MOVIES AT HOME
In this age of online video and fast migration from movie screen to TV screen, it’s possible to view many first run movies at home almost immediately after their release. Here are two relatively recent films we just watched. We rented each one for 48 hours for the nominal fee of $5.99, much cheaper than two movie tickets even at the senior or off peak rate!
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
Mr. Rogers’ groundbreaking television program was after my time, but still available when our son was growing up. This account of its history, how it handled issues that concern small children, and the approach taken by Fred Rogers make for a fascinating documentary. An ordained Presbyterian minister, Rogers was a talented man with a gentle manner, but also a complex individual. You get hints of his complexity and a bit about his childhood from his wife, Joanne. I would have liked to have heard more from her in addition to the reflections from his two sons and several members of the cast. Occasionally, it’s too sentimental, but overall an enjoyable journey down memory lane.
Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!
This is a movie that’s just plain fun. Even if you haven’t seen the original starring Meryl Streep, you will enjoy this sequel. The plot is thin and mostly an excuse for singing, dancing, and the reunion of Sophie’s three fathers. The music is lively, the choreography snappy, and, you know that, despite everything, there will be a happy ending. Starring here are: Lily James, Amanda Seyfried, Pierce Brosnan, Christine Baranski, Cher, and Colin Firth among others with a cameo by Meryl Streep.
ENGROSSING NOVEL
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
Rebecca Makkai is an author new to me, but because this novel was so well reviewed, a finalist for the National Book Award, and on several best-of-the-year lists, it caught my attention. I found it rewarding on many levels. Set in Chicago from 1985 to 1992 and also in Paris in 2015, it is a warm, detailed and intimate story of the lives of several gay men at the height of the AIDS crisis, when testing first became available, and mostly before there were any drugs to combat it.
The main characters are Yale Tishman and his partner Charlie, and Fiona, sister of Nico, one of their first friends to die. Yale works in development for an art gallery and there is the unfolding courtship of Fiona and Nico’s great aunt who desires to donate her art collection. A long drawn out process, its theme of art links the past to the present (2015) when Fiona stays with their much older photographer friend, Richard, as he prepares for a major exhibit of his work at the Pompidou Centre. Fiona is the focus in 2015 and she is on a mission to locate and re-connect with her adult daughter, Claire. She stays with Richard and his partner while trying to sort out her own life and the events of 30 years earlier.
I worked in Philadelphia in the 80’s and 90’s and had several colleagues, one a friend, who ultimately died of AIDS. It was not openly acknowledged at first, but most of us began to realize that this disease was the cause of their suffering.
The novel is alternately tender, graphic, grim and painful, but very believable with its inclusion of real events in Chicago. It is also re-affirming of the goodness and caring of some. I did find the Paris sections less convincing since I don’t think Fiona’s character at middle age is as well developed as it could be. (~JWFarrington)
ON MY BOOKSHELF
I got mostly books for Christmas. Here are a few titles stacked up and ready to go. The first three are nonfiction and the others are novels.
American Eden by Victoria Johnson
Family Life by Elisabeth Luard
Kitchen Yarns by Ann Hood
Clock Dance by Anne Tyler
Love is Blind by William Boyd
Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
