Uncategorized Archives - Page 211 of 1327

Movie review: Oppenheimer

Barbenheimer

The movie Oppenheimer is worth seeing, preferably at a movie theater. Though not at the showing I attended.

J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy, who was tremendous) was a brilliant scientist who helped develop nuclear science. He also had complicated relationships with women (Emily Blunt as wife Kitty, Florence Pugh as Kitty). And what are his ties to communism?

Very little in this story, except parts of the filming, is black and white. Was the development of the bombs that would be dropped on Japan a good military strategy or an immoral unleashing of power?

Director/co-writer Christopher Nolan has painted a non-linear painting, not just of the main character, but of important partners in the process. Major General Leslie Groves (Matt Damon) has conversations with Oppenheimer, which allow the viewer to better understand the work without slowing down the narrative.

Robert Downey Jr was stellar as the Machiavellian bureaucrat Lewis Strauss. Strauss exposed Oppenheimer’s ties to communism, not for the good of the country but for the good of himself.

It is terrific storytelling. Still, the scene of the first test of the device – using real explosives rather than CGI – is practically worth the price of admission. The only flaw I saw was that there were occasionally some 50-star flags when there were only 48 states.

Read the New York Times’ very positive assessment. The negative reviews suggest that the film, at three hours was too long – surprisingly, I beg to differ. It was also painted as too talky, sluggish, and remote, which I didn’t experience. Or the whataboutism that it didn’t show X or Y (the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima or its aftermath, e.g.), which would be a different movie.

The future of cinema

My disappointment was not with the film but the Madison Theatre in Albany the Thursday after it opened. During a scene between Oppy and President Truman, the screen went dark. The sound continued, but it took about seven minutes after two patrons went out to complain. Then it happened AGAIN about 15 minutes later for another three minutes.

That said, I worry about the future of cinema. Sure, Oppenheimer’s opening weekend gleaned $80.5 million, an excellent total for an R-rated, 180-minute film. It came in second to that OTHER Barbenheimer flick.

But several films in 2023 have been described as having box office that was “below expectations, notably the new Indiana Jones and Elemental. During COVID, even I watched movies via streaming. But I need to see the film in person, partly hoping there will be cinemas to support. The number of theaters has dropped since 2019.

Diana Krall: The Pines, 8/8/2023

Northampton, MA

My wife is a huge Diana Krall fan. She has over a dozen albums, mostly ones I bought for her. She’s one of my wife’s “K girls,” along with Alison Krauss.

The first time I saw her perform was as the opening act for Tony Bennett on September 5, 1998. She sang, then he sang, and then they performed together. It was a great show.

My wife saw her at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall. The only show I could find in that time frame was April 28, 2000, which my wife doubts because she was a poor graduate student.

Regardless. I got in my Diana Krall News feed on February 7 that she would be touring 19 shows between July 2 and August 12. On August 8, she’d be at The Pines Theater in Look Park near Northampton, MA. I bought two tickets on Valentine’s Day in Section 2, Row B, Seats 201 and 202.

The day of the show it looked nice initially. By noon, I got caught in a downpour while going to the Albany Public Library. We left for Massachusetts, where we’d hit dry spots followed by deluges. But the forecast was that it’d stop raining by 6 pm.

This was good because The Pines is an outdoor venue, something I didn’t realize when I bought the tickets but learned subsequently. You know how some people say the weather forecasters are “never” right? This prediction was dead on.

The sky cleared as we parked – $15 for this “special event.” Staff people were drying the seats with towels. This was a great location. I took this with my phone from my seat before they told us we couldn’t.

The show

The show was scheduled to start at 7 pm, but it was about 7:15 when Diana Krall, the drummer, bass player., and guitarist, hit the stage.

The band was excellent, but the piano player was not. She’d sing a little, playing some perfunctory chords, and let them solo. You know a show is unbalanced when two drum solos are in the first half hour.

At some point, she clicked for a time. Her playing and singing of Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen’s songs was solid. Then, after an hour, the show was over?

They did return for a half-hour encore. She played better. She was clearly touched when someone called out Tony Bennett’s name. But she couldn’t remember the words to the standards she’d sung for years.

At this site, I found this comment about the show we attended:

“I can’t express how excited I was to see her. She came out on stage late. She was either high, drunk, or on heavy meds. She could barely formulate a sentence. She stumbled a few times, trying to remember where she was. She would play and sing a little, then kept introducing the band members and letting them play solo. For the first 20min of the show, it seemed like her bassist was trying to keep her focused. At one point, she started jamming out, and I saw the bassist reach for his strings a few times to try to figure out what song she was playing. I’m going to keep listening to her old stuff. So very disappointed…”

The upside

Joshua wasn’t wrong. But someone could have an off night. What was more problematic was that I could find several reviews like this over the past couple of years, with one- or two-star (out of five) ratings. They ask: is she bored? Sick? On meds? The shows often started late, and the band did much of the heavy lifting.

My wife was more generous. Because of our proximity, she thought we were conversing in her living room. I suppose that’s true. I was looking for more, but it was still a nice date night at a lovely venue in the woods.

August rambling: unchallenged

new Red Cross guidelines

Voters in Ohio reject GOP-backed proposal that would have made it tougher to protect abortion rights. Poor Mike Huckabee complains that “the secular progressive left.. got one step closer to bypassing the legislative process and overturning pro-life, pro-family, and pro-God policies passed by duly elected representatives of the people.”

The Evidence Against djt is Unchallenged. Here are the latest indictments (well latest before Georgia…)

The Heritage Foundation’s scary Mandate for Leadership 2025 will likely be a handbook for the next Republican administration.

Barbados, American Slavery, and Racism

How a Grad Student Uncovered the Largest Known Slave Auction in the U.S

The Black History of the Montgomery Brawl Folding Chair

Fishing While Black

White Mom Accused of Trafficking Biracial Daughter Sues Southwest: Based on a ‘Racist Assumption’

Global child sexual abuse probe that was launched after two FBI agents were killed led to almost 100 arrests

A Hollywood Insurrectionist’s Path to Extremism

A Pathogen Too Far: How the 1918 Pandemic Revolutionized Virology

On August 7, 2023, the American Red Cross implemented the FDA’s updated final guidance regarding an individual donor assessment for all blood donors regardless of gender or sexual orientation. This change eliminated previous FDA eligibility criteria based on sexual orientation. Here’s a Blood Donation Map.

New Buffalo Bills stadium cost overruns approaching $300M, AP sources say

The Biggest Weirdest Telescope We’ve Ever Built – Hank Green

I Would Rather See My Books Get Pirated Than This (Or: Why Goodreads and Amazon Are Becoming Dumpster Fires)

There Will Never Be Another Second Life

Library staff closes the book on the missing money mystery after a patron leaves $1,200 in a novel she returned.

William Friedkin, Acclaimed Director of ‘The French Connection’ and ‘The Exorcist,’ Dies at 87. I’m pretty sure I saw The French Connection in Poughkeepsie.

Arthur Schmidt Oscar-Winning Film Editor on ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ and ‘Forrest Gump,’ [and a bunch of other noted films], Dies at 86

Paul Reubens, Comic Behind the Madcap Pee-wee Herman, Dies at 70

Robbie Robertson, 80, Dies; Canadian Songwriter Captured American Spirit

Rodriguez, Musician, and Subject of ‘Searching for Sugar Man,’ Dies at 81

A review of emo songs

Now I Know: The Woman Who Found Herself and An Odd Way to Celebrate Valentine’s Day and Christmas in August, Wisconsin Edition and How Atomic Bombs Blew Up the Counterfeit Art World and How Photography Stopped Disney’s Rollercoaster In Its Tracks and The Triple-X Law Firm

The blog was down

My blog was down for a couple of hours on the evening of August 3. I have this program called Jetpack that lets me know. This wasn’t very pleasant, but whatever. What made me someone crazy is that it went down at least four more times in the next three hours, anywhere between three and twenty minutes.

Then it was down for seven hours on the morning of August 12. Though I have the info backed up, it made me cranky. Should I be looking at other companies, and if so, which ones?

MUSIC

Somewhere Down The Crazy River – Robbie Robertson

The Weight – Featuring Ringo Starr and Robbie Robertson | Playing For Change

Gambia – Sona Jobarteh

Rock N Roll Heart – Lucinda Williams

In Your Love – Tyler Childers

Coverville 1452: Cover Stories for Robert Cray, Rush and A Flock of Seagulls and 1453: The Gamble & Huff Cover Story

Overture to a suite of incidental music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Mendelssohn

The Wizard and I – Ariana DeBose

Overture to The Magic Flute by Mozart

She Loves You – MonaLisa Twins

Movie review: The Miracle Club

Lourdes

One Saturday afternoon in late July, when my wife was working, I saw The Miracle Club at the Spectrum Theatre in Albany. Frankly, I went because of the star power.

The IMDb description: “There’s just one dream for the women of Ballygar to taste freedom: to win a pilgrimage to the sacred French town of Lourdes” in 1967.

Eileen (Kathy Bates), Lily (Maggie Smith), and Dolly (Agnes O’Casey) are participating together in a competition to vie for the vaunted trip. Chrissie (Laura Linney) arrives in town, missing her mother’s funeral.

Eileen and Lily’s animus towards Chrissie goes WAY back, though the much younger Dolly gets along fine with her. Ultimately, with some manipulation of the local priest Dermot Byrne (Mark O’Halloran), all four end up on the sojourn.

Will a miracle happen? Well, maybe. It depends on how one defines that.

I liked how the writers and director allowed the onion to be peeled away, revealing the troubles that propagated the four-decades-long anger and pain.

Worthwhile

It seemed to work at being heartwarming, and much of the time, it succeeded. Yet, even some positive reviewers rightly suggested it was slight and/or saccharine. I wanted more of the backstory of these women. I felt the movie told rather than showed.

Also, here’s a bit that worked less well for me. Most of the fellows left behind by their wives were hapless and helpless, which may have been true of men left to do domestic chores in the period. It was played for laughs. Meh.

Still, The Miracle Club I found was comfort food. It was worth my while for the actors and also for the resolution. It does fall in that rare film category for me that, despite the lovely scenery, it’d probably be fine to see on the small screen.

So it is ironic that the movie will be re-released in theaters on Friday, August 18. It’s because of the writers’ and actors’ strikes slowing down the film pipeline, plus Barbenheimer sucking a lot of oxygen from other releases.

Sunday Stealing: if I won a billion dollars

Time

The Sunday Stealing from WTIT starts with What if I won a billion dollars? A million does not go as far as it used to.

1. Things I would do first if I won a billion-dollar lottery

I have thought about this far more than the topic warrants. In some states in the US, winners can remain anonymous. But the winners have to reveal themselves in others, such as New York. UNLESS they set up a Limited Liability Corporation and the LLC turns in the ticket. Well, I would do that. I’d pay off some family mortgages and donate a fistful to an organization paying down people’s medical debts. Then I’d donate money to various charities involved with libraries, arts, music, immigration, justice, and literacy, but also to some individuals.

Listen to If I Had A Million Dollars – Barenaked Ladies

2. Something I probably spend too much money on

With the caveat that there’s never too much: books and music.

3. How I feel about the dentist

My primary dentist, who I liked, retired. I’ve had a series of dentists at the practice and have no feel for their personae.

Picky eater

4. Foods I am most picky about

I don’t like cucumbers or most canned vegetables. What did George H W Bush say about broccoli? “I do not like broccoli. And I haven’t liked it since I was a little kid. And my mother made me eat it. Now I’m president of the United States. And I’m not gonna eat any more broccoli!” I’m not President, but I still don’t eat cukes; I usually give them to my wife when they are in my salad.

5. Internet friends/penpals I want to visit in person

I’d probably go to the farthest points first. That’d be Arthur in New Zealand, Leslie in British Columbia, Canada, and Mrs. Nesbitt in England.

6. My healthiest habits

I’m on Noom, so I weigh myself daily and track my food consumption.

7. Easiest, low-effort foods and snacks for busy days

I like hard-boiled eggs, grapes, and Mac apples.

8. Where do I go in summer to unwind

I’m not sure that’s a thing for me, a particular place. I don’t go to the mountains and definitely NOT to the beach. I like to go to the movies in the summer because it’s air-conditioned. Ultimately, the things that relax involve going to an event (Old Songs festival, county fair) in which time is not an issue.

9. My comfort books, tv shows, and movies

I tend not to revisit books or movies. And there are so many TV shows I’ve never seen that watching old ones doesn’t often make it into my schedule.

These are a few of my favorite things.

10. A list of good things

Old friends, music, a massage, free time.

11. Favorite places to take photos

I don’t tend to take many pictures anymore, except when I went to France in May 2023. I used to take LOTS of pictures last century. Also, I took them when my daughter was younger.

12. The routines and habits I stick to most

If I am home, I eat oatmeal with fresh fruit for breakfast. I play Wordle early in the day, sometimes just after midnight. First thing in the morning, I post my blog on Facebook.

13. Topics I’d love to learn more about

Too many things and too little time. That said my Irish and Nigerian heritage.

14. This time last year …

My wife and I were seeing plays at Mac-Hadyn Theatre in Chatham, NY, and getting our daughter ready to go to her first year of college, which would be interrupted by her, and eventually, her parents, coming down with COVID.

15. Favorite memories of someone I’ve lost

I suppose it’s an odd recollection, but it recently came to mind. In the early 1980s, I was in Washington Park with Gladys. We sat on a park bench when a squirrel ran over her foot. She was wearing boots, but she HATED that bushy-tailed critter; she had a very low tolerance for the order Rodentia. Not incidentally, her funeral is Saturday, August 19, at 10:30 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church in Albany, NY.