Violent is what comes to mind when I think of this movie.
This Quentin Tarantino movie (remember Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill) is NOT FOR CHILDREN – it is graphic, it is violent, and it is good. If you have a weak stomach – don’t watch it. If violence disturbs you – don’t watch it. If you hate foul language – don’t watch it. Read the quote and then take special note of the “scalping part,” scalping is in the movie so if seeing that would disturb you – it’s in there – don’t watch it (or you could do like me and close your eyes and turn down the volume) during that part.
Having given you all the warnings I can, I want to tell you this is a good movie. It is definitely not going to be everyone’s cup of tea and it is NOT a “feel good” movie. It is a war story and the adage that “war is hell” must have had this movie in mind. BUT….80% of the movie is not graphic or violent, but a wonderful story...BUT…the scenes that are violent are.
Brad Pitt is Lt. Aldo Raine and he plays him with a Clark Gable look and an over-the-top southern accent (someone said in one of the interviews that Pitt’s accent was almost a character itself) – watch the movie and you’ll see what I mean. If you have seen the movie The Dirty Dozen – think The Dirty Dozen on steroids and you have the men, Jewish soldiers, who serve under Aldo Raine.
I don’t normally watch these kinds of movies, but this one kept my attention and I’m not sure why – actually I felt the same way about Pulp Fiction – they are both oddly transfixing movies – kind of like that bag of peanut M and M’s, you know you shouldn’t reach for, but….you just can resist.
Christoph Waltz, the villain in this movie, deserved the Oscar he got for his role as the Nazi Colonel Hans Landa. Mr. Waltz as Han Landa is quietly creepy.
Quotes
Lt. Aldo Raine: My name is Lt. Aldo Raine and I'm putting together a special team, and I need me eight soldiers. Eight Jewish-American soldiers. Now, y'all might've heard rumors about the armada happening soon. Well, we'll be leaving a little earlier. We're gonna be dropped into France, dressed as civilians. And once we're in enemy territory, as a bushwhackin' guerrilla army, we're gonna be doin' one thing and one thing only... killin' Nazis. Now, I don't know about y'all, but I sure as hell didn't come down from the goddamn Smoky Mountains, cross five thousand miles of water, fight my way through half of Sicily and jump out of a fuckin' air-o-plane to teach the Nazis lessons in humanity. Nazi ain't got no humanity. They're the foot soldiers of a Jew-hatin', mass murderin' maniac and they need to be dee-stroyed. That's why any and every every son of a bitch we find wearin' a Nazi uniform, they're gonna die. Now, I'm the direct descendant of the mountain man Jim Bridger. That means I got a little Injun in me. And our battle plan will be that of an Apache resistance. We will be cruel to the Germans, and through our cruelty they will know who we are. And they will find the evidence of our cruelty in the disemboweled, dismembered, and disfigured bodies of their brothers we leave behind us. And the German won't not be able to help themselves but to imagine the cruelty their brothers endured at our hands, and our boot heels, and the edge of our knives. And the German will be sickened by us, and the German will talk about us, and the German will fear us. And when the German closes their eyes at night and they're tortured by their subconscious for the evil they have done, it will be with thoughts of us they are tortured with. Sound good?
The Basterds: YES, SIR!
Lt. Aldo Raine: That's what I like to hear. But I got a word of warning for all you would-be warriors. When you join my command, you take on debit. A debit you owe me personally. Each and every man under my command owes me one hundred Nazi scalps. And I want my scalps. And all y'all will git me one hundred Nazi scalps, taken from the heads of one hundred dead Nazis. Or you will die tryin'.
Plot Summary
In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a group of Jewish-American soldiers known as "The Basterds" are chosen specifically to spread fear throughout the Third Reich by scalping and brutally killing Nazis.
The Basterds commanding officer is Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) and he is one tough cookie. Be aware that there are also other stories interwoven with the main story and they do interconnect.
Take special note of the tattoo (of sorts) given to the Nazi’s lucky enough to survive a meeting with “The Basterds.” Though the survivors probably don’t think they are so lucky.
This is not an accurate portrayal of what REALLY happened to Hitler and his henchmen, but it would have been interesting if it had been.
Life Lessons
Two Wolves…A Cherokee Parable
An old Cherokee chief was teaching his grandson about life...
”A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy.
It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.
One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, self-doubt, and ego.
The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.
This same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too.
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather,
"Which wolf will win?"
The old chief simply replied, "The one you feed."
Inglourious Basterds Movie Cast
• Brad Pitt as Lt. Aldo Raine
• Christoph Waltz as Colonel Hans Landa
• Diane Kruger as Bridget Von Hammersmark
• Eli Roth as Sgt. Donnie Donowitz
• Melanie Laurent as Shosanna Dreyfus
• Michael Fassbender as Lt. Archie Hicox
• Daniel Bruhl as Fredrick Zoller
• Til Schweiger as Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz
• Mike Myers as General Ed Fenech
• Rod Taylor as Winston Churchill
• And others
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Monday, August 29, 2011
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Just because a movie is vintage does not mean it isn’t a good one; actually some of the older ones are a lot better then the ones they show today. A story got told and they managed to keep their clothes on, swear words out of the picture, and nary a toliet (or toliet humor) was ever seen. The humor in those days was more subtle – what I call intellectual humor – you had to watch and watch close or you would miss something.
If this movie has a play feel to it, it is because it was one, a very successful one. Katherine Hepburn played the Tracy Lord part in the play and then bought the rights (some say Howard Hughes bought the rights for her) to make the play into a movie. She wanted Clark Gable (Dexter part) and Spencer Tracy (Mike Connor part), but that did not work out so Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart stepped into those parts and when you watch it now you can’t imagine the other two fellows would have been as good as Grant and Stewart.
Side Note: This movie was remade again in 1956 (this version was more of a musical) and renamed High Society starring Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, and Frank Sinatra.
Quotes
C. K. Dexter Haven: Of course, Mr. Connor, she's a girl who is generous to a fault.
Tracy Lord: To a fault.
C. K. Dexter Haven: Except to other people's faults.
C. K. Dexter Haven: You'll never be a first class human being or a first class woman until you've learned to have some regard for human frailty.
Plot Summary
Tracy Lord (nee Haven) (Katharine Hepburn) is a wealthy Philadelphia socialite who had divorced C. K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant), a member of her social set, because he did not measure up to her exacting standards. During their marriage, he had issues with alcohol and instead of helping him she rejected him for his weakness and divorced him.
It’s obvious from the beginning that Tracy and Dex should never have gotten a divorce – they were made for each other. Her ex-husband, who no longer drinks, wants her back, but he knows that in order for it to work for them long term – she will have to learn to be more tolerate of others flaws.
The only trouble is she is about to remarry -- a former working class fellow, now wealthy man named George Kittredge (John Howard).
If that isn’t enough, there is a third fellow entering the picture.
Spy magazine publisher Sidney Kidd (Henry Daniell) is eager to cover the wedding, and enlists Dexter, into introducing reporter Macaulay "Mike" Connor (James Stewart) and photographer Liz Imbrie (Ruth Hussey) as friends of the family so they can report on the wedding. Dexter is “secretly” trying to save the Lord family from having embarrassing information released about Tracy’s father Seth Lord (John Halliday).
Tracy is not fooled by Mike Connor and Liz Imbrie, but reluctantly agrees to let them stay, after Dexter explains that Kidd has an innuendo-laden article about Tracy's father Seth, who, Tracy believes, is having an affair with a dancer. Though Seth is separated from Tracy's mother Margaret (Mary Nash) and Tracy harbors great resentment against him for his “suspected” infidelity to her mother, she also wants to protect her family's reputation.
Dexter is welcomed back with open arms by Margaret (Tracy’s mom) and Dinah (Virginia Weidler), who is Tracy's teenage sister - much to Tracy's annoyance. In addition, Tracy gradually discovers that Mike has some interesting qualities. Thus, as the wedding nears, Tracy finds herself torn between her fiancé, her ex-husband, and the reporter.
Add lecherous Uncle Willie and some witty one-liners to the mix and you have a comedy that was nominated for at least six academy awards.
Life Lessons
Facial expressions -- no one could do a look like Cary Grant – without uttering a word he could do an expression that “told you” exactly what he was thinking. He was also the master of the pause, before delivering the line which brings you into what he is saying, makes you want to know what is coming next – it’s brilliant.
Let’s talk a little more about facial expressions and mothers…
When it comes to governing a child’s behavior in a room full of relatives, mother’s have something that works better than a Star Trek phaser set on stun, it’s called “the look.” This isn’t a new phenomenon; mothers have being using “the look” to keep children under control at social functions for centuries. Case in point: You are at Great Aunt Bertha’s home for Christmas and she sets our her special oatmeal dish from the old country, that has taken this dear soul twelve hours slaving over a hot stove to make right next to your pride and joy.
Junior/Juniorette is just about to spill the beans that Aunt Bertha’s labor of love looks and smells like it’s been run through the horse once. As your child begins to open up their mouth to share this bit of information with Aunt Bertha and everyone else at the table, you arch one eyebrow, and then fix them with the look. If you are focused and quick enough, this deadly combination of eyebrow and look can paralyze every single muscle in their little bodies, rendering them incapable of making you look like the part of the horse that jumped over the fence last in front of all the relatives.
For those moms out there who aren’t really sure if you have “the look” or not, try this experiment the next time you sit down at the supper table with your family. Pick one of your children, it doesn’t matter if your child is six or sixty-six, just think of something naughty they’ve done in the recent past, and then look at them without saying a word. I guarantee you that as soon as they notice you are staring at them with “your look” they will start shifting in their seat and when the cannot stand your scrutiny a moment longer will cry out in desperation, “What?”
This technique works on “naughty” husbands (or wives) too. Test it out.
The Philadelphia Story Movie Cast
• Cary Grant as C. K. Dexter Haven
• Katharine Hepburn as Tracy Lord
• James Stewart as Macaulay Connor
• Ruth Hussey as Elizabeth Imbrie
• John Howard as George Kittredge
• Roland Young as William Q. Tracy (Uncle Willie)
• John Halliday as Seth Lord
• Mary Nash as Margaret Lord
• Virginia Weidler as Dinah Lord
• Henry Daniell as Sidney Kidd
• And others
If this movie has a play feel to it, it is because it was one, a very successful one. Katherine Hepburn played the Tracy Lord part in the play and then bought the rights (some say Howard Hughes bought the rights for her) to make the play into a movie. She wanted Clark Gable (Dexter part) and Spencer Tracy (Mike Connor part), but that did not work out so Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart stepped into those parts and when you watch it now you can’t imagine the other two fellows would have been as good as Grant and Stewart.
Side Note: This movie was remade again in 1956 (this version was more of a musical) and renamed High Society starring Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, and Frank Sinatra.
Quotes
C. K. Dexter Haven: Of course, Mr. Connor, she's a girl who is generous to a fault.
Tracy Lord: To a fault.
C. K. Dexter Haven: Except to other people's faults.
C. K. Dexter Haven: You'll never be a first class human being or a first class woman until you've learned to have some regard for human frailty.
Plot Summary
Tracy Lord (nee Haven) (Katharine Hepburn) is a wealthy Philadelphia socialite who had divorced C. K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant), a member of her social set, because he did not measure up to her exacting standards. During their marriage, he had issues with alcohol and instead of helping him she rejected him for his weakness and divorced him.
It’s obvious from the beginning that Tracy and Dex should never have gotten a divorce – they were made for each other. Her ex-husband, who no longer drinks, wants her back, but he knows that in order for it to work for them long term – she will have to learn to be more tolerate of others flaws.
The only trouble is she is about to remarry -- a former working class fellow, now wealthy man named George Kittredge (John Howard).
If that isn’t enough, there is a third fellow entering the picture.
Spy magazine publisher Sidney Kidd (Henry Daniell) is eager to cover the wedding, and enlists Dexter, into introducing reporter Macaulay "Mike" Connor (James Stewart) and photographer Liz Imbrie (Ruth Hussey) as friends of the family so they can report on the wedding. Dexter is “secretly” trying to save the Lord family from having embarrassing information released about Tracy’s father Seth Lord (John Halliday).
Tracy is not fooled by Mike Connor and Liz Imbrie, but reluctantly agrees to let them stay, after Dexter explains that Kidd has an innuendo-laden article about Tracy's father Seth, who, Tracy believes, is having an affair with a dancer. Though Seth is separated from Tracy's mother Margaret (Mary Nash) and Tracy harbors great resentment against him for his “suspected” infidelity to her mother, she also wants to protect her family's reputation.
Dexter is welcomed back with open arms by Margaret (Tracy’s mom) and Dinah (Virginia Weidler), who is Tracy's teenage sister - much to Tracy's annoyance. In addition, Tracy gradually discovers that Mike has some interesting qualities. Thus, as the wedding nears, Tracy finds herself torn between her fiancé, her ex-husband, and the reporter.
Add lecherous Uncle Willie and some witty one-liners to the mix and you have a comedy that was nominated for at least six academy awards.
Life Lessons
Facial expressions -- no one could do a look like Cary Grant – without uttering a word he could do an expression that “told you” exactly what he was thinking. He was also the master of the pause, before delivering the line which brings you into what he is saying, makes you want to know what is coming next – it’s brilliant.
Let’s talk a little more about facial expressions and mothers…
When it comes to governing a child’s behavior in a room full of relatives, mother’s have something that works better than a Star Trek phaser set on stun, it’s called “the look.” This isn’t a new phenomenon; mothers have being using “the look” to keep children under control at social functions for centuries. Case in point: You are at Great Aunt Bertha’s home for Christmas and she sets our her special oatmeal dish from the old country, that has taken this dear soul twelve hours slaving over a hot stove to make right next to your pride and joy.
Junior/Juniorette is just about to spill the beans that Aunt Bertha’s labor of love looks and smells like it’s been run through the horse once. As your child begins to open up their mouth to share this bit of information with Aunt Bertha and everyone else at the table, you arch one eyebrow, and then fix them with the look. If you are focused and quick enough, this deadly combination of eyebrow and look can paralyze every single muscle in their little bodies, rendering them incapable of making you look like the part of the horse that jumped over the fence last in front of all the relatives.
For those moms out there who aren’t really sure if you have “the look” or not, try this experiment the next time you sit down at the supper table with your family. Pick one of your children, it doesn’t matter if your child is six or sixty-six, just think of something naughty they’ve done in the recent past, and then look at them without saying a word. I guarantee you that as soon as they notice you are staring at them with “your look” they will start shifting in their seat and when the cannot stand your scrutiny a moment longer will cry out in desperation, “What?”
This technique works on “naughty” husbands (or wives) too. Test it out.
The Philadelphia Story Movie Cast
• Cary Grant as C. K. Dexter Haven
• Katharine Hepburn as Tracy Lord
• James Stewart as Macaulay Connor
• Ruth Hussey as Elizabeth Imbrie
• John Howard as George Kittredge
• Roland Young as William Q. Tracy (Uncle Willie)
• John Halliday as Seth Lord
• Mary Nash as Margaret Lord
• Virginia Weidler as Dinah Lord
• Henry Daniell as Sidney Kidd
• And others
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Field of Dreams
Field of Dreams has so many wonderful things going for it. It was filmed in Iowa (on a farm near Dyersville), it is based on an excellent book (I have read it) written by W. P. Kinsella called Shoeless Joe which varies slightly in translation from book to movie. It is mixture of humor and poignancy, and a story about relationships, religion, faith, baseball, and making your dreams come true
It also asks the question – “What is it about fathers and sons?”
Quotes
There are so many good quotes in this movie – I will only list a few.
Ray Kinsella: I'm 36 years old, I love my family, I love baseball and I'm about to become a farmer. But until I heard the voice, I'd never done a crazy thing in my whole life.
The Voice: If you build it, he will come.
Dr. Archibald "Moonlight" Graham: Well, you know I... I never got to bat in the major leagues. I would have liked to have had that chance. Just once. To stare down a big league pitcher. To stare him down, and just as he goes into his windup, wink. Make him think you know something he doesn't. That's what I wish for. Chance to squint at a sky so blue that it hurts your eyes just to look at it. To feel the tingling in your arm as you connect with the ball. To run the bases - stretch a double into a triple, and flop face-first into third, wrap your arms around the bag. That's my wish, Ray Kinsella. That's my wish. And is there enough magic out there in the moonlight to make this dream come true?
Ray Kinsella: Fifty years ago, for five minutes you came within... y-you came this close. It would KILL some men to get so close to their dream and not touch it. God, they'd consider it a tragedy.
Dr. Archibald "Moonlight" Graham: Son, if I'd only gotten to be a doctor for five minutes... now that would have been a tragedy.
John Kinsella: Is this heaven?
Ray Kinsella: It's Iowa.
John Kinsella: Iowa? I could have sworn this was heaven.
[John starts to walk away]
Ray Kinsella: Is there a heaven?
John Kinsella: Oh yeah. It's the place where dreams come true.
Ray Kinsella: Maybe this is heaven.
Plot Summary
Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) is a newbie farmer, who lives on a farm near Dyersville, Iowa with his wife, Annie (Amy Madigan) and their young daughter Karin (Gabby Hoffman)
.
While walking through his cornfield Ray hears a voice whisper, "If you build it, he will come" and sees a vision of a baseball field. Believing he is somehow being asked to build it, and fearing he is in danger of "turning into" his father who he felt lived a dull existence and never did a spontaneous thing in this life—Ray decides to listen to the voice and build it. Annie is supportive and so Ray plows under his corn (something a farmer would NEVER do) and builds the field.
Ray and Annie are eventually forced to consider replacing the field with corn to stay financially solvent. At this point Karin sees a man dressed in a vintage baseball uniform on the ballfield who Ray discovers is Shoeless Joe Jackson, a baseball player idolized by his father. Joe is thrilled to be able to play baseball again and asks to bring others with him to the field. He later returns with the seven other players banned in the 1919 Black Sox Scandal, emerging from the corn by the outfield.
Soon after, Ray is told by Annie’s brother Mark, who cannot see the players, that he will go bankrupt unless he replants the crop. Ray later hears the voice, which had been silent since Ray began building the baseball field, say "Ease his pain." After attending a PTA Meeting which involves a heated discussion over the books of 1960s author and activist Terence Mann (James Earl Jones) , Ray decides the voice is referring to Mann who has since become a recluse. Mann was quoted in an interview as saying that as a child he dreamed of playing with the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field but was never able to do so. Although reluctant to agree to another expensive flight of fancy, Annie agrees that Ray should seek out the author in Boston, after Annie and Ray share a dream of the two men watching a baseball game together.
Although Mann rebuffs Ray's initial approaches, Ray eventually persuades him to attend a baseball game at Fenway Park. Ray hears the voice again, which urges him to "go the distance." While looking at the scoreboard, he sees a statistic for a 1922 baseball player named Archibald "Moonlight" Graham (Young Archie: Frank Whaley - Old Archie: Burt Lancaster), who played one major league game for the New York Giants, but never was given a turn at bat.
Mann initially claims he does not see the special vision. However, as Ray prepares to leave Boston, Mann stops him. Mann did see the vision, and to his own surprise, wants to find out more about its significance. The two travel to Minnesota to find Graham. Eventually the trio of Kinsella, Mann, and Graham return to Dyersville and the Field of Dreams to complete the journey. This is my favorite baseball movie; I think it might become yours too.
Life Lessons
Relationships are suppose to be easy – I don’t know who said that, but who ever said that has probably never actually been in one because relationships are complex. They take situational deafness, understanding, compassion, forgiveness, “tending to,” and lots of love to keep them in good working order.
My husband and his dad have been farming together since my husband was old enough to run a tractor in second grade. Their working relationship (50 years) and a personal relationship (58 years) works like a well oiled machine.
Both have tempers and, while rare in their dealings with each other, those do flare every once in awhile, more in the younger than older Wildemuth, but no one leaves the others side until “the thing” has been worked through and worked out.
I collect quotes, I have a three ring binder full of them, one of these days I’m going write them all down on muslin and use it for a quilt backing.
This is one of my favorite concerning fathers and sons….
“Henry James once defined life as that predicament which precedes death, and certainly nobody owes you a debt of honor or gratitude for getting him into that predicament. But a child does owe his father a debt, if Dad, having gotten him into this pack of trouble, takes off his coat and buckles down to the job of showing his son how best to navigate through it.”
Field of Dreams asks the question, “What is it about fathers and sons?”
I think the key is respect and, young or young-at-heart, knowing when to step forward and to step back.
Field of Dreams Movie Cast
• Kevin Costner as Ray Kinsella
• Amy Madigan as Annie Kinsella
• Gaby Hoffmann as Karin Kinsella
• Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe Jackson
• Timothy Busfield as Mark
• James Earl Jones as Terrence Mann
• Frank Whaley as young Archie Graham
• Burt Lancaster as a senior Dr. Archibald “Moonlight” Graham
• Dwier Brown as John Kinsella
• And Others
It also asks the question – “What is it about fathers and sons?”
Quotes
There are so many good quotes in this movie – I will only list a few.
Ray Kinsella: I'm 36 years old, I love my family, I love baseball and I'm about to become a farmer. But until I heard the voice, I'd never done a crazy thing in my whole life.
The Voice: If you build it, he will come.
Dr. Archibald "Moonlight" Graham: Well, you know I... I never got to bat in the major leagues. I would have liked to have had that chance. Just once. To stare down a big league pitcher. To stare him down, and just as he goes into his windup, wink. Make him think you know something he doesn't. That's what I wish for. Chance to squint at a sky so blue that it hurts your eyes just to look at it. To feel the tingling in your arm as you connect with the ball. To run the bases - stretch a double into a triple, and flop face-first into third, wrap your arms around the bag. That's my wish, Ray Kinsella. That's my wish. And is there enough magic out there in the moonlight to make this dream come true?
Ray Kinsella: Fifty years ago, for five minutes you came within... y-you came this close. It would KILL some men to get so close to their dream and not touch it. God, they'd consider it a tragedy.
Dr. Archibald "Moonlight" Graham: Son, if I'd only gotten to be a doctor for five minutes... now that would have been a tragedy.
John Kinsella: Is this heaven?
Ray Kinsella: It's Iowa.
John Kinsella: Iowa? I could have sworn this was heaven.
[John starts to walk away]
Ray Kinsella: Is there a heaven?
John Kinsella: Oh yeah. It's the place where dreams come true.
Ray Kinsella: Maybe this is heaven.
Plot Summary
Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) is a newbie farmer, who lives on a farm near Dyersville, Iowa with his wife, Annie (Amy Madigan) and their young daughter Karin (Gabby Hoffman)
.
While walking through his cornfield Ray hears a voice whisper, "If you build it, he will come" and sees a vision of a baseball field. Believing he is somehow being asked to build it, and fearing he is in danger of "turning into" his father who he felt lived a dull existence and never did a spontaneous thing in this life—Ray decides to listen to the voice and build it. Annie is supportive and so Ray plows under his corn (something a farmer would NEVER do) and builds the field.
Ray and Annie are eventually forced to consider replacing the field with corn to stay financially solvent. At this point Karin sees a man dressed in a vintage baseball uniform on the ballfield who Ray discovers is Shoeless Joe Jackson, a baseball player idolized by his father. Joe is thrilled to be able to play baseball again and asks to bring others with him to the field. He later returns with the seven other players banned in the 1919 Black Sox Scandal, emerging from the corn by the outfield.
Soon after, Ray is told by Annie’s brother Mark, who cannot see the players, that he will go bankrupt unless he replants the crop. Ray later hears the voice, which had been silent since Ray began building the baseball field, say "Ease his pain." After attending a PTA Meeting which involves a heated discussion over the books of 1960s author and activist Terence Mann (James Earl Jones) , Ray decides the voice is referring to Mann who has since become a recluse. Mann was quoted in an interview as saying that as a child he dreamed of playing with the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field but was never able to do so. Although reluctant to agree to another expensive flight of fancy, Annie agrees that Ray should seek out the author in Boston, after Annie and Ray share a dream of the two men watching a baseball game together.
Although Mann rebuffs Ray's initial approaches, Ray eventually persuades him to attend a baseball game at Fenway Park. Ray hears the voice again, which urges him to "go the distance." While looking at the scoreboard, he sees a statistic for a 1922 baseball player named Archibald "Moonlight" Graham (Young Archie: Frank Whaley - Old Archie: Burt Lancaster), who played one major league game for the New York Giants, but never was given a turn at bat.
Mann initially claims he does not see the special vision. However, as Ray prepares to leave Boston, Mann stops him. Mann did see the vision, and to his own surprise, wants to find out more about its significance. The two travel to Minnesota to find Graham. Eventually the trio of Kinsella, Mann, and Graham return to Dyersville and the Field of Dreams to complete the journey. This is my favorite baseball movie; I think it might become yours too.
Life Lessons
Relationships are suppose to be easy – I don’t know who said that, but who ever said that has probably never actually been in one because relationships are complex. They take situational deafness, understanding, compassion, forgiveness, “tending to,” and lots of love to keep them in good working order.
My husband and his dad have been farming together since my husband was old enough to run a tractor in second grade. Their working relationship (50 years) and a personal relationship (58 years) works like a well oiled machine.
Both have tempers and, while rare in their dealings with each other, those do flare every once in awhile, more in the younger than older Wildemuth, but no one leaves the others side until “the thing” has been worked through and worked out.
I collect quotes, I have a three ring binder full of them, one of these days I’m going write them all down on muslin and use it for a quilt backing.
This is one of my favorite concerning fathers and sons….
“Henry James once defined life as that predicament which precedes death, and certainly nobody owes you a debt of honor or gratitude for getting him into that predicament. But a child does owe his father a debt, if Dad, having gotten him into this pack of trouble, takes off his coat and buckles down to the job of showing his son how best to navigate through it.”
Field of Dreams asks the question, “What is it about fathers and sons?”
I think the key is respect and, young or young-at-heart, knowing when to step forward and to step back.
Field of Dreams Movie Cast
• Kevin Costner as Ray Kinsella
• Amy Madigan as Annie Kinsella
• Gaby Hoffmann as Karin Kinsella
• Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe Jackson
• Timothy Busfield as Mark
• James Earl Jones as Terrence Mann
• Frank Whaley as young Archie Graham
• Burt Lancaster as a senior Dr. Archibald “Moonlight” Graham
• Dwier Brown as John Kinsella
• And Others
Friday, August 26, 2011
Hereafter
This is a first – I have never seen this movie – by this I mean it is not a remake or rehash of anything I have ever seen before and I’ve seen lots of movies from the 1930s to the present.
Clint Eastwood directed it, but it is not your mama and daddy’s Clint Eastwood fare – he took a risk with this one and “good for him for doing it.” The tsunami and the aftermath of the tidal wave – I know it was computer generated, but it is amazing and I’m still asking myself, “how did they do that?
This movie is about “life after death” and “life itself,” but it is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. It presents ideas to you, like the concept of near death experiences and mediums; that you might not want to believe or accept. It is okay - you don’t have to, just sit back, enjoy the story, and watch out for that tsunami.
Quotes
George Lonegan: Sometimes, I mean you know, knowing everything about someone, it seems nice, but really, maybe it's better to hold stuff back.
Plot Summary
Hereafter is drama centered on the lives of three people -- a working class American with a special gift (Matt Damon), a French journalist who encounters a Tsunami (Cecile de France) and a London school boy who is looking for answers (Frankie/George McLaren) – all of these characters are touched by death in different ways and looking for someone who will understand what they’ve been through.
Life Lessons
“Life lives, life dies. Life laughs, life cries. Life gives up and life tries. But life looks different through everyone's eyes.”
Each of us has a belief system – discovered through our own study or taught to us by those that were and are important to us. That is a good thing and it is important to respect each person’s belief system without prejudice as long as no one uses that belief system to persecute others as “they” did during the Salem Witch Trials and the Holocaust or to encourage isolation and blind allegiance as “they” did in Jonestown and Waco.
Watch this movie, if you’d like, through that set of lens.
Clint Eastwood directed it, but it is not your mama and daddy’s Clint Eastwood fare – he took a risk with this one and “good for him for doing it.” The tsunami and the aftermath of the tidal wave – I know it was computer generated, but it is amazing and I’m still asking myself, “how did they do that?
This movie is about “life after death” and “life itself,” but it is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. It presents ideas to you, like the concept of near death experiences and mediums; that you might not want to believe or accept. It is okay - you don’t have to, just sit back, enjoy the story, and watch out for that tsunami.
Quotes
George Lonegan: Sometimes, I mean you know, knowing everything about someone, it seems nice, but really, maybe it's better to hold stuff back.
Plot Summary
Hereafter is drama centered on the lives of three people -- a working class American with a special gift (Matt Damon), a French journalist who encounters a Tsunami (Cecile de France) and a London school boy who is looking for answers (Frankie/George McLaren) – all of these characters are touched by death in different ways and looking for someone who will understand what they’ve been through.
Life Lessons
“Life lives, life dies. Life laughs, life cries. Life gives up and life tries. But life looks different through everyone's eyes.”
Each of us has a belief system – discovered through our own study or taught to us by those that were and are important to us. That is a good thing and it is important to respect each person’s belief system without prejudice as long as no one uses that belief system to persecute others as “they” did during the Salem Witch Trials and the Holocaust or to encourage isolation and blind allegiance as “they” did in Jonestown and Waco.
Watch this movie, if you’d like, through that set of lens.
End of Story….almost….
Things you might or might not know about Clint Eastwood:
• Born in 1930 in California
• An American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician.
• Served in the military in the 1950s.
• Breakthrough role was Rowdy Yates in the TV Show Rawhide from 1959-1965.
• Since 1967, he has run his own production company, Malpaso, which has produced the vast majority of his films.
• Served as mayor of Carmel, California from 1986 to 1988.
• Loves jazz music and plays the piano.
• Contributed to over 50 films over his career as actor, director, producer, and composer.
• Won Oscars for best director, producer, and actor.
• And my most favorite fact of all….he is still working on projects like a bio of J. Edgar Hoover (I think this one is filming or has been filmed) and possibly a remake of A Star is Born with Beyonce (Not sure if this is fact or fiction, but there is buzz on the Internet about it).
One More Thing....
Also a word about Bryce Dallas Howard (she only appears briefly in this movie, but her scenes with Damon are memorable) and Emma Stone (she is not in this movie, but was in The Help with Howard) are two actresses to keep your eye on.
Hereafter Movie Cast
• Matt Damon as George Lonegan
• Cécile de France as Marie Lelay
• Frankie and George McLaren as Marcus and Jason, twin brothers.
• Lyndsey Marshal as Jackie, Marcus and Jason's mother
• Thierry Neuvic as Didier, Marie's lover
• Jay Mohr as Billy Lonegan
• Bryce Dallas Howard as Melanie
• Marthe Keller as a doctor and the director of a hospice in Switzerland
• Derek Jacobi as himself
• Niamh Cusack as foster mother of Marcus
• George Costigan as foster father of Marcus
• Richard Kind as Christos Andryo
• And Others
Monday, August 22, 2011
On Golden Pond
This is a beautiful movie because of the performances of all the actors involved in it. I love Katherine Hepburn, especially in this one – she (and Betty White) are who I want to emulate in the aging department.
The father and daughter “making peace” scene in this movie is moving – I cried the first time I saw it.
On Golden Pond is a study of aging, making peace with your past, and love – give this movie a chance, there are just so many things going on in it.
Did I mention it has a play-like feel to it? (It was one.)
Quotes
Billy Ray: So, I heard you turned 80 today.
Norman: Is that what you heard?
Billy Ray: Yeah. Man, that's really old.
Norman: You should meet my father.
Billy Ray: Your father's still alive?
Norman: No, but you should meet him.
Norman: You want to know why I came back so fast? I got to the end of our lane. I couldn't remember where the old town road was. I went a little ways in the woods. There was nothing familar. Not one damn tree. Scared me half to death. That's why I came running back here to you. So I could see your pretty face and I could feel safe and that I was still me.
Ethel: You're safe, you old poop and you're definitely still you picking on poor old Charlie. After lunch, after we've gobbled up all those silly strawberries we'll take ourselves to the old town road. We've been there a thousand times. A thousand. And you'll remember it all. Listen to me, mister. You're my knight in shining armour. Don't you forget it. You're gonna get back up on that horse and I'm gonna be right behind you holding on tight and away we're gonna go, go, go.
Norman: I don't like horses. You are a pretty old dame aren't you? What are you doing with a dotty old son of a bitch like me?
Ethel: Well, I haven't the vaguest idea.
Ethel: You know, Norman, you really are the sweetest man in the world, but I'm the only one who knows it.
Plot Summary
An aging retired teacher and his wife, Ethel (Katherine Hepburn) and Norman Thayer (Henry Fonda), spend summers at their cabin on a lake called Golden Pond. Their daughter Chelsea (Jane Fonda), who is somewhat estranged from her crusty father, comes for her father’s birthday party. Chelsea does not come alone. She introduces them to her new fiance, Bill (Dabney Coleman), and asks her parents to permit Bill's young son Billy (Doug McKeon) to stay with them while she and Bill have some time to themselves.
The boy is annoyed by being left with elderly strangers with no friends nearby and nothing to do. He resents Norman's sharp manner at first, but eventually comes to enjoy the older couple’s company, Golden Pond, diving lessons, going out on a boat, and he and Norman’s fishing adventures together. Chelsea returns, a little exasperated and envious of the fact that Norman has bonded with her soon-to-be stepson in a way he never quite did with her. With her mother’s support and encouragement, father and daughter make peace.
Life Lessons
There is a lot going on in this movie, but I think the most prevalent theme is about aging.
Everyone ages differently. Some of it you can choose and some of it you can’t, but you can always choose how you deal with it.
This movie presents us with two good examples of aging at the opposite ends of the spectrum in Norman and Ethel Thayer.
The Norman Thayer, Jr. character has many of the ailments common to people his age, including arthritis and palpitations, but his most pressing health issue is his slow mental decline. He knows he is not at the top of his game anymore so grumpiness and a sharp tongue is his cover. With the exception of his wife, he has decided to withdraw socially and keep people at bay with his “victim” attitude. His wife Ethel is one smart lady, she is refusing to let him become a recluse and a victim to the aging process, but it is a struggle – one she is more than up to handling.
The Ethel Thayer character is handling the aging process in an entirely different manner. She is loving, social, positive, energetic, and is always looking forward. She is a nurturer and the rock her family rotates around. She adores her husband and is compassionate towards his health issues and memory issues, but she challenges his negative behaviors and attitudes. She is refusing to allow him to fall into the role of victim or recluse. Unlike her husband, she is interested in maintaining relationships with her neighbors and family. She is good-natured and nonjudgmental and is approaching her “twilight” years as an adventure, not a death sentence.
A word about caregivers….of the Norman Thayers in this world.
It’s hard being made of Teflon and that is what you have to become when the time comes to take on the role of caregiver of the Normans of this world. Your loved one does not want to talk roughly to you, call you mean names they would never use if they were their pre-disease self, keep you awake at night, or insist that you be at their beck and call 24/7, but the disease ravaging their bodies does.
It’s hard for a caregiver to be clear-headed when you have so much on your plate, but think about this a moment, when you have a moment to do so, it is the disease living in their body that is doing the talking, not them. Pre-disease person would blush in shame asking of you what they have to ask of you now so they can have a quality of life, but their disease mixed with fear, anxiety, depression, denial or anger is steering their ship now as they are experiencing dis-ease.
Teflon, that is the ticket and a journal, keep a journal, even if you have to keep it under lock and key, pour it out in there so “all that stuff” has somewhere to go and does not build up to create dis-ease in you.
A word about guilt and letting go…..your health is just as important as the health of the person you are caregiving so it is all right to say, “I can’t do this anymore, I need help.” Lessening your role as caregiver and letting the professionals in the caregiving field step up to the plate and take some of this off your shoulders is an option that you should always keep open. You don’t have to be anyone’s superman, sometimes it’s okay to be Lois Lane or Jimmy.
On Golden Pond Movie Cast
• Katharine Hepburn as Ethel Thayer
• Henry Fonda as Norman Thayer Jr.
• Jane Fonda as Chelsea Thayer Wayne
• Doug McKeon as Billy Ray
• Dabney Coleman as Bill Ray
• And Others
The father and daughter “making peace” scene in this movie is moving – I cried the first time I saw it.
On Golden Pond is a study of aging, making peace with your past, and love – give this movie a chance, there are just so many things going on in it.
Did I mention it has a play-like feel to it? (It was one.)
Quotes
Billy Ray: So, I heard you turned 80 today.
Norman: Is that what you heard?
Billy Ray: Yeah. Man, that's really old.
Norman: You should meet my father.
Billy Ray: Your father's still alive?
Norman: No, but you should meet him.
Norman: You want to know why I came back so fast? I got to the end of our lane. I couldn't remember where the old town road was. I went a little ways in the woods. There was nothing familar. Not one damn tree. Scared me half to death. That's why I came running back here to you. So I could see your pretty face and I could feel safe and that I was still me.
Ethel: You're safe, you old poop and you're definitely still you picking on poor old Charlie. After lunch, after we've gobbled up all those silly strawberries we'll take ourselves to the old town road. We've been there a thousand times. A thousand. And you'll remember it all. Listen to me, mister. You're my knight in shining armour. Don't you forget it. You're gonna get back up on that horse and I'm gonna be right behind you holding on tight and away we're gonna go, go, go.
Norman: I don't like horses. You are a pretty old dame aren't you? What are you doing with a dotty old son of a bitch like me?
Ethel: Well, I haven't the vaguest idea.
Ethel: You know, Norman, you really are the sweetest man in the world, but I'm the only one who knows it.
Plot Summary
An aging retired teacher and his wife, Ethel (Katherine Hepburn) and Norman Thayer (Henry Fonda), spend summers at their cabin on a lake called Golden Pond. Their daughter Chelsea (Jane Fonda), who is somewhat estranged from her crusty father, comes for her father’s birthday party. Chelsea does not come alone. She introduces them to her new fiance, Bill (Dabney Coleman), and asks her parents to permit Bill's young son Billy (Doug McKeon) to stay with them while she and Bill have some time to themselves.
The boy is annoyed by being left with elderly strangers with no friends nearby and nothing to do. He resents Norman's sharp manner at first, but eventually comes to enjoy the older couple’s company, Golden Pond, diving lessons, going out on a boat, and he and Norman’s fishing adventures together. Chelsea returns, a little exasperated and envious of the fact that Norman has bonded with her soon-to-be stepson in a way he never quite did with her. With her mother’s support and encouragement, father and daughter make peace.
Life Lessons
There is a lot going on in this movie, but I think the most prevalent theme is about aging.
Everyone ages differently. Some of it you can choose and some of it you can’t, but you can always choose how you deal with it.
This movie presents us with two good examples of aging at the opposite ends of the spectrum in Norman and Ethel Thayer.
The Norman Thayer, Jr. character has many of the ailments common to people his age, including arthritis and palpitations, but his most pressing health issue is his slow mental decline. He knows he is not at the top of his game anymore so grumpiness and a sharp tongue is his cover. With the exception of his wife, he has decided to withdraw socially and keep people at bay with his “victim” attitude. His wife Ethel is one smart lady, she is refusing to let him become a recluse and a victim to the aging process, but it is a struggle – one she is more than up to handling.
The Ethel Thayer character is handling the aging process in an entirely different manner. She is loving, social, positive, energetic, and is always looking forward. She is a nurturer and the rock her family rotates around. She adores her husband and is compassionate towards his health issues and memory issues, but she challenges his negative behaviors and attitudes. She is refusing to allow him to fall into the role of victim or recluse. Unlike her husband, she is interested in maintaining relationships with her neighbors and family. She is good-natured and nonjudgmental and is approaching her “twilight” years as an adventure, not a death sentence.
A word about caregivers….of the Norman Thayers in this world.
It’s hard being made of Teflon and that is what you have to become when the time comes to take on the role of caregiver of the Normans of this world. Your loved one does not want to talk roughly to you, call you mean names they would never use if they were their pre-disease self, keep you awake at night, or insist that you be at their beck and call 24/7, but the disease ravaging their bodies does.
It’s hard for a caregiver to be clear-headed when you have so much on your plate, but think about this a moment, when you have a moment to do so, it is the disease living in their body that is doing the talking, not them. Pre-disease person would blush in shame asking of you what they have to ask of you now so they can have a quality of life, but their disease mixed with fear, anxiety, depression, denial or anger is steering their ship now as they are experiencing dis-ease.
Teflon, that is the ticket and a journal, keep a journal, even if you have to keep it under lock and key, pour it out in there so “all that stuff” has somewhere to go and does not build up to create dis-ease in you.
A word about guilt and letting go…..your health is just as important as the health of the person you are caregiving so it is all right to say, “I can’t do this anymore, I need help.” Lessening your role as caregiver and letting the professionals in the caregiving field step up to the plate and take some of this off your shoulders is an option that you should always keep open. You don’t have to be anyone’s superman, sometimes it’s okay to be Lois Lane or Jimmy.
On Golden Pond Movie Cast
• Katharine Hepburn as Ethel Thayer
• Henry Fonda as Norman Thayer Jr.
• Jane Fonda as Chelsea Thayer Wayne
• Doug McKeon as Billy Ray
• Dabney Coleman as Bill Ray
• And Others
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Water for Elephants
This is another of those books that I just couldn’t wait to see turned into a movie. It has many of the elements I like – it is character driven, a wonderful story, a little romance, a villain (yep that amazing actor who won the best supporting actor award for Inglorious Bastards) he is so good he makes you want to go “boo…hisssssss!,” and animals. This movie is not an exact clone of the book, but you will still enjoy Water for Elephants.
I liked it – a lot.
The other thing about his film I need to mention is the colors. If you searched Google Images (which I do to look for antique quilt images) and found examples of antique circus posters with bright reds, greens, and yellows toned down with what I would describe as an “ivory sheer” – you know, the same “sepia look” as a cream colored sheer covering your living room window, that is the visual look of this movie.
Ladies and Gentlemen….Water for Elephants
Quotes
Jacob: I don't know if I picked that circus. But something told me that circus picked me.
Plot Summary
'Water for Elephants is the story of Jacob Jankowski (Robert Pattinson), a veterinary student (and Polish American) in the 1930s who joins the circus after his parents' tragic deaths. There, he falls in love with Marlena Rosenbluth (Reese Witherspoon), the wife of the circus' owner August Rosenbluth (Christoph Waltz).
Life Lesson
One of the characters in this movie is Rosie the Elephant and no one saw her potential except Jacob Jankowski (Robert Pattinson) who figured her and her secret out. It is that way sometimes with animals (and people). You have to look beyond the surface and give them a chance, maybe even several chances because sometimes first impression aren’t always the best impressions. And you don’t want to miss out, do you?
I love animals and I have to admit dogs are my favorite – I could not imagine my life without one.
When I saw Red Dog (Nicky our beagle mix) for the first time at the shelter, she was skinny as a rail because her previous owners did not see her potential and had left her tied up on a chain without any food or water, her coat was so badly infected that they had to shave parts of it off, and she had just had surgery so she wasn’t feeling all that good, but she was the only dog in the Humane Society that day that sat at the opening to the kennel calmly wagging her tail patiently waiting for me to stop by her place and then when I kneeled down beside her and put my hand on the cage – she put her paw on my hand – I swear it and I was a goner I didn’t look at another dog in the place.
Red Dog Today
I liked it – a lot.
The other thing about his film I need to mention is the colors. If you searched Google Images (which I do to look for antique quilt images) and found examples of antique circus posters with bright reds, greens, and yellows toned down with what I would describe as an “ivory sheer” – you know, the same “sepia look” as a cream colored sheer covering your living room window, that is the visual look of this movie.
Ladies and Gentlemen….Water for Elephants
Quotes
Jacob: I don't know if I picked that circus. But something told me that circus picked me.
Plot Summary
'Water for Elephants is the story of Jacob Jankowski (Robert Pattinson), a veterinary student (and Polish American) in the 1930s who joins the circus after his parents' tragic deaths. There, he falls in love with Marlena Rosenbluth (Reese Witherspoon), the wife of the circus' owner August Rosenbluth (Christoph Waltz).
Life Lesson
One of the characters in this movie is Rosie the Elephant and no one saw her potential except Jacob Jankowski (Robert Pattinson) who figured her and her secret out. It is that way sometimes with animals (and people). You have to look beyond the surface and give them a chance, maybe even several chances because sometimes first impression aren’t always the best impressions. And you don’t want to miss out, do you?
I love animals and I have to admit dogs are my favorite – I could not imagine my life without one.
When I saw Red Dog (Nicky our beagle mix) for the first time at the shelter, she was skinny as a rail because her previous owners did not see her potential and had left her tied up on a chain without any food or water, her coat was so badly infected that they had to shave parts of it off, and she had just had surgery so she wasn’t feeling all that good, but she was the only dog in the Humane Society that day that sat at the opening to the kennel calmly wagging her tail patiently waiting for me to stop by her place and then when I kneeled down beside her and put my hand on the cage – she put her paw on my hand – I swear it and I was a goner I didn’t look at another dog in the place.
Red Dog the Day I Brought Her Home
I liked her calm energy and took her home. My family said “What is the matter with that dog? She looks sick and what’s with the hair missing from her coat, (visualize icky looks on male faces – if you can’t, think of someone’s expression when they say ew-w-w-w- and now you got the picture) it looks like she has the mange.”
Silly boys, they did not see her potential at first either, but time has passsed, she has changed their dubious first impression of her, and they have come to appreciate her for the good dog she is.
Red Dog Today
For a chicken chew or a dog biscuit, Red Dog will perform a variety of tricks: Bang Your Dead, Circle, Circle, Circle, Sit Pretty, Sit, Lay Down, High Five, Shake Hands, Sing a Song, Speak, and while not an official trick, she barks at the door when she wants to come in.
Red Dog doesn’t go near Route 6. She is smart enough to stay away from the highway we live on – which is kind of a first for us -- our other dogs, even our beloved Spud who was smarter then most and stood up, rump against our back door, to two coyotes near Brian’s old basketball hoop late one summer night, had a fascination with our highway which did not bode too well for Max and Spud’s futures.
I have something to share with you – it happened just last night and that is why I suppose I am writing about this today. Red Dog was laying down next to my husband last night and I asked her, “Do you want to go to Dairy Queen?” She loves to go to DQ because Keith gets her her own ice cream cone.
Mentioning going to Dairy Queen got Red Dog’s attention and she sat up and started pacing. Then I told her “If you want to go to Dairy Queen, lick Keith’s hand.” She walked over to Keith and licked his hand. Keith looked up at me surprised and I said “She’s a smart dog isn’t she?” He laughed and said she’d never do that again in a million years. So I said to her “If you want to go to Dairy Queen, lick my hand.” She walked over to me and licked my hand. Keith laughed again and we went to Dairy Queen.
True Story – honest.
Water for Elephants Movie Cast
• Reese Witherspoon as Marlena Rosenbluth
• Robert Pattinson as Jacob Jankowski
• Christoph Waltz as August Rosenbluth
• Tai as Rosie, the elephant
• James Frain as Rosie's caretaker
• Hal Holbrook as Older Jacob Jankowski
• Paul Schneider as Charlie O'Brien
• Ken Foree as Earl
• Tim Guinee as Diamond Joe
• Mark Povinelli as Kinko/Walter
• Scott MacDonald as Blackie
• Jim Norton as Camel
• Richard Brake as Grady
• And Others
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
The Help
It has been awhile since I have blogged – sorry about that. Life has been very full for a spell, but I am back and I will try to write a little more often.
The Help
After going to the theater to see the movie version of The Help, I got to thinking about the many themes running through this movie and what popped into my head first was a quote credited to author Amy Tan, something she shared with her fans long before Kathryn Stockett wrote this amazing book.
Amy Tan wrote this about power and fear, “You see what power is - holding someone else's fear in your hand and showing it to them.”
Something to think about…..while you’re watching this thought provoking movie.
Quotes
“You is kind. You is smart. You is important.”
(Aibileen to Mae Mobley)
“Ugly isn’t something on the outside, but something that grows up deep inside you.”
(Constantine to Skeeter)
“Am I going to believe all them bad things, them fools say about me today?”
(Constantine to Skeeter)
Plot Summary
It’s Mississippi in the early 1960s - back in the days when girls were encourage to go to college for the purpose of getting a husband, blacks and whites did not use the same water fountains, restrooms, or eat at the same soda fountain counter, and for years southern black maids had been devoting their working lives to caring for upper and middle class white children, raising them more than the actual mothers in some cases and loving them like their own - only to have them grow up to not want to use the same water fountains, restrooms or eat at the same soda fountain counter with them.
The exception to this stereotype was Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan recent graduate of Ole’ Miss who spent her time studying instead of “husband hunting” and graduated from college with the hopes and dreams of becoming a writer and making a difference.
Diploma in hand, Skeeter moves back home, but home, her friends, and Skeeter’s views on life have changed in the four years she was away. All her friends are married and having children and the woman who helped her mother raise her, the family’s African American maid Constantine was gone with no explanation. Skeeter starts asking questions, but the answers aren’t forthcoming.
Enter Aibileen Clark, a middle age African American maid, who has raised and loved a child of her own named Treelore and more than a dozen white children in the various households she has worked in over the years. Mae Mobley is the latest child in her care.
In the opening of the book we learn three things about Aibileen – her husband is no longer in the picture, she has lost her adult son, and, like Skeeter, her view of the world has changed since her son’s death – she too, is less accepting of the “old Jim Crow” way of doing things. But in the time period this book takes place in it was better for an African American to “hush and accept,” - to not do so could get your house burned down or speaking out, like Medger Evers and Martin Luther King, could cost you your life.
The Help is about education, mending fences, and friendship. Mostly it is about courage and doing what is right even when it would be easier not to.
Less you think this book is all drama and no comedy – there are more than a few scenes that will make you smile, and at least two that will give you a belly life – I promise.
Life Lessons
I don’t like bullies or people who use their power to push other people around. Some animals do this, they find “what they consider” a weak member of the group and they will try to cull them out to strengthen their pack and if that doesn’t work, they might even gang up and rip the weak one to pieces. I have seen women do this, occasionally in one to one interactions, but more often in group situations, it’s ugly, it’s ignorant, and I wish we, as a gender, would set a good example and stop participating in it. It takes courage, especially when all we want to do is fit in with the pack, Actually it takes lots of courage to stand up for what is right, it’s easier to “go along” and that’s what most people do.
There’s a book, a good read with lots of good advice in how to be a good human. People have been reading it for centuries and here is one of my favorite quotes from it
“Whatsoever you do to the least of my people, that you do unto me.” (Matthew 25: 40)
Those are more than just words written in a book we open up on Sunday – it is a way to conduct your life so you can look yourself in the mirror on the last day of your life and honestly say – I might not have been perfect, but I did the best I could.
The Help Movie Cast
• Emma Stone as Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan
• Bryce Dallas Howard as Hilly Holbrook
• Viola Davis as Aibileen Clark
• Octavia Spencer as Minny Jackson
• Mike Vogel as Johnny Foote
• Allison Janney as Charlotte Phelan
• Chris Lowell as Stuart Whitworth
• Jessica Chastain as Celia Foote
• Sissy Spacek as Mrs. Walters
• Ahna O'Reilly as Elizabeth Leefolt
• Brian Kerwin as Robert Phelan
• Leslie Jordan as Mr. Blackly
• Dana Ivey as Grace Higgenbottom
• Cicely Tyson as Constantine Bates
• Mary Steenburgen as Elain Stein
• Anna Camp as Jolene French
• David Oyelowo as Preacher Green
• Lila Rogers as Young Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan
• Emma Henry as Mae Mobley
• And Others
The Help
After going to the theater to see the movie version of The Help, I got to thinking about the many themes running through this movie and what popped into my head first was a quote credited to author Amy Tan, something she shared with her fans long before Kathryn Stockett wrote this amazing book.
Amy Tan wrote this about power and fear, “You see what power is - holding someone else's fear in your hand and showing it to them.”
Something to think about…..while you’re watching this thought provoking movie.
Quotes
“You is kind. You is smart. You is important.”
(Aibileen to Mae Mobley)
“Ugly isn’t something on the outside, but something that grows up deep inside you.”
(Constantine to Skeeter)
“Am I going to believe all them bad things, them fools say about me today?”
(Constantine to Skeeter)
Plot Summary
It’s Mississippi in the early 1960s - back in the days when girls were encourage to go to college for the purpose of getting a husband, blacks and whites did not use the same water fountains, restrooms, or eat at the same soda fountain counter, and for years southern black maids had been devoting their working lives to caring for upper and middle class white children, raising them more than the actual mothers in some cases and loving them like their own - only to have them grow up to not want to use the same water fountains, restrooms or eat at the same soda fountain counter with them.
The exception to this stereotype was Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan recent graduate of Ole’ Miss who spent her time studying instead of “husband hunting” and graduated from college with the hopes and dreams of becoming a writer and making a difference.
Diploma in hand, Skeeter moves back home, but home, her friends, and Skeeter’s views on life have changed in the four years she was away. All her friends are married and having children and the woman who helped her mother raise her, the family’s African American maid Constantine was gone with no explanation. Skeeter starts asking questions, but the answers aren’t forthcoming.
Enter Aibileen Clark, a middle age African American maid, who has raised and loved a child of her own named Treelore and more than a dozen white children in the various households she has worked in over the years. Mae Mobley is the latest child in her care.
In the opening of the book we learn three things about Aibileen – her husband is no longer in the picture, she has lost her adult son, and, like Skeeter, her view of the world has changed since her son’s death – she too, is less accepting of the “old Jim Crow” way of doing things. But in the time period this book takes place in it was better for an African American to “hush and accept,” - to not do so could get your house burned down or speaking out, like Medger Evers and Martin Luther King, could cost you your life.
The Help is about education, mending fences, and friendship. Mostly it is about courage and doing what is right even when it would be easier not to.
Less you think this book is all drama and no comedy – there are more than a few scenes that will make you smile, and at least two that will give you a belly life – I promise.
Life Lessons
I don’t like bullies or people who use their power to push other people around. Some animals do this, they find “what they consider” a weak member of the group and they will try to cull them out to strengthen their pack and if that doesn’t work, they might even gang up and rip the weak one to pieces. I have seen women do this, occasionally in one to one interactions, but more often in group situations, it’s ugly, it’s ignorant, and I wish we, as a gender, would set a good example and stop participating in it. It takes courage, especially when all we want to do is fit in with the pack, Actually it takes lots of courage to stand up for what is right, it’s easier to “go along” and that’s what most people do.
There’s a book, a good read with lots of good advice in how to be a good human. People have been reading it for centuries and here is one of my favorite quotes from it
“Whatsoever you do to the least of my people, that you do unto me.” (Matthew 25: 40)
Those are more than just words written in a book we open up on Sunday – it is a way to conduct your life so you can look yourself in the mirror on the last day of your life and honestly say – I might not have been perfect, but I did the best I could.
The Help Movie Cast
• Emma Stone as Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan
• Bryce Dallas Howard as Hilly Holbrook
• Viola Davis as Aibileen Clark
• Octavia Spencer as Minny Jackson
• Mike Vogel as Johnny Foote
• Allison Janney as Charlotte Phelan
• Chris Lowell as Stuart Whitworth
• Jessica Chastain as Celia Foote
• Sissy Spacek as Mrs. Walters
• Ahna O'Reilly as Elizabeth Leefolt
• Brian Kerwin as Robert Phelan
• Leslie Jordan as Mr. Blackly
• Dana Ivey as Grace Higgenbottom
• Cicely Tyson as Constantine Bates
• Mary Steenburgen as Elain Stein
• Anna Camp as Jolene French
• David Oyelowo as Preacher Green
• Lila Rogers as Young Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan
• Emma Henry as Mae Mobley
• And Others
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