Meryl Streep, Robert Redford, Tom Cruise-how can you go wrong? Well, I’ll tell you. While Lions for Lambs has an intriguing premise, it’s basically just talk, talk, talk.
Tom Cruise plays a U.S. Senator who invites Meryl Streep, a reporter, to his office for a one-hour exclusive interview about a new military initiative in Afghanistan. At the same time Robert Redford, a political science professor at a fictional California university, invites a student to his office to discuss the student’s lack of interest in academics. Meanwhile, two former students of the Professor, now Army rangers, are in the forefront of the above mentioned military initiative-and things don’t look so good for them.
The movie visits these simultaneously unfolding stories, and only the audience is able to see the intersection.
However-that’s all I can actually comment on this movie. With about fifteen minutes left in the movie, the theater was evacuated. The management gave no indication when patrons would be able to return to the theater, so I went home! I’ll probably wait until it’s on HBO!
Beverly Lewis is, apparently, a prolific and popular author, although I had never heard of her or her work before. This was a book club selection. Since one of the reasons for being in a book club is to be exposed to books and ideas you might not otherwise come into contact with, I happily went along with this choice.
The Parting is the first book in the trilogy The Courtship of Nellie Fisher, about a young Amish girl in 1966. The action takes place during Nellie’s rumschpringa, the years when Amish youth are permitted to experience the outside world before committing to baptism. The descriptions of the life of the Old Order Amish living under the ordnung are interesting.
The lives of the Amish of the fictional town of Honeybrook are constrained by the rejection of the many modern conveniences we take for granted-automobiles, electricity, and tractors, among many others. The Amish are also subject to shunning if they fail to obey the strict rules of their community. But apparently the teenagers are allowed to stay out all night while courting.
Like the rest of her Amish peers, Nellie has attended public school through the eighth grade, leaving school to work on the family farm. Nellie has a talent for baking, so she operates a bakery selling her creations to other Amish as well as to outsiders. Of course, all her profits help support her family. Nellie is being courted by Caleb Yoder, the youngest son of a neighboring family. Both Nellie and Caleb are devoted to the Old Order, but their families’ differences threaten to divide them.
The Parting is not deep, or complex. It was an easy read-and that’s about all I can say in its defense. I will not be reading the rest of the books in this trilogy, and I really can’t recommend this book to anyone.
In USA:
Published in hardcover-Bethany House 2007
Softcover edition-Bethany House 2007
The Parting (The Courtship of Nellie Fisher, Book 1)
For all you Beatles fans-this is the movie for you! It did not get a wide release, but it is worth hunting down a theater where it is playing. The plot revolves around a young Liverpool shipyard worker, Jude, who goes to America in 1967 to find his father. He falls in love with Lucy, the sister of his new friend Max. And there follow the trials and tribulations of young love.
The plot, however, is the least important part of this film. Julie Taymor has created an exciting visual and musical experience. She uses Beatles music to create the backdrop for the turbulence of the United States in 1967 and 1968, and for the troubled love between Jude and Lucy.
In addition to the special visual effects (psychedelic and otherwise), Taymor brings in newsreel footage from the Detroit riots and the Vietnam War. These visuals give the film a modern, edgy feel. The music is by the Beatles, but re-interpreted by contemporary singers. These new renditions give a different feel to a number of the songs.
It’s also quite fun to play “spot the actor”. A number of celebrities have small roles in the film, including Eddie Izzard, Salma Hayek, and Bono. I definitely recommend Across the Universe!
This movie, starring George Clooney, has all the elements of an exciting thriller. You have the huge, evil corporation; the overpriced lawyers who defend the evil doings of the evil corporation; and you have the little guy fighting for justice. In this case, however, the little guy is George Clooney driving around in a Mercedes. Not so sympathetic.
Clooney’s character, Michael Clayton, is the “janitor” of a large law firm. That is, he is the lawyer the other lawyers send in to clean up people’s messes-i.e. as the film opens Clayton receives a call to assist an important client who has been involved in a hit and run accident. Clayton has an ex-wife and a son, Henry, who seems to be there to make him a more believable character.
Clayton also has his own troubled family to content with. They’re not very interesting, either. Anyway, this is not a great movie, but it was worth seeing on a rainy day when not much else was going on.
The best thing I can say about Michael Clayton is that no man wears a suit better than George Clooney!
This is the last episode for this season. The series has been renewed by HBO. Until it does actually return to TV, therapy junkies will be able to watch HBO’s new series In Treatment premiering January 28. This series stars Gabriel Byrne as a therapist. Episodes will air Monday through Friday, with the same patient returning on the same day each week.
Anyway, back to our couples. In the beginning of the show, May receives the devastating news that her friend John has died suddenly. Despite being terribly upset, and against Arthur’s wishes, she does not take any time off. She does not seem to do a very effective job, especially with Jamie.
Jamie has run into Hugo at the same gas station where they broke up. When relating this very important news to May, Jamie seems to sense May’s lack of interest and focus. May’s seeming indifference may be the impetus in Jamie and Hugo taking their relationship to a new level.
Carolyn and Palek meet in May’s office. This was at Carolyn’s request, since she had some things she wanted to tell Palek. Carolyn was bitter and angry. Palek was resigned to being an absent father and husband.
At their session with May, Dave and Katie are both upset that their relationship may be at a difficult juncture. Things might actually work out for them, though.
Overall, I’d say this first season of Tell Me You Love Me has been blessedly different from the usual TV fare. I hope the producers can keep the situations and the couples intriguing enough to make enough people want to watch.
I for one am very glad that Jerry Seinfeld got married and had children. Otherwise he might never have made this delightful movie. Seinfeld has assembled a great cast of voices-even including the non-actors Oprah Winfrey and Larry King.
Most of the action takes place in a very pretty, idealized New York City. The star of the movie, of course, is Jerry Seinfeld. His character is Barry B. Benson, a bee, and a recent college graduate. He is dismayed at the thought of having to choose one job (making honey) and stay with it his whole life. He wants excitement, change, and adventure. He gets it all, and more, when he ventures outside the hive and meets Vanessa Bloome (voiced by Renee Zellweger), a florist who saves his life.
Barry breaks the bee community’s strict rules by speaking to Vanessa. Most of the movie’s action ensues from that encounter, some of it very clever. Barry becomes very upset when he enters a supermarket with Vanessa, and sees all the jars of honey for sale. From that follows a lawsuit-with John Goodman as the voice of the opposing attorney and Oprah Winfrey as the voice of the judge. It is all very well-written.
In addition to being cute and clever, the movie contains an environmental message that even a young child should be able to understand. The only drawback to the movie for me was that Jerry Seinfeld’s voice is so recognizable, it almost distracts from the character of Barry. But that’s being a little petty, I think.
