Pirates of the Caribbean - On Stranger Tides

Alice said I need to be positive about this movie that we saw on Sunday, May 22.  To do that I needed a couple of days of reflection.  Alice liked the movie.  So did Daniel.  I think that the movie was probably OK but I had trouble understanding the dialogue.  Like a lot of movies, everything (and especially the dialogue) just went so fast that I had trouble keeping up.  The point of the movie is that Jack Sparrow joins with his "buddy" (Barbossa) and an old girlfriend who happens to be the daughter of Blackbeard in searching for the Fountain of Youth.  The King is in on the intrigue in getting people in on the search and everyone races to the fountain while stopping for a major plot line of getting a tear from a mermaid that must be mixed with the fountain water for the water to "work."  When the protagonists get there they are stifled in their quest by a methodical group of Spanish soldiers (I think they were Spanish) who proceed to destroy the fountain.  Before the final destruction Jack "saves" his girlfriend while tricking Blackbeard.  And at the end the "buddies" sail off into the sunset for a proposed sequel.  Oh, there was a subplot of a sincere Christian who opposes the capture of the mermaid and ends up being "saved" by her.  He was a very positive character and rescues the movie from meaningless oblivion.  Daniel says that this was his favorite character.

Airplane, the Movie!

How about a mini-review of the 1980 movie, Airplane (The Movie)?  We rented two movies and when one didn't work properly the video store gave us a free one so we ended up watching three movies for $1.90.  Wow!  Big spenders!  I decided to get "Airplane" because I wanted some laughs.

I love this movie and love Striker's ridiculous stories (people are bored to tears and to suicide when they listen to details about his life) and Elaine's commentary on their relationship is laced with wry humor.  Highlights include the poor girl on intravenous medicine almost dying from a misplaced folk song, sweet Barbara Billingsley interpreting jive, the "Staying Alive" fight with the girl scouts and the swarthy sailor dancing, Leslie Nielsen's doctor character saying, "And don't call me Shirley," Robert Stack's double sunglasses bit, Lloyd Bridges' character McCroskey giving up more and more things, the endless cameos and bit parts and the unmentionable antics of Otto.  And, just maybe, it is ultimately a "buddy" movie between Striker (Robert Hays) and Elaine (Julie Hagerty) and that's what makes it good!

I'm not sure that you can get tired of this or of watching snippets of this tour de force.  Rent it once in a while or don't miss it on endless reruns.

The Bucket List

We had been wanting to see this 2008 movie for a long time since we missed it when it came out.  One of Alice's pen friends suggested we watch it so we rented it from a video store.  When we went to watch it we the DVD didn't work so we had to get another copy.  Finally, we got it working and watched an incredibly good movie.  I knew it was funny but I didn't realize its depth and spirituality.  It had its moments of humor but it wasn't a comedy at all.

The relationship between two terminally ill men (another buddy movie!!!!!) played by Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman is precious and memorable.  Billionaire Edward Cole (who owns hospitals) is befriended by Carter Chambers (an auto mechanic) and Cole decides to insist that Chambers follow his heart and pursue a list of lifelong goals before they die.  Cole can afford to do almost anything except cheat death and the poignant things they do and pursue are at the same time humorous and compelling.

Chambers pursues his "Bucket List" against his wife's wishes but he comes home a changed man after 3 months and, sadly, ends up losing his battle with cancer while Cole seems to be reinvigorated by it and lives many more years.  However, he has changed too and reconnects with an estranged daughter (at Carter Chambers' insistence) and an unknown granddaughter and his eulogy for his new friend bespeaks of his discovery of real life.

Pursue your dreams if you can!  That's one of the lessons I learned from this great movie.

Oh, to finish the story of the DVD that didn't work.  After watching the replacement DVD, when we turned off the DVD player at the end we found that the movie had just begun on TBS.  The store gave us a free movie and, so, for $1.90 we saw 3 movies.  They are/were worth every penny!

The Lady Vanishes

For my birthday last year Alice gave me an Alfred Hitchcock collection of movies.  I'm not sure if I was thrilled or not.  Most of the movies were early Hitchcock black and white movies so I haven't been keen on watching them.  On Mother's Day I decided to watch one and picked "The Lady Vanishes" at random, a 1938 movie that I thought would probably put me to sleep.  Hardly!  It has all of the Hitchcock things that you see in his later movies.  Humor.  Strange scenes.  Thrilling camera shots.  And more.  I couldn't believe how good this movie was.

I read that this was the last movie that Hitchcock made in England before he moved to Hollywood.  The movie involves a fictional country that compares with Nazi Germany.  It starts with guests who are snowed in.  Then a young woman, Iris, takes a train out of the country but because of a head injury she passes out only to discover that the lady helping her, Miss Froy, has vanished.  She reluctantly enlists the help of a man (Gilbert) who has insulted her back at the lodge but who now manages to help her "find" the missing woman who turns out to be a British spy.

Included in the movie are a risky outside transfer by Gilbert to a different state room, a diverted train, a gun battle with "Nazis", a daring rescue and escape for Mrs. Froy, and the triumph of love between Iris and Gilbert when Iris decides to abandon her diminutive fiance and commit her life to Gilbert.

I'm told that a 1979 remake was silly but this wonderful classic is far from silly.  It's worth seeing.