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Well my blogging activities have been limited lately. It’s crazy at work, school just started, and I neede to write a video review tonight (wrotw about Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World). I’m just trying to make it to this weekend.
Okay, here’s the last review for tonight. If time permits tomorrow I’ll post my reviews for World Trade Center, Zoom, and Snakes on a Plane.
From High School Musical to Sunset Boulevard. Hey, it’s all about show business.
I’m catching up on some of my past reviews that I haven’t uploaded yet. The first is High School Musical. I do have to review videos at least once a month and, after watching this with my niece, I knew I wanted to tackle this gripping drama about heroin-shooting teens, stealing and selling their bodies for their next fix, and…oh, wait, that’s not the right movie. High School Musical is exactly as it sounds. Gripping drama? Um…only if you’re a seven year old.
Tonight I had the delight of watching the Marx Brothers on the big screen. Our campus’ classic movie series kicked off tonight with Duck Soup.
Oh my. Before tonight I had only watched parts of this movie and a scene here and scene there does not do it justice. The anarchy needs to be seen in one big helping and with an audience. Comedies deserve an audience. What is only a chuckle at home in front of the TV becomes a guffaw when shared with strangers in a darkened theater.
Groucho is in top form as Rufus T. Firefly, the ruler of Freedonia. Chico and Harpo are spies from neighboring Sylvania – and not very good spies at that. Margaret Dumont is…Margaret Dumont, the oblivious grande dame.
My favorite scene? I loved it when both Chico and Harpo dress up as Groucho. We get the classic mirror scene with Groucho and Harpo:
Of course, seeing war from the Marx Brothers point of view also offers some great laughs:
There’s so many great lines, most of them from Groucho. Two of my faves:
“Remember, you’re fighting for this woman’s honor, which is probably more than she ever did.”
“Go, and never darken my towels again!”
Chico gets the famous, “Well, who you gonna believe, me or your own eyes?”
I normally would tell you to rent the DVD to see the film, but I would much rather you find a showing at a university or revival theater and see Duck Soup with a laughing audience.
I’m off to Phoenix to catch “Wicked” at Grady Gammage. I’m so excited to see this show. It is the worst possible time for me to get tickets, since the semester begins tomorrow and a late night driving back to Flag will not make me the most alert person in the morning. I’m definitely feeling wicked! 
Only my desperate desire for a cup of coffee will get me out of bed anytime soon.
Oh, good morning.
Update: It was a desperate desire to empty my bladder that finally got me out of bed.
I really wasn’t blog-whoring, but I do thank you for stopping by. I’m still excited when I get over 40 hits in a day.
For those of you wondering what the heck this is about, I posted a diary at DailyKos and my blog was mentioned. Talk about hits, I get 20 to 40 hits in a day, but DailyKos gets thousands.
I’m looking out my office window and watching idiots with tiny cars try to drive through a major flooded intersection. A red car is stalled. He tried going a little too fast and the water went up over his grill. Idiot (though I’ve tried the same thing, but a truck allows a little more leeway).
Must do work, but watching the flooding and traffic is much too entertaining. The weather report calls for much more rain.
I’m sitting at the office with a smile on my face. Our power went out. Oh, it’s on now and I can’t get online, but the power outage took down many of our on-campus services. The workshop I’m supposed to be doing right now? Can’t do. Hee hee.
Lots of rain and thunder. I can see flooding across the street (between the Jack in the Box and Dairy Queen - next to Barnes & Noble). Dawn and I went to the bookstore to get the books for our next class, starting Monday, and when we returned to the office parking lot we couldn’t get out of my truck. Hail was pounding down. Thus we sat in the truck while the hail pounded deafening us. It was fun how the windows got so steamy. Hope no one saw us, wondering what was going on!
Working at a university has its benefits. How many other workplaces offer a classic film series?
This fall semester’s movie schedule has me salivating. Many of my favorite movies will show on a big screen.
Look for the Marx Brothers in Duck Soup, William Powell and Myrna Loy in The Thin Man, Fred and Ginger in Top Hat, Coburn and Arthur in The Devil and Miss Jones, Ronld Coleman and Greer Garson in Random Harvest, Bogart and Bacall in Key Largo, Hepburn and Tracy in Adam’s Rib, Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron in An American in Paris, and Rock Hudson and Doris Day in Lover Come Back.
You’ll know where I’ll be on Tuesday nights.
Tonight’s film is Double Indemnity, starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, and Edward G. Robinson. It’s classic film noir with characters of little morals and schemes aplenty.
I hadn’t seen the movie before, but am endeavoring to see many classic films I’ve missed over the years. These movies include Sunset Boulevard, Trouble in Paradise, and On the Waterfront. I’m going through the American Film Institute’s 100 Greatest Films list to see what is missing in my movie viewing. I’ve seen most of them and some of the movies I’ve seen time and again - I can even quote dialogue. Still, it is nice to finally see some of these movies.
I found myself crying twice tonight. Both times it was over diary posts at Dailykos. Two moving posts that hit me in the heart and I wanted to share.
Beautiful Dead Girls by hrh
Beenie Drowned in Her House…A Katrina Diary by luckydog
I’m lucky I don’t have a TV, otherwise I’d be throwing things at it. The cable news is just horrible as they chase after ratings. This John de Rosier cartoon says it all:
So, the dogs did not get a walk yet, but I did weed the backyard, clean up the poops, and gave them a good ball toss while the neighbor dogs barked at the fence.
I went to see Talledega Nights and enjoyed it, but really loved the trailer for Stranger than Fiction, another movie with Will Ferrell.
Let’s see, I also organized some of my CDs, emptied trash, and got the mail. So for a lazy Saturday I’ve done pretty good.
I’m writing a video review this weekend and will try to do a first draft tonight of either Sunset Boulevard or Double Indemnity. I may even do a first draft of the Snakes on a Plane review, but that is optional.
Now I think a good book reading while I lay on the bed sounds delicious. Yeah, it’s an exciting life, isn’t it? Hey, I’m happy with it and that’s all that counts.
