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Sue, my buddy just happens to be a doctor, so I passed along your comment. Here's his reply:
"Yeah, the acting by Sally Hawkins was terrific. I looked up Maud’s health more online with the comment about rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It is certainly true that the pictures of Maud online in her later life are classic for and essentially diagnostic of RA, but I didn’t find any consensus about JRA (juvenile RA) as her early diagnosis. Mention was often made of simply “birth defects” or even polio. Her shoulder and chin/face deformities are consistent with birth defects, which run the gamut, including cerebral palsy which usually affects motor function and movement like Maud had pictured in the movie. BUT, the biggest fact of all is that she was born in 1903 in Nova Scotia and I’m sure no one worried much about seeing a doctor until they were ready to die. So who knows what her exact diagnosis was?
Anyway, it’s worth seeing the movie."
Cars 3-Better than Cars 2 but not as good as the first Cars. I borrowed the DVD from the library and watched it with my son Adam over the weekend. We both enjoyed it, especially the historic references, but both agreed that the first in the series was the best. If you have an hour and 45 minutes with nothing to do watch it.
We saw 'Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri' today. It was a very good movie and well worth the $11 for the two of us. I can understand why it got several Golden Globe nominations.
Watched "Christmas in Mississippi" on Lifetime last night, because it was shot in Gulfport and a friend of ours plays a street musician in the opening. Lots of familiar scenery. Set five years post Katrina with references to the recovery. Bad movie, though. Syrup sweet and predictable as rain in May. We had recorded it so we skipped the boring parts. Took us about 10 minutes to watch the whole thing.
Ricky and I watched Passengers and The Dressmaker on DVD this past week. I thought Passengers was slow but I liked that it made me feel how horrible it would be to be totally without any human interaction. I felt like the love affair was believable and enjoyed it. I ended up really liking it since it kept me thinking long after it was over. The Dressmaker wasn't slow and it kept our interest.
Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt star in an exciting action-thriller about two passengers who are on a 120-year journey to another planet when their hibernation pods wake them 90 years too early. Jim and Aurora are forced to unravel the mystery behind the malfunction as the ship teeters on the brink of collapse, with the lives of thousands of passengers in jeopardy.
The Dressmaker tells the story of the beautiful and talented Tilly Dunnage (Academy Award winner Kate Winslet). After years working as a dressmaker in exclusive Parisian fashion houses, Tilly returns home to a town in the Australian outback to reconcile with her eccentric mother Molly (Academy Award nominee Judy Davis). She also falls in love with the pure-hearted Teddy (Liam Hemsworth), and armed with her sewing machine and haute couture style, Tilly transforms the women of the town, exacting sweet revenge on those who did her wrong.
I just watched Get Out. This film already has a big cult following, but it is also a metaphor for race relations in the US. I highly recommend it, but it is in the horror genre so be forewarned.
We saw 'Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri' today. It was a very good movie and well worth the $11 for the two of us. I can understand why it got several Golden Globe nominations.
That is one I want to see, along with Coco and Call Me By Your Name.
Saw The Last Jedi with AJ. I liked it a lot, more than The Force Awakens or Rogue One. AJ thought it was good but a bit of a letdown after Rogue. If you like the recent Star Wars movies chances are you will like or love Jedi. It can't recreate the feeling of the original trilogy, Episodes IV, V, and VI, for most fans because those, especially A New Hope (IV), were something totally new. But The Last Jedi goes beyond just a huge leap forward in CGI and other special effects. It is better story telling with more interesting, nuanced characters and much better acting, direction, and dialogue. Mark Hamill is especially good. That's right, Hamill can act, thanks to decades of experience, mostly as a voice actor. In fact, his voice is now his best acting tool. And finally, we get a number of strong female roles beyond Leia Organa. Not to deminish the job Carrie Fisher did in this film. And every shot of Ms. Fisher is the real thing, performed before her death. There is no CGI like that used in The Force Awakens to create a young Princess Leia and Grand Moff Tarkin (the late Peter Cushing in the earlier films.) Even better news: Word is that over an hour of unused Fisher footage exists which might allow her character to be incorporated into the final Star Wars episode. Sources inside Lucasfilm have already said that they will not use CGI to reanimate Ms. Fisher or any of the other main characters originally portrayed by actors who have died.
The Last Jedi is highly recommended for those who like this kind of film. But if you haven't seen Episode VII (The Force Awakens) find a way to watch it before you dive into the latest Star Wars episode or you will be almost totally lost. There is no reason to see any of the first three episodes that trace the origin of Darth, the maddeningly complicated backstory of the Empire, or the creation of Jar Jar Binks. That is unless you have a terminal illness and want to make a few hours feel like weeks.
Fun fact: I can clearly recall interviews long, long ago (but in our own galaxy) wherein Lucas indicated that he intended to develop three trilogies in the Skywalker family saga and that Star Wars (A New Hope) would be the first episode in the second trilogy. Thus the opening text crawl identified the original Star Wars film, A New Hope, as Episode IV. It was well known at the time of those interviews that three films were in the works but most were skeptical of Lucas' grander plans.
So, eight down and one to go before we wrap up the original Star Wars story arc. Except Disney has indicated an interest in milking the Star Wars saga for all it is worth, as evidenced by plans to follow up on the success Rogue One with more such side projects. Fans will be pleased, no doubt.
09-28-2017, 10:31 AM
