Based on the true story of Ruth Etting, this movie scandalized Dors Day ‘s fans who complained that she didn’t play her trademark happy-go-lucky character. Well, she did well. Although I suspect that the story has been twisetd enough to make Ruth Etting appear at best as a victim of her ambition and of her violent husband, at worst as a manipulator who still had to pay a hefty price for it, I must admit tha Doris Day played it well enough – I mean ambiguity here- to let you be the judge and enjoy the whole story. James Cagney plays very well the thick gangster who is not as simple as he seems. He was nominated for an oscar or an award for this role- which is absolutely well deserved.
For the fans of the oldies, a good moment in perspective.
The film – like any Hollywood production- closes on hope and a potential happy ending. In real life, this was half true. The love story survived alright but her career sunk because of the facts. Here you know. But what am I talking about?
Facebook, MySpace and other friendly sites…
I lately spent a few days in Switzerland where websites such as Facebook, Myspace, Youtube etc are known and hard of but not used. It turned out that it was difficult to explain what the utility of this sites was and what kind of people navigate on them. I had the excuse that my husband had put me in Facebook before he even asked me. The sad truth is that the only pals I can contact through it are the ones who live in the UK or who are a tad international. My friends/ acquaintances/ contacts in Switzerland, Italy, France and Germany are left behind.
Now I don’t have any justification for browsing Facebook, but I sometimes do. And I was delighted to find two friends whom I hadn’t seen one for 27 years and the other for 20. Truth is that my life went on, but from time to time I give a good clearance to my house. About a month ago I discovered a bunch of boxes that have been following me for quite a few years. I had never opened them so I decided it was time to get rid of their contents. As you can see, I am not exactly sentimental. But on this occasion. I discovered a few pictures and memorabilia from my teenage years. There were pictures I had done between 10 and 18 years old. Poems I had written. Short stories. Letters. I went through them all, one by one, throwing away bits and pieces of my past without a second thought. But then I saw the photos- old faces I had forgotten but whom at the time had been hugely important to me. Some I would never call back, such as my first serious ex-boy-friend, the first one to ask my hand or the one who went mental and started to harass me 5 years after I had left him. But the other guys and gals, that was something worth having a second glance at.
I found some of them. I had kept the habit through the years to send Christmas cards to the good old ones and give the odd phone call to a happy few every – more or less- every 3 to 5 years. But now I was digging deeper. I was expecting at best no answer at worst rejection, but I soon found out that curiosity is a powerful engine. Everybody answered cheerfully. I had not been that easily forgotten. It was nice to discover how this people I could only recall with pimples or smooth skin had turned out and what their choices during the long silence that had separated us had been. For some reason none of them expected me to have five children- by I wouldn’t have expected them to have them either. Divorces, marriages, teenage children, different careers- we reviewed it all. And then we faded into silence again for we didn’t have much in common anymore but there was no bitterness either. The door is left open- who knows, we might call back again within a decade or two, or even have a cup of tea when we are due to be around ( although for the ones who live in Ukraine and Australia, this might take some planning and a few more years).
I am very conscious that you have to have a diffuse tenderness for those human beings who have known you when you still were an awful brat and a selfish/ depressive/ ugly teenager. Then you see them again – and pictures lie- and you have now wrinkles and a pot belly. You have misssed the whole blossoming part – but you still recognize them and you’re very fond of them for all the dreams are still alive in your memory.
I have let go of the past and although I remember much, I don’t recall the same things as they do.
Of course you have the odd misadventure poking out from time to time. My husband got a message from his last ex-girlfriend, who technically was never his girlfriend , but still acts as such. By reading this sentence you just know that it is going to get complicated and likely – worse. He had no intention of rekindling the romance or even a pretence of friendship as she hadn’t been actually nice, or generous or anything that could have been even remotedly agreable. So he refused to allow the contact. A few days later another ex- girlfriend makes the same request- and it turns out to be that she’s the first ‘s best friend. The debate can then begins- what is this all about and is any of them even slightly grown up? ( We’re talking about women who are a few weeks away from their 30th birthday). The rejections seem to have stung as, next thing we know, an old schoolfriend calls to say she has received an email from one of them telling her the worst things about the broken liaison that happened 7 years ago and about which she had no clue, no interest and no part. I mean, come on on, get over it girl! My husband was rather philosophical about it – he simply stated that he had a knack for ex- girlfriends turning into psycho bitches from hell. But in simple words this is at best harrassment and at worst stalking and it may get this young lady in a lot of trouble if she persists with her bad manners.
So yeah, Facebook etc has its pros and cons. You live with it I guess. It’s a bit like life.
“It could happen to you ” with Nicolas Cage & Bridget Fonda
Nicolas Cage is a good actor – although he’s not my cup of tea. In this movie he’s so badly directed that is gave me the creeps. Bridget Fonda had no charm and only Rosie Perez as the villain was acceptable. I think the story is well known; a cop is not able to leave a tip in a restaurant. He tells the waitress that if he wins the lottery, he will share the money with her. You guess what happens next. And you probably guess the end. Sweet movie, cute idea, no backbone. I was disappointed.
“Smoking aces” with Ben Affleck, Andy Garcia, Alicia Keyes…and a lot more
That is a guy movie. Made by a guy, for guys, with a beer and a fag if possible in one hand. Good lord, it is violent, gory, twisted, mean, almost comical and if it had been written in a comic before, I wouldn’t be surprised. The director is spotless and the whole thing doesn’t let you think – a trademark of our times I am afraid. But there wasn’t any loopholes that don’t get stitched, so it was okay.
The subject? Eeerr…A Mafia boss has a younger rival, who ‘s been caught red handed- more or less. The FBI decides to put him under witness protection in order to get charges against the old boss- who’s responsible for more factions. But there is a contract passed on their prey- for a million dollars. Professional killers of all boards want to get the prize. SO of course, it turns nasty…And the nastier, the better for us.
Not a movie for the kids, I am afraid- not before a very long time. I am honest enough to say that it was a good one for the genre, although this is not my genre at all.
A must for the blokes.
“Darkhouse” by Alex Barclay
Another thriller- summer reading. This one is about a New York inspector who couldn’t stop a kidnapping to turn sour. He retires in Ireland hoping to escape his nightmares when his son’s girlfriend disappear. Will he solve the mystery- although he’s not in his juridiction? Yeah I know it all sounds awfully cheesy. But as a first novel, this one has more than a twist that keeps you hooked from beginning to end. I regret though that nowadays authors are competing to invent the most sordid past for their murderers in order to give some sense of ” reality” to the atrocities they make them commit. But I admit that it works – and it is sickening enough.
A good one. I’ve heard that Barclay next opus is not that good at all, so I’ll wait for it to come out in a pocket edition…
“The woman in the 5th” by Douglas Kennedy
Kennedy knows how to get you addicted to his pages. His heroes are desperate but every steps they take keeps you behind them, even when it is as trivial as finding a new hotel room or falling ill in Paris. The quest for sanity of a poor guy who has lost it all and wants to write a book could make you dubious. How far can Mr kennedy take you…before you get bored? But that’s the magic – you never are. I was definitely hooked on this one and reading as slowly as I could in order to enjoy it longer. But then an unexpected thing occured; the hero is getting deeper in it when all he’s trying to do is to get out of it. And you discover that the life he’s rebuilding is not what it seems. The reason why was such a low trick, such a silly idea, that I almost dropped the book. I’d wished that Mr Kennedy had a better imagination.
So the style is great, the idea for more than half of the book was great, the twist is rubbish – and I am quite sure that I am not his only critic on this one. It is sad because the man has such talent to keep you on your toes.
I don’t know. I wouldn’t read it again. But I don’t regret reading it. I find the end …uninspiring. I am sure Kennedy can and will do better. Please…such talent…
“the innocent” by Harlan Coben
I discovered Coben by reading ” Tell no one”. I loved the book and although I found it a tad clumsy, it got me addicted enough to make me read all of his books. But I remained disappointed as his Bolivar character bored me endlessly and the twists in his plots were as heavy as bricks. I had come to the conclusion that I would only buy one of his books if – and only if- it didn’t contain Bolivar in it and if it was in a pocket edition.
So I bought ” the innocent” as both requirements were fullfilled. And I was happy that I had persevered as it turned out to be a gem in the triller’s department. The story is about a young man who once got involved by accident in a fight and killed someone in defense. After coming out of prison and not keen to become a villain, he tries to keep a low profile and basically hides behind his wife and his duties to keep going on with life. But then one day he receives a picture on his mobile phone and that picture plunges him in an abyss of mysteries, lies and deceit that are much worse than anything he has known before and even worse, might send him back to prison for life. If you know ” Tell no one” you could say that sending pictures of things and/or persons that should not be is Coben ‘s trademark. But you get hooked on this one as easily as the first time – and in the process get involved in a lot of small twists that last until the end. I don’t realy care about grand finales, so I like little twists that make the end worthwile. And this one was. I enjoyed it through the last page.
A good thriller for the summer. Mr Coben, I am waiting for the next picture. Through the letterbox next time?
“The Stewart Granger collection”
I’ve put the dvds serie as a title as I am currently watching 12 movies of Stewart Granger, including ” the lamp still burns”, ” Love story”, ” Fanny by Gaslight”, ” Madonna of the seven moons”, ” Waterloo road”, ” Caesar & Cleopatra”,” Caravan”, ” The magic bow”,” Captain boycott”, ” Blanche Fury”, ” Woman hater” & ” Adam & Evelyne”.
Not being that cruel I watch these movies on my own while I do the family ironing. I like Stewart Granger as much as Cary Grant. Elegant, very versatile – much more than Grant who used to play the nice guy in every movie-, funny and I suspect not as cretin as his roles depicted him, I like watching Stewart Granger. men like these are rare nowadays. Anyway, unless you are a huge fan of Barbara Cartland ‘s books ( or Danielle steel , I guess, for the more modern), you probably will not enjoy this type of stories. From World war efforts to other centuries where gypsies, duel, cruel aristocrats and helpless women weer in abundance, these movies cover it all. It is actually funny to see what used to shock in the 40’s and 50’s and how much the stereotypes have evolved. I am sometimes surprised to see how things could be plainly depicted – like sex before marriage in an era when this was definitely taboo- but other times when I am almost bored – like the trick of the convenient memory loss that twist the story. The Bourne identity is a very old trick.
Highly pleasurable for me and me only. Ladies and gentlemen, nobody’s perfect.
The Village [2004] by Bryce Dallas Howard, Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody, and William Hurt
If you have seen ” The others” with Nicole Kidman, you will have some reminiscence of the possible twist of the second half of the movie. That spoils it. But the idea is good indeed. A little village lives in lovely shaker style houses and lead very shaker style lives until some evil creatures appear and spread trouble and fear. A hero wants to break the limits that separate them from civilisation but seems only to bring on himself shame and pain. Then an event force the elders to reconsider their positions and beliefs; what choice are they going to make? Do they have the right to stop their children to know their past secrets and look out for adventure outside their community?
My husband warned the whole family that this was not an horror movie. Too much experience brought me to guess the truth within the first 30 minutes or so, but the rest of the audience remained confused until the truth came out. I must stretch that the average age of the audience was between 10 & 40. It is a good movie and raised a lot of questions from the adolescents in the crowd.
A good story for the people who think that the past was better, that the grass is greener over the fence and for the ones who like suspense but not violence so much.
“The number 23” with Jim Carrey
Most men despise Jim Carrey but I personnally think that he is one of the nicest case of schizophrenia you can see on screen. His career is so eclectic and his face so expressive that I regret that he is not offered the chance to play more complex characters. Anyway. In ” 23″, he plays a bored and jolly nice guy who receives as a gift an intriguing book about an obsessive man who sees the number 23 everywhere. So far so good. But the main character strats to find analogies between his own past and the hero of his book – and that’s when things derail- of course. Now…the end is tad too twisted and unrealistic but I enjoyed the fact that a human being is shown with many of his contradictory qualities and aspects of his personnality. Carrey was able to give sweetness and depth to a hero that was definitely lacking a solid spine. The story itself could have been great – and just missed by a hair. It remains an interesting piece. More interesting is to share it with someone else and start re doing it. You’d be surprised what projections come out of it!
Not bad. Not great. For curious amateurs of the genre.
Sacha Jenkyn 