We are having a Roy Scheider festival, having watched THE FRENCH CONNECTION and JAWS this week. Both were terrific. JAWS has defined summer since it debuted--for good and bad. Next up ALL THE JAZZ or THE SEvEN-UPS.
Very much enjoyed the movie PUZZLE, about a woman who finds herself when she discovers her facility for jigsaw puzzles. Beautifully acted.
Still reading EDUCATED, which is depressing and yet worth it. The best intentions of a crazy person can be the worst thing of all. She is far too easy on her father's culpability in a lot of bad incidents.
I have run out of steam with cooking so I am grateful for Trader Joe's frozen food section. There is only so much time in a day.
How about you?
12 comments:
I'm glad you're enjoying the film festival, Patti. And as for cooking? I always like Trader Joe's, too...
I like Roy Scheider very much, and would have given him an Oscar for ALL THAT JAZZ. I remember putting on THE LAST EMBRACE in the early '80s, when HBO was showing a lot of lesser known movies, not knowing anything about it. Scheider really draws you into this crazy tale, and I loved the scenes at Niagara Falls. I'd forgotten (if I ever knew) that it was directed by Jonathan Demme.
I loved the cooler, less humid weather we had the second half of the week, both here and in Washington. (We left a day early because Jackie got a bad head cold.) We went to the National Portrait Gallery so Jackie could see the Obama portraits, as well as the rest of the Presidents. We like Bethesda, where we stayed.
The other real highlights were two concerts, first being Michael McDonald on Tuesday at a new venue, the Rooftop at Pier 17, a wonderful spot just south of the Brooklyn Bridge. As long as it doesn't rain (it started after the concert, fortunately) it's great. The second was great, Jeff Lynne's ELO (all new people) at Madison Square Garden, his first tour in 35 or so years. We loved it.
I won't dwell on the negatives: Trump's incredible need to hold a grudge against John McCain even after his death, all the homeless who seem to be everywhere in D.C., seemingly in every doorway in some areas, and the return of the heat and humidity today.
We're enjoying MYSTERY ROAD on Netflix. Jackie likes ABSENTIA on Amazon, but it is the kind of show (or book) I dislike, and the fact that almost every man has Dylan McDermott Syndrome (three days stubble, constant whispering even when the woman he's talking to isn't whispering), plus some very, very stupid plotting convinced me to stop after two episodes. Stana Katic (from CASTLE) is an FBI agent missing and presumed dead after pursuit of a serial killer, who suddenly turns up alive after six years, with no memory of where she was or what happened. Her husband has remarried and her son doesn't know her, and the Boston cops (and even her boss) are acting like she's the criminal. Not recommended by me, but if you like that sort of thing, try it for yourself.
Cooking? Does making coffee in the morning count? I mean real coffee, the stuff that can open your eyes, not the instant @#$%. As far as any other cooking goes, the toaster is too complicated for me and I burn lemonade. But coffee? Coffee makes me happy.
The cat is a jerk -- knocking things off the table, throwing up in undisclosed places, head butting us when she wants something, and getting jealous when Kitty and I cuddle because she wants to cuddle instead. Despite all this, she's a sweet, soft, bundle of love who helps calm us and center us. Cats (and dogs) are amazing.
I read a couple of annotated books over the past two weeks: THE NEW ANNOTATED FRANKENSTEIN and THE ANNOTATED BIG SLEEP. It took several days to go through each but the effort was worth it. Fascinating tid-bits of background, history, and the writing process.
When nothing available on TV sparks your interest, we've learned to fall back on MIDSUMMER MURDERS. With 19 seasons available, rewatching an episode is like meeting up with an old friend. Both Inspector Barnabys are worth watching.
Family always makes me happy. The grandkids are all back in school. Both daughters are doing well. And I can stare at Kitty's smile forever -- which she says can be really creepy.
Shadenfreude. Poor Trump. Manafort and Cohen both guilty. Cohen, The Trump Company's business guy, and David Pecker, all turning on him. His illegitimate child with his housekeeper may soon be revealed. Mueller likely to have gotten his tax records. Courts ruling against him. The rumors about his wife's unhappiness. The media finally standing up to him. Part of his base eroding and his congressional support fracturing. The two earliest Congressional supporters of his campaign being accused of crimes. Mid term elections not looking good for his party. It's not been a good week for the president and I am delighted.
I hope you and Phil have a fantastic week.
My JAWS story. I remember it opened the last day of school in June of 1975. We must have heard about it in advance, because we went (with a friend) straight from school to see it that afternoon. What opened my eyes was when we walked out of the theater and saw this HUGE line stretched down the length of the mall waiting to get in. You knew it was going to be big.
I like Roy Scneider. He was very good in Sorcerer, Freidkin's remake of Wages of Fear that I like better than the original. Binge watched Ozark on Netflix. Loved it. Season 2 starts Friday. Loving Better Call Saul, also Sharp Objects. Patrica Clarkston is such a monster in it.
I didn't care much for Puzzle. Well acted but I didn't buy into the story.
Had a good week in books. Read the new David Joy, The Line That Holds Us. Reminds me a bit of David Woodrell. Also reread a couple early story collections by Ian R. MacLeod one of my favorite SF/F writers.
We have a plumber scheduled for a visit this afternoon. Our upstairs bathroom has a slow running sink. Time to get that fixed!
The weather in Western NY remains hot and humid. We're going to be flirting with 90 degrees today. Insufferable!
I'm reading a terrific book called TICKER by Mimi Swartz about the quest to create an artificial hear.
Diane is hosting her Book Club on Wednesday. I'll be playing Jeeves by brewing coffee and pouring wine.
George, we lucked out with weather ranging from 79 to 82 with low humidity - in Washington of all places - over the weekend! But now that we're home, they're predicting 90 today and 94 with a real feel of 105 both Tuesday and Wednesday. And Jackie picked up a cold in Washington that may be an upper respiratory infection now. I hate summer colds.
It seems like we always need a plumber somewhere but our dishwasher seems to have fixed itself.
Coming out of JAWS when it opened, I felt vaguely threatened by the cars in the parking lot. My only criticism is the ending seemed a bit rushed.
I think PUZZLE is definitely a female movie-it really struck home with me. Finding later in life that there is something you can do. And I loved the way there were no real villains. Just life.
Nice to see you R. T.
I love Kelly Macdonald's accent. We just saw her in the so so PBS movie THE CHILD IN TIME with Benedict Cumberbatch. The acting was good, the script not so much.
I'm very happy that we saw a Cooper's Hawk in the yard on Thursday, and briefly again this morning. Very rare sighting for us. What a beautiful, magnificent bird!
I only saw JAWS on TV, but loved it anyway. By then, of course, I'd heard all the hype and knew the story pretty well, but that didn't matter. I've long thought it very well cast.
I'm NOT happy that I will have to take my iMac in for repair this week, as the headphone jack has stopped working, something I've never seen or heard of happening before. I have to disconnect the entire system to take it out and haul it to Apple. It's big and heavy.
I AM happy about the weather cooling off, and we had a very light rain yesterday which, though not measurable, washed most of the smoke from the air, at least for a while, since fires are still burning.
Cooking? I love to cook. I made pot roast, mashed potatoes, broccoli-cheese casserole last night for dinner. It was delicious. Tonight will be leftovers, tomorrow will be a crock pot chicken dish with tomatoes and rice and mushrooms (which are added at the end). We'll have a green salad with it, and crusty French bread. Barbara makes the breakfast, I usually make the dinner, we're on our own for lunch. We do have frozen stuff once in a while, but mostly we cook from scratch.
I too gave upon ABSENTIA. Whisper talking is a current plague among actors who seem to think it ends urgency or weight to what they say. It does not.
I've been watching THE FIVE on Netflix and enjoying it.
Older son ran his first cross country meet of the year. He qualified for varsity after a qualifying race in practice. He and another runner were battling for the last spot on the varsity team. His teammate stopped short and vomited. Boy #1 finished and according to his coach then vomited several times. The practice was shortly after breakfast.
Boy #2 has been doing a lot of nothing over the past week. Good thing his soccer season starts tonight. He enjoys the sport but dislikes most practices and has not attended the sport camps or joined the club teams so I don't think he'll have the skill to keep going in a few years when he gets to high school.
The fact this blog is back going again which I take as a sign that Phil is doing well and things are a bit better.
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