Caribbean Cruise 2005: Valor

broderic on July 20, 2007

Leaving from here...

Because everyone seems to be out on vacation, going to vacation, or coming back. Here’s my journal from the cruise the family took to the Eastern Caribbean Islands. Like my last travel log for the European Cruise, I’ll post an entry at least once a day. Then after that I may go on vacation myself.

July 3, 2005
9:25 Reagan National. Waiting for boarding. We’ve been delayed. Hopefully we won’t miss the boat. Security is a hassle. Take my shoes off? I knew I should’ve stuck with the slippers.

10:13 Super late. Just barely made it onto the ship. Literally, the last ones to board. Except we did not miss the lifeboat drill.

Watched Miami recede into the distance before having a pre-dinner snack. Eating has started. Off to dinner.

Adventures From My Netflix Queue: War in the Philippines

broderic on July 19, 2007

Now this post isn’t about one movie per se. It’s about two movies that I had put in my queue a while back expecting them to get to me during the fourth of July week, but I lost one of them in the mail and the other was stuck in the short wait queue.

Both deal with the US armed services in the Philippines in 1942 as they made their gallant stand on the Bataan peninsula. One is about the army nurses who served close to the front and helped put the soldiers together to keep fighting. The other is about the navy in particular the PT boat captains that tried to keep the Japanese from closing the supply lines. I had wanted to see these films just for the patriotic feelings it would give me. One did the other not so much.

So Proudly We Hail! was stuck in mail hell. I had to wait that extra week before getting this disc because it was lost in the mail. It would’ve been a great flick to have seen on the fourth, but you can’t have it all.

So Proudly We Hail! was about a set of green army nurses shipping off to Hawaii in December, but routed to the Philippines once Pearl Harbor happened. The unit is lead by Claudette Colbert and they pick up Veronica Lake from a torpedoed ship. Paulette Goddard falls is the third star of the film. She falls in with a hick from the sticks whom she names Kansas. Colbert falls for a corpsman played by Superman, George Reeves. Lake has a dead fiancee who perished at Pearl Harbor, a wicked hatred for the Japanese and a death wish. These nurses care for the wounded throughout those desperate days until they are ordered to the Rock, Corregidor, and finally, flown out to safety in Australia. The film is about the ladies with love in their hearts and a soft gentle hand to ease the pain of the soldiers.

What a movie! It is best to watch and remember that the movie was released in 1943 so the memories were very recent to the audience. And it ends with hope. Will the lovers re-unite? You have to remember Gen. MacArthur’s return in 1944 had not happened yet so the women were separated from the men the loved without knowing if they went on the Death March.

I’ll admit to tearing up at the finale, because I expected a happy ending. Seems I forgot that the ending wasn’t written yet. They’ll keep hope alive was the most I can feel.

4 of 5 stars.

They Were Expendable is a John Ford movie with John Wayne. I expected action. With a title like that I expected some final defensive stand on the Bataan peninsula. Sadly, no.

They Were Expendable was about the PT boat captains who harassed the Japanese. It was also about PT 41 who’s commander won a CMH for helping to transport Gen MacArthur from the Philippines. This was more of a conventional story. Too trite, because I needed John Wayne to start kicking ass onscreen. The only neat part was the PT boat attacks. That’s what I wanted to see, but there was not enough of it.

Again, this film had an army nurse played by Donna Reed (sigh). She falls for John Wayne. Unlike So Proudly We Hail. It is the nurse that we don’t know what happened to her. Is she one of the few that made it off Corregidor? Or did she get caught in the retreat from Bataan? Since I saw this movie after the other, I expected them to meet in Australia (Wayne was sent there to help get the plan set up for more PT boat usage), but they didn’t. Sad.

2 of 5 stars.

Happy iCal Day

broderic on July 18, 2007

Almost forgot. It’s iCal day! Did you put your mac under your pillow to receive warm Apple Inc. goodness.

Now the calendar on my iPhone matches the one on my macs, Dorthonion and Doriath!

On The Road: Spooky Country Lane

broderic on July 18, 2007

Today I went down a spooky country lane known as Gores Mill Rd. It’s just off of Nicodemus and about 7 miles from the door to my house. This road is even spookier than Ivy Mill. Ivy Mill dives down towards Liberty reservoir in the shade, but it’s two lanes. Gores Mill quickly becomes one lane which goes through a few forests. Up and over a stream and then steep into another dark forest glade. You can go fast. You want to go fast thinking about what’s out in the woods here. Finally, you climb a small hill and are very soon close to Reisterstown.

From here, a dog chased me. She was a small little thing and I had to turn around and bring her back to her home where her master was waiting. I was down the road and knew she was still after me, but I couldn’t let her hang out there it would’ve been dangerous. So I turned around and pedaled her back to her house. Dumb dog.

The rest of the ride was uneventful. Reisterstown Road to Berryman’s Lane which is a usual part of my loop was easy. I only went out for an hour and about 15 miles. I was short on finishing up 150 miles this month by tenths of miles. Perhaps tomorrow I can cover that. What’s the weather supposed to be like?

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

broderic on July 17, 2007

As I read the series, this book was my favorite until the latest. It gets away from the schooling and more into the fighting. The film version does the same.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the series’s Empire Strikes Back. While sitting through it you are somewhat shocked at all that is going on. Maybe too much story is being told. The book was around 900 pages so the job by Michael Goldenberg condensing it was amazing. It’s dark, fitting in with the mood of Harry Potter who knows what death is and who will taste its bitterness yet again. Faced to face with Voldemort and with the wizarding community not believing it, a challenge is put upon the boy who lived to unmask Voldemort’s lies and show wizarding world that he really is back.

Like The Empire Strikes Back, this story is at the middle of the tale. In a normal action movie, this is about where the action team kicks start their program to getting ready to kick ass. Bad to the Bone should’ve been playing as Dumbledore’s Army assembles and practices their charms, hexes and spells. Expelliarmus!

And like Empire it was moody. Too much so that it was hard to believe the audience enjoyed it. They left in silence. Yet, as the book finishes and the films are done, we’ll look back at this film and see how good a movie it was. We’ll appreciate it much more in the context of the whole. It brings us to the beginning of the end. The stakes are raised and witches and muggles will die, but Harry Potter will stand tall with his friends. They’re what helps him in the end.

4 of 5 stars.

PS. Saw this at the out of the way place of Towson Commons 12. More adults than kids in the audience. Or rather the adults were just as awed as if they were 12 years old again.

Miss Stanwyck Blog Tributes

broderic on July 17, 2007

This is a list of those other bloggers who have decided to write something for Barbara Stanwyck’s 100th birthday. By all means not the most definitive, but the ones that I have read for today.

The Self Styled Siren
The Shamus. This may disappear quickly.
Another Old Movie Blog
Coffee, coffee, and more coffee does a review of Roustabout (The title of this blog is perfect for Marge)
The Shiela Variations
Spout Blog

If you come across anymore, feel free to post them in the comments.

Favorite Stanwyck Films

broderic on July 16, 2007

If you haven’t seen any of Miss Stanwyck’s films, I again ask you to check out TCM who are celebrating her birthday today with 24 hours of her films. But if you’re like me stuck at work, here’s my list of 5 favorite Barbara Stanwyck films. I liked these the most.

The Lady Eve. I find this to be her best. She’s alluring and conniving, sexy and devious, witty and charming. She received an Academy nomination the same year for Ball of Fire, but it should’ve been for this role.

Meet John Doe. A lesser Frank Capra film, but still it had Miss Stanwyck. Even with the corn that Capra dishes, Stanwyck brings the joy out. This film was released in the same year as The Lady Eve and Ball of Fire (1941). It may not be as superb as those two, it sure has a moving performance from her.

Forty Guns. Miss Stanwyck in Samuel Fuller film. ‘Nuff said. The song written about her character nails it, “She’s a high riding woman with a whip.”

Sorry, Wrong Number. Barbara as a helpless victim? She’s not convincing, but she did garner her last Academy nomination for this role. Charged with playing a dubious hypochondriac she does show in the flashbacks why she’s such a dangerous woman.

Walk on the Wildside. One of her last roles on the big screen. She’s a New Orleans madam with a wicked crush on one of her girls. She’s villainous reminding us of her femme fatale role as Phyllis Diethrichson, and also reminding us why she’s wickedly bad.

Honorable mentions: Ball of Fire. Double Indemnity. Stella Dallas. Baby Face.

Celebrate Barbara Stanwyck’s Centenary

broderic on July 15, 2007

Tomorrow would’ve been Barbara Stanwyck’s 100th birthday. TCM is celebrating it by showing a whole day of her movies. I implore you, if you have the time catch a few of these. If you don’t, get your Tivo started. I certainly am.

Just check out the films, you’ll find something you like:

6:00 AM Night Nurse (1931)
A nurse discovers that the children she’s caring for are murder targets. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Ben Lyon, Clark Gable. Dir: William A. Wellman. BW-72 mins, TV-G
7:15 AM Lost Lady, A (1934)
A bitter woman who thinks she’ll never love again marries, only to fall for a brash young man. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Frank Morgan, Ricardo Cortez. Dir: Alfred E. Green, Phil Rosen. BW-61 mins, TV-G
8:30 AM Ladies They Talk About (1933)
A lady bank robber becomes the cell block boss after she’s sent to prison. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Lyle Talbot, Preston Foster. Dir: Howard Bretherton, William Keighley. BW-69 mins, TV-G
9:45 AM Breakfast For Two (1937)
A Texas heiress competes with a gold digger for the love of a playboy. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Herbert Marshall, Glenda Farrell. Dir: Alfred Santell. BW-68 mins, TV-G
11:00 AM Meet John Doe (1941)
A reporter’s fraudulent story turns a tramp into a national hero and makes him a pawn of big business. Cast: Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward Arnold. Dir: Frank Capra. BW-122 mins, TV-G, CC, DVS
1:15 PM Christmas In Connecticut (1945)
A homemaking specialist who can’t boil water is forced to provide a family holiday for a war hero. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet. Dir: Peter Godfrey. BW-102 mins, TV-G, CC
3:15 PM Two Mrs. Carrolls, The (1947)
A woman slowly discovers that her artist husband is a deranged killer. Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Barbara Stanwyck, Alexis Smith. Dir: Peter Godfrey. BW-94 mins, TV-G, CC
5:00 PM Jeopardy (1953)
A woman desperately seeks help to prevent her trapped husband from drowning. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Barry Sullivan, Ralph Meeker. Dir: John Sturges. BW-69 mins, TV-G, CC
6:15 PM These Wilder Years (1956)
A wealthy businessman sets out to find his long-lost illegitimate son. Cast: James Cagney, Barbara Stanwyck, Walter Pidgeon. Dir: Roy Rowland. BW-91 mins, TV-PG, CC
8:00 PM Baby Face (1933)
A beautiful schemer sleeps her way to the top of a banking empire. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, John Wayne. Dir: Alfred E. Green. BW-76 mins, TV-PG, CC
9:30 PM Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire (1991)
Barbara Stanwyck’s multi-faceted career reveals uncanny reflections of her off-screen life. Cast: Sally Field, Barbara Stanwyck, Gary Cooper. Dir: Richard Schickel. C-46 mins, TV-G
10:30 PM Annie Oakley (1935)
The famed female sharpshooter learns that you can’t get a man with a gun when she falls for a rival marksman. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Preston Foster, Melvyn Douglas. Dir: George Stevens. BW-90 mins, TV-G, CC
12:15 AM Clash By Night (1952)
An embittered woman seeks escape in marriage, only to fall for her husband’s best friend. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Ryan, Marilyn Monroe. Dir: Fritz Lang. BW-105 mins, TV-PG, CC, DVS
2:15 AM Executive Suite (1954)
When a business magnate dies, his board of directors fights over who should run the company. Cast: William Holden, June Allyson, Barbara Stanwyck. Dir: Robert Wise. BW-105 mins, TV-PG, CC, DVS
4:15 AM Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)
A neurotic invalid accidentally overhears a phone conversation plotting her own murder. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Burt Lancaster, Wendell Corey. Dir: Anatole Litvak. BW-89 mins, TV-PG, CC

Also, if you’re in LA you should check out the Academy’s display of her posters and lobby cards just because you can.

Le Tour 2007: Vino!?

broderic on July 13, 2007

Alexandre Vinokourov of Team Astana was a pre-race favorite. He’d finished 3rd in the 2003 Tour and is always fun to watch race because of his attacking style. I am in his camp and always cheer him on because he seems so wreckless.

Today he wrecked.

A nasty one. If you see the pictures, he’s pedaling with his ass hanging out of his torn shorts. Yet, to salvage his tour he kept on going minimizing the damage done. He finished 1 minute 20 from the winners. Overall he sits closer to the bottom at 2 minutes 10 to the leaders. Not far off since the race is still in the flats, but the Alps are coming this weekend. Can he do it? Can he rip off a crazy move? I am rooting for him. Allez vino.

This fifth stage was an awkward one with plenty of up and down hills, a very difficult stage. Not the mountains, but it played out like one. Le tour is cruel.

Capitol Swell asked where the podium girls are. He should check out the pictures posted at the end of the stages on the official site. They’ve changed their style and the podium shots are starting to include the girls. Or he can check out a flickr photo pool.