Category: Film

Movie Time in Manhattan

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When in New York, we often take advantage of the wide range of films being shown. This visit is no exception as we’ve managed to get to three movies this week, at least one of which won’t be shown at home.

The Farewell

Set in New York and Beijing, The Farewell is a touching story about an extended Chinese family’s long goodbye to their matriarch.  Granddaughter Billi is extremely close to her grandmother, Nai Nai, and somewhat removed from her parents, particularly her mother.  Struggling to jumpstart her career and seeming to have few friends, Billi is devastated when she learns of Nai Nai’s cancer diagnosis and upset that no one wants to tell her that.  Billi surprises the family in Beijing where they have gone ostensibly just to celebrate a cousin’s wedding.  

I enjoyed this movie both for its portrayal of Chinese culture, particularly the meals, and for the loving and supportive relationship between Billi and her grandmother. Poignant with flashes of humor. (~JWFarrington)

Mr. Klein

Released in 1976, Mr. Klein by Joseph Losey, was playing at the Film Forum.  It is compelling and powerful, ending with a punch to the gut.  Art collector and bon vivant, Robert Klein lives the high life in German-occupied France. The year is 1942 and he goes about his comfortable life mostly oblivious to the hardship around him.  He haggles over the price he’s willing to pay for a painting offered by a Jew in desperate straits.  But, when someone assumes he’s also Jewish and he learns that there is another Robert Klein, he goes to great lengths to try to correct that false assumption and to ferret out the other Klein.  

Mr. Klein (forward.com)

What grabs the viewer is that the French authorities are actively collaborating with the Nazis and rounding up their own people and transporting them. When freedom is slowly chiseled away, one risks not paying enough attention until it’s too late.  Relevant given today’s fraught political climate.   (~JWFarrington)

Downton Abbey

This much anticipated film opened yesterday and we were there in the morning for the first showing!  If you’ve been in Downton/Crawley family withdrawal these past four years, then prepare to be entertained. The entire cast of favorites is present. Everyone from Lady Edith and Lady Mary and their parents and spouses; Tom Branson, looking more handsome than ever; the always outspoken Daisy; stalwart Mrs. Patmore, dedicated Mr. and Mrs. Bates; and elder statesman Mr. Carson, just waiting to be asked to participate.  Couple that with the quips and barbs traded by the Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith) and Isobel Crawley (Penelope Wilton), add in the excitable Mr. Molesley, and be a part of planning for a visit from the king and queen, and you have lots of good fun. 

Downton cast members (thelist.com)

 The house is featured more than in the TV series and there are expansive scenes of the grounds and all the preparations for the royal visit.  Is it a great film?  No, but if you’re a fan, then it’s a wonderful way to spend an afternoon!  And there are enough loose ends to make a sequel. (~JWFarrington)

Note: Text ©JWFarrington.

Maine Leisure: Screen & Page

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ON THE BIG SCREEN—WOMAN POWER

(the wrap.com)

It’s hard to accept how sexist the sailing world was in 1990.  The Maiden, a new documentary, is a graphic account of skipper Tracy Edwards and her all female crew’s performance in the Whitbread Round the World Race. In the past women just didn’t compete there or at that level; or, if they were on one of the race boats it was to be the cook, how Tracy spent her first race.  Tracy is one determined individual, and she was determined to obtain a boat, hire a crew and strive to win the race.  

All twelve crewmembers were women and, despite the fact that all the male journalists (and probably the other skippers) expected that the Maiden crew wouldn’t complete that first leg, they did in first place!  And then they did it again in the second leg.  Although the film starts out slowly, it’s gripping with harrowing scenes of high seas and high winds.  What makes it even more enjoyable is that the crewmembers were interviewed in the making of the film so you see them on board and you get to see and hear their reflections today about their feelings at the time and the whole experience.

Kudos to our local non-profit Harbor Theater for screening this! They have done an admirable job bringing first run films and classics to the Boothbay Harbor community.

ENJOYABLE NOVELS

The Oysterville Sewing Circle by Susan Wiggs

Susan Wiggs (ala.org)

It was just happenstance that the novel I picked up after reading No Visible Bruises about domestic violence was also about battered women.  Susan Wiggs writes very good popular fiction.  Her characters are believable and sympathetic and she treats their issues with warmth and understanding.  In this case, fashion designer Caroline both loses her job in New York and simultaneously finds herself in charge of two small children.  She has a rude awakening about the domestic abuse suffered by her friend Angelique.  Returning home to Washington State, Caroline must find a new career and deal with the children while she seeks to learn more about domestic violence.  This is a novel that educates the reader without ever being preachy.  (~JWFarrington)

Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes

Linda Holmes (www.npr.org)

Holmes is a pop culture critic for NPR and this is her first novel. It’s sweet with a happy ending.  But then, like most romances, you know that everything will work out eventually.  Evvie Drake is a young widow who didn’t much like her husband before he died unexpectedly, but no one knows that, and she feels guilty about it.  Dean is a major league baseball player, a pitcher who’s got a case of the yips and is unable to pitch.  Evvie agrees to rent him the apartment in her house and thus begins an unusual friendship. 

Holmes creates two likable characters, each with plenty of mental baggage, and also pulls off a wonderfully enriching friendship between Evvie and her divorced friend and weekly breakfast mate, Andy.  If you like baseball and are intrigued by offbeat individuals, this is a good end-of-summer read. (~JWFarrington)

ON THE SMALL SCREEN—Footnote on Borgen

Cast of Borgen (oldaintdead.com)

The Chief Penguin and I just finished binge watching the last episode of Season 3, the final Borgen.  And I’m in serious withdrawal.  This Danish political series about a female prime minister is topnotch drama, some of the best television I’ve seen in recent years!  The third season flags a bit in the beginning, but then re-gains its focus. And the last episode brings everything to closure, possibly too neatly, but with a twist.

The acting is superb, the story is meaty, and the main characters have messy and fascinating personal lives.  It’s as much about the people as the politics.  There are politicians and their spin-doctors (Denmark has eight parties vying for power) and TV reporters scrounging for stories and better ratings than their competition.  Intense and gripping. I lived with these folks!

As critic Andrew Romano points out, “every public decision on Borgen has private consequences, and vice versa, which is something Hollywood usually ignores and real politicians, operatives, and journalists have to hide. Finally getting to see these secret repercussions spool out and spill over isn’t just spellbinding. It’s comforting, too.” (dailybeast.com)

Watching, I also felt as if I acquired a bit of Danish.  Borgen is available on Apple TV. The first episode is free and then, if you’re hooked, it’s $24.99 for a season.  Highly recommended!

Note: Text and header photo ©JWFarrington. Header was taken at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens.

Manhattan Musing: Film & Food

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GRAND GIRLS

We left 85 degree plus temperatures and bright sun in Florida for the cool gray of Manhattan.  We’ve had several days of cool weather with one bright warm bit of sun on Friday.   

Tulips in Jefferson Market Garden

After settling in and purchasing supplies, we spent the next two afternoons with our granddaughters.  At their ages (3 and almost 7) seeing their grandparents is still a real treat.  F. danced and spun around and just beamed as she told Grandpa all about an adventure making pretend pizza for one of her dolls.  Later E. trotted down the steps of the school bus and leaped into my arms to give me a hug. What could be better than these greetings!  

E. loves art and is quite creative.  One project was creating a museum in a large empty carton to display all the furniture and other objects belonging to her Calico Critters collection.  Of course, F. had to assist, but I was impressed by how cooperative she was and how much more controlled in her efforts than several months ago.  It was a joint effort and only near the end did the older sister become a bit frustrated with the younger one.  

It’s a routine that the girls read or are read to while they eat their dinner.  F. enjoyed hearing her new train book again and again while E. could easily have read the Clementine chapter book herself, but preferred to have Grandma sit next to her and read it aloud.  Being a grandparent and being able to spend lots of time with them several times a year is a gift and a pleasure at this stage of life.

NEW KIND OF ROM-COM

This is not the best season for catching new movies.  The available crop is not as appealing or wide-ranging as is the case leading up to the Oscars.  That said, “Long Shot” had good, if not stellar reviews, and seemed like it could be fun to see.  We showed up at a nearby theater for the 9:15 am show only to discover that it was truly upscale, and also that since it was Saturday there was no senior rate. Nixing tickets at $25 each, we opted to wait and go to Union Square for an early afternoon showing.

Long Shot is silly, funny, preposterous and a mixed bag.  First the good stuff:  Charlize Theron as Charlotte Field is wonderful as the immaculately groomed, exquisitely turned out U.S. Secretary of State.  And the scene of her in the situation room high on drugs sitting on the floor dealing bluntly over the phone with a foreign leader is priceless.  The romance between her and Seth Rogen as Fred Flarsky, a schmo of a journalist in cargo pants and a turquoise windbreaker, is improbable.  I think the filmmakers realize this since there is a very long lead-in before these two encounter each other as adults.  

But the film does turn the usual trope of the successful man and the less achieving, less talented woman on its head.  Charlotte is clearly the “alpha male” here, and that’s fun to watch. The dubious elements:  the F word embellishes or degrades every line, depending on your perspective; I found its overuse tiresome.  Also, the humor is often sophomoric, particularly related to a video used to mock Fred as a suitable mate.  Overall, I’d give the film a B, but then I’m probably not the target audience.

DINING OUT AT OLD FAVORITES

Highlands

At Highlands, a Scottish-influenced restaurant in the West Village, the bar was packed with a noisy crowd watching the lead up to the Kentucky Derby.  We were gratefully ushered to a quiet table in the empty dining room.  The very pretty coral sea trout mousse was a tasty and different starter and the beer brined chicken breast with grilled asparagus and artichokes delectable. Their penicillin cocktail was a hit as well as a glass of Central Valley chardonnay.  Less memorable was the fish and chips.  

Beer brined chicken breast

El Porron

This Upper East Side tapas place is very popular and always excellent.  This time we sampled the roasted red peppers and asparagus (wonderful!), smoked salmon fillet, and the chorizo sausages plus the Chief Penguin’s customary order of patatas bravas.  

Under the Bridge

On First Avenue at the Queensboro Bridge, this cozy Greek restaurant is also a favorite of ours. Service is efficient to brisk, but once you have all your food, they don’t rush you out the door.  We generally order small plates rather than entrees and again enjoyed the shrimp in tomato sauce with feta crumbles, a tomato and cucumber salad topped with a nice-sized wedge of feta, grilled halloumi cheese, and plenty of crusty bread.  We liked the complimentary strips of honey cake so much, our waitress brought us another plate!  Wines by the glass and also cocktails are available. 

Note: All photos ©JWFarrington.

Tidy Tidbits: Books & More

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RECENT READING

The Stargazer’s Sister  by Carrie Brown

If you are at all interested in astronomy, this is an engaging historical novel about Caroline Herschel, sister of famed German astronomer William Herschel.   Lina, as she was known, was William’s younger sister by 12 years.  Small and slight and scarred by a bout with smallpox, she never married and was mistreated and abused by their mother.  William, who had gone to the UK, returned to their home in Hanover and rescued her by taking her back to England.  

Smart and quick, she became his devoted assistant in studying the night sky and dedicated her life single mindedly to him.  She loved him greatly and gave up any thoughts of marriage and a family for herself.  He received fame and recognition for his discoveries and for the telescopes he built while she labored by his side. Only later were her own solo discoveries acknowledged.  While based on the historical record and the extensive correspondence the Herschels left behind, this is a work of fiction with a happy, although somewhat unbelievable ending. To her credit, Brown details in her notes where she has deviated from real life.  (~JWFarrington)

The Glass Forest by Cynthia Swanson

This suspense novel was my pick for our January book group meeting.  When I first read it, I found it slow to get going and feared I’d picked a dud.  Turns out that almost everyone liked it a lot, and some couldn’t put it down once they started.  In alternating chapters, set mostly in 1960, it’s the story of three women each related in some way to two brothers, Paul and Henry.  Angie’s story is told in the first person while Silja’s and Ruby’s are third person.  Angie is only 23 and married to the much older Paul and mother to baby PJ.  For Silja, we get her life from 1942 to her marriage to Henry, and her successful career, up to her disappearance in 1960.  Ruby is Silja and Henry’s daughter and a sullen and withdrawn teenager who doesn’t talk much.  

The novel opens with a call to Angie from Ruby that Henry has committed suicide, and from there events unfold as Angie and Paul journey from Wisconsin to Stonekill, NY to be with Ruby.  When I reviewed this book for the discussion, I found it more compelling.  The period detail is spot on, and there are clues throughout as to what happened to Henry and Silja.   (~JWFarrington)

ON SCREEN

Beautiful Boy  (Amazon Prime)

Based on two memoirs, one by father David Sheff and the other by his son, Nicolas, this feature film is a depiction of drug addiction and its effect on one family.  Focusing as much or more on the father than the son, it spotlights a loving father’s puzzlement, worry, frustration, and devotion in his determination to help his son.  Nic’s aimlessness, cravings, and manic behavior, followed by sorrow and regret, repeat and repeat until he almost dies.  For any parent, this is a hard film to watch as nothing seems to make the situation better.  Steve Carell and Timothee Chalamet are exceptionally good as father and son as is Maura Tierney as Nick’s stepmother, Karen. 

Srugim  (Amazon Prime)

This Israeli TV series ran from 2008 to 2012 and follows the lives of a group of single Orthodox Jewish men and women living in Jerusalem.  Hovering around 30, they are navigating the dating scene while also figuring out their careers.  Most of their contemporaries are already married, many with children. 

The women are Yifat, a graphic artist, Reut, an accountant, and Hodaya, a graduate student who studied the Bible, but tries working as a waitress.  The men are Nati, a medical doctor, Amir, a high school grammar teacher, and Roi, Nati’s younger brother.  All are religious and closely follow the strictures around food, observing the Sabbath, and relationships with the opposite sex.  The exception is Hodaya, daughter of a rabbi, who is questioning her religious beliefs.  

The series focuses on relationships so don’t expect a lot of action.  Nonetheless, I found myself quickly becoming absorbed in the lives of these individuals and am now well into the second season.  The episodes are short, 35 minutes, with subtitles, and the video quality is just fair.  This program was cited for being the first time the lives of Orthodox Jews were portrayed in a realistic production designed for a general audience.  And I owe thanks to Patricia for recommending it! (~JWFarrington)