June 29, 2025 (Movies and other stuff)

Briefly, before we get started, a note on the passing of Dave Parker, aka "The Cobra", who spent time with the Cincinnati Reds, my favorite baseball team. I don't know if we have any fans here at the blog (cause I don't know who reads the doggone thing; I've never had a single comment or acknowledgement in 25 years), but baseball has been my favorite sport (tied with football) since I was five or six years old, when Dad took me to see Sandy Koufax pitch for the Dodgers. Dad lived in Cincy after the war. It's where he met my Mom. He took me to Dodgers/Reds games and said "watch that guy", meaning Pete Rose, who became my favorite player. The Big Red Machine won the World Series in 1975-76 and is considered one of the greatest baseball teams of all-time. Dave Parker played for the Reds from 1984 - 87, after their heyday, but before that, he was with the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 1977, me and my pals used to take the bus to Dodger Stadium. Bleacher seats were three bucks! One time, the Dodgers were playing the Pirates, and big Dave Parker was in right field. Everybody loved The Cobra, even fans of other teams. He could hit the ball out of any park, and had a rocket arm, but most of all, he was a cool guy...easygoing, no superstar ego. On the day we saw him play, we kept trying to get his attention. "Hey Dave! Big Dave! Hey Cobra!" Finally, he was close enough to the outfield wall to hear us. He smiled and gave us a wave.

That made our day. Dave Parker won the MVP award that year. On July 27, he will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He didn't live to attend the ceremony, but I bet he will be there anyway. All athletes should be as cool as Big Dave Parker.

Okay, now for some movies:

Um...can we start with a list? We usually do Top Tens, and they're always "Best Of", but can we do it in reverse? Something got me thinking about the All-Time Worst Movie Directors. I have a "thing" I've developed in recent years: turning off a movie as soon as it gets bad. I never used to do this. I thought it was impolite: "You chose this movie, Ad, you must stick with it." Of course, any film can have a needless scene, or can drag for a few minutes. When that happens, you've gotta give it a chance to recover. But you sometimes get a vibe, either from the start or a few minutes in, that "this movie sucks" and it's not going to improve. Then you think (or should think), "Why should I spend 90 to 120 minutes watching this when I already know how bad it is?" Life's too short, right? But I used to sit all the way though every movie, no matter how crummy, even when I knew it from the get-go, just because I "felt bad" about rejecting the filmmaker's effort.

But then, about ten years ago, along came a film called "Tideland" by Terry Gilliam. And it was so bad, I just couldn't sit through it. I made it through the first fifteen minutes, but then said "why am I watching this"? And all of a sudden...I wasn't. That's because my thumb had pressed the "stop" button without me realizing it. "Thanks, thumb." It gave me the courage to stop worrying about politeness (and hurting the filmmaker's feelings) and start using the stop button more often. I did it again with "Cosmopolis" by David Cronenberg. That time, I was only three minutes into the film. Geez, you wanna talk a bad movie? Give that one a shot, see if you can last longer than I did.

Anyway, without further ado, let's list our Top Worst Directors (#1 being the champ). I don't know if we can find ten of them, but lets try.

1) Terry Gilliam. "Baron von Munchausen", "Brazil", and the horrid "Tideland" which, on the dvd, sports a disclaimer by Gilliam before the movie starts, where he basically acknowledges that it sucks but asks you to give it a chance anyway. I tried. I couldn't. Do you need any more evidence? I rest my case that he's the worst movie director of all time.

2) 'Twas a close race for second, but I had to go with David Cronenberg. "Crash", "Eastern Promises", "A History of Violence" and (drum roll please)..."Cosmopolis"! A double-dare ya to sit through even the opening scene! Good grief does this guy suck.

3) But I'm tellin' ya, it was really hard not to give the #2 spot to Lars von Trier. Have you ever tried to watch one of his movies? You won't be able to do it. In many ways, he's the worst of the worst, though he doesn't have a "turn it off immediately" flick like the first two lame-o's. Pound-for-pound, however, he's got more ridiculous, stupid and really bad movie moments and just awful movies than maybe even Cronenberg and Gilliam put together. Plus, he's an arrogant a-hole. Go ahead and try to sit through one of his "critically acclaimed masterpieces". I guarantee you won't make it.

4) The guy who directed "The Lobster": Yorgos Lanthimos. He wins for Most Obtuse Director. Watch any of his flicks without going "huh?" and I don't mean in a weird, David Lynch way. I just mean "Huh? Why is this movie so bad? Why am I watching this"? Then hit the stop button and find something else. He won't ever be #1 because his films aren't obnoxious enough, but rock-bottom boring they are.

On a side note, we aren't talking about guys like Uwe Boll or Abel Ferarra, where it's common knowledge that their movies are lousy. We're mostly talking "critics darlings", whose movies are lauded by people with agendas, and hipsters who watch because the movie critics told them to.

5) I wanna put Wes Anderson on this list but I just can't do it because he's a genuinely nice guy who doesn't seem to be deliberately pretentious. It's just that....well, try sitting through "Asteroid City". But I still can't put him on the list. Oh, okay, maybe around #9 or 10. But I'm all out of names to make 10 (unless you can think of some). I just wanted to get these off my chest, and the subject in general, because whenever I think of "Tideland", I cringe. 

I had a great first day of Summer, last Saturday at the Chatsworth Nature Preserve. In addition to the guided hike (with all kinds of info about native plants, trees and critters), I had a blast learning to sing Native American songs with a group watching Martin Espino, a Native American musician and lecturer. Google him, he's awesome. He brings percussion instruments along; I got to play the Big Drum, the Turtle Shell, and the Rattle (it's like maracas). If you ever wanna see what the Valley looked like before development, come out to the Preserve when it's open next year. They only do this one day per year, so don't miss it. It's amazing!

How about a few Tubi movie reviews? I'll keep 'em brief:

"Ted K"(2021), the story of The Unabomber is good as a one-man show. Sharlto Copley plays Ted Kaczynski. Who knew he was so resourceful, or that he got around, travelling to other states by bus, and was a master of disguise? Ted was a bad and violent guy, but I'm not sure he was crazy, and many people agree with his assessment that modern technology has had a deleterious effect on the world. Autistic? Maybe. Sociopathic, for certain. But crazy? No. And, he rejected the insanity defense. Worth a watch for the lead performance.

"Good Kill"(2014) is about the moral question of using drones to kill targets 7000 miles away. Ethan Hawke gives an emotionally repressed performance as the guy working the joystick, but the screenwriter does not confront the fact that collateral damage by warplanes is likely greater than that caused by drone strikes. War is war, folks get killed.

"No Man of God"(2021) is a good one. They have some excellent unknown actors playing serial killers nowdays. Luke Kirby, who plays Ted Bundy, has his mannerisms him down pat, which can be compared to the real Ted's last interview. The problem is that no one can "out-Bundy" Bundy, and if you've never seen that last-ditch "confession" with James Dobson, you should check it out. It shows he was a very good actor himself, and a complete phony-baloney psychopath. 

Two more good "backwoodser" movies: "A Dark Place"(2018) and "A Single Shot"(2013) are both noteworthy for their lead performances, yet both feature some ludicrous plot devices and scenes that would never happen in real life. Still, both are riveting because of the atmosphere and aforementioned lead roles, and are thus the most highly recommended of all these films.  

R.I.P to the great Mick Ralphs, one of my very first guitar heros, who played with Mott the Hoople, which in turn was one of the first bands I got into when I discovered College Records. Check out his short-but-perfect solo on "Ballad of Mott the Hoople", or his work on the first Bad Company album. In addition, Mott and Ralphs looked cool and were the epitome, along with Bowie, of Glam Rock. They made you want to get a pair of platform shoes!

Finally, having remembered "Heavy Metal" as the first movie Lilly and I saw, I was trying to think of the second one. I had to consult my trusty internet movie-list databases (which have been helpful in many respects), and in browsing the Complete List of Movies Released in 1981, I found it! It was "An American Werewolf in London", which opened on August 21 of that year. We saw it at the MGM Studios main theater, which often previewed films, and we probably saw it a week (or a few days) before the general release, and it was a fun and slightly scary movie (though not full-on horror, which Lillian would not have liked).

But the cool thing was, because it was at MGM, I got to show her through the lab! Lilly got to see where I worked, and I remember leading her through the positive developing room, which was dark. I don't remember if I had my amber safety flashlight. I recall taking her through the corridor between the noisy developing machines, through the double doors and into the lighted "dry end", where the film went into the drying boxes. She was 16, I was 21, and I was proud to show her my workplace and also the MGM theater. I only worked at the studio for a few more months, and the rest is now history, but as the saying goes:

"That's showbiz!" 

Thanks for reading and Tons of Love, as always.   

June 19, 2025 (Movies & Happy Summer)

Howdy folks. I'm afraid I have nothing to report but movies. Everything else is my book, the one I'm working on, and I can't tell ya much about that. So, whattaya think? Can we do a bunch of flicks? Okay, good, but before we do, here's some exciting movie-related news:

The legendary Reseda Theater will soon be back (well, sort of). A development project is finally in the works. Read about it here: 

https://www.azuredevelopmentco.com/reseda-theater.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawK-liJleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFQTUdpd216cEk2QWVmWlVFAR4Gbn_Syup4RhpHZ9OiWinpuYT7AUDToBQWI0wKMkWuVG2lgLo9VuKevDfG8w_aem_DpfbepB4yJv5WbN6pnviPQ

Now, before we count our chickens, it must be noted that several other RT developments have been announced over the years and fallen through. This one, however, seems to have been approved and is already in the works, so, even though it won't be a full restoration of the original, single screen theater (without all the added shops and bistros), it's better than letting it sit idle as it has for the past 37 years. The best part is that they're gonna preserve the facade and marquee. Long live the Reseda Theater, my very first Movie Home.

Okay, now on to our reviews. Our first film is "Emperor"(2012), about the aftermath of the Pacific war and Hirohito's fate after his surrender to General MacArthur. Matthew Fox stars as the real life "Gen. Bonner Fellers", an assistant to MacArthur, who must find evidence that Hirohito ordered the attack on Pearl Harbor. Fox gives an outstanding performance; the ads showed Tommy Lee Jones' picture as MacArthur, but its Fox's film from start to finish. I don't know why he isn't a major star. Most of the cast is made up of Japanese actors who do a good job of capturing the warrior mentality and male-dominated culture of Japan at that time. Hirohito was seen, literally, as God to the Japanese people, and this is only 15 years before I was born. Talk about political mind control. Now then, we all know who Hitler was, but have you ever heard of Tojo? He was the true evil dictator of Japan who, along with his militarist generals, really ran the show above Emperor Hirohito, a passive man. Read the two thousand year history of feudal Japan, which was closed off from the world until Admiral Perry "opened it up" in 1853 (only 100 years before rock n' roll came into being). The movie shows how the war put a final end to all of that sequestration, and how the greatest horror the modern world has ever seen (WW2) brought about the greatest positive change in culture for Japan, and allied prosperity for our two nations. A love story holds the movie together and brings tears. "Emperor" is a great film that will stand the test of time. Tommy Lee Jones is excellent as aways in his supporting role as the Supreme Commander.

We also have "Kandahar,"(2023), a top-notch action thriller with Gerard Butler of "300" fame. He's in some really bad movies and a few good ones. This is of the latter, a captivating action flick shot in Saudi Arabia, which isn't all sand dunes and looks here like a godforsaken netherworld. You know how the Alabama Hills or the Utah Desert are ancient but majestic? This location looks like God destroyed it. It's supposed to be Afghanistan, and I thought it was until I read the movie's IMDB page, but man you wouldn't wanna live there. No wonder it's a source of continual strife. Butler is like Liam Neeson. He's great at portraying the existential stoic hero, caring only to do his job and survive. Neeson and Butler are too old to do the machismo schtick, which makes them appear even stronger - age and experience outweighs youthful muscle and braggadocio. The old guys have been there done that, and don't give a Flying You-Know-What. Butler plays a CIA asset working covertly in Iran to blow up their nuclear production plants. Strange how art mirrors and predicts real life, eh? He succeeds in blasting their nuke factory to smithereens, but then is identified. Now he must escape not only the Taliban and Isis, but also a relentless Pakistani ISI agent who wants to capture and sell him to the highest bidder. He has an interpreter along for the ride who just wants to get home to his family but has gotten more than he bargained for. The movie's message is that ordinary citizens just want peace and stability no matter what country they come from, but are unfortunately dominated by a-holes using the guise of a religion they don't even believe in. As these kinds of flicks go, it's very well done and doesn't lag for a second, even at two hours running time.

 Next up, a solid crime flick. "The Texas Killing Fields"(2011) boasts a strong cast: Sam Worthington, Jessica Chastain, and Jeffery Dean Morgan as detectives searching for a bayou serial killer. Morgan is downright sympathetic as an altruistic, devoutly religious, transplanted New Yorker. He shows himself to be a talented actor not limited to psycho roles, and makes you wonder why he chose to play the most reprehensible character in the history of movies and televison ("Negan" from "The Walking Dead") which unfortunately typecast him. This flick is well paced, with seemingly competent direction by Michael Mann's daughter Ami. I say "seemingly" because you're watching, locked in, and for the first 110 minutes, everything is top notch. There's a great "backwoodser" vibe featuring some creepy Hoot & Holler people including an unrecognisable Sheryl Lee of "Laura Palmer" fame. The plot has you riveted, and even though there's no backstory or character development, it's still a good watch...until the end, which leaves one of the biggest Red Herrings in recent memory. It doesn't ruin the movie, but you wonder "what gives"? Why was this particular person even in the film and why did they spend so much time on him? You can chalk it up to directorial inexperience, or very poor screenwriting/script editing, heck I don't know. But they additionally wasted a good performance by this Red Herring character, who is one of the best recent movie villains. So go figure. Still, it's well worth watching for the atmosphere, and young Chloe Grace Moretz as a vulnerable child.

But the best film of all was "The Professor and the Madman"(2019) starring Mel Gibson and Sean Penn in those roles respectively. If you love words and books as much as I do, this is your movie, about the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary. We like to talk about time here at the blog, and how the past, in many historical instances, is not as far back as it seems. Dig it: the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary was begun in 1879, only six years before my grandmother was born, and only 81 years before myself. Using 2025 as a reference, it would've been created in 1944, not a "distant past" at all. But imagine a time without dictionaries! Nowadays, of course, the English language is in a period of steep decline. It's interesting to consider that God gave many living creatures a tongue, but only humans had the impulse to form words. What might have been the very first well-articulated (and not grunted) spoken word? Who spoke it and when? It is also interesting to note that English has become "the international language" and is used as "the language of aviation". Did this happen because England, and then America, were the world's most powerful countries (and forced it down everyone's throats), or because English conveys more nuance than any other language and is relatively easy to learn? Language is a fascinating subject that extends into pasta. Linguine means little tongues. This movie is about the attempt to preserve the English language by literally putting "every word that ever was", per James Murray, into the most comprehensive dictionary ever created. The Oxford now has twenty volumes! The other half of the movie is how this massive effort first attracted then negatively affected a "madman" (Penn, playing a Civil War surgeon) who resides in a London asylum. It's great stuff, featuring (imo) Sean Penn's best performance as the hopelessly insane Dr. William Chester Minor, and a restrained Mel Gibson as Professor James Murray. We need more literate movies like this one. Thanks, Mel and Sean.

Quick Top Ten List! Greatest debut albums of all time: 1) "In the Court of the Crimson King" by King Crimson 2) "The Six Wives of Henry the 8th" by Rick Wakeman 3) the first Van Halen album 4) "Out of the Silent Planet" by King's X 5) the first Rush album 6) the first Black Sabbath 7) Roxy Music's first 8) "Tones" by Eric Johnson 9) "Montrose" by Montrose 10) "Caravan" by Caravan. That's just off the top of my head (and "Crimson King" is the consensus #1 by anyone-and-everyone), but think of all the great bands who didn't have a killer debut: Yes, Genesis, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, Judas Priest...heck, even The Beatles didn't knock it out of the park until their second album. So, it's less common when a band hits a grand slam the first time out. What are some of your top first albums from your favorite bands?

Another question, in the same vein as "who spoke the first word"? Why did man feel the need (or receive the initiative) to depict life? Why did he make cave paintings? Why did he feel the need to eventually invent photography, and then motion pictures? Why did he create "plays" when he had real life? Why are there stories? I ask because it's interesting...

I've had fun doing Movie Memories, and I was trying to think of the first movie Lilly and I ever saw. Could it have been "Heavy Metal", the animated Ralph Bakshi flick? I think so. It was released in August 1981, just weeks after we became a couple. Lilly wanted to see it because Cheap Trick was on the soundtrack. I think both of us liked the title and it just looked like an awesome movie. We saw it at the Cinerama Dome. To be honest, I don't remember the storyline, but I know Lillian was glad to hear the CT song play. They have no bigger fan in the Universe. The Dio version of Black Sabbath was also on the soundtrack with "Mob Rules". The 80s was of course when heavy metal exploded. Lilly and I were still getting to know each other at this point, and doing a very good job of it. The Summer of 1981 was The Greatest Summer of All Time (in my book, at least). It's funny: back then I would've said I didn't like the music of bands like REO Speedwagon or an artist like Christopher Cross, both of whom had huge radio hits with songs like "Keep On Loving You" and "Arthur's Theme". But - while Van Halen and Rush will always be "more my style" - it is songs like those that necessitate a Kleenex when I think of that time in our lives. It's a Happy Kleenex, mind you. Nostalgia equals timelessness, an endless Steady State...

And that's all I know for today. Thanks for reading, Happy Summer, and Tons of Love as always. 

June 9, 2025

Howdy, folks. Sorry to do this, but I've gotta start with a brief tirade. Newsom and Mayor Bass have got to go. First, there was their non-response during and after the firestorms in January of this year. And now, they are basically supporting these rioters, who are waving Mexican flags while they burn vehicles and throw rocks at passing cars. I'm grateful to President Trump and Secretary Hegseth for Federalizing the National Guard and sending in the Marines. Screw these criminals who riot every time they think thay have an "excuse" (even after basketball championships). And don't get me started on blocking the freeway. Folks, you can take whatever stance you want about the ICE deportations here in Los Angeles, and I'll honor your opinion even if I disagree with it (and you can guess where I stand on illegal immigration). However...and this is one of those Howevers we've seen in the past that are huge and must be drawn out..Howw-wwevv-err: If anyone thinks that blocking freeway traffic is acceptable, you should deport yourself from the Earth. Why do I say that? Because I was a caregiver. What if an ambulance was on the freeway with a patient in critical condition? What if you or I were on the freeway, going to visit a dying relative in the hospital? What if your wife was in labor and your child was about to be born, or your loved one had been shot and was dying...and these a-holes, these entitled POS, blocked the freeway and you couldn't get through? And your loved one died before you could get there, or the person in the ambulance died...

You know what? "Hey Newsom", eff you. You are the worst governor this state has ever had. Ditto Bass as Mayor, and that ain't easy to do when you consider Villaraigosa. Thank you, Trump, for standing up for law abiding citizens of all stripes and ethnicities. Shut these bad guys down, and keep them off the freeway and roads by any means neccessary.

More cops, more military, support pop up robots. America will NOT acquiesce to the criminals.

Okay, deep breath. Thanks for restoring order.

On a lighter note, have you guys heard of Helgi and Erlend? They're two Norwegians who do Scandanavian stereotypes on Facebook. They do a few other countries, too. I think they're hilarious and you've gotta check 'em out. Just put them in the FB search window, and watch their reels and shorts for best results.

We've got a coyote roaming my neighborhood. I've run into him two nights in a row and it's almost uncanny. The first time was on Saturday evening, during my Ralph's walk up to Chatsworth & Lindley. When I got to the old Denvonshire Downs lot, I was talking to my sister Vickie on the phone and suddenly there he was, Mr. Coyote, standing 15 feet away from me. I wasn't skeered, because I'm something of a coyote veteran at Aliso Canyon. If they're alone, they aren't gonna bother you (only when you see more than one should you be careful). Anyhow, while on the phone I watched him run around the Dev Downs parking lot. I said to Vickie that "I hope he heads back up into the mountains where he belongs". It worried me that he was close to traffic, which is relentless around here. Well, then last night, I took a detour on my CSUN walk. I never return via Superior Street. That's above my block and out of my way, but tonight there were a whole bunch of people on the sidewalk on Halsted. I didn't wanna weave through them so I kept going, one block out of my way up to Superior. And no sooner did I turn the corner onto Superior from Etiwanda...than there was Mr. Coyote, running through someone's front yard! I kid you not. It's like he's doggin' me (pun intended). He stopped for a second to check me out. I stopped too. I said (quietly) "you go on home, Mr. Coyote. You could get hurt down here". And he could hurt or kill someone's dog or cat, too. Hopefully, he'll find his way back, or animal control will pick him up. I hope it's the first option because Animal Control might put him down. Anyway, that's something, eh? Having a coyote just "pop up" two nights in a row, at random places...  

I went to the Academy Museum last week, with Vickie for her birthday. Have you been there? It's pretty awesome, and highly recommended for anyone with even a passing interest in the history of movies. For film buffs, it's a must-see. They have tons of Hollywood memorabilia & historic and technical presentations. It's located in the old May Company building next to LACMA and La Brea Tar Pits, and across the schtreet from the Petersen Auto Museum. You could even go and make a big-time "Museum Day" out of it. Hot tip: don't pay the 21 dollar parking fee (ouch!) in the LACMA garage; instead, turn right on Fairfax (off Wilshire), go up two blocks to Maryland, turn left and find free schtreet parking in a Lynchian residential neighborhood, very nice indeed. Tickets for the Academy are 25 bucks, or 19 for seniors like me. 

A couple of Tubi movies: "Man on the Prowl"(1957), an ultra-low budget psycho/thriller notable for its excellent performances. The great James Best plays a nut who romances then kills women when they reject him. He's just been let out of Camarillo and is living with his Mom. He knows cars, and has a job at a high-end dealership called Yeakel Cadillac (now Casa de Cadillac on Ventura near Moby Disc). He murdalizes one date at the beginning of the movie, then almost runs down pretty suburban Mom Mala Powers the next day while returning an Eldorado to a rich blonde bimbo. The movie has an inventive script that may have influenced "realist" filmmakers like Scorsese and Tarantino, and Best's portrayal of an extremely twisted character gives you the creeps. He was never a star, but you know him from a million things: for most it would be "Dukes of Hazzard", for me it was the cold-blooded leader of a redneck cowboy gang who put William Devane's hand in the garbage disposal in the all-time revenge film "Rolling Thunder"(1977). It was Best who uttered the movie's immortal line. After Devane's hand gets turned into ground round, his wife says: "My God, Charlie! Why didn't you just tell him where the money was?!" Best interjects, and says: "I'll tell you why lady...because your husband is one macho mo****rf**ker." I don't have to tell you that, at 17, that line hit my friends and I like a ton of bricks and we used it for a long time as a meme. James Best was the kind of actor who you never forgot in a role. He had a distinctive voice, for one thing, a high Texas twang. He did have one starring performance in "The Killer Shrews" (a 1959 b-movie classic with dogs dressed up as giant shrews), and that too was indelible. I say the more James Best, the better. According to IMDB, only one print exists of "Man on the Prowl". It was found in 2015; Alpha Video bought the rights. A high recommendation for this rarity.

We also have "Black Robe"(1991), which you may have seen or at least heard of. I saw it at the Peppertree when it was first released. Last night was my second view. Simply put, it's one of the greatest historical movies ever made, in my opinion. Briefly (if you are unfamiliar with the story): In 1634, from Quebec in what is called New France (before Canada was a country, and no one knows - even today - if it's a real country), a Jesuit priest (Lothaire Bluteau) sets out into the untamed wilderness, heading for Huron territory. He is sent by "Champlain," the French governor of the colony, to Christianize the Indians, and thus make them more peaceful and compatable. A handsome young colonist (Aden Young) accompanies the Father, wanting, like him, to "serve God". But he falls in love (and in lust) with a beautiful Algonquin girl (Sandrine Holt), causing an already tenuous relationship with their Chief to get worse. The Algonquins don't trust "the Black Robe" as they call Father Paul LaForge (Bluteau). The superstitious braves think he's a demon because he can "write words" and play the flute. To them, he's bad magic. But the Algonquins are downright moderate compared to the Iroquois, who are bloodthirsty and practice a form of voodoo. The situation worsens at every stop along the way. Winter comes, and with it sickness. The small group is continuously reduced. When they finally reach the Huron mission, only Father LaForge is left. That's all I'll reveal, and again, you've probably seen it. If you haven't, watch it asap. The stunning color photography alone is worth the effort, but it's also a gripping story of different forms of faith. Looked at from a Christian perspective, you could almost say that the Indians (some tribes) were stuck in the type of "eye for an eye" violence found in The Old Testament, whereas Father LaForge "turns the other cheek" at every injury they inflict upon him. 10/10 for "Black Robe", which was directed by Bruce Beresford (of "Driving Miss Daisy" fame). It came out around the same time as "Dances With Wolves" and "Last of the Mohicans" and I think it's the best of the bunch.

I had so much fun writing and thinking about "One From the Heart" that it reminded me of another great Movie Memory. Do you remember "Legend" starring Tom Cruise? Lillian and I saw it at the GNC Theater in April 1986, close to my birthday if I remember correctly. The GNC was in the Northridge Mall, and something about the way it was "tucked into a corner" (near Bullocks) and its '80s decor made it a favorite theater of mine for many years. So it was already a great movie date. But the film itself, like "One From the Heart", also had a "personal" connection for me and Lilly. Cruise plays "Jack", a forest dweller who fights The Lord of Darkness (basically, the devil) to save the last unicorn in existence. And in doing so, he saves Mia Sara, who plays "Princess Lily"! I loved "Legend" and I think Lillian did too, and on the way out, she said that someone told her she "looked like Mia Sara". I may have said, "No, she looks like you."

It's another of my favorite movies. 

That's all for now. Thanks for reading and Tons of Love as always.