Flashback Friday-Forbidden Romance-The Notebook (2004) & Shakespeare In Love (1998)

The most intriguing romances are forbidden. When we are told to that a person is forbidden, they become more attractive.

In The Notebook (2004), Allie (Gena Rowlands) is in a nursing home.  Duke (James Garner) is reading her a story. In the late 1930’s, Allie (Rachel McAdams) is a young woman from a wealthy family. While on vacation, she meets Noah (Ryan Gosling), who works in the area. The attraction is immediate.  But Allie’s parents will do anything to prevent the relationship, including hiding the letters that Noah wrote to Allie.

Based on the book by Nicholas Sparks, this movie has become a new classic. I’m not normally a fan of Nicholas Sparks, his romances are normally too sweet for me. But this movie is enjoyable.

Six years earlier, Shakespeare In Love (1998) increased the class distance and the forbidden romance. Young Will Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) is an actor, playwright and poet who is struggling. Like many writers, he struggles with writers block. Then he meets Viola de Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow). Viola loves the theater, but being a woman and a member of the upper classes, she knows that she cannot pursue her dream as herself. Only under the disguise of Thomas Kent can Viola live the dream. Will and Viola fall in love and begin to inspire what will become what we know now is his immortal works, but her fate has already been chosen for her.

This movie is, again enjoyable. When we watch an artist become in retrospect know what we know he or she will become, it’s always interesting to see their journey from dream to success.

I recommend it.

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Flashback Friday- Pinky And Brain (1995-1998)

Cartoons can be sweet, simple and appeal to young children.

Or they can snarky, intelligent, incredibly funny and appeal to an older audience.

Pinky And The Brain (1995-1998) is thankfully included in the second category.

Pinky and the Brain are lab mice. Pinky is dumb and British. The Brain is a genius.  By day, they are silent.  By night, the Brain tries to take over the world. Pinky somehow finds a way to screw it up.

This show, even though it was a cartoon and aired with the other cartoons, was different. It was funny, smart and commented on pop culture in a way that made the viewer think.

I recommend it.

Different!!

Smiles here & Smiles there

Different names,

Different voices,

Different heights,

Different smell,

Different ways,

Different lives,

Different interests,

Different smiles,

Different emotions,

Different perspectives,

Different reasons,

Different commitments,

Different goals,

Different souls,

Different thoughts,

Different destinations,

Different centuries,

Different societies,

Different civilizations,

Different gait,

Different styles,

Different personality,

Different DNA,

Different finger-prints,

Different you,

Different me,

But yet, we’re ALL THE SAME!!

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Flashback Friday- Television Shows That Ended Before Their Time-The Riches (2007) & Dirty Sexy Money (2007-2009)

For every television show that is successful, there are many others that are not successful or that end before their time.

Two of these shows are The Riches (2007) and Dirty Sexy Money (2007-2009).

The Riches

Wayne Malloy (Eddie Izzard) and his wife Dahlia (Minnie Driver) are a couple  of con artists. Dahlia has just been released from jail. After a car accident, Wayne has had an epiphany. He wants to live a normal life with his wife and children.  Moving to suburbia, he thinks that changing the family name will allow them to move on from their past. But the past is not too far behind.

This show aired on F/X. It was a quirky, funny family drama set in the American South.  Created by a Russian Jew and led on screen by two British actors, this show was a standout for me. It’s just too bad that the people who run F/X did not agree.

Dirty Sexy Money

The Darlings are the wealthiest family in New York City. Led by Patrick “Tripp” Darling III (Donald Sutherland), this family is powerful. But with power and money, comes secrets. Nick George (Peter Krause) is the son the late lawyer of the Darlings. Nick spent more time with the Darlings than he did with his own family because his father was as the beck and call of his employers. A generation later, Nick has taken over his father’s position.  Nick tries to keep a reasonable work/life balance, but the more he tries to keep his professional and private life separate, the more they intertwine.

Dirty Sexy Money definitely took a page from the nighttime soaps of the 1980’s. With New York City as a backdrop and the core conflict raging inside of Nick, it was an entertaining television show. It’s just too bad that it only had two seasons.

I recommend both.