The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio

If you're looking for a light, encouraging book as a good summer read, have I got the book for you! The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio, by Terry Ryan. Ms. Ryan, the sixth of Evelyn Ryan's ten children wrote this biography about her amazing mother who writes jingles, poems, and 25-words-or-less compositions. She wins hundreds of contests that save her family from destitution.

In the 1950's and 1960's, "contesting" drew a surprisingly large number of housewives who used the small to large prizes to supplement their family incomes. Beginning with the roadside Burma Shave rhymes, Evelyn's contesting career required her word skills, wit, and originality. "Luck" she always said, "has nothing to do with it." (p. 22) She developed an elaborate system for filing food labels, collecting entry forms, and varying the names on the forms (variation on her name, her children's names, even fictitious names.)

A magnificent competitor, Evelyn won cash rewards, shopping sprees, automobiles, trips to Europe, gold watches, TVs, radios, a fridge AND a freezer, a washer-dryer, and a host of smaller prizes which she squirreled away in her "Closet" for that proverbial rainy day. Who knows? Someone just might need one of the 3 pairs of Arthur Murray dance shoes.

The poignancy of the story is not in the many wins by this clever, indefatigable woman, but that her humor and joy are sustained in a difficult situation. We can all agree that the task of raising 10 children on a single income is daunting. Evelyn's husband, Kelly, was the source of the growing tension in the family. Kelly Ryan's "problem drinking," dark angry moods, and resentment over his wife's success often brought the family to the edge of eviction and poverty. As the years progressed, less of his paycheck came home and his violence increased.

Suze Orman writes her forward to the book:

"How could such a woman show her children that live is not cruel, but bountiful? How could she possibly keep them, all 10 of them, afloat, much less teach them abundance, grace, and courage in the face of grinding poverty and adversity? ... Richness of spirit can dwell in the most desolate places and it pervades Evelyn's household like a healing balm." (p. 11, 13)

One reviewer of the book became an instant fan of Evelyn's and called her the "goddess in a girdle."

Not only do I highly recommend the book, but the movie by the same name is also a "winner." Starring Julianne Moore and Woody Harrelson, this film is an accurate representation of the book.

Enjoy!

Movie Review: The Kid

I don't often re-watch a movie, but the other night I was in the mood to see The Kid starring Bruce Willis as Russ Duritz. Many people are familiar with Bruce Willis's action films and haven't seen this Disney movie. I highly recommend it.

In this movie, Willis is a high-powered image consultant. He's demanding, rude, and obnoxious. He manipulates people and situations for his own benefit. In an early scene he asks a waiter how many times someone has to be called a "jerk" to make it so. It was lunchtime and 4 people had already called him one. According to one reviewer: "Russ Duritz is a success--he has looks, he has money, and he has power. The only things he's missing are friends and a conscience.

And then, somehow, his 8 year old self shows up. "Rusty," played by Spencer Breslin, is disgusting, uncouth, and embarrassing to Russ.

As the story unwinds, the 8 year old and the 40 year old must come to terms with the other. One of my favorite lines by the little boy is "What! I'm forty years old and I'm not married and I don't have a dog?! I grow up to be a loser!" The older Russ must deal with uncomfortable and even painful memories from his childhood.

Both Russ & Rusty are motivated to get the little boy home. Unlocking memories in the older man appears to be the key.

Both characters are well played and Breslin is absolutely adorable. Possibly because I've reached the mid-life phase of my own life, I found this movie touching. I often find myself reflecting and trying to reconcile who I am with who I thought I might be with who I still want to become.

Two more plusses for this movie: it's clean and has a high "giggle" factor.

Movie Review: Sherlock Holmes: Collector's Edition

My dear daughter, knowing my preference for British mysteries, gave me a collection of DVD's of Sherlock Holmes stories. In this collection are two movies and one documentary.

The mysteries, "Incident at Victoria Falls" and "The Leading Lady" star Christopher Lee and Patrick Macnee. The documentary about the identity of Jack the Ripper and the unsolved ghastly murders is narrated by Peter Ustinov.

I love reading Sir Conan Doyle's Holmes stories. Full of many details and complicated plots, these stories are engaging. The movies themselves are OK. I think that Christopher Lee is outstanding as Holmes. (Many are more familiar with Lee's role as Saramun the The Lord of the Rings movies.) He's refined and characteristically aloof, while occaisionally showing cinsideration and thoughtfulness. Personally, I prefer Jeremy Brett and his hawkish countenance as Holmes.

Macnee is a quintessentially faithful Dr. Watson. The date of these productions is 1992 and the films have that late "80's " feel. Morgan Fairchild, playing in "The Leading Lady," causes the movie to lose some of it's British flavor. These were produced as a mini-series, and therefore lacks some of the tightness of a shorter film.

The documentary was interesting, if not a bit too graphic. I didn't realize how dreadful the murders had been. My youngest daughter watched the Holmes stories with me; the accounts of Jack the Ripper would have given her nightmares.

Would I recommend these movies. Well, it depends on what you are looking for. If you want acting/cinematographic excellence you'll be disappointe. If you want something mildly engaging to pass the time or unwind with, this is you film!

Movie Review: New In Town

While I was in Florida visiting my daughter and I went to see New in Town, a pretty formulaic story about a city girl who moves to a small town and falls for the guy in the flannel shirt.

It’s a cute movie starring Renee Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr. and supposedly takes place in New Ulm, MN. Zellweger’s character plays an executive from Miami who goes to New Ulm to help refit a company where Connick’s character is the union official. She arrives in the middle of winter with her high heels and short skirts to find a small town in a bit of a time warp. The hairstyles, outfits and décor of the ladies are circa 1980. The leading man is a “red neck” complete with scruffy beard, plaid flannel and a pick up truck. Personalities clash, the company struggles, enemies become friends, and you can predict the outcome…..

I’m a bit of a purist when it comes to movies. If it’s taken from a book, I want it to follow the characters and plot closely. In this film, I wanted to see New Ulm. Other reviewers noted the lack of authenticity in the film. The film was not shot in New Ulm but in Winnepeg because of production costs. Though it’s cold and snowy and could be taken for the Midwest, it is too flat and tree-less for the region surrounding this small community proud of its German heritage. We don’t see Herman the German, the Glockenspiel, the Schell’s beer factory or the cute German restaurant that I visited with my high school class. Though rural Minnesotans may not sport the most recent Paris fashions, we’re not as “hick” as the movie portrays us. And the accents…. well, as a Minnesotan they were close, but a bit “over the top” even for me.

New Ulm, a close-knit friendly Minnesota town, chose to enjoy their bit of notoriety with and apropos opening night celebration: A Potluck Premier Party complete with a “tapioca bar.”

If you’re from Minnesota, go see the movie. You’ll need to be informed for the sake of disabusing others of any misinformation.

Movie Reviews x 3!

We've about reached our saturation point with holiday movies. Most of the movies we've seen this year we've seen before ... some of them many times. This past week we watched 3 movies: Christmas with the Kranks, The Muppets Christmas Carol, and A Christmas Carol (with Patrick Stewart). Though I enjoy this part of our family's "Christmas traditions" I'll be glad to shelve the holiday movies for another year.

I don't know if you've noticed, but most of the movies have similar themes: bad or down-and-out person has some moment of great conflict and the solution comes in the form of "Christmas spirit." Whereas some of the movies have scenes you could use as sermon illustrations, few have any particular spiritual merit. Yet, we go ahead and watch them andgiggle our way through some very clever antics.

Christmas with the Kranks was the first movie we watched this week. As I mentioned in an earlier post, we had already read Skipping Christmas by John Grisham. The movie and the book are both delightful, but for different reasons. Jamie Lee Curtis and Tim Allen star in the movie and play their parts well. Ms. Curtis is hilarious, Christmas-loving wife and mother whose husband convinces her that skipping Christmas for just this one year would be a great idea. Remembering her performances in various horror movies makes certain parts of this film kind of "vaudevillian." Tim Allen is pretty predictable (starts out as a jerk and ends up lovable); his scene with the Botox is laugh out loud funny.

Our second Christmas movie this week was one of our family favorites: The Muppets Christmas Carol. Michael Caine plays along with Kermit, Fozzy Bear, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Rizzo the Rat and the rest of the Muppets. Mr. Caine plays a marvelous Scrooge opposite a cast of puppets. He even sings! One of my favorite lines is Gonzo (the narrator) explains that "omniscient" means all-knowing. Rizzo then calls him "Mr. Hoity-Toity God-like Smarty Pants."

Though the story itself has some darker portions, it is by far the happiest version of the this classic that we've seen. This is definitely a movie to buy and keep on your shelf.

On Christmas Eve, after a fun meal, present opening and a game we snuggled one more time in the den to watch another version of Dickens's A Christmas Carol.One of my favorite scenes comes after Scrooge has spent time with all three ghosts. Patrick Stewart, a bona fide new man, arises to a new day... and has his first laugh in a long time:

"I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future!" Scrooge repeated, as he scrambled out of bed. "The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. Oh, Jacob Marley! Heaven, and the Christmas Time be praised for this! I say it on my knees, old Jacob, on my knees!"

He was so fluttered and so glowing with his good intentions, that his broken voice would scarcely answer to his call. He had been sobbing violently in his conflict with the Spirit, and his face was wet with tears. ...

"I don't know what to do!" cried Scrooge, laughing and crying in the same breath; and making a perfect Laocoon of himself with his stockings. "I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a schoolboy. I am as giddy as a drunken man. A merry Christmas to everybody! A happy New Year to all the world! Hallo here! Whoop! Hallo!"

He had frisked into the sitting-room, and was now standing there: perfectly winded.

"There's the saucepan that the gruel was in!' cried Scrooge, starting off again, and going round the fireplace. "There's the door, by which the Ghost of Jacob Marley entered! There's the corner where the Ghost of Christmas Present sat! There's the window where I saw the wandering Spirits! It's all right, it's all true, it all happened. Ha ha ha!"

Really, for a man who had been out of practice for so many years, it was a splendid laugh, a most illustrious laugh. The father of a long, long line of brilliant laughs!

Movie Review: Fred Claus

It's Friday night and our family is snuggled in the den, the smallest and warmest room in the house. Keeping with our plan to watch mostly Christmas movies, we watched one that was new for us: Fred Claus. This movie stars Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatte, Rachel Weisz, Kathy Bates and Kevin Spacey. Fred is Santa's ne'er-do-well older brother who grew up in the shadow of the kid who could do no wrong. Fred finds himself in trouble and must retreat to the North Pole for help.

This movie is your expected mix of "cute and funny" with "stupid and vacuous." Some scenes reach actual ROFL status: Santa's secret service elves do Ninja moves, dance scenes in the workshop and Frosty's Tavern, the siblings anonymous meeting. Kevin Spacey plays Clyde Northcut an efficiency expert who threatens to shut down the North Pole. He walks around as a sort of "angel of death" in his black coat and thick-rimmed glasses.

Personally, I like my Christmas movies to be a bit cuter and cleaner. Vince Vaughn's character was a bit too "ghetto" for me. As in most movies, it all works out in the end, but I was disappointed in the overlay of a religious song with opening presents. The movie as a whole rated, for our family, an "OK, but we don't have to watch it again" rating. According to Yahoo Movies, it rates between a B and a C-.

One reviewer complained that Vince Vaughn, like many comedic actors, plays himself:

Much of the problem is Vince Vaughn himself, as he doesn't bother to play any character other than Vince Vaughn. And he's yet to perfect how to be likable and a jerk at the same time.

While we have a number of Christmas movies that we re-watch each year, Fred Claus just doesn't make the cut.

Christmas Movie Review: Santa Clause 1 & 2

Since we watched these 2 movies one night after the other, I thought I'd combine their reviews. I'm sure most of you have seen this movie in which Tim Allen plays Scott Calvin who becomes Santa because of an incident with a clause (get it? claus...clause?)

These are cute movies worth re-watching every holiday season. In the first movie, The Santa Clause, (1994)Tim Allen scares Santa off his roof, thereby killing him and becoming the new Santa Claus. The changes in his body from slim and clean-shaven to portly and bearded are hilarious. The elves are my favorite. From Bernard to the cute girls with the cocoa. One of my favorite lines is "we're your worst nightmare, elves with attitude."

In the second movie, The Santa Clause 2: The Escape Clause, Santa must find a wife. The plot is pretty predictable ... Scott Calvin falls for the principal of the school where his son attends (and whom the son doesn't like) The cleverest and cutest parts of the movie is the robot Santa (with the rubber face and plastic tusshy) and the little rivalry between Bernard and Curtis. Spencer Breslin ("Curtis") is adorable.

One review called these movies "delightful holiday distractions." Great movies for relaxing with the family.

Christmas Movie Review: Christmas is Here Again

A friend of mine has watching lots of Christmas movies between Thanksgiving and Christmas as part of her holidy "To Do" list. I checked out her list and a couple of internet sources in order to compose my own list of movies. You can see it in my side bar.

Last night we watched our first official Christmas movie, Christmas is Here Again. I checked it out from the Redbox at our MacDonald's. And I have to say that it is probably the worst Christmas movie I've ever seen! Here's what one reviewer wrote:

With a voice cast that includes Edward Asner, Kathy Bates, Jay Leno, Brad Garrett, Shirley Jones, and Andy Griffith, a film like "Christmas is Here Again" ought to be a runaway success, not a movie that makes you want to run away. But in an attempt to touch just about every Christmassy base, this animated film from Robert Zappia ends up being so far out you'd think it was made by Frank Zappa. It's like the holiday Jell-O mold with too much fruit and marshmallows dumped into it, when a little would have been just fine, thank you.

The premise of the movie is that the bad guy stole the magic Santa bag (which just happens to have been made out of the swaddling clothes of the Christ-child) and Christmas is gone for 30 years. The cartoon has singing, dancing, an orphan named Sophianna who has a pet caterpillar.
Don't watch it. Not even if you have a code for a free Redbox rental. Amazon should be paying us to buy it

Movie Review: Why Did I Get Married?

Curled up in bed last night, feeling sick, I indulged in a movie. Thanks to $1 at Redbox, I picked up this Tyler Perry movie. I'm not a big Janet Jackson fan and never fully trust the acting ability of pop music stars, but this movie was cute, insightful and great for someone feeling too yucky to think or feel very intensely.

The precis of the plot: 4 couples gather annually to discuss how to make their marriages better. With that kind of intentional planning, you would think that these folks wouldn't find themselves in such predicaments. Every marriage has significant problems and secrets that come out in the course of the movie.

The story line was predictable, but I found the dialogue a hoot. Probably because I'm a white, Midwestern, Scandinavian mom. I've never talked to my friends or enemies like these women talked to each other. Even if you bleeped out any swearing it was colorful.

Every now and then you need a movie that's sweet and a little mindless. My flu didn't go away but the few chuckles did me good.

Hmmm.... sounds like my life ....

From The Incredibles:



Mr. Incredible: No matter how many times you save the world, it always manages to get back in jeopardy again. Sometimes I just want it to stay saved! You know, for a little bit? I feel like the maid; I just cleaned up this mess! Can we keep it clean for... for ten minutes!

(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317705/)

Charlton Heston

A hero and icon has died. No, not Moses, but Charlton Heston. (FYI, Moses died a looong time ago.) I'm curious, what will Charlton and Moses be talking about now?

http://www.americandaily.com/article/21894
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080407.whestonapp07/BNStory/Front


To quote my daughter:
"Heston was a man of integrity and a gentleman, who had been married to his wife Lydia Clarke since 1944. When he announced in 2002 that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, he did it with class and dignity, saying in a taped announcement "For an actor, there is no greater loss than the loss of his audience. I can part the Red Sea, but I can't part with you, which is why I won't exclude you from this stage in my life. .... If you see a little less spring to my step, if your name fails to leap to my lips, you'll know why. And if I tell you a funny story for the second time, please laugh anyway."

They don't make people like Charlton Heston anymore, and he will be missed. I've included a couple of my favorite quotes from him.

"Political correctness is tyranny with manners."

"It's hard living up to Moses."

"I marched for civil rights with Dr. King in 1963 - long before Hollywood found it fashionable. But when I told an audience last year that white pride is just as valid as black pride or red pride or anyone else's pride, they called me a racist. I've worked with brilliantly talented homosexuals all my life. But when I told an audience that gay rights should extend no further than your rights or my rights, I was called a homophobe. I served in World War II against the Axis powers. But during a speech, when I drew an analogy between singling out innocent Jews and singling out innocent gun owners, I was called an anti-Semite. Everyone I know knows I would never raise a closed fist against my country. But when I asked an audience to oppose this cultural persecution, I was compared to Timothy McVeigh"

"In the beginning an actor impresses us with his looks, later his voice enchants us. Over the years, his performances enthrall us. But in the end, it is simply what he is."

"Jackson was one of my favorite Presidents. One mean son of a bitch."

"I'm a seeker too. But my dreams aren't like yours. I can't help thinking that somewhere in the universe there has to be something better than man. Has to be." (Planet of the Apes)

"I leave the 20th century with no regrets. But one more thing - if anybody's listening, that is. Nothing scientific. It's purely personal. But seen from out here everything seems different. Time bends. Space is boundless. It squashes a man's ego. I feel lonely. That's about it. Tell me, though. Does man, that marvel of the universe, that glorious paradox who sent me to the stars, still make war against his brother? Keep his neighbor's children starving?" (Planet of the Apes)

Christmas Movies

Many times I feel that we watch too many movies and too much TV. When my older kids were little, we watched very little (and usually only PBS). I try to carefully monitor what and how much the kids watch.

However, I've found that I've developed a bit of a soft spot for some Christmas movies. I don't like the cheesy "Hallmark Specials," but I think there are some real treasures out there especially for the holiday season. We started watching our Christmas shows on Thanksgiving weekend.

So far, our family has watched:
Eloise at Christmas
The Muppets Christmas Carol
Santa Clause
Santa Clause 2
The Polar Express
Santa Claus is Coming to Town