What was great to see was his reaction to Vader cutting off Luke's hand - Smiley gasped and covered his mouth with both hands in stunned disbelief. :)
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Monday, December 10, 2012
The Empire Strikes Back
The three youngest kids and I sat down and watched "The Empire Strikes Back" this evening. Because the prequel story-lines are what are pushed on Smiley's generation, the "I am your father" line wasn't as impactful as I thought it would be; he was still visibly upset, but only because it was the first time he had concrete evidence that the hero he roots for in "Clone Wars" turns evil.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
I Think It Is, Come to Think of It
I know this is slightly insane, but I think the highlight of my life to date - yes, possibly THE highlight - might just be meeting Jimmy Page in 2000.
Saturday, December 8, 2012
A New WNBA Star In the Making!
Just after returning from a three day vacation with a friend at Christmas Mountain, LuLu played in her first basketball game for the Cudahy Girls Basketball Club. She did well - much better than I expected based on my own time in grade school basketball.
She led the team in rebounding and twice stole the ball, once running it all the way across the court to her own basket. There were better players on the court, but not by leaps and bounds, and none were nearly as beautiful.
Well done LuLu!
Friday, December 7, 2012
Thursday, December 6, 2012
The Anderson Tapes
Book #93 The Anderson Tapes is the Edgar award winning first novel by Lawrence Sanders circa 1970. It’s the story of a high stakes robbery told via the fictional transcripts of conversations recorded by surveillance equipment. It’s a fair tale told in a quick entertaining way, tho’ some of the slang and racial/sexual language is quite dated. I’m not sure I see this as Edgar worthy, even for the time, but I’d still grade it a B.
West to Cambodia by S.L.A. Marshall
Book #96: West to Cambodia by S.L.A. Marshall is a contemporary non-fiction retelling of US Army small unit action along the Cambodian border in late 1966. I consider myself a fan of Marshall’s narratives, but I think this one read a little choppy and heavy-handed; I’m hoping it is a fluke and that my prior opinions weren’t mistaken. Still, it’s an interesting read and he doesn’t spare the troops he interviewed from an honest assessment of their actions. Men leave equipment behind, miss from point blank range, engage in an hour long firefight with an enemy who wasn’t there, and in the last episode an American company walks headfirst into a bloody, catastrophic ambush. Grade: C+
Mad River by John Sandford
Book #95 of 2012:
Mad River is a Virgil Flowers novel by John Sandford. Three people go on a killing spree in a remote Minnesota county, leading to a manhunt that will last days and leave a trail of bodies behind.
I fully acknowledge Sandford as a genius of the mystery genre, and this one is a fine example of his craft. The portions of the narrative devoted to the killers’ flows like In Cold Blood mashed with Bonnie and Clyde, but without stumbling in blunt imitation, and I love how Sandford incorporates an affection for his home state into every facet of the book without turning it into a tourist guide put out by the local chamber of commerce.
Grade: A+
Three '70's Greats
If you know me, you've probably picked up on the fact that
I’m overly fond of the 1970’s, at least when it comes to movies, TV, and, to an
extent, music.
Let me state it clearly: I believe the 1970’s were the
single greatest decade for movie making to date. The ‘70’s produced Godfather I and II, Annie Hall, Taxi Driver, Rocky, Jaws, All the
President’s Men, Star Wars, Young Frankenstein, just to name a few. Even
the clunkers were epic; Attack of the
Killer Tomatoes and Rocky Horror Picture Show, for instance.
This past week I finally got a chance to watch three of the
undisputed best offerings of that golden decade.
Network is best
known for its “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!” scree,
which is certainly worth remembering.
Still, it’s a shame that memory of the film has been largely reduced to
one catchy line of dialogue. For those of you unfamiliar with Network, it’s the story of a television
news anchor that slips off the rails and speaks his mind on the air, and the
ensuing ratings boost inspires the network to make the newscast more of a
circus than an informational broadcast.
It was intended as broad satire, an exaggerated swipe at the
business of television. Flash forward nearly 40 years and much of that satire
is unrecognizable. Oh, sure, we don’t have psychics on our nightly news (yet),
but much of the ‘insanity’ of the network decisions is just par for the course
in this day and age. It reads much ‘straighter’ now than it ever did when it
was released.
It is a finely written film with inspired performances by
the entire cast; my one complaint would be that each character seems
contractually obligated to launch into at least one long, preachy monologue
during each act.
Grade A+
Next up was Marathon
Man, the Lawrence Oliver/Dustin Hoffmann thriller best known for the
torture scene in Oliver’s dentist’s chair. I thought it was a good thriller,
though I remain a little confused as to the relationship between the American
agents and Oliver’s Nazi character. Additionally the final scenes in the water
treatment plant seemed flat, and I’ve heard a rumor that the author of the
source material was annoyed with it too.
A great movie? Eh. A very good movie? Yes. More proof screenwriter William Goldman is a Hollywood genius? Darn skippy.
Grade: B+
I have seen and read more about Dog Day Afternoon than just about any film out there (it even
popped up in a novel I just read) and so I was eager to see this Pacino
classic. The verdict? Wow. As good as advertised.
Pacino is perfect as the quirky, slightly effeminate Sonny,
while John Cazale’s otherwise minuscule part resonates with hopelessness and an
undercurrent of violence. Were there flaws? Precious few. The police response
to the bank robbery seems ham-fisted and overblown to my eyes, , but I’ll chalk
that up to a different time and place.
The grade for this film is a no-brainer from me: A+
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
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