(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.
With the joy of late fall weather offering the tokens of the coming winter for some northern climates, I was moved to look into a holiday album released November 26th, 2008. The album Home for Christmas by Sheryl Crow of Kennett, Missouri.
(This image shows the Sheryl Crow album cover for Home for Christmas. The album was first released on November 26th, 2008).
(The ‘definitive’ version of The Christmas Song as performed by Nat King Cole was released in 1961).
White Christmas presents with uplifting horns, guitars and drums that brings a light and fun experience. The uplifting tempo is as catchy as any offering on the album. Original writing credits for the song belong to Irving Berlin, born in the Russian Empire of the 19th century.
(Bing Crosby sang the first released version of I’ll Be Home for Christmas in 1943).
Merry Christmas Baby brings a clear pop sensibility to a studio recording featuring keyboard play that gives the song a fusion rhythm and blues and jazz flavor. The original writing credits belong to Johnny Moore of Selma, Alabama and Lou Baxter.
The Bells of St. Mary’sincludes music written by A. Emmett Adams with lyrics by Douglas Furber, dating back to 1917. The sound is very modern, with a vocal range offered by Sheryl Crow that brings a pleasing effect open to continued listening.
(Blue Christmas as performed by Elvis Presley made the song as popular as ever in the United States).
O Holy Night opens with a partial singing of It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, with the latter accounting for nearly 1-minute and 10-seconds of the 3-minute and 39-second performance. Distinct production differences points to what feels like performances intended to have been separate. The singing proves inspired and moving, making for a rewarding experience.
As written by Sheryl Crow, the song There Is a Star That Shines Tonight has perhaps the most authentically true song on the album. Strongly piano based with stringed instrument accompaniment, the quiet sweetness invokes celestial inspiration, missing one’s loved ones and the inspiration of the newborn spiritual king.
Hello My Friend, Hello offers a gentle meditation of friendship and winter’s regeneration. The accompanying instrumentation offers a sweet accompaniment to Crow‘s singing. Bill Botrell is credited with writing this song.
(Sheryl Crow‘s album Home for Christmas was first released on November 26th, 2008).
The final song for the 2008 release of the Home for Christmas album is All Through the Night, a sleepy meditation of a song with seemingly Welsh origins under the name Ar Hyd Y Nos. As noted here, the song “is still sung in Welsh, especially by male voice choirs, [although] it is better known by its English title “All Through The Night.”
(From left, Nick Nolte as Phil Elliott and Savannah Smith Boucher as Joanne Rodney in the Ted Kotcheff movie North Dallas Forty).
The movie was based on Peter Gent‘s 1973 bestselling book named North Dallas Forty. Gent, of Bangor, Michigan, was presented as receiver Phil Elliott of the North Dallas Bulls, with Nick Nolte portraying him in the movie. The movie aims to offer a somewhat simplified version of the portrait within the book for the way of life in professional football in general and for the Dallas Cowboys as coached by Tom Landry when Gent played there. Within the film, Landry translated to B.A. Strothers, as portrayed by G.D. Spradlin.
(From left, G.D. Spradlin as B.A. Strothers and Charles Durning as Coach Johnson in the Ted Kotcheff movie North Dallas Forty).
Elliott as a player is presented as having really good hands, which means that he is better than most at catching passes thrown his direction. Seth Maxwell throws the passes for the Bulls as the quarterback. Maxwell, as portrayed by Mac Davis, and Elliott both are shown to enjoy parties that include drugs, alcohol and access women willing to enjoy time with professional athletes. Seth Maxwell is modeled on former Cowboys quarterback Don Meredith of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Elliott is shown to simply wish to play the game and then retire to a horse farm with his girlfriend Charlotte Caulder. Caulder was portrayed by Dayle Haddon.
(From left, Mac Davis as Seth Maxwell, Tommy Reamon as Delma Huddle and Nick Nolte as Phil Elliott in the Ted Kotcheff movie North Dallas Forty).
The film focuses on the gritty realism of the game through the perspective of the players. The blind eye to the realities of what players experienced simply to get onto the field from practice to practice and game to game were big points of emphasis for the film. Rookie receiver Delma Huddle and the veteran Phil Elliott were central to a storyline about the approaches to injuries, pain management and the use of painkillers. The grading system for every player by coach B.A. Strothers furthered the narrative of a process out-of-touch with the humanity of the players. An emotional eruption between player O.W. Shaddock and Coach Johnson provides further evidence of this. Charles Durning portrayed Coach Johnson as John Matuszak portrayed O.W. Shaddock. Tommy Reamon portrayed Delma Huddle.
(From left, Bo Svenson as Joe Bob Priddy, Mac Davis as Seth Maxwell and John Matuszak as O.W. Shaddock in the Ted Kotcheff movie North Dallas Forty).
The movie deals further in satire specifically in bringing the human factor into the way the grading system was used, in addition to the means for how Phil Elliott separates from the North Dallas Bulls. Factors that run counter to Elliott’s desire to play and contribute sours the player to the way the process worked, pointing out that the human factor colors perceptions of fairness, appropriateness and why individuals wish to participate at all. With all the suffering underpinning the game of professional football, the message of whether the sacrifice is worth it comes to bear.
(Grant Kilpatrick as Monsignor in the Ted Kotcheff movie North Dallas Forty).
I particularly enjoyed North Dallas Forty as a movie exploring the realism for how physically and emotionally difficult the sport is. I appreciate that the movie explored notions of the humanity of the people playing and coaching the sport, regardless of whether I feel that the book itself gave a balanced accounting of the leadership perspectives shown to be lacking. I rate North Dallas Forty as directed by Ted Kotcheff 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.
(Joshua Cohen wrote The Netanyahus: An Account of a Minor and Ultimately Even Negligible Episode in the History of a Very Famous Family).
The book tells the story of how Jewish historian Ruben Blum, then working for fictional Corbin College in something just short of upstate New York, was wrangled into reviewing the application and working on the hiring committee for an exiled Israeli scholar whose specialty was the Spanish Inquisition. The early movement for the book presents challenges to Blum’s sense of place in relation to his wife, his daughter and both sets of the married couple’s parents in relation to the couple and their daughter.
(From left, Benzion Netanyahu, sons Benjamin and Jonathan, his wife, Tzila).
Many pretensions and assumptions about the boundaries of living are challenged in this buildup. The challenges to these are raised an exponential level when employment candidate Benzion Netanyahu, originally of Warsaw, Poland brings his wife and sons for a day of interviews, lectures and being hosted in Corbin College’s community to determine fitness for the professorial position being contemplated for him. A comedy of disparate perspectives for Ruben Blum, his wife and child, Netanyahu, the family of Netanyahu, and those in charge of determining the fate of Netanyahu‘s candidacy provide a wild ride of how things so straightforward can turn challenging for the worldviews and senses of propriety for many.
(From left, Benzion Netanyahu, who died in 2012, and his son Benjamin Netanyahu).
That the book The Netanyahus: An Account of a Minor and Ultimately Even Negligible Episode in the History of a Very Famous Family mixes some sense of nonfiction into the philosophies for the elder Netanyahu that would inform parts of his son’s worldviews in political service underline the importance of the delivery that the comedic ambitions of the novel also present. The mortifying feelings of the emotional components are not to be lost, either, as the book lands with a satisfying blend of perspective sharing mixed with comedies of the personal kind. I grant the book The Netanyahus: An Account of a Minor and Ultimately Even Negligible Episode in the History of a Very Famous Family as written by Joshua Cohen 4.25-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.
Following a successful career as part of the band Eagles, Don Henley of Gilmer, Texas achieved success with work under his own name. The second album released in this way was Building the Perfect Beast, which was released in the third week of November, 1984.
(Shown is the album cover for Don Henley‘s second solo album Building the Perfect Beast).
The Boys of Summer opens Building the Perfect Beast with lyrics by Don Henley and music composed by Mike Campbell of Panama City, Florida and Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. The song is a look back at what was had with a past relationship and wanting those feelings and experiences back again. Evoking a feeling of summer at a beach offers a pleasant sense of nostalgia for me.
(The Boys of Summer was the first single released from the Don Henley album Building the Perfect Beast on October 26th, 1984).
You Can’t Make Love offers a rather grim look into the physical and emotional limitations that keep the singer from a full expression of love. I sense Henley saying that engaging many of the heartfelt parts of love will offer simply the illusion of love without granting the intimacy that offers true emotional connection. Henley wrote this song with Danny Kortchmar of Larchmont, New York.
Man With a Mission offers a country dance floor sensibility to suggesting that is singular focus is on emotionally connecting with someone he wishes to know romantically. J.D. Souther of Detroit, Michigan joined Kortchmar and Henley writing this song.
You’re Not Drinking Enough went full country lament for the sadness of a love lost. The song focuses on the hurt of loving another, with advice to drink more as a coping mechanism against the pain. With writing credits for Danny Kortchmar here, this song was most popularly covered by Earl Thomas Conley of Portsmouth, Ohio, with another cover by Alan Jackson of Newnan, Georgiahere.
(Supporting the Building the Perfect Beast album, Don Henley‘s Not Enough Love in the World was released as a single in 1985 and hit #34 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart).
Not Enough Love in the World lands with a soft rock sound with writing credits for Benmont Tench of Gainesville, Florida, Henley and Kortchmar. The song deals with another rocky relationship wherein the singer indicates he remains in love. As indicated here, the relationship sung about might be one between Henley and Stevie Nicks of Phoenix, Arizona.
Don Henley’s second studio album gains its title from the song Building the Perfect Beast. In what feels like a reference to the beast that couldn’t be killed in the song Hotel California by Eagles, this song offers a sarcastic look at the psychological torment that losing in love does in turning a man all around. That the distance traveled to building that beast is our own doing is a cruel feeling indeed.
(All She Wants to Do Is Dance was released as the 2nd single from Don Henley‘s Building the Perfect Beast album. The song peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart).
Written by Don Henley alone, A Month of Sundays offers a sentimental ballad of a lifestyle lost and looked upon in retrospect. Looking back as a grandfather who built things with pride, the song is sadness, lament and acknowledgment that the current world is no longer the one he knew.
Sunset Grill offers the writing collaboration of Henley, Kortchmar and Tench once again. As captured here, the “Sunset Grill is a real place and a favorite spot for Henley. Located on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, it’s a place where Henley could see how everyday people interact, which isn’t always easy to do when you’re a celebrity in LA.” Further, the Sunset Grill was used as “a metaphor for what he liked, what he thought was great about society. And then he also used it to describe what he didn’t like, which is plenty.”
(Sunset Grill was released as the fourth single from Don Henley‘s Building the Perfect Beast album).
Drivin’ With Your Eyes Closed brings a perspective of the elevation of women in the eyes of men in romantic relationships. Stan Lynch of Gainesville, Florida and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers joins Henley and Kortchmar with writing credits, wherein Henley‘s lyrics point out that improperly appreciating women in romance is bound to end badly.
Land of the Living is the concluding song to Building the Perfect Beast, granting Henley and Kortchmar their final collaboration for this album. The messaging gets into an uplifting feel as an album sendoff. Lyrically the song is a call to slow down and metaphorically smell the roses with the one you’re with. The song does provide the light touch in bringing me home with satisfaction and lightness of spirit.
An ensemble cast to rival ensemble casts starred in a Michael Mann movie noted for its action, crime and drama. Al Pacino and Robert De Niro starred opposite one another in the movie about crime, law enforcement and the effect these lifestyles have on love in the Los Angeles, California based movie Heat (1995).
(From left, Val Kilmer as Chris Shiherlis, Robert De Niro as Neil McCauley and Tom Sizemore as Michael Cheritto in the Michael Mann movie Heat).
The movie itself begins with professional thief Neil McCauley, as portrayed by Robert De Niro, robbing more than a million dollars of bearer bonds from an armored truck with a crew including Chris Shiherlis, Michael Cheritto, Trejo and Waingro, with the last being new to the crew. Waingro, McCauley and Cheritto each kill someone during the heist, which brings heat upon and within the crew in introducing important thematic elements that will run through the full scale of the movie. Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, Danny Trejo and Kevin Gage portrayed Shiherlis, Cheritto, Trejo and Waingro, respectively.
(From left, Diane Venora as Justine Hanna and Al Pacino as Lieutenant Vincent Hanna in the Michael Mann movie Heat).
With the theft and homicides history, the Los Angeles Police Department investigates the crimes. Lieutenant Vincent Hanna, as portrayed by Al Pacino, assesses quickly that the robbery was well planned. We learn quickly that Hanna has a strained relationship with his third wife, Lauren, in addition to difficulty emotionally connecting with his stepdaughter, Lauren Gustafson. Justine Hanna and Lauren Gustafson were portrayed by Diane Venora and Natalie Portman, respectively.
(From left, Ashley Judd as Charlene Shiherlis, Amy Brenneman as Eady and Natalie Portman as Lauren Gustafson in the Michael Mann movie Heat).
Meanwhile, the instinct of professional thieves is to manage the reality or perception of heat in their professional or personal lives. We learn after the heist that Chris Shiherlis was having marital problems with Charlene Shiherlis, as portrayed by Ashley Judd. We see Neil McCauley take a romantic interest in Eady, a graphic designer much younger than he is yet worth a look. Meanwhile, McCauley has a direct interest in putting an end to provocative behavior from Waingro, which becomes an extended storyline for the movie. Amy Brenneman portrayed Eady.
(From left, Kevin Gage as Waingro, Jon Voight as Nate and William Fichtner as Roger Van Zant in the Michael Mann movie Heat).
These relationships simultaneously worsen, suggest potential redemption for, and called for enlightened coercion when McCauley and his fence aim to engage solutions to their criminal and personal problems. In the aftermath of the robbery, Roger Van Zant has his hands in part of McCauley’s criminal plays. As the original robbery victim; Van Zant, as portrayed by William Fichtner, winds up in contact with Nate, the fence, and Waingro with criminal plots in furtherance of the original robbery. Waingro’s plans are pointed more strictly at addressing the heat raised by his actions in and since the opening robbery. Jon Voight portrayed Nate. The ways that each of these threads pull upon one another in resolving the many storylines is well done.
(From left, writer, director and producer Michael Mann, actress Ashley Judd and actor Robert De Niro in support of the Michael Mann movie Heat).
While the movie, as reported by Rotten Tomatoeshere, performed slightly better among audiences than critics, there is more to recommend the film than to detract from it overall. The intrigue throughout the story was masterfully done, with the reward landing in the showdown between stars that one had been hoping for from the beginning the show. My biggest complaint was in the final portrayal of the ending, which left me wanting something slightly more in the form rather than the portrayal or outcome of it. Given the largely masterful criminal drama movie, I grant Heat as written, directed and produced by Michael Mann 4.25-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.
The writing of David Maraniss has offered enjoyment and knowledge to me over the years; the decision to return to a biography of football coach, husband and father Vince Lombardi proved pretty easy. First published in 1999, Maraniss‘ book When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi offers a clear and informative narrative of the man, his times, what shaped his life and the life of his family.
(Vince Lombardi played football at Fordham University in the Bronx, where he was part of the so-called ‘Seven Blocks of Granite’. Lombardi later became an assistant football coach at Fordham).
Family and his Roman Catholic faith were early influences over the work ethic and philosophy that would inform the man Vince Lombardi would become. Having grown up in Brooklyn,New York City, New York, the decision to attend Fordham University in the Bronx came rather naturally as a place to keep those ties and play football. Discipline and playing through pain and hardship were highlights of many early experiences shared in the Maraniss biography, along with the mythmaking and writing styles for how reports of college football were written of at the time. That Lombardi needed to work to break the lineup, and the feeling of contributing to a goal larger than himself, were early lessons that informed the coach Lombardi would become.
(Vince Lombardi was an assistant coach at West Point from 1949-1953).
Lombardi‘s path into coaching football was not a given, having been born in 1913 and coming of age during the Great Depression. The steps Lombardi took into coaching and teaching at Roman Catholic schools, with decisions around if and when to move into the high school ranks not always being straightforward. A degree of discipline and honoring of commitments factored into when not to move on, though the influences of his playing days and the underpinnings of those early teaching experiences where Lombardi led and developed a philosophy for how to speak to his chosen audience influenced his landing work at the West Point, a military academy of the United States based in New York state.
(David Maraniss wrote When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi, which was first published in 1999).
What Lombardi knew about football landed him work at West Point. Beyond affirming a sense of the organized development and motivation of men, Lombardi‘s time there offered an insight into dedicated documentation of film to review the tendencies of each individual player on plays. Lombardi further took a sense of how to simplify game plans down to the core points of emphasis, rather than focusing his players on understanding the full scope of the playbook. The academic cheating scandal revealed in 1951, during the time Lombardi coached at West Point, would influence the erstwhile coach later in his career despite Lombardi reportedly having no knowledge of the scheme at the point it occurred.
(From left, Vince Lombardi, his daughter Susan, his wife Marie and his son Vincent. Lombardi and Marie had married in August of 1940).
There was some degree of unease for Lombardi following his time in the college ranks, with his first advance into the NFL (National Football League) being as an assistant coach for the New York Giants from 1954 to 1958. Tom Landry would be an assistant coach for the Giants beside Lombardi, with Lombardi leaving in February 1959 to become the General Manager and head coach of the Green Bay Packers in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
(From left, Green Bay Packer quarterbacks Paul Hornung and Bart Starr were significant to the success of the Packers during Vince Lombardi‘s tenure from 1959 to 1967).
Lombardi had complicated relationships with his wife and children as he began transforming the Packers into a team that won five NFL championships, including the first two Super Bowls in his final two seasons as Packers coach. Many of the principles learned earlier in his career led to the grueling approach to coaching the team, though all who could withstand that rigor reportedly responded to Lombardi with loyalty and success. A gambling scandal in part led to the transition from Paul Hornung to Bart Starr as Packers quarterback during Lombardi‘s tenure. Both players would be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Lombardi‘s career would finish with the Washington Redskins (now Washington Commanders) in Washington, DC.
The rough outlines of the life and career of Vince Lombardi are hinted at with the above details from the biography written by David Maraniss. The Maraniss thoughtfulness, thoroughness and engaging detail offer clear perspectives about the cultural place of pride for Lombardi and the football people who followed his lead. This notion applied for Lombardi and his family as well, though the relationships there were a bit more complicated, with a sense of who Vince and Marie Lombardi were to each other and their kids showing up over time, including at the time of Vince Lombardi‘s death in September 1970. I grant When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi as written by David Maraniss 4.0-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.
The Michael Connelly character Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch first premiered in a series of books begun in 1992. As this is written, the character has led to 24 distinct books and two distinct television shows. We focus here on the fourth season of the series Bosch (2014-2021), starring Titus Welliver in the title role for the series.
(Titus Welliver as Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch in season four of Bosch).
Season four of Bosch picks up three months after season three with subject matter from the Connelly books Angels Flight of 1999 and Nine Dragons of 2009. Irvin Irving, as portrayed by Lance Reddick, has been named police chief of the Los Angeles Police Department. As with Irving’s ascension to police chief, threads from previous seasons visit upon the police department, the larger community of Los Angeles, California and the personal lives of the police, members of their families, and the stakes for the cases under investigation with this season.
(From left, Jamie McShane as Francis Sheehan, Tamberla Perry as Gabriella Lincoln and Winter Ave Zoli as Amy Snyder in season four of Bosch).
Important threads for this season tug on racial strife, with the murder of civil rights attorney Howard Elias, as portrayed by Clark Johnson, serving as a central catalyst. Elias was in the process of representing a black man accusing LAPD of police brutality. Irving appoints Bosch to lead a task force, which includes Jerry Edgar, Santiago ‘Jimmy’ Robertson, and sergeant Amy Snyder and Gabriella Lincoln. Jamie Hector, Paul Calderon, Winter Ave Zoli and Tamberla Perry portray Edgar, Robertson, Snyder and Lincoln, respectively. A significant storyline involving Francis Sheehan, as portrayed by Jamie McShane, emerges that captures the attention of this this task force.
(From left, Amy Aquino as Grace Billets and Jamie Hector as Jerome (Jerry) Edgar in season four of Bosch).
Grace Billets, as portrayed by Amy Aquino, continues to serve as lieutenant for the Hollywood division of the LAPD, where the Elias investigation is based. While trying to manage the personalities of the multiple threads of police officers already mentioned, Billets is juggling an assignment as captain without the job title, which presents difficulties that are felt in their own ways by threads of the past for Bosch with Edgar, Robertson and Snyder. Calderon’s own past plays a part in this investigation, while Jerry Edgar has familial struggles with his wife, Latonya Edgar. Ingrid Rogers portrayed Latonya Edgar.
(John Getz as Bradley Walker in season four of Bosch).
Bradley Walker, as portrayed by John Getz, played a relevant role in the fourth season. While having the ear of Irvin Irving as the president of the police commission for the LAPD, in addition to being a former officer, Walker had requested ongoing updates into the investigation into Elias. Harry Bosch had suspected Walker of complicity in the death of Marjorie Phillips Lowe, Bosch’s mother. Things worsened when Bosch‘s ex-wife and the mother of Madeline Bosch, Eleanor Wish, was murdered. The background between Wish and Reggie Woo became more transparent after the murder, with the relationship between Harry and Madeline becoming more visible. Madison Lintz, Sarah Clarke and Hoon Lee portrayed Madeline, Eleanor and Reggie, respectively.
(Sarah Clarke as Eleanor Wish in season four of Bosch).
The fourth season of Bosch offered a good deal of clarity for the larger story being told across the lives of the central characters of the Amazon original seriesBosch. With that longer range storytelling, in combination with groundwork laid for additional seasons of the show, I recommend this series. I grant season four of Bosch 4.5-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.
(Steve Martin as Neal Page in the John Hughes movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles).
The movie opens with advertising executive Neal Page, as portrayed by Steve Martin, looking to get back to his home in Chicago, Illinois from a business trip to New York City, New York. The act of getting out of the city and on his way back home is foiled by a series of experiences beyond his control. The annoying and comedic value of the delays inform Page’s outlook, which feels a bit bemusing to the character.
(John Candy as Del Griffith in the John Hughes movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles).
The incidents that placed Page in the initial foul mood intensified when the movie told us that there was but the single goal of getting home for the holiday. With the loss of good humor on the way to the airport relented to an increasing level of misadventure, the introduction of a jolly and Del Griffith intercepting Page’s mood first on the street outside a hotel. Later at JFK airport, the delight expanded into the expansion of a tale that saw Griffith, as portrayed by John Candy, traveling with Page.
(From left, Kevin Bacon as man running for taxi and Michael McKean as State Trooper in the John Hughes movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles).
The story has Neal and Del coming and going from one another’s paths, with air travel being a difficulty in getting to Chicago. A train ride to St. Louis, Missouri reunites and separates the pair, with that mode of transportation letting the pair down in their travels. Rental cars, testy interactions with the obstacles of reliable travel, and the pair is traveling again. Getting to a lowly state as the pair drives back east from St. Louis to Chicago by automobile, Del and Neal encounter a state trooper portrayed by Michael McKean.
(From left, Laila Robins as Susan Page and Steve Martin and Neal Page in the John Hughes movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles).
As disaster had struck the pair, with news of Neal’s responsibilities for that disaster having just been revealed, a legitimate question for how much can one man endure to get home for a holiday becomes the clear dramatic and comedic question. The serious question for whether Neal gets home to his wife, Susan Page as portrayed by Laila Robins. The movie does end on a happier note, with much of the shenanigans of the previous travels laid behind the travelers.
(From left, actor Steve Martin, actor John Candy and writer / director John Hughes onsite for the John Hughes movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles).
I found the movie humorous and lighthearted, despite the subject matter clearly aiming for a test where the boundaries for social limits should be drawn. As a movie clearly aiming for comedy with some mild drama mixed in, I found entertainment and happiness. Thus, I rate Planes, Trains and Automobiles as written and directed by John Hughes 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.
The musings of detective Hercule Poirot had me interested to a degree recently that I took to reading the four short stories collected into the Agatha Christie book titled Murder in the Mews. The collected stories included three cases of death with another considering thievery.
(Agatha Christie wrote the four short stories included with Murder in the Mews book, each story featuring Hercule Poirot).
The lead story for the book collection is also titled Murder in the Mews, with Inspector Japp calling in Poirot in when the details of a suspected murder simply seeming like they don’t add up. A similar notion is explored with the third story of the collection, Dead Man’s Mirror, with a significantly different set of social dimensions in play. The manner of Hercule Poirot‘s arrival at the scene of the second story offers interesting intrigue of its own. Getting to the truth of discerning the motivations in play, and what the true nature of events are, lend themselves to some clever deductions that led me to one properly detected solution from the pair.
(The four Agatha Christie short stories included in Murder in the Mews are Murder in the Mews, The Incredible Theft, Dead Man’s Mirror and Triangle at Rhodes).
The Incredible Theft brings us top secret plans for an aircraft meant for military fighting. A house party brings many into the household where the plans are, only to be stolen from right under the nose of the party’s host. The laying out of events, motivations and opportunities to perpetuate the work of clandestine services leave an incredible impression upon me for having steered the drama away from death. I especially appreciate the subject matter and partially catching the proper outcome for this story.
(Alternative covers for the Agatha Christie book Murder in the Mews, which in four short stories featuring Hercule Poirot).
Triangle at Rhodes brings about the ruination of a holiday for Hercule Poirot, as a love triangle intersects with a visit to Rhodes, Greece. The tale brings an interesting approach to someone dying, yet not until much later in the story. The fact that somebody is heading to their end, with Hercule Poirot and his “little gray cells” there to save the day, offers a decidedly intriguing take on when it is appropriate to take advice. Coming in as the shortest story in the collection, the resolution certainly delivers.
(Four short stories featuring Hercule Poirot are the reward offered for reading the Agatha Christie book titled Murder in the Mews).
The short stories of Triangle at Rhodes, Dead Man’s Mirror, The Incredible Theft and Murder in the Mews are your reason to foray into this collection of works by Agatha Christie. My enjoyment leads me to recommend the Murder in the Mews collection as written by Agatha Christie with a rating of 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.
Matt Lynn Digital 