Mirren.Tough.Berlin.Nazi.Lies.Mossad.Unrequited.Suspense.Gritty.Yes.

So along with this I like film, as I mentioned, and I like to get the inside scoop on it occasionally.  So when I saw this documentary on PBS called “These Amazing Shadows” I had to check it out.  Problem was it was on late and I couldn’t finish it.  Luckily there’s now such a thing as streaming Netflix and they, YES!, had it available.  For anyone who loves film this is a great little documentary about the National Registry of Film connected with the Library of Congress, how it came about, what it is, how they pick the films, etc.  Got me interested enough to go to the website of the Library of Congress and check out the list.  It’s pretty good, and not at all what you would think.  Well, partially what you would think, but not completely.  There are some very cool entries on the list.  Documentaries, home movies, shorts, newsreels, etc.  As well as films that are famous and you would know.  Very cool.

So if you love film and have a bit of time this one is worth viewing.

I don’t like being led through a film. Or at least feel like I’m being led. You know the type I mean. When you feel like, oh, this is where I’m supposed to cry, oh now… yes now I’m supposed to laugh. They never feel organic. And though sometimes they can still be enjoyable, I never get that wow, what a fantastic experience I just had kind of feeling. It’s more like… well, that was sweet, or that was cute. The Help is neither sweet nor cute, and that’s such a refreshing thing in todays movie scene.

I loved this movie. It’s poignant without being sappy, funny without being cheesy, heartfelt without being foolishly sentimental. It will make you laugh, feel heart break and triumph, cry, and leave you with a feeling of hope that things can and do get better. That though victory and change may happen in a small and slow way, they do happen.

Good art, no matter the form, makes a person think about the world in a deeper more meaningful way. Forcing you to examine personal opinions and boundaries, encouraging you to think about things in new and different ways than you had before. Good art offers discovery, hope, and changes of mind at the same time it wins and breaks our hearts. The film The Help, without question, is good art.

Can’t wait to see this…

Saturday, our actual anniversary, my honey told me we had to leave by 9:30, she put an address in the GPS, and told me to listen to the commands and go where it said to go.  Two and a half hours of listening to music, talking, singing, and laughing later, we pulled up at the Rejuvenation Spa in Lincoln City where she’d scheduled a couples massage.  I’d been saying I wanted to get a massage for a long time.  Neither of us had ever had one before… rookies, that’s what we were, and it was actually pretty great. We have no clue if they were really good as we’d never had one before, but we felt relaxed afterward, and I definitely felt less tense.  It was nice and we are now saying we need to try it again.  After all, we have to have something to compare it to.  Naturally.  We were pretty hilarious in the little room after our masseuses gave us a few minutes to disrobe and get ready.  We were laughing a little and saying to each other… are you going to take it all off, I don’t know, are you, yes, I think I am, so am I, OK, let’s go… then it was a quick scoot onto our respective tables and a cover up with our respective sheets.  We always seem to have fun, no matter what we are doing.

After the massage we went over to nearby Mo’s for a little seafood lunch.  We split it, our new thing, and it was good.  They were busy, as usual, but we managed to get in pretty quickly and also ended up with a table by the window.  Gorgeous.  The weather was so great over there on Saturday.  Partly cloudy, warmish, not a lot of wind.  It was so beautiful out we went out onto the beach at Siletz Bay and ended up walking for two hours after lunch.  There were sea lions, gulls, loads of people out, and most importantly, us just spending time together.

We stopped at Safeway on our way out of Lincoln City, headed home, for some water and chocolate.  Of course.  We drove the same way back as we’d really enjoyed the drive, with one added stop.  We pulled off at the Chinook Winds Casino and did a tad bit of gambling.  For us the operative words there are tad bit.  We walked in saying $20 each and walked out about a half an hour later ahead five dollareenies, not each, total.  Not a huge gain, but when we got ahead we were like, Ok, that’s it, let’s quit.  We were feeling quite satisfied with ourselves.

Nearly home we stopped at Dairy Queen, picked up a couple of Blizzards, came on home and settled in with Despicable Me on the DVD player and Blizzards in hand.  A nice quiet end to a long and wonderful day.

Sunday we met a friend at Starbucks near the Fox Tower 10 and then walked over to the theater to meet the rest of our party for a group viewing of Hanna.  The consensus about the film… interesting.  Karen and I decided later, as we talked about it more, that it failed because it didn’t have enough heart.  While some of the filming was cool, and the concept was good, we didn’t really care enough about her or her predicament because we didn’t know enough about her.  Cate Blanchett was, as always, great.  Whenever she’s onscreen you pay attention to her.  She’s good.  The girl’s (Saoirse Ronan) acting was good too, but there just simply wasn’t enough back story to like her or care.  No heart.  We followed the film with a late lunch at Shigezo.  It was OK.  Not really spectacular, though the California rolls were really good.  Apparently the sushi there is very good, we just don’t really like sushi… except I like California rolls.  We had a katsu chicken curry we shared and it was alright.  The chicken on it was tasty, but the sauce was more like gravy or some such thing.  Not great enough to repeat. Then it was home and cleaning up and cooking for the return of the kid’s after their trip to Sunriver.  They had a great time over their weekend as well, so nice for Mary to get to see her long time friends.  They hadn’t all seen each other since the wedding.

I’d say this weekend was up there as far as anniversaries go.  This was our eighth.  Karen of course is now saying we’ve been together for almost nine years.  She does this, always the day after our actual anniversary.  I love that about her.     

Black Swan…  Natalie Portman did do a fantastic job.  The whole film relies on her acting.  You have to be drawn in, wondering what is real, what isn’t, believing like she does that what’s happening is real.  Shocked to learn it isn’t, then still not sure, wondering.  It’s uncomfortable, disturbing, and at times horrific.  Three of us saw it together and were all covering up our eyes during certain scenes, peeking through our hands and fingers as grotesque and hard to watch things were happening on the screen.  I can’t decide if I liked this movie.  As I said, Natalie Portman’s performance was magnetic, compelling, and very very good.  I can see why she won.  It’s just that I don’t know if I liked the movie as a whole.  I’ve heard from others they thought it was depressing.  I didn’t get that.  Not depressing.  To me it was, I guess I’ll say it again, disturbing.  One of those films I’m glad I saw, but would never want to watch again.

Dragonfish…  A restaurant downtown we’d wanted to try for quite some time.  In between films we met up with the POD, as we call ourselves, to enjoy a nice late lunch.  The day’s plan was that whoever wanted to join for the first movie would join, we would then all go to lunch with whoever wanted to show up for lunch, and then whoever wanted to go to the second movie would go to that.  A sort of choose your participation day.  So, Dragonfish…  first, the service was terrible.  We couldn’t really figure out who our waiter was and whoever it was didn’t come over often.  S-L-O-W.  We weren’t too put out as we had tons of time, but still… it’s annoying.  Then the food… not terrible… just not great.  We had high expectations, had heard good things, but seriously… not stellar.  The company, fantastic as always, the food and the service… not so much.  We won’t be back.  None of us.

The King’s Speech…  Really really good.  It’s one of those films that’s both interesting and feel good.  Colin Firth was awesome in it, I don’t know how he got the stammer down the way he did, and the pain behind it.  Great acting.  And it was obvious to me why both the film and he won the Academy Awards.  It was also quite beautiful.  Loved the perspective in some of the scenes.  It was anything but slow and boring, as some people thought it might be.  Keeping our attention from beginning to end.  Just a fascinating film.  Who knew?

We said goodbye to the friends who’d seen the King’s Speech with us and then walked back up the couple blocks to the streetcar stop, just catching the train as we rounded the corner and ran up to it.  Nice timing.  It was a great day.  Any time you can spend several hours with people you love, respect, and enjoy it’s lovely.  Thanks guys for a wonderful day.

The following are a collection of twenty something films from the 80′s I’m a fan of.  I didn’t include too many super well known films, including some of my favorites, but that’s because those are on every list.  These are, some of them, a little lesser known.  Others you will know right away, but either way… I love these films.  Nothing like spending an afternoon watching one of these.   Some may be a tad cheesy, but then that’s part of their appeal.  Enjoy….

Vision Quest

Running Man

Quicksilver

Eddie And The Cruisers

Purple Rain

Working Girl

Willow

An American Werewolf in London

On Golden Pond

Black Widow

Some Kind of Wonderful

The Sender

The Lost Boys

Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure

Highlander

Dream a Little Dream

Dune

Road House

Blue Velvet

Amadeus

Henry V

Mystic Pizza

Blade Runner

The dogs are spending most of these hot days sleeping where the fan can blow on them.  Weston is a bit restless, but then finds another spot to lay down and he takes another little nap.  Riley is asleep on top of one of the cushions of the sectional right by Karen.

Laundry is in and later we have ribs, left over from last night’s dinner, that Karen made.  So good.  The highlights of my days are finding a good movie on TV and what we have for dinner.  LOL

Now… dinner and then Lethal Weapon 2 followed by, in all likelihood, three and four.  We watched one this morning, recorded two on the dvr, and can watch three and four on Netflix via the play now option and a cord from the laptop to the tv.  And that is our day.  Mellow and nice.

Hope everyone out there is staying cool…. it’s a hot one.