Documentary #1: Last Dance

Yesterday, I saw that Beckie put out this request to her facebook friends - "I need a mind-blowing documentary recommendation from anyone, please! (War Stories are out, not that they are not fantastic, this just isn't the mood I am in).." Within 2 - 3 hours 14 people responded with suggestions for 32 documentaries! Wow - great friends!

I made a list of the recommended movies for myself and decided to check if Last Dance was offered on Netflix for instant streaming. Indeed, it was! Here is the description given at Netflix to describe the film-

"Documentarian Mirra Bank goes behind the scenes to capture a contentious collaboration between the directors of avant-garde dance company Pilobolus and children's author Maurice Sendak, who supplies the building blocks for a dance piece lionizing a holocaust legacy. As the two camps face off over aesthetics, what emerges is a fascinating, revelatory look at the creative process, culminating in a poignant rendering of Sendak's vision."


So I watched it last night and found it intriguing. As you know, Maurice Sendak is one of my FINM. He is featured very prominently in the documentary since it is his vision of the holocaust that is translated into a dance piece for the stage. It gives a very telling insight into his mind. I had no idea that this was part of his personal history and now see why there is darkness in his stories. It's more than understandable that this would effect everything he did. Maurice designed the costumes for the dancers going so far as to sketch directly onto the leotards as the dancers wore them. He also provided an illustration that was enlarged and used as the backdrop for the stage.

The dancers in the company are amazing. They were creative, athletic, skilled, beautiful and brave. Two of the dancers ended up completely nude at the end of the piece and I found it startling and compelling to see how willingly they opened themselves up to be that vulnerable on stage  even though the director of the company felt it was the wrong creative choice for the piece. Ultimately, Maurice won this creative battle. Watching the dancers' creative process as they tested their bodies with inventive, physically challenging choreography was fascinating. I will be scouring the internet to see if there are other films about this dance company.

I love that there is at least this one film featuring Maurice Sendak talking and explaining an aspect of his life that I had never known before. I thought my relationship with him was limited to the children's stories that he left for us. Now I will have to see if there is more of him on film somewhere. It's a bit sorrowful to be getting to know him better only now after he is gone.

Thank you for the great suggestion, Lisa - I really enjoyed this film!

Book One: Nicholas St. North

So while I am doing everything I can to get well, (taking all my meds, resting, sleeping, drinking lots of water) I have decided that too much internet and/or TV is counterproductive and helping to make my brain soupy. So, I have decided to read books.

Today I read Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King. It is co-authored by one of my Friends I've Never Met ~ William Joyce and another writer named Laura Geringer. William also did the illuminations aka illustrations. This is a  book for young readers which is a continuation of the series The Rise of the Guardians of Childhood that was begun in the beautifully illustrated children's book I love called The Man in the Moon. I also enjoyed Nicholas St. North.

Pitch - The Nightmare King

This book tells the story of origin of Santa Claus whom we first meet as a rascal and thief named Nicholas St. North. He learns his magic from a wise old wizard named Ombric who lives in a magic tree in a village named Santoff Claussen. Ombric is able to convince Nicholas to use his talents for good. There are other heroic characters like a young girl named Katherine, an evil villain named Pitch and lots of magic. Sometime around Thanksgiving, a movie called The Rise of the Guardians is coming out! I certainly hope that my friend William Joyce is in on the illustrating.

This book is recommended for young readers ages 7 - 11. I haven't read it to Viliamu yet, but I do think he will like it. I liked it and I'm a little older than he is. Just a little... The next book in the series is called E. Aster Bunnymund and the Battle of the Warrior Eggs. Clever, huh? I look forward to reading it but won't be able to until I am able to get to the bookstore and buy the actual book. This series is too good to download to a Kindle.

"I Remember Nothing and Other Reflections"

I love Nora Ephron movies...When Harry Met Sally...Sleepless in Seattle...You've Got Mail....Julie & Julia. In fact, 3 of these are on my list for my all time favorite movies. So, it's no big surprise that I would love her essays as well. Her books are collections of essays which ends up being a great way to write a book. If I were ever to write a book - that's the way I would do it. It is also great for the reader because you can read an essay or two, put the book down for a day or a week, pick it back up and start reading again without feeling that you have to start reading from the beginning again. Perfect for me.

I think Nora is the kind of person that would be a fun friend to have. In fact, I may have to include her in my list of Friends I've Never Met (FINM). FINM are people that I have absolutely no chance of ever meeting either because they have passed on OR they are artists or celebrities BUT they have meant a great deal to me at some point in my life. Here are a few examples: Theodor Geisel, Maurice Sendak, Jim Henson, Karen Carpenter, Dan Fogelberg, Tom Hanks and Oprah. The whole concept of FINM is definitely worthy of it's own blog entry - I will make a note of it and work on that sometime in the future. Anyway, part of what it takes to be one of Laura's FINM is that if I ever were to bump into one of these people, I would not be starstruck. I would just sit down on the sofa with them and have a nice chat. Nora Ephron seems like that kind of person to me.

This is the second collection of essays I've read by Nora. The first one is called I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman. My cousin Kevin gave me this book for my 45th birthday. I remember that I enjoyed it when I read it, but I don't really remember what was in it.  I think I should read it again. I borrowed this book from a co-worker, but I enjoyed it so much I think I might buy a copy. I Remember Nothing is funny, but also has some extremely personal essays in it. I learned a lot about Nora from this book. For instance, Nora was married to Carl Bernstein during the time of All the President's Men. Also, she had a bad divorce from Carl, then wrote about it in a book which was later made into a movie (Heartburn). I also learned that she was good friends with Lillian Hellman.

Funny, interesting stories, witty writing and a quick read. It's well worth your time - it was well worth mine!

Distractions during Down Time

What do I do with my "down time"? Why, I watch movies, of course! Lately, there has been a lot of down time so the TV has been my best friend. I will try to catch you up on what I have seen lately...Thank goodness for Direct TV Pay Per View and Netflix!

This movie was based on the Tuskegee Airmen in WWII. It's a great history lesson for people who don't know these stories. Unfortunately, the acting wasn't all that great and the way the story was told was less than memorable. Cuba Gooding, Jr. is in the film for a couple minutes but it wasn't enough. This movie is out on DVD and I saw it on PPV. You should see it for the sake of history and if you like WWII films.

This movie could have been called "Harry Potter does a Spooky Movie." I love Daniel Radcliffe. He is a very talented young man. He can act, sing and dance. I was looking forward to seeing this movie but to be  honest, I enjoyed all 8 of the Harry Potter films and his Broadway musical more than The Woman in Black. There were some suspenseful scenes and I did jump out of my skin a couple times, but all in all it was not quite a real scary movie...definitely not a classic. It is good for a couple of spine tingles on a night when there really isn't anything else to watch. Sorry, Harry, I mean Daniel. I suppose he is doing things that will distance himself from Harry Potter, but he will never escape that boyish face. I actually found myself looking for the lightning bolt scar (or where it should have been) on his forehead. I even thought to myself that it's no wonder that he wasn't afraid of the woman in black because he had faced Voldemart.

I heard about this movie a few years ago called The Yellow Handkerchief. It's a small Indie film and I had heard good things about it. I LOVE small Indie films and the idea of them, but Ron is less enthusiastic. So more often than not we miss them when they are in the theater - besides that, we usually have to make a trip to San Francisco to catch one of these little gems. It's just not convenient to go to the city at times. Anyway, I was hunting through my queue on Netflix yesterday and found this movie that I hadn't watched yet. It's a little film with quirky, sad characters. William Hurt gave a wonderfully quiet, understated performance as Brett Hanson - he's so good. I always forget what a good actor he is. Maria Bello is May, the woman he is trying to get back to on this journey. The young characters are incidental and just a means to tell the story and to get him from here to there. Much of the story is told in flashbacks as Brett slowly reveals the story of his life to Gordy and Martine (Eddie Redmayne and Kristen Stewart). Anyway, I liked it and I'm glad that I saw it by myself in the comfort of my own bed. This way I didn't have to feel guilty about it if Ron didn't like it.

So, other distractions for my down time include terrible TV, books and Words With Friends...but that's a story for another day.

Memorial Day Weekend 2012

(I started this entry last Monday. It's taken me a while to finish this post, but here it finally is...)

Generally, I love 3 day weekends. I am usually able to sleep in a bit, get a few chores done and go see a movie or two. I did get some of that done but not as much as I would have liked. I wasted all day Sunday because I didn't feel well and spent the day in bed.

On Monday I decided to rise above it all and I did feel a bit better. Anyway, we started the day by going to a a burger place in Piedmont called Barney's Gourmet Hamburgers.

Fabulous French Fries

Delicious Hamburger

 It was a cool burger joint and the food was absolutely yummy. This is probably as close to a Yelp review as I will get - I give Barney's of Piedmont 2 thumbs up, 4 stars and my whole-hearted endorsement.

After lunch I had a little energy left so we decided to take in a movie at the Piedmont Theatre. It's the oldest operating movie theater in Oakland dating back to 1917. It's quite old fashioned but very charming. It's a little odd because it has been renovated recently hand there are modern leather seats inside the theater. The two things don't quite go together but the seats were comfy.

We went to see The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Wonderful movie. The story is about several British older adults that have each come to a turning point in their lives and are compelled to leave England and move to India. They had been led to believe that they would be living in a luxurious retirement  community. Unfortunately they were misled and the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel for the Aging and Beautiful turns out to be an old building with no working telephones, missing doors and crumbling walls. Most of the new residents decide to make the best of their situation and take in the beauty that India has to offer. Dames Judi Dench and Maggie Smith are my two favorite British actresses - they are fantastic in this as they are in every movie they are in! Within this movie there is humor, sadness, a young love story and the bittersweet conclusion of a 40 year old quest. I loved this movie! Seek it out ~ go see it!

That was all I had energy for - so after the movie it was back home and back to bed. It was not exactly the weekend we had planned, but it was ok all things considered...Golden Gate Bridge and the USS Iowa on Saturday (please see previous post) and gourmet hamburgers and movies on Monday. I can't complain!

USS Iowa

It's a big weekend for San Francisco. Today is the celebration for the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge. The bridge will be closed for about an hour this evening for the fireworks display. Traffic will be crazy so we decided to enjoy the bridge and the city yesterday for another reason.

Ron and I had heard that the USS Iowa would be leaving SF Bay and would be passing under the Golden Gate sometime between 2 and 3 pm. So we headed west over the Bay Bridge through San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge and up to the Marin Headlands. Traffic was S-L-O-W and we were afraid we would miss everything. As we headed up the hill to find the perfect spot to watch the history sail out of the bay, we were overwhelmed by the number of cars and people that were there before us. "We'll never find a place to park!" We crept up the winding road up the hill trying to avoid the crazy cyclists that love to test themselves up that hill. We made it all the way up the hill without finding a spot to park the Beeson Bus (yes, we still have our great big van!). We turned and were starting to head back down the hill. I had started to resign myself to the idea that we wouldn't be able to park when I spotted someone getting ready to leave! I don't think the people leaving knew about the Iowa because they left and enabled us to park!!

We found a perfect place to sit and wait...and wait...and wait...

However, we were well rewarded. The battleship was being tugged out of the bay and it was slow going, but it was perfect for all the professional and amateur (me) photographers out there to capture the big event. It was a beautiful sunny day in the city. Ron served as my sun shield as I sat and prepped my camera. I will just show you what happened from then on...

  Beautiful day ~ amazing view ~ history in action ~ great day.

why blog?

Every once in a while I get self-conscious about my writing. I mean, really…why should anyone care what I have to say about anything? Anyone with a computer can blog. It’s self-indulgent, I admit. In my defense, I write something and I put it out there. I don’t ask anyone to read it. Well, that’s not entirely true – when I write about Ron or the girls, I sometimes ask them to read and approve it before I post it. I don’t want to get in trouble with them. Beckie, the writer, is the only one that reads what I write on a regular basis and that’s just fine.

In general, I don’t write anything terribly controversial. I won’t ever write anything that I wouldn’t say out loud in a room full of people. I don’t write about politics, religion or sex because someone once told me that it’s not polite to discuss those things in mixed company. I like to go to the movies so I write my reviews even though I have absolutely no credentials to do so.

My blogs are online journals. Besides movie reviews, Tales from an (Almost) Empty Nest contains entries about my family and/or things that happen to me and/or what I think about them. I’ve been posting entries to this blog since 2009. I wish I had started earlier. In a way, blogging is therapeutic for me.

Recently, I started a new blog in March of this year to keep track of my experiences and progress with a new treatment I am undergoing. I felt that it might also be helpful to other people going through the treatment. I wanted to keep it separate from Tales because I didn’t want to inflict my treatment stories on someone who might be looking to read my latest movie review. Maybe someday I will merge the two blogs – maybe not.

Blogging is a great hobby. Beckie thinks that I should be working on my memoir. For Mother’s Day she gave me a book to give me pointers on how to write my memoir and a journal to write it in. I don’t think I’m ready for that yet. In the meantime, I will keep practicing here. If you happen to stumble across my blog and like what I write – I’m glad. If you don’t like it, that’s ok, too. What I write is for me and for my girls but I’m happy to share it with anyone who takes the time to read it. Besides, my blogs may be the closest I ever get to writing a memoir…