Skip to main content

Entertainment Special

After FaceBook redesigned its homepage page, I found FB Watch. As it is with everything in social media, the algorithm is slicing and dicing my habits online and answering without me asking, "If you liked X, then certainly you're going to enjoy Y."

I get a stream of music videos including a string of Simon's greatest hits from America's & Britain's Got Talent, Sheryl Crow, Fleetwood Mac, James Taylor, Sara Bareilles, Graham Norton, and the occasional pop-up performance (You know, the symphony orchestra that surprises everyone in the town square or mall.)

This morning I got this one. 

https://fb.watch/2D2v7IaMVk/

Warning; Don't shut this down. There is a method to the opening of this music. Not only does it entertain, but this performance is also imaginative and stunning all on its own. Notice how much fun and how excited the chorale members are experiencing as they perform this.

Speaking of finding gold as I wind my way through a rabbit hole online, I don't even know why I was on  YouTube, but I saw a link to an interview of Kate Winslet by Stephen Colbert. She was pimping some movie when Stephen asked her what she was watching for Christmas. I don't recall her answer, but then he asked her, "Don't you watch The Holiday?" This is a film that Winslet made with Carman Diaz in 2006. She said no. Stephen said, "It's a Holiday film that has almost nothing to do with Christmas." If I wasn't convinced to see this film when I discovered it starred Winslet, he got me with Carman Diaz. 

If you enjoy Rom/Coms (This film is two hours and fifteen minutes long.), you'll get a bonus with this one. This not one but two damsels in distress. Iris, Kate Winslet is in Britain, and Amanda, Carman Diaz is in Los Angeles. The setup is they are both victims of loveless longings and want to get away from it all. They begin their adventure by swapping house stays. As they navigate the perils of being down on love, we experience several famous cameo visits, a touching subplot featuring Eli Wallach, and a breakout role for Jack Black. As an additional bonus, the film also features cute kids and an adorable dog. It's worth the $2.99 on Amazon Prime.

The newly released Netflix films include the August Wilson Plays on film series, Ma Rainy's Black Bottom, and George Clooney's The Midnight Sky. They are both worth watching. 

Ma Rainy's Black Bottom is worth it if for nothing else but to watch Chadwick Boseman play Levee, the tortured musician trying to move music forward. This is Boseman's last role. He died of colon cancer soon after he finished this film. No one knew of his condition. The energy and passion he put into this role was astounding, even if you didn't know about his health. As I watched it, I let one selfish emotion in. I realized that like Heath Ledger's outstanding performance of The Joker or Philp Seymour Hoffman's last role in The Master, I realized what I might have witnessed if they hadn't been taken from us so young.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Diversity

As we look forward to celebrating the Pride we have in our Gay population, (Yeah, I couldn't resist the pun.) I'm pleased to report that diversity in the mix of our residents here in the Fox River Valley continues to surprise me. Example: As my wife and I waited for friends, in the lobby of the Marcus Hollywood Theater on the west side of Appleton, I witnessed three AfricanAmericann ladies buying snacks. Behind them was a Latino couple. At the end of the line, behind was an Asian fellow with three kids. We represented the WASP's. This is in a community that when I first visited in the nineteen sixties, if a black man walked down the street, he more than likely played football for Green Bay. After that, there was a rather pronounced immigration of Hmong and quieter arrival of Latino's. For a while, the worst keep secret was that the new Italian restaurant was actually owned by Mexican's. Since returning to the Valley, I've grown use...
Post a Comment
Read more

A rustle in the hustings

I am trying to stay away from politics on my blog. I know that some of my intended readers do not share my feelings. As well, I don't entice dialogue. Occasionally my readers will address something I've written about. For the most part, they are merely saying something like, "Oh yeah, I felt that way too," regarding some experience, that I related. However, I have to share these particular feelings about the new Ryan Healthcare proposal that is sailing through the House of Representatives. Market-driven healthcare provision: This concept proposes that if put on the free market health care insurance will become more affordable. The theory is there will be competition among insurers to gain market share and lowering the prices will be a possible outcome. None of the insurers want customers who are old people or people with a pre-existing health problem ( heart disease, cancer, etc...) Older people, who are not on medicare, have more health care ne...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ring The Bell

 It appears there is a tradition in the radiology department at Ascension Hospital that patients, upon completing their course of treatment, ring a bell. ( We know not for whom this bell tolls.) Ring the Bell with My Sweetheart Jeanne. Jeanne drove me to all but two of the appointments. Pam Frautchi took me to the other two. Today, after being zapped thirty-two times, I rang the bell. This begins a roughly one-month recovery period where the effects of the radiation abate and, I'm assured, a return to normalcy occurs. In my case, I anticipate more energy and greater awareness. Books, Books, & More Books I am simultaneously celebrating the end of the third year of volunteering for the All Saints Hunger Book Sale. Next week, we will wrap up the preparation for the sale and open our doors on August 3 for the public. I ran into this humourous but quite accurate cartoon on a T-Shirt that shows most of the volunteer's sentiments at this point. If you think the printed and bound p...
Post a Comment
Read more