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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.


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