Karma is a Delightful Bitch: Don Jr. Has Covid-19

Back in September, I wrote a Flashback Friday post about the 2005 History Channel documentary, The Plague.

There is a specific segment that sticks out in my mind, given our present status. While the poor and working classes in the cities got sick and died by the thousands, the upper classes escaped to their country estates. They though they would be able to ride out the storm and stay alive. How wrong they were.

Among the millions of Americans who have been infected by Covid-19, there is one more name to add to the list. The oldest son of you know who.

Karma is a delightful bitch.

I wouldn’t wish this virus on anyone. But knowing that he has is a reminder that no one is safe. We need a national plan than is cohesive and followed across the nation. That is why we need Joe Biden in office. We will never return to some version of normal if he is not able to do the job we elected him to do.

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Suggestions Wanted For Throwback Thursday & Flashback Friday Posts

Many of my regular readers know that I’ve been writing Throwback Thursday and Flashback Friday posts for quite a few years now.

That being said, I am in need of suggestions for upcoming Throwback Thursday and Flashback Friday posts. I am open to both television shows (both fiction and reality shows) and movies. The criteria is as follows:

1. The movie must have premiered in theaters at least five years ago.
2. In regards to any suggestions for television shows, the pilot must have aired at least five years ago. I am fine with shows that are both still on the air and/or no longer on the air.
3. I avoid horror movies like the plague, so please do not recommend any horror movies.

I look forward to your suggestions. Thank you for reading and have a good weekend.

Flashback Friday-Jewels (1992)

History has an interesting way of intersecting with our personal lives.

In the 1992 television miniseries Jewels, (based on the novel of the same name by Danielle Steele), Sarah Thompson (Annette O’Toole) is an American woman who marries William Whitfield (Anthony Andrews), a British Duke at the beginning of World War II. They settle in France, not knowing that war is coming. The war throws a chink (as it did for everyone in that period) into their lives. After the war is over,  the family opens a Jewelry store that is a success, but conflict arises, as it often does. Will the family and the store survive or will both cave into the pressure that is building within and without?

Danielle Steele, as a writer, is known for a certain type of narrative. I rarely if ever read her novels, so this review is strictly based on the television adaptation and not the novel. What I like about the story and the character that exist within this story is that it is a very human story. I also appreciate that real historical events have a hand in shaping the lives of the characters.

Do I recommend it? Probably.

*On an unrelated note, this will be my last Throwback Thursday/Flashback Friday post for 2017. Look for my new reviews coming in 2018.

 

 

 

Suggestions For Throwback Thursday And Flashback Friday?

Hello and good morning to my fellow bloggers and entertainment buffs.

This post has been written to ask you for a favor. Those of you that follow me know that I write weekly Throwback Thursday and Flashback Friday posts reviewing movies and television shows.

The favor I am asking is for recommendations as the list I have compiled for these posts is becoming short.

The guidelines are simple:

• Any movies suggested must be at least five years old.
• In the same vein, any suggested television shows must have had their premiere at least five years ago. Whether or not the show is still on the air or it is off the air makes no difference to me.
• While I enjoy most movies and most genres, I generally don’t like horror movies, unless they are the classics: (i.e. Frankenstein or Dracula), especially if they are gory.

I thank you in advance for the suggestions and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Flashback Friday-Turner & Hooch (1989)

There is a unique bond between a human being and their dog. It’s as if this relationship was meant to be, these individuals were meant to spend their lives with each other.

In 1989 movie, Turner and Hooch, Scott Turner (Tom Hanks) has had it. A member of the police department, Scott’s cases have only been minor busts that are doing nothing for his career.

Three days before Scott is scheduled to transfer precincts, hoping to get a real piece of the action, a case falls into his lap. Amos Reed (John McIntire) has been murdered. There are no human witnesses, only Amos’s four-legged slobbering best friend Hooch. Scott is tasked with taking care of the dog. It’s not exactly what he asked for.

There are some narratives where the lead character does not get what they want, but they gets what they need. I feel like that is very true to life. What Scott wanted was career prestige. What needed was a smelly, sloberring, out of control dog who becomes his best friend.

I recommend it.

 

Flashback Friday-City Slickers (1991)

At a certain point in our lives, many of us start to question our life choices. That usually happens when middle age starts to creep upon us.

In the 1991 movie, City Slickers, Mitch (Billy Crystal) is a New Yorker facing a mid-life crisis. His 40th birthday is approaching fast and his career feels empty. To combat the onset of a mid-life crisis, Mitch and his friends, Ed (Bruno Kirby) and Phil (Daniel Stern) decide the antidote is a two-week long cattle drive across the American southwest. One of the cowboys, Curly (Jack Palance) shares not only his experience as a cowboy, but in life.

There is a universal element to this film. Many of us reach a point in our lives and start to question if we have made the right choices and if there is still time to make the changes we keep thinking about making.

Do I recommend it? Yes.

Flashback Friday-Jefferson In Paris (1995)

History is full of myths and half-truths that may or may not be completely accurate.

One of the myths of American history is the relationship between founding father/3rd President Thomas Jefferson and his slave, Sally Hemings. The 1995 film, Jefferson in Paris, recounts the years before Thomas Jefferson (Nick Nolte) became President.

Presently, Jefferson is the ambassador to the French court. Joining him is his daughter, Patsy (Gwyneth Paltrow) and his slave, Sally (Thandie Newton). Jefferson is having an affair with his much younger slave, who according to history, will bear him six children. While his personal life is a bit messy, his position as ambassador could change with the impending French Revolution.

This movie is very interesting. Blending fact with fiction that may or may not be true, the movie humanizes Thomas Jefferson and allows the audience to see the man behind the myth and the 18th century oil painting.

I recommend it.

Flashback Friday-Bring It On (2000)

Bring It On is one of those movies.  On the surface the plot is trite and predictable. The screenplay contains lines that are outright dumb. But somehow, it was successful and led to a series of sequels that went from bad to worse.

Torrance Shipman (Kirsten Dunst) is newly crowned captain of the Rancho Carne High School cheer leading them.  Their team is poised to take an easy victory at the national cheer leading championship for the sixth year in a row. She discovers that their routines are stolen from The Clovers, a cheer leading team from the inner city. Isis (Gabrielle Union), the team captain wants to see her team take their rightful place as winners in the cheer leading championship.

While Torrance and her team prepare original routines, Isis and her team need a way to get to the championship.

This is the type of movie that re-runs on cable when the station does not know what to put into an empty time slot. Shakespeare and Oscar worthy, this movie is not. But it does make a very interesting point about race relations in America, even if it is couched in the story of two rival cheer leading teams.

Do I recommend this movie? Why not.

Flashback Friday- The American President (1995)

A person in power is always attractive, especially in politics. But what happens when the person in power is attracted to someone across the political spectrum?

In The American President (1995) Andrew Shepard (Michael Douglas) is the President Of The United States. He is also a widower with a growing daughter. The voting public likes his work, the next election seems like a piece of cake. Then Sydney Ellen Wade (Annette Bening), a paid political activist for an environmental lobby enters his life. Politics and personal life will soon clash as Sydney’s past comes to the light and Andrew must decide which (and who) is more important.

I like this movie. Douglas and Bening work well together on screen. The what if element of a single president a lobbyist from across the political spectrum makes for an interesting story.

I recommend it.

 

Flashback Friday- From The Bright Lights Of Broadway To The Silver Screen-Chicago (2002) & Hairspray (2007)

Hollywood has a long tradition of making movies from Broadway musicals.  While movie musicals flourished during the golden age of movie making, the fervor for movie musicals has slowly dissipated over the past thirty years.  Hollywood has tried to resurrect the genre, but only a few of these movies have been successful.

In 2002, a movie was made based on the hit Broadway musical Chicago.

Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Roxie Hart (Renee Zellweger) are on death row, accused of murdering their significant others. Billy Flynn (Richard Gere) is the hot shot lawyer whose job it is to keep his clients famous and away from the  gallows.

I saw the musical on Broadway years ago. The movie is very true to the stage show. It is subversive, entertaining and a commentary on how fame and the justice system makes for strange bedfellows.

In 1988, indie filmmaker John Waters introduced the world to the movie Hairspray and a new leading lady: Tracy Turnblad.  Tracy is zaftig teenager in 1960’s Baltimore who just wants to dance on the local teenage dance show. But there are obstacles to her dream. In the early 2000’s, Hairspray was transferred to the Broadway stage and in 2007, it returned to silver screen, but as the musical.

Taking over from Ricki Lake in the original movie and Marissa Jaret Winokur on Broadway was Nikki Blonsky as Tracy. In the traditional John Waters style, John Travolta and Christopher Walken play Tracy’s parents, Edna and Wilbur.

While I did enjoy this movie, it is a very colorful, sort of family friendly version of the original movie. It looses some of the biting satire and subversive quality with the 2007 movie.  But, over all, it’s not bad.

I recommend Chicago, but maybe not Hairspray.