Airplane!

I am a huge fan of the TCM Big Screen Classics movie series and I was particularly excited about the selections slated for this year.  Many of the screenings had to be canceled because of Covid-19 but I am happy to report that a lot of them have been rescheduled now that movie theaters are opening up again so I was able to see Airplane! last night!  I remember watching this hilarious spoof of disaster movies on my little black and white TV late at night when I was in high school but it was so much more fun to see it on the big screen.  On a flight from Los Angeles to Chicago, which is carrying a little girl (Jill Whelan) who needs a heart transplant, the pilot Captain Oveur (Peter Graves), the Co-Pilot Roger Murdock (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), the Navigator Victor Basta (Frank Ashmore), and several of the passengers all become incapacitated with food poisoning.  It is all up to Ted Striker (Robert Hays), a pilot suffering from PTSD after the war, to save them with the help Elaine Dickinson (Julie Hagerty), a stewardess who is trying to break up with Striker, Dr. Rumack (Leslie Nelson), an unflappable physician on board, Steve McCroskey (Lloyd Bridges), a hard-boiled air traffic control supervisor, and Captain Rex Kramer (Robert Stack), a pilot who flew with Striker in the war.  This movie is filled with slapstick comedy (slapstick comedy is based on physical humor such as pratfalls and mild violence but that isn't important right now), off-color jokes, and naughty sexual innuendos and, even though contemporary audiences might find some of it offensive, I laughed out loud multiple times and I was not alone!  I started laughing during a reference to Jaws in the opening scene and didn't stop until the end-credits scene where a man is still waiting in a cab driven by Striker at the beginning of the movie.  Almost everyone was laughing and quoting their favorite lines ("What's the vector, Victor?") as they walked out of the theater so it was definitely a lot of fun!  Unfortunately, last night was the final screening of Airplane! but there are lots of great movies in the series coming soon to a theater near you (go here for more information).  I am especially looking forward to Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Psycho, and The Shining.

The Pull of the Stars

This month's Barnes & Noble Book Club selection was The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue and it could not have been a more timely pick. It is set in Dublin in 1918 when a world war still raged on and people were dying by the thousands of the Spanish flu. Julia Power is a nurse at a very understaffed hospital and is, therefore, put in charge of a small three bed ward for pregnant women who are quarantined with the flu. It is the first time that she has been given any authority and comes to rely on her own instincts, rather than the rigid rules, as she does her best to help her patients who come from all walks of life. She is given an assistant, a volunteer named Bridie Sweeney, who is very young and knows nothing about nursing but is a fast learner and a hard worker. Bridie takes great pride in knowing that she is useful for the first time in her life. Because of the shortage of doctors in the hospital, Dr. Kathleen Lynn (a real-life character), a woman suspected of participating in the Easter Rising of 1916, is brought in to help and becomes a mentor to Julia in the field of medicine and in the development of her social conscience. The three women have a profound effect upon each other as they struggle to keep the patients alive and bring new life into a world gone mad. The novel takes place over three consecutive days in the small confines of a ward that is essentially a converted supply closet and the claustrophobia really adds to the sense of urgency. Every action has a dramatic consequence so it is very intense to read and the medical practices of the time are quite primitive by modern standards so it is extremely gory.  However, in the midst of all of the trauma and heartbreak, there is definitely a sense of hope at the end of the novel which readers who are going through a similar global pandemic are sure to appreciate. I was really struck by the similarities between 1918 and now including the canceling of all major events, the supply shortages, the spreading of misinformation, the backlash against taking simple precautions such as wearing masks, the desperation to find a cure, and the willingness of health care professionals to do the impossible to save people. I was also struck by the fact that people started to become more aware of social injustice as a result of how the flu spread and that seems to be echoed by events today (I, for one, really hope that this leads to change as it did back then). Donoghue spoke about this during the virtual Q&A held last night which I found to be fascinating. I also enjoyed her discussion of the title which comes from influenza delle stelle (the influence of the stars).  People believed that the illness was caused by fate but all three of the main characters take matters into their own hands to change fate and I loved that! Donoghue also addressed my one criticism of the novel which is that there are no quotation marks to denote dialogue (a trend I despise in the publishing world). Her explanation was that she wanted the reader to be inside Julia's head with little distinction between what she is thinking and what she is saying which is valid given the chaos of what was happening in the ward. Ultimately, I loved the character development in this novel as well as the highly relevant subject matter and I would definitely recommend it!

Note:  Next month's Barnes & Noble Book Club selection is Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi. Once again this selection was announced earlier than usual so I am already almost finished with it because it is so captivating! There will be another virtual discussion with the author via Facebook on October 6.  Go here for more information.

Words on Bathroom Walls

I have a soft spot for adaptations based on YA literature (although I have not read the book upon which Words on Bathroom Walls is based) and I am becoming more and more impressed with Charlie Plummer (go here and here) so I decided to see this movie last night.  Adam Petrizelli (Plummer) is a high school senior who begins hearing voices and having hallucinations in the form of Rebecca (AnnaSophia Robb), Joaquin (Devon Bostick), and The Bodyguard (Lobo Sebastian).  After a psychotic break in his chemistry class which injures his friend, he is diagnosed with schizophrenia and expelled from school.  He is eventually accepted in a trial for a new medication but is hesitant to take it because he doesn't know what the side effects will be.  He begins attending a Catholic school where no one knows him and decides to take the medication to be more normal so he doesn't end up like the people who are written about on the bathroom wall.  He meets Maya Arnez (Taylor Russell) and hides his condition from her because he really likes her and doesn't want to lose her. When he decides to stop taking the medication because he doesn't like the side effects, it becomes harder and harder to hide his condition.  After another psychotic break while at the prom with Maya he must decide if he will be defined by his illness.  I liked the dynamic between Adam and Maya because she also has a secret that she is keeping from him and they both must become vulnerable enough to share their secrets with each other to be happy.  The ending is a little bit cheesy but it does have a really great message about having the courage to be yourself.  I also really appreciated that the story goes beyond the typical teenage romantic comedy to explore the realities of mental illness and I found it to be very affecting, especially a scene where Adam talks about how kids with cancer get their wishes fulfilled while kids with mental illness get hidden away.  Plummer gives a highly nuanced and sympathetic performance that very cleverly puts the audience inside the head of someone with schizophrenia.  The rest of the cast is also excellent including Russell who is absolutely luminous as Maya and has great chemistry with Plummer, Molly Parker who is compelling as a mother willing to do anything to save her son, and Andy Garcia who is charming as a supportive priest.  This is a poignant coming of age story that shines a light on a little known mental illness that I highly recommend!

Mulan

I was really disappointed when I found out that Mulan was going to stream on Disney+ for a premium fee rather than have a theatrical release.  My problem was not with the $29.99 fee because, in my opinion, Disney can charge whatever they want for something they created and it’s up to people to decide whether or not they want to pay to see it.  Rather, my objection was based on the fact that a movie that looked so visually stunning in previews wouldn't be seen the way it was meant to be seen which is definitely on the big screen.  I really hope this doesn't become the model for future releases.  Now that I have seen it I am even more disappointed that I didn't get to experience it on an IMAX screen because it is absolutely amazing!  I loved it and I think it might be my favorite Disney live-action remake because it takes broad strokes from the original animated classic but turns the story into something that feels new and different with a more dramatic tone and weightier themes.  When one man from every family is conscripted to the Imperial Army to fight against the invader Bori Khan (Jason Scott Lee), Hua Mulan (Liu Yifei) feels it is her duty to take the place of her ailing father (Tzi Ma) and disguises herself as a man to train under Commander Tung (Donnie Yen).  She has been told her whole life to hide her powerful life force, or "chi," to avoid bringing dishonor to her family but she eventually learns that the only way to save her country and her Emperor (Jet Li) is to be true to herself.  What a great message!  I loved the introduction of the character Xianniang (Gong Li), an ally of Bori Khan who is considered to be a witch because of her powerful chi, as a foil to Mulan because they both struggle to find their place in a world where they do not fit in but they follow different paths.  The resolution between the two of them is one of the most powerful scenes in the movie.  I also really like the fact that the romance between Mulan and Chen Honghui (Yosun An), another recruit, is downplayed so that he is more of an ally who stands up for her when her identity is discovered.  This is another very powerful scene (although my sister wanted more romance).  As I mentioned previously, the tone of this movie is much more dramatic so some of the lighthearted humor, especially the fish-out-of-water jokes when Mulan is forced to room with the other male recruits, falls a little flat but this is a minor criticism.  The scale of this movie is epic and the action sequences are absolutely spectacular with elaborately choreographed sword fights and gravity-defying aerials.  The costumes and sets are gorgeous to look at and, while the songs from the original are missing, the score pays homage to them and provides the necessary emotional reference, especially bits and pieces of "Reflection."  I really enjoyed this movie, and I highly recommend it, but I think I would have enjoyed it more in the theater!

Bryce Canyon National Park

Since I drove through Zion National Park on the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway I decided to keep going on Highway 89 to Bryce Canyon.  I didn't really do anything in the park but drive to all of the viewpoints (you can drive right up to some of the viewpoints and some of them require a little bit of walking) but the views are spectacular!  Sometimes I would hear people audibly gasp when they would get up to the view (especially at Natural Bridge).  You can see why!

I was able to see three (Capitol Reef, Zion, and Bryce Canyon) of Utah's "Mighty Five" National Parks in two days!  Now I have made a goal to see the other two (Canyonlands and Arches) but I think I will wait until after Labor Day when it might be less crowded.

Note:  I have an America the Beautiful Pass which gets me admission to all of the national parks for a year.  It is $80.00 and it has already more than paid for itself!