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Kicked Back and Relaxed With Ant-Man

28 Jul

On our last day of vacation, I needed to do something different. We had been to the beach. We had been to Savannah, Georgia. We had done everything that there was to do. That is when I decided to go to the movies.

I had no idea what theater was the best and decided to hit the one with the most screens. After all, if a place has ten screens, then it must be good. I turned on the GPS and headed to the big ten screen theater. I pulled into the parking lot but could not find the movie house that the GPS was telling me was there. No neon sign. No marquee. Just a strip mall with a 1970s beach town architectural style.

With my hopes of a good movie experience dashed, I bought my ticket to Ant-Man and went to the concession stand for a box of Buncha Crunch. Then, I made my way to my screen. That is when I got the shock of my life.

The theater was filled with recliners. Yep, these were big cushioned seats that could lay your head back and put your feet up. I might not be able to see Ant-Man. I might not be able to hear Ant-Man. But, I was going to relax with Ant-Man.image-45

The house was packed, and the movie began. Just as I was getting into it, I heard a strange sound. It was like everyone in the room had gas and decided to pass it. Then, I realized that it was the sound of pleather as people reclined their chairs. No problem. Once everyone is reclined, the noise would stop. However, it did not stop.

This is when I realized the downside of having recliners in a theater. It gives bored kids something to do. When the movie gets a little slow, they get on their reclining carnival ride and have a big time. It was easy to tell when the movie got exciting because the passing gas sounds stopped.

Ant-Man was a good movie, but it would be better in a theater with ragged old chairs that have broken springs sticking out.

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The Orange Side of Savannah, Georgia

26 Jul

Last week, we spent some time in Hilton Head, South Carolina, but, in my mind, the best day consisted of a drive to Savannah, Georgia, the settlement established by James Oglethorpe when he first colonized the area. It is an old city with lots of history, and we rode a trolley through it all.

We saw the squares for which the city is famous filled with Live Oaks with Spanish Moss hanging from the branches. Each square is surrounded by a church and stately homes. One home was the headquarters for William Tecumseh Sherman when he captured the city on the completion of his march to the sea. Another home belonged to the family of Johnny Mercer and was the site of a murder that inspired Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil – both the book and the movie.

Since movies were brought up, we saw where Forrest Gump sat on a bench and told his life story but missed an entire square because Adam Sandler was in the process of filming a scene. I was hoping to see where Burt Reynolds filmed parts of Gator, but the tourism folks do not promote that one as much as others.

We saw a lot of interesting places. The location of John Wesley’s first sermon in the New World. The docks where cotton was loaded onto ships bound for England. Of course, no one mentioned the slaves who worked the cotton. To make up for that lack of information, we saw a building used by the Underground Railroad.

Savannah is a beautiful city of architectural wonders and almost three hundred years of history. It was also filled with people trying out for American Idol. Unfortunately, I did not get any pictures of that stuff. Our trolley ride made photography difficult. No pictures of Live Oaks. No pictures of monuments or statues.

However, I was able to take a picture of this place.image-44

When it was time for lunch, I asked the man at the visitor center counter a simple question.

“If you were going to lunch where would you go?”

He started down the typical list that included Paula Deen’s and other places where tourists are directed. I knew that he would not pick any of those places but could not deviate from the script. We wanted to eat with the locals, and this guy offered no help.

On the trolley ride, we passed a place that looked like what we wanted. Clary’s Cafe had a few outdoor tables and was off the beaten path. It did not take long to choose that over standing in line at one of the other places. We got out the trusty GPS and made our way through the squares and around Adam Sandler.

We pulled into the parking lot and made our way to the door. However, my wife was nowhere to be seen. She was standing behind the car talking to someone. It turned out to be the owner of the restaurant who saw the orange T on the front of my vehicle. For those who are not from around here, that is my signal to everyone that I am a fan of the University of Tennessee. As it turns out, the owner was also a fan of the Big Orange.

We talked for a while about the upcoming football season and the orange shrine her husband built at their home. They are from Tennessee and make it to as many games as they can. She has high hopes for the upcoming season and thinks Butch Jones has the program on the right track.

Eventually, we made our way inside and found what we were looking for. Sweet tea was in the pitcher, and lima beans were part the day’s special. It was a true southern restaurant that did not involve a television personality. However, that was not the best part.

As we finished our meal, the owner told the waitress to give us the Big Orange discount. After all, we were part of her college football family.

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BBC, Movies and Me

22 Jul

There are a ton of lists about the greatest things that ever were. Books. TV shows. Cars. It goes on and on. Recently, BBC added to the list of lists by announcing the 100 greatest American movies of all time. According to the article, film critics from around the world provided their opinions.BBC

To create this post, I decided to list the movies I have seen and include my favorite line from each one.

97. Gone With the Wind – Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn96. The Dark Knight

91. ET: The Extraterrestrial – I just hope we don’t wake up on Mars or something surrounded by millions of little squashy guys.

90. Apocalypse Now – Charlie don’t surf!

84. Deliverance – Sometimes you have to lose yourself ‘fore you can find anything.

82. Raiders of the Lost Ark – Bad dates.

78. Schindler’s List – There will be generations because of what you did.

76. The Empire Strikes Back – Never tell me the odds.

75. Close Encounters of the Third Kind – Einstein was probably one of them.

74. Forrest Gump – Anyway, like I was sayin’, shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey’s uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep-fried, stir-fried. There’s pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that’s about it.

73. Network – I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore.

66. Red River – Well, I don’t like to see things goin’ good or bad. I like ’em in between.

65. The Right Stuff – Hey, Ridley, ya got any Beeman’s?

61. Eyes Wide Shut – Life goes on. It always does, until it doesn’t.

56. Back to the Future – I guess you guys aren’t ready for that yet. But your kids are gonna love it.

55. The Graduate – Plastics.

52. The Wild Bunch – We all dream of being a child again, even the worst of us. Perhaps the worst most of all.

46. It’s a Wonderful Life – Ah, youth is wasted on the wrong people.

45. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance – Nothing’s too good for the man who shot Liberty Valance.

42. Dr. Strangelove – Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here! This is the War Room.

41. Rio Bravo – If I ever saw a man holdin’ a bull by the tail, you’re it.

38. Jaws – Well it proves one thing, Mr. Hooper. It proves that you wealthy college boys don’t have the education enough to admit when you’re wrong.

36. Star Wars – Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.

34. The Wizard of Oz – That’s a horse of a different color!

28. Pulp Fiction – There’s a passage I got memorized. Ezekiel 25:17. “The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy My brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay My vengeance upon you.”

21. Mulholland Drive – I got the pool, she got the pool-man.

20. Goodfellas – Jimmy was the kind of guy that rooted for bad guys in the movies.

16. McCabe and Mrs. Miller – I got poetry in me!

14. Nashville – Who do you think is running Congress? Farmers? Engineers? Teachers? Businessmen? No, my friends. Congress is run by lawyers. A lawyer is trained for two things and two things only. To clarify – that’s one. And to confuse – that’s the other.

13. North by Northwest – In the world of advertising, there’s no such thing as a lie. There’s only expedient exaggeration.

10. The Godfather Part II – If anything in this life is certain, if history has taught us anything, it is that you can kill anyone.

9. Casablanca – Everybody comes to Rick’s.

5. The Searchers – That’ll be the day.

4. 2001: A Space Odyssey – It can only be attributable to human error.

2. The Godfather – Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.

1. Citizen Kane – Those are the only terms anybody ever knows – his own.

That makes 35 out of 100. Looks like I need to watch a few more.

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Movie Wisdom – Jan-Michael Vincent Edition

21 Jul

In the 1970s, he was on the cusp of movie stardom. He costarred alongside John Wayne, one of the most popular movie stars of all time. He also costarred alongside Burt Reynolds, one of the most popular movie stars of the time. He was in Damnation Alley, one of my favorite dystopian movies. In the 1980s, he had his own series and was reported to be the highest paid person on television. However, I have been wondering whatever happened to Jan-Michael Vincent.Jan Michael Vincent

Somewhere, his career went sideways and into the B-Movie realm. According to Wikipedia, he has had serious health issues and lives near Vicksburg, Mississippi. To remember Vincent’s career, we will look at the wisdom to be gained from a few of his films.

From The Undefeated

If I can’t have the whole dog, I don’t want the tail!

From Bite the Bullet

To be a cowpuncher, that don’t mean you actually got to go around punching them.

I’ve never saw a man who could hold his liquor like a bottle.

Killing a man don’t prove you’re a man.

A boy lookin’ for a reputation is the most dangerous thing alive.

Flattery and money will get you anything.

From Damnation Alley

All the dead are dead, and the living are dying.

From Hooper

Nothing hurts when you’re numb.

 

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Power’s War – A Review

10 Jul

There is a mythology to the American West. It involves people living a life of complete freedom without the restraints of established society and government. If a problem needs to be handled, then it is handled by individuals. When the dust settles, the good guys have beaten the bad guys, and the life of complete freedom continues.

Filmmaker Cameron Trejo exposes this myth with Power’s War, a documentary that chronicles a tragic event in the wilds of Arizona.Power

Jeff Power settled his family near Klondyke, Arizona and, as thousands of people had done for decades, attempted to find fortune in a mineshaft. It was a harsh life of backbreaking work and isolation. For daughter Ola May, it was too much isolation, and she died mysteriously. For Jeff, it was too little isolation, and the world encroached on his plans.

The myth of the American West leads us to believe that people who lived in the region did so without the shackles of life in the east. This falsehood discounts the mountain men who worked for fur companies based in eastern cities; the cowboys who rode for cattle companies owned by London stockholders; and the miners who worked for huge mining companies.

For historians, it is difficult to peel back the layers of the myth and teach people about the realities of the West. Unfortunately, Jeff Power learned of those realities in the most tragic of ways. His family may have lived in a remote wilderness, but they were connected to a larger world.

In 1917, the United States entered World War I, and a patriotic fervor gripped the nation. Men registered for the draft, but Jeff and his sons, John and Tom, thought the war was secondary to their mining claim. Why should they fight a war in a foreign land when the land they were on held the potential for prosperity?

On February 10, 1918, lawmen looking for the draft dodgers surrounded the Power cabin. The resulting shootout, the largest in Arizona history, has been largely forgotten. The complete story will not be told in this review. That would take away from the need to watch this excellent documentary.

Trejo uses interviews, sweeping panoramas and the touch of a graphic novelist to tell the stories of the Power family and others who were affected by the events. Their tales are tragic, but they provide the perfect example of the western experience. It was not romantic. It was not good guys versus bad guys. It was people trying to survive in a harsh world while the rest of the world pushed its way in.

Cameron Trejo tells the story of a family living in a canyon near Klondyke, Arizona, but he is also telling the story of the American West.

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Forcing the Issue

28 Jun

I feel that my best posts are created organically. They pop into my brain and make their way onto the screen in a free-flowing manner. They are not forced.

Sometimes, I force myself to blog, and the resulting posts are not my best. This is when I fallback on my iPod and movie quotes. As you can see from the past few posts, I am in time of writer’s block. Nothing is coming to my mind, and I have a couple of options.

I could not write.

I could force something that I really do not like.

Of course, there is a third choice. I could drive myself crazy trying to think of a good idea and pretend it is free-flowing.

For example, I could write about whether anyone would protest if this flag was flying over a state capitol.Flag CSA

I could also write about the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. We talk a lot about the Bill of Rights, but this one has always fascinated me. In fact, I would bet that most federal lawsuits are based on this amendment because it deals with civil rights. Section 1 reads:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

This is the paragraph on which the Supreme Court based its decision concerning gay marriage.

The amendment was ratified in 1868. However, that process was fraught with problems. Most of the southern states refused to ratify it. I say most because Tennessee was the third state to pass the amendment, coming in behind Connecticut and New Hampshire. As a result, Congress, led by the Radical Republicans, passed the Reconstruction Acts. This meant that the remaining states of the old Confederacy had to pass the amendment in order to get back into the United States.

Oh yeah, those were the states that fought under that flag further up in the post. That was the first flag of the Confederate States of America. I bet a lot of people on both sides of the Confederate flag issue would not recognize it.

Interestingly, Abraham Lincoln did not think the states had the legal right to secede and planned on getting them back in with a pledge of allegiance from a certain percentage of each state’s voters. I wonder what would have happened with the 14th Amendment if he had still been alive. However, that is alternative history, and history is tough enough without thinking about what might have happened.

I could write about a song that I just downloaded, “Stole the Show” by Kygo. It also features Parson James. Anyway, it makes me think of how I used to handle relationships with women. However, that is too much information. Just know that I am happy to be married and have all of that behind me.

On second thought, I will put it this way. I always envisioned myself as Burt Reynolds driving into the sunset at the end of Gator. In other words, I was an idiot.

I could write about those things and a lot of other stuff that I have tried to cram into my mind. However, that will be forcing the issue, and I do not want to do that.

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Movie Wisdom – Robert Redford Edition

27 Jun

I have been listening to the Jeremiah Johnson soundtrack that I bought a while back. The music takes my mind to a peaceful place – kind of like the mountains where Jeremiah makes his way.

Listening to the music also makes me think about the movies that Robert Redford has made. There are a bunch of good ones that should be great places to hunt for some wise words. With that in mind, I looked for Movie Wisdom in Redford’s films.Roy Hobbs

Remember the rules. I must have seen the movie, but the quote can come from any character.

From Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Don’t ever hit your mother with a shovel.

Move in slowly, check out everything.

From Jeremiah Johnson

Elk don’t know how many feet a horse has!

Keep your nose in the wind and your eye along the skyline.

From The Way We Were

People are their principles.

From All the President’s Men

If you’re gonna do it, do it right.

From The Natural

Some mistakes you never stop paying for.

The only thing I know about the dark is you can’t see in it.

I believe we have two lives: the one we learn with, and the one we live with after that.

From Out of Africa

The Earth was made round so that we would not see too far down the road.

From Indecent Proposal

Some things are not for sale.

From The Horse Whisperer

Knowing is the easy part; saying it out loud is the hard part.

 

Movie Wisdom – Frank Sinatra Edition

5 Jun

The other day, I watched a documentary about Frank Sinatra that included a lot of information that I did not already know. Obviously, Sinatra was one of our great entertainment icons, but it was interesting to get a more intimate look at his life.

The documentary led me to this post and a look into the wisdom that can be found in some of his movies.

Remember the rules. I must have seen the movie, and the quote can come from any character in that movie.

Now, let see what can be found in the dialogue of the Chairman of the Board.Sinatra

From From Here to Eternity

Nobody ever lies about being lonely.

Maybe back in the days of the pioneers a man could go his own way, but today you got to play ball.

A man should be what he can do.

A man loves a thing that don’t mean it’s gotta love him back.

From Ocean’s 11

Fifty percent of something is better than one hundred percent of nothin’.

From The Manchurian Candidate

It’s a terrible thing to hate your mother.

Have you ever noticed that the human race is divided into two distinct and irreconcilable groups: those that walk into rooms and automatically turn television sets on, and those that walk into rooms and automatically turn them off?

From Tony Rome

People change. They don’t always turn out the way you expect.

 

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Captain America; Caps and Gowns; and a Night on the Town

10 May

Man, this has been an eventful weekend for our household. Instead of writing some long introductory paragraph, I will get right to the point.

On Friday, my stepdaughter learned that she made the volleyball team. She has worked hard on her skills, and everyone is proud of her effort. Then, it all paid off.

After she received a ton of congratulations, she and I ate went out on the town. We ate burritos and saw Avengers: Age of Ultron. Her mom wanted to go, but my stepdaughter was afraid that she would ask too many questions during the movie.

When the movie was over, she mentioned something that I did not catch. Black Widow has flirted with almost every member of the team, and she is now in love with Bruce Banner. Of course, this is not the “Bill Bixby hitchhiking to piano music” Bruce Banner. It is a Bruce Banner who is not as cool as that.

On Saturday morning, my university held its 173rd commencement on the lawn in front of our main building. It was a beautiful day, but it got a little hot under the caps and gowns. Commencement always brings mixed emotions for me. I am happy for the graduates, but I am also sad to see them go. To soften the blow, the History Department held a nice reception for our graduates and their families.

Last night, we went on a surprise birthday excursion for one of our friends. It started at Saint Anejo, one of the cool and trendy restaurants in Nashville. If you make it into the city, then you should try it out. It is full of locals, which means that you will not see any tourists wearing cowboy hats.

After dinner, we went to a concert at Marathon Music Works, which is located in the old Marathon automobile factory. The building houses all kinds of businesses, but this music venue is the best of the bunch. We did not know anything about the band, but it turned into a blast.

First, we were in the private balcony, which is the only way to watch a concert. We had stools, couches and our own server. The seating was especially great because the rest of the place is all about standing up.image-29

Second, the band was awesome. Matt and Kim are a duo, but that does not describe them. Matt plays keyboard and sings while Kim beats the crap out of the drums. She also stands on the drums and works the crowd into a frenzy. Heck, she even walked onto the hands of the crowd and danced. It is performance that has to be seen to be appreciated.

This morning, we began our Mother’s Day festivities and will continue with them throughout the afternoon. However, I had to take a few minutes to write about this eventful weekend. Now, I am going to take a nap.

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Movie Wisdom – Patricia Neal Edition

5 May

When all of the grading is over, I am going to watch A Face in the Crowd, a movie that I have seen a bunch of times. It stars Andy Griffith as a hobo who becomes a huge television star. Unfortunately, his ego grows along with his fame. It also stars Walter Matthau and Patricia Neal, an actress who I feel belongs among the all time greats. She also grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee.Patricia Neal

In honor of Patricia Neal, we are going to look for words of wisdom in her movies.

From The Day the Earth Stood Still

There must be security for all, or no one is secure.

It isn’t faith that makes good science. It’s curiosity.

I am fearful when I see people substituting fear for reason.

From A Face in the Crowd

A guitar beats a woman every time.

Nothing’s illegal if they don’t catch you.

From Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Because no matter where you run, you just end up running into yourself.

Anyone who ever gave you confidence, you owe them a lot.

It’s better to look at the sky than live there.

From Hud

This country is run on epidemics.

Nobody gets out of life alive.

Don’t go shooting all the dogs ’cause one of ’em’s got fleas.

It don’t take long to kill things, not like it does to grow.

From In Harm’s Way

All battles are fought by scared men who’d rather be someplace else.

On the most exalted throne in the world, we are seated on nothing but our own arse.

 

 

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