Author: Roger

I'm a librarian. I hear music, even when it's not being played. I used to work at a comic book store, and it still informs my life. I won once on JEOPARDY! - ditto.

MOVIE REVIEW: Hugo

Once all the parts are finally in place, it becomes not just a fabulous adventure, but a wonderful piece of history of movies.

I went to the Madison Theatre in Albany Saturday. While it was not on the newspaper listings, my wife told me that Moneyball was back at the cinema according to the theater’s website. Having disappointingly missed it before, I thought I’d finally go see it. Alas, it was not there. But I’d heard some decent stuff about Hugo, so I opted for that.

Ostensibly, Hugo is about a 12-year-old orphan (Asa Butterfield) who lives in the walls of a Paris train station in 1930, taking care of the clocks there in lieu of his MIA uncle (Ray Winstone), while trying to stay out of the way of the station inspector (a surprisingly effective Sacha Baron Cohen). His single link to his late father (Jude Law) is a mysterious mechanical device that the boy tries to get to work, stealing parts from a grumpy old man who sells tinker toys (Ben Kingsley). From all of that, the plot, also involving the old man’s goddaughter (Chloë Grace Moretz), departs.

Much of this I knew. And to tell the truth, it was a little too long getting through the early exposition; maybe a lot too long, and I struggled to see the point of it all. But once all the parts are finally in place, it becomes not just a fabulous adventure, but a wonderful piece of history of the movies. I read one suggestion that it was not marketed that well, and I can’t disagree, but I don’t quite know how to describe it myself without giving away key plot elements that ought to be experienced first hand. I will reveal that there are lots of “tips of the hat” to other filmmakers, such as Harold Lloyd (see the poster).

I think people will watch it on video, see that it is visually stunning, but will be bored and not bother to finish it; that would be a mistake. It turns out to be a lovely and moving essay on loss and discovery, and of film itself.

I should note that I saw the 3D version, and while I generally hate 3D – it reminds me of the Viewfinder I used to play with as a kid – it was well utilized by director Martin Scorcese, making his first family-friendly film, one his tween daughter can see, in lieu of Goodfellas, for instance.

Why do you root for the team you root for?

Pittsburgh Steelers of the 1970s had two players who share a birthday with me.

When watching/following sports, what motivates your rooting interest? Perhaps your college alma mater has a team you support, which is understandable. What else factors in? Is it part geography?

The National Football League playoffs start today, and this is the order of my rooting interest this postseason. This is totally different from my prediction for the Super Bowl (New Orleans over Baltimore.)

My affection for the New York Giants (NFC) started in the 1960s. They were the team that showed up on my CBS affiliate most often, and I can still name some of them by heart (Sam Huff, Y.A. Tittle, Jim Katcavage, Dick Lynch, Andy Robustelli, Dick Modzelewski). Moreover, they used to play a preseason game at Cornell in Ithaca, not that far from Binghamton, NY; my father and I went there for a few years in a row.

The Pittsburgh Steelers (AFC) of the 1970s had two players who share a birthday with me, Lynn Swann and Franco Harris. Decades later, that fact and the blue-collar notion of Steelers appeals to me.

The Detroit Lions (NFC) has been very terrible for so long but ended a lengthy playoff drought this year.

I’ve been to New Orleans (NFC) and liked it, feel bad about Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and was happy the Saints won the Super Bowl a couple of years ago.

I developed an affection for San Francisco (NFC) back in the day that Willie Mays played baseball there. Somehow, that’s gotten transferred to the 49ers.

The Green Bay Packers (NFC) are also blue-collar, and small-town to boot. And have Green in the name. But they won last year.

Houston Texans (AFC) are an expansion team (2002) in its first playoff game. Gotta love that, even if they are from Texas.

I know almost nothing about the Atlanta Falcons (NFC).

The Cincinnati Bengals (AFC) had been a thug team, with a number of players ending up in the courts. The particular players are probably gone, but my negative feeling remains.

The historically best defensive player on the Baltimore Ravens (AFC) is a felon and is STILL on the team.

I must admit that I’ve experienced a personal Tim Tebow backlash, the new Denver Broncos (AFC) quarterback whose unorthodox play led to a personal 7-1 record this season before dropping the last three games.

Irrational dislike of the New England Patriots (AFC).

Till I Waltz Again With You is not a waltz

Rather than a waltz, it is a slow AABA shuffle.

Went to the doctor’s on Wednesday to deal with this chronic head cold/sore throat thing which is now a chest cold. She sent me to a place to get a chest X-ray to determine whether I have bronchitis or pneumonia; as it turns out, I have neither. So I’ve been home for a couple of days, taking an antibiotic, using an inhaler, and consuming some cough medicine which is a “controlled substance.” Did you know a physician in New York state can electronically submit most prescriptions, but that “controlled substance” Rx has to be hand-delivered?

This means I have some time to read blogs, but absolutely no energy to write anything.

Fortunately, Arthur came up with a birth meme:

1) Find the #1 single the week you were born.
2) Find it on YouTube.
3) Post without shame.

“If you want to do the meme, my suggestion is to Google ‘number one pop songs month year’, changing the month and year to when you were born; that’s easier than searching for the specific week because pop charts may end on different dates.”

Well, the winner for my week was Teresa Brewer’s Till I Waltz Again With You, which, as Wikipedia notes, “Rather than a waltz, it is a slow AABA shuffle.” It was actually #1 for five weeks, preceded by Don’t Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes by Perry Como and succeeded by The Doggie in the Window by Patti Page.

Here is the song, and here is her 1962 rerecording.

DISCOVER card rediscovered me

I felt – dare I say it? – VALUED by a credit card company.

Late last year, I got a call from the DISCOVER card people. I was asked if I wanted to get a 25th-anniversary card. OK, sure, whatever, and didn’t think about it.

Then a few days later, the special monogrammed card arrived and I had to call the toll-free number to get it authorized. Instead of the automated service, though, I was transferred to a customer service rep, who thanked me for having a DISCOVER card for a quarter-century. She noted that, in the early days, not a lot of businesses were accepting the card, so lots of people weren’t carrying it. I noted that Sears, where I did a lot of my shopping in the day, was one of them, which was a prime motivation. We had a nice 10-15 minute chat.

I mean, I know she was working off a script, but it was a really good script, and she used it quite well. She signed me up for whatever cashback plan I was eligible for that quarter, which quickly paid off when I shopped online for Christmas.

I felt – dare I say it? – VALUED by a credit card company. Given the number of cards I’ve had and canceled in the interim, because of the ridiculous interest and/or fees, I’m surprised that I’ve had ANY card that long. I guess they didn’t do anything to tick me off. And I guess, in my own ungenerous way, that’s high praise.

The Year, Sort Of, In Review

Incidentally, the name of the charts of music generally associated with African-Americans has changed several times, from rhythm & blues (or R&B) to soul to black, back to R&B to R&B/hip-hop.

 

For the past several years, I have gone to the random number generator and taken a random line from a random post each month. It is not exactly representative of the year, but it does hit on some significant points.

January: I mean, I look at the synopses [of Night Gallery] and say, “Oh, yeah, right.” [Answering Gordon’s question]
February: The week before my mother died, I had nothing on any credit cards, save for any recurring expenditures, such as the newspaper. [That soon changed.]
March: Someone told me a long time ago that the number of keys one has related to how important they were. [ABC Wednesday]
April: This specific song [Help] my daughter knows all the lyrics to, without either encouragement or prompting from me. [My Beatles countdown]
May: I specifically remember him [my friend Steve] going on and on about this great singer/guitarist named Bonnie Raitt, who I had never heard of, but who he had seen perform in the area; her debut album would come out later that year. [This was my first 40 years ago entry]
June: Somehow, it seems as though he [my father] became a bit more real to her [my daughter]. [My Father’s Day post]
July: Maverick was on either Saturday or Sunday afternoon. [100 TV memories]
August: Incidentally, the name of the charts of music generally associated with African-Americans has changed several times, from rhythm & blues (or R&B) to soul to black, back to R&B to R&B/hip-hop.
September: It’s not a belief system; it’s not an “either, or,” it’s a fact, Jack. [Part of Amy’s question to me re: global warming.]
October: He [Glen Campbell] shared the fact that the favorite of his songs was Wichita Lineman, as he noted his favorite lyrics.
November: Media being as diffused as it is, a Real Housewife of Schenectady might be well known in certain circles but totally invisible by lots of others. [Re: the late Andy Rooney]
December: One [boycotted product] was for a drink mix from Pillsbury called Funny Face, targeted to compete with Kool Aid. [My more-or-less weekly question]

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