(From left, Will Smith as Robert Neville, Willow Smith as Marley Neville and Salli Richardson-Whitfield as Zoe Neville in the Francis Lawrence movie I Am Legend).
Set in 2012, three-years after an intended cancer cure has turned lethal, Will Smith portrayed United States Army virologist Robert Neville in I Am Legend. Neville follows a daily routine of seeking food and supplies, experimenting on rats to counteract the lethal disease, and waiting for infected survivors at the South Street Seaport, where a recurring recorded message directs people. We learn of a sad backstory for Neville’s wife and daughter, Zoe and Marley as portrayed by Salli Richardson-Whitfield and Willow Smith, through flashbacks of the evacuation of Manhattan before the current day of the film. That backstory adds depth to Neville’s attempts in the current day, along with his dog Samantha (Sam) as portrayed by Abbey and Kona, to cope with loneliness.
(From left, Will Smith as Robert Neville and Abbey as Samantha (Sam) in the Francis Lawrence movie I Am Legend).
The substance of the action for the movie begins when Robert and Sam pursue a deer into a darkened building, encountering infected people harmed by daylight called Darkseekers. Using a snare trap, Neville captures an infected female bonded to an infected male to take to Neville’s Washington Square Park home for experimentation, seemingly without success.
(From top, Will Smith as Robert Neville and Kona as Samantha (Sam) in the Francis Lawrence movie I Am Legend).
The next day, Robert is snared outside Grand Central Station and, waking near sunset to have an excruciating turn occur when he and Sam defend themselves against a pack of dogs. Neville acts out in grief, with Anna and a young boy named Ethan from Maryland, having come to South Street Seaport owing to Robert’s broadcast. The veracity of Anna and Ethan’s stories of travel through Maryland, Bethel, Vermont, and São Paulo, Brazil worries Robert Neville. At least two separate movie endings exist, with the alternate ending rather than the ending shown in movie theatres reportedly considered canonical for the sake of a movie slated to serve as a sequel to I Am Legend reportedly in production. Alice Braga and Charlie Tahan portrayed Anna and Ethan, respectively.
(From left, Alice Braga as Anna, Charlie Tahan as Ethan and Will Smith as Robert Neville in the Francis Lawrence move I Am Legend).
Other movies made based on the 1954 book I Am Legend have included The Last Man on Earth (1964) and The Omega Man (1971). I grant I Am Legend as directed by Francis Lawrence 3.5-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.
(Kyle Mills, shown here, wrote Total Power as his sixth book in the Mitch Rapp series created by Vince Flynn).
The first movements of the story within Total Power introduce the political intrigue associated with the cost of infrastructure updates to the power grid in the United States, along with the vulnerability of the network if a knowledgeable actor with evil intent along with the proper knowledge planned to exploit what weaknesses exist in the system. The underlying issue of coordinated attacks of strategic execution could plunge the United States in darkness for well beyond days, weeks or months before an effective government or free market response could be forthcoming.
(Alternative covers for Total Power as written by Kyle Mills. Total Power is the 19th book in the Mitch Rapp series as created by Vince Flynn).
The second movements of the story bring Mitch Rapp, the force of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and a US president nearing the end of his presidential leadership to bear on an imminent attack staged at the moment the issue is under attack. The attack, though led by ISIS, actually has a bite beyond the jihadist skill to deploy the attack. Despite an explicit effort led by Rapp and a capable team of counter-terrorists, the attempt to thwart the attack is detected ahead of the CIA trap that had been laid. The attack that both infiltrated ISIS and the United States power grid, plunged the mainland into darkness that would last for weeks or months. Effectively, the United States had been crippled with no effective ability to recover.
(Vince Flynn, shown here, created the Mitch Rapp series of books. Flynn wrote the first thirteen books in the series).
With the skills of Mitch Rapp and his team now tactically eliminated, the investigate, infiltrate and get to the knowledgeable few became the third movement of Total Power. The world of malfunctioning infrastructure, computers and communication systems down, and starvation, death and inevitable rioting with little capacity for countering the chaos became the name of the response. The means for getting to a legitimate solution that addressed the infrastructure, and those who damaged it were the odds that needed to be addressed. Would those odds be overcome? You know it would be.
That the narrative telling of Mitch Rapp moved almost strictly into ways to address a power grid attack where powerlessness to respond was at stake was unique and appreciated. This change worked for me more at a high level, though the bigger issue that I found was that there really was only one plausible way that the solution to the problem of that powerlessness was going to be resolved. That I was in tune with how things worked out earlier in the book than I wanted to know proved disappointing. As for Total Power written by Kyle Mills, I give the book 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.
(From left, quarterback Otto Graham and head coach Paul Brown of the Cleveland Browns).
For the first five decades of the rivalry, that being from the 1950s through the 1990s, the book is structured to look at the seasons of the two teams on a season by season basis. This timeframe includes the moving of the Browns from the AAFC with head coach Paul Brown and quarterback Otto Graham into the NFL in 1950, wherein the football rivalry between Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Cleveland, Ohio began. Walking through the success of the Browns in those opening two decades of the rivalry with the success of Brown and Graham plus that of running back Jim Brown gave rise to the notion of the “Same Old Steelers“. The success of the Steelers in the 1970s with head coach Chuck Noll, quarterback Terry Bradshaw and running back Franco Harris, with the backslide of the Browns to a more middling franchise, provided an interesting change of fortunes.
(From left, head coach Chuck Noll and quarterback Terry Bradshaw of the Pittsburgh Steelers).
The 1980s saw the Steelers dynasty in the 1970s come back to earth, with success for the Browns in the second half of the decade. Remembering the move of the Browns after the 1995 season, wherein the birth of the Baltimore Ravens in Baltimore, Maryland for the 1996 suspended the rivalry for three seasons. The rebirth of the Cleveland Browns in 1999 as an expansion team retaining the history of the team that became the Ravens ends the fiftieth year, dating back to 1950, since the football rivalry began.
(From left, running back Franco Harris of the Pittsburgh Steelers and running back Jim Brown of the Cleveland Browns).
The years 2000 through 2019 in part matched the first fifty regarding when the teams were competitive at the same time. The Steelers would win Super Bowls following the 2005/2006 and 2008/2009 seasons while the Browns struggled to field competitive teams with a carousel of starting quarterbacks, head coaches and general managers. The 2019 season, the last addressed in the book, notes that the rivalry between players, and by extensions fanbases, remains as strong as ever with a note on the on-field quarrel between Browns defensive end Myles Garrett and Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph.
(From left, quarterback Mason Rudolph of the Pittsburgh Steelers and defensive end Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns).
Reading through The Turnpike Rivalry: The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns offered nostalgia for the good and not-so-good times for a person with family in both cities. I grant The Turnpike Rivalry: The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns by Richard Peterson and Stephen Peterson 3.5-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.
(From left, Eliza Taylor as Hannah Carson and Raymond Lee as Ben Song in the second season of the rebooted Quantum Leap).
The second season begins with our leaper, Dr. Ben Song as portrayed by Raymond Lee, in what the story tells us is an immediate leap not home but into an Air Force cargo plane for the United States over Russia in the year 1978. Ben works through the leap without support from the Project Quantum Leap (PQL) team, wherein three years had passed, the team had been disbanded, Ben had been taken for dead and, finally, the nature of the relationships and support Ben could expect had changed since the 18th and final episode of the opening season of the rebooted Quantum Leap owing to the passage of three years since the spring 2023 concluding episode wherein hope had been given that Ben would leap home.
(From left, Caitlin Bassett as Addison Augustine, Nanrisa Lee as Jenn Chou and Mason Alexander Park as Ian Wright in the second season of the rebooted Quantum Leap).
Bringing the PQL team back together becomes the task at hand with the second episode, as begun in the first episode of the second season thanks to Ian Wright as portrayed by Mason Alexander Park. A bank robbery gone wrong in Tucson, Arizona forms the leap underpinning the urgency of the second episode. We learn that Ben’s fiancée and primary hologram through the opening season, Addison Augustine as portrayed by Caitlin Bassett, has a new love interest with influence in United States Army intelligence in bringing the PQL team back. Tom Westfall as portrayed by Peter Gadiot serves as Addison’s love interest.
(Ernie Hudson as Herbert ‘Magic’ Williams in the second season of the rebooted Quantum Leap).
With Jenn Chou as portrayed by Nanrisa Lee reinforcing her role as PQL head of security and knowing confidant for Ian, she questions Ian from this episode about Wright’s means for finding the leaping Ben, who’s having been taken for dead led to the PQL team being disbanded. Starlight, New Mexico in 1949 offers an initial leap into the subject of aliens and unidentified flying objects (UFOs) in the third episode of the second season. Ben encounters Hannah Carson on the leap in New Mexico, a waitress with above average intelligence portrayed by Eliza Taylor, for the first time. In the fourth leap of the season in Los Angeles, California (2000 for Ben before a separate leap to the same city in 1992), Herbert ‘Magic’ Williams as portrayed by Ernie Hudson introduces the PQL team to Tom Westfall.
(From left, Peter Gadiot as Tom Westfall and Alice Kremelberg as Rachel in the second season of the rebooted Quantum Leap).
Future leaps take Ben to Princeton, New Jersey in 1955, Middletowne, Massachusetts in 1692, Cairo, Egypt in 1961, Trenton, New Jersey in 1970, Mexico in 1953, Denver, Colorado in 1982, Baltimore, Maryland in 1974 and, finally, Sonoma County, California in 1976. With a love quadrangle of sorts being a recurring storyline through the season, the love shared by Ben and Addison is juxtaposed against Addison and Tom on one hand and Ben encountering Hannah on six different leaps across 27 years on the other. In short bursts, Hannah and Ben develop intense feelings across a lifetime of other experiences for Hannah. This notion of lifetime experiences underlines a significant plot development that includes recurring roles for Gideon Ridge as portrayed by James Frain and Jeffrey Nally as portrayed by Wyatt Parker. The Gideon Ridge storyline is further punctuated with storylines that include Ian Wright, Ian’s girlfriend Rachel, Jenn Chou and Herbert ‘Magic’ Williams. Alice Kremelberg reprised her role as Ian’s girlfriend for a second season.
(From left, Wyatt Parker as Jeffrey Nally and James Frain as Gideon Rydge in the second season of the rebooted Quantum Leap).
The manner of storytelling in the rebooted Quantum Leap sticks to the episodic perspective of the original 97 episodes over five seasons of the source Quantum Leap series. There is a bigger focus on the interpersonal relationships in the world external to the leaps, though the sense of righting wrongs and setting things up for the better remains true to the series. Another season for Quantum Leap hasn’t yet been announced, though my appreciation for the stories leads me to hope for an additional season. I grant 3.75-stars on a scale of one-to-five stars for the second season of the rebooted Quantum Leap.
With the recent celebration of Father’s Day in the United States last Sunday, the link between father and son brought the Gregory Hoblit produced and directed movie Frequency (2000) to mind. Recommended to me by Engineered Tire Friend, the movie entertains a unique premise linking father and son across time in their Queens, New York home separated by 30 years.
(From left, Dennis Quaid as Frank Sullivan and Daniel Henson as 6-year-old Johnny Sullivan in the Gregory Hoblit movie Frequency).
The bond between firefighter Frank Sullivan and his son John Francis (Johnny) Sullivan, a policeman, was clear and strong from the moment we met the pair. The 6-year-old son and his father bonded over the New York Mets, who faced the Baltimore Orioles in the 1969 World Series. It was a particularly intense appearance of an aurora that connects Frank with his son, 30-years into the future over a single-sideband ham radio. Dennis Quiad, Jim Caviezel and Daniel Henson portrayed Frank Sullivan, John Sullivan as an adult, and 6-year-old Johnny Sullivan, respectively.
(From left, Noah Emmerich as Gordo Hersch, Michael Cera as Gordy Hersch and Jim Caviezel as John Francis Sullivan in the Gregory Hoblit movie Frequency).
John Sullivan and Frank Sullivan happen to have the unusual ability to speak over the ham radio, with the unusual effect of the son getting to save his father’s life. The realization that the pair is speaking of the 1969 World Series in the present tense of 1999, serves up the miracle of John saving his father’s life by relating advice for how to make a different decision in the fire that had killed Frank and truncated John’s emotional growth. A serious side effect is enabled, drawing in Julia Sullivan, Satch DeLeon and Gordo Hersch, John’s mother, John’s boss on the police force, and John’s neighbor and friend. Elizabeth Mitchell, Andre Braugher and Noah Emmerich portrayed Julia, Satch and Gordo, respectively. Michael Cera portrayed Gordy Hersch, Gordo’s son, while Stephen Joffe portrayed 6-year-old Gordo Hersch.
(From left, Elizabeth Mitchell as Julia Sullivan and Andre Braugher as Satch DeLeon in the Gregory Hoblit movie Frequency).
It is the ongoing ham radio link that enables the evolving memory of John, as a policeman in 1999, to realize how life has been changing as he is connected to his father. The connection leads to an evolving case of crime with multiple victims, without a clear understanding for why the simple fact of Frank’s life would have an impact on that crime. The drama commences, bringing into focus the experiences of policeman Jack Shepard, Satch DeLeon, and others closest to John in the two timelines. The underlying drama offers an engaging story of familial love, justice, and the lengths to go in pursuing justice. Jack Shepard was portrayed by Shawn Doyle.
(Shawn Doyle as Jack Shepard in the Gregory Hoblit movie Frequency).
Toby Emmerich had screenwriting and producer credit in bringing Frequency to the big screen. There’s a sweetness underpinning the mystery and dramatic underpinnings connecting the film. While there is an element of the film trying to be more things than it really needed to be, the core storylines pleasantly and surprisingly come together in offering a whole that exceeds the parts. I grant the Gregory Hoblit movie Frequency 3.75-stars on a scale of one-to-five.
When bringing back a previous television show as the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) did with Quantum Leap (1989-1993), a central decision is to continue the original storyline or create a new world for the show. In a move that many thought they didn’t want, Quantum Leap (2022- ) returned with storylines that extended the universe of the original series with really good results.
(Raymond Lee as Ben Song in the television reboot of Quantum Leap).
The original Quantum Leap series ran for five seasons with Dr. Sam Beckett having never returned home after a series of leaps into the lives of people, aiming to turn right what once had been wrong. 30 years after Beckett had vanished after stepping into the Quantum Leap accelerator for the last time. We are introduced to the story of Dr. Ben Song and Addison Augustine, Song’s fiancé. We see Song breach protocol and initiate a leap in Augustine’s place with no planning for such a turn. Raymond Lee and Caitlin Bassett portrayed Song and Augustine, respectively.
(From left, Nanrisa Lee as Jenn Chou, Ernie Hudson as Herbert ‘Magic’ Williams, Mason Alexander Park as Ian Wright and Caitlin Bassett as Addison Augustine in the television reboot of Quantum Leap).
Ernie Hudson, in a reprisal of the role of Herbert ‘Magic’ Williams from the third season of the original series, heads the team left behind. Jenn Chou and Ian Wright, as portrayed by Nanrisa Lee and Mason Alexander Park, support the Quantum Leap project with the wife and daughter of Sam Beckett’s observer, Al Calavicci, playing recurring roles. Susan Diol and Georgina Reilly portrayed Beth Calavicci and Janis Calavicci, respectively. Twists in the larger unfolding story of the 18 episodes of this first season back rested with Walter Perez, who portrayed the mysterious Richard Martinez.
(From left, Walter Perez as Richard Martinez, Susan Diol as Beth Calavicci and Georgina Reilly as Janis Calavicci in the television reboot of Quantum Leap).
Executive producer credit for the new season rests with Donald P. Bellisario as Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt, having developed the new series, also served as executive producers. The core sensibilities of the original series remain with this reboot, though ways in which the universe exists for the audience are appreciated extensions into the current world. The world for next season and beyond is well open for Quantum Leap, which leads to my rating of 4.0-stars on a scale of one-to-five stars for the opening season.
(This is the album cover art that the debut album The Way It Is for Bruce Hornsby and the Range is known).
On the Western Skyline opens The Way It Is album by Bruce Hornsby and the Range. As quoted on Songfactshere, On the Western Skyline “is about imagining that there might be a future love waiting for the singer somewhere in the western skyline.”
In charting as high as 14th in the United States, Every Little Kiss is “sung from the perspective of a worker who is far away from his sweetheart,” as quoted here. Thematically, this song hits me in a similar place as On the Western Skyline.
(Every Little Kiss was first released in May 1986 as the lead single from the 1986 Bruce Hornsby and the Range album The Way It Is. The song was re-released in 1987, after the album had achieved some measure of commercial success).
Mandolin Rain charted 70th in the United Kingdom and 4th in the United States. The metaphor for heartbreak invokes “a failed southern romance between two people who enjoy the rainfall and spent a lot of intimate time in it, but now that she’s gone, the singer mourns her loss and is reminded of her when he hears the rain.”
(Mandolin Rain was released as a single supporting The Way It Is by Bruce Hornsby and the Range in late 1986).
The Long Race invokes winter as a stand in for loneliness and longing for the love of another. The singer invokes an eastern gaze in maintaining the view of continued vigilance of ultimately getting to love once again.
In charting 15th in the United Kingdom and first in the United States, The Way It Is deals with the Civil Rights Movement and the 1964 Civil Rights Act in the United States. As quoted here, the “lyrics in this song deal with the need to resist complacency and never resign yourself to racial injustice as the status quo.”
(The Way It Is was released as a single in the United States in September 1986. The song was released to support the 1986 album The Way It Is by Bruce Hornsby and the Range).
Down the Road Tonight is the song of the singer’s introduction to a woman acting as a prostitute, lyrically spoken from the perspective of an adolescent being introduced to the notion by older kids and young adults in his social circle.
The Wild Frontier lyrically explores the exploration for love from learning of a passionate sense of love in Down the Road Tonight to seeking love in exotic locations. The singer learns that this isn’t the proper place for love to bloom for him, so seeks such in getting back to the familiar.
The River Runs Low invokes the sense of loss raised in the song Mandolin Rain. The absence of rain metaphorically operates at the central level of longing for the love interest whose left town. The singer additionally has been down on his luck from a financial standpoint, thus diminishing his ability to follow his lady.
The Red Plains brings The Way It Is to an end with the sad tale of having built a home and life with his love, only to see the home morally, metaphorically and in reality burn to the ground in what the singer feels is a personal failing. The song is a dream lost with moral self-recrimination tacked on, setting the deal up in flames. My interpretation, though, is that the love perseveres.
(This was the first album cover released, in the United States, for the Bruce Hornsby and the Range debut album The Way It Is).
Kyle Mills continues the Mitch Rapp series of books (book sequence here) created by Vince Flynn with the sixteenth (16th) book in the series, the third written by Mills. With Enemy of the State, we see that the central star of this universe of books might have met his match by way of an ongoing engagement in parts of Europe, Africa, Asia the Middle East and America that have made Mitch Rapp the enemy of the state referenced in the title.
(Kyle Mills succeeded Vince Flynn in writing books with Mitch Rapp as a central character. Mills wrote Enemy of the State).
Kyle Mills speaks of Enemy of the State this way on his website: “A theme in many of Vince Flynn’s books was his distaste for Saudi Arabia—a distaste that I wholeheartedly share. Despite America’s close ties, there’s just no getting around the fact that it’s a medieval dictatorship that supplied the majority of the 9-11 attackers, it continues to spread radical Islam throughout the world, and it withholds even the most basic rights from women. While our alliance with them might be expedient, it’s a deal with the devil.”
(Alternative book covers for Enemy of the State as written by Kyle Mills).
The story more or less picks up from a point in time soon after the end of Order to Kill, as reviewed here. A tacit agreement had been taken between the previous presidential regime and Saudi Arabia‘s King Faisal to cover up the Saudi involvement in the September 11th attacks in exchange for sweetheart prices for oil consumed in the United States. Part of the deal involved Faisal bringing the culpable elements in within his society to justice. American President Alexander doubts this commitment.
(Vince Flynn created the Mitch Rapp series of books, writing the first 13 books in the series).
A rogue wing of the royal family, Faisal’s nephew Prince Talal bin Musaid, has begun funding ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq). The prince’s thinking has been to position himself as the likely successor to leadership in Saudi Arabia when the king, of deteriorating health, eventually dies. The means and ends to getting to this result, with Scott Coleman still struggling to regain his former health alongside core themes of distrust for political motivations, lead to the core storytelling of Enemy of the State.
(Enemy of the State is the third book written by Kyle Mills in the Mitch Rapp series of books).
Most of the twists and turns of the story of this book offer the cliffhanger qualities that one should expect. There were a couple of a pleasantly surprising nature that particularly pleased me, including part of the story that dealt with a character who had been in North Dakota. The novel’s conclusion was a bit on the mundane side for my liking, though where the larger outcome landed was as good as it needed to be. I rate Enemy of the State as written by Kyle Mills 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.
(Graham Sibley as Abraham Lincoln in the 2022 Malcolm VenvilledocumentaryAbraham Lincoln).
The three episodes of the documentary star Graham Sibley in the title role of Abraham Lincoln. Frederick Rendina had writing credits for all three episodes of the documentary, including The Railsplitter, A President at War and Saving the Union. Sundi Lofty had writing credit for A President at War. Rebecca Sue Haber had writing credit Saving the Union. The three episodes sought to offer insight into the formative and political thinking of Abraham Lincoln, the man, on the notions of slavery, race and the notion of equality. The record is not as romantic in this regard as one would hope, which is the mixed bag of truth about Lincoln and the country both then and now.
(The historical Abraham Lincoln before he grew his beard).
The Railsplitter episode that began this documentary looked heavily into the life of the sixteenth president of the United States during his formative years. As mentioned by the Internet Movie Database, the episode seeks to articulate Lincoln “[t]hrough a poverty-ridden childhood on the American frontier, [wherein] Lincoln is determined to leave his mark on the world.” Among other things, we are introduced to the president’s wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, as portrayed by Jenny Stead. It is of interest to learn of the dynamics of the president’s childhood, including the relationships with his father (Thomas Lincoln as portrayed by Steve Larter), his mother (Nancy Hanks Lincoln), his stepmother (Sarah Bush Johnston Lincoln as portrayed by Lucy Tops) and his neighbor Josiah Crawford. Deon Lotz portrayed Josiah Crawford, whose inclusion in the documentary offered an insight into personal responsibility for the young Abraham Lincoln. The history of lost political campaigns and the debates with Illinois senator Stephen A. Douglas, as portrayed by Richard Lothian, were insightful.
(Graham Sibley as Abraham Lincoln in the 2022 Malcolm VenvilledocumentaryAbraham Lincoln).
The threat of disunion drove much of the politics through the war, as portrayed through friction evident between the president and abolitionist Frederick Douglass as portrayed by Stefan Adegbola; Douglass‘ escape from slavery to the north, as assisted by his future wife Anna Murray Douglass, was told during the opening two episodes of Abraham Lincoln with the portrayal by Nancy Sekhokoane. Friction between Lincoln and his generals, as this episode took pains to demonstrate included Lincoln learning to be commander in chief, included frustrations with getting George McClellan to take the military initiative through the course of the war. Sven Ruygrok portrayed McClellan. The portrayal of Elizabeth Keckley (alternatively spelled Elizabeth Keckly) by Megan Alexander gave depth beyond the Lincoln family anguish at the death of Willie Lincoln, as portrayed by Ben Smollan. Context for the Emancipation Proclamation was presented in this episode.
(Graham Sibley as Abraham Lincoln in the 2022 Malcolm VenvilledocumentaryAbraham Lincoln).
The documentary episode Saving the Union began with the second day of the Battle of Gettsyburg in Pennsylvania, having picked up from the recounting of the first day’s conflict with generals George Meade as portrayed by Nicky Rebelo and Robert E. Lee leading the competing armies. In Lincoln‘s estimation as demonstrated in the documentary, it was Meade‘s failure to promptly pursue Lee‘s defeated army before they crossed the Potomac River that prompted Meade‘s removal as general following the victory at Gettysburg. With the victory of forces led by Ulysses S. Grant at the Battle of Vicksburg granting commercial control of the Mississippi River to the north, Lincoln‘s perspective about ending the war then and there has merit.
(The historical Ulysses S. Grant).
Justin Salinger portrayed Grant, a future United Statespresident who would assume command of the various armies of the Union war effort. The notions of slave emancipation, African Americans fighting in the army with delayed equal pay, and other abolitionist ambitions advocated by Frederick Douglass and others were given further context, with the narrative interpretations offered throughout the three episodes of this documentary, offered throughout. Other major themes addressed include the Gettysburg Address, the election of 1864 within the context of Grant‘s military leadership, Lincoln‘s second inaugural address, the president’s thoughts on Reconstruction and the period following the end of the America Civil War and finally the assassination of Abraham Lincoln five days after the surrender of Robert E. Lee‘s army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House, in Appomattox County, Virginia.
(The historical Abraham Lincoln after he grew his beard).
Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States, offered commentary and context interspersed with the dramatic presentations by actors. Historians Allen C. Guelzo, David S. Reynolds, Christy S. Coleman, Harold Holzer, Ted Widmer (aka Edward L Widmer) and Catherine Clinton, among others, added additional commentary and context through the three episodes of this documentary. The tone throughout the documentary felt even-handed and thoughtfully considered without being preachy, without reaching too far and offering context for where clear criticism and contextual problems with worldviews of the present day clearly exist. I give the documentaryAbraham Lincoln as directed by Malcolm Venville 4-stars on a scale of 1-to-5 for its quality.
(From left, Tippi Hedren as Margaret ‘Marnie’ Edgar Rutland and Sean Connery as Mark Rutland in the Alfred Hitchcock movie Marnie).
The story of Marnie begins with Margaret ‘Marnie’ Edgar, a single woman portrayed by Tippi Hedren and as the character passing herself off under a different name, convincing the head of a tax consulting company to hire her without references. After stealing nearly $10,000 from the company safe and changing her appearance, Marnie flees. After stabling her horse in Virginia, Marnie visits in invalid mother Bernice. Marnie visits her mother, whom she supports financially, in Baltimore, Maryland.
(Louise Latham as Bernice Edgar, Marnie’s mother in the Alfred Hitchcock movie Marnie).
Louise Latham portrayed Bernice Edgar. Sean Connery portrays Mark Rutland, who as a wealthy widower and owner of a publishing company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania had become aware of the theft after meeting with the owner of the tax consulting company on business. Several months later, Marnie applies to Rutland’s company under a third name. Rutland hires Marnie, having recognized her from the tax consultancy. Circumstances take off from there, allowing Rutland to comfort Marnie to the level knowing personal emotional information.
(From left, Diane Baker as Lil Mainwaring, Mark’s former sister-in-law and Sean Connery as Mark Rutland in the Alfred Hitchcock movie Marnie).
Marnie steals money from Rutland’s company, with Rutland’s awareness. Mark follows the fleeing Marnie to the farm in Virginia where Marnie’s horse is boarded. Rutland blackmails Marnie into marrying him. Meanwhile, Mark’s former sister-in-law, Lil Mainwaring, feels romantic love for her former brother-in-law. Mainwaring, as portrayed by Diane Baker, suspects something improper after discovering Rutland’s extravagant spending following the marriage between Marnie and Mark. There are marital difficulties between the newlyweds from the start, with the fact of Marnie’s mother being alive becoming common knowledge only after the difficulties had presented themselves.
(From left, director Alfred Hitchcock in cameo as Man Leaving Hotel Room, an unidentified hotel worker and Tippi Hedren as Margaret ‘Marnie’ Edgar Rutland in the Alfred Hitchcock movie Marnie).
A significant bit of storytelling follows from there, with intrigue aplenty offered by Mr. Hitchcock. Even in cameo, it feels to me like the fair director offers a knowing look about the quality of the tale that is offered with Marnie. I grant Marnie as directed by Alfred Hitchcock 3.5-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.
Matt Lynn Digital 