole-boy dominated sport after a successful local career as an amateur drag racer on the streets of Schenectady. Fellow racer Connie Kaleta (Beau Bridges) takes more than a professional interest in Shirley’s booming career, setting up the off the track drama. Bedelia’s Shirley is a tough-as-nails woman at the beginning of the age of women’s lib who retains a touch of vulnerability. The whole movie felt a little Lifetime-y to me. 3 cans.
75. Dear John* (2010) – Hunky, hulky Channing Tatum plays John, a special forces soldier on leave from the Army in Charleston when he meets beautiful college student Savannah (Amanda Seyfried). Two weeks is enough for them to fall in love and pledge that they will be together after John's tour of duty is up in a year. But when he decides to reenlist, Savannah makes different plans. This is a typical Nicholas Sparks story, with attractive main characters facing life-changing choices and working hard to make the audience cry. Tatum is handsome but needs elocution lessons, while Seyfried is all doe-eyed innocence as the girl he loves. The acting here is grade B at best, with the exception of the always marvelous Richard Jenkins as Tatum's coin-collecting father. This is a sweet movie, but to me, everything comes in second to Sparks' earlier work, "The Notebook." 3 cans.
76. Too Big to Fail* (2011) – This HBO drama serves to remind us of the financial crisis of 2008. With a large cast (William Hurt, Ed Asner, Paul Giamotti, Mathew Modine, Billy Crudup, Topher Grace) mixed in with actual news reporters on TV, the program combines dramatization and documentary in an effective recounting of the financial crisis that saw Bear Sterns and Lehman Brothers go down. When the Federal Government, led by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulsen (Hurt) refuses to bail out Lehman, the market begins to crumble and the Feds look desperately to avert a repeat of 1929. This movie is a little tough to follow, with the heads of major banks popping in and out and leaving you to remember who’s who, but it is an interesting story that makes you think about how disaster could be one failure away. In the end, we survived as an economy, but it is disquieting to consider that 10 banks control 77% of assets in the United Sates as a result of the fallout from this crisis. 4 cans, and especially suited for economists.
77. Hotel (1967) – The St. Gregory is the dowager hotel of New Orleans, still elegant but beginning to fade and woefully behind the times in this adaptation of the Arthur Hailey book. Owned by irascible but loyal Melvyn Douglas, the hotel needs investors to keep it from being swallowed up by a chain run by egotistical Kevin McCarthy. There is a large cast of characters in this hotel, led by Rod Taylor as the efficient general manager and brightened by cagey thief Karl Malden (trademark fedora and all). Merle Oberon, shot in soft focus, plays the Duchess in her last movie role. Not a terrible movie, but hardly a grand hotel. Plenty of vacancies here. 3 cans.
78. A Matter of Taste/Serving Up Paul Liebrandt* (2010) – This profile of chef Paul Liebrandt traces the New York career of the young chef, whose level of taste and sophistication exceeds those of the restaurants that employ him. The exacting chef, the youngest to ever garner three stars from The New York Times (at age 24), turns out food that is equal in artistry and taste. When the restaurant where he works is forced by the economy to turn casual, Paul is left making sophisticated burgers. He drifts around the food scene until he teams up with legendary restaurateur Drew Nieporent to create Corton. There we see the long hours, creative vision and dedication required to run a restaurant. As the new establishment gears up and finally opens, Liebrandt and the staff await the review of The New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni, whose judgment can make or break the restaurant. I’ll give this documentary 3½ stars, since Liebrandt undoubtedly would find a can of tuna quite offensive.
79. Hot Coffee* (2011) – In reading this review, my sister will roll her eyes and say, “Why would you watch a movie about tort reform?” Well, we all know – or think we know – about the 1994 case where an elderly woman spilled coffee on her lap and sued McDonald’s because the coffee was too hot. Contrary to the lore about the case, it turns out she wasn’t driving at the time and that her legs, shown in the movie, were severely burned. She sued only because McDonald’s refused to cover her medical expenses, and today, as a result, McDonald’s’ coffee is 10 degrees cooler when served. But the judgment against McDonald's started the push for tort reform and capping damages, all led by a clever PR campaign and not by a grassroots push to keep malpractice costs down and doctors in their practices. This HBO documentary presents several heart-rending cases where caps on damages were insufficient to care for people seriously injured by negligence. The piece chides President Bush and his crony, Karl Rove, for their efforts to protect the interests of corporations over the individual. 3½ cans.
80. Going the Distance* (2010) – Erin and Garrett (Drew Barrymore and Justin Long) meet at the Centipede arcade machine and begin a relationship for the remainder of her 6 weeks in New York, before she has to return to Stanford to finish her master’s degree. An aspiring writer, Erin lives with her married sister (a delightful Christina Applegate) while she seeks a newspaper job, waits tables and tries to maintain a long distance relationship with New York-based music flunky Garrett. Will she find a job? Will one of them make the cross-country trip for a visit or a possible permanent move? Could Garrett’s best buddies be any grosser or Erin’s sister any more uptight? These burning questions are examined during the course of this film, starring once upon a time real-life couple Barrymore and Long, whose on-screen chemistry is real even if Drew seems a little long in the tooth for Justin. They’re cute, the movie’s cute, and the supporting players are very strong. There were a few good laughs, but don’t invite me to dinner at her sister’s house. 3½ cans.