(Jean-Pierre Marielle as Jacques Saunière in the Ron Howard movie The Da Vinci Code).
The movie begins with the pursuit if Louvre Museum curator Jacques Saunière, as portrayed by Jean-Pierre Marielle, in the world famous Paris, France art museum by Roman Catholic, albino monk named Silas; Silas was portrayed by Paul Bettany. Saunière, while coming out of the exchange dead, leaves clues amongst the artwork of Leonardo da Vinci, the namesake for the movie, the book, and the clues embedded in the art around the museum that lead the police to summon renowned Harvard University symbologist Robert Langdon to the case.
(From left, Paul Bettany as Silas and Alfred Molina as Bishop Aringarosa in the Ron Howard movie The Da Vinci Code).
Robert Langdon, as portrayed by Tom Hanks, initially is suspected of the murder of Jacques Saunière, by police captain Bezu Fache, as portrayed by Jean Reno. Police cryptologist Sophie Neveu, as portrayed by Audrey Tautou, disagrees that that Langdon should be suspected of her grandfather’s, that is Saunière’s, murder; Neveu and Langdon shake Fache’s pursuit and deduce that Saunière was a grand master of the French founded Priory of Sion.
(From left, Audrey Tautou as Sophie Neveu and Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon near the Louvre Museum in the Ron Howard movie The Da Vinci Code).
Silas, meanwhile, works for an anonymous to him person he calls The Teacher, which has links to the Bishop Aringarosa led Opus Dei. Aringarosa, as portrayed by Alfred Molina. Circumstances send Langdon and Neveu to Sir Leigh Teabing, as portrayed by Ian McKellan.
(Jean Reno as Police Captain Bezu Fache in the Ron Howard movie The Da Vinci Code).
It was Teabing, a purported expert on the Holy Grail, who introduces a theory contrary to accepted religious canon about a relationship between Mary Magdalene and Jesus, which motivated much of the subtextual mystery functioning in the movie. Charlotte Graham portrayed Mary Magdalene in The Da Vinci Code.
(Ian McKellen as Sir Leigh Teabing in the Ron Howard movie The Da Vinci Code).
The thriller aspects of the movie, along with the intrigue underpinning the mysteries animating the story for the movie, largely worked. That the resolution went in the direction it did was a bit provocative for my taste, though that does not mean the fiction did not work. I give The Da Vinci Code as directed by Ron Howard 3.75-stars on a scale of one-to-five.
Looking into the near future upon the book’s release in October of 2020, the Don DeLillo book The Silence: A Novel was offered at a time that feels useful to an audience in the midst of a pandemic. Said to have been to completion just weeks before the pandemic commenced, this book is a work of fiction prescient in its subject matter and the human responses, confounding as some may be, that came in the immediate onset of a separate view of calamity in our lives.
(Don DeLillo, pictured here, wrote The Silence: A Novel).
Set on Super Bowl Sunday in the year 2022, what feels more like a novella than novel in length occurs in two major acts. The originating action is following the beginning of the Super Bowl party from a Manhattan apartment in New York City, New York. One couple (Jim Kripps and Tessa Berens) is flying into the city from Paris, France in an effort to attend the gathering, whereas the host couple (a husband (Max Stenner) and his retired physics professor wife (Diane Lucas)) and a former student of hers (Martin Dekker) await the game of the rest of their attendees. The random chatter of each individual circumstance opens the action, with the dialogue of filling space well on display. The home of Kripps and Berens is in Newark, New Jersey.
(Don DeLillo‘s book The Silence: A Novel was published in October 2020).
The introduction of a dramatic change in circumstance for both groups follows, with a disruption of the means to communicate and consume content or information digitally, whether that be smart phones, televisions, or other devices of convenience. It is in the aftermath of this loss, wherein the need to return the means of communication to a decidedly older means of interaction, becomes the point. The conversations without American football, without the immediacy of information at your fingertips, changes and reveals the means of human interaction. What follows, I believe, is the point that DeLillo as author is making to us.
(Don DeLillo was born in New York City in 1936).
The biggest success of DeLillo’s novella is his conveying confusion and longing for the familiar in the aftermath of significant change. The sharing of theories for how and why the change came to pass feels particularly real, as is the retreating of individual characters into what is familiar to them. My impression of the work is affected by my perception that I didn’t walk away with any particular new insight into the human condition. Perhaps if I had read this three years ago, I would feel differently. This, I present The Silence: A Novel by Don DeLillo 3.5-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.
Written by John Hughes and directed by Chris Columbus, the comedy movie Home Alone (1990) captures our attention today. The story shared is that of an eight-year-old troublemaker who defends his home from a pair of burglars robbing affluent homes in suburban Chicago, Illinois, United States the evening before Christmas as the child’s family left him behind as they travel for pleasure to Paris, France in Europe.
(From left, Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, Jedidiah Cohen as cousin Rod and Devin Ratray as Buzz McCallister in the Chris Columbus movie Home Alone).
The evening before the eight-year-old would be isolated from his family, Kevin McCallister as portrayed by Macaulay Culkin finds himself getting picked on by his siblings, cousins and even fully grown Uncle Frank McCallister. The words from the likes of Uncle Frank and older brother Buzz, as portrayed by Gerry Bamman and Devin Ratray, respectively, sting Kevin more than the teasing from the others; a dispute over the pizza brought into the house for dinner before the flight that strands Kevin at home alone would lead to a large disagreement between Kevin and his parents.
(Gerry Bamman as Uncle Frank McCallister in the Chris Columbus movie Home Alone).
After being provoked by sibling rivalry and his rude uncle, Kevin has harsh words with his mother, Kate McCallister as portrayed by Catherine O’Hara. Kate banished Kevin for the night to the third story bedroom. Kevin sleeps through the rush of the next morning when the family realizes they overslept and need to rush to the airport to capture a flight to Europe. It is during the haste to depart for the airport that a neighbor kid inserts himself into the party’s headcount. It isn’t until Kevin’s parents Peter and Kate discover, in first class on the airplane, that Kevin would still be in suburban Chicago. John Heard portrayed Peter McCallister.
(From left, Catherine O’Hara as Kate McCallister and John Heard as Peter McCallister in the Chris Columbus movie Home Alone).
After waking in the morning to see the family vehicles still at the family home, Kevin realizes he is alone but not that his extended family had traveled to the airport in rented vans. It’s the day before Christmas, by himself for Kevin at this point, with the fear of neighbor “Old Man” Marley planted by Buzz and the extended family the night before. The decorated Christmas tree is left behind for the appearance the family would be home for the holiday. The exploration of his new found freedom offers comedic fodder for the audience at this point, as is the family’s discovery that plans to get back to Kevin are the priority. Roberts Blossom portrayed “Old Man”Marley.
(From left, Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, Daniel Stern as Marv Murchins and Joe Pesci as Harry Lyme in the Chris Columbus movie Home Alone).
Kevin’s efforts to defend the family house against burglers Harry Lyme and Marv Murchins, portrayed by Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern, respectively, offers much comedic fodder to the remainder of the movie. The troublemaker kid against the troublemaker adults made for laughs in the live action gags planned to keep the McCallister home safe. The framing of the movie’s outcome to show Kevin’s responses to when and if his family gets back to suburban Chicago to share Christmas day with him offer a payoff the movie needs to answer the drama that began the overarching story.
(From left, Roberts Blossom as “Old Man” Marley and Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister in the Chris Columbus movie Home Alone).
The comedy delivered with Chris Columbus‘ Home Alone delivers laughs with a touch of heartwarming delivery to tie a bow around the effort of watching. The movie delivers content for adults that works as well as it might for 12-year-olds might find laughs in the antics of after school cartoons for the youths of people of a certain age. I grant Home Alone as directed by Chris Columbus and written by John Hughes 4.0-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.
As the All Music website helps clarify here, “Trans-Siberian Orchestra is…not a permanent musical organization. Rather, it is the trade name for the session orchestras assembled for a number of symphonic rock cross-over albums produced by Paul O’Neill.” O’Neill was from Queens, New York City, New York, offering a series of rock cross-over albums that we begin looking at today. The Christmas Eve and Other Stories album was released on October 15, 1996.
(Presented is the album cover for Christmas Eve and Other Stories. This Trans-Siberian Orchestra album was released on October 15, 1996).
O Come All Ye Faithful/O Holy Night follows the album opener with a more pronounced piano with guitar introduction to two songs eventually fused with drums into a clear harder hitting rock sound than typically heard from either song. This song is presented in strictly instrumental form.
(Adolphe Adam of Paris, France set O Holy Night to music with the song’s original composition in 1847).
A Star to Follow begins with pronounced adult male singing and supporting instrumentation at first to God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman. The presented composition moves into pre-teen children singing to the expected joy of the Christmas celebration. A third movement returns a chorus of the men singing the words Merry Christmas with the kids singing harmony. An appealing effect follows with an adult choir adding lyrics for the Ukranian folk chant Carol of the Bells. The song ends with the children singing their willingness to follow into the magical joy the holiday promises.
An acoustic guitar introduces First Snow for a few seconds before giving way to a clear electric guitar melody with accompanying drums. Following A Star to Follow, I felt the evocation of satisfied revelry for adults and children. Hinting at a notion of Christmas with snow does not hurt, either. The song plays as a full instrumental without lyrics.
The Silent Nutcracker plays to a more fully throated acoustical instrumental performance. Hints of Silent Night are again made in strictly instrumental form for a more extended playing in what proves to be another song presented without lyrics.
A Mad Russian’s Christmas opens with piano playing in solitude an authoritative electric guitar riffs accompanying. A series of explicit rock melodies follow in instrumental succession, invoking classic orchestral rises and falls of mood to tunes sure to be recognized by most. Of all the songs on Christmas Even and Other Songs, A Mad Russian’s Christmas perhaps best exemplifies why the word orchestra belongs in the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
With The Prince of Peace, the reintroduction of singing proves welcome and as emotionally uplifting as the reason for the season sung about. An adult female sings of Jesus Christ‘s birth, explicitly invoking Hark! The Herald Angels Sing just beyond minute and a half into the presentation.
Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24 begins with a few seconds worth of traditional instrumentation introducing God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman. A fully instrumental presentation continues from here with a different rocking sound, evoking anticipation, discovery and magic coming with the next day. The birth of Jesus with the celebration indicated with A Star to Follow earlier in the album come to bear again. The band Savatage, who played a significant role in bringing this song to life, were formed in Tampa, Florida in 1983.
(Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24 was released as a single by Savatage and Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Trans-Siberian Orchestra a side project of several members of Savatage).
Good King Joy raises the octave level on every song that preceded it on Christmas Eve and Other Stories by announcing the birth of Jesus with a bright introductory verse of Joy to the World. Heavy piano and guitar follow in furtherance of the Jesus‘ birth. Switching to a rhythm and blues theme three minutes into a song that plays more than six minutes with lyrics invoking the nativity story with the Magi in Bethlehem works magic.
Ornament brings us back to a raspy blues singer view of a young lady separated from her family leading up to Christmas. We find that the viewpoint is that of a father desperate to have his daughter call a truce to whatever ails the relationship. A specific ornament between the two stands in as the token of hope, memory and joy to bring the two together again on this pending Christmas day.
The First Noel is presented in an acoustic and quick interlude of instrumentation. The song itself reminds of the birth of Jesus and the first nativity in less than a minute of song.
A sympathetic and acoustic, storytelling vibe brings the song Old City Bar. The bluesy father from Ornament continues the story of the disconnected daughter who couldn’t get home on Christmas Eve. The song is a sad tale that turns unexpectedly happy with cab fare to JFK Airport in New York City to get home to her father.
Promises to Keep opens with distinct piano playing that quickly opens to the singing of children in chorus taking upon themselves the seeking and the keeping of the promises of love represented by Christmas. The wishing upon stars give way to keeping the spirit and goodness through the season, the years, the lifetimes. The sweetness is meaning like a music box invoked through the song.
This Christmas Day brings the optimism and feeling of Christmas in stringing together Ornament, Old City Bar and this song with bright strings of lights, ribbons, and the returning home of the daughter to her home, accompanied by the joy of her father. With the promise of desperation giving way to promises delivered now and forever, the feeling resonates through repetitions of the lyrics of “Merry Christmas, merry merry Christmas!”
An Angel Returned frames the album with the opening song of Christmas Eve and Other Stories, An Angel Came Down. In referencing Kyrie (Lord) and at least partially calling upon the “Kyrie, eleison,” or “Lord, have mercy” prayer, this song with new lyrics (An Angel Returned) set to essentially the same music (An Angel Came Down), the Christmas spirit as embodied by faithfulness expressed in song has transformed people through the joy felt in the hope of the savior’s birth on the night of Christmas Eve as told through the songs of this album.
(Pictured here is Paul O’Neill, the founder of Trans-Siberian Orchestra).
O Holy Night was presented as a bonus song beyond the original album, with an instrumental version of the song that varies from the second half of O Come All Ye Faithful/O Holy Night earlier in the album. This presentation feels like it was played on guitar, though a dobro might have been the primary instrument.
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen adds an additional bonus of 75-seconds of an exclusively acoustical presentation of the song.
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.
(From left, Asa Butterfield as Hugo Cabret and Jude Law as Hugo’s father, Mr. Cabret in the Martin Scorsese movie Hugo).
The film offers a remarkable adventure drama based primarily in a 1931 train station of Paris, France. We’re introduced to 12-year-old Hugo Cabret and his widowed father, each respectively portrayed by Asa Butterfield and Jude Law. The two take to repairing a broken mechanical man established to write with a pen per specific commands requiring a key to unlock. Hugo is left with the legacy of a notebook of the pair’s repair attempts after the father, and Hugo’s alcoholic uncle, Claude Cabret, both die with the boy as their ward. Ray Winstone portrayed Claude Cabret.
(From left, Martin Scorsese as Photographer and Ray Winstone as Claude Cabret in the Martin Scoresese movie Hugo).
With Claude’s death, Hugo takes to maintaining the clocks at the Gare Montparnasse train station in his uncle’s place. The adventure for Hugo, beyond survival, rests with the boy’s efforts to repair the automaton with stolen parts. Hugo believes that the automaton has a message from his father. The foil to this effort is the possibility that station inspector Gustave Dasté, as portrayed by Sacha Baron Cohen, will send Hugo away if the absence of Claude Cabret is discovered.
(From left, Sacha Baron Cohen as Inspector Gustave Dasté, Chloë Grace Moretz as Isabelle and Asa Butterfield as Hugo Cabret in the Martin Scorsese movie Hugo).
In a largely symbolic gesture moment of the movie that feels to me like it may be less subtle in the book, Christopher Lee portrayed Monsieur Labisse. Labisse presents Hugo with a copy of the book Robin Hood the Outlaw by Alexandre Dumas. The book parallels Hugo’s journey as Hugo’s aim was avoid authority (Inspector Gustave) to survive in the station and bring the automaton into working order.
(From left, Christopher Lee as Monsieur Labisse and Asa Butterfield as Hugo Cabret in the Martin Scorsese movie Hugo).
Of course, further complications present themselves. With the stealing of parts from a toy store operated by Georges Méliès, as portrayed by Ben Kingsley, Hugo encounters an initial bitterness in Méliès to the boy’s theft. Georges agrees to allow Hugo to repay the debt through working for him, which Hugo takes upon himself as a means of retrieving his father’s notebook, which Georges has confiscated. Isabelle, the goddaughter of Georges Méliès as portrayed by Chloë Grace Moretz, becomes a needed friend to Hugo. The heartwarming tale that follows from here makes the movie Hugo a fully appropriate spending of your time, should you appreciate a sweet and moving tale.
(From left, Asa Butterfield as Hugo Cabret and Ben Kingsley as Georges Méliès in the Martin Scorsese movie Hugo).
In addition to the awards mentioned above, the movie Hugo also won three Golden Globe Awards. The craftsmanship and experience of the movie reflects the praise bestowed upon the film. The attention to details were quite high, as were the sets and the action. The film was filmed third-dimensionally, though can be viewed in two-dimensions. I grant Hugo as directed by Martin Scorsese 4.5-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.
(From left, Oliver Masucci as Anton Vogel and Mads Mikkelsen as Gellert Grindelwald in the David Yates movie Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore).
Writing credits for Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore rested with J.K. Rowling and Steve Kloves, with Kloves reemerging after several successes as a screenwriter for many of the novels written by Rowling for the Harry Potter movies. That Gellert Grindelwald appears in this Fantastic Beasts movie in a third incarnation is perhaps the biggest distraction entering this movie. *Remember that Colin Farrell had portrayed American auror Percival Graves in the original movie, only to be revealed as Gellert Grindelwald in disguise as portrayed by Johnny Depp for the remainder of the first and second movies. Mads Mikkelsen entered that role with Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.
(From left, Dan Fogler as Jacob Kowalski, Jessica Williams as Eulalie ‘Lally’ Hicks, Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander and Callum Turner as Theseus Scamander in the David Yates movie Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore).
The central story of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore in large part continues to focus on the theme of blood relationships coupled with the future of the magical world. The central action for the movie transitions from Paris, France with Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald to Berlin, Germany with touchpoints in Kweilin (also spelled Guilin), China, Scotland (Hogwarts), and New York City, New York, United States. Grindelwald looks to gain control of the International Confederation of Wizards, which is due to elect a new head in Berlin.
(From left, Jude Law as Albus Dumbledore and Richard Coyle as Aberforth Dumbledore in the David Yates movie Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore).
The pair of secrets that informs much of the conflict are, indeed, the conflicts among siblings that inform much of the Fantastic Beasts world. The nature of the blood pact between Albus Dumbledore, as portrayed by Jude Law, and Gellert Grindelwald keep the two from acting in opposition to one another, despite contrasting world views. With the notion of a fantastic beast known as a qilin central to the Grindelwald’s ambitions, Grindelwald had dispatched Credence Barebone to the birth of a qilin in Kweilin to interfere with some special qualities for the birdlike creature. Barebone beats Newt Scamander to the quick in protecting the qilin’s birth, with much to come from the exchange. Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander as Ezra Miller portrayed Credence Barebone.
(From left, Alison Sudol as Queenie Goldstein and Katherine Waterston as Tina Goldstein in the David Yates movie Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore).
The relationship that Credence Barebone has to the Dumbledore bloodline invokes brotherly questions between Albus and Aberforth Dumbledore, with Aberforth Dumbledore portrayed by Richard Coyle. Newt Scamander and his brother, Theseus Scamander as portrayed by Callum Turner, must join forces to with non-magical helper Jacob Kowalski, American Charms teacher Eulalie ‘Lally’ Hicks from Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Newt’s assistant Bunty and French wizard of Senegalese descent, Yusuf Kama. Dan Fogler, Jessica Williams, Victoria Yeates and William Nadylam portrayed Kowalski, Hicks, Bunty and Kama, respectively.
(From left, Ezra Miller as Credence Barebone, William Nadylam as Yusuf Kama and Victoria Yeates as Bunty in the David Yates movie Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore).
The goals of Dumbledore’s group overlapped in opposition to those in some ways as the roles portrayed by Anton Vogel and Queenie Goldstein. Oliver Masucci and Alison Sudol, portrayed Vogel and Goldstein, respectively. Tina Goldstein, Queenie’s sister as portrayed by Katherine Waterston, had a small role with Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore that did more for the Fantastic Beasts franchise than it did for this particular movie.
(From left, Steve Kloves and J.K. Rowling wrote the screenplay for the David Yates movie Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore).
Lynn, my wife and significant fan of the Harry Potter books and movies, rates Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore as the third movie for her in the Fantastic Beasts movies currently released. There’s an early and difficult scene with a qilin that was arguably too graphic for this franchise that I think set the stage for the larger movie experience for her. The emotional impact that this action had for the larger story is understandable, yet could have been depicted with more subtlety, in my personal opinion. The larger story did work for me, however. I grant Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore as directed by David Yates 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.
(From left, Cary Grant as Johnnie Aysgarth and Joan Fontaine as Lina McLaidlaw Aysgarth in the Alfred Hitchcock movie Suspicion).
Suspicion establishes setting and character when eligible, handsome and financially irresponsible Johnnie Aysgarth meets Lina McLaidlaw on a train traveling in England. Johnnie aims to initiate conversation with a suspicious insult meant as a means of beginning the desire for communication. When Lina later overhears her parents mentioning that they believe Lina will never marry, she lashes out by kissing Johnnie in defiance. Cary Grant portrayed Johnnie Aysgarth. Joan Fontaine, winner of an Academy Award for the performance, portrayed Lina McLaidlaw.
(Cedric Hardwicke as General McLaidlaw in the Alfred Hitchcock movie Suspicion).
The kiss to spite her parents leads to an afternoon date between Lina and Johnnie, which Johnnie cancels before vanishing. Things eventually turn around, with a proposal for marriage that Lina’s wealthy father opposes with decided strength. Cedric Hardwicke and May Whitty portrayed General McLaidlaw and Mrs. Martha McLaidlaw, parents to Lina, respectively.
(From left, Joan Fontaine as Lina McLaidlaw Aysgarth and May Whitty as Mrs. Martha McLaidlaw in the Alfred Hitchcock movie Suspicion).
This escalating romance eventually leads to the couple’s decision to elope, thus making the wealthy couple’s daughter Lina McLaidlaw Aysgarth. The story escalates into an increasingly thrilling set of actions that become decidedly film noir when the state of Johnnie’s finances come to light with the notion for how to pay for a luxurious wedding and living arrangements come into focus. The selling of family heirlooms to cover gambling debts are simply the beginning.
(From left, Cary Grant as Johnnie Aysgarth, Joan Fontaine as Lina McLaidlaw Aysgarth and Nigel Bruce as Gordon Cochrane ‘Beaky’ Thwaite in the Alfred Hitchcock movie Suspicion).
Things get deeper when a financial ambitions, including financial shenanigans that eventually escalate to confirm that a desperate times can call for desperate measures. Lina perceives a confidence play on a land deal between Johnnie and the good-natured Gordon Cochrane ‘Beaky’ Thwaite. Things really get elevate after Beaky travels to Paris, France. Nigel Bruce portrayed ‘Beaky’ Thwaite, and unwittingly points to some fascinating suspense for how the film ultimately resolves itself.
(From left, actor Cary Grant and director Alfred Hitchcock staging a shot for the Alfred Hitchcock movie Suspicion).
The intrigue throughout Suspicion resonates with me, 90-years after the book and 81-years after the movie. What will become of the romantic couple? Are the looks that are legitimate and suspect really what is about to happen? Is there even a chance that the truth isn’t what we suspect? That these are the questions leads to my granting Suspicion as directed by Alfred Hitchcock 4-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.
A truly stunning and visual epic story awaits you with the movie Life of Pi (2012), a movie directed by Ang Lee that celebrates the tenth anniversary of release later this fall. The movie is based upon Canadian writer Yann Martel‘s book Life of Pi, which was released in September of 2001.
(From left, Rafe Spall as The Writer and Irrfan Khan as Piscine Molitor ‘Pi’ Patel, adult in the Ang Lee movie Life of Pi).
The story of Life of Pi follows first the spiritual and metaphysical life of Piscine Molitor ‘Pi’ Patel, who is portrayed at various life stages by Gautam Belur at age 5, Ayush Tandon from age 11 to 12, Suraj Sharma from age 16 to 17, and finally Irrfan Khan as an adult. A young writer portrayed by Rafe Spall meets Pi as a middle-aged adult, requesting the telling of Patel’s life story as fodder for writing a life of the man’s epic adventure. It is there that we are first introduced to Piscine Molitor Patel as a young child from Pondicherry, India. The city has also been called Puducherry, Putucceri and Pondichéry.
(From left, Tabu as Gita Patel, Pi’s mother, and Adil Hussain as Santosh Patel, Pi’s father, in the Ang Lee movie Life of Pi).
We meet Pi’s family, along with the naming of Pi after a famous French swimming pool named Piscine Molitor in Paris. We see the boy grow alongside his older brother and parents, adopting the Greek letter Pi as his name to avoid bullying. Tabu portrayed Gita Patel, Pi’s mother who aids Pi’s spiritual growth through Hinduism, Christianity and then Islam as he grows. Pi’s father tries to secularize Pi in rational tradition, introducing the boy to the family’s zoo. Santosh Patel, as portrayed by Adil Hussain, forces Pi to see the Bengal tiger named Richard Parker kill a goat as a lesson to Patel’s son in the true nature of the animal. Pi’s brother, Ravi Patel, was portrayed by Ayaan Khan at age 7, Mohd. Abbas Khaleeli at age 13 to 14, and Vibish Sivakumar at age 18 to 19.
(Shravanthi Sainath as Anandi, Pi’s adolescent girlfriend in the Ang Lee movie Life of Pi).
The course of Pi’s story looks first to the adolescent affection he feels for a girl named Anandi, as portrayed by Shravanthi Sainath. The hopefulness of this blossoms, until Patel family father Santosh announces the familial need to see the family’s animals and move to Canada. The family sets sail, with the animals, on a Japanese freighter destined for the family’s new homeland. A storm at sea separates Pi from his family, who survives when thrown by a sailor onto a lifeboat as the Patel family, the freighter, and many crew and animals drown in the Mariana Trench.
(Suraj Sharma as Piscine Molitor ‘Pi’ Patel, ages 16-17, in the Ang Lee movie Life of Pi).
Pi survives in his lifeboat, first with a zebra, an orangutan, a spotted hyena and the Bengal tiger, Robert Parker. Adrift with some significant and fantastic challenges that follow, the movie affords life lessons that run the metaphysical and spiritual through a tale of survival that ultimately takes Piscine Molitor ‘Pi’ Patel to Mexico. The telling asks compelling questions through a fantastic and visually stunning epic tale that matches the underlying story to those visuals in ways that justify the presence of the visuals.
(From left, director Ang Lee and actor Suraj Sharma).
The invitation for self-reflection that is presented to the audience, cleverly and with immense satisfaction for this reviewer, brings an uplifting conclusion to a journey appreciated. The sadness that begins the journey, when moving to the lifeboat, is the hardest turn. I grant Life of Pi as directed by Ang Lee 4.25-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.
British writer W. Somerset Maugham wrote a horrific novel of manipulation, romance and frightening manner first published in 1908 named The Magician. The work accomplishes much with respect to character, which is reason for some to take a closer look. That the book offers an authenticity for this genre with a stylistic quality that captures me like works by Ray Bradbury or H.P. Lovecraft; to be clear, my comparison is one of quality rather than explicit development within the stories.
(Alternative covers for The Magician, a book by British writer W. Somerset Maugham released in 1908).
The Magician delves into the notion of sorcery, setting its action both in England and in Paris, France. Starting within Paris, English surgeon Arthur Burdon visits his fiancée Margaret Dauncey and her friend, Susie Boyd. The scene for where the novel will go in sullying this begins quite innocently with the introduction of one Oliver Haddo, a vile and completely unlikable character behind much unexpected and unexpected mystery and motivation to follow.
(British author W. Somerset Maugham‘s book The Magician was originally published in 1908).
Haddo introduces himself as a magician and acquaintance of an influential member of Arthur Burdon’s profession. The acquaintance to a member of Burdon’s past was claimed to occult scholar Dr. Porhoët; things advance between Haddo, Burdon, Dauncey and Boyd in an uncomfortable manner for several days, eventually witnessing Arthur Burdon fighting Oliver Haddo when the purported magician kicks Haddo’s dog.
(Additional covers for editions of The Magician, a 1908 book written by W. Somerset Maugham).
The intense cruelty and revenge motivation of one Oliver Haddo, following the above fight, consumes Burdon, Dauncey and Boyd in an incredible and unlikely plot against the fidelity between Burdon and Dauncey. Despite her initial revulsion to him, Haddo uses seduces Margaret with magic and the force of his personality. Leaving nothing but a note to Arthur, Susie and Porhoët behind, Oliver Haddo and Margaret Dauncey flee Paris and marry.
(W. Somerset Maugham wrote The Magician in London, England, after having lived in Paris).
The story includes much in terms of attempts to reconcile the suddenness and callousness of the above shift. The incredulity of the circumstances, the subterfuge and pettiness underpinning the change, and efforts to resolve the seemingly lost love and get to something just follow these initial and petty motivations. Comparisons to H. G. Wells and others follow with the subsequent plot points that follow.
(The plot of W. Somerset Maugham‘s The Magician is said to bear some resemblance to the George du Maurier 1894 novel Trilby).
While some of the underlying sense of manner and decorum within The Magician are clearly rooted in the years in which the story was written, there remains plenty of adventure and intrigue that sustained my interest through the reading. I found the underlying emotion and character deeply drawn and believable, while I needed to suspend some of the doubt in the magic and intrigue that hardly feels different than some popular storytelling of the modern day. I rate The Magician as written by W. Somerset Maugham at 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.
Matt Lynn Digital 