Reading to Reels: The Commitments

Back in 1991, charming Irish film was released. It was called The Commitments. Based on the 1987 novel of the same name by Roddy Doyle, The Commitments was about a band trying to make it the gritty and struggling city of Dublin, Ireland.

Meet Jimmy Rabbitte (Robert Arkins). Jimmy is on the dole and lives with his parents on the northside of Dublin. But that doesn’t mean he’s a total slacker who lacks ambition. He wants to manage a band, an no, this band won’t follow in the footsteps of their fellow Irish citizens like U2 or Sinead O’Connor (RIP). Instead, Jimmy wants the band to follow the 1960s’ soulful musical stylings of Black American singers and musicians.

At first, Jimmy puts an ad in the local newspaper asking for aspiring singers and musicians. He holds auditions in his parents’ parlor. Unfortunately, these auditions are not fruitful. Nobody can fill Jimmy’s soulful aspirations. Jimmy then looks to his friends to make the band, which includes lead singer Deco Cuffe (Andrew Strong), keyboardist Steven Clifford (Michael Aherne), bassist Derek Scully (Kenneth McCluskey), lead guitarist Outspan Foster (Glen Hansard), sax player Dean Fay (Felim Gormley), and drummer Billy Mooney (Dick Massey). Three local girls, Bernie McGloughlin (Bronagh Gallagher), Natalie Murphy (Maria Doyle), and Imelda Quirke (Angeline Ball) are brought onboard to be back-up singers. Jimmy soon meets an older man by the name of Joey “The Lips” Fagan (Johnny Murphy). Johnny has been playing music for decades and boasts about meeting many musical legends.

It is Jay who comes up with the band’s name The Commitments. But it is a long road before hit records and sold-out shows at famous arenas through out the world. The Commitments have a lot of work to do to reach musical greatness.

First the band has to procure musical instruments. Steven’s grandmother sells them a drum kit and a piano. And Duffy procures the rest of the instruments through some rather dodgy maneuvers. The Commitments find a rehearsal place to hone their musical stylings. The Commitments get their first gig at a local church’s community center. The band claims its a benefit to combat drug addiction (heroin was a huge problem in 1980s Ireland).

The Commitments draw a sizable crowd, but the gig doesn’t quite go as well as planned. Equipment malfunctions causing a power outage. And it doesn’t exactly help matters when Deco accidentally beams Derek with his microphone stand. Oops.

Though the Commitments are tight on stage, things aren’t exactly harmonious behind the scenes. Deco becomes an out-of-control diva. After one brawl between Deco and Billy, Mickah Wallace (Dave Finnegan), who had been acting as security for the band, takes over on the drums. Billy has had enough. And then there is also a scuffle when Jimmy is confronted about paying for the instruments he procured for the band. Mickah beats up Duffy, who is then escorted out of the gig. Meanwhile, Joey manages to woo and bed Bernie, Natalie, and Imelda. No, not at the same time. It’s not that kind of movie. But how do you think Joey “The Lips” Fagan got his nickname? Wink, wink.

However, despite all the backstage chaos and romantic shenanigans, The Commitments are gaining a considerable following and more and more gigs. They are local musical heroes. Then Joey tells them some interesting news when the band gets yet another gig. Joey tells his bandmates that the Wilson Pickett will be in Dublin for a concert, and because he and Joey are tight, Wilson can join The Commitments for a performance. Jimmy is so excited, he tells some local journalists this juicy tidbit and convinces them to come to this gig. It will be major. Will Wilson show up? Things do look doubtful, and Deco and Jimmy get into a row. And this also causes quite a bit of of protest amongst the audience, but they are placated once the band plays the Wilson Pickett classic, “In the Midnight Hour.” Things don’t go very well for the band after the gig. Big fights break out and thus, it looks like The Commitments are over when they are just beginning.

In the end, The Commitments don’t reach the musical heights they had hoped for, and the film ends with a montage narrated by Jimmy of where the band members are post-The Commitments. Imelda gets married and is forbidden to sing by her husband, but Natalie becomes a successful solo singer and Bernie is in a country band. Steven is now doctor. Outspan and Derek are street buskers. Dean formed a jazz band. Joey claims on a postcard to his mother that he’s touring with Joe Tex. Too bad Joe Tex is dead. Mickah is the singer of a punk band. And as for Deco, well, he got a record deal and is still a diva and a royal pain in the arse.

Directed by Alan Parker (who also directed the original Fame movie released in 1980), The Commitments wasn’t necessarily a huge hit when it was initially released in 1991. But since then, has become a beloved cult classic. The movie spawned two soundtracks that were big hits and introduced iconic soulful songs and sounds to a new generation. And the cast is still involved in acting and/or music. Glen Hansard is probably the best known. He was in another Irish charmer, Once, and one an Oscar for the song “Falling Slowly.”

I loved The Commitments. The cast has incredible chemistry, the music is fabulous, and Parker truly captures the grittiness of Dublin back in the day. The Colm Meaney nearly steals the show as Jimmy’s Elvis-loving father. The Commitments is a delight!

Reading to Reels: A Place in the Sun

In the drama A Place in the Sun, Montgomery Clift plays George Eastman. Though related to a rich industrialist named Charles Eastman, George is looked down upon because his family is poor. Still, that doesn’t stop him from taking a job in his uncle’s factory. George hopes his work ethic will impress his uncle so he can work his way up, and also work his way into his uncle’s upper crust world.

Though dating co-workers is strictly verboten, George starts dating fellow factory worker Alice Tripp (Shelly Winters). Alice is plain-looking and poor but truly smitten by George and his connections to his wealthy uncle even though George’s connections seem to be in name only.

Despite dating Alice, George falls in love with Angela Vickers (Elizabeth Taylor in her first adult role) after meeting her at a party. Angela is not only beautiful she is also from a wealthy family. Dating Angela brings George closer to the upper crust world he always desired.

However, Alice is hardly out of the picture, and it isn’t before long she announces she is pregnant with George’s child. She believes this will prompt George to marry her. Not surprisingly, George is not happy with this idea, especially since he is in love with Angela. He tells Alice to have an abortion but she refuses. She figures since George is getting closer to his uncle’s world of wealth, he’ll have no problem supporting a wife and child.

Alice soon sees a newspaper of photo of George and Angela and realizes he is cheating on her. Alice confronts George, threatening to tell everyone about what is going on between them and about the pregnancy. He better marry her or else

To save face, George takes Alice to the local city hall for a quick elopement. However, it is Labor Day week-end and city hall is closed. Instead of ditching Alice, George convinces her they should visit a nearby lake. Not quite realizing what George has in mind, Alice agrees.

While renting a boat under a false name, George acts nervous. Finding out there are no people on the lake George thinks this might be a good time to murder Alice and dispose of her body. With Alice out of the picture George is free to continue dating Angela and free from marrying Alice.

However, once Alice tells George how excited she is about their future and the upcoming birth of their child. George has a change of heart. He can’t murder Alice. He must do the right thing and marry her. But when Alice stands up in the boat, the boat capsizes, and Alice does drown.

George, however, is safe, and he swims to shore. He goes to Angela’s family lake home and struggles to keep the story of Alice’s drowning a secret. But before long Alice’s body is discovered, her drowning is ruled a homicide.

With a great deal of evidence stacked against him George is arrested for Angela’s death. This happens just as George is going to ask for Angela’s hand in marriage.

Though George is innocent, the evidence is overwhelming. He tries to explain what lead up to Alice’s accidental drowning, but the prosecutor (Raymond Burr) aggressively pulls apart George’s testimony. The prosecutor convinces the jury that George committed first degree murder and the jury finds him guilty. George is sentenced to the electric chair.

As George faces his last days he pours his heart out in a letter to Angela. He claims he did not kill Alice but her drowning was perhaps his only way to leave his poor, underprivileged past behind and start fresh with Angela.

A Place in the Sun is lushly filmed in black and white, and its romantic scenes are unbelievably passionate and erotic. Elizabeth Taylor’s beauty is beyond compare and she and Montgomery Clift have electric chemistry that leaps off the screen. A Place in the Sun was nominated for nine Oscars and won six, including a best director Oscar for George Stevens.

Based on the Theodore Dreiser novel, An American Tragedy, A Place in the Sun highlights the huge gap between rich and poor, even among family members. It also conveys how one’s ambitious desires, and obsession with money and status can make people consider doing horrible things. A Place in the Sun also shows how people can be victims and victimize others.

Reading to Reels: The Heiress

Directed by William Wyler and based on the Henry James novel, Washington Square, The Heiress is a drama that examines the issues of love, revenge, heartbreak, mental cruelty, wealth and class. And it does in a way that makes you think how people’s lives could be different if they were born in another time or place.

Olivia de Havilland plays Catherine Sloper, the daughter of a wealthy doctor, played by Sir Ralph Richardson. Catherine’s mother died giving birth to her, and Dr. Sloper seemingly blames Catherine for his beautiful wife’s death. Catherine, on the other hand, is plain and awkward, and her father never fails to let her know what a disappointment she is to him.

Catherine seems to be destined to live her gilded cage as a lonely spinster when Morris Townsend (Montgomery Clift) comes along. Morris is handsome and dashing. He charms Catherine and lavishes loving attention on her that she never received from her father. Catherine gains confidence and begins to bloom as Morris courts her. However, Morris is penniless, and Dr. Sloper believes he’s only with Catherine to gain access to her inheritance. He can’t imagine anyone being interested in his daughter beyond her money.

Morris asks for Catherine’s hand in marriage, telling her they can elope. But Dr. Sloper tells Catherine if she marries Morris he will disinherit her and there is no way Morris can support her. Catherine doesn’t care. She’s convinced Morris truly loves her, not her potential inheritance. Morris finds out but claims it doesn’t matter whether Catherine gets her father’s money or not. They will marry.

Catherine awaits for Morris to whisk her away and marry her. But he disappears, breaking her heart. Catherine hopes her father will show her some kind of compassion. Instead, he cuts her down with vicious remarks. Catherine tells her father she would have married Morris even if all he cared about was her inheritance. After all, being loved for one’s money is better than being not loved at all.

Time passes, and Catherine’s heart hardens Her father dies, and leaves her his entire estate. Years later, Morris returns. He went to California intent on making his fortune but comes back to New York making nothing of his life. Still, he professes his love for Catherine. He tells her he only left because he knew losing her inheritance would leave her destitute. Catherine says she forgives him. She also claims she wants to marry him. But is she telling the truth?

Morris comes back that night and that’s when Catherine gets her revenge. She was not sincere in her forgiveness. Coldly, she tells her maid to bolt the door as Morris knocks and knocks, shouting her name. Catherine’s aunt is appalled by Catherine’s behavior, bemoaning her cruelty towards Morris. Catherine turns to her and says, “I have been taught by masters.” Is she wiser or is she bitter? Perhaps she is both. The film fades with Morris still shouting Catherine’s name as she walks up a staircase.

Olivia de Havilland (who won an Oscar for this role) is brilliant as Catherine naturally conveying Catherine’s transformation from victim to victimizer. Montgomery Clift is so beautiful he takes your breath away. He’s also very adept at being a charming manipulator. You’re not surprised Catherine is drawn to him even though you want her to keep him at arm’s length. Sir Ralph Richardson is chilling as Dr. Sloper, yet you also understand he wants to protect his daughter of Morris’ less than sincere intentions.

While watching The Heiress I kept wondering how Catherine’s life could have been different if she had been born in another time. She could have earned a college education, struck out on her own and had some semblance of independence. She could gain confidence and learn to love herself, and maybe, just maybe, attract the right kind of man. Money is wonderful, but it’s not everything, and Catherine proves one can be surrounded by luxury yet be emotionally and mentally impoverished.

Reading to Reels: Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret

It’s been over fifty years since the Judy Blume classic book Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret was released to making it to the silver screen. And I’m telling you; it’s well worth the wait.

Not surprisingly, Judy Blume was a bit hesitant about making Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret into a film. And I can’t blame her. This book is a touchstone for generations of women and girls covering topics like wanting to fill out a bra, worrying about getting your first period, religion, family, school, and discovering boys. The film adaptation had to be made with the right touch, and with director Kelly Fremon Craig, and a wonderful cast it has.

When the film version of Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret begins, 11-year-old Margaret Simon (Abby Ryder Forston) is finishing up summer camp and going to back to her parents, Barbara (Rachel McAdams) and Herb (Benny Safdie),in New York City. But there is a surprise in store for Margaret. Due to her father’s job, the Simon family is packing up and moving from the hustle and bustle of the Big Apple to the bucolic suburbs of New Jersey. Margaret is horrified. She’s going to miss the city, her friends, and her devoted bubbe Sylvia Simon (Kathy Bates).

Just as the Simon family is settling in their new home, Margaret is befriended by neighbor girl, Nancy Wheeler (Elle Graham). It turns out Margaret and Nancy will be attending the same sixth grade class at the local elementary school. Nancy wants Margaret to join a super duper secret club along with new friends Gretchen Potter (Katherine Kupferer) and Janie Loomis (Amari Alexis Price). This secret club has quite a few rules, including not wearing socks, which causes Margaret to get some painful blisters.

Margaret and Nancy, along with Gretchen and Janie, are all in the same sixth grade class. Their teacher is Mr. Benedict (Echo Kellum), and the girls are thrilled to find Philip Leroy (Zack Brooks), a total grade school hottie is in their class. They all have a crush on him. But sadly, the girls also slut shame Laura Danker (Isol Young) for developing earlier than the other girls. There are horrible rumors that Laura lets the older boys have their way with her, and unfortunately the girls believe them.

While traversing the trials and tribulations of sixth grade, Margaret and her friends deal with the various growing pains of getting older. Nancy tells the girls they all must wear a bra to be in the club, and yes, they all chant, “We must, we must. We must increase our bust!” I wanted to get up in the theater and shout at the screen, “Stop! Don’t do that. It doesn’t work. Believe me, I’ve tried!”

The girls worry about getting their periods and once they do, they must tell the others exactly what it’s like. In one funny scene, Margaret and Janie (who want to be prepared for when the time comes), buy pads at the drugstore and nearly die from embarrassment when a teenage boy rings up their packages of “Teenage Softies.”

And yes, the girls are also obsessed with the opposite sex. They get a gander at the male anatomy by looking Gretchen’s doctor father’s anatomy books. And they wonder if they’ll ever be stacked as the playmates in Margaret’s father’s copies of Playboy so they can attract boys. As previously mentioned, all the girls crush on Philip Leroy. And when Margaret is kissed twice by Philip during a party game she is on cloud nine. Sadly, Philip acts like a jerk and later makes fun of Margaret’s small boobs.

Religion is also a central theme of Are You There, God” It’s Me, Margaret, and it’s one Margaret muses on for a year long research assignment given by Mr. Benedict. Margaret was raised without religion, yet has frequent talks with God. Her parents are of different faiths. Her mother was raised in a Christian home, and her father is Jewish. Barbara Simon is pretty much estranged from her parents for marrying a Jew. And though Sylvia at first wasn’t too thrilled with Herb marrying a shiksa, she does come around and is a devoted grandmother to Margaret.

Margaret decides to examine various religions. She goes to temple with Sylvia. She attends separate church services with Janie and Nancy. She even follows Laura Danker to confession at a Catholic parish. And Margaret continues to talk to God. Sure, she asks for bigger boobs, but she also wants to know is she Jewish? Is she Catholic? All of this leaves Margaret with more questions than answers. And when things come to blows when her maternal grandparents come for a visit, you heart breaks for young Margaret.

As the movie commences, Margaret has finished sixth grade and is looking forward to junior high and is about to go to summer camp. She has learned a lot and yet, has so much more to learn. And spoiler alert. Margaret gets her period.

Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret is completely delightful. I really appreciated that this movie sticks with its early 1970s timeline long before smart phones, Netflix, the internet, and doing dances on Tik Tok. Everything from the clothing to the furniture to the music is faithful to the time period. All the performances ring true. Kathy Bates is a treasure as Sylvia Simon. But Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret is truly Abby Ryder Forston’s film. She just embodies Margaret, endearing, awkward and oh, so relatable. And if you see this movie, keep your eyes peeled. The Judy Blume shows up as an extra.

Reading to Reels: The September Issue

With the my review of Amy Odell’s Anna: The Biography, I decided to dust off this movie review I wrote for another blog ages ago. Enjoy!

To a lot of us, fashion seems like a fluffy and superficial profession. But to countless fashion insiders everywhere it is a deadly serious business. This is a business where people know the difference between puce and plum, and where hemlines and necklines are of utmost importance. And that cute handbag you just bought from Target? Quite likely it’s a knock-off of a pricier designer handbag a fashion editor claimed was the “must have” of the season.

And there is probably no more important fashion magazine than American Vogue. At the helm is the British ex-pat Anna Wintour and Vogue is the bible to fashionistas everywhere. And no issue of Vogue is more important than the mammoth September issue, chock full of fashion and beauty layouts, articles, celebrity profiles and yes, lots and lots of advertisements.

Documentarian RJ Cutler (The War Room, which focused on the 1992 Clinton presidential campain) turns his unblinking camera lens to the creation of the 2007 September issue of Vogue in the documentary The September Issue. The September Issue follows Wintour and crew as the September Issue begins with some nuggets of ideas to a fully-formed magazine on the newsstand.

The September Issue begins with Wintour reflecting on the power of fashion and how it can make some people nervous. Known mostly for her whippet-thin figure, swingy bob and dark sunglasses, it was a bit jarring to hear Wintour speak. Sure, she’s not warm and fuzzy, but there is a reflective side to her that makes her quite human.

During the film we see Wintour meeting with staff to discuss the issue. We see her jetting off to London, Paris and Rome to attend fashion shows and meet with designers. Wintour can make or break a designer with one raised eyebrow so I wouldn’t be surprised if even established designers like Jean Paul Gaultier and Karl Lagerfeld felt a bit nervous about meeting her. But when Wintour likes a designer she is behind that person 110%. Wintour was an early supporter of Thakoon (one of Michelle Obama’s fave designers). Her support of him, dare I say it, is almost sweet.

Wintour is also the editor that put celebrities on the covers of Vogue over models, and the chosen celebrity for this September issue is British actress Sienna Miller. Sienna comes to the Vogue offices and is outfitted in beautiful couture gowns, many which will end up in the magazine. However, the staff is flummoxed by Miller’s hair, which is growing out awkwardly, and not quite up to the magazine’s standards. Later, Wintour is not happy with Sienna’s photo layout shot by legendary photographer, Mario Testino, and the design staff scrambles to make a viable cover.

Though Wintour is at the top of the Vogue heap, she is not alone in making Vogue what it is. In September Issue, we get to meet editor-at-large (literally) Andre Leon Talley, the cape wearing and Vuitton-loving male Auntie Mame who seems to be employed to kiss Wintour’s skinny ass. I can’t imagine what Talley actually does for the magazine, but he definitely added a fun element to the movie. If he didn’t exist, a Hollywood  would have to create him.

And then there is the brilliant creative director Grace Coddington. Coddington started out as a fashion model in the swinging sixties. But after suffering a horrific car crash, Coddington turned her talents to fashion a role behind the camera. Coddington is the yang to Wintour’s yin. If Wintour is all about commerce and wondering if it will sell, Coddington is all about art and creating beautiful and over-the-top fashion layouts that are all fantasy.

Not surprisingly, Wintour and Coddington don’t always see eye to eye. As the issue is being put together, Coddington is creating a 1920s Parisian cafe society fashion layout inspired by the designer Galianos. Coddington’s vision is pure magic, yet Wintour is not pleased with one of the photos, and wants it deleted. Coddington is not happy. This layout is her baby. Yet, I could see both their points. The shot is gorgeous, yet it doesn’t quite work with the rest of the photographs. The offending photo is cut.

However, Coddington does get to make one final decision. During a last minute photo shoot for another layout, Coddington taps the documentary’s cinematographer, Bob Richman, to join the model in a photo. He happily obliges. Wintour takes a look at the resulting photo and wants to airbrush Richman’s slight pot belly. Coddington nixes the idea, saying, “Everybody isn’t perfect in this world.” Richman’s belly stays in the picture. Finally, after months of preparation, the September 2007 issue of Vogue is released. It weighs over four pounds and is over 800 pages, the largest issue in Vogue history.

RJ Cutler’s “fly on the wall” film making style is what helps make this movie so interesting. You get to see everyone in their element without film maker commentary. I was stunned to see the staff look at the mock ups on a huge wall where pictures and layout can be moved by hand rather than doing it on a computer. I was also pleasantly surprised to see how un-Botoxed and unmade-up the staff was even though most of them, like their leader, is very, very thin. Also, I was surprised how plain the Vogue offices are. I was expecting something ostentatious and grand, but the offices are quite non-descript.

But most of all, I was surprised how much I didn’t despise Anna Wintour. Sure, she isn’t at Vogue to make friends, but she isn’t the vicious harpy the media makes her out to be. Yes, she’s reserved and exacting but so are a lot of people in any cut throat business. And I doubt any negativity thrown Wintour’s way would be applied to a successful man. But still, Wintour does show some vulnerability as when she talks about her siblings, all of them in more serious professions, who are quite “amused” by her career.

September Issue is a fascinating look at both a legendary magazine and the talented people who make it happen. It is the “must have” for both fashion and film lovers.

Reading to Reels: To Die For

Based on a novel by Joyce Maynard, with a script by Buck Henry, and directed by Gus Van Zant, To Die For combines dark comedy, traditional drama and “mockumentary” interviews to very entertaining results.

Nicole Kidman plays Suzanne Stone, a local cable weather girl with huge dreams of finding fame and fortune as the next Barbara Walters. What Suzanne lacks in talent and intelligence, she makes up for in manipulation and ruthlessness, and nothing, including her marriage, will get in her way.

The movie commences with Suzanne marrying Larry Moretto (Matt Dillon), the biggest catch in Little Hope, New Hampshire. It’s not certain why Suzanne falls for Larry other than she thinks his close Italian-American family has mob connections, which can help her achieve her goals. Larry is lovable, albeit a bit dim, and completely clueless to Suzanne’s calculating ways. All Larry wants to do is settle down in Little Hope, run the family restaurant and makes lots of babies with Suzanne.

Of course, Suzanne has different plans. Despite her lack of journalistic and television experience she’s able to charm a local cable TV manager in giving her a gofer job. She parlays this lowly position into a regular stint as a weather girl. It’s not long before she recruits some local teens in producing a subpar TV special called “Teens Speak Out.” Jimmy (Joaquin Phoenix), Russell (Casey Affleck) and Lydia (Alison Folland) are the hardly the type-A achievers you’d expect on a teen-oriented TV show. They’re inarticulate and not good students, but apparently being in awe of Suzanne is the only job requirement necessary.

Larry gets a bit fed up with Suzanne’s ambitions and tells her it’s time to get busy with making babies. But Suzanne will have none of this. She tells her mother-in-law that being pregnant on TV is a career killer. Oh, if only Suzanne had waited a decade or so. Today, baby bumps and stupidly named off-spring are the “must have” for any celebrity. You can even become famous for simply having kids.

Suzanne realizes Larry, and his meddling family, is getting in her way of achieving TV success. There is only one thing she can do, recruit Jimmy, Russell and Lydia in bumping off her husband. Now having an affair with the devious, yet seductive Suzanne, Jimmy does the deadly deed. This local murder becomes national news making Suzanne the “star” she always desired and she revels in her tabloid notoriety. Not surprisingly, the hapless Jimmy is not so lucky.

However, Larry’s family is very wise to Suzanne’s scheming ways and they make sure Suzanne gets her comeuppance. The mousy Lydia, who Suzanne disdained as “white trash,” tells her story in a television interview and becomes famous in her own right.

Every performance in To Die For is near perfection. Matt Dillon is very good as a man who’s happy to have the prettiest girl in town but really wants the homebound hausfrau. Illeana Douglas as Larry’s sister Janice is dryly sarcastic and figures out Suzanne’s BS early on in the game. Both Phoenix and Affleck show a great deal of promise early in their careers in their respective roles.

But To Die For is truly Nicole Kidman’s film. With Kidman’s acting chops, Suzanne Stone is hugely self-absorbed but not very self-aware. Her calculation and cunning is as transparent as a plate of glass, but her telegenic beauty and media-savvy charm succeeds in drawing you closer. Despite ourselves, we want Suzanne Stone to be in front of the camera. Kidman won a very deserved Golden Globe for her portrayal of Suzanne Stone. She is simply a bewitching mix of evil and charisma, and Suzanne Stone is a person we recognize in everything from reality TV to national politics (ahem, or both).

Both the film and the novel were inspired by Pamela Smart, a teacher and wannabe TV personality who convinced a young man to kill her husband. But instead of telling this story straight, the film takes a very satirical look at our obsession with celebrity, fame and notoriety. Merely entertaining when it was released over ten years ago, in our celebrity-entrenched culture, To Die For is a pointed take on a very interesting phenomenon, the desperate need for fame at any cost.

Reading to Reels: Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

For Gene Wilder (RIP). Thank you so much Mr. Wilder for being a wonderful memory and an icon of my pop culture loving childhood. You will be missed.

Can you believe the much beloved movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is now over 40 years old? It seems just yesterday my sister and I were sitting in front of the television, transported to a world of candy, Oompa Loompas, bratty kids who get their just desserts and of course, the mysterious Willy Wonka. My sister and I loved this movie and we watched every broadcast.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is based on the classic Roald Dahl book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Played by Gene Wilder in the film, Willy Wonka is the reclusive proprietor of a world-famous chocolate factory. In the beginning, Willy Wonka makes a huge announcement. He is granting five lucky people a chance to tour his factory, learn some of his tricks of the candy trade and win a lifetime of free chocolate. The catch? You must first purchase a chocolate Wonka bar, and if one of those bars has a golden ticket, you are a winner. The world loses its collective shit and the media goes wild for the story (and this is the pre-Internet days). Who will win the golden ticket?

One person who would love to win a golden ticket is Charlie Bucket (Peter Ostrum). Charlie is good hearted but his family is broke. Even buying a simple candy bar could put a dent in the Bucket family budget. But somehow Charlie gets the money, and he purchases a Wonka bar. Charlie rips open the chocolate bar with anticipation, and low and behold, there lies a shining golden ticket!

However, before Charlie arrives at Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, he is offered a proposal by the devious Arthur Slugworth, the owner of a rival chocolate factory. Slugworth wants Charlie to steal Wonka’s secret recipes, most ideally, Wonka’s recipe for his latest creation the everlasting gobstopper. Will Charlie succumb to Slugworth’s shady plea, or will he stand by his convictions and not steal the recipe?

Being a minor, Charlie has to bring along a chaperone to tour Wonka’s chocolate factory. Charlie brings along his beloved Grandpa Joe played by the irascible Jack Albertson (yep, the “man” from Chico and the Man). Along for the tour are four other rather vile children, and their equally vile parents. First there is the gluttonous Augustus Gloop who doesn’t say much but sure loves to stuff his face. Violet Beauregard talks a mile a minute and is always chomping on a piece of gum. Mike TeeVee is obsessed with television and pop culture (wait, this is a bad thing?). But most odious of all is Veruca Salt, a spoiled, entitled brat. Hmm, if Veruca existed today she’d probably have her own reality show on Bravo.

Willy Wonka meets the winners and their adult chaperones at his factory’s elaborate gates. After freaking everyone out by pretending to be feeble, falling, and then finishing his “fall” with the perfect somersault, Wonka invites Charlie and the gang into the factory. Before anyone can go further they must read and sign a very elaborate contract, which pretty much looks like the contract you had to sign when you got your credit card. Now it’s on to the tour of the magical Wonka factory.

The first room the winners visit is a totally edible garden with flowers, mushrooms and a chocolate river. The winners also meet the Oompa Loompas, Wonka’s vertically-challenged, green-haired, orange-skinned helpers. Veruca Salt tells her daddy, “I want an Oompa Loompa right now” because she’s a snotty bitch, and you pretty much realize she is going to work your last nerve. However, it is Augustus Gloop who is the first to be eliminated from the tour when he falls into the chocolate river and gets sucked up in a large tube.

Still, the tour goes on. The winners and their chaperones visit magical room after magical room. They even go on a crazy boat road right out of a bad acid trip (it was the 1970s). Throughout the tour, the kids misbehave and are punished. Even Charlie gets up to some mischief. He and Grandpa Joe sneak into a room to try some Fizzy Lifting drinks, and start floating up towards a menacing whirling fan on the ceiling. Will they be beheaded? Fortunately, Charlie and Grandpa Joe find out belching will help them get their feet back on the ground, and they join the others on the tour.

At the end of the tour, only Charlie is left. However, Wonka finds out about the Fizzy Lifting drink fiasco, and he is pissed! He denies Charlie the ultimate prize because he defied the contract’s rules. Charlie turns to leave dejected, but not before he hands Wonka the Ultimate Gopstopper he swiped to give to Slugworth.

But all is not lost! Wonka turns to Charlie and tells him, “You won!” It turns out Slugworth is not rival and a spy; he’s actually one of Wonka’s employees and his name is Wilkinson. The Everlasting Gobstopper predicament was actually a test, and Charlie passed!

As the movie ends, Wonka leads Charlie and Grandpa Joe to the “Wonka-vator.” The Wonka-vator is an elevator that goes up, down and in all other directions. The Wonka-vator blasts through the factory’s ceiling and flies over the city below. It is at this time Wonka tells Charlie that the factory is his once Wonka retires.

I loved Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory as a kid, but I saw it again as an adult and I loved it even more. There is something so subversive about it, but at the end the good kid wins out. Sure, Charlie isn’t perfect but his heart is in the right place. And the bad kids are punished which totally fills me with schadenfreude. Jeff Gordinier even covers this in his book X Saves the World: How Generation X Got the Shaft but Can Still Keep from Everything Sucking.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was later remade in 2005 and starred Johnny Depp; but to me, Gene Wilder owns the role of Willy Wonka.

And while doing research for this piece I found out some interesting trivia. Julie Dawn Cole (Veruca Salt) and Denise Nickerson (Violet Beauregard) totally crushed on Peter Ostrum. I can’t say I blame them. He was adorable. And speaking of Peter Ostrum, Charlie Bucket was his first and last film role. He’s now a veterinarian.

What else? The flower-shaped cup Willy Wonka drinks from in an early scene was made from wax (ew). However, many of the props found on the set like the giant mushrooms were edible. Jean Stapleton was slated to play Mike TeeVee’s mom but had to back out due to another acting role. You probably know her best as Edith Bunker from the 1970s classic TV show All in the Family. And Julie Dawn Cole admits to hating chocolate!

I don’t have kids, but I do have a niece and nephew. And I’d love to share Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory with them. And I bet there are a lot of Gen X parents and aunties and uncles who have done just that.

Reading to Reels: Desk Set (Special Libraries Week Post)

Librarians of all kinds aren’t just found in public libraries; they are also found in schools, universities, corporations and other organizations. This post is in honor of reference librarians-the human versions of Google. Enjoy!

Human beings being replaced by high tech is something many American workers worry about, and it’s not a recent phenomenon as Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn show us in the 1957 comedy Desk Set.

Desk Set takes place at the Federal Broadcasting Company, a fictional television network. Katharine Hepburn plays Bunny Watson, the head of FBC’s huge reference library. Bunny can recite facts faster than you can say, “Google it!” She and her brainy staff, played by Joan Blondell, Dina Merrill and Sue Randall, are kept quite busy with staffers calling up looking for the 411 on a multitude of topics, both the mundane and the serious.

However, there seems to be trouble on the horizon. The network is in talks to merge with another company, but at the moment it seems to be on the down low. FBC brings in an efficiency expert named Richard Sumner played by Spencer Tracy. Richard has also invented a computer system called EMERAC, an “electronic brain” that is supposed to help the workers with the merger. However, many of the workers think these computers will replace them, and they wonder when they’ll get fired.

Richard and Bunny soon meet when he comes into her department taking measurements for the computers. Richard begins to question Bunny, wondering if she can answer as quickly as a computer. One smart cookie, Bunny has no problem answering the questions and proves to quite the foil to Richard’s efficiency expertise.

Instead of being turned off by Bunny’s brains, Richard is actually quite charmed. And despite her hesitation, Bunny can’t help but be drawn towards Richard. She’s been with her boyfriend, Mike (Gig Young), for seven years with no promise of marriage in sight. Hey, Bunny isn’t getting any younger. Bunny and Richard spar and flirt the way only Hepburn and Tracy can.

Towards the end of the film, a giant computer is placed in Bunny’s department to help everyone field questions more efficiently. However, despite the “advanced” technology, the computer is no match for Bunny and her fearless staff. The computer has a near “meltdown” but Bunny and her crew proves to be up to the task. And another computer messes up and mistakenly fires everyone via pink slips placed in their paychecks.

Desk Set is the eighth film Hepburn and Tracy did together (their final film was Who’s Coming to Dinner?), and it’s effortlessly charming. Based on William Marchant’s play with a script by Phoebe and Harry Ephron (yep, the late Nora’s parents), Desk Set is directed with a light touch by Walter Lang. Sure, there are parts that look dated. I had to laugh when I saw the huge computer that took up half of Bunny’s department, and how the answers were spit out on old-school perforated paper.

But despite being made in 1957, Desk Set’s premise looks quite modern.These days, everyone seems to be addicted their tablets, smart phones Googling, Tweeting and updating their Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram pages. But there is truly no replacing our human brains and our need to connect with one another without the use of technology. Desk Set shows this in a fun and entertaining way.

Reading to Reels: Iron Jawed Angels (Women’s Suffrage)

Today is Wisconsin’s day to vote in the Presidential primary. I voted early this morning and realized I wouldn’t have this right if countless women didn’t take it to the streets and fight for my right to cast a ballot for my chosen candidates. I owe a debt of gratitude to these brave ladies (and some gents).

There are countless books on women’s suffrage and other women’s rights issues, so I’m providing a link to Google Images on all the great books about these topics, books aimed at both adults and children. I’m sure most of these books are amazing reads.

I also have to share a review of a really great film on the topic of women’s suffrage, Iron Jawed Angels. Enjoy, and even more so, VOTE!!!!!

“Well-behaved women seldom make history” – Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

On August 26, 1920 the women of the United States got the right to vote. This did not come to be without the tireless efforts of many women, some of them known, some of them nameless. I am very grateful for the women who literally put their lives on the line to give me the right to vote, so I highly recommend the movie Iron Jawed Angels.

Iron Jawed Angels tells the story of two very brave women, suffragettes Alice Paul (Hilary Swank) and Lucy Burns (Frances O’Connor). In the beginning of the film, the two have returned to the United States after spending time in England where they’ve been very involved with women’s suffrage. They soon join forces with Carrie Chapman Catt (Angelica Huston) and other seasoned activists in the National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA) to help American women get the right to vote.

However, NAWSA finds Paul and Burns much too frivolous and rebellious. Paul and Burns are seen as way too radical for Catt and her cohorts when it comes to gaining women’s suffrage. Both young suffragists want a constitutional amendment for American women to have the right to vote. The older suffragists want to use a more conservative state-by-state approach.

Before long Paul and Burns break away from NAWSA and start their own organization, which they call the National Women’s Party (NWP). One of NWP’s goals is to oppose any candidate who is against a constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote.

After disrupting President Woodrow Wilson’s speech to Congress after he refused to meet with the suffragettes to discuss the issue, Paul and Burns go on a country-wide speaking tour to drum up support for their cause. They join forces with influential people like labor lawyer Inez Mulholland (Julia Ormond) and political cartoonist Ben Weissman. There is even a strong attraction between Paul and Weissman, but she holds off on romance because she wants to devote her time to the cause.

While in San Francisco, Mulholland passes away. Paul is devastated. She feels guilty because she convinced Mulholland to go on tour with them even though she was seriously ill. Very depressed, Paul goes back to her family’s home. But soon Burns convinces her that she is desperately needed. Both ladies go back to Washington DC to further the cause.

The country is now involved in World War I. The idea of women getting the right to vote is seen as silly during war time, and public opinion is not favorable towards the suffragettes. While picketing on the sidewalk in DC, the suffragettes are arrested for the trumped-up charge of “obstructing traffic.” The suffragettes refuse to pay the fine and are sentenced to sixty days in a women’s prison.

While imprisoned, Paul goes on a hunger strike after being put in solitary confinement and denied any legal representation. The other suffragettes join Paul in the hunger strike, and later they are violently force-fed by the warden.

Paul starts writing about their experiences after a guard smuggles her a pen and some paper. One of the suffragette’s husbands, a prominent senator, is so horrified by the conditions the suffragettes are living in that he gets the word out. Formerly despised, the suffragettes are now supported by the American public who calls them “iron jawed angels.”

Despite her misgivings about Burns and Paul, Catt is impressed by all the work they have done in name of women’s right to vote. She convinces President Wilson to support women’s suffrage and soon the suffragettes are released from prison. After getting the appropriate amount of states to support the Susan B. Anthony amendment, American women were given the right to vote on August 26, 1920.

Iron Jawed Angels is wonderfully acted and truly riveting. The story of these brave women is not very well-known but so important. And despite covering a very serious topic, Iron Jawed Angels has its lighter moments. In one scene, a young suffragette sees the cutest hat a store window and just has to have it proving one can be a feminist and a fashionista at the same time.

Iron Jawed Angels should be shown in American history classes. Every young woman and young man in America needs to learn this story. After watching this movie, you will never take the right to vote for granted again.

 

 

 

Guest Review: Ball Don’t Lie by Matt de la Pena review by CoBalt Stargazer

Ball Don’t Lie was Matt de la Pena’s first book, published in 2005, and it was developed into a movie of the same title starring Chris “Ludacris” Bridges and Rosanna Arquette. de la Pena is a California native, with an MFA in creative writing from San Diego State University. He currently resides in Brooklyn, teaches creative writing and visits high schools across the country.

de la Pena has written ten books, and whatever your opinion of Young Adult books is, Ball Don’t Lie is one of the better examples of the genre. The author won the Newberry Medal earlier this year for Last Stop On Market Street, and I am gradually working my way through the rest of his novels. I recommend trying to locate his work at your local library, or perhaps online at Amazon.

The story opens at a place called Lincoln Rec, which is a local hangout for professional amateur basketball players. Dreadlock Man, with his fierce fists and suspect jump shot, sets his stuff ($1.45 sandals, key to bike lock, extra T-shirt) on the bleachers and holds his hands out for the ball.  Most of the characters go by nicknames, which they were given when they first started playing at the rec center. The exception is Sticky, the book’s protagonist. Sticky is seventeen years old, and he’s been in and out of foster care since he was a kid, due to either behavioral problems or adults who don’t really want the responsibility of taking care of him because he isn’t what they had in mind. At the time the book opens, he’s on his third or fourth set of foster parents.

Sticky has a fairly severe case of a likely un-diagnosed OCD, which affects him even when he’s on the court. He often becomes fixated on sounds, the tone of things, repeating actions over and over again until he’s satisfied with the “PING!” or the “PONG!” Despite the fact that he’s white, this is no story of privilege. While basketball is our hero’s passion, he feels as if that’s the only thing he has going for him. That is until he meets Anh-thu, a pretty Vietnamese girl who works in a clothing store. That he meets her while trying to shoplift from the store where she works is mostly beside the point, although his penchant for theft comes into play later.

The overall point of the book is, Sticky can ball, and the book is full of urban slang on that note. Ball, baller, daps, hoops, etc, but it never comes off as patronizing or condescending. Sticky and his friends, who are mostly older, live the game in between their days at school and at work; but the kid isn’t sure there’s life beyond the court. Skin color aside, society has an impression of him and kids like him; and while he wants to be the “Eminem of hoops” he needs to rise above the self-defeating belief that he can never be anything other than a semi-thug on a basketball court. When Anh-thu enters his life, he becomes almost immediately smitten, even if he isn’t always capable of expressing it.

As the book progresses, his episodes of OCD continue, and as his girlfriend’s birthday approaches he decides to buy a fairly inexpensive stuffed bear, but steal a more costly bracelet as gifts. But although he changes his mind about the bracelet, he ends up using the knife he found to hold up an older man. He finds himself in possession of a little over four hundred dollars, more money than he’s ever seen in one place at one time. He counts it out once, slowly and deliberately….and then his condition kicks in. He’s locked in place, fixated on the bills in his hands, the compulsion to count them out a second and a third time holding him there until someone else comes along and steals it from him, shooting him through the hand in the process because he tries to resist.

Sticky wakes up in the hospital with Anh-thu asleep in the chair beside his bed. The reader gets a potent flashback into his childhood and how he decided his name was always going to be Sticky. His mother, who is only referred to as ‘Baby’, was an off and on drug user with a history of bringing boyfriends home. The reason he ended up in foster care is that she committed suicide while he was the only one in the house. Only he was locked in an episode then as well, concentrating on splitting out of a window while trying to hit the fender of a truck parked outside.  The sound of his mother shouting his name, “STICKY! STICKY! STICKY!” got stuck in his head on a loop. After that his given name, Travis, fell by the wayside because that’s the last memory he has of her.

But the upside is, the memory triggers a breakthrough, and as cliché as it sounds, Sticky and Travis merge for a brief time, and he begins to cry, likely for the first time in years. He loses his cool, the hard shell between himself and the world around him, finding catharsis.

The book ends with Sticky returning to the rec center after spending three weeks at a summer basketball camp, playing up and down the West Coast in front of college coaches and scouts. The scar on his hand resembles a purple spider, but he can still ball. More than that, he’s discovered that he isn’t nothing without the sport; he has friends and family and love. A future, which he didn’t know was possible until he let go of the preconceptions of not only society, but his own preconceptions.

In the end, Ball Don’t Lie isn’t a perfect book, but it’s such a triumphant story that the flaws it contains make it even more worthy of a read. Sticky is every boy with aspirations, finally bringing those aspirations within reach. Give it a look. You won’t regret it.